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PA Pennsylvania
rldavis@udel.edu
www.rebeccaldavis.com
American marriage, American religion, 20th century U.S. history, gender, sexuality, LGBTQ, American Jewish history
Rebecca L. Davis is a historian of twentieth-century American religion, sexuality, and culture. Her first book, MORE PERFECT UNIONS: THE AMERICAN SEARCH FOR MARITAL BLISS, explores the history of marriage counseling in the United States — and helps explain both why Americans remain so uniquely obsessed with the pursuit of marital perfection and what that preoccupation means for the culture as a whole. She has a special interest in American religious history and often teaches courses on immigration, race, and ethnicity. In 2017 she became a producer and story editor for Sexing History, a podcast.
More Perfect Unions: The American Search for Marital Bliss (Harvard University Press, 2010)
http://www.publicseminar.org/2015/07/faith-in-marriage/
@historydavis
North America, United States
20th century, 21st century
Family, Gender, Politics, Race, Religion, Sexuality, Sexual Violence, Women
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"One of the most important social justice
movements you've never heard of..."
VOICE MALE: The Untold Story of the Profeminist Men’s Movement takes you inside one of the most important social justice movements you may never have heard of—the social transformation of masculinity. Although it’s been underway since the late 1970s, it still largely remains under the radar of much of society.Thematically arranged essays by leading experts and moving first-person stories illustrate how a growing movement of changing men has discovered in feminism the basis for redefining masculinity and creating healthier lives.The longtime editor of Voice Male magazine, Rob introduces audiences to men examining contemporary manhood from a variety of perspectives—from boys on the journey to manhood to men overcoming violence; from fatherhood and mentoring to navigating life as a man of color; as a gay man, and as a survivor. The voices of a chorus of women can also be heard in the book’s pages.Long recognized for articulating a hopeful vision of the future of men, Okun sensitively presents a vivid portrait sure to be welcomed by a wide audience interested to learn what is happening with men. His many years as a gender justice activist have not just deepened his skill as a chronicler of the profeminist men’s movement, but also have helped to strengthen his voice as a spokesperson articulating men’s second act. Voice Male offers compelling evidence of a new direction for men and illuminates what’s around the bend on the path to gender justice.Voice Male: The Untold Story of the Profeminist Men’s Movement can be ordered through the publisher Interlink Books, on Amazon, and your support of independent bookstores.
Read the Table of Contents
In chronicling the commitment of anti-sexist men, Rob Okun continues his long legacy of redefining American manhood. This book helps feminists and their male allies to deconstruct patriarchy, shifting the paradigm of what it means to be a real man. Voice Male is both a guide and a searchlight for future generations of boys and men.
—Byron Hurt, director of I Am A Man: Black Masculinity in America and Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes
Thank you to Rob Okun for chronicling a better way—where men are recognizing their humanity, reconnecting their hearts to their heads, vanquishing stereotypes, and proving themselves healthier role models. At long last, there is hope for my son and daughters’ generation.
—Jennifer Siebel Newsom, filmmaker, Miss Representation and The Mask You Live In
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New regulations
Wildlife & Habitats, Legislation, Pollution & Waste Management, Ground, Prevention & Control
Case law: Waste disposal firm’s appeal dismissed as judge decides lining material is liable to landfill tax
The case of Biffa Waste Services Ltd v The Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, a tribunal appeal, has been dismissed.
The appeal followed an earlier appeal by the appellant and three other waste disposal companies, which dealt with the liability for landfill tax on ‘fluff’ – mainly domestic black bag waste that had been deposited at the base, sides and top of landfill cells.
The argument was that this fluff was being used to protect the engineered parts of the landfill cells from damage by the general body of waste deposited in the cell, and was therefore not waste, excluding it from landfill tax.
The appeals were dismissed on the basis that in spite of the submitted ‘use’ of the materials in question, the appellants intended to discard them.
The current appeal concerned a claim relating to a different material deposited at the top of landfill cells operated by the appellant, called EVP or ‘engineered into the void permanently’, similar to the ‘fluff’ referred to in the earlier appeals.
Judge Kevin Poole considered the intent of the person making the disposal to be to discard the material.
He also stated that “all the material was destined for landfill in any event, in the main body of landfilled waste if not as EVP”. This considered, the appeal was dismissed.
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ACLU & EFF Sue Over Warrantless Phone and Laptop Searches at U.S. Border
Lawsuit on Behalf of 11 Travelers Challenges Searches of Electronic Devices as Unconstitutional
BOSTON — The American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the ACLU of Massachusetts sued the Department of Homeland Security today on behalf of 11 travelers whose smartphones and laptops were searched without warrants at the U.S. border.
The plaintiffs in the case are 10 U.S. citizens and one lawful permanent resident who hail from seven states and come from a variety of backgrounds. The lawsuit challenges the government’s fast-growing practice of searching travelers’ electronic devices without a warrant. It seeks to establish that the government must have a warrant based on probable cause to suspect a violation of immigration or customs laws before conducting such searches.
The plaintiffs include a military veteran, journalists, students, an artist, a NASA engineer, and a business owner. Several are Muslims or people of color. All were reentering the country from business or personal travel when border officers searched their devices. They were not subsequently accused of any wrongdoing. Officers also confiscated and kept the devices of several plaintiffs for weeks or months — DHS has held one plaintiff’s device since January.
“The government cannot use the border as a dragnet to search through our private data,” said ACLU attorney Esha Bhandari. “Our electronic devices contain massive amounts of information that can paint a detailed picture of our personal lives, including emails, texts, contact lists, photos, work documents, and medical or financial records. The Fourth Amendment requires that the government get a warrant before it can search the contents of smartphones and laptops at the border.”
Plaintiff Diane Maye, a college professor and retired U.S. Air Force officer, was detained for two hours at Miami International Airport when coming home from a vacation in Europe in June. “I felt humiliated and violated. I worried that border officers would read my email messages and texts, and look at my photos,” she said. “This was my life, and a border officer held it in the palm of his hand. I joined this lawsuit because I strongly believe the government shouldn’t have the unfettered power to invade your privacy.”
Plaintiff Sidd Bikkannavar, an engineer for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, was detained at the Houston airport on the way home from vacation in Chile. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CPB) officer demanded that he reveal the password for his phone. The officer returned the phone a half-hour later, saying that it had been searched using “algorithms.”
Another plaintiff was subjected to violence. Akram Shibly, an independent filmmaker who lives in upstate New York, was crossing the U.S.-Canada border after a social outing in the Toronto area in January when a CBP officer ordered him to hand over his phone. CBP had just searched his phone three days earlier when he was returning from a work trip in Toronto, so Shibly declined. Officers then physically restrained him, with one choking him and another holding his legs, and took his phone from his pocket. They kept the phone, which was already unlocked, for over an hour before giving it back.
“I joined this lawsuit so other people don’t have to have to go through what happened to me,” Shibly said. “Border agents should not be able to coerce people into providing access to their phones, physically or otherwise.”
The number of electronic device searches at the border began increasing in 2016 and has grown even more under the Trump administration. CBP officers conducted nearly 15,000 electronic device searches in the first half of fiscal year 2017, putting CBP on track to conduct more than three times the number of searches than in fiscal year 2015 (8,503) and some 50 percent more than in fiscal year 2016 (19,033).
“People now store their whole lives, including extremely sensitive personal and business matters, on their phones, tablets, and laptops, and it’s reasonable for them to carry these with them when they travel. It’s high time that the courts require the government to stop treating the border as a place where they can end-run the Constitution,” said EFF Staff Attorney Sophia Cope.
Below is a full list of the plaintiffs along with links to their individual stories, which are also collected here:
Ghassan and Nadia Alasaad are a married couple who live in Massachusetts, where he is a limousine driver and she is a nursing student.
Suhaib Allababidi, who lives in Texas, owns and operates a business that sells security technology, including to federal government clients.
Sidd Bikkannavar is an optical engineer for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.
Jeremy Dupin is a journalist living in Massachusetts.
Aaron Gach is an artist living in California.
Isma’il Kushkush is a journalist living in Virginia.
Diane Maye is a college professor and former captain in the U. S. Air Force living in Florida.
Zainab Merchant, from Florida, is a writer and a graduate student in international security and journalism at Harvard.
Akram Shibly is a filmmaker living in New York.
Matthew Wright is a computer programmer in Colorado.
The case, Alasaad v. Duke, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
Today’s complaint is here:
https://www.aclu.org/legal-document/alasaad-v-duke-complaint
media@aclu.org
Electronic Device Searches
Privacy at Borders and Checkpoints
Privacy & Technology
Restore Net Neutrality
Alasaad v. McAleenan: Challenge to Warrantless Phone and Laptop Searches at U...
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Rail trails celebrated as ‘vibrant sign of renewal’
Dick Beamish
Adirondack Recreational Trail Advocates
Bikers ride the 34-mile Virginia Creeper Trail in the Blue Ridge Mountains of southwest Virginia. (Photo provided — Richard Smith)
Editor Peter Crowley reported recently on a new PBS documentary about rail-to-trail conversions in New York state, including the 34-mile Adirondack Rail Trail that will connect Lake Placid, Saranac Lake and Tupper Lake. The documentary portrayed rail trails as popular success stories — as safe, easy, family-friendly pathways for bicycle riders, runners, walkers, nature lovers and history buffs.
In the same issue of the Enterprise was a letter from Charles W. McCutchen of Bethseda, Maryland, who lamented the move by the state government to convert the old Tri-Lakes rail line into a new recreational trail for all seasons.
“Why would Albany hurt people for no apparent reason?” he asked.
It would appear that Mr. McCutchen has not been tuned in to the debate of the past seven years. Mr. Crowley counted 626 letters and commentaries on this subject that have appeared so far in the Enterprise (making this one number 627 — perhaps some kind of record?). Much of the public outpouring has favored the conversion of the rail line to a recreational trail. The reasons for doing so have been set forth, in mind-numbing detail, week after week, year after year.
Misplaced sympathy
Mr. McCutcheon nevertheless questions why Albany would “want to hurt people” by replacing a marginal tourist-train operation between Lake Placid and Saranac Lake with a recreational trail that would enrich the quality of life for residents and tourists. This seems like a case of misplaced sympathy. If Mr. McCutchen is truly concerned about people getting hurt, he should take a look at the imperiled bicycle riders navigating the 10-mile stretch of Route 86 that connects the two villages.
Nationally, bike riding is an increasingly popular form of outdoor recreation. Regionally, bicycling seems poised to take its place with hiking and paddling as a favorite outdoor activity in the Adirondacks. Unfortunately, however, Route 86 is the only way to bike between Saranac Lake and Lake Placid. This is a busy road with narrow shoulders, where cars and trucks whiz by a few feet from the bicycles. Consigning cyclists to this dangerous stretch of highway is, in fact, a great way to hurt people if they happen to get hit by a motor vehicle that veers slightly off course. Forget about getting “hurt.” Such accidents are often fatal.
Now consider the blessings of a separate, scenic bike trail joining the two villages and extending another 24 miles to Tupper Lake. With the trail in place, how many more local residents would enjoy bicycling there? How many would ride, jog or walk at least part of this trail on a daily or weekly basis? How many bicycling visitors, known by tourism promoters as “wallets on wheels,” would be drawn to this tourist destination? How many families with young children could partake of this invigorating outdoor experience, well away from the noise, fumes and danger of traffic?
A look at successful rail trails elsewhere helps to answer these questions.
Repetition the key
Mr. McCutchen says the demise of the Placid-Saranac tourist train will “keep passengers and crew from enjoying the ride and merchants from getting extra business.”
True, the fun will be over for the crew and passengers. But they’ve had their fun for 20 years now, and it hasn’t paid off. Most of the cars on the tourist train have often appeared nearly empty. It’s also unlikely that many of the passengers would ever repeat this experience. One trip might have been fun, but for most customers, once is enough.
Compare this to the fun experienced by so many and so often on a rail trail. Repeat users are the rule rather than the exception. On our Adirondack Rail Trail, young and old will be able to enjoy this amenity — at no charge! — whenever they have some time to spare: at lunch hour, before breakfast, after school or work. Some bicyclists will spend a day on the trail, or a weekend, or even an entire vacation exploring this scenic pathway and taking advantage of the other biking, hiking, paddling and cultural opportunities along the way.
Another big plus: Rail trails confer lifelong health benefits. Who can dispute that walking, jogging and biking is good for our hearts, lungs, muscles and mental health?
Real economic benefits
As for those “merchants … getting extra business” from the tourist train, I challenge Mr. McCutchen to identify any significant economic benefits from the Placid-Saranac train during the two decades it has been monopolizing the rail corridor between these villages. True, some ice cream cones were purchased by train passengers at the Stewart’s Shop near Union Depot. Beyond that, however, the business generated from train riders has been negligible. Compare this questionable economic benefit to a rail trail that attracts large numbers of visitors with time and money to spend.
Here’s the conclusion of the PBS documentary, as recounted by Mr. Crowley: “A thousand miles of rail trail already wind through New York, each with its own fantastic story, each taking visitors on unforgettable journeys. No matter where you find them, rail trails are emerging as a vibrant sign of renewal throughout the state, the country and even the world.”
A resident of Saranac Lake, Dick Beamish is founder of the Adirondack Explorer magazine and a board member of Adirondack Recreational Trails Advocates.
Omar is completely assimilated
Beto O’Rourke, the losing Texas senator candidate who bootstrapped his way into becoming a losing presidential ...
Mad, again
Last week I wrote about our latest national disaster — Mad magazine going out of business. OK, so as far as ...
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Tal peer March 13, 2019
SIGRID NEW ALBUM SUCKER PUNCH
Norwegian pop star Sigrid has released her debut album Sucker Punch, on Island Records. The new album features the energetic “Strangers,” and zeitgeist defining “Don’t Kill My Vibe” – which catapulted Sigrid into the public consciousness last year –as well as ‘Dynamite,’ and title single ‘Sucker Punch’.
The 22-year-old’s songs are tales of the unexpected; fearless musical collages and shout-outs to human resilience,
“There’s a romantic melancholy in the landscape,” says Sigrid. “And there’s a certain grace to heartache, a sort of…epic grace! I love dramatic pop songs,” which is the foundation of Sigrid’s extraordinary debut Sucker Punch.
.We have all witnessed an incredible new talent over the last two years: From her VMA nomination for “MTV Push Artist of the Year,” winning the BBC Sound of 2018 to storming the stage at Panorama and Coachella this year, selling out shows in both NYC and LA, and performing on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Sigrid’s unforgettably impassioned live performances have sparked mass appreciation and defiant, rebellious pop songs. With her Spotify following tripling since the start of the year, and streaming numbers reaching almost 500M globally, the Norwegian sensation is undoubtedly set to continue her ascent with non-conformist and progressive attitudes to the femininity in the pop landscape.
CARLY RAE JEPSEN TO RELEASE NEW ALBUM
DIDO - ACOUSTIC VIDEO OF "MAD LOVE" + NEW ALBUM 'STILL ON MY MIND'
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Bisexuality
Chill.us
Out Traveler
© 2019 Pride Publishing Inc.
Champions of Pride
Inclusiveness Is an Asset to Major LGBT-Affirming Churches and Synagogues
Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto
Some of the biggest congregations find that inclusion isn't just the right thing to do -- it brings worshippers in the door.
By Trudy Ring
May 07 2018 4:15 AM EDT
Having an LGBT-affirming policy isn’t just the right thing for faith bodies to do – it often has the side benefit of putting people in the pews.
That’s the conclusion of several clergy and staff at some of the largest LGBT-friendly Christian and Jewish congregations in the U.S. and Canada. Granted, it’s based only on anecdotal evidence, but it’s the experience of these faith leaders that welcoming LGBT people – without expecting them to deny their identity – makes others feel welcome as well.
“I have seen it in my own parish,” says Bruce Garner, a member of All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Atlanta and president of Integrity USA, which works for full LGBT inclusion in the church.
“The fact that the congregation reflects the demographics of the wider city is a plus for all of us involved,” says Marlin Lavanhar, senior minister at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Okla.
This may seem counterintuitive, given a recent study that showed the 100 largest congregations in the U.S. – often dubbed “megachurches” – are uniformly anti-LGBT, although many take care to downplay that fact. Church Clarity, a crowdsourced database that monitors whether churches’ LGBT policies are clearly communicated, looked at the 100 largest congregations as ranked by Outreach, a Christian magazine, and found that exactly none are LGBT-affirming, but two-thirds of them obscured that policy to some degree. So some who are drawn to megachurches, which often offer amenities like coffee bars, bookshops, and exercise facilities in addition to spiritual guidance, may not know their home church is anti-LGBT until same-sex partners seek a church wedding and are turned away.
The faith leaders interviewed for this Advocate story serve at churches and synagogues that are hardly “mega” institutions – most of these houses of worship have a few thousand members, while megachurches report attendance by tens of thousands each weekend. Nor are they members of the largest U.S. denominations, as the Roman Catholic Church, the Southern Baptist Convention, and the United Methodist Church remain far from LGBT-affirming, although there are forces, especially in the Methodist Church, pushing them to become more so. (Many megachurches, by the way, have no denominational affiliation.)
But the LGBT-affirming churches we spoke to are nonetheless substantial, and they are affiliated with mainline denominations such as the United Church of Christ, the Episcopal Church, the Presbyterian Church (USA), and Reform and Conservative Judaism – and, of course, the Metropolitan Community Church, founded by and for LGBT people but welcomes allies as well. While denominations are often reluctant to designate one congregation as the largest, and this is not an exhaustive list, we are able to offer a look at some of the largest congregrations in these and other affirming faiths.
Metropolitan Community Church: The LGBT-focused denomination was founded in 1968 by the Rev. Troy Perry, who had been defrocked as a Pentecostal minister because of his homosexuality. But he wanted there to be a spiritual home for gay Christians, and so the MCC was born with a service for 12 people in his living room in Huntington Park, a suburb of Los Angeles. Today there are more than 160 MCC congregations in 33 countries. The one that MCC leaders usually cite as the largest is the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto, which has about 2,000 members.
It’s also one of the older MCCs, turning 45 years old this year. And it has never shied away from activism. “MCC Toronto has never been afraid to wade into the sphere of politics,” says the Rev. Jeff Rock, its senior pastor. That activism has seen some dramatic moments. In the 1970s, city officials called on Rev. Bob Wolfe, then the church’s pastor, to counsel a gay man who was threatening to kill himself by jumping off the roof of City Hall. Wolfe talked him down and then observed that the church needed to have a presence inside City Hall, not just on the roof. MCC Toronto has had that presence not just in City Hall but in Parliament, where Rev. Brent Hawkes, Wolfe’s successor, led sit-ins over bathhouse raids. Then in 2001, Hawkes married two same-sex couples but the government of Ontario refused to recognize the marriages; the church took the government to court and ultimately won, with Ontario beginning to recognize same-sex marriages in 2003. Legislative action by Parliament brought marriage equality to all of Canada in 2005. The church also houses Canada’s oldest LGBT high school. The mayor of Toronto has called the congregation the conscience of the city.
“We’re blessed in Canada that many of the battles for LGBT rights have been fought and won,” Rock says. But now LGBT activism can take new forms, he says, by starting conversations on race, poverty, disability, and other issues. And while addressing a diversity of issues, MCC Toronto also has a diverse congregation. The church is rooted in the Christian tradition, but it welcomes worshippers from others, and MCC Toronto has some Jewish members, Rock notes. And it has attracted some young straight couples with children who want their kids to experience an inclusive church environment, he says.
Unitarian Universalist Association: Rooted in liberal Christian traditions but also embracing principles of other faiths, Unitarian Universalism has long supported LGBT equality in the church and elsewhere. It has ordained gay, lesbian, and bisexual clergy since the 1970s and ordained its first transgender clergy member in 1986. It has offered union ceremonies for same-sex couples since the 1980s and has fought for an end to anti-LGBT discrimination in the civil sphere. In addition to the denomination’s generally LGBT-affirming policies, it has a Welcoming Congregations program to help individual churches deepen their understanding and advocacy.
One of the largest such congregations is All Souls in Tulsa, with about 2,200 adult members. In the early 1980s the church housed the LGBT group that eventually became Oklahomans for Equality and built the city’s Dennis R. Neill Equality Center; its activist namesake is a member of All Souls. The congregation was active in the fight for marriage equality in Oklahoma and has had LGBT ministers and other staff members, says Lavanhar.
“Here in the Bible Belt our role as a strong public advocate for LGBT issues and as a place for the spiritual care and growth of LGBT people and their friends and families has been an oasis in a sea of conservative religion,” he says. Over the past decade, the congregation, once largely white, has become more racially diverse, he notes. “I am pretty sure that we are one of the only churches in Tulsa that is serving a significant number of African-American LGBT individuals and families,” he says.
Episcopal Church: The Episcopal Church was much in the news 15 years ago for the election of its first openly gay bishop, Gene Robinson, who served as bishop of New Hampshire. Robinson has since retired, but the church has appointed several more out LGBT bishops and other clergy, and it remains a largely LGBT-affirming denomination, even though that stance has caused some Episcopal congregations to leave and affiliate with Anglican dioceses overseas. The Episcopal Church is the U.S. branch of the global Anglican Communion, led by the Church of England. Not all the members of the communion – including the Church of England – are anywhere near as affirming as the Episcopal Church.
The process of developing an affirming and inclusive church has been a long one, says Garner. “We’ve been at this for well over 40 years now,” he says. In 1976, both houses of the denomination’s bicameral legislature, the House of Deputies and House of Bishops, adopted a statement saying, “Homosexual persons are children of God who have a full and equal claim with all other persons upon the love, acceptance, and pastoral concern and care of the church.” Since the 1990s, being gay, lesbian, or bisexual has been no barrier to ordination, and transgender people have subsequently gained access to ordination as well. Garner recalls meeting in the 1990s with Rev. Edmond Browning, then the church’s presiding bishop, and Browning made the statement that there will be no outcasts in the Episcopal Church. The church adopted a liturgy for same-sex marriages in 2015. But it also allows local bishops to decide whether clergy can marry same-sex couples, and there are several, mostly in the South, who won’t allow blessing of these marriages.
Most Episcopal congregations are not huge, Garner notes; 80 percent of them have 200 or fewer members. But his home church, All Saints’ Episcopal in Atlanta, is one of the bigger and more inclusive ones, with about 3,000 members, and it has a large LGBT presence, with about 70 same-sex couples. It’s diverse in other ways too – its associate rector, the Rev. Kim Jackson, is an African-American lesbian married to a Muslim woman.
“There are gay and lesbian people all over the place,” says Garner. “We’re all used to having gay clergy.” The local diocese sponsors an Episcopal contingent in the Atlanta Pride parade, and it always gets much applause, he says. He credits acceptance to visibility. “When the faggot has a face, he’s no longer a faggot,” he says.
United Church of Christ: This is another denomination that has long stood for LGBT rights in the church and society, ordaining out clergy, marrying same-sex couples, and advocating for LGBT equality in the political area. Many of its congregations participate in the Open and Affirming program, making a public commitment to LGBT inclusion, but a substantial number of others are also welcoming to LGBT people.
One of its larger congregations is the Cathedral of Hope in Dallas, which was affiliated with the MCC until 2006. “The leadership didn’t see eye to eye with the denomination,” says Scott Stout, executive assistant to the senior pastor. However, LGBT inclusion was never a point of contention, and a few years later the congregation affiliated with the LGBT-friendly UCC. “It was really a good fit,” says Stout. “Our association has been very well received.” The cathedral draws about 2,000 worshippers a week, and about 80 percent are LGBT, he says, adding, “Our straight allies are amazing.” The congregation is about 15 percent African-American and has a weekly Latino-focused service, attended by an average of 150 people. The church also puts video of its services online, making them available worldwide.
Stout has been a member of the Cathedral of Hope for 12 years and on staff for two. “It took me 30 years to get to a job I truly love,” he says. He was brought up a Southern Baptist and attended a high school affiliated with the Church of Christ, which is a separate denomination from the United Church of Christ and not at all LGBT-friendly. “Most members will tell you they come from churches that spewed toxic rhetoric and turned them off from church altogether,” he says. “What we are trying to do is dispel that toxic theology. We believe that God created us exactly as we are and loves us exactly as we are.”
Being LGBT-affirming definitely draws worshippers, Stout says. “We are reaching people who don’t have any other avenues for being gay and Christian,” he says. Some are moved to tears at finding a place where they can bring those aspects of their identity together. “We literally keep boxes of Kleenex in every pew,” he says.
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ): Despite the similar name, this denomination is separate from the UCC and the Church of Christ, but it’s more like the former when it comes to LGBT affirmation. In 2013 delegates to its General Assembly voted to welcome and affirm LGBT people in all aspects of the church, including leadership, and many of its churches perform same-sex marriages; however, it’s up to each congregation to decide how welcoming it wants to be. The denomination, based in Indianapolis, spoke out against Indiana’s 2015 Religious Freedom Restoration Act, seen by many as a license to discriminate against LGBT people. Its congregations tend to be small, but its two largest LGBT-affirming congregations are Central Christian Church in Lexington, Ky., and Lee's Summit Christian Church in Lee's Summit, Mo., each of which has more than 300 members. That’s fairly substantial in a denomination where the average congregation size is about 80.
Being LGBT-friendly increases a congregation’s appeal, says Rev. Dr. Mark Johnston, executive director of the Disciples LGBTQ+ Alliance and its Open and Affirming Ministries program. “A church that makes it explicit that LGBTQ people are welcome is also making it clear that everyone is welcome,” he says. Like officials with some other denominations, he says this draws families who want to raise their children in an inclusive atmosphere, and it especially helps racially mixed families see they’re welcome.
Reform Judaism: One of the three major branches of Judaism (the others being Conservative and Orthodox), Reform Judaism has a long history of being LGBT-supportive. Its U.S. governing body, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, has taken stands against discrimination in both the religious and civil spheres since the 1970s. It has ordained out clergy since the 1990s and has blessed same-sex marriages for years.
There are several LGBT-focused Reform synagogues in major cities (you can read about one of them here), and many other large congregations with a significant LGBT presence. Temple Emanuel-El in Dallas has a membership of about 2,500 households; it doesn’t break down demographics by sexual orientation or gender identity, but Rabbi Dan Utley estimates about 6 percent to 10 percent are LGBT. It was one of the first synagogues in its region to perform same-sex commitment ceremonies, long before marriage equality was the law of the land, and it’s committed to being inclusive and welcome of transgender members, says Utley. Its board just approved a design for gender-neutral restrooms, and it has a program to help staff be fully supportive of trans congregants.
While being inclusive may help increase a congregation’s appeal, that’s not the main reason for doing so, Utley says. “What drives our approach is our genuine interest in asking people what they need,” he says.
Conservative Judaism: This branch of Judaism, representing a more traditional approach than Reform but a more liberal one than Orthodox, has become LGBT-affirming in recent years. Ordination has been available to out LGBT people since 2006, and in 2012 the Conservative movement adopted model wedding ceremonies for same-sex couples, although each individual congregation can decide whether to allow same-sex marriages. Sone congregations performed marriages or commitment ceremonies before then. The movement has also taken public stands against discrimination.
One of the larger LGBT-affirming Conservative synagogues is Adas Israel Congregation in Washington, D.C., which has about 5,000 members. “We’re known in general as a diverse congregation,” says Rabbi Aaron Alexander, who leads the congregation alongside Rabbi Lauren Holtzblatt. “We affirm anybody who walks through our doors who is interested in growing in their Jewish identity.”
One factor in Adas Israel’s reputation is that its previous senior rabbi, Gil Steinlauf, came out as gay in 2014. Seeing an openly gay rabbi, a first for some people, “became empowering to many members of the LGBTQ community,” says Alexander. Steinlauf left the synagogue in 2017 to help create an innovation lab for the denomination.
Another congregation that saw a dramatic announcement of inclusion was Valley Beth Shalom in Los Angeles’s Encino district. On Rosh Hashanah, 1992, Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis delivered a sermon in which he embraced LGBT people. He told of a member who had informed him of her gay son’s suicide, and of his discussions with LGBT congregants who were trying to reconcile their Judaism with their sexuality.
“I cannot for the life of me look into their eyes and deny them the intimacy, love, pleasure, and sensuality that is God's gift,” he said (the sermon is still available online). “I cannot in God's name, in the name of Torah and Israel, speak in that fashion. Because such a verdict runs against my Jewish sensibility. To bring misery, pain, torture, anguish to innocent people who are created the way they are violates my Jewish conscience. I cannot bury my Jewish sense of fairness and compassion.”
That made Valley Beth Shalom the first Conservative synagogue to be openly LGBT-welcoming, notes its current rabbi, Ed Feinstein. “We finally recognized that [LGBT people] are part of us and we’re part of them,” he says. A few families left the synagogue at that point, but it has continued to be one of the Conservative movement’s larger congregations, with about 1,500 members. It’s important not just for LGBT people but for their families to have a welcoming place of worship, he says, explaining, “I can’t think of a family that doesn’t have somebody LGBT.” His family is among them – he has a sister-in-law who has been with a same-sex partner for 25 years.
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America: Not “evangelical” in the conservative, anti-LGBT sense, this denomination was formed in 1988 from the merger of the American Lutheran Church, the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches, and the Lutheran Church in America. It has ordained out gay and lesbian ministers since 2010, and ordains transgender clergy as well. It allows ministers to perform same-sex marriages, but not all do. (A smaller Lutheran body, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, which represents churches beyond just Missouri, is not LGBT-friendly.)
ReconcilingWorks, a national nonprofit organization, works with the ELCA to encourage congregations to fully include LGBT people in church life. Congregations that go through its program are known as Reconciling in Christ congregations. About 9 percent of ELCA churches are Reconciling in Christ, says Aubrey Thornvold, executive director of ReconcilingWorks. The largest is Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lansdale, Pa., with a membership of about 5,000. “We are called to embrace diversity and to connect all generations to God’s family,” its website states.
“For a faith community to become Reconciling in Christ there are asked to spend time as a community in intentional conversation, education, and relationship building about how to welcome, include, and celebrate LGBTQIA people and their families,” she says. “The next step is for the community to create a Welcome Statement, that specifically names people of all sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions, and the diversity that make up their community. Once the statement is made, the community votes to approve Welcome Statement so it can become a part of who they are.”
“As a lesbian, I have been to many congregations that say ‘All Are Welcome’ and have found that they don't really mean me,” she adds. “The work of publicly affirming LGBTQIA people through a designation like being Reconciling in Christ is huge for me, and not just because I am the ED of ReconcilingWorks, because it lets me know that the community has done the work to love and accept all of me. The difference in being a ‘welcoming’ church and one that has a public Welcome Statement that names me, lets me know that I get to show as my full self with no expectation of shrinking to make others comfortable.”
Presbyterian Church (USA): The largest Presbyterian body in the U.S., it allows for ordination of LGBT clergy and blessing of same-sex marriages, but the degree of LGBT acceptance varies from congregation to congregation. (A smaller denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America, is not LGBT-friendly.)
More Light Presbyterians is a national group encouraging congregations of the Presbyterian Church (USA) to be fully LGBT-inclusive. “More Light congregations affirm their support of LGBTQ people in all aspects of their lives, and commit to learning and growing together into what that looks like from person to person and community to community,” says Jess Cook, More Light program and communications manager. The largest More Light congregation is the First Presbyterian Church in the City of New York, with about 1,000 members.
Located in Greenwich Village, less than a mile from the Stonewall Inn, First Presbyterian has long been involved in LGBT activism. “Throughout our ministries, we look to continue the important conversations of inclusion, equality, and welcome through education and dialogue, opportunities to stand in solidarity with LGBTQ partner organizations, and for a variety of ways in which we can provide a safe space for everyone to worship, serve, and build community together,” the church’s website states. It also has a tradition of handing out cups of water to thirsty Pride marchers who pass by the church on Fifth Avenue.
Tags: Religion, Christianity, Judaism
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Northrop Grumman wins $27M contract to maintain pathogen websites
Northrop Grumman has won a $27 million contract to support the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Under the Bioinformatics Resource Centers for Infectious Diseases contract, Northrop Grumman will maintain and enhance websites as data repositories for genomic, proteomic and other data associated with pathogenic viruses, the company said in a release.
The company will also support an integrated analytics platform and tools to facilitate research into the control and elimination of these pathogens, the company said.
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Daniel Weitzenfeld
Daniel's Story
Daniel joined Watsi on May 20th, 2013. Three years ago, Daniel became the 2433rd member to automatically support a new Watsi patient every month. Since then, 2,831 more people have become monthly donors! Daniel's most recent donation traveled 8,300 miles to support Nay Toe, a boy from Burma, to fund brain surgery.
Daniel has funded healthcare for 67 patients in 12 countries.
All patients funded by Daniel
Nay Toe is a seven-year-old boy from Burma. He was recently diagnosed with hydrocephalus, which has caused fluid to build up in his brain. Without immediate surgery to alleviate the intracranial pressure that the excess fluid is causing, he is at risk of developing severe, potentially fatal medical complications. Our medical partner, Burma Children Medical Fund, is requesting $1,500 to fund the insertion of a ventriculoperitoneal shunt for Nay Toe, which will drain the fluid that has accumulated in his brain. The procedure is scheduled to take place on June 21, and, once completed, will greatly improve Nay Toe's quality of life. Nay Toe said, “One day, I will be able to write, and I can become a teacher.”
Zaw is a 14-year-old student from Burma. He lives with his parents, grandmother, two aunts, brother, and cousin. Both his parents are middle school teachers. Zaw was diagnosed with a heart condition that involves a malformation of the mitral valve, the valve between the left atrium and left ventricle. This valve controls the flow of blood, but certain conditions may cause blood to flow backward or the valve to narrow. Our medical partner, Burma Children Medical Fund, is requesting $1,500 to fund a mitral valve replacement for Zaw. The treatment is scheduled to take place on May 22 and, once completed, will hopefully allow him to live more comfortably. “Before he was able to study and memorize his homework well. But now he has difficulty studying and memorizing,” says his father.
Nafthali is a laborer from Kenya. He has four sons. Nafthali was injured in early April. He sustained fractures in both legs, and he is not able to walk. Fortunately, surgeons at our medical partner can help. On April 18, Nafthali will undergo a fracture repair procedure, called an open reduction and internal fixation. This procedure will help him walk easily again. Now, our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation, is requesting $968 to fund this procedure. He says, "I am humbly requesting for assistance to cover my surgeries so that I can be able to provide for my children.”
Ai is a boy from Burma. He lives with his parents and four siblings. In his free time, Ai likes to play with his friends and swim. When Ai was five months old, he burned his right palm and hand. He is no longer able to move the fingers on his right hand. He and his mother visited our medical partner, who agreed to help Ai access treatment for his hand. Now, a contracture release surgery has been scheduled for March 22. Our medical partner is requesting $1,500 to fund this procedure. Ai said, “In the future I want to earn money for my family, and I want to support my parents when I grow up.”
Agga is a 47-year-old monk from Burma. He lives with other monks at a monastery in Kamma, Thayet Township in Magway Division. Agga was diagnosed with a heart condition that involves a malformation of the mitral valve, the valve between the left atrium and left ventricle. This valve controls the flow of blood, but certain conditions may cause blood to flow backward or the valve to narrow. Our medical partner, Burma Children Medical Fund, is requesting $1,500 to fund a mitral valve replacement for Agga. The treatment is scheduled to take place on February 22 and, once completed, will hopefully allow him to live more comfortably. Agga said, “I am happy to receive assistance from your organization."
David is a teenager from Cambodia. He is the youngest of six siblings and wishes to become a police officer. David was born with scoliosis, which is progressing with age and making it difficult to sit in school for long periods. It is also causing him a lot of discomfort. Surgery can help correct the position of his spine, and prevent further worsening of the condition. David is scheduled to undergo $1,500 spinal surgery on January 21. His mother says, "I hope that he will have no issues sleeping and breathing, and that overall he will look and feel better."
Zayar is a 16-year-old student from Burma. He lives with his parents and two younger siblings in the town of Chanayethazan in Mandalay Division. His father works at the municipal government, while Zayar's mother works at Shining Star, an organization that helps children with disabilities around Mandalay. In his free time, Zayar enjoys reading, playing video games, and helping his mom cook. Zayar was diagnosed with a heart condition that involves a malformation of the mitral valve, the valve between the left atrium and left ventricle. This valve controls the flow of blood, but certain conditions may cause blood to flow backward or the valve to narrow. He feels tired when he walks and is unable to sleep at night. Our medical partner, Burma Children Medical Fund, is requesting $1,500 to fund a mitral valve replacement for Zayar. The treatment is scheduled to take place on December 22 and, once completed, will hopefully allow him to live more comfortably.
Cherly is a young adult from Haiti. She lives with her husband and 15-year-old daughter in Port-au-Prince. She is not currently working due to her heart condition. Cherly has a cardiac condition called rheumatic mitral and aortic regurgitation. Two of the valves of her heart are damaged as a result of an infection she suffered a number of years ago. As a result, her heart cannot adequately circulate blood through her body, and she is in heart failure. Cherly will fly to United States to receive treatment. On November 21, she will undergo cardiac surgery, during which surgeons will replace two of the damaged valves in her heart with artificial valves. Another organization, the Heart Hospital Baylor Plano, is contributing $75,000 to pay for surgery. Cherly's family also needs help to fund the costs of surgery prep. The $1,500 bill covers labs, medicines, and checkup and followup appointments. It also supports passport obtainment and the social workers from our medical partner, Haiti Cardiac Alliance, who will accompany Cherly's family overseas. She says, "I am looking forward to this surgery so I can spend more time doing things with my daughter."
Koem is a vegetable seller from Cambodia. She has two sons and four daughters. She likes to read and spend time with her children. Three years ago, she developed knee pain due to arthritis. She must rely on others to help her walk, and she is in chronic pain. Fortunately, Koem learned about our medical partner, Children's Surgical Centre. At CSC, surgeons can perform a total knee replacement to relieve Koem of her pain and allow her to walk easily. Treatment is scheduled for October 18, and Koem needs help raising $1,025 to pay for this procedure. She says, "After surgery, I hope the pain will go away and I hope I can walk again soon."
Sweet is a four-month old baby girl from Burma. She lives with her parents, grandparents, uncle, and two aunts. They live on a family farm. Sweet was born at home with the assistance of a traditional birthing assistant. Shortly after birth, Sweet’s mother noticed that she had a mass near her tailbone. At ten days old, Sweet was taken to Mae Tha Rain Clinic. The medic prescribed a medication and they stayed in the clinic for one month for monitoring. Sweet is able to sleep and eat well, but the mass is growing at a steady rate. Sweet experiences no pain related with her condition but the mass is increasing in size, and it makes Sweet's parent worry. Sweet's family sought treatment through our medical partner, Burma Children Medical Fund. She is now scheduled to undergo mass removal surgery on September 18. The family is requesting $1,500 to cover the total cost of her procedure and care. Her mother says, "I am worried to see my daughter's mass is increasing in size but I am also happy that she will receive surgery soon. I am excited and looking forward to see she will be cured and become healthy after the surgery."
Kevin is a young man from Kenya. He is the oldest in his family, and his parents are farmers. When Kevin joined high school, he had high hopes of completing his studies and maybe joining university or college. Unfortunately, to help his family, he was forced to drop out and look for a job. Now, he works as a motorcycle taxi driver. In June 2017, Kevin was hit by another motorcycle, fracturing his femur. He has had three surgeries to correct the fracture and requires the forth surgery: a bone transport. Right now, he is walking on crutches. Kevin says, “I wish that soon I will be able to walk without the crutches and be able to fend for myself." This fourth surgery is scheduled for August 6. While the first three surgeries were paid for by the National Health Insurance Fund, he needs help raising $1,500 to fund this one.
Pree is a seven-year-old boy who lives with his parents and grandmother in Thailand. His family is originally from Bago Division, Burma. His parents work in a factory in Mae Sot. When Pree was three years old, his grandmother noticed that he was very pale and that his stomach was swollen. He visited several hospitals and received medications and blood transfusions, but his symptoms did not improve. Finally, he was referred to our medical partner's care center, Mae Sot Hospital. Currently, Pree feels very tired and does not have an appetite. He has missed many months of school due to his illness. He has been diagnosed with thalassemia and needs to undergo a splenectomy, which is scheduled for July 9 and will cost $1,500. “When I grow up I want to be a doctor, so I can take care for my mother," he says.
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“Viewpoint”: Our Continuing Conversation Between Arabs and Americans
Posted on April 07, 2008 in Washington Watch
As some of you may know, I appear weekly on “Viewpoint,” a live call-in television program on Abu Dhabi TV. I have been doing “Viewpoint” since 2001, and before that hosted “A Capital View” on MBC. Because this week, I will host my 600th show marking fifteen years of weekly television, I hope you will indulge me a bit of reflection, both on the shows I’ve hosted and the remarkable opportunities satellite television has created for us all.
From the beginning, we were made aware of the possibilities and power of a live call-in program. First and foremost was the immediacy that it provided. I recall, for example, that we were on the air the night of that horrible bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah building in Oklahoma City in 1995. Throughout that day, U.S. networks had featured “experts” suggesting that Arabs had been responsible for the attack. That night on “A Capital View” we received calls from a number of Arab Americans who were experiencing the beginnings of the inevitable backlash, including a powerful testimonial from Oklahoma City itself, from a frightened family in their home calling us while an angry mob of demonstrators were outside.
A somewhat similar incident occurred several years later during the reports of aerial bombardments in Fallujah. My guest was a senior State Department official, who flat-out denied that these attacks were occurring. Then came a call from Fallujah, from a frightened and angry woman, who told of the destruction in her neighborhood from bombs that had fallen from U.S. planes.
There are also the opportunities for cross-cultural communication offered by satellite television. The best examples here were the three live conversations we hosted between students in the United States and those on the campus of the University of Baghdad. One took place the week before the war began, the next came two months later, and the last on the fourth anniversary of the war. No shows were as emotionally wrenching or as meaningful as these. Said one U.S. student who had been present at all three: “As hard as it was in 2003 to talk to them knowing we were going to make war on them, it was harder to talk to them after what we’ve done to their country and say ‘We’re just going to walk away from you.’”
There was also a remarkable show with Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala. At one point in her discussion of services provided by her department, she mentioned the problem of spousal abuse. A caller from Jordan phoned in and, inexplicably, attempted to defend that behavior. He was followed by a caller in Egypt who had, herself, been a victim of abuse. Before long, the show turned into a thorough discussion of this horrible problem.
And, finally a memorable dialogue on the causes of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, live from “Ground Zero,” the site of the horror with New York Times journalist Tom Friedman and a group of thoughtful students from Sheikh Zayed University in the U.A.E.
Satellite television also has provided us with an opportunity to reach out and gather information, and organize. During the 1996 presidential election, we devoted a series of shows to the issues in the campaign and the importance of voting. At that time we were carried on a basic cable channel in Michigan. After the election, one of the state’s daily newspapers conducted a survey of over 100 first-time voters in that state’s large Arab American community; and when asked why they voted, 75% said that they were inspired to do so by what they learned on my show “A Capital View.”
Again during the mid-1990s, Arab Americans were plagued with a crude and intrusive practice of airport profiling that resulted in many being singled out in airports and literally denied the right to fly. At the same time, a White House commission was reviewing air safety and security practices in order to make recommendations to the Vice President. We invited the Chief of Staff of the commission and a Washington representative of the American Civil Liberties Union to appear on two special shows devoted to airport profiling. Over the span of two weeks, twenty-four extraordinary callers told my guests of their harrowing experiences. The testimonies they provided were shocking, and contributed to the commission’s recommendation that subjective profiling be terminated.
Over the past fifteen years we’ve hosted the famous (Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, Palestinian President Yasir Arafat, Vice President Al Gore and Senator John McCain), and the not-so-famous (experts from Washington-based think tanks, authors, and journalists from a variety of backgrounds). We have discussed a wide range of topics that affect U.S.-Arab relations and explored a host of other policy issues. And all the while, we provided our viewers with the opportunity to weigh in with comments and questions. We have attempted, through all of this, to demonstrate that, no matter how difficult or controversial the topic, civil discourse is not only possible, but necessary if we are to learn and create understanding.
We began as a show that had a largely Arab American audience. We are now the only English-language program on an Arabic network. Because of that we do not appear on prime time in the Middle East. Yet, from the reactions I get when I travel across the region, I know that we are watched by those who appreciate the quiet and thoughtful discussion of critical issues.
What pleases me to no end is that we are now carried in the U.S. on a number of networks (Link TV, MHz, and some public broadcasting stations). This enables us to do something that only satellite television can do; and that is to reach an Arab audience and an American audience at the same time.
And so, on this anniversary, my thanks to Abu Dhabi TV for their continued support, and to my U.S. carriers and my faithful viewers. From the hundreds of guests I’ve hosted and thousands who’ve called in, I have learned so much. It continues to be an honor and a privilege to be a part of this continuing conversation.
To learn more about “Viewpoint,” please visit: http://www.aaiusa.org/dr-zogby/38/viewpoint.
Washington Watch is a weekly column written by AAI President James Zogby. The views expressed within this column do not necessarily reflect those of the Arab American Institute.
We invite you to share your views on the topics addressed within Dr. Zogby’s weekly Washington Watch by emailing jzogby@aaiusa.org.
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NATO, US quiet on Turkey coup
As reports come in on the military coup in Turkey late Friday, US and NATO leaders have had little to say on the situation. Turkey and its President Tayyip Erdogan are major allies of the United States.
The Turkish military has backed up the United States and NATO forces in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Turkey is among 28 groups part of the NATO alliance.
NATO hasn't responded immediately to a request for comment on how alliance operations or Turkey's status might be affected after the military said it seized control of the country.
Independent observers noted that the 1949 treaty that created the U.S. alliance has no mechanism for suspending members, unlike the United Nations, the European Union or the Organization of American States.
Nothing in NATO's founding 1949 Washington Treaty says anything about intervening in the internal or political affairs of an alliance member, and Turkey kept its NATO membership following past military coups.
The treaty's key clause, Article 5, stipulates that NATO member states agree that "an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all," but that language has taken to apply to an external enemy.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says he hopes for stability and continuity in Turkey following reports that an attempted military coup is under way in the NATO member state.
Kerry, in Moscow for talks on Syria with Russian officials Friday, said that the US will back the "democratically-elected civilian government and democratic institution."
Earlier, troop movements and low-flying military aircraft were reported in Istanbul and the capital, Ankara, and Turkey's prime minister said some elements of the military were attempting a coup. Turkey's military said it had seized control.
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Saudi Arabia Announces Plan To Draft Legislation Criminalizing Racism and Religious Hatred
At the 28th session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, which was held this month at the United Nations’ (UN) offices in Vienna, Austria, Saudi Arabia announced that it would begin studying new laws to criminalize racial discrimination, and religious hatred and intolerance, as well as prohibit the formation of organizations that practice racial discrimination, according to various news sources. The draft laws being explored by the Kingdom would also prohibit attacks on places of worship, insults on religions and religious beliefs, and abuse of religious sanctities.
During the conference, Dr. Abdullah Bin Fakhri Al-Ansari, an adviser to the Saudi Interior Ministry, noted that religious and race-based intolerance have become major threats to global peace and security, highlighting the rising hatred and intolerance against Muslims and Islam over the last few years. According to Saudi Gazette, he then “called on the UN and all regional and international organizations to strengthen international efforts to combat crimes against religions and condemn and prevent intolerance and discrimination.”
In a report by Arab News, Dr. Al-Ansari also pointed to the need for stronger legal frameworks with regards to cyberspace, which he explained has become a breeding ground for violent, supremist, and extremist ideologies and propaganda. Saudi Arabia’s delegation joined representatives from “Japan, Australia, Austria, Colombia, and Mexico in presenting four draft resolutions on technical assistance to implement international conventions against terrorism, sexual exploitation, abuse of children, and cybercrime.”
Saudi Vision 2030Saudi LawsSaudi Reforms 2019Criminalizing Racism SaudiCriminalizing Religious Hatred SaudiSaudi Arabia LawsSaudi Arabia Legistlation
What We Can Learn from Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum on His 70th Birthday
Saudi Arabia's GEA Has Launched a Scholarship Program for Entertainment Studies Abroad
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End of an era as hospital canteen changes ownership
Nicola Barton
Debbie Woollard, Bianca Woollard, Noeleen Vella and Dale Edwards
The canteen at Nepean Hospital is farewelling some of its long-time staff members who over the past two decades have been putting a smile on the faces of visitors and patients.
Veteran Manager Noeleen Vella, who has been working at the canteen for almost 25 years, is parting ways with the kitchen as they go under new ownership.
“It’s been really lovely, a lot of people come and go, so it’s a very social job and you get to meet a lot of people from the community,” she said.
“You’re in a place where you don’t know what that person is feeling or going through, a lot of them say they love to come down to have a laugh, so knowing that just a small conversation can brighten someone’s day is pretty special.”
Over the years Ms Vella formed many relationships with regular visitors and patients, remembering their orders and ensuring they feel as at home as possible.
“It was a great experience, I learned a lot about people and made a lot of friends, I think I will miss working there but I’ll find something else, I’m not the type that can just sit at home all day,” she said.
Some other staff members will be rehired by the new owners but Ms Vella plans to move on.
“Most of the girls were crying when we heard, but I wasn’t upset, we’ve been expecting it for a long time,” she said.
“I might do a couple of days somewhere else, at the moment I just plan to retire and do my own thing for now.”
Ms Vella said the job has allowed her to connect with people from all walks of life and she is now looking forward to what the future holds.
A graduate of Western Sydney University, Nicola Barton is a news journalist with the Western Weekender, primarily covering crime and politics.
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Outspoken Community Activist Challenges Neal for State Senate Seat
By Phillip M. Bailey
Louisville businessman and community activist Norris Shelton is vying for the state Senate against Democratic incumbent Gerald Neal in this year’s general election.
The 75-year-old west Louisville business owner is the founder and president of American Slaves Inc., a non-profit group that is most notable for eschewing the use of the term “African-American” to describe black Americans. Running under the Descendants of American Slaves Party, this is Shelton’s first bid for public office despite being an outspoken critic of local leaders for a number of years.
Shelton says the decision to run was made by the group and isn’t a personal slap against Neal, but he argues the longtime lawmaker hasn’t done enough for the district.
“I don’t know of anything he’s done except collect his salary and ignore his people. If there’s something good that he’s done I’d like to know it,” he says.
Last year, LEO Weekly profiled Shelton and his activism, which has been as controversial as it is contradictory in some instances. The piece points out that Shelton is a minister who advocates for personal responsibility in West End neighborhoods, but that he is also the owner of Mr. Silk’s Liquors, located in the Russell neighborhood.
Political observers could see fireworks in the race given that Shelton and Neal have clashed before and are somewhat personal rivals.
From LEO Weekly:
“(State Sen.) Gerald Neal, me and him are having a terrible battle,” Shelton says. “It got kind of ugly. He threw me out of his office. Our leaders are Uncle Toms, pure and simple. I wrote the book, ‘Gatekeepers.’ I updated it from Uncle Toms of old to gatekeepers of today.”
Sen. Neal tells LEO Weekly he did in fact ask Shelton to leave his office. Prior to that meeting, Neal had agreed to speak at an ASI meeting, but he claims Shelton wanted him to get more involved. Although Neal declined to join the movement, he says the suggestion that he’s not interested in uplifting the black community is insulting, especially since as a youth he was arrested for taking part in civil rights marches.
Neal says he has an established record on education and civil rights and welcomes the challenge, but that Shelton will have to let voters know where he stands on various statewide issues now that he’s running for office.
“I think he ought to put his issues on the table,” he says. “It doesn’t matter to me if it gets negative. I have been out here awhile and I can take it. The question is whether or not he’s done anything that he can demonstrate is meaningful or achievable that is important to constituents.”
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A Brief Biography of John Scalzi
Availability for Interviews, Appearances, Writing Work and Optioning Existing Work
Books and Other Projects by John Scalzi
Guidelines for Publicity, Blurbing, Unpublished Work, Story Ideas, Retweets, Guest Blogging, Charitable Solicitations, Autographing, Educational Use and School Assignments
Scheduled Appearances
Site Disclaimer, Comment and Privacy Policy
The Canonical Bacon Page
The Scalzi Creative Sampler
THIS MACHINE MOCKS FASCISTS
Category: Big Idea
The Big Idea: Heather Webber
July 18, 2019 John Scalzi1 Comment
As a well-known pie enthusiast, I believe pretty much all pie is magic. But in Midnight at the Blackbird Café, author Heather Webber takes the “pie is magic” concept even further than that — and in the process opens doors to questions far beyond what might be in the pie filling.
HEATHER WEBBER:
Have you ever mourned someone you loved deeply?
After that person passed away, did you ever dream of them? A dream so real it was like they were still alive?
I have. And it’s those dreams that are driving force behind my new novel, Midnight at the Blackbird Café, where a magical piece of pie can bring a visit from a dearly departed loved one through a dream. Yes, pie. Blackbird* pie, specifically.
You see, this book was inspired by the Beatles’ “Blackbird.” After hearing the song for the first time, I was captivated with the concept of broken wings and how emotional wounds can keep many from being able to metaphorically fly. And if blackbirds could, what would they sing to us in the dead of the night? What do we most want to hear? Blackbird research led me quickly to the Song of Sixpence with its “four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie,” and then a tidbit in Celtic folklore revealed that blackbirds were considered guardians and messengers of the “Other world.” With that, the heart of this book took form. What if blackbirds with their songs could pass messages from dearly departed loved ones through, of all things, pie, to bring comfort and love to those left behind?
Yet, writing about death and its aftermath can be challenging, because everyone has different ways of grieving…and healing. As I wrote, it was a struggle at first to see past my desire have these special dreams heal every broken heart right from the outset. (It is a heartwarming, feel-good book, after all…and I’m a sap.) But I knew it was just as important to explore grief, and its various stages, through my characters’ eyes. A piece of pie wasn’t going to fix everybody, and the downside to these dreams had to be shown as well.
One of my main characters is a young widow searching for answers to the mysterious circumstances surrounding her husband’s death. She believes a visit from him in a dream will bring the closure she needs to move on. But will it? What is closure, exactly?
Another character eats a piece of pie to keep a connection to his wife, who passed on nearly ten years before. Yet is keeping that connection holding him back from living? Doesn’t learning to fly mean letting go?
Believing that loved ones who have passed on are still around in some way is not a new concept. Cardinals, butterflies, pennies, rainbows, feathers—and dreams—are often thought to be signs that heavenly loved ones are near. Are these signs wishful thinking? A coping mechanism? Maybe. Maybe not. If the sign brings a measure of peace and comfort…does it truly matter?
Like the characters in Midnight I want to believe that there might be more to life—and death—than anyone dreams possible. I’d eat a piece of that blackbird pie every chance I could get. Would you?
*Disclaimer: no birds were harmed in the creation of this book—the pies are made with fruit.
Midnight At the Blackbird Café: Amazon|Barnes & Noble|Indiebound|Snail On The Wall
Read an excerpt. Visit the author’s website. Follow her on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.
The Big Idea: Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
July 16, 2019 John Scalzi9 Comments
In today’s Big Idea, Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone are feeling epistolary, which, considering the letter-writing format of their collaborative novella This is How You Lose the Time War, is entirely appropriate.
AMAL EL-MOHTAR and MAX GLADSTONE:
Dearest Max,
I write to you from the past—knowing you’re presently asleep while I’m awake, three hours’ worth of time zone between us—to talk about ideas. It’s tricky to know where to begin; when the most succinct description we can manage of our book clocks in at “epistolary spy vs. spy novella across time and space,” the ideas crowd and clutter.
But I think it all ultimately begins and ends with us. The two of us, becoming friends, and writing each other letters.
Do you remember when we first decided to write something together? I know the fact of it, but I don’t remember the hour, the words—only that we loved each other’s work, wanted to work together, wanted to set a sensible boundary of how and when and for how long to work together. A novella, not a novel or short story; something epistolary, to give our voices space to harmonize in their difference. I remember the plan, scribbled on a paper on the coffee table in my parents’ house, and the season, a cold snowy spring—but I wish I could remember, rather than invent, the moment in which one of us suggested it.
But I do remember the refrain we developed once we’d secured the time and space for a writing retreat at which to work. We spoke of
“The novella
that we will write
in [mysterious benefactor]’s house.”
We used it as punctuation, as shorthand, and we made jokes of it. Dolphins will speak! The stars will throw down their spears and water heaven with their tears! Because of
We always structured it as hyperbole and line breaks. Ludicrously grand and specific claims capped with a bob and wheel, a promise, a spell. And look, look at this magic we made between us—our book is real, is soaring on red and blue wings, and my heart is a bird on a spit in my chest, as the prophets say.
So that’s how I see it, anyway—our Big Idea was that we wanted to write together. We wanted to find a methodology for blending our styles, for working together
on a novella
that we would write
in [Mysterious Benefactor]’s house
but that’s only the half of it, I think. I’m holding my memory up to the light, but I so badly want to see yours, what colours your own memory will cast against this page. What do you remember, Max? What’s the core of this, for you?
Dearest Amal,
It’s your future as I’m writing this—you still have a few hours of morning left. Enjoy them! Learn from my mistakes! Unfortunately the only mistakes I’m aware of so far today are, as follows: 1. didn’t have protein with breakfast, so I’m peckish now that it’s lunchtime, and 2. spent time on Twitter chatting about queer subtext (not to mention text) in the Great Gatsby. AND I ALONE AM ESCAPED TO TELL THEE!
So, in sum, it’s been okay over here, at least insofar as things-I-can-control are concerned. Wish I had more Future Wisdom to impart! Most of the things I’m discovering right now on a day to day basis have to do with child care, and most of them boil down to the fact that hardly anyone knows hardly anything, and that it’s a wonder and a miracle any of us is alive at all.
But to your question, about memories: I actually remember the initial conversation! I could find the date without much trouble, but since we intend this particular correspondence for outside observers I’m chary of letting others that close to the marrow of the thing. Suffice to say I was on my way home from a long, long tour, a bunch of authors in a single car, and I’d hit New York City dog tired and careworn.
New York is a great city to wash up in. You vanish like a grain of salt into a water glass. I was feeling that weird dry kind of lonesome you get when you’ve been around people too long and all of a sudden they’re gone—you’re worn out and hungry to be alone, but when you are, you feel like you’ve done something wrong. That one day, everyone I knew in the city was busy, or so far away it didn’t make sense for them to come. So I found an Italian restaurant near the Flatiron that had a restaurant week special, sat by myself at the bar, and opened up a folder of your stories to read.
We’d been corresponding for a while by this point, longhand, extremely low-tech. (It still feels weird to write you email! Or to text, even, after such a long entirely paper-based correspondence.) Naturally I’d read your criticism and I’d read The Green Book, but I hadn’t read your other stories; I’m honestly not sure why. I’d been writing you from the tour, but, of course, travel being what it is, I couldn’t get any letters back. I remember struggling to post them, hoping the counter attendants at the tiny B&Bs with their breakfast room TVs showing bad politics would remember to drop them in the mailbox. Anyway—I was starved for replies by this point, and I had a folder of your stories—so there at the bar, I read them all, one after another. Your friend’s story is not entirely your friend—but you can feel them in it, and also there’s a pure self betrayed in the telling of a good story. You learn what someone cares about by learning what they love, or hate, enough to write down.
By the end of the night I was drunk on those stories. They were different from my work—but they were so full, and so finished. I could also see how they meshed, sort of sideways, with my own concerns & projects. Basically I was overcome with a desire to just get out the instruments and jam, high school garage band style. Surely, if we could do something together, the spheres would revolve into harmony, dolphins would speak, all that’s mean and evil in the world would suffer revelation and weep for the harm it caused, and all forms of life would enter into a great colloquy.
I guess there’s a lot of Bill and Ted in that vision, which is appropriate, given what came later.
So, basically: that one night on the walk back to the hotel I grabbed my phone and texted you how we had to write something together. And you said yes! And that’s where it started.
But of course it started further back, didn’t it? With letters. Do you want to talk about the letters?
I’m so grateful for your memory. It’s aligned the tumblers in my own mind’s lock, and the hour and my surroundings spilled out: I remember that conversation, when you read my stories, so clearly! I was standing in my sister’s kitchen, probably staying over—I was especially nomadic that year—when you texted, and I remember glowing more and more brightly, feeling unspeakably happy to be seen.
Which is also my memory of writing letters.
There is, in letter-writing, a tender and terrible vulnerability. To write a letter is to commit one’s naked self to the page, to send it into the future with no more protection than paper and wax, and to place that self in the hands of a person you’re inventing, a person who may or may not actually exist. One can, of course, write at several layers of remove—party invitations, thank you notes, the equivalent of a friendly nod in letter and ink—but cards are not correspondence; that friendly nod is not a tête-à-tête. To write a letter, longhand over pages, is to delve inevitably into one’s own thoughts, to reach for things we don’t know we feel until we’ve dredged up the words for them, and in so doing make a single person’s future self privy to the unbearable intimacy of our present.
