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__label__cc	0.572242	0.427758	ABTV Business News Small Businesses Generate 44 Percent of U.S. Economic Activity Small Businesses Generate 44 Percent of U.S. Economic Activity For Release: January 30, 2019 … USDA to Reopen FSA Offices for Additional Services During Government Shutdown Press Release USDA to Reopen FSA Offices for Additional Services During Government Shutdown (Washington, D.C., January 22,… Report: Veteran-Owned Small Businesses Face More Financing Challenges than Non-Veteran Small Businesses Report: Veteran-Owned Small Businesses Face More Financing Challenges than Non-Veteran Small Businesses WASHINGTON – The Federal Reserve… USDA to Reopen FSA Offices for Limited Services During Government Shutdown Press Release USDA to Reopen FSA Offices for Limited Services During Government Shutdown (Washington, D.C., January… USDA Announces Plan to Protect SNAP Participants’ Access to SNAP in February (Washington, D.C., January 8, 2019) – At the direction of President Donald J. Trump, U.S…. Secretary Perdue Statement on Extension of Market Facilitation Program Deadline Press Release Secretary Perdue Statement on Extension of Market Facilitation Program Deadline (Washington, D.C., January 8,… Better Labor, Better Dollar, Fed comments at 10:15AM 04 January 2019 The U.S. Dollar had dropped overnight, but is currently re-gaining and establishing… Shutdown Due to Lapse of Congressional Appropriations Shutdown Due to Lapse of Congressional Appropriations December 22, 2018 U.S. Department of Commerce building…. CORRECTED Secretary Perdue Details USDA Functions in the Event of a Lapse in Federal Funding (Washington, D.C., December 21, 2018) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today detailed which… Statement of Secretary Perdue on President Trump’s Forest Management Executive Order Press Release Statement of Secretary Perdue on President Trump’s Forest Management Executive Order (Washington, D.C., December…	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line913
__label__wiki	0.731924	0.731924	AML updates AML News AML Basics AML Case studies / Reports AML Softwares Webinar and Presentations Sanctions and Fines AML Essentials AML / Compliance certifications AML software vendors AML fines on historical timeline scale Screening software vendors Worldwide (FIU’s) website AML communities Abhishek Dwivedi AMLabc Latvia fines Sweden’s SEB over anti-money laundering controls, sanction violation South Africa: Reserve Bank fines Standard Bank R30m, imposes penalties on… Finland: S-Bank fined nearly €1m over lax monitoring of money laundering Tanzania fines five banks for lax anti-money laundering controls Latvia: FCMC applies a fine of 1 million euro to JSC… Home AML AML News European Commission considers launching central anti-money laundering authority European Commission considers launching central anti-money laundering authority The European Commission is to undertake a “thorough assessment” of the European Union’s anti-money laundering (AML) strategy after EU finance ministers called for the creation of a new central supervisory body. Finance ministers from six EU member states – Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Latvia – put forward a joint position paperproposing a new EU money-laundering and terrorist financing ‘supervisory function’ and a harmonised European regulatory framework. SOURCEwww.globalgovernmentforum.com Austria: Anti-money laundering, Strict new rules in place for the crypto industry Romania: By January 17, the new reports to the ONPCSB must be made. Official areas for accountants, auditors and other consultants have emerged MENAFATF: Tunisia is rated “largely in line” with the recommendations of the FATF Spain: Notaries monitor the business of 39,400 politicians and relatives to avoid corruption Belgium: Money Laundering on The Rise in Construction Changes To Money Laundering Regulations To Take Effect On 10 January 2020 In complementing the already issued directive of the EU Parliament, the Austrian Parliament in July 2019 passed into law a corresponding implementation law relating... Romania: By January 17, the new reports to the ONPCSB must be made. Official... The National Office for the Prevention and Combating on Money Laundering (ONPCSB) has provided clarifications as regards reporting on obligations under the new law,... According to the Financial Action Task Force in the Middle East and North Africa (MENAFATF), Tunisia has made tremendous progress in its compliance and... Spanish Notaries have developed new measures to prevent politicians from embezzling public funds or engaging in money laundering activities. Already, they have identified 3,437... Ctif has reportedly compiled about 223 million euros of suspicious transactions related to the phenomenon of clearing companies as at 2019, which represent an... Get the latest updates from all over the world in the field of financial economic crimes, primarily focussed on money laundering, terrorist financing etc. © Copyright 2020 - AMLabc India: ED conducts searches at 10 premises linked to Pearls Group Dutch arrest five for illegal football betting, money laundering India: Government-appointed task force to take action against 2.25 lakh shell...	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line915
__label__wiki	0.89423	0.89423	Infectious Disease > Public Health Morning Break: Watch That Chicken Salad; China vs Vaping; Why Choose a Woman Doc? Health news and commentary from around the Web gathered by the MedPage Today staff by MedPage Today Staff November 21, 2019 CDC says an E. coli outbreak in eight states is linked to pre-made chicken salad. Poll finds 55% of registered voters would accept higher taxes in exchange for universal health coverage. (The Hill) But other surveys show a variety of opinions on what form of "Medicare for All" is best. (Reuters) If you've been hearing a lot about Seema Verma recently, it's no accident. The CMS administrator spent $3.3 million dollars on consultants for her public image, according to the Washington Post. Trump to meet with medical experts and industry on teen vaping later this week. (AP) Hong Kong's health chief says there is no evidence that the tear gas frequently used on protestors poses a public health risk. (HKFP) Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) will replace the late Elijah Cummings as chair of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, which has strong influence over health policy. (Fox News) Johnson & Johnson loses another court case, this one in Australia over its pelvic surgical mesh products. (Reuters) Chinese regulators are cracking down on vaping due to public health risks. (Bloomberg Businessweek) The Trump administration ignored an offer by doctors to provide free shots to detained migrants in California. (Newsweek) Google takes heat from Congress over its health data-collection program. (Reuters) What are the benefits of having a woman doctor? Rada Jones, MD, explains on Kevin MD.	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line916
__label__cc	0.594517	0.405483	Category: Events & Tours The ski may have been invented on the Russian steppes(something that we think were skis were found by archeologists dating back over 5000years), but the Scandinavians certainly perfected it. Almost every stage of development of the ski we owe to the heath stompers of the untrammeled North. Thousands of years ago, the indigenous Sami people of northern Scandinavia used to go about on asymmetrical skis. One ski would be very long (3-4m), and was used for gliding and the other, shorter ski would be for traction and was used to kick along. The shorter ski would have seal skin fastened to the underside. Smooth one direction, and grippy the other. Modern skiers still use ‘skins’ to climb, but theirs are made of mohair. Our forbears used a single long pole with both hands for control and for a break when going down hill. We believe that these skis were originally developed to hunt seals on precarious pack ice on the northern seas. Although accounts of people using two poles dates back to the early 18th century, the single pole method survived all the way up through the 19th century. In the mountains of Mongolia, the Altai people still use homemade skis with horsehair on bottom. Their skis are very wide and short and are basically an improved snowshoe. They are very versatile yet unsullied by modern developments. They still use the single pole method. >>>>>> Skis originally were a pragmatists tool, they were generally used to cover ground when hunting, and later for martial purposes. Early skiers would ‘run down’ their prey by skiing down hill with spears. The ski huntsmen would deftly descend upon their game while it was hampered by the deep snow. Bindings with a heel strap have been used for thousands of years. They were likely invented in the Telemark province of Norway, to which this style of skiing owes its name. First, a leather strap stabilized the heel and this eventually converted toa wire. This gave skiers the ability to maneuver in much steeper terrain, since they could turn the skis edge into the slope. Telemark skiing has seen a revival since the 1970s because the bindings and boots have improved by leaps and bounds. A telemarker can now take every bit as steep a slope as an alpine skier. To some though, the telemark skier is still viewed as the Neanderthal on skis. Most alpine skiers prefer to have the heel of their boots locked down for optimum control. Its true that this may provide a greater stability when skiing down hill all day, but what if you need to climb? Have you ever seen someone try to climb even a meager slope on alpine skis? How about on flat ground? Fish out of water. I’m personally fond of the finesse of the telemark technique. Skiing for me, as it was for the ancients, is a way cover long distances over varying terrain. Over hill and dale, as they say. Backcountry skiing is the perfect synthesis of these two principals. The backcountry skier needs no chair lift, no expensive resort pass. The back country skier strikes out in whatever direction suits him/her. Free your heel, free your mind. Backcountry skiing is certainly the oldest form of skiing, but the equipment has changed considerably in the last thousand years. It has become much lighter, and more durable. But three developments in particular have provided major refinements: the textured waist, camber and sidecut. The textured waist is the fishscale pattern underfoot which provides traction when the skiers weight is applied. Before this, waxes and rosins had to be applied, but these performed poorly when the snow conditions were not optimal. Camber is the bow-like shape of the ski that raises the footbed a little higher than the tip(or shovel) and the tail. The smooth tip and tail glide freely as the skier kicks forward with the traction pattern underfoot. Sidecut is the parabolic shape that makes the tip and tail wider than the waist. They not only float better in deep snow, they also turn better because the whole ski flexes when carving. Legends and Heroes: The Birkebeiner party: Way back in the tenth century there was a populist revolt against the established Bagler party and their king Magnus V. Through a dispute in the succession laws, the Birkebeiner party arose. The Birkebeiners were derided as people so poor that they had to wear birch bark shoes, hence their name ‘the birch shoers’. They wouldn’t be poor for long. The pretender to the throne was a two year old prince named Hakkon Hakkonsson. He was ultimately a target for the Baglers to get rid of. In 1206, two Birkebeiners set off on a dangerous journey through treacherous mountains and forests, carrying the now two-year-old Haakon Haakonsson to safety from Lillehammer to Trondheim. In winter, on skis. Thats a journey of over 336km! The toddler became Hakkon IV, King of Norway! And he produced many a successor, there’s Hakkon Hakkonssonsson, for example, and Hakkon Hakkonssonssonsson and so on… In the spirit of the Birkebeiners, a ski contest which bears that name is still well attended in many parts of the world. In Norway, and in Wisconsin and Minnesota, people flock in winter to race each other carrying a small, baby sized bundle, a ‘stand in’ for the infant Hakkon. Snowshoe Thompson: That was his nickname. In 1850s California, what were called by local rubes ‘snowshoes’ were actually 12’ long homemade wooden skis. John Albert Thompson was born in Norway in the early 19th century, and like so many of his poor countrymen, had to emigrate to greener pastures. There were plenty of green pastures in Wisconsin, and Scandinavians flocked there during this challenging period. When he was 23 he drove a herd of milk cows out west and settled in Putah Creek, in the Sacramento valley. Thompson delivered mail between Placerville, California and Virginia City, Nevada. He used to regularly cover the 150 miles of extreme alpine terrain. He achieved this on his extra long skis and a single sturdy wooden pole generally held in both hands. He knew this version of backcountry skiing from his native Norway, and employed it during the winter as one of the earliest pioneers of the skill in America. He was never lost in blizzards. He is even credited with rescuing a man with frostbite after having been snowed into his cabin. Thompson realized that the mans frostbite would be lethal, so he skied over the mountains and brought back chlorophyl which ultimately saved the mans life. Despite twenty years of service, and even a trip to Washington DC to appeal, Thompson was never paid for carrying the mail. Nazi resistance skiers: Very many troops took to skis in the occupied North after the Nazis took over. Among them saboteurs. In the late part of the war a certain Claus Helberg was on a mission to sabotage a facility in the high mountains where the Germans were making ‘heavy water’, an ingredient which could have helped them develop an atomic bomb. In the daring ‘Operation Swallow’, several Norwegian resistance fighters made for the facility on skis, under the cover of night, to try to dismantle it and also carry off some intel if they could. One of these was Claus Helberg, who was discovered at the last minute perhaps snipping wires or spray painting ‘Claus was here’ on the fusion silo. He was pursued doggedly on skis by a Nazi officer, exchanging shots all the while. Claus managed to wound the officer and get away. But the chase lasted all day and when night had fallen Claus skied off a cliff and broke his arm. After skiing all busted up the entire next day he finally approached a German encampment and told them he had been working for them: hunting down saboteurs. After giving him medical treatment, they took him to a nearby village and placed him in a hotel room. While he was recuperating it was discovered that he was actually a saboteur, so they arrested him and loaded him on a bus bound for a concentration camp. Sometime during the transport Claus jumped out of the window of the moving vehicle and rebroke his arm, but this time he managed to escape for good. He was highly decorated for his valor. He died in his home in Rjukan, Norway in 2003. Stay tuned for Part 2 of this series: The Polar Explorers Roald Amundsen at the South Pole Author Nathan DwyerPosted on April 11, 2018 April 11, 2018 Categories Articles, Events & Tours, General [ As seen in A Week or a Weekend ] There’s no better way to see Crater Lake National Park in the winter and spring months (December through May) than by snowshoeing — the fastest growing winter sport in the world, according to the Snowshoe Institute of America. And on a weekend in mid-February, we experienced just that — an ultimate Crater Lake adventure. Many folks think of Crater Lake as a summer or fall destination, yet it might be time to change your mind. If you can walk and dress in layers, you can succeed at an awesome nature outing on a beautiful blue sky sunny day! The road to Crater Lake’s Rim Village is open year-round, as is the Steel Visitor Center. Plus, very friendly and helpful park rangers will welcome you every step of the way . In February, we guided a day-long tour for a couple from Redding, California. Before we left, they said that they’d “never done this before in the winter and the amount of snow that has fallen this year should make it amazing.” “Amazing” was the correct description indeed. It’s all about the view at Crater Lake, and as we strapped on our snowshoes and stepped up to the edge, we were captured by a state of jaw-dropping, snow-covered beauty! The Medford Mail Tribune reported that Crater Lake National Park broke a 67-year-old record for December snowfall in 2015. According to the National Weather Service, 196.7 inches of snow fell at the park in December, breaking the previous record of 196 inches set in December, 1948, when Harry S. Truman was president and Alaska and Hawaii had not yet earned their statehoods. The nice thing about modern snowshoes is that they can take a person safely just about anywhere they wish to go by suspending a person on the top of the snow. We hiked for about two miles along the 30-mile perimeter of the lake to see a variety of caldera. We looked right down onto Wizard Island, named by an original superintendent of the park, William Steele, who said it looked like a witches’ cauldron. Wizard Island, a water-surrounded cinder cone with its own crater on top, rises up within Crater Lake’s caldera. (Crater Lake itself is the water-filled caldera of a huge volcano that collapsed after erupting nearly 8,000 years ago.) Early on in the day, we met up with an ambitious foursome of snowshoers who took their Presidents Day Weekend to hike the perimeter of Crater Lake and snow camp. Yes, I said camp in the snow! As I chatted with them, I discovered the women were life-long schoolmates and friends. They and their beaus decided to meet-in-the-middle of their respective Bay Area California and Seattle homes. With pre-prepared foods, cook stoves, safety directional devices, snow shovels, ice picks and warm sleeping bags, pads and tents, they were jubilant to be on their way. On the drive back home from Crater Lake to Ashland, our happy guests were holding hands — real sweethearts who had welcomed the adventure and the companionship. It was clear that they had enjoyed a truly amazing day! Author M. Kim LewisPosted on February 29, 2016 February 10, 2017 Categories Articles, Events & Tours, General The inherent beauty and nuance in an Oregon Pinot Noir is rivaled by few other varietals. (Photo: low view of a wine glass with wine and grapes and napkin image by David Smith from Fotolia.com) “Oregon boasts an amazingly diverse wine scene. The first vineyards were established in the early 1960s and have grown into this country’s third largest wine-producing state… “Main Street Tours offers an affordable foray into the Umpqua, Rogue and Applegate regions of southern Oregon. The tour exposes guests to stunning rural vistas nestled in rolling hills with lavish panoramic views of various wineries and vineyards…” [ read more ] – Isobel Washington, Demand Media USA Today – Travel Tips Author M. Kim LewisPosted on February 13, 2010 February 10, 2017 Categories Articles, Events & Tours, Wine Tours wind: 6mph NE	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line923
__label__cc	0.535052	0.464948	Arena Pharmaceuticals gains ‘Fast Track Designation’ by FDA for APD418 Experts Warn About the Dangers of “Cigarettes for Vagina” Genetically Modified Mosquitoes To Control Dengue Virus Outbreak A New Discovery for Cancer Treatment Might Prove Effective at curing the disease ‘Beyond type 2’ celebrates its first year anniversary with an exciting news Cancer Gene Therapy Industry is Expected to Cross US$ 3.2 Bi in Next Six Years Keto Trim 800 announces a limited stock of its new weight loss formula New Digital Interactive Tool Launched by Vivacare For better Doctor-Patient relationship A cutting edge Spinal Surgery Technique in market No Prescription Required To Buy Antibiotics in China AHN Scholarship Editorial Policy AHN Home/Healthcare/New Research Finds Drastic Changes in Average Human Body Temperature HealthcareLatest News New Research Finds Drastic Changes in Average Human Body Temperature Areeba Hussain January 14, 2020 The latest research suggested that the normal human body temperature has dropped over time. The recent analysis of temperature trends suggested that since the 19th century the normal human body temperature has dropped due to physiological changes. The researchers highlighted the potential reasons behind these alterations. The complete findings of this study are published in the journal “eLife.” Majority of people only check our temperature when we suspect having a fever because of cold or due to any infection but body temperature can be influenced by several other factors which include lifestyle habits, age, and the environment or climate can also influence our body temperature and dispersion of heat from the body. Body temperature is a marker of metabolic health. The researchers explained in this new study that the temperature of the human body indicates the metabolic rate which is somehow linked with the longevity and size of the body. Also read- Climate change leading to disastrous effects in America A German physician, Carl Reinhold August Wunderlich surveyed almost 25,000 people in a city in 1851 and concluded that the standard human body temperature is 37°C. However, the recent surveys and analyses suggest that now the average body temperature is now lower. A study of above 350.000 individuals in the United Kingdom and nearly about 250,000 temperature measurements found that 36.6°C is now the normal average temperature. Many questions arise related to this change like do these new findings reflect increased life expectancy and better health? Or could this cause the changes in temperature measurement tools? Myroslava Protsiv at Stanford University and colleagues set out for further investigation. The researchers hypothesized that the temperature differences observed between the 19th century and till date are real and this change provides the physiological clues to changes in human health and longevity since the Industrial Revolution. To test this hypothesis, the scientists analyzed information from three different datasets: The first dataset was obtained from the Union Army veterans from 1862-1930. The second set included data from the United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey I, from 1971 to 1975. The third data set included data from the Standard Translational Research Integrated Database Environment containing data of people who received healthcare through Stanford from 2007 to 2017. The scientists overall accessed 677,423 temperature measurements which were integrated by them and form a model of change with time. The findings include: The average today men body temperature is 0.59°C lower than that of those born in the early 19th century. Similarly, the body temperature of women is dropped by 0.32°C from the 1890s to the recent date. Overall the study analysis found a decrease of 0.03°C in the average body temperature with each decade. Dr. Parsonnet said that we are now physiologically different from what we were in the past. The environment has changed, the temperature of homes has changes, interaction with microbes and the food trend has changed. All these factors contribute to this change. As a human, we think we all are monomorphic but we are not because we are actually physiologically changing. Dr. Parsonnet believes that our average metabolic rate (energy consumed by the body) has also declined with time and this decline might result from the decrease in the inflammation as inflammation produce different cytokines and proteins which raise body temperature. Finally, heating and air conditioning have resulted in a consistent body temperature making is useless to expend energy for maintaining the human body temperature. average temperature Human body Longevity Research temperature Areeba Hussain The author is a fulltime medical and healthcare writer. She graduated in Medical Microbiology and Immunology with distinction. Her areas of prime interest are medicine, medical technology, disease awareness, and research analysis. Twitter @Areeba94789300 GHA has announced Its accreditation With the Seoul National University Bundang Hospital (SNUBH) An Unusual Manifestation of Syphilis Infection In Male Patient Reported Clogged Ears: Causes and Treatment Edema Measurement Guide – Treatment and Prevention Methods	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line926
__label__cc	0.649471	0.350529	Selection on a haploid genotype for discrimination learning performance: Correlation between drone honey bees (Apis mellifera) and their worker progeny (Hymenoptera: Apidae) Shirly T. Benatar, Susan Cobey, Brian Smith Successful bidirectional selection for discriminative olfactory learning is reported for drone honey bees (Apis mellifera). Learning performance was evaluated using a discrimination conditioning procedure that required drones to discriminate between an appetitively reinforced odorant and one that was followed by punishment. Selective breeding produced high- and low-learning-performance lines of worker progeny that diverged from performance of workers whose fathers were selected at random. Furthermore, we show that levels of sucrose-induced sensitization are not correlated to learning performance. These results corroborate earlier findings and further demonstrate the power of selection on a haploid (drone) genotype. In addition, this study now shows that the demonstrated differences in learning performance cannot be completely accounted for by alteration of sucrose-induced sensitization. Thus, using this technique, it may be possible to select for associative conditioning without a pleiotropic increase in sensitization. The honey bee will be ideally suited to these types of correlation analyses in future studies. Journal of Insect Behavior drone honey bees haplotypes drones (insects) conditioned behavior selection methods odor compounds discrimination conditioning selection response sensitization Benatar, S. T., Cobey, S., & Smith, B. (1995). Selection on a haploid genotype for discrimination learning performance: Correlation between drone honey bees (Apis mellifera) and their worker progeny (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Journal of Insect Behavior, 8(5), 637-652. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01997235 Selection on a haploid genotype for discrimination learning performance : Correlation between drone honey bees (Apis mellifera) and their worker progeny (Hymenoptera: Apidae). / Benatar, Shirly T.; Cobey, Susan; Smith, Brian. In: Journal of Insect Behavior, Vol. 8, No. 5, 09.1995, p. 637-652. Benatar, ST, Cobey, S & Smith, B 1995, 'Selection on a haploid genotype for discrimination learning performance: Correlation between drone honey bees (Apis mellifera) and their worker progeny (Hymenoptera: Apidae)', Journal of Insect Behavior, vol. 8, no. 5, pp. 637-652. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01997235 Benatar ST, Cobey S, Smith B. Selection on a haploid genotype for discrimination learning performance: Correlation between drone honey bees (Apis mellifera) and their worker progeny (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Journal of Insect Behavior. 1995 Sep;8(5):637-652. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01997235 Benatar, Shirly T. ; Cobey, Susan ; Smith, Brian. / Selection on a haploid genotype for discrimination learning performance : Correlation between drone honey bees (Apis mellifera) and their worker progeny (Hymenoptera: Apidae). In: Journal of Insect Behavior. 1995 ; Vol. 8, No. 5. pp. 637-652. @article{a3946bcaa96a4efda63353fc05a953ab, title = "Selection on a haploid genotype for discrimination learning performance: Correlation between drone honey bees (Apis mellifera) and their worker progeny (Hymenoptera: Apidae)", abstract = "Successful bidirectional selection for discriminative olfactory learning is reported for drone honey bees (Apis mellifera). Learning performance was evaluated using a discrimination conditioning procedure that required drones to discriminate between an appetitively reinforced odorant and one that was followed by punishment. Selective breeding produced high- and low-learning-performance lines of worker progeny that diverged from performance of workers whose fathers were selected at random. Furthermore, we show that levels of sucrose-induced sensitization are not correlated to learning performance. These results corroborate earlier findings and further demonstrate the power of selection on a haploid (drone) genotype. In addition, this study now shows that the demonstrated differences in learning performance cannot be completely accounted for by alteration of sucrose-induced sensitization. Thus, using this technique, it may be possible to select for associative conditioning without a pleiotropic increase in sensitization. The honey bee will be ideally suited to these types of correlation analyses in future studies.", keywords = "Apis mellifera, discrimination conditioning, haploid, honey bees, selection response, sensitization", author = "Benatar, {Shirly T.} and Susan Cobey and Brian Smith", journal = "Journal of Insect Behavior", T1 - Selection on a haploid genotype for discrimination learning performance T2 - Correlation between drone honey bees (Apis mellifera) and their worker progeny (Hymenoptera: Apidae) AU - Benatar, Shirly T. AU - Cobey, Susan AU - Smith, Brian N2 - Successful bidirectional selection for discriminative olfactory learning is reported for drone honey bees (Apis mellifera). Learning performance was evaluated using a discrimination conditioning procedure that required drones to discriminate between an appetitively reinforced odorant and one that was followed by punishment. Selective breeding produced high- and low-learning-performance lines of worker progeny that diverged from performance of workers whose fathers were selected at random. Furthermore, we show that levels of sucrose-induced sensitization are not correlated to learning performance. These results corroborate earlier findings and further demonstrate the power of selection on a haploid (drone) genotype. In addition, this study now shows that the demonstrated differences in learning performance cannot be completely accounted for by alteration of sucrose-induced sensitization. Thus, using this technique, it may be possible to select for associative conditioning without a pleiotropic increase in sensitization. The honey bee will be ideally suited to these types of correlation analyses in future studies. AB - Successful bidirectional selection for discriminative olfactory learning is reported for drone honey bees (Apis mellifera). Learning performance was evaluated using a discrimination conditioning procedure that required drones to discriminate between an appetitively reinforced odorant and one that was followed by punishment. Selective breeding produced high- and low-learning-performance lines of worker progeny that diverged from performance of workers whose fathers were selected at random. Furthermore, we show that levels of sucrose-induced sensitization are not correlated to learning performance. These results corroborate earlier findings and further demonstrate the power of selection on a haploid (drone) genotype. In addition, this study now shows that the demonstrated differences in learning performance cannot be completely accounted for by alteration of sucrose-induced sensitization. Thus, using this technique, it may be possible to select for associative conditioning without a pleiotropic increase in sensitization. The honey bee will be ideally suited to these types of correlation analyses in future studies. KW - Apis mellifera KW - discrimination conditioning KW - haploid KW - honey bees KW - selection response KW - sensitization JO - Journal of Insect Behavior JF - Journal of Insect Behavior	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line928
__label__cc	0.727106	0.272894	HuffPo is aghast that turkey-killing doesn't faze Sarah Palin. Deal with it, you candy-asses. If you eat meat, something like that is going on in the background for you too. Tags: animal rights, birds, Huffington, lameness, Sarah Palin, Thanksgiving Are they putting the turkeys through a giant grinder? Whole?! Are they still alive? I'm really confused. I guess it says something that I'd rather watch turkeys being slaughtered than Sarah Palin talking. Brian Doyle said... Ann bites the heads off turkeys, and spits them at HuffPo readers. I'm assuming that those big cones hold the carcass in place while the blood drains out. But where do they chop the head off? It looked like the one going in had no head. HuffPo readers should try living on a farm sometime. ..and I wonder what the reaction would be if it were Hillary in the interview, or Obama, with a turkey being processed in the background. I think it's good that politicians can focus. Still, it's an odd visual -- I like how the guy holding the bird keeps looking back at the camera. Time for a new banner: Althouse... muscular hard-ass liberalism with the thermostat set cruelly low That reminds me, I have to get the Thanksgiving turkey this weekend. This is relatively humane; compare this to the fate of Daniel Pearl. I suppose many in this country simply dont think about the rather nasty activities involved in converting living animals, fowl and fish to the food that magically shows up in our grocery stores. Perhaps if they did, there might be more vegetarians! Tell me, Arianna - have the turkeys stopped screaming? i have to agree. how in the heck does anyone expect to process the amount of turkeys that will be needed in one day this thursday. and gads, our children shouldn't know where our food comes from. Haven't any of you heard the cries of rabbits, or gone to your mother in laws where she catches a duck running around the "hof", takes it in the back room and you get it that Sunday as dinner. gads this country is a bunch of wimps. ... in order to weed out HuffPo pussy turkey huggers DaLawGiver said... I was expecting blood and guts flying across the screen, Sarah chasing the hapless birds around the pen wearing a hockey mask and wielding a chain saw. But it didn't happen. The video is mildly amusing but no big deal. How many of the recent presidential contenders do you think have ever killed, dressed, cooked, and eaten their own foodies? If Palin moved to Texas she could be our governor in five years following in the footsteps of the great Sam Houston as the only person ever to be govenor of two states and in 2020 she could storm the White House! GOOOOOOO SARAH! Totally agree Ann. If you eat it, don't whine about it. "It's a helicopter, and it's coming this way. ...No parachutes yet. Can't be skydivers... I can't tell just yet what they are, but - Oh my God, Johnny, they're turkeys!! Johnny, can you get this? Oh, they're plunging to the earth right in front of our eyes! One just went through the windshield of a parked car! Oh, the humanity! The turkeys are hitting the ground like sacks of wet cement! Not since the Hindenburg tragedy has there been anything like this!" Palladian said... Turkeys are repulsive, generally ugly, stupid and aggressive. It's hard to have any sympathy for them if you've been around them. Hey, wait, I just described the denizens of Huffington Post! "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly!!!" Arthur Carlson, WKRP in Cincinnati The slaughterhouse backdrop makes the pardon that much more real. A pardon doesn't mean much if we wish away the alternative. For the normal politician, the turkey pardon is make-believe, a comic cliche of high-mindedness. Unlike the literal pardon -- one turkey lives and the rest go down -- the symbolic pardon rescues every turkey -- even the one in Grandmas' freezer. And thus we remain innocent of our actions for another year. Oh, please...it was reported on many of the cable news shows with plenty of video. And it wasn't the killing of the turkeys you morons...it was the heads being whacked off right behind her, with the trough filling up with more and more blood...while the idiot was being interviewed on camera. If people here think that's some kind of really shrewd political move...you're even dumber than I thought you were...and that takes some doing. And you wonder why she was a massive drag on the ticket...duh. Nice banner. Brilliant, if I do say so myself. But you're not going to add "to weed out the HuffPo pussy turkey huggers?" No, no - you're right - save that for a special occasion. You're such a pussy Gene. Gobble Gobble. LOL! What is wrong with people? Where do they come from? Candy asses is right. I don't think anyone who thinks this way lives in Michigan. MadisonPerson asks: "..and I wonder what the reaction would be if it were Hillary in the interview, or Obama, with a turkey being processed in the background." Neither of them are stupid enough to do anything like that. Actually it's hard to imagine anyone with the semblance of a brain allowing it...other than Princess Sarah of course. Dumb Plumber said... Shanna said..."Totally agree Ann. If you eat it, don't whine about it." People eat dogs, too. wgh said... I would prefer to believe that farmers pull shrinkwrapped turkeys from the ground thank you. You know... despite my candy ass, what struck me about the video was not the gruesomeness I was supposed to feel, but why the shot was framed to include this in the background. Clearly the news cameraman is a vegan Huffy blogger. LOL, Pogo! That made my day! I loved that show. Ann is under the impression HuffPo is the only blog site or cable news show that reported this dipstick allowing the video. Think that might have anything to do with HuffPo thinking Ann is a joke? Take a guess... Wait... Gobble, gobble? Dear God, that's the worst line from one of the worst movies ever made. Turkey time?! Sarah Palin?! Gobble, Gobble?! Lucy Gene the pussy troll?! AHhhhhh! Bissage said... "Can one so rich in love be so poor in pity?" -- The Lord Moses (Prince of Egypt, son of the Pharaoh's sister, beloved of the Nile god, Commander of the Southern Host) I agree...candy asses indeed. Where do people think steaks, pork chops, boneless chicken breasts come from anyway? They must think they magically appear in those shrink wrapped plastic trays in the meat department. We should be as humane as possible when slaughtering and preparing our food, but seriously......animals do die in order that we eat them. We also kill plants. Unless you are a strict vegan, getting all twitterpated about Sara Palin not being phased at a turkey farm, is hypocrisy. She isn't phased because she has been hunting, knows how to field dress a moose and probably geese, ducks too. Zachary Sire said... Can't wait to see this clip in an attack ad in 2012. Slaughtering turkeys is fine...but giving an interview right in front of it shows her total carelessness and lack of political savvy. It's just dumb. Who gives an interview while big dumb birds are being killed behind you? That's lameness. Then again, this is why so many of you think she's so awesome. Expat(ish) said... Pogo - ROTFL. Thanks for a laugh on a long day! -XC Michael's right. Did Palin's image consultant sleep late that day? Al Gore would have worn a brown suit, at least. Obama knows that turkeys get killed, but the people that do it aren't friends, just guys in his neighborhood. Hillary doesn't do interviews in front of turkeys, not with all the sniper fire. Ok not phased....LOL Fazed. Get some more coffee for me please! ZPS wrote: Then again, this is why so many of you think she's so awesome. I don't think Palin is all that awesome in general, but I do think this particular bit of Palinia is awesome. One of Churchill's Tory friends was credited for being elected because of his "you be damned-ness" That type of attitude, to me, is damned refreshing. But, but! We Huffsters buy only organic turkeys from Whole Foods! They are flown to a mountain monastery in the Himalayas where the prajñā pāramitā is chanted to them by Jain monks until their skandhas achieve release from saṃsāra and their bodies fall peacefully to the onyx floor. Only RETHUGLICAN REDNECKS eat MURDERED TURKEYS!! ZPS: Tell me you are joking? I would welcome an attempt to make this an attack ad. Anyone who would be offended would never be voting for Sarah, anyway. And it would be laughed at! Henry, that was brilliant! REAL turkeys can fly. It's those candy-ass farm turkeys that can't. As usual the media headline "slaughtering turkeys" is misleading and intended to make Palin look bad. I saw no turkeys being killed, just the carcasses being drained of blood. "I saw no turkeys being killed, just the carcasses being drained of blood." But that's icky!!!!! Why do some people like dark meat? Apparently it tastes better? I always like pure white meat. Tip: if you're trying to go easy on your caloric intake this Thursday, use soy sauce on your turkey instead of gravy! It's really good. Use low sodium soy sauce though. Also too, ditch the butter, gravy, and sour cream, and use salsa instead! Just be sure the political class keeps up the pretence that nothing is actually killed for your dinner, though, right Zach? They should also avoid talking to people in the trades when they are actually working, too. Some of what they do is too hard on the sensitive types. integrity said... I don't share the outrage as I eat meat primarily, outside of corn and peas I don't touch vegetables. So animal slaughter is required and greatly appreciated. But I think the Professor misses the point. They were showing you a dumb turkey among other dumb turkeys. Only we ain't done slaughtering the one with lipstick yet. Hehehehehehe. Palin really does deliver. A gift that not only keeps on giving, but may destroy her own party even further (read Parker's column). We love you Sarah! And we love ridiculing you even more. And stop palling around with turkeys, you idiot. kjbe said... It's funny how far we're removed our food sources. On the other hand, it's certainly more efficient than shooting them from a plane. Thanks Pogo. WKRP lives! "Why do some people like dark meat? Apparently it tastes better? I always like pure white meat." cough. cough. titter. "Only we ain't done slaughtering the one with lipstick yet. Hehehehehehe. Your turkey, the one who got elected, seems to be the self-slaughtering kind. He's going to be carved up and served with gravy by the media and the disappointed far left before he even gets inaugurated. Joseph said... im vegetarian so maybe that disqualifies me, but do you really not see anything bizarre about that background for an interview? the laughter, dear heart, is not at the turkey killihng. Shit. We all kill animals and devour them. What we are laughing at, and that which you missed, is the slaughter going on while she was in her own inarticulate way delivering a goodie goodie message. The background screwed up what she was trying to do and that made her look very very dumb.Now if you know about body language you can also understand context in staging. She (Palin) clearly does not. as for the cute mockery about Huff site: the imbecile who thinks ghe is clever with the dark meat nonsense ought to learn that in any blind test, dark meat always beats out white meat in poultry tasting. Now I am an effete liberal but I have killed my own poultry. Have you, wise ones? There are a couple of vegetarians in my family who always bring their own "Tofurkey" on Thanksgiving. If they saw the Palin video, their heads would probably explode. I guess they are "candy asses" too. Pogo: The best Thanksgiving TV show ever? "The background screwed up what she was trying to do" Modern Americans are quite easily distracted. An ADD electorate, unable to concentrate. How do they get any work done, their attention yanked this way and that, requiring proper staging for interviews lest real life intervene and they miss the message? Nathan, yes, ye shall be spoon fed your news during the Obamafest. Don't you worry about all that backgound stuff. "pay no attention to the man...." etc etc. How was my comment about dark meat mockery of the Huffington Post? WTF? How is this "nonsense," you idiot? Dark meat is greasy and flavorless, and I'm skeptical of blind people taking tests. TitusIAmNotHavingSex said... I purchase my turkey from a cage free organic turkey farm. The turkeys are given a mild sedative as Enya plays in the background and gently go to sleep. I am very proud of purchasing my cage free organic turkey this way. I am also relieved that the voters in California passed the amendment to allow chickens extra legroom in their cages. Very humane. Troop can help me here, but I seem to recall that when U.S. Grant killed a turkey he did something to it first that Jimmy Carter couldn't ever do. Does anyone remember what Doris said? Also, I am on sabatical from having sex. I anticipate this will be a couple of months. I am not doing jerky jerky to myself either. "as Enya plays in the background" Inhumane. Sofa King said... Why yes, yes they are, if they apparently can't even handle the fact that other people like to eat meat. I only like dark meat. White meat is so vanilla and not exotic and boring. Give me dark meat anyday. An Edjamikated Redneck said... I just watched the video, and kept thinking I had seen something similar on Monty Python... Are we sure that wasn't Tina Fey and Saturday Night Live? DARK meat is flavorless????? I am having a Dunky Donuts hot cocoa now. Yum. Dunkey's is really an east coast thing. I love the east coast. Jim Hu said... Remember this from last year? Whether the turkeys come from a shelter or the White House, they don’t live very long. Most adopted turkeys are commercially bred broad-breasted whites, genetically disposed to grow to a marketable size in about four months. Even on a diet of only a couple of cups of turkey feed a day, they become obese. They usually develop leg problems, congestive heart failure and arthritis. “One just couldn’t get up, so I had to have her euthanized,” Ms. Lane said. “Another one just dropped dead one evening.” Pogo said Tell me, Arianna - have the turkeys stopped screaming? C'mon Professor, Pogo deserves a tag for the quote of the day. I don't like the south. I guess it says something that I'd rather watch turkeys being slaughtered than Sarah Palin talking. It most certainly does. I like the midwest, mountain west and west coast. But the east coast is the best. The Bos-Wash corridor is fabulous. Boston/Providence/New Haven/NYC/Philly/divine. Although I don't like DC. Oh, goodie! More porn bios! nrn312 said... Try giving her an apple. Why can't we have bald eagles for Thanksgiving? That would be patriotic. What do bald eagles taste like? Do you know the male and female bald eagle take turn sitting on the eggs? ZPS said "Why do some people like dark meat? Apparently it tastes better? I always like pure white meat." I always knew you were a racist. I'm letting Mort know too. Tully said... Yes, REAL turkeys can fly. Quite well, too. As Original Mike said, it's those candy-ass genetic farm mutants that can't get in the air. I kill my own. They taste better that way. :-) anti-de Sitter space said... I just hope that guy wasn't another undocumented worker in the meat processing industry. Maybe he jumped ship from Big to Little Diomede. Those guys are always rearing, also. Oh my God! Meat comes from living animals?!! Who knew?!! Has Palin been in on this from the beginning?!!! Not so good. Kind of like a cross between California condor and spotted owl. I love how Palin still sends the lefties into mouth frothing frenzies. I like dark hogs as well as dark meat. There is something interesting about a darker hog. It is the texture, composition, skin, feel and look. Also, I enjoy the contrast of the white splew and the black hog. It is much easier to trace the flow of the splew when it is coming out of a black hog and deposited on a hard black body. Meat is murder. Tasty, tasty murder. Eagles are thieves. They steal from other eagles. Eagles used to get ddt poisioning and were endangered birds. DDT was banned and eagles came back. Suzie Orman is a carpet chewer. She enjoye eating meat curtains. My sense is Suzie Orman has a brazillian. I could see Suzie strapping one on during sex too. Dewave said... Apparently not a single huffpo reader has ever worked on a farm. "If Palin moved to Texas she could be our governor in five years following in the footsteps of the great Sam Houston as the only person ever to be govenor of two states…" As I recall, Houston only served as Gov. of Tennessee for a few days before going back to live with the Indians though. He was a strange character but was one of my heroes as a boy. He opposed Texas's secession too and escaped the fate of some who did (lynching) due to his great prestige. Probably. When I was a kid the local turkey farm up the street just cut the turkeys under the tongue and put them in the cones to bleed out, creating big puddles of blood in the snow. Quite the scene, really. I thought shoveling turkey shit was the better job. You mean, neither was stupid enough to ever do real work. I would guess most folks have never been through a turkey farm before Thanksgiving, shoveled turkey shit, or discovered why calling someone a turkey really is an insult. "What do bald eagles taste like?" I recommend deep frying turkey. You might think it would come out greasy, but it doesn't. And the meat is incredibly moist. newton said... It's called a Dirty Job - The jobs that are done that make life easier for the rest of us. And obviously, Sarah is very familiar with them. Turkey slaughter, politics... They're dirty jobs - but somebody's gotta do them! I wonder what the reaction would be if it were Hillary in the interview Hillary's career has been all about meat. Wasn't one of her big clients at Rose Law Group a big chicken-slaughtering syndicate? And how do you think cattle futures get so valuable? They don't take those cows out on kiddie rides. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA X 1,000,000 All over the place, out loud, split my gut, oh, it hurts, now that there's funny, I don't care who ya are. 1. I'm eating a turkey sandwich right now. 2. I'm doing a completely vegetarian Thanksgiving this year. 3. "White meat is so vanilla and not exotic and boring." I think that shows ignorance of the depth and dimension of vanilla, a real and important flavor. 4. While the cameraman is clearly going out of his way to include the turkey in the background, I think Palin is not being oblivious, but the kind of tough, outdoorsy, gun-loving dame that she is. 5. Blood is a theme today, as Mukasey faints and Sarah does not. ...it's those candy-ass genetic farm WHITE-MEAT-LADEN mutants that can't get in the air. I recently wrote: As I recall, Houston only served as Gov. of Tennessee for a few days before going back to live with the Indians though. I didn't recall too well. A little research shows he served a little over a year and a half, but he did just quit (and leave his young wife). Are they serious?? I killed my first chicken at the age of three. My mother put its neck on my hand, and said "Kill it". It's something people learn from an early age. It's a survival skill, if you will. These wackos would starve to death if they had to procure their own food. Pogo wins the thread. :) If anyone is seriously interested in the actual technique involved (I used to slaughter several hundred chickens at a time), what you are seeing is live turkeys being put in a cone that holds their wings from flapping. The bottom of the cone is open so their head can extend through, and the person doing the killing cuts the large artery on the side of their neck, then lets them bleed out. If their wings could flap they'd scatter blood all over (I know from experience). The head is not completely severed for the simple reason that an open windpipe allows dirty water to be sucked into the lungs during the "scalding" process (which loosens the feathers for plucking.) F ZHID said... So what was Palin supposed to do? Say "oh, wait, let's move away from the background of the turkey processing, I would hate for people to see how turkeys go from gobble to table." You know what would have happened had she done that? The HuffPo and rest of the Palinphobes would have screamed that she was staging the interview to keep people from seeing the brutality of turkey processing. "These wackos would starve to death if they had to procure their own food." Don't you see that's our plan for them?!? Have you seen this cartoon? Show it to your tofurkey-eating friend the next time... Some birds that I don't know what they taste like: My dad is a hunter so I have had partridge or grouse, quail, pheasant, duck, goose, turkey, and that's it. I have also had elk, antelope, deer, moose, My dad is hunting whitetail deer this weekend in Wisconsin. What is the penalty for shooting a bald eagle? BJK said... I'm sure Gov. Palin has done far worse to a moose than that farmer did to those turkeys (not that you could actually really see what he was doing -- as I was watching, my assumption was that he was snapping the necks of the previously live turkeys...one of them seemed too jumpy to be dead). Personally, I'm more approving of the words coming out of her mouth than I am appalled by the scenery. What animals have tits to feed their young and what don't? The HuffPo folks are idiots. What's the big deal about this turkey killing? Are we supposed to eat turkeys live? I killed my first chicken a long time ago by wringing its neck and cutting its throat (when I got squeamish) at the wringing. Was Palin supposed to tell the cameraman (likely a Dem) to take a tight shot or was she supposed to pardon the turkey? Well, she pardoned the turkey, now all the snide Palin-haters are making asinine comments as if there is something wrong with Palin being filmed at the scene of a turkey slaughter. BTW, does anyone want a movie of a three dogs hanging from a line, slaughtered, and skinned? What about a slab of doggy ribs next to a side of mutton on a butcher's block? What about puppies in a cage waiting for someone to buy them so they can face the knife? That's the norm in this part of the world I'm sure Gov. Palin has done far worse to a moose than that farmer did to those turkeys I'm willing to bet the ranch that the moose is dead before she starts dressing it out.;-) The Ghost said... What a joke. These people have descended into a realm where analysis and self-criticism are completely extinct. These are almost all meat eating, bloodthirsty carnivores) poo-pooing at someone standing in front of their dinner being prepared. There isn't even an word for this level of bourgeois hypocrisy. I suspect future civilizations will adopt the world "American" for oblivious irony the way "Greek" is used for ironic tragedy. Does anyone know any statistics for Alaska's turkey exports? It would be great to calculate the likelihood that these people are actually eating the very same turkeys that they're harrumphing Palin for standing near. OK, I just watched the video. You have to admit it's funny. Is that Burberry scarf she is wearing property of the RNC? Do they sell Burberry in Alaska is what I want to know. Blogger Zachary Paul Sire said... Screw that, Zach. Eat what you want and die like a man! "What is the penalty for shooting a bald eagle?" If convicted, you will be tied down naked, your hog slathered with mouse guts, and eagles will be allowed to swoop down and do what they normally do to mouse guts. I know there must be some connection between Palin and the turkey slaughter and the way the very blue state of Massachusetts has apparently been reduced to a state of terror by a plague of wild turkies. Comment? The Den Mother said... I don't get why this is such a big deal, beyond the fact that the guy killing the turkeys reminds me of those people who stand outside the Today Show window hoping to get on television. (Aside: do they do that any more? I haven't watched Today in years.) It also says something about the director whose boneheaded decision it was to show that in the background rather than choosing another angle. S/he was either clueless about the photography aspect or wanted to make Palin look stupid. Either way, I doubt she cares. The woman actually (gasp!) knows where meat comes from. I am not a vegan or anything but I think if we could see how our foods were made we would change our eating habits. I went to my little nieces school for lunch and the food was absolutely disgusting. Airline food is gross. Fast Food is nasty. It is so easy to eat gross food. I think of all the processed foods and frozen dinners and shit. We do put a lot of crap in our bodies. Watching that video does actually make me not want to eat a turkey. Or at least not think about how the turkey came to my table. Here we go again with another Sarah Palin super post. 200+ comments here we come. It's unbelievable how captivating she is to so many people, especially to the one's who hate her. To all the Palinphobic weirdos out there remember what that late great religious leader once said - "In Alaska, they came first for the moose, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a moose; And then they came for the wolves, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a wolf; And then they came for the turkeys, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t an turkeys; And then . . . they came for me . . . And by that time there was no one left to speak up." Romney/Palin 2012! molly said...Are they putting the turkeys through a giant grinder? Whole?! Are they still alive? I'm really confused. No, they are being put upside down in order to be choked to death. Look at the guy in the background at 2:38. He's obviously choking his chicken, I mean turkey. I love Ann's nice hard ass. I don't like seeing some of those pens they put the chickens in either. They are so crowded. Maybe I am a secret PETA person. I am sucker for animals. Sure, I eat them, not much though. That ASPCA video of all the dogs eyes with Sarah MacLaughlan gets me every time. I love dogs so much. Any time I read a story about some dog being abused I grow insane. I am all for abortion on demand though. Titus said: I am also relieved that the voters in California passed the amendment to allow chickens extra legroom in their cages. Very humane. Don't you mean require, not allow? Because I'm pretty sure there was no law prohibiting giving chickens more legroom in their cages, and thus the new law did not "allow" something previously prohibited. It requires something previously not done. Government can only "allow" things it was itself prohibiting. (Also, "processed" food is not an evil. All cooking is "processing".) Ghost: Europeans are just as capable of being squeamish fainting-lilies as Americans are, last I checked their chattering classes. save_the_rustbelt said... In Michigan this week hunters are gutting tens of thousands of deer. Given the odds of hitting one with my car, I hope they gut a lot more of them. And the guts are left in the woods to feed the four-legged carnivores - wouldn't that freak the HuffPo hippie crowd? sonicfrog said... Holy Crap, This Is PRICELESS!!!!! "... the campaign was pretty brutal..." The best part is at about 1:14 minutes in the video, when the reporter asks about government programs being on the chopping block!!!! Titus said: Funny!!! But if they're listening to Enya, why would they need the sedative? Enya should be enough to sedate ANYTHING! Why, I've seen reports of whole villages going into a persistent vegetative state after listening to the first side of "Shepard Moon".... AlphaLiberal said... "If you eat meat, something like that is going on in the background for you too." I also defecate. Pretty sure even more people defecate than eat meat. Yet, somehow, I don't expect a politician to use a backdrop of defecation in their press. Gotta say I got a few laughs off of that latest low-class Palin video. She's always good for a few yucks. "Turkeys are repulsive, generally ugly, stupid and aggressive. It's hard to have any sympathy for them if you've been around them. Hey, wait, I just described the denizens of Huffington Post!" Why do you think they're so upset about this? I didn't think deer hunters leave the guts in the forest. My father always guts his deer when he returns to the lodge. Then he puts in on his truck spread eagle and drives home 5 hours. After that he takes it to the meat market and they make deer steaks, hamburger, venison, barbecue and even beef jerkey. If it has a big enough rack he cuts the head off has it stuffed and puts in his wild game room with all the other heads of animals. When I was young I used to put my peepee in their mouths. For some reason when they taxidermist is done with them he has their mouths open and their tongue hanging out. It was too tempting for me not to feel what it was like to get a bj from a stuffed deer head so I put the peter in it. I also french kissed the rainbow trout that my father has mounted on a wooden outline of the state of Wisconsin. Go to the flicker page of "Molly," the first commenter. Several photos of happy youths chomping barbecue turkey legs at the Minnesota state fair. Palin is just having a little fun with everyone. She is perfectly aware what is going on behind her, and the fact that some people will go batshit over it. That suits her just fine. She isn't going for the votes of the tofu crowd, or the the fools who think their meat might be humanely euthanized. jayne_cobb said... I do hope that anyone criticizing her for this has never been critical of a politician for micromanaging their public appearances. As for turkey, it's all good so long as it's drenched in homemade gravy (giblet based of course). "I suppose many in this country simply dont think about the rather nasty activities involved in converting living animals, fowl and fish to the food that magically shows up in our grocery stores. Perhaps if they did, there might be more vegetarians!" Not more vegetarians - more pragmatic, realistic meat eaters that would bring much needed sense and sensibility. As we speak, the ratio of cluless, squealing wusses to realistic, sensible folk is rising. I watched this on TV last night (because I am unhappy), and David Schuster reported that Palin was asked point blank if she wanted to do the interview in front of the slaughtering, and she in fact said "No worries," so it's not as if she was oblivious. She knew exactly what she was doing, which either makes her more of a complete whack job or more of a total bad ass. I will confess that I think she is a whack job bad ass. Turkeys are mean. My father has a farm in Lodi Wisconsin and there are turkeys in the cornfield. My father and I were walking in the field and saw this huge turkey who tried to chase us. I was scared. It's a lot less heavy, and therefore easier to haul out of the woods, if you gut it where it drops, Titus. When I was in my teens as a young gay my other young gay friends wanted to do my father. He was pretty hot. Richard Fagin said... Amen, Lawgiver. After Ma Ferguson and Ann Richards, if we gotta have a woman governor, let's have Sarah! If her damn husband had a real job in the oilfield like he should have, at least he could ger transferred to Houston. (Just kidding, Todd) Also, when I was young I took the black bear head off the wall and put it on the floor and squatted on it's face and rubbed my ass up and down is tongue as I jerked off. I lied...I didn't do that when I was young. I did it last year when I came home for Christmas. OK...I'm really hungry for turkey now. And I wish someone would deep fry it for me. Bless those turkey processors! LOL! I was really hoping my comment would follow something like Richard's. sigh I love Michael's implicit analysis: 1) Weak-minded people who can't deal with reality get aghast at actually seeing animal slaughter. 2) Palin let herself be pictured with animal slaughter in the background. 3) Therefore, Palin is an idiot, for failing to carefully tailor her image to avoid upsetting the weak-minded who can't deal with reality. Well, okay, yes, if your definition of a good politician is someone who goes to every effort to avoid confronting the weak-minded with reality, Plain isn't a good politician. And you should certainly vote Democrat, because their policies similarly have no intersection with reality. David Schuster reported that Palin was asked point blank if she wanted to do the interview in front of the slaughtering, and she in fact said "No worries," I assumed she didn't know. I like her even more, now. I also put my peepee in a stuffed pheasants mouth. As well as a large mouth bass and partridge. The partridge was especially pretty his entire "fan" was spread out. I pulled one of the feathers out of the partridges fan and used to use it to tickle my ass. Ah, and AlphalLiberal comes along to give us our explicit dose of classist scorn. Sometimes you have to wonder if he's a deliberate parody, with his handle so perfectly suited to the elitism of his comments. One time I jerked off in a stuffed Antelopes mouth. If you don't field dress (gut the animal) immediately the core temperature of the animal will remain high. You want the body temperature to begin dropping to keep the meat from going bad. Plus if you accidentally shoot the animal in the torso there tends to be a mess inside of the animal (icky fluids etc)which should be cleaned up immediately. If you are just a quick drive away from your home or are one of those despicable, lazy, unsporting "road hunters" you might get away with not field dressing. However, if you are camped in the wilderness and many many miles from home or the nearest town where there is a cold storage place to hang your kill you will field dress in the woods and you certainly don't want a pile of guts laying around to attract predators to your campsite. You also don't want to keep your deer hanging, literally, around your campsite either. We usually went hunting for a week or more and took our deer or elk to the nearest town which was about 50 miles from the camp and then returned to help the rest of the guys and gals get their tag filled. More info than you really wanted to know I'm sure. Next, how to clean and pluck Canadian Geese. David Schuster has long been in strong contention for the title of single biggest tool on MSDNC, arguably surpassing even Olbermann and Matthews. Dr. Waddlesworth Lumplevin said... At my group therapy session at the Sf Zen Spiritual Center, we had an amazing breakthrough on our Palin-obsession and hatred. At the end of my article on it.... "No more guilt and shame when I say that I would like to take that %$#%$%ing Sarah Palin and film her getting tortured and raped by brothers from Harlem, as one Progressive recently suggested. And then, before kicking her ass myself with my hobnailed boots until she screams for mercy, as Madonna suggested to thousands of hooting fans , I will burn her trailer-trash family alive before her eyes just before finishing her off by making her drink muriatic acid and letting the last words she ever hears be, "It's all your fault Ms. Hottie... plus I hate those glasses!" ....and besides she's so....so.... mean to those poor animals!!! http://lumpsfromtheleft.blogspot.com/2008/10/hatred-and-bigotry-of-republicans-has.html Ah, and AlphalLiberal comes along to give us our explicit dose of classist scorn. Uh.... There's nothing elitist or classist in what I said. I said that there are things in life we don't need broadcast. Crapping, killing animals are 2 examples. You, OTOH, implied that non-elites are people who are comfortable with watching animals get slaughtered. Besides being dumb that implication is, you know, "classist." Glenn Reynolds purees puppies. Ann Althouse grinds up turkeys. Oh, the humanity of it all! My mother's parents were poor Italian immigrants who often got their food where they could. One day, a long November ago, my mother came home and found a turkey sitting in the family bathtub. Several days later (the day before Thanksgiving) the turkey "ran away." Where do people think their food comes from? dualdiagnosis said... Palin's a total bad-ass. SkipKent said... Vegan Republican here, and I thought it was pretty damn funny, in a good way! Dirty business indeed, and she knows it. If she runs in '12 she'll have my vote. As Pres, or maybe VP to Condi? The HuffPo folks are too funny. Though I didn't think the one person who compared viewing dead turkeys to viewing caskets of fallen soldiers was funny. Because, you know, wanting your meat to appear magically shrink wrapped in plastic is so morally equivalent to wanting to respect the dignity of humans who have died serving their country. Bart Hall (Kansas, USA) said... Okay, people. Those are "killing cones," and the one for chicken are proportionally smaller. You drop the bird in head first and slit the throat. The bird doesn't know that. Once it loses consciousness the nervous system sets it to flapping and kicking, so the main purpose of the cone is restraint. If you don't bleed out the bird while it's alive the meat's lousy. The real beauty of a small operation like that one is its transparency. You can see how the birds are raised -- well -- and you can see how they're killed. This is not some big industrial operation with mechanical evisceration that spreads salmonella all over kingdom-come. BTW, the next step in an operation such as the one filmed is a short bath in very hot water. That loosens the feathers. Then the bird is placed between two drums of rotating cylinders well-endowed with rubber fingers, each of which has several slits. This plucks the bird more or less clean. After that it is gutted, head and feet are removed, it is washed out with a hose and then chilled in ice water. The only Alaska residents who might be offended by such a scene ... almost certainly were not born there. Ok...What exactly is your point? Do people in the US habitually eat dogs? No. Not really. But we have a national holiday based around the eating of Turkey. Some people are put off by this, and some people think she's a person who knows where her food comes from and doesn't shirk from it. I find that refreshing. AL... crapping and eating meat are not the same. Poo, by any other name remains verboten from the moment you gotta go to when it returns to unrecognizable soil, and there are good, hygenic, reasons for that. We do our dumping away from where we do the rest of our living, even at our most primitive. Killing our food is/has been inherently a social/group activity. The hunters return and everyone cheers. The carcasses are prepared and the food is cooked and consumed together. A feast is inherently social. It is, in fact, the whole point of having a holiday center around the feast. We work together and we eat together and we give thanks together. where the prajñā pāramitā is chanted to them by Jain monks What the hell were Jainas doing chanting the prajãparmita? You're one of those HuffPo candy asses aren't you? You know what the joke is? You coming on here having hissy fits over turkeys being slaughtered. Happy Thanksgiving. Priss. You drop the bird in head first and slit the throat. The bird doesn't know that. Oh I bet it does! Bart Hall, Thanks for the summary! Pretty interesting stuff. Not if the knife is as sharp at it should be. Life's a bitch and then you're dinner. It's life in the food chain. I've always wanted to kill my own meal. Besides fish, I mean. Well, you picked the right time of year because it's deer season! All you need is a license and a gun. And probably a deer camp. My dad, brother and sister in law along with many coworkers will be off shooting this weekend. Then there will be lots of tasty deer sausage to eat for the rest of the year. Although personally I prefer Duck to Deer. I'm sure they don't feel much if anything but your phrasing was hilarious. SH said... "I love how Palin still sends the lefties into mouth frothing frenzies." Yeah, you do have wonder if this was a rope a dope move on her end. Every lefty saying how bad this makes her look just turns everyone else off... Oh, there's a lot more about turkeys ... I used to raise 'em. Most of them are quite smart, and the wild ones are probably north of half the critters in Congress. The big white ones, however, are indeed dumber than your average fencepost. Not only that, they've been raised big-chested for so long that they're unable to breed naturally. Breeding age toms can barely stand up. So ... to get little turkeys the hens have to be artificially inseminated. That means there are people out there whose job it is to jerk off turkeys. Gainful employment for Titus, perhaps? Rocker 419 said... Everytime these candy butt liberals put down Sarah Palin, she just gets stronger and stronger. Can't wait until shes President. Maybe then she'll put a few liberals through the meat grinder. Good riddance. Ah, Silence of the Lambs. There's a quote for virtually every possible situation in life. Snowed In said... Nah, some politicians use it as their platform. amba said... Pogo strikes again! (People will say we're in love . . .) The first officially sanctioned thanksgiving was proclaimed by President Lincoln during the depths of the civil war for the final Thursday in November 1963. The tradition of pardoning the White House Turkey was also initiated by President Lincoln during the next year’s celebration. It seems that the turkey that year resembled Joshua Speed who was President Lincoln’s long term companion during his years as circuit riding lawyer. Speed an art teacher and perfume developer often shared young Mr. Lincoln’s bed as they traveled the back roads of Illinois where Lincoln would try cases and Speed would try to peddle his nostrums while entertaining the depressed Mr. Lincoln with his rants against the poor quality of art and wine to be found in those roadside taverns. The chubby thighs and endearing wattle so much resembled the rotund raconteur that President Lincoln freed the pouty lipped poultry in the name of his good friend. (Pardon Me? The History of Presidential Pardons, Doris Kearns Goodwin Simon & Schuster 2007) For an encore, I like to see Sarah Palin give her next interview with something like this in the background. That should make the Huffpo's stop driving. The tradition of pardoning the White House turkey did not become an automatic ritual as many of Presidents did not have a sentimental attachment to their meat. However some of them were more kind hearted than others. US Grant who led the Union army in some of the most sanguinary battles in the history of the United States actually hated the sight of blood or the infliction of pain. So the night before Thanksgiving, Sam Grant sat up all night getting drunk with the turkey so it wouldn’t feel anything when the fateful moment arrived. The ingestion of bourbon by the doomed fowl left its meat with a delicious taste that became all the rage in sophisticated circles after it was introduced on the menu in Delmonico’s restaurant later that same year. norbikes said... Great video, entertaining responses! It was bizarre watching Palin giving an interview with a turkey killing operation going on in the background, but to me it just showed she's not about staginess. The woman is for real. The juxtiposition was terrifik! Me too, Titus. (Never thought I'd have a chance to say that.) I usually leave the room when it comes on so I don't start to cry. I also french kissed the rainbow trout that my father has mounted on a wooden outline of the state of Wisconsin. This is like a sequel to Portnoy's Complaint. Titus's Tantrum? The most ineffectual attempt at pardoning the White House turkey occurred during the administration of Jimmy Carter. Even though he famously termed himself a “peanut farmer”, President Carter could not face up to the realities of life on a working farm. So he went to the turkey pen where all the turkeys were held to ask them to pray with him. Although he could only pardon one of them he felt the rest could go to their fate with the solace of prayer to speed them along in their journey. Unfortunately when he entered the turkey pen the birds saw their chance and surrounded the fearful commander in chief and pecked and terrorized him. President Carter did not know what to do. The irate turkeys held the embattled chief executive hostage for 444 hours until the end of the holiday Season and the change in administrations in January. Then President Elect Ronald Reagan had them all made into turkey burgers. Pogo -- all of life is about good lighting. Althouse -- What tha?!? I hope no Tofu-rkey fauxs its way onto your plate! Maybe HuffPo commenters for giblets? Trooper -- Grant...needed...a...reason...to...drink? Nope, doesn't compute! Darcy -- I'm makin' turkey sandwiches also! You are welcome to one, bring yams! Amba -- good to see you! :) Better that than mounting the rainbow trout that was french kissing him, because his shape is turning into that of Wisconsins! AlphaLiberal, you never heard of Sewer Socialism? A turkey attacked me once. My parents were trying to get me to pose with it for a photo. I knew it didn't like me, but they insisted. It slapped my arm with its wing and then chased me around for a while. It felt like being slapped by a human hand, only with more surface area. My arm is fine now, but some scars never heal. Some say revenge is a dish best served cold, but I prefer a hot Thanksgiving turkey dinner to a cold turkey sandwich. But both are delicious. Now I get to try on my Democratic pants: Sarah Palin is a distraction. The flying turkey bits in the background are a distraction. Why are we talking about distractions when the American people care about things like why Obama hasn't fixed the economy yet and why his absence on the national stage has allowed the financial crisis to continue? theobromophile said... The reaction to Gov. Palin's making of Thanksgiving turkey has confirmed my long-held belief that vegetarians have more in common with hunters than with your average meat eater: hunters and veggies alike understand where their food comes from. Frankly, you deserve what you get when you read the Huffington Post. I can never understand why anyone would bother. I have never done a live animal though. I don't want you think I am into bestiality. I would not jerk off turkeys for an occupation or pleasure either. The only sex I had with animals were dead and stuffed animals. Also, I did actually do it in my teens with friends around. It wasn't some intimate weird sexual man on animal scene. The closest I cum to bestiality is spooning my rare clumbers. I would fuck Palin though. I wonder if Palin's vage smells like moose. A turkey attacked me once. This one time, at Band Camp... What's everyone having for dindin? LoafingOaf said... Another nutty Palin interview, but I guess we can just laugh at them now that she won't actually be VP. Yeah, people should know where their meat comes from, but in this particular video - as a backdrop to the interview - it's kinda whacko. (Oh, and she still sounds like a phoney even though she's not being handled by McCain's people anymore.) What bugs me more as an animal lover is her sick and barbaric enthusiasm for aerial wolf culling in Alaska. No laughing matter on that issue at all. These are the nights that I cry I am not in Wisconsin. It is cold and I am hungry and it is Friday. My thoughts turn to either take out Friday Fish Fry or Friday Fish Fry at a Wisconsin Supper Club. Deep fried haddock or walleye or perch. American Fries slathered with butter. Really good rolls. Fried cheese curds. Salad bar with thick french dressing. Breadsticks with yummy cheese spread. Baked Beans. Maybe corn fritters. Or the unthinkable french fried lobster. Where else can you get lobster french fried but Wisconsin? Cottage cheese. And finally a brandy alexander or grasshopper-yum. I cannot find any of those items together here and it sucks big time. Sometimes you really can't take the Wisconsin out of the big city girl. Altho Schuster doesn't have as high a profile as Olbermann and Matthews, I really think he may be the biggest tool on MSDNC. For one thing, when Schuster whines about bias on Fox, he's an even greater hypocrite, since Olbermann and Matthews didn't spend years drawing a paycheck as a reporter there. Also, Olbermann's "Worst person" segments are sometimes funny. I've never seen Schuster say anything funny. Plus, Olbermann is clearly insane. Whereas Schuster doesn't come across as disturbed, just as a smug, obnoxious jackass. It's very cozy here in Wisconsin. I would have to say I am much more "real Wisconsin" than Althouse. I have never once heard Althouse going to a Friday Fish Fry. If not, her Wisconsin dairyland member should be taken away. Real badgers and "packers" and "bucks" and "mallards" eat Friday Night Fish Fries. Do you understand the wolf killing thing, Oaf? Or is it just the description "shooting wolves from aircraft" that is so horrible? It's a cull. Now, we could argue if the cull is necessary or not. I think most biologists and wildlife experts agree that wildlife sometimes needs to be managed. What that means is that, because the balance of things is off, or is expected to get off, that waiting for nature to do HER job either won't work, or would be cruel, so people step in and do away with predators or somehow protect the threatened wildlife,(fences around nesting grounds, stuff like that). The wolves can be killed... or people could wait until an over population of wolves and an under population of wolf-food, means that the wolves die of starvation and related disease epidemics. So... the decision is made to kill wolves. For better or worse. Is the method really relevant? A wolf shot from aircraft isn't killed any more cruelly than one killed by someone on foot or ground transportation. It's no more cruel at all. It's just... efficient? Would it be better, more moral, more acceptable, if people tromped through the forest and snuck up on them? Or would it just be more work? Essen Haus has eliminated their all-you-can-eat Friday fish fry. It's very unWisconsin of them. All-you-can-eat is a tradition. Even if you don't get a second helping, it's comforting to know you could. cue Sarah MacLaughlan music Titus is such a bad boy. Playing with the stuffed animals like that. Titus is a true Furry. What I miss about Wisconsin is the Brat Fest and a nice glass or four of Spotted Cow from the New Glarus Brewing Company. Synova, I think it's you who needs to read up on the aerial wolf culling Palin pushes. I already did so and posted links and so forth in another thread around here. I don't feel like re-googling it, but the most interesting articles were on Salon.com and Slate.com. There's also a disturbing video on YouTube showing what these culls are like. It is a far more cruel way to kill wolves. Shooting from the air causes the wolves to get shot in parts of their bodies that will make them suffer slow and painful deaths, because hunters in airplanes and helicopters are not as accurate in their aiming. The scientific community does not agree with Palin's policy. To the contrary, they are saying this is another example where Palin doesn't care about having a scientific basis for her policies. For example, 172 scientists wrote a letter urging to her to stop it. The U.S. Congress already condemned aerial wolf hunting decades ago by legislating against it, but a governor of a state is allowed to license it. Palin is more gung-ho about it than anyone ever. Palin was unhappy that not enough wolves were being killed, so she offered to paw $150 for every hacked-off wolf paw someone brought in. The courts intervened to stop this. The reason Palin supports wolf culling is to try and keep the moose population up for moose hunters. I saw quotes from the scientific community suggesting the wolf culling is actually bad for both the moose and the wolves - so not just uneccesary, but harmful to nature. I remember when the blogger Prof. Bainbridge said he could not support Mitt Romney after hearing about how Romney treats his family dog. I extend this to the canines in the wild Palin has caused to be cruelly culled. Wolves are actually even smarter than our family dogs. Palin's policy makes me sick. It's funny that you seem to think it's worse that people or things with greater intelligence should suffer, than the dumber sort of animals or people. Does it hurt less if you're stupid? Is that the idea? I'm interested to understand how this scales. Jawohl, sehr gemütlich. Nichevo: I care about the treatment of all animals, but I am a speciesist and I do think that the mmore intelligent animals deserve special consideration. For example, I'm not one of these PETA people who thinks going fishing is as bad as abusing and killing a chimpanzee. But this does not mean I approve of the stupider animals being needlessly tortured (say, the way the chicken industry treats chickens). I do not call for a vegetaran society. I call for greater respect for animals. And if you're a governor calling for the mass slaughter of wolves from aerial hunters, you better have a sound scientific basis for why such a cruel culling is required, which Palin does not. The wolves in Alaska have done fine for ages without this whack-job of a governor sticking her nose and barbaric policies in. Easy to drink four Spotted Cows it's so damned smooth. Organic Revolution is also really good. I was wondering why I felt so loosy goosy after a six pack, when I checked it was 6.20% by volume. Cheers! I hadn't seen the actual video until recently. From the sound of things, I expected a bloodbath. I don't know if I would have really noticed had there not been a big deal made of it prior to my watching. As for the video itself, odd camera work - you'd think they'd point it at the subject of the interview... "Does it hurt less if you're stupid? Is that the idea? I'm interested to understand how this scales." Well, you could give us your take on it, from first-hand experience. The word you're looking for is "mammals". That's right, "mammals". The scientific community does not agree with Palin's policy. Which community of scientists would that be Oaf? Is it representative in any way? The politicization of science is actually a threat to American science. "Life is hard. It's harder if you're stupid" They don't have the Turkey euthanasia clip at South Park, so how about "The Battle Against The Turkeys". Nature isn't a Disney cartoon. Sarah Palin's support for aerial wolf killing may have merit 200!!!! Sarah Palin!!!!	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line933
__label__cc	0.723626	0.276374	I listen to a 17-minute Glenn Beck riff. You know, I've never watched his show or paid attention to the various clips that float around, but I listened to this 17-minute Glenn Beck riff, mainly because I've been meaning to blog about this Anita Dunn/Mao business. I found Beck quite engaging and humorous and articulate in a low-key (yet excitable) way. He has some interesting locutions. (I liked "non-nefarious reasons.") He's a good TV character. As for Anita Dunn... what's that thing she's doing with her tongue? Did she eat a lot of peanut butter before going up to do her speech? Man, that is unattractive. But as for what she said: "And Mao Tse Tung said, 'You know, you fight your war, and I'll fight mine.' And think about that for a second. You don't have to accept the definition of how to do things, and you don't have to follow other people's choices and paths, OK?" "It is about your choices and your path. You fight your own war. You lay out your own path. You figure out what's right for you. You don't let external definitions define how good you are internally. You fight your war. You let them fight theirs. Everybody has their own path." And if killing millions of people is right for you, don't let anyone stop you. You have your own path... I can think of some non-nefarious reasons for saying that. Dunn is a bit of an idiot, and though she is the White House communications director, she's not too good at communicating. She doesn't seem to know that things you say can be looked at in more ways than the one you intend. I wonder how long she'll be kept around. Is there a bus coming along that path of hers? Tags: Anita Dunn, Glenn Beck, Mao, peanut butter, rhetoric This administration really is weak at hiring good people. I agree, she is an idiot. wv=serming. Anita Dunn must be serming now. Yeah, but they are good at hiring weak people. The whole point she is making is nonsense. She's a toidi. That's an idiot that gets things backward. wv=hesses: The mercenary soldiers Obama thinks Washington surprised at Valley Forge after crossing the Delaware. Or Princeton. Or Boston. Yeah, Boston. Near Harvard. One of Dunn's favorite political philosophers killed 70 million people. This is 500 times the number who died in the atom bomb attack on Hiroshima. During Mao's mass starvation, tens of thousands of people ate human flesh to survive. Some would dig up graves. Parents killed and ate their children, children ate their grandparents, and siblings ate siblings. Some political prisoners were fed to their families as punishment. Dunn is disgusting. What she said is no different than extolling the virtues of Hitler or Ted Bundy or Charles Manson. I guess she believes she is fighting her own war against Fox News, and will blame them when Obama throws her under that oncoming bus. Skyler said... I'm curious how the knee jerk liberals will rush to defend this one. The history of Mao as a commander in war was that he refused totally to do an American demanded alliance with the Nationalist Army in the fight against the Japanese Army. He would not compromise with the Nationalist patriots way that favored a renamed type of Emperor system and treated peasants as peasants. Instead Mao treated peasants as equals. Mao's way worked in a big recruitment and loyalty advantage, even as the Democratic American attitude works here. Then Mao decided to finish off the Nationalists after the Japanese surrendered, and he did that by the Communist theory of winning which requires killing off all of the society's old leadership elements to prevent any attempt at a restoration of the old order. So yes,Anita Dunn admires Mao's will to kill as a good way ensure her victory over you and me. Thanks a lot Mr Smiley Face Obama for hiring and promoting people dedicated to murdering me and my family. That makes politics sort of personal. Wow, he actually seems really smarmy there -- kind of like a chubby, right-wing Jon Stewart. Kind of funny, yes, but also kind of . . . smarmy. XWL said... That tongue chewing thing is annoying. And she might be under-the-bus-proof, her husband, Robert Bauer is Pres. Obama's personal attorney. Was she the commencement speaker? There's great comedy in the idea of someone quoting a mass murderer to inspire high school graduates. It boggles the mind that someone would be senseless enough to actually do it. That this person is the communication director of Obama's administration, is somehow not surprising. But it is funny as hell. LouisAntoine said... I wish I were the president, just for the 747 and the cabinet I could assemble. I would have the best minds that I could find with a special eye out for those people who would vehemently disagree with each other. I'd let them argue it out and just listen. Well, I'm not the president so the jet doesn't take off when I tell it to and I can't hire great minds to argue. So, I did the next best thing, I drove to the bookstore. Here is who I put on my "book cabinet": I got Alan Dershowitz. He's opinionated, obnoxious and at times-when he's not talking about the OJ Simpson case-he makes a good point. Let's see, let's put him in a room with... Adolf Hitler. I'd love to see those guys go at it. Glenn Beck, The Real America, p. 210 So... Glenn Beck thinks Hitler was one of history's great minds????????? Glenn Beck is A NAZITITLER. WE MUST EAT HIM. Drew W said... When I was in high school, I was friends with a girl who attended a small liberal arts college in upstate New York. We happened to be talking about Mao Tse-tung (because that’s how we spelled it back then), who had been dead for only a year or so. She told me about how her professors praised Mao for his massive achievement of bringing China into the modern world. She shared their admiration for him. I wasn’t too knowledgeable about Chinese history, but I had been an avid reader of The Guinness Book of World Records, and I told my friend that Mao was in the Guinness Book as perhaps the greatest mass murderer of the 20th century. She just stared at me in disbelief. Her profs had never mentioned anything in class about him killing anybody. All she’d ever heard was that Mao was a great leader and philosopher. I get the feeling that Anita Dunn was similarly educated. Of course, she’s tried to backpedal since this video emerged, saying that her reference to Mao was ironic, but her comments on the video don’t look particularly ironic. I think the White House has stepped in it again, with Dunn emerging as their point person in the pathetic Fox-Is-The-Enemy campaign. And let me be the next to say that Dunn grosses me out with that weird tongue-problem she has going. As far as Beck, I get a strong "Lonesome" Rhodes vibe off him. Populism, whatever the political stripe, tends to get pretty scary. It's ironic, though, the successful campaign by Color of Change (a group started by Van Jones, who got booted from the administration, in large part because of the efforts of Beck), is partly why the show is so successful. Beck leads off the first 20-25 minutes of his show without a break. It gives him room for his theatrics. If he had more breaks, he wouldn't be able to build up the tension he does. Presumably, even as national advertisers stay away from Beck, I suspect local advertisers still buy time, and Beck has been a huge benefit for FNC overall, even if his show doesn't pull in the revenue it should given its ratings. Kansas City said... The Dunn story is hilarious. Obama and the whole pundit/flack class considered here a "real pro" (David Gergen's words) and hailed her as the perfect person for Obama to send out to lead the attack on FOX News. It turns out that she is a fool who thinks praising Mao is the appropriate message of inspiration to high school students. I think part of this is that democrats and their liberal media friends live in such a cacoon that their speech and thoughts are never subject to any significant level of critical analysis. There is another video where she brags about controlling the media during the election campaign. Nothing wrong with flacks trying to do that, but she is such a dope that she thinks it is okay to then brag about it in public. Could this whole anti FOX news crusade have been carried out any more incompetently? From what I heard on the Sunday morning pundit shows, Dunn was already planning to leave at the end of the year. So don't be distracted by the sacrificial lamb. I watched Beck once during the ACORN sting videos. Didn't make me want to watch more of his schtick. Even if I agree with what he is saying, I don't find him engaging. miller said... Never stop your opponent from hitting himself in the face. I love this stuff. Monty just busted Glenn Beck with a quote from his book where apparently Hitler is an admired figure! So... Glenn Beck thinks Hitler was one of history's great minds? Let's pretend, for the sake of argument, that your Beck example is legitimate. That would mean that Obama's communications director is basically just a left-wing Glenn Beck. Would you want Glenn Beck working in the White House? I wouldn't, and I'm a lot closer to his political views than you are. Siduri said... "Everybody has their own path." Or maybe his or her own path. I just hate disagreements. "Dunn is a bit of an idiot." That is a bit of an understatement. You know who these Obama appointees remind me of? Remember in high school there was always two or three kids who were top A students? Remember how fucking annoying they were ... how their parents had convinced them at very early ages that they weren't like regular kids. That they were special. They never had any friends because they were insufferable assholes with out sized egos that in no way matched their achievements. That's who these people are. They're the type of people who think they're special. That they're above it all. But they're just well-read morons. Beck didn't say Hitler was a great mind. Beck said Alan Dershowitz is a great mind. Good god the Obama administation is full of idiots. Oh yeah, let's pick a Maoist to lead our assault on Fox news. Yeah, that'll make Fox look like right wing extremists. Interesting that FOX News & Rush L report things that the MSM obviously prefers to hide. And that the MSM responds immediately with "Rush is a racist" & FOX is not a "real" News Channel". And that whatever FOX or Rush reported as occurring never occurred or if it did it occur, it didn’t actually, you know, occur as FOX or Rush said that it occurred, or it wasn't as important as FOX or Rush made it sound to their déclassé audiences or it was more nuanced than FOX or Rush understood. And Rush was against McCain (in the primaries) & Obama & they both won without his support. So there. And he’s not even a college grad & probably doesn’t know a thesis from a theme! Drew W I think that you have the answer as to how a college grad could express such an absurd proposition. As Paul H would say: And now for the rest of the story, Ms. Dunn. Or as Ms Dunn might say “Mao made 70 million omelets!” Man, Beck is about 1000 times more watchable and funny than O'Rielly, and about 1000000 times better TV than Hannity, who can't even argue his own points coherently. Beck is a step up for Fox, and I'm surprised. I am so glad that Monty and alex are already here to point out the idiocy of the brain-dead left. As soon as the Anita Dunn Mao incident was opened up last week, the left's response boiled down to this: So what. Lee Atwater / Newt Gingrich / other Republicans have quoted Mao. What stupidity. The issue - which the left does not want to face and wishes to make you look away from is the key difference in every illustration that Anita and her brethren give: Non one else made the outrageous and startling claim that Anita Dunn did - that butcher of more humans beings than Hitler Mao is one of Anita's favorite philosophers. See, the left will always parse the words and reassemble them in explanations to hide their meaning. Hell, more than 50% of the left wing blogs and pundits didn't even mention that she said those crucial words that set her apart from everyone else - favorite philosophers. Even Media Matters - the go-to for imbeciles on the left who can barely wipe themselves in the bathroom - at least tries the next level up, trying to say that favorite political philosopher doe s not mean "hero" or - get this! - that she agrees with his "ideology". I actually burst out laughing at that one. Here's a fun test: Who of the following can you say is a favorite philosopher but you disagree with their "ideology" (hint - your philosophy compiled in a book IS your ideology): Stupid is as left believes it does. Monty, that didn't take long at all. No argument is possible to defend the marxist Dunn, so attack Beck. Beck is not the issue. Dunn is the issue. Classic response. And slow joe, you're spot on. Hannity is an idiot party hack and O'Reilly is just a jerk. Beck puts together a coherent story using the opposition's own words and just knits it all together to make their communism more obvious than it already was. I also like how Dunn is too stupid and arrogant to stop herself from boasting about how the Obama campaign controlled the media, eg: "...increasingly by the General Election, very rarely did we communicate through the press anything that we didn't absolutely control." Hmmmm, wonder what this anti-Fox crusade is all about? I think you kinda just gave it away, there. Conservatives talk about freedom but when they find it convenient they are AGAINST freedom, especially academic freedom. There is nothing wrong with the Beck quote I listed earlier... and there's nothing wrong with what Anita Dunn said. People are really grasping. Endorsing an idea that Mao had is tantamount to endorsing Mao's famine and Mao's cultural revolution? Seriously, what is wrong with some people? Also, don't read The Prince because it condones ruthlessness. Don't read Psalms because David was tyrannical. Just don't read. I don't know if Dunn is stupid, but she certainly is ignorant of how things can be perceived, which is remarkable for a communications director. You have to wonder what journalists at other news organisations think about Obama people boasting about how they controlled the media. Or that Obama people think they control them enough to drop them hints on what to do. "And the bigger thing is that other news organisations, like yours, ought not to treat them that way [like a news organisation]" said Axelrod on ABC. Think that'll chafe? MPorcius said... Let me corroborate the sense of Drew W's story; I am acquainted with several college professors (political scientists) who have many good things to say about Mao because he "supported black people's struggles" and because he realized "Western science is in the service of middle class elites." What, so if someone went around saying Machiavelli was their "favorite political philosopher" you wouldn't suspect they might be a bit of an amoral bastard? No. Quoting the man is harmless. The quote is actually a very good one and teaches a valuable lesson: Don't fight by your enemy's terms, pick your own. Easy. The unpardonable sin committed is not the quote, but the claim that he is her "favorite political philosopher" and her very clear admiration of him and his goals. That's why your comment about Beck was doubly irrelevent; first because we're not discussing Beck's sins we're discussing Dunn's, and second because simply quoting someone is completely harmless. It's the claim of admiration of the political philosophy of killing tens of millions of one's own people especially while a member of our government that is anathema. "Conservatives talk about freedom but when they find it convenient they are AGAINST freedom, especially academic freedom". How does criticizing Anita Dunn mean that conservatives are against academic freedom? Are they pushing for a law saying Mao can't be taught in schools? Or a law to prohibit saying stupid things to HS kids? That's way too progressive an idea for conservatives. Ms Dunn is free to say whatever she wants, and believe whatever she wants. And other people are free to criticize her beliefs and actions if they disagree. It's called freedom of expression and it goes both ways, for the speaker and the listener. Are you saying people have no right to criticize other people's beliefs or actions? BTW- in no way do I feel she should be fired for being a Maoist. Obama can hire all the Maoists he wants. But don't be surprised if people call him a communist sympathizer and vote against him because of it. They still have that right. The effects of Mao's policies are not equivalent to his writings. Nowhere did Mao write, "We must starve 50 million peasants for the good of China." That happened as a consequence of his policies, which aren't at all required to be equivalent to his stated philosophies. Why this even has to be pointed out suffers my patience. I think there are fools about. It's McCarthyism come back as farce. Just like Marx would have put it in The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte. See, I referenced Marx in a positive way. That means I'm a Marxist and that I will eat your babies, suckers. Just Lurking-- as you are free to go on as many moronic witch hunts as you please. I won't stop you. But I expect you will also defend my right to proclaim to all and sundry that you're a damned fool who follows the lead of a blubbering rodeo clown on Fox news. reader_iam said... I vote for sequestering Dunn and Beck in a room together, without access to Dem pols for the former and without access to a mike or vid cam for the latter. Or whatever. So long as they both (for example) just.go.away. Aww come on now, answer my question. I want hear you say with a straight face that if you heard someone describe Machiavelli as their "favorite political philosopher" you wouldn't suspect they might be an amoral bastard. I think the lip smacking is maybe from psychotropic medication. I don't think she's off kilter, for Obama. I think she is an efficient True Believer. It is probably a little thrilling for her to quote Mao to all those young people. Why, this almost makes her a revolutionary! Sort of. She could be if she wanted to. First Fox, then the world. To the barricades! Love how liberals live in their own world. Criticize someone for picking Mao as her "favorite political philosopher", and all of a sudden, we have McCarthyism. This is, somehow, supposed to shut us up, I guess. But the problem is that McCarthy was over a half a century ago, and, for the most part, he was right. Yes, he was a drunk at the end, but that is more ad hominem than relevant. The State Department was full of Soviet sympathizers (and even some Communists) at a time when we were starting into a Cold War with the USSR. Personally, I would prefer having an adherent of Sen. McCarthy running this country, than one of Mao. And, I wouldn't be surprised if a majority of Americans would agree. Yes, it is easy to pretend that there was no connection between the political philosophy of Mao and the murder of a population equivalent to the current population somewhere between that of the U.K. or France and of Germany. Yes, they were Chinks, but they are still dead by his hand. The problem there is that this level of brutality and murder is inherent in Mao's political philosophy. It is not a coincidence that the three biggest mass murderers of the 20th century were socialists, and two of them were of the Communist brand thereof. Rather, it is a natural consequence. Pretending it is not is just plain silly, in this day and age. There's nothing wrong with saying that Mao is one of your favorite political philosophers. There's quite a lot wrong with actually considering Mao to be one of your favorite political philosophers. In the former case you're merely saying something stupid. In the latter, you're actually an evil human being. Personally, I'd prefer neither Mao nor McCarthy, nor the adherents or even the descendants, of either. But that's just me, freakin' neo-fascist-idealist that I am. I wonder what her favorite part of Maoism is? That's his political philosophy, after all. That happened as a consequence of his policies, which aren't at all required to be equivalent to his stated philosophies. Now THAT qualifies as the most stupid statement of the year. That errant comma in my last comment is so, so bothersome to me. But it could be worse. I could be worse. I could actually take seriously the suggestion that our choices do, or ought, run the gamut from "A" to "B"--for example, Beck and Dunn. wv: logintsm Hey, MM, what do you think her favorite part of Maoism is? "Just Lurking-- as you are free to go on as many moronic witch hunts as you please. I won't stop you. But I expect you will also defend my right to proclaim to all and sundry that you're a damned fool who follows the lead of a blubbering rodeo clown on Fox news." I guess you didn't like my questions. Nowhere did Mao write, "We must starve 50 million peasants for the good of China." There's no written record of Hitler ordering the Final Solution, either. Certainly particularly foolish individuals seize on that fact to argue that genocide wasn't an essential part of Hitler's agenda. "It is probably a little thrilling for her to quote Mao to all those young people. Why, this almost makes her a revolutionary! Sort of. She could be if she wanted to." Yes. These cafe revolutionaries! I know them well and I believe a lot of them are nerds who long to be heroes. They were the geeks in school and hated and resented the jocks, the good looking kids, the popular and cool kids, and have nurtured this grudge all their lives. They become leftoids speaking truth to power and standing up to the fucking man! Right on! I'll bet the lion's share of academics in the humanities as well as journalists fall into this category. Liberalism is a mental disorder. From what I can tell, politically speaking the trend is for people--given the choice--to choose controlling people who,further, lust for micromanaging behind whom to rally. Which, by my lights, is no damn choice at all. the jocks, the good looking kids, the popular and cool kids Which one or ones were you, Paul? Quite separately: Paul, did you happen to read this blog and keyboard your comment via computer and other relevant technology? Surely I can't be the only one who noted the--dare I say it? here, within the Althouse blog family?