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Archive | Leftism RSS for this section
in Leftism, The Immiseration of Everyone
The Nature and Purpose of Resistance
We must continue to resist, but do so now with the discomforting realization that significant change will probably never occur in our lifetime. This makes resistance harder. It shifts resistance from the tangible and the immediate to the amorphous and the indeterminate. But to give up acts of resistance is spiritual and intellectual death. It is to surrender to the dehumanizing ideology of totalitarian capitalism. Acts of resistance keep alive another narrative, sustain our integrity and empower others, who we may never meet, to stand up and carry the flame we pass to them. No act of resistance is useless, whether it is refusing to pay taxes, fighting for a Tobin tax, working to shift the neoclassical economics paradigm, revoking a corporate charter, holding global internet votes or using Twitter to catalyze a chain reaction of refusal against the neoliberal order. But we will have to resist and then find the faith that resistance is worthwhile, for we will not immediately alter the awful configuration of power.
– Chris Hedges, Zero Point of Systemic Collapse
in Hipster Capitalism, Leftism
The remaining question is: what accounts for Kickstarter’s popularity among the hip progressive left? How can we account for the strange coincidence of left countercultural values with a business model that would make all but the most hardened Objectivist blush? The short answer is that Kickstarter embodies what I want to call “Good™ values”, after the magazine, web site and infographic emporium that was founded in 2006 that describes itself in the following way:
“In a world where things too often don’t work, GOOD seeks a path that does. Left, right. In, out. Greed, altruism. Us, them. These are the defaults and they are broken. We are the alternative model. We are the reasonable people who give a damn. No dogma. No party lines. No borders. We care about what works–what is sustainable, prosperous, productive, creative, and just–for all of us and each of us.”
It’s no accident that this is the same Third Way center-left post-politics of the mid-90s. The founder of the magazine is 20-something Ben Goldhirsh, the son of the founder of Inc., a magazine that focuses on entrepreneurs and start-up companies. What this amounts to is progressive cultural politics married with neoliberal capitalist economic policy, but opposed to the bad (and boring!) corporate capitalism and instead favoring the dynamic, exciting capitalism of innovation and creative destruction.
The magazine has very positive and supportive coverage of Occupy Wall Street, because people with Good™ values have no problem with a certain kind of anti-capitalism, the kind that implies that the problems are not with the system itself, but with the people in charge. Those people have the wrong values — they’re greedy and selfish and have no goals in life except making money. They’re the problem. What we need are people who have a social conscience, people who live for meaning and beauty, people who care about Darfur and the environment; poverty and education and health care; vibrant communities and public transit.
On Kickstarter as an a model of parasitic capitalism, wearing the clothes of social justice.
The broader, and more important question: is it at all worthwhile to pursue a more humane capitalism? Is it too late?
in History, Leftism
The Relevance of Scholarship to Social Change
It can go in any direction – you can have horrible right wing fantasy utopias realised in some cultures, extreme patriarchal ones in others, and so on and so forth. But I think we need to start thinking about history. Radical social movements, revolutionaries, reactionaries and all those things we’re familiar with in contemporary politics weren’t invented two hundred years ago. We’ve been taught that they were – that right and left suddenly came into being, and that all these revolutions suddenly started happening, in the middle of the eighteenth century. But I think they’ve actually been happening for thousands of years, it’s just that we don’t have the language to describe them.
– David Graeber interviewed in the White Review: on anthropology, anarchism, and more. He touches on how his ethnographic investigation of the Malagasy people of Madagascar, his recent survey book on the history of debt and money across societies, and Occupy Wall Street are connected.
in Leftism, What Is To Be Done
Kinds of Left Practice
In the law school context, and more specifically in the U.S. law school context, because that’s the only place I have any idea of what might be possible, my sectarian thought is that there are two kinds of left practice to focus on. One is producing polemical but tightly reasoned analysis and alternatives that are clearly to the left of what American liberals are now willing to contemplate. The other is to help students resist and colleagues resist cooptation into the training machine of the American regime.
The first requires the analysis of the larger society’s political dynamics, which include things like the war but also like the incarceration rate for African Americans in the United States. It includes things like the fate of minimum-wage workers and illegals. Not just those things: absolutely every policy issue on which there is a division and as yet no well argued left position, or just one position where there should be several left positions.
At this level, the idea is to develop policy alternatives and classroom materials and teaching protocols that will reinforce the liberals, and also establish a presence on their flank to keep them honest. This is a classic left intelligentsia role, which we can play in the United States, and in a few other countries, just by virtue of the relative centrality of law schools in the policy apparatus of the regime.(Of course, there are many places where it’s not a meaningful option.)
We can play a second counter-hegemonic role, because we are situated not just within a policy generating apparatus, but also within a cadre training operation. The complexly oppressive American system, with its enormous power to draw people into it, is also based on the training of its elites. Law school is not a site for mass movements; law school is a training ground for the elites who manage and develop and produce the system that we are against. Law school is training for hierarchy; law school is a place where the Hessian mercenaries train to carry arms against the revolutionary forces. At the same time that it’s a source of policies, it’s a source of personnel.
It builds consciousness, a way of being that makes you a willing participant.
It makes you a bought-in person who is doing the work of the system and enjoying the rewards of rulership, administering disastrous policy for yourself as well as for other people. That is a psychological enterprise; it inculcates a way of being in relation to the state; a way of being in relation to power in general, and it’s taught in law school classrooms. Not today in the brutal Socratic mode of the 1960s but in a much more seductive, in fact, mind-numbing mode. The new, nicer mode is just as much a mode of recruitment, of intra-elite solidarity, as the old hazing mode was, and we can resist this one, too.
— Duncan Kennedy, Teaching from the Left in my Anecdotage
The Slow Boring of Holes into Hard Planks
I just can’t stop talking about the fate of the left, I guess!
Matt Yglesias comments on what we have to do to push American politics further to the left, and pretty much hits the nail on the head: “If you want to move US public policy to the left, what you have to do is to identify incumbent holders of political office and then defeat them on Election Day with alternative candidates who are more left-wing.”
I’d go one step further and argue that it’s not only important to be replacing some Congressmen and Senators with even slightly more left-wing Congressmen and Senators, we need more left-wing mayors, more left-wing city council members, more left-wing school board representatives, more left-wing transportation commissioners, and on and on and on. As Yglesias notes, the right has been able to create a lock-step party machine due to decades of ideological discipline and encouraging takeovers on every level. Pat Robertson protege Ralph Reed once said, “I would rather have a thousand school-board members than one president and no school-board members.” It’s a shame that the Religious Right has come to understand the strength of grassroots organizing better than the Left.
As we all know from the fight over school curricula, those right-wing school board members are really paying off.
On the level of institutional fixes, a third party is still less optimal than some other strategies. It’s better to propose a switch to a form of representation that’s more likely to yield stronger left-wing outcomes in places where that’s likely. This means an embrace of alternative voting schemes like proportional representation in municipalities and if we want to get really radical, a switch from a bicameral assembly and governor system in a state like California to a parliamentary system where we could cement a left-wing majority.
With that said, a third party could make sense in local elections in heavily left-leaning areas (like the Bay Area), and also could act as a credible threat to the center-left Democratic Party in smaller elections to force the Democratic candidates to move left to capture more votes. I don’t think this dynamic makes a lot of sense on the national stage, though, where the race between Democrats and Republicans is so close.
What is to be done?
There’s been a barrage of posts recently on “left neoliberalism” and the paucity of neoliberal ideology for winning victories for the left. For those who haven’t been following the discussion, Matt Yglesias (who identifies as ‘neoliberal’ on his Facebook page, but I think of more as a regular left-liberal) contributed to The Atlantic’s job creation “debate” with the idea that the Federal Reserve should change inflation targets to help create jobs. Political theorist Corey Robin responded with some skepticism about the policy tweak, and a more wide-ranging critique of what he described as “the Reaganite temper of our times.” This spurred comments all across the Internet left-writ-large, ranging from Will Wilkinson and Brad Delong on the neoclassical liberal end, to Doug Henwood and Henry Farrell on the social left end.
There’s probably not much I can add of substance to the debate on the level of ideas, but I’d like to see this discussion through a different lens that might help to bridge the gap between the two sides. Yglesias believes comments against him are maddeningly devoid of any substantive recommendations. Farrell believes that Yglesias is trapped in the realm of mere policy prescription and has no workable theory of politics, which he believes is necessary for building coalitions and moving the ball up the field toward the utopian endzone. Yglesias agrees with Kevin Drum (and by proxy, Farrell) that building strong left-wing institutions/coalitions is important, but doesn’t see how Farrell’s critique is relevant to a “concrete agenda” for doing so.
Both sides are talking past each other. What’s at stake is not neoliberalism vs. social democracy; it’s a division of labor problem.
What creates social change? To me, it seems that “progress” is frequently an overdetermined phenomenon, created by a concatenation of structural factors, social movements, and technical/policy changes made by having the right actors in the right place at the right time. We need all of the gears in motion on every front in order to achieve real change. It is not a matter of mere policy changes, but it is also unnecessary to bite at the heels of a political blogger like Yglesias simply because he doesn’t focus on the bigger organizational picture.
Yglesias plays his role as a technical commentator on political issues. An organizer for Make the Road NY plays her role as a person who gathers, educates and mobilizes people to pressure people in power. A direct service provider for a humanitarian NGO plays his role by directly reducing human suffering, even if on a very small scale.
JW Mason has a great blog here where he frequently provides astute analysis, and he weighs in on this discussion with the exact right point: “But while Yglesias did miss the point, I don’t think it’s just a personal failure on his part. We have to acknowledge that policy debates are suited to the online world in a way that practical politics is not…When “what is to be done” is a question about policy, there’s not too much trouble over who’s doing the doing—it’s the state or some well-defined subset of it. But when it’s a question of political strategy, the actor is much murkier.” He goes on to tell us the hard truth: if we believe in leftist politics, we need to get off the internet and go do something that helps real people.
But can we fault Yglesias – a technocrat by nature who does all his work online, writing – for sticking to policy alone? I don’t know. His attitude is out of place in the trenches, where I am now, but shortly I will have left my gig as a direct services provider and advocate and be a pointy-headed student and researcher again myself. Who is to say one approach should trump the other?
We need both.
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The two Kyiv Moishe House residents with whom the writer spoke said that they host a number of holiday events in Moishe House or at larger venues. They also sponsor lectures and discussions on such topics as the role of women in Jewish life, Jewish cooking, and Jewish practices in death and mourning. They have organized Jewish Kyiv excursions for young people. They hold frequent Shabbat dinners, usually followed by discussions; the average number of participants in Shabbat dinners is 14 to 16, said the young women, but once 20 people came. They believe that their role is to explore Judaism, not to teach Judaism. Most of their guests are secular, they said.
They acknowledged their dependence on, and admiration for, Aryeh and Stephanie Pelcovits, a young American modern Orthodox couple volunteering in Kyiv for a year with the Jewish Service Corps.[89] They have celebrated Shabbat and attended a Pesach seder at the Pelcovits apartment because they required a demonstration of how such observances should be conducted.
One of the Moshe House residents told the writer that the primary appeal of Moishe House to her is that it provides comfortable living space in a safe neighborhood. Prior to moving into the Moishe House apartment, she had lived with her family in a smaller city near Kyiv and commuted to the Ukrainian capital daily by train. She enjoys some aspects of Jewish life, she said, but she believes that Israel is a “ghetto” and she has no interest in that country.[90]
67. JAFARI (Jewish safari) is an organization that creates Jewish cultural and educational programs for the Kyiv Jewish population. Its primary event is a mobile Jewish scavenger hunt that operates every other week with a hiatus during the coldest winter months. Leaders Masha Putskova and Marina Lisak explained that five or more people participate as a team in a vehicle. The hunt begins several hours after the end of Shabbat and usually continues for four hours, although a separate version can be arranged for two hours. The late hours of competition, said the two women, assures that traffic will be relatively light.
Up to 20 cars compete in each hunt, seven of them regularly and the others on an occasional basis. Most individuals are young adults, said Ms. Putskova and Ms. Lisak, but family groups also participate. Young couples with small children are welcome if the youngsters are seated in appropriate child seats. Participants pay a small entry fee to cover expenses. Information about the hunts is transmitted through social networking Internet sites and by word of mouth.
Most competitions are structured around a specific theme, such as a particular Jewish historic figure or event. Participants are given a set of 10 envelopes to be opened in a numbered sequence; each envelope contains a clue, often written in a humorous or ironic style, about a specific building or monument related to the theme. Upon reaching the building or monument, participants call or text information to the organizers that verifies identification of the target. The organizer may ask for certain details about the site. Those responding correctly are authorized to open the next envelope and proceed in the search. Occasionally, said the two women, colleagues are posted at a specific site to check that the cars did indeed reach the intended target.
At a certain time after midnight, all competitors gather at the Aroma café for coffee, a presentation on the significance of the theme that was being pursued that evening, and a summary of competition results.[91] In response to a question, the two women said that police and many ordinary citizens are familiar with such urban safaris and are not troubled by groups of cars showing up at a specific site for a few minutes and then driving off to other sites.
Ms. Putskova and Ms. Lisak also own a company called Купи слона (Buy an Elephant, a reference to well-known Russian children’s literature), which carries the tagline an agency of positive emotions. This firm creates and manages events for children, including parties, tours, and even Hebrew-language instruction. They have worked in Jewish schools and camps and also in city-wide Purim celebrations. They also have developed special Jewish safaris for particular organizations. Additionally, they lead Hebrew-language tours of Kyiv for visiting Israelis. Outside the Jewish communal infrastructure, they have created secular events for large international companies, such as McDonald’s and Procter & Gamble.
Masha Putskova, left, was a philosophy major in university and now teaches Hebrew and is active in various aspects of Jewish culture. Marina Lisak, right, is an investment manager. The two women studied Hebrew in JAFI ulpans and now create and manage popular Jewish cultural events.
68. The Lo Tiskach Foundation – European Jewish Cemeteries Initiative was established in 2006 with the goal of gathering and organizing all known data on European Jewish burial grounds so that it is readily accessible to all interested individuals.[92] A critical component of the program is engagement of young European Jews in this task so that they learn about the burial grounds and pre-Holocaust Jewish life and culture in surrounding communities. Lo Tishkach participants are expected to undertake practical work in the preservation and protection of these cemeteries and mass graves.
Lo Tishkach was founded by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany and the Conference of European Rabbis. Its Ukraine representation was initiated in 2009 with financial support from the Genesis Philanthropic Group (Moscow) and both financial and logistical support from the Ukrainian Vaad (Association of Jewish Organizations of Ukraine).[93] The writer met with Yana Yanover, coordinator of the Lo Tishkach Ukraine office, which is located within Vaad premises in Kyiv.
Ms. Yanover said that the Lo Tishkach program in Ukraine expands upon work previously done under the supervision of Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich, Chief Rabi of Kyiv and Ukraine, and the United States Commission for Preservation of the American Heritage Abroad. In just its first year of operations in Ukraine, Lo Tishkach identified 10 previously unknown burial sites in the Kyiv region and another 35 in the Cherkassy region, Ms. Yanover said.
Lo Tishkach expedition groups may be Hillel students, groups of other young people interested in history, or foreign Jewish young people desiring to explore historic Ukraine. Recruiting seminars, said Ms. Yanover, are held throughout the year in different Ukrainian cities. Recent seminars have been held, she continued, in Kyiv, the Carpathian Mountain area (known as Zakarpatiya or Transcarpathia), Liviv, Crimea, and Kharkiv. All relevant Jewish community groups are notified in advance of the seminar so that potentially interested students and young adults will attend. The goal is to recruit attendees to expeditions, preferably in their own regions so as to strengthen a sense of Jewish community and continuity. Participants are asked to propose their own projects within local areas, that is, decide which burial grounds to clean, whether to focus on monument development or fence construction, or other matters. Local rabbis are invited to explain all relevant Jewish laws regarding burials and related topics. Many expeditions are scheduled for university vacation periods in order encourage student participation.
Information about Jewish burial sites and locations of mass slaughters during the Holocaust is published by Lo Tishkach in a series of books, such as the 106-page catalogue on Jewish burial grounds in the Kyiv region. Similar volumes exist about Jewish burial grounds in other regions of Ukraine.
The Jewish burial grounds depicted on the cover of the Kyiv region catalogue are (clockwise from top): Skvyra Jewish Cemetery II, Kyiv Jewish Cemetery IV (Kurenivske), Dymer Mass Grave, Borodianka Jewish Cemetery, Bila Tserkva Jewish Cemetery II (Kyivska), and Makariv Mass Grave (memorial monument).
[89] See pages 124-125.
[90] The young woman in question was raised in a city south of Kyiv in which Bundism retains some adherents.
[91] Aroma café in Kyiv is one of a number of international cafés modeled on, and owned by, the popular Aroma cafés in Israel.
[92] Lo Tishkach (Heb., לא תשכח) is translated as Do not Forget. In addition to creating a data base of all European Jewish burial grounds, information is gathered about local laws and practices affecting their protection and preservation. Data thus assembled facilitates advocacy for maintenance of these sites.
The headquarters of Lo Tishkach are located in Brussels. See their website at www.lo-tishkach.org.
[93] See pages 114-116 for further information about the Vaad.
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Although the Center is somewhat less conspicuous than it was at the time of its conception four or five years ago due to the development of other large buildings in its immediate vicinity, it remains pretentious and ostentatious, thus stoking fear in Dnipropetrovsk and elsewhere that it will generate antisemitism. The reality that independent Jewish organizations, such as the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Hillel student organization, feel compelled to move their operations to a Chabad facility only underlines the hegemonic influence of Chabad in Dnipropetrovsk, commented both local and non-resident observers. Expanding on that theme, several Jewish community professionals expressed apprehension that potential participants in, say, JAFI or Hillel activities, will forgo such involvement in order to avoid any contact with religion-associated structures in general or Chabad in particular.
Jewish Education and Culture
2. Chabad maintains two early childhood education centers in the city, neither of which the writer was able to visit during her May 2012 journey. The Ilana day care center enrolls about 35 children between the ages of one and three. A much larger program is Beit Tsindlicht, a preschool accommodating about 150 youngsters between 2½ and six in a two-story structure with a well-equipped playground.[15] Both programs operate a full day, serving both breakfast and lunch. Each is highly regarded by participating families and by professionals as well. Both charge tuition, although accommodation is made for a small group of youngsters from disadvantaged home situations. Almost all children are halachically Jewish. Although a significant proportion of lead teachers and administrators are Israeli women educated in Israel, the majority of instructors were trained at Beit Chana.[16]
Chabad nursery school children visit a shmurah matza factory operated by Chabad near Dnipropetrovsk.
Photo: ЕВРЕЇ ДНІПРОПЕТРОВЩИНИ: історіа та сучасністью.(Дніпропетровськ: Арт-Прес, 2011), 44.
A plan to open a second early childhood program on the east (and less well-developed) side of the Dnipr River in premises controlled by Chabad collapsed in 2010 when Chabad refused to pay bribes in return for city operating permits. Beit Tsindlikht currently operates at capacity.
3. School #144, which bears the formal name of Levi Yitzhak Schneerson Ohr Avner Jewish Day School, occupies a three-building campus used as a boarding school during the Soviet period. The main building houses 315 youngsters in grades one through eleven in a general curriculum with a modest Jewish studies program. (See below.) Another 175 pupils are enrolled in more intensive Chabad religious programs, i.e., 90 boys in a yeshiva katana and 85 girls in a machon, each in its own separate building. (See below.)
The main building of School 144 is seen at right. The girls’ machon is behind this building and the boys’ yeshiva katana is to the left of the pictured building.
Photo: Chabad of Dnipropetrovsk.
At its peak census in the late 1990’s, the school enrolled close to 700 youngsters, most in the general program. At that time, it was the largest Jewish day school in all of the post-Soviet states and one of the largest in all of Europe. Both the total number of pupils (490) and the number of youngsters in the secular program have been decreasing over the years at the same time that both the raw number and proportion of pupils in the more intensive religious sections has been increasing. The growth of the Chabad religious programs reflects the increasing Chabad population in the city, whereas the decreasing enrollment in the general program reflects Jewish demographic losses, parental disdain for the religious studies program and for Chabad, and a perception that the general studies program is inferior to that in many other city schools.
Mikhail Gugel, principal, stated that the school remains a public school and charges no tuition. It receives the regular municipal allocation for its secular studies program and is subsidized by the local Chabad Jewish community (Благотворительный фонд Днепропетровского еврейского общины) for the religious studies component, ongoing upkeep and renovations, and periodic equipment upgrades, such as several additional smart boards and some new computers (replacing obsolescent ORT-supplied computers) for the 2011-2012 academic year. Major renovations are underway on the third floor, Mr. Gugel commented.[17]
The Avi Chai Foundation continues to support an annual Shabbaton for a limited number of pupils and their parents, continued Mr. Gugel. The most significant outside funder is the Boston Jewish federation (Combined Jewish Philanthropies) which, through its Jewish community sister-city relationship with Dnipropetrovsk, provides funding for two short-term camps,[18] English-language library books, and training of English-language instructors. CJP also purchased new equipment for the school kitchen in 2011-2012, said Mr. Gugel.[19]
In response to a question, Mr. Gugel said that the school needs even more computers and related equipment, electronic textbooks, and laboratory equipment and supplies for instruction in both physics and chemistry. A previous plan to build a full-size sports hall and community rooms seems to have been abandoned; the school has only a small gymnasium in the yeshiva and a small fitness studio in the machon building that is used only by girls enrolled in the machon.
Principal Mikhail Gugel came to School #144 in 2010 after many years of experience in Dnipropetrovsk secular schools and local colleges and universities. His parents live in Israel.
The Jewish studies component of the school curriculum consists of three class periods weekly in Jewish tradition and three class periods in Hebrew language instruction. All Jewish holidays are observed, and Jewish content is included in music, art, and drama. A more comprehensive Jewish studies program would interfere (мешаться) with the general studies curriculum – and the secular studies component is far more important to parents than is the Jewish program, said Mr. Gugel. School #144 continues to improve its secular instruction, he noted, and has done well in municipal competitions in various subjects. Nonetheless, the school is not considered among the strongest or most prestigious in the city.
Curricula in the yeshiva katana and machon emphasize religious studies. Both are directed by Israelis and the predominant language of instruction in Chabad subjects is Hebrew. Although both boys and girls also study general subjects, the secular studies program in the yeshiva katana, in particular, is limited.
Envisaging future enrollment, Mr. Gugel said that he expected that the school would grow marginally in the next few years. He observed that 32 youngsters would graduate from eleventh grade in June 2012 and that 50 children had already registered for the 2012-2013 first-grade class. Demographic factors, including a policy that limits enrollment to halachically Jewish youngsters, constrain school growth.[20]
At the time of the writer’s visit in May, plans were proceeding to open a separate yeshiva katana in fall 2012 with boarding facilities for boys between the ages of approximately 10 and 16. Enrollment would be limited to youngsters from Chabad families so that high standards of study and commitment to Chabad tradition would be maintained. A market for this type of institution is known to exist, especially for the sons of Chabad emissaries stationed in small Ukrainian towns who fear inability to educate their children in communities with very few other Chabad families. Further, it is hoped that the high quality of such an institution would attract boys from Chabad families in other countries whose families are eager for them to imbibe the rich Chabad history in this area of Ukraine. However, a decision was made shortly after the writer’s visit to postpone opening of this program for at least one additional school year.
4. Under the sponsorship of Tzivos Hashem (Heb., The Army of G_d), a Chabad children’s organization, Rabbi Yossi Glick manages several children’s programs in the city. The best known of these are separate residential facilities for Jewish boys and girls from troubled home situations. Often referred to as “social orphans,” most of the youngsters are from single-parent homes in which the custodial parent is unable to provide adequate childcare due to alcohol or other substance addiction, impoverish-ment, or other problems. Some parents are imprisoned. A few youngsters have been cared for by aging grandparents unable to cope with the needs of active, growing children.
Rabbi Yossi Glick, a native of Australia, manages several Chabad children’s programs in Dnipropetrovsk.
[15] The Ilana program is named in memory of a former participant who died as a young child. Beit Tsindlicht is named in memory of the maternal grandparents of Viktor Pinchuk, a native of Dnipropetrovsk who now lives in Kyiv and is married to the daughter of Leonid Kuchma, a past President of Ukraine. Mr. Pinchuk, who provided the lead gift for development of the building, is an oligarch with major interests in iron and steel products, as well as other industries.
[16] See pages 19-22.
[17] Mr. Gugel said that the main building was constructed in 1936 as a boarding school (with dormitories on the upper floors) and was converted into a military hospital during World War II. Following the war, it reverted to use as a boarding school; the smaller structures now housing the machon and yeshiva katana were built as vocational workshops in the 1950’s and 1970’s respectively.
[18] A winter camp, Havaya, enrolls adolescents from Dnipropetrovsk, Boston, and, periodically, Haifa, for a two-week session that usually is held in the Dnipropetrovsk area. (Haifa is Boston’s Partnership community in Israel.) In June, following the close of school, a two-week English-language day camp is held for elementary school children in Dnipropetrovsk. Teachers at the camp include both day school teachers and visiting instructors from Boston. School #144 English-language instructors also have attended summer teaching seminars in Boston, but CJP did not offer such a program in 2012, Mr. Gugel noted.
[19] See pages 43-44 for additional information about the Dnipropetrovsk-Boston relationship.
[20] It is generally posited that 80 percent of married Jews in Ukraine are married to someone who is not Jewish. Dnipropetrovsk Chabad standards on the admission of non-halachically Jewish youngsters into its programs are elastic, reflecting the level of Jewish commitment in the child’s home and, some say, the level of family financial support of Chabad programs in the city. The number of non-halachically Jewish youngsters in the Dnipropetrovsk Chabad school is very small.
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Posted by g88kboy in g88kboy, Travel
Don’t come to Kazakhstan in the winter if you don’t like the cold!
We got there late October and it was already snowing 😖. Still, visiting Kazakhstan during freezing weather gave us an excuse to relax in the famous Arasan Russian bath – which is an experience I really reccomend to do (unless you have something against bathing naked with sweating seniors!).
Indeed, I really enjoyed the Arasan spa in Almaty (highlights include an old man doing a somersault over the handrail into the swimming pool). I attempted the Turkish, Finnish and Russian saunas, the latter being the hottest. I would suggest going to the Turkish if you like sunbathing (if you also don’t mind the smell of burnt fish, that’s what I smelled). It is difficult to stay in the Russian sauna for more than a couple minutes, but it’s worth the try. Tip: after entering, pour the bucket of ice-cold water on top of you head, it does help.
Enough about the spa. Let’s go back outside.
The mini-blizzard didn’t stop us from sightseeing. We went up the Kok-tobe mountain, a popular weekenders destination, with a cable car (it reminded me of the times when we would go skiing). It was even colder up there, but I enjoyed walking around, especially because it was a fun park (starting up again the chant – “It’s not fair! Take us to the fair!”). Unfortunately most attractions were closed due to the snow. At the end, considering how expensive the lift tickets were, we decided to walk down the mountain, which turned out to be a nice and pleasant walk despite the chilly air.
In fact, Kazakhstan was stunning under the blanket of snow, a condition the country is well used to. Nested in the mountains just a 15 minutes drive from Almaty, there is indeed a well known ski resort and Medeu, an enormous Olympic Stadium ice rink. We could not not go to visit that. It was unfortunately closed, but I was still in awe of the grand space of the entire rink clothed in glistening snow.
Talking of landmark sights, we also visited Panfilov Park, which is home to the Ascension Cathedral, a Russian Orthodox church. Impressively, it is the second tallest wooden church in the world, still standing: the towers looming in the pelting snow. It is now being refurbished, so unfortunately we couldn’t visit this one attraction either, but it was worth coming to the park and seeing the colorful church from the outside. Nearby, a large memorial dedicated to the Kazakh soldiers defending Moscow during WW2 is perched over an eternal fire crackling and raging through the weather.
My early impressions of Kazakhstan, however, weren’t great and only changed once in Almaty.
As I mentioned in my previous post, (https://beyondoverton.com/2018/10/26/uzbekistan-golden-teeth-and-neon-signs-2/) we first entered Kazakhstan through the Caspian Sea before driving into Uzbekistan. We had befriended a Kazakh on the ferry who offered us a ride to Beyneu on his bus. Later on, he asked my dad to lend him money for the petrol, promising he would return it (spoiler alert : he lied). In the end, he claimed the money was his fee for giving us a bus ride to Beyneu. I was frustrated – this person had lied and cheated us and we couldn’t do anything about it.
Another ‘school of life’ situation (as my mum likes to call them), happened while waiting for our train. We had set out for a restaurant close to the station and finally found one. All was well until half an hour later. A man had too much to drink and started stumbling around the restaurant, smashing windows and fighting with his friend. Well, that was interesting, to say the least.
Those experiences were not repeated the second time we entered Kazakhstan. Already at our arrival at Almaty’s train station, we were met by a friend of a friend, who owned a truck transportation business shipping things from China into Central Asia. He kindly offered to organise our Chinese border crossing – which we were extremely grateful for (otherwise, we would have had to take (again!) an overnight train).
In addition, later on, another friend of a friend showed us around Almaty’s surroundings (he brought us to the ice-skating rink) and introduced us to horse milk and camel milk. I found them both a bit too sour for my taste.
Overall, I really liked Almaty (full of amazing cafes and restaurants – with WiFi!). It’s third on my list of favourite cities, after Baku and Batumi.
Trees of a specific fruit are grown all around the city which is why Almaty means ‘father of…’ See if you can guess which fruit it is.
That’s right. Oranges.
Oh my bad. I meant apples.
Posted by beyondoverton in EM, Travel
Kazakhstan, Travel
A note for clarity:
I set up this blog as a diary for my thoughts on the financial markets about a year ago. As we embarked on our Silk Road journey, my son wanted to share his travel experiences and I allowed him to use beyondoverton.com.
So now, you may have noticed that there are two entries per each country we have visited: my perspective (beyondoverton) and his (g88kboy). Additionally, because of the lack of reliable internet connections in most countries and our (Georgia and I, not necessarily the kids) desire to experience the real life as much as possible, our country posts come with delay. For example, I am about to post on Kazakhstan but we have been in China for almost a month already.
Connectivity being the issue has also meant that some posts have appeared in strange writing style – I don’t know why – could be because we upload from our mobile phones. It is for this reason that there are very few photos, in general. We have thousands, but uploading photos takes forever.
I have been also posting general footnotes on the journey, from time to time, with the latest being on China. That may increase the confusion as the timeline now, with this Kazakhstan post, seems to have been ‘broken’. A proper post on China will come soon!)
We entered Kazakhstan twice. The first time when we crossed the Caspian Sea from Azerbaijan, and the second time, after Uzbekistan. The fact that we do not need visa to enter helped substantially in organizing our trip that way (all the visas we had to get so far for the other countries have been single entry only).
The two entries were also totally different experiences. During the first, we literally got taken for a ride by a local, whom we met on the boat from Baku. During the second, we met some of the nicest people (thanks to a good friend of mine: Nurik, if you are reading – a whole lot of gratitude) who not only showed us Almaty from a local point of view but also helped us cross the border into China!
We did neither know how to get from the port of entry on the Caspian Sea to the nearest town, Atyrau, nor really how to go to the border of Uzbekistan from there (about 6h drive). We thought we were in luck when one of the drivers on the boat from Azerbaijan, Mohammed, offered to take us to Beyneu, one hour away from the border. He had been to Georgia where he had bought a bus and was driving it back to his home in Aktau.
By the time we managed to get through passport control, and after waiting for a few hours for Mohammed to pass through customs with his bus, it had already become 10pm. I had checked that there was a train from Beyneu to Nukus, Uzbekistan at 4 am, so I thought, “Perfect timing”.
The bus driver had already agreed to take an American solo traveller, Michael, and a few of the locals along. At the last barrier before exiting the border area, the officers, for some reason, did not let us through. Mohammed turned around and asked me if he could borrow $30 (he said he had no cash) equivalent in Tenge, the local currency, because he had forgotten to pay for some document. It was lucky that I had exchanged that much money as, normally, exchange rates at borders are the worst.
It turned out, that he did not have the license to drive this bus (I have no idea how he had driven it so far!). I don’t know what the money I gave him was for, or how they let us through but now we needed to find someone else to drive the bus once in Atyrau, which meant that we could not go to Beyneu immediately.
We picked up more locals on the way, one of whom was kind enough to direct us as there did not seem to be a proper road for probably something like 10-15 km.
A small diversion here. This was a brand new port, which had opened literally two weeks ago. The facilities were excellent. Nothing compared to what they were in Azerbaijan and more like any modern European port of entry.
We stopped at a petrol station and the driver asked each of the locals to contribute some money for him to fill up the tank. That’s when I started to get suspicious; but still, he was a devout Muslim – he wouldn’t be a cheat and a liar, would he?
We were in Atyrau by midnight. We stopped at a parking lot just outside of town where all the locals disembarked and we waited for two people, one of whom was the new driver, the other, a friend of Mohammed. There was a new problem: they needed to arrange insurance, and, of course, that could not be done in the middle of the night. So, we needed to find a place to sleep…and somewhere to exchange money to pay for it.
Mohammed’s friend managed to arrange a flat for $40 for the night for all of us (including Michael) and I got in his car with him to find some Tenge and pick up the keys. (Everyone else stayed in that parking lot to wait for us).
When I look at this whole experience in hindsight, it seems surreal. I had no idea who these people were, we had just arrived in a foreign country in the middle of the night, I had left my family on a deserted parking lot and embarked on a trip across town with a stranger looking for a flat to sleep in and a place where to exchange money!
This guy was huge, a former Kazakhstan bench weight lifting champion…and he turned out to be super nice. If I had any fears, they quickly disappeared once I got talking to him in the car (by the way, unlike the other former Soviet Republics we passed through, Kazakh people not only speak perfect Russian but are also happy to).
He obviously knew his way around town. We stopped first in a secluded alley, where the ‘exchange bureau’ was an iron door with a small opening in the middle where you handed your dollars and hoped you would get some Tenge back. Then we drove to a really dilapidated block of old Soviet-style flats where a lady handed us the keys (she insisted on keeping my passport for ‘deposit’ but eventually settled for 2,000 Tenge – about $5).
The bizarre did not finish there. We picked up the family and Michael from the parking lot and drove to a brand new, very modern, but half-built ‘skyscraper’ on the Caspian Sea waterfront, where, I think, no flats were inhabited. The fact that there was a guard at the door who looked at us worryingly and warned he would call the police confirmed my suspicion (he did not).
The following morning, we got on the bus again and we left for the border town. I began to wonder whether I would ever get our money back. It was not so much for the actual money but a question of trust. Moreover, we had run out of Tenge and I was still relying on the money we were owed.
At our first stop we needed to buy water and I asked Mohammed when he was planning to give us the money back. He laughed back at me and said something like, “You were not thinking you were getting a ride for free, were you!?” Of course we were! The bus was going empty in our direction anyhow, and he had never mentioned money. His reply was, “Sorry, I must have forgotten to tell you, I expect you to pay for taking you to Beyneu”.
The situation became hilarious when, half way, we stopped at another petrol station and he asked to ‘borrow’ more money under another pledge that he would give it back. We were shocked after our previous exchange. Did he really think that we would trust him again?
Eventually, we got dropped off at the Beyneu train station but with a sour taste in our mouth.
Incidentally, while this drama was going on in the bus, the scenery outside was a vast steppe (most of it, hundreds of meters below sea level) where camels and wild horses were roaming free. The other thing I noticed was, once past the Caspian Sea, people start to look much more Asian. In any of the countries so far on our trip, I could have possibly passed as a local. No such chance here.
We arrived in Almaty on the train from Tashkent. Almaty was really special: the unusually cold (below freezing, snowing) weather was contrasted with the amazing warmth of the people we met there. Nurik, my friend from University, who is also originally from Almaty but lives in London, put us in touch with his friends, Max and Daniar.
Max waited for us at the Almatyi train station, helped us to exchange money and get a SIM card and eventually took us to our rented flat. He was pretty much ‘on call’ all the time we were there with suggestions what to do and where to eat. And of course he organized our trip to the Chinese border.
Daniar took us for lunch where we tried some Kazakh delicatessen, among which camel and horse milk. Afterwards, he showed us Medeu, the most popular ski resort in Central Asia, just half an hour drive from Central Almaty.
Otherwise, the weather was totally ‘uncooperative’: miserably cold. We had planned our trip with the idea to avoid the coming winter in Central Asia/China, both as it is less pleasant to travel from place to place, backpackers’ style, when it is cold, and for practical reasons (fewer things to carry).
Georgia and my son had already bought winter jackets in Uzbekistan, and now literally the first thing we did in Almaty was buy hats and gloves in a mall. Then we went to the ‘Green Bazaar’ and bought these special waterproof ‘socks’ which go on top of the normal socks (we brought only one pair of shoes with us on this journey, the special Vivo Bare Foot, which had served us extraordinarily well so far, but were no match for the slush and snow in Almaty). And then we bought camel-hair and bamboo socks to keep warm. Finally, we still wore pretty much every single piece of clothing we had brought with us – this is how big the shock to the system was the cold we encountered in Almaty!
The upside of the bad weather was that we spent some time in Almaty wonderful cafes (I was very happy that I was finally able to drink some proper coffee!), restaurants (we had amazing Korean – it turns out that Almaty has a large Korean diaspora stretching all the way to the 1930s – the first mass transfer of an entire nationality!) and, of course, Bania Arasan (the Arasan Baths). This latter was heaven for Georgia and my son; I and my daughter, on the other hand, were just fine.
Arasan Baths were finished only in 1982 and are a typical example of Soviet modernist architecture. Rumor is that they were built to compete with the oriental baths in Tashkent (we did not see the latter because they were demolished a few years ago). Inside, the baths are not only really exquisite – a blend of oriental and modernist style architecture and materials; but they are also quite practical – everything was designed with a specific task in mind. Men and women bathe separately but, apparently, the two sides are exactly symmetrical. The choices are Russian Bania, Finnish sauna and Turkish steam room with the temperature in each decreasing in that order (if you are a first timer, like me, you would not
be able to stay more than a minute in the Russian Bania – it is that hot!).
We had chosen the rental flat right next to both the Arasan Baths and the Panfilovets’ Park the other must-see attraction in Almaty. The park is named and dedicated to the 28 soldiers of an Almaty infantry unit who died fighting the Nazis outside Moscow. We had to visit it despite the extreme cold. It was definitely worth it as the memorial is really magnificent.
On our last day we left Almaty very early in the morning for our drive to the Chinese border. Max came to pick us up from the flat (he gave us a few of the city’s famous apples for the road!) and then one of his drivers took us to the border.
The scenery was very much as I remembered it on our first encounter
with Kazakhstan in the east: steppes with wild horses (did not see camels;
don’t know if it was because it was so cold).
The difference was that this time the land was covered with snow, and with the majestic Tien-Shan mountains in the distance, it looked like a scene from one of those Russian ‘skazkis’ (stories) I had read as a child.
The border! Again! It all started well. We got dropped off where the car could go no further, picked up by one of Max’s people and taken, like VIPs, to the Kazakh border control. The appearance of a family on a deserted border crossing so far had caused some commotion and excitement. Here, though, it caused also some suspicion.
That was probably caused by my son mentioning he was from Italy while handing his British passport to the border officer, and my Eastern European name (and looks). Not only, it took the border officers an usually long time to process our documents (especially the kids’), but also, after passing through, we were separately, and casually, asked few questions (to the kids, what is the name of their mother; to Georgia, what is her name and to confirm her husband was from Ukraine!?!). We couldn’t
figure out if it was pure curious chit-chat from a group of bored officers or
digging deeper into our identities, but we thought it amusing.
The actual problem was what happened after we finally cleared the Kazakh border control. We started walking towards the Chinese side, when we were stopped by a screaming loudspeaker and asked to return back: apparently, you are not allowed to simply walk in no man’s land to the Chinese border – you have to be ‘transported’ there.
The issue was that the only transportation is a public bus, that not only arrives from time to time (no one knows when) but you need Tenge to pay for it (the same rate as if you had picked it up from the departure point), and we had not kept any.
We found ourselves in a bind. What do we do? Do we take our chances and wait for the bus? What if it is full? Would the driver take dollars instead of Tenge? Do we go back in Kazakhstan and attempt to board that bus at its starting point?
We decided to wait. Eventually, the Kazakh border officers warmed up and we started talking (I think they were bored – no one passed through the three hours we waited for that bus!). One of them promised he would talk to the driver and make sure he would take us on board, and for free! It was indeed a relief when the bus eventually arrived with enough spaces for us to board and cross into China. However, not before waiting for an hour, in the bus, while the Chinese border was closed for lunch break!
Silk Road Footnote
China, Travel
(Bull on the Bund, Shanghai)
We’ve been in China for less than a month as part of our Silk Road journey by land, a time, highly inadequate to make any strong conclusions. Yet, within that time, we’ve crossed the full country west to east, taken only public transport, stayed and dined in ‘everyday’ hotels and restaurants (a lot of street food as well!). All this gave us a chance to engage with locals on a completely different level than by only visiting the financial sector in Shanghai or government officials in Beijing (and staying in 5-star hotels – the way I used to do it as a professional investor). All this is obviously anecdotal ‘evidence’ but what struck me is:
1) the service sector is absolutely booming
2) prices are generally on the same level as in Europe/US
3) the locals can afford them
I consider myself a practical economist (UPenn/Wharton but having acquired 90% of my ‘economics’ from the markets and from tons of reading), so I am not making any claims, but it is actually possible, despite misgivings in the West, that China may indeed be growing at the official rate they have been reporting.
We, ourselves, in the West, are grappling with the accounting of an increasingly digitized service economy. Well, the size of Chinese e-commerce is multiple times that of the US, which means a lot more data. Moreover, because of the structure of society (centralization) they have managed to gather and analyze that data, and perhaps, make better conclusion than we could possibly make.
So, it is possible that we are indeed looking at Chinese growth too pessimistically, which does not negate the fact that all this may indeed be built upon a credit bubble. That would be hardly a surprise given that US growth has been built on a huge private credit bubble since the days of financialization in the early 1980s. Indeed, the locals we spoke to, think there are currently three big bubbles in the world: US stocks, Japanese bonds and Chinese real estate.
My point is that China could be shifting to a consumer-based society much faster than we anticipated and thus is also becoming much less dependent on exports and foreign growth – China does not need to rely on the rest of the world that much anymore. That was more than obvious on our travels in the country: foreign tourists, at best, are tolerated – the local Chinese tourist industry is very well developed and is flourishing. This is a big change from 10 years ago, for example, during which living standards have more than doubled.
It is amazing, in fact, the magnitude of Chinese middle class growth. When combined with the digitalization of society, totally embraced by the government, and the Great Leap Forward may finally happen.
(*Overtake England in 15 years”, 1958, Shanghai Propaganda Poster Art Centre)
The fact that some of these trends are developing much slower in the West due to a lot of private legacy interests, which stand in the way, and governments which imagine they are running out of money, increases the risk that this latest trade ‘war’ would prove to be a spectacular own goal.
Posted by beyondoverton in EM, Travel, Uncategorized
I know probably you would not believe me, having also said that every second car in Georgia is a Toyota Prius, but in Uzbekistan, pretty much every new car is a Chevrolet. Ok, I looked it up: thanks to a joint venture between GM and the government, apparently 95% of the new cars in Uzbekistan are Chevrolets.
Because of Uzbekistan’s vast resources of gas (and no oil), majority of those cars are adjusted for methane and propane, which are half the
price of oil. It was strange the first time we took a long-distance taxi and it
had to refill: the driver stopped about 200m away from the gas station and
asked us to get out of the car for safety.
I was really looking forward to visiting Uzbekistan. The country was a major destination along the Silk Road and I had heard so much about the magic of Samarkand already in my school days in Bulgaria. I was also very curious to see a country which was literally locked up for so many years after the breakdown of the Soviet Union: Uzbekistan’s borders were pretty much shut down until 2005 – during and until the end of Islam Karimov’s reign, the first president after gaining independence.
In fact, developing deep and meaningful international relations are still in their early stages. For example, the tourist visa regime was only recently simplified, and only a couple of months before our visit, Uzbekistan finally introduced e-visas. But also, because the country was closed off for the majority of the world for so long, it actually learned to produce a lot of goods locally. Ironically, the joint venture with GM was both an example
of this (locally produced cars) and an exception (foreign joint venture).
One could say that we entered Uzbekistan through the “back door”, from Beyneu, Kazakhstan. In fact, Uzbekistan is one of only two double land-locked countries in the world – these are countries which border land-locked countries themselves – yet another curious feature which made me
eager to visit it..
“Back door” is also in reference to the way tourists travel when they visit the country: they normally fly into Tashkent, go to Samarkand, and then Bukhara. Some of the more adventurous may go to Khiva as well. And
then back. We did it the other way around: Khiva-Bukhara-Samarkand-Tashkent.
We encountered a peculiarity about Uzbek culture already in the
border town there: vodka. When it comes to liquor, restaurants seem to offer a large variety of vodka, and pretty much nothing else (and people do drink their vodka – and it shows!). I seldom saw beer, and when I ordered it, it was not particularly good.
What is surprising, though, is the lack of wine. Uzbekistan has different varieties of amazingly sweet grapes but, as far as I know, not much of a choice when it comes to wine. We did try a bottle of wine in Nukus,
the only one on the menu; it was OK, but it turned out it was sweet (what a
surprise!).
But while we may have gone ‘against the tourist traffic’, so to say, we definitely went with the local traffic. The train left Beyneu,
the last stop before the Uzbek border at 4am. We had ‘camped out’ at the train station for the night which was full of people; in fact, at some point one could barely even stand there. There were traders selling all kinds of stuff outside along the railway line. It was incredibly busy!
The kids by now were used to such an experience and promptly fell asleep on the chairs, their heads resting on their knapsacks. As our trip has progressed, it is actually interesting to see how they finally started to grasp the concept of different kinds of comfort. For example, before
this trip, they were used to staying in 4 and 5 star hotels where their concern would normally be if the facilities include a swimming pool. Now they worry not only about the availability of Wi-Fi but sometimes, as in the case of Beyneu, also of a bed!
Around 2 am, a kind officer in the train station, with whom I struck a conversation about football, informed us that we could actually board the train. What was our surprise when we found out that we did not have any assigned seats, it was ‘first come, first serve’ kind of service, and people had already taken any seats where one could lie down! Eventually we managed to find two bench-seats for the kids.
As usual by now when crossing land borders, majority of travellers were ‘traders’: we were asked several times whether we could take some of their stuff in our bags. Overall, however, people were very nice and we
were simply treated as a curiosity. The border crossing was fast and
straightforward. The customs officer did ask us though whether we were bringing any history books!
We arrived in Nukus after 17 hours, travelling through mostly desert-like terrain. There, at the train station, trying to figure out a way to get to a hotel (we had no booking) I encountered another peculiar feature of Uzbekistan culture: they don’t seem to like to negotiate. Having travelled through all the other countries, but especially Turkey and Iran, where negotiating was part of the process, I found this strange. The taxi drivers in Nukus, for example, had very strict rules, one could say, the equivalent of taxis in the West with meter machines: 5,000 Soum (that’s the local currency) for the first 3km and 500 for each after. They would simply
zero out their odometers on every ride.
Even in the bazaars, Uzbek people did not seem to engage in negotiations. They were a bit more flexible there, but they would almost get offended if it went for too long and eventually refuse to sell you the product at any price if “pushed”. I don’t know if this is a specific Uzbek
characteristic or it is a vestige of the Soviet system but I had to respect that this is the way it is.
Our first planned stop was Khiva, a 3h drive from Nukus. The day we drove to Khiva, the temperature dropped from almost 30C, from the day before, to half that. We did not expect such a big change in weather that
soon, and definitely did not welcome it!
Khiva’s old town is surrounded by a wall, inside which old residential houses stand next to centuries old mosques and madrases. Both Uzbekistan’s history and culture are interlinked with those of Iran (and, later, Turkey), so the structure of the mosques is somewhat similar. Yet, unlike Iran, Uzbekistan is famous for its madrases, Muslim religious schools. Samarkand’s Registan, for example is composed of three madrases (but there is one small mosque in one of them).
Despite this, Uzbekistan did not strike me as a particularly religious country. We barely saw women wearing hijabs (actually they were predominant only in Tashkent’s old town). We even had pork in a restaurant in Nukus (the proprietor was Korean) and in a cafe in Tashkent.
As we advanced more eastwards, the arid land gave way to some green vegetation, orchards and grapes. Along the roads, there were people
selling fruits and vegetables at almost any time of the day and (probably)
night. What was amazing to see was the melons: apparently Uzbekistan has the biggest varieties of melons of any country in the world (and the ones we tried were exceptionally sweet – it is a shame they do not juice them like in Iran).
Uzbekistan has plenty of cotton fields. As we were in the country right at the time of harvesting it, we could see people picking up the cotton and piling up the bags in massive containers along the road. We were told that students had to help with the harvest as well (i.e. no school for a month!). I remembered with fondness that we had to do the same in Bulgaria when I was a student there in the 1980s.
Unfortunately, the weather refused to ‘cooperate’ and it got progressively colder. So much, that we had to buy my son a winter jacket in the local market in Bukhara (he had lost his warm jacket somewhere along the
Silk Road before!). We were also forced to wear pretty much all our layers just to keep warm. Yet, that did not seem to help Georgia who fell ill and had to stay one full day in bed! The next day, while feeling better and able to walk around the streets, she also bought something to keep her warmer: a traditional long Uzbek coat. She looked different in it, and enjoyed the curious (from some, the older ones, obviously approving, from the others, the younger generation, amusing) gazes of the locals as we passed them by.
Another reason I wanted to visit Samarkand was Timur the Great, the legendary local leader I had read about as a kid. He created an empire which spanned a vast area, going deep into Persia and all the way to Delhi. However his reign was a one-off, i.e. there were no successors who could maintain his expansions. Timur was peculiar in a sense that he was illiterate himself, but he believed in the power of knowledge and appreciated the beauty of art. Legend has it that when he first ransacked Samarkand ,he killed the majority of the population but he spared the lives of architects, teachers and generally, people of knowledge. Then, under his guidance, Samarkand was rebuilt with the focus exclusively on madrases and other places of knowledge (Ulug Beg, the famous astronomer lived approximately at the same time).
Our last stop in Uzbekistan was its capital, Tashkent. I did not expect much of Tashkent, especially after visiting all these other places before that. Still, I was looking forward to being there because a friend of mine from both university and Morgan Stanley, whom I had not seen for decades, lives there. Unfortunately, he surprisingly had to go to New York the same week we turned up there. It was a shame, not only because I was looking forward to reconnect with him but also because speaking to a local, who I knew previously,would have enriched massively our view of Uzbekistan. As it was, Uzbekistan, after Iran, was a bit of an anticlimax.
However, we managed to get the best of our visit nevertheless. In fact, I enjoyed Tashkent, if not for anything else, for the blast from my ‘Soviet’ past that it provided, more than any other ex-Soviet capital I had ever been to.
So, a lot of things reminded me of how it used to be in Bulgaria in the 1980s: the monuments, the old block of apartments, the local market (where people would still offer to record music for you!), the circus. Even the main department store in the town where I went to high school was called ‘Tashkent’. We took the metro a lot (by the way, there was no metro in Bulgaria back in the ’80s). Some of the metro stations had very interesting decorations, the way I remember the Moscow metro when I visited it in the late 1980s.
The one thing we struggled with in Tashkent was knowing which restaurant was worth going to. In fact, that is one of the things we missed the most on our travels – after eating ‘street food’ most of the time, we were craving some variety…some
vegetables. Luckily, our next stop, Almati, would offer plenty of it.
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Big Pharma Gene Therapy Push Could Be a Dangerous Consumer Cash Grab
Mitchell Gunter
In the wake of debilitating genetic diseases that have plagued mankind for centuries, many are turning to a controversial form of treatment dubbed “gene therapy,” which seeks to cure ailments at the genetic level. However, Big Pharma’s aggressive attempts to charge outlandish sums for this untested treatment could leave consumers bereft of their health and wallets.
According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, gene therapy works by replacing problematic, mutated genes with healthy gene copies, inactivating mutated genes that function improperly, and introducing new genes to assist in fighting disease. Currently, gene therapy is only being tested for diseases with no known cures.
Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a prime example of a disease being targeted by biotech companies for gene therapy, but the whopping price tag may be a hindrance to many with the disorder.
Zolgensma, an SMA gene therapy being developed by Novartis AG, would reportedly be “cost effective” at over $5 million, according to the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER). Novartis echoed the institute, calling the gene therapy cost effective at $4-5 million for a one-time treatment.
Similarly, Spinraza, an SMA treatment from Biogen Inc., would charge patients $750,000 for the first year and $375,000 per year thereafter. “The promise of gene therapy in general is that it would be once and done … but that is uncertain at this point,”Alfred Sandrock, Biogen Chief Medical Officer, reportedly told Reuters.
“Spinraza is still a very viable option for babies with SMA. For children, teenagers and adults it may be the only option open to them,” Sandrock concluded, underscoring the fact that, for many suffering from genetic diseases like SMA, these costly cures could be the only option available.
Furthermore, the financial burdens presented by gene therapies could be the least of potential patients’ worries.
In September 1999, 18-year old Jesse Gelsinger died during a gene therapy trial study at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Gelsinger suffered from a genetic defect that prevents proper metabolism of ammonia and received doses of a virus carrying a “corrective gene” during the trial study.
Fast forward to 2018—James Wilson, the founder and director of Penn’s Institute for Human Gene Therapy and researcher involved in the 1999 trial study, sounded a dire warning about the dangers of gene therapy.
Noting that monkeys and pigs given high doses of gene therapy died or suffered behavioral changes during experiments, Wilson stated, “What is remarkable is we have not seen it before,” adding, “We were surprised but shouldn’t have been. If you push the dose of anything high enough, you are going to see toxicity.”
“It would be very naïve for our community to assume we won’t have toxic effects,” Wilson continued. “People get comfortable, saying, ‘Hey, let’s do it—there is nothing lose.’ Well, it’s out there waiting. But when it’s going to happen, why it’s going to happen—nobody knows.“
Moreover, some are experimenting with gene therapy on an individual basis.
Likewise, in October 2017, Josiah Zayner, CEO of biohacking startup “The Odin,” injected himself utilizing the gene-editing technology, CRISPR, in an effort to enhance his muscles. Last year however, after watching a biotechnology CEO inject himself with an untested herpes treatment, Zayner softened his approach towards experimenting with the untested treatments.
“Honestly, I kind of blame myself,” Zayner told The Atlantic, adding, “There’s no doubt in my mind that somebody is going to end up hurt eventually.”
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Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
I admit that I love Eva Green, and I don’t care if she is a heroine or villainess.
Let me confess that I really liked legendary director Tim Burton’s Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. While it has sporadic weaknesses, it is a reflection of Mr. Burton’s ability as a creative artist to push the outside of the cinematic envelope.
Initially taking place in the United States in modern times, Jake (Asa Butterfield), a 16-year old boy, finds his beloved grandfather Abe (Terrence Stamp) dead in a forest. What is worse, his grandfather is missing his eyes.
Thereafter, he travels to a small island off the coast of England with his father Frank (Chris O’Dowd). He is looking for a rambling school house previously occupied by Miss Peregrine’s School for Peculiar Children, and discovers nothing but old ruins. Journeying through the ruins by himself, Jake makes a startling discovery that shapes the rest of the film.
Without saying more, he is introduced to Miss Peregrine (Eva Green), and learns that the school was destroyed by a German bomb dropped in 1943. Miss Peregrine is able to go through a time warp where she and all of her children are able to live up to the moment the bomber arrived. That part of the story is fascinating, and it leads to a confrontation that threatens everyone’s lives.
It soon becomes apparent that a deranged group of humans, led by Barron (Samuel L. Jackson) can only live off the eyes of peculiar children, and the movie becomes a sinister battle between children and their cannibalistic pursuers. The story is helped by some small performances from the talented Allison Janney, Jake’s psychiatrist, and the wonderful Judi Dench, a woman who tries to help the children.
Though the movie becomes a bit disjointed, you’ll love the Peculiar Children. They all have various idiosyncrasies, and who wouldn’t be fascinated with kids ranging from a little girl with a shark-type mouth in the back of her head and a small boy able to hurl bees from his mouth.
While the film isn’t helped by the sad fact that Mr. O’Dowd (think of his marvelous performances in St. Vincent (2014), The Sapphires (2013) and Bridesmaids (2011)) is not given enough attention, just remember the splendid performances coming from Ms. Green, Mr. Butterfield and Mr. Jackson. Ms. Green is an underrated actress, and no performer working today does a better job at playing hard-nosed women with an attitude. For example, think of her roles in Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014), 300: Rise of an Empire (2014) and Dark Shadows (2012). Mr. Butterfield, who is not yet 20 years old, has already demonstrated exceptional talent in both A Brilliant Young Mind (2015) and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008). As for Mr. Jackson, he commands your attention as an eyeball eating villain in the same manner displayed in this year’s The Legend of Tarzan and last year’s The Hateful Eight and Chi-Raq.
While I saw this movie by myself, make sure you drag a child with you over the age of ten. You are likely to have fun, and they are likely to love the entire film.
Category : Adventure, Drama, Family, Fantasy, Uncategorized
← Queen of Katwe
The Birth of a Nation →
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Kate Middleton goes into labour!
The royal baby is on its way! Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, has been admitted to St. Mary's hospital.
After months of anticipation, the Duchess of Cambridge was admitted to St. Mary's Hospital in Paddington, London, in the early stages of labour. Kensington Palace confirmed the news early Monday morning, revealing the Duchess had travelled by car from Kensington Palace to the Lindo Wing with her husband Prince William by her side.
At around 6 a.m. on Monday, a royal convoy was spotted arriving at the hospital's rear entrance, and at 7:30 the statement was issued confirming the news the world has been waiting for.
Watch our LIVE STREAM of the action in front of the Lindo wing NOW!
Kate and William have never revealed their baby's due date, but it is widely thought that their firstborn is overdue. The fact that the Duchess arrived by car, and not by ambulance, would suggest that she has gone into labour naturally.
The nation must now patiently await the arrival of the royal baby, which will be delivered by the Queen's former gynaecologist Marcus Setchell and the Queen's current gynaecologist Alan Farthing. It is highly unlikely that there will be any updates during the labour stages, with the first sign that the child has been born being the exit of a royal official from the Lindo wing.
As soon as the new Prince or Princess has made their grand entrance, an official announcement will be signed by Kate's doctors. It will be driven to Buckingham Palace, probably with a police escort. Only then will the public find out the sex, weight and possibly the name of the Queen's third great-grandchild.
The world's press has been camped outside the hospital for well over a week now, and excitement is at an all-time high following the news that the Duchess is now in labour. In scenes that echo the feverish atmosphere surrounding William's birth, followers of the royal family have also joined the throngs.
It’s believed that Kate’s doctor — the Queen’s former gynecologist, Marcus Setchell — is attending to his famous patient after being contacted on an encrypted line by Prince William and Kate’s press secretary, Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton.
William is by Kate’s side, of course, and her mother, Carole Middleton, and sister, Pippa, are also likely to be at the hospital for the delivery. Royal visitors — including first-time grandfather Prince Charles will be eager to see the baby as soon as they can. But the first to be informed will be great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth.
Once the monarch gets the news, details of the heir-to-the-throne’s birth will be announced by the Palace outside Buckingham Palace and on Twitter.
It has been reported that the new mother will spend the first few weeks following the birth at the home of her parents Carole and Michael to give her the privacy and support she needs during this special time. The Middletons' over $7.6million Georgian home is situated in the quiet Berkshire village of Bucklebury.
Carole was certainly very involved in preparations for the little one's arrival. She helped her daughter buy a Moses basket from an exclusive baby boutique in the capital's South Kensington district.
Later mother and daughter visited department store Peter Jones to shop for a buggy.
Kate has fitted out a nursery at the couple's London home in Kensington Palace. The couple are currently based in Nottingham Cottage, before they move to neighbouring apartment 1A, Princess Margaret's former home in the complex. Currently being refurbished at a cost of over $1.5 million, it boasts fours storeys and 21 rooms.
Ahead of becoming parents the Duke and Duchess hired a housekeeper. Antonella Fresolone, 42, previously worked at Buckingham Palace for 13 years, during which time she became one of the Queen's most trusted servants.
As well as reorganizing their household, the royals will have turned their attention to the question of godparents.
It is thought Kate's sister Pippa Middleton and Prince Harry will be entrusted with this task when the baby is baptized — a ceremony which is likely to take place in the Music Room of Buckingham Palace, where both William and his father Prince Charles were christened, although the private chapel at Windsor Castle is also a possibility.
The new dad will undoubtedly take a hands-on role in looking after the little one. Asked a few months ago if he was looking forward to the baby's arrival, the Prince replied: "Very much so."
William, who was visiting a rehabilitation centre for injured servicemen, added: "All the mothers have been looking at me, saying 'Just you wait, just you wait. Long sleepless nights!'"
There's been no announcement made on how long his wife's maternity leave will be. But the hardworking royal was attending engagements well into her last trimester.
Here at HELLO! Canada we excitedly await new details and will update when more information becomes available.
A version of this article appeared at Hellomagazine.com with the headline "Kate Middleton admitted to St Mary's in early stages of labour."
Lindo Wing
St. Mary's Hospital
Heavily pregnant Kate Middleton spotted antique shopping
Kate Middleton's parents to take family business to America
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Ontario basic income pilot project to launch in Hamilton, Lindsay and Thunder Bay
CBC April 24, 2017
Premier Kathleen Wynne announced Monday a plan to study basic income in Ontario, in a three-year pilot project based in Hamilton, Lindsay and Thunder Bay.
The province will explore the effectiveness of providing a basic income — no matter what — to people who are currently living on low incomes, "whether they are working or not," Wynne said.
Wynne said the pilot will provide the basic income to 4,000 households chosen from applicants invited "randomly" by the province in the coming weeks.
A single person could receive up to about $17,000 a year, minus half of any income he or she earns. A couple could receive up to $24,000 per year. People with disabilities could receive up to $6,000 more per year.
"People are anxious about their jobs; they're anxious about their futures," she said. "They're worried about the soaring costs of renting or buying a place to live."
People are especially concerned for those who don't start out wealthy, she said.
"Many people are concerned about what the world is promising for their kids," she said. "It's a world of global competition, reduced benefits, more and more part-time employment."
The premier said the three-year project will start with people making "just under $17,000 a year, but even that amount may make a real difference to someone who is striving to reach for a better life.
"We have chosen these communities intentionally because they are the right size and they have the right mix of population," Wynne said.
"We need to address the concerns of those who worry about falling behind, even as they work so hard to get ahead."
The amount is not "extravagant," she said, but it sends a message:
"It says to them, 'Government is with you; the people of Ontario are with you,'" she said.
4,000 households to be studied
Joining Wynne were Minister of Community and Social Services Helena Jaczek and Chris Ballard, the minister responsible for the province's poverty reduction strategy.
Jaczek said that people in the program will be randomly contacted from each region's low-income population and invited to apply.
The program will cost $50 million a year for each of the three years and 4,000 households will participate. That will include 1,000 people from the Hamilton, Brantford and Brant regions.
People who receive medical and dental benefits from the province under other welfare programs would not have to give those up.
The ministers have been spearheading the province's effort to experiment with basic income. The strategy for reducing poverty involves "a system of automatic transfers for those beneath an income threshold," according to a discussion paper on the topic commissioned by Wynne and the ministers last summer.
The province has said it will launch the pilot project providing money to low-income households with no strings attached.
'There's so much poverty'
Elizabeth McGuire, who chairs the Campaign for Adequate Welfare and Disability in Hamilton, said after the speech she was "blown away" and pleased the program would launch in Hamilton.
"Because there's so much poverty here in the city. And we have so many neighbourhoods which are so clearly defined but are yet so economically depressed because of the loss of manufacturing," she said. "There's no solution other than basic income, but I didn't believe the government was hearing us."
She said Wynne's announcement was the government doing "the right thing."
Deirdre Pike, who works as a senior social planner at the Social Planning and Research Council, echoed that.
"We have people in Hamilton, 7,000 of them, waking up today, they earn about $7,000 a year — I bet a lot of them will be applying to get $17,000 a year and see how that will change their lives," she said.
'Working poor ... stand to benefit the most'
Academics who study basic income said the pilot gives a chance to see how the idea plays in a changed economy.
"I think really it's the working poor who stand to benefit the most from this kind of a program, the people who are out there trying to get a job, trying and possibly working part time, working a series of part-time jobs, who can use this program to gain the kind of stability that might be able to let them move ahead a little bit and develop a career," said Evelyn Forget at the University of Manitoba.
Money with no strings attached removes barriers for someone who receives disability assistance but also wants to work, said Michael Veall, an economics professor at McMaster University.
Filling out all of the paperwork to get a job while collecting disability, and then worrying about whether the government will think you really have a disability, can be draining, he said.
"All these things are really difficult, and they sap people's energy, and they cause lots of economic stress in the household," Veall said.
Wynne said the government will be closely monitoring the pilot, but didn't commit today to extending the program once the three years are up, even if the program is a success.
Updates from Monday's announcement
CBC Hamilton's Kelly Bennett covered the announcement live. On mobile and can't see the updates below? Click here.
kelly.bennett@cbc.ca
'Dangerous' humidity to hit southern Ontario
Yahoo Canada News
Premier wants answers on mental health detainee who fled, calls man a 'nutcase'
Indian warships to stay longer in Persian Gulf, but won't join U.S. coalition
High court won't hear NDP expenses case over mailings, offices
South Korea's central bank lowers rate amid Japan trade row
Austria confirms it wants Hahn to remain its European commissioner
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Winter Storm Moves Into Western North Carolina
Storyful• December 8, 2018
The snow began to fall in the mountains of western North Carolina on Saturday, December 8, prompting alerts for hazardous road conditions, but the areas a little further east are expected to take the brunt of this winter storm.
Rosman, on the edge of the Nantahala National Forest, expects 3 to 4 inches of snow, enough to make the narrow and winding roads in the mountains treacherous. The National Weather Service, however, said that parts of the state just a little further east – and still in the mountains – may see as much as 10 to 16 inches as the bulk of the storm moves into the area Saturday night and Sunday. Credit: Kristen Toole via Storyful
What's that bug? How to identify any plant or animal with your smartphone
Ten-year-old who watched friend drown warns against the dangers of St. Lawrence River
Norwegian artist builds giant crab out of plastic trash, inspired by N.L. scientist
12,000 L of oil spilled into ocean off Newfoundland, causing oil rig shutdown
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The Last Battle: by C. S. Lewis
Author: C. S. Lewis
"You look wonderful, wonderful," said the Ape. "If anyone saw you now, they'd think you were Aslan, the Great Lion, himself."
"That would be dreadful," said Puzzle.
"No it wouldn't," said Shift. "Everyone would do whatever you told them."
During the last days of Narnia, good King Tirian faces the fiercest challenge to any Narnian King's rule ever. Many Narnians think they have seen the great Aslan, but he doesn't behave the way they had expected. The ugly Ape who guards this false Aslan allows him to be seen for only moments at a time, and says that all Narnians have been commanded by the Lion to work for the cruel Calormenes.
Many believe it is the real Aslan, and some aren't so sure; but all are afraid to disobey. Only Tirian and his small band of friends have faith that Aslan would never treat his beloved Narnians in this shameful way. They can only hope that their true hero will once again appear in time to save them all.
The last battle is the greatest of all battles, and the final ending the most magnificent of all endings in this, the last book of C. S. Lewis's timeless series, The Chronicles of Narnia.
"It is, in turn, beautiful, frightening, wise. . ." wrote an astonished reviewer in The New York Times upon reading The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. It is this same sense of wonder that accompanies the reading of all seven books of The Chronicles of Narnia, C. S. Lewis's masterpiece of children's literature.
UPC: 04659400695040503
Physical Info: 0.52" H x 7.58" L x 5.16" W (0.34 lbs) 224 pages
US SRP: 8.99 US
Pub Date: July 01, 1994
Series: Chronicles of Narnia
9780060234935 Hardcover 0060234938 $ 13.95
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Tenure and Union Contracts Are Two Separate Issues
One of many teachers to speak during NBC's "Teacher Town Hall" on Sunday was this young woman, featured again on Monday's NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams:
While I don't know all the details of her particular situation or what it's like at her school, her first words concern me: "I think we don't understand tenure." She then goes on with a passionate speech about how the union contract at her school interferes with her ability to deliver the kind of education she'd like to see her students get. I'm worried that she's failed to distinguish between union contracts and tenure, and it's clear from our current national discourse that she isn't the only one.
Union contracts, sometimes called professional agreements or master agreements, define fundamental working conditions between the school board (or administration) and the teachers, including contract hours, sick days, early retirement, grievance procedures, and many other practical, often common-sense things that are found in many employer-employee relationships. These are generally negotiated at a district level and quality varies. And, as with anything territorial, these negotiations can become very politicized and what started as common sense gets twisted into spiteful actions and reactions. If this teacher works in a district that prevents her from volunteering her non-contract time to help kids who want to be helped, then there is something wrong with both her district's union contract and how it's enforced. She has every right to be upset.
Tenure is something quite different. Tenure is usually defined by state lawmakers, and to avoid the "job for life" misconception many states don't actually use the word "tenure." Colorado, for example, uses "non-probationary teacher." After teaching successfully for several years (usually 3), as shown by regular and multiple administrative evaluations, a teacher earns due process rights. While I am not a lawyer, my understanding of due process is this: a teacher with "tenure," when faced with dismissal from his/her job, has the right to be heard in front of a neutral judge. Unfortunately, given the high stakes of such decisions (for both sides) and the inefficiencies of the legal system, such proceedings are contentious, taxing, and expensive. Tenure protections were designed to protect teachers from the whims of political pressures, not poor performance. But in today's heated climate, however, poor teacher performance couldn't be much more political. Few would disagree that reforms are needed, but the rights of due process are not easily negotiated or redefined.
In some ways I'm happy that this teacher doesn't think she needs tenure. Maybe we finally live in a world where parents and administrators are more supportive when their teachers try innovative teaching practices. Maybe teachers are free to assign grades to students without outside influence. Maybe communities are more tolerant of teachers who affiliate with a religion, political party, or sexual orientation that differs from their own. Maybe teachers, such as the one in the video, can now be outspoken without risking their jobs. But let's get serious -- this is not the world in which we live and the teacher in the video, whether she thinks she needs them or not, is a noble professional who deserves some protection against these kinds of pressures. I want her to be able to argue for what's best for her students and not fear for her career because her sentiments might be unpopular, whether it's with her administration or union officials. Again, this is not about her performance. The protection from pressures I've described above should and can be dealt with separately from concerns of poor performance.
I admire the spirit of the young woman in the video and hope she sees the differences between her union contract and tenure. I also hope she is admired for speaking out and is received in her school with understanding and respect. I also hope she and others learn to calm the discourse, understand the critical distinctions in these important issues, and work to do not only what's best for children, but what's right for their teachers as well. Reforms done "with" are destined to be more successful than reforms done "to," and that kind of cooperation is going to take a refined level of debate.
Labels: accountability, teacher quality, teacher unions, tenure
A Week for Irony and Contradictions in Education
The recent past has been wrought with irony (or at least contradictions) in all corners of education. Let's look at a list:
Read Bruce Baker's "If money doesn't matter..." Bruce examines the argument that "we keep throwing money at education and it hasn't made a difference," and points out that (a) schools with lots of money tend to do well, and (b) people who make that argument don't mind throwing money at charter schools.
Just days after Vanderbilt University released their study finding no improvement in test scores in Nashville's merit pay system, schools around the country (including Colorado) received millions of dollars from the federal government to implement merit pay systems.
NBC's "Education Nation" summit will gather "the foremost policymakers, elected officials, thought leaders, educators, members of the business community and engaged citizens" to discuss issues in U.S. education. Unfortunately, the list of invited panelists NBC is promoting doesn't include any teachers, students, principals, or professors. The only university-affiliated participant on the list is the President of the University of Phoenix, who happens to be a major sponsor of the event.
In a post called "Does Education Pay?" the Center for College Affordability and Productivity (CCAP) criticize the College Board for "a confusion of correlation with causation." The day before, the CCAP asked, "Should We Abolish Colleges of Education?" and use this logic:
U.S. students "perform in a mediocre fashion" on international tests.
Kids need remediation and/or drop out of college because of their mediocre education.
Good teaching is better than mediocre teaching.
Most teachers studied at a college of education.
The teachers who didn't go to a college of education are as good or better than those who did, such as Teach for America teachers. (Sorry, CCAP, that's rarely true.)
Colleges of education support anti-knowledge and anti-intellectual biases and make their poor students look good by inflating grades.
Colleges of education don't want teachers to be rewarded for student learning because student self-esteem is more important than knowledge.
While there might be some good colleges of education, most of the people who really understand education are not in education schools.
Courses in education are less helpful for math teachers (for example) than advanced math courses. (This was not the finding by Floden and Meniketti (2005), who say it's not as simple as "more math is better.")
THEREFORE, we should close colleges of education, which are a "blight on true 'higher education' [that] should be discouraged at all institutions depending on taxpayer funds."
I admit, that post had no trouble working its way under my skin. If you can keep track of all the assumptions and correlation/causation confusions in their argument, you're doing better than me.
If I missed anything you want to add to this week's list, feel free to add them in the comments.
Floden, R. E., & Meniketti, M. (2005). Research on the effects of coursework in the arts and sciences and in the foundations of education. In M. Cochran-Smith & K.M. Zeichner (Eds.), Studying teacher education: The Report of AERA Panel on Research and Teacher Education (pp. 261-308). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Labels: Colorado, higher education, money, policy, politics, research
Tenure and Union Contracts Are Two Separate Issues...
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A History of Changing the Clocks in Britain
Posted on November 2nd, 2011 by GEM Motoring Assist
With debate raging about whether we should put the clocks back in winter, a look at the history of the debate.
News that the government is considering moving the UK’s clocks forward by an hour for a three-year trial period has prompted a strong feeling of déjà vu among many of us.
From 1968 to 1971 a similar experiment was conducted – when, instead of putting the clocks back in winter by an hour, the clocks of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland remained unchanged.
This four-year trial resulted in lighter evenings – something which road safety associations like GEM Motoring Assist believe would result in safer roads for the members they provide breakdown cover to.
There is much to learn by rewinding the clock and looking at the history of British Summer Time (BST) and the debates related to this controversial system.
BST begins on the last Sunday of March and ends on the last Sunday of October. At the start of this period, the clocks are advanced by one hour from Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). At the end of the period the clocks are put back by an hour.
A history of British summer time
1880 – GMT was adopted across Britain. Prior to GMT, and until the advent of the railways, people kept time by the sun – an organic system known as local mean time
1916 – Surrey builder William Willett proposes to put the clocks forward by 80 minutes in staggered 20-minute weekly steps beginning each April with the repeat procedure being staged in September. A simplified two-stage version of his idea is adopted and BST is born
1940 to 1945 – During World War II, Britain operated on a British ‘Double Summer Time’ system – with the clocks jumping two hours ahead of GMT during the summer month
1968 to 1971 – In response to business and public opinion polls, Harold Wilson’s government introduced the British Standard Time trial with Britain remaining on GMT +1 hour throughout the year. Analysis of the first two years of the trial found that the resulting darker mornings in the autumn resulted in an increase in road casualties during the early hours. But this was offset by a substantially greater reduction in the number of road casualty incidents occurring in the evening. A total of 2,700 fewer people were killed or seriously injured during the first two winters of British Standard Time.
Despite the success of the trial, the House of Commons voted by 366 to 81 votes to discontinue the trial.
2004 – Labour MP Nigel Beard tabled a Private Members Bill proposing that England and Wales should be able to set their own clocks independently of Scotland and Northern Ireland (two countries where opposition to extending BST is particularly strong). If the Bill had been adopted, it would have seen the UK split into different time zones – something current Prime Minister David Cameron has ruled out.
2010 – Tory MP Rebecca Harris tables the Daylight Saving Bill which requires the government to instigate, and act upon, research into whether living an hour ahead of GMT in winter and two hours ahead in summer would benefit the UK.
2011 – The Bill has now reached Committee Stage. English government ministers are writing to counterparts in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to seek consensus on a three-year experiment trialling the effect of moving the clocks forward by an hour.
Any move which results in lighter evenings in the winter is welcomed by David Williams, CEO of GEM Motoring Assist.
Mr Williams said: “When the clocks go back each winter, the number of road accidents – some of them fatal – rockets. It happens every year. There’s a big difference in kids coming out of school in daylight and then suddenly coming out of school in pitch darkness. All evidence points to the fact that having an extra hour of daylight at the end of the day will help the environment, help the elderly, help the young and help road safety.”
The road safety expert added: “It’s the most cost-effective safety measure the government could introduce and it won’t cost a penny!”
But the Bill is unlikely to have a smooth passage. The Scottish National Party (SNP) remains staunchly opposed; with many of its MPs pointing out that if the clocks didn’t go back in winter, some parts of the far north would remain in darkness until 10am.
The SNP’s Westminster Office declined to comment on the matter when I contacted them.
Compulsory cycle helmets UK initiative
Have you received your new V5?
Keep your personal drink-drive limit at zero when abroad
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Promoting Environmental Sustainability in Mexico through Community Screenings
By Nancy Gocher, N-Map’s Project Manager in Mexico City
Mexico City faces a large environmental crisis. Often when the City’s residents have water in their homes, it is at the expense of water access in neighboring cities and towns. This was the case in the Valley of Chalco, Tlahuac, in the State of Mexico, where overuse and mismanagement of the region’s water resources resulted in drastic environmental consequences that severely impacted inhabitants. To address this, La Comisión de Cuenca de los Ríos Amecameca y la Compañía (CCRYAC) created a “Hydric Plan” that proposes a number of feasible solutions to promote environmental sustainability in the area, such as filtration wells that prevent further water loss, recovery of forest areas to retain water, and construction of a water treatment plant.
In 2014, N-Map together with Controla tu Gobierno and the Comisión de Cuenca produced a video called The Water at the Foot of the Volcano that tackled the challenge of explaining the many components of the Hydric Plan, as well as clearly outlining who would benefit from its implementation.
The Water at the Foot of the Volcano-CCRAYC (Amecameca 2015) from New Media Advocacy Project on Vimeo.
Beginning now, and extending through May we’re going to launch three new videos that explain a number of important projects included in the Hydric Plan. The first, Treat the Water for Life, describes some of the key issues surrounding water usage and quality and lays out the basics of how the Plan would resolve them.
For the Plan to come to fruition, it’s critical that people in affected communities learn about the Plan’s elements and get involved with the Comisión’s efforts. When we started the project, we realized that to truly have an impact, video distribution couldn’t rely solely on social networks–it had to be flexible and responsive. To ensure that the Comisión is able to mobilize its target communities, we worked together to organize a series of screenings in different localities throughout the State, enabling us to directly engage the communities that are seriously affected by water mismanagement, and that would be difficult to reach through a digital distribution strategy.
To connect with as many community members as possible, we worked with the Comisión de Cuenca to leverage their extensive knowledge of the target communities as well as the Comisión ’s strong relationships with the various local authorities. By organizing screenings in key municipalities within the watershed basin that struggle with water quality and access, we were able to explain the problems and propose solutions directly to impacted communities and their local authorities.
This strategy successfully reached audiences in the technical sense, but was also able to reach their hearts and minds in truly transformative ways. As a result, the screenings motivated farmers, citizens, and local governments to join the movement and be part of the solution. Most notably, at the Tlalmanalco screening the Municipal President felt so moved he met with the Comisión de Cuenca on the spot; together, they came to an agreement about implementing a number of the Plan’s components. Approaching distribution in this way was a wonderful learning experience that showed us that, in some regions and for some projects, it’s important to go beyond a digital strategy and instead invest in community-driven, “hand-to-hand” efforts.
Stay tuned for the next two launches in our series with the Comisión, Recovering Agricultural Areas Urban Environments, and The Benefits of Rainwater Retention.
April 27, 2016 April 28, 2016 New Media AdvocacyEnvironmental Advocacy, Video PremieresChalco Valley, Comisión de Cuenca de los Ríos Amecameca y La Compañía, environmental sustainability, Mexico, Mexico CIty, Plan Hidrico, Tlahuac, water conservation
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In due course, I will list some very good articles and editorials, but during the week, I noticed one article that hit home with me.
I would imagine that most of the readers of this blog have absolutely excellent credit and no issues at all. Thankfully, I am the same, and so it struck me as rather odd that Bank of America would send me a notice saying my credit card interest rate was being increased. While this sort of thing could happen from time to time, the rate was being increased from Prime plus 1% (currently 5.25%) to Prime plus 3%. Not much of a difference till you read the fine print that shows the minimum rate would now be 11% (from it's current rate of 5.25%). This is a quite dramatic change indeed.
I called BofA to discuss it, and I was told my credit was in fact excellent. The changes that were going to affect me had absolutely nothing to do with me. In fact, the bank was altering the agreements with all cardholders. Obviously, I should not be the only one with this issue, so it was with great interest that I read our first news story for the day...
Credit-card shocks - Marketwatch - "He asked why the bank jacked up his rate for what he believes was no apparent reason and was told it was necessary to offset losses from the growing numbers of low-performing or default accounts. 'It was just incredible to me that they would do that like that,' he said. 'I said it sounds like they're spreading the wealth and the rep said, 'Yep, that's what's happening.'"
IMF Plans to Issue Bonds to Raise Funds for Lending Programs - Bloomberg - "China and Brazil are among a handful of countries that have expressed interest in purchasing IMF-backed bonds which would give member states a different way to contribute to the Washington-based fund. The IMF has never issued bonds."
GM Employee Stock Fund Dumps All Company Shares - Yahoo/AP - "General Motors revealed in a regulatory filing late Friday that its employee stock-purchase plan has unloaded all shares of the company in favor of short-term and money market investments."
We Need Public Directors on TARP Bank Boards - By Robert B. Reich - The Wall Street Journal - "I don't know whether Bank of America shareholders will oust Ken Lewis from his chairmanship next week. I don't know if Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will eventually do it, either. What really worries me is I don't know who would actually be responsible for doing the deed, or by what criteria."
The Stress Test Results - The New York Times - "The nation’s largest banks received the results of their government stress tests on Friday. The rest of us should get the news next week. For the Obama administration, the tests could be a major success, if they provide clear data on which to base a bank-rescue strategy. Or the tests could be one of its worst failures, especially if they are not seen as credible."
Moore’s Law and the Law of More - By Thomas L. Friedman - The New York Times - "It is not an exaggeration to say that the team that President Obama appointed to promote his green agenda is nothing short of outstanding — a great combination of scientists and policy makers committed to building an energy economy that is efficient, clean and secure."
Political Wind Blowing Against Unions - Investor's Business Daily - "When Barack Obama won the election, Big Labor's ambitions soared. It spent $400 million to elect Democrats and expected an easy ride ahead. A hundred days into the Obama administration, it's playing defense."
Card Check Is Dead - By Thomas Frank - The Wall Street Journal - "Now, to be pro-labor is to resign yourself to years of failures and defeats, with few tea parties along the way for consolation. Even so, the setback on EFCA has to be a bitter one. Union members worked hard to elect Barack Obama and the Democratic Congress, as they did to put Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton in the White House. And now, just as in those previous two periods of Democratic governance, labor's friends are having trouble enacting basic labor-law reforms."
Labels: Bank of America, Credit Cards, Editorials, General Motors, Interest Rates, Investors Business Daily, New York Times, Wall Street Journal
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Education Week's blogs > Inside School Research See our Research news coverage
Sarah D. Sparks
From achievement gaps and teacher evaluations to homework and student engagement, Education Week reporters help you understand the education research behind big policy debates and daily classroom concerns.
« Tweeting the NCES Data Conference | Main | As Regional Ed Labs Go, So Goes the U.S. Economy? »
States Trying to Help Districts Navigate New Data Streams
By Sarah D. Sparks on July 29, 2011 7:52 AM
New federal grants and civil rights requirements have led states and districts to generate an unprecedented flood of data on students, from preschool through college, and states are now working to help districts make sense of it.
At the National Center for Education Statistics' annual data conference, many of the state and district presenters noted that their data systems have been changed or expanded by requirements from the state fiscal stabilization fund, Race to the Top, and state longitudinal data system grants—all created or expanded under the federal fiscal-stimulus law—and new school-level civil rights data reporting.
"We have invested a lot of time and a lot of money in building these [student data] systems, and I don't think we've crossed the line into using them effectively," said NCES Commissioner Sean P. "Jack" Buckley.
Patricia Sullivan, a data expert at the Texas Education Agency, said that although her state did not apply for Race to the Top grants, it did take stabilization money, and it has struggled to help its 1,200 school districts report newly required data without endangering student privacy.
"When you put down all the elements on students and teachers, we don't have a lot of that that was collected at the classroom level," Sullivan said. For example, though the state has collected both teacher and student data since 1991, it had never linked individual students to their teachers. Even now, Texas law does not permit the state to release individual teachers' performance, so the state reports aggregate data.
Texas conducted its first new data collection last week, though 147 districts are still in the process of responding. It has developed a "universal access" platform that would allow anyone, from researchers to administrators and teachers, to parents and community members, to analyze the data using new reports, with the first due to launch in April 2012. Yet Sullivan said the state researchers are having trouble convincing educators that using the data system could be useful.
"We went back to the [state] data committee and showed them the reports, and they didn't want any of them. We had people saying, 'We're trying to do this to help you make better decisions,' and they said, 'You already do enough reports about us, and the media only picks up on the bad news.'"
By contrast, Kansas seemed to be one of the leaders of the pack for research and data use. Katerina Grillot, a senior trainer at the Kansas department of education, said the state established a data quality certification program to train district information directors, administrators, and eventually teachers on how to properly collect, clean, and use the new data required. The courses include topics from basic student privacy protections to specialty electives on handling and understanding migrant and English-language learner data. Beginning with a pilot in 2007-08, the program has grown from 144 certifications awarded in 2009-10 to 354 certifications last year, and nearly 500 expected next year.
"I though with what was happening in our economy and what was happening in my state this year, we thought we'd see a drop off in our fourth year, and we did not," Grillot said. The state has also required annual continuing professional development for re-certification. "You can't come in once and know everything you need to work with student data," she said. "Regulations change, laws change."
Kansas also used state fiscal stabilization fund data to develop high school feedback reports from its System for Education Enterprise in Kansas. Principals and superintendents can track their high school graduates who have enrolled in two- and four-year colleges in the state within 16 months after graduation, according to data analyst Kelly Holder. An administrator can identify the types of colleges students are attending over time, the enrollment gaps among student subgroups, and compare college enrollment in a school to the district or state average.
Moreover, the system tracks which students have earned at least a year's worth of college credit within two years of starting college, and is in the process of linking students' math, reading and composite scores on the ACT exam to high school courses and college credits. A principal can identify the courses taken in high school that have been associated with the most college progress for his students after high school.
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Money Over Shakespeare: Study Shows How Childhood Socioeconomic Status Determines Wealth in Adulthood
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Why the ‘Life in the UK’ test alienates new citizens
The UK’s citizenship process subjects immigrants to requirements intended to enhance their identification with ‘British values’. Does the current process do that, or does it exacerbate immigrants’ marginalisation? David Bartram finds evidence in support of the latter: citizenship policy does more to alienate new citizens than it does to facilitate their political integration.
Have you taken the ‘Life in the UK’ test? If you’re already a UK citizen, then of course you don’t need to – but if you did it out of curiosity you’d likely find it very difficult to pass. Some of the questions involve obscure historical dates (in what year did Richard III die?). Even for more meaningful events it is not clear why one should know the year (e.g. re when women gained the vote – an important issue, but why is knowing the date a basis for citizenship?).
Immigrants wishing to gain citizenship (or even permanent residence) have to pass it. The only way to succeed is to study. Now, some of the questions pertain to more useful matters, so perhaps there’s some benefit from the learning one does. And, once you’ve passed, perhaps you’ll feel (on the basis of the knowledge gained) that you’ve earned an entitlement to participate more fully in British public life and core institutions. Academics tend to be critical of the test requirement, but the idea that some good could come of it – possibly even a set of outcomes that looks something like enhanced integration – is not completely implausible.
Propositions of this sort can be tested, with the right data. With colleagues at the University of Leicester (and funding from the ESRC), I have investigated whether becoming a UK citizen (thus, passing the test and participating in a citizenship ceremony) helps foster integration specifically in terms of political engagement. My answer: the core citizenship requirements do more to impair integration in the political sphere than to enhance it. Immigrants who become UK citizens end up less interested in politics, relative to those immigrants who remain non-citizens. That’s a very counterintuitive result; only slightly less shocking is that new citizens do not participate more in civic/public organizations than those who remain non-citizens.
That finding comes from analysis of data from ‘Understanding Society’ (the UK household panel survey). The longitudinal nature of the data helps minimize the prospect of reverse causation (the possibility that it’s a matter of naturalization by already less-engaged people). The analytical sample comprised almost 1000 people who in Wave 1 (2009/10) were not UK citizens. By the time of Wave 6 (2014/15), roughly half of these respondents had gained citizenship – and the core of the analysis involved comparing them to those who remained non-citizens while taking into account their initial conditions including their extent of political engagement.
Now, perhaps it’s somehow misguided to connect the empirical pattern to the specific requirements for UK naturalization. Maybe naturalization led to decreased political engagement even before the introduction of the test and ceremonies. Not a terribly plausible idea, surely. We can’t test it directly: the ‘Understanding Society’ project began several years after the policy was implemented in 2005 (and the predecessor dataset, the British Household Panel Survey, doesn’t enable tracking changes in citizenship status). We do however have earlier research on the question more generally in Europe including the UK – and in analysis of data from 2002-2003 they find that naturalization is generally associated with increased political engagement (in other words, the outcome one would expect). So, perhaps something did in fact change in the UK after the requirements were put in place.
We can then ask: why would the UK citizenship process lead to lower political engagement? The process involves jumping through some meaningless hoops, so it might be a simple matter of annoyance, possibly to the point of fostering alienation. We can however go a bit further, via further consideration of the types of questions the test poses about political matters.
Many of these questions strike me as having something significant in common. There is a clear tendency to ask about the ‘rules of the game’. For example: what is the role of the Whips in Parliament? Or, what is the current minimum voting age? Or, what time of year are local government elections held? Questions like this imply acquiescence to ‘the way things are’: we tell you what the rules are, and you can then play by those rules. There’s nothing about fundamental rights of citizenship – say, the right to demonstrate and to participate in other forms of collective action. The subtext here is a politics of obedience, perhaps even docility. If this is what we tell immigrants about the nature of our politics, who can blame them if they then say: who needs it? Why bother? Democratic politics is supposed to engage big questions, about justice, fairness, freedom, equality – but through the ‘Life in the UK’ test Britain teaches new immigrants that it’s all just a matter of fitting in and doing what is expected of you.
There is another significant angle to consider. Anne-Marie Fortier argues (very persuasively) that the real motivation behind the requirements of the UK citizenship policy is not to achieve integration for immigrants but rather to alleviate the anxieties of ‘natives’. The policy sends a signal to people worried about immigration: we hear you, and we’re doing something about it. Whether it has any impact on the immigrants themselves is decidedly secondary. One might be sanguine about that idea as long as the impact is merely nil (rather than positive). But if instead the tests and ceremonies have a genuinely negative impact on immigrants in the UK it becomes less feasible to justify an attempt to mollify voters this way.
The original goal of the requirements (as articulated by the then-Home Secretary, David Blunkett) was to foster participation, in hopes of reinforcing ‘social cohesion’. The requirements are plainly not helping to achieve that goal and might be actively undermining it – even for those who succeed in demonstrating knowledge about ‘Life in the UK’ that most ‘natives’ don’t have.
Note: the above draws on the author’s published work in Sociology.
David Bartram is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Leicester.
All articles posted on this blog give the views of the author(s), and not the position of LSE British Politics and Policy, nor of the London School of Economics and Political Science. Featured image credit: Pixabay (Public Domain).
March 25th, 2019|British and Irish Politics and Policy, Economy and Society, Featured|2 Comments
Alias March 29, 2019 at 10:26 am - Reply
“Have you taken the ‘Life in the UK’ test?” I tried it out for fun while applying for German citizenship, for which I had to take the German test. For fun I also tried the online version of the US test, though that is not a 100% comparison, as the online version of that is multiple choice while real applicants have to answer in person. On this unscientific basis, it is MUCH harder to pass the UK test than the others. I think it is too hard. It’s hard to understand why the UK test is so hard except as a way of proving commitment to those who have to take it. But surely there are better ways?
Having said that, I wonder at someone writing for the LSE describing the date of the Battle of Bosworth Field (when Richard III died) as obscure. I suppose he doesn’t know whether a Marquis outranks an Earl either, all vital information for somebody wanting to fit in in Brixton. O tempora, o mores … 🙂
Ian Brinkley March 25, 2019 at 10:54 am - Reply
It is reasonable to have some sort of test for citizenship, but the test currently used is ridiculous and it shouldn’t surprise that it serves little purpose other than acting as a gateway to more rights and benefits. A test may reassure natives, but as most will have no idea what the test involves a simpler and more relevant test would serve just as well. There may of course be another interpretation – that having secured citizenship, migrants interest in politics converges with that of the relevant native population, which I suppose might be integration of a sort.
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The Simpsons’ ‘Springfield of Dreams’ autograph auctions to benefit Jackie Robinson Foundation
October 23, 2017 October 23, 2017 BlowoutBuzzLeave a comment
Three autographed baseballs representing a cult classic episode of The Simpsons and a subsequent “mockumentary” of the episode will benefit the charity of a baseball icon soon.
It’s all part of a Goldin Auctions sale of baseballs signed by those involved in “Springfield of Dreams” which aired last night as part of a 25th anniversary celebration of “Homer at the Bat” a year that also included honors at the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Auction Buzz, Autograph Collecting, Baseball, TVAaron Judge, Al Jean, Baseball Hall of Fame, Bill De Blasio, Bob Costas, Don Mattingly, Dr. Drew, Dr. Oz, Ezra Klein, George Will, Goldin Auctions, Homer at the Bat, Homer Simpson, Jeff Idelson, Jim Cramer, Joe Buck, John Thorn, Jose Canseco, Ken Griffey Jr., Mike Scioscia, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Nick Offerman, Ozzie Smith, Roger Clemens, Springfield of Dreams, Steve Sax, The Simpsons, Tim Gunn, Wade Boggs
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BLUF
About BLUF
BLUF Dresscode
Donate to BLUF
BLUF Local
BLUF apps
BLUF merchandise
BLUF is a free community, for men who have an interested in leather uniforms and breeches. Founded in 1997, we have members around the world, organising dozens of events every year. The site is now owned by a not-for-profit company, and run by a team of volunteers, including site admins, updaters, and event organisers. It's completely free to use, and relies upon donations and merchandise sales to cover the running costs.
If you'd like to make a donation to BLUF, please click here. Our contact details are here.
A short history of BLUF
By Leon, BLUF founder
BLUF started in October 1997 as a simple HTML based website for men into full leather uniforms. I was living in Montreal then and I had just discovered the joys of Internet. I joined Leather Navigator, which at that time was the only internet platform for leathermen. Being disappointed with the absence of any kind of dresscode, I started BLUF. I contacted a few friends by email, sent postcards to others (not everybody had a computer in those days), and informed them about the new club. Some of them joined. At the beginning, almost all new members were American. I had met quite a few at parties in Canada and the US. Not many Europeans had internet access then. The site consisted in those days of a Picture Gallery, a List of Members, a List of Admirers (for those that couldn't meet the dresscode requirements), an Online-Magazine and (a little later) a Forum. Access was free. The cost of the server was covered by me. I was the webmaster and maintained the site.
In September 1998 the first BLUF party was held during Folsom Weekend at the Loading Dock in SF. Although we only had about 150 members then, the party became a huge success and is still remembered as one of the best in BLUF history. Around November 1998 the first in a series of BLUF@TheHoist parties was held in London. Many guys from the UK joined as a result.
In 1999 I moved back to Amsterdam, and in the Autumn closed down the site because of financial problems. Some of the members got together and convinced me to re-open the site and give members the opportunity to donate money to keep the site running. Around the same time, I restricted access to the BLUF Public Picture Galleries through an Age Verification System (AdultCheck, now ManCheck). This brought in enough money to pay the bills and for a while even provided some pocket money. More Europeans joined the club. Slowly, the emphasis shifted from North America to Europe.
In 2001 Leatherand designed a new layout for the site, which was used until the launch of this site. It was still all HTML, so any updates/additions had to be done manually. The Admirers List was discontinued. Boothound became assistant webmaster and helped me to find another, cheaper server.
In 2002 Leatherdog (now a former member) started work on designing a MySQL/PHP database for the BLUF site, which went live in October 2003. The site now offered various kinds of Member Searches and a Who's Online feature. Also, adding new members and updating profiles became a lot easier. Members could now change their own profile info. The renewed site was launched at a party hosted by the Black Tulip Hotel during Amsterdam Leather Pride. At the same party we celebrated BLUF's 6th anniversary and the fact that we had just reached 1000 members.
Over the next few years, BLUF's membership grew steadily, passing 2500 in the summer of 2008 and in the same year winning the 'Large club of the year' award at Pantheon of Leather XVIII. Although some moves towards updating the site started during this period, they didn't come to fruition.
In the summer of 2009, after twelve years of running BLUF, I decided to take a back seat, and Nigel volunteered to become webmaster, having previously taken over the hosting of the site in May. The current site was unveiled at a party hosted by RoB during Amsterdam Leather Pride, on October 30th 2009.
BLUF's Pantheon of Leather Award, 2008
BLUF 3 - 2009 to 2016
By Nigel Whitfield
After a few months of testing, the revamped site - 'BLUF 3' - went online in December 2009, and with quite a dramatic effect. With the ability to send messages between members and upload photos directly, the site's continued to grow and sees many more people using it on a regular basis, with almost half our members now visiting the site at least once a week.
At the end of 2010, we asked for submissions for a BLUF logo, and the winning choice was added to the site at the start of 2011, which is the logo you can see now at the top of the screen. In fact, it's really the first time we've had a proper logo, as opposed to the banner image on the site, and it's started to become a recognisable symbol on posters for events around Europe and further afield. You can, of course, show your support by buying gear with the BLUF logo from our dedicated web shop.
BLUF has been continually updated with numerous minor changes, including the addition of a properly integrated forum, secure connections, and a mobile site - all available in English, French and German, while membership has continued to grow.
2012 was a particularly good year for BLUF. In April, we passed 3000 members. Towards the end of the year, we celebrated our fifteenth birthday at a party in Amsterdam which was one of the busiest BLUF events ever. Around the world there were a mammoth 67 BLUF events organised by volunteers, and online we launched our first apps, for Android, Windows and Macintosh, giving BLUF members even more ways to keep in touch with each other, started a project to make the site available in Spanish, and made the BLUF Calendar available for everyone to see online, instead of just members.
All that work was rewarded in January of 2013 when BLUF won the new X Award for Fetish Organisation 2013 at Leather Pride in Antwerp, Belgium.
BLUF's X Award, 2013
BLUF Limited, v4 and the future
Since then, we've added new features to the BLUF site, and launched our Membership Card, which provides members with discounts at a range of stores for a year at a time, in return for a donation to help fund the club. And, we've created BLUF 'Local' groups in several cities around the world, with many more members getting involved and helping to organise events.
In early 2016, we took the decision to set up a proper legal structure, registering BLUF Ltd as a Company Limited By Guarantee, which is the closest thing to a non-profit company in the UK, without too much paperwork. This is intended to help secure the future of BLUF, independently of the person running it at any time.
The BLUF 3 site, launched in 2009, has been tweaked and refined over the years, but it was starting to show its age, and at heart it was built upon a database design that was created in 2002. So, the decision was taken to create a new site, designed to work well on both desktop and mobile devices, and with proper support for some key modern technologies.
That site is BLUF v4, which is what you're looking at now. It has full support for English, German, French and Spanish. Behind the scenes, the database has been redesigned and re-organised, and it's much easier for volunteers to help keep things up to date.
An important part of the new site is the listings. Building on the success of the BLUF Calendar, which was opened up to everyone on the internet in early 2012, we now also have listings of bars, local clubs, shops and photographers. I view this as an important part of BLUF giving something back to the rest of the leather community, making the site a useful resource even for people who aren't members.
Nigel Whitfield, Director, BLUF Ltd
Profile photos on this site are the property of BLUF members, and should not be shared without permission of those featured. To do so is a breach of BLUF rules and may lead to your account being terminated. Other images are the property of their creators, and used with permission, where applicable.
BLUF® 4.1.48 (2019-06-29) © BLUF Limited. Additional acknowledgments
Login to access BLUF
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Category Archives: The Inspiration Behind
THE INSPIRATION BEHIND… Rain Parade’s “Blue”
Much-revered track from the Paisley Underground avatars’ second record is a favorite among both fans and peers. Frontman Matt Piucci explains.
BY TIM HINELY
Ed note: We continue our series devoted to tunes that hold special places in our hearts and in our collective experience as devotees to and lovers of timeless indie rock. To kick the series off, we asked Eric Matthews, of both solo and Cardinal fame, to talk about his classic number “Fanfare,” from his 1995 Sub Pop hit It’s Heavy in Here. Next was Bill Janovitz of Buffalo Tom pulling back the curtain on one of his early gems: “Taillights Fade,” from 1992’s Let Me Come Over, cut with fellow bandmembers Chris Colbourn (bass) and Tom Maginnis (drums). After that we dipped way back to 1970 for the proto-power pop of Crabby Appleton’s “Go Back,” penned by frontman Michael Fennelly, and then fast-forwarded to 2000 for John Conley talking about his band the California Oranges and their pop gem “John Hughes.” Next came Allen Clapp (of the Orange Peels and Allen Clapp & His Orchestra) and 1994’s “Something Strange Happens” followed by Kenny Chambers, of Moving Targets, on that band’s ’86 classic “Faith.” Prof. Hinely subsequently touched down in 1981 to take a retrospective look with Mike Palm at the title track to Agent Orange’s groundbreaking debut Living in Darkness.
At the time of the Rain Parade’s 1984 mini-album Explosions in the Glass Palace, the California psychedelic argonauts had slimmed from a quintet to a four-piece, founding member David Roback having split following the previous year’s Emergency Third Rail Power Trip to form Opal. With guitarist Matt Piucci now helming the group—which included at the time bassist Stephen Roback, drummer Eddie Kalwa, and violinist/keyboardist Will Glenn—the group seemed more focused than ever.
That five-songer was recently reissued, in fact, and its sonic strengths are legion. BLURT’s own Michael Toland, reviewing EITGP, wrote that there’s “not a loser in the bunch. “Blue” and “You Are My Friend” present more perfectly crafted pop, while “Prisoners” and “Broken Horse” delve into overtly acid-drenched mini-epics. The EP ends with the anthemic powerhouse “No Easy Way Down,” then as now the band’s definitive track.”
Indeed, the record has held up over time and still stands as one of THE classic artifacts of the early ‘80s Amerindie underground. It certainly cemented the group’s reputation, and following a lineup shuffle that found Kalwa being replaced by drummer Mark Marcum and guitarist John Thoman joining the fold, the Rain Parade signed with Island Records and released a powerhouse of a live-in-Japan album, Beyond the Sunset.