“How I love to have no armor here,” writes Red to Blue, as their own correspondence deepens.
I remember that when we started writing to each other, I used whatever I had to hand—sheets of harsh white paper stolen from the printer, jammed into white #10 envelopes, scribbled on with whatever pen was nearest me. The content, I figured, was what was important—but then you started writing back on gorgeous creamy G. Lalo paper, so I got the same brand to match, and I introduced you to sealing wax, and suddenly it felt like our correspondence was robed in sensory magic, easily distinguished at a glance from the press of bank statements and circulars. We’d committed to physicality, to slowness, to something that couldn’t be approximated in email, no matter how swift and effusive the clack of keys beneath our fingers. We’d committed to time travel—and didn’t those letters have a knack of arriving just when we needed them? When the weight of the world pressed against our lungs, and those golden envelopes stamped in colour arrived bearing a space in which to breathe?
Your letter, this one, found me at my gate in the San Francisco airport, minutes before boarding a flight to Seattle, and closed a circle years in the making. Because all this began with you on tour writing to me—and here I am, on a tour launched by the book we wrote together, a book we wrote because we’d written letters to each other, writing you a letter about our book.
It feels fully as magical, to me, as finding words in the rings of a thousand year old tree, or the swirl of tea leaves in a porcelain cup.
Tea leaves, tree rings, and wax seals—when we started writing letters I was surprised by how dangerous the whole project felt.
Even to me that sounds a little weird. After all, what could be more normal than dropping a letter in the mail?
Maybe it was the fact that we both spent a lot of time on the internet and at conventions, participating in Public Discourse in front of the whole world. There’s so much thought in public these days—and so much of that public thought is tactical, designed to accomplish a specific effect, whether that’s gathering a following or even wasting someone else’s time. Lots of good comes from that public conversation, but it’s all so omnivoracious. Twitter wants your every idle thought.
By contrast, writing letters felt like staking out our own territory—a small paper space between the two of us, unscanned, unhindered. The letters were so fragile! Walking to the mailbox in a blizzard I’d find myself thinking how easy they would be to destroy. Dropping one in a puddle would do it. And yet—how many thoughts have I dashed off in seconds and sent whirling off into the void, barely remarked upon except, of course, by a vast silent intelligence that records all I say and do, and uses it to build shareholder value? In a sense those words will last forever—they’ll last as long as capital sees value in unstructured human generated text, anyway—but in a more real sense they’ve been ripped from me altogether. While letters only last as long as paper.
Then again, some paper has lasted longer than capitalism. And, as the man says: manuscripts don’t burn.
The phrase hadn’t yet entered the public consciousness back then, but in a real sense writing letters felt like we were both fighting to reclaim our time. We were carving a few hours a week out to impose some order on our own lives, and offer that to a friend. And I think there’s a bit of that rebellion come through in the book, too—a quest for silence and slow time in a world where all that’s solid melts into air.
And now we’ve made a book. We’ve written the novella we would write at [the mysterious benefactor]’s house. Sending it off to readers feels a bit scary—part of the reason this was such a hard project to title was that for most of its life we referred to it either by the file name, or simply as
we would write
In [the mysterious benefactor]’s house.
It’s scary to think of those words out there as a product! But if a book is a commodity of a sort it’s a kind of letter, too, sent out in a bottle on the waves in search of a reader. Fragile ink on fragile paper, or ephemeral strings of ones and zeroes, here one minute and gone the next, leaving marks in dreams. Now it’s out there in the world. And we’ll have to see what it does there—what further moves it inspires in this great weird Time War we’re all, always, fighting to win. Or to lose.
This is How You Lose the Time War: Amazon|Barnes & Noble|Indiebound|Powell’s
Read an excerpt. Visit Amal El-Mohtar’s site and Twitter. Visit Max Gladstone’s site and Twitter.
The Big Idea: Sean Grigsby
Author Sean Grigsby has a theory about people. It’s… not terribly optimistic. But it does have relevance for his latest novel, Ash Kickers, which features firefighters in a slightly alternate version of the world. One with dragons!
SEAN GRIGSBY:
Whatever catastrophe nature throws at us, people always seem to make it worse.
Not all of us. Some seek to help and not to hurt, to heal instead of destroy. Firefighters are just one example of a few good people trying to make a difference. I’m proud to call myself one. But, like I said, sometimes there are a few hateful assholes standing in our way.
The Smoke Eaters series is about firefighters versus newly-returned dragons, sure, but there are other big ideas at play. In the first book I talk about corrupt government using disasters for their own gain, and replacing first responders with robots. In Ash Kickers, it’s something much worse.
So, the year is 2123. Parthenon City, Ohio is doing great because they’ve discovered that dragon blood can save lives and heal all wounds. The smoke eaters are no longer slaying the scalies, but tranquilizing them and placing them in specialized enclosures to live out their happy, fire-breathing lives.
The miracle of dragon blood has attracted people from all over an ash-covered United States to flock to Ohio, desperately seeking cures for their loved ones and to benefit from the safety of a dragon-free city.
But some people don’t like that. A group forms, calling themselves PC First, led by a man named Duncan Sharp (it was the sleaziest alt-right name I could think of). They consider these immigrants to be “rats” who are going to use up all of the medicine and resources. I think it’s pretty obvious by now on whom I based these fictional jerks.
However, just like in our reality, Parthenon City has actual problems to worry about. A phoenix has emerged and it’s causing the dragons to go bonkers. A string of suicide arsons is also plaguing the city, leaving police and fire marshals baffled as to who is behind it.
PC First, though, is more concerned about hoarding all the things! Just like a dragon. This lack of compassion for fellow humans, this cruel self-importance… well, it just makes things worse. Not only for decent people trying to make their burning world a better place, but also for the schmucks who try to get ahead by shoving others down.
When I’m called to fight a blaze, I rely on my fellow firefighters. No one fights over the attack line. No one complains that they weren’t the one to carry grandma out of the window. Every single person on the fireground is important and works as a team. We have to. If we don’t, someone could die.
I hate to break it to you, but the world out there is on fire right now, and we can either get busy helping or get busy hurting. I’m strapping on my helmet and charging in to quell the flames. I hope you’ll come with, because I can use all the help I can get.
Ash Kickers: Amazon|Barnes & Noble|Indiebound|Powell’s
Read an excerpt. Visit the author’s site. Follow him on Twitter.
The Big Idea: Kali Wallace
July 9, 2019 John Scalzi1 Comment
Is the glass half empty or half full? If you’re Kali Wallace, writing here about her new novel Salvation Day, you might say that it doesn’t matter, that’s the only glass we have.
KALI WALLACE:
We’re doomed.
You don’t have to take my word for it. Ask anyone! We’re killing the earth, we’re setting everything on fire, we put kids in concentration camps, we give sexual predators and hateful narcissists the highest levels of power in governments around the world, and nothing changes because a very small number of very rich people want to keep it that way. Nothing matters anymore. Everything is pointless. We’re doomed!
I get it. Things are very, very bad for very, very many people in the world today. There are a lot of sociopaths with a lot of power actively working against the possibility of making any improvements or heading off any of the extra-double-special future disasters ahead of us. We have so, so many problems in our world. Many of them are so big and so daunting the best-case scenario is that it will take generations to solve them. It seems like we slide backwards seventeen steps for every one we inch forward. You can’t break an entire planet and expect to fix it in a few years.
Still, I get this complicated little recoil of dismay when I hear people say that we’re doomed, or that nothing matters, or that we might as well give up. It’s such an easy way out. Doom means the ending is inevitable. We can give up. If nothing matters, nothing changes, and nobody cares, we don’t have to solve the extremely difficult problems all around us. We don’t have to answer hard questions and do hard work. It’s the exact opposite of a call to arms: it’s a sigh of surrender.
It was thinking a lot about these conflicting reactions–fully understanding how bad things are but instinctively recoiling from declarations of doom–that led me to the big idea behind Salvation Day.
(Aside: Okay, in the interest of full disclosure, the first big idea behind Salvation Day was, “Wow, I really want to write about a creepy abandoned spaceship full of corpses!” But that’s not a particularly interesting idea to interrogate, because who doesn’t want to write about a creepy abandoned spaceship full of corpses?)
I’m not a person anybody has ever accused of being an optimist; I’m pretty much a walking, talking ball of generalized anxiety wrapped in a lightly scuffed depressive coating. Even so, I don’t want to accept that we’re doomed. I don’t want to believe that we have no choice but to wait for the end of democracy, the end of the republic, the end of decency, the end of empathy, the end of the world. I don’t want to accept that we’ve already passed the point of no return–as though there could even be a single point, or a single path to return, rather than countless, convoluted, ever-changing variations of each.
Maybe that’s a foolish hope, but it’s the hope that underlies the story I’m telling. Salvation Day takes place in a future in which all of the bad things we’re looking forward to and are in the middle of, right now, today, have already happened. Ecological collapse, decades of worldwide war, pandemics, famines, wealthy people looting the Earth and leaving everybody else behind, the works. Our much-prophesized near future of doom and destruction is the not-so-distant past of the world in which my characters live.
The book doesn’t take place in a dystopia, but it’s certainly not a utopia either. It takes place in a civilization that is deliberately rebuilding in the aftermath of all that destruction, but humans are having–shall we say–mixed success. It turns out that leaving Earth didn’t work; the generation ships that tried to escape the destruction all failed. What did work, more or less, was a conscious effort to correct the mistakes of the past and build a better world.
The space between those two little words–more or less–is where I found my story. More for some people, less for others. While I want to believe that humanity will endure, I also believe that we’re probably going to keep making the same mistakes over and over again. We are, after all, only human, and humans are messy, imperfect creatures. Governments that start out with the best of intentions drift towards authoritarianism. Societies that purport to welcome all enforce borders and build walls. Cultures that outwardly value discovery still cling to the comfortable myths of the past.
We’re going to keep fucking up. We’ll find new ways to fuck up when we find new problems before us. We’ll invent new ways to fuck up once we’ve tired of the old ways.
But that doesn’t mean we stop trying. The problems we create for ourselves are never going to get easier, but we’re not completely useless hairless apes. We are, in fact, pretty good at problem-solving, when we set our minds to it. The trick is figuring out a way to set not just individual minds but entire societies to solving our problems.
I don’t know if we can do that. I don’t know if I’m wrong and the “we’re doomed, nothing matters” folks are right. What I do know is that as a storyteller, the most interesting scenarios grow out the spaces between our yearned-for utopias and worst-case dystopias. As an actual human person living in this world, I think those spaces are where we’re most likely to end up, again and again, no matter how long we manage this existence thing.
But most of all, as a writer and lover of science fiction, as somebody who delights in imagining all the whiz-bang awe and excitement of potential futures but cannot ignore our current problems, I don’t want to give up on humanity just yet.
Salvation Day: Amazon|Barnes & Noble|Indiebound|Powell’s
Read an excerpt. Visit the author’s site. Follow her on Instagram.
The Big Idea: Marko Kloos
July 5, 2019 John Scalzi15 Comments
Military science fiction is a popular genre, and certainly Marko Kloos knows that, having written the very successful “Frontlines” series. But for his new series, which begins with Aftershocks, Kloos decided he wanted to try a different strategy, regarding “MilSF.” Here he is to explain it. Giraffes may be involved.
MARKO KLOOS:
A good friend once told me that people who go to the zoo come in only two kinds: those who are happy to see the giraffes again, and those who aren’t. Military science fiction is very much a genre for readers who like to see the giraffes again. They know it’s going to be about war because it says so right on the tin. And there are plenty of military SF writers providing the metaphorical giraffes: armored space marines, bravery, sacrifice, and jingoistic gun fetish baloney.
But the best novels in the genre were written by people who used the medium of speculative fiction to work out their wartime experiences. Jerry Pournelle and Gene Wolfe served in Korea. Joe Haldeman and David Drake are Vietnam veterans, as is Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, whose Nebula-winning “The Healer’s War” was based on her experiences as a combat nurse in Vietnam. Not coincidentally, military SF is where some of the most authentic and honest war narratives can be found. Writers like Haldeman will let you look at the giraffes only very briefly as they speed-walk you past the exhibit to more interesting sights.
I am fortunate enough to lack wartime experiences to work out in my fiction. I did serve, but in a peacetime army, training for a war that luckily never came. When I wrote the first book in my Frontlines series, I wanted to have a way to use the memories from my service before they faded from memory. Frontlines takes some good looks at the effects of war on the people we send to fight them, but mostly it’s still a “young man goes to war” narrative, with the genre-obligatory boot camp sequence and dramatic space battles. It’s not the giraffe exhibit, but it’s a bit giraffe-adjacent at times. For my new series, I wanted to take a conscious detour around that place from the start.
When I came up with the idea for a new book a while back, I tried to imagine what the exact negative of the “young man goes to war” scenario could look like. I landed at “old(er) man comes home from war.” And that made me think of a bit of family history, and the only person I knew as a child who had come home from war.
You see, my grandfather fought in a war, and he fought for the wrong side.
It wasn’t just the wrong side in a winner-rewrites-history, Richard III sort of wrong. His side wasn’t just wrong, they were unequivocally the bad guys, and history is pretty unanimous about it.
I couldn’t tell you what he did in the war because he never talked about it. When I was little, I asked him a few times what it was like, but he always deflected the question and moved on to a different subject. I know from the family records I kept that he wasn’t what military people call a trigger-puller, a soldier in a combat function. He was a stoker on military trains, which means he shoveled coal into boilers. But his theater of operations was the Eastern Front, which saw the most ferocious fighting and the worst atrocities of the war. Millions died on both sides. It was savage, no-quarter-given brutality. I can only imagine the kinds of things he saw. But he kept his memories locked up for the rest of his life, so I’ll never know for sure. Was he trying to forget? Was he ashamed of the cause he had supported? What did the world look like to him when he came home? How did he even begin to rebuild his life after losing his old one so completely?
And just like that, I had my Big Idea for the new novel.
What if you fought on the wrong side, and you lost?
Watching people pick up the pieces seemed much more interesting than watching them kick those pieces over. So much war fiction deals with the war itself, but what happens when the guns fall silent, and everybody tries to go on with life?
I started to imagine a place where the war has already happened, and where people are still dealing with the aftermath, sweeping up the broken bits and patching things up. I wanted to see what it would be like for the people on either side of the conflict, and what they would do with the hands they had dealt themselves. The ones who started the war and then lost, trying to come to terms with the fact that they spent their lives in the service of an unjust cause. Their children, faced with having to atone for the sins of their parents. The winners, juggling their desires for retribution, the need for justice, and the responsibilities of power. What kind of shockwaves would ripple through a system economy where everyone is dependent on everyone else? And how would a society react to outsiders trying to impose the will of the victors and uprooting centuries-old institutions and cultural norms in the process?
The result is called Aftershocks, first in a series called “The Palladium Wars”.
When an earthquake happens, the seismic event doesn’t stop after the big tremors are over. You get aftershocks, which are smaller quakes that follow weeks, months, or even years later. The bigger the quake, the stronger and more frequent the aftershocks. They are dangerous because they are unpredictable, and they can collapse what was previously only damaged. It seemed like the perfect title for a novel about what happens when people try to rebuild their lives when the ripples of their actions are still kicking up the rubble when they least expect it.
Aftershocks: Amazon
Read an excerpt. Visit the author’s site.
The Big Idea: Jim Ottaviani
July 2, 2019 July 2, 2019 John Scalzi2 Comments
It’s not every day that you get invited to meet one of your heroes. In this Big Idea for Hawking, author Jim Ottaviani talks about planning to meet a man he and the book’s artist Leland Meyrick absolutely admired… and how things didn’t quite go to plan.
JIM OTTAVIANI:
With a few exceptions — Armstrong and Aldrin, Goodall and Galdikas — for most of my graphic novels I’ve been “Sixth Sense”ing it, so to speak, as my subjects have all been dead. And as it turns out, writing about the living is different.
Exhibit A: In 2013 Leland Myrick and I ended up taking reference photos and discussing his life story while standing in Stephen Hawking’s bedroom and private bath — okay, we didn’t hang out in the bathroom for long — and yet we didn’t meet him face-to-face. Here’s what happened.
It started with two words: “big day.” That’s the subject line of the message I received on July 4, 2012. No capitalization, no punctuation, no elaboration. The message came from Lois, a mutual friend of Hawking’s, and she sent it to let me know that her husband Gordy had won his bet with Hawking on the existence of the Higgs Boson… and oh, by the way, in addition to conceding that wager? Hawking had also let her know that he enjoyed the Feynman graphic novel Leland and I did, and invited us to come and visit to talk about doing one on him.
So, I maybe would have capitalized those two words, because it was a Big Day for Leland and me, and since then I don’t think there’s been a Single Day he and I haven’t thought about the book, worked on the book, and looked forward to the day when you’d have the book in your hands.
An invitation from Stephen Hawking means you start making travel plans immediately, but finding the right time to fly over and meet him proved difficult. As one of the few true celebrity scientists in the known galaxy, he was always busy. And as everyone knows, he had physical challenges beyond what you’d expect for someone in their seventies. In the end we just had to commit to a date to visit and hope for the best, and in the end we were unlucky.
He wasn’t feeling well the whole time we were there, but he got better and we got five more years of his grand pronouncements and his sly wit, but for us the trip ended up being very Gay Talese, very “Frank Sinatra Has a Cold.” By that I mean we didn’t talk to the man himself, but instead spent our time with the many people in his close orbit at Cambridge. (If you need an SF hook to get you to read Talese’s classic article from Esquire, note that it features a cameo by none other than Harlan Ellison, definitely playing himself.)
So we spent time in his office with his colleagues, in his home with his personal assistant, in and around the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics and the Gordon Moore Library with his personal papers, and left with more material and insights than we could ever have gotten from a short audience with the man himself…an audience that would have ended with washed away in the turbulent wake of activity that followed him everywhere he went, every word he spoke.
That doesn’t mean we don’t regret not meeting him. We did, and do. But it also doesn’t mean our book doesn’t show Hawking’s personal side as well as his science. It does, and for a couple Midwesterners (Leland now lives on the west coast, and I was born out there, but we both spent our formative years in middle states) the idea of going into someone’s bedroom with a purpose other than to toss your winter coat on top of the pile and immediately leave without looking at anything at all — much less taking photos — was, well, plenty personal!
Hawking is about more than his genius, and more than just him, so the iconic wheelchair and computer-generated voice you know so well don’t appear until halfway through this story. Don’t worry. They’re there, along with his friends and family and the science he did and the bets he won (and lost) and how he made the most of the two years his doctor predicted he had to live after his ALS diagnosis.
He died around the fifty-fifth anniversary of that prediction, after an eventful life that took him all over the world (literally) and throughout the cosmos (figuratively). In our book you’ll travel with him through both.
For myself, I would have guessed he’d be with us even longer. In fact, in our original pitch to First Second, we closed by saying “Producing a graphic novel of this scope will take years, but if I had to bet, I’d bet that Hawking will be around to see its completion.” I was right about the ‘tak[ing] years’ part, but though it was a close thing, sadly, I was wrong about him being around today.
But even though he’s gone, through Leland’s art you can still hear that voice, and see that grin.
Hawking: Amazon|Barnes & Noble|IndieBound|Powell’s
The Big Idea: David Walton
June 13, 2019 John Scalzi9 Comments
In his Big Idea for Three Laws Lethal, author David Walton introduces you to those who hold your life in their (figurative) hands — whether you like it or not.
DAVID WALTON:
Don’t look now, but intelligent robots are about to decide if you live or die.
Somehow, while we weren’t paying attention, we slipped into a universe where the robots from Isaac Asimov’s “Three Laws of Robotics” stories are about to surround us by the millions. The self-driving cars being sold by Tesla and other manufacturers aren’t quite there yet, but we are quickly entering a world where AIs will be making moment by moment choices about your survival. Consider this scenario: Your car is driving you down a two-lane highway with concrete dividers on either side when an I-beam falls off the truck ahead of you. In the other lane is a motorcycle. Should your car swerve, missing the I-beam but hitting the motorcyclist? Or try to brake, knowing it can’t stop in time and possibly killing you? A human driver would act on reflex, but a computer has plenty of time to consider the options and decide who should survive.
My initial “Big Idea” for Three Laws Lethal was simply: Why isn’t anyone writing novels about this?
It’s a topic so overflowing with drama it was hard to choose a focus for the book. Should I write about a tense legal battle over who is responsible for a deadly crash? What about terrorists who hack cars to kidnap passengers, or use them to deliver bombs anonymously? Or maybe it’s the battle between proprietary algorithms kept secret by big corporations vs. open algorithms that consumers can replace by downloading those they like better? Or maybe a deadly war between competing companies to destroy each other’s reputations by causing the others’ algorithms to fail?
In the end, Three Laws Lethal includes all of these scenarios, but its central Big Idea is something that draws all of them together. As all of this drama is unfolding in the outside world, a young female programmer recognizes what others don’t: The AIs driving the cars are exhibiting some surprising emergent behavior. The AIs are trained in a virtual game world, one that uses evolutionary principles so that only the best of them survive to be used in real life. But after thousands of generations, the AIs are evolving survival tactics that reach outside of their expected parameters. In short: the cars are developing goals of their own.
I had something of a eureka moment in the early outlining for this novel when my daughter Naomi–a quiet, caring, quirky introvert–complained that the characters in the books she read were never like her. I realized that her personality was exactly what this novel needed. An introverted, book-loving programmer who struggles with social anxiety would be more likely to sympathize with the AIs than with other humans. So with her permission, I added eight years to her age and made her a main character.
But as I wrote the book, I was left with a question, given Naomi’s empathy for the AIs: Would she warn humanity of the threat? Or would she help the AIs achieve their goals?
Three Laws Lethal – USA: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | BAM | IndieBound | Audible
Three Laws Lethal – Canada: Amazon.ca | Indigo
Visit the author’s site. Follow him on Twitter or Facebook.
The Big Idea: Richard Kadrey
June 11, 2019 June 11, 2019 John Scalzi3 Comments
In his new novel The Grand Dark, author Richard Kadrey takes a bit of swerve — and creates a world both like and unlike our own, in a particular time, and in a particular place.
RICHARD KADREY:
I’ve been thinking about The Grand Dark for a long time. Years, in fact. But I couldn’t figure out how to write it. Then, like a lot of my books, the opening just appeared in my head. Stories do that sometimes. I beat my face against the keyboard for days and then—pop!—the whole thing is there. I knew the story was going to get deeply weird, but I didn’t want to jump right into it. So, the book opens with a quiet bike ride through a waking city at dawn. That’s it. Just a guy on a bike.
Of course, the ride isn’t really ordinary. Our young hero, Largo, rides across a bridge that could easily be in 1920s Berlin or Prague, except for the robots. Little food delivery ones and Black Widows—huge spidery bots delivering steel and machine parts to the nearby armaments factory. While stopped at a street light, Largo sees a little delivery bot crushed under the treads of a military vehicle. This should be his first clue that the day isn’t going to go well but, of course, it isn’t.
Most of my books have been set in L.A. or San Francisco. But for The Grand Dark, I wanted to create a world that was completely mine, the way writers such as M. John Harrison created Viriconium and China Mieville created New Crobuzon. In that spirit, I invented Lower Proszawa. I’d been fascinated by the Weimar period in Germany between the First and Second World Wars, so that became the basis for the city.
Lower Proszawa is the somewhat rundown sister city to High Proszawa in the north. But the High City isn’t really there anymore. It was virtually destroyed during the Great War. As the story opens, it’s an uninhabitable ruin of shattered buildings, unexploded ordnance, and plague bombs. Those with the means had escaped the High City at the first hints of war. Now the two populations co-exist in a kind of liminal state made frantic by the knowledge that the Great War hadn’t settled anything and that another war is just over the horizon. And what do you do when you know the world is ending? You party.
There are drugs, sex, and entertainment of every sort in Lower Proszawa. The book revolves around the Theater of the Grand Darkness, a kind of Gran Guignol palace that stages the most gruesome murders imaginable twice a night. The actors are life-size electric puppets brought to life by actors backstage wrapped in metal galvanic suits. My puppet theater was inspired by the work of the brilliant animators, the Brothers Quay, whose The Street of Crocodiles made me wonder what it would be like to put people into their dark and fantastic worlds.
The book’s protagonist, Largo, spends a lot of time at the theater because his lover, Remy, is one of The Grand Dark’s rising stars. With her, Largo’s life seems great. He has a beautiful girlfriend. His job as a bike courier doesn’t pay much, but it’s easy. And, then there’s all the drugs and sex. Plus robots, which Largo hates because they’re taking jobs from humans, and genetically engineered Chimera pets, which Largo longs to create himself.
In a lot of ways, Largo is different from any protagonist I’ve written before. Most of my main characters are powerful and driven. Largo is a twenty-one-year-old innocent, in the sense that he thinks he knows how the world works, but has no real idea what he’s talking about. He’s also scared. He grew up in the slums of Haxan Green, saw his father and best friend murdered there, and is constantly afraid of screwing up enough to lose everything and end up back there. Because of his fear, he becomes the perfect pawn for forces that want to either destroy Lower Proszawa or transform it into something truly awful. This begins with the disappearance and possible murder of Remy. From there, his life takes a series of dark and surreal turns that lead from parties at millionaires’ mansions to the plague pits in the north.
I’m not going to lie to you. The book might have been different—lighter and more amusingly fantastical—if I’d written it at a different moment in history. But the real world always creeps into our work, even if we’re writing about L.A., Mars, or an entirely fictional city. We all live between Great Wars, whether they’re the kind with guns or our everyday struggles to live, create and be at least a little happy in a global shitstorm.
Most of all, though, The Grand Dark is a strange adventure story. You’ll find secret police, strange airborne maladies, carnivals full of the most fantastic Chimeras, clandestine submarine bases, revolutionaries, and weird weapons the world hasn’t seen before. But if you really want the elevator pitch, here it is: The Grand Dark is about a young man and his lover having wine and cocaine at a 1920s Berlin café run by robots and scarred war veterans at the end of the world. Or, at least, the beginning of a new one.
I think it’s the best thing I’ve written. I hope you enjoy it.
The Grand Dark: Amazon|Barnes & Noble|Indiebound|Powell’s
The Big Idea: Anna Kashina
May 30, 2019 John Scalzi5 Comments
In today’s Big Idea for her novel Shadowblade, author Anna Kashina reminds us that behind all the swashbuckling, there’s often a serious purpose.
ANNA KASHINA:
During my Shadowblade blog tour, I have written several posts emphasizing the fun I had writing this novel, and I hope that readers picking up this book will experience the same fun. There is indeed a lot of fun elements in the story that made this book a pleasure to work on, including the blade fights, characters, politics, and of course, the romance.
But let me get serious for a moment.
Shadowblade is a story of a young orphan girl with uncertain heritage, Naia, growing up in the Jaihar Order that trains elite blademasters for the Empire. The Jaihar pride themselves on treating both genders equally, especially in their advanced training. But to get to that level Naia must first pass the lower grounds, dominated by drill masters whose role is to initiate young trainees into the Jaihar ways. Here, bullying is a norm, and incidentally all the superiors somehow tend to be male… Is it beginning to resemble any familiar situations?
Studies show that in male-dominated environments, girls and young women tend to experience subtle but very effective forms of bullying that target, and often destroy, their self-esteem. Fighting for emotional dominance, their peers often label them as incompetent, or negative. This is especially hard to deal with because a lot of this behavior is subconscious, based on such deep stereotypes that neither the bully nor the victim tend to realize them. For someone in training, these issues can permanently affect their future. Naia, a young and attractive girl whose major talent involves weapons, has to fight her way through all this, for a chance to rise to the top.
My big idea behind this book is perseverance. It’s the story of a person who doesn’t give up, no matter what the odds are. It’s about those people around her who recognize this, and help her break through all the stereotypes and bad attitude to come out as a winner. Naia’s life is threaded with challenges, all the way up. First as a trainee, where she has to find her way out of very deep trouble and face different tests at each level of her training. And then as a warrior, whose unprecedented assignment plunges her straight into the grinder of the imperial politics, with a low chance of survival and a very large target on her back.
Perseverance has been very important in my own life and career. It’s definitely the only thing that carried me through to where I am today. When I wrote this book, Naia continued to surprise me. She tackled her challenges in ways I never would have thought of – or so it seemed to me. Getting to know her enriched me as a person. I don’t believe that I’m anything like her, really, but I can relate to her in so many ways. I’ve learned things from her that I never expected to.
Layered underneath all the fun – the glittering medieval setting of a rich Middle Eastern empire, the highly technical blade fights, the food, the romance – this big idea is what drove the story for me.
Shadowblade: Amazon|Barnes & Noble|Indiebound|Powell’s
Read an excerpt (click on “Excerpt” tag). Visit the author’s site. Follow her on Twitter.
The Big Idea: Bryan Camp
May 23, 2019 John Scalzi
Even when you write fantasy, the real world can influence your work. So Bryan Camp discovered when recent events caused to rethink the design of his latest novel, Gather the Fortunes.
BRYAN CAMP:
When I sold my first novel, The City of Lost Fortunes, I was lucky enough (and had a savvy enough agent) to sign a two book contract. I knew that I wanted this next book, which came to be titled Gather the Fortunes, to be set in the same world as its predecessor, but I wanted it to be a new story, a second, stand-alone novel, not a sequel. In fact, my main concern in the early stages of this second book was that I would repeat myself. That I would simply put a new coat of paint on the first book and call it something new.
Thus, my early decisions were a series of sidesteps from the first book: death deities instead of tricksters, a search for a missing person instead of a murder mystery. I knew what I didn’t want Gather the Fortunes to be—and so had a handful of things that it could be—but much to my dismay, I still had no idea what the book would be about. And then in late 2016, things, as they say, took a turn.
The aftermath of that election was a weird time for everyone, but doubly so for someone trying to create art. How do you cheer on the good guys in your fantasy world when, in the real world, the bad guys win? I felt split, torn into two people, one of them a pacifist who had always been cautiously optimistic about the future, and the other a rage-filled cynic who wanted to burn everything down. Eventually I managed to boil a significant portion of my inner turmoil down to a single, difficult question, “how can anyone be a positive force for change if the world fills them up with hate?”
And suddenly I had an idea big enough to build a novel around.
What I didn’t want, though, was a basic good vs. evil dichotomy. “Choosing love over hate” is a story that’s been told many times before, and the question I was grappling with wasn’t that easy to answer. More to the point, humans aren’t that simple. There’s no alignment chart in the real world. We aren’t either all good or all evil, but a walking, conflicted, contradictory capacity for both. What felt far more accurate to me was the idea of the Rada and the Petro nations of loa in voodoo. The Rada are generally seen as benevolent and good, but the more accurate description is that they are “cool” in the sense of calm. Likewise, the Petro, the “dark” side of the family, aren’t evil but “hot” in the sense of angry. That, for me, is a better representation of what people are like. Compassion and forgiveness and reconciliation are all positive forces, and we should all strive for them. But to quote my boy Zach de la Rocha from “Rage Against the Machine,” sometimes anger is a gift.
This big idea led to a lot of fun smaller ones. Gather the Fortunes is a novel filled with doubles and twins and mirrors. There are storm deities and psychopomps and zombies and gods who fill the scavenger part of the supernatural ecosystem. There are themes of violence and power and taking a deep, long look at your place in the world. But at the core of the book is this question of rage, of the desire to destroy.
I won’t tell you how I answered it (I had to write the whole book to figure out how I felt), but for me, part of the answer is that there are two kinds of destruction: necessary and natural destruction like, say, a forest fire, and self-indulgent and artificial destruction, like arson for an insurance payout. We don’t always get to choose our moment in history, or how the world treats us. We don’t get to choose whether our blood runs cold or hot. We don’t get to choose whether we are, a creator, a preserver, or a destroyer at heart. We do, however, get to choose how we act. How we use the capacity for change within us.
And some things, quite frankly, deserve to be destroyed.
The City of Lost Fortunes: Amazon|Barnes & Noble|Indiebound|Powell’s
Read an excerpt (scroll down on the page). Visit the author’s site. Follow him on Facebook.
The Big Idea: Maurice Broaddus
Honestly, Maurice Broaddus had me as a reader of The Usual Suspects when he described it as “Encyclopedia Brown meets The Wire,” but as this Big Idea shows, there’s so much more going on here.
MAURICE BROADDUS:
The Usual Suspects is a bit of a departure for me. It’s a middle school detective novel (think “Elmore Leonard for kids” or, as it was pitched, “Encyclopedia Brown meets The Wire”), because I work a lot with children who want to read what I write and, frankly, most of my stuff isn’t “age inappropriate.” In fact, I originally wrote the book to both entertain my oldest son and chronicle some of my children’s antics (it’s the only thing of mine he’s read and he still refers to himself as my original editor). The premise of the story is The Big Idea: when something goes wrong in the school, they round up The Usual Suspects.
Fun fact: I have always shadowed my children through school as a substitute teacher, as sort of a backup for both my children and the staff. When I wasn’t working in either of my sons’ classrooms, I volunteered for a class the school referred to as “Special ED.” That was where they corralled the children with “emotional dysfunction.” Other words that could be used to describe the room include: quarantined, warehoused, or otherwise isolated from their classmates as someone else’s problem.
What I learned was how easy it was to get trapped in a story that follows you. How going through life under the constant haze of suspicion conditions people. But also, that those boys were amazing. They weren’t saints and they got up to some chuckle-headed nonsense, but they were smart, easily bored, and talented, yet as early as fifth grade, the system was letting them know it was giving up on them. They inspired this story, because being considered “usual suspects” was far too many of our everyday lived experience.
The Usual Suspects explores what it means to be a young black boy caught up in the system. To be dealt with under what Thelonius explains in the book as “the spider syndrome”: “when people see a spider, their eyes light up and their heart races because they’re scared. They’re so panicked that they forget that the thing that’s terrifying them is often like one hundred times smaller than them. All they know is all of the bad stories they hear about them, how deadly a bit from one of them can be even though that only applies to a small fraction of them. Spiders look strange to them, different and ugly. Their ways confuse and alarm people like them, the way they skitter across a room, lower themselves on a strand when they don’t expect them, how they leave messy webs wherever they go. So when a person sees one, they’re conditioned to smash it. It’s easy to believe bad stories and let them color how you see things.”
My favorite line from the (starred!) Kirkus review: “Readers will love watching these two uniquely gifted black boys explore the complicated tensions between impulses and choices, independence and support, turnin’ up and getting through.”
Every year I have a new Thelonius and a new Nehemiah to work with (fun fact: when the cover was revealed, one of my current students shaved his head because he was a dead ringer for Thelonius…in more ways than one). Also, I look at my own sons. My job as a parent is to help them learn how best to navigate their way through the world (on their terms). Their fingerprints are all over this book. And my life. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
The Usual Suspects: Amazon|Barnes & Noble|Indiebound|Powell’s
The Big Idea: W.M. Akers
May 13, 2019 May 13, 2019 John Scalzi11 Comments
In novels, detectives follow the “big cases” — but what about the other cases, which need solving? W.M. Akers considers them, and the person who would chase those down, in Westside.
W.M. AKERS:
You will probably never solve a murder mystery. You will probably never personally investigate arson, a hit-and-run, a kidnapping, a bomb threat, insurance fraud, an assassination, or any of the other thrilling crimes that preoccupy most fictional detectives. You are a real person, and though the mysteries of your life are never a matter of life and death, they often feel that way.
That’s what tiny mysteries are all about.
I created Gilda Carr, the hero of Westside, because I wanted to give tiny mysteries their due.
Gilda lives in a twisted version of 1921 Manhattan, in which forces unknown have caused the disappearance of thousands of citizens living west of Broadway. Blocked off from the rest of the city by a massive fence, Gilda’s Westside is overgrown, empty, and bizarre. It is a neighborhood teeming with huge questions, and she has decided to answer none of them.
Her reluctance is a correction to the excesses of her father, a former cop whose obsessive chasing of the city’s largest mysteries ended his career and broke his spirit. To avoid his fate, Gilda chases bits of lost clothing and meaningless personal effects, solving the niggling questions that keep us up at night, no matter how pointless we know they are.
A detective preoccupied with tiny mysteries is something that first came to me after I lost a book. It was, appropriately enough, a book about writing mysteries—a rather good collection of essays edited by Sue Grafton that I checked out from the Brooklyn Library, read a few words of, and lost almost immediately.
It took me some time to realize it was gone. I didn’t see it for a week or two and thought nothing of it. In an apartment like ours, which crams six bookshelves into three rooms and features countless piles of half-read books and unwanted papers, objects tend to wander away and come back of their own accord. When the loan came due, I launched a half-hearted search. On finding that the book wasn’t anywhere within arm’s reach, I renewed the loan and spent another couple of weeks not wondering where it had gone.
This went on for over a year.
Every time the loan came due, I combed the apartment in search of Writing Mysteries, checking over the same six shelves, the same two desks, the same piles of junk, and finding, again, that it was nowhere at all. I kept renewing it—if no one places a hold on a book, you can renew it endlessly—feeling so guilty about my deception that an automated email from the Brooklyn Public Library was enough to make me feel ill. As the year wore on, my searches grew more frantic, until I found myself rooting through kitchen cabinets, looking under furniture, and going through old suitcases in search of a book I’d barely read.
Finally, paranoia took over. Heeding Sherlock Holmes, I decided that the improbable must be the truth: I hadn’t lost the book. The library had. Although I had no memory of doing so, I suddenly and desperately believed that I must have returned the book at some point, only to be thwarted by some filing error that marked it still checked out.
I took this theory to one of the endlessly patient librarians at the Central Branch. They politely explained that what I’d imagined was impossible, and told me that I would have to pay an $84 fine to make up for the loss of the book. I decided $84 was worth it to be rid of the stress, apologized to the librarian, and ponied up, happy that, at last, I could forget the mystery.
And then my brother-in-law threw a bottle of detergent into our storage closet.
My wife and I came home from a trip and found the entire apartment polluted by a horrible chemical smell that my brother-in-law claimed he hadn’t noticed. The source was the far reaches of the closet, where he had celebrated the completion of his laundry by hurling an entire handle of detergent, which had leaked all over the wall, the floor, and everything else in its path, destroying several cubic feet of the unwanted junk that filled our closet to the brim.
As we threw out three trash bags of stuff we should have gotten rid of years before, I felt the same relief that I had when I paid off the library fine for the missing Mysteries. When you have been carrying around something useless and awful for a long time, it is beautiful to simply chuck it. And with that happy thought, I reached the bottom of the pile of newly-minted trash, and saw Sue Grafton’s name.
These are the kinds of mysteries I created Gilda Carr to solve: the kinds of questions, like, “Where the hell did I leave that book?!” that are totally unimportant and yet have the power to get under our skin. She lets the other detectives take the big cases. It’s the tiny ones, she thinks, that matter most of all.
I have absolutely no idea how that book ended up in the back of our closet, piled under so much junk that the detergent couldn’t reach it. But I kept the book—it cost me $84, after all—and put it on a high shelf as a reminder to be more careful with books borrowed from the library.
At least, I think I put it there. I haven’t seen it in a while.
Westside: Amazon|Barnes & Noble|Indiebound|Powell’s
Visit the author’s site. Follow him on Twitter.
The Big Idea: Wendy Nikel
May 9, 2019 John Scalzi1 Comment
If you’re a time traveler, keeping the time stream clear of possible contradictions is not your only problem. Author Wendy Nikel knows another one, and it’s at the heart of The Cassandra Complex.
WENDY NIKEL:
In my previous Big Idea entry, I talked about The Grandmother Paradox and how the title of that second book in my Place in Time novella series just seemed to fit perfectly from the very beginning. When it came time to write the third book, though, (which follows 18 years after the events of the second book but can be read as a standalone) The Cassandra Complex wasn’t the first title I had in mind.
When looking at where the characters in the first two books had been and how I’d used the different aspects of time travel to shape their stories to this point, I had a couple “big ideas” in mind.
First, I knew that based on how book two ended, I had to send my new protagonist back in time from her home in the 22nd century to live in the early 20th century in order to keep the timeline straight. I also knew that both protagonists from the previous books had been striving to preserve the established timeline, so for this one, I wanted to do something different. The main character of this book is younger and less experienced in time travel than the previous ones, and it shows. She’s got her own ideas about what the past should look like and isn’t likely to listen to anyone else’s advice – especially that of her parents or older brother. Thus, instead of keeping her head down and keeping the timeline intact, this latest time traveler in the series sets out to make some important changes.
The working title I used for this manuscript was The Compossibility Theory. Compossibility refers to whether two things can exist or happen together, and I’d initially set out to discover whether my main character could change the past without changing so much that she’d cease to exist. Depending on which theory of time travel you subscribe to, this had the potential to create an alternate universe or could cause a reality-destroying paradox. But as I started plotting and writing and putting together her adventures in the past, my protagonist ran into a problem that I wasn’t entirely expecting – a problem which changed the story’s trajectory and, eventually, the title as well.
No one believed her.
And who could blame them? Any time traveler is going to have a hard time convincing people that they’re from the future, and in the year 1914, an 18-year-old girl wasn’t likely to be taken seriously about anything – much less the existence of time travel and warnings about the future. Thus, I had a new problem for my main character to solve – one that lands her in quite a bit of trouble.
That left only the problem of the title. The Compossibility Theory didn’t fit so well anymore now that my Big Idea had taken me in a different direction than I’d anticipated. So I turned to the past for my inspiration.
In Greek mythology, Cassandra was a Trojan princess. She was given the gift of prophecy by her admirer, Apollo, but then when she refused his advances, he cursed her so that no one would ever believe any of her prophecies – including ones regarding the destruction of Troy. Today, a “Cassandra complex” refers to when someone’s valid warnings or concerns are dismissed, which is exactly the sort of struggle my main character is up against. One quick name change, and I had the perfect title to a story all about a time traveler trying to make her voice heard.
The Cassandra Complex: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes/Apple Books | World Weaver Press
Read an excerpt. Visit the author’s site. Follow her on Twitter or Facebook.
The Big Idea: Seanan McGuire
May 8, 2019 John Scalzi4 Comments
How long did it take Seanan McGuire to write her latest novel, Middlegame? It depends on how you look at it. There’s the typing of it… and then there’s everything else.
SEANAN McGUIRE:
This is the book that took me ten years of writing basically constantly before I could call myself good enough to write it.
That doesn’t mean it’s necessarily the best thing I’ve ever written, or that it’s going to be anyone’s new favorite, although of course, I hope both those things are true. It just means that from a sheer craft standpoint, it took me a very long time to get all the skills necessary to write what is essentially an alchemical superhero story about family, connection, and time travel. Juggling the various timelines this story required a level of precision that I had to work my way up to. I’m still a little stunned that I was able to manage it. And as the reviews have come in, even the ones that didn’t like the book have been forced to admit that I managed my timelines well, which is really all I had any right to hope for.
The big idea for this book started with a song, called “The Doctrine of Ethos,” written by Dr. Mary Crowell and recorded on her album, Courting My Muse. The very first line, “The Doctrine of Ethos says music’s a force, a microcosm of creation at its source…” seemed to contain an entire world of story. So I started prodding it with a stick.
Since the Doctrine of Ethos comes from Greek philosophy, wedding it with alchemy seemed like the most natural thing in the world, and I very quickly came to the conclusion that our big conflict was between people who wanted to control the Doctrine and the Doctrine itself, which didn’t want to be controlled. But how to make that sympathetic? Easy. Turn the central force of creation into a person. To keep it from being too powerful to be challenged, make it two people, and then make their lives a living hell.
Easy-peezy, pudding and pie. Roger and Dodger were born. Their rhyming names are a function of the sympathetic magic that drives the novel; they’re very different people, for all that they’re biologically identical twins created by the same act of horrific alchemy, but their names mean that they can always be yanked back together. Their names, and their natures. Drawing on more Greek philosophy, namely Aristophanes’ speech in Plato’s Symposium, they are very much two halves of the same person, one of the Children of the Moon. They can’t be whole without one another. But their love is absolutely filial. They’re brother and sister, and they come as a complete package.
(One of the things I had to get good enough to do was write this book without making it easy for anyone to read it and ship my protagonists together. Roger and Dodger are twins. Roger doesn’t like redheads, in part because his sister is one, and Dodger doesn’t like anyone who isn’t secretly a book of calculus problems.)
As the two halves of the Doctrine, Roger and Dodger represent lyrics (Words) and musical structure (Mathematics). They have absolute control over their domains, or they will, once they come firmly enough into their birthrights and assume the full weight of the Doctrine, embodying it completely and giving up any chance they might ever have had of being ordinary people. Not that there was much of a chance of that. In many ways, this book is a superhero origin story about two people coming fully into themselves, and doing it without laser eyes or being able to fly (although they’d appreciate it if they could).
It’s also a book about alchemy. I needed the people who created our protagonists to be grounded in the world around them, which is a lot to ask when you’re talking about alchemical science, and so I read a lot of books on American alchemical thought, and the idea the sometimes alchemists would hide their secrets “in plain sight” to make sure they wouldn’t be forgotten, but also so the alchemists could feel smarter than everyone else, since they knew everything. Asphodel Deborah Baker was born.
A contemporary of Baum, Baker wrote a series of books about a place called the Up-and-Under which were, secretly, an encoded series of alchemical primers. She never achieved Oz-levels of success, but she did quite well, and her books remain in print to this day. Pieces of the first in the series are interspersed throughout Middlegame, and of course I wrote the whole thing. Having a children’s book at the heart of my changeling cosmology seemed only fitting.
When I finally decided that I was ready to write Middlegame, I told my agent about it, and she asked me to write her a pitch. I wrote four pages. She told me it didn’t make any sense, and that she wouldn’t be able to sell it without more detail. I took this as an invitation to go home and write the whole book. It took me around six weeks to pull out a finished draft. Ten years and six weeks is a reasonable amount of time for a 150,000 word book, right?
I’ve had people get mad at me for punching down at myself when I said that it took me a while to get good enough to do this, but I think the delicacy of the craft speaks for itself.
The Doctrine sings, the astrolabe turns, and now I just need to get good enough to write the sequel.
Middlegame: Amazon|Barnes & Noble|Indiebound|Powell’s
Read an excerpt. Visit the author’s site. Follow her on Twitter.
The Big Idea: Rudy Rucker
In this Big Idea for Million Mile Road Trip, author Rudy Rucker describes how he wrote himself into a bit of a corner — and what it was that helped him get out of it. His path is not recommended for others, but it makes for some very fine reading here.
RUDY RUCKER:
I always wanted to write an SF novel about a motley group of characters taking a long journey to visit a lot of planets, some of the travelers human, and some of them alien. To make it more fun, I wanted them to be riding in a car.
Why a car? Well, we already have plenty of SF novels about tourists in spaceliners, emigrants in generation starships, and troops in the space navy. In a car, there’s no captain, and you can ride with the windows open, and you stop wherever you like.
Real-life road trips end before you want them to. You run into a coastline. The road stops. I wanted a road trip that goes on and on, with ever new adventures, and with opportunities to reach terrain never tread upon before. But how to do that in a car?
I peeled Earth like a grape, snipped out the oceans, shaped the flattened skin into a disk, and put a mountain range around it. Then I laid down a bunch more of these planetary rinds, arranging them like hexagonal tiles on a very wide-ranging floor. All set for a Million Mile Road Trip.
How did I decide on a million miles? Well, the edited-down Earth disk has a diameter of about ten thousand miles. And if we’re generous and say our roadtrip will run across about a hundred similar planet-like disks—then we’ve got a million miles. 100 × 10,000 is 1,000,000. Nice and tidy.
By the time I was two-thirds done with my novel I realized I’d only traveled through six worlds. I needed to pick up the pace. The acceleration part was easy. I introduced an invented-on-the-spot SF technology that I called stratocasting (for the Fender guitar). The hard part was actually imagining a whole lot of worlds. I figured describing thirty of them would be enough, and the rest could be a blur. But I was having trouble getting thirty unique worlds together.
At this point, in January 2016, real life intervened. I had to go into the hospital for an especially traumatic hip operation.
After the operation, I woke, soaked in sweat, in a state of delirium at half-past midnight. My bed seemed like the edge of an alleyway, and I was like a wet rag of clothing lying there, a wadded shirt. A nothing. Pathetic. Lost. Undone.
I was unable to remember who I was, or where, or what my significance was, or what ordeal I was undergoing, or what I was supposed to do. A wet crooked rag in an alleyway. Eventually I found the ringer-button to call a nurse. She was sympathetic.
And then, on the table by my bed, I spotted the paper scrap with my marked-up draft of the “Stratocast” chapter for Million Mile Road Trip. Ah, yes. I told the nurse I was a writer, and that the scrap was from a science fiction novel I was working on, and that I would now try to recover my personality by thinking about my book. She approved.
I had all the time in the world, anonymous in the middle of a hospital night. I set to work, typing till 3 am. I was happy to be writing in such an extreme situation. I ran my characters across twenty or thirty planet-sized basins in a single chapter. A surreal mural in my mind.
That hospital experience reminds me of a sentence in a short story, “Miss Mouse and the Fourth Dimension,” written by Robert Sheckley, the SF-writer-hero of my youth, and later my mentor. He was a wise, hip guy, and deeply funny to boot. Here’s Sheckley’s line: “A genuine writer is a person who will descend voluntarily into the flaming pits of hell for all eternity, as long as they’re allowed to record their impressions and send them back to Earth for publication.”
I always think a lot about what I’m writing. I’m a perfectionist. On the days when I can’t get anywhere on my current novel, I work on my notes for it, thinking about my world and about the invented logical explanation behind it. It’s a dialectical process. The thesis is the fantastic vision, the antithesis is the pseudoscientific explanation, the synthesis is ramifying linkage between the two, and the process is the the act of shuttling back and forth, repeatedly adding to the vision and the theory.
Of course, Million Mile Road Trip is no ponderous work of phenomenology. It’s light and playful. The heroes are three high-school kids with bad attitudes. And the aliens they encounter are, to say the least, flaky.
Another element that influenced my composition is the style of Thomas Pynchon. I wanted to write a novel in the present tense like he does. Often readers don’t consciously notice what tense a novel is written in—like, is it past or present? But for writers it’s a fraught decision. I found that using the present tense gives a chatty feel, like someone recounting a tale. Another Pynchon move is to rotate the point of view from chapter to chapter. And he writes very close-up to the current point-of-view character, producing an effect like a real-time stream of consciousness.
Regarding locale, I like to fold my real surroundings into my SF novels—it’s what I call transrealism. SF that’s set in the real world.
This time around, my transreal world includes flying saucers—and they’re not boring machines, no, they’re live beings made of meat. The aliens don’t ride in flying saucers, dude, they are flying saucers. (I don’t understand why more people don’t realize this!) Be that as it may, you can’t really have flying saucers in a novel without a full-on Attack of the Flying Saucers. And what better setting for such a scene than—the annual graduation at our local Los Gatos High School! I’ve been to quite a few graduations there.
It’s all here. Check it out.
Million Mile Road Trip: Amazon|Barnes & Noble|Indiebound|Powells
The Big Idea: Lewis Shiner
May 6, 2019 John Scalzi14 Comments
For the novel Outside the Gates of Eden, acclaimed author Lewis Shiner goes back in time, just a bit, to uncover the what it is people of his generational cohort have brought into the present moment.
LEWIS SHINER:
As I got close to finishing my seventh novel, Dark Tangos, it was time to think about what might be next. I’d just read Anna Karenina for the first time, and it had amped up my literary ambitions. What would Tolstoy write about, I wondered, if he were alive right now? Or, to put it another way, what was the most important conflict of my generation?
The answer came so quickly it was like it had been lying in wait: the death of 1960s idealism and the rise of the culture of greed.
I’d never written a book by starting with a high concept. My previous novels were inspired by historical incidents or particular obsessions of mine, and they usually announced themselves with dialog playing out in my head. Specifics first, generalities later. In this case the idea had such a grip on me that the specifics came tumbling along after it–the main characters, the first scenes, various milestones along the course of what I immediately knew was going to be at least a thousand-page manuscript.
What I didn’t know was why. What happened to our Revolution? To all our revolutions? How did the rich come to own the moral high ground along with all the banks and houses? I hoped the answers would come with the writing.
And if Outside the Gates of Eden does answer those questions, it’s in a novelistic way. Which is to say, I don’t expect readers to extract simple answers and match them to numbered questions printed in the back. Instead I hope that the experience of (re)living those years in the controlled environment of a novel will leave them feeling like maybe they understand something in a visceral way that they didn’t understand before.
What I can offer here are a few core issues that emerged during the writing, compass points that I consulted whenever I found myself asking, “Where am I going with this, again?”
The first thing I figured out about the 1960s was that they fell into the last sweet spot on a graph with two intersecting lines. The first was the rising line of white, middle-class affluence. In practical terms, this meant that for the first time ever, most kids didn’t have to go to work at 16. Instead, millions of them could go to college and ask questions about why things had to be the way they’d always been.
The other line was the descending line of finite resources. Just as those millions of college students were revving up to change the world, the Club of Rome think tank issued a report called The Limits to Growth (1972), which was followed immediately by the 1973 oil crisis, which made it obvious to every automobile owner in the US that there was no longer enough to go around.
Suddenly a lot of people who’d been saying “Love thy neighbor” were saying “Me first.”
Also in 1973, Nixon finally kept his 1968 campaign promise to end the war in Vietnam. The war had been the number-one unifying issue for the counterculture since the mid-sixties. When the troops started coming home, no other cause was universal enough to take its place.
There was more. School busing alienated the working class, both white and black. Stagflation hit everyone in the wallet, and economists couldn’t explain it or fix it. Even as charismatic figures continued to arise on the right–most prominently Ronald Reagan–the left was devastated by the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy.
The public attacks on the movement and its leaders were bad enough. Even worse was the FBI’s COINTELPRO, which infiltrated every radical organization from the Students for a Democratic Society to the Black Panthers to the American Indian Movement, disrupting meetings, pushing for increasingly violent and bizarre agendas, creating and widening the fracture lines within the groups.
The lack of leadership was crippling. It’s a sad truth that for every ten protestors at a rally, nine were there mainly in hopes of getting high or getting laid. Keeping the actual idealists motivated and active required a major effort, one the establishment undermined in every way they could.
Television proved their most potent weapon. Over the years, the constant mocking images of flower children and shaggy radicals made sincerity laughable and started us on the path to where we are now, where irony is the dominant cultural mode and “hippie” is just another Halloween costume for sale at Target.
And yet. Despite the odds, despite the defeats, images of the sixties endure. The words “Woodstock Nation” and “Peace and Love” still carry power down through the generations. With Donald Trump acting out the worst of crony capitalism on the daily news feed, more and more people are realizing that community, charity, and conscience really are our only hope for the future. And that is the biggest idea of Outside the Gates of Eden.
Outside the Gates of Eden: Subterranean Press|Amazon|Barnes & Noble|Indiebound
Read an excerpt (scroll down). Visit the author’s site. Follow him on Twitter.
The Big Idea: Clark Thomas Carlton
April 30, 2019 John Scalzi4 Comments
In the immortal words of Steve Martin, “Let’s get small.” How small? Well, in Clark Thomas Carlton’s latest novel, The Prophet of the Termite God, it’s going to be very small indeed.
CLARK THOMAS CARLTON:
Yep, it came to me in a dream, the Big Idea about a far-flung future where mini-humans live as the parasites of insects.
I was exploring the Yucatan, climbing to the top of an ancient pyramid where the hearts of human sacrifices had been plucked and offered to bloodthirsty gods in return for rain and a good crop of corn. The skins of the sacrificed might be flayed and worn by Maya priests to express their piety: the equivalent of a monk’s hair shirt. The first Spaniards were appalled by this gruesome misuse of religion and then misused their own to conquer and enslave the natives.
In the place we now call Mexico, the Spanish instituted a repressive caste system similar to the one in India and the American South where a person’s status was and is still determined by skin color and race. In the face of my tour guide, I saw the brown skin of his Maya ancestors, but his mustache spoke of some Castilian blood.
Unlike the sacrificed humans, I was able to descend from the pyramid in Tulum with my heart intact. I was sipping a watermelon margarita by the hotel pool while munching on Spanish peanuts when one of them fell under my lounger. A minute later, I witnessed two different kinds of ants locked in a furious tug-of-peanut. The peanut split in two which should have provided a peaceful solution, but the ants did not stop fighting. I watched this battle until we were called to dinner.
That night I dreamed I was a captain riding into war. I was not charging from atop a horse but on a saddled black ant. From under the shade of a golden poppy, I looked over my army: thousands of tiny men, astride their own ants with bows and arrows and lances at the ready. Before us was a battlefield of massive, glistening sand grains. In the distance, our hated enemy was racing towards us on mounts of red ants. Arrows flew at us when one pierced my cheek. I tasted blood and was spitting out broken teeth when I woke with a start and realized I was safe between sheets of 400 thread count. I hastily wrote the dream down on the back of an envelope and knew it was the premise for a novel … an exciting premise. I told the dream to my partner who gave me an Uncle Milton’s Ant Farm for Christmas.
The Ant Farm brought me back to my childhood fascination with insects and ants in particular. My fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Eckhart, encouraged us to make crude ant habitats by digging up colonies with a spade and inserting them, as best we could, into a mayonnaise jar with a little bacon grease as nourishment. But I suffered as I watched these ants. Their home had been upended, and they struggled to remake their tunnels and find their way to each other. Their queen had likely been crushed or suffocated or was left behind in the wreck of her tunnels.
I chose a more humane observation of ants on a stretch of orange sand behind my house. Colonies were plentiful and black ants were building their mound just a few dangerous feet away from a mound of red ants. I tried to incite them into war by leaving bread crumbs on the sand but they ignored my provocation and kept a truce.
One morning I found the black and red tribes at war — an inevitable, territorial conflict — and it was something that lasted an entire, apocalyptic day. The ants had no weapons, but through a magnifying glass I watched in horror as they sliced each other into pieces. Their legs and severed heads were strewn across the sand. It struck me that these tiny, six legged creatures were so unlike humans and yet they were a kind of mirror.
“(The) foreign policy (of ants) can be summed up as follows: restless aggression, territorial conquest, and genocidal annihilation of neighboring colonies … if ants had nuclear weapons, they would probably end the world in a week.” That is a quote from Dr. Edward O. Wlson, the Second Darwin, the father of evolutionary biology and the world’s foremost myrmecologist. If I was going to write convincingly about tiny people living among ants, I would need to read Wilson and Holbdobbler’s The Ants, the bible of myrmecology.
I plunged myself into the study of ants. I learned they had stratified societies with a division of labor. They built functional structures with compartments that included nurseries, water storage and trash dumps. Some of them were farmers, some were raiders and slavers. And they waged wars with specialized soldier ants, the “old ladies” they sent to war, that fought together with astonishing coordination.
I avoided movies and pop-culture books about human and ant interactions. When the miniaturized children of the movie Honey, I Shrunk the Kids meet an ant, they befriend it, make it a pet and name him Antie. In reality, ants would use their antennae to sniff out the kids as ‘other’ and then flee … or attack. I learned that ants have parasites — beetles, butterflies and spiders — who can infiltrate and exploit them by replicating or stealing their colony odor. This is what my mini-humans, the extreme result of island dwarfism, would do to parasitize ants: steal their kin scent as a disguise. This would allow humans to live safely in an ant colony to harvest them as food, yoke them to labors and ride them into war.
But what about a plot?
I do not in any way encourage writers to take hallucinogenics in hopes that it will bring them a talent for invention. That just won’t happen, and there are dangers in taking unregulated drugs. But I would be lying if I didn’t admit the narrative and imagery and — most importantly — the feelings for my novel came to me on the sixth night of Burning Man.
Before the effigy went up in flames, I licked a brown splash of something off the back of my hand. Immediately, I felt as if the top of my skull had been opened with a rotary saw and the world was pouring in. Only later did I learn I’d consumed between 20 and 25 hits of acid.
Do not try this at home without the supervision of a qualified professional. Do not. LSD isn’t for everyone.
I drifted through a costumed crowd and art installations as multiple movies of what had been and might have been my life played in my head, some of them running backwards. As I dodged mutant vehicles, harsh truths erupted about myself and my own limitations as well as regrets about some Big Decisions. It was ten years of psychoanalysis in a single hour.
The stimulus of an instant city dedicated to radical self expression was too much while I was under so much influence. I wandered out to the blackness of the playa until I could no longer hear the clashing music. After taking what seemed like the longest pee of my life — the draining of the Tigris and the Euphrates — I sat and stared into a cloudy sky of turbulent ink to watch the movie that would become my book. The scenes were loosely pieced together and in need of a massive edit. What I saw was an exciting, sensuous adventure and an immersion into man’s inhumanity to man … and woman. The next two years was devoured by unraveling that vision, writing it down and then shaping and shaping and shaping it some more.