--the obvious, and found it amusing. AST said... You're not saying it right. It's Mao Say Tongue. wv=duralt She said Mao was her favorite political philosopher along with Mother Theresa. The contrast is supposed to be cute, like "woah I'm quirky." It's not an endorsement of Maoism, unless you are an idiot. It was some pap for a graduation speech, for people who are supposed to be a little bit interested in exploring the ideas of historical figures, since they just went to college. It's the blandest, most benign kind of statement imaginable (the message was "follow your own path," not "kill the rich," if you can follow). And yet here we are, taking the lead of a blubbering morning show dj who spends every day trying to whip up a new scandal to feed to his angry fans. Just. Pathetic. Oh, and she licks her lips and it's revolting. I guess there should be a mannerisms test for government officials. I don't think Professor Althouse is attractive, but I really don't think it bears on her opinions. Chris Arabia said... "Beck didn't say Hitler was a great mind. Beck said Alan Dershowitz is a great mind." Thank you, Seneca. It was clear from the quoted passage that Beck was saying that Alan Dershowitz would destroy Dolph Hitler in a debate. Mont Mont, your attempt to turn that into an endorsement of Hitler was weak even by your poor standards, as if Jeremy had plied you with roofies and taken over your keyboard. More seriously, whether Beck is a bit of a goof or not, he is an adherent of limited government, which places him FAR away from Mao, and Hitler, and Stalin--really, all of those guys. "She said Mao was her favorite political philosopher along with Mother Theresa. The contrast is supposed to be cute, like "woah I'm quirky." It's not an endorsement of Maoism, unless you are an idiot. It was some pap for a graduation speech, for people who are supposed to be a little bit interested in exploring the ideas of historical figures, since they just went to college. It's the blandest, most benign kind of statement imaginable (the message was "follow your own path," not "kill the rich," if you can follow)." So, you think she's not a totalitarian, just an idiotic intellectually unserious leftist. Hmmm, yes, I agree. All too common these days, sadly. Mont, I guess you would condemn all the "smirking chimp" criticisms of W. then, yes? FTR, I agree, using the superficialities is kind of bogus, though Maddow is uber-annoying. And Monty, I find Stalin absolutely fascinating but NEVER discuss him without a disclaimer on how evil he was. If Dunn really considered Mao evil, she would have done likewise on Mao's evil, especially in the context of praising him to kids who would be unlikely to know any more of him than what she mentioned. wv: undog -- too good to specify... "I would have the best minds that I could find with a special eye out for those people who would vehemently disagree with each other. I'd let them argue it out and just listen. [...] let's put him [Alan Dershowitz] in a room with... Adolf Hitler. I'd love to see those guys go at it." Yes, clearly this means... well, it means that Glenn Beck thinks that Adolf Hitler was one of the best minds he could find. I really beg you to show me how the passage could mean anything else. Where is the word "destroy" ? It's ok though. Anita Dunn is evil. Glenn Beck really cares about you. Anita Dunn is evil. Obama is a socialist. Just keep repeating it to yourself and sleep, sleep. "What, so if someone went around saying Machiavelli was their "favorite political philosopher" you wouldn't suspect they might be a bit of an amoral bastard?" I know a couple of people who recommend reading "The Prince" and who find Machiavelli on their list of most interesting writers. I think it would be interesting to read a variety of horrible people but I don't think it would be nearly as interesting aside from the reality of the horror. I don't think that understanding anything happens until the abstract is understood as practical application. "Follow your own path" is saccharine pap. Anyone could come up with that one. It's only interesting in the context of Mao's action and what he felt that meant and what he felt his philosophy justified him in doing. the context of praising him to kids who would be unlikely to know any more of him than what she mentioned Maybe your kids. I expect a bit more out of college graduates. High standards I guess, though Mao was discussed by Coach Dubose in my NINTH GRADE world history class. Anita Dunn is evil. Obama is the devil. Sleep, sleep. "It's the blandest, most benign kind of statement imaginable (the message was "follow your own path,..." It's not great philosophy. It's some boring feel-good thing that anyone could come up with. Heck... just sing a Whitney Houston song and call it good. (The truth is... Mao is cool... and that's all that matters.) "So, you think she's not a totalitarian, just an idiotic intellectually unserious leftist." So an administration official gave an uncreative speech to some high school students. That's what Beck is milking for days on his show. That's what these paranoid whiners are making a stink about. Great use of our time, Synova. No, the reality is that they are grasping for straws because they got nothin'. Monty... If any of us used our time well, we would not be in this time-suck together. This issue is at least as profoundly important as 80% of all that is blogged daily, and certainly more important than the vast majority of causes for which enormous organizations exist and fund-raise. I mean... gawd... people waste their time whining about pet ownership being "animal slavery" when children are dying of malaria and other easily preventable diseases all over the world. I'm a bad mommy, and worse teacher. Only fancy!--my kid's already been exposed to parts of "The Prince" and "The Art of War." I kid you not. Also parts of Burke, Marx ... and, you know, other contradictory subversive sorts in history. For starters. And that's just history/philosophy. Whoops. Forgot to mention the exposure to Christianity. Man, there are no END of ways in which I exploit my child, exposing him as I do to all sorts of ideas. It's as if I was aiming to help him sharpen and equip his own brain, in order for him to evaluate stuff for himself, make up his own mind, and go on from there. Perish the thought, by golly. Montaigne, you persistently miss the point. The only issue here is, how stupid is this person who is the Director of Communications for the President of the United States? She's no Communist. She's clearly out of her depth even discussing Communism. But she should know enough to know that the Director of Communications for the President of the United States shouldn't be telling high school kids at their graduation that Chairman Mao, brutal dictator and mass murderer is one of her "two favorite political philosophers, or that he should be associated with Mother Theresa. It's just dumb. PR people aren't supposed to be dumb in that way. She's got the biggest PR job, arguably, in the world. It's ridiculous beyond words that someone so dumb would be given that job (apparently out of nepotism.) That's what this is about. Not her political leanings. She's of the left, but not like she's given it a moment's thought. It's just what all the people she hangs around with seem to believe in, and they give her big important jobs and so she's a left-winger. She hasn't given it ten seconds more thought than that. Because she can't. She said Mao was her favorite political philosopher along with Mother Theresa. The contrast is supposed to be cute, like "woah I'm quirky." It's not an endorsement of Maoism, unless you are an idiot. You have a point. A few quotes don't necessarily make her a Maoist. And if you had put it that way in your response to me, I would've gotten it right away. Sloppy wording on my part. I should have typed: "in no way do I feel she should be fired even if she happens to be a Maoist." But I stand by my point that criticizing her does not equate with attempting to limit academic freedom. I'm not a witch-hunt. As I said earlier, I find this controversy funny. After the Van Jones fiasco, as Obama struggles to fight off the impression that he is a socialist, his communications director is caught saying Mao is one of her favorite philosophers at a HS commencement. They make it too easy for people like Beck. "Which one or ones were you, Paul?" Good looking and a good guitar player. "Quite separately: Paul, did you happen to read this blog and keyboard your comment via computer and other relevant technology?" What on earth does that have to with anything? Don't be so sensitive about being a nerd. Not all nerds become resentful leftists, just as not all resentful leftists are nerds. They just skew that way. Michael Haz said... She does seem to view WH control of all media as this administrations Great Leap Forward. Hmmm. I was a mixed bag, who went on to do various things, including marrying the good-looking, very very good guitar player who also earned a rigorous engineering degree and thereafter did an array of things both nerdy and popular, if not always at the same time. As have I, as it happens; so it goes, sometimes. I'm not at all sensitive about nerd-type tendencies, Paul--and I must confess that I'm not much of a leftist, either. Nerds used to trend libertarian. Dunno what happened. Hell, I guess the same thing that happened to all the liberals who trended libertarian. Funny you should mention "Art of War", reader, since that's exactly what I thought of when I heard this quote: Mao cribbed from Sun-Tzu. It think he also cribbed from Lao-Tzu, Confucius and, in later years, Louis Armstrong. One wonders if he didn't kill all the intellectuals so that no one could call him on his plagiarism. We need a NEA chairman who agrees with Hitler on modern art. Well Reader you didn't really answer either question. You described your spouse but avoided characterizing yourself, other than the vague mixed bag reference. You ought to be prepared to answer the question that you saw fit to ask me, no? Also you didn't explain what your non sequitur about my using a computer to post a comment had to do with my point about nerds nurturing resentments, etc. Also I might add, since I'm sensing a tone of one-ups-manship, that I was a good enough musician to not have to get an engineering degree, as my grandfather did from Cornell, or a PHD in chemistry from Princeton, as my father did. Rather I was able to play well enough to make my living as a musician my entire adult life. "The effects of Mao's policies are not equivalent to his writings. Nowhere did Mao write, "We must starve 50 million peasants for the good of China." That happened as a consequence of his policies, which aren't at all required to be equivalent to his stated philosophies." "When your actions describe a system of evil consequences, you should be judged by those consequences and not by your explanations." Frank Herbert "She said Mao was her favorite political philosopher along with Mother Theresa. The contrast is supposed to be cute, like "woah I'm quirky." It's not an endorsement of Maoism, unless you are an idiot." Herbert's my favorite author, but I sure as Hell don't endorse him. "Montaigne, you persistently miss the point." "Missing the point" is the entire point of his argument. from a pr standpoint, obama is allowing idiots like dunn to distract from the overall agenda of the administration (thank god) Obama isnt going to win his war against fox, and if he cant win against fox how is going to deal with the norks, iranians, al queda and the taliban--we have an empty suit, and apparently a stupid suit, sitting in the oval office DaveW said... I've seen people do that weird thing with their mouth before. Their dentures aren't fitting right and they're constantly trying to push them into place with their tongue. Obama has some real wackos on staff. I expected it to be the Clinton crew rather than this group of doe-eyed nuts. Skyler, knee jerk liberals have been defending communists for decades, I would be shocked, shocked if they actually denounced her. Mother Theresa and Mao. Good lord. This is where "Jane you ignorant slut" should have been shouted out from some sane person in the audience. tjl said... "Obama has some real wackos on staff. I expected it to be the Clinton crew rather than this group of doe-eyed nuts." We should be thankful for the doe-eyed nuts. Imagine the harm O could do if his staffers were as skillful and ruthless as the Clintonites. My path involves a high-deductible health plan. I'm apparently not going to be allowed to follow it much longer. "This is where "Jane you ignorant slut" should have been shouted out from some sane person in the audience" Except that the next line after "Jane you ignorant slut" is "Who did you sleep with to get this job," and in Dunn's case that concept would be grotesque enough to spoil the joke. The effects of Mao's policies are not equivalent to his writings. Nowhere did Mao write, "We must starve 50 million peasants for the good of China." That happened as a consequence of his policies, which aren't at all required to be equivalent to his stated philosophies. Monty I want to extend my thanks to you. In that one paragraph alone, you have demonstrated that there is no limit, none at all, to the degree of complete stupidity that the human brain can attain. I find it amazing to say that you even make Jeremy look sage like. Congratulations Monty. You are an example to stupid people worldwide. They should make a bobblehead of you. A neighbor of mine wrote a memoir about being a teenager in the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s. (Gang of One: Memoirs of a Red Guard ") It was a harrowing time, and the story is well-told, if at times horrific. The destruction of family that Mao fostered by itself warrants his time in hell. Dunn's favorite philosopher gathered up all the western books and burned them, all over the country. There were so many such books however, and so much else to destroy, that they gathered some in old warehouses. The young man snuck into one and stole several books from the US to read, and hid them in the ground in the woods nearby. He knew he would be killed and his family imprisoned for the crime of reading, but he did it anyway. I cannot voice how disgusting I find people like Dunn. How she came to be in Obama's administration ("No, we're not socialists!") would be news if his pet Pravdas weren't so busy looking for a bail-out. bearbee said... She is, what, 55-60 years old? When she was in college Che and Mao were probably considered 'hip.' Does she know history? Sounds as if she hasn't much evolved in her political thinking or spiritual being. Do current student know who these people are and what horrors Mao unleashed? BTW, re: Joe the Plumber, Fox not-News, Tea party protests, the WH seems to act contrary to Mao's dictate to follow your own path. Monty has attempted to polish a turd with predictable adults. Please wash thoroughly, monty and use hand sanitizer. as you are free to go on as many moronic witch hunts as you please. I won't stop you. post some more of those rush quotes montague Rialby said... The Left will defend anyone in the Obama administration. As long as they don't say or do anything that can be considered right-wing in an American context, everyone will be defended. The Left will defend anyone in the Obama administration. Well I think its telling when the only liberal manning the barricades on this thread is Monty. And where be the left-of-left Robert Cook? Surely he has wisdom to impart, like the idea that socialsim isn't evil per se; the fact that its adherents killed 100 million last century is because it just wasn't done right. So let's let Obama give it the old college try. It's a funny old thing isn't it? If you had told me months ago that a Mao approving Obama official would be attacking a news organisation I would have thought you were going off the deep end, but here we all are. If you had told me months ago that a Mao approving Obama official would be attacking a news organisation I would have thought you were going off the deep end, but here we all are. Well anyone who read his book, looked at who he surrounds himself with and actually listened to the words that come out of his mouth, really shouldn't be surprised. I mean I'm not. About six months ago, Glenn Beck said he felt Acorn was more of a financial scam than a vaunted political movement. He thought it should be investigated using the RICO organized crimes laws. When I hear about the big dollars Acorn has gotten from the govt, I think events have proven him to be astute in this case. Oh don't get me wrong, I wasn't naive enough to believe Obama was anything other than leftist. I just didn't expect it to be this obvious and clumsy. That is why the Obama admin is attacking Fox News. So far, Fox and Brietbart have taken several scalps including Van Jones, Rev Wright, Bill Ayers, Acorn staff and will get a few more by year end like Anita Dunn and maybe Rahm Emanuel and Jennings. The syrupy self-help rhetoric attached to a communist dictator could only be uttered in America. It's already been pointed out, but it bears repeating so it doesn't get lost as the main thrust of this whole affair. The COMMUNICATIONS director for the POTUS should not be this incompetent at her job. There's right and wrong...and then there's political reality. The political reality is that this White House has either done a historically horrible job at vetting their appointees, or, worse, are so inured to their ideology that they didn't care what people were going to think when they appoint people with serious political weaknesses. This is not a free speech issue. It's a political liability issue. I suppose you could believe it's a free speech issue if you also believe that 100% of the time legal=justice or law=fair. Gary Kirk said... Regarding Glenn Beck, I've only watched him a few times and for the life of me I don't get all the weeping and gnashing of teeth by the other side. I like that description Ann, that "he's a good TV character." I guess I'm one of these high-strung guys like him and Rush, and I quite enjoy men and women who are passionate with their beliefs and their defense of the American vision. They do their homework. And that's a good thing. To the degreed and Pulitzered journalists and Emmy and Murrowed telenistas, class has begun. Take notes. Beck is a step up for Fox, and I'm surprised Opinion show hosts and special assignment investigators: Beck used to have a show on CNN and is now on FOX John Stossel used to be on ABC and is now on FOX Tucker Carlson was on MSNBC and is now on FOX Gretta Van Sustren used to be on CNN and is now on FOX Shannon Bream used to work for NBC and now works for FOX News Channel Many many others who are not the "big names" have also switched channels. Hmmmmmm is there a trend? Re: Montague: Yeah, I dunno. I think if my favourite philosopher turned out to be a bloodthirsty tyrant who caused tens of millions of deaths, I'd think twice about his being my favourite philosopher. It's also not clear to me that Mao's policies are actually in any way incompatible with his philosophy -- it's not like the Little Red Book doesn't contain passages about wiping out the counterrevoluntionary enemy and so on. The problem in the administration "vetting" is that any liberal administration appoints from a pool of people who are out of touch with the rest of the country. They have to draw from the liberal elite, who are mostly academics and lawyers. They've been educated a certain way by elite universities. Guess what? All the things about higher education that conservatives bitch about-- multiculturalism, anti-American perspectives, and lax scholarship-- have consequences. They produce people like Dunn who have no idea that what they are saying is wrong. What they heard in school was far more radical, after all. There's nothing wrong with the "vetting" process. There's nowhere else for a liberal administration to go. The problem is the stunning ignorance and moral cluelessness of our elites. Just in from Leno via Lucianne; "President Obama has committed another 40,000 troops to the war on Fox News." I guess the fair point that is emerging out of this thread is that Dunn is, quite simply, a shallow moron, and has no clue what Mao's philosophy was. She just heard a quote she liked, and decided that was his "philosophy." The political reality is that this White House has either done a historically horrible job at vetting their appointees, or, worse, are so inured to their ideology that they didn't care what people were going to think when they appoint people with serious political weaknesses. Well its only a political weakness when people actually understand and grasp the concept that communism sucks? I mean the fact that there weren't gasps (at least I didn't hear any) when this nimrod said one of her favorite political philosophers was Mao speaks volumes. Then there are just those that either whitewash what Mao and his ilk had done or simply accept it as necessary in order to achieve the goal of a communist society. I listened to this apologist bullshit for 4 years in college and it hasn't changed much over the years. Guys, the man is a Marxist. He admitted in his book he was drawn to them in college. Look at who he surrounds himself with. The man sat in a church for twenty fucking years listening to Black Liberation Theology and goddam Amerikka. It absolutely boggles my mind that any clear thinking person would vote for this man unless they subscribed to the same philosophy or were so deeply in denial that they just couldn't see past his halo and soothing speaking voice. Yeah, it sounded to me like he wanted to watch Alan Dershowitz completely demolish Hitler in an argument. Also, it occurs to me that the “right” quotes goebbles all the time, but it is very obviously as more of a “watch out for what bad people might do” rather than “let’s talk about how awesome he is”. I’m a little concerned that Ms. Dunn trends towards the latter, although I saw the clip with her saying Mao and Mother Teresa and she just struck me as someone who was trying to make these very shocking sort of mash-up. Which just seemed like something a very young person would do, but also kind of indicates that she knew Mao was bad, as compared to Mother Teresa? So I’m not sure what she was doing here. I am sure she is kind of an idiot. Mao's philosophy was all about how to be the political winner in a large country in a crisis from war and poverty(Ie.,"All Power comes out of the muzzel of a gun"). Anita Dunn plans to be a winner in a large country in a crisis from war and poverty too. She is ready as soon as Obama's policies finish preparing the battle space for them...a large country in a crisis from war and poverty. The day Obama and Reid finish surrendering us to a world treaty requiring us to go into poverty from a hoax war against the sun, then Anita is ready and has her great mentor's thoughts handy in a red book to guide her in the massive necessary killings of the Bourgeoisie. Other than that she is a sweet person just trying to help out where she can. Also, it occurs to me that the “right” quotes goebbles all the time, but it is very obviously as more of a “watch out for what bad people might do” rather than “let’s talk about how awesome he is”. For the life of me, I can't think of many Goebbels quotes off the top of my head. The interesting question is why she likes Mao. Successful? Sure, but how and why? Mao beat the nationalists because he considered them his primary enemy, not the Japanese. Chiang Kai-shek initially felt the same, until a group of his officers considering the Japanese the primary enemy kidnapped him and forced him to sign a truce with the communists. Thereafter the nationalists fought the Japanese while the communists undermined the nationalists and saved their strength waiting for the civil war to resume. So what lesson is there to take from this? If you want to win, let your true enemy spend his strength fighting someone else while you stab them in the back. The Obama administration isn't interested in fighting terrorism (or defending against the Iranians or Russians). That threat serves to keep Republicans busy when they're powerful. No, the Obama administration spends its effort on the war against Fox News and Rush Limbaugh. These are who lefties perceive as their real enemies. This was also true during the Bush administration, where Republicans fought terrorists and their supporters while the leftist Democratic leadership undermined their efforts. I understand perfectly why lefties like Mao, they use his playbook. The question is: when are the rest of the Democrats going to learn how they're being led around by the nose by people who consider their political opponents worse than terrorists? Or more precisely,can they learn? One wonders if the world view of the left is penetrable by even reality, much less truth? It is hard to not believe that Anita Dunn is a set-up from the White House: "Aw, give her something to do!" " We could make her WHCD. By the time she surely screws that up, we'll have our real guy. Then we can blame it all on her and - whooosh - abort her from the job." "I like it! let's put it into play today!" WV: cater. What the Obama Administration does to the American left. Honestly, to say what Mrs. Dunn did would give me a queasy, sick feeling in my stomach. Whether she was serious or trying to be "cute" or not, the fact remains that she trivializes one of the 20th Century's greatest murderers. I imagine, Mrs. Dunn had heard someone make a laughing comparison between Mother Teresa, and say, Pinochet, she would have recoiled in horror. But Mao, he's "cute". Mao's philosophy was all about how to be the political winner in a large country in a crisis from war and poverty(Ie.,"All Power comes out of the muzzel of a gun") Sorry, but that line has already been quoted by another Obama administration official. Watch it here: http://blip.tv/play/hJNRgajKGQI%2Em4v pinkmonkeybird said... I thought I was the only person who's seen this video who'd noticed that annoying tongue action and other tics in her face. But I think comedians have a name for that kind of detail that gives punctuation to what they intend to be taken as humor. For example, Jason Alexander, as George Costanza, licks his lips after a punchline. I have no love for Anita Dunn, and I agree that she's a bit of a dim bulb. But I believe her when she says she was attempting to be funny. Wait a minute, though. That does not let her off the hook for these egregious remarks. Tragically, the Left thinks that Mao and Che are cool icons and that the stark realities of their murderous history can be overlooked in lieu of their cultural stature of cool. Perhaps it was just a quirky ironic comment. But it was entirely inappropriate at the time. Whenever I see one of these impassioned leftists, I think of Tom Courtenay in Doctor Zhivago. The true believers always end up killing lots and lots of people. B.S. philosopher said... My wife, a nurse, looked at the Dunn video and the first words out of her mouth were "tardive dyskinesia". Apparently tongue thrusting and chewing of that nature are a side effect that she has seen in some people who take powerful antipsychotic drugs like Haldol. Not that I am suggesting anything about Ms. Dunn mind you... WV:douse (RE FOX) Follow the money? Hossier, this is the one I was thinking of. It’s only the one that I hear quoted a lot. “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.” ~ Goebbles .,"All Power comes out of the muzzel of a gun") With an administration going around quoting THAT, is anyone surprised at there has been a run on bullets? As to her "ironic" explanation, I am with Nathan Fillion's "Rick Castle" character - ever since the Alanis song, everyone seems to confuse irony with mere coincidence. I remember being at the Dow Corning museum in upstate NY - they have this room with various "commemorative" corning plates - when I saw the ones Mao and Stalin, I asked the nice guide where I could find the ones for Hitler and Mussolini. I don't think she got the joke. If you want to see libs defend these comments, to the consternation of conservative and moderates, go here: http://meganmcardle.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/10/radical_chic.php I was thinking she had dentures. She's of an age where those would be likely, and they do tend to cause drymouth, from what I've heard. Perhaps it was just a quirky ironic comment. She read from a prepared text. Larry Davis said... Hoosier Daddy: How about these quotes from Dr.Gobbels: “Think of the press as a great keyboard on which the government can play.” The American Left's lack of revulsion at Mao makes me wonder whether the fact that Mao's victims were Chinese mitigates, in the subconscious minds of the Left, the magnitude of his crimes. There are plenty of Chinese, after all. And they're so inscrutable. What's another hundred million of them, more or less? He just helped the overpopulation problem, and reduced China's carbon footprint. Heh. That reminds me of a scene from Braveheart. ROYAL ADVISOR: But my Lord, the Princess may be taken captive, or killed. LONGSHANKS: Oh and that would distress my son no doubt. But if she were killed, we would find a valuable ally in the King of France. (smirks) You see, as King, you must be able to find the good in any situation. Beck is easier to listen to than to watch. He mugs too much for the camera. Re: Hoosier: TOTALER KRIEG! A~nd, that's about it. Can't think of any others, and the LarryTheOlder quotes seem a little suspect to me. Would the "keyboard" metaphor have been current back in the 30s? And while Goebbels is famous for his use of the "Big Lie" (e.g. that victory is imminent in the East), I think his writings contain more fulmination about Jews lying. Which they would of course, given that he was a 200% fanatical Nazi. The "Big Lie" article at wikipedia gives and sources a Goebbel's quote about British big lies. And there are a number of pieces available online -- Goebbels' speeches to the Nazi faithful -- which outline his view of propaganda, which doesn't really match Larry's quotes. E.g., from 1934: Good propaganda does not need to lie, indeed it may not lie. It has no reason to fear the truth. It is a mistake to believe that the people cannot take the truth. They can. It is only a matter of presenting the truth to people in a way that they will be able to understand. A propaganda that lies proves that it has a bad cause. It cannot be successful in the long run. Of course, that's what he's saying in public, albeit to a Nazi audience. Perhaps he expressed other sentiments in his diary. paul a'barge said... Go back and re-watch the video of Dunn. Take note of the fact that she says that she keeps going back to Mao (and Ms Theresa). Keeps going back. Keeps going back. Now, you don't say that you keep going back to a moral monster when you're being sarcastic. Or ironic. When you say you keep going back, you pretty much put your lizard tongue in the poo poo. The amazing thing to me is that good education teaches us to think for ourselves all thru life. The willingness of the educated progressives and envionmentalists to leave their brains outside of the arena of politics, and to only follow the line demanded from them by a strongman lead organisation convinces me that we are dealing with a new religion of followers with absolute faith in Collectivist Strength (which we used to call Communist Doctrine). That is scary because this Religion believes in human sacrifice by killing off the Bourgeoisie middle class. If you are a elite democrat with Billions in inherited wealth, or if you are dirt poor, then the Maoists among us are no threat to you. But if you are middleclass, then they are coming for you with murder on their mind. The smile of Barak Obama is a false smile when he talks to the Joe the Plumbers and the Tea Party goers. He hates them. Fox News does not hate the midleclass and they are his enemies because of that. "Magda, you did what to the kids?" Tarzan said... Beck has always been engaging, insightful and humorous. That a lot of highbrow conservatives profess not to listen to him is exactly the same sort of 'reaching across the aisle' nonsense we get from John McCain. Like the people who spout conservative ideal but always feel they have to end it with, "But yeah, Bush sucked." (derisive snort) Beck is actually backing up his claims with video AKA "hard to refute evidence". That is refreshing. Stephen Snell said: "Mont Mont, your attempt to turn that into an endorsement of Hitler was weak even by your poor standards, as if Jeremy had plied you with roofies and taken over your keyboard." To be fair to Montagne, this was actually an improvement for him- at least he was posting a real quote this time. Kirby Olson said... I didn't read the whole list of comments but tried to skim, and noticed that no one brought up The Shining Path, which also seems to echo Ms. Dumb's comments. Since no one brought it up, I thought that I would bring it up. The Shining Path were a Maoist group in South America -- I don't know if they are still killing people down there. What country was it? The one just north of Ecuador. Peru, I think! Does she really mean that she's a member of the Shining Path that somehow got separated from her gorilla unit? Media Matters apparently used a quote from Karl Rove about the book reading contest between President Bush and Rove, where among other things suggested Bush recommends a Mao Bio to Rove, as some sort of proof that Dunn is not an idiot. Excellent reasoning skills over there. http://mediamatters.org/blog/200910150036 Monty purposely misses a rather large point; Beck is a talk show host, he cannot create governmental policy. While Dunn is a high level White House appointee responsible for WH Communication policy. Thus Dunn's words carry the imprimatur of the Executive Branch and should be held to a higher standard. fwiw- I just returned from a trip to Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic; Obama's European honeymoon is over. Anti-Americanism is alive and well, with a heaping of mockery thrown on for good measure. The European media establishment is annoyed that Obama isn't fulfilling his campaign promises on hard left issues, while the tabloids are in the throes of schadenfreude over our economic woes. While most Poles and Czechs were against the missile shield they are uneasy over Russia's renewed militarism re the situation in Georgia and aggressive policy stance on Ukraine. As usual, Europe is schizophrenic about US military power, if we project it they feel bullied, if we retreat they feel betrayed. This July opinion piece from the right-of-center Telegraph pretty much sums up the attitude I encountered among many people with whom I spoke last week. I've finally got time to listen to the clip. If Anita Dunn was "joking" about Mao, was she also "joking" about Mother Theresa? Largo said... I once remarked out loud to my (Chinese) wife that "Chairman Mau was an idiot." This was on a bus in Hong Kong, less than about ten years ago. (I was reading a book on the cultural revolution at the time. My wife shushed me, saying that I did not know who on the bus might be listening. I hoped she was being paranoid, but she is the one who grew up in Hong Kong. :( TosaGuy said... Liberals, Why would waste any political capital defending Anita Dunn? Sure, she was speaking off the cuff and no serious person things she defends Mao's actions he did after stating the quote Dunn used. However, your typical American who has actually studied history knows that Mao was a very bad man and you just don't go there. Her judgement is extremely poor and she makes the administration a laughing stock as she is the face of the isolate FNC strategy. Are there any professionals in this administration who are interested in actual governence of the nation, or are they only interested in playing partisan, creating enemies list and letting their ideology take over all sense of rational thought. If I was a liberal, I would want the Anita Dunns, Van Jones and all these other third-string dullards out since all they do is make it harder for my agenda to get done. I would never waste my time defending these jokers. Not only would I not defend these folks, I would be upset that they were hired in the first place. Tosa, She wasn't speaking off the cuff! It was a commencement speech! It's not a matter of "defending Mao's actions", it's a matter of blithely parroting a quote (that he ripped off Sun-Tzu IMO) without a little aside about "democide champion" as if Mao is someone who should be spoken about in polite company. You couldn't do that with Hitler. You sure shouldn't be able to do that with Stalin or Mao. Looks like Politico got the WH memo, they're blaming Drudge for the falling dollar. Mis-direct much? I guess they didn't see Robert Fisk's Oct 6th column in the Independent. Anyone who reads Asian and European newspapers would have known about the alledged deal to decouple the dollar from oil in favor of the Euro. As Fisk notes, Iran has already done so. There is also an international debate over the IMF currency reserve that may also blindside Politico. Dollar been declining since 2002 - chart Oil purchases in favor of euro rather than dollars has been discussed for a while. Robert W. said... Dennis Prager had a stunning interview with liberal writer, Michael Tomasky today. In it, Tomasky stated that he had no idea about Anita Dunn's Mao comment. As Prager said afterwards, this doesn't make Tomasky a dummy but does illustrate how deep in their own bubble those on the Left truly are. Blake: Yes. Thanks for noticing, but far more for the noting. I did answer it. You didn't get it. But see later. It had to do with your tone about nerds, who, in terms of technology, back in my day in up-to 12th grade schools, were far less ubiquitous, and so they got busted on a lot, both gratuitously and ridiculously. So many of them deserve the last laugh they earned. Also I might add, since I'm sensing a tone of one-ups-manship I quite deliberately adopted that tone, Paul, precisely due to having detected that tone you. In fact, that's a good chunk of what inspired me to respond specifically to you. You've got that vibe going. that I was a good enough musician to not have to get an engineering degree, as my grandfather did from Cornell, or a PHD in chemistry from Princeton, as my father did. Rather I was able to play well enough to make my living as a musician my entire adult life. 1) I think music, math and engineering are beyond kissing cousins. 2) My parents met as music majors. I am the daughter of not just one, but two, musicians, both in the sense of being musicians, but also in the sense of making livings. Also, my father spent some decades as a university music prof. My mom took the rather riskier route. Being their kid, I saw lots. 3) I told you I was a mixed bag. That was far from being a duck: In fact, in went far further toward telling more truth than what you wrote in the comment to which I responded to begin with. But if you like: I was mostly not good looking (except for one particular stretch, which unfortunately is connected to one of the worst periods of my life); I was not popular, in one sense, even most senses, though I was involved in an extraordinary number of activities, in which people wanted me to be, including those popular; and I was right up there, academically, even though I essentially abandoned my senior year in high school in favor of more hours to work and to take classes at the local university. 4) My husband was, and is, a musician. 5) And, last--just cuz I think wicked humor (especially humor based in reality) is always a good thing to bring in to particular sorts of situations-- Betcha we have a much larger and better collection of guitars than you do. For example, and all that jazz. Or maybe not. Who, really, gives an f' about all that high-school stuff, anyhow? Re #4: ... in addition to being an engineer; if he can be considered a musician in the eyes of my father--a harsh taskmaster, merciless teacher, strict judge, and person of muscular, unbudgeable opinion, if ever there was one--then I'd suspect most others would consider DH rather more able than your average off-hours plinker. The true believers always end up killing lots and lots of people. On that, I think, we all ought to be able to agree, viewing the truly vast span of history. Beck is at who's Beck and call. phlebotomist said... Dude, I like Althouse, I do – no, I really do. I like her blog, I’ve read it for years etc. I don’t comment there, which weakens any cred I have, because Althouse has a serious posse of commenters. phlebotomy training DE	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line934
__label__cc	0.516322	0.483678	"We will not be sending U.S. troops back into combat in Iraq." Said President Obama, observing that what is happening now in Iraq is not simply a military problem and blaming the leaders of the Iraqi government for not doing enough to overcome sectarian differences. ADDED: At Slate, Reihan Salam writes "We Never Should Have Left Iraq/A U.S. military presence could have mollified Sunnis and prevented the new civil war." Excerpt: Under Saddam, Iraq’s Shia plurality was subjugated by its Sunni minority. The fear among Sunnis has long been that once the Shias come to power, they would be the victims of all manner of reprisals. A similar dynamic has long been at play in Syria, where the Assad regime, closely tied to the Alawite minority, rules over a Sunni majority. It also played a role in the Bosnian civil war, where various ethnic groups fought desperately to avoid minority status, which many believed would amount to a death sentence. Tags: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iraq, Obama and Iraq, Obama's war on terror, Reihan Salam, Saddam, Syria Military problems are the natural out growth of political problems. Warfare is just politics by other means. This is International Relations 101; by definition, NOTHING IS EVER simply a military problem. So who the hell is supposed to be paying reparations to who? And how are White men responsible? Good. Now shut the fuck up about it and tell your diplomats and aides not to tweet about this. The US is not going to do anything so nothing left to say. Same with the Ukraine. It's only stupid statements and reset buttons and fake red lines that make the US look weak. So does blaming W. and calling Afghanistan the good war. Get the fuck out of these Islamic states and quit trying to cut deals with them. You can't reason with these people because they don't think like you do. Take the nukes out of Pakistan and tell Iran you will bomb them if they don't stop their nuke program and then do it if they don't. But shut the fuck up. You only make the US weaker when you open your mouth. Decisions are days away. We're clearly prepping to enter stage four of the Yes Minister four-stage strategy. short version: Iraq, you're F'd! You know who I feel the worst for? The scores of civilians who sided with America over the last several years. It's going to be unpleasant for them, no matter who wins. Abandoning Iraq may be the right move, I don't know. I do know between that, our hesitating in several other places in the Mid East and the missile shield debacle, we are going to come across as unreliable partners. That may do more to undermine our foreign partnerships than anything Bush ever did. Widmerpool said... From the excellent Dexter Filkins article in the New Yorker: American diplomats made one last effort to preserve their influence. In a meeting, Jeffrey asked Maliki to commit to several goals in his second term: granting amnesty to thousands of Sunnis who had been detained without charges; dismantling prisons where American officials believed that Iraqis were being tortured; and signing an agreement that would allow American troops to stay in the country. Later that year, the U.S. brokered a deal to bring Allawi and other members of his coalition into the government. In time, Maliki either ignored or jettisoned every promise. “He looked us straight in the eyes and lied,” the former diplomat told me. The consequences became clear when negotiations began over the crucial question of withdrawing American troops after 2011. The leaders of all the major Iraqi parties had privately told American commanders that they wanted several thousand military personnel to remain, to train Iraqi forces and to help track down insurgents. The commanders told me that Maliki, too, said that he wanted to keep troops in Iraq. But he argued that the long-standing agreement that gave American soldiers immunity from Iraqi courts was increasingly unpopular; parliament would forbid the troops to stay unless they were subject to local law. President Obama, too, was ambivalent about retaining even a small force in Iraq. For several months, American officials told me, they were unable to answer basic questions in meetings with Iraqis—like how many troops they wanted to leave behind—because the Administration had not decided. “We got no guidance from the White House,” Jeffrey told me. “We didn’t know where the President was. Maliki kept saying, ‘I don’t know what I have to sell.’ ” At one meeting, Maliki said that he was willing to sign an executive agreement granting the soldiers permission to stay, if he didn’t have to persuade the parliament to accept immunity. The Obama Administration quickly rejected the idea. “The American attitude was: Let’s get out of here as quickly as possible,” Sami al-Askari, the Iraqi member of parliament, said. The last American combat troops departed Iraq on December 18, 2011. Some U.S. officials believe that Maliki never intended to allow soldiers to remain; in a recent e-mail, he denied ever supporting such a plan, saying, “I am the owner of the idea of withdrawing the U.S. troops.” Many Iraqi and American officials are convinced that even a modest force would have been able to prevent chaos—not by fighting but by providing training, signals intelligence, and a symbolic presence. “If you had a few hundred here, not even a few thousand, they would be coöperating with you, and they would become your partners,” Askari told me. “But, when they left, all of them left. There’s no one to talk to about anything.” Donald Douglas said... Yeah, well, Obama fiddles... My crisis update this morning, 'Iraq Crisis: Beheadings, Sharia Imposed as #ISIS Encircles Baghdad; 1,700 Shia Troops Executed; Refugee Crisis Mushrooms'. Ironically, one can almost honestly argue this one "is Bush's fault", since the withdrawal timetable was made by his administration. But that doesn't work so well after trying to take credit for it when it was working ... and one has to deal with pushback about Congress' influence. Heck of a job, Barry. I can think of no clearer statement Obama could make of his intention to put boots on the ground than his declaration that we will not put boots on the ground. Exactly what mccullough wrote - it's not so much what they do or don't do, but how no matter what course they choose, the Obama Admin manages to look like 12 year old girls doing it. Seriously, that Jen Psaki needs to go ASAP, and she can take Marie Harf with her. I wouldn't trust either of those airheads to get me a latte. They need someone in there, female or male, who speaks with a little gravitas and tweets not at all. I know that politics is supposed to be celebrity for ugly people, but that doesn't mean that top level government reps should act like a Kardassian. Johnny Lanctot said... You guys are all too harsh. A sternly worded letter is being drafted as we speak... IIRC, even George W. and Rumsfeld's "light military force" took 6-9 months to assemble and ship to the Gulf, so no, we most certainly are not going to do anything much for the remainder of Obama's term, and at least a couple of years after that. And everybody knows that, so the most our military can do is to try to guess what the world is gong to look like in 2018 and try to prepare for that. We also have a situation now where nobody - including our own military - will believe anything this administration says. Iran is fighting Syria inside Iraq. Mission Accomplished! harrogate said... There's a Meme going around this morning that basically sums up what I think about the discussions over these last couple of days: "Getting lectured on Iraq by the same people who got us into that dangerous war in the first place is like getting fire safety tips from an arsonist." I know that people on this site do not like to hear that argument, generally living in a world where the Iraq Occupation was wildly successful and awesome. But the above statement seems to me to be currently aligned with a hell of a lot of Americans. May such reticence endure as long as possible. Why we should have elected Romney. Shhhh. The grownups are talking. Petulant bombing is going to hurt, not help. The basic thing now is not just that Obama does not know what to do, but that if he did, he no longer has anything to do it with. Does that also work with pols of a party who feel that gun control will stop gun violence but run cities with strict laws that are murderous hell holes? When we defeated Germany and Japan it took DECADES for us to get them back on their feet. We had boots on the ground for that time period and ex-Nazis and Japanese rightest did perform sabotage and attacks on our troops. When we helped South Korea repel the communist invaders from North Korea and China, we again stayed for decades.. in fact we are still there! And NK now and then sends saboteurs to South Korea. We made huge mistakes in Vietnam, left, and the communist took over. When George Bush gave his speeches after 9/11 he told the nation the war against the terrorist would the a very long time. He also said any nation that harbored those terrorist were, in our eyes, terrorist themselves. So it is no shock when we invaded Afghanistan (which actively trained the very terrorist that caused 9/11) and then Iraq, which also trained Al Qaeda terrorist and defied the UN agreements. And now Obama cuts and runs from BOTH countries way to early. And we will pay for that. Afghanistan and Iraq, having cultures of corruption and also having ineptness of their military (as did South Korea and Vietnam) needed GENERATIONS of supervision before standing on their own. Obama failed to deliver that and as a result both countries will revert to their old ways and the terrorist, literally, will have won. They will become training grounds for new generations of terrorist (and with the 5 terrorist traded for our deserter as recruitment posters!) Thank Obama.. we can't vote him out, so lets vote Dems out to show our displeasure. Well, that's an important point if one feels that saying "I told you so" is more important that pursuing America's interests. It's neither mature nor helpful, but I suppose it works for some inferior minds. Dale Light said... Rather predictably, Fareed Zakaria blames the Iraqis and Bush: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/fareed-zakaria-who-lost-iraq-the-iraqis-did-with-an-assist-from-george-w-bush/2014/06/12/35c5a418-f25c-11e3-914c-1fbd0614e2d4_story.html And one question... Where was the CIA when all the terrorist were talking about invading Iraq? In fact, were was the CIA when the terrorist were talking about attacking the American Embassy? Don't we spend 60 BILLION on the NSA and CIA stuff? Well, what the heck do we need them for if all they do is spy on US? Seems Obama, Hillary, Kerry, and the CIA/DIA/NSA are always asleep at the switch. And it's kind of strange after 9/11 the terrorist had a real hard time making any kind of attack or gain. Yea, when Bush was president. I agree with Harrogate. Let's not ask Hilary! for advise on this matter since she voted to go to war. Especially not Hilary! since she was also married to the bastard that signed the Iraqi Freedom Act into law. And let's cross the UN off our list of responsible parties to any future discussion since we obtained not one but TWO votes to authorize force there too. On the other hand, we managed some SF teams to call Tacair for the Northern Alliance in 6 days... This didn't happen this week. The explanation is here . Even before the U.S. forces left, American-trained leaders were being replaced with more and more “favored” officers from sects, tribes or families linked to the government. They weren’t chosen for their competency, a big mistake. The increasing sectarianism of the central government turned people against the security forces, too, and against public officials. A punishing operational tempo for both elite and normal units meant that “select and trusted” Iraqi units were being shuttled to the various trouble spots across the country. Those on the frontiers were worn out fighting local insurgencies, terrorists and criminals. The Iraqi Army was, in effect, in combat continuously for several years after U.S. forces departed. There was little re-training and little rest. This kind of operational tempo will exhaust even the best soldiers. For Iraq’s soldiers, their level of training and toxic leadership became a recipe for disaster. Obama owns this. There are rough times ahead. The next domino is Turkey which has been sliding down the Islamist slope since Erdogan took over. This was all pretty much guaranteed when the Bremer decisions handed all the power and control to the Shia, along with igniting the Civil War and tens of thousands of US casualties. The window dressing was Democracy and how the Iraqis were all noble purple-fingered Freedom Lovers. American tried legitimizing a winner-take-all majority rule that cared not a fiddle for minority rights (Alewites and Shia in Syria, Sunnis in Iraq, Coptic Christians in Egypt.) It's all now blown up in the faces of Bushes loathsome Neocons as well as Barry's Samantha Powers sort of activist bitches that supported the "oppressed" without a clue in their silly female heads that the "oppressed" Sunni Syrians and Iraqi Shiite groups as well as Zimbabwe blacks and Ukrainian ethnics were just waiting their turn to become the new oppressors. bbkingfish said... "...unreliable partners." "Partners." Hmm...must be the new conservative term for "occupying army of invading forces." Just kidding, Matthew. We have crossed paths before. I enjoy your posts, and appreciate that you are sincere and thoughtful in your beliefs. You should be aware however, that, according to International Relations 101, by definition, there is no such thing as a "reliable partner," only marriages of convenience. Don't worry. This concept will be covered thoroughly after the midterm. a sternly worded letter? that's overkill. How about a tweeted picture of Michelle Obama and her fake somber face...#saveourpeaceinourtime I knew when Obama won he would make sure that Iraq would be a failure. Because Bush got us into it, he and the Dems would always make the claim that anything bad that ends up happening is ultimately Bush's fault. For a while there Obama and the Dems were riding high with his foreign policy "wins", but now this is a huge millstone around all of their necks and reminds everyone why you can't trust the Dems with foreign policy. The American public has to be reminded of this every couple of decades. Very unfortunate for the Iraqi's and all our Iraq vets who now appear to have sacrificed for nothing. "Ironically, one can almost honestly argue this one "is Bush's fault", since the withdrawal timetable was made by his administration." Yes, but there's nothing "ironic" about it. More to the point, as more the initial cause, it was the Bush administration that destroyed Iraq--opening it to this chaos--by planning and implementing the baseless and illegal invasion of the country. This is just a further ramification and consequence of that original disastrous decision. "Shhhh. The grownups are talking." Hahahahaha! Yeah..."Rusty." "...it is no shock when we invaded Afghanistan (which actively trained the very terrorist that caused 9/11) and then Iraq, which also trained Al Qaeda terrorist...." No, Paul...Iraq did not train Al Qaeda terrorist...(or terrorists). Browndog said... Where was the CIA when all the terrorist were talking about invading Iraq? Why do you make it sound like the CIA is some rogue outfit? The CIA are under the direct supervision of the White House. They started (illegally) arming ISIS out of the Benghazi consulate. They've been (legally, but stupidly) arming them full throttle all year. Last month a CIA stinger shot down a US chopper in Afghanistan. BTW- this ISIS "invasion" into Iraq has been going on since March. Aside--The Obama regime still refers to them as ISIL;which merged with other al Qaida types creating ISIS. This is only important in that the White House/State Dept. is using that distinction to pretend ISIS is some small offshoot, and not ISIL--since, you know, they armed AND funded them. Seems like it was only about a year ago that Obama was talking tough to Assad, assuring the world that his demise was eminent. He just doesn't seem to understand that words are meaningless nations that value the rule of law even less than we now do. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier, "Iraqi soldiers dressing in civies beneath their military uniforms "in case they have to flee" #Baghdad. Sht's going down. Conservatives now can blame Obama for withdrawing, and liberals GWB for invading. So each side has something to be smug and self-righteous about (he says, smugly and self-righteously). "You should be aware however, that, according to International Relations 101, by definition, there is no such thing as a "reliable partner," only marriages of convenience." -- Actually, creating and maintaining reliable partnerships [that is, ensuring that each nation's interests conveniently overlap with each other] is all of international relations. The entirety of a nation's reasons for interacting with other nation's is convincing those nations that: 1) It is in your interest for our interests to be met and 2) you can trust us to uphold our end of bargains where we make small trade-offs in your interest so you will back similar trade-offs in our interests. Statecraft is built around making a reliable state; that's why states that are unreliable in execution [think of a failed state like Iraq right now, where parliament can't even make a quorum to say "Hey, let's raise some money to stop the rampaging enemy Army,"] as well simply unreliable. That's why we have international treaties, laws, etc. Because our marriages of convenience only work if we trust and rely on each other. Even if he privately made the decision not to redeploy US troops, the decision to say so publicly is foolish. Skeptical Voter said... Well of course it's not Obama's fault; nothing he did (or didn't do) contributed in any way to this situation. And besides, Obama has a tee time tomorrow at Palm Springs, so has better things to do than think about this debacle, to which he contributed so much. We did the same in Germany when we helped overthrow Hitler. But we stuck around for decades and, lo and behold, FORTY FIVE YEARS LATER, Germany could stand on its own. Iraq had less than a quarter of that time. Check the front pages of Israeli newspapers..hardly a mention of these developments whilst we are having the vapors. "More to the point, as more the initial cause, it was the Bush administration that destroyed Iraq--opening it to this chaos--by planning and implementing the baseless and illegal invasion of the country. This is just a further ramification and consequence of that original disastrous decision. " It was the Lincoln administration that destroyed the South--opening it to this chaos--by planning and implementing the baseless and illegal civil war. These current talks of reparations and civil rights are further ramifications and consequences of that original disastrous decision. This is the foolishness of people like Barack Obama and Robert Cook. They don't see that freeing the slaves was the right thing to do, even though we are still paying the cost over 100 years later. Similarly, you can't go into a country and free an entire people and not expect to have to work at it for generations to come. If you argue that we should have left the Iraqi's to the whim of Saddam Hussien, morally, you're making the same argument as saying we should have left the slaves on the plantations. Pookie Number 2, It's not to say "I told you so" at all. It's to ask, why continue to accord "expert" status on Iraq to the people who so royally fucked things up already? What's sad is that these people can even get on television at all at this point. Gary Rosen said... C-fudd, Samantha Powers hates Israel as much as you do, the two of you should get a room. Bonus: she's a tranny. "Even if [Obama] privately made the decision not to redeploy US troops, the decision to say so publicly is foolish." The man's out of his depth. Damikesc, Hitler started the war that we joined years after the fact. The destruction of and long-term consequences suffered by Germany when the Allies defeated them resulted from his initial aggression. WE were the aggressors against Iraq, we invaded them for no reason, and so the consequences THEY are suffering now are directly OUR fault. avwh said... "Abandoning Iraq may be the right move, I don't know. I do know between that, our hesitating in several other places in the Mid East and the missile shield debacle, we are going to come across as unreliable partners. That may do more to undermine our foreign partnerships than anything Bush ever did." "May undermine our foreign partnerships"? I think that's now a slam dunk. All other issues aside, I always enjoy seeing R. Cook defend ruthless dictators. Apparently it's only bad when the U.S. Gov't does it. Not sure why anyone would engage a liberal in "debate". They bring nothing to the table. Not interested in learning, or even dialog. They only look for an opening to sling insults and half-truths without hearing a word you said. Trying to make the case Bush was a fuck-up? Yea, conservatives will agree he fucked up a few things along the way. Trying to make the case we never should have invaded Iraq? Yea, conservatives agree that is a legitimate argument to make;subject to debate. Liberals will never concede there is even any wiggle room in any of their positions. So, Fuck 'em. BTW- Bush "got permission" from everyone under the sun--including libs and Arabs--before he invaded. It's a little late for the Obama administration to blame Bush after all the flowery talk about the future of Iraq contemporaneous with their military bug-out, isn't it? I have to take Obamas side here. Otherwise we're talking open ended commitment until some nebulous date when Iraq can manage itself. If the past decade and trillions of dollars and blood spilled so far couldn't get them there, why should we believe another few years and billions will do the trick? We have to cut our losses at some point. There's no reason to believe we can fix them. "They don't see that freeing the slaves was the right thing to do, even though we are still paying the cost over 100 years later." Baloney. Abolishing slavery was the right thing to do. Was waging war against the Southern states the only way to accomplish that? I don't know. Was that the only reason Lincoln waged war against the Southern states? Certainly not. Looming large among other reasons was the secession by the Southern states, leading to the splitting of the union. Lincoln acted to maintain the union--rightly or wrongly. It was a fight over political dominance, and the war proper started when the Confederacy attacked Fort Sumter. The struggle over the matter of slavery led to the secession of the southern states, and it was the secession and resulting national disunity that led to the war. "Similarly, you can't go into a country and free an entire people and not expect to have to work at it for generations to come." We didn't have any business to march into Iraq to "free its people," (and we had no other justifiable reason to invade Iraq either), and, of course, we didn't. That was not why we went to war against Iraq, although, among the several shifting excuses/lies told to justify the invasion this was a subsidiary element. Again, it was a fight over political dominance, (namely, over asserting American dominance in the region), and over the spoils that would come from that, including control over access to Iraq's oil fields. tim in vermont said... Hmmm. I guess they decided this was the right Friday afternoon to bury the fact that they are not going to produce two years of the emails of the lady who took the fifth. http://nation.foxnews.com/2014/06/13/irs-claims-have-lost-over-2-years-lerner-emails They lost them. My my my. Imagine if a private corporation lost two years worth of emails to a "disk crash" and failed to produce them for the government in an investigation. They never heard of RAID? BDNYC said... Presumably these ISIL fighters have to use Iraq's highways to move between cities. Shouldn't it be easy for our drones to spot them in the desert and fire missiles at them? I am sure the besieged Iraqi government would welcome our military help. Not to worry, the Bamster has another concussion conference scheduled for next week. Then off for some additional fiddle lessons, followed by a reset summit with Vlad the Impaler. Between rounds of golf, of course. As an aside, it was reported several east coast cities are preparing for a few hundred thousand refugee children from Iraq. "Dream" t-shirts being printed as we speak (made by our strategic partner China). Blogger garage mahal said... "Iran is fighting Syria inside Iraq. Mission Accomplished!" There are people so dumb you wonder how they remember to breathe, Syria is a client state of Iran. The al Qeada terrorists conquering Iraq were fighting the Shia ruling party in Syria. Lars said:"Check the front pages of Israeli newspapers..hardly a mention of these developments whilst we are having the vapors." The Israelies do not post their national security plans in the newspaper. heh-I like your style. If these foreign policy triumphs don't earn Obama another Nobel Peace Prize, the game is rigged. In case anyone was curious, according to recently updated bylaws of the Nobel committee, beheadings/bombings/drone attacks do not negatively impact Peace Prize voting. Yes they did. There are translated Iraqi documents authorizing AlQeda training camps in Iraq. I have to wonder how Rorbert Cook can understand the complexities behind the Civil War: "Baloney. Abolishing slavery was the right thing to do. Was waging war against the Southern states the only way to accomplish that? I don't know. Was that the only reason Lincoln waged war against the Southern states? Certainly not. Looming large among other reasons was the secession by the Southern states, leading to the splitting of the union. Lincoln acted to maintain the union--rightly or wrongly. It was a fight over political dominance, and the war proper started when the Confederacy attacked Fort Sumter. The struggle over the matter of slavery led to the secession of the southern states, and it was the secession and resulting national disunity that led to the war." And yet so simple minded over the Iraq war: "We didn't have any business to march into Iraq to "free its people," (and we had no other justifiable reason to invade Iraq either), and, of course, we didn't. That was not why we went to war against Iraq, although, among the several shifting excuses/lies told to justify the invasion this was a subsidiary element. Again, it was a fight over political dominance, (namely, over asserting American dominance in the region), and over the spoils that would come from that, including control over access to Iraq's oil fields. " Nuance for the Civil War, simple mindedness for the Iraq War. One might think he loses his head when it comes to partisan politics. And, he pretends not to get my point. Too difficult to address? Regardless of what you think of the civil war or the Iraq War, thinking that what's happening now, today, is somehow the fault of Lincoln or Bush is sheer stupidity. Or, let me put it another way. Had we elected Romney and left 10k plus troops in Iraq, would we be seeing this happen today? Close your eyes, click your heels together three times, and pretend like the answer to that question is yes. For the rest of us, we know the answer is no. Therefore, the fault lay completely in President Obama's lap. Matthew, you seem simply to be confusing the concept of "mutual interests" with something called "reliable partnerships," which sounds like it might be a concept from business. If I am incorrect, please tell me who in your estimation, after 200 years of U.S. international relations, are our top five or more "reliable partners." I'll spot you England. It's not to say "I told you so" at all. It's to ask, why continue to accord "expert" status on Iraq to the people who so royally fucked things up already? Because the guy leading the fucking up is President of the United States, and he lacks the integrity to acknowledge the error and evils of making military decisions based solely on his short-term political calculus. I don't think anyone actually considers him an expert in much, but unfortunately, he occupies an important role. What the heck...i'll give ya the whole darn UK. If the past decade and trillions of dollars and blood spilled so far couldn't get them there, why should we believe another few years and billions will do the trick? A fair question, but the answer is that it's worked when we had the maturity and patience to support the development of a civilized society, like in Japan and Germany. Apparently, these things take decades, which is a long time, and there's always uncertainty, but there's some precedent for things taking longer than a decade and still working out well. At Tim's link: "the Internal Revenue Service informing the Committee that they have lost Lois Lerner emails from a period of January 2009 – April 2011." Liars. If Republicans take the White House in 2016, they need to put people in jail for crap like this. "BTW- Bush got 'permission' from everyone under the sun--including libs and Arabs--before he invaded." He didn't get permission from the source that counted: The UN Security Council. Only their approval would have made the war legal. Obama wants Iraq to fail. Iraq falling to radical Islamists is Obama's desired result, not an accident of poor leadership. Paco Wove said, stupidly: "All other issues aside, I always enjoy seeing R. Cook defend ruthless dictators. Apparently it's only bad when the U.S. Gov't does it." Of course, as Paco well knows but lies in order to pretend otherwise, I'm not defending any ruthless dictators. One of America's great problems is its propensity to ally itself with or install/prop up ruthless dictators to serve our own geopolitical purposes. Saddam was one of these. However, we don't legally or ethically have the unilateral right to invade other countries, no matter the reason.* It always results in disaster, as well as setting the precedent that other countries have the same right. This is what the UN was established to try to prevent. **(Our reasons for attacking Iraq were not pure, not to "free" its people, but to assert American dominance in the region.) As bad as Saddam was, his country was more stable and its people less endangered daily than any time subsequent to our invasion. It was up to the Iraqi people to rid themselves of Saddam if and when they felt compelled to do so, or wait until his death and sort out matters then. So far I'm seeing the same short film loop of about 15 tan pickups played over and over ad various other recycled and repetitive shots. I'm not seeing a lot of hard, on the ground reporting here. I am not sure what is happening over there and I don't think any real grasp of it is going to be feasible for another day or two at least. So I'll reserve judgement on the extent of the Islamist gains, the threat they actually pose, what the Kurds are going to do. Whether the government is really ready to fold or those reports are just typical journalist hysteria is also up in the air as far as I can tell at this point. Yes Robert Cook, they did. Training grounds with Boeing Jet hulls used were found. An Iraqi training base about 20 miles south of Baghdad was the site of an old Boeing jet used by the Iraq government to 'train' counter-terrorism. But it had long been suspected of being used by terrorist to. Two former Iraqi military officers told The New York Times and PBS's "Frontline" in the fall of 2001 that Iraqis and non-Iraqi Arabs were brought here to practice hijacking planes and trains, planting bombs and staging assassinations. The Americans also found a full obstacle course "”with wooden walls and other barriers to be climbed over or crawled under "” as well as a three-story concrete tower draped with ropes, apparently for rappelling. The defectors said the plane was a Boeing 707. Bush was pro stability. That was then called Pax Americana. It was and is good for world business and fosters tolerant secular Democracies which will seldom attack their neighbors on religious grounds ... like ISRAEL. After the surge, Bush had won that goal. But his victory came too late. Because the Pelosi/Reid Dems had won their Majority in Congress; and they came in with a vengeance to destroy all that Bush had embarrassed them by accomplishing in Iraq. Obama arranged for his secret friends in Iran to take hegemony over Iraq thus permitting Malawi to re-start a proxy Shia vs Sunni tribal war in Iraq that our surge had won against both sides. So why does Obama try so hard to restart chaos and tribal slaughters in Iraq and Syria , and Libya and Egypt? Refer to the first Paragraph above for the answer. "Again, it was a fight over political dominance, (namely, over asserting American dominance in the region), and over the spoils that would come from that, including control over access to Iraq's oil fields." So it was illegal and immoral to invade for the control of oil and stupid to have won control of the oil and then give it back. War criminal Bush stole the oil and War Criminal Obama gave it back. John Faria said... So. The rebellion that President Obama has been supporting in Syria, led by a guy Obama released from GITMO in 2009, spills into Iraq, Obama denies Iraqi requests for air support going back to NOV of 2013, and this is the Iraqi government's fault? I'm pretty sure that 2 year old Barry Sotero's first words were "Not me"...followed by "Bush's fault". No it wouldn't. All he needed was the approval of congress which he got. "we invaded them for no reason," There appears to be more than one commenter too stupid to breathe. Don't be puzzled. Western oil concerns have obtained big oil concessions in Iraq after having been shut out of the country entirely since 1973. Mission: Accomplished. What the cretins in Washington didn't anticipate was their plans going awry or Iraq being as hard to pacify and control as it's been. So, if the incursion of terrorists into Iraq wreaks havoc with the oil companies being able to extract their oil and make their money--and we don't know yet if it will or won't--it just goes to show planned outcomes can turn to ashes due to unanticipated circumstances, poor planning or management, or sheer, heedless hubris. Hey, Cookie, You are aware that the United Nations is entirely an American invention and still largely supported by the United States - i.e. the U.S. pulls out, no U.N. - right? Robert Cook: "Don't be puzzled. Western oil concerns have obtained big oil concessions in Iraq after having been shut out of the country entirely since 1973." Well, that's an awfully vague statement, isn't it? I tell you what Robert, why don't you outline which "Western Oil concerns" are involved and precisely which "concessions" they received. There is a reason you are being so vague. And it's transparent. The President's studied indifference has an obvious motivation: He doesn't want to do ANYTHING that would be seen as defending George W. Bush's foreign policy. Even if inaction causes a waste of our country's blood and treasure. Even if it costs hundreds of thousands of innocent lives. What petulance. What immaturity. What a terrible human being Barack Obama is. Robert Cook, like all lock step liberals, find the needle in the haystack to prove the haystack never existed....with all the petulance of a 3 yr. old, while claiming their intellectual superiority. Harrowgate wrote: Getting lectured on Iraq by the same people who got us into that dangerous war in the first place is like getting fire safety tips from an arsonist." Getting lectured on Iraq by the same people who undermined it at every turn, said the surge would fail, and who called general overseeing the surge General Betray Us and then let an Iraq which had been stabilized through much expense of bold and treasure, turn into a terrorist state because we simply didn't give a shit is like getting tips on the Geneva Convention from zarqawi right before he chopped off Nick Berg's head while he was alive. Job said... Robert Cook: "...it was the Bush administration that destroyed Iraq--opening it to this chaos" Good point. Iraq was an excellent society before Bush unilaterally and illegally invaded with dozens of allies, UN resolutions and a Congressional resolution. Well, it did have some rough edges if one looked closely, such as the rape rooms, torture chambers, psychotic sons, multiple aggressive wars for territorial gain taking hundreds of thousands of lives, support for terrorism, failure to live up to armistice agreements... But -- other than those easily resolvable issues -- Iraq was great until Bush ruined it. And we can't blame Obama, who has only been president for almost 6 years. He just reads about these Bush failures in the paper like the rest of us. That darned Bush! When will he stop screwing up? Robert Cook, your Pavlovian ignorance is showing. Check out Wikipedia's page on Iraq oil fields. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum_industry_in_Iraq There are 14 active oil fields in Iraq. American companies have interests in two of them. Exxon holds a 60% interest in the West Qurna Field, Iraq's second largest. Oxidential holds a 23.44% interest in the Zubair Field. That's it. All the rest of the companies are European, Chinese and other Far Eastern, Russian and Turkish. American companies have little or no participation in pipelines, port activities or downstream processing in Iraq. If American fought this war for American oil interests, we did a piss poor job. Of course that's not why we fought it. But damn the facts, Robert Cook. You just make up your own, don't you? Our president has served with honor and distinction. By the way, Cook, Exxon has been trying to sell their interest in West Qurna 1 since 2012. They say they found the Iraq government difficult to deal with and had better investment chances elsewhere. My guess is that they saw their government partner as having a doubtful future once it was clear that American forces were not going to remain in Iraq.. (Exxon does not own the fields or any interest in them. It essentially receives a per barrel fee related to production.) Exxon has found it difficult to sell the interest. In November of 2013 they announced that they had signed a deal with Petro China and Persero of Indonesia to buy half he field. Terms were not announced but likely they will take a loss. Apparently that deal has not closed yet. Will it ever? West Qurna is probably the largest known undeveloped oil field in the world right now. Exxon has far better resources and expertise to develop it than any other entity in the world. One of the many tragedies of our desertion of Iraq is that these resources now may not be developed for decades. That may hurt the world economy to a degree, but mostly it will hurt Iraq and the Iraq people, who could benefit greatly from a responsible development of this resource. David R. Graham said... "WE were the aggressors against Iraq, we invaded them for no reason, and so the consequences THEY are suffering now are directly OUR fault." BS, see Laurie Mylroie. "Only their approval would have made the war legal." Who is this Robert Cook fellow? A high school student? A community college instructor? Sovereign nations (like the US, and say, Zimbabwe) make their own laws. Only they can decide what is legal and illegal within the territory they control. Sovereign nations can decide what is legal or illegal. It's kind of why they are called governments. Weird, isn't it? But it's the truth. Otherwise, you might have the U.N. deciding that every nation had to declare war on some other country, or that everyone who has sex without a condom should be killed, or something crazy like that. I am pretty sure that the U.S. invasion of Iraq was illegal under Iraqi law. Maybe that's what Cook is talking about? Premature evacuation. Cookie, "He didn't get permission from the source that counted: The UN Security Council. Only their approval would have made the war legal." I repeat what others have said: Shhhhh, the grownups are talking. For penance, go read every single word of The Prince followed by every single word of The Shield of Achilles. Tim in Vermont: cd /var/spool/mail rm -r -f llerner "Oops!" The liberals (old-style and newfangled) and the U.N. is like the ancient Israelis and the Golden Calf, but it is foolishness to ascribe mystical powers to something you have yourself made and then go to worshiping it. The U.N. is a big building full of politicians and bureaucrats from the various countries around the world. You want something from it, you go in there Lyndon Johnson style and cajole and twist arms as necessary. "You want us to support you in the South China Sea, you will have to support us in the Arabian Gulf; and yes, I will see to it that your cousin's daughter gets a visa to study at Vassar." And that is how "international law" is made; same as any other "law." --WE were the aggressors against Iraq, we invaded them for no reason I love mindless lefty verbal eruptions! How does that work? Serious question. From where does the Security Council get this authority? By majority vote cast by the governments of the 15 states represented on the council, and especially the 5 permanent members. As for how that is obtained, see my post above. And the U.N. itself was not foisted on the U.S. by a bunch of foreigners, but is largely a revised and repackaged version of Woodrow Wilson's League of Nations and, like version one, designed, organized, and largely paid for by the freely elected government of these United States. "How does that work? Serious question. From where does the Security Council get this authority?" Original Mike: from the UN Charter, the provisions of which--given that we are signatories to it--are,per the Constitution, the law of the land. "Sovereign nations (like the US, and say, Zimbabwe) make their own laws. Only they can decide what is legal and illegal within the territory they control." Umm...Iraq, of course, was not part of the territory within the United States' control, being, like the US and Zimbabwe, a sovereign nation itself. What you suggest and some others here assert is the right for any country in the world to attack any other country in the world for any reason, as long as they voted for it within their respective houses of governance, making such unilateral aggression legal. Insane. And incorrect. One of Cook's problems is that he seems completely unaware of the work the prominent modern philosopher, Robert Plant: sometimes words have two meanings. In this case 'international law' is to 'law' as 'intellectual property' is to 'property': I.e. it's not LAW at all. SGT Ted said... Legally meaningless. Kirk. Two words: Iron fucking Mountain Yeah, I was wondering myself exactly when it was that the US surrendered its sovereignty to the UN. The only "International Law" that exists regarding the US is the letter of treaties approved by the US Senate. So, yes, the US is bound by the Geneva Convention, and no, the US did not violate the Geneva Convention in their treatment of terrorists under Bush. Even Cookie's magical proofs cannot prove that one, just as an example. After that little exercise, you can show me where the US signed over its power to declare war to the UN. "Baghdad - Militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria boasted on Twitter that they had executed 1,700 Iraqi government soldiers, posting gruesome photos to support their claim." When Obama became president, it was his responsibility to deal with things as they were, not as he wished they were, but no, his supporters engaged in magical thinking, and we have these mass executions of people who trusted us. I say his supporters engaged in magical thinking because Obama made it pretty clear that pulling the troops would lead to genocide, and he said it wasn't our problem. These mass executions, mass beheadings, are being done in our name. We laid the groundwork for it. John Clifford said... Obama is throwing up the need for a political solution as a red herring. He knows full well that it would take months to get all sides together to draw up a valid agreement... and by then the jihadis will own Baghdad and most of the valuable parts of Iraq and the question of military force becomes moot. He is simply stalling for time. One thing Obama didn't say: "I will not allow al Qaeda-affiliated groups to take over Iraq!" The dog that did not bark. "...you can show me where the US signed over its power to declare war to the UN." I've already shown that. That you refuse to accept it is immaterial to reality. And as you bring up and acknowledge our obligations under the Geneva Conventions, but assert without basis that the US did not violate the conventions in our treatment of "terrorists,"--(rather, prisoners alleged to be terrorists, as we have not proved that many or even most of our captives were ever terrorists)--I will assert that, in fact, we did and continue to violate the Geneva conventions in our treatment of these uncharged, unprosecuted prisoners.	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line936
__label__cc	0.736439	0.263561	A Month Of Dunkin Armand’s Interviews Horror Authors And Religion This post is a bit more ‘controversial’ than my normal ones, in that I talk about something I swore I’d never talk about… religion. I also will not talk about politics, and will never bring up the New York Yankees and World Series victories. A few years ago I was at a horror convention, hanging out after hours with 7 or 8 other horror authors. We might have had way too much to drink. OK, I know I had at least three beers so I was probably lit. Someone had just had a short story they’d written rejected by a magazine (this is a few years back, obviously) and the one thing that stuck with the writer was the note back from the would-be publisher: ‘Your religious overtone might scare away some readers, too controversial’. The funny part was the story was actually pro-religion. I forget the main gist of it, but I remember a clergyman saving people from a minion of Satan and sacrificing himself so everyone could live, but then God ends up saving him… something like that. Very Happy Ending. Now, if it had been rejected as being cliche or too cheesy happy in the end the author would have no problem with it. The fact his ‘religious overtone’ scared people away made him confused. I remember all of us being guarded when talking about his story, because we were all afraid to voice our opinion about what we individually believed in. This always stayed with me, because we were all drunk and talking stupid crap all night and goofing on each other, telling dirty jokes and being pretty vulgar. Once religion was added to the mix we all got quiet. I was born Roman Catholic but haven’t been to church unless I’ve had to (weddings/funerals) in years, probably since I was a teen. I’ve gone through life believing in God, not believing in God, wondering if there was a God, and anything else over my 43 years. I’ve had a lot of questions and had some poor priests and religious people in my life who’ve given me bad information or simply told me I was not being faithful by asking so many questions, which turned me off. I also think, as a horror writer, it is almost a given to think being Agnostic or an Atheist is the norm. I only know of a few horror authors who will talk about religion in a positive light. Most won’t talk about it at all (like myself before this post). Everyone has their own beliefs and I have no problem with it. I’m not really even sure what this post is about, to be honest. I also wonder: is it just horror authors who shy away from religious talk? Or is it deeper, with creative types in general who seem to think a certain way about religion? I’ve preached myself long and hard about keeping your ideals about religion and politics off of social media so you don’t alienate potential readers. It’s a no-win situation, but I felt I had to get this out for some reason. I believe there is a God in this moment. I guess it’s good enough for me. Things in my life have been great, and the people I’ve met in the last year or so have only made me a better person. For me, it seems when I believe God is up there and watching me, I feel better. Is it real? I guess we’ll all find out in the end. I’d like to think God is real and he’ll meet me in Heaven and ask me to sign a copy of one of my books for him, although I’m sure he’ll want to have a stern talking about my zombies trying to rape people. Posted on August 4, 2013 August 3, 2013 Posted in Armand Rosamilia, fiction, horror, personal, writing, zombieTagged armand rosamilia, God, horror authors, religion, writing By Armand Rosamilia Previous PostBook Marketing Top 10: When less is more Next PostInstant Gratification: Short Story Writing 26 replies to “Horror Authors And Religion” Lauralynn Elliott says: Very interesting post. I write paranormal romance, but I’ve also written a light horror novella with supernatural elements. I’m working on a horror right now. I’m a huge fan of Stephen King and have always devoured horror novels. And I’m a very strong Christian. I know that seems unusual. I have to use a pen name to keep certain people from knowing what I write, which is a shame. To me, fiction is fiction, and just because I’m fascinated with horror doesn’t mean there’s something dark in me. I’m a very happy, open, optimistic person who just happens to like dark fiction. I have no problem talking about religion as long as the talk doesn’t get ugly. Unfortunately, it often does, and I think that’s why many people avoid it. Incidentally, Stephen King has religious undertones in many of his books. So horror write DO write about religion. It’s a shame that author got rejected because of religion in his story. 