Appearing on both EITGP and the live record is the haunting, midtempo ballad “Blue,” a touch-of-jangledom gem that became a fan favorite, so much so that it got picked up by at least two other bands. In our latest “The Inspiration Behind…” episode, Piucci discusses that and reveals the song’s origins.
The tune’s lyrics bear reprinting here, for as you’ll read, “Blue” has a very specific memory attached to it for Piucci.
“It’s blue
Down that street
Just like people you might meet
It’s true
The loneliness she can’t escape
Who could ever take her place?
She was
Her little one
Seemed like life had just begun
Found out
Then we knew we were all alone
But all our tears wouldn’t bring her home.”
What was the initial inspiration for the song?
I worked at Peter West Datsun on Santa Monica as a cashier before Rain Parade started touring. The gal that worked with me was named Charlotte, she was my only real colleague there. First turned me on to the Thriller album, which I like. One day she didn’t show up. They found her dead in the trunk of her car a week later. Never found out what happened.
Did it take long to finish writing it?
Not really. I was in the process of stealing a chord progression from Michael Quercio and had been messing with the music. The words came all at once.
Any idea how your long time fans feel about it (ie: would it be considered a “fan favorite” or anything?)
I would not know for sure, but an English review of Explosions said it was the weakest song. Americans seem to like it better. Both the Blue Aeroplanes and Buffalo Tom thought enough of it to record it, and it seems to get a good response.
Was it a staple of your live sets even years later?
Still play it today in basically every group I am in.
Is there anything about the song you’d change?
Dan Stuart [Green On Red] said that I should have played the rhythm guitar on a Tele and not a Ric. He is probably right.
Tell me a little about the recording of it – where and when, how long did it take, any watershed moments or glaring problems, etc.?
Piece of cake. Not sure where exactly. Explosions was recorded at several places. Steven’s bass riff after the first instrumental break is wonderful.
How do you feel about it now?
Still makes me cry sometimes…
This entry was posted in Artist, Artist Interview, The Inspiration Behind and tagged blue, inspiration behind, matt piucci, paisley underground, rain parade, songwriting on September 10, 2017 by Fred Mills.
THE INSPIRATION BEHIND… Agent Orange’s “Living in Darkness”
From the 1981 album of the same name, originally released by the punk-as-fuck Posh Boy label.
Ed note: We continue our series devoted to tunes that hold special places in our hearts and in our collective experience as devotees to and lovers of timeless indie rock. To kick the series off, we asked Eric Matthews, of both solo and Cardinal fame, to talk about his classic number “Fanfare,” from his 1995 Sub Pop hit It’s Heavy in Here. Next was Bill Janovitz of Buffalo Tom pulling back the curtain on one of his early gems: “Taillights Fade,” from 1992’s Let Me Come Over, cut with fellow bandmembers Chris Colbourn (bass) and Tom Maginnis (drums). After that we dipped way back to 1970 for the proto-power pop of Crabby Appleton’s “Go Back,” penned by frontman Michael Fennelly, and then fast-forwarded to 2000 for John Conley talking about his band the California Oranges and their pop gem “John Hughes.” Next came Allen Clapp (of the Orange Peels and Allen Clapp & His Orchestra) and 1994’s “Something Strange Happens” followed by Kenny Chambers, of Moving Targets, on that band’s ’86 classic “Faith.” Now Prof. Hinely lands in 1981 to take a retrospective look with Mike Palm at the title track to Agent Orange’s groundbreaking debut Living in Darkness.
At this point I’ve done several of these song inspiration interviews and I was thinking “Hmm….who could I ask next?!” Then it dawned on me, Agent Orange’s Mike Palm. He’s still at it, touring like crazy and heck, even skateboarding, too. Palm seems like the eternal Southern California teenager, seemingly always chasing the sun wherever he may go. His band’s classic debut, Living in Darkness, was released 36 years ago, but sounds as fresh today as it did then with a perfect mix of punk, surf and power pop. The title track is one of my favorites from that record and judging by what Palm states below, a lot of folks favorite as well (maybe even eclipsing their classic debut single “Bloodstains”). Some new material by these guys would be very welcome, but in the meantime go back and listen to said debut if it’s been a while (their two others, 1986’s This is the Voice and ‘96’s Virtually Indestructible, while not the equal of the debut, are no slouches either). Before hitting his next skate park with the band, Palm gave us a few minutes and weighed in on that song.
BLURT: What was the initial inspiration for the song?
MIKE PALM: I was pretty much sleeping all day, and either playing shows or going to clubs every night. There used to be an all night record swap in the Capital Records parking lot. It was great. I hardly ever went out in the day.
I really can’t remember how long it took to write from start to finish. I do remember it came together smoothly, music and melody first, then the lyrics. Once I got it going it almost wrote itself.
Everything off of the first album is kind of mandatory. It’s the album title track, so I guess that makes it significant.
It still is. We only cut it if we need to play a shorter set, like at a festival or whatever.
Nope. Nothing.
It was recorded in L.A. at a studio that was owned by the guy who later wrote “Papa Don’t Preach” for Madonna. We cut all the basic tracks in one night, then went back the next night to do minimal overdubs and vocals. When we pulled the track up on the second night, we realized that one of the microphones on the drums was broken, and the rack tom part was missing. They wanted to replace it with hand claps, but I hated the idea. It was a full-on stand-off that held up the session for a long time, until i compromised and let them use metal trash can lids from the alley out back.
It’s the longest song in our live set, so sometimes it feels like a marathon, but it has a good resolve that ends with a strong positive feel. It works well near the end of the set, just before “The Last Goodbye”. but that’s another story…
This entry was posted in Artist, Artist Interview, The Inspiration Behind and tagged agent orange, eighties, living in darkness, mike palm, posh boy, punk on August 9, 2017 by Fred Mills.
THE INSPIRATION BEHIND… Moving Targets’ “Faith” (1986)
Kenny Chambers discusses the key track from his band’s Burning in Water LP.
Ed note: We continue our series devoted to tunes that hold special places in our hearts and in our collective experience as devotees to and lovers of timeless indie rock. To kick the series off, we asked Eric Matthews, of both solo and Cardinal fame, to talk about his classic number “Fanfare,” from his 1995 Sub Pop hit It’s Heavy in Here. Next was Bill Janovitz of Buffalo Tom pulling back the curtain on one of his early gems: “Taillights Fade,” from 1992’s Let Me Come Over, cut with fellow bandmembers Chris Colbourn (bass) and Tom Maginnis (drums). After that we dipped way back to 1970 for the proto-power pop of Crabby Appleton’s “Go Back,” penned by frontman Michael Fennelly, and then fast-forwarded to 2000 for John Conley talking about his band the California Oranges and their pop gem “John Hughes.” Then it was back to the ‘90s courtesy Allen Clapp, who talked about “Something Strange Happens.” Now we drop in to 1986 and the Boston punk scene….
As far as I know Boston’s Moving Targets, led by main songwriter Kenny Chambers, had only cut a handful of songs before recording their massive debut, Burning in Water (Taang Records, 1986). Though they’d been bouncing around in one form or another since the early ‘80s—they emerged from the ashes of a band called Smash Pattern—the only recorded output they had was a few songs on the Conflict Records compilation Bands That Could Be God. I have to say, I was completely blown away the first time I heard Burning in Water. At the time, I was moving away from hardcore and listening to more mid-tempo, melodic stuff, and this record just hit that sweet spot. The band got a lot of comparisons to Husker Du, which I do hear as an influence, but I like Burning in Water more than any Husker Du record, which is saying something as I love Husker Du.
It was tough to only pick out one song, but I decided to ask Kenny Chambers about the soaring and powerful “Faith.” Kenny was more than happy to hit me back and tell me about the origins of the song and the recording of it. The band: Chambers on guitar and vocals, Pat Leonard on bass, Pat Brady on drums.
“Faith” was born during my time in the band Smash Pattern (Chuck Freeman on drums) in 1984. I’m sure there was some Mission of Burma influence coupled with a case of Old Milwaukee that we consumed at every practice. When the ‘targets came together again 1985 we started playing it.
The song took a short while to put together. I wrote it whole then added a couple more parts on the following couple of weeks.
Any idea how your long time fans feel about it (i.e.: would it be considered a “fan favorite” or anything?)
I think any fan of the band likes that tune.
The Moving Targets had “Faith” on most set lists from 1985 to 2007. I don’t think that we ever got tired of playing it.
I wouldn’t change anything about it. The band played it well and Lou Giordano did a fine job of recording it and coaxing a good performance out of us.
Recording the Burning in Water album was kind of a blur. We were so excited and it went so quickly (all of the basic tracks in a day and a half) that I personally don’t remember recording most of the songs. I know it sounded great in the studio with Lou and Carl Plaster and we were happy with everything. The only problem with recording was trying to adapt to a cleaner amp sound. Lou pushed the cleaner sound and I was used to total distortion. In hindsight, Lou was right on the money. The record sounds sharp.
I still think it holds up today.
Early Chambers photo by David Henry / via Wikimedia
Current Chambers photo from Versus the Goat podcast page
This entry was posted in Artist, Artist Interview, The Inspiration Behind and tagged boston, hardcore, kenny chambers, lou giordano, moving targets, punk on May 31, 2017 by Fred Mills.
THE INSPIRATION BEHIND… Allen Clapp’s “Something Strange Happens”
The 1994 tune from Clapp’s debut continues to inspire.
Ed note: We continue our series devoted to tunes that hold special places in our hearts and in our collective experience as devotees to and lovers of timeless indie rock. To kick the series off, we asked Eric Matthews, of both solo and Cardinal fame, to talk about his classic number “Fanfare,” from his 1995 Sub Pop hit It’s Heavy in Here. Next was Bill Janovitz of Buffalo Tom pulling back the curtain on one of his early gems: “Taillights Fade,” from 1992’s Let Me Come Over, cut with fellow bandmembers Chris Colbourn (bass) and Tom Maginnis (drums). After that we dipped way back to 1970 for the proto-power pop of Crabby Appleton’s “Go Back,” penned by frontman Michael Fennelly, and then fast-forwarded to 2000 for John Conley talking about his band the California Oranges and their pop gem “John Hughes.” Now Prof. Hinely lands in 1994 and a slice of pure pop perfection, Allen Clapp’s “Something Strange Happens.
It had to be sometime in the early ‘90s that I first heard the music of Allen Clapp. A fresh-faced gent who called the Bay Area home. He began releasing 7”s on several different labels (in our country mostly on Brian Kirk’s Bus Stop label). I booked him at a local café in Santa Rosa, California and it was a pleasure to find out that not only did I love his music, but in person he turned out to be a great guy (I can’t imagine anyone saying a bad thing about him). This particular song came out on his 1994 debut LP (under the name Allen Clapp and his Orchestra…these days he still leads his longtime combo The Orange Peels) called One Hundred Percent Chance of Rain. The song just….hit me! That clap-happy drum beat that opens the song, a purring organ and then Clapp and his boyish vocals and jangly guitar pop in and all added up to a near-perfect pop song. I was curious about the origins of the song so I shot some questions to Mr. Clapp and……
Allen began with, “Just incidentally to this request, the Orange Peels are embarking on the recording of album No. 7 in a few weeks, working again this time with Bryan Hanna, the Minneapolis studio wizard who produced our first album, Square. It’s kind of appropos, because this year is the 20th Anniversary of Square. So, at any rate, the guy who recorded The Orange Peels making our version of Something Strange Happens is flying out to our mountain studio in Boulder Creek to record us again 20 years later. Surreal. And good timing on your part for asking about that particular song!”
It’s a song about all sorts of things — everything that’s important to me, realy. But to be more specific, it’s about the quicksilver moment you realize some big life-truth — that lightning bolt from the clear blue sky that you can’t explain, but that changes you in some significant way. You might be realizing for the first time that you’re in love, or that someone or something is more important to you than you previously thought. The moment of realizing something like that. Or it might be a realization of how you fit into the universe. For me, it was all those things. It’s a song from my younger self to my wife Jill, it’s a song to God, it’s a song to the universe, and the seasons. It’s about realizing how dependent I am on them, and how my dependence on them frees me to be who I’m supposed to be.
No! This is one of those songs that arrived fully formed in the blink of an eye. It’s the kind of thing you always hope will happen to you as a songwriter, and it did not disappoint. It happened while finishing some routine shopping at the market. I loaded the bags into my car (a 1967 Ford Falcon, at the time), opened the door, put the keys into the ignition and boom, it just flooded over me. The melody for the chorus just started playing in my head and I sat there with my hand on the key for what seemed like an hour. I’ve replayed this over and over in my mind a thousand times, and I’m still just amazed by it. So after hearing the song play in my head — the swirling organ in the intro all the way through the hymn-like ending — I finally turned the key, started the car, and drove home where I immediately fired up the Tascam four-track and began making a demo.
I think the song has its fans. It appeared on a few indie-pop compilations over the years, and it’s maybe the only one of my songs that’s ever been covered by another artist — Jim Ruiz and Shoestrings recorded a lovely, haunting version of it as a bonus track to Jim’s second album, Sniff. Every once in a while, someone will come up to me and say something about that song, or ask me something about it. So it is a special song to a few people out there.
Was it a staple of your live sets ever years later?
It’s always something we talk about playing. I think I felt obligated to play it for years, and finally the last tour we did in 2015, we just left it off the set list. That felt kind of weird, but liberating too. After playing it for basically 20 years, it was nice to take a break from it. Will it come back on our next tour? Maybe. Probably.
Well, since I recorded it twice, you’d think the answer would be “no.” The first version, on “One Hundred Percent Chance of Rain,” is everything I wanted it to be. Even on four cassette tracks, it captured that mysterious thing I was after. When we signed to Minty Fresh and they wanted us to re-record it for “Square,” we didn’t really change anything in the arrangement — we just made a different recording of it in a great studio with a great producer. I guess I wish we would have done something a little different the second time around on it, but for the life of me, I couldn’t imagine what that would have been at the time. Drop out all the guitars on verse 3? We’ve done that live, and it’s kind of intimate, but who the heck knows. We’ve done a live version with a drum machine for the first verse and chorus with the band slowly entering as the song builds. Who knows, maybe we’ll make a third recording of it someday, or maybe someone else will.
The original version was recorded in the spare bedroom of our duplex in Redwood City, and it was a challenge to fit all those ideas onto 4 tracks. I had tried to record the drums in the Youth Room at our church, and it just didn’t feel right. So I took samples from the drum take I had on tape and edited them down so I had a snare, a kick drum, two tom toms and a hi-hat. Then I laid them out on the keyboard and just played the drums back using different keys as triggers. So I used that take to build everything on. For the longest time, I just had the drums, the bass, and the rhythm guitar on 3 tracks, and I knew that bouncing all those together was either going to make or break everything else I added. So that was nerve wracking. I took like a week, just listening every day, trying different levels and EQs. Nothing seemed to work. Finally, I tried just pushing all the faders way up and distorting the channel. I took a stab at the bounce, and that was the sound. Drums, bass and rhythm guitar all distorted a bit and combined onto one track — that’s the sound of that song. Once I had that, I could add the vocals, hammond organ, guitar melodies and finishing touches. I still can’t believe it came out as good as it did. It was the last thing I wrote and recorded for “One Hundred Percent Chance of Rain,” and it really made that song collection feel like an album.
Grateful. Surprised. Hmmmm . . . proud and humble. It’s a once in a lifetime thing having a song like that just show up. I still feel surprised by it mostly because I didn’t labor over it. I didn’t spend weeks writing it, even days. It just appeared. I feel like it was a gift that showed up and changed my life.
This entry was posted in Artist, Artist Interview, The Inspiration Behind and tagged allen clapp, allen clapp and his orchestra, indie rock, pop, songwriting on April 25, 2017 by Fred Mills.
THE INSPIRATION BEHIND… California Oranges’ “John Hughes” (2000)
Ed note: We continue our series devoted to tunes that hold special places in our hearts and in our collective experience as devotees to and lovers of timeless indie rock. To kick the series off, we asked Eric Matthews, of both solo and Cardinal fame, to talk about his classic number “Fanfare,” from his 1995 Sub Pop hit It’s Heavy in Here. Next was Bill Janovitz of Buffalo Tom pulling back the curtain on one of his early gems: “Taillights Fade,” from 1992’s Let Me Come Over, cut with fellow bandmembers Chris Colbourn (bass) and Tom Maginnis (drums). After that we dipped way back to 1970 for the proto-power pop of Crabby Appleton’s “Go Back,” penned by frontman Michael Fennelly. Now Prof. Hinely dials the wayback machine to 2000, as John Conley talks about his band the California Oranges and their pop gem “John Hughes.”
You’d think that being two hours east of San Francisco that Sacramento would be a veritable wasteland of musical talent. Ah…but you’d be wrong. Oddly enough for the capitol city of the Golden State (with a population of under 500,000) this hamlet has produced some of the best indie rock music out there. From Tiger Trap to Rocketship to Baby Grand to Arts & Leisure to too many others (you’ll see ‘em below). Well, a big part of that fabric is the music of the crew of John Conley and his sister Katie, the Levine Brothers (Ross and his brother Matt) and Verna Brock (who was also in Rocketship for a time as well as doing her solo project under the name of Beanpole). They’ve been spread out amongst bands like Holiday Flyer, Desario and Soft Science, but there was one band that all of them had passed through at one point: California Oranges.
For their self-titled debut from 2000 (On Darla Records) the band was a trio of John, Verna and Ross. For later albums both Katie and Matt came aboard to make the band a 5-piece, but this particular song, “John Hughes” was from the previously mentioned debut.
For those of us used to the (mostly) very soft sounds of Holiday Flyer, “John Hughes” came popping out of the speakers like an M-80 stuffed inside a high school locker. A joyous blast of unbridled melody. The song is all about a guy trying to get the courage to ask a girl out, which, as we males know, in those high school years were the mostly nerve-racking, anxiety-inducing experience (personally I had to know 100% that the girl liked me before I would even ask her out and even then I’d be ready to have a heart attack while other guys in school, those with no fear at all of rejection, would walk up to any girl an ask them out, usually getting shot down and laugh about it).
“John Hughes” is one of my favorite songs by the California Oranges and I was curious about its origins. I shot some questions over to John Conley and he was more than happy to give me some answers.
CONLEY: Well, I guess John Hughes and his films. As I teenager I could really identify with the characters. I must have been re-watching at the time. I was also really into Kevin Smith (he is referenced is the song) and his films reminded of the Hughes.
If I remember correctly, it came together pretty quick.
I think it was one of the last songs I wrote for the first album.
I had the main guitar riff and the melody and first verse.
I remember showing the song to Verna and Ross, and they both really liked it.
I think we knew at that point it would start the album.
I’m pretty sure it was one of our most popular songs. I was going to be featured in a documentary about John Hughes. Ross Levine and I were interview for the movie and the band rerecorded the song to be included on the soundtrack. We were told we made it through the 3rd or 4th cut of the film. During the editing process of the movie John Hughes passed away and the music portion of the movie was shortened.
Here are some links about the film:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0fPLN459_I
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don’t_You_Forget_About_Me_(film)
It stayed in the live set up through the 3rd album.
No, I think it’s a good snapshot of where I was as a songwriter at the time.
I wanted to do something very different from Holiday Flyer. I feel we mostly succeed. When the band started playing live, one comparisons we got was Belle and Sebastian meets Ramones.
I always liked that.
I think the recording came out cool. We wrote and recorded that album very quickly. Verna (Brock) and I each had 5 song ideas. We rehearsed with Ross (Levine) 3 or 4 times and recorded and mixed the record in the evenings or a week. JH is my favorite song on that album. I do have some problems with the production on that album as a whole, but “John Hughes” came out great. We also recorded a cover of Vanilla Blue by Naked Raygun during that session that is one of my favorite recordings California Orange did.
I still really like this song. It’s so different from what I’m doing now in Desario, but I’m proud of this period in my music career.
This entry was posted in Artist, Artist Interview, The Inspiration Behind and tagged california oranges, darla, john conley, john hughes, john hughes films, pop, songwriting on March 12, 2017 by Fred Mills.
THE INSPIRATION BEHIND… Buffalo Tom’s “Taillights Fade” (1992)
Ed note: With BLURT’s newest series, we want to spotlight tunes that hold special places in our hearts and in our collective experience as devotees to and lovers of timeless indie rock. No, you probably won’t get the scoop behind “Night Moves” or “Bohemian Rhapsody,” but don’t be surprised if “Shake Some Action” or “Death Valley ‘69” turn up on our playlist. To kick the series off, we asked Eric Matthews, of both solo and Cardinal fame, to talk about his classic number “Fanfare,” from his 1995 Sub Pop hit It’s Heavy in Here. Response from readers was immediate, and enthusiastic; Matthews himself was appreciative, and fans are encouraged to check out his new single (details HERE). For our latest spotlight, Bill Janovitz of Buffalo Tom pulls back the curtain on one of his early gems: “Taillights Fade,” from 1992’s Let Me Come Over, cut with fellow bandmembers Chris Colbourn (bass) and Tom Maginnis (drums). Scroll to the end for details about the band’s upcoming 25th anniversary shows for the album.
In the late ‘80s, Massachusetts trio Buffalo Tom burst onto the scene with a very good self-titled, J. Mascis-produced debut that was initially released in Europe on the Megadisc label in 1988, subsequently getting picked up in the States by SST the following year. They followed it up with Birdbrain in 1990, by now signed to Beggars Banquet, another very good effort, but the band really hit it out of the park on record number three, 1992’s Let Me Come Over, also on Beggars, and one of the best records of that year. It’s still a favorite among Buffalo Tom fans. The band—the same three guys: Bill Janovitz, Chris Colbourn and Tom Maginnis—still get together for occasional tours and recording (their latest, 2011’s Skins, is among their best). I tossed a few questions at vocalist/guitarist Janovitz to get the skinny on one of the band’s most popular songs and he was kind enough to give it up for the BLURT readers.
BILL JANOVITZ: This one, as with most of my songs, started with the music. I think I just started humming out a melody and the first verse came. The second verse was taken from a newspaper story about a girl who goes to hide as a hermit after her family would not allow him to marry the man she loved. I believe this was in Romania. The third verse is a summary, tying the three together. Cappy Dick is a reference to a Sunday comics character from when I was growing up.
The song, with melody and chords came quickly, all at once. The first verse was likely culled from the initial mumbling I was doing. The second verse was just sitting around in a notebook, though in different meter. I think I pulled the whole writing part together in a day or so. I started on the bathroom floor after a night of drinking. I could go in there and play a little because it was the furthest away from my girlfriend while she slept in our bedroom in our tiny apartment. I would record into a boom box.
Any idea how your longtime fans feel about it—i.e., would it be considered a “fan favorite” or anything?
Certainly yes. It is kind of our signature number.
We have played no shows without it, I think.
The actual writing? No.
Tell me a little about the recording of it—where and when, how long did it take, any watershed moments or glaring problems, etc.?
Recorded at Dreamland, a converted church in Bearsville, NY, near Woodstock. Amazing spot. Then we overdubbed guitars, vocals, etc., at Fort Apache in Cambridge, all with Sean Slade and Paul Kolderie co-producing. It was mixed by Ron St. Germain. I think every performer listens to recordings of themselves and hears things they would change or improve, if not just cringing outright. So, yeah, I would change a few things. But nothing glaring.
I still feel deeply about the song, especially when singing it. But I would never have predicted it would be a song so many people latched onto, never mind be a single or a song that still resonates for so many fans. I’m grateful to have one song like that, if nothing else.
Buffalo Tom recently announced they will be doing some shows next year to mark the 25th anniversary of Le Me Come Over, including Brussels, Amsterdam, and London.
Janovitz on the web: http://billjanovitz.com/blog/ / https://www.facebook.com/Bill-Janovitz-37654950807/
Buffalo Tom on the web: http://www.buffalotom.com/ / https://www.facebook.com/buffalotomband/
Suggestions for a potential “Inspiration Behind…” profile? Let us know in the comments section, below. If we take your suggestion and the artist, in turn, takes us up on it, we’ll acknowledge your editorial input in the feature (and maybe even give the artist your contact info so he can thank you – or sue you – for making the suggestion).
This entry was posted in Artist, Artist Interview, The Inspiration Behind and tagged '90s, alt-rock, bill janovitz, buffalo tom, inspiration behind, nineties on December 22, 2016 by Fred Mills.
THE INSPIRATION BEHIND… Eric Matthews’ “Fanfare” (1995)
With BLURT’s new feature, we want to spotlight tunes that hold special places in our hearts and in our collective experience as devotees to and lovers of timeless indie rock. No, you probably won’t get the scoop behind “Night Moves” or “Bohemian Rhapsody,” but don’t be surprised if “Shake Some Action” or “Death Valley ‘69” turn up on our playlist. To kick the series off, we asked Eric Matthews, of both solo and Cardinal fame, to talk about his classic number “Fanfare,” from his 1995 Sub Pop hit It’s Heavy in Here. Coming soon: Bill Janovitz of Buffalo Tom pulls back the curtain on one of his early gems.
ERIC MATTHEWS: Here’s what happened. Cardinal was debuting and the first single off the album was in the UK, “Dream Figure” (Flydaddy/Dedicated). And because the A-side was a song I wrote, we thought it would be cool if I wrote the B-side for the next single that would come out here domestically and in the UK, a Richard Davies composition. “If You Believe In Christmas Trees” was the single, and I was sent off to write a B-side, and came up with “Fanfare.” It was a slow acoustic dirge more like the “Reprise” version at the end of It’s Heavy.
Well, after I wrote it, I pretty much pulled a move where I said, “No, I am keeping this one for my first album.” It caused some friction between Richard and I, but I was a selfish prick about it. And frankly, I think it turned out all for the best because of course, it worked well for me—but way more to the point, we got “Say The Words Impossible” from Richard for the B-side, and that is one of the best songs he ever wrote.
Cardinal recording “Fanfare” would not have worked, really, too small a room. I needed Jason Falkner for it to have worked. “Dream Figure,” my only song on the Cardinal debut, I was all alone on it, just me and the drummer. That song took 3 hours to complete recording from start to finish, and that is the rush job that “Fanfare” would have gotten, and my career might not look nearly as good, such as it’s been.
Not at all. I actually used the same tuning on guitar that I used on “Dream Figure,” and it just shot out of me. The lyrics may have taken an hour, but yeah, it was a quick put-together. The trumpet was automatic, and helped me name the song, whose title has nothing to do with the lyric.
Any idea how your long-time fans feel about it—would it be considered a “fan favorite” or anything?
I am starting to get the message at this point that people really regard it [highly]; that it was a major sound for them when it came out. Remember, at the time [in the mid ‘90s] the stuff on the radio and MTV was all hard, jagged, and loud. I used elements of that in my production of it, wanted to make it a “rocker.” But something about perhaps the softness of my voice and the blasting trumpets, the vocal harmonies… it’s like Chet Baker made a pop record, and yeah, it seems to have really sunken in for people as a benchmark song. It helped sell the record, where really there are far more meaty songs.
Well, not really. That said, when it was all finished and I handed over lots of space for Jason Falkner to play all those awesome moving guitar lines. And just sitting back to how hard we as a trio (Jason, Steven Hanford, and I) rocked, the insane groove of the thing, I did feel as if the song itself sort of got lost in the big mix. So, very late in the game, I got the idea to do that condensed acoustic version of the song “Fanfare (Reprise)” and tack it at the end of the album. I love that I did that—show people the warmth, quiet, and breath of the thing.
We recorded “Fanfare” downtown Portland, Oregon, at White Horse Studios (gone now) in early 1995. It was recorded quickly; we only did three takes as a trio and pretty much just nailed it. Me on guitar, Jason on bass, and Steven on drums. Vocals took me an hour, trumpets an hour, and Jason an hour of guitar overdubs. I mean, three punk rock guys just laying it down.
Mixing was probably an eight hour affair. It’s all in “post.” No big moments to speak of. My studio environment is pretty no-nonsense. We have fun, but only with the music. It’s all business, everything mapped out and planned to the dime. I am as much executive as I am musical producer. And lucky for me, Tony Lash, my then-production partner was very much like me, a creature of focus and discipline. He made “the band” sound good and we just rocked out. Jason was given the assignment of “lead guitar” and I only told him about essentially filling spaces with movement. I had come to know very well his creative melodic approach to guitar work, especially on [The Grays’ 1994] Ro Sham Bo album. He stepped up and had those melodies at the ready and kicked as—took the song to the next level in my opinion.
At the end of the day, we all looked around and it sounded like it belonged on radio. And the album title came from Jason. We were in the control room listening to a take of the live trio. Jason turned to me and said, “I think we achieved total heaviosity.”
I feel that the song got people to check out the whole album. That album is what it’s all about. The single is always the bait. And clearly, it worked, people got it, got me. Last year was the 20th anniversary of the song and album, and it came back out, a reissue where Sub Pop and Lo-Fidelity jointly released the album. The reissue gave people an opportunity to get deluxe vinyl and bonus tracks, that whole kind of thing. And best of all, that reissue got me back on track, as I did a deal with Lo-Fidelity, my new champion Jeffrey Kotthoff, signed me to a multi-year deal. I have a single coming out just after thanksgiving and a new album, Too Much World, coming out in February, 2017.
So, you can look back, and Jon Poneman from Sub Pop would say he gave me that deal because of my work on the Cardinal album. But yeah, it’s “Fanfare” that people heard in their cars, at the record shops, on college campuses, etc. Everything starts at that point for me, my childhood smile…
This entry was posted in Artist, Artist Interview, The Inspiration Behind and tagged '90s, cardinal, eric matthews, indie rock, nineties, pop, singles, sub pop on November 30, 2016 by Fred Mills.
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BMC Infectious Diseases
Research article | Open | Open Peer Review | Published: 29 July 2011
Factors associated with 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1) vaccination acceptance among university students from India during the post-pandemic phase
Padmanaban S Suresh1,
Venkatesh Thejaswini2 &
Thangarasu Rajan3
BMC Infectious Diseasesvolume 11, Article number: 205 (2011) | Download Citation
There was a low adherence to influenza A (H1N1) vaccination program among university students and health care workers during the pandemic influenza in many parts of the world. Vaccination of high risk individuals is one of the recommendations of World Health Organization during the post-pandemic period. It is not documented about the student's knowledge, attitude and willingness to accept H1N1 vaccination during the post-pandemic period. We aimed to analyze the student's knowledge, attitude and willingness to accept H1N1 vaccination during the post-pandemic period in India.
Vaccine against H1N1 was made available to the students of Vellore Institute of Technology, India from September 2010. The data are based on a cross-sectional study conducted during October 2010 to January 2011 using a self-administered questionnaire with a representative sample of the student population (N = 802).
Of the 802 respondents, only 102/802 (12.7%) had been vaccinated and 105/802 (13%) planned to do so in the future, while 595/802 (74%) would probably or definitely not get vaccinated in the future. The highest coverage was among the female (65/102, 63.7%) and non-compliance was higher among men in the group (384/595; 64.5%) (p < 0.0001). The representation of students from school of Bio-sciences and Bio-technology among vaccinees is significantly higher than that of other schools. Majority of the study population from the three groups perceived vaccine against H1N1 as the effective preventive measure when compared to other preventive measures. 250/595 (42%) of the responders argued of not being in the risk group. The risk perception was significantly higher among female (p < 0.0001). With in the study group, 453/802 (56.4%) said that they got the information, mostly from media.
Our study shows that the vaccination coverage among university students remains very low in the post-pandemic period and doubts about the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine are key elements in their rejection. Our results indicate a need to provide accessible information about the vaccine safety by scientific authorities and fill gaps and confusions in this regard.
With the initial outbreak in Mexico during March 2009, Influenza A, H1N1 (previously known as Swine Flu) has spread to many countries within a short period of time [1, 2]. World Health Organization (WHO) declared the H1N1 influenza pandemic in June, 2010 [3]. As reported by WHO, the number of deaths resulting from pandemic H1N1 was 7,826 until 22 November 2009 [4]. The swine flu outbreak also affected India and as per the Ministry of Health and family welfare, Government of India, the total number of deaths of lab confirmed cases cumulative from May 2009 to December 2010 was 2,728 [5]. Indian Government planned to vaccinate the at risk population with pandemic vaccine as an important/mitigation strategy and efforts were made to manufacture the pandemic vaccine indigenously during the pandemic period [6]. In the meantime, Ministry of Health & FW, Government of India has also imported 1.5 million doses of vaccine such as the PANENZA, M/s Sanofi Pasteur, France. In the first phase, health care workers from the community health centre were targeted. Serum Institute of India in consultation with World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Ministry of Health, Government of India launched its indigenously developed intra-nasal vaccine named Nasovac in July 2010. On August 2010, WHO announced that the H1N1 influenza has moved into the post-pandemic period. WHO also strongly recommended vaccination of high-risk individuals in countries where influenza vaccines are available during the post-pandemic phase. Educational institutes can become serious out break centers because of their high social contact and group living with permeable boundaries [7]. If they become the sites of transmission, they may have a negative impact on the larger communities in which they are embedded, and in addition it is observed that student behavior is often divergent from non-student adult populations [7]. Students are special population to investigate their attitudes to accept new vaccination because they are open-minded, educated and supposedly will respond quickly to public health issues. For the above reasons, Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a guide for strategies to be carried out against pandemic, for institutions of higher education during 2009-2010 calender year on 22-02-2010 [8]. However, studies conducted among students and health care workers in different parts of the world reported low penetration of H1N1 vaccination during the pandemic period [3, 9–11]. Assessment of behavioral changes during the influenza A (H1N1) outbreak in an Indian population showed the poor behavioral response despite having acceptable knowledge and attitude towards influenza A (H1N1) [12]. We consider that it is equally important to analyze the attitude and willingness of the students, to accept influenza A (H1N1) vaccination during the post-pandemic period to gain insights if any knowledge gained by them about the concerns and safety of the vaccine transpire in action of acceptance. The continued monitoring of vaccine uptake will enable to tackle second pandemic wave, if any country would be affected in the future. These efforts of understanding the student's perspective about the H1N1 vaccine may be useful in response planning and management strategies during an outbreak as well in the post-pandemic period. In the above context, we sought to investigate the various factors influencing the acceptance of H1N1 vaccine among the university students. The study was also done aiming to identify the factors responsible for their unwillingness to accept vaccination during the post-pandemic period.
The target group was university students of Vellore Institute of Technology, India wherein teaching is structured around nine different schools of study, and the university offers 15 undergraduate and 30 post graduate programmes. In 2010, the total number of students registered for different courses were 17,200 and the minimum sample size to represent this population at 95% confidence level was calculated to be 580. The study population was a convenience sample and questionnaire was distributed to the students and a total number of 1000 students participated in this study. Data were collected from 802 respondents. Students participated in this study belong to different states of India.
NASOVAC (Influenza Vaccine (Human, Live Attenuated)) Pandemic (H1N1), live monovalent vaccine was made available to the students from September 2010. The survey was conducted from October 2010 to January 2011 using the questionnaire. Questionnaire included multiple choice and Likert scale type questions regarding levels of knowledge and attitudes toward H1N1influenza pandemic and prevention measures. It was also composed of questions regarding the importance of H1N1 vaccine and reasons for avoidance of getting vaccinated. It had questions and assessment centred around five main themes: Knowledge about pandemic (H1N1) Influenza, knowledge about the mode of transmission, knowledge about H1N1 vaccination, beliefs and attitudes about H1N1 vaccination and knowledge about prevention measures for H1N1. The study was conducted after one month of initiation of the vaccination program. Questionnaire was distributed randomly. Doubts and concerns raised by the students while filling the questionnaire were addressed promptly. The completed questionnaires were collected by the volunteer students and the health care workers of VIT. The completed questionnaire was checked and if any question was left unanswered by mistake without any intention, participants were requested to fill it. It was estimated that the average time the participants took to complete the questionnaire was nearly 20 minutes.
The data were analyzed using PRISM GraphPad, version 4.0; GraphPad Software Inc., San Diego, CA. Percentage calculation was computed for descriptive purposes and chi-square test was done to analyze the statistical significance. p < 0.05 was considered as significant.
The study was approved by the University Human Ethical Committee (UHEC), VIT university. All the participants were given details about the purpose of the study. They were informed that they have the right to refuse to participate in or to withdraw from the study. Oral consent was obtained after explaining the purpose through written information. Those who agreed orally only participated in the study. Anonymity and confidentiality of the data derived was maintained and given assurance to the study participants.
Declared acceptance of vaccination by the study group
The response rate to our questionnaire was 80.2% (802 out of 1000 approached) because few students did not return back the questionnaire and some did not want to participate in the study. Among the 802 students answered the questionnaire, 506/802 (63%) were male and 296/802 (36.9%) were female. A total of 102/802 (12.7%) students reported to have received the H1N1 influenza vaccine from the health centre of Vellore Institute of Technology, India and elsewhere. Among the 102 students who have received vaccination, 65/102 (63.7%) were female and the remaining were men. The highest coverage for vaccination was among female (p < 0.0001). (See Table 1) It is interesting to note that the representation of males among vaccinees is lower than that of females, whereas it is higher in the group intending to vaccinate. (See Table 1).
Table 1 Acceptance rate of H1N1 vaccination according to gender, school of study and perceptions
School of study
426/802 (53%) of the students were enrolled in the courses related to biotechnology and microbiology under the school of Bio-sciences and Bio-technology. Among the 102 students who have received vaccination, 68/102 (66%) were from the school of Bio-sciences and Bio-technology and the remaining were from other schools that include school of engineering (various branches) and others. The representation of participants from the school of Bio-sciences and Bio-technology were higher in the group intending to vaccinate in the future. (p < 0.0008) (Table 1)
Perceptions
Majority of the study population representing vaccinated, group intending to vaccinate and non-vaccinated perceived vaccine against H1N1 as effective (78/102, 76.4%, 65/105, 61.9% and 357/595, 60% respectively). Similar perception was observed for wearing face mask to protect against H1N1 influenza. Most of the students from the group who were vaccinated and non-vaccinated believed that anti-viral treatment is more effective against H1N1 influenza (58/102, 56.8% and 367/595, 61.6% respectively). Very few students (12/102, 11.7%) had the opinion of hand washing being more effective as a preventive measure against H1N1 in the vaccinated group. 50/105, 47.6% and 278/595, 46.7% of the students from the group intending to vaccinate and non-vaccinated respectively believed the hand washing as an effective preventive measure against H1N1 influenza respectively. It is interesting to note that majority of the students (62.7%) from the vaccinated group did not perceive the hand washing as an effective preventive measure. Quarantine guidelines were found to be effective against H1N1 influenza by 77/102, 75.4% of the students in the vaccinated group. (See Table 1.). The responses like very effective and moderately effective were pooled and defined as effective.
Reasons given by the study group for non-compliance with H1N1 vaccination
The reasons for their unwillingness were examined by a multiple choice question which assessed their passiveness, distrust and assessment without knowing about the H1N1 vaccine. Of the 700 out of 802 students (87.2%) who had not been vaccinated, 105 (15%) had stated that their attitude is not against the vaccination and would definitely receive soon. This group of students did not respond to the question for the reasons of not being vaccinated. Among the remaining, 595 students (384-men (64.5%), 211-female (35.4%)) said that they would never want to be vaccinated, concerns were about the safety and trust (doubt about the effectiveness) of the vaccine, belief of not being in the high risk group were top major reasons for their decision. (cited by 20.5%, 24.2% and 42% respectively) (See Table 2.). Among all the reasons, the major reported reason was a belief that they were not at risk for getting the H1N1 infection (42%) (Table 2.)
Table 2 Reasons for denying vaccination among students in the study group
Self risk perception analysis
Next it was analyzed about their self risk perception for H1N1 influenza (See Table 3.). 182 (22.6%) students among the study group perceived the risk of being infected with H1N1 as high, 406 (50.6%) students believed the risk was moderate, 210 (26.1%) believed the risk was low and remaining 4 (0.5%) students indicated that it is unknown. There was a difference in the self risk perceptions according to gender and risk perceptions for H1N1 influenza among men is much lower when compared to female (p < 0.0001; Table 3.).
Table 3 Self risk perception among students in the study group
Knowledge and attitude towards H1N1 influenza
Following self risk perceptions analysis, it was analyzed about the student's knowledge and attitude towards H1N1 influenza in the study group. Analysis was done based on Likert scale questions. The answers to these questions would examine their knowledge on general well established facts, interpretation of their knowledge and perception of knowledge. The vast majority of the participants (99%) were aware of the influenza outbreak (Table 4.). 76/102, 74.5% of the vaccinated students agreed to the seriousness of H1N1 influenza. Majority of the non-vaccinated participants were not aware of the general facts regarding the seriousness of H1N1 influenza infection and transmission mode (207/595, 34.7% 284/595, 47.7% respectively). Study population belonging to the group intending to vaccinate and also vaccinated disagreed that H1N1 vaccination should be given to only high risk groups. Most of the students from the vaccinated group believed that there is not enough information available for the common public about H1N1 influenza (70/102; 68%). Majority of the students belonging to the group intending to vaccinate and also vaccinated perceived that they were adequately informed about the H1N1 influenza (73/105; 69.5%, 77/102; 75%, respectively) (See Table 4). V- vaccinated; NV- non-vaccinated and IV- Intending to vaccinate
Table 4 Knowledge about and attitudes toward H1N1 influenza
Student's sources of information about H1N1 influenza
The main source of information for the students about the H1N1 influenza was Media (453/802, 56.4%) followed by the internet (326/802; 40.6%) and health personnel (23/802, 2.8%).
It has been previously reported that there was a marked failure in the control effects of H1N1 to achieve increased coverage rates for pandemic influenza A (H1N1) vaccination among students and health care workers in different parts of the world [3, 9, 11]. However, we have not found any report through literature search on knowledge and attitudes of University students towards the H1N1 influenza and vaccination program among Indian population and others during the post-pandemic phase. Therefore, we conducted this study to investigate student responses to H1N1 influenza and their attitudes towards vaccination during the post-pandemic phase and provide baseline data, which might be useful in response planning and management strategies.
Vaccination program was implemented by the health centre, VIT University for the students during September 2010 during the post-pandemic period. In the present study, we examined the knowledge, attitude and factors responsible for their willingness/unwillingness to accept the vaccine during the post-pandemic period (October 2010 to January 2011). This represents a good case for study and to the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to examine during the post-pandemic period and the findings will be important to formulate regulations for vaccine uptake. It was assumed that there would be a drastic outreach and knowledge on safety and side effects of the vaccine when the study was conducted. As a first step in examining the attitude, the vaccination acceptance rate was verified after the introduction in the university. The report acceptance rate of H1N1 vaccine in the survey group university students, during the four months was 12.7%. During the course of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, a number of studies reported low coverage rates for H1N1 vaccination among Greek medical students (8%), health care workers from Spain (16.5%), Italy (18%), Scotland (49.6%), France (36.5%) and general population from China (10.8%) [9, 10, 13–16]. It should be noted that the survey among Indian students was conducted at a post-pandemic period and still report a much lower uptake among university students. The acceptability of the H1N1 vaccine will depend upon the cost and also people have more concerns about the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine worldwide [17, 18]. In the present study, cost would not be a blocking factor for compliance with vaccination as it was given at an affordable price to the students in the VIT University and in India. The highest coverage for vaccination was found among females (p < 0.001) during the post pandemic phase. This is in contrast to the reported gender based differences in accepting H1N1 vaccination among health care workers in France and common people in France and Israel during the pandemic phase [15, 18, 19]. The above studies were conducted during the pandemic phase of H1N1 influenza and the higher number of males intending to vaccinate in the future from our study group was surprising but comparable to the result observed among common people in France [19]. It is interesting to note that majority of the participants who had vaccination or intending to vaccinate were from the school of Bio-sciences and Bio-technology. This is quite similar to a study which reported a significant difference in the participant's attitude to get vaccinated or deny vaccination based on the school of their study in the pandemic phase [9]. Even the H1N1 vaccination rate was higher among the biologists when compared to health care workers in Italy during the pandemic period [9].
WHO recommends good hygiene as the preventive measure in limiting the spread of H1N1 influenza but limited evidence is available regarding the impact of wearing mask, cough etiquette and hand washing [3, 20]. Hygienic behavior is affected by many factors such as the timing of outbreak, self-risk perception, responsibility for others and personal habits [3, 21]. Students in the study group believed that wearing facemask followed by vaccine treatment are the most effective preventive measures. This is in contrast to the previous study reported by Akan and co investigators conducted among university students of Turkey during the pandemic period where a majority of them believed that quarantine followed by hand washing, and facemask were very effective preventive measures against H1N1 influenza [3]. It is interesting to note that the majority of the participants among all the three groups (vaccinated, denied vaccination and intending to vaccinate) believed that H1N1 vaccine and wearing facemask will protect from H1N1 influenza. Most of the students in the study group believed that hand washing was moderately effective or low effective in preventive measures. In a previous study, it was stated that hand washing or wearing masks will not be as effective in comparison to vaccination as a preventive measures against H1N1 [22]. Female students in Korea washed hands more frequently during the peak pandemic period of H1N1 influenza and perceived hand washing to be more effective [23]. These differences could result from the study population demographics, the knowledge difference and might be the period of infection.
Several causes have been proposed for the low compliance to vaccination during the pandemic period [3, 10, 11, 17]. Passiveness, distrust about the vaccine, concerns about the safety and effectiveness, belief of being not in the risk population and assessment without knowing were top key elements in the attitude of our study group towards H1N1 vaccination. These were the major reasons reported for denial of vaccination among Greek medical students, Turkey university students, Health care workers from China and common population from France during the pandemic phase [3, 10, 11, 19]. At the time of the study during the post-pandemic period, there was much coverage about H1N1 vaccination in the media and various other information resources in India [5]. Nevertheless, the high degree of rejection could be related to the varied subjective risk perception and high belief of the students in their ability to avoid infection during the post-pandemic period. Therefore, the vaccination was probably considered as being redundant. It should be noted that the study conducted among health care workers in public hospitals of Hongkong reported no change in the potential acceptance of vaccine at different WHO pandemic alert levels (pandemic alert phase 3 and 5) [24]. Our study further reports no improvement in the acceptance of vaccine among students during the post-pandemic phase. The main reason for refusal of Indian students was fear of side effects of the vaccine, and it would be interesting to conduct studies in different groups across different countries during the post-pandemic phase.
In the present study, the self risk perception analysis showed a gender difference significantly and also more than 50% of the study group perceived the risk as moderate. It is possible that risk perception may have changed during the post-pandemic period. However, studies conducted during the peak point of the outbreak also have shown the negative attitude of the students with low self risk perception [3]. In another study conducted in Australia, perception of susceptibility of university students significantly declined with the decline in the laboratory confirmed cases [7]. In our study, the reasons for non-compliance that were stated by the respondents were not different when compared to other studies conducted during the pandemic period [3]. The self-risk perception was higher in the females consistent with the previous study, and it is known that there exist some gender differences in the perceptions of environmental health risks [3, 25, 26]. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey conducted among the common public in India during July-August, 2009 had shown that the males had significantly higher knowledge of H1N1 influenza compared to females, but it was females who had the significant positive attitude response towards H1N1 influenza [12]. This is in contrast to a recent study conducted in middle and high school teachers of rural Georgia, where H1N1 vaccine acceptance was associated more with male gender [27]. Our study shows similar perception to a study conducted in Korean University students during the peak-pandemic period where female participants perceived their personal susceptibility to H1N1 influenza as higher [23]. Similar gender specific differences in the attitudes were reported in Chinese general population [16]. Female participants showed higher self-risk perception and positive attitude towards vaccination in our study, and these findings are similar in both pandemic and post-pandemic period of H1N1 influenza in many study populations at different cultural backgrounds.
Knowledge and attitudes toward a pandemic are important in vaccine acceptance, and it is interesting to note that 99% of our study group knows about the outbreak of H1N1 in India and world. The seriousness of H1N1 influenza was agreed by the majority of the participants in both the group's i.e, vaccinated and those intending to vaccinate. It should be noted that this knowledge did not reflect in their actions to accept the available vaccine, and it could be possible that they have the attitude of not to worry about the disease in the future than the short term adverse effects of vaccination if any. Analysis of their knowledge on well established facts (Question 1, 2 and 3) showed the better response in the group which was vaccinated and intending to vaccinate. Majority of the students from vaccinated, and intending to vaccinate groups disagreed that the high risk individuals would highly benefit from H1N1 vaccination. We found that many of the answers from both groups (vaccinated and intending to vaccinate) reflected similar knowledge, perception of knowledge when compared to the non-vaccinated individuals. Similar findings were observed in other studies conducted during the pandemic phase of H1N1 influenza [16, 28].
The most important source of information regarding influenza pandemics was from the mass media [3, 12, 29, 30]. In the study of Kamate and coinvestigators conducted among Indians from State of Rajasthan, the maximum number of subjects obtained information related to influenza A (H1N1) from television [12]. In our study, the major group of respondents said that they knew the information from media. At the time of our study there was much coverage about the influenza A (H1N1). Most of them were unwilling to accept H1N1 vaccination and it is apparent that public information about safety and effectiveness of the vaccine along with knowledge of the H1N1 influenza is crucial to meet the vaccination targets. It appears that students are less willing to have the vaccination during the post-pandemic period also. The reasons for unwillingness as stated by the respondents were not different from the ones given in the pandemic period when the new vaccine was launched. Our findings show that Indians require information on vaccine safety, and authorities should provide the necessary data to ensure the public confidence through media as it was the major source of information for them.
This study is unique because it was conducted among the students during the post-pandemic period to analyze their attitude difference in accepting the new vaccine. However, we realize that there are several limitations that require consideration. All the information obtained was self reported and reporting bias always exists. Although the data was collected from the heterogeneous group, we targeted students who are willing to participate and give their answers. We cannot reach all the students, and some did not return the questionnaire for varied reasons (20%). More importantly, there can be a fear factor among the students, if any ignorance of them will be pointed out in their answers. The student's opinion also can be unstable. Any unexpected event could lead to drastic change in their opinion about the vaccination.
Despite some of the limitations, our study outlines the low H1N1 vaccination rates among university students, India in the post-pandemic period. The participants knew about H1N1 pandemic and had sufficient knowledge derived mostly from the media. Risk perceptions were different between male and female students during the post-pandemic period. This study identifies the factors that play a major role in their unwillingness to accept vaccination. It appears that safety and effectiveness of the vaccine are the major concerns for those who are undecided about vaccination. There is a need for accessible information about vaccine safety and public education campaigns may be effective in changing their perception patterns. Unless the safety and effectiveness of the H1N1 vaccine are informed by various scientific authorities through the media, the negative attitude and non-compliance towards H1N1 vaccination will continue irrespective of the severity of the disease and different periods (pandemic or post-pandemic). Further research is warranted for different population groups in different countries during the post-pandemic phase. Such studies would expand our understanding to make guidelines for promoting vaccine against H1N1 influenza.
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Lin Y, Huang L, Nie S, Liu Z, Yu H, Yan W, Xu Y: Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices KAP related to the Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 among Chinese General Population: a Telephone Survey. BMC Infect Dis. 2011, 11: 128-10.1186/1471-2334-11-128.
Lau JT, Yeung NC, Choi KC, Cheng MY, Tsui HY, Griffiths S: Acceptability of A/H1N1 vaccination during pandemic phase of influenza A/H1N1 in HongKong: population based cross sectional survey. BMJ. 2009, 339: b4164-10.1136/bmj.b4164.
Velan B, Kaplan G, Ziv A, Boyko V, Lerner-Geva L: Major motives in non-acceptance of A/H1N1 flu vaccination: the weight of rational assessment. Vaccine. 2011, 29: 1173-9. 10.1016/j.vaccine.2010.12.006.
Schwarzinger M, Flicoteaux R, Cortarenoda S, Obadia Y, Moatti JP: Low acceptability of A/H1N1 pandemic vaccination in French adult population: did public health policy fuel public dissonance?. PLoS One. 2010, 5: e10199-10.1371/journal.pone.0010199.
Rabie T, Curtis V: Handwashing and risk of respiratory infections: a quantitative systematic review. Trop Med Int Health. 2006, 11: 258-267. 10.1111/j.1365-3156.2006.01568.x.
Morrsion Gl, Yardley L: What infection control measures will people carry out to reduce transmission of pandemic influenza? A focus group study. BMC Public Health. 2009, 9: 258-10.1186/1471-2458-9-258.
Kilbourne ED: Influenza Pandemics of the 20th century. Emerging Infec Dis. 2006, 12: 9-14.
Park JH, Cheong HK, Son DY, Kim SU, Ha CM: Perceptions and behaviors related to hand hygiene for the prevention of H1N1 influenza transmission among Korean university students during the peak pandemic period. BMC Infect Dis. 2010, 10: 222-10.1186/1471-2334-10-222.
Chor JS, Ngai KL, Goggins WB, Wong MC, Wong SY, Lee N, Leung TF, Rainer TH, Griffiths S, Chan PK: Willingness of Hong Kong healthcare workers to accept pre-pandemic influenza vaccination at different WHO alert levels: two questionnaire surveys. BMJ. 2009, 339: b3391-10.1136/bmj.b3391.
Gustafson PE: Gender Differences in Risk Perception: Theoretical and Methodological Perspective. Risk Anal. 1998, 18: 805-11.
Greenber MR, Schnieder DF: Gender differences in risk perception: effects differ in stressed vs. non-stressed environments. Risk Anal. 1995, 15: 503-11. 10.1111/j.1539-6924.1995.tb00343.x.
Gargano LM, Painter JE, Sales JM, Morfaw C, Jones LM, Weiss P, Murray D, Diclemente RJ, Hughes JM: Correlates of 2009 Pandemic H1N1 Influenza Vaccine Acceptance Among Middle and High School Teachers in Rural Georgia. J Sch Health. 2011, 81: 297-303. 10.1111/j.1746-1561.2011.00594.x.
Yap J, Lee VJ, Yau TY, Ng TP, Tor PC: Knowledge, attitudes and practices towards pandemic influenza among cases, close contacts, and healthcare workers in tropical Singapore: a cross-sectional survey. BMC Public Health. 2010, 10: 442-10.1186/1471-2458-10-442.
Kristiansen Is, Galvorsen PA, Gyrd-Hansen D: Influenza pandemic: perception of risk and individual precautions in a general population. Cross sectional study. BMC Public Health. 2007, 7: 48-10.1186/1471-2458-7-48.
Paek H-J, Hilyard K, Freimuth VS, Barge JK, Mindlin M: Public support for government actions during influenza pandemic lessons learned from a statewide survey. Health Promot Pract. 2008, 9: 60s-72S. 10.1177/1524839908322114.
We would like to thank management of VIT for their support and help. We would like to thank the participated students and student volunteers for their initial help. We would like to specially thank the Chief Medical Officer and other staff members of health care centre, VIT University. We would like to thank Dr Hulya Akan, Yeditepe University for discussing about the questionnaire used in the study.
Centre for Biomedical Research, Vellore Institute of Technology University, Vellore, India
Padmanaban S Suresh
Dept of Molecular Reproduction, Development and Genetics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
Venkatesh Thejaswini
Aarupadai Veedu Medical College and Hospital, Puducherry, India
Thangarasu Rajan
Search for Padmanaban S Suresh in:
Search for Venkatesh Thejaswini in:
Search for Thangarasu Rajan in:
Correspondence to Padmanaban S Suresh.
PSS designed the study and drafted the protocol. PSS, TR conducted the data analyses. PSS, VT and TR drafted the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Vaccine acceptance
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Tag Archive | cord blood
Lifeline Project Profiles: Srinivas, Vicky, and Barbara
Meet Srinivas, Vicky, and Barbara. They are the latest Lifeline Project participants to be profiled in our ongoing series highlighting the needs of transplant patients.
Srinivas was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in February of 2010. Since he began treatment he has had numerous life threatening complications; septic shock, bile peritonitis, lung infection, kidney failure, cerebral edema, and subsequent gangrene in both of his legs. Unfortunately, one of his wounds was not healing fast enough in order for him to move forward with a potentially life-saving cord blood transplant and he had to make the painful decision to amputate his right leg below the knee. Srinivas is now moving forward with treatment and is determined to be cured of his cancer.
Vicky was first diagnosed with multiple myeloma in April of 2005. She underwent a stem cell transplant in May of 2007, and after a recurrence, she underwent a bone marrow transplant in October of 2009. She is currently undergoing treatment again in order to go back into remission. Unfortunately she lives 90 miles from the treatment center and is having difficulty affording transportation. Vicky will be grateful for any assistance during this time.
Four years ago, Barbara was diagnosed with myeloproliferative disorder. Since then many tests were conducted to determine her best course of treatment, which was decided to be a bone marrow transplant. Barbara relocated to a different state away from her family in order to undergo the procedure. Due to an infection, her transplant was put on hold, as she needed to have her spleen removed. Doctors then discovered that her white blood count had increased and her original diagnosis was wrong, Barbara had leukemia. She now must remain out of state while awaiting further testing and treatment.
To help these or any of the Lifeline Project participants, click here.
Making dreams into realities
Now that the 2012 Summer Olympics have closed, the focus turns to the 2014 Winter Games – especially for Seun Adebiyi. The 29-year-old is training to compete in skeleton, a sport involving racing on a small sled down a frozen track, on behalf of his native country Nigeria. An impressive feat in its own right, Suen’s story includes a few hurdles that have altered his plans and given him additional goals.
Seun Adebiyi (Photo by: Kirsten Luce/The New York Times)
Seun has had dreams of the Olympics since he was a child. As a part of the Nigerian Swim Team, he missed the 2004 Olympics by one-tenth of one second. A few years later, while a law student at Yale, Seun discovered the sport of skeleton and a new Olympic dream was born: to become Nigeria’s first competitor in the Winter Olympics. He started training for the 2010 Games.
In 2009, just after graduating from Yale Law School, Seun learned he had two rare and aggressive blood cancers: lymphoblastic lymphoma and stem cell leukemia. His doctors told him that he needed a stem cell transplant in order to survive, but unfortunately, a matching donor could not be found in the national registry. The most viable matches are generally found within a patient’s own ethnic group, so Seun’s Nigerian heritage and the shortage of African American’s in the national registry combined to work against him.
Putting his skeleton training on hold, Seun became an advocate for cancer patients of African descent, raising awareness of the need for more bone marrow donors. He worked with the South African registry to organize a donor drive in Nigeria. Shortly before he was to leave for Africa, Seun learned that a match for him using cord blood had been identified in the United States. Although Seun was no longer searching match, he put his own health at risk by proceeding with the trip in order to raise awareness and register potential donors for other patients in need.
Seun Adebiyi on the skeleton track (Photo by: Liana Schapiro/NPR)
Seun had to watch the 2010 Winter Olympics from his hospital bed, but the cord blood transplant was a success. His experience made him more determined to reach the 2014 Games and to take action to help other African and African American patients searching for bone marrow matches. He has organized the first Nigerian bone marrow registry (only the second registry in all of Africa) and he is working to establish a cord blood bank there as well. He also continues to race down a chute of ice at speeds around 80 mph as he pursues his Olympic skeleton dreams. As Seun put it, “I’ve already had cancer, what’s the worst that could happen?”
For more information about becoming a bone marrow donor, click here.
Learn more about Seun and his efforts:
July 2012 interview on NPR – “Olympic Hopeful Works To Improve Bone Marrow Registries“
May 2012 New York Times article – “Finding a Match, and a Mission: Helping Blacks Survive Cancer“
November 2010 ESPN profile – “E:60 Skeleton Man” or watch it below.
Lifeline Project Profiles: Special Father’s Day Edition
In honor of Father’s Day, meet some fathers and grandfathers who are bone marrow, stem cell, or cord blood transplant patients. They are all dedicated to their families, but due to treatment, they are experiencing difficulty supporting their families and themselves.
Carl was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in 2009. Since then he has spent much time in and out of the hospital. Carl needed to spend months away from his family in order to undergo a bone marrow transplant. The family felt blessed when they learned Carl’s sister was a perfect match, but they have been devastated by the lengthy treatment and the continued medical complications Carl is dealing with. They are in need of financial assistance with travel and medical expenses that are not covered by their insurance.
Tim was first diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in 2003 and was on chemotherapy for nine years. He eventually became resistant to it and would need a bone marrow transplant. Tim’s brother was a 100% match and he underwent the transplant this past Valentine’s Day. Tim and his wife of over 26 years have struggled with cancer costs for almost a decade. Medical bills, travel expenses, and lodging near the medical center have placed a financial burden on the family. Please support Tim and his family, so he can focus on returning to his music career, promoting western events, song writing, and spending time with his first grandson.
Christopher was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), a group of blood and bone marrow disorders, and he underwent a cord blood transplant in June. His wife accompanied him to the transplant center to be his caregiver, while their three children remained at home. Although Christopher’s diagnosis and treatment have changed his life, he is very grateful because he feels like it could have been much worse. In order to sustain his family during this time, Christopher needs assistance with living expenses.
Stuart, a 48 year old husband and father of three, was diagnosed with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) in August of 2010. After several medical complications and four months in the hospital, Stuart received a bone marrow transplant in May of 2011. He has at least another year before he will be able to return to work, which is causing serious financial strain on the family. They are in need of help with their daily living expenses.
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Angela Pisel
Family: Husband Greg, Children Taylor, Lukas, Gracie, and Olivia
How did you come to live in Catawba County?
We moved here in 1999 for my husband’s job. He was an army physician prior to moving here to start a nephrology practice.
Any particular reason you picked Catawba County?
I think the easy answer is it looked like a good place to raise a family, and it's beautiful. The mountains are beautiful. I love the different seasons, but after living here for a while, I think the reason we've stayed is because it's a great place to develop close relationships with people.
Tell us about your family.
We have three girls and a boy. Our oldest daughter just got married in March. She went to Davidson for undergrad, and Wake Forest for grad school. Our son just graduated from Carolina, and he's going to Georgetown grad school to study public policy. Our third daughter is going to Gardner-Webb and our youngest will be a junior at Hickory High.
How did you get started writing?
I grew up in a tiny town in Illinois that had 1,400 people. There were 36 in my graduating class. I started covering sports for the local newspaper in eighth grade, and realized then, I loved to write.
What inspired you to write your first novel, WITH LOVE FROM THE INSIDE? What is it about?
I actually wrote the novel thinking nobody else would read it so I was quite humbled and surprised when it was published by Penguin Random House. The novel is about a woman on death row trying to reconcile with her daughter before she is executed.
I’ve always been intrigued by the decisions people make, and how we end up where we do. I was very interested in the women on death row. How did they get there? And most importantly, are any of them innocent?
How much of the writing process goes into research?
This novel required a lot of research. I needed the characters to be authentic so I wrote letters to the 56 women on death row asking questions about their lives. There are women on death row who look like they could be sitting beside us in this coffee shop. I wanted to figure them out. What decisions did they make that put them there?
The primary reason I write is to give voice to people who have lost theirs. I felt like there's a whole lot more we can learn from these people rather than calling them monsters or just saying, "You're on death row now. Goodbye." I found out a lot of things I didn't think I would find out, and it changed my perspective on the whole death penalty process.
Tell us a little bit about your writing process.
For my first novel, I wrote when I could find the time. Now, writing is my job. I’m writing a second novel for Penguin Random house so I have deadlines. I write every day in the same place.
When you approach writing, are you a seat-of-the-pants writer, letting the story flow naturally, or do you outline?
For my first novel, I wrote where the story led. I didn’t know if Grace (the woman on death row) was going to live or die until I was driving to my office one day. I was on 127 sitting at a stop light. I was thinking about the way I thought I was going to end it, and I realized I couldn’t end it that way because that's not what would really happen.
I mentioned that I wrote to 56 women on death row when I was writing this. When I finished the book, there were 54 on death row. One was executed, Kelly Gissendaner, in the state of Georgia. She didn't kill her husband, but she was having an affair and her boyfriend actually murdered him. He got life in prison and she got the death penalty. By all accounts, she made a spiritual transformation when she was in prison. She helped others, including helping prevent a few suicides. Her children had to make the decision to either attend her execution or attend the final appeal, and they chose to keep fighting for her. She was executed without their presence. That was heartbreaking. The other woman was actually exonerated. I think she sat for 22 years on death row. There was overwhelming evidence that she was innocent, so she was exonerated – but she still spent 22 years on death row.
This might be a hard question to answer, but people always say, "Write what you know." What part of this story came from you and what you know?
I'm a mother of three daughters. I thought about what lessons I would want them to know if I was dying. And what things, as a mother or as a woman, I would kind of redo if I had a chance. Like not worrying about what size jeans you wear, or realizing there's always going to be someone prettier in the room, somebody not as attractive, somebody smarter, somebody not so smart. It’s knowing we each bring our own value to the table no matter what we do with our lives. We’re valuable because of who we are and who made us, not because of the values that society places on us. So I thought about it from that perspective. Teaching my girls how to be authentic in what they're called to do.
The little boy in the story is actually a real boy in my life. My husband and I were working in St. John's Hospital in Springfield, Illinois. This little boy had been left there by his parents. They were unable to care for him because he had severe special needs. He was my therapy patient, and he became my buddy. After we got married, we had to move away. Writing about him was very healing for me, because it allowed me to work through leaving him behind, knowing he was there all alone. That was a true part of the book.
It’s great to write what you know. But if you only do that, I think it takes away the learning we get when we're researching and writing. I obviously didn't know how it felt to be on death row, but I learned about that and I feel like I'm a better person because of it.
Your first book is published, and you’re going on book tours, doing interviews, people are starting to recognize you and know more about you. How has your life changed?
I love what I'm doing. I'm passionate about writing. I've been given the validity to continue to do that, which has been a huge career goal for me. I'm fortunate that I can continue and hopefully have a long career with Putnam and Penguin Random House. I guess the biggest compliment, to me, is not so much doing the book tours and the interviews. It's when people come up and say, "I've read your book and it caused me to look at this person in prison differently."
A man from New Zealand e-mailed me and said, "I'm a 76-year-old widower living in this beautiful country. I've recently lost my wife and most recently my dog. So I read a lot. And I just want you to know that a good book is hard to find and I didn't want your book to end because I just felt such warmth and caring." It was just a beautifully written email. Those are the things that have changed me the most, realizing words have such an impact for good. I hope I can continue to write to give voice to people who have lost theirs.
Having fans has to be a hard concept to adjust to at first. It must be surreal.
It is fun. But at the end of the day, I still have to load my dishwasher, wash clothes, and cook dinner. Having four kids keeps you humble and focused on what is truly important.
As a writer, do you see yourself fitting in a specific category, a pathway, a genre, a theme?
What I wrote has been described as a high-stakes family drama. Once you start writing a type of story, it’s what’s expected. For me, entertainment value is secondary. I want people to think about the characters in the books for a long time. I want them to wonder, are we judging people appropriately? Have we walked in their shoes?
What was it like to work on your story with an editor? Did you find they were more of a guiding hand? Or did you feel you had to compromise things to meet their vision for getting the book published?
With this book, I didn't feel like I had to change anything to fit the vision at all. I have a character, Roni, who was on death row. She is my favorite character in the book because she was a compilation of the women that I wrote and read about. When she attempted suicide in the book, I had her die because I had read an article by a man in prison that really impacted me. He said, "There are suicides that are happening all around me all the time and you don't hear about that on the nightly news. The people here are so insignificant that you don't ever hear about them." My editors said, "She can’t die. The story will be too sad and the character is too important.” And I agreed. That was the only major part we had to tweak.
Is there anything else you want to share about your life here?
We love living here. We love taking advantage of everything Hickory has to offer. There's a lot of culture offered here. It's a beautiful place to live, raise a family, and get involved in volunteer work. There are many opportunities. It’s progressing culturally. People have really good hearts here, and they reach out. It’s easy to see where people are struggling if we open our eyes. There’s such a good sense of community here; we're able to do things collectively to help people.
Do you find that you get a lot of support from people here for your writing?
Yes! At my book signing at Barnes and Noble, I think there were over 200 people there. I feel the Hickory community has been so supportive. I love to go to area book clubs. I’ve probably done 25 of those in the area. I did not realize there were so many book clubs in this town.
Do you have a tribe of fellow writers in this community? Or is it more of a solo thing for you?
It is a solo thing for me right now. Not by design. When I first started writing the book, I felt so vulnerable. I didn't let anyone read it. Not my husband, not my kids. I kept it close to me. Now, I think it would be very valuable to get in a writers' group to pitch ideas.
The way I collaborate with other writers is being very open to people asking me about the process. I want to give a hand because somebody did that for me. I want to tell them what it's like, or let them know about conferences or classes I’ve taken that are helpful, or share things about publishing. I’m always open to helping other people pursue their passion.
Interviewed on July 31, 2018
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Goats are the oldest domesticated livestock. Ancient burial sites in Asia contain the mummified remains of goats. Why? Goats not only provide the things necessary to Man’s survival… meat, milk, hides, fiber and companionship, but also those things necessary in the afterlife. Believe it or not, goats helped Man discover coffee. Undigested coffee beans concealed within goat droppings must have gotten thrown on the fire and the rest is Starbucks History.
Ever since Victorian England “discovered” the loft, warmth and feel of fabric made from Cashmere, it has been in demand for those in high society. Just pick up a novel or a fashion magazine, especially in the Fall, and you will see references to cashmere sweaters, socks, suits and shawls… all costing a lot of money. Historically, demand for these items has remained steady through feast and famine, war and peace. This is because of the wonderful feel or handle of the fiber combined with low bulk and high loft. These factors combine to make the warmest, softest and most comfortable garment money could buy.
Cashmere producing areas remained in the Himalayan region throughout the first part of the 19th century, extending east to China and west to Iran. But because of political and geographical barriers, western clothiers never saw the animals that produced the fiber; they bought cashmere in bulk, primarily from India, China, Iran and Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, both Australia and the American Southwest were being settled by a tremendous influx of immigrants from Europe. These peoples brought with them as much as they could from the “old country” and this included the domestic goat, known for its durability during long sea voyages, and as a provider of milk and meat. Over the years in Australia, farms failed and many goats escaped, resulting in flocks of wild, or feral, goats in the vast interior “Outback”. In America, especially in the Texas “outback”, huge tracts of arid lands were dedicated to running what is called a “Spanish” goats because nothing else would thrive. In neither environment were these goats tame. They ran wild most of the year and were rounded up annually to harvest the young animals for the meat market. It was the Australians who first noticed that natural selection had produced a hardy, robust and wily animal, some of which had a luxurious, downy undercoat as protection from the weather. In the late 1970’s, the Aussies began selecting those fiber bearing animals and selectively breeding them in an effort to establish a new industry.
Some Australian goats were exported to the United States in the mid 1980’s. Emphasis was placed on fiber production, diameter and style, the natural “crimp” along the length of an individual fiber. As the search for suitable mates for these few imported animals progressed down to Texas, it was discovered that our own Spanish goats had similar fiber already! These animals were removed from their wild environment and bred to the Aussie imports with visions of bales of fine cashmere dancing in our heads. Very quickly we learned that cashmere is an elusive target. The very does who exhibited fine fiber in the wild, suddenly turned into well fed matrons that produced a similar fiber that was not cashmere. This fiber was at the time, called cashgora, although it is not truly a cross between cashmere and mohair, produced by the Angora goat. Later research proved that fiber diameter in goats is controlled both by genetics (genotype) and environment (phenotype) and that goats raised under less than optimum conditionscan exhibit finer fiber than they would otherwise, as is the case in China, where even the people are underfed. Goats exposed to a greater nutritional level as is necessitated when removing them from the arid southwest and taking them to Colorado, New Hampshire or Washington State, resulted in the production of this coarser, straighter, but still luxurious fiber, now called commercial cashmere.
True cashgora has a third fiber type called kemp, and is very much avoided by both the mohair industry and the cashmere industry. Especially in young animals, it is very difficult to differential between cashmere and cashgora. Unfortunately, this lead to the introduction of many “top quality cashmere goats” that were not, resulting in many disenfranchised and disappointed breeders.
The good news is that we have realized the role that environment can play in fiber quality and have redoubled our efforts to identify goats that are genetically capable of producing cashmere. While we have not yet established a true breed of cashmere goat, one that will pass along its desired genetic package the majority of the time, we have made great progress and are now producing American grown cashmere. We are proud that we can grow our cashmere using traditional American values… that of high nutritional levels, good husbandry practices and humane harvesting techniques. We cannot and will not starve goats into growing “hunger-fine” fiber as they do in the historic cashmere producing regions of the world.
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Reaction: Lawsuit against ExxonMobil “turning point” for climate litigation
October 26, 2018 Matthew McCarten No comments exist
Posted by Matthew McCarten on October 26, 2018 October 26, 2018
The New York Attorney General yesterday announced a lawsuit against ExxonMobil for allegedly misleading investors of the risks that climate change regulations posed to its business.
Responding to the claim, the Commonwealth Climate and Law Initiative (CCLI) Australian Convenor Sarah Barker said: “The lawsuit by the New York Attorney-General is a turning point – climate litigation targeting misleading disclosure is a reality. Directors must now approach climate change in the same way as they would any other financial matter. The only safeguard against liability exposure will be a proactive, dynamic and considered approach to the impacts of climate change in the unique context of the company.”
It is not just the narrative disclosures in ExxonMobil’s company reports that come under scrutiny – the numbers matter too. The claim alleges that had ExxonMobil used the disclosed proxy cost of carbon in its forward planning and impairment evaluations, a number of its North American assets, including tar sand assets, would have been subject to significant write downs in 2015 and subsequent years.
Barker added: “Changes in policy, technology, physical impacts and the threat of litigation create a risk that a large range of assets could become stranded, but especially fossil fuel reserves and projects.”
“Companies need to make sure their financial statements reflect a true and fair view of their performance and prospects in light of the profound shifts in our climate and associated societal responses.”
“Regulators and investors are increasingly paying close attention to the numbers in the financial statements to assess whether assets are over-valued or liabilities under-valued.”
According to the claim, the company internally priced carbon lower than it told investors, or not at all – especially when using the higher disclosed price would have had a significant impact on its business planning, investment decisions and financial reporting.
The claim also alleges that in response to investor demands for scenario analysis, ExxonMobil made material misstatements with its representations that it faced little or no risk of stranded assets under a ‘two-degree scenario’. Its conclusion was largely based on internal proxy costs of carbon and an assumption that governments would not impose more stringent climate change regulations.
CCLI Canadian Convenor Professor Cynthia Williams said: “Companies should not shy away from the scenario analysis disclosures recommended by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures. Instead, this lawsuit shows that disclosure must be based on defensible parameters. It is the selective application of optimistic demand forecasts or assumptions that could expose a company or its directors to liability.”
The New York Attorney General’s investigation has already helped spur a private lawsuit against ExxonMobil. A securities fraud class action is underway against ExxonMobil and senior officials, including former CEO Rex Tillerson, involving similar allegations of material misstatements relating to the proxy costs of carbon used in business and investment decisions. In August, that lawsuit passed a significant obstacle when the Texas district court largely denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss. The defendants have asked the court to reconsider its decision to allow the suit to proceed to trial.
CCLI Director Ellie Mulholland said: “The multiple proceedings against ExxonMobil show that the heat is on for climate governance and climate disclosures.”
Sarah Barker is Special Counsel at MinterEllison, the largest law firm in the Asia Pacific region, and Research Affiliate at the University of Oxford.
Professor Cynthia Williams is the Osler Chair in Business Law at York University and previously practised law at Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York City.
Ellie Mulholland is Director of the Commonwealth Climate and Law Initiative and an Australian-qualified lawyer.
The summons and complaint by the New York Attorney-General is available here. Information on the securities fraud class action, Ramirez v Exxon Mobil Corp, is available here.
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MPP Report December 2018
Home > Elected Representative Reports > MPP Report December 2018
It is with excitement that I write to you this December. The holiday season is one full of friends, family, joy and hope for the New Year for many of us. I wish you all a safe and healthy month and a very happy and prosperous year to come. I do hope that during this holiday season we all take a minute to pause and remember those who may not have anyone to celebrate with or the means to do so with their family. There are many chances to help those who are less fortunate than us and I encourage everyone to seek out such an opportunity. The holiday season is a fitting time to come together and remember we are all one community and should support each other as such.
Listening to a veteran’s story at RCL Branch 258 on Remembrance Day.
November has certainly been a busy time but in particular I would like to highlight an important part of that month. In early November, there were Remembrance Day ceremonies across Scarborough. I was grateful to be able to attend ceremonies at the Scarborough Civic Centre, the Toronto Zoo, the Royal Canadian Legion, and the Tony Stacey Centre for Veterans Care to honour those men and women who have served in our Armed Forces as well as meet many of the veterans who came to remember their fallen comrades. Words simply cannot express the debt of gratitude that we all owe these brave soldiers who have fought to preserve our values and freedoms. Along the same theme of honouring our veterans, I had the privilege to plant a few trees as part of the Highway of Heroes Tree Campaign, which aims to make a living tribute to all who served by planting 2 million trees along the Highway of Heroes and the surrounding communities.
I also had the privilege of attending many other significant and successful events in our riding. I was delighted to attend and award medals at the Ontario Open Judo Championships, which drew hundreds of competitors from around the world, while Wheelchair Basketball Canada’s signature fundraiser, Hoopfest, had a fun and inclusive 3-on-3 tournament. On a rainy and cold Nov. 1, many from our community braved the weather to attend the first Southeast Scarborough Pumpkin Parade where carving skills were on display while enjoying good conversation with neighbours. I also want to give special mention to FIRST Robotics Canada, which held their Open House in the Malvern community attracting kids and parents from the neighbourhood.
This past month we had a constituency week where I got to meet with many residents and stakeholders. I want to highlight just a few in particular. I had a wonderful tour of the Malvern Family Resource Centre; I had the opportunity to meet with some of the management team at Legal Aid Ontario; and, on more of a fun note, I got the chance to tour the Toronto Zoo. These are all important organizations in our riding and I look forward to working with them further.
I also had the opportunity to be in touch with many of our healthcare partners, including the team from the Scarborough and Rouge Hospital, and had an insightful tour of Providence Healthcare. Additionally, I met with some of the staff and volunteers from the Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Care Centre and learned more about the important work they do in Scarborough.
Before I sign off until next month, I did want to thank all members of the community who came out to the official opening of my Constituency Office and helped make it a success. My office is here to help so please do get in touch to get assistance with any provincial matter or to set up an appointment to meet with me: 416-283-8448 or vijay.thanigasalamco@pc.ola.org.
December 1, 2018 at 8:15 am wpadmin Elected Representative Reports Share via:
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Egyptian Football star Marwa El-Hawat - Daily News Egypt
In Focus Egyptian Football star Marwa El-Hawat
Egyptian Football star Marwa El-Hawat
El-Hawat talks about her rise from playing in the streets to representing and coaching women's professional football in Egypt
Sarah El Masry September 6, 2012 Be the first to comment
Marwa El-Hawat, General Coach for the Egyptian Under 17 girls’ football team
Rachel Adams / DNE
From playing football in the streets with the boys of her neighborhood to becoming general coach for the Egyptian girls’ football and Masr El Mokasa teams, the 28 year old captain Marwa El Hawat speaks to the Daily News Egypt about the future of the Egyptian girls’ football team.
How did your interest in football start? And how did you join the girls’ team?
I started playing football when I was eight years old in the streets with the boys in my neighbourhood. My father was a teacher and at his school there was a girl who is a weight lifting champion. She told him that Dr Sahar El- Hawary, was starting a girls’ football team. I live in Maadi, so when she started to form the team at Al Maadi Olympic club, I joined. I got through the different tests; this was the start.
My father listened to the neighbours’ comments: “she knows how to play,” “she is talented;” they thought that everyone who plays football in the streets usually becomes a star. Consequently, he encouraged me to play as long as it did not affect my studies. Afterwards, he actually started accompanying me when we went to different matches in Alexandria or any other governorate.
Then, when I turned 11 or 12 years old, we played the first Arab championship in Zamalek Sporting club, in Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria and we got second place. When I was 13, we entered a preparation period for the Cup of Nations Qualifiers in 1997 after the team was accredited.
We grew bigger and played against other countries. We won against Uganda and were then ready for the final match in Nigeria. This was the first time a girls’ team had participated in a championship like this. Of course this was a huge achievement for an Egyptian girl to participate in something like that. From that moment on, there were international, regional and local tournaments and championships.
In Egypt, sometimes parents encourage their children to excel in a sport but only until a certain age. Tell me about your parents. How supportive were they were in that period after you started to go championships and international games?
Actually when I did my second qualifiers, I was doing my Thanweya Amma (the Certificate of General Secondary Education). My colleagues and I were a similar age and since my father was a teacher, he recognised that we were a group of special girls who were talented in a game that you rarely saw girls playing. As a result, he thought since it’s not affecting their studies then why not? He actually got our teachers to teach us inside of our training camps. We used to go to our exams then go back to our camp. So, I did not have a problem with my parents; on the contrary they were very encouraging.
Why did you decide to coach?
After I was chosen as one of the best players of the girls’ Arab team, I was selected among the top 18 female players in the world. Those 18 girls formed an international team that competed against the Women’s World Cup championship team in Germany at that time. This was a great experience because I was the only African girl in that team. Then, I stayed in Germany to get some professional football experience for six months. After I came back, I wanted to focus on becoming a coach.
Since I started playing at a young age, I wanted to start young as a coach too. So I studied at a physical education school and took some courses to learn how to coach young boys and girls. I started out with a very young group of boys and girls. Then I traveled to Dubai for a year where I became responsible for the Arab Youth Club, which is one of their best clubs. I coached the whole girls’ football sector. When I came back to Egypt, I started to coach Masr El-Mokasa Club. Now I’m coaching Egypt’s Under 17s team for the Women’s World Cup in 2014.
How do boys react when you coach them?
At a younger age it does not really make a difference because for them I am like one of their schoolteachers. They have male and female teachers at their schools. What matters the most is how you treat them and how you build a friendship with them. When you achieve that, then your job becomes much easier.
How about the financial aspect of playing?
Football for women is totally different than it is for men when it comes to the financial aspect, and this is not unique to football, it applies to almost all sports. Women’s participation is not highlighted unless they have made an achievement, other than that no one cares. When it comes to the pay, the figures that you hear about for men are not heard of for women at all. Mostly for the girls it is more about excelling at a game or a sport you love and are talented in.
Also, it is noteworthy to say that the girls who constitute our teams come from various social and economic backgrounds. The concept that is now emerging is that they play the game they are talented in. Of course in the beginning or a generation ago, many families were conservative about the way their girls would dress for the game, but now when the girls become professional enough and their families see how talented they are, they forget what they are wearing.
Additionally, most of our teams have veiled girls and after Dr El-Hawary made a suggestion to FIFA concerning sportswear for veiled girls, they approved a certain kind of sportswear to guarantee their safety. It does not include pins for example and does not hinder them from playing. This revolutionised sports for women in the Arab countries and the Middle East because many countries such as Iran, Jordan and Saudi Arabia used to withdraw because their women were veiled.
What about media coverage?
We barely get any kind of media coverage. Our local tournaments go on for six to eight months and only the final match gets aired. In the printed press for example, you don’t hear about girls who have been selected to join an international or an Arab team. Even though this is a personal achievement it is also an achievement for her country, yet her country is not interested in covering it.
I personally experienced that when I was chosen among the best 18 female footballers in the world. Foreign media interviewed me and Mr Blatter, the president of FIFA, shook hands with me, but when I came back to Egypt it wasn’t even in the news. We just want people to know about us, know that we exist, and that we are talented.
How does the Ministry of Youth help the girls’ team?
The ministry does play a role in supporting the girls’ team along with the Egyptian Football Association, but still it is not comparable to the support men’s team get.
How does being a professional footballer affect your personal relationships?
In my generation of female coaches many woman are married and have children. Football as a game is like every other sport girls play; it has nothing to do with your social life.
Who is your audience and how does it react when you play?
Our audience is diverse and so is its reaction. At the beginning, seeing women playing baffled people. They used to make positive and negative comments. The negative comments were usually about women staying at home. We used to hear some mocking comments; “Why are you playing football?” and “Girl, why don’t you stay at home?” Now the situation is improving and we have an audience that even follows us from Cairo to some governorates such as Fayoum.
We go to local tournaments where we travel to Upper Egypt and play games in Qena, Minia, and Assiut. It was hard for people there to understand why girls should be playing sports, but as I said the situation is improving. This is due to the efforts that Dr El Hawary has made over the years to establish the teams and get institutional support for them.
Topics: coverage Egypt Football Media professional women
Sarah El Masry
sarahmohy@aucegypt.edu
More in Sarah El Masry
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https://cdn2.dailynewsegypt.com/2012/09/06/egyptian-football-star-marwa-el-hawat/
September 6, 2012 Breaking News
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The Salvation Army of Ames
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MYOLYN Submits FDA Application for Muscle-stimulating MyoCycle Bikes
by Daniela Semedo, PhD
In News.
The medical device company MYOLYN has submitted a 510(k) application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its functional electrical stimulation (FES) stationary bikes — MyoCycle Home and the MyoCycle Pro — to stimulate muscles during exercise.
The bikes can be used by people experiencing muscle weakness or who have lower body paralysis as a result from certain conditions such as cerebral palsy.
The clearance submission marks a major landmark for MYOLYN, a start-up company from the University of Florida, which flourished with help from the university’s Institute for the Commercialization of Public Research and local angel investors.
An FES bike is essentially a stationary exercise bike that helps activate the muscles of individuals who are paralyzed or who experience muscle weakness. The electrical stimulation is applied through electrode pads that are placed on the skin over target muscle groups. The electrical current stimulates the peripheral nerves in the muscle, causing the muscle to contract, using the body’s own energy to perform functional movement.
“FES is a very promising technology that can help many people with paralysis or muscle weakness,” Alan Hamlet, PhD, MYOLYN co-founder and CEO, said in a press release. “MYOLYN is innovating FES solutions to make this technology more widely available. The MyoCycle is an affordable, easy-to-use FES bike that enables therapeutic, load-bearing exercise despite even complete paralysis.”
The MyoCycle bikes can benefit those with cerebral palsy, spinal cord injury, and other conditions that cause muscle weakness, atrophy, and spasms. The bikes can prevent muscle atrophy, relax muscle spasms, increase blood circulation, maintain or increase range of motion, and can be used for muscle re-education following disease or injury.
The MyoCycle Home is one of the most affordable and easy-to-use FES bike. It can be used in the home so patients can take control of their health and perform the therapeutic exercise they need.
The MyoCycle Pro is designed to meet the varying and stressful demands of the busiest physical therapy clinics. It combines FES and isokinetic cycling to give physical therapy patients improved health and meet progressive functional therapeutic outcomes.
“The patent-pending algorithms we use automatically select the optimal stimulation parameters for the patient, making the MyoCycle not only effective, but extremely easy and intuitive to use,” said Matthew Bellman, PhD, the company’s chief technology officer. “Our goal was to make this technology practical for use in the home for the first time, so we designed the MyoCycle from the ground up to be affordable and as easy-to-use as a regular exercise bike.”
Tagged exercise, FDA, FES, functional electrical stimulation, muscle weakness, MyoCycle, MYOLYN, physical therapy, stationary bikes.
Daniela Semedo, PhD
Daniela holds a PhD in Clinical Psychology from The University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom, a MSc in Health Psychology and a BSc in Clinical Psychology. Her work has been focused on vulnerability to psychopathology and early identification and intervention in psychosis.
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USA, l'arresto di Ahmad Khan Rahami in New Jersey
LINDEN, NJ - SEPTEMBER 19: Members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) work at the site where Ahmad Khan Rahami, who was wanted in connection to Saturday night's bombing in Manhattan, was arrested after a shootout with police, September 19, 2016 in Linden, New Jersey. On Monday morning, law enforcement released a photograph of 28-year-old Ahmad Khan Rahami, who they are seeking in connection to the attack. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 19: A picture of Ahmad Khan Rahami, the man believed to be responsible for the explosion in Manhattan on Saturday night and an earlier bombing in New Jersey, is displayed at a news conference at New York City police headquarters on September 19, 2016 in New York City. Rahami was taken into custody on Monday afternoon following a gunfight where he was wounded by he police in Linden, New Jersey. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 19: Police and FBI members continue to search the area around the scene of a bombing in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan last Saturday night on September 19, 2016 in New York City. Ahmad Khan Rahami, the man believed to be responsible for the explosion in Manhattan on Saturday night and an earlier bombing in New Jersey was taken into custody on Monday afternoon following a gunfight where he was wounded by police in Linden, New Jersey. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Law enforcement officers secure the area where they allegedly arrested terror suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami following a shootout in Linden, New Jersey, on September 19, 2016.16 An "armed and dangerous" Afghan-born suspect wanted in the weekend bomb attacks in New York and New Jersey was wounded Monday in a shootout with police and taken into custody. Federal investigators released a mugshot of 28-year-old Ahmad Khan Rahami, who has brown hair, brown eyes and a brown beard, saying he was last known to live in Elizabeth, a town adjacent to Newark International Airport. / AFP / Jewel SAMAD (Photo credit should read JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)
Torna al post: Esplosione a New York: 29 feriti. Catturato il 28enne Ahmad Khan Rahami
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Cultist 'glad' to help Asahara by releasing sarin
Japan Times, June 9, 2000
A former Aum Shinrikyo member who was 17 when she was involved in the 1994 sarin gas attack on an anti-Aum lawyer testified in court Thursday that at the time she was "glad" she could help cult leader Shoko Asahara.
Testifying in the 159th session of Asahara's trial at the Tokyo District Court, the former cultist, whose name was withheld as she was a minor at the time of the offense, told how she poured the liquid form of sarin into Yokohama lawyer Taro Takimoto's car in Yamanashi Prefecture in May 1994 on Asahara's orders.
She said that she was honored to receive Asahara's order as she thought that it meant Asahara trusted her and would take care of her. "I think everybody in the cult would have felt the same way (if they had received an order from Asahara)," she told the court.
The woman joined the cult when she was 15. Before receiving the order she had been concerned that Asahara had a cold attitude toward her.
Consequently, she told the court, she spontaneously accepted the order with a feeling akin to a "child who had been forgiven by parents."
The woman also related how she poured the liquid form of sarin into the ventilation grille in the lawyer's car, which was parked outside the Kofu District Court. Takimoto had been attending a civil suit lodged against the cult.
The woman, who left the cult in 1996, said she poured the sarin from a small bottle into Takimoto's car, following a procedure outlined by Aum doctor Tomomasa Nakagawa and the cult's chemist, Seiichi Endo.
Takimoto has testified during Asahara's trial that he suffered from impaired vision -- a symptom caused by inhaling sarin -- while he was driving his car from the court.
The former cultist said she also suffered similar symptoms three days after the attack. She also said she was thanked by Asahara after returning to the cult's headquarters later that day.
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« Album Review: Bob James and David Sanborn – Quartette Humaine
“Under The Radar” Jazz Guitarists – Part I »
Album Review – Blanchard’s “Magnetic” Attracts Positive Attention
It has been thirty years since Terence Blanchard first hit the jazz scene as Wynton Marsalis’ handpicked replacement in Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and then lead a memorable “young lions” quintet with saxophonist Donald Harrison. Since then, Mr. Blanchard has scored over 40 films, including all of Spike Lee’s since Mo’ Better Blues; been nominated for eleven Grammys® (and won five); served as artistic director of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz; been a first call sideman and led his own group that has recorded twenty albums. In addition, Mr. Blanchard’s first “Opera in Jazz”, Champion, about the life of the late boxer Emile Griffith, recently premiered in St. Louis. Suffice to say that Terence Blanchard has been quite busy. His twentieth album also marks his return to Blue Note Records for which he last recorded 2007’s A Tale of God’s Will (A Requiem for Katrina) for which he won the Best Large Jazz Ensemble Grammy.
His new album, titled Magnetic, features ten original compositions, all by Mr. Blanchard or the members of his latest quintet; Brice Winston on saxophone, Fabian Almazan on piano, Kendrick Scott on drums and 21-year-old newcomer Joshua Crumbly on bass. In addition, there are guest appearances by bass legend Ron Carter, saxophonist Ravi Coltrane (son of a legend) and guitarist Lionel Loueke (likely to be a legend). Blanchard has been experimenting with a number of styles, from classical to Latin to hip-hop on some of his recent recordings. Though those experiments were always interesting and often successful, it’s great to find him on Magnetic, back at his base in what is essentially a first-rate post-bop blowing session.
The title track kicks things off. It’s a knotty mid-tempo piece, peppered with staccato horn blasts and various electronics including Blanchard’s use electronics which at times give his trumpet a guitar like sound. “Pet Step Sitter’s Theme Song” has a mellow funk rhythm over which the group lays down some exploratory solos with Ravi Coltrane’s tenor runs being the highlight, Blanchard’s electronic trumpet sounding like a keyboard and Loueke’s guitar comping in the background. Lionel’s vocalizing and chord runs are subtle at first, then grow in prominence to give the piece a shift in direction. Drummer Scott contributed the hard-driving “No Borders, Just Horizons”, which opens with a powerful two-minute drum solo and then moves surprisingly into a Latin swing over which Blanchard blows one of his best solos on the album before turning things over to Winston’s tenor, which is also in fine form. “Central Focus”, which Blanchard originally recorded on his Simply Stated album twenty years ago and it makes welcome return here with Blanchard showing what he has learned in the ensuing two decades and Scott setting a beat that is impossible to ignore. Winston’s “Time to Spare”, which he originally recorded on his debut solo album three years ago, appears here in an improved version. Winston is more confident and his tenor runs, which show the influence of Joe Henderson, are more self-assured.
The highlight of highlights is “Don’t Run” which features the great Ron Carter on bass and Ravi Coltrane on soprano sax. The tune takes its title from a joking admonition that Carter made to Blanchard to “Stop running from me, man”, when the trumpeter would suggest that they work together. “Don’t Run” is 7 ½ minutes of jazz awesome, with Blanchard, Coltrane, Carter and Scott, just blowing their brains out. Coltrane starts it; with one of his best solos on soprano that I’ve heard to date. Blanchard comes behind him, clearly intending to not be outdone and Carter, is his usual Hall of Fame self.
Magnetic is a mature and winning artistic statement from Terence Blanchard and his quintet. He demonstrates that in spite of the film work, the operas, the Broadway scores and the other things that divide his attention, he remains one of the best jazz trumpet players working today and that he has the recordings to back it up.
This entry was posted on July 28, 2013 at 2:47 pm and is filed under CD Reviews with tags best jazz of 2013, Blue Note Records, jazz, ravi coltrane, ron carter, terence blanchard. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
3 Responses to “Album Review – Blanchard’s “Magnetic” Attracts Positive Attention”
Am curious to hear
My Favorite Jazz Albums of 2013 (So Far) | Curt's Jazz Cafe Says:
[…] Hard to believe that Terence Blanchard has been on the jazz scene for over thirty years. While he has done everything from score films, to write operas, when you get right down to it, he is never better than he is when he fronting a group and reminding everyone that before all of the Hollywood accolades, Blanchard was one of the best jazz trumpet players around; period. He reminds us again here, with his working group and stellar guest spots from Ravi Coltrane, Lionel Loueke and the incomparable Ron Carter. You can read my full review HERE. […]
2014 Jazz Grammy® Preview #1 – Best Improvised Jazz Solo | Curt's Jazz Cafe Says:
[…] track on trumpeter Terence Blanchard’s best album in years. Frankly, I’m surprised that Magnetic did not get a Best Instrumental Jazz Album nomination. Nevertheless, this cut features great solos […]
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Kevin Speaks His Mind: Fresh Games
by ksullivan 03/22/2002
My name’s Kevin C. Sullivan, and I swear to you I’m not losing my mind. I’ve written for numerous sites before, including the award-winning (well, nominated for sure) myvideogames.com and the winner of My-Mom-Thought-It-Was-A-Good-Site Award, Steam-Works.com. Currently I’m doing reviews for The-Lowdown.net and now I’m throwing a weekly rambling towards the guys at CV-games.com, who is sending me to E3.
You remember that crap your mom (or closest equivalent to said parental unit) used to make you eat as a kid? You didn’t want to eat it, and you have your reasons. So, she would counter with “how do you know you don’t like it if you never try it?” Sure, you could throw back a “I’ve never been shot in the face before either, but I’m sure that wouldn’t be very pleasant, either,” but she did have a point. I think the creation of Fresh Games, a company that brings out titles from Japan that wouldn’t normally see the light of day in the US, is trying to use that logic with both the game buying public and other pubishers as well.
Recently, Fresh Games, owned by Eidos, put out two very different games. Mr. Mosquito, which is pretty much what it sounds like, and Mad Maestro, which is kind of like Gitaroo-Man except with Classic music. These are two games that, if they were released a year ago, would probably have never seen the light of day. Why? Because normal convention (whatever the heck that is) says that games like this are simply too weird for us Americans, who seem to prefer stunning graphics and over-the-top violence and gore to actual gameplay. Can’t hardly blame ’em, though, since that’s what sells.
However, if you don’t throw something different out on the table every so often, you’re never going to know if the kids are going to eat it up or not. In a way, it’s much like the natural procession of evolution. As conditions change, so do tastes and expectations. Much in the same way that a species will die off if some change isn’t made eventually to it’s biological make-up, games will grow stale and essentially unplayable if something new isn’t thrown into the mix. And sometimes that means leaving the village and dipping into another gene pool. In this case, that pool is the hot springs of Japan.
Years and years ago, it would be unfathomable to think that any video game would sell that wasn’t originally made in Japan. Nowadays, you have developers all over the world, and top selling games are just as likely to be developed here in the States or over in Europe as they are on the most powerful non-Communist nation of the Pacific Rim. In return, most of the games coming from Japan have been more on the edge: bursting with creativity, but doesn’t exactly shoot for the lowest common denominator. But, as we’ve seen with RPGs and music games, when you aim in a different direction, sometimes it comes flying back and hits a lot more people than you were expecting and� uh� all right, so I didn’t exactly think that metaphor out all the way. Sue me.
When something news comes out, a lot of companies do one of two things. They either blatantly rip off the new idea or they take it, tinker with it, and make it even better. For years, the Japanese have been doing the latter. Now, they’re really starting to show some real innovation, and it’s time for not just other developers, but the gaming public, to sit up and take notice and try something new. There’s a lot of great games out there right now, but as great as they are, a lot of them are rehashes of old product. I liked Devil may Cry and Onimusha a lot, but I also thought they were good when they were called Resident Evil. It’s an example of taking an idea, tinkering with it and making it better, but in the end, you’re still not much deeper in the gene pool than you were before (although the controls are a heck of a lot better, I assure you).
Keep an eye on Fresh Games you gamers and developers alike, and just see if what they’re publishing isn’t catching on. Then perhaps you, my gaming friends, won’t be so scared to try something new, and you, my friends in the labs, won’t be so afraid to make and market that new thing which my aforementioned gaming friends won’t be so afraid to play.
I’m not on drugs, seriously.
See you next time.
By Kevin Sullivan – 03/22/02
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Implications of behavioural finance for the efficient market hypothesis
Why is behavioral finance necessary? Theories like these take as an assumption that participants in an economy, for the most part, exhibit behaviors that are rational and predictable.
There was a time when theoretical and empirical evidence seemed to suggest that CAPM, EMH and other conventional financial theories were reasonably successful at predicting and explaining certain types of economic events.
Nonetheless, as time went on, academics in the financial and economic realms detected anomalies and behaviors which occurred in the real world but which could not be explained by any available theories. According to conventional theories, people are able to separate out emotions and various other extraneous factors so that they are not susceptible to their influence.
Professor Fama suggests that even though there are some anomalies that cannot be explained by modern financial theory, market efficiency should not be totally abandoned in favor of behavioral finance. In 2002, Kahneman received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to the study of rationality in economics.
Critics of Behavioral Finance Behavioral finance has come to a place of prominence in the past decades, with many academics adhering to its principles. These two cognitive psychologists began to collaborate with one another in the late 1960s, ultimately publishing about 200 works in the field.
Most of the work of Kahneman and Tversky focuses on how various psychological concepts relate to behavior in the financial realm. Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky Kahneman and Tversky are considered by many to be the fathers of behavioral finance.
Professor Fama suggests that even though there are some anomalies that cannot be explained by modern financial theory, market efficiency should not be totally abandoned in favor of behavioral finance. The efficient market hypothesis is considered one of the foundations of modern financial theory.
In reality, though, this assumption does not reflect how people tend to behave. Indeed, nearly every participant in an economy behaves irrationally in some way or other. To take a common example: Taken logically, it does not make any sense to buy a lottery ticket if the odds of winning are overwhelmingly against the ticket holder the chances of winning the Powerball jackpot are roughly 1 in 146 million, or 0.
However, in spite of this, millions of people spend countless dollars taking part in the lottery. Anomalies like this one provoked academics to turn to cognitive psychology in order to account for irrational and illogical behaviors which are unexplained by modern financial theory. Important Contributors Behavioral finance has developed to the point it has today thanks to the contributions of many individual theorists and researchers.
Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky Kahneman and Tversky are considered by many to be the fathers of behavioral finance. These two cognitive psychologists began to collaborate with one another in the late 1960s, ultimately publishing about 200 works in the field.
Most of the work of Kahneman and Tversky focuses on how various psychological concepts relate to behavior in the financial realm. In 2002, Kahneman received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to the study of rationality in economics. Kahneman and Tversky have specialized on cognitive biases and heuristics i.
Richard Thaler If it can be said that Kahneman and Tversky were the founders of behavioral finance, it follows that Richard Thaler brought the field out of its nascent state and into the mainstream. Thaler developed his theories out of a growing awareness of the shortcomings of conventional financial theories as they pertain to real-world behaviors.
After he read a draft version of a work by Kahneman and Tversky on prospect theory, Thaler came to the realization that psychological theory rather than conventional economics could help to account for this irrationality. Critics of Behavioral Finance Behavioral finance implications of behavioural finance for the efficient market hypothesis come to a place of prominence in the past decades, with many academics adhering to its principles. However, this set of theories is not without critics, too.
For instance, some supporters of the efficient market hypothesis EMH are vocal critics of behavioral finance. EMH is widely considered to be one of the foundations of modern finance. However, this hypothesis fails to account for irrationality, because it assumes that the market price of a security reflects the impact of any and all relevant information as it becomes available. Eugene Fama is one of the most notable critics of behavioral finance.
Fama is the founder of market efficiency theory. He suggests that even though there do exist some anomalies for which modern financial theory is not able to account, market efficiency theory remains the best model for examining and predicting economies. Fama even goes so far to note that many anomalies inherent in conventional theories could be seen as shorter-term chance events which are eventually corrected as time goes on.
Critics Although behavioral finance has been gaining support in recent years, it is not without its critics.
Some supporters of the efficient market hypothesis, for example, are vocal critics of behavioral finance. The efficient market hypothesis is considered one of the foundations of modern financial theory.
To take a common example. The most notable critic of behavioral finance is Eugene Fama, the founder of market efficiency theory.
Important Contributors Behavioral finance has developed to the point it has today thanks to the contributions of many individual theorists and researchers. Professor Fama suggests that even though there are some anomalies that cannot be explained by modern financial theory, market efficiency should not be totally abandoned in favor of behavioral finance.
Fama even goes so far to note that many anomalies inherent in conventional theories could be seen as shorter-term chance events which are eventually corrected as time goes on. Eugene Fama is one of the most notable critics of behavioral finance.
Critics of Behavioral Finance Behavioral finance has come to a place of prominence in the past decades, with many academics adhering to its principles. The most notable critic of behavioral finance is Eugene Fama, the founder of market efficiency theory.