My acid trip at Burning Man was a spectacular yet joyless mega-bummer but it exposed a wealth of raw feelings I had repressed in order to function. And emerging from those feelings, I saw the journey of my flawed and wounded hero: an outcast boy who refused to accept the catastrophe of his existence.
I wanted to write a story that reminded other white, middle class Americans like me that what we have is not the norm. Most of the world does not enjoy our medicine, our schools, our electricity and our indoor toilets. Billions of human beings today would be astonished by the hundred kinds of ice cream in our local grocer’s freezer. I wanted to write about my frustration with the human tendency not to share and uplift but to horde and exclude. For so many at the top, it’s no fun to be rich if you can’t lord it over the poor.
The idea of humans living intertwined with ants allowed me to attempt a grand analogy, one that showed how both species were slaves to their instincts for war and territorial expansion. In the world of the Antasy series, humans justify the cruelties of their caste system because they see it in their ants, the order created by their gods.
The best work I’ve ever done starts with feelings and the need to express them. I’ll stop writing when I stop feeling.
The sequel to Prophets of the Ghost Ants did not come out of a dream or a chemically enhanced vision. The Prophet of the Termite God burst from my crushing disappointment in the 2016 presidential election. My alarm, sadness and depression were a strange and powerful fuel as I watched the values of fairness, inclusion and concern for all shift to exclusion, nationalism and the celebration of greed and treachery. I got no sleep that night, but for weeks afterward all I wanted to do was sleep … to sleep perchance to dream.
The dream that inspired my novel wasn’t a gift from a god or a magic message. I worked for it. Countless scientists, musicians and writers have had dreams where they received an important idea, but it was something they were already working on, something that resolved in their unconscious and emerged in a dream. I was looking for this story and doing research for it as I traveled and read about human social systems and the nature of hierarchies.
So dream big, everybody. Or, in my case, dream very, very small.
The Prophet of the Termite God: Amazon|Barnes & Noble|Indiebound
Visit the author’s website. Follow him on twitter.
The Big Idea: David Quantick
April 26, 2019 April 26, 2019 John Scalzi5 Comments
For his novel All My Colors, author David Quantick had his protagonist do a very bad thing. No, not murder. No, not assault. Something much worse: Plagiarism! Of a sort…
DAVID QUANTICK:
There was this short story. I could remember how it began and how it ended, but that was all. I forgot the name of the story and the name of the writer. I knew it was in a sci-fi anthology because that’s how I’d found it, in my local library when I was a teenager and all I read were sci-fi anthologies. I went online and I bought old sci-fi anthologies, but it wasn’t in any of them.
One day I got so frustrated by not being able to find the story that I lost my mind slightly and considered writing it myself. I talked myself out of this insane plan quite quickly – as well as being a rip-off, the story would just be a mess – but something stuck in my brain. What if someone did that for real? Wrote a story that already existed and passed it off as their own? And what if the story was more than a story, it was a classic novel, like Catch-22 or Lord Of The Rings, and somehow it had been erased from everyone’s memory?
And wouldn’t the person who wrote that book deserve to be… punished?
When you have an idea, it can go lots of different ways. This idea was not just a book idea, but it was the basis of a horror novel. I don’t know why I thought that, but it just worked that way for me. I’d never written a horror novel, but I love Stephen King and Neil Gaiman and I could see this being like Richard Bachman’s Thinner – not the same plot at all, but the same working-out of the plot. Thinner is one of the most relentless books ever written. A man upsets someone, they curse him, he gets thinner, and that’s it. The same with All My Colors. A man steals an idea, writes it, there are consequences and that’s it.
Except obviously that’s not it. I wanted to make my writer – Todd Milstead – an asshole. I thought that would be more fun, especially when bad things are happening to him, and there was something about the way he treated women in the story that was interesting as well. So the consequences of him stealing the idea – and he has an eidetic memory, so when he writes the book, he literally does that, copies it out of his asshole brain – would be fun, for me if not for him, and they would be something to do with Todd and women.
After that, the other decisions fell into place. The Bachman aspect of the book made me want to set it in the late ‘70s, like a real Bachman book, and to set it in America. In my first marriage, I’d spent a lot of time in Illinois, near DeKalb and Aurora, and I thought it would be more interesting if the book was set there, rather than New York or Los Angeles (although New York does turn up). And also I could have fun making a soundtrack.
I love American ‘70s rock, FM or AOR or whatever it’s called. The logo bands. Boston, Kansas, Styx, Toto… they somehow suited Todd, who wouldn’t be a music obsessive like me, but would do a lot of driving with the radio on, singing along to songs by bands he didn’t know the names of. And when I thought about Bat Out Of Hell, the insane vampire Springsteen anthem written by Jim Steinman and sung by Meat Loaf – it’s one of my all-time favourite albums – I had a lot of new ideas.
That said, the book could have been set almost anywhere at almost any time because the core of it – the central theme – is nothing to do with Meat Loaf, or Illinois, or even jerks, but men and women, and men being jerks to woman – and other men – and, to some extent, about creativity and writing (Todd enjoys all the trappings of being a writer but he can’t write at all). It wasn’t actually meant to be a funny book but people have seen humour in it, which is fine (I have written on TV shows like Veep and The Thick Of It) and some of it is meant to be scary, and people have also said it’s scary, which is very much fine. Mostly, though, I think it’s about making a morally wrong decision, and discovering that what you thought was going to be a dream is actually a nightmare.
Which, now I remember it, is what that short story that I could never find was about.
All My Colors: Amazon|Barnes & Noble|IndieBound|Powell’s
Follow the author on Twitter.
The Big Idea: Meg Elison
Today in The Big Idea, author Meg Elison delves into her latest novel The Book of Flora, and radical power of a single, very short, word.
MEG ELISON:
It’s impossible to talk about the third and final book in a series without talking about the whole thing. The big idea of the third book rests squarely on the base laid by the first two, and the idea of the whole series changes as the last part is written.
The Big Idea of The Book of the Unnamed Midwife was that women are people.
The Big Idea of The Book of Etta was that ideals are difficult to maintain when they compete with survival.
The Big Idea of The Book of Flora is that every person has a body that belongs to only them.
This is another idea that strikes as radical when it should not. The characters in the Road to Nowhere series cope (as we all do) with the way other people sometimes think they have the right to define our bodies, to control them, to legislate for them, and to name them. Flora in particular is vulnerable to these desires; as a trans woman (or Horsewoman, as her culture is called in this world) she is often concerned with the way different cultures will perceive and define her. The world of this book prizes femininity but subjugates it all the same. In some places, she is regarded as powerful and valuable. In others, she is afforded the disgust reserved for people who fail to perform womanhood in the culturally correct manner.
Other characters struggle with the same problem, but in different ways. How often is the “preservation of the species” trope invoked to get people breeding in an orderly fashion in a dystopian novel? My characters are queer. Their expectations of childbirth are bloody and bleak. Their insistence on ownership over their own bodies invokes discussions of birth control, abortion, and reproductive behavior in a way that post-apocalyptic novels often treat as a settled idea. If the human race is in danger, surely people with uteruses will simply give up on the idea of self-ownership and submit to their fate as vessels! This entire subgenre takes for granted that if imperiled enough, people will accept compulsory heterosexuality and forfeit basic autonomy.
My characters stay queer and say no.
Flora says no to a lot of things. She says no to the all-women city of Shy (Chicago), despite its wealth and welcome. She says no to the people who try to talk her out of adopting her child, Connie. She says no to anyone who tries to possess her, or define her. Flora knows exactly who she is. Those of us who had to earn our identities the hard way will recognize how powerful that NO really is.
As your body belongs only to you, so too does your story. Characters in these books keep journals and decide what they want to reveal and what to keep. They decide rather to pass their story on or let it die with them. They decide whether to perform their trauma in order to be believed, or to protect themselves and go without whatever that belief might proffer. These are choices that you might face, too. These are all questions I’ve had to answer for myself, revisit my answers, and allow my understanding of myself to change based on them.
Flora is a book about choosing your story, rewriting it and making changes until you hear your own voice. It is about being in your body, being one with it and making peace with it, revising it until you recognize yourself. It is about Flora, who is better at both of those things than most people who have not faced down one apocalypse after another.
We have come to the end of the Road to Nowhere. Thank you for walking with me and reading all my big ideas, strange as they are. This final book is dedicated to all the radical queers in my life, and I am grateful and proud to have put more queer art into the world.
The Book of Flora: Amazon|Barnes & Noble|Indiebound|Powell’s
Read an excerpt. Visit the author’s website. Follow her on twitter.
The Big Idea: Lara Elena Donnelly
When, as a writer, you find yourself caught between two tropes, what do you do? And is it a bad thing that you’re confronting two separate writing tropes in the first place? In her series that began with the book Amberlough and continues now in Amnesty, the third book, author Lara Elena Donnelly confronts her tropes and finds a way through them.
LARA ELENA DONNELLY:
For a long, long time, Amnesty was nothing but a big idea.
My debut novel, Amberlough, was meant to be a standalone. A tragedy with a bitter ending, the only hope in a burgeoning resistance driven by death and loss. A story about people who fail, over and over again, to communicate with each other. Who fail to stake a moral, political, or emotional claim early enough to make a difference.
The character who fails biggest is Cyril DePaul. Already back-benched when the book starts, after a botched mission that’s left his confidence shattered, every decision he makes has his own interests at its heart. Nobody else’s enter into it. Even his gambit to save the life of his lover is self-centered; who wants to save their own skin only to live on lonely?
When I first wrote Amberlough, Cyril perished on the page. I had read enough spy novels to know that the bad spy usually dies. It’s not a job you can half-ass or bumble around in and still expect to avoid a bullet in the back of the head.
But I had also read enough fiction to know that being queer is another way to end up dead by the end of the novel. Cyril’s death fell pretty neatly into the trope known as “Bury Your Gays.”
I was caught between two tropes: one I wanted to lean into, and another I had frowned over in many other media properties. And I had gotten myself there by thinking how satisfying it would be to queer such a macho genre as the spy novel (though let’s be honest: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy had already done it, and done it well).
But all of this isn’t my big idea. My big idea came when feedback from my editorial team poked at the ending–both my agent and my editor earmarked the potentially problematic death. Could we not just make it a little more open-ended? Not quite so…death-y?
I was torn, and also confused and kind of angry. I had written this ending knowing full well the risk I ran, and chosen to keep it during submissions because it felt right for the story and the character’s arc. I also didn’t think I would have been urged to unkill a straight character.
I have a lot of complicated feelings about tragic queers. But as several friends have said to me lately, “complicated is good. Complicated means it’s worth discussing.”
I felt then–and still feel, a lot of the time–that often there is a pressure on queer characters and queer stories to combat the “Bury Your Gays” trope, or the gay villain trope, or any number of other tropes, by telling stories without death, without tragedy, without detestable people. And yes, the world deserves happy, heroic queer characters. But it also deserves nuanced stories about flawed and fully-developed queer characters who sometimes hurt others and are hurt themselves.
Queer characters have been dying in fiction for a long time: as moral censure, as motivation for straight characters, to lend tragic savor to the story of straight heroes. Often the queer character who dies is the only queer character in story, and death is the only end we see for them. And obviously that’s a problem.
Unfortunately, nowadays the labor of undoing the harm caused by these tropes usually falls on stories that center queer characters–often on stories by authors who are queer themselves. Many queer authors hesitate to write stories based in their own experience, wondering if they are too dark, if they perpetuate the tragic queer narrative. And many times, straight authors including queer characters in heroic, happy narratives write versions of queer people that feel disingenuous or flat; that don’t engage with the nuances of living with a queer identity, some of which can be complicated and yes, painful.
I don’t like the idea that tropes–even Bury Your Gays–should be avoided at all costs. It’s not only simplistic, it’s impossible. If you write fiction, you’re going to write a trope someday. My take on tropes is that when they show up in a story they shouldn’t be dismissed out of hand, but interrogated, turned on their head, and shaken down for their milk money.
So, I wrote two more books. And here we come to my big idea. There are spoilers ahead, so be wary if you mind that kind of thing.
Removing an explicit death scene and replacing it with a much more open-ended culmination felt strange to me, as an ending for a standalone. And the idea that this simple elision addressed the tragic queer trope didn’t quite scan for me; the book is still a tragedy. It still features queer characters. Changing that final scene with Cyril was symbolic, yes, but felt hollow somehow–like it lacked the intended resonance of the original ending. It felt like avoiding a trope on a technicality.
Still, given the feedback, I began to envision a further arc to the story; if Cyril didn’t die, what would his life look like? As a bad spy, a poor communicator, a child of privilege, and a fascist collaborator burdened by guilt, where would he go in this world turned upside down by political upheaval? And, if he ever surfaced again, how would he be treated by his friends, family, lovers, and public opinion?
Essentially: if death was not the final note in a tragic character arc marked by personal failures, what could I replace it with? What was a fate worse than death, to and for Cyril DePaul?
Facing the music, of course.
In Amberlough, death was a consequence for a long string of bad decisions made by a desperate man with flexible morals. I started thinking of the stack of consequences Cyril would have to face if he lived. There were a lot of them, ten times more complicated than a clean death might have been. And they were harder for Cyril to take, as a character, which as any writer knows makes for rich material.
In essence, my big idea was, “If I avoid this trope, it won’t be on a technicality. It will be on my own terms. And those terms will be devastating.”
In the actual writing of the book, things turned out differently than I had envisioned when I set out. But I hope I still succeeded in turning the simple evasion of a trope into something much thornier, that has readers asking themselves questions about guilt and redemption and who is forgiven for what, by whom, and why.
Amnesty: Amazon|Barnes & Noble|Indiebound|Powell’s
Taunting the tauntable since 1998
John Scalzi, proprietor
Whatever Days
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Coordinates: 36°59′45″N 75°57′34″W / 36.99583°N 75.95944°W / 36.99583; -75.95944
The Chesapeake Bay – Landsat photo
Name origin: Chesepiooc, Algonquian for village "at a big river"
Maryland, Virginia
- left Chester River, Choptank River, Nanticoke River, Pocomoke River
- right Patapsco River, Patuxent River, Potomac River, Rappahannock River, York River, James River
Susquehanna River
- location Havre de Grace, MD
- elevation 0 ft (0 m)
- coordinates 39°32′35″N 76°04′32″W / 39.54306°N 76.07556°W / 39.54306; -76.07556
- location Virginia Beach, VA
200 mi (322 km)
30 mi (48 km)
64,299 sq mi (166,534 km²)
4,479 sq mi (11,601 km²)
The Chesapeake Bay (pronounced /'tʃɛsəpi:k/) is the largest estuary in the United States.[1] It lies off the Atlantic Ocean and is surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The bay's watershed covers 64,299 square miles (166,534 km2) in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia.[1] More than 150 rivers and streams drain into it.
The Chesapeake Bay is about 200 miles (300 km) long, from the Susquehanna River in the north to the Atlantic Ocean. At its narrowest point between Kent County's Plum Point (near Newtown) and the Harford County shore near Romney Creek, the bay isabout 2.8 miles (4.5 km) wide. At the widest location, it is 30 miles (50 km) wide. The bay is 46 feet (14 m) deep on average.
The bay has two bridges over it. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge crosses the bay in Maryland from Sandy Point (near Annapolis) to Kent Island. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel in Virginia connects Virginia Beach to Cape Charles.
↑ 1.0 1.1 "Fact Sheet 102-98 - The Chesapeake Bay: Geologic Product of Rising Sea Level". U. S. Geological Survey. 1998-11-18. http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/fs102-98/. Retrieved 2008-01-13.
Saving The Chesapeake Bay
Retrieved from "https://wiki.kidzsearch.com/w/index.php?title=Chesapeake_Bay&oldid=4408567"
Bays of the United States
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A Historical Project: The Night of the Seven Antennae in 1986
18th April 2015•By Gunnar Erth
It was one of the most legendary and ambitious events in AEGEE ever: the Night of the Seven Antennae on 7th of March 1986 – or, as it was called, the “Nights for Europe”. Connected by a satellite link, seven antennae made their own Eurovision show with interviews, music performances and high profile guests from politics. Philippe Micaelli, vice president of AEGEE-Europe, co-ordinated the magnificent event. This interview appeared first in AEGEE’s 20th Anniversary book in 2005. Gunnar Erth asked Philippe the questions.
Who had the idea for the event?
Philippe: After the first congress in Paris we wanted to organise another big event which would also be special. During a Comité Directeur session I explained that we could use the latest state-of-the-art in video communication by satellite, we could be the first student association to organise a live satellite multicast streaming video between seven antennae. The Comité Directeur was very enthusiastic.
What was the programme of the events?
The programme in each city had the same guideline: fun with a European political message, entertainment and guests known for their European involvement. We had singers such as Tick-A-Toy, Diane Tell and Alain Souchon, a fashion show, 3D video movies, and some artists gave a live performance. Concerning speakers we had for example two European Commissioners: Manuel Marin, in charge of education, and CT Davis, in charge of transport. Bavaria’s prime minister Edmund Stoiber participated as well as Michel Jobert, a former French Minister, Pierre Pflimlin, President of European Parliament and Gaetano Adinolfi from the Council of Europe. Until now this event stays unique because no other students’ organisation was ever able to stage such a trans-European video live by satellite.
How did you organise the event?
I was able to find with ease a project leader in each city. Together with Franck Biancheri, who was in charge of the political dimension of the show, I made the coordination at the European level, and each city had the liberty to manage the content themselves. I organised this event essentially through phone and telex. The core team was composed by Ricktus Osterhuis in Amsterdam, Elena Drutskoi in Brussels, Andrew Oldland in London, Béatrice Anacker in Munich, Guillaume Petruski in Nice, Stéphanie Paix in Paris and Frédéric Rossi in Strasbourg. Making this video link happen was a very hard task, I was really stressed during those four months. We had a very short time, a low level of financing but big ambition.
The seven organising locals
How did you manage to arrange the satellite link?
I was not an engineer and I did not know anything about live video transmission and how to produce such an event. But from my point of view, if an idea is good the technical aspects can be solved. In fact I was executive producer, engineer, financial director, negotiator, fund-raiser, speaker and post-producer all at the same time! During the four hours broadcast we did not have any technical or organisational problems. We got the full support of the Belgian, Dutch, English, French and German ministries of telecommunication, and of different professional broadcast companies. The uplinks and downlinks from Eutelsat were managed by the French Délégation Générale des Télécommunications and TéléDiffusion de France. Franck Biancheri had to lobby very hard at the French government, especially Mitterand’s advisers, to obtain that the French authorities accept to pay up to 50 percent of the whole operation.
Bavaria’s state-secretary Edmund Stoiber gave an interview for the event.
How many people saw the transmission?
The number depended of the size of the chosen place in each city. For instance, in Paris we rented Bercy, a huge place where concerts or car races are organised. In London it was inside the Kings College, in Brussels it was a big place named Plan K. At least 10.000 people saw and participated in this first multicast video transmission by satellite through seven towns in Europe.
The original title was “Nights for Europe”
What were the main results and the impact of the event?
Externally it established AEGEE-Europe, this very young student association, as a real partner for institutions and companies. Internally it was the proof that if we want something to happen that seems impossible, it could still be successful due to our energy, coherence and investment in working for the same goal. The EU Commission paid for 200 copies of the ten minutes summary of the show that I made in the following weeks. These tapes allowed AEGEE-Europe members to show the video all around EC universities to thousands of students. This was a major factor boosting AEGEE’s development.
How big was the budget. Is it true that AEGEE-Bruxelles went bankrupt because of it?
The total budget was around 600.000 euros. AEGEE-Bruxelles was aware that if they could not get into the show, then the whole event would become impossible, as the Belgian Telecom was part of the connection bringing the images from and to Amsterdam as well – on this part, the link was made through ground connections. If they had stayed away, Amsterdam would have been obliged to cancel as well. All of us hoped to find solutions but in the end we could not and AEGEE-Bruxelles preferred to shut down rather than keep on trying to find the money.
Several bands performed at the event
Do you see potential for events of this kind?
Yes I do. I think that this kind of event could be done again but in a different way, with more interactivity and more numerous places. With Internet, good webcams, big screens and high broadband it could be fun to organise a common video streaming on the same day where people could pick up what they want to see or what they wanted to send through a website that was functioning as a hub. It would be not difficult to organise.
About Philippe Micaelli
Philippe Micaelli was an AEGEE member in the first hour. “In 1985 I met Franck Biancheri, I decided to join the team a few weeks before the first EGEE congress. I am proud to be one of the pre-EGEE I anciens,” he remembers. “I was convinced that Europe was the only way to be an equal partner versus the USSR, USA or Asia”. Philippe is proud that AEGEE-Europe students “never accepted to play the game of the EU institutions in order to get a job into the system”. Instead, they moved the institutions into the direction of their own vision of Europe’s future. After ten years as trader in the financial market, the former Econometrics student founded several companies. Philippe: “The last one that I have launched has developed an innovative software system where the confidentiality of any type of electronic files is guaranteed with a secured sharing access over Internet”.
Pioneers in the East
Seven Amazing Events: The Success of the Night of the Seven Antennae
Follow our reports of the Agora in Alicante
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RO-AL
RO-AL CONSTRUCTION
Telecom boom leaves RO-AL purring
Mobile telecoms in Africa: Africa Outlook talks to Willie Pretorius, Director of Operations at Ro-Al Construction, one of the leading players for mobile telecommunications infrastructure construction and maintenance work in South Africa.
Writer Ian Armitage
Project manager James Mitchell
The upsurge in Sub-Saharan African mobile telecommunications has seen South Africa based RO-AL Construction grow tenfold in a decade.
The firm, founded in 1991, began life working on medium-sized industrial, commercial, retail and institutional projects within the Johannesburg area.
In 1995 it extended its operations to mobile telecommunication infrastructure development and maintenance and soon after completed its first project with mobile telecommunications operator Vodacom.
RO-AL never really looked back and in the years since has refocused its attentions to the growing infrastructure for mobile phone networks, seeking ISO9001, ISO8001 and ISO14001 accreditation, and becoming one of the leading players for mobile telecommunications infrastructure construction and maintenance work in South Africa.
Vodacom is still a client.
"It started with Vodacom in Johannesburg and when they expanded we expanded with them. Today we have national coverage, with offices and resources strategically placed throughout the country," says Willie Pretorius, Director of Operations at Ro-Al Construction.
Ro-Al Construction still has a fantastic relationship with Vodacom and services its GSM network.
"Initially our relationship with them was predominantly around infrastructure maintenance but we've diversified to such a point where we can take care of about 80 percent of the various disciplines in that environment nowadays. We cover a lot more than before and we believe in servicing the client with sound quality control principles within a competitive pricing structure and timely delivery.
"We offer a one stop service to the client," says Pretorius.
The growth of the African telecom sector has been monumental, and it is not only telecom giants that are benefiting from the boom.
"We're definitely experiencing some really positive business opportunities but financially the economy here in South Africa has cooled down substantially so obviously we are pretty squeezed for margins," says Pretorius. "Africa telecoms has exploded in the last decade and there is still much more growth to come. We haven't really started going into Africa just yet and it is something we're looking at more seriously. There is growth still to come in South Africa but you must remember that it will be substantially lower than we've been experiencing. There will always be growth but it won't be at such steep incline as it was before."
RO-AL has a strong alliance with Chinese Technology giant Huawei Technologies, a company that has predicted its revenue and investment growth in the next three years in Africa to be up by 30 percent as mobile internet and communication devices penetration expands on the continent.
The company based its vision growth predictions on the fact that Africa is already progressed in most other areas in terms of demand expansion, leading it to pick up both interest and expectations especially for East and South African regions which are experiencing the most profound increase in mobile penetration.
"Huawei are expecting to push penetration through the increasing demand for smartphone devices and other communication devices in the region and we've been doing a substantial amount of radio and antenna upgrade work on the telecoms network for them in South Africa and have done quite a bit of work for them in Mozambique and Lesotho in the recent past," says Pretorius. "That would be one of the doors we were looking at walking through.
"We also have a relationship with Eaton Towers, which is really spreading wings in Africa and they are currently busy with Uganda."
Eaton, one of a number of specialist players to launch services in Africa in recent years, will build about 100 towers in Uganda, 100 in South Africa and 50 in Ghana during 2013.
"It is a great opportunity to spread our wings," Pretorius says.
There are challenges though. The main one is skills.
"Finding skilled workers is increasingly problematic," admits Pretorius. "We do all of our training and development ourselves, we recruit new staff and we take them through apprenticeships and management programmes. It is difficult predicting labour requirements and then allocating the right resources to the right areas."
All things considered the future is bright. Even in South Africa there is growth potential, with the government targeting 100 percent internet penetration in its ICT Vision 2020 – and achievement of this target depends largely on penetration through mobile devices.
"I am very excited but at the same time it is not an easy road. It will be a challenging journey. We need to be a lot more bullish in our approach towards the market if we want to maintain the momentum going forward."
To learn more visit www.roal.co.za.
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Additional cooperation from
Third International Workshop on Symbolic-Neural Learning (SNL-2019)
Miraikan hall, Odaiba Miraikan 7F (Tokyo, Japan)
Keynote Talks:
July 11 (Thursday), 13:10-14:10
Noah Smith (University of Washington/Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence)
Rational Recurrences for Empirical Natural Language Processing
Despite their often-discussed advantages, deep learning methods largely disregard theories of both learning and language. This makes their prediction behavior hard to understand and explain. In this talk, I will present a path toward more understandable (but still "deep") natural language processing models, without sacrificing accuracy. Rational recurrences comprise a family of recurrent neural networks that obey a particular set of rules about how to calculate hidden states, and hence correspond to parallelized weighted finite-state pattern matching. Many recently introduced models turn out to be members of this family, and the weighted finite-state view lets us derive some new ones. I'll introduce rational RNNs and present some of the ways we have used them in NLP. My collaborators on this work include Jesse Dodge, Hao Peng, Roy Schwartz, and Sam Thomson.
Noah Smith is a Professor in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington, as well as a Senior Research Manager at the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence. Previously, he was an Associate Professor of Language Technologies and Machine Learning in the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Johns Hopkins University in 2006 and his B.S. in Computer Science and B.A. in Linguistics from the University of Maryland in 2001. His research interests include statistical natural language processing, machine learning, and applications of natural language processing, especially to the social sciences. His book, Linguistic Structure Prediction, covers many of these topics. He has served on the editorial boards of the journals Computational Linguistics (2009-2011), Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research (2011-present), and Transactions of the Association for Computational Linguistics (2012-present), as the secretary-treasurer of SIGDAT (2012-2015 and 2018-present), and as program co-chair of ACL 2016. Alumni of his research group, Noah's ARK, are international leaders in NLP in academia and industry; in 2017 UW's Sounding Board team won the inaugural Amazon Alexa Prize. Smith's work has been recognized with a UW Innovation award (2016-2018), a Finmeccanica career development chair at CMU (2011-2014), an NSF CAREER award (2011-2016), a Hertz Foundation graduate fellowship (2001-2006), numerous best paper nominations and awards, and coverage by NPR, BBC, CBC, New York Times, Washington Post, and Time.
July 12 (Friday), 10:00-11:00
Kristina Toutanova (Google)
Learning and evaluating generalizable vector space representations of texts
I will talk about our recent and forthcoming work on pre-training vector space representations of texts of multiple granularities and in different contexts. I will present evaluation on end-user tasks and an analysis of the component representations on probing tasks.
Finally, I will motivate the need for new kinds of textual representations and ways to measure their ability to generalize. This includes work by Jacob Devlin, Ming-Wei Chang, Kenton Lee, Lajanugen Logeswaran, Ian Tenney, Dipanjan Das, and Ellie Pavlick.
Kristina Toutanova is a research scientist at Google Research in the Language team in Seattle and an affiliate faculty at the University of Washington. She obtained her Ph.D. from Stanford University with Christopher Manning. Prior to joining Google in 2017, she was a researcher at Microsoft Research, Redmond. Kristina focuses on modeling the structure of natural language using machine learning, most recently in the areas of representation learning, question answering, information retrieval, semantic parsing, and knowledge base completion.
Kristina is a past co-editor in chief of TACL and was a program co-chair for ACL 2014.
Maximilian Nickel (Facebook)
Representation Learning in Symbolic Domains
Many domains such as natural language understanding, information networks, bioinformatics, and the Web are characterized by problems involving complex relational structures and large amounts of uncertainty. Representation learning has become an invaluable approach for making statistical inferences in this setting by allowing us to learn high-quality models on a large scale. However, while complex relational data often exhibits latent hierarchical structures, current embedding methods do not account for this property. This leads not only to inefficient representations but also to a reduced interpretability of the embeddings.
In the first part of this talk, I will discuss methods for learning distributed representations of relational data such as graphs and text. I will show how these models are related to classic models of associate memory and that a simple change in training procedure allows them to capture rule-like patterns on relational data. In the second part of the talk, I will then introduce a novel approach for learning hierarchical representations by embedding relations into hyperbolic space. I will discuss how the underlying hyperbolic geometry allows us to learn parsimonious representations which simultaneously capture hierarchy and similarity. Furthermore, I will show that hyperbolic embeddings can outperform Euclidean embeddings significantly on data with latent hierarchies, both in terms of representation capacity and in terms of generalization ability.
Maximilian Nickel is a research scientist at Facebook AI Research in New York. Before joining FAIR, he was a postdoctoral fellow at MIT where he was with the Laboratory for Computational and Statistical Learning and the Center for Brains, Minds and Machines. In 2013, he received his PhD with summa cum laude from the Ludwig Maximilian University Munich. From 2010 to 2013 he worked as a research assistant at Siemens Corporate Technology. His research centers around geometric methods for learning and reasoning with relational knowledge representations and their applications in artificial intelligence and network science.
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Release of the A.I.R. Community Cookbook!
A.I.R. Gallery Community Cookbook
Dina Kantor
In 2014 Dina Kantor was selected as an A.I.R. Gallery Fellow. As part of the program, fellows are asked to create a community project. At the time, Kantor had just begun a new body of work about community cookbooks and their relationship to identity (still in progress), so she took the opportunity to create a community cookbook for the gallery.
The resulting cookbook studies how the food we make and share with family, friends and our communities plays a large role in our identities.
Besides being a collection of recipes and tips that were contributed by members, staff, fellows and other artists affiliated with A.I.R., the book also includes photographs exploring the identities of the artists who shared them. Kantor photographed the artists in their studios, examining the links between creativity in the kitchen and in their art practice.
The cookbook is softcover, 8.5˝ x 11˝, with 152 pages, 82 recipes and 80 color photographs.
It is available for purchase through Blurb for $40 by clicking here.
In true community cookbook style, a portion of the sales will be donated directly back to A.I.R. Gallery's Fellowship program.
For more information on Dina Kantor, visit www.dinakantor.com.
Tags: dina kantor, a.i.r. fellowship, fellowship, fellow, community project, cookbook, a.i.r. gallery, a.i.r., recipes, donation, donate, food photography, community cookbook
Songyi Kim, Dunno What It Is, 2015
Object Relations
Monday, June 6, 2016, 6-9pm
Join A.I.R. Fellowship Artist Andrea Burgay in a workshop and community building project "Object Relations" at Ground Floor Gallery!
"Object Relations" will utilize items provided by participants to create new visual artworks, primarily small-scale constructed sculptures. Participants will exchange objects/materials to create new work, inspired by and connecting them to their fellow community members.
Do we find objects inspiring because of their visual qualities or because of our personal associations with them? How can we interact with and relate to an object that someone else finds meaningful? Will the new works made with these objects reflect the qualities the original owner found appealing, or will other qualities within the object be discovered?
Bring an object that you find enticing, exciting, inspiring or interesting that you are willing to part with.
Describe the qualities of the object that create its appeal.
Choose an object supplied by someone else in the group.
Create something new using the new object you’ve chosen and other supplied materials.
*The created artworks will be displayed at Ground Floor Gallery on June 7th from 6-8pm.
RSVP to aburgay@gmail.com by May 30, 2016. Limited space available!
Ground Floor Gallery
343 5th St. Brooklyn, NY
Tags: fellowship, andrea burgay, emerging artist, brooklyn, art in brooklyn, community project, a.i.r. gallery, a.i.r. fellowship
Zeljka Blaksic, 2014-15 Fellow
The A.I.R. Fellowship Program: How Can It Help You?
October 16, 2015 in news
Fellowships can be a topic of confusion for many artists; what exactly is a Fellowship and how can you, personally, benefit from it? A.I.R. Gallery established its Fellowship Program in 1993 and each year six artists get just the right kind of support to get them on their feet. The A.I.R. Fellowship Program is a free, 12-month intensive program that includes mentoring, professional development, and exhibition opportunities providing artists with the tools and relationships they need for a fruitful career to come.
2015-16 Fellow Daniela Kostova (Left); 2013-14 Fellow Susan Stainman (Right)
The A.I.R. Fellowship Program is unique in its showcasing of underrepresented and emerging, self-identified women artists. The program defines “underrepresented” as artists who have not had a solo show in a commercial gallery within the last 10 years and who are not in a degree-seeking program. Through the Fellowship, artists are able to gain an insight into the organization of an artist-run space and what it takes to put on a successful exhibition. For many artists this is their first opportunity to take advantage of all that a gallery has to offer. Whether it means taking a more hands-on approach with their work or envisioning concepts and installations that they had not thought of before, the Fellowship grants a certain creative freedom that is unique to this all-woman organization.
In addition to that freedom, Fellowship artists get to know each other (and each other's work) and form a close knit group that often extends far past the duration of the program. Artists expand their individual creative processes to a larger group setting, in which they can interact with and feed off one another while each working toward the exciting end goal of a solo exhibition. Each artist has their own reason for embarking on a Fellowship and each artist comes out having had a uniquely enriching experience. "I think for most people just the opportunity to have their own show is an exciting aspect", Past Fellowship Artist Aimee Burg said of her reason for applying, "but also to be involved in a group and to know you’ll be working with peers instead of on your own is an appealing part of it,".
Aimee Burg, 2011-12 Fellow
When asked what she took away from the Fellowship, Aimee had this to say: “I was actually pregnant throughout the Fellowship, so I was sort of going through my pregnancy at the same time that I was progressing through the program. Developing my work with that parallel was a life-changing experience in that way”. In addition to the solo exhibition artists are required to develop and execute one community project. Often this launches the artist in to new directions and provides support for the artists to take risks. "I found it really encouraging to have an end goal to look forward to, to have schedules and deadlines", Aimee said, "because otherwise I may not have done the work that I did,".
Damali Abrams, "Autobiography of a Year", 2010, Video stills
Another past Fellow Damali Abrams described her experience, saying, "I applied looking to fill a void I felt after grad school for community and critique. The A.I.R. Fellowship provided everything that I was looking for and more. The professional development, the connections, the solo exhibition, all helped to take my career to new levels. The Fellowship led to other exhibition opportunities and access to established women artists and art professionals who have continued to be supportive of my practice,".
Of course, Fellowships are not for everyone. They require a level of commitment and structural rigor that do not fit everyone's artistic needs, but, like any other opportunity, it is what you choose to make of it. Under the right circumstances, the A.I.R. Fellowship can be an eye-opening experience for artists, that helps to jumpstart their careers and connect them to a broader community of NYC artists. "The program allows for front row access to myriad resources and individuals that make up a very rich artistic community", Director Jenn Dierdorf says of the Fellowship, "It can be an incredibly rewarding experience and create relationships that last long after the program term ends,".
If you think the Fellowship program is the right career push you need to develop your professional practice, you’re in luck! Apply before October 30th to be considered for the 2016-17 Fellowship for Emerging and Underrepresented Artists.
If you still have more questions take a look at our FAQs.
Article by Nora Kovacs, PR/Social Media Intern, A.I.R. Gallery
Tags: a.i.r. fellowship, a.i.r. gallery, A.I.R., women in the arts, damali abrams, dumbo brooklyn, art in dumbo, aimee burg, art, jenn dierdorf, zeljka blaksic, fellowship, emerging artist, underrepresented artist
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LMS 14391 'Loch Shin' on the turntable at Forres
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Highland Railway locomotives
The last class of locomotive designed for the Highland Railway by David Jones was the 4-4-0 'Loch' class. Fifteen were built by Dübs & Co. in Glasgow in 1896 and a further three, with minor alterations, were produced by the North British Locomotive Company in 1917. The first batch was numbered 119 to 133 with the later engines numbered 70 to 72. They were intended to work on express passenger services and all passed into LMS ownership in 1923.
This photograph shows LMS 14391 'Loch Shin' (formerly HR 131) on the turntable at Forres. It was withdrawn from service in August 1941 and used as a bombing target for the RAF at Shoeburyness in Essex.
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Highland Railway Society - Locomotives 2 (Jones classes)
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railway locomotives; Highland Railway locomotives
The last class of locomotive designed for the Highland Railway by David Jones was the 4-4-0 'Loch' class. Fifteen were built by Dübs & Co. in Glasgow in 1896 and a further three, with minor alterations, were produced by the North British Locomotive Company in 1917. The first batch was numbered 119 to 133 with the later engines numbered 70 to 72. They were intended to work on express passenger services and all passed into LMS ownership in 1923.<br /> <br /> This photograph shows LMS 14391 'Loch Shin' (formerly HR 131) on the turntable at Forres. It was withdrawn from service in August 1941 and used as a bombing target for the RAF at Shoeburyness in Essex.
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Steve Frampton confirmed as 2019/20 AoC President
Congratulations to Steve Frampton, who has today been confirmed as the 2019/20 Association of Colleges’ President.
This year, Steve Frampton and Lesley Davies, Principal & CEO of the Trafford College Group, both ran. Lesley has now withdrawn her application for personal reasons.
Steve Frampton was Principal of Portsmouth College for 13 years before retiring to serve as AoC President in August 2018 - this will be his second and final term. He was awarded an MBE in 2017 for Services to Education.
The President acts as an ambassador for the Association of Colleges and the further education sector, driving policy formation and raising the profile of colleges with ministers and external stakeholders.
Each year a college principal is elected by AoC members to be President. Their term of office runs from 01 August to 31 July, with a maximum two-year tenure.
David Hughes, Chief Executive, Association of Colleges said:
“This is a really exciting time for AoC and for the sector so I am delighted that Steve will be onboard as President for another year. It was a shame that Lesley had to pull out, for personal reasons, and I want to thank her for putting herself forward.
Steve has made a big impact over this last year, bringing with him enormous amounts of energy, enthusiasm and dedication, not least to the Love Our Colleges campaign. I know that he’s got lots he wants to achieve over his final year as President and I look forward to working with him on it.”
Steve Frampton, President, Association of Colleges said:
“I really do #LoveOurColleges. I have loved being your AoC President this last year and I am thrilled to have the honour for another year. I would also like to personally thank Lesley for a great contest and wish her all the best. She is a great champion for our sector, and I know that will continue.
This has been one of the privileges of my life – we’ve achieved lots but there is still so much more to do. I really am your President, and this really is a partnership. Now the focus is on finishing what we’ve started, securing funding and strengthening our sector.”
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Are you serious? Outgoing? It's not because of birth order
Morgan Giordano, AOL.com
Oct 20th 2015 1:58PM
Does being an older brother or a younger sister make you smarter or more outgoing? A new study says the answer is no.
The idea that birth order affects intelligence and personality has been debated for roughly a century and gained steam in the '90s. The Family Niche Theory says older siblings are born physically superior and are more likely to become dominant. Later-born children supposedly have to find ways to distinguish themselves, and therefore become more extroverted.
But support for the theory has been mixed, so researchers at two German universities analyzed a massive database of more than 20,000 German, British and American adults to try to settle the debate.
They found that birth order has no effect on major personality traits like extroversion, emotional stability, agreeableness and conscientiousness.
And there was only a very small link between birth order and IQ. Older siblings showed slightly higher intelligence, although many of the numbers were self-reported.
Even that finding isn't necessarily biological, though.
One of the researchers told ABC Australia it could be that firstborns tutor younger siblings, and "teaching other people has high cognitive demands."
So don't worry: You and your siblings can all be extroverted, agreeable and conscientious.
Take a look at some notable people who are firstborns:
Notable, successful oldest children
NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 29: Former U.S. President Bill Clinton speaks at the Clinton Global Initiative's closing session on September 29, 2015 in New York City. The Clinton Global Initiative, happening simultaneously with the United Nation's General Assembly, invites leaders from politics, business and culture to discuss world issues. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)
Hillary Clinton, former U.S. secretary of state and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, speaks during a campaign rally in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2015. Clinton and Bernie Sanders clashed sharply on Tuesday's first Democratic debate over which presidential candidate has the tougher plan to rein in the excesses of Wall Street, putting financial reform at the center of the lively debate. Photographer: Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images
NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 09: J.K. Rowling illuminates the Empire State Building to mark the USA launch of her non-profit children's organization, Lumos, at The Empire State Building on April 9, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Nomi Ellenson/FilmMagic)
NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 26: Beyonce performs onstage during 2015 Global Citizen Festival to end extreme poverty by 2030 in Central Park on September 26, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Global Citizen)
CONINGSBY, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 22: Prince William, Duke of Cambridge after a flight in a Chipmonk aircraft at the 100th Anniversary Parade of 29 (Reserve) Squadron at RAF Coningsby on September 22, 2015 in Coningsby, England. (Photo by Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images)
Hershey's dives into premium chocolate race with Deluxe Kiss
his controversial dessert has quite a disgusting reaction when you eat it
New study traces origins of dogs to Central Asia
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Wardour Street, Soho Stock Photos and Images
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Wardour Street, Soho, London, England, UK.
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Wardour Street, Soho, London, UK
Hammer House in Wardour Street, Soho, London, UK.
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Ben and Jerry's ice cream parlour in Wardour Street, Soho, London, England, UK
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Pret A Manger cafe Wardour Street Soho London
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Old Exchange and Bullion office in Wardour Street, Soho, central London UK. The office now houses a restaurant
Floridita Cuban Bar, Wardour Street, Soho, London
MPC M.P.C the Moving Picture Company Headquarters in Wardour Street Soho London. British visual effects and film production studio, founded 1974
People walking in Wardour street, Soho in front of a local branch of the Japanese restaurant Wasabi. London, UK
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Chinese dragon on side of building at Wardour Street Chinatown London
Vapiano Italian restaurant, Wardour Street, Soho, London, W1,
Man and friend talking on mobile phone outside Wardour News newsagent shop with DAZED magazine sign in Wardour Street Soho London W1F UK KATHY DEWITT
London, England, UK. Atlantic House, 3-5 Wardour Street, Soho W1D 6PB.
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L'ETO Cafe Wardour Street, Soho London UK KATHY DEWITT
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An old negative envelope from the now defunct Joe’s Basement Photographic Services business on Wardour Street Soho London that closed in 2003. Joe’s B
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Stylised Chinese dragon on wall above restaurant in Wardour Street, Soho, London, England, UK
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Chinese herbs acupuncture male tonic sign, Wardour Street, Soho, London, England
Viet Food Restaurant Soho London - the Viet Food Vietnamese Restaurant on Wardour Street in London's Soho entertainment district
Ladbrokes betting shop, Wardour street, London.
Window of 'Wardour News' a specialist fashion newsagent in Wardour street SoHo London England
Luxury beautiful decorated cupcakes and baked goods in the shop window of L'ETO Cafe Wardour Street, Soho London UK KATHY DEWITT
Chinese lanterns lit up on a busy night in Wardour Street with neon 'Welcome' sign Chinatown Soho London UK
Film House in Wardour Street, Soho, London, UK.
Customers inside Princi bakery, Wardour street, Soho, London, England, UK.
Enrique Tomás specialist Iberico Jamon ham shop and restaurant in Wardour Street, Soho, London, England, UK.
Chocolatier Paul A Young on Wardour Street, Soho, London, England, UK
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S Africans relish hard-won freedom
Ten years after the end of apartheid, distinctions between the formerly white, black and coloured areas of South African cities have blurred.
South Africa, The Rainbow Nation, won its freedom in 1994
People are revelling in the new-found freedom of living where they want - if they can afford it. For many it is not just a simple change of address.
Said Suliman, a doctor of Indian origin, now lives near former president Nelson Mandela in a leafy Johannesburg area reserved for whites during the racist era.
Speaking at his sprawling home in Houghton, lined with mansions on one-acre (4047sq m) plots where swimming pools and tennis courts are de rigueur, Suliman said he felt an "exhilarating experience of liberation" when he moved to his new home eight years ago.
"For the first time we are in an area where we choose to live, not where we are forced to live"
Said Suliman,
"For the first time we are in an area where we choose to live, not where we are forced to live," he said.
"It makes us feel like real South Africans, free to buy property anywhere, free to move anywhere, free to go to any restaurant, theatre, cinema or hotel."
The transition to democracy came after decades of white minority racist rule that ended in 1994.
It was preceded by the lifting of the infamous Group Areas Act of 1948, which for the most part reserved residential areas inside the cities for whites and banished blacks to townships and homelands.
Night curfew
In Johannesburg, blacks were shunted out to ghettos like Soweto on the fringes of the city. A night curfew prevented them from being on the streets of "white" areas.
Indians were forced to leave their traditional quarter of Vrededorp (Peace Town in Afrikaans) abutting Johannesburg's once-posh city centre to areas like Lenasia about 45km away.
Similar changes have taken place elsewhere like in the eastern port city of Durban, where a former whites-only area on the
beachfront is now open to all.
Former President Nelson Mandela
gave South Africans their dignity
In Cape Town, blacks and so-called coloureds who were driven out of a sprawling mixed-race suburb during the apartheid era, recently had keys to new homes in the area being given to them by Mandela.
John Ngobeni, a black gardener at a posh Johannesburg hotel,
earlier had trouble commuting to work but now lives in a flat in
Killarney, a white, Jewish-dominated area inside the city where "people of colour" have moved in.
"It's great. I cycle to work now," he said.
Some areas in Johannesburg have gone to seed however, like the central district of Hillbrow where whites started moving out when blacks and many illegal African immigrants started moving in.
It has become synonymous with crime, muggings and drug dealing.
And Johannesburg's upmarket northern suburbs are still predominantly white. Many of the blacks and coloureds seen here are domestic staff, street vendors or beggars.
Lone Poulsen, professor at the School of Architecture and
Planning at Johannesburg's Witswatersrand University, said a real change in the demographic pattern of cities was light years away.
"The racial divide has now given way to an economic divide," she said, adding that the basic apartheid framework of blacks and coloureds living in townships on the outskirts of cities would survive for a long time "as 80% of our population is poor and can't afford to live anywhere else.
Pariah no more: President Mbeki
and German Chancellor Schroeder
"In poor and more run-down areas there is more racial mixing and working class whites, blacks and coloureds are increasingly living in the same areas," she said.
Yet, there is hope.
Johannesburg's city centre - once measured with the same yardstick as grimy Hillbrow - has had closed-circuit television cameras fitted to curb crime and is now the subject of various urban renewal projects.
Its skyscraper rooftops are being turned into apartment lofts, which increasingly attract the attention of young and well-to-do buyers - both black and white.
Another emblem of the change is Sophiatown, in the west of
Johannesburg, which managed to remain mixed-race despite the Group Areas Act.
The apartheid government bulldozed the area in the early 1960s, renamed it Triomf (Triumph in Afrikaans), and turned it into a white working-class area.
Today, Triomf is once again Sophiatown and gloriously multi-racia
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Magazine: Fighting for acceptance
Cambodia's first openly transgender boxer on the fight against prejudice, sexual violence and HIV.
by Marta Kasztelan & Thomas Cristofoletti
Forty-two-year-old Srey Champa sits on a stone bench by Phnom Penh's famous riverside, just as she does every Friday evening. Her bag is full of condoms and her make-up is just right - not too heavy and not too light, for, as she says, she's "not a teenager any more".
Nearby, middle aged white men with faces reddened by the sun prowl around like vultures stalking their prey. On any other night, the veteran transgender sex worker might have been among their targets. But tonight the only thing she will be offering is advice and condoms to her fellow sex workers in her capacity as a safe sex educator for a local NGO called Women's Network for Unity.
Eighteen-year-old Seila comes by to see her. They greet with a hug and, after a quick catch-up, Champa reminds the younger woman to use protection.
"She's working tonight, so I know she doesn't have much time to talk," she explains.
Soon, others begin to trickle by. Many of them are boys, some as young as 15, and Champa's condoms quickly disappear into their pockets.
"Maybe I will visit an old client of mine," she tells her entourage before they disperse. "At my age, I am lucky there are still people who want to pay me for sex," she laughs.
As she gets up to say goodbye, Champa moves with the grace and poise of an Apsara dancer, the Cambodian equivalent of a ballerina. There is little in her demeanour that hints of her now distant past, but this sex worker-cum-activist was once Cambodia's first openly transgender boxer.
It was a vocation she was forced to abandon 17 years ago after overt discrimination from fellow boxers and the industry as a whole made it impossible to continue.
Hers is the sort of story that reads like the plot of a novel; full of twists and turns and examples of human cruelty and kindness.
Shackled and beaten
Srey Champa holds an old photo of her taken for an ID card. Aside from the general provisions in its constitution, Cambodia has no laws specifically protecting members of the LGBT community against discrimination or violence. The authorities also seem to have gone back on their promises to include lesbians and transgender women within the ambit of an action plan to stop gender-based violence [Thomas Cristofoletti/Ruom]
"I already knew I was a girl when I was five years old," she explains as we sit in a café in the capital.
"When I began dressing up as one, I was seriously discriminated against by the members of my family. They handcuffed me and put shackles on my legs. Most of the time I wasn't able to leave the house or even eat my meals with them."
Her mother was never abusive, she explains, but her father and older brother thought of her as a "freak" and would beat her whenever she behaved as the girl she felt was trapped inside her boy's body.
As she grew older, the violence she endured drove her further from home and eventually, at the age of 16, into the boxing ring.
"I ran away from home and after wandering about I ended up at the Olympic Stadium," she explains. "There, I started to learn boxing, becoming stronger and stronger every day. When I went back home one day and my older brother started to hit me again, I was strong enough to protect myself and I knocked him out. Then I ran away from home for good."
For six years during the early 1990s, the Olympic Stadium became Champa's home - and the centre of her world.
She had been steadily improving and was asked to join the squad of professional boxers based at the facility. By the time she turned 20, she held a black belt, denoting the highest degree of competence in the discipline, and had won several competitions in Cambodia and Thailand.
She may have been as fast and strong as any of the others, but she faced verbal and physical abuse on a daily basis for the way she dressed and behaved outside of the ring.
"I was a boxer but I was also a transgender person. I couldn't control my behaviour, it comes naturally to me. It is who I am," she explains.
"I used to have long hair back then. They said I am neither a woman nor a man and therefore I am not human," she remembers. She hesitates, then explains: "They forcefully undressed me on a few occasions because they said they wanted to check if I am a boy or a girl."
"They made fun of me and used to say 'Kteury [gay], I won't let you win again.'"
Champa would fight back with humour, asking them: "What's wrong with you? I am also human. If you are a real man, why can't you win against me?"
"I was really good, you know," she says. "But one day they put a gun to my head because of who I am. It was the last straw for me and I quit."
Falling apart and coming together
Champa buys fruit from a market stall near her house [Thomas Cristofoletti/Ruom]
That was in 1999. And since then, Champa has only used her boxing skills when those buying sex from her have turned violent.
"A few times some clients of mine were trying to rape me or rob me, but they couldn't because I was so strong and knew how to defend myself. In the end, they were the ones running away," she says contentedly.
But Champa was not able to protect herself from all of the potential dangers of her trade. She was diagnosed with HIV 12 years ago. At her lowest point, feeling rejected by everyone and aware that her condition would only increase the discrimination she faced, she tried to commit suicide.
Since then, however, her life has taken a turn for the better. Her medication means that she is able to live more or less normally. And when her mother heard about the suicide attempt, she went looking for her. The two have now reunited and live together in Champa's house.
Phnom Penh's riverside is a popular spot for tourists seeking sex workers. Champa spends many of her evenings trying to educate the sex workers about safe sex as part of her role at the Women's Network for Unity, an organisation that helps Cambodian sex workers and transgender people [Thomas Cristofoletti/Ruom]
Today, Champa's mother is preparing breakfast for her as she gets ready to attend a party. The party is being thrown by a friend of Champa's who is homosexual and wants to honour her mother for being so supportive.
"She wants to celebrate her mother's support for who she is," Champa explains. "Our families' acceptance is really important for our happiness."
Champa rides her motorbike to the main Phnom Penh ferry, where Meas Borey, her boyfriend of two years, is waiting for her. They take the ferry to the other side of the river, where the city's concrete is replaced by the long grass, palm trees and stilt houses of the countryside.
At the party, Champa meets her closest friends, many of whom are members of Cambodia's LGBT community. They come from all walks of life. Among them are make-up artists, teachers and sex workers. They eat, drink and dance together, toasting "the mothers".
"This is when I am most happy," Champa explains in a break between songs. "When I feel that I am accepted by my family and friends; when I know I am supported and loved like a normal human being."
This article first appeared in the February 2015 issue of the Al Jazeera Magazine. Download it for iPads and iPhones here and for Android devices here.
Marta Kasztelan
Thomas Cristofoletti
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Agents fleece Bangladeshi migrants
Poor workers seeking employment abroad are left jobless and destitute.
by Tony Birtley
On the outskirts of Dhaka, adults and children pick
through the city's biggest rubbish dump
Millions of migrant workers from developing countries travel abroad each year to jobs they hope will bring money and security to their families, but many end their journey in prison, despair and financial ruin.
Construction and manufacturing industries in the growing economies of the Middle East and Asia could not survive without the migrant workers who travel from some of the world's poorest countries.
They often have to work long hours for little pay, enjoy few rights and often endure poor living conditions.
But although human-rights groups have campaigned for years against the abuse of migrant workers, the would-be workers risk becoming the victims of scams, even before they arrive at their destination.
Often the migrant workers pay thousands of dollars for a work visa and a job. Some arrive in a country, like Singapore or Malaysia, only to find that neither the visa nor the job they were promised exist.
Al Jazeera looks at slavery in the 21st century:
• Liverpool bears marks of slavery
• Zambian: 'I was a captive choirboy'
One migrant worker in Singapore told Al Jazeera: "The agent promised that after payment my passport will be stamped. But he took my money and passport and ran away. I don't know where he is. I was afraid. I didn't have any money or anyone here. I just hid."
The man is now an illegal immigrant in Singapore. He arrived three years ago after paying $6,000 for a work permit and a job in a shipyard. But he was a victim of a fraudulent agent.
Under Singaporean law, if he is caught overstaying his visa, he will be liable for a prison sentence and may well be caned, which will leave him scarred for life.
Dashed hopes
Bangladesh is one of the world's poorest countries and Bangladeshis make up one of the largest groups of migrant workers.
Every year three million of the country's citizen leave home to seek a living abroad, hoping to send money back to their families.
On the outskirts of the capital Dhaka, adults and children pick through the city's biggest rubbish dump looking for food or anything they can re-sell.
They all are easy prey for fraudulent agents.
The scale of the country's poverty, and stories of those who are successfully working abroad, help explain why people so readily believe what the agents say. But once they have cheated their clients, the "agents" disappear.
Rules flouted
Parents of a cheated Bangladesh worker
The government, which offers little in the way of protection to migrant workers, recommends that agents charge no more than $1,200 for a work permit and job.
But in reality many agents charge two or three times that figure.
Al Jazeera secretly filmed agents in Dhaka charging more than double the government's recommended fee.
Though agents promised free food and accomodation at their new destinations, workers said they had to bear the expenses themselves. And what they earned was far below what was promised.
One family interviewed by Al Jazeera took out loans and sold everything to send their son to work in Malaysia. But their son was a victim of a fraudulent agent.
"He can't send money. He is not earning properly," said the boy's mother. "The agent said he would earn a lot of money. But the job was illegal and he has been in hiding for years."
The family now lives in a squalid two-room apartment in Dakha.
Their oldest daughter had to be married at the age of 15 because they could no longer afford to keep her.
Many others sold land and possessions and took loans, but returned to Bangladesh empty handed.
They all returned destitutes, having been promised good jobs by the agents.
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Challenges of Islamophobia: From America to India with Mehdi Hasan
Antun’s
50-1000 USD
Habeeb Ahmed
http://imrcusa.org
Indian Muslim Relief and Charities
IMRC is hosting a Lunch Program with Mehdi Hasan at Antun’s Restaurant. Proceeds from this program will support Muslims and minorities of India.
Keynote Speaker: Mehdi Hasan
Mehdi Hasan is the award-winning presenter of ‘UpFront’ on Al Jazeera English, born and brought up in the UK but now based in Washington D.C. He is also a columnist for The Intercept and the New Statesman, a regular contributor to the New York Times and the Guardian and the author of two books. Mehdi has been included in the annual list of the 500 ‘most influential’ Muslims in the world and his Oxford Union speech on Islam and peace went viral in 2013, amassing more than 5 million views online. He has interviewed, among others, Edward Snowden, Hamid Karzai, Ehud Olmert and General Michael Flynn.
Guest Speaker: Manzoor Ghori
Br. Manzoor is one of the founders of IMRC. After working as a clinical scientist for 25 years, he now dedicates his full time work towards IMRC to assist the Muslims and miniorities of India through its programs in education, healthcare, emergency relief, food and shelter.
You can purchase tickets here. This is a list of your options:
sponsor a table: $1000
244 West Old Country Rd - Hicksville
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You are here:Competitions
Competition: Worli Koliwada mixed-income development, Mumbai
12 March, 2018 By Merlin Fulcher
An open international ideas contest has been announced for an innovative mixed-income community development on one of Mumbai’s last undeveloped segments of coastline (Deadline: 30 April)
Open to multidisciplinary teams of up to four members, the anonymous competition seeks radical ideas for a new socially inclusive residential scheme that could encourage integration between established residents of the densely populated Worli Koliwada peninsula and more affluent newcomers.
The Reside Mumbai call for ideas, organised by Arch Out Loud, aims to provide alternative visions for the future of the urban fishing village, which is inhabited by the descendants of Mumbai’s original settlers but is increasingly under threat from encroaching high-rise development. Proposals that protect and enhance existing public spaces, preserve historic urban fabric, consider the impact of annual monsoons, and respond to the site’s dramatic views are encouraged.
Worli Koliwada, Mumbai
According to the brief: ‘Rapid urban growth and growing inequality have created a global crisis in housing that increasingly segregates the rich from the poor. Though not fully understood, there is a clear and parallel relationship between the size of a city and its level of socio-economic disparity: the larger the city, the less equal it tends to be.
‘Physical and social segregation, which both reflects and perpetuates socio-economic disparity within a city, is a growing concern in cities worldwide – including Mumbai. The long-term success of a city depends on the collective well-being of all its inhabitants. To what extent can architecture support social inclusion and break down spatial segregation within the megacity?’
Mumbai is on India’s west coast at the site of a deep natural harbour. It is the country’s largest city with an urban population of 21.4 million people. More than half the city’s inhabitants live in slums and Mumbai’s house price-to-income ratio is the second highest in the world.
Ongoing large-scale public-private redevelopments of the city’s many slum areas have undermined traditional social structures and increased pressure on public spaces and other key amenities in recent decades.
The Worli Koliwada fishing village occupies an isolated promontory overlooking Mahim Bay and the city’s 2009 Sea Link motorway. The area was once one of the seven original islands of Mumbai and the families of many of its Koli inhabitants have occupied the area for centuries.
Contest site: Worli Koliwada, Mumbai
Last year parts of the settlement were controversially designated a slum by the city’s Slum Rehabilitation Authority and earmarked for redevelopment. The call for ideas aims to identify alternative redevelopment options for the site which protect the local community while also enhancing facilities for everyone.
Proposals for the new mixed-income housing development should include dwellings for Koli families featuring a veranda for weaving and repairing fishing nets, a kitchen, main room and prayer room along with other units designed for newcomers to the area.
Submissions should also consider the 1675 Worli Fort which occupies part of the peninsula and is currently being used as an unofficial temple and gymnasium. Concepts which take account of annual monsoon flooding and rising sea levels are also encouraged.
Judges include Studio Libeskind founding principal Daniel Libeskind; Norman Foster, founder and executive chairman of Foster + Partners; and Geeta Mehta, professor and founding president of Asia Initiatives at Columbia University in New York.
The overall winner, to be announced on 28 May, will receive a $5,000 top prize while three runners-up prizes of $1,000 each will also be awarded along with 10 honourable mentions.
The registration deadline is 30 April and submissions must be completed by 1 May
Early registration from 2 February to 29 March: $75
Regular registration from 30 March to 30 April: $95
Email: info@archoutloud.com
View the competition website for more information
Q&A with Arch Out Loud
The competition organiser discusses its ambitions for the project
Why are your holding a contest for a new mixed-use waterfront development in Mumbai?
