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Question for theater historians: what was Daisy's real name?
Daisy Beaute was the stage name of an actress and singer who was waiting with the double octet offstage for her cue when she first saw flames in the curtains at the Iroquois Theater in 1903. Nevertheless the group entered the stage and performed the first verse of "Let us swear it by the pale moonlight." They had started on the second verse when Eddie Foy appeared on the stage and tried to calm the audience. When one of the octet fainted, the performers left the stage and fled.
She also played the role of one of Bluebeard's eight pretty wives, Zara. (In the original production at the Knickerbocker Theater in New York Zara was played by Helga Howard.) There were also eight ugly wives.
Daisy was quoted as saying, "I was standing in the third wing ready to go on, and I saw a flame on the left hand side, facing the audience, from the draperies above the first entrance on my right hand side. It was in the draperies clear at the top of the arch in the stage opening. We kept on dancing, but Miss Williams fainted. I ran for my life without waiting to see anything more."
Daisy was one of many cast members questioned by police as to what she saw on the stage at the Iroquois.
Daisy's stage name first appeared in print in 1895. Six months after the Iroquois Theater fire she performed in another comic musical, Isle of Spice, as Anchovia, one of the Court Ladies of Nicobar. Another Mr. Bluebeard performer, Herbert Cawthorne, was also in Isle of Spice. Daisy then went on the road with the production for a year. In 1907 came The Yankee Consul, in 1908 At the French Ball. I found no other references to Daisy.
She was hired in 1902 to help promote sheet music for "On A Saturday Night" by Howard & Emerson.
In Manhattan Daisy lived in a brownstone apartment at 178 W. 94th Street. There were ten units in the building but in 1900, according to the U.S. Census, fewer than half the apartments were occupied, none by an actress. Florence Gebhard and Sara Geer were the only female residents at the address, then.
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R. Govindarajan and R. Narasimha, Accurate estimate of disturbance amplitude variation from solution of minimal composite stability theory, Theoretical and Computational Fluid Dynamics 19, 229 - 235 (2005).
A. S. V. Murthy, R. Narasimha and S. Varghese, An asymptotic analysis of a simple model for the structure and dynamics of the Ramdas layer, Pure and Applied Geophysics 162, 1831 - 1857 (2005).
R. Narasimha, The challenge of fluid flow 1: The diversity of flow phenomena, Resonance 10, 6 - 22 (2005).
R. Narasimha, The challenge of fluid flow 2: What one can and cannot do, Resonance 10, 67 - 79 (2005).
S. Bhattacharya and R. Narasimha, Possible association between Indian monsoon rainfall and solar activity, Geophysical Research Letters 32, (2005).
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The 1970’s – Steady Growth
For the 1970 season the club had three senior sides and an Under 16 Boys side, the first junior team. Nairn Ashworth was President, and the committee featured for the first time David Scanlon (with son Simon born that season). The Shire prepared a grassed surface at Davies Park in Maida Vale, which could accommodate two hockey fields.
The Under 16’s played in Division 3, coached by Ralph Blazey and included his son Ian, who went on to be club President in the 1980’s. Other members of the team were M. Dickson, I. Dickson, K. Hopkins, J. Taylor, R. Kerry, S. Rumsey, K. Lyons, H. Todd, S. Todd and R. Harburn. Their first game was played on April 11th at Hamer Park, and while the result isn’t recorded, they finished the season with only 2 wins and draw, 15 goals for and 113 against, suggesting they may’ve struggled a bit.
The B1 Red side just missed finals action, finishing fifth with 9 wins, 6 losses and a draw (58 for, 30 against). With a week to go in the season they held third spot on goal difference, but they finished with an umpiring bye and the other results went against them. A typical team was as follows:
D. Jones
J. Webster J. Stewart
K. Ledger D. Scanlon N. Ashworth
J. Woodburry G. Lake R. Miles S. Kandiah S. Fairbotham
The seconds, playing in B3 Red, had a much better year. They were top of the ladder mid-way through the season and won the club’s first ever Challenge Cup, 3-2 against Vic. Park, with two goals to Ralph Blazey and one to Jim Longwood. After the qualifying games they were second (11 wins, 4 losses, 1 draw), but lost the semi-final 3-0 to Vic. Park and the Preliminary to University. The thirds in B3 Blue finished eighth from nine (3 wins, 11 losses, 2 draws), the team featuring Joe Bruers, John Ingram and Dave Hocken.
A better year was had in 1971, with Kalamunda finishing third in the Judge & Byrne Trophy (based on the performance of all teams in a club) to South Perth and Cricketers. With Nairn Ashworth still as President, David Scanlon was coach and was also voted best club-man for the season. The committee included Dave Hocken and the legendary goalkeeper (later to be infamous umpire) Joe Bruers. Kalamunda finished undefeated on top of B1 Green, with 13 wins and 3 draws, 47 for and 12 against. They defeated Vic Park 1-0 to win the Challenge Cup (goal to Steve Fairbotham), then defeated Secondary Teachers 4-0 and 4-1 in the semi-final and grand final, respectively. Goals in the Grand final were from R. Cox (2), R. Miles and S. Fairbotham. Fairest and best for the B1 Green side was C. Glass. A photo of the Challenge Cup winning team is shown below, with David Scanlon in the front row, second from right. The team as named for the Grand Final:
J. Bruers
C. Glass J. Stewart
J. Baker D. Scanlon N. Ashworth (C)
R. Miles J. Woodburry R. Cox A. Fewings S. Fairbotham
Reserves: J. Clarke, N. George, A. Hirt
Back: Nairn Ashworth, John Stewart, Russell Miles, John Woodburry, Alex Fewings, N. George, Steve Fairbotham.
Front: Chris Glass, Roy Cox, Joe Bruers, Dave Scanlon, John Baker.
The B2 Blue team finished sixth (5-6-5), with A. Hirt Fairest and Best. B3 Blue finished the qualifying rounds third (9-4-3), but lost their semi-final to Harlequins. Their Fairest and Best was a young Royce Spencer, eventually a Life Member of the Club but now better known for his umpiring involvement. Mark Weinman featured in the Under 16 Division 3 side, which finished sixth in a ten team grade (15 games, 6 wins, 7 losses, 2 draws, 19 for, 38 against).
1971 also saw the first ever Kalamunda trip to Merredin for a Country Carnival, beating Old Guildford 1-0 in the B Grade final and Nairn Ashworth winning best player of the B Grade competition. The club also raised funds for floodlights, which club-members erected themselves.
In 1972 Kalamunda was promoted to “A Reserve Green”. The grading was quite different back then, with the top four grades A1, A2, A3 Red and A3 Blue. Next were the “Reserve” grades, with Red, Blue, Green and (possibly) White. By modern standards, A Res. Green might be considered between 1B and 1C.
Geoff Rumsey took over as President, with Deryk Jackson and Chris Glass sharing the Vice President duties, Alex Fewings as senior coach and Nairn Ashworth in charge of juniors. There were now senior and two junior sides, U16 Div. 2 and U18 Div. 2, pushing the membership to about 120. Games at Davies Park in Maida Vale were on Saturdays, with training on Sundays and Wednesday evenings. In the club newsletter, women who wished to play were urged to contact Mrs Pat Halden, who organised a team to play each Sunday afternoon in the Hills competition and trained at Davies Park on Thursday evenings. She “hoped to run two teams next year.”
Kala’s top side again led its grade, finishing with 10 wins, 2 losses and 4 draws (43 for, 15 against), 1 point and goal difference clear of Old Halians. Halfway through the season Kalamunda, Tuart Hill and Old Halians all had 6 win and 2 loss records, with Kalamunda on top by goal difference (19 for, 7 against). They went on to lose the Challenge Cup to Tuart Hill.
Early in the season the A Reserve team looked as follows:
A. Hirt C. Glass
J. Baker D. Scanlon N. Ashworth
J. Woodburry D. Worsey R. Cox A. Fewings P. Cockburn
With Dave Scanlon unavailable from the middle of the season, his place was filled by either Kim Ledger or John Ingram.
The seconds in B2 Division Tan (a colour not often used!) also made the finals, finishing third (9-6-1), only one point off second spot. A Reserve lost its semi-final with Old Halians 1-0, while B2 won 2-1 against Y.M.C.A. (goals to C. Spencer and J. Clarke). Both teams lost in the preliminary finals (1-0 and 3-1, respectively). Under 18 Division 2 finished second last of nine teams, while Under 16 Division 2 were seventh of nine.
Trophy winners for the year were:
Fairest & Best
Best Team Man
Mark Weinman
S. Rumsey
R. Kenney
K. Hopkins
B3(Green)
G. Dutton
G. Rumsey
B3(White)
R. Blazey
N. Rahimtulla
B2(Tan)
R. Thompson
P. Birch
A Res.
D. Worsey
N. Ashworth
1972 also saw the birth of Matthew, youngest of Dave Scanlon’s three sons, who became the number one keeper in the club through much of the late 80’s and early 90’s.
Team numbers remained constant in 1973, although the firsts again went to a higher grade (A3 Green). This they found tougher (5 wins, 10 losses and a draw, 27 for, 36 against) but comfortably held the grade (by three points). The thirds made the finals in B3 Green (fourth with 10 wins, 6 losses, 1 draw, 42 for, 33 against), but lost their semi-final to Mosman Park 2-1. Deryk Jackson was president, with Royce Spencer and Nairn Ashworth joint Vice Presidents, N. Rahimtulla the Secretary, Dave Hocken Treasurer and Ralph Blazey club coach. The Under 16s were captained by Mark Weinman, with Dave Newton in that side, commencing his long association with Kalamunda. Senior fees were $20, juniors $8.
A typical team in A3 featured the following (although Nairn Ashworth did play frequently later in the season):
Bruers
Ledger Pritchard
Baker Fewings Edwards
Spencer Kenney Allanson Worsey (C) Davis
The B2 Red side still had the old legends in Blazey and Woodburry, plus John Ingram (known to many in the 90’s as a long-time junior coach) and Chas Spencer.
B3 Tan finished last with 2 wins, 10 losses and 4 draws. B3 Green was fifth (8 wins, 5 losses, 3 draws, 52 for, 33 against), missing finals by a point and goal difference. Under 18 Division 3 came sixth in an eight team grade (6 wins, 10 losses, 2 draws, 28 for, 41 against), while Under 16 Division 3 was eighth from nine teams (3 wins, 12 losses, no draws, 18 f0r, 45 against).
D. Newton
M. Weinman
T. Lushey
W. Garside
P. Torpey
D. Jackson
T. Bastow
J. Clarke
G. Price
A3(Green)
D. Pritchard
A. Fewings
Best Club Man
The grading began to take a form that is more familiar to us today, with A3, B2, B3G and B3T becoming 1B, 2C, 3C and 4C, respectively (the club considered it had done well out of the change in grading). Kalamunda grew to 8 sides, 5 senior and three junior. Again the top side did enough to hold the grade, although by a bigger margin this year, collecting 15 points (4 wins, 6 losses and 7 draws, 17 for, 30 against, with a one point fine for late payments to WAHA!), from Rangers (now Stirling City) on 9 points and Old Scotch on 8. A typical 1B side that season:
Lushey Ledger
Blazey Pritchard Ashworth
Kenney Fewings (C) R. Spencer C. Spencer Worsey
P Madin, J. Johnson and J. Clarke were also in the side at different stages.
Back: Ian Blazey, Derek Worsey, Doug Pritchard, Tom Lushey, Royce Spencer, Alex Fewings.
Front: Nairn Ashworth, Kim Ledger, Joe Bruers, Chas Spencer, Rob Kenney.
[Photo provided by Joe Bruers]
2C finished sixth (6 wins, 8 losses, 1 draw, 33 for, 32 against), while 3C scrapped into the four on goal difference, but lost their semi-final to Secondary Teachers 1-0.
3C (10 team grade)
Canning Districts
Sec. Teachers
Old Hale
Reserve 1 were seventh out of 11 sides (5 wins, 9 losses, 3 draws, 36 for, 50 against) and the 5B side (or the Gents) were seventh of nine (4 wins, 9 losses, 3 draws, 18 for, 42 against.
The three junior sides struggled, with only 6 wins between them for the season. Under 13 South had the best results, finishing ninth out of ten teams (3 wins, 14 losses, 1 draw, 15 for, 77 against). Under 17 North (2 wins, 13 losses, 1 draw, 9 for, 38 against) and Under 15 North (1 win, 14 losses, 1 draw, 4 for, 93 against) both finished last.
U13-South
M. Blazey
J. Martin
U15-North
B. Sherry
J. Johnson
P. Madin
J. Stewart
B. Haggart
Res. 1
R. Cox
S. Fairbotham
R. Bartlett
S. Spriggs
Geoff Davis
John Woodburry was President, but retired from playing mid-season. He left the club (and his job as Master in Geography at Penrhos) the next year to start a teaching centre near Albany that would provide alternative short-term courses for metropolitan students. Royce Spencer was again Vice President, this time with Derek Worsey, while Geoff Davis was Secretary, Dave Hocken Treasurer and Alex Fewings coach/chairman of selectors. A notable new member that year was Mark Stibi in the Under 13s. The Kalamunda Shire was suggesting a possible move to other fields in Maida Vale, but nothing came of this.
President: Royce Spencer; Vice-President: Dave Scanlon, Kim Ledger; Treasurer: Mike Perrot; Secretary: Geoff Davis; Committee: Dave Hocken, Nairn Ashworth, Joe Bruers, Wayne Garside, Chas Spencer, Ross Duncan.
Kalamunda stayed at 8 sides in 1975, with 1B, 2C, 3C, 4B and 5B, together with U13, U15 and U17 juniors. Alex Fewings was coach, while the 1B’s were captained by Kim Ledger, with both Chas and Royce Spencer playing up forward and Joe Bruers still the undisputed top keeper. 2C was captained by Dave Scanlon and featured Dave Newton, Mark Weinman, Charlie Calleja (new player that season) and Brian Fewings, with Lee Miles in goals. The Under 13s were captained by Mark Stibi (the top keeper of the early 80’s) and included Dave Ansell. This season Kalamunda struggled in 1B and were relegated for the next season.
Above is most of the 1B side, after playing Mosman Park at Nash Field.
Top: Joe Bruers, Tom Lushey, Royce Spencer, Gerry Chapman, Nairn Ashworth
Front: Ian Blazey, Alex Fewings, Kim Ledger, Roy Cox, Rob Kenney
Mark Stibi
David Ansell
Mark Blazey
Kevin Kealley
Michael Pierce*
Brian Sherry
Mike Perrot
Peter Birch
David Hocken
Derek Worsey
David Scanlon
Nairn Ashworth
Kim Ledger
Best Club Man: Kim Ledger
* Not to be confused with Michael Peirce, who joined the club in 1978 as a senior and was five-times President in the 80’s.
At the end of the 1975 season a long letter from Alex Fewings was published in the club’s Hotline, bemoaning the fact that the club was effectively being administered by players from the top team. The combination of hard training with committee involvement was leading to burn-out and the loss of valuable players to more social hockey. He felt a more efficient arrangement would see the club run by mature, experienced individuals not training regularly or at all, who would have more time to devote to such matters, leaving the youngsters free to concentrate on playing. He also advocated dropping a team or two for the next season to reduce the burden.
President: Royce Spencer; Vice-President: Bill Edwards, Ian Blazey; Secretary: Wayne Garside; Treasurer: Mike Perrot (then Bill Edwards from May); Committee: Derek Worsey, Mike Chambers, Joe Bruers, Dave Scanlon, Mark Weinman.
Following severe player shortages in 1975, the club went back to 4 senior sides (1C, 2C, 3C, Reserve Blue), but maintained Under 13’s, 15’s and 17’s in the North grades. In response to “substantial” increases in WAHA levies, fees were raised to $35 for seniors and $10 for juniors. The Shire allocated 4 fields to the club – three at Maida Vale and one at Davis Park. Mark Stibi was playing full-back in Under 15s, David Ansell at centre-half in Under 13s. Peter Eaton joined the club mid-season and soon became a regular in the 2C side.
Stan Cook (formerly coach of Scarborough) took over as club coach, and is rated by many as one of the best ever involved with the club. The club had perhaps its best overall season – five of seven teams made the finals, with 1C qualifying second, 2C second, 3C fourth, Reserve Blue third, Under 17N fourth and the Under 13s missing out only on percentage. Kalamunda went on to finish fourth in the Byrne-Judge standings for 1976.
The 1C side started the season strongly with a 4-1 win over old Scotch, and stayed near the top of the ladder for the entire season. The team is shown below after winning the Challenge Cup against Christ Church 2-0 (goals to Royce Spencer and Bill Edwards).
Back: Brian Sherry, Wayne Smithers, Royce Spencer, Rob Kenney, Joe Bruers, Mark Weinman, Bill Edwards.
Front: Chas Spencer, Alex Fewings, Derek Worsey, Stan Cook (coach), Mike Chambers, Nairn Ashworth (with son Ryan, who played seniors in the 90’s).
Christ Church and Kalamunda were clearly the standout teams in the grade, and they finished well clear of the other teams in the top four, as shown below (together with the final qualifiers in Kalamunda’s other grades):
Redcliffe Rovers
Tuart Hill
Reserve Blue
Old Wesley
The 1C side lost its semi-final to Christ Church 2-1 (goal to Spencer), while 2C lost 2-1 to Victoria Park (goal to Ledger). However, 3C beat Canning 1-0 and Reserve Blue beat Old Wesley 4-1, to put all four senior sides into the preliminary finals. The 1C’s lost in an upset 2-0 to Redcliffe Rovers, but still secured a return to 1B. The 2C side defeated Mosman Park 2-1 to give the club its only grand-final side of the season (and promotion to 2B for the first time in the club’s history). The 3C side lost their preliminary final against Tuart Hill, while Reserve Blue were beaten 5-0 by Scarborough.
Joe Bruers, Ian Blazey, Dave Newton, Lee Miles, Royce Spencer and John Doepel have all gone on to be badged WAHUA umpires, suggesting the club had much greater depth in umpiring back then. Lee Miles seemed particularly keen during an umpiring bye in April 1976, when he not only produced a two inch ring to measure stick width, but a twelve inch ruler to check the maximum width of goalie pads! That day he rejected no less than eight sticks for overwidth binding.
The Under 17 North side was the only junior side to make the finals in 1976, just scraping into the top four in a six team grade. They also advanced to the preliminary final, although this was due to a forfeit by Old Guildford. The next week they lost narrowly to top side Applecross YMCA 4-3.
Under 17 North
Applecross YMCA
Bas. Morley
The Under 15 North team finished seventh in a nine team grade (14 games, 5 wins, 9 losses, 28 goals for, 54 against), while the Under 13 North side was fifth of seven teams (14 games, 6 wins, 6 losses, 3 draws, 40 goals for, 60 against), equal on 15 points with the fourth placed side but missing out on goal difference.
President: Royce Spencer; Vice-President: Bill Edwards; Secretary: Rob Kenny; Treasurer: Mark Weinman; Committee: Dave Scanlon, Mike Chambers, Peter Eaton, Dave Hocken, Peter Madin, Joe Bruers. Coach: Stan Cook.
The move was made to Hartfield Park, with the promise of improved facilities and the room for three fields. This season was played without night training, as floodlights weren’t in place, meaning that the main training was on Sundays.
One of the lower teams had long been effectively a veterans team. This year it became official, playing in the newly initiated Veterans grade, with the team organised by Ron Whitelaw. The team also featured the name of Dennis Wills, which may surprise those who know him – surely he’s not that old? It must be remembered that back then, Vets was for players over 35, and that two under-aged players were allowed. The then 29-years-old Dennis, who hadn’t played hockey up until then, actually began his long association with Kalamunda by going straight to Vets. They finished ninth in a ten team grade (14 games, 1 win, 12 losses, 1 draw, 17 goals for, 49 against, 3 points.
The other teams were 1B, 2B, 3C and Reserve Blue, with the same three junior grades as the previous season.
The 1B side late in the season looked like this:
D. Newton B. Edwards
M. Weinman B. Sherry D. Wilson
R. Spencer R. Bartlett W. Smithers R. Smith C. Spencer (C)
A typical 2B side that season:
P. Schlawe
I. Blazey M. Dale
P. Eaton W. Garside (C) D. Hocken
M. Ruck M. Chambers K. Eaton J. McGuckin A. Whitelaw
Ron De Jong was also a frequent member of this side. Unfortunately, both teams finished in the relegation zone, showing that a big step-up in class was required then as it is now. The 1B side was second from bottom (5 points above Bas. Morley), 3 wins, 10 losses, 4 draws, 15 goals for, 33 against and 10 points from 17 games. The 2B’s were equal on 7 points with Old Guildford but bottom on goal difference (15 games, 1 win, 9 losses, 5 draws, 9 goals for, 29 against).
The Reserve Blue side also struggled, finishing sixth in an eight team grade, with 7 wins and 10 losses, 33 goals for and 29 against. The 3C side provided the one shining light for the season, beating Perth 2-1 in the Challenge Cup, and qualifying for the finals in second spot, well clear of the remainder of the grade, as the top four results show:
In the Under 15 North side, Mark Stibi and Andrew Lean welcomed the goal-scoring talents of John Bestall, on his way to greater things. The team finished sixth out of ten teams (17 games, 9 wins, 8 losses, 34 goals for, 54 against, 18 points). The other two junior sides struggled, with Under 17 North second-last in a nine team grade (16 games, 1 win, 13 losses, 2 draws, 17 for, 85 against, 4 points) and Under 13 North last out of eleven teams (17 games, 1 win, 14 losses, 2 draws, 7 goals for, 102 against, 4 points).
President: David Scanlon; Vice-President: Nairn Ashworth; Secretary: Peter Birch; Treasurer: Kevin Hopkins; Committee: Glen Price, Derek and Freda Worsey, Wayne Smithers, Rob Kenney, Dave Hocken, Kim Ledger.
Lights were installed in time for the start of the season. While construction of the Hartfield Park Recreation Centre commenced, this wouldn’t be available until the next season. The Hartfield Park Advisory Committee, with representatives from all sports that used the grounds, was also formed.
Summer hockey was introduced for juniors, playing under indoor rules on the old tennis court surface of the Kalamunda Club at Stirk Park.
Dave Scanlon and Nairn Ashworth were President and Vice President, respectively. Kim Ledger, a committee member, was also providing sponsorship, hence it was intended to place ROTORMOTION badges on the players shirts. Unfortunately, this was disallowed by WAHA, on the basis that it was against international rules!
The club had 5 senior sides (1C, 2C, 3B, 4C and Vets A) and 4 junior sides (U11, U13, U15, U17). The 1C side late in the season looked as follows (although Derek Worsey also made odd appearances):
D. Newton T. Lushey
M. Weinman I. Blazey A. Fewings (c)
A. Whitelaw R. Smith R. Kenney R. Heath R. Spencer
A typical 2C side, captained by Charlie Calleja, is shown below. Other names to play in that side during the season included Royce Spencer and Dave Hocken. Well-known names in the 4ths were John Maher and Dave Hartley.
D. Wilson W. Edwards
C. Calleja (c) P. Eaton C. Dawe
M. Spykers W. Smithers J. McGucken M. Pearce W. Garside
The 1C side missed out on playing in the Challenge Cup, but improved after that to qualify second in a tight grade, with Robert Heath (ex YMCA who played for WA) scoring 12 goals for the season.
They defeated Redcliffe Rovers 2-1 in the semi-final, with Andrew Whitelaw equalising to force the game into extra-time. Joe Bruers saved a stroke in the first period of extra-time. Andrew Whitelaw scored again for the win, sending the club back to 1B. Kala defeated Rangers 3-1 in the grand final thanks to goals from R. Smith, R. Kenney and R. Heath. The “Old Master” Nairn Ashworth was used off the bench to great effect.
Kalamunda’s 2C side finished sixth of nine teams (15 games, 5 wins, 7 losses, 3 draws, 15 goals for, 20 against, 13 points), while the promoted 3B’s were last (16 games for 15 losses and a solitary draw, 10 goals for, 44 against). The 4C side finished in fourth spot (16 games, 7 wins, 7 losses, 32 draws, 37 for, 24 against, 16 points). Their 3-0 win against Willeton was crucial in scrapping into the finals. The Veterans were ninth out of eleven teams (17 games, 5 wins, 11 losses, 1 draw, 30 for, 51 against, 11 points).
Mark Stibi was still playing full-back, this time for the Under 17 North side, with John McGucken up forward. They finished sixth out of eight teams, with 6 wins and 12 losses from their 18 games, 26 goals for and 48 against. Paul Berry, Scott Clingan (goals), Don Miller, Doug Kirkwood, Rod Love and Neil Gordon were in Under 13 North, which finished eighth from twelve teams (17 games, 4 wins, 10 losses, 3 draws, 12 for, 46 against). The Under 11 North side was full of talent, with Andrew and Mike Love, Jon Burgess, Simon and Andrew Scanlon, Damien Pavlinovich, Steve Stewart and Mark Lewis (who according to the end-of-season Hotline, was “showing new potential as a solid hitting fullback”). Mike Love scored 31 goals for the season. They played in the club’s only Challenge Cup for the season, losing 1-0 to Perth. After going on to finish top in a nine team grade (16 games, 14 wins, 1 loss, 1 draw, 52 goals for and 13 against), they won their semi-final against Perth 4-0, with Mike Love scoring 3 goals and Patrick Willix 1. However, they lost the grand final, again falling 1-0 to Perth. The Under 15 East side were fifth in their eight team grade, 6 wins, 8 losses and a draw, 24 goals for and 48 against.
Fairest and best for the Under 17s was John McGucken (now a Veterans player at Mods), Stephen Berry for the Under 15s and Andrew Cassidy for the Under 13s. Our inaugural Under 11s side finished top of the ladder and won the grand final. The picture below shows from the left Patrick Willix (partly obscured), Mike Love, Andrew Love, Simon Scanlon, Mark Lewis, Matthew Scanlon (plain clothes, not playing) and Jon Burgess (holding pennant). The woman in red is Janet Burgess (team manager) and to her left is Janet Scanlon.
With the Recreation Centre now complete, the club now had access to rooms within a 100 yards of the hockey fields, and while this was considered a great advance, it still wasn’t the same as having dedicated clubrooms. Dave Scanlon and Nairn Ashworth continued their leadership roles.
Bill Colquhoun was appointed coach of the 1B side. The club had 6 senior sides (also 2C, 3C, 4C, Reserve Green and Vets) and now 6 junior sides. The Vets had famous names from the clubs past such as Ray Thompson, Steve Fairbotham, John Doepel and Alan Lean, with Ralph Blazey possibly even making the odd appearance. Steve Rawlings appeared at the club that year, and was used in the 1B’s (a large full-back who shouldn’t be confused with the much smaller Steve Rawling who joined in the 90s and now plays Vets).
The 1B side early in the season looked like this:
D. Newton B. Colquhoun
Ian Blazey M. Weinman B. Sherry
R. Spencer R. Smith J. McGucken R. Heath A. Whitelaw
By late July, the committee asked Bill Colquhoun to step down in response to the poor performance of the 1B side. Dave Newton took over fitness training, Mark Weinman as captain, and Nairn Ashworth as overall Director of training. Eventually Kalamunda did just enough to retain 1B status even with only six points for the season, seeing Redcliffe Rovers and Christ Church relegated (bottom three places on the ladder shown below).
Peter Evans was playing at the club, but as one “Hotline” announced, he “celebrated his promotion to the second side by getting transferred to Port Hedland.”
The 2C, 3C and Reserve Green sides all made Challenge Cups that year. The 2C score was 0-0 with Redcliffe Rovers when bad light stopped play (the final results was a 2-1 win to Redcliffe). 3C defeated Christ Church 7-6 (Ledger 3, D. Smith 2, Chapman, Ashworth) on penalty strokes, while Reserve Green lost to Fremantle 3-2 in extra time.
The same sides also qualified for the finals (top four positions shown below). The 4C side just missed out on finals by goal difference, finishing fifth from eight teams (18 games, 8 wins, 7 losses, 3 draws, 38 for, 26 against, 19 points), while the Vets B were also fifth from seven teams (16 games, 6 wins, 8 losses, 2 draws, 34 for, 35 against, 14 points).
Reserve Green (7 teams)
Whitford
The 2C side was eliminated in the first week of the finals, losing 2-3 to Old Guildford. 3C lost their semi-final to Christ Church 3-0, and the following week were eliminated 1-2 by Rangers.
The Reserve Green team consisted of Peter Birch (captain), Dave Scanlon, Max Dale, Paul Bailey, Dave Hartley, Ross Duncan, Keiron Sutton, Vince Arthur, John Ingram, Glen Price and Charlie Calleja, with Steve Taylor in goals. They were relieved to have avoided Whitford in the finals, having lost to them twice in the regular season. The team advanced straight to the grand final by beating Fremantle 3-2 in the semi (having lost to them 5-0 the previous week). Paul Bailey was carried off in the semi after he scored the winning goal running into the back of the net at full speed. In the grand final against Fremantle, Dave Scanlon missed two penalty flicks in the first half, and the team was down a goal before Ross Duncan scored his only goal of the year. Max Dale then converted two penalty corners (off hand stops by Peter Birch), and Keiron Sutton a corner rebound before Fremantle scored late, giving Kalamunda a 4-2 win.
1979 Reserve Green Premiership team
Back row: Vince Arthur, Kieran Sutton, John Ingram, Ross Duncan, Charlie Calleja, Max Dale, Steve Taylor.
Front row: Glen Price, Peter Birch (captain), Dave Scanlon, Paul Bailey, Dave Hartley.
[Photo provided by Peter Birch]
The Under 17 North side was last in an eight team grade (a win and two draws from 16 games, 13 for and 74 against). The Under 15 North side contained Pat Bunday (a top-squad player of the 80s) and Chris Little, who tragically died in the late 80s while piloting a plane that crashed in the goldfields. They ended the season second last out of ten teams, with a win, 14 losses and 3 draws, 16 for and 74 against. Mike Love moved up to Under 13s, where he joined Brett Tyrie. Under 13 North were last of ten teams, with just two wins and a draw from their 18 games (22 goals for, 93 against). Under 13 East fared much better, finishing fourth of nine teams with eight wins and a draw from 16 games (29 for, 25 against).
Under 11s now had all three Scanlon boys (Simon, Andrew, Matt) as well as Mark Lewis (a permanent fixture in the top sides since the mid-80s, life member and Club President). They stared the season in Under 11 East, and played in the Challenge Cup, losing 6-0 to Victoria Park. At that point of the season the best teams were drawn out of the regional grades to form an Under 11A grade (the first “A” junior side for the club). They finished sixth of eight team in that grade, with their 9 games yielding 2 wins, 6 losses and a draw, 4 goals for and 27 against.
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Tag Archives: Hunter Hayes
If You’ve Ever Dreamed About Partying With Hunter Hayes, Tim Tebow and Willie Robertson (And Who Hasn’t?), Now’s Your Chance
Country stars, NFL players, celebrities and more will come together Feb. 2–5 for The Players Party in Houston, a four-day shindig leading up to the Super Bowl on Feb. 5. With more than 20-plus concerts scheduled, there’s no shortage of talent on the country side, including performances from Hunter Hayes, Montgomery Gentry, Jamie Lynn Spears,…… MORE
Watch Hunter Hayes Debut New Song, “All for You,” From Upcoming Animated Movie, “Monster Trucks”
Hunter Hayes stopped by Good Morning America today (Jan. 5) to debut “All for You,” an original song that he penned with Nashville songwriters Jon Nite and Emily Weisband. The new tune is featured in Paramount Pictures’ upcoming animated film Monster Trucks, which hits theaters nationwide on Friday, Jan. 13. Check out Hunter’s performance of…… MORE
In the Lead-Up to Christmas, Hunter Hayes Is Celebrating With “12 Days of Holiday Hayes” . . . But His Dog Seems Unimpressed [Watch]
In the lead-up to Christmas, Hunter Hayes has been releasing short videos of classic holiday tunes in what he is calling 12 Days of Holiday Hayes. In the first installment posted on his Tumblr site, Hunter strums a guitar and sings an abbreviated version of “Let It Snow.” But it’s the second post that caught…… MORE
Watch Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Chris Stapleton, Miranda Lambert, FGL & More Read Mean Tweets on “Jimmy Kimmel”
Some of country’s biggest stars kept the party rolling last night (Nov. 2) after the CMA Awards by taking part in Jimmy Kimmel Live’s Mean Tweets. Trace Adkins, Bonnie Raitt, Randy Houser, Cassadee Pope, Dan + Shay, Cole Swindell, Jana Kramer, Granger Smith, Miranda Lambert, Florida Georgia Line, Jake Owen, Little Big Town, Brett Eldredge,…… MORE
CMA 50th Anniversary Red Carpet Photo Gallery: Carrie Underwood, Tim and Faith, Miranda Lambert, Garth and Trisha and More
The stars came out tonight (Nov. 2) for the 50th Annual CMA Awards held at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. In celebration of the golden anniversary, legends and today’s hottest artists walked the expansive red carpet before entering the tribute filled show. From Charlie Daniels, The Oak Ridge Boys and Charley Pride to Garth and Trisha,…… MORE
Listen to Hunter Hayes’ New Single “Yesterday’s Song”
Since releasing his third major-label studio album, The 21 Project, in November 2015, Hunter Hayes has been busy at work, writing more than 100 new songs and building a mobile studio to be able to record music at the drop of a hat. Last month, Hunter released three new tracks—“Yesterday’s Song,” “Amen” and “Youngblood”—available for streaming…… MORE
Watch Hunter Hayes Sing New “Yesterday’s Song” at Nashville Benefit for Louisiana Flood Victims
Louisiana native Hunter Hayes and some of his singer/songwriter friends performed an impromptu concert at Nashville’s Basement East last night (Sept. 13) to benefit Louisiana flood victims. Over the course of the four-hour showcase, Hunter was joined onstage by CJ Solar, Jacob Davis, Courtney Cole, Benjy Davis, David Borne, Brent Anderson, Ross Ellis, Rick Huckaby…… MORE
Hunter Hayes, Eric Paslay, Lindsay Ell & More Salute Lady Antebellum as They Receive Musicians On Call Honor
Last night (Aug. 9) Lady Antebellum was awarded the Music Heals Award at the Musicians On Call Half a Million Moments Nashville Celebration. “We are excited to honor Lady Antebellum for all they have done for Musicians On Call and hospital patients throughout their career,” said Pete Griffin, Musicians On Call president. “This intimate event will celebrate…… MORE
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Clooney, Pitt among actors yelling 'cut' over Oscar award changes
George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Robert de Niro on Thursday joined a growing protest in Hollywood over plans by Oscars organizers to present cinematography, editing and some other awards during commercial breaks at next week's Academy Awards ceremony.
Sandra Bullock, Emma Stone and Jon Hamm also added their names to an open letter signed by directors Martin Scorsese, Spike Lee and Alfonso Cuaron demanding the decision be reversed.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced earlier this week that the Oscars for best cinematography, film editing, short films and makeup/hairstyling would be presented during the commercials in the Feb. 24 telecast. The academy said edited versions of the winner acceptance speeches would be included later in the live broadcast.
The plan is part of an effort to make the Oscar telecast shorter and boost television viewership. A total of 24 Oscars are handed out at the Hollywood ceremony. Organizers have pledged to trim its duration by about 40 minutes to three hours this year.
But the open letter, signed by more than 50 directors, actors and filmmakers, accused the academy of “relegating these essential crafts to lesser status” and insulting the professionals who work in the four areas.
The academy on Wednesday defended the changes, blaming “inaccurate reporting and social media posts” that it said had “understandably upset many Academy members.”
Some news reports suggested that the winners of the four Oscars would not be included at all on the Oscars telecast.
In a letter to its 8,000 members, the academy said representatives of the four branches affected had volunteered to take part in the new plan.
"No award category at the 91st Oscars ceremony will be presented in a manner that depicts the achievements of its nominees and winners as less than any others,” the academy letter said.
The changes were also attacked on Twitter by the likes of Cuaron, who is Oscar-nominated for both cinematography and directing his best-picture contender,
"In the history of CINEMA, masterpieces have existed without sound, without color, without a story, without actors and without music. No one single film has ever existed without CINEMAtography and without editing,” the Mexican filmmaker tweeted.
The art and science of Japan's cherry blossom forecast India and China are making Earth greener
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Shanghai's star whales prepared to move to Iceland sanctuary
A Shanghai ocean park said Thursday that its most popular stars, two female beluga whales, were being prepared to be relocated to an open water sanctuary in Iceland, about 9,000 km away, this Spring.
"Little Grey" and "Little White," both 12 years old, made their final public appearance at the Changfeng Ocean World on Thursday, attracting many fans to bid farewell, according to the park.
The park said the duo would take a 30-hour-plus journey by air, land and sea to arrive at the Sea Life Trust Beluga Whale Sanctuary.
The sanctuary was created by the Sea Life Trust and Whale and Dolphin Conservation, in a bay at Heimaey Island, located off the southern coast of Iceland.
Sea Life Trust said on its website that the two whales would be the first residents in the sanctuary, which encourages the rehabilitation of captive whales into their natural environments.
The departure date will be settled according to the physical condition of the whales and other factors such as weather, the park said.
The whales have been trained to improve their physical abilities and swimming skills in open water in the past few months. They will also receive special training to prepare for aquatic plants and animals in their new home, according to the park.
Special menus have also been prepared for them to gain more fat and weight to adapt to the cooler water at the sanctuary. The park said both whales had gained 90 kilos in weight to reach nearly one ton.
At nearly 4 meters in length, the whales have become the most welcomed animals in the park since their arrival in April 2011.
NASA is looking for 'jokers' to become astronauts in order to keep morale high on long journeys to Mars How many hours does a top student learn in a day?
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Gold Matter In “a banquet of consequences” Deficits
Commodities / Gold and Silver 2013 Jul 17, 2013 - 10:12 AM GMT
By: Michael_J_Kosares
DEFICITS MATTER! Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the first to publicly declare that deficits did not matter since, he reasoned, we owe the money to ourselves. Dick Cheney, who should know better, made the same claim in behalf of Republican deficits. Deficit denial has never held water simply because holders of government paper – foreign or domestic — intend to be repaid and with interest. It’s that part about creditors demanding interest that blows a hole in the “deficits-do-not-matter” argument.
Some quick background:
* * * In 2008 when the national debt stood at $10 trillion, the federal government paid $451 billion in interest at an average rate of 4.5%.
* * * In 2012, it paid $360 billion interest on a $16 trillion debt at an average interest rate of 2.3%. For a measuring stick, the ten-year treasury bill drew an average interest rate in 2012 of around 1.75%.
* * * If the ten-year treasury bill were to rise to its most recent high of 2.75% and stay there), the implied interest rate paid by the federal government would go to roughly 3.6%. The total interest paid would exceed $600 billion, the rough equivalent to what the United States spends on the national defense.
* * * If the average interest rate paid were to return to 4.5% — the blended rate in 2008 — the United States would pay $765 billion in interest, or nearly one-third of 2012 tax revenues ($2.45 trillion). At that point, markets might begin to question the solvency of the U.S. federal government.
A banquet of consequences
Wall Street trembles at the thought that the Fed may have lost control of interest rates. Now you know why.
Think too what might be behind chairman Bernanke’s impending retirement from his position at the Fed. As Neil Howe stated in an interview posted at this website a couple of weeks ago, the Fed has maneuvered itself into an inescapable policy trap he called a “cockroach hotel.” Of course, Howe believes there is a certain inevitability to the historical process and that the Fed’s current dilemma is part and parcel of the Fourth Turning he now states began in 2008. What happens when the only policy alternative is to continue monetizing the debt in order to keep the federal government reasonably solvent? Ultimately, the monetarist school would likely tell you, we might all wake up one day to the same sort of sudden and inexorable hyperinflationary explosion Germany experienced in the 1920s. As Robert Louis Stevenson put it, “Sooner or later everyone sits down to a banquet of consequences.” What the nation needs is another Paul Volcker. Under the circumstances, what it is likely to get is another Ben Bernanke.
Fitch downgrades French sovereign debt, gives U.S. debt a pass (??)
Meanwhile, things are not going well in Europe. On Friday Fitch, the rating agency, cut France’s credit rating suggesting in its report the French government needed to reform its finances. Fitch justified the downgrade by citing a projected sovereign debt to gross domestic product ratio of 96% in 2014. “The only ‘AAA’ country with a higher debt ratio is the US (AAA/Negative),” says Fitch somewhat sheepishly, “which has exceptional financing flexibility and debt tolerance afforded by the preeminent global reserve currency status of the US dollar.” (Fitch, it appears, deemed it advisable to explain why it was punishing France while giving the United States a pass.)
A good many would disagree with Fitch’s assessment of the dollar’s preeminence. The days of U.S. government’s exorbitant privilege, they say, are quickly waning. In fact, the U.S. is having trouble financing its debt. So much so that the Federal Reserve — not foreign governments, sovereign funds and central banks — has become the U.S. government’s primary lender. In 2012, the Federal Reserve purchased 45% of the government’s debt issue, and that does not include the massive back door monetization conducted via the Feds purchase of mortgage-backed securities from the commercial banks.
Gold’s market bestowed AAA rating
As you can see, DEFICITS DO MATTER! In fact, they matter a great deal and that’s why gold matters. Nation states will go about their business as they always have, and they will continue to receive their report cards, for better or worse, from the ratings agencies. The solid AAA rating for gold, on the other hand, persists without the blessing of any rating agency. It is a rating bestowed by a global financial marketplace that understands the difference between a paper promise and an asset that, as Alan Greenspan once put it, “does not require endorsement.”
I will end this postern to golden economics with a quote I have referenced here often. I return to it religiously because it states so well why nation states, insititutions and individuals alike inevitably revert, as they have over the past several years, to gold as a wealth repository in times like these. French president Charles DeGaulle presented this argument in behalf of gold in the 1960s at the height of another monetary crisis centered around the dollar. At the time, France was converting a large proportion of its dollar reserves to gold at the U.S. Treasury.
“Indeed,” he said, “there can be no other criterion, no other standard than gold. Oh, yes! Gold, which never changes its nature, which can be shaped into bars, ingots or coins, which has no nationality and which is eternally and universally accepted as the unalterable fiduciary value par excellence. Moreover, despite everything that could be imagined, written, done, as huge events happened, it is a fact there is still today no currency that can compare, either by a direct or indirect relationship, real or imagined, with gold.”
USAGOLD NEWS COMMENTARY & ANALYSIS
If you would like to broaden your view of gold market, we invite you to sign-up for our regular newsletter and receive quality commentary like what you are now reading. It’s free of charge and comes by e-mail. You can opt out at any time.
In addition, we invite you to bookmark our Breaking News page for up to the minute news and opinion of interest to the gold owner. By scrolling through our archive, we think you will see why this page has become an important part of the gold info package for a large number of gold owners.
By Michael J. Kosares
Michael J. Kosares , founder and president
USAGOLD - Centennial Precious Metals, Denver
Michael Kosares has over 30 years experience in the gold business, and is the author of The ABCs of Gold Investing: How to Protect and Build Your Wealth with Gold, and numerous magazine and internet articles and essays. He is frequently interviewed in the financial press and is well-known for his on-going commentary on the gold market and its economic, political and financial underpinnings.
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in commentary e do not constitute an offer to buy or sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy or sell any precious metals product, nor should they be viewed in any way as investment advice or advice to buy, sell or hold. Centennial Precious Metals, Inc. recommends the purchase of physical precious metals for asset preservation purposes, not speculation. Utilization of these opinions for speculative purposes is neither suggested nor advised. Commentary is strictly for educational purposes, and as such USAGOLD - Centennial Precious Metals does not warrant or guarantee the accuracy, timeliness or completeness of the information found here.
Michael J. Kosares Archive
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Mark Oprea
For poet David Hassler, all words create sparks
Hassler presenting Kent State's "Kent Reads" Series in 2010.
Poet and educator David Hassler of Kent State University, admires his art for its conversational quality, it’s ability to communicate one's “inner voice” to that of another. Hassler, who has published two books of poetry – one, called Red Kimono, Yellow Barn, which won him the title of Ohio Poet of the Year in 2006 – is fascinated with the discovery of words that provide a new perspective.
I’m struck by that 'aha!' moment, that moment of surprise, when someone makes a leap of thought, a new understanding. And That leap of thought is like a spark, when, like you rub two sticks together, you can rub two words together in a new way, words that may not be normally be put side by side to make a new meaning, and you feel that spark.
Hassler’s poetry itself demonstrates this “spark” also between Chinese and American cultures, and how a new understanding of each can unfold through colorful comparison. This can be something as simple, Hassler says, as juxtaposing two commonplace dishes of food, like American sunny-side up eggs and Japanese full-moon soba, and “naming that connection” that lies beyond the words and phrases we use.
As Director of Kent State’s Wick Poetry Center (since 2000), Hassler has made great leaps in bringing the conversation of poetry to a new generation, “using the newest technology,” he says, “and connecting it to the oldest technology.” Wick’s “Traveling Stanzas” can be spotted all over Kent’s campus, in its 12-story library, its coffee shops, buses, and, in due time, in Wick’s own outdoor gathering place for poets. These "Stanzas" can also be found via the Wick web app, along with animated versions of poems from Wick authors.
Yet it’s the work that Hassler has done “in the schools” (also a semester-long course that he directs), that has given him his most immediate “aha” moments. Describing one of these moments, he tells of an experience in an Akron elementary school with a student who “had not found his voice” until he had the opportunity “to play with language.” It’s as if, as Hassler tells it, the boy’s “inner voice” had come alive, just because of this spark of language — something as simple as redefining the clouds in the sky. Or flowers that bear resemblance to something familiar...
But poetry is not just about naming, Hassler says, but renaming the commonplace objects in our daily life, and seeing them in a whole new perspective. This, he says, is why poetry was so fascinating to him as a student.
I came to poetry because it gives us that ability to tap in what is forever young in us that youthful sense of play in ourselves of exuberance, of play, of experimentation […] If we keep up that conversation with ourselves and with the child and our youthful sense of play in ourselves, we can make our world anew by naming our world anew — by renaming, we renew our relationship to ourselves and to each others and our world.
“Once you can name something, you're conscious of it. You have power over it. You own it. You're in control,” says writer and designer Robin Williams. And with Hassler’s outlook, once you can find a new way of looking at something — a shopping cart in a Walmart parking lot, the sound of a pigeon on the piazza, the eggs you fry on a Sunday morning — you have made it personal, and yourself a poet.
Watch the full TEDxTalk for more of Hassler's thoughts on the "conversation of poetry":
Photo of David Hassler – KSULib at Flickr.
Photo of "Sunny Side Up" flowers – bigbrowneyez at Flickr.
Tweets by mark_oprea
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Marine Corps - USMC Community > Marine Corps News > Headline News > Pentagon says 2009 budget will include $70 billion for wars
View Full Version : Pentagon says 2009 budget will include $70 billion for wars
thedrifter
Pentagon says 2009 budget will include $70 billion for wars
By: ANNE FLAHERTY - Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- The White House will ask Congress next week for another $70 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, an amount that would help cover operational costs only until early next year when the next administration takes over.
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said Monday that the money, included as part of the administration's 2009 budget request, would be considered an "emergency allowance" to pay for operations beginning Oct. 1, when the budget year begins, until possibly January.
President Bush asked for more than twice that amount -- $196.4 billion -- to fuel combat operations this fiscal year.
Democrats are still balking at that price tag. Of that nearly $200 billion budget, Congress has approved less than half -- $70 billion for general operations and $16.8 billion for Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles.
Short of the votes needed to bring troops home, but tied to a support base that wants nothing less, Democrats are in no hurry to revisit the issue. They calculate the military has enough money to continue operations through April or May. By that time, Gen. David Petraeus will have briefed Congress on whether progress in Iraq is continuing.
Petraeus, the top military commander in Iraq, is scheduled to testify in March or early April.
Since 2001, Congress has approved some $700 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. If Bush's 2008 and 2009 requests are approved in their entirety, that amount would increase to roughly $876 billion.
Of the Pentagon's $70 billion request for 2009 war funding, the majority would likely go to the Army and Marine Corps. However, the Air Force says it has to pay war costs, too. The service says it needs $17 billion for next year's combat operations, a figure that would include money for four new F-22 Raptor to update its fleet of fighter jets.
However, whether the White House will include the Air Force requirement in next week's request remains to be seen. Service requirements are scrubbed by the Office of Management and Budget before making their way to Congress.
On the Net:
Defense Department: http://www.defenselink.mil
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Kochanski & Partners
Kochanski Zieba Rapala & Partners
Flying high ...
December 2011 - Employment. Legal Developments by Norrbom Vinding Law Firm, member of ius laboris.
by Yvonne Frederiksen
A provision in a German collective agreement requiring pilots to retire at 60 was incompatible with the Equal Treatment Directive.
Under the Equal Treatment Directive, employers are not allowed to discriminate against employees because of their age. But derogation from this principle is allowed if the aim is legitimate and the means of achieving it is proportionate. In a recent case, one of the issues before the EU Court was whether a provision on compulsory retirement in a German collective agreement fell within the derogation provided for in the Directive.
The case concerned three German pilots. They were covered by the same collective agreement, which required pilots to retire at 60. The three pilots believed the provision of the collective agreement was contrary to German law and the Directive because the retirement age for pilots under German and international law was 65.
But the German court was not quite sure whether the provision fell entirely outside the scope of the Directive or within the derogation provided for in the Directive. It therefore decided to seek guidance from the EU Court.
Discriminatory provision
The EU Court started out by establishing that, because of the provision, German pilots aged 60+ were treated less favourably than their younger colleagues as a direct result of their age. It also stressed that provisions of collective agreements must comply with the Directive.
The EU Court then considered the question of whether the provision could be deemed to be a public security measure, in which case it would fall outside the scope of the Directive. On that point, the EU Court held that the age limit was an appropriate measure to protect public security because it was intended to ensure that pilots were fit to fly. But the provision in the collective agreement went beyond what was necessary to ensure public security because neither German nor international law sets the age limit at 60.
Thus, as a starting point, requiring pilots to meet certain physical standards is a legal occupational requirement, and public security is a legitimate aim to pursue. But the age limit set by the collective agreement was disproportionate because German and international law allows pilots to fly until the age of 65, subject to certain conditions.
On those grounds, the retirement age stipulated in the collective agreement was incompatible with the Directive.
Norrbom Vinding notes:
that the case shows that the EU Court will most likely look at age limits set by national as well as international law when considering the legality of an age limit in a collective agreement.
The above does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such
For more information please visit www.norrbomvinding.com
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Phoenix Realty Group, Inc. v. Catlett
Opinion Date: February 10, 2000
BROKERS; EXCLUSIVES—A broker under an exclusive listing agreement, as contrasted with an exclusive right to sell agreement, should always be aware that a seller might sell its property itself prior to the end of the agreement.