In 2002, Kahneman received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to the study of rationality in economics. To take a common example.
However, the hypothesis does not account for irrationality because it assumes that the market price of a security reflects the impact of all relevant information as it is released.
The most notable critic of behavioral finance is Eugene Fama, the founder of market efficiency theory.
Behavioral Finance: Background
Professor Fama suggests that even though there are some anomalies that cannot be explained by modern financial theory, market efficiency should not be totally abandoned in favor of behavioral finance. In fact, he notes that many of the anomalies found in conventional theories could be considered shorter-term chance events that are eventually corrected over time.
In his 1998 paper, entitled "Market Efficiency, Long-Term Returns And Behavioral Finance", Fama argues that many of the findings in behavioral finance appear to contradict each other, and that all in all, behavioral finance itself appears to be a collection of anomalies that can be explained by market efficiency.
Writing a thesis statement for a literature review
Mision y vision esso on the run metrocentro
The consequences of leaving bad comments online
Aed 200 week two multicultural education scenario
Question of the heroes by nick joaquin
A description of human experiences and informed consent
A biography of george washington plunkitt of tammany hall
The importance of maintaining accurate financial records for keeping a good public accounting reputa
A personal narrative on the challenging transition from high school to college
Quality of health care u s vs
More papers:
Factors that affect location decision operation management
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Utah Stakeholders Contribute to E-Rate Modernization Order Changes
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently released an updated Order on its E-Rate program, which helps schools and libraries obtain high-speed Internet access. This new Order modifies the definition of rural, so that a school or library located in an area with a population of less that 25,000 will be considered rural to ensure E-Rate funding in those much needed areas. This modification to the Order came after petitions for reconsideration and supporting comments were submitting by the Utah Education Network, the Utah Rural Telecom Association and the Governor’s Office of Economic Development.
The Order also approved a $1.5 billion funding increase for its E-Rate program, which will lift the overall spending cap, which has not been changed since it was set in 1997 from $2.4 billion to $3.9 billion a year.
This funding increase comes after the FCC’s approval of the E-Rate Modernization Order in July 2014, which boosted Wi-Fi funding for schools and libraries by $1 billion a year over the next two years and strengthened educators in negotiations with service providers by requiring that prices and terms for E-Rate subsidized services nationwide be posted transparently on the Internet.
In addition to the $1.5 billion annual funding increase and rural definition change, the FCC approved other changes to the program which include providing incentives for states to support “last mile” construction and easing the process through which schools and libraries can obtain E-Rate money to use “dark fiber.”
The FCC also voted to suspend a rule that applicants need to seek money for big construction costs over several years, and allow telecom providers that receive subsides through a federal program designed to help rural areas to offer high-speed broadband to schools and libraries in those areas at rates reasonably comparable to those offered in urban communities.
« USDA Accepting Applications for the Community Connect Grant Program USDA to Host Community Connect Webinar »
E-rate, FCC, Libraries, rural, schools
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What He Said: Doug Marrone on facing Bills, McCoy, Taylor and weather
Former Bills coach Doug Marrone, now with the Jaguars, talks with reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine. (Jay Skurski/Buffalo News)
By Staff|Published Wed, Jan 3, 2018
(On what Buffalo has done well recently) “They are a good football team. They are physical on both sides of the ball. I think they have done a great job, like we have over the course of the year, with turnovers. They have created a lot of turnovers. They have obviously done a good job in their coverage units, special team-wise, and they are dangerous on offense. They can make plays. They have good guys on the perimeter. They have a premier tight end in [Charles] Clay. Obviously with [LeSean] McCoy as the runner or [Mike] Tolbert, they have a really good running game and the quarterback is dangerous. He has done a lot of things that have given us problems when plays get extended or quarterbacks run and things of that nature. It has been a challenge for us. There are a lot of challenges for us coming off of this game.”
(On Blake Bortles having patience in his efforts to make big plays down the field against the Bills) “It is one of those things like we always talk about not being able to turn the ball over. When we haven’t turned the ball over, we have been able to play well. Field position is a big battle within the game. I think you have to go out there and like I told the players, ‘know what you are doing, clean communication and do our job. Make sure you can execute well.’ That is what happens at this time of the year.”
(On if the team will prepare as if McCoy will be playing) “We prepare like he is playing.”
(On if that is the best way to prepare and if they will spend extra time looking at Tolbert) “He plays too. All the guys that play, obviously same for us, they are looking at all the guys that play for us and we are looking at all the guys that play for them. You have to be ready for their best and prepare for it.”
(On the challenges that McCoy presents) “He is a guy that can change field, can break tackles, take it to the house. He is excellent coming out of the backfield receiving. He is a Pro Bowl running back. He has all the ingredients that make him very, very dangerous on the field.”
(On how the team handles a quarterback who can scramble and extend plays) “You know what is so funny about that? Last night my wife called me and asked me the same question. I am telling the truth. She was like, ‘Listen, this guy is dangerous.’ I was like, ‘Yup, mhmm.’ I said, ‘You have to realize when you are rushing a quarterback, there are guys blocking and pushing those guys away, too.’ It is difficult to do that. In my opinion, a lot of people don’t give Tyrod Taylor enough credit. He has done a very good job with the football. He throws an outstanding deep ball. He is very good with his intermediate routes of throwing the ball. Because he is such a great athlete and because he can escape, a lot of things that are written are about those aspects of him, which are unique and rare. We understand that. We are not losing sight of how good he has been with the football and how well he has thrown the football. They have some players that can make those plays on 50-50 catches across the field and be able to go vertical.”
(On how Kelvin Benjamin helps the Bills offense) “He is another player, when you look at it, he is a wide receiver with rare size. He has very good speed. He has rare size. He can break tackles. He can body up people and he is outstanding when a ball is up for a 50-50 catch, because of the rare size, he has an advantage there. It will be a challenge again when those balls are up in the air going to him.”
(On his comfort level in Josh Lambo’s kicking range as the weather gets colder) “I feel comfortable with him. I really do. I think that pregame-wise, we have a good feel of who he is, which is important. In other words, we know where his range is. We know what we feel when we get on the field. Everything has been accurate as far as we feel good about this distance. We feel this is a must. We feel very confident in that.”
(On if the range changes at all with Lambo) “It does. Week to week it does. More so for the away games. Does that make sense? Obviously, we play here, so we know the wind and we understand the directions and all the stuff like that. We are monitoring that during the week. We always have a good feel for that going into the game. Then it is just a matter of how that player is performing on that day when he goes out and kicks before. I think when we go on the road, we have a good indication of what is going to happen, but we become more solidified the day of the game with the directions are and distance.”
(On how Yannick Ngakoue has grown as a leader this year) “He has always done a very good job of his work ethic and what he does. A lot of it is by example. He is a very emotional player. I think people can feed off of that. He has had a very good year. He is still the same. He is still the same type of guy that plays with a chip on his shoulder. I think we all know that when we see him. He plays extremely hard. He goes 100 miles per hour every single play.”
(On Telvin Smith’s performance since he has returned from injury) “He has played well. He has played well.”
(On if he thinks Bortles’ confidence is still high) “Yeah, I do. A lot of it will be during the week. I will have a better feel for what we are doing. If something doesn’t look right or doesn’t feel right, then we will just take that out.”
(On how athletes can focus on the present and not the future when their future could be uncertain) “I don’t think all athletes can do that. It is preached constantly. From a standpoint of, we as coaches – we have to do that too. We have to brush some things off and move on, whether it is good or bad. That is the one thing that I have always learned before. I said this in the beginning when we were going: win, lose, win, lose. You can’t get too high. You can’t get too low. You have to go ahead and prepare and get ready for the next week and try to avoid all the noise. All the stuff on the outside – questions are going to be asked, things are going to be pointed out. At the end of the day, they are factual. They are facts. At the end of the day, it comes down to making sure your performance on Sunday. What do you have to perform on that day? That is what is going to define you for the following week. If you don’t do well and you have another game the next week, you are going to be questioned. ‘What happened? Why did you do this?’ Those are all natural things. As a person in that position, you have to accept the responsibility that those things are going to happen and learn from those mistakes. Don’t get too over confident if you are doing well and go out and prepare the same way. That is probably the best way to do it.”
(On if having Allen Hurns back brings composure to receiving room) “Allen, he’s played a lot of football and he’s been very productive in this league. I still think that he’ll be better this week than he was last week and that’s obviously exciting for us to get him back.”
(On if Hurns being back on the field provides calming presence to other receivers in the game) “You would think it would. Yeah, you would think so. You know he’s out there and you know exactly what you’re going to get with someone you worked with for a quite of bit of time over the years. Allen has been here, Blake has been here. So I think that it does add a confidence to it, but then it still comes back to making sure he can perform and do that. Obviously we’re happy to get him back and I think it’s more important we look at just the Sunday in a performance manner with the questions, but I think a lot of that comes during the week, too, of him being out on the field, him working during the week. That confidence, and then the other guys he’s talking to them about, ‘hey, let’s make sure we prepare this,’ and that’s how the leadership comes in.”
(On if he’s tired of guys coming out and ripping his quarterback) “I really don’t care. Everyone is entitled to their opinion.”
(On how Bortles handles those comments exceptionally well by brushing them off) “Yeah, he’s used to it. It’s been happening quite a bit. If he doesn’t, then how’s he ever going to be the player he wants to be, if he starts listening to that stuff. Hopefully, I don’t know how he handles it, honestly. I know for me, I don’t listen to any of that stuff. We’re on to the next opponent.”
(On how nice is it to have the indoor facility as an option especially this week) “Well I know this, I know the equipment guys and the medical staff and the weight coaches are fired up about the indoor. Actually, I went in there and busted their chops this morning about it and was like, ‘hey, pretty good having an indoor facility, right now, right?’ It definitely helps and it helps from the standpoint of we know what type of practice we’re going to get. We’re going to get a good practice today and we don’t have to worry about any of the elements like the rain or those things. We understand that. We know the weather or at least predict what it’s going to be on Sunday, so we’re aware of that and if it was a game where we thought there was going to be rain then we might practice some outside a little bit and then come back in. One thing about the indoor is you can kind of do both. You can get outside and get some work done, but you don’t have to be out there the whole time and you can come back in.”
(On how much Jalen Ramsey has improved over the last two seasons) “I think he’s been—I’ve never had a problem with the way he’s—I really didn’t know him last year so I can’t say that. Obviously I watched tape, but I think he’s someone that takes a lot of pride in what he does. I think that he’s an ultimate competitor, I think that he probably works a lot harder at studying the film than most people think, as far as the receivers and the people that he goes against. And I know every week, usually I come up to him and say, ‘tell me about the guy you’re playing against,’ and he can rattle stuff off, exactly what he’s looking for and keys and tips and things of that nature. Even though, I say this about Jalen quite a bit and I get a lot of questions about him from people in the industry, what you’re able to see, that’s the one thing you’re able to see, the rare height, weight, speed, things of that nature, the ball skills. But what people don’t necessarily see is how hard that player works on the tape, in practice, how competitive he is in practice. He doesn’t want a ball completed on him in practice and he’s been like that the whole time. I think that when you talk about players, A.J. Bouye is the same way, [Aaron] Colvin is the same way. I think when you see people that are productive in this industry, I would say 99 percent of that goes back to all the things you are not able to see.”
(On what questions he gets within the industry about Ramsey) “Ability is never going to be the question because you can see that on the field. It’s like, ‘Is he just a natural talent or does he work at it?’ He has both and that’s why he can be an elite player.”
(On Eric Wood saying on the radio that him leaving Buffalo caught him off guard and they are in a better situation now) “I’m happy for them. I’m happy he feels that way. I really am. I have no issues with that.”
(On how people are still wondering what happened with that situation) “It was a long time ago, but I’m happy for that fan base, I’m happy for where they are. They’ve earned their spot, but more importantly, my concentration is on our team and our fan base. We’ve earned it, too, and we’ve been out of it for a long time. I don’t go back to the past, but like I said before, I’m happy for them, I’m glad they’re in a good place. I’m in a great place. Feeling great about where I am. I’m comfortable with it.”
(On if he’s disappointed he didn’t give Kyle Williams a hand off) “Well, we always knew we could, though. One thing you don’t wonder about Kyle Williams, just so you know, his handicap in golf, he’s probably the best golfer—he will be the best amateur golfer in Florida on Sunday.”
(On Williams’ athleticism) “Unbelievable athlete. Unbelievable golfer. He’s phenomenal.”
(On what Williams was like to coach) “Great. Awesome guy. Great player. A lot of those players, not many of them are there like we said before, but all the guys that were there were outstanding.”
Story topics: doug marrone/ Jacksonville Jaguars/ Kyle Williams
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The Denver meeting began with clear Rocky Mountain skies and ended with a surprise spring snowfall on Wednesday. Although there was a small program for CINF than usual, the sessions were well attended and received. Our program included five symposia: “Getting to the Best Reaction: Tools for Finding a Needle in a Haystack,” “Defining Value in Scholarly Communications,” “Research Results: Reproducibility, Reporting, Sharing and Plagiarism,” “Molecular and Structural 2D and 3D Chemical Fingerprinting,” and “Development and Use of Data Format Standards for Cheminformatics.”
In Denver, we had a luscious Welcoming Reception on Sunday evening, thanks to our sponsors: BioRad, PerkinElmer, AAAS/Science, CRC Press, Journal of Chemical Information & Modeling, Springer/Journal of Cheminformatics, and Thieme Chemistry. On Monday evening, we had a friendly Harry’s Party (sponsored exclusively by ACS Publications) in a spacious suite that was much less crowded than usual.
As Colorado, and the Denver and Boulder areas in particular, are known for their microbreweries, our luncheon, sponsored by the Royal Society of Chemistry, featured an interesting presentation by David Thomas on “19th and 21st Century Malting and Brewing.” Dave, brewer emeritus, Dostal Alley Brewpub, Century City, Colorado, retired Coors brew master, and author of “Of Mines and Beer!: A History of Brewing in Colorado and Beyond” and “The Craft Maltster’s Handbook,” presented a complete history of malting and brewing in the Colorado area.
I want to congratulate Bonnie Lawlor, as the recipient of the CINF Lifetime Award, a well-deserved honor in recognition of Bonnie’s many years of active and engaged service to the Division. Bonnie served as an editor of Chemical Information Bulletin, CINF Secretary, and CINF Chair, and is currently an ACS Councilor representing CINF. We hope she will continue to be a valued member of the CINF community. Congratulations, Bonnie!
We are really looking forward to the Boston CINF program with many unique and special additions. We will be having a Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon Workshop (cosponsored with the ACS Office of Public Affairs, National Historic Chemical Landmarks Program) in conjunction with a CINF symposium “Wikipedia and Chemistry: Collaborations in Science and Education.” On Sunday morning, CINF will be co-sponsoring “Careers in Chemical Information and Cheminformatics Panel Discussion & Brunch,” along with the ACS Education Offices for Graduate Students & Postdoctoral Scholars and for Undergraduate Programs, and the ACS Division of Chemical Education (CHED).
Congratulations to our 2015 Herman Skolnik Award recipient, Prof. Dr. Jürgen Bajorath, Chair of Life Science Informatics, University of Bonn. Professor Bajorath is a recognized world-renowned researcher in the area of structure-activity relationships, cheminformatics, compound data mining, and computational chemistry methods. He is an author of far too many articles and books to enumerate, co-inventor on 25 issued pharmaceutical patents, a member of many editorial and scientific advisory boards, and an editor of the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. I hope you will be able to join us at the Fall ACS meeting in Boston for the Herman Skolnik Symposium, both to honor Jürgen Bajorath and to hear a set of outstanding talks by his collaborators and colleagues over the years.
I am looking forward to meeting you personally at one of our CINF programs at the Boston meeting. If we have not met, please introduce yourself! If you are unable to attend the national meetings, please remember to join the list server chminf-l@list.indiana.edu to learn about informative CINF webinars and other valuable resources, including educational tools in chemical information and cheminformatics that you can access from our website http://www.acscinf.org/.
We always have volunteer opportunities available, so if you are interested in becoming more involved in CINF activities and helping us to shape our Division for the future, please let me know (Rachelleb1@gmail.com).
Rachelle Bienstock, Chair, ACS Division of Chemical Information
Upcoming Inter-Society Meetings
The 2015 Bi-Society Symposium on Laboratory Safety Information
will take place at the SLA Annual Conference in Boston, MA, on Monday, June 15, 2015
Current Topics in Chemical Safety Information
Ye Li, Amanda Schoen, Leah McEwen, Judith Currano
The 2015 International Chemical Congress of Pacific Basin Societies (Pacifichem)
will take place in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, December 15-20, 2015
The Evolving Nature of Scholarly Communication: Connecting Scholars with Each Other and with Society (#173)
Jennifer Maclachlan, Antony Williams, Kazuhiro Hayashi, David Martinsen, Brenna Arlyce Brown
The Increasing Influence of Openness in the Domain of Chemistry (#325)
Antony Williams, David Wishart, Minoru Kanehisa, Leah McEwen
Policies and Procedures Regarding Primary Research Data (#335)
David Martinsen, Kazuhiro Hayashi, Nico Adams
Happy 50th anniversary to the Cambridge Structural Database! Celebrating this milestone, the world-renowned experts from the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC) put together a number of insightful presentations for the Divisions of Chemical Information (CINF 7, 21, 30, 43) and Computers in Chemistry (COMP 142, 159, 360, 364) during the Spring ACS National Meeting in Denver. Bill Town, former Chair of the CCDC Board of Governors, has graciously shared his personal perspectives on the fifty “golden” years of the Cambridge Structural Database with the readers of this Chemical Information Bulletin (CIB).
With another reference to history, the Committee on Nomenclature and Notation was established in 1884, at the dawn of the Society (founded in 1876, http://www.acscinf.org/content/milestones). That committee was later discontinued to be followed in 1911 by the Committee on Nomenclature, Spelling and Pronunciation, which was later renamed as the Committee on Nomenclature. Paul Karol, former Chair of what is now called the Council Committee on Nomenclature, Symbols and Terminology, has passionately written a story about the decade-long discussions regarding the need to redefine the “kilogram” and the “mole” for this issue of CIB.
We are continuing the “Meet Your Officers” interview series. Donna Wrublewski, the new CINF Membership Committee Chair 2015-17, has enthusiastically talked about her career path, research interests, professional societies, and plans for her committee. Stay tuned for a brief survey of the division members so that the committee can better align your membership expectations with the benefits. I would like to thank Donna for the interview and also for her assistance with symposium note-taking, which was useful for a bibliography of the “Research Results: Reproducibility, Reporting, Sharing & Plagiarism” write-up by Carsten Kettner. Indeed, this one-and-a-half day long symposium organized by Martin Hicks was the CINF highlight in Denver and a solid bridge between San Francisco (“Global Challenges in the Communication of Scientific Research” organized by David Martinsen and Norah Xiao) and Boston (“Scientific Integrity: Can We Rely on the Published Scientific Literature?” organized by Judith Currano and Bill Town).
Speaking of new functionaries, let me applaud Stuart Chalk (University of North Florida) for volunteering to step into the Coordinator position of the "CINF Scholarship for Scientific Excellence." Guenter Grethe notably established this program in 2005 (first in collaboration with IO Informatics and then with various sponsors over twelve years, https://acscinf.org/content/scientific-excellence). Since 2005, the program has awarded 54 scholarships in total. Guenter is currently busy reviewing many abstract submissions for the upcoming Boston meeting and is planning to hand on the torch to Stuart in the fall. See details in the Call for Applications for the next spring meeting to be sent to Stuart Chalk. In connection with the CINF program in Denver, Stuart Chalk co-authored and presented several lectures (CINF 35, 37, 38, 44) in the “Development & Use of Data Format Standards” session. Read a summary of this symposium by David Martinsen in this CIB.
In closing, I would like to thank all authors for submitting their symposium write-ups (all CINF sessions were transcribed!), committee reports, feature articles, and sponsor announcements. All things considered, thanks to the symposium organizers and presenters, and to the CINF sponsors, for making the Denver meeting memorable: “where information professionals connect, collaborate and celebrate,” (as was written on the Harry’s Party invitation banner). See the photos at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/cinf/sets/, thanks to Wendy Warr.
Svetlana Korolev, Editor, Chemical Information Bulletin
CINF Lifetime Award Announced
Helen A. “Bonnie” Lawlor was selected as the Division’s third recipient of the Lifetime Award. The award was established by the Executive Committee of the Division of Chemical Information in 2006 and recognizes long-term membership and outstanding service and active contributions to the Division over the years. The recipient must have been a member of the Division for at least 20 years.
Bonnie joine d the American Chemical Society in 1972, including the technical division of the Society now known as the Division of Chemical Information (CINF). From the beginning she has been an active member. Bonnie served a number of roles in CINF including that of Assistant Editor (1973-1977) and Editor (1978-1982) of the Chemical Information Bulletin. She was elected Secretary (1984-1987), Chair-Elect (1988), Chair (1989), and Past-Chair (1990), and is currently one of the Division’s Councilors, a position she has held since 1992. As a result of her many elected offices she has been on the CINF Executive Committee for almost 30 years. Bonnie has been both a member and a chair of several CINF committees. She is currently the CINF Archivist and is a member of the CINF Communications and Publications Committee.
As a Councilor she has held elected committee positions in the American Chemical Society at the national level. Some of these are: Committee on Committees (2012-present), Council Policy Committee (voting 2006-2011, nonvoting 1997-1999), Committee on Nominations & Elections (2000-2005, Vice-Chair 2003, Secretary 2001), Committee on Divisional Activities (1994-1999, Chair 1997-1999), and Committee on Copyrights (1990-1998, Chair 1993-1995, Committee Associate 1989).
Bonnie has held many key positions in CINF and has been a role model for younger members of the Division. She is involved in work to reinvigorate the Division to make it more appealing to new members of ACS. Bonnie is always volunteering to do things and gets them done well.
In 2006 Bonnie received the Val Metanomski Meritorious Service Award. This award is given to recognize outstanding contributions to the Division. She was made an NFAIS Honorary Fellow in 2014 and was inducted as an ACS Fellow in 2013.
In 2010 Bonnie was interviewed by the then Editor of Chemical Information Bulletin Svetla Baykoucheva. That interview can be found at: /node/188.
Congratulations to Bonnie Lawlor on her well-deserved selection as the recipient of the CINF Lifetime Award!
(Information about the CINF Lifetime Award is at: http://www.acscinf.org/content/cinf-lifetime-award)
Andrea Twiss-Brooks, Chair, CINF Awards Committee
2015 Lucille Wert Scholarship Announced
Siu Hong Yu has been selected as the 2015 recipient of the Lucille M. Wert Student Scholarship. The award is for $1500 to “help persons with an interest in the fields of chemistry and information to pursue graduate study in library, information, or computer science.”
Siu holds a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Waterloo and an M.S. in organic chemistry from the University of Alberta. He is currently pursuing an MLIS from Western University, London, Ontario.
Siu is currently applying skills and knowledge from his chemistry background to study issues and challenges related to advancing scientific education and scientific literacy in the context of an academic library environment. He is interested in citizen science and in science education for the general public and has been an active volunteer in public libraries and in science fairs.
CINF Scholarship for Scientific Excellence: Call for Applications
The international scholarship program of the Division of Chemical Information (CINF) of the American Chemical Society (ACS) co-sponsored by InfoChem (www.infochem.de) and Springer (www.springer.com) is designed to reward students in chemical information and related sciences for scientific excellence and to foster their involvement in CINF.
Up to three scholarships valued at $1,000 each will be awarded at the 251st ACS National Meeting in San Diego, CA, March 13 - 17, 2016. Student applicants must be enrolled at a certified college or university; postdoctoral fellows are also invited to apply. The applicants will present a poster during the Welcoming Reception of the Division on Sunday evening at the National Meeting. Additionally, they will have an option to show their posters at the Sci-Mix session on Monday night. Abstracts for the poster must be submitted through MAPS (http://maps.acs.org), an abstract submission system of ACS.
To apply, please inform the Chair of the selection committee Stuart Chalk at schalk@unf.edu that you are applying for a scholarship. Submit your abstract at http://maps.acs.org using your ACS ID. If you do not have an ACS ID, follow the registration instructions. Submit your abstract in the CINF program in the session “CINF Scholarship for Scientific Excellence. Student Poster Competition.” MAPS will open for abstract submissions in August 2015. (Please check the ACS website for the exact dates of the abstract submission period for the Spring 2016 Meeting.) Additionally, please send a 2,000-word abstract describing the work to be presented to schalk@unf.edu by January 31, 2016. Any questions related to applying for one of the scholarships should be directed to the same e-mail address.
Winners will be chosen based on the content, presentation, and relevance of the poster, and they will be announced during the Sunday reception. The content should reflect upon the student’s work and describe research in the field of cheminformatics and related sciences.
Stuart Chalk, Coordinator, CINF Scholarship for Scientific Excellence
CSA Trust Grants: Applications Invited for 2015
The Chemical Structure Association (CSA) Trust is an internationally recognized organization established to promote the critical importance of chemical information to advances in chemical research. In support of its charter, the Trust has created a unique Grant Program and is now inviting the submission of grant applications for 2016.
Purpose of the Grants:
The Grant Program has been created to provide funding for the career development of young researchers who have demonstrated excellence in their education, research or development activities that are related to the systems and methods used to store, process and retrieve information about chemical structures, reactions and compounds. One or more Grants will be awarded annually up to a total combined maximum of ten thousand U.S. dollars ($10,000). Grants are awarded for specific purposes, and within one year each grantee is required to submit a brief written report detailing how the grant funds were allocated. Grantees are also requested to recognize the support of the Trust in any paper or presentation that is given as a result of that support.
Applicant(s), age 35 or younger, who have demonstrated excellence in their chemical information related research and who are developing careers that have the potential to have a positive impact on the utility of chemical information relevant to chemical structures, reactions and compounds, are invited to submit applications. While the primary focus of the Grant Program is the career development of young researchers, additional bursaries may be made available at the discretion of the Trust. All requests must follow the application procedures noted below and will be weighed against the same criteria.
Which Activities are Eligible?
Grants may be awarded to acquire the experience and education necessary to support research activities; for example, for travel to collaborate with research groups, to attend a conference relevant to one’s area of research, to gain access to special computational facilities, or to acquire unique research techniques in support of one’s research.
Application Requirements:
Applications must include the following documentation:
A letter that details the work upon which the Grant application is to be evaluated as well as details on research recently completed by the applicant;
The amount of Grant funds being requested and the details regarding the purpose for which the Grant will be used, for example, cost of equipment, travel expenses if the request is for financial support of meeting attendance, etc. The relevance of the above-stated purpose to the Trust’s objectives and the clarity of this statement are essential in the evaluation of the application;
A brief biographical sketch, including a statement of academic qualifications;
Two reference letters in support of the application.
Additional materials may be supplied at the discretion of the applicant only if relevant to the application and if such materials provide information not already included in items 1 - 4.
Deadline for Applications:
Applications for the 2016 Grant are due by March 25, 2016. Successful applicants will be notified no later than May 2, 2016.
Address for Submission of Applications:
The application documentation should be forwarded via email to Bonnie Lawlor at: chescot@aol.com. Print copies can be mailed to: Bonnie Lawlor, CSA Trust Grant Committee Chair, 276 Upper Gulph Road, Radnor, PA 19087, USA. If you wish to enter your application via e-mail, please contact Bonnie Lawlor prior to submission so that she can contact you if the application does not arrive.
A complete list of the previous grant awardees is at: /node/702
Bonnie Lawlor, Chair, CSA Trust Grant Committee
A full day symposium called Chemical Information Research Skills: The Essential Toolkit for Chemical Research
has been jointly organized by CINF and the CSA Trust for
The Fall ACS National Meeting, in Boston, MA. August 16-20, 2015
Organizers: Jonathan Goodman and Grace Baysinger
This symposium will feature sixteen oral presentations discussing what chemical information skills are needed for doing chemical research
In addition to being jointly sponsored by ACS CINF and CSA Trust,CHED, COMP, PROF, & YCC will be nominal sponsors for this symposium.
CINF Technical Program Highlights
Leading up to the Denver national meeting, I heard many rumors that attendance was expected to be rather low. It turned out that the Denver meeting was by no means small, falling right in the middle of historic attendance records. We had a smaller program than normal, with single-tracked symposia and no general papers, but this gave attendees the unexpected luxury of attending as many talks as they pleased, especially for some of our rather diverse and intense programs. Prominently, “Research Results: Reproducibility, Reporting, Sharing & Plagiarism” generated some lively discussion on knowledge sharing and evaluation, which is an increasingly relevant question for all disciplines of science. “Defining ‘Value’ in Scholarly Communications: Evolving Ways of Evaluating Impact on Science” challenged standard conventions. Both of these symposia had a full session recorded by ACS Presentations on Demand: look for them soon. Our other symposia presented succinct research and new ideas in the fields of reaction search, data standards, and chemical fingerprinting. A small, but very rich program! We are in the process of collecting slides from the speakers and will be posting them soon: stay tuned.
Denver was also our first meeting put together with MAPS (the new online programming interface). While MAPS brings a lot of new functionality to the board, the first run through presented a bumpy learning curve. Part of the regular Division Officers’ and Councilors’ Caucus meeting was devoted to presenting and discussing a MAPS survey. For those who have been stymied by MAPS, it’s important to understand that ACS has a very large staff dedicated to working alongside us to both use and help develop the program. ACS’s programming needs are both very unique and at a very large scale. There is no out-of-the-box solution, and developing components that we’d love to see (such as fine-grained security so that program chairs and symposium organizers can make changes online) are both very complex and expensive. They are in the process, but changes won’t happen quickly. More importantly, when they are developed, they will need to be thoroughly tested before being applied to production systems. Don’t expect rapid changes, but do expect to be working more with ACS staff; they’ve proven to be very responsive and helpful as we prepare for Boston.
All of the ACS assistance has been especially helpful because the Boston program is one of our biggest. Space in Boston is at a premium, so all divisions are being held to fair and even arrangements to keep room demands low. This means that we are packed to the gills for all five days of the meeting – be sure to stick around! Our symposia cover a wide range of topics: computational toxicology, Markush based data mining, scientific integrity, cheminformatic toolkits, the growing impact of big data, data visualization, natural products, and openness (in honor of JC Bradley). There is a session discussing new mechanisms for workflow handling, coupled with a lightning round of workflow tool demos. We also have a symposium on “Wikipedia and Chemistry,” tying in nicely to a large-scale Wikipedia-Edit-a-Thon on Wednesday. Be sure to come by and contribute! As with every fall, we have the Herman Skolnik Award Symposium, a collection of top-notch talks revolving around the computational aspects of drug discovery from the collaborators and colleagues of our award winner Prof. Dr. Jürgen Bajorath. Hope to see you in Boston!
Erin Davis, Chair, CINF Program Committee
CINF Symposia Planned for the 2015 Fall National Meeting, Boston, MA
Applications of Cheminformatics to the Diverse World of Natural Products
Chemical Information Skills: The Essential Toolkit for Chemical Research
CINFlash:Workflow Tools Lightning Round
CINF Scholarships for Scientific Excellence: Student Poster Competition
Computational Toxicology: From QSAR Models to Adverse Outcome Pathways
Enabling Machines to Read the Chemical Literature: Techniques, Case Studies, Opportunities
Find the Needle in a Haystack: Mining Data from Large Chemical Spaces
General Papers
Herman Skolnik Award Symposium
Retrosynthesis, Synthesis Planning, Reaction Prediction: When Will Computers Meet the Needs of the Synthetic Chemist?
Scientific Integrity: Can We Rely on the Published Scientific Literature?
Substance Identifiers Addressing the Challenges Presented by Chemically Modified Biologics; the Role of InChI & Related Technologies
The Growing Impact of Big Data in the World of Chemical Information
The Growing Impact of Openness in Chemistry: A Symposium in Honor of JC Bradley
Visualizing Chemistry Data to Guide Optimization
Wikipedia and Chemistry: Collaborations in Science and Education
Workflow Tools & Data Pipelining in Drug Discovery
Getting to the Best Reaction: Tools for Finding a Needle in a Haystack
When I saw this session in the Program Guide, I was pleasantly surprised by its jolly civilized start time of 10:00am on Sunday morning, rather than the usual “I need a triple grande latte to battle jetlag” 8:00am kick-off, but deeper scrutiny revealed that the later start was due to the relative dearth of papers (just four) on what should be an intriguing area for practicing chemists, librarians and informaticians.
The four papers covered a range of topics, and while all were well presented and interesting, only two were directly relevant to the title of the session. The furthest out was “Classification of scientific journal articles for the NIST Thermodynamic Research Center” by Alden Dima of NIST, which described experiments to assess the viability of various text processing methods to classify documents, as a way to provide a more scalable abstraction process for the mass of incoming articles that need to be sorted and curated. Several classifiers and topic modeling methods were used, and tested on different sets of topics, and promising results with precision and recall of 85% were obtained. The conclusion that automated document classification of scientific journal articles could be a useful tool was encouraging, but had really very little to do with finding chemical reactions.
Closer to the topic in hand was “Automated design of realistic organometallic complexes and catalysts” by Vidar Jensen of the University of Bergen, which did at least include some chemistry, albeit virtual. While de novo design and in silico screening are now commonplace in small organic molecule drug design, the complexity of metal-containing compounds has limited these approaches when working with organometallic and transition metal complexes as are found in many catalysts. This paper described new methods for algorithmically building novel compounds by assembling molecular fragments derived from crystallographic data from known compounds. The approach was refined by limiting the construction to realistic and synthetically accessible compounds, and the use of 3D fragments gave even greater control. The end result was a series of proposed novel structures, and the next step will be to actually synthesize and test them.
Valentina Eigner-Pitto of InfoChem described the ways in which chemists can find optimal reactions, in a talk entitled “Different needles for different tailors: How specialized reaction search algorithms support scientists working in various research areas.” The premise was that there is not a single “best reaction,” but rather a series of options depending on the persona and type of chemistry being done. Valentina presented a matrix view of the needs of five groups: process chemists, medicinal chemists, custom synthetic chemists, academic chemists, and IP specialists. She then mapped to their information needs the reaction search tools that are available, including classical reaction search algorithms (e.g. CASREACT, Reaxys, Science of Synthesis, SPRESI), advanced algorithms (e.g., Name Reaction Search, retrosynthesis, forward reaction planning), and computer-aided synthesis design (e.g., ICSYNTH, ARChem). For each persona, a different mix of these tools was most appropriate, but with the classical algorithms still being used by all the groups. Valentina also suggested that improvements in reaction workflow abstraction will lead to better results from the search algorithms.
This led us neatly to Josh Bishop of PerkinElmer Informatics, who discussed “Mining electronic lab notebooks for synthetic needles (or gems).” ELNs make it possible to capture reaction workflows in a consistent and retrievable manner, and Josh compared the work he did and the largely manual tools he used as a post-doc working in a lab doing synthesis, optimization and testing, with how that work could be done so much more efficiently using current tools. A modern ELN streamlines experiment design and set up, especially when several variables are being investigated, as experiment templates can be created once and cloned for variants. Reaction synthesis details are captured and indexed, and where previously data might have been dumped into a series of spreadsheets to try to tease out the real trends and conclusions, modern analysis and visualization tools like Spotfire let researchers explore and interact directly with their data, so that hypotheses can be tested, “what-if” scenarios explored, and insights gained more quickly.
This was an interesting, if somewhat unfocussed session, with just half the papers addressing the stated topic, and the thing that surprised and disappointed me was that there were no submissions from the heavyweights in this area: Chemical Abstracts Service with CASREACT and Elsevier with Reaxys. Perhaps they are waiting for the Boston ACS Meeting and will be presenting in a symposium on “Retrosynthesis, Synthesis Planning, Reaction Prediction. When Will Computers Meet the Needs of the Synthetic Chemist?”
Phil McHale, Symposium Paper Author (PerkinElmer Informatics)
Defining “Value” in Scholarly Communications: Evolving Ways of Evaluating Impact on Science
As scientific scholarly communication evolves and changes, so have the ways to measure value and impact, and even what to measure. Greater competition for less research funding, new funding mandates, increasing importance of data as an output to preserve and share research, the proliferation of open access, and social media have all affected scholarly communication. Even “journal impact factor” and “times cited” are now complemented by new author- and article- level metrics. On Sunday afternoon Sara Rouhi and Teri Vogel organized a symposium by inviting speakers from across the spectrum of organizations in order to discuss this changing landscape and to address a question: “How are you measuring the value and impact of your work and that of others, and what do you hope to do or see in the future?”
Robert Chirico at the NIST Thermodynamics Research Center (TRC) spoke about the work his group is doing with dynamic data evaluation. Thermophysical property data is important to industrial applications as well as to academic research, and the high quality measurements can have a long shelf life. The experiments are published in about 1000 journal articles annually, and then the data are extracted for inclusion in databases. The public access the data in those free or fee-based databases, and will more likely cite the database rather than the original journal articles that reported the data. This traditional static evaluation has problems, including a tenuous or nonexistent connection with the original literature and lack of awareness about the nature of the data provided. With the dynamic data evaluation, NIST TRC has created a database with six million experimental property values and related bibliographic data, and the data expert system software, ThermoDataEngine, to provide critically evaluated data on demand. With this system, the value can be traced back to the sources and key experiments. NIST currently cooperates with five journals to “approve” the data in submitted articles, looking for typos and consistency in the literature. The experimental data from the published articles goes into the ThermoML Archive. Those journals alone collected over 180,000 experimental property values in 2013. Going forward, Chirico and his team hope to see researchers cite more of the underlying articles that publish the data, and greater involvement of the data users in recognizing the experimentalists, and possibly recognizing those researchers who consistently provide new and valuable experimental results.
Suzanna Ward of the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC) reflected on the impact of the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD) and crystal structure data. Launched in 1965, the CSD is expected to reach 820,000 published structures at the end of 2015. On measuring the impact of a single crystal structure, CCDC could look at social media references and citations for both the structure and the original article that references the structure. Impact by crystallographers could also be measured by the number of deposited structures as well as their structures on an individual level. CCDC has measured citations to the repository as a whole, which has helped them identify trends like the rise in research output from Asia and an increasing number of crystal structures published also in the journals: PNAS, Science, and Nature. Another question was posed: “How can the impact of CSD as a collection be measured when no structures are viewed or downloaded, such as when a researcher is trying to assess the novelty of a new structure?” Ward reported that CCDC has studied the top-viewed structures in WebCSD to look at possible influences. They noticed potential biases towards memorable refcodes or the ones that begin with the letter “A.” Some structures are used more because of their teaching value or placement in the teaching subset, and because DOIs have been introduced for structures, promoting their use in social media and linking from other sites. Ward also reminded us that while the views and downloads have given them interesting insights into how crystal structures are discovered and used, the insights are limited because their analysis focuses on WebCSD and doesn't include what’s being searched or viewed by industrial or the desktop CSD users.
Antony Williams, Royal Society of Chemistry, talked about the value and impact of self-marketing one's work, which can be particularly important for outputs that are not traditionally recognized such as software, datasets, posters and presentations, and teaching materials. He advocates for scientists to engage in social media and other activities so as to increase the visibility of their work, even for those at the entry level researchers who are hesitant to market themselves he recommends a simple way like claiming author identity and articles online with ORCID. There are a number of tools that researchers can use to measure their impact and increase visibility, from Impact Story to Google Scholar, but also there is a caution that “greater visibility” does not mean “better science.” A poor article that ultimately gets withdrawn can receive as much attention, if not more, than a high quality, well-received article. Williams shared one tool, Kudos (growkudos.com) that was new to many in the audience, which he uses to explain, enhance, and share his articles. Kudos is a free service, and while it does take time to set up the profile and claim your articles, it is a small amount in relation to the time spent on researching and writing. Williams showed us Altmetric and Kudos in the context of his 2013 PLOS ONE article, which he was able to further enrich on Kudos by linking to subsequent blog posts about the article as a way to “continue the story.” In the case of the withdrawn article he mentioned earlier, there is still a link to the blog posts, discussion and commentary going forward, even if the article is no longer available. It's this “forward linking” that really interests Williams about Kudos for research profiles. (Presentation slides).
After the break, we switched the focus more to the academic side. Donna Wrublewski shared Caltech Library’s experiences of measuring the visibility and impact of making their institutional research freely available. She focused on CaltechAUTHORS and CaltechTHESIS. CaltechAUTHORS is their institutional repository (IR) for papers by faculty and other researchers, and is managed by the library. It has more than 45,000 research papers, with more than 6 million total downloads. Users can search and browse the IR, and link to the faculty webpages and university press releases from the repository records as well. Along with viewing usage by author and title, they are also using OpenHeatMap to visualize the IR’s global reach. For example, four “bio-photonics” articles were accessed 2,700 times, eight “nano-fluidics” papers were accessed 19,000 times with concentrations in Europe and Asia, and 50 papers in “natural products” were accessed 41,000 times with clusters in South America and Africa. Another Caltech IR, CaltechTHESIS, has 8,900 theses with 1.4 million downloads. The two repositories help the library meet the university's mission statement to “expand human knowledge and benefit society.” Future plans include refining the keyword searching ability, more use of the OpenHeatMap visualizations, and identifying other value and impact measures. Another area that Wrublewski and her colleagues want to explore is user engagement, since downloads cannot tell them how researchers are actually using the articles and theses from the repositories.
The symposium concluded with a four-speaker panel entitled “Redefining value: Alternative metrics and research outputs.” Sara Rouhi opened with a brief presentation about Altmetric, which is an addition to, not a replacement of the traditional metrics when funders are asking researchers to demonstrate the broader impact of their work. As Williams mentioned earlier, these metrics only measure attention; quality must be assessed by the researcher. Rouhi presented a case study of a highly-cited Duke researcher, who wanted to be able to show her funders how her work was being disseminated. From the Altmetric data she found international news coverage and could identify who was tweeting about her research. Looking at the data for her methodology papers, she saw engagement from students, post docs, and early career researchers, which helped her demonstrate the teaching value of her work.
William Gunn, Mendeley, talked about issues and standards related to article-level metrics, while pointing out questions for all metrics, whether traditional or alternate. Is the data reliable? Is it complete and accurate? Is it being collected and reported consistently? The data itself can be “cool” or “creepy” depending on where the lines are crossed. Gunn also provided an update on the NISO Altmetrics Initiative, now in phase two.
Raychelle Burks, a post-doctoral fellow at Doane College, talked about her outreach and engagement (O&E) work, including involvement in Sci Pop Talks, the ACS Reactions videos, and participating in science outreach at Geek Girl Con and DragonCon. She posed a question: “How does one convince the ‘higher ups’ that this kind of outreach service has value?” Burks stressed that the O&E service must align with an institution's values and mission. If it doesn't help with promotion and tenure (P&T), that’s a significant barrier. A research intensive university may value these quite differently from the way that a primarily undergraduate institution values them. She noted one university had revised their P&T requirements in order to align better with the campus’ commitment to O&E. It is important for a prospective employee to find out what an institution values regarding outreach (if you cannot find it on their website, then ask during the phone interview). Does the campus have an O&E office? How do these activities fit in the P&T requirements? Are the campus leaders personally invested in these activities? Another consideration is your career level: getting tenure may give you more flexibility to be engaged in outreach than in your early career in research. Along with tailoring your work to match the institution’s O&E commitment, it is essential that you collect the data: surveys, event attendance, interviews and other mentions in the media including social media. The media coverage can get your institution’s name out there in a positive way, which can be good for admissions. Burks can use this information to demonstrate the need for funding, or include it in reports to her supervisor.
Kiyomi Deards, a librarian and assistant professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), talked about the challenges of metrics, and impact of the “how to do” vs. the more traditional scholarly works. What are the metrics when you're an instructor, a speaker, an expert? How do you measure the impact of that work when there are no examples in the previous P&T folders to follow? Her most downloaded paper in the UNL Digital Commons is a not a peer reviewed journal article, but a handout for a conference roundtable on networking for introverts. Like Burks, Deards stressed the need to align your work with your job description and institutional mission. Because her organization is committed to creating national reputation for research data curation, the paper she wrote comparing and assessing the data management activities at four institutions, the presentations she gave and the workshops she taught on research data curation all tie back to meeting that institutional goal.
In conclusion, the panelists were asked to identify one or two key suggestions.
Rouhi: Get an ORCID and DOIs; create identifiers in institutional repositories so the work can be tracked in Altmetric and other tools.
Gunn: Push back against policies that limit your work from getting out there and being shared.
Burks: Nobody will do PR for you as you will, but take advantage of campus experts, who can help.
For every outreach activity, include both a PR and metrics plan.
Deards: Your work needs to be findable online, even if it's just a bibliography on LinkedIn.
Teri Vogel, Symposium Co-Organizer and Presider
Research Results: Reproducibility, Reporting, Sharing & Plagiarism
Technical and methodological advances in almost all natural scientific disciplines have led to enormous amounts of experimental and calculated data being available in the written literature and databases. Both the quality and the reproducibility of data are important factors when generating hypotheses, designing experiments, and creating new knowledge. However, the way to finding the nuggets in this scientific goldmine is paved with unknown error levels. Difficulties arise when comparing one’s own experimental findings with those published in the literature, or by being confronted with incomprehensible experimental results and conclusions drawn by authors. The inability to reproduce these findings, not to mention the challenges to construct computer models on the basis of published experimental data, highlight the seriousness of the problems. Furthermore, the quality of data in databases is of course highly dependent on the reliability and depth of literature reports, which in turn can only provide high quality information if the experimental context, in which the data were generated, is comprehensively reported. However, this so called metadata is often inadvertently or deliberately incomplete. In the Beilstein ESCEC Proceedings, 2007, Nicolas Le Novère expressed the consequences more drastically: “There is no point to exchanging quantitative data or models if nobody understands the meaning of the data and the content of the models beside their initial generators.” [1]
The aim of the ACS CINF symposium “Research Results: Reproducibility, Reporting, Sharing and Plagiarism” was to discuss the reproducibility of research results in various fields of chemistry, improving the way that data can be validated, for example, through better reporting and sharing, and to consider the effects of the “publish or perish” paradigm, in particular, in terms of "salami slicing" and plagiarism. In general, the goal was to raise the awareness of potential benefits of changing some current research and publishing practices. The symposium was organized by Martin Hicks (Beilstein-Institut) and chaired by Martin Hicks and Carsten Kettner (Beilstein-Institut) for the three half-day sessions. The screenplay of the first session set the stage for the analysis of the current situation by addressing questions on the motives, and the practical and technical reasons for publishing irreproducible, inconsistent and even fabricated and plagiarized data. In the second session the speakers proposed a variety of potential ways and solutions in order to increase the value of information in journals and databases, and the third session addressed research communication models that are aimed at supporting assessment and quality control of data by the community.
The first session was started by Sara Bowman (Center for Open Science) who shed light on the researchers’ incentives to publish their data. She concluded that often the community is more interested in being visible through publications rather than in disseminating correct data. The use of short-cuts within the circle of hypothesis-driven research and dubious practices, such as eliminating undesirable results or poor application of statistics, can lead to low-quality and often hardly reproducible data. It is not unusual that researchers make the hypothesis fit the data instead of using the data to confirm (or disprove) a hypothesis, although claiming otherwise. [2, 3]
Editor-in-Chief of ACS Nano, Paul Weiss (California NanoSystems Institute, UCLA) reported on publication practices that are considered a common practice even by experienced researchers that range from slightly manipulated data in diagrams to the often observed “copy & paste” practices of previous written texts from the same author. In particular, with regard to self-plagiarism, many authors have not yet developed any sensibility that, once sold, texts cannot be reused in subsequent papers. For the future, this means increased efforts need to be invested by journal editors not only to implement tools for detecting plagiarism, but also to convince authors to change this behavior. Interestingly, PI’s rarely seem to be good models for their students. [4, 5, 6]
A different view on some scientific practices was presented by Kenneth Busch (Office of Inspector General, National Science Foundation) who talked about research misconduct investigations. As a major US-based funding agency, the NSF is interested in both the accuracy of research and the general availability of research results. It is acting as a trustee of taxpayers’ money (as do most funding agencies) and wants to see this money spent efficiently. Correspondingly, NSF has developed a set of rules, which are monitored to make sure that processes for archiving and sharing data are implemented for proper conduct of research. Unfortunately, these rules are often neglected, not only by the researchers themselves who are awarded the financial support, but also by the organizations for which they work. Some real life examples gave insight into the monitoring and investigating activities of NSF (http://www.nsf.gov/oig).
Robert Bergman (Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley) talked about his observations of scientific misconduct in organic and inorganic chemistry research. By means of some examples he showed that both journals and academic institutions are actively addressing ways to discover both manipulation of data and scientific fraud in detail and obviously welcome the support from the Office of Research Integrity, but this process usually takes a long time from the formal allegations to the implementation of actions taken against researchers. In the case of doubtful research results, which cannot be ascribed to weak methodological approaches, some journals try to introduce a post-peer review system that includes the repetition of experiments by independent researchers. Despite the success of this procedure, for example, for homeopathic studies, it is questionable if this method of peer review would be able to be generally implemented due to potential high costs for the experiments and low benefit for the conducting researchers. (See case summaries https://ori.hhs.gov/case_summary).
The same topic, reproducibility as a means of establishing the reliability of research results, was addressed by Paul Clemons (Computational Chemical Biology Research, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT). By confrontation of the three terms: reproducibility, resilience, and consilience, he showed that the meaning of experimental results is relative and depends on the question asked prior to designing the experiment, the hypothesis being generated after the results are obtained. With the example of screening of small molecules as potential drugs in cancer therapy, he demonstrated a high degree of reproducibility and consilience of his data when a significant amount of basic data is taken from several and unrelated sources. The strength of this approach is dependent on the availability of a broad data pool resulting in a high degree of resilience which obviously derives from the statistical distribution of strong (true) data and background noise, that is, weak data. [7, 8]
Rick Danheiser (Chemistry Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology) asked the question: “Why are the procedures in synthetic organic chemistry often not reproducible?” In principle, he demanded that papers that are not reproducible should be retracted, but this needs to be traced by the journals. His observation was that in the period between 1982 and 2005 in 12% of the papers submitted to Organic Syntheses the results were not reproducible. In the subsequent period until 2015 this number dropped to about 7%. As the main causes for irreproducibility in general, he identified errors such as: the identity and purity of the reactants, which were not determined accurately, temperature control issues and, in some cases, unidentified artificial issues, which led to problems with the repetition of the data. In particular, with regards to the reactants used in the assays, a number of factors can affect the successful reproduction of the findings from one lab by another one. Often, failures are explained by the use of impure and aged compounds or the compounds used were incorrectly identified. Sometimes, experimental data result from contaminations of mixed solutions rather than from single compounds. In the case of aged compounds, the unidentified contaminant contributed to the result whereas the desired compound was absent. In conclusion, many factors can lead to irreproducible results if the experiments are not carried out with strict accuracy.
The usefulness of published data in models is an often discussed issue and was addressed by Tim Clark (Computer Chemistry Center, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg) in his talk. He emphasized that the modeled data never can be better than the experimental data, but often, when obtaining Quantitative Structure-Property Relationships (QSPR), models appear to generate better data by applying interpolation techniques that may over-fit data. Interestingly, research also goes through various fashionable phases in terms of preferring specific algorithms to describe the properties of datasets. When looking at the performance of models one can also assess the experimental data and gain insights into the quality of these data. By means of real examples of simulations and modeling of training data that were enriched by artificial noise, Tim presented the results of his investigation of the effect of noise on the performance of a state-of-the-art regression procedure. (Bagging multiple linear regression demo is available at: http://www.ceposinsilico.com).
The poor characterization of inhibitors used in pharmacological studies against proteins of signal transduction cascades was addressed by Aled Edwards (Structural Genomics Consortium). He noted that commercial inhibitors used in biomedicine appear to suffer from over-effective marketing. The reason, why they are used may be linked to the sales pitches of the vendors. The probes available generate irreproducible results, but are involved in an extremely high number of publications for non-selective and poorly characterized inhibitors of kinases. However, well-characterized chemical probes can help identify new targets and thus push research into new areas. The Structure Genomics Consortium (http://www.thesgc.org/), together with its network of pharmaceutical companies, decided to be highly systematic when developing structure-guided methods to produce inhibitors of high quality, that is, structurally and functionally well-studied. With this approach this consortium was able to develop specific inhibitors against protein kinases within only a few years and at low cost that are involved in epigenetic signaling.
The scientific community is often unable to differentiate between reliable and unreliable data due to reporting practices that are characterized by obscurity. Carsten Kettner (Beilstein-Institut) opened the second session with his presentation of a community-driven initiative that is concerned with the reporting of enzymology data. The STRENDA (Standards for Reporting Enzymology Data, http://beilstein-strenda.org) Commission has developed reporting guidelines, which are already recommended by more than 30 biochemistry journals. The aim of the guidelines is to help authors to include all relevant information that is required for interpretation and reproduction of the experimental data. However, the STRENDA guidelines and those from other standardization initiatives, and also rules of funding agencies, all suffer from the same fate, namely, neglect of use. In order to make the guidelines applicable to the entire community, the Commission developed a web-based software tool that assesses the data entered from the manuscript for compliance with the STRENDA guidelines. In addition, after the publication of the manuscript these data will be made public in a database. It is hoped that after the release, this system will gain wide acceptance within the scientific community. A similar path is being followed by the MIRAGE (Minimum Information Required for A Glycomics Experiment, http://beilstein-mirage.org) project that proposes reporting guidelines when data on identification and analysis of glycans are reported.
Will York (Complex Carbohydrate Research Center, University of Georgia) first reported that glycans are inherently more complex than proteins and nucleic acids; they are not coded by genes, but catalyzed by specific enzymes, which are specific gene products. This means that for oligosaccharides, tens of thousands of genes need to be expressed in an extremely coordinated way. Oligosaccharides provide numerous combinations of their building blocks, monosaccharides and, in addition, are often branched. Thus, predictions are not possible and validation of published data is very difficult, unless specific information about the methods used to generate and interpret the data is fully and comprehensively given. The MIRAGE Commission (http://beilstein-mirage.org) is addressing a number of glycoanalytic methods when developing guidelines for reporting glycomics data, including mass spectrometry, diverse chromatography approaches and glycan arrays. In order to make these guidelines widely applicable to the community, the group is also developing data exchange formats and specifications for computer-accessible data.
The collection of high-quality data in a database is the central project of the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC). Ian Bruno informed us that every year CCDC stores about 100,000 new crystal structure records for small molecules. The CCDC provides computational methods that support iterative modeling (2D and 3D) as well as methods for simplification and abstraction. To ensure that raw data are reliable and that reasonable models can be made, it is essential that the experimental conditions are included in the dataset. This metadata, which includes the temperature and pressure of the study, type of radiation, and the model of the instrument, is captured in the Crystallographic Information Framework (CIF), which is a standard format for crystallographic data. Beyond the experimental conditions, CIF data also contain information about the raw, processed, analyzed, and interpreted data. This framework is a suitable prerequisite for providing services for publication, deposition, and validation purposes.
Sharing, reproducibility, and replication, were the headlines of the talk by Philip Bourne of the National Institutes of Health. He delineated the challenges for ensuring rigor and transparency in data reporting. A combination of many pressures such as the scientists’ need for becoming visible within the community, receiving incentives and grants, and creating innovative science with novelty and positive results, rather than negative data, leads to insufficient reporting, poor experimental design, or both, which in turn results in a lack of reproducibility. Therefore, NIH set up some principles to raise awareness within the community, enhance formal training, increase published data quality by adoption of a more systematic review process, and provide sufficient financial support for the investigators. [9] These principles were endorsed by over 130 journals, which paved the way to more detailed means with regards to both the development of alternative methods for judging the quality of grant proposals, and the implementation of infrastructure for the deposition of machine-readable data. (Presentation slides)
Open data, that is, research data, published and unpublished, raw and analyzed, stored in publicly accessible databases, is considered the gold standard for maintaining high quality. The hope is that scientific fraud and data manipulation can be prevented or, at least more quickly uncovered and investigated, since post-publication reviewing can be carried out by the entire scientific community. In addition, open data can create a very broad data basis, which after successful integration may increase the value of the collective scientific data by amplifying significant findings and reducing the impact of poor data as is expected in a Gaussian distribution. [10, 11] Thus, the third session focused on data sharing and exchange, as potential means for the improvement of data in literature and databases.
After John Overington (European Bioinformatics Institute) unfortunately had to cancel, Antony Williams (Cheminformatics, Royal Society of Chemistry) stepped in to talk about the need to make data standards compulsory. The emphasis of these standards is to prepare any data that also include presentations, images, diagrams, and schemas, for making them publicly accessible. There are already many resources available for publications, pictures and drawings, that can be downloaded and printed, but they are not machine-readable, and thus cannot be re-analyzed using a suitable software tool. Therefore, the goal is to deposit this material in appropriate databases in compliance with widely accepted standards. The talk concluded with the statement that the current standards are rarely in practical use, and thus should be mandatory. Even though mandatory standards may be burdensome for scientists, they are considered advantageous for science.
In his talk, Evan Bolton (National Center for Biotechnology Information) focused on the access and integration of data that are distributed in various databases. In the last decade the amount of publicly accessible data has been growing at nearly exponential rates. However, the databases are usually not interconnected, and thus scientists need to query a number of databases to obtain a dataset that meets their needs. Besides data quality issues and the need for manual curation of the data, there is much push towards the ability to access all the databases at the same time on just one mouse click. In contrast to the title of the talk (“Globalization of Big Data”), the presentation showed ways toward a centralization of distributed data on the local computer by implementing an integrative query tool that includes required ontologies and terminologies. The tool suggested here is RDF, Resource Description Framework (http://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/rdf/), which is designed as a metadata data model, but can also be used as a description of information implemented in databases. Examples from chemistry showed that RDFs could be applicable to integrate and harmonize data, provided that more open data become available.
The quality of data in databases was the topic of the talk given by Denis Fourches (Chemistry Department, Bioinformatics Research Center, North Carolina State University). He stated that the application of high-throughput screening in chemistry generates huge amounts of data on chemical compounds, which are stored in an increasing number of databases, but the problem is that most of this data is considered irreproducible since they are incomplete, inconsistent, irrelevant, inaccurate, and incorrect. Thus, there is need for multidisciplinary approaches for identifying, characterizing, and potentially curating problematic data entries, as well as the demand for guidelines and workflows to better ensure the reproducibility of chemical and biological data. In order to increase the value of this data for virtual screening, cheminformatics approaches were developed to detect erroneous records in large chemogenomics datasets and to formally correct and curate these data. The suitability of these methods was demonstrated using examples of the integration of data on CPY450 inhibition profiles (SuperCYP http://bioinformatics.charite.de/supercyp/), the detection of false-positive and false-negatives, and the normalizing of the experimental variability in multi-run HTS (High Throughput Screening) campaigns. [12]
The last talk of the session was given by Courtney Soderberg (Center for Open Science), who presented a project for collaborative research to support researchers in implementing better research practices and to increase the openness, integrity, transparency, and the reproducibility of scientific research (Reproducibility Project: Cancer Biology https://osf.io/e81xl/). The core of this project is an open source web-based framework which is intended to act not only as a portal for the deposition and sharing of raw data, metadata, analyzed and interpreted data, but also for the deposition of project plans and documentation of scientists who are working on the same project from geographically separated labs. In principle, this data can be either kept private within a defined group of scientists, or shared with the entire world if the researchers would like to do so. The idea is to accumulate the entire knowledge on a research project, giving a high degree of transparency of workflows and data, in order to be able to generate reproducible information. The major difficulty might be to convince the scientific community to use this framework as a kind of LIMS (Laboratory Information Management System) that stores all data, including confidential, unpublished data, in the cloud.
“Trust but verify” became the slogan of the session. Scientific fraud and deliberate manipulation of data is imputed to a very small minority of the scientific community. But as discussed by many speakers, there are many mechanisms that can lead to inaccurate and incomplete research results that lack the high standards of science. The organizer obviously struck the right note with this symposium. Throughout the entire session between 40 and 60 participants contributed to constructive discussions setting a vibrant atmosphere even long after the last talk. Due to many comments and opinions from the community that clearly demand an improvement of data quality and integrity in the written literature, this debate will be an ongoing process. Hence, this symposium can be considered a follow-up of the discussion at last year’s symposium “Global Challenges in the Communication of Scientific Research” in San Francisco organized by David Martinsen and Norah Xiao (/node/616) and would bridge to the symposium entitled "Scientific Integrity: Can We Rely on the Published Scientific Literature?" organized by Judith Currano and Bill Town at the next fall national meeting in Boston.
Le Novere, N., Courtot, M. and Laibe, C (2007) Adding Semantics in Kinetics Models of Biochemical Pathways. In: Proceedings of the Beilstein ESCEC Symposium 2006, Eds. Hicks, M.G. and Kettner, C., Logos-Verlag, pp. 137–153. http://www.beilstein-institut.de/download/688/lenovere.pdf.
Nuzzo, R. Scientific method: Statistical errors. Nature, 2014, 506 (7487), 150-152. http://www.nature.com/news/scientific-method-statistical-errors-1.14700.
Kerr, N. HARKing: Hypothesizing After the Results are Known. Pers Soc Psychol Rev. 1998, 2 (3), 196-217. http://psr.sagepub.com/content/2/3/196.abstract.
Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), http://publicationethics.org/.
ACS Publications Ethical Guidelines to Publication of Chemical Research, http://pubs.acs.org/page/policy/ethics/index.html.
Ensuring the Integrity, Accessibility, and Stewardship of Research Data in the Digital Age, http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=12615
Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia (CCLE) project, http://www.broadinstitute.org/ccle/home.
Wawer, M.; Clemons, P. et al. Automated Structure-Activity Relationship Mining: Connecting Chemical Structure to Biological Profiles. J. Biomol. Screen. 2014, 19 (5), 738-748. http://jbx.sagepub.com/content/19/5/738.abstract
Principles and Guidelines for Reporting Preclinical Research, National Institutes of Health, http://www.nih.gov/about/reporting-preclinical-research.htm.
Big Data to Knowledge initiative, National Institute of Health, https://datascience.nih.gov/bd2k
Collins, F.; Tabak, L. Policy: NIH plans to enhance reproducibility, Nature, 2014, 505 (7485), 612-613. http://www.nature.com/news/policy-nih-plans-to-enhance-reproducibility-1.14586.
Fourches, D.; Sassano, M.; Roth, B.; Tropsha, A. HTS navigator: freely accessible cheminformatics software for analyzing high-throughput screening data, Bioinformatics, 2014, 30 (4): 588–589. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3928525/.
Carsten Kettner, Symposium Presider and Presenter
Molecular & Structural 2D & 3D Chemical Fingerprinting
Computational Storing, Searching, and Comparing Molecular & Chemical Structures
Methods for searching and mining databases of chemical structures to find similar structures or to cluster and organize structures with desirable activities or toxicological properties are of paramount importance. This symposium presented several novel graphical and colorful visualization methods for display of clustering results as well as novel field and feature characterization methods. Examples were presented of the use of neural network and chiral code descriptors as well as the illustration of clustering methods present within the Knime workflow programming toolsets.
Colin Groom, Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre, started the session with a nice historical perspective on the 50th anniversary of the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD) and the IsoStar tool for probabilistic interaction mapping and statistical analysis of fields, fingerprints and molecular similarity. He discussed the use of full interaction maps from the crystal structure data, and the interaction fields derived that can be used in virtual screening approaches.
Joshua Swamidass, University of Washington St. Louis, led a spirited discussion of a negative result and the failure of a method developed to include chirality in chemical property predictive fingerprints. Unfortunately there are not many methods which can successfully preserve chirality information for mining chemical database information.
Matthew Segall, Optibrium, described a graphical method using “cards” implemented within their Stardrop software product to display structure-activity relationships and matched molecular pairs for lead optimization. The graphical method is meant to offer improved and intuitive visualization of results over chemical data spreadsheets.
Rachelle Bienstock, organizer and presider of this symposium, presented fingerprint and clustering methods available, and their implementation and use within the Knime workflow software. She presented a novel chemotype method which preserves more structural information in comparison to many 2D fingerprint methods implemented within Knime that can effectively cluster compounds and be used for predictive toxicology.
Tamsin Mansley, Dotmatics, rounded out the session with a presentation of the clustering fingerprint methods, and the colorful graphical visualization methods available within the Dotmatics software. This includes color-coding structural components, depicting changing fragments, and graphically presenting the results of structural comparison calculations.
The session offered a broad overview of methods available for analyzing, mining and visualizing the increasingly large compound databases. This enables successful emergence of patterns and clustering of compounds which can be used for activity and toxicity prediction and enhance lead optimization.
Rachelle Bienstock, Symposium Organizer and Presenter
Development & Use of Data Format Standards for Cheminformatics
The symposium on the “Development and Use of Data Format Standards for Cheminformatics” included speakers discussing standards already in existence, as well as standards still under development. Following the symposium on “Reproducibility, Reporting, Sharing & Plagiarism” earlier in the week, this symposium provided a perspective on what might be done to enable the reporting and sharing.
Stuart Chalk, from University of North Florida, described three standards projects in which he is involved. The first, the Analytical Information Markup Language (AnIML), has been in progress since 2003, and is nearing completion. Chalk showed some of the details of the standard, some examples of the markup, and examples of the display of spectral data marked-up according to the standard. Whether this is enough to establish uptake of the standard remains to be seen.
Chalk also described ChAMP (the Chemical Analysis Metadata Project), creating a standard for standards. The goal of the project is to define a minimum set of metadata to be used for all chemical standards development projects. While JCAMP-DX (Joint Committee on Atomic and Molecular Physical Data Exhange), AnIML, CSX (Chemical Semantics XML), and others all have had to develop metadata for their standards, those metadata efforts are all duplicative. It would be much more efficient to settle on a standard set of metadata, extend those standards where necessary, and allow the standards efforts to focus on the data unique to their discipline.
Chalk and Mirek Sopek, Chemical Semantics, Inc., discussed the details of an ontology standard for computational chemistry called CSX, Common Standard of eXchange. Chemical Semantics, who developed the standard with Department of Energy funding, are seeking to establish adoption by the major computational chemistry software packages. The goal of the project is to collect and organize the methodology as well as the results of computational chemistry calculations, accepting input from the major computational packages. This is accomplished in either of two ways: adding a capability to create an XML output file in addition to the normal output file, or converting the standard output to the CSX format. The CSX ontology is expressed as semantic web RDF (Resource Description Framework) triples, with mechanisms for representing data for both humans and machines.
Ian Bruno, Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre, discussed the development of the CIF (Crystallographic Information Framework) format. While the JCAMP-DX format served as a starting point for AnIML, the STAR format (Self-defining Text Archive and Retrieval) was the basis for CIF and for PDB (Protein Data Bank). Although it is possible to represent other types of data using STAR and, in fact, a STAR-based chemical substance representation was developed, Bruno noted that the STAR format found application only in the structural chemistry and structural biology communities. An effort from PDB is now underway to convert to macromolecular CIF. The format has been used internally by PDB, and will become the standard PDB format in 2016.
Steve Heller, InChI Trust Project Director, provided an update on InChI (IUPAC International Chemical Identifier). This standard has already been incorporated into a number of databases, as well as into some journal publications. Heller noted that InChI is well-defined for small organic molecules, and several working groups have completed the specification for Markush structures, polymers and mixtures, and reactions. The software needs to be modified to handle these new specifications. Future plans include inorganics, organometallics, large molecules, such as biopolymers, macromolecules, proteins, and enzymes, as well as crystal structures. Finally, regarding the speed of adoption of standards, Steve noted that the metric system was adopted as the measurement of the United States in 1866, which was amended as the SI system in 2007, but it is still has not taken hold as a standard in the United States.
Ken Kroenlein, from NIST (the National Institute of Standards and Technology) in Boulder, described the workflow for incorporating thermodynamic data from a number of journals, including the Journal of Chemical and Engineering Data and the Journal of Chemical Thermodynamics, into the NIST ThermoML database. Initially, it was anticipated that authors would use the ThermoML tools to submit their data to NIST. This did not work out as expected and, at the current time, undergraduate students are employed to extract the data from journal articles, after acceptance, but before publication. Errors are found in about 30% of the articles and these are corrected prior to publication. The data files are then made available after publication. NIST is currently working on automated procedures to better identify those articles containing thermodynamic data, to reduce the number of papers for human curation, and more quickly and efficiently process the data for publication.
Demonstrating some of the flexibility of JCAMP, Bob Hanson described JCAMP-MOL, an extension to JCAMP that allows for the representation of a structure, in any format that the software Jmol can read, in addition to the JCAMP spectral data. Using this extension, it is possible, using JSmol and JSpecView, to display structural and spectral data and highlight spectral features and the corresponding structural features. Hanson also demonstrated real-time NMR prediction, using APIs to transmit molfiles via the cloud to servers in remote locations and return the data necessary to build the JCAMP-MOL file with the spectrum/structure correlations.
While not giving the last presentation of the day, Tony Williams, from the Royal Society of Chemistry, posed a question that perhaps provides as good as a summary about any current state of affairs regarding cheminformatics standards; that question is: “How good is good enough?” While much effort has been expended on standards, both for spectral data and for structure representation, Williams proposed that two standards, JCAMP and molfile, could suffice to enable data sharing at much greater levels than we do now. These standards aren’t perfect. Vendors have added custom tagging in order to store metadata not captured by the formal standard. The formats could certainly be improved, but they are good enough to use and to share data, and they can be used now. Better standards could be developed, and as we learned, many standards are under development. However, standards that are not yet available are certainly not any better than no standard at all. While JCAMP may be imperfect, it is available now. When (and if?) the new standards are ready, the data in the current formats can be converted.
David Martinsen, Symposium Organizer
In 1965, Olga Kennard, with the support of J.D.Bernal, obtained some government funding and assembled a small group of crystallographers and clerical staff to begin work on the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD). I first remember hearing about the project as a crystallography PhD student at Lancaster University and had little idea, at the time, that I would become involved in the project within a few years.
My connection with the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC) covers two distinct eras: from 1969 to 1974 I worked as a Senior Assistant in Research at Cambridge’s Chemistry Laboratory in Lensfield Road with the main responsibility for computerizing the database, and then from 2003 to 2011 (when I had retired from ChemWeb), I joined the CCDC Board of Governors and eventually became Chair.
By the mid-60s, it became clear that the number of crystal structures being determined was growing rapidly. Jack Dunitz later told me that, up to this time, a good crystallographer could hold the details of any known crystal structure in memory and have them at his/her fingertips. However, when I joined in 1969, the total number of known organic and organometallic structures had already reached 5,000 and that number was to double again in the next five years. Today, the total number of published structures has reached in excess of 750,000.
In 1969, the CSD database consisted of many sets of 80-column punched cards, assembled and maintained in card trays in a filing cabinet in our common workspace in Lensfield Road. As a first task, we loaded the card images on to magnetic tape and, so as to preserve as much as possible of the existing workflow, we developed a suite of programs to check and maintain these card sets without changing formats. Our priority at the time was to begin to create some books with which we could share the database with colleagues. We were fortunate to obtain use of some computer typesetting software developed for Science Abstracts by the INSPEC group at IEE (Institution of Electrical Engineers), but as well as adapting the software to produce the pages we had designed for the initial typeset bibliographies, we also had to create tapes on an IBM computer which would be readable on an ICL 1900 computer (which used a totally different character representation). The challenge was met and the first two-volume bibliography was published in 1970 by the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr). Supplementary volumes of the bibliography were published in 1971, 1972 and 1974, and then annually. In 1977, a set of comprehensive retrospective indexes 1936-76, including a KWOC (Key Word Out of Context) index, was produced.
In parallel to the production of bibliographies, we began the task of checking the datasets for self-consistency. At a time when computer typesetting of journals wasn’t common, many errors were introduced at the typesetting stage. Digits were often transposed in tables of atomic coordinates and other errors were commonplace. We estimated that some 12% of the unchecked crystallographic literature was wrong and we initiated a large program of error checking. Where problems were found we tried to suggest possible corrections, but we always sought confirmation from the original authors. The first data publication (volume A1) was published in 1972 by IUCr as a continuation of the Chemical Society’s Interatomic Distances special series and covered the literature from 1960 to 1965. It contained some 1300 entries and, for each entry, calculated bond lengths, bond angles and torsion angles were presented. We also generated stereoscopic diagrams which enabled most people to visualize the three-dimensional structure.
In December 1972, a magnetic tape copy of the database was installed by Richard Feldman at the US National Institutes of Health, which became the first national data center, acting as a data distribution point for crystallographers in the United States. As more national data centers became established, the format of the database became more important and thoughts were given to a total database restructure and to adding chemical connectivity information to each record.
CCDC in the 21st century
Fast forward 30 years and the picture has changed dramatically. In the intervening period, CCDC has become a charity (technically a company limited by guarantee) with a commercial subsidiary that handles the thriving software business. Now the bulk of CCDC’s income derives from services provided to the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. A new building, constructed adjacent to the University Chemical Laboratory in the 1990s, houses all aspects of the UK operations. Some US sales operations are co-located with the PDB (Protein Data Bank) facility in New Jersey. As well as database maintenance (which is now as automated as possible), software development and basic research are located in the Cambridge, UK office. As technology became more powerful, new distribution methods became possible and much of the database distribution occurs over the internet, rather than physical mailing of DVDs or magnetic tapes.
Most of the original CCDC personnel from the 1960s have reached retirement age. Robin Taylor (who led the software development group), W.D.S (Sam) Motherwell (who led the research group), Frank Allen (Executive Director), and Steve Salisbury (Administrative Director) all left CCDC within a relatively short period, but Frank Allen became an Honorary Fellow and continued his research interests for a further six years until his untimely death in 2014. Colin Groom was appointed Executive Director in 2008 following Frank’s retirement and benefited from Frank’s advice. Colin has managed the CCDC well in the following years.
CCDC is a recognized teaching institution at Cambridge and has co-supervised PhD students with the staff of the University Chemistry Department in Cambridge or elsewhere. In a typical year, two or three fellowships are awarded to PhD students. One of the highlights of the spring meeting of the Board of Governors was an extra day which gave an opportunity to hear from all the current students and to meet their supervisors.
I have decided to make this a personal recollection rather than a slick commercial presentation on the CCDC and its products. The website http://www.ccdc.cam.ac.uk contains an up-to-date overview.
William Town. Former Chair, CCDC Board of Governors
Image credit: https://www.ccdc.cam.ac.uk/CCDC/Companyprofile/Pages/History.aspx
The theme of the Spring 2015 American Chemical Society National Meeting was “Chemistry of Natural Resources.” In accordance with this theme, it might be interesting to look at a particular type of natural resource, metallic ores, and at the chemical processes used to separate metals not only from nonmetallic elements such as oxygen and sulfur, but also from other metals. Since this is a bulletin on chemical information, the sources used to find this information would be at least as much of interest as the information itself. Here I describe the literature sources used to learn about the recovery of lead from its principal ore, galena, with emphasis on processes to separate silver from lead.
Galena is primarily lead monosulfide (PbS). Notably, the CAS Registry Number (RN) of galena (12179-39-4) is different from the CAS RN of lead monosulfide (1314-87-0). In addition to lead, galena often contains commercially valuable amounts of silver and sometimes gold. Copper, tin, arsenic, antimony, and bismuth are also frequently found in galena. (Image source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galena)
The first chemical step in galena processing is roasting, which converts the sulfides to oxides. The equation for this is nominally:
PbS + 1.5 O2 → PbO + SO2.
However, the PbO combines with other oxides, and most of the lead ends up as a silicate, Pb3Ca2Si3O11. The silicate is either processed in a lead blast furnace, or in an Imperial smelting furnace. In the lead blast furnace, carbon monoxide is used to reduce the lead-containing silicate as follows:
Pb3Ca2Si3O11 + 3 CO → 3 Pb + CaSiO3 + SiO2 + 3 CO2.
The oxides separate as a slag and one obtains lead bullion. In the Imperial smelting furnace, lead and zinc are processed together. Once again carbon monoxide is used to reduce the target metal oxides: liquid lead settles to the bottom and is withdrawn to form lead bullion, while zinc vapor rises to the top, where it is condensed.
Metals and metalloids which are not reduced by the carbon dioxide form a slag. Whichever furnace is used to produce the lead bullion, a large portion of the copper separates on cooling as "dross;" the dross is a mixture of copper, lead, and other impurities, and is processed separately. Meanwhile, additional copper is removed from the bullion by reaction with copper monosulfide:
Cu(Pb) + CuS → Cu2S.
The bullion is then “softened,” either by blowing air through the molten lead bullion (the classical process) or by treatment of the lead with molten sodium hydroxide containing sodium nitrate (the Harris process). Either of these softening processes removes arsenic, antimony, and tin from the lead. Bismuth, zinc, and silver remain with the lead. It is at this point that the silver is separated from the lead.
Four methods exist for separating silver from lead; the term desilverizing may be used to denote any of them. Cupellation is a process in which lead bullion is oxidized by blowing air through the melt; lead oxide separates out, and silver and other noble metals remain in the metallic state.
The Pattinson process separates lead from silver by melting the mixture and letting it cool until crystals form. The crystals are enriched in lead, and the melt is enriched in silver. The process is repeated several times. In the Parkes process, molten zinc is added. It does not mix with the molten lead, and silver is extracted into the zinc layer. The zinc is then distilled off. Finally, silver may be separated from zinc electrochemically, with the silver being recovered from the anode slime.
The information in the preceding paragraphs was obtained from one classic reference and two more up-to-date references. The latest reference is Alain Vignes, Extractive Metallurgy, Wiley-ISTE, 2011 (ISBN 1848212925). This is a three-volume set, and is rich in figures and equations. Among the desilverizing processes, only the Parkes process is mentioned in the section on lead refining. Somewhat older, but more comprehensive, is Fathi Habashi, Handbook of Extractive Metallurgy, Wiley-VCH, 1998 (ISBN 3527287922). This is a four-volume set and the volumes are much larger than those of the Vignes reference. All four of the desilverizing methods are described in the chapter on silver; the chapter on lead describes only the Parkes process. The classic reference, J. W. Mellor, A Comprehensive Treatise on Inorganic and Theoretical Chemistry, Longmans, Green & Co., 1923, also describes all four desilverizing methods. The desilverization of lead has its own section, in the chapter on silver in volume 3. One should also note that the Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology (5th edition, 2007, ISBN 0471484967) has a chapter on lead and lead alloys, and that Ullmann’s Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry (ISBN 0471484967) has a section on the refining of lead bullion in its chapter on lead. Kirk-Othmer mentions cupellation, the Parkes process, and electrochemical refinement, whereas Ullmann’s mentions only the Parkes process.
Of course, for the latest developments in desilverization technology, one must go to the recent literature. In addition to Chemical Abstracts and the usual patent databases, one might mention the database METADEX in this regard. METADEX is the electronic version of the print publications Metals Abstracts, Metals Abstracts Index, and Alloys Index, and is produced by ProQuest LLC. It provides information on the properties, fabrication, applications, and development of metals and alloys, including the processes for extraction of metals from their ores. METADEX is available via STN (but not SciFinder) as well as via ProQuest.
Several reference resources have been described which discuss the removal of silver from lead. (This is not intended to be a comprehensive list of such resources). Four general methods of removing silver from lead were described in these resources. All references described the Parkes process (extraction using zinc), which appears to be the most commonly used process today. Three other methods: cupellation, electrochemical separation, and the Pattinson process, are described in some of the references. Although the search here was focused on the separation of one pair of metals, these same references should be useful when investigating other metallurgical separation processes.
David Shobe, Assistant Editor, Chemical Information Bulletin
I’m not into betting and you may not be either, but for this issue of the CIB I’m offering a trifecta: reviews of three books on scientific careers. The timing is fortuitous since all three crossed my desk in advance of the next CINF Symposium on Careers at the upcoming Boston ACS meeting (see the announcement elsewhere in this issue). Chemical information may be for CINF members and CIB readers an “alternative” career, one pursued after being trained and educated in chemistry or related subjects. Therefore, the reviews will emphasize treatment of these aspects and hopefully provide guidance for buy/no buy decisions either for yourself or for students if you are a librarian or mentor.
Career Options for Biomedical Scientists; Janssen, K., Sever, R., Eds.; Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press: Cold Spring Harbor, New York, 2015. 232 pages, ISBN 978-1-936113-72-9 hardcover, $45.00.
Obviously aimed at biomedical students and scientists, this multi-authored book has much material relevant to chemists aiming for a career other than as a tenure track academic at a research university. The number of those with a PhD in the sciences continues to increase (as well as the number of post-docs), but the number of available tenure track positions remains relatively constant. “Alternative” careers, those still maintaining a presence in science, are becoming the norm in prospects for PhD science graduates. They also are attractive to those in other research positions looking for some other career path. Fortunately, many of the skills acquired in doing PhD research are necessities for a wide variety of careers including critical thinking, problem solving, evaluation of data and research, communication, and time management.
Careers described include teaching at small liberal arts colleges, facility management, academic administration, science and grant administration (NIH authored), science policy (NIH authored), science society (American Physiologic Society), biomedical foundations, patent law, biotech startups/entrepreneurship, management consulting, medical communications, science journalism/writing, and science publishing. The chapter on patent law is quite good and exemplifies that scientists who pursue these careers have not “left” science. Both patent agents and patent lawyers are described and so is the need for certification for both. Jobs in medical communications include editorial, account management, and executive positions. Helen Pearson, Chief Features Editor for Nature, authors the science journalism chapter and describes a number of courses and paths to success in the industry. Journals, books, and the effects of open access and anonymous refereeing are discussed in the publications chapter.
Each chapter also describes the jobs available, skills and qualifications needed, getting a foot in the door, career progression or ways out, the author’s personal experience, dos and don’ts, references, additional resources, and Web resources. Most of the chapters and examples are in the biomedical sphere. Much is applicable to chemists, but several alternative careers are not even mentioned, including librarianship, indexing and abstracting, database production and electronic access, and pre-college teaching. Information technology is discussed in the chapter on site management.
The book is recommended for students, especially graduate students, professors, mentors, and scientists exploring a career change, and for academic libraries and career centers.
Navigating the Path to Industry: a Hiring Manager’s Advice for Academics Looking for a Job in Industry, Nelson, M. R., Annorlunda Enterprises: San Diego, CA, 2014. 72 pages, ISBN 978-0990744528 paperback, $5.99.
This is a brief, but potent book by a hiring manager in the biotech industry, and the subtitle is a good abstract. It is aimed at students, but has good advice for those in academia looking for their first (or subsequent job) in industry. Much of the advice is common to any job search and hiring, but it concentrates on the quirks of industrial jobs and hiring. It offers no guarantees, but hopefully a map to success. At this low price, it is a bargain.
Preparation should begin about a year before actually searching for a job. Tips include: use a personal e-mail address, assemble necessary software, identify skills, and begin networking (including LinkedIn and other social media); and then continue the networking into the actual job search. Other tips include writing resumes and cover letters, knowing etiquette, gaining interviewing skills, including asking questions and fielding inappropriate questions, learning more about yourself, and being prepared to accept rejection.
What You Need for the First Job, Besides the PhD in Chemistry, Benvenuto, M. A., American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2015. 183 pages, ISBN 987-0-8412-2962-4, $150.00.
This is a multi-authored ACS Symposium Series book (volume 1165), based on a symposium of the same title at the Fall 2013 ACS National Meeting, Indianapolis, IN, aimed at graduate students, but applicable to job seekers already employed in chemistry fields. The job positions are categorized as corporate, government, and academic. Many of the recommendations and skill requirements such as time management, safety, communication and people skills, and the obvious processes of job application, interview, etc., apply to all three categories.
One chapter has the most detailed description of the entire job search process, which is largely applicable to all job searches. Aspects of skills more specific to the three sectors are described. The skills hopefully developed in education, like analytical and critical thinking, decision making, and problem solving, are necessary, but not sufficient. Corporate jobs also require business and profitability awareness, collaboration and teamwork, confidentiality, and intellectual property awareness. Job positions in academia include tenure track at small colleges, academic leadership, and lectureship at research institutions. The positions described are all in the areas of academic professorship and teaching or lab research, so alternative careers are ignored. Although the title indicates the book is aimed at future PhDs, I think that’s too narrow since many chemistry students decide to go into industry with BS or MS degrees and many of the job hunting methods apply to those students. There are some deficiencies, especially the high cost for personal use. This is a valuable, but pricey book for several audiences including libraries. For more details see my previous reviews of this book in Choice and J. Chem. Educ., both in print.
In conclusion, all three books should be available to job seekers pursuing careers in chemistry or related sciences. Except for the first book, there is no mention of alternative careers so Balbes’ book (Nontraditional Careers for Chemists, Oxford, 2007) remains a key resource.
Robert Buntrock, Member, CINF Communications and Publications Committee
Meet Your New CINF Membership Chair: An Interview with Donna Wrublewski
Dr. Donna Wrublewski is the Chemistry and Biology Librarian at California Institute of Technology. She provides reference, instruction, and collection development expertise in the areas of chemistry, biochemistry and molecular biophysics, and biology and biological engineering. Donna’s profile is at: http://libguides.caltech.edu/dtwrub. Prior to coming to Caltech in February of 2013, she was the Librarian for Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering, and Physics at the University of Florida, Gainesville (2010-2013). Her educational background includes a BS in Chemical Engineering from MIT, and MS and PhD degrees in Polymer Science and Engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Donna has been a prolific contributor to the CINF technical program at ACS national meetings since 2010. She served on the CINF Education Committee 2012-14 and then rose to be Chair of the CINF Membership Committee 2015-17. We met with Donna in Denver to find out more about her professional experience and what is happening in the CINF Membership Committee.
Svetlana Korolev: Donna, we first collaborated regarding your article on the symposium honoring the 50th anniversary of Dana Roth at Caltech in Chemical Information Bulletin (/node/666). At that symposium you talked about the evolving library services at Caltech (Donna’s presentation slides with notes are at: /PDFs/247nm99.pdf). Could you evaluate in some depth the emerging services and your involvement in those? How much effort and time do you spend on the new directions in addition to your primary activities as the Chemistry and Biology information specialist? What brings you the most joy at Caltech overall?
Donna Wrublewski: There’s been a huge amount of activity at the Caltech Library since that wonderful symposium. One of the key directions we will be moving in is supporting digital research services, or “E-Science,” including data management. Our new University Librarian, Kristin Antelman, asked me to be part of a Caltech delegation participating in the 2015 E-Research Network, sponsored by the Digital Library Federation (DLF) and the Council for Library and Information Resources (CLIR) (more information here: http://www.diglib.org/groups/e-research-network/). I’m extremely excited to be a part of this, especially since I’m already familiar with the CLIR network, having been an Academic Library Fellow for the past 2 years. The opportunity to engage with both librarians and PhD researchers to gain broad insight into current practices, and to develop new, innovative services, is very exciting. I think this can greatly benefit the Caltech research community, and in addition I can share ideas and perspectives with other institutions. All of this is in addition to my existing duties, which include supporting the Chemistry and Biochemistry Departments, and the entire Division of Biology and Biological Engineering (composed of six research areas). I will admit at times it can be hectic and a bit of a juggling act, but knowing that I provide a unique and valued service to my patrons, continuing what Dana has so wonderfully done for many years, is what makes me most happy at Caltech.
SK: You wrote “Searching for Polymers” chapter in the 2013 best-selling book “Chemical Information for Chemists: A Primer” edited by Judith Currano and Dana Roth, and have presented steadily on teaching scientific information skills and related topics in the ACS CINF technical program since 2010. Please tell us about your current research interests. Are you planning a publication and/or presentation for the near future?
DW: With my current duties, I will admit it’s hard to find time to pursue my own research, but one project near and dear to my heart is educating students on academic integrity and avoiding research misconduct. Colleagues at the University of Florida (UF) first introduced me to the library’s role in this area. Michelle Leonard (UF Environmental Engineering Sciences & Natural Resources Librarian) received an NSF grant to develop a game to teach STEM graduate students about how to avoid plagiarism, and invited me to be on the team when I first joined UF in 2010. (More information about the project is at: http://cms.uflib.ufl.edu/games/gap.) From that project, in conjunction with Denise Bennett (UF Engineering Librarian), she developed Ethics Workshops held in the Library and a guide to Responsible Conduct of Research resources (http://guides.uflib.ufl.edu/stemrcr). Michelle also teaches a one-credit class, “Fundamentals of Research Integrity in the Sciences.” I am currently working with Michelle and Amy Buhler (UF Engineering Librarian) on a book about Academic Integrity Education in Libraries, due out in 2016. I will also be collaborating on a talk for the Fall 2015 ACS Boston meeting with Michelle, Amy, and Dr. Neelam Bharti, the Chemistry Librarian at UF. As a former doctoral student myself, I can say first-hand that this type of education is unfortunately non-existent for many graduate students. It’s extremely important not only for the future of the scientific enterprise, but also for students on a personal, individual level the consequences of misconduct can be tragic (see for example the STAP controversy from the summer of 2014: http://www.nature.com/news/stem-cell-pioneer-blamed-media-bashing-in-suicide-note-1.15715).
SK: I found your guest post “Profile: Chemistry Librarian” in C&EN’s “Just Another Electron Pusher” (http://cenblog.org/just-another-electron-pusher/ 2010/11/profile-chemistry-librarian/) to be very fascinating. Could you share with us more details about your transition to an alternative career in chemical information? What has actually motivated such a move while you were still completing PhD studies researching polymers? What was the reaction from people around you at that time? Which counterpart idea could be put on a balance for your childhood dream of becoming a “mad scientist, who ran around to save the world”?
DW: Honestly, I’d known for a while that neither research academia nor industry was for me. I had experience working in both, and had some wonderful experiences and met some wonderful people, but neither the idea of having to manage a group of students and chase grants, nor the idea of answering to a bottom line, frankly, made me happy. The economic downturn in 2009 was actually a blessing in disguise as it made me consider careers beyond those two options, and that was how I found the position at UF. Academic librarianship lets me stay close to science, “live vicariously” through my patrons, and provide much-needed, expert-level service in the realm of scientific information (among other things), while avoiding a lot of the undesirable aspects of running a research group. Most people were a bit taken aback when I said I was becoming a librarian, mainly because the stereotypical aspects and ideas of librarianship are still embedded in the mainstream perception. When I tell people what I actually do: solve problems, teach, network, research, design and play with cool tools, among other things I’m forgetting right now, they realize how perfectly it suits me. Solving problems and helping others are the things I truly relish, as it’s what the doctor does all the time, and has inspired me for as long as I can remember. Ideally, I want to be that resource that I (very unfortunately) hardly knew existed while I was a student.
SK: Donna, could you name any professional organizations or other channels that you follow closely for your professional development? What would you recommend for fellow science librarians?
DW: CINF has been a truly wonderful resource, and again I need to thank Michelle for submitting talks back in 2010, as that is what really got me into the community. I would highly recommend CINF to any librarian who has “chemistry” in his or her title, and I particularly recommend webinars and the CHMINF-L mailing list. I’m also in the SLA Chemistry Division, and recently joined the Biology Division as a way to improve my skills in that area. CLIR has also been a fantastic place to meet other PhD’s making the transition into the library and information world. Many of us have similar experiences despite different backgrounds, and it’s been illuminating to talk to scholars in history or archaeology and learn about the differences (and unexpected similarities!) in the way they do research and how I was trained as a polymer engineer. I also keep an eye on various education resources, as instruction is a large component of my work. I work closely with Caltech’s Center for Teaching, Learning and Outreach, and the Hixon Writing Center. I participate, when I can, as a volunteer mentor in activities such as FIRST Robotics and the Science Olympiad, which are great fun overall, but give me an opportunity to hone my outreach and instruction skills as well.
SK: You are a member of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), ACS Division of Chemical Information, and the Chemistry Division of the Special libraries Association. I hear you have joined the Royal Society of Chemistry recently. Please tell us why you became involved in these organizations, how your involvement evolved over time, and what you find the most rewarding about your memberships?
DW: I was the Vice-President of MIT SWE for two years during my undergraduate years, and that group was a great support. I fell away from it in graduate school, but when I got to UF, I thought it would be a natural group to reach out to about library resources. After talking with some of the students at a UF SWE meeting, they asked me to be their Faculty Advisor (librarians at UF are tenure-track faculty), and I happily agreed. I was their advisor from late 2010 until I left UF in 2013, and to this day I still miss them very, very much. I consider that one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve ever had, at UF or anywhere else. Although it seems like a tired refrain these days, it is very important to support women, and all underrepresented groups, in STEM. When you are trying to do something, it’s important to have a role model that looks like you, and understands where you are coming from. Some people may disagree with that, but there’s a chance my graduate career may have turned out quite differently if I’d been in a more diverse and supportive environment.
With regards to CINF, the most important professional aspects to me are the ability to network with professionals in my area, and the opportunities to develop skills that I would not ordinarily be able to acquire in my day-to-day work. As I was a new librarian with no library degree or background of working in libraries, CINF colleagues were vital to helping me learn the ropes and understand the wild world of chemical information from the “back” side, so to speak. The Education Committee was a natural fit for me given the immense amount of instruction I was doing at UF. Being able to talk to others about education, as well as contribute to larger projects, has been wonderful. With regards to becoming Membership Chair, this position requires a lot of organization and outreach, things that are a part of my job at Caltech, but the overall coordination is something I wouldn’t normally have the opportunity to do. I’m excited to work with the rest of the CINF leadership and hopefully come up with new ideas and institute some lasting changes!
My involvement in SLA only started in 2013 as that was when I finally had the resources (both time and financial) to participate. Although CINF and SLA Chemistry (DCHE) do overlap in membership somewhat, they are diverse enough groups that I find both memberships rewarding. Whereas CINF focuses more on the chemistry aspect, I find that SLA focuses a little more on the librarianship aspect. This is a direct result of their organizational structures; CINF is a library group in a chemistry organization, DCHE is a chemistry group in a library organization. Again, having no traditional library background, SLA has been a great resource for me in terms of learning about the library profession in general.
In the fall of 2014 I was accepted as a Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry, and I am much honored to be a part of that organization. I am just getting into the community and exploring everything it has to offer. I am most excited for the opportunity for more international networking!
SK: Last year’s CINF membership report (/node/677) indicated a dramatic growth in the number of members: 39.1% between 2013 and 2014. The total of 1316 included 370 new members, all in the “student member” categories. (The students are now granted “free” membership in CINF. The $3 membership fee was eliminated by the Division in 2014). Another interesting fact was observed in the shift of cross-divisional memberships with the significant increase from the Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Division (I&EC), Catalysis Science & Technology Division (CATL), and Cellulose and Renewable Materials Division (CELL) overshadowing the traditional cross-divisional overlap with COMP, MEDI, and ORGN. Could you comment on the recent trends?
DW: Since becoming Chair just this past January, I’m in the process of reviewing membership policies and data for the past few years, as I have time and ability to access it. CINF, to me, is one of those divisions that appears more specialized than it is. I spoke with many people in Denver about this, and one sentiment was that everyone in ACS uses chemical information in one form or another, so everyone should be a member of CINF. The same could be true of divisions like PROF, CHAS (for any experimentalist), and so on. Membership is something that is on almost everyone’s mind in ACS these days, and many divisions face the same challenges. Reaching out to students and other Divisions is something we’ll certainly be exploring.
SK: Donna, I would like to compliment you on new “Member Profile” initiative introduced in the fall 2014 issue of Chemical Information Bulletin. Also, kudos to Erja Kajosalo and Susanna Redalje for joining the Membership Committee this year. With this enthusiastic crew you must be considering a new exciting campaign for the Division. Could you share some of the priorities?
DW: Thanks! I must give due credit for the “Member Profile” to our Past Division Chair, Judith Currano, with whom I corresponded closely prior to becoming Membership Chair. The idea of a profile came out of her desire to get us to know one another, and see the diversity (both in people and professions) in our wonderful Division. Members should feel comfortable reaching out and networking: that’s what brought me to CINF! If you see someone who does something you’re interested in, or someone you want to collaborate with, or someone who might have expertise to help you with a problem, contact them! We hope that the profiles will encourage members to do that. Erja and Susanne have been great colleagues to work with, and although the past several months have been busy in terms of time available to work on things, we do have a few ideas in the works. We will be conducting a brief survey of the membership in conjunction with this year’s divisional elections, happening later this summer. We hope this will give us a sense of what people need. I did do some observation of other Divisions and their activities in Denver, and we have some more information to gather and compare. We have a few ideas that we are working on, but these aren’t really in a presentable form yet. Watch for more information coming later this summer!
SK: With the transition of all CINF Division’s publications from print to electronic version and from “member only” to “free access for all” how would you advocate for the “value added” of the CINF membership? Do you think that a lack of the “member only” benefits is an obstacle for recruitment and retention? Should CINF consider approaching some of its sponsors (publishers) in order to enable “member only” access to one or two chemical information sources? Are there any other channels for new membership benefits?
DW: I had several conversations with members of other Divisions in Denver and I can say that this is something with which many Divisions are struggling. There are actually some things for which CINF membership is obligatory, such as organizing a CINF symposium at an ACS meeting or holding an Executive Committee position. The idea of access to information sources is something I’ve heard as well, and is something that the RSC provides for its members. It would definitely be worth exploring if it makes sense for CINF members. There are a few others things the Membership Committee is researching: stay tuned!
SK: Let me conclude on a personal note. Please tell us something about yourself. What brings you great pleasure beyond your professional life at Caltech and CINF? Do you get some spare vacation time for sightseeing while at conferences? Are there any favorite places you like visiting? What hobbies do you have?
DW: When I travel for work I do try to take extra time to visit with friends in the area. I was fortunate to stay with good friends during the last trip in Colorado, and also while I was in Washington, DC immediately prior to Denver for the Librarian’s Guide to NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information) class. I don’t actually stay in hotels very often since I have friends all over the country with spare beds and warm hearts. My boyfriend and I love exploring Los Angeles: it’s unlike anywhere else we’ve ever lived! We live within walking distance of the famous Huntington Gardens, and probably should go there more often than we do. I love plants and have a small succulent and herb garden on our porch. We go out to eat fairly regularly and there are so many restaurants to try here. As someone with celiac disease and a few other food restrictions, it’s important to me to find tasty healthy food. I love going out to places that understand that, and I get inspired to try to recreate good things at home. I cook and bake gluten-free treats pretty regularly.
I’m a die-hard New York Mets fan and try to catch a game whenever I am back in New York City visiting my family. I’m also pretty obsessed with Doctor Who, and spend lots of time watching and reading it, usually in close proximity to our cat, Bowie, with whom I am equally obsessed. When all that isn’t going on, I try to read books or cross-stitch (mostly on cross-country plane flights).
SK: Donna, thank you so much for your time and the privilege of introducing you as the new CINF Membership Chair to the readers of this Bulletin. Best wishes for your success!
Donna’s Publications:
Searching for polymers. In Chemical Information for Chemists: A Primer; Currano, J., Roth D., Ed., 2013. http://www.rsc.org/Shop/books/2013/9781849735513.asp.
Comparing Engineering Departments across Institutions: Gathering Publication Impact Data in a Short Timeframe. Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship. Winter 2012 (68). http://www.istl.org/12-winter/refereed2.html.
Donna’s Presentations:
How do you define the value of something if it’s free? Observations on Caltech’s Institutional Repository. 9-CINF. Spring 2015. (See report in this issue of CIB).
Evolving library services in the ever-changing world of chemical information: From printed to electronic to networked. 99-CINF. Fall 2014. (slides with notes. Donna’s symposium report).
Anything BUT overlooked: Librarians teaching scientific communication skills at the University of Florida. 87-CINF. Fall 2013. (Sci-Mix) (slides: http://ufdc.ufl.edu/IR00003497/00001).
Use of an institutional repository to promote chemical sciences collections at the University of Florida. 141-CINF. Fall 2012. (slides: http://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00012153/00001).
Digital rights management and e-books: Perspectives from a research library. 145-CINF. Fall 2012. (symposium report).
Use of course reserves as a gentle introduction to the chemical literature. 24-CINF. Spring 2012. (symposium report).
Faculty-librarian partnership for a student research presentation in a physical chemistry laboratory course. 27-CINF. Spring 2012. (same report as above).
Providing comparative data on published research impact (internally and externally). 122-CINF. Spring 2012. (slides: http://ufdc.ufl.edu/IR00000776/00001).
Check us out: Librarians as departmental PR agents. 45-CINF. Fall 2011.
Elements of research misconduct. 46-CINF. Fall 2011. (slides: http://ufdc.ufl.edu/IR00000672/00001).
CINF Careers Committee
The CINF Careers Committee members (Robert Buntrock, Sue Cardinal (Co-Chair), Kiyomi Deards, Mary Frances Lembo, Pamela Scott (Co-Chair) and Kiem Ta) continue to work virtually: meeting via teleconference, and communicating via email.
For the Boston meeting, the Careers Committee, together with CINF Chair, Rachelle Bienstock, are busy planning the “Alternative Careers in Cheminformatics Panel Discussion & Brunch” sponsored by CINF, the Division of Chemical Education (CHED), and the ACS Education Offices for Graduate Students & Postdoctoral Scholars, and for Undergraduate Programs.
Abstract: A science degree doesn’t necessarily mean a life in the lab. There is a multitude of career paths that range from industry to intellectual property. At this panel discussion, you’ll meet professionals who hold alternative careers in cheminformatics and related fields. Explore their career paths and the unique options that are available for graduates and those seeking higher education.
Sue Cardinal, Co-Chair, CINF Careers Committee
CINF Education Committee
The CINF Education Committee met on Saturday, March 21, 2015, from 1-3 pm in Denver, CO.
Attendees: Grace Baysinger (Chair); Chuck Huber, Ye Li (Consultant), Adrienne Kozlowski (Consultant), Teri Vogel, and Donna Wrublewski (Consultant).
Absent: Christina Keil (Consultant), Marion Peters (Consultant), and Martin Walker.
Committee Membership: Martin Walker is a new member of the Education Committee. Christina Keil, Adrienne Kozlowski, Ye Li, Marion Peters, and Donna Wrublewski are interested in remaining on the committee in 2015 as consultants. Efforts are underway to recruit 2-3 more members.
Symposium: A full day symposium called “Chemical Information Skills: The Essential Toolkit for Chemical Research” has been jointly organized by CINF and the CSA Trust for the ACS Fall National Meeting in Boston. Dr. Jonathan Goodman and Grace Baysinger are co-organizers for this session. Sixteen speakers will give 20-minute presentations. CHED, COMP, PROF, and YCC have also agreed to be nominal sponsors for this symposium.
Chemical Information Sources Wikibook: The Education Committee has assumed responsibility for managing the Chemical Information Sources Wikibook. Chuck Huber has agreed to serve as Editor-in-Chief for three years. Martin Walker has agreed to serve as Technical Editor. (See the next article).
Information Skills for Successful Graduate Students: The Committee needs to finish drafting this document and post for comments by librarians and instructors. Efforts are underway by ACS to create an Individual Development Plan (IDP) for the Chemical Sciences. Ideally, information skills would be incorporated into this document or be an appendix to it. Because the ACS Presidential Commission on Graduate Education in Chemistry Report (PDF) has recommended and NIH-grant funded research now requires graduate students and postdocs to have IDPs. Aligning with these efforts provides an opportunity for faster adoption than might be possible with a stand-alone document. For more details about information needs, please also see the 2013 ACS Graduate Student Survey (PDF). (For your information, Stanford is now requiring all postdocs to have an IDP. Stanford Biosciences has 3 IDPs for grad students and postdocs: 1st year, 2nd year, 3rd-5th year. The 1st IDP year focuses on mentoring, the 2nd year one on skill-building, and the one for years 3-5 on skill-building and career development.)