This competition addresses the global issue of rising inequality that segregates populations by socio-economic status, and seeks new solutions in mixed housing. This phenomenon of inequality is most evident in urban conditions, and as the brief states ‘though not fully understood, there is a clear and parallel relationship between the size of a city and its level of socio-economic disparity: the larger the city, the less equal it tends to be’. Though this problem exists worldwide, Mumbai – one of the largest metropolitan regions in the world – exhibits some of the most severe examples of inequality. The challenges that the city faces have been shared worldwide through the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire, the National Book Award non-fiction book Behind the Beautiful Forevers, and worldwide news coverage of the city’s devastating flood of 2005 in which more than 1,000 people perished.
Though the competition brief is hypothetical, it asks entrants to accept and address the incredible complexity of our world today. Mumbai is a challenging city for housing, period. The selection of the site, a historic piece of land claimed by indigenous fisherfolk in a highly valued part of the city, ups the challenge considerably. Add to this the very real risks posed by annual monsoon flooding and rising sea levels due to its coastal location, and you have yourself a serious competition. Inequality, climate change, flooding, preservation, and rapid urbanisation are all big issues that converge in Worli Koliwada, the competition site. It is up to entrants to address one or more of these issues, as they see fit, through the lens of mixed housing.
Furthermore, the challenges posed in the competition are being played out in real time. You can read about these issues in the Mumbai newspapers: see ‘Fisher Folk Criticize Changes to CRZ Norms’ published December 24, 2017, in the Mumbai Mirror, and ‘SRA re-examines proposal to declare Worli Koliwada a slum’ from December 10, 2017, in The Times of India. The competition allows participants from around the world to weigh in, and propose new solutions that may provide insight and inspiration for this important, real-world scenario.
What is your vision for the scheme?
The competition brief calls for a mixed-income development that accommodates two distinct socio-economic populations and includes open space that serves both residents and visitors. Entrants have a large amount of freedom to interpret the brief as they see fit, taking into consideration one or more of the site’s many challenges. The scale of the intervention is also left open to competition entrants. Though the amount of available land on the site is set (approximately 34,000km², at current sea levels), the coastal boundaries have been left intentionally vague. The brief also makes note of a historic fort that sits on the edge of the site, built in 1675 by the British.
What sort of architects and designers are you hoping will apply?
The competition is open to teams of up to four members. As always we seek a large, international pool of applicants with creative, innovative, and risk-taking proposals. The competition is juried by a prominent group of well-known architects and academics. In alphabetical order by first name, they include the following: Daniel Libeskind, Deborah Berke, Dominique Perrault, Eric Bunge, Geeta Mehta, Grace Kim, Joshua Prince-Ramus, Norman Foster, Romi Khosla, Sameep Padora, Sanjay Puri, Shefali Balwani, Sheila Sri Prakash, Vishaan Chakrabarti, and Yosuke Hayano.
Which other design opportunities are on the horizon and how will the architects/designers be procured?
Please visit the arch out loud website for future competitions. The organisation hosts three competition types, Open Ideas Competitions (to which RESIDE belongs), Impact Competitions, and Flash Competitions.
Are there any other similar mixed-use waterfront projects you have been impressed by?
In order to avoid unwanted influence on competition submissions, we kindly decline to answer this question.
World Architecture Festival announces 2019 shortlist
The twelfth edition of the World Architecture Festival, the world’s biggest architectural awards programme, has announced a shortlist of 534 projects from across 70 countries for the 2019 awards
Founding partner of Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura (RBTA) joins this year’s judging panel
Ten years of AR Houses in all shapes and sizes
To mark a decade of the AR House awards, we remember past winners and commended projects
General Design Co | Collectif Encore | David Leech Architects | AZL Architects | MORQ | Kochi Architect’s Studio | Lacaton & Vassal | Balkrishna Doshi | Instituto Balear de la Vivienda | Alberto Kalach + TAX | Comunal | Rozana Montiel | Peter Barber Architects | Lacol | Rogelio Salmona | Minnette De Silva | Typology: Palace
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Being on the radio can give you a powerful marketing push. The Online Interview service is a strategic marketing tool to increase your credibility and personal brand. With the rise in popularity of podcasts and satellite radio, listeners have more choices and more ways to access content than ever before. Streaming radio has become an excellent way to reach new audiences. Plus, you can use your interview recording as a launch pad for your next big promotional push.
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Your interview aired on one spot of our weekly radio station, Indie Book Publishing with J. Douglas Barker.
Indie Book Publishing airs Sundays at 5:00 p.m. EST.
The show is syndicated via iTunes and Toginet.com, and the interview is digitally retrievable for use on mobile devices (iPhone, iPad, etc.).
A digital copy of the radio interview for use your marketing activities, with unlimited rights to burn, distribute, play during speaking engagements, post on your website and blog, or include in email promotions.
Pre-show questionnaire and pre-show conversation with host J. Douglas Barker that cover topics relevant to the promotion of your book.
With a passion for “all things creative,” J. Douglas Barker is an accomplished actor, singer, and audio producer. He has over 35 years of studio excellence and can be heard worldwide through his current efforts as producer and talent for Toginet Radio Network. He also has voice actor credits in the CBS “Movie of the Week,” along with countless commercials and studio work for a variety of regional and national accounts (Disney Companies, Churches Chicken, United Technologies, and many others). J. Douglas is a longtime professional in broadcast consulting, public speaking, sales, and marketing, along with being a husband and father.
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Get on board and reach a new audience. Call your Archway Publishing representative at 888-242-5904 for more information or to purchase this service.
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Why Are Ukraine’s Authorities Trying to Intimidate a Top Investigative Journalist?
By Melinda Haring
This month, the European Court of Human Rights prevented Ukraine from backsliding in a major way. On September 18, it ordered the Ukrainian government to halt its efforts to access data from the cell phone of investigative journalist Natalia Sedletska for a month to give her an opportunity to file a full complaint to the ECHR.
The ECHR’s decision froze an earlier judgment by one of Kyiv’s district courts, which approved a request from the Prosecutor General’s office to allow it to review Sedletska’s cell phone data from July 19, 2016, through November 16, 2017. Sedletska is the editor and host of Schemes, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s hard-hitting weekly television show that exposes high-level corruption among government officials.
Media watchdogs and journalists had condemned the court’s decision. Vitaliy Sych, chief editor of Novoe Vremya, the most critical magazine in Ukraine, called the judgment “excessive in all senses,” and added that it is the first case in Ukraine’s history in which all personal phone data would be checked. “It’s against the spirit of post-Maidan development,” he said.
The Prosecutor General’s office wanted to prove that the chief of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), Artem Sytnyk, gave journalists including Sedletska confidential information about a prosecutor who was accused of corruption in 2016, Konstantin Kulyk. If Sytnyk had disclosed information about the case before it began, he’d be in hot water, which is exactly what his enemies wanted.
A little context is important here: NABU is the only post-Euromaidan anticorruption institution that actually works, and there’s bad blood between it and the Prosecutor General’s office. Many people want Sytnyk canned. The Prosecutor General wanted to prove that Sytnyk leaked information to Sedletska specifically by showing that she was at NABU on a particular day in the summer of 2017, so it asked the court for access to Sedletska’s phone data.
But the move was heavy-handed and illegal.
According to the criminal code, a journalist cannot be questioned about his or her confidential sources, so even if Sedletska talked to Sytnyk about Kulik, the court’s decision to give the Prosecutor General’s office access to seventeen months of Sedletska’s data was shocking.
“I believe there’s no rationale behind it, and they are trying to use this an excuse,” Sedletska told me on September 13.
After the court ruled against her, she worried that the government would go through all of her records to figure out who she talks to, resulting in fewer whistleblowers who would be willing to confide in her in the future.
But if this was an attempt to shut her up or scare her, it isn’t working. Sedletska is no pushover. Though she is petite and soft spoken, with bubble gum-pink nails, the thirty-one-year old investigative journalist puts the fear of God into Ukraine’s corrupt authorities. Each episode of Schemes gets about 500,000 views on television. Schemes is shown on the public broadcaster, Hromadske TV, and on Channel 24, which is owned by Andriy Sadovyi, Lviv mayor and head of the Samopomich party.
A sixteen-person project, Schemes started in 2014, after the watershed Euromaidan revolution. After the Maidan, Sedletska thought there would be fewer outrageous scandals and less to cover, but the situation has become more complicated, she said. The requirement that all public officials disclose their assets online has been a boon to investigative journalism, but stealing from the state budget has resumed, she explained.
She hopes that her investigations will help people make better decisions in future elections. Ukraine’s top television stations are all owned by oligarchs, and opposition politicians barely get any airtime. It’s a persistent problem in the former Soviet Union, but Sedletska thinks there’s a way around the ownership issue: journalists should unite and tell their bosses that they’ll quit if the owners don’t stop interfering in editorial decisions. It’s an approach that worked in 2013: TVi went out of business after well-known journalists, including Sedletska, walked out.
Her team has had a major influence on Ukraine’s political scene. It broke the story about President Petro Poroshenko’s secret visit to the Maldives in January 2018, for example, revealing that he had rented a private island and jet. The story had real impact; after it ran, Poroshenko’s ratings dropped significantly.
Sedletska points out that Poroshenko’s secret travels are part of a larger lack of transparency among Ukrainian officials. The president’s foreign travel schedule is not public, and he only gives one press conference per year; at these events, he never calls on critical journalists, only those who ask prepared questions; and he has never granted Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty an interview as president.
Her team also revealed that in January 2018, Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko, his wife—a member of parliament—and two sons went to the Seychelles for a week and spent 50,000 euros. Lutsenko and his wife probably don’t make enough to pay for such an expensive holiday, although Lutsenko told the press, erroneously, that any middle class family could afford it.
Sedletska and her team are having a serious impact, and the current case is particularly worrisome because state authorities went after one of the most prominent journalists in Ukraine. If it could happen to me, it could happen to anyone, she muses. And she’s right.
Fortunately, the ECHR was there to override Ukraine’s ridiculous justice system this time, but it shouldn’t have had to step in.
Maxim Eristavi, a sharp critic and journalist, captured the case well. “The fact that only an ECHR intervention is able to restrain [the] Ukrainian Prosecutor General's personal vendetta against investigative journalists shows how broken the country's justice system is.”
Melinda Haring is the editor of the UkraineAlert blog at the Atlantic Council and a fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. She tweets @melindaharing. Vera Zimmerman contributed reporting.
Ukrainian Fighter Pilot’s Case More About Politics, Less About Law, Says Attorney
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ABOUT UKRAINEALERT
Expert analysis on the most pressing issues facing Ukraine from the Atlantic Council's staff, board, affiliated scholars, and friends.
The views expressed in UkraineAlert are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Atlantic Council, its staff, or its supporters.
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Dane Butcher, Chairman, Symetrix
By Matt Pruznick (Systems Contractor News) 2015-12-23T10:36:00Z Business
The spark of curiosity can ignite the brightest of fires. For Dane Butcher, a musician by training, it started with some home-built equipment in the recording studio where he was working in San Francisco.
At the time, Butcher was plying his trade as a recording engineer with some of the biggest names in jazz fusion, including Herbie Hancock and Taj Mahal. But working with the studio’s hand-made console and equipment piqued an interest in electronics, and the desire to find better ways to make recording components. He began taking math courses and allying himself with people more knowledgeable than he in electronics, and before long, he had created his first device: a nine-band graphic equalizer. A year or so later, in 1976, he launched Symetrix.
“I can’t really say I launched a brand, because I certainly didn’t have any concept of what a ‘brand’ was,” Butcher said. “We got a few sidekicks in a little loft in downtown Seattle in the Belltown District, and we knocked off a few of these things and started selling them.” Other early products engineered by Butcher and sold under the Symetrix name were a headphone amplifier and a compressor/limiter—tools for recording studios, because as he admitted, “The studio space was all I knew.”
Butcher was always open to exploring new horizons, and his company’s first big break came from a demand in the broadcast industry. At the suggestion of a friend, he developed one of the first commercially successful interfaces for connecting telephones to broadcast consoles, a product that found success with radio talk shows.
Ever the enterprising innovator, Butcher continued to survey the technological landscape for other challenges on which he could capitalize, eventually leading him into the market with which Symetrix is now synonymous: installed sound. The product was an intelligent ambient controlled amplifier, a device used to differentiate between ambient noise and audio signals for paging systems. By fitting a microprocessor to this device, Butcher developed a product—which he called a SPL computer—that far exceeded the performance of anything else on the market, and it didn’t take long for big companies to notice: CNN began installing them in airport terminals across the country to help push advertising.
“With every company I’m sure, there’s a list of the things you did wrong and the things you did right,” Butcher said. “In the success column have always been the products that are differentiated, that are innovative, and quite frankly, from a business point of view, are risky. You don’t know if you’re going to make it or not.” Such was the backdrop of the company’s decision to put its stake in the Dante platform in 2008, while its creators, Audinate, were still a start-up business. “That really got the ball rolling for us in solidifying a place for us in the future of installed sound.”
In 2012, Butcher stepped down from the role of CEO (although it’s still on his business card, he said) and serves as the company’s chairman, with his only responsibility being product development, the pursuit he enjoys the most. And although he’s relishing having more time on his hands for his hobbies, like playing guitar and piano, he believes he’ll be active with the company for the foreseeable future. “I’ll just say that when the ideas stop coming—when I stop waking up in the middle of the night with new ideas—then I’m out,” Butcher said. “But that hasn’t happened yet.”
Matt Pruznick is associate editor of SCN and Residential Systems. Follow him on Twitter @Pruznick.
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Striking by Night
Current location: Striking by Night
History of Bomber Command
From March 1941 there was a gradual build up of Australians in Bomber Command in Britain. Australian medium bomber squadrons began flying regular operations from September. No.460 squadron, the first Australian heavy bomber squadron, commenced operations with Lancasters in late 1942. Australians also served in RAF squadrons, and there were mixed nationality crews in all units.
The expansion of the RAAF numbers within Bomber Command coincided with the development of the bombing offensive of 1943 and the emergence of the Lancaster as the outstanding British bomber. Australians played a significant role in the main attacks on enemy cities and installations. Casualties were very high. At the height of the bomber offensive crews could hold little expectation of survival.
The number of RAAF aircrew reached a peak after the allies’ invasion of Europe in June 1944. It is estimated that 10,000 Australians eventually served with Bomber Command.
In October 1944 one of the Lancaster bombers, G for George was flown to Australia to promote the war effort.
Map showing main bombing areas in Germany
Bomber Command undertook a variety of tasks, from precision and selective target attacks to area bombing of cities. Short operations involved dropping sea mines off the European coast, and attacks on targets in France and western parts of Germany. Long flights could exceed eight hours, and take the bombers across Belgium, France, Netherlands, and Denmark to distant targets in Germany, and even over Italy.
All bombing operations were dangerous as most flights were over hostile and enemy occupied territory. The Germans responded with aggressive and effective defenses. Collisions were common and, over the target, there was the danger from falling bombs. Mechanical malfunctions and weather conditions added to the problems.
Among the notable operations, that against Cologne on 30 May 1942 is remembered as the first ‘one thousand bomber’ force raid. The raid on Peenemunde on 17 August 1943 was undertaken to disrupt German development of the V-1 flying-bombs and the V-2 rockets. G for George flew on the Peenemunde operation, and to Nuremberg on 30 March 1944. The latter was a disaster: ninety-five bombers, and many of their 7-man crews, were lost that night.
Berlin, 1945 SUK14270
The three great bomber battles – The Ruhr, Hamburg, and Berlin – were all concentrated on large German industrial centres with the object of destroying built-up areas, communications and production. The main Ruhr targets were Duisburg, Essen, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Dortmund, and Bochum. Through these battles, Bomber Command still attacked other targets.
Even before the 1944 D-Day landings, the Germans had recorded 42 towns and cities that required substantial rebuilding as a result of concentrated allied bombing. Berlin and Hamburg had lost around 200,000 houses and many more suffered heavy damage. Cologne, Aachen, Hamburg, Kassel, Essen, and some others had total or heavy damage to over 50% of houses. For some cities worse was yet to come; in attacks on 13/15 February 1945, Dresden was almost destroyed and estimates of 30,000 to 100,000 people were killed.
Area bombing still required accuracy in marking the target. There were other places where pin-point precision was essential, such as the successful attacks on the Mohne and Eder dams, against the battleship Tirpitz and the rocket development facilities at Peenemunde.
George in Australia
The story of George was a morale booster. Just as the Spitfire became the symbol of defiance in the Battle of Britain, the Lancaster came to represent the allies’ will to win by taking the war to the heart of Germany. At the end of G for George’s long operational career it was flown to Australia to promote the war effort.
The famous bomber left Britain, with an experienced and decorated crew, on 11 October 1944. It became the main attraction during the Third Victory Loan tour throughout southern and eastern Australia. The aircraft was eventually retired in July 1945, and made its last flight to Canberra where it has remained ever since. The aircraft was first installed in the Memorial, in Aeroplane Hall, in 1955. More recently, extensive conservation work was completed in 2003.
Map from Binbrook to Brisbane
In mid 1942 Bomber Command for med a special target finding and marking unit – the Pathfinder Force (PFF). An Australian, Group Captain Donald Bennett, was appointed to command. Pathfinders would use target indicator bombs. The bombers would concentrate on these markers. They could also be used along the route for navigation.
In some operations a PFF Master Bomber would remain over the target broadcasting advice to the other aircraft. Pathfinder s became essential to the bombing campaign. Members were regarded as an elite and wore a special badge.
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CATCH THE BUZZ – Grasshoppers and Crickets as Pollinators! Who Knew??
Credit: National University of Singapore
Mr Ming-Kai Tan, a PhD student from the NUS Department of Biological Sciences, is a key member of a research team which has discovered that orthopterans, such as grasshoppers and crickets, visit flowers more frequently than previously known, and they pollinate the flowers they visit.
Newswise — Orthopterans like grasshoppers and crickets are widely recognised as agricultural pests as they eat and destroy food crops. However, their tropical relatives provide a valuable service to plants by serving as pollinators, according to a study led by biologists from the National University of Singapore (NUS).
“When people think of pollinators, bees and butterflies are usually the first that come to mind. There are very few records of orthopterans that visit flowers, and none of the studies involve Southeast Asian orthopterans,” said Mr Ming-Kai Tan, a PhD student from the Department of Biological Sciences at the NUS Faculty of Science, who is the first author of the research paper.
Mr Tan and his colleagues conducted surveys in five Southeast Asian countries and discovered that orthopterans visit flowers more frequently than previously known, and they pollinate the flowers they visit. The results were published in the Journal of Orthoptera Research in November 2017.
“Given that more orthopteran species are being discovered in this region, there is a pressing need to better understand the biological roles they play, particularly when they visit flowering plants, and how they contribute pollination services for urban plants and agricultural crops,” added Mr Tan, who has discovered over 60 species of orthopterans new to science since 2009.
Flower-visiting orthopterans as pollinators
Pollination is crucial for plant reproduction and supply of food crops for human consumption. As many Southeast Asian countries rely on agriculture as the main source of economic growth, baseline information on flower-visitors are useful in identifying orthopterans that are potential pests, and those that may potentially be pollinators.
“Without such studies, it is not possible to assess the risks presented by these potential pest species, as well as to further examine the beneficial roles of the flower-visiting orthopterans,” explained project supervisor Associate Professor Hugh Tan, who is also from the NUS Department of Biological Sciences.
To better understand the roles that orthopterans play in pollination ecology, the research team conducted field surveys across different vegetation and localities in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam and Indonesia between 2015 and 2018. The study involved both day and night surveys during which flower-visiting orthopterans were searched and recorded using photographs and videos.
The team recorded 140 incidences of orthopterans visiting flowers across the sites surveyed, among which 41 orthopteran species were recorded to visit flowers of 35 plant species. Out of the 41 species, 19 species were katydids, 13 were grasshoppers, and nine were crickets.
The researchers also discovered two main types of flower-visiting orthopterans – firstly, katydids that are floriphilic, clearly preferring flowers over other plant parts as their diet; and secondly, opportunistic folivores, such as cone-headed katydids (Conocephalus species) and Bukit Timah’s cricket (Tremellia timah) which typically consume leaves, but consume flower matter when available.
The study, which is the first documentation of flowering-visiting orthopterans in Southeast Asia, and is the most extensive one for the tropics, was carried out in collaboration with researchers from the Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Universiti Sains Malaysia and University of Malaya.
Unconventional pollinators
Among flower-visiting orthopterans, adults and nymphs of the sickle-bearing katydid Phaneroptera brevis were frequently found among flowers in Southeast Asia.
To examine how the feeding behaviour of P. brevis contributes to pollination, the research team observed how P. brevis feeds on the flowers of the Hairy Beggarticks Bidens pilosa L. (Asteraceae), a tropical to warm temperate North and South American plant which grows in grasslands and scrublands close to urban areas in Singapore.
Close observation of the video recordings showed that the sickle-bearing katydid fed on the flowers without damaging the parts of the flowers by gently collecting the pollen grains. Pollen grains attached to the antennae and legs of the katydid facilitated pollination.
The team also conducted experiments in which the flowers were exposed to the katydids, and allowed to develop into seeds. Researchers found that the chance of these flowers producing seeds was about three times higher. These results were published in the journal Ecology (The Scientific Naturalist) on 29 April 2018.
EntomologyFlower-VisitorOrthopterapollination ecologySoutheast Asia
Previous articleCATCH THE BUZZ – Local Beekeeping Clubs and Associations are Key to Making the Mite-A-Thon a Success!
Next articleCATCH THE BUZZ – FDA Finds Glyphosate in Honey. What Now?
CATCH THE BUZZ – Scientists Say Agriculture is Good for Honey Bees, at Least in Tennessee.
CATCH THE BUZZ – Sulfoxaflor Continues to Be a Bee Killer.
CATCH THE BUZZ – UC Davis Chemical Ecologist Discovers Sex Pheromone Of Asian Citrus Psyllid.
Asian citrus psyilid is a major threat to the worldwide citrus industry. Infected psyllids can transfer the deadly citrus greening disease, known as Huanglongbing…
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The Leopard Tales(HS Publication)
The BVA Tip Line is a new way for Students and Community Members to communicate with BVASD Administration regarding BVASD Safety. This tool allows confidential reporting to a School Administrator any concerns you may have for school safety, the safety of others, or express a concern about a student and their well-being.
The Belle Vernon Area School District's Tip Line reporting system is intended to facilitate the reporting of sensitive information to law enforcement including information regarding student safety. This information may be shared with school officials such as principals, school counselors, and other administrative personnel.
THIS IS NOT an Emergency Hotline!
If you are reporting an event that could immediately affect your school community
Please Call 911
The Belle Vernon Area School District encourages Students and Community Members to report information regarding activities such as Bullying, Threats, Drugs, Fighting, Weapons, Safety Risks, Personal Crisis, and Vandalism. Reporting of information viewed on social networking sites like Snap Chat, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or YouTube can help prevent a tragedy.
For urgent matters or emergency situations, Please call 911
§ 4906. False reports to law enforcement authorities.
(a) Falsely incriminating another.--Except as provided in subsection (c), a person who knowingly gives false information to any law enforcement officer with intent to implicate another commits a misdemeanor of the second degree.
(b) Fictitious reports.--Except as provided in subsection (c), a person commits a misdemeanor of the third degree if he:
(1) reports to law enforcement authorities an offense or other incident within their concern knowing that it did not occur; or
(2) pretends to furnish such authorities with information relating to an offense or incident when he knows he has no information relating to such offense or incident.
(c) Grading.--
(1) If the violation of subsection (a) or (b) occurs during a declared state of emergency and the false report causes the resources of the law enforcement authority to be diverted from dealing with the declared state of emergency, the offense shall be graded one step greater than that set forth in the applicable subsection.
(2) If the violation of subsection (a) or (b) relates to a false report of the theft or loss of a firearm, as defined in section 5515 (relating to prohibiting of paramilitary training), the offense shall be graded one step greater than that set forth in the applicable subsection.
(June 28, 2002, P.L.481, No.82, eff. 60 days; Oct. 17, 2008, P.L.1628, No.131, eff. 60 days)
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Middle East selected
Egyptian jihadist's path to Syria
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19711647
Image caption Abubakr Moussa's fight took him to Chechnya, Libya and finally, Syria
As the Syrian conflict grinds on, the mounting death toll has reduced many of the victims to faceless statistics, among them fighters from abroad drawn by a sense of religious duty. Here, BBC Arabic's Khaled Ezeelarab tells the story of one such jihadist, and the path which took him from Cairo to the front lines against Bashar al-Assad.
Abubakr Moussa's family is not quite what one would expect of a jihadist. The men are clean shaven, Abubakr's father smokes and his sister wears the kind of headscarf worn by most Egyptian women.
A graduate from an English school in one of Cairo's upper-middle-class suburbs, Abubakr did not become particularly religious until he entered university. It was then that he started growing his beard and spending a lot of time at the mosque.
When he graduated he refused to marry the young woman from a rich family chosen by his parents - instead he married a Russian widow from Chechnya whose brother he came to know at the mosque.
The woman already had two children and soon Abubakr was supporting all three, in addition to his new baby girl, Mariam.
'Fighting for oppressed'
As much as he enjoyed the company of his new family he was nevertheless quite restless, says his 83-year-old father, Ibrahim.
Image caption Abubakr marched to the Israeli border in a bid to "liberate Palestine"
"He felt he had an obligation to fight for oppressed Muslims anywhere," he says.
And so it was that Abubakr flew to Russia hoping to make his way to Chechnya and join Islamist rebels there.
He failed and was sent back by Russian authorities. Shortly afterwards he was arrested by Egyptian police and detained for six months, and by the time he was released his wife had left him.
Abubakr remarried, this time to an Egyptian woman from a conservative religious family, and the couple settled at his parents' house in the provincial town of Fayoum.
Perhaps not unexpectedly, given his history with the Egyptian authorities, he enthusiastically joined the uprising against Hosni Mubarak last year.
But as the Arab Spring spread to other countries, Abubakr yearned to join the fight of other Muslims against their rulers.
He took part in a convoy to provide Libyan revolutionaries with humanitarian assistance. It is not clear if he joined in the actual fighting, and his parents say they do not know.
He also took part in a march towards the Israeli border with Egypt, in what was known at the time as the Third Intifada - a failed attempt by some Arab activists to cross into Israel and start the "liberation of Palestine".
Syria calling
Then came Syria. Abubakr's family insists he was not part of an organised campaign to send Islamist fighters to a holy war against Bashar al-Assad.
Image caption Abubakr fought across Syria for the FSA
"He acted on his own, it was a personal initiative," says his father.
Perhaps it was, but one of the last postings Abubakr put on his Facebook page before travelling to Syria, was an advertisement for a "relief convoy" organised by an ultra-orthodox Islamic group with contacts in Egypt and Lebanon.
Whether this relief convoy was a front for a fighters' convoy is not clear, but in any case Abubakr made his way in March to Lebanon and from there to Syria where he joined the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA).
A comrade who met Abubakr in those first days of his Syrian venture told me that the Egyptian fighter quickly became known for his deep religious knowledge.
"He always led us in prayer," he said. "He soon became famous among all the neighbouring battalions [of the FSA] and they would ask him to join them."
Abubakr seems to have joined battles almost everywhere in Syria; he fought in Homs, al-Qasir, Damascus and Idlib.
It was from this last town that he wrote on Facebook on 31 August, telling his friends: "I am happy to inform you, brothers, that 17 thugs have been killed and 40 others injured in a unique operation carried out by your Mujahideen brothers."
It was his last posting. The following day he was killed, aged 35, in an attack by Syrian government forces.
His family is in grief but say they are not regretful.
"He has been seeking martyrdom for many years," says his father, "now God has made him achieve his goal."
Syria's war
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Home»Matilda (Paperback)
Matilda (Paperback)
By Roald Dahl, Quentin Blake (Illustrator)
From the bestselling author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The BFG!
Matilda is a sweet, exceptional young girl, but her parents think she's just a nuisance. She expects school to be different but there she has to face Miss Trunchbull, a kid-hating terror of a headmistress. When Matilda is attacked by the Trunchbull she suddenly discovers she has a remarkable power with which to fight back. It'll take a superhuman genius to give Miss Trunchbull what she deserves and Matilda may be just the one to do it!
"Matilda will surely go straight to children's hearts." —The New York Times Book Review
Roald Dahl was a spy, ace fighter-pilot, chocolate historian and medical inventor. He was also the author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, The BFG and many more brilliant stories. He remains the World’s No.1 storyteller. Find out more at roalddahl.com.
Publisher: Puffin Books
Juvenile Fiction / School & Education
Juvenile Fiction / Social Themes / Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance
Hardcover (February 7th, 2013): $16.99
Paperback (September 23rd, 2004): $7.99
Hardcover (September 6th, 2016): $16.99
CD-Audio (July 3rd, 2013): $29.99
Prebound (September 2004): $18.40
Paperback (French) (March 2007): $25.95
Paperback (May 2008): $21.80
Paperback (Welsh) (September 30th, 2016): $12.25
Paperback (June 1998): $6.99
Paperback (May 2000): $9.95
Paperback (Korean) (September 5th, 2018): $29.30
Paperback (Spanish) (October 2015): $12.95
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Home»Hope: A Tragedy (Hardcover)
Hope: A Tragedy (Hardcover)
By Shalom Auslander
A" New York Times" Notable Book 2012
The rural town of Stockton, New York, is famous for nothing: no one was born there, no one died there, nothing of any historical import at all has ever happened there, which is why Solomon Kugel, like other urbanites fleeing their pasts and histories, decided to move his wife and young son there.
To begin again. To start anew. But it isn t quite working out that way for Kugel
His ailing mother stubbornly holds on to life, and won t stop reminiscing about the Nazi concentration camps she never actually suffered through. To complicate matters further, some lunatic is burning down farmhouses just like the one Kugel bought, and when, one night, he discovers history a living, breathing, thought-to-be-dead specimen of history hiding upstairs in his attic, bad quickly becomes worse.
"Hope: A Tragedy" is a hilarious and haunting examination of the burdens and abuse of history, propelled with unstoppable rhythm and filled with existential musings and mordant wit. It is a comic and compelling story of the hopeless longing to be free of those pasts that haunt our every present.
Shalom Auslander was raised in Monsey, New York. Nominated for the Koret Award for writers under thirty-five, he has published articles in "Esquire, The New York Times Magazine, Tablet, The New Yorker," and has had stories aired on NPR's "This American Life." Auslander is the author of the short story collection "Beware of God" and the memoir "Foreskin's Lament." He lives in New York City. To learn more about Shalom Auslander, please visit www.shalomauslander.com.
Coverage from NPR
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Maximum Age: UP
Minimum Grade Level: UP
Maximum Grade Level: UP
Kobo eBook (January 12th, 2012): $10.99
Paperback (December 31st, 2012): $16.00
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Former Dire Straits Guitarist Taps Blurb Self-Publishing Platform for Passion Project Celebrating Healdsburg Food Scene
"Gatherings" showcases the rustic soul of the Healdsburg, CA region through a selection of set menus by local cooking talent
San Francisco, Calif.— August 6, 2014 —Blurb, the indie book and magazine publishing platform, today announced that former Dire Straits’ guitarist, Jack Sonni, has published his first book, Gatherings, using the Blurb self-publishing platform.
Sonni’s passion for the Healdsburg region and its emerging restaurant culture inspired him to create Gatherings, a bespoke collection that features recipes from local Healdsburg talent. Sonni used the Blurb platform to design, publish, and distribute Gatherings, which is available in the Blurb Bookstore. Sonni decided to use Blurb, as it was the only self-publishing platform that gave him complete creative control over his project at each step along the way, from layout and book design to pricing and distribution. Sonni was also able to profit more on each book sold than he would have if he went the traditional publishing route.
“The connection between food and music – from the creation to the sharing – are similar in that both take devotion, dedication, and a real passion to acquire the technique, and then master and transcend it all to become a true artist,” said Sonni. “As a musician I understand this and have always felt connected to Healdsburg. I created Gatherings to draw attention to the food artists who reside there.”
A taste of the talent in Healdsburg
Gatherings is a featherweight collection of six pocket-sized books detailing an array of farm-to-table influenced recipes from Kristine Bodily-Gallagher of Savvy on First, Peter Brown of Jimtown Store, Dino Bugica of Diavola Pizzeria & Salumeria, Franco Dunn of Franco’s One World Sausages & Santi, Liza Hinman of The Spinster Sisters, and Ari Rosen of Scopa & Campo Fina — all who are known locally as the “heart and soul” of Healdsburg’s eclectic culinary scene. Each one has put their own signature on a menu that truly celebrates what dining and entertaining, Healdsburg-style, means to them.
From appetizer to dessert — each with a cheese course, cocktail and wine recommendations from Sonoma County’s acclaimed producers – Gatherings serves as a complete guide to creating and sharing the Healdsburg way of life with friends and family. Whether readers are planning an elaborate picnic or a garden supper for friends, Gatherings’ six set menus — one of which features wild salmon in fig leaves, buttermilk fried chicken and grilled lamb tongue with burnt tomatoes — provide a culinary snapshot of the Healdsburg approach to food, flavor and fun.
“Food in Healdsburg is both a passion and an art form, but most of all it has conviviality at its heart. After meeting Jack and seeing his passion for the talent in my town, I was honored to have him share the region with the world through Blurb,” said Eileen Gittins, President and CEO of Blurb. “Gatherings has been one of my favorite Blurb projects and I look forward to seeing its reach around the world.”
About Blurb®
Blurb® is a self-publishing platform and creative community that enables individuals to design, publish, share, sell, and distribute photo books, trade books, and magazines in both print and digital formats across the globe using its free, innovative book creation and layout tools. Founded in 2005 by Executive Chairman, Eileen Gittins, Blurb has nearly 2 million independent book authors worldwide, resulting in 3.9 million unique book titles, with more than 14 million units shipped to 80 countries around the world. The company is headquartered in San Francisco and can be found online at www.blurb.com.
About Blurb
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See Other Books
A Brain Wider Than the Sky
by Andrew Levy
One Life at a Time
One Life at a Time (eBook)
by daniel baxter (Author)
When Dr. Daniel Baxter arrived in Botswana in 2002, he was confident of the purity of his mission to help people with AIDS, armed with what he thought were immutable truths about life—and himself—that had been forged on his AIDS ward in New York City ten years earlier. But Baxter’s good intentions were quickly overwhelmed by the reality of AIDS in Africa, his misguided altruism engulfed by the sea of need around him. Lifted up by Botswana’s remarkable and forgiving people, Baxter soldiered on, his memorable encounters with those living with AIDS, and their unfathomable woes assuaged by their oft-repeated “But God is good,” profoundly changing the way he thought about his role as a doctor.
Now, after caring for innumerable AIDS patients for eight years in Botswana, Baxter has written an urgent, quietly philosophical account of his journey into the early twenty-first century’s new heart of darkness: AIDS in Africa, where legions desperately struggled to be among the spared and not the doomed. Part memoir, part travelogue, part chronicle of the zaniness of Botswana (one of the questions on his driver’s license application was “Are you or have you ever been an imbecile?”), and part witness to suffering unknown to most Americans, his testimony is an unforgettable tribute to the many people he cared for.
Join Baxter on his life-changing journey in Botswana, as he recounts the stories of people like Ralph, a deteriorating AIDS and cancer patient who nonetheless always wore a smile, or Precious, a woman found sick and abandoned in the capital’s slum, or “No Fear,” a rude man in Baxter’s gym whose descent he halted. After many years on the front lines of the African pandemic, Baxter realized that “one life at a time” was the only way to fight AIDS.
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Released: June 26, 2018
Categories: Biographies & Memoirs, Lifestyle & Home, Education, Travel
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Conveyancing solicitors in Norwich
If you are looking for a conveyancing solicitor in Norwich we can help you. Our conveyancing solicitors offer a convenient, efficient, and friendly conveyancing service to clients in Norwich, throughout Norfolk and all over England, Wales and beyond.
If you are buying a detached house in Norwich, selling a terraced house in Trowse Newton, downsizing to a bungalow in Upper Hellesdon, or buying to let in Lakenham, we can help you with your conveyancing.
Why you should use Bird and Co Solicitors for your conveyancing in Norwich
We offer a friendly, modern and efficient service. If you want to deal with fully qualified lawyers who are friendly and approachable, our team can help you.
You will have a direct line straight through to your legal team, and direct email addresses for the people handling your conveyancing. You can guarantee that your query will reach the right people, whether you want to ask about search fees, drainage and water fees or anything else related to buying or selling a property in Norwich.
We're a Conveyancing Quality Scheme accredited firm providing conveyancing to clients in Norwich. This acts as a guarantee that our processes and procedures have been approved as meeting the highest conveyancing standards by the Law Society, the body representing solicitors throughout England and Wales.
We are on the panel for most major lenders, and many smaller ones too. Whether you want to use your local Building Society in Norfolk or one of the larger corporates, chances are we have you covered.
In short, you get an excellent conveyancing service at an affordable price. You don't have the risk of going to the cheapest providers, most of whom aren't solicitors; instead you get a great service from experienced, fully trained conveyancing solicitors.
Why you don't need a conveyancer based in Norwich
In the past, most people used their local solicitor for their conveyancing. You would visit their office in your nearest town or city and all documents would be hand-produced and posted or delivered by hand.
That service came at a price, however, and the truth is that it is no longer needed. With modern technology such as scanning, emailing and even Skype or Facetime video calls there is no need to use your local solicitor. Your conveyancer can be based anywhere and still provide a great service - even if he or she is in an office many miles away from Norwich or perhaps not even in Norfolk.
We have successfully dealt with thousands of conveyancing transactions all over the country, even with clients from the other side of the world. It is not unknown for us to talk to clients outside the UK using Skype – we even once had clients in Thailand talking to us through an interpreter in New Zealand!
There will be no need for you to visit our offices or hand deliver documents, in fact you need never leave your home. Our conveyancers can talk you through the whole conveyancing process via phone and email, and everything works just as smoothly as it would if we were just down the road.
Home values in Norwich
Norwich house prices
Online Conveyancing in Norwich
“Online conveyancing” is where the entire conveyancing process is handled over the internet. Thanks to email, Skype and other online tools, there is now no need for you to meet with your conveyancing solicitor in person (unless you would prefer to).
Clients come to us for conveyancing in Norwich from all over the UK and around the world and we are able to offer the same first-rate conveyancing service as we would if you were dealing with us face-to-face.
When dealing with your conveyancing online, we have exactly the same professional obligations towards you as to any other conveyancing client and promise a fast, efficient service delivered in a modern and convenient way.
Search Fees in Norwich
Every local authority is different. We use an excellent, trusted national search provider, which means we can offer effective, reliable property checks and searches to clients in Norwich and all over the country. This means we know we can provide a service we are happy with and which we know is properly insured and protects your interests.
First, fill in our conveyancing quote form for conveyancing in Norwich. You can find the links at the top of this page.
Our helpful conveyancing support team will then guide you through the initial stages and, once your conveyancing file is opened, your Norwich conveyancing solicitor and their small team will deal with the legal side of the conveyancing transaction. You'll be given direct contact details for your conveyancing lawyers and they'll keep in touch with you every step of the way.
Whether you're moving to Norwich or away from Norwich, our conveyancing team can help you do so with the minimum of fuss and inconvenience.
Fees for conveyancing in Norwich
All our conveyancing fees are dependent on the nature and value of the transaction, so we naturally charge a bit more for more complicated and high value work. However, the fee charged will be the same for a customer in Newcastle as it would be for someone in London, or indeed in Norwich.
There are some aspects of our conveyancing fees that we can't change. Fees charged by other bodies such as HM Land Registry, or by HMRC for Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) are out of our control and should be the same no matter who you use for your conveyancing.
Introduction to Norwich
Norwich is a city and the county town of Norfolk in East Anglia. The city is around 100 miles north east of London and has a population of approximately 141,800 according to mid-2016 estimates.
Until the Industrial revolution, Norwich was one of the most important and most populous settlements in the country. The city's economy was historically based around the wool-trade and, later, manufacturing, in particular revolving around the shoe making industry. However, these industries have declined in recent years with the service sector now being the major source of employment for many Norwich residents. The most notable of these employers is Aviva, a multi-national insurance company, however, there are many other finance and insurance companies based in the city. Overall, business and financial services make up 31% of Norwich's employment, followed up by public services at 26%.
Retail also plays a large role in the city's economy, and in 2006 it was ranked as the eighth most prosperous shopping destination in the UK. In 1993, the Castle Mall was one of the first major shopping centres to be opened in Norwich. It boasts an ingenious solution to preserving historic retail space, as it is largely built into the side of a hill. Another shopping centre, Intu Chapelfield, was opened in 2005 and is now the largest shopping centre in Norwich, accommodating 80 stores, including many 'keystone' stores such as Apple and House of Fraser. Another shopping centre in the city is called Anglia Square.
Tourism is also an important source of income for Norwich (accounting for around 7% of employment) and the city boasts a number of popular attractions. Norwich Cathedral and Norwich Castle are both Grade I Listed buildings and there is an annual arts festival, the Norfolk and Norwich Festival, which promotes East Anglian art. The city is also home to a number of theatres, music venues and other cultural attractions, including Norwich Arts Centre, OPEN in Bank Plain and The King of Hearts in Fye Bridge Street.
Norwich also has a number of excellent sports venues, including most famously Carrow Road, home to Norwich City football club. With a capacity of 27,244, Carrow Road is the largest venue in the city and, as well as football, it has hosted a number of concerts over the year, including by international stars such as Elton John, George Michael and Rod Stewart.
The city has excellent local and national transport links, being situated on the A47, which links it to Great Yarmouth and Kings Lynn, and ultimately Peterborough. Norwich is also linked to Cambridge via the A11, which leads to the M11 motorway for London and the M25.
Norwich Railway Station is the main station in the city and is mainly served by Abellio Greater Anglia Trains, with East Midlands Trains also providing services to areas such as Liverpool Lime Street, Manchester Piccadilly and Sheffield. Abellio Greater Anglia offer services to stations such as London Liverpool Street, Cambridge and Ipswich.
Norwich is also home to Norwich International Airport, which provides overseas services to areas such as Tenerife, Palma and Amsterdam, as well as providing many domestic flights.
Norwich urban area
The unofficial Norwich urban area has a population of 213,166 according to the 2011 census. This area includes extensive suburbs to the north, west and east of the city, including Costessey, Taverham, Hellesdon, Bowthorpe, Old Catton, Sprowston and Thorpe St Andrew. All are popular with people commuting to Norwich as well as being attractive places to live in their own right.
Costessey
Costessey is a civil parish 4 miles west of Norwich with a population of 12,463 according to the 2011 census. The parish is made up to two settlements, the original village of Costessey and the more recent development of New Costessey created during the early 20th century.
Costessey has four pubs and a number of local shops, as well as a doctors’ surgery, a community centre, recreation grounds, several out of town superstores and a Park and Ride service to Norwich. The Royal Norfolk Showground is located on the western edge of the parish. The parish also has five schools.
Costessey is connected to Norwich by the A1074 offering a commute to the city centre by car of approximately 20 minutes.
Taverham
Taverham is a village around 5 miles north west of Norwich with a population of 10,142 according to the 2011 census. The village has two state infant schools and private prep school, as well as a state secondary school.
The village has a number of shops, with the Taverham Nursery Centre being home to craft, jewellery, kitchen and furniture shops, amongst others. Taverham also benefits from a village hall, library, recreational ground, two pubs and a number of takeaways, plus and indoor bowling centre.
Hellesdon
Hellesdon is a village 4 miles north west of Norwich city centre with a population of 10,957 at the time of the 2011 census. The village is contiguous with the city, being located immediately to the north west of Boundary Road and is connected to the city centre by the A1067.
Hellesdon is home to various independent shops, as well as a large ASDA superstore and a B&Q. The village also has six schools, a community centre, a library and two pubs. Royal Norwich Golf Club is within the boundaries of Hellesdon, as is Norwich International Airport.
Bowthorpe
Bowthorpe is a village immediately west of Norwich with a population of 11,683 according to the 2011 census. The village is mainly a residential area, but also includes a large industrial estate that is home to many businesses, plus a shopping centre with a supermarket and various smaller retail units.
Bowthorpe has three schools, a police station, fire station and a community centre, as well as Norwich’s largest 5-a-side football venue. The village is well connected to Norwich and the surrounding area by bus.
Old Catton
Old Catton is a village 2 miles north east of Norwich city centre with a population of 6,108 according to the 2011 census. The village is designated as a conservation area, helping to preserve an attractive character. The area contains three popular open spaces, Catton Park, Buttercup Meadow and the War Memorial deer park.
Local amenities include a nursery school, a primary school, a medical practice, vets, dentists and two pubs. There is also a local recreation ground that plays host to the Old Catton Junior Football Club and the local cricket team.
Sprowston
Sprowston is a small town on the north east edge of Norwich. The town has a population of 14,691 according to the 2011 census and is the largest parish in Norfolk, as well as the most populous parish in the Broadland District.
Sprowston has a high school, three junior schools and three infant schools. It also has a hotel and a golf club, as well as a recreation ground and the Millennium Woodland.
Thorpe St Andrew
Thorpe St Andrew is a small town immediately to the east of Norwich with a population of 14,556 according to the 2011 census. It is the administrative centre of the surrounding Broadland district council.
The town has numerous facilities, including an indoor and outdoor bowling club, a sports and leisure centre, a boat club and various shops, pubs and restaurants, as well as a café, barbers, beauty salons and a post office.
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Home > Schools and Departments > Psychology > People > Profile
Dr Andrew Fox MRes, PhD, ClinPsyD
In 'People'
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Lecturer in Psychology
Research Tutor
a.p.fox@bham.ac.uk
View my research portal
Dr Andy Fox is a clinical psychologist specialising in complex and enduring mental health needs, particularly psychosis. Much of his work involves developing an understanding of the social-psychological factors important in complex mental health difficulties and trying to work out what to do about them to improve people's well-being.
BSc (Joint Hons) Biological Sciences and Psychology
MRes Cognition and Neuroscience
PhD (Psychology)
ClinPsyD
Before his clinical training Andy completed a PhD with Dr Chris Harrop and Prof. Peter Trower at the University of Birmingham. During this time, he used their cognitive-developmental model of self-construction to understand social processes involved in mental health difficulties in young people, including psychosis and eating disorders. After qualifying as a clinical psychologist, Andy went on to specialise in work across local inpatient psychiatric rehabilitation services. In March 2015 he published a co-edited book, with Dr Alan Meaden, that describes a range of innovative psychological approaches used to help people with psychosis who can be hard to reach. Andy joined the Clinical Psychology team at the University of Birmingham in May 2016 and continues to work part-time in local services for people experiencing distressing psychosis.
Andy teaches on the Clinical Psychology doctoral course.
Postgraduate supervision
Andy supervises trainees conducting research projects as part of the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology and the Doctorate in Forensic Clinical Psychology.
He also supervises students conducting research as part of the MRes in Clinical Psychology course.
Psychosis; social cognition; social recovery; adolescence; self-construction; negative symptoms; existentialism; third-wave behavioural approaches; compassion in healthcare.
Chartered Psychologist with the British Psychological Society: Member of the Division of Clinical Psychology and the Faculty of Psychosis and Complex Mental Health.
Registered Practitioner Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council.
Member of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science.
Founder member and coordinator of the West Midlands Existential Special Interest Group (E-SIG).
Fox, A. P. & Leung, N. (2009). Existential well-being in younger and older people with anorexia nervosa: a preliminary investigation. European Eating Disorders Review, 17, 24-30.
Fox, A., Harrop, C., Trower, P., & Leung, N. (2009). A consideration of developmental egocentrism in anorexia nervosa. Eating Behaviors, 10, 10-15.
Fox, A. P., Larkin, M., & Leung, N. (2011). The personal meaning of eating disorder symptoms: An interpretative phenomenological analysis. Journal of Health Psychology, 16, 116-125.
Fox, A. (2013). Mental Illness. In: M.D. Gellman & J.R. Turner (eds.) Encyclopaedia of Behavioral Medicine, 1224-1226. DOI 10.1007/978-1-4419-1005-9.
Dennick, L., Fox, A. P., & Walter-Brice, A. (2013). Mindfulness groups for people experiencing distressing psychosis: An interpretative phenomenological analysis. Mental Health Review Journal, 18(1), 32-43.
Papadopoulos, A., Fox, A., & Herriott, M. (2013). Recovering wellbeing: an integrative framework. British Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 2(3), 145-154.
Soundy, A., Stubbs, B., Roskell, C., Williams, S. E., Fox, A. & Vancampfort, D. (2015). Identifying the facilitators and processes which influence recovery in individuals with schizophrenia: a systematic review and thematic synthesis. Journal of Mental Health, doi: 10.3109/09638237.2014.998811
Meaden, A. & Fox, A. (2015). The need for innovation when providing services for the difficult to engage. In: A. Meaden & A. Fox (Eds), Innovations in psychosocial interventions for psychosis: Working with the hard to reach (pp. 1-2). Hove, E. Sussex: Routledge.
Fox. A. & Harrop, C. E. (2015). Enhancing social participation and recovery through a cognitive-developmental approach. In: A. Meaden & A. Fox (Eds), Innovations in psychosocial interventions for psychosis: Working with the hard to reach (pp. 129-146). Hove, E. Sussex: Routledge.
Meaden, A., Fox, A. & Hacker, D. (2015). Team-based cognitive therapy for distress and problematic behaviour associated with positive symptoms. In: A. Meaden & A. Fox (Eds), Innovations in psychosocial interventions for psychosis: Working with the hard to reach (pp. 184-199). Hove, E. Sussex: Routledge.
Fox, A. & Meaden, A. (2015). Team-based cognitive therapy for problematic behaviour associated with negative symptoms. In: A. Meaden & A. Fox (Eds), Innovations in psychosocial interventions for psychosis: Working with the hard to reach (pp. 219-233). Hove, E. Sussex: Routledge.
Fox, A. & Meaden, A. (2015). Concluding remarks. In: A. Meaden & A. Fox (Eds), Innovations in psychosocial interventions for psychosis: Working with the hard to reach (pp. 234-236). Hove, E. Sussex: Routledge.
View all publications in research portal
Centre for Applied Psychology
Clinical psychology research - School of Psychology
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22 January 2016 / by John Bechelet / in News, Regulatory
TV in the bath
2016 it set to be a depressing time of civil litigation.
Lord Thomas, the Lord Chief Justice, has highlighted that the morale of Judges is low, with an increasing tendency for High Court judges to take early retirement. The UK’s justice system, Lord Thomas warns, is “unaffordable to most”. However, this does not stop lawyers from being innovative in their billing practices.
Many years ago, Mr Justice Walton remarked that a professional does not cease working when they take their umbrella from the stand at the end of a working day, acknowledging that some of his best ideas came to him when he was watching TV or taking a bath. This resulted in a surveyor commenting that “solicitors are now trying to charge clients for watching TV in the bath.”
A less lenient approach was recently taken by the Tennessee Supreme Court which suspended Ms Yarboro Sallee from practising law for a year after she billed clients for the time she spent watching true crime TV shows as ‘research’. This comes as a major disappointment to those solicitors who were intending to pass on to their clients the cost of their time spent watching ‘Making a Murderer’ or the box set of ‘Suits‘ on Netflix.
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John Bechelet
John specialises in commercial and civil fraud litigation. Admitted as a solicitor in 1983, John worked in private practice and in-house for a leading life assurance company before establishing Bivonas with Antony Brown in 1997. John has extensive experience in a wide range of courts and tribunals including the UK Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal and the Divisional Court. He has been involved in a number of important reported cases.
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We Just Got Our First Look At What May Be Daniel Day-Lewis' Final Film Role And It Is Truly Stunning
"Whatever you do...do it carefully."
Allie Hayes
This is visionary director Paul Thomas Anderson. We have not received a new film him from since 2014's Inherent Vice.
Michael Loccisano / Getty Images
This is beloved actor Daniel Day-Lewis. We have not received a new performance from him since 2012's Lincoln.
Stephen Lovekin / Getty Images
However, both of those sad facts changed today, as we got our first trailer for Phantom Thread.
Focus Features / Via youtube.com
This film is the second team-up between the two. The first was 2007's critically and commercially successful There Will Be Blood.
The film follows the life of renowned dressmaker and infamous bachelor, Reynolds Woodcock, played by Day-Lewis.
Reynolds and his sister, Cyril, are at the center of 1950's British fashion, designing clothes for the most important people of the time.
Reynolds is more than content with his lifestyle...that is, until he falls for a strong-willed young woman named Alma, who quickly becomes his muse.
The trailer showcases all of the poise we've come to expect from an Anderson film, while simultaneously exhibiting all the subtle precision of a Day-Lewis performance.
This film is also likely to be Day-Lewis' final on-screen role, after having announced back in June he would retire from acting.
So be sure to catch what is destined to be another legendary achievement for these two when Phantom Thread comes to theaters Dec. 25, 2017.
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Disney Fired James Gunn As "Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3" Director Over His Old Tweets
Conservative activists unearthed old tweets in which the filmmaker made jokes about pedophilia.
By Adam B. Vary
Adam B. Vary BuzzFeed News Reporter
Last updated on July 20, 2018, at 5:11 p.m. ET
Posted on July 20, 2018, at 3:40 p.m. ET
Hannah Mckay / Reuters
Disney fired James Gunn as writer and director of the third installment of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise on Friday after conservative activists unearthed old tweets in which the filmmaker made jokes about pedophilia.
"The offensive attitudes and statements discovered on James’ Twitter feed are indefensible and inconsistent with our studio’s values, and we have severed our business relationship with him," said Alan Horn, chairman of Walt Disney Studios, in an emailed statement.
Alt-right online figure Jack Posobiec was among those who shared screenshots of old tweets from Gunn, a vocal critic of President Donald Trump, in which he made unsavory jokes about children.
In an emailed statement to BuzzFeed News, Gunn — who wrote and directed the previous two Guardians of the Galaxy films — called the tweets "unfortunate efforts to be provocative" and that he has "regretted them for many years since."
"Regardless of how much time has passed, I understand and accept the business decisions taken today," Gunn's statement continued. "Even these many years later, I take full responsibility for the way I conducted myself then."
Here is Gunn's statement in full:
My words of nearly a decade ago were, at the time, totally failed and unfortunate efforts to be provocative. I have regretted them for many years since — not just because they were stupid, not at all funny, wildly insensitive, and certainly not provocative like I had hoped, but also because they don't reflect the person I am today or have been for some time.
Regardless of how much time has passed, I understand and accept the business decisions taken today. Even these many years later, I take full responsibility for the way I conducted myself then. All I can do now, beyond offering my sincere and heartfelt regret, is to be the best human being I can be: accepting, understanding, committed to equality, and far more thoughtful about my public statements and my obligations to our public discourse. To everyone inside my industry and beyond, I again offer my deepest apologies. Love to all.
In a series of tweets posted late Thursday, Gunn expressed a similar sentiment about the resurfaced tweets, noting that when he started his career, "I viewed myself as a provocateur, making movies and telling jokes that were outrageous and taboo."
Gunn's departure will likely have a profound effect on the Guardians franchise, and Marvel Studios as a whole. To date, the Guardians films have grossed $1.64 billion worldwide, and although Marvel Studios has not yet formally announced Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Gunn had been quite public about writing the project — many expected the film would open in 2020. Gunn would have been the only filmmaker within the Marvel Studios system to have directed three films in the same series for the studio. And in an interview with BuzzFeed News in 2017, Gunn said that beyond his duties for Vol. 3, he would be working with Marvel Studios to expand the company's movies into the "cosmic" realm of Marvel Comics. "I think that they just trust me in terms of my vision of the more space opera aspects of Marvel," Gunn said.
A representative for Disney did not immediately return a request for comment about how the studio's termination of Gunn would affect the Guardians franchise moving forward.
Chuck Zlotnick / Marvel Studios
Zoe Saldana, Chris Pratt, and director James Gunn on the set of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
Gunn's reputation as a self-described "provocateur" was well known for years before the offending tweets resurfaced. In that same 2017 BuzzFeed News story, Guardians star Chris Pratt said that Gunn "rides that fine line of appropriateness." Friend and fellow Marvel Studios filmmaker Joss Whedon (The Avengers) said, "There's a punk element to James that is very spiky and edgy and different. He's really funny, his work has a ton of heart, but there's a darkness." And Gunn himself said he was "a very nasty guy on Twitter" who would post "a lot of fucking edgy, in-your-face, dirty stuff."
Before he was hired to direct 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy, Gunn's creative output was indeed hard-edged and adult in nature. His previous two films, the 2006 alien invasion comedy Slither and the 2011 superhero satire Super, were R-rated and filled with deliberately disturbing scenes featuring bloody violence and rape. And Gunn's first break into filmmaking was writing the 1997 schlock classic Tromeo and Juliet, in which pitch-black jokes about rape, pedophilia, and incest abound.
Gunn brought that dark perspective to the Guardians movies, but in his 2017 interview with BuzzFeed News, he made clear that once he was hired by Marvel and Disney, he realized he couldn't post the same "edgy" material to Twitter.
"I thought that that would be a hindrance on my life," he said. "But the truth was it was a big, huge opening for me. … By not having jokes to make about whatever was that offensive topic of the week, that forced me into just being who I really was, which was a pretty positive person. It felt like a relief."
Adam B. Vary is a senior film reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in Los Angeles.
Contact Adam B. Vary at adam.vary@buzzfeed.com.
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Aide To California Senate Leader Accepted Pot Gifts From Marijuana Lobbyist
A political adviser to California Senate Leader Kevin de León accepted vape pens and edibles from a marijuana industry lobbyist while talking about how to best convince de León to support a cannabis regulatory bill currently in the state Senate. Although the interaction was not illegal, ethics experts agree it violated the spirit of the law.
By Amanda Chicago Lewis
Amanda Chicago Lewis BuzzFeed News Reporter
Posted on July 8, 2015, at 2:06 p.m. ET
The Capitol building in Sacramento.
A political aide to California Senate President pro tempore Kevin de León accepted at least $85 in marijuana products from a pot lobbyist at the end of May before discussing how his boss needed to be "educated" into taking a more liberal stance on medical marijuana.
According to California's Political Reform Act, both full-time employees and contracted consultants for state legislators are barred from accepting unreported gifts worth more than $10 from lobbyists in any given calendar month. However, the adviser in question inhabits what several ethics experts described to BuzzFeed News as a legal loophole, because although he refers to Sen. de León as his boss, he is technically paid by the California Democratic Party and therefore is not required by law to report his gift. Therefore, Josh Drayton, a political adviser to de León via a group called the Senate Democrats, cheerfully accepted at least one hash oil–filled vaporizer pen and a container of marijuana edibles from pot lobbyist Nate Bradley in front of a BuzzFeed News reporter.
Public officials exchanging gifts and favors with lobbyists has long been a focus of public concern, but the legalization of marijuana raises the possibility of politicians and their staff being swayed not just by traditional incentives like financial donations, fancy lunches, or free concert tickets. The future of legislative influence may very well be in expensive buds or a passed joint.
In statehouses across the country, elected officials are trying to figure out how to turn a black market narcotic into a legitimate medicine or commodity. There are few precedents for how this should work, so they're making up the rules as they go along, with great variety and little guidance from the federal government. With so much money at stake for those who want licenses to grow, process, or sell legal weed, local legislators have a lot of influence over who will get to run a lucrative industry.
Although the value of Bradley's gift to Drayton is relatively low, this interaction represents a chumminess between political advisers and lobbyists that dances very close to the stated intention of the Political Reform Act, which was put in place to prevent gifts and financial interests from influencing legislation. Drayton's lawyer, Lance Olson, defended his client by saying Drayton did not do anything illegal, because he is not under contract with de León nor with any state or local agency. As a result, he said, Drayton is not subject to the gift-reporting requirements that an adviser or consultant under contract with de León's office would need to abide by.
Drayton's boss, de León, is one of the most powerful Democrats in California state government and has considerable influence over whether a bill supported by Bradley that would create a regulatory framework for medical marijuana will pass the state Senate this August. The bill would provide a state-level licensing system to codify the existence of the cannabis businesses that Bradley represents, which currently operate in an unregulated legal gray area.
California state Senate President pro tempore Kevin de León.
Although Drayton introduced himself to BuzzFeed News by saying he worked for de León, he later offered some clarification on how de León's office, where staffers are subject to gift restrictions because they are paid by the state Senate, works in conjunction with the Senate Democrats, where staffers are not subject to gift restrictions because they are paid by the California Democratic Party.
"We are the political arm for whoever the pro tem of the Senate is," Drayton said. "We are a piecemeal office that does a lot of little things. Mainly what we do are campaigns. Any time there's a changeover in the pro tem, our office structure changes. They bring in their own political director and adviser."