A real estate broker claimed that its agreement with a client was an “exclusive right to sell” agreement, which, according to the broker, gave it the exclusive right to sell a restaurant for a period of one year. The lower court, upon reviewing the agreement under the circumstances, held that it was not an “exclusive agreement,” but was merely a listing agreement. The Appellate Division agreed. Three months after entering into the agreement, the property owner decided to withdraw the restaurant from sale. Then, two months later, the owner sold the restaurant to an associate. Therefore, the broker claimed that the owner had breached the listing agreement by withdrawing the restaurant for sale prior to the end of the one year term. The parties cited two earlier cases. One, in which an owner terminated a six month exclusive right to sell agreement just ten days after the agreement was executed, resulted in an award for breach of contract damages rather than for the commission that would have been payable on a subsequent sale. The other case declined to follow the first case and found that the broker substantially performed its obligations under the agreement by “advertising and producing prospective purchasers,” and that the proper measure of damages was to “award [] the contractual commission predicated on the sales price obtained by the owners’ direct sale.” However, the Appellate Division found that both cases were distinguishable. Each of the cited cases dealt with “exclusive right to sell” agreements, where the expectations of the parties were quite different than those presented in this particular case. The Court viewed this agreement as an exclusive listing binding both parties for one year, subject to the owner’s sale of the property during that term. The broker should have known that it was always possible that the owner might sell the property prior to the termination of the listing. Consequently, because the record reflected that the broker performed no work and expended no funds in the interim period between the termination of the listing and the sale of the restaurant, there were no damages stemming from the owner’s premature withdrawal of the restaurant from the market.
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Featured / Featured stories / News
Lincoln nonprofit provides training, hope to former inmates
by Lauren Brown-Hulme · Published December 6, 2017 · Updated December 11, 2017
Story, aggregated content and video by Lauren Brown-Hulme, NewsNetNebraska
Incarceration made Lester Wagner Jr. good at waiting.
First, waiting to get a job after his release from Nebraska State Penitentiary. Lots of applications, lots of interviews, lots of no’s.
His first “yes” was a job at a demolition site.
He and a buddy would wake up at 3 a.m. and head to downtown Lincoln from North 26th Street, trekking in the snow. They’d then wait for the 5 a.m. bus that took them to the site. The work and hours weren’t ideal, but it was all they could get.
Then his employer discovered Wagner had served time for manslaughter and use of a weapon to commit a felony. Wagner’s hours were cut and he had to search for a new job. This didn’t look good on the job history of someone who already had the blemish of a criminal record.
So it was back to waiting. Waiting for life to begin to feel normal.
“Getting a job and finding a place to live are probably the most difficult to deal with once you’re out,” Wagner said. “And finding a place to live is harder than finding a job. There are places people with a felony can’t go.”
Overpopulated and underprepared
2,200 inmates released each year from Nebraska state prisons. The Nebraska Department of Correctional Services offers reentry services to prepare these inmates for the job and housing search.
But currently, the Nebraska prison system is the second-most overcrowded and understaffed in the country, now at 159 percent capacity. According to a report by Nebraska’s Justice Reinvestment Implementation Coordinating Committee, overpopulation and high employee turnover have resulted in a lack of mental health care and other programming for inmates.
Some inmates are discharged without receiving any transitional programming. Inspector General of the Nebraska Correctional System Doug Koebernick said the recidivism rate of two of every three inmates reoffending and returning to prison can be connected to this lack of available rehabilitation programming.
“There have been lots of steps made lately [in NDCS] to increase programming, but there’s still a lot of work to be done,” Koebernick said. “The big problem is there aren’t a lot of programs going on inside to teach those necessary skills for when you get out.”
Ruth Karlsson saw an opportunity for nongovernment organizations to partner with the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services to prepare former inmates for the outside world and reduce the amount that return to prison.
In 2004, Karlsson founded Released and Restored in Lincoln, with the goal of giving Nebraska inmates and ex-offenders the tools and support systems necessary for reentry.
The organization has a lower recidivism rate than the national average, with only 18 percent of inmates who participate in Released and Restored programming reoffending and returning to prison.
“Without providing programming to assist them on their journey of reentry and preparing for it…we are going to do what has previously been done which is recycling people back through the system,” Karlsson said. “We just think there’s a better way of doing it. Prepare them while they’re in so they’re successful when they’re out.”
Planning with a purpose
The organization offers programming both in and outside of prison. Some programs focus on the job search – from resume building to how to interview and manage money – while other programs focus on helping individuals create plans to make more moral and healthy decisions once they are released.
Wagner took Released and Restored’s “Planning with a Purpose” class twice while incarcerated and when he was released, he volunteered as a teacher for the organization.
“At least this gives you somewhere to go, someone to help you to transition back into the community,” Wagner said of Released and Restored. “Without it, there would be a lot of people going back in.”
Now Wagner serves the organization that once served him, working as the lead facilitator for Released and Restored. He has also pursued higher education, currently working toward a doctorate in educational leadership.
“I don’t go out bragging about being formerly incarcerated,” Wagner said. “But I think it’s good to share…it’s hard work getting here, but it can be done.”
Wagner is not the only former inmate who now works for Released and Restored.
When Program Director Angie Harvey was incarcerated 25 years ago, she said an organization similar to Released and Restored made such an impact on her, she wanted to make a similar difference in other inmates’ lives.
“The biggest change I see in people is their self-confidence,” Harvey said. “They may come into the program with low self-esteem, a lot of shame, but we work with them on that and help them to see being in prison is not the end of the world and there is life after prison.”
Harvey said she can share many stories about those whose lives after prison have been made better because of Released and Restored.
She spoke of one inmate who served time in the Women’s Prison in York and took the 20-week “Planning with Purpose” class twice. When she was released, she also took a two-week class focused on job readiness.
“We’re always amazed at the amount of time people devote to our programs,” Harvey said. “It’s rewarding to see them getting jobs and doing well as a result.”
Support from the state
Karlsson said the need for organizations like Released and Restored is the same it has always been. What is different, she said, is the Nebraska legislature’s support of nonprofit programs.
Released and Restored is one of seven organizations statewide that received state-funded grants in 2016 totaling $6.2 million.
“What we have seen change over 12.5 years is the unicameral’s willingness to understand what we have long understood…prepare men and women for their release while they’re still incarcerated,” Karlsson. “We have now been welcomed into the system to offer this type of programming.”
Koebernick said although the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services has its own reentry programming, organizations like Released and Restored are valuable because inmates may relate to outsiders more than Corrections staff members.
“There isn’t an ‘us versus them’ mentality in that relationship,” Koebernick said. “These people have a high level of interest and caring, they bring something extra to the table and then once people transition out they still have those connections on the outside. If they’re nervous about what will happen on the outside, now they’ll have this support system.”
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Call it Punk Rockhausen: Excepter
The band was several minutes into their set before I realized they had started. At first I thought it was the beer—I was a couple of drinks in at that point, as it was well after 1:00 a.m. on a weeknight. But that wasn’t it.
The four members of Excepter took the stage at Baby’s All Right individually, and in no hurry. They began their sound check, communicating through hand gestures with the sound man in the back. Someone programed a loop, modulated the sound until it was just right, or close enough, then moved on. The loop continued though, and eventually receded into the background as other sounds from different pieces of equipment came in: a sequenced drum pattern, synth washes, mic checks. Eventually, and without any introduction, these sounds became the first song.
Baby’s All Right wasn’t particularly full that night. There were the obligatory friends of the band, all standing together. There were a few die-hards: the experimental and noise scene regulars nodding along, drinks in hands, or hands in pockets. And their girl- and boyfriends they had brought along, unsure of what they had been dragged into. The space below the stage was clear, both because it wasn’t that kind of show, and because there was a guy with a collared shirt and spiky hair occupying at least twenty square feet of floor in front. He was high on who knows what, dancing like an inflatable stick in a used car lot, bumping into people. He had come with a girl too—she was making out with a stranger in the corner—and I think he was trying to demonstrate that he was over her. (After all, it wouldn’t be the first time dance was revenge-based). And somehow, it all fit. This is the effect of the Excepter experience: disorientation.
Excepter is an experimental band based in Brooklyn. To describe their sound would be difficult, as no two Excepter records or shows sound the same; they are, consistent only in their reliable inconsistencies. When I think of them, their sound, I think of the phrase “Punk Rockhausen,” as in punk rock meets Karlheinz Stockhausen. Electronic experimentation meets bar band ethos.
John Fell Ryan is the leader and only consistent member of the band over its near fifteen 15-year history. I met Ryan at a bar in Greenpoint on a Monday night in March. I was interested in talking about the band from the beginning, how as it has evolved with Brooklyn, and how Brooklyn has evolved alongside, or despite, it, and where it stands now, several waves of experimental music later.
We’re in an era now in which we are no longer talking about great New York bands, but great Brooklyn bands. Excepter is a great Brooklyn band. And one of the most quintessential: the band’s trajectory is not dissimilar from the Williamsburg-defined wave of Brooklyn gentrification in the 2000s. In some ways, Excepter played a small part in defining it. After finishing grad school at Columbia, John moved to Williamsburg. This was the late 1990s, when the neighborhood was one of the largest communities of Hasidic Jews rather than hipster transplants, and long before the Bedford Avenue stop became a tourist destination. In the early 2000s, as he was trying to start Excepter, he was literally pulling people off his street to audition them for the band. He was collecting equipment at the time, trolling pawn shops for old Roland TR-606 and 808 drum machines, for used Juno and SH101 synthesizers. This was that brief era before craigslist and eBay, the one old scenesters wax nostalgic about, before every post-college Brooklynite was “buying a synthesizer and an arpeggiator, [and] selling [their] guitars and buying turntables,” a trend that Excepter helped inspire. Then, when Williamsburg became the faux-hemian hub it is now, and rents rose with the buildings, John and the band moved to Bushwick, into a place that came to be called 382 Jeff Street (named after the Jefferson Street L train stop).
The other three current members are: Jon Nicholson, a more or less consistent member of the band since 2003; Jon Williams, an old friend and the newest member; and Ryan’s wife, Lala, who has been involved since 2006. Excepter’s size has run the gamut, from a trio to an octet. Relationships and marriages have existed in and because of the band. So have breakups. It’s a labor of love; there’s no money made. Everyone in the band has day jobs: Ryan works for a moving company, Lala teaches music to children in Manhattan, Williams is a computer programmer, Nicholson is an art handler. Says Ryan, “A good show will net each person maybe a little over a hundred dollars.” A lack of money has never not always been a problem for the band, and yet it has never stopped them.
Ryan said that he likes to think of the band’s various iterations less like chapters in a book than as different destinations on a map. The first destination in the band’s history would be 2001 – 2003. Excepter was one of a handful of experimental noise-loving bands of this era, part of what Ryan calls the Class of 2003, with bands Animal Collective and Black Dice. The early records of these bands do sound markedly similar: rhythm-heavy, improvised compositions—they feel like the music of a child’s imagination, or like the wild and heavy footsteps of someone still thrilled by the idea of being able to move independently, concerned less with the efficiency of travel than with movement itself. Excepter’s records from this period, while adventurous, are more serious. Says Ryan says about this, “I don’t like [those bands’] version of childhood. Like crazy kids banging on the dining room table with forks and knives, making noise.”
Excepter released its first proper album with a label, Ka, in 2003 on Fusetron. A psychedelic trip, full of heavy panning, the album plays like the soundtrack to the conception scene in Rosemary’s Baby. Or maybe the surreal moment just before: Rosemary inexplicably in the middle of the sea, afloat on her mattress, rocking back and forth.
The album isn’t ashamed of its weirdness. The tracks are long, and indulge the group’s jam-band tendencies. It has a lo-fi feel—many of the tracks were done live, others recorded straight to tape. Virtually everything is run through a delay. It sounds like a drunk reimagining of an early Stereolab record, playing on repeat in the back of some smoke-filled room.
Destination two in the band’s history would be from 2004-2006. Perhaps their most prolific era, preferring productivity to perfection, the band was constantly putting out new music: a CD-only release, Throne (LOAD, 20065); an LP/CD release, Self-destruction (Fusetron, 2005); the Sunbomber EP (5 Rue Christine, 20065); OP, a “collection of various rarities from the years 2005-2006” (internet release, 2006). There was even more: limited edition cassettes and CD’s, often released through the internet or via small labels that folded as quickly as they were formed.
In 2006, the band released what Ryan considers their pop record and one honest attempt at reaching a wider audience, Alternation (5 Rue Christine and Fusetron). Songs like “Ice Cream Van” and “Rock Stepper” have all the pop song trappings—4/4 drum machine beats, actual melodies—though everything sounds as if it’s been run through a washing machine.
Alternation is more playful than the material that preceded it. At the beginning of “If I Were You,” Ryan says wryly, “I’d like to introduce our machines to you / But I forgot their names. I’d like to shake hands with each and every one of you / But I’m on stage.” His voice trails off and a basic drumbeat comes in: the song is aware that it both belongs on the pop music spectrum and is far too weird or clever for it. Alternation was perhaps Excepter’s biggest release: they launched a full campaign to promote the album, including advertising and live events. But it didn’t do as well as they hoped; it was neither a critical nor financial success. The album is still $10,000 in debt, which, for a polarizing band in a niche experimental Brooklyn scene, might as well be a million.
Ryan considers destination three the band’s peak era. It’s also the saddest. They released several records during this time, most on the Animal Collective-founded label, Paw Tracks: the KKKKK EP (2007); another EP, Burgers / The Punjab (2007); an LP called Debt Dept. (2008); a 12”, Black Beach (2009); and the LP, Presidence (2010). This period marks a stylistic shift for the band, perhaps the most significant and noticeable to that point. Presidence has more in common with the industrial chug of Throbbing Gristle’s 20 Jazz Funk Greats than anything Animal Collective ever did. Their sound is grittier, though of a higher quality. It’s still difficult to penetrate but for different reasons than before, lost not in reverb and delay but in the songwriting itself. The band seemed to have reached an artistic peak.
But at the beginning of 2011, everything changed. One of Excepter’s oldest members, Clare Amory, died of cancer on February 24. She was 35.
The band almost broke apart. I asked Ryan about this:
It completely effected the band … it blew the band apart … At that point we had kind of reached this peak of playing, looking for the next step. [Clare] was getting her own business together. Then she got sick. And got really sick like that [snaps fingers]. Her death threw everything into question. The band was splintered. We just felt weakened by the process. So this happening just blew us all away. We felt we had to get out of New York … It’s like that thing, when you’re drowning and you don’t know which way is up, and you end up swimming deeper.
The band took time off. John and Lala moved to Los Angeles. They found new days jobs and focused on raising their newborn son, John Victory Ryan. For once in the band’s noisy history, everything was quiet.
Eventually, though, John and Lala moved back to Brooklyn, and everything started to pick up again. Now they’re going full swing: this is the fourth and most recent destination on the band’s trip. They finished up a European tour in April, and are back in New York now, playing shows again.
Their new album, Familiar, is coming out this year, the release date of which is as of yet unannounced. The album sounds like a product of a great deal of time. The recordings sound clearer and of a higher quality, the songs more patient, less anxious to prove their avant-garde impulses. “Destroy” is an exercise in synth stab turned noise murder: saw waves are engulfed by distorted frequencies and feedback, by siren squeal. “Holy Girl,” a droning track built on a bass-heavy synth loop and panning vocal ad-libs, sounds like a clairvoyant vision of impending doom.
Of all the noise and strange sounds on the album, though, the most surprising moment is the one of quiet vulnerability. The last track on the album, “Song to the Siren,” is a cover of a Tim Buckley song from 1970. It’s a ballad and love song. There are no drum machines or manipulated samples, just John and a quiet synthesizer, an articulated chord progression, recognizable lyrics. When I first heard the song, I stopped completely. For a band so predictably unpredictable, this was truly disorienting. And spooky, as the song’s themes are resonant with the life of Ryan and the band. He sings:
Long afloat on shipless oceansI did all my best to smile'Til your singing eyes and fingersDrew me loving to your isleAnd you sangSail to meSail to me
This current destination is the most triumphant, characterized not by acquiesce or devolution but by perseverance and, ultimately, total devotion. “That’s definitely our story,” says Ryan. “We just keep going.…You have to be severe to cut it. And people are saying, Ah, I can’t afford to live here. And I’m like, you can, but you just have to be severe. Totally fucking severe. You have to work all the time.”
Excepter will never make any money. They will likely never mean much to many people, especially those who live outside of Brooklyn or who never got the chance to see them play in person. While contemporaries have come and gone around them, some making it big, others returning to day jobs, Excepter has stayed the course. They’ve never stopped making the music they want to make.
Toward the end of our conversation, an Excepter song came on in the bar. It was “When You Call,” the last song on Presidence. Admittedly, I didn’t recognize it; it sounded only like a different kind of static than that occurring behind us. Again, maybe it was the beer—John and I were several drinks deep by that part of the night. But maybe it wasn’t, maybe it was just the music. Ryan looked visibly pleased.
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Artemis Quartet
"The Artemis Quartet’s technique is on par with the most virtuoso competitors—and their musicality surpasses that of all other ensembles!"
Joachim Kaiser, Süddeutsche Zeitung
Artemis Quartet gives concerts for all great musical centres and international festivals in Europe, the United States, Asia, South America and Australia. Since 2004 the ensemble creates own cycles at the chamber music hall of Berlin Philharmonie, since 2011 at Wiener Konzerthaus (together with Belcea Quartet) and with the beginning of season 2016/2017 at Prince Regent Theatre Munich.
Berlin based Artemis Quartet was founded in 1989 at the University of Music Lübeck and is counted among the foremost worldwide quartet formations today. Important mentors have been Walter Levin, Alfred Brendel, the Alban Berg Quartet, the Juilliard Quartet and the Emerson Quartet.
Being awarded the first place in ARD competition in 1996 and six months later at ‚Premio Borciani’, made the quartet internationally successful. Yet the four initially followed an invitation of the Institute for Advanced Study Berlin in order to enhance their studies as an ensemble and to broaden them in an interdisciplinary exchange with renowned academics. The quartet’s “comeback” happened with its Berliner debut. In 2013, the Beethovenhaus Bonn decorates the quartet as an honorary member for merits of its interpretation of Beethoven’s work.
From the beginning the collaboration with musical colleagues has been a major inspiration for the ensemble. Thus, Artemis Quartet has toured with notable musicians such as Sabine Meyer, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Juliane Banse and Jörg Widmann. Various recordings document the artistic cooperation with several partners, for example the piano quintets by Schuhmann and Brahms with Leif Ove Andsnes, the Schubert quintet with Truls Mørk or Arnold Schönberg’s ’Verklärte Nacht’ with Thomas Kakuska and Valentin Erben from Alban Berg Quartet.
Since 2005 the Artemis Quartet exclusively records for Virgin, today Erato and can by now look back on a large discography. Their recordings have been repeatedly awarded the ’The German Record Critic’s Award’, the ’Gramophone Award’ as well as the ’Diapason d’Or’. The entire recording of Beethoven’s quartets for strings was honoured with the important french ’Grand Prix de l'Académie Charles Cros’ in 2011. The quartet has received an ’ECHO Klassik’ at four occasions, at last in 2015 for the recording of creations of Mendelssohn-Bartholdy as well as in 2016 for the recording of Brahm’s quartets op. 51/1 and op. 67, dedicated to the quartet’s former violist Friedemann Weigle, who tragicly passed away in July 2015. Their next recording with works of Shostakovich will be released in 2018, including the piano quintet with Elisabeth Leonskaja.
Not least to increase the awareness for what is new in the field of established music, the examination of contemporary music is always a significant part of the artistic work of the ensemble. Composers such as Mauricio Sotelo (2004), Jörg Widmann (2006), and Thomas Larcher (2008) wrote creations for Artemis Quartet. In 2014 a concert for strings and orchestra by Daniel Schnyder premiered in Frankfurt. The musicians launched their own contest for musical composition in 2015. Eduard Demetz was nominated the awardee in November 2015 and his string quartet Nr. 2 was given a very well received premiere in Berlin in May 2016.
Besides their practice in concerts, the four musicians teach as professors at University of the Arts Berlin and Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth in Brussels.
Photo: Felix Broede
Special Projects in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland
Vineta Sareika (Violin)
Suyoen Kim (Violin)
Gregor Sigl (Viola)
Harriet Krijgh (Cello)
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Ester Dean Biography
Esther Renay Dean, better known by her stage name Ester Dean is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Her 2009 single "Drop It Low" featured singer Chris Brown. Dean has also co-written songs for many artists including Christina Aguilera, Katy Perry, Keri Hilson, Beyoncé, Priyanka Chopra, Mary J. Blige, Nicki Minaj, Kelly Clarkson, Ciara, The Pussycat Dolls, Usher, Kelly Rowland, Girlicious, Rihanna, R. Kelly, Britney Spears, Melody Thornton, Vanessa White, Kevin McHale, Selena Gomez, G.R.L., Soulja Boy Tell 'Em, Pia Toscano, Tinie Tempah, Lil Wayne, Machine Gun Kelly and Eurovision Song Contest 2012 winner Loreen.
In 2011, Dean contributed to the soundtrack for the animated film, Rio by Blue Sky Studios.
In 2012, she voiced two of the characters in the fourth film in the Ice Age franchise, Ice Age: Continental Drift, and also wrote a song for the movie, entitled "We Are (Family)". Dean made her acting debut in the film Pitch Perfect (2012), and performed on the soundtrack.
Dean possesses a mezzo-soprano range. Her vocals were described by Billboard.com as "raw, energetic vocals cover a wide range: from club banger to melodic doo-wop/hip-hop." Dean's vocals have also been described as similar to Rihanna and Nicki Minaj. "The songwriter’s voice is pitched dead center between two artists. The first is frequent collaborator Rihanna, the other is the singing voice of Nicki Minaj.
In a 2012 article in The New Yorker, Dean described her preferred method of songwriting: "I go into the booth and I scream and I sing and I yell, and sometimes it's words but most time [sic] it's not...and I just see when I get this little chill [on her upper arm, below the shoulder] and then I'm, like, 'Yeah, that's the hook.'"
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Eugene Chung
Cultivating Seeds
Today, I’m excited to share that Penrose Studios is announcing its $10 million Series A.
At Penrose, we believe in taking an integrated approach to building our company. This means building interdependent architectures across our creative, technical and business initiatives and teams. This is important enough for us that we have enshrined this in one of our core values, cross-pollination. Our artists and engineers work side-by-side to deeply influence each other’s work.
Worldwide Launch - Allumette
Since we first introduced our second VR movie, Allumette, earlier this year, we’ve been overwhelmed with the love, support and celebration we’ve received from the VR and film communities. When Allumette premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in April, we were honored and humbled to bring VR further into the film industry and show a new way to tell stories that everyone in the world can appreciate.
Now, we’re pleased to announce that we’ve released Allumette to the world on Oculus Rift, Sony PlayStation VR, Steam VR and HTC’s Viveport.
Watch the Allumette trailer
Since returning to San Francisco after an incredible experience at the Sundance Film Festival, momentum in the VR and AR industry has been palpable. We are truly on the doorstep of a new Renaissance.
At Penrose, we’ve enjoyed recognition and praise from influencers in the film space for our first piece, The Rose and I, as well as our next piece that will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, Allumette. We strive to be authentic in our approach to VR storytelling, and remain dedicated to our hand-crafted creation of virtual worlds.
Introducing ROSE
Today, we’re excited to announce that we’re releasing our mobile-focused VR app called ROSE in conjunction with the upcoming consumer launch of the Samsung Gear VR powered by Oculus.
Samsung Gear - Purchase
ROSE is a burgeoning world of pure imagination that allows the viewer to experience an immersive, cinematic universe in VR. ROSE is a real-time, cinematic story platform built specifically for mobile VR. We're collaborating with Oculus and Samsung to make this ready for the consumer launch of Gear VR.
The ROSE app will initially feature a mobile adaptation of Penrose’s cinematic virtual reality content. The first VR film available on the ROSE app will be a Gear VR Teaser adaptation of “The Rose And I”, a PC-based VR film with positional tracking that we premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival this year.
We had an interesting journey creating the Gear VR version of “The Rose And I” from a PC-based VR platform. From the beginning, we knew it wouldn’t be simple, especially because the graphics unit of the PC has 150x the processing power of the Samsung Galaxy S6.
Initially, our instinct was to record a 360-degree video output from our original PC VR experience. But after we created and tested this recording, we realized the limitations of this approach: lower resolution, lower quality 3D, and lower immersion because the viewer is unable to move around in the world of their volition. We therefore began the more difficult but exciting exploration of porting our PC VR experience over to mobile VR with Unreal Engine 4, a real time engine.
In the creation of VR cinematic experiences, we use many tools from both the film and video game worlds. One of the highlights and backbones of our process is the Unreal Engine by Epic Games. We initially created the PC VR-based “The Rose And I” on Unreal Engine, and this greatly simplified our process porting to mobile VR. The new updates that Epic is making to both the Android and Gear VR integration are cutting edge, and thanks to this, we were able to deliver a beautiful experience at a fraction of the effort (not to mention teraflops).
We hope you enjoy ROSE, and we look forward to exploring the new art form of VR storytelling in the many months and years to come.
The Rose And I - Limited Release Developer's Cut
BuzzFeed's Review of Our VR Film: "The Beautiful “The Rose And I” May Be The Best Argument For Virtual Reality"
Today, Penrose is announcing the Limited Release Developer's Cut of "The Rose And I", a VR short film that we Premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival 2015. To receive the download link, please follow @PenroseVR on Twitter and Tweet The #RoseAndI. We will DM you a private download link by next week. This will only be available for a limited time.
SoMa - San Francisco, CA
© Penrose Studios, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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Freud, S. (1913). Letter from Sigmund Freud to Karl Abraham, January 1, 1913. The Complete Correspondence of Sigmund Freud and Karl Abraham 1907-1925, 173.
Freud, S. (1913). Letter from Sigmund Freud to Karl Abraham, January 1, 1913. The Complete Correspondence of Sigmund Freud and Karl Abraham 1907-1925, 173
Letter from Sigmund Freud to Karl Abraham, January 1, 1913
Vienna IX, Berggasse 19
Thank you for your friendly lines. The hospitality we are able to provide in Vienna, and what I in particular am able to do in that respect, is so little.
Now accept my cordial good wishes for the New Year, which will certainly not be an easy one for us. The past year achieved something nice on the very last day with a letter from Fr. Kraus, from which I gather that he asked you to call on him and is by no means disinclined to your cause. He still counts on “Bonhoeffer's approval” and confirms that you have a good reputation—even among the opponents. The letter was very decent, exceptional for someone who will soon be a privy councillor. Will you keep me informed about how things develop?
Stekel is to give a talk in Berlin on the 6th of January. Stöcker,1 as I told you, excused herself to me on the basis of ignorance of the state of affairs, which was forgivable at that time and expressed her opinion that nothing can be done now. That may be so, but he should still feel that he has an anachronism to thank for his invitation, and he should feel inhibited to some extent in his productions. Firstly, he will lie shamelessly about the reasons for his resignation. I have already prepared Stöcker for this. Secondly, he will obviously preach Adlerism, as he is now in their employ, and politeness need not go so far as to acclaim everything he says. He should be reminded of the change of conditions. So have another word with Stöcker, and think how anxious he might be made in his godlikeness.
Forgive the nasty affair; politics corrupt the character.
Yours cordially,
Notes to "Letter from Sigmund Freud to Karl Abraham, January 1, 1913"
Ernst Falzeder
1 Dr Helene Stöcker [1869-1943], German feminist, sexual reformer, and pacifist, had become a member of the Berlin Psychoanalytic Society in June 1912. She had been acquainted with Lou Andreas-Salomé since 1900. Shortly afterwards, on 5 March 1913, she was a guest at the Vienna Society (Andreas-Salomé, 1958: p. 112; Nunberg & Federn, 1975: p. 172). Stöcker was co-founder of the Bund für Mutterschutz [League for Mothers' Protection] and editor of its journal, Mutterschutz. In 1933 she emigrated to New York.
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K. SrinivasanWednesday, April 17, 2019election, politics No comments
The entire nation is in the midst of General Elections to elect the 17th Lok Sabha. Every one of us can feel proud that we are part of the world's largest democracy with more than 800 million people electing the Government. We need to compliment Indian Election Commission for their competence and neutrality.
Two major alliances one under the leadership of BJP and the other under the leadership of Congress are fighting in the election to get the mandate of the people to form the Government. In addition, there are many regional and smaller parties also in the fray.
Many suggestions are going round in the social media advising people whom to vote. Some people suggest to vote for 'NOTA' without even looking at the candidates. Some people suggest to vote for people with highest qualification, irrespective of their party, even if they contest as independent.
Though voting for any candidate is a personal right, I suggest all voters to understand the procedures of Parliament and the formation of Government and then calmly think and go for voting without any bias or caste/religious consideration.
Before going in detail, we should understand that as per Indian Constitution only three bodies are directly elected by the people.
1. Lok Sabha
2. Lower House of State Legislative Assemblies
3. All Local bodies like village panchayats, Municipalities and Corporations.
Duties of the elected members of Lok Sabha, State legislature and the local bodies are different. Generally people do not understand their roles properly due to lack of awareness.
Duties of the members of Lok Sabha
Though all of us discuss politics in detail, many may not know the duties of the Lok Sabha Members. Without even knowing the role and duties of Lok Sabha Members, people go for voting.
The Members of Parliament have the following duties:
1. Legislation - Enact laws for the entire country;
2. Discuss the financial budget and approve;
3. Participate in the Lok Sabha Sessions and Committee Meetings and supervise the functioning of the Government.
4. Represent the issues relating to the constituency, state and the nation in the Parliament to find a solution. This includes introducing new Central Government projects or improving the existing schemes.
Unfortunately, general public do not have the awareness about the duties of Members of Parliament. They expect him/her to look after the local civil needs, street cleaning, street lighting and other local works. Members of legislative Assemblies and the local body councillors are required to look after the local civic problems.
Most of the time, general public perceives the MP who looks after the civic needs as the 'best MP'. These MPs get a good name from the local people. There are many MPs, without doing any Parliamentary work, get a good name from the local people by resolving only local civic issues.
It is like a company recruiting a General Manager to plan and execute higher projects, asking him to do ordinary jobs. People should learn to expect higher performance from the Members of Parliament and not ordinary works.
How the Government gets formed?
After the General Elections, the new Government will be formed. President of India will invite the person who in his opinion commands the confidence of the majority of the House to be the Prime Minister and form the Government. Though Indian Constitution does not specify about political parties, in reality, President will invite the Leader of the party or the Pre-Poll alliance who has secured the majority in the House.
Presently, we have 543 seats in the Lok Sabha. The person who commands the confidence of 272 members can become the Prime Minister. This person can be the leader of a single party or alliance.
If there is no majority to any political party or pre-poll alliance, it may lead to confusion and instability. This will affect the governance and the economy of the nation.
Since this General Election is for formation of Central Government, every voter needs to be careful while casting his/her vote.
Previous Governments
1. 9th Lok Sabha was formed in 1989. The Government formed by VP Singh without majority fell in 11 months. Chandrasekar Government formed thereafter without majority also fell in 6 months. Lok Sabha was dissolved. During this period, Indian economy suffered heavily. India had to pledge its Gold reserve to get loan from England.
2. 10th Lok Sabha was formed in 1991. Congress formed the Government under the Prime Ministership of PV Narasimha Rao, though there was a small shortage of majority. Narasimha Rao provided a stable Government for five years. During this term, India opened up its economy. Economic crisis was getting solved.
3. 11th Lok Sabha was formed in 1996. None of the parties got the majority. As the single largest party, BJP formed the Government under the leadership of Vajpayee. This Government survived for 13 days. Subsequently, Deve Gowda and IK Gujral formed the Governments without majority one after other. All the Governments could survive only for 18 months, as nobody could provide a stable Government. The Lok Sabha was dissolved. Due to power hungry leaders of small parties, there was a political confusion and chaos, which led to the collapse of Indian economy.
4. 12th Lok Sabha was formed in 1998. This time also none of the parties could secure majority. BJP with 182 members formed the Government with the support of some other parties. This Government survived only for 13 months. Parliament was dissolved, after Vajpayee lost vote of confidence in a single vote.
5. 13th Lok Sabha was formed in 1999. BJP led NDA secured 270 seats. NDA Government was formed with Vajpayee as Prime Minister. Vajpayee provided stable Government for five years. Indian economy also was developed.
6. In the 14th Lok Sabha formed in 2004, Congress secured 141 seats and BJP secured 130 seats. Congress formed UPA Government with alliance parties, with Dr. Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister. He provided stable Government for five years. Though the Government was stable, due to pressure from alliance parties, there were several allegations of scam during this period, which came to light later.
7. 15th and 16th Lok Sabha were formed in 2009 and 2014. Congress formed the UPA Government in 2009 with Dr Mahmohan Singh as Prime Minister along with alliance parties. In 2014, BJP secured majority on its own. However, they formed NDA Government along with alliance parties with Narendra Modi as Prime Minister. Both the Governments were stable and improved the economy.
From the above, one can observe that whenever 'hung Parliament' happens without majority to any party or alliance, political chaos, confusion happens leading to economic disaster. We have seen smaller parties taking advantage of this situation, leading to scam and corruption.
Appeal to all voters
I humbly request all eligible voters to consider the following:
1. Though there are several recognised and registered political parties in the country, presently only BJP and Congress are competent and experience to govern this large country with stable Government. Our past experiences of smaller parties heading the Government have led to disaster and chaos. Please examine carefully without getting into emotion or bias, which party or pre-poll alliance (NDA or UPA) can provide a stable, clean and efficient governance.
2. All parties, including small parties release their manifestoes. The promises by smaller parties are only for academic purposes. They do not carry any value. The manifestoes of BJP and Congress need to be examined carefully. The promises by NDA and UPA can also be carefully examined, if they have released.
3. If BJP or Congress or their pre-poll alliances do not get majority and if the smaller parties and independents get elected to 17th Lok Sabha in large numbers, it may lead to political chaos and 'horse trading' to woo the members to form the Government. The Government had to yield to their unreasonable demands at the cost of the nation. India has seen those situations earlier. I do not underestimate the smaller parties or independents. They have greater role to play in State Assemblies and Local bodies. Their role will be minimal in Lok Sabha, where national parties play major role.
5. Some people campaign for 'NOTA'. Voting for NOTA is dangerous. It is like an invalid vote. As per the current rules, even if there is 99% NOTA in any Constituency, results will be declared based on the majority of the remaining 1% vote. Please avoid NOTA.
6. After examining the manifestoes and promises of the major parties or their alliances, take an unbiased decision, to vote for the party or alliance who can provide you stable, clean and efficient governance, keeping in mind the economic growth, employment, national security, etc. to take our nation to the next level. As for as Lok Sabha elections are concerned only the political parties or alliances are important, than the individual candidates.
7. Your vote is sacred. It is not for sale. Casting our vote is not only our right, it is also our duty.
Jai Hind
By Prime Point Srinivasan, Chennai
primepointsrinivasan@gmail.com
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Published on Private Company Director: The Magazine for Private Company Governance (http://www.privatecompanydirector.com)
Home > Reputational Risk: Using (Un)common Sense to Gain a Competitive Edge
[Editor's note: this is the second installment of a 3-part series on Risk Management. You can read the first article, Reputational Risk: With Ownership Comes Great Responsibility [1]]
When an asset accounts for more than 25 percent of an organization’s market value, it’s imperative for leaders to do all they can to protect it.1
That’s the case with reputation—an area that’s increasingly on the minds of directors in their role as overseers of an organization’s strategy. Now more than ever, directors are using a magnifying glass to evaluate an organization’s approach to reputational risk management, looking for gaps to fill and redundancies to eliminate.
For many organizations, using risk management as a tool to protect them from traditional, well-known risks is not generally sufficient. To stay ahead of the curve, boards at many leading organizations are encouraging executives to transform risk management from a traditional approach to one that has the ability to convert emerging risks into strategic opportunities, hitting reputational risk head-on and getting a leg up on the competition.
They’re doing this with proper governance, reporting, and reputational sensing practices.
When I talk with clients about transforming their risk management approaches, it’s sensing that typically generates the most interest. Maybe it’s the cutting-edge technology or the predictive approach that spikes this interest. But reputational sensing is much more than that.
A Closer Look at Sensing
Sensing combines human insights and advanced analytics to identify, analyze, and monitor emerging risks to an organization’s business model, its ability to create value, its reputation, and even its long-term viability. An effective sensing program typically includes a dedicated leader who is embedded in the governance structure and leads a team of professionals who are well-versed in the strategy of the business and its operations. It also generally features 24/7 listening tools, C-suite engagement, metrics and tracking, outside-in points of view, and combined technical and human resources.
Another key feature of sensing is objectivity. Because it is based on logic and fact, sensing brings neutrality to decisions and leads to less second-guessing, which is important when dealing with an emotionally charged topic like reputation.
How does an organization integrate risk-sensing capabilities and technologies into its day-to-day business processes? Here are four steps to consider:
Know what to look for. Depending on the organization, strategic risks can exist in the areas of regulatory compliance, cyber security, insider threats, third-party vendors, among others. It’s critical to remember that risks are regularly shifting, and this requires a regular evaluation of matters to be monitored.
Get the tools. Risk officers should define the capabilities and resources needed to enable strategic risk monitoring. For example, “listening” tools allow an organization to analyze social and mainstream media as well as monitor key stakeholders to understand their sentiment and how they view an organization.
Scan, analyze, track, and govern. Organizations should first identify, through proper governance, and then monitor strategic risk indicators of events, trends, and anomalies in structured and unstructured data from external sources. To identify reputational issues effectively, the sensing team should be embedded in the risk organization’s governance model. Only then can risk officers compare data with the organization’s risk tolerance levels and thresholds.
Connect the dots. Continuous monitoring allows organizations to develop insights and connect them with the strategic issues facing the organization and its business units and functions, taking into account the severity of the impact of reputational risks on the organization.
A recent global survey2 of C-level executives found that while many organizations have sensing capabilities, they often overlook key elements, lack technical depth, or leave the organization open to the very risks that sensing should be protecting against. Boards play an important role in evaluating whether risk management practices—like sensing—are strong and forward looking.
Economic upheaval, market evolution, competitive disruption, increased regulatory demands, and technological change are among the factors shaping today’s business landscape. Sensing is a powerful tool that—when combined with proper governance and reporting—can help boards address the risk challenges of tomorrow today.
1 Simon Cole, “The Impact of Reputation on Market Value” (World Economics, September 2012).
2 Risk Sensing: The (evolving) state of the art (Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited and Forbes Insights, 2015).
Source URL: http://www.privatecompanydirector.com/features/reputational-risk-using-uncommon-sense-gain-competitive-edge
[1] http://www.privatecompanydirector.com/features/reputational-risk-ownership-comes-great-responsibility
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It's Official! H&R Construction Parts & Equipment, Inc. Purchase of American Independent, Inc. Finalized
Strong Alone, Stronger Together.
BUFFALO, N.Y. (PRWEB) August 06, 2018
H&R Construction Parts & Equipment, Inc. closed today on their purchase of American Independent, Inc. Building upon H&R’s commitment to being “More than just parts” but also a provider of solutions to their customers, the two companies with a combined 64 years of providing quality parts and service to the construction industry have officially become one.
“American Independent has relocated their operations to our Riverside Branch where it will be business as usual in their new location as of today”, explains Aaron Lian, President & CEO at H&R. “The move went off without a hitch, which is pretty amazing when you consider the blending of the two locations, and we’re happy to say that operations have had little to no interruption throughout the transition.”
H&R Construction Equipment Parts has four locations in North America. Operating out of their headquarters in Buffalo, NY since 1984, additional branches are located in Riverside, CA, Lawrenceville (Atlanta), GA, and Edmonton, AB Canada. All locations have full production capabilities to deliver products more efficiently globally. The Buffalo, NY location boasts two parts yards on 32 acres and a 110,000 sq. ft. warehouse, an 800 HP engine dynamometer and a 125 HP transmission and hydraulic test stand, the service and machining facilities and recondition shop ensure customers receive the highest quality and largest inventory of parts available and ready to ship. The Riverside location is now the production facility for American Independent, Inc. the newest division of H&R.
Loretto Thompson
H&R Construction Equipment Parts
@HRParts
Official Press ReleasePrintout version of press release
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You are not logged in. [Log In] Psychopath Victim Support Community » Forums » Psychopaths - People without Conscience » Resources » Psychopaths’ words expose predatory mind
#12058 - 10/19/11 08:30 PM Psychopaths’ words expose predatory mind
CORNELL (US) — Psychopathic murderers use words that reveal selfishness, detachment, and emotional flatness, according to a new study that used computer analysis to identify speech patterns.
The research, reported online in the journal Legal and Criminological Psychology, could lead to new tools for diagnosis and treatment, and perhaps have applications in law enforcement.
“Our paper is the first to show that you can use automated tools to detect the distinct speech patterns of psychopaths,” says Jeff Hancock, professor of communication at Cornell University. This can be valuable to clinical psychologists, because the approach to treatment of psychopaths can be very different.
Researchers compared stories told by 14 imprisoned psychopathic male murderers with those of 38 convicted murderers who were not diagnosed as psychopathic.
Each subject was asked to describe his crime in detail; the stories were taped, transcribed, and subjected to computer analysis.
A psychopath, as described by psychologists, is emotionally flat, lacks empathy for the feelings of others, and is free of remorse. Psychopaths behave as if the world is to be used for their benefit, and they employ deception and feigned emotion to manipulate others.
The words of the experimental subjects matched these descriptions. Psychopaths used more conjunctions like “because,” “since” or “so that,” implying that the crime “had to be done” to obtain a particular goal. They used twice as many words relating to physical needs, such as food, sex, or money, while non-psychopaths used more words about social needs, including family, religion, and spirituality.
Psychopaths are predators and their stories often include details of what they had to eat on the day of their crime, writes co-author Michael Woodworth, associate professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia.
Psychopaths were more likely to use the past tense, suggesting a detachment from their crimes—and tended to be less fluent in their speech, using more “ums” and “uhs.” Researchers speculate that the psychopath is trying harder to make a positive impression and needs to use more mental effort to frame the story.
The researchers caution that their analysis applies only to murderers relating the story of their own crimes, and suggest further studies of speech patterns in more neutral situations, such as telling a neutral story from the subjects’ past or describing an incident shown to them on video.
It might be possible for law enforcement to screen suspects if some social media text were available. Knowing a suspect is psychopathic could inform strategies for pursuit or interrogation, Hancock suggests.
“These findings on speech begin to open the window into the mind of the psychopath, allowing us to infer that the psychopath’s world view is fundamentally different from the rest of the human species,” the researchers conclude.
The research was supported by the National Science Foundation and the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
Purpose.  This study used statistical text analysis to examine the features of crime narratives provided by psychopathic homicide offenders. Psychopathic speech was predicted to reflect an instrumental/predatory world view, unique socioemotional needs, and a poverty of affect.
Methods.  Two text analysis tools were used to examine the crime narratives of 14 psychopathic and 38 non-psychopathic homicide offenders. Psychopathy was determined using the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R). The Wmatrix linguistic analysis tool (Rayson, 2008) was used to examine parts of speech and semantic content while the Dictionary of Affect and Language (DAL) tool (Whissell & Dewson, 1986) was used to examine the emotional characteristics of the narratives.
Results.  Psychopaths (relative to their counterparts) included more rational cause-and-effect descriptors (e.g., ‘because’, ‘since’), focused on material needs (food, drink, money), and contained fewer references to social needs (family, religion/spirituality). Psychopaths’ speech contained a higher frequency of disfluencies (‘uh’, ‘um’) indicating that describing such a powerful, ‘emotional’ event to another person was relatively difficult for them. Finally, psychopaths used more past tense and less present tense verbs in their narrative, indicating a greater psychological detachment from the incident, and their language was less emotionally intense and pleasant.
Conclusions. These language differences, presumably beyond conscious control, support the notion that psychopaths operate on a primitive but rational level.
#12059 - 10/19/11 08:37 PM Re: Psychopaths’ words expose predatory mind [Re: Dianne E.]
Know anyone who talks about food and money too much? They could be a psychopath
By Daniel Bates
If someone you know uses the past tense and likes to talk about what he eats, then beware - he or she could be a psychopath.
Researchers have identified the speech patterns which are the tell-tale signs somebody could be the next Hannibal Lecter.
Those who use verbal stumbles like ‘um’ and ‘ah’ should be treated with caution whilst anybody showing a lack of emotion could be trouble too.
Other tics which should be of concern are focusing attention on basic needs like food and money or speaking about crimes in the past tense.
The researchers found that psychopaths use twice as many words for basic needs such as eating and drinking - a reflection of the psychopathic world view that everything is 'theirs' to take.
The researchers claim that whilst we are able to choose which words we use in day-to-day speech, we unconsciously choose functional words like ‘the’ or the tense of the verbs or the vocabulary sets we use.
With careful analysis these cues can show us who is a psychopath and who isn’t.
The study involved interviews with 52 convicted murderers, of whom 14 were classified as psychopaths.
Their responses were analysed in detail by a computer programme which looked for patterns in what they said.
Jeffrey Hancock, the lead researcher and an associate professor in communications at Cornell University in New York, said that overuse of the past tense demonstrated psychological detachment.
The use of dysfluencies like ‘uh’ and um’ was also a way of ‘putting the mask of sanity on’.
He added: ‘Psychopaths talked a lot about what they ate that day (of the murder). They talked about money more often.’
Overall psychopaths use twice as many words relating to basic needs like eating and drinking as ordinary people.
This fitted in with their world view that everything around them was theirs to take, the authors said in their report.
Psychopaths also used more subordinating conjunctions like ‘because’ which is explained by their interest in cause and effect.
The report says: ‘This pattern suggested that psychopaths were more likely to view the crime as the logical outcome of a plan (something that 'had' to be done to achieve a goal)’.
How to spot psychopaths: Speech patterns give them away
By Wynne Parry
LiveScience
Psychopaths are known to be wily and manipulative, but even so, they unconsciously betray themselves, according to scientists who have looked for patterns in convicted murderers' speech as they described their crimes.
The researchers interviewed 52 convicted murderers, 14 of them ranked as psychopaths according to the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised, a 20-item assessment, and asked them to describe their crimes in detail. Using computer programs to analyze what the men said, the researchers found that those with psychopathic scores showed a lack of emotion, spoke in terms of cause-and-effect when describing their crimes, and focused their attention on basic needs, such as food, drink and money.
While we all have conscious control over some words we use, particularly nouns and verbs, this is not the case for the majority of the words we use, including little, functional words like "to" and "the" or the tense we use for our verbs, according to Jeffrey Hancock, the lead researcher and an associate professor in communications at Cornell University, who discussed the work on Monday (Oct. 17) in Midtown Manhattan at Cornell's ILR Conference Center.
"The beautiful thing about them is they are unconsciously produced," Hancock said.
These unconscious actions can reveal the psychological dynamics in a speaker's mind even though he or she is unaware of it, Hancock said.
What it means to be a psychopath
Psychopaths make up about 1 percent of the general population and as much as 25 percent of male offenders in federal correctional settings, according to the researchers. Psychopaths are typically profoundly selfish and lack emotion. "In lay terms, psychopaths seem to have little or no 'conscience,'" write the researchers in a study published online in the journal Legal and Criminological Psychology.
Psychopaths are also known for being cunning and manipulative, and they make for perilous interview subjects, according to Michael Woodworth, one of the authors and a psychologist who studies psychopathy at the University of British Columbia, who joined the discussion by phone.
"It is unbelievable," Woodworth said. "You can spend two or three hours and come out feeling like you are hypnotized."
While there are reasons to suspect that psychopaths' speech patterns might have distinctive characteristics, there has been little study of it, the team writes.
How words give them away
To examine the emotional content of the murderers' speech, Hancock and his colleagues looked at a number of factors, including how frequently they described their crimes using the past tense. The use of the past tense can be an indicator of psychological detachment, and the researchers found that the psychopaths used it more than the present tense when compared with the nonpsychopaths. They also found more dysfluencies — the "uhs" and "ums" that interrupt speech — among psychopaths. Nearly universal in speech, dysfluencies indicate that the speaker needs some time to think about what they are saying.
With regard to psychopaths, "We think the 'uhs' and 'ums' are about putting the mask of sanity on," Hancock told LiveScience.
Psychopaths appear to view the world and others instrumentally, as theirs for the taking, the team, which also included Stephen Porter from the University of British Columbia, wrote.
As they expected, the psychopaths' language contained more words known as subordinating conjunctions. These words, including "because" and "so that," are associated with cause-and-effect statements.
"This pattern suggested that psychopaths were more likely to view the crime as the logical outcome of a plan (something that 'had' to be done to achieve a goal)," the authors write.
And finally, while most of us respond to higher-level needs, such as family, religion or spirituality, and self-esteem, psychopaths remain occupied with those needs associated with a more basic existence.
Their analysis revealed that psychopaths used about twice as many words related to basic physiological needs and self-preservation, including eating, drinking and monetary resources than the non psychopaths, they write.
By comparison, the non psychopathic murderers talked more about spirituality and religion and family, reflecting what non psychopathic people would think about when they just committed a murder, Hancock said.
The researchers are interested in analyzing what people write on Facebook or in other social media, since our unconscious mind also holds sway over what we write. By analyzing stories written by students from Cornell and the University of British Columbia, and looking at how the text people generate using social media relates to scores on the Self-Report Psychopathy scale. Unlike the checklist, which is based on an extensive review of the case file and an interview, the self report is completed by the person in question.
This sort of tool could be very useful for law enforcement investigations, such as in the case of the Long Island serial killer, who is being sought for the murders of at least four prostitutes and possibly others, since this killer used the online classified site Craigslist to contact victims, according to Hancock.
Text analysis software could be used to conduct a "first pass," focusing the work for human investigators, he said. "A lot of time analysts tell you they feel they are drinking from a fire hose."
Knowing a suspect is a psychopath can affect how law enforcement conducts investigations and interrogations, Hancock said.
Psychological manipulation
Basic Manipulation and tactics of Psychopaths
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Kate Miller-Heidke Premieres New Song “Zero Gravity”
Australian singer-songwriter Kate Miller-Heidke has been chosen to represent Australia at this year’s Eurovision Song contest.
She won the annual music competition with a new song “Zero Gravity” at a live event on the Gold Coast on Saturday (February 9th) and will represent Australia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel Aviv, Israel in May 2019. The contest will broadcast exclusively on SBS.
Kate Miller-Heidke said, “I’m totally overwhelmed! This has been a peak experience already, and I’m dying with excitement at what’s to come. Thanks to everyone who voted, and to all the other artists who provided such a brilliant, eclectic and stiff competition. I’ve had a ball, and I’m so grateful and thrilled that I get to represent Australia at Eurovision in 2019.”