😦 Thanks for the comment! And it is crazy you have to use a pen name. Carl R. Moore says: I think religious horror is almost a subgenre unto itself. I remember I had friends growing up who were really scared of The Exorcist in part because of its blasphemous language. As I mentioned in a blog post, things like The Shining freaked me out more, as my family wasn’t particularly religious. And yet, a large portion of my writing concerns itself with religion itself being a frightening thing, whatever the flavor, and less about whether the villain is a devil or a god… indeed it almost seems that any type of supernatual occurance is itself a kind of religous statement. To say somethig unreal is worth the willing suspension of disbelief, is to throw your hat in the ring, even if temporariy, on at least some form of religious belief. Yes, I agree. It is very tough to watch movies or read something without your own beliefs and what you were raised believing in seeping into your thought process. Robert Fleck says: Carl, I think much of your stuff overtly plays with religious iconography, but twists it a bit more toward cosmic explanations, ala Lovecraft, than purely religious/supernatural. On the other side, novels like Dean Koontz’s HIDEAWAY are overtly religious, and of course the DARK FAITH anthologies have tackled a lot of elements of religion and horror together, showing religious in both positive and negative lights. Many people have experienced the negative reactions, however, to horror from religious circles, and to religion in horror circles. These are mostly knee-jerk reactions which can only be cured by people being willing to talk and share and not simply react or leave it out of the conversation. That’s why posts like this, Armand, are actually a very good thing. You’re starting a conversation, not starting a fight. Like you, I was raised in a Roman Catholic family, but religion mostly stopped being a part of family life in my early teens (when we moved from Ohio, where I was in a Catholic school where most of my family had gone for generations, to New Jersey where my parents couldn’t even find a Catholic church where they liked Sunday Mass). I’ve gotten to know a lot of people with a lot of belief systems since then and the only part I find that matters is the willingness to be kind to each other despite differences. To me, that’s where most horror comes from, the recognition that not everything and everyone in the world is kind. Thanks, Robert! Yes, I wanted to share my own thoughts without it becoming a finger-pointing argument post… to be honest, I had the idea months ago but talked myself out of it, but it kept popping up as an idea for the blog and I finally decided to do it. And post it on Sunday, of course. brentabell says: Religion and the different views people have on their beliefs has reared its head in my work from time to time. I love it when someone who has read “In Memoriam” comes up and asks me what my views are because they couldn’t tell from the book. When I use it, I don’t really show my hand as to what I believe. Personally, I don’t care what others think, but it’s fun to let them try and guess from the bits and clues in the work. Good point, and despite my own personal views, as a fiction author, I can write from the POV of everyone in the story and not get caught up in what the character believes or doesn’t believe. Me neither, but it is fun to put yourself in a POV with views different than your own. I honestly think that is why authors and other people in the arts are more accepting of others, they can open their minds and think from outside their views and beliefs. Frank Errington says: The short you describe in your post sounds a lot like Gary Raisor’s “Sacrifice” which found a home in Cemetery Dance #62. It was a strong story with religious overtones which I thoroughly enjoyed. It’s true that religion can be polarizing, but for me a good story always wins out and controversy is usually good business. For example, what’s the best selling issue of Rolling Stone? Right. I’ve never heard of that story but now I’ll be finding it and reading it, lol… Thanks! Tim Baker says: You and I have talked often about keeping our opinions to ourselves many times…now that I’ve finally gotten the hang of it you toss me a hanging curve ball? Religion, as we all know is based on faith, and each of us (even atheists) have faith in SOMETHING. Some call it God. Personally I call it “the Universe” because I think the concept of an all powerful, single deity is silly, but at the same time I believe there is a force of some sort that holds all this stuff together. Anyway – when it comes to putting religion in books, I don’t think it has to be a reflection on the author’s stance. As a parallel – I do not condone the use of guns, and I am a very non-violent person – but anybody who has read my books would think otherwise because there is plenty of both in them. Authors write books to make money, anybody who disagrees with that is lying to you and themselves – so if you come up with a great idea for a story and it involves religion…go for it. If it involves zombie rape…go for it. If it involves Justin Bieber saving the world from virgin-eating space aliens…find another career! This is timely. In a recent review, a reader said the serial’s atheism was cringeworthy. That’s interesting to me because in This Plague of Days, the husband is an atheist (with growing doubt as doom is threatened) and the wife is a die-hard believer (with growing doubt as her faith is tested.) Both character’s views are challenged. Considering that their conversations take place in the context of a massive plague, it would strike me as really weird for them not to discuss their beliefs and try to resolve them. Surrounded by death and destruction, issues around spirituality come up honestly. When doctors fail, the next visit is from the priest. We are all searching for meaning, through faith or reason. The debate is natural and honest. I have no doubt that some readers will say I’m preachy when the wife has her say and a raging atheist if they focus on the husband. I’ve been a member of an evangelical church and I’m now an atheist. I try to give both sides their due. We all read through our own lens, so some atheists may think me a traitor to the cause and some believers will be sure I’m evil. I think most readers, because they are readers, are curious and can be entertained by the narrative without feeling threatened. (And if anyone really feels threatened by a work of fiction, perhaps they should spend more time evaluating or shoring up what they believe.) I believe in readers. I think most will weather that sprinkling of a debate throughout the series. Just as sci-fi isn’t about how to build a warp engine, horror is about the people and how they face mortality. There are millions of books to read, so readers who don’t agree have lots of other great choices. I’m sorry to see them go, but I don’t write for everybody. I write for me. The likeminded who want to board my crazy train and come along for the ride are for later. Love this post, Armand. Reblogging! ~RCC PS I also have a couple of crime novels with titles that appear at first glimpse to mock Jesus. Most Christians who contacted me about that choice had a sense of humour about it and since those novels are (often) funny, it turned out okay. Not all atheists are open-minded and not all Christians are close-minded. It’s just that we hear a lot from a vocal minority. I don’t think writers should censor themselves for a minority who aren’t predisposed to enjoy much of anything anyway. We’re writers. We tickle brains and follow Art where it leads. Good points, RCC! (I’m now only going to refer to you as RCC)… erickeys says: RCC – I’m a former evangelical but haven’t yet made the transition to atheism. My fiction drips with religious symbolism and biblical allusions. I don’t shy away from it. I don’t think it is respectful to my former faith or its followers to pull punches. That being said, I have some blog followers who are Christians and seem to appreciate me and my work. I’m not surprised by this because I think any confrontation with the supernatural is religious by definition. The confronting of it is a religious dialogue, even if it is taken as purely symbolic. You are asking questions about the nature of reality. How can religion not be brought into the mix? Reblogged this on C h a z z W r i t e s . c o m and commented: What a great post from brother-in-horror Armand Rosamilia! How much religion can fiction stand? (Atheism versus Faith is not the central thing going on in my latest serial, but it’s one of the themes that emerges.) This is an important discussion for writers to have. Below are my thoughts, but read Armand’s take for much more and great discussions in the comments. Pingback: Horror Authors And Religion \| Writing and readi... Pingback: Horror Authors And Religion \| C h a z z W r i t e s . c o m Nick Trandahl says: I agree with your statement that there’s some sort of trepidation about discussing religion among creative people. The reason, I think is that religion is such an inflammatory topic that causes a lot of dispute, and creative folks like you and I (creativity being a sign of intelligence) would rather avoid such disputes over something that neither party would be possible to prove or validate aside from personal experience. I was also raised Roman Catholic (and was an altar boy). At about 13 I left the church seeking some sort of truth that was better compatible with who I am. I quickly discovered Buddhism and have been a solitary Buddhist for the last 15 or so years. My spiritual beliefs have never shown up in my fiction and in only a couple of my many poems. Great post by the way! Thanks for the comment, Nick! I’m seeing many people like me raised Roman Catholic who had a crisis of fate around our teen years. Some of us came back to it, some never did or will, and others found a new way to get through their life like you did! No problem, Armand! Most of my family is still Catholic, and I still have a great respect for the Roman Catholic Church (especially the new pope!). blazemcrob says: Quite an interesting discussion you have going on here, Armand. I have never had any trepidations with writing about religion, whether it be pro or con, conventional or not. I have written a tale where a baby Ghoul battles God with a sword and cuts him to shreds. Also, there is story of a God being in the persona of a 100 foot, green, scaly guy. On the other hand, I am writing a novel where God is what people would expect Him to be but the main story people are not. A little bit of everything. Let people sort and choose for themselves. My personal beliefs belong to me, and if folks want to figure me out, they can read my tales and attempt to do such. One thing I will admit to is that there is no way I could ever be content sitting around some place that is perfect and basking in the glory of it all. Does the word boring come to mind? It does to me. I have not had an easy life, but I still want my next one to be exciting, pain or not. I’m a big boy. I can handle it. danezeller says: I propose that a writer of fiction not avoid religion or politics, just their opinions of them. It’s not God or Republicans who interrupt a story (indeed, we’d leave behind half of our world if the topics didn’t creep in). But, our taking sides intrudes. I have a character who God tells to get a gun with a big clip so that she can answer her own prayers while he’s off tending to a tsunami. I file that under character development, not author’s opinion, especially because it was her account of His advice. Good topic! Pingback: Religion and Horror – some initial thoughts \| erickeys Matt Cardin says: A most interesting discussion, and with especially interesting timing for me personally, since lately I’ve been thinking even more intensively than usual about the explicit mingling of horror and religion in my own life and writing. Thanks for a thought-provoking post, Armand. FWIW, here’s a recent reflection of my own on a slightly different angle or aspect of the matter, published just ten days before your own: “Supernatural Horror, Spiritual Awakening, and the Demonic Divine” http://www.teemingbrain.com/2013/07/25/supernatural-horror-spiritual-awakening-and-the-demonic-divine/ Also, everybody involved in the conversation here will probably find a great deal of interest in a recent and really excellent episode of “Encounter,” the religion-themed radio program produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation: “Sacred Horror: Zombie Resurrections and Vampire Souls” http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/encounter/vampires-with-souls2c-zombie-resurrections/4773674 Here’s the official description: “From the legends of Frankenstein and Dracula to films about zombies, witches and vampires, supernatural horror has always captured the popular imagination. Fictional horror scares us because it confronts us with our deepest fears about death and the unknown. It make us tremble, but it also acts as a catharsis. So it’s no wonder then that the horror genre often intersects with religion.” I comment on the episode briefly here: http://tinyurl.com/l4tbgdz Parlor of Horror says: Greetings Armand, I exposed this very interesting topic in a recently published story on SNM Horror Magazine (iss.#58 – free to read at the website). I got an email saying how anti-religious the story was. But in my opinion it was exactly the opposite in the way that, ‘Its a Wonderful Life’ showed consequences in the absence of George. On another note, I find that younger generations are not as fearful of ‘The Exorcist” as older ones. I think it’s because they were brought up with less religion. Much like a vampire and a cross, you have to believe in something in order for the Exorcist to work. I have also ran the gamut during my life of believing and not believing but have came to the conclusion (at this point in my life) that some things are too strange to be considered coincidence – just when you really need something important in life, it seems to be handed to you. Leave a Reply to Frank Errington Cancel reply Armand’s Mailing List Subscribe to my email newsletter! 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__label__cc	0.533398	0.466602	Scott Armstrong Joshua Lee Teri Russell Approach & Philosophy View All Personal Injury Airplane Accidents Lawyer Head Injuries and Brain Damage Lawyer Pay only if we win Although many may think that train accidents are a thing of the past, in 2016 alone there were 2,668 train accidents or incidents that resulted in 172 fatalities and 1,989 non-fatal injuries. These accidents may occur in a variety of situations, including on the job or in a collision involving a train. On the job, railroad workers are constantly in danger of injury. Because of the exposure to heavy machinery and cargo, railroad workers may be pinned and suffer from internal bleeding, organ damage, broken bones, traumatic brain injuries and/or amputation. Moving engines and train cars can injure workers by colliding with other trains in the yard or workers, causing injuries to those inside and outside of the train cars. Lastly, the heavy cargo, consisting of toxic or flammable materials, can severely burn or poison workers, leading to life-long severe (or fatal) injuries. If you or a loved one suffered an injury on the job, it is important to hire attorneys who are very familiar with the Federal Employers Liability Act (“FELA”) because FELA applies to your case, not state workers’ compensation laws. FELA is a valuable tool that provides extremely favorable compensation and protection for you and your family. Most importantly, there are not prescribed limits as to what you can recover for your injuries like there are under state workers’ compensation laws. While in transit, a train may be involved in a collision with a vehicle or a pedestrian due to a variety of factors, including driver negligence, driver fatigue, insufficient or improper warnings to alert motorists that a train is approaching or failure to properly maintain the railroad crossings. If you or a loved one has been injured or killed in an accident involving a train or railroad, please contact the lawyers at Armstrong Savage LLP who will fight for the compensation and justice you deserve. 2900 North Loop West Ste. 830 Head Injuries and Brain Damage Fifth Circuit Finds Personal Jurisdiction in Favor of Armstrong & Lee LLP’s Longshoreman Client Scott Armstrong Selected as “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers for Third Consecutive Year What You Need to Know If Your Employer Is NOT a Subscriber to Worker’s Compensation Armstrong & Lee Hosts Firm’s First Holiday Party Scott Armstrong Recognized as “Top Lawyer” by Houstonia What Does “Negligence” Mean? Part II: Breach Copyright © 2020 Armstrong & Lee LLP. All Rights Reserved	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line944
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Setting out a digital vision for London Posted on: April 4, 2016 by Kulveer Ranger At a time when we are seeing unprecedented levels of political devolution, local governments and city councils are being empowered to drive their own digital transformation and provide public services that today’s citizens actually need and want. And, with the next London mayor set to be decided by the capital’s population in May, this is the first time that technology has been central to the candidates’ electoral campaigns. Here, I explore why now is the opportune moment to set out a digital vision for London, as well as the role that IT services companies must play in this rapidly changing environment. Empowering London with “Digital Devolution” National governments are finding it increasingly difficult to deliver uniform public services across different geographies, towns and cities. As a result, they are seeking to devolve power and decision-making to a local level, giving city councils the power to deliver nimbler, more efficient and responsive public services to their citizens. At the same time, public services are starting to follow in the footsteps of private sector industries that already have digital innovation at the core. For instance, mobile technology has completely overhauled the way retail and financial services organisations engage with their customers. More than a third of global online payments are now being made with a mobile device and this year, banking customers will check their current accounts on their smartphones and tablets 895m times – surpassing the 705m expected branch visits. Consumers are coming to expect the same level of convenience and user experience in the public sector, and are therefore increasingly demanding digitally-led public services. Could we soon be using our smartphones to tap in and out of public transport systems for instance, or book GP and hospital appointments via apps? To support these increasingly digital services, city councils are pouring major investment into broadband connectivity. The UK Government for example, made up to £150 million available to support UK cities, including London, in their digital infrastructure development as part of its “Super Connected Cities” programme. What role must IT services organisations now play? These digital advancements are about to make it easier to connect all the things we do in London; from travelling, working and socialising, to visiting tourist attractions and discovering new experiences. But this won’t happen overnight without support from the IT organisations who are providing the backbone of these services behind the scenes. At Atos, we’ve played a fundamental role in the public sector for a number of years and have a great deal of experience in delivering and maintaining global IT platforms, such as for the International Olympic Committee. If we’re to make our digital vision for London a success, IT services providers must work together with public organisations to help shape the conversations around what citizens need and how these innovative new services can be delivered as a result International Olympic Committee. If we’re to make our digital vision for London a success, IT services providers must work together with public organisations to help shape the conversations around what citizens need and how these innovative new services can be delivered as a result. Look out for my next post where I’ll be discussing some of the possibilities of a digital London and what needs to be addressed to help us deliver connected and seamless experiences across the capital. Share this blog article About Kulveer Ranger VIEW ALL POSTS BY Kulveer Ranger Senior Vice President Strategy & Communications, Atos UK & Ireland (UK&I) Kulveer Ranger is Senior Vice President, Strategy & Communications for Atos UK&I and is a member of the Atos UK&I Executive Board. He is responsible for alignment between UK&I business strategy and corporate communications. He is Deputy President for Economic Productivity and a board member of techUK and sits on the SmarterUK Cities and Communities Board.He spent a decade in management consultancy before leading the Mayor of London’s Transport, Environment and Digital Strategy Policy divisions between 2008-12 and was on the board of Transport for London. Kulveer has also been a member of a variety of boards including London 2012 Olympic Transport and Bristol 2015. He was chairman of the Digital City Exchange Advisory Board at Imperial College Business School from 2012-18.He has an extensive knowledge of major infrastructure and technology programme delivery between the public and private sectors. Kulveer is an international public speaker, a regular broadcaster for TV and radio and a passionate Tottenham Hotspur FC fan. Follow or contact Kulveer VIEW ALL EXPERTS Scaling up Robotic Process Automation (RPA) adoption - part 2 The rise of the Swarm Intelligence era The Impact of Digital Twins on Infrastructure Maintenance	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line952
__label__wiki	0.740466	0.740466	Spiders in history Toggle Table of Contents Nav Yoritomo What do Mohammed, Yoritomo, David and Robert the Bruce have in common? Spiders changed their lives ... and they went on to change the course of history! Spiders have featured in the rituals, beliefs, art, entertainment and literature of people from all over the world, from ancient times. Spider. Image: Andrew Howells © Australian Museum Approximately 3060 years ago David was being pursued by King Saul when he hid in a cave near Jerusalem. A spider made its web across the opening. When Saul saw the web, he called his men away, saying that it was useless to search the cave because the web showed that no one could have entered. So David's life was saved and he lived on to become King of Israel. Eight hundred years ago Yoritomo, a warrior from Japanese mythology, was running from his enemies after a defeat in battle when he hid inside a large hollow tree. While he was hiding, a spider built a web across the opening. When his enemies found the hollow tree, they were convinced that Yoritomo was not inside because of the web. Yoritomo escaped to become a shogun (an important military leader). In 1306, Robert the Bruce and his army had been fighting against King Edward I of England for control of Scotland. Robert was lying exhausted in a barn when he noticed a spider try to fix its web to a beam six times. On its seventh attempt, the spider succeeded. Robert was inspired, saying, if at first you don't suceed, try try again He then gathered together some more followers and they won the next battle. After a successful campaign they eventually defeated Edward's army in 1319. Fourteen hundred years ago the prophet Mohammed was being chased by his enemies near Mecca when he hid in a cave. Miraculously, an acacia tree sprang up out of the ground in front of the cave. A wood-pigeon nested in the tree and a spider made its web between the cave entrance and the tree. As a result his enemies overlooked the cave and Mohammed escaped to become the Prophet of Islam. Spiders in Australian indigenous art Egg sacs, spiderlings and dispersal Spiders in the House and Garden Spiders are everywhere Silk: the spider's success story Spiders in West Africa Tarantulas - the truth behind their evil image Spiders in Vanuatu Spider origins Mouse Spiders Missulena sp. Prey capture and feeding Spider structure Flower Spiders Flower spiders (Diaea species) belong to the Family Thomisidae, one of the most colourful and attractive spider families. Despite the fact they are common throughout much of southern and eastern Australia, they are often so well camouflaged that the casual observer rarely sees them. Diaea sp. Where do spiders live? You can see spiders by day and night in almost every habitat on earth. White-tailed Spider White-tailed Spider bites have been controversially implicated in causing severe skin ulceration in humans. Lampona cylindrata Garden Orb Weaving Spiders The commonly seen Garden Orb Weavers are stout, reddish-brown or grey spiders with a leaf-shaped pattern on their fat, roughly triangular abdomens, which also have two noticeable humps towards the front. Eriophora biapicata Leaf-curling Spider The Leaf-curling Spiders (genus Phonognatha) are day-active orb weaving spiders that protect themselves from predators by sitting inside a silk seamed, curled leaf. Phonognatha graeffei Australian tarantulas Australian tarantulas are often known as whistling or barking spiders because of the sounds most species can produce. Slater-eating Spider The introduced Slater-eating Spider, has a strong aversion to ants, which may help to limit its distribution in Australia. Dysdera crocata Black House Spider Black House and Grey House Spiders are common in urban areas, and are sometimes called Window Spiders. Badumna insignis Trapdoor spiders of the genus Misgolas (Mygalomorphae: Idiopidae) in the Illawarra and South Coast regions of New South Wales, Australia Redback Spider Redback spiders belong to the Family Theridiidae, which is found worldwide. The notorious Black Widow Spider (Latrodectus sp) of the United States is a close relative of the Redback Spider, and only differs in appearance by the absence of a red dorsal stripe. Latrodectus hasselti Trapdoor spiders of the genus Misgolas (Mygalomorphae: Idiopidae) in the Sydney region, Australia, with notes on synonymies attributed to M. rapax Sac Spiders Sac spiders are found throughout Australia in forest and grassland habitats. Clubionidae	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line956
__label__cc	0.686219	0.313781	Healthy Barbs new ways to think about living with illness \| Barbara Brenner Afterwords Eulogies Barbara Brenner Breast Cancer Activist Scholarship ← Science by Press Release – Not Good News for Patients Pink Ribbons and Lou Gehrig: Time to Bury Useless Symbols → Health Activism: Not for the Faint of Heart Posted on September 8, 2011 by bbzinger I have been a health activist since 1994. Having spent a long time in the cancer field, it seems that now I am destined to become an ALS activist. I just can’t seem to help myself. Wearing One Hat I think a lot about what it means to be a health activist, and how that differs from being an advocate. When I was a member of the California Breast Cancer Research Council, I would show up at meetings and claim my name card for the conference table. On it would be printed my name, my organization, and the word “advocate.” That title was there because the legislation that created the program required that a certain number of council representatives be “advocates.” My experience in breast cancer taught me that many, if not most people, who called themselves advocates had no clear sense of what they were advocating for. Many of them represented two — and often more — different organizations with different missions and objectives, and they would tout the position of whichever organization suited their purposes at the moment. Others went from one organization to another until they found a place where they could claim their views as those of the group. In my lexicon, an activist is someone who is clear about her/his goals and strategic about achieving them. S/he cannot be bought – no amount of money or privileges will change her commitment to her goals. Clear Goals In breast cancer, there are many goalsthat require activism, for example, better detection devices, better treatments, better access to detection and treatment for everyone, uniting and refocusing the research agenda, fighting breast cancer “fatigue” brought on by pink ribbon marketing. While some activists take on more than one of these issues at a time, all will require a lot of effort by a lot of people. In ALS, the issues seem, by contrast, much easier to list. They are, however, no easier to achieve. In fact, I can think of only two at the moment (though I’m relatively speaking new to ALS, so the list may grow): better treatments and access for everyone affected to the kind of care that will improve the quality of their lives. Challenges for ALS Activists One of the differences between breast cancer activism and ALS activism is that many people survive breast cancer for a long time, so many people have time and energy to get involved. With ALS, while some people live a long time, the disease is always fatal and always robs people of some physical abilities. It’s harder to be an engaged activist. So, we do what we can. Beyond Self-Interest Regardless of the disease at issue, a health activist is also someone for whom her goals, while they might benefit her personally once they are achieved, are aimed at affecting people she doesn’t even know. The goals are about more than self-interest: they are about changing systems so many people who now suffer will benefit. More often than not, those goals and objectives are bigger than can be achieved in one lifetime, and activists know that their efforts are possible because of previous work done by others. They also know that, if they do their job right, others will come after them to advance the work. Taking the Heat and Keeping An Open Mind Health activists have to be tough. Because they publicly take principled positions, there are always people who disagree with them and say so, sometimes in not-so-nice terms. If an activist caves because her positions have been criticized, she’s not really an activist. I learned this lesson many times in my breast cancer work. When I criticized raising money by putting pink ribbons on products to promote sales, many people got angry, wondering how anyone could criticize money being raised for breast cancer. When I argued that the drug Avastin should not be sold for treatment of breast cancer, I was accused of sentencing women to an early death. And when I endorsed the mammography screening guidelines that would end routine screening of women between ages 40 and 49, I was told I would have blood on my hands. ALS is not as prominent as breast cancer. But when I recently posted my blog entitled “Science By Press Release – Not Good for Patients” to a site for ALS patients, there were a lot of people who disagreed with me, saying I was depriving them of hope. I’m used to this. If you’re an activist who can’t get used to it, you might want to find another line of work. This doesn’t mean that activists never change their positions, but it does mean that those changes are the result of changed conditions or developments that compel a shift in position because the old positions don’t make sense anymore. Doing the Work, Getting the Rewards Activists want to make the world better for people. They are committed, tough, and they are not afraid to speak their minds. Many are willing to learn the nitty-gritty of the issues with which they are dealing so that they can engage in intelligent conversations with people who have power on those issues. Being an activist is not for the faint of heart. But the rewards are often great. You meet great people, you learn a great deal, and sometimes, just sometimes, you make a difference in the world. © Barbara A. Brenner 2011 This entry was posted in ALS Treatment, Breast Cancer, Health Policy and tagged activism, advocate, health activist. Bookmark the permalink. 16 Responses to Health Activism: Not for the Faint of Heart karen topakian says: You’ve nailed it once again. I’ve found that some people may embody both roles as advocates and activists but one does not imply the other. Sometimes advocating for an issue may allow you to do so at arms length. But when I think of an activist, I see someone who is willing to stand up alone at times for their beliefs, get dirty when necessary and not be afraid to act, put their bodies on the line. On some issues I know I am an advocate for others a die hard activist. Nancy Oster says: I’ve always found you to be a valued resource is separating the wheat from the hope-based marketing chaff. Gail Kaufman says: As always, your voice is as clear and as strong as ever no matter what ALS is doing to your ability to speak. Thank god for computers and web sites so your wisdom can be widely shared. So wonderful to see you and all those who have been touched by you on Saturday. Elizabeth Pritzker says: Rock on, Barbara! As always, your aim is true. And, I am dancing to the beat that your heart and hard core activism are playing. Much love, E. Wendell Ricketts says: All I can say is, “What she said.” I haven’t spent nearly as much time as you in advocacy/activists groups — at a certain point post-AIDS I just couldn’t take it anymore. As you know, though, I did serve my time in a number of “progressive” non-profits. What was always confounding and frustrating were all the ways in which the “advocates” (and most weren’t really activists, as you mean the word here) who were involved in those groups, whether as EDs, staff, or volunteers, weren’t there just out of a political commitment but because they were working out all kinds of complicated and often unresolved psychological issues — white guilt, racial/class/gender anger, ambivalence about power/privilege (always bad — unless your organization helps you get some), etc. So it doesn’t surprise me that some of the reaction to your post among ALS advocates was negative. I can’t think of a better test of the difference between an advocate and an activist than that statement: “Don’t tell me the truth; I’d rather have ‘hope.'” Lie to me, baby…. I can’t wait to see what the future holds. I’ll learn a lot from you! helen Jacobs says: Hi Barbara – sorry to not have been able to attend Saturday’s dinner. I was at a yoga conference for the long weekend. Thanks as always for your clear voice and vision. You do indeed have courage – to speak oout and speak up. Chuck Hummer says: It is hard to add something that has already been said. You and I are on the same wave length. The label of hope killer has tied to my attempts to attempt some balance between the fundraising “cure” illusion and reality. I hang on your every post. Where do go from here? Mary Ann Swissler says: Thanks for the heads up, Barbara. Still, this is the G rated version of life as an activist. I’ll bet you’ve had much worse said to you than that. You raise many important points. We all go through a lot in the name of non-corporate activism, and we all decrompress from it differently. I think it’s important to take care of yourself because it can get easy to rationalize the personal toll this work takes on one. Life in general isn’t for the faint of heart. ALS is not a disease for the weak at heart. It seems to strike only the best of folks. We have been battling this beast for years, as I too am from a Familial ALS Family. Send me an e-mail and I’ll share our story with you. Thanks for your writings! Never, ever give up! Excellent observations. Speaking truth to power and remaining true to the goal despite all that background “noise” is how you have always moved forward. Thanks Barbara! penny rosenwasser says: BB, thanks for this…as i was reading, i was thinking how so much of this relates to my longtime work for peace and justice in Palestine and Israel. A LOT of it relates, esp keeping eyes on the prize, learning how not to let the constant attacks stop me, etc. Thx always for your thinking, strategizing, clear-sightedness…xxx Denise Martini says: Thank you Barbara, for the articulate education about the difference between an advocate and a true activist, AND for being a living example of what a true activist in action looks and sounds like; you “live your talk”, that is greatly inspiring- Thank you! xoxoxo Nancyspoint says: I like your kind of advocacy, the kind that seeks and tells the truth. Cindy Pearson says: I agree, too. You have to be bold, be willing to upset people, and to be tenacious. Barbara, if the dictionary included pictures of people who exemplify the words your picture would be next to the word activist. nancy grail says: why am i not surprise that again you will fight for bettering others lives!! Leave a Reply to Chuck Hummer Cancel reply Enter your email address to receive posts via email: Remembering Barbara Funeral arrangements and after Barbara Brenner 1951-2013 Thanks and Blessings The Legislature and Breast Cancer: Not a Good Match Telling the FDA What I Think About ALS Drug Trials Has NBCC Lost Its Way? Steve Gleason: A Rare Celebrity Doing Good by Talking About His Illness Approaching Gun Violence as a Public Health Problem: Who Gets to Have a Say? Adventures with a Feeding Tube Replacement: A Not So Funny Story, a Cautionary Tale, and A Call To Action What I Learned as A Volunteer One More Time With Feeling: Can We Be Done With Mammography Screening? Sitting Down to Call Out Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) NBCC — The Promise, the Process and the Problems Who Shall Live and Who Shall Die? — A Yom Kippur Reflection Not So Funny Things Happened on the Way to a Diaphragm Pacer: When “Informed” is Not “Consent” and Related Adventures of an ALS Activist FDA to ALS Patients: Fuck You Fool Me Once, Shame on You. Fool Me Twice . . . : Nothing New at Komen Broadening ALS Research to Help Patients III: Make Biogen Idec Walk Its Talk Broadening ALS Research to Help Patients — II Let’s Broaden ALS Research to Help Patients The Supreme Court on Health Care II — The Medicaid Debacle Wonders Never Cease — The Supreme Court’s Health Care Decision Previews in Health Redux If you want to sign a letter calling on Nancy Brinker to resign Susan Love: Time to Think Before You Pink Tobacco Company Lies Don’t Mean You Should Vote for Prop. 29 Odds and Ends in the Pink Ribbons Wars What Ever Happened to Previews of Coming Attractions in Health? Changing the Culture of Health Care in a Consumer Society — Not So Easy New ALS Treatment? — Hold Your Applause, Please Thoughts on Leadership – Listen Up, Nancy Brinker Choices: How I Live with ALS Don’t Be Surprised By the Undelivered Promise of Personalized Medicine Context is Everything — Framing the Film Pink Ribbons, Inc. Further Thoughts on Disability Access Komen’s True Colors: Red, not Pink Komen Politics: It’s Not Just About Abortion Gloves Off: What the Fuck, Komen? Pink Ribbons, Inc. is Coming to the US You Don’t Have to Talk Like Stephen Hawking Tikkun Olam and Corporate Responsibility IOM Report on Breast Cancer and The Environment: What Komen’s $1 million Bought Social Justice: The Health Connection Can We Watch Our Language, Please? Nothing Should Have to Be This Hard Is October Over Yet? Mi’She’Berach: Thoughts on Illness and Blessing Accessibility is In The Eye of the Beholder Ways to Look at Illness Ways to Look at Illness Select Category ALS ALS Treatment Breast Cancer Disability Environmental Health Health Policy Illness Medical Science Uncategorized	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line960
__label__wiki	0.953992	0.953992	The Original Torture Memos FLASH: Idaho State Sen. tables bill mandating the torture of Idaho youth en masse. No, srsly: Coeur d’Alene Sen. John Goedde, chairman of the Idaho Senate’s Education Committee, introduced legislation Tuesday to require every Idaho high school student to read Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” and pass a test on it to graduate from high school. When Sen. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d’Alene, asked Goedde why he chose that particular book, Goedde said to laughter, “That book made my son a Republican.” “It was a shot over their bow just to let them know that there’s another way to adopt high school graduation requirements,” Goedde said after the meeting. Christ. Extended stress positions and waterboarding would be infinitely more humane. Have you no decency, sir? Related: Ayn Rand – The Comic. February 7, 2013 matttbastard Atlas ShruggedAyn RandCoeur d’Alene Sen. John Goeddestupid wingnut tricks From The ‘Things I Don’t Miss’ Files inside baseballpaleobloggin'tedium Conservative Senator Patrick Brazeau: Accountability for Thee, Not For Me UPDATE: Senator Brazeau in Jail, Removed From Tory Caucus Update: Holy shit: Senator Patrick Brazeau is in jail following an alleged domestic assault, sources tell CBC News, and has been removed from the Conservative Party’s caucus. Brazeau, who has weathered several controversies since his appointment in 2009, will continue to sit in the Senate as an Independent. It’s not clear whether any charges have been laid. Brazeau was arrested at 9:10 a.m. ET Thursday at his residence in Gatineau, just across the river from Ottawa. Marjory LeBreton, the government Senate leader, sent a letter to Brazeau’s office and caucus members in the morning informing them of his removal. “In light of the serious nature of the events reported today, Senator Brazeau has been removed from the Conservative caucus. As this is a legal matter, I cannot comment further,” LeBreton said in a statement. A senior government source says Prime Minister Stephen Harper was saddened and shocked by the latest Brazeau developments, and took action immediately. CTV News: Conservative Senator Patrick Brazeau used his former father-in-law’s address in a First Nations community when he claimed an aboriginal income tax exemption from 2004 to 2008, CTV News has learned. Brazeau, who has publicly called on aboriginal leaders to be more financially accountable, listed the residence on the Kitigan Zibi First Nation in Quebec as his mailing address for four years, unbeknownst to his ex-wife’s father. “I was not aware of that,” Daryl Tenasoco told CTV News. Neighbours said it did not appear that Brazeau lived in the community. “I’ve never seen him,” Jean Guy Whiteduck said. “It’s right across from my place. I’ve never seen him there. He may have visited. That’s about it.” But documents show that income tax exemptions were applied to Brazeau from 2004 to 2008 when he listed the Kitigan Zibi home as his address. DJ rewind: Brazeau, who has publicly called on aboriginal leaders to be more financially accountable, listed the residence on the Kitigan Zibi First Nation in Quebec as his mailing address for four years… . Hypocrisy is a real B, huh Senator? (h/t) February 7, 2013 February 7, 2013 matttbastard CanadaCanadian politicsConservative Party of CanadaConservative Senator Patrick BrazeauDaryl TenasocoFirst NationsHarperconshypocrisyKitigan Zibi First NationPatrick BrazeauSenator Patrick Brazeau Concert of the Day (After Dark) Miles Davis Quintet (Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Tony Williams), Berlin, West Germany, November 4, 1967: 1967BerlinHerbie HancockJazzliveMiles DavisMiles Davis QuintetRon CarterTony WilliamsvideoWayne Shorter	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line962
__label__wiki	0.855136	0.855136	Bayflicks Lincoln Spector's guide to everything cinema in the San Francisco Bay Area My A+ List of All-Time Great Films Newsletter & Subscriptions Valentino, Keaton, Caligari, Laurel and Hardy: My report on Silent Autumn September 22, 2014 September 22, 2014 ~ Lincoln Spector I could think of few better ways to spend a day then the way I spent last Saturday, at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival‘s first Silent Autumn event. Over the course of the day, we were treated to three features, two collections of shorts, and a lot of great music. Let’s take the day in order. It’s amazing how easily Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy made the transition from silent movies to sound. Adding voices barely changed their characters or comedy style. The festival screened three of their two-reel silents–Should Married Men Go Home?, Two Tars, and Big Business. To show us how they evolved, the movies were screened in chronological order. That didn’t quite work; their characters and style seemed fully developed from the start of the show. On the other hand, they did work, simply because all three were extremely funny. Laurel and Hardy’s onscreen personas were probably the dumbest reoccurring characters in the history of the movies. Stan appears incapable of having a thought or remembering an instruction. Oli knows that Stan is an idiot, and thus, insists on taking charge. What neither of them seems to realize is that Oli is even dumber than Stan. They’re also extremely vengeful and destructive–do something to get them angry, and you’ll be sorry. And yet, they’re eternally loveable. Looking and behaving like overgrown children, they wander into a placid and calm environment and, because of their presence, all hell breaks loose. Soon everyone is throwing mud, kicking shins, and tearing apart automobiles. Laurel and Hardy slowed down the pace of silent comedy–which may be one of the reasons they did so well in talkies. They just stand there and watch while their antagonist–say, James Finlayson–rips off their headlight and throws it into their windshield. Then he just stands there and watches as they destroy his front door. While the sound transition didn’t effect them much, they had a bigger problem moving from shorts to features. A real plot inevitably got in the way of their style of comedy. But in short subjects, few geniuses were funnier. Music: Donald Sosin accompanied these shorts on a grand piano. All three films opened with the MGM lion, and Sosin managed to recreate the roar on the piano (except for the last film, when he invited the audience to roar). His lively music helped keep the laughs coming. Projection: The Festival screened archival prints from the Library of Congress and the UCLA Film Archive. Aside from some bad titles in Should Married Men Go Home?, they looked excellent. You can’t discuss Rudolph Valentino’s last and most famous movie without confronting how attitudes about romance and sex have changed considerably in the last 90 years. Here’s a movie designed to feed women’s sexual fantasies, and judging from its commercial success and the audience that flocked to see it, it did its job. Yet this is a film where the hero rapes the heroine. Of course he does it because he’s been lied to, and he feels bad about it afterwards. But still, the hero rapes the heroine. In 1926, women found this movie very sexy. And judging from the women I talked to in the theater after the screening, a lot of them still do. Of course, then and now, no woman wants to be raped. But on a movie screen, with the gorgeous Valentino, it’s a safe fantasy. The story is silly and hokey, the cast is full of white actors in swarthy makeup, and there’s a comic sidekick bad guy who I just found annoying. But it was a lot of fun. Music: The Alloy Orchestra (actually a trio with a wide range of instruments) premiered their new score for The Son of the Sheik on Saturday. It was lush and romantic, with a hint of the "Orient" without using the common, clichéd music.I loved it. Projection: The festival screened this newly-restored classic digitally. The source material was clearly in bad condition, and probably several generations away from the original camera negative. The image quality was acceptable, but not great. The shape of the frame was very narrow, with a little bit of the image sliced off on the left side. How did that happen? My guess: The source print, made after the silent era, came with recorded music. Because the soundtrack takes up room on the film, part of the image was lost. Feature-length films came into fashion just about a hundred years ago. But it didn’t happen overnight. In 1914, more often than not, a night at the movies involved only a collection of shorts. The British Film Institute has put together a selection of 14 such shorts to help recreate the movie-going experience in the year World War I started. Each of the shorts was preceded by a new title card putting it into a historical perspective. Not that all of these particular shorts would have likely been on the same bill in 1914. One newsreel of the Austrian-Hungarian royal family, taken before Ferdinand’s assassination but screened after it, refers to the killing as a "tragedy." They didn’t know just how tragic it would be. Within weeks, those tragic Austrian royals were the enemy. Later newsreels in the program concentrated on the war. Among the narrative offerings were two from America–a chapter from the serial The Perils of Pauline and an early Keystone Chaplin comedy called A Film Johnnie, where the tramp wanders into the Keystone studio. But the funniest selection in the show was British, Daisy Doodad’s Dial, about woman with a gift for making outrageous faces. Another highlight: The Rollicking Rajah was actually a sound film, using a film/phonograph system similar to the Vitaphone. Clearly a music hall act, enhanced with the ability to easily change settings, The Rollicking Rajah was a risqué musical act starring a male singer accompanied by flirtatious female dancers. Unfortunately, the phonograph record is lost, but the sheet music survives, which brings us to… Music: In addition to playing the song, The Rollicking Rajah, on the grand piano, Donald Sosin sang the lyrics with the verve of a music hall performer. His words didn’t match the lips on screen perfecting, but they worked. He did a fine job on the rest of the show, as well. Projection: I have nothing to complain about with this digital presentation. Some of the sources were pretty bad, and not much could be done to repair them. But overall, it looked very good. One of these days, I’m going to have to write a full article about Buster Keaton’s civil war masterpiece. So for now, I’ll keep it brief: Based loosely on an actual event, The General puts a comic character at the center of a heroic epic, and he proves more than up to the task. The film is visually beautiful, and gives us the sweep of armies and locomotives moving through a land at war. In the climactic battle, soldiers actually die. But it’s also a love story between a man and a train (there’s a girl in it, too). It’s made up almost entirely of two train chases. Keaton, a child of vaudeville who grew up largely on trains, wrings every gag possible (and some impossible) out of these wood-burning steam engine locomotives. The General belongs near the top of any must-see movie list. And like all good comedies, it’s best scene with an audience. Music: The Alloy Orchestra provided a percussion-heavy score that emphasized the unstoppable forward motion of a fast-moving train. A couple of times it felt monotonous, but not for long. Comic sound effects, not overdone, added to the fun. Projection: The festival screened an excellent 35mm print from Raymond Rohauer’s collection. The story is very conventional–at least until the end. But no one remembers The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari for its story. Visually speaking, this has to be one of the weirdest commercial films ever made. The painted backdrops–including painted light and shadow–make no attempt to look realistic. Doors are angular and misshaped. Bureaucratic authority figures sit on very high stools, and crouch over high yet small desks. The sweet and innocent ingénue is dressed and made up to look like a darker and more depressing version of Morticia Addams. This is, apparently, the filmmakers’ view of small-town Germany in 1919, reeling from defeat. Into this world, a showman named Dr. Caligari arrives with an act built around a somnambulist who never wakes up but can see the future. Then people start getting murdered. The story takes some very wild turns in the last third. Best not to go too much into detail. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is an easier film to admire than to like. It’s expressionistic visuals and way over-the-top acting keeps the audience at an arms-length. The constant intensity can be exhausting. But the atmosphere can also have a powerful hold. And the film’s story and strangeness can say a lot about the society that made it, although what exactly it says is a matter of controversy. Music: Donald Sosin eschewed the grand piano for a smaller, electric one for Caligari. I heard a violin, a harp, and other instruments in the score; presumably the piano had MIDI capabilities. The score was appropriately weird and kept the story moving. Projection: For as long as I’ve been watching old movies, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari meant bad, soft, scratchy prints. But the film has recently gone through a thorough 4K digital restoration, and most of it looks great. And even when it doesn’t look great, it’s still presentable and a big improvement. Posted in Festivals, First-person Report, Silent Films, Uncategorized Published by Lincoln Spector Lincoln Spector writes about cinema, technology, and cinema technology. From 1986 through 2008, he wrote Gigglebytes, the first technology-oriented humor column. From 1977 through 2016, he wrote PC World's Answer Line column and blog. 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__label__wiki	0.878146	0.878146	Category Archives: kate hudson gossips >kate hudson hot pictures,kate hudson semi nude pics,kate hudson hot images,kate hudson tits,kate hudson latest stills,kate hudson bikini pics 19 April 1979, Los Angeles, California, USA Kate Garry Hudson 5′ 6″ (1.68 m) A most famous American film actress Kate Gerry Hudson was born on 19th April in the year 1979 in Los Angeles. She is the daughter William Louis Hudson who is a singer comedian actor and Goldie Hawn who is also a famous good looking film actress. Kate Hudson’s mother is Hungerian Jewish and father is an Italian ancestry. She was raised in Jewish religion and also have an effect of Buthism in her life. She described herself as a Jew-Bu. After the birth of KAte Hudson her parents were divorced. Kate and her brother Olive Hudson who is also an actor both were raised by her mother Goldie Hawn. After seperating her mother and the children were lived with Goldie’s long time boyfriend actor Kurt Russel. Kate consider Russel as her father. Kate has one sister Emily (18 years old) and one brother Zachary (14 years old) from her father William Hudson after his marriage with Cindy Williams. She has also one brother from her mother’s relationship with Kurt Russel named Watty. She also have a cousin Sarah Hudson who is singer. In 1997 she completed her graduation from Crossroads, which is good and a performing school in Santa Monica. Kate Hudson started her acting carrer with the movie 200 Cigarettes in 1999. Before that in 1998 she made her first screen debut. She gained popularity because of her role of navie Cindy in the film 200 Cigarettes. In 2000 she was nominated for the Academy Award for best supporting actress for the film Almost Famous. Kate had performed a breakthrough role of Penny Lane in Cameron Crowe’s film Almost famous (2000). Then he was appeared in Speider-Man and a historical and romatic film The Four Feathers. Her next film How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days was very successful at that time at the box office. After that Kate Hudson appeared in many romantic, comedy, films such as Alex and Emma, Raising Helen. It’s another part that these films was not that much superhit. Her one of the thriller movie The Skeleton Key got so much of the success in August 2005. About her personal life Kate Hudson is left handed. In the year of 2000 she married with Black Crowes frontman Chris Robinson. On 7 th January 2004 she gave birth to their son. His name is Ryder Russel Robinson Who is of 2 years old now. They lived in a house which was owned by a famous director James Whale. Keywords:Kate Hudson news & biography, see interviews, find movies,picture gallery, bio & filmography, and moreKate Hudson Kate Hudson Kate Hudson age Kate Hudson awards Kate Hudson bio Kate Hudson biography,Kate Hudson at Biography.com. Read Biographies, watch interviews and videos,Kate Hudson from netglimse.com, Kate Hudson Biography, Pictures, Photos, Wallpapaer, Filmography, Sites Posted by bikinimela on December 28, 2010 in kate hudson biography, kate hudson gossips, kate hudson hot images, kate hudson in bikini, kate hudson latest movies, kate hudson latest stills, kate hudson sexy wallpapers, kate hudson vedios	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line971
__label__cc	0.620312	0.379688	If all the books disappeared….. In a recent interview with Stephen Colbert, the British comedian Ricky Gervais discussed religion. Colbert, an avowed Catholic asked Gervais provocatively about the existence of God as prime mover: But why is there something rather than nothing? Gervais, an agnostic-atheist, countered that the question “why” was irrelevant. Rather, HOW was a much more relevant question. Colbert, a monotheist would deny the 2999 gods of other religions, but maintains one ….the Judeo-Christian God. Gervais simply denies one more God than Colbert. Ricky adhers to the scientific process, exploring the eternal laws of the universe, without needing a recourse to theism to accept existence or manufacture morality. But science is constantly proved all the time. If we take any fiction, or any holy book, and destroyed it, okay, in 1,000 years time that wouldn’t come back just as it was. But if you took every science book and every fact and destroyed them all, in 1,000 years they’d all be back — because all the same tests would be the same results. What is interesting about this exchange is the elision of several hundred years of western philosophy. Friedrich Nietzsche stated at the end of the 19th century, ‘God is dead’. This was not a triumphant declaration on behalf a race who had finally overcome millennia of slavery to the dreams and fairy-tales of their ancestors. It was a melancholy observation of his times and a gloomy foreboding of the consequence of this for subsequent generations. Without an understanding of a realm of absolutes, it was not morality that is corroded….. but meaning and identity. The 20th century found itself contending with existentialism, subjectivism, post-modernism and individualism. We live in a culture of “alternative facts” in which even the foundations of empirical rationalism can be declared “subjective.” If all the books disappeared from the world, along with all memory of what they contain, humans would return to campfire story telling dreamers. We would return to pre-scientific intuitive learners, oral historians, mythmakers and poets. We would become religious again. Knowing this, Carl Jung, following from Nietzsche, sought to re-understand religion and myth, plumbing the depth of our dreams to understand ancient narratives and legends and apply them to human psychology and culture building. Should all the books of the world disappear, we would have to rediscover the scientific process. This would require a relearning of an ability to know, to form meaning and have identity. This would, as it did with the Greeks, the Hindus, the Chinese, the Hebrews, our scientific forbears (and all highly spiritual people), be forged within a framework of absolutes; a transcendental realm in which ideas and knowledge are – within the mind of God. Posted in On Topic, Theology and Narrative Tagged athiesm, religion, Ricky Gervais, scientific process, Stephen Colbert, The Late Show, theism First published in 1868, The Idiot, by Fyodor Dostoevsky has long been a favorite of Russian literature. The novel seeks to expose the tragedy that occurs when a truly good and beautiful human being encounters the rudeness and cruelty of the real world. Its character portrayal is likened to another literary great, the 17th century Spanish classic, Don Quixote. The Idiot gains its title from the central character, Prince Lyov Nikolaevich Myshkin [Myshkin], a young man troubled by epilepsy which was at the time equated with simplicity of mind, or idiocy. His condition highlights his goodness and open-hearted simplicity and much of the novels tension is created by his interaction with characters who mistakenly assume that he lacks intelligence and insight. Dostoevsky’s account of one man’s struggle with the conflicts, desires, passions and egoism of worldly society is according to philosopher A.C. Grayling, is: ..one of the most excoriating, compelling and remarkable books ever written; and without question one of the greatest. So, what happens when the ideal human being comes into the real world? The world that Prince Myshkin enters is one of moral corruption and decay. With money as the principal object of importance, the value of human dignity and the source of human love are redefined in relationship to it. Beautiful, intelligent women such as Nastassya Filippovna, are objectified, dishonored and consequently destroyed by the people who supposedly love and desire them. This world of the novel is also full of drunks and rogues, even murderers, and a high society full of superficial nothings who are surrounded by self serving underlings seeking a high position. In contrast to this world, Prince Myshkin stands out with simple goodness. In the midst of this world Dostoevsky depicts Myshkin as an almost Christ-like character, epitomised so by his immense compassion and love for others. The novel contains an series of encounters between Myshkin and the other characters, many of whom have committed offenses against him. His attempts at assisting them even after their slights, emphasise his selfless compassion. The novel is a tragic satire. Dosotoevksy used the novel to discuss and critique Russian Christianity. In it Prince Myshkin describes religion as an immensely strong feeling similar to joy, the joy God feels for his creation. For him, true religion is more akin to a feeling than a set of rules to follow. This idiotic sentiment of his leads him only to suffering. Though he attempts to help those around him, he fails and this failure, finally drives him to insanity. The tragedy of the novel is that it would seem his effect on this world is ultimately zero. Does Myshkin fail to bring good? Is his own goodness inverted and manipulated, leading to the destruction of both himself and his ideal? Far from it. The novel remains a classic for its embodiment of true religion, one of compassion and a quest to right injustice. It remains a timely warning against the vices of wealth and privilege and false morality. And it points beyond itself to the truest man, the one who suffered so that we might see inequalities redressed and true humanity valued. Tagged Christ, critique, Don Quixote, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Prince Myshkin, religion, Russian Christianity, satire, The Idiot, tragedy Narrative of Identity In mid January this year, hundreds of thousands of marchers and numerous world leaders took to the streets of Paris to support freedom of expression. The slaying of 12 journalists in their Charlie Hedbo headquarters, for its polemical pieces and mocking illustrations of the prophet Muhammad, raised the issue of religious intolerance as well as freedom of expression. France, the heartland of Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite, would not stand for censorship on this issue and the magazine lives on. How does culture work like that? How does a nation spill half a million people onto the streets simultaneously to fight for an idenity? This phenomenon is not infrequent in times of upheaval, but what makes larges masses of people move as one? In Queensland, we stand this week between Australia Day, 26th January and our State Election, 31st January. Much of the discussion and polemic in the media concerns, “what it is to be an Australian”, our heritage, our ethos. How does our state collectively make a decision about what political party to choose? How do we move as one when it comes to decisions to go to war? How can a crowd of spectators at a match simultaneously break into laughter or cheer at once, except when something strikes a chord in their heart, a memory, a shared value? How else do we achieve national untiy at all except through story telling, repeated, iterative, gradual story telling. From school onwards, we are told the story of our nation, our struggles, our journey, our coming of age, our national icons, our spirit. Slowly we believe, we are more than just residents of an address but citizens of a national village, who share a common bond, who belong together more than we belong apart. While much of this narrative can be murkied propoganda, we need these stories to function as unified whole. Let us examine what stories we are telling ourselves! What is shaping our knowledge of right and wrong? What are we telling our children about the future? Posted in Personal, Story Telling, The Art of Narrative Tagged Australia, Australia Day, BBC, Charlie Hebdo, Egalite, ethos, Fraternite, Freedom of Expression, heritage, idenity, journalists, Liberte, Paris, religion, values	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line975
__label__cc	0.746782	0.253218	Amazon Opens its First Physical Bookstore: How it’s Different from a Regular Bookstore Amazon has sold a lot of books, but never like this. On Tuesday, the online retailer will throw open the doors of its very first brick-and-mortar bookstore in Seattle, Washington. “Amazon Books is a physical extension of Amazon.com,” company vice president Jennifer Cast wrote in a statement published Monday. “We’ve applied 20 years of online bookselling experience to build a store that integrates the benefits of offline and online book shopping. The books in our store are selected based on Amazon.com customer ratings, pre-orders, sales, popularity on Goodreads, and our curators’ assessments.” Among the store’s selling points: Virtually all of the books are presented face-out “to give you more information as you browse.” Cast told the Seattle Times that Amazon “wanted to showcase authors and their work, rather than cramming as many titles as possible on shelves. ‘We realized that we felt sorry for the books that were spine out,’ Cast said.” Beneath most books is a review card with relevant Amazon.com customer ratings and reviews. “You can read the opinions and assessments of Amazon.com’s book-loving customers to help you find great books,” Cast said. Some sections in the bookstore are highly targeted using data from Amazon.com shoppers, with titles like, “Gifts for Young Adults: 4.5 Stars & Above” or “Fiction Top Sellers in the Pacific Northwest.” As the Seattle Times noted, Amazon’s trove of data on consumer habits “could also solve the business problem that has long plagued other bookstores, unsold books that gather dust on shelves and get sent back to publishers.” Prices at Amazon Books will be the same as those offered on company’s website, Cast said. Also, the stores will let customers try out products like Amazon’s Kindle, Echo, Fire tablet and connected TV devices. SOURCE: The Huffington Post Previous articleFuneral Services Announced for New Jersey Pastor Rev. Ron Christian Next articlePew Study: More Americans Reject Organized Religion, but Those Who Believe Remain Strong in Their Faith Pope Benedict XVI Breaks Silence to Reaffirm Value of Priestly Celibacy Electric Vehicle Startup Rivian Closes 1.3 Billion Investment From T.Rowe Price, Amazon, Ford, and Others Couple Who Funded Lavish Lifestyle by Washing 700,000 Used Stamps and Sold Them as New Online Are Convicted of Fraud Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Other Book Retailers Selling “A Children’s Book of Demons” That Teaches Kids to Summon ‘Funny Spirits’ Lawsuit Claims Amazon Lost $10 Billion Pentagon Contract Because of Trump’s ‘Personal Vendetta’ Against Jeff Bezos Ken Harrison on Shia LaBeouf’s “Honey Boy” Shows How a Bad Father Can Hurt So Many	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line980
__label__wiki	0.543211	0.543211	blacklightmafia Sports, Movies, Books, TV et al April 11, 2017 April 11, 2017 by vedaarth17 The Most Disappointing Movies #3-Will the real Eragon please stand up? Eragon is a derivative and damp re-spin of all those old fantasy epics that you’ve definitely seen. It generally feels like a cheap Vegas Star Wars tribute act, with a dragon playing the Millennium Falcon. Want a inept blond farmboy hero-figure with daddy issues? You got it. He even has a disposable uncle and a sunset to mope at which rivals that of Tatooine. How about a wise old wizard who sets our hero on the path to power before being popped off? Yep, that’s here too. A feisty princess who gets imprisoned early on and has to be rescued with a taboo-esque romantic hints with our hero? Take a wild guess. It’s easy to lay all the blame at the door of Christopher Paolini, who wrote the source novel when he was 15 — and that becomes clearly apparent. But it’s director Stefen Fangmeier on whose doorstep the real blame lies. A former ILM FX supervisor, his first directing job betrays his origins, as he shows more interest in the CG dragon, Saphira (a half decent job at that) than he does in conjuring a fresh take on fantasy. This is the sort of movie where you know the villain is evil because he broods on his throne in a dark, cavernous room. The only thing he could have done to make it more apparent was eat an apple in a shady manner. Plot holes abound, and it’s visually repetitive; if it weren’t for the plethora of sweeping shots of guys sweeping along on horseback(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uE-1RPDqJAY), the movie would be less than half an hour long. As for Fangmeier’s treatment of his non-CG actors, they’re hung out to dry with shit-you-can’t–say-out-loud dialogue like, “Taste the blood of your dragon!” As for Edward Speleers, the Brit debutant in the title role, he’s gives his best into the role, but sadly he also is pretty bland, his blank stare multi-tasking furiously as it brings us barely discernible differences on happy, sad and heroic. Ultimately, with a human hero impossible to invest in and a CG dragon that doesn’t make one ooh and aah (it doesn’t help that Rachel Weisz, a competent actress at best, phones in her turn as Saphira’s voice), Eragon just doesn’t catch fire. The book Eragon is nothing short of a fantasy cult classic as is its young author Christopher Paolini. First published by his parents’ small private press in 2002, when Paolini was 18 years old, the book was picked up by Knopf and has dug its heels in on the New York Times bestseller list for years at this point. Although the books have received mixed reviews for a storyline heavily influenced by Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and even the King Arthur legend, the appeal to younger readers willing to march through their lengthy contents is undeniable. I won’t admit I didn’t. Paolini has made it clear from the very beginning that he had very little to do with the construction of the movie version of his story. . It’s not a surprise to learn that director Stefen Fangmeir has spent the bulk of his career providing visual effects for a wide variety of blockbuster films, seeing as how Eragon feels like a C-movie with A-movie CGI. Its dragon is fully realized and believable in thrilling flight sequences and battle scenes, especially in the film’s last act. With support from both Industrial Light & Magic (responsible for making Star Wars lore and legend) and Weta Workshop (Lord of the Rings), the quality look of these moments is understandable. It’s in the barely understandable script, shoddy editing, low-budget sets and half-hearted plotting that Eragon fails to take off. For starters, essential parts of the book are sacrificed to the film’s running time, leaving the final act suffering from a series of unheralded character introductions and abrupt actions sequences. It’s unclear, though, that more minutes would make for a more watchable film. Several scenes provide unintentional humor, especially those featuring John Malkovich as the evil king in his throne room who opens the film with the ignonimous words, “I suffer without my stone! Do not prolong my suffering!” Even the exceptional Jeremy Irons can do little to save his screen time from the overall awfulness that permeates throughout this film. Given Paolini’s text, Eragon could have easily been developed as a much darker, more gruesome and more violent spectacle perhaps even Rated R to drive home the point. And you know what the worst part is. I really want to see a good Eragon. Its films like these that need good reboots. Not already great movies like Ghostbusters. Eragon can be so much better. Will the real Eragon please stand up? Previous The Most Disappointing Movies #2-Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 Next Screw you Snapchat. Or was it Snapdeal? 5 thoughts on “The Most Disappointing Movies #3-Will the real Eragon please stand up?” Aanya Gupta says: I can’t believe you’re yet to include the Percy Jackson movies. They should have been the first ones. As awful as the Deathly Hallows movie was, it wasn’t diametric opposite to the book in terms of how it made you feel (and I say this with pure loathing). A concotion of anxiety and sadness, a deep sense of loss, an ache for what once was and will never be. I can sincerely say the ghost of Fred Weasley’s laugh has haunted me as much as Lupin and Nymphadora’s fate has tormented me (no apologies to the eye rollers). Innocence was bid a hasty farewell as it plummeted to the depths with Hedwig for company, the exhilaration of wind in your hair and skies in your palms can wait, this is serious, you could be dead before you can say Quidditch (get it?). So no one was expecting the same old, same old and the movie just lived down to the already low expectations. But Percy Jackson? When I first paid a visit to Camp Half Blood, I was about to become a teen, now I am on the threshold of becoming an adult, so when I recently again paid a visit, the wit, the sarcasm didn’t quite hold the same appeal, and yet I finished the entire series all the same (also the Kane Chronicles, the Magnus Chase duology and The Trials of Apollo, but I digress). I still haven’t gotten over the shock of watching The Lightening Thief movie. It was an unadulterated horror. The plot was messed beyond recognition, Percy (shabbily cast) and Annabeth were busy checking each other out, and the mighty Poseidon was reduced to an unfunny joke. No witty banter or the great one liners or the brilliant interspersing of the past and present. The Studio got to capitalise on a hugely popular series and the already established fan base kept the cash registers ringing. They laughed all the way to the bank and we trudged back home, dripping with disappointment. I like your comment more than the article itself. No offense Vedaarth, but you gotta hand it to her. vedaarth17 says: The Percy Jackson movies honestly tear at my heart more than I’d like them too. They are the absolute dribbling shits of pop culture cinema and they’re better forgotten than tragically reminisced on. To be absolutely honest though, I’ve always felt that the entire series with the spin-offs a la Heroes of Olympus would have been so much better suited in the form of a TV series. Awesome chapter names being the titles of individual episodes with an entire book being one season. Give it a super huge budget not unlike Stranger Things and just let it run. The sass and wit that epitomize Percy Jackson suit an episodic format much more, I personally feel. Nah, the blog is effortlessly eloquent. I like how you write, Vedaarth17. Why don’t you write book reviews too? You’d be good at it. Flattery, thy name is Aanya. Seriously though, thanks. Sadly college life is too hectic for regular articles. Hopefully I’ll have enough time in a couple of months to fully commit to something and review it. Last On Blacklightmafia The Conundrum That Is A Punjabi Wedding Reissue-Why Maths Sucks(Big Time)	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line981
__label__cc	0.679136	0.320864	Fiction: general & literary Modern & contemporary fiction Child Taken Darren Young (author) Paperback (18 May 2017) \| English 1 copy available online - Usually dispatched within 24 hours The last thing a man expects his wife to bring back when she 'popped to the shops' is a young child. They should have taken her back, faced the consequences...done the right thing. But what happens when that innocent child instantly begins to mend a broken wife, and fix all that seemed unfixable? It's not quite so easy then. Twenty years later, another missing child, a lucky interview and the curiosity of a story-hungry trainee journalist throws up questions about what really happened to Jessica Preston when she disappeared from that beach all those years ago. When the journalist comes across someone with a secret from their past, it threatens to reveal what's been covered up for so long. Child Taken is a thrilling debut that explores the long-term impact on the lives of everyone involved in an unthinkable crime, one in which everyone has lost something. The cleverly-woven narrative follows the journey, past and present, of the abductors and the family from whom the child was taken, as well as those, who twenty years on, who just want to find out the truth. The answers seem obvious but then again, it all depends on your perspective. What would you have done? Publisher: RedDoor Publishing Imprint: RedDoor Publishing Pub date: 18 May 2017 Harry Potter and the Chamber of... J. K Rowling (author) Harry Potter and the Prisoner o... Donna Tartt (author)	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line982
__label__cc	0.73839	0.26161	#Cruzin'toCaucus #FLS2015 #GOParty #IDPJJ #Jeb!CountdownToCaucus #LincolnDinner #O’MalleyUnpluggedIowa #RoastRide #WingDing 2016 Radio Ad 2016 Websites Anne Holton Bill Scranton Darrell Castle George P. Bush Jim Gilmore Jim Webb Martin O’Malley New Hampshire 2016 President-Elect Donald J. Trump George Pataki 2016 Presidential Campaign Website Now Online http://www.georgepataki.com/ Posted by Mike on 05/28/2015 \| Permalink \| TrackBack (0) George Pataki 2016 Website Previews Important Announcement on May 28, 2015 Rick Santorum 2016 Presidential Campaign Website Now Online http://www.ricksantorum.com/ Bernie Sanders 2016 Presidential Campaign Website With Announcement Livestream Information Bobby Jindal 2016 Presidential Campaign Exploratory Committee Website Now Online http://www.bobbyjindal.com/ Martin O'Malley "Announcement Coming" 2016 Website The Decision Sign-up Martin O’Malley “Announcement Coming” Is he in or is he out? Will he run or won’t he? At a time when so many Americans are struggling to get by, Governor O'Malley is considering some bold plans for the future. But, while some tough decisions still need to be made, we can tell you one thing: Sign up today and you'll be the first to know. Our nation faces big challenges. Everyday Americans are working harder than ever, but falling further behind. In the face of unprecedented challenges, we need a new leader, one who is committed to restoring the American dream for every citizen, in every community. A proven, experienced leader with a record of getting the results we need. A leader who will move our nation forward. Martin O'Malley is exactly who we need in the White House. Will he run? And will you be the first to know? We’ll let you in on his decision before the media, the politicians and the Washington establishment, so sign up. Adam Goers, Executive Director O'PAC The Decision. Be the first to know the Governor’s decision. We’ll let you know before the media, the politicians and the Washington establishment. George Pataki 2016 Website @GovernorPataki I will announce my decision on 2016 on May 28th in New Hampshire @MorningJoe Rick Santorum Presidential Testing The Waters Website Live with Ticket Information for May 27, 2015 Special Announcement http://www.eventbrite.com/e/rick-santorum-special-announcement-tickets-16852670792 Mike Huckabee 2016 Presidential Campaign Website 404 Error Page “Oops! Looks like you caught the wrong page” Mike Huckabee for President 2016 Campaign Website Now Online #Huckabee2016 http://mikehuckabee.com/home New President Donald J. Trump White House Website Goes Live President-Elect Donald J. Trump Announces Second Wave of Additional White House Staff Including Sarah Huckabee Sanders Republican National Committee (RNC) Elects Ronna McDaniel Chairwoman, Bob Paduchik Elected Co-Chair The Republican Party of Minnesota (MNGOP) Releases Statement On Upcoming Presidential Inauguration President-Elect Donald J. Trump Nominates Former Governor Sonny Perdue as Secretary of Agriculture Vice President-Elect Mike Pence Appoints Ken Nahigian as Executive Director of the Trump-Pence Presidential Transition The Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC) Announces Inaugural Ball Information President-Elect Donald J. Trump Names Additional Senior White House Staff Appointments Presidential Inaugural Committee Announces Details for the Swearing-in of President-elect Donald J. Trump http://jeb2016.com/ http://www.bencarson.com/ https://www.chrischristie.com/ http://www.tedcruz.org/ https://carlyforpresident.com/ http://www.lindseygraham.com/ http://mikehuckabee.com/ http://www.johnkasich.com/ http://randpaul.com/ http://www.rickperry.org/ https://marcorubio.com/ http://www.donaldjtrump.com/ http://www.scottwalker.com/ http://www.hillaryclinton.com/ http://www.chafee2016.com/ http://martinomalley.com/ http://www.webb2016.com/ https://berniesanders.com/	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line984
__label__cc	0.700387	0.299613	#review: Short + Sweet #Theatre Penang 2013 I'd wanted to write this the night before, right after watching the show, but I was tired, and then I was lazy. So anyway, there's still one more run Saturday night (not sure if they have a matinee? There might be) so I figured I might as well just do the review now, in case there's anyone who's still figuring out whether or not to catch the final show. Okay. So mini introduction - short and sweet theatre is a showcase of 10-minute plays. Plays will be judged for a variety of things (doesn't make a difference unless you are a participant or a judge), as well as the Audience Choice Awards (okay, this one involves you, the audience. You get to vote for your favourite). As a mini rundown goes, I think this year's offerings were slightly better than last year's. Most of the plays were local - only two from KL - as compared to last year, whereby some plays were recycled from previous fests. Thoughts about the plays The show started off with Arrangement, which kind of bombed for me because it didn't quite make sense. A wife comes home from a trip to find her husband masturbating (?) goes into a spiel about being perfectly fine and understanding if he needs to have another woman (went on too long about this, in CIRCLES) and then discovers that after two months of marriage, he is still a virgin. Er. Unless I understood the whole thing wrong. (Sorry if this is a spoiler, but if you understand it any better, please do let me know). scratch head It would have been much better if 1) the extreme vulgarity was dropped (the actors didn't seem comfortable with it anyway) as the subject matter was shocking enough at any rate 2) the acting was much more flamboyant (and the English better/more fluent), thereby carrying off the pseudo-American patter it was written in. This was followed by Noticed, which was a sweet little piece about teenagers and self-image, and how things are supposed to change in college, but doesn't really, not unless you do something about it yourself. On one hand, you have a teen (sorry, I forgot her name) who, tired of being the wallflower, is on an extreme diet (i.e. I AM NOT EATING). Her friend, the popular one, is worried about her. I loved the argument about why, if losing weight and gaining popularity was supposed to make you happy, you don't actually seem happy? As much as I liked this piece (and it was quite well written by my friend Jackie) there wasn't anything spectacularly new or exceptional about this. I didn't really follow Hope and hopeless as it was in Mandarin, but you know what, it was BRILLIANT. Sounds strange, right? But that shows you what good acting really is - it draws you in, entrances you, makes you laugh and react - even if it's mainly to the body language and about 10% (err, or less) of what they said. It had something to do with heaven and hell... Good girls turned semi-serious, talking about abusive husbands and arranged marriages, whilst "..." was a classic lost in translation/miscommunication story between a frantic husband (I think he was supposed to be Indian, but the actor was Chinese) and his visiting Japanese mother-in-law though it was a rather Malaysian interpretation of what a Japanese old woman would be, which I think made her look like a rather frazzled, befuddled aunty lost in her own world, rather than one who had communication problems. (Okay, that sentence was way too long). The sixth play was Shooting Star, where Rachel recalls why wishing on shooting stars makes her feel sad and why she will never wish on one again. I really liked the actors on this one. They had this nice shy/awkward vibe going on (you know, he likes her, she's oblivious, he doesn't know how to tell her, she's talking about another guy) that makes me go awww. Okay, so 'No' in spite of itself was a brilliantly written piece. Do you realise how many nuances there can be just for that one word - "no"? Okay, so slightly same premise with the love triangle thing, but I like the way it played out. Touched a bit on suicide. Also, actor (from last year's S+S) did much better this round - maybe he suited this character better, or maybe he improved a lot. Grave affairs was another serious piece - also bringing up the issue of abusive husbands (why are all the serious pieces about abusive husbands?) and male chauvinistic thinking. I preferred this one though, because it was serious and intended to be serious. Good girls had that psychotic/hysteria vibe to it which tends to take away from the issue. In Grave affairs, the widow stands up and gives an eulogy about why she won't be grieving for her husband's death. Her son's attempts to shut her up gives even more gravity to the issue. Who is the killer? was another Mandarin piece, so it lost me a little. It was something about H1N1, some other pandemic (also spread by mosquitoes, I think and has R?N? or maybe N?R? code, I forget) and Char Koay Teow and I think the case was about who killed more? Or who killed someone? Er. Of course you had to have the Chinese Judge. Oh, and iPad photos. A little more slapstick humour to this one. The last play of all, homo \| phobia, was the shocker of the evening. I mean, I don't even know how to start talking about this one. Okay, I had a sneaky suspicion it was going to go the way it was going, but I didn't quite expect them to end that way. (Haha! No spoilers until after the final show!) It was, of course, about the gays and homophobia. Gay guy (shown obviously by his erm. tight, colourful shirt and short shorts and GLITTERY EYELASHES OH MY GOODNESS THE GLITTERY EYELASHES) comes to borrow notes from a classmate. Classmate acts decidedly uncomfortable around him and gets accused of being homophobic. First thought - that's more trans/drag queen than gay. Second thought - do gay guys wear glittery eyelashes? Third thought - are transsexuals gay? Fourth thought - who cares, let's just take this at face value Other random thoughts 1. Okay, so why is it that the two plays about abuse was written by Malays (Haris Hazizan and Fa Abdul)? Is this a common problem in Malay households? Or is it a bigger/weightier problem/issue for them? Good Girls was a definitely Malay setting, though Grave Affairs was rather confused - the son was wearing a cross, there was an obvious "Christian wake" kind of setting with eulogy time, but the widow later smears red paint on her forehead which is a Hindu practice? (Intentional, I'm thinking - kind of I'm not just renouncing you as my husband, I'm renouncing your religion too!) 2. Is Maxime Rhapsody the poet guy from last year's lit fest? 3. LANGUAGE! It makes such a big difference - not the language itself, but how well you speak it, or how comfortable you are speaking it. It really affects your acting. I don't doubt that the two actors in Arrangement were okay with speaking English, but you could tell it wasn't fluent, maybe not quite their first language. And I think that was the deciding factor in what broke the play (for me at least) - there was no impact to what they were saying at all. This was all the more evident because right after that, Noticed, was played by two girls (one Caucasian, one maybe mixed? - or at least from an international school) who were decidedly fluent and it made everything they did and said feel more natural. Of course, as I said about Hope and Hopeless, and which also applies to Who is the Killer?, even though I didn't understand the actual dialogue, it still captured my attention because it felt real. Labels: Malaysia, Penang, PenangPac, review, S+S, theatre Dr. Shark 24/09/2013, 11:13 Just a comment: I think the Good Girls write up is not about the "Good Girls" but about the other play instead...the story about the Indian (acted by a chinese) marrying a japanese woman visited by his japanese mother in law. Thanks Dr Shark. I realised I confused a few people with that as I joined both comments into one sentence. I've added in quotation marks around the title of "..." to make it clearer. Maxime Rhapsody 28/10/2013, 04:01 hi .. this is the poet and rapper maxime rhapsody, yes i am the one directing and acting as the son in the "Grave Affairs" . Currently i am in penang residing as an poet and rapper here . Short and sweet was my exploration into direction as i have few project that involves theater . hope you enjoyed the show. As a director i wanted to show a woman standing up for herself and through using simple analogy and actions. the cross and the red dot is to symbolize the east vs west issue in a family . do find me in facebook https://www.facebook.com/maximerhapsody Hi Maxime! Yes - I did enjoy the show.It was a great job all around. :) Hi there, this is maxime rhapsody .. yes i am the poet and rapper from last year lit fest. currently i am living in penang as resident artist here. I am the one directed and acted as the son for the play "Grave Affairs", hope you liked it !! It was my debut for direction as i want to explore the world of direction as i have many projects involving theater soon. And the whati wanted to project from the play was all about a woman standing up for her rights and the cross and the red do symbolizes eastern vs western ideology .. do find me at #bookreview: How the Rhino Got His Skin Hey, I posted on Medium! #fireplace: don't despise the little things #bookreview: Maybe I Will #bookreview: Shade's Children by Garth Nix #bookreview: Render by Stephanie Fleshman (@stepha... #guestpost by @stephaniecfl: The 5 guys you'll mee... #fireplace: Is your laziness stronger than your pa... #bookreview: Gardens of Ampheia by Joshua Silverma... PSA: Free review copies and over $750 in prizes. S...	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line985
__label__wiki	0.872941	0.872941	Cornish studies resources Cornwall: history, surnames and society, from Bernard Deacon Cornish surnames Why do surnames matter? An introduction Where surnames come from – a brief history Classifying surnames Surnames and the Cornish language What makes a surname ‘Cornish’? Surname maps – 1861 18th century surnames by parish How to trace the origin of your family name: an example Hosking: a bit of a Cornish mystery Surnames in Madron: By Nicholls. Mitchell and Roberts you shall know the Cornish The Surnames of Cornwall Allen to Buzza Caddy to Currah Dabb to Guy Hain to Knuckey Ladner to Oxnam Paddy to Runnalls Sambells to Sweet Tabb to Tyzzer Udy to Yeo The history of Cornish Early Cornish to c.1100 The loss of the east: 1100-1300s Relative stability: 1300 to the early/mid 1500s Growing pressure: the early 1500s to 1700 The final years: 1700-1800 Cornish demography Cornwall’s population history: an overview Cornwall’s population history before 1750 Industrialisation and population growth, 1750-1860s Deindustrialisation and depopulation: the 1860s to the 1950s The Great Emigration The Great In-migration: 1960s to the present day Cornish Identities Defining identity The Cornish identity English identity in Cornwall British identity in Cornwall Cornish Methodism Cornish Methodism or Methodism in Cornwall? The causes of Methodist growth What was different about Cornish Methodism? The Consequences of Methodism for Cornish society Cornish mining Cornish mining: a short history The geography of mining Cornish politics Recent articles on Cornwall Contemporary social/cultural/political Healthcare and diversification in Cornish fishing Political theatre at St Ives: the second homes ‘ban’ Contrasting Padstow’s festivals Rather Westminster than Brussels or Truro. The brexit vote in Cornwall. Pasty appreciation How inclusive are Cornish tourist sites? Exploiting culture, mining heritage? De-territorialisation and Downderry Justice and the planning system EU funding and Cornwall Match-fixing in Cornish wrestling Politics and power in late 17th century Mitchell From Cornwall to Crete? Bronze age trading routes The Cornish gentry’s ‘county’ identity in the 1400s Emily Hobhouse and the limits of agency The drink problem in sixth century Tintagel Robert Hunt and early photography Nellie Sloggett and North Cornish folklore Bronze Age metal mining What’s going on at Godrevy? People pressure at Land’s End Environmental concern on the streets of Truro? Scallop dredging and docks expansion in Falmouth Litter on north Cornish beaches Literature and language The Cornish language as symbolic icon Angels dancing on pins. Or studies in the history of the Cornish language. Cornwall and Finnegan’s Wake The names and naming of revived Cornish ‘Where was Middle Cornish spoken?’ Gothic/Mystical Cornwall: a review Cornish towns Publications: a list Industrial Celts From a Cornish Study Cornwall’s First Golden Age TV and Cornwall Picturing Cornwall: a review Fact and fiction in The Last Kingdom Doc Martin: creating a stereotype A tribute to James Whetter For some time, writers on Cornish have noted the marked division in terms of placenames between west and east Cornwall. We have already seen how the sound changes of the 12th and 13th centuries suggest a boundary somewhere in mid-Cornwall. This is reinforced by other evidence. Paul Dunbar and Ken George in 1997 produced an interesting map of settlements that had been divided and the language used to name those separate parts, i.e. upper/lower, great/little. They wrote that the geography of the use of English and Cornish in these names ‘first appeared before 1550 … during the period 1250 to 1550’. The map of two-part settlements in Dunbar and George, 1997. But when exactly? New, divided settlements can be expected to have emerged during periods of population growth, when landholdings were being divided or nearby wastelands put under the plough. So we need to put this in the context of Cornwall’s demographic history. Like elsewhere in western Europe, population grew from the 11th century to the decades before the Black Death in the mid-1300s. The population total then fell abruptly before drifting downwards through the 15th century. It didn’t begin to rise again until the early 16th century. Given this background, we would expect most of the new, divided settlements to have appeared well before the mid-1300s. And this is exactly what the placename evidence indicates. Using Gover’s list we find that more than half the attestations of Cornish-language dual names first appeared before 1400. The demographic history therefore suggests the division in mid-Cornwall had already been established before the Black Death and lasted to the early 1500s. Here’s a map below of Cornish names for divided settlements. It can be seen that the distribution of wartha/woles names was in fact significantly more restricted than mur/byghan, This may suggest that wartha/woles was adopted as descriptors rather later. The median year of first appearance would support this, wartha/woles being 1379, while mur/byghan was much earlier, in 1330. This in turn implies that at some point from the early 1300s to the early 1500s, parishes around the Camel estuary may have turned from Cornish to English. Nevertheless, in contrast to what happened before and after, these two centuries look to have been a period of stability, when the geography of Cornish changed relatively little. East of a line from north of the Camel estuary through Bodmin to the Fowey estuary most communities by the 1300s were English-speaking. West of it, the majority of people spoke Cornish, although in towns and among merchants and traders, people were more likely to have been bilingual. In fact, it may even be the case that the Cornish-speaking area expanded a little at times in this period, with the divide between predominantly Cornish and predominantly English speaking areas being driven back eastwards to the Camel-Fowey line. (For example, Woon in Roche was named in English Netherwoyn in 1350 but was called Woen woles in a document of 1524.) This would be by no means unusual as there are examples from Irish and Welsh regions where the Celtic languages re-established themselves in the medieval period. The idea of a steady westwards retreat of Cornish is one of those myths that lack solid foundations. This is also the period when the Cornish language emerged over the horizon of literacy and when we meet documentary references to the language. The language was protected in these centuries by two institutional props, the church and the Crown, the first was the more critical. In the late 13th century church authorities began to encourage the use of vernacular languages in religious instruction. In Cornwall, this led to the production of religious dramas. The surviving texts come in two guises. There are mystery plays, the majority of which were written in the later 14th century, although with one – the Creation of the World – dated to 1530-50, and there were saints’ lives. Two of the latter survive, both dated to around the 1460s. Some uncertainty exists over the date of composition of these plays as the texts are mostly copies of lost originals. Meanwhile, the Duchy’s protection of the customary rights of tinners from the 14th century onwards guaranteed the economic underpinnings of a society relatively free from lordly interference. This may have also had the effect of indirectly protecting the traditional language of that society. Direct and indirect references to where the language was spoken also begin to appear from the 14th century. In 1328-29 the Bishop of Exeter wrote that the language of people ‘in extremis cornubie’ was British. However, we can read little into the vague words ‘in extremis’. In 1336 the parishioners of St Buryan made submission to the bishop after a dispute over the status of their church. The majority did this in Cornish, while a sermon by the bishop was translated into Cornish by the Rector of St Just. This tells us nothing too startling as we’d expect communities in west Penwith to be Cornish-speaking at this date. However, some 13 parishioners were able to submit in English or French, indicating a level of bilingualism among the elite even this far west. In 1339 a licence to preach was given to a vicar in St Merryn and Cornish specifically mentioned, while in 1437, 1450 and 1477 clergy at St Erme, St Ewe and Goran resigned for reasons including their ignorance of Cornish. In 1349, at the height of the Black Death, and in 1355, two more interesting references occur in comments that the prior and brethren at Minster, near Boscastle, ‘know not the English or the Cornish tongue’. This has been taken to mean that at least a pocket of Cornish-speakers survived into the mid 14th century this far north, well to the east of the Camel-Fowey language divide. In 1354/55 two priests were appointed to hear confessions. The one based at Bodmin was appointed for those who knew Cornish and English, while at Truro the appointment was made for Cornish only. This implies that Bodmin’s hinterland included both Cornish and English-speaking communities and Truro mainly Cornish-speaking, which supports the notion of a linguistic boundary somewhere near Bodmin. The geography of Cornish and English at the end of this period in the first half of the 16th century can also be examined through the presence of Cornish language occupational surnames (and more general naming practices). This was a time when, in Cornish-speaking communities, hereditary surnames were not always fixed but still changed from one generation to the next. Therefore, if someone was called Trehar rather than Tailor, or Angoff rather than Smith, we can assume they really were a tailor or a smith and known as such in Cornish, implying the language of the community was Cornish. The next map, based on taxation lists of the 1520s and 1540s, reinforces the model of two language communities. It looks, however, as if the dividing line had moved west to a line from St Mawgan through St Columb and Roche to St Austell. This is reinforced by the second map, of two part surnames, indicating non-hereditary surnames. (Someone might be called James William, but his son’s name would become Simon James, with the second name denoting the father.) Moreover, it’s possible that the westwards contraction indicated in these maps was a relatively recent phenomenon, as Cornish came under pressure after the Reformation. Socialism in Edwardian Cornwall January 17, 2020 Cornish surnames where the spelling obscures the origin January 15, 2020 The fall of the Arundells of Lanherne January 13, 2020 Cornish towns in 1698 January 11, 2020 More Cornish surname puzzles January 9, 2020 Fishy business: research on Cornwall’s inshore fisheries January 7, 2020 Trouble at mine January 4, 2020 Were Cornish speakers slower to add an -s to their name? January 3, 2020 art and literature Cornish language and culture socio-economic data Other Cornish studies resources Kresen Kernow Penlee House Cornwall Council data Cornish language and general linguistics Troze Cornwall & Scilly Historic Environment Record Institute of Cornish Studies Courtney Library Data on modern Cornwall from Plumpot	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line991
__label__cc	0.691775	0.308225	Worse than Katrina? Anti-density bombs over Detroit September 28, 2010 at 11:25 pm \| In cities, futurismo, land_use, politics, scandal, social_critique, urbanism \| Comments Off on Worse than Katrina? Anti-density bombs over Detroit Caught a Sept.23 post by David Byrne today, Don’t Forget the Motor City (found via a tweet by Richard Florida). Byrne writes: This is a city that still has an infrastructure, or some of it, for 2 million people, and now only 800,000 remain. One rides down majestic boulevards with only a few cars on them, past towering (often empty) skyscrapers. A few weeks ago I watched a documentary called Requiem For Detroit by British director Julian Temple, who used to be associated with the Sex Pistols. It’s a great film, available to watch on YouTube, that gives a context and history for the devastation one sees all around here. This process didn’t happen overnight, as with Katrina, but over many many decades. However the devastation is just as profound, and just as much concentrated on the lower echelons of society. Both disasters were man-made. That film Byrne references – Requiem for Detroit – occupied a chunk of my evening. It’s truly haunting – unbelievable, except it’s true. (The link Byrne gives goes to Requiem for Detroit in 10-minute segments; the link above goes to the entire 1hr.16min.45sec. film – not sure how that was uploaded to Youtube, but I hope it stays up). Byrne includes this photo, a google maps overview of a couple of “city blocks” in Detroit today …no density, hardly any houses (most have been razed, the city is trying to “shrink” itself), a sorry accompaniment to the more frightening destruction that has taken place in other areas: I believe it was in his 1740 essay The Anti-Machiavel that Frederick the Great wrote that the Netherlands, with its small land mass but large population of educated citizens, was far richer than Russia, with its vast but sparsely populated land mass – a population furthermore kept in servitude and ignorance due to a feudal system that enshrined serfdom. People – engaged, educated, integrated – matter more than machines or raw land. Looks like land use policies (racist) and factory practices (automobile production) came together to make Detroit turn into 18th century Russia instead of Holland. What about widgets? July 2, 2010 at 10:45 pm \| In business, creativity, futurismo, green, ideas, innovation \| 3 Comments I go to my local YMCA a lot, and every time I’m there I think about energy use: how much energy I could be generating, how much I’m using, how much others are using. My “plus” membership entitles me to use the sauna and steam room, and I get towel service, too (yes! – love that, because it means less shlepping and less laundry at home!). I use the steam room regularly – since we’re having an unseasonably cool summer it’s welcome, even in July. However, the ladies change room has poor air circulation, and in the summer (even a cool one like this) it gets hot in there. Furthermore, every time we users open the doors to the steam room or the sauna, the escaping hot air contributes to heating the changing and shower area, and the upshot is that the Y is running additional oscillating fans in our change room. So, to recap: the steam room uses energy, the sauna uses energy, the blow dryers provided by the Y use energy, and now the fans – meant to give the illusion of cooling all this heat that we’re producing through our energy use, also use energy. Meanwhile, when I’m upstairs on the elliptical trainer – along with scores of others on treadmills, stationary bikes, stairmasters, and rowing machines (it’s a pretty swell facility!) – I could be generating energy, couldn’t I? Which brings me to… I’m in love with shiny new technology products (even if I can’t afford them), and long ago drank the Kool-Aid regarding social media platforms and the importance of ‘markets as conversations.’ But lately those things have begun feeling “bubbly” – that is, not too-too solid enough. Today, the spouse sent along an article by Andy Grove, How to Make an American Job Before It’s Too Late. In my mind, Grove’s arguments tie in with Jeff Rubin‘s criticism of globalization, and they also relate to what bothers me when I’m at the Y thinking about energy use. It’s all about what we’re making (another social media platform that lets us communicate?) and where we’re making it (if it’s not another Foursquare, is it a widget and who will scale it?). As Grove observes: Startups are a wonderful thing, but they cannot by themselves increase tech employment. Equally important is what comes after that mythical moment of creation in the garage, as technology goes from prototype to mass production. This is the phase where companies scale up. They work out design details, figure out how to make things affordably, build factories, and hire people by the thousands. Scaling is hard work but necessary to make innovation matter. The scaling process is no longer happening in the U.S. And as long as that’s the case, plowing capital into young companies that build their factories elsewhere will continue to yield a bad return in terms of American jobs. When I think of energy use at the Y, I’m thinking not of platforms that let me tell you what I think about energy use at the Y. I’m thinking of widgets that would make it easy to measure energy use, for example, so that it becomes less risky for individual users (home owners or building managers) to install efficiencies. The next step – staying with Andy Grove’s call to arms – means thinking about what happens after some tinkerer in a garage invents a measuring device. Where does it get manufactured, and who gets to be employed doing so? Jeff Rubin argued that the cost of oil will eventually force countries like the US to re-introduce manufacturing at home because it will just get too expensive to ship raw materials from one continent to another, and the finished product to yet a third. While I sweat in the steam room, I might think about what it would mean to have efficient “air curtains” installed just outside the steam room and sauna doors – air curtains that capture the escaping heat when doors open, and recirculate that heat for hot water use. But how or why would anyone install such a thing – even if it readily existed, although you could adapt and reverse engineer the air curtains that some stores use – without having widgets or gadgets capable of calculating, predicting, and (most importantly) measuring, to provide immediate feedback to calibrate energy use? If you don’t have the feedback (measurement), it’s just …hot air! As I blogged a while back in Creating Value Through Sustainability, Eric Hespenheide said it best: “You measure what matters, and what gets measured, gets done.” We’re desperately ignorant most of the time of our energy use, if we bother to think about it at all. I’m pretty sure I’m a weirdo in taking three consecutive Bikram yoga classes and then stopping because I thought the energy footprint of that type of yoga is outrageous. (And I also thought the hot room was a gimmick.) Doing hot yoga, you need to be clean (showered) before you start (hot water, towels, soap) because even incipient bad BO is going to knock out the others as you start to sweat like mad. After the class, you need to launder whatever you wore (no way you’re wearing it again unwashed) and you need to shower again (more soap products, more hot water, more towels/ laundry). The amount of energy needed to heat the yoga room to the required temperature is crazy, as are the HVAC requirements (unless you very quickly want a moldy building). (And incidentally, where do the Bikramites and others get off doing competitive yoga? Maybe I’m missing something…) But enough of yoga and sports. We need to measure what we use. “You measure what matters, and what gets measured, gets done.” To do that, you need tools. Who’s building the tools? On a big scale? Manufacturing today takes place elsewhere, not in North America. Grove again: The job-machine breakdown isn’t just in computers. Consider alternative energy, an emerging industry where there is plenty of innovation. Photovoltaics, for example, are a U.S. invention. Their use in home-energy applications was also pioneered by the U.S. Last year, I decided to do my bit for energy conservation and set out to equip my house with solar power. My wife and I talked with four local solar firms. As part of our due diligence, I checked where they get their photovoltaic panels — the key part of the system. All the panels they use come from China. A Silicon Valley company sells equipment used to manufacture photo-active films. They ship close to 10 times more machines to China than to manufacturers in the U.S., and this gap is growing. Not surprisingly, U.S. employment in the making of photovoltaic films and panels is perhaps 10,000 — just a few percent of estimated worldwide employment. (source) I bet any tinkerer in his/ her garage working out the kind of measuring widgets I’d like to see every homeowner and building supervisor have at his/ her fingertips is going to end up getting the widgets manufactured in China, too. Just read Grove’s section on Advanced Batteries to see where we’re heading. He argues that “abandoning today’s ‘commodity’ [battery, or television] manufacturing can lock you out of tomorrow’s emerging industry.” That is, innovation needs an ecosystem – and we’ve got a pretty good one on the social media platform front, but it could be looking better when it comes to widgets. If you drop in on your local gym, you can even see that for yourself. Notes on walking architecture May 21, 2010 at 10:40 pm \| In architecture, cities, futurismo, ideas, innovation, jane_jacobs, land_use, ubiquity, urbanism \| Comments Off on Notes on walking architecture It’s not everyday that you see Guy Debord and Steve Jobs in the same presentation, is it? Courtesy of Matt Jones‘s People Are Walking Architecture, or Making NearlyNets with MujiComp, it’s not only possible, it makes sense. (Read the full document on Scribd.) Jones makes the case for building “smart city networks by making inviting, intelligent products,” hence the juxtaposition of critical thinkers and people who make “inviting, intelligent products.” Going through the 59-page document, a few pages that attracted my attention especially: p.15, Archigram were basically right, a sentence inspired by Chris Heathcote’s Cheer up, it’s Archigram. Why Archigram (about which I’ve blogged here)? “Essentially they were user-centric designers, working with technology to create humane exciting environments with technology …with a liberal dash of 60s psychedelia…” (p.14). Archigram’s architects thought about enabling behaviors, not just about buildings. Cool. (Jones even calls them interaction designers.) Archigram envisioned the car as the “ultimate symbolic technology of personal freedom,” but as Jones points out, that didn’t quite pan out. Today, we’re more likely to see mobile technology (phones, etc.) in cars’ symbolic stead. (p.16) Car = 20th century; mobile phone = 21st century. (p.17) Hence the jump to Steve Jobs – and back (in time) to Guy Debord, who defined psychogeography as “the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organized or not, on the emotions and behavior of individuals.” (p.18) Jones points to smart phones as the gadget that lets users manipulate the experience of psychogeography from an individual perspective: “…a whole toy box full of playful, inventive strategies for exploring cities…” (p.20) Cities are now “linked and learning” (Sir Richard Rogers, British architect who designed Paris’s Centre Georges Pompidou), hence people are walking architecture. It’s back to Archigram, see? Architecture should enable behaviors, and what we have today are gadgets that enable behaviors relating to how people experience and shape, in a feedback loop, the urban experience. The urban experience is still informed as well by buildings, but who hasn’t also found that it’s informed by behaviors – often experienced as negative, like traffic jams, congestion, and bad infrastructure? Today – and into tomorrow – those behaviors will be more and more fine-grained, as people carry tiny mobile devices that allow ubiquitous computing, which in turn shapes the city as much as cars, roads, and other infrastructure did. People are walking architecture, shaping the urban-scape as they move through it, devices in hand. Next up, Jones covers Eliel Saarinen (“Always design a thing by considering it in its next larger context …a chair in a room, a room in a house, a house in an environment, an environment in a city plan”) and Clay Shirky (Situated Software), and a bunch of other things (MujiComp; porch computing; doorways; nearly nets). And then he gives Jane Jacobs the last word (which I appreciate, if only because every other person mentioned in his presentation is male): “Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.” (p.58) Jane Jacobs, last word Let’s say you own an airline… April 6, 2010 at 10:57 pm \| In futurismo, green, innovation \| 2 Comments Here’s an interesting question: where are today’s business leaders when it comes to solving pressing social and economic issues that affect our common wealth (and health)? The other day, Fred Wilson’s post, No conflict, no interest, broached this question by describing a major historical precedent, the creation of the New York City subway system around 1891. Back then, “conflict of interest” didn’t fundamentally hobble participation by business, although that changed during the course of the 20th century: In this day and age, having a financial interest in something means you’ve got a conflict and your opinion is somehow “tainted.” But that wasn’t always the case. (source) The New York City subway system was shepherded into existence by the Steinway Commission, which consisted of a team of differently-minded (and differently-interested) men. Does that happen any more today, or does “conflict of interest” prevent it? As it happens, I recently learned about the Carbon War Room, co-founded by Richard Branson of the Virgin group of companies (which includes Virgin Atlantic Airlines). The Carbon War Room‘s front page states: Our global industrial and energy systems are built on carbon-based technologies and unsustainable resource demands that threaten to destroy our society and our planet. Massive loss of wealth, expanding poverty and suffering, disastrous climate change, water scarcity, and deforestation are the end results of this broken system. This business-as-usual system represents the greatest threat to the security and prosperity of humanity – a threat that transcends race, ethnicity, national borders, and ideology. Maybe there’s some productive and welcome “conflict of interest” at work here. With carbon-based fossil-fuel-burning travel as one of the key pieces in the Virgin group, it seems a risky proposition to declare a “war” on carbon, but that’s the plan at the Carbon War Room. In the section Strategy & Tactics we read: The Carbon War Room has identified 25 battles across 7 theaters that are material to winning the war against climate change. Each battle accounts for over 1 billion tons (or more than 2%) of global anthropogenic CO2e emissions annually. The battles encompass the full spectrum of challenges that must be met to implement a post-carbon economy, from energy to agriculture to carbon storage. Once the determinants of a battle’s outcome are understood, the Carbon War Room plans targeted operations to achieve victory. Our agents of change are entrepreneurs of all kinds – including business entrepreneurs, corporate intrapreneurs, and non-profit/ social entrepreneurs. Critical to our success, entrepreneurs will be directed to engage all means and tools necessary to disable and replace business-as-usual systems. They will drive the innovation establish new sustainable practices, while unlocking wealth, security, and wellbeing for the world’s inhabitants. The other co-founders are Craig Cogut (of Pegasus Capital Advisors) and Boudewijn Poelmann (of Holland’s National Postcode Lottery). For more on who’s involved, check out the Executive Team and Executive Board pages. A featured event listed on the front page is an upcoming summit, Creating Climate Wealth at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. Looking through the agenda, it’s clear everyone involves means business. And maybe that’s just what we need. (Hat-tip to Guy Dauncey for the initial pointer to the Carbon War Room.) Do complex systems need resilience? April 3, 2010 at 11:44 pm \| In futurismo, ideas, media \| 2 Comments Fascinating new post by Clay Shirky: The Collapse of Complex Business Models. Shirky takes Joseph Tainter‘s theories around social complexity and collapse (less well-known than Jared Diamond‘s) and draws parallels to business complexity – and collapse. This paragraph from Tainter’s wikipedia page expands on the differences in Tainter’s and Diamond’s approaches: Tainter begins by categorizing and examining the often inconsistent explanations that have been offered for collapse in the literature. In Tainter’s view, while invasions, crop failures, disease or environmental degradation may be the apparent causes of societal collapse, the ultimate cause is an economic one, inherent in the structure of society rather than in external shocks which may batter them: diminishing returns on investments in social complexity. For contrast, Jared Diamond‘s 2005 book, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, focuses on environmental mismanagement as a cause of collapse. Finally, Tainter musters modern statistics to show that marginal returns on investments in energy, education and technological innovation are diminishing today. The globalised modern world is subject to many of the same stresses that brought older societies to ruin. (source) Shirky’s piece takes Tainter’s economics-based analysis of social complexity and applies it to analogous complex systems, such as specific businesses or industries themselves. Reading the piece, it struck me that collapse or survival comes down to what sounds like resilience (or its absence). Shirky describes Tainter’s proposition, that societies build up to benefit from complexity, but that then, something goes wrong: Early on, the marginal value of this complexity is positive—each additional bit of complexity more than pays for itself in improved output—but over time, the law of diminishing returns reduces the marginal value, until it disappears completely. At this point, any additional complexity is pure cost. Tainter’s thesis is that when society’s elite members add one layer of bureaucracy or demand one tribute too many, they end up extracting all the value from their environment it is possible to extract and then some. The ‘and them some’ is what causes the trouble. Complex societies collapse because, when some stress comes, those societies have become too inflexible to respond. In retrospect, this can seem mystifying. Why didn’t these societies just re-tool in less complex ways? The answer Tainter gives is the simplest one: When societies fail to respond to reduced circumstances through orderly downsizing, it isn’t because they don’t want to, it’s because they can’t. (source) In other words, complexity without resilience becomes a precondition for collapse. So the question might be, how do you bake in resilience? Is it feedback loops? Early warning systems? But those (by themselves) don’t guarantee action – it’s really easy to keep on the same path, even if the red lights are blinking and sirens are sounding. Tainter wrote that “under a situation of declining marginal returns collapse may be the most appropriate response,” and Shirky adds: “Collapse is simply the last remaining method of simplification.” He describes a mid-90s conference call with ATT, where the company couldn’t conceive of running a simple, failure-prone system. Its internal culture valued perfection, because the latter depended on a high degree of complexity, bureaucracy, and failure-aversion (naturally). ATT’s problem was diminishing returns on investment: how could it make money on a (quite possibly flaky) $20 per month web-hosting model when the company culture valued its famous “five 9’s” reliability (services that work 99.999% of the time)? Furthermore, it would be impossible to sign up enough users at $20-a-month to deliver that level of service and still make a profit. Since then, as Shirky puts it, “the supply part of media’s supply-and-demand curve went parabolic, with a predictably inverse effect on price.” That is, returns on investment have not perked up. Yet, “a battalion of media elites have lined up to declare that exactly the opposite thing will start happening any day now.” See the parallels to Tainter’s analysis of social collapse? “When societies fail to respond to reduced circumstances through orderly downsizing, it isn’t because they don’t want to, it’s because they can’t.” Substitute “companies” for “societies,” and that’s where a lot of companies are at. After running through the assertions of several famous representatives of the media elite (Barry Diller of IAC; Steve Brill of Journalism Online; and Rupert Murdoch of News Corp), who all claimed that users will just have to pay for news again, Shirky adds: Diller, Brill, and Murdoch seem be stating a simple fact—we will have to pay them—but this fact is not in fact a fact. Instead, it is a choice, one its proponents often decline to spell out in full, because, spelled out in full, it would read something like this: “Web users will have to pay for what they watch and use, or else we will have to stop making content in the costly and complex way we have grown accustomed to making it. And we don’t know how to do that.” Again: the analogy to Tainter’s view of complexity and collapse is clear: “When societies fail to respond to reduced circumstances through orderly downsizing, it isn’t because they don’t want to, it’s because they can’t.” Next, Shirky looks at bureaucracy (which can, as he notes, “temporarily reverse the Second Law of Thermodynamics” because for them “it’s easier to make a process more complex than to make it simpler, and easier to create a new burden than kill an old one,” all of which explains why change management in a bureaucracy is akin to squaring the circle). I was very interested in the bureaucracy angle since I live in a government town (Victoria is the capital of British Columbia), but the bureaucracy Shirky describes here is an industry-specific one (the Writer’s Guild and its role in the television industry), not government. Within the television industry, simplicity is turning into a game-changer: if success is measured by how many times something is viewed, then simple, often user-generated videos (outside the complexity orbit of traditional television production) uploaded to sites like YouTube are winning the game. Hence all the quailing about barbarians at the gates, just like in the days of ancient Rome… When ecosystems change and inflexible institutions collapse, their members disperse, abandoning old beliefs, trying new things, making their living in different ways than they used to. It’s easy to see the ways in which collapse to simplicity wrecks the glories of old. But there is one compensating advantage for the people who escape the old system: when the ecosystem stops rewarding complexity, it is the people who figure out how to work simply in the present, rather than the people who mastered the complexities of the past, who get to say what happens in the future. (source) That’s Shirky’s closing paragraph, something to think about. Shirky’s article has given me lots of food for thought, not least because part of me clings to the complexities of the past, that’s for sure, in spite of my latent iconoclasm. I’d like to think that with resilience, it may be possible to carry forward those things that have not just served well in the past but continue to inspire in the future. For more on Shirky, see Mat Wright’s April 1 post, Why Online News Paywalls Will Fail, which includes a pointer to the excellent video of Clay Shirky describing “the changing news landscape that has put accountability journalism at risk, and outlin[ing] a ‘journalistic ecosystem’ that is needed to preserve essential watchdog role of the press.” (source) A note: I wrote this late in the evening, excuse the nonsense title. Of course complex systems need resilience… Another wave …of mirror neurons February 10, 2010 at 11:44 pm \| In comments, futurismo, social_critique, social_networking, ubiquity, web \| Comments Off on Another wave …of mirror neurons Well, it’s not called Wave, it’s called Buzz now. I opted for it, used it a few times, and then doused it with indifference. Actually, more than indifference: an article pointed to by Dave Winer (via this tweet), WARNING: Google Buzz Has A Huge Privacy Flaw, prompted me to go to my Google settings to make sure that buzzy news wasn’t going to be publicly available. Call me old-fashioned, but I think email (and who I email with) is my business, not the world’s. Yeah, sure, the world isn’t interested in me and my email, but on principle, what Google did with default public settings is wrong. Mat Wright blogged about Buzz earlier, and I left several persnickety (even curmudgeonly) comments. (Mat is used to this – we are co-conspirators on and co-creators of JohnsonStreetBridge.ORG and he has heard me rant often. It makes for a refreshing change that this time around it’s not about City of Victoria politics, I guess.) Sunday Afternoon at the Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat (Louvre) What really intrigued me a lot more today than Buzz, however, was chatroulette (which I hadn’t heard of before, but read about on Fred Wilson‘s blog post here). Just go read Fred’s post and then especially read through the many comments. I decided to leave a comment about chatroulette (also viewable on my Disqus profile), even if my thoughts on this app are half-formed – full disclosure: I haven’t used chatroulette and probably never will (just the mention of 4chan is enough to keep me off), but I was intrigued by the “don’t next me!” pleas from a user. The technology brings us “together” (in a weird way), but it then also gives us the power to delete people wholesale. …Don’t taze me, bro! Don’t delete me! Don’t next me! I find this fascinating. It’s a dialectic of violence that’s built into the very thing we’re using to touch one another. The threat of harm in the promise of contact is part of the package. If you’re really curious, you might even want to spend 8 minutes watching the …er, unusual video, 1 man 2 fish censored, posted on the blog comments board. Mirror neurons firing like it’s the Fourth of July – but what are they hitting? Toward a new medievalism? June 28, 2009 at 3:45 pm \| In business, comments, futurismo, ideas, media, social_critique, web \| Comments Off on Toward a new medievalism? I just left this comment on avc.com. It’s me going off on a typical theory bender, but the idea of Twitter’s Suggested User List (SUL) sparked another “here come the Middle Ages” image/moment for me. (As I note in the comment, they’ve been popping up for me since the late 1970s: my first one happened in the south of France, in a literally medieval town on a street with lots of commerce: pop!, a vision of what we could go back to – and I didn’t like the distinctly anti-modernist feel of it.) That’s an interesting exchange between you and John Battelle, Fred. Now I’m going to go totally off-topic here and get all abstract, but I have to say that to my mind there’s something Medieval in some of the emerging business models and how they’re changing the nature of markets. In the feudal Middle Ages, powerful patrons – either the Church or the Feudal lords – determined the markets. Markets weren’t free, they weren’t determined by market forces (as we think we understand them since the various emancipations) or really shaped by the “little people” (who in the modern period developed into powerful consumers). When I read (as per transcript): “…if you think about what businesses and celebrities and brands need on Twitter and what they’re not getting today, there’s a whole set of premium services that are there,” I’m understanding something that reminds me of feudal medievalism where markets are determined by the needs of powerful patrons (church and/or lords). (John Battelle repeats the point further down when he says, “You said something about brands on Twitter, sort of like celebrities having the ability to sort of build an official presence.”) I didn’t understand recent controversies about Twitter’s Suggested User List (SUL). I saw Dave Winer’s tweets about the SUL, but didn’t understand why he questioned the concept. Maybe I do now – albeit in my own weird way (Dave probably would roll his eyes at my interpretation…). The SUL concept nudges markets back into a feudal framework where forces other than actual market forces determine the market landscape. Maybe I’m crazy – I’ve had occasional bad dreams for nearly 30 years now about how feudal Medievalism is clawing back bits of Modernity. (Blame Umberto Eco, whose writings encompass Modernity and the Middle Ages.) The idea comes to me in pictures, which is maybe why I struggle so much to get the words right (the anti-icons, the iconoclastics). Me no likey what I see with SUL-type aspects of the business model and how it has the potential to alter markets. I love the internet and all the great stuff out there, I plunge right in, sound off, play along. I love pictures and emblems and icons, but at heart I’m a daughter of the Enlightenment (words, words, words). Pictures, specifically icons, are Medieval. Yet in the new world that we’re making, even words – such as passed links – are turned into image, into something that’s consumed like an image (in a glance, or uncritically). Exegesis – trying to understand and interpret words – is still important it seems, as per the comment that reading the transcript of the video is better than watching the moving image…! But you could chalk that up to Medievalism, too. They did a lot of exegesis back then. 😉 Ok, I’m generalizing (wildly?), and I’m going off into my own little theory-land here. But as you said yourself, “Social media together is going to be bigger than Google.” Google and the internet certainly changed our thinking about everything, including thinking about thinking itself. Tell me it’s not rewiring our brains – of course it is. Now social media are poised to rewire the market. I just happen to think that bits of it are kind of medieval, and every time the notion of the tribe (certainly an important idea in the new market place) is celebrated without critical reflection, something in me dies a little bit. If my favorite enlightened Marxist, Groucho, were still alive, I wonder how he would position himself, market-wise, in the social media landscape, and if he would want to be on the SUL? 😉 Originally posted as a comment by Yule Heibel on A VC using Disqus. Reblogged to here as mnemonic / string around the finger. Diigo Bookmarks 05/24/2008 (a.m.) May 23, 2008 at 5:32 pm \| In architecture, futurismo, green, innovation, links \| Comments Off on Diigo Bookmarks 05/24/2008 (a.m.) Transmaterial 2: To Redefine Our Physical Environment – PingMag – The Tokyo-based magazine about “Design and Making Things” – Annotated PingMag interview with Blaine Brownell, architect and sustainable materials researcher, whose focus is on green building. “From repurposed materials that act as surrogates, to recombinant ones that fuse several materials into a hybrid, making them stronger and more effective — Blaine points us to products that might shape our physical environment in the future.” Materials discussed include self-healing polymers inspired by biological systems, which can automatically heal cracks in buildings, for example. The article includes many other photographs / examples with descriptions of weird and wonderful bioneered and sustainable building materials. tags: pingmag, transmaterial, bioneering, biomimicry, architecture, technology, blaine_brownell, sustainable_materials It probably all comes down to quality February 11, 2008 at 12:58 pm \| In business, fashionable_life, futurismo, ideas, web \| 2 Comments A couple of days ago, I finished reading Walter Kirn‘s hilarious article, The Autumn of the Multitaskers, in the current issue of The Atlantic monthly. I suppose part of “successful” multitasking (if you grant that multitasking actually exists successfully in any way shape or form) is having a clear vision of what exactly it is you’re trying to accomplish. And having a clear vision of what the quality of that “way” should be (that’s a bit of a “zen” reference — the way is the goal and all that…) Today I came across two new online services that promise to customize and micromanage my potential multitasks. In the latest MIT Technology Review, Erica Naone reports on a new start-up: “Maintaining Multiple Personas Online.” Naone’s article describes MOLI, which (as Naone’s subtitle explains), is a “new site [that] lets users create profiles for the different sides of their personality.” Will this mean that your multiple personalities can multitask independently of one another? Walter Kirn must be doing backflips… On the other hand, MOLI does seem to offer real help to the chronically (or promiscuously?) connected: Online social networks have allowed people to easily stay in touch with large groups of friends, but the flip side has been well publicized. Some users have struggled over what to do when certain people–such as a boss or an ex-boyfriend–ask to be listed as a friend on their profile. Adding someone as a friend gives him access to the user’s profile, photos, and daily musings. Worries about privacy were renewed recently when Facebook’s Beacon advertising initiative began broadcasting information about users’ purchasing habits throughout its networks. (See “Evolving Privacy Concerns.”) Now Moli, a recently launched social-networking site, aims to win over concerned users. President and COO Judy Balint says that the site is intended for a more mature audience than the teenagers targeted by many social-networking websites. Directed at users who are trying to balance personal and professional networks, Moli offers multiple profiles–with different privacy settings–within one account. Users of Moli can set up as many profiles as they want, and they can choose to make them public, private, or hidden. Anyone, whether he has signed up for Moli or not, can search for and view a public profile. A private profile will show up on searches, but to access it, a user must be a member of Moli and must have approval from the profile’s owner. A hidden profile is invisible in searches and can only be viewed by people invited by the owner. Balint says that users are free to set up multiple profiles of various types, with the requirement that they must designate at least one public profile. Balint says that the site is also intended to appeal to small-business owners, who can use it to set up an intranet and extranet for free. For a fee, businesses can run a store through Moli. http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/20183/page1 And as if that weren’t enough, my husband just sent me this press release from a start-up based in Victoria’s own Vancouver Island Technology Park, a new company called Sprout: MT Mind Technology announced the launch of its first product, Sprout, as a public beta on February 8th, 2008. Sprout is a new platform that sources hyper-personal online content. Sprout learns the user’s likes and dislikes based on simple positive and negative feedback. Designed with no initial set-up and a low cognitive load, users can start cultivating their content immediately. To try Sprout for yourself, check out www.yoursprout.ca. Located at the Vancouver Island Technology Park in Victoria, BC, MT Mind Technology was founded in 2006 by Evan Willms and Duncan MacRae. The company is developing solutions for individuals and organizations to effortlessly avoid information overload. According to Sprout‘s webpage, the service aims to personalize web content for all the yous you are: Can a search engine, blog or newsreader personalize its content to suit your tastes perfectly? The straight answer is “no”. So, we designed Sprout to be everything they’re not; from its ability to pull the freshest content from thousands of sources online, to its ability to learn what you’re into and weed out the rest. That’s right, folks. The future of intelligent online content sourcing is here. And it’s leafy. A new leaf. A fig leaf, too, perhaps? Could be very interesting. …Now if only Walter wouldn’t make such a racket, jumping up and down! 😉	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line998
__label__wiki	0.699262	0.699262	Unityを入手伝道者ユーザーグループ David Bowie is in AR: How Planeta built a killer app with Unity Tony Parisi, 3月 26, 2019 “David Bowie is” is an app created by creative sound and media studio Planeta. Planeta used Unity to adapt the original museum exhibition for AR, featuring high-resolution captures and immersive settings. Here, Planeta talk about some of their creative and technical challenges. The music world lost a true original with the passing of David Bowie in 2016. Bowie was more than an iconic pop star; he was a consummate artist and innovator, continually reinventing himself with new stage personas and moving through musical styles and genres with ease. With a career that spanned 40 years, David Bowie cast a long shadow on world culture. Bowie was wild about technology and how it affects the human experience. His first big hit, “Space Oddity,” released before the Apollo moon landing, told the tale of a wayward astronaut longing for home. His 1976 song TVC15 warned about the addictive nature of television via a “hologramic” broadcast – a full year before Princess Leia projected onto a tabletop. And in the early days of the Internet boom, Bowie saw the disruptive potential of the web and started his own AOL-style ISP, BowieNet, to serve his fan community. The exhibit David Bowie is premiered at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London in 2013, honoring the artist while he was still alive, and traveled the world for five years. As the tour was winding down, leads at Sony Music began thinking about how to preserve the essential elements of the show – and Bowie’s legacy – in XR, and found the team at Planeta to help create an AR experience. The result is the app David Bowie is, an augmented reality recreation of the museum show that features 2D and 3D representations of artifacts from the show, along with hours of audio and video of Bowie’s music and performances. The app was made with Unity, using our ARKit support for the original iOS version, then moving to AR Foundation to build for Android. The app was launched on Bowie’s birthday, January 8, 2019; he would have been 72. It’s awesome. As an avid Bowie fan myself, I think he would have loved it. I recently caught up with the folks from Planeta – Nick Dangerfield, Jimi Stine, Dan Brewster and Pilar Aranda – to talk about the project: How did this project come to land at Planeta? Akiko Ozawa, of Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc., is a devoted fan of David Bowie and of the V&A show. Two years ago, she brought David Bowie is to Tokyo; when the show did its final leg in Brooklyn last year, Akiko thought that a full copy of the show should be preserved in XR for posterity. So she started looking for a studio to help out. As our work on immersive tech is mostly around music and visual arts, Akiko felt that we’d be up to the task. What were your biggest challenges on this project both technically and creatively? At the outset, our biggest challenge was answering the questions: What does a mobile AR gallery look like? How do you move through it? We’re no strangers to creating virtual art galleries – Planeta has developed seven VR gallery/exhibition spaces since 2016 — but to do so for the small screen, while simultaneously incorporating over 400 objects of varied media, required days and days of design discussion to figure out. The technical questions primarily dealt with the massive amount of asset data. Discerning the most coherent and beautiful way to display these objects was one thing, but doing so smoothly and seamlessly was a challenge all its own. In that sense the design was limited by the tech – there’s only so much that mobile AR can handle. Making sure that every item was properly tagged with an accurate description and title also took a considerable amount of QA. Describe how Unity helped make your process easier or solved a problem for you. Were there any specific Unity features you leveraged? AR integration via AR Foundation was great to get us up and running. As a tool, the overall malleability of the Editor was extremely useful in creating specific workflows that saved us countless hours. The asset store ecosystem also saved us tons of time as we were able to purchase tools and visual effects that would have taken up far too much of our limited resources otherwise. What artists/creators have inspired your work and to do what you do? This will definitely sound corny, but in this case our guiding light was David Bowie and his constellation of influences, which is essentially saying the best art made in the twentieth century. David Bowie had an incredibly fine eye for good work, and one of the perks of this project has been revisiting some of the most influential artists of our time, from Bauhaus to Brian Eno. What advice would you give someone embarking on a similar archival-type project in AR? It’s important to understand that David Bowie is acts as a recreation of an expansive exhibition on a phone more than it does as an archive. That being said, it’s really important to capture the display materials at the best possible quality. The images we made for the project were taken by an archival art photographer from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. As for advice related to future galleries, we’d say it’s important to remember that we are no longer confined to the architecture of traditional museums. While it’s understandable that other projects seek to replicate the museum experience 1:1, we feel projects are more successful when imaginative spaces are created, leveraging only certain techniques of standard presentation to help acclimate the user to the experience. So much can be done with sound and light to create an optimal or interesting atmosphere in which to view a piece of art – why limit ourselves to the same white-walled incandescent light-filled boxes we’ve always known? How did you optimize all the object scans to render so well in mobile AR? What photogrammetry software did you use? The models were the most labor-intensive aspect of the whole project. After photographing and scanning each costume (for the record, that’s over 50 costumes captured in five days!), we used a combination of Agisoft Photoscan and Maya to combine all our data. From there, the finishing was all done by hand and was completed only a few days before we launched. To optimize the assets we did tons of balancing and play-testing to test for performance and overall usability. Ultimately, we decided, in most cases, to show a reduced poly model in the scene context, and up-res it after it had been selected. Similarly, all the models are presented without lighting data once they’ve been selected, which helps to show off the detail captured in the photogrammetry data. I love how each scene starts by rendering the pass-through camera and eventually fades to black, making you feel like you could be in the museum. Was this purely for aesthetic reasons or was performance optimization a factor? Fading to black was purely aesthetic. We played around with varying levels of background opacity for the duration of development; at one point we almost included a slider that would let users adjust the background opacity as much as they wanted. Ultimately, however, we decided to keep the background black to keep the attention on the assets themselves. Too much camera view would lead to confusion between real and virtual spaces. While that blurred line is usually considered a perk of AR, we felt that if we were going to create an immersive, museum-quality experience, we would need to have total control of the visuals. How do you feel about the end result? Is it the end? We are very happy with the end result, especially given the limited time frame we had to work with (roughly six months from start to finish). There are, of course, features we would have loved to include, but there just wasn’t the time to implement them. As of right now, we don’t have any plans to continue working on David Bowie is. What’s next for Planeta? Our next digital project will build extensively on our history of making new kinds of spaces to exhibit more traditional forms of art. Incorporating what we’ve learned from our past work, and partnering with artists and institutions alike, we aim to create a new cultural events space in virtual reality. This project would be a multiplayer environment with both permanent and temporary exhibitions, designed alongside the best minds in architecture, sound design and lighting. Mixed and Augmented Reality Studio (MARS): Designing a framework for simplified, flexible AR authoring Andrew Maneri 1月 3, 2020•3 Tactic の AR 戦略 – ホリデーシーズンのコカ・コーラに命を吹き込む Tony Parisi 12月 19, 2019•1 XR Interaction Toolkit Preview Package is here Matt Fuad +1 12月 17, 2019•17 How immersive experiences inspire empathy and real-world behavior change Braelyn Johnson Made with Unity テクノロジー Unity Labs のお届けする Project MARS のご紹介 Timoni West 10月 2, 2019•9 Unity Reflect で設計と建設をシームレスにつなげよう 9月 25, 2019•5 3 replies on “David Bowie is in AR: How Planeta built a killer app with Unity” laura@inconnuwine.comsays: 5月 23, 2019 at 10:14 am There are, of course, features we would have loved to include, but there just wasn’t the time to implement them. As of right now, we don’t have any plans to continue working on David Bowie is. gurpreet singhsays: VFX graph will not replace the Shuriken particle system due to the differences regarding physics for example https://blackmartapk.tech/. Macsays: 3月 26, 2019 at 4:36 pm Very cool project. Would love to see this in VR! 機械学習(ML) 新しい Unity Pro・Unity Plus のサブスクリプション価格、2020 年 1 月 1 日をもって改定 (English) Unity 2019.3 beta is now available 新しい Input System のご紹介プロジェクトの開発中に DOTS への転換を決断した背景と得られたパフォーマンス 2019.3 は現在ベータテストの最終段階に報道関係資料 Unity について提携パートナー Unity ニュースの受信私は、 Unity のプライバシーポリシーおよび個人情報の取扱いと使用に同意しますもうすぐです... Unity Technologies からのニュースを受信し始めるには、あなたのメールアカウントにお送りしたリンクをクリックしてください。おっと... 何らかの支障がありました。もう一度やり直してください。	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1001
__label__cc	0.635952	0.364048	Home > History > Players > Player details Debut: Plymouth Argyle, A, 15/10/1988 Last game: West Ham United, H, 18/04/1992 League 25 (1) FA Cup 1 (0) League Cup 5 (0) European 0 (0) Other 1 (0) Total 32 (1) League Cup 0 Return to list of players All history and statistical material has been produced based on the research and writing of Manchester football historian Gary James (www.facebook.com/GaryJames4). It is maintained by Ric Turner & Gary James. All text remains the copyright of the original contributors. Gary's book, Manchester - the City Years: Tracing the Story of Manchester City from the 1860s to the Modern Day, is available to order on Amazon.	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1005
__label__cc	0.742168	0.257832	Our network of amazing wellness practitioners & other professionals Bodyworks DW Advanced Massage TherapyMassage Therapy ServicesMassage Benefits & FAQResources Stretchworks DW - Stretching and Self Care Instruction Videos by David Weintraub LMT In the player to the right, we have 35 different videos that teach you great at home and office stretching and self care techniques. Easy to learn with simple explanations. Pick the ones that seem most useful from the playlist pull down menu in the upper left of the player and start there! Acupuncturists we Love to Work With Sharon A. Yeung Acupuncturist & Doula 80 E. 11th St., Suite 221, NY, NY 10003 www.fiveseasonshealing.com Sharon Yeung MS, LAc and her associates at Five Seasons Healing in New York City offer acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, massage, qi gong and lifestyle and nutritional counseling to treat all your health concerns. 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Erin Telford Acupuncture, Reiki, Breathwork & Herbalist 146 W. 29th St. Suite 6RW-3, NY, NY 10001 www.erintelford.com Erin Telford is an acupuncturist, Reiki Master, Breathwork facilitator/teacher and herbalist in New York City. Her mission is to help people look within and heal their relationships with themselves. She holds safe, sacred space for change through therapeutic conversation, lifestyle and spiritual counseling, essential oils, and energy clearing tools. She is fiercely committed to doing her own personal work because she knows she can only take her clients as deep and as far as she is willing to go. She has been featured in Nylon, NY Magazine, Well + Good, The Numinous and in Refinery 29 as one of “6 Women Who Are Redefining Wellness in New York City." Amazing Alexander Technique & Voice Instruction Michael Hanko Alexander Technique & Cranio-Sacral Practitioner & Voice Instructor freebodyfreevoice.com Michael's work is his main passion. Michael spends hundreds of very enjoyable hours every year engaged in continuing education: exchanges with colleagues, private voice and Alexander lessons, and workshops, courses and study groups in various bodywork modalities. (side note: he's also the guy who taught David Weintraub to sing) Our Favorite Chiropractors Michael Findling, DC Chiropractor @ Bodyworks DW Studio 160 Broadway, New York, NY 10038 www.findlingchiro.com In practice for over 23 years, Dr. Michael Findling offers personalized care and individual attention at his chiropractic office in Lower Manhattan's Financial District. With a gentle, hands on approach, he utilizes various traditional and non force chiropractic techniques, focusing on spinal health and wellness as the keys to overall health and well being. Dr. Cindy Goodman, DC 352 Seventh Ave, NY, NY 10001 www.cindygoodmanchiropractic.com Cindy has been working with patients since 1990 to provide high quality chiropractic care. Dr. Goodman’s experience in chiropractic is coupled with genuine concern for her patients. She uses a variety of traditional and non-force techniques that are individually suited to the patient's needs. Physical Therapists & Physiologists who Make a Difference Vikash Sharma, PT & DPT Physical Therapy @ Perfect Stride PT 41 Union Square West, Suite 325 www.perfectstridept.com Vikash graduated from Elon University of North Carolina with a Bachelors of Science Degree in Exercise Sports Science and a minor in Philosophy. He went on to receive his Doctor of Physical Therapy from The George Washington University and has since completed his orthopedic residency at Temple University. He is a Board-Certified Orthopedic Clinical Specialist. Vikash has undergone rigorous training and testing to achieve his Certified Orthopedic Manual Therapist (COMT) designation through Maitland Australian Physiotherapy Seminars. He is also a certified coach through the United States Track and Field Association. Julie Tupler, RN, CCE & CPT Founder @ Tupler Technqiue® www.diastasisrehab.com Julie is a Registered Nurse, Certified Childbirth Educator and Certified Personal Trainer. She developed the Maternal Fitness® Program in 1990 and for over 20 years has been teaching and developing the Tupler Technique® Program for treatment of diastasis recti for women, men and children. New York Magazine calls her the guru for pregnant women. She has been featured on many national television programs such as the Today Show, Regis & Kelly as well as in many fitness, medical, and women's health magazines. The Tupler Technique® is the only research based program to treat a diastasis recti (see Columbia Study). More research is now being conducted in the UK on the Tupler Technique® and diastasis recti. Pilates That Goes Beyond Exercise April Silverman April Nicole Studios www.aprilnicolestudios.com April became interested in movement when she realized that regular conditioning can not only aid in everyday life, but can enhance creative movement and breath. She studied Theater Arts at Portland State University and went on to complete a degree in Music at Hunter College in Manhattan. April witnessed all of her educational skills come together when she completed the Comprehensive Teacher Training Program with the world renowned Ellie Herman at her Brooklyn studio. Pilates enforces and sharpens many important tools April used in dance, theatrics, and vocal performance. She learned to be aware of the body, breath, and alignment through an even more precise avenue. Pamela Warshay Sage Fitness 139 Fulton Street, #719 www.sagefitness.com Offering Pilates, GYROTONIC® exercise and Complete Clubs®. Pamela and the Sage Fitness staff are dedicated to quality movement education utilizing Pilates, Gyrotonic exercise and Complete Clubs (Indian Club Swinging). The studio attracts clients looking to work out in a safe yet challenging environment. Sessions are individually tailored to address symmetry, balance, strength and flexibility. Whether a beginner or advanced, clients get a challenging session. Rebecca Lubart Dynamic Body Pilates www.dynamicbodypilates.com Founder Rebecca Lubart has been engaged in the art of movement for her entire life. Growing up in New York City, the founder of Dynamic Body Pilates was a competitive figure skater, competing against such greats as Olympian Tara Lapinsky. A student at the prestigious Spence School, she found herself drawn to modern dance, and switched disciplines. She received a four-year Presidential Arts Scholarship (Dance) at The George Washington University, and graduated cum laude with a B.A. in Theatre and Dance. Aikido of Park Slope 630 Sackett St www.aikidoofparkslope.com Aikido of Park Slope is another of David's alma matters, in the sense that he's been practicing Aikido there under the amazing guidance of sensei Hal Lehrman since 1996! Hal's dojo is a wonderful place of fun, learning, growth, and badassery. While steeped in tradition, it's open and friendly, inviting, and not stuffy like a lot of martial arts dojos. Hal's teaching broadens out from the physical art of aikido to the overall philosophy embodied in the art of finding peace, harmony, and community even with our "attackers." The amount of influence that aikido has had on David's massage style cannot be understated 🙂 This is where David got his black belt in both Aikido and in life. PickFish Designs Graphic & Webpage Design www.pickfishstudios.com	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1010
__label__cc	0.68579	0.31421	Bracing Views Making Sense of a Vexing and Perplexing World About Bracing Views Books, Articles, Courses Education in America: Of Hungry Wolves and Docile Sheep I was educated in public schools by dedicated teachers in the pre-digital age. My teachers read books to me and had me read books. I learned math, partly by rote, but also through friendly student competitions. Science I learned by doing, like chemistry with Bunsen burners and test tubes. I had classes in art and music, and even though I had little talent in drawing or playing an instrument, I still learned to appreciate both subjects. My high school was big and diverse, so I took electives in courses I really enjoyed, like science fiction, photography, even a course in aquariology, in which I built my own aquarium. And I must say I’m glad there wasn’t the distraction of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and similar social media sites to torment me; video games, meanwhile, were in my day still crude, so I spent more time outside, playing tennis, riding my bike, hanging with friends, being in the world and nature (fishing was a favorite pursuit). When I was a teen, we learned a lot about history and civics and the humanities. We spent time in the library, researching and writing. I took a debate course and learned how to construct an argument and speak before an audience. When I graduated from high school, I felt like I had a solid grounding: that I knew enough to make educated choices; that I could participate as a citizen by voting intelligently when I was eighteen. Something has happened to education in America. You can see it in the big trends that are being hyped, including STEM, vocational training, computers and online courses, and privatization (charter schools). What suffers from these trends is the humanities, the arts, unionized teachers, critical and creative thinking skills, and, most especially, civics and ethics. STEM is all about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. My BS is in mechanical engineering and I love science and math, so I’m sympathetic to STEM classes. The problem is how STEM is justified – it’s usually couched in terms of keeping America competitive vis-à-vis other nations. STEM is seen as a driver for economic success and growth, a servant of industry, innovation, and profit. It’s not usually sold as developing critical thinking skills, even though STEM classes do help to develop such skills. From STEM we turn to vocational training. Many students seek a career, of course, and not all students wish to go to a four-year college, or to college period. But once again vocational training is mainly justified as a feeder to business and industry. It’s often reduced to education as training for labor, where the primary goal is to learn to earn. It may produce decent plumbers and welders and electricians and the like, but also ones who are indoctrinated to accept the system as it is. In The Baffler, Tarence Ray has an article, “Hollowed Out: Against the sham revitalization of Appalachia.” Ray critiques ARC (the Appalachian Regional Commission) in the following passage that resonated with my own experiences teaching at a vocational college: “The ARC [in the late 1960s and early ‘70s] also placed a lot of emphasis on career and vocational education. This appealed to President Nixon, who was desperate to counteract the student activism of antiwar and environmental groups. ‘Vocational education is more politically neutral,’ one White House aide put it. But it was also advantageous for the multinational corporations who controlled Appalachia’s coal resources and most of its institutions of power–the goal was to create a workforce that was skilled but also obedient. An education in the humanities emphasizes critical thinking, which might lead to political consciousness, a risk that the ARC could not afford to take.” [emphasis added] My dad liked the historical saying, the more things change, the more they stay the same. A vocational education sounds good, especially to those in power. Doubtless young people need marketable skills. The shame of it all is that the final “product” of vocational colleges–skilled graduates who are “workforce-ready”–is by design a limited one—an obedient one. America needs active and informed citizens as well, and they need to have the skills and mindset to question their bosses, their so-called betters, because if they lack such a mindset, nothing will change for the better in our society. Along with STEM and vocational training is an emphasis on computers and online courses. Nowadays most school administrators would rather fund computers and networked classrooms than raise pay for teachers. In fact, online courses are advertised as a way to replace teachers, or at least to reduce the number of full-time teachers needed on staff. But I question whether one can learn sociology or art or philosophy or ethics by taking an online course. And I remain skeptical of big “investments” in computers, SMART boards, and the like. They may have their place, but they’re no substitute for education that’s truly student-centered, and one that’s focused on civics and ethics, right and wrong. The final trend we’re seeing is privatization, as with charter schools. The (false) narrative here is that teachers in unions are overpaid, unaccountable, and otherwise inflexible or incompetent. Somehow the magical free market will solve this. If only one could get rid of unions while privatizing everything, all will be well in America’s schools. Private corporations, driven by profit and “efficiency,” will somehow produce a better product, a word I choose deliberately, for they see education as a product. And while some charter schools have been innovative and effective, many others have failed, mainly because education isn’t education when it’s reduced to a “deliverable” – a commodity driven by and reduced to money. At a time when the United States desperately needs critical and creative thinkers educated in the arts and humanities as well as STEM and vocational subjects, our schools and especially our legislators are rejecting their duty to serve democratic ideals, choosing instead to embrace business, industry, economic competitiveness, and obedience, all in service of the bottom line measured in dollars and cents. Now more than ever, America needs young people who are engaged civically and ethically, who value more than money and materialism. Yet many of our schools are pursuing a much different agenda. Is it because hungry wolves prefer docile sheep? Posted on October 20, 2019 by wjastorePosted in Education, Higher Education, Life and meaning, technologyTagged charter schools, civics, computers, critical thinking, education, ethics, STEM, students, teachers, vocational education. Previous Previous post: The Democratic Debate That Wasn’t Next Next post: The Militarization of Everything 19 thoughts on “Education in America: Of Hungry Wolves and Docile Sheep” Pingback: Education in America: Of Hungry Wolves and Docile Sheep - LA Progressive silverapplequeen says: Reblogged this on silverapplequeen. Clif Brown says: My take is that parents are THE influence. So much of what a person becomes is due to seeing what parents do, being impressed by it and unconsciously modeling oneself on that exposure. I attended one of the best and biggest high schools in the country but let it blow right by me as I preferred to hang out, taking pride in never taking home schoolbooks for homework, with the grades you would expect from that. My career was founded on electronics and radio that fascinated me completely apart from school. I was a dedicated learner on my own, still am, and it paid off. But formal schooling through college is just a foggy memory of boredom. These days it must be so much harder for teachers to compete with the online/iphone world that makes the distractions of my day look like nothing. That world could greatly enhance education but the appeal to just hang out, now possible without being present in person, and have fun beckons like never before. Yes — As a professor I had to fight personal digital devices. But I “retired” in 2014. As these devices continue to grow more powerful with more apps, I’m sure it’s a tougher fight today. My public education took place in a highly-regarded school system in a virtually lily-white (at the time) suburban environment. Looking back (many decades!), I still feel I got a pretty good education on the whole. Instruction in critical thinking skills? Well, I’m afraid those have been lacking in American “higher” education for just about forever. A docile workforce is always the goal of an exploiting social system. “White-collar office drones” are part of this workforce, regardless of how firmly they may delude themselves into believing they are terribly “special.” I make no attempt to disguise that I am a Marxist, very much self-taught. Any reference to Karl Marx’s ideas in public education–and I do recall hearing his name in elementary school–I’m sure is aimed at dismissing his analysis of class society. It will be said that all his ideas must be dismissed because none of his “predictions” of how society would evolve came to fruition. Needless to say, that was not the fault of ol’ Karl (1818-1883) and his co-thinker, Friedrich Engels. (I always feel compelled to mention Engels, perhaps the most brilliant polymath of the 19th Century, since his name tends to be neglected.) One thing you seem to have neglected to mention, Prof. Astore, is that a concentration on STEM is a focus the Military Establishment relishes having young people pursue. Because what this decaying empire most needs is improved assassin-drones, right? Climate crisis? What’s that?? Yes — STEM can easily fit with military imperatives. After all, I got my BS in mechanical engineering through AFROTC. in the 1970’s, an 8th grade level American history textbook, Land of the Free was introduced in California and there was an uproar so powerful that the book never made it into the curriculum in any other state. John Hope Franklin, the noted historian who happened to be black, was one of the three authors. Curious to see what the fuss was about, I ordered a copy and have read it through. The book is excellent but I can see why it raised a fuss. It never fails to mention social problems that occurred through the years. Blacks, Native Americans, women and immigrant and labor activists have a place and the text never fails to highlight the fight for the expansion of rights, in particular the right to vote. It is a warts and all book which I’m sure brought out the love-it-or-leave-it crowd that now is a big part of Trump’s base, the folks you can count on to start shouting USA! USA! at the drop of a hat. Given this segment of American society, how would it be possible to create a pathway in education that educates for citizenship that is not in the line of charter schools that reach only a few? It scares me that rigid institutions such as Liberty University and Bob Jones University are out there. The First Amendment supports the right of “Liberty” University and Bob Jones to teach whatever nonsensical, raving rightwing BS they wish to. However, it also “suggests”–and these matters will continue to be contentious in courtrooms across the nation–that not a bloody penny of PUBLIC (taxpayer-derived) funds should be allotted to such institutions. I will rage about this issue until I draw my final breath!! The on line courses remind me of self check out lanes in the big box stores. Cliff, the uproar over Land of the Free, was duplicated some what here in Indiana by former Governor, now President of Purdue Mitch Daniels. Mitch had a case of the ass over Howard Zinn’s book Peoples History of the United States, which describes American history from the perspective of black people, women, low-income workers and others whom Zinn argued were ignored in more mainstream history. Shortly after Zinn died in 2010, Daniels e-mailed various education officials about Zinn, the AP said. His e-mail said: “This terrible anti-American academic has finally passed away. The obits and commentaries mentioned his book A People’s History of the United States is the ‘textbook of choice in high schools and colleges around the country.’ It is a truly execrable, anti-factual piece of disinformation that misstates American history on every page. Can someone assure me that it is not in use anywhere in Indiana? If it is, how do we get rid of it before more young people are force-fed a totally false version of our history?” “This crap should not be accepted for any credit by the state. No student will be better taught because someone sat through this session. Which board has jurisdiction over what counts and what doesn’t?” Daniels wrote. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/07/17/e-mails-reveal-mitch-daniels-governor-tried-ban-howard-zinn-book Greglaxer, here in Indiana in Pastor Pence land, we had a huge expansion of voucher schools which are overwhelming religious schools, when Pastor Pence was governor. They receive state taxes, through the convoluted reasoning that taxes for schools follow the child so if the parents select a religious school, state taxes are used to subsidize the school. My Baby Boomer education concerning history was primarily wars. Social issues like Reconstruction, Unionization and the effects of panics, recessions and the Great Depression were taught as the Yin and Yang as the price we Proles had to pay for this “successful” system of Capitalism. There was no mention in our history books of Jim Crow – I suppose we did not want to offend the George Wallace’s of the South. After my Vietnam Tour, I used the G.I.Bill to go to College. Vietnam opened my eyes, and ears to the young Professors in College that taught us – All was not Well in America and it never had been. Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee revealed a a truth we were not taught in Grades 1-12. I think Philosophy was a very instructive course. Plato and all the others who came before and after him, trying their best to explain – How is we Here, Why are we Here, and Where do we Go from Here?? What Philosophy teaches us is to question our beliefs and values – Critical thinking in other words. Critical thinking is the last thing the religious schools will teach. STEM has Critical thinking of course but it is welded to Capitalism. The exploitation of the Proles by the 1% has no place in a STEM heavy curriculum. butsudanbill says: It’s 0815 Tuesday morning here in the shadow of Rotterdam. I read this latest offering yesterday and thought, “well, let’s see how this goes over.” There is no mention of the current occupant of the White House or any of his minions. There is no mention of either of the Clintons, Barack Obama, or anyone named Bush. There is no mention of Russia or any former Warsaw Pact country. There is no mention of China, North Korea or, for that matter, the Middle East. Any and all “terrorist” organizations also get the day off. There is no reference to next year’s election or any of those who wish to get their name on the ballot. No mention of The Pentagon, the military’s bottomless budget, or its endless, undeclared wars. And as of this moment, it has generated a grand total of eight (8) comments which, though few in number, are revealing, thoughtful, and concise. None stoop to junior high-level invective, spew conspiracy theories, or list/quote from “reliable and authoritative sources” who possess The Revealed Truth, if only others had eyes to see and ears with which to hear. All in all, I’d say that’s a sad but accurate representation of the general “So what?” attitude toward the state of Education in this year of grace. It’s a small sample size to be sure, but it doesn’t obviate the truth my contention. Yes. Education has become an exercise in training and indoctrination. To a certain extent, this has always been so. What’s been added is the drive to reduce/eliminate unions while simultaneously making teaching more of a corporate/religious/private concern. We used to think education was a public good, and that the health of democracy depended on active, thinking, citizens. We just don’t think this way anymore. Private gain has replaced the notion of public good. Passive consumers have replaced active citizens. Cathleen Stuart says: You had to know I would chime in on this one, since I was by your side for the strong public education you accurately describe and I spend my days laboring in the vineyard of a public high school. I’ve been waiting all week. Papers may not always exist on paper anymore, but their electronic versions haunt my early mornings and my nights. I spent a few years teaching before my kids were born and was pretty disillusioned. I was home with them and educated them at home until early adolescence. They all went to a solid public high school where they did well, but were able to look school’s priorities with a skeptical eye. They had had the time and the brain space in early childhood to figure out who they were without being overscheduled and lessoned to death. (More like our own childhoods than that of most kids their age.) The answer to your final question is definitely yes. Historically, though, it has always been the case. American schools were explicitly designed to produce the workers American industry needed and to assimilate waves of immigrants as seamlessly as possible. Look up the work of John Taylor Gatto if you’d like to read more. My school has a heavy STEM emphasis, which makes parents and students regard English as a frippery and a GPA trap. Last year, I had student write an impassioned plea to her parents because she wanted to study history and they were refusing to help her pay for college unless she majored in something more STEM oriented. You would have thought she wanted to run away and join the circus. I have yet to have a single student say they want to a major in English or philosophy. All of the best jobs in our area (maybe everywhere) are defense industry jobs. Parents work for Raytheon and BAE Systems and angle for coveted summer internships for their kids. The military industrial complex pays for the nice houses and vacations and the fancy cars. Military recruiters are frequent and honored guests. (That’s for the kids not quite bright enough for engineering.) The biggest applause at graduation is always for the small handful of kids who have enlisted. Nobody applauds harder than the parents of those kids who are safely enrolled in college, where the biggest dangers are partying and professors who expect too much. So where does that leave teachers? Doing the best we can, as always. Older teachers have more freedom than younger ones. The young teachers are so burdened with student loans that they keep quiet, even when they know they could challenge kids more by doing thing differently. We all know that we serve at the pleasure of the school board. Students know that the way to succeed is to parrot back exactly what the teacher has said. They are bewildered by invitations to reflect, think or discuss. They wait for me to tell them what to think and are frustrated when I refuse. I do everything I can to get them to put their cell phones down and look around at the world. Here’s the thing–there’s always hope when you are working with young people. I love my job. I feel cynical about a lot of it, but I’m not ready to not do it. I read lots and encourage my students to read and think. I help them learn to express their thinking as clearly as they can. I encourage them to register to vote as soon as they turn 18 even though I fear what they will do with that vote. Sigh. We do what we can. Katie: Your experiences match mine. Often when I tried to get students to think for themselves, they thought it was a trick or a trap. C’mon, professor, just tell us what we need to know for the test. I can see why more than a few teachers take the easy way out. They teach by rote, nowadays with PowerPoint and the like, and many students are happy because they know what’s expected of them. They don’t learn much, but then again they don’t want to. Education should be transformative, a way toward self-discovery but also a means by which one’s eyes are opened to the world around us, in all its glory and horror. But I think many kids are being taught to keep their eyes shut, or they’re being fitted with blinders, so they can keep their eyes on the prize and get that internship and excel at BAE Systems. (I remember when it was Lockheed Sanders.) Malvina Reynolds expressed it beautifully in her song, “Little Boxes,” about a zillion years ago. “And the people in the houses All went to the university Where they were put in boxes And they came out all the same And there’s doctors and lawyers And business executives And they’re all made out of ticky tacky And they all look just the same.” I guess the situation has merely intensified (decayed, deteriorated, spiraled downward, etc.) in the intervening decades. Kind of brings to mind an old joke: “What do you call a guy with a Masters in English Lit.?” Answer: “Waiter!” … “We do what we can.” Indeed, and should we beat ourselves up for not being able to do the impossible? I think not. Stay calm, and carry on. Well, pursuing a graduate degree in English Lit. is fairly esoteric, but an undergraduate degree in English or history or classics is not nearly as impractical as parents seem to think. Evidence? Here’s a recent article: “Endure” = “straggling/struggling along, waiting tables while awaiting that ‘big break'”! I’m not applauding the situation, just observing. As a college dropout, I never had any of these concerns. Pingback: New York Times Confirms: It’s Trump Versus the Deep State – Counter Information realdemocracyinireland says: Viewed from far away in Ireland, this all gives me hope. (Well, just a little, perhaps.) Dissing official history myths may not doom one to repetition, for, as your own Mark Twain once noted: “History never repeats itself, but it does often rhyme.” Humankind lives in a continuum, a process of unending transitions – but the differing stages – the moments of these phases of process do end, with transformation to a new moment. Quantum physics offers reveals new concepts of how the laws of universal development occur. All things come into being, have a contradictory existences as phenomena, and pass away, their energies transforming. And this process does not depend on individual consciousness of its existence. It’s the intrinsic nature of nature. These contradictions of objective development are reflected in the cognitive process of individual human persons. And it is the combining these which give rise to the social or societal cognitive fact of the “Ideal” as social knowledge, the intellectual and emotional resources which exist as our culture, our understanding, and which also changes over time. And yes, of course, the ruling elite attempt to obfuscate this reality, transforming education into dogmatic trivial misrepresentation. But this only allows the contradiction between truth and lie to build up to its moment of extreme irreconcilability. The seduction of the poorly educated sheeple on my neighbouring island, Britain, with the hysterical delusion of Brexit, offers, perhaps, an object lesson of the impasse which awaits U.S. communities when the inevitable $ financial collapse curtails their hope for survival. Here too, we Irish have our own “History which rhymes” in the rapidly evolving disintegration of the complex notion of “Northern Ireland”. Long believed conceptions no longer hold water for either of the two disputatious communities. The disintegration of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as Scottish Nationalists seek to remain in the EU – and now for the first time in a millennia, the Welsh Assembly considers a similar option, marks the end of an historic era, driven by the economic reality of a global capitalist systemic insolvency. Massive global corporate debt cannot be redeemed, even by the potential entire World GDP, and the capital form of money is finding its value content becoming evaporated. With uncomfortable consequences for the circulation form of money in all currencies. As this happens, I am wondering which of your States might be first to become Disunited? And this is my point. Quite regardless of any consciousness of it, an historic process is underway, and humankind, whether educated with sophistication or not – will have to deal with it. So keep speaking truth – not necessarily to power which doesn’t want to listen anyway, but to the woman on the bus, and the man in the filling station. And to the child returning from school (such as it may be). Gretta Thunberg has seen through the lies. The Park Children’s nationwide protest marks a generational maturity beyond their tender years. As did the young on the Arab Street of Tunisia, some of whom I met in Sidi Bu Said. And so, in due course and wisdom, will your children and grandchildren see reality – if you engage with them honestly and respectfully. Don’t be afraid to, our curious children may yet save those of us left from the generations damned by Milton Friedman’s stupidities. Follow Bracing Views on WordPress.com The Democratic Debate, Part 7 Trump’s Wall and Its Meaning The Welfare Myth: Confessions of a Former Caseworker America is a force for good … Trump Wishes Peace to Iran while Accusing Democrats of Enabling Attacks on U.S. Troops Anti-war Pragmatists and Pro-war Fantasists Ready for War with Iran? Americans want free stuff! Wars, Secrecy, and Lies Hating America? Afghanistan Afghan War American culture American Empire American exceptionalism American society Barack Obama Bernie Sanders bombing citizen-soldier Cold War Congress David Petraeus defense budget defense spending democracy Democratic Party Democrats department of defense Donald Trump drones Dwight Eisenhower education F-35 fear foreign policy forever war George W. 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__label__wiki	0.547343	0.547343	South Africa: Turbocharged Renaults Dominate Practice For South African Grand Prix. 1980 VLVAAGTO6L0OTYBYQTAUBACRWKTBD-SOUTH-AFRICA-TURBOCHARGED-RENAULTS-DOMINATE-PRACTICE-FOR-SOUTH-AFRICAN Frenchmen Jean-Pierre Jabouille and Rene Arnoux dominated the first official practice session on Thursday (28 February) for the South African Grand Prix. SCU Jodi Scheckter ZOOM OUT to mechanics working on his car SCU A. Jones ZOOM OUT Jones sitting in car, No.27 SCU J. Laffitte in car SCU J.P. Jarier sitting in car SCU PAN Rene Arnoux sitting in car SV PAN J.P. Jabouille No. 15, driving out of pits GV Grand Prix and trainers and mechanics in pits and B. Giacomelli drives out followed by NO. 11, M. Andretti then No. 1. Scheckter, then followed by No. 7, J. Watson, then A. Jones in No. 27, then followed by No. 6, R. Zunino LV & SV PAN Scheckter driving up straight LV No. 15, Jabouille going round the bend and down hill SV No. 4, D. Daly and No. 9, M. Surer round bend LV No. 3, Jarier over-taking No. 5, M. Piquet, on bend LV No. 2, G. Villeneuve driving round bend LV No. 5, N. Piquet, spins on track SV No. 9, M. Surer in crash and being helped out of car Initials DN/ SPORT: MOTOR RACING Formula one constructors association Any commercial sale to be referred to the sports editor Background: Frenchmen Jean-Pierre Jabouille and Rene Arnoux dominated the first official practice session on Thursday (28 February) for the South African Grand Prix. They ended the day more than a second clear of their nearest rivals, with Jabouille just ahead of his team mate. The Renaults continued to lead throughout the final practice session and start on the front row of the grid at Kyalami. SYNOPSIS: Jody Scheckter, last year's world champion, will have to improve on his practice time to achieve victory in front of his home crowd. He and Alan Jones, the current championship leader, only managed eighth and ninth fastest times respectively. All but the turbocharged Renault engines struggled to breathe on the Kyalami circuit, 6,000 feet (18,000 kilometres) above sea level. Arnoux's Renault cut more than two seconds from the official lap record. But his team mate, Jabouille, secured pole position on the grid with a time of one minute 10 - an average speed of 131 miles per hour (211 kmph). Although their unique engines have only half the capacity of normal formula one cars, their turbochargers provide a more consistent rate of power at this altitude. This was the last time that "stickies" - special practice tyres - will be used in formula one racing. Their special soft compound allows faster lap times than the "slicks" used during the race proper, but wear rapidly. The Grand Prix Drivers Association has called for a reduction in cornering speeds to minimise risks during Grand Prix. Their president, Jody Scheckter, welcomed the announcement before practice that ground effect skirts will be banned from formula one next year. Skirts are said to make the cars too quick for the circuits. Switzerland's Marc Surer was trapped by the legs for thirty minutes after a brake failure. RENAULTS VLVAAGTO6L0OTYBYQTAUBACRWKTBD Boardroom Jokes Practical jokes produced by the Ellisdon family are tested out in the boardroom and on the public. Practical Jokes Issue Title - Ting-A-Ling ! Item about man carrying out or being the victim of practical jokes. Fire Practice Firemen carry out turntable ladder drill during fire practice in Middlesex. RAF Air Crews Practice Ditching RAF cadets practice using inflatable rescue dinghies. Barbed Wire Crossing Method AKA Machine For Barbed Wire British troops practice a new method using a new 'invention' for traversing or handling barbed wire. The Vads Smart Ambulance Practice Ambulance practice at Pevensey Bay, East Sussex. Troops At Bayonet Practice Troops in training - bayonet practice. Cambridge Practice Boat Race Cambridge University rowing crew practice for annual boat race.	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1019
__label__cc	0.532457	0.467543	See You At The Pillar 1967 see-you-at-the-pillar-1 Oscar-nominated travelogue showing the beauty of Southern Ireland and its suitability as a holiday destination. "See You At The Pillar". Oscar/Academy Award-nominated documentary short, 1967. Producer: Robert Fitchett. An Associated British-Pathé production. High angle shot of the river Liffey flowing through Dublin in Eire (Southern Ireland, Republic of Ireland). Closer shot showing cars travelling beside the river in the docks area. Various high angle shots of the city. A train crosses the river by bridge. Titles superimposed over scenic shot of river estuary (?) read: "See you at the Pillar". Two men stand on a hillside, one looks through binoculars. Low angle shot of a building with loudspeakers attached and many flags of different nations flying. A golf course. L/S of man being assisted by a young caddie. L/S of the clubhouse. Three men stand together - one of the men practices his stroke. [Two narrators speak (as the English commentary cannot be found, the French commentary was used for cataloguing purposes) - they seem to be making a joke revolving around Guinness and golf. One suggests that the other is more interested in the Guinness than the golf]. Four men affix a Guinness banner on the outside of a tent. C/U of a sign reading "Carrolls International Press." A group of four boys stand around chatting - they are all selling copies of the Sunday Mirror. L/S from a high angle of a Dublin street. Man rides a carriage drawn by a horse. L/S of a busy road where many cars and a bus cross a junction by the river. High angle of a very busy Dublin street - probably O'Connell Road. Closer view of what seems to be a monument in the middle of the road - much traffic. M/S of Gresham Hotel with front of car in foreground. Closer shot of the hotel facade with people passing in front. [The narrators talk about changes which have taken place in Dublin - although much has stayed the same.] A shop front - probably a department store. C/U of a doorman in uniform. [Narrator talks of how number of tourists to the city is rising as well as exports.] Various shops are shown, including a shop window containing suitcases and West & West - a clock makers (?). L/S of a bus travelling down a wide street with cyclists. [One of the narrators speaks of the beautiful hotels of Dublin] Shots of the facades of several buildings. Some covered with climbing plants. [Poetical voiceover about the colours of an early morning in Dublin, the doorways and balconies of "Morton".] Zoom in to a plaque which designates the home of Oscar Wilde. L/S of street seen earlier with horse drawn carriage. Carriage passes close to camera. Various shots of facades of buildings - windows, wrought iron balconies. ["Only superficial people judge by appearances."] C/Us of details on the side of a building. Several shots of stucco work on the interior wall of a building. [Narrator mentions Lady Holberry - sp?] Low angle shot of the sign outside an Orphanage. Low angle shot of children running down a staircase in the Orphanage. One boy slides down the bannisters. As they reach the bottom a monk comes through the door and greets them. He takes off one of the boys' hats and ruffles his hair. [One of the narrators states that what he wants to see are the inhabitants of Dublin, the other states that he doesn't have to look far to find them.] We see Dubliners at work and at play. A man cleans a shop window. A group of young girls chat to an old lady. A group of women gossip. A young couple stand by some railings. Two teenage boys chat. A man in religious robes stands in front of a shop window. Facade of a building which has the symbol of a raised hand and the words: "Each for all - all for each. Head office." - on Parnell Square. L/S of a Dublin street -Dorset Street. C/U of road sign for Moore Street - camera pulls back. Horses pull carts laden with produce. M/S of shop front - "The Sewing Box - Everything for dressmaking." A young child helps to unload boxes from a cart in front of the shop. M/S of a butcher's shop - Bernard Carney. M/S of Reddys fish and poultry shop. M/Ss of women market traders and their stalls. Various fruit and vegetable goods for sale. C/U of sign for Mick's Bar. C/U of women shoppers or stall holders. C/U of sign for Money Office. C/U of sign for O'Sullivans Lounge Bar. C/Us of various women at work on market stalls. M/S of a shop called McGrottys - a car spares shop. Elderly woman looks at a stall selling shoes (?) C/U of shop front with sign reading Dominick (sic) McDonagh. Two elderly women look at vegetable stall. C/U of shop sign reading Jerry O'Dwyer. C/U of a sign - not all visible but reads: "World- All Human Life is There." M/Ss of various bars - Boland's, Cleary's, The Stag's Tail and Patrick F.O'Brien's "The Long Hall." Facades of houses and shops - one looks like an old-fashioned sweet or pastry shop, with three bicycles parked outside. C/U of sign reading "If your trouble is deep seated and long standing try kneeling" - presumably outside a church. L/S of a Dublin municipal building (not recognised). Trinity College L/S. C/U of a statue of Goldsmith. Shot of people walking through an archway of Trinity College. Various shots of students in the college grounds. A group of nuns in long flowing habits walk past. Low angle shot of cathedral. Jonathan Swift is mentioned. Interior of the cathedral. C/U of a bust of Swift (?) C/U of the flooring tiles in the cathedral which include two engraved tiles - one commemorating the life of Swift, the other Esther Johnson. C/U of the keys of an antiquated church organ. C/U of the organ pipes and the ornate carvings on the organ. C/U of a carved bible lectern in the shape of an eagle. High angle L/S of very busy street. M/S of lots of children playing around a modern fountain. C/U of the fountain - angels. C/U of the children playing - hitting each other with their jackets and running around. C/Us of children's faces in various paintings. C/U of a painting of playwright George Bernard Shaw. Zoom in to plaque on the side of a house where George Bernard Shaw once lived. C/U of modern art painting in a gallery. Various paintings in the gallery. People stand and look at them. View of the river with municipal building on the right - probably the Law Courts? Four small cannons lined up in a park. C/U of Irish flag flying at top of a building. C/U of street sign for O'Rahilly Parade. High angle shot of a man leading a young boy by the hand along O'Rahilly Parade. M/S of a domed building - the Law Courts again. Interior of the building - very high angle shot from high in the dome. Man walks through the circular space. Camera zooms in to what looks like bullet damage to pillars of the building (presumably from the Civil War of 1921/2.) Various shots of the river, bridge, swans swimming etc. Child runs along rocks by the sea, castle in the background. [Narration mentions James Joyce.] Middle-aged men dive from rocks into the sea - L/S. C/U of a sign which reads: "Forty Foot. Gentlemen Only" - [French men on the soundtrack make a joke about this.] L/S of man sitting at a desk in front of a sign which reads: "Gentlemen's Bathing Place." M/S of several men standing around and smoking - one has a towel wrapped around his waist. A man dives into the sea at the bathing place. M/S of a man at a golf scoring board. L/S of a large scoreboard sponsored by Carrolls International with flags flying. High angle shots of crowds at the golf course. Various shots of a golfing competition - competitors taking shots, commentators box (?), spectators etc. C/U of a Romanesque statue on the top of a building with a pigeon sitting on its head. L/S of a municipal building by the water's edge with a large boat in front of it. M/S of group of young people sitting on the steps of a building eating lunch. Several shots of people of varying ages sitting on park benches and watching the world go by. A priest stands outside a shop in a busy street. Several scenic shots around a canal; woman lolls on the grass beside a small lock, man throws pebbles into the dappled water from a tree-lined bank, children stand around a lock and one jumps into the water. C/U signposts reading 'Phoenix Park' and 'Zoo' (plus the same in Gaelic). Several shots in Phoenix Park (?); people wandering around and sitting on benches. Swans and cygnets on the lake. Flamingos at the zoo. C/U of inscription on bottom of an obelisk dedicated to Wellington. M/S of a group of children riding on the back of a cart pulled by two small ponies. C/Us of children feeding an elephant through the bars of its cage. One boy pretends to fight with the elephant as he tries to grab him with his trunk. L/S of a monkey (gibbon?) swinging on a frame in his cage. C/U of hands of orang-utan gripping on to the bars of his cage, then shot of the orang-utan looking forlorn. C/U of a camel and of a seal (or a sea lion), it rears back on its hind legs. C/U of a parrot and a prairie dog (?) looking at each other. Prairie dogs (?) munch on food and run in and out of burrows. M/S - a chimpanzee chews something and holds his hand out for some more. C/U of the parrot. Hippopotamus slowly climbs out of its bath. M/S of group of people leaning over railings watching the hippo. They laugh. One man holds a cine camera. L/S of tourists boarding an Irish airlines plane. C/U of the nose of the plane - named St Laurence O'Toole. M/S of a family boarding the plane. M/S of people standing on the observation deck. L/S of the plane taking off. C/U of a mural which we then see is in the foyer of a modern building. People walk down the stairs of the building and out of the front door. L/S of the exterior of the building - probably a modern office block. L/S of modern circular building. L/S of the city as seen through the archway of a bridge. L/S of the river. M/S of people walking across a metal bridge. C/U of a Georgian house. Various shots of facades of buildings; a woman carries a suitcase into one of them. L/S of grand houses by a park. L/S of policeman directing traffic in the middle of a cross-roads. A van with the name of "Swift Brook - Paper Manufacturers" emblazoned on the side passes the camera. C/U of mosaic at the entrance to the Stag's Head bar. Man walks across it. C/U of a pint of Guinness being poured and left to stand. L/S of the busy bar. C/U of two men drinking and smoking. Various other clients of the bar are shown. Many of the men are talking very earnestly and animatedly. One man jabs a finger on the shoulder of long-suffering acquaintance who rolls his eyes. A young woman sits at the bar and smokes talking to some male friends. Shot of clouds crossing the sun. L/S of crowds running on to a golf course to get a good viewpoint. C/U of drinkers in the bar. High angle of crowds at the golf. Player bends down to consider a shot. He takes his shot and gets the ball in the hole. Group chat at the bar. L/S of river estuary at low tide; birds stand on exposed mud flats. Credits: Written and Directed by Peter Baylis. The Conversationalists were Anthony Quayle and Norman Rodway. Quotations from: Thomas Davis, William Dawson, Oliver Goldsmith, James Joyce "Ulysses", Seamus Kelly, Michael MacLiammoir, H. V. Morton, Flann O'Brien, Sean O'Casey, G.B. Shaw (George Bernard Shaw), Dean Swift, Oscar Wilde. Compiled by Seamus Kelly (Quidnunc). Music and Songs provided by "The Croppies" . Final shot of a pink door next to a yellow one in a row of terraced houses. Note: This is a duplicate of the same documentary with English soundtrack - the mute version on Pathe Master tape 1219. Check for better copy. Liffey Carrolls The Taxi For Two! Cuts Cuts (rushes, out takes) for THE TAXI FOR TWO! in G 1187 First On The Scene ... First On The Screen! Pathe film night time fire in fog bound London. Flood lights are used to provide illumination. Views in and around the British island in the Mediterranean, 1930. Indian Village And Market Atmospheric shots of people in the streets in an Indian town. Liberation Scenes Europe British troops marching through liberated European town - possibly France. Greek Elections EAM political party supporters hold demonstrations in Greece during election campaign. Early Mini Skirts Various shots of the legs of girls in mini skirts. London Residential - 1950 Residential street in London.	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1020
__label__cc	0.545063	0.454937	Perry curses errors as he falls at Masters Yahoo Sport UK January 16, 2020 Joe Perry was a Masters finalist in 2017 Joe Perry proved why he is known as the Gentleman in the snooker world after losing his Masters quarter-final 6-3 to Shaun Murphy. The 45-year-old showed resolve to win crucial frames and stay in the contest, keeping Murphy in sight when he took 3-1 and 5-2 leads. But Perry made no excuses in reflecting on the match after Murphy wrapped things up, laying the blame at his own door despite a number of unlucky breaks that did not go his way. “I struggled out there today,” he conceded. “I felt comfortable, it wasn’t nerves - I didn’t succumb to the pressure or anything like that - I felt good. “I just felt myself chasing the cue ball round the table. We play hours and hours and you expect the cue ball to go in a certain place and it wasn’t finishing where I expected it to today. “The table played a little bit tough, was a bit heavy, a bit fast in places. Just simple, straightforward positional shots I was messing up. “It was just stopping me getting any real momentum, any real rhythm and I just battled on as hard as I could. “There’s an old cliche and it seems to be true in our game: the balls don’t forgive you. “You make unforced errors, miss silly balls, you tend to get punished, not only by your opponent, but also the snooker gods as well. “It didn’t go my way, when I tried to get some rhythm going, up the tempo a little bit, went into the pack a few times, never landed. “Sometimes that’s what it’s all about, fractions, and on another day you get on a ball, go on to make a frame-winning break, get your rhythm, get your confidence, but it was just too stop-start today.” Despite being unable to replicate the form that took him all the way to the final at Alexandra Palace back in 2017, Perry says that he will immediately compartmentalise the defeat and look to the future. “I’m having a good season, I got to the Masters, I enjoyed it,” he continued. “There’s so much to look forward to, big tournaments coming up, the World Championships. “There’s just so much to look forward to being a snooker player now. I’ve lost hundreds of matches and this is just another one of them, so it won’t bother me. “I’ll be going home, seeing everyone and raring to go at the German Masters.” Watch the London Masters LIVE on Eurosport and Eurosport Player with analysis from Ronnie O'Sullivan, Jimmy White and Neal Foulds. Chelsea prepared for any surprises Arsenal have in store Dan Evans laughs off claims he is out of shape ahead of Australian Open - 'I’ve been called worse than fat' More than 16,000 people nabbed by RCMP between border crossings in 2019 'Poor Dude': Dog Braves Newfoundland Blizzard for Bathroom Break	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1022
__label__wiki	0.900903	0.900903	McGill Baptist Wildcat Dugger named preseason All American By Mark Plemmons Davidson’s Wesley Dugger named to preseason All-America team. DAVIDSON, N.C. – Davidson junior running back Wesley Dugger was named to the HERO Sports FCS Preseason All America team, announced by the organization Thursday. Dugger was chosen to the Preseason third team after a stellar sophomore season where he racked up 1,241 yards on 187 carries and punched his way into the end zone 16 times. The Henrico, Va., native was a Pioneer Football League and HERO Sports All-Sophomore first team selection. He enters 2019 fourth on the all-time rushing list, 793 yards away from John Leverett’s program-best mark of 3,165 yards set from 2001-04. Dugger and his Wildcat teammates open the season Saturday, Aug. 31 when they welcome Georgetown to Richardson Stadium. Times are subject to change. For the latest on the Wildcats visit DavidsonWildcats.com. 49ers to play in The Swamp Charlotte’s Meredith Harris Named Google Cloud Academic all-America 485 Sports is a part of Radio Free Cabarrus and Cabarrus Sports Marketing, based in Concord, N.C. For questions and more information email mark@radiofreecabarrus.com Copyright © 2019 485 Sports Report, a division of Radio Free Cabarrus and Cabarrus Sports Marketing, Concord, N.C.	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1023
__label__cc	0.63874	0.36126	(877) 369-5899 \| (828) 369-5899 info@cabincreektimberframes.com Articles & Projects The Buzzword Green by Cabin Creek Timber Frames \| Mar 20, 2018 \| projects green building The buzzword green, the use of energy, and intelligent building is a subject on which I may tread on many toes. It is important enough to do so. Buildings in the US consume 68% of the electricity generated in the country, and 37% of the energy. If we consider our sources of energy, the political, economic, and environmental consequences of obtaining and using this energy, immediately we realize we need to think and reflect. We do not yet have an unlimited source of energy. The energy needs of our country are increasing. There are drawbacks to most energy sources. The logical approach is to develop and refine each track in the most benign possible way, and to be more efficient in our use of energy. This last phrase needs to be underscored, understood, and undertaken. By becoming more energy saving, or efficient, much energy, political expenditure, money, etc., can be conserved. How do we become more efficient? One building or house built efficiently will not answer this problem, but is a start. Each one built inefficiently is an addition to the overall problem. We already have a number of tools which will cut down considerably on the energy usage in buildings. Unfortunately, most builders, architects, and designers choose to ignore the most important of these. This is the use of efficient insulation. By this I mean the use of insulated panels or SIPS which significantly reduce the airflow through building walls or roofs. The USDOE in studies at Oak Ridge National Laboratory has shown in whole walls (including windows and doors) that equally R-rated SIPS or panel insulation compared with fiberglass batt insulation has only 7% of the airflow through the structure. When thermal transmission in equally R-rated whole walls( with windows and doors) is compared, walls with batt insulation drop from R-17 to R-11, while the SIPS perform as R-17. Interestingly, these studies compared 6″ fiberglass batts with 4″ SIPS. Over a period of years, these differences, along with settling of the fiberglass, consume large amounts of wasted energy, translating into a much more expensive building, and long-term costs to the owner and our country. Users and manufacturers of insulated panels have known for years the efficiency of panels and have documented these monetary savings. Sadly, they are still a well kept secret. Most contractors and architects seem blinded to SIPS or are afraid to approach the learning curve (not difficult) associated with their use. Written by: Joseph O. Bell, III Copyright © 2008, Joseph O. Bell, III CABIN CREEK TIMBER FRAMES 6624 Georgia Road Franklin, NC 28734 www.cabincreektimberframes.com jbell@cabincreektimberframes.com Small Business Pro Websites \| Created By: SiteDart Studio \| Copyright ©CURRENT YEAR - Cabin Creek Timber Frames	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1024
__label__cc	0.69737	0.30263	A Network of Hope Statewide Efforts Children’s Advocacy Centers (CAC) Find a Local CAC It’s More Common Than You Think It’s Devastating It’s Not The End Of The Story It’s Preventable In order to protect kids in your life, it’s important to know how child sexual abuse often occurs. Almost 10% Before 18 Nearly 1 in 10 children will be sexually abused before their 18th birthday. It's Not A Stranger in a Van 91% of victims know their abuser. It's estimated that only 30% of sexual assault cases are reported to authorities. Children Are The Target 2/3 of all reported sex offenses nationwide are against children ages 0-17. Boys & Girls Are Affected 1 in 6 girls and 1 in 33 boys ages 0-17 will be sexually assaulted by another young person. 1 in 7 youth internet users received unwanted sexual solicitations. Child sexual abuse is any interaction between a child and an adult (or a young person not on the same developmental level as the child) that is… A. sexual, or done for sexual gratification B. non-consensual (a child cannot consent!) C. ALL OF THE ABOVE Child sexual abuse can include… A. sending or showing a pornographic image B. assault (rape, oral sex, touching genitals) C. genital exposure It can happen… A. with young children B. with adolescents C. with girls D. with boys E. in black families F. in Hispanic families G. in white families H. in poor neighborhoods I. in wealthy neighborhoods J. in religious homes K. in homes where parents are divorced L. in homes where the parents are married M. WITH ALL OF THE ABOVE 2855 44th St SW, Ste 140, Grandville, MI 49418 Phone: 616.228.4546 Email: admin@cacmi.org Copyright © 2020 Children's Advocacy Centers of Michigan. All rights reserved.	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1025
__label__cc	0.659563	0.340437	The Pods: Holiday Accommodation with a Tiny Twist Celebrated Chefs At The Helm of Village n Life Hotels 100 New Trees at Camps Bay Retreat The forest on Camps Bay Retreat’s private nature reserve is getting a boost. 