Drayton's business card lists his title as "advisor," has about 90% of the seal of the California state Senate, and has de León's name at the top.
Amanda Chicago Lewis
Drayton's business card.
"It's fairly standard behavior, but it is misleading. You can use a very close approximation of the seal without breaking any laws, and you can imply you work for the government as long as you don't specifically state that you do," said Dan Schnur, the director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California.
Schnur said that he felt Drayton's acceptance of the gifts while presenting himself as working for de León violates the spirit of the law. "There's no question it's a loophole that should be closed. The problem is the people who would have to close it are the ones benefiting from the loophole."
Gary Winuk, the former chief enforcer of the California Fair Political Practices Commission, told BuzzFeed News that although the FPPC has not specifically addressed this question before, Drayton's actions would violate the spirit of the Political Reform Act if he does any advising to de León.
"It doesn't really matter who's paying him," Winuk said. "If his job is to provide advice, and he's paid to give advice to a legislator, he should be subject to the gift ban."
Loyola Law School professor and Vice President of the Los Angeles Ethics Commission Jessica Levinson agreed, saying she felt that having an adviser who is not under contract directly with the legislature and therefore is not subject to gift limits seemed to show a violation of the intent and spirit of the law.
"If it's permissible, it shouldn't be," said Levinson. "He seems to be holding himself out as working for the Senate pro tem and enjoying the benefits of working for Kevin de León but not the burdens. Along with the privilege and power of working for a state senator, particularly one in leadership, comes certain responsibilities, and chief among those is filing disclosure reports and being subject to a variety of restrictions."
The Fair Political Practices Commission was created in conjunction with the passage of the Political Reform Act as the bipartisan government agency tasked with enforcing the separation of financial interests and political influence in California, and imposing penalties where necessary. Jay Wierenga, the FPPC's communications director, said he had never heard of a politician or legislative employee legally reporting the gift of a federally illegal narcotic and that the organization could only determine whether Drayton had broken a law after doing an independent investigation.
"The public, when trying to decide who to vote for, should always make sure public officials work in the public interest, not in their own. Just because something is legal doesn't always mean it's right," Wierenga said.
The exchange happened in the office of the California Cannabis Industry Association (CCIA), two blocks from the domed white Capitol building, in late May after a chance encounter on L Street. After the two greeted each other, Bradley told Drayton he had just received a new shipment of vape pens and brought him upstairs to the CCIA office to give him some.
"You have the battery still?" Bradley asked Drayton, once they got upstairs. When Drayton said he didn't have it on him, Bradley gave him a new one, as well at least one cartridge containing a gram of hash oil and a package of THC-infused espresso beans. Such cartridges typically cost about $50, while the cost of a battery is around $25 and that brand of marijuana-infused chocolates usually sell for $15 — all of which would go over the $10-a-month gift limit if he were subject to the restrictions.
Although there was no quid pro quo agreement between Bradley and Drayton stipulating a specific favor in exchange for the marijuana products, conversation swiftly moved from the presents to de León. The state senator has said that he opposes any effort to pass a ballot initiative in 2016 legalizing recreational marijuana and is working on legislation to punish people who are growing marijuana on public lands for damage done to the environment.
"Thank you for the treats!" Drayton told Bradley, after putting the vape pen and the edibles into his bag.
"No problem. I figured we just got a fresh load, and I'm like, I better hand them out while I have them, to friends," Bradley replied.
"You know, my boss really needs to be educated, the whole way through, you know, Kevin de León. He just wants to stay away from this," Drayton said.
Bradley told Drayton that one of his colleagues at the CCIA had spoken to de León's main policy consultant the day before and had come away convinced that de León's office was ready to help pass the bill but de León himself was not.
"We'll get him somehow," Drayton said. "I think nobody has approached him with the thought that regulating keeps it out of [kids'] hands."
Bradley liked this suggestion and added that in his speaking engagements he often uses a photograph of women in the early 20th century trying to end the Prohibition era with a sign that says "Legalize Alcohol, Save Our Kids."
The potential ethical implications of the exchange between Bradley and Drayton became known to BuzzFeed News after Bradley requested a correction to a story about how his experience in law enforcement and gregarious personality was allowing him to bridge partisan divides in Sacramento and usher a fair set of medical marijuana regulations through the California legislature.
The request, which was related to consumption of marijuana on the night a BuzzFeed News reporter was shadowing Bradley, drew BuzzFeed News' attention to the nature of the exchange between Bradley and Drayton. BuzzFeed News did not issue a correction.
When asked for comment on the interaction with Drayton, Bradley's lawyer, Khurshid Khoja, responded, "CCIA and its board are not aware of any laws that have been violated by the activity you alleged. We are assessing the factual circumstances surrounding these allegations, and will determine what, if any, action must be taken as a result."
Schnur said that although giving or receiving an undisclosed gift is a relatively minor violation in the eyes of the law, doing so on an ongoing basis or explicitly in exchange for influence over legislative activity would be a much bigger problem.
"When [Gov.] Jerry Brown first pushed for [the Political Reform Act] back in the '70s, he called it 'two burgers and a coke,"' Schnur said.
"Just because it's two joints and a coke doesn't change the underlying statute."
Amanda Chicago Lewis is a national reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in Los Angeles.
Contact Amanda Chicago Lewis at amanda.lewis@buzzfeed.com.
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Vermont’s Only Black Woman Lawmaker Dropped Her Reelection Bid Because Of Racist Threats. Progressives Say The State Needs "Introspection."
“This is outrageous, not what Vermont is about, and must be thoroughly investigated,” Bernie Sanders said in a statement.
By Ruby Cramer
Middlebury, Vermont
Ruby Cramer BuzzFeed News Reporter
Posted on September 5, 2018, at 8:35 a.m. ET
Christinne Muschi / Reuters
Anti-gun protesters hold a vigil outside the Vermont Legislature in Montpelier, Vermont, on March 13.
She says she's received racist threats. She’s reported a home invasion. In the woods near her house, she says she found swastikas painted on the trees. The online attacks are “so pervasive,” she’s said, that even her 7-year-old son saw them.
Here in Vermont, a state that prides itself on being one of the most progressive in the country, Democrats are wrestling with a dark moment in their political history: Kiah Morris, the only black woman serving in the state legislature, is withdrawing her reelection bid for a third term because of racist vitriol she says has been directed at her and her family, both online and here at home in the state of Vermont, where the population is almost 95% white.
Morris, a Bennington resident, has held office for two two-year terms in Vermont’s House of Representatives. She announced her decision to withdraw last week, detailing a “cascade” of threats and incidents that escalated after 2016.
“I just started having this uptick of being a really intentional target of a number of different folks that are affiliated with white supremacist groups,” she told Vermont Public Radio, citing “pervasive” online threats and harassment, the swastikas behind her house, and a home invasion.
Morris said her initial attempts to rely on local law enforcement for help were left largely ignored until her announcement last week. “It was weeks without an answer, without a response,” she said. "Right now, I really need to focus on my family.”
Morris, a 42-year-old progressive, was seen by Democrats here as a rising star — on her way to becoming a strong candidate for Congress or governor, said Terje Anderson, the chair of the Vermont Democratic Party.
“I think it's going to take a lot of introspection and a lot of work for a lot of white people in Vermont,” Anderson said in an interview on Tuesday. “People want to do ongoing work against it. It won't be a flash in the pan.”
At Labor Day events across the state on Monday, where Sen. Bernie Sanders served as the headline speaker, lawmakers and activists spoke with alarm about the threats against Morris, which are now being investigated by the state attorney general.
“It is key that we maintain vigilance and that we become more and more outspoken,” Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman said during a picnic in White River Junction ahead of Sanders’ speech. “We have an incredible legislator who is not running for reelection because of the threats that she has received. That is unacceptable. Absolutely unacceptable.”
“We all have to be speaking out,” he said.
At an evening event here in Middlebury, a number of local candidates addressed the incident with outrage. Mark Hughes, the executive director of Justice for All, a group focused on addressing racial inequality in Vermont, implored residents not to “ignore [what is] happening around us systemically.”
Sanders, who closed out each event with a speech on health care, the minimum wage, Donald Trump, and the wealth of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, did not mention Morris.
After the Middlebury event, when asked if he had thoughts on the legislator and the threats she’s received here in his home state, Sanders continued to wade through the crowd to take pictures and shake hands.
“Not right at this moment,” Sanders said.
Contacted on Tuesday, Sanders officials in Vermont provided a statement from the senator. The news of the threats against Morris left him “shocked and saddened,” he said. “This is outrageous, not what Vermont is about, and must be thoroughly investigated.”
“In the state of Vermont, no elected official, candidate or person should be fearful of their safety because of the color of their skin or their point of view. This corrosion of political discourse is destructive to our democracy, and we cannot let it take hold.”
Sanders, in his rise as a national political figure, has frequently struggled to knit together his message about economic inequality with one about social and racial justice. A spokesperson, Dan McLean, said Sanders has reached out to Morris in an effort to set up a meeting or phone call. Morris did not respond to a request for an interview.
Over the holiday weekend, supporters held a sold-out “Concert for Kiah” in Bennington to rally behind the outgoing lawmaker. But Democrats here are also wrestling with how to effectively address a problem in Vermont that is not limited to Morris and her family.
“Among my African American friends and colleagues, people are shocked by how extreme what Kiah is going through is — but not shocked that it's happening,” said Anderson, the party chair.
He pointed to an incident a few weeks ago at a youth camp in Stowe, where a number of black children said they were called racist names by members of the local community. In Morrisville, a large swastika was left painted near a school. And inside party headquarters, staffers have received harassing phone calls directed at Democratic gubernatorial nominee Christine Hallquist, who is a transgender woman.
“We're still a very white state,” said Anderson, who is gay and Latino, “but we’re much less white than we used to be. And I think that’s caused a lot of backlash.”
At the party, Democratic officials are engaged in ongoing conversations about what more can be done to create a safe environment for minority candidates.
“People think of Vermont as a progressive island that isn't touched by this kind of stuff,” said Anderson, “and it's just not true.”
A number of black children at a youth camp in Stowe said they were recently called racist names by members of the local community. A previous version of this story misstated who called them racist names.
Ruby Cramer is a politics reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in New York.
Contact Ruby Cramer at ruby.cramer@buzzfeed.com.
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Movie review: After a half century, ‘Easy Rider’ still gets its motor running
Ed Symkus More Content Now
Jul 10, 2019 at 11:34 AM Jul 10, 2019 at 11:34 AM
When "Easy Rider" was released to unsuspecting American audiences on July 14, 1969 - after winning director Dennis Hopper a Best First Work award at Cannes two months earlier - the film’s poster featured the tagline "A man went looking for America. And couldn’t find it anywhere."
"Easy Rider" went on to garner two Oscar nominations (screenplay and Jack Nicholson as Supporting Actor); a new sort of ragtag and very personalized filmmaking made its mark in Hollywood; college-age viewers got all riled up in celebration; and the film’s $360,000 budget eventually turned into $60 million at the box office.
Now, 50 years to the day after its initial release, "Easy Rider" is again appearing at theaters across the country through Fathom Events (it also plays on July 17). The story of a couple of hippie bikers who make a big score on a cocaine deal, then head out on a road trip from Los Angeles to Mardi Gras, is at once dated and fresh, and many of its messages remain uncomfortably, sadly, and frustratingly relevant.
But looking at the film again all these years later, that tagline never really worked. Nobody goes looking for America in "Easy Rider." Slightly long-in-the-tooth Wyatt and Billy (Peter Fonda, 29 at the time, and Dennis Hopper, 33) hop on their big, loud motorcycles and head east with plenty of drug money hidden in their gas tanks and a plan to escape from the America they know. But they can’t, and unluckily for them, they do find America, and it ain’t pretty.
Though the script is credited to Fonda, Hopper, and Terry Southern, much of the dialogue is improvised, most of it is very spare, and a great deal of the film gets by on the music of the day - Steppenwolf’s "Born to Be Wild," The Band’s "The Weight," The Byrds’ "Wasn’t Born to Follow," Hendrix’s "If 6 Was 9" - blaring from the soundtrack as our heroes (or are they anti-heroes?) go roaring down the road. There are glorious exceptions to the film’s less-dialogue-is-more approach, notably upon meeting the hitchhiking hippie Jesus (Antonio Mendoza) who brings Wyatt and Billy to his commune after giving an oratory about the concept of freedom. The ante is upped when, 45 minutes in, Wyatt and Billy first come in contact with George Hanson (Jack Nicholson) in a jail cell. They’ve been arrested for disturbing a small town July 4 parade, and George has awakened there after another night of excessive drinking, raises an early-morning toast to "good old D.H. Lawrence," dons a football helmet, hits the trail with them, smokes his first joint, and offers up his rambling theory on Venusians intermingling with humans.
The film goes on to make both innovative and excessive use of flash-frame editing, to compare and contrast the personalities of its two protagonists (Billy is restless, uptight, and short-tempered; Wyatt is laid back, tired, the voice of reason), to look at the changing times (a terrifically framed shot at a farm shows Wyatt and Billy putting a new tire on a motorcycle as well as a ranch hand shoeing a horse), and to seemingly include as many nighttime roadside campfires and as much smoking of grass as possible.
Controversial upon its release because of the loose, freewheeling approach to its subject matter and its brutality, "Easy Rider" still works as a hard-hitting piece of cinema. The script gets into dreams of freedom, a longing for a simpler time, a subtle argument both for and against capitalism, intolerance of nonconformists by conservative America, and plenty of sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll. The iconic ending, involving Wyatt and Billy and two rednecks in a blue pickup truck, remains powerful and unsettling. It’s a 50-year-old film that’s still startlingly significant today.
For information about July 14 and 17 screenings near you, visit www.fathomevents.com.
Ed Symkus writes about movies for More Content Now. He can be reached at esymkus@rcn.com.
"Easy Rider"
Written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Terry Southern; directed by Dennis Hopper
With Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Jack Nicholson
Village of Cambridge
Main Street Cambridge
Cambridge School District
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MURPHY IN ENGLAND U-19S SQUAD
Jonny Lally
Winger Jacob Murphy handed first call-up for England Under-19s
NORWICH City youngster Jacob Murphy has been called up to Noel Blake’s England Under-19s squad for a friendly with Finland on Tuesday, November 13 at The New Bucks Head Stadium.
After impressing alongside twin brother Josh in a 20-minute substitute appearance for the Under-18s side in a 2-0 win over Italy earlier this month, Jacob has been drafted in to replace Crewe Alexandra’s Max Clayton, who has withdrawn through injury.
The 17-year-old winger has performed well for Scott Marshall’s Under-21s development squad so far this campaign, and will again be given an opportunity to continue his progression with the Young Lions as they prepare for next year’s Euro Elite Qualifying Round.
After progressing through the first qualifying stage, Blake’s side now await the draw for the Elite Round in December. The Finals will be staged in Lithuania next summer.
On the recent call ups for Jacob and Josh Murphy, City’s U-21s manager Marshall commented: “They’ve shown they can do well at U-21s level for Norwich, so why not? It’s a great way of making sure the lads are progressing. International experience is a real help in their development.
“Both Josh and Jacob came on at the same time for England’s U-18s against Italy the other day, so that will have been a nice family photo if anyone has got that somewhere.
“With Jacob playing at U-21s level for Norwich, he is getting the opportunity to catch people’s eye a little bit, which is good.
“As long as they’re learning from it and coming back ready to put the work in on the training field like they have been doing then it’s great.”
The match is set to take place at AFC Telford United’s New Bucks Head Stadium on Tuesday, November 13 at 7.30pm, with tickets priced at £3 for adults and £1 for concessions.
For more details please visit the FA website here.
England U-19 squad in full:
Goalkeepers: Ben Garratt (Crewe Alexandra), Jordan Pickford (Sunderland).
Defenders: Eric Dier (Sporting Lisbon), Jack O'Connell (Blackburn Rovers), Daniel Potts (West Ham United),Jack Stephens (Southampton), John Stones (Barnsley), Adam Webster (Portsmouth).
Midfielders: Calum Chambers (Southampton), Raheem Hanley (Blackburn Rovers), John Lundstram(Everton), Nathan Redmond (Birmingham City), James Ward-Prowse (Southampton).
Forwards: Adebayo Azeez (Charlton Athletic), Jack Barmby (Manchester United), Jacob Murphy (Norwich City), Dominic Samuel (Reading), Blair Turgott (West Ham United).
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Candelo Books
Australian Reference
Gift Book
Staff pics
Wordy Women Event
Macbeth (Hogarth Shakespeare)
Author: Jo Nesbo
Available Stock: -1
Set in the 1970s in a run-down, rainy industrial town, this latest work by the #1 "New York Times"-bestselling author of "The Snowman" is a retelling of one of Shakespeare's darkest and most tragic plays.
"A major 2018 highlight...a blood-soaked police drama set in a rainy northern town in the 1970s" * Daily Express *
Jo Nesbo is one of the world's bestselling crime writers, with The Leopard, Phantom, Police, The Son and his latest Harry Hole novel, The Thirst, all topping the Sunday Times bestseller charts. He's an international number one bestseller and his books are published in 50 languages, selling over 36 million copies around the world. Before becoming a crime writer, Nesbo played football for Norway's premier league team Molde, but his dream of playing professionally for Spurs was dashed when he tore ligaments in his knee at the age of eighteen. After three years military service he attended business school and formed the band Di Derre ('Them There'). They topped the charts in Norway, but Nesbo continued working as a financial analyst, crunching numbers during the day and gigging at night. When commissioned by a publisher to write a memoir about life on the road with his band, he instead came up with the plot for his first Harry Hole crime novel, The Bat.Sign up to the Jo Nesbo newsletter for all the latest news- jonesbo.com/newsletter
Imprint : Hogarth
Author : Jo Nesbo
© Candelo Books 2019
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Stuttering & Language
Owen Carmichael, Ph.D.
Owen Carmichael, PhD is currently Associate Professor and Director of Biomedical Imaging at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Dr. Carmichael completed undergraduate studies in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of California at Berkeley where he graduated with honors. He continued his studies at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh where he graduated with a PhD in Robotics. He worked as a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Radiology Department at the University of Pittsburgh where he studied neuroimaging data analysis with a focus on Alzheimer’s disease. He was an Associate Professor in the Neurology Department at the University of California, Davis before joining the faculty at Pennington. He is working to develop new biomedical imaging techniques and is applying them to study brain aging and metabolic disorders. The main research goal of his current laboratory is to develop the non-invasive and in vivo clinical imaging methods required to characterize structural and metabolic properties of the brain, abdominal organs, fat, and skeletal muscle. Dr. Carmichael has mentored and trained many graduate and post-graduate students.
Laboratory Website
http://labs.pbrc.edu/owen-carmichael/
Representative Publications:
Carmichael OT, Pillai S, Shankapal P, McLellan A, Kay DG, Gold BT, Keller JN. A Combination of Essential Fatty Acids, Panax Ginseng Extract, and Green Tea Catechins Modifies Brain fMRI Signals in Healthy Older Adults. J Nutr Health Aging. 2018;22(7):837-846.
Calamia M, De Vito A, Bernstein JPK, Weitzner DS, Carmichael OT, Keller JN. Pedometer-assessed steps per day as a predictor of cognitive performance in older adults. Neuropsychology. 2018 Nov;32(8):941-949.
Fiford CM, Ridgway GR, Cash DM, Modat M, Nicholas J, Manning EN, Malone IB, Biessels GJ, Ourselin S, Carmichael OT, Cardoso MJ, Barnes J; Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. Patterns of progressive atrophy vary with age in Alzheimer’s disease patients. Neurobiol Aging. 2018 Mar;63:22-32
Professionals in Alzheimer’s Disease
Anne L. Foundas, M.D., F.A.A.N.
David Robinson, R.T. (R)(MR)(CT)(MRSO)
Davlin Marshall, Sr.
Deidre J. Devier, Ph.D.
Edward J. Golob, Ph.D.
Jo Huey, MSS
Katherine H. Smith, M.D.
Kenneth M. Heilman, M.D., FAAN, FANA
Khater Salomon
Nicole R. Villemarette-Pittman, Ph.D.
Stephanie K. Daniels, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
4204 Teuton Street, Suite 250
info@braininstituteoflouisiana.com
The Brain Institute of Louisiana is a private, non-profit foundation.
©2018 Brain Institute of Louisiana
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Sandra Bullock Stumps for ‘Equal Pay’ for Women’s Soccer at ESPY Awards
Warner Todd Huston
Hollywood stars Sandra Bullock and Tracy Morgan used the stage at the ESPY Awards Wednesday to push for “equal pay” for the U.S. National Women’s Soccer Team.
Bullock presented the “Best Team” award to the U.S. Women’s team during the annual sports awards show. Team co-captains Carli Lloyd and Megan Rapinoe received the award on behalf of the team, but as she handed the mic to Lloyd, Bullock said, “All those in favor of equal pay, say I.”
The soccer stars kept their remarks short, according to the Hollywood Reporter, and after their address, ESPY host Tracy Morgan added, “Let’s pay these ladies and let’s fight cancer.”
The 28 players of the women’s team already took matters of equal pay into their own hands by filing a federal class-action lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation to try and force the league to pay the male and female players the same.
The U.S. Women’s National Team did not join the suit, but has released a statement in support of the filing.
The winning team also made “equal pay” an issue during the Women’s World Cup in France which ended last week with the U.S. team taking the top prize. For instance, when the U.S. team scored the tournament-winning goal, some in the crowd erupted in chants of “equal pay.”
Women’s team star Alex Morgan also took home an ESPY award winning the best female athlete award. Upon taking possession of the award, she joked, “Sorry, but this is probably the second-best trophy we won this week.”
EntertainmentSports2019 Women's World Cupequal paySandra BullockThe ESPY'sU.S. Women's National TeamUSWNT
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{ "2063351": { "url": "/science/gestational-trophoblastic-disease", "shareUrl": "https://www.britannica.com/science/gestational-trophoblastic-disease", "title": "Gestational trophoblastic disease" ,"gaExtraDimensions": {"3":"false"} } }
Kara Rogers
Gestational trophoblastic disease, any of a group of rare conditions in which tumours develop in the uterus from the cells that normally would form the placenta during pregnancy. The main types of gestational trophoblastic disease include choriocarcinoma, epithelioid trophoblastic tumour, hydatidiform mole (molar pregnancy), invasive mole, and placental-site trophoblastic tumour.
The most common form of gestational trophoblastic disease is hydatidiform mole, which can be either complete (no fetal tissue is present) or partial (some fetal tissue develops). Complete hydatidiform mole occurs when a sperm fertilizes an egg cell that is devoid of genetic material. Instead of a fetus, fluid-filled villi develop within the uterus, typically forming a mass resembling a cluster of grapes. Partial hydatidiform mole occurs when two sperm fertilize a normal egg cell. Although some fetal tissue develops, it is mixed with trophoblastic tissue, and the fetus is not viable. In both forms of molar pregnancy, the abnormal growths produce and release human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), a hormone that is also produced by normal placentas and that forms the basis of commonly used pregnancy tests. Molar pregnancies can be treated with suction dilation and curettage, a surgical procedure to remove part of the uterine lining.
In rare cases, a hydatidiform mole progresses, continuing to grow after the pregnancy is terminated (usually as a result of abortion). This condition, persistent gestational trophoblastic disease, occurs when the hydatidiform mole has penetrated into the myometrium (the muscle layer surrounding the uterus) and therefore cannot be removed surgically. Persistent gestational trophoblastic disease may take the form of a choriocarcinoma, an invasive mole, or a placental-site trophoblastic tumour. The disease may spread to other parts of the body. Invasive moles may spontaneously regress, or they may require additional treatment.
Although about half of choriocarcinomas begin as molar pregnancies, they may also occur following abortion, miscarriage (spontaneous abortion), tubal pregnancy (the ovum becomes implanted in one of the fallopian tubes), or healthy pregnancy. Likewise, placental-site trophoblastic tumours and epithelioid trophoblastic tumours can also develop following a healthy pregnancy with normal delivery. Whereas choriocarcinomas tend to metastasize (spread), however, placental-site and epithelioid tumours very rarely spread beyond the uterus.
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Gestational trophoblastic disease typically is detected in relatively early stages of development, owing to the routine use of ultrasound and blood testing early in the course of pregnancy. Women with the condition may think they are pregnant because of a positive pregnancy test (the result of HCG production by the tumour). Some women also experience morning-sickness-like symptoms (nausea and vomiting), though vomiting may be more frequent than during a normal pregnancy. More-severe indications of disease include abdominal swelling (abnormal uterine enlargement for the stage of perceived pregnancy), preeclampsia (an acute hypertensive condition), and vaginal bleeding. Diagnosis typically is confirmed by imaging (e.g., ultrasound, computed tomography) and blood tests in which levels of HCG are found to be abnormally high.
In addition to the use of suction dilation and curettage, other treatment options for gestational trophoblastic disease may include chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or hysterectomy (surgical removal of the uterus). Chemotherapy frequently is curative for gestational trophoblastic disease, regardless of disease stage. In cases in which the disease has spread or is unresponsive to chemotherapy, radiation therapy may be used. Women who no longer wish to have children may consider hysterectomy, which removes local disease in the uterus but is ineffective for disease that has metastasized.
Tumour, a mass of abnormal tissue that arises without obvious cause from preexisting body cells, has no purposeful function, and is characterized by a tendency to independent and unrestrained growth. Tumours are quite different from inflammatory or other swellings because the cells in tumours…
Uterus, an inverted pear-shaped muscular organ of the female reproductive system, located between the bladder and the rectum. It functions to nourish and house a fertilized egg until the fetus, or offspring, is ready to be delivered.…
Cell, in biology, the basic membrane-bound unit that contains the fundamental molecules of life and of which all living things are composed. A single cell is often a complete organism in itself, such as a bacterium or yeast. Other cells acquire specialized functions as they mature. These cells cooperate with…
Placenta, in zoology, the vascular (supplied with blood vessels) organ in most mammals that unites the fetus to the uterus of the mother. It mediates the metabolic exchanges of the developing individual through an intimate association of embryonic tissues and of certain uterine tissues, serving the functions of nutrition, respiration,…
Pregnancy, process and series of changes that take place in a woman’s organs and tissues as a result of a developing fetus. The entire process from fertilization to birth takes an average of 266–270 days, or about nine months. (For pregnancies other than those in humans, see gestation.)…
Hydatidiform mole
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{ "411877": { "url": "/topic/New-Nationalism", "shareUrl": "https://www.britannica.com/topic/New-Nationalism", "title": "New Nationalism" ,"gaExtraDimensions": {"3":"false"} } }
New Nationalism
New Nationalism, in U.S. history, political philosophy of Theodore Roosevelt, an espousal of active federal intervention to promote social justice and the economic welfare of the underprivileged; its precepts were strongly influenced by Herbert Croly’s The Promise of American Life (1910). Roosevelt used the phrase “New Nationalism” in a 1910 speech in which he attempted to reconcile the liberal and conservative wings of the Republican Party. Unsuccessful, he became a Progressive and went on to promulgate his ideas as that party’s presidential candidate in the election of November 1912. His program called for a great increase of federal power to regulate interstate industry and a sweeping program of social reform designed to put human rights above property rights. With the Republican vote split, Roosevelt and his New Nationalism went down to defeat before Democratic candidate Woodrow Wilson and his New Freedom. See also Croly, Herbert David.
United States: The 1912 election
…platform that he called the New Nationalism, Roosevelt demanded effective control of big business through a strong federal commission, radical tax reform, and a whole series of measures to put the federal government squarely into the business of social and economic reform. By contrast Wilson seemed conservative with a program…
United States presidential election of 1912: The general election campaign
…platform that he called the New Nationalism, Roosevelt demanded effective control of big business through a strong federal commission, radical tax reform, and a whole series of measures to put the federal government squarely into the business of social and economic reform. By contrast, Wilson seemed conservative with a program…
Herbert David Croly
Herbert David Croly, American author, editor, and political philosopher, founder of the magazine The New Republic. The son of widely known journalists, Croly was educated at Harvard University and spent his early adult years editing or contributing to…
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< Back to Broadcastnow.co.uk
FutureOfTV
New world order: content has gone global
Sponsored by Barclays2017-10-19T15:08:00+01:00
As a young man, Darren Throop moved to a new city in his native Canada. When he couldn’t find music he liked, he did what any good entrepreneur would do: opened up his own record store.
It is from these humble roots that Throop, President and CEO of Entertainment One (eOne) the global, multi-channel content owner, producer and distributor of TV, movies and music, grew his business.
This journey has given him a bird’s-eye view of significant changes in every part of the entertainment industry over the past 30 years. From vinyl and celluloid through to streamed music, movies and TV, technology has changed how content is delivered at rates that are “simply staggering,” he says.
These changes have “definitely been for the better for the industry” as they have made it easier for the consumer to interface with and to enjoy content in different ways and have made the world and audiences more connected.
Global is the new reality for content
Over the next 30 years, Throop says the internet will “really drive those changes and make audiences truly global in ways we haven’t seen before”.
eOne has been careful to change in step and to “mirror these realities”, structuring its business to transcend borders and putting global teams in place to service new customer demands. Other content providers are similarly adapting and restructuring to meet these global needs and make the most of the opportunities that globalisation creates.
“The biggest news over the past decade has been the rapid growth of providers such as Netflix, Amazon and Apple iTunes, and the start of the digital download era”
The biggest news over the past decade, says Throop, has been the rapid growth of providers such as Netflix, Amazon and Apple iTunes, and the start of the digital download era.
Along with Playstation, X-box, pay-TV providers and consolidation of cable and satellite operators, these companies have contributed to the creation of truly global platforms, no longer confined geographically and allowing consumers to enjoy content on a range of platforms.
“While technological changes have dramatically changed the nature of content creation and delivery, one of the most exciting developments is the ability for a creative mind to make a TV show, movie or piece of music for adults or children and, with a flick of a switch, have consumers around the globe enjoying it,” he says.
Strategically to this end, eOne has focused on developing partnerships with the best creative minds, finding writers, producers and directors who can get the highest quality programming in front of the consumer.
Cinematic experience here to stay
Ultimately, it’s the consumer who determines where the entertainment industry is going, Throop says: “People can now find what they want to watch, when they want to watch it, and on many different platforms.” These changes mean linear TV is no longer the only avenue.
“One of the biggest opportunities in engaging with big global audiences in future is with content tailored to their specific needs,” he says. “There are huge opportunities opening up in developing markets such as China, India and South America.”
But while there is increased demand and an insatiable appetite for streamed content, Throop challenges those who predict that the end of cinema is nigh. “They are on the wrong track.” Instead, while the industry is undergoing rapid change, the “cinematic experience is here to stay”.
“There are huge opportunities opening up in developing markets such as China, India and South America”
To those who say there’s too much TV out there, Throop echoes US film and TV producer Mark Gordon, who believes that there might be too much TV content, but there’s not too much good content. “High-quality TV will rise to the top.”
The rapidly changing entertainment business will continue to be both stimulating and motivating, which is why it has never seemed like a job to Throop. “It’s why I look forward to going to work every day.”
Darren Throop
President and CEO of eOne
The internet will drive growth in future and make audiences global in ways not seen before
In future, winning content will be user-specific
The cinematic experience is here to stay
Ultimately, it’s the consumer who determines where the entertainment industry is going
Media companies need to be ready for new economic models coming their way as demand for content ‘anywhere, anytime’ accelerates
Increased competition for exclusive programming is driving up prices
In the UK, the majority of daily media consumption for those under the age of 30 now involves a handset
For the over 55s, smart devices are principally used for communication and linear TV is the backbone of their daily consumption
Conversely, smartphone-based, socially curated short-form video and music are the basis of entertainment for younger audiences
PSB challenges in an SVoD world
2017-10-12T16:33:00Sponsored by Barclays
C4 strategy chief Keith Underwood on safeguarding the creative economy
Pact builds bridges with India
Trade body signs MoU with Producers Guild of India
Entertainment One hires pan-Asia sales director
Legendary Television exec links up in South Korean office
More FutureOfTV
Biofuel: turbocharging TV’s sustainability push
2019-07-16T11:25:00ZSponsored by Barclays
Renewable energy can be a straight ‘drop-in’ replacement for diesel used in generators, writes Lorraine Ruckstuhl
Ensuring your insurance policy works
Understanding the complexities of insuring a production properly is vital and companies like Integro can help, writes Barclays’ Richard Woolford
Rogan's pursuit of purpose and integrity
The husband and wife team behind Rogan Productions on why they aim for productions of purpose, perspective and craft
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RWS Entertainment Group's Binder Casting Adds Film, Commercial Hires To Lead New Divisions
BroadwayWorld.com Feb. 7, 2018
Binder Casting, a subsidiary of Emmy Award-winning RWS Entertainment Group (RWS), today announced the appointment of three new hires set to lead the newly formed commercial and film casting divisions. Anthony Pichette, Kyle Coker join Binder as Sr. Casting Directors and Chad Eric Murnane joins as a Casting Director. The announcement was made today by Ryan Stana, CEO of RWS Entertainment Group.
With over 35 years of experience in the Broadway casting world, the 12-time Artios Award-winning casting office recently opened two new divisions-commercial and film. Pichette, Coker and Murnane will spearhead these divisions and work side-by-side with Binder Casting's Mark Brandon, Justin Bohon and Katie Zanca as well as RWS Casting to provide new opportunities for actors on film, television, radio, and commercials in addition to regional theater, national tours and Broadway.
"RWS and Binder Casting are deeply committed to giving actors and performers around the world access to the best opportunities while providing our clients with a massive, unparalleled casting pool," said Ryan Stana, CEO of RWS Entertainment Group. "RWS acquired Binder Casting in 2016 in order to help the company become a one-stop-shop for clients, actors, producers, and performers. As RWS continues to expand, we look forward to seeing our commercial and film casting divisions grow. We couldn't ask for a better team than Anthony, Kyle and Chad to head up those efforts."
Pichette brings 20 years of commercial casting to Binder. He has cast top level talent for network campaigns, regional commercials, industrials, promos, print and digital media. Pichette has cast notable commercial campaigns for clients including Golden Corral, Garmin, Olive Garden and Six Flags. Additionally, he's worked with in-house casting departments at networks such as Nickelodeon (Blue's Clues), Sci-Fi, Food Network, Spike and MTV.
Pichette teaches at studios throughout the city including One on One, Actor's Connection, AGR, The Network, The Performing Option, NYU Stone Street, BIH Studios. He has worked with major colleges and universities across the country including the University of Miami, College of William and Mary, Rutgers University and College of Charleston
Coker brings more than 13 years of commercial casting experience having cast over 1,000 commercials, voice overs, print projects, industrials, video games, and new media projects. He has worked on projects for clients including Target, Apple, IBM, Kiehl's, State Farm, Exxon Mobil, Crayola, Pebbles, L'Oreal, Chase, and more. Additionally, he provided additional casting for Beyoncé's Lemonade performance at the 2016 VMAs, various projects as a NY associate for 20th Century Fox, and has worked for acclaimed directors such as Joe Pytka and Mark Romanek.
Prior to Binder Casting, Coker was a partner in the commercial department at Donna DeSeta Casting. He's also an adjunct professor at Pace University in Commercial Acting and has taught many master classes at acting schools and universities throughout the country. He recently completed the book: "Commercial Acting: A No Nonsense Guide to the Business, Working with Commercial Copy, and Becoming a Smarty On-Camera Principal Performer."
Donna DeSeta shared, "It is with joy and love that I wish Kyle Coker all the best as he joins Binder Casting. Kyle is well equipped and more than prepared for this next chapter in his career, and he will surpass all expectations in this new position."
Murnane, CSA, brings six years of experience to Binder having cast theatre, television and film in New York and Los Angeles. Chad has many studio and independent film projects under his belt including "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows," the reboot of "Friday the 13th," CBS's "No Tomorrow," "Stan Against Evil" for IFC, "Full Circle" (conceived by Neil LaBute), "200 Hours," and more. His casting experience also lies in regional theatre, off-Broadway, national tours, video games, network, cable and streaming television.
Prior to Binder, Murnane was the casting associate at Lisa Fields Casting in Los Angeles and he's also worked with Marc Hirschfeld, Geralyn Flood, Barbara Florentino, April Webster and Erica Bream. Chad is committed to diverse, inclusive and intelligent casting and has a passion for discovering new talent. His casting mission is to eliminate artificial boundaries between theatre, television and film. He believes a great actor is a great actor. He understands how to connect the commercial with the artistic, seeking polished, provocative artists that have the education and skill to deliver.
The appointments come on the heels of RWS's recent announcement of a major expansion that includes the launch of a Theatrical and Development Department at RWS. Together with the addition of the new casting divisions, the innovative expansion transforms RWS into a one-of-a-kind company that brings producing, creative development, general management, production management, casting, wardrobe, rehearsal studios and other production services under one roof, saving producers time and money.
RWS is now able to leverage current staff, relationships, brand partnerships, and resources to develop new content and IP for the commercial theatre on Broadway, on the road, and in non-traditional spaces around the world. RWS will now be able to utilize its vast resources to not only provide shows and experiences to 32 theme parks, 17 cruise ships, 10 resorts and over 100 corporate events in 2018, but also develop and produce commercial theatre and arena shows for Broadway and touring markets.
Operating out of a 40,000 square foot office and rehearsal studio complex together with performer housing in New York City, Emmy Award-winning RWS Entertainment Group is North America's largest provider of branded stage shows and experiences.
Founded in 2003, led by Ryan Stana, CEO & Bruston Manuel, COO, the multi-award winning live entertainment Production Company has produced innovative productions and custom brand experiences for top resorts, cruise lines, theme parks, corporate events and NYC fashion events for an impressive roster of clients that include Holland America Line, Hard Rock Resorts, Prada, NBCUniversal, Cedar Fair, Hershey Entertainment and Resorts, Westfield, Macy's, Vera Wang, Mattel, to name a few. RWS is now the foremost turn-key solution in the industry, providing full design and installation services for interactive experiences, theming, décor and more, to create unparalleled immersive experiences.
In July 2016, RWS acquired 12-time Artios Award-winning Binder Casting, a leading casting firm for Broadway, film, television and commercials. For more information about RWS Entertainment Group, please visit rwsnyc.com, bindecasting.com, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
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The impact of artificial intelligence on international trade
Series: A Blueprint for the Future of AI
Joshua P. Meltzer Thursday, December 13, 2018
For media inquiries, contact:
Elizabeth Sablich esablich@brookings.edu 202.238.3507
This report is part of "A Blueprint for the Future of AI," a series from the Brookings Institution that analyzes the new challenges and potential policy solutions introduced by artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.
Joshua P. Meltzer
Senior Fellow - Global Economy and Development
Twitter @JoshuaPMeltzer
Artificial intelligence (AI) stands to have a transformative impact on international trade. Already, specific applications in areas such as data analytics and translation services are reducing barriers to trade. At the same time, there are challenges in the development of AI that international trade rules could address, such as improving global access to data to train AI systems. The following provides an overview of some of the key AI opportunities for trade as well as those areas where trade rules can help support AI development.
What do we mean by artificial intelligence?
Before proceeding to the impact of AI on trade, it is important to clarify what is meant by AI. More specifically, that there is a key difference between narrow AI such as translation services, chatbots, and autonomous vehicles and general AI—“self-learning systems that can learn from experience with humanlike breadth and surpass human performance on all tasks.” General AI raises broader existential concerns, such as how to align the goals of such a system with our own to prevent catastrophic outcomes,1 but general AI remains a technology still to be developed in the distant future.
To understand the potential significance of narrow AI for trade, it is also important to briefly consider its core parts. In particular, narrow AI is based on machine learning, which uses large amounts of data and powerful algorithms to develop increasingly robust predictions about the future.2 The data used for machine learning can be either supervised—data with associated facts, such as labels—or unsupervised—raw data that requires the identification of patterns without prior prompting.3 This includes reinforcement learning—where machine-learning algorithms actively choose and even generate their own training data.
Using big data and artificial intelligence to accelerate global development
Jennifer L. Cohen and Homi Kharas
Darrell M. West
TechTank
Artificial intelligence and the future of geopolitics
John Villasenor
Another key development underpinning narrow AI is the Deep Neural Network (DNN). DNNs are comprised of layers of nonlinear transformation node functions, where the output of each layer becomes an input to the next layer in the network. Each layer is highly modular, making it possible to take a layer optimized for one type of data (say, images) and to combine it with other layers for other types of data (e.g., text).4 Deep Neural Networks combine multiple machine learning tasks—creating what is referred to as general purpose machine learning (GPML)—which allows AI to effectively live on top of the types of chaotic data that humans are able to digest, such as video, audio, and text.
Narrow AI also includes specific tools such as out-of-sample validation to validate models, stochastic gradient descent for training models on streams of data, and graphical processing units (GPUs)—originally developed for video games but which have proven well-suited to support the types of massive parallel computations needed to train DNNs.5
Applying these developments in a real-world context requires large data sets to initialize AI systems. Here, quantity matters because machine learning needs to be able to incorporate into future predictions as many possible past outcomes as possible. This means that access to the tails of data—less usual and irregular data—matters.
The impact of AI on economic growth and international trade
The development of AI will affect international trade in a number of ways. One is the macroeconomic impacts of AI and the related trade effects. For instance, should AI increase productivity growth, then this will increase economic growth and provide new opportunities for international trade. Current rates of productivity growth globally are low and there are various suggested causes.6 One reason for low productivity growth particularly relevant for understanding the potential link with AI is that it takes time for an economy to incorporate and make effective use of new technologies, particularly complex ones with economy-wide impacts such as AI.7 This includes time to build a large enough capital stock to have an aggregate effect and for the complimentary investments needed to take full advantage of AI investments, including access to skilled people and business practices.8
AI will also affect the type and quality of economic growth, with international trade implications. For instance, AI is likely to accelerate the transition towards services economies.
AI will also affect the type and quality of economic growth, with international trade implications. For instance, AI is likely to accelerate the transition towards services economies. This is a corollary to concerns about the impact of AI and jobs, as AI is likely to expand automation and speed up job losses for low-skill, blue-collar workers in manufacturing fields.9 In parallel, AI will also emphasize particular worker skills as it is used to add value to production and products. This should lead to further expansion of the share of services in production as well as international trade.
Specific AI applications to international trade
AI and global value chains
AI is already having an impact on the development and management of global value chains. It can be used to improve predictions of future trends, such as changes in consumer demand, and to better manage risk along the supply chain. By allowing business to better manage complex and dispersed production units, such tools improve the overall efficiency of GVCs. For example, business can use AI to improve warehouse management, demand prediction, and improve the accuracy of just-in-time manufacturing and delivery. Robotics can increase productivity and efficiency in packing and inventory inspection. Business can also use AI to improve physical inspection and maintenance of assets along supply chains.
The development of GVCs will be affected by the broader trends toward using AI to develop smart manufacturing. For instance, the German-led conception of industry 4.0 is based on sensors, IoT, and cyber-physical-systems that connect machines, material, supplies, and customers. This will include capacity at the factory level of predictive machines and self-maintenance, complete communications between companies along the supply chain, and the ability to manufacture according to customer specifications, even in small or single batches.10 Such developments could strengthen and extend GVCs. For example, smart manufacturing with its emphasis on connectivity could open up GVCs to more specific participation by specialized service suppliers in areas such as R&D, design, robotics, and data analytics tailored to discrete tasks in the supply chain.
A humanoid robot works side by side with employees in the assembly line at a factory in Japan. Automation opportunities like this are already affecting global value chains worldwide. (Credit: Reuters/Issei Kato)
Yet AI could also create trends toward on-shoring of production. Broader automation opportunities as well as scaling of 3D printing could reduce the need for extended supply chains—particularly those that rely on large pools of low-cost labor. The result could accelerate the process Dani Rodrik describes as “premature industrialization” in developing countries.11
Trade using digital platforms
Another area where AI is already being deployed is on digital platforms such as eBay. For small business in particular, digital platforms have provided unprecedented opportunity to go global. In the U.S., for instance, 97 percent of small businesses on eBay export, compared to just 4 percent of offline peers.12
For small business in particular, digital platforms have provided unprecedented opportunity to go global.
AI-developed translation services are further enabling digital platforms as drivers of international trade. For example, as a result of eBay’s machine translation service, eBay-based exports to Spanish-speaking Latin America increased by 17.5 percent (value increased by 13.1 percent).13 To put this growth into context, a 10 percent reduction in distance between countries is correlated with increased trade revenue of 3.51 percent—so a 13.1 percent increase in revenue from eBay’s machine translation is equivalent to reducing the distance between countries by over 35 percent.
AI also has the potential to be used to improve outcomes from international trade negotiations. For instance, AI could be used to better analyze economic trajectories of each negotiating partner under different assumptions, including outcomes contingent on trade negotiation (growth pathways under various forms of trade liberalization), how these outcomes are affected in a multiplayer scenario where trade barriers are adjusted down at different rates, as well as predicting the trade response from countries not party to the negotiation. Brazil has already established an Intelligent Tech & Trade Initiative that includes using AI to improve trade negotiations.14
Developing trade rules to support AI
In addition to the impact of AI on international trade patterns, trade rules as reflected in the WTO and in FTAs can also play a role in supporting the development of AI. The following outlines some key areas where trade rules will matter for AI development and deployment globally.
The importance of data for AI
Data localization measures that restrict the ability to move data globally will reduce the capacity to develop tailored AI capacities.
Trade commitments on the free flow of data globally, as reflected in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and, more recently, in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) will support the development of AI. As outlined above, access to large amounts of data is needed to train AI systems. Building AI systems that can respond to diverse challenges and different population groups requires access to global data. To take a relatively straightforward example, the development of speech-recognition AI requires access to large amounts of speech data that can capture local slang and intonation as well as less commonly used words. As a result, data localization measures that restrict the ability to move data globally will reduce the capacity to develop tailored AI capacities.
Moreover, the development and use of AI builds on other digital technologies, the key ones being cloud computing, big data, and the internet-of-things.15 These digital technologies also rely on cross-border data flows. This means that data localization measures that restrict global data transfers will hit AI directly, by providing less training data, and indirectly, by undercutting the building blocks on which AI is built.
Restrictions on cross-border data flows are likely to have the greatest impact on smaller (often developing) countries. The U.S. and China, with large internal populations, are less reliant on access to data from third countries to develop AI capabilities tailored to their domestic markets. However, to develop AI in areas such as health care, countries with smaller populations will require access to global health data. Limits on access to such data will reduce the accuracy and relevance of AI systems for developing countries.
Massive data servers used for cloud computing are among the AI-driven innovations that are changing global trade. (Credit: Reuters/Donna Carson)
Improving access to data for AI development will also require governments, as repositories of large data sets, making such data publicly available. Here, USMCA makes progress, including a recognition by the Parties of the importance of access to government information for economic and social development, and to the extent possible making government data accessible in machine-readable and open format.16
Privacy and AI
Commitments to cross-border data flows in trade agreements are balanced with scope for governments to restrict data flows in order to achieve legitimate public policy objectives. Maintaining domestic privacy standards is a key reason that governments are currently reducing the flow of personal data across borders. For instance, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) prohibits transfers of personal data to countries that have not been deemed “adequate” by the European Commission.
GDPR limits on the processing and use of personal data could adversely impact the development of AI capabilities. For instance, under GDPR, personal data can only be used for the purpose for which it was collected, which means that personal data collected as part of a transaction cannot then be used to train AI to improve how the service is delivered. The GDPR requirement that companies minimize the amount of data they collect and how long the data is kept is also at odds with developing data sets for training AI.
GDPR limits on the processing and use of personal data could adversely impact the development of AI capabilities.
On the other hand, strong privacy will be required if people are going to be able to trust living their lives online, including providing immense amounts of personal data for AI learning. From this perspective, there is no inherent trade-off between developing AI and privacy. The key challenge will be to design privacy rules that do not create unnecessary restrictions on access to and use of data. Trade rules can assist by including commitments on data-importing nations to protect the privacy of personal data from the data-exporting country. This could be achieved by encouraging forms of mutual recognition of privacy systems as well as developing common regional and global privacy principles.17
Standards and AI
The incorporation of AI into industry will require the development of a range of new standards. Take autonomous vehicles, which will require various technical standards, safety standards, and new vehicle manufacturing standards. The development of different domestic standards across countries will increase costs for foreign manufacturers who have to retool in order to export. The USMCA addresses this issue with commitments that domestic standards are based on international standards, which will support interoperability and reduce barriers to developing AI globally.
Protection of source code
Requiring access to source code as a condition of investment or market access poses another challenge to the development of AI. Requiring such access was identified by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) as part of the broader issue of forced technology transfer in China.18 As AI is based on algorithms, conditioning market access on providing access to source code operates as an international trade barrier that reduces the diffusion of AI globally.
The U.S. and other countries have started to respond to this concern. In the CPTPP and USMCA, the parties have agreed not to “require the transfer of, or access to, source code of software owned by a Person of another party” as a condition for import or sale.19
Intellectual property protection and AI
The development of AI raises intellectual property (IP) issues with international trade implications. As noted, AI relies on large amounts of input data. Training data will often need to be copied and edited for use. Depending on how the data is collected, this could involve unauthorized copying of thousands of protected works. In the U.S., it may be that relying on the “transformative” or “non-expressive” fair use exception to copyright protection will provide legal cover for such use of data.20 Fair use provides a flexible principles-based set of copyright exceptions.21 Fair use exceptions have been a significant legal underpinning in the development, and demise, of digital business models in the U.S.22 Yet, even in the U.S., whether fair use exceptions will cover some of the more complex uses of data to train AI remains to be tested.23
Even in the U.S., whether fair use exceptions will cover some of the more complex uses of data to train AI remains to be tested.
Furthermore, fair use exceptions or similar copyright flexibilities do not exist in many other countries. For instance, the EU uses a specific list of exceptions to copyright law that does not include text and data mining and would not seem to include AI. Australia adopts a similar approach as the EU.24 From an international trade perspective, this means that legal copying of data to develop AI in the U.S. might be deemed illegal in other countries, creating a barrier to deployment of AI in these countries.
Trade agreements have been hesitant in addressing copyright flexibilities. The CPTPP includes a recognition by the Parties of the need to achieve “an appropriate balance in its copyright and related rights systems,”25 but this goal of achieving a copyright balance was absent from the more recent USMCA.
AI and trade in goods
While much of AI development is focused around access to data, standards, and IP, access to goods will also affect AI development globally. In particular, and as noted above, CPUs are a key hardware used in Deep Neural Networks. Trade in CPUs is therefore needed for the development of AI globally. This underscores the ongoing role for reducing tariffs in supporting access to the technologies needed for AI development.
The report’s author, Joshua Meltzer, gratefully acknowledges support he is receiving from the Hinrich Foundation for a related Digital Economy and Trade Project.
Brookings recognizes that the value it provides is in its absolute commitment to quality, independence, and impact. Activities supported by its donors reflect this commitment.
Report Produced by Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies Initiative
The Brookings Initiative on artificial intelligence and emerging technologies seeks to establish a proper societal framework for the impending “digitalization of everything.”
See generally https://futureoflife.org/background/benefits-risks-of-artificial-intelligence/, visited 26 November 2018.
Stuart Russell, Daniel Dewey and Max Tegmark, “Research Priorities for Robust and Beneficial Artificial Intelligence”, AI Magazine, Winger 2015, p. 106.
Kevin P. Murphy, “Machine Learning: A probabilistic Perspective” (2007), 1-2.
Matt Taddy, The Technological Elements of Artificial Intelligence, NBER Working Paper 24301, February 2018.
Remes Jaana. et al, “Solving the productivity puzzle: the role of demand and the promise of digitization”, McKinsey Global Institute, February 2018; Byrne, David M, J.G. Fernald and M.B. Reinsdorf. 2016. “Does the United States Have a Productivity Slowdown or a Measurement Problem?” Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, (Spring) 109.
Erik Brynjolfsson et al., “Artificial Intelligence and the Modern Productivity Paradox: A Clash of Expectations and Statistics”, NBER Working Paper no. 24001, October 2017 (revised December 2017), p. 10.
Arnet, Melanie, Terry Gregory and Ulrich Zierahn. 2016. “The Risk of Automation for Jobs in OECD Countries: A Comparative Analysis.” OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers No.189.
Qin J, Ying, Liu and Roger Grosvenor, “A Categorical Framework of Manufacturing for Industry 4.0 and Beyond”, Procedia CIRP 52 (2016) 174.
Dani Rodrick 2015. “Premature Industrialization”, NBER Working Paper 20935, February 2015.
Ebay 2015. “Empowering People and Creating Opportunity in the Digital Single Market” An eBay report on Europe’s potential, October 2015.
Brynjolfsson, E, X Hui and Meng Liu (2018), “Does Machine Translation Affect International Trade? Evidence from a Large Digital Platform”.
http://itti-global.org.
McKinsey Global Institute, “The Promise and Challenge of the Age of Aritificial Intelligence”, October 2018, https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Featured%20Insights/Artificial%20Intelligence/The%20promise%20and%20challenge%20of%20the%20age%20of%20artificial%20intelligence/MGI-The-promise-and-challenge-of-the-age-of-artificial-intelligence-in-brief-Oct-2018.ashx (visited November 19th, 2018)
USMCA Article 19.18.
Aaditya Mattoo and Joshua P. Meltzer 2018, “International Data Flows and Privacy: the conflict and its resolution”, Journal of International Economic Law
Office of the USTR, Finding of the Investigation into China’s Acts, Policies, And Practices related to Technology Transfer, Intellectual Property, And Innovation Under Section 301 of the Trade Act 1974, March 22, 2018.
Authors Guild v. Google Inc., 804 F.3d 202 (2nd Cir. 2015).
https://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/fair-use/what-is-fair-use/.
See Perfect 10 Inc. v. Amazon. Com, Inc., 508 F. 3d 1146 (9th Cir. 2007), allowing fair use to excuse an image search engine’s unauthorized reproductions of copyrights photographs; and Capitol Records, LLC v. ReDIGIT Inc., 934 F.Supp.2d (S.D.N.Y. 2013) which found that fair use does not excuse a second hand market place for digital sound recordings from liability for infringement.
Benjamin Sobel 2017. “Artificial Intelligence’s Fair Use Crisis”, Columbia Journal of Law & the Arts 45 (2017), p. 68-71.
Joshua P. Meltzer, “ Digital Australia: An Economic and Trade Agenda”, Brookings Working Paper 118, May 2018.
CPTPP 2018, Art 18.66.
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Best Budget Destinations in America, Part I: The Northeast
3/30/2017 — By The Budget Travel Editors
1 / 13 Photos
We're tracking down the 51 coolest affordable hot spots in the U.S. (one in each state, plus Washington, DC). Here, the first installment in our series, with uniquely awesome destinations in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic that won't break the bank.
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ADAMS MORGAN, WASHINGTON, DC
There’s barely a policy wonk to be found roaming the streets of the capitol’s hippest ‘hood.
In 2014, Merriam Webster’s Dictionary declared “Brooklyn” an adjective. That said, Adams Morgan in Northwest DC is very Brooklyn, a hub of all things indie, vintage, and craft. There are funky retailers like Idle Time Books, a go-to for used and out-of-print books, Urban Dwell, a trendy home goods store, and Meeps, a vintage shop. Also, while the five-square-mile area has long been known for its $2 slices and Bud Lite specials, it’s evolved into an exciting destination for creative restaurants, which stand side-by-side with taco joints and other millennial staples. Budget-minded foodies are well served at Mintwood Place, known for its American Southern comfort food with a French twist (see: escargot hush puppies) and Bul, which turns out Korean street food and soju. Las Canteras, which specializes in Peruvian comfort foods at an unbeatable value, like its $24 three-course midweek dinner special, is another must-try. And while you’re in the area, wrap up the night at Jack Rose, one of the country’s most impressive whiskey bars.
Richard Gunion/Dreamstime
PAWTUCKET, RHODE ISLAND
The birthplace of the Industrial Revolution specializes in producing great vacations.
Masses of sports fanatics book their hotels in Boston months in advance if they have tickets to see the Red Sox at Fenway Park. Some of the truer die-hards, however, know to head to Pawtucket, Rhode Island, home of Pawtucket Red Sox McCoi Stadium, where the “Paw Sox,” the Red Sox’s minor league team, play. It’s an affordable way to catch a game and earn bragging rights to say “I saw him when” about up-and-comers. Besides, there’s always a chance of catching a Major League player hanging on the field here. This town, which borders Providence to the north, sits along a National Heritage Corridor and is recognized as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. It has the colossal long-abandoned mill buildings to prove it. Today most of them are occupied by breweries, artist spaces, or recording studios, but the Slater Mill Museum offers an interactive crash course on the area’s influence on modern American manufacturing. On top of all that is the great outdoors. In recent years the Blackstone River has been cleaned up and opened to all sorts of recreational water sports. Blackstone River Bikeway, which runs a scenic 48 miles from downtown Worcester, Massachusetts to Providence. Rooms downtown can put you out less than $125.
Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce
OCEAN CITY, NEW JERSEY
Jersey? Sure!
Ocean City bills itself as America’s Greatest Family Resort, so you can bet there are plenty of affordable things to do for large groups that include young’uns. In peak season, the town sees up to 1 million visitors, not least because of the stunning stretches of beaches and the lively boardwalk, which is dotted with sweet shops, galleries, surf shops, and even a water park. It’s a dry town, so you won’t find any loud bars with rowdy crowds. What you will find is an ample selection of low-key kid-friendly eateries. Just their names alone is enough to make even the pickiest eater smile. (See: Hamburger Construction Co. and Augie’s Omelette Waffle House & Grill.) While there are plenty of motels and B&Bs to choose from, Ocean City is actually a popular destination for campers with varied campground options.
Jon Bilous/Dreamstime
THE BRONX, NEW YORK
That's right, the Bronx. You got a problem with that?
Watch the fishing boats chug in and out of the harbor. Dig into a plate of exquisitely fried clams, the initial hot crunch giving way to the warm, gentle eruption of pulled-from-the-sea bivalve-ness. Welcome to Johnny’s Reef, one of City Island’s most popular joints for fresh seafood. And, no, you’re not in Nantucket, you’re in the Bronx. Yup. As in Joe Pesci. As in Kurtis Blow. From its vibrant art, food, and music scene to some of the biggest, wildest urban parks in America, the Bronx is transcending its tough-guy rep and is poised to join the ranks of its more frequently visited neighbors (Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens) minus the sticker shock. The South Bronx has become the borough’s marquee attraction lately, with diverse cultural attractions and home-style restaurants bringing in visitors like never before. Book a Hush Hip Hop Tour to get a feel for the neighborhood’s creative vibe and the chance to meet local hip-hop artists who helped create the now-worldwide music and arts phenomenon. Stop by the Longwood Art Gallery at Hostos Community College for a taste of up-and-coming contemporary artists. Chow down at Sam’s Soul Food and other authentic eateries. The Bronx Museum of the Arts, a relative newcomer among NYC museums (founded in 1971), celebrates contemporary art reflecting a diversity of styles and cultures. Ready for a more rustic experience? Wave Hill, in the suburban-feeling Riverdale neighborhood, is a historic home and beautiful gardens with views of the Hudson River. The finest Italian food in New York City can be found in the Belmont neighborhood, especially along Arthur Avenue, where standouts such as Dominick’s have been stuffing grateful guests with fresh pasta, veal, and vino for decades. The Bronx is, of course, also well-known for such family-friendly hot spots as the new Yankee Stadium, the Bronx Zoo, and the New York Botanical Garden. The retro-chic Opera House Hotel in the South Bronx offers easy access to major subway lines and rooms for under $200/night.
© NYC & Company/Julienne Schaer
NEW BEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS
A fishing industry hub with style fit for the hipster.
Let the history buffs and sports fans have Boston and let the beach bums have Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard. The culture vultures can take Williamstown, but if you’re someone who appreciates all of the above, New Bedford should be your stop in Massachusetts. With what’s been recognized as the #1 fishing port in America, the town’s overall vibe is rooted in history. The long standing New Bedford Whaling Museum pays homage to its rich maritime legacy, as does the brand new New Bedford Fishing Heritage, which opened in June 2016. The town has actually added a lot more in recent years. The newly installed Harbor Walk offers quintessential Massachusetts scenery, lighthouses and all. The craft beer scene, meantime, is getting increasingly exciting, with spots like Greasy Luck Brewery, a brewpub with live music, joining the community in winter 2016 and Moby Dick Brewing Co. opening its doors in March. All this in a city dense with creative types as evident from its vibrant arts community, which makes for great gallery-hopping and antiques hunting. It’s so lively, in fact, that the Massachusetts Cultural Council named New Bedford the most creative community 2017.
Destination New Bedford
BROOKLIN, MAINE
A small New England town with big literary allure.