SBS Commissioning Editor Josh Martin said, “This could seriously be the year that Australia wins Eurovision! Kate’s performance tonight was quite simply breathtaking and the response from the Australian public has been overwhelming. All of us here at SBS are so thrilled that the whole country has embraced this truly diverse and inclusive show and I know that Eurovision fans will adore Kate as much as we do when we get to Tel Aviv in May!”
source : SBS
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Ravens Fall in OT; Cameron Fired
December 2012 by Ben King
Photo by: Zuma Press/Icon SMI
Baltimore did something they almost never do and lose back to back games. This time they fell to the Redskins in OT after blowing a late fourth quarter lead. The Ravens offense was stout in the first quarter but fell flat the rest of the game. A familiar scene under Cam Cameron’s tenure in Baltimore. The shocking news came after the game when the Ravens fired their offensive coordinator. It is very unusual for a 9-4 team to fire a coach, especially with only 3 games left on the regular season schedule. Baltimore believed the move was necessary, and likely are hoping this move will jumpstart the offense just in time for the playoffs.
The game itself was up and down all over. The Redskins came out firing, scoring easily in their first two drives with the running game taking over. The Ravens answered, scoring in all three of their first drives. each ending with a Joe Flacco TD pass. Everything slowed down from there, with both offenses becoming stagnant. Forbath knocked in a couple of field goals in the third quarter, but that was the extent of the scoring. With only about 5 minutes left, Ray Rice padded the Ravens lead with a 7 yd TD to make it an 8 point game. It looked like they would escape with a win when the kickoff was fumbled and David Reed nearly came up with it. Replay showed he could not control the ball when he went out of bounds and the Redskins retained the ball. They then travel down field to score a TD with only 30 seconds left on the clock. By now, I’m sure most people have seen the highlights of this drive, and they were not pretty. RGIII left with what looked like a gruesome knee injury. He came back to play, but had to leave soon after when he could not support any weight on his leg. Again, it looked like Baltimore lucked out. Fellow rookie QB Kirk Cousins shocked the defense by finding a wide open Garcon to make it a two point game. Why nobody covered the Skins best receiver I’ll never know. He then took the two point conversion play and ran right up the middle for the score.
What happened next infuriated many Ravens fans. They kneed the ball to force an OT. There wasn’t much time left on the clock, but you would have thought Joe would have some sort of shot to at least set up a FG. That was not the case. The Ravens did get the ball in OT first, but did absolutely nothing with the ball and punted. The ensuing punt return ended up putting the Redskins in FG range and sealing the victory for Washington.
It was a tough loss and one that once again showed Cameron could not sustain an offense through four quarters of football. He may not be the only one to blame, but he is the easiest scapegoat at the time. Jim Caldwell will take over who is credited as being Peyton Manning’s mentor for several years. Of course, Peyton likely would have had a great career anyways, so it is hard to guess how he will do taking control of Flacco and the rest of the offense. Time will tell and we will get our first look this Sunday against the Broncos.
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Movie Review: 13
Vince (Sam Riley) stumbles onto what appears to be an opportunity to get his family out of financial debt. In order to capitalize on it, he assumes the identity of a dead man. As a result, he becomes a contestant in the most harrowing game imaginable. The other contestants seem equally bemused. Among them are cow poke Jesse James Jefferson (Mickey Rourke) and the mentally disturbed Ronald Lynn (Sam Winstone).
Also in attendance are various parties who have a financial stake in the outcome of the games. Jimmy (50 Cent) intends to assure that Jefferson plays out his string to the end, and Jasper (Jason Statham) does likewise for the unpredictable Ronald. As the deadly game commences, Detective Mullane (David Zayas) races against the clock to infiltrate and dismantle the organization behind this deadly contest. The winner will be a very rich man, but he will be put through a Hellish ordeal before he can claim his prize.
Mickey Rourke as Jesse James Jefferson
13 is an American remake of the French film 13 Tzameti. Both were written and directed by Georgian-French filmmaker Géla Babluani. The film is essentially a brutal thriller that hinges on a rather disturbing gimmick (or plot device, depending on which terminology you prefer). While American viewers may be intrigued by the premise, the execution will leave many feeling alienated. Whatever pains Babluani has gone to in order to make this story more palatable for American tastes, the film retains considerable bite as this sort of premise can only be watered down so much.
The camera remains stationary for most of the running time, playing the role of a dispassionate observer. The whole story seems to be told from a rather cold and detached point of view. Even when the characters themselves react to the proceedings in horror, the camera remains stoic. The film was shot on location in New York City and Westchester County (My old stomping grounds). Much use is made of the MTA Metro North Railroad. The movie was filmed in fall of 2008, the gloomiest time of year in New York. The grey skies and grey snow, coupled with the skeletal forms of leafless trees suggest the foreboding presence of death.
The story begins literally with a bang, hinting to the outcome of the game. It then immediately flashes all the way back to the beginning. Everything feels rather aimless until Vince embarks on his quest. The supporting characters, while not uninteresting, don’t feel vital to the plot. The film clearly means for our focus to remain squarely on Vince. We don’t sympathize with him so much as we recoil in horror to the predicament he gets himself into. Once the second act gets underway, 13 is undeniably compelling.
Sam and Ronald face-off.
The performances vary. None are particularly bad, but since many of the supporting characters seem to be present merely to fill things out, much of it feels inconsequential. Sam Riley does a solid job as Vince. His repulsion and anxiety are palpable. Both Mickey Rourke and Sam Winstone do what audiences have come to expect from them. 50 Cent has a minimum of screen time and dialogue. He plays the part of Jefferson’s overseer with deadpan aloofness. This is yet another role where he doesn’t show an ounce of the charisma that made him a rap star. To his credit, his presence isn’t detrimental to the film. Even if it were, he isn’t given enough screen time to cause any real damage. Jason Statham is quite impressive. He isn’t here to perform insane stunts or administer beatings. Jasper is as close to human as he has ever been required to play.
13 is quite effective, though that isn’t to say it’s very enjoyable. The construction isn’t airtight, but once the real story gets going the film manages to hold the audiences attention. 13 is elusive and distant, drawing you in without really allowing you to connect with anything that happens. It has no real moral stance on what it shows, which makes it all the more disturbing. A bit more of an emotional/moral core might have made it a bit more involving, but I suspect that is not the story its maker wanted to tell.
Labels: Movie Review
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ホーム > 活動案内・報告 > 活動報告 > Report: “Overseas Internships” in Kenya
Report: “Overseas Internships” in Kenya
During the third grade of the RESPECT program, students go abroad, and work as interns in various organizations, which include NGOs, schools, public organizations, and so on. Miku Ogawa, who is one of the RESPECT students and belongs to a doctor’s program at the Graduate school of Human Sciences, worked as an intern at a NGO in Kenya. She reports as following:
International collaboration for our survival
［Pic. 1］study of livestock animals.
［Pic. 2］outside discussion under a tree.
My internship was for three months in rural Kenya. The local NGO called ADEO (African Development and Emergency Organization) accepted me as an internship student. Unfortunately, the office, has been facing a shortage of funds and other resources. The major challenge of ADEO was to secure projects with a certain amount of outside money because it doesn’t have its own funds. Under these conditions, ADEO currently feels pressure to hand in new proposals to gain new projects with donors for its survival.
My major duty was to draft a proposal to start a new project with funds. ADEO introduced me to a village as a project site. The village has received support through ADEO since 2011 because of its extremely poor situation having been affected by HIV/AIDS. That support, however, has not been constant and has been mainly focused on material support such as house construction, distribution of food and other basic materials. Subsequently, the village continues to suffer the same problems a few months/year later due to its consumption and decrepitude. Hence, it is necessary and crucial to establish a sustainable structure which allows them to be independent of material support. Steps for a proposal could be divided into four: (1) to isolate the issues and needs in the village, (2) to consider an effective solution to tackle the challenges, (3) to establish a reliable relationship among several actors to ensure the sustainability of the project and (4) to write down the contents of the project as a proposal both in English and Japanese. All processes were executed through several discussions with ADEO and the community in the village to investigate and ensure the possibility of the project.
I experienced some opportunities to develop my literacy in the process of drafting a new project. Firstly, there were several conflicts between and the actors. The process to adjust to each actor’s opinion and to find an agreement allowed me to develop my communication literacy. Secondly, as part of my multi-lingual literacy I tried to develop the ability to use Swahili (the national language). Unfortunately, I could not develop skills for Luhya (the ethnic language in the community). My insufficient language skill was often a barrier to effective communication. On the other hand, when a conflict occurred between ADEO and the village, people in the village avoided condemning ADEO directly and relied on me to convey those complaints even though our language communication was poor. It may be evidence of their reliance on me. This has helped me to develop my field literacy. Thirdly, policy literacy could be improved in this internship. When I talked with people living with HIV/AIDS for the first time, I realized the severity of the situation and was even forced to think how powerless I was to tackle the issue because it is totally different from my major. However, in the process of focusing on income generating activities and drafting a proposal, I believe my professional field could contribute to making a better proposal. A lack of knowledge made me feel helpless, however, it also enabled me to find a solution from a different point of view. I became convinced of the importance and urgency of having professional perspectives when I received the result that my proposal had been approved by a donor in March.
(April 19, 2017, Ogawa)
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Board index ‹ Basics ‹ Seminal Landlord-Tenant Cases
A Lookback at a Decade of Court of Appeals Rent Decisions
A "basic repertoire" of controlling case law
by TenantNet » Wed Mar 27, 2019 12:37 am
https://www.law.com/newyorklawjournal/2 ... decisions/
'Why Is New York City Rent So Damn High?'
A 'Lookback' at a Decade of Court of Appeals Rent Overcharge Decisions
This article is the first in a series examining developments in rent overcharge litigation, which has mushroomed in New York County in the decade since the Court of Appeals upheld the Appellate Division, First Department’s decision in 'Roberts v. Tishman Speyer Props., L.P.'
By Francis J. Lane III
This article is the first in a series examining developments in rent overcharge litigation, which has mushroomed in New York County in the decade since the Court of Appeals upheld the Appellate Division, First Department’s decision in Roberts v. Tishman Speyer Props., L.P., 62 A.D.3d 71 (1st Dep’t 2009), aff’d 13 N.Y.3d 270 (2009).
That case voided the landlord’s illegal “luxury decontrol” of Lower Manhattan’s entire Peter Cooper Village/Stuyvesant Town apartment complex. See McK. Unconsol. Laws §26-504.3.
The Roberts decision found that the landlord had improperly claimed a real estate tax abatement for the complex under the “J-51 Program,” which also forbade owners from deregulating any rent-stabilized apartments for as long as their buildings were enrolled in the program. See RPTL §489.
It is interesting to note that Roberts was a tax law decision, and did not review any individual rent overcharge claims. Under New York City’s rent regulatory system, rent-stabilized or rent-controlled tenants normally submit such claims to the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR).
In Roberts’ wake, however, it gradually became more common for tenants of improperly deregulated apartments to submit their (sometimes lucrative) rent overcharge claims directly to Supreme Court, which has concurrent jurisdiction over them with the DHCR.
In the decade since deciding Roberts, the Court of Appeals issued a number of rulings on issues that arise in rent overcharge litigation. The court’s decisions fall into four main categories; i.e., those which review: (1) Roberts overcharge claims; (2) Grimm overcharge claims; (3) “regulatory status” claims; and (4) Article 78 proceedings. Space requirements dictate that this article’s review of those holdings will be brief and will omit excessive editorial content.
A “Roberts-based claim” is an allegation of a rent overcharge that resulted from a landlord’s improperly deregulating a rent-stabilized unit while its building was enrolled in the J-51 real estate tax abatement program.
In Borden v. 400 E. 55th St. Assoc., L.P., 24 N.Y.3d 382 (2014), the Court of Appeals held that groups of tenants may assert Roberts-based claims jointly in a class-action suit, as long as they waive the treble damages authorized by RSL §26-516 (a). That statute permits landlords to avoid treble damages if they can overcome the presumption that an overcharge was “willful.”
The Borden holding noted that “there is little possibility of a finding of willfulness” for Roberts-based overcharge claims, since many owners were guided by a 1996 DHCR advisory opinion that landlords were allowed to seek luxury deregulation of rent-stabilized units in buildings enrolled in the J-51 program. The court deemed that the statute’s treble damages provision was a waivable “penalty,” whereas a finding of rent overcharge judgment was a compensatory “award.”
A “Grimm-based claim” is an allegation of a rent overcharge caused by a landlord fraudulently setting an excessive apartment rent. Under RSL §26-516, rent overcharge claims are governed by a four-year statute of limitations.
The day that fell four years before the tenant filed an overcharge complaint is known as the “base date.” The statute provides that an apartment’s “legal regulated rent” is “the rent indicated in the annual [DHCR] registration statement filed four years prior to the most recent registration statement [a/k/a the ‘base date rent’] … plus … any subsequent lawful increases and adjustments.”
The statute also forbids the “examination of the [apartment’s] rental history … prior to the four-year period preceding the filing of a complaint.” However, in Matter of Grimm v. DHCR, 15 N.Y.3d 358 (2010), the Court of Appeals held that “evidence of a landlord’s fraudulent deregulation scheme to remove an apartment from … rent stabilization” requires that the apartment’s “rental history may be examined for the limited purpose of determining whether a fraudulent scheme to destabilize the apartment tainted the reliability of the rent on the base date.”
If the base date rent is found to be unreliable, it may be recalculated using the DHCR’s “default formula” (contained in RSC §2526.1(g)(1)) in order to then determine the apartment’s “legal regulated rent,” and whether the tenant was overcharged.
Grimm cited to Thornton v. Baron, 5 N.Y.3d 175 (2005), which had involved an “illusory prime tenancy” scheme, and extended its holding so that the presence of “substantial indicia of fraud” of any sort is sufficient to disregard the RSC’s four-year “lookback” rule. In Matter of Cintron v. Calogero, 15 N.Y.3d 347 (2010), decided on the same day as Grimm, the court further held that rent overcharge calculations must include any standing DHCR rent reduction orders, even if the agency issued those orders before the four-year base date. Conason v. Megan Holding, 25 N.Y.3d 1 (2015), which was decided five years after Grimm, held that rent overcharge awards are limited to the four-year time period that preceded the filing of the claim, however.
A “regulatory status claim” is not a rent overcharge allegation, but is rather a request for a determination whether an apartment is, or is not, rent regulated. The two types of claims are often pled together as joint declaratory judgment requests. This is improper.
A major distinction between them is that regulatory status claims are not bound by the four-year statute of limitations that governs rent overcharge claims. Although no Court of Appeals decision contains this holding, a long line of unchallenged First Department decisions have confirmed it. See, e.g., Matter of Regina Metro. Co. v. DHCR, 164 A.D.3d 420, 435 (1st Dep’t 2018), citing East W. Renovating Co. v. DHCR, 16 A.D.3d 166, 167 (1st Dep’t 2005).
The Court of Appeals issued a number of post-Roberts holdings in cases that involved Article 78 petitions to challenge DHCR rent overcharge determinations. Its 2018 decision in Matter of Brookford v. DHCR, 31 N.Y.3d 679 (2018) reaffirmed the general rule favoring judicial deference; i.e., that “in reviewing an administrative agency determination, we must ascertain whether there is a rational basis for the action in question or whether it is arbitrary and capricious.”
However the Roberts decision pointedly noted an exception that, where “the question is one of pure statutory reading and analysis, … there is little basis to rely on any special competence or expertise of the administrative agency.” Roberts v. Tishman Speyer Props., L.P., 62 A.D.3d at 285.
The court’s 2012 decision in Matter of Terrace Ct. v. DHCR, 18 N.Y.3d 446 (2012) noted another exception that “[a] decision of an administrative agency which neither adheres to its own prior precedent nor indicates its reason for reaching a different result on essentially the same facts is arbitrary and capricious (emphasis added).” When all of the court’s post-Roberts rent overcharge decisions are examined, they suggest that the court is more willing to accept challenges to DHCR determinations than it is to other agencies’ orders. This may be due to a lack of confidence in the agency, or a perceived need to set limits for it.
Many of the court’s other post-Roberts decisions ruled on procedural matters that affect the DHCR. It was noted that Matter of Cintron v. Calogero held that the DHCR must incorporate any standing rent reduction orders when it calculates an apartment’s base date rent while deciding an overcharge claim. 15 N.Y.3d at 355-356; see also Scott v. Rockaway Pratt, 17 N.Y.3d 739 (2011).
Altman v. 285 W. Fourth, 31 N.Y.3d 178 (2018) held that the DHCR must also include the 20 percent “vacancy increase” to an apartment’s rent that is authorized by RSL §504 when calculating an apartment’s “legal regulated rent.”
Matter of Terrace Ct. v. DHCR, acknowledged that, while RSC §2522.4(a)(1) permits a landlord to permanently raise an apartment’s rent by 1/60th of the total cost of any qualifying “major capital improvement” (MCI) work that the landlord performs at the building, the DHCR may disallow an MCI increase if the work doesn’t meet the agency’s specifications. 18 N.Y.3d 453-54.
Jemrock Realty Co. v. Krugman, 13 N.Y.3d 924 (2010) made the same acknowledgment with respect to RSC §2522.4(a)(2), which permits a permanent rent increase of 1/40th of the cost of any qualifying “individual apartment improvement” (IAI) work that a landlord does in a unit. However, Jemrock also noted that a court reviewing a landlord’s proof of IAI work is not bound by the DHCR’s documentary evidence regulations, but should instead decide the issue “based on the persuasive force of the evidence” as a whole.
Finally, Matter of Brookford v. DHCR held that the agency must omit the income of a co-tenant who vacates a rent controlled apartment from its calculation of the unit’s “total annual income” when it rules on a landlord’s deregulation application.
Given the abrupt increase in rent overcharge decisions now being issued by the Appellate Divisions for the First and Second Departments (which will be discussed in later articles), practitioners can also expect more Court of Appeals rulings on this topic in the future.
Francis J. Lane III is a staff attorney in the Law Department of New York County Supreme Court Civil Branch. He can be reached at flane@nycourts.gov.
Return to Seminal Landlord-Tenant Cases
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2018 Round-up: the big science stories you need to know about
By Eve Miller
• January 17, 2019
Eve Miller
20182018 in reviewBig scienceScience round-up
Last year, 2018, was a big year for science and technology. Here, we look back at the discoveries, projects and innovations which made big news last year.
NASA launched a probe to touch the sun
A new probe was launched in order to investigate the temperature of the sun. We know that the atmosphere is significantly hotter than the star’s surface; however, why this is the case remains a mystery.
Dealing with temperatures up to 1500°C and travelling at 430,000 miles per hour (that’s London to Edinburgh in 0.05 seconds) the Parker Solar Probe will get closer to the sun than any man made object ever has before.
The probe is expected to collect data until 2025, using the gravity of Venus to get closer and closer to the surface. What exactly it will find is unknown, but it is sure to give us a far clearer understanding of our nearest star than we’ve ever had before.
A public genealogy website caught a serial killer
A man suspected of being the Golden State Killer, who committed over 100 burglaries, 50 sexual assaults and 13 murders, was arrested last year. Joseph DeAngelo was jailed after DNA evidence pointed to him being the serial killer police in San Francisco have been searching for for over three decades. What was so interesting about this case is that the DNA that led to him being caught was from a distant cousin whose DNA was available on a public genealogy website.
According to a recent study “60 per cent of white Americans can be identified up to a third cousin or closer” using public DNA data. This opens up a whole new avenue for forensic investigation as well as a debate on privacy.
Public pressure saw a shift in plastic use
Global warming and environmental policy were a big topic in 2018. Record wildfires, carbon dioxide emission spikes and melting ice all garnered attention but nothing made quite as much of an impact as the move against plastic.
Within an incredibly short amount of time the public turned against single use plastics. As people have become more environmentally aware recycling and cutting down on packaging has been on the rise, but 2018 really saw the beginning of the end for plastics.
In just a couple of months plastic straws were removed from most restaurants and bars. The UK plastics pledge back in April saw companies responsible for 80 per cent of plastic packaging in the UK agree to make their products 100 per cent recyclable by 2025.
There’s a long way to go in the protection of our environment but 2018 was a clear display of the power of public opinion.
The (possible) first case of human genome editing
The field of genetic engineering is proving an incredible tool in the treatment of many diseases. However, the idea is still controversial when used in food manufacture and drug development let alone directly on humans.
One scientist claims that he has successfully edited the genome of twins in order to make them resistant to HIV. Obviously the global scientific community spoke out against this experiment, questioning the ethical implications. Although the technology is rapidly advancing it is still relatively new and thus, using it on humans is incredibly risky. Whether the researcher actually did edit the genomes is yet to be proven, but this could be the first time the genes of a human embryo have been edited.
Since the announcement there has been huge discussion about the implication that this has on research as well as about a need for a set of universal ethical guidelines.
Liquid water was found on Mars
In July, Italian scientists announced that they had evidence for liquid water on Mars. Most of the red planet is too cold for liquid water; however, beneath its polar ice cap there lies a 20 km wide lake.
Using radar equipment on the European Space Agency’s Mars Express Orbiter they were able to identify the presence of liquid water 1.5 km underneath the ice.
This is another step forward in the search for life on mars. Data from the Curiosity rover made it clear that low temperatures and high radiation levels make it unlikely that life exists on the surface; however, the subsurface search continues. Dr Manish Patel from the Open University said that “we are not closer to actually detecting life, but what this finding does give us is the location of where to look on Mars. It is like a treasure map – except in this case, there will be lots of Xs marking the spots.”
Europe saw an increase in measles outbreaks
Modern medicine has given us amazing tools to fight diseases which once spread almost uncontrollably. Unfortunately, the stigma around vaccines and a growing “antivaxxer” movement has led to a resurgence in some of these diseases, notably measles. This year saw the highest number of measles cases in the European Union in over a decade.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) have said that the highest number of cases are amongst those in the late teens who went unvaccinated as children and, more worryingly, infants under one year old. These children are too young for vaccination but should be protected by herd immunity if a high enough number of the population were vaccinated.
Going into the new year the ECDC have said they are “working hard to increase vaccination rates across the continent as well as ending the spread of misinformation.”
Artificial Intelligence got smarter
One company which made big news in 2018 was DeepMind, Google’s London based AI firm which announced two new programs. First AphaZero which is able to play three games: go, chess, and shogi.
Within 24 hours of its release, the program had improved to the point that it could beat the world champions in all three games.
The second program was AlphaFold which is able to work out the 3D structure of proteins. This technology can be used in medical research in order to create new drugs and treatments even faster. As more and more new programs are created it is becoming clear that AI will play a massive role in our lives.
Programs like AlphaZero may seem trivial but the technology used will be utilised in many aspects of modern life from gaming to diagnosis.
Image credit: Photo Hosting via Flickr
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Jackie Edwards Walton announced that the Sept. 16 and Sept. 23 Forums would be devoted to N.C. House and N.C. Senate candidates.
Alicia Brooks announced that Shirley Fulton will sponsor a reception for Brooks’ campaign for District Court judge on Tuesday, Sept. 16 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Wadsworth House, 400 S. Summit Ave. Details here.
Malcolm Graham announced that Johnson C. Smith University would host its 4th annual Indaba from 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 13 in Grimes Lounge at Johnson C. Smith University, 100 Beatties Ford Rd. Details here. Topic is parental engagement report co-sponsored with CMS. “Let There Be Light,” a collection of essays on the Beatties Ford/West Trade corridor, will be released at a press conference on Friday, Sept. 12 at 10 a.m. in Grimes Lounge.
Betty Leake announced office hours for the Mecklenburg Democratic Party at 5500 Executive Center Drive, Suite 210: Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; Saturday, 10-7 p.m.; and Sunday, 2-6 p.m. Sheila Peltzer announced that she had a copy to lend of a DVD called “Divorce Corp.,” a documentary on the $50 billion divorce and child custody industry.
With tongue firmly planted in check, and following up last weekend’s UNCC-JCSU football game and on his earlier critique when a UNCC official was quoted as saying that UNCC had finally brought college football to Charlotte, JCSU alumnus Ken Koontz said, “It’s official now, that UNC Charlotte HAS brought college football to Charlotte because that crap we put on the field Saturday was not college football. I’ve seen middle schools play better than that….”
Tommie Robinson invited all to the Latibah Collard Green Museum at 720 Tuckaseegee Rd., where he has his art studio.
Ty Turner announced that the Black Political Caucus’ next candidate debate is Saturday, Sept. 13 at 10 a.m. at St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church, 1600 Norris Ave. Candidates are those for Congress and NC legislative seats. The final debate, also at St. Luke, is Monday, Sept. 15 at 6 p.m. for all judges. Flier is here.
April Harley sent in an announcement of a reception and fund-raiser for the campaign of N.C. Supreme Court Cheri Beasley on Monday, Sept. 29 from 5:30-7 p.m. at National Bank Building, 428 E. 4th St.
Joel Ford announced a free “Energize Charlotte: A Community Conversation About Energy, Opportunity, and Workforce Readiness” to be held Thursday, Sept. 18 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at the NASCAR Hall of Fame Museum, 400 E Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Register here. Flier is here. Ford said reservations were coming in faster from outside Charlotte than from inside Charlotte.
Donna Reed announced a free National Family Empowerment Conference and Family Fest for Saturday, Sept. 27 from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. at the Carole A. Hoefener Center, 610 E. 7th St. Flier here.
Latrice McRae announced that the Internal Revenue Service is holding free workshops for small businesses at the Beatties Ford Road Library, 2412 Beatties Ford Rd. on Wednesday, Sept. 10 and Wednesday, Sept. 17 and at the Matthews branch, 230 Matthews Station St., on Thursday, Sept. 18 and Thursday, Sept. 25 from 6-7:30 p.m. Details and registration links are here.
Carlenia Ivory thanked Malcolm Graham for his efforts to find the votes on City Council to approve the Gold Line trolley extension.
Bill Anderson left an announcement of MeckEd’s Annual Community Breakfast on Thursday, Oct. 9 at the Westin Hotel. Details and scholarship opportunities are here.
A follow-up on Darrel Gregory (Forum, Aug. 19): An Oct. 1 seminar for those seeking funding has been scheduled. Details here.
Robert Dawkins sent in a Maya Angelou Pledge Card suitable for helping Democracy North Carolina identify prospective voters to call in get-out-the-vote efforts.
Robert Hillman sent in an announcement that the charter Entrepreneur High School has opened at The Park Independence, 800 Briar Creek Road, until its facility at 5745 Central Ave. is ready. Details here.
Nancy Carter sent in an announcement that Louise Woods is a finalist for the City of Charlotte’s 2014 Neighborhood Leadership People’s Choice Award sponsored by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The winner will be selected via online voting via charmeck.org. More info here.
Juanita Miller sent in an announcement of a culinary competition on Oct. 4 at Route 29 Pavilion in Concord. Details here. Judges here.
Bill Anderson sent in an announcement about MeckEd’s 2014 Interactive data maps. Details here.
Garcia Nelson sent in a copy of new rules by the United House of Prayer for All People that appear to end a policy of reserving space at church events for the seating of “invited guests.” Guest are now welcome to join the congregation in the available seating. Details here.
Gloria Rembert sent in an announcement of an AKA Fall Political Forum on Thursday, Oct, 1 at 6 p.m. at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, 3400 Beatties Ford Rd.
Paige Laurain sent in an announcement that the Global Perspective Studies Program at West Charlotte High School (Forum, April 29) will hold a spaghetti dinner on Thursday, Oct. 9 from 5-7:30 p.m. at the school, to raise funds to take the students next spring to Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic to “work with the orphaned population on environmental, educational, and economic sustainability.” Tickets are $6 in advance, $8 at the door. Flier here. Info by e-mail or 704-802-9969.
Dena Diorio sent a copy of her Sept. 8 Board Bulletin.
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Value of Standards
Featured Partners - ASME
Featured Partners - IAPMO
Featured Partners - CSA Group
Featured Partners - ICC
Featured Partners - SES
Featured Partners - TIA
CASE STUDIES: Compatibility
Case Studies: Service Sector
Case Studies: Cost Savings
Case Studies: Health/Safety
Case Studies: Innovation
Case Studies: Increased Efficiency
Case Studies: Competitiveness
Case Studies: Public Policy
Case Studies: Consumer Confidence
Companies across the nation rely on standards and conformance to increase efficiency, reduce cost, and boost market access for their products and services. Here are a few examples of how standards and conformance facilitate compatibility, thereby increasing competitiveness and quality while reducing costs and duplicative efforts:
Computers store letters and other characters by assigning a number for each one. In the 1970s and 1980s, a variety of custom-built fonts and platform-specific character sets were developed in an attempt to achieve this requirement, but no single encoding system was adequate to cover all the letters and symbols in common use in all the languages worldwide. In the late 1980s, work on a single character encoding standard was launched by two separate entities: the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and a group that coined the term “unicode” and would later develop into the Unicode Consortium. The efforts of the two groups eventually resulted in the creation of ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2, Universal Coded Character Set, and the merging of their character repertoires in 1993, which appeared as ISO/IEC 10646-1, Information technology - Universal Coded Character Set (UCS), and Unicode Standard 1.1, Universal Coded Character Set (UCS).
Today, both ISO/IEC 10646:2014 and the Unicode Standard are used for encoding multilingual text for the exchange of data internationally on over 80% of webpages, and are found on virtually all modern computer systems and devices. These standards are the result of an extremely successful partnership between ISO, the Unicode Consortium, and INCITS (the InterNational Committee for Information Technology Standards), which serves as the ANSI-accredited U.S. Technical Advisory Group (TAG) Administrator to ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 2, Coded Character Sets.
Want to learn more? Check out the full-length case study.
– International Organization for Standardization (ISO), International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), INCITS (the InterNational Committee for Information Technology Standards), and Unicode Consortium
While our products feature unique components that differentiate us from our competitors, we also rely on enabling components like fittings and fasteners that can be produced to standards and be available “off the shelf.”
Contributing our knowledge to develop these standards made good sense. The more standardized components we can use to deliver reliable functionality, the less we, and our customers, have to pay.
– Deere & Company
Thanks to the standards and conformity assessment initiatives that define interoperability and functionality of innovative video technologies, multimedia services support new business opportunities such as internet protocol television (IPTV) and over-the-top content (OTT). International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission Joint Technical Committee 1, Subcommittee 29, Working Group 11, Coding of Moving Pictures and Audio, (ISO/IEC JTC 1 SC 29 WG 11), known as the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG), has developed a large portfolio of standards in multimedia coding, transport, and systems that together provide a full range of multimedia services including text, audio, still images, animation, video, and interactive content forms.
To advance the latest technological innovations for the next generation of products, services, and applications, MPEG has developed ISO/IEC 23006, Information Technology - Multimedia Service Platform Technologies (MPEG-M), a standard for advanced IPTV services. Launched as a collaborative effort in 2008 with the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) IPTV initiative, MPEG-M is based on a flexible architecture capable of accommodating and extending in an interoperable fashion many features that are being deployed on the web for multimedia IPTV content like that available on Hulu, Netflix, or Apple TV. MPEG-M also utilizes standard MPEG technologies such as high efficiency video coding and dynamic adaptive streaming over hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP).
The MPEG-M suite of standards extends device capabilities with advanced service features such as content generation, processing, and distribution by a large number of users. It facilitates the creation of new services by offering à la carte service components as well as global, seamless, and transparent use of services regardless of geo-location, service provider, network provider, device manufacturer, or payment provider. MPEG-M offers a diversity of user experience through the easy download and installation of applications produced by a global community of developers. And it fosters innovative business models through the ease of design and implementation of media-handling value chains whose devices interoperate because they are based on the same set of MPEG technologies.
– International Organization for Standardization (ISO), International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Standards are a vehicle of communication for producers and users. They serve as a common language, defining quality and establishing safety criteria.
Costs are lower if procedures are standardized; training is also simplified.
– ASME
Sound technical standards benefit the user, as well as the manufacturer, by improving safety, bringing about economies in production, eliminating misunderstandings between manufacturer and purchaser, and assisting the purchaser in selecting and obtaining the proper product to meet his or her need. In addition, the process of standardization allows manufacturers to come together to reach consensus on the best way to describe a product or system and their performance characteristics.
NEMA product groups devote much of their time, effort, and resources to voluntary standardization activities.
– National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA)
Managing the business of standards helps avoid the heavy start up and recovery costs to repair or replace an [internal] standards system, helps prevent costs incurred through incorrect or non-current standards, and allows standards to more readily function as enablers for other major business processes.
– "A Corporate Executive’s View: Standards–How to Break the Love/Hate Cycle" By Laura Hitchcock of The Boeing Company, excerpted from Standards: The Corporate Edge, an ASTM International publication
Digital photos have advanced e-commerce and become an essential part of merchandizing opportunities. Image sharing is also one of the most popular modes of online social interaction, with millions of digital photos distributed every day via e-mail and on enormously successful social networking sites. The technology that enables digital photography is the industry adoption of the joint photographic expert group (JPEG) image coding standard, the baseline for which was published in 1992 in ISO/IEC 10918-1, Information Technology - Digital Compression and Coding of Continuous-tone Still Images: Requirements and Guidelines. And the introduction of ISO/IEC 10918-5, Information Technology - Digital Compression and Coding of Continuous-tone Still Images: JPEG File Interchange Format (JFIF), made the popular file extension ‘.jpg’ synonymous with JPEG compressed images.
JPEG has continued to advance innovation via subsequent standards such as ISO/IEC 15444, Information Technology - JPEG 2000 Image Coding System: Core Coding System, a comprehensive imaging coding system addressing new requirements not included in the original JPEG standard; ISO/IEC TR 24800, Information Technology - JPSearch, addressing the need for image search and retrieval; ISO/IEC CD TR 29199, Information Technology - JPEG XR Image Coding System, covering extended range technology; ISO/IEC NP 29170, Information Technology - Advanced Image Coding (AIC), covering coding of audio, picture, and multi- and hyper-media information; and, most recently, the new work item ISO/IEC DIS 18477-1, Information Technology - JPEG Extensions HDR Image Coding System, addressing the needs of high-dynamic range imagery, currently under development.
The exceptionally successful JPEG standard and its descendants are utilized every day by millions of users worldwide, not only in the basic sharing and printing of digital images, but in digital cinema, remote sensing, image surveillance, digital culture imaging, archiving, image search and retrieval, and high-dynamic imagery.
– International Organization for Standardization (ISO), International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and International Telecommunication Union-Technology Standardization Sector (ITU-T)
Harmonizing U.S. packaging machinery safety standards with international standards helps U.S. manufacturers compete globally with a common product design. Risk assessment is a requirement consistent with the E.U. directives.
Also, global consumer goods manufacturers are now requesting the machinery manufacturer share the documented risk assessment with the purchaser. This levels the playing field for all machinery manufacturers.
– Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute (PMMI)
The financial services industry benefits in many ways from standardization. Banking and financial transactions (card/retail, corporate, credit, payments, securities, etc.) are made up of standards, including codes, transaction sets, data, and more.
Banks and financial services companies rely on data security standards to protect transactions. Standards allow financial transactions to flow with "straight through processing" in an efficient, effective, and secure manner.
– Accredited Standards Committee X9, Financial Industry Standards
Industry standards used in tree care management provide the baseline knowledge for all our industry education and credentialing programs. In addition, they are used as the basis for most large commercial, municipal, utility, and governmental contracting.
These standards are so essential to the services our industry provides, it would be difficult for our organization or our member companies to place a concrete value on them.
– Tree Care Industry Association
Standards are critical to our global licensing and registration program. They enable manufacturers all over the globe to provide equipment that meets the requirements of the oil and gas industry users.
By using standards, the purchasing, oil, and gas industry user communities can source quality products all over the globe.
– American Petroleum Institute (API)
Standards allow more organizations to offer sought-after products and services, thereby increasing innovation, competitiveness, and quality while reducing costs and duplicate efforts.
– Wincor Nixdorf Inc. USA
Immediately after the tragedies of September 11, 2001, the virtues of biometrics were debated by many. In response, a significant amount of research and development, testing, and education was launched for biometric applications within border control, document security, data integrity, and identity management. The need to achieve one-to-one verification for linking a passport to its rightful owner led the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to strive to utilize biometrics as a vital tool in combination with other technologies for global interoperability of e-passport specifications.
To facilitate the goal of global interoperability, ICAO Document 9303 Part 1, Machine Readable Travel Documents (MRTD), leveraged standards developed by International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission Joint Technical Committee 1, Subcommittee 37, Biometrics, (ISO/IEC JTC 1 SC 37). Data formats covering biometrics for face, finger, and iris images were published in ISO/IEC 19794, Information Technology - Biometric data interchange formats, and a logical data structure (LDS) instantiation in ISO/IEC 19785, Information Technology - Common Biometric Exchange Formats Framework (CBEFF), was used as a definition to contain the data. These standards supported ICAO’s selection of facial recognition as the globally interoperable biometric for machine-assisted identity confirmation for MRTD, with the option to incorporate specifications for finger and iris images as well.
More than fifteen years later, deployment of e-passports, considered to be the most secure in the world, is well underway. ICAO estimates that as of December 2012 there were 430 million e-passports issued by 108 nations using the JTC 1 SC37 standards. This program serves as a model for effective collaboration and cooperation - between industry through subcommittees of ISO/IEC JTC 1, and the governments of the world through ICAO.
– International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
Beyond the bottom line: standards impact quality, lead-time, factory flexibility, and supply chain management.
Standardization and conformity assessment activities lead to lower costs by reducing redundancy, minimizing errors, and reducing time to market.
Demonstrating compliance to standards helps your products, services, and personnel to cross borders. Standards also make cross-border interoperability possible, ensuring that products manufactured in one country can be sold and used in another.
Businesses not only reduce the economic risk of their research and development activities by participating in standardization, they can also lower their overall R&D costs by relying on previously standardized technologies and terminologies.
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Case Studies: Cost Saving
Case Study: Compatibility
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That One Op-Ed on FanFiction: Why it’s Good For Writing Culture
ginnerobot via photopin cc
This has been an article that has been sitting there in the corner of my brain for a looong time. It’s just been there, perched on stool, occasionally piping up and reminding me that it’s there on the stool. And I always go “Not yet, Fanfiction Article. Now’s not the right time. Here’s a juicebox, just stay right there.” Then I go back to watching cute stuff online while hammering out an article on something else at the last minute.
I’ve been avoiding it partially because fanfiction is this unusual creature within fandom that there are many opinions of. The authors themselves are divided on whether it should be scorned or encouraged; and there are horror stories of it ruining careers and getting out of hand. Every once in awhile you have someone voice their anti-fanfic opinions and are suddenly the focus of some not too positive attention. It’s seen as a threat, it’s seen as the most sincerest form of flattery, it’s impressive, it’s horrible, it’s praised, it’s mocked, “It’s illegal!”, “Are you an idiot?”, “It should be illegal!”, “Do you hate your fans/Are you an insecure crybaby?”. Its creepy, it’s a loving tribute, it’s PORN, it’s expression, and it goes on and on and on. It’s all of those things and more to those who know about it. In my time online I’ve witnessed every combination there of. The approach to fanfiction as an article alone is tricky to say the least.
Also it was for my own selfish reasons. I wanted to wait till I was published and then one day be able to talk about the subject of Fanfiction with some professional credibility as well as a wee bit of experience backing me. So I was not just as another fan and aspiring writer giving their opinion on this grey area topic. However it seems I can't get away from talking about it, or needing to write about it.
So before we begin I just want to clarify this article won’t get into the pros and cons of fanfiction, it’s not about the ethics of fan works and the praise, ire and potential legal complications it draws. Because if I went there I’d be lost in a quagmire of perspectives. This is about the good fanfiction does for the burgeoning writer. This is advice that I have given out several times that I discovered some time ago. And I’m going to lose some people here, but that’s okay. Here’s the trick.
You want to better your fiction writing? Go practice writing fanfiction. Like, right now.
Crazy, isn’t it? I know a few people who would look at me like I’ve got gerbils falling out of my ears because fanfiction is the bottom of the barrel to them. So why bother with contributing to the bottom of the barrel? And there’s got to be some authors out there thinking it’s a form of cheating and that you should learn the hard way with your own characters and not theirs that they spent many hours slaving over.*
A Part Of Us
My opinion, while obviously not holding much weight as a non-print published keyboard monkey, is that fanfiction is apart of us. It’s woven into humanity’s fabric because we are a species that archives our own history and wishes to remember it. We are also storytellers because of our ability to be creative and our possession of an imagination. Our ancestors passed tale upon tale and historical account upon account orally, and eventually through the written word. Things were embellished upon, old stories evolved over time as storytellers took them and spun them anew. It’s so ingrained in us, this love of stories and embracing of them, that fanfiction itself can be in it’s earliest forms completely unintentional.
lecates via photopin cc
The example I will use if the very first story I ever wrote, which was when I was about seven. It was for school, and it was a "Jurassic Park" story. I can tell you the plotline involved a T-rex super clone called a Killasaurus Rex and I can vaguely remember that it was about five pages of the beast breaking out of the lab and going on a marvelously bloody rampage. There was accompanying artwork that involved a lot of red colored pencil. I was a very special little seven year old girl.
I didn’t know I was writing fanfic. And every child I’ve ever babysat didn’t know they were writing fanfiction while they told me this story they made up about Belle and Ariel being best friends while going into the woods for find Chip (Cruella deVille took him! But don’t worry, it all worked out and everyone got a puppy.). Yet this act of taking an established story and building on it, expressing it in your own way, was there from the start. It was a part of our play, and it was what helped our imaginations blossom along the way. It was inspiration, it was a tool for us to flex our developing brains, and it was tapping into something much older than our own parents.
And this is where some people are going to say “But that’s children, these are adults doing this. They know better (also they are *coughterriblewriterscoughcough*).” However I feel that that’s an errantly shortsighted view of the whole thing. Because if you look at our culture, the storyteller reimagining old tales prevales to this very day.
Speaking of Storytelling: The Fading Industry Line
Fanfiction is really no different from any other form of literature. There’s good stuff out there, and there’s a lot of bad stuff out there, just like books. More often than naught the bad works of both published and unpublished get more attention than the good works, sometimes on the exact same website (this is where you wring you hands and you ask the elder gods why this must happen). The only difference here is that you do not own the copyright of what you’re working with and you can’t make a profit on it.
via Broadway in New Orleans
But if you want to get into any industry as a writer, you’ll find this difference getting fainter and blurrier the more you push forward. It’s not all creator owned original works out there, Lovelings. Established franchises, for better or for worse, sell, and they sell well. This takes on many forms. In the world of books some people ghost write for authors long gone, or write stories for existing franchises. Even if it is your original work, you may want to take characters or tales that are now in the public domain and put your own fresh spin on them ala “Wicked” or “Pride, Prejudice & Zombies.” Working in TV or movies you’ll most likely be writing someone else’s show or a draft of someone else’s movie and playing in their sandbox. One of the first things you’ll do even is write a spec script off of an already existing show (Judd Apatow’s was a “Simpsons” spec script) to break in and get work. Working in comics for the big two (DC and Marvel) or on licensed work, you’ll be pitching and writing stories based on characters that may be older than yourself that you definitely do not own.
This is where I tell everyone the differences between that "X-Men" fanfic you wrote on LJ and the "X-Men" script you wrote for Marvel comes down to the fact that the script is formatted properly and they’re gonna pay you for it because it’s your job.
Which means your job is to write really good fanfiction.
ladies & gents, the highest grossing fanfiction of the summer
Question Your Usage Of That Stripper (Write Like You Mean It)
I’m not saying to go out and write a story where Han and Chewbacca get accidentally thrown into a wormhole that lands them in 1970’s LA. Then after finding there way into a club Chewy does a ton of coke off a stripper’s boobs and Han meets Harrison Ford and proceeds to get into a fight with him for no apparent reason... and then be inexplicably turned on by mutual hotness and have sexy times with him backstage up against a bunch of sound equipment. I am not telling you to do that. No. By all means if that is your deal, there are places for it (and I guess there's evidence that you can sell it), however that isn’t our approach here.
I’m telling you to play in another person’s created universe in a way that challenges you. Keep close to canon. Study whatever fandom you like in particular. Study it well. Study how the characters deliver their dialog, study how the story is usually structured, study the theme, read the book or the comic over and over, watch an episode you love over and over and break it down. If it’s TV or movies you like, try to find a script and read it a few times. It’ll be exercise, but it’ll be fun exercise.
When you’re writing fanfiction to better your writing, your goal is writing a story that feels like it belongs in that universe. Again, canon. You’re figuring out how this creator worked all of these components into a good story, and you’re trying to do that yourself with the plot you came up with.
And it’s hard sometimes. It is hard to get the voices down just so and it’s hard to write the story just how you think it would unfold on the page or screen. Sometimes it’s hard to get critiques because the most ardent fans of the original work are judging yours and just slamming you without saying why your work is a travesty. Or sometimes you may feel like the comments are just there to be polite and encouraging. My goal was always to get comments that said whatever I wrote just felt like an episode or vignette of "TV Show or Movie Fill In The Blank". But that didn’t always happen, because that’s high standard to hit.
However with practice you get better. It’s creative mileage. I once had a instructor who said you have one thousand bad drawings before you get to that great drawing, and the same applies to writing. You have one thousand pages, so the more practice, the closer you get. And with practice you’ll see the difference as you get closer to the thousandth page; you sound better, you learn to take critique (you must learn how to take critique, you guys), your dialog rings truer, your stories become stronger. It becomes easier and easier to write. You will never be perfect, yet you now have experience playing with other people’s toys, and that will make you more valuable as a storyteller.
Furthermore if you don’t wish to work on other’s shows, movies, or licensed works in the long run, fanfiction will help you too. This is all very similar to a learning technique in art called the Master Copy. You study a work, and then you try to duplicate it as accurately as possible. It’ll make you a better artist because it will teach you how the masters worked, and in return you can apply it to your own work. This is doing the same with writing. In particular it tends to help with writing characters. It you can nail another person’s character; get inside their head, write believable dialog and keep them true to canon; creating your own characters simply becomes an easier task. You know how to build a good one, because you’ve spent all this time perfecting the ability to duplicate another’s.
JohnONolan via photopin cc
The better you get, the more you'll want to create your own, because as you learn you'll be finding yourself amongst all of the work. What you like, what you don't like, the themes you want to explore, and so many other things will begin to rise up out of all of it. Out of another's style, you develop your own.
My Silly Little Metaphor
And this is all where fanfiction really shines. It's a community within fandom that encourages and can help cultivate new talent that is trying to better their craft. Once when I had a lowball glass that had been refilled one too many times I likened it to an stellar nursery. There are these spheres of star stuff (RIP Sagan) just forming, full of so much potential, feeding off of the matter of older ones. They grow stronger and stronger and bigger and brighter and some emerge to become the new stars. That's how we grow as artists, and that's what fanfiction can be to those wanting to grow. We learn from those before us, and it makes us better at our craft.
Maybe that's a reach; it was certainly my whiskey soaked brain trying to beautify a subject that is marred by so much scrutiny. However I’d like to think that this next generation of writers (particularly female) will have a more than a few authors who grew up cutting their teeth on internet posted fanfiction. Some of them will be very open about it (“Yeah, actually I got the bug writing Degrassi fanfic when I was in junior college. It was terrible! So embarrassing to go back and read! But man it made me want to get better!”) and there will be others who did get there start in fanfic, but will either deny it or never own up to it. But that’s okay, what matters is it was there when they were learning, and they used it as a tool to better their craft and to improve upon writing as a whole.
pedrosimoes7 via photopin cc
Asher Powell’s oldest memories are reruns of the Adam West Batman show. By day she is a mild mannered geek wielding an art degree and a heavy caffeine addiction, but by night she is known as a writer who’s work has been featured on Autostraddle and Bleeding Cool. This Op-Ed is of course her opinion alone. You can follow her on twitter where she rambles about the nerdier side of pop culture as well as her kitties and what she’s procrastinating on. She apologizes profusely for any and all grammar or spelling errors.
*First of all, if any author does have a major issue and requests that no one write fiction about their works, respect them. I'm not here to tell you to do whatever the hell you want.
Posted by Asher P. at 5:26 PM
Labels: fan fiction, Fanboy, Women, writers, writing
Wyndes December 4, 2012 at 7:01 PM
Wonderful article! Favorite line: "Which means your job is to write really good fanfiction." And the image that goes with it is awesome.
Plenty of great authors do acknowledge their roots in fanfiction -- Lois McMaster Bujold comes to mind -- so I'm going to guess that ten years from now people will get over being embarrassed about starting with it. I hope so, anyway. I posted on Quora today about how fanfiction changed my life! :)
One last thought -- you had the nice idealistic writer take, but there's a practical business advantage, too. If you write fanfiction, you're developing an audience of people who like your work. I wrote for a teeny-tiny fandom (the television show Eureka) but I'd guess that half of the first twenty reviews on A Gift of Ghosts, my first book, came from people who read the book because they liked my fanfics. I still get reviews that comment on it. If you want to be a successful author, developing an audience as you learn is a great strategy. (Entirely accidental on my part. But still a really good idea!)
aliya seen June 13, 2016 at 11:29 AM
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lazyhome reviews hype webboard interviews
Robby Takac, bassist/vocalist and co-founder of The Goo Goo Dolls, talked from his Vancouver hotel July 24. The interview for The Reader was advance publicity for their Omaha show August 1. Takac is about as easy-going as it gets, a real pleasure to interview, with a great sense of humor and an easy laugh. He's quick with answers and has the same voice and delivery as the king of cynical comedians, Dennis Leary.
Takac opened by reminiscing about some early dates he played at Omaha's Ranch Bowl, a bowling alley/entertainment center that happens to be the home of Omaha's national touring indie music scene everyone, from the Chili Peppers to Bob Mould to Pavement, have played there. None are very happy about playing a bowling alley, but it's an experience they never forget.
Takac: We used to love going to the Ranch Bowl, because when we didn't have any money, they let us bowl for free, they hooked us up, man. The first time I was in Omaha it was 11 degrees outside, it was freezing. The next time I was there, it was 111 degrees and cows were exploding, they were boiling inside and dying. Land of the exploding cows.
Where are you right now?
We're in Vancouver, it's pouring rain right now, and we're playing outside and I'm hoping it doesn't put a damper, if you will, excuse the pun.
And you played San Francisco Wednesday? And also drove up to Seattle and did a bunch of live radio performances.
How's the tour?
. It's been going great. Sugar Ray canceled San Francisco. Mark (McGrath)'s voice is messed up, but I guess they're back on tonight. I saw their buses. They're yo yo enough to bring that thing into it. We don't play with loops and things. They also have a hipness factors, and they're cool guys. We're having a good time.