CPT Guidelines for Undergraduates in Chemistry: Undergraduate Professional Education in Chemistry: 2015 Guidelines and Evaluation Procedures for Bachelor's Degree Programs (PDF) was approved by the ACS Committee on Professional Training. The section on information skills has changed so the ACS CINF/SLA Chemistry Division document called Information Competencies for Undergraduates will need to be updated. For a list of key resources, please see CINF’s Chemical Information Literacy page.
Training Calendar: Efforts will be initiated to create a calendar that contains webinars and other presentations aimed at helping users gain expertise in using chemical information resources. Information providers will be asked to help support this effort.
Contact us: To facilitate communication with the CINF Education Committee, a listserv was set up.
It is: cinf-ed-committee@lists.stanford.edu.
Grace Baysinger, Chair, CINF Education Committee
Chemical Information Sources Wikibook: Changes and Plans
Originally compiled by Dr. Gary Wiggins, Indiana University, Chemical Information Sources was published as a book in 1991. Gary released it as a wikibook in 2007. Chemical Information Sources continued as a collaborative effort by chemistry librarians, mostly from the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) under Ben Wagner’s (University at Buffalo) leadership from 2011-2014. Many thanks to Ben for all his leadership and efforts during this period, and also to all the authors who helped maintain its content.
In fall 2014, to provide a long-term sustainable plan for maintaining the content, the CINF Division's Education Committee agreed to “adopt” three wikibooks that had been created by Gary Wiggins:
Chemical Information Sources Wikibook
SIRCh: Selected Internet Resources for Chemistry
Chemical Information Instructional Materials
Initial efforts by the CINF Education Committee will focus on the first two wikibooks.
Editor-in Chief: We are pleased to announce that the ACS CINF Education Committee formally approved appointing Chuck Huber for a 3-year term as Editor-in-Chief for the Chemical Information Sources Wikibook during the ACS Spring Meeting in Denver (March 21, 2015).
Technical Editor: Effective January 2015, Dr. Martin Walker agreed to serve as Technical Editor for the Chemical Information Sources Wikibook. In anticipation of forthcoming changes, Martin created an archived version on March 7, 2015. For example, we hope to modernize the navigation and make it mobile-friendly. We also plan to use metadata templates for commonly cited sources in order to maintain the URL for a resource in one location. We also plan to merge the selected internet resources with Chemical Information Sources Wikibook content covering that same topic.
Authors: As part of these efforts, the authors who are responsible for editing chapters will be reviewed. If you have edited a chapter previously and wish to continue doing so, please contact Chuck Huber. If you are interested in being a new editor, please indicate which chapter in your message to Chuck. If you have suggestions about new chapters that might be added, please also contact Chuck. His email address is huber@library.ucsb.edu.
Because editorial efforts and authorship of wikibook content is only available in the “view history” tab, to recognize the work more formally and to give credit to author’s efforts, we plan to create a table of contents on CINF’s Chemical Information Literacy page that will include the names of chapter authors.
To help keep the Chemical Information Sources Wikibook useful, the content must be updated regularly. The ACS CINF Education Committee is honored to support this key resource and to provide a long-term sustainable path for maintaining it. We thank everyone who has supported it to date and look forward to working with authors and readers in the future!
ACS Council Meeting
The Council of the American Chemical Society met in Denver, CO on Wednesday, March 25, 2015 from 8:00am until approximately 11:30am in the Centennial Ballroom D-H of the Hyatt Regency Denver at Colorado Convention Center Hotel. It opened with a resolution in memory of former ACS Secretary Rodney N. Hader and other deceased Councilors followed by a moment of silence; a vote to accept the minutes of the Council meeting held on August 13, 2014; and approval of interim action by the Council Policy Committee to elect Alan Ehrlich as its Vice Chair. The highlights of the meeting are as follows:
President-Elect: The Committee on Nominations & Elections (N&E) had identified four nominees for the office of 2016 ACS President-Elect: G. Bryan Balazs, Allison A. Campbell, David J. Lohse, and Christopher J. Welch. The four nominees answered questions at the Town Hall meeting that was held on Sunday, March 22nd. Council voted to select G. Bryan Balazs and Allison A. Campbell as the final two candidates whose names will appear on the fall ballot along with any candidates selected via petitions.
Directors: The Committee on Nominations and Elections announced the results of the election to select candidates from the list of nominees to serve as Directors from District I and District V on the Board of Directors for the term 2016-2018. By internet ballot, the Councilors from these districts selected Thomas R. Gilbert and Laura E. Pence as District I candidates; and John E. Adams and Kenneth V. Fivizzani as District V candidates. Ballots will be distributed on October 2, 2015 to all ACS members in District I and District V for election of a director from each District.
The Committee on Nominations and Elections also announced the selection of the following candidates for Director-at-Large for a 2016-2018 term: Willem R. Leenstra, Ingrid Montes, Mary Jo Ondrechen, and Thomas W. Smith. The election of two Directors-at-Large will be conducted in the fall. Ballots will be mailed to all councilors on October 2, 2015.
Continuation of Committees
Having completed their five-year reviews, the Committee on Committees obtained Council approval for the continuation of the Committee on Ethics and the Committee on Science.
ACS Dues for 2016
Council voted to approve the recommendation from the Committee on Budget and Finance with regard to the 2016 membership dues (an increase of $4.00, from $158 to $162). The increases to ACS dues are based upon an escalator defined in the ACS Bylaws (Bylaw XIII, Section 3,a). The dues are calculated by multiplying the base (current) rate “by a factor which is the ratio of the revised Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (Service Category) for the second year previous to the dues year to the value of the index for the third year previous to the dues year, as published by the United States Department of Labor, with the fractional dollar amounts rounded to the nearest whole dollar.”
Base rate 2015: $158.00
Change in the Consumer Price Index, Urban Wage Earners, Services Category:
December 2014 CPI-W (Services): $281.800
December 2013 CPI-W Services: 274.948
Change in CPI-W Index: 2.49%
2016 Dues, fully escalated: $158.00 x 1.0249 = $161.94
2016 Dues, Rounded: $162.00
National Meeting Long-Range Financial Plan
There was a discussion on an action being taken by the ACS Board with regard to National Meetings. It was noted that seven out of the 10 most recent national meetings have lost money. The technical programs have been losing money and while the exhibition is still profitable (with a return of 30%), the revenues from the exhibits have been declining. The Board wants to de-couple the technical programs from the exhibits in an effort to stop the bleeding. Many councilors said that this did not make any sense since the vast majority of those who go to the exhibit came to the national meeting primarily to attend the technical programs.
Following a discussion on the revenue supporting national meetings, the ACS Council respectfully requested that a vote be taken on a motion put forth by Frank Blum that the Board of Directors delay adding a new technical meeting fee to the meeting registration fee until the Board presents an analysis (preferably at the Boston National Meeting) of the projected break-even fee, including and excluding the net revenue from the National Meeting Exposition. Note that in addition there will be the implementation of a fee to obtain a printed program ($10 for a program picked up at the meeting by a pre-registrant; $20 for a program purchased at the meeting). Council voted 67% in favor of the motion. Questions raised by councilors during the discussion were whether or not there should be an exposition at future meetings and whether or not portions of the national meetings should be available for virtual attendance (for a fee).
Petitions for Vote
Petition to Charter two new International Chemical Sciences Chapters
Council voted to accept a legal application for the formation of the India International Chemical Sciences Chapter. This Chapter will consist of the territory of India which is not part of any other Local section or Chapter of the Society. The application was initiated and signed by ACS members in good standing of the Society who reside in the territory and it met all of the requirements of Bylaw IX and includes a statement that the applicants are familiar with and will abide by all governing documents of the Society, including Bylaw IX Section 2(c), which states that the Chapter and is officers, as representatives of the Chapter, shall not engage in political activity, shall avoid any activities that may adversely affect the interests and/or public and professional images of the Society, and shall ensure that all activities of the Chapter shall be open to all members of the Society. The application included a proposed budget for the Chapter’s operations which includes no funding from the Society). The petition had been reviewed by the ACS Joint-Board Committee on International Activities (IAC). Council’s approval is contingent on the approval of the ACS Board of Directors, after which (if the directors approve) the Chapter can begin operation.
In addition, Council voted to accept a legal application for the formation of the Taiwan International Chemical Sciences Chapter. This Chapter will consist of the territory of Taiwan which is not part of any other Local Section or Chapter of the Society. The application was initiated and signed by ACS members in good standing of the Society who reside in the Territory. It met all of the requirements of Bylaw IX and included a statement that the applicants are familiar with and will abide by all governing documents of the Society, including Bylaw IX Section 2(c), which states that the Chapter and is officers, as representatives of the Chapter, shall not engage in political activity, shall avoid any activities that may adversely affect the interests and/or public and professional images of the Society, and shall assure that all activities of the Chapter shall be open to all members of the Society. The application included a proposed budget for the Chapter’s operations which includes no funding from the Society). The petition was reviewed by the ACS Joint-Board Committee on International Activities (IAC). Council approval is contingent on the approval of the ACS Board of Directors, after which (if the directors approve) the Chapter can begin operation.
Petitions for Consideration
The following petitions were included in the Council Agenda Book for consideration only and will be voted upon at the Council meeting in Boston later this year
Petition on Member Expulsion
The petitioners believe that the current Bylaws (Bylaw 1, Section 5) on removal of members is too cumbersome and that a procedure to be developed by the Committee on Membership Affairs would be preferable. Currently there are several steps each of which involves creation or use of an additional body to consider the charges. The petitioners believe that “the intent of the Constitution (Article IV, Sec. 3) and the current Bylaw can be met, and due process maintained for the charged member, by using a procedure modeled after those currently recommended by the Committee on Constitution and Bylaws (C&B) for the removal of officers for neglect of duties.” The petitioners further believe that the intent of the Bylaws can be met by amending the Bylaw and delegating authority to the Council Committee on Membership Affairs to promulgate and amend such procedures as are necessary to implement this amendment separately from the Bylaws. Reference to the “Chemical Professional’s Code of Conduct” could provide a framework for determining “conduct injurious to the Society.” Petitioners have developed an example of the type of detailed procedures that could be adapted by the Council Committee on Membership Affairs and the Council Policy Committee and suggest that if approved the procedures be published as part of the ACS Governing Documents.
The Committee on Constitution and Bylaws (C&B) has said that it is unclear if the purpose of this proposed Bylaw amendment will make the removal procedure any less cumbersome, but it does appear that if approved, this amendment will streamline the Bylaws. C&B finds that the petition is legal and not inconsistent with the Constitution of the Society, but has requested slight modification in the wording. The financial implication of the petition is being assessed.
Petition on Preferential Voting
The petitioners propose changes to the ACS Bylaws to provide for the use of preferential balloting in elections for nominees and candidates, where necessary, to achieve a majority of votes to win an election. The petition moves from the Bylaws details on preferential voting in the elections for President-Elect and Director-at-Large to procedures developed by the Committee on Nominations and Elections (N&E), and adds preferential voting for District Director, again with detailed procedures being developed by N&E. All such procedures developed by N&E are to be approved by Council.
C&B finds that the petition is legal and not inconsistent with the Constitution of the Society, but has requested slight modification in the wording. The financial implication of the petition is being assessed.
Reports of Committees (Highlights)
Council Policy (CPC)
As required by the Society’s Bylaws, CPC has set the divisors which will be used to determine how many councilors each local section and division is entitled to for 2016-2019. Official notification will be sent to local sections and divisions within two weeks of the ACS Council Meeting, well in advance of the May 1 deadline required by the Bylaws, in order to accommodate the units’ conduct of their elections in 2015. CPC’s Long Range Planning Subcommittee is forming a task force to consider whether changes are in order for the calculations and policies, and to implement any recommendations in time for the 2020 election cycle. In its continuing efforts to assist the Society in finding ways to reduce expenses, CPC is considering alternatives to reduce the printing and mailing costs of the Council Agenda. CPC will be conducting surveys to evaluate potential strategies.
Committees (ConC)
All Councilors, including new Councilors, were reminded to complete their online committee preference form for 2015, during the period March 30 - June 5, 2015. Non-Councilors can request a copy of the form from ConC.
Budget and Finance (B&F)
In 2014, ACS generated a net from operations of $17.9 million, which was $4.2 million favorable to budget. Total revenues were $499.0 million, $0.7 million or 0.1 percent higher than budget. Expenses ended the year at $481.1 million, $3.5 million favorable to the budget. This variance was largely attributable to a continued emphasis on expense management across the Society.
Despite favorable operating results, the Society’s financial position weakened in 2014, with unrestricted net assets declining $62.3 million, from $207 million to $144.7 million at year-end.
Additional information can be found at www.acs.org. At the bottom of the page, click “About ACS” and then “ACS Financial Information.” There you will find several years of the Society’s audited financial statements and IRS 990 filings.
Education (SOCED)
SOCED reported that more than 1,900 individuals have joined the American Association of Chemistry Teachers (AACT) which launched last year, 88 percent of whom are K-12 teachers of chemistry. The Dow Chemical Company was announced as the Sole Founding Partner of AACT with a gift of $1 million.
Science (ComSci)
ComSci has collaborated with several ACS committees to develop five public policy statements which were approved by the Board in December 2014. More recently ComSci led the development of a new draft ACS policy statement on hydraulic fracturing, which will be considered by the Board. Current collaborations include revising ACS policy statements on energy, climate change and forensic science.
Committee on Meetings and Expositions (M&E)
M&E recommends that the early member registration fee for 2016 national meetings be $415, per the National Meeting Long-Range Financial Plan. As part of the continuing ACS sustainability effort and to encourage the use of the ACS mobile app and online program, M&E has decided to discontinue free distribution of the hard copy program book starting in 2016. Those who pre-register for the meeting may purchase a copy of the program book for $10 (pick up on site), and copies will be available at the meeting for $20. The PDF version of the national meeting program will be more prominently displayed on the ACS website for those who would like to print portions for themselves.
M&E reported on the attendance at the Denver meeting as of Tuesday evening, March 24, 2015:
Attendees 7,307
Exhibitors 847
Expo only 360
Spring National Meeting attendance since 2004 is as follows:
2004: Anaheim, CA: 14,141
2005: San Diego, CA: 15,385
2006: Atlanta, GA: 12,546
2007: Chicago. IL: 14,520
2008: New Orleans, LA: 13,454
2009: Salt Lake City, UT: 10,668
2010: San Francisco, CA: 18,067
2014: Dallas, TX: 13,498
2015: Denver, CO: 13,940 (as of Tuesday evening, March 24th)
The last National ACS Meeting in Denver was held in the fall of 2011 and attendance at that meeting totaled 10,453. San Francisco has had the highest attendance for ACS National Meetings, at least since 1997 (1997: 18,042; 2010: 18,067; and 2000: 18,336).
Committee on Divisional Activities (DAC)
DAC voted to fund 10 Innovative Project Grants (IPG) totaling $54,000. The committee will consider another set of IPG proposals during the Boston National Meeting in August, 2015; the deadline for that round of submissions in July 1, 2015. National meeting attendees were recently surveyed for their views on the Society’s policy governing the use of devices to capture and/or disseminate content delivered at our meetings. While expressing support for the policy, the respondents also expressed interest in amending the current policy to permit presenters, at their discretion, to authorize audience members to capture and disseminate content.
Committee on Local Section Activities (LSAC)
LSAC awarded 15 Innovative Project Grants for a total of $38,389, and is continuing to offer a mini-grant to local sections that attended the 2015 Leadership Institute to partner with neighboring sections to host an activity that would bring value to all members in a specific region. The committee is also planning to fund 16 grants totaling $4000 for the Bridging the Gap: Teachers of Chemistry K-12 Nano-Grants. More information about all LSAC grants, and those of other committees, is available at www.acs.org/getinvolved. It was noted that several Local Sections were celebrating major anniversaries this year:
50th: Southern Illinois
75th: Western Maryland
100th: Ames, Virginia
Committee on Membership Affairs (MAC)
MAC approved a recommendation from staff to ask individuals who have been receiving the 50 percent Graduate Student Discount for four years or more if they are still graduate students so they can receive the correct dues renewal. The current process does not provide an opportunity for graduate students to change their status after graduation except by contacting ACS Member Services. MAC has endorsed President Diane Schmidt’s campaign to invite faculty from PhD granting U.S. institutions to give ACS membership as an award to outstanding students in chemistry. Schmidt will match each gift by paying a student’s membership from her Presidential funds. At the end of 2014, ACS had 158,401 members, a decline of 1.7% from 2013 despite the addition of 24,000 new members.
Committee on Economic and Professional Affairs (CEPA)
CEPA reported the 2014 New Graduate Survey Results which show the unemployment rate for new graduate chemists has dropped from 14.9 percent in the 2013 survey to 12.4 percent as of 2014. The drop is principally due to more new bachelor’s degree chemists finding employment. ACS members experienced three successive years of lowered unemployment, which could hint at a positive outlook for chemists in coming years. While unemployment is down, salaries have been overall stagnant. The ACS Career Fair had 715 seekers, 27 employers, 85 positions, and 10 booths. The Virtual Career Fair had 918 seekers, 6 employers, and 38 positions. Additionally, 368 resume reviews, 218 mock interviews, and 23 Career Pathway workshops were conducted during the meeting.
Committee on Constitution and Bylaws (C&B)
C&B certified 23 bylaws in 2014, the second largest number certified in any year. Additionally, the committee has reviewed bylaws for 10 Local Sections and 5 Divisions since fall 2014. Certified bylaws and a status report are posted on www.acs.org/bulletin5.
New petitions to amend the Constitution or Bylaws must be received by the Executive Director no later than April 29 to be included in the Council Agenda for consideration at the fall meeting in Boston. Contact C&B with any questions or requests for information at bylaws@acs.org.
Women Chemists (WCC)
WCC celebrated 10 early-to-mid-career women chemists as recipients of the Fourth Annual WCC Rising Star Awards, and eight WCC/Eli Lilly Travel Grant awardees. WCC is also collaborating with Merck to develop a new Research Award that will fund eight women graduate students to present their research at the fall national meeting in Boston. Members of WCC have been involved as contributing authors and editors for the second more diverse and inclusive edition of “Mom, the Chemistry Professor” being published by Springer.
Professional Training (CPT)
At this meeting, CPT reviewed 39 periodic reports from currently approved programs and held conferences with two departments beginning the process of applying for ACS approval. CPT also reviewed four site visit reports and approved three new programs. There are currently 681 colleges and universities offering ACS-approved bachelor’s degree programs in chemistry. The new 2015 ACS Guidelines for Bachelor’s Degree Programs were approved at CPT’s winter meeting and recently published on the ACS website.
International Activities (IAC)
At this meeting, the committee received, reviewed, and approved annual reports from ACS International Chemical Sciences Chapters in Hong Kong, Hungary, Malaysia, Romania, Saudi Arabia, and Shanghai. Additionally, the committee reviewed and approved new chapter applications initiated by members in Brazil, Nigeria, Peru, and the United Arab Emirates.
Environmental Improvement (CEI)
At this meeting CEI awarded Local Section Sustainability Grants to three Local Sections: Cornell, Kalamazoo, and Midland. The committee has established working relationships with several technical divisions. The committee cosponsored with Division of Chemical Education the symposium featuring the winners of the ACS-CEI Award for Incorporation of Sustainability into Chemical Education. CEI and the Division of Environmental Chemistry have jointly established a project to provide grant support for programming around climate change at regional meetings. CEI continues to review existing ACS policy statements, and at this meeting approved recommendations to the Board to establish new public policy statements on Hydraulic Fracturing and on Water Treatment and Conservation.
Chemistry and Public Affairs (CCPA)
The committee highlighted the power of ACS member engagement in government affairs by relating the bipartisan effort, despite partisan roadblocks, to secure a resolution for National Chemistry Week in the United States Senate by Senator Chris Coons, a Democrat from Delaware, and Republican Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania. The extra effort invested by ACS members in Pennsylvania to ensure that the resolution had bipartisan sponsorship helps to underscore that science is an issue where both parties can come together.
Actions of the Board of Directors
The Board’s Committees
The Board of Directors received and discussed reports from its Committees on Grants and Awards (G&A), Professional and Member Relations (P&MR), Executive Compensation, and Corporation Associates; the Society Committee on Education (SOCED); and the Joint Board-Council Committee on Publications.
On the recommendation of the Committee on Grants and Awards and of the Committee on Science, the Board voted to approve a Society nominee for the National Medal of Science.
On the recommendation of the Committee on Professional and Member Relations, the Board voted to provide nominal sponsorship, without financial commitment, for the “Frontiers of Science Research and Education in the Middle East: A Bridge to Peace” (Malta VII) to be held in Rabat, Morocco, November, 2015.
The Board received an extensive briefing and approved several recommendations from its Committee on Executive Compensation. The compensation of the Society’s executive staff receives regular review from the Board.
On the recommendation of the Society Committee on Education, the Board voted to approve a procedure for the establishment of the inaugural Governing Board for the American Association of Chemistry Teachers (AACT).
On the recommendation of the Joint Board-Council Committee on Publications, the Board voted to approve the reappointment of an Editor-in-Chief for an ACS journal.
The Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer’s Report
Thomas M. Connelly, Jr., the new Executive Director/CEO of the Society, offered a review of his initial month in the position (he began on February 17, 2015), and his direct reports updated the Board on the activities of Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS), the ACS Publications Division, the Society’s Treasurer, and the Society’s General Counsel.
Other Society Business
The Board heard reports from the ACS Presidential Succession on their current and planned activities for 2015. As part of its ongoing commitment to consider the most important strategic issues facing the Society, the Board held a discussion on improving governance agility.
The Board passed two resolutions, one in memory of former ACS Secretary Rodney N. Hader, who died in January 2015, and another for the U.S. Air Force Academy for 31 years of continuous support of the U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad.
The Board’s Open Session
The Board held a well-attended open session which featured Bibiana Campos Seijo, Editor-in-Chief, C&EN. Dr. Campos Seijo’s topic was “Getting Bang for Your Buck in Science Communications.” Prior to the presentation, members of the presidential succession and the new Executive Director and CEO offered brief reports on their activities. The officers provided more extensive reports on their activities and future plans as part of their reports to the Council.
The ACS Council Meeting closed with a resolution in gratitude for the officers and members of the Colorado Local Section, host Section for the 249th National Meeting; the divisional program chairs and symposium organizers; and ACS staff.
Andrea Twiss-Brooks and Bonnie Lawlor, CINF Councilors
Image credit: http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/meetings.html
Registration and Accommodations for the 250th ACS National Meeting & Exposition in Boston, MA will open mid-May, 2015
Looking back at the history of the ACS national meetings:
The 1st national meeting took place in Newport, RI, August 6-7,1890
Registration: 43. Society Membership: 238
Boston and Cambridge, MA, hosted the 10th national meeting, December 27-28,1894
Skolnik, H.; Reese, K. A Century of chemistry: the role of chemists and the American Chemical Society; ACS: Washington, DC, 1976, pp 454-456.
Joint Board-Council Committee on CAS
The Joint Board-Council Committee on Chemical Abstracts Service (also known as CCAS) met twice in 2014 and met again at the Spring National Meeting in Denver. The committee consists of members from academia, industry, and government, and continues to fulfill its charter by serving as a channel for the flow of information among CAS management, ACS members, and users of CAS products and services. Committee members provide important feedback, suggestions, and questions regarding CAS products and services.
At both 2014 meetings, CAS management provided the committee with an overview of financial performance as well as product and service news. At the fall meeting in San Francisco, committee members learned that the CAS databases continue to grow at record pace: CAS exceeded 400 million cited references and by year-end more than 1.5 million indexed records were forecasted to be added to the CA/CAplus family of databases. As of March 2015, CAplus contains over 436 million cited references and more than 41 million chemistry and chemistry-related research records.
SciFinder continues to evolve with new initiatives providing workflow advancements and increased global availability. CAS and PerkinElmer collaborated to provide a new research solution, pairing SciFinder, the choice for chemistry research, with ChemDraw software, the drawing tool of choice for chemists. This collaboration allows users to draw a structure using the ChemBioDraw Ultra 14 offering, and then initiate a SciFinder session to search the structure. Researchers can now save considerable time when using both products and this feature has been overwhelmingly popular.
Committee members enjoyed unique reports during the 2014 executive sessions covering specific areas of CAS’s services. At the fall meeting, the group explored initiatives for CAS to introduce new content and leverage new uses of existing content. Exciting new concepts were shared with members, eliciting their feedback and suggestions. Committee members were pleased to learn about NCI Global, a new service released in early 2015, which provides modern web access to regulatory information, with weekly email alerts to track substances of interest and functionality to export results for further post-processing.
The SciFinder Future Leaders in Chemistry program celebrated its fifth year in 2014 with 18 students selected from nearly 400 applicants participating from around the world. This program provides students and post doctorates with the exclusive opportunity to share their research experience with CAS scientists and each other, and to take part in the Fall ACS National Meeting. To date, the program has hosted more than 85 students and post doctorates from 50 countries.
I am pleased to report that the Committee on Chemical Abstracts Service continues to fulfill its responsibilities in a purposeful manner. We look forward to hearing from ACS members and all CAS users through the ACS Member Network. If you were unable to stop by the CAS booth at the Colorado Convention Center, I encourage you to visit the CAS website (http://www.cas.org/) to learn more about the numerous exciting initiatives underway at CAS.
Grace Baysinger, Chair, Joint Board-Council Committee on CAS
ACS Publications Division: Highlights of 2014
ACS Publications manages the scholarly publishing program of the world’s largest scientific society. More than 41,000 articles authored by research teams globally are selected annually for publication within the 47 peer-reviewed journals from ACS Publications. Noted for their high quality, rapid time to publication, high immediacy and impact, as well as prevalent citation in future research, ACS journals are available in online, mobile and print formats worldwide. ACS Publications also publishes Chemical & Engineering News, the Society’s flagship news periodical covering the global chemical enterprise and related sciences. The highlights of the 2014 accomplishments are as follows.
ACS Publications advanced the Society’s mission through the publication of new peer-reviewed journals
The Publications Division completed the successful first full calendar year of publication of
ACS Photonics
Environmental Science & Technology Letters
In addition, the Division embarked upon the early editorial and marketing introduction of two new journals prior to their scheduled commercial availability in 2015: ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering and ACS Infectious Diseases. These two new titles represent an expansion into potential new markets within materials science and biology/biomedicine, respectively. ACS continues to evolve and serve expanding markets covering a broader array of topics.
Key journals were strengthened through editorial succession
Six leading scientists were selected by separate Editor Search committees convened in accordance with the ACS Bylaws, confirmed by the Board of Directors and contracted by ACS Publications management, for editorial terms commencing with the 2015 publishing year:
Dr. Paul Chirik (Princeton University) - Organometallics
Dr. Sharon Hammes-Schiffer (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) - Chemical Reviews
Dr. Thomas F. Hofmann (Technical University of Munich) - Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Dr. Kai Rossen (Sanofi) - Organic Process Research & Development
Dr. David L. Sedlak (University of California, Berkeley) - Environmental Science & Technology and Environmental Science & Technology Letters
Dr. Françoise M. Winnik (Université de Montréal) - Langmuir
Additionally, three inaugural editors were appointed to lead the Society’s newest journals, following recommendations of the Editor Search committees and approval by the Board of Directors:
Dr. Courtney Aldrich (University of Minnesota) - ACS Infectious Diseases
Dr. Caroline Bertozzi (University of California, Berkeley) - ACS Central Science
Dr. David L. Kaplan (Tufts University) - ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering
ACS Publications again recognized for publishing excellence
In February of 2014, ACS Publications was honored with two prestigious PROSE Awards from the Association of American Publishers’ Professional and Scholarly Publishing Division
ACS Synthetic Biology was recognized with the AAP PROSE Award for Best New Journal
ACS ChemWorx received the PROSE Award for Best New App/e-Product.
(The annual PROSE Awards celebrate the best in professional and scholarly publishing, including books, journals, and electronic content in over 40 categories, judged by peer publishers, librarians, and medical professionals.)
ACS journals continued to grow in published content and to improve in time-to-publication
Journal Production and Manufacturing Operations (JPMO) in Columbus published a total of 41,062 articles in issues across the ACS journals portfolio, for published output 5% greater than that achieved in 2013 (2013 output: 39,151 published articles). JPMO also accomplished a 20% improvement in the time to publication (from editorial acceptance to ASAP posting online) in 2014 vs. 2013; an average of 11.8 weeks in 2014 vs. 14.7 weeks in 2013.
ACS Publications expanded editorial capacity to support peer review
In collaboration with Editorial Development team members, Global Editorial & Author Services staff managed the Editor-in-Chief transitions for six existing ACS journals and on brought on board the Editors-in-Chief and editorial teams for three new journals. Global Editorial & Author Services also oversaw the addition of 75 new editors, including nine Editors-in-Chief, across the ACS journals portfolio, for a net increase of 49 new editors contracted during the year. These editor appointments are reflective of the global nature of the chemical research enterprise, with 36% of the new appointees residing outside North America. The addition of these editorial decision-making resources expands the Division’s capacity to oversee the peer review of the now more than 120,000 manuscript submissions received annually, reflecting growth of nearly 9% in author demand year over year.
Global Editorial and Author Services achieved operational efficiencies and expanded cost-containment initiatives across our global editorial operations
Global Editorial and Author Services began systematic deployment of ACS Managed Support: the provision of expert, cost-efficient, scalable administrative support of peer review. With the participation of an ACS Managed Support taskforce composed of a representative subset of ACS Editors, a transition plan to move existing Associate Editors with locally-based, university-employed editorial assistants to ACS Managed Support vendor personnel was developed, communicated, and executed. During the course of 2014 ACS Managed Support grew to now support more than 200 editors located around the world. The transition to ACS Managed Support will continue for the next 3 years, bringing further cost and time efficiencies to the administration of peer review.
New and improved tools and services for authors were introduced
At mid-year ACS Publications began capturing standardized funding agency (FundRef) information on submitted manuscripts. We are gathering this information on more than 90% of revised manuscripts. FundRef information allows ACS Publications to provide authors with more relevant information about open access options and requirements available to them. Tagging of this information also is integral to the Division’s participation in the cross-publisher CHORUS (Clearinghouse for the Open Research of the United States) open access initiative.
Peer Review Operations began capture of ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) identifiers in ACS Paragon Plus. This identifier helps to uniquely distinguish journal contributors. Use of ORCID will be expanded across ACS in 2015 and will be instrumental in the Unified Architecture Initiative as a unique author identifier.
Peer Review Operations originated an editorial business plan, negotiated, contracted, and successfully deployed a third-party (ACS white-labeled) English editing service within the ACS ChemWorx environment. This service, promoted to authors and endorsed by ACS Editors, provides a fee-based mechanism for authors to improve the English in manuscripts they submit to ACS journals (and/or to other publishers).
“ACS is Open” initiative successfully positioned the Society as an open access publisher
In January 2014, ACS Publications launched an ambitious four-pillar open access publishing strategy to position ACS as an open access publisher. This initiative was a cooperative effort between the ACS Publications Division and Washington IT.
The program debuted on New Year’s Day with the selection of the first ACS Editors’ Choice article. Each day, a noteworthy article from an ACS journal, selected by the journals’ editors, is made openly accessible; articles from every journal were featured during 2014, drawing more than 600,000 page views.
The ACS Author Rewards was developed as a stimulus program to facilitate the transition to Open Access. The ACS Author Rewards digital certificates were provided to more than 40,000 ACS authors in 2014. As part of this effort staff developed ACS ChemWorx apps to track rewards and to purchase open access options. (By the end of December more than 25,000 authors were contacted to receive their rewards eligible for redemption 2015-2017. Remaining 2014 authors were contacted during early January. Standard communications and help desk responses were developed for this and all other open access initiatives.)
This year also saw a doubling in the number of authors opting to publish using expanded options available under the ACS AuthorChoice license in order to meet the open access requirements of their funders.
In preparation for the 2015 launch of the ACS’s first fully open access journal, ACS Central Science, recruited acclaimed chemical biologist Dr. Carolyn Bertozzi (UC Berkeley) as Editor-in-Chief. Dr Bertozzi is a champion for open access, and also aspires to build a top-tier multidisciplinary journal that will challenge the elite science journals. Dr Bertozzi has recruited a global editorial board of nearly 60 renowned scientists. The journal submission site opened in early December; with dozens of manuscripts submitted in the first month.
Strategic development of award-winning ACS ChemWorx continued
In August of 2014, ACS Publications released ACS ChemWorx 2.0, a refined version of the software environment that focuses on the key value propositions for the software environment, namely targeted interactions with ACS Publications (galley proofs, article-level metrics, open access purchase options) and on reference management tools for authors and readers. A streamlined interface and prominent calls to action make it easier for users to navigate the software. The ACS ChemWorx user base has grown to > 66,000 unique users.
2014 Content Delivery Platform enhancements were implemented by ACS Publications’ Digital Strategy Team in collaboration with Washington IT
The ACS Journals web content platform stands alongside CAS databases and SciFinder as one of the Society’s most widely used digital assets: over 340,000 individuals have registered for an ACS ID in order to receive regular periodic content updates from ACS Publications. In 2014 more than half of ACS journals delivered in excess of 1 million article downloads. ACS Mobile, the award-winning alerting app available for both iOS and Android, also continues to grow in impact; with an installed base of over 70,000 users, the app generates approximately 150,000 abstract views per month, thus driving awareness and usage of research published in ACS journals.
Washington IT launched Active View HTML 5 viewer
This is an interactive full text HTML 5 format that enables researchers to attach highlights and notes to ACS journal articles of interest, explore referenced abstracts via Reference QuickView (powered by CAS SciFinder), make and save annotations in their ACS ChemWorx library, share links with colleagues and lab group members, and sync their libraries across smartphone, tablet, and desktop environments. This updated version will work on tablets and mobile devices.
Welcomed a new Editor-in-Chief and instituted new advertising sales management
C&EN made important changes to both its editorial and advertising sales operations in 2014. On December 1, C&EN welcomed Dr. Bibiana Campos-Seijo as the magazine’s new Editor-in-Chief. Dr. Campos-Seijo previously served as Editor and Publisher of Chemistry World in the UK. She brings a wealth of editorial experience, a reputation for innovation in digital publishing, and a charisma that befits this highly visible position.
The C&EN Media Group developed new sources of revenue
The C&EN Media Group introduced several new revenue streams to expand its engagement with advertisers, including custom publishing and events, web symposia, and the publication of three advertising-supported topical supplements in print. The most exciting initiative was C&EN’s inaugural “virtual symposium” produced in partnership with BioConference Live on the topic of “Advances in Drug Discovery & Development.” This one-day symposium, which was held on September 24, featured 20 leading scientist speakers, attracted more than 7,300 individual registrations, and garnered financial support from eight key advertising sponsors.
2014 marked a year of editorial and marketing excellence for C&EN
C&EN editors and marketing staff won a number of prestigious national awards in 2014. Business writer Lisa Jarvis was one of only two finalists in the National Academies Communication Awards, while Assistant Managing Editor Cheryl Hogue won a first-place award from the Society of Environmental Journalists.
In the 2014 Folio Magazine Awards, the C&EN Media Group won all four categories in which it entered, including best video (“Scientific Cocktail Toppers”), best media kit, best marketing web site (“Marketing Elements”), and best online community for the Chemistry in Pictures Tumblr blog.
The C&EN design team experimented with presenting our content in interactive graphics online (e.g., sortable tables, animations, and timelines) and produced new cover and article layouts and designs. Examples of this are the Global Top 50 database, the 2014 Chemistry Year in Review and August’s Year of Crystallography issue. The last two of these three issues also included a specially-designed microsite.
In response to the strategic editorial audit carried out earlier in 2014, C&EN sought to deliver more of the science content readers demanded. There is now an emphasis placed on shorter stories and more playful story treatments (where appropriate), and on editorial angles. Editorial staff also incorporated social media planning into C&EN processes as well as content with other forms of reader engagement such as interactive quizzes, etc. Some of these new editorial features include:
Speaking of Chemistry: a video series successfully launched under the expertise of Office of Public Affairs/ACS Productions and C&EN staff.
Patent Picks: a monthly collaboration with CAS that reports on trends CAS scientists observe from the patents in their databases.
From the Scenes: a collection of stories based on journals content from ACS Publishing.
Chemistry In Pictures: a Tumblr created to highlight great photos of chemistry in action.
In addition to collaborations with the Office of Public Affairs (OPA), CAS and ACS Journals as outlined above, the C&EN editorial staff assisted with new C&EN-branded initiatives designed to generate ancillary revenues. This included the production of C&EN branded topical supplements as well as participation in the virtual symposium on drug discovery and development described above. The editorial staff also strengthened relationships with the marketing team to continue to produce the C&EN webinar series and to promote content through both C&EN and C&EN Media Group social media channels. As an external collaboration, C&EN has also recently established an agreement with Scientific American, whereby that popular science magazine now regularly features a selection of C&EN stories within the chemistry section of its website.
The C&EN Webinar program held a total of 64 webinars in 2014. During this time period the program has taken on new clients, tackled new webinar formats, and moved email marketing to our marketing automation software, Eloqua, all while continuing to generate leads for sponsors.
Debra Davis, Staff Secretary, Joint Board-Council Committee on Publications
Council Committee on Nomenclature, Symbols and Terminology
A recurrent theme in reports from this Council Committee on Nomenclature, Terminology and Symbols (NTS) dating back at least a decade, regards the pending and unquestioned need to redefine the kilogram and the mole. NTS began its active participation in this issue with two goals:
1) to understand what is being done; and
2) to understand what it means to the practice of chemistry.
The Conférence générale des poids et mesures (CGPM) is an inter-governmental conference of official delegates of member nations and the assigned supreme authority for all actions on weights and measures. At its 2011 meeting, the CGPM endorsed the concept of redefining all of the SI base units on physical constants deemed “invariants of nature,” a concept they had begun aggressively advocating for the kilogram since 2005. What immediately emerged as a corollary with NTS was a third goal 3) to influence establishment of valid, comprehensible, usable definitions, objectives that have been evaded by the international group. In regard to goal 3 a specification of the “Four Laws of Terminology” was introduced in NTS during the past year, modeled after the “Four Laws of Thermodynamics.” Particular significance is paralleled in the Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics, which defines the notion of temperature under certain conditions, and the Third Law of Thermodynamics which implies that one can only reach a temperature of zero Kelvin in an infinite number of steps.
The Laws of Terminology
Zeroth Law of Terminology
Definitions exist, although not necessarily for everything
First Law of Terminology
Definitions must be exact and understandable
Second Law of Terminology
Definitions must be unambiguous and exception-free
Third Law of Terminology
The number of people understanding a definition approaches zero as the number of words used to satisfy the First and Second Laws of Terminology becomes infinite
(That Third Law is similar to the tongue-in-cheek definition of an “expert”: Experts are persons who know more and more about less and less until eventually they know everything about nothing.)
NTS has been tackling the intricate issue of the CGPM redefinitions owing to their opaqueness, inapplicability, and contradiction of the criteria for acceptable definitions of base quantities, criteria that justly recognize the need for easy understandability, realization everywhere, and invariance. (See Karol, P.J. Weighing the Kilogram. American Scientist, 2014, 102, 426-429; online at: http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/pub/weighing-the-kilogram, where it was demonstrated that
the proposed definition of the kilogram will actually involve a weight, rather than a mass, and as such is not “invariant”).
Note that the impact on quantitative chemistry will be negligible, but understanding what is being done, particularly from the point of education, has acutely retrogressed. More importantly, the sponsoring institutions which include the International Bureau of Weights and Measures and the National Institutes of Standards and Technology, whose proficiency is in making measurements and evaluating standards, do not have either the expertise or uncompromised judgments on definitions. That should be in the hands of scientists, not metrologists.
The proposed redefinition of the kilogram, a breach of the CGPM’s own requirements and also now of the First and Third Laws of Terminology, would read as follows:
“The kilogram, kg, is the SI unit of mass; its magnitude is set by fixing the numerical value of the Planck constant to be equal to exactly 6.626 069 … X 10-34 when it is expressed in the unit s-1 m2 kg, which is equal to J s.”
The redefinition will force the classical, easily understood concept of mass into the quantum realm, the only physical quantity so encumbered. Minimal progress towards realizing (mise en pratique) the redefinition in relation to the Planck constant has been noted by the CGPM. Data do not yet appear to be sufficiently robust to move forward, a euphemism for unresolved lack of agreement among metrology labs using multimillion dollar watt balances that depend on the Earth’s gravitational constant, definitely not an invariant of nature. Continued effort on improving the data has been encouraged such that a resolution that would replace the current definition with the above revised CGPM definition could be adopted at the 26th meeting.
At the August 2014 ACS National Meeting in San Francisco, the symposium “Redefining the Mole and Kilogram – Impact on Chemistry” was sponsored by NTS, and co-sponsored by the Division of Analytical Chemistry and the International Activities Committee. Among the presentations was one by this author, “The new SI kilogram: misère en pratique” enumerating the fallacies of the CGPM definition.
An even shoddier example of poor definition is “amount of substance,” the SI base quantity representing the mole:
“Amount of substance is a quantity proportional to the number of specified elementary entities N in a sample. The proportionality constant is the same for all substances, and is the reciprocal of the Avogadro constant NA, so that amount of substance is defined by the equation n = N/NA. The entities may be atoms, molecules, ions, electrons, other particles or specified groups of particles.”
At the San Francisco symposium, NTS member Carmen Giunta presented data in his talk “Defining the mole and kilogram for chemistry education” documenting that chemists by and large simply do not use the so-called physical quantity term “amount of substance” for the mole. And likely never will.
The NTS is involved in a “David and Goliath” battle and encourages active participation by the troops.
Paul Karol, Former Chair, Council Committee on Nomenclature, Terminology and Symbols
CINF Social Networking Events
The Division of Chemical Information put together a great set of social events for the spring meeting in Denver starting with the Welcoming Reception on Sunday. The reception was attended by over 120 members and guests. It was great to see everybody mingling and having a good time, helped along by a lovely selection of food and drinks. (It was less great when a table collapsed). The Division is grateful to the sponsors for this event: Bio-Rad, Springer/Journal of Cheminformatics, Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling, PerkinElmer, AAAS/Science, CRC Press, and Thieme Chemistry.
Monday’s event was the ever-popular Harry’s Party, sponsored exclusively by ACS Publications. They arranged a beautiful suite close to the conference center with an excellent assortment of healthy snacks and drinks. Approximately 75 members and friends attended this event. Thanks go out to Yung Murphy for welcoming all of us.
Tuesday featured the Division of Chemical Information Luncheon, exclusively sponsored by the Royal Society of Chemistry. This event sold out once again with capacity at 65. A great lunch was provided and was accompanied by a very entertaining talk by our invited speaker, David Thomas, who spoke about “19th and 20th Century Malting and Brewing.”
As always, many thanks to our Division colleagues, Michael Qiu, Leah McEwen, and Rachelle Bienstock, who put in time and effort making room arrangements and menu orders, and arranging for speakers for our social events. And, of course, we all greatly appreciate our generous sponsors, without whom we would not have been able to put on such a great line-up of events in Denver.
We are planning more events for the fall 2015 meeting and look forward to seeing all of you there.
Philip Heller, Chair, CINF Fundraising Committee
BioRad: KnowItAllU
As a member of CINF, your school is eligible to participate in a free 30-day evaluation trial of KnowItAll U with over 1.4 million spectra (NMR, IR, Raman, MS, UV-Vis). This resource has been used successfully in the teaching curriculum in chemistry, biology, and other applied science disciplines, academic research, as well as in a library setting.
Register online at http://www.knowitallu.com/trial or contact Josh Michaels at +1 267-322-6940.
Royal Society of Chemistry: Historical Collection
Unlock chemistry’s past…and help to shape its future: The most important works from the Royal Society of Chemistry’s extensive archive now online.
Founded in 1841 as the Chemical Society, the Royal Society of Chemistry is one of the oldest and most eminent chemical societies in the world. In our collections, thousands of books, journals, letters, notes and pamphlets contain a valuable and fascinating chronicle of chemical science from the 16th century to the present day.
The Historical Collection is a digital archive designed to make these significant scientific records widely available. Featuring over 380,000 pages of scientific history, it allows easy access to documents that have shaped our understanding of chemistry, and helps to pinpoint the moments when key ideas first began to develop.
It’s a unique resource, and a significant addition to any science library.
A summary of the digital collection
The Collection exists in two parts. Part 1 is Society Publications and Minutes, including Chemistry in Britain from the 1960s, annual reports and proceedings from the separate societies that later merged to form the Royal Society of Chemistry. Part 2, Historical Books and Papers, is an absorbing collection of historical material, featuring manuscripts of lectures given by Sir Henry Roscoe, papers and diaries belonging to Sir Frederick Abel, and letters between some of the leading scientists of the 19th century.
Society Publications (1949 – 2012)
Chemistry in Britain (1965-2003)
Education in Chemistry (1964-2006)
Royal Institute of Chemistry Lectures, Monographs and Reports (1949-1967)
Monographs for Teachers (1962-1993)
Annual Reports (1963-2012)
Royal Institute of Chemistry Annual Reports (1960-1980)
Society Minutes (1841-1966)
Lists of Officers and Fellows of the Chemical Society (1843-1953)
Chemical Society Council Minutes (1841-1966)
Institute of Chemistry Council Minutes (1876-1944)
Royal Institute of Chemistry Council Minutes (1944-1966)
Institute of Chemistry Committee Minutes (1877-1944)
Royal Institute of Chemistry Committee Minutes (1944-1947)
Part 2 (coming soon)
Historical Books and Papers (1505-1991)
The Roscoe Collection (1505-1870)
The Nathan Collection
The Main Collection
The Sir Frederick Abel Papers (1853-1902)
The Davy Bookcase (1952-1873)
For more information about the RSC Historical Collection please visit http://pubs.rsc.org/historical-collection
PerkinElmer: ChemDraw & SciFinder; Elements
ChemDraw + SciFinder
ChemDraw is the #1 drawing tool for chemists and is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year! With the latest version, chemists have the most advanced drawing capabilities at their fingertips, and now have direct access to SciFinder for searching. Plus, ChemDraw for iPad allows chemists to draw any structure, anytime, and “flick” the structure to colleagues, professors or classmates, enabling interactive and innovative learning. ChemDraw is embedded in our cloud-based electronic lab notebook Elements, as well as a part of our visualization tool, Lead Discovery, powered by TIBCO Spotfire.
Download a free trial of the latest version of ChemDraw to begin creating molecules.
Collaborating in the Cloud
Preview Elements, our cloud-based electronic lab notebook. See how to capture experiments, draw chemical reactions (with ChemDraw embedded), calculate stoichiometry, upload images, documents and spreadsheets, organize data, and share research with colleagues.
Download a free trial and check out a preview video.
Contact us for a live demonstration or for more information.
Springer Chemistry News
Celebrating open science: Jean-Claude Bradley Memorial Series
Journal of Cheminformatics and Chemistry Central Journal are showcasing the latest open science initiatives in this cross-journal memorial series honoring Jean-Claude Bradley, a true open science advocate. To celebrate the work and vision of Jean-Claude, our two Guest Editors, Andrew Lang and Antony Williams, have compiled a cross-journal memorial series, which will present work that spans both the domains of chemistry and cheminformatics in which Jean-Claude operated. The series will include papers published in Chemistry Central Journal, where as a Co-Editor-in-Chief Jean-Claude’s passionate advocacy of the open access movement and support in developing the journal was extremely valued, and Journal of Cheminformatics, for which his expertise was appreciated on the Editorial Board.
Take a look at the first set of papers available open access (of course) online and share your thoughts: http://bit.ly/JeanClaudeBradley.
Springer and Altmetric launch new platform for book impact: Bookmetrix
Springer recently announced that it is becoming the first publisher to offer title and chapter level metrics across all of its books via a new platform, Bookmetrix, developed in partnership with metrics provider Altmetric. The data captured via Bookmetrix are displayed on the book pages on Springer’s content platform SpringerLink and report how often an individual book or chapter is mentioned, shared, reviewed or read online. Updated in real time, the data are intended to provide an accurate representation of the current reach, usage, and broader impacts of each book or chapter for all authors, editors and readers.
Martijn Roelandse, Manager of Publishing Innovation at Springer, commented on the project: “Bookmetrix will change the way we look at books. We really wanted to create a place for our authors and editors that collates all possible book metrics in one place.”
Also available via the reference manager Papers, Bookmetrix provides book- and chapter-level metrics via a detailed book overview page, which is made up of five tabs: citations, online mentions, readers, reviews, and downloads.
• The Citations tab shows the number of citations on both book and chapter level, based on data collected by CrossRef.
• The Mentions tab uses data provided by Altmetric to show users how the book/chapter has been discussed, mentioned or shared in online sources, including public policy documents, mainstream news outlets, blogs, and a variety of social networks.
• The Readers tab offers information on how many people have saved the book/chapter in their Reference Manager, including their country of origin and occupation.
• The Reviews tab displays excerpts of book reviews known to Springer.
• The Downloads tab displays both the monthly and total download figures for the book/chapter as recorded via SpringerLink.
An example for book data on bookmetrix.com is at: http://bit.ly/1D0gmIS
AAAS: Science Advances
Science Advances, the new open access journal from AAAS, is now available online. The next generation in the Science family of journals, Science Advances features high quality, peer-reviewed research across the sciences.
The journal’s commitment to content diversity and quality is reflected in recently published articles, including: “Unprecedented 21st century drought risk in the American Southwest and Central Plains,” and “Distinct plasma immune signatures in ME/CFS are present early in the course of illness.”
Researchers and readers alike may access the high impact research anytime, anywhere, at no cost.
The new journal welcomes researchers from all disciplines, and provides top-tier peer review, expert editing, and rapid publication - all for one low fee. It offers multiple opportunities for authors to save on article processing charges (APC) through institutional, promotional, and AAAS membership benefits. Download the flyer to learn more about discounts.
Please share this message with your authors and encourage them to explore everything Science Advances has to offer, and find out how to submit their work for publication.
Visit Science Advances today. Contact: sciencemarketing@aaas.org
CRC Press: CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics
CRC Press of Taylor & Francis Group, a leading science, technology and medical publisher, is pleased to announce the release of the 96th edition of its flagship reference publication, the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (HBCP) on June 1st, 2015.
Continuing the tradition of excellence, the newest release of the HBCP is edited by William M. “Mickey” Haynes, Scientist Emeritus at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and features 2,688 pages of tested and verified scientific content, including the most substantive and up-to-date health and safety information, practical laboratory data and analytical chemistry tables.
“The Handbook has always been known as a reliable, accurate and authoritative data source for scientists, and the 96th edition is no exception,” said Dr. Fiona Macdonald, CRC Press Publisher of Chemical and Life Sciences. “In this edition, seven entirely new tables have been added and 11 tables have received major updates, thereby ensuring scientists have access to the most current data.”
The HBCP is currently available for purchase in print, eBook and online formats as well as via the online database at hbcponline.com. A cutting-edge and highly interactive resource, the CRC Physical Constants of Organic Compounds table of the HBCP is also available separately as a downloadable App, through the iTunes App Store.
Originally a 116-page pocket guide known as the Rubber Handbook, the HBCP has been an essential element in scientific research and discovery for over 100 years. Relied upon by scientists in nearly every scientific discipline around the world, the handbook remains one of the most popular, respected, and trusted sources for critically evaluated chemical and physical data.
To purchase the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, please visit: http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781482260960
For more information contact: Fiona Macdonald fiona.macdonald@taylorandfrancis.com.
“CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics Celebrates its 100th Anniversary” by Mickey Haynes, Editor-in-Chief, Chemical Information Bulletin, Winter 2013, at: /node/542
Thieme Chemistry: Pharmaceutical Substances
Thieme Chemistry is pleased to announce that Pharmaceutical Substances version 3.8 will be launched in May 2015. The new release will contain 31 new active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), which have been approved recently by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and/or the European Medicines Agency.
Professor Bernhard Kutscher, one of the Pharmaceutical Substances authors, said about the release: “After a record-setting year of new drug approvals in 2014, the FDA’s expedited evaluation process, which allows so-called breakthrough therapies to enter the market more quickly, is now also reflected in our compendia update.
The latest release includes many first-in-class drug products that have innovative mechanisms of action as well as anticipated blockbuster potential. Among them is the Novartis anticancer drug and ALK inhibitor Ceritinib, which went from its first clinical trials to market in less than three years! In addition, Pfizer (CDK4/6 inhibitor Palbociclib), AstraZeneca (PARP inihibitor Olaparib) and Gilead Sciences (PI3K delta inhibitor Idelalisib) launched promising new kinase inhibitors as cancer therapeutics. The update also includes Spectrum Pharmaceuticals Belinostat (Pan-HDAC inhibitor) and Roche’s Ado-Trastuzumab Emtansine (antibody-drug conjugate) oncology drugs.
Breakthrough therapy designation was also received by two new treatments against a challenging indication called Idiopathic Cystic Fibrosis (IPF), by Boehringer’s Nintedanib and Roche’s Pirfenidone.
Certainly, tremendous progress was also achieved by more efficacious HCV/HIV therapy antivirals: A fixed combination of blockbuster Sofosbuvir with the new NS5A/polymerase inhibitor Ledipasvir is forecasted to have peak sales of $12 billion. The combination is the first all-oral treatment against HCV infections. Furthermore, the update’s infectious disease treatment additions are Daclatasvir, Cobicistat and Elvitegravir, as well as antibiotics like Tedizolid and the injectable neuraminidase inhibitor Peramivir against influenza.
Additionally, you will find many more new entries such as Apremilast (treatment of active psoriatic arthritis) or Olodaterol (treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) in this latest release.”
Further information about Pharmaceutical Substances can be found here:
https://www.thieme.de/en/thieme-chemistry/pharmaceutical-substances-54819.htm
Details about Pharmaceutical Substances 3.8 will become available online in May 2015.
Rachelle Bienstock
National Institute of Environmental
rachelleb1@gmail.com
Chair Elect:
See Chair
Past Chair/Nominating Chair:
Ms. Judith Currano
currano@pobox.upenn.edu
Ms. Leah McEwen
lrm1@cornell.edu
Treasurer/Finance Committee Chair:
Dr. Rob McFarland
mcfarland@wustl.edu
Councilor:
Ms. Bonnie Lawlor
Chescot Publishing, Inc.
chescot@aol.com
Ms. Andrea Twiss-Brooks
atbrooks@uchicago.edu
Alternate Councilor:
Mr. Charles Huber
huber@library.ucsb.edu
Dr. Guenter Grethe
Scientific Research Consultant
ggrethe@att.net
Program Committee Chair:
Dr. Erin Davis
ChemAxon
erinbolstad@gmail.com
Membership Committee Chair:
Dr. Donna Wrublewski
dtwrub@caltech.edu
Archivist/Historian:
See Councilor
Audit Committee Chair:
Awards Committee Chair:
Careers Committee Co-Chairs:
Ms. Susan Cardinal
scardinal@library.rochester.edu
Ms. Pamela Scott
pamela.j.scott@pfizer.com
Chemical Information Bulletin Editors:
Ms. Svetlana Korolev (summer & winter)
Dr. Vincent Scalfani (spring & fall)
vfscalfani@ua.edu
Dr. David Shobe (summer & winter)
Patent Information Agent
avidshobe@yahoo.com
Ms. Teri Vogel (spring & fall)
tmvogel@ucsd.edu
Communications and Publications Committee Chair:
Dr. David Martinsen
d_martinsen@acs.org
Constitution, Bylaws & Procedures:
Education Committee Chair:
Ms. Grace Baysinger
graceb@stanford.edu
Fundraising Committee Chair:
Mr. Philip Heller
Thieme Publishers
philip.heller@thieme.com
Tellers Committee Chair:
Ms. Patti McCall
patti.mccall@ucf.edu
Ms. Erja Kajosalo
kajosalo@mit.edu
A CINF directory including mail addresses, fax and phone numbers of the Executive Committee, Committee Chairs, Divisional Representatives, and other Functionaries is at the CINF website.
Articles & Sponsor Announcements
Grace Baysinger
Bob Buntrock
Stuart Chalk
Rebecca Church
Debra Davis
Philip Heller
Paul Karol
Deborah Kernan
Carsten Kettner
Svetlana Korolev
Bonnie Lawlor
David Martinsen
Phil McHale
Steffen Pauly
Jill Reid
David Shobe
Christina Schlecht
Julia Stoetzner
Andrea Twiss-Brooks
William Town
Teri Vogel
Donna Wrublewski
Editing & Production
Erja Kajosalo
Patti McCall
Wendy Warr
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StarrForum_041714_JunkFood.pdf
April 17, 2014 - 5:30pm to 7:00pm
66-110 Landau Building
25 Ames Street, Cambridge
Experts discuss the research and the global implications of the modern American diet.
About the Speakers:
Capt Joseph Hibbeln, MD, is Lead Clinical Investigator, Unit on Nutrition in Psychiatry, NIAAA, Washington DC; & a Commander in the United States Public Health Service. A psychiatrist & lipid biochemist by training, Dr Hibbeln is now one of the world's leading experts on the importance of dietary fats for human brain development & function. Dr Hibbeln received a BA with special honors from the University of Chicago and an MD from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Rachel V Gow is currently working as a Guest Researcher in the Section of Nutritional Neurosciences at the National Institutes of Health. Her main research interests are in the role of brain selective nutrients such as omega-3 highly unsaturated fatty acids & neurodevelopmental disorders including ADHD & conduct disorder related behaviors. Dr Gow completed a PhD in the department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London.
Lynn C Todman is currently a visiting scholar in the Center for International Studies at MIT. Dr Todman's areas of interest include urban poverty, social exclusion, community development, & the social determinants of health & mental health. Dr Todman earned a BA from Wellesley College and a Master's in City Planning & a PhD in Urban & Regional Planning at MIT.
Free & open to the public | Refreshments served
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MISTI's Perez Honored for Leadership
April Julich Perez, associate director of the MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives (MISTI) has been honored for her leadership with a 2014 MIT Excellence Award for Bringing Out the Best. "In her role at MISTI, April has distinguished herself in her ability to mentor, inspire, and empower each member of her staff—encouraging them to take on new responsibilities and supporting them every step of the way," said Institute Community and Equity Officer Edmund Bertschinger, who presented Perez with the award at a ceremony held February 25.
U.S.–Iran Project Book Explores "Misperceptions"
The long–running U.S.–Iran Project, which has brought together policy makers from both countries to explore fraught periods in the relationship, has produced a second book, U.S.–Iran Misperceptions: A Dialogue, published in February by Bloombury Press. John Tirman, CIS executive director, is coeditor and coauthor with Abbas Maleki, a former Robert Wilhelm Fellow at the Center and associate professor of energy policy at Sharif University of Technology in Tehran. Other contributors include Robert Jervis, Hossein Mousavian, Huss Banai, Robert Reardon, Kayhan Barzegar, Steven Miller and Matthew Bunn. It is an unique format in which Iranians and Americans write about each others' role in the Gulf, on nuclear matters, and other issues.
The Security Studies Program's lunchtime lectures included: Benjamin Miller, University of Haifa, on "Competing Models of War and Peace: How Relevant are they in the Post–Cold War Era?"; Daniel Drezner, Tufts University, on "Does Military Power Attract Foreign Investment?"; Risa Brooks, Marquette University, on "Societies and Terrorist Violence: How Community Ties Influence Militant Groups' Targeting of Civilians"; and Fred Kaplan, Slate Magazine on "America and the World in the Age of Obama," A full list of SSP Seminars for spring 2014 is available here.
The Center hosted multiple Starr Forums including: A film screening of "The Network" with Eva Orner (director) and Fotini Christi (MIT); "Ukraine: What's Next?" With John Herbst (former ambassador to Ukraine), Eugene Fishel (State Department), Oxana Shevel (Tufts), Carol Saivetz (MIT), and Barry Posen (MIT); "Junk Food and the Modern Mind" with Captain Joseph Hibbeln (NIH), Rachel Gow (NIH, Lynn Todman (MIT); "Indian Ocean: The Vortex of Destiny" with Ranil Wickremesinghe (former prime minister of Sri Lanka and a Robert E. WIlhelm Fellow at CIS) and Ken Oye (MIT).
Myron Weiner Seminar Series on International Migration
This semester, the Center hosted a seminar on "Syrian Refugees in Jordan and Lebanon: Current and Looming Problems," by Jennifer Leaning, Harvard School of Public Health and "Seeking Harmony between the Formal and Informal: Integrating Migrant Remittances for Post–Conflict Development" with John R Harris and Daivi Rodima–Tyalor, both from Boston University.
Luvisi, Nhuch Receive Infinite Mile Awards
Two CIS staff members have been awarded Infinite Mile awards for 2014. Michelle Nhuch, director of public programs, has received a "Great Ideas" award and Susan Luvisi, administrative assistant for MISTI, has received an "Unsung Hero" award. The Infinite Mile Awards will be presented at a SHASS luncheon later in May.
The Emile Bustani Middle East Seminar hosted two talks: "The Ides of April: the presidential succession crisis and the dilemmas of the Algerian oligarchy," with Hugh Roberts (Edward Keller Professor of North African and Middle Eastern History and Director, Middle Eastern Studies Program at Tufts University); and "The Nuclear Agreement with Iran and It's Ramifications for the Regional Politics of the Middle East," with Ali Banuazizi (Professor of Political Science at Boston College and Director of the Program of Islamic Civilization and Societies).
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Other sport 5.9.2013 07:46 pm
Local broadcaster to screen NFL
Image courtesy of https://twitter.com/SuperSportTV
The US’s most popular sports league, the National Football League (NFL), will be televised by a local broadcaster, it was announced on Thursday.
SuperSport said it had partnered with the NFL to broadcast the sport. The NFL consists of 32 teams in two conferences: the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC).
The winner of each conference meets to play in the Super Bowl at the end of every season. The NFL season started on Thursday. SuperSport said it would screen Monday night football and Thursday night football, with the first live game on Monday.
Included in the coverage would be the AFC Playoffs in January, with two Wildcard games, two Divisional playoff games and the AFC Championship game. The Pro Bowl, the NFL’s All-Star Game, would also be broadcast on January 26.
The coverage would end with the Super Bowl on February 2.
– Sapa
WATCH: MMA fighter gets eight broken bones in his face in 29 seconds 20.5.2019
Robert Marawa hints at ‘sexual harassment’ cover-up after SuperSport fires him via SMS 17.5.2019
Robert Marawa shocks fans with abrupt end of SuperSport show 16.5.2019
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City of Rhetoric
Writing and Teaching about Place
La Place de la Contrescarpe
April 21, 2018 · by David Fleming
In May, 2017, I received an email message from two researchers in Europe, classical philologists who were planning an international conference on the “practice of the progymnasmata,” to be held in Paris in January, 2018. “We would be very pleased,” they wrote, “if you would join us for this conference.”
Although the topic – an ancient cycle of rhetorical exercises – was dear to my heart, and a trip to Europe certainly sounded nice, my first impulse was to decline the invitation. I didn’t know the organizers and assumed they had just come across my name on a list somewhere. Besides, I had largely stopped going to conferences. I found the travel uncomfortable; and, even when reimbursed, the costs seemed extravagant for any benefit I – or anyone else – derived.
And yet . . . it was Paris, during winter break; and the organizers were offering to pay my way. I was intrigued by the line-up of speakers they sent, and I welcomed the light the meeting would shine on our shared topic. And perhaps, I thought, the trip would do me good: I hadn’t traveled much in recent years, except to see family in North Carolina and my daughters wherever they happened to be. The latter urged me to go. So I said yes.
Then, in October, something happened that put everything else out of mind. When later I happened to think of the trip, it seemed frivolous. But I never canceled the reservations; and, by late December, I found myself frantically writing my paper and finalizing my plans. Consulting travel guides, friends, and family, I plotted the five days I would spend in Paris on my own, before the conference began.
Fortunately, I knew the city. It had been thirty-six years, but a semester in France during college had left a deep impression on me. I felt like I was returning to a familiar scene, which freed me from having to do or see certain things. It was this, I think, more than anything, that led me, in the days before departing, to begin to anticipate the trip with some pleasure. I could just wander, I thought. I could be free.
Of course, there were things I wanted to see, places that had not been part of my earlier Paris: the Marais, Belleville, the Canal Saint-Martin. In addition, in 2016, I had read Elaine Sciolino’s The Only Street in Paris, about the Rue des Martyrs; I wanted to explore that neighborhood. And, looking at maps, I stared endlessly at a little triangle in the Latin Quarter, around the Rue Descartes, where I thought (mistakenly) the conference would be held. I imagined turning down this street, walking up that.
The one thing I wasn’t looking forward to was the flight. In fact, I agonized about it. I had begun to get sharp headaches during air travel; and I had never been a good sleeper on planes. If I didn’t sleep on this flight, I worried, the first day of the trip would be wasted. I would arrive in the morning exhausted and have to drag myself through the long hours until I could go to bed. So I studied all the different ways people sleep on planes: drugs, herbal medicines, earplugs, eyeshades. I bought valerian root, paid extra for a window seat, planned to wear shoes I could slip on and off easily and a sweater to keep warm.
In the end, I didn’t sleep a wink. From the time the plane left Boston, my eyes were open. During the flight itself, I was fine: I read, watched TV, played solitaire. But when we arrived in Dublin the next morning, I found the wait endless. I remember walking to the restroom in a daze. Later, at Charles de Gaulle airport, we had to walk on and on, through customs, through passport check, through the airport itself. I struggled with the RER ticket machine; and, on the train ride into the city, I remember thinking that I wouldn’t make it. It was cold and gray out as we wound our way towards the city center. I suddenly felt old and tired. Was this a mistake? Five days alone, in Paris, in January?
Paris Métro
But after wandering in the bowels of Les Halles Métro station for half an hour before surfacing in the heart of the city, and then finding a café where I devoured a breakfast of coffee, croissants, eggs, ham, and juice – un petit déjeuner américain– I felt refreshed. I grabbed my bags, headed out into the street, and walked toward the river. And there, standing at the corner of the Place du Châtelet, with the Île de la Cité and the whole Left Bank spread before me, my heart suddenly lifted. I was in Paris, and I had nothing to do, nowhere to go, no responsibilities to meet.
I started walking, and I didn’t stop for five days.
I headed first for the Île Saint-Louis, where I was staying. After checking into my hotel, I walked to the Boulevard Saint-Germain, just a bridge away. Once there, it all came rushing back to me: spring days on that very street decades ago. But the bustle did not allow for much nostalgia: the shops were in post-holiday sales mode, and the crowds were out in force: couples strolling, friends shopping, children weaving in and out on scooters. The excitement carried me along. As I walked, I stared at the buildings: that perfect Parisian streetscape. It was cool out, but the air was soft, not like winter in New England – you wanted to be in it.
I walked by the Musée de Cluny and the famous cafés of the Left Bank: Les Deux Magots, Café de Flore, Brasserie Lipp. Down a side street, I found the Church of Saint-Severin, which I had visited once long ago. Back on the Boulevard, I stopped to look in shop windows and lingered outside the Church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, listening to a Dixieland jazz band.
On a nearby street, I ate lunch, then walked up the Rue de l’Odéon to see where Shakespeare and Company, the bookstore, had once been located. Later, I walked down the Cours de Commerce Saint-André, then up the Rue de Seine to the river, my head swiveling from side to side to take it all in. Back on the Seine, I walked past the Institute de France, the Place Saint-Michel, and Notre-Dame Cathedral. Soon I was back on the Île Saint-Louis.
It was still light out, so I kept going, heading for the Right Bank to stroll around the Marais. After having a cup of coffee on the Rue Saint-Antoine, I walked over to the Place des Vosges, which I was seeing for the first time as twilight descended on the city. Later, I wandered the streets around the Hôtel de Sens. As with so many places during my trip, I had the neighborhood largely to myself. As night approached, the city felt gray and aloof, but I took it all in, lingering or proceeding as my heart directed.
I stayed up as late as I could. But by 8 or 9 pm, having been awake for nearly two days, I was beginning to fail. So I headed back to my hotel, stopping in the middle of the Pont Louis-Philippe to look at the lights of the city as they glistened on the river. The Île Saint-Louis is an island, of course, in the middle of the Seine, just east of its bigger, busier neighbor, the Île de la Cité. A single street, the Rue Saint-Louis en l’Île, runs down its middle; another encircles it, all the way around, with cross streets linking them. It was an ideal base for my trip, as central as I could have wished yet surprisingly homey – like a little village in the middle of the city.
L’île Saint-Louis
From the Pont Louis-Philippe, I walked the short stretch to the Île’s liveliest spot, the corner by the Pont Saint-Louis, where four cafés face one another, the little plaza in their midst lit up on this Saturday night, with couples and groups talking and laughing. After lingering a bit, I walked down the street to the Hôtel du Jeu de Paume, recommended by a friend of my sister. My room upstairs was cozy, clean, and quiet, and I slept soundly.
The next day, Sunday, was heartbreakingly beautiful. The sky was crisp and blue, the city inviting yet serene on this day of rest. I struck out early. Walking along the quais of the Left Bank, I passed a succession of bridges on my right: the Pont Neuf, Pont des Arts, Pont du Caroussel, Pont Royal, Pont de la Concorde, Pont Alexandre III, Pont des Invalides, finally crossing over on the Pont d’Alma, and walking up the Avenue Montaigne to the Champs-Élysées.
After stopping for coffee on the Avenue Franklin-D.-Roosevelt, I proceeded down the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, past the Élysée Palace, up the Rue de la Paix to the Place Vendome and the Place de l’Opéra, then onto the Boulevard des Italians and the Boulevard Montmartre. Cutting through the Passage Jouffroy, I strolled up the Rue du Faubourg Montmartre into the 9th arrondissement.
After getting a sandwich at the foot of the Rue des Martyrs, lively on this Sunday afternoon, I circumnavigated the triangular “La Nouvelle Athènes,” walking up the Rue Notre Dame de Lorette, past the lovely Place Saint-Georges, down the Rue Jean-Baptiste Pigalle to the Église du Trinité, over the Rue Saint-Lazare, and back up the Rue des Martyrs. I then walked all the way up to Sacré-Coeur Basilica, stopping by Square D’Anvers for coffee and chocolate before the final climb. At the top, a singer serenaded the crowds. This was tourist Paris, something I avoided most of my trip. Still, the weather was lovely, and the view, irresistible.
I returned to the center of town by the Métro. On the pedestrian bridge connecting the Île de la Cité and Île Saint-Louis, roller bladers danced around little traffic cones for an appreciative audience. I stood and watched, enjoying the blue sky and Sunday crowd.
Later, on the Île, there was a protest with a marching band.
That night, after browsing the shops along the Rue Saint-Louis en l’Île, I ate dinner at the Auberge de la Reine Blanche, recommended by a shopkeeper on the island.
On Monday morning, I took a train from Gare Montparnasse to Chartres, about an hour away, to see the cathedral. Its interior had recently, and controversially, been cleaned, centuries of dark grime removed. I wanted to see it. In 1982, I had spent a week in the town, living with a family while we studied the cathedral in detail. This time, I would stay only a few hours.
cathedral plan
It was cold and rainy, the town nearly deserted, the cathedral empty except for a few tourists. From the outside, I stared at the west façade, its sculptural program the subject of a paper I had written long ago. I felt like I was in the company of an old friend. Inside, I looked up at the west rose, with its three lancet windows beneath. We had been taught to admire especially the right one, which depicts the tree of Jesse. After looking at it for a few minutes, I turned and walked up the nave.
After lunch in a nearby café, I returned to Paris by train, walking in the rain from Montparnasse to the Île Saint-Louis. Later that night, I strolled along the Right Bank to the Palais Royale and had dinner on the Rue Etienne Marcel. On the way back to the hotel, I stood again on the Pont Louis-Philippe, staring upriver at the Pont Marie, already my favorite of the five bridges linking the island with the rest of the city.
Tuesday I got up early and walked to the Canal Saint-Martin by way of the Marais and the Place de la Republique, where I had breakfast on a side street. I walked along the Canal to the Rue Lafayette and then doubled back on the other side, down the Boulevard de la Villette into Belleville. Later, in the Parc de Belleville, I walked up the stairs of the Passage Julien LaCroix and looked out over the city from the heights. There was no one there but me. On the Rue de Belleville, I took the Métro back to the Île.
That afternoon, after resting at the hotel for a bit, I went back to the Latin Quarter and wandered around, visiting places I had noticed Monday morning on my way to Montparnasse. A light rain fell as I walked through the Luxembourg Gardens to Gertrude Stein’s old apartment on the Rue du Fleurus. At the Place Saint-Sulpice, I stopped for a glass of wine at a corner café, keeping warm and dry on an otherwise wet, chilly afternoon.
Wednesday was my fifth and final day before the conference began. In the morning, I walked again to the Latin Quarter, up the Rue du Cardinal Lemoine, as I now knew well how to do. I was finding myself drawn to this neighborhood. I had breakfast in a café and wandered the streets by the Panthéon. That afternoon, I checked out of my hotel and took the Métro to the Avenue Daumesnil in the 12tharrondissement, where I would be staying for the conference. After checking into my new hotel, I took a walk up the Avenue Michel Bizot to a public library off the Rue de Lagny to work on my conference paper. On the way back, I stopped for dinner at a restaurant on the Cours de Vincennes.
For the next three days, from Thursday morning to Saturday afternoon, I attended the conference at the Université Paris-Est Creteil (UPEC), a short Métro ride from the hotel. There were about three dozen attendees, mostly European: French, Belgian, Italian, Spanish, Swiss, German. Each of us gave a half-hour talk and answered questions at the end. My fellow attendees were friendly, the hosts gracious, and everyone patient with the three monolingual Americans. I was gratified and impressed by the multidisciplinary enthusiasm for our shared topic – and we had a lovely dinner in the Latin Quarter Friday night.
But, to be honest, it felt like every other conference I’ve ever been to: a lot of sitting. After all the exertion of the previous days, all the time out-of-doors, all the freedom to do what I liked and go where I wanted, the days at UPEC felt a little tiresome. I found myself longing for my “old” life on the Île, walking the streets of the Latin Quarter.
Those five days . . . they already seemed like an epoch to me, bracketed off from the rest of my life yet resonant with it in so many ways, like tendrils touching on times past, present, and future. What made those days feel so momentous? The conditions were hardly propitious: it was rainy and cold, I was alone. I visited no museums, saw no shows, had no extravagant meals, met no interesting characters. In some ways, it was just a mundane visit to a large city. I walked. I looked at things. At night, I read about those things and planned the next day, when it started all over again: the walking, the looking, the reading.
And yet something happened. I experienced an exhilaration I had not felt in years. I think it was partly physical; looking at the phone app that counted my steps, I was astounded at the numbers I racked up Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday: more than 26,000 steps each day! There was also the freedom of those days: being out of my routine, away from home, with no schedule to follow, no meetings to attend. And, of course, there was Paris: “the last of the human cities,” Joyce called it – lively, diverse, and intimate all at once.
But there was also this: walking those streets, from morning to night, turning this way and that as the whim occurred – watching the people, stopping to read plaques, enjoying the smells of the boulangeries, seeing the lights on the river – I called up something from my past that I thought had been lost. I didn’t recover it, of course, simply by walking around Paris. But I did glimpse it, just ahead of me, turning a corner, as the winter wind raced down a narrow street. I followed that apparition, though my legs ached, through the city. And for reasons I don’t fully understand, the pursuit invigorated me.
One afternoon, in the Marais, I stood in front of an old bookshop, staring at the window display. I thought of Lambert Strether in Henry James’ The Ambassadors, sitting in the Luxembourg Gardens: a middle-aged man visiting Paris for the first time, on an errand from the New World, yet feeling, all of a sudden . . . free. “He had never expected – that was the truth of it – again to find himself young.”
There were twelve of us in the group. Nearly four decades later, I still remember them all vividly: Mebane, Eileen, Maggie, Margaret, Stan, Mark, Sarah, Joyce, Lisa, Norwood, John. There was also our professor, Larry. It was 1982, spring term of our junior year; we were in France on an art history program, students at Davidson College in North Carolina. I was 20 years old, on my first trip abroad. I had lived my whole life in North Carolina. The flight to Kennedy airport was only the third time I’d ever even been to New York City. Paris was . . . unimaginable.
Outside the Hotel Star, spring, 1982
The program consisted of three courses: Nineteenth Century French Painting, which we studied in Paris, mostly at the Louvre and Jeu de Paume museums; Medieval Art and Architecture, which we studied all over France, driving from cathedral to cathedral and camping at night; and an independent study of our own design, which we proposed and had approved by a faculty sponsor before we left North Carolina – mine was a study of James Joyce in Paris: I would read his works and consider how that city – how cities in general – shaped his fiction and how being in Paris, in turn, shaped my reading of Joyce.
Larry taught the art history courses: he was deeply knowledgeable, a skilled lecturer, intellectually demanding – but light-handed as a chaperone. We worked hard on the days we were “in school”; at nights and on weekends, he left us alone. But he wasn’t the only teacher; each of us was responsible for teaching two topics to the rest of the group. In fact, before the program even began, we had to submit two long research papers to Larry. Then, during the trip itself, we shared what we had learned with the group. My topics were medieval sculpture and the paintings of Edgar Degas. We were assigned the topics randomly, but (like the others I’m sure) I developed an avid interest in mine.
My paper on Gothic sculpture
My paper on Degas
In fact, it was one of the most intellectually exciting times of my life. Isolated as it was, in rural North Carolina, Davidson opened a wide window for me onto the world. My first semester, the fall of 1979, 52 U.S. embassy workers in Iran were taken hostage, and as one country descended into revolution, the other seemed to break apart at the seams. That spring, I was in an anthropology course; as the crisis deepened, our professor scrapped the syllabus, and we embarked on a weeks-long study of Islam. It was liberating – to learn so much about something you knew nothing of before, to feel your horizons expanding, your understanding of the world deepening.
Davidson College, NC
Besides anthropology, I studied history, religion, philosophy, science, drama, German. In English, I had scholars and writers for teachers: I took a whole course on the poetry of Yeats, two on Shakespeare, another on the novels of George Eliot. I went to see classic films every Wednesday night and attended lectures on a wide variety of topics. I wrote for the campus newspaper and tried my hand at fiction and poetry.
But the subject that intrigued me the most was art history. I knew nothing about it when I enrolled in an introductory survey my sophomore year. I purchased the course text, a big, expensive book titled History of Art by H. W. Janson, and showed up for the first class on Elm Row, where we sat in a dark room with two screens in front of us and two slide projectors behind us, as images flashed on the wall, and Larry, over in a corner, provided commentary: pointing things out, asking questions, helping unspool what at first seemed obscure or mundane. I loved the combination of concrete visual analysis – composition, line, color, form – and historical inquiry, thinking about works of art in the contexts of their making and use. I felt like I was learning not just about painting and sculpture but about the history of the world, about truth and beauty, about what it meant to live on earth, experiencing and representing life with others.
Looking back, the approach was fairly traditional; our “history of art” was told, after all, from the standpoint of an elite institution of higher education in the late twentieth century West. The other students, like me, were middle- and upper-middle class white Southerners. But I had glimpses of other ways of thinking. In a course on modern American drama, we read Death of a Salesman and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf and talked about “the vital lie” at the heart of the American experience. It was deeply unsettling.
All that was swirling around in my head in the spring of 1982. But the trip to France was also important for me socially. I had been at Davidson for two and a half years but had made few close friends. In France, the twelve of us, mostly strangers before, were thrown together seven days a week for months. We studied together, ate together, practiced French together, went to cafés together, walked the city together. There was no Internet back then, no cell phones, no TV in the hotel, and we had no homes to return to at the end of the day. We were together all the time – and when we weren’t doing our work, traipsing through museums or touring cathedrals, we were playing. On the road, we traveled four to a car; Larry would tell us in the morning where the next site was and what time to be there. Then off we went, taking turns at the wheel, getting lost, laughing and singing, stopping in villages for bread and cheese, and riding on to the next stop. We got to know each other well.
In Paris, we lived at the Hotel Star (now Hotel Alizé) on the Avenue Emile Zola, near the Charles Michels Métro station in the 15th arrondissement. It was a small place on the corner of a busy street, four or five stories tall; it had a lobby and dining room, a tiny elevator and a spiral staircase. The rooms were small, two beds and a window with bathrooms down the hall. What I remember most, though, were the breakfasts downstairs every morning: the strong, hot coffee, mixed with hot milk, the fresh croissants and rolls, the fruit preserves and French butter. I had grown up with cold cereal and white sandwich bread, toasted, spread with margarine, and washed down with Tang. This was a revelation.
We learned the neighborhood inside and out: the bars and cafés, the boulangeries, fruit stands, and grocery stores. We frequented the bistros around us: the Café Linois, Hôtel de Cahors, Restaurant Le Commerce, Chez Francois. In my journal, those names are sprinkled on every page. There was a cheap place we liked for couscous, another for oeufs mayonnaise. We discovered a little park, the Square Violet, where on spring afternoons we tossed a Frisbee – until the Parisians found it objectionable and a policeman told us to stop. Back at the hotel, we drank red wine from plastic jugs that we filled at a neighborhood store. We played cards and talked into the night.
We also wandered far and wide, hanging out in the Saint-Germaine-des-Prés, Montmartre, and Montparnasse neighborhoods. I saw kids sniffing glue in the Place Saint-Michel and visited the “new” Shakespeare and Company on the Rue de la Bûcherie, using the lending library there for my independent study. I heard Vivaldi at the Sainte-Chapelle, went to the American Church on the Quai d’Orsay for Easter services, and saw a Tennessee Williams play in the Latin Quarter. It was all thrilling to me: the freedom and mobility, the grandness on such an intimate scale.
Somewhere in Europe, summer, 1982. Photo by Wendy Hopfenberg.
Of course, most days were spent in “school.” For Nineteenth Century French Painting, we used the Musée Marmottan, Musée Rodin, Centre Pompidou, and other sites, but our main classrooms were the Louvre and Jeu de Paume museums, which we came to know intimately. The latter was my favorite: a long, narrow building on the northwest corner of the Tuileries Gardens, where the great French Impressionist collection was displayed. (It has since moved to the much grander Musée d’Orsay.) We spent whole days there and in the Louvre, often with just a break for lunch, concentrating on one or two artists each visit, and proceeding day by day, week by week, through the nineteenth century, from classicism, romanticism, and realism to impressionism and modernism.
Musée du Louvre, 1982
We studied the works of Jacques-Louis David, Gustave Courbet, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Eugène Delacroix, Théodore Géricault, Honoré Daumier, Édouard Manet, Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Paul Cézanne, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh, and others, by closely analyzing their paintings, in person. Sometimes Larry was the lecturer, sometimes it was one of us. We took extensive notes and, since there were only twelve of us, were expected to participate actively: ask questions, make observations, agree or disagree with others’ analyses. At the end of the course, there was a day-long essay exam.
Musée du Jeu de Paume, today
The artist I was most interested in, of course, was Degas. By the time of the trip, I had written a long paper on his work and felt something of an expert, at least at the level of an undergraduate. And since my lecture was late in the semester – Degas’ most important works came in the 1870s and ‘80s – I had practically the whole trip to keep learning about the topic, refine my understanding, sharpen my analytic skills, deepen my knowledge of the historical and artistic context. In my free time, I often went to the Degas room in the Jeu de Paume to see the paintings in person and practice the order in which I would present them. Later, lying in bed, I would rehearse my remarks: what I would say in front of each painting, how I would say it.
My drawing of the Salle Degas, 1982
The day of my lecture, May 10, was a beautiful spring Monday in Paris. In the morning, at the Louvre, Eileen lectured on the Salon. After a break for lunch, we reconvened at the Jeu de Paume for my lecture on Degas. We gathered outside first, in the Tuileries Gardens, for remarks about the artist’s biography, the historical context of his work, how he fit with the other painters we had been studying, etc. Then, we headed inside, and I led the group through the paintings I had chosen, stopping at each one for analysis, questions, discussion. I still have my hand-drawn map of the Salle Degas, with the paintings numbered in the order I planned to address them.
Edgar Degas, Portrait de l’artiste, 1855
I began with some early portraits, mostly of the artist himself, his siblings and other relatives. Degas was born in 1834 into a wealthy Parisian family. His banker father wanted him to be a lawyer, but he developed an early interest in drawing. Out of high school, he took private art lessons and later attended the École des Beaux-Arts, where he met the painter Ingres, who told him, “draw lines, young man, and still more lines.” One of the first works I shared with the group was an early self-portrait, Portrait de l’artiste (1855), painted when Degas was only 20 years old, my own age as I looked back at it that day. One sees in it hallmarks of the painter’s early style: the muted colors, the skill in drawing, the formal composition – and yet there’s something unexpectedly emotional, ineffable, about the work. (Perhaps one also sees here the arrogance that would put off so many of Degas’ fellow painters.)
That mixture of the classical and the modern, the coolly academic and subtly expressive, is even more on display in Degas’ first great painting, La Famille Bellelli (1858-67). This painting fascinated me from the beginning, though, at seven feet by nine feet, I was wholly unprepared for its size, its grandeur on the wall of the Jeu de Paume. For me, it was a work that repaid repeated observation.
Edgar Degas, La famille Bellelli, 1858-1867
On its surface, the Famille is a portrait of a well-to-do family – in fact, it’s Degas’ aunt, her Italian husband, and their two daughters. It’s clearly a product of the artist’s formal training and the academic style of mid-nineteenth century French art, with its aristocratic subject matter and monumental approach. And yet this is a surprisingly modern scene, a family caught in momentary suspension, in their own home, by a clever onlooker. The composition shows Degas’ talent for line and placement, the figures grouped in a formal arrangement that also expresses an unmistakable interior drama. Note, for example, the triangles formed by the mother and her two daughters: the dutiful girl on the left whose own triangle is subsumed within the larger one of her mother, the girl on the right, one leg rather insolently tucked under her skirt, set apart from the other two – she is within the larger mother-and-daughters triangle but also on her own, looking away. As for the father, he is outside the frame altogether, he and his wife staring in different directions.
As arresting as La Famille Bellelli is, Degas’ most important works were still to come. After meeting Manet in 1864 – so the story goes – his style begin to change. He became more self-consciously modern and began to associate with the circle of artists known as the Impressionnistes. By the 1870s he was exhibiting with the group and hanging out at the Café Guerbois in Montmartre. From them, he learned to paint a new kind of subject matter: the everyday life of the city, its ordinary figures, scenes, and movements – though Degas’ Paris would remain thoroughly aristocratic, the world of the racetrack, opera, and dance. He differed in other ways from the Impressionnistes, ridiculing, for example, their habit of painting out of doors. Art for Degas was not simply about capturing the play of light on forms; it was about getting at something deeper in one’s subject, something that required study, thought, and distance. He once advised a young artist to pose his model on the ground floor and paint it on the first.
Edgar Degas, Classe de danse, 1871-74
One can see Degas’ ambivalence about modern art in his famous Classe de Danse (1871-74), which is both within and without the Impressionistic orbit. It is certainly a “slice of life,” of ordinary people and their ordinary activity; but it’s a characteristically interior scene, the artist here less interested in light and surface, more in line, color, and composition. Note, for example, the strikingly diagonal perspective.
The real shock of Degas’ modernism, however, would come a little later, with his paintings of bar scenes, prostitutes, and laundry workers. The 1875-76 painting Dans un Café (often called Absinthe, after the greenish drink at the center of the painting) still disquiets viewers, as it did when exhibited more than a century ago. What are we to make of this portrait of the demi-monde? How should we feel about modern art if this is the world it depicts? about modern life if this is its record?
Edgar Degas, Dans un café, 1875-76
There were things about Degas I came to dislike. He was argumentative, anti-Semitic, misogynistic. He had an aloof, detached view of the world which can be seen in his late work Le Tub (1886), where one finds little of the humor or joy of the other Impressionnistes. And yet it’s hard to deny the visual interest here, the originality of composition and approach. One can be ambivalent about Degas; one is never bored.
Edgar Degas, Le tub, 1886
The Impressionnistes were not alone in heralding modernity. The same Paris bar where Degas staged his Absinthe in the mid-1870s, the Café de la Nouvelle-Athènes on the Place Pigale, was the hangout of the composer Erik Satie, who played piano there in the 1880s. Below is a recording of his Gymnopédie No. 1, performed by Robin Alciatore. I wonder: did Degas ever hear Satie playing this piece? Did Satie ever see Degas’ Absinthe?
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/90/Erik_Satie_-_gymnopedies_-_la_1_ere._lent_et_douloureux.ogg/Erik_Satie_-_gymnopedies_-_la_1_ere._lent_et_douloureux.ogg.mp3
After graduating from Davidson in 1983, I never studied art history again. The papers I wrote for Larry in 1981-82, on which the remarks above are based, reflected the scholarship of that time and my own limited abilities as an analyst. One thing we paid little attention to in 1982, for example, was the provenance of the artworks we studied, their history as material artifacts – what happened to them after they were finished, how they came into the possession of the state, etc. These are all matters of deep fascination now. Two of the five paintings discussed above, for example, never left Degas’ possession while he was alive. Portrait de l’artiste was inherited by his brother René and left to the state at his death in 1927. La Famille Bellelli, meanwhile, exhibited in the Salon of 1867, didn’t again see the light of day until Degas’ death in 1917, when its showing caused a sensation. It was acquired soon after by the Musée de Luxembourg, from which it moved to the Louvre in 1929, the Jeu de Paume in 1947, and, in 1986, the Musée d’Orsay, where it is today a centerpiece of that collection.
Isaac de Camondo in 1890
The other three paintings discussed above, La Classe de Danse, Dans un Café, and Le Tub, were all purchased in the early 1890s by the Parisian collector Isaac de Camondo, scion of a family of Sephardic Jews who fled Spain in 1492, settled in Venice, and eventually made their way to Istanbul, where their fortunes rose as bankers for the Ottoman Empire. In the 1860s, the family migrated to Paris, where Isaac, born in 1851, became an early champion of the Impressionnistes.
Below is a 1910 photograph of “la salle Degas” in Isaac’s apartment at no. 82, Avenue des Champs-Élysées. You can see on his walls Absinthe, Le Tub, and other celebrated works. Isaac de Camondo died childless in 1911, leaving his collection to the French state.
The “salle Degas” in Isaac de Camondo’s apartment
Isaac’s cousin Moïse lived on until 1935; he bequeathed the family mansion on the Parc Monceau to France as the Musée Nissim de Camondo, named for his only son, a fighter pilot who died in World War I.
Musée Nissim de Camondo, Paris
Heartbroken, Moïse withdrew for the rest of his life. But the family’s worst tragedy was still to come: Nissim’s sister, Béatrice, convinced she would not be persecuted by the Germans when they invaded France, was deported in 1942 with other French Jews. She perished in Auschwitz, along with her husband and two children, the last of the Camondo line.
House of Camondo
Why did I know none of this in 1982? How can one talk about Absinthe without talking about Isaac de Camondo, on whose wall the painting hung for two decades? And why, in 1982, did we not talk about the Jeu de Paume itself, the building used by Hermann Göring during the Occupation to store “abandoned” art (including paintings by Degas) for shipment back to Berlin, for himself and Hitler?
Project for the Documentation of Wartime Cultural Losses
During my lecture on Degas, I must have stopped in front of a dozen paintings, including all those mentioned above. By the third or fourth one, I noticed other people following us. They were obviously English speakers, tourists, probably Americans – I never knew. They listened to my comments, followed my finger as it traced lines in the air, moved with us from painting to painting. I am sure the attraction was not me: I spoke with no particular skill. But I had something they probably lacked: I had knowledge about the objects on those walls. I knew the history of their making and reception and could tell stories about them. That knowledge came from nothing more remarkable than study: it came from reading everything I could get my hands on about Degas, developing interest in and enthusiasm about him, finding threads that connected his works with one another and with history.
There was probably never more than a handful of people following us that day as I shepherded the group from one painting to another in the Salle Degas. But in my memory of that spring afternoon, the audience grew, picture by picture, into a rapt little crowd.
It was one of the most thrilling experiences of my life.
https://cityofrhetoric.files.wordpress.com/2018/04/02-montagne-ste-genevieve.m4a
(Here, the jazz group Pearl Django performs Django Reinhardt’s “Montagne Sainte-Geneviève” from New Metropolitan Swing, 1997.)
On the third day of my trip, a Monday, I left the hotel on the Île Saint-Louis early in the morning to make my way to Montparnasse for the train ride to Chartres. I was walking up the Rue du Cardinal Lemoine, as the map directed, when I suddenly came upon a small square, an opening in the street as it met several other streets, all coming from different directions. The space was about 100 feet across, paved in cobblestones, with a circle in the middle planted with trees. Across the way, I could see my route continuing south. But the square before me was so charming that I literally stopped in my tracks. Later, on the train, I consulted my map and wrote down its name. It was the Place de la Contrescarpe.
The square is near the summit of the Montagne Sainte-Geneviève, the Left Bank hill where Clovis, the first Christian king of France, built a church, where Sainte Geneviève was venerated for centuries, where Abelard founded his university, where the Panthéon sits today.
Montagne Sainte-Genevieve
Just to the east of the summit, behind the Panthéon, is the Place de la Contrescarpe, where the Rue du Cardinal Lemoine and the Rue Descartes, both coming in from the north, form a V and intersect with the Rue Lacépède coming in from the east and the Rue Blainville coming in from the west. Proceeding south at the other end of the square is the Rue Mouffetard – the “Rue Mouffe,” as Parisians call it – a narrow, ancient market street.
The fifth arrondissement
Here’s a closer look:
Place de la Contrescarpe from moon.com
The square is in the exact center of the 5tharrondissement, the very point where its four districts meet.
The districts of the 5th arr.; in the center is the Place de la Contrescarpe
On the north side of the square is the Café Delmas with its bright red awning – I had breakfast there Wednesday morning. On the east side is a burger joint and, next to it, the Café des Artes. On the south side is the Café la Petite, where I had coffee several times, and la Brasserie La Contrescarpe. The west side, once home to a chocolate factory with the unfortunate name of Au Joyeux Nègre, is lined now with small shops. Most of the people moving through the square, as far as I could tell, were students; I watched them hurrying by on foot, bicycle, moped. (The photos below are from further down the Rue Mouffe.)
The Place de la Contrescarpe was not part of my 1982 stay in Paris; it doesn’t show up in any record I kept, and I have no memory of either name or place. When I look back at my journal, I can see that there were whole parts of Paris we didn’t experience. We moved about the city freely – I remember listening to musicians in the Métro, eating crepes in the Place Saint-Michel, walking along the Boul’ Mich. We spent time on the banks of the Seine, around the Louvre and Champs Élysées, and further north and west, in and around Montmartre, by the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the Bois de Boulogne. But we neglected Paris’ eastern neighborhoods. I don’t remember ever visiting the Marais, the Canal St. Martin, Belleville. And, as far as I know, I never saw the eastern part of the Latin Quarter – the neighborhoods behind the Panthéon.
The Panthéon
The irony of all this, given my passion at that time for Hemingway, Joyce, and Orwell, is that this area, in and around the Place de la Contrescarpe, was their hangout! In fact, many writers and artists of the early 20thcentury found cheap living quarters here, among the students and workers of the eastern 5tharrondissement. James Joyce and his family lived at 71 Rue du Cardinal Lemoine for much of 1921; it was where he finished Ulysses. A few feet up the hill and across the street, at 74 Rue du Cardinal Lemoine, is where Ernest Hemingway and his wife Hadley lived from January 1922 to August 1923, their first apartment in Paris. On the other side of the Place is the Rue du Pot-de-Fer, where George Orwell lived from 1928-1930 – he wrote about it in Down and Out in Paris and London.
And there were artists and students here long before the 1920s: Rene Descartes lived at 14 Rue Rollin from 1644-48; Denis Diderot, at 3 Rue de l’Estrapade from 1747-1754; Paul Verlaine died in a garret at 39 Rue Descartes in 1896. The area was the location of the famous Maison de Pomme de Pin (the Pine Cone), a cabaret where Francois Villon drank in the 15th century, Rabelais in the 16th.
Even more incredibly, the route I took that Monday morning from my hotel on the Île Saint-Louis to Gare Montparnasse for the train ride to Chartres turns out to be one of the most famous walks in American literature – the very course that Jake Barnes and Bill Gorton take in chapter VIII of The Sun Also Rises, when they have dinner on the Île and then stroll around the island before crossing to the Left Bank and climbing up the Rue du Cardinal Lemoine to the Place de la Contrescarpe. They then walk down the Rue Mouffetard, turning right on the Rue du Pot-de-Fer and eventually making their way to the Rue Saint Jacques and the Boulevard Port Royal, where, after the latter becomes the Boulevard Montparnasse, they meet Brett Ashley for drinks at Café Select.
Hemingway gives a fuller account of the neighborhood in A Moveable Feast, his memoir of 1920s Paris. In fact, the opening paragraph of the first chapter, “A Good Café on the Place St.-Michel,” is all about the Place de la Contrescarpe, including the “cesspool” that was the Café des Amateurs, a notorious hangout for drunks and vagabonds, which eventually became La Chope and later, Café Delmas. I have yet to find a photo of the Café des Amateurs, though I have found an old photo, from early in the twentieth century, of the S bus waiting in the Place de la Contrescarpe, just as Hemingway described it.
And I have found many old photos of the Hotel des Sports, across the square, where the Brasserie La Contrascarpe is now.
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/man-walking-in-the-street-toward-hotel-des-sports-in-place-news-photo/163078841#/man-walking-in-the-street-toward-hotel-des-sports-in-place-de-la-in-picture-id163078841
http://parismuseescollections.paris.fr/fr/musee-carnavalet/oeuvres/grand-hotel-des-sports-place-de-la-contrescarpe-5eme-arrondissement-paris
On the Internet, you can find an old video of Jacques Brel singing a song about the Place de la Contrescarpe, emphasizing its poverty and dereliction:
Place de la Contrescarpe, the tramps dance in a circle
Place de la Contrescarpe, they click their heels
They have frozen feet, their hands in their holed pockets
Place de la Contrescarpe, they dance in a circle
But if poor, the place doesn’t appear to have been especially grim. There’s a famous photograph by Henri Cartier-Bresson, taken in the mid-1950s, of a boy on the Rue Mouffe carrying two large bottles of wine. His immense self-satisfaction seems to have been a neighborhood trait.
Henri Cartier-Bresson, “Rue Mouffetard, Paris” (1954)
For centuries, the area around today’s Place de la Contrescarpe lay just beyond the walls of Paris. In fact, the word “contrescarpe” refers to the outer slope of a ditch dug outside a defensive wall. In his blog on the Civil War, Craig Swain uses Dennis Hart Mahan’s textbook on military fortifications to explain how such a wall and ditch work.
Here’s a detail of the ditch, with Swain’s annotations:
In the drawing, G and H are the crest and foot of the scarp, the side of the ditch closest to the wall; I and K are the foot and crest of the counterscarp, the other side of the ditch. The Place de la “Contrescarpe,” in other words, was located just outside the wall that once encircled Paris.
That wall can be seen in Dulaure’s medieval map of Paris (Pl. III, Paris de 1180 a 1223, from the David Rumsey Historical Map Collection):
David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
The wall was built between 1190 and 1215 by Philip II, also known as Philip Augustus. In fact, the structure is often referred to as Philippe Auguste’s wall, the oldest Parisian wall whose plan we know. Below is a detail from the Dulaure map, showing, at the bottom center, the Porte Bordelle with the Rue Mouffe heading south out of town. Just outside the Porte is where the Place de la Contrescarpe is located today. And just inside the Porte at that location, clearly seen below, is the Abbey of Sainte-Geneviève, one of the landmarks of medieval Paris.
Philip’s wall was later encircled, at least on the Right Bank, by the wall of Charles V (built between 1356 and 1383). On the Left Bank, however, the old wall was strengthened rather than encircled. In the 16th and 17th centuries, both walls, Philip’s and Charles’, fell into disuse. Charles V’s Right Bank wall, in fact, was removed completely during construction of Paris’ Grand Boulevards. By contrast, parts of Philip’s wall are still visible on both banks.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_of_Philip_II_Augustus
Here’s a detail from another map of the area, dated 1380. which shows Philip’s wall, the gate through which the Rue Mouffe passed, and the countryside beyond (the map is oriented with east, rather than north, at the top). One can see in the upper right hand corner the little village around the Church of St.-Médard (still there today just down the Rue Mouffe from the Place de la Contrescarpe). (The map, by Henri Legrand, is Pl. V, Paris in 1380, from the David Rumsey Historical Map Collection.)
In the map below (a detail), from 1530, the ditch outside the wall is especially clear. By now, the area between Paris proper and the villages beyond is filling in rapidly. (The map is by Georg Braun, Pl. VIII, Paris in 1530, also from the David Rumsey Historical Map Collection.)
Visible above, in the lower left-hand corner, are two churches inside the city wall near the Porte Bordelle: the old abbey church of Sainte-Geneviève, which we saw above, and, beside it, to its left, the newer church of Saint-Étienne-du-Mont. The latter remains to this day; the church of Sainte-Geneviève, by contrast, was later torn down to make way for the Rue Clovis, though the abbey itself remains, now used by the Lycée Henri-IV, one of the most prestigious secondary schools in France.
http://www.abelard.org/abelard/mont_sainte_genevieve.php
In the photo below, you can see the church of St. Étienne-du-Mont on the left. Across from it, on the right, is the former abbey of Ste.-Geneviève (now Lycée Henri-IV); the abbey church is gone, though the bell tower remains (minus the steeple).
Below is the famous 1615 map of Paris by Mathieu Merian (Pl. XV from the David Rumsey Historical Map Collection). Oriented with east at the top, you can see the Charles V wall encircling the Right Bank (to the left in this view) and the smaller Philippe Auguste wall encircling the Left Bank (to the right here). Just inside the wall, in the upper right quadrant, the steeple of the abbey church of Ste.-Geneviève is visible.
Below, in a detail from the Merian map, one can see, to the left of the Ste. Geneviève steeple, where the Place de la Contrescarpe will be one day, just on the outside of the Porte Bordelle (called here Porte St. Marcel).
By the time of the 1735 map below, by Jean Delagrive (le neuvième plan de Paris, from the David Rumsey Historical Map Collection), Philip’s old medieval wall is largely gone, though one can see its former location along the streets that replaced it.
In the detail below, you can make out a “R[ue] Contrescarpe,” just below the Rue St. Marcel (today’s Rue Thoulin), though there’s still no “Place” de la Contrescarpe.
The 1874 map below (“Le vieux Paris, plan topographique de la Montagne Ste.-Geneviève à Paris du XVIe au XIXe siècle avec texte explicatif” [detail], from the Bibliothèque Nationale de France) shows the location of the old wall, long gone by that time. Again, a “R[ue] Contrescarpe” can be seen, though there’s still no “Place.”
Our first glimpse of that comes in the mid-19th century map below, “Plan d’ensemble des travaux de Paris . . . de 1851 à 1868” (detail), also from the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Here, you can see, in bright red, the wide path of the new Rue Monge being cut through the area by Baron Haussmann. You can also see a little red square in the middle: the new Place de la Contrescarpe!