If you go to the town of Brooklin’s website, you’ll probably see an announcement for an upcoming town meeting at the Brooklin School Gym. It’s that kind of town. Between its clapboard farmhouses, idyllic village-like downtown, complete with a general store and galleries, and the historic Brooklin Boat Yard, as well as The Wooden Boat School, its New England charms have been a draw for all sorts of artists, musicians, sculptors, and writers, most famous among them being EB White, who took a lot of inspiration from the oceanside surrounds when he penned “Charlotte’s Web.” Michael Chabon and Edmond White are among other literary types who've found refuge here. There are a few B&Bs in town where you can get a room at a B&B in the neighborhood of $125/night.
Moe Chen Photography/Getty Images
JIM THORPE, PENNSYLVANIA
Sixteen miles of scenic train route keeps a Victorian spirit alive in the Poconos
The Pennsylvania landscape is dotted with charming small towns, and Jim Thorp is certainly among the stand-outs. Known as the “Switzerland of America” because of its European-esque mountain setting, it’s been a municipality for about three centuries, but in 1954 it was re-christened in honor of James Francis Thorpe, a Native American who won the Olympic medal for decathalon in 1912. History looms large here—especially its legacies of coal mining and railroad development—and that history is on full display in Old Mauch Chunk Historic District. St. Mark’s Episcopal Church (tours available) is one of the eight National Historic Landmarks in the district. But the Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway, a 16-mile trail that starts in Jim Thorpe and runs along a former railroad route, is arguably a bigger draw for history buffs. From May to December you can ride the rails in cars that date back to 1917. The town is an easy trip from Philly and NYC and centrally located hotels and B&Bs can be found for less than $150 a night.
FIRST STATE NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK, DELAWARE
A new national park makes history.
When someone mentions national parks, your mind probably leaps to iconic landscapes like Yellowstone, Yosemite, Acadia. But even as cities around the country get built up and developed, there’s still land getting their historic designation today. The First State National Historical Park that runs through Delaware and into Pennsylvania was established in 2013, making it one of the newest national park. The park links seven sites, from the northern to central parts of the states all the way down to the southern beach region. Of course, it’s worth taking your time and wandering, but there are indeed not-to-be-missed sites, like Historic New Castle, a cobblestone colonial village where you can visit New Castle Court House, a National Historic Landmark. Continuing the legal theme, the Dover Green Historic District, which was first established as a public space in 1717 under William Penn’s watch, lays claim to being the site where the Constitution was first ratified. And if you make Dover your overnight, rest assured there are lodgings with luxury trimmings for as low as $99. The Dover Downs Hotel, for one, is located just a quick drive to The Green and the John Dickinson Plantation, both park stops.
Courtesy VisitDelaware
Big city attractions and natural enclaves in an historic village setting.
With its museums, minor league sports, tax-free shopping, and Lake Massabesic, a watershed that offers fishing, boating, and biking trails, Manchester is a prime pick for a budget-minded getaway in the Granite State. A rejuvenated mill town and New Hampshire’s largest city, Manchester offers history, culture, a diverse dining scene, and an entrepreneurial spirit for a fraction of the cost of a stay in most cities. The Currier Museum of Art has over 12,000 works from iconic and contemporary artists and kids between 13 and 17 can enter for $5; the Millyard Museum's exhibits chronicle over 10,000 years of the region’s history. Sports? You bet. Catch a New Hampshire Fisher Cats game, the Toronto Blue Jays minor league team, if you’re there between April and end of August. The restaurants are collectively a study in the diversity of comfort food, from the old-school diners to Puritan Backroom, which opened a century ago and is said to have originated chicken tenders to newer spots, like locally-obsessed Republic Café, which offers an array of international staples (Spanish meatballs, Moroccan lentil stew) made with local ingredients at out-of-this-world prices. There’s also spots like The Foundry, the state’s largest locally-focused farm-to-table restaurant, that fetch prices on par with bigger metropolises, but it’s worth the splurge. And splurge you should. After all, you can book a room here for under $150. That’ll even leave you enough to visit one of the town’s microbreweries, like Milly’s Tavern, home to Stark Brewing Company, and Candia Road Brewing.
BENNINGTON, VERMONT
Hip modern dining amid an historic backdrop.
When you think of history in New England, you probably think about the marquee sites in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, but plenty of Revolutionary War-era moments went down in the green hills and valleys of Vermont. History is on display in the delightfully artsy college town of Bennington, which is nestled in the Green Mountains in the southern part of the state. The towering Bennington Battle Monument, which has an observation deck, pays homage to a major battle in 1777 and Bennington Old Village, established by religious separatists in 1761, is now a National Historic District. But this being a college town, there’s plenty of contemporary spots to keep you entertained on a student’s budget, especially when it comes to eating and drinking. The pancakes at the diner Papa Pete’s are said to be the world’s largest and Lil’ Britain Fish & Chips Shop, complete with a provisions shop, will have you feeling like you’re on the English coast in no time. Despite it having a small beer scene, it’s nothing to scoff at. Top-rate brewers include Northshire Brewery and Madison Brewing Pub, a brewery and eatery and the town plays host to the Southern Vermont Homebrew Festival as well as Hopfest each year. Add to that spots for nature lovers, like the sprawling Veterans’ Home Deer Park and Trout Pond and hotel rates starting around $150, you have yourself a getaway that’ll keep every family member happy.
Bennington Chamber of Commerce/Lauzon Photography
Iconic art, sustainable sushi, and colonial parks in a legendary college town.
Countless cities play host to universities, but rare is the city that is practically defined by and absolutely worth visiting for its academic institution. New Haven is among those rare ones, as Yale offers a variety of attractions, not to mention a campus that’s swoon worth for its architecture and other incredible sites. The school’s Yale University Art Gallery, renovated and expanded in 2012, houses a world-class collection, from ancient artifacts to iconic modern art. Best part? Admission is free. There’s nearly 2,000 paintings and 200 sculptures from across the pond at Yale Center for British Art, the largest collection of British art outside the UK. It’s free as well. They’re located in the vibrant historic downtown, a maze of bluestone sidewalks, that’s referred to as Shops at Yale and also includes an array of local boutiques, notable theaters, and restaurants. But Yale doesn’t have a total monopoly on the city. Established in 1638, New Haven Green, once the site of a jail and now a National Historic Landmark, has free walking tours and summer concerts. The culinary options include historic joints, like Lois’s Lunch, recognized by Library of Congress as the official birthplace of the hamburger in 1900 and eateries that are as creative as anything you’d find in a big metropolis, like Miya’s Sushi, a James Beard Award-winning spot known for being the first sustainable sushi restaurant. And spending time in New Haven won’t take a massive bite out of your wallet, with plenty of hotels in the $150 to $200 range.
Connecticut Office of Tourism
A charming gaslight district is just a ferry ride away.
Patterson Park, Baltimore’s answer to Central Park, is well worn, but the Fell's Point neighborhood, which you can get to via water ferry, is an adorable neighborhood where an indie spirit pervades. The cobblestone gaslight district is cut through by Thames Street, which runs parallel to the water. It's home to about 50 bars and restaurants, like Barcocina, a nouveau Mexican spot with outdoor seating overlooking the water. And brewhounds, take note: Max's Taphouse, which has over 100 taps and nearly 1000 beers in bottles, is regularly rated one of the top beer bars in the world. The neighborhood's streets are lined with funky indie shops, like The Sound Garden, a store with new and used CDs and vinyl, and Hats in the Belfry, a fancy milliner shop for toppers of all styles. Other storefronts house antique stores, book stores, coffee shops.
Olivier Le Queinec/Dreamstime
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John Kerry has traveled more than any other Secretary of State in history
Bradley Klapper,
Apr. 6, 2016, 8:29 PM
MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — John Kerry is now the most traveled secretary of state in U.S. history, breaking the record as he arrived in the Middle East kingdom of Bahrain on Wednesday.
The trip pushed Kerry past 1.06 million miles as America's top diplomat, narrowly beating Condoleezza Rice by about 1,000 miles. Rice, who was secretary of state under President George W. Bush, held the previous mark with 1.059 million miles.
Kerry eclipsed Hillary Clinton's mileage tally in December.
With 10 months left before a new president takes office, Kerry is showing no signs of tempering his hectic travel schedule. He flew to the Mideast on Tuesday from New York after attending an energy conference, stopping in Ireland to refuel. He plans to visit Japan later in the week.
With no immediate plans to leave the State Department, Kerry could easily pad his new record by hundreds of thousands of miles before departing government.
The former Massachusetts senator and former Democratic presidential nominee has spent more than 2,300 hours — or 96 days — in the air since becoming secretary of state in February 2013. He has spent parts of 467 different days on his well-worn government plane.
One record eludes Kerry still: Clinton's 112 countries visited on the job.
Having shuttled regularly between several favorite destinations — including Paris, London and Jerusalem — Kerry had only been to 80 countries.
Bahrain makes 81.
Kerry's visit to the capital of Manama is the first by an American secretary of state since demonstrations by the kingdom's Shiite majority in 2011. Saudi and Emirati troops helped put down the protests, though discontent continues. Human rights groups chastise Bahrain's Sunni rulers for repression and discrimination.
Kerry will raise human rights concerns when he meets top officials from Bahrain and the Persian Gulf region's other Sunni monarchies countries Thursday. But the focus will be on battling the Islamic State and shared concerns over Iran.
More: Associated Press John Kerry Secretary Of State miles
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Where There’s Vapor: Electronic Cigarettes and Their Risks
By William Mauro | July 18, 2017
Some may have noticed that many “no smoking” signs now include “no e-cigarettes.” A new trend, e-cigarettes are small devices that often look like conventional cigarettes. But that’s not smoke people are exhaling—it’s vapor. E-cigarettes, also known as “vapes,” have become increasingly popular with both smokers and nonsmokers alike, likely due to a perception the devices may be less harmful than conventional cigarettes. But what potential risks do these devices pose? Insurers should consider a range of potential risks connected to e-cigarettes that include latent bodily injury risks, as well as fire and explosion hazards that could entail property damage and bodily injury risks.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) defines e-cigarettes as battery-powered devices designed to vaporize liquids (“e-liquids”) often containing nicotine, flavorings and other chemicals. There are currently hundreds of different makes and models, and thousands of e-liquid flavorings, ranging from traditional tobacco flavors to French vanilla. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control estimates that 3.7 percent of American adults used e-cigarettes in 2014.
Latent bodily injury risk?
Some have argued that e-cigarettes are less harmful than smoking conventional cigarettes—and that they can be used as an effective way to help users quit smoking. In 2015, the United Kingdom’s Public Health England published a study that found e-cigarettes may be 95-percent less dangerous to human health than smoking tobacco. The U.K.’s Royal College of Physicians subsequently recommended that e-cigarettes be used specifically as smoking cessation devices. While the researchers acknowledged that all potential health effects of vaping aren’t known, they argued the potential health threat from such devices is lower than from cigarettes.
This February, Reuters reported that a study led by University College London researchers found that e-cigarettes are “far safer and less toxic than smoking conventional tobacco cigarettes.” Per the Reuters article, the study examined toxin levels in saliva and urine from smokers and e-cigarette users. Smokers who had switched to e-cigarettes reportedly exhibited “significantly lower levels of toxic chemicals and carcinogens compared to people who continued to smoke tobacco cigarettes.” But wait: mention of “toxic chemicals” and “carcinogens”? Yes, researchers have found evidence of toxic chemicals and carcinogens being released by certain vaporized e-liquids. There have been concerns reported that this exposure could pose long-term health risks to e-cigarette users.
For example, a 2014 study found that nearly 75 percent of 159 e-liquid samples contained concentrations of diacetyl and acetyl propionyl, both chemicals that have been associated, when inhaled, with respiratory diseases. Among those diseases is bronchiolitis obliterans, known colloquially as “popcorn lung,” a condition that has been linked to long-term diacetyl exposures among workers employed in manufacturing microwave popcorn and flavorings. While noting the median exposure to these chemicals was significantly lower than that associated with cigarette smoking, the study nonetheless found that nearly half of the liquids containing the chemicals exposed users to concentrations higher than current safety limits for occupational exposure.
One widely reported Harvard University study published in 2015 echoed these findings. The study found that 39 of 51 e-cigarette flavors tested contained diacetyl. Other studies have also found evidence of potentially toxic and carcinogenic substances released when e-juices are vaporized, including benzene, formaldehyde, benzaldehyde, cadmium, isoprene and acetone. A study published in June even found evidence that exposure to chemicals in the vapor could potentially cause as much damage to DNA as that associated with cigarettes.
Limited evidence also shows that “secondhand vaping” may potentially expose bystanders to chemicals in e-cigarette vapor. A 2014 study found some evidence that indoor e-cigarette use may worsen surrounding air quality with ultrafine particles and other potentially carcinogenic hydrocarbons. Even so, one toxicologist was subsequently quoted as saying that e-cigarette vapor may be less hazardous than cigarette smoke to third parties, containing fewer carcinogens and at lower levels.
It remains unclear what long-term health risks exist from extended e-cigarette use—and whether these risks could manifest as bodily injuries. As one chemistry professor has been quoted as saying, “all of this toxicology is a very, very crude science.”
Nonetheless, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has taken action to regulate e-cigarettes as tobacco products. In 2016, the agency finalized its rule regulating the “manufacture, import, packaging, labeling, advertising, promotion, sale, and distribution” of e-cigarettes. These regulations would also require FDA approval for new e-cigarette products and that manufacturers of such products meet a public health standard. The FDA also regulates the marketing of e-cigarettes for therapeutic and smoking cessation purposes.
Explosion and fire risks
But inhalation isn’t the only potential risk associated with e-cigarettes. Fire hazards associated with traditional smoking are also well known. According to the National Fire Protection Association’s “Latest Estimates of Home Fires Started by Smoking Materials, 2014”, more than 17,000 home structure fires within the U.S. were estimated to have started by smoking materials, including cigarettes, pipes and cigars.
In addition, e-cigarettes may pose potential fire and explosion hazards. A report published last year found that, between 2009 and the second quarter of 2015, a total of 92 reported incidents involved overheating and explosions of e-cigarette batteries—as well as fires while the e-cigarettes are in use, with some incidents resulting in life-threatening injury, disability and major property damage. The report also noted there is currently no comprehensive reporting mechanism for e-cigarette fires and explosions.
Such explosions have been linked to overheating of the lithium-ion batteries used to operate many e-cigarette models. Overheating can occur when the batteries are plugged into unsuitable charging units or exposed to high temperatures, or if the batteries are poorly manufactured.
As a result, there have been lawsuits alleging damages from e-cigarette explosions. In 2015, the first reported e-cigarette explosion lawsuit to be tried in the United States concluded with a $1.9 million award. The case in question involved a woman who suffered second-degree burns from an exploding e-cigarette battery. She successfully sued the e-cigarette distributor, a wholesaler and the store that sold the device.
Regulators have also taken action to mitigate potential impacts of exploding e-cigarettes. Of particular concern are e-cigarettes exploding or catching fire on commercial flights. In 2015, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration reportedly recommended that airlines require passengers keep e-cigarettes and related equipment only in aircraft storage bins. In March 2016, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) banned the use of e-cigarettes in all commercial flights of both domestic and those foreign carriers that operate in, to, and from the U.S. In May 2016, DOT then released its final rules prohibiting passengers from charging e-cigarettes aboard aircraft.
In sum, e-cigarettes may not be as harmless as they appear. They can cause latent bodily injury and harm through chemical exposures. They can also cause immediate property damage and bodily injury through overheating, explosions, and fires. As e-cigarettes grow more popular, properly addressing these risks becomes ever more pressing.
William Mauro is director of commercial casualty product development at ISO, a Verisk Analytics (Nasdaq:VRSK) business.
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Categories: National NewsTopics: e cigarette fire risk, FDA, ISO, smoking materials, vaping
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Word Vancouver is this week!
20 Sep, 2017 in Events by Bevan
It’s Western Canada’s largest celebration of literacy and reading, and on Sunday there will be numerous comic-related events in the Alma VanDusen Room of the Vancouver Public Library, including:
Vancouver Comics History (2:40 PM): Cloudscape contributors Bevan Thomas, Colin Upton, and Jonathon Dalton will discuss the history of comics art in Vancouver, starting from local publishers in the 1940s to the indie comics scene and Vancouver comics as they are today.
Neil the Horse (3:50): Canadian cartoonist Katherine Collins discusses her award-winning comic Neil the Horse, the world’s only musical comic book. Neil the Horse appeared in Canadian newspapers from 1975-1982, and subsequently starred in fifteen comic books, from 1983–88. Katherine was inducted into the Giants of the North, Canadian Cartooning Hall of Fame at the 2017 Doug Wright Awards.
Miriam Libicki (4:30): The first cartoonist to become the Vancouver Public Library’s writer-in-residence. Miriam discusses her work, including Toward a Hot Jew, which was named a top ten graphic novel of 2016 by Forbes magazine. Miriam’s comics are based on nonfiction and documentary techniques, such as interviews and photo reference, and also deal with themes of identity and culture clash.
For more information, check out Word Vancouver.
← This week’s Cloud Shop: Storytelling with Steve LeCouilliard
Cloud Shop: Composition with Vanessa Kelly →
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The Green Berets in the Land of a Million Elephants
U.S. Army Special Warfare and the Secret War in Laos 1959–74
Joseph Celeski
The first full history of the U.S. Army Special Forces who served and fought in the Secret War in Laos.
100 images, 10 maps and charts
The Secret War in Laos was one of the first "Long Wars” for special operations, spanning a period of about thirteen years. It was one of the largest CIA-paramilitary operations of the time, kept out of the view of the American public until now.
Between 1959 and 1974, Green Berets were covertly deployed to Laos to prevent a communist take-over or at least preserve the kingdom's neutrality. Operators dressed in civilian clothes, armed with cover stories and answering only to "Mister", were delivered to the country by Air America, where they answered to the U.S. Ambassador. There they were faced with the complexities of the three factions in Laos, as well as operating with limited resources - maps of the country often had large blank areas and essential supplies often didn't arrive at all. In challenging tropical conditions they trained and undertook combat advisory duties with native and tribal forces. Veterans remember Hmong guerrillas and Lao soldiers who were often shorter than the M1 rifles they carried.
The Green Berets' service in Laos was the first strategic challenge since its formation in 1952, and proved one of the first major applications of special warfare doctrine. Clouded in secrey until the 1990s, this story is comprehensively told for the first time using official archival documents and interviews with veterans.
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Diocese of Passau
(PASSAVIENSIS)
Located in Bavaria, suffragan of Munich-Freising, including within its boundaries one district and one parish in Upper Bavaria and the City of Passau and 10 districts in Lower Bavaria (see GERMANY, Map ).
The Diocese of Passau may be considered the successor of the ancient Diocese of Lorch ( Laureacum ). At Lorch, a Roman station and an important stronghold at the junction of the Enns and the Danube, Christianity found a foothold in the third century, during a period of Roman domination, and a Bishop of Lorch certainly existed in the fourth. During the great migrations, Christianity on the Danube was completely rooted out, and the Celtic and Roman population was annihilated or enslaved. In the region between the Lech and the Enns, the wandering Bajuvari were converted to Christianity in the seventh century, while the Avari, to the east, remained pagan. The ecclesiastical organization of Bavaria was brought about by St. Boniface, who, with the support of Duke Odilo, erected the four sees of Freising, Ratisbon, Passau, and Salzburg. He confirmed as incumbent of Passau, Bishop Vivilo, or Vivolus, who had been ordained by Pope Gregory III, and who was for a long time the only bishop in Bavaria. Thenceforth, Vivilo resided permanently at Passau, on the site of the old Roman colony of Batavis. Here was a church, the founder of which is not known, dedicated to St. Stephen. To Bishop Vivilo's diocese was annexed the ancient Lorch, which meanwhile had become a small and unimportant place. By the duke's generosity, a cathedral was soon erected near the Church of St. Stephen, and here the bishop lived in common with his clergy. The boundaries of the diocese extended westwards to the Isar, and eastwards to the Enns. In ecclesiastical affairs Passau was probably, from the beginning, suffragan to Salzburg. Through the favour of Dukes Odilo and Tassilo, the bishopric received many costly gifts, and several monasteries arose — e.g. Niederalteich, Niebernburg, Mattsee, Kremsmünster — which were richly endowed. Under Bishop Waltreich (774-804), after the conquest of the Avari, who had assisted the rebellious Duke Tassilo, the district between the Enns and the Raab was added to the diocese, which thus included the whole eastern part (Ostmark) of Southern Bavaria and part of what is now Hungary. The first missionaries to the pagan Hungarians went out from Passau, and in 866 the Church sent missionaries to Bulgaria.
Passau, the outermost eastern bulwark of the Germans, suffered most from the incursions of the Hungarians. At that time many churches and monasteries were destroyed. When, after the victory of Lech, the Germans pressed forward and regained the old Ostmark, Bishop Adalbert (946-971) hoped to extend his spiritual jurisdiction over Hungary. His successor Piligrim (971-91), who worked zealously and successfully for the Christianization of Pannonia, aspired to free Passau from the metropolitan authority of Salzburg, but was completely frustrated in this, as well as in his attempt to assert the metropolitan claims which Passau was supposed to have inherited from Lorch, and to include all Hungary in his diocese. By founding many monasteries in his diocese he prepared the way for the princely power of later bishops. It is undoubtedly to his credit that he built many new churches and restored others from ruins. His successor, Christian (991-1002) received in 999 from Otto III the market privilege and the rights of coinage, taxation, and higher and lower jurisdiction. Henry II granted him a large part of the North Forest. Henceforward, indeed, the bishops ruled as princes of the empire, although the title was used for the first time only in a document in 1193. Under Berengar (1013-45) the whole district east of the Viennese forest as far as Letha and March was placed under the jurisdiction of Passau. During his time the cathedral chapter made its appearance, but there is little information concerning its beginning as a distinct corporation with the right of electing a bishop. This right was much hampered by the exercise of imperial influence.
At the beginning of the Conflict of Investures, St. Altmann (q.v.) occupied the see (1065-91) and was one of the few German bishops who adhered to Gregory VII. Ulrich I, Count of Höfft (1092-1121), who was for a time driven from his see by Henry IV, furthered the monastic reforms and the Crusades. Reginmar (1121-38), Reginbert, Count of Hegenau (1136-47) who took part in the crusade of Conrad III, and Conrad of Austria (1149-64), a brother of Bishop Otto of Freising, were all much interested in the foundation of new monasteries and the reform for those already existing. Ulrich, Count of Andechs (1215-21), was formally recognized as a prince of the empire at the Reichstag of Nuremberg in 1217. The reforms which were begun by Gebhard von Plaien (1221-32) and Rüdiger von Rodeck (1233-1250) found a zealous promoter in Otto von Lonsdorf (1254-65), one of the greatest bishops of Passau. He took stringent measures against the relaxed monasteries, introduced the Franciscans and Dominicans into his diocese, promoted the arts and sciences, and collected the old documents which had survived the storms of the preceding period, so that to him we owe almost all our knowledge of the early history of Passau. (See Schmidt, "Otto von Lonsdorf, Bischof zu Passau", Würzburg, 1903.) Bishop Peter, formerly Canon of Breslau, contributed much to the greatness of the House of Habsburg by bestowing episcopal fiefs on the sons of King Rudolph. Under Bernhard of Brambach (1285-1313) began the struggles of Passau to become a free imperial city. After an uprising in May, 1298, the bishop granted the burghers, in the municipal ordinance of 1299, privileges in conformity with what was called the Bernhardine Charter. The cathedral having been burned down in 1281, he built a new cathedral which lasted until 1662. Albert III von Winkel (1363-80) was particularly active in the struggle with the burghers and in resisting the robber-knights. The Black Death visited the bishopric under Gottfried II von Weitzenbeck (1342-62). George I von Hohenlohe (1388-1421), who, after 1418, was imperial chancellor, energetically opposed the Hussites. During the time of Ulrich III von Nussdorf (1451-79) the diocese suffered its first great curtailment by the formation of the new Diocese of Vienna (1468). This diocese was afterwards further enlarged at the expense of Passau by Sixtus IV. Towards the close of the fifteenth century the conflict between an Austrian candidate for the see and a Bavarian brought about a state of war in the diocese.
The Reformation was kept out of all the Bavarian part of the diocese, except the Countship of Ortenburg, by the efforts of Ernest of Bavaria who, though never consecrated, ruled the diocese from 1517 to 1541. The new heresy found many adherents, however, in the Austrian portion. Wolfgang I Count of Salm (1540-55) and Urban von Trennbach (1561-98) led the counter-Reformation. Under Wolfgang the Peace of Passau was concluded, in the summer of 1552 (see CHARLES V ). The last Bavarian prince-bishop was Urban, who in his struggles during the Reformation received substantial aid for the Austrian part of the diocese from Albert V, Duke of Bavaria, and, after 1576, from Emperor Rudolph II. All the successors of Urban were Austrians. Bishop Leopold I (1598-1625) (also Bishop of Strasburg after 1607) was one of the first to enter the Catholic League of 1609. In the Thirty Years' War he was loyal to his brother, Emperor Ferdinand II . Leopold II Wilhelm (1625-62), son of Ferdinand II, a pious prince and a great benefactor of the City of Passau, especially after the great conflagration of 1662, finally united five bishoprics. Count Wenzelaus von Thun (1664-73) began the new cathedral which was completed thirty years later by Paul Philip of Lamberg. He and his nephew Joseph Dominicus, his mediate successor (1723-62), became cardinals. When Vienna was raised to an archdiocese in 1722, he relinquished the parishes beyond the Viennese Forest, hence was exempted from the metropolitan authority of Salzburg, and obtained the pallium for himself and his successors. Leopold Ernst, Count of Firmian (1763-83), created cardinal in 1772, established an institute of theology at Passau and, after the suppression of the Jesuits , founded a lyceum. Under Joseph, Count of Auersperg (1783-95), Emperor Joseph II took away two-thirds of the diocese to form the two dioceses of Linz and St. Pölten (see LINZ). The last prince-bishop, Leopold von Thun (1796-1826), saw the secularization of the old bishopric in 1803; the City of Passau and the temporalities on the left bank of the Inn and the right bank of the Ilz went to Bavaria, while the territory on the left banks of the Danube and of the Ilz went to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and afterwards to Austria. On 22 February, 1803, when the Bavarians marched into Passau, the prince-bishop withdrew to his estates in Bohemia, and never revisited his former residence.
By the Concordat of 1818, the diocese was given the boundaries which it still has. After the death of the last prince-bishop, Passau's exemption from metropolitan power ceased, and the diocese became suffragan of Munich-Freising. Bishop Charles Joseph von Riccabona (1826-38) turned his attention to the care of the rising generation of clergy. With the support of King Louis I, he founded a preparatory course and then reopened the lyceum with a faculty of law and of theology. Henry von Hofstätter (1839-75) established a complete theological seminary, and a school for boys. The former of these found a great benefactor in Bishop Franz von Weckert (1875-79); the latter, in Michael von Rampf (1889-1901), who for sixteen years had been vicar-general of the Archdiocese of Munich-Freising. He was followed by Antonius von Thoma (March-October, 1889), who was promoted to the archiepiscopal See of Munich, and succeeded by Antonius von Henle (1901-06), who was transferred to Ratisbon. The present diocesan, Sigismund Felix von Ow-Felldorf, was appointed 11 January, 1906, and consecrated on 24 February, 1906.
ACTUAL CONDITIONS
The diocese is divided into a city commission and 19 rural deaneries. In 1910 it numbered 222 parishes, and 102 other benefices and exposituren, 607 clerics, of whom 219 were parish priests, 49 were engaged at the cathedral and in diocesan educational institutions, and 67 were regulars. The resident Catholic population was 354,200. The cathedral chapter consists of a cathedral provost, a dean, 8 canons, 6 vicars, 1 preacher, and 1 precentor ( Domkapellmeister ). The diocesan institutions are the seminary for clerics, dedicated to St. Stephen, with 95 alumni, and the boys' seminary at Passau; the state institutions are a gymnasium at Passau, 2 homes for priests, 1 home for super-annuated priests. There is a state lyceum at Passau with 8 religious professors, where candidates for the priesthood study philosophy and theology. The following orders and congregations were established in the diocese : Benedictine Missionaries of St. Ottilien, a missionary seminary with 9 fathers and 20 brothers; Capuchins, 5 monasteries, 54 fathers, 24 tertiary clerics, and 65 lay brothers ; Redemptorists, 1 monastery with 3 fathers and 3 brothers. Female orders: Benedictines, 1 convent, 46 sisters ; Cistercians, 1 house, 48 sisters ; English Ladies, 3 mother-houses 30 affiliated institutions, 866 members; Poor School Sisters of Notre Dame, from the mother-house at Munich, 7 institutions, with 35 sisters ; Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul from the mother-house at Munich, 18 houses with 79 sisters ; Sisters of the Most Holy Redeemer, from Neiderbronn, Alsace, 2 institutions with 9 sisters ; Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis, from Mallersdorf, Lower Bavaria, 25 institutions with 125 sisters. The English Ladies and the School Sisters devote themselves to the education of girls, while those in most of the remaining institutions of the diocese (the Benedictines and Cistercians being contemplatives ) are occupied with the care of the sick. Among the pious organizations of the diocese may be mentioned the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, the Society of St. Elizabeth, the Brotherhood for the Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, the Society of St. Cecilia, the Societies of Catholic Workmen, the Volksverein of Catholic Germany. The most important Catholic periodicals are "Die Donauzeitung" and "Die Theologisch-praktische Monatschrift", both published at Passau.
The cathedral, with the exception of the choir and the transept built in 1407, was rebuilt after the fire of 1662 by the Italians Lorago and Canone, in the baroque style ; its two towers were finished in 1896-98 by Heinr. von Schmidt. From Gothic times date the parish church of the city of Neuötting (1450-80), the cathedral at Altötting (fourteenth and fifteenth centuries) with the tombs of Karlmann and of Tilly, the Herrenkapelle near the cathedral at Passau (1414); Renaissance and Baroque are the former Cistercian church at Aldersbach (1700-34), the Church of the Premonstratensians at Osterhofen (completed in 1740), the parish church at Niederalteich, formerly the church of a Benedictine abbey (1718-26). The diocese contains the most famous place of pilgrimage in all Bavaria : the Chapel of Our Lady at Altötting, which is visited each year by from 200,000 to 300,000 pilgrims. In this chapel the hearts of the Bavarian royal family have been preserved opposite the miraculous picture, since the time of the Elector Maximilian I.
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Gene Wilder 1933-2016
Gene Wilder, the frizzy-haired actor who brought his deft comedic touch to such unforgettable roles as the neurotic accountant in “The Producers” and the deranged animator of “Young Frankenstein,” has died at age 83 on August 28, 2016. Wilder’s nephew, Jordan Walker-Pearlman, said in a statement that his uncle died from complications from Alzheimer’s disease at his home in Stamford, Conn.
Wilder was a master at playing panicked characters caught up in schemes that only a madman such as Mel Brooks could devise, whether reviving a monster in “Young Frankenstein” or bilking Broadway in “The Producers.”
Photo: Gene Wilder played the part of the grandson of the original Frankenstein, with Peter Boyle (on table) as the new monster in “Young Frankenstein.”
Credit: 20th Century Fox
Wilder, a Milwaukee native, was born Jerome Silberman on June 11, 1933. His father was a Russian emigre, his mother was of Polish descent. When he was 6, Wilder’s mother suffered a heart attack that left her a semi-invalid. He soon began improvising comedy skits to entertain her, the first indication of his future career.
He started taking acting classes at age 12 and continued performing and taking lesson through college. In 1961, Wilder became a member of Lee Strasberg’s prestigious Actor’s Studio in Manhattan.
That same year, he made both his off-Broadway and Broadway debuts. He won the Clarence Derwent Award, given to promising newcomers, for the Broadway work in Graham Greene’s comedy “The Complaisant Lover.”
Credit: Paramount Pictures
He used his new name, Gene Wilder, for the off-Broadway and Broadway roles at the start of his career. He lifted the first name from the character Eugene Gant in Thomas Wolfe’s “Look Back, Homeward Angel,” while the last name was clipped from playwright Thornton Wilder. A key break came when he co-starred with Anne Bancroft in Bertolt Brecht’s “Mother Courage,” and met Brooks, her future husband.
Photo: Gene Wilder as the charming candy man in the 1971 children’s favorite “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.”
Gene Wilder and Madeline Kahn
Wilder started his acting career on the stage, but millions knew him from his work in the movies, especially his collaborations with Mel Brooks on “The Producers,” ‘’Blazing Saddles” and “Young Frankenstein.” The last film - with Wilder playing a California-born descendant of the mad scientist, insisting that his name is pronounced “Frahn-ken-SHTEEN” - was co-written by Brooks and Wilder.
Photo: Gene Wilder and Madeline Kahn in a scene from the 1974 “Young Frankenstein.”
"The Producers"
In 1968 Gene Wilder starred with Zero Mostel in Mel Brooks’ comedy “The Producers,” about a shifty theatrical producer who enlists the aid of a neurotic accountant in a scheme to defraud investors in a sure-fire flop.
Credit: Embassy Pictures
Gene Wilder, Zero Mostel and Lee Meredith in “The Producers.” Wilder earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
Gene Wilder Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx
Eileen Colgan and Gene Wilder in the romantic comedy, “Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx” (1970), costarring Margot Kidder.
Credit: UMC Pictures
"Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex"
Gene Wilder finds true love in Woody Allen’s “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (But Were Afraid to Ask)“ (1972).
Credit: United Artists
"Blazing Saddles"
Gene Wilder and Cleavon Little in the hit western comedy from Mel Brooks, “Blazing Saddles” (1974).
“One of the truly great talents of our time,” Mel Brooks tweeted. “He blessed every film we did with his magic & he blessed me with his friendship.”
Credit: Warner Bros.
Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder in “Blazing Saddles.”
Credit: Warner Brothers
"Young Frankenstein"
Gene Wilder shared an Oscar nomination with Mel Brooks for the screenplay of “Young Frankenstein.”
Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor
Gene Wilder, left, and Richard Pryor, seen here in December 1980, were close friends - they were co-writers of “Blazing Saddles” - and their contrasting personas (Wilder uptight, Pryor loose) were ideal for comedy.
As a team they created several memorable scenes on-screen, particularly when Pryor provided Wilder with directions on how to “act black” in order to avoid police in “Silver Streak “ (1976).
They later co-starred in three more films: ‘’Stir Crazy,” ‘’See No Evil, Hear No Evil,” and “Another You.”
"The Frisco Kid"
A scene from the 1979 comedy-western, “The Frisco Kid,” with Gene Wilder and Harrison Ford.
“The Woman in Red”
Gene Wilder received two Academy Award nominations - for Best Supporting Actor for “The Producers,” and for Best Adapted Screenplay (shared with Mel Brooks) for “Young Frankenstein.”
Photo: Wilder in “The Woman in Red” (1984), one of nine films he wrote or co-wrote.
Credit: Orion Pictures
Gene Wilder and Gilda Radner
Gilda Radner, left, and Gene Wilder are shown in a scene from the film “Hanky Panky,” directed by Sidney Poitier, Aug. 27, 1981.
Wilder was married four times. While making the generally forgettable film, Wilder fell in love with co-star Radner. They were married in 1984, and co-starred in two Wilder-penned films: “The Lady in Red” and “Haunted Honeymoon.” Radner died of cancer in 1989.
After Radner, his third wife, died of ovarian cancer in 1989, Wilder spent much of his time after promoting cancer research and opened a support facility for cancer patients. In 1991, he testified before Congress about the need for increased testing for cancer. That same year, he appeared in his final film role: “Another You” with Pryor.
Credit: Bill Polo/AP
Gene Wilder Haunted Honeymoon
Gene Wilder in the horror-comedy “Haunted Honeymoon” (1986), which also starred Gilda Radner, Dom DeLuise and Jonathan Pryce.
Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor in “See No Evil, Hear No Evil,” released in 1989.
Credit: TriStar Pictures
Gene and Karen Wilder
Wilder married Karen Boyer in 1991. The two are seen in this photo before Wilder received the Governor’s Awards for Excellence in Culture and Tourism at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford, Conn., April 9, 2008. Wilder was one of four recipients of the award given by the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism.
Credit: Jessica Hill/AP
Gene Wilder and Rolf Saxon
Gene Wilder performs alongside compatriot Rolf Saxon, during the rehearsal of a scene from Neil Simon’s “Laughter on the 23rd Floor” in New York, October 2, 1996.
Credit: Shawn Baldwin/REUTERS
Wilder as an author
Actor and writer Gene Wilder signs a copy of his debut novel, “My French Whore,” at Waterstones in London on May 11, 2007. In 2006, his memoir “Kiss Me Like a Stranger” was published.
Credit: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images
Actor and author Gene Wilder poses as he autographs his new book “The Woman Who Wouldn’t” during a book signing session in New York, March 26, 2008.
Wilder worked mostly in television in recent years, including appearances on “Will & Grace” (which earned him an Emmy Award for outstanding guest actor) and a starring role in the short-lived sitcom “Something Wilder.”
Credit: Lucas Jackson/REUTERS
As for why he stopped appearing on the big screen, Wilder said in 2013 he was turned off by the noise and foul language in modern movies.
“I didn’t want to do the kind of junk I was seeing,” he said in an interview. “I didn’t want to do 3D, for instance. I didn’t want to do ones where there’s just bombing and loud and swearing, so much swearing... can’t they just stop and talk instead of swearing?”
Photo: Gene Wilder at the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York, Sept. 14, 2009.
Beantown Lecture
Wilder would insist in a 2013 interview that he was no comedian. He told interviewer Robert Osborne it was the biggest misconception about him.
“What a comic, what a funny guy, all that stuff! And I’m not. I’m really not. Except in a comedy in films,” Wilder said. “But I make my wife laugh once or twice in the house, but nothing special. But when people see me in a movie and it’s funny then they stop and say things to me about ‘how funny you were.’ But I don’t think I’m that funny. I think I can be in the movies.”
Photo: Gene Wilder speaks about his life and career at Boston University, March 16, 2005.
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Helaman 1
Helaman 10
The Book of Helaman
An account of the Nephites. Their wars and contentions, and their dissensions. And also the prophecies of many holy prophets, before the coming of Christ, according to the records of Helaman, who was the son of Helaman, and also according to the records of his sons, even down to the coming of Christ. And also many of the Lamanites are converted. An account of their conversion. An account of the righteousness of the Lamanites, and the wickedness and abominations of the Nephites, according to the record of Helaman and his sons, even down to the coming of Christ, which is called the book of Helaman, and so forth.
Pahoran the second becomes chief judge and is murdered by Kishkumen—Pacumeni fills the judgment seat—Coriantumr leads the Lamanite armies, takes Zarahemla, and slays Pacumeni—Moronihah defeats the Lamanites and retakes Zarahemla, and Coriantumr is slain. About 52–50 B.C.
1 And now behold, it came to pass in the commencement of the fortieth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, there began to be a serious difficulty among the people of the Nephites.
2 For behold, aPahoran had died, and gone the way of all the earth; therefore there began to be a serious contention concerning who should have the judgment-seat among the brethren, who were the sons of Pahoran.
3 Now these are their names who did contend for the judgment-seat, who did also cause the people to contend: Pahoran, Paanchi, and Pacumeni.
4 Now these are not all the sons of Pahoran (for he had many), but these are they who did contend for the judgment-seat; therefore, they did cause three adivisions among the people.
5 Nevertheless, it came to pass that Pahoran was appointed by the avoice of the people to be chief judge and a governor over the people of Nephi.
6 And it came to pass that Pacumeni, when he saw that he could not obtain the judgment-seat, he did aunite with the voice of the people.
7 But behold, Paanchi, and that part of the people that were desirous that he should be their governor, was exceedingly wroth; therefore, he was about to aflatter away those people to rise up in rebellion against their brethren.
8 And it came to pass as he was about to do this, behold, he was taken, and was tried according to the avoice of the people, and condemned unto death; for he had raised up in rebellion and sought to destroy the bliberty of the people.
9 Now when those people who were desirous that he should be their governor saw that he was condemned unto death, therefore they were angry, and behold, they sent forth one aKishkumen, even to the judgment-seat of Pahoran, and murdered Pahoran as he sat upon the judgment-seat.
10 And he was pursued by the servants of Pahoran; but behold, so speedy was the flight of Kishkumen that no man could overtake him.
11 And he went unto those that sent him, and they all entered into a covenant, yea, aswearing by their everlasting Maker, that they would tell no man that Kishkumen had murdered Pahoran.
12 Therefore, Kishkumen was not known among the people of Nephi, for he was in disguise at the time that he murdered Pahoran. And Kishkumen and his band, who had covenanted with him, did mingle themselves among the people, in a manner that they all could not be found; but as many as were found were condemned unto adeath.
13 And now behold, Pacumeni was appointed, according to the avoice of the people, to be a chief judge and a governor over the people, to reign in the stead of his brother Pahoran; and it was according to his right. And all this was done in the fortieth year of the reign of the judges; and it had an end.
14 And it came to pass in the forty and first year of the reign of the judges, that the Lamanites had gathered together an innumerable army of men, and aarmed them with swords, and with cimeters and with bows, and with arrows, and with head-plates, and with breastplates, and with all manner of shields of every kind.
15 And they came down again that they might pitch battle against the Nephites. And they were led by a man whose name was aCoriantumr; and he was a descendant of Zarahemla; and he was a bdissenter from among the Nephites; and he was a large and a mighty man.
16 Therefore, the king of the Lamanites, whose name was Tubaloth, who was the son of aAmmoron, supposing that Coriantumr, being a mighty man, could stand against the Nephites, with his strength and also with his great bwisdom, insomuch that by sending him forth he should gain power over the Nephites—
17 Therefore he did astir them up to anger, and he did gather together his armies, and he did appoint Coriantumr to be their leader, and did cause that they should march down to the land of Zarahemla to battle against the Nephites.
18 And it came to pass that because of so much contention and so much difficulty in the government, that they had not kept sufficient guards in the land of Zarahemla; for they had supposed that the Lamanites durst not come into the heart of their lands to attack that great city Zarahemla.
19 But it came to pass that Coriantumr did march forth at the head of his numerous host, and came upon the inhabitants of the city, and their march was with such exceedingly great speed that there was no time for the Nephites to gather together their armies.
20 Therefore Coriantumr did cut down the watch by the entrance of the city, and did march forth with his whole army into the city, and they did slay every one who did oppose them, insomuch that they did take possession of the whole city.
21 And it came to pass that Pacumeni, who was the chief judge, did flee before Coriantumr, even to the walls of the city. And it came to pass that Coriantumr did smite him against the wall, insomuch that he died. And thus ended the days of Pacumeni.
22 And now when Coriantumr saw that he was in possession of the city of Zarahemla, and saw that the Nephites had fled before them, and were slain, and were taken, and were cast into prison, and that he had obtained the possession of the strongest hold in all the land, his heart atook courage insomuch that he was about to go forth against all the land.
23 And now he did not tarry in the land of Zarahemla, but he did march forth with a large army, even towards the city of aBountiful; for it was his determination to go forth and cut his way through with the sword, that he might obtain the north parts of the land.
24 And, supposing that their greatest strength was in the center of the land, therefore he did march forth, giving them no time to assemble themselves together save it were in small bodies; and in this manner they did fall upon them and cut them down to the earth.
25 But behold, this march of Coriantumr through the center of the land gave Moronihah great advantage over them, notwithstanding the greatness of the number of the Nephites who were slain.
26 For behold, Moronihah had supposed that the Lamanites durst not come into the center of the land, but that they would attack the cities round about in the borders as they had hitherto done; therefore Moronihah had caused that their strong armies should maintain those parts round about by the borders.
27 But behold, the Lamanites were not frightened according to his desire, but they had come into the center of the land, and had taken the capital city which was the city of Zarahemla, and were marching through the most capital parts of the land, slaying the people with a great slaughter, both men, women, and children, taking possession of many cities and of many strongholds.
28 But when Moronihah had discovered this, he immediately sent forth Lehi with an army round about to ahead them before they should come to the land Bountiful.
29 And thus he did; and he did head them before they came to the land Bountiful, and gave unto them battle, insomuch that they began to retreat back towards the land of Zarahemla.
30 And it came to pass that Moronihah did head them in their retreat, and did give unto them battle, insomuch that it became an exceedingly bloody battle; yea, many were slain, and among the number who were slain aCoriantumr was also found.
31 And now, behold, the Lamanites could not retreat either way, neither on the north, nor on the south, nor on the east, nor on the west, for they were surrounded on every hand by the Nephites.
32 And thus had Coriantumr plunged the Lamanites into the midst of the Nephites, insomuch that they were in the power of the Nephites, and he himself was slain, and the Lamanites did ayield themselves into the hands of the Nephites.
33 And it came to pass that Moronihah took possession of the city of Zarahemla again, and caused that the Lamanites who had been taken prisoners should depart out of the land in apeace.
34 And thus ended the forty and first year of the reign of the judges.
Matt. 12:25.
Mosiah 29:11; Alma 51:7; Hel. 5:2.
TG Unity.
Mosiah 27:8; Alma 50:35; Hel. 2:5; Ether 8:2.
Alma 1:14 (10–15).
TG Liberty.
Hel. 2:3.
Gen. 24:3; Ether 8:14 (13–14).
TG Capital Punishment.
Hel. 1:5; 2:2.
Alma 2:12; 49:6 (6, 24).
Hel. 1:30.
Alma 31:8; 53:8; Hel. 4:8.
Ezek. 28:5 (4–5).
Alma 35:10; 47:1.
Alma 50:34; 51:29 (29–30).
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Sienna 'picked apart'
Sienna Miller claims she feels 'picked apart' by press following Jude Law split
Sienna Miller has spoken publicly for the first time since her split from fiancé Jude Law and has said that she feels "picked apart" by the press speculation surrounding her separation, insisting it's "not a nice feeling."
The British couple announced their break-up last month, less than year after they had rekindled their romance following a previous split. They had called of their first engagement back in 2006 when the 37-year-old Sherlock Holmes actor admitted to an affair with his children's nanny, which was exposed in the tabloids.
It was then claimed by sources reportedly close to Jude that it was 29-year-old Sienna who had insinuated the split with reports she wasn't ready to settle down. It was then rumoured that Sienna had formed a close bond with her West End play Flare Path co-star, 31-year-old Joe Armstrong.
The Factory Girl actress's spokesperson vehemently denied the claims, before the star went on to be romantically linked to Robert Pattinson's close friend and fellow British actor, Tom Sturrdige.
But Sienna is insisting her split with Jude was "amicable and mutual", telling Time Out magazine:
"I do feel very picked apart by it. When two people have separated and have both stated that it's amicable and mutual yet, regardless of that... it's not a nice feeling to have people talk about you behind your back and for it not to be true and for you not to be able to retaliate. But it's in newspapers I don't read. And frankly, c'est la vie."
Meanwhile, she laughed off any romance with Armstrong, adding:
"I'm single! Poor Joe is like, 'What's going on?' We all find it ridiculous and laughable."
Best new books to read
Sienna & Tom?
Sienna to blame?
Sienna on split
Sienna Miller's pregnancy confirmed
David Beckham not picked for Olympics
Pregnant Sienna Miller speaks!
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Mooney Calls for Closer Look at Stream Protection Rule
Via West Virginia MetroNews:
WASHINGTON, D.C. — West Virginia Second District Congressman Alex Mooney urged an Obama administration official to take a close look at the economic impact the federal Stream Protection Rule would have on the Mountain State in a meeting that took place in Washington, D.C. earlier this week.
Mooney met with Office of Management and Budget Administrator Howard Shelanski Thursday. Part of Shelanski’s job is to review the impact of rules proposed by agencies, Mooney said.
“We’re appealing to him for some fairness on the economic impact (of the Stream Protection Rule). I believe he does see that as his duty to make sure that whatever rules are promulgated can withstand court scrutiny,” Mooney, who has a bill that would put a two-year pause on the rule, said.
The Stream Protection Rule, also called the “buffer zone rule,” overhauls and updates rules first implemented in 1983 and are written to address any potentially negative environmental effects from coal mining on surface water and groundwater.
Once finalized, the rule could apply to about 6,500 miles of streams and will cover both surface mines and any surface effects originating in underground mines.
U.S. Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement has failed to highlight the economic impact, Mooney said.
“The folks pushing this in the Department of Interior have claimed there would be virtually no economic impact, no job loss, and I point out that’s simply not true,” Mooney said.
He said he made that point to Shelanski.
“This rule would be, we believe, drastically horrible for the coal mining industry. It would be another tough shot,” Mooney said.
Mooney’s meeting comes a few days after a federal judge ordered the EPA to respond to job loss concerns. U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency must meet requirements of the 1971 Clean Air Act.
Bailey’s order gives the EPA 14 days to come up with a plan and implementation schedule that would determine the potential job losses caused by agency regulations. The ruling followed a lawsuit filed by Murray Energy.
Shelanski still has to review the Stream Protection Rule and then there would be another 30 days before it is finalized, Mooney said.
EPA Undeterred by Court Rulings
The Reality of Regulatory Costs
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The CD Collection--GET WILD SONG MAFIA by TM Network
Welcome to a special CCLemon99 review of a single CD release. I know, I know--I usually review like sixty-seven CDs in a post, but I'm going to make a special exception for this week.
Hit songs are not unheard of...I mean, just turn on the radio right now. Whatever song is playing is a hit song. For a song to be celebrated thirty years after it's release (and arguably gaining momentum along the way) you really have something special.
Get Wild is the tenth single from a band called TM Network. The band consists of Takashi Utsunomiya, Tetsuya Komuro (who I promise to write much, much more on in the future), and Naoto Kine. All three members of the band are wonderfully talented multi-instrumentalists, however, Utsunomiya is behind the microphone and the others are usually behind their respective keyboard rigs during performances. On their own they each have had very different solo careers. Utsunomiya is the rocker, Komuro completely dominated JPOP for most of the 1990s as a mega-producer, and Kine...I have to listen to more of his work (I only have his first album...I really like it, though!).
While it's pretty clear that TM Network thrives on sentimentality (their second single is a sweet little diddy called 1974), Get Wild is a song that really could have survived on it's own. The Get Wild story truly begins two days before the single was even released. On April 6, 1987 an animated adaptation of a hit manga series called "City Hunter" debuted on television. Get Wild was selected as the series ending theme song. Every episode of City Hunter during it's five(ish) year television run had the same format at the end. There would be a slowly panning freeze-frame with continuing dialogue as the ending theme song (whatever it may be...there were many) started to wash in. None worked as perfectly as Get Wild did. It was like a gentle nudge out of the door rather than "here's who made the show you just watched...take it or leave it".
Thirty years after it's release, a lot has happened with not only TM Network, but also Get Wild. It's become a bit of a timeless relic that can also be adapted to fit every time and place. Do you want a version of it set to Eurobeat? Sure. How about a remix to make it actually sound like it came from the 80s? It's been done. A cover by a French singer? Oui. OK, OK...what about...a cover by the song's writer??? YES! In thirty years this song has become everything to everyone.
Which brings us to the point of this post. I am reviewing a brand new 4-Disc CD set which contains thirty-six versions of Get Wild spanning 1987 to 2017. It features all of the aforementioned covers (and more) plus remixes, live versions, and other studio releases. On top of that it contains a booklet (that I really haven't had time to breeze through...yet) containing a lot of information and interviews with the band and even Tsukasa Hojo, creator of City Hunter.
Happy Birthday, Get Wild. Life isn't so bad in your 30s...
DISC ONE AVCD-93669
This disc covers the early releases from TM Network (and the time they were known as TMN). It's a bit of a mixture or remixes, new versions, and live versions.
NOTE: The CD set provides recording dates for all of the live versions of the song. I added EP/CD release dates for all of the studio versions/mixes just to show continuity.
Let's take a look at the first fifteen years of Get Wild.
01. Get Wild [1987/4/8]
You know...I was excited at the prospect of getting to review Get Wild proper until I realized I didn't have much to say about the song itself. Get Wild is a tough one to describe because it's a part of me. It has always been around, but it became important to me when I was going through something particularly rough. Even though it's a great song on it's own, I imagine it connects with people as well given it's accelerated popularity since it's release.
Get Wild is a song that can exist in any time. It has a way of latching on to memories, good or bad, and turns them into something worth remembering. I guess what I'm trying to say is...it's a life-changing tune. It's memorable, at least to me, in a very deep way. Lyrics like "Get Wild and Tough" don't really touch me as much as the overall message of the song does.
It's a beautiful song--start to finish, note to note. I know I might be overselling it, I feel the lyrics are as surgical as every note played. Everyone has been in a situation where this song is applicable...
All of this...and the song only peaked at number nine on the Oricon chart in 1987... Well, as of this writing, GET WILD SONG MAFIA holds the number one spot on the Oricon chart. How about that?
02. Get Wild ("FANKS CRY-MAX" Version) [1987/6/24]
I suppose I should explain what FANKS are (Hi, fportobr). FANKS are fans of TM Nework. The word is a loose portmanteau of FUNK, PUNK, and FANS. Yeah, I guess PUFUFANKS doesn't quite work.
This is the oldest live versions of the song included on the set. It's pretty damn great too. As it was recorded early on in the song's life, it sticks pretty closely to the original. That said, it is different enough to make it a unique version of the song.
03. GET WILD '89 [1989/4/15]
TM Network remixed Get Wild and re-released it as a single two years after it's debut. For whatever reason, this seemed to be the prevailing version of the song in the years after it's release. For a song as timeless as the original was, making a dance version of it at the end of the craze was a bold move.
Personally, I like this version of the song...but I prefer the original by a wide margin. I wonder why they didn't use GET WILD '89 for City Hunter 3 (1989). I mean...one has to have been named after the other, right? At least we got Running To Horizon for CH3, right?
04. Get Wild ("CAROL TOUR FINAL CAMP FANKS!! '89) [1989/8/30]
Heh. TK was definitely having some fun with the sampler on this one.
Much like the previous live version on this set, it's the same and yet so different. As this is live, there is a more organic feel to the song than the studio remix. It gets pretty nuts when Utsunomiya starts battling the sampled version of himself to a GET-WILD-AND-TOUGH off.
My only complaint is that Utsunomiya's vocals are drown out for the duration of the track. Maybe that's the idea, though. '89 is a dance song first, and a vocal song second.
05. Get Wild ("RHYTHM RED TMN TOUR" Version) [1991/2/22]
Having never heard this version of the song before...I have to say I'm pretty amazed. Forty eight seconds in...you can hear a very quick version of the Rocky theme Gonna Fly Now. Wow! Snuck that one in eh, TK?
This is another live version of the song from the era when TM Network was now TMN and focused heavily on Rock/Prog Rock. Strangely enough, this fits so well. It's been an electronic song, a dance song, and now an early 90s rock song.
06. Get Wild ("tour TMN EXPO ARENA FINAL" Version) [1992/4/12]
A back-to-basics approach to Get Wild. This live version is as close to the original song as they could probably get it. The only real difference here is the rock drumming and Utsunomiya's vocals being a little washed out once again.
It's kinda refreshing to hear a recreation of the original version of the song. Given the date of the performance, I imagine this was to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the song (if they even cared about such a thing back then).
07. Get Wild (techno overdub mix) [1993/8/21]
Yo Dawg, I heard you liked remixes. So here's a remix inside your remix.
Absurd. I really don't know how else to describe this one. I mean, the name of the mix describes it perfectly. It's GET WILD '89 with a 1993 techno beat and synths laid on top. That's it.
I'm...confused.
I love that this exists, but what in the name of hell is this?
08. GET WILD '89 ("TMN final live LAST GROOVE 5.18" Version) [1994/5/18]
TK really loves his samples...and Utsunomiya battling the sampler is always fun.
OK, now get this. This is the 1994 version of GET WILD '89. It's a live version of a dance remix with a rock and techno spin to it. *Mind blown* How DO they come up with all of these different variations? Wow.
That said, this one is a little bit too sloppy for me. The synth is a little bit overpowering and really not very nice sounding. The crowd was going absolutely bananas during the whole thing...so what do I know. Maybe I had to be there.
09. GET WILD DECADE RUN [1999/7/22]
Ummm...yeah. About two years too late...
I actually bought the single for this new...and was kinda let down when I preferred the coupling track It's Gonna Be Alright.
This is an all-new studio recording of Get Wild to close out the 20th Century. I suppose it was a little more timely to release it then rather than the nothing-ness of 1997. Besides, there was a new version of Get Wild in 1997 (I'll get to that later).
I think the best way to describe this one would be...it's much less optimistic than the original. The same lyrics are mostly there, but the music is kinda barely takes off. The singing is also much lower and *gasp* AUTOTUNE'D!. I suppose if you're going to remake your song for the first time legitimately you'd better go big or go home.
Frankly, this one has grown on me more over time. Maybe if I had heard all of the live versions on this disc before hearing DECADE RUN for the first time, I would understand it better. In the twelve years leading up to this, Get Wild has been the Swiss Army Knife of songs. It's kinda nice to hear something completely new...even if it isn't the strongest version.
10. GET WILD ("LIVE EPIC25" Version) [2003/2/23]
Remember how I was complaining about Utsunomiya's vocals being washed out on two previous tracks? They're on maximum attack this time around.
This live version is much like the TMN EXPO ARENA FINAL Version I talked about above. It's close to the original, but features a little more control. It's somehow a little more sedate than you would expect. Maybe they're all still on DECADE RUN mode.
Pretty solid live version. It's definitely a smidge more mature than previous performances.
DISC TWO AVCD-93670
The second disc covers the second half-ish of Get Wild's life. Rather than just applying different genres to an old song, Get Wild has become something of an experiment later on it's life. It's fun to watch the journey continue...
01. Get Wild ("DOUBLE-DECADE 'NETWORK'" Version) [2004/4/21]
Remember how I was making fun of that techno overdub version from 1993? Well, the same exact beat is present here on this live version. How the hell did this happen? This is pretty much a live version of the techno remix of the dance remix...an entire decade later. I...don't have words. Needless to say, I have never heard this one before buying this set.
It isn't bad, but I have to wonder why that beat was used. It'd be pretty close to the EPIC25 version if the beat were absent.
02. Get Wild ("DOUBLE-DECADE TOUR FINAL 'NETWORK'" Version) [2004/6/24]
Based on the title, I assume this version is from the end of the DOUBLE-DECADE tour. Honestly, for being only two months after the previous track it's much different. The techno beat? Gone. YES. I really enjoy this version worlds more than the previous for that alone. It's a great performance. Two-thirds of the way through it actually changes up quite for the guitar solo.
This is what they should have been doing the whole tour! Good stuff.
03. Get Wild ("REMASTER" Version) [2007/12/3]
Prior to the song starting there is a nice piano intro. Then......SAMPLE OVERLOAD!!! Most live versions feature the same sample getting slammed. It only gets crazier over time.
It's hard to describe this version of the song. It's very different. It's a bit more of a rock version of the song, but features some neat variations including a more palatable tone of synth.
The only weird thing about this one is probably Utsunomiya's voice. It's higher pitched than usual.
04. Get Wild ("Incubation Period" Version) [2012/4/25]
Last time we got the nice piano intro. This time around it blasts right into it. Utsunomiya's voice is back on point, so all is right with the world.
I have to say, listening to these live versions chronologically is impressive whenever I get to a version where they play the song straight. Some bands get complacent over time and their playing gets sloppy. TM Network really does this song justice. They bring their experience to the table every time on the versions included here. This is the proper way to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Get Wild.
05. Get Wild ("FINAL MISSION -START investigation-" Version) [2013/7/20]
Ohhhhhh shiiiiiiiiiiiii
I'm not up on newer music, but I believe this is what the kids are calling EDM. Yes, this is probably the first *true* techno version of Get Wild. It features lots of different elements of different versions of Get Wild, but manages to sneak in some of TK's recent EDM obsession.
Who would've thought this would be a good combination? I actually like it quite a bit.
06. Get Wild 2014 [2014/9/24]
This is more or less the studio version of the previous track. Most of the same elements are still there, but it isn't really as much fun as the live version was. The beat is just a little to harsh. *BANG BANG BANG BANG* Through most of the song.
It isn't a bad version of the song, but it kinda feels like it was something else first and then made into a new version of Get Wild. Especially as you get toward the end of it.
07. Get Wild 2014 ("the beginning of the end" Version) [2014/5/20]
These 2014 versions have something interesting that I never really noticed. It took them a really long time before they started to screw around with the intro. The original studio version has a different intro than the live versions did...but that was really it. Recently the intros have gone on to become these strange extended experiments in new music.
This is a live version and the first of a few that clocks in at over ten minutes. That's definitely not a complaint. If I went to a TM Network concert and they played Get Wild for twelve minutes, I'd definitely be more than alright with it.