The first time I heard you guys was way back in '92, watching 120 minutes on MTV, they played "There You Are," and didn't include the video info and I freaked out, trying to find out who you were
. That was the first video we had ever done. It was shot in a baseball stadium in Buffalo. It was weird, we were happy being a punk rock band back then. We were happy having our little victories all the time. It was about that time that Nirvana was starting to happen. Everything was starting to happen, but things weren't happening very quickly for us back then. It's not like it felt like we weren't progressing, but at a slow rate compared to a lot of bands who we would see zip by us on the way up and eventually past us again the other way. It was always sort of bizarre to us, because you finally reach this level where you get everything you want and you stop working, you don't want to do interviews anymore. A lot of people start shooting themselves in the foot at that point. That's the thing we saw the most.
Do you think you get jaded by the whole business? I don't know how you get jaded when good things are happening to you. It's like 'oh Jesus, I'm selling millions of records now and I'm doing sold out shows, this sucks' No, that don't suck. 'Suck' is trying to pull your record off for $15,000 and driving around in a van for six months, that's what sucks. It was always weird to me. You know when no one wants to talk to you, you're in trying to talk to everybody. The second everyone wants to talk to you, no one wants to talk to anyone anymore. We really try to sidestep that whole thing and sort of realize, especially in this day in age, that if you go away for a year they forget who you are and you have to come back in swinging with all the viciousness you did before.
Did you think when Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden all broke that this was gonna make more people pay attention to what you were doing? You always thought that. When guitar bands started to get signed there was maybe more of a chance. The odd thing that happened with us is, when all that stuff was getting unpopular was kind of when our career started to take off. And maybe that's because we're not just a loud guitar band.
On Hold Me Up, I heard the band's ballad potential with "Two Days in February." They say your sound has changed and now you're writing pop songs, but there's still plenty of high-powered stuff on this disc. I think our sound has changed as much as someone who is 28 years old changes when he turns 35. When I was 28, I was still listening to cro mag records. Now my brain requires more than that.
But many songs on this one could have been on Hold Me Up
Certainly a lot of stuff could have been on Hold Me Up, but I dont' think we would have executed it the same way. We're much better players. Hold Me Up was a weird record, it was the first one where John really started singing a lot. And it was also the first record where we sat down and said to ourselves 'We're going to work on this album.' All the other records were like, 'Let's do four songs, and here's four more, let's try this, see if this works, then collect all the demos and recordings and make a record out of it.' Hold Me Up, we actually went in and said 'Okay, this album needs to work, from beginning to the end.' It's not just a collection of songs, it's a full thing.
And we started working working with Armand Petri, who co-produced and mixed Jed. He became quite an asset to the group. He was a classically trained musician and understood a lot of things we were doing, and we didn't know what we were doing. He took the time to say 'Here's why this is working. These notes don't match, but it sounds cool.' There was a lot of wrestling on that record over what was right and what sounded right. He came from the angle that 'Mathematically, this doesnt' work,' and we're like 'Well, you're just gonna have to give us this one.' If I hold up a baseball bat, five plus three equals nine, you gonna argue with me? No, ya know? There's quite a growing process that went on with that record. When I listen back to that record, which I don't listen to that often really, when I listen to it now it's eerie, sort of. I feel everything that happened. It was very 'coming of age' for us, very intense.
You don't feel you've changed, but you certainly write more ballads than you did back then. That's one of the things that John realized he could do very well. I think you find something you can really express yourself in, when you find a certain matter of expressing yourself, it's a pretty powerful tool. I knew from Hold Me Up days, when he started bringing that stuff in. There's a song called "James Dean" on Jed that's as mellow as anything we've ever done. And that came out in 1989, 10 years ago. It was always there.
Back then, we were really terrified to turn our guitars down. Not so much because we thought people would say we were pussies. We just weren't confident enough in our playing or songwriting to actually think we could have an impact without a turn-it-up-to-11 mentality.
When we started this record, I sat down with Rob (Cavallo) and said 'I want to know why this Led Zeppelin record and this Black Sabbath record sound so huge even though they're the worst guitar songs I've ever heard in my life. The power lies in so many different places. A perfectly placed shaker sounds every bit as intense as a Marshall on 10 if it's done correctly. I think we decided we were gonna try our best to make a record that could be listened to in 15 years and still sound big. And Rob was really good at that, man. A few small amp tones instead of one huge one, one guitar down the middle instead of four at one time, because when the four come in, they sound even bigger.
In the clips, John talks about the band losing its indie cred
How important is having an indie cred to you, and how has that been impacted by having hits and putting out power ballads like "Name" and "Iris"? Having been someone who for years could say 'We've got indie cred,' the term basically meant that critics liked us but we weren't selling any records. That's indie cred, you don't sell records. A lot of people hide behind this
Look, no one doesn't want to sell 2 million records. Anyone who makes a demo in an 8-track studio wants to sell 2 million copies of it. And if you don't, you're an idiot. I don't know why you wouldn't. The more people who get to hear your music, the more people come to see you play, buy your records, know your songs. It just makes it more fun, more pleasurable.
We were never a band to stand there and go, 'OK, we're aiming this record directly at turtleneck-wearing Trent Reznor clones.' We never picked a group of people to like our records. And I think that's part of the appeal. When 'Name' started to get big, we started getting calls to be on fuckin' Dick Clark's New Year's Eve Show, or 90210 or Friday Night Videos. At first, we'd be like, 'oh gee, I don't know. What's everyone gonna think?' And it wasn't 20 seconds before John and I were looking at each other and saying, 'Who cares what they think?' Are we going to be so pretentious and lofty as to say our music is not for the main stream? Our music is for us; whatever happens, happens.
In the cases of some punk bands, there's a core group who are afraid that other people are going to discover 'their band.' A lot of that happens. That happened with U2. I remember when U2 began becoming successful and everybody was saying 'they suck,' And I would say 'No they don't. You telling me War sucks? Listen to that record man, that record does not suck. But I can remember kids who were hardcore U2 fans saying 'well, it's on the radio now.' Somehow, when your record gets played on the radio, that makes you less credible and I'm not quite sure why
There's an elitist mentality in every single occupation. There're welders with indie cred.
You'll be playing some punk stuff with the ballads, and there will be some people coming to the shows expecting two hours of "Iris." Well, that would be boring, wouldn't it? It's funny, this whole selling out issue. We've been on a major label for half of our career. I will tell you, I have been fucked worse by indie labels then I've ever been by a major label. The problem is, with the whole indie world right now, it's become a status thing. I'm not quite sure why
I could mention some band names and it would make this all make more sense, but I won't
. There's a lot of Southern California pop punk bands out there now who are selling lots of records and getting millions and millions of dollars from major labels and are still trying to tote themselves around as some sort of poster children for indie punk rock. I want to tell them, 'For God's sake, take off that $700 shirt if you're gonna do that, and give all your money to start a label and make other little bands marginally successful. But don't sit back in your mansion on the side of the hill and say "Man, we are still so punk." Whatever
just make your records, man, and stop it.'
How do these bands manage to keep that vibe going? I'll tell how they do it: They find a very simple recipe and stick to it. The problem is, they're not gonna be around in 15 years. People are going to expect the same thing every time they put out a record, and eventually are going to get sick of it. And then they're stuck having a 6-year career, putting out the same record three times.
The state of today's music scene, bands come and go very quickly, they're on top of the heap for one album and fade instantly
Six months ago, everyone was talking about Marilyn Manson, before that, it was Spice Girls. Today it's Ricky Martin, and so on . You've been around more than a decade and seem to be at the top of your game now. Do you worry about falling out of favor or are you immune to that because of how you write music? I think that it's inevitable that that's gonna happen. I can't see us as the Goo Goo Dolls being an influential band for another 20 years. I think that would be foolish and we'd look foolish, being 55 in a band called the Goo Goo Dolls, you know? Do I think as people, that John and I can be relevant still? Probably, but it will have to move beyond this. Although 15 years ago I would have never thought I'd be here doing a Goo Goo Doll interview. I though I'd have a job somewhere, figuring out where my life's gonna be.
We'll know when it's time. We'll look at each other and go 'Man, this record's not gonna be good.' If that happens, you realize you've lost the gas, man, you're balloon has deflated and it's time to stop making records.
Well, could you ever be satisfied being in a band that tours for three weeks at a time in a van again? I feel too old to do that. I feel that was a great thing to do when I was 18, 19, 20 years old. Or 25, or however old I was. I did those things because I had to. It's like asking a sergeant major if he would mind going back to bootcamp for eight weeks and starting all over again. Or being near a top of a mountain, being a mountain climber, and going 'hey, listen, you don't mind if we drop you down at the bottom again and you start over?' It would be like, 'waitaminit, that's no good.'
Our biggest fear is looking as retarded as Foreigner does now, or Journey, traveling around with Steve Augeri on lead vocals.
You could be like Brian Adams, who's quietly continued to work, doing soundtracks and having hits, and not caring if people think he's cool or not. I think that's cool that he's able to do that. But one point is he's one person. No matter what he does as that person, that's his next thing. It's not like it's 'Bryan Adams and Red Ryder'
Tom Cochran comes out solo after Red Ryder and now he can put out records for the rest of his life. Would you be waiting for the next Red Ryder record? I don't know
Who knows what the future is at this point? All I know is the present is really good. When this tour is done in March, we'll take a month or two off, pull our shit together and collect the tragedies of the past three years and write another record.
It's gotta be a blast right now. Yeah, it's a blast, but It's pretty fucked up, really. Since last August, I've done my own laundry once, I haven't made a bed, haven't taken out the trash, I haven't driven myself but three or four times in a car. All the things that happen in your life peripherally you have to put out of the way, so you can go out and do what you do.
So you miss taking out the trash and washing your clothes? Yeah, or having discussions with your loved ones about what's fucked up in your life or whatever. You don't want to bring yourself down out here, it's easy enough. I've been home maybe a total of two weeks since last August, you've got to try to keep your stiff upper lip out here.
Are you married or have kids? I was married, no kids. My ex-girlfriend had a couple kids, and that was even tough talking to them on the phone and stuff.
So time kind of stands still on the road? Yeah, totally, you come home and it's as if time stood still. I've been to Japan twice this year, Europe three times, Australia twice, to New Zealand, across the entire United States three times and Canada once. We've done an awful lot. And then you come home and the same asses are planted in the same barstools. Like they never left. 'What the fuck are you people thinking? Get up, do something. At least go to another bar. At least find two bars you can hang out at.'
The weird thing is you go home then and it's like 'okay, I'm not on the road anymore, so I have some time to sit and think.' And you start to think. The last record, John and I moved to New York after the tour for about nine months and we were basket cases. I was dealing with a divorce, dealing with the fact that we sold 2 million records and still owed the record company money, that kind of stuff.
So many bands don't understand any of that stuff
No, they don't get it. And once again, I'm not going to name any bands, but there are a lot of bands who go out and make a demo at 18, get signed, go out and sell 4 million records, and then don't know enough to bring themselves back down to earth. You've gotta bring yourself down, because dude, at 19, that is not your life. Someone gave you that life for a little while. You're 19 years old and you're gonna be spit out so fast because you're not royalty, you're just some schmuck. Your job is as important as the guy taking the tickets in front of the building, when it comes right down to it, it's all just a part of the process.
When you're finished, and can step back and look at it that way -- mind you I make more money than the ticket guy -- it's all just part of the process. Someone can always be plugged into that spot. I'm not James Brown. It's not a guarantee, not even for REM anymore.
What about the Stones? That's human oddities. Like the guy with the 2-foot prick, not the norm. We just opened six shows for them. It was crazy man, if any band is ever an asshole again as an opener, I have no tolerance for it at all. Mick Jaggar came in and sat in our dressing room and hung out with us and gave us a sound check. There's certain other English bands we've played with over the years who were very difficult. Try opening for Oasis some day, dude.
Mick Jaggar's standing there, we all snap to attention like a fucking drill team. He walked in the room, it was like, inspection. "Mr. Jaggar Sir," you know. He was totally cool, man. Why wouldn't he be, I guess, right? They rented a box and watched our show the first night. Came up the second night and had comments about the show and stuff, so we knew they actually watched. It was really cool. A band like that, them going out now, it works for a couple bands. It worked for the Stones and for Fleetwood Mac, but count how many tours went out that way that didn't work. Like Motley Crue, how was that one? Or the big Berlin/Missing Persons package.
It's kind of sad when you see Styx/Kansas on tour... I know, dude. This venue in Buffalo, called Darien Lake, it's like Six Flags, they did 13 shows this year. Of all the shows guess what the biggest seller was: Foreigner/Journey. The biggest seller. The only thing that's really crankin' in a lot of the markets is the reunion tours and the boy groups.
But that's all the radio stations are geared to these days. Alternative radio seems to be faltering a bit. The term 'modern rock' itself is sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy. You've put a shelf-date on the format. I mean, what's Sheryl Crow? Alternative? I guess alternative to bad music.
There's a lot of shit I don't get these days. I don't want to sound like Greg Allman talking about rap music, but I swear there's just six bands on the radio. There's the Southern California punk bands, there's the ska bands, which are becoming few and far between, there were a few swing bands in there, and then you've got your borderline gothic fashion rock, and ...
And then Ricky Martin
Yeah, Ricky Martin and that's about it, you know. I was driving around L.A. with a friend of mine the other day, listening to KROQ, and we were laughing every time another band came on. We were naming the five bands that were on every three minutes.
Copyright � 1999 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.
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April 26, 2019 April 26, 2019 Amor Towles
Rules of Civility On the last night of twenty five year old Katey Kontent is in a second rate Greenwich Village jazz bar with her boardinghouse roommate stretching three dollars as far as it will go when Tinker G
Title: Rules of Civility
Author: Amor Towles
On the last night of 1937, twenty five year old Katey Kontent is in a second rate Greenwich Village jazz bar with her boardinghouse roommate stretching three dollars as far as it will go when Tinker Grey, a handsome banker with royal blue eyes and a tempered smile, happens to sit at the neighboring table This chance encounter and its startling consequences propel Katey onOn the last night of 1937, twenty five year old Katey Kontent is in a second rate Greenwich Village jazz bar with her boardinghouse roommate stretching three dollars as far as it will go when Tinker Grey, a handsome banker with royal blue eyes and a tempered smile, happens to sit at the neighboring table This chance encounter and its startling consequences propel Katey on a yearlong journey from a Wall Street secretarial pool toward the upper echelons of New York society and the executive suites of Cond Nast rarefied environs where she will have little to rely upon other than a bracing wit and her own brand of cool nerve Wooed in turn by a shy, principled multi millionaire and an irrepressible Upper East Side ne er do well, befriended by a single minded widow who is a ahead of her time,and challenged by an imperious mentor, Katey experiences firsthand the poise secured by wealth and station and the failed aspirations that reside just below the surface Even as she waits for circumstances to bring Tinker back into her life, she begins to realize how our most promising choices inevitably lay the groundwork for our regrets.
One thought on “Rules of Civility”
”She was indisputably a natural blonde. Her shoulder-length hair, which was sandy in summer, turned golden in the fall as if in sympathy with the wheat fields back home. She had fine features and blue eyes and pinpoint dimples so perfectly defined that it seemed like there must be a small steel cable fastened to the center of each inner cheek which grew taut when she smiled. True, she was only five foot five, but she knew how to dance in two-inch heels--and she knew how to kick them off as soo [...]
The prologue to this novel takes place at an exhibition of photographs by Walker Evans in 1966. The author tells us that Evans had waited 25 years to show these photos to the public due to a concern for the subjects' privacy. The photos are taken with a hidden camera in the NYC subway car and "captured a certain naked humanity." Kate sees an old friend, Tinker Grey in two of these pictures. In one he's clean shaven, wearing a custom shirt and a cashmere coat. In a photo dated one year later he l [...]
$1.99 Kindle Download special today! -- GREAT DEAL!!! (I spent more!) FANTASTIC.FABULOUS!!!!!! I LOVED THIS NOVEL TREMENDOUSLY!!!!This review is filled 'mostly' with quotes --as these are quotes I want to remembert without the context of the story itself there are NO SPOILERS. Special thanks Sara. We are buddy-reading this together having our own private book club discussionds much richness to a novel like this one. Whatever setbacks Katey's father faced in life, he said, "however daunting or d [...]
This is just delightful fun. It's a love letter, a limerick, a lollipop, a literary longing. Grab your shaker of martinis and your cocktail onions and take a ride with Katey Kontent through the streets of 1938 Manhattan. She's just a working girl trying to make it on her own, but with the right (or wrong?) friends, she manages to borrow a little glamourd a helping or two of trouble besides. The book is not without its flaws. I was only going to rate it four stars. After I read the epilogue and t [...]
If a novel could win an award for best cinematography, this would take home the gold. Amor Towles's sophisticated retro-era novel of manners captures Manhattan 1938 with immaculate lucidity and a silvery focus on the gin and the jazz, the nightclubs and the streets, the pursuit of sensuality, and the arc of the self-made woman.The novel's preface opens in 1966, with a happily married couple attending a Walker Evans photography exhibition. An unlikely chance encounter stuns the woman, Katey--a pi [...]
Blargh, I'd been having such good luck with Choice finalists.I really should have put it down after page two, when the female, working-class narrator describes her roommate as follows:"Eve was one of those surprising beauties from the American Midwest.In New York it becomes so easy to assume that the city's most alluring women have flown in from Paris or Milan. But they're just a minority. A much larger covey hails from the stalwart states that begin with the letter I--like Iowa or Indiana or I [...]
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”The road not taken by Robert Frost.Katey Kontent stands on her balcony overlooking Central Park in 1966 and reflects on the journey of her life and the road she chose to walk more than twenty years ago. Vulnerable and voluptuous like Billie Holiday’s voice in “Autumn in New York”, Katey remembers the one and only genuine love of her life, the irresistible banker Tinker Grey. [...]
This book was strange for me, at points, it was a 5, at other points a 1. There were passages (usually not parts of the narrative, but Katy's aphorisms - presumably the product of her middle-aged mind looking back) that moved me nearly to tears. These little nuggets are Katy's own "Rules of Civility" and they made the book worth reading. (E.g "Right choices are the means by which life crystallizes loss.").But those little tidbits are not the bulk of this quite plotty pacey novel, which is a fair [...]
This is the rare example of a book that makes you appreciate the art of writing. It is indeed remarkable that this first time author has created a debut novel that succeeds in every way. Mr. Towles has crafted a true masterpiece. This stylish, elegant and deliberately anachronistic debut novel transports readers back to Manhattan in 1938, where authentic, human characters inhabit a playground that comes alive with the manners of a society on the verge of radical upheaval.This book is art deco, j [...]
Thank you, Amor Towles, for writing such a lovely and sophisticated novel. Your book was a soothing tonic for this bruised and battered reader.Rules of Civility is the story of Katey Kontent in New York City. The novel opens at an art gallery in 1966, and then flashes back to 1937 after Katey sees a photo of her former lover, Tinker Grey. She thinks back to her single days and to the night she first met Tinker in '37. She remembers how getting to know him inadvertently set her on a path that cha [...]
Immigrants or Trust Funds?“Rules of Civility” is a love story for a city. Specifically New York City during the last few years of the 1930’s. That’s not to say that Towles's characters aren’t fully realized. They are. In fact the dialog is outstanding. When a character opens their mouth you know immediately if they haunt the docks or Park Avenue. At one point the three principle protagonists are out larking and sneak into a Marx Brothers movie. Think of how exaggerated the accents and [...]
I waffled between a one or two star rating, but I'm not feeling particularly generous today, so one star it is.Basically: upper-class middle-aged man tries to write as/about working-class young woman. And fails. I think I enjoyed about the first twenty pages of this one, and the rest just fell utterly flat. First of all, the main character (with the terrible name of Katey Kontent) was completely unconvincing and not at all compelling. It's rare that men can write convincingly in a female voice, [...]
I don't want to say a lot about this book. I'm a bit tired this morning. Wanted to finish this book and denied myself a few hours of sleep.This is the story of Kate, Eve and Tinker in the New York of 1938, where it was possible to climb the social ladder with a few rules from the father of the American republic's, George Washington's Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior; a few well-positioned social connections; and and a whiff of intelligence. Everybody had a chance if you knew the rules. In 1 [...]
New Year’s Eve 1937, Katey Kontent and Evelyn Ross meet handsome, well-heeled Tinker Grey at a bar and they see in 1938 together. They make resolutions for one anotherd one of those resolutions is to get “out of your ruts.” Well, this chance meeting shakes up all their lives and not a rut is left when 1938 whistles itself into history. With New York City as a delicious backdrop, Katey navigates both the heights of society and the working class world, and along the way she learns a lot abou [...]
Rating 3.5There is a movie by Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris (awesome movie), that many say 'its a love letter to Paris'. A love letter to a particular time in history, the roaring 20s, where many literary and artistic people socialized. The Rules of Civility, I felt, was Towles love affair. His love affair with New York city, his love affair with the late 30s, and his love of literature.The story follows Katey Kontent (really?) who is twenty five, living in New York's Greenwich Village, moving [...]
I enjoy character-driven novels. This one is made perfect by focusing on a specific time and place: 1938 in NYC. It's a year between the Great Depression and the beginning of WWII. Even the poised, reflective characters are carefree enough to hang out and drink, listen to jazz and have madcap adventures. Fun to eavesdrop on all that. There's a wonderful device used to demonstrate one person's character. At the beginning of the book, our narrator finds Tinker Grey's picture twice in a photographe [...]
"If we only fell in love with people who were perfect for us, then there wouldn’t be so much fuss about love in the first place."I first came across this author when I read A Gentleman in Moscow, which I absolutely adored. Reading this was my chance to see if he was a one trick pony. Let me tell you- he is not!Amor Towles writes beautifully and evocatively of the late 1930s in New York. The book is an exploration of love, of choices made, of life fulfilled, of connections made and disguarded a [...]
In summary, I loved listening to this audiobook. Why? First of all, this book is a must for anyone who loves NYC. Secondly, almost every line refers to places and books and artists. There is a wonderful message. The author is a master of metaphor. Most every sentence implies more than the bare words. One example: Katey pronounces her surname Kon-TENT. Don't you see the difference between that and KON-tent? Think about it. The plot throws you a looper. The characters become real people .In the be [...]
Sometimes you’re fortunate enough to read a book that can make you gasp, make you laugh, and bring a poignant tear to your eye, all at the same time… your throat literally swells with it. If you have read such a book then I’m sure you know what I mean. Rules of Civility was not just a book to me, but an experience which embodied all those feelings. If you’re wondering, Rules is written with the charm and imagination equal to that of A Gentleman in Moscow, but they are very different stor [...]
Entertaining - light but not fluffy - what it does best is capture the high drama of being a New Yorker during the late 30’s. A city where the upper class live large and lavish, hang out in jazz bars, frequent hotels like The Plaza & Essex House and generally fritter their lives away drinking & smoking up a storm. Katey Kontent, a social climber extraordinaire and her flaky friend Eve hobnob with rich elitists with names like (seriously) Tinker, Dicky & Bitsy… Throw in a bitter s [...]
So much has been said about this book here and elsewhere that I'm not sure what else to add. I did love this book for many reasons: The sense of time and place, the wonderful use of language (love the use of metaphor), sparkling dialog and internal narration, and wonderful descriptions of New York City itself that raise its presence to another character.We have all lived through our twenties (or most of us through most of that decade). So much happens, so many decisions are made that impact our [...]
It's really hard to put my finger on what made me like Rules of Civility so much. I'm partial to debut novels and their authors so when 4 to 5 star reviews started pouring in on GoodReads for this book, I quickly added it to my list. The setting of New York, the city would not normally make me clamor to read this book, but the 1938 New York that Rules of Civility depicts captured me right away. I can only believe this is due to Amor Towles ability as a writer. The story seems fairly simple. Two [...]
—Oh stop, Eve said. It’s dreadful. What is it?—Virginia Woolf.—Ugh. Tinker brought home all these novels by women as if that’s what I needed to get me back on my feet. He’s surrounded my bed with them. It’s as if he’s planning to brick me in. Isn’t there anything else? Rules of Civility left me cold. I did not hate it, I did not like, I certainly did not love it as much as other people, including a lot of readers whose reviews I value, loved this book.I don't even know whether [...]
Amor Towles has his own style of writing. He is like yoga for the brain. I will first say, it's amazing to me how Amor Towles can write from a women's perspective. I would think most men would find that painful. I'm just kidding. Rules of Civility is about two roommate's that meet a wealthy man on New Years night and how it changes the course of their lives. For a period of time.It was told from Katey's point of view and all of the characters were ones that grew, and you were able to connect wit [...]
Rereading this wonderful book, just for fun and joy! Better the second time around. Just like watching a movie the second time, you get to see all those little details you missed the first time, and just wonder, how you didn't catch that! Read it again!
What were you afraid of as a kid? What did you always want that your parents never gave you? If you could be anyone for a day, who would you be? If you could relive one year in your life, which one would you be? Strangers in the night, two girls and a young man, meet and try to discover each other through a little game of 'what if ' Sounds like my GR friend Dan and his Ongoing Security Question Quiz, or like that running gag inThe Way We Werewhen Robert Redford picks up the best of everything he [...]
Update 4/23/2017I need to clarify a comment I made regarding the prison population in my community. Since they are people and they are part of the population and the facility is within our city limits, for census purposes they are counted as part of our population. After all, they do reside within our city limits. However, very few, if any, lived in the community or the surrounding area prior to their arrest and conviction. I assume that the prison population wherever it might be located is incl [...]
4 1/2 if I could. What a wonderful book, tones of Fitzgerald but so much better. The words are beautiful, the writing fantastic. Three people, Evie, Katy and Tinker have an profound influence on each other, their relationships and many many secrets. First book so I just have to wait patiently for his next. Such a great feel for the Jazz Age.
I cannot possibly write a review that reflects the intelligence and sophistication of this book. Integrating art, photography and literature into his portrait of 1938 New York, Amor Towles also tells a great story about the choices made by one young woman -- Kate/Katey/Katherine Kontent, and her friends.Kate is smart, funny, unpredictable and determined, all qualities that make a fine heroine. But she's also imperfect, which makes her infinitely more interesting. Likewise the characters that int [...]
Hard for me to get too excited about this nostalgic tale. It is great on tone and atmosphere in the life it portrays for Manhattan social climbers in 1938. The story told by Katie in retrospect from middle-age strives strives to be wise about life’s choices and the power of friendship to guide such choices with true integrity. But the paradoxes of Katie’s character makes it hard for me to buy-in well on her plausibility.In her early 20’s, Katie moves from Brighton Beach to Manhattan, takes [...]
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Articles with the Tag: St. Ignatius
Evans leads Bulldogs to win
TROY — In a 24-14 victory over the Trojans Friday night, Mission Bulldog Dylan Evans posted the best rushing and passing numbers of his career. “Dylan led the team on offense with his poise in the pocket, downfield vision, accurate throwing and running when the pass was not available,&rd...
Bulldogs improve, Alexander wins in Arlee
ARLEE — Mission sent eight boys to Arlee’s Hatchery Run cross-country meet last Thursday, and Bulldog senior Paden Alexander won the race with a time of 15:23. Alexander’s best time this season was 15:19. The Lady Bulldogs didn’t run, as three play volleyball and were at an away ga...
Bulldogs run strong
MISSOULA — At the Mountain West cross-country meet in Missoula, Mission Bulldog runner Paden Alexander came in 59th with a time of 16:28.8 — the winner finished the race in 14:25.9. “It was great to see teams from all over Montana, Idaho, and Washington,” head coach Marc Cutl...
Mission runners continue to improve, Alexander eyes state
It’s been a good fall for the Mission cross-country team. The Bulldog harriers have risen to the occasion time and time again, dropping seconds off their best times at nearly every meet. “It’s great to see each athlete improve,” coach Marc Cutler said. “It was our goal ...
Bulldogs fall in Florence
FLORENCE — The Mission Bulldogs’ Friday night football game ended with a 44-20 Bulldog loss. According to head coach Rich Ferris, the Falcons recovered two muffed punts within the Bulldogs’ 20-yard line and scored on both possessions. The second half saw Mission successfully move the ball a...
Group provides water info
The Western Montana Water Users Association LLC provides information to the public about how the irrigation water issue has evolved, both on and off the Flathead Reservation, in The association’s office is located at 153 N. Main St. in St. Ignatius, and the telephone number is 745-9287. A webs...
Mission downs Maidens in rivalry match
ST. IGNATIUS — The St. Ignatius Lady Bulldogs volleyball team came away with a win against the Ronan Maidens in their first conference game this season. Leading the Lady Bulldogs in kills, Sara Nerby racked up 15 of the team’s 33 and was followed closely by Stephanie Lewandowski with 12....
Bulldogs tame Lions
MISSION — The St. Ignatius Bulldogs took down the Eureka Lions last weekend in a decisive 36-6 victory. Raymond Matt lead the team in rushing with a total of 145 yards on 34 carries for an average of 4.3 yards per carry. Quarterback Dylan Evans racked up 209 yards and 5 touchdowns. Receiver Ja...
MISSION — The St. Ignatius Bulldogs took down the Eureka Lions last weekend in a decisive 36 -6 victory. Raymond Matt led the team in rushing with a total of 145 yards on 34 carries for an average of 4.3 yards per carry. Quarterback Dylan Evans racked up 209 yards and 5 touchdowns. Receiver Ja...
Bulldogs run 12 personal bests
RONAN — All 12 Mission cross-country athletes ran at Saturday’s Ronan Invitational, and all 12 ran personal bests. “It’s great to see each athlete improve,” coach Marc Cutler said. “It was our goal at the beginning of the season and we are reaching this goal. I’m ...
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Senate Democrats Pass Bipartisan Redistricting Commission Legislation
RICHMOND – Although a redistricting battle has been anticipated in the Virginia General Assembly, Senate Democrats reached across the aisle on Tuesday to proffer the process won't begin with a political fist-fight.
Today, the Senate passed Joint Resolution 321, patroned by Sen. Creigh Deeds (D- Charlottesville), to establish the Virginia Redistricting Commission.
The 13-member commission will redraw Congressional and General Assembly District lines based on census data. Commission appointments will be made by the president pro tempore of the Senate, the speaker of the House of Delegates, Senate and House minority leaders, and the chairmen of the Virginia Democratic and Republican Parties. The Commission's 13th member will be selected by other members.
This is the fourth year in a row that Senate Democrats have passed a bipartisan redistricting committee bill. Previous legislation was killed by House Republicans.
"This is the fifth year we've had legislation of this sort on the floor of the Senate. This is not legislation to create an advisory commission, rather in the words of the Richmond Times Dispatch Editorial Board, this legislation establishes a mandate to enact," Deeds said.
"If Governor McDonnell would have urged the Republican House of Delegates last year to support bipartisan redistricting, there would be no need for the General Assembly to revisit this issue. We implore Governor McDonnell to not drop the ball and help get this legislation passed this year," said Senate Democratic Caucus Communications Director Keiana Page. "It is up to Governor McDonnell whether this passes or not."
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b. 13/04/1886 Tunbridge Wells, Kent. d. 14/04/1918 Kemmel, Belgium.
Eric Stuart Dougall (1886-1918) was the only son of the late Andrew Dougall, formerly of 13 Mount Ephraim Road, Tunbridge Wells, who died suddenly in March 1919, and of Mrs. Emily Elizabeth Dougall, of 18A Richmond Road, Bayswater. He was born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent on 13th April 1886. Having entered Tonbridge School in September 1899, from Grove House School, Tunbridge Wells, he was appointed a House Praepostor in September 1904, and a School Praepostor in May 1905. He was in the Engineering Sixth from September 1902, and in July 1904, won the Engineering Sixth Mathematical Prize and was awarded the fourth Judde Leaving Exhibition of £70 for four years. In the following Term he won an open Natural Science Exhibition at Pembroke College, Cambridge, and in his last Term G.G. Nelson and he were both such good candidates for Mr. Buckmaster's Mechanical Drawing Prize that each received a Prize. In 1904 he was Captain of the 2nd XV. and in the Cadet Corps was promoted Sergeant in January 1905.
At Cambridge he took his degree in 1908 with a 3rd Class in the Mechanical Science Tripos. In 1906 he won his half-blue for running, representing Cambridge in the Cross Country and making the pace for A.R. Welsh, the winner of the mile in the Inter-Varsity Sports. In 1907 he received his "full Blue," being selected as "first string" for the half-mile, and finished within a yard of the Oxonian winner, P.S. Darling. In 1908 he was secretary of the C.U.A.C., and was second in the mile at Queen's Club. From 1908 to 1912 he was training under the Chief Engineer of the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board at Liverpool, where he was well known as a Rugby footballer.
In March 1912, he sailed to take up an appointment as an Assistant Engineer to the Bombay Port Trust, and was subsequently placed on the permanent staff. Soon after the outbreak of war, being unable to come home, he joined the Bombay Light Horse, and it was not till the end of 1915 that he obtained leave to return to England and apply for a commission. After training as a cadet at St. John's Wood he was gazetted to the Special Reserve, R.F.A., July 7th 1916, and proceeding to France in the same month, came safely through the latter part of "The Battles of the Somme, 1916," including the Battle of the Ancre, November 13th to 18th, and the capture of Beaumont Hamel on the 13th. The Brigade then moved to the Ypres Sector, and on May 11th 1917, he was promoted to Acting Captain as second in command of his Battery, A/88th Brigade, R.F.A.
On June 7th 1917, the first day of "The Battle of Messines, 1917," and the day on which the mines were exploded, he was awarded the Military Cross, the following paragraph appearing with the announcement in the Gazette of August 27th 1917: - "2nd Lieut. E. S. Dougall, R.F.A. (S.K.). For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty as Group Intelligence Officer and F.O.O. He took up a succession of observation posts in advanced and exposed positions, from which he successfully maintained communication with Headquarters. He was slightly wounded, but remained at duty and has frequently performed work requiring initiative under heavy fire with great coolness and gallantry." The wound that he received on that occasion he described as a mere scratch.
He remained in the Ypres Sector until January 1918, and on January 7th was promoted Lieutenant (S.R.), retaining his acting rank. The Brigade had moved south again, and when the German offensive on the Somme opened on March 21st 1918, his Battery was right at the point of the salient on the Cambrai front and, being the last to withdraw from that area, retired fighting over the approximate line Ribecourt - Trescault - Bus - Le Transloy - Courcelette. On April 4th 1918, he took over command of his Battery, and they moved up north once more to meet the German offensive in Flanders.
On 10th April 1918, on the Messines Ridge, Capt. Dougall maintained his guns in action from early morning throughout a heavy concentration of gas and high-explosive shell. Finding that he could not clear the crest owing to the withdrawal of our line, Captain Dougall ran his guns on to the top of the ridge to fire over open sights. By this time our infantry had been pressed back in line with the guns. Captain Dougall at once assumed command of the situation, rallied and organised the infantry, supplied them with Lewis guns, and armed as many gunners as he could spare with rifles. With these he formed a line in front of his battery which during this period was harassing the advancing enemy with a rapid rate of fire. Although exposed to both rifle and machine gun fire this officer fearlessly walked about as though on parade, calmly giving orders and encouraging everybody. He inspired the infantry with his assurance that "So long as you stick to your trenches I will keep my guns here". This line was maintained throughout the day, thereby delaying the enemy's advance for over twelve hours. In the evening, having expended all ammunition, the battery received orders to withdraw. This was done by man-handling the guns over a distance of about 800 yards of shell-cratered country, an almost impossible feat considering the ground and the intense machine gun fire.
Four days later, on April 14th, in the Battle of Bailleul, he was struck by a shell on the left side of the neck and instantaneously killed whilst directing the fire of his Battery on Mount Kemmel. He was buried the following day in a little British cemetery outside Westoutre, just behind Kemmel Hill and some seven miles south-west of Ypres. His promotion to Acting Major as from April 4th appeared in the Gazette of June 2nd, but was not recorded in the announcement of the award of the Victoria Cross, which appeared in the Gazette of June 4th. His medal was presented to his sister by King George V at Buckingham Palace on 10th July 1918. The medal was later donated to Pembroke College, Cambridge.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: PEMBROKE COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE.
BURIAL PLACE: WESTOUTRE BRITISH CEMETERY, HEUVELLAND, BELGIUM.
Eric Stuart Dougall
VC, MC
Cemetery Plan courtesy of Kevin Brazier
POSSIBLY BURIED IN THIS LOCATION
RA Chapel, Woolwich
With permission of Pembroke College, Cambridge
Liverpool Cricket Club (James O'Hanlon)
Sketch by Tom Knight (2nd cousin twice removed)
The image of Dougall's VC stone in Tunbridge Wells and the accompanying programme courtesy of Brian Drummond
VC Grove, Tunbridge Wells
Tunbridge Wells War Memorial (Brian Drummond)
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b. 24/12/1830 Dublin, Ireland. d. 01/02/1922 London.
Harry Hammon Lyster (1830-1922) was born at Blackrock, County Dublin on 24th December 1830. In his younger days, he was a special constable and participated at the Chartist Riots in London in 1847. The following year he was commissioned in the Honourable East India Company Army and appointed to the 72nd Bengal Native Infantry, just in time to be present at the Siege of Multan in the Punjab War.
In the Central India Field Force, he served on Sir Hugh Rose’s Staff as Interpreter and ADC. During the action at Baroda, Rose ordered him to lead a troop of Hyderabad Cavalry against the retreating rebels. Calling out for the native sowars to follow him, he found that as he clashed with the enemy the only man to join him was a native officer who was soon killed. Lyster charged in amongst the rebels, killing three and scattering the rest. Spotting the enemy’s cavalry he stopped and the rebel commander advanced, brandishing his sword. Lyster took this as a challenge to single combat and spurred his horse forward. The two men met head on and Lyster killed him with his sword, receiving a wounded arm in return. The rest of cavalry then fled.
On 23rd May, as the rebels fell back at Kalpi, Lyster performed another act of bravery which resulted in him being awarded the VC. His citation on 21st October 1859 outlined Lyster’s action in charging and breaking a skirmishing square of the retreating rebel army, killing two or three sepoys.
In addition to his VC, Lieutenant Lyster was mentioned in despatches five times. He received his medal in Calcutta in 1860 and elevated to ADC to the Commander in Chief. In the Afghan War of 1878-79, he commanded the 3rd (Queen Alexander’s Own) Gurkhas and was prominent at the battle of Ahmed Khal. On his retirement, he had attained the rank of lieutenant-general. He died in London on 1st February 1922 at the age of 92. He was buried in the churchyard of St James the Less, Stubbing, Berkshire. His medals are part of the Ashcroft Collection in the Imperial War Museum. His nephew Hamilton Lyster Reed would later receive the VC.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: LORD ASHCROFT GALLERY, IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM, LONDON.
BURIAL PLACE: ST JAMES THE LESS CHURCH, STUBBING, BERKSHIRE.
Harry Hammon Lyster
VC, CB
Harry Lyster's medals including VC at the Lord Ashcroft Gallery (courtesy of Thomas Stewart)
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J. N. Bull, C. W. West, C. S. Anstöter, G. da Silva, E. Bieske and J. R. R. Verlet
Ultrafast photoisomerisation of an isolated retinoid
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 12, 10567 (2019)
C. A. Anstöter, J. P. Rogers and J. R. R. Verlet
Spectroscopic Determination of an Anion-π Bond Strength
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 141, 6132 (2019)
A. Lietard and J. R. R. Verlet
Selectivity in Electron Attachment to Water Clusters
J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 10, 1180 (2019)
A. L. Tyson and J. R. R. Verlet
On the Mechanism of Phenolate Photo-Oxidation in Aqueous Solution
J. Phys. Chem. B 123, 2373 (2019)
J. P. Rogers, C. A. Anstöter, J. N. Bull, B. F. E. Curchod, and J. R. R. Verlet
Photoelectron Spectroscopy of the Hexafluorobenzene Cluster Anions: (C6F6)n- (n = 1 - 5) and I-C6F6
J. Phys. Chem. A 123, 1602 (2019) Part of JPC virtual special issue “Young Scientists”
G. Mensa-Bonsu, D. J. Tozer, and J. R. R. Verlet
Photoelectron spectroscopic study of I−∙ICF3: A frontside attack SN2 pre-reaction complex
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 21, 13977 (2019) "Hot" article collection 2018
Part of "Photodissociation and reaction dynamics" themed issue
A. L. Tyson, D. A. Woods, and J. R. R. Verlet
Time-resolved second harmonic generation with single-shot phase sensitivity
J. Chem. Phys. 149, 204201 (2018) Editor’s Pick
C. S. Anstöter, T. E. Gartmann, L. H. Stanley, A. V. Bochenkova, and J. R. R. Verlet
Electronic structure of the para-dinitrobenzene radical anion: A combined 2D photoelectron imaging and computational study
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 20, 24019 (2018) "Hot" article collection 2018
J. P. Rogers, C. S. Anstöter, and J. R. R. Verlet
Evidence for Electron Capture of an Outgoing Photoelectron Wave by a Non-Valence State in (C6F6)n−
J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 9, 2504 (2018)
Ultrafast dynamics of low-energy electron attachment via a non-valence correlation-bound state
Nature Chem. 10, 341 (2018)
C. S. Anstöter, C. R. Dean and J. R. R. Verlet
Chromophores of chromophores: A bottom-up Hückel picture of the excited states of photoactive proteins
J. N. Bull and J. R. R. Verlet
Dynamics of π*-resonances in anionic clusters of para-toluquinone
Observation and ultrafast dynamics of a nonvalence correlation-bound state of an anion
Sci. Adv. 3, e1603106 (2017)
C. S. Anstöter , C. R. Dean and J. R. R. Verlet
Sensitivity of Photoelectron Angular Distributions to Molecular Conformations of Anions
J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 8, 2268 (2017)
L. H. Stanley, C. S. Anstöter, and J. R. R. Verlet
Resonances of the anthracenyl anion probed by frequency-resolved photoelectron imaging of collision-induced
dissociated anthracene carboxylic acid
Chem. Sci. 8, 3054 (2017)
C. W. West, J. N. Bull and J. R. R. Verlet
Charged Particle Imaging of the Deprotonated Octatrienoic Acid Anion: Evidence for a Photo-induced Cyclization Reaction
P. J. Nowakowski, D. A. Woods and J. R. R. Verlet
Charge Transfer to Solvent Dynamics at the Ambient Water/air Interface
J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 7, 4049 (2016) Editor’s pick for Spotlight (link)
P. J. Bruggeman, M. J. Kushner, B. R. Locke, J. G. E. Gardeniers, W. G. Graham, D. B. Graves, R. C. H. M. Hofman-Caris, D. Maric, J.P. Reid, E. Ceriani, D. Fernandez Rivas, J. E. Foster, S. C. Garrick, Y. Gorbanev, S. Hamaguchi, F. Iza, H. Jablonowski, E. Klimova, J. Kolb, F. Krcma, P. Lukes, Z. Machala, I. Marinov, D. Mariotti, S. Mededovic Thagard, D. Minakata, E. Neyts, J. Pawlat, Z. Lj. Petrovic, R. Pflieger, S. Reuter, D. C. Schram, S. Schröter, M. Shiraiwa, B. Tarabová, P. A. Tsai, J. R. R. Verlet, T. von Woedtke, K. R. Wilson, K. Yasui, G. Zvereva
Plasma-Liquid Interactions: A Review and Roadmap
Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 25, 053002 (2016) Editor’s pick from 2016
C. S. Anstöter, C. W. West, J. N. Bull and J. R. R. Verlet
The vitamin E radical probed by anion photoelectron imaging
C. S. Anstöter, J. N. Bull and J. R. R. Verlet
Ultrafast dynamics of temporary anions probed through the prism of photodetachment.
Int. Rev. Phys. Chem. 35, 509 (2016)
J. N. Bull, C. W. West and J. R. R. Verlet
Ultrafast dynamics of formation and autodetachment of a dipole-bound state in an open-shell π-stacked dimer anion
V. G. Stavros and J. R. R. Verlet
Gas-Phase Femtosecond Particle Spectroscopy: A Bottom-Up Approach to Nucleotide Dynamics
Ann. Rev. Phys. Chem. 67, 211 (2016)
C. W. West, J. N. Bull, D. A. Woods and J. R. R. Verlet
Photoelectron imaging as a probe of the repulsive Coulomb barrier in the photodetachment of antimony tartrate dianions
Chem. Phys. Lett. 645, 138 (2016) Editor’s Choice Article
Internal conversion out-competes autodetachment from resonances in the deprotonated tetracene anion continuum
Anion resonances and above threshold dynamics of coenzyme Q0
C. W. West, J. N. Bull, A. S. Hudson, S. L. Cobb and J. R. R. Verlet
Excited state dynamics of the isolated green fluorescent protein chromophore anion following UV excitation
P. J. Nowakowski, D. A. Woods, C. D. Bain and J. R. R. Verlet
Time-Resolved Phase-Sensitive Second Harmonic Generation Spectroscopy
J. Chem. Phys. 142, 084201 (2015)
On the formation of anions: Frequency-, angle-, and time-resolved photoelectron imaging of the menadione radical anion
Chem. Sci. 6, 1578 (2015) Top-25 most downloaded articles in first quarter of 2015
D. A. Horke, A. S. Chatterley and J. R. R. Verlet
Time-Resolved Photodetachment Anisotropy: Gas-Phase Rotational and Vibrational Dynamics of the Fluorescein Anion
J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 6, 189 (2015)
C. W. West, J. N. Bull, E. Antonkov and J. R. R. Verlet
Anion resonances probed by photoelectron imaging of the para-benzoquinone radical anion
J. Chem. Phys. A 118, 11346 (2014) Front Cover
A. S. Chatterley, C. W. West, V. G. Stavros and J. R. R. Verlet
Time-resolved photoelectron imaging of the isolated deprotonated nucleotides
Chem. Sci. 5, 3963-3975 (2014)
J. R. R. Verlet, D. A. Horke, A. S. Chatterley
Excited states of multiply-charged anions probed by photoelectron imaging: riding the repulsive Coulomb barrier
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 16, 15043 (2014) Invited Perspective
A. S. Chatterley, C. W. West, G. M. Roberts, V. G. Stavros and J. R. R. Verlet
Mapping the Ultrafast Dynamics of Adenine onto Its Nucleotide and Oligonucleotides by Time-Resolved Photoelectron Imaging
A. S. Chatterley, D. A. Horke and J. R. R. Verlet
Effects of resonant excitation, pulse duration and intensity on photoelectron imaging of a dianion
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys.16, 489 (2014) (Themed Issue: Imaging molecular dynamics)
C. W. West, A. S. Hudson, S. L. Cobb and J. R. R. Verlet
Communication: Autodetachment versus Internal Conversion from the S1 state of the Isolated GFP Chromophore Anion
Influence of the repulsive Coulomb barrier on photoelectron spectra and angular distributions in a resonantly excited dianion
D. A. Horke, Q. Li, L. Blancafort and J. R. R. Verlet
Ultrafast above-threshold dynamics of the radical anion of a prototypical quinone electron-acceptor
Nature Chem. 5, 711 (2013)
A. S. Chatterley, A. S. Johns, V. G. Stavros and J. R. R. Verlet
Base-specific ionization of deprotonated nucleotides by resonance enhanced two-photon detachment
J. Phys. Chem. A117, 5299 (2013) Front Cover
C. R. S. Mooney, D. A. Horke, A. S. Chatterley, A. Simperler, H. H. Fielding and J. R. R. Verlet
Taking the green fluorescence out of the protein: dynamics of the isolated GFP chromophore anion
Chem. Sci.4, 921 (2013) Front Cover
On the intrinsic photophysics of indigo: A time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy study of the indigo carmine dianion
D. A. Horke, G. M. Roberts, J. Lecointre and J. R. R. Verlet
Velocity-map imaging at low extraction fields
Rev. Sci. Instrum. 83, 063101 (2012)
D. A. Horke and J. R. R. Verlet
Communication: Photoelectron spectroscopy of the model GFP chromophore anion
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 14, 8511 (2012)
Femtosecond photoelectron imaging of aligned polyanions: Probing molecular dynamics through the electron-anion Coulomb
J. Phys. Chem. Lett.3, 834 (2012)
Effect of internal energy on the repulsive Coulomb barrier of polyanions
Phys. Rev. Lett.108, 083003 (2012)
Time-resolved photoelectron imaging of the chloranil radical anion: Ultrafast relaxation of electronically excited electron
acceptor states
D. A. Horke, G. M. Roberts and J. R. R. Verlet
Excited states in electron-transfer reaction products: Ultrafast relaxation dynamics of an isolated acceptor radical anion
J. Phys. Chem. A 115, 8369 (2011)
J. Lecointre, G. M. Roberts, D. A. Horke and J. R. R. Verlet
Ultrafast relaxation dynamics observed through time-resolved photoelectron angular distributions
J. Phys. Chem. A114, 11216 (2010)
D. M. Sagar, C. D. Bain and J. R. R. Verlet
Hydrated electrons at the water/air interface
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 132, 6917 (2010)
G. M. Roberts, J. Lecointre, D. A. Horke and J. R. R. Verlet
Spectroscopy and dynamics of the 7,7,8,8 tetracyanoquinodimethane radical anion
G. M. Roberts, J. L. Nixon, J. Lecointre, E. Wrede and J. R. R. Verlet
Toward real-time charged-particle image reconstruction using polar onion-peeling
J. R. R. Verlet
Femtosecond spectroscopy of cluster anions: Insights into condensed-phase phenomena from the gas-phase
Chem. Soc. Rev. 37, 505 (2008)
Post-Doc and PhD work
R. M. Young, G. B. Griffin, O. T. Ehrler, A. Kammrath, A. E. Bragg, J. R. R. Verlet, O. Cheshnovsky, and D. M. Neumark
Charge carrier dynamics in semiconducting mercury cluster anions
Physica Scripta 80, 048102 (2009)
A. Kammrath, G. B. Griffin, J. R. R. Verlet, R. M. Young, and D. M. Neumark
Time-resolved photoelectron imaging of large anionic methanol clusters: (Methanol)n−(n~145–535)
A. Kammrath, J. R. R. Verlet, G. B. Griffin, and D. M. Neumark
Photoelectron imaging of large anionic methanol clusters: (MeOH)n− (n~70–460)
Photoelectron spectroscopy of large (H2O)n− (n=50–200) clusters at 4.7 eV
J. R. R. Verlet, A. E. Bragg, A. Kammrath, O. Cheshnovsky, and D. M. Neumark
Comment on ‘‘Characterization of Excess Electrons in Water-Cluster Anions by Quantum Simulations’’
Science 310, 1769b (2005)
Observation of Large Water-Cluster Anions with Surface-Bound Excess Electrons
Science 307, 93 (2005)
A. Kammrath, J. R. R. Verlet, A. E. Bragg, G. B. Griffin, and D. M. Neumark
Dynamics of Charge-Transfer-to-Solvent Precursor States in I-(water)n (n = 3-10) Clusters Studied with Photoelectron Imaging
J. Phys. Chem. A 109, 11475 (2005)
J. R. R. Verlet, A. Kammrath, G. B. Griffin, and D. M. Neumark
Electron solvation in water clusters following charge transfer from iodide
A. E. Bragg, J. R. R. Verlet, A. Kammrath, O. Cheshnovsky, and D. M. Neumark
Time-resolved intraband electronic relaxation dynamics of Hgn- clusters (n=7–13,15,18…) excited at 1.0eV
Electronic Relaxation Dynamics of Water Cluster Anions
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 127, 15283 (2005)
Hydrated Electron Dynamics: From Clusters to Bulk
Science 306, 669 (2004)
Time-resolved relaxation dynamics of Hgn- (11 < n < 16, n=18…) clusters following intraband excitation at 1.5 eV
J. Chem. Phys. 121, 10015 (2004)
A. E. Bragg, J. R. R. Verlet, A. Kammrath, and D. M. Neumark
C6- electronic relaxation dynamics probed via time-resolved photoelectron imaging
J. Chem. Phys. 121, 3515 (2004)
R. S. Minns, R. Patel, J. R. R. Verlet, and H. H. Fielding
Optical control of the rotational angular momentum of a molecular Rydberg wave packet
Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 243601 (2003)
J. R. R. Verlet, V. G. Stavros, R. S. Minns, and H. H. Fielding
Controlling the radial dynamics of Rydberg wavepackets in Xe using phase-locked optical pulse sequences
J. Phys. B- At. Mol. Opt. 36, 3683 (2003)
R. A. L. Smith, J. R. R. Verlet, and H. H. Fielding
Rydberg wave packets in molecules
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 5, 3567 (2003)
R. S. Minns, J. R. R. Verlet, L.J. Watkins, and H. H. Fielding
Observation and control of dissociating and autoionizing Rydberg electron wave packets in NO
R. A. L. Smith, V. G. Stavros, J. R. R. Verlet, H. H. Fielding, D. Townsend, and T. P. Softley
The role of phase in molecular Rydberg wave packet dynamics
Controlling the angular momentum composition of a Rydberg electron wave packet
J. R. R. Verlet, V. G. Stavros, and H. H. Fielding
Wave-packet isotope separation using phase-locked pulses
Phys. Rev. A. 65, 032504 (2002)
J. R. R. Verlet, and H. H. Fielding
Manipulating electron wave packets
R. A. L. Smith, J. R. R. Verlet, E. D. Boleat, V. G. Stavros, and H. H. Fielding
The dynamics of Rydberg electron wavepackets in NO
Faraday Discuss. 115, 63 (2000)
V. G. Stavros, J. A. Ramswell, R. A. L. Smith, J. R. R. Verlet, J. Lei and H. H. Fielding.
Vibrationally autoionising Rydberg wavepackets in NO
Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 2552 (1999); Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 1847 (2000).