100 new trees are being planted throughout the property. This will increase the density of trees, particularly on the Skywalk Trail. Not only will the new trees further beautify the property, but they will also increase its biodiversity. Bringing in Biodiversity, Removing Harmful Invasive Species As big fans of the environmental health, biodiversity is something that is important to Camps Bay Retreat. Biodiversity increases the indigenous species of the region. This is especially important given that Camps Bay Retreat’s four-acre private nature reserve is connected to the Glen Forest and Table Mountain National Park. A rare wild caracal, spotted in January 2018, on the paragliding launch pad on Lion’s Head, less than 1 km from Camps Bay Retreat. Habitat biodiversity is linked to mammal biodiversity. As well, many of the invasive tree species that are widely grown in South Africa, such as Eucalyptus trees, are extremely heavy water users. Earlier, many of these invasive tree species that had previously occupied the property were cut-down and removed. Given Cape Town’s current water crisis, it is more important than ever to remove invasive tree species that are heavy water feeders. Invasive tree species can also be an enormous fire risk. Eucalyptus and other Gum trees can burn up to 10 times hotter than indigenous trees species and fynbos. Heading the planting team is Reto Mani, landscape designer for many Village n Life properties, as well as Fergus and Gregory who are part of the Horticultural Sabbatical Programme. Meet the New Trees The new trees being planted at Camps Bay Retreat are a mixture of Southern African indigenous trees and non-indigenous trees well adapted to the landscape. Some of the indigenous trees have traditional uses in Southern Africa for curing ailments and for spiritual cleansing. The reddish bark from the Wild Plum trees was used for dyeing by the Khoisan people of Southern Africa. The fruit is commonly used for making jam and occasionally Rosé wine. The fruits of the Wild Plum tree are edible. The bark of the Forest Elder is used as a strengthening medicine during a time of grieving for the Zulu people of South Africa. Tree Fuchsia has been cultivated in Cape Town for many generations. The naturalist William Burchell recorded it in his diary for February 1811 as growing in the Company Gardens in Cape Town. Several new Californian Mission Olive trees were planted in front of the Villa, expanding the existing olive grove. These trees are especially suited to table olive production as well as for olive oil. Perhaps one day we can expect Camps Bay Retreat table olives to be produced. Other trees planted include the Camphor Tree from East Asia, as well as the Sand Olive, Water pear, Coastal Silver Oak, False Olive, and Fever Tree, all indigenous to Southern Africa. Our Magnificent Garden New Resident Chef at Camps Bay Retreat Camps Bay Retreat: Thriving on its own water supply	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1032
__label__wiki	0.708923	0.708923	Caroline Mortimer twitter – @CJMortimer @MrGeorgeThorpe Paul would judge you. Congrats. You will still be around next week so I can give you a hug before you leave? 20 hours ago @JamieJBartlett It might be because I’m coming off a migraine but I watched the video and read these tweet several… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 4 days ago A teacher once laughed at me for saying I wanted to study history at uni. He said I needed to do a science subject… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 4 days ago Follow @CJMortimer Latest Freelance Work CityMetric: Do the people of Manchester really want devolution? The Times: Women on TV forced into cocktail look, says Balding The Times: Cosmetic surgery is for ‘pathetic, insecure idiots’ Tag: Coalition For Marriage Marriage has already been redefined, its time the law catches up In today’s equal marriage debate, everyone’s favourite conservative foghorn Nadine Dorries, argued against the equal marriage bill because it does not contain a provision for adultery. She believes if a marriage contract does not contain a fidelity clause it cannot be a real marriage. Now, putting aside how galling it is to be lectured on marital morality from someone accused of being a homewrecker, Dorries interpretation of what marriage is, is laughably out of date. Ever since the Divorce Reform Act in 1969, it became possible for couples to go their separate ways without having to demonstrate infidelity (or even fake it in the most absurd circumstances), marriage has slowly evolved into a much more fluid entity. In truth, despite what some backbenchers and the Coalition For Marriage say, the definition of marriage, like other British ‘institutions’, has never been static. As Stephen Williams, Liberal Democrat MP for Bristol West, explained effectively in the Commons today, marriage has always been a socially developed institution with religious overtones occasionally attached. Nearly every human conurbation in history has had some sort of ceremony destined to recognise not coital or romantic union. Whether its polygamous or monogamous, whether its gay or straight, whether its for life or until the ink on the divorce papers are dry was irrelevant. Time passes, but from the Ancient world into the Christian medieval world, marriage was never viewed as a sacrament ordained by the church. Indeed, in the eyes of the Catholic Church it still isn’t. Villeins, yeomen and the everymen and women of medieval England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, could be married by their local lord in a civil cermony that had little to do with their local church. It was only during the Protestant Reformation that marriage became a sacrament in the eyes of the Church as way to distinguish themselves from Catholicism and prevent the build up of monasteries swimming in wealth and cut off from the rest of the world. Up until 1753 you didn’t even need a formal ceremony to be declared married. This is the status quo favored by ‘traditionalists’ but it was effectively ended by the Civil Marriages Act in 1836 which allowed civil services in registry offices. In 1858, divorce was allowed via legal process rather than the 300 divorces which were granted through act of parliament. This was around the time when ‘marrying for love’ became in vogue for Victorian Britain. Eventually, this led to nascent women’s rights with the Married Women’s Act of 1882 which allowed women to own their own property. This paved the way for women’s rights and the suffragette movement. When they were granted the right to vote on equal terms to men in 1929, the reform of marriage really started. This culminated in 1991 when rape in marriage was finally recognised a crime. This brief history of marriage shows there is no ‘default setting’ for the institution. The only constant of marriage is that it is whatever the participants want to be with the according legal rights. Whether is a purely economic transaction, a gesture of platonic companionship or romantic union, a married couple decide the parameters of what is and is not acceptable in their marriage. The adultery principle is therefore not valid. Every marriage is different. Some are open, some are closed. Some are destined for children, some are not. The purpose of a marriage is to build a secure, happy home. If that includes two men, two women or multiple men and women so be it. Comedian Sharon Horgan recently had a programme on Channel 4 about modern marriages. Some were weird, some were traditional but all of them seemed, at least on the surface, to be working. Who says marriage has to be for life? Who says marriage can only be for two people at a time? Who says marriage should be for children? Marriage is a legal and an expression of love; beyond that everything else is semantics. Therefore there is no grounds for the delusion it is only between a man and a woman. Posted on 05/02/2013 05/02/2013 Categories Europe, History, Observations, Polemic, PoliticsTags Christianity, Coalition For Marriage, Divorce Reform Act 1969, equal marriage, Gay Marriage, History, marriage history, Nadine Dorries, protestant reformation, Sharon Horgan, terms of marriage1 Comment on Marriage has already been redefined, its time the law catches up	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1043
__label__wiki	0.777948	0.777948	2393 - 25 May 2019 Ganymed prints boost Lowry value When it comes to buying limited-edition prints by LS Lowry (1887-1976), those produced by one publisher in particular stand out above the rest for collectors. Gabriel Berner 'The Pavilion', an LS Lowry lithograph – £10,300 at Peter Wilson. London’s Ganymed Press produced a total of 16 signed editioned lithographs during the 1960s in small runs of around 75 from drawings that Lowry made specifically for reproduction. “The Ganymed lithographs are seemingly the most sought after, although they vary enormously in terms of achievable prices with buyers very aware of what imagery they are prepared to pay the most money for,” said Stephen Sparrow, paintings specialist at Cheshire saleroom Peter Wilson. One Ganymed rarity, The Pavilion, a signed two-tone 19in x 2ft (48 x 61cm) lithograph, was published in an edition of 75 and seldom appears on the secondary market. An example from this edition was offered at Peter Wilson (22% buyer’s premium) on April 11 and achieved £10,300 against a £4000-6000 estimate. “The Pavilion I think appears to be the most unusual of this series. Certainly, in terms of examples having come on to the auction market, there have only been a handful over the years. Ours was the highest price ever achieved at auction for this print,” said Sparrow. It was consigned with four other Ganymed lithographs, all of which sold for four-figure sums, by a private collector who had acquired them over the years from galleries around the country. LS Lowry North-west England Peter Wilson Lamorna Birch coastal scene takes £3400 Cubist inspiration is key to ever-popular northern art Key secures demand at Cheshire auction thanks to broad appeal Affordable art: Three works sold for under £2000 including Paul Sandby sketch Lowry signed limited edition prints and drawings bring good returns at auction	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1053
__label__wiki	0.757155	0.757155	Music has always played a big part in my life but one song in particular may well have helped form my budding interest in buses as a child. Quite often my Dad would play me a record on the old radiogram. Remember those? Ours was a piece of furniture in its own right, standing in the corner of the front room on its own set of legs. It was a technological breakthrough when it was new in the late 1950s, combining a valve radio with four wavebands at the top, with a built-in record player below, complete with autochanger. This was an ingenious device which allowed you to load up to three vinyl discs at once. The clever mechanism would select the first record, measuring the diameter first and dropping it down to the already spinning deck before the needle plopped down in just the right spot for the size of the record. Anyway, I digress. The record in question, an EP (Extended Play) spinning at 45rpm, contained four tracks from a live performance by Flanders and Swann. Recorded in 1957 (a very good year, incidentally), my favourite was A Transport of Delight. I have a CD in my collection, remastered from a recording made 2 years later, where Michael Flanders introduces the song to the live audience with his customary patter. Part of it goes like this: “Did you see that bus parked outside the theatre as you came in? It had ‘Private’ on the front. Looked very lonely, it did. I can remember when it was a General!” Of course, that joke will only be appreciated by those who are old enough to recall the predecessor of London Transport! 2 comments on “A Transport of Delight – Flanders & Swann” David Gladwin says: I used to tell the ‘General’ joke to my London ‘Ackney coach tours for Margate or where-ever. Some of the nice old ladies would tell tales about ”Erbert or ‘Arry wot druv the Pirate route near ahr ‘ouse.’ The ‘ouse’ always sahndid like anuvver word…….but they were fun and altho we were laid off in the autumn I used to drop back on coal heaving with Barry. Spring soon came rahnd….er….round!! Brilliant – I love it!	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1059
__label__wiki	0.51388	0.51388	Tag Archives: Los Angeles Times How Will Shortz Works [Image courtesy of Lifehacker.] Last week, Lifehacker posted the latest edition of their How I Work series, which takes readers behind the scenes and into the workspaces of all sorts of experts, scientists, creators, and pop culture icons to see how they do what they do. And New York Times crossword editor Will Shortz stepped into the spotlight to share his average workday and what his job is really like. It provides an interesting snapshot of a job most people know very little about. (And, sadly, thoroughly debunks the glamorous crime-solving editorial life Lacey Chabert portrayed in A Puzzle to Die For earlier this year.) Will talks about going through submissions, editing and polishing crosswords, working on clues, interacting with his assistants, and takes us into his workplace itself, including his reliance on book sources over Internet verification. He also namedrops his table tennis club (always table tennis, never ping-pong), and gives a well-deserved shout-out to XWordInfo.com as a world-class database of NYT crossword data. But there’s one line in particular from the interview that stood out to me, and I suspect it stood out to other puzzlers as well. When discussing the editorial process for each Times-approved crossword, Shortz stated: “I don’t think any other puzzle in the country goes through such rigorous editing and testing before publication.” Now, I like Will. I do. I’ve interviewed him, and chatted with him at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament on more than one occasion. Hell, this year, I purposely lassoed him and pulled him aside so fans could grab photos with him before the tournament started AND still managed to work in a joke or two about the Crossword Mysteries movie. But, man, there’s putting over your own product, and then there’s just stepping in it. There are SO MANY great editors in the crossword market today. Off the top of my head, I can mention the editors at The Los Angeles Times, The Chronicle of Higher Edition, The American Values Club, The Universal Crossword, and The Crosswords Club, not to mention special projects like Women of Letters and the Indie 500, all of which provide wonderful, insightful feedback and attention to detail during the editorial process. Sure, those puzzles might not all get the attention of ten test-solvers before publication, as Will claims each NYT crossword does. But then again, if you ignore those test solvers, as Will did in January when he used the word BEANER in a grid, that number doesn’t really matter much. No, this isn’t always the case, obviously. Just two weeks ago, the Twitter account The Truth About Nursing praised Shortz “for allowing Howard Barkin’s description of nurses as ‘Pro caregivers, for short,’ implying expertise & autonomy. This contrasts with the 2007 clue ‘I.C.U. helper’ & the 2009 clue ‘hospital attendant’.” If you click through to the actual article, Howard does get the lion’s share of the thanks, as he should, given that the tweet shortchanged him a bit. But you also get more backstory on how the team at The Truth About Nursing spoke out against tone-deaf cluing regarding nurses: Both of those clues led the Truth to protest to longtime Times puzzle editor Will Shortz. We explained to him in detail why the common misconceptions of nursing that the clues reflected were damaging, in light of the global nursing shortage and the proven influence that the media has in shaping public attitudes toward the profession… Shortz never responded directly to our concerns. Yes, the NYT crossword gets more criticism because it is the flagship. But if you’re the flagship, you’re also supposed to set the tone, and with a track record of tone-deaf entries like ILLEGAL and HOMIE, as well as clues like “Decidedly non-feminist women’s group” for HAREM or “Exasperated comment from a feminist” for MEN, criticism is well-deserved. The line between tooting your own horn and overplaying your hand is a very fine one, and undoubtedly, people are bound to disagree on which side of the fence this statement lands. Some may say that Will deserves all the accolades and horn-tooting he wishes, given the subscriber numbers the NYT crossword garners. Others may take umbrage at Will seemingly dismissing the terrific work done by crossword editors around the country (with fewer resources, it must be said). I mean, Will himself mentored some of those editors! I can’t speak for any of those editors, and I won’t. But, for me, as someone who has had the pleasure and privilege of meeting and getting to know so many of those creative, qualified, hardworking, and giving editors, methinks he doth toot a bit too much. Posted in Games, PuzzleNation, Puzzles \| Tagged a puzzle to die for, ACPT, American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, American Values Crossword, chronicle of higher education, Cluing, constructing, construction, crossword, crossword editing, crossword editor, crossword mysteries, Crosswords Club, cultural sensitivity, how i work, Howard Barkin, Indie 500, indie 500 tournament, Lacey Chabert, Lifehacker, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times crossword, New York Times, New York Times Crossword, nurses, nursing, PuzzleNation, Puzzlin' fool, the truth about nursing, tone deaf, tone deaf cluing, universal crossword, Universal Uclick, Will Shortz, women of letters, XWord Info, XWordInfo, XWordInfo.com \| 1 Reply Two Upcoming Crossword Tournaments for Summer 2019! Posted on July 19, 2019 by gmdirect If you’re a crossword solver, the next few weeks will have loads of opportunities for you to show off your puzzly chops and meet some fellow cruciverbalists! Next weekend, the third annual edition of the BosWords crossword tournament will be running on Sunday, July 28th from noon to 5 PM! With three divisions to choose from — Red Sox (Expert), Paw Sox (Amateur), and Pairs — puzzlers of all ages and experience levels will have the opportunity to test their puzzly wits. Tournament organizers Andrew Kingsley and John Lieb have gathered a murderer’s row of talented constructors for this year’s puzzles. The five themed puzzles in regular competition (as well as the championship final) will be constructed by Laura Braunstein, Claire Rimkus, Finn Vigeland, Ross Trudeau, Paolo Pasco, Joon Pahk, and David Quarfoot. You can click here for more information! Just a few weeks later, the twelfth edition of Lollapuzzoola will be held in New York City on Saturday, August 17th from 10 AM to 4 PM! Yes, the greatest crossword puzzle tournament ever held on a Saturday in August returns once again to challenge solvers with some of the most innovative and creative crosswords of the year. Tickets for solo competitors (Express for top solvers, Local for average solvers, and Rookie for newcomers) and Pairs Division are available here (as well as the at-home division for solvers who cannot attend). And for those who reach the top of mountain, “winners in each division are awarded prizes, which could range from a box of used pencils to a brand new car. So far, no one has ever won a car.” Are you planning on attending either BosWords or Lollapuzzoola (or maybe both)? Or will you be solving either from home? Let us know in the comments section below! I’d love to hear from you! Posted in Games, PuzzleNation, Puzzles \| Tagged andrew kingsley, boswords, boswords tournament, Brian Cimmet, claire rimkus, Cluing, construction, constructor, crossword, crossword tournament, crosswords, David Quarfoot, finn vigeland, john lieb, Joon Pahk, laura braunstein, Lollapuzzoola, lollapuzzoola 12, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times crossword, New York Times, New York Times Crossword, paolo pasco, Patrick Blindauer, puzzle event, Puzzlin' fool, puzzly event, ross trudeau \| Leave a reply The Indie 500 Crossword Tournament returns soon! Posted on May 10, 2019 by gmdirect Four years ago, a new crossword tournament joined the ranks of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament and Lollapuzzoola, immediately carving out its own niche in the puzzle world. The Indie 500 offered topnotch puzzles and a pie-fueled solving experience both live in Washington, D.C., and for solvers at home. And it’s back! The fifth edition of The Indie 500 is happening on Saturday, June 1, and this year, the theme is “Going Around in Squares.” This year’s tournament follows the same format as previous years: five preliminary puzzles of varying difficulty, plus a final puzzle for the top three scorers in both divisions. [There’s also a fair amount of slapstick.] Registration is open for the tournament! They’re at capacity for attending in person (there is a waiting list in case anyone drops out!), but worry not, because solving from home is only $10! Not only that, but there’s a travel-themed meta suite that lets you name your own price, as well as access to the previous tournament bundles for $5 apiece. Those are super-affordable prices for some outstanding puzzles! Andy Kravis, Erik Agard, and Neville Fogarty all make their fifth appearance as veteran constructors — understandable, since they’re also event organizers — and they’re joined once again by Angela Olson Halsted and Peter Broda, as well as tournament constructors Jenna LaFleur, Bryan Betancur, Janie Smulyan, Rebecca Falcon, and Yacob Yonas! And, of course, there will be pie. You can click here for the Indie 500 home page, and click here for a rundown of last year’s puzzles! Will you be competing, or participating from home? Let us know in the comments below! Posted in PuzzleNation, Puzzles \| Tagged Andy Kravis, angela olson halsted, Announcements, bryan betancur, Cluing, constructing, construction, crossword, crossword tournament, crosswords, Erik Agard, Geeking Out, Holidays, Indie 500, indie 500 tournament, janie smulyan, jenna lafleur, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times crossword, Neville Fogarty, New York Times, New York Times Crossword, Peter Broda, Pop culture, puzzle tournament, PuzzleNation, Puzzlin' fool, rebecca falcon, The Indie 500, tournament, Wordplay, yacob yonas \| Leave a reply Delving into the 2019 ACPT Puzzles! Posted on April 11, 2019 by gmdirect One of the highlights of the puzzle year is the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. The impressive, challenging, and well-constructed puzzles awaiting solvers there rank among the craftiest you’ll ever see. So let’s put them under the microscope and see how I did! Puzzle 1: And We’re Off! by Kathy Wienberg The opening puzzle in this year’s tournament was a good smooth solve, easing solvers into the tournament experience. The theme of the word BATON being “passed” over a black square between longer entries was clever and accessible, easily cracked by tournament-puzzle standards, and the related phrases like FINISH LINE really sold the theme well. Interesting grid entries included KOMBAT, ZAGAT, MAORI and AMOCO, and my favorite clues were “15 things in this puzzle” for ROWS and “Necessity for a farm team” for YOKE. Puzzle 2: Following Orders by Joel Fagliano Joel’s contribution to to the tournament was a fun reinterpretation of a song by The Doors, BREAK ON THROUGH TO THE OTHER SIDE, splitting up the theme entries so that the second part of the answer was a food. (Example: CAPRICORN becomes CAPRI CORN.) It was surprising to have two puzzles in a row that involved answers spanning black-square breaks between entries, but the revealer with The Doors added an extra touch to this one. Interesting grid entries included UNHANDY, MY OH MY, SCHTICK, RICOH, and APOGEE, and my favorite clue was “Inspiring halftime speech, for a sports movie” for TROPE. Puzzle 3: Added Time by Patrick Berry The hook for Puzzle 3 was simple, but deftly executed, as the word AGE was added onto the end of established phrases like DOG POUND and CLASSIFIED AD to form new answers. But this was balanced by harder-than-expected fill, which definitely kept me guessing and ate up a great deal of the given time for solving. Interesting grid entries included MAHLER, BIG DEAL, COLUMBO, MARS BAR, and MESMER, and my favorite clues were “Name-dropper abbr.” for ETAL and “Time or Money” for MAG. [Image courtesy of How Stuff Works.] Puzzle 4: It’s the Law by Jeff Stillman My favorite puzzle from the tournament, Puzzle 4 employed a brilliantly visual gimmick where two circles represented an apple and a head, with a series of I’s (and one V) forming an arrow between them. With themed entries ISAAC NEWTON, ROBERT HOOKE, and GRAVITATION, you’ve got all the ingredients for a science-themed puzzle with a very fun twist. Interesting grid entries included GO BAG, PC GAME, TUBULAR, and ARTOO, and my favorite clue was “One who gets asked a lot of questions” for SIRI. Puzzle 5: Trade Names by Evan Birnholz Puzzle 5 is infamously the most difficult of the tournament, and this year’s entry was no exception. I figured out the gimmick pretty quick — themed entries in the same row would swap words that were also names, so the answers LANDMARK and GRANTING were actually LAND GRANT and MARKING — but the tough cluing and crafty fill entries made this a challenging solve. It was definitely the puzzle I struggled with the most. Puzzle 5, you’ve done it again. Interesting grid entries included SPEEDO, ORVILLE, OFF NIGHT, and NOOGIE, and my favorite clue was “1986 #1 hit ‘On My Own,’ e.g., ironically” for DUET. Puzzle 6: Playing the Field by Lynn Lempel The first day of tournament puzzles wrapped up with this smooth, well-constructed closer loaded with delightful football puns. It was the perfect palate cleanser after the battle I had with Puzzle 5, and Lempel once again displayed her impressive skill mixing interesting fill words and balanced grid work to create puzzles with terrific flow. Blazing through this puzzle was a nice confidence boost after some tough earlier puzzles. Interesting grid entries included CITIZENRY, ARAL SEA, MULAN, and DAUPHIN, and my favorite clues were “Adams who got the picture” for ANSEL and “Helpful feature of a crossword solver’s pencil?” for EXTRA POINT. Puzzle 7: Politically Correct by Mike Shenk Day Two of the tournament kicked off with this diabolical entry where the letters PC were added to established phrases to form new entries. (For example, LOW RANKING became PLOW CRANKING, which was clued as “Starting up a farm machine by hand?”) The theme entries made sense, but weren’t immediately intuitive, so I found them tough to come up with, even though I cottoned onto the hook pretty quickly. Combine that with creative fill entries and you’ve got a well-constructed obstacle before the tournament’s final puzzle. Devious Mr. Shenk strikes again. Interesting grid entries included ASADA, SCHIRRA, KIM NOVAK, CAT LADY, and MONADS, and my favorite clues were “Dial in your home, perhaps,” for SOAP, “Welcoming sign” for OPEN ARMS, “They’re just over two feet” for ANKLES, and “Volume setting?” for SHELF. Puzzle 8: Troublemaker by Robyn Weintraub The finals puzzle for the tournament boasts a different set of clues for each of the three divisions — A, B, and C — where the competitors solve the puzzle live on stage, and Weintraub constructed a puzzle with loads of intriguing entries and personality to spare. When the puzzle both apologizes to you (2 Down was I AM SO SORRY) and checks up on you while you’re solving (50 Across: HOW DID IT GO), you’re in for a unique puzzling experience. Confession: I attempted the A-level clues, but I struggled with some of them. I did successfully solve the puzzle with a mix of A- and B-level clues. Interesting grid entries included CHANDELIERS, ICAHN, IT GIRL, and IN RETROSPECT, and the B-clues were undoubtedly my favorite, boasting gems like “Joins a union?” for WEDS, “Darn it!” for HOLE, and “One with a talent for hitting low pitches” for BASS. Overall, I think this year’s tournament puzzles were not as consistently hard as in previous years, though a lot of individual fill entries were fairly obscure. I did get stuck on several puzzles, frequently outwitted by cleverly misleading clues or my own inability to come up with what would later feel like obvious answers. But, as always, I relish the challenge of trying my hand at these puzzles, even if it’s not under tournament conditions. The ingenious and creative constructors once again brought their A-game to the table with this year’s puzzles, and I never cease to be amazed at how fast and how clever so many of my fellow puzzle solvers are, blasting through these crosswords at unbelievable speeds. ACPT, I’ll see you next year. Posted in PuzzleNation, Puzzles \| Tagged ACPT, American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, Cluing, constructing, construction, crossword, crosswords, Evan Birnholz, Geeking Out, Holidays, jeff stillman, Joel Fagliano, kathy wienberg, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times crossword, Lynn Lempel, mike shenk, New York Times, New York Times Crossword, Patrick Berry, Pop culture, PuzzleNation, Puzzlin' fool, robyn weintraub, Will Shortz, Wordplay \| 1 Reply ACPT 2019 Wrap-Up! Posted on March 26, 2019 by gmdirect The 42nd annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament was this weekend, and puzzlers descended on the Stamford Marriott Hotel once again to put their puzzly skills to the test in what is lovingly known as “the Nerd Olympics.” The tournament takes place over two days, with six puzzles to solve on Saturday, followed by one on Sunday. Then the top three finishers in the A, B, and C brackets solve the championship puzzle on whiteboards in front of the audience. On Friday and Saturday night, there are often puzzle events, demonstrations, and panels by top puzzlers and figures in the puzzle world as well. I made the journey down to Stamford myself Saturday morning, arriving with plenty of time to spare to prep our spot in the puzzle marketplace and say hello to friends and puzzly acquaintances. This year, I was joined at the Penny Dell Puzzles booth once again by my friend and partner-in-promotion Stacey Scarso. The Penny Dell crew had a terrific setup as always, with a metric buttload of magazines to give away, including copies of The Crosswords Club and several flavors of Tournament Variety, Master’s Variety, and Dell Sunday Crosswords. They were also running a kickass promotion offering half-price on a year’s subscription to Crosswords Club, which is a great deal. The Penny Dell Store also returned for the first time in a few years, as puzzle books (including a collection of Daily POP Crossword App puzzles!), tote bags, travel mugs, and coffee mugs were for sale. The Word Nerd mugs were a big hit! PLUS we held a contest to win a bundle of PDP puzzle swag, including a mug, a tote bag, coffee fixin’s, and a bunch of puzzle magazines! All you had to do was solve a marvelous crossword variant puzzle cooked up by Eric Berlin. And, yes, in their downtime between tournament puzzles, many competitors DO solve other puzzles. At 9 AM, the tournament was two hours away, but the marketplace was up and running. There were puzzle books galore from Will Shortz and Merl Reagle, ACPT shirts and cards from Elena Powell Abrahams, and a massive uber-crossword from T. William Campbell, which definitely caught the eye of some solvers: Our friends from Lone Shark Games also had a booth at the tournament, staffed by either a very good hologram or an impressive doppleganger of Gaby Weidling. There were The Maze of Games books for sale and a puzzle card for their ongoing Maze of Games Omnibus Kickstarter campaign! As competitors readied themselves for the day’s solving, I had plenty of time to see friends of the blog like Crosswords Club editor Patti Varol, crossword gentleman Doug Peterson, constructor Joanne Sullivan, and Penny Press variety editor Keith Yarbrough! Perhaps the best part of attending the tournament is getting to chat with so many members of the puzzle community in one place. There were 200 first-time attendees and enthusiastic rookies, mixing with current and former champions, and all sorts of puzzle enthusiasts of all ages. There were long-time puzzle fans who have been competing at ACPT for years, if not decades, many of whom were decked out in puzzle shirts, puzzle scarves, puzzle ties, and other grid-heavy accoutrements. One of the attendees even offered to buy the Crossword Puzzle Junkie shirt off my back! I assured him that that would work for him and literally no one else in attendance. Many of the top constructors in the business were there, names like David Steinberg, Evan Birnholz, Joon Pahk, Erik Agard, Peter Gordon, and more, along with former champions and first-rate competitors like Dan Feyer, David Plotkin, Howard Barkin, Ellen Ripstein, and Stella Zawistowski. Getting to connect faces and personalities with names I know from tournaments like the Indie 500 is a real treat, and so many of the people in the puzzle world are genuinely nice, funny individuals. Not only that, but I also got to meet several fellow trivia fiends from the Learned League community! The two hours before showtime passed quickly, and soon, the marketplace emptied and the ballroom filled as competitors took their seats for Puzzle 1. Attendance jumped again this year, which meant not only was the main ballroom absolutely jam-packed with competitors, but an overflow room was once again needed to accommodate the more-than-700 solvers in Stamford! When Puzzle 1 arrived, most competitors found Kathy Wienberg’s puzzle to be quick and fair, on par with Monday NYT puzzles. Although there was no sub-2-minute time like last year, the top solvers still blasted through this one. Puzzle 2, constructed by prolific puzzler Joel Fagliano, surprised some solvers with a clever little trick at its core. This is consistent with the last few years, where Puzzle 2 has surprised the competitors. I think many solvers forget that, given how legendarily difficult Puzzle 5 is every year. It’s easy to forget other puzzles can offer quite a challenge along the way. About this time, scores started trickling out for Puzzle 1, and many of the expected names were at the top: Feyer, Pahk, Plotkin, Zawistowski, Sanders, Kravis, Ryan… but two big names were missing. Former 5-time champion (and perennial top contender) Tyler Hinman was not attending the tournament this year, and Erik Agard, last year’s champion, had a mistake in Puzzle 1, which would seriously hamper his efforts to repeat last year’s success. Puzzle 3 was constructed by Patrick Berry, and served as a well-received, smooth-solving palate-cleanser before the lunch break. [Even empty, all the dividers make the room feel packed…] Solvers scattered to the four winds in order to grab a bite to eat before returning by 2:30 for Puzzle 4, while the tournament officials were still hard at work tabulating scores: After 3 puzzles, Dan Feyer was on top of the rankings, followed closely by Pahk, and then a three-way tie among Kravis, Plotkin, and Zawistowski for third. But it was time to kick off the second half of the day with Puzzle 4. Last year’s fourth puzzle had a visual element that tripped up some of the competitors, and this year’s Puzzle 4 (by constructor Jeff Stillman) was also harder than expected. The fill featured more obscurities than solvers anticipated, and several competitors commented on it on Twitter: Oh, and by the way, thanks to his puzzly skills and blistering speed, Erik Agard had worked his way back up to 7th place after completing Puzzle 4. Amazing. Finally, it was time for Puzzle 5. This year, constructor Evan Birnholz (not Birnholtz, as it was misprinted on his name tag) did the honors, and according to competitors, it was as challenging as expected, really putting the craftiness and keen wits of the solvers to the test. Even the officials noticed: After the diabolical Puzzle 5, it was Dan Feyer, Joon Pahk, David Plotkin, Stella Zawistowski, and… Erik Agard. Competitors closed out the day with Puzzle 6, constructed by Lynn Lempel (she also contributed Puzzle 6 last year), and declared it both fun and fair. The competitors dispersed to rest their brains (or solve more puzzles). We packed up the Penny/Dell table and headed for home. [The standings after Puzzle 6. Erik has worked his way back to 4th. Was a comeback story in store for Day 2?] And although I wasn’t present for Sunday’s tournament finale, I continued to get updates from friends and fellow puzzlers. Puzzle 7, constructed by Mike Shenk, was what you might expect from a constructor of his caliber: elegant fill, little crosswordese, and great fun. But Shenk’s name being announced for Puzzle 7 also meant a puzzly milestone for the Finals: Yes, Robyn Weintraub’s tournament constructing debut would be the final hurdle for the competitors! Fantastic news! Dan Feyer remained at the top of the leaderboard, having maintained a great solving pace, followed closely by Joon Pahk and David Plotkin. But it was not meant to be, and the final three came down to Dan Feyer (7-time champ, looking for a record-breaking 8th title), Joon Pahk and David Plotkin (two familiar names in the top ten). [Image courtesy of Dave Mackey.] The top three competitors for each live-solving division were: A: Dan Feyer, Joon Pahk, David Plotkin B: Matthew Gritzmacher, Brian Fodera, Arnold Reich C: Brian Kulman, Lily Geller, Claire Rimkus Lily Geller won the C division, and Brian Fodera won B. Congrats to the winners! And, finally, it was time for the A Block. You can watch the final puzzle being solved below, courtesy of Ben Zimmer: Dan Feyer crushed the A clues in under 7 minutes. Joon Pahk was a strong runner-up at 9:05, and David Plotkin placed third with a very respectable showing of 11:13. [Image courtesy of ACPT.] As he had done all tournament, Dan solved with undeniable speed and precision, claiming his eighth tournament victory! And it was a strong showing for many other familiar names! Doug Peterson placed 21st, David Steinberg placed 26th, Angela Halsted placed 94th, Vega Subramaniam cracked the top 100 with 98th, and Patti Varol placed 113th out of a field of 741 participants. (And even with one eye tied behind his back, Keith Yarbrough managed an impressive performance as well!) There were also some wonderfully heartwarming stories to emerge from the tournament, like this multi-generational solving success story: In the end, Jenna LaFleur (aka daughter) placed 33rd! Awesome job! It’s always great fun to spend time with fellow puzzlers and wordplay enthusiasts, immersing myself in the puzzle community and enjoying all the charm and camaraderie that comes with it. Of course, everyone should make sure to check their puzzle vaults when they get home: We’ll see you next year! Posted in Games, PuzzleNation, Puzzles \| Tagged ACPT, American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, angela halsted, arnold reich, brian fodera, brian kulman, claire rimkus, Cluing, constructing, construction, crossword, crossword tournament, crosswords, Crosswords Club, daily pop crosswords, daily pop crosswords app, Dan Feyer, David Plotkin, David Steinberg, dell sunday crosswords, DIY puzzling, Doug Peterson, Dr. Fill, Ellen Ripstein, Erik Agard, Evan Birnholz, Geeking Out, Holidays, Howard Barkin, jeff stillman, jenna lafleur, joanne sullivan, Joel Fagliano, Joon Pahk, kathy wienberg, Keith Yarbrough, learned league, lily geller, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times crossword, Lynn Lempel, master's variety, matthew gritzmacher, Merl Reagle, mike shenk, New York Times, New York Times Crossword, NPR, Ophira Eisenberg, Patrick Berry, Patti Varol, Penny Dell Puzzles, Penny Press, Peter Gordon, Pop culture, puzzle swag, puzzle tournament, PuzzleNation, Puzzlin' fool, robyn weintraub, Stella Zawistowski, tournament, tournament variety, Tyler Hinman, vega subramaniam, Will Shortz, Wordplay \| 4 Replies How Far Away Are Computer-Generated Crosswords? [Image courtesy of ESLTower.] There’s no denying that computers play a large role in the world of crosswords today. Some companies use computer programs to generate their unthemed crosswords, no human intervention necessary. Computer programs like Crossword Compiler aid constructors in puzzle design and grid fill, allowing them to build and cultivate databases of words with which to complete their grids. And, of course, with those little computers in your pocket, you can solve all kinds of crosswords (like those in our Daily POP Crosswords and Penny Dell Crosswords apps). Heck, computers are even getting pretty good at solving crosswords — just look at Matt Ginsberg’s evolving crossword program, “Dr. Fill.” An article in Smithsonian Magazine posed the question, “why haven’t computers replaced humans in crossword creation?” The answer, as you’d expect, is simple: computers are just fine at plugging words into established grids and generating basic, unthemed crosswords. But unthemed is the key word there. When people think of The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The American Values Club, The Crosswords Club, or any of the other well-respected crossword outlets in the market today, I doubt unthemed puzzles are what comes to mind. And when it comes to creating themes, innovating, and playing with the conventions of crosswords in order to create puzzles that surprise and challenge solvers, computers simply don’t have the chops. They might be able to solve puzzles, but as far as I can tell from my research, there’s no program out there capable of generating and executing a theme with any sort of wordplay element involved. [Image courtesy of Crossword Compiler.] There is an art to creating an exciting grid, an intriguing theme, or a new puzzle mechanic that solvers have never seen before. The creativity of constructors is truly boundless. And, it seems, the potential for crossword grids is just as boundless. Recently, Oliver Roeder of FiveThirtyEight challenged the puzzle fans in his readership to calculate how many different crossword puzzle grids were possible. He offered the following conditions: They are 15-by-15. They are rotationally symmetric — that is, if you turn the grid upside down it appears exactly the same. All the words — that is, all the horizontal and vertical sequences of white squares — must be at least three letters long. All the letters must appear in an “across” word and a “down” word. The grid must be entirely connected — that is, there can be no “islands” of white squares separated from the rest by black squares. Now, obviously, all of those rules can be violated for the sake of an interesting theme. We’ve seen grids with vertical symmetry, islands of white squares, and more. Heck, plenty of grids allow words to go beyond the grid itself, or allow multiple words to share puzzle squares. [“Cutting Edge” by Evan Birnholz. A puzzle where answers extend beyond the grid. Image courtesy of The Washington Post.] But assuming these rules are standard, what total did solvers come up with? None. They couldn’t find a total. One solver managed to calculate that there were 40,575,832,476 valid 13-by-13 grids following the above conditions, but could not apply the same technique to 15-by-15 grids. 40 billion valid grids. For a comparison, there are 5,472,730,538 unique solutions for a 9×9 Sudoku grid, and I previously calculated it would take 800 years to use every possible 9×9 Sudoku grid. Of course, that’s 40 billion 13-by-13 grids. The number of possible 15-by-15 grids must be orders of magnitude larger. Consider this: There were 16,225 puzzles published in The New York Times before Will Shortz took over the NYT crossword. The current number of NYT crosswords in the XWordInfo database is somewhere in the neighborhood of 25,000 puzzles. And they’re one of the oldest crossword outlets in the world. Even when you factor in the number of newspapers, magazines, subscription services, and independent outlets for crosswords there are these days, or have been in the past, we barely scratch the surface of a number like 40 billion. Maybe by the time we’ve run through that many, AI constructors will have caught up. Posted in PuzzleNation, Puzzles \| Tagged american values club, american values club crossword, chronicle of higher education, compiler, computer, constructing, construction, crossword, Crossword Compiler, crosswords, Crosswords Club, Daily Pop, daily pop crosswords, Dr. Fill, Evan Birnholz, FiveThirtyEight, Geeking Out, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times crossword, matt ginsberg, New York Times, New York Times Crossword, Oliver Roeder, Penny Dell Crossword App, Penny Dell Crosswords App, Penny Dell Puzzles, Penny Press, Penny/Dell Puzzles, Pop culture, PuzzleNation, Puzzlin' fool, Smithsonian, smithsonian magazine, the chronicle of higher education, The Crosswords Club, themed, unthemed, washington post, Wordplay \| 3 Replies	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1073
__label__cc	0.572255	0.427745	Learning Disability Week 2014: Gaby’s story 18 June 2014 1 Comment It’s Learning Disability Week 2014. Alison has blogged for us about her 21-year-old daughter Gaby, who has been supported by Scope. Gaby has now left home and lives and works independently. Our daughter Gaby has always known what she wanted – to finish college, get a job, and one day live in her own home. She has always wanted to be part of the community, and she has the right to have an ordinary life just like anybody else. Gaby has a personal budget because of her learning difficulties. So a couple of years ago, my husband George and I knocked on the door of a supported living service run by Scope, in our hometown in Worcestershire. At the time, Gaby was in her final year at college. She was desperate to get out into the world and start life as an adult, but she needed support to build up her confidence and social skills. The right support We were introduced to Lottie, who runs Scope’s community support services in our area. She spent lots of time talking to Gaby about what she liked and disliked, and what she wanted out of life. Then she matched Gaby up with Alice, a young support worker, and together they would do all the things Gaby wanted to do – shopping, meals out, going to the gym and out for walks. The first time Gaby went into town shopping with Alice, somebody at work said to me, ‘Oh, I saw your Gaby in Bewdley with her mates on Saturday’. It was so nice – they just looked like two young people enjoying themselves. The support we had from Scope gave Gaby the opportunity to be away from me and dad, so we don’t do the talking for her. Her confidence grew and grew. Gaby has always wanted to work in catering, so we contacted a factory near our home to see if they could offer her a placement in their canteen. However, the management were worried that the job would be too technical for Gaby, and it almost didn’t happen. But then Scope matched us with another two support workers, Louise and Pam, to support Gaby at work. It was crucial in getting the company to agree to t he placement. We always knew that Gaby could do it – and before we knew it, the canteen manager told us she was confident enough to go it alone. Now she goes to work unsupported, and she loves it. Moving out of home When a place came up in a supported house last November, with two girls Gaby already knew, it just seemed like perfect timing. We’d al ways thought of it as a longer-term plan but Gaby had come so far in such a short time, and she knew she was ready. It was a bit scary at first, of course, but Gaby is so happy with how things have turned out. She has her own life, and we know she always has access to a support worker when she needs a hand. Now, to know that Gaby’s happy and settled – it’s such a relief, I can’t put into words. But we wouldn’t have got there without that support from Scope to prepare the way. Find out more about Learning Disability Week 2014 and Scope’s community support services.	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1074
__label__wiki	0.653411	0.653411	CGM Aboriginal Culture Lectures Commence: Looking Into Aboriginal Names_ [CNA News] Lecturer: Haisul Palalavi, (Bunun Tribe), Doctor of Ethnology at National Chengchi University. Aboriginal culture lectures receive enthusiastic audience response. Did you know about the rich culture behind Aboriginal names? The naming of Taiwanese aborigines is closely related to the ethnic tribes, mountains and rivers, and tribal regions as well as other relationships. It carries on the faith towards the land and the accumulated wisdom related to the laws of naming. Behind these naming laws are also the internal naming history and values of the various Aboriginal tribes. Christian Gospel Mission (CGM) has paid long-term attention to ethnic culture, and promotes multi-ethnic development. The first lecture of the Aboriginal Culture lecture series specially invited lecturing heavyweight, Haisul Palalavi (Bunun Tribe), who is Doctor of Ethnology at National Chengchi University. The lecture centered around the theme of “understanding Aboriginal culture through their cultural names.” The engaging lecture content allowed many young generations of Aboriginal children to regain their national pride and confidence. Haisul Palalavi said that social-cultural meaning of Indigenous names can be generally split into the following: 1) the relationship with nature. For example, to use the Atayal words, “behui,” for wind, and “wagi” for sun as name choices. Another example is that, for the forested Rukai tribe, the home is seen as its own living entity, so the naming system would be “the name of the house” and then “your own name;” 2) symbolizes the division of social labor. For example, in the Thau tribe, the surname “Mao” points to families who are blacksmiths; 3) personal or family life history, such as the Bunun Aziman sikin; 4) national culture interaction, such as the “Chieh” surname; 5) maintenance of group identity, such as the use of aristocratic and clan names; 6) other, such as naming with Biblical characters. Christian Gospel Mission (CGM) respects cultural diversity and believes that the respect of life starts with the respect of names. CGM hopes that these Aboriginal Cultural lectures can lead Taiwan aborigines to go deep into their historical origins and solidify ethnic forces to create a more ideal Taiwanese culture. Source: http://www.cna.com.tw/postwrite/Detail/209748.aspx#.WL_YcRJ95hD Referenced: Central News Agency News (CNA News) 《 A Moving Performance: Public Welfare Concert by CGM and Syin-Lu Choir_ [CNA News] CGM’s Hsin-Jung Church Visits Hongxin Nursing Home: the Elderly and Youth Participate in Volunteer-Led Activities_ [CNA News] 》	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1084
__label__cc	0.603374	0.396626	Pardon My Take NFL Week 1, Fastest 2 Minutes, Recap Of Every Game + Football Guy Of The Week Football is back and we're trying out something new. No guest on Monday's in the fall. We start with the Fastest 2 minutes then get into a recap of every Sunday Game with overreactions and weird tangents (2:2 8 - 9:34). Antonio Brown is a Patriot and Mike Tomlin deserves an apology (9:34 - 73:39). Who's back of the week (73:39 - 80:45) Football Guy of the Week. The debut of our newest segment "Do Your Pod" and Stay Classy Philly for fighting Sixers player Mike Scott (80:45 - 94:24) Barry Sanders, Colts LB Darius Leonard + Our Role In OBJ Gate Cleaning up the National Championship and the fall out from Odell Beckham handing out cash after the game (2:27 - 11:31). Astros Cheating has reached an insane level (11:31 - 18:51). Championship Sunday preview + picks (18:51 - 29:02). Barry Sanders joins the show to talk about his career,... Coach O + Joe Burrow And We’re Still Drunk In New Orleans The LSU Tigers are your National Champions. We recap the national title game. What it was like inside the stadium, the after party on Bourbon, Big Cat dabbing too much and we're still a little drunk from the celebration. (2:28-20:29) Hot Seat/Cool Throne. (20:30-31:29) Heisman trophy winner Joe... Live From New Orleans, NFL Divisional Round Recap + National Championship Preview With Stanford Steve NFL Divisional Round fastest 2 minutes (2:27 - 6:13). Recapping a wild weekend of Football. The Niners glory days are back and its not Kirk's fault (6:13 - 15:14). Shocker in Baltimore where the Ravens are not Frauds but they got exposed and the Titans are on an absolute roll (15:14 - 31:40).... More from Barstool Sports barstoolsports.com	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1087
__label__wiki	0.570684	0.570684	Sites A, B and C Lilestone Street Orchardson Street Lisson Arches Ashbridge, Ashmill & Cosway LUTON & FISHERTON STREET Church Street Triangle Green Spine Venables Street market storage Close menu City of Westminster Search One step closer to 1,240 new homes for Church Street Over a thousand new homes are one step closer in Church Street following a consultation asking the local community for their views. Under the plans Church Street will see brand new health and wellbeing facilities and green areas. The regeneration programme also offers support for local businesses and market traders, alongside an employment service for residents. Through the consultation residents continued to be clear in their support for development on four sites. The council has chosen partial development for three of the sites and full development for the fourth site. This decision reflects consultation responses from the Neighbourhood Forum, the ward councillors, and the community. Cllr Rachael Robathan, Westminster City Council’s Cabinet Member for finance, property and regeneration, said: “As a City for All we’re committed to working closely with the community to deliver a vibrant and positive Church Street for future generations. “We’ve listened and taken the advice of our residents in this consultation. We will now draw up more detailed designs for the preferred partial redevelopment option, which residents will again have a chance to feedback on.” The next steps are to further develop the designs for new homes on the three sites which sit alongside the historic Church Street market. As well as creating 1,167 new homes, the market will be rejuvenated with better access for shoppers and better facilities for traders. At least 622 of the homes – just over half – will be affordable, but the council’s ambition is to go much further to create opportunities for people to stay in the neighbourhood. The exact numbers may change slightly as the designs develop. Some buildings will remain untouched, including Kennet House which some residents asked to be kept. This plan was Option 3 (partial redevelopment) in the Church Street Sites A, B and C consultation. In addition, the council has decided to explore options to redevelop buildings on Edgware Road between Church Street and Boscobel Street which are in poor condition. Designs will also be developed for part of the Lilestone Street site, comprising 73 new homes, of which a minimum of 35 per cent will be affordable. The council will take every opportunity to increase the number of affordable homes. This was Option 3 (redevelopment) in the Gayhurst House and 6-12 Lilestone Street consultation. The new housing complements plans to build a new community hub on Lilestone Street and new homes on Orchardson Street. The designs for all of the sites will be discussed with the community over the summer to make sure we continue to develop plans which suit the needs of the people who live in the ward. Church Street transforms into PopUp Business School Christmas comes to Church Street! Building a career in construction Over 168 new homes for Luton Street Westminster City Council	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1092
__label__wiki	0.718716	0.718716	More in Overseas and Off-Campus Programs East Africa: Biology Program Update Recent Alumna Joins The New York Times Emma Grillo BA ’17 has gone from features editor at the student-run Pioneer Log to a staffer in the The New York Times newsroom, harnessing skills from her time in the classroom and on off-campus student programs. Her freelance work covering tech, arts, and culture regularly appears in national publications. Senior Completes Competitive Ambassador Fellowship Ellie Miller BA ’20 was chosen as one of only six undergraduate students in the nation to participate in the Council of American Ambassadors (CAA) Fellowship program in Washington, D.C. A French and psychology double major with a focus in Arabic, Miller stood out in a field packed with international affairs and political science majors. Don’t Fear the Pholcid After years of specimen collecting, venom milking, and proteomic sequencing, arachnologist and Lewis & Clark Professor of Biology Greta Binford and her team have published evidence to put to rest a longstanding urban legend: the venom of the daddy long-legs spider won’t hurt you. Their research appears in the new issue of Frontiers in Evolution and Ecology. Mastering One Year of Arabic in Eight Weeks Grace Starling BA ’20 is spending the summer in Oman intensively studying Arabic through the Critical Language Scholarship Program. The highly immersive eight-week program is equivalent to one year of college language studies. Overseas Newsletter Preview: Issue No. 2 Fall 2019 Student Account Statements Now Available Graduating Senior Earns Fulbright Scholarship to Argentina Lewis & Clark has been a top 10 producer of Fulbright scholars in recent years. Peter Bradley BA ’19 has received an English Teaching Fellowship to Argentina and adds to the long list of Lewis & Clark recipients aiming to improve intercultural relations. Lewis & Clark Among Peace Corps’ Top Volunteer-Producing Schools For the seventh time in the last 10 years, the Peace Corps this week named Lewis & Clark to the agency’s 2018 Top Volunteer-Producing Colleges and Universities list. Nine Lewis & Clark alumni currently volunteer worldwide. Since the Peace Corps’ founding in 1961, nearly 400 Lewis & Clark alumni have served overseas. Three Seniors Honored With Fulbright Awards Bradley Davis BA ’18, Caia Jaisle BA ’18, and Kelley Koeppen BA ’18 have been chosen to participate in the Fulbright program, a highly competitive award which fosters international scholarship and understanding through travel and research. Alumnus Finding Innovative Ways to Change Lives in Nepal Matthew Nelson BA ’08 has turned a passion for language and literature into a career as an English language fellow with the U.S. Department of State in Nepal. Going beyond the traditional framework of language instruction abroad, Nelson incorporates filmmaking, digital storytelling, and coding into his teaching. Check out the new Overseas & Off-Campus Programs video! Check out the new Overseas & Off-Campus Programs promo video, created by Liza Tugangui ’18. Why Study Foreign Languages at Lewis & Clark? At Lewis & Clark, we believe that language is the key to understanding the world, which is why we offer study in nine languages: Arabic, Japanese, Chinese, Russian, French, German, Spanish, Latin, and Classical Greek. Studying abroad on one of our language intensive programs is another great way to further your your proficiency and become immersed in both the language and culture of the host country. Show 3 more... (18 total) Pre-Departure & Health Resources Scholarship Opportunities & Resources Dinah Dodds Endowment for International Education Returning From Abroad College Outdoors Student Leadership & Service (SLS) Pioneer Travel Program Application References Orientation Syllabi Overseas and Off-Campus Programs is located in room 206 of Albany Quadrangle on the Undergraduate Campus. email overseas@lclark.edu voice 503-768-7295 fax 503-768-7300 Director Blythe Knott Overseas and Off-Campus Programs Lewis & Clark 0615 S.W. Palatine Hill Road MSC 11 Portland OR 97219 Overseas Office Facebook Overseas Office Instagram	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1096
__label__wiki	0.597817	0.597817	General news Sports Football Athlete injuries Athlete health College football College sports Oklahoma's Sooner Schooner tips over on field; no injuries The Oklahoma Sooner Schooner flipped over during a touchdown celebration on the field during the first half of an NCAA college football game against West Virginia in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Oct. 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Alonzo Adams) Oct. 19, 2019 01:57 PM EDT The Oklahoma Sooner Schooner is carried off the field after it tipped over during a celebratory run following a Sooner touchdown during the first half of an NCAA college football game against West Virginia in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Oct. 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Alonzo Adams) An Oklahoma cheerleader yells while he helps teammates and members of the RUF/NEKS lift the Sooner Schooner after it tipped during a touchdown celebration during an NCAA college football game between Oklahoma and West Virginia, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2019, in Norman, Okla. (Ian Maule/Tulsa World via AP) The Oklahoma Sooner Schooner makes a run following a Sooner touchdown in the second quarter of an NCAA college football game against West Virginia in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Oct. 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Alonzo Adams) Officials inspect the field after the Sooner Schooner flipped over during the first half of an NCAA college football game between Oklahoma and West Virginia in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Oct. 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Alonzo Adams)	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1097
__label__wiki	0.762192	0.762192	Kalmar, Grant Park Orchestra deliver stirring and eloquent Elgar Sat Jun 21, 2014 at 2:01 pm Carlos Kalmar led the Grant Park Orchestra in Elgar’s Symphony No. 1 Friday night at the Pritzker Pavilion. Over eight decades, there are not many works that have been left unperformed at the Grant Park Music Festival, not least symphonies from the Late Romantic era. Leave it to the indefatigable Carlos Kalmar to plug in the few remaining repertory gaps. On Friday night, the festival’s principal conductor led the Grant Park premiere of Sir Edward Elgar’s Symphony No. 1. Nearly every person in this country has been handed a diploma with the trio section of Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 playing in the background. Yet the English composer’s concert music still only fitfully makes it onto American symphony programs. While his autumnal Cello Concerto remains his best-known piece, Elgar’s two completed symphonies are infrequently heard in the U.S.—which may have accounted for the many empty seats Friday night at the Pritzker Pavilion. Yet these are magnificent works, and kudos to Kalmar for bringing the belated lakefront debut of Elgar’s Symphony No. 1. This is rich, expansive music, spanning fifty minutes and masterfully scored for large orchestra, with the indelible, long-limbed theme that opens the symphony (with the composer’s favorite marking of nobilmente) serving as the principal motif of the entire work. There must be some repertory that Kalmar is not able to bring off but we haven’t heard it yet at Grant Park. Elgar’s First Symphony is extremely difficult music to conduct and perform, yet Kalmar fluently assayed the many tempo changes, keeping Elgar’s restless nervous energy to the fore in the opening movement and bringing apt unhinged ferocity to the ensuing scherzo. Deep, introspective and tinged with melancholy, the long-breathed Adagio remains one of the most strikingly beautiful slow movements in the orchestral repertory. Kalmar handled the music masterfully, drawing out the expressive vein of feeling in this music with quite glorious string playing. The performance was capped with a rousing and dynamic account of the finale, the lyrical leitmotif soaring as it finally gains ascendance over the frantic attempts to derail it. A rushed final acceleration made for a somewhat garbled coda Friday night, but otherwise Kalmar’s direction was faultless. Grant Park’s music director showed himself an Elgarian of the first order, and the orchestra rose to the challenge with equally inspired playing in every department (a fitfully wobbly oboe apart). Can we have Elgar’s Second Symphony next summer? Baroque music doesn’t fare well at al fresco concerts and the opening selection offered a compromise of sorts with a suite from Handel’s Water Music arranged by Hamilton Harty. The Irish composer-conductor’s 1920s Handel confection for symphony orchestra is mostly respectful of the material, though one needn’t be a historically minded purist to find the results rather dated and gelatinous. The amplification mix sounded off in the opening minutes of the Handel, as if the brass and strings were playing on opposite banks of the Thames. Kalmar and the musicians made a worthy enough case for hearing this curio once, with vital and clarion brass playing in the celebrated Allegro. Carl Maria von Weber is best known today for his overtures, many of them to unperformed or nonexistent works. If oddly placed as the concert centerpiece, Weber’s Jubel Overture proved characteristic in its grand (or grandiose) introduction, and dynamic Allegro. Kalmar and the Grant Park musicians delivered a lively and energized performance making the most of the bizarro coda with its “God Save the Queen” quotation. The program will be repeated 7:30 p.m. Saturday. gpmf.org	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1105
__label__cc	0.709371	0.290629	Show me the way to go home by chriswalters \| posted in: Life in South Africa \| 3 And so to our final day at DCS. For myself, having three lessons to teach became an opportunity to say goodbye to the learners I had taught over the past three months, and it was a gentle and relaxed day. Val had a less comfortable time, having to fight with IT, but she was still able to enjoy most of it. In no particular order, it was: Me leading morning prayers Teaching, with spirited playing of the “Who killed King John?” game, and some magnificent improvisations Handing out presents to the laundry ladies, the security guys, the kitchen staff, and the maintenance team A short outdoor concert given by the choir in our honour A low-key but most enjoyable farewell braai A trip to the astonishing Zebra Bar in Maboneng, including me playing an intense game of chess against Swazi, the owner. (I lost, but narrowly.) And so we finish our stay, and with it comes the end of our daily blogs. We shall record the last three weeks of our trip, but sporadically. We hope it has proved (almost) as enjoyable an adventure for you as for us. Au revoir. Reflections XI – Memories (are made of this) Things we’ll miss about DCS: Many, many people (with apologies to those I miss out): the triumvirate of ladies who really run the school – Mrs Marx in the staff room, Joyce in reprographics, Lina in the laundry. Dayle and Paulus from the site team. The security guys, especially Prosper, who welcomes us with a big smile when we come back late. The team in the boarding house kitchen/canteen. Far more of the learners than we can possibly name. The singing of the choir, especially rehearsing in the old chapel. The congregation holding hands together in church as we sing the Lord’s Prayer. Fitness boot camp (for Val) The wonderful shower in our apartment Working with Viloshni and Nthlane (Lucky) Social occasions with Brighton, Darryl, others Things we won’t miss: Those (few) times when I have had to discipline learners The toilet in our apartment, which kept going wrong The ants, mosquitoes and the odd cockroach that have made occasional appearances in our apartment Fried fish in the boarding house Things we’ll miss about Johannesburg: Bananas, cappuccinos Taking Uber taxis, allowing us freedom: not to navigate, not to park, to drink Friday evenings in Maboneng: a lovely meal out, great theatre (mostly) at the POPArt, home by 9.15 Swimming in the local (open air) pools World class theatre – Woza Albert, Sophiatown, the shadows play… all for a mere pittance The street art and the buzz of Johannesburg And things we won’t: Feeling trapped in our caged compound, not able to walk out the gate Rubbish on the streets by chriswalters \| posted in: Production \| 0 The trouble with a two night run is that (to adapt a quote about America) it can go from nervousness to self indulgence without any intervening period of brilliance. It was, nonetheless, another thoroughly enjoyable performance. The best way to describe it is through pictures not words: via this link to the utterly wonderful set of photos taken by Paul Horn, DCS’s irreplaceable photographer, pianist, It guru. Plus this link to the video trailer, shot and edited by Brighton Ncomo, art teacher, drinking buddy and Man City supporter… Quite a day. It began with weekly mass, our final opportunity to attend, so mildly disappointing that it was rather low-key, with the singing somewhat lackluster. It was followed by a school assembly; we had been scheduled to perform an extract of the play, but when assembly over-ran, it was probably just as well that our slot was cancelled. It can be a thankless task performing without lighting, costume, or context, to a pressed audience (and all the more so when they would be deprived of some of their break.) School had acceded to our request for additional rehearsal time during the rest of the morning (vital, after yesterday’s dress run.) And that led directly into two performances, more or less back to back. The first was to a packed hall of enthralled primary school learners… though they too had to evacuate en masse when the time came for their buses to leave. The performers on stage were left somewhat bemused by the exodus of virtually the entire audience. And then on to our first night. The performance went very well, and was received with enormous warmth and enthusiasm, but I have to confess to mild twinges of disappointment. A director is always going to be aware of the details that are not quite right. The audience loved it, I know; many of them told me so… but I still want it to be better. “Dress rehoisals is supposed to go wrong…” (“Dat’s what makes for a great performance!”) And heaven knows I’ve sat through quite a few in my time. Though rarely, if ever, have I had a third of my cast disappear two-thirds of the way through, on account of the fact that otherwise their bus home would leave without them. On the other hand, there were glimpses of what might be. For example, check out the video. Two of the three sisters are determined to murder the other one, but then discover they are all pregnant. These three, let me remind you, were given their roles yesterday, and just look at them. They make my heart sing. Though before I get too carried away, the scene was a disaster, and is in need of serious work before we get to perform tomorrow, first as a matinee to the primary school, and then to our first night audience. The inclusion of drumming and marimbas to illustrate, accentuate and punctuate the play has been one of its most exciting and welcome elements. I have indeed been fortunate to have Lucky (pun intended) as a colleague; no-one could be in any doubt as to his energy, expertise and commitment. All the same, with two days to go there are no grounds for complacency. The longest of the plays, The Three Sisters, has undergone a forced root and branch re-casting overnight; and during today’s all-day rehearsal, I found myself reading in for three roles, including a most unlikely Demanzana/Gretel – one of our babes in the woods. Miracles happen – I know they do – especially with a dress rehearsal and a primary school matinee still to come, but they need to as well. by Val Jonas \| posted in: Life in South Africa \| 0 Our nearest neighbours (through a few layers of security fences) are the Sisters of the Holy Cross of the Third Order of St Francis – 4 sisters to be precise, two elderly, one student and Sister Maureen; I was pleased to accept the latter’s invitation to tea. They live together in a beautiful old house, built 100 years ago, and bought by the order in 1974. It has a lovely veranda and flower garden at the front, and retains many of its original features. Over tea and scones, Sister Maureen told several fascinating tales of her life living and teaching in South Africa and Zimbabwe, through times of change, from the Apartheid era to now. She recounted how she used to take the bus into town to go shopping and visit the post office (now a burnt-out shell in the Central Business District). She did not hark back to a bygone era, but instead told it how it is – she still takes the bus to town today. “You just have to be sensible and not look like you have too much money”, while adding “It probably helps to be seen as a person of the church”. It was also interesting to hear her experience of how teaching has changed over the years, especially through the 1980’s when students played a central role in the struggle for freedom, though one by-product was a decline in discipline in schools, making teaching more challenging at the time. This appears not to be an enduring legacy, at least from our experience at DCS, where the learners are focused and engaged.	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1110
__label__cc	0.61902	0.38098	Feast of Dreams, Final Words by Christian A. Brown \| Jul 5, 2015 (SPOILERS FOR FEAST OF DREAMS AHEAD—READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.) Alright. It’s been rather crazy over here. I feel like a juggler with one arm in a sling. One thing dropped, and that was the release date of Feast of Dreams. It’s with disappointment that I have to announce I’ll be delaying the book for another few weeks. A last minute typographical mistake popped up, and unfortunately, it takes a while to fix such a simple error (especially in both print and digital formats). Could I launch the book with that dastardly, repeated “only” floating around in one of the sentences? Of course. However, I wouldn’t be doing myself or my readers any favors by providing a less than polished product. I won’t do that. You’ll have Feast of Dreams in your hands and on your e-readers by the end of the month—that’s the goal for which I’m aiming. Now, to cushion the disappointment, I do have a very special surprise and a lengthy excerpt to tide everyone over for those few nail-biting weeks! The surprise will be announced and available next weekend. As for the excerpt, enjoy! This is your final peek into the new adventure—and peril—faced by our heroes in Alabion. Every character in this tale has a role to play, for life is a stage with many actors. Even Mouse will discover that her destiny is grander and darker than what she’s so far known… (From Chapter I: The Web of Fates) “Adelaide,” says Mouse. She is about to ask her young friend what she is doing here, and then she dismisses the question as ridiculous. They are at the charterhouse playing cards and sitting upon creaking, worn bunks with threadbare sheets. Where else would they be? Out on the dismal streets of Menos? She can spot the grayness of the city through the window behind Adelaide’s golden hair. Not out there. Not anywhere else. Only here. This is the only place to be. Adelaide’s pretty face is frowning. “Your move. Pay attention,” she demands in an unusually authoritative voice. Pay attention, thinks Mouse, and she stares at the colorful, lacquered cards arrayed in two rows between them on the mattress. Instantly, Mouse gravitates toward and grabs one of the cards. A king—pale, beautiful, and surrounded by an aura of power. He stands atop a crest of rock like a conqueror overseeing the battlefield. As strange as it is for Mouse’s tiny mind, she feels as if she knows this figure or something important about him. “Is that your pick?” asks Adelaide. “The Everfair King takes two cards out of play and converts one more to his cause, or have you forgotten the rules?” Three cards to choose, ponders Mouse. She glances at the line of fantastical creatures and places lined up before her. First, she picks a scarecrow that hangs ominously against the backdrop of a wasted, black field and a sky full of stars. He—the scarecrow is definitely male—has a hauntingly mortal face. However, he has eyes of pitch and a grim, yellow smile. He is happy, this scarecrow, even as he presides over the emptiness. She fancies him and feels as if he should have a name, but she cannot grasp what it could be. Adelaide claps in her face. “Goodness, you’re slow today, Mouse! Dumb as dear Bettifer, who eats her own hair. You, who are always telling me to hurry. Move along now before the other children return and sell us out for a second helping of that misery they call porridge. Two more cards. Go!” Of course Adelaide is correct, and should their game and contraband be discovered, it will mean nothing but punishment. Mouse regretfully places the scarecrow facedown in a pile off to the side with the other discarded cards. Next she runs her hand over her choices and quickly settles upon the image of a bright sward, a radiant sun, and a flowing wind. All are rendered in bold lines. Mouse feels as if this could be a place—a real place somewhere—and when she closes her eyes, she can nearly feel the warmth, peace, and tickle of the summer breeze on her cheeks. “The east wind?” says Adelaide. “The wind of change and sacrifice? The wind that chases the sun to its death each day? If you put that in the graveyard, you change the game’s rules. No peace now. We keep at it until one of us has nothing. Are you sure? Do you understand? Attrition until death. You can’t change your mind later. Just like the scarecrow, it’s gone forever. Everything changes.” “I…I’m sure,” replies Mouse, but she really isn’t. She’s dithering when she shouldn’t be. That is usually Adelaide’s role. Gone forever. The warning echoes. Mouse shakes off the chill of it and looks for her third pick: the card she gets to keep. It’s the one that will stay with her in the battle to come. The battle with Adelaide? she wonders, but her blood is boiling as if something more dire than this frivolous game is unfolding. Her fingers graze several cards—a pack of wolves, a beautiful ebon mare with a single silver horn, and a castle crumbled to its foundation and covered in ivy—before freezing upon a card. Yes. This is it. This is the one she must have. What a queer relief this card painted in watercolors is. It’s so soft while the other cards are bold. What is this picture other than plumes of gray mist or smoke? As she stares, she begins to make out the faintest outline of a shape: a scribble of a face, two slashes that could be suspicious eyes, and some bolder twists that could be the outline of arms and legs. As with cloud watching, though, what she sees fades to inconsistency, and she is not sure what she has seen until Adelaide whispers, “The Gray Man.” There is fear in Adelaide’s voice. Mouse swallows the sudden lump in her throat. The mystery and fright of this card and the choice she has made are palpable to them. “The trickster, the thief of secrets,” Adelaide continues. Her voice is hushed. “He’ll steal what you know and what you don’t. He can’t be trusted, and yet you’ve made your choice.” “I have?”—Adelaide nods—“I have,” repeats Mouse. The canny part of Mouse—the forgotten woman she is or was to be (why can’t she remember?)—knows they are no longer discussing the stratagems of a simple game. These cards are not simply amusements. The cards have meaning. The unseen scarecrow she has buried in the graveyard calls to her. His face is so familiar, and his name dances on her tongue. Vor…Vorig…Vortig… Adelaide studies her intently with a gaze that seems more knowing than it should be, considering she’s a hapless child—always bumbling and in trouble. “You’ve made your choice,” says Adelaide quietly. “Now watch, and I shall show you the path.” With surprisingly deft hands, Adelaide sweeps up all the cards, shuffles them with a flourish, and pulls one off the top. Mouse recoils at the revealed picture. Even as a child, which she is starting to sense she is not, she has always hated these things. Spiders. And these ones are particularly repulsive. Around a dozen are cluttered into the frame, which is bordered in white, drawn lines of silk. Their bodies are lean with sleek, long abdomens, and they teeter on stilted legs like herons. Most revolting are their armored heads, spiked as the helmets of warriors and slashed with white markings that resemble war paint. Indeed, there is an anthropomorphic impression to the monsters, and even though they are mere representations, she can feel their deep-red clusters of eyes leering at her from under the armored crests. She quickly looks away. “No,” says Adelaide. “You must be brave. Look at the card.” Mouse does as she is told. The spiders are eager to capture her with their stares, so she looks elsewhere within the picture—anywhere they cannot follow her. A glimmer of silver lost in the cobwebs like a rolled-up metal gnat provides this escape. She has to squint to make it out, as minuscule as it is. “What is that glimmer?” she asks. Adelaide applauds her discovery. “Good. Such a sharp eye you’ve always had, Mouse. It will serve you in the dark when you need to find what you have just seen—the first marker of Fate. A bread crumb for you to follow. However, there are three, as is always the way of things. I must show you the others before we part.” Marker of Fate? wonders Mouse. In flickers, her adult sensibilities are returning to her. The process stings. Each bit of memory drives like a spike into the back of her skull. She is aware she is in some manner of dream that is not quite a dream, and she is speaking with some manifestation of her old friend and someone or something else too. A guide, perhaps? She is starting to recall a place and people far from this dreaming whom she has left behind: Vortigern, Morigan, Caenith, and Thackery. She remembers enough of this other life, even though the recall is incomplete. “The second marker,” declares Adelaide. “Study it. Burn it into your thoughts. See the unseen.” Mouse concentrates on the new card Adelaide now holds between two of her fingers. Painted on the glossy surface is a slice of sunset scenery—a cartoonish crimson and orange sun setting over a stretch of woodland. Surely it is Alabion, judging from its tangles and density. A flock of white birds flutters to one side. Study it. See the unseen, she commands herself, and she begins to wonder what has startled the flock into flight. A growl in the woods? The passage of a predator? Something certainly has frightened the birds, but she can discern nothing more in the smears of black between the green trees. Perhaps it is not what spooks the birds that matters but where they are headed. She searches the landscape, which seems larger and more detailed than the confines of a card should be, and she notes a ripple of blue and gray—rapids on the east. Yes. This is to the east side of the woods. The birds will flee in that direction to or near a stream, and they will be safe from what hunts them. “East,” says Mouse. “They will fly east.” She knows this is the correct answer because Adelaide has folded the card away and is quickly flashing another in her face. “Well done. Now the last marker.” Mouse isn’t clear what this is. It is a jumble of bones and serpentine strokes of darkness dotted with white marbles. Whatever the image is supposed to be, it roils her stomach with sadness—not sickness, though. The picture twirls inward and gives a sense of spiraling and constriction. She feels as if she could cast herself through the paper and fall to the very bottom of this abyss toward that pearl of gray shadows at the epicenter of the torrent. Wait. That isn’t a pearl; it’s a pinprick of light. An opening to a larger space. A place where there is music and the saddest song in all Geadhain sung by… “Yes. Yes,” says Adelaide, and the card disappears back in the deck with her prestidigitator’s skill. “You have your signs—although I don’t think you’ll much like the journey on which they take you. Be brave. There is light after the dark. Always. Good luck to you, Mouse. Luck has ever watched your back, and you have a greater destiny than I ever did—I thought I was simply to die at the hands of that awful man. But it seems I have one last purpose and one last bit of joy, which is to say good-bye.” If this is a dream, the rules and realities are bent. It is like no other dream that has claimed Mouse. The clear, gold shimmer of her friend’s tresses, the candied smell she always exuded, and the half-smile that never left her lips—all these poignant details are present and tangible. Mouse cries out for her long-lost and fallen friend, and the two fall into each other, embrace, and shed tears. Memories are assaulting Mouse, and she sees Adelaide’s corpse folded and broken in a closet in the charterhouse. She remembers sobbing and being unsure how to handle the naked, bruised body. She remembers how the brightness of Adelaide’s eyes had faded to a dull, fishy gray. She remembers the sensation of something cracking inside her—a wall that let in the darkness and hate. Always suspicious and alert, she remembers one of the ironguards pulling her from the corpse and staring at the body afterward with a lip twitch and an eye tremble. Hunger. A lesser, more innocent mind would not have seen this as an admission of murder. Barry Grimsby was his name. She learned it and enshrined it in her skull. All the way into adulthood, she carried that name until she was able to take revenge on him and defile him with knives as he had done to any number of innocents. She pulls back. “He’s dead,” she says with a wicked smile. “I ended him. Cut his balls off and fed them to him.” “I know,” says Adelaide remorsefully. She is radiant to Mouse—a star one and true. “All that hate for me. I thank you for your vengeance, but I am sorry for how it has changed you.” “But how? How is it possible you are here?” “I don’t know. I know only that I was headed somewhere…yet I knew I couldn’t leave. I wasn’t sure why. Until now, at least. This is where I am supposed to be and what I am supposed to do. A voice…yes, a man’s voice, I think. It led me back out of the grayness and to you, my dear Mouse. You have been lost for so long, but you’re starting to find your way. There will be more sadness to come, and you’ll stumble again. But I’ve given you a few more steps to take. I’m looking out for you this once.” Mouse does not care about any more of this mystery—only the miracle of it. She pulls her friend in again and squeezes with all her strength. She understands their intimacy is to end by her friend’s sudden lightness and brightness. “No. Please. A little longer,” she pleads to the wisps of brilliance Adelaide has become. Adelaide’s voice fades like the last rays at dusk. “Remember the markers. Believe in what you see and feel. He will find you as he found me. But you must go. I wouldn’t be a good friend if I kept you here any longer than was safe. Anger…danger…wake. Need to…wake…up. Don’t think. Just kill.” Danger. Wake up. Don’t think. Just kill. As Adelaide vanishes into a golden mist, Mouse tumbles forward and scatters the cards. Her friend was right about many things. Mouse is a survivor and a quick study, and she knows she has to wake up. She pounds the mattress with her fists. Wake up! Wake up! Remember where you are supposed to be! The more she focuses herself and her Will, the more the world begins to shake and blur, and the greater that dreadful pain—the stabbing at the back of her neck—becomes. She reaches around to soothe the spot and feels something hard and wet attached to her. In disgust, she rips at it. Mouse awoke and gulped for air, but her breaths drew in only cottony gobs that dissolved on her tongue like bitter, spoiled carnival candy. She spit them out and thrashed about. She discovered that the stuff completely enveloped her. Somewhere in her frenzy, she grasped what this entrapment was, yet she could spare no thought on it now—not when the situation was so dire, when she could sense a throbbing wound in her skull, and when she could sense a great, hissing darkness skittering around her cocoon. Don’t think. Kill. She had specks before the shadow would do something unspeakable to her again and inject her with whatever toxin had lulled her into a coma. One of her gluey hands found a dagger—one of a pair of parting gifts from Alastair, her eternal protector—and suddenly the shadow was above her. She sliced down the silken bag in which she was trapped and slid out onto a rock floor. BESbswyBESbswyBESbswyBESbswyBESbswyBESbswyBESbswyBESbswyBESbswyBESbswyBESbswyBESbswyBESbswyBESbswyBESbswyBESbswyBESbswyBESbswyBESbswyBESbswyBESbswyBESbswyBESbswyBESbswy Her surroundings came to Mouse in fragments as she stumbled to her feet. There were natural walls coated in ghostly webbing, tiny shadows balled up in ivory and strung around like festive ornaments, the fustiest of reeks, and a lanky shape draped over the deflated pile of strings she had escaped. She couldn’t piece the nightmare together. However, she knew what was atop the string pile. As it rose from its web on long, slender limbs, she could see it clearly in the white-tinted darkness. It was an enormous arachnid twice her size at its full height. She saw a glint, a greasy sheen, reflecting off the ivory markings on its clacking, horned skull. She had a flash of the same chain of red eyes descending upon her in another time. There was hardly a moment to reflect, though, for the spider was coming for her. There was a fist of fear inside her gut, and she could not steady her knives. Praise the Kings, she still had them, though. Only a spider. Only a spider, she chanted as though that could shrink the creature or her horror. Then came the chattering. It crept into her ears like a spider all its own, and she knew this was but one of many monsters in the dark. It took everything she had not to scream.	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1111
__label__cc	0.632903	0.367097	Comics & Comic Art Animation Art (8) Comic Art (238) Comics (6,022) Archive: Not Sold Archive: Sold (168,253) Very Good 4.0 to Very Fine- 7.5 Poor 0.1 to Very Good- 3.5 (1,454) Very Fine 8.0 to Near Mint- 9.2 (6,127) Near Mint 9.4 to Gem Mint 10.0 (5,661) Varies or N/A (1,882) 2019 November 21 - 24 Comics & Comic Art Signature Auction - Dallas 7212 (2) All Signature Auctions (1,763) All Internet and Final Session Auctions (4,257) Featured (24) Make Offer to Owner (1) Video Description (1) Platinum Age (1897-1937) (50) Golden Age (1938-1955) (3,595) Silver Age (1956-1969) (1,677) Bronze Age (1970-1979) (203) Modern Age (1980-Present) (18) Magazines (30) Books (9) Pulps (47) Memorabilia (77) Adventure (394) Alternative/Underground (16) Cartoon Character (114) Classics Illustrated (10) Crime (174) Fanzine (1) Funny Animal (44) Horror (293) Humor (272) Non-Fiction (23) Religious (3) Romance (35) Science Fiction (244) Superhero (3,272) War (147) Western (355) Miscellaneous (224) CGC (3,310) CBCS (9) Uncertified (1,272) DC (1,703) Marvel (1,046) Dell (295) Quality (192) Timely (173) EC (153) Fiction House (130) Various Publishers (107) Archie (105) Fox Features Syndicate (102) More... The White Rose Collection (17) The Northern Lights Collection (12) The Larry Jacobs Collection (11) The Williamsport Collection (11) The Nicolas Cage Collection (4) The Edgar Church Mile High Collection (2) The Ben Novack Jr. Estate Collection (2) The Empire Comics Collection (2) The Harold Curtis Collection (1) The Bobby Harmon (1) More... 1940 (454) 1941 (342) 1942 (280) 1944 (224) 1948 (223) 1943 (221) 1964 (204) 1946 (202) 1950 (193) 1963 (185) More... Showcase #22 Green Lantern (DC, 1959) CGC VG+ 4.5 Cream to off-white pages.... The Incredible Hulk #4 (Marvel, 1962) CGC FN/VF 7.0 Off-white to white pages.... Spicy Mystery Stories - January 1937 (Culture) Condition: VF-.... Auction 5442 \| Lot: 98411 \| Aug 14, 2019 Prize Comics #37 (Prize, 1943) CGC FN 6.0 Cream to off-white pages.... Auction 7211 \| Lot: 92089 \| Aug 1, 2019 Journey Into Mystery #80 (Marvel, 1962) CGC VF- 7.5 Off-white to white pages.... All Star Comics #8 (DC, 1942) CGC VG/FN 5.0 Off-white pages.... Batman #52 Twilight Pedigree (DC, 1949) CGC VF- 7.5 Off-white pages.... Planet Comics #1 Billy Wright Pedigree (Fiction House, 1940) CGC FN/VF 7.0 Off-white pages.... Batman #73 (DC, 1952) CGC FN/VF 7.0 Off-white to white pages.... Action Comics #26 (DC, 1940) CGC FN/VF 7.0 Off-white pages.... Wonderworld Comics #11 (Fox, 1940) CGC VF- 7.5 Off-white pages.... The Amazing Spider-Man #10 (Marvel, 1964) CGC FN/VF 7.0 Off-white to white pages.... Flash Comics #92 (DC, 1948) CGC FN+ 6.5 White pages.... Superman #4 (DC, 1940) CGC VF- 7.5 Off-white to white pages.... Superman #10 (DC, 1941) CGC VF- 7.5 Off-white to white pages.... Pep Comics #23 (MLJ, 1942) CGC VG/FN 5.0 White pages.... Captain Battle Jr. #1 (Lev Gleason, 1943) CGC FN/VF 7.0 Off-white pages.... Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #6 (DC, 1955) CGC VF- 7.5 Cream to off-white pages.... World's Finest Comics #5 (DC, 1942) CGC FN 6.0 White pages.... Batman #24 (DC, 1944) CGC VF- 7.5 White pages.... All Star Comics #3 (DC, 1940) CGC FN- 5.5 Cream to off-white pages.... All Select Comics #1 Married Cover (Timely, 1943) CGC Apparent VG+ 4.5 Moderate (C-3) Off-white pages.... Superman #9 (DC, 1941) CGC FN/VF 7.0 Cream to off-white pages.... Weird Tales Group (Popular Fiction, 1933-34) Condition: Average FN-.... (Total: 2 Items) Action Comics #41 (DC, 1941) CGC FN+ 6.5 Off-white to white pages.... Superman #53 (DC, 1948) CGC Apparent VG/FN 5.0 Slight (A) Slightly brittle pages.... Superman #10 (DC, 1941) CGC FN/VF 7.0 Off-white to white pages.... Fantastic Four #1 (Marvel, 1961) CGC FN- 5.5 Cream to off-white pages.... Superman #22 (DC, 1943) CGC FN 6.0 Off-white to white pages.... Venus #9 (Timely, 1950) CGC FN/VF 7.0 Off-white pages.... The Incredible Hulk #6 Don/Maggie Thompson Collection pedigree (Marvel, 1963) CGC VF- 7.5 White pages.... Showcase #22 Green Lantern (DC, 1959) CGC FN 6.0 Off-white to white pages.... The Brave and the Bold #28 Justice League of America (DC, 1960) CGC FN 6.0 Cream to off-white pages.... Detective Comics #31 (DC, 1939) CGC Apparent FN+ 6.5 Moderate (P) Cream to off-white pages.... Jumbo Comics #10 (Fiction House, 1939) CGC FN+ 6.5 Tan to off-white pages.... Mask Comics #2 (Rural Home , 1945) CGC VG 4.0 Off-white to white pages.... The Spirit #22 (Quality, 1950) CGC FN- 5.5 Off-white pages.... All Star Comics #8 (DC, 1942) CGC VG+ 4.5 Cream to off-white pages.... Weird Tales of the Future #7 (Aragon, 1953) CGC VG/FN 5.0 Off-white to white pages.... Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #1 Signature Series (Marvel, 1963) CGC FN 6.0 Off-white to white pages.... Batman #7 (DC, 1941) CGC VG/FN 5.0 Off-white pages.... Blood Is the Harvest #nn (Catechetical Guild, 1950) CGC VG/FN 5.0 Slightly brittle pages.... Mickey Mouse Magazine #1 (K. K. Publications/ Western Publishing Co., 1935) Condition: VG.... The Amazing Spider-Man #1 (Marvel, 1963) CGC FN+ 6.5 Off-white to white pages.... Justice League of America #1 (DC, 1960) CGC FN/VF 7.0 Cream to off-white pages.... Journey Into Mystery #83 (Marvel, 1962) CGC FN 6.0 Off-white to white pages.... X-Men #1 (Marvel, 1963) CGC VF- 7.5 Cream to off-white pages....	