This is more or less an extended version of Get Wild 2014. The last minute or so is pretty crazy. I like this one.
08. Get Wild 2014 ("30th 1984~ QUIT30" Version) [2014/12/20]
Another crazy intro into another really good version of Get Wild.
The idea behind this one is the same as the previous version, but the execution is different. It doesn't sound a whole lot like the other 2014 versions. Something that becomes really obvious at this point is Utsunomiya adding two little "C'mon!" to the lyrics of all of the live 2014 versions (he'd done it sporadically over the years, but now it's more or less become an official lyric considering the 100% consistency in use and placement). I wonder what brought that on. The crowd seems to be having a really good time.
I guess the best description for this one would be 30% less EDM, but 100% the same in theory.
DISC THREE AVCD-93671
The heavy hitters. There may only be three tracks on this disc, but they're all very long. Track 1: 19:20, Track 2: 11:53, Track 3: 27:12. Again, if I were seeing TM Network and was lucky enough to experience one of these mega-versions of Get Wild...I wouldn't be complaining.
01. Get Wild 2014 ("QUIT30 HUGE DATA" Version) [2015/2/8]
Intro Game: Next Level... Can you really consider the intro "the intro" anymore when it takes up over half of the song?
Once you get past the nine minute mark, it becomes what can now be identified as Get Wild 2014. The song itself hasn't change all that much from the previous 2014 versions, just the structure around it. It's important that it's all been preserved.
02. Get Wild 2015 -HUGE DATA- [2015/4/22]
Different from the previous 2014 version on this disc, but similar to a lot of the 2014 versions on the previous disc. I'm not entirely sure what makes this version "2015" other than the fact that it was performed in 2015. I guess they got me there...
UPDATE: I guess I have a pretty good ear. avex has issued an apology and opened an offer to exchange the third disc. This track is a slightly longer version of the eighth track on Disc 2. The catch is that they're only replacing discs within Japan (Booooo!) and that they will ship out the replacement only after they receive the defective disc you mailed in at your own cost. Yeah...screw that. Heh.
03. Get Wild 2015 ("30th FINAL" Version) [2015/3/22]
Wow! Right off the bat, the intro contains samples of...a different TM Network song! Self Control to be exact... I have to admit, it's kinda jarring to hear a different song among all of these versions of Get Wild. Heh.
This version of the song is less a song and more of a large chunk of concert. Again, it's easy to be impressed as you listen to these live tracks in order how much of an evolution TM Network has taken over the years. You can see Aerosmith and know what you're going to get. If you were to miss a TM Network show, you'll never know what you'll be missing out on. You could get a five minute version of Get Wild that sounds like a mildly updated version of the 1987 original...or you could be missing something like this--a half hour marathon.
There is no indication that this song is Get Wild until TK absolutely spams the sample button about thirteen minutes in. From there, it resembles Get Wild 2014. Again, this is really good. At this point, however, I think Get Wild is getting over shadowed by the hype around the song that has apparently taken it over.
DISC FOUR AVCD-93672
Covers! Covers and Remixes! This disc goes over the covers of the song chronologically and closes out with some brand new remixes.
01. Get Wild / Victor Fantastic Orchestra [1989/6/7]
Oh! Oh! I actually know this one!
I suppose this is the first actual cover of Get Wild. The CD it comes from is loaded with covers of various TM Network songs. I bought it thinking it might be done with an actual orchestra. Ehhhh no. I was a fool, I'll admit. One of the early reviews of this set called this the "grocery store version" of Get Wild. That made me laugh.
This cover is a somewhat cheaply produced instrumental version of the 1987 original. The lack of vocals is replaced with a sax. It's a fun version of the song, but not all that exciting. The full CD that this came from is worth a listen if you enjoy the 80s TM Network singles.
02. Get Wild / Dave Rodgers [1992/9/23]
If you're a regular reader and the name Dave Rodgers sounds familiar...good on ya for paying attention. Dave Rodgers, a.k.a. Giancarlo Pasquini, is the bastard mastermind behind V6's Take Me Higher. Well, he had a go at a bunch of TM Network songs in the early 90s...including Get Wild.
To be perfectly honest...I think this version may have inspired some of TM Network's live performances. Maybe not so much the Eurobeatness, but some of the sample placement sounds pretty similar to what I heard earlier in the set.
Oh yeah, this song is in "English". Do with that what you will...
03. Get Wild / Mitsuko Komuro [1994/11/21]
So remember I mentioned that the writer of Get Wild has their own version of the song. Well, here it is. Mitsuko Komuro (no relation to TK) wrote quite a few of TM Network's early hits. Once again, I link to my recent Ultraman post since she also wrote Ultraman Gaia's ending song Beat On, Dream On.
This version is very of the time. Like, if I didn't already know this version was from 1994 I definitely would have guessed it. I like it quite a bit, since it absolutely has the same tone as the original. The fake violins are kinda lame, though. It's a very pretty version of the song.
04. Get Wild (CITY HUNTER SPECIAL '97 VERSION) / NAHO [1997/5/2]
Rather than use an existing version of Get Wild or ask TM Network nicely to come up with a new one, the City Hunter '97 Special "Goodbye My Sweetheart" used a newly recorded cover of Get Wild by NAHO. I don't know who NAHO is (admittedly a decent enough singer...kinda similar in style to Utsunomiya), but yeah...this version is kinda bland.
Personally, I think they should have just shelled out some extra money and used Mitsuko Komuro's version.
05. Get Wild / Nami Tamaki [2005/11/2]
Weird, weird, weird version of Get Wild.
Get Wiiiiiiild aaaand toooough. If you've heard this one, you know what I mean. Points for being unique and brave enough to try something new with a classic.
06. Get Wild / Megumi Ogata [2007/10/3]
If you want to have a memorable version of a classic song, you need to give it a spin that nobody knew they wanted to hear. This is a heavy rock version of the song.
There isn't a whole lot to say about this one. It's a rock version and it's pretty good.
07. Get Wild / Supernova [2010/7/21]
Korean boy band Supernova... Do I really have to say anymore?
Ehhhh the music is pretty good since it attempts to be faithful to the original, but did we really need a boy band version of Get Wild? When I first got this CD I texted my wife and asked her who Supernova is. She never got back to me and it hasn't come up since. I'm not sure how I should take that.
08. Get Wild / globe [2010/9/29]
There is some back story to this version of the song. globe is one of TK's (Tetsuya Komuro) side projects. Like I said, I need to write about him sometime...he's a fascinating dude. This version is somewhat a self-cover with his wife KEIKO and Marc Panther as globe. This was supposed to be released in 2008, but was shelved when TK ran into his serious legal problems (again...fascinating). It was instead released in 2010 as part of globe's 15th anniversary.
Ehhhh I kinda like globe some of the time. This one I can kinda leave. Weird, right? The guy who INVENTED this song is in it...and yet...feh. The music is really good, but the singing doesn't lend it any favors. KEIKO is kinda all over the place and Marc Panther...yeah. There is a good song in here, but as-is it's kinda weak. Maybe he should have given this to TRF instead. That'd actually be kinda fun...
09. Get Wild / Clementine [2011/5/25]
French! This cover comes from an album of anime covers from French singer Clementine. It's about what you'd expect from a French version of Get Wild. I dig it! Given the monster popularity of City Hunter (and well, many other anime series) in France, this one is a no-brainer.
10. Get Wild / H ZETT M [2012/7/25]
This is the classical version I was hoping to get from the Victor Fantastic Orchestra...
A very nice piano version of the song. I'm surprised this hasn't been done sooner and often. Given the insane versatility that Get Wild has something like this would be more appealing over the "grocery market" version.
11. Get Wild / Purple Days [2010/3/17]
Putting aside the somewhat murky release date, I like this one. Of all of the covers, this is the only one that actually bothered to cover GET WILD '89. I mean, it's a loose cover...but none of the others even came close. Not bad, Purple Days...not bad at all.
12. GET WILD 2017 TK REMIX
Now we're in Remix Town...and one by Mayor TK himself.
As I mentioned earlier, TK has been on an EDM kick for a few years now. It's not surprising since he has always been in the genre of electronic music basically since it's inception. His current vision for Get Wild is actually a bit more subdued and almost trancier than I was expecting. Hmmm... Color me surprised.
Do I like it? Yeah, this is pretty good. I think I might have preferred something a little more upbeat, but this is quality.
13. GET WILD (Takkyu Ishino Latino Acid Remix)
The kind of boring remix I was afraid of getting in abundance when this set was first announced. It's isn't bad, it just doesn't go much of anywhere. It's also over seven minutes long...which, again, is a long time for a song that doesn't go anywhere.
14. GET WILD (SICK INDIVIDUALS Remix)
This set couldn't end without some kinda crazy EDM remix. It's almost funny to hear a song from 1987 wrapped inside something like this. It's a fun remix and doesn't over stay it's welcome at five minutes...
15. GET WILD (Dave Rodgers Remix)
Dave Rodgers again? It's not an ideal way to go out, but oh well.
Get Wild + Runnin' In The 90s
...except it's 2017, Dave.....
Recommended Pick: This is tough. I am disqualifying the original version since that would be the obvious pick. I am going to have to go with... Rhythm Red TMN Tour version. That's my answer now. I'm sure if you asked me every week I'd have a different answer. The beauty of this set is that it has a version of Get Wild for any possible mood you can be in.
Set Verdict: It's amazing that you can pick up a four-disc set of a single song and not be sick of it by the end. Get Wild is an incredible song and I'm curious to see what the future holds for it...whether it's with TM Network or with other bands.
I only have one complaint. It's a big complaint. Where's "Ver.0"? For those who don't know, a demo version of Get Wild was released as Ver.0 on TMN's Groove Gear. If you want to check it out, here you go...you'll need a Nicovideo account, though. It may be short, but it's very important to the history of this song. It proves that Get Wild was more than just a song
That said, this set is an absolute bargain for the amount of quality music you get. For me it worked out to less than a dollar per track...even after shipping (always preorder on Amazon.jp immediately...worry about canceling before release if you change your mind).
There it is! Once again, a big Happy Birthday to Get Wild and congratulations to TM Network for 30 years of successfully giving us FANKS new and interesting ways to enjoy what has always been an amazing song.
Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you enjoyed reading about the same song thirty six times.
TM Network Original Singles 1984-1999 +BACKTRACKS
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CCLemon99 Magazine Issue Four
It's been awhile since I've done one of these, so I figure it's a pretty good time to get this out there. If you're new to the site, this is the type of post I like to make to tie up a lot of loose ends that aren't quite good enough for a single post.
The Future of CCLemon99 on Youtube
March 25th marked the one year anniversary of that fateful cookie-delivered message. Yes, things are slowly winding down for CCLemon99 on Youtube. The lack of any updates to my Google Calendar or any real plan on my behalf are pretty clear. I know what my next two videos are going to be...but I'm really not sure what's happening between now and my 10th anniversary in June. I have some eleven Sundays to fill between now and then... There will be some surprise stuff, some Kyuranger stuff, and of course my Aura Changer/Kiba Changer comparisons. I'm not sure what else I can do, though.
There will be a new video every week until I take a much needed break following the 10th Anniversary. Just keep in mind...I'm very tired. It's been a long road.
The Future of CCLemon99.com
I can say that the site will continue going on strong. This post might not be the most exciting thing ever, but I intend to keep writing at the current pace. Some of the posts I have planned for the immediate future are...
-Get Wild Song Mafia Review: I am going to review all 36 versions of Get Wild... (April)
-Caaaaaaarranger! Finally! (All of May)
-10th Anniversary Posts (All of June)
-A monster review of a certain 28 CD set (All of July, dividing the box into halves--I *really* look forward to this. It's going to be part of a vacation from myself.)
Beyond that, I have a lot more CD reviews on the horizon. Maybe some Top 7 lists. Toy Stories... Business as usual for CCLemon99.com.
Figuarts!
Is it me, or have interesting Figuarts really slowed down to a dribble? At the moment I only have two open SHF preorders (V Machine and Sky Turbo). Man, those stupid Winspector Figuarts really ruined it for all of us. Remember that exciting time when they previewed Spielban, Metalder, Janperson, and Kabutack? Gah! I would absolutely buy every single one of those over stupid Bikel and Walter (and that crazy overpriced weapon set).
It's kinda disheartening to see Bandai lavish so much more attention on Disney properties such as Marvel heroes and Star Wars. Doesn't the world have enough crap from those series? Does the world need another flippin Chewbacca figure?? I mean, I get that those are probably the money-makers. How about not doing so many damn web exclusives for domestic properties? Juspion was a web exclusive despite the fact that it absolutely would have cleaned up in Brazil alone if it were a standard release. Same goes for the aforementioned Spielban and Metalder. Of course nobody is going to bother if you lock these figures away and let only a few of them dribble out...
Or I could just shut up. We got Kamen Rider J after all this time, right?. He was at the top of my Most Wanted list for almost two years. They seem to be slowly making good on getting the Rider Bikes finished up. I just hope that they don't forget our boy Shin when it comes to his bike. He did have one after all...
Stolen CD...or Crazy Coincidence?
OK, so here is a funny little story that I briefly posted to Twitter.
I ordered a CD from a marketplace seller on Amazon Japan. Usually the prices are better and shipping is faster than ordering through a Japanese seller on the US Amazon marketplace (they're only obligated to send items SAL while Amazon JP sellers are held to a smaller time frame, so they ship Air Mail).
Prior to this, there was only one other time where the item I ordered from Amazon JP's marketplace got lost in the mail. That's an incredible ratio considering I've ordered hundreds of CDs that way. This time...things are a little different.
I ordered this particular CD about a month ago as of this writing. Since this is an ongoing thing, I'm not going to say exactly what the CD was just yet. I will say this, though...it's obscure. Since I've been really looking forward to listening to it, I've been looking forward to the mail everyday with no luck. At this point, I decided that maybe it's a good time to start shopping for a replacement. Sure enough, none of the current copies for sale on Amazon Japan have marketplace sellers willing to ship to the US. I typed the UPC into Amazon US to see what sellers were charging there. The cheapest result was for exactly what I paid for the CD during my initial order AND from a seller in my State.
A quick look at this seller's site shows nothing but US market video games.......and the one Japanese CD that I was looking for. Without giving too much away about the CD, I will say that it really had absolutely nothing to do with video games or anything else on this sellers page.
So yes, I bought it AGAIN yesterday. I want more details on this mysterious person who likely stole my mail at some pre-delivery level (there is no way it could have been stolen once delivered...they would have to swim across my moat). I'm curious to see that, if it was in fact stolen, they put it together and give me a refund.
Wow...so not only was it a freak coincidence that someone very close to me was selling the CD.....but the lost CD showed up the same day as the reordered one. Yeah, so here it is...
Not an expensive CD, but it is long out of print and fairly uncommon compared to other live albums from Nakamori...
New And Upcoming CD Releases
Columbia has done an utterly awful redesign of their website, so finding information on new CDs is pretty challenging these days...
Oh yeah... I find that whenever I tweet about upcoming CD releases it gets regurgitated to Facebook and other places. Some credit would be nice. You and I both know I'm the one spending all the time digging up the info. Don't be a dick, please. :p
Uchuu Sentai Kyuranger's Theme Song Single was released on the 15th of March. I have mine!.......admittedly still in the shrinkwrap. If you're still thinking of picking this one up, be warned--there are different versions. The regular edition is a 4-track CD with the theme songs and their Karaoke versions. There is also a Limited Edition, which is what I got, that comes in a neat pop-up case and comes with a Bonus fifth track, Lucky Miracle Paradise. Preordered Limited Editions also came with an external bonus item that is different depending on where you bought yours from. Since I got my copy from Neowing/CDJapan, it came with a large paper-craft item focused on Shishi Red. Amazon Japan's item seems to have been based around Chamelion Green. Check the Regular Edition here. Limited here.
TM Network's aforementioned Get Wild Song Mafia is being released this week (5th)! This four disc set contains 36 versions of the song. Get Wild is most notably known as being a fantastic friggen song, but it also happens to be the first ending song to my favorite anime, City Hunter. I will be reviewing the entire thing and complaining about versions of the song that are missing (and marveling at how things like the obscure instrumental Victor Fantastic Orchestra version were included). Check it here.
Ultraman Powered's once-delayed 3-disc CD set is still slated for release on the 19th of April. It's contents are still somewhat of a mystery...which leads me to believe it may be delayed once again. I have a preorder for this one, so we'll see what kind of email Amazon Japan sends me. Check it here.
Speaking of Ultraman CDs, Ultraman The Rocks is set to come out on the 7th of June. It has a promising track list of what looks to be new rock covers of some memorable Ultra series classics (and the Ultraman Great theme song). I preordered this one as well, but I'll wait until the samples get posted before I'm entirely sold on getting this. Tsuburaya's quality control is pretty lax when it comes to music and who they license their properties out to...(except Scat Ultraman)... Check it here.
Kamen Rider Amazons is back this week. On the 24th of May the theme songs single for Kamen Rider Amazons 2 will be released. There are very little details about it as of this writing, but it will once again be published by Columbia rather than avex. Also, the Opening theme song will be Die Set Down. Check it here.
Kyoryuger Brave theme song and soundtrack is out on the 24th of May. Do what you will with this information. Check it here.
Finally on the 14th of June two CDs will be released for the upcoming Space Squad V-Cinema thing with Gavan, Dekaranger, and Juspion...? Sure. There is a Song Collection, which is likely old songs bundled together and an Original Soundtrack which promises to include at least some newly recorded music.
Remember...honor system...
That about does it for the fourth issue of CCLemon99 Magazine. Thanks for swinging by today and more importantly, thank you for your support over the years. If you're reading this, you're alright in my book.
CCLemon99 Magazine Issue One
CCLemon99 Magazine Issue Two
CCLemon99 Magazine Issue Three
The CD Collection--GET WILD SONG MAFIA by TM Netwo...
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Jhadol
Kitawaton Ka Khera - Udaipur
Kitawaton Ka Khera Population - Udaipur, Rajasthan
Kitawaton Ka Khera is a small village located in Jhadol Tehsil of Udaipur district, Rajasthan with total 11 families residing. The Kitawaton Ka Khera village has population of 65 of which 33 are males while 32 are females as per Population Census 2011.
In Kitawaton Ka Khera village population of children with age 0-6 is 19 which makes up 29.23 % of total population of village. Average Sex Ratio of Kitawaton Ka Khera village is 970 which is higher than Rajasthan state average of 928. Child Sex Ratio for the Kitawaton Ka Khera as per census is 1714, higher than Rajasthan average of 888.
Kitawaton Ka Khera village has lower literacy rate compared to Rajasthan. In 2011, literacy rate of Kitawaton Ka Khera village was 56.52 % compared to 66.11 % of Rajasthan. In Kitawaton Ka Khera Male literacy stands at 80.77 % while female literacy rate was 25.00 %.
As per constitution of India and Panchyati Raaj Act, Kitawaton Ka Khera village is administrated by Sarpanch (Head of Village) who is elected representative of village. Our website, don't have information about schools and hospital in Kitawaton Ka Khera village.
Kitawaton Ka Khera Data
Population 65 33 32
Child (0-6) 19 7 12
Schedule Tribe 65 33 32
Total Workers 34 19 15
Main Worker 6 - -
Marginal Worker 28 17 11
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(-) News Releases
Thomas Graham Joins CFR as Distinguished Fellow
April 11, 2019—The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) welcomes Thomas Graham to its David Rockefeller Studies Program as a distinguished fellow, based in New York City. At CFR, Graham will be rese…
The World is Getting Healthier in Worrisome Ways, Says Thomas Bollyky in New Book
September 28, 2018—There is a paradox in global health: the extraordinary progress being made in overcoming the bacteria, viruses, and parasites that were pervasive in poor societies is…
Japan Is Reassessing Its Military Power as U.S.-Japan Alliance Is Tested, Writes Sheila Smith in New Book
April 1, 2019—“Tokyo’s approach to military power”—restraining its own use of force and relying on the United States for security—“is being tested,” writes Council on Foreign Relations Senior Fe…
Stephen Kotkin’s “Stalin: Waiting for Hitler, 1929–1941” Wins 2018 CFR Arthur Ross Book Award
November 2, 2018—Professor Stephen Kotkin has won the seventeenth annual Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) Arthur Ross Book Award for Stalin: Waiting for Hitler, 1929–1941 (Random House), the second…
News Releases by Stephen Kotkin
Distinguished Senior Statesmen James Schlesinger and Thomas Pickering Chair New Council Task Force, Iraq: The Day After
March 5, 2003 - Former Defense Secretary and Energy Secretary James Schlesinger and former UN Ambassador Thomas Pickering are co-chairing the Council-sponsored Independent Task Force, Iraq: The Day A…
Niall Ferguson’s “Kissinger: 1923-1968: The Idealist” Wins 2016 CFR Arthur Ross Book Award
Historian Niall Ferguson has won the fifteenth annual Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) Arthur Ross Book Award for Kissinger: 1923-1968: The Idealist (Penguin Press), the first in a two-volume biogr…
Former U.S. National Security Adviser Tom Donilon to Join CFR as Distinguished Fellow
Piketty’s “Capital in the Twenty-First Century” Wins 2015 CFR Arthur Ross Book Award
French economist Thomas Piketty has won the fourteenth annual Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) Arthur Ross Book Award for Capital in the Twenty-First Century (Belknap Press) and will receive $15,00…
Kenneth Rogoff Joins CFR as Senior Fellow for Economics
Kenneth S. Rogoff, a Harvard University professor and former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, will contribute his expertise to the Council on Foreign Relations as a senior fellow f…
Leading Experts on Global Health, Arms Control, Korea Join CFR
CFR’s Studies Program has added several scholars to its roster.
Thomas Edward Graham
Thomas E. Donilon
Thomas J. Bollyky
Senior Fellow for Global Health, Economics, and Development and Director of the Global Health Program
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Facebook expands fact-checking initiative to Singapore amid challenges in other markets
The social media giant is partnering Agence France-Presse (AFP) to tackle false news on its platform.
A woman looks at the Facebook logo on an iPad in this photo illustration taken June 3, 2018. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau/Illustration/Files
By Kevin Kwang @KevinKwangCNA
02 May 2019 05:50PM (Updated: 02 May 2019 06:00PM )
SINGAPORE: Facebook has brought its third-party fact-checking programme to Singapore via a partnership with international news outlet Agence France-Presse (AFP), as it continues efforts to tackle false news and misinformation on its platform.
READ: People who share misinformation online rarely fact-check, a commentary
The partnership, which is effective Thursday (May 2), will see AFP fact-check content in Singapore in English, Mandarin and Malay, said Ms Anjali Kapoor, APAC News Partnership director at Facebook, during a briefing.
As this is a third-party partnership, Facebook employees will not be assigned to work with AFP, said Ms Kapoor. She did not reveal how many fact-checkers will be committed to the programme, saying that it is not the company’s practice to disclose details about its partners' decisions.
In a separate press release, Facebook said that AFP - which is certified by Poynter Institute’s non-partisan International Fact Checking Network - will review and rate the accuracy of stories, photos and videos.
There are nine ratings: False, mixture, false headline, true, not eligible, satire, opinion, prank generator and not rated.
Content rated as false have primary claims that are factually inaccurate, while mixture refers to content that is a mix of accurate and inaccurate or the primary claim is misleading or incomplete, Facebook said on its site. A false headline means the primary claims of the story are true but the claim in the headline is factually inaccurate.
Stories rated as false will appear lower in the News Feed, thus reducing distribution, it said.
Pages and domains that repeatedly publish false content will have their ability to monetise and advertise removed, said Ms Kapoor. Repeat offenders will also lose the ability to register as a news Page on Facebook, while an existing news Page will have its registration revoked.
“Fact-checking is highly effective in fighting misinformation,” said Ms Kapoor, adding that Facebook currently has more than 50 fact-check partners looking over content in 41 different languages. Plans are in place to expand those numbers even further this year, she said.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AS AN AID
Elaborating on how Facebook's fact-checking mechanism works, Ms Kapoor said that potentially false news is flagged by artificial intelligence (AI) that incorporates “various signals”.
Some of these signals include a story’s “virality” in terms of how it is shared, as well as comments on the content. An example would be if disbelief - “No way this is real!” - was expressed a lot for a particular content, she said.
Fact-checkers then go through a list of potentially false content and decide what to check, she said. “They are under no obligation to fact-check anything from the list” and can identify stories to review on their own, Ms Kapoor added.
“In our experience, once a third-party fact-checker marks something as false, we're able to demote that post and similar posts, reducing future impressions by more than 80 per cent on average,” Ms Kapoor said.
She added that its work with third-party fact-checkers also helps it better understand what might be false and show them lower in News Feed.
“False ratings from third-party fact-checkers are a helpful signal that we use to inform our machine-learning models, so that we can more quickly and accurately detect future false stories,” Ms Kapoor said.
“This means that over time, we’re getting smarter and faster in determining what articles might be hoaxes and sending them to fact-checkers to review.”
On AFP’s end, Asia Fact Check editor Karl Malakunas said with the addition of Singapore, the news agency now has specific fact-checking operations in more than 20 countries, including Indonesia, the Philippines, India, Pakistan and Australia.
FACEBOOK'S RELATIONSHIP WITH FACT-CHECKERS
Even as AFP signs on to be a fact-checking partner in Singapore, others have dropped out.
Online fact-checking site Snopes said in a blog post in February that it chose not to renew its partnership with Facebook as it wants to make sure its “efforts to aid any particular platform are a net positive for (the) online community, publication and staff”.
Another report by BBC this April painted a picture of fact-checking partners not knowing whether the work they do have an impact. The report also spoke of Facebook having a payment cap - a monthly limit of explanatory articles after which fact-checking agencies would not be paid for their work.
Asked to comment on how these might affect its partnership with AFP, Ms Kapoor reiterated: “We don’t disclose specific details of our partnership.”
Overall though, Poynter reported this week that while reports about Facebook's fact-checking efforts have been mixed, it had quadrupled its fact-checking partners and added more in preparation for elections around the world.
HOW ABOUT WHATSAPP AND INSTAGRAM?
Facebook's expansion of its fact-checking programme to Singapore comes ahead of the Singapore Government’s plans to introduce a law targeting deliberate online falsehoods.
READ: Singapore proposes multi-pronged law to combat online falsehoods
The proposed legislation requires social media platforms to carry corrections alongside content deemed to be false and, in more serious cases, take down the content. They can also be asked to disable inauthentic online accounts or bots.
The social media giant’s Public Policy vice president Simon Milner said when the Bill was tabled last month that it was concerned with aspects of the law that grant broad powers to the Singapore executive branch to compel Facebook to remove content they deem to be false and proactively push a Government notification to others.
Asked about how Facebook is responding to the proposed Bill, Ms Kapoor declined to comment, saying there are other teams within the company dealing with this and who continue to be in discussion with authorities.
As to whether the company will look to expand its fact-checking to its other platforms such as WhatsApp and Instagram, the executive said: “We look forward to exploring more opportunities to expand this programme locally. We currently have no updates to share at this point.”
Source: CNA/kk
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Wharram le Street, Malton
This substantial village house is believed to have early 18th Century origins and once formed part of the Birdsall Estate, when it served as a farmhouse. The property offers incredibly spacious accommodation which extends to over 4,000ft2 in addition to two self-contained flats within the west wing. Both flats are let out to long-term tenants and provide a regular income.
The house itself retains a good deal of its Georgian character, including fireplaces, flagged stone floors, ceiling cornicing, panelled doors and a particularly fine main staircase. The ground floor accommodation includes a large entrance hall, three good reception rooms, farmhouse kitchen with Aga and utility room. Over the first and second floors are a total of five double bedrooms (four en-suite) and an attic room which serves as a character-filled study; the property also benefits from a very useful, dry cellar.
The two flats (one ground floor, one first floor) are both accessed from the rear and each include a living room, kitchen diner, double bedroom and bathroom. With a combined floor area of over 1,200ft2 these also have potential for use as holiday lets or to house dependent relatives or staff.
The front of the house faces south-east and enjoys an attractive outlook across its landscaped gardens. The total site area is approaching half an acre and includes formal gardens with lawn, shrub borders, trees and paved terraces in addition to a kitchen garden and orchard. There is plenty of room to park within the gated, block-paved courtyard and there is additional parking to immediately to the rear and also within the garage (former stable block), which also serves as a workshop and retains its original stalls and feeders.
Wharram-le-Street is a traditional village set on the very edge of the Yorkshire Wolds, and despite its rural feel, broad ranging facilities are located close at hand in the market town of Malton some 6 miles north-west. The Yorkshire Wolds are an area of exceptional beauty and Wharram is within a scenic commute of York, Beverley and Hull.
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Fernando Gaviria ‘relaxed and enjoying every race’ after move to UAE Team Emirates
The Colombian sprinter hopes to add to his tally of early season wins at the UAE Tour
Fernando Gaviria on stage two of Tour Colombia (Photo by Maximiliano Blanco/Getty Images)
Fernando Gaviria says he is “relaxed and enjoying every race” with his new UAE Team Emirates squad, after a sudden move at the end of 2018.
The Colombian sprinting talent has opened his season strong and hopes to continue that trajectory at the UAE Tour, his new team’s home race.
Gaviria unexpectedly switched from Deceuninck – Quick-Step at the end of 2018 after budget constraints for the Belgian team forced them to sell the young powerhouse.
>>> Ben Swift recovering after suffering spleen rupture in training crash
When asked about the significance of opening strong with a new team, the 24-year-old told Cycling Weekly: “It’s really important. When you change teams, you never know what will happen.
“It’s really good for the motivation. I’m comfortable in the team. I’m relaxed and enjoying every race.”
Speaking ahead of the inaugural UAE Tour, he added: “I feel really good. Things are really good with the team.
“This is the first really big race of the year and the team are ready.”
Gaviria won two stages of the Vuelta a San Juan, including his first race day of the season on stage one.
He has taken victory in his first time out every year since 2015.
>>> UAE Tour 2019 live TV guide
Gaviria has won six Grand Tour stages – four at his debut Giro d’Italia in 2017, and two in his first Tour de France last season.
He is set to return to the Tour in 2019.
After a brilliant performance in his first race of the year in Argentina, Gaviria then went on to ride his home race Tour Colombia but was forced to pull out after stage two.
He said: “It’s true I didn’t finish. I had a respiratory problem, trouble breathing.
“I pulled out because the UAE Tour is a very important race for us.
“I’m 100 per cent recovered.
“I’m here with Alexander Kristoff and between us we’ll see what we can do in the sprints.”
The first UAE Tour opens with a team time trial on Sunday (February 24) and ends on Saturday, March 2.
Geraint Thomas warming up for the stage two TTT at the Tour de France 2019 (Marco Bertorello/AFP/Getty Images)
Simon Yates celebrates his first Tour de France stage victory (Photo: Yuzuru SUNADA)
Adam Yates says he’s ‘got some catching up to do’ after brother Simon completes set of Grand Tour victories
Egan Bernal warming up for the stage two team time trial at the Tour de France 2019 (Marco Bertorello/AFP/Getty Images)
Which GC rider will come out on top in crucial Tour de France time trial?
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Lessons learned? XFL hoping time to prepare is a benefit
By Joe Reedy / Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — Oliver Luck has noted that there is a graveyard full of tombstones for spring professional football leagues going back more than 40 years.
That graveyard filled a plot two months ago when the Alliance of American Football folded eight weeks into its inaugural season, but the XFL commissioner thinks lessons learned from other leagues have already come in handy with a reboot of the XFL less than nine months away from kicking off.
"We recognize it is a challenge. Spring football has seen a number of failed ventures over the years," Luck said. "You need a solid business plan, capital commitments, good partners across the board and time. We're in a pretty good position to come out of the gates stronger."
The XFL's first games on Feb. 8, 2020, will come more than two years after Vince McMahon announced in January of 2018 that he was bringing the league back. Besides time, McMahon has given the league plenty of resources.
McMahon has invested nearly $400 million in the XFL with three sales of his shares in World Wrestling Entertainment in the past 16 months. He made his biggest investment on March 27, selling 3.2 million shares that were worth approximately $272 million.
The last version of the XFL in 2001 was a joint venture between WWE and NBC. McMahon has started a separate company — Alpha Entertainment — to operate XFL 2.0.
While McMahon was the face of the league the first time around, he has let others run with the ball during this launch. When the eight teams were announced last December, McMahon gave a short set of remarks before handing the rest of the proceedings to Luck, who has an established history as a sports executive.
Luck came to the XFL from an executive leadership position at the NCAA. He previously was West Virginia's athletic director, helped launch Major League Soccer's Houston Dynamo and was NFL Europe's president.
"That's a purposeful and intentional decision," Luck said of McMahon. "When I first started talking to Vince, which was almost a year ago, he made it very clear that he was running WWE and wanted a football face out there."
Even with McMahon's stock sales, a Securities and Exchange Commission filing shows that he still holds stock that represents approximately 80.1% of WWE's total voting power.
Earlier this week the XFL announced multiyear contracts with Fox and ESPN to televise games, which came on the heels of a deal with Elevate Sports Ventures to manage ticket sales. The San Francisco 49ers are one of Elevate's stakeholders.
Only two AAF teams were in NFL markets, whereas St. Louis is the only XFL team in a market that doesn't have an NFL team. Los Angeles and New York, which had XFL teams the first time around, are back and are joined by Dallas, Houston, Seattle, Tampa Bay and Washington.
Jeffrey Pollack, the XFL's president and chief operating officer, said being in established football markets is the smart thing to do. Pollack also added that he could envision it being around $100 for a family of four to attend a game.
"In its most fundamental form, being able to go to a game is part of having more access. It is also about the game day experience, what our broadcast partners do and our digital content," he said.
With kickoff less than nine months away, coaches have been named in all but one city and team presidents are in place in four markets. Coaches include Bob Stoops in Dallas, Marc Trestman in Tampa and Jim Zorn in Seattle.
Coaches are also their own general manager, which was an important selling point for Winston Moss, who was named Los Angeles' coach on Tuesday.
"I'm going to shop, cook them and serve them up," Moss said.
The league has already done some rules experiments with a spring league in Austin, Texas, and will have another development session later this spring in California. Luck said there is an emphasis on a crisper pace to games, but didn't reveal much more about proposed changes.
One thing that Luck did admit though is that there will be kickoffs in the XFL, which the Alliance did not have. Possessions in the AAF started at the 25-yard line following a score.
"We are trying to address issues that fans have stated, like missing the kickoff return. We want to layer deeper and make safer but still keep it in the game," he said.
Luck said the league will start signing players next month with mini camps starting in November. Luck added that the biggest focus will be on finding talented quarterbacks, which he felt the AAF struggled at doing.
"When I looked at their strategy of paying everybody the same they underpaid at the top of their roster and overpaid at the bottom quite honestly," he said. "They had mediocre, I would say pedestrian quarterbacks at best and part of it was not willing to put more on the table. There are very good, young quarterbacks available. We can do a more selective job at the top of our roster and get better players."
While the league has already checked a lot off its to-do list, there still is plenty to go in the remaining nine months. First impressions are vital, but Pollack also said getting a foundation built for the long haul is just as important.
"We've got a big lift. Success can not be measured in a season or two, but we feel good about our prospects," he said. "The ingredients are there. We feel good about where we are headed."
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Decade-old criminal record disclosures? The need for reform
With the disclosure of old and irrelevant criminal records in the spotlight, Christopher Stacey looks at how the system is unfairly holding people back
Christopher Stacey
Over four million jobs every year involve employers requesting an enhanced criminal record from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).
Although these were originally for roles that involve close contact with children and vulnerable groups, the types of positions that often involve them has now gone way beyond the core purpose. For example, Unlock is regularly contacted by people who have been told they need an enhanced check for a job, for example, as a delivery driver or a receptionist.
These checks alone would not be so much of an issue, if it were not for the fact that, given the current rules for disclosing old and minor criminal records, it means that around 250,000 people every year are affected by old and minor cautions and convictions being revealed on enhanced DBS checks.
Couple that with the known negative reactions (and often blanket policies) of employers towards applicants with a criminal record, it is unsurprising that they are the least likely 'disadvantaged group' to be employed.
Against unnecessary disclosure
We need to make sure that enhanced DBS checks do not unnecessarily disclose information that is old, minor or irrelevant to the job being sought. Up until now, there has been very little detail on what type of information gets disclosed on DBS checks, which is why the briefing published by the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies is so welcome.
The research shows that in 2015, over one million criminal records were disclosed on standard or enhanced checks. Yet nearly three-quarters of those criminal records (742,482) were more than ten years old.
We know that the length of time since their last offence is one of the most important factors in establishing the likelihood of someone committing an offence in the future, so why is it that these criminal records are being disclosed over a decade later?
The desperate need for reform
The crux of the issue are the current ‘filtering’ rules. Although these are complex, they essentially mean that if someone has a certain criminal record, it will be disclosed on an enhanced DBS for the rest of their life. This includes someone:
With more than one conviction on their record, or
has been cautioned or convicted for a certain type of offence (there are over 1,000 of these, including aggravated bodily harm and soliciting for the purposes of prostitution), or
who has received any type of prison (or suspended prison) sentence.
This can affect somebody who stole two chocolate bars when they were 14 and who is now in their fifties. This puts a lot of people off applying and unnecessarily anchors people to their past. The routine rejection by employers locks people out of the labour market and has a considerable financial cost to society through out-of-work benefits.
At Unlock, we have argued that the filtering rules are in desperate need of reform. Earlier this year, Court of Appeal agreed, ruling that the current system is disproportionate and not in accordance with the law. The government is dragging its heels by appealing to the Supreme Court. It is clearly not listening to the compelling evidence that shows the significant and unnecessary barriers to rehabilitation that the current regime is creating.
Recent reports by David Lammy MP and the Justice Committee have also added weight to the need for changes.
It is common sense that certain offences need to be disclosed to employers. But we should not be unnecessarily blighting the lives of people who are trying to move on, by disclosing old, minor or irrelevant information that holds them back and stops them from reaching their potential.
A fairer and more flexible system would be one with expanded automatic filtering rules and a discretionary filtering process, with a review mechanism so that individual circumstances can be considered.
Alongside changes to the filtering rules, Unlock has long supported the introduction of a criminal records tribunal. This would allow enable individuals to apply for an end on the disclosure of their criminal record to employers on a relevant criminal record check.
There is evidence from overseas that this approach works. It would help to address the injustice that many people face as a result of what are currently arbitrary, fixed rules that take no account of the positive steps that people have taken since the actions that resulted in their receiving a criminal record.
Christopher Stacey is Co-Director of Unlock, an independent charity for people with convictions
Write for our website
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What a Pastoral Church Looks Like
Now more than ever, there are calls for a more pastoral Church. That’s a good thing. It’s the clergy’s job to be our pastors, and who could object to priests, bishops, and popes doing their job?
“Pastor“ means shepherd, so we find what pastors should do by looking at what shepherds do, especially in the Bible. A pastoral Church, then, would be one that looks out for her members, protects, feeds, and fosters them, maintains a sheepfold, brings back those who stray, drives away wolves and bears, and is ready to sacrifice the personal interests of her pastors—for example, their worldly standing and reputation—to their flock’s well-being.
With that in mind, it’s hard to see why a pastoral church would primarily be one that rejects boundaries, is always going outside of herself, emphasizes openness to the world and dialogue with those who reject her, and wants above all to accompany people on their walk, wherever that may take them.
Some of those things have a function in some ways—the Church should offer what she has to those outside her, and speak respectfully, honestly, and substantively to them, and pastors should retain their concern for strayed sheep who show no interest in returning to the fold—but they cannot be central. What is central for pastors is the good of the flock, and, in particular, the specific goods entrusted to the Church for their benefit.
Jesus said he came so that his people might have life more abundantly. More specifically, he said he came to give eternal life, which he identified with knowing God. So it seems our pastors’ job is to help those willing to accept the Christian way attain a better life in this world, and then eternal beatitude, by growing closer to God.
That seems basically a matter of developing the right orientation toward God and the world in which he has placed us. In other words, our pastors are to help us love God with our heart, soul, and mind, and our neighbor as ourselves. The success of that project evidently requires certain conditions: concern for the nature of God and man, so man’s good and God himself can be known better; concern for the network of human connections of which we are part, so that unity in truth and mutual love can grow, and evil communications can be kept from corrupting good manners; and some concern for our physical well-being, since poverty and illness disrupt human life.
So it seems our pastors, to be pastoral, should cultivate the theology of God, man, and society—more or less in that order, since that is the order of their importance and of the competence of the Church—pass them on to the people, and help them understand and live by them. By doing so, they will lead them into the truths that make them free, and help them become what God meant them to be and they most truly are.
The effort is needed. It is difficult for an ordinarily weak and wavering Catholic to live well in a world that treats him as an employee, consumer, and client to be managed, and thus as a means to the political, social, and economic goals of powerful interests and institutions. It becomes much more difficult when the Church, which should be pastoral, leaves him to his own devices, and (worse) finds reasons to subordinate herself to those same goals, interests, and institutions. Matters become even worse to the extent the Church undercuts institutions, such as family and local community networks, that interfere with administration and commerce but enable ordinary people to come into their own.
Of course it is obvious what an ordinary Catholic should do in such a situation. He should stop being so weak and wavering. Instead, he should fast, pray, frequent the sacraments, love God and neighbor, and become a living saint. He should view his situation as a challenge and opportunity, a spur to seeking holiness with ever-greater fervency and a chance to display the loveliness of the Faith to a skeptical world.
While he’s at it, he should also lose fifteen pounds, get regular exercise, eat a healthy balanced diet, keep all his New Year’s resolutions, avoid wasting time pointlessly, and do many other things he’s not likely to do more than a day or two at a time. All of us know how to live much better than we do, and we deserve blame for our failures. Even so, Church and society haven’t normally left it at that. To the contrary, they’ve been quite concerned about ordinary people, who after all constitute the great majority of their members—in most ways practically all, since very few people exhibit heroic sanctity and virtue in all respects.
So a pastoral Church would be concerned about the weak and wavering who nonetheless want to adhere to her. That is the whole point of having pastors. With that in mind, such a Church would insist on giving people what is specifically hers to give. She would teach clearly; catechize; ensure the solidity of Catholic schools, scholarship, and publications; and insist that her teachers accept her teachings. She would provide good examples through the conduct of her clergy, and enforce at least minimal standards on everyone.
If she concerned herself with the environment, she would concern herself most of all with the environment for Catholic life. Do institutions and accepted patterns of life and outlook guard life, including infants in the womb and those nearing the end of their lives? Do they respect and foster families and community networks, which, after all, is a basic obligation of social justice? Do they educate young people toward the best things in life? Do they facilitate means of livelihood that are productive, don’t involve cooperation with evil, and leave time, energy, and attention for other even more basic aspects of life?
If she decided to deal more specifically with a particular issue, for example, by holding a Synod on the Family, she would emphasize most of all the Catholic family and its current problems, for example, how it can maintain itself in an era of careerism, consumerism, cohabitation, contraception, daycare, early childhood education, media overload, gender ideology, and family policy that increasingly refuses to accept the specificity and importance of the family as an institution.
What she and her rulers would never do is subordinate her efforts to those of global managers, even though some goals—avoidance of starvation and ecological disaster—are the same, and others like healthcare sound similar if they are left sufficiently vague. The world’s rulers are enormously powerful, much more so than in the past. They want to restructure all social relations in accordance with a vision of things that is radically at odds with the Catholic one, and the success of their projects would lead to something we would never want to live with.
We are called to be wise as serpents as well as innocent as doves, and he who sups with the devil should have a long spoon. So a pastoral Church would above all maintain her independence, based on her own understanding of the human good, care little for popularity in the media, and nothing for her standing as a contributor to current social projects. It is not those things, but Christ and the salvation of souls that are her highest law. In times of trouble, she should specially rally around those standards.
Tagged as church and state, church function / role / mission, Family Policy, pastoral church
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Innovation, Creativity and Managing people
Adam Grant is an associate professor at the Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania). He holds university degrees in organizational psychology from the University of Michigan and Harvard University. His research focuses on work motivation, job design, and prosocial cooperative and helping behaviors. Adam Grant has been named one of the best business school professors under the age of 40 and has received the “Excellence in Teaching” Award for his teaching at Wharton.
He has been acknowledged as one of the HR’s most influential international thinkers and BusinessWeek’s favorite professors. He is the author of “Give and Take” recognized as a New York Times Best Seller and one of the best books of 2013 by Amazon, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post. His award-winning articles have been published in leading management and psychology publications. He has worked as trainer and consultant for a range of prestigious clients, such as Google, Yahoo! and Time-Warner Cable.
The CrossKnowledge program dealing with the commitment which invites you to identify the motivation factors of your staff and will help them to realize their full potential and trigger hidden talents by giving them the opportunity to meet those who benefit from their work: clients and more, and to identify the emotions which motivate them most. Last but not least, it promotes mutual support and assertive communication as opposed to quick and wrong interpretations, and prompt viewers to prepare for situations which make them feel uncomfortable.
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Appointment of New Chairperson and Member – Canadian Race Relations Foundation
(Toronto – November 22, 2018/CNW/) The Canadian Race Relations Foundation (CRRF) warmly welcomes Teresa Woo-Paw to the position of Chairperson, following her recently-announced Governor-in-Council appointment.
“We are delighted by the appointment of Teresa Woo-Paw to the Chairperson position, and we look forward to working with her to fulfill the CRRF’s vision, mission, and mandate” stated Dr. Lilian Ma, CRRF Executive Director.
Ms. Woo-Paw holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in social work from the University of Calgary and has dedicated her career to promoting active civic engagement and volunteerism, social inclusion, cross-cultural understanding and antidiscrimination awareness.
An active part of her community for 40 years, Ms. Woo-Paw founded seven organizations including the Asian Heritage Foundation, the ACCT Foundation, the Ethno-Cultural Council of Calgary (Action Dignity) and the Calgary Chinese Community Services Association as well as served on over 30 committees and boards at local, provincial and national levels. Ms. Woo-Paw is also a member of the Calgary Arts Foundation currently.
Her community service has earned Ms. Woo-Paw an Immigrant of Distinction Award, YWCA’s Woman of Distinction Award, the Chinese Canadian Legend Award, the Queen’s Jubilee Award for Multiculturalism and Community Services, the Canada 125th Commemorative Award for Community Services and the Queen Elizabeth’s 60 th Jubilee Award.
Ms. Woo-Paw is the first Trustee and Chair of the Calgary Board of Education of Asian Canadian descent (1995 to 1999) and the first female Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and Cabinet Minister of Asian Canadian descent (2008-2015).
The CRRF is also delighted to welcome Chiamaka Mọgọ as a new member of the Board of Directors. Chiamaka Mọgọ was raised in Nigeria and is from the Igbo tribe. She is currently a Master's degree student in Public Policy and Global Affairs at the University of British Columbia. She has volunteered and worked for several organizations/institutions in Africa, as well as in Canada that promote equity and inclusion. Her past and current professional affiliations include, the: Engage Africa Foundation (Volunteer), Canadian Red Cross (Case Worker), African Marine Environment Sustainability Initiative (Board Member), University of British Columbia (Policy Analyst), Association of African Business Schools (Guest Speaker) — to name a few.
Chiamaka has received several awards in recognition of her intellectual promise and commitment to fostering resilient societies. She has been listed on the Black Canadian Awards’, National Wall of Role Models; received a $10,000 entrance scholarship from the University of British Columbia; given the Stuntman Stu Community Builder award, by the Proud to Be Me youth awards’ organizers and; named one of the 100 Black women to watch in Canada by CIBWE.
About the Canadian Race Relations Foundation
The purpose of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation is to facilitate throughout Canada the development, sharing and application of knowledge and expertise in order to contribute to the elimination of racism and all forms of racial discrimination in Canadian society. The work of the Foundation is premised on the desire to create and nurture an inclusive society based on equity, social harmony, mutual respect and human dignity. Its underlying principle in addressing racism and racial discrimination emphasizes positive race relations and the promotion of shared Canadian values of human rights and democratic institutions.
Dr. Lilian Ma
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THE GENEALOGY OF SAINT JOACHIM AND SAINT ANNE
HOLY SCRIPTURES pass over in profound silence alike the most holy life and illustrious names of Joachim and Anne, the illustrious parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God. Adoring with most profound respect the conduct of the Sovereign author of the sacred volumes, I think that the omission of the names and heroic deeds was to leave the history of such progenitors for those annals and that volume, where with most brilliant lights are inscribed the lives of the heroes who have most illustrated the world with his dignity, his ministry, and his example.
This providence of heaven is seen even in the Only-begotten of the Father, Jesus Christ, of whose life, for the long space of thirty years, we simply know that he vouchsafed to be obedient to his parents. Scarcely any notice have we of the words and actions of the Blessed Virgin, in the seventy-two years that she lived among mortals. Of Saint Joseph (whose life we must suppose filled with wonderful events in consequence of his sacred ministry) there is little that we know with positive certainty. And so we must confess that the whole life of the greatest personages of the Church is concealed in an abyss of modesty and silence.
Nevertheless the Catholic Church, enlightened by a constant tradition, holds for certain that Joachim and Anne were the real names of the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Hence Saint Joachim as well as Saint Anne -were most noble, being descended in the tribe of Judea from the blood of David : because of Levi, the son of Melchi, a descendant of David by the branch of Nathan was born Panter, father of Bipanter whose son Saint Joachim was, according to the account of Saint John Damascenus. On the other hand, Nathan by his wife Mary had three daughters, the first of whom was called Mary like her mother, the second Sobe, and the third Anne, the glorious mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The sacred doctors, relying, it is believed, on ancient traditions, affirm that Anne and Joachim led a most holy life, and have sufficient reason to affirm it, because the eternal wisdom and admirable providence of God having chosen them as progenitors of the Mother of the monarch of the universe, Jesus Christ, they could not but have been eminent in every virtue. The adorable Trinity, which had destined them to be parents of the queen of the universe, wished to try the firmness and constancy of their resignation, by afflicting them for the space of twenty years with an ignominious barrenness, which prevented their enjoying the fruit and blessing of their most chaste matrimony. But though the fecundity of nature was wanting, there was not wanting the proper spirit to recur humbly and fervently to the ancient mercies of heaven, whither they perpetually sent their sighs and prayers in order to obtain a child, whose birth might deliver them from the penalty and confusion of sterility, then considered among the Jews as a malediction and an infamy. The Almighty hearkened benignantly to their prayers, and on a certain occasion when Saint Joachim was praying on a hill of the desert, and Saint Anne under a laurel tree in her garden, with eyes lovingly raised to heaven they were consoled by a vehement inspiration which assured them that they should behold the fulfilment of their desires. This favor happened on the eighth of the month of December, and on the eighth of the following September was born a daughter whom they called Anne giving her the name of her maternal grandmother. Had they done nothing but become parents* of the empress of the universe they would have exceeded all the inhabitants of the earth ; because when we say that the Mother of God was born of Joachim and Anne, we say all that the mind can comprehend.
Having then obtained a daughter who exceeded the greatness of their expectations and desires (A. M. 3985-6) they educated her in the bosom of virtue, and when she was three years old, they presented her to the Lord in the temple, sacrificing in that amiable and precious treasure their heart and the consolation of their age. Both Anne and Joachim knew
that that child was an excellent gift of God, and hence they freely restored her to the same Lord from whom they had received her, to be brought up with the other maidens in the temple. Never since the foundation of the world was a more agreeable or a more precious holocaust offered to the Almighty.
When the Virgin reached the age of fourteen, her parents, who, according to some writers, were still alive, by divine inspiration betrothed her to Saint Joseph. Saint Joachim lived, according to the opinion of some writers, eighty years, and Saint Anne seventy-nine ; hence it is conjectured that they died after the birth of the Messias. What gives some probability to this opinion is the advanced age of these saints, and some ancient paintings which represent them alive after the birth of Jesus, the obscurity of history which gives no light to determine this, and the divine goodness which would not apparently deny them this consolation after twenty years of confusion and shameful sterility, and other reasons which we omit, not to fail in the brevity of a compendious description.
Nothing is known on this point, and it would be conjecture to state as certain what cannot be positively ascertained. We can only believe and advance that they were the parents of the Blessed Virgin, Mother of God : a felicity which would render probable the presence of Jesus, Mary and Joseph with all the heavenly court, at their passage to another life. Saint Joachim died on the ninth of March, according to the account of some historians, and Saint Anne on the twenty-sixth of July. It is nevertheless very difficult to state the year and all the circumstances of their death. The fact is, that the knowledge of these things is reserved for eternity.
Divine Providence disposed that the feast of the glorious Saint Anne should be celebrated in the Church many years before that of her illustrious consort, Saint Joachim. In the East and in the West Saints have composed most elegant homilies to extol her dignity and surpassing virtues. The faithful show their veneration by claiming to possess some of her most precious relics. France glories in possessing her sacred body, of which many cities in Germany boast of possessing portions. The nuptial ring which Saint Joachim gave Saint Anne is preserved at Rome in a church dedicated to the mother of our Lady. Her miracles, which are innumerable and worthy of eternal remembrance, have been described by Trithemius, and later still by the Bollandists.
Ancient historians tell us that the Emperor Justinian I, about the year 550, reared a magnificent and costly church in her honor at Constantinople. Finally, all that love and revere the Blessed Virgin Mary, have increased and promoted in every land devotion to her most holy mother. Our fore fathers showed their devotion by composing in honor of Saint Anne a simple office such as was used in that golden age.
The feast of Saint Joachim, which began in the West with but little solemnity under the pontificate of Julius I, has received greater dignity in these later times; for Pope Gregory XV, evincing a singular love and veneration for this glorious parent of Mary, ordered his feast to be celebrated as a double. The saint is entitled to our veneration, for, as Saint John Damascenus says, if we consider well the dignity of Saint Anne's spouse, that progenitor of Christ, the human heart cannot but be inflamed with intense desire of honoring him with signal marks of love and serving him with tenderness.
The body of this most happy saint is said to be preserved at Venice. If this is well founded, the noble Venetians should preserve it in a reliquary of finest gold, studded with diamonds and the most precious gems of the East. His glory cannot but be most exalted; for even in heaven, according to the pious John Gereon, he formed with Saint Anne, his daughter Mary and Saint Joseph, the family of Jesus Christ.
We should, therefore, have great confidence in his intercession, hoping to be rewarded for our devotion with abundant favors.
Source: The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, by Monsignor Gentilucci, 1856
A printable file to the above information is below and a link to the book which the information came from is:
https://archive.org/details/LifeOfTheMostBlessedVirginMary
the_genealogy_of_saint_joachim_and_saint_anne.docx
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Special celebration in Ballater to bring in the New Year
Published: 14:08 Thursday 08 December 2016
Ballater will be hosting a special Hogmanay celebration to mark the end of a difficult year for the village.
The Victoria and Albert Halls (Ballater) Trust will be running a programme of events entitled “Bring in the Bells with the Ballater Community” thanks to a grant from the Big Lottery Fund.
The project has been awarded £4998 from the Fund’s Celebrate programme.
It will be held in the Victoria and Albert Halls on December 31 to help the community put memories of the devastating floods of a year ago firmly in the past.
The programme will include a children’s adventure in the late morning and a tea dance in the afternoon, both with catering and entertainment, followed in the evening by the “Bring in the Bells” Hogmanay Hootenanny with music provided by TOTICO 10-piece band in the Victoria Hall.
A fireworks display at midnight will see in the New Year.
Gordon Riddler, trustee of the Victoria and Albert Halls (Ballater) Trust, said: “We are delighted to have received funding from the Big Lottery Fund to make this event possible.
“What is really important is to herald in a New Year with brighter prospects for residents and business.
Online survey seeks bikers' views about safety initiatives
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Top BYU recruit Tanner McKee affected by Ty Detmer's ouster but remains interested in Cougars
By Ryan McDonald
Published: November 29, 2017 11:25 am Updated: Nov. 29, 2017 11:25 a.m.
Courtesy McKee family
Tanner McKee, from Corona, California, is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who is ranked by Scout.com as the fourth-best signal caller in the country for the 2018 recruiting class. He said the decision at BYU to relieve Ty Detmer of his role as offensive coordinator affects his thoughts on the program, but the Cougars aren't off his list of schools he's considering attending.
BYU isn’t off the list. No one is. —Tanner McKee
BYU relieves offensive coordinator Ty Detmer of his duties
It's a sad day as Ty Detmer becomes the scapegoat for a 4-win season
Andy Reid? Aaron Roderick? Here's a list of possible replacements for Ty Detmer
Rise & Shout Podcast: Ty Detmer is out. Who's going to replace him?
BYU rushing to hire a new OC before Dec. 20 Letter of Intent early signing day
One key area in which BYU’s decision to relieve Ty Detmer of his duties as offensive coordinator on Monday could have a big impact is recruiting, as assistant coaches usually are the first ones to build relationships with recruits.
In fact, the Cougars’ top target, California quarterback Tanner McKee, told the Deseret News on Tuesday evening that he was deeply affected by the decision, although he affirmed his interested in BYU.
“The change at BYU absolutely affects my thoughts on them,” said McKee, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who is ranked by Scout.com as the fourth-best signal caller in the country for the 2018 class. “I had a great relationship with Ty.”
Even before Detmer was removed from the position, there had been growing speculation that the Cougars were off McKee’s list, as he had originally scheduled one of his five official visits for Provo but has already visited Alabama, Washington, Texas and Texas A&M and will instead use his fifth allowed visit to go to Stanford.
McKee, however, said Tuesday that he’s still planning to go to BYU on an unofficial visit (where he pays his own way instead of having the school pay for it) sometime in January.
“BYU isn’t off the list,” he said. “No one is.”
McKee is the only quarterback in the top 17 of Scout's rankings who has not yet committed to a school.
While McKee, who is planning on serving an LDS mission and therefore won’t enroll until 2020, said while the Cougars’ struggles this season raised some concerns, he added that he doesn’t pay specific attention to a team's overall record.
“I think anytime a team has a season like they’ve had, questions need to be asked,” he said. “I don’t get too caught up in wins and losses. I’m more concerned with how a team competes week in and week out and if they are moving in the right direction as a team.”
The first opportunity for recruits in the 2018 class to sign with a school is during the new early signing period Dec. 20-22, while the traditional National Signing Day is Feb. 7.
Ryan McDonald Ryan McDonald is a sports reporter at DeseretNews.com
rmcdonald@deseretnews.com
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Ben Torres/Special Contributor
New DMA director Agustín Arteaga seeks air of ambitious collegiality
Filed under Visual Arts at Dec 2016
Rick Brettell, Art critic
Connect with Rick Brettell
The director's office at the Dallas Museum of Art is largely unchanged from the Max Anderson era -- its Saarinen table and chairs, its oak bookcases, its work of art by Neil Jenney titled Sino-Spring -- all were there when Agustín Arteaga took the helm of the DMA, and all remain.
He has been too busy meeting people, walking through galleries, chatting with the staff, attending welcoming parties and thinking, thinking, thinking about the museum to focus on redecorating his office. Although it is not at all "him," he is OK with that.
When we spoke, he likened the process of taking on a large and complex institution like the DMA to receiving a huge box of puzzle pieces to put together with no clue as to the picture they collectively represent. One must examine each piece and remember all the others examined previously before the "picture" emerges in the mind.
Agustin Arteaga, left, and Gavin Delahunty of the Dallas Museum of Art.
(TWO x TWO for AIDS and Art)
In his introductory weeks, he has talked to guards, curators, schoolchildren, people in the galleries, donors, trustees, former trustees, professors and on and on -- each a piece in the huge puzzle he is assembling in his mind.
Arteaga is in no hurry. His long experience in the world of art museums has taught him that each such institution is unique and that each transforms itself in ways appropriate only to itself.
He has also learned that it is OK to wait and listen before springing into action. His eyes -- at once bright and a tiny bit weary -- gaze openly into the room and at me, unafraid to linger and to study.
We first met in Mexico City more than 25 years ago. We were both very young and eager, and we talked excitedly about mounting an exhibition together devoted to Mexican sculpture of the 1920s through the 1950s, the great age of Mexican painting. I recall saying that we, in America, knew all about Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, but nothing about the sculptors who were their friends and colleagues.
At that time in Dallas, there was, as yet, no Nasher Sculpture Center, but both of us knew Raymond Nasher and wanted to look anew at the world of modernism with sculpture at the forefront of our minds. The exhibition we envisioned then never happened, and we all went forward in our lives, never thinking that we would one day meet again and that the job Arteaga now has is the job I had when we first met. Perhaps the time is now ripe for that exhibition.
Since then, when Arteaga was a very young chief curator at the National Museum of Modern Art in Mexico City, he has gone on to direct museums in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Ponce, Puerto Rico; and Mexico City, the latter the National Museum of Art (MUNAL), which is one of Mexico City's glories. He was also the director of all the national art museums in Mexico -- traveling throughout the nation and learning about the institutional needs of cities large and small.