10.1039/C9CP01624D
JRRV on Google Scholar Reprints as pdf's
VERLET.NET
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unselfie
Alex Uhlmann
Director Giovanni Aponte
Editor / Interview Annie Markitanis
Music 'Back Home' David Morales ft. Alex Uhlmann (Diridim Records)
Production unFLOP production
How would you describe yourself; The core essence of who Alex is?
The core of myself has a lot of music, everything is about music, it’s an obsession actually. As a person I believe in human beings; despite how the world is going, I believe in the good of people; I believe in what people can do together, how people can help one another as well as share with each other.
I believe in authenticity, respect, cooperativeness, resilience, and empathy, amongst people; therefore, I try to act this way, as much as possible, in my own life.
How does Alex differ from Alex Uhlmann and in what way “they” are alike when you are on stage and share yourself with the public?
I believe I am a bit different when I am on stage. In my daily life, I wouldn’t say I am shy, but I am certainly not the most outgoing person. So, when I am in front of a big crowd, I feel different.
The way that Alex and Alex Uhlmann are alike is that positive thing that I am trying to do, which comes naturally especially when on stage where I am sharing that with everyone, sharing a collective experience.
Do you recall that aha moment when you realized that music was your passion, your thing, sort of speak?
Yes, I do remember there was a moment when I was about six or seven years old.
I started playing the piano pretty early, and I remember that there was a moment that I was playing over and over again, and I can recall diving into this state of mind, in which I had never been in before. When I came out of it, and I stopped playing, I realized that I had been playing for three hours without even realizing it.
That’s when I began becoming aware that there is something magic in music.
It is sort of a drug, which I always try to get back to and experience it all over, when I am writing a song, playing, or singing live. They are all magical moments.
Luxembourg-born, and a globetrotter since a very young age; Bologna, Paris, London, Berlin, Milan: How have all these cities and cultures shaped you both as a person and a musician?
In Luxembourg, I went to an International school where all of my friends were from all different places. I heard so many things about their countries that it was only natural for me, when I turned eighteen years old, to go away and travel around, experiencing different cultures.
I first moved to England as I was really into the British Pop scene, and so eager to learn, because, at that time, you would go to a pub, and four bands were playing, and I wanted to be part of that. So, overall, I certainly learned and took a lot from all these experiences; each city influenced me differently. I have undoubtedly benefited from this international upbringing; these cultural stimuli contributed both to my personal growth and my musical shaping. If you as a person become like that, it would be automatically imitated or reflected in your music or whatever it is that one does.
Which aspects of the contemporary music industry do you enjoy the most?
That’s a good question; Well, I would like to believe that if one really has talent and the will to succeed, he can. I am not sure if it is that way, but I would like to think that it is that way. One of the advantages of being a music artist today, due to the technology and the digitalized era we are all in, is that it’s easier to make a piece of music heard obviously, and in a way for the record companies, it’s easier because they don’t have to be active A&R’s no more. All they really need to do is look at one's social media profiles, understand who has the most followers, and that’s a package one doesn’t have to develop. One could see that as an advantage, but I don’t personally see it as a positive thing. I think it’s a shame, and I think we need good A&R’s who go into bars, concerts, and look out for talented individuals, watch them playing, get excited when they come across a good band, choose them, develop them, follow them, and create with them. Unfortunately, this is not happening anymore; Today you have music programs that pretend to teach everything there is to know about the music business, and then you have a career. Well, I honestly don’t believe it works like that.
Positives are hard to find, but I am sure there are some. And I don’t want to sound critical, but things certainly changed a lot.
Despite that, I still believe that the ones who are good and really want to make it will eventually make it. And that’s hopefully thanks to the record companies and the music industry in general.
In your opinion, which are the weak points of today’s music industry?
There is no project anymore; Record companies don’t develop artists from scratch.
An investment for x amount of time in a specific artist is rare. I am not saying that they don’t want to do it anymore; What I am saying is that that’s the natural consequence of today’s digitized reality.
Another weak point is that there is no live music anymore. If you ask me “Where can I go to listen to some live music,” I wouldn’t really know where to tell you. Unfortunately, I think that’s because most people probably don’t really care about live music, especially the younger generation.
Nowadays, everything is so fast, so even the act of going to the bar and waiting for an hour to listen to a band that you don’t know appears time-consuming.
Similarly, nowadays people don’t go search, hunt for a vinyl anymore and listen to it from the beginning to the end. You don’t look at the credits, you don’t see the lyrics, because blatantly people don’t have the time. Today there are playlists, there is the song of an artist, followed by the song of another artist, and so on.
There is no concept to albums anymore. So, everything has taken a different route, but then again we still have concerts, big concerts happen luckily. However, the underground scene is the one that is mostly suffering.
People don’t have the patience to discover and dedicate time to these things. There is this urgency to find what you like Vs. to test and choose what you want until you find it. If you tell me there is this exhibition on, I would probably first check out what it is about; I wouldn’t have the time to go and check it out in person and then draw my own conclusions. So, I am guilty of this as well, I think we all are, but again that’s a shame.
Back in the days, during your encounter with the British musical territory, you founded the “Friday Night Hero” indie rock band, “parent” to the “Tourist In Your Own Town” album, and awarded in 2008 as the “Best UK Live Act”: Tell me a little bit more about that phase of your life? What led to the band’s eventual dissolution?
It was indeed one of the best periods of my life, if not the best because this band was made up of my best friends. We were at school together, and then we said, “Ok, let’s go to England and make it”; we lived together, we worked together, and we played music together.
Regarding what dismantled the band, I think that music has to be your passion because if it’s not is very difficult to make it. Especially today is challenging to live as a musician, so, you really have to love it and have it be your passion.
So, I think that after a while, it was clear that for some of my friends, although they enjoyed doing it, it wasn’t their passion. So, life happened: I on the one hand always followed music wherever I went, I went to England because of music, and when the band became more successful in Germany rather than the Uk, I moved to Germany. But they were not ready to follow music at this pace; they had different priorities.
However, I can say that when we were getting there, we weren’t even aware of getting there, which by the way is the beauty of it; It was fun, but it was also our job.
We were doing it without being consciously driven by a specific outcome, other than doing the best that we could. After the original band members were replaced by other English musicians, we moved to Berlin and six months down the road I was contacted by Planet Funk.
Considering that you have traveled a lot and you continue to be always on-the-go do you ever feel like a “Tourist In Your Own Town”?
Absolutely, and that’s actually why I wrote the album titled “Tourist in Your Own Town” because that’s how I have been feeling all my life. I feel like a tourist even when I am in Luxembourg, my hometown. Probably Milan has been the first place to, strangely enough, make me feel like more at home, in comparison to anywhere else that I have lived so far.
Singer, Songwriter, and guitarist; in which role do you feel like you can express yourself more?
Songwriter for sure! I think I am becoming a good singer, I am still not a good guitarist and not a good pianist either, but I think I am a good songwriter. So, If I had to choose only one area to invest in, I would invest everything in songwriting. This is the thing that comes more naturally to me. Sometimes I feel I am not even doing it myself, it comes so fast. All I need is to be in that space, and when I am in that space, something happens, and the writing flows.
Open-mindedness, sensitivity, and patience are necessary when it comes to successfully write a song. When I enter that creative mental zone, it’s more like magic, and I get to follow it and make something out of it.
Since 2010, you are part of Planet Funk: What is it like to be in an internationally known band, receiving worldwide recognition?
Planet Funk has been an excellent experience for me because I learned a lot from them. I didn’t really know much about Planet Funk before joining the band.
As soon as I signed up we straight away recorded a new album. I didn’t really know how big the band was until we had this concert, and I asked the guys how many people, more or less, should I had expected, and they gave me five thousand people as a ballpark number, which I thought was a lot.
But when I got there, there were fifty-thousand people…
Everything was so quick and intense that I really didn’t have time to think about it. Today I am glad for the decision I took, as well as for my so far creative journey in general. I genuinely believe that Planet Funk represents a stepping stone in my career.
In 2017 you took the next step in beginning your parallel career as a solo artist under the name Ben Alexander: What prompted you towards your solo venture?
Ben Alexander was a very natural evolution. At some point, I just wanted to also do my own stuff under my real name (Alex Uhlmann) but also using an alias.
While is great to work with other people because they take you out of your comfort zone, providing stimuli and a broader musical vision, after a while, it felt like I needed additional incentives and musical perspectives. So, in combination with the need to do something on my own, it was evident that it was necessary for my personal growth as an artist to explore this urge further.
Ben Alexander was and still is a good way to have an “excuse” sort of speak, to do anything I like really because as an identity it doesn’t reveal me directly; it’s still Me but in a different Me. I can accept to do stuff that I couldn’t or wouldn’t do as Alex Uhlmann, or express myself in ways that I haven’t so far.
Ben Alexander is a way to create the space for all these to come to the surface.
Recently, your new single “Back Home,” a featuring with the legend Dj David Morales was released. How did your collaboration come about and what was your experience working with the king of House Music?
It is a great honor to work with David Morales. For me, Michael Jackson was the king of Pop Music, and David Morales is the king of House Music.
I met him by chance on the set of a television show, about three years ago.
We started talking, and he then sent me some demos, and I put some melodies on them. He said he really liked my voice and the way I wrote, so we began writing together. We wrote some songs, and “Back Home” was one of them.
I remember him saying “I have this new idea, see if you like it…". I remember that I was just getting ready to leave for Luxembourg, and I started trying out this melody that I had in my head, thinking already about going home.
For me, as I said before, home is a strange concept because I don’t really have one. The chorus of the song goes: “I don’t know if you are looking for love…” if you say that to a person, you are already in a certain relationship with that person. So, something is going on, but you are still unsure how far you can take it. Similarly, for my home and me, it’s always been like that. So, I wanted to put that feeling into a song. One can also see it as a metaphor for a relationship. It’s like that feeling when one's expectations don’t match the reality of the experience of a particular subject. For instance when you think you are in love but when you are actually with that person, you realize that it’s not what you expected. It is more about being in love with the notion of being in love than with the actual reality of the person you are with.
In this digitalized era where consumerism is the norm, and the search for the next-best-thing has almost become a daily ritual, is there anything you are nostalgic of?
I am nostalgic about a lot of things. I miss live music, I miss vinyl as an object, and I miss taking the time to listen to a record from the beginning to the end, experiencing music from an entirely different perspective.
When I was young, I used to save the pocket money from my dad, only to go and spend it to buy an album, and then go home and just immerse myself, appreciating every bit of it. Within our digitalized norms, so much is more accessible and thus less appreciable. So, yes I miss the overall concept of taking the time to do stuff, giving value to the ordinarily sacred.
Do you ever get stuck or lack inspiration? If so, how do you cope and move forward?
Of course, that happens, but I just accept it rather than resist it. This writer’s block thing, I certainly have it, but I don’t let myself be influenced by that.
I don’t give it power. I wait until it goes away because creativity is not a forced state.
How do you define personal success?
Personal success is being able to do what I love. For me, just being able to make music is what makes me happy, what motivates me and prompts me to keep going.
Nowadays being able to keep the flow, stay in the game, and continue to make music is by definition a successful outcome.
Relationships are…
Relationships are hard work (laughs). Love relationships are beautiful when they work.
I think I am at an age that I realize that love is like a garden that you have to take care of, nurture, cultivate. My relationship is what keeps me sane and balanced, In this weird creative world. It is vital to be in the position to go home and have someone to talk with, share moments with, be supported by and remind you of your self-worth.
Best compliment you ever got?
When the song “Back Home” was on BBC Radio 1, for every musician it is a great honor to be on BBC Radio 1. The weird thing was that the DJ Danny Howard, who was playing the song, said afterward that he liked my voice. This was unexpectedly flattering because radio presenters don’t usually comment on a singer's voice.
Another compliment is when after a gig someone would come up to me and say how my songs really speak to them or sum up an aspect of their life or experience they are going through or went through. I remember a guy, in particular, saying to me that a song of mine was the soundtrack of his relationship.
I love that thing when someone relates to something I have written, it is totally gratifying as it reflects the actual purpose that music serves: To connect with others.
If you could work with another creative who would it be?
If I could have written a song with John Lennon, that would have been the ultimate dream.
If you could interview another person who would it be and why?
Right now, I would like to ask Donald Trump if he is really that stupid or if there is some kind of strategy behind all he does, and if so, what that strategy is.
Are there heroes in real life?
A friend of mine takes care of dying people, during their last hours or days of life. I would never be able or strong enough to do that. So I admire and look up to her, and she would definitely be an example of a real-life hero.
I once said to a doctor how unimportant I felt next to him because he was actually doing something that was making a difference, and he replied saying that music can do a bit of what he does, not practically but mentally, emotionally, and soulfully. I don’t know if he said that to make me feel better. Nevertheless, it was great to hear him say that.
If you could choose one song that best describes your music aesthetic which would it be?
It exists, but it’s not out yet…
What do the New Horizons behold for Alex?
My new single “Butterfly” came out on June 21, and there are a few other things that are in the pipeline, but I can’t reveal them yet.
Overall it’s a happy phase, and I look forward to what’s coming next…
www.alexuhlmann.com
CARACOL STUDIO
unSELFIE with Caracol
THE BASSO LINE OF BAR BASSO
Paolo Dell'Elce
Bloc Studios
Joran Briand
F * CKY * u
by Rankin
Andrea Lissoni
9cf96de418140c55f3a5394bab4f4a41
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Zephaniah Ohora
Zephaniah is a Brooklyn based singer and songwriter. Driven by a love of the early american songbook, is an emerging artist continuing the Country & Western tradition. Zephaniah sings and performs his own compositions with The 18 Wheelers, and Honeyfingers. He is also seen around town singing and performing with The Saddle Tramps, and an early Hawaiian music tribute group that performs under the name Zeph & Jonny.
He has had the good fortune to have collaborated on songwriting with New York City luminaries including Jim Campilongo, Jonny Lam, and Roy Williams.
Elizabeth Melody
Contact for hire
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Big Tits Zombie Review
Big Tits Zombie is a 2010 Japanese zombie movie directed by Takao Nakano and starring porn star Sola Aoi. It’s a low-budget affair, as is most Japanese cinema, and it shows. I think I have to put it in the so bad it’s good category. Because that’s how bad it is. Luckily it’s a short movie at 73 minutes. I’m not sure I could have kept watching if it were much longer. I almost gave up but then there was the zombie vagina flamethrower and the movie was suddenly able to hold my attention. Unfortunately but not surprisingly the movie never surpassed that vaginal high point.
Big Tits Zombie [Region 2] (DVD)
Used from: $29.99 USD In Stock
Big Tits Zombie was based on an obscure manga called Kyonyu Doragon (巨乳ドラゴン), which translates as Big Tits Dragon and the movie adaptation was called Kyonyu Doragon: Onsen Zonbi vs Sutorippâ 5 (巨乳ドラゴン 温泉ゾンビVSストリッパー5) which translates as Big Tits Dragon: Hot Springs Zombie Vs. Stripper 5. And that name is basically the plot of the movie. Five strippers fight zombies at a hot springs spa. They don’t all make it but unless this is your first zombie movie you probably could have guessed that.
The first thing I should mention is that there are no large breasted zombies in this movie. At least, none that stood out. The big tits they are referring to belong to the zombie fighting strippers. The name is just a poorly thought out abbreviation of the overly long original title, Big Tits Dragon: Hot Springs Zombie Vs. Stripper 5.
Punctuation isn’t so important when you have zombies
The movie centers around Lena Jodo played by Sola Aoi as she goes to work at a rural strip club. Basically, she is broke after her travels and apparently this is the extent of her opportunities. Big Tits Zombie starts off in the middle of a fight scene with Lena fighting zombies with a chainsaw. The chainsaw stops working and her friend comes to her aid with a samurai sword asking for a 1,000 yen (about $10) for each zombie kill. Then it cuts to a few days earlier and starts to set up the story.
The story is mostly set in the strip club and the nearby hot springs spa. There are a lot of zombies and lots of fighting. The acting isn’t great but the fighting is done fairly well some of the time. The zombie make-up ranges from OK to terrible. The story doesn’t make a lot of sense. The zombies are raised from the dead from the reading of an incantation from the Mexican Book of the Dead. There is a scene at a Japanese cemetery where it can be inferred that the zombies have risen from the dead while not explicitly showing it happening. This, of course, is a bit weird as Japanese people don’t bury their dead. The deceased are cremated and their ashes and a few remaining bones are buried in their family’s plot.
Before the zombies arrive there is a scene in the hotel where these horrible people are engaging in a bit of nyotaimori (eating sushi off a naked woman’s body) and this scene is grotesquely mirrored later when those guests are zombies. I thought that was quite clever. But that was about as good as the film-making got.
You should watch it just to say that you watched it and that there was a zombie vagina flamethrower. Don’t watch it for the nudity as it is minimal and the big tits are not all that big.
Zombie Origins
The zombies are summoned from hell by an incantation read from the Mexican Book of the Dead.
How to kill the zombies
Destroy the brain.
Zombie Terminology
zomBtees
Big Tits Zombie
Posted in Zombie Movie Reviews
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Resident Evil: Extinction Review →
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Creative Materials: Computational Textiles
A multidisciplinary team composed of computer scientists, arts and computer science educators, and learning scientists from the University of Pennsylvania, MIT and Indiana University will research how to encourage roughly 400 youth (ages 10-18) to creatively engage with computational textiles in afterschool and school settings. Computational textiles—textile artifacts that are computationally generated or that contain embedded computers—can capture youths’ pre-existing interests in new media, fashion, and design while supporting learning and creativity in computer science, arts, design, and engineering.Funding: National Science Foundation
Creative Code: Scratch
The MIT Media Laboratory and UCLA develop and study Scratch, a networked and media-rich programming environment designed to enhance the development of technological fluency among children ages 8-18. Scratch adds programmability to the media-rich activities that youngsters are increasingly engaged in at both school and home. Scratch allows youth to be no longer simply consumers of such media but producers as well, creating their own animations, art, and music in the process of learning the basic components of programming, such as conditionals and loops. Scratch is available free of charge at: www.scratch.mit.edu Funding: National Science Foundation
Community Design Studios: Computer Clubhouse
Computer Clubhouse is a network of after-school learning centers for youth from low-income communities. Currently with over 100 sites in 14 countries and over 20,000 youth members, the Computer Clubhouse offers children a place to learn and socialize with the latest media-rich software. We are studying how Clubhouse youth (ages 10-18) become creative designers, act as mentors to each other, and participate in the growing online community. Funding: National Science Foundation and UCLA Community Partnerships
Digital Tween Project: Coming of Age Online
Virtual worlds have become primary meeting spaces for youth of all ages in recent years. This project presents the findings of the first comprehensive study combining surveys, observation, and commentary on tweens’ their interactions around flirting and dating – ‘coming of age online’. Our investigations took place in a virtual world called Whyville.net, which currently has 4.2 million registered players between the ages of 8-18 years. Surveying hundreds of tweens and teens about their online relationships, communications with their parents, and information seeking behaviors regarding flirting and dating, we coupled these responses with case studies of online interactions. Funding: MacArthur Foundation and National Science Foundation.
Digital Tween Project: The World of Whyville
Whyville.net is not only one of the leading virtual worlds geared for youth ages 8-18, but a remarkably popular site where youth can learn the elements of basic science through a variety of online games. Our investigations focused on how tweens learn to p the practicies and norms of to play in virtual worlds two aspects: How do children chose to spend their time at Whyville and how they do they become engaged in science on Whyville? We were particularly interested in two events: the annual outbreak of a virtual epidemic, called Whypox, and related vaccine sales and trades. Our observations captured players’ interactions online and offline in classrooms and afterschool clubs. Funding: National Science Foundation
Classroom Design Studio: Peer Pedagogy
In this project, we analyze a series of ‘learning science by design’ projects over the course of five years. Elementary fourth and fifth grade students worked in teams designing and implementing software that teaches younger students in their school about a specific science topic. Teams were composed of students experienced in the project task and those new to the activity. We observed and analyzed how fourth grade youngsters talked about science, how they prepared their software programs, and their capacity to work collaboratively based on prior participation in the program as third graders. . We compared two classrooms taught by the same teacher differing in one aspect: the composition of experienced and inexperienced members in a team. The third and last phase was to evaluate the long-term impact of learning through design and how students who participated in this project for four years came to understand their own learning experience and performance. Funding: National Science Foundation
Moral Kompass in Digital World
Given the ever-changing face of the Internet and computers, in general, computer and Internet new social and technical problems arise on almost a daily basis, and there is a prevailing mood of uncertainty regarding how to apply rules and standards. What can be legitimately copied and repurposed from the Internet, given the plethora of information is available through the public domain? These issues of fair use, copyright, and intellectual property are not only a challenge to adults but also appear in classrooms, as computers play an increasingly prominent role in children’s education. This set of research studies investigates how children, pre- and in-service teachers, parents, and school administrators judge appropriate uses of the computer and Internet, understand each other’s moral reasoning, and deal with everyday issues involving ethical uses of the computer and Internet that occur on a daily basis in the classroom. Sponsor: UCLA Academic Senate
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The battle of Kapelle
During the previous day - May 15 - the entire prepared defence structure of the province Zeeland had been overrun by the SS like it hadn't been there. That was not so much due to German superiority but more an embarrassing show of incompetance by the Dutch forces in these defences. Even bearing in mind the mitigating circumstances of low moral, due to the capitulation of the main-land army and the sub-standard fitness of these troops - being older reservists, the neglectable resistance that had been put up by the Dutch formations in both the Bath- and Zanddikelines had been a disgrace.
As such the Germans were banging on the gates of Walcheren, positioning two battalions opposite the mainly French defences at the canal in the centre of the peninsula.
Opposing forces
The SS units under SS Oberführer Steiner had halted at the canal through Zuid-Beveland after they had crossed the two defence-lines on the 15th. The 1st Battalion of SS Deutschland deployed in the far north of the canal and the 3rd Battalion on the central sector opposite the so called Postbrug (bridge). the 2nd Battalion defended the southern shore line of the gained side of Zuid-Beveland. The battalions were supported by some batteries of 10,5 cm guns and one battery of 15 cm howitzers. A few supporting units, like engineers and FLAK, were available as well. The total German force was around 2,000 men.
Opposing the Germans was a force of French formations. Along the northern coast from the northern extremity of the canal westwards lay two battalions, anticipating a maritime landing, according Général Durand's perception. On the right flank the third battalion of 271.RI and to the left of that a battalion of 224.RI. Along the canal from north (II/271) to south (I/271), the two remaining battalions of 271.RI, supported by a batallion of 7,5 cm field artillery [I-307.RA] in the central sector and another battalion [II-307.RA] covering the southern end. The northern battalion had its three companies deployed behind the 'Bonzijbrug' and the 'Postbrug'; both bridges were destroyed by Dutch engineers, although still usuable for foot soldiers. The sluice complex near the Bonzijbrug was not destroyed though. The same was applicable to the south end, where the sluice at Hansweert had also been left untouched. It made sense not to destroy these water-works, because of the devastating effects if they would have been blown-up. On the south side the three companies of I/271 were situated between the 'Vlakebrug' and the sluice at Hansweert. The entire central sector of the canal had no crossing save a ferry point that was not guarded. It is unknown whether the French had some standing patrols in this central area, but it seems that had not. It was this very void in the French canal defence that would facilitate German raiders to cross the canal overnight and penetrate well into the French defence area.
Around the village Kapelle - two km behind the heart of the canal defence - were positions of two Dutch companies of III-38.RI and two Dutch artillery battalions of II-17.RA with 12 old 8-staal guns (8,4 cm), twelve 7,5 cm guns and two 10,5 cm guns. Also a battery of (Dutch) 7,5 cm AA and (French) 2,5 cm light AA guns were available. These Dutch units were not to intervene in the defences, which were an all French affaire.
More to the southwest two Dutch battalions guarded the southside of the Zuid-Beveland peninsula. They were quite far away from the battle-zone to be. The same applied for the remnants of 14.GB that had deserted the Bathline.
The commander of the defences was Colonel Guihard, who had his headquarters quite far from the frontline in the city of Goes. The CP of 271.RI [Commandant Périer] was situated at Kapelle and also 68.GRDI - the reconnaissance battalion with two companies of infantry and a MG squadron - was located around the village. All in all quite a force (four battalions), amounting to around 3,000 men and some 24 French artillery pieces as well as the potential support of navy arty. But of this force only about 1,250 (six companies: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th and 7th) were found in first line positions, defending an almost 9 km wide front. Nevertheless the 80m wide canal, of which all bridges had been destroyed, was quite a barrier for the offensive Germans. Crossing it required the appliance of rafts and that would seriously expose the attacking formations.
The battle at the canal
A few German landing-parties had stealthily crossed the canal overnight, making use of the voids between the two French battalions deployed along the canal, and taken some positions to the rear of the French in expectance of their own mainforce to assault. The infiltrates maintained complete silence during the night. The exact number of SS men that had succeeded to cross the canal is unknown. Remarkable is that (again) Lerecouvreaux blamed the Dutch for the fact that these infiltrates managed to cross the canal. He stated that this was due to the poor demolition of the bridges. Indeed two crossings were still accessible [and guarded by the French themselves!], but elsewhere the Germans crossed in small rafts and apparently the French guards along the canal never noticed these crossings. The reason for that was already addresses hereabove.
As said before the Germans had managed to cross and disembark small squads. These groups would later during the day cause plenty of challenges to both Dutch and French forces behind the canal, particularly because the French defence behind the canal knew no flanking defences notwithstanding the about 3 km wide gap between the left and right battalion.
Général de Brigade Deslaurens - commander of 60.DI - had become responsible for the defence of Walcheren, and in the morning of the 16th he had taken over general command from Général de Brigade Durand, with exception of Zeeuws-Vlaanderen [Général Beaufrere]. Deslaurens would soon witness and experience the poor state his troops were in and moreover establish the fact that most of the heavier weapons, such as MG's and mortars, had arrived yet (the convoi carrying those would reach Zeeland at 17 May ...). During the late evening of the 15th the local French top brass had gathered to assess the battlefield situation, and during that meeting all attending senior officers had expressed their inconvenience in respect to the leadership and vision of Général Durand. It had then been decided that Général Deslaurens had to take over command. A situation that must have been inconvenient to Durand, and that - if the command change would have come two days earlier - could have made quite a difference. But on the 16th it was rather late, too late ...
As the map clearly shows, the northern canal extremity was close to Tholen. This makes clear why the held-up defence of Tholen mattered to the French cause. Northwest of the canal one could find the small island Noord-Beveland. Also this - in itself insignificant - island mattered to the defence of the canal and western sector of Zuid-Beveland, as well as for the defence of Walcheren. Therefore a Dutch occupational force had been sent here on the 13th. It was a melting pot of units, all together not much more than three companies, amongst which some units formed from the quite useless Peel-soldiers [units from Noord-Brabant defences]. Although Général Deslaurens had no reason to feel comfortable with his disposition and forces available, he was quite confident that the canal defences could hold out for quite some time.
The Germans concentrated their troops in the north. The reason for this was quite obvious. The inundations set in front of the diagonal Zanddijkline collided with the eastern canal dike in the south. This was also the only location where the defence-line merged with the canal. The widest gap between the canal and the inundations was to the north, and therefore the Germans selected this sector to deploy their main-force, because that sector provided for the room to do so. Their reinforced 1st [Gruppe Witt] and 3rd Battalion [Gruppe Kleinheisterkamp] were deployed against the canal-defences.
The first Allied action was already seen during the night, when French navy Chasseur 41 opened fire with its 7,5 cm gun at some spotted German machinegun nests. Around 0330 hrs all three French Chasseurs [no. 6, 9 and 41] opened fire against German positions east of the canal and emptied their magazines. Hereafter the depleted ammo stock had to be refilled and as such the ships returned to the port of Veere. Chasseur 9 however experienced serious engine trouble and sailed to Flushing where repair would be possible.
During the night the Germans had opened harassing artillery fire on Kapelle and surroundings. Also a series of Luftwaffe ground-attack raids followed in the early morning. The German artillery action was quite modest, due to the limited number of batteries available. These limited artillery actions nevertheless ran off a number of Dutch units (further behind the canal defences) already. The officers again set the wrong example when the staffs of these Dutch units fled to Goes and sucked many men with them, amongst them many of the battery crews of the artillery units southwest of Kapelle. It was another proof of the total lack of value of these units, and more in particular, the lousy attitude of their officers who set bad examples time and again.
The Luftwaffe continued to be very much present and this had considerable numbers of French soldiers flee their positions along the canal too. At around 0700 hrs the German infiltrates started harassing the defenders behind the canal. Shortly after the German artillery, mortars and machineguns opened up. Dutch units were instructed to counter the German infiltrations, but it surprises not that those counter measures were ill prepared and often not even executed.
The French defenders of the canal had requested fire-missions against the sectors where the Germans developed action. Since the French feared the lack of precision of their own artillery, company commanders were ordered to move their units a few hundred meters back from their positions along the canal. A golden opportunity for the Germans to cross the canal undetected and moreover hardly challenged.
Général Deslaurens heard nothing but alarming news all (early) morning long, and as such decided to pay a visit to Colonel Guihard's HQ in Goes. From thereon he quickly moved on to the canal, from where he soon returned and spoke the famous words "il n'y a pas un boche a voir, mais c'est la panique " [there isn't a Kraut in sight, yet it's panic all along]. And indeed, when Deslaurens made this statement at around 1100 hours the entire French occupation of the canal defence in the northern sector gave way. A wild run to safety was the result. At one location close to the Postbrug a squad of French soldiers continued to spray the canal with led, but when the Germans organised a storm-troop at 1300 hrs also this position gave in. Twelve Frenchmen of this brave unit had been killed, by performing their duties until the last moment. With the seizure of the last stronghold the west side of the canal was secured by the Germans.
Although the Germans had not met much of a challenge securing the canal, the 68 GRDI and the meanwhile moved in III/271.RI put up quite a fight in and around the village of Kapelle. In fact the most intensive fight of the entire Zeeland campaign was fought at that time and location. The French initiated a series of counter measures that saw the Recce Battalion as well as 9./271, 10./271 and 11./271 countering German penetrations around Kapelle. A limited number of French soldiers showed that with a little determination much could be achieved. The main-road through Kapelle was defended by the French, and in the streets of this small town very intensive close-quarter fights developed. Both the French and the German artillery assisted their respective units, and both parties made extensive use of handgrenades. The small town suffered badly, and when late in the afternoon the fighting had finally ceased, many houses had been destroyed and streets scattered with debris, military gear and supplies as well as the dead and wounded. The Germans lost about 30 men during these fights of which nine were KIA. The French lost considerably more. Their defence along the canal and in the Kapelle region had demanded no less than 84 KIA, amongst whom at least nine officers, including the chief of staff of 271.RI, Commandant (Major) Pierre Bourgon and two company commanders. The number of WIA is unknown, but must have been considerable.
Meanwhile German engineers had started operating a ferry for the crossing of light and motorized units. Some armoured cars and motorbikes were able to cross at this point at around 1600 hours, and immediately after, these units persued to reach the Sloe soonest. Motorized units of 3./SS.AA managed to reach the Sloe dam as early as the evening of the 16th.
At some locations west of the bitterly defended Kapelle some brief resistance was put up, but at every single point the defence soon crumbled. The Germans developed a huge momentum in their push westwards and time and again just bashed through improvised defences and tangled along to the west. Follow-up forces were instructed to clear up remaining pockets of resistance. The Germans knew that if they could outrun the retreating French and Dutch units to the Sloedam [the only connection between the islands Zuid-Beveland and Walcheren] they would cut off all overtaken troops, and simply round those up. In fact it was a miniature Blitzkrieg !
The majority of Dutch units that had been around Goes had managed to cross the Sloedam or had taken the ferry to Noord-Beveland before the evening fell, but most French units had been cut off. About 700 French (of around 3,500 initially present) managed to escape death or capture. The Luftwaffe harassed every single person that endeavoured to cross the Sloedam. Again Allied fighters were absent. With exception of the 700 men escaping ill fate, the balance of 271.RI was taken prisoner, if not killed. The entire battalion of 224.RI, that had defended the coastline immediately west of the canal, was cut off by the SS 1st Battalion, surrounded and taken POW. Also a company of Dutch railway troops in Goes was caught. The two Dutch battalions that had defended the south of the Zuid-Beveland coast were trapped in the bulge of the island. Their surrender was only a matter of time. About 3,000 men had been taken prisoner by the Germans this day, most of them French.
The devastation of the area directly west of the canal was a sad display of the brief but quite intense battle that had raged the area. Although most of the bitter fighting had been seen around Kapelle, also the nearby villages and hamlets like Biezelinge, Schore and Wemeldinge showed much destruction and remnants of a quickly departed army. German artillery and aerial bombing had destroyed much of the residential areas and had also demanded death toll amongst local civilians.
French Rear-Admiral Platon had meanwhile managed to organise the availability of nine assault planes of AB2, a navy squadron of dive bombers that could deliver 500 kg of bombs each. These planes crossed over Zuid-Beveland a number of times and raided the Germans at some points. They couldn't contribute a great deal, but their presence was a small but important moral booster for the men that had up to that point merely witnessed unchallenged Luftwaffe planes overhead. Nontheless, the rest of the time the Luftwaffe was able to roam the skies unchallenged, since also the ground-to-air defences were virtually absent.
Colonel Guihard - who had just managed to escape captivity in Goes - organised a small bridgehead east of the Sloedam with the remains of 68 GRDI and some smaller units. This position was soon spotted by motorised SS units, but since the German main-force was still in transit towards the Sloe no action was taken. Some Allied navy units [the French destroyers FS Cyclone and FS Siroco and the British escort destroyers HMS Wolsey and HMS Vimiera ] started pounding several locations where German troops were suspected. According to German reports no damage or casualties were suffered from these bombardments. It shall however have helped convincing the forward SS units that an immediate assault of the Sloedam was not feasible. The German Brigadier [SS-Oberführer ] Steiner ordered his two forward battalions to prepare for a night assault though ...
Probing the Sloedam defences
Elements of 3./SS.AA had arrived near the Sloe dam in the late evening of the 16th. Besides a few armoured cars and motorbike infantry, they had a platoon of AT guns and some 8 cm mortars. With these means the SS scouts launched an assault across the Sloedam. The French had positioned a few AT guns on both sides of the causeway. on the west and east end. As such the leading German armoured car was an easy pray, hit three times by the light 2,5 cm AT guns, mortally wounding one crew-member and injuring the three others. When the second car was also hit, the Germans retreated. Both cars were salvaged. The French on their part moved back a few hundred yards, leaving behind two of their scarce AT-guns.
Oberführer Steiner went out of his pants when he heard of the event. He had not concurred of the mission and the few armoured cars available to his regiment he considered too precious to simply offer them against an "unprepared " [not battered, he meant] defence. His reaction was over the top and particularly opportunistic. It were exactly these kinds of onorthodox German initiatives that brought the quick German defeat of the Allies in May and June 1940. At all locations where the Germans gained large successes during the Westfeldzug , it had been exactly these unexpected assaults that took defences by surprise and gain unexpected and decisive break-throughs. The same Captain (commander of 3./SS.AA) lectured by Steiner for his bold initiative at the Sloedam, would have been Knighted should his attempt have been successful. The flip side of the boldness medal ...
The Germans used the evening and the night to install a heavy pontoon bridge across the canal east of Kapelle and as such facilitated the transport of four batteries of artillery to the western part of Zuid-Beveland. These batteries, amongst which at least one battery of 15 cm howitzers, were all positioned near Lewedorp, about three km from the entrance of the Sloedam. The same two artillery battalions that had borne the action against the canal, were deployed to attack Walcheren the next morning. Possibly a further one or two batteries more. German sources are unclear about that.
Général Deslaurens on his part had quickly formed a defence around the Sloedam. Again this object seemed relatively easy to defend. The brown water of the Sloe was a considerable barrier to the invaders and as such defences could be concentrated around the Sloedam. This dam was about 800 meters long, 40 meter wide and free of obstacles. The French used Dutch explosives to blow up a section of the railway track on the dam. Deslaurens placed two (incomplete) battalions at the back end of the Sloedam, one in front of the other, in order to create some depth. The entire east-side of the island was defended with improvised detachments along the coastline and the rest of the westbank of the Sloe. The French 89.RA could assist with twelve 7,5 cm guns. The Dutch artillery had virtually ceased to exist, after virtually all their equipment had fallen in German hands or yielded from age. Only the two 10,5 cm field guns had been salvaged and positioned southwest of the Zeeland capital Middelburg. There was only one Dutch unit actually involved in the defence plan, the 14th Reserve Border Infantry Company. It was deployed south of the Sloedam.
At Flushing another Dutch company was found. It was forming a thin shielding defence northeast of the city. The balance of the remaining Dutch army formations was concentrated on the west side of the island. They were basically worthless assets.
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William Palmer testimony Adelaide ERT
As you know, appellant Esther Wrightman has had most of her witness list destroyed by wind developer NextEra and the Ministry of the Environment (the latter supported by taxpayer dollars to fight taxpayers). Engineer William Palmer was allowed to provide “limited” testimony at the hearings in London yesterday.
Here is a lively account from Bob Lewis, excerpt courtesy the website Ontario Wind Resistance.
….They start out trying to reduce him as much as possible. They are ‘concerned’ about the ‘breadth’ of his planned testimony. They talk about his appearance at the Erickson hearing, that he wasn’t qualified as an expert. He pointed out that this was because the point became moot. He wasn’t DISqualified as an expert. This is how the game is played – they make insinuations hoping that the defense won’t be strong enough to save you or that you won’t be able to prove that it didn’t happen. It’s a game invented and tweeked and perfected by lawyers and it gives them good income but is really based on a dual of wits between different teams who have spent years mastering the arcane rules of the game – the law.
Then Nextera’s [lawyer] John Terry [of Torys LLP] makes his offer: We will let him speak without hassling him if you put him on as a presenter – no Expert status. Esther doesn’t have to even think about that. Or we can fight for his Expert status and risk losing him altogether. Or let him testify and they’ll decide later if he’s an expert.
Esther says, ‘He is a professional engineer. He IS an expert. What you suggest would reduce him to just someone like me.’
Qualifications: William Palmer is a professional engineer in the province of Ontario experienced in public safety, risk assessment, and environmental assessment related to electrical power generating systems, including wind turbines and advising and reporting specific to the professional engineering aspects of safeguarding life, health, etc,requiring the application of engineering principles.
He has taken courses at MIT in risk assessment of nuclear facilities. He was chosen by Bruce Power to train their people. Bruce is the largest nuclear power station in the world. He also did the risk assessment on the restart of units 3 and 4. Public safety is an essential part of being a professional engineer.
It would be boring to read, but it was fun to watch – as they tried to suggest he couldn’t be expert in this or that – he just kept coming up with more qualifications and experience. When they asked about accreditation, he took them through accounts of the qualifications for acoustical societies in Canada, US, and Europe – and he’s a member of all of them. Even when they brought up that he had been a member of the board of Wind Concerns Ontario, he countered that he had also been a member of CanWEA five years ago.
Nextera’s Terry had four problems with accepting his expertise:
1. He’s taking expertise in one area and applying it in another
2. He’s learned a lot from self-study to achieve his qualifications (engineering degree from UofT)
3. He’s been an advocate for anti-wind
4. (Missed the last one – then another 30-40 minutes of crap.)
Jumping ahead to summation – Mr. Palmer outlined several reasons that he thinks the Director’s approval should be revoked – and most of these apply to all wind farms – not just this one.
1 – He says there will be harm to humans from shadow flicker generally, and with the turbines along the 402, for a distance of 8km, drivers will sometimes be exposed to five minutes of very distracting continuous shadow flicker and the OPP have already listed driver distraction as a major safety issue.
PANIC!! OBJECTION!! No mention of the OPP in the witness statement. Can’t use that!
So drop that – but Nextera is not required to do anything about shadow flicker. The REA doesn’t deal with it at all. It’s a serious flaw, so the approval should be revoked.
2 – Physical risk to neighbours – You can put a turbine within 60 m of a neighbour’s property. I have photos of ice falling further than that. Burning blades can go 200 m, he said. At mention of the Goderich turbine that burned, they asked if he had been there. He went and took photos. But did you actually see it burning?
One of the lawyers objects – he doesn’t see the Goderich failure in the evidence. Mr. Palmer says it’s in tab… but they can’t find it, and time is fleeting – he says, ok – I’ll say Ontario, not Goderich. Really – this is what these legal eagles are resorting to. And the MOE guy was really offended by Esther’s accusation of nitpicking.
He says that there’s a one in 14 million chance of winning the lottery and a roughly one in a thousand chance of failure so they shouldn’t be allowed to put them that close to a neighbour.
Lawyer asks if anyone has died yet. Nobody. Except for the 33 during construction. There haven’t been more because most of the world’s turbines are older, smaller, and further from homes than these in Ontario.
Nobody’s died yet.
Ontariocitizens are not protected from known events that have happened.
3 – Under REA rules, a leaseholder is allowed to VOID SAFETY RULES, which exposes to danger, family, children, employees, contractors, visitors and they have no voice in the matter.
4 – He quotes Ben Greenhouse saying that IWTs are needed to replace coal, reduce CO2 emissions, etc, and then he goes on to show that it’s not happening and CO2 output is actually up, so the reason for having them is invalid.
5 – MOE claims to be responsive and following the latest science but they fall very short in both instances.
6 – He said wind noise is different from other sound – more disturbing – the cyclical nature of it. At the Denver Noise converence, where MOE had people registered, there were 12 mentions of the special,unique quality of IWT sound. MOE denies any knowledge but even Vesta, a manufacturer, has made reference to it. People have complained about it all over the world and in the US, even 44% of LEASEHOLDERS found the sound bothersome.
Energy Minister peddling ̶…Energy Ministe…Renewables in Europe: not the…Renewables in…
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Mar 8 Georgia From Broods Talks To Us About The Venus Project
The Oh Nine
She’s spent the past few years touring the world as one half of BROODS, but sick of being the only woman in a room full of men, Georgia Nott is launching an all-female endeavour - The Venus Project: Vol 1. From production through to artwork, the entire collaboration has been brought to life by women and celebrates the incredible talent thriving in an otherwise male-dominated industry. For International Women’s Day, we caught up with her to talk touring, feminism, and unapologetic emotion.
How did you first get into writing music and performing?
Writing and playing music has basically been my entire life. I’ve wanted to be a singer since I can remember, I started writing music when I was about 10. They were all super-cheesy cringe songs because I had no life experience as a 10 year old. But as I found myself in my teens, my exposure to new things led to my main form expression being writing music. I found it kept me so aware of my emotions and my evolution as a person.
Can you tell us a bit of your experience touring and recording as BROODS?
We started writing as Broods when I was 18 and touring when I was 19. It was a crazy industry to be thrown into as a teenager. I thought I was old and knew everything but when I look back I am a completely different person now. It has been incredible learning what I’m capable of handling through touring and and documenting our growth through writing. It’s so exciting when you meet fans that feel so connected to what you create. It has been humbling and up lifting all at once. I always dreamed of having fans when I was a kid singing in the car, but to feel what it’s truly like to have complete strangers give you so much genuine love and support is like nothing else.
Was there a moment touring that really stands out?
I remember being on tour with Sam Smith and playing Four Walls with just myself and the piano. After the song the entire venue applauded for way longer than we expected. The energy was so unforgettable and in that moment I felt so home in my career. It was incredible to feel like that. To feel like I belonged on stage in front of those people who weren’t even there to see us. That and accepting album of the year for Evergreen from Mick Fleetwood in 2015 at the VNZMAs. That was insanely surreal!
You’ve mentioned that a lot of the time you would be the only woman in a room full of men, how did you find that?
At times intimidating and also at times it’s made me feel a need compensate for myself. I have been lucky to have supportive men around me since the beginning. I never felt like I was less because I was a women around my team. But at times I did feel isolated. The biggest thing that I found frustrating was the fact that every time I came across a woman on tour or in the studio I would be surprised. I wondered whether that was why people seemed impressed with me. Was it because they didn’t expect it of me? I’ve consciously tried to make a point of being self-assured. I didn’t want to get accustomed to waiting for a mans approval to feel like I belonged.
And this lead you to The Venus Project...
I have wanted to express myself as a feminist for a while but I felt I needed to educate myself and create an opinion that was my own, not a copy of someone else. I wanted to think hard about where my instincts would take me without an excess of outside influences. I decided that this as how I would do it. I would figure out what I wanted to say as my most honest self and then work with women that felt the same responsibility. I would refuse to apologise for my emotion and I would represent a strength that was authentic to me. I wanted to encourage an attitude that women are enough the way they come naturally. We don’t need to compensate for ourselves.
How do we get more female musicians, engineers and producers into the industry?
I think it’s something that women need to be encouraged into, not only by other women, but men too. To show women being leaders and creators rather than feeding this idea that women are singers and icons of physical beauty. We are producers and and engineers and directors and curators, not products.
Who are the women you wanted to collaborate with you on this album?
I got to work with a bunch of awesome women I’ve met since I moved to LA. It’s been great to find so many people I connect with in this creative hub. I worked on the writing and production with my friends Camila Mora and Ceci Gomez. They’re both young genius ladies at the beginning of great careers in music. It was also so cool to work with Ashley Lukashevsky on the visual artwork. I love what she makes and it felt like a perfect collab for this record. The list goes on and on and I couldn’t be prouder to have the women involved around me.
Eventually would you want to open up the Venus Project for other women to collaborate and release music under?
That’s my dream for The Venus Project. To invite more women to express themselves and collaborate together. New faces, new brains, new music, new creations. It would be so incredible to see it reach more and more people.
You chose today (International Women’s Day!) to release the album, what is the significance of this for you?
This album is such a celebration of women’s creativity and expression it just felt to right to give it to the world as a gift on International Women’s Day. That is what International Women’s Day should be; a party for how amazing we are!
The rhetoric around feminism is changing and gaining traction, what do you see as the next big step for women as a collective?
I truly believe we are on our way to some incredible change. Personally I would love to see a woman’s substance be the most celebrated thing about them. I feel that in the past a woman has been seen as something to look at, something to be enjoyed as a physical being, or to compliment the existence of men. We have come so far from those times but I still see women feeling like they have to appear some certain way. I feel like there is still a lot of shame or embarrassment associated with being an outspoken, sexual woman. That woman can’t represent those things AND be humble and intelligent and deep. It doesn’t have to be one or the other. To feel enough and accepted as I come as a woman is something I feel I have to fight for sometimes.
Finally, we are hugeeee Haim fans so have to ask - what was it like to meet them?!
Firstly, me too! They’re are such bad ass women and so good live, I feel inspired every time I watch them.
The Venus Project: Vol 1. is out now and available for purchase here.
Photos by Catie Laffon, illustrations by Ashley Lukashevsky.
Mar 15 Vintage Shopping: Good For Your Wallet, Wardrobe & World
Mar 1 Auckland's Best Break-Up Spots
Jan 22 What 2017 Taught Us
Jul 11 The Bad Stories We Tell Ourselves
Jun 14 How To Beat The Sunday Blues
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Predator, The
Stars: Boyd Holbrook, Trevante Rhodes, Jacob Tremblay, Keegan-Michael Key, Olivia Munn, Sterling K. Brown, Thomas Jane, Alfie Allen, Augusto Aguilera, Jake Busey, Yvonne Strahovski, Brian A. Prince, Mike Dopud, Niall Matter, Javier Lacroix, Francoise Yip
Genre: Horror, Action, Science Fiction
Review: From outer space a starship emerges from the void, hurtling towards Planet Earth. As it heads for a crashlanding in a forest area of North America, an escape pod breaks away, unnoticed in this sparsely populated region; but U.S. soldier Quinn McKenna (Boyd Holbrook) is there, trying to rescue hostages with his unit until that craft bursts from the sky and lands nearby. In the confusion, he calls out for his commanding officer, and finds the pod that appears to be stained with green blood. That belongs to the alien the human authorities call the Predator, not that McKenna is aware of this, as all he knows is that thing is dangerous and is killing his fellow troops. But he has trophies now...