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1113
__label__wiki	0.7066	0.7066	Daenerys Revisited: A Long Journey Into Night By Sarah Hartzell I’m just gonna say it: Daenerys Targaryen might be the most important character on television right now. She’s arguably the main character of the biggest show in a generation and the fate of her world rests on her shoulders. The final season of GAME OF THRONES will change Daenerys forever, so let’s take a journey back to her roots to see just how far she’s come — and how far she can still go. A Woman of Many Names Daenerys Targaryen has had a similar arc to Sansa’s in that they were both impressionable teenagers used as pawns at the start of the series but have forged their own paths in this crazy world. Daenerys differs, though, in her innate hunger for power to reclaim what was taken from her. It’s a fascinating and rare trait for a young woman on TV to have, so her journey has been some of the show’s best work. We saw her grow into her own as a ruler and grapple with the real-world issues of justice and leadership. Daenerys Stormborn, First of Her Name After Robert’s Rebellion, Daenerys and her brother Viserys are exiled in Essos. Under the care of her abusive brother since she was a baby and now unwillingly engaged to Khal Drogo, Daenerys is timid and powerless. She has never known love or real family. She is only a bartering chip for Viserys’s hopes of retaking the Iron Throne. Viserys is just the worst. Courtesy of HBO. Daenerys receives three dragon eggs as a wedding gift, though they are said to have turned to stone over time. Dragons are extinct, after all (wink wink, nudge nudge). In the tumult of a nonconsensual marriage, Daenerys finds solace in her dragon eggs, tending to them as if they were alive. One of her handmaidens tells her a story of how there were once two moons, but one drifted too close to the sun and cracked open, releasing dragons into the world. The other handmaidens dismiss her story, saying that the moon is the wife of the sun. Daenerys, of course, relates to the former and asks her to teach her how to please Drogo. She goes a step further and teaches Daenerys to use her sexuality to influence her husband and become his equal. Again, like Sansa, Daenerys’s sexuality has become an important part of her story. It can be used as a weapon against her like it often was for Sansa or she can turn it into a tool of power. In this world of theirs, sometimes sex is the only weapon a woman has. She harnesses it here, but once she has obtained power in her own right later on, she is able to reclaim her sexuality as the very personal thing it is. She can use it when and with whom she wants — but only once she’s in charge politically. Not a Queen, a Khaleesi She also finds out that she is pregnant and seems genuinely happy about it. The news bolsters the growing love between them and that love makes Daenerys visibly grow more self-assured and powerful. Daenerys floats the idea of leading the Dothraki in war for the Seven Kingdoms to Jorah, but he dashes her dream by revealing the Dothraki’s fear of crossing water. They would certainly win the battle, he says, but they would never get there (more winks, more nudges). She ponders her dragon eggs again, thinking they may hatch under heat as the moon did. Nothing happens when she places an egg on the fire, but she also doesn’t burn herself. Curious. The women of the Khalasar declare that Daenerys’s son will be the Stallion Who Mounts the World, that he will unite all the Dothraki to rule the world. We’ll call this Prophecy A. A true power couple. Courtesy of HBO. Daenerys slaps Viserys with a belt. It doesn’t totally matter why but it’s a great moment and feels extremely cathartic as a viewer because Viserys is the worst. If he ever hurts her again, it will be the last thing he does. And because he’s the worst, he tries it again. Viserys draws a sword on Drogo and threatens his unborn child like an idiot, and is met with a pot of molten gold poured over his head (which is the kind of opulence I expect from all my executions from now on). Daenerys is free from his grasp officially, secure in her own power both as Khal’s wife and as a Khaleesi in her own right. Daenerys Targaryen, The Unburnt With Viserys gone, Daenerys implores Drogo to take their army to Westeros so their son can sit on the Iron Throne. Drogo is not inclined to take his people across the sea until an assassination attempt on Daenerys. Then he’s in it whole hog. He’s ready to take the Seven Kingdoms “in blood and fire.” The Khalasar raids a nearby village to fund their war, but Daenerys is not happy with the violence they show to their prisoners. But one warrior is not going to give up his rape and torture so easily. He challenges Drogo to combat and gets into one deep wound before losing. Daenerys begs a woman she saved to use magic to save Drogo. The witch needs a life for a life in order to do so. The stress of it all sends Daenerys into labor and her child is stillborn and has scales and wings (a Lucille Bluth wink and a giant shove). Daenerys Targaryen, Mother of Dragons, the Unburnt. Courtesy of HBO. Drogo is technically alive but the witch brought him back to a vegetative state as revenge. Daenerys has to mercy-kill him and ties the witch to his funeral pyre. She gives a rousing speech to her Khalasar, telling them that if they wish to remain with her she will lead them to greatness. She also put the dragon eggs on the pyre, walking into the fire. It’s not until morning that she reappeared, accompanied by three baby dragons. Blood and fire, indeed. The One With All the Magic The Khalasar accepts Daenerys as their queen, but being in charge isn’t easy. She leads her people through the desert with little food and water, ending up in Qarth. But she didn’t get the warm welcome she expected. The Qartheens just want to see her dragons. But one, Xaro, welcomes Dothraki into his home. The security gives Daenerys time to train her dragons to breathe fire on command. Xaro offers his fortune to fund Daenerys’s war in exchange for marriage, informing her that Robert Baratheon is dead. Daenerys is galvanized by the news and inclined to accept it. That’s what a woman does in this world: use marriage as a political tool. Jorah is wary of her being indebted to anyone else. He believes that she doesn’t need to play by the old rules. In fact, she is stronger without them. Super normal and safe. Courtesy of HBO. Daenerys finds that her dragons have been kidnapped in the House of the Undying. The House of the Undying is like an escape room if escape rooms had magic, the Mirror of Erised, and visions of your dead husband. She makes it through, of course, and her dragon training comes in handy. The dragon babies respond to their new trick and burn their captor alive. Daenerys’s power isn’t limited to that of a Khaleesi. She’s also a mother and you never mess with her children. In her first act of ruthless vengeance (a la her father, the Mad King), Daenerys leaves Xaro to die in his empty bank vault for betraying her. She robs him to buy a ship and heads on her merry way. Daenerys Targaryen, Breaker of Chains In search of an army, Daenerys seeks out the Unsullied, an elite army of castrated slaves, in Astapor. The owner of the Unsullied is, unsurprisingly, a total douchebag. He is a cruel owner and frequently insults Daenerys, not knowing that she speaks Valyrian. Being underestimated is Daenerys’s biggest trigger, both bolstering her iron will and sparking her recklessness. Daenerys negotiates for the entire army, offering one of her dragons as payment. Something is obviously fishy since we know Daenerys will never part with her children. But the slave owner takes the bait, bringing all his slave owner friends to witness the deal. Daenerys hands over Drogon and gets the symbolic golden whip in return. She orders the Unsullied to kill all the slave owners and free the people of Astapor. Oh, and the douchebag gets burned to a crisp. Daenerys Targaryen, Breaker of Chains. Courtesy of HBO. With an army under her control, Daenerys is at a turning point: Will she do whatever it takes to win, even if that means being the dictator she just took down? Or will she try to forge a better world? For now, it’s the latter. She frees the Unsullied from their service, giving them the choice to stay with her. They all choose to stay. She also gives the choice to the slavemaster’s translator, Missandei, saying they are going to war and she may die. “Valar morghulis,” Missandei says, “all men must die.” “We are not men,” Daenerys adds. The next city is Yunkai, which is also full of slaves that Daenerys wants to free. (We could talk for a long time about the deep white savior problems of this show, but that’s a discussion for another day. So let’s just acknowledge it here and keep going.) The Yunkish masters threaten Daenerys with their “powerful friends,” who turn out to be the Second Sons, a mercenary army. Taking the honey approach over the vinegar, she meets with the Second Sons’ captains to try to turn them to her side. But they are sexist and gross and secretly plot to kill Daenerys. Again, never underestimate her unless you enjoy being destroyed. The plan was revealed by Daario Naharis, a member of the Second Sons, who also beheaded the captains for good measure and committed to Daenerys’s cause. A ride or die if we’ve ever seen one. Daenerys’s forces take Yunkai and free the slaves. She gives another rousing speech, her ability to rally a crowd really shining through — and perhaps above some of her more practical skills as a leader. Daenerys Targaryen, Mother of Dragons Freeing slaves and taking cities seems easy compared to Daenerys’s other role: mother to teenagers. Her dragons are growing big and strong, but they are also rebelling against her. She is losing control over them, which is truly terrifying. Our heroes march to Meereen, where they encounter dead slaves nailed to crosses each mile along the road. At the city gates, they set about slave-freeing once more. It’s pretty easy for them at this point. Daenerys has 163 of the slave masters crucified like they had done to their slaves, calling it “answering injustice with justice.” Some may call it “an untenable form of the criminal justice system,” but more on that later. #TeamNewDaario. Courtesy of HBO. Daenerys unfurls a Targaryen banner on the Great Pyramid, the start of her dynasty. The real work of governing begins. Her egalitarianism hasn’t stuck like she’d hoped and she worries about ruling the Seven Kingdoms when she can’t even control these three cities. She decides that Westeros can wait — she is the queen here and she must take care of her kingdom. It was her first real mature decision as a leader. Given that her whole life has led up to her quest for the throne, it shows a genuine sense of care for her people to put that goal on hold. As much as her reputation relies on her activities, it isn’t just about monikers. She really is a breaker of chains and wants to see that through. Queen Daenerys’s subjects have bones to pick with her and her decision matters have real consequences for both individuals and for her reign on the whole. It’s not all great oratory and killing the bad guys and save the good guys anymore. She has councilors on both sides of that moral spectrum. Daario wants to do two things: kill men and love women and he finally got to do the latter so he’s ready to kill some slave owners. Jorah, on the other hand, understands that good people sometimes do bad things and deserve mercy. Daenerys sides with Jorah and sends Daario to offer the Yunkish masters a choice of living in her new world or dying in their old one. Strife brews internally as well. Jorah confesses that he had originally been spying on Daenerys in exchange for a pardon from Robert Baratheon. Betrayal is Daenerys’s other big trigger and Jorah’s cuts deep. She banishes him from Meereen, showing the mercy that he taught her. Without her chief advisor by her side, Daenerys struggles to keep order in her free cities. Plus her dragons have started killing people. In fact, Drogon has disappeared completely. Daenerys had no choice but to cage Viserion and Rhaegal in the catacombs, effectively condemning her children as slaves. A pro-slavery terrorist group, the Sons of the Harpy, have risen in Meereen. Daenerys has to decide whether she will allow for real trials or jump straight to execution for the accused. Ser Barristan, her remaining Westerosi advisor, tells her that her father the Mad King really was that: mad with power and violence. His recklessness destroyed their family. Daenerys insists that she is not her father, but Barristan cautions her on the slippery slope of authoritarian justice. She tries to take a more measured approach, but her hand is forced, prompting riots between the former slaves and masters. At least they’re an aesthetically cool terrorist group? Courtesy of HBO. Things are marginally better in Yunkai, where the former masters agree to live in a free city but want to reopen the fighting pits where slaves had fought to the death. Daenerys is against it, but Daario sways her, testifying as to the upward mobility and city unity offered by fighting. The Sons of the Harpy kill Ser Barristan, which we should have seen coming since Daenerys gave him the day off to go have fun. No fun allowed in this world. Daenerys gathers the heads of Meereen’s noble families and lets them meet her dragons, so to speak. Finally getting a lesson in compromise, she agrees to marry one of them to secure her favor with the noblemen and agrees to reopen the fighting pits. Daenerys Targaryen, Dragonrider Daenerys and her new fiancé attend the opening of the pits, much to Daenerys’s horror. She is ready to leave, but one fighter makes such quick work of his opponents that her interest is piqued. Surprise! It’s Jorah. But Daenerys isn’t ready to make nice and sets him back on his way. Double surprise! He brought Tyrion Lannister as a gift. That’s enough to get her to at least talk to Jorah. Tyrion is Daenerys’s first real connection to the happenings of Westeros. He catches her up on the game of thrones and suggests she build herself a new kingdom in the east, but that isn’t enough for her. She wants to break the Westerosi monarchy once and for all. Drogon saves the day. Courtesy of HBO. The Sons of the Harpy attack at the fighting pits and it really feels like the end for Daenerys. But Drogon appears at such an opportune time that it’s almost ridiculous. He scares off the Sons and manages to scorch a few, too. Daenerys climbs aboard his back and flies off into the distance. They eventually land in a large field of grass. Over the hill emerges a Dothraki hoard, encircling the helpless queen. Helpless is perhaps the wrong word: she subtly drops a ring onto the ground, leaving a trail for wherever she may find herself next. Not a Queen… a Khaleesi? Daenerys is once again with the Dothraki but this time she is not their Khaleesi. Far from it — she is a prisoner. Daenerys reveals herself as Khal Drogo’s widow, but with that title comes a new kind of captivity. She was forced to live in the temple of widowed Khaleesi, where she was supposed to have gone immediately upon Drogo’s death. Not, you know, go off and try to start a new world order. At her trial for not joining the temple, she tells the Khals that they aren’t fit to lead the Dothraki. But she is, and she is ready to pick up the torch. They threaten her, but it doesn’t matter because she sets the building on fire with all of them in it. Daenerys emerges, unburnt, the new leader of the Khalasar. It’s like deja vu all over again. Rejuvenated by the drama of it all, Daenerys is ready to focus again on taking the Iron Throne. The Westerosi Connection More worlds collided when Yara and Theon Greyjoy arrived to provide ships in return for defeating their uncle Euron. Daenerys agrees if Yara agrees to stop the raids of the mainlands. She says that both their fathers made the world a worse place, but they will make it better. Daenerys breaks up with Daario by telling him he has to stay in Meereen and help establish a democracy, which seems outside his skill set. She’s upset, but only by how easy it was for her to say goodbye to someone who loves her. Way harsh. The ragtag team of misfits sail to Westeros, ready to conquer whatever they may find. [divider style=”shadow” top=”30″ bottom=”30″] What did they find, you ask? Well, you can rewatch season seven, of course, or you can tune in to part two of “Daenerys Revisited” to talk all about the return of the Targaryens, some bonkers fan theories, and some good old fashioned incest! Put your tin foil hats on because things are going to get weird. TagsDaenerys Targaryengame of thronesGOTGoT character studiesGoT8 Previous article Next Week on ARROWVERSE: Red Daughter and Dark Secrets Next article Does THE KID Find a New Way to Tell a Well-Worn Tale? 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Probably not, because that's not something no… BLACK CHRISTMAS A Mixed Bag Kind of Gift The latest remake of BLACK CHRISTMAS casts aside the random violence of the original for p… CATS Not Worth a Purr or a Hiss, Honestly CATS hits theatres as weird and alienating as it was on stage. ComicsVerse's Tim Stevens p… LITTLE WOMEN: One Big Wonderful Film The latest adaptation of LITTLE WOMEN exhilirates and delights with its images, humor, and… Gaming and Internet Subculture What Elizabeth Banks Actually Said and What It Means On Sony, Disney, and Spider-Man: We Know Nothing 5 Ways Fan Petitions Can Be Problematic Kevin Erdmann What Is The History of Fashion Brands x Games (The Sims x Moschino)? Jenny Zheng	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1114
__label__cc	0.682458	0.317542	Re: How does the BT Fon app work? AQ, Nah, merely pointing out that BT have done a deal with Heineken to provide wireless hotspots in their boozers. Does appear that one will be greeted to targeted content though - good job I'm tee-total then -+-No longer a forum member-+- IanC @DS wrote: @IanC wrote: Ya gonna tell what this wonder app is ? I could, but then I'd........ oh, being as it's you Ian - Titanium Backup Pro (There are means of obtaining paid for apps for free - won't post on here though ) Crumbs - you do seem to make things unnecessarily complicated... Why do you think that Ian? I find that it works very well and I can't see how I've made it unnecessarily complicated. The app, when installed, allows me to also freeze the pre installed junk that comes on many android phones, therefore using less resources on the phone. My other alternative would be to mess with the phone, with a slight risk of bricking the phone in the process, to force the removal of the unwanted rubbish. In this particular case...because there's already a UI to do it. I'm aware it can be done via the UI, but are you sure it 100% kills the app? On my phone - when it's installed yet turned off, the wireless connectivity can be troublesome, when I uninstall the app (4 times to date) the wireless is perfect and likewise when I freeze the app, the wireless is again perfect. Seems that way to me. If that were generally the case, I think there'd be far more problems reported than there are. With the various 'phone suppliers able to change all manner of things within the OS, and add/remove/modify apps, widgets etc at will, it can be difficult to know exactly where to point the finger...and that's without considering the ramifications of installing any of the myriad of 3rd party apps available... My 'phone never gets turned off, and the Fon app has been sitting quietly in the background doing it's thing for several months now. It works flawlessly for me, with no detrimental effects whatsoever on other aspects of its wireless working. Hmm, I'm still seeing it working even though it's off (Active unticked). First image shows it turned off, yet the second image shows it's working as it's displaying what SSID I'm connected to. If that were generally the case, I think there'd be far more problems reported than there are. I've been dealing direct with the fon guys. One guy in particular is very good with android phones. They confirm it's unusual and have used my scenario as a "we'll wait and see if others see this". Maybe it's my phone as it was only released in June? The problem IMHO is how many customers are out there that don't know about these forums or that they can contact fon direct? With the various 'phone suppliers able to change all manner of things within the OS, and add/remove/modify apps, widgets etc at will, it can be difficult to know exactly where to point the finger...and that's without considering the ramifications of installing any of the myriad of 3rd party apps available... I agree, but do the suppliers need to lock the phone down so tightly in the first place.... and fill it with unwanted 'extras' that they think the user wants on the phone. My phone does get turned off, but only when AdFree updates and suggests a reboot to clear the DNS Cache. You must be one of the lucky ones with the BTFon app, myself and others on these forums have had more than our fair share of problems with BTFon and the BTFon app. At the end of the day, using TBP works for me and still could help others I think you misunderstand what that checkbox option does. (that isn't the UI I was referring to, but never mind...) It does disable the functionality of the app, in that with it unchecked the app won't offer to login to an available Fon access point. The app doesn't actually make the connection (the device wireless gubbins does that - automatically if configured that way - I thought we'd covered this earlier in this thread...) regardless of whether the Fon app is installed. The app, which is obviously running as you're looking at it, is merely reporting the state of the wireless interface. That information is already available elsewhere - the Fon app is simply replicating that. I'm not sure what you're referring to when you say that your scenario is unusual. If it's that your Fon app reports that the wireless interface is connected (in this instance) to "Hub3slave", then I don't think that's unusual at all. Personally, I would never suggest it's a good idea to root the device, with all the possible heartache that lies there, and install unnecessary software in order to perform a task that's already doable with the UI's provided, but each to their own I guess. On my device, it's in Settings/Manage Applications I think you misunderstand what that checkbox option does. Maybe I do, maybe I don't.... (that isn't the UI I was referring to, but never mind...) Ah, I thought we were discussing the Fon app only, not the UI on the phone It does disable the functionality of the app, in that with it unchecked the app won't offer to login to an available Fon access point. Yes, that's certainly the case. The app doesn't actually make the connection (the device wireless gubbins does that - automatically if configured that way - I thought we'd covered this earlier in this thread...) regardless of whether the Fon app is installed. Surely the app does actually make the connection as it takes over the pre installed wireless gubbins. Without the app the pre installed wireless manager sorts this out - automatically if set that way. Does it need to do this? I'd expect it only to show 'connected to Fon/Openzone' or 'currently not connected to Fon/Openzone'. This to me shows that the app is interrogating my phones wireless manager when it doesn't need to. I've asked on here how does the Fon app work as I'd like to know more about this app. For example does it send any info back to BT that has nothing to do with a Fon/Openzone hotspot. We already know BT can tell if we're using a hotspot. It has nothing at all to do with "Hub3slave" - which is actually a hub2 acting as wireless extender. It's to do with how the pre installed wireless manager works - with the Fon app installed (ticked or unticked), the pre installed wireless manager works faster than the Fon 'android' techie has ever witnessed. My phone appears to process all the incoming wireless SSID's too quickly. Without the app installed, it runs at about the same speed as an iPhone. edit. Also with the app installed (ticked or unticked) my phone will not always connect to my hubs or any other router (connection details saved to phone). When the phone is set to manual, it often takes 3+ attempts before it will connect to an SSID that I want to connect to. No app or simply 'frozen' and either methods work perfectly. I'd also never suggest that anyone roots their phone. But the doable task doesn't work on my phone!! With the Fon app ticked or unticked, when I navigate to Settings, Applications, Manage Applications, Running, BTFon and select Force stop, the app does stop for a short time only. Repeating the steps and I'm presented with the app as still running and I can Force stop as many times as I like. Surely if the app has been forced to stop, it shouldn't show up in the running tasks? I thought we were discussing killing the BT Fon app... I don't think so. (Why reinvent the wheel ?) Does it need to do this? I think so, yes. I'd expect it only to show 'connected to Fon/Openzone' or 'currently not connected to Fon/Openzone'. This to me shows that the app is interrogating my phones wireless manager when it doesn't need to. If it doesn't look at the status of the wireless interface, how does it know that a Fon/Openzone access point is available to login to ? I've asked on here how does the Fon app work as I'd like to know more about this app. For example does it send any info back to BT that has nothing to do with a Fon/Openzone hotspot. It's not straightforward, but you can discover that for yourself. We already know BT can tell if we're using a hotspot. Of course (usually, but not always) - I don't find that surprising, or worrying, and they don't need any info from the Fon app to do so. Ah - I see. Does that apply to SSID's other than your own too ? I stand corrected. For me, the Fon app appears to be restarted whenever the wireless interface is enabled, so shutting it down from Manage Applications will only work until the wireless is switched on again 😞 Is it the same for you ? Which 'phone are you using, with which Android ?	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1115
__label__wiki	0.667434	0.667434	A1 Industrial Park Edinburgh, EH15 2QA View account required Units To Let ContactsContacts & Options upgrade_to_view Login or Register to view extended features for A1 Industrial Park. Login or Register Misrepresentation Notice All the above information and descriptions (whether in the text, plans or photographs) are given in good faith but should not be relied upon as being a statement of representation or fact. Any areas, measurements or distances referred to are approximate only. Register Free! Find out about our membership options An extensive network of road, rail and flight links makes travel to Edinburgh from the UK, and rest of the world, quick and convenient. Edinburgh enjoys good access to the Scottish motorway network, allowing quick and easy access by car, bus and coach. Edinburgh is 3 hours from Inverness and just over 2 hours from Aberdeen. Birmingham by car is about 5.5 hours, Manchester and York about 4 hours, and Newcastle 2.5 hours. Regular train services run to Edinburgh from around the UK - the East Coast line is the fastest railway in the UK and trains from London to Edinburgh take under 5 hours. York, Newcastle, Inverness and Aberdeen are all around 2 hours away while Glasgow is just 50 minutes away on the ScotRail service which runs every 15 minutes. Edinburgh has two main train stations: Edinburgh Waverley and Haymarket. Bus transportation is the primary means of public transport in Edinburgh, with an extensive bus service serving the City and the surrounding area. Edinburgh Airport is one of Scotland's busiest airports, with direct and connecting flights to and from more than 100 domestic and worldwide destinations. The airport is located 8 miles away from the centre and there is a range of transport options for travelling to and from it. {{#if distance}}{{distance.text}}{{else}}-{{/if}} {{#if duration}}{{duration.text}}{{else}}-{{/if}} Travel time data provided by Google, all data approximate and timed to the centre of the given destination. 4 million+ Available Property in Edinburgh {{#ifCond availability '==' 'Under Offer'}} {{/ifCond}} {{#if use_class}} {{ name }}{{#if scheme_name}}, {{ scheme_name }}{{/if}} AllView Commercial Property to let in Edinburgh	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1120
__label__cc	0.710986	0.289014	Category archives: Cultural An Evening with Petra Dancers Tabi basa & greetings family & friends, How was your day? Today I want to talk about dance in Sarawak. Throughout the history of Sarawak, dance is one of the important aspect of its cultural development, where most of the indigenous peoples has their own dance, derived from nature. For example, Rejang / Langgi for Bidayuh peoples are inspired by the movements of eagle in the sky. Ngajat, a warrior dance for Iban people and most of Orang Ulu’s dance is also derived from the graceful movement of hornbill, signifying the close relationship of these peoples with nature. Long time ago, the life of Sarawakian peoples was built in such way that it is in balance with nature, because it was based on preservation of life. For a start, for newcomers, it is good to see them in action at Sarawak Cultural Village at Santubong to know the brief summary of Sarawak’s rich culture. Pak Bek (fourth from right) and his dancers I myself had personally involved with dances when I was still in tertiary education, and had a good down-memory-lane whenever I see traditional dancers performing. Yesterday I had a chance to see Petra dancers in action, led by Mr Awang Harabi, or famously known Pak Bek. Petra Dancers Story Petra Dancers was founded in 1991, which makes them 28 years old this year. That gave them a lot of experiences especially in the dancing arena of Sarawakian culture. They can dance all kind of traditional dancers of Sarawak peoples, including Iban, Bidayuh, Orang Ulu, Melanau, Malay, Chinese or even Indian people’s dances. They one they performed yesterday was Iban’s Ngajat, Orang Ulu’s Kanjet Ngeleput, Bidayuh’s Rejang Beuh, Malay’s Joget Melati, and finally a group dance. In terms of dancing experiences, they have performed all around the nation, including Brunei and have been representing Sarawak in the international level. They have a different kind of dancers category as well, with the one that we had yesterday was the junior to give them more exposure. For more challenging events, the seniors will go and perform. In total, they have around 40 active members, with 3 assistant leader, namely Suharto, Kartini and Roberto. For big events, they will collaborate with dance groups from all around Malaysia, or Sarawak to make it bigger due to limitation of manpower and trainers. E.g. during Sarawak Day celebration, where there is a lot of dancers required. They have their own studio at Wisma Ung Hwa Geok, Lot 418, Tingkat 1, Jalan Kulas Utara Dua, 93400 Kuching, which is the studio that they build at their own initiative without government support as they also runs bridal company, under Petra Bridal. The current challenge that they face include the other group of dancers because customer tends to find a cheap but with quality dancers. It is a perpetual challenge, but with their reputation, they have little difficulty in that. Pak Bek also emphasises on the well-being of the dancers, where for every performance, they will be covered their logistics, food and payment. Every week there is a performance, but it will be paid lump sum the end of the month. Training schedule per week is on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, from 8.30 – 10.30pm, 2 hours per day. That is the commitment required from every dancers in Petra dancers. Pak Bek hopes to maintain cultural diversity through their works and wishes that every dancers has the discipline to remain focused so that they can achieve whatever they want, be it winning an international award or just to be a good dancer. Should anyone interested to join them, you may call 0168689226 to enlist yourself and dance. Gear used: Leica M Monochrom and Noctilux 50. Your Tukang Rantek, Claudius Weson Note: Claudius Weson is a tukang rantek (photographer) based in Miri, mainly doing portraiture (indoor / studio / outdoor photoshoot), weddings and event photography. © Claudius Weson Photography (2019). All rights reserved. All of the images on this site are protected by copyright laws and are the exclusive property of Claudius Weson Photography. Images may not be copied, reproduced, manipulated, used or altered in any way without written permission. The use of any photography as the basis of another photographic concept or illustration is a violation of copyright. Tags: 2019, Bridal, Dance, Leica, Monochrom, Noctilux, November, Petra Leave a note 0 Comments SHARE POST Share it Tweet it Pin it	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1123
__label__cc	0.695433	0.304567	Christopher Conley M.A. RCC Christopher Conley M.A. , RCCRCC Registered Clinical Counsellor Call: 604-790-9362 Email Christopher Conley Grove Centre for Child and Family Therapy 7342 Winston St, Suite 105B Burnaby, V5A 2H1 Refer to contact page on website for transit information. Abuse - Emotional, Physical, Sexual Attention Deficit Disorder - ADHD Divorce and/or Separation grovecentre.ca Grove Centre's mission as a respectful member of the community, is to support children and families within home, school and community environments in collaboration with community members by providing therapy, counselling and skills training services to children, adolescents, parents and families. Christopher Conley, MA, RCC, RMFT, CPT-S, RPT-S Registered Clinical Counsellor Registered Marriage and Family Therapist Certified and Registered Play Therapist Supervisor AAMFT Clinical Member Christopher Conley is a child and family therapist in clinical practice in Burnaby, British Columbia. Chris has twenty years of clinical experience with families and children ages 18 months to 18 years. He has worked in outpatient, residential and in-home settings providing individual, group, family, attachment and play therapy. Chris has competency in a number of areas including diagnostic assessment, mood and anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorders, oppositional and conduct-disorder behaviour, addiction, fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, autism spectrum disorders, trauma and abuse, school issues, family issues, attachment, parenting and parent-child relationship issues. He currently focuses on individual therapy, counselling and skills training with children and adolescents, play therapy, parenting skills training, attachment therapy and family therapy, promoting the involvement of all family members in the therapeutic process. He is known for his intensive integrative therapeutic approach that addresses serious child and family issues and often facilitates faster child and family change and longer maintenance of change over time. This approach often integrates child therapy, attachment-based strategic parent education, family therapy, and at times filial therapy. He holds a Master of Arts degree in Counselling and Psychological Services. He is credentialed as a Registered Clinical Counsellor with the British Columbia Association of Clinical Counsellors, as a Registered Marriage and Family Therapist with the Canadian Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, and a Certified Child Psychotherapist and Play Therapist Supervisor with the Canadian Association for Child and Play Therapy. He is also a clinical member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, and a Registered Play Therapist Supervisor with the (American) Association for Play Therapy. He was previously credentialed as a Licensed School Counsellor in Indiana, as a Certified Chemical Dependency Practitioner in Minnesota, and as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in Minnesota. Chris is actively involved in the professional community. He has written articles on play therapy, filial therapy, parenting and classroom management and has conducted workshops across Canada and in Minnesota on play therapy, therapy with young children, filial therapy, parent education and classroom management. He provides therapy and consultation services to families, and training and supervision to mental health and school professionals. AfternoonPM Available Available Available Available EveningLate Available Available Available Available	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1128
__label__cc	0.719211	0.280789	NOW AVAILABLE: Gender Physics by Betty-Ann Heggie Home › The Up-to-Date Sandwich Book \| Paperback Eva Greene Fuller The Up-to-Date Sandwich Book \| Paperback Legend has it that the first sandwich was created in the 18th century by the 4th Earl of Sandwich as a solution for keeping his fingers unsullied while at his desk or playing cribbage. What started out as simply meat between two pieces of bread caught on first in England—“bring me the same as Sandwich!”—and then ultimately in North America in the 1800s. Fast, portable, and cheap, the sandwich became a beloved and practical meal of the working class. In 1909, Eva Green Fuller wrote this recipe book detailing 400 “up-to-date” sandwiches, proving that a sandwich could contain anything one’s heart desired. Over 100 years later, we’ve faithfully recreated the original 1909 edition—including its beautiful block prints. This is the complete and unaltered text, respectfully restored. With categories spanning fish and eggs to salad, meat, and “miscellaneous,” this wonderfully no-nonsense guide continues to inspire, delight—and, yes, sometimes even enrage and repulse—sandwich lovers everywhere. * A FAITHFUL RECREATION OF THE 1909 EDITION * Published by The Harvest Commission Paperback \| 192 pages \| ISBN 978-0-995-08212-0 \| Black-and-white interior with beautifully restored motif NEW RELEASE: Gender Physics by Betty-Ann Heggie Betty-Ann Heggie’s revolutionary new book, Gender Physics: Unlock the Energy You Never Knew You Had to Get the Results You Want, is now available for pre-order in our shop. Copyright © 2020, Cremini Books. Design by Elevatr	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1133
__label__cc	0.61674	0.38326	Home About us Subjects Contacts De Gruyter Online Refine By Subjects [[missing key: search-facet.tree.open-section]] Medicine (3) [[missing key: search-facet.tree.open-section]] Basic Medical Science (1) History and Ethics of Medicine (1) [[missing key: search-facet.tree.open-section]] Clinical Medicine (3) Clinical Medicine, other (1) [[missing key: search-facet.tree.open-section]] Internal Medicine (2) Internal Medicine, other (2) [[missing key: search-facet.tree.open-section]] Social Sciences (1) [[missing key: search-facet.tree.open-section]] Education (1) Education, other (1) 1880 1911 1936 1951 1954 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 — 1880 1911 1936 1951 1954 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 1 - 3 of 3 items : Author: Dimce Zafirov x Clinical Medicine x Sort by RelevanceTitle A-ZTitle Z-ADate Old - RecentDate Recent - Old Effects of Dual RAAS Blockade with Candesartan and Perindopril on Functional Renal Tests in Streptozotocin Induced Diabetic Nephropathy Jasmina Trojacanec, Dimce Zafirov, Krume Jakjovski, Kalina Gjorgjievska, Plamen Trojacanec and Nikola Labacevski Background: Diabetic nephropaty (DN) occurs in approximately 40% of patients with diabetes mellitus, and is the most common cause of end-stage renal disease. The combination of ACE inhibitors with ARB could lead to a more effective inhibition of rennin angiotensin aldosterone system (RAAS). Aim: The present study was undertaken to evaluate the effects of dual RAAS blockade with ARB (candesartan) and ACE inhibitor (perindopril) in streptozotocin induced diabetic nephropathy versus ACE-inhibitor or ARB alone. Materials and Methods: Wistar rats (n=125), were used in this investigation. Diabetes was induced by streptozotocin (STZ) 60 mg/kg. The diabetic rats (n=100) were randomly assigned to receive vehicle, ARB-Candesartan (5 mg/kg/per d), ACE inhibitor-Perindopril (6 mg/kg/per d), or a combination of low dose Can+Per (2.5 mg/kg/per d and 3 mg/kg/per d) respectively, from weeks 4-12. Results: Treatment with candesartan or perindopril as monotherapy, although significantly, only partially prevented the symptoms and signs of DN. Candesartan and perindopril were equally effective in treatment of DN. Combination therapy was more effective than monotherapy with either drug. Conclusion: The results from this study demonstrate that combination treatment with both ACE and ARB in low doses may offer synergistic blockade of the RAAS, not obtainable with either drug alone. in Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences Assessment of Three Inflammatory Markers of Cardiovascular Diseases with a Special Accent on C-Reactive Protein Tatjana Grdanoska, Planinka Zafirovska, Branko Jaglikovski, Jasmina Trojacanec, Dimce Zafirov, Dejan Neshov, Milena Petrovska, Zhaklina Cekovska and Nikola Panovski Background: Elevated levels of CRP, myoglobin and creatine kinase are always associated with pathological changes and hence their values give useful information for exact diagnosis and therapy. They are helpful in monitoring the inflammatory processes and associated diseases. Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the usefulness and practical value of application of CRP detection by comparing it with the results obtained for the classical enzymes - markers of myocardial damage, myoglobin and creatine kinase isoenzyme MB (CK-MB) in pts with acute coronary syndrome (ACS), pts with chronic coronary artery disease (CAD) and in healthy individuals. Material and Methods: Sera were taken from a total of 152 individuals (78.9% males, 21.1% females, mean age 61.87 ± 10.32 years). The subjects were divided in three groups: 63 pts with ACS; 52 pts CAD and a group of 36 conditionally healthy individuals. Analysis of patients' sera for presence of markers for myocardial damage: myoglobin, CK-MB along with determination of CRP level was done on the Immulite system, DPC (Diagnostic Products Corporation), Los Angeles, USA. Results: Comparison of examined biomarker's values in pts divided according to diagnosis showed statistically significant higher levels in patients with ACS vs. others. As for biomarker's cut-off values, out of all CK-MB ≥5.7 ng/mL was found in 34 (53.1%) pts with ACS with significant difference among the groups in favor of its higher values in pts with ACS (p=0.0001). Out of all, myoglobin ≥25 ng/mL was found in 54 (84.4%) pts with ACS without significant difference among the groups. As for CRP, value of ≥3 mg/L was found in 39 (60.9%) pts with ACS and there was significant difference among the groups in favor of higher values in pts with ACS (p=0.001). There was significant positive correlation among the levels of examined three biomarkers: CK-MB in correlation to myoglobin (r=0.460; p= 0.0001) and to CRP level (r=0.204; p= 0.009), as well as myoglobin to CRP level (r=0.218; p= 0.005). Conclusion: We could conclude that determination of CRP levels is a valid test for detection of acute coronary artery disease in addition to the classical, standard markers for myocardial damage. Protective Effects of At1-Receptor Blocker and Ca Antagonist Combination on Renal Function in Salt Loaded Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats/ Протективни Ефекти На Комбинацијата На Ат1 Рецепторен Блокатор И Калциум Антагонист Врз Реналната Функција Кај Спонтано Хипертензивни Стаорци Оптоварени Со Сол Kalina Gjorgjievska, Dimce Zafirov, Maja Jurhar-Pavlova, Svetlana Cekovska, Emilija Atanasovska, Kristina Pavlovska and Dragica Zendelovska Salt sensitive hypertension is known to be a contributing factor for the progression of kidney disease. This study was undertaken to investigate the role of excessive dietary salt on renal function and to evaluate the effect of valsartan and amlodipin given as a combination therapy on blood pressure and parameters specific to the renal function in salt loaded SHR rats. 48 male SHR rats at age of 20 weeks and body weight ranging between 270-350 g were used. SHR rats were divided into 3 groups: control group of rats -SHRC (n = 16) given tab water ad libitum and two salt treated groups in which tab water was replaced with a solution of NaCl (1%) from age of 8 weeks given ad libitum: SHRVAL+AMLO group (n = 16) where investigated drugs were administered at a dose of 10 mg/kg/ b.w. (valsartan) and 5 mg/kg/ b.w. (amlodipin) by gavage and SHR NaCl group (n = 16) that received saline in the same volume and the same time intervals as the SHRVAL+AMLO group. For a period of 12 weeks we have investigated the effect of the VAL+AMLO drug combination on systolic blood pressure (SBP), body weight and renal function tests. Salt loading with 1% solution in the SHR NaCl group has lead to significant increase of blood pressure, proteinuria and decrease in creatinine clearance. Combined treatment with АТ1-receptor blocker and calcium antagonist has managed to control blood pressure and ameliorated renal damage. in PRILOZI Sciendo is a De Gruyter company © 2019. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Powered by PubFactory	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1137
__label__cc	0.658527	0.341473	Fighting Forest Fires wjastore / July 1, 2013 Very sad news coming out of Arizona: the loss of nineteen firefighters as they fought valiantly against wildfires started by lightning. My Dad fought forest fires in Oregon in the mid-1930s when he was in the Civilian Conservation Corps, or CCC. He once worked nearly 24 hours straight on a fire line to contain a blaze. He confessed he volunteered for the extra shift because he was in part too scared to sleep with the fire so close and so unpredictable. Fire is protean, capricious, an almost living thing. Fire is truly “wild.” Small wonder we have nightmares about fire-breathing monsters or the fires of hell. It’s takes tough and courageous men and women to face down fire, to confront it, to try to contain it. Not only do you face the hell of heat and flames, but also the dangers of choking and blinding smoke and collapsing (even exploding) trees. Here’s an excerpt from my father’s journal about some of the wildfires he fought in the 1930s: We also fought a 10,000 acre fire in the foothills of Mt. Rainier in the State of Washington. Mt. Rainier is a pretty impressive mountain and over 14,000 feet high. A bus took us from Enterprise Oregon via the highway that followed the Columbia River for over 400 miles. The whole trip to the fire was 600 miles. Talk about scenery; very breathtaking. Off the highway you could see plenty of waterfalls and minor streams that flowed into the Columbia River. Another big fire we fought burnt to the edge of the Pacific Ocean. We were discussing the fact, all that ocean water but we couldn’t put it on the fire. Oddities: Two CCC boys were killed because a truck ran off a mountain road because visibility was bad with smoke and fog. Also, we built a fire trail and we were going to start a backfire to the main fire. We couldn’t start a fire because of mist that wet the area that we wanted to burn. Where the fire was approaching you could hear the burning trees and snags falling. You looked towards the fire but you couldn’t see anything on account of the smog. We went to another area. Later when the sun came out and it cleared the fire went out of control again. Work on the fire line was exhausting, even for men in the prime of life, as my father knew: We were in the area of the North Fork of the Pistol River. Our crew was resting. It was a flat area, heavily wooded, miles from anything. One end of the stream had narrowed because of a sandbar and formed a pool that was a hundred yards long and about twenty yards wide. There was about a twenty-foot-high rock ledge on one bank. What a beautiful natural swimming pool. The water was cold and clear as crystal. The ranger said if you wanted to go in for a swim, go ahead. No one went in; the answer must be because we were too tired. Amazing, isn’t it, that young men were so exhausted after fighting fires that they didn’t have the energy to jump in a stream-fed pool of cool water? We owe a debt to firefighters around the world for the dangers they confront when taking on fire. True heroes, indeed. July 1, 2013 in Media, Society. Tags: Arizona, Civilian Conservation Corps, Columbia River, Fire, firefighter, forest fires, Oregon, Pacific Ocean, Rainier, Washington Thanksgiving Day, November 26th, 1936 Remembering the Quiet, Unsung Heroes of America “The Harder I Worked Physically, the Less Money I Made”: The Harsh Reality of Life in America ← Thirteen Movies About the Holocaust Asymmetrical Warfare: Its Real Meaning → 6 thoughts on “Fighting Forest Fires” Greg L. says: This is a tragic loss, indeed. The National Forest Service’s whole approach to wildfires needs to be re-examined in my opinion. But the greatest tragedy is that, thanks to human-generated Global Climate Chaos, things are only going to get worse and worse going forward. The failure of governments to take action on this, the greatest issue of our time, is nothing less than criminal. Yes. Whether you call it global warming or climate change, whether you affirm its existence or deny it, Mother Nature is issuing us a bill for all our transgressions, and she will not be denied. b. traven says: Your father’s experience in the CCC ( Civilian Conservation Corps ) is much more than a testimonial to those who do dangerous work like this. It is a testimonial to a country that once looked at its people as CITIZENS to which it owed its primary responsibility. It did not give its money to banks while the citizenry lived in squalor. It did not give tax breaks to the rich so that is could wage endless wars. That country STIMULATED the economy by government programs, run by the government that paid the citizens to do work for the common good. The CCC which built our harbors, improved our parks, and employed hundreds of thousands of young umemployed men gave them the dignity of work and our country a legacy of public works as did the WPA, ( the Works Project Administration), the REA ( Rural Electrification Administration), etc. There were no CEO’s of private companies being paid millions of dollars to run these enormous projects because they were government programs run by dedicated government civil service workers. Bill, your fathers legacy is the generous country we once had before the likes of Reagan, Clinton, and the two Bush’s chose to form an insidious partnership with corporate America to replace responsibility to its citizens with obsequiousness to finance capital. So well put! You nailed it with that last sentence — thanks! Please add Obama to the list. I stopped short. Sorry for that. philastore says: Reblogged this on philastore. Jewish Resistance to the Holocaust	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1138
__label__wiki	0.809164	0.809164	Features And News, News Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes & MGS Film Announced At 25th Anniversary Event August 30, 2012 Darren Cooke Leave a comment Today, Konami threw a big event in Japan to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Metal Gear franchise, and a few surprises were in store for those lucky enough to be in attendance. Not only will the next game in the series be an open world adventure, but Metal Gear Solid will also be getting a film, to be overseen by Columbia Pictures. First of all, the game. Details are pretty scarce at the moment because Konami have slapped an embargo over reporting the game for the moment, but here’s what we know: the game will be called Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes, will feature Big Boss as the protagonist, and will have real time cut-scenes powered by Team Kojima’s ‘Fox Engine’. An teaser image for the game was also released on Japanese gaming site Famitsu, which is conveniently pasted below for your visual enjoyment. Big Boss appears to have stolen Sam Fisher’s signature goggles… The other piece of news will no doubt have fans of the series split; Metal Gear Solid is famous for being impossibly cinematic, and one wonders if Avi Arad (the man at the helm of the project who has also overseen several Marvel films over the years with a good deal of success) can orchestrate a big screen version which can match the vision Kojima has set out in his games. All sorts of names are being thrown about for involvement in the film, so nothing is set in stone yet. Expect a release date in the latter part of this decade. It’s all happening for Metal Gear fans then, following the announcement that ninja cyborg Raiden will be a playable character in Playstation All Stars Battle Royale. More news as and when it inevitably gets leaked from the event. Big BossKojimaMetal Gear Solid 25th AnniversaryMetal Gear Solid: Ground ZeroesRaidenVideo Game News Previous PostDazcooke’s Top 10 Most Anticipated Games For Winter 2012Next PostThe Gambit That Got Away – Final Fantasy XII Review	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1143
__label__wiki	0.985157	0.985157	‘Return To Mount Kennedy’ Doc Summited By 1091 Media, With Help From Eddie Vedder And REI By Patrick Hipes Patrick Hipes Executive Managing Editor More Stories By Patrick ‘The World According To Jeff Goldblum’ Renewed For Season 2 On Disney+ Disney And Longtime Fox Producer Chernin Entertainment Part Ways Eric Beck EXCLUSIVE: 1091 Media is teaming with the outdoor co-op REI to release Return to Mount Kennedy, a documentary helmed by Eric Becker that combines elements of history, politics, mountaineering and even some grunge, with Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder providing original music. A plan is underway for a fall theatrical release followed by an on-demand bow November 5. REI will also host in-store screenings nationwide. The film’s plot sets its base-camp on March 20, 1965, when Bobby Kennedy became the first human to stand atop a peak in the Canadian Yukon that had just been named to honor his brother John F. Kennedy, assassinated two years earlier. His guide was Jim Whittaker, who at 28 had became the first American to summit Mt. Everest and later became CEO of REI. Whittaker and Kennedy became fast friends, with the former becoming RFK’s Washington state campaign chairman before Bobby Kennedy himself was assassinated. Greenwich Entertainment And 1091 Acquire Tribeca Premiere Docu 'Linda Ronstadt: The Sound Of My Voice' For September Release The film features never-before-seen archival footage of Kennedy and Whittaker, and Becker picks up the story 50 years later, when Whittaker’s sons Bobby (a grunge compatriot of Vedder as manager of Mudhoney) and Leif, and RFK’s son Christopher, return to climb the mountain. Check out the trailer below. “Through our films partnerships, we produce stories that help audiences better understand why a life outdoors is a life well lived,” said Paolo Mottola, director of content and media at REI Co-op. “Return to Mt. Kennedy is a film that neatly ties together generations of American mountaineering, music and politics in a way that audiences are sure to enjoy.” 1091 Media acquired the film and TV division of The Orchard in January and has been streamlining its strategy, distributing 4-6 curated films a year. In July, it teamed with Greenwich Entertainment to acquire rights to Linda Ronstadt: The Sound Of My Voice which has grossed $2.3 million since its September release. Here’s the Kennedy trailer: Eric Becker Return To Mount Kennedy	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1145
__label__wiki	0.775334	0.775334	George Will Whitesplains Racism To Joy Reid Conservative Republican thinks it's unfair to call Cindy Hyde Smith a racist, and that it's untrue that Steve King holds power. Joy Reid and Jennifer Rubin explain reality to him. 1 year ago by Heather I'm not sure why suddenly George Will is popping up on all these MSNBC shows, but if today is any indication, he's in for a rude awakening. At least, if he goes on shows hosted by Joy Reid and Nicolle Wallace. (i.e., women — especially those who don't defer to him.) You don't show up to AM Joy and try to paint Steve King and Cindy Hyde Smith as harmless and innocent, and expect not to have your @ss handed to you. Reid asked penetrating questions about why the Republican party has not taken any action against Steve King for his open embrace of white supremacy — in both his speech and his behavior. Will downplayed King's influence as one member of the House of Representatives, completely ignoring the fact that he holds positions of power in committees, and is a sought after endorsement of presidential candidates, being from Iowa. Reid wasn't having it. WILL: First of all, Mr. King is 1/435 of one-half of one of our three branches of one of our governments, that is, the federal government, so he's not an enormous figure in American public life. Second, those people I just mentioned in the fourth district of Iowa gave him a 23-point margin of victory in 2016 and a 3-point margin of victory in 2018. It looks to me, the untutored eye here, that the political market is working. They have listened to him and they have decided they decreasingly approve of what he's saying, so why don't we let them have another bite at the apple in 2020? REID: Just a little pushback. He's 1/435, but he is also the king maker — people who want to run for president on the Republican side come through Steve King. He's the Tom Harken on the Republican side. He's a powerful figure in Iowa. It's not like he's alone. Cindy Hyde Smith who's just re-elected in Mississippi said she'd be front row at a public hanging. You just had the newly elected governor of Florida who opened with "monkey it up." Maybe that helped him, I don't know, he got elected. You've got Brian Kemp who was ostentatiously making it harder for African-Americans to vote. And you've got Donald Trump, who said that Nazis that marched in Charlottesville are good people. This is not a Steve King thing. The Republican party has these people onboard. There is no denying the Republican Party has become the face of open, ugly racism, whereas up until 10, or even 5 years ago it seemed (to many of us white folks, anyhow) the party's racism was mostly covert. George Will clearly preferred it that way, since it's easier to explain away in other terms when it's covert. He tried to "explain" it to Joy Reid by admonishing her not to "conflate" all the different instances of racist rhetoric with which the party is so openly comfortable expressing and electing, and not to take it so literally. WILL: Well, I think you're conflating a number of different episodes here and not doing so quite fairly. I think what the woman said, the now Senator from Mississippi, she used a phrase common, evidently, in the vernacular of her region that shouldn't be. That's about don't think you can go from that to saying that she is a vicious racist who hankers to see lynchings. It seems a stretch. Reid was like, um...a stretch? Really? All due respect, dude, the vernacular was about LYNCHINGS. Then she threw it to Jennifer Rubin, who tied everything up nicely in a bow for him: RUBIN:I just want to go back to one thing that George said, though, and that is, it's not entirely up to the good people of Iowa. The House has rules and they have ethics rules, they have rules that sanction members for conduct unbecoming of the House, and those are in place as well. So it's not entirely clear that the House shouldn't act on this. And I think they should take what action has been appropriate. Frankly, other people have been censured publicly by the House for, I think, much less egregious statements. So that is part of our system too. But I don't think it's conflating things to say that there is a wink wink, nod nod going on in the Republican party. Some people may really believe it. Other people may just be catering to them. But I think it has to stop if it's going -- if it's not going to become a fringe right-wing nativist party. Dear George Will, and other white apologists for racists, 1. We white people do not get to define what is racist towards Black people. THEY do. Don't try to explain it to them. 2. A person does not have to literally "hanker to see lynchings" to be a vicious racist. 3. When you argue for the status quo, and to allow for racism to solve itself in its own due time, you're arguing for white supremacy. AM Joy, Cindy Hyde Smith, George Will, Jennifer Rubin, Joy Reid, racism, Republican Party, Steve King, whitesplaining Winter Donation Drive For 16 years we have been exposing Washington lies and untangling media deceit. We work 7 days a week, 16 hours a day for our labor of love, but with rising hosting and associated costs, we need your help! Could you donate $20 for 2020? Please consider a one time or recurring donation of whatever amount you can spare. It will be greatly appreciated and help us continue our mission of exposing the real FAKE NEWS! Via PayPal: Or mail checks to: Facebook Twitter Pinterest Flipboard Email More C&L Coverage George Will: Let Voters Have 'Another Bite At The Apple In 2020' With Steve King Right wing commentator George Will lamely defends Republicans refusal to do anything about racist Rep. Steve King and calls it "unfair" when Joy Reid compares his comments to those of newly elected Mississippi Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith. WalMart Withdraws Support Of Cindy Hyde-Smith, Demands Refund The nation's largest employer backs out quickly when it's shown they made a campaign donation to a candidate making "racially insensitive" remarks. Yeah. Kayleigh McEnany Flails Around To Find Racism Everywhere It's unclear if McEnany has enough cognitive powers to understand that's really not a defense for racism in the Republican Party. By Nicole Belle Jennifer Rubin Shreds Republicans For Refusing To Check Trump Conservative columnist Jennifer Rubin ripped Republicans for refusing to keep Trump in check on MSNBC's AM Joy. Cindy Hyde-Smith Adds Voter Suppression To List Of Things She'd Happily Abide - Right Next To Lynching But we're the bad sports because we can't take a joke, right? GOP Voters Abandon Cindy Hyde-Smith After 'Public Hanging' Remarks Mike Espy has already proven himself to be good for Mississippi, and some Republicans pledge to remember that in Tuesday's run-off Senate election, especially after their current Senator's racist remarks. We welcome relevant, respectful comments. Any comments that are sexist or in any other way deemed hateful by our staff will be deleted and constitute grounds for a ban from posting on the site. Please refer to our Terms of Service (revised 3/17/2016) for information on our posting policy.	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1148
__label__wiki	0.67214	0.67214	The Sonata (Movie Review) January 6, 2020 The Sonata (Movie Review) Music holds the key to the heart, crossing language barriers fluently to unite us all—perhaps even those entities that exist beyond the mortal plane. Only the devil knows the answer, an idea that is explored in the magnificently haunting new Horror offering The Sonata. Screen Media delivers the film to select theaters, as well as On Demand, beginning on Friday, January 10, 2020. The Sonata still. Known as the absurdly eccentric “savior of Classical music,” notorious composer Richard Marlowe (Rutger Hauer: Blade Runner 1982, Porters series) ends his life in a blaze of glory. A recluse, for years he sequestered himself away in an isolated and creepy French estate working on his masterpiece, a violin sonata. Along with the keys to his musical kingdom, this is all he leaves behind for his estranged daughter Rose (Freya Tingley: Hemlock Grove series, Once Upon a Time series), a virtuoso Classical violinist living in London. With little time or desire to build close-knit relationships, successful musician Rose relies on her agent Charles (Simon Abkarian: Casino Royale 2006, Kabul Kitchen series) to fulfill a multitude of roles, including an awkward friendship. At her request, he begins to dig deeper into her inheritance, particularly the peculiar handwritten score for Marlowe’s final work. Laden with obscure symbology and some seemingly odd compositional variances, the piece of music is as bizarre as the man who dedicated his life to its creation. As the search for answers begins to unravel more secrets about Rose’s infamous sire, Charles finds that the answer to the melodic puzzle might lie with Marlowe’s last known associate, Sir Victor Ferdinand (James Faulkner: Game of Thrones series, Paul, Apostle of Christ 2018). With his assistance, agent and client begin to decode the ominous score, and are forced to ask themselves if music does, in fact, have a tangible power. Clocking in at 88 minutes, The Sonata is a masterful feature-length debut for Director Andrew Desmond (Entity short 2014, Galaxy of Horrors 2017), who co-wrote its screenplay with Arthur Morin (Love Meat Tender short 2019). The film also features the acting talents of Catherine Schaub-Abkarian (The Family 2013, Witnesses series), Matt Barber (Dracula series, Downton Abbey series), and more. A rich supernatural tale thick with mystery, The Sonata is an elevated Horror experience on a level with other films that favor haunting atmospherics and macabre, slowburn storytelling, such as The Lodgers (2018), The Village in the Woods (2019), and even 2012’s The Woman in Black. Rather than reveling in jump-scares (though there is a great one!), this is a film that skips out on the obvious and goes for mood and substance over cheap thrills and gore. In fact, while The Sonata is haunting, even disturbing at times, not a single drop of blood is spilled throughout its runtime. It must be said that for a film framed around a Classical composition, The Sonata delivers a divine score thanks to Alexis Maingauld, who composes and conducts. A stand-in for Marlowe’s masterwork, Giuseppe Tartini’s “Sonata in G Minor – Il Trillo Del Diavolo” is performed flawlessly and with great passion by exceptional violinist Olivier Leclerc. Complementing this dramatic score is equally exceptional, elegant costume design by Rolands Peterkops, owner of Mareunrol’s. Besides its divine score, The Sonata is lush with stunning landscapes and gorgeous Tudor Neo-Renaissance architecture, all highlighted splendidly by the moody cinematography of Janis Eglitis (The Gambler 2013, Firstborn 2017). Filmed in Latvia, the 19th century Cesvaine Palace serves as Marlowe’s French estate and it is truly a marvel. Setting a mood all its own, the Cesvaine Palace serves as a character unto itself among the onscreen action. All of this said, it is unsurprising that the film’s acting is exceptional. Though Hauer’s time on screen is exceptionally limited, he is wonderful in his role as the reclusive musical genius Marlowe. Similarly, Faulkner delivers an impressive performance as Marlowe’s contemporary, Ferdinand, who plays a very important role in unraveling the mystery. However, it is Tingley and Abkarian who carry the bulk of the weight on their shoulders and they make a brilliant pair. Tingley is petite and soft-spoken as Rose, a standoffish woman who is so enmeshed in her music that she has little else to speak of; a perfect mirror of her estranged father. Abkarian’s Charles sits somewhere between the walled off innocence of Rose, and the obvious oddities of her father: he is a more grounded father figure, but one that is often more self-serving than comforting. Playing off one another, Tingley and Abkarian offer exceptional performances in their roles. So, what’s the downside to The Sonata? There really and truly isn’t one. Though the ending feels a bit anticlimactic, it’s organic to the tale. So, while some viewers might hope for a more terrifying whirlwind of blood and guts, this conclusion makes sense and suits the overall production. That said, it’s important to go into The Sonata understanding that this is not a mass-produced Horror offering that moves at the speed of light, never develops its characters, and splashes plasma on every available surface. This is tension and mood over screams, substance over red stuff. An earworm (or is it eyeworm?), Cryptic Rock give The Sonata 4.5 of 5 stars. 2020 film, 2020 movie, Alexis Maingauld, Andrew Desmond, Arthur Morin, atmospheric, Catherine Schaub-Abkarian, Cesvaine Palace, classical, Classical music, devil, devil's music, elevated Horror, Freya Tingley, Giuseppe Tartini, horror, James Faulkner, Janis Eglitis, Latvia, Matt Barber, mood, no blood, Occult, Olivier Leclerc, On Demand, Rolands Peterkops, Rutger Hauer, Satanism, Screen Media, sheet music, Simon Abkarian, slowburn, sonata, Sonata in G Minor - Il Trillo Del Diavolo, summon the devil, supernatural thriller, symbology, Tension, The Sonata, theatrical release, Tudor Neo-Renaissance architecture, Violinist	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1151
__label__cc	0.7039	0.2961	Axis Mundo: Queer Networks in Chicano L.A. interview on KNPR Radio Jochen Volz Receives ICI’s 2017 Agnes Gund Curatorial Award Independent Curators International’s 2017 Leo Award Will Go to Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Ghost Cinema: Apichatpong Weerasethakul The Ruf is on Fire: Beatrix Ruf Wins the ‘Aggie’ LACMA’s Michael Govan honored by independent curators Art Partners: Rem Koolhaas and Dasha Zhukova Build a Moscow Museum Anthony Haden-Guest covers ICI Benefit for NY Observer Post-Carnival in Trinidad with The New York Times EN MAS’ Featured in Art in America all press » Did you know? #AxisMundo was included among @artnews magazine's "most important art exhibitions" of the last decade… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 🎊Now Open🎊 twitter.com/GundGallery/st… Axis Mundo, Curated by C. Ondine Chavoya and David Evans Frantz, is now open at The Gund Gallery at Kenyon College.… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… ICI is proud to announce that it will receive $120,000 in grant funding from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Vis… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… Proud to be a recipient of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Fall 2019 Grant. Thank you for helping u… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… Barbara London highlights the women of Video Art in her new publication. Can't wait for the book? ...Wait till you… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… Carlos Motta is one of 16 artists included in ICI's traveling exhibition Never Spoken Again, opening on January 25t… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… Never Spoken Again, curated by David Ayala-Alfonso, will open on January 25th at the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museu… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… Join us Tonight at 6:30PM for Comradeship Reading Group, at ICI. An essential for those interested in an alternativ… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… Barbara London's new book "Video/Art: The First 50 Years" perfectly accompanies her new traveling exhibition "Seein… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… ICI ON	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1155
__label__wiki	0.521544	0.521544	Weddings / Banqueting Wedding Contacts Dining / Bar Wexford's New Family Entertainment Centre Tenpin Bowling, Indoor Adventure Playground, 5 a side Pitch & Game Zone. Wexford Omniplex Boasting the latest in projection and digital sound technology, Omniplex Cinemas have become the standard bearer for multiplex facilities. Stadium seating in all screens with superbly comfortable seats and more than ample leg room provide patrons with a first class environment to watch the latest blockbuster movies. Irish National Heritage Park Ferrycarrig, Wexford. One visit and 9000 years of Irish history in a facinating setting of woodland, riverbank and native Irish dwellings. Discover how the Celtic, Norman and Viking settlers left their mark on the country side and Irish people you meet everyday. Hook Lighthouse Hook Head, Fethard-on-Sea, Co. Wexford. Visit the oldest operational lighthouse in the world. Discover the wonders of the medieval tower of Hook; hear the legends of Dubhán, the 6th century Welsh monk who is reputed to have established the first light on Hook Head. Wild and elemental; tranquil and scenic, enjoy the facilities in the former keepers house, which includes a first class cafe and craft shop. Saltmills, Co. Wexford. Named after Tintern in Wales, this is a Cistercian Abbey, founded by William the Earl of Marshall. It dates back to c.1200 and visitors can see the remains of the nave, chancel, tower, chapel and cloister. Guided tours are available on request. Many beautiful walkways and paths surround the abbey. Johnstown Castle Johnstown, Wexford. Once owned by the Grogan family who were the biggest untitled landowners in Ireland. It was donated to the state after the death of the last resident Lady M. Fitzgerald in 1942 on condition that it be used for agricultural education and research. The castle itself, a gothic revival style mansion is not open to the public but the wonderful 50 acre gardens are. Also in the grounds is the Irish Agricultural Museum. Rosslare Golf Club Rosslare Strand, Wexford. These 18 hole, Par 72 and 12 hole, Par 35 courses provide an excellent test of golf on a championship links beside the Irish Sea. A point of interest, the 9 hole links was designed by Christy O'Connor jnr. St. Helen's Bay Golf & Country Club Kilrane, Rosslare Harbour, Co. Wexford. This 18 hole, Par 72 is both a parkland and links course. Enjoy an amazing panorama of coast and rural landscape, overlooking Tuskar lighthouse. Wexford Golf Club Mulgannon, Wexford. 8 hole, Par 72 parkland course. Surrounded by amazing views of Wexford Town, the Saltee Islands and Wexford Harbour, you won't be disappointed! John F. Kennedy Arboretum New Ross, Co. Wexford. Enjoy the many self guided trails, 252 species of trees and shrubs, hedges, wildlife, lake, play and picnic area and tea room. An audio visual presentation outlines the features of the centre. Dunbrody Heritage Ship Only a 20 minute drive from Wexford Town. This is an authentic replica of the Three Masted Barque built in Quebec in 1845. This accurate and full scale reproduction of a 19th century famine ship provides the visitor with a unique experience from a period in history which shaped modern day America and Ireland. Gift vouchers are available for purchase for any amount Click here to make an enquiry>> To view a range of very Special Offers, updated regularly At Best Western, we truly care about your experience. if there is anything we can do to improve your stay, please Contact the front desk immediately Take our Guest satisfaction survey here Home \| Accommodation \| Conferencing \| Weddings/ Banqueting \| Dining / Bar \| Special Offers \| Tarriffs \| Contact Us \| Make a Reservation \| Location \| Amenities \| Travel Card \| Rewards Program Each Best Western® branded hotel is independently owned and operated. Website Design \| Graphedia	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1156
__label__wiki	0.587772	0.587772	Magenta - Saturn Skies Violin Suite: Fluid Wings \| Aerial Horizon Fluid performed live in Iceland Blossom Film Move On/Get Over It O Red Rose Connection Lost Sam Portraits Volcan EP Release Accidental Portraits Installation/Performance Art On Tone Policing Tezcatlipoca Performance Balún - Tiny Desk Concert Kazu live - Passengers ARTE Concert Letter from the Composer Cobalt Aviary \| Still Pond Xochipilli Blossom Blossom Performance Shelley Washington Daniela Riojas Angélica Negrón Apartment Sessions Dane Rousay Oscar Moreno Rob Funkhouser William Brittelle So Percussion Matt Rota New Amsterdam Records Nicholas V. Hall Adam Tendler "Move On/Get Over It" in Muze Collective Magazine Texas Music Spotlight Interview UIW Logos: "Versatile Musician Plays Varied Venues" Interviews on TPR! Photo: Oscar Moreno “Bright, fresh and, in the best sense, innocent.” - Steve Reich “… from a taut murmur to a roaring shout, a raw, passionately vulnerable experience.” - Jeremy Reynolds, New Sounds “Exuberant violin playing… a loud, sometimes overwhelming, yet always vivid, wash of harmony.” - Vanessa Ague, The Road to Sound Composer, multi-instrumentalist, and interdisciplinary artist Darian Donovan Thomas was born in San Antonio, Texas and is currently based in Brooklyn, New York. He is interested in combining genres and mediums into a singular vocabulary that can express ideas about intersectionality (of medium and identity). Necessarily, he is interested in redacting all barriers to entry that have existed at the gates of any genre - this vocabulary of multiplicity will be intersectional, and therefore all-inclusive. Darian has been commissioned by YOSA (the Youth Orchestras of San Antonio), Bang on a Can’s summer festival Banglewood, percussionists at Bard College Conservatory, Sam Houston State University, among others. His music has been premiered by So Percussion, YOSA, Bang on a Can Banglewood Fellows, SoSI Fellows, and performed in Iceland, Switzerland, Canada, and all around the United States. On any given night you can find Darian performing anywhere from a salon house show to a grungy basement to a bar/venue to a formal concert hall. As a means of exercising his interdisciplinary nature, Darian is currently performing with eight bands and ensembles in New York, as well as creating interdisciplinary work in different visual mediums. He has recently performed in a Tiny Desk concert with critically acclaimed dreambow band Balun, toured internationally to Iceland with Apartment Sessions, toured nationally and recorded with the Katie Martucci Band, is performing with MEDIAQUEER, Mordechai, String Orchestra of Brooklyn, Prompts Collective, and constantly performs his solo set in different venues around NYC. He has toured China, England, Wales, and has performed nationally with the Josh Abbott Band to audiences of thousands of people. Darian received his Bachelors in Music Composition from The University of the Incarnate Word (2016) in San Antonio, Texas. He has since been a New Amsterdam Records Composer Lab Fellow (2018), So Percussion Summer Institute (SoSI) Composer Fellow (2018), Infinite Palette composer performer for Aeon Ritual at MASSMoCA (2019), and a Bang on a can Summer Institute “Banglewood” Composer Fellow (2019). He has studied with Julia Wolfe, David Lang, Michael Gordon, Sarah Kirkland Snider, William Brittelle, Andrea Mazzariello, Troy Peters, amongst others. With composition engagements scheduled through the coming year, he is currently composing for musicians in Australia, Germany, Russia, and Canada. He is writing a piece for Piano and Orchestra which will be toured by Adam Tender and YOSA around the north east next Summer, with a performance in Carnegie Hall.	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1158
__label__cc	0.686244	0.313756	Ryan: Wednesday Update Unfortunately I didn't get all of the details of exactly what's going on, so I apologize for any holes in this account. That said, holy crap. We're not out of the woods yet, but the outlook has improved significantly. What a difference a single day can make. :-) For me, most of yesterday was a lousy day. I didn't get much done at work, which is bad, 'cuz there's a lot piling up on my plate. I also had no contact with Ryan at all, which set my mind a' fearin'. I sent him a few SMS messages but didn't get any replies. I IM'd Stasia briefly and she hadn't heard from him either. During lunch I stopped by Haus Boheme to pickup the laptop for Ryan from tampagypsy (for the bazillionth time, thanks Chris!). As I was leaving work I called Ryan's phone, got his voice mail. I was really scared at that point, and it probably showed through in the message I left. After that everything got better quickly. Ryan called me back right away. The final biopsy results haven't come back yet (that's still going to be the big factor), but apparently some sample that was taken from somewhere on him that's not his throat has strep. The bottom line is that the most likely theory right now is that it's not cancer, but rather a strep infection that somehow got into his lungs, and from there into his bloodstream and lymphatic system. Or something like that. At any rate, the antibiotics he was on seem to have finally started to turn things around. He sounded much better, and obviously his mood had improved enormously. So femetal, redheadlass, zensidhe, and I went over to visit him. Betty was there, and they were watching DVDs when we arrived. He was in the best shape I've seen him in since Necro. He's still uncomfortable and still on painkillers, but it was nothing like Tuesday. They're weaning him back onto solid food (he'd eaten some pudding), as a certain, uh, "digestive issue" that had concerned him since last Wednesday finally worked itself out. He's no longer on an IV, though he still has the shunt in his arm. (He wanted to just pull it out. We advised against it.) He was laughing and lucid and acting more like Ryan. We found out that his fogginess on Tuesday was not, in fact, the result of the new painkillers (which I'm told, contrary to my account yesterday, do not taste like old urinal cake, but rather like fermented horse urine. I know you were all wondering.), but rather from the meds that he was given post-op. So last night there was no fogginess, no zoning out (rather strange for Ryan, actually), and no passing out when he laughed (though laughing does hurt his right side pretty badly). Heather and Warren showed up shortly before we left. He was thrilled about the laptop. We'd brought over a few more DVDs as well. Ryan wanted me to convey his thanks to tampagypsy for the computer, and to everyone who was there on Tuesday for making him feel loved. He was really pleasantly surprised by the size of the group, though thanks to the meds he doesn't remember most of what happened. He particularly wanted me to pass along his thanks to phyrra for just sitting and holding his hand. He said it gave him something to focus on when he was zoning, which he really needed at the time. So currently, the plan is for him to possibly be discharged today (Thursday). happy dance! The biopsy results are still a big factor, but unless they hold some surprises they'll just be monitoring his infection to be sure that it continues to fade. There's a decent chance that they'll need to cut into his neck to drain the abscess, which will suck, but given the alternative we're counting this as a favorable outcome. The Smoosh has plans for tonight, so I let Ryan know that unless something changes I most likely won't get to see him, but I'll be talking with him and will post any updates. Am I greedy for thinking these scores should be higher? This Is My Life, Rated Friends/Family: Take the Rate My Life Quiz	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1164
__label__cc	0.529245	0.470755	Cashbox Canada- Reviewed by Iain Patience Strangely enough, this is a first album from a ridiculously talented and connected musician, a singer of substance with over three decades music business experience behind him. This immensely solid history brings a remarkably focused, engaging presence to the studio, with great, powerful, balanced soulful vocals together with a Grammy award-winning backing band - The Phantom Blues Band - of exceptional quality for a debut release. As a bandleader, in his previous musical life in Connecticut, Foster has worked with countless well-known names including Chuck Berry, Muddy Water, Keith Richards and BB King. Indeed the list is as long as it is impressive. And with this album, it's easy to see why, although hard to understand why it has taken him so long to leap from the backing shadows into the fiery spotlight on his own account. Foster's voice is smooth, rootsy and absolutely packed with southern soul and simpering, simmering quality. This guy and this album are both clearly 'the real thing', a wonderful discovery of huge class and quality. Definitely an album to get your hands on if you like quality modern southern soul music at its very best. Review of "The Real Thing" on Cashbox Canada	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1170
__label__cc	0.693925	0.306075	University of Maryland School of Nursing Receives $500,000 Donation from Alumna Sep 9, 2019 \| Maryland, News Listen to this article. The University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON) recently received a $500,000 donation from alumna Mary Catherine Bunting, MS, CRNP, RN. Bunting received her master’s degree from UMSON in 1972. Her donation will help the university continue the work of UMSON’s Community and Public Health Environmental Initiative (CPHEI) to provide health oversight for children and families served by Baltimore City Early Head Start (EHS) and other Head Start centers. CPHEI is a collaborative effort from the Maryland Family Network to improve overall health and environmental health for EHS and Head Start center children from birth through age 5, including programs that support mental, social, and emotional development. The program was established in 2016 thanks to a $750,000 donation from Bunting. Many UMSON students and faculty participate in CPHEI as part of the school’s ongoing service learning commitment, including Bachelor of Science in Nursing and RN-to-BSN program students, entry-into-nursing Clinical Nurse Leader master’s students, Community/Public Health Nursing master’s students, and Doctor of Nursing Practice students. This new funding will support continued efforts for CPHEI, which will include UMSON students and faculty reviewing more than 1,000 child health records and identifying children with chronic health conditions and those behind on preventative care required under Maryland’s Medicaid program. They will also provide direct care services including health screenings and home visits for children with chronic conditions. Laura Allen, MA, MS, RN, CPHEI program director, tells umaryland.edu, “CPHEI has brought much needed nursing services and environmental health oversight to a highly vulnerable population. If we weren’t there, there wouldn’t be as strong an emphasis on health, well-being, and how they relate to education. These families would be missing out on health screenings, health education, and general health literacy.” Thanks to the new funding, CPHEI has set a goal of helping all 47 of Baltimore’s Head Start centers become Eco-Healthy Child Care-certified and to continuing its work of providing nursing services in EHS centers. To learn more about the $500,000 donation given to the University of Maryland School of Nursing by alumna Mary Catherine Bunting, visit here. Christina Morgan Assistant Editor at Daily Nurse Christina Morgan is the Assistant Editor for DailyNurse.com. Latest posts by Christina Morgan (see all) University of Rhode Island Nurse Practitioner Students Gain Real-Life Experience With Young Patients - January 17, 2020 Nurse of the Week: Nursing Student Bethany Moore Designs College Experience to Serve Those Close to Home - January 15, 2020 Frontier Nursing University President Dr. Susan Stone Inducted Into National Academy of Medicine - January 13, 2020 Get more news like this - plus jobs - each week. Subscribe to The Weekly Boost - the weekly email newsletter for DailyNurse. facebook.com/nurseloop	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1172
__label__cc	0.715549	0.284451	Little Phhbwt Comic Strips - Page 10 385 Results for Little Phhbwt View 91 - 100 results for little phhbwt comic strips. Discover the best "Little Phhbwt" comics from Dilbert.com. "I cannot decide if you are very wise or just a big stupid moron." "Well, I'll tell you, little cowpoke, when the snake falls in love with the spaghetti, it's time to buy a new hat." "You look more flustered than a barefoot squirrel at a tire store." "Gaaa!!! They almost make sense!!" There's a little thing I like to do before any meeting with a marketing guy. BONK! "This way there's more congruence between the things you say and the way you look." "Dilbert, I have a little project for you to do in your spare time." "What exactly is my 'spare time'?" "Well, for example, there's the time that normal people would use for dating." "And since you're not dating, you can trim a few minutes from your hygiene schedule too." "Then there's the time you spend daydreaming about a fulfilling life." "That's exactly like stealing from the company." "And your stupid questions - Those have to take at least an hour a day." "Are my questions stupid?" "Not as bad as your answers." Saturday July 08, 2006 "Now that I know your resume was embellished, you need to talk to the VP of Human Resources." "Are you going to fire me?" "Nah. I'll let you in on a little secret." "I'm the ficus tree that used to be in the lobby." "Asok, you've done a good job this quarter so I'm going to toss a little non-monetary compensation your way." "Tell me some boring story about your life and I'll pretend to enjoy it." "And the story should involve pirates. Go." Wednesday May 17, 2006 Google Headquarters "Isn't it a little bit evil to kill Dilbert with our death ray?" "Good point...What if I just blast the space station out of orbit and make it land on his house?" "I'll bet you ten billion dollars you can't." "And the lower has to introduce himself as 'the dumb one.'" Tags #outsourcing, #design, #communication, #miscommunication, #manufacturing, #obliviousness, #marketing, #business We ship our new mp3 player in two days. How's the Elbonian factory coming along? "The prototype is the size of a small tractor and it will only play Elbonian polkas." "I'll budget a little extra for marketing." "It's made of asbestos." "I gave Tom his two weeks' notice. You'll have to do his job until I replace him." "He's a bit disgruntled, but I'm sure he'll be a professional and train you before he leaves." "I was shocked and appalled to hear that you got fired." Grrr grrr "He isn't buying my fake sympathy." Grrr grrr "Sooo...How about a little training?" "Everything you need is in this irreplaceable binder." CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP "I probably won't get you a card." Tags #desperate venture capitalist, #math grades, #first idea, #mezzanine funding, #cash bag, #students, #education Vijay, the World's Most Desperate Venture Capitalist "You two have good math grades." $ 8 "If you grow up and marry and produce a little engineer baby, I want to invest in its first idea." "Please don't be too late!" "Dude, we're already looking for mezzanine funding." Thursday November 10, 2005 Tags #underlings, #anything useful, #little people, #deadly accident, #vow, #in office, #listening to little people "Carol, don't let the underlings of my underling come into my office." "I can't learn anything useful by listening to the little people." "I renew my vow to lure you into a deadly accident!!" "Whoa! Whoa! Tell it to my underling."	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1178
__label__cc	0.579849	0.420151	Influence of chlorine on the fate of Pb and Cu during clinkerization Zhang, B; Bogush, A; Wei, J; Xu, W; Zeng, Z; Zhang, T; Yu, Q; Zhang, B; Bogush, A; Wei, J; Xu, W; Zeng, Z; Zhang, T; Yu, Q; Stegemann, JA; - view fewer (2018) Influence of chlorine on the fate of Pb and Cu during clinkerization. Energy and Fuels , 32 (7) pp. 7718-7726. 10.1021/acs.energyfuels.8b01111. Zhang, Bogush et al_2018_Influence of chlorine on the fate of Pb and Cu during clinkerization_just accepted.pdf - Accepted version The fate of heavy metals during clinkerization is of crucial significance to the utilization of solid waste as fuels and raw materials in cement kiln producing clinker. A ternary system of clinker-heavy metal-chlorine was developed that is more coincident with the condition of co-processing of solid waste in cement kiln. The main goal of this study was to investigate the relationships among chlorine, volatilization and solidification of Cu/Pb, and mineral phases of the clinker during clinkirization. The AlCl3·6H2O (chlorine source) and PbO/CuO were mixed with cement raw meal in appropriate ratios to produce co-processed clinkers. The volatilization and solidification of Pb and Cu were investigated experimentally using a combination of atomic absorption spectrometry, electron probe micro-analysis, scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, optical microscope, thermogravimetric and X-ray diffraction quantitative analyses. The volatilization ratios of Pb and Cu increased up to 46.18% and 34.04%, respectively, with increasing AlCl3·6H2O content up to 1.6%. comparing to the cement mixtures without AlCl3·6H2O addition (Pb and Cu volatilisation ratios are 49.90% and 27.21%, respectively). Pb and Cu oxides can be transformed into Pb and Cu chlorides, that are not stable and have high vapor pressure. Pb and Cu are mainly concentrated in the interstitial phases of the clinker. The addition of AlCl3·6H2O led to increase the crystal size of alite and belite. X-ray diffraction quantitative analyses proved that the content of silicate phase increased with the corresponding content of interstitial phases decreased during clinkerization with the addition of AlCl3·6H2O, that decreased the ability of clinker to solidify Pb and Cu in the produced clinkers. This research can help to promote understanding of the fate of heavy metals during the cement kiln co-processing of solid wastes and meaningfully for energy conservation and sustainable development. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.8b01111 energy; chlorine; heavy metals; clinkerization; volatilization; mineral phases	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1180
__label__wiki	0.87758	0.87758	Twists & Turns Lead To Promising Ebola Vaccine Filed Under:Africa, Ebola, vaccine Follow CBSDFW.COM: Facebook \| Twitter WASHINGTON (AP) – It took 16 years of twists and turns. Over and over, Dr. Nancy Sullivan thought she was close to an Ebola vaccine, only to see the next experiment fail. “A case of resuscitation more than once,” is how the National Institutes of Health researcher describes the journey. But it is those failures that Sullivan credits for finally leading her to a vaccine promising enough to test in parts of West Africa ravaged by Ebola. Last week, volunteers in Liberia’s capital began rolling up their sleeves for the first large-scale testing of two potential Ebola vaccines, the one Sullivan developed at NIH and a similar one created by Canada’s government. Sullivan just hopes it was in time to prove whether the shots really work. Ebola has claimed nearly 9,000 lives in West Africa over the past year, although new infections have dropped dramatically in recent months. It’s too soon to declare victory: Last week, new cases inched up for the first time this year, and health officials fear a resurgence if they don’t completely stamp out the disease before the upcoming rainy season. Waning cases make it more difficult to tell if a vaccine is protective, but the shots will be tested in multiple places and ways “hoping that one of those will give us real data,” said Dr. Bruce Aylward of the World Health Organization. Getting to that step is a story of nitty-gritty laboratory science, the kind that seldom makes headlines. “You don’t know what’s going to be important 15 years from now,” noted Sullivan, a cell biologist who kept hitting roadblocks as she tried to unravel enough mysteries of the immune system to create an Ebola vaccine. “You need a failure to know what immune responses aren’t helpful, as difficult as they were at the time,” she said. It all started in the late 1990s, when Sullivan, who had just earned her Ph.D. at Harvard, landed a new job at the University of Michigan. She wanted to study how Ebola infects cells, but her boss, Dr. Gary Nabel, gave her a bigger assignment: develop a vaccine capable of protecting monkeys. Back then, the average person probably knew of Ebola only from Richard Preston’s best-seller “The Hot Zone” or the movie “Outbreak.” Discovered in 1976, the virus cropped up every few years in remote parts of Africa, killed dozens to a few hundred people with horrifying swiftness and retreated back into the jungle again. Early vaccine attempts had failed. “The thinking was, this virus was too aggressive, it’s not possible to mount an immune response in sufficient time,” recalled Sullivan, who followed Nabel to NIH and now heads biodefense vaccine research there. Most vaccines spur production of immune system antibodies that block a virus from entering cells, but Sullivan didn’t think that would be enough for Ebola, a large virus that infects in an unusual way. Gene-based vaccines can induce additional virus fighters called T cells, so that’s what Sullivan created with pieces of Ebola genetic material. In July 1999, colleagues emailed that they’d given her vaccine to monkeys and measured a big immune reaction. Sullivan recently showed President Barack Obama the lab notebook where she’d scribbled her reaction: “Yahoo!” In November 2000, Sullivan and Nabel reported in the journal Nature that four vaccinated monkeys survived an otherwise lethal dose of Ebola. “For the first time, a vaccine protected monkeys against the lethal Ebola virus, raising doctors’ hopes of developing a means of inoculating people against the terrifying disease,” The Associated Press reported at the time. But her vaccine required multiple shots over several months, not useful during an outbreak. Sullivan scaled back, using a human cold virus, called an adenovirus, to carry the Ebola genetic material in one shot. Then she learned it wouldn’t work in people who’ve had that particular cold virus. Using rare human adenoviruses didn’t work at all; finally a chimpanzee cold virus did the trick. Along the way came multiple monkey studies to learn exactly what kind of T cells to target. “Lots of shoes have dropped,” is how she describes all the frustration. Sullivan had a few years’ head start but after the 2001 anthrax attack other laboratories scrambled to study Ebola and other possible bioterrorist agents. Soon after, the Public Health Agency of Canada reported creating its own Ebola vaccine using a livestock virus to carry the genetic material — the second vaccine currently being tested in that large study in Liberia. “Thank God we had some of these” underway, said Ebola expert Thomas Geisbert of the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, an early collaborator on the Canadian vaccine who helped with some of Sullivan’s initial work and now researches treatments. “You can’t do that research in six months.” As the Liberian vaccine study gets under way, work hasn’t paused back in Sullivan’s lab. Her research in monkeys suggests long-lasting protection will require a special booster shot, something yet to begin Phase 1 safety testing in people. She goes to Congo, where Ebola first was discovered, about twice a year for research. “It isn’t the case where you discover something and instantly move it to humans,” Sullivan wants the public to understand. “There are lots of pitfalls.”	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1192
__label__cc	0.661142	0.338858	Methods, Social July 10, 2018 July 10, 2018 After analysing the field’s leading journal, a psychologist asks: Is social psychology still the science of behaviour? By Alex Fradera Part of my role at the Digest involves sifting through journals looking for research worth covering, and I’ve sensed that modern social psychology generates plenty of studies based on questionnaire data, but far fewer that investigate the kind of tangible behavioural outcomes illuminated by the field’s classics, from Asch’s conformity experiments to Milgram’s research on obedience to authority. A new paper in Social Psychological Bulletin examines this apparent change systematically. Based on his findings, Dariusz Doliński at the SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Poland asks the bleak question: is psychology still a science of behaviour? Doliński is following in the footsteps of a paper published over a decade ago, which looked at the January 2006 contents of what Doliński describes as social psychology’s “flagship” publication, the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, published by the American Psychological Association. Roy Baumeister and colleagues sought research that involved behavioural outcomes more active than “finger movements” – typing on a computer, clicking a mouse or filling in a survey by hand. They found active behavioural outcomes were measured by only 12 per cent of studies published in the journal that month, compared to an estimated 80 per cent in the same journal 30 years earlier. Was this a blip, or a trend? Doliński looked at six issues of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology published in the second half of 2017. He found that from 45 empirical articles, only four went beyond participants answering questions or filling in surveys; overall, only 6 per cent of the analysed studies measured actual behaviour. Moreover, when behaviour was studied, it was frequently nothing more than another case of finger movement. One study measured whether people would over-report their achievements on an experimental task; another looked at endurance in solving cognitive tasks; a third involved the “prisoner’s dilemma”, a financial game that doesn’t require any overt behaviour as such. Only one study looked at a truly active behaviour – the social interactions of pre-school children. Doliński likely had his tongue only partly in cheek when wondering whether this approach would still have been used if pre-school children were comfortable filling in questionnaires. What’s behind this anti-behavioural turn? Some of it is connected to the cognitive revolution: the recognition in psychological science that internal processes like memory, learning and attention are crucial to understanding behaviour. This has been immensely useful and worth celebrating, but it doesn’t exclude studying a diversity of behaviours as well. Doliński raises a few other obvious pressures that are harder to celebrate. Studying behaviours is more difficult, and often more costly and expensive, than studying verbal declarations. Behaviours are also harder to verify (was that spontaneous gesture friendly or unfriendly?) and to record. It may also be harder to convince ethics boards to approve a behavioural study than another survey study. In addition, observed behaviour is often binary and one-shot per participant. You offer help to cross a street; you return the found item; you go to vote; you sign the petition,… or you don’t. Not only does this often call for larger sample sizes, it limits how you can analyse the data, making it harder to produce persuasive models of pathways between mechanisms. As a concrete example of how the behavioural instinct has been blunted, Doliński points to a piece of research on physical intimacy (from the journal issues he reviewed) that did make the effort to go into the field. Experimenters visited a clinic providing flu shots, but did they observe how waiting patients interacted, or how closely they approached the receptionist or stood in line? No: they simply asked people more questions. This matters because declarations of behavioural intentions do not always translate to behaviours. For instance, lottery winners rarely donate their cash to charity, even though more than a quarter of survey respondents claim they would give substantially. Also, while the very robust “bystander effect” shows that people are less likely to act to counter a transgressive act when others are present, people asked to describe their hypothetical actions believe they would be as likely to act whether several other people are also present or not. Similarly, recent work canvassing opinions on the Milgram experiment showed that most people believe they would not have carried out the experimenters’ orders, even though most people do. Doliński worries that social psychologists doing the important work of field studies, and those studying behaviour more generally, are being shut out of the best journals in their field. Social psychology is already going through a process of reform as it responds to concerns about research quality. Perhaps it should take this opportunity to also consider adjusting its incentive systems to make more of research that does the best it can to see how psychological manipulations impact the world. —Is Psychology Still a Science of Behaviour? Alex Fradera (@alexfradera) is Staff Writer at BPS Research Digest We can tell from a person’s roar whether they are bigger and stronger than us Just as in other mammals, it seems that humans convey their formidability through their vocalisations. By Emma Young Performing meaningless rituals boosts our self-control through making us feel more self-disciplined The results are promising for anyone who would like to boost their self-control, but many aspects of rituals remain unexplored. By Tom Witkowski 9 thoughts on “After analysing the field’s leading journal, a psychologist asks: Is social psychology still the science of behaviour?” Pingback: After analysing the field’s leading journal, a psychologist asks: Is social psychology still the science of behaviour? – numerons Pingback: After analysing the field’s leading journal, a psychologist asks whether social psychology is still a science of behaviour. From 45 empirical articles, only four went beyond participants answering questions or filling in surveys; overall, only 6% of the Dr maryam says: As a student of psychology…. .i always need such a great thing to my study… Thanks a lot for this…I’ll waiting your new article… Mavis Johnson says: Biased self referencing Studies and Surveys done with boilerplate forms, get more attention than thoughtful meaningful findings. These unethical “Researchers” typically start with their belief, or one that conforms to their preconceived ideas. They typically are used as misinformation or advertising in mass media. This has infiltrated Academia in the US, as the most ridiculous, small and deceptive studies are used to peddle books, speaking engagements or get attention for corporate funding. In the US Torture is now a matter of “Mindset, ” greed is good, and various ideas taken from Eugenics are recycled for a new generation. When the Suicide Rates began to climb in the U.S, Psychologists had to come up with a counter narrative. I agree with Doliński on his opinion, that social psychologists are being sumhutnout from the best journals. You cannot expect any field research within Social Psychology to be in par with the ethical guidelines. Milgram’s research was unethical, but it showed us the true results of how people would really behave in such setting, whereas surveys aren’t capable of reproducing that effect. It is saddening, that we lose quality research, because of the strict guidelines. John Cooter says: This is such an excellent teaching resource. Students on my courses learn that the classic experiments from the glory days of US social psychology could no longer take place because of the ethical issues they involved, whether they be elaborate set-ups like Asch, Milgram and Zimbardo, or Candid Camera-type field experiments like Piliavin’s subway study. That doesn’t mean it’s not possible to research real-life behaviour though now. Observation, either naturalistic or staged should be in use much more than it is. Observational studies are less likely than experiments to involve deception about variables under investigation and if videoed can produce rich data at a micro-analytical level. Pingback: Fallacy of Obviousness, Dangers of Conformity and More (Weekly News Digest) – Andante tobi. says: Thanks for Pinging! We like You keep it up. https://goodchillz.com	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1195
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Herewith, therefore, is the table of contents of the next Best American Comics, edited by Jeff Smith, and with a fantastic cover by Kate Beaton, and out in September of this year. Book Group #2: “Lucille”, by Ludovic Debeurme In the fall of 2011 we did a comics reading series at the Brooklyn Public Library. The third book we read and discussed was Lucille by Ludovic Debeurme. Here is a slightly edited transcript of our discussion that Sunday afternoon. Best American Comics: the Notable Comics of 2012 (and a giveaway) A complete list with links of the Notable Comics 2012 from the Best American Comics, and a giveaway of some of those very books! Comment to enter the drawing. Teaching Comics to Teens week 2 day 3: How Not To Be Funny So after spending yesterday helping my students struggle with their nascent, shaky ideas, revising, reworking and shaping them according to the fundamentals that make gag cartoons work, what do I do? Introduce Anti-Gag Cartoons of course! Keep ‘em off balance, that’s what I say! Giveaway: Best American Comics 2011, signed by cartoonists and Alison Bechdel Matt and Jessica are giving away signed copies of the Best American Comics 2011. Giveaway: Best American Comics 2010, signed by cartoonists and Neil Gaiman Every year, we get requests from teachers wanting to know what will be in the new Best American Comics before it comes out, so as to plan their classes. Herewith, therefore, is the table of contents of the new Best American Comics, edited by Françoise Mouly, and out in September of this year. vii : Read More Get this comic: “(NO) PAIN! The mega-mini comic” Seeing how many cartoonists were injured inspired Kriota to try her hand at cartooning. The result is a fat little tome that should have a place on every cartoonist’s shelf, (NO) PAIN! The mega-mini comic. Book group transcription #1: “Fun Home” by Alison Bechdel Back in the fall, Matt and I ran a graphic novel book club at the Brooklyn Public Library. These were really great discussions, and we’re going to try to post complete transcripts. Buy Drawing Words & Writing Pictures and the sequel, Mastering Comics, from us directly, or from your favorite vendor, via this link. "A goldmine of essential information for every aspiring comics artist. Highly recommended." -Scott McCloud FIRST SECOND is an imprint of Roaring Brook Press / Macmillan USA. Macmillan owns some of America's most prestigious publishers, known for great integrity and literary quality. These include Henry Holt, FSG, St Martin's Press, Tor and Picador, all of which have garnered the most coveted prizes in publishing. All images and text are © copyright by their respective creators. dwwp@gmail.com Site Design and Deployment by NL. Made from Whiteboard + Wordpress	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1208