Compare the blue ovals in the following two maps of the Latin Quarter, the one on the left representing the neighborhood in 1790, the one on the right, the neighborhood in 1900, both from the Atlas Historique de Paris. By the time of the later map, the Place de la Contrescarpe has been formed, shown here as a green square with white center.
http://paris-atlas-historique.fr/index.html
It’s somewhat surprising, given its origins in an open area beyond the city’s medieval wall, that the Place de la Contrescarpe wasn’t actually formed until 1852. And, given our image of urban design in the Haussmann era, it’s also striking how small and cozy it is. This is no grand expression of French empire, like the Place de la Concorde; its genius is precisely its intimacy. This is a gathering place for neighbors.
Christopher Alexander, “Small Public Squares,” from A Pattern Language
The Place can even be said to exemplify one of Christopher Alexander’s design principles in A Pattern Language (1977). In Pattern #61, “Small Public Squares,” Alexander writes, “A town needs public squares; they are the largest, most public rooms, that the town has” (311); they accommodate “public gatherings, small crowds, festivities, bonfires, carnivals, speeches, dancing, shouting, mourning.” But we often make them too large, Alexander complains, and then they “look and feel deserted.” He argues that “open places intended as public squares should be very small,” with a diameter of about 60 feet; any larger and they begin to seem “deserted and unpleasant.”
Bastille Day, Place de la Contrescarpe
Google Maps’ measuring tool puts the diameter of the Place de la Contrescarpe at around 100 feet; French Wikipedia has it bigger: 40 meters, or nearly 130 feet. In any case, it is larger than what Christopher Alexander recommends. Still, the square seemed intimate to me, the perfect size for the tight-knit urban neighborhood that surrounds it. Its appeal, at least for me, can be seen in the way I kept coming back to it. In my short stay in Paris, I think I walked up to the Place de la Contrescarpe four times: for coffee, meals, or just to stroll.
On Tuesday afternoon, after having a drink at the Café la Petite and wandering around the neighborhood, it began to rain. Thinking I could do some work on my paper if the weather deteriorated, I searched the Internet for “public libraries” in the vicinity and found one nearby, the Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, just across from the Panthéon. So I walked to the building and went inside.
Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève
I realized my mistake immediately: this was no ordinary public library. There were security guards and registration desks and the discrete hush of an important place. I read a sign on the wall indicating that the library was, in fact, part of the University of Paris. I was about to leave, disappointed, when I decided to ask one of the guards if they allowed visiting scholars to work there, just for an afternoon?
“Mais oui, monsieur,” the man said, pointing to a computer where I could register for a temporary user’s card. At the terminal, I struggled to understand the form but eventually finished and submitted it. I then stood in line to get my card. When my turn came, the official at the desk quizzed me skeptically about my answers, some of which I’m sure made no sense. But when I showed her my University of Massachusetts faculty card, she became more agreeable; and, within five minutes, my photograph was taken and a plastic ID card issued. She explained how many books I could check out, how long I could keep them, and when my membership would expire. She then handed me the card and pointed towards the main staircase.
When I got upstairs, I followed the signs to the main reading room. But when I opened the door and looked in, I was stunned. It was one of the most beautiful reading rooms I’d ever seen. And it was full of students working very quietly. I discretely took a couple of photographs with my phone and found an empty seat at the one of the long tables.
Trying not to bother the people around me, I took out my things quietly and began organizing my thoughts, jotting down some notes in my journal, doing a little work on my conference paper. Logging into the Internet with my new ID and password, I sent one of the photos I had just taken to family and friends. “Guess where I am?” I asked.
Later, I heard back from my friend Wendy, who traveled with me in Europe in the summer of 1982. A talented photographer, she emailed her appreciation of the picture I had sent and joked about my long-lost youth, which I had lamented in my message. “It’s a gorgeous photograph,” she wrote, “with all those lights on the same low plane and the arches and so many people clearly being very quiet. I blew it up and they indeed looked quiet and serious. And when I blew it up even further and looked at the different people, one of them struck me as a young David!”
Maybe I had been there before! Maybe I had sat at that very table, under that very lamp, and read quietly.
No, I would have remembered that. Still, it all seemed . . . telling: to have come that far, to have crossed an ocean, to have wandered all over that city, and then to end up spending the afternoon much as I do back home, surrounded by students and books, in a library.
Ah, but what a library!
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3 thoughts on “La Place de la Contrescarpe”
Excellent, David! Enjoyed reading about 1982 and 2018!
LEE FLEMING says:
loved it dave…read it last nite on my cheap little tablet in bed…your writing is amazing….I will be looking up a few words in the dictionary today!
izzyfleming says:
This is so great! i love the old photos from your time in Europe and the first song attached is so pretty…
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An A+ on the Bechdel Test. Movies Reviewed: The Sapphires, Ich Bin Eine Terroristin, Nitrate Kisses PLUS Cinefranco
Posted in 1960s, Australia, Cultural Mining, Drama, Feminism, France, Movies, Musical, Protest, Queer, Uncategorized, Vietnam by CulturalMining.com on April 5, 2013
https://danielgarber.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/garberapril4-13.mp3Hi, this is Daniel Garber at the Movies for culturalmining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM, looking at high-brow and low-brow movies, indie, cult, foreign, festival, documentary, genre and mainstream films, helping you see movies with good taste, movies that taste good, and how to tell the difference.
It’s official: festival season is on now. Cinefranco, is showing contemporary French-language movies from around the world each night at the Royal (with English subtitles, so everyone can enjoy it.) And Tiff Cinematheque is running a retrospective of the well-known radical-feminist filmmaker Barbara Hammer’s oeuvre. They’re screening through Sunday on the Free Screen (free to view).
This week I’m looking at three movies (in order of complexity), all told from the perspective of girls and women. There’s an 11-year-old revolutionary from France, a group of four aboriginal pop singers in Australia in the 1960s, and there’s an explicit look at the once-hidden lesbian sexuality, history and culture.
The Sapphires
Dir: Wayne Blair
It’s the 1960’s in Cummergunja, a small town in North Australia. There sisters living on a reserve — tough Gail, pretty-voiced Julie and feisty, young Kay (Deborah Mailman, Jessica Mauboy, Shari Stebbens) – are known for their harmonized church songs and country and western tunes.
When they try their hand at a local talent show they meet up with a drunken ne’erdowell, Dave (Chris O’Dowd) who sleeps in the back seat of his car. Dave offers to make them rich and famous as a girl group with him as their manager. The catch? They’ll be performing in Vietnam war zones for the American troops there. He switches their style from country to Motown, and tells them how to dress and change their hair. They accept a fourth singer, Cynthia (Miranda Tapsell) who was pulled off their reserve as a child and adopted because, her skin was light enough to “pass” for white. Ironically, the four aboriginal Australians have been heavily discriminated against and pressured to assimilate, but now are told they’re “not black enough” for American audiences!
The movie follows the five of them through the bars and battlefields of Vietnam, as they find love with GIs, danger, success and setbacks. About a third of the film consists of their songs and performances, so if you don’t like 60s Motown pop, you won’t like the the Sapphires. I found it fairly corny and cheesy, your typical romantic musical drama, with conventional music. But I enjoyed it. It’s an indigenous cast, with good singers and capable actors, with Deborah Mailman and Chris O’Dowd giving the best performances. And it’s loosely based on a true story, written by the son of one of the singers.
Ich Bin Eine Terroristin
Dir: Valerie Gaudissart
Violette (Matthilde Besse) is an endearing 11-year-old girl in France. Her grandmother, a leftist revolutionary, has instilled in her a love of politics that her parents seem to have given up. So when her grandmother dies, she decides to spread revolution across Europe. Carrying her ashes and a book of Rosa Luxemburg’s prison letters, she makes her way alone to a train station and buys a ticket to train heading east. (Rosa Luxemburg was the revolutionary socialist murdered in 1919 by the German government.) Violette vows to take her grandma’s ashes to the places Rosa wrote about in her letters.
First she meets up with a Karl Marx lookalike in the dining car. They recite her verses to each other. In Berlin she visits her grave, and tries to get the tourists there to understand Rosa’s writings. She recites the poems and sings her own songs to anyone who will listen
On the way she meets border guards in Poland, refugees from Kosovo, and the proletariat women everywhere she goes. She wants to experience what Rosa did, even if it means a jail term.
This cute travelogue is part fantasy, part documentary. It’s full of non-scripted scenes, with real people playing themselves. And Matthilde Besse as Violette carries the film, enchanting us with her songs and writing.
Nitrate Kisses
Dir: Barbara Hammer
Lesbians and gays were silenced for generations in the 20th century in their stories covered up, their letters and diaries burned, and their history left unrecorded. Homosexuality was illegal, and socially so it was kept hidden. In popular culture, gay and lesbian themes had to be disguised, encoded. Old movies would use scenes of ancient Greece or stories from the bible to present homoerotic images in an acceptable manner. Sapphic love was mired within chaste romance and usually ended with lesbian characters going insane, being murdered or committing suicide. So entire historical chapters about a large part of the population remains blank, empty, nonexistent,
In an attempt to address this gap in the historical record, Hammer constructs an aural record. She includes spoken accounts of the early twentieth century. These oral histories are played back throughout the film along with music – everything from blues to Kurt Weill — from the periods discussed. Cultural evidence of a queer existence.
Visually, though, the film takes a totally different path. Hammer uses B&W explicit footage of various same-sex couples (three of women, one of men) having sex. Even though we’re inundated with nudity in contemporary cinema and porn is ubiquitous nowadays, you rarely see couples quite like this. Especially the case of two elderly women — a long-time couple — joyfully making love for the camera. (Correction: I’ve been informed that the couples having sex on camera were, in fact, total strangers, hired specifically to perform for the film, and had nothing to do with the recorded voices.)
Aside from the sex, there are also lots of clips from period films, music, and lesbian pulp fiction. And every so often it’s topped off with an agit-prop quote plastered across the screen from literary theorists like Michel Foucault.
Nitrate Kisses is vigorously resistant to conventions like narrative, linear storylines, or synchronized sound and picture.
Doesn’t matter. It’s not disjointed at all. The film is an engrossing and engaging historical record.
Ich bin eine Terroristin is playing on april 14th, one of many films at Cinefranco.com – the festival is running all week; you can see Barbara Hammer’s retrospective running through the weekend with Nitrate Kisses screening on Saturday. Go to tiff.net for more information. And The Sapphires opens today – check your local listings.
This is Daniel Garber at the Movies, each Friday morning on CIUT 89.5 FM and on my website, culturalmining.com .
Tagged with: Barbara Hammer, Cinefranco, Ich Bin Eine Terroristin, Nitrate Kisses, The Sapphires, TIFF
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SYMBOL OF KING MARC’S NEW SPARTA
“I shall bring about a New Sparta!”
Marcus Leonidas was born in Rome, Italy. He believes that he is the reincarnation of King Leonidas, the Spartan king and warrior. He leaves Rome and heads to the United States. He arrives in Los Angeles, California and hears about the rumors of Voltage’s existence. He becomes obsessed with Voltage and the citizen’s beliefs, so he believes that the citizens need a leader in their lives. So, he dons a Spartan king-like attire with a crown and plans to rule Los Angeles under its new title, New Sparta
Powers: He has no superhuman powers. He possess skilled hand-to-hand combat. Master weapons expert. He uses his servants and warriors to do the lower work and uses a shield and a sword when he’s in battle. He also wears a Spartan helmet and body armor while in battle instead of the crown.
Occupation: Historian
Alias/AKA: Reincarnation of King Leonidas
Real Name: Marcus Leonidas
Group Affiliations: The Menacing Ones (Nearing in a Short Time)
Allies: N/A
Enemies: The Voltage
Base of Operations: Los Angeles, Sparta, New Sparta
First Appearance: Tales of the Scattered
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Tag Archives: The Jacksons
Classic Vibez, On This Day
On This Day in 1982, Michael Jackson’s Thriller Was Released
November 30, 2018 dedrickhendrixBeat It, Billy jean, Classic hits, Classic Vibez, King of Pop, Latest Music Vibez, Michael Jackson, MJ, Pop, The Jacksons, Thriller, UK
On this day in music history in 1982, Michael Jackson’s Thriller album was released. It spent 190 weeks on the UK album chart became the biggest selling pop album of all time, with sales over 66 million copies.
It is the album that changed the world. The album that shattered records. The album that announced to the universe that Michael Jackson was the “King of Pop.” Thriller was released November 30, 1982.
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Decriminalizing Communities
Our Call To Justice
Our Demands
Coalition Partners
Navigation Who We Are Our Stories Our Call To Justice Our Demands Coalition Partners Contact
The Decriminalizing Communities Coalition has come together to fight against the shared violence of the criminal justice system and the immigration enforcement system. We have come together to work toward a vision of community that embraces the differences between us--where all people receive respect, compassion, and justice, regardless of race, religion, immigration status, or criminal record--and where every individual can be free and safe from state sanctioned violence and hate.
This is far from how our system operates now. Instead of a pathway to a better life, the criminalization of our immigration system has instead created an environment of fear and dehumanization. Instead of a pathway to responsibility and transformation, the criminalization of our justice system has eroded the ability of our “public safety” systems to keep anyone safe.
Indeed, the systems of immigration enforcement and criminal justice are interrelated--two weapons in the same dangerous arsenal of criminalization. Both subvert humanity and replace it with otherness - the immigrant becomes the illegal alien, and the incarcerated becomes the felon. Both tear families apart and make communities less safe, whether by immigration detention or by confinement in jails and prisons. Both lead people--whether immigrants or citizens--to be stereotyped, scapegoated, and violated because of something they share: the color of their skin. And both objectify and criminalize the bodies and lives of our poor, Black, Brown, and Indigenous siblings - at the end of the barrel of a gun. While the enforcers of these two systems may look different, the violence doled out as punishment is the same.
We intend to dismantle these systems as they operate now by standing for humanity and community. It is time to abolish Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at the national level and for our state and county governments to stop participating in immigration enforcement. It is time for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to end the Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) program targeting Muslim Communities and for our local governments to reject this Islamophobic program for what it truly is. It is time for the criminal justice system nationally and locally to be completely re-imagined. It is time for the massive amount of public resources and dollars that currently go toward repressing our communities to go toward supporting them instead.
Our immigration system should be a pathway to a better life and a safe haven for those fleeing from dangerous and politically unstable situations. We envision a system that sees immigrants and refugees as integral parts of our community - not as a burden or a threat. We envision a system that welcomes the refugee; the asylum seeker; the families seeking safety, prosperity, and a new life. We envision a system that acknowledges our shared humanity and rejects xenophobia, jingoism, hate, and political violence.
Our criminal justice system should be a place where those who have committed violence and those who have suffered from violence can be healed and restored. We envision a system that is community-centered - a system that prioritizes justice as well as public health and wellness. We envision a system that emphasizes rehabilitation, drug treatment, mental health care, and community and culturally based services. We envision a system that teaches both accountability and compassion to those who have harmed others.
We are here, side by side, as citizens and non-citizens, as immigrants and those born here, as people of various faith traditions and ethnic backgrounds, to say that “No Human Being is Illegal.” “No Ser Humano es Ilegal.” Instead, we believe in the dignity and respect of all people, wherever their birthplace and whatever their circumstances, and we will work toward the creation of a community based in those values.
We are Decriminalizing Communities and we stand together
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This Is What Happens When An Empath And A Narcissist Get Together In A Relationship
When these two get together, things are never going to work.
There are some relationships where two people just get together and they manage to beat all the odds that are set against them. If it’s meant to be, then it’s meant to be and there’s just not much more to it. And while that is true, the opposite is just as true as well. There are just some relationships where two people get together and things never work out because the odds have been stacked against them since the beginning. The strongest and healthiest kinds of relationships are the ones that push us to always become better people. They are the relationships that make us want to constantly improve ourselves on a daily basis.
To put things simply, the best kinds of relationships are the ones that make us decent human beings. And the opposite is also true in this case. The worst kinds of relationships are the toxic ones that turn the people involved into bitter, broken, and toxic people as well. And while it can be hard to control who it is you might develop feelings for, you have to try your best to make sure that you don’t fall for someone who is bad for you.
A lot of people will make the mistake of getting into a relationship with someone they aren’t meant to be with in any capacity. And when that happens madness ensues. Two people get emotionally invested in one another and then when things start to get dark and heavy, all of the toxicity comes out and reigns supreme in the romance. And don’t just buy into the whole opposites attract saying. That’s not always true particularly in the case of a narcissist and an empath. There are just so many reasons why an empath and a narcissist should never get into a relationship with one another. It’s only going to breed a lot of negative vibes for them and for anyone else who is uncomfortable enough to get caught as collateral damage.
Why? Well, it’s because these two individuals just have their own personality traits that don’t necessarily mesh well with one another’s. And as a result, the sheer incompatibility and reckless emotion can destroy them both. So if you’re wondering exactly what a relationship between an empath and a narcissist would look like, then read the following steps:
1. More likely than not, the empath is the one who takes the initial dive in the relationship. They are emotionally fragile individuals who are susceptible to calculated advances of a manipulative and abusive individual. The narcissist will grow to become accustomed to the attention and affection of the empath; and so the unfortunate pairing ensues.
2. The empath is going to start to grow emotionally invested in the relationship in a significant manner. That is the only way an empath knows how to get into a relationship after all wholeheartedly. And the narcissist will use this to their advantage. They will lead the empath to believe that they are being safe by emotionally investing themselves in the relationship.
3. The narcissist is going to make the empath believe that they are a person of actual worth and significance in the relationship even though that isn’t necessarily the case. The empath is being made to merely play a part that they aren’t aware they’re playing.
4. The deeper the relationship gets, the more invested the empath becomes, and the more dependent they will grow to be on their narcissist partners. They will start to feel completely vulnerable to a person who is looking to pray on all of their insecurities. The narcissist will make the empath believe in their own helplessness.
5. The narcissist will use the empath’s emotions against them. They will make them feel like they are constantly not being enough in the relationship. They will make them feel a false sense of gratitude for the narcissist even when there’s nothing to be grateful for.
6. The empath will try to overcompensate with more love and affection in an effort to please the narcissist. But all of this is futile. The narcissist just seeks damage and chaos from the whole situation. And these are things that affection can not fix.
7. The empath will start to realize that things aren’t ideal; that things are significantly wrong. And they will try to passively confront the narcissist about it, but the narcissist will find a way to turn things around on them and make them feel bad for even asking in the first place.
8. The empath will continue to wallow in this miserable relationship until someone else will help lift them out of the hole they’ve dug for themselves. The empath will be helpless to the emotional manipulation of the narcissist and it could end up breaking their spirit.
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February 4, 2012 Action Films / Science Fiction / Suspense Movies
Paycheck (2003)
Starring: Ben Affleck, Aaron Eckhart, Uma Thurman, Paul Giamatti
John Woo, the director of Mission: Impossible II and Face/Off took on this movie based on the short story written by the late Philip K. Dick. The author, who passed away in 1982, also wrote short stories that have inspired The Adjustment Bureau, Minority Report and Blade Runner. The movie stars Ben Affleck, Aaron Eckhart, Uma Thurman, and Paul Giamatti.
When Jennings, a talented engineer, gets the job offer of a lifetime there isn’t much doubt about the decision. When he meets a beautiful researcher (Thurman) the choice is made. The catch of this incredible opportunity is that he’ll have no memory of the job when he’s done. When Jennings wakes up from this job he finds himself on the run from the FBI and a group of unknown killers. Now he has to rely on the clues he left behind for himself to reconstruct the past and save himself.
This movie was fun to watch and had an intelligent plot to go along with the action. The acting is good but not great, but the action makes up for a lot of that. While it’s not his best performance, Ben Affleck does a convincing job in his role. Paul Giamatti, Aaron Eckhart, and Uma Thurman are also decent in their roles.
Visually it’s an interesting movie. The special effects in the film and the rest of the visual work is also good. John Woo definitely makes his mark on any film he makes.
The critics were mixed on their reviews, but in the end they remained negative. Roger Ebert stated that he “enjoyed the movie”. He gave the film two stars (out of four), saying that the film “exploits [Philip K. Dick’s story] for its action and plot potential, but never really develops it.”
The downfall of this movie might be the lack of follow through on the premise of the film. With the idea behind the movie there was much more that could have been pulled from the story.
This is a fun movie and I can recommend it to anyone who likes a unique premise. If you enjoyed Minority Report this might be a good movie for you. I give this one 2.7 out of 5 stars.
2003Aaron EckhartBen AffleckFilmJohn WoomoviesPaul GiamattiPaycheckReviewsUma Thurman
Morgan R. Lewis says:
I agree that this film could have done a lot more with its premise, and it has certain weaknesses. But like you, I thought it was fun; seeing the little clues and mementos pay off is very satisfying.
I always wanted to say this….Affleck did this for the paycheck. What crappy adaptation of a Phillip K. Dick novel. Sad Panda
jeffro517 says:
I’m not sure that it was that bad. At the time people tried to compare it to Minority Report which was a better film. When you take away that comparison it wasn’t that bad.
I have always looked at that movie through the prism of having read the material of Phillip K Dick, so I am a bit more critical about it than most. I like John Woo flicks and as a popcorn movie, it is ok.
On this we agree, I wouldn’t have nominated this for major awards or accolades. It’s simply a fun film.
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Photos aboard Master and Commander’s HMS Surprise.
Elegant stern of HMS Surprise, one of many fascinating ships owned by the Maritime Museum of San Diego.
It’s Christmas. I wasn’t planning to blog today. But this afternoon I became a new member of the Maritime Museum of San Diego! (Having lived for 15 years just a short walk from the museum, it’s about time!)
Naturally, I couldn’t wait to visit several of the amazing ships. The Maritime Museum of San Diego has one of the finest and largest collections of historical ships in the world!
If you’ve ever watched the movie Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, then you’ll probably recognize the HMS Surprise. The beautiful tall ship, upon which many scenes were filmed, is in the museum’s collection. And I took a bunch of photos today!
Becoming a member of the Maritime Museum of San Diego is going to be awesome. Among other great perks, I can visit any of the ships free for an entire year. I can sit in the elegant enclosed passenger deck of the Steam Ferry Berkeley and read and write whenever I please! Right out on beautiful San Diego Bay! How cool is that?
I bet some of you might really enjoy membership, too! I’m told they are looking for volunteers to help sail their new Spanish galleon replica San Salvador!
For more information, please visit the Maritime Museum of San Diego website.
HMS Surprise in some morning sunlight.
The ship you are about to board was originally built as a replica of the British 24-gun frigate Rose of 1757. HMS Rose played a role in the American Revolution and was sunk in Savanna harbor in 1779.
Detailed model of the HMS Surprise, which is the only operating replica of an 18th century frigate in the world. The ship was used in the filming of Master and Commander, starring Russell Crowe.
Visitor to the San Diego Maritime Museum pretends to steer the tall ship HMS Surprise, which is docked on the Embarcadero near the historic Star of India, in the background.
View of the ship’s main deck and lower rigging from the quarterdeck. A portion of San Diego’s skyline and the County Administration Building are visible.
Cannon projects from hull of HMS Surprise, which is a replica of a 24-gun frigate of the Royal Navy, based on 18th century British Admiralty drawings.
Looking upward at the three masts, furled sails and other complicated rigging.
Photo through ropes of the nearby Star of India, the world’s oldest active sailing ship, also part of the Maritime Museum of San Diego.
The ship’s bell. Originally named the HMS Rose, the ship was re-registered as HMS Surprise because of her starring role in the film Master and Commander.
Below deck there are many fascinating exhibits, which show what life was like aboard a frigate. Other displays recall the filming of Master and Commander.
Pick the right kind of shot. The Surprise carried a variety of projectiles, each suited for different purposes.
Artistic depiction of activity below deck during an engagement with the enemy. Operating the cannons was a complicated, dangerous duty.
Feeling seasick? Visit the surgeon. Getting sick at sea was very serious not only for the ill sailor, but also for the entire crew.
Exhibit inside HMS Surprise recalls the ship’s doctor in the movie Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. The fictional Dr. Stephen Maturin was also a scientist and naturalist.
Most of the crew slept below the gun deck in hammocks. Tightly-packed swinging hammocks figured memorably in the visuals of the movie Master and Commander.
Ship’s Biscuit, also known as Hard Tack, was easy to make and preserve, and became part of the staple diet for British and Spanish mariners on their long voyages in the Pacific.
Chickens, geese and ducks were carried on board as live food. Officers enjoyed eggs. Fresh meat was reserved for the officers and those sick with scurvy.
A remote station used for steering the ship when she is propelled by her twin diesel engines. In 2007, HMS Surprise was restored to sailing condition.
One of several photos on display from the movie Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. Famous actor Russell Crowe played the role of Captain Jack Aubrey.
Distinctive figurehead representing the Greek goddess Athena often seen in the popular movie. It now graces San Diego’s waterfront.
Photograph of the HMS Surprise as evening approaches. One of many wonderful ships that visitors can board at the Maritime Museum of San Diego.
A new exhibit called Man-of-War opened on HMS Surprise in May, 2018. There are many new signs around the ship, and the captain’s great cabin is now open to the public. (I intend to blog about the great cabin separately.)
Here are additional photos. Read the captions for explanations about life aboard British fighting ships from that fascinating era.
A new exhibit called Man-of-War aboard the HMS Surprise features new signs describing life aboard an 18th century British frigate. Prepare for Battle!
The ship was built as replica of the HMS Rose in 1970. It was purchased by Twentieth Century Fox to be used in the movie Master and Commander, starring Russell Crowe, and was subsequently renamed HMS Surprise.
Following maritime tradition, the ship has retained its original bell.
Looking at the newly redecked quarterdeck of the HMS Surprise. The rest of the main deck will be restored as well.
An officer on the quarterdeck would issue commands to the sailor manning the wheel, which controlled the rudder at the ship’s stern.
The Disney Wonder cruise ship is seen docked in San Diego beyond the capstan. HMS Surprise was used in the filming of Disney’s movie Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.
Many hands turned the capstan to raise or lower the anchor.
Ordinary sailors relieved themselves at the ship’s bow. Hence the name head.
This was a sailor’s bathroom!
A man-of-war could remain at sea for many months and travel more than 150 miles per day.
On the gun deck of HMS Surprise, replica twenty-four-pound cannons have names like Spit Fire, Beelzebub and Bulldog. Larger than what a frigate would carry, these were used for dramatic effect in the movie.
A display demonstrates aspects of a warship’s gun and its operation.
Diagram depicts how a six-man gun crew would load, aim and fire different types of shot.
Sailors lived in their own specialized world, with familiar customs, rules, routines and expectations.
The complex often stressful operation of a man-of-war required strict discipline. Punishments included flogging and gagging.
The English diet at sea was rather simple and predictable. Lots of biscuit, beer, pease, oatmeal and butter. Pork and cheese, too.
Cooking in the galley was done in calm weather. The Brodie Stove was designed for use on crowded wooden ships where dangerous fire must be avoided at all costs.
A rat has found its way into a ship’s food barrel.
The Royal Navy issued hard biscuits made of flour and water that were stored in sacks for months at a time. Weevils and maggots were a constant problem.
Costume worn by character Midshipman Lord William Blakeney in the movie Master and Commander.
Unlike the captain who in his great cabin as a gentleman lived in comparative luxury, lesser officers, like the crew, made due with cramped quarters.
Midshipmen who sought to become officers learned seamanship and navigation. They had to master many skills required to operate and command a ship.
Instruments used to navigate a ship included the octant and sand glass.
The doctor’s quarters on the HMS Surprise. A photo shows actor Paul Bettany as the film’s character Dr. Stephen Maturin.
Hammocks were often used by sailors to store clothing and personal items.
A suspended mess table where sailors would eat together next to a hammock on the gun deck of museum ship HMS Surprise.
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Posted on December 25, 2015 June 11, 2018 Author Richard SchulteTags downtown, embarcadero, film, history, maritime museum, movies, museums, sailing, san diego, san diego bay, ships, tall ships, tourism, travel
14 thoughts on “Photos aboard Master and Commander’s HMS Surprise.”
photobyjohnbo says:
A great collection of photos. Makes me sorry I missed this place when we were in San Diego a few weeks ago. I now have my excuse to head back there sometime soon!
Richard Schulte says:
Not only can one visit lots of ships, boats and submarines at the Maritime Museum of San Diego, but one can take a tour of the harbor on their historical pilot boat, or a tour of San Diego’s modern Navy ships down in the South Bay on their restored Swift Boat! If you’re into nautical stuff, you could spend a couple hours easily. The USS Midway Museum is also super cool!
Paul Bowler says:
Wow, what a brilliant ship to visit and look around. Great photos as well, its like stepping back in time!
Did you see the movie from a few years back?
Yes I did, that’s why this post caught my eye. I love old ships as well and all the history about them.
I’ve got the DVD on my shelf. I suppose I’ve now got to watch Master and Commander once again!
Its a great film, I’ve got it on DVD as well. Yes, I agree, certainly a good time to watch it again :o)
Hey, Paul–have a great New Year!
Thank you Richard! All the best for 2016!
belshade says:
Always take the opportunity of exploring those old ships when it arises. You have captured a real time capsule. Des.
I’ll be exploring them frequently!
Greetings of Happy New Year 2016 to you and your family from Penang, Malaysia.
Happy New Year! I hope all is well with you!
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Sarah Marsh
Ph.D. Candidate, Theater History and Dramatic Criticism, University of Washington, 2008
M.A. w. Merit, Text and Performance, King's College, London in association with the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, 2002
B.A., Drama--Technical Theater, San Francisco State University, 1996
smarsh6258@gmail.com
Dramaturgy
Theory/Criticism
Professional Affiliations:
American Society for Theater Research, Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas
Representative Research
Sarah Marsh. "Never Mere Observation: Performance, Technology, and the Act of Looking." Diss. U of Washington, 2017.
Adviser: Scott Magelssen
Representative Conferences
"Awe and Wonder Putting on a Show: The Anitkythera Mechanism and the Look of the 1st Century B.C.E.," Mid-America Theatre Conference 2014, History Symposium #18.
"'The Most Famous Man in the U.S. Meets the Most Famous Woman in France': Thomas Edison, Sarah Bernhardt and the Birth of Motion Pictures," You Are Here: The Post-Thematic Conference, The American Society for Theatre Research, November 2013.
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30 years of the world wide web
Original header photo by Robert Smith
Today the world marks the 30th birthday of the web. I could have said ‘celebrates’ instead of ‘marks’. But despite — or perhaps because of — the fact that it’s the most revolutionary advance in communications of our lifetime, the mood seems reflective rather than celebratory.
Tim Berners-Lee’s reflections
According to Alex Hern at the Guardian, Tim Berners-Lee has been reflecting on how early decisions about how the web was built assumed benevolence.
It is a minor regret, but one he has had for years about the way he decided to “bootstrap” the web up to something that could handle a lot of users very quickly: by building on the pre-existing service for assigning internet addresses, the domain name system (DNS), he gave up the chance to build something better. “You wanted a name for your website, you’d go and ask [American computer scientist] Jon Postel, you know, back in the day, and he would give you a name.
“At the time that seemed like a good idea, but it relied on it being managed benevolently.”
Today, Tim Berners-Lee has outlined three sources of dysfunction affecting the web. The third of those is:
Unintended negative consequences of benevolent design, such as the outraged and polarised tone and quality of online discourse.
Two years ago I made a similar point about how Facebook and Twitter have been too slow to see the flaws in their designs. They failed to foresee that people could have bad intentions.
Like the mid-century architect, Minoru Yamasaki, who designed a disastrous crime-ridden social housing complex: “I never thought people were that destructive.”
Tim Berners-Lee appears to feel a similar regret.
What changed
The first 20 or so years of the web appeared to be almost entirely positive. The last 10 or so years have been more difficult.
Early adopters of the web were largely benevolent idealists. It was the web that saw the Telegraph offer its news content for free; the web that created Wikipedia; the web that enabled the blogosphere to flourish. Early web enthusiasts wanted to share and spread information to improve the world.
As the web has become more ubiquitous, those people with good intentions have become smaller in proportion. As well as benevolence, it also reflects the worst aspects of human nature. Now it’s the web of privacy-invading advertising; the web of fake news; the web of Facebook.
Rebuilding the first web browser
Some of the good eggs have been recreating the experience of the first ever web browser, WorldWideWeb.
I’ve enjoyed reading Jeremy Keith’s perspective on his involvement in the project — you can sense his excitement jumping off the page.
The project’s website contains an interesting history of the web. It’s funny to think, but the web is now really old. The timeline, which has the creation of the web as its centre point, extends back to 1959. It’s old.
(Speaking as someone who’s a few years older than the web, I can confirm that soon the web will have hair growing from some pretty strange places.)
Avoiding the rose-tinted glasses
Sometimes I have a tendency still to think of the web as an exciting, modern invention. I’m a little biased perhaps. I think the web gave me everything. My blog was my platform as a teenager. I made a career out of running websites.
More recently, this has made me look back — perhaps with rose-tinted glasses — on the good old days of the web. The days when everything was better. When it was all open and free (as in speech) and free (as in beer).
But it’s no longer realistic to expect news websites to offer their content for free, without negative consequences. We’ve learned that if a service is free, the true cost is probably your data. We can’t just expect people to play nicely on the web.
Those idealistic times are long gone. After 30 years, the world has moved on. There is no point in wishing away the web’s wrong turns.
There have probably been many innovations that seemed like a brave new world, only to eventually go wrong. The choice we face now is whether we allow it to go horribly wrong, or perhaps to compromise on some of that original vision to ensure it remains as positive as possible.
Tim Berners-Lee’s article offers a way forward.
Happy birthday, world wide web. I hope we’ll still be saying good things about you in 2049.
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2012 R 1h 52m Blu-ray / DVD
Pierce Brosnan stars in this romantic comedy about several people in Sorrento, Italy, searching for love and dealing with jealousy, passion, romance and loneliness as they struggle to change their lives for the better.
Trine Dyrholm, Pierce Brosnan, Kim Bodnia, Paprika Steen, Sebastian Jessen, Christiane Schaumburg-Müller, Bodil Jørgensen
Susanne Bier
Comedy, Romantic Comedies, Romantic Dramas, Foreign Comedies
Blu-ray• DVD
Danish: Dolby Digital 5.1
R - Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian. Contains some adult material. Parents are urged to learn more about the film before taking their young children with them.
Parents need to know that Love Is All You Need is a dramedy about love and marriage that mixes sadder moments with light ones. For a romcom of sorts, it takes on some heavy themes -- including mortality, death, infidelity, and sexual identity -- that are a better fit for older teens and adults. Some scenes feature partial nudity (a woman walks in on her husband in a sexually compromising position with his female colleague, and the colleague is naked from the waist down, with her rear end visible), opposite-sex and same-sex characters kiss, there's some drinking (including to drunkenness), and characters swear ("s--t," "damn," etc.) in both Danish and English.
A brief scene shows a wife finding her husband in the middle of a sex act with another woman. The mistress is nude from the waist down, and her behind is visible. In another scene, a woman is shown swimming naked in the sea. Couples (men and women; two men) are shown kissing.
A young man takes a swing at his father in anger over his mother's mistreatment.
Some use of "s--t" and "damn," mostly in Danish. (The movie is in both English and Danish.)
Sometimes, people find each other at the exact moment they need each other. Also, kindness, honesty, and patience rule when it comes to relationships.
Social drinking (mostly wine) by adults at parties and gatherings. Some guests become very inebriated.
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Home Economy Come Back, Ross Perot!
Come Back, Ross Perot!
In 2008, the mother of one of my best friends died. I flew to Dallas, Texas, to attend the funeral, and found my way to the chapel at the funeral home. After I sat down, an older gentleman and a middle-aged woman sat behind me. Soon after that, a woman came out to sing a hymn. When she finished, the man behind me said, “That was real nice. She’s got a real nice voice. But the music was too loud! I couldn’t hear her that good.”
The voice was unmistakable. It belonged to H. Ross Perot.
My friend’s brother-in-law worked for Perot for decades. In fact, the brother-in-law made all the flip charts that became part of the great Texan’s lore. I listened to Perot’s occasional commentary through the funeral, and then afterwards watched him drive himself away… in a Ford Crown Victoria.
He always drove a General Motors car, until the debacle of selling his company to GM, then buying it back. Then he swore he’d never drive another GM.
I’d love to see a person like Perot on the political scene today. He was quirky, but you didn’t have to guess where he stood. Fiscal discipline, good jobs, personal responsibility. But don’t call him a conservative… or a liberal.
He hated NAFTA, calling it a job-sucking program that would move industry south of the border. Clearly that happened, but on the flip side, Americans enjoyed much cheaper goods. Is it worth it? That argument is as old as Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations, and still hasn’t been answered. If I’m buying a car made in Mexico, I’m glad it cost 25% less than it would if it had been made in the U.S. If I worked for Whirlpool, I’m not happy to see my good-paying job leave the country.
Perot was reluctantly pro-choice. He called for Medicare for All. He wanted to greatly expand education, lengthening the school year from 180 days to 210, and absolutely disallowing any student from playing any sport if they didn’t have passing grades. Remember, he was living in Dallas, Texas… sort of the high school football epicenter of the universe. These were fighting words!
He wanted merit pay for teachers and term limits for Congress based on performance. Perot called for ending government pork and reducing staff.
Of course, he also wanted to ban the Electoral College, put disadvantaged kids in government-funded homes, and institute a $0.50 per gallon tax to pay off the federal deficit. Not every idea he had was a winner, and not every strategy would work. He famously said that we could wait out China because their leaders were very old, implying that the nation would turn more democratic as the leadership passed.
But the man was so genuine as to be magnetic!
After two of his executives were falsely accused of bribery in Iran just before the revolution, Perot put together a strike team to break them out of the prison. It worked, and author Ken Follett wrote a best-selling book about it that was made into a film, On Eagle’s Wings. Perot also told employees that, at his company, adultery was grounds for immediate dismissal.
Now, as in 1992, I can’t imagine a Ross Perot character winning a presidential election. They would be too realistic in their projections, calling for the nation to make sacrifices to achieve what we claim are our goals – reducing debt, caring for the needy, providing basic health services for all, and improving education.
But if we could get more Perots, both men and women, to make their voices heard… perhaps we can at least bend the political curve that seems to point our deficits to the sky without commensurate progress.
At least we might get Congressional term limits.
As we say goodbye to Ross Perot – the short, successful man with big ideas – I’ll leave you with a few of his best quotes:
The activist is not the man who says the river is dirty. The activist is the man who cleans up the river.
Which one of these three candidates would you want your daughter to marry?
When you see a snake, kill the snake. Don’t appoint a committee on snakes.
Here’s to hoping that the political leaders of tomorrow channel their inner Ross Perot and kill a lot more snakes, rather than simply appointing more committees.
But I’m not holding my breath.
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Demi Lardner: I Love Skeleton
Arusa Qureshi
Boundless energy bails out unsatisfying segments
When you walk into a venue and the performer has a lampshade on their head, you might be able to predict the kind of show you'll be getting. But Demi Lardner's I Love Skeleton is a totally bizarre yet entertaining insight into the world of a comic whose erratic ideas fall in line with the kind of humour that matches that of the YouTube generation.
Despite there appearing to be no real plot during Lardner's set, the free-flowing nature of her surreal sketches are carefully planned, with a mix of short skits and absurd audience participation drawing everyone in for the full 45 minutes. She has a list written out on a giant roll of paper to her left, which spells out her numerous award wins from Sydney, Melbourne and more, that she knowingly points to at moments of total incoherence.
She's certainly an endearing performer but some bits are unsatisfying in their realisation, taking away from Lardner's boundless energy on stage. But despite this, her seamless switching between lip-synced sections and short fragments of conversation, along with her innovative use of the room provide plenty of amusing distractions as the show moves ahead at full speed.
Assembly George Square Studios, until 26 Aug, 8.05pm, £10–£11 (£9–£10).
Laughing Stock Productions Winner – Pinder Prize, 2018 Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Winner – Directors' Choice Award, 2017 Melbourne Comedy Festival. Winner – Best Newcomer Award, 2016 Sydney Comedy Festival. Winner – So You Think You're Funny? 2013 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Demi Lardner is the primary…
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Physical Geography During the Battle of Lexington & Concord
Written by Maria Magher
1 Two Things the Colonists Learned From the French and Indian War
2 The History of Mount Washington, Kentucky During the Civil War
3 The History of the Monarchy Government
4 Military Geography of the Normandy Invasion
The battles of Lexington and Concord ignited the Revolutionary War. After the British arrived in Boston, they set out on a course toward Concord, Massachusetts, to capture rebel leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock and destroy the colonists' supply of weapons and ammunition. Their first stop was in Lexington, where the battle on April 19, 1775, started the war. Geography helped the colonists gain an advantage over the British and built confidence in their fighting ability.
Inland Fight
Throughout the Revolutionary War, the British proved to be most successful in battles fought near the shoreline, with their naval prowess giving them a tactical advantage. However, the battles of Lexington and Concord were fought farther inland. British troops marched from Boston, which is about 14 miles and 20 miles from Lexington and Concord, respectively. While it may not seem like a great distance, it put additional strain on an army made mostly of foot soldiers and created significant distance between the British troops and their reinforcements and supplies.
Dispersed Villages
Fertile land and natural resources were readily available throughout the country, which allowed the American colonies to build towns and villages far from each other rather than in urban clusters. The widely dispersed villages meant that colonists at Lexington were warned of the advancing British troops long before they arrived. Men on horseback, such as Paul Revere, carried the news to the colonists, who were able to quickly assemble a small group of soldiers who could fight with little notice. News then spread from village to village as the British continued past Lexington. The dispersed villages also made it impossible for the British to mount a concentrated attack.
Land and Water
The Concord River runs through Concord, and it provided the colonists with a tactical advantage. When the British troops arrived at Concord, the colonists were waiting on the high ground on the other side of the North Bridge, watching the British troops' movements. The colonists' hidden position allowed them to conceal their numbers while they waited for more militia members to join them. They then mounted their attack on the British on the North Bridge, pushing the British back to Boston.
Long Retreat to Boston
When the British retreated to Boston, they had about 20 miles to go. The colonists followed the British, continuing to attack troops and diminish their forces. The colonists were on their home turf. While the British forces weakened with each mile, the colonists' forces grew stronger as more militia members joined their ranks. By the time the British returned to Boston, they had lost 73 men, and 174 were wounded. The colonists suffered 49 deaths, and 39 troops were wounded.
Library of Congress: The American Revolution, 1763-1783
History: Battles of Lexington and Concord
History: Battles of Lexington and Concord -- Videos
Boston Tea Party Ship and Museum: The Aftermath of Lexington and Concord
The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History: The Battles of Lexington and Concord, 1775
U.S. History: Lexington and Concord
Maria Magher has been working as a professional writer since 2001. She has worked as an ESL teacher, a freshman composition teacher and an education reporter, writing for regional newspapers and online publications. She has written about parenting for Pampers and other websites. She has a Master's degree in English and creative writing.
What Ways Did the French & Indian War Alter the Economic Situation?
What Is the Connection Between the French Revolution and the Independence of Mexico?
What Helped Cause the Conflict of WW2?
How Did Geography Help Rome Rise to Power?
What Was the Effect of the Spanish on the Aztec Empire?
Ways in Which Geography Impacted Rome's Development
What Influence Did the French Revolution Have on Napoleon's Rise to Power?
What Were the Most Important Factors in Explaining the Spanish Victory Over the Aztecs & Incas?
How Did Mesopotamia's Geography Lead to Its Development?
What Symbolism Is There on the Iwo Jima Memorial?
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On 1 January 2016, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development — adopted by world leaders in September 2015 at an historic UN Summit — officially came into force. Over the next fifteen years, with these new Goals that universally apply to all, countries will mobilize efforts to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities and tackle climate change, while ensuring that no one is left behind.
The SDGs build on the success of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and aim to go further to end all forms of poverty. The new Goals are unique in that they call for action by all countries, poor, rich and middle-income to promote prosperity while protecting the planet. They recognize that ending poverty must go hand-in-hand with strategies that build economic growth and addresses a range of social needs including education, health, social protection, and job opportunities, while tackling climate change and environmental protection.
While the SDGs are not legally binding, governments are expected to take ownership and establish national frameworks for the achievement of the 17 Goals. Countries have the primary responsibility for follow-up and review of the progress made in implementing the Goals, which will require quality, accessible and timely data collection. Regional follow-up and review will be based on national-level analyses and contribute to follow-up and review at the global level. Read More >
The 17 SDGs
Extreme poverty rates have been cut by more than half since 1990. While this is a remarkable achievement, one in five people in developing regions still live on less than $1.25 a day, and there are millions more who make little more than this daily amount, plus many people risk slipping back into poverty.
Poverty is more than the lack of income and resources to ensure a sustainable livelihood. Its manifestations include hunger and malnutrition, limited access to education and other basic services, social discrimination and exclusion as well as the lack of participation in decision-making. Economic growth must be inclusive to provide sustainable jobs and promote equality. Read More >
It is time to rethink how we grow, share and consume our food. If done right, agriculture, forestry and fisheries can provide nutritious food for all and generate decent incomes, while supporting people-centred rural development and protecting the environment.
Right now, our soils, freshwater, oceans, forests and biodiversity are being rapidly degraded. Climate change is putting even more pressure on the resources we depend on, increasing risks associated with disasters such as droughts and floods. Many rural women and men can no longer make ends meet on their land, forcing them to migrate to cities in search of opportunities. A profound change of the global food and agriculture system is needed if we are to nourish today’s 795 million hungry and the additional 2 billion people expected by 2050. The food and agriculture sector offers key solutions for development, and is central for hunger and poverty eradication. Read More >
Ensuring healthy lives and promoting the well-being for all at all ages is essential to sustainable development. Significant strides have been made in increasing life expectancy and reducing some of the common killers associated with child and maternal mortality. Major progress has been made on increasing access to clean water and sanitation, reducing malaria, tuberculosis, polio and the spread of HIV/AIDS. However, many more efforts are needed to fully eradicate a wide range of diseases and address many different persistent and emerging health issues. Read More >
Obtaining a quality education is the foundation to improving people’s lives and sustainable development. Major progress has been made towards increasing access to education at all levels and increasing enrolment rates in schools particularly for women and girls. Basic literacy skills have improved tremendously, yet bolder efforts are needed to make even greater strides for achieving universal education goals. For example, the world has achieved equality in primary education between girls and boys, but few countries have achieved that target at all levels of education. Read More >
While the world has achieved progress towards gender equality and women’s empowerment under the Millennium Development Goals (including equal access to primary education between girls and boys), women and girls continue to suffer discrimination and violence in every part of the world.
Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world. Providing women and girls with equal access to education, health care, decent work, and representation in political and economic decision-making processes will fuel sustainable economies and benefit societies and humanity at large. Read More >
Clean, accessible water for all is an essential part of the world we want to live in. There is sufficient fresh water on the planet to achieve this. But due to bad economics or poor infrastructure, every year millions of people, most of them children, die from diseases associated with inadequate water supply, sanitation and hygiene.
Water scarcity, poor water quality and inadequate sanitation negatively impact food security, livelihood choices and educational opportunities for poor families across the world. Drought afflicts some of the world’s poorest countries, worsening hunger and malnutrition.
By 2050, at least one in four people is likely to live in a country affected by chronic or recurring shortages of fresh water. Read More >
Energy is central to nearly every major challenge and opportunity the world faces today. Be it for jobs, security, climate change, food production or increasing incomes, access to energy for all is essential.
Sustainable energy is opportunity – it transforms lives, economies and the planet. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is leading a Sustainable Energy for All initiative to ensure universal access to modern energy services, improve efficiency and increase use of renewable sources. Read More >
Roughly half the world’s population still lives on the equivalent of about US$2 a day. And in too many places, having a job doesn’t guarantee the ability to escape from poverty. This slow and uneven progress requires us to rethink and retool our economic and social policies aimed at eradicating poverty.
A continued lack of decent work opportunities, insufficient investments and under-consumption lead to an erosion of the basic social contract underlying democratic societies: that all must share in progress. . The creation of quality jobs will remain a major challenge for almost all economies well beyond 2015.
Sustainable economic growth will require societies to create the conditions that allow people to have quality jobs that stimulate the economy while not harming the environment. Job opportunities and decent working conditions are also required for the whole working age population. Read More >
Investments in infrastructure – transport, irrigation, energy and information and communication technology – are crucial to achieving sustainable development and empowering communities in many countries. It has long been recognized that growth in productivity and incomes, and improvements in health and education outcomes require investment in infrastructure.
Inclusive and sustainable industrial development is the primary source of income generation, allows for rapid and sustained increases in living standards for all people, and provides the technological solutions to environmentally sound industrialization.
Technological progress is the foundation of efforts to achieve environmental objectives, such as increased resource and energy-efficiency. Without technology and innovation, industrialization will not happen, and without industrialization, development will not happen. Read More >
The international community has made significant strides towards lifting people out of poverty. The most vulnerable nations – the least developed countries, the landlocked developing countries and the small island developing states – continue to make inroads into poverty reduction. However, inequality still persists and large disparities remain in access to health and education services and other assets.
Additionally, while income inequality between countries may have been reduced, inequality within countries has risen. There is growing consensus that economic growth is not sufficient to reduce poverty if it is not inclusive and if it does not involve the three dimensions of sustainable development – economic, social and environmental. To reduce inequality, policies should be universal in principle paying attention to the needs of disadvantaged and marginalized populations. Read More >
Cities are hubs for ideas, commerce, culture, science, productivity, social development and much more. At their best, cities have enabled people to advance socially and economically.
However, many challenges exist to maintaining cities in a way that continues to create jobs and prosperity while not straining land and resources. Common urban challenges include congestion, lack of funds to provide basic services, a shortage of adequate housing and declining infrastructure.
The challenges cities face can be overcome in ways that allow them to continue to thrive and grow, while improving resource use and reducing pollution and poverty. The future we want includes cities of opportunities for all, with access to basic services, energy, housing, transportation and more. Read More >
Sustainable consumption and production is about promoting resource and energy efficiency, sustainable infrastructure, and providing access to basic services, green and decent jobs and a better quality of life for all. Its implementation helps to achieve overall development plans, reduce future economic, environmental and social costs, strengthen economic competitiveness and reduce poverty.
Sustainable consumption and production aims at “doing more and better with less,” increasing net welfare gains from economic activities by reducing resource use, degradation and pollution along the whole lifecycle, while increasing quality of life. It involves different stakeholders, including business, consumers, policy makers, researchers, scientists, retailers, media, and development cooperation agencies, among others.
It also requires a systemic approach and cooperation among actors operating in the supply chain, from producer to final consumer. It involves engaging consumers through awareness-raising and education on sustainable consumption and lifestyles, providing consumers with adequate information through standards and labels and engaging in sustainable public procurement, among others. Read More >
Climate change is now affecting every country on every continent. It is disrupting national economies and affecting lives, costing people, communities and countries dearly today and even more tomorrow.
People are experiencing the significant impacts of climate change, which include changing weather patterns, rising sea level, and more extreme weather events. The greenhouse gas emissions from human activities are driving climate change and continue to rise. They are now at their highest levels in history. Without action, the world’s average surface temperature is projected to rise over the 21st century and is likely to surpass 3 degrees Celsius this century—with some areas of the world expected to warm even more. The poorest and most vulnerable people are being affected the most.
Affordable, scalable solutions are now available to enable countries to leapfrog to cleaner, more resilient economies. The pace of change is quickening as more people are turning to renewable energy and a range of other measures that will reduce emissions and increase adaptation efforts. But climate change is a global challenge that does not respect national borders. Emissions anywhere affect people everywhere. It is an issue that requires solutions that need to be coordinated at the international level and it requires international cooperation to help developing countries move toward a low-carbon economy.
To address climate change, countries adopted the Paris Agreement at the COP21 in Paris on 12 December 2015. In the agreement, all countries agreed to work to limit global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius, and given the grave risks, to strive for 1.5 degrees Celsius. You can learn more about the agreement here. Read More >
The world’s oceans – their temperature, chemistry, currents and life – drive global systems that make the Earth habitable for humankind.
Our rainwater, drinking water, weather, climate, coastlines, much of our food, and even the oxygen in the air we breathe, are all ultimately provided and regulated by the sea. Throughout history, oceans and seas have been vital conduits for trade and transportation. Careful management of this essential global resource is a key feature of a sustainable future. Read More >
Forests cover 30 per cent of the Earth’s surface and in addition to providing food security and shelter, forests are key to combating climate change, protecting biodiversity and the homes of the indigenous population. Thirteen million hectares of forests are being lost every year while the persistent degradation of drylands has led to the desertification of 3.6 billion hectares.
Deforestation and desertification – caused by human activities and climate change – pose major challenges to sustainable development and have affected the lives and livelihoods of millions of people in the fight against poverty. Efforts are being made to manage forests and combat desertification. Read More >
Goal 16 of the Sustainable Development Goals is dedicated to the promotion of peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, the provision of access to justice for all, and building effective, accountable institutions at all levels. Read More >
A successful sustainable development agenda requires partnerships between governments, the private sector and civil society. These inclusive partnerships built upon principles and values, a shared vision, and shared goals that place people and the planet at the centre, are needed at the global, regional, national and local level.
Urgent action is needed to mobilize, redirect and unlock the transformative power of trillions of dollars of private resources to deliver on sustainable development objectives. Long-term investments, including foreign direct investment, are needed in critical sectors, especially in developing countries. These include sustainable energy, infrastructure and transport, as well as information and communications technologies. The public sector will need to set a clear direction. Review and monitoring frameworks, regulations and incentive structures that enable such investments must be retooled to attract investments and reinforce sustainable development. National oversight mechanisms such as supreme audit institutions and oversight functions by legislatures should be strengthened. Read More >
For more information about SDGS, visit SGDs official webpage!
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Modi's well-timed wade into the waters of West Asia
Global Indian
Wednesday 21 February 2018 11:25 AM IST
by TP Sreenivasan
Prime minister Narendra Modi waves the Indian community people, at iconic Dubai Opera in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: File photo
For prime minister Narendra Modi, no single journey has been so rich in symbolism and practical wisdom as his four-day trip to the four Islamic countries.
The sight of him traveling in a Jordanian helicopter to Palestine with Israeli air escort has been called 'history in the making' even by the usually matter-of-fact spokesman of the ministry of external affairs.
His visit to Ramallah took place within weeks of the triumphant visit to India by the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which was, by his own admission, part of his quest for political power by winning strong friends.
Although Pandit Nehru had visited the Palestinian territory, it was before Palestine was recognized as a state in 1988. So, PM Modi’s claim to became the first Indian prime minister to visit Palestine cannot be refuted.
Although the speech that PM made in Ramallah fell short of restating the traditional Indian position that Israel should withdraw to its 1967 borders and East Jerusalem should be the capital of Palestine, his words in support of an independent Palestinian state were categorical enough to deserve the highest Palestinian honor conferred upon him.
The real significance of the visit is that it has happened at a time when the entire West Asia is churning in volatility.
Not to be deterred by the advice of caution, PM Modi took the bull by the horns, causing speculation that he could play the role of the peacemaker in place of President Trump, who has burnt his boats with the Arab world by declaring Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Despite the progress, the permanent members of the Security Council would never concede their prerogative for peacemaking in West Asia and president Trump still holds the key to the negotiations his son-in-law is pursuing in collaboration with Saudi Arabia, clearly in Israel’s interests.
The present configuration of relations in West Asia does not permit a fair peace process. But India being considered a possibility for the role is significant in itself.
India has not given any indication of its initiatives, though its balanced and realistic position on Palestine has attracted attention. Indian assistance to Palestine, announced in the wake of the US threat to cut off aide to it, thus has more than symbolic value.
Trade pacts
The PM’s visit to the UAE had special significance in more ways than one.
According to a local political analyst, “the last three years of political engagement between the UAE and India has resulted in an upswing of multi-dimensional strategic collaboration. If the past was about oil, trade and expatriates, the present is about food security for oil security, defence and maritime cooperation and teamwork in frontier science etc.
“ The future could well be about converting bilateral ties into multilateral cooperation. Further, Modi hosting the Israeli leadership in New Delhi and visiting Palestine just ahead of the UAE tour reflects the versatility of the Indian foreign policy, which seeks to balance competing and sometimes contradictory, interests.”
The World Government Summit in Dubai and the 'bhumi pujan' for the first Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi were significant enough to determine the time of the UAE visit, but the UAE-India Strategic Dialogue under the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement was at the center of the visit as the comprehensive Joint Declaration revealed.
It covered extremism and terrorism, security, defence and space cooperation, energy and climate change, people and skill development, culture, education and tourism and international and regional cooperation. India’s concerns about the export of terrorism from one state to another and safe havens found a prominent mention in the Declaration.
It also enigmatically deplored 'the efforts by countries to give religious and sectarian color to political issues.'
This could apply to several sensitive areas.
The real highlights of the visit were outlined by the Indian Ambassador to the UAE, Navdeep Suri, in a Facebook post.
'Every PM visit is accompanied by the usual slew of agreements and MoUs. We had two that, sort of, stood out. We got our first oil concession in the Gulf. An OVL led consortium got a 10 per cent stake out of the 40 per cent available in the Lower Zakum field. In a rich, producing field, it translates into roughly 2.2 million tonnes of crude per year for the next 40 years. And we also sealed, finally, the strategic petroleum reserve agreement, which means that we should soon have 6 million barrels of UAE crude in our caverns in Mangalore. The second one is smaller but significant in its own way. DP World will set up a major inland container terminal in J&K. Apart from the obvious benefit of improving logistics connectivity for J&K, the message from a UAE investment into J&K is significant.'
To this could be added a historic agreement which will enable businesses on both sides to bypass the US dollar or any other foreign currency and trade directly in UAE Dirhams and the Indian rupee. The agreement will mean large savings for business communities on both sides as trade between the UAE and India soars to new hieghts.
Clearly, the UAE visit showed that the trajectory of relations between India and the UAE, marked by frequent high level visits, was assuming the nature of a model for countries with different beliefs and political systems, caught in today's tumultuous world order.
The complementarities between them transcend religion, regional commitments and other traditional relationships.
It holds the potential for creating bonds among countries which wish to keep out of the emerging Cold War and build beneficial partnerships.
All the way to Oman
The Oman visit, too, had its importance because the special ties with the Arab nation preceded the new links with the UAE.
The wide-ranging discussions covered measures to strengthen cooperation in trade and investment, energy, defence, security, food security and regional issues.
India and Oman signed eight agreements, related to defence, health and tourism. PM Modi addressed nearly 20,000 Indian expatriates in Oman.
During his address, he criticized the previous Congress governments saying India's image had suffered due to scams and that his government worked hard to change the 'style of misgovernance'. PM Modi said that ties between India and Oman remained strong and that the Indian community in Oman played a key role in strengthening the ties. He visited the 125-year-old Hindu temple and the Grand Mosque in Muscat.
The highlight of the trip was the pact signed between the two countries during Modi’s visit, which will give India a foothold in its extended neighborhood.
The Duqm port will act as India’s entry point to wider West Asia and Eastern Africa, a welcome development at a time when China has deployed strategic assets in the Indian Ocean Region.
Though the visit to Jordan was in transit, PM Modi was warmly welcomed.
Jordan is key to the peace process in West Asia and PM Modi did well to establish connections with Jordan at this time.
Prime minister Modi has often been accused of turning his foreign visits into glittering stage shows that lack substance. But his visit to West Asia was well-timed, well-planned and executed with finesse.
His 'hugplomacy' happened to be in harmony with the Arab tradition, unlike in some other cultures, where it had appeared inappropriate. In symbol and substance, the visits to West Asia turned out to be worth the money and the effort.
(The writer is a former diplomat and the deputy chief of the council for higher education in Kerala.)
Read more from the exclusive T P Sreenivasan column | Indian dilemma in Maldives
Modi breaks the barrier to elevate Jaishankar
Modi to tweak foreign policy as bids hit a dead end so far
Cloud over H1-B visa at Modi-Trump meet has a silver lining
Modi-Trump meet: Indian diaspora's 'soft power' can help turn the tables
Trappings of power may go, but beacons of inequality won't
Tags: Narendra Modi Narendra Modi United Arab Emirates Oman
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How is a Child's Preference and Choice in Custody Determined?
Does a child get to decide with what parent he or she lives?
How is a Child’s Preference and Choice in Custody Determined?
How does a child's preference to live with a parent affect a child custody case?
A child’s preference in custody includes the following:
With whom the child chooses to live,
How the child can state that choice, and
When (at what age) the child can make the choice.
A child's choice in California child custody cases has evolved
There was a time when a child’s choice was a non-factor until the child reached his or her late teenage years.
However, child custody laws in California became more progressive. The legislature passed Family Code 3042 and its companion in California Rules of Court 5.250. Children then gained a voice to express their custody preference today unlike ever before.
In this article, we will discuss a child’s preference in custody, how a child chooses with which parent to live and when the child can make such a choice.
A child’s preference in custody and Family Code 3042
California Family Code 3042, subsections (a) through (d) specifically state:
"(a) If a child is of sufficient age and capacity to reason so as to form an intelligent preference as to custody or visitation, the court shall consider, and give due weight to, the wishes of the child in making an order granting or modifying custody or visitation.
(b) In addition to the requirements of subdivision (b) of Section 765 of the Evidence Code, the court shall control the examination of a child witness so as to protect the best interests of the child.
(c) If the child is 14 years of age or older and wishes to address the court regarding custody or visitation, the child shall be permitted to do so, unless the court determines that doing so is not in the child’s best interests. In that case, the court shall state
its reasons for that finding on the record.
(d) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to prevent a child who is less than 14 years of age from addressing the court regarding custody or visitation, if the court determines that is appropriate pursuant to the child’s best interests."
A child’s preference in custody for children age 14 and older
The court must listen to a child who is 14 years or older unless the court determines that it is not in the child’s best interest to do so. When a child is under the age of 14, the court must first determine whether or not it is in the child’s best interest to listen to him or her.
There is no magical significance to the age of 14. The California legislature believes the child has enough emotional maturity and capacity to reason and articulate relevant and appropriate reasons for a preference.
For those of you that have teenage children, this may surprise you. This is also the age children go through some emotional turmoil as they find their place in the world. It is not unusual for a child at this page to engage in rebellion. They may even use the “preference” option as a means to escape discipline. Before you fret too much, keep reading.
A child’s preference in custody does not rule the day in family court
Do not assume a child’s preference, regardless of the age, will carry the day in court. Family law judges have the discretion to listen to a child’s preference but not necessarily follow every aspect of it.
The court is not required to follow the child’s preference if the court believes the choice is not sincere and a means to play one parent against the other.
Even in the context of a sincere choice and good reasons for a change, the court may not cut off all visitation even if the child requests it.
What if a child comes to court and states a preference to be in the sole custody of one parent and not see the other? The family court has wide discretion to still order visitation with the other parent. The family court can require court ordered counseling, reunification and other remedial measures to restore the relationship between the child and the parent the child no longer wishes to visit.
How does a child voice his or her choice?
Some family law judges choose a direct approach and hear from a child directly in chambers or in open court. In such situations, the Family Code and the California Rules of Court give the court the following options to consider:
The location of the testimony, including the option of closing the courtroom to the public or hearing the testimony in chambers.
Whether the parents, attorneys or neither of them should be present when the court takes the child’s testimony.
Regardless, it is almost assured a court reporter will be present and take down the testimony so there is a record of it.
The court can allow for a listening device for the benefit of the parents and the lawyers if neither are present when the child testifies.
The manner in which the child will be questioned. This includes whether it will just be the judge or whether the lawyers or the parents will question the child. The parents will likely not question the child if represented by a lawyer.
The family law judge does not have to do it this way
Both Family Code 3042 and California Rules of Court 5.250 give the court many options to hear the child’s preference in custody. These include:
Participation in mediation under Family Code section 3180.
Appointment of a child custody evaluator or investigator.
The child’s preference may not be as straightforward as it may seem. There may be issues regarding undue influence, parental alienation, or other emotional or psychological abuse.
The court may believe an investigation necessary due to the history of care and control of the child. The court has the power to appoint an independent child custody 730 evaluator to investigate these issues and make recommendations to the court.
Admissible evidence and testimony of the parents or witnesses.
Through a child custody recommending counselor pursuant to Family Code section 3183(a).
Through a child interview center or professional.
The Court may also appoint minor’s counsel, which is a lawyer for the child or children.
The report back to the court regarding the child's choice and preference
Regardless of the method the court chooses in the place of speaking with the child directly, the report back to the court must be:
In writing and fully document the child’s views on the matter.
Describe the child’s input in sufficient detail so the Court can make an informed decision.
Be provided to the parents and their lawyers.
Be filed in the confidential portion of the family law file.
How to put the issue of a child's preference and choice in front of the court
The most common way to do it is for the parent who seeks custody to file a formal request for order with the court. The parent states in his or her moving papers that the child has expressed a preference to live with that parent or has stated a preference to spend more time with that parent.
The parent, through a delicate balancing of stating the child’s preference in custody but not pressuring the child, must state to the family court the most important facts. These include the living arrangements between the parents and why it would be in the child’s best interest to live with that parent, consistent with the child’s wishes.
The experience of a child custody lawyer is very helpful here. It ensures the parent properly presents the information to the court through admissible evidence.
Conditioning and parental alienation as undue influence over the child’s preference in custody
Our child custody lawyers have seen it firsthand in cases. We’ve had situations where a child has specifically expressed a preference to live with the other parent. However, upon our investigation and evaluation, we learned that the child’s preference was the result of the emotional abuse, pressure or alienation.
All of these can factor into a child’s choice. A vigilant parent must be careful not to simply let the child’s preference be heard without knowing the real reasons for that preference in custody.
If your child states a preference in custody, what is your next step?
We handle family law matters in Orange County, Los Angeles County and each of the other five Southern California counties. Contact us for help. We have offices in Orange County and Los Angeles.
You may also complete the form at end of this website page. Let’s schedule an initial strategy session to meet, regardless of whether you are the parent who seeks custody based on the child’s preference or the one opposing it.
California Child Custody
California Child Custody Myths and Dissecting Truth From Fiction
When is the Best Time to Get Divorced When You Have Kids?
How Do I Prepare for Child Custody Mediation?
Child Born Out of Wedlock and a Father's Rights
Custody Battle Tips for Mothers Every Mom Should Know
Reasons to Lose Custody of a Child That May Surprise You
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David C. Wheelock
Off-Balance Sheet Activities, Inefficiency and Market Power of U.S. Banks
by David C. Wheelock & Paul W. Wilson in Working Papers, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2019
The Founding of the Federal Reserve, the Great Depression and the Evolution of the U.S. Interbank Network
by Matthew Jaremski & David C. Wheelock in Working Papers, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2019
Interbank Connections, Contagion and Bank Distress in the Great Depression
by Charles W. Calomiris & Matthew Jaremski & David C. Wheelock in Working Papers, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2019
Furnishing an “Elastic Currency”: The Founding of the Fed and the Liquidity of the U.S. Banking System
by Mark A. Carlson & David C. Wheelock in Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2018
Banking on the Boom, Tripped by the Bust: Banks and the World War I Agricultural Price Shock
Did the Founding of the Federal Reserve Affect the Vulnerability of the Interbank System to Systemic Risk?
by Mark A. Carlson & David C. Wheelock in Finance and Economics Discussion Series, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (US), 2016
Did the Founding of the Federal Reserve Affect the Vulnerability of the Interbank System to Congation Risk?
by Mark A. Carlson & David C. Wheelock in Working Papers, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2016
Near-Money Premiums, Monetary Policy, and the Integration of Money Markets : Lessons from Deregulation
by Mark Carlson & David C. Wheelock in Finance and Economics Discussion Series, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (US), 2016
Interbank Markets and Banking Crises: New Evidence on the Establishment and Impact of the Federal Reserve
The Evolution of Scale Economies in U.S. Banking
Banker Preferences, Interbank Connections, and the Enduring Structure of the Federal Reserve System
Economics and Politics in Selecting Federal Reserve Cities: Why Missouri Has Two Reserve Banks
by David C. Wheelock in Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2015
Navigating constraints: the evolution of Federal Reserve monetary policy, 1935-59
by Mark A. Carlson & David C. Wheelock in Globalization Institute Working Papers, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, 2014
Making sense of dissents: a history of FOMC dissents
by Daniel L. Thornton & David C. Wheelock in Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2014
Big banks in small places: are community banks being driven out of rural markets?
by R. Alton Gilbert & David C. Wheelock in Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2013
The Fed's First (and Lasting) Job: Lender of Last Resorts
by David C. Wheelock & Mark A. Carlson in Forefront, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, 2013
Darryl Francis and the Making of Monetary Policy, 1966-1975
by R. W. Hafer & David C. Wheelock in Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2013
The Fed is Born
by David C. Wheelock in Annual Report, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2013
Lessons from a Maverick: how the St. Louis Fed helped shape the nation's monetary policy
A Foregone Conclusion: how and why St. Louis was chosen for a Federal Reserve Bank
Reaching Our Constituents: to better serve the eighth district, the St. Louis Fed established three branches
Federal Reserve lending to troubled banks during the financial crisis, 2007-10
by R. Alton Gilbert & Kevin L. Kliesen & Andrew P. Meyer & David C. Wheelock in Working Papers, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2012
The lender of last resort: lessons from the Fed’s first 100 years
Federal Reserve lending to troubled banks during the financial crisis, 2007-2010
by R. Alton Gilbert & Kevin L. Kliesen & Andrew P. Meyer & David C. Wheelock in Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2012
Too big to fail: the pros and cons of breaking up big banks
by David C. Wheelock in The Regional Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2012
How well do initial claims forecast employment growth over the business cycle and over time?
by Kevin L. Kliesen & David C. Wheelock in Economic Synopses, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2012
Did doubling reserve requirements cause the recession of 1937-1938? a microeconomic approach
by Charles W. Calomiris & Joseph R. Mason & David C. Wheelock in Working Papers, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2011
Have acquisitions of failed banks increased the concentration of U.S. banking markets?
Banking industry consolidation and market structure: impact of the financial crisis and recession
Does the structure of banking markets affect economic growth? evidence from U.S. state banking markets
by Kris James Mitchener & David C. Wheelock in Working Papers, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2010
The promise and performance of the Federal Reserve as lender of last resort 1914-1933
by Michael D. Bordo & David C. Wheelock in Working Papers, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2010
Lessons learned? comparing the Federal Reserve's responses to the crises of 1929-1933 and 2007-2009
The geographic distribution and characteristics of U.S. bank failures, 2007-2010: do bank failures still reflect local economic conditions?
by Craig P. Aubuchon & David C. Wheelock in Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2010
When will business lending pick up?
by David C. Wheelock in Economic Synopses, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2010
The monetary base and bank lending: you can lead a horse to water...
Inflation, monetary policy and stock market conditions: quantitative evidence from a hybrid latent-variable VAR
by Michael D. Bordo & Michael J. Dueker & David C. Wheelock in Working Papers, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2009
Robust, dynamic nonparametric benchmarking: the evolution of cost-productivity and efficiency among U.S. credit unions
Are U.S. banks too large?
Can the term spread predict output growth and recessions? a survey of the literature
by David C. Wheelock & Mark E. Wohar in Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2009
Systemic risk and the financial crisis: a primer
by James B. Bullard & Christopher J. Neely & David C. Wheelock in Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2009
The global recession
by Craig P. Aubuchon & David C. Wheelock in Economic Synopses, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2009
How not to reduce excess reserves
The great inflation: did the shadow know better?
by William Poole & Robert H. Rasche & David C. Wheelock in Working Papers, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2008
Are credit unions too small?
Government response to home mortgage distress: lessons from the Great Depression
by David C. Wheelock in Working Papers, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2008
The federal response to home mortgage distress: lessons from the Great Depression
Changing the rules: state mortgage foreclosure moratoria during the Great Depression
Stable prices, stable economy: keeping inflation in check must be No. 1 goal of monetary policymakers
by William Poole & David C. Wheelock in The Regional Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2008
Another window: the term auction facility
by David C. Wheelock in Monetary Trends, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2008
How much have U.S. house prices fallen?
by Craig P. Aubuchon & David C. Wheelock in National Economic Trends, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2008
Non-parametric, unconditional quantile estimation for efficiency analysis with an application to Federal Reserve check processing operations
Robust non-parametric quantile estimation of efficiency and productivity change in U.S. commercial banking, 1985-2004
Monetary policy and stock market booms and busts in the 20th century
Stock market booms and monetary policy in the twentieth century
by Michael D. Bordo & David C. Wheelock in Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2007
Measuring commercial bank profitability: proceed with caution
Housing slump could lean heavily on economy
Expected inflation near and far
Can Social Security survive the baby boomers?
Why did income growth vary across states during the Great Depression?
by Thomas A. Garrett & David C. Wheelock in Working Papers, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2006
When do stock market booms occur? the macroeconomic and policy environments of 20th century booms
What happens to banks when house prices fall? U.S. regional housing busts of the 1980s and 1990s
Are banks vulnerable to a housing bust?
A spatial analysis of state banking regulation
by Thomas A. Garrett & Gary A. Wagner & David C. Wheelock in Working Papers, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2005
Regional disparities in the spatial correlation of state income growth
The real population problem: too few working, too many retired
Has the bond market forgotten oil?
Trends in the efficiency of Federal Reserve check processing operations
by David C. Wheelock & Paul W. Wilson in Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2004
Monetary policy and asset prices: a look back at past U.S. stock market booms
Why no business loan growth?
Robust nonparametric estimation of efficiency and technical change in U.S. commercial banking
Commentary on The real effects of U.S. banking deregulation
Replacement windows: new credit programs at the discount window
Consolidation in US banking: which banks engage in mergers?
New evidence on the Fed's productivity in providing payments services
by R. Alton Gilbert & David C. Wheelock & Paul W. Wilson in Working Papers, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2002
Conducting monetary policy without government debt: the Fed's early years
Deposit insurance reform
by Mark D. Vaughan & David C. Wheelock in The Regional Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2002
The balance of risks
Aggregate price shocks and financial instability: a historical analysis
Aggregate price shocks and financial stability: the United Kingdom 1796-1999
The rise and fall of a policy rule: monetarism at the St. Louis Fed, 1968-1986
Heavyweight of productivity: does the microchip match up?
by Kevin L. Kliesen & David C. Wheelock in The Regional Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2001
Interest rate targets abandoned
by Daniel L. Thornton & David C. Wheelock in Monetary Trends, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2001
A history of the asymmetric policy directive
30-year bond faces uncertain future
Are the Fed and financial markets in sync?
National monetary policy by regional design: the evolving role of the Federal Reserve banks in Federal Reserve System policy
The contribution of on-site examination ratings to an emprircal model of bank failures
The FOMC in 1998: can it get any better than this?
The market’s view of FOMC announcements
Lessons from financial history. Proceedings of the twenty-second annual Economic Policy Conference of the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis
Price stability and financial stability: the historical record
Monetary policy in the Great Depression and beyond: the sources of the Fed's inflation bias
New evidence on returns to scale and product mix among U.S. commercial banks
Why does bank performance vary across states?
by Michelle Clark Neely & David C. Wheelock in Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 1997
Technical progress, inefficiency and productivity change in U.S. banking, 1984-1993
Monetary policy and financial market expectations: what did they know and when did they know it?
by Michael R. Pakko & David C. Wheelock in Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 1996
Lessons from the United States and European Community for the integration of high and low income economies
by Cletus C. Coughlin & David C. Wheelock in Working Papers, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 1995
Why do banks disappear? The determinants of U.S. bank failures and acquisitions
Regulation, market structure and the bank failures of the Great Depression
Channels of monetary policy. Proceedings of the Nineteenth Annual Economic Policy Conference held October 20-21, 1994
by Daniel L. Thornton & David C. Wheelock() in Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 1995
Evaluating the efficiency of commercial banks: does our view of what banks do matter?
Channels of monetary policy : conference introduction
by Daniel L. Thornton & David C. Wheelock () in Proceedings, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 1995
by Daniel L. Thornton & David C. Wheelock in Proceedings, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 1995
Can deposit insurance increase the risk of bank failure? Some historical evidence
Explaining bank failures: deposit insurance, regulation, and efficiency
Is the banking industry in decline? Recent trends and future prospects from a historical perspective
Government policy and banking instability: "overbanking" in the 1920s
Which banks choose deposit insurance? Evidence of adverse and moral hazard in a voluntary insurance system
by David C. Wheelock & Subal C. Kumbhaker in Working Papers, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 1992
The slack banker dances: deposit insurance and risk-taking in the banking collapse of the 1920s
Monetary policy in the Great Depression: what the Fed did and why
Seasonal accommodation and the financial crises of the Great Depression: did the Fed "furnish an elastic currency?"
Regulation and bank failures: new evidence from the agricultural collapse of the 1920's
The Fed's failure to act as lender of last resort during the Great Depression, 1929-1933
by David C. Wheelock in Proceedings, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, 1989
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Helsinki, “The White City of the North”
Gem and Lita
POSTED IN » Columnists, Travel
With just one short rainy and sunny August day in Helsinki, the northernmost European capital of Finland, you can’t miss a city by the sea with its 180,000 islands spread on a beautiful archipelago and its most important neo-classical and contemporary monuments as well as its all-year-round indoor winter wonderland.
Often called “the white city of the north” due to its many buildings that are constructed of locally produced light-coloured granite, Helsinki (Swedish: Helsinfors) is one of the coldest cities in the world as it does not receive sunshine for about 51 consecutive days during winter. Won’t this be a sufficient reason why Winnipegers need not complain about our frigid winters? Because we are not alone although our beloved city ranks first on the planet for the lowest average temperature in a year!
Our guided walking tour of this vibrant seaside metropolis commences from the Senate Square dominated by four buildings – the Helsinki Cathedral, the Government Palace (executive office of the national government), the main building of the University of Helsinki, and the National Library of Finland. Also on the square is the oldest stone house in the city, the historic Sederholm house built in 1757 owned by Helsinki’s then-richest merchant Johan Sederholm. Also known as St. Nicholas Church, the Helsinki Cathedral with its tall, green dome surrounded by four smaller domes is the most famous and most photographed building in Helsinki.
The tour continues on foot to the Market Place that provides a festive atmosphere along the city bay where we have free time for souvenir shopping and tasting local summer berries. Travelling through the city we enjoy seeing other unique monuments of Helsinki like the Uspenski Cathedral, the Parliament, Old Market Hall, the National Museum of Finland, the 1952 Summer Olympic Stadium, and the Central Railway Station. Helsinki is renowned not only for its romantic and classical buildings but also for its contemporary architecture of latest design innovations such as Finlandia Hall and the well-known Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art which has earned Helsinki the world design capital for 2012.
Under the heavy rain we trek to th famous Temppeliaukion Church (“Rock Church”), a unique circular church quarried out of solid granite rock, covered with a dome lined with copper and supported on the rock walls by concrete beams. Natural light pierces through the glasses between the dome and rock walls. The church is not only a Lutheran place of worship – it is also often used for concerts because of its excellent acoustics.
Not to be missed is the stainless steel sculpture resembling organ pipes, the Sibelius Monument, a monument to the world-famous composer Jean Sibelius located in a public park of the affluent Toolo district.
Last but not the least is the famous Suomenlinna Fortification Islands, a major monument of military architecture included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The sea fortress, a mecca for summer excursions by the locals, offers outdoor picnic, walking and swimming areas, a visitor centre, restaurants, and galleries.
TRIVIA: Helsinki has the highest cellphone-to-resident ratios in the world. The world’s leading manufacturer of cell phones, Nokia, is based in Finland.
About the author: Gem and Lita View all posts by Gem and Lita
Fil-Cans excited for Jollibee opening in Canada!
Imbes na Tayo Ay Magtulungang Dalawa
To be or not to be (married)
Grateful to the Breakfast Club (part 2 of 2)
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Custom «Momentum» Essay Paper
Custom «Momentum» Essay Paper essay
Conservation of the momentum is one of laws applied in physical science. It states that, when there is a collision between two different objects in an isolated system, the total momentum of the two objects is equal either before the collision or after the collision. Showing that the momentum lost by one object is the same momentum gained by the other object. This law, therefore, explains how the total amount of the objects collected together is conserved or is the value which cannot be changed. A practical study was, therefore, done to prove the statements as explained in the paper. The study was carried out in two cases. First case was between heavier cart and lighter cart. A collision was run with lighter cart striking the heavier cart which is at rest.
The velocities of each cart were recorded before and after the collision. The measurements were repeated three times in order to get accurate results. On the second case, the heavier cart and the lighter cart were used. The heavier cart strikes the lighter cart while moving backward. The strikes each other head on collision. The case was also done repeatedly. Both cases justify that momentum of both carts which are colliding is conserved since the momentum lost from cart one is the momentum gained by the second objects. This means the total momentum for the both carts before the y collide is the same as the total momentum of the same after the collision.
Buy Momentum essay paper online
As implied by the Newton’s laws of motion (Goldstein, 1980), the law of conservation states that the total momentum of the collision of an object does not change. It is constant. It easily explains that the sum of both objects’ momentum equals to the sum of the same object’s momentum after the collision. This theory holds without the matter of compatibility of force between the particles. The momentum exchanged between several particles adds up to zero making the total change also to be zero. The theory of conservation law applies to all collisions, on separations caused by force of explosives and also interactions. When different objects collide, whether it is carts or locomotives, the results are complicated. As long as there are no external forces that are acting on the colliding forces, the conservation of momentum principle holds and provides the tool to understand the collision dynamics. This happens even in the most chaotic situations of collision. The following mathematical equation states the momentum conservation of the collision of the two objects.
pi = m1v1i + m2v2i = m1v1f + m2v2f=pf
The initials m1 and m2 represent the masses of the two objects. The velocities of the two objects before collision are represented by v1i and v2i. The final velocity after collision is represented by v1f and v2f. The total momentum of both objects before the collision is represented by pi while Pf represents the final momentum after the objects collides. This paper summarizes the lab practical study done to determine the facts of the theory of the conservation of momentum. The study involves recording the velocities of the objects used before and after the collision. This is to determine the total momentum and the percentage change of the momentum for the two objects. The study also reveals how the momentum is conserved in the case of collision.
The aim of the lab experiment is to illustrate the linear momentum conserved in the isolated systems. It also illustrates the Newton’s third law and how the momentum is conserved when comparing the collision in each object of different masses. The materials used in the lab experiment study consists two carts with different weight, one heavier than the other or of the same weight and add masses on one cart. Also, computers and photo gates to measure the velocity of the two carts. The procedure followed for the experiment is to have two carts.
Measure the masses of both carts and the velocity of each before the collision. After recording the velocity and masses of the objects before any collision, then run the collision with the lighter cart striking the heavier cart is standing. In this case, the heavier cart is standing. Record the velocity and mass of both objects after the collision. Then calculate the velocity of both carts before and after the collision. Then one can be able to calculate the momentum of both objects before and after the collision.
One can also determine how close the results are of total momentum of both objects either before or after the collision. The relative speed before and after the collision of both carts can be easily determined. On the second experiment, the same procedures are used, but the action of collision is different. The heavier cart strikes the lighter cart while moving backward. In the case, both the lighter and heavier carts are moving. So there occur the head-on collisions. The results of the lab study were recorded in the tables below:
All the results were recorded in the tables above. In Table 1a, 2a, 3a, and 4a shows all the results which were recorded during the experiment in the lab. The columns named trials indicate the repeated times of the same experiment. Mass 1 is the weight measurements of the first cart while Mass 2 shows the measurements in kilograms of the second cart. V2 Initial and V2 Initial are the velocity of both carts before the collision occurred. The total velocity of both objects is also recorded in the column V Both.
The momentum of both carts is recorded in P1 Initial and P2 Initial and the P Both columns shows the total momentum of both carts. In table 1b, 2b, 3b and 4b are different fro the discussed above. The table starts by categorizing the number of trials. In the column P1 Initial, the momentum value of the first cart is recorded before the collision and P1 Final shows the momentum value of the first cart after the collusion. Also, P2 Initial and P2 Final show the momentum of the second cart before and after the collision respectively. The total of the momentum for the both carts before the collision is recorded at Ptot1 column. The total momentum values of both carts after the collision are shows in the Ptot2 column.
The percentage difference between the total momentum of both carts after and before the collision is calculated and shown in P% diff column. Ki and Kf columns show the kinetic energy before the collision and after the collision respectively. The last column of the tables’ labeled %K lost shows the percentage kinetic energy lost after the collision. In Table 1b, trial one to three justifies the conservation momentum as the results shows that, the total momentum values of all trials are similar since the percentage difference is extremely minimal in elastic collisions. This is justified as shown in the Table 1b that the percentage difference of momentum in all trials ranges between 1 and 10 percent. This is because the kinetic energy loss is extremely minimal. There is a bigger percentage difference of momentum in Inelastic collisions between the initial momentum and the final momentum after collision since the percentage of lost energy was high ranging up to 80 percent.
The percentage error or the lost energy is the kinetic energy which is converted to forms like heat and sound on collision. These forms of energy cause the total momentum of both carts for either after or before the collision not to balance (Raymond & Jewett, 2012).
In conclusion, the total momentum of the two carts before collision is relatively similar to the total momentum of the same carts after the collision. The results show the opposite difference of the total momentum as justified by the results recorded in the tables above.
When the momentum difference in one object in the collision is one percent, the same difference change of momentum is lost directly opposite to the other. This shows that the forces acting between the two carts have the equal magnitude although the direction is opposite. This is because, the collision the impulse, which the first cart experienced, is the same as the momentum change experienced by the same cart. Since both carts experiences opposite collisions, though equal, so it is logical that they both have the opposite momentum change.
In summary, the first case where the light cart strikes the heavy cart, there is elastic collision where momentum is conserved as it remains constant. The second case where both carts collide head-on, there occurred inelastic collision where the momentum before and after the collision is opposite. This paper, therefore, has exhibited the law of momentum conservation. It has also demonstrated that, in a collision the change in the momentum of the first object is exactly equal to the opposite of the change momentum of the second object. Meaning that the lost momentum of the first object is the same to the momentum gained by the second object.
Most objects in the collisions lose momentum and slow down in speed while the other one gains the speed and gains the momentum. If the first object gains momentum by 1 unit, then the second object loses the momentum by 1 unit, But the total momentum of the both objects is the same either before of after the collision. Then, a conclusion is given that the momentum of the two objects is conserved.
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Justice Administration in the United States
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Resolving the Controversy over Gun Control Laws in the U.S.
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Blame it on austerity? Examining the impetus behind London’s changing green space governance
Volume 12 - Issue 3
Meredith Whitten
People, Place and Policy, 12 (3), 204-224
First published: 8 February 2019
DOI: 10.3351/ppp.2019.8633493848
Urban green spaces play a critical role in the economic, environmental and social sustainability of cities, including London, where 47 per cent of the city is considered green. Yet, a dedicated, sustainable stream of funding for green space does not exist. Cyclical funding and underfunding over the past several decades demonstrate the vulnerability of these non-statutory spaces to changing budgets and government policies. Recent austerity measures are blamed for a decline in green spaces. However, this overlooks urban socioeconomic processes already in motion, particularly relating to a growing and aging population. To counter green space cuts, local authorities are turning to local community organisations – namely, friends groups – to take on green space management. Yet, while these local organisations can fill a gap left by councils, they are not a panacea, and challenges remain for ensuring the long-term, strategic viability of London’s urban green spaces.
The delivery and management of publicly accessible urban green space is a common feature in cities across the world. Local governments provide these spaces for an extensive list of reasons, as urban green spaces contribute to environmental, economic and social sustainability (Chiesura, 2004). Benefits of green space include: opportunities for physical activity (Hillsdon et al., 2006); cooling of increased urban temperatures (Gill et al., 2007); air and water filtration (Heidt and Neef, 2008); flood control and prevention (Zhang et al., 2012); urban agriculture and community gardening (De Bon et al., 2009); biodiversity and habitat protection (Niemelä, 1999); improved physical health and mental well-being (Tzoulas et al., 2007); social interaction and integration (Swanwick, Dunnett and Woolley, 2003); tourism and city marketing (Choumert and Salanié, 2008); increased property values and tax revenue (Choumert and Salanié, 2008; Crompton, 2001); economic competitiveness (Panduro and Veie, 2013); reduced crime and antisocial behaviour (Woolley, 2003); cultural heritage preservation (Urban Parks Forum, 2001); education and child development (Taylor, 1998); and quality of life (Bullock, 2008).
Yet, these spaces are being asked to perform an increasing array of services for growing and changing populations, while at the same time experiencing substantial cuts to their funding, staffing and other resources. As a result, urban green spaces no longer are the sole responsibility of local authorities, but are now the remit of an evolving partnership among local governments, private developers, charities and community organisations. Key among this partnership is user groups, frequently referred to as friends groups.
This research examines the impetus behind the changing governance of urban green space in London, focusing on the role of friends groups. This paper argues that narrowly attributing the pressure on urban green space to recent cuts in local authorities’ budgets ignores structural changes in population and socio-demographics affecting local authorities’ ability to manage and maintain London’s green spaces. The door for change in green space governance already was opened by increasing populations, socio-demographic changes and growing demands on other local services; austerity merely accelerated this changing governance. Further, this paper argues that, while a shift in green space governance presents opportunities to protect these public spaces from decline and loss, it also presents challenges for the long-term and strategic viability of a London-wide system of urban green spaces (Fors et al., 2015).
The first section of the paper reviews key literature regarding austerity in Britain, including the impact cuts have had on local authorities and the services they provide. In particular, the effect of cuts on discretionary services – how green space is categorised – is examined. This is followed by analysis of literature regarding previous periods of austerity, as well as the concepts of Big Society and localism promoted by Britain’s central government in tandem with austerity (Lowndes and Pratchett, 2012; Findlay-King et al., 2018). After a discussion regarding methodology, the context of London, where this research is set, is provided. The paper then lays out the argument that, while austerity has an impact, it is not the sole cause of current threats to urban green space in the British capital. Instead, socio-demographic changes in London, including a population growth rate twice that of other British cities, have put demands on local services that limit the ability to provide discretionary services (ONS, 2016). This section examines benefits and challenges stemming from a prominent response to funding pressures: increased reliance on additional partners, namely friends groups, to manage and maintain London’s urban green spaces. The paper concludes with thoughts regarding what this means for future green space management and governance.
Austerity in Britain
In 2010, Britain’s new coalition government imposed a series of sustained reductions in public spending in an effort to aggressively reduce the national deficit and the national debt that resulted from the global financial crisis (Lowndes and Pratchett, 2012; Lowndes and Gardner, 2016). This ‘ferocious agenda of public-service cuts’ occurred at an ‘unprecedented scale’ (Featherstone et al., 2012: 177; Lowndes and McCaughie, 2013: 533). Although budgets across all public services in Britain experienced reductions, these cuts were felt acutely by local government, with a proposed £5.5 billion reduction in funding resulting in a 27 per cent decrease from 2010-2011 to 2014-2015 (Lowndes and Pratchett, 2012; Lowndes and McCaughie, 2013; Platts-Fowler and Robinson, 2016). As such, local government has been ‘one of the foremost casualties’ of austerity, with cities becoming ‘key targets for a punitive politics of austerity’ (Tonkiss, 2013: 312; Hastings et al., 2015: 601).
Some researchers foresee a ‘bleak future’ for local government, with the sector providing a limited range of services, and individuals and communities taking on increased responsibility for local services (Stoker, 2012, cited in Hastings et al., 2015: 603). Others predict some local services will completely disappear or ‘wither on the vine’ (Levitas, 2012; Lowndes and McCaughie, 2013: 534). Yet other researchers have assumed a more positive outlook, arguing that local authorities can ‘weather the storm’ and ‘adjust and survive,’ while some predict austerity and localism may facilitate innovation and creativity in local government (Lowndes and McCaughie, 2013: 533; Stoker, 2012, cited in Hastings et al., 2015: 602; Hastings et al., 2015; Platts-Fowler and Robinson, 2016).
Discretionary-service cuts
While budget cuts spanned the range of local council services, the deepest cuts occurred in discretionary functions (NAO, 2014; Brown and Wilson, 2015; Centre for London, 2018). Such non-statutory services include managing and maintaining publicly accessible green spaces (Dempsey, Burton and Selin, 2016). Investment in green space and other public space ‘tends to be precarious and disproportionately subject to tight fiscal pressures’ (Dempsey and Burton, 2012: 13). Efforts to enhance a city’s environment are among the first items cut when cities experience budget problems, and this may reflect low appreciation of the benefits urban green spaces provide (Chiesura, 2004). Research by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) (2016) – the second-largest funder of public green space in Britain after local authorities – found that 92 per cent of green space managers in the UK had experienced reductions in their revenue budgets between 2013-2015, while three-fourths of local authorities had cut green space staff. Newcastle City Council, for example, has experienced a 90 per cent decrease in its parks and green spaces budget in seven years (NCC, 2018).
Declining local authority resources for green space management and maintenance have not gone unnoticed. Recent headlines warn, ‘Green spaces under threat from planning system and funding crisis’ (Gosden, 2014), ‘England’s parks and open spaces have lost £75m in cuts since 2010’ (Carrington, 2013) and ‘Volunteers will need to help preserve London’s parks as funding is withdrawn’ (Laville, 2017). Parliament also has weighed in. In June 2016, the Communities and Local Government Committee launched an inquiry to examine the impact of recently reduced local authority budgets on public parks and green spaces and ‘to consider concerns that their existence is under threat’ (CLGC, 2016). Committee chairman Clive Betts tied budget cuts to the discretionary nature of green space provision: ‘With councils under enormous financial pressures and with no legal obligation to fund and maintain public parks, these precious community resources may be at risk’ (CLGC, 2016). As such, austerity has shouldered the blame for reduced spending on urban green spaces.
Although not statutorily prescribed, urban green spaces have been a ubiquitous part of the landscape in Britain since the 19th century. Born out of Victorian liberalism, the ‘people’s park’ movement was meant to address concerns about health and well-being that emerged from the diseased and squalid living conditions of the working classes in industrialising areas (Reeder, 2006: 31). These concerns reached Parliament and, in 1833, the Select Committee on Public Walks recommended public open spaces be provided to counter industrialisation and the crowded, unhealthy conditions in Britain’s cities and towns (Walker and Duffield, 1983; CLGC, 2017). By the end of the 19th century, ‘parks had become quite as much a municipal service as the supply of water, sewerage, and education’ (Olsen, 1993: 491). Since then, provision of urban green space has become an embedded responsibility of local authorities (NAO, 2006; James et al., 2009; HLF, 2016; Dempsey, Burton and Selin, 2016).
Although local authorities’ primary consideration under austerity has been protecting statutory duties, some councils have made an effort to shield discretionary services considered political and residential priorities (NAO, 2014). For example, Liverpool City Council chose to protect some discretionary services because they can alleviate pressure on statutory services, thus providing more value for money in the long term (NAO, 2014). Publicly accessible green space can be considered a local priority, as these spaces ‘are among the most valued features of the places people live’ (DETR, 2000, 4.38). Residents often identify green spaces as the centre of their community, and urban green space remains a popular service (Dunnett, Swanwick and Woolley, 2002; Dempsey, Burton and Selin, 2016). Hastings Borough Council, for example, has been reluctant to cut maintenance of the borough’s parks and gardens because of their popularity with residents (NAO, 2014).
Previous eras of austerity
2010 was not the first time fiscal austerity has affected local government services. Between 1978-1985, local governments in the UK saw a 15 per cent decrease in grants from central government (Talbot and Talbot, 2011). Yet, cuts ushered in by the coalition government beginning in 2010 represented ‘the most significant reorganisation of public spending since the Second World War’ (Lowndes and Gardner, 2016: 359). The rate of decline of local government budgets ‘has been three times greater than that during the recession of the late 1970s and early ‘80s’ (Talbot and Talbot, 2011; Lowndes and McCaughie, 2013: 534; Platts-Fowler and Robinson, 2016).
Corresponding with this, the periods of 1979-1984 and 1989-1994 saw drastic reductions in local authorities’ green space budgets (Wilson and Hughes, 2011). Between the late 1970s-1990s, the Conservatives reduced local government expenditure, and parks were seen as ‘an easy – non-statutory – target’ (Dempsey, Burton and Selin, 2016: 446). Indeed, the latter part of the 20th century ‘saw a widespread decline in the quality of urban parks and other green spaces’ (Wilson and Hughes, 2011: 207). Budget cuts, along with compulsory competitive tendering, had ‘disastrous effects’ on urban green spaces in the UK during this period (Jones, 2002: 307; Wilson and Hughes, 2011). The cuts led to degraded facilities, low morale among green space staff, and loss of community contact with green space users and local residents (Jones, 2002). Describing this period, Harding bluntly asserts that ‘…the last 20 years have seen a massive decline in their [public parks] fortunes. Everything about public parks has got worse’ (1999: 3).
As in 2016, Parliament took notice of this deterioration. In 1999, the Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs Select Committee identified a ‘spiral of decline’ in urban green spaces and blamed this largely on funding (ETRAC, 1999: para. 86). The public and political concern about the decline of parks, green spaces and other public spaces led to these spaces experiencing a ‘renaissance’ (Harding, 1999; Wilson and Hughes, 2011: 225). This period coincides with the New Labour government’s focus on urban green spaces, highlighted by the Urban White Paper in 2000 and establishment of the Urban Green Spaces Taskforce in 2002 (Wilson and Hughes, 2011). The taskforce’s recommendations included increasing the amount and sources of funding for urban green spaces (DTLGR, 2002).
As with previous periods of austerity, local authorities now face financial decisions about which services to support and how to do so (Mell, 2016). Local authorities must make ‘tough choices on how services are delivered within reduced allocations’ (HM Treasury, 2010, cited in Lowndes and McCaughie, 2013: 535). This includes decisions about the continued provision and management of publicly accessible urban green spaces.
Localism and the Big Society
Coupled with austerity in 2010 was the coalition government’s aim of reducing regulation and giving local governments more flexibility in use of their budgets (Lowndes and Pratchett, 2012). Key to this was the Localism Bill, meant to encourage communities, citizens and volunteers to assume responsibility for government-run services, particularly those ‘threatened with closure’ (Lowndes and Pratchett, 2012: 26; Mathers, Dempsey and Molin, 2015). Although local governments would see reduced budgets under austerity, ‘they will have much greater freedom to be innovative in the way that they work with and support their communities’ (Lowndes and Pratchett, 2012: 25). Transferring responsibility for some local authority services to residents also fits with the coalition government’s ‘Big Society,’ which was about ‘empowering communities, redistributing power and fostering a culture of volunteerism’ (Cabinet Office, 2010; BBC, 2010; Findlay-King et al., 2018). Under this approach, communities are ‘expected to take greater responsibility for their own well-being, as well as for quality of life within neighbourhoods’ (Platts-Fowler and Robinson, 2016: 763).
Governance through partnership
As a popular local service found in most communities across Britain, green space would seem a natural fit for goals of the Big Society and localism, as although green space is a discretionary service, these spaces have proven to benefit well-being and quality of life and are highly valued by residents (Chiesura, 2004; Esbah, Deniz and Cook, 2005; Choumert and Salanié, 2008). Dempsey and Burton observe that ‘there is a widespread consensus in theory and policy that a partnership approach to public space management is an effective one’ (2012: 15). As such, a prominent way local councils have addressed deep cuts to their green space budgets is through building and expanding partnerships (Dempsey and Burton, 2012; Dempsey, Burton and Selin, 2016). Organisations such as friends-of-the-park groups; environmental-, heritage- and recreation-focused charities; and developers and social landlords have taken on responsibilities for some urban green spaces for which councils used to have sole charge. As the local authority’s role has been reduced, these additional partners have become part of an expanded governance of urban green space (Mathers, Dempsey and Molin, 2015).
Friends groups emerged out of the decline of urban parks in the 1990s (Jones, 2002). With local councils unable to maintain their assets, giving responsibility for green space, management to user groups was an ‘innovative attempt’ to ‘share the burden’ (Jones, 2002: 307). This adheres to localism’s aim of ‘reducing the central state and devolving power and responsibility to voluntary groups’ (Findlay-King et al., 2018: 158). Friends groups ‘are independent community organisations set up by park users and local residents to promote, protect and improve a local green space – in essence to “take ownership” of the space on behalf of local communities and park users’ (LGSFGN, 2016). Friends group organise local events, plant bulbs, help increase biodiversity, disseminate information, produce publicity and history pamphlets, work with green space staff, develop visions for improving local spaces, and access resources and funding (LGSFGN, 2016).
Some, however, are sceptical of relying on volunteers to provide public services. Featherstone et al. refer to using community volunteer groups to provide government services as ‘austerity localism’ (2012: 177). Tonkiss is bolder: ‘The ceding of the urban field to voluntary effort under the crass rhetoric of the Big Society, in parallel with aggressive retrenchments of local public budgets, tends to outrun any substantive efforts by city governments to more positively promote alternative urban strategies and solutions’ (2013: 314). Thus, increased reliance on friends groups is not without question, critique and controversy.
This paper is part of a wider project examining the influences on urban green space delivery and management in Inner London. Through this broader research, data was collected via 50 in-depth, face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with local authority and other government officers, charities and user groups, and home builders and registered social landlords. Of the 50 interviews, 23 were with local authority officers and other government staff, such as from regional and national government agencies; 22 were from charities, community organisations and user groups; and five were developers, registered social landlords or planning consultants.
Initially, council officers whose job descriptions or titles, which were found online or in council documents, indicated they worked in green space planning or management were contacted via cold-calling or cold-emailing. This is a common method of choosing and recruiting interview participants (Longhurst, 2010). Similarly, charities, community organisations, and developers and landlords were approached after identifying their involvement in urban green space issues by reviewing council planning documents, such as planning consultations. Subsequent respondents were identified through snowballing, a useful method for identifying respondents because of a mutual connection (King and Horrocks, 2010). Interviews were conducted between October 2013 and October 2015.
The research was based in three Inner London boroughs: Islington, Tower Hamlets and Wandsworth, although some interview respondents, such as representatives from charities or government agencies, had a broader perspective. These three boroughs were selected based on analysis of the population density in all 33 of London’s local authority districts, using data from the Greater London Authority (GLA), and net gain in residential units, using data from the GLA’s London Development Database (GLA, 2011a; 2011b). The three boroughs ranked high in both categories, meaning they were dense boroughs continuing to get denser. Thus, green space is delivered and managed in these boroughs with pressure resulting from more people in less space, which was key to the wider research project.
Although ‘flexibility is a key requirement of qualitative interviewing,’ a topic guide was used to outline the main subjects to cover during interviews and to provide standard wording for questions (King and Horrocks, 2010: 35; Longhurst, 2010). Each interview was recorded and transcribed, and a coding framework based on emergent themes was developed. Using NVIVO software, the codes were applied to the interview data. Through this thematic analysis, patterns were identified in the data, resulting in the findings presented below.
A secondary method used involved reviewing documents, which can provide context and frame data from other sources, including interviews (Silverman, 2004; Robson, 2011). Types of documents reviewed included planning applications, officers’ reports and decision notices; strategic plans, including open-space strategies; charity reports and documents; minutes from meetings; and websites. By examining these documents alongside interview data, a richer picture developed regarding issues and concerns arising from cuts to green space resources and the increasing reliance on non-council partners.
The context of London
This research is based in London, where publicly accessible urban green spaces have featured prominently for nearly 200 years (Wilson and Hughes, 2011). The unsanitary conditions that prompted Parliament to support establishing public open spaces across industrialising areas existed in London, particularly in the East End, where 400,000 people lived in ‘a complete state of insolvency and hopeless poverty’ (Greville, 1874, cited in Poulsen, 1976: 9). Given these conditions, more than 30,000 people, including local residents and social reformers, successfully petitioned Queen Victoria to establish a park and, in 1840, the Commission of Woods and Forests authorised Victoria Park to be created as a ‘Memorial to the Sovereign’ (Poulsen, 1976).