To put it mildly, the reaction to The Predator was not so kind, in fact it made the welcome The Last Jedi received in some quarters look positively warm and friendly. As so many franchises this decade were adding fan service and trying not to piss off the people who would spend the most money on the studio's product, writer and director Shane Black, who had taken a supporting role in the 1987 original, would seem like a crowdpleasing choice, but to that studio's dismay that was assuredly not the case. Tens, maybe hundreds of thousands took to the internet to express their displeasure at the route he had adopted, and his audacity in apparently ignoring the "rules" the villain should follow.
To which more measured responses might point out, if you wanted the old style Predator, there is an '87 movie you can watch for the millionth time right there, and for the rest of us we can enjoy a science fiction-action-horror hybrid that, as Black explained, was based around the war movies of his youth, specifically Robert Aldrich's disreputable favourite The Dirty Dozen. Call this The Dirty Half-Dozen and you would grasp some idea of what he was aiming for, a rough and ready combat effort with salty jokes and a sense of camaraderie among a bunch of unsavoury characters who, naturally, are humanity's best hope for surviving an onslaught from the Predators' adept invasion force.
Those purists might wonder why they were invading at all, since, as pointed out in the dialogue, they were sportsmen seeking trophies before, but just as every hunter lusts after the latest upgrade to their weaponry, so these aliens are seeing humans as the source of DNA improvements. Frankly, the end result here was chaotic, and not necessarily in a good way at times, the consequences of hasty, late in the day rewrites, reshoots and re-edits that did the coherence of the main plot no favours. Yet for all those misgivings it was surprising how well this held together, with only really the final act, which had been ordered to pack in more action, that became monotonous, though even there Black managed to work in some innovations you would not have seen before, like the impromptu suicide pact or the business with the ship's force field.
Before that, Black had been accused of bad taste, suggesting there were a whole load of folks out there who had never seen one of his movies before and were determined to clutch their pearls at what was milder than some of his more dubious jokes from The Last Boy Scout. The bones of contention this time were not sexism, nor even racism - Olivia Munn, Trevante Rhodes and Sterling K. Brown were given plenty to do, all of it relevant, and give as good as they get - but thanks to the inclusion of Thomas Jane as a Tourette's sufferer (as Black is, so this can be regarded as self-awareness) and especially little Jacob Tremblay as the autistic son of Holbrook's soldier on the run. The revelation that the Predators are interested in the kid because he represents the next evolutionary step was a bold move, but he was treated sympathetically throughout, possibly thanks to The Monster Squad's Fred Dekker on co-scripting duties, and it was good to see an autistic character escape the Rain Man clichés. Overall, something of a mess, but a fast paced, muscular and humorous one that was ripe for reassessment within days of its initial release. Music by Henry Jackman.
[The Predator is out now on Digital Download and on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD 28th January, along with Predator 4-Movie Collection.
On the disc are deleted scenes, interview-packed featurettes, a stills gallery and a summary of the previous Predator movies to get you up to speed.]
This review has been viewed 253 time(s).
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Fall Girl
Toni Jordan
Text Publishing 2010
Following a successful debut novel with a second one can be daunting for a writer. With Fall Girl, Toni Jordan has come up with a worthy, well-crafted follow-up to Addition, showing that she has it in her to keep on entertaining us.
Fall Girl is different from Additions in almost every aspect. It explores that part of a young woman’s life in which she is confronted with perhaps her greatest challenges and probably her greatest opportunity for radical change. Della, who narrates the story, has been brought up from before she was six, as part of the extended family team, to lead the life of a grifter – taking money from people who don’t deserve it because they made no effort to attain it (unless dishonestly) or because they are too stupid to hold on to it. Her ‘mark’ for the bulk of the book fits both criteria. Or does he?
Toni Jordan has an eye for the ludicrous and in this book it is epitomised by Timothy, Della’s would-be boyfriend. His ineptness and stupidity play a role in Della’s unravelling and she should, perhaps, thank him for it. The one who acts the clown, after all, is often the wise person.
Toni Jordan presents us with what at first appears to be a simple tale of subterfuge, smoke and mirrors, good and evil. But as the reader is enticed from page to page and chapter to chapter, ostensibly to learn the truth behind the masks and façades, s/he becomes engrossed in Della’s mental and emotional ebbs and flows, certainties and doubts and her gradually deeper self-examination.
Della is really the only character we care about, the others more or less forming part of her environment. This could be seen as a fault in the novel (lack of development of any other than the central character) but actually made it easier for me to follow and enjoy the story (I often have difficulty keeping up with too many characters whom I am asked to care about). What we do learn about the other characters, all relates to the impact they have on Della.
It is also possible to read Fall Girl purely as a jolly good romp through the setting up and execution of a sting, with a potential romance running alongside it. That is one of Toni Jordan’s strengths as a writer, which she also demonstrated in Addition – read it superficially or allow yourself to become engrossed in the all-too-human concerns of the central character. And the central characters in both books are well observed and real; it is hard not to see in these women something of ourselves or someone we know.
Toni Jordan has a wicked sense of humour and knows how to tell a good story and to tell it well. In Fall Girl she throws in enough tension, crazy situations, sex and romance to satisfy anyone. And it all works wonderfully at many levels.
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Girl With the Dragon Tattoo: A Swedish Harry Potter
February 13, 2009 Stefan Hedmark Leave a comment
This adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s best-selling crime novel became one of the most talked-about cinematic events in Sweden of past years. It is somewhat akin to a Swedish equivalent of a Harry Potter flick. A grand story and a great many characters have been boiled down into a script; the Swedish acting elite appear in small roles, just as their British colleagues do in the Harry Potter films. What we have here is a protracted but solidly executed high-concept film.
During the Christmas holiday, the famous investigative reporter Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) is contacted by Dirch Frode (Ingvar Hirdwall) who works as an attorney for Henrik Vanger (Sven-Bertil Taube), a wealthy industrial tycoon of the old order. Mikael is talked into having a little chat with Vanger in the small community of Hedeby; it turns out that several members of the Vanger clan, including Henrik, are living in separate houses on a small island there. Vanger has a special job for Mikael. Forty years ago, his niece Harriet disappeared from the island and Henrik firmly believes that she was murdered – most likely by a relative. He wants to find out what really happened; Mikael agrees to do it, moves temporarily to the island and tells Henrik’s kins that he’s writing a biography of the Vanger family.
The deeper he digs into the disappearance case the more horrifying secrets from the family history are unearthed. He gets a lot of help from his newly hired assistant, Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace), a brilliant but socially awkward (to say the least) hacker.
Barrage of Swedish stars
When first hearing that Nyqvist had been cast as Blomkvist, I was skeptical. He has little in common with the character as described in the book, but the writers toned down the qualities that risk making Larsson’s alter ego look silly; this incarnation of Blomkvist is not seduced by every woman he meets and has a slightly less macho attitude, which suits Nyqvist and his laidback approach well. Rapace is perfect as Salander; vulnerable yet dangerous and wise from the cruel experiences that marked her for life. Also fascinating for anyone who’s Swedish to see this barrage of stars cast down to the smallest role… even though Lena Endre’s character vanishes a little too quickly considering the important role she plays in the books. I suppose it came out of necessity; the writers have made good choices in the transfer from novel to film, and the movie is probably even more exciting to anyone who hasn’t read the book.
Still, about that final half hour, I’m conflicted; the movie feels complete enough and yet it continues with one epilogue after the other. However, all these plot lines need to be finished. There are several sequences where the dramatic music score becomes a bit overbearing, but director Niels Arden Oplev reinforces the spectacular aspects of the novel and piques one’s interest regarding the fate of Harriet Vanger.
The best part of the novel is the mystery of the disappearance, an intriguing ingredient the two other books can’t quite match. I suppose the subsequent films will have the same problem, but on the other hand that leaves room to focus on the character of Lisbeth. The baton goes to director Daniel Alfredson and I bet it is in safe hands.
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo 2009-Sweden-Denmark-Germany. 152 min. Color. Widescreen. Produced by Søren Staermose. Directed by Niels Arden Oplev. Screenplay: Niels Arden Oplev, Rasmus Heisterberg, Nicolaj Arcel. Novel: Stieg Larsson. Cast: Michael Nyqvist (Mikael Blomkvist), Noomi Rapace (Lisbeth Salander), Lena Endre (Erika Berger), Sven-Bertil Taube (Henrik Vanger), Peter Haber, Peter Andersson, Marika Lagercrantz… Ingvar Hirdwall, Björn Granath, Ewa Fröling, David Dencik, Stefan Sauk, Fredrik Ohlsson, Jacob Ericksson, Gunnel Lindblom, Reuben Sallmander, Alexandra Pascalidou.
Trivia: Original title: Män som hatar kvinnor. Later shown with its sequels on TV as a series, complete with extended material. Followed by two sequels, starting with The Girl Who Played With Fire (2009). Remade in the U.S. as The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2011).
BAFTA: Best Foreign Language Film.
Last word: “[Shooting the rape scenes] was awful. It was very tough. The actors got hurt and bruised. Noomi had nightmares. The crew was filled with discomfort. I felt like a sadistic warlord making them do this stuff. But I knew I had to drive it home. We decided to shoot it as close to the real thing as possible. You get into a lot of uncomfortable situations, like the part where Noomi was tied down to the bed and he pulls down her pants. I was filming it reassuring her saying, ‘everything between your legs will be in shadow, and you won’t be able to see anything on screen.’ But her fellow colleagues and actors could see everything. You have a lot of uncomfortable situations you have to deal with and solve.” (Arden Oplev, Word & Film)
Michael NyqvistNoomi RapaceThriller
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Home /How People Used to Download Games From the Radio
TechnologyNovember 8, 2018
How People Used to Download Games From the Radio
It’s a Monday night in Bristol in July 1983. Your parents are downstairs watching Coronation Street while you skulk in your bedroom under the pretence of doing homework. In reality, you’re hunched over your cassette recorder, fingers hovering over the buttons in feverish anticipation. A quiver of excitement runs through you as a voice from the radio announces: “and now the moment you’ve all been waiting for…” There’s a satisfying clunk as you press down on play and record simultaneously, and moments later the room is filled with strange metallic squawks and crackles. “SCREEEEEEEEEEE…”
You’re listening to the Datarama show on Radio West and partaking in the UK’s first attempt to send a computer program over local radio. Joe Tozer, who co-hosted the show, recalls how it all began: “I think it was just one of those ‘ping!’ moments when you realise that the home computer program is just audio on a cassette, so why not transmit it over air? It just seemed a cool idea.”
Sinclair Spectrum
Sinclair Spectrum loading sounds (these are the sounds that were broadcast over radio)
Joe was an early adopter of home computing, having programmed ‘6502 Tangerine’, ZX80 and BBC computers since around 1979, and had been working at Bristol-based Radio West since 1981. “The station was very interested in its early days about providing niche content for ‘off peak’ broadcast”, says Joe, “and along with Tim Lyons, the Chief Engineer, I proposed a weekly home computing show, with the unique feature of transmitting programs ‘live’ from the cassette storage used at the time”. Datarama was born, but it wasn’t until July 1983 and the fourth episode of the show that the hosts finally received clearance from the Independent Broadcasting Authority to transmit computer data.
The transmitted image of Ladd, left, and the real Cheryl Ladd, right.
So what program did Joe and Tim choose to transmit during this landmark broadcast? Charmingly, they plumped for a photograph of Charlie’s Angels star Cheryl Ladd taken from a 1975 edition of the Evening Standard. Joe clearly remembers the moment that Cheryl’s face was beamed across the West Country: “On the night it was quite exciting. I’d written the Cheryl Ladd graphic code myself, as it was small and could be easily coded for both the BBC and ZX81 Micros, and it seemed really amazing to have images being transmitted over the radio. I think we’d done a couple of unannounced test transmissions during closedown earlier in the week as proof of concept, and surprisingly found AM worked better than FM. On the night the recorded program went out it all worked, and there she was on the screen — Cheryl Ladd in glorious 40×80 pixel Teletext-style black and white.”
Amazingly, sending the program was as simple as pressing play at radio station: “to be honest it was all pretty straightforward,” says Joe. “The data rates on cassette at the time were so low, maybe a few hundred bits per second, it just worked.” The listeners loved it, and pretty soon Joe and Tim were transmitting all kinds of programs that they’d written for the show, including minigames and an application that translated keyboard inputs into Morse code. Initially they just sent programs for the BBC Micro and ZX81, but later on they expanded this to include Commodores, Dragons, FORTH-based micros and “pretty much anything that was around at the time”.
Unbeknown to Tim and Joe, a few miles up the road in Worcester a man by the name of Simon N. Goodwin was also experimenting in transmitting computer programs over the airwaves. Simon had been writing games and articles for home computing magazines since 1979, and in 1983 his Spectrum game Gold Mine had just gone into the All Formats Top 20. He was also the co-presenter of the Computer Club show on Radio Wyvern, and in December 1983 he programmed an animated ‘Christmas card’ in BASIC to be sent out to the listeners.
The card was sent out in two versions, one for the Sinclair Spectrum and one for the Tandy TRS-80, both complete with music and prancing reindeer. But could the listeners download it? “It worked for some people”, says Simon, “but not everyone who tried was successful, especially the TRS-80 version, which was a relatively error-prone format (though a third of the speed of the ZX version). One person managed to read the TRS-80 version on a Nascom, a very different (British, bare board) system which was popular in the UK at the end of the 1970s, but that took some quite ingenious machine-code programming.” Unlike Joe and Tim, Simon found that, as would be expected from the higher bandwidth, listeners were more successful at downloading on FM rather than AM.
A Tandy TRS-80
Simon came up with the idea for transmitting his Christmas card after reading an article in Personal Computer World earlier that year about a Dutch station broadcasting the ASCII text of programs. However, it turns out that the Dutch were transmitting computer programs a lot earlier than 1983: the domestic radio show Hobbyscope (or Hobbyscoop to give it its Dutch name) was sending code over the airwaves as far back as 1980.
Indeed, Hobbyscoop transmitted programs throughout the 1980s, and the makers of the show even came up with a way to avoid broadcasting a program multiple times in different versions for each different home computer. The solution was the BASICODE format, which could be downloaded onto any home computer running BASIC, as long as the user ran a translation program first.
The UK and the Netherlands weren’t the only countries enjoying the excitement of downloading programs from the radio: in fact, the craze took off all over Europe. In Finland, Kai R. Lehtonen was inspired by the Dutch broadcasts and attempted to do something similar on the YLE public radio station, and in 1985 his team succeeded in broadcasting a program that was downloaded 600 km away from the station.
Perhaps some of the most enthusiastic early downloaders were to be found in Serbia, then a part of Yugoslavia. Zoran Modli, who hosted the Ventilator 202 show on Radio Belgrade, was approached by the editor of the Galaksija computer magazine with idea of sending a Spectrum program over the airwaves. Zoran remembers broadcasting for the first time: “Both me and my radio team were very excited. I had to inform the Radio Belgrade technicians who were on duty at remote radio transmitters that for the next few minutes only hissing and growling would be heard. Lay people were confused and wondered, ‘What is this lunatic doing?’ But those who listened and understood excitedly contacted us by telephone to say they had successfully loaded the program onto their computers!”
Zoran Modli with two members of his broadcasting team in 1984 (photo courtesy of Zoran Modli).
From 1983 to 1986 Zoran broadcasted about 150 computer programs, most of which were sent in by his dedicated and enthusiastic listeners. They included programs for mathematical calculations, short educational programs, mini-encyclopaedias, simple games and even a flight simulator. The broadcasts became so popular that National TV Belgrade even featured them on their ‘Sunday Afternoon’ program, so every weekend for two months viewers were treated to an ear-splitting din of screeching ones and zeroes.
In the end though, it was floppy disks that halted the craze for transmitting data through the radio. With the arrival of the 16-bit home computers in the late ’80s, audio cassette storage became a thing of the past, and it wasn’t until the widespread arrival of Wi-Fi in the 21st century that wireless downloading became possible again. Even if audio cassettes were to somehow re-emerge as a storage device, modern games are so gargantuan that it would take considerably longer than a couple of minutes to broadcast them.
As Codemasters employee Simon N. Goodwin concludes: “If we were to try to broadcast GRID for PS3, Windows or Xbox 360 in TRS-80 cassette format it would take around four years and require a C-1,957,341 cassette (let’s get a ‘C two million’ to be on the safe side) to record the results.” So next time you get frustrated at how sluggishly a game is downloading, just be thankful you’re not taping it from the radio.
If you’d like to learn more, Simon N. Goodwin writes about the pre-PC days of UK home computing here.
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Tag kurt nauck
“Pre-Ledger” Starr / Gennett Recording Dates and Locations (1915 – 1922)
December 7, 2017 December 8, 2017 mainspring001
“Pre-Ledger” Starr / Gennett Recording Dates and Locations
Much of the Starr Piano Company’s original documentation of Gennett records has survived, beginning with some 1921 sessions. What happened to the earlier materials is anyone’s guess; they’ve been missing for as long as anyone can remember.
In the absence of primary-source documentation, discographers have naturally guessed at recording dates and locations for the “pre-ledger” masters — some quite accurately, many others not even in the ballpark. Good or bad, those guesses have become entrenched as “fact,” and the picture gets increasingly muddled as others take a stab at things. Happily, it’s not a particularly difficult situation to sort out, given the amount of solid information on these records that exists in Mainspring’s archives.
This article is based upon the extensive data relating to Gennett’s 1915–1922 output that was compiled by members of the Record Research group (Walter C. Allen, Len Kunstadt, Carl Kendziora, et al.) and other trusted sources over many decades. The information that appears here comes from their first-hand inspection of the original records, coupled with corollary evidence gathered from release lists and trade-paper reports of the period, plus the occasional dated test pressing. Anecdotal accounts and most published discographies were disregarded, a wise decision that eliminated much unnecessary confusion and misinformation from the outset.
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VERTICAL-CUT MASTER SERIES
(Left) The original Starr label design. Masters on this issue were recorded in the Richmond studio by Weber’s Prize Band, a Cincinnati group. (Right) A late Starr issue, redesigned to match the new Gennett label, using masters from the New York studio. (From American Record Labels and Companies: An Encyclopedia, 1891–1943, by Allan Sutton & Kurt Nauck)
100 SERIES – New York (c. Mid 1915 – Early 1916)
The earliest known Starr master series, from a New York studio. This was not necessarily Gennett’s own facility. Harry Gennett reported in October 1915 that a studio had not yet been opened in Richmond, and he made no reference to a New York studio, which probably explains the series’ abrupt abandonment in early 1916, when Gennett opened his own studio. (Gennett is known to have purchased the Phono-Cut masters, raising the possibility that these recordings might have been made on old Boston Talking Machine Company equipment — an intriguing area for future research.) Popular-song titles in the series are early 1915 – early 1916 publications. The highest numbers identified thus far are 172 (by Byron G. Harlan) and 173 (by an unidentified vocalist), both of which survive as test pressings. An unrelated lateral-cut 100 series was used in the early 1920s for some personal recordings.)
5000 SERIES – New York and Richmond, Indiana
(May 1916 – Early 1917)
Introduction of this series corresponds to the opening of Starr Piano’s Richmond studio in early 1916 and the expansion of its recording operation under the management of R. C. Mayer. It marks the first appearance of Richmond-studio masters, which are intermixed with New York recordings. The first (#5000, “Smiles and Caresses,” by the Starr Trio) exists as a test pressing, dated May 16, 1916. The lower-numbered masters were recorded in Richmond by regional artists, including John W. Dodd and Elizabeth Schiller (Indianapolis); John C. Weber’s Prize Band of America (Cincinnati); and Harry Maxwell, Roy Parks, and Harry Frankel (Richmond). Frankel (a.k.a. “Singin’ Sam” in later years) was a Starr Piano Company employee at the time, and he continued to be associated with the company in various roles into the 1930s.
At approximately #5180, the usual New York studio free-lancers begin to appear in this series (including Vernon Dalhart, Arthur Collins, Byron G. Harlan, and Sybil Sanderson Fagan), along with the Richmond-studio artists. The highest-numbered masters for which data is confirmed feature late-1916 song titles. The 5000s were replaced by a new 1000 series in early 1917.
(Left) The first Gennett label design, introduced in October 1917. The Gennett and Starr labels were produced simultaneously for a short time before the latter was discontinued. (Right) The familiar scroll design initially was reserved exclusively for the expensive Gennett Art Tone series. (ARLAC)
1000 SERIES – New York (Mid-1917 – Late 1918)
The Richmond studio appears to have been mothballed at this point. Aside from Strickland Gillilan and Weber’s Prize Band (who are known to have performed in New York), the Richmond-studio artists no longer appear in this series. (Commercial recording resumed in Richmond in the summer of 1921; see Special and 11000 series, below.) The first confirmed example of a Starr master being used on a client label appears in this series, on the anomalous Rishell 1509 (a label normally supplied by Pathé, Rex, and Okeh).
The earliest 1000-series masters were released in July 1917, suggesting they were recorded from late April to late May. The Gennett label was introduced in October 1917 and soon supplanted Starr, but the original Starr master series remained in use. Popular-song titles on the highest-numbered 1000-series masters are late 1918 publications, which corresponds with the beginning of Gennett’s conversion to the lateral cut.
PHONO-CUT MASTERS (~ 500 – 1000 Range) – New York (1911 – 1912)
Phono-Cut masters from the defunct Boston Talking Machine Company were reissued on Starr’s early vertical-cut Remington discs. Confirmed examples range from #634 (“Maritana Overture” by Fred Hager’s Band, which was credited to the Colonial Military Band on the original Phono-Cut labels) to #1081 (Massenet’s “Elegie,” by violinist Sylvain Noack). Thus far, we’ve received no reports from reliable sources of Phono-Cut masters having appeared on the Starr label. Starr test pressings exist of several 500-series vertical-cut masters, which are suspected Phono-Cut recordings but thus far have not been confirmed as such.
EARLY LATERAL-CUT MASTER SERIES
(Left) An early lateral-cut pressing from imported Edison Bell masters. (Right) The second incarnation of Starr’s Remington label (apparently a custom product) used masters from a lateral-cut 100 series that was used briefly for personal recordings. The earlier, vertical-cut Remington label used some old Phono-Cut masters. (ARLAC)
6000 / 6500 and 7000 SERIES – New York (1919 – 1922)
Gennett’s first lateral-cut master series (6000s and 7000s for 10”, 6500s for 12”), allocated to the New York studio. The earliest were listed in March 1919 for April release, suggesting January–February 1919 (or perhaps very late 1918) as the start of lateral recording.
Gennett ledgers survive for the New York masters beginning with # 7736, which was received in Richmond on January 25, 1922. This series remained in use by Gennett’s New York studio through March 1, 1926, ending at #9999. At that point, a new series was begun at X-1. The X- prefix was changed to GEX- in the autumn of 1926 (with occasional variations, including BEX-, EX-, HAX-, and WEX- that are beyond the scope of this article).
SPECIAL SERIES — Richmond (1921)
A test series, made in conjunction with the reopening of Gennett’s Richmond studio for commercial recording. Confirmed master numbers range from 1 (July 21, 1921) through 16 (September 3, 1921) and include recordings by Harry Gennett, Fred Gennett Jr., Fred G. Mayer, and Harry Frankel, all Starr Piano Company employees. None are known to have been issued, but a test pressing exists of Fred Gennett Jr’s “Dickey Bean Soup” (which was not assigned a master number).
11000 SERIES — Richmond (From August 1921)
Commercial recording resumed in Richmond on August 20, 1921, at which time a separate 11000 master series was allocated to the studio. The first commercial session was by Homer Rodeheaver and Virginia Asher on August 20, followed on August 24 by the omnipresent Harry Frankel. Gennett documentation survives for all 11000-series masters, although the earliest is rather sketchy.
The Richmond master series (which also covered recordings made in Chicago, Cincinnati, Birmingham, the Grand Canyon, and other locations) continued unbroken to #19997, in January 1939, by which time the company was producing mainly sound-effects and special-use recordings.
Other documented Richmond master series include the K- prefixed series of 1924 (containing a mixture of Ku Klux Klan material; tests for the Vaughan label,and unissued private recordings by Fred Gennett Jr. and other locals); an 11B00 series (not a mistaken entry for 11800) allocated to Vaughan in the mid-1920s; and a 61000 series used for radio transcriptions and other special-use recordings beginning in 1934.
100 SERIES — Richmond (Early 1920s)
Not to be confused with the earlier vertical-cut 100s, this series was used briefly for personal recordings.
85000 CONTROL SERIES — Assigned in Richmond (Mid 1920s)
Not true master numbers, these were “control” numbers assigned to masters obtained from outside sources, including Rodeheaver Laboratories, Marsh Laboratories, and the New York Recording Laboratories. Data on these recordings does not appear in the surviving Gennett documentation.
LICENSED FOREIGN MASTERS (Early 1920s)
Gennett leased foreign masters from Edison Bell in the early 1920s, including recordings by Billy Whitlock, Pamby Dick, Olly Oakley, H.M. Scots Guard Band, and other popular British artists. Most recordings are from the mid-to-late ‘teens, with master numbers ranging from the 100s to 1700s (with a few outliers that might be from other sources), and they usually show an “X” in the wax. Data on these recordings does not appear in the surviving Gennett documentation.
U-S Everlasting Cylinder Artists (1911)
October 10, 2014 October 16, 2014 mainspring001
From various 1911 issues of The Talking Machine World:
Clockwise, from top: Frank C. Stanley, Henry Burr, Arthur Collins, Charles D’Almaine, Ada Jones, Byron G. Harlan, Fred Van Eps, Vess L. Ossman. Stanley died just a few months before this ad appeared, but most of his records remained in the catalog until U-S Phonograph’s end.
This ad contains the only photo we’ve seen of the elusive Joe Brown, who also recorded for several of the smaller disc companies (including International Record, as early as 1906).
For details on all U-S Everlasting recordings, be sure to check out Indestructible and U-S Everlasting Cylinders: An Illustrated History and Cylinderography (Kurt Nauck & Allan Sutton), available from Mainspring Press and many major libraries. .
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The original performer of bizarre rock 'n roll
By John Hinds
The Crimson White, July 17, 1974
For a man who enjoys large halls to small ones and bizarre audiences to conservative ones, last Sunday night [1] could have been a real letdown. But as I watched Frank Zappa and his Mothers on stage and then interviewed him between shows, it seemed to me that he was having a good time.
“Some of my best audiences are in the South," said Zappa. “I have said it before and I’ll say publicly once again. This current tour has been the best one that the Mothers have ever done."
“I thought that the audience was very receptive to what we were doing on stage and I was very happy with the way the first show went," Zappa said in an interview following the first show.
From the opening notes of “Cosmik Debris,” to the closing beats of “Join The March” and “Eat My Starch,” Zappa and his band threw tempos and keys around in a fantastic kaleidoscope that never ceased going in directions we’d forgotten had directions.
Zappa was in complete control as he directed his group with movements that were reminiscent of 200 Motels or Eugene Ormandy, and the response was executed with precision.
Zappa’s humor was evident throughout the evening as he delivered comments about the size and shape of his percussion player’s, Ruth’s, feet. Later in the first show he directed the group in a song called “Montana” which is about growing fields of dental floss in that state.
As funny as Zappa was on stage, he was in even better spirits for the interview. “l knew they had a lot of strange things in Alabama, but l never saw fresh okra until I arrived backstage tonight and the strangest part about it was I never imagined that fresh okra had snot in it,” Zappa said.
Probably the biggest complaint that Zappa received from the interviewers after the first show was the fact that he didn’t do enough old numbers. Zappa had a quick reply for that. He said “I’m not a jukebox for the audience; things happen spontaneously on stage. We have an idea of what we are going to do before we come out on the stage but things just develop when we are up there and each song has a ventilator. So the older songs just didn’t develop during the first show.”
True to his word that each show is totally different from the one before, Zappa changed directions in the second concert in Morgan Hall Sunday and did older tunes.
The Mothers laid dawn everything from “In The Pygmy Twilight,” to “Wowie Zowie”, and from “How Could I Be Such A Fool,” to “Who Needs The Peace Corps.” Once again the versatility and excellence in musical mastery shone through as the group’s lead singer Napoleon delivered his lines with precision and laid down some truly outstanding licks on me flute and sax.
One of the added surprises of the evening came during the second show, when Zappa brought his traveling minister out on stage in preach the “true religion”. The true religion turned out to be a raffle of Zappa’s shirt and he was almost talked out of his pants.
The second super attraction of the evening also came in the second show when one of UA’s most beautiful coeds, Lynelle Braehler, dressed in hotpants, a matching top and go-go boots, accompanied by the UPC frog, presented Zappa and the Mothers with ah anniversary cake in the shape of a male sex gland.
One couldn’t do a valid review of the Zappa concert without mentioning the warmup singer, Tom Waits, a native San Diegan got the crowd ready for Zappa with blues that would have made old Muddy Waters proud of the fella. Waits is headed for a bright future and hopefully he will be given the needed breaks.
1. Frank Zappa was in University Of Alabama in July 14, 1974. No recordings and setlists of these two shows are known. The band was FZ, Napoleon Murphy Brock, Tom Fowler, George Duke, Ruth Underwood, Chester Thompson. (FZshows)
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Click to copyhttps://apnews.com/028df979809344f685e5e88404ebca8d
UK prime minister seeks to stem Cabinet exodus over Brexit
By JILL LAWLESSJuly 10, 2018
Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May during the second day of Western Balkans Summit at Lancaster House in London, Tuesday July 10, 2018. The summit in London aims to strengthen security co-operation, increase economic stability and encourage political co-operation between the European nations. (Leon Neal/Pool via AP)
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Theresa May insisted Tuesday that her plan to retain close ties with the European Union “absolutely keeps faith” with voters’ decision to leave the bloc, as she tried to restore government unity after the resignations of two top ministers over Brexit.
May has spent the past few days fighting for her political life as first Brexit Secretary David Davis and then Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson quit, saying May’s plans for future relations with the European Union did not live up to their idea of Brexit. On Tuesday, two more lawmakers followed them out the door.
Johnson sent an incendiary resignation letter on Monday accusing May of killing “the Brexit dream” and flying “white flags” of surrender in negotiations with the European Union.
May, who has tried to keep calm and carry on, replaced Johnson with a loyalist, former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, and gave Davis’ job to Dominic Raab in a bid to shore up her authority.
She held a meeting of her new Cabinet on Tuesday before attending a Western Balkans summit in London with other European leaders.
May’s plan seeks to keep the U.K. and the EU in a free-trade zone for goods, and commits Britain to maintaining the same rules as the bloc for goods and agricultural products.
At a news conference on Tuesday, May maintained her plan “absolutely keeps faith with the vote of the British people,” ending free movement of people from the EU, taking Britain out of European court jurisdiction and saving the “vast sums of money” that Britain pays as a member.
“But we will do this in a way which will be a smooth and orderly Brexit, a Brexit that protects jobs, protects livelihoods and also meets our commitment to no hard border” between the U.K.’s Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland, she said.
Many pro-Brexit lawmakers are furious at a plan they say will stop Britain forging an independent economic course. Two Conservative lawmakers, Maria Caulfield and Ben Bradley, quit as vice-chairs of the party on Tuesday over opposition to May’s proposals. Bradley called on May to “deliver Brexit in spirit as well as in name.”
But senior pro-Brexit Cabinet ministers said they supported May and would not resign. Asked if he was planning to quit, environment Secretary Michael Gove said “absolutely not.”
Conservative lawmaker Michael Fallon, an ally of May, dismissed Johnson’s “Brexit dream” rallying cry.
“Dreaming is good, probably for all of us, but we have to deal with the real world,” he said.
Under Conservative Party rules, a confidence vote in a leader can be triggered if 15 percent of Conservative lawmakers — currently 48 — write a letter requesting one.
Fallon warned Conservative rebels that a challenge to May’s leadership is “the last thing we need.”
Two years after Britain voted 52 percent to 48 percent to leave the European Union, May is trying to find a middle way between two starkly differing views — within her party and the country — of the U.K.’s relationship with Europe.
Pro-Europeans want to retain close economic ties with the bloc and its market of 500 million people, while some Brexit supporters want a clean break to make it possible to strike new trade deals around the world.
The British government is due to publish a detailed version of its plans on Thursday. The EU says it will respond once it has seen the details.
“It’s a good thing that we have proposals on the table,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at the Balkans summit in London. She said the 27 other EU nations would “table a common response to those proposals.”
The resignations rocked May in a week that includes a NATO summit starting Wednesday and a U.K. visit by U.S. President Donald Trump beginning Thursday.
The trans-Atlantic relationship has had some awkward moments since Trump’s election. He has criticized May over her response to terrorism and approach to Brexit, and infuriated many in Britain when he retweeted a far-right group.
Asked Tuesday whether May should be replaced as prime minister, Trump said it was “up to the people, not up to me.”
“I get along with her very well, I have a very good relationship,” he said.
He was more enthusiastic about Johnson, calling him “a friend of mine.”
“He’s been very, very nice to me, very supportive. Maybe I’ll speak to him when I get over there,” Trump said.
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Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald back for 2019, re-signs on 1-year deal
By Arizona Sports | January 23, 2019 at 7:38 am
UPDATED: January 24, 2019 at 8:41 am
Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald (11) leaves the field after an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams, Sunday, Dec. 23, 2018, in Glendale, Ariz. The Rams won 31-9. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald will return for the 2019 season after he reached a one-year deal with the team, it was announced Wednesday.
“A fire burned inside of me my rookie year…a desire, over all else, to be great. To excel on the field. To impact the lives of others off of it,” Fitzgerald wrote in an Instagram post.
“I’m grateful that the fire still burns just as bright today, and that this organization has let me chase that fire for well over a decade. Nothing excites me more than continuing to chase greatness with everyone here on and off the field. Let’s get to work! #YEAR16”
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Fitzgerald’s contract includes an $11 million base salary, all guaranteed, plus $1 million in incentives.
Fitzgerald’s first 15 years, all with the Cardinals, will surely earn him a Hall of Fame nod at the first opportunity.
His 16,279 receiving yards rank second all-time and his 1,303 catches sit third. The receiver needs 23 receptions to pass tight end Tony Gonzalez for second all-time.
Cardinals' Bidwill believes Kingsbury helped quicken Fitzgerald's return
Larry Fitzgerald will take time deciding to return or not next season
Cardinals' Larry Fitzgerald tweets his appreciation for Steve Wilks
Larry Fitzgerald hits hole in one while playing golf with Barack Obama
He is already the franchise leader in receptions, receiving yards, receiving touchdowns, total touchdowns and 100-yard games.
“I’d been talking to him over the last couple of weeks,” Cardinals president Michael Bidwill told Doug & Wolf on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station. “His passion, his drive, his determination — it’s like his rookie year. Last four years, he’s started every game. He seems to get better with age.”
Originally drafted by the Cardinals No. 3 overall in the 2004 NFL Draft out of Pittsburgh, Fitzgerald has made 11 Pro Bowls. In a testament to his longevity among the elite pass-catchers in the league, Fitzgerald led the league in receptions in 2005 and again 11 years later in 2016.
In nine of his first 15 seasons, Fitzgerald reached at least 1,000 yards and recorded triple digits for receptions on five different occasions. That includes a run at ages 32-34 when he caught 109, 107 and 109 balls over three seasons from 2015-17.
Fitzgerald’s last home game in Week 16 featured his first-career passing touchdown, a 32-yard connection to David Johnson. He also became the oldest wideout to ever throw a touchdown pass. That was his 234th career game for Arizona, tying the franchise mark for most games played (K Jim Bakken).
Thank you to Mr. Bidwill for your honesty, support, and friendship (and for lowering the hurdles for your guy lol) https://t.co/UhINlrO7eV
— Larry Fitzgerald (@LarryFitzgerald) January 23, 2019
He enters 2019 with an active streak of 227 consecutive games with a reception.
Fitzgerald’s return comes during a shift in the Cardinals’ coaching staff. Steve Wilks was fired after leading Arizona to 3-13 in 2018 and was replaced by former Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury.
The new head coach spoke highly of Fitzgerald at his introductory press conference on Jan. 9.
“As a coach, what a great role model for me to be able to tell my college players, ‘Hey, this is a guy that does it right all the time on and off the field. The way he handles himself. The way he carries himself,’” Kingsbury said.
Fitzgerald had a salary just under $17 million for the 2018 season.
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ATP Opens Charles G. Bilezikian Greenhouse
June 17, 2019 at 6:41 pm Armenia Tree Project Nonprofit News 0
The late Charles G. Bilezikian’s wife Doreen officially opens the greenhouse in Margahovit Village on June 15
MARGAHOVIT—On June 15, Armenia Tree Project (ATP) opened the Charles G. Bilezikian Greenhouse in Margahovit Village, Lori. Attending the opening ceremony were the Bilezikian family of Boston, ATP Executive Director Jeanmarie Papelian and team, the Deputy Governor of Lori, the Head of Margahovit community, Margahovit school principal and guests.
The greenhouse complex is situated beside the Michael and Virginia Ohanian Center for Environmental Studies, where more than 2,000 students are hosted annually. Features include a 250 square meter experimental greenhouse, a two-story building and ATP’s first outdoor classroom.
The outdoor classroom will advance ATP’s environmental education programs and enable children to increase their practical knowledge of the environment. As a green space for active learning, it creates the opportunity to experience nature up close and personal so that students may value and come to love it. Students will build new skills, try their hands out at gardening, and actively monitor the progress of their work. They will also be able to do research projects and explore the ecosystems and biodiversity they find in their surroundings.
“Our students are ecstatic about this new space! We envision our outdoor trainings leading to the creation of similar green areas in schools where our students and teachers come from. This will greatly contribute to peer-to-peer education in communities,” says Environmental Education Program Manager Kristine Hovsepyan.
The new experimental greenhouse will enable ATP to grow healthier trees for forestry plantings and increase tree survival rates. The greenhouse has the capacity to produce around 30,000 seedlings annually. It is supported by the adjacent building, which includes a laboratory for seed quality testing, a storage room for seeds and plants and a third room for staff. The upstairs floor serves as lodging, where visitors can spend the night and enjoy the magic Lori has to offer.
“ATP was one of Chuck’s favorite non-profits. He would be pleased to know that the greenhouse was built and that it is being dedicated to him. He always appreciated a good landscape. He would have been thrilled to participate in greening a country,” said Doreen Bilezikian, wife of the late Charles G. Bilezikian.
The greenhouse complex was gifted to ATP in memory of Charles G. Bilezikian, who was the son of Armenian immigrants from the Boston area. With his wife Doreen, Charles developed a successful business known as The Christmas Tree Shops. He was a generous philanthropist who loved Armenia and had a special place in his heart for ATP’s mission to use trees to improve the standard of living in Armenia. After his death in 2016, Charles’ wife and sons Gregory and Jeffrey decided to honor his commitment to a green Armenia by sponsoring this project in his memory.
“We are so grateful to the Bilezikian family for funding this project as it will not only create new learning opportunities for our students and help develop Margahovit community, but also enhance the quality of our forests,” says Executive Director Jeanmarie Papelian.
ATP has planted more than 5.7 million trees since its inception in 1994. It is one of the major tree planting programs in the country. In its 25 years, it has successfully established four nurseries, two environmental education centers, and has greened community areas in every province of Armenia as well as in Artsakh. In the process, the organization has provided employment for hundreds of people and provided vital resources to thousands of village residents. For more information visit www.ArmeniaTree.org.
The Bilezikian Family in front of the Charles G. Bilezikian Greenhouse in Margahovit Village
Armenia Tree Project
Armenia Tree Project (ATP) is a non-profit program based in Woburn and Yerevan conducting vitally important environmental projects in Armenia's cities and villages and seeks support in advancing its reforestation mission. Since 1994, ATP has planted and restored more than 5,300,000 trees, and hundreds of jobs have been created for Armenians in seasonal tree-related programs. Visit their website for more info: armeniatree.org.
Latest posts by Armenia Tree Project (see all)
First-Ever International Forestry Summit Heading to Yerevan - July 17, 2019
ATP Opens Charles G. Bilezikian Greenhouse - June 17, 2019
Eco-Tours Are Putting This Small Village in Armenia on the Map - October 12, 2018
Charles G. Bilezikian Greenhouse
Margahovit
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Stiles, Kristine. Concerning Consequences Studies in Art, Destruction, and Trauma. University of Chicago Press, 2016.
Stiles, K., and Peter Selz. Theories and Documents of Contemporary Art: A Sourcebook of Artists’ Writings. University of California Press, 2012.
Stiles, K. Correspondence Course, An Epistolary History of Carolee Schneemann and Her Circle. Duke University Press, 2010.
Stiles, K. States of Mind: Dan & Lia Perjovschi. Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, 2007.
Stiles, K. Chris Burden. New York: Zwirner & Wirth Gallery, 2006.
Stiles, K. AmaLia Perjovschi. Soros Foundation, 1996.
Stiles, K. Dan Perjovschi’s Postcards From America. Pont La Vue Press, 1995.
Stiles, K. Questions. KronOscope Press, 1982.
Collier, J. H. Introduction. Vol. 30, 2016, pp. 1–2. Scopus, doi:10.1080/02691728.2015.1133392. Full Text
Stiles, K. “'I’m Ready.' Thinking About Artists’ Writings in a Global Context.” Not a Day without a Line: Understanding Artists’ Writings, edited by Helen De Prester, Academia Press, 2013, pp. 177–203.
Stiles, K. “Performance Art.” Oxford Bibliographies in Art History, edited by Thomas DaCosta Kaufmann, Oxford University Press, 2013.
Stiles, K. “Wangechi Mutu’s Family Tree.” Wangechi Mutu: A Fantastic Journey, edited by Trevor Schoonmaker, Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, 2013.
Stiles, K. “Forward.” The Reflexive Photographer, edited by Rosie Miller et al., School of Arts & Media at Salford University, 2013.
Stiles, K. “The Ideal Gifts of Istvan Kantor.” PERMANENT REVOLUTION: The Art of Istvan Kantor, edited by L. Feesey, The Istvan Kantor Collective, 2013.
Stiles, K. “Conversation with William Pope.L.” The Voice of Images, Palazzo Grassi, 2012, pp. 181–93.
Stiles, K. “Peter d’Agostino’s World-Wide-Walks / between earth & sky.” Peter d’Agostino: World-Wide-Walks [Paseos a Nivel Planetario] / between Earth & Sky [Entre La Tierra y El Cielo] / 1973 – 2012, Bizkaia de la UPV/EHU, 2012, pp. 22–34.
Stiles, K. “Comments on my first interview with Gustav Metzger.” Gustav Metzger, Years without Art, 2012, pp. 39–39.
Stiles, K. “Negative Affirmative: San Francisco Bay Area Art, 1974-1981.” Under the Big Black Sun: California Art 1974-1981, edited by Paul Schimmel, Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, 2011, pp. 27–43.
Stiles, K. “Peggy Phelan and Kristine Stiles In Conversation.” Millennium Film Journal, no. 54, 2011, pp. 30–34.
Stiles, K. “INSIDE/OUTSIDE: Balancing Between a Dusthole and Eternity.” Archive, vol. 1, Muzeum Sztuki, Lodz, Poland, 2008.
Stiles, K., and Paul Grobstein. “The Art Historian and the Neurobiologist: A Conversation about Proprioception, the 'I-function,' Body Art, and Story Telling.” Serendip, Bryn Mawr College, Oct. 2005.
Stiles, K. “Remembrance, Resistance, Reconstruction, The Social Value of Lia and Dan Perjovschi’s Art.” Idea, vol. 19, Cluj, Romania, 2005.
Stiles, K. “David Tudor-Alive , Free, and Without Need of Culture (in a special issue, 'Composers Inside Electronics: Music after David Tudor').” Leonardo Music Journal, vol. 14, 2002, pp. 62–63.
Stiles, K. “Review of RoseLee Goldberg’s Laurie Anderson.” Make: The Magazine of Women’S Art, vol. 90, 2001, pp. 90–90.
Stiles, K. “Comisuri: Art Actiunile ca Objecte.” Balkon: Revista De Arta Contemporana, vol. March, no. 2, Timisoara, Romania, 2000, pp. 3–4.
Stiles, K. “Review of Pamela M. Lee’s Object to be Destroyed: The Work of Gordon Matta- Clark.” Caa.Reviews, the Online Reviews Publication of the College Art Association, 2000.
Stiles, K. “Joshua Neustein.” Bomb, vol. 57, [New York], Oct. 1997, pp. 80–81.
Stiles, K. “Debate: Empty Slogan of Self-Representation.” Siksi [Helsinki], vol. Spring, no. 12:1, 1997, pp. 87–90.
Stiles, K. “Art will be…2009-2034.” Duke Alumni Magazine, Duke University, May 2009.
Stiles, K. “Notes on Rudolf Schwarzkogler's Images of Healing.” White Walls: A Magazine of Writings by Artists, vol. 25, Mar. 1990, pp. 13–26.
“Laudation for Dan and Lia Perjovschi, who received the European Cultural Foundation’s Princess Margriet Award”. January 1, 2013
“Thinking About Artists’ Writings”. January 1, 2013
“‘…but a hammer with which to shape it’: Media Art and Society 1963-2013”. January 1, 2013
“Working with Artists’ Writings”. December 1, 2012
The State of Trauma Studies in Art History. Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University. October 3, 2011
“Ever so Far at Close Shooting Range: Warhol’s Polaroid Photographs". Department of Art History at the Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.. November 1, 2010
“Whose Ethics? Principles and Standards in Age of Global Art". September 1, 2010
“Global Techniques of Performance”. August 1, 2010
“World Trends and Contemporary Art at the Minneapolis Institute of Art”. May 1, 2010
Editorial Board for the journal "Art and Documentation," Lodz, Poland. 2011 - 2014
Advisory Board for chapbooks "Transmission: Annual," Sheffield Hallam University, England.. 2009
Bag Piece | at The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis.
Dean's Award for Excellence in Graduate Mentoring. Graduate School, Duke University. 2011
Center for International Studies, grant for research on Documentary Photographs and Films of the Nuclear Age. Unknown. February 2009
College Art Association grant from the Millard Meiss Publication Fund. Millard Meiss Publication Fund. 2008
Mary Duke Biddle Foundation Grant for Publication. Mary Duke Biddle Foundation. 2008
Fellowship. John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. 2000
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D-Day anniversary: Rare color footage brings World War II to life 75 years later
By Jeffrey Schaeffer & Julian Styles
WASHINGTON -- Seventy-five years ago, Hollywood director George Stevens stood on the deck of the HMS Belfast to film the start of the D-Day invasion.
The resulting black-and-white films - following Allied troops through Normandy, the liberation of Paris, Battle of the Bulge, the horror of the Dachau concentration camp - form the basis of Americans' historical memory of World War II, and were even used as evidence in Nazi war crimes trials.
But the director was also shooting 16-millimeter color film for himself of the same events, creating a kind of personal video journal of his experiences.
As veterans and world leaders prepare to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day next week, Stevens' surprising color images bring an immediacy to wartime memories, a powerful reminder of the war's impact and its heroes as those who witnessed the war are dying out.
"You've seen it in black and white. And when you see it in color, all of a sudden it feels like today," his son George Stevens Jr. said in an interview. "It doesn't seem like yesterday. And it has a much more modern and authentic feeling to it."
Next week's D-Day commemorations are about honoring the thousands killed and wounded on June 6, 1944 - and people like Stevens Jr.'s father.
Then 37, Stevens was already a famous American director who had made Hollywood classics like "Gunga Din" and "Swing Time."
VIDEO: What Sainte-Mere-Eglise, Utah Beach and other D-Day invasion landmarks in Normandy look like today
A new series of stunning aerial pictures and videos revisits landmark D-Day sites, including Sainte-Mere-Eglise, the first town liberated by U.S. forces in Normandy.
"My father was beyond draft age. And he had a dependent child. So there was no chance of him being called up," Stevens Jr., a filmmaker in his own right, told The Associated Press. But his father felt compelled to enlist in the U.S. military after seeing the power of Nazi propaganda films including Leni Riefenstahl's "Triumph of the Will."
"The next day he started calling up to find out how he could get into the service. He couldn't sit on the sidelines in Hollywood, and wanted to make his contribution," his son said.
General Dwight Eisenhower assigned Stevens to head up the combat motion-picture coverage. From D-Day on, Stevens and his team stormed through France and across Europe following U.S. forces.
George Stevens Jr., now 87, was a child when his dad left to cover the war. Only after his father's death, decades later, did he discover reels of the color film in storage.
They could have been anything - his father used the same camera during the war that he had used to film his son's birthday parties.
But what his son found that day in 1980 was no normal home video.
"I was sitting alone, and on the screen came images of a gray day and rough seas and a large ship and barrage balloons up in the sky. And I realized it was D-Day.
"And I realized that my eyes were probably the first other than those who were there to see this in color," he recalled. "I'm watching this footage and seeing the men on the ship ... and around the corner walks into the frame a man with a helmet and a flak jacket. It's my 37-year-old father on the morning of D-Day."
Stevens Jr., a writer, director and founder of the American Film Institute, later made a documentary with the footage, "George Stevens: D-Day to Berlin."
"My father referred to his experience in World War II as having a seat on the 50-yard line. And seeing men at their best and at their worst," his son said.
Long before social networks and smartphones, the outside world had little visual evidence of the Nazis' attempted genocide of the Jews.
His father's unit "went into Dachau, the concentration camp, and nobody had anticipated what they were going to find there," Stevens Jr. said. "It was this harrowing sight of these emaciated prisoners and typhus and disease and dead bodies stacked like cordwood. ... Rather than just being a recorder of events, he became a gatherer of evidence, and he himself took a camera and went into these boxcars, with snow on the ground, with frozen bodies."
Stevens documented the scenes both in black and white and in color, and images he shot at Dachau were among those shown at the Nuremberg war crimes trials, according to his son.
He also filmed Allied war generals working together during the war to defeat fascism. Now, 75 years on, the trans-Atlantic alliance is fraying and Europe's extreme right is resurging, making remembrance of the war especially important.
"I think that common interests and purpose will keep us together," Stevens Jr. said. He praised the U.S.-led postwar effort "to embrace the defeated and help them, help Germany become a great nation," calling it a "very American idea ... that will serve us far into the future."
societyhistoryd dayworld war iiu.s. & worldphotographyeurope
What it was like on the eve of D-Day
What D-Day invasion landmarks in Normandy look like today
Texas WWII veterans receive French Legion of Honor on D-Day
PHOTOS: D-Day invasion remembered
Pres. Trump attends D-Day 75th anniversary events
D-Day veteran parachutes into Normandy: VIDEO
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Dwyane Wade calls 2016 Finals LeBron James' defining moment
By Nick Friedell
CLEVELAND -- Dwyane Wade believes that LeBron James' performance in leading the Cavaliers back from a 3-1 deficit to the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals is "a defining moment" for his close friend's legacy.