__label__wiki	0.810628	0.810628	Big Data Zone DZone > Big Data Zone > Normal and Laplace Distributions in Differential Privacy Normal and Laplace Distributions in Differential Privacy Take a dive in the mathematical side of data science and learn how distributions and differential privacy work together. John Cook Mar. 01, 19 · Big Data Zone · I heard the phrase “normal approximation to the Laplace distribution” recently and did a double take. The normal distribution does not approximate the Laplace! Normal and Laplace Distributions A normal distribution has the familiar bell curve shape. A Laplace distribution, also known as a double exponential distribution, it pointed in the middle, like a pole holding up a circus tent. A normal distribution has very thin tails, i.e. probability density drops very rapidly as you move further from the middle, like exp(-x²). The Laplace distribution has moderate tails [1], going to zero like exp(-\|x\|). So normal and Laplace distributions are qualitatively very different, both in the center and in the tails. So why would you want to replace one by the other? Statistics Meets Differential Privacy The normal distribution is convenient to use in mathematical statistics. Whether it is realistic in an application depends on context, but it’s convenient and conventional. The Laplace distribution is convenient and conventional in differential privacy. There’s no need to ask whether it is realistic because Laplace noise is added deliberately; the distribution assumption is exactly correct by construction (see this post for details). When mathematical statistics and differential privacy combine, it could be convenient to “approximate” a Laplace distribution by a normal distribution [2]. Solving for Parameters So if you wanted to replace a Laplace distribution with a normal distribution, which one would you choose? Both distributions are symmetric about their means, so it’s natural to pick the means to be the same. So without loss of generality, we’ll assume both distributions have mean 0. The question then becomes how to choose the scale parameters. You could just set the two scale parameters to be the same, but that’s similar to the Greek letter fallacy, assuming two parameters have the same meaning just because they have the same symbol. Because the two distributions have different tail weights, their scale parameters serve different functions. One way to replace a Laplace distribution with a normal would be to pick the scale parameter of the normal so that both two quantiles match. For example, you might want both distributions to have 95% of their probability mass in the same interval. I’ve written before about how to solve for scale parameters given two quantiles. We find two quantiles of the Laplace distribution, then use the method in that post to find the corresponding normal distribution scale (standard deviation). The Laplace distribution with scale s has density f(x) = exp(-\|x\|/s)/2s. If we want to solve for the quantile x such that Prob(X > x) = p, we have x = –s log(2 – 2p). Using the formula derived in the previously mentioned post, σ = 2x / Φ-1(x) where Φ is the cumulative distribution function of the standard normal. Adding Gaussian or Laplacian noise for privacy Generating Laplace random samples Data privacy consulting [1] The normal distribution is the canonical example of a thin-tailed distribution, while exponential tails are conventionally the boundary between thick and thin. “Thick tailed” and “thin tailed” are often taken to mean thicker than exponential and thinner that exponential respectively. [2] You could use a Gaussian mechanism rather than a Laplace mechanism for similar reasons, but this makes the differential privacy theory more complicated. Rather than working with ε-differential privacy you have to work with (ε, δ)-differential privacy. The latter is messier and harder to interpret. Big Aggregate Queries Can Still Violate Privacy Why PSI, DP, and SMC Are the Future of Data Privacy In the Future, Our Current Views of Personal Data Will Be Shocking Understanding Apache Spark Failures and Bottlenecks big data ,differential privacy ,laplace distribution ,data science Big Data Partner Resources	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1210
__label__wiki	0.607585	0.607585	September (12) x September 12, 2014 Country Report Country Report Oman Economic growth is expected to maintain its momentum in the medium term underpinned by strong domestic demand and economic diversification. However, the increase in current government spending challenges fiscal sustainability. Country Report Mauritius Economic growth in Mauritius continues to be suppressed by subdued external demand from Europe. Meanwhile, flash floods in the beginning of 2013 and an increased wage bill have driven up government expenditure. Country Report Sri Lanka On the economic front, Sri Lanka is performing relatively well. Growth is holding up strongly and the balance of payments is improving. The increasingly authoritarian style of the Rajapaksa government is, however, less positive news. Country Report South Korea The South Korean government is trying to raise growth both in the short- and long-term. Meanwhile, the external vulnerability of the country and of its banking sector in particular, has decreased. Relations with North Korea remain uncertain and difficult. Country Report Turkey While Turkey’s economic growth started to slow in the second quarter, the central bank faces pressure to reverse its major January interest rate hike ahead of the 2015 parliamentary elections. As expected, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan became Turkey’s first directly-elected president. RaboResearch Country Report India The recent massive election win of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party and expectations of business friendly reforms are boosting sentiment and growth. However, India will not change overnight. Country Report Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina faces major socioeconomic challenges in the aftermath of devastating floods and months of violent protests. The upcoming general elections in October are unlikely to improve the situation, but increased IMF support should alleviate possible financial problems. Country Report Kenya 2013 was a crucial year for Kenya, as domestic political stability improved on the back of peaceful elections, which contributed to better economic prospects. Unfortunately, these improvements were offset by an increasing terrorist security threat. Country Report Kuwait Kuwait’s hydrocarbon dependent economy slowed in 2013 and prospects for 2014 are stable. The political focus seems to be shifting towards the crown prince succession, which might stall progress booked on economic reforms in the past year. Country Report Poland Poland’s economy continued to rebound strongly in the first half of this year, but growth is likely to weaken amid mutual EU and Russian sanctions. As prime minister Tusk heads for Brussels, a new cabinet may be nominated as soon as early September. Country Report Lithuania Six months ahead of its euro area accession, Lithuania’s economy performs strongly. While reciprocal EU and Russian sanctions are unlikely to derail growth this year, tensions with Russia may result in further boycotts of Lithuanian products. Country Report Nicaragua Nicaragua’s economy performed rather well in 2013 and the economic outlook remains favourable. However, its institutional framework has weakened further and the president can now be re-elected and be elected for more than two times. Maarten van der Molen	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1217
__label__wiki	0.861016	0.861016	Edmonton Public school board to consider lower civic voting age Public school trustees will be the next Edmonton politicians to contemplate a push for a lower voting age in civic elections. Janet French Edmonton Public school board chairwoman Michelle Draper is proposing the board advocate for a lower civic voting age in Edmonton. Ed Kaiser / Postmedia Edmonton Public school board chairwoman Michelle Draper said Tuesday she intends to introduce a motion at the board’s next meeting to advocate for lowering the voting age to 16 in municipal and school board elections. Voter turnout is “abysmal,” Draper said. Teaching students about the importance of civic engagement while they’re still in school gives society a chance to develop dedicated voters, she said. “There’s research to support it, and it’s my belief as well, that if you vote in your first election, you’re more likely to vote for the rest of your life,” Draper said. Voter turnout in Edmonton’s 2013 civic elections was around 35 per cent. The motion comes on the heels of a student poll that found public school teens are divided on the issue. The school district’s student senate ran an online poll asking high school students whether the voting age should be lowered to 16 for civic elections, said Andrew Li, a Grade 11 student at Old Scona Academic High School and one of three student trustees. Of the 850 students who responded, 55 per cent supported a lower voting age, and 45 per cent said voters should be 18 or older. Nearly 61 per cent of students who answered the poll said they felt informed enough to vote if the age was lowered to 16. Li said he heard from some students who felt ready and equipped to vote, and others who felt they didn’t have enough information to make decisions about issues. “I think our district has the ability of employing and teaching a wide variety and a very diverse group of students who come from different backgrounds, and who have different interests and different passions surrounding this issue,” he said. A divided Edmonton Catholic school board voted in January to lobby the provincial government to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in civic elections. Last year, city councillors also voted narrowly in favour of asking government to “consider amending” the Local Authorities Elections Act to lower the voting age to 16. jfrench@postmedia.com Twitter.com/jantafrench Highlands school modernization moves ahead after board moves to close schools  David Staples: South got the tracks, and north got the shaft?:... ‘It’s a livability issue’: Core neighbourhoods calling for permanent enforcement to curb excessive vehicle noise ...	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1220
__label__cc	0.69065	0.30935	Cerebral atrophy as outcome measure in short-term phase 2 clinical trials in multiple sclerosis van den Elskamp, I. J. and Boden, B. and Dattola, V. and Knol, D. L. and Filippi, M. and Kappos, L. and Fazekas, F. and Wagner, K. and Pohl, C. and Sandbrink, R. and Polman, C. H. and Uitdehaag, B. M. J. and Barkhof, F.. (2010) Cerebral atrophy as outcome measure in short-term phase 2 clinical trials in multiple sclerosis. Neuroradiology, Vol. 52, H. 10. pp. 875-881. Cerebral atrophy is a compound measure of the neurodegenerative component of multiple sclerosis (MS) and a conceivable outcome measure for clinical trials monitoring the effect of neuroprotective agents. In this study, we evaluate the rate of cerebral atrophy in a 6-month period, investigate the predictive and explanatory value of other magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures in relation to cerebral atrophy, and determine sample sizes for future short-term clinical trials using cerebral atrophy as primary outcome measure. 03 Faculty of Medicine > Bereich Medizinische Fächer (Klinik) > Neurologie > Neuroimmunologie (Kappos) 03 Faculty of Medicine > Departement Klinische Forschung > Bereich Medizinische Fächer (Klinik) > Neurologie > Neuroimmunologie (Kappos) Kappos, Ludwig	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1221
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These conclusions complements the Council conclusions on strengthening multilateralism which were adopted on 17 June 2019. Supporting the Sustainable Development Goals across the world The Council today adopted conclusions welcoming the publication of the first joint synthesis report of the EU and its member states on ''Supporting the Sustainable Development Goals across the world'' as an important contribution to EU reporting at the High Level Political Forum Sustainable development: Council adopts conclusions The Council today adopted a set of conclusions concerning the implementation by the EU of the United Nations' 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development, which was established in 2015 and comprises a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Given the horizontal nature of the 2030 Agenda, its Provision of Landscape Maintenance Services to the European Union Delegation to Lebanon. The Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Lebanon is planning to award a contract related to the: Provision of Landscape Maintenance Services to the European Union Delegation to Lebanon. Economic operators interested in tendering for the abovementioned contract are invited to Provision of Local Transport Services for the European Union Delegation to Lebanon The Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Lebanon is planning to award a contract related to the: Provision of Local Transport Services for the European Union Delegation to Lebanon Economic operators interested in tendering for the abovementioned contract are invited to express their	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1223
__label__cc	0.660503	0.339497	Cayman Islands and the EU EEAS homepage > Cayman Islands > Stories of Venezuelans searching for shelter and safety Stories of Venezuelans searching for shelter and safety On 28-29 October in Brussels, the European Union, together with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and UN Migration Agency (IOM), will host the International Solidarity Conference on the Venezuelan refugee and migrant crisis. Over 4 million Venezuelans have left their country because of insecurity, political crisis, socio-economic instability or humanitarian needs. This has become the largest displacement in Latin America's recent history and, after Syria, the biggest external displacement crisis in the world. Any help can be critical for people who have lost nearly everything and are in need not only of shelter and food, but also of access to education, health care, job, or basic documentation. In addition to the support already delivered, the European Union is partnering with UNHCR and IOM to bring to the world’s attention the scale of the crisis, and demonstrate commitment and solidarity with the Venezuelan refugees and migrants and those welcoming them across the region. Ahead of the Conference, we want to put people at the centre and let them tell their stories. Isabel and Darlys, two caminantes walking to Colombia to save their children /file/new-unhcr-centre-colombia-helps-venezuelans-get-streets_enNew UNHCR centre in Colombia helps Venezuelans get off streets Video of New UNHCR centre in Colombia helps Venezuelans get off streets Isabel and Darlys are two of the 1.4 million Venezuelans who have crossed into Colombia. They do not know each other. They made their ways to leave separately, but there is something that unites them: they are both mothers of sick children who needed urgent medical assistance. “At first I came here alone from Venezuela because of my son's health”, Darlys explains. He has a kidney disease. “Later I decided to bring my children because his situation was critical and you couldn’t get medicines or medical care in Venezuela”, Darlys continues, who lives with her two children in Maicao’s Integrated Assistance Centre, opened by UNHCR to cater to the urgent needs. Maicao, near the Venezuelan border, is a city that has seen more than 30.000 new arrivals in 2019. Isabel crossed the bridge between Venezuela and the Colombian city of Cucuta. As she could not afford transportation, she walked for days with her four children. One of them, Jeremías, had to be hospitalized with malnutrition. “My children went an entire day without eating. He weighed 7 kilos at age 3. He was going to die”, she remembers. Isabel has found a temporary haven in a municipal shelter supported by UNHCR, but she still longs for a home. “If things were to get better in my country, I would like to go back home. To be there with my children, so that they can go to school, and live their lives and have a normal childhood, like the one I had”. /file/venezuela%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%9Cwalkers%E2%80%9D-make-perilous-journey-search-safety_enVenezuela’s “walkers” make perilous journey in search of safety Video of Venezuela’s “walkers” make perilous journey in search of safety Ana's story: Daughter and father reunited in Ecuador /file/venezuelans-move-ana-lawyer-and-mother_enVenezuelans on the Move - Ana, Lawyer and Mother Video of Venezuelans on the Move - Ana, Lawyer and Mother When Ana Mayora first came to Ecuador along with her son she was not able to bring her father along. Ana would send him what little money that she could save to help pay for his medicine but knew that he would not live long if he stayed in Venezuela due to a lack of access to medical care. "I feared the day I would get a phone call telling me to stop sending money for his medicine and instead send money for his urn", she tearfully says. Thankfully, with IOM assistance, Ana was reunited with her father in Quito. Carmen’s hostel, a safe haven for Venezuelan refugees in Ecuador /file/carmen%E2%80%99s-hostel-safe-spot-ecuador-venezuelans_enCarmen’s hostel, a safe spot in Ecuador for Venezuelans Video of Carmen’s hostel, a safe spot in Ecuador for Venezuelans Carmen runs a hostel in El Juncal, a little town in north Ecuador. The Venezuelan crisis knocked on her door, with hundreds of Venezuelans passing by Carmen´s village every day, so she decided to help. She is giving shelter to dozens of migrants every night, so they can have a rest before they continue their journey. “They can have a shower or a meal, or a place to sleep”, Carmen explains. “She’s become like a mom to us”, says Daniel, one of the Venezuelans who stays over at her hostel. Carmen does not only offer the people in need food and accommodation, but also refers them for local jobs and provides info on asylum procedures and other services in Ecuador. In exchange, most of them are happy to help her serving the meals, and sit down to talk and listen to other newcomers. “I may not have money, but I have a heart for those who come”, Carmen says. A Peruvian school welcoming Venezuelan children /file/school-peru-leads-way-integrate-venezuelans_enSchool in Peru leads the way to integrate Venezuelans Video of School in Peru leads the way to integrate Venezuelans Niurka Ramírez, a Venezuelan teacher working in southern Peru, feels at home at the school “Al aire libre”. The school is leading the way for the integration of Venezuelan teachers and children, who often find difficulties to resume their jobs and studies in their places of exile. It counts already 60 students and 3 teachers coming from Venezuela. One of them is Guillermo, a 10 year-old who has learned to play the trumpet in only four months and became one of the stars in the school band. Jose Caminante. "When you are walking, one step means you want to quit. Another step means your family is encouraging you to move forward.” /file/venezuelans-move-jose-caminante_enVenezuelans on the Move - Jose Caminante Video of Venezuelans on the Move - Jose Caminante Jose left Venezuela in September 2019, saying that the situation forced him to take this decision. It was the first time that he left his family and home. Jose was waking on foot with one of his closest friends and he remembers the strength and support that came from the group spirit. “When we laugh, we laugh together. When we cry, we cry together.” “If one gets sick, we all get sick.” During his journey the strain on his body was huge and he and his friends were grateful to receive medical support at one of IOM’s humanitarian tents near Pamplona. Johan: in search of medical care /file/venezuelans-move-johan-search-treatment_enVenezuelans on the Move - Johan, in search of treatment Video of Venezuelans on the Move - Johan, in search of treatment Johan is one of an estimated 7,700 refugees and migrants living with HIV and he remembers that “crossing Colombia on foot is both beautiful and sad". In search for medicine he needed to survive,he had to leave Venezuela. He emotionally remembers the difficulty of the journey but gratefully looks back to the life-saving help he got from UN staff. After 8 months living and working in Peru, he was able to pay a visit to his mother in Venezuela. Main photo credit: Carolina Celi / IOM International solidarity conference on the Venezuelan refugee and migrant crisis UNHCR page: Venezuela situation IOM: Venezuela refugee and migrant crisis Venezuela conference Refugee protection & Migration EU calls for halt to hostilities and all outside interference in Libya Remarks by High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini at the press conference following the International solidarity conference on the Venezuelan refugee and migrant crisis Check against delivery! First of all, let me say that I was really honoured to host together with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organisation for Migration this two-day conference to mobilise global solidarity for Venezuelan refugees and migrants. We Opening remarks by High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini at the International Solidarity Conference on the Venezuelan Refugee and Migrant CrisisOpening remarks by High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini at the International Solidarity Conference on the Venezuelan Refugee and Migrant Crisis Media Advisory: International solidarity conference on the Venezuelan refugee and migrant crisisThe European Union is organising, together with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration, the International solidarity conference on the Venezuelan refugee and migrant crisis on 28-29 October in Brussels, to raise awareness and International Solidarity Conference on the Venezuelan Refugee and Migrant crisis Brussels 28-29 October 2019- Joint communique by the co-chairs Languages: Español The International Solidarity Conference on the Venezuelan Refugee and Migrant Crisis held in Brussels on 28-29 October 2019 sent a strong message of support to the Venezuelan refugees and migrants as well as to their host countries and communities in Latin America and the	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1224
__label__cc	0.698359	0.301641	Call now! 610-892-9942 \| 12 Veterans Square, Media, PA 19063\|info@elman.com Science Fiction Meets Legal Vision® Cookie Statement (EU) Gerry J. Elman, M.S., J.D. More web links to Gerry Elman Gerry Elman – CV M.P. Moon, Ph.D., J.D. Intellectual Property (in general) Patent Legislation Patent Enforcement Trade Secret Internet Domains Clients’ Patents Home/Associations Aug. 21, 2018: Join the Cloud Security Alliance for a free breakfast & networking event in Philadelphia By Gerry Elman\|2018-08-16T08:39:26-04:00August 16th, 2018\|Associations, Cybersecurity, Events\| Cloud Security 101 - SMB Horror Stories and How to Avoid Them. Date: Tuesday, August 21, 2018 at 8 AM Location: WeWork, 1601 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103 Click here to register Gerry Elman and Josh Waterston are on the Board of CSA-DV and strongly support the goal of educating the public about cloud security. [...] American Bar Ass’n to distribute FBI cyber-threat warnings By Gerry Elman\|2016-04-13T11:22:41-04:00April 12th, 2016\|Associations, Cyberlaw, Cybersecurity, General\| April 12, 2016 - In the wake of headlines detailing cyber-breaches at some of the most prominent law firms in the U.S., the President of the American Bar Association this morning sent a letter to its members, advising that from now on we will receive FBI Amber Alerts with intelligence that warn of cyber-threats to the [...] BIO International Convention – June 27-30, 2011 – Washington, D.C. – let’s get together By Gerry Elman\|2018-05-08T11:14:21-04:00June 21st, 2011\|Associations, Events\| Flip over your June 2011 issue of BLR. The back cover features a spectacular illustration where I am fancifully transported into a science fiction story. Science Fiction Roundtable at the World Technology Summit, sponsored by Elman Technology Law By Gerry Elman\|2019-01-30T12:35:38-05:00November 22nd, 2010\|Associations, Events, Inventing, Patent Legislation\| By reading science fiction, we stretch our minds towards a vision of the future that we, as technologists, then help to engender. Use AIPLA’s Web Tool to Urge the Senate to Confirm David Kappos NOW as Director of the US PTO By Gerry Elman\|2019-05-28T12:16:19-04:00August 5th, 2009\|Associations, Intellectual Property, Patent\| This is an American Intellectual Property Law Ass'n (AIPLA) Action Alert: Help Confirm David Kappos as Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office "As an IP professional, you know that we need consistent and stable leadership at the USPTO. The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to consider the nomination tomorrow and the entire U.S. [...] Night at the Gala: Christina Smolke of Stanford wins 2009 World Technology Award in Biotechnology By Gerry Elman\|2018-04-27T10:53:21-04:00July 18th, 2009\|Associations, Events\| Gerry & Lois Elman at the 2009 World Technology Awards in New York City On July 16th Lois and I got dressed up for the World Technology Awards. As a member of the World Technology Network, I've had the honor of participating in the nomination process for awards in the law category since [...] Thanks, Jim Clark, for a great World Technology Summit! I had the time of my life at the World Technology Summit and Awards in New York City on July 15th and 16th. I guess it had to be that way, because it all took place in the Time & Life Building on 6th Avenue ... er "Avenue of the Americas" at 51st Street. For meetings and deliveries: 12 Veterans Square 1st Floor Left Media, PA 19063 U.S.A. Swarthmore, PA 19081-0209 U.S.A. Twitter: @TechLaw_Elman and @ElmanTechNews Our Related Websites Biotechnology Law Report – Gerry J. Elman, Founding Editor Mary Ann Liebert, publishers Stanford Club of Philadelphia Data Protection Advisory Council (DPAC) We are a member of the DPAC. Join us online at monthly Campfire events for answers to your questions. CPR Arbitration & Mediation Science & Its History, especially Chemistry TechnicallyPhilly The Inventing Life World Technology Network Sign up for occasional e-mails with news and information about our upcoming events. Elman Technology Law clients can quickly and securely make a payment using LawPay. Click on the white LawPay box below. Copyright Elman Technology Law, P.C., All Rights Reserved \| Terms and Conditions \|	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1226
__label__cc	0.731707	0.268293	Map Weather Girona Pyrenees Counties and municipalities Enogastronomy The history books refer to Castelló d'Empúries as the mediaeval capital of a county that experienced a long golden age. The town's mediaeval past remains evident in many of its streets and in buildings such as the basilica of Santa Maria, the Palace of the Counts or the Llotja (sea exchange building). But this mediaeval character really comes to the fore during the Festival Terra de Trobadors (Land of Troubadours), featuring period music, jousting, a mediaeval market and many other activities. On top of all this history, the town also boasts plenty of scenic attractions, with the Empordà wetlands as a backdrop, so you've got plenty of reasons to explore it. L’Alt Empordà Pl. Joc de la Pilota, 1 17486 Castelló d’Empúries (L’Alt Empordà) Website: www.castello.cat/ Restaurants Accommodation In social networks Costa Brava Girona Pyrenees Nature and active tourism Wine & Gastronomy We use our own and third-party cookies to analyse users’ browsing habits, improve our services and provide a better user browsing experience. You can change your cookie settings or obtain further information here. Manage cookie settings.	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1230
__label__cc	0.738994	0.261006	The Wind from the Desert Blew In… Posted by Su on October 28, 2008 Posted in: 2002, Luxor, Nile Cruise. Tagged: Egypt, Khamsin, Luxor, Nile Cruise, Wind. Leave a comment Journal: Wednesday 24 April 2002 It’s dull and muggy today. The sky is a leaden grey and the air thick and yellow and almost unbreathable. After a leisurely breakfast Mary and I sat for a while on the top deck of the Commodore in comfortable padded chairs and chatted to some of our fellow passengers. Farewells and addresses were exchanged. Today we were all leaving the cruise ship, some of us to stay another week in Luxor, a few had already departed for a short break in Cairo while others were returning home on the flight to England this afternoon. Mary and I had eventually got our packing finished after breakfast and were ready to leave. The boat was berthed alongside the Sheraton Hotel at the southern end of Luxor which is quite a distance to walk into town. The view from here is peaceful, with the West Bank mountains just over the river and the lovely Sheraton gardens a stone’s throw away. Lunch seemed to follow breakfast fairly quickly, a fabulous buffet as usual – I would certainly miss the meals aboard the Commodore – and then we were transferred by coach to the Novotel. This is the first time I’ve stayed in this hotel and our room feels huge and spacious after our small cramped cabin on the cruise ship. We are not directly overlooking the river from our balcony but have a corner room so we have a view of the hotel’s terraced gardens down to the Nile and the West Bank mountains as well as straight down the Corniche towards Luxor Temple. At least we should be able to see over the river but today the West Bank is shrouded in dusty clouds. After a week of very hot sunny days the notorious Khamsin has arrived. The Khamsin – literally the Arabic word for fifty – is an oppressively hot dry wind that blows south-easterly from the Sahara through Egypt, carrying with it large amounts of sand and dust and can last on and off for a period of around fifty days anytime between March and May. The wind, called ‘rih al khamsin’ by the Egyptians, is hated by them and in past centuries it was dreaded as a killer. The hot, zero-humidity atmosphere produced by the khamsin contains an excess of positive ions. It causes young people to feel overcharged with electricity which results in headaches, irritability and even violence, while older people react differently, becoming fatigued and depressed with low blood sugar which can cause different illnesses. It is a time when accidents are at their highest. Having experienced the Khamsin in Egypt a few times before I know this feeling. It always makes me feel depressed, so I suppose that puts me in the ‘older generation’ category. Mary and I spent the rest of the afternoon in our room in the Novotel, it was too hot and dusty to go out. In the early evening as the temperature cooled a little we walked the short distance to the Old Winter Palace and through the hotel’s beautiful gardens there where the perfumed air felt a little fresher. We watched the sun sink like a great orange bald head into the clouds. We had dinner at my old haunt the Amoun Restaurant and said hello to a few Egyptian friends who kept shops nearby. I bought a cheap wristwatch from Aboudi’s that had Arabic numerals on it’s face and a couple of books. Retail therapy! Divine Birth and Healing Dreams Posted in: 2002, Middle Egypt, Nile Cruise. Tagged: Dendera, Egypt, Luxor, Nile Cruise, Temple. Leave a comment Journal: Tuesday 23 April 2002 We were finally allowed off the boat when a coach arrived for us after breakfast this morning to take us to the Temple of Hathor at Dendera and we drove across the long bridge over the Nile and continued a few kilometres to the north, through fields of crops – a very rural Egypt here. When we were almost there we had a spectacular view across the fields to a temple that looked very dramatic rising from the flat plain. Dendera is one of the latest temples and probably the best preserved after Philae, although it was built over the site of several much earlier structures. Outside the huge mudbrick enclosure wall there are cemeteries from the Old and Middle Kingdom Periods. Dendera Temple is dedicated to Hathor, as well as her consort Horus and their son Ihy, but this is Hathor’s home, while Horus lived at Edfu – the temple further south that I had visited last week. At Edfu one of the most important annual festivals was the ‘Feast of the Beautiful Meeting’, in which the cult statue of Hathor travels from Dendera to Edfu to consummate the goddess’s ‘marriage’ to Horus. Here at Dendera the marriage hardly gets a mention and it is the birth of their son Ihy, the divine heir, which seems to be more important, especially during the Late Period. In earlier times it was the king or queen’s divine birth that was portrayed on temple walls but by the Late Period this theology had been transposed to the birth of the gods. In the later temples, Dendera, Esna, Edfu, Kom Ombo and Philae, the birth-houses or mammisi told the story of how the divine sons were conceived and born, depending on the place and the triad involved, but in each, the legend of the king’s birth is also prominent in the mix. The divine son’s father is both the king of the gods as well as the earthly king and it is usually the reigning king who welcomes the new-born child because he is spiritual heir to both the king and the god. It gets very confusing to work out what is going on. I spent most of my time today in the Ptolemaic and later Graeco-Roman birth-houses looking at the reliefs. The decorations in both the earlier and later mammisi depict the story of Hathor, Horus and their child – from courtship to the birth. One particular scene I love here is the formation of Ihy’s ka by Khnum on his potter’s wheel with Tauret the hippo-goddess and the frog-goddess Hekat waiting to take Hathor to her confinement. Next to the Ptolemaic mammisi is the sanatorium which also fascinates me and this has recently been undergoing restoration work so that several more low walls have appeared since my last visit here. The best overview of this structure is from the upper temple roof and I quickly sprinted up there to have a look – time was running short. These sanatoria, which appeared in many of the larger temples, were not medical hospitals as the name suggests, but places of healing the mind and the only surviving sanatorium is at Dendera, which had a reputation for healing. With he help of priests the wisdom and compassion of Hathor was called upon in the small chambers around the sides of the building, where the sick and diseased would await the heavenly dreams that suggested a cure. This always makes me wonder what hallucinogenic drugs were used. As well as prophetic dreams, water cures were offered in the central part of the sanatorium. Here, water was poured over divine statues on pedestals covered in magical texts, collected into basins and drunk by the sick, or sometimes used for immersion. By lunchtime we were back on the Commodore and already heading back downriver to Luxor, a reverse of yesterday afternoon’s journey. Mary and I lounged on deck and I wrote up some notes while keeping an eye out for interesting scenes with one hand on my camera. I think this has been the hottest day so far. By dinner time we were back in Luxor and the evening’s entertainment had arrived. First was a belly dancer, who I thought was terrible but the male passengers seemed to enjoy. I usually love to watch Egyptian dance but I’ve seen much better than this lady and I was disappointed. This act was followed by the dervish dancer who I’ve seen before and is brilliant to watch, spinning and twirling with his rainbow-coloured skirts swinging about him. It was very late when we got to bed and we haven’t even packed yet for tomorrow’s transfer to our hotel. Familiar Territory Posted in: 2002, Luxor, Nile Cruise. Tagged: Cruising, Egypt, Karnak Temple, Luxor Temple, Qena. Leave a comment Journal: Monday 22 April 2002 We woke up in Luxor this morning, after sailing through the night and docking in the early hours. I felt a little cheated – only the fifth day of the cruise and already we back in the place I know best. For some reason we didn’t call at Esna as I had done on previous cruises and I missed the little temple. Early his morning we were on the coach bound for Karnak Temple, which the rest of the passengers were dying to see, but I prefer a more leisurely wander of that vast place. No doubt I would go back there next week anyway. So today, as our groups went around with the guides I spent my time taking photographs. Being there so early in the morning meant the light was perfect for a couple of places I wanted to see. The first was the ‘Busbastite Gate’. I’d recently been doing some work on the Third Intermediate Period and I wanted to see the reliefs on the outer wall of the First court and on the gate itself. The Dynasty XXII king Shoshenq I was a military leader, a Libyan chieftain and nephew of Osorkon ‘the Elder’. Because his family were associated with Bubastis in the south-eastern Delta, Shoshenq’s reign is usually described as ‘Bubastite’ and as founder of Dynasty XXII, inscriptions at Karnak still refer to the king by his traditional Libyan title of ‘Great Chief of Ma’. Shoshenq’s building works at Karnak were intended to be the construction of a great court with the huge gateway we call the ‘Bubastite Gate’ in its south-east corner. There are records that he began quarrying at Silsela to obtain sandstone for his Karnak building, but he probably didn’t embark upon this until towards the end of his reign and only the decoration around the gateway was completed. This however, provides one of the most important sources of history we have for the period – the interpretation by some scholars of reliefs on the gate, naming Shoshenq as the ‘Shishak, King of Egypt’ of biblical fame, who sacked Jerusalem in the reign of Reheboam, though there is no mention of Jerusalem in the names of cities which can be read. It is clear that the decoration of the exterior walls was intended to show Shoshenq’s military might, but only one scene was craved depicting his Palestinian campaigns, and of the 150 or more places named only a few are well-preserved. There are few other building works attributed to Shoshenq. The second thing I wanted to see in the low morning light was the back of the Third Pylon, which is supposed to have a depiction of Amenhotep IV on the barque of Amenhotep III. The pylon wall was beautifully lit as I had expected and I did see a tiny figure of a king which may have been what I was looking for, but I wasn’t sure and will need to do more research on this. It felt like we had only just arrived at Karnak when, after an hour and a half it was time to leave. I tagged along behind the rest of the group on our way back to the coach muttering ‘been there, done that, didn’t have time to buy the T-shirt!. The truth is that I’ve been spoilt having so much time to spend at Karnak in the past. Thank goodness Mary and I are here in Luxor for another week at the end of the cruise. With this thought I didn’t bother going into a very crowded Luxor Temple with the others for a scrum, but wandered up the length of the avenue of sphinxes which thankfully was deserted. By lunchtime the day had become very hot and we were all glad to be back on the air-conditioned coach and on our way back to the Commodore. While we had lunch, the Commodore was off again, this time cruising north towards Qena. I began to feel better about the cruise seeming so short – I had forgotten that we were to visit Dendera Temple, or at least forgotten that we were cruising there. The cruises I’ve done in the past were never allowed to go north of Luxor, though I had been to Dendera on a smaller boat. The scenery north of Luxor seems different to the south. There are more little villages on the banks, more people using the river to wash clothes and animals. It’s also not so wide on this part as some of the upper parts of the river. The colours seemed different too, less of the sharp blues and greens we saw nearing Aswan and more browns, the land is the colour of straw baked in the sun. The air that was clear and fresh going south was muggy and dense here, especially as the sandstone cliffs on both banks of the river closed in on us and then opened out again as we neared Qena. As the river widened we were met by a police escort in an inflatable boat who guided us into the newly built dock just as the sun was setting. I wondered at the police escort and it turned out that we were not allowed off the boat at all – not even onto the dock, where armed police were on guard throughout the night. The security people were obviously still being very cautious here. But we filled the evening with an organized quiz – the same teams as last night – we were the ‘Eyes of Horus’ again and this time we came first, answering correctly 60 out of 65 questions. The prize was three bottles of Egyptian wine that we shared between us at the end of the evening and went off to bed happy. Aswan in the Blink of an Eye Posted in: 2002, Aswan, Nile Cruise. Tagged: Aswan. High Dam. Philae Temple, Egypt, Treasure Hunt. Leave a comment Journal: 21 April 2002 Today was our group excursion around Aswan, in which we would see all of Aswan’s tourist attractions in five hours (!!?). I shudder to think that this is the usual amount time allotted to most people who visit the town as part of a cruise. But that’s just the way it has to be and at least it gives a flavour of the place, albeit a rushed one. We were on the coach and on our way to the High Dam by 8.00am. We drove onto the eastern end of the long dam past the Egyptian-Russian friendship monument, a modern concrete architectural sculpture called the ‘Lotus Tower’ that didn’t seem to bear any resemblance to a lotus to me. Our coach stopped in the middle of the dam and we were given the statistical facts and figures by a specialist guide. The Egyptians are very proud of this gigantic feat of engineering, the construction material used on the dam is said to equal that of 17 Great Pyramids. Aswan High Dam is a huge wall of rocks which captures the world’s longest river, the Nile, in the one of the world’s largest reservoirs, Lake Nasser. The first dam, in an endeavour to curb the annual Nile flood that had enabled agricultural fertilization for thousands of years, was built just to the north of here in 1889 and was subsequently raised several times as it could not cope with the volume of water coming down through Sudan from the Ethiopian highlands. In 1970 a new High Dam, called Saad el-Aali in Arabic, was completed after ten years work mostly with Russian funding and engineering expertise. The benefits to Egypt in controlling the annual floods are said to have raised agricultural productivity by providing constant and much-needed water for irrigation as well as preventing damage to the flood plain, but the downside of this is in the ever-increasing use of chemical fertilizers by the farmers, which in turn causes a great deal of pollution. Meanwhile, down in the Nile Delta the land is slowly sinking because of erosion due to the decrease in river sediments. Although the construction of the High Dam has provided Egypt with a regulated 85% of its water, the ownership of the water itself is currently disputed by the countries it passes through before reaching the Egyptian border. Other benefits to Egypt include the provision of about a half of Egypt’s power supply from the dam’s hydro-electric station and it has also improved navigation along the river by keeping the water flow consistent. The 550km length of Lake Nasser holds 169 billion cubic metres of water and it was promise of this vast build-up of water that was responsible for the relocation of more than 90,000 Nubians, both Egyptian and Sudanese who had lived along the Nubian shores. It was not only the people who suffered, but the ancient monuments too had to be surveyed then relocated or removed before the land was flooded. The most famous of these was the Temple of Rameses II at Abu Simbel, which was taken down stone by stone and rebuilt on dryer land in what has to be the world’s most impressive archaeological rescue operation. Under the auspices of UNESCO, twenty-four major Nubian monuments were salvaged and re-erected, with some of the lesser temples given as gifts to countries around the world who contributed to the scheme. One relocated temple, Kalabsha could be seen from the other side of the dam and with a long lens I managed to grab a few pictures. The Temple and other monuments on the site is due to be open to visitors soon we are promised. Another of the temples to be affected by the construction of the dam was our next port of call, the Philae Temple of Isis, now reconstructed on nearby Agilika Island. As I have already been to Philae several times before and time today was so short, I quickly detached myself from the group to take photographs and after their tour, Hala came and pointed out a couple of reliefs I hadn’t seen before. In a building next to the Nilometer is a relief depicting the source of the Nile and also an interesting scene about harvest and inundation. I rushed around the temple and the outer structures looking at things I wanted to see again but all to soon it was time to leave. The journey by boat to Philae is one of the nicest parts of a visit here and on the way back the boat took us around the island past the towering Trajan’s Kiosk – always a lovely view. The visit to the obligatory papyrus factory on the way back was at least a change from the perfume palaces I had previously seen in Aswan. We were back on the Commodore and I thought it would soon be time for lunch, but we were ushered straight out again with Hala for an hour’s trip around the islands in a motor boat. About 20 of us crowded into the large boat and we were speeded around the river to a musical accompaniment of drums and Nubian songs from the little crew, including that well-known old favourite, ‘O Aleyli…’. While this was good fun, I took a moment to gaze longingly at the lovely vista of the sand-covered Nobles tombs on the West Bank wishing there was time to visit them today. Then the motor-boat trip was over and we were all back on the cruise ship having lunch while the captain manoeuvred us out into the river to begin our return journey north back towards Luxor. The afternoon was restful and uneventful as we all lounged on the upper deck once more enjoying the slowly passing scenery presented on either bank of the river. Just as the sun was setting I got excited because I saw Gebel Silsela with its carved and quarried rock terraces high on the West Bank and rushed for my camera – but we had passed before I could get a picture. Another place I’d love to visit one day. The evening’s entertainment came in the form of a treasure hunt. We were divided up into named teams of six – ours was the ‘Eyes of Horus’. As I have taken part in a couple of these treasure hunts before, and therefore knew what to expect, there was a bit of a scramble between the passengers we knew, who wanted to be in my team. The items the teams had to find, enact or improvise in a given amount of time were as follows: Three tickets for temples A Pyramid An Egyptian flag Ladies sexy underwear (modelled) A man dressed as a woman A woman dressed as a man 5 Arabic words (spoken) An umbrella (not a sun-shade) A real live belly dancer A T-shirt from a previous holiday destination A chocolate bar A scene from ‘Titanic’ A song written and performed about this cruise We divided up the list between team members, each allocated certain tasks. You would not believe how difficult it is to find some of these items on a cruise ship. The ‘judges’ were made up of the captain and the three Egyptian tour leaders and after they’d managed to stop laughing they just had to award the first prize to the team who’d provided the best entertainment. But the ‘Eyes of Horus’ came second and we’d all had a hilarious time. The evening flew by and at Midnight we were passing once more through the lock at Esna. A Taste of Nubia Posted in: 2002, Aswan, Local Customs, Nile Cruise. Tagged: Aswan, Egypt, Elephantine, Kitchener's Island. Leave a comment Journal: Saturday 20 April 2002 Our cruise ship the Commodore, was berthed on the east bank of the Nile next to a row of motor boats for hire. Today was scheduled as a free day in Aswan for us because some of the passengers had gone to Abu Simbel on a pre-dawn flight. On a previous cruise I’d been south to the Nubian temple of Rameses II and couldn’t again justify the cost of this extra trip for so little time there – merely and hour or two, though I would have loved to have gone. Over breakfast Mary and I discussed what we would like to do with our day. She wanted to go sailing in a felucca, but there was hardly any wind this bright still morning, unusual for Aswan, although it may pick up this afternoon I told her. A small group of passengers at our table were talking about going to a Nubian Village on the West Bank so Mary and I opted to join them. I suggested that we could perhaps call at the botanical gardens of Kitchener’s Island on the way as it was somewhere I had wanted to see and I went out and negotiated a motor boat with a captain called Ibrahim for the six of us. We motored through a narrow passage, between the massive rocks of Elephantine and the Old Cataract Hotel where my son Kit had almost crashed while sailing a felucca once. Soon we were pulling in to the quay of the small oval-shaped island that was given to Lord Horatio Kitchener in the 1890s for his part in the Sudanese campaigns, while he was the Egyptian Consul. A keen gardener, Kitchener constructed a botanical garden, importing many exotic plants and trees which flourished in the mild Aswan climate. Today, the island, which is now known as Plantation Island or by its Arabic name Geziret el-Nabatat, is a paradise of shade trees and vibrant exotic plants and I hoped we would get a glimpse of some of the colourful birds that are said to inhabit the island. It was a pleasant stroll along the neat paved paths that wound through well-tended plant beds. One of our group was a keen birdwatcher and he pointed out chiffchaffs and spectacled warblers, wheatears and shrikes – most of the birds he mentioned I’d never heard of. In 1928 the island, under the Ministry of Irrigation, was turned into an experimental station for plants from equatorial regions and alongside the native trees and plants of Aswan such as the sycamore fig and the date palm, many trees were brought from abroad and cultivated for use in the timber industry. Experimental oil and fruit crops were also propagated on the island by the Ministry of Agriculture. The island is now owned by the Egyptian government and there is still a biological research station at its southern end which is not open to visitors. We walked as far as we could go, to where a little cafeteria overlooked the water, but we had no time to stay as our Captain Ibrahim waited with our boat to take us further downriver. The village of Nag’ Seheil Gharb is as its name suggests, just to the west of Seheil Island towards the First Cataract. As Ibrahim piloted us through the river he carried on the ornithology lesson by pointing out hoopoes, night herons, a black kite, kingfishers diving for fish and the inevitable white egrets. On this part of the river a huge volume of water bubbles boils and churns over rocks that have been carved over time into wonderful shapes, towards the once-treacherous cataracts at the old dam. We were met on the bank by a hoard of children who grabbed at our hands and our clothes and dragged us up the steep dunes towards the village. They all had something to sell of course and most were toting large baskets of wooden dolls and camels they had made, Nubian crochet hats, bright cotton scarves and even tiny mummified crocodiles. In the village itself narrow alleyways with a scattering of goats wound between beautifully decorated houses, dazzling white or multi-coloured in the morning sun. I was surprised at how clean it all looked. Doorways and windows were framed by typical Nubian painting – geometric patterns and colourful shapes that added glamour to the tiny houses. A self-appointed guide soon attached himself to us and after we all declined a camel ride, he insisted we went for a drink in a ‘typical Nubian house’ – obviously one kept for the purpose of visiting tourists. What did we have to lose (except money) and most of us were curious to see inside one of the pretty houses. The house he took us to was quite large with a sandy courtyard lined with stone mastaba benches covered in colourful striped woven rugs. Someone went off to make our tea and while we waited several of us got into the spirit of the visit by agreeing to (rather reluctantly on my part) have henna tattoos. We were assured that they were not permanent, lasting only a week or two and they were very well done. Mine was an intertwining of flowers and vines on my ankle and looked quite attractive, but was something I would never dream of having at home. All of this took rather a long time, but as we went back out into the street the little crowd of children were still waiting patiently with their baskets of goodies and a few of our party gave in and bought some of the toys. The mummified baby crocodiles had no takers! We were back on the Commodore for in time for lunch, the journey home being much quicker as we were motoring with the current rather than against it, around the more direct western side of Elephantine Island. Mary still wanted her felucca trip, so before going back on board we arranged a sailing boat to Elephantine for the afternoon, which satisfied both of us. I had never had time to get to the island before, so the combination of a restful afternoon sail along with a quick tour of the monuments was perfect. The early afternoon sun was scorching on Elephantine. A guide showed us around the monument area, which included the largest surviving structure, the Temple of the ram-headed creator-god Khnum, at the southern end of the island, which dates from New Kingdom to Roman times. A granite gateway built by Alexander is the only large structure of the temple remaining intact and the jumbles mass of ruins behind it are difficult to identify due to ongoing excavation. At the front of the temple, which is oriented east to west, a restored pavement surrounds fragmentary remains of columns built by Rameses II. This leads down to a Roman quay that overlooks the river. Further north, behind the museum building there is the site of a small restored Temple of the goddess Satis, the consort of Khnum, built in the time of Hatshepsut and Tuthmose III. The reconstruction here by the German Archaeological Institute has been sensitively done, with the few remaining reliefs supplemented by drawings and I thought the delicate colourful paintings in this temple were beautiful. The temple was built over Middle Kingdom remains beneath different floor levels as well as a Dynasty VI temple. The latest structure to emerge from the excavations at the Satis Temple is an Early Dynastic shrine which we saw in a crypt-like area below the reconstructed temple. It was a little flooded by water and very dark, but it intrigued me as this must be one of the earliest remaining shrines in Egypt. Probably one of the most popular structures on the island, just in front of the museum, is the nilometer. This was one of the earliest known nilometers and was used by the ancient Egyptians to measure the height of the Nile floods in order to forecast the level of inundation and so gauge taxes for the coming harvest. Ninety steps lead steeply down to the river from the entrance. When we had finished the tour our guide invited us to join him in a glass of tea under the shade of a trellis, which we gratefully accepted on this hot day. Finally we visited the museum, a rather dark and dingy set of rooms that I thought could do with a good clean, but there were some very nice objects there. Eventually we were back on the felucca, sailing on the river and trying to catch a glimpse of the many boulder inscriptions naming the kings and governors who have been associated with Elephantine, once the Egyptian frontier to Nubia. During our return journey our ebony-skinned captain chatted with us about Aswan being Nubian, not Egyptian and it certainly feels that way. There is an easy-going atmosphere to the place that is apparent in the gentle breeze, the light-hearted way these people treat tourists and the ever-present reggae music that was softly playing from a cassette deck on the boat. Back on the Commodore once more, we had a couple of hours before dinner so Mary and I decided to take a caleche to the suq, now that the day was cooling down. After dinner, our Nubian day was continued with great local music and dancing (by members of the crew) and entertainment by a ‘witchdoctor’. Onward to Aswan Posted in: 2002, Nile Cruise. Tagged: Edfu Temple, Egypt, Kom Ombo, Nile Cruise. 2 Comments Journal: Friday 19 April 2002 What a beautiful morning to wake up in Edfu, where we had docked at some time during the night. The low sun was casting pale glittering shadows on the river as we went down to breakfast. It wasn’t quite such an early start as yesterday but we had left the boat by 8.00am for the short coach ride through the busy town of Edfu to the Temple of Horus. I’ve visited Edfu Temple several times before but today I was surprised by how quiet it was. We parked in the street alongside the stalls selling galabeyas and souvenirs and walked along the western side of the long temple enclosure wall, past rows and rows of larger-than-life Ptolemaic kings offering to various deities and then around to the huge First Pylon. To my amazement the courtyard was empty and so was the temple – our little group were the only visitors this morning. I stayed with Hala and the other guide for a while before setting off to take pictures, a temple devoid of the hoards was an opportunity not to be missed. While Mary stuck with the group, I went to photograph the eastern staircase. I was hoping to find a guard who might let me go up onto the roof. I soon found a willing enough guard, but unfortunately he didn’t have the key to the locked gate at the top, I guess it’s a no-go area. But the staircase was interesting and very similar to the dark winding stairs at Dendera, with priests and standard-bearers processing up and down. The ‘Pure Place’, a kiosk-like shrine to Hathor at the bottom of the stairs in an open ‘sun court’, is also identical to the one at Dendera, with the same figure of the sky goddess Nut on the ceiling. In many respects this is Dendera’s twin temple, this being the abode of Horus, while Dendera belonged to his consort Hathor. The cult statue of the goddess was brought here each year by river to join with hubby to celebrate the ‘Feast of the Beautiful meeting’. Scenes of this important annual festival are shown in great detail inside the porticos of the courtyard, but there was not enough time today to study these reliefs. I caught up with the group while they were in the sanctuary and then it was time to leave. I would dearly have liked a few more hours here – I had intended to have a good look at the Roman mamissi, on which the mamissi at Dendera was modelled but there was no time. This is a drawback in doing a cruise. It gives the visitor a taste of ancient Egyptian archaeology but you really need a separate visit to see much more. By 10.30am we were back on the boat on our way to Kom Ombo. The weather has been much warmer today and Mary and I sat on the boat’s top deck in the shade in the afternoon watching river scenes. My friend dozed on a sun lounger while I jumped up and down taking photographs of the odd clump of drifting water hyacinth, a heron on the river bank or a tiny island populated by the ubiquitous white egrets, but it was very peaceful. By the time we reached Kom Ombo the sun was already low and our visit to the temple, high on its promontory on a bend in the river, was quite rushed. It was almost dark when we left, running the gauntlet of souvenir stalls whose owners were desperate to compete for the last of the day’s sales. Many of the cruise passengers bought galabeyas and head-wear for tonight’s ‘galabeya party’ but I have brought an old favourite with me from my collection at home. As we were steaming away from Kom Ombo I stood on the rear deck watching the beautiful spectacle of the temple, floodlit now and standing gracefully to await tomorrow’s new consignment of visitors. The galabeya party after dinner was fun, with everyone dressed up and getting into the spirit of things. Some of my fellow passengers are real characters, stealing the show with their outrageous antics. We arrived and docked at Aswan around 10.30pm but I don’t think anyone noticed we had stopped until much later. Morning in the Kings’ Valley Posted by Su on October 9, 2008 Posted in: 2002, Luxor, Nile Cruise. Tagged: Deir el-Bahri, Egypt, Luxor West Bank, Valley of the Kings. Leave a comment Journal: Thursday 18 April 2002 We overslept this morning and after a very rushed breakfast Mary and I dashed out to the Corniche to board the coach at 7.00am for the first of our excursions. It seemed like the sun had also overslept – the weather was grey and windy and disappointing for our first day in Egypt. The cruise passengers were divided up into three groups of about a dozen, each with our own Egyptian guide. Our guide is Hala, an Egyptologist who is taking time off from her regular job at a university in Cairo. As the coach wound its way through the wakening streets of Luxor towards the bridge and the West Bank, we were given a brief history of Thebes and the monuments we would see today, in that witty way that guides have in an attempt to break the ice, trying to get their charges to interact. By the time we reached our first destination, the Valley of the Kings, the ice had broken and we were all properly awake, including the sun that had at last appeared above the bank of cloud bringing with it a pleasant warmth. I’m not used to going to the Valley at this time of day, preferring the quiet of the afternoon when most of the tourists have gone, but although it was very crowded it felt great to be back as we all trooped up the road from the coach park between the high sandstone cliffs that enclose this sacred necropolis. As the Valley widened out the crowds dispersed and the familiar silence, unique to this place, enveloped me. I had dreamed of visiting the Valley of the Kings since I was a young child and since my first encounter with it in 1995 and many more hours spent here, the place has become very familiar. I felt like I knew every inch of every tomb like old friends. It was a different experience visiting the royal tombs with a guide and a group. We went into the tomb of Rameses IX (KV6), the first tomb the visitor reaches when entering the Valley. This wouldn’t have been my first choice, the decoration is quite late and well developed and rather bemusing if you haven’t seen any of the other tombs that show the way the decoration evolved, but at least the access is easy and not to strenuous for starters. As we walked down the wide corridors past walls decorated with extracts from the ‘Book of Gates’ , the ‘Litanies of Re’, the ‘Book of Caverns’ and the ‘Amduat’, Hala did her best to give a commentary but she had to shout to compete with several other guides speaking in different languages. It was like being in the Tower of Babel! One of the most beautiful parts of this tomb is the vaulted astronomical ceiling in the burial chamber which has a famous double representation of the goddess Nut who swallows the sun each night and gives birth to it again each morning. Afterwards, Mary and I set off on our own to visit the tomb of Seti II (KV15), which was left unfinished but with some beautiful reliefs and the tomb of Tawosret / Sethnakht (KV14) with it’s delicate paintings in the corridors and the king’s huge granite sarcophagus in the burial chamber. At least these last two tombs were not crowded, in fact we had Tawosret’s tomb to ourselves – which was my reason for choosing it this morning. I took a lot of photographs but it was quite dark, so I’m not optimistic that they will come out. I had a quick look at the ATP (Amarna Tombs Project) excavations – but the team were not here and the excavations covered over. I did notice a new wooden bridge that had been built over part of the road covering the excavations. After the Valley we stopped at the inevitable alabaster ‘factory’ and while my fellow passenger admired the translucent vases and colourful statues (which are not produced here at all) and watched a demonstration by a suitably dusty stone carver, I had a chat with Hala, who I was beginning to see as a guide worth listening to. It’s nice to see a female Egyptologist (a rare breed) and she is rather a serious person. Not at all like my previous experience of guides who prefer to impart jokes rather than information. I could see that we would get along very well. Hatshepsut’s Temple at Deir el-Bahri was our next stop – the queen re-named ‘Hot-chicken-soup’ by the only male guide! Ha-ha yawn… Here I detached myself from the group and sped up to the third terrace which was now officially open after its years of total rebuild. I spent all my time taking photographs of the scenes of the Valley Festival which adorn the walls of this terrace but was a little disappointed to find that the side-chambers were still off-limits. I’ve been very fortunate to have a private view of the third terrace on a previous occasion as the guest of an antiquities inspector, so I really couldn’t complain. I must say it’s looking good with the colourful reliefs very well-restored. By 12.00pm the sun was burning down on us in the bay of cliffs that surround Hatshepsut’s temple and it was time for all sensible tourists to head home. Our last brief stop was at the Colossi of Memnon, the two giant statues of Amenhotep III which once graced the entrance to his mortuary temple. The sun was at a totally wrong angle for decent photographs and I chuckled to myself as I remembered my last visit here a couple of years ago – a Midnight expedition with my friend Jenny and tea with the tourist police who were on guard that night. We were back on the boat in time for lunch and immediately ‘set sail’ for Esna, the next big town on the Nile going south. We had a lazy afternoon on deck watching the activity on the banks of the river as the boat steamed past tiny villages, unchanged since the days of ancient Egypt. A strong wind made the air decidedly cool and I watched a few brave people splashing about in the tiny pool determined to enjoy their holiday in the sun. By 7.00pm we were moving through Esna lock, where the boats are lifted up to the next level of the river. Boys in little canoe-like craft drifted around our ship shouting at us to buy souvenirs which they would throw up to the passengers on deck and hope that in return, money would find its way back down. A strange way to do business. Before dinner we had the ‘Manager’s cocktail party’ with an array of precariously stacked vibrant glasses of drinks in every colour – a real spectacle. We had docked in Esna town during dinner, but we were one of a row of several cruise-boats and we were discouraged from going ashore. © 2002-2019 Su Bayfield All content and photographs on this web log are copyright and may not be reproduced for any purpose without the written permission of the copyright holder. Please respect my personal text and photographs. Home Before the ‘Arab Spring’ Good Morning Luxor Sphinxes More Temples in Kharga A Long Long Drive Sunset and Sunrise in the White Desert The Old and the Very Old To Dakhla Oasis Sites and Museum of Kharga The Desert Road 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2010 2011 Abydos Aswan Bahariya Cairo Colossi of Memnon Dahshur Dakhla Deir el-Bahri Deir el-Medina Deir el-Shelwit Delta Dendera Eastern Desert Edfu el-Moalla Esna Faiyum Farafra Giza Hurghada Islamic Cairo Karnak Temple Kharga Kom Ombo Local Customs Luxor Luxor Area Luxor Temple Malqata Medinet Habu Memphis Middle Egypt Minya Mythology Nile Cruise Nobles Tombs Philae Temple Qasr el-Aguz Saqqara Shenhur Sinai Tell el-Amarna Tod Uncategorized Valley of the Kings Valley of the Queens Western Desert Dr Sphinx's Blog Egyptology News Emhotep Images of Dier el-Medina Luxor News Luxor One Day at a Time Mummy’s Wrap News from the Kings Valley Talking Pyramids The Eloquent Peasant thegreatbelzoni Tines Ægypten Whither Nubia	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1232
__label__wiki	0.987943	0.987943	From Parts Unknown: Touring, Music Vids and Recording Over The Past 5 Years Posted on March 10, 2018 March 12, 2018 by En La Calle \| On The Street From Parts Unknown: Ben McCracken (center), Kyle Owens (left), Chris Parrish (right) \| contributed Photo By Juan R Govea Getting back from Tulsa and then back down to Fort Worth at Main at South Side and ending their tour with a music video shoot in Deep Ellum, the day after; the Punk group known as From Parts Unknown keep a more than busy schedule. After their first release Bruiser and Last January’s EP Release Trucker Speed the group is hopeful to add additional tracks for a full album later this year. As of now Ben McCracken (guitar, lead vocals); Chris Parrish (Upright Bass) and Kyle Owens (Drums) have been rocking Deep Ellum and all of DFW for more than 5 years. The bands first show was set at a House show next door to The Double Wide in Dallas Texas being their first show as the punk rock group From Parts Unknown. Since then the group has been gaining more attention in the punk rock scene since then. Dallas’ John Lambert recently directed the music video late last month, which is still in the works with no official release date yet. McCracken says a sneak peek is set to debut soon, while also mentioning another animated music video on their list of plans. Their self-titled EP, which was originally intended to be an 8-song album, was recorded at Goodnight audio, but due to the studios unfortunate wasted budget and unorganized staff, McCracken said the 3 track EP was released instead. “After recording take after take and the studio engineers being unorganized methheads we ended up with only three songs from what was supposed to be eight.” Bruiser, their first full album was released in December of 2016. As well a cover from Fat Wrecks’ Lagwagon, Coffee and Cigarettes off Lagwagon’s Duh album for a compilation on From Parts Unknown label Dang Records located in Dallas. From Parts Unknown at Main At South Side in Fort Worth Texas \| Photo Credit: Juan R Govea The group plays Three Links Anniversary Show March 10 and will be at Backyard on Bell March 30 and Main at Southside the next night. McCracken and the guys are currently in touring season all of March and May. “Gonna head west to California on tour playing 5 sets in May with American Pinup in the west and The Palatines from McAllen for the first dates in Texas, McCracken says. As far as the band’s riotous and energetic performance on stage the group says they obviously try to stay on beat but enjoy the energy and try to keep their dynamics planned. Parrish says the band tries to build a familiarity with each set while keeping songs fresh as possible “It’s a cross between don’t fuck up, kickin’ it with the boys, and most important, don’t fuck up!! In the end it’s all one big blur,“ Owens says. Owens says he’s been playing drums for as long as he can remember, but more than a decade. And agrees with the band mates that while they all share the stage the pleasing goal is to not fuck up. “I like to do cymbal stops for Kyle while he plays the drums (and I play my bass) and Ill sing in Ben’s mic whether he wants me to or not, “ Parrish says. “Really the only challenge live is trying not to crash into Ben when we get to playing recklessly. I ran into him once and it broke the scroll off of my bass; nothing a little Devcon 2-part epoxy couldn’t fix though.” Parrish, says he started playing the electric bass When he was 15 years old and played it until he was 19. At 20 Parrish got his first upright bass and hasn’t touched a bass guitar ever since. “The upright tunes to E and has four strings just like an electric bass, that’s the same but the size and playing styles are so much different,” he says. “Most folks are surprised that I really don’t play rockabilly or psychobilly and in fact, a lot of venues, promoters and people have tried to pigeon hole as such. It’s been tough to break through that stigma.” Ben McCracken Frontman for From Parts Unknown \| Photo Credit: Juan R Govea PreviousFortress Festival Unveils Chromeo Headliner, Fort Worthians Added as Openers NextA Word With Ian Salazar: Songs About Love N’ Shit Vol.2	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1236
__label__wiki	0.883483	0.883483	Select Language (fr-be) (fr-be) L’ESO en un clin d’œil Télescopes pour les grands relevés Les exoplanètes Les Archives Scientifiques ann15074 — Annonce Rock Star and Astrophysicist Brian May Visits Paranal On 28 and 29 September 2015, ESO’s Paranal Observatory welcomed a very special visitor — British rock guitarist, singer, songwriter and astrophysicist, Brian May. Unbeknownst to many, Brian May — famed for being the lead guitarist of the legendary rock band Queen — has a passion for astronomy. In addition to holding a PhD in astrophysics, the guitarist is a science team collaborator for NASA's New Horizons mission, which flew past Pluto in July 2015. ESO therefore decided to invite Brian May to come to Paranal while he was in Santiago, Chile, as part of his current South American Queen tour with Queen drummer Roger Taylor and American singer Adam Lambert. ESO’s Paranal Observatory is located 130 kilometres south of Antofagasta, in the arid Chilean Atacama Desert. It is home to the four 8.2-metre Unit Telescopes and four 1.8-metre Auxiliary Telescopes of ESO’s Very Large Telescope. Paranal is one of the best sites for observational astronomy in the world. Touring the facilities, May visited the telescopes at the summit of Cerro Paranal and spent the night at Paranal’s award-winning Residencia, which houses the staff working on site at the observatory. The guitarist was welcomed in the observatory control room by the observing teams as an honorary visiting astronomer; and Monday evening’s activities included securing images of the asteroid named after him, the planet Pluto, and the celebrated Pillars of Creation [1]. May studied for his PhD degree at Imperial College London. His doctoral thesis (spanning 30 years!) focused on properties of the zodiacal light, a misty diffuse cone of light scattered by dust in the Solar System that appears in western skies after sunset and in eastern skies before sunrise. On a dark and clear night, Paranal is one of the best places on Earth to see this elusive feature of the sky, and, indeed, in a small window between sunset and moonrise last night, the evening Zodiacal Cone was seen and photographed by the team at Paranal. [1] These observations did not affect the normal science operations of the telescopes. They were made at a time when poor seeing and full Moon meant that no other observations could be scheduled. Cell: +49 151 1537 3591 À propos de l'annonce Identification: ann15074 Image ann15074a Image ann15074b Image ann15074c Rock star and sstrophysicist Brian May visits Paranal Image ann15074d Vidéo ann15074a	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1240
__label__cc	0.70017	0.29983	By Marc Bernardin Updated March 12, 1999 at 05:00 AM EST Another X-Files clone, Strange offers up Paul Turner (Tim Guinee), a man employed by a misty arm of the military to investigate ”criminal abuses of science.” But during the Gulf War, he was infected by a mysterious bio-toxin, and the only thing keeping him alive is a serum provided by a shadow cabinet that’s using him to further its agenda. Our advice? Skip your meds, doc, and get out of this dreary World. D	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1247
__label__cc	0.696159	0.303841	(-) Remove <label class='research-domain' title='Synthetic Chemistry and Materials'>PE5 (106)</label> filter PE5 (106) Project acronym 2DMATER Project Controlled Synthesis of Two-Dimensional Nanomaterials for Energy Storage and Conversion Researcher (PI) Xinliang Feng Summary "Two-dimensional (2D) nanosheets, which possess a high degree of anisotropy with nanoscale thickness and infinite length in other dimensions, hold enormous promise as a novel class of ultrathin 2D nanomaterials with various unique functionalities and properties, and exhibit great potential in energy storage and conversion systems that are substantially different from their respective 3D bulk forms. Here I propose a strategy for the synthesis and processing of various 2D nanosheets across a broad range of inorganic, organic and polymeric materials with molecular-level or thin thickness through both the top-down exfoliation of layered materials and the bottom-up assembly of available molecular building blocks. Further, I aim to develop the synthesis of various 2D-nanosheet based composite materials with thickness of less than 100 nm and the assembly of 2D nanosheets into novel hierarchal superstrucutures (like aerogels, spheres, porous particles, nanotubes, multi-layer films). The structural features of these 2D nanomaterials will be controllably tailored by both the used layered precursors and processing methodologies. The consequence is that I will apply and combine defined functional components as well as assembly protocols to create novel 2D nanomaterials for specific purposes in energy storage and conversion systems. Their unique characters will include the good electrical conductivity, excellent mechanical flexibility, high surface area, high chemical stability, fast electron transport and ion diffusion etc. Applications will be mainly demonstrated for the construction of lithium ion batteries (anode and cathode), supercapacitors (symmetric and asymmetric) and fuel cells. As the key achievements, I expect to establish the delineation of reliable structure-property relationships and improved device performance of 2D nanomaterials." "Two-dimensional (2D) nanosheets, which possess a high degree of anisotropy with nanoscale thickness and infinite length in other dimensions, hold enormous promise as a novel class of ultrathin 2D nanomaterials with various unique functionalities and properties, and exhibit great potential in energy storage and conversion systems that are substantially different from their respective 3D bulk forms. Here I propose a strategy for the synthesis and processing of various 2D nanosheets across a broad range of inorganic, organic and polymeric materials with molecular-level or thin thickness through both the top-down exfoliation of layered materials and the bottom-up assembly of available molecular building blocks. Further, I aim to develop the synthesis of various 2D-nanosheet based composite materials with thickness of less than 100 nm and the assembly of 2D nanosheets into novel hierarchal superstrucutures (like aerogels, spheres, porous particles, nanotubes, multi-layer films). The structural features of these 2D nanomaterials will be controllably tailored by both the used layered precursors and processing methodologies. The consequence is that I will apply and combine defined functional components as well as assembly protocols to create novel 2D nanomaterials for specific purposes in energy storage and conversion systems. Their unique characters will include the good electrical conductivity, excellent mechanical flexibility, high surface area, high chemical stability, fast electron transport and ion diffusion etc. Applications will be mainly demonstrated for the construction of lithium ion batteries (anode and cathode), supercapacitors (symmetric and asymmetric) and fuel cells. As the key achievements, I expect to establish the delineation of reliable structure-property relationships and improved device performance of 2D nanomaterials." Project acronym 2O2ACTIVATION Project Development of Direct Dehydrogenative Couplings mediated by Dioxygen Researcher (PI) Frederic William Patureau Summary The field of C-H bond activation has evolved at an exponential pace in the last 15 years. What appeals most in those novel synthetic techniques is clear: they bypass the pre-activation steps usually required in traditional cross-coupling chemistry by directly metalating C-H bonds. Many C-H bond functionalizations today however, rely on poorly atom and step efficient oxidants, leading to significant and costly chemical waste, thereby seriously undermining the overall sustainability of those methods. As restrictions in sustainability regulations will further increase, and the cost of certain chemical commodities will rise, atom efficiency in organic synthesis remains a top priority for research. The aim of 2O2ACTIVATION is to develop novel technologies utilizing O2 as sole terminal oxidant in order to allow useful, extremely sustainable, thermodynamically challenging, dehydrogenative C-N and C-O bond forming coupling reactions. However, the moderate reactivity of O2 towards many catalysts constitutes a major challenge. 2O2ACTIVATION will pioneer the design of new catalysts based on the ultra-simple propene motive, capable of direct activation of O2 for C-H activation based cross-couplings. The project is divided into 3 major lines: O2 activation using propene and its analogues (propenoids), 1) without metal or halide, 2) with hypervalent halide catalysis, 3) with metal catalyzed C-H activation. The philosophy of 2O2ACTIVATION is to focus C-H functionalization method development on the oxidative event. Consequently, 2O2ACTIVATION breakthroughs will dramatically shortcut synthetic routes through the use of inactivated, unprotected, and readily available building blocks; and thus should be easily scalable. This will lead to a strong decrease in the costs related to the production of many essential chemicals, while preserving the environment (water as terminal by-product). The resulting novels coupling methods will thus have a lasting impact on the chemical industry. The field of C-H bond activation has evolved at an exponential pace in the last 15 years. What appeals most in those novel synthetic techniques is clear: they bypass the pre-activation steps usually required in traditional cross-coupling chemistry by directly metalating C-H bonds. Many C-H bond functionalizations today however, rely on poorly atom and step efficient oxidants, leading to significant and costly chemical waste, thereby seriously undermining the overall sustainability of those methods. As restrictions in sustainability regulations will further increase, and the cost of certain chemical commodities will rise, atom efficiency in organic synthesis remains a top priority for research. The aim of 2O2ACTIVATION is to develop novel technologies utilizing O2 as sole terminal oxidant in order to allow useful, extremely sustainable, thermodynamically challenging, dehydrogenative C-N and C-O bond forming coupling reactions. However, the moderate reactivity of O2 towards many catalysts constitutes a major challenge. 2O2ACTIVATION will pioneer the design of new catalysts based on the ultra-simple propene motive, capable of direct activation of O2 for C-H activation based cross-couplings. The project is divided into 3 major lines: O2 activation using propene and its analogues (propenoids), 1) without metal or halide, 2) with hypervalent halide catalysis, 3) with metal catalyzed C-H activation. The philosophy of 2O2ACTIVATION is to focus C-H functionalization method development on the oxidative event. Consequently, 2O2ACTIVATION breakthroughs will dramatically shortcut synthetic routes through the use of inactivated, unprotected, and readily available building blocks; and thus should be easily scalable. This will lead to a strong decrease in the costs related to the production of many essential chemicals, while preserving the environment (water as terminal by-product). The resulting novels coupling methods will thus have a lasting impact on the chemical industry. Project acronym 3-TOP Project Exploring the physics of 3-dimensional topological insulators Researcher (PI) Laurens Wigbolt Molenkamp Host Institution (HI) JULIUS-MAXIMILIANS-UNIVERSITAT WURZBURG Summary Topological insulators constitute a novel class of materials where the topological details of the bulk band structure induce a robust surface state on the edges of the material. While transport data for 2-dimensional topological insulators have recently become available, experiments on their 3-dimensional counterparts are mainly limited to photoelectron spectroscopy. At the same time, a plethora of interesting novel physical phenomena have been predicted to occur in such systems. In this proposal, we sketch an approach to tackle the transport and magnetic properties of the surface states in these materials. This starts with high quality layer growth, using molecular beam epitaxy, of bulk layers of HgTe, Bi2Se3 and Bi2Te3, which are the prime candidates to show the novel physics expected in this field. The existence of the relevant surface states will be assessed spectroscopically, but from there on research will focus on fabricating and characterizing nanostructures designed to elucidate the transport and magnetic properties of the topological surfaces using electrical, optical and scanning probe techniques. Apart from a general characterization of the Dirac band structure of the surface states, research will focus on the predicted magnetic monopole-like response of the system to an electrical test charge. In addition, much effort will be devoted to contacting the surface state with superconducting and magnetic top layers, with the final aim of demonstrating Majorana fermion behavior. As a final benefit, growth of thin high quality thin Bi2Se3 or Bi2Te3 layers could allow for a demonstration of the (2-dimensional) quantum spin Hall effect at room temperature - offering a road map to dissipation-less transport for the semiconductor industry. Topological insulators constitute a novel class of materials where the topological details of the bulk band structure induce a robust surface state on the edges of the material. While transport data for 2-dimensional topological insulators have recently become available, experiments on their 3-dimensional counterparts are mainly limited to photoelectron spectroscopy. At the same time, a plethora of interesting novel physical phenomena have been predicted to occur in such systems. In this proposal, we sketch an approach to tackle the transport and magnetic properties of the surface states in these materials. This starts with high quality layer growth, using molecular beam epitaxy, of bulk layers of HgTe, Bi2Se3 and Bi2Te3, which are the prime candidates to show the novel physics expected in this field. The existence of the relevant surface states will be assessed spectroscopically, but from there on research will focus on fabricating and characterizing nanostructures designed to elucidate the transport and magnetic properties of the topological surfaces using electrical, optical and scanning probe techniques. Apart from a general characterization of the Dirac band structure of the surface states, research will focus on the predicted magnetic monopole-like response of the system to an electrical test charge. In addition, much effort will be devoted to contacting the surface state with superconducting and magnetic top layers, with the final aim of demonstrating Majorana fermion behavior. As a final benefit, growth of thin high quality thin Bi2Se3 or Bi2Te3 layers could allow for a demonstration of the (2-dimensional) quantum spin Hall effect at room temperature - offering a road map to dissipation-less transport for the semiconductor industry. Project acronym 3D Reloaded Project 3D Reloaded: Novel Algorithms for 3D Shape Inference and Analysis Researcher (PI) Daniel Cremers Summary Despite their amazing success, we believe that computer vision algorithms have only scratched the surface of what can be done in terms of modeling and understanding our world from images. We believe that novel image analysis techniques will be a major enabler and driving force behind next-generation technologies, enhancing everyday life and opening up radically new possibilities. And we believe that the key to achieving this is to develop algorithms for reconstructing and analyzing the 3D structure of our world. In this project, we will focus on three lines of research: A) We will develop algorithms for 3D reconstruction from standard color cameras and from RGB-D cameras. In particular, we will promote real-time-capable direct and dense methods. In contrast to the classical two-stage approach of sparse feature-point based motion estimation and subsequent dense reconstruction, these methods optimally exploit all color information to jointly estimate dense geometry and camera motion. B) We will develop algorithms for 3D shape analysis, including rigid and non-rigid matching, decomposition and interpretation of 3D shapes. We will focus on algorithms which are optimal or near-optimal. One of the major computational challenges lies in generalizing existing 2D shape analysis techniques to shapes in 3D and 4D (temporal evolutions of 3D shape). C) We will develop shape priors for 3D reconstruction. These can be learned from sample shapes or acquired during the reconstruction process. For example, when reconstructing a larger office algorithms may exploit the geometric self-similarity of the scene, storing a model of a chair and its multiple instances only once rather than multiple times. Advancing the state of the art in geometric reconstruction and geometric analysis will have a profound impact well beyond computer vision. We strongly believe that we have the necessary competence to pursue this project. Preliminary results have been well received by the community. Despite their amazing success, we believe that computer vision algorithms have only scratched the surface of what can be done in terms of modeling and understanding our world from images. We believe that novel image analysis techniques will be a major enabler and driving force behind next-generation technologies, enhancing everyday life and opening up radically new possibilities. And we believe that the key to achieving this is to develop algorithms for reconstructing and analyzing the 3D structure of our world. In this project, we will focus on three lines of research: A) We will develop algorithms for 3D reconstruction from standard color cameras and from RGB-D cameras. In particular, we will promote real-time-capable direct and dense methods. In contrast to the classical two-stage approach of sparse feature-point based motion estimation and subsequent dense reconstruction, these methods optimally exploit all color information to jointly estimate dense geometry and camera motion. B) We will develop algorithms for 3D shape analysis, including rigid and non-rigid matching, decomposition and interpretation of 3D shapes. We will focus on algorithms which are optimal or near-optimal. One of the major computational challenges lies in generalizing existing 2D shape analysis techniques to shapes in 3D and 4D (temporal evolutions of 3D shape). C) We will develop shape priors for 3D reconstruction. These can be learned from sample shapes or acquired during the reconstruction process. For example, when reconstructing a larger office algorithms may exploit the geometric self-similarity of the scene, storing a model of a chair and its multiple instances only once rather than multiple times. Advancing the state of the art in geometric reconstruction and geometric analysis will have a profound impact well beyond computer vision. We strongly believe that we have the necessary competence to pursue this project. Preliminary results have been well received by the community. Project acronym 3D-FNPWriting Project Unprecedented spatial control of porosity and functionality in nanoporous membranes through 3D printing and microscopy for polymer writing Researcher (PI) Annette ANDRIEU-BRUNSEN Host Institution (HI) TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAT DARMSTADT Summary Membranes are key materials in our life. Nature offers high performance membranes relying on a parallel local regulation of nanopore structure, functional placement, membrane composition and architecture. Existing technological membranes are key materials in separation, recycling, sensing, energy conversion, being essential components for a sustainable future. But their performance is far away from their natural counterparts. One reason for this performance gap is the lack of 3D nanolocal control in membrane design. This applies to each individual nanopore but as well to the membrane architecture. This proposal aims to implement 3D printing (additive manufacturing, top down) and complex near-field and total internal reflection (TIR) high resolution microscopy induced polymer writing (bottom up) to nanolocally control in hierarchical nanoporous membranes spatially and independent of each other: porosity, pore functionalization, membrane architecture, composition. This disruptive technology platform will make accessible to date unachieved, highly accurate asymmetric nanopores and multifunctional, hierarchical membrane architecture/ composition and thus highly selective, directed, transport with tuneable rates. 3D-FNPWriting will demonstrate this for the increasing class of metal nanoparticle/ salt pollutants aiming for tuneable, selective, directed transport based monitoring and recycling instead of size-based filtration, accumulation into sewerage and distribution into nature. Specifically, the potential of this disruptive technology with respect to transport design will be demonstrated for a) a 3D-printed in-situ functionalized nanoporous fiber architecture and b) a printed, nanolocally near-field and TIR-microscopy polymer functionalized membrane representing a thin separation layer. This will open systematic understanding of nanolocal functional control on transport and new perspectives in water/ energy management for future smart industry/ homes. Membranes are key materials in our life. Nature offers high performance membranes relying on a parallel local regulation of nanopore structure, functional placement, membrane composition and architecture. Existing technological membranes are key materials in separation, recycling, sensing, energy conversion, being essential components for a sustainable future. But their performance is far away from their natural counterparts. One reason for this performance gap is the lack of 3D nanolocal control in membrane design. This applies to each individual nanopore but as well to the membrane architecture. This proposal aims to implement 3D printing (additive manufacturing, top down) and complex near-field and total internal reflection (TIR) high resolution microscopy induced polymer writing (bottom up) to nanolocally control in hierarchical nanoporous membranes spatially and independent of each other: porosity, pore functionalization, membrane architecture, composition. This disruptive technology platform will make accessible to date unachieved, highly accurate asymmetric nanopores and multifunctional, hierarchical membrane architecture/ composition and thus highly selective, directed, transport with tuneable rates. 3D-FNPWriting will demonstrate this for the increasing class of metal nanoparticle/ salt pollutants aiming for tuneable, selective, directed transport based monitoring and recycling instead of size-based filtration, accumulation into sewerage and distribution into nature. Specifically, the potential of this disruptive technology with respect to transport design will be demonstrated for a) a 3D-printed in-situ functionalized nanoporous fiber architecture and b) a printed, nanolocally near-field and TIR-microscopy polymer functionalized membrane representing a thin separation layer. This will open systematic understanding of nanolocal functional control on transport and new perspectives in water/ energy management for future smart industry/ homes. Project acronym 4-TOPS Project Four experiments in Topological Superconductivity. Researcher (PI) Laurens Molenkamp Summary Topological materials have developed rapidly in recent years, with my previous ERC-AG project 3-TOP playing a major role in this development. While so far no bulk topological superconductor has been unambiguously demonstrated, their properties can be studied in a very flexible manner by inducing superconductivity through the proximity effect into the surface or edge states of a topological insulator. In 4-TOPS we will explore the possibilities of this approach in full, and conduct a thorough study of induced superconductivity in both two and three dimensional HgTe based topological insulators. The 4 avenues we will follow are: -SQUID based devices to investigate full phase dependent spectroscopy of the gapless Andreev bound state by studying their Josephson radiation and current-phase relationships. -Experiments aimed at providing unambiguous proof of localized Majorana states in TI junctions by studying tunnelling transport into such states. -Attempts to induce superconductivity in Quantum Hall states with the aim of creating a chiral topological superconductor. These chiral superconductors host Majorana fermions at their edges, which, at least in the case of a single QH edge mode, follow non-Abelian statistics and are therefore promising for explorations in topological quantum computing. -Studies of induced superconductivity in Weyl semimetals, a completely unexplored state of matter. Taken together, these four sets of experiments will greatly enhance our understanding of topological superconductivity, which is not only a subject of great academic interest as it constitutes the study of new phases of matter, but also has potential application in the field of quantum information processing. Topological materials have developed rapidly in recent years, with my previous ERC-AG project 3-TOP playing a major role in this development. While so far no bulk topological superconductor has been unambiguously demonstrated, their properties can be studied in a very flexible manner by inducing superconductivity through the proximity effect into the surface or edge states of a topological insulator. In 4-TOPS we will explore the possibilities of this approach in full, and conduct a thorough study of induced superconductivity in both two and three dimensional HgTe based topological insulators. The 4 avenues we will follow are: -SQUID based devices to investigate full phase dependent spectroscopy of the gapless Andreev bound state by studying their Josephson radiation and current-phase relationships. -Experiments aimed at providing unambiguous proof of localized Majorana states in TI junctions by studying tunnelling transport into such states. -Attempts to induce superconductivity in Quantum Hall states with the aim of creating a chiral topological superconductor. These chiral superconductors host Majorana fermions at their edges, which, at least in the case of a single QH edge mode, follow non-Abelian statistics and are therefore promising for explorations in topological quantum computing. -Studies of induced superconductivity in Weyl semimetals, a completely unexplored state of matter. Taken together, these four sets of experiments will greatly enhance our understanding of topological superconductivity, which is not only a subject of great academic interest as it constitutes the study of new phases of matter, but also has potential application in the field of quantum information processing. Project acronym 4DRepLy Project Closing the 4D Real World Reconstruction Loop Researcher (PI) Christian THEOBALT Summary 4D reconstruction, the camera-based dense dynamic scene reconstruction, is a grand challenge in computer graphics and computer vision. Despite great progress, 4D capturing the complex, diverse real world outside a studio is still far from feasible. 