Located in what is now the London borough of Tower Hamlets, Victoria Park opened in 1845, becoming one of the first green spaces in England funded by the government expressly for public use by the local community (Poulsen, 1976). Since Victoria Park opened in the mid-19th century, public green space has become an enduring feature of London’s urban landscape, and has remained a decidedly local function (LAEC, 2017). Today, all 33 local governments in London, including the City of London, provide publicly accessible green space for residents, workers and visitors. As recently as 2006, the public sector – predominantly local authorities – provided 85 per cent of funding for Britain’s local parks and green spaces, illustrating how embedded this funding structure has become (NAO, 2006). These spaces consistently rank high on councils’ resident satisfaction surveys (interview respondents).
Despite the wide-ranging benefits green spaces deliver and the popularity of these spaces with Londoners, funding remains susceptible to cuts. Between 2009-2010 and 2013-2014, London local government had a 37 per cent per capita reduction in service funding from central government (Fitzgerald and Lupton, 2015: 597). London local authority budgets fell 44 per cent between 2010-2011 and 2015-2016 (Brown and Wilson, 2015; London Councils, 2015). The largest percentage cuts have come from discretionary services, such as providing green space (Fitzgerald and Lupton, 2015; Centre for London, 2018).
Findings and discussion
Beyond austerity
The depth and timing of recent cuts to local authorities’ budgets have contributed to pressure on London’s urban green spaces (LAEC, 2016). London councils’ spending on open space, which includes green space, decreased 18 per cent in four years, including a reduction of more than 10 per cent in 2014-2015 (London Councils, 2015; LAEC, 2016). Nearly every interview respondent cited austerity as a significant cause for this pressure on green space resources. The National Federation of Parks and Green Spaces (NFPGS) (2016) maintains that ‘this underfunding crisis is hitting all the fundamental pillars of effective green space management,’ including skilled front-line staff, contract management, and back-office support for funding bids and coordination with community organisations and volunteers.
Yet, focusing on austerity overlooks a structural, deeper and longer-term reason for pressure on London’s green spaces. At the same time local councils have seen their budgets reduced through austerity-related cuts, they also have experienced growing and changing populations, which has led to rising demands on statutory services (Lowndes and McCaughie, 2013). This impact of urban change gets lost in the discussion about green space, as blaming austerity suggests an easier solution: simply reverse the cuts and restore revenue lost from austerity. Indeed, previous periods of budgets cuts were seen by local government as ‘a temporary crisis caused by economic conditions that would pass’ – and funding typically was restored (Talbot and Talbot, 2011: 70). Yet, this ignores the growing, sustained demand on services stemming from a changing London.
Changing populations, rising demands
The population of London grew from 6.8 million in 1988 to 8.8 million in 2016, and presently stands as the largest in the city’s history (GLA, 2017a). The population is projected to further increase to 10 million by 2030 (GLA, 2017b). Changing demographics are spurring ‘a sharp increase in citizen demand’ for statutory services, squeezing local authority budgets and leaving less money for discretionary services (Lowndes and McCaughie, 2013: 533). Indeed, spending on adult and children social care is the largest expenditure in London councils’ budgets, comprising 62 per cent in 2017-2018, an increase from 54 per cent in 2010-2011 (Centre for London, 2018). This trend is expected to continue, with London’s over-65 population projected to grow by 21 per cent over the next decade, while the school-age population will experience a projected 12 per cent growth over the same period (London Councils, 2013). Thus, even without austerity, green space budgets would continue to be stretched as local councils spend an increasing proportion of their budgets on statutory functions.
Several respondents said cuts would not have been as deep if providing green space was a statutory requirement: ‘Because parks are not a statutory service, it has taken, some would say, more than its fair share of cuts’ (respondent 44, green space officer). However, all statutory services are unlikely to be covered by local authority budgets in the near future (LGA, 2014). Austerity may have an impact by reducing the overall size of the pie, but socio-demographic changes in London already were consuming a larger slice, and will continue to do so as the capital’s population grows and changes.
London councils have responded to pressure on their green space budgets in myriad ways. This includes reducing staff through redundancies, early retirements or unfilled vacancies; renegotiating maintenance contracts; bringing maintenance functions in house; reducing maintenance services and schedules; placing management of green spaces into a trust; selling green spaces and facilities within them; and sharing or combining services with other local authorities (LAEC, 2016; LAEC, 2017; interview respondents).
‘Friends’ groups
This research focuses on one prominent way local councils have addressed declining green space budgets: building and expanding partnerships with user groups and community organisations. Concerns about decreasing budgets and increasing pressures have accelerated an evolving green space governance by necessitating local authorities rethink how they deliver urban green spaces. This has opened the door more widely to additional partners, mirroring a broader move in environmental governance that involves actors beyond government (Fors et al., 2015; Mathers, Dempsey and Molin, 2015). For example, from 2013-2015, half of UK local authorities had transferred outdoor sports facilities to community groups, and almost one-third were considering transferring parks to community groups (HLF, 2016).
Yet, even before austerity, the number of user groups formed to work with green spaces was increasing (respondent 2, senior staff, regional charity; respondent 32, senior staff, national charity). Nationally, the friends movement ‘mushroomed’ in the 2000s, from a few hundred groups to more than 6,000 today (NFPGS, 2012). In London, more than 600 friends groups existed as of July 2017 (LAEC, 2017; respondent 2; respondent 32).
The form of relationships between councils and user groups varies across – and even within – boroughs. For example, in Wandsworth, the Friends of Wandsworth Park maintain a flower bed, while the Friends of Tooting Common helped secure funding for new ecology ponds. In Tower Hamlets, the council has several service-level agreements with local organisations, such as Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, which manages the space and employs staff. The Friends of Arnold Circus, a charitable community organisation formed by residents in 2004, took over day-to-day maintenance of the bandstand and surrounding Boundary Gardens from Tower Hamlets Council after the space became run-down and a magnet for antisocial behaviour (respondent 39, green space officer; respondent 40, senior staff, local charity).
Figure 1: Arnold Circus and Boundary Gardens are managed and maintained by the Friends of Arnold Circus in Tower Hamlets (author’s photo)
Benefits of expanded governance
Respondents identified several benefits from friends groups playing a more prominent role in the governance of London’s green spaces. Community organisations often can provide more targeted attention to a green space than a local authority can, and some councils actively encourage establishing friends groups.
Horticulturally they [friends groups] can improve a [green] space enormously and have a bit of individual character that we couldn’t necessarily do trying to manage 80-odd parks and open spaces (respondent 31, green space manager).
This has an impact as budget cuts lead to a loss of front-line skills within the council.
The role and the function of the client side has been pushed out, which means all that knowledge and skills go. People, friends groups, have a far larger stake in the future of parks because they are a remnant of local knowledge of the parks. They are becoming a stronger force (respondent 2, senior staff, regional charity).
Several respondents viewed user groups as a way to shift some of the funding burden away from the council. Similarly, others observed that user groups can access funding local councils cannot.
If they do all the horticultural works for the park, we pay them the equivalent unit rates for doing that work and then they tend to buy plants and improve the park. It works quite well for us because they just invested that money back into the space and the groups get a little bit of core funding to get their activities going (respondent 31).
Figure 2: One of the Friends of Battersea Park’s roles is to raise improvement funds for the large green space in the London borough of Wandsworth (author’s photo)
Local groups have revitalised neglected spaces in London, making these spaces vibrant parts of the local community’s infrastructure in a way that the local authority could not. Respondent 39 (green space officer) discussed how this occurred with Arnold’s Circus:
We [the local authority] approached the community and said, ‘why don’t you take ownership of this space, not legally, but you lead on improvements, do what you want, how you want to use this space, and we will take a supporting role.’ The community got together and set themselves up as a friends group and they’ve just done amazing things with it. They’re holding regular events and activities, antisocial behaviour has gone down and people have taken greater ownership of it.
Figure 3: Volunteers maintain a section of Bramford Community Gardens on behalf of Wandsworth Council (author’s photos)
Challenges of expanded governance
Although an expanded green space governance can have a positive impact, respondents also discussed how increasing the responsibility of community organisations and volunteer groups presents challenges. These challenges can be overlooked, however, as local authorities and residents concentrate on green space management in the short term as council resources decline.
Thinking local
The benefits of green spaces do not accrue solely to the immediate community. Benefits such as air and water filtration, urban cooling, and biodiversity enhancement extend beyond the local neighbourhood and support the city or region as a whole (see Kambites and Owen, 2006). The increasing role of friends groups has ramifications for whether green spaces are managed with a strategic perspective, particularly as recognition of the citywide and regional environmental, economic and societal benefits of green space become more understood. The London Parks and Green Space Forum (LPGSF) (2012) found that the primary reason members of friends group volunteered was to improve their local park, demonstrating that these groups typically are concerned with their immediate neighbourhood, but may not consider how their local green space can contribute as part of a larger, London-wide system. Although a green space may be the centre of a community, it provides valuable environmental services, such as climate change mitigation, that require a strategic approach (Pincetl and Gearin, 2005; Kambites and Owen, 2006; Gill et al., 2007; Rutt and Gulsrud, 2016).
The penny hasn’t dropped for a lot of them [user groups] that, although local is important … there’s a bigger picture here, there’s more at stake (respondent 2).
Focus on small spaces
Friends groups also are more likely to take on management of smaller green spaces, or small plots within larger green spaces. This can lead to smaller spaces being managed for local use only, overlooking the critical work smaller spaces do in a broader, interconnected system of green spaces (Van Herzele and Wiedemann, 2003; Giles-Corti et al., 2005; respondent 23, senior staff, national charity). Yet, small green spaces provide linkages necessary for recreation, such as walking and cycling greenways, and for environmental services, including flood protection and urban wildlife corridors (Kaplan, 1984; Turner, 1995; Niemelä et al., 2010; Peschardta et al., 2012). Residents encounter smaller, local spaces – ‘nature-at-the-doorstep’ – more frequently and these spaces can have more impact on their daily lives than larger, but more distant, green spaces (Kaplan, 1984: 189; Burgess et al., 1988; Van den Berg et al., 2007).
That’s a really powerful thing, this sense of linking up open spaces, because it means small spaces can become part of the continuum and they can be really effective in giving people a big recreation experience, a big outdoor experience (respondent 22, landscape architect, national charity).
Commitment issues
Community groups may not have the capacity for long-term commitment that local government does (Rosol, 2012; Fors et al., 2015; LAEC, 2017). Yet, a long-term planning perspective is essential for managing green spaces, particularly for environmental services (McMahon, 2000; Dempsey and Burton, 2012; Dempsey, Burton and Selin, 2016).
People who think they’re going to lose something will get together and fight for it. And, that is the catalyst for a lot of formation of action groups and friends groups, and often many fall apart once they’ve got what they wanted (respondent 2).
The local authority also may have a lack of commitment to a partnership approach, stemming from a perceived loss of power, possession of expertise and lack of training in managing volunteers (Jones, 2002). Council officers, while increasingly dependent on friends groups, may not see such groups as actual partners and may have a paternalistic attitude to volunteers (Jones, 2002). Thus, despite having increasing responsibilities, friends groups may not be reasonably empowered (Arnstein, 1969).
A lot of the ones [friends groups] we have got now have come from a demand for people to get their hands in the soil and we’ve had to manage that demand in a different way. … We’re very clear on what we mean by providing a public park and it isn’t about community gardening for us. … It’s always been hard for us to have those community groups engaged in practical delivery (respondent 19, green space manager).
Continuing costs
Volunteers may move away from the neighbourhood or experience changes in their circumstances, such as new job or family responsibilities. As a result, a local council might need to ‘pick up the pieces’ by bringing management in house or dedicating resources to finding, educating and supporting other community volunteers (LAEC, 2017: 25). This leads to costs for the local authority and can disrupt maintenance schedules and funding, particularly if the friends group had responsibility for securing grants. Simply managing community groups consumes council time and resources, including contract-management costs.
We’ve got a tiny little site … that has developed a very strong friends group and they’ve got very strong opinions. [We’ve spent] a huge amount of officer time on one relatively small park, and it means when you’re doing that, there’s less time for other parks (respondent 31).
Many local authorities have cut their budgets for volunteer management. Thus, as local authorities have increased use of friends groups, they simultaneously are seeing cuts to their budgets to support community volunteers. Volunteering in London’s green space already was plateauing in 2012 ‘because of lack of supportive resources and capacity’ (LPGSF, 2012; NFPGS, 2016). Indeed, while friends groups may be willing to increase volunteering in their parks, they also want more supervision and funding (LPGSF, 2012). Yet, without a budget and staff to manage volunteers, local authorities will be unable to use more volunteers (LPGSF, 2012). Ultimately, ‘if local government loses staff, it curtails what they can do with volunteers,’ and friends groups will have difficulty sustaining their commitment to green space management and maintenance (LPGSF, 2012: 9).
Lack of community representation
Local groups do not necessarily represent the community. For example, LPGSF (2012) found that 48 per cent of friends groups volunteers were retired. However, no London borough has 48 per cent retired population. With fewer resources, council officers cannot devote time to ensuring the whole community’s interests are considered and, thus, the voices of only active volunteers may prevail. As such, the people localism most empowers ‘are likely to be those with the resources, expertise and social capital to become involved in the provision of services and facilities’ (Featherstone et al., 2012: 178). This has particular ramifications for disadvantaged and deprived communities, which tend to be hardest hit by austerity (Featherstone et al., 2012). Thus, an expanded green space governance can actually exacerbate inequality (Clifford and Tewdwr-Jones, 2014).
You’ve got a lot of articulate, demanding residents with very high expectations who will see parks being used in a certain way, then you’ve got a large proportion of the community who are … worried about getting food on their plate or heat in their house, not whether a local park is being maintained to how you want it. … You’ve always got to try and speak for those that haven’t got a voice (respondent 31).
Lack of consensus
In its aim to ‘give local councils the freedom to spend money on the things that matter to local people,’ localism implies homogenous preferences among the local community (Conservative Party, 2009: 3; Featherstone et al., 2012). Yet, London’s communities are socially, culturally and economically diverse, making it unlikely that local residents will develop a consensus over how to manage an urban green space.
Around one square … we’ve got three friends groups and they all hate each other. You’ve got some who say, ‘why are we putting any sport facility in, why are putting any play equipment in?’ And you have some that are going, ‘well, we want play equipment everywhere so kids can play.’ I mean, you’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t. The constraint, then, is that we [the local council] are going to be spending a load of money and we will please very few of the people (respondent 44).
There is a disconnect between the idea of localism and what locals actually want. An increased reliance on friends groups implies these organisations want to play a more prominent role in providing green space. However, friends groups do not want ‘to substitute for well-trained and resourced staff, or to feel exploited as cheap labour’ (NFPGS, 2016). Local residents do not want their local authority to relinquish responsibility of green space management. Instead, they prefer their volunteer activities complement, rather than replace, the local authority’s efforts.
Austerity measures imposed since 2010 have put pressure on London’s urban green spaces. However, focusing on fiscal austerity as the root of urban green spaces’ existing funding challenges downplays the impact of increased cost pressures stemming from socio-demographic changes occurring in the British capital (Hastings et al., 2015). The ‘double whammy’ of austerity and urban change has resulted in a ‘massive shortfall in resources’ for London local authorities and particularly for non-statutory services, including providing green space (Hastings et al., 2015: 602).
Local authorities, the traditional provider of publicly accessible urban green spaces, have looked beyond the public sector to manage these spaces. Community organisations, namely friends groups, which already had become increasingly involved in urban green space management, have stepped further into the role. Including such organisations in an expanding green space governance can enhance community interaction, and revitalise neglected spaces, which contributes to urban sustainability (Chiesura, 2004; Baycan-Levent et al., 2009; Dempsey, 2013). However, such community organisations are not intended to provide public services in the same way a public-sector body does, and this presents challenges for the long-term viability of an expanded green space governance that relies increasingly on volunteer-based organisations.
HLF closed its Parks for People programme in 2018, and from 2020 the Central Government Revenue Support Grant will decrease, thus local governments will need to raise more income locally (HLF, 2018; LGA, 2018). Reacting to austerity-related reductions in green space budgets by expecting local residents to provide public services at an increasing rate ignores the larger structural and long-term funding issues emerging because of socio-demographic changes. As local authority budgets decrease and populations grow and change, there is a danger of over-reliance on friends groups. A fundamental rethinking of how green space is funded and managed is needed. This must be innovative and not simply shift the burden from local authorities to community organisations, whose resilience to provide local services is uncertain (Jones, 2002; Fitzgerald and Lupton, 2015).
Ultimately, before considering friends groups as a remedy for green space delivery and management, more research is needed to understand the implications of their growing involvement in green space governance. Better analysis of the actual costs of local authorities ‘sharing the burden’ for green space management and maintenance would be telling, as would examining what happens to a strategic perspective when local groups have more influence in green space planning (Jones, 2002: 307). More research is needed on the voluntary sector’s resilience and viability as a long-term partner in green space management.
This is not to imply that there is no role for friends groups. Indeed, as a popular asset that benefits all residents whether they use green space or not, urban green spaces are primed for community involvement. However, rather than turning to friends groups to plug the hole of funding losses, local authorities need to think longer term and recognise that the traditional method of green space funding was unsustainable even before austerity. Austerity has intensified the pressure, revealing the precarious position discretionary services were in already. The role of a strategic entity, such as a local authority, to oversee the planning, management, maintenance, funding and use of green space is critical. Friends groups can complement this, but they should not be seen as a permanent, sustainable solution to London’s urban green space challenges.
Many thanks to the interview respondents and organisations who granted me interviews and permitted me to use this information in my research; and a sincere thank you to the anonymous readers at PPP whose feedback resulted in a much stronger article.
*Correspondence address: Meredith Whitten, London School of Economics and Political Sciences, Department of Geography and Environment, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE. Email: mwhitten@alumni.LSE.ac.uk / @urbanparksgirl
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Book review - Understanding Youth in the Global Economic Crisis
Elizabeth Sanderson
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Extreme Physiology & Medicine
My career, in brief
Questions I tried to answer
My seminal paper
What is the big unanswered question in altitude acclimatisation?
If I were to do it all over again, I would…
Career perspective
Career perspective: Jim Milledge
James Sibree Milledge1Email author
Extreme Physiology & Medicine20121:9
https://doi.org/10.1186/2046-7648-1-9
© Milledge; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2012
Received: 21 August 2012
This paper is an overview of my career as a hospital physician with special interest in respiratory diseases. Alongside this career, I have been fortunate to be able to pursue my professional hobby of high altitude medicine and physiology, partly in the laboratory but mainly in the field in the great ranges of the world.
Altitude physiology medicine
I was born in 1930 in China, where my father was a medical missionary. I came to the UK in 1936 and was brought up in North Wales where I started hillwalking in Snowdonia. In 1948, I entered Birmingham Medical School where I got the rock-climbing bug.
After graduating and house jobs, I had to do national service and joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a medical officer. I was posted in Hong Kong. The commanding officer was an Alpine Club member, and we formed a mountain rescue team. Besides climbing any rock we could find, we had an expedition to Borneo, to Kinabalu—my first expedition—in 1957. The following year, my wife and I had a 2-week trek in Nepal. This was entirely self-organised with just two porters, with no common language. We fell in love with the country.
After demobilisation from the RAF, I decided to specialise in general medicine with an interest in respiratory disease. Working in Southampton with William McLeod, we performed arterial blood sampling in the investigation of lung disease—cutting edge science at the time!
In November 1959, I learned that Sir Edmund Hillary and Dr Griffith Pugh were organising an expedition to study the physiology of acclimatisation and to attempt an 8,000-m peak in Nepal. The expedition was to last 9 months, from the end of one monsoon to the beginning of the next. I wrote to Dr Pugh and, because one member dropped out, I was fortunate to get taken on. The plan was to use the autumn for setting up our base camp and high altitude stations in the Everest region (Solu Khumbu), with some members conducting a search for the Yeti. We then planned to spend the winter conducting studies on ourselves as we acclimatised; in the spring, to go over three 6,000-m passes to Makalu (8,462 m) to continue some research up the mountain and attempt to climb it. This became the Silver Hut expedition of 1960–1961 (Figure 1).
Left to right: Dr Griffith Pugh, Sir Edmund Hillary and Jim Milledge at the airstrip above our base camp (4,500 m) in Khumbu on the Silver Hut expedition 1960–1961.
We set up the prefabricated hut on a glacier at 5,800 m where we spent the winter doing the planned physiological projects there and at our base camp at 4,500 m. On Makalu, we continued some physiology at 6,300 m and even at 7,400 m on Makalu Col, but we failed to climb the summit due to bad weather and illness. My wife Betty, an anaesthetist, worked in the Mission Hospital in Kathmandu for the 9 months we were in Solu Khumbu.
After this experience, I decided to try for a career combining research with clinical medicine, so I looked for a post in a teaching hospital. Betty and I had been keen on finding work in the Third World after our experience in Hong Kong working as volunteers in a backstreet clinic and Betty's experience in Kathmandu. When we met Dr Jacob Chandy, then principal of Vellore Christian Medical College in South India, he invited us to join the staff of this teaching hospital; we felt this was the right choice. We spent 10 years in this unique institution where I worked closely with the cardiothoracic surgeons starting open-heart surgery and the attendant intensive care, as well as with conventional respiratory medicine.
During this period, I made a number of trips to Solu Khumbu. In 1964, Dr Sukumar Lahiri, an Indian physiologist who had been on the Silver Hut expedition, organised a small physiological wing as part of Hillary's Second Schoolhouse Expedition. Our aim was to study some of the physiological differences between Sherpas and ourselves. This we did in a camp above Lukla where the expedition built an airstrip. Here, we repeated the studies I had been responsible for in the Silver Hut, on the changes in the chemical control of breathing with acclimatisation. On this occasion, we compared lowlanders (ourselves) with Sherpas and found, to our surprise, that they had significantly lower hypoxic ventilatory responses. In the middle of this period in India, we had a year's furlough, which I spent in San Francisco as a research fellow with Dr John Severinghaus at the Cardiovascular Research Institute.
We came back to the UK in 1972. I was fortunate to get a job with UK's Medical Research Council (MRC) at their newly opened Clinical Research Centre at Northwick Park Hospital, Harrow in John Nunn's Division of Anaesthesia. A year later, I took half a step sideways with a fifty-fifty contract as a consultant physician in the hospital and scientific member in the MRC. I was officially expected to spend half my time looking after patients (mainly respiratory) and half doing research. To my way of thinking, this was an ideal contract. I was fortunate in being able to keep it, despite the MRC closing the Clinical Research Centre 5 years before I retired in 1995.
During my 23 years at Northwick Park, I was able to pursue my interest in the effects of altitude on various aspects of human physiology. During the 1970s, and having failed to attract funding for any trips to the great ranges, I carried out, with a few colleagues, a series of successful field studies in the UK and Switzerland on the effects of prolonged exercise of hillwalking and altitude on fluid and electrolyte balance and the hormones controlling these. In 1981, I was fortunate to be able to make two trips on altitude, combining climbing with research. The first was to Mount Kongur (7,719 m) in Xinjiang, which was led by Michael Ward. The second was to Everest with the American Research Expedition to Everest (AMREE) led by John West. Both had been on the Silver Hut expedition. These expeditions were successful in both scientific and mountaineering terms. I was a member of two scientific expeditions with the Royal Naval and Royal Marines Mountaineering Club first to Mt. Kenya in 1987 and then to Bolivia in 1989. On these expeditions, we were able to carry out further studies on the hormones involved with fluid balance at altitude and in relation to acute mountain sickness.
In 1992, I became the first medical director of Northwick Park Hospital. I retired from the National Health Service and MRC in 1995. Since then, I have been on two ‘Medical Expeditions’a—expeditions to Kanchenjunga in 1998 and to Chamlang in 2003. My last expedition was in 2010 with a team from University College London (UCL), CASEb when we spent eight nights at the Margherita Hut on Monte Rosa (4,559 m). My small project was to study the effect of 30-min normoxia on hypoxic pulmonary hypertension (Figure 2).
Dr Jim Milledge in 2004.
I have lectured on various aspects of high altitude medicine and physiology to numerous groups, from undergraduates to scientific meetings as well as lay groups. In 2005, I was made honorary professor at UCL and lectured regularly for the BSc Physiology course there.
In 1989, Michael Ward, John West and I authored High Altitude Medicine and Physiology. The fifth edition is about to be published, and it has become the standard text in the field.
Here is a list of questions I have tried to answer:
First set of questions:
How does altitude acclimatisation change the chemical control of breathing in humans?
Do highlanders (Sherpas) have a different chemical control of breathing from lowlanders?
The CO2 ventilatory response changes with acclimatisation so that ventilation is stimulated at a lower Pco2, and the gain in the response is increased. Also, the hypoxic ventilatory response is increased.
Sherpas (and Andean highlanders) have a similar CO2 ventilatory response to lowlanders but have a reduced hypoxic ventilatory response.
What is the effect of prolonged exercise (hillwalking, mountaineering) and altitude on fluid and electrolyte balance and on the hormones that control them?
Answer: Hillwalking for five consecutive days results in significant sodium retention with shifts of fluid from the intra- to extracellular compartments, including an increase in plasma volume resulting in dilutional anaemia. These changes are driven by increases in renin and aldosterone levels. Atrial natriuretic hormone levels are also increased, but any natriuretic effect is overwhelmed by the rise in aldosterone. Altitude has the effect of blunting the aldosterone response to a rise in renin. I was the unofficial leader in these studies.
What is the effect of altitude on electrocardiography (ECG) and of brief normoxia on hypoxic pulmonary hypertension?
Answer: The ECG shows a right axis shift with acclimatisation to altitude, and the shift increases with increasing altitude due, presumably, to the rise in pulmonary artery pressure. I was responsible for this project on the Silver Hut expedition. After only 8 h of hypoxia, the pulmonary hypertension is only partially relieved by 30-min normoxia. This effect of oxygen declines with increasing time spent at altitude. I led this project on the Monte Rosa expedition.
Key people who have influenced me
Here is a list of the people who have influenced me:
JS Haldane has influenced me historically.
Three school masters—LV Turner, E Bradfield and Dr Britten.
A professor of medicine at the Medical School, Melville Arnott.
At Southampton Chest Hospital, Dr William McLeod.
Dr LGCE Pugh, a physiologist and scientific leader of the 1960–1961 Silver Hut expedition (Figure 1).
Dr John West, a physiologist and affiliated with the University of California, San Diego, a member of Silver Hut and leader of the AMREE.
Dr John Severinghaus an anaesthesiologist at the CVRI, San Francisco.
Dr John Nunn, head of the Division of Anaesthesia, CRC Northwick Park Hospital, Harrow.
Numerous more recent colleagues.
My seminal paper was possibly ‘Respiratory control in lowlanders and Sherpa highlanders at altitude’ which I co-authored with Sukumar Lahiri in 1967. It was published in the Respiratory Physiology journal.
Since Haldane's Pikes Peak expedition (1912), we have sought to explain acclimatisation in terms of mechanisms that increase oxygen delivery to the tissues. These may have relevance up to altitudes of about 4,000 m but seem inadequate to explain the reduced performance above this height. Manoeuvres that increase oxygen delivery do not increase performance, indicating that other factor(s) is/are inhibiting performance above 4,000 m. What are they? Possibilities include hypoxic central inhibition, increased oxygen use by the respiratory muscles or some other mechanism.
The world that I grew up and in which I had my career was very different from the present. I would not change the various decisions I made during my career at all.
I consider that I have been so very fortunate in the many opportunities that have come my way and for which I have not had to strive competitively to grasp. At school, I was very happy, but being dyslexic (though the term had not been invented), I was considered just dim. However, I just scraped the necessary results to get to medical school. There, I was very average academically, until my final year when I was awarded the prize in Clinical Medicine, the only prize I ever won! Thereafter, the only credit that I can claim was that I have tried to follow my mother's aphorism, to ‘seize the opportunity of a lifetime, in the lifetime of opportunity’.
aMedical Expeditions is a charity with the aims of furthering education and research into high altitude medicine and physiology. These aims are achieved by organising scientific and climbing expeditions at roughly intervals of 5 years and courses in mountain medicine. It also sponsors a diploma course in mountain medicine, which is now in its 12th year. I was chairman of this organisation (1996–2003) and currently a director.
bCASE stands for Centre for Altitude, Space and Extreme Environment Medicine. This is part of UCL with which I have been associated since 2002. Apart from under- and postgraduate teaching, it provided the leadership for a very large medical research expedition to Everest in 2007, the ‘Caudwell Xtreme Everest Expedition’ (with leader Mike Grocott). I was fortunate to be able to trek out with the main group to the base camp. The same team organised the 2010 Xtreme Alps Expedition (with leader Dan Martin) to Monte Rosa.
13728_2012_7_MOESM1_ESM.tiff Authors’ original file for figure 1
The author declares that he has no competing interests.
CASE Medicine, Portex Unit, UCL Institute of Child Health, 30 Guilford Street, London, WC1N 1EH, UK
In these collections
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HMS Dreadnought (1906)
For other ships with the same name, see HMS Dreadnought.
HMS Dreadnought was a Royal Navy battleship that revolutionised naval power. Dreadnought's name, and the class of battleships named after her, means "a fearless person".[1] Dreadnought's entry into service in 1906 represented such an advance in naval technology that her name came to be associated with an entire generation of battleships, the "dreadnoughts", as well as the class of ships named after her. Likewise, the generation of ships she made obsolete became known as "pre-dreadnoughts". Admiral Sir John "Jacky" Fisher, First Sea Lord of the Board of Admiralty, is credited as the father of Dreadnought. Shortly after he assumed office, he ordered design studies for a battleship armed solely with 12 in (305 mm) guns and a speed of 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph). He convened a "Committee on Designs" to evaluate the alternative designs and to assist in the detailed design work.
Dreadnought at sea in 1906
Name: Dreadnought
Preceded by: Lord Nelson class
Succeeded by: Bellerophon class
Cost: £1,785,683
Built: 1905–1906
In service: 1906–1919
In commission: 1906–1919
Completed: 1
Scrapped: 1
Ordered: 1905
Builder: HM Dockyard, Portsmouth
Laid down: 2 October 1905
Launched: 10 February 1906
Commissioned: 2 December 1906
Decommissioned: February 1919
Fate: Sold for Scrap, 9 May 1921
General characteristics (as completed)
18,120 long tons (18,410 t) (normal load)
20,730 long tons (21,060 t) (deep load)
Length: 527 ft (160.6 m)
Beam: 82 ft 1 in (25.0 m)
Draught: 29 ft 7.5 in (9.0 m) (deep load)
23,000 shp (17,000 kW)
18 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers
2 × steam turbine sets
4 × shafts
Speed: 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)
Range: 6,620 nmi (12,260 km; 7,620 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement: 700–810
10 × 12 in (300 mm) guns (5x2)
27 × 12-pdr (3 in (76 mm) guns (27x1)
5 × 18 in (460 mm) torpedo tubes (5x1)
Armour:
Belt: 4–11 in (102–279 mm)
Deck: 0.75–3 in (19–76 mm)
Barbettes: 4–11 in (102–279 mm)
Turrets: 3–12 in (76–305 mm)
Conning tower: 11 in (279 mm)
Bulkheads: 8 in (203 mm)
Dreadnought was the first battleship of her era to have a uniform main battery, rather than having a few large guns complemented by a heavy secondary armament of smaller guns. She was also the first capital ship to be powered by steam turbines, making her the fastest battleship in the world at the time of her completion.[2] Her launch helped spark a naval arms race as navies around the world, particularly the German Imperial Navy, rushed to match it in the build-up to the First World War.[3]
Ironically for a vessel designed to engage enemy battleships, her only significant action was the ramming and sinking of German submarine SM U-29, becoming the only battleship confirmed to have sunk a submarine.[4] Dreadnought did not participate in the Battle of Jutland in 1916 as she was being refitted. Nor did Dreadnought participate in any of the other First World War naval battles. In May 1916 she was relegated to coastal defence duties in the English Channel, not rejoining the Grand Fleet until 1918. The ship was reduced to reserve in 1919 and sold for scrap two years later.
GenesisEdit
BackgroundEdit
Gunnery developments in the late 1890s and the early 1900s, led in the United Kingdom by Percy Scott and in the United States by William Sims, were already pushing expected battle ranges out to an unprecedented 6,000 yd (5,500 m), a distance great enough to force gunners to wait for the shells to arrive before applying corrections for the next salvo. A related problem was that the shell splashes from the more numerous smaller weapons tended to obscure the splashes from the bigger guns. Either the smaller-calibre guns would have to hold their fire to wait for the slower-firing heavies, losing the advantage of their faster rate of fire, or it would be uncertain whether a splash was due to a heavy or a light gun, making ranging and aiming unreliable. Another problem was that longer-range torpedoes were expected to soon be in service and these would discourage ships from closing to ranges where the smaller guns' faster rate of fire would become preeminent. Keeping the range open generally negated the threat from torpedoes and further reinforced the need for heavy guns of a uniform calibre.[5]
Cuniberti's "ideal battleship"
In 1903, the Italian naval architect Vittorio Cuniberti first articulated in print the concept of an all-big-gun battleship. When the Italian Navy did not pursue his ideas, Cuniberti wrote an article in Jane's Fighting Ships advocating his concept. He proposed an "ideal" future British battleship of 17,000 long tons (17,000 t), with a main battery of a dozen 12-inch guns in eight turrets, 12 inches of belt armour, and a speed of 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph).[6]
"Semi-dreadnought" Satsuma
The Royal Navy (RN), the Imperial Japanese Navy and the United States Navy all recognised these issues before 1905. The RN modified the design of the Lord Nelson-class battleships to include a secondary armament of 9.2 in (234 mm) guns that could fight at longer ranges than the 6 in (152 mm) guns on older ships, but a proposal to arm them solely with 12-inch guns was rejected.[7][Note 1] The Japanese battleship Satsuma was laid down as an all-big-gun battleship, five months before Dreadnought, although gun shortages allowed her to be equipped with only four of the twelve 12-inch guns that had been planned.[8] The Americans began design work on an all-big-gun battleship around the same time in 1904, but progress was leisurely and the two South Carolina-class battleships were not ordered until March 1906, five months after Dreadnought was laid down, and the month after it was launched.[9]
The invention by Charles Algernon Parsons of the steam turbine in 1884 led to a significant increase in the speed of ships with his dramatic unauthorised demonstration of Turbinia with her speed of up to 34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph) at Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee at Spithead in 1897. After further trials of two turbine-powered destroyers, Viper and Cobra, coupled with the positive experiences of several small passenger liners with turbines, Dreadnought was ordered with turbines.[10]
The Battle of the Yellow Sea and Battle of Tsushima were analysed by Fisher's Committee, with Captain William Pakenham's statement that "12-inch gunfire" by both sides demonstrated hitting power and accuracy, whilst 10-inch shells passed unnoticed.[11] Admiral Fisher wanted his board to confirm, refine and implement his ideas of a warship that had both the speed of 21 knots (39 km/h) and 12-inch guns,[12] pointing out that at the Battle of Tsushima, Admiral Togo had been able to cross the Russians' "T" due to speed.[13] The unheard of long-range (13,000 metres (14,000 yd))[14] fire during the Battle of the Yellow Sea, in particular, although never experienced by any navy prior to the battle, seemed to confirm what the RN already believed.[15]
Development of DreadnoughtEdit
3-view drawing of HMS Dreadnought in 1911, with QF 12 pdr guns added
Admiral Fisher proposed several designs for battleships with a uniform armament in the early 1900s, and he gathered an unofficial group of advisors to assist him in deciding on the ideal characteristics in early 1904. After he was appointed First Sea Lord on 21 October 1904, he pushed through the Board of Admiralty a decision to arm the next battleship with 12 inch guns and that it would have a speed no less than 21 knots (39 km/h). In January 1905, he convened a "Committee on Designs", including many members of his informal group, to evaluate the various design proposals and to assist in the detailed design process. While nominally independent it served to deflect criticism of Fisher and the Board of Admiralty as it had no ability to consider options other than those already decided upon by the Admiralty. Fisher appointed all of the members of the committee and he was President of the Committee.[16]
The committee decided on the layout of the main armament, rejecting any superfiring arrangements because of concerns about the effects of muzzle blast on the open sighting hoods on the turret roof below, and chose turbine propulsion over reciprocating engines to save 1,100 long tons (1,100 t) in total displacement on 18 January 1905. Before disbanding on 22 February, it decided on a number of other issues, including the number of shafts (up to six were considered), the size of the anti-torpedo boat armament,[17] and most importantly, to add longitudinal bulkheads to protect the magazines and shell rooms from underwater explosions. This was deemed necessary after the Russian battleship Tsesarevich was thought to have survived a Japanese torpedo hit during the Russo–Japanese War by virtue of her heavy internal bulkhead. To avoid increasing the displacement of the ship, the thickness of her waterline belt was reduced by 1 in (25 mm).[18]
The Committee completed its deliberations on 22 February 1905 and reported their findings in March of that year. It was decided due to the experimental nature of the design to delay placing orders for any other ships until Dreadnought and her trials had been completed. Once the design had been finalised the hull form was designed and tested at the Admiralty's experimental ship tank at Gosport. Seven iterations were required before the final hull form was selected. Once the design was finalized, a team of three assistant engineers and 13 draughtsmen produced detailed drawings.[19]
To assist in speeding up the ship's construction, the internal hull structure was simplified as much as possible and an attempt was made to standardize on a limited number of standard plates, which varied only in their thickness.
DescriptionEdit
Hull longitudinal section CC – condenser compartment; ER – engine room; BR – boiler room; WTB – watertight bulkhead; WTF – watertight frame. 1 – after capstan; 2, 4 – torpedo head magazine; 3 – mess space; 5 – fore top; 6 – engine room vent; 7 – boiler room vent; 8 – signal tower; 9 – ; 10 – main top; 11 – admirals sea cabin; 12 – chart house; 13 – conning tower; 14 – officers' cabin; 15 – escape trunk; 16 – vent; 17 – capstan; 18 – trimming tank; 19 – capstan engine room; 20 – submerged torpedo room; 21 – 12 in shellroom; 22 – 12 in magazines; 23 – ash hoist; 24 – reserve feed-water tank; 25 – coal bunker; 26 – coal shute; 27 – electric lift; 28 – oil fuel tank; 29 – fresh water tank; 30 – submerged torpedo room; 31 – fresh water tank; 32 – stern torpedo tube.
Dreadnought was significantly larger than the two ships of the Lord Nelson class, which were under construction at the same time. She had an overall length of 527 ft (160.6 m), a beam of 82 ft 1 in (25.0 m), and a draught of 29 ft 7.5 in (9.0 m) at deep load. She displaced 18,120 long tons (18,410 t) at normal load and 20,730 long tons (21,060 t) at deep load, almost 3,000 long tons (3,000 t) more than the earlier ships.[20] She had a metacentric height of 5.6 ft (1.7 m) at deep load and a complete double bottom.[21]
Officers were customarily housed aft, but Dreadnought reversed the old arrangement, so that the officers were closer to their action stations. This was very unpopular with the officers, not least because they were now berthed near the noisy auxiliary machinery while the turbines made the rear of the ship much quieter than they had been in earlier steamships. This arrangement lasted among the British dreadnoughts until the King George V class of 1910.[22]
PropulsionEdit
Vickers Sons & Maxim were the prime contractor for the ships machinery but as they had no large turbine experience, they sourced the turbines from Parsons.
Dreadnought was the first battleship to use steam turbines in place of the older reciprocating triple-expansion steam engines. She had two paired sets of Parsons direct-drive turbines, each of which was housed in a separate engine-room and drove two shafts. The wing shafts were coupled to the high-pressure ahead and astern turbines and the low-pressure turbines to the inner shafts. A cruising turbine was also coupled to each inner shaft, although these were not used often and were eventually disconnected.[23] Each of the four main turbines drove an 8 ft 10 in (2.69 m) diameter three-bladed propeller with 8.37 ft pitch, 33 sq ft for 5,750 shp (4,290 kW) at 320 rpm.[24]
The turbines were powered by 18 Babcock & Wilcox boilers in three boiler rooms. They had a working pressure of 250 psi (1,724 kPa; 18 kgf/cm2). The turbines were designed to produce a total of 23,000 shp (17,000 kW), but reached nearly 27,018 shp (20,147 kW) during trials in October 1906. Dreadnought was designed for 21 knots (38.9 km/h; 24.2 mph), but reached 21.6 knots (40.0 km/h; 24.9 mph) during trials.[25]
General arrangement of port engine room
1 – outer shaft; 2 – exhaust trunk from high pressure (HP) for low pressure (LP) astern turbine; 3 – HP astern turbine; 4 – dummy piston; 5 – rotor shaft bearings; 6 – LP ahead turbine; 7 – inner shaft; 8 – main steam to HP ahead turbine; 9 – thrust block (outer); 10 – main steam to HP ahead turbine; 11 – main steam from boiler room; 12 – astern manoueuvring valve; 13 – ahead manoueuvring valve; 14 – cruising manoueuvring valve; 15 – main steam to cruising turbine; 16 – main condenser; 17 – exhaust to condenser; 18 – LP astern turbine; 19 – LP ahead turbine; 20 – exhaust trunk from HP for LP ahead turbine; 21 – exhaust trunk from cruising to HP ahead turbine; 22 – cruising turbine; 23 – thrust block (inner).
Dreadnought carried 2,868 long tons (2,914 t) of coal, and an additional 1,120 long tons (1,140 t) of fuel oil that was to be sprayed on the coal to increase its burn rate. At full capacity, she could steam for 6,620 nmi (12,260 km; 7,620 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).[26]
ArmamentEdit
Turret with twin 12-inch Mk X guns. Two 12-pounder guns are mounted on the roof for defence against torpedo boats.
Dreadnought mounted ten 45-calibre BL 12 in (300 mm) Mark X gun in five twin Mark BVIII gun turrets. Three turrets were located along the centreline of the ship, with the forward turret ('A') and two aft turrets ('X' and 'Y'), the latter pair separated by the torpedo control tower located on a short tripod mast. Two wing turrets ('P' and 'Q') were located port and starboard of the forward superstructure respectively.[22]
Dreadnought could deliver a broadside of eight guns between 60° before the beam and 50° abaft the beam. Beyond these limits she could fire six guns aft, and four forward. On bearings 1° ahead or astern she could fire six guns, although she would have inflicted blast damage on the superstructure.[22]
The guns could initially be depressed to −3° and elevated to +13.5°, although the turrets were modified to allow 16° of elevation during the First World War. They fired 850 lb (390 kg) projectiles at a muzzle velocity of 2,725 ft/s (831 m/s); at 13.5°, this provided a maximum range of 16,450 yd (15,040 m)[27] with armour-piercing (AP) 2 crh shells. At 16° elevation, the range was extended to 20,435 yd (18,686 m) using the more aerodynamic, but slightly heavier, 4 crh AP shells. The rate of fire of these guns was one to two rounds per minute.[28] The ships carried 80 rounds per gun.[20]
12-pounder guns mounted on 'X' turret; note the sighting hoods on the turret roof.
The secondary armament consisted of twenty-seven 50-calibre, 3 in (76 mm) 12-pounder 18 cwt Mark I guns[Note 2] positioned in the superstructure and on turret tops. The guns had a maximum depression of −10° and a maximum elevation of +20°. They fired 12.5 lb (5.7 kg) projectiles at a muzzle velocity of 2,600 ft/s (790 m/s); this gave a maximum range of 9,300 yd (8,500 m). Their rate of fire was 15 rounds per minute.[29] The ship carried three hundred rounds for each gun.[20]
The original plan was to dismount the eight guns on the forecastle and quarterdeck and stow them on chocks on the deck during daylight to prevent them from being damaged by muzzle blast from the main guns. Gun trials in December 1906 proved that this was more difficult than expected and the two port guns from the forecastle and the outer starboard gun from the quarterdeck were transferred to turret roofs, giving each turret two guns. The remaining forecastle guns and the outer port gun from the quarterdeck were removed by the end of 1907, which reduced the total to twenty-four guns. During her April–May 1915 refit, the two guns from the roof of 'A' turret were reinstalled in the original positions on the starboard side of the quarterdeck. A year later, the two guns at the rear of the superstructure were removed, reducing her to twenty-two guns. Two of the quarterdeck guns were given high-angle mounts for anti-aircraft duties and the two guns abreast the conning tower were removed in 1917.[30]
A pair of QF 6-pounder Hotchkiss AA guns on high-angle mountings were mounted on the quarterdeck in 1915.[30] They had a maximum depression of 8° and a maximum elevation of 60°. The guns fired a 6 lb (2.7 kg) shell at a muzzle velocity of 1,765 ft/s (538 m/s) at a rate of fire of 20 rounds per minute. They had a maximum ceiling of 10,000 ft (3,000 m), but an effective range of only 1,200 yd (1,100 m).[31] They were replaced by a pair of QF 3-inch 20 cwt guns on high-angle Mark II mounts in 1916. These guns had a maximum depression of 10° and a maximum elevation of 90°. They fired a 12.5 lb (5.7 kg) shell at a muzzle velocity of 2,500 ft/s (760 m/s) at a rate of 12–14 rounds per minute. They had a maximum effective ceiling of 23,500 ft (7,200 m).[32]
Dreadnought carried five 18 in (460 mm) submerged torpedo tubes in three compartments. Each compartment had two torpedo tubes, one on each broadside, except for the stern compartment which only had one torpedo tube. The forward torpedo room was forward of 'A' turret's magazine and the rear torpedo room was abaft 'Y' turret's magazine. The stern torpedo compartment was shared with the steering gear. Twenty-three Whitehead Mark III* torpedoes were carried between them. In addition six 14 in (356 mm) torpedoes were carried for her steam picket boats.[22]
Fire controlEdit
Dreadnought was one of the first vessels of the Royal Navy to be fitted with instruments for electrically transmitting range, order and deflection information to the turrets. The control positions for the main armament were located in the spotting top at the head of the foremast and on a platform on the roof of the signal tower. Data from a 9 ft (2.7 m) Barr and Stroud FQ-2 rangefinder located at each control position was input into a Dumaresq mechanical computer and electrically transmitted to Vickers range clocks located in the Transmitting Station located beneath each position on the main deck, where it was converted into range and deflection data for use by the guns. Voice pipes were retained for use between the Transmitting Station and the control positions. The target's data was also graphically recorded on a plotting table to assist the gunnery officer in predicting the movement of the target. The turrets, Transmitting Stations, and control positions could be connected in almost any combination.[33]
Firing trials against Hero in 1907 revealed this system's vulnerability to gunfire, as its spotting top was hit twice and a large splinter severed the voice pipe and all wiring running along the mast. To guard against this possibility, Dreadnought's fire-control system was comprehensively upgraded during her refits in 1912–13. The rangefinder in the foretop was given a gyro-stabilized Argo mount and 'A' and 'Y' turrets were upgraded to serve as secondary control positions for any portion or all of the main armament. An additional 9-foot rangefinder was installed on the compass platform. In addition, 'A' turret was fitted with another 9-foot rangefinder at the rear of the turret roof and a Mark I Dreyer Fire Control Table was installed in the main Transmitting Station. It combined the functions of the Dumaresq and the range clock.[34]
Fire-control technology advanced quickly during the years immediately preceding the First World War, and the most important development was the director firing system. This consisted of a fire-control director mounted high in the ship which electrically provided data to the turrets via pointers, which the turret crew were to follow. The director layer fired the guns simultaneously which aided in spotting the shell splashes and minimised the effects of the roll on the dispersion of the shells. A prototype was fitted in Dreadnought in 1909, but it was removed to avoid conflict with her duties as flagship of the Home Fleet.[35] Preparations to install a production director were made during her May–June 1915 refit and every turret received a 9 ft (2.7 m) rangefinder at the same time. The exact date of the installation of the director is not known, other than it was not fitted before the end of 1915, and it was most likely mounted during her April–June 1916 refit.[34]
ArmourEdit
Armour layout
Dreadnought 36 days after the keel was laid showing armoured deck largely in place and beams for main deck
Dreadnought used Krupp cemented armour throughout, unless otherwise mentioned. The armour was supplied by William Beardmore's Dalmuir factory.
Her waterline belt measured 11 in (279 mm) thick, but tapered to 7 in (178 mm) at its lower edge. It extended from the rear of 'A' barbette to the centre of 'Y' barbette. Oddly, it was reduced to 9 in (229 mm) abreast 'A' barbette. A 6 in (152 mm) extension ran from 'A' barbette forward to the bow and a similar 4 inch extension ran aft to the stern. An 8 in (203 mm) bulkhead was angled obliquely inwards from the end of the main belt to the side of 'X' barbette to fully enclose the armoured citadel at middle deck level. An 8-inch belt sat above the main belt, but only ran as high as the main deck. One major problem with Dreadnought's armour scheme was that the top of the 11 inch belt was only 2 ft (0.6 m) above the waterline at normal load and it was submerged by over 12 inches at deep load, which meant that the waterline was then protected only by the 8 inch upper belt.[36]
Cross-section amidships showing the armour layout
The turret faces and sides were protected by 11 inches of Krupp cemented armour, while the turret roofs used 3 inches of Krupp non-cemented armour (KNC). The exposed faces of the barbettes were 11 inches thick, but the inner faces were 8 inches thick above the main deck. 'X' barbette's was 8 inches thick all around. Below the main deck, the barbettes' armour thinned to four inches except for 'A' barbette (eight inches) and 'Y' which remained 11 inches thick. The thickness of the main deck ranged from 0.75 to 1 in (19 to 25 mm). The middle deck was 1.75 in (44 mm) thick on the flat and 2.75 inches (70 mm) where it sloped down to meet the bottom edge of the main belt. Over the magazine for 'A' and 'Y' turrets it was 3 inches thick, on slope and flat both. The lower deck armour was 1.5 inches (38 mm) forward and 2 inches aft where it increased to 3 inches to protect the steering gear.[34]
The sides of the conning tower were 11 inches thick and it had a 3-inch roof of KNC. It had a communications tube with 8 inch walls of mild steel down to the Transmitting Station on the middle deck. The walls of the signal tower were 8 inches thick while it had a roof of 3 inches of KNC armour. 2 inch torpedo bulkheads were fitted abreast the magazines and shell rooms of 'A', 'X' and 'Y' turrets, but this increased to 4 inches abreast 'P' and 'Q' turrets to compensate for their outboard location.[34]
In common with all major warships of her day, Dreadnought was fitted with anti-torpedo nets, but these were removed early in the war, since they caused considerable loss of speed and were easily defeated by torpedoes fitted with net-cutters.[37]
Electrical equipmentEdit
Electrical power was provided by three 100 kW, 100 V dc [Siemens] generators, powered by two Brotherhood steam and two Mirrlees diesel engines (which later changed to three steam and one diesel).[38] Among the equipment powered by 100 volt dc and 15 volt dc electrical systems were five lifts, eight coaling winches, pumps, ventilation fans, lighting and telephone systems.[39]
ConstructionEdit
Dreadnought two days after the keel was laid. Most of lower frames are in place plus a few of the beams which will support the armoured deck.
Dreadnought was the sixth ship of the RN to bear the name.[40] To meet Admiral Fisher's goal of building the ship in a single year, material was stockpiled in advance and a great deal of prefabrication was done from May 1905 onwards with approximately 6,000 man weeks of work expended before she was formally laid down on 2 October 1905 on No.5 Slip.[41] In addition, she was built at HM Dockyard, Portsmouth which was regarded as the fastest-building shipyard in the world. The slip was screened from prying eyes and attempts made to indicate that the design was no different than other battleships.
1,100 men were already employed by the time she was laid down, but soon this number rose to 3,000. Whereas on previous ships the men had worked a 48-hour week, they were required on Dreadnought to work a 69-hour, six day week from 06:00 to 18:00, which included compulsory overtime with only a 30-minute lunch break. While double shifting was considered to ease the long hours which were unpopular with the men, this was not possible due to labour shortages.[41] By Day 6 (7 October), the first of the bulkheads and most of the middle deck beams were in place. By Day 20, the forward part of the bow was in position and the hull plating was well underway. By Day 55 all of the upper deck beams were in place, and by Day 83 the upper deck plates were in position. By Day 125 (4 February), the hull was finished.
Dreadnought was christened with a bottle of Australian wine[42] by King Edward VII on 10 February 1906,[43] after only four months on the ways. The bottle required multiple blows to shatter on a bow that later became famous. Signifying the ship's importance the launch had been planned to be a large elaborate festive event, however as the court was still in mourning for Queen Alexandra's father who had died twelve days before, she did not attend and a more sober event occurred.
Following the launch, fitting out of the ship occurred at No.15 Dock.[44]
TrialsEdit
On 1 October 1906, steam was raised and she went to sea on 3 October 1906 for two days of trials at Devonport, only a year and a day after construction started. On the 9th she undertook her eight hour long full power contractor trials off Polperro on the Cornwall coast during which she averaged 20.05 knots and 21.6 knots on the measured mile. She returned to Portsmouth for gun and torpedo trials before she completed her final fitting out. She was commissioned into the fleet on 11 December 1906, fifteen months after she was laid down.[45]
The suggestion[46][47] that her building had been sped up by using guns and/or turrets originally designed for the Lord Nelson-class battleships which preceded her is not borne out as the guns and turrets were not ordered until July 1905. It seems more likely that Dreadnought's turrets and guns merely received higher priority than those of the earlier ships.[22]
Dreadnought sailed for the Mediterranean Sea for extensive trials in December 1906 calling in at Arosa Bay, Gibraltar and Golfo d'Aranci before crossing the Atlantic to Port of Spain, Trinidad in January 1907, returning to Portsmouth on 23 March 1907. During this cruise, her engines and guns were given a thorough workout by Captain Reginald Bacon, Fisher's former Naval Assistant and a member of the Committee on Designs. His report stated, "No member of the Committee on Designs dared to hope that all the innovations introduced would have turned out as successfully as had been the case."[48] During this time she averaged 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph), slowed only by a damaged rudder, an unprecedented high-speed performance.[49] This shakedown cruise revealed several issues that were dealt with in subsequent refits, notably the replacement of her steering engines and the addition of cooling machinery to reduce the temperature levels in her magazines (cordite degrades more quickly at high temperatures).[50] The most important issue, which was never addressed in her lifetime, was that the placement of her foremast behind the forward funnel put the spotting top right in the plume of hot exhaust gases, much to the detriment of her fighting ability.[51]
CostEdit
The ship's construction cost £1,785,683, broken down as follows: hull £844,784, propelling and other machinery £319,585, hull fittings, gun mountings, and torpedo tubes £390,145, incidental charges £117,969, guns £113,200.[52] Other sources however state £1,783,883.[53] and £1,672,483.[20]
Service recordEdit
Pre-First World WarEdit
From 1906-1908, Dreadnought was undoubtedly the most powerful warship on Earth. From 1907-1911, Dreadnought served as flagship of the Royal Navy's Home Fleet.[54]
Dreadnought HoaxEdit
In 1910, she attracted the attention of notorious hoaxer Horace de Vere Cole, who persuaded the Royal Navy to arrange for a party of Abyssinian royals to be given a tour of a ship. In reality, the "Abyssinian royals" were some of Cole's friends in blackface and disguise, including a young Virginia Woolf and her Bloomsbury Group friends; it became known as the Dreadnought hoax. Cole had picked Dreadnought because she was at that time the most prominent and visible symbol of Britain's naval might.[55]
Later serviceEdit
She was replaced as flagship of the Home Fleet by Neptune in March 1911 and was assigned to the 1st Division of the Home Fleet. She participated in King George V's Coronation Fleet Review in June 1911.[56]
Dreadnought became flagship of the 4th Battle Squadron in December 1912 after her transfer from the 1st Battle Squadron, as the 1st Division had been renamed earlier in the year. Between September and December 1913 she was training in the Mediterranean Sea.
First World WarEdit
At the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, she was flagship of the 4th Battle Squadron in the North Sea, based at Scapa Flow. She was relieved as flagship on 10 December by Benbow.[57]
Ironically for a vessel designed to engage enemy battleships, her only significant action was the ramming and sinking of German submarine SM U-29, skippered by K/Lt Otto Weddigen (of SM U-9 fame), on 18 March 1915. U-29 had broken the surface immediately ahead of Dreadnought after firing a torpedo at Neptune, and Dreadnought cut the submarine in two after a short chase. She almost collided with Temeraire who was also attempting to ram.[4] Dreadnought thus became the only battleship ever to purposefully sink an enemy submarine.[58][Note 3]
She was refitting at Portsmouth from 18 April-22 June 1916 and missed the Battle of Jutland on 31 May, the most significant fleet engagement of the war. Dreadnought became flagship of the 3rd Battle Squadron on 9 July, based at Sheerness on the Thames, part of a force of pre-dreadnoughts intended to counter the threat of shore bombardment by German battlecruisers. During this time, she fired her AA guns at German aircraft that passed over her headed for London. She returned to the Grand Fleet in March 1918, resuming her role as flagship of the 4th Battle Squadron, but was paid off in July to begin another refit. With the war over, she was paid off on 7 August 1918 into the Reserve at Devonport and moved to Rosyth on 25 February 1919, where she was recommissioned as the tender Hercules to act as a parent ship for the Reserve.[59]
Post-warEdit
Dreadnought was put up for sale on 31 March 1920 and sold for scrap to Thos W Ward on 9 May 1921 as one of the 113 ships that the firm purchased at a flat rate of ₤2.50 per ton, later reduced to ₤2.20 per ton. As Dreadnought was assessed at 16,650 tons, she cost the shipbreaker ₤36,630[60] though another source states ₤44,750.[61] She was broken up at Thos W Ward's new premises at Inverkeithing, Scotland, upon arrival on 2 January 1923.[62]
Very few artifacts from Dreadnought survived, although a gun tompion is in the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich.[63]
CaptainsEdit
Dates of appointment are provided where known:[64]
Captain Reginald Bacon, 2 July 1906. He commissioned her for her trials and took her on the shakedown cruise in 1907 to the West Indies.
Captain Charles E. Madden, 12 August 1907 to 1 December 1908.
Captain Charles de Bartolomé, 1 December 1908 to 24 February 1909.
Captain A. Gordon H. W. Moore, 1 December 1908 to 30 July 1909.
Captain Herbert Richmond, 30 July 1909 to 4 April 1911.
Captain Sydney Fremantle, 28 March 1911 to 17 December 1912.
Captain Wilmot Nicholson, 17 December 1912 to 1 July 1914.
Captain William John Standly Alderson, 1 July 1914 to 19 July 1916.
Captain John W. L. McClintock, 19 July 1916 to 1 December 1916 (and as Flag Captain from when Vice-Admiral de Robeck hoisted his flag).
Captain Arthur C. S. H. D'Aeth, 1 December 1916 (Sidney Robert Drury-Lowe may have been loaned here on 1 December, as well)
Captain Thomas E. Wardle, January, 1918 to 20 April 1918.
Captain Maurice Swynfen Fitzmaurice, 20 April 1918 to 5 October 1918.
Captain Robert H. Coppinger, 25 February 1919 to 31 March 1920 (and, from 16 December, in charge of ships designated for disposal in the Scottish Command).
SignificanceEdit
See also: Anglo-German naval arms race and South American dreadnought race
1909 cartoon in Puck shows (clockwise) US, Germany, Britain, France and Japan engaged in naval race in a "no limit" game.
Her design so thoroughly eclipsed earlier types that subsequent battleships of all nations were generically known as "dreadnoughts" and older battleships as "pre-dreadnoughts". Her very short construction time was intended to demonstrate that Britain could build an unassailable lead in the new type of battleships.[65] Her construction sparked off a naval arms race, and soon all major fleets were adding Dreadnought-like ships.[3]
In 1960, Britain's first nuclear submarine was named HMS Dreadnought (S101). The name will be used again for the lead ship of the new class of Trident missile submarines.[66]
The modern acoustic guitar developed with a wide, deep body was named the Dreadnought shape after this ship.[67]
In 2014, a newly classified genus of Titanosaurid sauropod dinosaurs was named Dreadnoughtus due to its gigantic size making it "virtually impervious" to attack, the name means "fears nothing" and was inspired by the battleship.[68]
^ This type of battleship with its secondary armament 9.2 inches or greater would become known retroactively as semi-dreadnoughts. See Sturton, p. 11
^ "Cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 18 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.
^ The USS New York may have sunk a submarine in October 1918, when she accidentally collided with what was suspected to be a submerged U-boat. That sinking has never been conclusively established, however. See Jones, pp. 66–67
^ "Dreadnought" in Google Dictionary and Merriam-Webster dictionaries
^ Sturton, pp. 76–77
^ a b Gardiner, p. 18
^ a b Burt, p. 38
^ Brown, David K, pp. 180–182
^ Brown, David K, p. 182
^ Parkes, p. 451
^ Gardiner and Gray, p. 288
^ Massie, p. 471
^ Forczyk, p. 50
^ Brown, p. 175
^ Brown, David K, pp. 186, 189–90
^ Roberts, pp. 12, 25
^ Brown, David K, pp. 186, 190
^ Brown, Paul; p. 24
^ a b c d Burt, p. 29
^ Roberts, pp. 14, 86–87
^ a b c d e Roberts, p. 28
^ Burt, p. 31
^ Johnson & Buxton, p. 167
^ Roberts, pp. 15–16, 24, 26
^ Roberts, p. 25
^ "Britain 12"/45 (30.5 cm) Mark X". navweaps.com. 30 January 2009. Retrieved 11 November 2009.
^ "British 12-pdr [3"/50 (7.62 cm)] 18cwt QF Mark I". navweaps.com. 28 December 2008. Retrieved 15 May 2010.
^ a b Roberts, p. 30
^ "Britain 6-pdr / 8cwt (2.244"/40 (57 mm)) QF Marks I and II". navweaps.com. 16 May 2008. Retrieved 11 November 2009.
^ "British 12-pdr (3"/45 (76.2 cm)) 20cwt QF HA Marks I, II, III and IV". navweaps.com. 27 February 2007. Retrieved 11 November 2009.
^ Roberts, pp. 30–31
^ a b c d Roberts, p. 31
^ Brooks, p. 48
^ Roberts, pp. 31–32, 139–43
^ Archibald, p. 160
^ Mizokami, Kyle (26 October 2016). "A Brief History of All the Warships Called "Dreadnought"". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved 27 October 2016. If the name of Britain's next nuclear sub sounds old, it's because it is very, very old.
^ a b Brown, Paul; p. 25
^ "The Battleships – Part 1". ABC TV. 2 July 2002.
^ Gardiner and Gray, pp. 21–22
^ Burt, pp. 32–33
^ Roberts, pp. 34
^ "The Dreadnought Hoax". Museum of Hoaxes. Retrieved 18 May 2010.
^ Sturton, p. 79
^ "Gun tompion from HMS 'Dreadnought', 1906". Europeana Collections.
^ "H.M.S.Dreadnought". Dreadnought Project. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
^ "New Successor Submarines Named" (Press release). Gov.uk. 21 October 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
^ "Dreadnought Story". Martin Guitar Company. Archived from the original on 26 February 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2010.
^ Ewing, Rachel (4 September 2014). "Introducing Dreadnoughtus: A Gigantic, Exceptionally Complete Sauropod Dinosaur - DrexelNow". DrexelNow. Drexel University. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
Archibald, E. H. H. (1984). The Fighting Ship in the Royal Navy, AD 897–1984. Poole, Dorset: Blandford Press. ISBN 0-7137-1348-8.
Blyth, Robert J. et al. eds. The Dreadnought and the Edwardian Age (2011)
Brooks, John (2005). Dreadnought Gunnery and the Battle of Jutland: The Question of Fire Control. Naval Policy and History. 32. Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-40788-5.
Brown, David K. (2003). Warrior to Dreadnought: Warship Development 1860–1905 (reprint of the 1997 ed.). London: Caxton Editions. ISBN 1-84067-529-2.
Brown, Paul (January 2017), "Building Dreadnought", Ships Monthly: 24–27
Burt, R. A. (1986). British Battleships of World War One. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-863-8.
Forczyk, Robert (2009). Russian Battleship vs Japanese Battleship: Yellow Sea 1904–05. Long Island City, NY: Osprey. ISBN 978-1-84603-330-8.
Friedman, Norman (2011). Naval Weapons of World War One. Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-84832-100-7.
Gardiner, Robert, ed. (1992). The Eclipse of the Big Gun: The Warship, 1906–45. Conway's History of the Ship. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-607-8.
Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal, eds. (1984). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1922. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
Johnston, Ian & Buxton, Ian (2013). The Battleship Builders - Constructing and Arming British Capital Ships. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-027-6.
Jones, Jerry W. (1995). U.S. Battleship Operations in World War I, 1917–1918. Denton, Texas: University of North Texas. OCLC 37111409.
Booknotes interview with Robert Massie on Dreadnought: Britain, Germany and the Coming of the Great War, 8 March 1992, C-SPAN
Massie, Robert K. (1991). Dreadnought: Britain, Germany, and the Coming of the Great War. New York and Canada: Random House. ISBN 0-394-52833-6.
Parkes, Oscar (1990). British Battleships (reprint of the 1957 ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-075-4.
Roberts, John (1992). The Battleship Dreadnought. Anatomy of the Ship. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-057-6.
Ross, Angus. "HMS Dreadnought (1906)—A Naval Revolution Misinterpreted or Mishandled?" The Northern Mariner (April 2010) 20#2 pp: 175–198
Sturton, Ian, ed. (2008). Conway's Battleships: The Definitive Visual Reference to the World's All-Big-Gun Ships (2nd revised and expanded ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-132-7.
Sumida, Jon Tetsuro (1993). In Defense of Naval Supremacy: Financial Limitation, Technological Innovation and British Naval Policy, 1889–1914. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-08674-4. OCLC 28909592.
Battleships portal
HMS Dreadnought (1906) (category)
Guide to the Dreadnought's distinctive 12-inch (305 mm) guns
Dreadnought Project's technical material on the weaponry and fire control of the ship
United States Navy history page on Dreadnought
History article, with several period photographs
Illustration of the contemporary naval arms race sparked by Dreadnought
Maritimequest HMS Dreadnought photo gallery
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=HMS_Dreadnought_(1906)&oldid=906808324"
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"2 May" redirects here. For the Romanian village, see 2 Mai.
May 2 is the 122nd day of the year (123rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. 243 days remain until the end of the year.
EventsEdit
1194 – King Richard I of England gives Portsmouth its first Royal Charter.
1230 – William de Braose is hanged by Prince Llywelyn the Great.
1335 – Otto the Merry, Duke of Austria, becomes Duke of Carinthia.
1536 – Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, is arrested and imprisoned on charges of adultery, incest, treason and witchcraft.
1559 – John Knox returns from exile to Scotland to become the leader of the nascent Scottish Reformation.
1568 – Mary, Queen of Scots, escapes from Loch Leven Castle.
1611 – The King James Version of the Bible is published for the first time in London, England, by printer Robert Barker.
1670 – King Charles II of England grants a permanent charter to the Hudson's Bay Company to open up the fur trade in North America.
1672 – John Maitland becomes Duke of Lauderdale and Earl of March.
1808 – Outbreak of the Peninsular War: The people of Madrid rise up in rebellion against French occupation. Francisco de Goya later memorializes this event in his painting The Second of May 1808.
1812 – The Siege of Cuautla during the Mexican War of Independence ends with both sides claiming victory after Mexican rebels under José María Morelos y Pavón abandon the city after 72 days under siege by royalist Spanish troops under Félix María Calleja.
1816 – Marriage of Léopold of Saxe-Coburg and Princess Charlotte of Wales.
1829 – After anchoring nearby, Captain Charles Fremantle of HMS Challenger, declares the Swan River Colony in Australia.
1863 – American Civil War: Stonewall Jackson is wounded by friendly fire while returning to camp after reconnoitering during the Battle of Chancellorsville. He succumbs to pneumonia eight days later.
1866 – Peruvian defenders fight off the Spanish fleet at the Battle of Callao.
1876 – The April Uprising breaks out in Ottoman Bulgaria.
1879 – The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party is founded in Madrid by Pablo Iglesias.
1885 – Cree and Assiniboine warriors win the Battle of Cut Knife, their largest victory over Canadian forces during the North-West Rebellion.
1889 – Menelik II, Emperor of Ethiopia, signs the Treaty of Wuchale, giving Italy control over Eritrea.
1906 – Closing ceremony of the Intercalated Games in Athens, Greece.
1918 – General Motors acquires the Chevrolet Motor Company of Delaware.
1920 – The first game of the Negro National League baseball is played in Indianapolis.
1933 – Germany's independent labor unions are replaced by the German Labour Front.
1941 – Following the coup d'état against Iraq Crown Prince 'Abd al-Ilah earlier that year, the United Kingdom launches the Anglo-Iraqi War to restore him to power.
1945 – World War II: The Soviet Union announces the fall of Berlin.
1945 – World War II: The surrender of Caserta comes into effect, by which German troops in Italy cease fighting.
1945 – World War II: The US 82nd Airborne Division liberates Wöbbelin concentration camp finding 1000 dead prisoners, most of whom starved to death.
1945 – World War II: A death march from Dachau to the Austrian border is halted by the segregated, all-Nisei 522nd Field Artillery Battalion of the U.S. Army in southern Bavaria, saving several hundred prisoners.
1952 – The world's first ever jet airliner, the De Havilland Comet 1 makes its maiden flight, from London to Johannesburg.
1955 – Tennessee Williams wins the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
1963 – Berthold Seliger launches a rocket with three stages and a maximum flight altitude of more than 100 kilometres near Cuxhaven. It is the only sounding rocket developed in Germany.
1964 – Vietnam War: An explosion sinks the American aircraft carrier USS Card while it is docked at Saigon. Two Viet Cong combat swimmers had placed explosives on the ship's hull. She is raised and returned to service less than seven months later.
1964 – First ascent of Shishapangma, the fourteenth highest mountain in the world and the lowest of the Eight-thousanders.
1969 – The British ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2 departs on her maiden voyage to New York City.
1972 – In the early morning hours a fire breaks out at the Sunshine Mine located between Kellogg and Wallace, Idaho, killing 91 workers.
1982 – Falklands War: The British nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror sinks the Argentine cruiser ARA General Belgrano.
1986 – Chernobyl disaster: The City of Chernobyl is evacuated six days after the disaster.
1989 – Cold War: Hungary begins dismantling its border fence with Austria, which allows a number of East Germans to defect.
1994 – A bus crashes in Gdańsk, Poland killing 32 people.
1995 – During the Croatian War of Independence, the Army of the Republic of Serb Krajina fires cluster bombs at Zagreb, killing seven and wounding over 175 civilians.
1998 – The European Central Bank is founded in Brussels in order to define and execute the European Union's monetary policy.
1999 – Panamanian general election, 1999: Mireya Moscoso becomes the first woman to be elected President of Panama.
2000 – President Bill Clinton announces that accurate GPS access would no longer be restricted to the United States military.
2004 – The Yelwa massacre concludes. It began on 4 February 2004 when armed Muslims killed 78 Christians at Yelwa. In response, about 630 Muslims were killed by Christians on May 2nd.
2008 – Cyclone Nargis makes landfall in Burma killing over 138,000 people and leaving millions of people homeless.
2008 – Chaitén Volcano begins erupting in Chile, forcing the evacuation of more than 4,500 people.
2011 – Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind behind the September 11 attacks and the FBI's most wanted man, is killed by the United States special forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
2011 – An E. coli outbreak strikes Europe, mostly in Germany, leaving more than 30 people dead and many others sick from the bacteria outbreak.
2012 – A pastel version of The Scream, by Norwegian painter Edvard Munch, sells for $120 million in a New York City auction, setting a new world record for a work of art at auction.
2014 – Two mudslides in Badakhshan, Afghanistan, leave up to 2,500 people missing.
2018 – Basque separatist terrorist band ETA announces its dissolution and ceasing of all activities.
BirthsEdit
1360 – Yongle Emperor of China (d. 1424)
1402 – Eleanor of Aragon, Queen of Portugal (d. 1445)
1451 – René II, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1508)
1458 – Eleanor of Viseu (d. 1525)
1476 – Charles I, Duke of Münsterberg-Oels, Count of Kladsko, Governor of Bohemia and Silesia (d. 1536)
1533 – Philip II, Duke of Brunswick-Grubenhagen (d. 1596)
1551 – William Camden, English historian and topographer (d. 1623)
1567 – Sebald de Weert, Dutch captain, vice-admiral of the Dutch East India Company (d. 1603)
1579 – Tokugawa Hidetada, Japanese shōgun (d. 1632)
1601 – Athanasius Kircher, German priest and scholar (d. 1680)
1660 – Alessandro Scarlatti, Italian composer (d. 1725)
1695 – Giovanni Niccolò Servandoni, Italian-French painter and architect (d. 1766)
1702 – Friedrich Christoph Oetinger, German theologian and theosopher (d. 1782)
1707 – Jean-Baptiste Barrière, French cellist and composer (d. 1747)
1729 – Catherine the Great of Russia (d. 1796)
1737 – William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne, Irish-English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1805)
1740 – Elias Boudinot, American lawyer and politician, 10th President of the Continental Congress (d. 1821)
1750 – John André, English soldier and spy (d. 1780)
1752 – Ludwig August Lebrun, German oboe player and composer (d. 1790)
1754 – Vicente Martín y Soler, Spanish composer (d. 1806)
1772 – Novalis, German author and poet (d. 1801)
1773 – Henrik Steffens, Norwegian philosopher and poet (d. 1845)
1797 – Abraham Pineo Gesner, Canadian physician and geologist (d. 1864)
1802 – Heinrich Gustav Magnus, German chemist and physicist (d. 1870)
1806 – Catherine Labouré, French nun and saint (d. 1876)
1810 – Hans Christian Lumbye, Danish composer and conductor (d. 1874)
1813 – Caroline Leigh Gascoigne, English novelist and poet (d. 1883)[1]
1815 – William Buell Richards, Canadian lawyer and judge, 1st Chief Justice of Canada (d. 1889)
1822 – Jane Miller Thengberg, Scottish-Swedish governess and educator (d. 1902)[2]
1828 – Désiré Charnay, French archaeologist and photographer (d. 1915)
1830 – Otto Staudinger, German entomologist and author (d. 1900)
1843 – Elijah McCoy, Canadian-American engineer (d. 1929)
1859 – Jerome K. Jerome, English author and playwright (d. 1927)
1860 – John Scott Haldane, Scottish physiologist, physician, and academic (d. 1936)
1860 – Theodor Herzl, Austro-Hungarian Zionist philosopher, journalist and author (d. 1904)
1865 – Clyde Fitch, American playwright (d. 1909)
1867 – Giuseppe Morello, Italian-American mobster (d. 1930)
1873 – Jurgis Baltrušaitis, Lithuanian poet, critic, and translator (d. 1944)
1879 – James F. Byrnes, American stenographer and politician, 49th United States Secretary of State (d. 1972)
1880 – Bill Horr, American football player, discus thrower, and coach (d. 1955)
1882 – Isabel González, Puerto Rican activist who helped pave the way for Puerto Ricans' American citizenship (d. 1971)
1885 – Hedda Hopper, American actress and gossip columnist (d. 1966)
1886 – Gottfried Benn, German author and poet (d. 1956)
1887 – Vernon Castle, English-American dancer (d. 1918)
1887 – Eddie Collins, American baseball player and manager (d. 1951)
1889 – Ki Hajar Dewantara, Indonesian philosopher, academic, and politician (d. 1959)
1890 – E. E. Smith, American engineer and author (d. 1965)
1892 – Manfred von Richthofen, German captain and pilot (d. 1918)
1894 – Norma Talmadge, leading US actress of the silent era (d. 1957)[3]
1894 – Joseph Henry Woodger, English biologist, philosopher, and academic (d. 1981)
1895 – Lorenz Hart, American playwright and lyricist (d. 1943)
1897 – John Frederick Coots, American songwriter (d. 1985)
1898 – Henry Hall, English bandleader, composer, and actor (d. 1989)
1901 – Bob Wyatt, English cricketer (d. 1995)
1901 – Edouard Zeckendorf, Belgian doctor, army officer and mathematician (d. 1983)
1901 – Willi Bredel, German writer (d. 1964)
1902 – Brian Aherne, English actor (d. 1986)
1902 – Werner Finck, German Kabarett comedian, actor and author (d. 1978)
1903 – Benjamin Spock, American rower, pediatrician, and author (d. 1998)
1904 – Bill Brandt, German-English photographer and journalist (d. 1983)
1905 – Alan Rawsthorne, British composer (d. 1971)
1905 – Charlotte Armstrong, American author (d. 1969)
1906 – Philippe Halsman, Latvian-American photographer (d. 1979)
1907 – Pinky Lee, American comedian and television host (d. 1993)
1908 – Frank Rowlett, American cryptologist (d. 1998)
1909 – Teddy Stauffer, Swiss bandleader, musician, and actor (d. 1991)
1910 – Alexander Bonnyman, Jr., American lieutenant, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1943)
1910 – Edmund Bacon, American urban planner, architect, educator, and author (d. 2005)
1912 – Axel Springer, German journalist and publisher, founded Axel Springer AG (d. 1985)
1912 – Karl Adam, German rowing coaches (d. 1976)
1912 – Marten Toonder, Dutch comic strip creator (d. 2005)
1912 – Nigel Patrick, English actor and director (d. 1981)
1913 – Pietro Frua, Italian coachbuilder and car designer (d. 1983)
1913 – Aydın Sayılı, Turkish historian and academic (d. 1993)
1915 – Doris Fisher, American singer-songwriter (d. 2003)
1915 – Peggy Mount, English actress (d. 2001)
1917 – Albert Castelyns, Belgian water polo player and bobsledder
1917 – Văn Tiến Dũng, Vietnamese general and politician, 6th Minister of Defence for Vietnam (d. 2002)
1920 – Jean-Marie Auberson, Swiss violinist and conductor (d. 2004)
1920 – Otto Buchsbaum, Austrian-Brazilian journalist and activist (d. 2000)
1920 – Vasantrao Deshpande, Indian singer and sitar player (d. 1983)
1920 – Guinn Smith, American pole vaulter, soldier, and pilot (d. 2004)
1920 – Jacob Gilboa, Israeli composer (d. 2007)
1921 – B. B. Lal, Indian archaeologist
1921 – Satyajit Ray, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1992)
1922 – Roscoe Lee Browne, American actor and director (d. 2007)
1922 – A. M. Rosenthal, Canadian-born American journalist and author (d. 2006)
1922 – Serge Reggiani, Italian-born French singer and actor (d. 2004)
1923 – Patrick Hillery, Irish physician and politician, 6th President of Ireland (d. 2008)
1923 – Albert Nordengen, Norwegian banker and politician (d. 2004)
1924 – Jamal Abro, Pakistani lawyer and author (d. 2004)
1924 – Theodore Bikel, Austrian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (d. 2015)
1924 – Arthur Clues, Australian rugby league player (d. 1998)
1924 – Hugh Cortazzi, English soldier, historian, and diplomat, British Ambassador to Japan (d. 2018)
1925 – John Neville, English-Canadian actor (d. 2011)
1926 – Gérard D. Levesque, Canadian lawyer and politician, 5th Deputy Premier of Quebec (d. 1993)
1927 – Ray Barrett, Australian actor and singer (d. 2009)
1927 – Amos Kenan, Israeli columnist, painter, sculptor, playwright and novelist (d. 2009)
1927 – Michael Broadbent, British wine critic and writer
1928 – Hans Trass, Estonian ecologist and botanist (d. 2017)
1928 – Georges-Arthur Goldschmidt, French writer and translator of German origin
1928 – Horst Stein, German conductor (d. 2008)
1929 – Édouard Balladur, Turkish-French economist and politician, 162nd Prime Minister of France
1929 – James Dillion, American discus thrower (d. 2010)
1929 – Link Wray, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2005)
1929 – Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, Druk Gyalpo of Bhutan (d. 1972)
1930 – Yoram Kaniuk, Israeli painter and critic (d. 2013)
1930 – Marco Pannella, Italian journalist and politician (d. 2016)
1931 – Phil Bruns, American actor and stuntman (d. 2012)
1931 – Martha Grimes, American author and poet
1932 – Maury Allen, American journalist, actor, and author (d. 2010)
1933 – Bunk Gardner, American musician
1933 – Harry Woolf, Baron Woolf, English lawyer and judge, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
1934 – Manfred Durniok, German film producer, director and screenwriter (d. 2003)
1935 – Luis Suárez Miramontes, Spanish footballer and manager
1935 – Faisal II of Iraq, the last King of Iraq (d.1958)
1936 – Norma Aleandro, Argentinian actress, director, and screenwriter
1936 – Engelbert Humperdinck, English singer and pianist
1936 – Michael Rabin, American violinist (d. 1972)
1937 – Klaus Enders, German motorcycle sidecar racer
1937 – Lorenzo Music, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2001)
1937 – Gisela Elsner, German writer (d. 1992)
1938 – Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho (d. 1996)
1939 – Sumio Iijima, Japanese physicist and engineer
1939 – Ernesto Castano, Italian football player
1940 – Jules Albert Wijdenbosch, Surinamese politician
1941 – Tony Adamowicz, American race car driver (d. 2016)
1941 – Bruce Cameron, Scottish bishop
1941 – Clay Carroll, American baseball player
1941 – Eddy Louiss, French jazz musician (d. 2015)
1942 – Jacques Rogge, Belgian businessman
1942 – Wojciech Pszoniak, Polish film and theater actor
1944 – Robert G. W. Anderson, English chemist, historian, and curator
1945 – Randy Cain, American soul singer (d. 2009)
1945 – Judge Dread, English singer-songwriter (d. 1998)
1945 – Bianca Jagger, Nicaraguan-American model, actress, and activist
1945 – Goldy McJohn, Canadian keyboard player (d. 2017)
1946 – Peter L. Benson, American psychologist and academic (d. 2011)
1946 – Lesley Gore, American singer-songwriter (d. 2015)
1946 – David Suchet, English actor
1947 – James Dyson, English businessman, founded the Dyson Company
1947 – Lynda Myles, English screenwriter and producer
1947 – Philippe Herreweghe, Belgian conductor
1948 – Larry Gatlin, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1949 – Alan Titchmarsh, English gardener and author
1949 – Alfons Schuhbeck, German celebrity chef, author and businessman
1950 – Simon Gaskell, English chemist and academic
1950 – Duncan Gay, Australian businessman and politician
1950 – Lou Gramm, American singer-songwriter
1950 – Richard Ground, English lawyer and judge (d. 2014)
1950 – Fausto Silva, Brazilian television presenter
1951 – John Glascock, English singer and bass player (d. 1979)
1952 – Chris Anderson, Australian rugby league player and coach
1952 – Christine Baranski, American actress and singer
1952 – Isla St Clair, Scottish singer and actress
1953 – Valery Gergiev, Russian conductor and director
1954 – Elliot Goldenthal, American composer and conductor
1954 – Dawn Primarolo, English politician
1954 – Stephen Venables, English mountaineer and author
1955 – Willie Miller, Scottish footballer
1955 – Donatella Versace, Italian fashion designer
1956 – Régis Labeaume, Canadian businessman and politician, 41st Mayor of Quebec City
1958 – Yasushi Akimoto, Japanese songwriter and producer
1958 – Stanislav Levý, Czech footballer and manager
1958 – David O'Leary, English-Irish footballer and manager
1959 – Alan Best, Canadian animator, director, and producer
1959 – Tony Wakeford, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1960 – Stephen Daldry, English director and producer
1961 – Steve James, English snooker player
1961 – Sophie Thibault, Canadian journalist
1961 – Phil Vickery, English chef and author
1962 – Elizabeth Berridge, American actress
1962 – Michael Grandage, English director and producer
1962 – Jimmy White, English snooker player
1965 – Félix José, Dominican-American baseball player
1966 – Uwe Freiler, German footballer
1966 – Margus Kolga, Estonian diplomat
1966 – Belinda Stronach, Canadian businesswoman, philanthropist, and politician
1967 – Bengt Åkerblom, Swedish ice hockey player (d. 1995)
1967 – Mika Brzezinski, American journalist and author
1967 – David Rocastle, English footballer (d. 2001)
1968 – Jeff Agoos, Swiss-American soccer player, manager, and sportscaster
1968 – Julia Hartley-Brewer, English broadcaster and columnist
1968 – Ziana Zain, Malaysian singer-songwriter and actress
1969 – Brian Lara, Trinidadian cricketer
1970 – Marco Walker, Swiss footballer and coach
1971 – Musashimaru Kōyō, Samoan-American sumo wrestler, the 67th Yokozuna
1971 – Fatima Yusuf, Nigerian sprinter
1972 – Paul Adcock, English footballer
1972 – Ahti Heinla, Estonian programmer and businessman, co-developed Skype
1972 – Dwayne Johnson, American-Canadian wrestler, actor, and producer
1973 – Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, German director and screenwriter
1974 – Horacio Carbonari, Argentinian footballer and manager
1974 – Andy Johnson, English-Welsh footballer
1974 – Janek Meet, Estonian footballer
1975 – David Beckham, English footballer, coach, and model
1975 – Joe Wilkinson, English comedian, actor and writer
1976 – Jeff Gutt, American singer-songwriter
1977 – Brian Cardinal, American basketball player
1977 – Jan Fitschen, German runner
1977 – Luke Hudson, American baseball player
1977 – Fredrik Malm, Swedish journalist and politician
1977 – Jenna von Oÿ, American actress and singer
1977 – Kalle Palander, Finnish skier
1978 – Melvin Ely, American basketball player
1978 – Mike Weaver, Canadian ice hockey player
1979 – Jason Chimera, Canadian ice hockey player
1979 – Ioannis Kanotidis, Greek footballer
1979 – Defne Joy Foster, Turkish-American actress, presenter and VJ (d. 2011)
1980 – Tim Borowski, German footballer
1980 – Pierre-Luc Gagnon, Canadian skateboarder
1980 – Ellie Kemper, American actress, comedian and writer
1980 – Zat Knight, English footballer
1980 – Artūras Masiulis, Lithuanian basketball player
1980 – Troy Murphy, American basketball player
1980 – Lassaâd Ouertani, Tunisian footballer (d. 2013)
1980 – Brad Richards, Canadian ice hockey player
1980 – Vincent Tong, Canadian actor, singer, voice actor and director
1981 – Robert Buckley, American actor
1981 – Chris Kirkland, English footballer
1981 – Tiago Mendes, Portuguese footballer
1981 – Matt Murray, English footballer
1981 – Rina Satō, Japanese voice actress and singer
1982 – Timothy Benjamin, Welsh sprinter
1982 – Johan Botha, South African cricketer
1983 – Alessandro Diamanti, Italian footballer
1983 – Maynor Figueroa, Honduran footballer
1983 – Tina Maze, Slovenian skier
1983 – Daniel Sordo, Spanish race car driver
1983 – Ove Vanebo, Norwegian politician
1984 – Saulius Mikoliūnas, Lithuanian footballer
1984 – Thabo Sefolosha, Swiss basketball player
1985 – Lily Allen, English singer-songwriter and actress
1985 – Kyle Busch, American race car driver
1985 – Ashley Harkleroad, American tennis player
1985 – Sarah Hughes, American figure skater
1985 – David Nugent, English footballer
1987 – Saara Aalto, Finnish singer and actress[4]
1987 – Nana Kitade, Japanese singer-songwriter and actress
1987 – Pat McAfee, American football player
1987 – Kris Russell, Canadian ice hockey player
1987 – Justin Young, English singer and songwriter
1988 – Neftalí Feliz, Dominican baseball player
1988 – Stephen Henderson, Irish footballer
1989 – Jeanette Pohlen, American basketball player
1990 – Paul George, American basketball player
1991 – Jeong Jinwoon, South Korean actor and singer (2AM)
1992 – Sunmi, South Korean singer (Wonder Girls)
1992 – María Teresa Torró Flor, Spanish tennis player
1993 – Owain Doull, Welsh track cyclist
1993 – Isyana Sarasvati, Indonesian singer
1993 – Huang Zitao, Chinese singer & rapper, former member of boy band EXO
1996 – Cherprang Areekul, Member of idol group (BNK48)
1996 – Julian Brandt, German footballer
1997 – BamBam, Thai singer and rapper (Got7)
2015 – Princess Charlotte of Cambridge, British royal, and fourth in line to the British throne
DeathsEdit
373 – Athanasius of Alexandria, Egyptian bishop and saint (b. 298)
649 – Marutha of Tikrit, Persian theologian of the Syriac Orthodox Church (b. 565)
821 – Liu Zong, general of the Tang Dynasty
907 – Boris I of Bulgaria
1219 – Leo I, King of Armenia (b. 1150)
1230 – William de Braose, English son of Reginald de Braose (b. 1197)
1293 – Meir of Rothenburg, German rabbi (b. c.1215)
1300 – Blanche of Artois (b. 1248)
1450 – William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk, English admiral (b. 1396)
1519 – Leonardo da Vinci, Italian painter, sculptor, and architect (b. 1452)
1564 – Rodolfo Pio da Carpi, Italian cardinal (b. 1500)
1627 – Lodovico Grossi da Viadana, Italian composer and educator (b. 1560)
1667 – George Wither, English poet and author (b. 1588)
1683 – Stjepan Gradić, Croatian philosopher and mathematician (b. 1613)
1711 – Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester, English politician, First Lord of the Treasury (b. 1641)
1799 – Juan Vicente de Güemes, 2nd Count of Revillagigedo (b. 1740)
1802 – Herman Willem Daendels, Dutch general and politician, Governor-General of the Dutch Gold Coast (b. 1762)
1810 – Henry Jerome de Salis, English priest (b. 1740)
1819 – Mary Moser, English painter and academic (b. 1744)
1857 – Alfred de Musset, French dramatist, poet, and novelist (b. 1810)
1864 – Giacomo Meyerbeer, German composer and educator (b. 1791)
1880 – Eberhard Anheuser, German-American businessman, co-founded Anheuser-Busch (b. 1805)
1880 – Tom Wills, Australian cricketer, co-created Australian rules football (b. 1835)
1885 – Terézia Zakoucs, Hungarian-Slovene author (b. 1817)
1915 – Clara Immerwahr, German chemist (b. 1870)
1918 – Jüri Vilms, Estonian lawyer and politician (b. 1889)
1925 – Antun Branko Šimić, Croatian and Bosnian-Herzegovinian poet (b. 1898)
1927 – Ernest Starling, English physiologist and academic (b. 1866)
1929 – Charalambos Tseroulis, Greek general and politician, Greek Minister for Military Affairs (b. 1879)
1941 – Penelope Delta, Greek author (b. 1874)
1945 – Martin Bormann, German politician (b. 1900)
1945 – Joe Corbett, American baseball player and journalist (b. 1875)
1947 – Dorothea Binz, German SS officer (b. 1920)
1953 – Wallace Bryant, American archer (b. 1863)
1957 – Joseph McCarthy, American captain, lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1908)
1963 – Ronald Barnes, 3rd Baron Gorell, English cricketer, peer, politician, poet, author and newspaper editor (b. 1884)
1964 – Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor, American-English politician (b. 1879)
1969 – Franz von Papen, German general and politician, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1879)
1972 – J. Edgar Hoover, American 1st director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (b. 1895)
1974 – James O. Richardson, American admiral (b. 1878)
1977 – Nicholas Magallanes, American principal dancer and charter member of the New York City Ballet (b. 1922)
1979 – Giulio Natta, Italian chemist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
1980 – Clarrie Grimmett, New Zealand-Australian cricketer (b. 1891)
1980 – George Pal, Hungarian-American animator and producer (b. 1908)
1983 – Norm Van Brocklin, American football player and coach (b. 1926)
1984 – Jack Barry, American game show host and producer, co-founded Barry & Enright Productions (b. 1918)
1984 – Bob Clampett, American animator, director, and producer (b. 1913)
1985 – Attilio Bettega, Italian race car driver (b. 1951)
1985 – Larry Clinton, American trumpet player and bandleader (b. 1909)
1986 – Sergio Cresto, American race car driver (b. 1956)
1986 – Henri Toivonen, Finnish race car driver (b. 1956)
1989 – Veniamin Kaverin, Russian author (b. 1902)
1989 – Giuseppe Siri, Italian cardinal (b. 1906)
1990 – David Rappaport, English-American actor (b. 1951)
1991 – Gauri Shankar Rai, Indian Politician(b.1924)
1991 – Ronald McKie, Australian journalist and author (b. 1909)
1992 – Wilbur Mills, American lawyer and politician (b. 1909)
1993 – André Moynet, French race car driver, pilot, and politician (b. 1921)
1994 – Dorothy Marie Donnelly, American poet and author (b. 1903)
1995 – John Bunting, Australian public servant and diplomat, (b. 1918)
1995 – Michael Hordern, English actor (b. 1911)
1997 – John Eccles, Australian neurophysiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
1997 – Paulo Freire, Brazilian philosopher and academic (b. 1921)
1998 – hide, Japanese singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1964)
1998 – Justin Fashanu, English footballer (b. 1961)
1998 – Gene Raymond, American actor (b. 1908)
1999 – Douglas Harkness, Canadian colonel and politician (b. 1903)
1999 – Oliver Reed, English actor (b. 1938)
2002 – W. T. Tutte, English-Canadian mathematician and academic (b. 1917)
2005 – Wee Kim Wee, Singaporean journalist and politician, 4th President of Singapore (b. 1915)
2006 – Louis Rukeyser, American journalist and author (b. 1933)
2007 – Brad McGann, New Zealand director and screenwriter (b. 1964)
2008 – Beverlee McKinsey, American actress (b. 1940)
2008 – Izold Pustõlnik, Ukrainian-Estonian astronomer and academic (b. 1938)
2009 – Marilyn French, American author and academic (b. 1929)
2009 – Kiyoshiro Imawano, Japanese singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (b. 1951)
2009 – Jack Kemp, American football player and politician, 9th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (b. 1935)
2010 – Lynn Redgrave, English-American actress and singer (b. 1943)
2011 – Osama bin Laden, Saudi Arabian terrorist, founder of Al-Qaeda (b. 1957)
2012 – Fernando Lopes, Portuguese director and screenwriter (b. 1935)
2012 – Tufan Miñnullin, Russian playwright and politician (b. 1936)
2012 – Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih, Indonesian physician and politician, Indonesian Minister of Health (b. 1955)
2012 – Akira Tonomura, Japanese physicist, author, and academic (b. 1942)
2013 – Ernie Field, English boxer (b. 1943)
2013 – Jeff Hanneman, American guitarist and songwriter (b. 1964)
2013 – Joseph P. McFadden, American bishop (b. 1947)
2013 – Dvora Omer, Israeli author and educator (b. 1932)
2013 – Ivan Turina, Croatian footballer (b. 1980)
2013 – Charles Banks Wilson, American painter and illustrator (b. 1918)
2014 – Tomás Balduino, Brazilian bishop (b. 1922)
2014 – Žarko Petan, Slovenian director, playwright, and screenwriter (b. 1929)
2014 – Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., American actor (b. 1918)
2015 – Stuart Archer, English colonel and architect (b. 1915)
2015 – Michael Blake, American author and screenwriter (b. 1945)
2015 – Guy Carawan, American singer and musicologist (b. 1927)
2015 – Maya Plisetskaya, Russian-Lithuanian ballerina, choreographer, actress, and director (b. 1925)
2015 – Ruth Rendell, English author (b. 1930)
2016 – Afeni Shakur, American music businesswoman, activist, and Black Panther (b. 1947)
Holidays and observancesEdit
Athanasius of Alexandria (Western Christianity)
Boris I of Bulgaria (Bulgarian Orthodox Church)
Germanus of Normandy
May 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
The last day of the Festival of Ridván (Bahá'í Faith) (Note that this date is non-Gregorian and may change according to the March equinox)
Anniversary of the Dos de Mayo Uprising (Community of Madrid, Spain)
Birth Anniversary of Third Druk Gyalpo (Bhutan)
Flag Day (Poland)
Indonesia National Education Day
Teachers' Day (Iran) (Note that this date is non-Gregorian and may change according to the March Equinox, see List of observances set by the Solar Hijri calendar)
^ Thomas, Joseph (1915). Lippincott's Pronouncing Dictionary of Biography and Mythology (Public domain ed.). J. B. Lippincott Company. p. 1080.
^ "Jane Miller Thengberg". sok.riksarkivet.se. Retrieved 2019-01-30.
^ Basinger, Jeanine (2000). Silent Stars. Wesleyan University Press. p. 181. ISBN 0-8195-6451-6.
^ "Meri Sopanen Photos: Pictures of Saara Aalto's Fiancée". heavy.com. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to May 2.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=May_2&oldid=905316254"
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Opiate
For the class of drugs, see Opioid. For other uses, see Opiate (disambiguation).
Harvesting the poppy pod.
Opiate is a term classically used in pharmacology to mean a drug derived from opium. Opioid, a more modern term, is used to designate all substances, both natural and synthetic, that bind to opioid receptors in the brain (including antagonists).[1] Opiates are alkaloid compounds naturally found in the opium poppy plant Papaver somniferum.[2] The psychoactive compounds found in the opium plant include morphine, codeine, and thebaine. Opiates are considered drugs with moderate to high abuse potential and are listed on various "Substance-Control Schedules" under the Uniform Controlled Substances Act of the United States of America.
In 2014, between 13 and 20 million people used opiates recreationally (0.3% to 0.4% of the global population between the ages of 15 and 65).[3]
Chemical structure of morphine
Opiates belong to the large biosynthetic group of benzylisoquinoline alkaloids, and are so named because they are naturally occurring alkaloids found in the opium poppy. The major psychoactive opiates are morphine, codeine, and thebaine. Papaverine, noscapine, and approximately 24 other alkaloids are also present in opium but have little to no effect on the human central nervous system, and as such are not considered to be opiates. Very small quantities of hydrocodone and hydromorphone are detected in assays of opium on rare occasions; it appears to be produced by the plant under circumstances and by processes which are not understood at this time and may include the action of bacteria.[citation needed] Dihydrocodeine, oxymorphol, oxycodone, oxymorphone, metopon and possibly other derivatives of morphine and/or hydromorphone also are found in trace amounts in opium.[citation needed]
Despite morphine being the most medically significant opiate, larger quantities of codeine are consumed medically, most of it synthesized from morphine. Codeine has greater and more predictable oral bioavailability, making it easier to titrate the dose. Codeine also has less abuse potential than morphine, and because it is milder, larger doses of codeine are required.[4]
Morphine addiction cure advertisement in the year 1900
Opiate withdrawal syndrome effects are associated with the abrupt cessation or reduction of prolonged opiate usage.
SynthesisEdit
While the full synthesis of opioids from naphthoquinone (Gates synthesis) or other simple organic starting materials is possible, they are tedious and uneconomical processes. Therefore, most of the opiate-type analgesics in use today are either extracted from Papaver somniferum or synthesized from those opiates, especially thebaine.[5]
In 2015 researches reported successful biosynthesis of thebaine and hydrocodone using genetically modified yeast. Once scaled for commercial use the process would cut production time from a year to several days and could reduce costs by 90%.[6][7]
Esters of morphineEdit
Global estimates of drug users in 2016
(in millions of users)[8]
Amphetamine-
type stimulants 34.16 13.42 55.24
Cannabis 192.15 165.76 234.06
Cocaine 18.20 13.87 22.85
Ecstasy 20.57 8.99 32.34
Opiates 19.38 13.80 26.15
Opioids 34.26 27.01 44.54
Heroin is one of several semi-synthetic opioids derived from the morphine. Although sometimes not considered opiates, as they are not directly derived from natural opium, they are commonly referred to as opiates.[citation needed] Heroin (diacetylmorphine) is a morphine prodrug; it is metabolized by the liver into morphine after administration. One of the major metabolites of heroin, 6-monoacetylmorphine (6-MAM), is also a morphine prodrug. Nicomorphine (morphine dinicotinate), dipropanoylmorphine (morphine dipropionate), desomorphine (di-hydro-desoxy-morphine), methyldesorphine, acetylpropionylmorphine, dibenzoylmorphine, diacetyldihydromorphine, and several others are also derived from morphine.[9]
Opiate comparison
^ Hemmings, Hugh C.; Egan, Talmage D. (2014). Pharmacology and Physiology for Anesthesia: Foundations and Clinical Application: Expert Consult - Online and Print. Elsevier Health Scienc,es. p. 253. ISBN 1437716792. Opiate is the older term classically used in pharmacology to mean a drug derived from opium. Opioid, a more modern term, is used to designate all substances, both natural and synthetic, that bind to opioid receptors (including antagonists).
^ "Opiate - Definitions from Dictionary.com". dictionary.reference.com. Retrieved 2008-07-04.
^ "Status and Trend Analysis of Illict [sic] Drug Markets". World Drug Report 2015 (pdf). Retrieved 26 June 2015.
^ "Canadian Guideline for Opioid Use for Pain — Appendix B-8: Opioid Conversion and Brand Availability in Canada". nationalpaincentre.mcmaster.ca. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
^ Synthesis of morphine alkaloids Presentation School of Chemical Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Archived 2013-02-28 at the Wayback Machine retrieved 12-02-2010
^ Galanie, Stephanie; Thodey, Kate; Trenchard, Isis J.; Interrante, Maria Filsinger; Smolke, Christina D. (2015-09-04). "Complete biosynthesis of opioids in yeast". Science. 349 (6252): 1095–1100. doi:10.1126/science.aac9373. ISSN 0036-8075. PMC 4924617. PMID 26272907.
^ Mobley, Emily (2015-08-13). "Yeast cells genetically modified to create morphine-like painkiller". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2016-04-17.
^ "Annual prevalence of use of drugs, by region and globally, 2016". World Drug Report 2018. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. 2018. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
^ "Esters of Morphine". www.unodc.org. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Retrieved 10 March 2012.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Opiates.
World Health Organization guidelines for the availability and accessibility of controlled substances
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Over 4,000 officials, public employees to be made redundant in 2019
VNA Saturday, March 2, 2019 - 15:28:00 Print
Illustrative image (Source: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) - Agencies at all levels are planning to cut down over 4,000 of their officials, civil servants and public employees in 2019, raising the total staff reduction figure to about 44,510 people since 2015. The figure includes 5,500 governmental workers, and 39,000 civil servants.
The figures were released by the Ministry of Home Affairs at a meeting on January 15 in Hanoi to review the achievements of 2018 and set orientations for 2019.
According to Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Nguyen Trong Thua, in 2018, ministries, sectors, and localities have focused on reviewing, consolidating, and adjusting the functions and tasks of their subordinate units to ensure no overlaps; alongside drastically consolidating units under ministries and ministerial-level agencies. Localities have proactively reviewed and merged the units of similar functions in line with the spirit of the resolution ratified in the sixth session of the 12th Party Central Committee.
As of December 27, as many as 248 units under ministries or ministerial-level agencies were merged. The number excludes the merged-units under the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Public Security.
According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, as many as 40,500 officials, civil servants, public employees, and workers were cut down between 2015 and 2018, including 5,778 in 2015; 11,923 in 2016; 12,660 in 2017; and 10,139 in 2018. Of them, nearly 35,000 retired early, while 5,483 were made redundant.
Addressing the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh underlined challenges in the administrative system, adding that many agencies still lack efficiency with poorly-qualified staff.