It was in that capacity that Arteaga became a member of two groups that have proved critical to his career: the American Association of Art Museum Directors, which made early overtures to Mexico and Canada and nabbed Arteaga, and what is known as the "Bizot Group," an international club of museum directors presided over by Irene Bizot, the powerful former "directrice" of the Reunion of French Museums.
For Bizot, if someone is smart, directs an interesting museum and likes to talk about global projects, she or he is invited to join the group, and membership is an immediate entree to the international art world. Many museum directors in the U.S. would jump through hoops to be selected for this group. Arteaga has been a member for years.
The Bizot Group brought Arteaga into contact with Asian, European, American (in the broadest sense) and African museum directors in a way that is much more intimate and conducive to long-term relationships than the almost corporate world of the International Council of Museums, which is so large and cumbersome that it is, for most of us, almost useless.
It is this sense of direct and personal contact, and its importance, that sparked in Arteaga a desire both to work in the U.S. and to root his museum career here in the kind of quality relationships -- with staff, professors, visitors, city officials, trustees, donors -- that make the museum, large as it is, more than a bureaucracy or a set of policies. Although he does occasionally revert to "administrative speak" when he talks of "best practices" and the like, his concern is more with community than with administration.
Unlike many museum directors today -- with their MBAs and management degrees and their commitment to theories of administration and planning -- Arteaga loves works of art. The three volumes he published annually of the acquisitions of MUNAL, the museum he ran before the DMA, are a testament to the importance of art itself and to the ever-expanding permanent collection. His task to DMA curators to go into the museum's ample storage areas to find hidden treasures is also proof that, for him, the museum is first and foremost about art.
The museum in his past that is perhaps least known to Texans is the Ponce Museum of Art in the city of Ponce on the south coast of Puerto Rico. Unknown to most Americans, it contains a world-class collection of English pre-Raphaelite art as well as major holdings of European Baroque painting. (Both are sadly lacking in Dallas!) Arteaga sent the former to the Prado in Spain to create the very first exhibition devoted to pre-Raphaelitism in Spain and, as a return favor from that grateful museum, received a group of major masterpieces by virtually every great artist in the Prado's Old Master collection.
These he installed in the Ponce museum together with that museum's own Old Master pictures to create a sense among somewhat skeptical Puerto Ricans that the collection of their own museum is great as well. This, in turn, the Prado to open its files and immense library to the Ponce Museum of Art's curator, who completed in those superb scholarly facilities a remarkable catalog of the Ponce Museum's own collection.
Major exhibition
Arteaga mounted a major exhibition -- the first in Puerto Rico -- of the work of the great American pop artist, Roy Lichtenstein, and acquired for the museum the immense sculptural representation of a stroke of wet paint that introduces the whole idea of Baroque art to that museum's visitors via contemporary art. And, this season, Arteaga's exhibition of the painting and sculpture produced in Mexico from 1920 to 1950 is a sensation in Paris, where it presides over the fall exhibition season at no less a place than the Grand Palais.
Our conversation lasted an hour and seemed like 15 minutes, and I felt when I left that I had just begun to scratch the surface of this extraordinary man -- at once gentle and confident, young and old, wise and playful. He seemed most anxious that I know that what he wanted to do at the DMA was not to impose his will upon it, but to create an atmosphere of ambitious collegiality in which curators, educators, scholars, trustees, donors and volunteers all achieved things together greater than any of them could have imagined before.
Not bad for a new beginning in a new city.
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Stan Olszewski - Staff Photographer
Trinity River wetlands construction brings Dallas Floodway Extension Project closer to city’s core
Filed under News at Feb 2013
Roy Appleton
Connect with Roy Appleton
With the lower chain wetlands (shown here) along the Trinity River complete, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will begin construction of a second chain before the end of the year. The wetlands, photographed Tuesday, November 13, 2012, are partly on an old golf course and partly on an old landfill. They are designed to lower flood risk to Dallas. (Mona Reeder/The Dallas Morning News)
(Mona Reeder - Staff Photographer)
Powerful machines are removing trees and leveling land near the Trinity River, mere minutes from downtown Dallas.
Below the Martin Luther King Jr. Bridge, beyond piles of old tires and scatterings of trash and debris, workers last week began clearing the way for a wetland area — kicking the Dallas Floodway Extension Project into another gear.
An undertaking of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the city of Dallas, the floodway extension plan calls for building levees and wetlands along 11 miles of river, from the old Santa Fe railroad bridge south to Interstate 20.
The goal is to protect property and reduce flooding. But federal budget cuts have left the 11-year-old project with funding only to continue developing wetlands, such as the site being prepared near the MLK Bridge.
The feature will be the first of three connecting cells that will lie north and south of the bridge on the Oak Cliff side of the river. They will be completed after contaminated soil from a former lead smelter is removed. That job will begin in the next eight to 12 months and take six to eight months to complete, according to the city’s Trinity River Corridor Project office.
In the meantime, the city is moving ahead with a separate $6 million project around the bridge, featuring sidewalk improvements, new lighting, a river overlook, monument and trailhead. Construction is expected to begin this summer.
And officials with the city and corps await the federal dollars to build levees along Lamar Street east of the river and near the Cadillac Heights neighborhood on the river’s western side. Design of the projects has begun. Improvements to levees guarding Rochester Park and the city’s wastewater treatment plant are also planned.
“There’s really no telling when funding will come around,” said Rob Newman, the corps Trinity project manager.
A chain of wetlands has been in place downstream between Interstate 45 and Loop 12 since 2008.
With no trees, brush or other obstacles, the cells ease the flow and reduce the height of floodwater both downstream and upstream. They also offer habitat — food and cover — for birds, fish and other wildlife.
A proposed trail system would provide public access to the sites. And in time, the upper wetlands near the MLK Bridge will put it all closer to neighborhoods and the city’s core.
“The exciting part about combining flood control and recreation opportunities with environmental restoration is that visitors can go out and explore an area where you can see native and migratory birds, amphibians, small forest animals or even an occasional bald eagle,” said Sarah Standifer, assistant director of the city’s Trinity Watershed Management office.
Said Newman: “Having these natural areas in an urban setting and bringing people to the river is a good thing.”
Some people might say clearing more than 200 acres of trees to create the wetland cells is not a good thing.
To compensate for the loss, the city will preserve about 1,200 acres of woods and grassland in and near the Great Trinity Forest and plant trees and other vegetation. Oaks, pecans, walnuts, red mulberry and other species are being planted at eight test sites to see what works where.
“We’re letting the land tell us what we need to do,” said Gary Dick, a corps research ecologist overseeing the project.
When completed, both chains of wetlands will stretch along almost four miles of river bottom, providing 270 acres of improved habitat.
Averaging 600 feet wide and up to 7 feet deep when full, the areas aren’t entirely natural. They receive water pumped from the city’s wastewater treatment plant that flows with the pull of gravity through the chain.
Weir gates at each cell control the flow and water depth to the benefit of plant and animal life. And plants absorb nutrients in the water, further cleaning the effluent before it drains to the river.
The corps’ Lewisville Aquatic Ecosystem Research Facility has managed the lower chain of wetlands since construction began in 2004.
Facility staff, led by Dick, have directed the planting of aquatic and grassland vegetation in and around the cells, drawing on the help of volunteers and students.
“This is good. We want this,” said Dick, pointing out a white tridens during a tour in November. “And see that lighter green grass? That’s switchgrass. We think it can compete.”
Also competing well are bulrushes, water primrose, water smartweed and Eastern grama grass, he said. Not so good are the invasive plants, such as black willows and cattails, which can dominate an area. “We’re not where we want to be yet,” Dick said of ongoing control efforts.
In a report last March, Dick and research facility associates said the wetland vegetation had become established with more than 40 plants species.
The report said the cells’ growing fish population, mostly mosquitofish and bluegill, was attracting a variety of birds, including ducks, sandpipers, egrets and herons.
It said 12 species of mammals, 10 species of reptiles and five species of amphibians had been observed in wetlands areas, plus 91 species of birds — a total that increased with this year’s Trinity Bird Count.
Despite extreme conditions, such as extensive flooding and protracted drought, the wetlands’ diversity of native plants should continue to improve, Dick said.
And continued monitoring of the areas should add animal species to the tally as well because “when you start looking, you see more,” he said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if those numbers double in the next five years.”
The cells will always need managing, Dick said. A question is how much and by whom.
The corps is preparing to turn the task over to the city, which owns the Trinity floodway, as early as next year.
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Gemalto to Acquire SafeNet
$890 Million Deal to Close by Year's End Jeffrey Roman (gen_sec) • August 8, 2014
Gemalto plans to acquire SafeNet, a data and software protection provider, for $890 million. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2014.
Gemalto, which is based in Amsterdam, develops secure software and operating systems that it embeds in many kinds of devices, including SIM cards, banking cards, tokens, electronic passports and ID cards. Its platforms and services continuously monitor and manage these devices, checking identities and managing transactions. The company says its acquisition of SafeNet will reinforce its identity and access management business.
SafeNet, based in Belcamp, Md., provides a portfolio of data protection solutions, including advanced cryptographic key management systems, encryption technologies and authentication servers. "All of these will perfectly complement Gemalto's offering of embedded software and portable secure elements," according to a Gemalto statement.
SafeNet has 1,500 employees, including 550 cryptographic engineers, and serves more than 25,000 customers, both corporations and government agencies, in over 100 countries. In 2013, SafeNet recorded revenue of $337 million and profit from operations of $35 million. The company expects revenue of $370 million and profit from operations of $51 million for 2014.
Gemalto in 2013 had revenue of €2.4 billion ($3.2 billion). Gemalto closed its 2010-2013 development plan with €348 million ($466 million) in profit from operations. It has more than 12,000 employees operating out of 85 offices and 25 research and software development centers located in 44 countries.
"As Gemalto enters into its 2014-2017 multi-year development plan, the digital world enters a period in which proper control over sensitive information is paramount," the company says. "Nearly 400 million digital data records have been lost or stolen already in 2014, prompting a significant rise in global awareness regarding the effective protection of data."
Consolidation Activity
Gemalto's acquisition of SafeNet is the latest in a series of significant vendor consolidations so far this year.
In January, breach detection provider FireEye acquired incident response and remediation services company Mandiant for $1 billion in stock and cash.
Also in January, virtualization and cloud infrastructure provider VMware acquired AirWatch, an enterprise mobile management and security solutions company, for about $1.18 billion in cash and $365 million of installment payments and assumed unvested equity.
Advanced threat protection provider Bit9 announced in March that it had merged with Carbon Black, which sells an endpoint sensor designed to speed up incident response. Financial terms of the merger were not disclosed.
And network security company Palo Alto Networks announced in March that it would acquire the Israeli-based cybersecurity firm Cyvera for approximately $200 million.
Next-Generation Technologies & Secure Development
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The ROI of Privileged ID Governance
Jeffrey Roman
News Writer, ISMG
Roman is the former News Writer for Information Security Media Group. Having worked for multiple publications at The College of New Jersey, including the College's newspaper "The Signal" and alumni magazine, Roman has experience in journalism, copy editing and communications.
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https://www.databreachtoday.com/gemalto-to-acquire-safenet-a-7170
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NYC Locations for "The Deuce" - a 1970's Period Piece from HBO and the folks behind "The Wire"
August 29, 2017 by David Brotsky in Trailers, Television
On Friday, HBO dropped an advance premiere episode of The Deuce, its new television series starring James Franco and Maggie Gyllenhaal about Times Square in the early 1970s through mid-1980s. The show, created by George Pelecanos and David Simon, stars James Franco and Maggie Gyllenhaal, and chronicles the rise and legalization of the porn industry.
August 29, 2017 /David Brotsky
the deuce, hbo, david simon, james franco, maggie gyllenhaal, times square, 1970's, period piece, porn
Trailers, Television
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Prime Hospital Successfully Performs Whipple Procedure for First Time
Prime Hospital has announced that it recently made a landmark achievement after efficiently carrying out the Whipple treatment, among the most complex intestinal surgeries, on a 57-year-old male individual described the medical facility. It was the very first time that such treatment, which includes getting rid of a big deadly lump from the head of the pancreatic, was carried out in the premier clinical facility in Dubai.
The five-hour facility surgical treatment was executed by the hospital's skillful team of specialists led by Dr. Faisal Al Badri (Professional General Doctor), Dr. Alya Al Mazrouei (Expert General Specialist), and Dr. Sameer Al Assar (Expert General Doctor). Expert team nurses helped the physicians during the surgery, according to the health center.
Dr. Jamil Ahmed, Managing Director, Prime Healthcare Group, said "The individual has been moved to the ward from the intensive care unit (ICU) where he recovered and discharged residence after few days. Having the ability to effectively conduct this kind of difficult surgery brings us closer to our objective of changing Prime Health center into a specialized facility for surgical oncology with the ability of dealing with such vital and complicated cases. Congratulations to the group behind this task."
Shatrujeet Kumar Rai, Hospital Director, Prime Health center, said: "This turning point would certainly not have been feasible without the aid of specialist clinical team that gave their ideal to guarantee a successful surgery. This latest success is straightened with the Group's vision to come to be one of the most recognized doctor in the region with its most effective therapy outcomes and solutions delivered by best-in-class professionals. It also forms part of our endeavors to contribute to Dubai's intensive efforts to develop a first-rate local health industry."
The group of physicians behind Prime Healthcare facility's historical feat consisted of experienced experts. Dr. Al Badri got his Swedish Board of post-graduate specialized as a whole Doctor, complied with by an incredibly field of expertise of hepatopancreatic biliary surgical treatment and liver and kidney transplantation.
Dr. Al Mazrouei won a fellowship in pancreatic islets and kidney transplant in Switzerland and another fellowship in proctology also in Switzerland where the doctor functioned as a Consultant-General Cosmetic surgeon in one of the nation's healthcare facilities. Finally, Dr. Al Assar is a Professional in General Cosmetic Surgeon and Wound Treatment Management, offering pertinent solutions to clients in Dubai.
The Whipple treatment is used to treat tumors and other conditions of the pancreatic, intestinal tract and bile duct. The pancreas, situated in the top abdomen and behind the stomach, assists in food digestion, specifically fats and healthy protein, as well as secretes hormones that assist manage blood glucose.
After the surgical procedure, the cosmetic surgeon reconnects the remaining body organs for typical food digestion. The difficult and requiring procedure with severe threats continues to be a life-saving treatment specifically for pancreatic cancer cells individuals.
The primary objective of the Whipple treatment for cancer cells is not only to get rid of the lump yet additionally to avoid it from expanding and spreading to various other organs. As per Mayo Clinic, this is the only treatment that could lead to prolonged survival and cure for this type of lump.
H.E AbdulAziz Al Ghurair Hosts U.S. Treasury Secretary
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Dudley Moore
CMG Worldwide Welcomes You to the Official Website of Dudley Moore
It is a rare that an entertainer has the ability to act, sing, compose a score, play the piano, and more. A renowned performer, Dudley Moore could do it all. As a legendary musician, composer, actor, and comedian, he astonished fans all over the world with his talents and abilities.
Dudley Stuart John Moore was born on April 19, 1935 in Dagenham, England to John and Ada Moore. He had an older sister, Barbara. He discovered his passion for music at an early age, becoming a choirboy at six and earning a scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music at age 11, where he studied harpsichord, organ, violin, musical theory, and composition. At 14, he was playing the organ at church weddings. Later, he earned a scholarship to study music at Magdalen College at Oxford University.
When he graduated in 1958, he was an accomplished jazz pianist and performed widely until being offered a part by the producers of Beyond the Fringe. This comedy, a collaboration between Moore, Peter Cook, Jonathan Miller, and Alan Bennett introduced the age of satire and earned success in the United States and Britain.
In 1965, Moore and Beyond the Fringe co-star Peter Cook went on to star in Not Only. . . But Also, a television series that ran for six years and introduced the comedic partnership of Moore and Cook. The two would go on to remain lifelong friends. They later appeared in several productions together, including films The Wrong Box (1966) and Bedazzled (1967).
After working extensively with Cook on various projects, Moore chose to break away to focus on his film career. He starred in numerous films, including 30 Is a Dangerous Age, Cynthia (1968). In 1968, he married actress Suzy Kendall, but the two divorced in 1972.
In 1975, he married actress Tuesday Weld, with whom he had a son, Patrick. They divorced in 1980.
Meanwhile, Moore’s film career took off with the success of 10 (1979) in which he co-starred with Bo Derek. Arthur (1981), co-starring Liza Minnelli, came next and was his most successful film, earning him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor.
Other movies followed, including “Like Father Like Son” (1987), “Arthur 2: On the Rocks” (1988) and “Crazy People” (1990).
In 1988, Moore married actress Brogan Lane, but they divorced in 1990.
In addition to his Oscar nomination, during his career, Moore won two Tony Awards, a Grammy and two Golden Globes.
Moore married Nicole Rothschild in 1994, with whom he had a son, Nicholas Anthony. The two divorced in 1998.
Throughout the years, Moore also found time for his first and greatest passion of music. He used his musical skills to compose scores to several of his films such as Bedazzled (1967) and Inadmissible Evidence (1968). During the 1990s, he performed at several Carnegie Hall Benefits for the charitable organization, Music For All Seasons, and also toured with his long time musical partner and friend, Rena Fruchter.
Moore also shared his passion for music in other ways. He served as the founding Advisory Board President of Music For All Seasons, an organization that strives to provide music to those who, for health, economic or other reasons, are unable to attend concerts.
In June 2001, Moore was named a Commander of the British Empire, an honor bestowed upon him by the Prince of Wales.
At age 66, Dudley Moore passed away on March 27, 2002 at his home in New Jersey after a long and bitter battle with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy.
Through his work in both music and cinema, and via his contributions to charitable organizations around the world, Dudley Moore left behind an unforgettable and lasting legacy.
As the exclusive licensing agent for Dudley Moore, CMG Worldwide is dedicated to maintaining and developing a positive brand image for our client. CMG is a leader and pioneer in its field, with over 35 years of experience arranging licensing agreements for hundreds of personalities and brands in various industries, including sports, entertainment, music, and more. We actively seek out commercial opportunities that are consistent with our brand positioning goals, and we are committed to pursuing strategies that meet the goals of our clients, as well as our licensing partners.
Please contact us today if you are interested in licensing opportunities with Dudley moore. For a full list of CMG Clients, please visit our website here.
© Dudley Moore 2017
In its fourth decade of licensing and clearing intellectual property rights, CMG Worldwide is the recognized leader in its field. CMG helps you navigate through and effectively manage the licensing process, while providing peace of mind that you have addressed all the outstanding clearance concerns.
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http://www.hatunhikayeleri.net
Today Europe is home to millions of first, second and third generation migrants as well as ethnic minority communities. The ECML has a number of publications and on-going projects dedicated to language education for migrants both at school and in the workplace, as well as advice and guidance for decision-makers and employers on how to benefit from this diversity.
Council of Europe resources
ECML Training and consultancy Young migrants | Supporting multilingual classrooms
Adult migrants | Quality assurance in language and citizenship courses
Plurilingual education | Plurilingual and intercultural competences: descriptors and teaching materials (FREPA)
There are now more than 50 million people in Europe living in a country other than the one in which they were born. Successful integration of migrants is a crucial element in promoting social cohesion: language education, in particular the mastering of the language of the host country, has a major role to play in support of the introduction and acceptance of young and adult migrants into education systems, the labour market and society at large. At the same time, the safeguard of migrants’ own languages of origin and their cultural values is an essential factor for harmonious integration.
In principle, education for migrants should not be seen as distinct from that of general educational provision and the values developed in the work of the ECML apply to it. Nevertheless, there are specific issues related to language education for migrants, which include:
Enabling migrants to achieve operational competence in the language of the new country quickly and efficiently
Providing support to migrant children for successful integration into the school system; this includes learning academic discourse related to school subjects
Developing ways for migrants, especially children, to learn or keep up their language of origin and develop their plurilingual repertoire
Helping officials and others in contact with migrants to communicate successfully with them
Ensuring that all migrants, especially those who stay mainly at home, have opportunities to learn the language of the host country
An additional feature of migrant education, especially for recent arrivals, is that their language education frequently takes place in informal settings outside mainstream education. Frequently this can involve the recruitment and training of instructors, interpreters and social workers; and it can include counselling and practical help on how to cope with the challenges of a new country, new regulations, new social norms.
Employment – language for professional purposes
In addition to the domains of schooling and life in the community, migrant and other learners are likely to need language for professional purposes. Language education for employment may take place in an educational setting – for example, in vocational schools – or in the work place. Languages are becoming more and more important for companies – from small businesses to multinationals – and they value, expect and also foster the language skills of their employees.
Enhancing employability is one of the central goals of education and language skills have an increasingly important role to play in achieving this goal. There is a clear need to make the lifelong learning of languages possible and effective by developing practical tools, methods and concepts to support young people and adults of all ages. In order to provide solutions to the various needs of employees, teachers and companies, a wide variety of approaches is required, all of which emphasize the positive potential of plurilingualism and its value in all walks of life. Some of the challenges connected to language for professional purposes are:
How can language learning in school – in addition to its contribution to quality education – equip learners to acquire the language skills they will need in their working lives?
How can companies best organize language training to meet the changing needs of the market place?
How can we convince companies of the benefits, both for themselves and their employees, of a positive attitude towards plurilingualism and intercultural competences?
What technological and human resources are available for traditional and non-traditional learning (e.g. volunteers working with migrants)?
How the work of the Council of Europe contributes to migrant education
The Council of Europe has launched a project dedicated to the Linguistic Integration of Adult Migrants (LIAM). The website gives access to a very wide range of resources related to the theme. This provides a comprehensive fact sheet and other resources ‘to support member states in their efforts to respond to the challenges posed by unprecedented migration flows’. A specific website for adult refugees is also available within the framework of the LIAM project which includes a toolkit comprising 57 tools. The Council of Europe has also produced a qualifications passport for refugees as an aid to integration into education and employment.
How ECML projects contribute to migrant education and language for employment
A number of ECML past and current projects are devoted to helping migrants to achieve successful integration in schools and in the workplace. These include:
The Language for Work project – full title ‘A European learning network for professionals supporting work‐related second language development’
This project has developed a network for professionals dealing with language training for work; its aims are to develop a series of tools for professional development and among these is a “quick guide” to support companies in the linguistic integration of adult migrants.
A collaborative community approach to migrant education
A virtual open course for educators. The resources offer innovative ways to enhance young migrants' education by developing links between schools, the home and local partners in education. This educational joint venture develops the learners' skills in the language of schooling as well their plurilingual competences.
Migrant education and employment and other thematic areas
Projects in this thematic area address the issue of teaching the language of the school to classes with diverse language backgrounds. These include ‘Teaching the language of schooling in the context of diversity’ (Maledive)
Projects are concerned issues of developing ways for migrants to learn or keep up their language of origin and develop their plurilingual repertoire and to foster intercultural education. One such project is Content based teaching plurilingual/cultural awareness (CONBAT+) which presents an innovative way of managing diversity in the classroom by combining plurilingual and pluricultural approaches with content-based instruction.
Collaborative Community Approach to Migrant Education. A virtual open course for educators
The resources offer innovative ways to enhance young migrants’ education by developing links between schools, the home and local partners in education. This educational joint venture develops the learners’ skills in the language of schooling as well as their plurilingual competences.
Available in English and French
View publication page
A European learning network for professionals supporting work-related second language development
Language for Work is a European learning network for professionals teaching the language of the host country to migrants and ethnic minorities in work-related contexts. The network helps members share and develop their practice.
Available in English
This project fosters professional development in the field of work‐related majority language learning for adult migrants and ethnic minorities. It creates tools and resources to support the professional development of teachers, teacher educators and other practitioners in this field.
View project page
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The Spoken Word
Two of the letters in the modern alphabet were unknown in the 15th century.
The Spoken Word challenges you on language.
People in England during the Middle Ages spoke what is known as (unsurprisingly) Middle English. It had developed from Old English (which closely resembled German) with the addition of French words brought in by the Norman invaders. By Richard III's time the language resembled Modern English much more than it did Old English and it is (mostly) understandable today.
The most famous writer in Middle English was Geoffrey Chaucer. How many Modern English words are first found in his works?
About one thousand
About two thousand
About three thousand
About four thousand
Although the words are first found written by Chaucer, they were probably already in common use and not invented by him. Some examples are; box, scissors, princess, funeral, universe and laxative
Spelling in Middle English varied immensely. Mahte, Mithe, Mouthe and Micht are all different spellings of which modern word?
Spelling of words was at the discretion of the writer and varied so much that the same word was often found spelt differently on the same page!
The new standard English was mostly influenced by the dialects of London and which other area?
The South East
The West Midlands
The South West
At the time the East Midlands was the most populated and the wealthiest area of England. It also contained the scholastic cities of Oxford and Cambridge, which both influenced written English
In the 15th century a more standard form of the English language was developing. What was this form called?
Royal English
Chancery English
Legal English
Court English
Before the 15th century official documents were written in either Latin or French. They began to be written in English and the Chanceries, where they were made, lent their name to the standard English used to write them
German, French and Latin were not the only influences on Middle English. The words anger, dirt, mud and skull come from which foreign tongue?
Many Viking words entered the language after their invasions prior to the 12th century. Irish, Welsh and Dutch words also entered English due to trade and migration, but in much smaller numbers than French, Latin and Norse
William Caxton had a great influence on the English language during the 15th century. He was the first Englishman to do what?
Write a novel in English
Translate the Bible into English
Write an English dictionary
Caxton printed the first book in English, Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye, which he translated himself. He also published a further 86 titles. Caxton was a friend of Richard III's sister, Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy
Several words used in Middle English have changed their meanings over time. What did the word 'nice' mean in the 15th century?
Other words which have changed their meaning are 'brave' which meant 'braggard', 'sophisticated' which meant 'unnatural' and 'silly' which meant 'lucky'
Many words did not survive into Modern English. Which animal was known during the Middle Ages as an 'attercop'?
An adder
A lark
A carp
A spider
The Old English name 'attercop' was still in use at the time, alongside 'spither'. Over the years 'spither' became 'spider' and 'attercop' was lost. Its influence can still be seen though, in the modern word 'cobweb,' which is derived from, 'copweb'
Two of the letters in the modern alphabet were unknown in the 15th century. Which two were they?
Q and X
J and U
V and Z
W and Y
J was represented by a capital I and U was shown as a V. Other letters, which we do not use today were part of their alphabet, for example 'thorn', which resembled a letter P and 'eth' which resembled a letter D, were both used instead of 'th'
Pronunciation began to change a great deal towards the end of the 15th century. What name is given to this change?
The Great Vowel Shift
The Long Word Stretch
The Weak Noun Drop
The Old Plural Change
In Middle English vowels were pronounced differently than today.
The letter 'A' was pronounced as in 'Father,'
The letter 'E' as in 'Fete,'
The letter 'I' as in 'Receipt,'
The letter 'O' as in 'To,'
And the letter 'U' as in 'Doubt.'
This accounts for much of the difference in spelling from Modern English. The word 'blood' was mostly spelt 'blud' and pronounced 'blowd'
Author: Graeme Haw
Print this quiz Report an error Richard III Play this quiz again
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Home > E-Discovery Advocacy and Management > Day 1: Your First Five Questions (times four): A Practical Guide to the Amended Federal Rules of Civil Procedure – Proportionality
Day 1: Your First Five Questions (times four): A Practical Guide to the Amended Federal Rules of Civil Procedure – Proportionality
By Karin Scholz Jenson, Gary Levin, Robert J. Tucker, James A. Sherer and Jonathan A. Forman on November 20, 2015 Posted in E-Discovery Advocacy and Management, E-Discovery Rules, Your First Five Questions
The current amended Federal Rules of Civil Procedure—and, in particular, those that address the practice of civil discovery—are the product of five years of development, debate, and, of course, dialogue. Now that the Rules are set to be implemented on December 1, 2015 – and they apply to pending cases where “just and practicable” — the focus among attorneys and their clients has changed from what the Rules should say to how they should work. While debates remain as to how certain parts of the Rules will wear-and-tear once put to the test in discovery, there are clear indications within the text of the Rules (with some help from the Committee Notes to the Rules and the contributions of judges and other writers) as to how the Rules will apply. Over the next few weeks as part of Discovery Advocate’s First Five Questions series, we will examine some of the initial and immediate considerations expressed within and surrounding the rules and applies them to practice, regarding the Rules’ application to Proportionality (Rule 26); Early Case Assessment (Rules 4, 16, 26, and 34); Preservation (Rule 37); and Objections (Rule 34). A version of these posts were published as “Twenty Questions: A Practical Guide to the Amended Federal Rules of Civil Procedure” for the 2015 Georgetown Advanced E-Discovery Institute.
Today we start with Proportionality.
One of the purposes of the new amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure is to again address the problem of over-discovery. The 1983 and 1993 amendments to the Rules attempted to address this problem through an emphasis on proportionality, but found that a practical application was not always forthcoming when even “courts have not always insisted on proportionality when it was warranted.”[1] In particular, the amendments to Rule 26 serve to re-focus the scope of discovery on proportionality—and allowing parties to obtain the documents they truly need to prosecute or defend their case while simultaneously alleviating any unnecessary burdens on the opposing party. Proportionality is one of the central themes to the amendments, and several important questions relating to the effect of the amendments on this topic are addressed below.
Have proportionality factors always been part of Rule 26?
Yes. Most of the factors were added to Rule 26 in 1983 as part of an effort to promote proportional discovery and discourage discovery overuse. The factors were moved to section 26(b)(2)(C) in 1993 when section (b)(1) was divided. Separating the factors into subdivision (b)(2)(C), however, had the unintended consequence of causing litigants to interpret them as only “limitations” and not an integral part of the scope of discovery.[2] As the Committee Notes indicate, “[t]he present amendment restores the proportionality factors to their original place in defining the scope of discovery.”[3]
It is important to note, however, that some of the factors do not date back to1983. For instance, the 1993 amendments also added two factors: whether the burden or expense of the proposed discovery outweighs its likely benefit; and the importance of the proposed discovery in resolving the issues.[4] Finally, the factor considering parties’ relative access to information is new in 2015.[5]
How do the proportionality factors affect the scope of relevancy?
Rule 26 as amended has excised the former 26(b)(1) provision permitting discovery “reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence,” and has replaced it with a scope based on proportionality. But this concept of proportionality should not operate to make any given document irrelevant, as a document is still relevant if it is related to a party’s claim or defense.[6] In our view, the proportionality factors require litigants to evaluate the level of the document’s relevance in the context of the burden to identify, review, and produce the requested documents or information. That said, this evaluation can be a slippery slope and the answer to the question of whether certain documents should be produced can be different to different attorneys as well as different fact finders. And, proportionality is but one factor in the determination.
How and when should we be addressing these proportionality factors during discovery?
Proportionality should be addressed early and often. At the very least, it should be addressed during the parties’ 26(f) conference as well as scheduling and pre-trial conferences with the court. The parties should consider each factor when determining whether and what kind of discovery is truly needed in the case, and incorporate judicial guidance when provided through those conferences or other means. Indeed, the parties should anticipate more active judicial participation; the Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provided just that instruction when explicitly stating that district or magistrate judges “must be considerably more involved in managing each case from the outset, to tailor the motions practice and shape the discovery to the reasonable needs of the case.”[7]
The proportionality factors may even be addressed by the parties during preservation; however, at an early stage, it is often difficult to evaluate the importance of certain documents or information to the case especially when comparing them with a preservation burden.[8] The proportionality factors should also be directly addressed in any motion to compel or discovery dispute over the relevance and/or burden of any particular discovery.
How will courts apply the concept of proportionality?
Courts will continue to prefer those instances where litigants apply the proportionality factors and reach resolution of discovery disputes without court assistance. But the Committee Notes to the Rules amendments re-emphasize the notes from the 1983 and 1993 amendments which indicate that there should be greater judicial involvement in the discovery process given that it cannot always operate on a self-regulating basis.[9] When disputes do arise, the court will weigh the burdens of discovery against the potential benefit of the information to be produced in light of the facts of the case.[10]
The burden does not rest with the party seeking discovery to address all proportionality factors.[11] Rather, the parties and the court have a collective responsibility to consider the proportionality of all discovery in resolving such disputes.[12] Nor will courts interpret proportionality to mean that the burden of discovery will always be equal to both sides. As the Committee Notes also indicate, “the burden of responding to discovery lies heavier on the party who has more information, and properly so.”[13]
Can technology help address proportionality?
The Committee Notes indicate that the relative burden of any discovery must be determined in a realistic way.[14] This means that the parties should at least consider computer-based methods or other technologies that could help alleviate the burden of discovery.[15] Using appropriate technologies to quickly identify and segregate truly relevant documents and information comports with the goal of proportionality by providing the requesting party with the documents and information necessary to prosecute or defend claims, and the producing party with cost savings.[16] Additionally, this is not a one-time discussion—parties should discuss various available technologies and their use to alleviate burdens throughout the discovery process as the case matures.
[1] See The Sedona Conference Commentary on Proportionality in Electronic Discovery, at 4 (Jan. 2013) [hereinafter Sedona].
[2] Judicial Conference Comm. on Rules of Practice & Procedure, Report of the Judicial Conference Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure at B-39 (Sept. 2014) [hereinafter Judicial Conference Committee].
[3] Id.
[4] Id. at B-38.
[6] Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(1).
[7] Judge David G. Campbell, Advisory Committee on Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Proposed Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, at B-6 (June 2014).
[8] See Sedona, supra note 1, at 2 (“The burdens and costs of preserving potentially relevant information should be weighed against the potential value and uniqueness of the information when determining the appropriate scope of preservation.”).
[9] Judicial Conference Committee, supra note 2, at B-41.
[10] See Sedona, supra note 1, at 5 n.13 (citing cases).
[11] Judicial Conference Committee, supra note 2, at B-39.
[13] Id. at B-40-41.
[14] Id. at B-42.
[16] See Sedona, supra note 1, at 13-14.
Tags: Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Proportionality, relevancy, Rule 26
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Dodgers News: Breaking Down Erisbel Arruebarrena’s Five-Year Deal
by Vincent Samperio 02/23/2014, 3:50 PM
In their latest signing of a player from Cuba, the Los Angeles Dodgers signed a slick-fielding shortstop to a five-year deal.
Erisbel Arruebarrena is a 23-year-old shortstop that played six seasons in the Cuban league and played with fellow Cuban Yasiel Puig with Cienfuegos. He signed and will report to camp once he receives his work visa to enter the United States.
According to the Associated Press, Arruebarrena signed a five-year, $25 million deal with a $7.5 million signing bonus that fluctuates in annual salary:
The contract includes a $7.5 million signing bonus. His salaries will be $1.5 million this year, $3 million in 2015, $4 million in 2016 and 2017, and $5 million in 2018.
Dodgers GM Ned Colletti said he thinks Arruebarrena could make an impact with the team this season. If the shortstop can make it to camp in time, he could compete for the second base position or a role off the bench. In order to make room for Arruebarrena, the Dodgers designated infielder Justin Sellers for assignment, possibly ending his days in Los Angeles.
The move to get rid of Sellers displays the confidence that the front office has in the 23-year-old. He’s known as a defensive specialist, that will need to work on his production at the plate. Arruebarrena played for Team Cuba in the 2013 World Baseball Classic and defected from the country back in November. The deal makes him the third Cuban-born player signed by the Dodgers in the past two years, with the others being Puig and infielder Alex Guerrero.
ICYMI: Here’s where the Dodgers and Hanley Ramirez are in contract extension talks
Previous article Dodgers News: Dee Gordon Sets Goal To Be On Australia Trip
Next article Dodgers News: Scott Van Slyke A Lock For The 25-Man Roster?
Written by Vincent Samperio
Vince is currently the Associate Editor and Social Media Manager for Dodgers Nation. Hailing from San Pedro, CA and a student at Cal State Long Beach, Vince has previously written for the Daily 49er and LASF Magazine.
Pingback:Dodgers News And Rumors: Australians Upset Over Greinke's Comments | Dodgers Nation
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Dodgers News: Dee Gordon Sets Goal To Be On Australia Trip
Dodgers News: Scott Van Slyke A Lock For The 25-Man Roster?
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The Weed Web Series That Could: We're Addicted to "High Maintenance"
Paul Kwiatkowski
Photo: Paul Kwiatkowski
Six months ago, I would have said "High Maintenance" is the best show you've never heard of. When I was introduced to the web series about a year ago, I became a "High Maintenance" proselytizer, telling anyone who would listen that they had to watch this show. The premise is simple: a peek into the eclectic, hilarious, and tragic lives of one innocuous and agreeable weed dealer's Brooklyn clients. Though the episodes are short (around five to 12 minutes long) the feels are lasting: the characters and scenarios are laugh out loud funny, heartbreakingly sad, insightful, poignant, and, for anyone who's ever lived in Brooklyn, Manhattan, or a big bustling city, so, so, real.
Of course, I wasn't the only one out there spreading the word about "High Maintenance." Lots of people watched, lots of people noted just how good it was, and Vimeo picked up the series, marking the company's first foray into original programming. The second round of episodes debuted this week at HighMaintenance.tv, and obviously, I think you should watch.
Need more convincing? Here, I chat with Katja Blichfeld and Ben Sinclair, the married couple behind the series, about working together, celebrity cameos, and that episode that involves jalapenos, milk, and a naked penis.
Available to stream on Vimeo
What's it like working together as a couple?
Ben Sinclair: It is twice as easy and twice as hard. One huge advantage of the show is that we are talking to each other all day every day—those hours of work kind of feel effortless because we're married and we would just be together anyway. In a lot of our life together, we can work out issues and happy things and all that shit through the show. But also, sometimes the things that you need to do or say to be a good spouse aren't in line with what you need to say to be a good co-worker. Sometimes you have to be critical and it can be painful.
Katja Blichfeld: That being said, we really are enjoying getting to work together. I think that it's the thrill of a lifetime. We didn't necessarily think the work we were going to do together would be anything like this, or on this scale. So even if only our closest friends and family had seen our work and it ended there, I think we would have felt satisfied. To then see this happen and sort of infiltrate every little nook and cranny of our lives took us by surprise, and it has really been like a bonus.
How do you come up with the plots and characters? Could this show even take place anywhere else? It feels so authentic to Brooklyn and New York.
BS: Well, the current running through the last three episodes was derived from real life. Our starting point was, "This happened in real life," and then we had all of these other characters that we had developed over the two years of working on this show; the kind of characters that we wanted to see. It was like starting from two opposite ends and filling in the rest with the details and small iniquities that you feel every day as a New Yorker.
KB: Our characters [might be] directly inspired by people, but no one's a carbon copy of anybody in our lives; no event is a carbon copy of anything. We start with the world around us and over time, we start to rearrange the little elements of our universe to create new characters and story lines.
There's a stereotypical pothead and he's white, in his 20s, listens to Bob Marley, and is a doofus. The characters in "High Maintenance" are so diverse—it certainly shatters that stereotype. Was that all intentional?
BS: Well, the structure of our show is based on weed dealing, which is a referral-based business. Many times, we like to give hints that these characters know each other; that they referred this guy to each other. It's an unseen web behind all these stories; a social structure. It is exciting when we come upon a personality or a character that we feel has been underrepresented in mainstream TV and film, and we do like to figure out ways to fit in the people who are not involved in this social web. For instance, the doorman in the episode "Ruth": He doesn't really fit in the social world of the assholes, but The Guy interacts with him because he services people in the building where he works. So we did enjoy taking that opportunity to cover an older person who is maybe not as blithely oblivious to the situations of being 40 and alone. That didn't come out at beautifully as I meant it to.
So...how did that milk dipping scene come about? [Without]
BS: That happened. That happened to somebody that we're very close to. It is a man, and he asked...
KB: He shall remain anonymous.
Fair enough. That's the first time you guys have really showed nudity like that on the show. Why did you decide to go there?
KB: We were told this story over the summer, and we laughed so hard when we heard it that we were like, "Oh my god, I would love to see this." And then we thought "Wait, we can dramatize this, and we can see it." We decided that would be a funny thing to happen on a date and kind of worked backward from there.
BS: This is a personal opinion, I'm not gonna speak for Katja, but nudity is crazy. The fact that you can watch shows like American Horror Story where people are literally torn up, and that can be on television, but you can't see a tit or a dick is the craziest thing ever. It is totally ridiculous.
KB: You can speak for me on that, too. I agree. I think it's so strange, the attitude or the stance that media has taken toward nudity.
But it's interesting—generally if we see anything on TV it's going to be a boob or two, but you went for the dick, so it feels like an unexpected role flip. Did you make an effort to do that or did it just sort of happen?
BS: Well, yes. I was like, "Let's show a dick," and I was really into that because no one's allowed to do it, and I wanted to take advantage of the fact that we could because it's really crazy that you can't. It's just a dick. But when we show an up-close shot of a vagina, then people are really going to start.
It seems that as the show has progressed, it has gotten more and more poignant and serious over being just hilarious all the time. Can you speak to that shift?
BS: The direction of the show is headed wherever our lives and our emotional worlds are headed. A lot of the early episodes, we did feel that audiences would not tolerate drama in a web series format. I think now that we have some people who have given us a lot of encouragement over the past two years, we really feel comfortable expressing what is going on with us, and not trying to deflect it with comedy so much. We're more willing to tackle these issues head-on and kind of poke the bear of discomfort. We're asking the audience to go to some weird places, and a lot of people have said that this show resonates with them personally and they like the show because they feel like it looks like their life. It's not an outright comedy—in New York you're going to have your best day and your worst day in the same week.
Katja, you worked in network TV for years, most notably as a casting agent on 30 Rock. What do you get to do online that you could never do on network TV?
BS: I was at the network level for almost the entirety of my career, which is now a decade long. Being in that network environment, the things that I observed were just that, you know, projects would get tied up for a really long time in development before they were actually ever given a green light to go into production. And then even if they were lucky enough to have that happen there was never any assurance that it would make it beyond a pilot. Just watching [the process] from the perspective of a casting office, seeing the amount of pressure put upon creators to satisfy different needs at the executive level and the desires within the network...It's just full of frustration and I think that we have experienced a lot of satisfaction in the way that we do our show because we don't have to get approval from anyone. I think a lot of the actors that we cast are the kinds of actors that won't get approved at a network level. So it's just exciting to give jobs to actors that maybe don't get as much work for whatever reason, maybe because they're not a famous name, or even just to our friends who might not have the resume to get them onto network TV.
You have cast some celebrities though. How does that happen? Did Downton Abbey's Dan Stevens seek you out? Or Rachel Comey?
BS: Hannibal Buress and Dan—and Rachel Comey for that matter—were all people that just reached out on their own, expressed interest in working with us, expressed their fandom. And the feeling was mutual in all cases, so it worked out well for everyone.
So...do people get high on the show? How does that work?
BS: No, no we wouldn't be able to get the show done if we were high. Katja and I are the more functional of the stoners we know, but we definitely don't want the rest of our crew thinking that anything is going to get done if we get high on set.
Is it always real weed that you use in the show?
KB: No, we'd never! We have herbs that we get from our apothecary—that's what gets smoked—and then we make fake weed just as the prop that the guys film.Related: All the Stories from ELLE.com's Pot IssueRelated: #ELLEloves: 'Serial'
Leah Chernikoff Digital Director Leah Chernikoff oversees all things digital at ELLE.
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A Consortium of Finnish organisations seeks for a shared way to proactively inform citizens on AI use
Six Finnish organisations have kicked off a project to standardise public organisations’ transparency and communications of the use of AI to citizens. The project, named “Citizen Trust Through AI Transparency”, will provide internationally adoptable guidelines on how to inform about public sector use of personal data and AI to the citizens.
The project participants are City of Espoo, City of Helsinki, Kela (the Social Insurance Institution of Finland), Finland’s Ministry of Justice, The Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra and Saidot (AI transparency software development company).
They will together
define what information citizens want to and have a right to know of the Finnish public sector AI
create guidelines on how this information should be communicated to the citizens.
Maintaining trust between citizens and administration
Transparency of citizen data usage and algorithmic decision-making is a widely recognised global challenge. AI systems and algorithmic decision-making are increasingly used in public administration to service citizens in their various life-events, however, people do not have access to sufficient information about what, by whom and how these decisions are being made. Hence, by offering standardised information and communication guidelines on personal data usage, AI systems and algorithmic decision-making, the project wishes to maintain trust between citizens and cities & governments.
The participant organisations’ expertise and interaction with citizens will be utilised to combine the regulatory, technological, ethical and citizen perspectives for a recommendation on shared practice. Real-life use cases and citizen feedback will be used to understand the future needs and current knowledge levels on the use of AI in the public sector. Citizen engagement is imperative for the project, hence people will be involved via interviews and workshops.
” We want to openly communicate to the citizens how and for what purposes their information is being used, and what are the decisions that impact their lives based on. This information must be easily accessible and relevant information for the residents must be communicated in a clear and understandable manner.”, says City of Espoo’s Data-Analytics Consultant, Tomas Lehtinen.
“In Helsinki, we discuss widely the use of AI, and the ethics of it. In collaboration with other cities, we work on the design of ethical principles for AI. When making use of AI, it’s essential to maintain trust. Openness and transparency help to build that trust. For the city, it’s essential that the services we provide are trustworthy – also in the digital environment. For this reason, conditions in personal data usage and other regulatory requirements are considered since the design phase. Although this requires a lot of work, it allows us to confirm that the new digital services are trustworthy, and that they’re secure to use.”, says Pasi Rautio, the Lead Development Coordinator of data, AI and robotization of City of Helsinki.
A benchmark for other cities and governments
The overall objective of the citizen project is to agree on a shared approach so that the same model can be taken into use widely across public sector organisations. Informing citizens in a standardised way will also improve the understandability of the information for the citizens.
Finland is one of the leaders in ethical AI development and is proud to share this knowledge internationally. This project is an excellent opportunity to set a benchmark and be an example for other European and North American cities and governments to adopt. The outcomes of the project will be licensed under Creative Commons.
Project news can be followed on Twitter under the hashtag #CitizenTrustAI.
A networked Espoo comprising five city centres will be a pioneering responsible and humane city that is a good place to live, learn, work and do business in and where residents can have their say in matters. Espoo is also a forerunner in working with artificial intelligence in the public sector. The city uses artificial intelligence to develop even better public services.
City of Helsinki
Helsinki’s aim is to be the world’s most functional city and the best in making use of digitalisation. Helsinki aims to serve its citizens better by developing anticipatory and targeted services. New proactive services make use of AI, so to maintain and secure citizens’ trust in the city and its actions, we must develop these together with the users.
Finland’s Ministry of Justice
Finland’s Ministry of Justice contributes to the project by providing legal expertise on the questions concerning civic participation and the public nature of the actions by the authorities.
Kela is an independent social security institution in Finland. Kela has actively enhanced accountability, transparency and human approach in the use AI. This project is a natural step forward to our work. We want to proactively develop guidelines and simultaneously involve our customers to understand their expectations and needs for transparency in the use of AI.
The Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra
“Citizen Trust Through AI Transparency” project is part of Sitra’s IHAN project for fair data economy. In the consortium project, Sitra provides support for cities’ development work.
Saidot
Saidot is a Finnish software company that builds technology that enables AI to be trustworthy and transparent. Saidot provides the AI ethics advisory, design and technology necessary for the project’s implementation.
Meeri Haataja
CEO of Saidot
Chair of Ethics Working Group in Finland’s AI Program
Chair of IEEE’s Ethics Certification Program for Autonomous & Intelligent Systems
meeri@saidot.fi
Photo: Vilja Pursiainen / Kaskas Media
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Stockton University Students Accepted for Mission 11 of Student Spaceflight Experiments Program
ربيع الأول 10, 1438 5:00 ص
Students at Stockton University, home to ELS/Atlantic City, have been accepted for Mission 11 of the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) through the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education, according to a Stockton University press release.
Up to 30 undergraduate students will be selected to be mentored by Stockton faculty and compete on 10 different three-person teams, producing between 10-15 experimental proposals. The proposals will then be judged by a Stockton review panel. Three finalists would be submitted to the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE) for final selection, according to the press release.
After a flight safety review by NASA, the winning design will fly in spring/summer of 2017.
The Mission 11 project at Stockton is a partnership between the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, the Stockton Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Collaborative, the School of General Studies, and the School of Education.
ELS/Atlantic City is located on Stockton’s 2,000-acre campus in the beautiful Pinelands National Reserve. Students can spend their free time strolling, shopping and sightseeing along the world-famous wooden walkway that is the Atlantic City Boardwalk.
To read the full press release, click here.
To learn more about ELS/Atlantic City, click here.
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Latest in Tomorrow
Image credit: Daimler
Mercedes will make EV batteries in Alabama
It's part of the facility's $1 billion expansion.
10.06.18 in Transportation
Daimler's Mercedes-Benz facility in Tuscaloosa, Alabama is getting a $1 billion upgrade, and it includes building a new battery factory for its future electric vehicles. According to the automaker, the plant will manufacture batteries for Benz's EQ line of EVs, starting with its first electric SUV (the EQC) unveiled back in September. Since part of that billion will go towards the creation of manufacturing plants for the cars themselves, it only makes sense that Daimler wants to build their batteries in the same location.
Alabama won't be the only place where Daimler manufactures EQ electric vehicles and batteries, though. It's building eight production facilities in various places around the world, along with eight battery factories. It previously announced Bangkok and Beijing as two of the other locations where it plans to build a battery plant, and the automaker already has one in Kamenz, Germany.
Mercedes-Benz board member Markus Schäfer said in a statement during the Alabama plant's groundbreaking ceremony:
"The widely export oriented Mercedes-Benz plant in Tuscaloosa is a high-tech production facility with a successful history and an exciting future in terms of our brand in the United States. We aim to play a pioneering role in the development of e-mobility and are well prepared to accomplish this mission. One year ago, we have announced $1 billion investment in Tuscaloosa mostly for the production of electric SUVs and a battery plant. We are bringing electric mobility for Mercedes-Benz to the United States..."
While Daimer's home factory in Sindelfingen, Germany will still be at the center of its business, it needs to invest in more EV facilities if it wants to offer electric versions of every single Mercedes car it's selling by 2022. Seeing as other automakers, such as Volvo, have very similar goals, it's now a race towards who could get there first and challenge Tesla in the market.
Source: Reuters, Daimler
In this article: daimler, mercedes, tomorrow, transportation
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Original 'Eat 'Em and Smile' DLR Band with Jeff Scott Soto Were Offered Record Deal.
EXCLUSIVE: The original David Lee Roth band were offered a new record deal with Jeff Scott Soto fronting, following their appearance in Anaheim earlier this year. The revelation was made by Soto himself, speaking to eonmusic while promoting Soto the band's new album 'Origami'.
Photo: Eamon O'Neill.
EXCLUSIVE: The original David Lee Roth band were offered a new record deal with Jeff Scott Soto fronting in place of the Van Halen singer, following their appearance in Anaheim earlier this year. The revelation was made by Soto himself, speaking to eonmusic while promoting Soto the band's new album 'Origami', which is due for release on 24th May 2019, via InsideOut Music.
The original 'Eat 'Em and Smile' band made a brief appearance at Ultimate NAMM Night, which took place at the Hilton, Anaheim, on Saturday 26th January, 2019. The group performed two songs with Soto standing in for David Lee Roth; 'Shy Boy', and a cover of Queen's 'Tie Your Mother Down'.
In a brand new interview with eonmusic, the singer revealed that Roth had been approached to perform with the four members of the band - guitarist Steve Vai, bassist Billy Sheehan, drummer Greg Bissonette, and keysman Brett Tuggle, to appear at the event. Said Soto: "Initially they did reach out for Dave, and asked him if he wanted to do it, but he was in New York during that week, and he said he would have loved to have done it."
It was Roth's enthusiasm for the get together that ultimately, affected the song choices on the evening. Said Jeff: "From that, the guys, mainly Steve [Vai], they worried that if they ever wanted to put this thing together and actually make it work, by doing it with me and doing two DLR songs, he might say; “Yeah, you know, you’ve kind of already done it, you don’t need me to do it anymore”, kind of thing. So, it was by design that we removed ‘Yankee Rose"
Going on to comment on the reaction to the two-song set, Jeff revealed that the one-off appearance had actually resulted in an offer from an undisclosed company to record a full album. "The aftermath, it got so much press, it got so much notice. We got to the point where a record company offered a deal for the Eat ‘Em and Smile band and myself fronting, to do an album together. It got to that, but everybody’s busy, and everybody’s doing their thing, and I don’t expect anytime soon that we’re going to revisit that in a real way, but it was still a lot of fun to do."
Read the full interview, at eonmusic HERE.
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Cairo Knife Fight
Cairo Knife Fight bend all the rules. With a drummer stepping out of the shadows to lead, and songs that don't just follow the tried and true but grow and develop as you listen. They are a band to set your heart on fire.
Live, they are a duo. Vocals, drums, bass and live looping by the drummer. Guitars and backing vocals by the other one. Originally a three-piece, doubling to a six-piece, then reducing by two-thirds, they sound like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs met Shihad in a washing machine. Their first release, the album Iron, was followed up by a self-titled EP in 2010. Both feature a full, comprehensive sound, far beyond the normal reaches of two people.
Having supported Them Crooked Vultures, Shihad and Gomez, expect plenty more from this Christchurch pair.
Disney On Ice Celebrates Mickey and Friends
Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney Olympic Park, New South Wales
Zirk! – Russia's Big Top Circus Spectacular
The Showring - Entertainment Quarter, Moore Park, New South Wales
Penrith Leisurefest Roadshow
Penrith Panthers, Penrith, New South Wales
Fri 2 Aug 10:00am – more dates
Skating At – Winter Wonderland
St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney CBD, New South Wales
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Can Journey Be The Next Video Games are "Art" Example
Evil Ambassador Reyes
Game "Journey" to be Made as Art
Millions of gamers will run up to the plate to defend videogames as a legitimate art form, but not every game is truly artistic. The attribute of being artistic is a difficult attribute to define because every gamer and every critic has their own idea of what makes something undeniably Art. Without going down the path of trying to make a case of what makes a videogame artistic, or what doesn't, let's just say that every year a few titles come out that the general consensus agrees has artistic merit. In recent years these titles have been; Braid, Shadow of the Colossus, Limbo, Flower, Portal, and BioShock, just to name a few.
Genuinely they come off as something more then a videogame because they do something particularly interesting. They do something very non-gamey. In BioShock it was the attention to narrative in a particular way in which BioShock drew attention to the fact that a gamer in any game never really has any freedom. They are stuck to the whim of the game's objectives. It destroyed the disillusionment of freedom confidently to the expense of it's own mechanics. To some gamers this had a powerful effect to the overall experience, to other gamers they found the game's narrative at odds with the game's structure.
In an interview with Jenova Chen, the creative director of thatgamecompany and designer of the titles flOw and Flower, Jenova Chen begins to describe Journey in a refreshing way. Describing Journey as an online experience in which Journey is just like hiking. You go to hike a mountain, and there are other hikers you might meet and if you like them you can hike with them. This is an online game, but there are no lobbies.
It's online title in which you travel from point A to point B never acquiring personal skills or abilities. Every skill is borrowed from your surroundings and there aren't any traditional enemies. It sounds like an interesting concept (although a little boring), but it is concerning that Jenova Chen in the interview often focused on the steps he took to make the game fun.
From screen shots the game certainly has an interesting and cool aesthetic, but can a game about traveling where the developers are actively denying the player's the feeling of empowerment going to be a fun one? If there is anything that the games-as-art bandwagon has genuinely agreed upon, it's that artistic games do tend to still be fun, so it'll be interesting to see if this game ends up becoming the next, Games are Art proof, or if it'll be slid under the rug for having good concepts, but poor implementation.
Journey's release date has yet to be announced, but will come out some time this year. For the full interview with Jenova Chen, Click Here.
Tags: Evil Controllers video game news gaming game news gamer news gaming news games art video games news journey
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4,500 more petrol pumps in Gujarat! Here’s what oil PSUs are planning
Vadodara | Published: December 8, 2018 5:59:33 PM
Public sector oil companies Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum have an ambitious plan to open nearly 4,500 fuel outlets across Gujarat, an official said on Saturday.
The OMCs (oil marketing companies) plan to expand in tier II and III cities as well as rural areas, interior areas and remote areas as they lack presence in these geographies. (Reuters)
Public sector oil companies Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum have an ambitious plan to open nearly 4,500 fuel outlets across Gujarat, an official said on Saturday. Talking to reporters here, Indian Oil chief regional manager Sunil Vikramsingh said, “To meet the increasing requirements of customers on highways, agricultural sector products and industries, it was observed necessary to open such fuel outlets in the state.”
“IOCL, BPCL and HPCL have an ambitious plan to open nearly 4,500 fuel outlets in the state,” he said. About 3 to 4 fuel outlets will be opened near the Statue of Unity, dedicated to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and the world’s tallest statue, at Kevadiya in neighbouring Narmada district, he added. More than three lakh visitors have already visited the site. Therefore, opening of three to four fuel outlets will help the tourists, the official said.
Also read|Capital markets performed well despite global volatility, says Sebi chairman Ajay Tyagi
The OMCs (oil marketing companies) plan to expand in tier II and III cities as well as rural areas, interior areas and remote areas as they lack presence in these geographies. The Indian Oil will set up 128 retail outlets, with Bharat Petroleum 50 and Hindustan Petroleum 49 in Vadodara district of Gujarat.
“All these OMCs are set to expand their fuel retail network after a gap of nearly four years, which is due to eight per cent annual growth in sale of petrol and four per cent in diesel,” Vikramsingh said. The OMCs have formally announced their plans and bidding process for inviting tenders has also started, he said, adding that each fuel outlet will cost between Rs 60 lakh to Rs 3 crore depending on their location.
“The OMCs for the first time have come together to work on such a scale to avoid duplication and eating into each other’s business,” he added. Retail outlets opened after 2014 were largely through the revival of old stations or restoration of dealerships that had been terminated because of non-performance since 2005. Under the new dealership guidelines, the educational qualification for a dealer has been lowered to Class X pass from the previous requirement of being a graduate and the upper age limit has been raised to 60 years from 45.
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Home » Column » Trumpy » You are reading »
by Dærick Gröss Sr. on December 29, 2017 TRUMPY by Dærick Gröss Sr. 12-29-172017-12-29T18:25:35-07:00 - Column, Trumpy
https://www.firstcomicsnews.com/trumpy-by-daerick-gross-sr-12-29-17/https://www.firstcomicsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Trumpy-logo-600x257.pnghttps://www.firstcomicsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Trumpy-logo-150x64.png 2017-12-29T18:25:35-07:00 Dærick Gröss Sr.ColumnTrumpy
Dærick Grössdaerick.gross@firstcomicsnews.comAuthorWith over 40 years in the commercial art field, Dærick Gröss Sr has worked as an illustrator, instructor, and art director. As an illustrator in the comic book industry, he has painted, drawn, written and edited comics for Marvel, DC, Image, Malibu, Studio G, Heroic, Revolutionary, Chaos, Innovation, Topps, and numerous other companies. His best-selling work includes the series Anne Rice’s The Vampire Lestat for Innovation (followed by work for Interview with the Vampire, Queen of the Damned, Tale of the Body Thief and The Mummy), Batman: Two-Face for DC Comics, and Bloodwulf for Image Comics. Other work includes Excalibur and other books at Marvel, his creator-owned series Murciélaga She-Bat for Studio G and Heroic, Brian Lumley’s Necroscope for Malibu, and the best-selling sex book The Guide To Getting It On (now in its 7th Edition). He is also the recipient of the Russ Manning Award. He founded and maintains Studio G as his own commercial art and publishing firm since 1989. Art displayed on this page is merely a small sample of the work he's produced over the years for many clients in many industries.First Comics News
About Dærick Gröss Sr.
With over 40 years in the commercial art field, Dærick Gröss Sr has worked as an illustrator, instructor, and art director. As an illustrator in the comic book industry, he has painted, drawn, written and edited comics for Marvel, DC, Image, Malibu, Studio G, Heroic, Revolutionary, Chaos, Innovation, Topps, and numerous other companies. His best-selling work includes the series Anne Rice’s The Vampire Lestat for Innovation (followed by work for Interview with the Vampire, Queen of the Damned, Tale of the Body Thief and The Mummy), Batman: Two-Face for DC Comics, and Bloodwulf for Image Comics. Other work includes Excalibur and other books at Marvel, his creator-owned series Murciélaga She-Bat for Studio G and Heroic, Brian Lumley’s Necroscope for Malibu, and the best-selling sex book The Guide To Getting It On (now in its 7th Edition). He is also the recipient of the Russ Manning Award. He founded and maintains Studio G as his own commercial art and publishing firm since 1989. Art displayed on this page is merely a small sample of the work he's produced over the years for many clients in many industries.
View all posts by Dærick Gröss Sr. »
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