4DRepLy builds a new generation of high-fidelity 4D reconstruction (4DRecon) methods. They will be the first to efficiently capture all types of deformable objects (humans and other types) in crowded real world scenes with a single color or depth camera. They capture space-time coherent deforming geometry, motion, high-frequency reflectance and illumination at unprecedented detail, and will be the first to handle difficult occlusions, topology changes and large groups of interacting objects. They automatically adapt to new scene types, yet deliver models with meaningful, interpretable parameters. This requires far reaching contributions: First, we develop groundbreaking new plasticity-enhanced model-based 4D reconstruction methods that automatically adapt to new scenes. Second, we develop radically new machine learning-based dense 4D reconstruction methods. Third, these model- and learning-based methods are combined in two revolutionary new classes of 4DRecon methods: 1) advanced fusion-based methods and 2) methods with deep architectural integration. Both, 1) and 2), are automatically designed in the 4D Real World Reconstruction Loop, a revolutionary new design paradigm in which 4DRecon methods refine and adapt themselves while continuously processing unlabeled real world input. This overcomes the previously unbreakable scalability barrier to real world scene diversity, complexity and generality. This paradigm shift opens up a new research direction in graphics and vision and has far reaching relevance across many scientific fields. It enables new applications of profound social pervasion and significant economic impact, e.g., for visual media and virtual/augmented reality, and for future autonomous and robotic systems. 4D reconstruction, the camera-based dense dynamic scene reconstruction, is a grand challenge in computer graphics and computer vision. Despite great progress, 4D capturing the complex, diverse real world outside a studio is still far from feasible. 4DRepLy builds a new generation of high-fidelity 4D reconstruction (4DRecon) methods. They will be the first to efficiently capture all types of deformable objects (humans and other types) in crowded real world scenes with a single color or depth camera. They capture space-time coherent deforming geometry, motion, high-frequency reflectance and illumination at unprecedented detail, and will be the first to handle difficult occlusions, topology changes and large groups of interacting objects. They automatically adapt to new scene types, yet deliver models with meaningful, interpretable parameters. This requires far reaching contributions: First, we develop groundbreaking new plasticity-enhanced model-based 4D reconstruction methods that automatically adapt to new scenes. Second, we develop radically new machine learning-based dense 4D reconstruction methods. Third, these model- and learning-based methods are combined in two revolutionary new classes of 4DRecon methods: 1) advanced fusion-based methods and 2) methods with deep architectural integration. Both, 1) and 2), are automatically designed in the 4D Real World Reconstruction Loop, a revolutionary new design paradigm in which 4DRecon methods refine and adapt themselves while continuously processing unlabeled real world input. This overcomes the previously unbreakable scalability barrier to real world scene diversity, complexity and generality. This paradigm shift opens up a new research direction in graphics and vision and has far reaching relevance across many scientific fields. It enables new applications of profound social pervasion and significant economic impact, e.g., for visual media and virtual/augmented reality, and for future autonomous and robotic systems. Project acronym A2F2 Project Beyond Biopolymers: Protein-Sized Aromatic Amide Functional Foldamers Researcher (PI) Ivan Huc Summary Nature has evolved ultimate chemical functions based on controlling and altering conformation of its molecular machinery. Prominent examples include enzyme catalysis and information storage/duplication in nucleic acids. These achievements are based on large and complex yet remarkably defined structures obtained through folding of polymeric chains and a subtle interplay of non-covalent forces. Nature uses a limited set of building blocks – e.g. twenty amino-acids and four nucleobases – with specific abilities to impart well-defined folds. In the last decade, chemists have discovered foldamers: non-natural oligomers and polymers also prone to adopt folded structures. The emergence of foldamers has far reaching implications. A new major long term prospect is open to chemistry: the de novo synthesis of artificial objects resembling biopolymers in terms of their size, complexity, and efficiency at achieving defined functions, yet having chemical structures beyond the reach of biopolymers amenable to new properties and functions. The PI of this project has shown internationally recognized leadership in the development of a class of foldamers, aromatic oligoamides, whose features arguably make them the most suitable candidates to systematically explore what folded structures beyond biopolymers give access to. This project aims at developing methods to allow the routine fabrication of 20-40 units long aromatic oligoamide foldamers (6-15 kDa) designed to fold into artificial molecular containers having engineerable cavities and surfaces for molecular recognition of organic substrates, in particular large peptides and saccharides, polymers, and proteins. The methodology rests on modelling based design, multistep organic synthesis of heterocyclic monomers and their assembly into long sequences, structural elucidation using, among other techniques, x-ray crystallography, and the physico-chemical characterization of molecular recognition events. Nature has evolved ultimate chemical functions based on controlling and altering conformation of its molecular machinery. Prominent examples include enzyme catalysis and information storage/duplication in nucleic acids. These achievements are based on large and complex yet remarkably defined structures obtained through folding of polymeric chains and a subtle interplay of non-covalent forces. Nature uses a limited set of building blocks – e.g. twenty amino-acids and four nucleobases – with specific abilities to impart well-defined folds. In the last decade, chemists have discovered foldamers: non-natural oligomers and polymers also prone to adopt folded structures. The emergence of foldamers has far reaching implications. A new major long term prospect is open to chemistry: the de novo synthesis of artificial objects resembling biopolymers in terms of their size, complexity, and efficiency at achieving defined functions, yet having chemical structures beyond the reach of biopolymers amenable to new properties and functions. The PI of this project has shown internationally recognized leadership in the development of a class of foldamers, aromatic oligoamides, whose features arguably make them the most suitable candidates to systematically explore what folded structures beyond biopolymers give access to. This project aims at developing methods to allow the routine fabrication of 20-40 units long aromatic oligoamide foldamers (6-15 kDa) designed to fold into artificial molecular containers having engineerable cavities and surfaces for molecular recognition of organic substrates, in particular large peptides and saccharides, polymers, and proteins. The methodology rests on modelling based design, multistep organic synthesis of heterocyclic monomers and their assembly into long sequences, structural elucidation using, among other techniques, x-ray crystallography, and the physico-chemical characterization of molecular recognition events.	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1251
__label__wiki	0.695369	0.695369	Project acronym ClusterWeb Project Unravelling the physics of particle acceleration and feedback in galaxy clusters and the cosmic web Researcher (PI) Reinout Johannes VAN WEEREN Summary We will unravel the origin of cosmic magnetic fields, the physics of particle acceleration in dilute plasmas, and the nature of AGN feedback with state-of-the-art radio telescopes. With the enormous gains in sensitivity, survey speed, and resolution of these telescopes – combined with recent breakthroughs that correct for phased-arrays and the Earth’s distorting ionosphere – we can now take the next big step in this field. Cosmic web filaments and galaxy clusters are the Universe’s largest structures. Clusters grow by a sequence of mergers, generating shock waves and turbulence which heat the cluster plasma. In merging clusters, cosmic rays are accelerated to extreme energies, producing Mpc-size diffuse synchrotron emitting sources. However, these acceleration processes are still poorly understood. Clusters are also heated by AGN feedback from radio galaxies, but the total energy input by feedback and its evolution over cosmic time are unknown. We will construct the largest low-frequency sample of galaxy clusters to (1) establish how particles are accelerated in cluster plasmas, (2) quantify how the cosmic ray content scales with cluster mass, (3) determine the importance of AGN fossil plasma in the acceleration processes, (4) characterize current and past episodes of AGN feedback, and (5) determine the evolution of feedback up to the epoch of cluster formation (z=1-2). These results will be essential to understand cluster formation and its associated energy budget. As in clusters, cosmic web accretion shocks should also accelerate particles producing radio emission. Based on the deepest low-frequency images ever produced, we will (5) carry out the first studies of these giant accelerators, opening up a new window on the elusive warm-hot intergalactic medium, where many of the cosmic baryons reside. Even more important, (6) we aim to obtain measurements of the intergalactic magnetic field, providing key constraints on the origin of our Universe’s magnetic fields. We will unravel the origin of cosmic magnetic fields, the physics of particle acceleration in dilute plasmas, and the nature of AGN feedback with state-of-the-art radio telescopes. With the enormous gains in sensitivity, survey speed, and resolution of these telescopes – combined with recent breakthroughs that correct for phased-arrays and the Earth’s distorting ionosphere – we can now take the next big step in this field. Cosmic web filaments and galaxy clusters are the Universe’s largest structures. Clusters grow by a sequence of mergers, generating shock waves and turbulence which heat the cluster plasma. In merging clusters, cosmic rays are accelerated to extreme energies, producing Mpc-size diffuse synchrotron emitting sources. However, these acceleration processes are still poorly understood. Clusters are also heated by AGN feedback from radio galaxies, but the total energy input by feedback and its evolution over cosmic time are unknown. We will construct the largest low-frequency sample of galaxy clusters to (1) establish how particles are accelerated in cluster plasmas, (2) quantify how the cosmic ray content scales with cluster mass, (3) determine the importance of AGN fossil plasma in the acceleration processes, (4) characterize current and past episodes of AGN feedback, and (5) determine the evolution of feedback up to the epoch of cluster formation (z=1-2). These results will be essential to understand cluster formation and its associated energy budget. As in clusters, cosmic web accretion shocks should also accelerate particles producing radio emission. Based on the deepest low-frequency images ever produced, we will (5) carry out the first studies of these giant accelerators, opening up a new window on the elusive warm-hot intergalactic medium, where many of the cosmic baryons reside. Even more important, (6) we aim to obtain measurements of the intergalactic magnetic field, providing key constraints on the origin of our Universe’s magnetic fields. Project acronym Cosmoglobe Project Cosmoglobe -- mapping the universe from the Milky Way to the Big Bang Researcher (PI) Ingunn Kathrine WEHUS Summary In the aftermath of the high-precision Planck and BICEP2 experiments, cosmology has undergone a critical transition. Before 2014, most breakthroughs came as direct results of improved detector technology and increased noise sensitivity. After 2014, the main source of uncertainty will be due to astrophysical foregrounds, typically in the form of dust or synchrotron emission from the Milky Way. Indeed, this holds as true for the study of reionization and the cosmic dawn as it does for the hunt for inflationary gravitational waves. To break through this obscuring veil, it is of utmost importance to optimally exploit every piece of available information, merging the world's best observational data with the world's most advanced theoretical models. A first step toward this ultimate goal was recently published as the Planck 2015 Astrophysical Baseline Model, an effort led and conducted by myself. Here I propose to build Cosmoglobe, a comprehensive model of the radio, microwave and sub-mm sky, covering 100 MHz to 10 THz in both intensity and polarization, extending existing models by three orders of magnitude in frequency and a factor of five in angular resolution. I will leverage a recent algorithmic breakthrough in multi-resolution component separation to jointly analyze some of the world's best data sets, including C-BASS, COMAP, PASIPHAE, Planck, SPIDER, WMAP and many more. This will result in the best cosmological (CMB, SZ, CIB etc.) and astrophysical (thermal and spinning dust, synchrotron and free-free emission etc.) component maps published to date. I will then use this model to derive the world's strongest limits on, and potentially detect, inflationary gravity waves using SPIDER observations; forecast, optimize and analyze observations from the leading next-generation CMB experiments, including LiteBIRD and S4; and derive the first 3D large-scale structure maps from CO intensity mapping from COMAP, potentially opening up a new window on the cosmic dawn. In the aftermath of the high-precision Planck and BICEP2 experiments, cosmology has undergone a critical transition. Before 2014, most breakthroughs came as direct results of improved detector technology and increased noise sensitivity. After 2014, the main source of uncertainty will be due to astrophysical foregrounds, typically in the form of dust or synchrotron emission from the Milky Way. Indeed, this holds as true for the study of reionization and the cosmic dawn as it does for the hunt for inflationary gravitational waves. To break through this obscuring veil, it is of utmost importance to optimally exploit every piece of available information, merging the world's best observational data with the world's most advanced theoretical models. A first step toward this ultimate goal was recently published as the Planck 2015 Astrophysical Baseline Model, an effort led and conducted by myself. Here I propose to build Cosmoglobe, a comprehensive model of the radio, microwave and sub-mm sky, covering 100 MHz to 10 THz in both intensity and polarization, extending existing models by three orders of magnitude in frequency and a factor of five in angular resolution. I will leverage a recent algorithmic breakthrough in multi-resolution component separation to jointly analyze some of the world's best data sets, including C-BASS, COMAP, PASIPHAE, Planck, SPIDER, WMAP and many more. This will result in the best cosmological (CMB, SZ, CIB etc.) and astrophysical (thermal and spinning dust, synchrotron and free-free emission etc.) component maps published to date. I will then use this model to derive the world's strongest limits on, and potentially detect, inflationary gravity waves using SPIDER observations; forecast, optimize and analyze observations from the leading next-generation CMB experiments, including LiteBIRD and S4; and derive the first 3D large-scale structure maps from CO intensity mapping from COMAP, potentially opening up a new window on the cosmic dawn.	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1252
__label__cc	0.557921	0.442079	Gendered Derivatives of Identity Formation in Ottoman Kurdistan in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries Author(s): Karaman, Emine Rezzan Advisor(s): GELVIN, JAMES This dissertation focuses on the gendered constructions of Osmanlılık [Ottoman imperial identity] and Kurdiyati [Kurdish national identity] in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in majority Kurdish regions near the Persian border. Thus, the dissertation promises a gendered reading of two dynamic processes: 1- The attempts made by Ottoman authorities to bring Kurds from a “state of savagery and nomadism” into the fold of civilization. 2- The formulation of rhetorical, institutional and political strategies of Kurdish elites to construct a Kurdish nation. While doing so, the dissertation pays particular attention to a third parameter-- the socio-political structure of Ottoman Kurdistan-- to discuss its role in the above-mentioned overlapping processes. I argue that the organization of nomadic, semi-nomadic and sedentary tribal life, family structures, existing gender codes and religious systems of Kurdistan not only shaped (and were shaped by) the state’s policies, but that they also had constructive and constitutive roles in the formation of Kurdish national discourses. The dissertation, in this way, aims to discuss the convoluted relationships between these three parameters mainly through the use of gender-based micro-cases from various parts of Ottoman Kurdistan. This item is under embargo until September 7, 2021.	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1254
__label__cc	0.556409	0.443591	Wireless Current Sense - EngineerZone Spotlight - EngineerZone - EngineerZone EngineerZone Spotlight Wireless Current Sense Wireless Current Sense cctfl lt6656-3 ltc3335 combo circuits from the lab KrisLokere Continuing with our series, Combo Circuits from the Lab, join Kris Lokere as he tells us what exactly makes Wireless Current Sense. Measuring the current that flows through a sense resistor seems easy. Amplify the voltage, read it with an ADC, and now you know what the current is. But it gets more difficult if the sense resistor itself sits at a voltage that is very different from system ground. Typical solutions bridge that voltage difference in either the analog or digital domain. But here is a different approach – wireless. Analog current sense ICs are compact solutions, but the voltage difference that they can withstand is limited by semiconductor processes. It is difficult to find devices that are rated for more than 100V. And these circuits often lose accuracy if the sense resistor common mode voltage changes quickly or swings both above and below system ground. Digital isolation techniques (magnetic or optical) are a bit more bulky, but work without loss of accuracy and can typically withstand thousands of volts. These circuits need an isolated power supply but that can sometimes be integrated in the isolator component. If the sense resistor is physically separated from the main system then you also may need to run long wires or cables. A wireless current sense circuit overcomes many of these limitations. By allowing the entire circuit to float with the common mode of the sense resistor, and transmitting the measured data wirelessly over the air, there are no voltage limitations at all. The sense resistor can be located anywhere, without the need to run cables. If the circuit is very low power, then you don’t even need an isolated power supply and can instead run for many years from a small battery. Figure 1 shows the block diagram of the design. The current sense circuit is based on the LTC2063 chopper-stabilized opamp to amplify the voltage drop across a sense resistor. The micropower SAR ADC AD7988 digitizes the value and reports the result via SPI interface. The LTP5901-IPM is the radio module which contains not only the radio, but also the networking firmware needed to automatically form an IP-based mesh network. In addition, the LTP5901-IPM has a built-in microprocessor which reads the AD7988 ADC SPI port. The LTC3335 is a low-power DC/DC power supply which converts the battery voltage to a constant output voltage. The LTC3335 also includes a Coulomb counter which reports cumulative charge pulled from the battery. Figure 1: A low-power wireless current sense circuit is formed by a low power chopper opamp to amplify the sense voltage, digitized using a low power ADC and reference, and connected to a SmartMesh IP wireless radio module. A low-power DC/DC converter conditions the battery and also keeps track of charge drawn from the battery. Signal Chain The LTC2063 is an ultra-low power, chopper-stabilized opamp. With a maximum supply current of 2µA, it is uniquely suited for use in battery powered applications. Because the offset voltage is less than 10µV, it can measure even very small voltage drops without loss of accuracy. Figure 2 shows the LTC2063 configured to gain-up and level shift the voltage across a 10mΩ sense resistor. The gain is chosen so that ±10mV full-scale at the sense resistor (corresponding to ±1A of current) maps to a near full-scale range at the output, centered around 1.5V. This amplified signal is fed into a 16-bit SAR ADC. The AD7988 was chosen for its very low standby current and good DC accuracy. At low sample rates, the ADC automatically shuts-down in between conversions, resulting in an average current consumption as little as 10µA at 1ksps. The LT6656 biases the amplifier, the level-shift resistors and the ADC’s reference input. The LT6656 voltage reference consumes less than 1µA, and can drive up to 5mA loads with low drop-out, making it easy to output a precise 3V, even when powered from the 3.3V system supply. There are three roughly equal sources to offset error in this signal chain, together contributing about 0.5% relative to a ±10mV full-scale input. They are the offset voltage of the LTC2063 and AD7988, as well as mismatch in the level-shift resistors (0.1% resistors are recommended). A one-point calibration step could largely eliminate that offset. Gain error is generally dominated by inaccuracies in available sense resistors, which tend to be worse than the 0.05%, 10ppm/°C specifications of the LT6656 voltage reference. Figure 2: The current sense circuitry floats with the sense resistor voltage. The LTC2063 chopper opamp amplifies the sense voltage and biases it mid-rail for the AD7988 ADC. The LT6656-3 provides the precision 3V reference. The LTC3335 is a nano-power Buck-Boost converter with integrated Coulomb counter. It is configured to provide a regulated 3.3V output from an input supply between 1.8V and 5.5V. This allows the circuit to be powered by, for example, two Alkaline primary battery cells. For duty-cycled wireless applications, the load current can easily vary from 1µA to 20mA, depending on whether the radio is in active or sleep mode. The LTC3335 has a quiescent current of just 680nA at no load, which keeps the entire circuit very low power when the radio and signal chain are in sleep mode. Still, the LTC3335 can output as much as 50mA, which easily provides enough power during radio transmit/receive and for a variety of signal chain circuits. The LTC3335 also has a handy built-in Coulomb counter feature. When switching, it keeps track of the total charge that it draws from the battery. This information can be read-out using an I2C interface, and can then be used as a predictor for when it may become time to replace the batteries. The LTP5901-IPM is a complete wireless radio module, which includes the radio transceiver, embedded microprocessor, and SmartMesh IP networking software. The LTP5901-IPM performs two functions in this application: wireless networking and housekeeping microprocessor. When multiple SmartMesh IP motes are powered up in the vicinity of a network manager, the motes automatically recognize each other and form a wireless mesh network. The entire network is automatically time-synchronized, which means that each radio is only powered on during very short, specific time intervals. As a result, each node can function not only as a source of sensor information, but also as a routing node to relay data from other nodes towards the manager. This creates a highly reliable, low power mesh network, where multiple paths are available from each node to the manager, even though all nodes, including the routing nodes, operate on very low power. The LTP5901-IPM includes an ARM Cortex-M3 microprocessor core which runs the networking software. In addition, users may write application firmware to perform tasks specific to the user application. In this example, the microprocessor inside the LTP5901-IPM reads the SPI port of the current measurement ADC (AD7988) and reads the I2C port of the Coulomb counter (LTC3335). The microprocessor can also put the chopper opamp (LTC2063) in shutdown mode, further reducing its current consumption from 2µA to 200nA. This provides additional power savings in use models with extremely long intervals between measurements. Overall Power Consumption The total power consumption of the complete application circuit depends on various factors, including how often the signal chain takes a reading, and how the nodes are configured in the network. Typical power consumption for a mote reporting once per second is less than 5µA for the measurement circuit and can be 40µA for the wireless radio, allowing years of operation on small batteries. Figure 3: A complete wireless current sense circuit is implemented on a small PCB. The only physical connections are the banana-jacks for the current to be measured. The wireless radio module is shown on the right. The circuit is powered from two AAA batteries connected on the back of the board. Combining Linear Technology and Analog Devices signal chain, power management, and wireless networking products enable the design of a truly wireless current sense circuit. Figure 3 shows an example implementation. The new ultra-low power LTC2063 chopper op amp can accurately read small voltage drops across a sense resistor. The entire circuit, including micro-power ADC and voltage reference, floats with the common mode of the sense resistor. The nano-power LTC3335 switcher can power the circuit for years from a small battery, while reporting cumulative battery usage with its built-in Coulomb counter. The LTP5901-IPM wireless module manages the entire application and automatically connects to a highly reliable SmartMesh IP network. Stay tuned for more Combo Circuits From the Lab blogs here on the EngineerZone Spotlight.	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1259
__label__wiki	0.89644	0.89644	Tag: Russia cruise missile Russia’s ‘practically unlimited’ -range missile looks like an embarrassment after it reportedly lasted for just 2 minutes and 22 miles ! Mark Schiefelbein – Pool/Getty ImagesRussian President Vladimir Putin. • A Russian cruise missile that the country touted as having “practically unlimited” range appears to be falling short. • The cruise missile’s longest test flight only lasted two minutes and 22 miles before losing control, according to a CNBC report. • Russia’s cruise missile capabilities may have missed the mark, but sources said it succeeded in other ways that the US may be incapable of defending. A Russian cruise missile that the country touted as having “practically unlimited” range appears to be falling short, sources with knowledge of a US intelligence report told CNBC. The cruise missile, which Russian President Vladimir Putin unveiled at a Russian Federal Assembly in March, only flew for around two minutes and traveled 22 miles before it lost control and crashed, CNBC reported Monday. Another missile test reportedly lasted just four seconds with a distance of five miles. Russia tested the missile four times between November and February at the behest of senior officials, even though engineers voiced doubt over the program, according to CNBC’s sources. Putin previously touted a new generation of weapons in a presentation that displayed missile trajectories going from Russia to the US. In addition to the cruise missile, Putin teased unmanned underwater drones purportedly capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, and a hypersonic glide vehicle. “I want to tell all those who have fueled the arms race over the last 15 years, sought to win unilateral advantages over Russia, introduced unlawful sanctions aimed to contain our country’s development: All what you wanted to impede with your policies have already happened,” Putin said in a speech. “You have failed to contain Russia.” Russia’s cruise missile capabilities may have missed the mark, but sources said it succeeded in other aspects. The hypersonic glide vehicle, which is believed to be able to travel five times the speed of sound, would render US countermeasures useless and could become operational by 2020, according to CNBC. “We don’t have any defense that could deny the employment of such a weapon against us,” US Air Force General John Hyten, the commander of US Strategic Command, said at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in March. Author THE FEARLESS VIGILANTEPosted on May 22, 2018 May 22, 2018 Tags missile, Russia, Russia cruise missile, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Vladimir PutinLeave a comment on Russia’s ‘practically unlimited’ -range missile looks like an embarrassment after it reportedly lasted for just 2 minutes and 22 miles !	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1263
__label__wiki	0.848629	0.848629	Aware Puts Biometrics in the Driver’s Seat in New Automotive White Paper “It’s a compelling case for bringing biometrics into the car, and given Aware’s expertise in the world of biometric authentication, it’s coming from an expert source.” As today’s cars get increasingly sophisticated on the technological and IT front, Aware Inc. wants to put biometric technology in the driver’s seat. The company has published a new… INTERVIEW: Bob Eckel, Former MorphoTrust USA Head and Aware’s New CEO In September, biometric authentication specialist Aware, Inc. announced a couple of C-suite changes, including the appointment of former IDEMIA executive Bob Eckel as the company’s new CEO. Now, Eckel has offered some insight into why he decided to take on this new adventure in an interview with FindBiometrics President Peter O’Neill, not only providing some… Aware Announces Mohamed Lazzouni as CTO Aware Inc., a provider of biometric software and services, has announced Mohamed Lazzouni as its new Chief Technology Officer. “I’m excited to be taking on the role of Chief Technology Officer at Aware,” said Lazzouni. “I have extensive experience in leading research and development teams in the areas of biometrics, authentication and identity. I have great… Aware Issues Q3 Results for 2019 Aware has issued its results for the third quarter, with the numbers reflecting a reduction in biometrics software license sales and the lack of a major client the company has in the corresponding period of 2018. Revenues for the third quarter came in at $3 million, compared to revenues of $5.4 million in Q3 of… Aware Promotes Biometrics VP to Chief Commercial Officer Biometrics News Aware, Inc. has announced another high-profile executive appointment, with a longstanding employee being promoted to the position of Chief Commercial Officer. Robert M. Mungovan has been with the company since 1997, when he came on as its Sales and Marketing Manager for Biometric Software. In 2000, Mungovan took on the position of Aware’s… India, Aware, and More in This Week’s Top Biometrics Stories Roundup The biometrics industry spans across a wide range of technologies and sectors, and this week’s roundup of FindBiometrics’ top news stories runs the gamut. First up is news about an extra-early round of funding for India-based digital identity startup Syntizen Technologies. The company didn’t disclose how much money it brought in through the funding round,… ID Talk Podcast: Aware’s David Benini on Government Biometrics, Open ABIS and Vendor Lock-in It’s Government Biometrics Month at FindBiometrics so for the latest episode of the ID Talk Podcast, host Peter Counter spoke with David Benini, Vice President, Marketing and Product, at Aware. Listen to the latest episode of the ID Talk Podcast: The in-depth conversation begins on the topic of what we talk about when we talk… Former IDEMIA Exec is Aware’s New CEO A former IDEMIA executive is Aware, Inc.‘s new Chief Executive Officer. Robert – or “Bob” – Eckel joins the Aware team as both CEO and a new member of the Board of Directors, while previous CEO Kevin Russell has been named the company’s Chief Legal and Administrative Officer. Eckel served as CEO of MorphoTrust starting… Government Biometrics Month: ID Goes Biometric Of the myriad ways in which biometric technologies are transforming how the government does its work, its impact in citizen identification is one offering some of the greatest potential to change people’s lives for the better while improving government function. ID Goes Biometric In its most common application areas, the rise of biometric identification has… ID4Africa: Aware’s David Benini talks Liveness Detection, the “Leap-Frog” Effect, and Healthcare [Audio] FindBiometrics is in Johannesburg, reporting live from ID4Africa 2019, where the biometrics industry is convening to help realize the future of next-generation identity technology in Africa. All week we will be bringing you live audio interviews recorded on the exhibition floor with biometrics industry experts helping transform identity services across the continent. Peter O’Neill, President… PODCAST: Aware’s David Benini Talks On-Device Biometrics & Enterprise Security An expert conversation on the death of the password, biometric liveness detection, and the future of identity in the workplace. It’s On-Device Biometrics Month at FindBiometrics, a five-week deep dive on the authentication paradigm that’s killing passwords. That’s why, in the latest episode of The FindBiometrics & Mobile ID World Podcast, host Peter Counter sits… ‘On-device biometrics’ is probably one of the most important concepts in today’s digital security landscape, yet it’s also an idea that is not widely understood by everyday users. It refers to a question that a lot of people don’t even think of – where does my biometric data go when it’s scanned? It’s a crucial… New Aware White Paper Outlines Enterprise Security Challenges, and Biometric Solutions “Work will continue to change, but identity will always remain a fundamental element of enterprise security.” That observation is key to the perspective offered in Aware, Inc.‘s newest white paper, “Enterprise Security in the Age of Remote and Mobile Work”, a newly published resource offering a compelling assessment of the enterprise security landscape in the… ISC West 2019: Aware’s Robert Brawders on Voice Biometrics and Security Trends [AUDIO] FindBiometrics is reporting live from ISC West in Las Vegas this week, bringing you biometrics news and interviews straight from the biggest converged security trade show in the Americas. Today is the second day of the ISC West exhibition and our own Director of Digital Content Susan Stover walked the floor with Robert Brawders, Sales… MWC 2019: Aware’s International Sales Director Talks Knomi and a Big Banking Client [Audio] Aware, Inc. is a longtime player in the biometrics industry, but the company has had some particularly big wins over the last year. It scored a $38 million dollar contract from the UK Home Office to help develop a biometric services system for border control and law enforcement; and, as CEO Kevin Russell noted in… INTERVIEW: Aware’s David Benini On Knomi, FIDO UAF, and Industry Trends Aware, Inc. has long been a heavy-hitter in the biometric security industry, but it has had a particularly eventful year in 2018. The company won a huge contract from the UK Home Office this summer to work on an important biometric services project that will have applications in border control, immigration, and law enforcement. And… Goode Intelligence Announces Inaugural Biometric Summit New York One of the industry’s leading analyst groups has organized a major new event: Goode Intelligence has announced that the inaugural Biometric Summit New York will take place early next year, on Thursday, April 4th. Some big names are already on board. Sponsors of the event include fingerprint biometrics specialists Zwipe and Precise Biometrics, as well… [Money20/20] Aware VP David Benini Talks Knomi, FIDO, and Aware’s Big UK Contract It was just about a year ago that Aware became one of the most notable biometrics specialists to offer a multimodal biometric authentication platform for mobile apps. Called Knomi, the SDK package immediately became one of Aware’s key flagship offerings, and it attained even more prestige this summer when it attained FIDO UAF 1.1 certification.…	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1271
__label__cc	0.736597	0.263403	Free Followers Blog Home Infographics We help you get more Twitter Get More Follows Blog > Twitter > The Ultimate Guide to Using Twitter Website Cards The Ultimate Guide to Using Twitter Website Cards Posted by James Parsons on April 22nd, 2016 Written by ContentPowered.com Twitter website cards are a specific kind of promoted tweet, one that comes with a handful of benefits to the businesses that use them. They aren’t broadly available to everyone; in fact, you can only access them through the paid advertising system on Twitter. So what are they, exactly, and how can you take advantage of them? What are Twitter Website Cards? Other Kinds of Twitter Cards Twitter Card Tips A Twitter website card is obvious when you see it. It looks generally like a normal tweet with an image, at first glance. When you look deeper, though, you see additional meta information. Specifically, you’ll see the title and URL of the website the image links to, and some sort of call to action button. CTA options include things like “order now” and “view now” for different types of content. Twitter cards also work with videos and apps, and there are specific on-website Twitter cards for promoting a tweet rather than the other way around. I’ll mention these other types of cards later. For now, we’re talking specifically about the website card. The purpose of the card is to capture a lot of clicks that you wouldn’t otherwise capture. See, when you post a normal tweet with an image, if a user clicks that image, they’re just taken to a lightboxed version of that image. It’s the same thing, just larger, typically full size. This is fine, if what you’re showcasing is the image. On the other hand, when we advertise a website link with an image, and a user clicks that image, they aren’t going to your site. They have to close out of the larger image view and click the link in the tweet if they want to go to your site. Often, they’ll lose interest by that time and they won’t put forth that effort. A website card turns that image into your link. In addition to the meta data, which is frankly a little extraneous compared to this, clicking anywhere on the image just brings the user to your destination. This captures a lot more traffic, both from users who wanted to visit but lost interest and from users who just wanted to see the larger image. Website cards are designed to drive traffic to your website. It’s a larger, more visual advertisement than a typical tweet, and it’s more attractive than a typical tweet to the average user. Additionally, website cards give a user more context about the link. They show the URL and the page title, rather than just a truncated Twitter shortlink in a tweet and whatever image you decided to attach. It helps them make the decision whether or not they actually do want to click through. Of course, Twitter being a highly mobile platform, website cards work very well on mobile Twitter and the Twitter app as well. They’re perfectly displayed, you just need to make sure your image – and your destination site – are optimized for mobile users. No sense in advertising to them if they have to struggle to use your site, right? Most of them simply won’t. In order to access website cards, you need to be part of the ads system on Twitter. This is a simple process. All you need to do is go to the ads console – found here – and find the option. If you’ve never used the ads console before, you’ll be asked to set up your account for ads for the first time. This involves: Specifying your country, which sets your billing currency and applicable local tax laws. Specifying a permanent time zone. This determines what time zone your scheduled tweets and other schedules apply. It’s also pretty confusing, since there are half a dozen options for each actual time zone. Just choose the one most local to you. That’s it! You don’t need a specific Twitter for Business account or anything like that. All Twitter accounts – assuming they haven’t been suspended or blocked from the ads program for one reason or another – are able to access the ads system. When in the ads console, you’re presented with a list of campaign objectives. These are tweet engagement, website clicks, app installs or app re-engagements, video views, followers, and leads. Each objective is a specific type of Twitter ad. For a Twitter website card, you’re going to want to select the website clicks or conversions option. This brings you to your ad creation page. Here you can: Name your overall ad campaign. Select whether you want the ad to run immediately upon completion or start and end on specific dates. Apply a specific tracking tag, if you have any set up. I recommend you set some up for your objectives. Select your audience profile and targeting. By default, the only targeting option applied is “to your country of origin only.” You can also target by gender, by language, by device, platform, or carrier, and by keyword. Additionally, you can target based on the interests of another user’s followers, as well as tailored audiences, TV targeting, behavior targeting, and event targeting. You can read more specifically about targeting over here. Set your budget. A daily maximum budget is required, and you can set an overall total budget as an additional safety net. There are also advanced options, which include your bid type, which can be automatic, target, or maximum. Finally, you’re able to compose the tweet itself. You can choose to “upgrade” an existing tweet, or you can compose a new one from scratch. If you’re composing a new one, you can plug in the tweet content itself with the standard 140-character limit. You can then fill out the website card specific information, which is your website URL, your image, your headline, and a name of the card for your internal analytics. The headline can be up to 70 characters in length. You will, of course, have to have payment information in the system to run a website card, because it is a sponsored ad. Usually, this means a credit card. Website card images are no larger than normal tweet images, by the way. They display in your feed as 440 x 220 rectangles. They should be larger and scaled down, but if they have text, make sure it’s readable. Twitter considers anything that isn’t a basic text tweet to be a card of some kind. Embedding an image, a Vine, or an animated gif are all examples of free cards. Twitter does specify a few types, though. The Summary Card, which includes a title and brief summary of a website link, as well as a small photo icon about the size of a Twitter profile picture. It’s used for web content, blog posts, news articles, product pages, and anything else you want when you link to a website. This is specified by Twitter data on your website, in the meta field. If you don’t specify anything, Twitter will crawl and compose it itself. The Summary Card with Large image, which is identical to a summary card but has a larger horizontal image across the top. It looks much like a website card, but isn’t an ad. The Photo Card, which looks visually identical to the large image summary card, but emphasizes the image itself over the website content. The Gallery Card, which has a handful of small square images, for when you want to showcase several aspects of one subject in one post. You can mimic this by making a collage in a large image card. The App Card, which includes a basic link to an app for mobile users. The Player Card, which covers embedded YouTube videos. Of special note is that this card must be approved by Twitter’s team, and won’t work as a player card if you just link a video. You need to run it through the card validator. The player card will also work with audio files, such as Soundcloud links. This turns Twitter into a media player temporarily. The Product Card, which shows some product information specified by meta data. You can specify the creator and the exact content of the labels and the data in the label fields in your meta data. Plus, there are other sorts of ad cards, each regulated by one of the types of ad objectives. In general, the ad cards will look like one of these types of cards, specifically to make the ad look more natural on Twitter. The only thing to make it stand out will be the “sponsored post” label that appears on all ads, as part of Twitter’s disclosure of paid content. One thing to note is that the default “free” Twitter cards all require meta data on the site you’re linking to, for the information to be populated. Otherwise it just defaults to a summary card with scraped data. On the other hand, all paid Twitter ad cards allow you to specify all of the information within your ads center, without having to put code on your website. This gives you more finely tuned control for split testing and ad variation. If you’re not in a position where you can add information to your site code, such as running a WordPress site, you can use plugins to do it for you. Jetpack does it by default, as does Yoast’s WordPress SEO. First of all, always use a card when you can. Twitter may make you jump through hoops the first few times you set up cards, but it will go faster and faster the more you have approved. Twitter cards, when shared by other users, are unfortunately truncated. They’re just simple text, a basic tweet, and the user needs to click or tap to expand the content and see the full card. This is how Twitter minimizes bandwidth and how they encourage a minimal level of engagement, which can in turn lead to more engagement. Since Twitter cards are heavily focused on imagery, it makes sense that you’re going to want to focus on high quality media. Your tweet itself isn’t what draws people in, it’s the visual content. You’re going to want to go out of your way to produce clear, excellent media, whether it’s a vine, an audio file, or an image. That’s probably what you’re already doing, though, since images already increase engagement and clicks just by existing. You are, of course, going to want to get into testing for website cards, particularly when you’re using pad advertising on a large scale. Instead of going all-in with your budget, test two different cards. Set up different cards within the same campaign – you can clone existing cards to save yourself some time – and change one aspect of it. This might be the image, it might be the headline, it might be the landing page, it might be the CTA button, or whatever else. Test different options against one another and iterate on the one that performs best. One tip marketers can do is pin their paid cards. This makes sure that anyone who visits your timeline sees a high quality card, rather than just whatever your most recent post happened to be at the time. Make sure you have a pinned tweet that’s beneficial and attractive. Rotate out your pins on average once a month, or whenever it seems to have dropped off in value. Twitter does include analytics, and you can get more by using a Twitter management app. There are hundreds of them out there, so I leave it to you – or a future post from me – to help you decide on that one. Feel educated? Go forth, my friends, and make more graphical utilization of your Twitter feed with website cards. They’re simply too valuable to pass up, assuming you have anything at all to advertise. Which, if you’re visiting this site, I’m guessing you do. Have you used Twitter website cards before? What were your experiences? I’d love to hear about your time, both positive and negative experiences. 5 Easy Ways to Install Twitter Cards on Your Website The Ultimate Guide to Using Twitter Polls Successfully The Ultimate Guide to Outsourcing Your Twitter Marketing The Ultimate Guide to Creating an Auto Retweet Bot nice article !! Save hundreds of dollars from Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook ads and let us grow your profile for a fraction of the cost! We grow authority profiles for thousands of businesses, from local companies to Fortune 500s. We are not affiliated with Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. 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__label__cc	0.641962	0.358038	Home Jobs and Opportunities Postdoctoral Awards Aimed at early career researchers anywhere in the world, Jeffrey Rubinoff Postdoctoral Awards offer $7,000 CAD (roughly $5,300 USD or £4,100) to support research leading to one or more publications on any subject relating to art and knowledge. Themes might include but are not limited to the connections between visual art and: cognition and understanding; ethical or political issues; other fields of knowledge; and the sacred or numinous. Eligibility and Requirements o Postdoctoral Awards are open to applicants from any discipline in the Arts or Sciences. o You are EITHER a graduate student in the latter stages of your PhD degree OR you have submitted your PhD thesis within three years of the application deadline. o The JRSP must be acknowledged in all publications resulting from the Award. o The JRSP requires copies of any published material to be offered to its archive, and made available for internal consultation and distribution. o You are required to present your research in person at a Company of Ideas Forum, which takes place at the Sculpture Park every June. All travel expenses will be covered. Applicants should submit the following: o Cover letter. o CV/resumé. o Name and contact details of one referee. o Research statement of no more than 1,000 words describing past, current and future research. Please indicate what output(s) will result from the Award. o A writing sample of no more than 10,000 words (this can be an excerpt from a doctoral dissertation or recent publication). Applications should be submitted to awards@rubinoffsculpturepark.org by Friday 31 Further details can be found at http://www.rubinoffsculpturepark.org/activities.php Please direct queries to the JRSP’s Manager-Curator karun@rubinoffsculpturepark.org	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1283
__label__cc	0.669075	0.330925	FreeGameDev Forums < STK General General STK discussion and support. Moderator: STK Moderators Board index ‹ Featured Projects ‹ SuperTuxKart ‹ STK General Implementation of a new UI by hellcp » 24 Jun 2018, 19:58 Current UI is old, and is kinda boring. I would like to make a new one, so I went to drawing board. I thought about colours and shapes and stuff, you can dismiss all this and directly go to what I drew, but I would rather explain motivation of every element incorporated in designs Orange and greys, mainly because Logo is orange and checkered flag is black and white I chose a very saturated orange to make activated buttons more recognizable Something that Arthur rightfully called "Comic SNES", icons based on stylistic of the logo, with triangular shadows and thick black outline. I went with free font, Inter UI, because I wanted a heavy variant of a font, which will be readable (and visible on smaller Android screens) Game environments and waving checkered flag in the background As you can see I used just one image to represent all game action, but that was out of laziness and that I had that screenshot on hand Those are static images, but selection would have pulsing animation (visible as half-opatique background behind selections), as well as animated scenes in the background and animated checkered flag. Mockups: There are 9 of them, but only few are visible due to layout of the forum, https://i.imgur.com/lsm47gb.jpg to see them in detail: hellcp Re: Implementation of a new UI by Auria » 24 Jun 2018, 23:13 Hi, these mockups look good, but as is often the case, what we lack is not ideas but people to make them happen. A polished game UI can take several months of development and art work, and we are short on both at the moment, so it doesn't seem too likely that major changes will be able to happen soon Auria STK Moderator Auria: I'm not coming with showcase of what I can draw, I came with will and to lesser degree (but still) skill to help by Alayan » 25 Jun 2018, 01:47 After all those years, the old UI is old and so, in turn, somewhat boring for those who have seen it too much. It also has its limitations. But, assuming those mockups are supposed to be representative of the look-and-feel of the proposed UI, I'd much prefer to keep the old. The UI in those mockup feels, for me, more boring than the current one. The solid colors are simplistic and worse looking that something with a luminosity gradient and noticeable borders (aka, the kind of buttons of the current UI). Also, in some screens, your layout don't make an efficient use of the available space at all. That's not to say there is nothing at all interesting in your proposal - having pulsing for the focused button would be nice, and having nice screenshots in the background could be cool for the computer version (for the android version, they would probably take too much APK space) . And I'd be intrested in having the possibility to use your cartoonish icons ; but more as an option in a separate theme. Alayan Alayan, I wouldn't even ask and would start implementing it for myself if I didn't want this to improve, and frankly, those are good ideas to implement into the concept. I will try to go through them to let you better understand reasoning on why I didn't necessarily think or did anything in the current concept: Solid colour is a placeholder, frankly, most things are (I'm really not proposing to replace all the character icons with Konqi), I just didn't come up with correct gradient/pattern to put there, but I still wanted a striking colour which would contrast well and still fit with the rest It's a good thing not to overdo it too. Parts which will be shown as representative of the game, should in fact be representative of the game. Current UI doesn't show current game, it shows the game that doesn't exist anymore (or at least isn't the current version). To be fair, difficulty screen on mock-up has exactly that problem that you are talking about, it's way too empty. Otherwise, pause screen and main menu are supposed to show current game and the game as a whole respectively. Cartoonish icons hopefully will happen soon enough, I'm working on those But if you want to criticize the whole concept: do it! Nothing is official until it's in the game, and as Auria said, it will take months of work, so it's good to criticize it before and if it lands in the game. I'm not perfect, nobody is. That's why it's a mock-up and not a PR by tux_peng » 25 Jun 2018, 18:30 It looks kinda boring to me, too much empty space. It also screams "Mariokart 8 clone" to me https://duckduckgo.com/?q=marokat+8+men ... &ia=images If you would like to support my STK servers, http://donate.playstk.tk If you would like to talk about my STK servers, http://playstk.tk tux_peng by QwertyChouskie » 25 Jun 2018, 20:00 IMO it's actually an improvement on MK8's GUI, their GUI is WAY too cluttered. This GUI mockup uses a nice blur effect on the non-important parts (like the background image) which reduces clutter (and just looks nice), and the slants on the buttons give a nice sense of motion. Not an official dev, but a huge fan of STK! QwertyChouskie Also, I'll try to update https://jacobspctuneup.tk/STK/newgui2/mainmenu.html to match these mockups over time. Also very important to consider, is that in open source development, it's often much better to iterate than to try to huge overhauls, since you can never predict who will be around when and how much time will they have. Improvements to the GUI are welcome, but incremental smaller improvements over the current UI that can be completed in a reasonable shorter time span have a much higher chance of reaching completion that "let's spend 6 months rewriting everything" - this would be important to consider in your mockups. If you can for instance make an improved skin for the current UI engine, or take an existing screens and tweak it to be better over a few weeks, that is so much more likely to reach completion than overambitious mockups - and by adding up small iterations we can still reach large improvements over time A good start would probably be to add the new icons. This can be done mostly independent of the GUI layout/engine/etc. Well, yeah, I started dong exactly that, with icons, which are mostly done. I will write document on that style, so everybody will be able to recreate how that stuff is done (it's really not that hard to figure out how it's made, but I just like good documentation). As OzoneOne noticed, this art style is a close match to Sam's Hacienda style, which might be a good way to merge how 2D and 3D looks, so it's consistent. Mock-ups are useful, because they show the end goal to some degree. Obviously it will come in batches of changes I think it would be interesting to make icons related to skins. Maybe by being directly part of the skin, or maybe with a separate option, I'm not so sure about how it should be done. This would allow different skins to use custom icons if desired, which would be nice. Otherwise, speaking about GUI improvements, I'd like to have the skill bars in kart selection depending on difficulty (that is, if you select SuperTux the speed bar will be longer than in Easy, etc). However, this would require to select difficulty before selecting a kart, which is not really possible with the merged difficulty/race mode selection screen. If someone has an idea on how it should be properly done... The easiest way would be to separate difficulty and race mode selection, but they may have been merged for a reason (having one screen less to pass through on when not changing the difficulty ?), so I'm not so sure about it. by MTres19 » 27 Jun 2018, 03:33 You could have separate widget themes and icon themes, like Linux DEs have. MTres19 We're not really looking to have different icon sets - just having many skins is pretty unusual for a game. We'd rather have ONE really good looking ui than tons of options for passible ones Thumbs down! by Wuzzy » 30 Jun 2018, 05:10 WHY? Why must the GUI be thrown away? You have given no reason except that it's “old” and “kinda boring”. “old” is not a good reason at all, “old” does not imply “bad”. And “kinda boring” is highly subjective and is lacking explanation. A good interface does not need to be exciting, it needs to get its job done. Current interface gets its job done just fine. I really don't know why the GUI must be replaced. WTF is wrong with the current GUI? I think absolutely nothing is wrong, it works perfectly fine. Don't fix what ain't broken! If you have criticism of the old GUI, please explain in detail what things are wrong. Then we can have a discussion. But if you just want to throw away the GUI because you feel like it, I'm heavily opposed. I don't get why some people are so quick in just throwing away a GOOD, TRIED and TESTED GUI. Seriously. The main menu is clearly one of STK's least worries at the moment. Actually, it's not a worry at all. I like bitcoins: 17fsUywHxeMHKG41UFfu34F1rAxZcrVoqH :-) Wuzzy There are a lot of structure issues with the current GUI as features were pasted in over time. This is especially an issue with user/achievement related screens. Plus if STK 1.0 were released with a new GUI AND networked multiplayer, it would bring a lot of good attention to the project. The old GUI is fine, but a new one could be a lot better. And if someone is willing to do the work, why not? On a different note, my interactive mockup has been updated some more, it now uses some of the new icons: https://jacobspctuneup.tk/STK/newgui2/mainmenu.html by Alayan » 01 Jul 2018, 06:12 QwertyChouskie {l Wrote}: There are a lot of structure issues with the current GUI as features were pasted in over time. This is especially an issue with user/achievement related screens. This doesn't point out any specific issue, still : it's too general. What are those structure issues ? How do they manifest themselves ? Etc. QwertyChouskie {l Wrote}: Plus if STK 1.0 were released with a new GUI AND networked multiplayer, it would bring a lot of good attention to the project. Any reason to think that the GUI change would bring any significant increase in popularity ? (This hypothesis is not A/B testable anyway, so it's a guess). Any reason to think that this would be the (perceived ) n°2 feature behind networking, considering all the changes that are already in the dev version and those that are planned for the next version ? Ahead of track changes, ahead of gameplay changes ? QwertyChouskie {l Wrote}: The old GUI is fine, but a new one could be a lot better. And if someone is willing to do the work, why not? "Could be", sure. A new one "could be" worse, too. So, the obvious question is, what are the issues the new UI is supposed to fix in the first place, and how it is trying to fix them. A GUI is supposed to look nice, be clear and easy to navigate to discover and use the game's options, game modes, etc. A total overhaul is much more involved than targeted improvements, so why it would be a preferable approach needs solid justification. by hellcp » 01 Jul 2018, 16:38 Well, alright, I was lazy with explaining it first time I guess, better reasons would be: - It's impossible to play on small screen, button sizes aren't uniform and hard to press on smaller screens (and misclicks are annoying) - Style of the game is different from style of interface, something that is quite natural in a game that has existed for more than 10 years - Style of interface along isn't consistent, using elements of Tango as icons (which are way more detailed then the rest of icons) - UI is optimized for mouse and keyboard and is hard to navigate with controller - On-screen keyboard is a mess To me it seems like SuperTuxKart grew out of that UI. While it was great during times when the only way to play the game was with mouse and keyboard on PC, STK has changed a lot. It adopted new technologies, appeared on Android, has much more defined artstyle in 3D, it's just that 2D and UI haven't caught up to it at all. Have a 100 icons I made for it, I hope you like them: stk.zip by Auria » 01 Jul 2018, 23:31 Hi, many of these icons are interesting, though you haven't included a license statement, we cannot use assets that are not released under an open-source license Also, indeed we aware that navigation using a gamepad is not ideal, though fortunately Alayan has been working on some improvements in that regard, and more could be done in the future for sure Oh whopps, forgot about it, CC BY-SA 4.0 sounds fine? by Wuzzy » 02 Jul 2018, 11:43 None of these points justify a complete overhaul of the GUI, however. Wuzzy, then why is UI not this now: Add `Super` at the top, it will be perfect. Why change anything if it works :/ IMO if STK wants interface that is easy to use with other input devices than mouse and keyboard, it would be way better to rethink it from scratch, because not much thought was given to that aspect before, and creating UI for controller for example comes at cost of repositioning a lot of elements (when with touch only scale matters really). You are approaching my ideas like I'm trying to kill the fun, I'm not. I'm trying my best to help a game I love. And one of the ways I'm trying to do it with element which was the most problematic for me to adjust to. And I am not the only person complaining here about it. If we approach everything with attitude of "it's good enough, let's not improve it", there would be nothing to improve with a fork of TuxKart, just fixes so it builds on newer dependencies, that's not the point. People wanna help, don't discourage them. NO NUKES! Because it is crap. Duh! What a silly question! But our current GUI is not crap. I think it is good. I think the current GUI is good and works well. I definitely do not see the need to nuke the current GUI completely, this just seems insane. Nuking the GUI needs SERIOUS justification. The reasons brought up so far were all far too weak. Also, nuking the GUI is a serious investment with no guarantee that the new GUI is a major improvement. It's a risk of which I am sure the core devs are not easily willing to take, especially with such a weak justification. Let me go through your points one-by-one: - It's impossible to play on small screen, button sizes aren't uniform and hard to press on smaller screens (and misclicks are annoying)] I am not familiar with STK on Android (does it exist?). Are small screens even targeted. Define “small screen”. Let's assume you're right: This seems to justify a nuke at first glance. But maybe it would be more sensible to have a separate GUI for small screens. It might be too difficult to have a GUI which works both for small and big screens. Also, we might want to hear more player voice here. I don't really understand this one. PLEASE be more specific about problems with the current GUI. Just fix the icons then, definitely not worth wasting a nuke. Do you know how expensive nukes are? WTF?! I can absolutely not understand the criticism about controllers. I have played STK with controller extensively and I felt no inconvenience in the main menu at all. I can go through the main menu with only the controller just fine, thank you very much. If you felt inconvenience with controller, again: Please pinpoint SPECIFIC problems. Otherwise we are getting nowhere. I have never used this, so I can't say much here. This basically just sounds like a bug. Probably fixable without nuking. Of course the current GUI can be improved, just in smaller steps. I agree with Alayan. I do not say the current GUI is untouchable. I like that TuxKart UI more, thank you very much. It had more testing (duh, people play TK to this day, 18 years and working fine), and would work fine on touchscreen as elements are bigger in scale than current UI. No idea about controller, but maybe we could make that work I am not familiar with STK on Android (does it exist?). Are small screens even targeted. Define “small screen”(....) It might be too difficult to have a GUI which works both for small and big screens. STK on Android exists, and its only weakpoint is UI, on 5.5 inch 1080p screen it's impossible to use without a needle. It really isn't hard to have UI that works on both big and small screens, it's just a matter of scale and positioning of UI elements in a sensible way. Maintaining two UIs will be a pain in the butt. How do I explain style to you? It's a difference between Angry Birds and Cityville Facebook game style. With settings addons and kart selection, where it either scrolls to all selectable widgets seemingly at random or direction in which to press d-pad to go to specific part of the interface. Most certainly, keyboard is in a 3x10 table, always as qwerty layout without any regards to current locale. It needs a complete rewrite to work like it should. Of course the current GUI can be improved, just in smaller steps. Of course, because every single part I'm suggesting will be introduced at once. Do you really expect it being that different within few days? Every single introduced part will require testing for bugs, against humans and against hardware. It's not that easy. I'm offering help in both coding and design aspects for reason of not enough experts in both departments (meaning current contributors, not me as expert). by QwertyChouskie » 05 Jul 2018, 03:26 Let's start with the new icons, that alone will be a big improvement. Although I rather like the proposed GUI, there's no need to debate this until the smaller improvements that can function with either a whole new GUI or with the existing one (e.g. the icons) are already in place.	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1289
__label__cc	0.682473	0.317527	Equipping Leaders to Empower Others to Embrace God’s Mission What is the significance of the focus on “equipping?” Franconia Conference has been increasingly building its conference ministry approach around an “equipping” strategy. Over the past several years, this has led to more of a teaming style of leadership, drawing on the strengths of different people on the conference ministry team to bring one or more leaders alongside a congregation’s conference minister to maximize working with gifts, strengths, and expertise available. This has also included drawing on unique gifts and experience of other pastors, denominational leaders, and outside consultants. How have oversight strategies changed before? Several significant shifts have occurred, including the somewhat dramatic shift in 1971 from a small group of “Bishops” to a larger group of “Overseers.” The era of bishops served Franconia Conference very well for many decades, yet over time a shift to overseers was a needed corrective for changing realities in the church. Since overseers were mostly people who were active pastors who were adding this to their congregational assignments, it became increasingly difficult to meet needs. So in 2000 another shift occurred when a smaller group of “Conference Ministers” worked as a team to provide leadership and support for congregations and their leaders. What is “equipping?” “Equipping” is leading with a bias toward intentionally investing in the spiritual, professional, relational, and emotional growth of both credentialed and lay leaders, through personal and group experiences, as well as formal programs of training in order to increase leadership capacity. In a congregation with a pastor and lay leaders focused on equipping, congregational members are empowered to do the ministry of the church, exercising the full range of gifts that God makes available to the body. What are the implications for my congregation in the years ahead? One way that Franconia Conference congregations relate to each other is in geographical “clusters.” This will continue to be valuable, particularly for some clusters, yet increasingly congregations have been focusing around various “affinities.” Affinities include congregational size, stage in a congregational life cycle, or other common factors. Alban Institute and other ecumenical leadership bodies consistently note that congregational size is the single largest factor for addressing the equipping needs of leaders of congregations. The equipping direction that follows simply builds on the current conference ministry model, while in some ways adding elements of the previous overseer model. Each congregation would have an official contact person or liaison, while having additional relationships based on their needs during a given year or stage. But instead of each conference minister doing all things for one congregation, the focus would shift to the congregation’s needs for the next stage of its ministry. People and resources would then be applied as needed to help the congregation reach its goals. In order to do this, conference staff would “multiply” themselves by coaching small teams that would focus on specific conference ministry functions. These staffing teams would employ combinations of salaried and volunteer staff to focus on specific areas of conference ministry, especially pastoral search process, pastor/congregational evaluation process, and conflict transformation. Along with this, congregations would be encouraged to join learning community groups, matched with other congregations with similar needs and goals. Similarly, leaders could be matched with other leaders who have similar interests for equipping (e.g., balancing challenges of bi-vocational ministry, leading a multi-staff team, leading a congregation through transition, developing lay leaders, etc.). Matching grants would be available to help pastors obtain additional training and resources. Significant connections would also be made possible by technology that would allow each congregation and conference related organization to connect by live video to each other, to the Conference Center, to Mennonite seminaries and other equipping opportunities. How would this look for a specific congregation? Although this would vary with each congregation and its stage on the journey, the following steps would be identified: Understand the congregation and its context: What is the unique identity, mission/purpose, and specific vision of what God has for this congregation? Assess current leadership as related to the context and need of the congregation: What are the strengths and improvement opportunities of the current leaders as it relates to moving the congregation forward? Determine leadership equipping needs: Come to an agreement with leaders on what type of resourcing or changes will be required (mentoring, coaching, training, restructuring, etc.) and over what period of time. Assessment of equipping effort: Have we met the agreed upon equipping needs of the leaders? Did we do what we said we would do? Is there anything else? Progress report: What went well? What’s different? Is there “growth” and equipping happening? What (if any) changes are needed? Is there genuine openness to missional movement? If not, why not? [Download a printer friendly PDF of this page]	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1293
__label__cc	0.66427	0.33573	Unstoppable Djokovic Claims French Crown June 6, 2016 — Leave a comment The Serbian champions has finally lifted the title that’s eluded him for so long, heartbreak against Wawrinka last year seemed to lift him this year. He has been unplayable for large parts of the year and Murray was shown this yesterday. The British number one was sensational in the first set and pinned the world number one back with a powerful forehand defensive game. The second set was the complete reverse as Djokovic settled into his natural game. Djokovic after winning the French Open for the first time in his career. The Serb has a frighteningly quick stroke speed, something which Murray found hard to contain on the clay. A sublime performance at the net whilst also driving the Brit further and further behind the baseline let Djokovic own the court. Murray is among the quickest players in the ATP tour but no amount of pace over the court was going to stop Djokovic powering to claim his first Roland Garros title. For the neutral it was a wonderful performance from Djokovic and although Murray won the first set there was no denying that the Serb deserved the victory. As we head towards the grass season it poses the question, who if anyone will stop Djokovic? Wimbledon looks to be a fascinating major to end the season on and there is one clear favourite of course. If Djokovic keeps this level of his game up there will be no stopping him when the tennis world descends on London this summer. This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged atp world tour, clay, final, french open, london, murray, Novak Djokovic, paris, roland garros, serbian, wawrinka, wimbledon. Bookmark the permalink.	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1297
__label__wiki	0.810482	0.810482	Genre Forum Dr. Demento Covered in Punk By BLACHEFAN, September 21, 2019 in Comedy BLACHEFAN LocationTampa, Fl. The comedy album released by Demented Punk Records in 2018. Featuring Cover versions of punk and comedy songs performed by contemporary artists. Hour 1: Track 1 Dr. Demento Opening Theme (Pico & Sepulveda) Performed by OSAKA POPSTAR'S DEMENTED PUNK ORCHESTRA WITH THE ROTO ROOTER GOODTIME CHRISTMAS BAND Original "Dr. Demento" Arrangement by the Roto Rooter Goodtime Christmas Band. New "Covered in Punk" Arrangement by John Cafiero. Produced by John Cafiero & The Roto Rooter Goodtime Christmas Band. Fish Heads Performed by OSAKA POPSTAR Originally Performed by Barnes & Barnes from the 1979 album "Voobaha" Produced by John Cafiero Performed by WILLIAM SHATNER Originally performed by The Cramps from the 1980 album "Songs The Lord Taught Us" Shaving Cream (Punk Lyrics) Performed by UNCLE FLOYD VIVINO & OOGIE Performed by FRED SCHNEIDER Originally performed by Gloria Balsam from her 1979 record "Fluffy" Hour 1: Track 10 Dead Puppies Performed by JAMES KOCHALKA SUPERSTAR Originally performed by Ogden Edsl from the 1977 album "Stuffed" Additional production/arrangement by John Cafiero Surfin' Bird Performed by NOBUNNY Originally performed by The Trashmen from the 1963 album "Surfin' Bird" Additional Production by John Cafiero Performed by BALZAC Originally performed by Allan Sherman from the 1963 album "My Son, The Nut" Produced by Balzac Performed by COLEEN GREEN Originally performed by Heathen Dan from the 1981 album "The World's Worst Records!" Creature with the Atom Brain Performed by QUINTRON & MISS PUSSYCAT Originally performed by Roky Erickson and the Aliens from the 1981 album "The Evil One" I Love Beans Performed by THE MEATMEN Originally performed by Brak (Andy Merrill) on Cartoon Planet and on the 1997 album "Space Ghost's Musical Bar-B-Que" Produced by Tony Hamera It's A Gas Performed by LOS STRAITJACKETS Originally performed by Alfred E. Neuman from the 1963 album of the same name Produced by Pete Curry at the Pow Wow Fun Room Performed by BRAK (Andy Merrill) Originally performed by Suicidal Tendencies from their 1983 album "Suicidal Tendencies" Produced by John Cafiero & Andy Merrill Performed by SHONEN KNIFE Originally performed by "Weird Al" Yankovic from his 1984 album "Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D Produced by Naoko & Atsushi Shibata (TOMATO HEAD) Batman Theme Performed by THE HAMBURGLARS Originally performed by Neal Hefti and the television soundtrack by Nelson Riddle for the 1966 television series of the same name Performed by ADAM WEST Originally performed by Phil Harris for the 1950 RCA Victor Record of the same name Science Fiction / Double Feature Performed by JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS Originally performed by Richard O'Brien for the 1973 stage production "The Rocky Horror Show" and the 1975 motion picture "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" Produced by Kenny Laguna Dr. Demento Covered in Punk (Theme) National Brotherhood Week Performed by THE VANDALS Originally performed by Tom Lehrer from his 1965 album "That Was The Year That Was" Produced by Warren Fitzgerald Performed by THE KIPPER KIDS Originally performed by Piero Umiliani for the 1968 Mondo softcore porn film "Sweden: Heaven and Hell" Those Two Dreadful Children Performed by RASPUTINA Originally performed by Cruella De Ville from their 1982 album "Those Two Dreadful Children" Suicide is Painless (Theme from MASH) Performed by JUICEHEAD Originally written and scored for the 1970 film "MASH" by Johnny Mandel and Michael B. Altman and the 1972 television series "MASH" Produced by Rob Vannice Disco Boy Performed by MISSING PERSONS Originally performed by Frank Zappa from his 1976 album "Zoot Allures" Produced by John Cafiero & Billy Sherwood Telephone Man Originally performed by Meri Wilson from the 1977 GRT record of the same name	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1299
__label__cc	0.650535	0.349465	Climatic Constraints on Aggregate Economic Output Marshall Burke, Vincent Tanutama Efficient responses to climate change require accurate estimates of both aggregate damages and where and to whom they occur. Understanding the causes of economic inequality is critical for achieving equitable economic development. Reports of the Demise of Carbon Pricing are Greatly Exaggerated Frank Wolak AbstractPoliticians in a number of jurisdictions with cap-and-trade markets for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions or carbon taxes have argued that the evidence is in and the conclusion is clear:... Confronting Climate Change: What Can the US and Japan Contribute to Creating Sustainable Societies? Arimura, Toshi H, Buntrock, Dana, Knox-Hayes, Janelle, Lipscy, Phillip Y and Tanaka, Shinsuke This report was produced for the Abe Fellows Global Forum 2017 symposiums on climate change, held in partnership with Stanford University's Walter H. Retail Pricing to Support the 21st Century Distribution Grid Abstract As an increasing number of California households install solar panels, the current approach to retail electricity pricing makes it harder for the state’s utilities to recover their costs.... Global Warming and Extreme Heat Harming Pregnant Women Global warming and more days of extreme heat are exacerbating the health risks of pregnancy, particularly among African-American women, according to new Stanford-led research. Effects of Climate Change on Suicide Rates As global temperatures rise, climate change’s impacts on mental health are becoming increasingly evident. Effects of Climate Change on Hunger As the climate changes, where plants grow best is predicted to shift. Food Insecurity: A 21st Century Threat to Global Security and Stability Biological threats: why the US is 'dangerously vulnerable' Abstract: The threat of biological catastrophes-- stemming from natural, accidental or intentional causes-- looms ever larger as populations urbanize, global temperatures rise, and the access to... Knowledge infrastructures under siege: environmental data systems as memory, truce, and target Abstract: This talk examines the history of environmental data systems in the context of the Trump administration’s assault on environmental science. Climate and Global Poverty Growing knowledge that the climate is changing has far outpaced our knowledge of how these changes might impact economic outcomes that we care about. Does climate change constitute one of the most... Climate Change, Nutrition and Population Health Interdisciplinary Research on Introducing Heat-Tolerant Wheat to Bolster Food Security The project is supported under the NSF Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability Fellows (SEES Fellows) program, with the goal of helping to enable discoveries needed to inform actions... Ertharin Cousin, Tales from the War on Hunger After the 2007 Global Food Crisis, President Barack Obama in his Inaugural Address committed to the world’s poor nations: “We pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed... Can Africa rise to the challenge of feeding itself in the 21st century? Food security experts from the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) gathered for the symposium "Can Africa rise to the challenge of feeding itself in the 21st century?" This is the first of our new Global Food Security Symposium... Interview: Dr. Cary Fowler On May 6, Dr. Rosamond L. Naylor Senior Fellow William Wrigley Professor of Earth System Science, Senior Fellow, Stanford Woods Institute and Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Professor, by courtesy, Economics, Senior Fellow and Founding Director, Center on Food Security and the Environment Noah Diffenbaugh Kara J. Foundation Professor and Kimmelman Family Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment Timothy E. Josling Senior Fellow, by courtesy Professor, Food Research Institute, Emeritus, 1940-2018 Pamela Matson Chester Naramore Dean of the School of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences, Richard and Rhoda Goldman Professor of Environmental Studies, Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment, FSE Affiliated Faculty Professor, Earth Sciences, Senior Fellow, Stanford Woods Institute Paul N. Edwards William J. Perry Fellow Sam Heft-Neal Research scholar, Center on Food Security and the Environment, Stanford Department of Earth System Science Research scholar, Center on Food Security and the Environment Christopher Seifert PhD student, Earth System Science Jennifer Burney Affiliated scholar Wolfram Schlenker Visiting Scholar George Azzari Affiliated scholar David S. Battisti Affiliated scholar Anthony Louis D'Agostino Affiliated scholar	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1307
__label__cc	0.688405	0.311595	Fans are choosing not to watch live football events in Africa At the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt, the visual imagery of almost empty stadiums is a powerful narrative. But not the kind that African sports, African football, or corporate sponsors deserve. The empty seat syndrome in suggests that football fans are voting with their feet, or better still with their backsides. Fans are choosing not to watch live football events, and instead are opting in increasing numbers for the 'intimacy' of their crystal clear digital flat TV screens, or not all. Before Egypt's stunning 0-1 loss to South Africa in the round of 16, the host country was the only team able to attract 70,000 fans. Other than when Mo Salah and the Pharaohs have been on the field, most stadia across Egypt have at best attracted an average of 5,000 to 7,000 fans. Official broadcast camera crews have done a creative job minimizing the visual gaps of empty seats. But wide camera angles reveal the obvious ... a lack of attendance and public enthusiasm, in spite of the presence of some of the biggest names in world football on the field. In European football leagues, where many of the stars in Egypt ply their trade, fans pay mega bucks to see the likes of John Mikel Obi, Ahmed Musa, Sadio Mane, Ryahd Mahrez, Nicolas Pépé, Wilfred, Zaha, and Kalidou Koulibaly. Which is why the empty seats in Egypt are both stunning. Admittedly, Egypt bailed CAF out and should receive well-deserved credit for coming to the rescue and hosting the African Cup of Nations, with barely 6 months notice, when the original hosts were sanctioned due to shoddy preparations. Nevertheless, the lack of attendance in Egypt speaks volumes high ticket costs; the timing of matches bang in the middle of work days; the difficulties faced by national team supporters in obtaining entry visas to Egypt; and challenges with the Confederation of African Football's complicated online ticket purchasing system. It should not be so. This after all, is the most important event in Africa's sports calendar. At least, it used to be before England's Premier League, Spain's La Liga, Italy's Serie A, and Germany's Bundesliga captured our collective imaginations. The end result is that where once 30,000 to 70,000 fans a week watched highly competitive domestic football leagues across Africa, the empty seat syndrome has been the norm for almost two decades. It is not unusual to have less than a thousand fans in a stadium that seats 30,000. The lack of fan attendance has obvious economic and financial implications across the sports value chain for team owners, sports federations and confederations, players, sponsors, advertising and marketing agencies, merchandisers, vendors, and local communities who once counted on fan attendance to boost fledgling economies. What's responsible for the increasing slide in fan attendance? 1. Poor facilities 2. High ticket costs 3. A lack of reliable transportation to and from venues. As well as sufficient and secure parking. 4. Increasingly crude behavior and violence at event locations. 5. Technology. Mobile phones and Apps that carry events live as well as a plethora of entertainment alternatives. In other words, once big events are no longer the main gigs in town. So, what can be done to reverse the trend? Here are 5 quick suggestions. 1. It can no longer be business as usual. Africa must run sports as a professional business. This includes the right infrastructure, training facilities, attractive pay scales for professional athletes who now consider anything less than a European league appearance, a professional failure. Regrettably, as with Africa's overall propensity to simply export raw materials instead of adding value to what we produce, we are doing the same with football and many other sports. Africa has a tremendous abundance of potential talent that for the most part (with the exception of South Africa, Kenya and Ethiopia) we add little or no value to. Instead, millions of genetically blessed athletes are simply waiting or begging to be 'found' on the cheap by European and American sports teams. Why? Simply because we fail to see diamonds in the rough and because we are unable to add value to the potential of what for now seems to be rough stones. 2. Modern and professionally maintained facilities: In sizzling hot Africa, we must invest in covered stadia. When I can sit in front of my big screen TV in my air conditioned living room, why would I want to subject myself to temperatures that I swear have gone up a number of notches in recent years? 3. Sport is a spectacle. This includes everything including pre-event and half time entertainment to keep fans with short attention spans upbeat and engaged. 4. Give back to the fans: Essentially, engagement in the 21st century must change. Its time to give something back to fans rather than fleecing them at every opportunity with sub-standard services and products. It would seem to me that sports teams could offer something as simple as raffle draws that reward fans with extra game tickets, signed player jerseys, visits with select players, or products from local sponsors. Professional marketing firms can come up with an endless list. 5. Make sports big and make it a win-win proposition. Real Madrid F.C. and Barcelona F.C. for example, are not owned by a few rich individuals. Instead, they are owned and supported by thousands of shareholders known as 'socios.' Across Africa, it's time to change the numbers game - in ownership, money, and attendance - by giving fans a seat at the table. These are just a few quick ideas. However, the running of sports in general and football in particular as a business and a brand proposition, will require honest analysis, political and financial will, and a collective approach. It must be if Africa is to unlock potential and turn millions into billions. The article is written by Dr. Victor Oladokun, is the Director of Communication and External Relations at the African Development Bank Photo credit: KHALED DESOUKI/Getty Images Callaway Golf Announces New MAVRIK Family of Woods and Irons Top 20 Highest Revenue Generating Football Clubs	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1309
__label__cc	0.744917	0.255083	Featured » Improve Security » How Businesses Gain from Integrating SD-WAN and Security April 16, 2019 Mike Frane SD-WAN (software-defined wide area network) and security technologies are convergently evolving—responding to the needs of the market while stimulating new demand through innovation. SD-WAN and security capabilities are being integrated in platforms both on-premises and in the cloud. What’s more—network and security functions once tied to dedicated hardware solutions are now being delivered more effectively via flexible software applications. Overcoming WAN security concerns In a recent survey administered by Gartner on behalf of Fortinet, 72% of the respondents confirmed that “security is the biggest WAN concern,” outranking performance at 58% and cost at 47%. Not a surprising result considering the potential impacts that a single security event can have in terms of network performance and financial damages. Security can no longer be an afterthought. It must be designed as a fundamental component in SD-WAN deployments—whether integrated into the platform itself or as an adjacent service. SD-WAN solutions today often become hybrid solutions in order to maximize returns on prior investments, therefore, any embedded security functions must also be designed for a complex, hybrid world. The simplification of existing technology in one area often introduces greater complexity elsewhere to stimulate innovation that will yield a greater aggregate value. As overall solution complexity ebbs and flows, the dynamic environment can be very challenging to manage. Network and security management challenges can be multiplied by many factors in a WAN, including: Connection complexity. Network performance requirements and security needs may vary by users, transactions, applications, sites and link types. As a simple example, the guest enjoying complementary WiFi over a cup of coffee in a café likely requires less security than the employee who processes that same guest’s credit card at the table via a tablet. Security-induced latency. As more users of all types use more cloud-based applications and services, security functions such as deep packet inspection, content filtering and data loss protection can impair application performance—reducing productivity and negatively impacting the customer or user experience. Security gains from technological advances Software-defined networking introduced the concept of network functions virtualization (NFV), including security. Service chaining enabled multiple functions to be linked together and work in harmony. Software-defined technologies can deliver seamless security across vast WANs with centralized management. The virtualization and integration of network and security functions can reduce dependencies on dedicated hardware solutions. This standardization, simplification and automation can improve the uniformity—and therefore the integrity—of security across all locations, while reducing the need for human intervention. While virtualization has simplified the physical world, it has also enabled the logical complexity required for Unified Threat Management (UTM) to address ever-growing complexity in the threat landscape. User segmentation enables security capabilities to be applied to each segment type in the most efficient and cost-effective manner possible. For example, PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) Compliance may apply to a company at large, but there may be relatively small subsets of employees or network segments that require special handling from a network and security perspective. IT and security leaders must carefully consider and evaluate segments of user types, or “security classes,” for WAN traffic, and impose policy and technical controls to ensure traffic and apps are treated appropriately. Service providers can help with hosted security options and demonstrating how customers can segment traffic to engage or bypass various security functions. SD-WAN deployments can also enable Internet connections to software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications in the cloud, but those cost savings come with new security risks. Cloud-based application access may precipitate a new approach to security with a next‑generation virtualized firewall (NGFW) that runs at the network core. Once customized for the specific apps used in the enterprise, a cloud NGFW can be serviced‑chained into SD-WAN connections to as many WAN locations as desired. Security gains from technology-empowered humans SD-WAN solutions offer “hard savings” relative to the MPLS solutions they are slowly displacing. Less tangible—but perhaps of even greater importance—are the “soft savings” that an SD-WAN solution with integrated security can yield. In the past, “rip and replace” WAN deployments created significant disruptions and distractions for all users and especially for the IT professionals tasked with challenges well above and beyond “business as usual” operations. That kind of chaos creates opportunities for existing and emerging security vulnerabilities to be more easily exploited. In contrast, SD-WAN solutions can be deployed “over the top” (OTT) of existing networks. Security risk factors can be mitigated because businesses can progressively deploy SD-WAN by a self-defined project plan and schedule, adjusting on the fly to fight the unexpected, but inevitable, fires of the day. Top tier service providers also offer premium high touch services to fully outsource the deployment and/or ongoing management of SD-WAN, as needed or desired. Once deployed, SD-WANs provide greater security because the people who manage them can operate more effectively and efficiently via a “single pane of glass” that simultaneously monitors the environment for network and security events. With an integrated SD-WAN and security deployment, security can be managed from a centralized portal, and modifications to security policies can be made for all locations in a matter of minutes, without the need for on-site IT support that could previously take days or weeks for hundreds of locations. Some amount of “soft savings” are realized from operational efficiencies. Much greater savings may be realized when (not if) a security event does occur. A fully-integrated portal for managing network and security enables operators to recognize, analyze and respond to events as quickly as possible. When a security event is significant, every second saved in mitigating it may prove invaluable to protecting the company’s infrastructure, data and—ultimately—its brand and reputation. Wherever you are in your path to digital transformation, ensuring your existing network security plans help you realize the full value of prior investments and the new investments you make will support the evolving needs of your business well into the future will be key. The post How Businesses Gain from Integrating SD-WAN and Security appeared first on Windstream Enterprise. Mike Frane is the Vice President of Product Management for SD-WAN at Windstream Enterprise, where he is responsible for the company’s overall SD-WAN strategy, as well as the network and security service portfolios. Since joining the organization in 2008, he’s overseen the launch and lifecycle of services including LTE wireless, Ethernet and MPLS IPsec access elements, Secure WiFi & Analytics, Application Performance Optimization, IPsec VPN and Unified Communications. Prior to Windstream’s acquisition of EarthLink, Mike led the launch of EarthLink’s SD-WAN service; their most successful product introduction in over a decade. Mike has a BS in Genetics and Cellular Biology from the University of Minnesota and was involved in gene therapy research at the Institute of Human Genetics before entering the telecommunications industry. More Content by Mike Frane Cybersecurity Best Practices for the Hospitality Industry Hotels gather a tremendous amount of personal information about their guests, which means hotels must view ... Cyber Security 101 for K-12 Districts: Back to Basics As excited as students and educators are to embrace new learning tools enabled by the E-Rate program, their... Customer experience tops the menu at casual eatery When network outages and data security concerns threatened to damage a famous casual dining brand’s reputation, they made serious changes to bring the digital experience to life in their restaurants. 4 Ways to Improve WAN Security The WAN is one of the most common attack points used by hackers to enter an organization’s systems and databases. As a result, businesses are shifting to a software-defined network (SDN) environment. 13 Frightening Impacts of Network Outages Network outages are a business’s worst nightmare, and cybercriminals are growing more sophisticated and devious. Be sure you take the basic steps to protect your business and avoid these pitfalls. Enhancing Network Security Through Programmable Networks Cyber-attackers have evolved into ruthlessly skilled organizations. That's why more businesses are moving to programmable, software-defined networks to enable enhanced security. [Infographic] Do you have a clear view of your network security? Security breaches can lead to serious financial losses and damage your customers’ confidence in your brand. Do you know how vulnerable your network is to cyber-attacks? SOC 2 Compliance for Unified Communications: Why it Matters and How to Ensure it The financial services industry faces increasing security breaches. The rising adoption of SaaS, UCaaS and cloud computing adds more considerations to the security conversation. Protecting Your Business from Crimes of Opportunity Security threats to mid-sized companies are more associated with crimes of opportunity that are caused by a lack of security or human error, such as misconfiguration or opening a virus attachment. 5 Cybersecurity Recommendations to Protect Patient Privacy With EHR investments consuming less of a healthcare provider’s budget, leaders can now take more steps in their digital transformation journey. Here are 5 ways they can better protect patient privacy. Hotels gather a tremendous amount of personal information about their guests, which means hotels must view network security as an investment in future business, and not as an added expense. As excited as students and educators are to embrace new learning tools enabled by the E-Rate program, their adoption poses an inherent security risk—both to individual users and districts at large. Security Information and Event Management (SIEM): What it is and Why You Need it With SIEM, we are able to correlate event log data, detect and mitigate exploits that go unnoticed with traditional security technologies such as firewall, IPS, UTM and more. DDoS Attacks Are Escalating and Financial Institutions are Especially Vulnerable Since banks and financial institutions are frequent DDoS targets, most have some form of protection in place. Whether or not it’s enough to ensure business continuity is a tricky question. 6 Must-Have Security Tools for IT Leaders How does your own security arsenal measure up? Is your network as secure as it needs to be? Check to see vital tools you may have in place—and which ones may deserve your immediate consideration. [Infographic] Managed Security smooths the road to the cloud for healthcare orgs Cybersecurity risk is increasing and should be a critical investment in any healthcare organization’s digital transformation journey. Managed Network Security can get you there. Combating DDoS Attacks: How to Keep Your Retail Network Secure Escalating DDoS attacks threaten the success and reputation of retailers. Learn how to keep your retail network secure. What is a DDoS attack and how does it affect my business? DDoS attacks are on the rise. This post explains what they are and what you can do to prevent it from impacting your business. Is Your Enterprise Making Sensitive Information Unintentionally Vulnerable? Protecting your organization from security threats is an obvious must. But are you doing enough? Here are 3 musts for ensuring security and protecting your organization from unnecessary breaches. [White paper] A smarter approach for combating distributed denial-of-service attacks Read about how Windstream Enterprise's new Distributed Denial-of-Service Mitigation solution is optimized for customers looking to ensure secure Internet access in the face of mounting DDoS attacks.	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0011.json.gz/line1310

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