He also spoke highly of public workforce reduction in 2018 and transparency in staff recruitment and promotion. The Ministry of Home Affairs has set a good example in applying information and communication technology to its operations to ensure an effective system, thus contributing to e-government development.
However, the deputy Prime Minister pointed out several shortcomings in the work, such as delays in issuing legal documents, a lack of staff performance evaluations, and incomprehensive supervision and monitoring.
He asked the Ministry of Home Affairs to address the issues, saying the ministry needs to ensure the feasibility of its work, while coming up with breakthrough solutions in line with Party resolutions, particularly in deploying temporary contract-based employment, thus attracting qualified personnel for public area and state-owned agencies.
Referring to administrative reform, Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh asked the MoHA to actively coordinate with relevant ministries and agencies; advise the Government on how to build an effective administration, focusing on salary policies reform and quality of public services; review shortcomings and address the issues; and ensure proper recruitment and promotion.
“Relevant legal documents must be revised to enhance transparency in recruitment; the public workforce needs cutting down to the targets set; and comprehensive measures taken to improve the quality of public workforce, thus enhancing their performance and competence,” said the Deputy Prime Minister.
Minister of Home Affairs Le Vinh Tan acknowledged the tasks the ministry needs to complete in 2019, saying that it will advise the Government on effectively directing the implementation of the Government’s Resolution No.01/NQ-CP on the main tasks and solutions to implement the socio-economic development plan and state budget estimates for 2019.
According to Minister Tan, the Ministry of Home Affairs will further focus on institutional development and advising the Government on developing a proposal on organising training units in the political system, and strengthening discipline in the public administrative system according to the Prime Minister’s Directive No.26; reviewing the implementation of the Prime Minister’s Directive No.02 /CT-TTg on boosting public staff reduction, thus determining the responsibilities of the heads of localities and units in recruitment./.
NA deputies hope for more efficiency of administrative reform
PM urges better healthcare and administrative services
Ministry of Home Affairs
staff reduction
Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh
administrative system
15/07/2019 Society
Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam intensify tourism connectivity
International seminar talks labour relations in Vietnam
Vietnam population hits over 96 million
Dairy “resort” contributes to school milk programme
Vietnam’s airport ground services firm receives service quality awards
Unique paintings on coracles
Minister admits weaknesses in construction-related work
Lawmakers question construction minister on inflated real estate price
Natural disasters leave four dead, missing
Son La: three arrested for drug smuggling
Mekong Delta takes action to prevent drowning incidents
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Dell to offer Ubuntu Linux on some computers
OpenOffice running on Ubuntu 7.04.
Dell Inc. (Dell) announced Tuesday that, due to public demand, they will be offering an alternative to Microsoft Windows on a selection of their desktop and laptop computers. Dell will partner with Canonical Ltd. to pre-install the recently released Ubuntu 7.04 distribution of the Linux operating system.
Until recently, Linux distributions have not been adopted by mainstream computer makers due to concerns over ease-of-use. Newer distributions, such as Ubuntu 7.04, have become much more user-friendly, with features such as automatic updates and software installation.
Ubuntu director of business development Chris Kenyon told the BBC that one of the reasons Ubuntu was selected was its support features and hardware compatibility. "Dell are going to work with us to make sure Ubuntu works fully on its hardware," said Kenyon. A Dell representative suggested that the Ubuntu distribution was chosen due to public demand as expressed on a Dell-run forum website, IdeaStorm. "It was overwhelming, the response we got to the survey," said Jeremy Bolen, a Dell spokesman.
Tuesday's announcement was not the first for Dell's Linux offerings. They have offered servers and workstations with an optional enterprise version of Red Hat Linux for some time now. The chairman and CEO of Dell, Michael Dell, is reported to have Ubuntu installed on his own laptop.
Perry Donham, an analyst with Aberdeen Group of Boston, suggested that the Dell-Ubuntu partnership will benefit Ubuntu more than it will Dell. "It's going to be a small part of [Dell's] market," said Donham. "But it's a great win for Ubuntu and for Linux in general."
Dell indicated that the Ubuntu-based computers would be available in the next few weeks, from Dell USA only for the time being. The pricing structure has not been revealed, or when such computers would be available in countries other than the United States.
Press Release: "Dell to Offer Ubuntu 7.04" — Dell, May 1, 2007
"Dell to use Ubuntu on Linux PCs" — BBC News, May 1, 2007
Todd R. Weiss, Computerworld. "Dell to Offer Ubuntu Linux on PCs, Laptops" — PC World, May 1, 2007
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Aperole
Campari Group
Padua, Italy
Alcohol by volume
Orange Yellow E110, Red E124
A bottle of Aperol
Aperol is an Italian apéritif made of gentian, rhubarb, and cinchona, among other ingredients.
2 Mix variants
Aperol was originally produced by the Barbieri company, based in Padua, but is now produced by the Campari company. While Aperol was originally created in 1919, it did not become successful until after World War II.[1] Although it tastes and smells much like Campari, Aperol has an alcohol content of 11%—less than half that of Campari. Aperol and Campari have the same sugar content,[2] and Aperol is less bitter in taste. Campari is also much darker in color.
Aperol sold in Germany has an alcohol content of 15% to avoid German container deposit legislation regulations.
Mix variants[edit]
Aperol Sour in a bar in Tübingen
The Spritz, an aperitif cocktail, is often made using Aperol. The result is known as the Aperol Spritz. Another variant is the Aperol Sour.
Sponsorship[edit]
As of April 2010, Aperol was the official sponsor of Moto GP, the Grand Prix of Motorcycle racing.[3]
Aperol announced a partnership with Manchester United to become the club’s Official Global Spirits Partner from January 2014 until the end of the 2016/2017 season.
^ http://www.aperol.it/aperol/english/scheda.htm
^ Vinmonopolet product comparison
^ "Aperol.com Main Page". Archived from the original on 2011-04-11. Retrieved 2011-04-04.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aperol&oldid=903448648"
Italian liqueurs
Products introduced in 1919
Articles with hRecipes
Articles with hProducts
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The Secret (book)
Book by Rhonda Byrne
For the film the book was based on, see The Secret (2006 film). For other uses, see Secret (disambiguation).
English (also available in 44 languages)
Self-help, Spiritual
Atria Books
Beyond Words Publishing
Published in English
Print (hardcover, paperback), audio cassette and CD, ebook (Kindle)
198 pp (first edition, hardcover)
Dewey Decimal
LC Class
BF639 .B97 2006
Main articles
Bilocation
Cold spot
Demonic possession
Ectoplasm
Electronic voice phenomenon
Forteana
Mediumship
Paranormal television
Precognition
Preternatural
Psychokinesis
Psychometry
Retrocognition
Spirit photography
Spirit world
Stone Tape
Reportedly haunted locations:
Cold reading
Committee for Skeptical Inquiry
Magical thinking
Prizes for evidence of the paranormal
Pseudoskepticism
Anomalistics
Argument from ignorance
Argumentum ad populum
Bandwagon effect
Begging the question
Communal reinforcement
Fallacy
Falsifiability
Protoscience
Death and culture
Scientific literacy
The Secret is a best-selling 2006 self-help book by Rhonda Byrne, based on the earlier film of the same name. It is based on the belief of the law of attraction, which claims that thoughts can change a person's life directly.[1][2] The book has sold 30 million copies worldwide and has been translated into 50 languages.
Critics have claimed that books such as this promote political complacency and a failure to engage with reality, [3][4] and that "it isn’t new, and it isn’t a secret".[5] Scientific claims made in the book have been rejected by a range of critics, pointing out that the book has no scientific foundation.[6][7][8]
3.1 Gross
3.2 Critical response
The Secret was released as a film in March 2006, and later the same year as a book. The book is influenced by Wallace Wattles' 1910 book The Science of Getting Rich,[9] which Byrne received from her daughter during a time of personal trauma in 2004.[10] New York Times bestselling authors of The Passion Test, Janet Bray Attwood and Chris Attwood, are not featured in the film or the book, but arranged 36 of the 52 interviews for the film, many of which are referenced in the book.[11]
Byrne re-introduces a notion originally popularized by persons such as Madame Blavatsky and Norman Vincent Peale that thinking about certain things will make them appear in one's life. Byrne provides examples of historical persons who have allegedly achieved this. Byrne cites a three-step process: ask, believe, and receive.[12] This is based on a quotation from the Bible's Matthew 21:22: "And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive."
Byrne highlights the importance of gratitude and visualization in achieving one's desires, along with alleged examples. Later chapters describe how to improve one's prosperity, relationships, and health, with more general thoughts about the universe.
Gross[edit]
The book has been translated into 50 languages and has sold over 30 million copies.[13] Due partly to an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, the book and film had grossed $300 million in sales by 2009.[14] Byrne has subsequently released Secret merchandise and several related books.
Critical response[edit]
US TV host Oprah Winfrey is a proponent of the book. On The Larry King Show she said that the message of The Secret is the message she's been trying to share with the world on her show for the past 21 years.[15] Author Rhonda Byrne was later invited to her show along with people who vow by The Secret.[16]
Elizabeth Scott states the pros and cons of the book in her Verywell review. The pros she points out are that it is empowering, that even if things seem bleak it reminds you that there is a lot that you can do to change your circumstances. It gives the reader research on optimism, visualization, and the power of perspective, while stating that The Secret encourages people to really visualize their goals clearly in order to attract what they want. The cons that Scott points out are that some people believe that it conflicts with their religious values, while others see it as a complementary approach. The book does spend considerable time on how to use the Law of Attraction to gain expensive material possessions, and without direct action; many people have asserted that having such a focus on external things and material wealth goes against the spiritual wisdom of the Law of Attraction. Other cons that Scott points out are the criticism of the idea that we create our own difficult circumstances in life, pointing out people born in extreme poverty, and that The Law of Attraction is not scientifically proven, but more of an anecdotally-observed phenomenon. Her final thoughts are: "Though there are some hiccups to it, I would say that this book can provide some excellent opportunities for stress relief, and a rough road map to a better life."[17]
Valerie Frankel of Good Housekeeping wrote an article about she trying the principles of The Secret for four weeks. While she reached some of her goals, others had improved. Frankel's final assessment is: "Counting my blessings has been uplifting, reminding me of what's already great about my life. Visualization has forced me to pay attention to what I really desire. And laughing is never a bad idea. If you ignore The Secret's far-too-simplistic maxims (no, you will not be doomed to a miserable life for thinking negative thoughts) and the hocus-pocus (the cosmos isn't going to deliver a new car; it's busy), there's actually some helpful advice in the book. But it's nothing you don't already know."[18]
In 2009, Barbara Ehrenreich published Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America as a reaction to self-help books such as The Secret, claiming that they promote political complacency and a failure to engage with reality.[3][4]
John G. Stackhouse, Jr. has provided historical context, locating Byrne's book in the tradition of New Thought and popular religion, and concluding that "it isn’t new, and it isn’t a secret".[5]
Byrne's scientific claims, in particular concerning quantum physics, have been rejected by a range of authors including Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons at The New York Times[6] and Harvard physicist Lisa Randall.[8] Mary Carmichael and Ben Radford, writing for the Center for Inquiry, have also pointed out that The Secret has no scientific foundation, stating that Byrne's book represents: "a time-worn trick of mixing banal truisms with magical thinking and presenting it as some sort of hidden knowledge: basically, it’s the new New Thought."[7]
^ Shermer, Michael (1 June 2007). "The (Other) Secret". Scientific American. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
^ Radford, Benjamin (3 February 2009). "'The Secret'". Live Science. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
^ a b Ehrenreich, Barbara (2009). Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America. New York: Metropolitan Books. p. 235. ISBN 978-0-8050-8749-9. Retrieved 4 April 2010.
^ a b "Author Barbara Ehrenreich on 'Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America'". Democracy Now!. 13 October 2009. Retrieved 29 October 2009.
^ a b John. "Oprah's Secret: New? Old? Good? Bad? | John G. Stackhouse, Jr". Johnstackhouse.com. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
^ a b Chabris, Christopher; Simons, Daniel (24 September 2010). "Fight 'The Power'". The New York Times.
^ a b "Secrets and Lies". Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. 29 March 2007.
^ a b Randall, Lisa. 2011. Knocking on Heaven’s Door: How Physics and Scientific Thinking Illuminate the Universe and the Modern World. p. 10.
^ Jerry Adler (2007), "Decoding 'T", Newsweek
^ The Secret, p. ix.
^ Attwood, Chris (10 July 2018). "Chris Attwood, Founder and President of The Beyul". LinkedIn.
^ The Secret, p. 47.
^ "Creative Biography :: Official Web Site of The Secret and The Power". Thesecret.tv. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
^ "What People Are Still Willing To Pay For". Forbes.com. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
^ LearningTheSecret (9 May 2013). "Oprah Winfrey speaks about The Secret - Law of Attraction and how to use it!". YouTube. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
^ "Discovering The Secret". Oprah.com. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
^ Scott, Elizabeth. "Book Review: The Secret by Rhonda Byrne". Verywell.
^ "Do You Know The Secret?". goodhousekeeping.com. 18 September 2007.
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1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Ammianus, Marcellinus
←Ammanati, Bartolomeo
1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, Volume 1
Ammianus, Marcellinus
Ammirato, Scipione→
sister projects: Wikidata item.
See also Ammianus Marcellinus on Wikipedia; and our 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica disclaimer.
12192511911 Encyclopædia Britannica, Volume 1 — Ammianus, Marcellinus
AMMIANUS, MARCELLINUS, the last Roman historian of importance, was born about A.D. 325–330 at Antioch; the date of his death is unknown, but he must have lived till 391, as he mentions Aurelius Victor as the city prefect for that year. He was a Greek, and his enrolment among the protectores domestici (household guards) shows that he was of noble birth. He entered the army at an early age, when Constantius II. was emperor of the East, and was sent to serve under Ursicinus, governor of Nisibis and magister militiae. He returned to Italy with Ursicinus, when he was recalled by Constantius, and accompanied him on the expedition against Silvanus the Frank, who had been forced by the unjust accusations of his enemies into proclaiming himself emperor in Gaul. With Ursicinus he went twice to the East, and barely escaped with his life from Amida or Amid (mod. Diarbekr), when it was taken by the Persian king Shapur (Sapor) II. When Ursicinus lost his office and the favour of Constantius, Ammianus seems to have shared his downfall; but under Julian, Constantius’s successor, he regained his position. He accompanied this emperor, for whom he expresses enthusiastic admiration, in his campaigns against the Alamanni and the Persians; after his death he took part in the retreat of Jovian as far as Antioch, where he was residing when the conspiracy of Theodorus (371) was discovered and cruelly put down. Eventually he settled in Rome, where, at an advanced age, he wrote (in Latin) a history of the Roman empire from the accession of Nerva to the death of Valens (96-378), thus forming a continuation of the work of Tacitus. This history (Rerum Gestarum Libri XXXI.) was originally in thirty-one books; of these the first thirteen are lost, the eighteen which remain cover the period from 353 to 378. As a whole it is extremely valuable, being a clear, comprehensive and impartial account of events by a contemporary of soldierly honesty, independent judgment and wide reading. “Ammianus is an accurate and faithful guide, who composed the history of his own times without indulging the prejudices and passions which usually affect the mind of a contemporary” (Gibbon). Although Ammianus was no doubt a heathen, his attitude towards Christianity is that of a man of the world, free from prejudices in favour of any form of belief. If anything he himself inclined to neo-Platonism. His style is generally harsh, often pompous and extremely obscure, occasionally even journalistic in tone, but the author' s foreign origin and his military life and training partially explain this. Further, the work being intended for public recitation, some rhetorical embellishment was necessary, even at the cost of simplicity. It is a striking fact that Ammianus, though a professional soldier, gives excellent pictures of social and economic problems, and in his attitude to the non-Roman peoples of the empire he is far more broad-minded than writers like Livy and Tacitus; his digressions on the various countries he had visited are peculiarly interesting. In his description of the empire—the exhaustion produced by excessive taxation, the financial ruin of the middle classes, the progressive decline in the morale of the army—we find the explanation of its fall before the Goths twenty years after his death.
The work was discovered by Poggio, who copied the original MS. Editio princeps (bks. 14-26) by Sabinus, 1474; completed by Accursius, 1533; with variorum notes, by Wagner-Erfurdt, 1808; latest edition of text, Gardthausen, 1874–1875. English translations by P. Holland, 1609; Yonge (Bohn’s Classical Library), 1862; also Max Büdinger, Ammianus Marcellinus und die Eigenart seines Geschichtswerkes (1895); F. Liesenberg, Die Sprache des Ammianus Marcellinus (1888–1890); T. R. Glover, Life and Letters in the Fourth Century (1901); Abbé Gimazane, Ammianus Marcellinus, sa vie et son æuvre (Toulouse, 1889), a work containing a number of very doubtful theories. For a criticism of his views on Roman society see S. Dill, Roman Society in the Last Century of the Western Empire (London, 1898).
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Fuel Soccer Talk: U.S. takes on host France in World Cup; Young lineup pays off for U.S. men; Gold Cup news and notes
Only one place to start today!
Women’s World Cup: U.S. ready to face biggest test – host France
The U.S. Women’s National Team advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2019 Women’s World Cup after defeating Spain 2-1 in a hard-fought battle on June 24.
The USA faces tournament host France in Paris on Friday (3 p.m. ET; FOX and Telemundo) in their biggest test of the 2019 World Cup. Les Bleues rolled through Group A, defeating Korea Republic, Norway and Nigeria, in that order. France opened the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Paris at Parc des Princes, the site of the quarterfinal showdown with the USA.
The USA is 17-3-3 all-time against France, but the last nine games following the meeting at the 2012 Olympics have produced a 4-3-2 record for the USA as France has risen into the world’s elite. The USA’s first loss to France came on Feb. 8, 2015, a 2-0 setback in Lorient, France that kicked off the 2015 schedule for both teams. The USA avenged the loss with a 2-0 victory in the championship game of the 2015 Algarve Cup in Portugal as Julie Ertz (neé Johnston) and Christen Press scored.
The USA’s second loss came at the 2017 SheBelieves Cup, while the third took place in the teams’ first match of 2019, a 3-1 U.S. defeat in Le Havre on Jan. 19 in a match in which the USA was missing a handful of starting players. France’s forward Kadidiatou Diani was able to put away two goals for Les Bleues and Marie-Antoinette Katoto finished the third. USWNT forward Mallory Pugh closed out the match by putting the U.S. on the board in the 91st minute.
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT FRANCE
What does France have to do in order to pull of the upset against the U.S.?
Gold Cup: Berhalter’s lineup switch pays off in more ways than one
It was a bold move by Gregg Berhalter to change up his starting XI for the match against Panama. The first-year coach left Christian Pulisic, Gyasi Zardes and Michael Bradley out of the lineup went with a young lineup. There was still experience on the pitch with Jozy Altidore, Matt Miazga, Omar Gonzalez and Jordan Morris all in the lineup on Wednesday.
But the decision didn’t hurt in the short-term and should pay off in the long-term as some young players gained valuable experience in a big-match atmosphere. And the U.S. side should be well rested for the upcoming knockout round.
“I think everyone helped themselves tonight,” Berhalter said. “When we think about the conditions, it was a very physical Panama team, very warm conditions, and I think the guys showed grit and determination.”
Berhalter wasn’t too concerned about fielding a young lineup against a talented Panama side.
“The decision to start 11 new players was an easy one to be honest,” Berhalter said. “We believe in the group, we believe in keeping the group together, we believe that everyone can contribute to this team for the team’s success, and we wanted to show that. The guys have been training really well and they deserved this opportunity.”
What did you like from the young U.S. lineup?
Gold Cup: News & Notes following U.S. win over Panama
The USA (3-0-0; 9 points) and Panama (2-1-0; 6 points) advance from Group D to take on the second and first place teams from Group C, respectively. In Group C, Curacao (1-1-1; 4pts) grabbed a second place finish thanks to a last-second goal from Jurien Gaari that earned the island nation a 1-1 tie with group winners Jamaica (1-0-2; 5pts) on the final match day and a date with the USA in the tournament quarterfinals. Kickoff for USA-Curacao is set for 8 p.m. ET on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. The game will be broadcast on FS1, Univision and UDN.
With the win, the USA clinched the top spot in its Gold Cup group for the 14th time in 15 tournaments.
Jozy Altidore earned his first start and collected his first goal since his brace in the USA’s 4-0 World Cup Qualifying win against Panama on Oct. 6, 2017. Altidore’s goal was the 42nd of his international career and fifth all-time in the Gold Cup.
The strike was Altidore’s fourth all-time against Panama and third international goal at Kansas City’s Children’s Mercy Park.
Gregg Berhalter made 11 changes to the starting XI that began the first two group stage matches. With the swaps, 22 have played for the USA during the group stage with only goalkeeper Tyler Miller yet to appear.
Veteran defender Omar Gonzalez captained the USMNT for the first time. Gonzalez is the eighth different player to wear the armband in the team’s nine matches under Gregg Berhalter in 2019. The others: Aaron Long (2 games), Michael Bradley, Matt Miazga, Tim Ream, Zack Steffen, Wil Trapp and DeAndre Yedlin.
Defender Daniel Lovitz and winger Jonathan Lewis made their Gold Cup debuts.
Goalkeeper Sean Johnson made one save to keep his fourth career clean sheet.
MORE ON THE GAME WITH PANAMA
Fuel Soccer Talk: U.S. men top Panama in Gold Cup; Canada, Sinclair fall short again; Sweden emerges as a dark horse
Fuel Soccer Talk: U.S. advances in Gold Cup; Americans getting bad press in England; Neville says England held to higher standards
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A small glass of juice or soda a day is linked to increased risk of cancer, study finds
Posted 8:46 pm, July 10, 2019, by CNN Wires
There’s more bad news for fans of sugary drinks such as soda and fruit juice.
A new study has linked drinking just a small glass of a sugary drink per day — 100 ml, about a third of a typical can of soda — to an 18% increase in overall cancer risk and a 22% increase in risk for breast cancer.
The research, which looked at more than 100,000 French adults, links consumption of sugary drinks to an increased risk of some cancers. This follows a recent study linking sugary beverage consumption to a greater risk of premature death.
“The results indicate statistically significant correlations between the consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks and risk of all cancers combined, and of breast cancer,” said Ian Johnson, nutrition researcher and emeritus fellow at the Quadram Institute Bioscience, who wasn’t involved in the research.
“Surprisingly perhaps, the increased risk of cancer in heavier consumers of sugary drinks was observed even among consumers of pure fruit juice — this warrants more research,” Johnson told the Science Media Centre in the UK.
Mathilde Touvier, lead author of the study which was published Wednesday in the medical journal BMJ, said that the findings added to research showing that reducing how many sweetened beverages we drink would be beneficial for our health.
“What we observed was that the main driver of the association seems to be really the sugar contained in these sugary drinks,” said Touvier, who is the research director of the Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team of the National Health and Medical Research Institute at the Paris 13 University.
Touvier said her team observed that sugar seemed to be the main driver of the link.
“High sugary drinks consumption is a risk factor for obesity and weight gain,” she said, and, “obesity is in itself a risk factor for cancer.”
Another possibility is that additives, such as 4-methylimidazole, which is found in drinks that contain caramel coloring, could play a role in cancer formation.
Touvier suggested that people should stick to public health guidelines that recommend limiting sugary drinks to a maximum of one glass a day.
The American Beverage Association did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment on the study.
No link found with diet sodas
The research found no link between diet beverages and cancer. The authors warned that this finding should be interpreted with caution, as this type of beverage had a relatively low consumption among the study participants.
A study published earlier this year found that drinking two or more of any kind of artificially sweetened drink a day was linked to an increased risk of clot-based strokes, heart attacks and early death in women over 50.
However, Catherine Collins, a dietician in the UK’s National Health Service, said that the absence of cancer risk in using diet drinks was the “take-home message” of the research.
“For too long the nutri-myth of sweeteners being a health risk has remained in popular culture,” she told the Science Media Centre in the UK.
“All current sweeteners in use have been through rigorous safety testing before being acceptable for human use,” said Collins, who was not involved in the study.*
‘There is more work to be done’
For the new study, the research team looked at 101,257 healthy French adults — 79% women and 21% men who participated in the ongoing French NutriNet-Santé study.
Participants, who were on average 42 years old, filled out at least two questionnaires and were followed over a nine-year period. Their consumption of sugary drinks was gauged by participants submitting at least two 24-hour diet recall questionnaires, which asked about their usual intake of 3,300 different food and drink items.
Daily consumption of sugary drinks — sugar-sweetened beverages and 100% fruit juices — and artificially sweetened or diet beverages were calculated and first cases of cancer reported by participants were validated by medical records and linked with health insurance national databases.
On average, men consumed more sugary drinks than women — 90.3 ml daily compared to 74.6 ml. Risk factors for cancer, such as age, sex, educational level, family history of cancer, smoking status and physical activity, were considered in the study.
During the study’s follow-up period, a total of 2,193 first cases of cancer were diagnosed, at the average age of 59 years. Of these, 693 were breast cancers, 291 were prostate cancer cases and 166 were colorectal cancers.
However, this study is observational and doesn’t show cause and effect.
That’s a major limitation, researchers say, as it’s impossible to determine whether the association is due to a type of beverage or another hidden health issue.
“While this study doesn’t offer a definitive causative answer about sugar and cancer, it does add to the overall picture of the importance of the current drive to reduce our sugar intake,” said Amelia Lake, reader in public health nutrition at Teesside University.
“Clearly there is more work to be done and measuring dietary intake is challenging, however, the message from the totality of evidence on excess sugar consumption and various health outcomes is clear — reducing the amount of sugar in our diet is extremely important,” Lake told the Science Media Centre in the UK. She was not involved in the current study.
By Nina Avramova, CNN
See what’s happening in your neighborhood.
It’s not just soda: Drinking too much fruit juice (or any sugary drink) linked to premature death risk
Thousands of cancer diagnoses tied to a poor diet, study finds
Treatment for overactive thyroid linked to increased risk of dying from cancer
What we aren’t eating is killing us, global study finds
Broken heart syndrome and cancer are connected, scientists say
Health Watch: Genetic Mutations that Increase Risk for Breast Cancer
Report confirms Cold Water Creek contamination linked to higher cancer risks
Skipping breakfast tied to higher risk of heart-related death, study finds
The cost of cancer: 25% of survivors face financial hardship, report finds
Majority of sunscreens would flunk proposed FDA safety tests, report to say
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A Letter to My Grandson
Someday in the distant future, I hope you’ll read this letter and smile indulgently at my worst fears.
By Tom Engelhardt, April 27, 2015 . Originally published in TomDispatch.
(Photo: World Bank Photo Collection / Flickr)
Consider my address book — and yes, the simple fact that I have one already tells you a good deal about me.
All the names, street addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers that matter to me are still on paper, not in a computer or on an iPhone, and it’s not complicated to know what that means: I’m an old guy getting older. Going on 71, though I can hardly believe it. And that little book shows all the signs of where I’m headed. It wasn’t true a few years ago, but if I start flipping through the pages now, I can’t help but notice that the dead, with their addresses and phone numbers still beside them, are creeping up on the living, and that my little address book looks increasingly like a mausoleum.
Age has been on my mind of late, especially when I spend time with you. This year, my father, your great-grandfather, who died in 1983, would have been 109 years old. And somehow, I find that moving. I feel him a part of me in ways I wouldn’t have allowed myself to admit in my youth, and so think of myself as more than a century old. Strangely, this leaves me with a modest, very personal sense of hope. Through my children (and perhaps you, too), someday long after I’m gone, I can imagine myself older still. Don’t misunderstand me: I haven’t a spiritual bone in my body, but I do think that, in some fashion, we continue to live inside each other and so carry each other onward.
As happens with someone of my age, the future seems to be foreshortening and yet it remains the remarkable mystery it’s always been. We can’t help ourselves: We dream about, wonder about, and predict what the future might hold in store for us. It’s an urge that, I suspect, is hardwired into us. Yet, curiously enough, we’re regularly wrong in the futures we dream up. Every now and then, though, you peer ahead and see something that proves — thanks to your perceptiveness or pure dumb luck (there’s no way to know which) — eerily on target.
The Future Foreseen
Back in 2001, before I even imagined a grandson in my life, I had one of those moments (and wish I hadn’t).
It was sometime just after the 9/11 attacks when, nationwide, Americans were still engaged in endless rites in which we repeatedly elevated ourselves to the status of the foremost victims on the planet, the only ones that mattered. In those months, you might say, we made ourselves into Earth’s indispensible or exceptional victims.
In that extended moment of national mourning (combined with fear bordering on hysteria), the Bush administration geared up to launch its revenge-fueled global wars, while money started pouring into the national security state in a historically unprecedented way. It was a time when the previously un-American word “homeland” was being attached to what would become a second defense department, secrecy was descending like a blanket on the government, torture was morphing into the enhancement of the week in the White House, assassination was about to become a focus (later an obsession) of the executive branch — and surveillance? Don’t even get me started on the massively redundant domestic and global surveillance state that would soon be built on outright illegalities and rubber-stamp legalities of every sort.
In October 2001, I had no way of grasping most of that, but it didn’t matter. I peered into the future and just knew — and what I knew chilled me to the bone. I had mobilized decades earlier as part of the antiwar movement of the Vietnam era, which was in its own way a terrible time. But when I looked at where our country seemed to be heading, as the president promised to kick some ass globally and American bombs began to fall on Afghanistan, I had no doubt that this was going to be the worst era of my life.
I wasn’t, of course, thinking about you that October and November. You were then minus 11 years old, so to speak. I was, however, thinking about your mother and your uncle, my children. I was thinking about the world that I and my cohorts and George W. Bush and Dick Cheney and George Tenet and Donald Rumsfeld and the rest of that crew were going to leave them.
In a quiet way I had done good work — so I felt — since demobilizing (like so many Americans) from the Vietnam era. In my spare time as a non-academic, I had written a very personal history of the Cold War of which I was proud. I had been a book editor for two publishing houses, specializing in bringing into the world works by what I used to call “voices from elsewhere” (even when they came from here), including, to name just two, Chalmers Johnson’s Blowback and Eduardo Galeano’s Memory of Fire trilogy.
But when I somehow stumbled into the future in all its grim horror, more of that work didn’t seem like an adequate response to what was coming. I had no sense that I could do much, but I felt an urge that seemed uncomplicated: not to hand your mother and uncle such a degraded country, planet, and new century without lifting a finger in opposition, without at least trying. I felt the need to mobilize myself in a new way for the future I’d seen.
At that point, however, my knack, such as it was, for previewing the years to come failed me and I had no sense of what to do until TomDispatch more or less smacked me in the face. (But that’s a story for another day.) This April, more than 13 years after I first began sending missives to the no-name listserv that turned into TomDispatch, it’s clear that, in my own idiosyncratic way, I did manage to mobilize myself to do what I was capable of. Unfortunately, I’d have to add that, all this time later, our world is a far more screwed up, degraded place.
A Fragmenting Reality
Stretch anything far enough and it’ll begin to tear, fragment, break apart. That, I suspect, may be a reasonable summary of what’s been happening in our twenty-first-century world. Under stress, things are beginning to crack open.
Here in the U.S., people sometimes speak about being in a Second Gilded Age, a new era of plutocracy, while our politics, increasingly the arena of billionaires, seem to second that possibility. Looked at another way, however, “our” Second Gilded Age is really a global phenomenon in the sense that ever fewer people own ever more. By 2016, it is estimated that 1 percent of the people on this planet will control more than 50 percent of global wealth and own more than the other 99 percent combined. In 2013, the 85 richest people had as much wealth as the poorest 3.5 billion, while in certain regions inequality seems to be on the rise. (Whether China and India are major exceptions to this is an open question.) Dark money is rampant not just here, but globally.
Though you don’t know it yet, you’re already living in an increasingly lopsided world whose stresses only seem to be multiplying. Among other things, there is the literal fragmentation going on — the collapse of social order, of long established national units, even potentially of whole groupings of states. Astonishingly enough, from Ukraine to Greece, Spain to France, that mood of fragmentation even seems to be reaching into Europe. Across much of the Greater Middle East and parts of Africa, fragmentation has, of course, been the story of our moment, with nations collapsing, wars endemic, extremism of every sort on the rise, and whole populations uprooted, in exile, under almost inconceivable pressures — and for much of this, I’m sad to say, our country bears a painful responsibility.
In these years, I wrote repeatedly (not to say repetitiously) on the subject; about, that is, a group of mad American visionaries who had dreams of establishing a Pax Americana in the Greater Middle East by force of arms and then lording it over the world for generations to come. In the name of freedom and democracy and with a fundamentalist belief in the transformational power of the U.S. military, they blithely invaded Iraq and blew a hole in the heart of the Middle East, from which the fallout is now horrifically apparent in the Islamic State and its “caliphate.”
And then, of course, there was our country’s endless string of failed wars, interventions, raids, assassination campaigns, and the like; there was, in short, the “global war on terror” that George W. Bush launched to scourge the planet of “terrorists,” to (as they then liked to say) “drain the swamp” in 80 countries. It was a “war” that, with all its excesses, quickly morphed into a recruiting poster for the spread of extremist outfits. By now, it has become so institutionalized that it wouldn’t surprise me if, in your adulthood, Washington were still pursuing it no less relentlessly or unsuccessfully.
In the process, the president became first a torturer-in-chief and then an assassin-in-chief and, I’m sorry to tell you, few here even blinked. It’s been a nightmare of — to haul out some words you’re not likely to learn for a while — hubris and madness, profits and horrors, inflated dreams of glory and the return, as if from an earlier century, of the warrior corporation and for-profit warfare on a staggering scale.
All of this happened in a country that still bills itself as the wealthiest and most powerful on the planet (though that power and wealth have proven ever harder to apply effectively) and all of it happened, despite obvious and honorable exceptions, without much opposition. If this is a Second Gilded Age — .01percent of Americans, 16,000 families, control 11 percent of all wealth (as they last did in 1916) and 22 percent of all household wealth (up from 7 percent three decades ago) — it is also, in the words of historian Steve Fraser, an “age of acquiescence.”
This has been true for the return of plutocracy, as well as for the growth of a national security state that has, like those billionaire plutocrats, gained power as the American people lost it. If that state within a state has a motto, it might be this singularly undemocratic one: Americans are safest and most secure when they are most ignorant of what their government is doing. In other words, in twenty-first-century America, “we the people” (a phrase that I hope lasts into your time) are only to know what their government does in their name to the degree that the government cares to reveal it.
That shadow government could never have gained such power if it hadn’t been for the trauma of 9/11, the shock of experiencing for one day a kind of violence and destruction that was common enough elsewhere on the planet, and the threat posed by a single phenomenon we call “terrorism.” The Islamic extremist groups that come under that rubric do indeed represent a threat to actual human beings from Syria to Pakistan, Somalia to Libya, but they represent next to no threat to what’s now called the American “homeland.”
Of course, some whacked-out guy could always pick up a gun and, inspired by a bizarre propaganda video, in the name of one extreme organization or another, kill some people here. But mass killings by those with no ideological animus are already, like death-by-toddler, commonplace in this country, and no one thinks to organize trillion dollar “security” systems to prevent them.
That the fear of this one modest danger transformed the national security state into a remarkable center of power, profits, and impunity with hardly a peep from “we the people” has been a kind of bleak miracle of our times. What were we thinking when we let them spend something like a trillion dollars a year on what was called “national security” in order to leave us in a world that may have little security at all? What did we have in mind when we let them fund their blue-skies thinking on the weaponry of 2047, instead of on the schools, energy sources, or infrastructure of that same year? I could pile up such questions endlessly, but if what we ceded to them is still of interest to you 20 or 30 or 40 years from now, and you have the luxury of looking back on our times, on the origins of your troubles, I’m sure you’ll find a clearer view of all this in the histories of your moment.
I have no way of imagining what the United States will be like in your adulthood, and yet I can sense that this country is changing in unsettling ways. It’s being transformed into something that your great-grandfather would have found unrecognizably un-American. If we can’t yet speak of “fragmentation” here, phrases like “political polarization” and “gridlock” are already part and parcel of our new billionaire way of life. What exactly all this is leading to, I’m not sure, but it doesn’t look either familiar or good to me. It certainly doesn’t look like the American world I’d want to turn over to you.
America on the Couch
You haven’t set foot in school, barely know how to use one of those ubiquitous silver scooters, and can still embrace the magical thinking of childhood — of announcing, for instance, that you’re “hiding,” even in plain sight, and then assuming that you can’t be seen. So I know that it’s a little early to bring up the seemingly unhinged nature of the affairs of grown-ups.
Still, if this country of mine, and someday yours, could be put on the couch, I suspect it would, in layman’s terms, be diagnosed as “disturbed” (on an increasingly disturbed planet). Worst of all, we can evidently no longer see what actually threatens us most — which isn’t a bunch of jihadis, but what we are doing to our ourselves and our world.
Put another way, if we’re not significantly threatened by what we’ve dumped all our money and energy into, that hardly means there are no threats to American life. In fact, I haven’t even mentioned what worries me most when I think about your future: the increasing stress under which life here and elsewhere is being placed by the exploitation and burning of fossil fuels.
In any case, I had the urge to put all this “on the record,” though I have no way of knowing whether that record has any permanence, whether in the world of 2047 you’ll even be able to access what I’ve written. In other words, I have no idea whether you’ll ever read this. I do fear, however, that if you do, it will be from a more fragmented, unhinged, stressed-out version of the planet we’re both on today. I’m aware that our responsibility was to provide you and all other children with what you minimally deserve — a decent place to grow up.
For that record, then, I want to say that, despite my own best (if modest) efforts, I feel I owe you an apology. In ways I find hard to express, I’m sorry for what is and what may be. It’s not the country I imagined for you. It’s not the world I wanted to leave you. It’s not what you deserve.
Nonetheless, I still have hopes for you and your moment. As a wonderful writer of my time once pointed out, the darkness of the future is a kind of blessing. It always leaves open the possibility that, against the madness of the moment, the genuine decency, the lovability I see in you, that anyone can see in just about any child, has a shot-in-the-dark chance of making a difference on our planet.
And more specifically, however much this may be an “age of acquiescence” when it comes to wealth and war, it hasn’t proved so on the subject that matters most: climate change. Against the forces of genuine criminality and wealth, despite a tenacious denial of reality funded by companies that have profited in historic ways from fossil fuels, a movement has been forming in this country and globally to save humanity from scouring itself off the planet. From pipelines to divestment, its strength has been rising at the very moment when the price of alternative energy systems is falling rapidly. It’s a combination that offers at least a modicum of hope against the worst pressures to fragment and, in the end, simply destroy this planet as a welcoming place for you and your children and their children.
So let me just end this way: someday in the distant future, I hope you’ll read this letter and that, given the ingenuity of our species, given the grit to resist madness, given whatever surprises the future holds, you’ll smile indulgently at my worst fears. You’ll assure me — or at least whatever trace of me is left in you — that I had a typically human inability to imagine the unpredictable future, and that in the end things never measured up to my worst fears. I hope, despite what we didn’t do, that you have the opportunity for a life of wonders, the kind that everyone on this planet deserves.
Your loving grandpa,
Tom Engelhardt is a co-founder of the American Empire Project and the author of The United States of Fear as well as a history of the Cold War, The End of Victory Culture. He is a fellow of the Nation Institute and runs TomDispatch.com. His latest book is Shadow Government: Surveillance, Secret Wars, and a Global Security State in a Single-Superpower World.
Issues: Democracy & Governance, Environment, Labor, Trade, & Finance, War & Peace
Regions: North America, United States
Tags: civil liberties, climate change, drone war, Inequality, Iraq War, national security state, Plutocracy, torture, war On Terrorism
View more in North America:
Trump’s Send-Them-Back Doctrine
Climate Change Is a Poor People’s Issue
Pyongyang on the Potomac
American Concentration Camps, Then and Now
climate change Vladimir Putin NATO China diplomacy drug war Pentagon North Korea racism Congress Islamic State Libya Terrorism Syria Donald Trump development Refugees Security immigration Iran
The View from 2050
‘The American Century’ Has Plunged the World Into Crisis. What Happens Now?
Why 2014 Wasn’t So Terrible
The Games of Our Lives
What Piketty Forgot
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You Can Own the Original 'Just Two Years Away' Flying Car for Five Million Bucks
Filed to: MollerFiled to: Moller
Moller
Moller SkyCar
Paul Moller
After spending 40 years and unspeakable amounts of investor money to make his dream a reality, Paul Moller’s flying car is finally available for purchase. But because flying cars are perpetually “just two years away,” Moller is actually auctioning off his original prototype, not a production model.
Surprise! Dubious Flying Car Company Loses All Kinds of Money
The Sacramento Business Journal is reporting that the flying car company Moller has posted a loss…
You’ve probably seen the G90 M400 Skycar before. As our own Matt Novak has pointed out, Moller has convinced countless publications to feature his creation over the years, promising a future where bumper-to-bumper traffic is a thing of the past—a dream that has always been just over the horizon. After a failed Indiegogo campaign, however, and a run-in with the SEC back in 2003, it seems like Moller is now turning to eBay to help fund the development of his flying car (at least for the next two years).
If you want to bid on the 2001 G90 M400 Skycar, which in the past has been demonstrated to actually take off and fly, you’ll need to meet the $1,000,000 reserve. If you’re worried about being outbid, you can also buy the Moller Skycar outright for $5,000,000, which is still a steal given it’s estimated to have cost over $150,000,000 to develop the vehicle.
However, this isn’t the first time Moller has tried to sell his prototype on eBay. Back in 2006 the vehicle went up for auction as well, but the reserve was never met. Maybe there isn’t really a demand for flying cars yet? Or at least ones you can’t actually fly, because—as Moller’s eBay listing points out—the FAA won’t let you fly the Moller Skycar without significant repairs and reassembly.
A collector who buys the M400 will receive it in its original 2001 flight form and condition, complete with eight Rotapower engines that produced over 720 hp allowing the M400 Skycar® to take off and land vertically. It should be noted, however, in this original form, it does not have FAA approval and a condition of this offer is that it cannot be flown. Nonetheless, this vehicle can be the centerpiece of any car or aircraft collection in a public or private museum. Reassembling the M400 back to its original state will take some time.
But find yourself a good body shop and your first flight (still!) shouldn’t be any farther than just two years away.
[eBay]
You probably won't own a flying car in your lifetime
17 Better Ways to Waste Your Money Than On This Crowdfunded "Flying Car"
Moller M200G Hover-Car In Production and Selling for ~$125k
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Advisory Board announced by Global Fund Search
Charles E.F. Millard
Former Director U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp
Charles E.F. Millard served as Director of the United States Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) under President George W. Bush. From 2011 until July 2016 he was Managing Director and Head of Pension Relations with Citigroup, where he oversaw Citi’s relationships with pension investors around the world.
Since his time with Citigroup, he has served as a Senior Advisor with McKinsey, Kosmos Management, AQR, and Syntax, LLC.. He is on the Board of Directors of Ross Corporate Services (a U.K. pension services firm). And he continues to write and speak widely on pension and retirement-related issues.
In his role at Citigroup, he led international pension conferences and was a leading speaker at numerous pension-related events. He has appeared on CNBC and has been published in The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Financial Times and elsewhere on a variety of pension topics.
He has taught at the Yale School of Management on pensions and public policy, and has served the World Economic Forum as a member of its Retirement Investment Systems Reform Project.
Mr. Millard was the Director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation from 2007 to 2009. He was appointed by President George W. Bush and was the first Director of the PBGC to be confirmed by the United States Senate. As Director, Mr. Millard served as the chief executive officer of the PBGC and carried the rank of Under Secretary. Mr. Millard’s tenure at the PBGC was focused on reducing the Corporation’s long-term deficit through two initiatives – more aggressive stances in bankruptcy negotiations, and greater diversification in the Corporation’s investment policy.
Prior to his appointment to the PBGC, Mr. Millard had a varied career in both private and public life, including service as a Managing Director with both Lehman Brothers and Prudential Securities, and as a senior cabinet official in the administration of New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. Under Mayor Giuliani, Mr. Millard served as President of the New York City Economic Development Corp. and Chairman of the New York City Industrial Development Agency. In that role, he concluded numerous negotiations and transactions that led to the redevelopment of 42nd Street and Times Square.
Mr. Millard was elected twice to the New York City Council, the first Republican Councilman from Manhattan in twenty-five years. He drafted the original legislation that created the framework for New York’s initiative to eliminate pornography stores from many New York neighborhoods.
Mr. Millard holds a B.A. Honors Degree, cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from Holy Cross, where he received the Presidential Service Award, and a J.D. from Columbia Law School, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar.
He has served on the Board of Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, New York and Saint Aloysius School in Harlem. He is currently on the Advisory Boards of the Georgetown Center for Retirement Initiatives, The Journal of Retirement, and Global Fund Search.
He and his wife Gwen have nine children and live in Rye, New York.
Frank T. Troise
SoHo Capital LLC
Gregory T. (Greg) Williamson
Grégoire Haenni
Ashby Monk
© 2012 Global Fund Search ApS
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Astronomical News
Thread starter rynner2
Tags astronomy stargazing
Where is the methane coming from?
It's a conundrum.
Kimosabi
Regards methane I like this bit fromm the BBC website:
...and given CH₄'s link to biology on Earth, scientists need to get to the bottom of this martian mystery.
Lost on them, obviously...
Likes: Krepostnoi, Gizmos Mama, Bigphoot2 and 1 other person
More from Mars
Nasa Mars rover finds organic matter in ancient lake bed
Curiosity digs up carbon compounds that could be food for life in sediments that formed 3bn years ago
Nasa’s veteran Curiosity rover has found complex organic matter buried and preserved in ancient sediments that formed a vast lake bed on Mars more than 3bn years ago.
The discovery is the most compelling evidence yet that long before the planet became the parched world it is today, Martian lakes were a rich soup of carbon-based compounds that are necessary for life, at least as we know it.
Researchers cannot tell how the organic material formed and so leave open the crucial question: are the compounds remnants of past organisms; the product of chemical reactions with rocks; or were they brought to Mars in comets or other falling debris that slammed into the surface? All look the same in the tests performed.
But whatever the ultimate source of the material, if microbial life did find a foothold on Mars, the presence of organics meant it would not have gone hungry. “We know that on Earth microorganisms eat all sorts of organics. It’s a valuable food source for them,” said Jennifer Eigenbrode, a biogeochemist at Nasa’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.
https://www.theguardian.com/science...over-finds-organic-matter-in-ancient-lake-bed
Likes: Gizmos Mama
Did they find dead fish, I wonder?
Likes: Bigphoot2
Today's Guardian contains a well-written article promoting the idea of establishing a Moon-base.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jun/12/life-on-moon-chris-hadfield#comments
Sadly, a lot of the comments are of the typical Guardianista variety arguing that it would be wrong to create extraterrestrial colonies before we've sorted out all the problems on Earth.
With that Luddite attitude, humankind would never have left Olduvai Gorge or invented the wheel.
Surely, the best way to preserve our environment on Earth is to expand our horizons from this finite chunk of rock, with its rapidly dwindling natural resources, to the potentially virtually infinite space out there?
We can't leave all of our eggs in the one basket. Forward to Mars and the asteroid Belt.
Likes: blessmycottonsocks
Furry Idiot
As a great man once said,
"This planet has – or rather had – a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn’t the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.
And so the problem remained; lots of the people were mean, and most of them were miserable, even the ones with digital watches.
Many were increasingly of the opinion that they’d all made a big mistake in coming down from the trees in the first place. And some said that even the trees had been a bad move, and that no one should ever have left the oceans."
I'd reckon the main advantages of going off-world would be the advances in science and engineering that would result. Just maybe, some of those advances could be used to make things a little better on this planet. Water purification, efficient power generation and GM crops that can survive harsh environments spring to mind - this planet is going to be desperately in need of all three in the not-too-distant future.
That's sweet to believe that humanity's problems will be solved one day.
Interesting discoveries from Cassini
Saturn moon a step closer to hosting life
By Mary HaltonScience reporter, BBC News
Image copyrightNASA
Scientists have found complex carbon-based molecules in the waters of Saturn's moon Enceladus.
Compounds like this have only previously been found on Earth, and in some meteorites.
They are thought to have formed in reactions between water and warm rock at the base of the moon's subsurface ocean.
Though not a sign of life, their presence suggests Enceladus could play host to living organisms.
The discovery came from data gathered by the Cassini spacecraft.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-44630121
Hobbs End
Space is "full of dirty toxic grease"
It looks cold, dark and empty, but astronomers have revealed that interstellar space is permeated with a fine mist of grease-like molecules.
Prof Tim Schmidt, a chemist at the University of New South Wales, Sydney and co-author of the study, said that the windscreen of a future spaceship travelling through interstellar space might be expected to get a sticky coating.
“Amongst other stuff it’ll run into is interstellar dust, which is partly grease, partly soot and partly silicates like sand,” he said, adding that the grease is swept away within our own solar system by the solar wind.
The study provides the most precise estimate yet of the amount of “space grease” in the Milky Way, by recreating the carbon-based compounds in the laboratory. The Australian-Turkish team discovered more than expected: 10 billion trillion trillion tonnes of gloop, or enough for 40 trillion trillion trillion packs of butter.
I'm not sure how many olympic-sized swimming pools this equates to.
hunck said:
An area the size of Wales, no doubt.
Like To Roam The Land
Astronomers: Maybe We’re Alone in the Universe After All
Ryan Whitwam on June 27, 2018 at 7:30 am
Ever since humans began observing the wider universe, we’ve been struck by how empty space can be. With all the uncountable stars out there, it seems like there should be someone looking back at us. Still, we haven’t found anyone yet—this is known as the Fermi Paradox. The Drake Equation has been used to estimate how many intelligent civilizations exist among the stars, but a new study mutates the equation in an unexpected manner. The authors conclude we’re probably alone. Although, their arguments are a bit suspect.
Frank Drake proposed the Drake Equation (see below) in 1961 at the first meeting of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). It wasn’t intended as a tool to actually calculate the number of alien civilizations but to help us understand what we still don’t know. The Drake Equation takes into account things like the rate of star formation in our galaxy, the fraction of stars with planets, the fraction of stars that support life, and so on. At the end, you get the number of detectable alien civilizations in the Milky Way.
Even with advances in astronomy, we don’t actually know many of the values for the Drake Equation. We can, however, make better guesses at things like the number of stars and planets in the galaxy. The new study from Oxford University researchers incorporates probabilistic distributions and genome models into the calculation to suggest that we may be completely alone in the universe.
More at https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/272357-researchers-maybe-were-alone-in-the-universe-after-all
NASA-Backed Project Lays Out the Science of Detecting Alien Life
There are still many unanswered questions about the existence of extraterrestrial life. Maybe the universe is teeming with intelligent beings, or there might just be some pond scum on some out-of-the-way moon. It’s even possible there is no other life. An international team of scientists has laid the groundwork for scanning the skies for life. With the support of NASA, the researchers have simultaneously published six studies that explain how we will search exoplanets for signs of life using current and near-future technologies.
All six studies are part of the Nexus for Exoplanet Systems Science (NExSS) program. It’s all backed by NASA, but includes teams from all over the world, tracing back to a brainstorming session held in Seattle in 2016. After two years of work, teams from the University of Washington, the University of California-Riverside, the Tokyo Institute of Technology, and others have published their research.
This collection of studies outlines what we know about detecting life in another solar system, as well as how we can go about it. The overarching theme of the individual studies is that scientists of multiple disciplines will need to work together to find evidence of life. The first paper, from NASA’s Goddard Institute, details the best signal types to use for detecting life. It calls out atmospheric gases like oxygen and methane in particular. Light reflected by life could also be a useful signal — for example, the color of plant life across a planet’s temperate zone. Another paper from the University of California-Riverside explores what we know about life on Earth can tell us about the signals we might detect on other planets.
More at https://www.extremetech.com/extreme...-lays-out-the-science-of-detecting-alien-life
Likes: Jim and Bigphoot2
What a cute baby
First confirmed image of a newborn planet revealed
Nascent planet seen carving a path through the disc of gas and dust surrounding the very young star PDS70
Nicola Davis
@NicolaKSDavis
Mon 2 Jul 2018 12.43 BSTFirst published on Mon 2 Jul 2018 11.01 BST
This image from the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope is the first clear image of a planet caught in the act of formation. Photograph: ESO/A Müller et al
It is a moment of birth that has previously proved elusive, but astronomers say they now have the first confirmed image of the formation of a planet.
The startling snapshot shows a bright blob – the nascent planet – travelling through the dust and gas surrounding a young star, known as PDS70, thought to be about 370 light years from Earth.
The black circle in the centre of the image, to the left of the planet, is a filter to block the light from the star, enabling other features of the system to be seen.
Captured by the Sphere instrument of the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope, the planet – a gas giant with a mass greater than Jupiter – is about as far from its star as Uranus is from our sun, with further analyses revealing that it appears to have a cloudy atmosphere and a surface temperature of 1000C.
https://www.theguardian.com/science...rmed-image-of-a-newborn-planet-revealed-pds70
Likes: Vardoger and Jim
Successful Second Deep Space Maneuver for OSIRIS-REx Confirmed
Illustration of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft during a burn of its main engine.
Credits: University of Arizona
New tracking data confirms that NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft successfully completed its second Deep Space Maneuver (DSM-2) on June 28. The thruster burn put the spacecraft on course for a series of asteroid approach maneuvers to be executed this fall that will culminate with the spacecraft’s scheduled arrival at asteroid Bennu on Dec. 3.
more at: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/osiris-rex-executes-second-deep-space-maneuver
Looks a bit like a winged sun disk, dunnit. From that angle.
Any juice in the rumour this mission is an earth-killing asteroid deflector?
Likes: hunck
Neutrino which struck Antarctica traced to galaxy 3.7 billion light years away
A mysterious, ghostly particle that slammed into Earth and lit up sensors buried deep beneath the south pole has been traced back to a distant galaxy that harbours an enormous spinning black hole.
Astronomers detected the high-energy neutrino, when it tore into the southern Indian Ocean near the coast of Antarctica and carried on until it struck an atomic nucleus in the Antarctic ice, sending more particles flying.
The event, which took place on 22 September 2017, was captured by the IceCube experiment, a cubic kilometre of clear ice kitted out with sensors to detect such intergalactic incidents. Within a second of the particle being spotted, IceCube issued an automatic alert, prompting an international race to find the neutrino’s origin.
Most galaxies are thought to have spinning supermassive black holes at their centres. But some of these black holes appear to pull in material at ferocious rates, a process that simultaneously sends streams of highly energetic particles out into space. Such galaxies are called blazars, although the term only applies when one of these streams is directed straight at Earth.
The blazar that appears to have sent the neutrino our way lies 3.7bn light years from Earth, just off the left shoulder of the constellation of Orion. While a single detection is not strong evidence, the IceCube scientists went back through their records and found a flurry of neutrinos coming from the same spot over 150 days in 2014 and 2015. Details are published in two separate papers in the journal Science.
Neutrinos are extraordinary particles. So light that they were once thought to be massless, they stream continuously out from the sun in vast quantities. Most of the time they pass through objects in their path: about 100bn pass unnoticed through the area of a fingertip every second. Collisions with other particles such as that detected in Antarctica happen very rarely.
Likes: skinny, Mythopoeika and Jim
I've heard about adaptive optics for telescopes for a few years already. This must be the first time it's installed on a larger telescope.
Sharpest images of Neptune ever seen are captured after scientists upgrade the most powerful telescope on Earth with laser guidance technology
Experts captured the shot using the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in northern Chile
A process called the laser guide star facility now creates more precise images
The VLT can now produce images comparable to the Hubble Space Telescope
It will let them study unusual celestial objects in unprecedented detail, they says
That ranges from supermassive black holes to supernovae and planets
By TIM COLLINS FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 11:00 BST, 18 July 2018 | UPDATED: 13:00 BST, 18 July 2018
Neptune has been revealed in never-before-seen detail.
The most distant planet from the sun was captured in astonishing detail after experts used lasers to upgrade the world's most powerful land-based telescope to capture the most intimate portrait of the breathtaking blue orb to date.
The technique corrects for the effects of atmospheric turbulence above the observatory, based in the deserts of northern Chile.
Stunning images of the most distant planet from the sun have been beamed back to Earth in astonishing detail. Experts used lasers to upgrade the world's most powerful land based telescope to capture the most intimate portrait of the breathtaking blue orb to date (pictured)
Experts from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) captured the shot using its Very Large Telescope (VLT).
An upgrade to the array, which is made up of four telescopes, lets researchers use a process called the laser guide star facility on the VLTs Unit Telescope 4 (UT4).
It allows for more precise imaging over a comparatively wide field of view, capturing clusters of stars in the night sky, as well as close details of individual celestial bodies.
WHAT IS ESO'S ADAPTIVE OPTICS AND HOW DOES IT HELP US TAKE BETTER IMAGES OF THE COSMOS?
Adaptive optics is a technique to compensate for the blurring effect of the Earth's atmosphere, also known as astronomical seeing, which is a big problem faced by all ground-based telescopes.
The same turbulence in the atmosphere that causes stars to twinkle to the naked eye results in blurred images of the universe for large telescopes.
More at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...tune-Earth-European-Southern-Observatory.html
Likes: hunck, Jim, skinny and 1 other person
20km long lake of liquid water found on Mars:
Likes: Jim, ramonmercado, Bigphoot2 and 1 other person
The new Number 6
This is it! Build the Spaceport (like the Queen promised in her speech) build the rocket, blast off for Mars and make a decent cup of tea from martian water. Come on Britain, it’s what we do best!*
*The tea bit anyway.
Likes: Peripart
jimv1 said:
The water may be brine or heavy water.
I knew the job was dangerous when I took it ...
... and you need to drill through over a mile of ice to get to it ...
EnolaGaia said:
That'd work up quite a thirst.
Most of the really hard work is done by taking a tea bag.
So not dissimilar to Lake Vostok here on Earth - and that's teeming with life:
https://www.extremetech.com/extreme...-ice-in-conditions-similar-to-jupiters-europa
An astronomer worked out how many habitable planets could theoretically get stuffed into one system. It turns out that a sufficiently advanced civilization could stuff a bunch of them into a system.
https://planetplanet.net/2018/06/01/the-million-earth-solar-system/
A fantastic concept.
A million Earths, each with many billions of inhabitants, each connected to whatever future-Internet they have... just imagine the nightmare of trying to find a non-taken online username.
Likes: Mythopoeika
Aaah! My head hurts!
Recovering policeman
New radio telescope picks up mysterious signal from space
A new radio telescope in Canada is doing its job picking up mysterious signals from deep space known as "fast radio bursts" (FRBs).
The CHIME radio telescope
The Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) in British Columbia detected the first-ever FRB at frequencies below 700 MHz on July 25, a signal named FRB 180725A.
As you might guess, FRBs are milliseconds-long bursts of radio emissions that come from some unknown source across the universe. They're one of the newer cosmic mysteries around, having been first detected only about a decade ago. Possible explanations include bursts from magnetars, exploding black holes, and yes, highly advanced alien civilizations.
The announcement also notes that additional FRBs have been found in the past week at frequencies as low as 400 MHz and early indications suggest they aren't coming from known sources on Earth.
So far only one FRB has been observed repeating and researchers say whatever is sending that signal across the universe is stupendously powerful.
It's early days for both the study of FRBs and this FRB in particular. CHIME and other observatories will be keeping an ear to the sky for more clues to help solve the mystery.
https://www.cnet.com/news/new-radio-telescope-picks-up-mysterious-signal-from-space/
Wikipedia page on FRBs.
Horizon - Jupiter Revealed
Latest findings from the Juno mission. They think they know what it's made of under the cloud cover. Some surprising finds - one of which is that hydrogen turns to a sort of liquid metal under extreme pressure, & there's a layer of it on Jupiter. More topics - missing water, inner core.
It's a huge object more than 2½ times more massive than all the rest of the planets added together, with fearsome magnetic field & radiation which knackered an earlier mission. Juno had to be built like a tank to withstand the forces & is the largest craft ever launched into space.
On iplayer for 29 days.
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Fire Safety Cladding: Heysmoor Heights
Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.—(Wendy Morton.)
Mrs Louise Ellman (Liverpool, Riverside) (Lab/Co-op)
Today, following the campaigning of MPs across the country, the Prime Minister made a commitment to fund replacement cladding for some of the properties at risk following the Grenfell Tower catastrophe in June 2017. Her welcome statement refers to properties owned by councils and housing associations, but it leaves residents in privately owned tower blocks, such as those in Heysmoor Heights, Liverpool, out in the cold. They face bills of £18,000 to keep safe following the horrendous failings exposed by the Grenfell catastrophe.
After Grenfell, Heysmoor Heights was inspected by Merseyside fire and rescue authority—with commendable speed. It was found to have dangerous ACM— aluminium composite material—cladding. Fire marshals were put in place, and all lethal cladding has now been removed and is being replaced.
Heysmoor Heights is a 16-storey block comprising 98 flats, 63 of which are owned by Grainger plc. Grainger has funded the costs of fire safety measures for its flats, but it is unclear whether those costs will be reflected in higher rents or service charges in the future. The private leaseholders face major problems and anxiety. Theirs are modest properties, with a value of between £80,000 and £100,000, yet they are required to pay £18,000. How can hard-pressed residents find £18,000? Is the value of their flats affected by what is happening? Will more work be required, thus requiring more funding? It is unjust for residents to be facing demands to foot the bill to keep them safe because the regulatory system failed.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
First, I congratulate the hon. Lady in raising an issue that is gripping the House this week. Does she agree that every social housing provider, local authority and landlord who is paid from the public purse has a duty of care and must ensure that buildings are up to the highest safety standard; and that where that is not the case, they must carry out the work necessary to bring the building up to that standard? That should be their responsibility.
Mrs Ellman
I agree with the hon. Gentleman; he makes an important point. Who should pay? Who is responsible for putting the situation right? The position is obscure and complex. The original development company, FM Heysmoor Heights Ltd, was dissolved in August 2014. It went into administration in 2010 after building renovation works were completed.
The current freeholder is an anonymous beneficial owner: Abacus Land 4 Ltd, an offshore company based in Guernsey. It is part of the Long Harbour Ground Rent Fund, which is thought to be worth £1.6 billion. HomeGround is responsible for the day-to-day management of the company. It has appointed the Residential Management Group—RMG—to manage the block.
RMG tells me that an insurance claim—taken out in 2008 by the now defunct FM Heysmoor Heights Ltd—is currently being pursued with Lloyd’s against the original build guarantee. That could see an insurance warranty meet some or all of the costs incurred, but we do not know if this will happen.
RMG first raised the claim on 18 October 2017, but no decision has yet been reached. The claim has now been submitted to the formal complaints process via the Lloyd’s underwriter. When will there be a response? Will it be adequate? There are no answers in sight to those important questions.
The public inquiry into the Grenfell disaster is not due to start until next week. Indeed, there is still dispute about how it will proceed. A separate investigation into building regulations—the Hackitt inquiry—is due to report soon, and I understand that there may be a statement on that tomorrow.
Those investigations involve complex issues, including safety assessments, warranties, installations, certification and regulation. They could include questions of criminality. Years could pass before legal culpability in relation to any individual property is established but, in the meantime, my constituents face bills of £18,000. Payment by instalments is being offered in some cases, and sums of around £2,000 are being added to the quarterly service charge for some individual residents. That is an enormous amount to find. The situation is highly stressful, and payment by instalments does not reduce the size of the bill, which remains £18,000.
I have campaigned strongly on this issue on behalf of my constituents, as have other hon. Members on behalf of theirs. I first raised the matter with the then Secretary of State in October 2017. His response, dated 11 December 2017, stated:
“Where costs do not naturally fall on the freeholder, landlord or those acting on their behalf I urge those with responsibility to follow the lead of the social sector and private companies already doing the right thing and not attempt to pass the costs to leaseholders”.
I have continued to pursue that important matter in the House and I have made further representations to the Minister.
The Minister told me this week in a letter, and in an answer to a written parliamentary question, that
“the morally right thing for building owners to do is to take responsibility for meeting the cost of remediation and interim safety measures without charging leaseholders”,
and that
“building owners should do all they can to protect leaseholders from paying these bills. This could mean funding it themselves or funding it through warranties or legal action”.
The residents of Heysmoor Heights cannot wait for long and potentially protracted negotiations with the insurance company to be resolved. There is no guarantee that a satisfactory solution will be reached.
A letter I received today from HomeGround confirms that, should the insurance route fail, costs will be recovered through increased service charges. That is simply not good enough.
The Minister tells me that he will speak to the agent of the freeholder at Heysmoor Heights. Will he attempt to establish the identity of the owner—or owners—of the offshore Abacus Land 4 Ltd, an anonymous beneficial company?
There has been a further recent development. Barratt Developments, owners of Citiscape in Croydon, have now agreed to pay the costs of cladding removal and fire safety measures for their residents. The Minister’s letter to me states:
“I am aware of some private sector building owners who are not charging leaseholders and, as you know, the previous Secretary of State urged others to follow suit”.
I call for the same treatment for the residents of Heysmoor Heights. What is good enough for the people of Croydon is good enough for the people of Liverpool.
Let us remember what all this is about: 71% of people at Grenfell Tower lost their lives because of grotesque failings in fire safety. Inquiries are yet to establish precise liability and culpability. The catastrophe at Grenfell exposed the danger in other high-rise buildings, including at Heysmoor Heights, yet it is the residents who are being asked to foot the bill to protect their safety in a situation they did not create.
Today, the Prime Minister bowed to the inevitable and agreed to refund the cost of replacement cladding for councils and housing associations. The campaigns throughout the country have been successful, but residents have been put through too much stress for too long. What about the situation for the private residents—the leaseholders—at Heysmoor Heights? The Prime Minister did not give any answer to their calls for help. They must not be abandoned. I call on the Government to act to ensure that residents do not foot this bill—it is a question of justice.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Jake Berry)
I thank all hon. Members for their contributions, and I thank the hon. Member for Liverpool, Riverside (Mrs Ellman)—Liverpool is my home city—for the extraordinary campaign she is fighting behalf of the local residents she has the privilege to represent. She has asked written and oral parliamentary questions, and she has now secured this important debate.
As the hon. Lady mentioned, my hon. Friend the Minister for Housing has arranged to speak to the agents of Heysmoor Heights’ freeholder, and I will certainly ask him to ask the agent who the freeholders are, because she has highlighted a very serious issue. We cannot have a situation in which the residents simply do not know who their superior landlord is. That would not have been acceptable to me in my old job as a property lawyer. I shall make sure that the Housing Minister presses very hard on that issue, and that if an answer is received, it is passed on to the hon. Lady so that she can forward it to her constituents.
Does the Minister agree that it is outrageous that the residents are being asked to pay this bill but the private leaseholders do not know the freeholder’s identity? When the Housing Minister speaks to the freeholder’s agent, will he ask the freeholder to foot the bill?
Jake Berry
The ownership of property is of course subject to the public record. I suspect that the hon. Lady may be getting at the fact that even when the Land Registry has a name on the register, it is sometimes tied up with foreign companies in jurisdictions that do not have the same transparency rules that we have for our companies. I will absolutely ensure that my hon. Friend the Housing Minister presses for the answer to who the freehold owners are. On her point about asking the freehold owners to pay the bill, I hope that the hon. Lady will hear in the rest of my speech the approach the Government are going to take.
Before I deal specifically with the hugely important issue of the residents of Heysmoor Heights, I wish to discuss the wider debates we are having in Parliament this week about the terrible tragedy at Grenfell Tower, which the hon. Lady touched on. This is the first opportunity I have had to speak about those tragic events, and I wish to put on record my personal sorrow. The Government remain absolutely determined that this should never happen again. It should never have happened in the first place. I think everyone in the House would agree that we have a duty to work together to ensure that a tragedy on that scale is never repeated.
Following the fire, the Government’s first priority was quite rightly to help the families who were affected and enable them to rebuild their lives, while continuing to remember with great respect—as we have already today—the people who lost their lives in those tragic events.
The impact of the Grenfell fire is wide-reaching, and I can assure the House that the Government are absolutely determined to learn the lessons and to take all necessary steps to ensure the safety of residents now and in the future. Earlier today, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State set out how the Government continue to work with fire and rescue services, local authorities and landlords to identify high-rise buildings with unsafe cladding. That enables us to both ensure that interim measures are put in place with our partners and give building owners clear advice about what they need to do, over both short term and the longer term, to keep their residents safe.
To support that, we have appointed an expert panel to take the necessary steps to ensure the safety of residents of high-rise buildings. Following its recommendations, the Government provided advice to building owners on the interim measures that they should put in place to ensure the safety of their residents. I note that the hon. Lady said that the ACM cladding has already been removed from the building as part of those interim measures. We swiftly identified social housing blocks and public buildings with unsafe cladding, and all the affected social sector buildings that we have identified now have these measures in place.
In parallel, we tested different combinations of cladding and insulation to see which of them meets the current building regulations guidance. We published consolidated advice in September confirming the results of those tests, together with further advice for building owners. At the same time, we asked Dame Judith Hackitt to undertake an independent review of building regulations, and we are taking forward all the recommendations for Government from her interim report and look forward to the statement tomorrow about the final report to which the hon. Lady referred.
We believe that we have identified all affected social housing blocks and public buildings. With regard to private sector buildings, which tonight’s debate is about, the Government have made their testing facilities available free of charge, and we continue to urge all building owners to submit samples for testing if they think that they may have unsafe cladding on their building.
In addition, we wrote to local authorities in August asking them to identify privately owned buildings in their area with potentially unsafe cladding and reminding them that that was in line with their statutory duty to ensure that residents are kept safe. The majority of local authorities have recognised the urgency of that work and have provided relevant information to the Government. I wish to put it on the record that we are grateful for all the hard work that local authorities have done in this regard.
We have been in constant and close collaboration with local authorities ever since the Grenfell fire tragedy, but this is not a straightforward task, particularly in cases such as the one referred to by the hon. Lady where building owners either cannot be traced or are proving unresponsive. To support local authorities in this work, we announced in March a financial support package of £1 million to assist the most affected local authorities.
Our measures will also help local authorities to take enforcement action to ensure that hazards in residential buildings in their areas are remediated as quickly as possible. I can assure hon. Members that, as soon as we are notified of buildings with potentially unsafe cladding, we will work with the relevant local authority and the National Fire Chiefs Council to ensure that interim measures are put in place.
The Minister is giving some very important information, but he is not addressing the central issue of this debate. What will happen about the £18,000 bills that the private leaseholders at Heysmoor Heights are facing? What will the Government do about that?
The hon. Lady referred to the announcement by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister today of £400 million of new Government funding to help local authorities and housing associations focus their efforts on removing ACM cladding. We have also provided other financial flexibilities for local authorities that need to undertake other essential fire safety work. As she has asked me very specifically to address the issue of the private sector, let me tell her that, in the private sector, we continue to urge those responsible to follow the lead set by the social sector and not to attempt to pass on the costs to residents. They can do that by meeting the costs themselves, or by looking at alternative routes such as insurance claim warranties and legal action.
Although I do not want to be drawn into the specifics of the insurance claim that is going on regarding Heysmoor Heights, I echo the hon. Lady’s call for Lloyd’s to get on and process that claim as quickly as possible. She mentioned the stage of the process that the claim has reached. As she correctly points out, it is the uncertainty—the £18,000 bill, albeit that it a potential bill at this point—hanging over the residents that is so unsettling for them. I commend Barratt for stepping into the breach and covering the remediation costs at Citiscape in Croydon. I am sure the Housing Minister will be making a point about the good behaviour of Barratt when he speaks to the agent of the Heysmoor Heights freeholder shortly.
Where building owners are seeking to pass on remediation costs to leaseholders, it is important that leaseholders can access specialist legal advice and understand their rights under leases, which are often long and complicated documents. It is absolutely correct that the Government have worked with the Leasehold Advisory Service—LEASE—to provide additional funding for independent, free, initial advice so that leaseholders are not only aware of their rights under the lease but are supported to understand the terms of these often complicated legal documents. LEASE continues to provide valuable support to affected leaseholders around the country. If the leaseholders at Heysmoor Heights have not done so already, I would encourage them to get in touch with the Leasehold Advisory Service to get some initial advice about their potential liability. The Secretary of State will also be holding a roundtable on the barriers to the remediation of buildings that have unsafe aluminium composite material cladding.
We are keeping the situation under review. I will specifically draw tonight’s debate to the attention of the Housing Minister. I will ask him to keep the residents of Heysmoor Heights informed, and to keep under review the progress not just of the insurance claim but of the wider question about where liability lies. We want to ensure that costs are not passed on to leaseholders, because they should not be. The hon. Lady quoted the Housing Minister, who said that there is a moral obligation not to pass those costs on to leaseholders. I absolutely agree with both him and the hon. Lady in that regard.
I hope that the points I have made this evening have reassured hon. Members just how seriously the Government are treating the issue of building safety. We will continue to make the case to building owners that we absolutely do not expect these costs to be passed on to the leaseholders of Heysmoor Heights or anywhere else. We will continue to provide support through LEASE to leaseholders who are faced with these unexpected bills, and we will continue to take all necessary steps to ensure that residents feel safe and secure in their homes. We will keep the situation under review. It is important to say that we have not ruled out any options at this stage.
As a proud son of Liverpool, I will finish by directly quoting the hon. Lady: what is good enough Croydon is good enough for Liverpool and the residents of Heysmoor Heights.
Question put and agreed to.
House adjourned.
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Tag Archives: Slipknot
Slipknot bassist Paul Gray found dead.
From Blabbermouth.net:
According to the Des Moines Register, Urbandale, Iowa police are investigating the death of SLIPKNOT’s bass guitarist at a local hotel.
Paul Dedrick Gray, 38, of Johnston was found dead at approximately 10:50 a.m. today by an employee at TownePlace Suites (pictured below), 8800 Northpark Drive, police said.
There was no evidence of foul play, police said.
According to KCCI.com, the Polk County Medical Examiner’s Office is assisting in the death investigation and will perform an autopsy on Tuesday. Toxicology testing will be completed to determine if there were any contributing factors in the death of Gray, police said.
Witnesses reported that items from the hotel room were carried out of the hotel around 2 p.m.
Gray was born in Los Angeles, California, and later moved to Des Moines.
Wikipedia shows that Gray has been married for two years to GodsGirls’ Brenna Paul and has a tattoo of her name on his knuckles.
In a December 2009 posting on his MySpace page, Gray revealed that his wife was pregnant with the couple’s first child. “I am the happiest man on the face of the earth — literally!” he wrote. He added, “This has been the best Christmas I have ever had!”
In April 2010 it was announced that Paul Gray had joined HAIL!, the supergroup featuring mainstays Tim “Ripper” Owens (BEYOND FEAR, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, ex-JUDAS PRIEST, ICED EARTH), David Ellefson (MEGADETH) and Andreas Kisser (SEPULTURA). He was replacing the group’s original member, David Ellefson, who was unable to take part in HAIL!’s upcoming touring activities due to his renewed collaboration with MEGADETH. At the time, Paul Gray stated about his involvement with HAIL!: “This is going to be amazing! After I heard the news about David reuniting with MEGADETH I touched base with Andreas and everything fell into place pretty immediately. I was excited about what they were doing and their whole attitude is just cool, old school camaraderie and fun and I wanted to share that with them. Fortunately, I had this window of time available as SLIPKNOT are on break so the timing worked perfectly. These guys have been through it all and they represent true metal brotherhood. I like that and I’m glad to now be a part of it. I can’t wait, I wish we’d leave tomorrow. These shows are going to kick ass!”
Back in 2003, authorities agreed to drop drug possession charges against Paul Gray in exchange for Gray’s acknowledgement that he was on drugs when he was involved in a minor traffic accident (Story#1, Story#2) in the summer of 2003 in Des Moines.
Des Moines police arrested Gray on June 1, 2003 after his car collided with a car at Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway and Carpenter Avenue.
A police report at the time said Gray “had impaired balance, slurred and dull speech, and extremely sleepy and dull behavior.”
By rhodeislandrock Posted in Metal News & Commentary, R.I.P. Tagged AOR, Black Metal, Classic Rock, Death Metal, Glam, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Melodic Rock, Metal, Music, NWOBHM, Paul Gray, Power Metal, Progressive Metal, Progressive Rock, Rock, Slipknot, Speed Metal, Thrash, Thrash Metal
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THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Fifteen months ago this week, I announced the surge. And this week, General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker gave Congress a detailed report on the results.
Since the surge began, American and Iraqi forces have made significant progress. While there's more to be done, sectarian violence, civilian deaths, and military deaths are down. Improvements in security have helped clear the way for political and economic progress. The Iraqi government has passed a budget and three major "benchmark" laws. And many economic indicators are now pointed in the right direction.
Serious and complex challenges remain in Iraq. Yet with the surge, a major strategic shift has occurred. Fifteen months ago, extremists were sowing sectarian violence; today, many mainstream Sunni and Shia are actively confronting the extremists. Fifteen months ago, al Qaeda was using bases in Iraq to kill our troops and terrorize Iraqis; today, we have put al Qaeda on the defensive in Iraq, and now we are working to deliver a crippling blow. Fifteen months ago, Americans were worried about the prospect of failure in Iraq; today, thanks to the surge, we've revived the prospect of success in Iraq.
Radio Interviews:
I can't find a radio station that carries the radio address. Do any stations in Pomona carry it?
Click here for answer....
This week, General Petraeus reported that security conditions have improved enough to withdraw all five surge brigades. By July 31, the number of U.S. combat brigades in Iraq will be down 25 percent from the year before. Beyond that, General Petraeus says he will need time to assess how this reduced American presence will affect conditions on the ground before making recommendations on further reductions. I've told him he'll have time he needs to make his assessment.
Our job in the period ahead is to stand with the Iraqi government as it makes the transition to responsibility for its own security and its own destiny. So what would this transition look like? On the security front, we will stay on the offense, continue to support the Iraqi security forces, continue to transfer security responsibilities to them, and move over time into an overwatch role.
On the economic front, Iraq's economy is growing. Iraq is assuming responsibility for almost all the funding of large-scale reconstruction projects, and our share of security costs is dropping as well. On the political front, Iraq is planning to hold elections that will provide a way for Iraqis to settle disputes through the political process instead of through violence.
Our efforts are aimed at a clear goal: a free Iraq that can protect its people, support itself economically, and take charge of its own political affairs. And no one wants to achieve that goal more than the Iraqis themselves.
The turnaround that our men and women in uniform have made possible in Iraq is a brilliant achievement. And we expect that, as conditions on the ground continue to improve, they will permit us to continue the policy of return on success.
I'm confident in our success because I know the valor of the young Americans who defend us. This week, I commemorated the sacrifice of Michael Monsoor, a Navy SEAL who gave his life in Iraq, and became the fourth Medal of Honor recipient in the war on terror. On September 29, 2006, Mike and two teammates had taken a position on a rooftop when an insurgent grenade landed on the roof. Mike threw himself onto the grenade. One of the survivors put it this way: "Mikey looked death in the face that day and said, 'You cannot take my brothers. I will go in their stead.'"
It is heroism like Michael Monsoor's that pays the cost of human freedom. Our prayers remain with Michael's family and with all the men and women who continue his noble fight. We look forward to the day when they return home in victory.
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Greenpoint Loses a Legend: Hugh Reid (1927-2017)
Posted by Geoff Cobb | January 26, 2017
Hugh Reid
Hugh Reid, who helped bury the dead of Greenpoint for generations, himself finally succumbed to death himself last Thursday, just short of his ninetieth year. I was lucky enough to spend a long afternoon with Hugh about two years ago, while researching my recently published book, King of Greenpoint, about Peter J McGuinness, the boss of Greenpoint. Many locals insisted that I had to talk to Hugh because no one knew more Greenpoint history, so we sat down.
He told me his grandparents immigrated in 1856 from Cushendall Northern Ireland and for generations his family had worked the Greenpoint waterfront. He was one of twelve children, so when he was not in school he hustled to help the family get extra money. Hugh knew Peter McGuinness well because they both lived on Leonard Street, though he was not necessarily a fan of McGuinness by any means. I learned not only about McGuinness, but also a wealth of local information. Hugh had lived here all his life and his memory was sharp, even if his hearing had grown dim. Many of the characters I wrote about I only knew from books but Hugh knew them as people and gave me insights into their personalities no book or document ever could.
Hugh Reid was a Greenpoint institution and it is fair to say that he loved it every bit as much as its people loved him. He started out doing deliveries for a local German-American delicatessen, but he noticed that local funeral directors were rich men with big cars and elegant clothes. In 1949 he enrolled in the New York School of Embalming and Restorative Art, a program that taught undertaking, and then bought McElroy’s Funeral Home, a local Irish-American business, changing the name to Hugh A. Reid’s funeral home. Many Greenpointers cannot remember a time when his business was not a Greenpoint Avenue landmark. He endeared himself to generations of locals because of his thoughtfulness during their times of grief and mourning. Many a Greenpointer was buried whose family did not have the full price of a funeral, but Hugh knew that they would eventually pay and most, in time, did. Many people never forgot his generosity and kindness in those difficult times. However, as Greenpoint natives left and other unfamiliar people arrived his business tapered off.
Hugh A. Reid Funeral Home, via Google Maps
I would be dishonest if I told you that Hugh and I hit it off. We did not see eye to eye on some things, but one thing is absolutely certain: Hugh did not mince words and he told you exactly what he thought. Hugh had seen Greenpoint change and it saddened him. He told me that when he was younger he knew everyone on the street and he regretted that Greenpoint had lost the intimacy and friendliness that he had known as a young man. He said that it made him sad that so many friends had either moved away or had died. He recounted to me how once he seemed to know everyone in the neighborhood. but in the last few years there were fewer and fewer familiar faces and for the first time he felt like a stranger in his very own hometown.
Hugh was proud Irish-American and a devoted husband and father. His wife died a few years ago of cancer and he is survived by a daughter Mary and two grandchildren. One of the greatest pleasures in his life was his membership in the Ancient Order of Hibernians, which rewarded him for a lifetime of service with an assistant Grand Marshall position in the 1981 St. Patrick’s Day parade. He was related to an amazing number of local Irish-American families. He may be gone, but Hugh was such a character that he won’t be forgotten by so many of the people in the community he loved so much.
About Geoff Cobb
Geoffrey Cobb is a Brooklyn high school history teacher and writer of the blog historicgreenpoint.wordpress.com. He has lived in Greenpoint for over 20years and is the author of a book on the history of the area, "Greenpoint Brooklyn's Forgotten Past."
View all posts by Geoff Cobb →
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Iain McWilliam says:
Hughie was my grandpa’s cousin and a good friend of his. My Grandpa used to tell me about the reids and McAlisters(of 5he tugboat company fame), all related, even though hughies family had feuded with the McAllisters for years, hugh and my grandpa were so proud of their family connection.
The last time I saw my grandpa he was in the casket at hughies place. Me and hughie sat in the hallway and he told me stories about growing up with my grandpa and how greenpoint used to be…..that was 10.years ago….I passed hughies spot 3 days ago and it’s a medical clinic. Kind of hurt like hell . Hughies gone, my grandpa is gone and now people just sit there to get a flu shot, where my grandpa was laid to rest and his cousin worked his craft.
Joe McKeegan says:
Sad to see Hugh A. Reids is closed and sadder to see he has passed. I will always remember the family funerals and my father Danny McKeegan, and Hugh sitting in the back row telling joke after joke. Hugh was very clever, and I’m not sure if it was his stapLe or not, I remember his Red socks matched his Red tie and it just stuck in my mind. …. the sock – tie match…..
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Tag: Longtrail
In Praise of Wild and Lonely Places
On January 28, 2019 January 29, 2019 By Kent Harrop2 Comments
There is something evocative about slowing down and becoming quiet. A primitive, even visceral desire, to strip away the distractions and focus on that which matters.
For many of us, getting outdoors, is a way of focusing on that which matters. We do so by working in our garden, hiking, snowshoeing through the woods or walking on the beach.
We are drawn to that which allows our hearts, minds and imaginations to expand. To be reminded that we belong to the cosmos, not just to our daily routines.
Stephen Hiltner taps into this desire in a provocative article in the New York Times entitled: ‘In Britain, Enraptured by the Wild, Lonely and Remote’. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/21/travel/in-search-of-britains-bothies.html?partner=rss&emc=rss He writes of a journey through the wild lands of the United Kingdom, finding refuge and inspiration in isolated huts called ‘bothies’.
A vast majority of bothies are repurposed structures — crofters’ homes, shepherds’ huts, mining outbuildings — that have been salvaged from various states of disrepair by the Mountain Bothies Association, a charitable organization founded in 1965 whose aim is “to maintain simple shelters in remote country for the use and benefit of all who love wild and lonely places.” Some, like Warnscale Head in England’s Lake District, date to the 1700s. Collectively, since they came into recreational use in the 1930s as weekend getaways (sometimes used clandestinely) for working-class laborers, bothies have given rise to a unique culture that values communal respect for fellow visitors, for the bothies themselves and for the land on which they’re situated.
Such wild and lonely places remind me of a week spent on the Longtrail, in Vermont. With my cousin, Tom, we spent that week moving from rustic hut to hut, soaking in the vistas and silence.
On the Longtrail, there is a tradition of receiving a ‘trail name’ that evokes who you are, or, what you hope to be. My name was ‘Slow and Easy’. The name reflects a tendency when on the trail, to linger and savor what the trail has to offer. While some seek to conquer the trail by bagging a maximum of miles per day, my goal was to experience what was right in front of me.
Travelling ‘slow and easy’ was somewhat counterculture on the trail and certainly is countercultural in our plugged in, highly scheduled lives.
Back to the line I opened with: ‘There is something evocative about slowing down and becoming quiet’.
John Muir lived this truth. He was a mystic and founder of the Sierra Club in the 1930’s. His formative years were nourished by the wild and lonely places in Scotland. Later, as a youth, his family emigrated to the United States in the 1870’s and it was there that he fell in love with the wild and lonely places of America.
The moors of Scotland and the mountains of Yosemite, evoke a sense of awe, wonder and belonging to that which is greater than oneself. Muir wrote:
“I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.”
Muir’s words reflects that which drew monks and mystics for millenniums to the out-of-the-way places. Yet, we know too, that such wild and exotic places are simply pointers to that place we can enter each day. A reminder to slow down, reflect and reconnect, to that Source which is eternal, which is good, lasting and true.
The portal to such a place, begins by simply slowing down and becoming quiet.
Isaiah, an ancient prophet said: ‘Listen and your soul will live’.
May it be so. Wherever your path may lead.
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Indian farmers’ widows suffer threats to children over land, says reporthttps://indianexpress.com/article/india/indian-farmers-widows-suffer-threats-to-children-over-land-says-report-4904481/
Indian farmers’ widows suffer threats to children over land, says report
India's constitution gives women equal rights but custom dictates that land is inherited by male sons. Although the law states that a widow is the legal heir to her husband's property, in practice she is seldom allowed to stake her claim.
By Thomson Reuters Foundation |Mumbai | Published: October 24, 2017 5:22:03 pm
Denied land, many farmers’ widows in southern Tamil Nadu state are forced to resort to sex work, activists say. (Source: AP Photo)
Widows of farmers who have committed suicide in western India face abuse and threats to their children’s safety when they demand their inheritance, highlighting the risks vulnerable women face in claiming rights over property, a report said. Thousands of farmers kill themselves every year in Maharashtra state over failed crops and mounting debt. The most common reason cited is the inability to repay loans for seeds and fertilisers.
While an upsurge in suicides has prompted the state to write off farmers’ debts and offer subsidised loans and insurance, many of these benefits are denied to widows, according to the study of 157 farmers’ widows.
“Widows in India have always been ostracised and abused; farmer widows suffer the additional stigma of the suicide and the debt,” said Shivani Chaudhry, executive director at the advocacy group Housing and Land Rights Network, which published the report.
“They face eviction (by their in-laws) if they ask for their share in the family home or land,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation on Tuesday. Chaudhry said the woman’s in-laws would also often threaten to deprive her children of food or pull them out of school if she tried to make a claim.
The study published this month focuses on the region of Vidarbha, in eastern Maharashtra, which has been struggling with drought for four decades and accounts for many of the state’s farmer suicides.
With more than 46 million widows, India has the highest number of widows in the world, according to the Loomba Foundation which advocates for their rights.
Widows face a lot of bias particularly in rural areas, where they are considered inauspicious and a burden to the husband’s family, with whom they typically live.
Denied land, many farmers’ widows in southern Tamil Nadu state are forced to resort to sex work, activists say.
India’s constitution gives women equal rights but custom dictates that land is inherited by male sons. Although the law states that a widow is the legal heir to her husband’s property, in practice she is seldom allowed to stake her claim.
Nearly three-quarters of rural women in India depend on land for a livelihood, yet only about 13 percent own land.
“Few of these widows have their names on the documents for the home or the land, and there is little awareness about land laws and legal procedures to transfer titles,” said Chaudhry.
“Even when their names are on the documents, very often they are denied access to their property by the husband’s family, or they may be too afraid to ask.”
Indian farmers' widows suffer threats to children over land, says report
1 Madras High Court adjourns plea seeking conduct of election for AIADMK
2 ‘Palturam’ almost non-existent in Bihar: Lalu Prasad dig at Nitish Kumar
3 Agartala-Delhi Rajdhani service likely to start this week
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Bayern Munich’s Arjen Robben, Jerome Boateng on the bench against Hamburghttps://indianexpress.com/article/sports/football/bayern-munich-arjen-robben-jerome-boateng-bench-against-hamburg-bundesliga-3046599/
Bayern Munich’s Arjen Robben, Jerome Boateng on the bench against Hamburg
Arjen Robben and Jerome Boateng played their first game against Hertha Berlin on Tuesday after recovering from long term injury layoffs.
By Reuters |Munich | Published: September 23, 2016 6:36:53 pm
Arjen Robben returned from a six month layoff and scored in the win against Hertha Berlin. (Source: AP)
Bayern Munich’s Arjen Robben and Jerome Boateng will not be in the starting lineup for Saturday’s league game at strugglers Hamburg SV, the German champions’ coach Carlo Ancelotti said on Friday.
Dutch winger Robben played his first competitive game following a six-month injury layoff on Tuesday, coming on as a substitute and netting the third goal in a 3-0 victory over Hertha Berlin.
“I talked with Robben. He will be on the bench and could come on in the second half,” Ancelotti said.
Central defender Boateng, also back from the injury he suffered at the Euro 2016 in July, made his first start against the Berliners.
“I will be rotating tomorrow but I will take the final decisions after today’s training,” Ancelotti told reporters, adding that central defender Mats Hummels would start after being on the bench against Hertha, as will striker Robert Lewandowski.
The Italian coach, in his first season in charge, has led his team to wins in their first four matches of the campaign as they seek a record-extending fifth consecutive Bundesliga crown.
Hamburg have had a very different start, losing three of their opening four games to lie 16th in the standings, putting coach Bruno Labbadia’s job on the line.
“I am sure that it will be hard for us tomorrow. I want us to have the same start as against Hertha. Hamburg will try to defend well and try to hurt us on the break,” Ancelotti said.
Bayern Munich's Arjen Robben, Jerome Boateng on the bench against Hamburg
1 Spurs lock in talent for the long-term
2 Sunderland could feel the heat against Crystal Palace, says Alan Pardew
3 Arsene Wenger asks players to keep emotions in check ahead of Chelsea clash
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Belle Gibson lied about everything
Belle Gibson has been a prominent figure in the alternative health world for some time now. Ms Gibson’s big claim to fame has been that she miraculously cured her terminal brain cancer just by eating healthy food. Not only did she claim that she cured her own cancer, she also suggested that other cancer patients would benefit from following her healthy lifestyle and profited from selling a cook book and app on the subject.
And it was all bullshit.
Wikipedia sums the scenario up nicely:
In early 2015, emerging media scrutiny revealed that Gibson’s cancer claims appeared to have been fabricated, that she had lied about her age and other details of her personal life and history, and had used company and charity campaign funds to lead a profligate and affluent lifestyle. There are claims she rented an expensive town house, leased an office suite and luxury car, underwent cosmetic dental procedures, and holidayed internationally from the proceeds of money purportedly raised for charity.
After a month of intense media scrutiny of her story, in an April 2015 interview Gibson admitted that her cancer claims had been totally fabricated, stating “none of it’s true”.
Gibson’s actions have been described as “deceit on a grand scale, for personal profit”.
It’s estimated that the book and app had raised over $1,000,000 and Gibson herself has claimed that she had “countless times helped others” to treat their cancers “naturally” and “leading them down natural therapy for everything from fertility, depression, bone damage and other types of cancer”.
Do you realise what that means? She lied to cancer patients to profit from their hopelessness and actively lead them away from the only treatments that are medically proven to help them survive.
And she didn’t even follow the bullshit she was spouting about keeping toxins out of your body
In addition to this, it is alleged that Gibson raised a lot of money in the name of 5 different charities but either didn’t use the money for the charitable work she had claimed she would and/or massively exaggerated how much of the money she did end up going to charity.
Gibson actively encouraged things such as not vaccinating children, consuming raw, non-pasteurised milk, and Gerson Therapy.
When it became clear that people were going to find out that Gibson had never had cancer at all, let alone the multiple cancers she had claimed, she started deleting any posts relating to that topic from her social media platforms. In many cases, she went further and deleted the accounts completely.
Gibson has finally bitten the bullet and conceded that everything that she’d said to help her become famous was fabricated. She had lied her way into the hearts of those millions of people who are suffering with medical conditions that modern medicine doesn’t have pleasant solutions for, and then she used those lies to take their money.
You don’t have to be a shrink to suspect Ms Gibson is an out and out crazy bitch, now do you?
Of course there’s been complete uproar since the truth has come to light. And Ms Gibson’s response is has been to say:
“In the last two years I have worked every single day living and raising up an online community of people who supported each other… I understand the confusion and the suspicion, but I also know that people need to draw a line in the sand where they still treat someone with some level of respect or humility – and I have not been receiving that.”
“I just think [speaking out] was the responsible thing to do. Above anything, I would like people to say, ‘Okay, she’s human. She’s obviously had a big life. She’s respectfully come to the table and said what she’s needed to say, and now it’s time for her to grow and heal.’”
Of all the shit Ms Gibson has said and done, to me, it’s these quotes which are the most telling of just how far from normal her line of thinking is. You don’t get to build an empire on lies while you take money from hopeless, suffering people in return for offering them fairytales and good vibes and then get to expect anyone to feel sorry for you or be understanding of your plight.
What the fuck sort of thinking is that? If you actively and knowingly deceive people, you don’t get to be treated with dignity when they find out. No, you should count yourself lucky that some poor cancer patient who wasted time on your lies doesn’t hunt you down and end you! For fuck sake! Who the hell could do this and still expect “some level of respect or humility”? That’s the statement right there that just proves there’s something very, very wrong with Belle Gibson.
There are a lot of angry people out there who are definitely not saying “Okay, she’s human.” Instead, they’re calling her a monster, and I’d be hard pressed to disagree.
So, as far as the crazy bitch ranks go, Belle Gibson is sitting very, very high up. She may even be the craziest bitch I’ve ever heard of.
Crazy bitch tip: do not mislead millions of people into thinking that eating well and exercising are enough to fight cancer.
Tags: anti-vaccer, belle, belle gibson, bitch, brain cancer, bullshit, cancer, con, crazy, crazy bitch, diet, fake, health, healthy, horrible, liar, lie, mislead, misleading, monster, ms gibson, None of it was true, quote, quotes, scam, suffer, sufferer, the whole pantry, treatment, trick, trickster, tumor
Categories Advertising, advice, Communication, don't, unusual behaviours
Look out for the Monster
I don’t like this lady.
I’d actually be surprised if one of the points this level 2000+ “Christian” is talking about weren’t intentionally included by the people who make Monster. I mean, it is called Monster after all, so putting a sneaky version of 666 on the can isn’t implausible.
But why would she think a company named “Monster” would be laying claim to being a Christian company in the first place?
There are many points to pick apart in the woman’s flawed analysis, and I’m sure plenty of other people have already done that, and I’d prefer to focus on something different, here. My major concern with this video is that the leading lady has somehow come to the conclusion that she can take down a company that serves the antichrist by sticking some printed bits of paper to a piece of cardboard and telling regular people about the evil plot she’s uncovered.
Think about how crazy you’d have to be if you truly believed that the world’s fate is endangered by a satan worshiping company that’s busy selling us all devil enriched fairy-dust water as a means for the antichrist to infiltrate. OK, so now you’ve got that in your head, imagine that your best efforts to save the world from satan’s insidious attack was to… stick pictures to a piece of cardboard and talk to people about it every now and then when you have a captive audience.
Wouldn’t you be out there with a tank taking down the factories where they can this demonic drink? Wouldn’t you be getting on the news and letting the world know?
Apparently not. Apparently the risk of satan swallowing up all that is good and holy is not enough for this Christian lady to go beyond the “I stuck this shit to this shit and told people about it” phase of attempting to save us from old man fire-pants.
Crazy bitch tip: When you reach the stage of adhering pictures to a big piece of board, beware, you may well be heading directly into crazy town.
Bonus random extra
It’s funny, I was thinking about how to write this one up and I remembered how Monster used to taste so bad that they had to make a new version of it, and then make an ad about how terrible the old one tasted.
Turns out, I was wrong. It wasn’t Monster, it was another energy drink brand called Mother. So, for all of “satan’s” hard work with the 666 and whatnot, I’d have to say the whole branding thing isn’t working quite as strongly as Ms anti-Monster seemed to think.
Tags: crazy, crazy bitch, energy drink, monster, the beast, video
Categories Advertising, advice, Communication, don't, unusual behaviours, Video
Stop making little girls swear
I’m pro-feminism but I’m not sure I’m pro-feminist. I think everyone should be equal and I think everyone should feel safe all the time. I think society’s focus on appearance is to its own detriment and I think there’s no matter what someone was wearing, they didn’t deserve to be raped.
Fighting to end inequality is good and justified but there are still right and wrong ways to do it. I don’t think the following video is the right way.
I love how enthusiastic the girls are in this video. I love that they’re representing a voice on the issues of feminism and equality but I hate that, by the end of watching the video, I begin to suspect an element of exploitation. I strongly doubt that those little girls really understand what they’re saying or truly understand the political background behind this video. I very much doubt that they understand that there are flow-on consequences to being in a viral video that might linger for decades to come. In short, they’re being used as political pawns instead of children. You might even suggest that these children are being encouraged to do something they wouldn’t do if they were fully aware of the consequences.
Ladies, please do raise your voice and fight for a fair-go and a modern society that treats you as equal to everyone else, but please don’t involve children in aggressive feminism marketing campaigns.
Crazy bitch tip: Please don’t convince little girls to swear on film and then try to make the video go viral.
Tags: advice, equality, F-bomb, f-bombs, Fbomb, Fbombs, feminism, gender, little girls, political, politics, society, swear, video
Categories Advertising, Communication, don't, trends, unusual behaviours
I can understand that there’s an element of fun to acting like a crazy bitch. I can see where it might be entertaining to be able to just do whatever the hell you want, whenever and wherever you feel like doing it. The reason people get pissed off about it, however, is not because they’re looking to cramp your style, it’s because your crazy-bitchocentricities have a fall-out zone.
For instance it’s awesome that you like to stand up for yourself but when you choose to do so in a pub full of footy players by screaming at the biggest guy there, you put your boyfriend in a tough spot. He either has to stand up for you and face-off with Mr Testosterone, and very likely get pulverised; or he has to apologise for your behaviour and drag you out of the pub, after which you will be furious at him for not taking your side. And there-in lies the problem, your actions impact other people and the impact can be absolutely shithouse sometimes.
Nobody likes cleaning up someone else’s mess. Nobody wants to be part of a conflict they didn’t start. Nobody enjoys telling someone they’re involved with that they’re completely in the wrong and don’t want to have their back on this one.
It’s not just boyfriends that cop it. Your girlfriends have to pretend they’re on your side while you complain that boyfriend didn’t stand up for you. Your family has to support you when you break up with your boyfriend because he wasn’t there for you. The half-drunk random guy in the pub has to try and keep his shit together while you berate him at the pub after you misheard what he said and took it personally.
The worst part, though, is how that sort of shit reflects on every other woman on the planet. It’s an unfortunate fact there are plenty of morons roaming the earth who lack the mental capacity (or willingness) to distinguish the nuances and uniqueness of individual human beings. Due to their mental limitations, these troglodytes instead simply lump people with similarities into groups which they then label. They then make the assumption that all people with any resemblance to this labeled group will all share the same physical and/or personality traits. We call it stereotyping. It’s not new. It’s not going away any time soon.
People who stereotype watch you behave this way and they don’t see an individual crazy bitch pulling crazy bitch moves, they just assume that’s a thing “women” do. Then, when they interact with a woman who is legitimately upset about something worth being upset about, they assume she’s just “being dramatic” or “PMSing”.
And then they get together and make jokes about PMS and how crazy it makes women. They imply that all women are crazy purely because they experience periods. Eventually they discover that it is scientifically proven that milk can reduce the symptoms of PMS, and they decide that it’s wise to suggest that men should purchase milk when they know they’ll be dealing with a menstruating woman.
And that’s how you end up with ads like this:
I apologise for not reading between the RIGHT lines.
I’m sorry for the thing, or things, I did or didn’t do.
I apologize for letting you misinterpret what I was saying.
I’m sorry I listened to what you said and not what you meant.
We can BOTH blame myself.
Crazy bitch tip: Your behaviour is (rightly or wrongly) associated with every other woman. Show them some respect and try to represent them well.
Tags: Advertisement, crazy, crazy bitch, Fallout, Impact, Milk, PMS, Prejudice, stereotype, Stereotyping, Symptoms
Categories Advertising, advice, don't, unusual behaviours
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Headphones: A History of the Original Wearable Tech
Headphones are probably the most ubiquitous form of personal technology on the consumer market today and they have a surprisingly long history.
By John Loeffler
Lee Campbell / Unsplash
It is almost certain that right now, you have a pair of headphones nearby; you might even have them on as you read this. From the high-end professional headphones used by major music studios to the knock-off bodega earbuds that only work half the time out of the box--and never last more than a month or two at best--headphones are easily the most ubiquitous piece of consumer technology out there.
RELATED: WHAT'S IN A NAME? THE LONG AND SHORT HISTORY OF VIRTUAL REALITY
Given their continued and essential presence in our lives, it's amazing that they are a surprisingly old technology going back over a century. Early headphones may have been somewhat quaint by today's standard, but the fundamental technology has been around for more than a century now and hasn't changed all that much.
The Electrophone
Source: Internet Book Archive Images / Flickr
While not quite what we would think of as headphones today, the Electrophone was invented in the 1890s in the United Kingdom. It was a device that allowed the user to dial a switchboard operator who would then patch the user in to live performances and even Sunday church services in London. It operated for about 30 years and was ultimately supplanted by the rise of radio technology in the 1920s.
It was essentially the same idea as headphones are today. You put this silly pair of receivers on a stick over your ears, and you could listen to music on demand-ish, like an old-school Apple Music; you even paid a subscription fee.
In 1906, according to a full-page advertisement in a London telephone directory, there were 14 theaters subscribers could listen in to on any given night, while on Sundays there were 15 different church services they could dial into. The service was tiny by today's metrics, but it was growing in popularity. The Electrophone Company was founded in 1894 and had 50 subscribers by 1896. Its subscriber base had grown to 1000 in 1919, reaching its high watermark in 1923 with just over 2000 subscribers.