"That was special," Wade said Wednesday, before the Bulls beat the Cavaliers106-94. "That was incredible. We've seen a lot, we haven't seen, obviously, teams come back from [being down] 3-1 in playoffs that much but especially in the Finals. And not having home-court advantage, that was really special what those guys were able to do, obviously led by Bron.
"I think for his career, that moment right there really put him where he probably wanted to be, where everybody thought he was going to be one day when he was deemed as 'The Chosen One.' It was a defining moment for his career forever. So it was special."
Wade and James have developed a special bond over their 14-year careers. The pair won two championships together with the Heat and have remained close since James decided to leave Miami and go back to the Cavaliers after the 2013-14 season.
"It just evolved 14 years ago as rookies, and [we] just developed a brotherhood," Wade said of his relationship with James. "But when it comes to sacrificing, you sacrifice for the greater good of the reason we play a team sport. Once you're young and you get all the recognition and you get paid -- you want to win championships. And I think I sacrificed to win championships.
"I don't look at that as a sacrifice when it comes to minutes, numbers, publicity, all that, it doesn't matter. At the end of the day, the goal was to win championships, and we were able to win two together and play in four [Finals]. That's what you play the game for, and I'm happy about that."
Wade said James and Kobe Bryant have been the two hardest players he has had to guard in his career.
"For me, one, two -- however you want to put them -- is him and Kobe," Wade said. "I've had to guard Kobe more, so I've been in that battle a little more with Kobe. But LeBron is -- he's unlike a player we've ... we've never seen a player like him. We've seen Magic [Johnson], they've got a similar style. But what he does in a game and how he affects games, it's just -- I haven't seen it. I haven't went against it. But him and Kobe for sure are the hardest and toughest guys that I've ever had to play against."
Wade calls Cavs' comeback in Finals 'a defining moment' for LeBron
Bulls guard Dwyane Wade weighs in on the significance of LeBron James leading the Cavaliers back from a 3-1 deficit to win the NBA Finals and what it means for his legacy, as well as how their friendship has developed since they were rookies.
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Man falls while trying to break up fight in Bronx, dies
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Three Americans Win Joint Nobel Prize in Medicine, 2013
Forums: Genetics, Transport, Cell, Molecular, Neuro
Reply Mon 7 Oct, 2013 03:32 pm
3 Americans Win Joint Nobel Prize in Medicine
By LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN
Three Americans won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Monday for discovering the machinery that regulates how cells transport major molecules in a cargo system that delivers them to the right place at the right time in cells.
The Karolinska Institute in Stockholm announced the winners: James E. Rothman of Yale University; Randy W. Schekman of the University of California, Berkeley; and Dr. Thomas C. Südhof of Stanford University.
The molecules are moved around cells in small packages called vesicles, and each scientist discovered different facets that are needed to ensure that the right cargo is shipped to the correct destination at precisely the right time.
Their research solved the mystery of how cells organize their transport system, the Karolinska committee said. Dr. Schekman discovered a set of genes that were required for vesicle traffic. Dr. Rothman unraveled protein machinery that allows vesicles to fuse with their targets to permit transfer of cargo. Dr. Südhof revealed how signals instruct vesicles to release their cargo with precision.
The tiny vesicles, which have a covering known as membranes, shuttle the cargo between different compartments or fuse with the membrane. The transport system activates nerves. It also controls the release of hormones.
Disturbances in this exquisitely precise control system cause serious damage that, in turn, can contribute to conditions like neurological diseases, diabetes and immunological disorders.
Dr. Schekman, 64, who was born in St. Paul, used yeast cells as a model system when he began his research in the 1970s. He found that vesicles piled up in parts of the cell and that the cause was genetic. He went on to identify three classes of genes that control different facets of the cell’s transport system. Dr. Schekman studied at the University of California in Los Angeles and at Stanford University, where he obtained his Ph.D. in 1974.
In 1976, he joined the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley, where he is currently professor in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology. Dr. Schekman is also an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Dr. Rothman, 63, who was born in Haverhill, Mass., studied vesicle transport in mammalian cells in the 1980s and 1990s. He discovered that a protein complex allows vesicles to dock and fuse with their target membranes. In the fusion process, proteins on the vesicles and target membranes bind to each other like the two sides of a zipper. The fact that there are many such proteins and that they bind only in specific combinations ensures that cargo is delivered to a precise location.
The same principle operates inside the cell and when a vesicle binds to the cell’s outer membrane to release its contents. Dr. Rothman received a Ph.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1976, was a postdoctoral fellow at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and moved in 1978 to Stanford University, where he started his research on the vesicles of the cell. Dr. Rothman has also worked at Princeton University, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Institute and Columbia University.
In 2008, he joined the faculty of Yale University where he is currently professor and chairman in the Department of Cell Biology. Some of the genes Dr. Schekman discovered in yeast coded for proteins correspond to those Dr. Rothman identified in mammals. Collectively, they mapped critical components of the cell´s transport machinery.
Dr. Südhof, 57, who was born in Göttingen, Germany, studied neurotransmission, the process by which nerve cells communicate with other cells in the brain. At the time he set out to explore the field 25 years ago, much of it was virgin scientific territory. Researchers had not identified a single protein in the neurotransmission process.
Dr. Südhof helped transform what had been a rough outline into a number of molecular activities to provide insights into the elaborate mechanisms at the crux of neurological activities, from the simplest to the most sophisticated. He did so by systematically identifying, purifying and analyzing proteins that can rapidly release chemicals that underlie the brain’s activities. The transmission process can take less than a thousandth of a second.
Dr. Südhof studied at the Georg-August-Universität in Göttingen, where he received a medical degree in 1982 and a doctorate in neurochemistry the same year. In 1983, he moved to the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. Dr. Südhof, who has American citizenship, became an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in 1991 and was appointed professor of molecular and cellular physiology at Stanford University in 2008.
All three scientists have won other awards, including the Lasker Prize, for their research.
Correction: October 7, 2013
An earlier version of this article misstated Randy W. Schekman’s age. He is 64, not 65
Type: Discussion • Score: 0 • Views: 1,275 • Replies: 3
No top replies
Foofie
@Miller,
You do know that many on this forum would rather ignore who won the prize, in my opinion.
Reply Tue 8 Oct, 2013 09:27 am
@Foofie,
Foofie wrote:
Yes,I know that many on this forum would rather gnore who won the prize.
Of course it was three Americans working in top rated labs in the USA.
I surprised at the French, however.
I am surprised at the French, however.
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» Three Americans Win Joint Nobel Prize in Medicine, 2013
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HANSARD 1803–2005 → 1910s → 1919 → November 1919 → 20 November 1919 → Commons Sitting → ELECTRICITY (SUPPLY) BILL.
NEw CLAUSE.—(Transfer of Powers of Board of Trade, to Minister of Transport.)
HC Deb 20 November 1919 vol 121 cc1197-208 1197
§ All the powers and duties of the Board of Trade under this Act or the Electric Lighting Acts or the Orders and Regulations made there-under or any local Act relating to the supply of electricity or any enactment relating to matters incidental to such supply shall, as from such date as His Majesty in Council may fix, be transferred to the Minister of Transport, and accordingly references to the Board of Trade in any such Acts, Orders, Regulations, or enactments shall be construed as references to the Minister of Transport. Provided that the power of appointing Electricity Commissioners under this Act shall be exercised by the Ministry of Transport after consultation with the Board of Trade.—[Mr. Shortt.]
§ Brought up, and read the first time.
§ The SECRETARY of STATE for the HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. Shortt)
I beg to move "That the Clause be read a second time."
This is a Clause reinstating in the Bill certain proposals rejected by the Committee. There is no new policy involved in the setting down of this Clause; no change of policy on the part of the Government of any sort or description. Originally the question of electricity was proposed to be dealt with in the Bill which sets up the Ministry of Transport, and certain powers were given to the Ministry, when established, which included the power of dealing with all questions of electrical power and electricity generally. This was in Committee withdrawn from the Bill setting up the Ministry of Transport. I made it perfectly clear then that it was not withdrawn because of any change of policy on the part of the Government; it was withdrawn solely and simply 1198 that the matter might be dealt with in an Electricity Bill. A provision was inserted in the Ways and Communications Bill by which was transferred to the Ministry of Transport all the powers and duties of the Board of Trade.
I must go into this I am afraid in some little detail; because, of course, I am asking the House on the Report stage to reverse the decision of the Committee upstairs. I fully realise that that can only be done where the Government appreciate that it is of the greatest importance to the Bill as a whole that this Clause should be passed. We have considered this question very carefully. We have investigated it in every direction to see if there was any means by which we could meet the wishes of the Committee upstairs, and at the same time not do that which, in the opinion of the Government, would greatly impair the efficiency of the Bill. But we have not been able to find any method of what I may call compromise as between the view of the Committee and the view of the Government. Therefore it is that I am moving this new Clause. May I just briefly remind the Committee of what is the object both of this Bill and of the Bill which establishes the Ministry of Transport? There are two things which are absolutely essential to industry and social development in this country. These are transport and power. You cannot develop industry of any kind unless you have transport. You cannot develop agriculture or any form of industry unless the products of that industry can be conveyed to their markets. Equally you cannot, without transport, make all those changes and improvements in the housing system of our people which we all very greatly desire.
Indeed, there is hardly any form in which one seeks to better the conditions of the country that does not require as an essential transport above all. Equally, transport without power is of no value. You must develop power and you must develop your power so as to supply it, not only as cheaply and as rapidly, but as efficiently as you possibly can. It is no good, however, having cheap power if it may fail you at any moment. It is no good having a secure and certain power if it is too expensive to make it a commercial proposition. You have, therefore, two things required. You must have certainty of supply and you must have cheapness of supply. These are the two great essentials for progress in this country—transport and electricity! 1199 This House has already arranged by creating a Ministry of Transport that all forms of transport are to be co-ordinated. That principle has been accepted by this House, and is now an established fact. It is an established fact for the time being; and although I do not prophesy, I would venture to say that that is a decision of the House which it will never reverse. What is the fact in regard to electricity? Electricity is probably, in the future at any rate, going to be one of the main sources of power. Every time this subject has arisen, I have said that I would not for a moment suggest that private enterprise, which has been the pioneer of electricity in this country, has failed in its duty. Those concerned have, under difficult circumstances, done very great and very good work. No one will, I suppose, suggest that they have attained to anything like complete success? There is a great deal to be done. What is to be done essentially requires driving power. This Bill provides that, whatever authority deals with the electricity, they shall have to see to it that enterprise is forthcoming, and energy, and initiative. For example, there is power given to the Electricity Commissioners to conduct experiments and investigations into the use of electrical power and fuel. There will be an advisory committee set up, part of whose duty will be to make to the authorities suggestions as to and directions and methods by which improvements may be attained. During the transport period there is power for the central authority to construct generating stations, and generally to provide that no offer shall have to wait an overdue time for the chance of success. Equally there are other provisions which require supervision, but which require something more, and that is driving power behind the central authority. The question then arises—which of our existing Departments is the best from that point of view? I do not think anyone in the House will now suggest the setting up of a new Ministry, and whether that will come in the future is another matter. No one will suggest the advisability or propriety of setting up a new ad hoe Ministry, and therefore we have to consider which of the existing Departments is the best and most suitable to put at the head of this great and important subject of electricity.
The services are out of the question. Departments like the Home Office are 1200 equally out of the question., and I think if you come to investigate you will find that it lies between two Departments, the Board of Trade and the Ministry of Transport. Now which of those two Departments is best fitted to assist a new body, to encourage new enterprises, and the forcing of its driving power, initiative, and energy? The Board of Trade has done excellent work in the past, but it is not work of driving power or of initiative. The Board of Trade has a very good staff, but it is chosen and trained for the purpose of supervision, of enforcing regulations and purposes which have the effect rather of curbing instead of encouraging enterprise and initiative. That is the sort of staff they possess—and rightly possess. It is an adequate and able staff, but it is not trained to anything except supervision and regulation. They have no staff of engineers or electricians that could undertake the work of erecting new generating stations as provided for in this Bill in an area where there was no district board or local body. They have no such staff, and if this duty remained with the Board of Trade it would mean that they would have to do the equivalent of setting up a new Ministry, because it would mean the reorganisation of the whole staff.
The Ministry of Transport already has a suitable staff. They have highly skilled engineers and electricians, and they must have those men for the work they have to do. The very raison d'être of their existence is that they are not to supervise, regulate, and curb, and their whole object is to force, drive, encourage, and ensure all that is necessary to go forward and progress. [An HON. MEMBER: "Regardless of expense!"] Of course not regardless of expense. I hope I am asking for nothing unreasonable. Their main duty is driving force and energy, and neither of those attributes appertains to the staff of the Board of Trade. Therefore the Government are convinced that it would be detrimental almost to the point of destruction to put this Bill under any Department except the one which is properly fitted to carry out its provisions.
§ Sir P. MAGNUS
Has the Minister of Transport got a staff of engineers?
§ Mr. SHORTT
Yes, he has a great many, but I do not say that his staff is complete. He is bound to have engineers and electricians, because the one great method by which we can improve transport is through electrifying the lines. 1201 Therefore he must have them. Whether he has got all he requires I do not know, but he has a very considerable staff indeed. He has the nucleus of the staff, and he is completing it every day. I think everybody admits that if you want to do any good in a matter of this kind you must co-ordinate the transport system of this country. It was admitted by the House on the Second Reading of this Bill that you must, if you are to have a really efficient service of electricity, have unity and co-ordination. That is admitted with transport and power on every hand. There is another thing which is just as important, and it is that your transport without power is useless, just, as power without transport is useless, and therefore it is just as important you should have co-ordination in your transport as it is that you should have co-ordination between power and transport. You must have co-ordination in each, and it is almost more important that you should have co-ordination between the two.
Transport, is co-ordinated under that Department, and the only way you can have co-ordination between power and transport is by putting them under the same Department. If you have two Departments working as sympathetically as possible, it is impossible for them to work as one would work. Even if you have two Departments working together there must be unavoidable friction, and you cannot have that smoothness and unity which is essential to complete success that you can get when you have only one controlling Department. On these grounds, the Government have come to that conclusion with regret, because they would, if they could have done it, tried loyally to have accepted the decision of the Committee upstairs, I have tried briefly to explain why it is that the Government cannot accept that decision and are bound to ask the House to reverse it. Therefore I ask the House to accept this proposal.
§ Mr. NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN
This is the second occasion upon which the Home Secretary has had to auk the House to reverse a decision come to in Committee, and I wish to express to him personally my sympathy for the position in which he finds himself. He has told us in somewhat solemn terms that the decision come to by the Committee is, in the opinion of the Government, calculated to wreck the usefulness of this Bill, and I suppose we may take it from that that if 1202 the decision of the Committee is confirmed by this House the Government will not proceed with the Bill. I cannot help making the comment that the opinion of the Cabinet seems to be rather sudden. For the benefit of those hon. Members who were not members of the Committee I would like to say that when this Clause was discussed in Committee the Home Secretary was not able to be in his place. The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport was not in his place either, and the defence of the Clause was left to the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade, who was supposed to maintain, in face of an unsympathetic Committee, that his Department was incompetent to carry out the functions entrusted to it by the Bill. Under these circumstances it is, perhaps, hardly surprising that the Committee did not attach the same importance to the rejection of this Clause which apparently the Government are now disposed to do.
Speaking for myself, it appeared to me all through that the question as to whether the Functions which in the Bill were ascribed to the Board of Trade should be handed over to the Ministry of Transport was one on which we had to be convinced by very powerful arguments. I listened carefully to what the Home Secretary said on the subject when he was moving the Second Heading of the Transport Bill. I also listened to what he said on the Second Reading of the Electricity Bill, but I could not listen to what he had to say on the subject in Committee because he was not there. I have listened to his arguments this afternoon in support of the change, and I confess that I am still unconvinced of the desirability of this change. He has told us a good many things about the importance of developing the power system of this country as well as the transport system. He has told us a good deal about the virtues of co-ordination of the different systems of electricity and co-ordination between transport and power, but he has not told us why it is necessary to secure that co-ordination that the Electricity Commissioners should act under the direction of the Ministry of Transport rather than under the President of the Board of Trade.
I have been unable to see that any sufficient argument has been brought forward to convince me of the necessity of the change, whilst I do see some distinct disadvantages which I should like to put before the House. If this Clause is 1203 passed I venture to say that it will be exceedingly unpopular in the country. I do not put that forward on political grounds, but when you are introducing a big Bill of this kind it should be introduced with general good will, and a Bill that begins in an atmosphere of suspicion has not got a good start-off. Why do I suggest that it will be unpopular? Because the Ministry of Transport is itself going to be a great consumer of current. That is part of the Home Secretary's argument, and it will therefore be looked upon in the light of a competitor with other users of current. If there is any difference as to where current should be generated or as to the nature of the current to be generated, or if there is any difference of opinion, let us say, between the local authorities and industry generally or transport, then it is not considered that the Ministry of Transport will be in an impartial position to judge the case. Various functions are assigned by this Bill. Some of these functions are of a judicial character. For instance, Clause 7, which deals with the price to be paid for undertakings of private companies to be vested in the district electricity boards, says that if it is shown to this satisfaction of the Board of Trade that the expenditure calculated in a certain way would work hardship, then it is to go before an arbitrator appointed by the Board of Trade. That is a judicial function. The Board of Trade have to be satisfied that an injustice is going to be created, and then they have to appoint an arbitrator. That is not a position in which you ought to put the Ministry of Transport when they themselves are interested parties in the supply of electricity. Again, the Board of Trade may, by Order, authorise the Electricity Commissioners to abstract water from rivers, streams, canals, inland navigation, and other sources. That is a position which should be entrusted to an entirely impartial Ministry. I do not for a moment want to suggest that the Ministry of Transport would not be impartial in this matter, but I feel that there would be some sort of suspicion created which it is very desirable to avoid and which is of disadvantage if you are considering the handing over of these duties to the Ministry of Transport.
I will also call attention to the Schedule. It lays down the procedure to be adopted by the Board of Trade before confirming any special Order under the 1204 Bill. They have to hear evidence, consider objections, amend the Order if they think fit, and so forth. These qualities of energy, driving power, and initiative, which the Home Secretary has recommended to us as being the qualities of the Ministry of Transport, are not exactly the qualities that we look for in a person who has to administer justice in the way provided in the Schedule. It seems to me that the Government, in their anxiety to put the work of Clause 19 of the Bill, namely, the expenditure of the £20,000,000 and the exercising of the powers of the district boards before they are set up. under the Ministry of Transport have lumped in other functions for which the Ministry of Transport is not at all suitable and have not really given sufficient attention to the possibility of separating these various functions and putting some of them under one Department and some under another. I certainly should be the very last to desire to see all the time that the members of the Committee—I among them—have given to this measure thrown away by the dropping of the Bill. I do not want to see the Bill dropped at all, but I am not here to vote as I am told—I am here to vote according to my convictions—and I do think that I am entitled to ask the Government to give me convincing reasons for changing my opinion before I do so, and before I give a vote to the Clause in its present form. I cannot vote for the Clause in its present form, and I do ask my right hon. Friend to see whether it is not possible, after all, to go into this matter a little bit further and to separate what I have called the judicial functions of the Department of State under which the direction of the Electricity Commissioners are to act from those functions that they will have to exercise under Clause 19.
Major GREAME
As a general rule the House would be unwilling to override the considered decision of a Committee on a question of detail, though I am bound to say, looking at the length of the Order Paper, that is a view which does not appear to be shared by a large number of Members. The Amendment which the Home Secretary has moved involves very broad questions of principle and no mere question of detail, and I think the House will be glad of an opportunity of reviewing the decision of the Committee, particularly as the arguments in favour of the Clause were singularly wanting in Committee. I have read the Report of the pro- 1205 ceedings, and I do not think that the real merits or demerits of this Clause were in the least discussed. I would like to show what are the principles which are involved. I sincerely hope that the House is going to give its decision on this Clause on questions of principle, and not on questions of personality. I am glad that hon. Members cheer that statement, and I hope that it will be carried out. The argument ad hominem is always dangerous, is generally fallacious, and is very often biassed. But whether that be true or not it is always a bad thing in this House, because we do not legislate for the life of a particular Minister, or the political life of a Government, but for all time.
The first principle involved is one which was enunciated by the Home Secretary. You cannot set up a new Ministry to deal with this matter. You have to decide to which Ministry you can best assign these functions. All Ministers are extraordinarily busy and they are all overworked, but if one were asked to select any particular Department at present more overworked and with more obligations culminating upon it in the critical trade period during which we are passing than any other one would, I think, say it was the Board of Trade. The House, therefore, would do well to pause before it added to the obligations of the Board of Trade, unless it were satisfied that there was no other Ministry that could do the work equally well. As a matter of fact, the Ministry of Transport is a much more natural Ministry for the purpose than the Board of Trade. Inevitably, the Ministry of Transport is going to be day in and day out concerned with electricity. I am aware that may be a two-edged argument, and hon. Members may say that because the Ministry is so interested in electricity it cannot be expected to exercise these judicial functions impartially. All these things were said originally about the Ministry of Transport. We were told that the roads would go to perdition if we placed them under the Ministry of Transport. As a matter of fact, the first thing that the Minister of Transport did was to appoint an officer in charge of them, who had won the confidence of every single officer and man who had served in France. If that argument is used on the one side, I am perfectly entitled to argue that I would have the interests of electricity in the hands of the Minister directly interested in it.
1206 There is a second point of even more importance. This Bill, as it comes to us from the Committee upstairs, divides the responsibility in respect of electricity between the Board of Trade and the Ministry of Transport. There is not now presented to us a simple alternative as to whether we will assign these functions wholly to one Ministry or to the other. The Bill comes to us with divided responsibility. There has already been inserted in the Bill—and inserted, I think, by the general consent of the Committee—provisions which give to the railways and the Ministry of Transport what is practically a dual jurisdiction. If there is one principle of administration which is radically unsound, it is that of divided responsibility between two Departments. Any Member who has had any experience of Government administration knows that perfectly well, and no one knows it better than the right hon. Gentleman the Member for Lady wood (Mr. N. Chamberlain) in his administrative experience in Government Departments. Every member of the Select Committee on National Expenditure time and time again has drawn attention to the inconvenience and delay and excessive expenditure which are caused by divided responsibility for one subject between two Departments. As a matter of fact, every member of the public who corresponds with the Departments, as well as every ordinary Member of this House, knows it. Nothing irritates Members of this House more than to address a question to one particular Minister and then to be told that as regards the first part he is able to give an answer, but as regards the second part the hon. Member must address himself to the Minister in charge of another Department. An ordinary business man does not know to which of two Departments to write, and he cannot write to a single Department and get a single decision. This is the thing which, in administration at the present time is irritating the community. It is really the first elementary principle of administration to make one Department the single executive authority for one subject.
There is a third consideration which weighs with me. Not only is this provision contrary to all sound canons of administration, but it really cuts at the root purpose of the Bill. Under the scheme of the Bill the Board of Trade are responsible for the district boards. Under the Clause which has been added to the Bill the railways may say that they desire to have a supply of electricity of a kind, of an amount 1207 and of a frequency which they require. It is well known that there will be divergencies of opinion as to which frequency is best. The railways may well say, "We want a frequency of 25," and, on the other hand, commercial men may say, "We want a frequency of 50." The worst solution of a difficulty of that kind is to say to two Departments, "Go your own way and set up two power stations, instead of one." That goes absolutely to the whole root of the subject, and that is what is going to be done if you leave this matter under this dual control. If you carry it you cannot get economy in construction, or in coal, or in cables, or in production. It is the surest way to get an extravagant solution of the whole problem. We have been told that the Minister of Transport will do things in a most extravagant manner. If this House, wishes to keep real control over the Minister of Transport, if it wishes to see the expenditure under this Bill economically carried out, it will insist on making one Minister responsible for the whole administration, a Minister whom it can call to account if it cosiders the expenditure excessive. If the Minister of Transport is made responsible for the whole field of electrical enterprise and not merely for a part, then he may be expected to take broad views, but without a single Minister the wider aspects will not be properly attended to. If these considerations had been present to the mind of the Committee I believe it would have come to a different decision, and I hope the House will not endorse a proposal which not only cuts at the root principle of the Bill, but which also transgresses the first principle of quick, economical and efficient administration.
Mr. TREVELYAN THOMSON
As a member of the Standing Committee which considered this Bill, I think it is deplorable that a decision come to almost unanimously should be upset at such short notice by the Government. The last speaker suggested that the Committee had taken out of the Bill the generating stations belonging to the railway companies, and left them to the Ministry of Transport. But the Bill, as submitted to the Committee excluded the railway generating stations, and many of the Committee would have been only too glad if the whole of the generating stations, whether railway or other, could have been in the hands of the Electricity Commis- 1208 sioners. It is somewhat ingenious to suggest that, because the railway generating stations were excluded from the Bill, we should now take the whole of the electric service from it. I submit that that argument is entirely fallacious and should not carry weight with this House. I submit further that it is a sound principle that buyer and seller should not be one and the same body. That is a part of the Bill which will make it very difficult to get ready co-operation throughout the country from the various undertakings, whether private companies or municipal undertakings. In order to secure their hearty co-operation in the carrying out of this scheme it is necessary they should feel that the Electricity Commissioners will be in an entirely independent position.
Back to ELECTRICITY (SUPPLY) BILL.
Forward to ROYAL ASSENT.
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HANSARD 1803–2005 → 1920s → 1920 → February 1920 → 23 February 1920 → Commons Sitting → RUSSIA.
STANDING COMMITTEE ON TRUSTS (REPORT).
§ 55. Mr. G. LOCKER-LAMPSON
asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he can explain how the contents of the Command Paper respecting cotton profits appeared in full in the Press on Thursday last before Members of the House had had an opportunity of seeing it?
§ Sir A. GEDDES
I think my hon. Friend is under some misapprehension. Complete typewritten, not dummy, copies of the Paper referred to were presented to both Houses of Parliament on Wednesday afternoon last, and copies were circulated to the Press for publication in Thursday morning's papers. I should like to take this opportunity of explaining that the procedure which has been followed in this and in similar cases has been with a view to secure that Reports of this kind, which are of wide interest, are available both for hon. Members and for the general public at the earliest possible moment. For example, in the case of the independent Accountants' report on the Coal Industry Finances some twenty typewritten copies were sent to the Library at the time when the Report was laid. Thereafter typewritten copies were sent out to the Press and the Report received wide publicity the next day. At the same time the printing of further copies for the use of Members was rapidly proceeded with. Had the Report been presented in dummy instead of in typewritten form considerable delay must have intervened before printed copies could be available. It was in order to meet complaints with regard to alleged delay in making known the contents of Reports of this nature that the course I have described was taken.
§ Mr. LOCKER-LAMPSON
Is it not the fact that the typewritten copy was merely sent to the Journal Office on Wednesday, and that the first opportunity that hon. Members had of seeing it was on Thursday in the Library at 11.30 a.m., and that, therefore, the Press, having published it on Thursday morning, must have seen it on Wednesday, a day before this House?
I do not know about the actual hours and times of transit of that particular Report. If the facts were as stated by the hon. Member, there is some mistake about it, because the instructions are that when Reports are circulated to the Press there must be typewritten copies available here. If a mistake has occurred, I apologise for it.
Back to HOME-GROWN TIMBER DEPARTMENT.
Forward to CIVIL SERVICE (GRADING OF OFFICIALS).
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Индикатор платежной дисциплины
Австралия,
Сингапур,
Survey results for Asia Pacific
The macroeconomic outlook: risk of credit quality worsening in the region
Against the backdrop of a climbing global economy, emerging Asia – notably China, India, Indonesia and Taiwan - continues to show robust domestic demand coupled with an improving export profile, which should help sustain GDP growth of around 6.5% a year into 2015. Export, in particular, is likely to benefit from strengthening demand and competitive advantages. However, despite the global upswing, growth is likely to sit below pre-crisis rates and there is some caution about injecting excessive policy stimulus. All of these factors underscore the importance of advancing structural reforms.
While inflation has been low across much of the region, in certain economies it remains high – Indonesia and India in particular. Both nations also encountered external pressures last year at the hands of weaker capital flows, which led to monetary tightening. These corrections helped both currencies, although it is anticipated that monetary policy will remain tight in Indonesia for some time.
China holds large current account surpluses, which means it is less susceptible to external economic forces, however, the region overall is currently quite vulnerable to external volatility due to the large scale of foreign holdings, in Indonesia and India in particular. The former is still running a large current account deficit and would be most adversely affected, although India has undergone a sharp correction in its own current account deficit, reducing external vulnerabilities to an extent.
Across the region, the main risks arise from the potential worsening of the property sector in China, slowing inward investment if reforms are not implemented in India and Indonesia, and on-going delays in reducing fuel subsidies in Indonesia, which could trigger turbulence in financial markets.
Perhaps most importantly, however, there have been concerns regarding increasing debt and deteriorating credit quality in several countries – these are being addressed with various measures across several of the countries we surveyed.
The greatest challenge to business profitability this year
Respondents in Asia Pacific felt most pressurised by the stresses of “maintaining adequate cash flow”. Indeed, this was felt more strongly in this region than in either of the other regions surveyed, the Americas and Europe. In Asia Pacific, more than one in three respondents (35.6%) cited this as the main threat to business profitability, though it was felt particularly keenly in Taiwan (43.5% of respondents). This may be attributable to certain instabilities at the hands of the government purse – subsidies on commodities such as electricity, critical to the manufacturing process, have come to an end and rises seem set to continue, placing additional financial pressures on businesses.
The second biggest challenge was a “fall in demand for products and services”, which also rated higher than in the other two surveyed regions. At 32.3% for the region overall, respondents in Japan saw this as a particular threat, with 43.8% stating that this was their biggest challenge. With recent statistics showing the biggest Japanese economic contraction since the 2011 earthquake, this is unsurprising. The contraction has been attributed to the introduction of a consumer sales tax, which is set to rise again in April 2015 and could create further pressure for Japan’s businesses.
In third place, the “collection of outstanding invoices” is troubling just over 18% of respondents, although with Europe and Americas coming in at 21.8% and 22.5% respectively, this seems to be less of a concern to the Asia Pacific respondents than to others. Singapore however, came in at 26%, the highest result in the region. This may be due to the fact that, along with Hong Kong, Singapore has been the most active in granting trade credit to export customers, with over 43.6% of export transactions made on credit terms. Of note, almost half of Singapore respondents’ export invoices were unpaid at the due date.
In fourth and final place, 14.1% of respondents saw bank lending restrictions as an issue. India came in highest – likely the result of their current account deficit correction impacting the banking sector. Overall Asia Pacific and Europe gave this more or less equal rating with Americas coming in highest at 20% overall, suggesting that lending is still somewhat constrained in their region.
Past due receivables and uncollectables
On average, over a third (36.2%) of the total value of the invoices issued by respondents in Asia Pacific were reported to be unpaid when due. Across the region this was a problem particularly faced by businesses in Singapore, with 41.5% unpaid at their due date, which could prove a problem for an economy where over 40% of export transactions are made on credit terms. India was a close second at 40.4%. This suggests that India is proving a tricky trading environment, especially when coupled with the constrained bank lending highlighted previously in this report.
Outstanding invoices extending more than 90 days past due remains a problem for India and Singapore, with the highest scores of 6.1% and 5.7% respectively, and Australia not far behind at 5.6% - the highest in Asia Pacific. At the other end of the scale, however, Japan has no such problem, with just 1.5% of the total value of invoices remaining unpaid longer than 90 days past the due date. By region, Asia Pacific scores better, overall, at 4.4%, than either Europe at 4.6% or the Americas at 5.2%.
Uncollectable invoices are also a problem for businesses in India - of the total value of B2B sales on credit, 2.9% were deemed uncollectable. Singapore at 2.4% and Indonesia at 2.6% also have an above average amount of uncollectable debt. Across all three regions surveyed, Asia Pacific ranked second overall, with 2.2% of overdue debt uncollected behind the Americas at 2.7%.
By comparing the percentage of receivables that remained outstanding after 90 days past due to that of uncollectable receivables, we can conclude that on average, businesses in Asia Pacific lose 50% of the value of their receivables that are not paid within 90 days of the due date (average for Europe and the Americas: 35.0% and 51.9% respectively). By country, this percentage is highest in China, at 61% - of note, as Chinese respondents did not indicate above average levels of uncollectable debt - and lowest in Japan, at 20%.
Days Sales Outstanding - DSO
Businesses in Asia Pacific recorded an average of 54 Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) overall – on average, twenty days from the invoice due date to collection on credit sales. When compared with Americas and Europe, this represented a significantly higher figure.
When asked when DSO became a concern, on average, across the region, 71.5% of respondents reported they become concerned about the sustainability of their businesses when DSO exceeded average payment terms by 31 days. Scores ranked highest in China, where, at 78.9%, respondents seemed to be the least relaxed in this respect. The response from Chinese businesses is likely to be due to the relative infancy in the use of trade credit in thenation and thus their cautious approach to selling on credit.
Main reasons for late payment from B2B customers
Late domestic payments in Asia Pacific are most regularly attributable to insufficient funds (47.3% of respondents), with all except Japan citing this as the main reason. Indian businesses suffered most from this (54.8% of respondents), with Australia least impacted of all the countries surveyed (18.5%). Conversely, Japanese respondents were more likely than respondents in any other nation to suffer late payment due to incorrect information on the invoice.
Foreign invoices were more likely to go unpaid due to complexity of payment procedures. Chinese respondents felt this most strongly, with 55.9% stating this to be the case, although Indonesian, Indian and Taiwanese businesses all also rated this above 40% which suggests that the problem is fairly widespread.
Credit management policies used by respondents
Of all Asia Pacific respondents, 72.1% had some form of credit management system in place, though this was somewhat lower than the Americas, who came in at 81.5%. Of the Asia Pacific countries, India, at 85.4%, was most likely to use some form of credit management – possibly reflective of the changeable economic conditions, in particular, the slow down after several years of economic growth.
Policies put in place to manage credit were varied, but most popular were buyer creditworthiness checks, conducted by 51.93% of businesses, in line with the Americas survey respondents who came in at 50.23%. Credit monitoring was a close second, at 48.88%, also in line with the Americas result. Of note, however, is the feedback from Chinese participants, 58.43% of whom check buyer creditworthiness and 59.55% of whom monitor credit risk. This suggests that they are more actively protecting their credit than other countries surveyed; probably attributable to the relative newness of trading on credit and their cautious approach to doing so.
In terms of payment methods, the most popular in Asia Pacific are digital transfers of funds, cash, and cheque, in line with the Americas and Europe. Just over 20% of respondents felt cash use would increase, 41.9% foresee an increase in digital transfers of funds, whilst 19% anticipate an increase in the use of cheques. Comparatively speaking, businesses in the Americas responded similarly with 20.95% expecting an increase in the use of cash; 43.52% an increase in the use of digital transfers of funds but just 15.6% in the use of cheques. Credit cards and PayPal were also on the up – credit card use is anticipated to rise 41.5% by Asia Pacific businesses, whilst those in the Americas foresaw a rise of 44.2%. The use of PayPal is expected to surge according not only to 47.01% of those surveyed in Asia Pacific but also by 50.40% of those surveyed in Europe, and 57.59% of those in the Americas. These results are a clear reflection of the continuing increase, internationally, in online purchasing.
Payment Practices Barometer AsiaPacific 2014
1.14MB PDF
PPB APAC Statistical Appendix 2014 (EN)
PPB Asia Pacific Survey Design 2014 (EN)
Country Report Japan 2015
Despite its growing economy, Japan faces major demographic challenges. There is an urgent need to make the labour market more flexible to achieve a sustainable rebound and boost economic performance.
Market Monitor - Consumer durables - China
The Chinese retail market remains highly fragmented due to the large population and differences in consumer behaviour and purchasing power across the country.
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Kohl’s donates $45,828 for children’s health education
Published Thursday, Aug. 14, 2014, 6:19 pm
Front Page » Events » Kohl’s donates $45,828 for children’s health education
Kohl’s Department Store is donating $45,828 to support health education in Central Virginia through the Kohl’s Growing Up Healthy (KGUH) Program.
The KGUH curriculum was designed by experts at the UVA Children’s Fitness Clinic and is delivered through a partnership between the clinic, the Social Issues in Medicine course at the UVA Medical School and the Albemarle County Extended Day Care Program. In the program, UVA medical students teach elementary school students about healthy nutrition and lifestyle habits to maintain a strong body and mind. The program has been implemented in 16 Albemarle County schools, five Charlottesville City schools, one Rockingham County school and four area community centers, educating more than 1,000 children.
“This program is a valuable resource to help kids become better informed and excited about getting exercise and good nutrition,” said Anna King, Outreach Coordinator for UVA Children’s Fitness Clinic.
Since 2004, Kohl’s has donated more than $377,000 to UVA Children’s Hospital through Kohl’s Cares®.
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The Devil's Own
Kilworth, Garry
The first of the colourful exploits of Jack Crossman, The Devil's Own sees him in the thick of the fighting during the notoriously brutal and bloody Crimean War. In an uneasy nineteenth century alliance with the French and the Turks, the British troops faced the dreaded Cossacks on the battlefield and debilitating diseases such as cholera in their campsites. Sergeant Jack Crossman, referred to by his admiring comrades as 'Fancy Jack', is a tough, shrewd and skilful soldier, part of the proud 88th Regiment, the Connaught Rangers, also known as 'The Devil's Own.' When Crossman is selected to lea
Publisher: London : Constable & Robinson, 2011.
Read more reviews of The Devil's Own at iDreamBooks.com
Great Britain. Army. Connaught Rangers — Fiction.
Crossman, Jack (Fictitious Character) — Fiction.
Alma, Battle of The, Ukraine, 1854 — Fiction.
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04/06/2019 | Member
SSI Schaefer Welcomes Formula 2 Driver Mick Schumacher as Brand Ambassador
"Driving for Excellence"
Today, SSI Schaefer announces its new brand ambassador, Mick Schumacher. The reigning Formula 3 champion, who is competing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship this year, has entered a long-term partnership with intralogistics specialist SSI Schaefer.
Mick Schumacher has been impressing fans, colleagues, and the general public alike for years with his stringent quest for improvement. The 20-year-old son of seven-time Formula 1 World Champion, Michael Schumacher, has long since created his own identity. As a member of the exclusive driving field of the FIA Formula 2 Championship, Mick is now one of the best young racers in the world.
"Driving for Excellence" is the clear goal for this partnership. “Mick brings a great passion that impresses us here at SSI Schaefer. Giving everything, gaining experience, and accepting challenges that work towards a solution with intent and hyper focus is what connects our company with him. True to our corporate tagline, ‘Think Tomorrow.’, SSI Schaefer looks ahead to achieve the ambitious goals for our customers,” stated Michael Mohr, EVP Sales for SSI Schaefer.
Mick Schumacher has been driving for the Italian PREMA team since 2016. The 2018 European Formula 3 Champion just recently started driving for the Formula 2 team this year and he joined into the Ferrari Driver Academy program that promotes young talents. As a young driver, Schumacher started test driving in April for Bahrain in Formula 1 for both, Ferrari and Alfa Romeo Racing. “I’m delighted to welcome SSI Schaefer as a partner because we share the same core values: a down-to-earth attitude, striving for success, innovative solutions, as well as long-term thinking and action. ‘Think Tomorrow.’ suits me too,” stated Schumacher.
Various joint activities are planned for the partnership between the intralogistics specialist and the Formula 2 driver. Mick Schumacher is taking part in a panel discussion at one of the world's largest in-house events in the industry this autumn, with international logistics users, expert discussions, keynotes and live demonstrations of logistics systems.
But for now, Schumacher’s focus is on Monaco since today marks the fourth racing weekend out of the 12 for Formula 2. The Grand Prix Formula 2 is scheduled from 23rd to the 25th of May 2019 in Monaco. The entire SSI Schaefer family will certainly be cheering.
SSI Schaefer, 23 May 2019
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Mr. President. Mr Speaker. Technically in this context I should probably call him Mr. Chairman. But there are a lot… - Bill Clinton and James Patterson, The President Is Missing.
Roger D. Hodge Named Editor of Oxford American
Sept 10 – Sept 16, 2012 Edition Roger D. Hodge Named Editor of Oxford American
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (September 10, 2012) Roger D. Hodge is the new editor of The Oxford American, becoming only the second editor in the magazine’s 20-year history.
Hodge was the editor of Harper’s Magazine from 2006-2010, and during his tenure, the magazine was a National Magazine Award finalist seven times, winning in 2007 for fiction and in 2010 for reporting.
"The appointment of Roger Hodge as editor of The Oxford American will begin an exciting new era for the magazine," said Warwick Sabin, publisher of The Oxford American. "He brings impeccable literary credentials, as well as a rigorous experience editing Harper’s Magazine. Roger is a son of the South, having been born in Texas and educated at Sewanee. Roger has an intuitive understanding of the unique spirit and character of The Oxford American, and he is the perfect person to shepherd it in a rapidly evolving publishing landscape."
"The Oxford American has done a favor and a service to both its readers and its writers," said Lewis H. Lapham, Hodge’s predecessor as editor at Harper’s Magazine. "Roger Hodge’s aversion to nonsense follows from his respect for the meanings of words and his faith in the first-person singular."
“This is an exciting moment for magazines, and for literary journalism in particular,” Hodge said. “People have grown weary of the 24-hour news cycle. They’re hungry for good stories, for vital narratives that help them make sense of a disorienting world. I can’t think of a better venue for such writing than The Oxford American.”
Hodge began his journalism career in 1989 as a freelance writer in North Carolina. After a lengthy detour through the thickets of academic philosophy, he was hired by Harper’s Magazine as a fact checker in 1996. He joined the magazine’s acclaimed “Readings” section in 1997 and edited the section from 1999 to 2003. Under his leadership, the section strengthened its political and literary focus while continuing to publish comic and historically significant primary documents, as well as a selection of the best poems and essays from the little magazines and forthcoming books. In December 2000, Hodge orchestrated the relaunch of the magazine’s website and created the popular “Weekly Review,” a deadpan satire of the 24-hour news feed. In the fall of 2003, Hodge left the “Readings” section to devote more of his attention to long-form journalism. In December 2003, he oversaw another redesign of Harpers.org; that month he also began writing a monthly print column, “Findings,” a sardonic portrait of recent medical, scientific, and environmental developments. He was named deputy editor in November 2004 and became editor in April 2006.
Since leaving Harper’s in 2010, Hodge has written one book of political argument, The Mendacity of Hope (Harper), and many articles and essays for magazines such as Texas Monthly, Men’s Journal, The London Review of Books, Book Forum, and Popular Science. He was a National Magazine Award finalist for Reviews and Criticism for his 2006 Harper’s essay, “Blood and Time: Cormac McCarthy and the Twilight of the West.” Hodge is currently writing a book, forthcoming from Knopf, about life in the West Texas borderlands, where his family has been in the ranching business since the 1850s.
Hodge succeeds Marc Smirnoff, who founded The Oxford American in 1992 and served as its editor until July 15, 2012.
About The Oxford American
Celebrating its 20th anniversary, The Oxford American is a national magazine dedicated to featuring the very best in Southern writing, while documenting the complexity and vitality of the American South. Billed as "The Southern Magazine of Good Writing," it has won three National Magazine Awards and other high honors since it began publication in 1992. The magazine has featured the original work of such literary powerhouses as Charles Portis, Roy Blount, Jr., ZZ Packer, Donald Harington, Donna Tartt, Ernest J. Gaines, and many other distinguished authors, while also discovering and launching the most promising writers in the region. The magazine has also published previously unseen work by such Southern masters as William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, Walker Percy, James Agee, Zora Neale Hurston, James Dickey, and Carson McCullers, to name just a handful. The New York Times recently stated that The Oxford American "may be the liveliest literary magazine in America."
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Search for Short Bursts of Gravitational Radiation
Drever, R. W. P. and Hough, J. and Bland, R. and Lessnoff, G. W. (1973) Search for Short Bursts of Gravitational Radiation. Nature, 246 (5432). pp. 340-344. ISSN 0028-0836. http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20151224-095605688
Recent data from an experiment in Glasgow suggest that pulses of gravitational radiation of less than a few milliseconds duration are too infrequent to account for signals reported by Weber in 1970.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/246340a0 DOI Article
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v246/n5432/abs/246340a0.html Publisher Article
© 1973 Nature Publishing Group. Received September 5; revised October 26, 1973. We acknowledge the assistance of many colleagues in the Natural Philosophy Department, particularly A. McKellar and S. Cherry for technical assistance, and Mrs H. Brogan for scanning and measuring the photographs. We also thank Professor E. A. Faulkner and Dr M. J. Buckingham of Reading University for providing one of the special low noise amplifiers used and for discussions. Our work has been encouraged by Professors P. I. Dee and J. C. Gunn. Financial support was provided by the University of Glasgow and the Science Research Council; we are also grateful for a loan of equipment from the Rutherford Laboratory.
University of Glasgow UNSPECIFIED
Science Research Council (SRC) UNSPECIFIED
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GMC TV changes its name to UP
At the stroke of midnight as the calendar turned to Jun. 1, GMC TV began writing the latest chapter in its evolution as America’s leading television destination for uplifting entertainment when the network changed its name to UP. The fresh, new name will better communicate a clear sense of the network’s unique brand position, which has always been, and will continue to be, “Uplifting Entertainment.”
Along with the new name the network introduced a new URL, UPtv.com, and the company’s corporate name changed to UP Entertainment, LLC.
“The response to our new name has been phenomenally positive,” said Charley Humbard, president and CEO. “The beauty of UP is that it needs no explanation. Every hour of programming on UP is uplifting, inspiring and entertaining for the whole family. It captures the essence of our brand – uplifting entertainment – and will lend itself to many interesting and fun creative executions.”
Starting Jun. 1, viewers continued to see the great programming they have come to love along with a new logo and new on-air look. The introduction of UP will be supported with on-air image and cross-channel spots, a multi-platform marketing initiative and the launch of the on-air “Summer UP” campaign.
UP is the network’s most extensive step in the evolution of the brand since the network launched in 2004 as the Gospel Music Channel, which subsequently evolved to be known as GMC TV: “Uplifting Entertainment.” The UP concept was conceived as an upbeat, positive and playful way to communicate the network’s unique brand promise and position as the destination for the best in family friendly “Uplifting Entertainment.”
Posted on July 10, 2013 at 2:27 am in Louie Giglio | RSS feed You can trackback from your own site.
Tags: GMC TV changes its name to UP
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Archive for the ‘janela buhain’ Tag
8th Cinemalaya Film Festival Review: Part 2 6 comments
Here’s the second part of my Cinemalaya reviews. Don’t forget to come over at the CCP to catch the movies for yourself. The first part covered Mga Mumunting Lihim, Kamera Obskura, Intoy Syokoy ng Kalye Marino, and Kalayaan. You can check them out here. Now, here are four other movies that I’ll review:
Director: Gino M. Santos
Starring: Albie Casino, Patrick Sugui, Dawn Balagot
Competition: New Breed
A day in the life of three upper class teenage students who attend a party that will forever change their life. Jake (Casino) is the host of the biggest party before high school ends, Trina (Balagot) is his klepto girlfriend, while Alex (Sugui) is his brother who is applying to a high school fraternity.
As for starters, I love how the treatment focused on the three characters themselves. Movies about a certain generation has been done many times before, but I specifically notice the energy that the film displays in the characters, scenes, and dialogue in the movie. The aforementioned energy is what makes the movie interesting. I also liked how it’s as raw as one can get, and while some scenes can be very predictable, it depicts the truth that lies beyond the characters from puking in toilets, nipslips, and blabbing drivers of rich kids. The parting shot of the film is probably my favorite; it was expected yet it still stays with you and stays true to what the title and the story of the film suggests. Also, Albie Casino, Patrick Sugui, and Dawn Baalgot are revelations in the film and contributed a large part with the depiction of their characters. While it is very easy to accuse that Santos is all style no substance with this one; however, I particularly liked various things about the movie which showed his potentials as a filmmaker.
BWAKAW
Director: Jun Lana
Starring: Eddie Garcia, Rez Cortez, Soxy Topacio, Beverly Salviejo, Gardo Versoza
Competition: Directors Showcase
Rene (Garcia) is an old gay man living alone. His only companion is his dog Bwakaw. He has been waiting for a long time, anticipating his death until he finds both a surprise and a new reason to live.
I’m not a fan of previous Lana works, but I dare say this is his best film to date. I’m a big sucker for films dealing with a person’s loneliness, and I think that the film’s strongest suit lies beyond the writing of the character of Rene. Rene is alone and longing; he is anticipating for his death yet he seems to start a new life when he finds his first love. He does not believe in God, but he leaves his will to a priest. It is with this strong characterization that makes Rene a human being, and that was translated well from the screen to the audience. Somehow, I think that the movie is too long, though it balances comedy and drama perfectly that one won’t really get bothered by the long running time. Eddie Garcia showed no sign of aging when it comes to his performance, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he wins awards for it. The surprise though is the very good supporting cast from Rez Cortez to Soxie Topacio to my favorite Joey Paras; it shows that while it’s an Eddie Garcia vehicle, the movie can still accommodate the greatness of the rest of the cast. Both funny and touching, I find this as one of the more enjoyable entries of this year’s filmfest.
MGA DAYO
Director: Julius Cena
Starring: Sue Prado, Janela Buhain, Olga Natividad
Set during America’s favorite holiday, Thanksgiving, Mga Dayo features three different stories of women all dealing with their green card. The first one is a hotel cleaner who petitioned her 88 year old Mom to come liver with her in Guam because her mother wants to see America. The second one enters a fixed marriage with a friend just so she won’t be sent back to the Philippines. The third one is a journalist writer who is currently dealing with a broken heart.
For a movie that contains three different stories (not interrelated with each other, aside from the common theme that they all have issues with their green card), it’s not easy to totally be invested with which is which. However, it is pretty surprising that the movie ended quickly, and the revelation scenes of their fate did not leave that much of an impact as what was expected. There were really moments that will get you, opening the way for you to understand but once you start to do so, it suddenly ends. The saving grace of the film are Prado’s and Natividad’s performances, but overall, this leaves you a feeling that there’s still something that can be further covered, but it did not do so.
Grade: 2.5 / 5
ANG NAWAWALA
Director: Marie Jamora
Starring: Dominic Roco, Felix Roco, Dawn Zulueta, Buboy Garovillo
Ang Nawawala tells the story of Gibson Bonifacio (Roco) who stopped speaking when he was young, and now that he’s back in the country for good, he deals with his broken family, and having his first attempt at love.