By this time, however, wireless radio receivers had taken off and the next year, 1924, the Electrophone Company had lost a thousand subscribers and went out of business in 1925.
Headphones from Nathaniel Baldwin to John Koss
Source: John Davidson / Wikimedia Commons
While the Electrophone was gaining in popularity on the other side of the Atlantic, Nathaniel Baldwin was sitting at his kitchen table in 1910 tinkering with coiled copper wiring. Using over a mile of it per earcup, Baldwin had been hoping to find a way to amplify the sound of sermons at his local Mormon temple. He successfully created a device that could receive sound without electricity, and his initial design set the precedent of the earcup design for headphones that we still use today.
Private investors scoffed at the idea at the time, but the US Navy didn't. They instead bought dozens of the new devices for their radio operators, and the invention took off from there.
"The military’s deployment of these headphones, which sailors used to isolate sounds broadcast from distant locations, lent them a more intense, solitary aesthetic than the hand-held Electrophone headset," according to SSense. "An antennae-shaped brass spoke on each earphone, which allowed the headset to be adjusted to various sizes, completed the Jules Verne-esque steampunk look."
Several companies worked on similar devices for the next forty years, including the German firm Bayerdynamic, who produced the first dynamic consumer headphones in 1937. The next major leap came in 1958, however, when inventor John Koss invented the first pair of stereo headphones.
Source: Koss
Originally meant to demonstrate the quality of his company's portable record player--which had a nifty private-listening switch--Koss' headphones proved to be incredibly popular just as rock and roll took over the music industry. In the 1960s, Koss cross-branded their newest headphones with the Beatles, creating the Beatlephones which were specifically marketed to a younger audience and starting a marketing trend geared toward the younger music listening audience rather than audiophiles.
From Sennheiser to Sony to Bose to the iPod
Source: Yukon1994 / Wikimedia Commons
By the end of the 60s, Koss wasn't the only game in town anymore when it came to headphones. Companies like Philips were starting to put out more affordable headphones, but it was the Sennheiser HD414 that became the next major revolution in headphones. Jettisoning the thick foam cup, the Sennheiser HD414 headphones were an open design, making them lighter and much less bulky. They were an instant hit, selling over 100,000 units in 1969 and the design became the default headphone design for more than a decade.
Source: Sailko / Wikimedia Commons
Then the Sony Walkman happened. Released in 1979, Sony's portable music player harnessed the same lightweight, open design as the HD414 to create a highly-portable music experience that took the world by storm. While the headphones that came with the Walkman were generally awful sounding, third-party headphone makers cashed-in on the Walkman's--and later the CD-playing Discman's--blockbuster success to fill the gap.
Source: Syohta Tamura / Wikimedia Commons
As Sony was launching a new music revolution with the Walkman in 1979, Dr. Amar Bose was inspired by the awful quality of the headphones given to passengers during air travel and developed a way to cancel outside noise. Originally marketed for use by pilots instead of consumers, the technology made its way to the consumer electronics market eventually with the Bose QuietComfort headphones in 2000.
Then there was the iPod.
Apple didn't invent the earbuds--they'd been around since the earliest days of the Walkman--but the decision to go with the earbud design when they launched their new iPod MP3 music player in 2001 solidified the earbud as the de facto headphone design for the next decade. Apple ended up shipping 600 million sets of first-gen earbuds, launching trillions of knock-offs in the process.
What's Old Is New Again and Ditching the Wire
Source: Brian Solis / Flickr
In 2008, Jimmy Iovine and rap legend Andre Young, known to the world as Dr. Dre, partnered to put out a new line of headphones, Beats by Dr. Dre. Designed to bring back the bass-heavy sound of the older headsets for a new rap and hip-hop influenced music scene, the old over-the-ear earcups made a comeback after nearly a generation of confinement to the homes of dedicated audiophiles.
In another major development at the same time, a century after they were invented headphones started going wireless with the introduction of Bluetooth technology.
Through it all though, headphones have still retained their essential function by helping provide the soundtrack to our lives. Technologies tend to come and go, but so long as there is music, headphones will be a part of it right up until brain implants deliver music as electrical signals directly to our neurons. Then as now, future audiophiles will insist that hi-fi analog headphones are still the only way to go.
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A view of the exact region in Africa where humans emerged
Filed to: EvolutionFiled to: Evolution
There's still a lot we don't know about our evolutionary history, but one generally agreed upon point is that humans originated in eastern Africa, around what's now Ethiopia. But a new genetic study suggests we came from somewhere else entirely.
Stanford researchers examined the genetic diversity of modern hunter-gatherer populations. As co-author Brenna Henn explains, they made two crucial discoveries:
"One is that there is an enormous amount of diversity in African hunter-gatherer populations, even more diversity than there is in agriculturalist populations. These hunter/gatherer groups are highly structured and are fairly isolated from one another and probably retain a great deal of different genetic variations - we found this very exciting.
"The other main conclusion was that we looked at patterns of genetic diversity among 27 (present-day) African populations, and we saw a decline of diversity that really starts in southern Africa and progresses as you move to northern Africa. Populations in southern Africa have the highest genetic diversity of any population, as far as we can tell. So this suggests that this might be the best location for (the origins) of modern humans."
Why does greater genetic diversity point to southern Africa as humanity's birthplace? The logic is actually quite simple. Whenever part of a population leaves to find a new home elsewhere, they necessarily will have less genetic diversity than the group they left behind, and their descendants will maintain roughly the same genetic diversity as their founding ancestors. That effect is particularly true when it's a very small group of individuals relative to the original population.
It's a fascinating finding, but how can it fit with what we already know about hominid origins, which places our ancestor species squarely in eastern Africa for the past millions of years? Chris Stringer, a paleontologist at London's Natural History Museum, offers one persuasive explanation:
"The new paper... suggests that the genes of the Namibian and Khomani bushmen (southern Africa), Biaka pygmies (Central Africa) and the Sandawe (East Africa) appear to be the most diverse, and by implication these are the most ancient populations of Homo sapiens. This is a landmark study, with far more extensive data on... hunter gatherer groups than we have ever had before, but I am cautious about localising origins from it. It seems more likely that the surviving hunter-gatherer groups are now localised remnants of populations that formerly ranged across much of sub-Saharan Africa 60,000 years ago."
So then, humanity once roamed across all of sub-Saharan Africa, and this may have somewhat scrambled the link between genetic diversity and the ancientness of that particular population. Indeed, if we can greatly simplify the story of human migration out of Africa, we might imagine a single "original" population slowly moving southwards to these present locations while breakaway groups kept migrating north, with some of these new populations eventually taking us out of our birth continent.
PNAS via BBC News. Image via PSU.
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Green Lantern sequel gets a writer, more on the Transformers 3 kiss, and secrets of the USS Alabama revealed!
Filed to: morning spoilersFiled to: morning spoilers
Morning SpoilersIf there’s news about upcoming movies and television you’re not supposed to know, you’ll find it in here.
Warner Brothers has picked a familiar writer to pen the screenplay for Green Lantern 2. Do we know how Michael Bay's Transformers saga will end? And a Reno 911 star tells all about their new science fiction starship comedy Alabama!
Green Lantern 2:
We reported yesterday that Warner Bros was moving ahead with the sequels, and now the second film has its writer. Michael Goldenberg will reportedly write the screenplay for the sequel, based on a treatment by Greg Berlanti, Michael Green and Marc Guggenheim. This is similar to the arrangement for the first film, in which Goldenberg rewrote the trio's original draft. [Variety]
Transformers 3:
A production assistant reportedly said the kiss between Shia LeBeouf and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley's characters is the last scene of the film. He also reportedly said that Megatron dies again, although "this time it's final." That may just be a reference to Michael Bay's stated opposition to doing a Transformers 4, but some are taking it as further evidence that a lot of Transformers will die in this film. [Transformers Live]
A casting call for extras has gone out for the film's scheduled shoots in Washington, DC. Of slight interest is the fact that the casting call asks if potential extras have a car, and further if any have "precision driving" experience, which may mean some sort of high-speed car chase will be involved. [Transformers Live]
And finally, cherish these last few set photos while you can, because I'm pretty sure Chicago filming is over soon:
John Carter of Mars:
Disney has set the release date for June 8, 2012. [CinemaBlend]
The scifi comedy from the makers of Reno 911! is starting to snap into focus, thanks to an extensive interview with creator and star Thomas Lennon. Before we get to that, here's the original synopsis for the show:
Set a thousand years in the future, the show follows the crew of the space ship USS Alabama as they continue a seven-year mission to maintain interplanetary peace.
The show will feature a lot of Reno 911! personnel, as well as possibly a few others from The State. Lennon pitches the show as "Reno 911! meets Battlestar Galactica, and it's worth noting that the creators don't see the show as a Star Trek parody. The ship itself is a dank, grubby, sweaty place, and the costumes will also reflect that. The show may feature puppets, and cyborgs will definitely be involved.
He said he and the rest of the creative team are still trying to figure out the show, but they do know a few things. For instance, he said crew members are supposed to abstain from sex for the entire seven year voyage, and yet everyone showers together, which leads to some serious sexual tension. He also described ideas they have for episodes:
The crew of our ship is being put on trial for war crimes against this alien race and we get beamed down to their planet and then we find out that these aliens to us look like puppets, like Elmo. They're unbelievably cute, but they're charging us with war crimes and eventually we'll have to kill them all and blow them up and escape. So it's Reno 911!, with occasionally like, we pass through a nebula that causes everyone on the ship to hear each other's thoughts. Sometimes we run into ourselves as babies and then we have to keep the baby version of ourself alive, so the future version of us can be there at the time. You know, sci-fi problems. Reno 911!/sci-fi problems on a very, very sweaty, sweaty, clunky spaceship.
There's a lot more in the interview, so be sure to check it out here. [Collider]
Fringe:
A few more set photos have surfaced: [SpoilerTV]
Chuck:
Executive producers Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak confirmed that the governor, first introduced towards the end of the third season, will still be involved in the fourth season, just not right away. His arc won't have quite the same prominence as Chuck's search for his mom, but the governor is still very much a part of where the show is going. [E!Online]
True Blood:
The show is reportedly expanding the "Fairy World" set first seen during Sookie's near-death experience last week. Hadley will introduce her cousin to another family member in next week's episode. And Sam Merlotte is going to have a major meltdown soon, and it will not end well. [E!Online]
Warehouse 13:
Here's a sneak peek for tonight's episode, "Around the Bend": Click to view
Here's a promo for Friday's new episode "Fur": [SpoilerTV]
Here are six new posters for the show: [E!Online]
And here's a promo: [SpoilerTV]
The Cape:
Series creator Tom Wheeler dropped a bunch of hints about what lies ahead. He said the show will be a mix of "mission-of-the-week" episodes, and more serialized storytelling, with each episode being accessible for a new viewer while at the same time progressing relationships, letting events from one episode carry over to the next, and laying the groundwork for future plotlines. He also reaffirmed the show is "a no-powers, costumed crime-drama", with the characters' abilities rooted in something that's (roughly) scientifically plausible.
He also explained what the first few episodes of the season will be about:
Episode 2 sort of takes the themes of the pilot to a much deeper, richer place and delivers our newest rogue Bluebeard. Episode 3 is a creepy treasure hunt that unearths a number of Palm City secrets. We'll also get a glimpse into the origin of a major upcoming villain... The Lich. In Episode 4 we learn a lot more about Max Malini and the sometimes bloody history of the cape.
[Orwell Boards]
Terra Nova:
Steven Spielberg's upcoming time travel drama series, in which a family of scientists from 2149 travel 85 million years into the past to study dinosaurs up close, has picked a filming location. The entire series will shoot in Queensland, Australia, with about 80% of the cast and crew being locals. Beyond the economic incentives, Fox executive Jim Sharp explained, "Queensland had the right look, climate and terrain" for the show. [The Hollywood Reporter]
Additional reporting by Mary Ratliff and Charlie Jane Anders.
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That time the US Air Force tried to put a copper ring around the Earth
Filed to: Afternoon readingFiled to: Afternoon reading
Afternoon reading
communications technology
Joe Hanson of Wired has penned a fascinating article chronicling Project West Ford, a bizarre Cold War plan to put a ring of copper around the Earth — a "perfect, if odd, example of the Cold War paranoia and military mentality at work in America’s early space program."
If Earth Had a Ring Like Saturn
Our planet is lucky enough to have a large moon orbiting not too far away, which makes for very…
Top image: Ron Miller.
During the 1950s, the U.S. Air Force and Department of Defense became increasingly worried about the unreliability — and vulnerability — of its undersea cables and over-the-horizon radio. This was before the Internet, of course, so a targeted Soviet attack on America's communications infrastructure could have been catastrophic.
But as Hanson writes, the U.S. military came up with a rather interesting solution — one that came very close to being actualized:
Project Needles, as it was originally known, was Walter E. Morrow’s idea. He suggested that if Earth possessed a permanent radio reflector in the form of an orbiting ring of copper threads, America’s long-range communications would be immune from solar disturbances and out of reach of nefarious Soviet plots.
Each copper wire was about 1.8 centimeters in length. This was half the wavelength of the 8 GHz transmission signal beamed from Earth, effectively turning each filament into what is known as a dipole antenna. The antennas would boost long-range radio broadcasts without depending on the fickle ionosphere.
Today it’s hard to imagine a time where filling space with millions of tiny metal projectiles was considered a good idea. But West Ford was spawned before men had set foot in space, when generals were in charge of NASA’s rockets, and most satellites and spacecraft hadn’t flown beyond the drafting table. The agency operated under a “Big Sky Theory.” Surely space is so big that the risks of anything crashing into a stray bit of space junk were miniscule compared to the threat of communism.
Be sure to read the rest of Hanson's account as you may be surprised to learn how far the project actually progressed. In fact, there are pieces of copper needles from this project still in orbit today!
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Switzerland’s Jungfrau – The Top of Europe
More articles by Dominique Schreckling »
Written by: Dominique Schreckling
Tags: 2011, Aletsch Glacier, Bern, Bietschhorn, Breaking, Eiffel, Eiger, Eigergletscher, Grindelwald, Jungfraujoch, Kleine Scheidegg, Mönch Alp, North Face, observatory, spotlight, Swiss, Swiss Alps, Swiss cheese, switzerland, travel, UNESCO World Heritage Site, valais
he Jungfraujoch is certainly among the highlights for every visitor to Switzerland. It is a mountain pass situated at 3’471 m (11’388 ft) between the Mönch Mountain at 4’107 m (13’474 ft) and the Jungfrau Mountain at 4’158m (13’642 ft) in the Bernese Alps which are in the Swiss cantons of Bern and Valais. The Jungfraujoch belongs to the UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site of Jungfrau – Aletsch – Bietschhorn.
Today, the Jungfraujoch is easily reached thanks to the Jungfrau Railway. Known as The Top of Europe, The Jungfraujoch is the Continent’s highest altitude railway station and offers visitors a magnificent alpine experience which is found nowhere else in Europe: a mix of glacial ice, snow, Swiss rugged alpine rocks and alps.
History of the Jungfrau Railway
Jungfrau Railway
In the late 19th century, railway fever seized the whole of Switzerland. Plans emerged to build railways across the country as well as to the tops of various Swiss alpine summits. The Jungfrau region made no exception to this trend. In October 1889, Maurice Köchlin, an engineer working with Gustave Eiffel, was the first to submit a project to the Swiss Federal Council for the construction of a railway to the Jungfrau summit. In 1891 the project was approved by the Swiss parliament but not carried out.
In December 1893 Adolf Guyer-Zeller applied for a concession for his Jungfrau Railway project from Kleine Scheidegg to the Jungfrau which was approved by the Swiss Parliament in December 1894. The construction started in July 1896. After two years of intensive manual labor, a section of the first two kilometers between the Kleine Scheidegg and the Eigergletscher was opened. The Eigerwand (Eiger Wall) station was opened in June 1903 which was followed two years later by the opening of the section to the Eismeer (Sea of Ice) station.
View from station Eismeer
The construction of the Jungfrau Railway was estimated to take seven years. The workforce was located at the northern edge of the Eiger Glacier and consisted of up to 300 workers who were accommodated in houses and barracks. During winter, the workers in the “Sea of Ice” area were cut off from the outside world necessitating an advance delivery of provisions in the autumn. Perishable goods were preserved in the crevasses of the Eiger Glacier. It was decided to make the Jungfraujoch (the mountain pass) the railway terminus instead of the Jungfrau summit. On August 1st 1912, 16 years after construction began, the first train finally travelled the 9.34km (5.8 mile) long stretch from the Kleine Scheidegg to the Jungfraujoch.
This amazing feat has never been duplicated. The Centenary of the Jungfrau Railway will take place in 2012.
What awaits the visitor to the Jungfraujoch
Sculpture in ice palace
From the railway station, the visitor is just a few hundred meters away from a fantastic view on the two Alps, the Mönch and the Jungfrau as well as on the 22km (13.6 mile) long Aletsch Glacier. The view from The Top of Europe on clear days can even extend as far as the French Vosges Mountains or the German Black Forest.
On top of the Jungfraujoch is the Sphinx observatory which combines a scientific research center, a weather station as well as a glazed window sightseeing hall allowing the best possible view even when it is cold and windy outside.
The Ice Palace is another fascinating place appreciated by the visitors to the Jungfraujoch. Tunnels have been carved inside the Glacier featuring a collection of ice sculptures.
My recent visit to the Top of Europe
Mönch
Living not too far away from the Jungfrau area, I can wait until I have the best possible weather conditions for a day trip to the Jungfraujoch. Such a day was on Saturday, September 24th. The weather forecast announced a bright sunny early autumn day with excellent visibility in the Alps.
I left the Kleine Scheidegg station on the Jungfrau Railway going towards the Jungfraujoch summit at 10:00am. On the way up, the train stopped for 5 minutes at the Eiger Wall station where the passengers could enjoy a beautiful view down on the charming village of Grindelwald from the wall of the Eiger mountain which is known worldwide for its “North Face” mountain climbing challenges. The train stopped for another 5 minutes at Sea of Ice to allow a first look at the impressive world of eternal glacial ice. At 10:50, I reached the Jungfraujoch train station.
The fastest elevator in Switzerland took all of us from the train station to the Sphinx Observatory where we had an absolutely outstanding view under a deep blue sky over the surrounding snow capped and ice covered Swiss Alps highlighting the Aletsch Glacier. As predicted, the weather was surprisingly mild for this high altitude at this time of year.
Jungfrau and Sphinx
The sunny skies invited all of us visitors to the outside viewing area to experience this magical world of eternal ice. Some Japanese and Indian tourists engaged in a playful snowball fight in the picturesque surroundings. Then most of us took a well-groomed and inviting snow trail for a 45-minute walk around the Mönch Alp to the Mönchsjoch hut.
The weather was spectacular, especially for photography. It helps a lot when one’s fingers are not immediately frozen when taking them out of the pockets which is the usual case at this altitude. In such unusually clear and mild conditions, I did not hesitate a minute to take the walk. At the Mönchsjoch hut, I enjoyed a delicious lunch which is a most popular Swiss recipe; croûte au fromage.
It consists of melted Alpine Swiss cheese over toasted bread with garlic, a slice of ham and then covered with a fried egg. The meal is a bit on the expensive side, but then, all of the food here needs to be brought to the hut from the valley below by helicopter. After lunch I took the trail back and shot some more photos of the Top of Europe which has been made possible by the hearty Swiss and Italian laborers in the 19th and early 20th century. We passed over a large impressive crevasse which showed the Jungfraujoch visitors that the alpine foot path goes right across a glacier; a rare opportunity indeed for most travelers.
There are many more photos here
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Dominique Schreckling
IPA Staff ID: 06617 • I live in the french speaking part of Switzerland, near Lake Geneva. I am a freelance photojournalist focusing mainly on events photography (music festivals, sports events and trade shows) and travel photography. An overview of my photographic work over the last few years can be seen under www.bydoms.com.
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Gartner debunks common AI misconceptions
IT and business leaders are often confused about what artificial intelligence (AI) can do for their organisations and are challenged by several AI misconceptions. Gartner says IT and business leaders developing AI projects must separate reality from myths to devise their future strategies.
Gartner research VP Alexander Linden says, “With AI technology making its way into the organisation, it is crucial that business and IT leaders fully understand how AI can create value for their business and where its limitations lie.
“AI technologies can only deliver value if they are part of the organisation’s strategy and used in the right way.”
Gartner has identified five common myths and misconceptions about AI.
Myth No.1: AI works the same way the human brain does
AI is a computer engineering discipline. In its current state, it consists of software tools aimed at solving problems. While some forms of AI might give the impression of being clever, it would be unrealistic to think that current AI is similar or equivalent to human intelligence.
“Some forms of machine learning (ML) – a category of AI - may have been inspired by the human brain, but they are not equivalent,” Linden said.
“Image recognition technology, for example, is more accurate than most humans but is of no use when it comes to solving a math problem. The rule with AI today is that it solves one task exceedingly well, but if the conditions of the task change only a bit, it fails.”
Myth No. 2: Intelligent machines learn on their own
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Myth No. 3: AI can be free of bias
Every AI technology is based on data, rules and other kinds of input from human experts. Similar to humans, AI is also intrinsically biased in one way or the other.
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“In addition to technological solutions, such as diverse datasets, it is also crucial to ensure diversity in the teams working with the AI and have team members review each other’s work. This simple process can significantly reduce selection and confirmation bias.”
Myth No. 4: AI will only replace repetitive jobs that don’t require advanced degrees
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Tag Archives: Climate change
Brooklyn Magazine
Posted on October 16, 2016 by jennifagan
Jenni Fagan knows what it’s like to be an outsider. It’s a trait she shares with many of her characters, including the heroine of her 2013 debut, The Panopticon. That novel follows the prickly Anais Hendricks as she maneuvers the foster care system in the UK, a childhood reality Fagan also weathered. When the book opens, Anais has just arrived at a juvenile delinquent center for putting a cop in a coma—a crime she cannot remember committing. Voice-driven, acerbic, and sharp, the novel earned Fagan a coveted spot on Granta’s prestigious Best Young British Novelists list, along with powerhouses like Sarah Hall and Helen Oyeyemi.
While Fagan’s latest couldn’t be further from the all-seeing eye of The Panopticon, she says she was still very much thinking of fringe culture while writing The Sunlight Pilgrims. A gritty survival tale set in the not-too-distant-future, The Sunlight Pilgrims takes place in a caravan park in Northern Scotland. Thanks to melting sea ice, temperatures fall to inhospitable levels, and the residents of the caravan park are especially vulnerable.
As the days grow colder, newcomer Dylan, grieving the loss of his mother and grandmother, befriends Stella, a transgender teen, and her survivalist mother, Constance. All three characters must learn how to navigate challenging emotional landscapes, even as the physical world—portrayed as both beautiful and deadly—shifts under their feet. For a tale about the end of the world and the brutality of nature, The Sunlight Pilgrims is human, intimate, and weirdly hopeful.
Fighting the time difference between the U.S. and the UK, I spoke with Jenni via phone while still on my first cup of coffee (she was well into her afternoon). We discussed climate change, Brexit, the origins of Stella, and outsider modes of art.
Did you set out to tackle climate change in the novel, to make it part of the setting and the thrust of the story, or did it sneak up on you?
No. I didn’t want to write a climate change novel at all. I was thinking about light, the quality of light, and how we interact with light. I had had two quite close bereavements and a baby all in a short space of time. So I was thinking about light, and I was thinking about mortality, how we incorporate grief in our life. We look for light in darkness. We look for light in all things. So really that’s what I started out with.
I came back to Scotland from London, where I had been living for quite awhile. And I kept remembering these really extreme winters when I was a child—I lived in a caravan for quite awhile when I was a kid at one point—and I remembered having very extreme Scottish winters in rural areas. I moved back expecting to have one of these winters, and it never happened. I missed the last big winter here by one year. The year before I moved back, they had to get the Army out to clear the streets so people could get milk and bread and that sort of thing. And since I moved back there hasn’t been another extreme winter.
I was looking for an opportunity to inhabit these landscapes personally and artistically. Quite often the two things merged. If I wanted to write something about climate change, I’m far more likely to write an article or a thesis or a campaign. Certainly it’s not a subject that can be ignored or should be ignored, but it wasn’t the founding purpose of the book.
As the book began to progress, and I realized it was going to tap into these Ice Age conditions, I began to meet with meteorologists and research what was going on in the global community regarding climate change. I’m always intrigued by the way that modern life is designed to detract from the fact that we’re living on a planet, and our lives our very short. I really felt that when people are living to extremes, they can no longer afford to ignore that. So really, artistically, that was the thing that intrigued me most.
At least in the beginning of the novel, the bureaucracies of the village are still functioning, so we haven’t been thrown into complete chaos yet. There’s a sense of normalcy that helps ground the book in a recognizable reality. How did you strike a balance between the day-to-day and extraordinary in the book?
I was fully aware that I could have immersed myself in the Arctic chaos that is going to ensue right across Europe. The characters in this novel, they see parts of it, but they’re very removed from the cities, they’re very removed even from the village. They’re very much on the edge, and because they’ve always been on the edge, they’re probably better suited to just getting on with it. Certainly Constance, the mother, is a natural survivalist, and she doesn’t want to freak her child out. She doesn’t see that there’s anything to be gained in running around being dramatic about it, so she knuckles down and gets on with it.
People live through extreme circumstances all the time. And they don’t always go out and loot their neighbor’s house or shoot somebody or any of those things. But quite often people are just still doing life. They still have to eat, they still have to wash their clothes, they still have to look outside the window and think, “I wonder if I’ll make it to the end of this year.” At the end of the day, nobody really knows that. We all live with great uncertainties in our own lives and in the world. And that’s just become more extreme, I think, and more publicly discussed, over the last five years. That is one of the main questions of the book: how do you live your life well in uncertainty? How do you live well and stay true to your identity?
We do live on a planet, and the weather conditions that we’ve had over the last 10,000 years have been pretty unusual. Humans have enjoyed relative stability in some ways, and obviously each year we see more and more disasters happening. We live on a planet, and planets are massively changeable. Our impact on them is huge, and we’re collectively getting to the point where we can’t ignore that anymore. We shouldn’t have been ignoring that in the first place.
There’s something really hopeful about the way characters discuss the possibility of survival, right up until the end of the book.
They choose to accept what’s happening. If they were different kinds of people, if they had different philosophies, they might fight it more. They’re not so shocked that [death] would happen. And being in a position of acceptance doesn’t mean you’re without hope. People have survived Ice Age conditions. They are all still hoping they will get through it. I often think of winter as the other main character in this book. Dylan’s completely besotted with the landscape. And it’s beautiful, stunning. But deadly, utterly deadly.
When your book published in America, Brexit had just happened. Did the politics in the book and the politics in real life resonate for you at all?
Of course Brexit happened here long after the book came out in the UK, so it didn’t feel as connected. We’re seeing a huge flux in populations, now more than ever, because of war or famine or climate change. The book has an awareness of people being in transition—and you can’t not engage with [that reality] as an artist or a writer. The question of what happens when people are denied safety or denied basic human rights is hugely important. These things always feed into my writing. I think writers, musicians, and artists are always filtering politics through basic, staple emotions. Art and literature, in particular, are a place to have these conversations. There’s something about fiction, about the imagination having free reign that isn’t afforded in real life, that makes this possible.
I was interested to learn that you’re both a poet and a novelist. Do these modes of writing inform one another, or are they quite separate?
They definitely inform one another. I recently published a book of poems, The Dead Queen of Bohemia. It’s 120 poems collected over time. I find when I’m writing a novel, I have to curb the poetry, I have to strip the words back. I write, as many people do, in a sort of stream of consciousness. I touch type, so it’s really just pure brain to the page. The image [in Sunlight Pilgrims] of “a woman polishes the moon” I lifted from a poem. Sometimes it’s a line, a theme, or imagery from my poetry that becomes a whole novel.
I don’t believe in literary monogamy. Every time I try out a new form, I gain a skillset to take back to other forms. I was a playwright for quite a long time, and it helped me learn dialogue. Now when I read a novel written by a playwright, I can always tell. There’s a stripped back quality, allowing yourself to be avant garde, to not be connected to traditional narrative forms. Every page in a play, every scene, has to be as clear as the others. When you’re writing a novel that’s 80,000 words you can’t just waffle for 40,000 of them.
So much of how you handle writing Stella’s transition is subtle and affirmative. Her narrative POV always uses gender terms like she/her. I even think about the first time Dylan sees Stella—she reads as female to him. I found that incredibly moving. How did you develop Stella’s character? What was it about the story of transitioning—or the contrast between a global change and a very personal one—that captivated you?
No, I don’t think like that. Stella just turned up on her bike, stripy tights, glittery nails, and she never stopped moving. She’s a character who’s had to fight for her own identity. She lives in fear in a small community. I grew up in care, and I identified as a child from care before I identified as myself because that’s how other people saw me. So that was my point of contact with her.
When I was younger I played in punk and grunge bands, which had a large LGBT community, so it wasn’t unfamiliar. Still, I did a lot of research because I wanted to make sure I got it right. I sent my manuscript to the writer Kate Bornstein, who edited Gender Outlaws, and I met with trans writers. And they were all like, “No, no, you’ve found her!” Ideas about gender are important to everyone; we’re all being forced into gender normative roles. But the thing I love about Stella is that it doesn’t define her. It’s not all of who she is.
In fact I was a bit hesitant to write her because of the last book. I thought, “Oh! Isn’t this a bit too close?” but I loved Stella’s relationship with Dylan. Both characters have been brought up by unconventional mothers. Stella, in her way, wants to rebel against her survivalist mother. She wants to get married and live in a house of bricks and be liked by other people. Constance doesn’t give much of a shit whether other people like her or not. When Dylan and Stella meet each other, Stella asks, “What about your dad?” and Dylan says, “My mum didn’t catch his name.” They both have to lay out their identities after being raised by such strong, unconventional women.
I was thinking quite a lot about the overlap between Stella and Anais, from your first novel, The Panopticon. They’re both spiky, young female narrators. What is it about the lives of young women who have been pushed to the fringes that captivates you? Is this territory you’ll return to?
I’ve really been writing the books I’ve wanted to read. I kept seeing fifteenyear-old girls in books who wore sparkly clothes and drank shandy and thought they didn’t resemble any of the girls I knew, or the women I’m friends with now. And I suppose in that sense I think like Patti Smith. She said the females were her muse.
All writers writing from the periphery are pointing toward the center. Because I grew up in the periphery, I think it makes you more observant of what’s going on in the culture. In my twenties and thirties, all the most vital and vibrant stories came from the periphery. Art house cinema, punk, New Wave, it all came from the fringes. I did a lot of research about the “Self” and “the Other” while writing this novel. In a sense, the periphery is a mirror, showing the center what it is. That’s why we’re artists, we’re responding to the center.
What are you working on now?
I’m working on two novels at the moment. Novel Three and Novel Four take place over 110 years, and in some ways Novel Four is really the last chapter of Novel Three. But you can read them separately or out of order. I’m trying to write the Great Edinburgh Novel. It’s a huge span of time to work in, and I hate historical fiction that doesn’t make each historical part feel vital to itself. We’re not the ones who invented sex or drugs; this stuff has been around for time immemorial. In fact, the third book is some of my darkest and most graphic, most sexual work. The character who opens that novel is also related to Gunn MacRae [from The Sunlight Pilgrims], so there are these slight nods to the other books.
I can’t hassle poems, I don’t mess with them. They might take a week or ten minutes to write, but great poems come out almost whole. With a novel, I’m riffing on something for 80 pages. I have a big space to look at a problem from all these different angles. I think a lot about when I used to make music. You would go into these dirty little rehearsal rooms and play for ten hours, twelve hours, and you keep doing it and keep doing it and that hopefully produces something. I try not to hold [a novel] too close. If you trust that artistic part of your brain, it’ll bring you the good shit.
Interview by Kirsten Evans at Brooklyn Magazine
Posted in Art, Authors, Bands, Books, Fiction, General Freakery, Poetry, Uncategorized | Tagged Brooklyn Magazine, Climate change, Gender Outlaws, Jenni Fagan, Kate Bornstein, Patti Smith, Periphery, The Dead Queen of Bohemia., The Panopticon, The Sunlight Pilgrims | Leave a comment
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Johnson Financial Group History
Founder's Welcome Letter
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Invest with Empowerment
Rachel Epstein McKiernan
Partner, Director of Client Relations
Rachel is a Partner and Director of Client Relations for JFG Wealth Management. She partners with families to create a financial plan to meet their goals which includes investment management, estate planning and insurance planning. Rachel is also actively involved in the firm’s growth strategy and day-to-day operations.
Prior to joining JFG Wealth Management in 2017, Rachel spent 8 years at J.P. Morgan where she was a relationship manager in the Private Bank responsible for advising high net worth families on a range of issues including investment management, lending, and estate planning. Prior to assuming that position, Rachel was a project manager on the Private Bank’s Global Finance Strategy Team, partnering with senior management to develop strategic growth plans, improve productivity, and evaluate market opportunities.
Prior to that, Rachel worked as a consultant at Towers Perrin advising Fortune 1000 companies on designing, pricing, implementing and managing the full array of health and welfare programs.
Rachel received a B.A. in Economics from The University of Michigan and an MBA from Columbia Business School. She also holds the Series 65 license.
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Matthew Marsh ’20, Staff Writer|May 17, 2019
The French Club's World Cup team poses for a picture following their First place finish.
Jack Bratset '19
Lunch at Jesuit High School is a great time to relax and catch up with friends, but a few times each year lunch becomes something more. One of those times is in the spring for Jesuit’s World Cup soccer tournament.
Like the actual World Cup, Jesuit features teams that formed to represent different world nations. Unlike the actual World Cup, Jesuit’s teams are not truly from the respective countries, obviously; instead, the teams emerge mostly from Jesuit’s numerous heritage clubs.
This year’s lineup was no different, featuring the Patriots Club (U.S.A.), French Club, Black Student Union, Portuguese Club, Australian Club, German Club, Asian Pacific Islander Club (APIC), Guatemalan Club, Latin Club, and the La Raza Club.
The 2019 tournament kicked off on Monday, April 29, pitting La Raza against France in a close game in which France narrowly won with a goal scored in the last few seconds. The same day, Guatemala beat Portugal in a clear 6-3 victory.
The next day also started with a close game with Australia’s clash against the U.S.A resulting in a close victory for the Patriots. The second game saw the Latin Club pitted against the APIC. Despite being the underdog, the Latin Club managed to slip in two early goals to lead for most of the game, but the APIC came back to win the game 3-2.
Wednesday saw the Black Student Union face off against the German Club resulting in a victory for Germany. In the second game of the day, France and Guatemala contended with each other to the last second forcing the game into penalty kicks, and France narrowly emerged as the victor.
Thursday featured the tightest games of the tournament yet. The first game was a tight match between the U.S. and APIC, but despite relentless offense by the Islanders, the Patriots were able to slip in two goals while holding the APIC to one.
The next game saw Germany come out with two quick headers to lead over France for almost the entire game, but the French came back with a disputed goal to once again bring the game to penalty kicks. Germany narrowly missed its first kicks putting them behind the French who once again came out on top.
Friday, the day of the final, saw a large crowd of Jesuit students in dress attire gathering in the senior quad to watch France face the U.S. in what would certainly turn out to be an exciting match.
Leading up to the game, Max Schumacher ’19, a member of the Patriots Club, felt secure that his team would come out on top.
“We’re confident due to our seniority, and we feel we’ve had a good run so far in the quarterfinals and semifinals,” Max said.
The U.S.’s confidence showed at the beginning of the game as they took a lead for the first half with France struggling to tie the game up at halftime. The second half was an altogether different story for the French as they pulled ahead of the U.S. and finished off the game with a clear 7-4 victory.
Before the game, the French had also been confident of their victory, and, according to Demetri Petuskey ’20, even gotten words of encouragement from Ms. Wilson, a French teacher, that provided an extra push for the team.
“Madame Wilson, hyped us up before in French and that made us excited,” Demetri said. “That really just allowed us to not be selfish and focus more on our teamwork.”
Also expressing that the French Club had been confident before the game was Zack Nkadi ’20, who had thought that they were more than capable of standing up to the U.S..
“We knew it was going to be a challenge, but our teammates really came through,” Zack said. “Jon Fong ’20 has kind of been our coach and has been mentoring us since last year, allowing us to get some good practice in. So, I think we knew we’d win, but it was still a good game.”
The win is the French Club’s second straight World Cup title. The team mostly consists of juniors, so they hope to compete next year in order to get a third consecutive title.
For juniors and underclassmen, 2020’s tournament is sure to be every bit as gripping as this year’s. So, if you haven’t been following the World Cup yet, show up on the senior lawn next year to watch the French Club defend its title and earn a place as one of the most decorated teams in Jesuit World Cup history.
Other stories filed under Student Life
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Waiting for ‘Hannah Arendt’
It’s been a while since I really looked forward to a film’s release, but I’m on the edge of my seat awaiting Margarethe von Trotta’s award-winning Hannah Arendt. The film’s focus is Arendt’s controversial reporting for the The New Yorker on the 1961 Adolf Eichmann trial, what Arendt named the ‘show trial’. Of course, one of the reasons for why this and other similar trials were so named by Arendt was because of her deep-seated conviction, expressed in a letter to her Doktorvater Karl Jaspers and published in Correspondence 1926-1969, that ‘the Nazi crimes … explode the limits of the law’. Indeed, ‘that is precisely what constitutes their monstrousness. For these crimes’, she continues, ‘no punishment is severe enough. It may well be essential to hang Göring, but it is totally inadequate. That is, this guilt, in contrast to all criminal guilt, oversteps and shatters any and all legal systems. That is the reason why the Nazis in Nuremberg are so smug … We are simply not equipped to deal, on a human, political level, with a guilt that is beyond crime’. As she would write in Eichmann in Jerusalem: ‘The purpose of a trial is to render justice, and nothing else; even the noblest of ulterior purposes — “the making of a record of the Hitler regime which would withstand the test of history” … — can only detract from the law’s main business: to weigh the charges brought against the accused, to render judgment, and to mete out due punishment’.
I’m really interested to see how von Trotta deals with these difficult themes in the film. By the way, for those interested in reading an outstanding and critical (here meant in both senses of the word) engagement with these ideas may I commend to you Lawrence Douglas’ The Memory of Judgment: Making Law and History in the Trials of the Holocaust, a book that I shall probably re-read in preparation for seeing the film.
The film’s synopsis reads:
HANNAH ARENDT is a portrait of the genius that shook the world with her discovery of “the banality of evil.” After she attends the Nazi Adolf Eichmann’s trial in Jerusalem, Arendt dares to write about the Holocaust in terms no one had ever heard before. Her work instantly provokes a scandal, and Arendt stands strong as she is attacked by friends and foes alike. But as the German-Jewish émigré struggles to suppress her own painful asso- ciations with the past, the film exposes her beguiling blend of arrogance and vulnerability – revealing a soul defined and derailed by exile.
The film portrays Hannah Arendt (Barbara Sukowa) during the four years, (1961 to 1964), that she observes, writes, and endures the reception of her work on the trial of the Nazi war criminal, Adolf Eichmann. Watching Arendt as she attends the trial, staying by her side as she is both barraged by her critics and supported by a tight band of loyal friends, we experience the intensity of this powerful Jewish woman who fled Nazi Germany in 1933. The fierce, chainsmoking Arendt is happy and flourishing in America, but her penetrating vision makes her an outsider wherever she goes.
When Arendt hears that the Israeli Secret Service has kidnapped Adolf Eichmann in Buenos Aires and brought him to Jerusalem, she is determined to report on the trial. William Shawn (Nicholas Woodeson), the editor of “The New Yorker” magazine, is thrilled to have such an esteemed intellectual cover the historic process, but Arendt’s husband, Heinrich Blücher (Axel Milberg), is not so sure. He worries that this encounter will put his beloved Hannah back into what they both call the “dark times.”
Arendt enters the tense Jerusalem courtroom expecting to see a monster and instead she finds a nobody. The shallow mediocrity of the man cannot be easily reconciled with the profound evil of his actions, but Arendt quickly realizes that this contrast is the puzzle that must be solved. Arendt returns to New York and as she begins to discuss her groundbreaking interpretation of Adolf Eichmann, fear ripples through her best friend, Hans Jonas (Ulrich Noethen). Her philosophical approach will only cause confusion, he warns. But Arendt defends her courageous and original perspective and Heinrich supports her all the way. After two years of intense thought,
additional reading, and further debate with her best American friend, Mary McCarthy (Janet McTeer) her German researcher and friend, Lotte Köhler (Julia Jentsch) and of course, constant consultation with Heinrich, she finally delivers her manuscript. The publication of the article in “The New Yorker” provokes an immediate scandal in the U.S., Israel, and soon in the rest of the world.
HANNAH ARENDT provides an insight into to the profound importance of her ideas. But even more moving is the chance to understand the warm heart and icy brilliance of this complex and deeply compelling woman.
So far, I’ve been unable to find out any details about when the film opens here in New Zealand (only that it seems that Curious is bringing it out here) and have had to try and satisfy myself with watching the promos and reading a few reviews, including this one published in Der Spiegel. If anyone has any details about when and where I can see it south of the Waitaki, then please let me know.
Posted in Film, Hannah Arendt, Justice, Law on 29 May, 2013 by Jason Goroncy. 3 Comments
← Susan Sontag on writing in our time
‘Ministry As Difficult As It Ought to Be’, by Will Willimon →
Do you know the biography by Elisabeth Young-Bruehl?
Jason Goroncy says:
@ André: It has been on my ‘must-read’ list for some time, and I only just got around to ordering a copy. I do love a well-written biography, even at 600+ pages. Have you read it?
Yes, it’s enormous isn’t it? I have made a start, although Ker’s biography of Chesterton (over 700 pages! What is it with these biographers?!) may have to take precedence owing to some obsolete and absolutely outrageous notion that the local library has about returning books within a specified time period.
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← United We Stand, Divided We Fall — The UN General Assembly’s Chance to Bring Justice to Syria
The “Forgotten Genocide” that was a Precursor to the Holocaust →
Looking Back to 2016 and Forward to 2017 in the World of International Criminal Justice
Posted on January 3, 2017 by Mark Kersten
Since the emergence of international criminal justice as a regular practice in international relations and law, there has never been a dull year — and there is unlikely to be one any time soon. The year 2016 brought with it remarkable moments, significant disappointments, and some rather weird developments. Here’s a look back on some of those stories as well as some stories to anticipate in the year to come.
While some have expressed (not unfounded) concerns about the future of the International Criminal Court (ICC), there were a number of ‘victories’ in the realm of international criminal justice in 2016. Given the consistent criticism that international criminal justice is too slow and inefficient, the guilty plea and conviction of Ahmad al Faqi al Mahdi for the war crime of destroying shrines and religious sites in Timbuktu, Mali, stands out. It further appears that al Mahdi isn’t just a ‘1’ in the ICC’s ‘win column’ — his cooperation with the Court’s prosecutors could lead to additional charges, although in a rather surprising move, the Office of the Prosecutor did not include Mali as a situation under active investigation in 2017. It thus remains to be seen: is the prosecution and conviction of al Mahdi all the justice the ICC will achieve in Mali?
Another outstanding development was the landmark conviction of Hissène Habré in May 2016 for a raft of atrocities and human rights abuses perpetrated against the people of Chad. Finally, the creation of a tribunal to focus explicitly on the Kosovo Liberation Army during the 1998-2000 war there. While it is only just getting off its feet, the Kosovo Relocated Specialist Judicial Institution (KRSJI) marks the first time that an international court has been set up with the express purpose to examine the crimes of the victors of a war.
There were a lot of rough moments in 2016. The withdrawals of Burundi, South Africa and, for the time being, The Gambia, have done significant damage to the ICC, although it must also be said that rarely have so many African states publicly expressed support for the Court. While it seems like ancient history, April 2016 brought the end of the ICC’s case against Kenyan Vice President William Ruto, marking the final death throes of justice for Kenya’s 2007-08 post-election violence.
But what really stands out is the absolute lack of accountability in Syria, after nearly 6 years of civil war. There are signs that this could potentially change in the future (see below), but 2016 is in the books as a year when, once again, no justice was brought for the victims and survivors of atrocities in Syria.
The Weirdest
There were some weird moments in 2016. The oddest was likely the announcement that the ICC’s first chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo as well as renowned international criminal law scholar Mahmoud Cherif Bassiouni were working for Philip Morris International (i.e. ‘Big Tabacco’) to combat worldwide smuggling rings and “related crimes” — despite the fact that institutions like the World Health Organization have called efforts to fight illegal tobacco smuggling by tobacco companies “insincere”.
2016 was a very good year for the blog. Over the 12 months, 104 blogs were published, including a series of fantastic interviews with key actors in international criminal justice by Shehzad Charania (see here). We ran two fantastic online symposiums: on child soldiers and the trial of Dominic Ongwen and on peace and justice in Colombia. Readership grew by a healthy 7%. The United States led to way in view, followed by the UK, The Netherlands, Canada, and Germany. Kenya and South Africa were easily in the top-10.
Of course, 2016 was also the year that my book, Justice in Conflict, was published. I cannot thank everyone enough for their support, particularly the team I worked with at Oxford University Press. The book has been selling very, very well — and I look forward to using the royalties to ship copies to libraries and universities in Africa and ICC-related states. More on that soon!
Looking Forward — What To Expect in 2017
The biggest thing to expect in 2017 is the opening of an official ICC investigation into Afghanistan. Prosecutors still need to seek the approval of ICC judges, but it in their words, that decisions is “imminent”. Such a move would be unprecedented. It would mark the first time that US officials came under investigation of an international criminal tribunal. As I wrote in November, a potential ‘win’ for the ICC whatever happens. But it’s unlikely to be pretty. Under the incoming administration of Donald Trump, we are likely to see the rockiest US-ICC relationship in years.
What Not to Expect
The ICC has become an increasingly transparent institution. It has essentially spelled out what it achieve given its limited budget. That includes only conducting six active investigations at any one time. In its budget documents, the Office of the Prosecutor has announced its six investigations for 2017: Georgia, Côte d’Ivoire, Darfur, Libya, and both ongoing investigations in the Central African Republic. At the same time, strife between members on the United Nations Security Council suggests its unlikely we’ll see any referrals of situations to the ICC from the Council any time soon. Add to that the likelihood of a (politically) tricky investigation in Afghanistan, and it seems clear, that barring any remarkable and unforeseen opportunity for ICC prosecutors to do more, no other additional situations will be investigated by the ICC in 2017.
There are, of course, a plethora of stories to follow in 2017. The trial of Dominic Ongwen, the first-ever former child soldier to be prosecuted for some of the same crimes that were perpetrated against him will be fascinating to watch. It raises many uncomfortable dilemmas and tough legal questions.
If nothing is done to stop them, then late 2017 will also see the official withdrawal of South Africa, Burundi, and The Gambia from the ICC. There are signs that a new administration in The Gambia would reconsider the withdrawal — but the situation there remains precarious. South Africa, in my view at least, might also be persuaded to stay but efforts to keep it a member of the ICC must begin in earnest, as soon as possible. Burundi, for all intents an purposes, is already gone.
In Syria, the creation and development of the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM) will be something to look out for. What will it become? Can it be a precursor or inspiration for some form of justice and accountability in Syria?
Finally and relatedly, 2016 saw the growth of a number of alternative tribunal types and justice mechanisms. Hybrid and ad hoc tribunals have been proposed for situations where the ICC isn’t in play or can’t sufficiently address human rights abuses and atrocities. This trend, insofar as it can help to consolidate a more consistent and coherent system of global justice, is one to watch out for in 2017 and beyond.
As always, here’s to a little more justice and a lot less conflict in 2017.
This entry was posted in Hissène Habré, ICC Prosecutor, Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM), International Criminal Court (ICC), International Criminal Justice, JiC News, Kenya, Kosovo, Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), Kosovo Relocated Specialist Judicial Institution (KRSJI), Syria. Bookmark the permalink.
2 Responses to Looking Back to 2016 and Forward to 2017 in the World of International Criminal Justice
Lorraine Smith says:
Mark thank you for your tremendous work to keep us all up to speed on international criminal justice issues in 2016. Looking forward to more thought provoking commentary in 2017.
Hakimi Abdul Jabar says:
Keep up the good work Mark, albeit trudgingly alone…
Prosecute & Punish the Offenders Whilst Protecting the Innocents
International criminal law is the part of public international law that deals with the criminal responsibility of individuals for international crimes. There is no generally accepted definition of international crimes. A distinction can be made between international crimes which are based on international customary law and therefore apply universally and crimes resulting from specific treaties which criminalize certain conduct and require the contracting states to implement legislation for the criminal prosecution of this conduct in their domestic legal system. The international core crimes, i.e., crimes over which international tribunals have been given jurisdiction under international law, are: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and aggression. International criminal law finds its origin in both international law and criminal law and closely relates to other areas of international law. The most important areas are human rights law and international humanitarian law as well as the law on state responsibility. The sources of international criminal law are the same as those of general international law mentioned in article 38(1) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice: treaties, international customary law, general principles of law, judicial decisions and writings of eminent legal scholars. The Nuremberg and Tokyo trials signaled the birth of present-day international criminal law, i.e., the prosecution of individuals for international crimes before international tribunals. In the early nineties of the previous century international criminal law received a major stimulus with the establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda by the United Nations Security Council. Also the creation of various internationalized or mixed criminal courts and the proposals of the International Law Commission, which resulted in the creation of the International Criminal Court in 2002, contributed to the rapid development of international criminal law during the last two decades.
The purpose of criminal law is to protect society by facilitating the detection and prosecution of criminal actions while protecting the rights of the accused. It has also been described as the means by which the state prosecutes and punishes individuals charged with violating the law.
Furthermore, the purpose of the Criminal Justice System among others is to deliver justice for all, by convicting and punishing the guilty and helping them to stop offending, while protecting the innocent.
Despite the lack of consensus among scholars and advocates about the purposes of international criminal law and this lack of clarity further affects how the international criminal tribunals operate, the comparative gist between the application of the international and municipal criminal justice systems evoke the certain and essential subjective pronouncement, i.e. the prosecution and punishment of criminal offenders and their sbettors that further lead to the protection of society, global & municipal.
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SETTLEMENTS & RECOVERIES
$850,000 Settlement for Security Guard’s Broken Ankle
A security guard tripped and fell on a cracked and uneven walkway in front of the building where she worked. She broke three bones in her ankle. Her fractured ankle was surgically repaired with metal plates and screws. After Mr. Katter defeated the building owner’s efforts to have the case dismissed, he settled the lawsuit with its insurance company. He brought the lawsuit in New York County (Manhattan), New York.
$130,000 Settlement for Retired Teacher’s Wrist Fracture
A retired high-school teacher was walking on a sidewalk on the Lower East Side when she stepped into a puddle that covered a sunken section of sidewalk. As a result, she lost her balance and tripped, fell and broke her wrist. She wore a cast and underwent physical therapy. Mr. Katter settled this case while it was on the court’s pre-trial calendar. He brought her lawsuit in Kings County (Brooklyn), New York.
$1,000,000 Settlement for Knee Injuries after Construction Accident
A laborer tripped and fell down unfinished steps in a building undergoing renovation. He suffered injuries to both knees and treated with arthroscopic surgeries and ultimately, knee replacements. Mr. Katter settled this case after mediation and in court on the eve of trial. Venue: Kings County (Brooklyn), NY.
$805,000 Settlement for Motorcyclist's Injuries
A lab technician, on a motorcycle, was stopped next to a turning tractor-trailer truck that ran over his leg. He suffered a broken ankle, which was repaired surgically with screws and plates. Mr. Katter settled this case with the truck owner's insurance company, after all discovery of evidence was completed. Venue: Bronx County (Bronx), NY.
$777,500 for Pedestrian Struck by Taxi Cab in Construction Zone
An art designer was struck by a taxi cab after she stepped into the crosswalk. She suffered leg, pelvic and inner ear injuries. She had a hearing loss. After the case was placed on the court's ready trial calendar, Mr. Katter mediated the case and negotiated settlements with the insurance companies for both the taxicab and the construction company that had improperly reconfigured the roadway. Venue: Kings County (Brooklyn), NY.
$707,000.00 for Burns Suffered in Dance Club
A college student suffered third-degree burns to her legs when her skirt caught fire from a candle on the floor of a dance club. She underwent skin grafting and suffered scarring. After the completion of all pretrial discovery and the case was on the court's trial calendar, Mr. Katter settled this case at mediation. Venue: New York County (Manhattan) , NY.
$650,000 Settlement for Leg Fracture from Fall in Hotel Lobby
A fast-food restaurant manager slipped and fell on broken glass on steps in a hotel's lobby and suffered a broken leg. Mr. Katter negotiated a settlement with the hotel's insurance company, after he defeated its attempt to have the lawsuit dismissed. Venue: Bronx County (Bronx), NY.
$500,000 for Arm Fracture.
A pharmacist tripped on a torn rug, fell down a staircase, and broke her arm. Mr. Katter settled this case with the homeowner's insurance company, pre-trial, during jury selection. Venue: Kings County (Brooklyn), NY.
$370,000 for Hip Fracture in Nursing Home Fall
A patient, who had been admitted to a nursing facility for rehabilitation, fell when a nursing assistant was lifting her. She fractured her hip, had surgical repair with plates and screws and suffered post-surgical infections. Mr. Katter negotiated the settlement after mediation and on the eve of trial. Venue: Queens County (Queens), New York.
$250,000 for a Pedestrian Hit by a Truck's Grab Bar
A construction worker, who was walking on a sidewalk, was struck and knocked down by a grab-bar that extended from the side of turning, sanitation truck. He sustained a rotator cuff tear to his shoulder, which required surgical reconstruction. Mr. Katter negotiated the settlement, at trial after he had finished submitting his client's case to the jury. Venue: Kings County (Brooklyn), NY.
$190,000 Settlement for Funeral Home Negligence
A funeral home misplaced a child's remains and did not find them until after the funeral. Mr. Katter represented the child's parents and settled this case, while discovery was proceeding in the lawsuit. Venue: Bronx County (Bronx), NY.
$150,000 for Slip and Fall During Snowstorm
During a heavy snowstorm, an office worker slipped and fell on an icy sidewalk. He suffered an ankle fracture, which was orthopedically repaired with screws and plates. Mr. Katter settled the case after four days of trial, after both sides had finished putting in their evidence to the jury. Venue: New York County (Manhattan), NY.
$105,000 for Knee Injuries Suffered while Exiting Stuck Elevator
A bookkeeper jumped to the lobby from an elevator that was stuck several feet above the floor. She sustained knee injuries and had arthroscopic surgery. Mr. Katter settled the case at trial, while the jury was deliberating. Venue: New York County (Manhattan), NY.
*DISCLAIMER:
Attorney Advertising. These case results are provided for illustrative purposes only. Prior results do not guarantee similar future outcomes.
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Tag Archives: Boyle Heights art galleries
Movie Review: “East L.A. Interchange” – A Documentary
Does a documentary film about the Hispanic community of Boyle Heights shy away from tackling the major issue of the day?
Boyle Heights, a community just east of downtown Los Angeles, is a very interesting place. When I lived in Los Angeles, I would often head there on the weekend to make use of the parks, eat at the fine hole-in-the-wall restaurants, or soak up the multicultural feel of the community. “The Heights” was once known as the “Ellis Island of the West” because of its multiracial nature (it was once the largest Jewish community on the West Coast until the end of World War II), but tensions have hit the barrio. As the Los Angeles Times (“Gentrification pushes up against Boyle Heights – and vice versa”; March 6, 2016) recently noted: “Once the landing spot not only for Mexicans, but also for Japanese, Russians, Italians, and Jews, Boyle Heights has long been perceived as a neighborhood sitting on the brink of the next metamorphosis.”
Yes, the dreaded Spanish word gentefication, or gentrification in English, has now struck. Like Brooklyn, Sacramento (Oak Park), and San Francisco (The Mission District), Boyle Heights is trying to decide whether it wants to be old, interracial, and comfortable; or hip, progressive, and an expensive place to live. Community activists vociferously argue that there are too many art galleries in the city and they rail against the replacement of neighborhood bars by overly cool brew pubs.
Against this background, I had high hopes for the documentary East L.A. Interchange, a one-hour documentary film narrated by actor Danny Trejo. It’s a film that’s currently being screened at selected colleges. To my eyes, it’s a missed opportunity.
One problem is the title. East L.A. Interchange leads people to think this is either a program about East Los Angeles – which is just east of Boyle Heights, or about the Los Angeles freeways. A better title might have been La Colonia: Boyle Heights.
I will return to the problematic issue of gentrification. What Interchange does well is to deal with the history of Boyle Heights, as heard mostly from U.S.C. professors. And one of the intriguing points made in the documentary is that social discrimination issues began to ease as the predominantly Mexican-American students at Roosevelt High School began to learn about the history of their city: “One of the cradles of Mexican-American culture in the U.S.” Knowledge precedes pride.
To its credit, Interchange is not only well researched but beautifully filmed. And yet its Achilles heel is that the documentary refuses to take a stance on the key issue of gentrification. We learn that Jews first left the community, then Russians were forced out by freeway construction, and now the low to middle-income Hispanics who live in Boyle Heights are threatened by newly prosperous Hispanics and rich hipsters.
In order to afford a typical new housing unit in the area, one needs an income of $90,000 and above. Yet the median household income in the Heights is $41,821. It’s a big problem and results in stress, grief and anger. As one current resident states, in Spanish: “I would like it to stay just as it is.” Gentrification, of course, will make this impossible.
The creators of Interchange, after illustrating how the poor have been displaced from the area in the past, inform the viewer that 1,187 affordable housing units are scheduled to be destroyed and replaced by 4,400 new and pricey units. And yet, even after imparting this information, they remain neutral.
The documentary asks the question, “What constitutes beneficial (versus harmful) development?” but fails to answer it. Instead, at its conclusion we hear an elderly Jewish gentleman assure us that, despite recent changes in the neighborhood, everything will be alright. It’s hardly convincing.
One key statement heard in Interchange is, “We’re not trying to get out of the barrio. We’re trying to bring the barrio up.” Fine, but in life one must ultimately choose between stasis and change. In electing to support neither the status quo nor change – neither the past nor progressivism, East L.A. Interchange loses its raison d’etre.
The reviewer was provided access to a press screener. The film was directed by Betsy Kalin.
Movie Review: ‘East L.A. Interchange’ – A Documentary
Tagged as a documentary, a movie review by Joseph Arellano: East L.A. Interchange, affordable housing, barrio, Betsy Kalin, Betsy Kalin documentary, Betsy Kalin film, Blogcritics, Boyle Heights, Boyle Heights art galleries, Brooklyn, Brooklyn Theater, California history, community redevelopment, Danny Trejo, documentary review, East L.A. Interchange, East L.A. Interchange documentary, East L.A. Interchange review, East Los Angeles, Ellis Island of the West, gentrification, Hispanic culture, Hispanics, Italian-Americans, Japanese-Americans, Jewish community, Jewish-Americans, Joseph Arellano, Joseph's Reviews, La Colonia, life in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles Times, Mexican-American culture, Mexican-American history, Mexicans, Mission District, movie review, Oak Park, racial discrimination, redevelopment, review East L.A. Interchange, Roosevelt High School, Russian immigrants, Russian-Americans, Sacramento, San Francisco, southern California, Southern California history, The Heights, The L.A. Times, The Mission, the Mission District, U.S.C., University of Southern California, USC
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Super Bowl 48 Recap: Seahawks Rout Broncos, 43-8
Joe Student
Seattle forced four Denver turnovers, and the Seahawks routed the Broncos, 43-8, to win Super Bowl 48 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. on Sunday night. The victory gave the Seahawks their first Super Bowl title in franchise history.
Seattle's top-ranked defense forced Denver quarterback Peyton Manning into two interceptions and a fumble and dominated a Broncos' offense that set NFL records for points and yards passing this season.
The Seahawks never trailed in the game, taking an immediate 2-0 lead on a safety after Broncos center Manny Ramirez snapped the ball over Manning's head on the opening offensive play. Seattle took a 22-0 lead into halftime after game MVP Malcolm Smith returned Manning's second interception 69 yards for a score with 3:21 left in the second quarter.
When Seattle's Percy Harvin returned the second half kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown, the game's outcome was all but decided. Denver didn't reach the end zone until the final play of the third quarter, when Manning threw a 14-yard scoring pass to Demaryius Thomas.
Manning completed a Super Bowl-record 34 passes for 280 yards and the touchdown to Thomas, who had 13 receptions for 118 yards.
Seahawks' quarterback Russell Wilson completed 18 of 25 passes for 206 yards and two touchdowns.
Despite concerns about game conditions during the first outdoor Super Bowl in a cold climate, the announced game-time temperature was 49 degrees and weather was never a factor.
Categories: News, Sports
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Why Would Mankind “Unavoidably Perish” without the Atonement of Jesus Christ?
Image by Book of Mormon Central
“All mankind must unavoidably perish; yea, all are hardened; yea, all are fallen and are lost, and must perish except it be through the atonement which … must be an infinite and eternal sacrifice.”
Alma 34:9–10
Context and Content
Amulek’s teachings about the Savior’s Atonement in Alma 34 come immediately after and are meaningfully related to Alma’s memorable discourse on faith in Alma 32–33. Alma had just invited the Zoramites to “compare the word unto a seed” (Alma 32:28). Amulek then helped them understand that this seed—the word of God—is necessarily centered in the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Christ’s redeeming sacrifice was the central message or word of prophets like Zenos, Zenock, and Moses (see Alma 34:6–7). Speaking as Alma’s companion and second witness, Amulek testified, clarified, and expanded upon the nature of the seed that Alma invited his hearers to faithfully plant in their hearts (see Alma 32:28).
To the poor and humble among the Zoramites, Amulek taught that without the Atonement of Christ “all mankind must unavoidably perish” because “all are hardened; yea, all are fallen and are lost” (Alma 34:9). These words would have been especially meaningful to the Zoramites who had just been “cast out of the synagogues because of the coarseness of their apparel” (Alma 32:2). In their poverty-stricken condition, and without a formal place to worship, they surely would have felt lost, fallen, and perhaps hardened against the Lord and those who had cast them out (see Alma 34:31).
Amulek himself may have been acutely aware of mankind’s depraved condition, seeing that he had recently experienced his own powerful conversion (see Alma 10:5–6).1 The fact that he placed mankind’s universal fallen nature at the central part of a chiasm further supports how pivotal this point was to his message:
A For it is expedient that an atonement should be made
B for according to the great plan of the Eternal God there must be an atonement made,
C or else all mankind must unavoidably perish;
D yea, all are hardened;
D yea, all are fallen and are lost,
C and must perish
B except it be through the atonement
A which it is expedient should be made.2
Amulek’s emphasis on the results of the Fall helped demonstrate why true worship is necessarily centered in Christ’s Atonement, and why “faith unto repentance”—not wealth and social status—are what yield true righteousness (Alma 34:15–16). His message also clarified that all are hardened, fallen, and lost, and thus all are in need of the Atonement of Christ. Despite their poverty, these Zoramites had just as much access to and need for Christ’s redeeming power as those who flaunted their “costly apparel” on the Rameumptom (Alma 31:28).3
Alma even went so far as to declare that “it is well that ye are cast out of your synagogues, that ye may be humble, and that ye may learn wisdom” (Alma 32:12). Just like Adam and Eve, who were “cast out from the Garden of Eden” (Doctrine and Covenants 29:41), the Zoramites could gain true wisdom and knowledge in recognizing their own lost and fallen state.
Doctrinal Mastery Alma 34:9–10 Infographic by Book of Mormon Central
Click to Download High-Res Image
Doctrines and Principles
When joined together, Alma’s and Amulek’s teachings masterfully demonstrate how the story of Eden is continually playing out in lives of all of God’s children. Alma’s metaphor of the seed suggests that a tree of life, as found originally in the Garden of Eden, metaphorically resides in each human heart. Amulek’s teachings then established that the seed (the word of God) is necessarily centered in Jesus Christ’s Atonement. If patiently planted and diligently nourished, the seed or doctrine of Christ’s Atonement can grow within one’s heart until it symbolically develops into a fully-grown tree of life (see Alma 32:40–43).4 Like the tree of life in the Garden of Eden, the Savior’s Atonement can fully overcome the consequences of the Fall for each individual.5
Just as Adam and Eve’s transgression and expulsion from the Garden of Eden was carried out “in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things” (2 Nephi 2:24),6 so too are the difficulties and weaknesses of all mortal life an essential part of the “great plan of the Eternal God” (Alma 34:9).7 In consequence of the Fall, Amulek used the word must four times and the word expedient three times in Alma 34:9–10 to demonstrate the absolute necessity of the Christ’s Atonement for all of God’s children.8
President Ezra Taft Benson explained, “No one adequately and properly knows why he needs Christ until he understands and accepts the doctrine of the Fall and its effect upon all mankind.”9 President Boyd K. Packer similarly taught, “If you have made no mistakes, then you do not need the Atonement. If you have made mistakes, and all of us have, whether minor or serious, then you have an enormous need to find out how they can be erased so that you are no longer in darkness.”10
Because of their dire temporal circumstances, the poor among the Zoramites were better able to discover and recognize their dire spiritual circumstances. As Elder Lloyd P. George explained, “trials are blessings in disguise if we accept them with humility, faith, and fortitude.”11 President Dieter F. Uchtdorf similarly taught that “being able to see ourselves clearly is essential to our spiritual growth and well-being. If our weaknesses and shortcomings remain obscured in the shadows, then the redeeming power of the Savior cannot heal them and make them strengths.”12
Like Adam and Eve, the eyes of each individual must be opened to the reality of his or her own transgressions (see Moses 5:10). The children of Adam and Eve, meaning the entire human family, must understand not only the Fall of their first parents, but also the fallen nature of their own minds, hearts, and physical bodies. For only those who recognize the scope and extent of mankind’s fallen condition will ever truly appreciate the universal and all-encompassing power of Christ’s “infinite and eternal sacrifice” (Alma 34:10).13
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “‘Lord Is It I?’” Ensign, November 2014, 56–59, online at lds.org.
President Boyd K. Packer, “The Atonement,” Ensign, November 2012, 75–78, online at lds.org.
Elder Bruce C. Hafen, “The Atonement: All for All,” Ensign, May 2004, online at lds.org.
1. For further insight into Amulek’s life, see John W. Welch, “The Testimonies of Jesus Christ from the Book of Mormon,” in A Book of Mormon Treasury: Gospel Insights from General Authorities and Religious Educators (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2003), 332–334.; Book of Mormon Central, “Why Is Amulek’s Household Significant? (Alma 10:7),” KnoWhy 117 (June 8, 2016).
2. Formatting follows Donald W. Parry, ed., Poetic Parallelisms in the Book of Mormon: The Complete Text Reformatted (Provo, UT: Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2007), 314–315.
3. See Book of Mormon Central, “Why Did Mormon Emphasize the Zoramite’s Costly Apparel? (Alma 31:28),” KnoWhy 283 (March 6, 2017).
4. See John L. Sorenson, Mormon’s Codex: An Ancient American Book (Salt Lake City and Provo, UT: Deseret Book and Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2013), 465–466 for the symbolism of trees growing from hearts in ancient American religious thought.
5. For a comparison of symbolic trees in the Book of Mormon, see John W. Welch and J. Gregory Welch, Charting the Book of Mormon: Visual Aids for Personal Study (Provo, UT: FARMS, 1999), chart 95. For more information on the Tree of Life, see John W. Welch and Donald W. Parry, eds., The Tree of Life: From Eden to Eternity (Salt Lake City and Provo, UT: Deseret Book and Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2011).
6. See Book of Mormon Central, “Why Did Lehi Teach That The Fall Was Necessary? (2 Nephi 2:22–25),” KnoWhy 269 (February 1, 2017).
7. For more information about the Atonement’s central role in the Plan of Salvation, see Book of Mormon Central, “Where Can You Best Learn about God’s Plan of Salvation? (Alma 24:14),” KnoWhy 272 (February 8, 2017).
8. Many people today attach negative moral or political connotations to the term expedient. However, Noah Webster, American Dictionary of the English Language (1828) defined expedient in a much more positive light: “(1) Literally, hastening; urging forward. Hence, tending to promote the object proposed; fit or suitable for the purpose; proper under the circumstances. (2) Useful; profitable.” In this light, Amulek’s use of expedient can be seen as urging the Zoramites to be patient and faithful, for Christ’s Atonement would be suitable for the Father’s eternal purposes, proper under the circumstances, and hastened along according to the Lord’s timetable. God cannot force people to be righteous and He cannot shelter everyone from the harsh unjust treatment by others, but He has provided a useful, proper, and profitable means of purification, reconciliation, and reunion with God.
9. President Ezra Taft Benson, “The Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants,” Ensign, May 1987, online at lds.org.
10. President Boyd K. Packer, “The Atonement,” Ensign, November 2012, 77, online at lds.org.
11. Elder Lloyd P. George, “Gratitude,” Ensign, May 1994, online at lds.org.
12. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “‘Lord Is It I?’” Ensign, November 2014, 58, online at lds.org.
13. See Book of Mormon Central, “Why Must There Be an Infinite and Eternal Sacrifice? (Alma 34:12),” KnoWhy 142 (July 13, 2016); Rodney Turner, “The Infinite Atonement of God,” in Book of Mormon, Part 2: Alma 30 to Moroni, Studies in Scripture: Volume 8 (Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book, 1988), 28–40. Tad R. Callister, The Infinite Atonement (Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book, 2000).
Amulek
Zoramites
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Final Fantasy Type-0 HD will be out for PC on August 18, Square Enix announced this morning.
Filed to: final fantasyFiled to: final fantasy
Final Fantasy Type-0 HD will be out for PC on August 18, Square Enix announced this morning. It’s a messy, clunky game that I loved way more than I should have. The PC version will have graphical improvements as well as “improved in-game battle camera, full Steam achievements and trading cards, scalable motion blur settings and a customizable dynamic screen shot mode.”
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Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/f/psh488.html
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C. Richard Shumway
First Name: C.
Middle Name: Richard
Last Name: Shumway
RePEc Short-ID: psh488
http://cahnrs-cms.wsu.edu/ses/people/Shumway/Pages/default.aspx
School of Economic Sciences, Hulbert 203H Washington State University Pullman, WA 99164-6210
School of Economic Sciences
Pullman, Washington (United States)
http://www.ses.wsu.edu/
PO Box 646210, Pullman, WA 99164-646210
RePEc:edi:ecwsuus (more details at EDIRC)
Jump to: Working papers Articles Books
Yang, Sansi & Shumway, C. Richard, 2015. "Asset Fixity under State-Contingent Production Uncertainty," 2015 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 26-28, San Francisco, California 205256, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
Sansi Yang & C Richard Shumway, 2018. "Asset fixity under state-contingent production uncertainty," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Foundation for the European Review of Agricultural Economics, vol. 45(5), pages 831-856.
Lee, Daegoon & Cowan, Benjamin W. & Shumway, C. Richard, 2015. "Non-Neutral Marginal Research Costs and Induced Innovation," 2015 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 26-28, San Francisco, California 205377, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
Liu, Boying & Shumway, C. Richard, 2014. "Substitution Elasticities between GHG Polluting and Non-polluting Inputs in Agricultural Production: A Meta-Regression," 2014 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2014, Minneapolis, Minnesota 170822, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
Tristan Skolrud & Gregmar Galinato & Suzette Galinato & Richard Shumway & Jonathan Yoder, 2014. "The Role of Market Structure and Federal Renewable Fuel Standards in the Growth of the Cellulosic Biofuel Sector," Working Papers 2014-02, School of Economic Sciences, Washington State University.
Sabasi, Darlington & Shumway, C. Richard, 2014. "Technical Change, Efficiency, and Total Factor Productivity in U.S. Agriculture," 2014 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2014, Minneapolis, Minnesota 170225, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
Sansi Yang & C. Richard Shumway, 2014. "Dynamic Adjustment in U.S. Agriculture under Climate Uncertainty," 2014 Papers pya413, Job Market Papers.
Yang, Sansi & Shumway, C. Richard, 2014. "Dynamic Adjustment in U.S. Agriculture under Climate Uncertainty," 2014 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2014, Minneapolis, Minnesota 170609, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
Weligamage, Parakrama & Butcher, W. R. & Blatner, K. A. & Shumway, C. R. & Giordano, Mark, 2010. "Non-user benefits emanating from enhanced water flow to the Yala Protected Area Complex," Conference Papers h042857, International Water Management Institute.
Weligamage, Parakrama & Butcher, W. R. & Blatner, K. A. & Shumway, C. R. & Giordano, Mark, 2010. "Non-user benefits emanating from enhanced water flow to the Yala Protected Area Complex," IWMI Conference Proceedings 211312, International Water Management Institute.
Weligamage, Parakrama & Shumway, C. R. & Blatner, K. A. & Butcher, W. R. & Giordano, Mark, 2009. "Production function for rice in Kirindi Oya major irrigation system in Sri Lanka. [Abstract only]," Conference Papers h042412, International Water Management Institute.
Weligamage, Parakrama & Butcher, W. R. & Blatner, K. A. & Shumway, C. R. & Giordano, Mark, 2009. "Non-user benefits emanating from enhanced water flow to Yala Protected Area Complex. Abstract only," Conference Papers h042632, International Water Management Institute.
Yucan Liu & C. Richard Shumway & Robert Rosenman & V. Eldon Ball, 2008. "Productivity Growth and Convergence in U.S. Agriculture: New Cointegration Panel Data Results," Working Papers 2008-4, School of Economic Sciences, Washington State University.
Yucan Liu & C. Richard Shumway & Robert Rosenman & Virgil Eldon Ball, 2011. "Productivity growth and convergence in US agriculture: new cointegration panel data results," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(1), pages 91-102.
Zheng, Qiujie & Shumway, C. Richard, 2008. "Washington Biofuel Feedstock Supply under Price Uncertainty," 2008 Annual Meeting, June 23-24, 2008, Big Sky, Montana 42304, Western Agricultural Economics Association.
Qiujie Zheng & C. Richard Shumway, 2008. "Washington Biofuel Feedstock Crop Supply Analysis," Working Papers 2008-24, School of Economic Sciences, Washington State University.
Clark P. Bishop & C. Richard Shumway & Philip R. Wandschneider, 2008. "Agent Heterogeneity in Adoption of Anaerobic Digestion Technology: Integrating Economic, Diffusion and Behavioral Innovation Theory," Working Papers 2008-8, School of Economic Sciences, Washington State University.
Yucan Liu & C. Richard Shumway, 2008. "Induced Innovation in U.S. Agriculture: Time-series, Direct Econometric, and Nonparametric Tests," Working Papers 2008-3, School of Economic Sciences, Washington State University.
Yucan Liu & C. Richard Shumway, 2009. "Induced Innovation in U.S. Agriculture: Time-series, Direct Econometric, and Nonparametric Tests," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 91(1), pages 224-236.
Almuhanad Melhim & Erik J. O'Donoghue & C. Richard Shumway, 2008. "What does Initial Farm Size Imply About Growth and Diversification?," Working Papers 2008-5, School of Economic Sciences, Washington State University.
Melhim, Almuhanad & O'Donoghue, Erik J. & Shumway, C. Richard, 2009. "What Does Initial Farm Size Imply About Growth and Diversification?," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 41(1), pages 1-14, April.
Cory G. Walters & C. Richard Shumway & Hayley H. Chouinard & Philip R. Wandschneider, 2008. "Information and Opportunistic Behavior in Federal Crop Insurance Programs," Working Papers 2008-9, School of Economic Sciences, Washington State University.
Yucan Liu & C. Richard Shumway, 2008. "Induced Innovation and Marginal Cost of New Technology," Working Papers 2008-6, School of Economic Sciences, Washington State University.
Liu, Yucan & Shumway, C. Richard, 2009. "Induced innovation and marginal cost of new technology," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 105(1), pages 106-109, October.
Tristan D. Skolrud & Erik O'Donoghue & Richard Shumway & Almuhanad Melhim, 2008. "Washington Farm Growth and Diversification," Working Papers 2008-25, School of Economic Sciences, Washington State University.
Almuhanad Melhim & Erik J. O'Donoghue & C. Richard Shumway, 2008. "Do the Largest Firms Grow and Diversify the Fastest? The Case of U.S. Dairies," Working Papers 2008-7, School of Economic Sciences, Washington State University.
Almuhanad Melhim & Erik J. O'Donoghue & C. Richard Shumway, 2009. "Do the Largest Firms Grow and Diversify the Fastest? The Case of U.S. Dairies," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 31(2), pages 284-302, June.
Liu, Yucan & Shumway, C. Richard, 2007. "Demand and Supply of Induced Innovation: An Application to U.S. Agriculture," 2007 Annual Meeting, July 29-August 1, 2007, Portland, Oregon 9844, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
Melhim, Almuhanad & O'Donoghue, Erik J. & Shumway, C. Richard, 2007. "Do the Largest Firms Grow the Fastest? The Case of U.S. Dairies," 2007 Annual Meeting, July 29-August 1, 2007, Portland, Oregon 9763, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
Walters, Cory G. & Shumway, C. Richard & Chouinard, Hayley H. & Wandschneider, Philip R., 2007. "The Effects of Transitional Yields on Adverse Selection in Crop Insurance," 2007 Annual Meeting, July 29-August 1, 2007, Portland, Oregon 9849, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
Shumway, C. Richard & Liu, Yucan, 2006. "Induced Innovation in the Agricultural Sector: Evidence From a State Panel," 2006 Annual meeting, July 23-26, Long Beach, CA 21089, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
Liu, Yucan & Shumway, C. Richard, 2005. "Empirical Tests of the Refutable Implications of Expected Utility Maximization under Risk," 2005 Annual meeting, July 24-27, Providence, RI 19331, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
Liu, Yucan & Shumway, C. Richard, 2005. "Indirect Utility Maximization under Risk: A Heterogeneous Panel Application," 2005 Annual Meeting, July 6-8, 2005, San Francisco, California 36307, Western Agricultural Economics Association.
Benson, Aaron & Shumway, C. Richard, 2005. "Induced Innovation or a Paradox of Environmental Regulation?," 2005 Annual meeting, July 24-27, Providence, RI 19450, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
Liu, Qinghua & Shumway, C. Richard, 2003. "Induced Innovation Tests On Western American Agriculture: A Cointegration Analysis," 2003 Annual meeting, July 27-30, Montreal, Canada 22237, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
Liu, Qinghua & Shumway, C. Richard, 2003. "Testing Aggregation Consistency Across Geography And Commodities," 2003 Annual meeting, July 27-30, Montreal, Canada 22201, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
Qinghua Liu & C. Richard Shumway, 2004. "Testing aggregation consistency across geography and commodities," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 48(3), pages 463-486, September.
Liu, Qinghua & Shumway, C. Richard, 2004. "Testing aggregation consistency across geography and commodities," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 48(3), pages 1-24.
Shumway, C. Richard & Davis, George C., 2000. "Does Consistent Aggregation Really Matter?," Ag Econ Series 12966, Washington State University, School of Economic Sciences.
Shumway, C. Richard & Davis, George C., 2001. "Does consistent aggregation really matter?," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 45(2), pages 1-34.
Shumway, C. Richard & Davis, George C., 2000. "Does Consistent Aggregation Really Matter?," 2000 Conference (44th), January 23-25, 2000, Sydney, Australia 171924, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
Lin, Ni & Shumway, C. Richard, 2000. "Asset Fixity In U.S. Agriculture: Robustness To Functional Form," Ag Econ Series 12967, Washington State University, School of Economic Sciences.
Lin, Ni & Davis, George C. & Shumway, C. Richard, 1998. "Aggregation Without Separability: Tests Of U.S. And Mexican Agricultural Production Data," 1998 Annual meeting, August 2-5, Salt Lake City, UT 20927, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
Raper, Kellie Curry & Love, H. Alan & Shumway, C. Richard, 1998. "Distinguishing The Source Of Market Power: An Application To Cigarette Manufacturing," Faculty Paper Series 24021, Texas A&M University, Department of Agricultural Economics.
Zhu, Suzhen & Ellinger, Paul N. & Shumway, C. Richard, 1994. "Determinants Of Banking Inefficiency Of Rural Banks: A Seemingly Unrelated Regression Approach," 1994 Regional Committee NC-207, October 1994, Washington, DC 131456, Regional Research Committee NC-1014: Agricultural and Rural Finance Markets in Transition.
Jegasothy, Kandiah & Shumway, C. Richard, 1987. "Multicrop Response by Sri Lankan Peasant Farmers," 1987 Occasional Paper Series No. 4 197656, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
Karp, Larry & Fawson, Christopher & Shumway, C. Richard, 1985. "Impact of Expectation Formation on Dynamic Investment Decisions: an application to U.S. agriculture," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt7rf2g35q, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.
Karp, Larry S. & Fawson, Christopher B. & Shumway, C. Richard, 1985. "Impact of expectation formation on dynamic investment decisions: an application to U.S. agriculture," CUDARE Working Papers 6120, University of California, Berkeley, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
Shumway, C. Richard, 1981. "Subjectivity in Ex Ante Research Evaluation," Evaluation of Agricultural Research, Proceedings of a Workshop, Minneapolis, MN, May 12-13, 1980, Miscellaneous Publication 8 49058, University of Minnesota, Agricultural Experiment Station.
C. Richard Shumway, 1981. "Subjectivity in Ex Ante Research Evaluation," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 63(1), pages 169-173.
Cory G. Walters & C. Richard Shumway & Hayley H. Chouinard & Philip R. Wandschneider, 2015. "Asymmetric Information and Profit Taking in Crop Insurance," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 37(1), pages 107-129.
Benjamin W. Cowan & Daegoon Lee & C. Richard Shumway, 2015. "The Induced Innovation Hypothesis and U.S. Public Agricultural Research," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 97(3), pages 727-742.
Parakrama Weligamage & C. Richard Shumway & Keith A. Blatner, 2014. "Water access, farm productivity, and farm household income: Sri Lanka's Kirindi Oya irrigation system," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 45(5), pages 649-661, September.
Tristan D. Skolrud & C. Richard Shumway, 2013. "A Fourier analysis of the US dairy industry," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(14), pages 1887-1895, May.
Almuhanad Melhim & C. Richard Shumway, 2013. "Cost economies in the presence of marketing contracts," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(7), pages 921-932, March.
Walters, Cory G. & Shumway, C. Richard & Chouinard, Hayley H. & Wandschneider, Philip R., 2012. "Crop Insurance, Land Allocation, and the Environment," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 37(2), pages 1-20, August.
Zheng, Qiujie & Shumway, C. Richard, 2012. "Washington biofuel feedstock crop supply under output price and quantity uncertainty," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 515-525.
Almuhanad Melhim & C. Richard Shumway, 2011. "Enterprise diversification in US dairy: impact of risk preferences on scale and scope economies," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(26), pages 3849-3862.
Clark P. Bishop & C. Richard Shumway & Philip R. Wandschneider, 2010. "Agent Heterogeneity in Adoption of Anaerobic Digestion Technology: Integrating Economic, Diffusion, and Behavioral Innovation Theories," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 86(3).
Skolrud, Tristan D. & O'Donoghue, Erik J. & Shumway, C. Richard & Melhim, Almuhanad, 2009. "Identifying Growth and Diversification Relationship in Washington Agriculture," Choices: The Magazine of Food, Farm, and Resource Issues, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, issue 1, pages 1-4.
Aaron G. Benson & C. Richard Shumway, 2009. "Environmental Regulation and Innovation Offsets in the Bluegrass Seed Industry," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 31(2), pages 231-246, June.
Aaron G. Benson & C. Richard Shumway, 2009. "Environmental Regulation and Innovation Offsets in the Bluegrass Seed Industry," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 31(2), pages 231-246.
Yucan Liu & C. Richard Shumway, 2009. "Testing expected utility maximization under price and quantity risk with a heterogeneous panel," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(9), pages 1105-1119.
Clark P. Bishop & C. Richard Shumway, 2009. "The Economics of Dairy Anaerobic Digestion with Coproduct Marketing," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 31(3), pages 394-410, September.
Liu, Yucan & Shumway, C. Richard, 2008. "AJAE Appendix for: Induced Innovation In U.S. Agriculture: Time-series, Direct Econometric, and Nonparametric Tests," American Journal of Agricultural Economics APPENDICES, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 91(1), pages 1-19, March.
Skolrud, Tristan D. & O'Donoghue, Erik J. & Shumway, C. Richard & Melhim, Almuhanad, 2007. "Farm Growth, Consolidation, and Diversification: Washington Dairy Industry," Choices: The Magazine of Food, Farm, and Resource Issues, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 22(2), pages 1-4.
Kellie Curry Raper & H. Alan Love & C. Richard Shumway, 2007. "Distinguishing the Source of Market Power," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 89(1), pages 78-90.
Qinghua Liu & C. Richard Shumway, 2006. "Geographic aggregation and induced innovation in American agriculture," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(6), pages 671-682.
Salvator Nkunzimana & H. Alan Love & C. Richard Shumway, 2003. "Mexican agricultural trade under the GATT," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(4), pages 449-459.
Williams, Gary W. & Shumway, C. Richard & Love, H. Alan, 2002. "Returns to Soybean Producers from Investments in Promotion and Research," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, vol. 31(1), pages 1-15, April.
Williams, Gary W. & Shumway, C. Richard & Love, H. Alan, 2002. "Returns to Soybean Producers from Investments in Promotion and Research," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 31(01), pages 97-111, April.
Duane E. Leigh & Ray G. Huffaker & C. Richard Shumway, 2002. "A Long Road to Merger of Existing Programs at Washington State University," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 84(3), pages 854-859.
C. Richard Shumway & H. Alan Love & Juan J. Porras, 2001. "Measuring the effectiveness of non-price export promotion using a supply-side approach," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 367-389.
Lim, Hongil & Shumway, C. Richard & Love, H. Alan, 2000. "Research Contributions From The Soybean Checkoff Programs," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 25(1), pages 1-19, July.
Kellie Curry Raper & H. Alan Love & C. Richard Shumway, 2000. "Determining market power exertion between buyers and sellers," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 15(3), pages 225-252.
George C. Davis & Ni Lin & C. Richard Shumway, 2000. "Aggregation without Separability: Tests of the United States and Mexican Agricultural Production Data," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 82(1), pages 214-230.
Shon P. Williams & C. Richard Shumway, 2000. "Trade Liberalization and Agricultural Chemical Use: United States and Mexico," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 82(1), pages 183-199.
Christopher J. O'Donnell & C. Richard Shumway & V. Eldon Ball, 1999. "Input Demands and Inefficiency in U.S. Agriculture," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 81(4), pages 865-880.
C. Richard Shumway & Hongil Lim, 1999. "Modeling Mexican agricultural production," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 509-528.
Shon P. Williams & C. Richard Shumway, 1998. "Testing for Behavioral Objective and Aggregation Opportunities in U.S. Agricultural Data," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 80(1), pages 195-207.
Shon P. Williams & C. Richard Shumway, 1998. "Aggregation of data and profit maximization in Mexican agriculture," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(2), pages 235-244, February.
Atanu Saha & C. Richard Shumway, 1998. "Refutable implications of the firm model under risk," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(4), pages 441-448.
C. Richard Shumway, 1998. "Values, Changing Forces, Choices, and the Profession," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 80(5), pages 887-897.
Jorge Fernandez-Cornejo & C. Richard Shumway, 1997. "Research and Productivity in Mexican Agriculture," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 79(3), pages 738-753.
Hongil Lim & C. Richard Shumway, 1997. "Technical Change and Model Specification: U.S. Agricultural Production," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 79(2), pages 543-554.
Atanu Saha & C. Richard Shumway & Arthur Havenner, 1997. "The Economics and Econometrics of Damage Control," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 79(3), pages 773-785.
George C. Davis & C. Richard Shumway, 1996. "To Tell the Truth about Interpreting the Morishima Elasticity of Substitution," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 44(2), pages 173-182, July.
Asunka, Samuel & Shumway, C. Richard, 1996. "Allocatable Fixed Inputs And Jointness In Agricultural Production: More Implications," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, vol. 25(2), pages 1-6, October.
Shumway, C. Richard, 1995. "Recent Duality Contributions In Production Economics," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 20(1), pages 1-17, July.
Shumway, C. Richard & Villezca-Becerra, Pedro A., 1995. "Disaggregated estimates of output supply and input demand elasticities," Estudios Económicos, El Colegio de México, Centro de Estudios Económicos, vol. 10(1), pages 89-101.
Suzhen Zhu & Paul Ellinger & C. Richard Shumway, 1995. "The choice of functional form and estimation of banking inefficiency," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(10), pages 375-379.
McIntosh, Christopher S. & Shumway, C. Richard, 1994. "Evaluating alternative price expectation models for multiproduct supply analysis," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 10(1), pages 1-11, January.
Chamberlain, Peter J. & Shumway, C. Richard, 1994. "Benefits of Reducing Nutrient Variation in Fertilizer Mixes," Journal of Agribusiness, Agricultural Economics Association of Georgia, vol. 12(2), pages 1-16.
Shumway, C. Richard & Chesser, Rayanne R., 1994. "Pesticide Tax, Cropping Patterns, And Water Quality In South Central Texas," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 26(1), pages 1-17, July.
Atanu Saha & C. Richard Shumway & Hovav Talpaz, 1994. "Joint Estimation of Risk Preference Structure and Technology Using Expo-Power Utility," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 76(2), pages 173-184.
Ornelas, Fermin S & Shumway, C Richard & Ozuna, Teofilo, Jr, 1994. "Using the Quadratic Box-Cox for Flexible Functional Form Selection and Unconditional Variance Computation," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 639-645.
H. Alan Love & C. Richard Shumway, 1994. "Nonparametric Tests for Monopsonistic Market Power Exertion," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 76(5), pages 1156-1162.
Ornelas, Fermin S. & Shumway, C. Richard, 1993. "Multidimensional Evaluation Of Flexible Functional Forms For Production Analysis," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 25(2), pages 1-13, December.
Shumway, C. Richard & Lim, Hongil, 1993. "Functional Form And U.S. Agricultural Production Elasticities," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 18(2), pages 1-11, December.
Shumway, C. Richard, 1993. "Production economics: Worthwhile investment?," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 9(2), pages 89-108, August.
Ornelas, Fermin S. & Shumway, C. Richard, 1993. "Supply Response And Impact Of Government-Supported Crops On The Texas Vegetable Industry," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, vol. 22(1), pages 1-10, April.
Hongil Lim & C. Richard Shumway, 1992. "Separability in State-Level Agricultural Technology," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 74(1), pages 120-131.
Howard, Wayne H. & Blake, Robert W. & Knight, Thomas O. & Richard Shumway, C. & Tomaszewski, Michael A., 1992. "Estimating the effectiveness of extension information systems using farm trials and subjective probabilities," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 7(1), pages 77-90, June.
Villezca-Becerra, Pedro A. & Shumway, C. Richard, 1992. "State-Level Output Supply and Input Demand Elasticities for Agricultural Commodities," Journal of Agricultural Economics Research, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, vol. 44(1), pages 1-13.
Villezca-Becerra, Pedro A. & Shumway, C. Richard, 1992. "Multiple-Output Production Modeled With Three Functional Forms," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 17(1), pages 1-16, July.
Lim, Hongil & Shumway, C Richard, 1992. "Profit Maximization, Returns to Scale, and Measurement Error," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 74(3), pages 430-438, August.
Young, Katherine D. & Shumway, C. Richard, 1991. "Cow-Calf Producers' Perceived Profit Maximization Objective: A Logit Analysis," Southern Journal of Agricultural Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 23(1), pages 1-8, July.
McIntosh, Christopher S. & Shumway, C. Richard, 1991. "Multiproduct Production Choices And Policy Response," Western Journal of Agricultural Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 16(2), pages 1-13, December.
Polson, Rudolph A. & Shumway, C. Richard, 1990. "Structure Of South Central Agricultural Production," Southern Journal of Agricultural Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 22(2), pages 1-11, December.
Katherine D. Young & C. Richard Shumway & H. L. Goodwin, 1990. "Profit maximization-does it matter?," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 6(3), pages 237-253.
Shumway, C. Richard & Alexander, William P. & Talpaz, Hovav, 1990. "Texas Field Crops: Estimation With Curvature," Western Journal of Agricultural Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, July.
K. Jegasothy & C. R. Shumway & H. Lim, 1990. "Production Technology And Input Allocations In Sri Lankan Multicrop Farming," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(1), pages 33-46.
Chris Fawson & C. Richard Shumway & Robert L. Basmann, 1990. "Agricultural Production Technologies with Systematic and Stochastic Technical Change," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 72(1), pages 182-199.
C. Richard Shumway, 1989. "Testing Structure and Behavior with First- and Second-order Taylor Series Expansions," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 37(1), pages 95-109, March.
Wayne H. Howard & C. Richard Shumway, 1989. "Technical Change and Applications of Dynamic Duality to Agriculture: Reply," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 71(3), pages 805-805.
Howard, Wayne H. & Shumway, C. Richard, 1989. "Nonrobustness Of Dynamic Dual Models Of The U.S. Dairy Industry," Northeastern Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, vol. 18(1), pages 1-8, April.
Blake, Robert W. & Shumway, C. Richard & Tomaszewski, Michael A. & Rickard, Greg P. & Labore, John M., 1988. "Profit-Maximizing Dairy Sire Selection Package," Southern Journal of Agricultural Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 20(1), pages 1-4, July.
Chris Fawson & C. Richard Shumway, 1988. "A Nonparametric Investigation of Agricultural Production Behavior for U.S. Subregions," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 70(2), pages 311-317.
Wayne H. Howard & C. Richard Shumway, 1988. "Dynamic Adjustment in the U.S. Dairy Industry," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 70(4), pages 837-847.
C. Richard Shumway & Rulon D. Pope & Elizabeth K. Nash, 1988. "Allocatable Fixed Inputs and Jointness in Agricultural Production: Implications for Economic Modeling: Reply," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 70(4), pages 950-952.
C. Richard Shumway & William P. Alexander, 1988. "Agricultural Product Supplies and Input Demands: Regional Comparisons," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 70(1), pages 153-161.
Shumway, C. Richard & Jegasothy, Kandiah & Alexander, William P., 1988. "Production Interrelationships In Sri Lankan Peasant Agriculture," Australian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 31(1), pages 1-13, April.
C. Richard Shumway & Kandiah Jegasothy & William P. Alexander, 1987. "Production Interrelationships In Sri Lankan Peasant Agriculture," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 31(1), pages 16-28, April.
C. Richard Shumway & Roberto R. Saez & Pablo E. Gottret, 1988. "Multiproduct Supply and Input Demand in U.S. Agriculture," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 70(2), pages 330-337.
C. Richard Shumway, 1988. "Estimation of Multicrop Production Functions: Comment," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 70(3), pages 729-732.
Howard, Wayne H. & Knight, Thomas O. & Shumway, C. Richard & Blake, Robert W. & Tomaszewski, Michael A., 1987. "Information And Herd Health Management Practices In Texas Dairies," Southern Journal of Agricultural Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 19(2), pages 1-10, December.
C. Richard Shumway & Robert W. Blake & David J. Leatham & Michael A. Tomaszewski, 1987. "Assessing the comparative economics of a biotechnology: Artificial insemination dairy sires," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 3(2), pages 207-220.
Shumway, C. Richard, 1986. "Supply Relationships In The South - What Have We Learned?," Southern Journal of Agricultural Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 18(1), pages 1-9, July.
Angirasa, Aditi K. & Shumway, C. Richard & Cartwright, T. C., 1985. "Simulating differences in net returns from beef production under alternative forage systems and management practices," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 99-116.
Shumway, C. Richard & Powell, Alan A., 1984. "A Critique Of The Constant Elasticity Of Transformation (Cet) Linear Supply System," Western Journal of Agricultural Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 9(2), pages 1-8, December.
Karp, Larry S. & Shumway, C. Richard, 1984. "Issues And Methods In Estimating Adjustment Costs," Northeastern Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, vol. 13(2), pages 1-8, October.
Pope, C. Arden, III & Shumway, C. Richard, 1984. "Management Of Intensive Forage-Beef Production Under Yield Uncertainty," Southern Journal of Agricultural Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 16(2), pages 1-7, December.
C. Richard Shumway & Rulon D. Pope & Elizabeth K. Nash, 1984. "Allocatable Fixed Inputs and Jointness in Agricultural Production: Implications for Economic Modeling," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 66(1), pages 72-78.
C. Richard Shumway, 1983. "Supply, Demand, and Technology in a Multiproduct Industry: Texas Field Crops," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 65(4), pages 748-760.
Shumway, C. Richard & Reyes, Alberto A. & Blake, Robert W., 1982. "Profitability And Risks In Dairy Feeding Programs: A Multiperiod Optimization," Southern Journal of Agricultural Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 14(2), pages 1-6, December.
Chavas, Jean-Paul & Shumway, C. Richard, 1982. "A Pooled Time-Series Cross-Section Analysis Of Land Prices," Western Journal of Agricultural Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 7(1), pages 1-12, July.
Enrique Ospina & C. Richard Shumway, 1981. "Impact of Corn Prices on Slaughter Beef Composition and Prices," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 63(4), pages 700-703.
Angirasa, Aditi K. & Shumway, C. Richard & Nelsen, T.C. & Cartwright, Thomas C., 1981. "Integration, Risk, And Supply Response: A Simulation And Linear Programming Analysis Of An East Texas Cow-Calf Producer," Southern Journal of Agricultural Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, July.
Bentley, Ernest & Shumway, C. Richard, 1981. "Adaptive Planning Over The Cattle Price Cycle," Southern Journal of Agricultural Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, July.
Shumway, C. Richard & Chang, A. Anne, 1980. "Supply Response Of Texas Field Crops: An Evaluation Of The Cet Linear Supply Model," Western Journal of Agricultural Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 5(2), pages 1-16, December.
Shumway, C. Richard & Talpaz, Hovav, 1980. "U.S. Aggregate Agricultural Production Elasticities Estimated By An Arima Factor Share Adjustment Model," Southern Journal of Agricultural Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 12(1), pages 1-7, July.
Merrell, Randall A. & Shumway, C. Richard & Sanders, James O. & Tanksley, T.D., Jr., 1979. "Economics Of Swine Crossbreeding Systems," Southern Journal of Agricultural Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 11(2), pages 1-8, December.
C. Richard Shumway & Hovav Talpaz & Bruce R. Beattie, 1979. "The Factor Share Approach to Production Function "Estimation": Actual or Estimated Equilibrium Shares?," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 61(3), pages 561-564.
Tesfaye Gebremeskel & C. Richard Shumway, 1979. "Farm Planning and Calf Marketing Strategies for Risk Management: An Application of Linear Programming and Statistical Decision Theory," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 61(2), pages 363-370.
Ospina, Enrique & Shumway, C. Richard, 1979. "Disaggregated Analysis Of Short-Run Beef Supply Response," Western Journal of Agricultural Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 4(2), pages 1-18, December.
Shumway, C. Richard & Gebremeskel, Tesfaye, 1978. "Impact Of Risk Averse Behavior On Fertilizer Demand For Tame Forages," Southern Journal of Agricultural Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 10(1), pages 1-7, July.
Enrique Ospina & C. Richard Shumway, 1978. "Possible Implications of Voids in USDA Cattle Slaughter Data: Comment," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 60(1), pages 148-150.
C. Richard Shumway & Bruce R. Beattie & Hovav Talpaz, 1977. "Optimum Resource Allocation in U.S. Agriculture: Comment," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 59(4), pages 778-783.
C. Richard Shumway & Bruce R. Beattie & Hovav Talpaz, 1977. "Optimum Resource Allocation in U.S. Agriculture: Rejoinder," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 59(4), pages 787-787.
Shumway, C. Richard & Talpaz, Hovav, 1977. "Verification Of Linear Programming Solutions, With Emphasis On Supply Implications," Southern Journal of Agricultural Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 9(2), pages 1-8, December.
C. Richard Shumway & Anne A. Chang, 1977. "Linear Programming versus Positively Estimated Supply Functions: An Empirical and Methodological Critique," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 59(2), pages 344-357.
N. R. Baker & W. E. Souder & C. R. Shumway & P. M. Maher & A. H. Rubenstein, 1976. "A Budget Allocation Model for Large Hierarchical R&D Organizations," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(1), pages 59-70, September.
Shumway, C. Richard, 1976. "Discussion Of Agricultural Economics And The Changing Structure Of Higher Education," Southern Journal of Agricultural Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 8(1), pages 1-3, July.
Bentley, Ernest & Waters, James R. & Shumway, C. Richard, 1976. "Determining Optimal Replacement Age Of Beef Cows In The Presence Of Stochastic Elements," Southern Journal of Agricultural Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 8(2), pages 1-6, December.
C. R. Shumway & R. J. McCracken, 1975. "Use of Scoring Models in Evaluating Research Programs," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 57(4), pages 714-718.
C. R. Shumway & P. M. Maher & M. R. Baker & W. E. Souder & A. H. Rubenstein & A. R. Gallant, 1975. "Diffuse Decision-Making in Hierarchical Organizations: An Empirical Examination," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(6), pages 697-707, February.
Shumway, C. Richard & Bentley, Ernest, 1974. "Analysis Of Innovations: Dairy And Exotic Crossbreeds For Beef Production," Southern Journal of Agricultural Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 6(1), pages 1-5, July.
C. Richard Shumway, 1973. "Allocation of Scarce Resources to Agricultural Research: Review of Methodology," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 55(4_Part_1), pages 557-566.
Shumway, C. Richard, 1973. "Derived Demand For Irrigation Water: The California Aqueduct," Southern Journal of Agricultural Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 5(2), pages 1-6, December.
Shumway, C. Richard, Jr., 1969. "Optimal Location of Field Crops and Vegetables in California to Meet Projected 1980 Demand," AAEA Fellows - Dissertations and Theses, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, number 210972, May.
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NEP is an announcement service for new working papers, with a weekly report in each of many fields. This author has had 17 papers announced in NEP. These are the fields, ordered by number of announcements, along with their dates. If the author is listed in the directory of specialists for this field, a link is also provided.
NEP-AGR: Agricultural Economics (16) 2008-12-01 2009-01-03 2009-01-03 2009-01-03 2009-01-03 2009-01-03 2009-01-03 2009-01-03 2009-01-03 2009-01-03 2010-12-04 2014-06-14 2014-11-28 2014-12-19 2014-12-19 2014-12-19. Author is listed
NEP-ENV: Environmental Economics (5) 2009-01-03 2010-12-04 2014-11-28 2014-12-19 2014-12-19. Author is listed
NEP-ENE: Energy Economics (4) 2008-12-01 2009-01-03 2014-06-14 2014-11-28
NEP-EFF: Efficiency & Productivity (3) 2009-01-03 2014-11-28 2014-12-19
NEP-INO: Innovation (3) 2009-01-03 2009-01-03 2015-08-07
NEP-CSE: Economics of Strategic Management (1) 2009-01-03
NEP-IAS: Insurance Economics (1) 2009-01-03
NEP-KNM: Knowledge Management & Knowledge Economy (1) 2009-01-03
NEP-UPT: Utility Models & Prospect Theory (1) 2008-12-01
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