Let me start by saying that this is my favorite in the New Breed category films. This film does not require you to be critical of the technical aspects or the script or the acting, but more of tugging your heart with the emotional investment that you’ll feel for the characters in the film. The music served as a critical and necessary addition in exposing and understanding Gibson and the situation that he has been into. This is in no way a pioneer or even groundbreaking in terms of tackling the theme of family and love, but it leaves enough impact once the lights appear at the end of the film. I also like the portrayal of the family with Buboy Garovillo as the passive yet understanding and Dawn Zulueta as the aloof and strict mother. Annicka Dolonius gives a great breakthrough performance, but it was Dominic Roco who holds the whole cast altogether. He is heartbreaking, optimistic, and shy all rolled into one, and Roco exuded all of it in the movie. Once you leave the theaters, you can’t help but smile and get carried with Marie Jamora’s charming effort. Definitely a must see.
There you have it. Next up: another batch of four Cinemalaya movies. Also, don’t forget to follow me on Twitter: @nikowl
Posted July 27, 2012 by Nicol Latayan in Films, Reviews
Tagged with albie casino, ang nawawala, annicka dolonius, buboy garovillo, bwakaw, cinemalaya 2012, dawn bagalot, dawn zulueta, dominic roco, eddie garcia, felix roco, gino santos, janela buhain, julius cena, jun lana, marie jamora, mga dayo, olga natividad, patrick sugui, rez cortez, soxy topacio, sue prado, the animals
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Cypriot Government Spokesman: Turkey’s actions are a “sea invasion”
By Newsroom/ Published on: 17/06/2019
The campaign of Greek and Cypriot Foreign Minister continues
By Michalis Michael
The Cypriot government spokesman Prodromos Prodromou announced today that the Republic of Cyprus is proceeding properly and taking all appropriate measures against a “sea invasion”, as he described the illegal activities of Turkey off Paphos.
Regarding whether drilling has begun or not, he reiterated that there are constant and conflicting information.
“In the last days, hours, there seems to be information regarding the transportation of materials, which indicates that drilling has begun. We will not confirm the drilling, but it is important that the official drilling that was announced is just further escalation. Turkey’s behaviour is an attack on the Republic of Cyprus and a violation of international law,” he said.
When asked what measures Nicosia is considering taking, Prodromos Prodromou stressed that the Cypriot government has been prepared for some time now. “It is well known that the instruments we have at our disposal are diplomatic and legal and in cooperation with the Greek government, but also with a series of targeted actions towards the EU mainly, but also towards others throughout the international community. It is no accident, for example, that not only the US has firmly condemned the Turkish actions, but also the European Council. Of course, we also had in the meantime the European elections that drew a lot of attention.”
“It was a transitional period, but in the past days at the MED7 Summit there was a very strong declaration with reports that condemn Turkey, and call on it to end this activity, as in previous decisions of the European Council,” he said.
Meanwhile, Greece and Cyprus, through the Foreign Ministers Katrougalos and Christodoulides, continue their contacts at diplomatic level. At the Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg, both Ministers will inform their counterparts on Turkey’s actions./ibna
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Posts Tagged ‘Downton Abbey’
American Tsarism
Going though YouTube the other day, I found a clip, whose title quoted a political analyst, radical or politicians, as saying that the American political elite now regards its own, ordinary citizens as a foreign country. I’m afraid I’ve forgotten who the speaker was, but I will have to check the video out. But looking at the title of what the leader of the Conservative branch of the Polish nationalist movement said about the Russian Empire. He described how the tsars and the autocracy exploited and oppressed ordinary Russians, stating baldly that ‘they treat their people as a foreign, conquered nation’. Which just about describes tsarist rule, with its secret police, anti-union, anti-socialist legislation, the way it ground the peasants and the nascent working class into the ground for the benefit of big business and the country’s industrialisation. The system of internal passports, which were introduced to keep the peasants on the land, and paying compensation to their masters for the freedom they had gained under Tsar Alexander, and to continue working for them for free, doing feudal labour service: the robot, as it was known in Czech. It’s no accident that this is the word, meaning ‘serf’ or ‘slave’, that Karel Capek introduced into the English and other languages as the term for an artificial human in his play Rossum’s Universal Robots.
We’re back to Disraeli’s ‘two nations’ – the rich, and everyone else, who don’t live near each other, don’t have anything in common and who may as well be foreign countries. It’s in the Tory intellectual’s Coningsby, I understand. Disraeli didn’t really have an answer to the problem, except to preach class reconciliation and argue that the two could cooperate in building an empire. Well, imperialism’s technically out of favour, except for right-wing pundits like Niall Ferguson, so it has to be cloaked in terms of ‘humanitarian aid’. Alexander the Great was doing the same thing 2,500 years ago. When he imposed tribute on the conquered nations, like the Egyptians and Persians, it wasn’t called ‘tribute’. It was called ‘contributions to the army of liberation’. Because he’d liberated them from their tyrannical overlords, y’see. The Mongols did the same. Before taking a town or territory, they’d send out propaganda, posing as a force of liberators come to save the populace from the tyrants and despots, who were ruling them.
What a joke. Someone asked Genghis Khan what he though ‘happiness’ was. He’s supposed to have replied that it was massacring the enemy, plundering his property, burning his land, and outraging his women. If you’ve ever seen the 1980s film version of Conan the Barbarian, it’s the speech given by Conan when he’s shown in a cage growing up. I think the film was written by John Milius, who was responsible for Dirty Harry ‘and other acts of testosterone’ as Starburst put it.
And it also describes exactly how the elite here regard our working and lower-middle classes. We’re crushed with taxes, more of us are working in jobs that don’t pay, or forced into something close to serfdom through massive debt and workfare contracts. The last oblige people to give their labour free to immensely profitable firms like Tesco’s and Sainsbury’s. And at the same time, the elite have been active in social cleansing – pricing the traditional inhabitants of working class, and often multicultural areas, out of their homes. These are now gentrified, and become the exclusive enclaves of the rich. Homes that should have people in them are bought up by foreigners as an investment and left empty in ‘land-banking’. And you remember the scandal of the ‘poor doors’ in London, right? This was when an apartment block was designed with two doors, one of the rich, and one for us hoi polloi, so the rich didn’t have to mix with horned handed sons and daughters of toil.
I got the impression that for all his Toryism, Disraeli was a genuine reformer. He did extend the vote to the upper working class – the aristocracy of Labour, as it was described by Marx, creating the ‘villa Toryism’ that was to continue into the Twentieth Century and our own. But all the Tories have done since is mouth platitudes and banalities about how ‘one nation’ they are. Ever since John Major. David Cameron, a true-blue blooded toff, who was invited by the Palace to take a job there, claimed to be a ‘one nation Tory’. Yup, this was when he was introducing all the vile, wretched reforms that have reduced this country’s great, proud people, Black, brown, White and all shades in-between – to grinding poverty, with a fury specially reserved for the unemployed, the sick, the disabled. These last have been killed by his welfare reforms. Look at the posts I’ve put up about it, reblogging material from Stilloaks, Another Angry Voice, the Poor Side of Life, Diary of a Food Bank Helper, Johnny Void, et al.
But that’s how the super-rich seem to see us: as moochers, taxing them to indulge ourselves. It was Ayn Rand’s attitude, shown in Atlas Shrugs. And it’s how the upper classes see us, especially the Libertarians infecting the Republican and Conservative parties, whose eyes were aglow with the joys of the unrestrained free market and the delights of South American death squads and the monsters that governed them. Walking atrocities against the human condition like General Pinochet, the Contras, Noriega. All the thugs, monsters and torturers, who raped and butchered their people, while Reagan slavered over them as ‘the moral equivalent of our Founding Fathers’. And you know what? An increasing number of progressives are taking a hard look at the Fathers of the American nation. Patricians to a man, who definitely had no intention of the freeing the slaves, or giving the vote to the ladies. and who explicitly wrote that they were concerned to protect property from the indigent masses. Outright imperialists, who took land from Mexico, and explicitly wrote that they looked forward to the whole of South America falling into the hands of ‘our people’. If you need a reason why many South Americans hate America with a passion, start with that one. It’s the reason behind the creation of ‘Arielismo’. This is the literary and political movement, which started in Argentina in the 19th century, which uses the figure of Caliban in Shakespeare’s the Tempest to criticise and attack European and North American colonialism, with the peoples of the South as the Caliban-esque colonised. It was formed by Argentinian literary intellectuals as a reaction to America’s wars against Mexico and annexation of Mexican territory, and their attempts to conquer Cuba during the Spanish-American War.
That’s how South America responded to colonisation from the North and West. And colonialism – as troublesome ‘natives’ to be kept under control, is very much how the elite see ordinary Brits and Americans, regardless of whether they’re White, Black, Asian or members of the First Nations.
But you can only fool people for so long, before the truth becomes blindingly obvious. You can only print so many lies, broadcast so many news reports telling lies and twisted half-truths, before conditions become so terrible ordinary people start questioning what a corrupt, mendacious media are telling them. The constant scare stories about Muslims, foreign immigration, Black crime and violence; the demonization of the poor and people on benefit. The constant claim that if working people are poor, it’s because they’re ‘feckless’ to use Gordon Brown’s phrase. Because they don’t work hard enough, have too many children, or spend all their money on luxuries like computers – actually in the information age a necessity – or computer games, X-Boxes and the like.
You can only do that before the workers you’ve legislated against joining unions start setting up workers’ and peasants’ councils – soviets. Before the peasants rise up and start burning down all those manor houses, whose denizens we are expected to follow lovingly in shows like Downton Abbey. Which was written by Julian Fellowes, a Tory speechwriter.
Before ordinary people say, in the words of ’80s Heavy Metal band Twisted Sister, ‘We ain’t goin’ to take it’.
Before decent, respectable middle class people of conscience and integrity decide that the establish is irremediably corrupt, and there’s absolutely no point defending it any longer.
A month or so ago, BBC 4 broadcast a great series on Russian history, Empire of the Tsars, present by Lucy Worsley. In the third and last edition, she described the events leading up to the Russian Revolution. She described how Vera Zasulich, one of the 19th century revolutionaries, tried to blow away the governor of St. Petersburg. She was caught and tried. And the jury acquitted her. Not because they didn’t believe she hadn’t tried to murder the governor of St. Petersburg, but because in their view it wasn’t a crime. Zasulich was one of the early Russian Marxists, who turned from peasant anarchism to the new, industrial working classes identified by Marx as the agents of radical social and economic change.
And so before the Revolution finally broke out, the social contract between ruler and ruled, tsarist autocracy and parts of the middle class, had broken down.
I’m not preaching revolution. It tends to lead to nothing but senseless bloodshed and the rise of tyrannies that can be even worse than the regimes they overthrow. Like Stalin, who was as brutal as any of the tsars, and in many cases much more so. But the elites are preparing for civil unrest in the next couple of decades. Policing in America is due to become more militarised, and you can see the same attitude here. After all, Boris Johnson had to have his three water cannons, which are actually illegal in Britain and so a colossal waste of public money.
Don’t let Britain get to that point. Vote Corbyn, and kick May and her gang of profiteers, aristos and exploiters out. Before they kill any more people.
Tags:'Aristocracy of Labour', 'Atlas Shrugs', 'Conan the Barbarian', 'Coningsby', 'Diary of a Food Bank Helper', 'Empire of the Tsars', 'Starburst', 'Two Nations', Alexander the Great, Another Angry Voice, Apartment Blocks, Aristocracy, Asians, Assassination, Autocracy, Ayn Rand, BBC 4, Big Business, Blacks, Boris Johnson, Colonialism, Computer Games, Computers, Conservatives, Contras, Czech Language, David Cameron, Death Squads, Deaths, Debt, Dirty Harry, Disraeli, Downton Abbey, Feudal Labour, Founding Fathers, Free Market, General Noriega, General Pinochet, Gengish Khan, Gentrification, Gordon Brown, Heavy Metal, Imperialism, Jeremy Corbyn, John Major, John Milius, Johnny Void, Julian Fellowes, Karel Capek, Land-banking, London, Lower Middle Class, Lucy Worsley, marxism, Massacres, Middle Class, Mongols, Niall Ferguson, Peasants, Police, Poor Doors, Progressives, Rape, Republican Party, Ronald Reagan, Rossum's Universal Robots, Russian Revolution, Serfdom, Soviets, Spanish-American War, St. Petersburg, stalin, Stilloaks, Tax, the Disabled, The Monarchy, the Poor, The Poor Side of Life, Theresa May, Torture, Tsar Alexander, Tsars, Twisted Sister, Upper Working Class, Vera Zasulich, Water Cannon, Welfare Reforms, Whites, Women, Workers' and Peasants' Councils, Working Class, Youtube
Posted in Agriculture, America, Anarchism, Argentina, Asia, Central America, communism, Crime, Cuba, Czech Republic, Democracy, Disability, Economics, England, Fascism, History, Industry, Islam, Justice, Languages, LIterature, Music, Persecution, Poland, Politics, Poverty, Radio, Russia, Slavery, Socialism, Technology, Television, Terrorism, The Press, Trade Unions, Wages, Welfare Benefits, Working Conditions | Leave a Comment »
Vox Political: Tory Lack of Investment in Mental Health Costing £105 Billion a Year
Mike has put up a piece about a report by Paul Farmer for the mental health charity, Mind, which argues that the Tories’ refusal to invest in mental health is costing the British economy £105 billion a year. See http://voxpoliticalonline.com/2016/02/15/tories-failure-to-invest-in-mental-health-costs-economy-105-billion-a-year-says-report/.
The piece also states that Cameron is due to make a statement about his government’s policies towards mental health this Wednesday.
I am not surprised about the amount of damage neglect of the country’s mental wellbeing is doing to the economy. I have, however, no illusions that David Cameron wants to do anything about it. He will want to be seen as doing something about it, and so will probably make noises about how he and the government take this issue very serious, but any action taken will ultimately only be trivial and cosmetic.
It really shouldn’t surprise anyone that the country’s losing so much money because of this issue. Sick people can’t work, or can’t work as well as those enjoying good health. And very many people are being left very sick indeed by the government’s policies. If they’re threatened with losing their jobs, and their homes, or being unable to pay their bills because their jobs don’t pay, or they don’t get enough welfare benefit – if they’ve luck enough not to be sanctioned – and they’re saddled with a massive debt from their student days that they can’t pay off, then they’re going to be scared and depressed. And the Tory employment policies are deliberately designed to make people scared and depressed. It’s all to make us work harder, you see. It’s psychological carrot and stick, but without the carrot and the stick very much used.
Mike himself has reblogged endless pieces from welfare and disability campaigners like Kitty S. Jones and the mental health specialists themselves, blogs like SPIJoe, about how the number of people suffering from anxiety and depression due to the government’s welfare-to-work programme has skyrocketed. The latest statistics are that there 290,000 people suffering because of poor mental health due to the quack assessments carried out by Atos and now Maximus. And 590 people have died of either neglect or suicide due to being sanctioned. That no doubt includes people, who could have contributed to the economy, if they’d been properly supported. But they weren’t. They were thrown of sickness and disability, and left to fend for themselves. They couldn’t, and so they died. Just as prescribed by the wretched Social Darwinism that seems to guide the policies of these monsters in government.
The government’s big idea of helping people back into work is to tell them to pull themselves together, and put them through workfare. As cheap labour for big corporations that don’t need it, like Tesco. Now with the genuinely depressed and anxious, it isn’t the case that they don’t want to work. It’s that they can’t. I know from personal experience. There gets to be a point when you really can’t go into work. And it isn’t just a case of not feeling bothered or up to it either. You feel ashamed because you can’t work. And putting you back into work, before you’re ready, won’t help.
But that’s ignored, or simply doesn’t register with the New Labour and Conservative supporters of this vile and destructive welfare policy.
I’m reblogging Mike’s article now because it ties in with several programmes about depression and mental health issues this week. And 9 O’clock tonight on BBC 1 there is The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive Revisited with Stephen Fry. This is the sequel to a documentary he made, The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive, ten years ago. Fry’s bipolar himself, and in the original documentary he spoke to other sufferers, including Hollywood star Richard Dreyfuss and one of the very great stars of British pop in the ’90s, Robbie Williams. Fry was on the One Show on Friday talking about the show. He mentioned there was a much greater awareness of the problem. He described talking about it before pupils at the most elite and famous public school in the country, and saw his young audience nodding in agreement when he talked about self-harm. He stated that this was astonishing, as when he was at school no-one had heard of it.
Presumably Fry means Eton, and I’m not particularly surprised to find that some of the pupils were all too aware of what he was talking about. The entire regime at public school seems designed to turn the young scions of the ruling classes either into complete bastards, or absolute mental wrecks. I can remember reading accounts in the Sunday Express when I was at school, where ex-private schoolboys stated that they had been left emotionally numb and scarred by their experiences. And the former schoolgirls had similarly had an horrific time. When former pupil described how the girls at her school were perpetually in tears. So much for happy schooldays and jolly hockey sticks.
This Wednesday, at 10.45 pm, the BBC is screening a documentary, Life After Suicide. The blurb for this runs
The leading cause of death in men below 50 is suicide, yet people still seem reluctant to talk about the grim reality. Angela Samata, whose partner Mark took his own life 11 years ago, meets others who have suffered a similar loss. Those she meets include Downton Abbey actor David Robb, who talks about the death of his actress wife Briony McRoberts in 2013; a Somerset farmer and his five young daughters; and a Norfolk woman who is living with the suicides of both her husband and her son. Showing as part of BBC1’s mental health season.
And at a quarter to midnight the following evening, on Thursday, there’s the rapper Professor Green: Suicide and Me. The Radio Time’s blurb for this goes
This deeply personal, affecting film created a nationwide stir when it was first aired on BBC3 last autumn. “Crying’s all I’ve bloody done, making this documentary.” remarks Stephen Manderson, aka rapper Professor Green, describing the emotions that frequently overwhelm him as he tries to better understand why his father committed suicide.
His conclusion is simple: men need to talk about their emotions.
That helps a lot. One of the reasons why women are apparently less likely to commit suicide is because women have more friends, to whom they can confide and share their troubles. But in the case of general depression and anxiety, much can be done to prevent this simply by easing the immense economic and social pressures on people, pressures that have been made much worse through the government’s austerity campaign, as well as making sure there’s better understanding and treatment available for mental illness.
Well, that’s me done on this issue. As Dr Frazier Crane used to say, ‘Wishing you good mental health’.
Tags:'The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive Revisited', 'The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive', 'Welfare to Work' Assessment, Atos, Austerity, Briony McRoberts, Conservatives, David Cameron, David Robb, Downton Abbey, Dr Frazier Crane, Farmers, Kitty S. Jones, Maximus, Men, Mind, Norfolk, Paul Farmer, Private Schools, Professor Green, Richard Dreyfuss, Robbie Williams, Somerset, SPIJoe, Stephen Fry, Student Debt, Suicide, Tesco, The One Show, The Sunday Express, Upper Classes, Vox Political, Women, Workfare
Posted in Charity, Economics, Education, Health Service, Industry, Medicine, Mental Illness, Music, Politics, Popular Music, Television | 3 Comments »
TV on Tuesday: Celebs in the Workhouse
The past five Tuesday evenings, the Beeb has been showing the series 24 Hours in the Past. This is pretty much a reality TV show with an historical slant. Instead of being thrown into a jungle and then made to survive, or compete against each other to produce the finest cakes or dishes, each week the programme’s cast of celebrities are required to go back to a certain period in history and do some of the nastiest, dirtiest or most unpleasant work from the period. It’s like Tony Robinson’s 2004 Channel 4, The Worst Jobs in History, but with a crew of six as the unfortunate Baldricks forced to labour and grub for their living like the inhabitants of Victorian slums. Or the rookeries of 18th century London. Or whatever.
This week, however, they reach the very nadir of poverty and desperation: the workhouse. The blurb for the programme states that the workhouse was partly intended to reform the corrupt and indolent character of its inmates. It’s therefore a kind of irony that Ann Widdecombe is so bolshie, that she finds herself placed in solitary.
The blurbs for it in the Radio Times state
As the six celebrities stroll up to an impressive redbrick institution for their final Victorian experience, Miquita Oliver reckons it looks like somewhere she’d go for a weekend spa. Hardly. It’s the workhouse, where there are no rewards, only punishments, explains Ruth Goodman. So immediately bolshie Ann Widdecombe is put in solitary confinement.
In order to “reform the moral character of the undeserving poor”, workhouse inmates were degraded,k overworked and mistreated, taking the time travellers almost to breaking point.
Tempers are definitely fraying but to give them credit, nobody shouts “I’m a celebrity … get me out of here”. It’s been a filthy, gruelling history lesson.
Hungry and penniless after stirring up a worker’s rebellion in the Victorian-era potteries, there’s only one place left for Ann Widdecombe, Zoe Lucker, Colin Jackson, Alistair McGowan, Tyger Drew-Honey and Miquita Oliver. Clad in rough uniforms and clumsy clogs they enter the harsh world of the workhouse – the 19th century equivalent of the benefits system – where they are immediately stripped of their belongings and indentities. Filthy and exhausted the celebrities must endure relentless graft and grind for their basic necessities. Will they rise to this most daunting challenge and prove they can work their way out of the workhouse and back to the comforts of the 21st century?
As left-wing bloggers like Tom Pride, the Angry Yorkshireman, Johnny Void, Stilloaks, Jayne Linney, Mike from Vox Political and myself have pointed out, the ethos underlying the workhouse – that of ‘less eligibility’ – has returned to 21st century Britain in the form of the various tests, examinations and ‘work related activity’ benefit claimants are forced to go through in order to show that they really are looking for work, if fit, and genuinely deserving of invalidity or sickness support if they cannot. And as the government has made it very plain it wants to cut down on welfare expenditure in order to shrink the state back to its size in the 1930s, conditions are being made as hard as possible so that increasingly few people are considered deserving of state support.
And although not confined within the prison-like environs of the workhouse, its drudgery has been brought back in the form of workfare and the other requirements to perform ‘work-related activity’. This consists in performing unpaid, spurious voluntary work for particular charities, or big businesses like Tesco and so boosting their already bloated profits.
So far, conditions have not become quite so appalling as the Victorian workhouse, but real, grinding poverty, including starvation and rickets has reappeared in Britain, brought about by the Tories’ and Lib Dems’ atavistic desire to return to the very worst of the ‘Victorian values’ lauded by Maggie Thatcher. So far, 45 people have starved to death due to the withdrawal of their benefits, but the true number is probably much, much higher, perhaps 50,000 plus.
And it’s significant that while celebs, including a former Tory MP, are prepared to participate in a programme like this, the Tories have most definitely refused to experience its modern equivalent for themselves. Iain Duncan Smith was invited to try living on the same amount as a job-seeker for a week. He flatly refused, declaring that it was just ‘a publicity stunt’.
Well, what did you expect from ‘RTU’ Smith, the Gentleman Ranker. He’s a wancel (hat tip to Maxwell for this term), whose cowardice in facing his policies’ victims has been more than amply demonstrated over and again. Such as when this mighty warrior, who, according to David Cameron, ‘can crack skulls with his kneecaps’, hid in a laundry basked to hide from demonstrators in Edinburgh. Or when he sneaked out the back of a Job Centre he was opening in Bath to avoid meeting the demonstrators there.
Now I’ve no problem whatsoever with history programmes showing how harsh conditions were the bulk of people in the past, who didn’t belong to small percentage that formed the aristocracy or the middle classes. It gives a more balanced idea of the past in contrast to those programmes, that concentrate more on the lives of the elite. These programmes can give an idealised picture of previous ages, in which social relations were somehow more harmonious, and the lower orders were properly grateful and respectful to paternal employers and aristocratic masters. There’s been a touch of this, for example, in the Beeb’s Sunday night historical drama, Downton Abbey.
For most people, life was not a round of glamorous society balls, or a glorious career in the armed forces abroad, or in parliament at home. Most people did not have the luxury of fine food, wines and spirits, with their wishes attended by legions of dutiful servants.
Rather, the reality for most of the country’s population in the past was hard work, grinding poverty, and the threat of a very early death through disease and malnutrition.
However, there is also a danger with programmes like this in that they can give the impression of continual progress and improvement. There’s always the risk that some will look at the hard conditions of the workhouse and Victorian Britain generally with complacency. Well, that was terrible then, but everything’s somehow much better now. Things have improved greatly since then, and we have nothing to worry about. Indeed, the standard Tory attitude is that conditions have improved too much, to the point where the ‘undeserving poor’ have returned and are living very well from the taxes of ‘hard-working people’ like themselves, and other aristocrats, financiers and bankers.
For others, however, the programme may provide a salutary object lesson in the kind of country ours will be come once again, if the Tories aren’t stopped. One of the commenters on either Tom Pride’s or Johnny Void’s blog dug out a ConDem proposal for something very much like ‘indoor relief’ – as the workhouse system was called – for the disabled in the form of special units to provide training and accommodation to the handicapped.
In actually fact, the workhouses weren’t just a feature of Victorian England. They lasted right up to 1947, when they were made obsolete under the new welfare state.
Now with the Tories trying to destroy state welfare provision completely, and sell off the NHS, there’s a danger that they’ll return. The Tories have already brought back unpaid labour and less eligibility. They just haven’t got round to putting everyone on them in a prison-like environment yet.
In the meantime, it should be very interesting indeed to see how six people from the 21st century fare in the harsh conditions of the 19th. And especially a former Tory MP, like Ann Widdecombe.
Tags:'24 Hours in the Past', 'Indoor Relief', 'less eligibility', 'The Worst Jobs in History', 'Victorian Values', 'Work-Related Activity', Alistair McGowan, Another Angry Voice, Aristocracy, Bath, BBC, Channel 4, Coalition, Colin Jackson, Conservatives, David Cameron, Deaths, Disease, Downton Abbey, Edinburgh, Financiers, IDS, Jayne Linney, Job Centre, Johnny Void, Lib-Dems, Maggie Thatcher, Malnutrition, Middle Class, Miquita Oliver, NHS, NHS Privatisation, Radio Times, Ruth Goodman, Starvation, Tescos, Tom Pride, Tony Robinson, Tyger Drew-Honey, Vox Political, Welfare State, Workfare, Workhouses, Zoe Lucker
Posted in Banks, Charity, Disability, Health Service, History, Industry, Medicine, Morality, Politics, Poverty, Television, Unemployment, Welfare Benefits, Working Conditions | 10 Comments »
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Tag Archives: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1
Lionsgate Entertainment
Posted on October 5, 2014 by masicili
by Maggie Sicliano
[1] Lionsgate Entertainment Logo
Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation was founded by Frank Giustra on July 3, 1997 as a Canadian-American entertainment company, and is based in Santa Monica, California. Currently headed up by Jon Feltheimer, Lionsgate is constantly changing. It plays on its exposure from 2012 when it acquired Summit Entertainment and launched “The Hunger Games” franchise. Recently, it has become an international player due to a 13-year strategy to create a foundation for growth. It also continues to enhance its television presence. [2]
[3] Chief Executive Officer: Jon Feltheimer
[4] Vice Chairman: Michael Burns
Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.
2700 Colorado Avenue
W: http://www.lionsgate.com [5]
Lions Gate Entertainment Corp has a net income growth of +4015.05%, a revenue of 552.88 M, a revenue growth of +10.86%, and an Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization of +33.12% M (September 2014). In the past five years the overall revenue has increased 13.22%, but the net income as gone down 176.11%. [6] In the box office Lionsgate is currently ranked #7 with a 5.9% market share, and a total gross of $543.3 million from the 18 movies tracked in 2014. [7]
“The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1”
[8] “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1” is the first part of third movie in The Hunger Games’ series that follows a young Katniss Everdeen after she destroys the games and finds herself in District 13.
The series, based on the books of the same name by Suzanne Collins, starring Jennifer Lawrence, was surprisingly the lowest-grossing movie of the series franchise thus far, but was the front runner of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. After the five day break, “Mockingjay” turned out as the third highest five day grosser just behind its second movie, “Catching Fire“, and child phenomenon, “Frozen“. [9] The film is once again directed by “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” visionary Francis Lawrence. [8]
[10] “John Wick” follows an ex-hitman on his quest for revenge.
The suspected flop starring Keanu Reeves in yet another action film was a pleasant surprise in its opening weekend. Coming in at #2 [11], the action flick wasn’t on the same level as other Lionsgate thrillers such as “The Expendables 3″ and “3 Days to Kill“, but it did well for its audience (skewed male) as well as had a decent showing, 18% gross, in IMAX. [12]
This September it was announced that CEO Jon Feltheimer will receive the Producers Guild of America‘s Milestone Award for 2015. The award recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to the success of the entertainment industry. His leadership positions range from positions at New World Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and now, Lionsgate Entertainment. Since being named CEO in 2000, Feltheimer has had a myriad of achievements under his belt. In the past he was behind the Oscar winners “Crash“ and “Precious“, and more currently “The Hunger Games” franchise and the start of the “Divergent“ series’ franchise. [13]
[14] The thriller follows a man lost at sea and his struggle for survival.
The most recent award winner for Lionsgate was J.C. Chandor‘s “All Is Lost” starring Robert Redford with the 2014 Golden Globe for Best Original Score for a Motion Picture. As the upcoming award season gears up, the award nominations have yet to be released. [14]
“Spare” Parts [16] Poster
“Spare Parts” Trailer [15]
Sean McNamara directs the true life story about a robotics team formed by Hispanic high school students, under their new teacher Fredi (George Lopez). The experience of building a product with next to no money, no experience, but a lot of heart, will bring them closer together and give them lessons that will last longer than just the competition run. Set to release on January 16, 2015, it will play to the family and child demographic, and is a sure heart-warmer. [16]
“Insurgent” [18] Poster
“Insurgent” Teaser Trailer [17]
With new director Robert Schwentke, Shailene Woodley stars in the “Hunger Games“–esque thriller, that follows fugitives Tris (Woodley) and Four (Theo James). They are racing to find help against the overambitious Erudite elite. [18] The movie will be released in 2D, Real 3D, and Digital 3D on March 20th, 2015.”The second film in the “Divergent” franchise takes the story and action to another level and, by partnering with RealD, we were able to blend gripping performances and mind-blowing spectacle to create a unique event on screen,” said producers Douglas Wick and Lucy Fisher. [19] “Insurgent” will draw on the the Veronica Roth books series by the same name’s fan base, a young adult demographic, and fans of the first “Divergent” movie.
“Mortdecai” [21] Poster
“Mortdecai” Trailer [20]
Art dealer aficionado Charlie Mortdecai, Johnny Depp, juggles a host of contenders as he tries to recover a stolen painting in hopes that it leads to Nazi gold. Joined by big names Gwyneth Paltrow and Olivia Munn, director David Koepp takes Mortdecai out of his element and across the pond for a mystery of Depp-proportions on January 23, 2015. [21]
“The Age of Adaline” [23] Poster
“The Age of Adaline” Trailer [22]
Blake Lively plays Adaline Bowman, the mysterious and solitary woman who has miraculously remained 29 years old for eight decades. After keeping to herself for so long, she is revitalized through the chance meeting of Ellis Jones, played by Michiel Huisman. Shaped by director Lee Toland Krieger, the film also stars Harrison Ford and Ellen Burstyn, and is set to be released on April 23, 2015. [23]
Game Changers for Lionsgate Entertainnment
Middle of November, Lionsgate and CBS Films announced a multi-year film distribution partnership that unites the companies on up to 12 wide release films, beginning with the release of 2015’s “The Duff“. The agreement holds CBS Films responsible for the production and marketing efforts of films, whereas Lionsgate will oversee more of the distribution side on multiple platforms: theatrical, home entertainment, etc. “The Duff” withholding, Lionsgate also receives exclusive international sales for all titles. [24] Lionsgate has also announced that it will be making “The Expendables 3” workout videos in collaboration with Scott Herman Fitness to celebrate the digital HD release of “The Expendables 3 Unrated Edition” on November 11, 2014. [25] Lionsgate is also using the American Film Market to launch its name in and among the independent films’ world. It features a range of films from “La La Land“, starring big names such as Emma Watson and Miles Teller, to the story of the oil drilling catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico, “Deepwater Horizon“, due out in 2015 and September 30, 2016, respectively. [26]
The Future of Lionsgate Entertainment
This past October, Lionsgate announced that both it and Tribeca Enterprises will be launching their own online streaming service beginning the first half of 2015. The online video service will make the studios’ movies and ones from outside studios available to viewers. They plan to draw on many of their industry contacts.“We are pleased to join with Lionsgate . . . to create a highly curated experience that disrupts the ‘more-is-more’ model in today’s streaming on-demand landscape,” said Jane Rosenthal, chief executive of Tribeca Enterprises. “Tribeca Short List aims to be a service where you can see films you never got to watch, forgot to watch, and want to watch.” Details such as films available and pricing have yet to be released. [27] Based in New York, the service will be overseen by members of both studios as well as an advisory board of knowledgable frontrunners in the American entertainment industry. [28] It was also just announced that Dalian Wanda Group, the Chinese conglomerate, wants to own a controlling stake in Lionsgate to expand its rapidly growing film industry. Lionsgate has yet to comment on their publicized interest. [29]
[1] Lionsgate Entertainment Logo, www.thehungergames.net, RT: 11/25/14
[2] Lionsgate Company, www.lionsgate.com, RT: 11/5/14
[3] Key Executive: Jon Feltheimer, www.lionsgate.com, RT: 11/26/14
[4] Key Executive: Michael Burns, www.lionsgate.com, RT: 11/26/14
[5] Lions Gate Entertainment Corp, http://finance.yahoo.com, RT: 11/5/14
[6] Lions Gate Entertainment Corp, www.wsj.com, RT: 11/5/14
[7] Box Office by Studio, www.boxofficemojo.com, RT 11/30/14
[8] LIONSGATE MOVIES Mockingjay Part 1, www.lionsgate.com, RT: 11/5/14
[9] Mockingjay Part 1 Remains Champ, www.ign.com. 11/30/14. RT: 11/30/14
[10] LIONSGATE MOVIES John Wick, www.lionsgate.com. RT: 11/30/14
[11] John Wick, www.boxofficemojo.com. RT: 11/29/14
[12] Weekend Report, www.boxofficemojo.com, Subers, Ray. 10/26/14. RT: 11/29/14
[13] Jon Feltheimer to Receive Producers Guild’s 2015 Milestone Award, deadline.com, 9/9/14. RT: 9/14/14
[14] All Is Lost, www.lionsgate.com. RT:11/29/14
[15] Spare Parts Trailer, www.youtube.com, 11/6/14. RT: 11/30/14
[16] Lionsgate Movies: Spare Parts, www.lionsgate.com. RT: 11/30/14
[17] Divergent Teaser Trailer, www.youtube.com, 11/12/14. RT: 11/30/14
[18] The Divergent Series: Insurgent, www.lionsgate.com, RT: 11/30/14.
[19] The Divergent Series: Insurgent to be Released in 3D, www.lionsgate.com, RT: 11/5/14
[20] Mortdecai Trailer, www.youtube.com, 11/12/14. RT: 11/30/14
[21] Johnny Depp Is A British Rogue in America, www.deadline.com, The Deadline Time. 11/12/14. RT: 11/30/14.
[22] The Age of Adaline Trailer, www.youtube.com, 11/19/14. RT: 11/30/14
[23] The Age of Adaline, www.lionsgate.com, RT: 11/30/14
[24] CBS Films and Lionsgate Announce Multi-Year Film Distribution Partnership, www.lionsgate.com, 11/13/14, RT: 11/19/14
[25] The Expendables Workout, www.lionsgate.com, 11/11/14, RT: 11/19/14
[26] Lionsgate Aims for the Fences at American Film Market, variety.com, RT: 11/5/14
[27] Lionsgate and Tribeca film studios are launching a new streaming service, www.washingtonpost.com, Kang, Cecilia. 10/20/14. RT: 11/5/14
[28] Tribeca Short List, www.lionsgate.com. RT: 11/30/14
[29] Dalian Wanda Group’s Interest, www.variety.com, Lang, Brett. 12/1/14. RT: 12/1/14
Posted in TRF235 Fall 2014, TRF235.3 | Tagged 2015, 2D, 3 Days to Kill, 3D, Adaline Bowman, All Is Lost, American Film Market, Best Original Score, Blake Lively, CBS Films, Charlie Mortdecai, Colorado Avenue, Crash, Dalian Wanda Group, David Koepp, Deep Water Horizon, Deepwater Horizon, digital 3D, Divergent, Divergent franchise, Divergent series, Douglas Wick, Ellen Burstyn, Ellis Jones, Emma Watson, Erudite, Expendables 3, Four, Francis Lawrence, Frozen, G, George Lopez, Golden Globes, Gulf of Mexico, Gwyneth Paltrow, Harrison Ford, IMAX, Insurgent, Insurgent 3D, J.C. Chandor, Jan Rosenthal, John Wick, Johnny Depp, Jon Feltheimer, Keanu Reeves, La La Land, Lee Toland Krieger, Lee Toyland Krieger, Lions Gate Entertainment Corp, Lionsgate, Lionsgate 2012, Lionsgate Entertainment, Lionsgate new logo, Lucy Fisher, Michael Burns, Michiel Huisman, Miles Teller, Milestone Award, Mortdecai, Nazi gold, New World Entertainment, oil spill, Olivia Munn, PGA, Precious, Producers Guild of America, Producers Guilds, Real 3D, RealD, Robert Redford, Santa Monica, Scott Herman Fitness, Sean McNamara, Shailene Woodley, Sony Pictures Entertianment, Spare Parts, Summit Entertainment, Suzanne Collins, teaser, The Age of Adaline, The American Film Market, The Duff, The Expendables 3 Unrated Edition, The Expendables workouts, The Hunger Games, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, Theo James, Trailer, Tribeca Enterprises, Tribeca Film Studios, Tribeca Films, Tribeca Short List, Tris, Veronica Roth
Posted on October 5, 2014 by htfergus
by Naomi Pinkus
Lionsgate Company Logo [1]
Address: 2700 Colorado Ave Ste 200
Santa Monica, CA, 90404 United States
Website: http://www.lionsgate.com
About Lionsgate:
Lionsgate Entertainment was founded in 1997 by financier Frank Giestra. In 2000 Giestra stepped down as CEO, and the current CEO, John Feltheimer, took charge along with the current Vice Chairman Michael Burns [2]. For a while, Lionsgate was seen as a small studio known for their Tyler Perry comedies and horror flicks such as Saw [3]. Then, in 2012, The Hunger Games came to theaters, and become one of the most successful film franchises in history. Since then, Lionsgate bought Summit Entertainment (Twilight series) and has been speeding up to the major film studios in record time [3]. This particular wiki will focus on Lionsgate’s motion picture production line of business, as it is also involved in television programming, home entertainment, distribution, and new channel platforms [2].
John Feltheimer, Chief Executive Officer [4]
Michael Burns, Vice Chairman [5]
Since starting in 2000, Feltheimer and Burns have grown Lionsgate from an $80 million company to a nearly $4 billion one today. Lionsgate’s revenue has increased more than 15 times over [4].
Lionsgate reported as of September 30th (when the quester ended) their revenue has increased by 11% to $552.9 million. They also had an adjusted EBITDA of $59.0 million. They also had an adjusted net income of $33.0 million or $0.24 adjusted basic net income per share. Additionally, they had a net income of $20.8 million or $0.15 basic net income per share, which is up from $0.00 basic net income per share last quarter [6].
Big Releases:
Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1:
In this portion of the story, Katniss is in District 13 as the face of the rebellion, while trying to save Peeta from the Capitol [8].
The third movie in the Hunger Game’s franchise which made over $1.5 billion in the box office before this new release [7]. The Hunger Games is by far Lionsgate’s most well-known and lucrative project. This third film came out November 21st, and has spent its two weeks of release being number one in the box office [9]. With a budget of $125 million, it has already made $225 million in the domestic market and $480 in the international market [9]. This franchise is also responsible for the Jennifer Lawrence’s rise to one of the top A-List stars in Hollywood.
John Wick is the story of an ex-hitman who comes out of retirement to hunt the gangsters who took everything from him [10].
John Wick:
With the reintroduction of Keanu Reeves, John Wick did surprisingly well as number 2 in the box office opening weekend. With a budget of $20 billion, Lionsgate gained $42 million domestically and $17 million internationally [11].
Smaller Film Releases:
Addicted is a thriller that encompasses a story about a gallerist engaging in an affair, which jeopardizes her family and career [12].
Jessabelle is the story of a girl who returns to her hometown after a car crash, where she’s met with a dark spirit who won’t let her go [14].
Addicted came out on October 10, 2014 and made $17 million. It was in approximately 1,000 theaters for only about 7 weeks [13].
Jessabelle is a horror film that came out on November 7th, 2014. As of now, there is no information on the budget, earnings, or number of theaters of this film [15].
Dear White People is a story about four black people struggling with race at a university [16].
The Homesman is the story of a man and woman who must transport 3 insane women across the country [18].
Dear White People was released on October 17th and has made about $4 million domestically (it was not released in the international market) [17].
The Homesman came out on November 21st. The film had an estimated budget of $16 millions and has only made $200,000 in the box office thus far [19].
Upcoming Releases:
Mortdecai:
Starring Johnny Depp, Gwenyth Paltrow, Ewan McGregor, and Olivia Munn, Mortdecai is sure to be a success. It is set to be released on January 23rd. The story is an action-comedy who’s premise is an art dealer is given a job to hunt down an art thief and faces an adventure across the world [20]. CEO Feltheimer compares this film to The Pink Panther and considers Depp’s character very “franchisable” [21]. The movie’s release was moved from early February so as to reduce the competition: now it is pinned up against Jennifer Lopez’s thriller The Boy Next Door [22].
Insurgent:
Perhaps the biggest grossing project next to The Hunger Games is the Divergent franchise. Insurgent, the second film of the trilogy, sets to be released to theaters on March 20th [23]. Divergent, the first film, made about $288 million worldwide last spring [24]. This film is estimated to be even more successful because the lead, Shailene Woodley, has escalated in fame since Divergent’s release through the film Fault in Our Stars [25]. Also interesting is the fact that Lionsgate has released a trailer that is a dream of the lead Tris (Woodley)- which has been commented on by news outlets as a risky way to promote the film, especially since they leave out the romance element of the film [25]. Insurgent will also be released in 3D.
The Age of Adeline:
Starring Blake Lively, The Age of Adeline tells a story about a woman who cannot age. It is set to be released on April 24th [26]. This is the first big movie Lively will lead in, so it’s a potentially big opportunity to draw fans in [27].
Spare Parts:
Spare parts is the story of four under-privledged hispanic boys starting a robotics club. It is set to hit theaters on January 16th and is starring George Lopez and Jamie Lee Curtis [28]. This film was a move by Lionsgate to reach out to and widen their Hispanic market. The Hispanic market is the fastest growing demographic in America, comprising 19% of U.S. box office revenue while representing 17.5% of the population [29].
Current Business Ventures:
Lionsgate has been extremely busy in the last few months expanding their company. The way they are doing this is by partnering up with many major companies to add projects to their plate and widen their distribution for the films they already had.
On September 3rd, Lionsgate announced that joined with Entertainment One, they would be renewing their multi-year film agreement in Canada, Australia, and Spain. This renewal will continue to distribute their major movies across the world, giving their company more recognition and money [30].
The last few months have been heavily focused on advertising and marketing The Hunger Games. On October 8th, Lionsgate partnered with Doritos, Mazda, and Whole Food’s, all of which sponsored a new app called “Our Leader, the Mockingjay” [31]. On October 20th, Lionsgate sent out a press release with the partnership between them and Google, where they created a five episode YouTube series about characters in Panem (the setting of The Hunger Games) [32]. Then on November 7th it was announced that Lionsgate would be partnering with Imagine Nations to produce The Hunger Games as a theater production in the UK [33].
As of November 13th, Lionsgate has partnered with CBS Films on up to 12 wide-release films. In this agreement CBS finds and produces the films while Lionsgate deals with distribution. This will allow each company to benefit from each other’s strengths [34].
There are many other examples of Lionsgate using any film success they’ve had to branch out into new media channels. It seems as though they are going to continue moving full speed ahead on their business ventures.
[1] Lionsgate Company Logo, Deadline.com, RT 2/5/13
[2] Lionsgate Company Overview, lionsgate.com, RT 12/1/14
[3] Lionsgate Fighting the System, businessinsider.com, RT 1/24/14
[4] CEO Jon Feltheimer, Lionsgate.com, RT 8/17/13
[5] Vice Chairman Michael Burns, Lionsgate.com, RT 8/17/13
[6] Financial Report, lionsgate.com, RT 11/30/14
[7] Google and Lionsgate Team Up, lionsgate.com, RT 10/20/14
[8] Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, Imbd.com, RT 11/21/14
[9] Hunger Hames: Mockingjay Part 1, boxofficemojo.com, RT 11/30/14
[10] John Wick, imbd.com, RT 11/30/14
[11] John Wick, boxofficemojo.com, RT 11/30/14
[12] Addicted, imbd.com, RT 11/30/14
[13] Addicted, boxofficemojo.com, RT 11/30/14
[14] Jessabelle, imdb.com, RT 11/7/2014
[15] Jessabelle, boxofficemojo.com, RT 11/30/2014
[16] Dear White People, imdb.com, RT 11/30/14
[17] Dear White People, boxofficemojo.com, RT 11/30/14
[18] The Homesman, imdb.com, RT 11/30/14
[19] The Homesman, boxofficemojo.com, RT 11/30/14
[20] Mortdecai, lionsgate.com, RT 11/30/14
[21] Johnny Depp’s New Franchise, thewrap.com, RT 11/30/14
[22] Mortdecai to Hit Theaters Early, hollywoodreporter.com, RT 11/30/14
[23] Insurgent, lionsgate.com, RT 11/30/14
[24] Divergent, boxofficemojo.com, RT 11/30/14
[25] Insurgent Trailer, forbes.com, RT 11/30/14
[26] Age of Adeline, lionsgate.com, RT 11/30/14
[27] Blake Lively, usatoday.com, RT 11/30/14
[28] Spare Parts, lionsgate.com, RT 11/30/14
[29] George Lopez, variety.com, RT 11/30/14
[30] Entertainment One, lionsgate.com, RT 9/3/14
[31] Our Leader, The Mockingjay, lionsgate.com, RT 10/8/14
[32] Google, lionsgate.com, RT 10/20/14
[33] Theater Production, lionsgate.com, RT 11/7/14
[34] CBS Films, lionsgate.com, RT 11/13/14
Posted in TRF235 Fall 2014, TRF235.1 | Tagged Addicted, Blake Lively, Dear White People, Divergent, Elizabeth Banks, Ewan McGregor, George Lopez, Gwenyth Paltrow, Insurgent, Jennifer Lawrence, Jessabelle, John Wick, Johnny Depp, Josh Hutcherson, Keanu Reeves, Liam Hemsworth, Lionsgate, Lionsgate Entertainment, Mockingjay, Mortdecai, Olivia Munn, Shailene Woodley, Spare Parts, Summit Entertainment, The Age of Adeline, The Homesman, The Hunger Games, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, Woody Harrelson
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UK consumers want businesses to do more to protect their data
Protecting your digital footprint is growing more important and the results from a survey of 2,000 UK adults by Kaspersky Lab finds that people believe there is not enough business or state protection currently in place to defend it.
The study finds 41 percent of UK respondents think that businesses should do more to protect their personal data, including passwords, addresses and bank account details, from hacking.
More than a quarter think there is not enough state support with regards to data security and cyber-protection and 12 percent have been so concerned by a high-profile data breach that they have shut down one or more of their social media accounts in response.
Despite growing numbers of data breaches, however, less than a third (34 percent) of respondents say they have strengthened their passwords. In addition under half (43 percent) admit to having up-to-date security protection on all their devices.
While 81 percent of respondents think everyone has something they don't want to reveal to others, only half of 25–34-year-old respondents say they keep secrets in their heads. 23 percent keep secrets on their mobile phone, 18 percent in their emails and 17 percent in the cloud.
"We have become a society built upon digital secrets, with those secrets becoming commoditised and traded on the dark web," says David Emm, principal security researcher at Kaspersky Lab. "There is more that businesses can and should do to help protect their customers -- including security solutions that significantly mitigate the risk of a successful attack, running fully updated software, performing regular security audits and performing penetration testing. However, there is also much that consumers can do to protect themselves. That includes strengthening their passwords and protecting all their devices."
The full report is available from the Kaspersky site.
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Tag Archives: dragon ball z
90s Kid’s TV Shows: Why My Childhood Was Better Than Yours
“Music these days is awful. It’s much worse than it used to be.”
“I only like movies made before 1985. Modern films are stupid.”
“Back in my day, food was good and nurturing. It gave us energy. Not like today’s food. You can’t chop wood with a belly full of McNuggets.”
You’ve heard the arguments. Perhaps while at Applebee’s with your moderately hipster friend who takes pleasure in critiquing the barely audible background music. Perhaps on an international flight when your seat-neighbor insists on critiquing your television show selection instead of watching his own screen. Or perhaps at the movie theater when you accidentally sit in front of the loud and opinionated older couple who thought Moonrise Kingdom didn’t appropriately represent the Cub Scouts of America. It’s difficult to escape the judgmental gaze of haters of modernity.
What makes such pretentiousness so frustrating is its commitment to tunnel-visioned subjectivity. First, many of these opinions are fueled by the same visceral nostalgia that connects today’s youth with modern pop culture. You may appreciate The Dick Van Dyke Show (which is a wonderful show), but is your love inspired by the brilliance of Carl Reiner, Dick Van Dyke, and Mary Tyler Moore? Or is it fueled by the fact that The Dick Van Dyke Show reminds you of childhood memories? Though they are not mutually exclusive, there is a difference between nostalgia and critical thought.
Even if hipsters, older generations, and the overly opinionated can swallow the red pill and bypass the temptation to limit criticism to new media, their perspectives of pop culture timelines are often distorted. Pitbull, Katy Perry, and Taylor Swift might not create the most poetically inspired albums, but post-Y2K years are not the only years with arguably bad music. Both Dan Hill’s “Sometimes When We Touch” and Billy Ray Cyrus’s “Achy Breaky Heart” were 90s Billboard hits; “Boogie Oogie Oogie” by A Taste of Honey was a 70s disco success; and Patti Page’s “(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?” reached the top of the charts in the 1950s. But a nostalgia-infused lens either eliminates such songs from memory or persuades its wearer that hits like “I Write the Songs” by Barry Manilow—”I write the songs that make the whole world sing / I write the songs of love and special things”—are examples of profound lyricism.
There is one specific type of media, however, that I believe has declined in quality since the 90s.
While all decades contain examples of poor programming, the 90s was the best decade for kid’s television. Television shows for children and tweens had not yet reached their potential before 1990, and shows created after 1999 have been, with several exceptions, meaningless and uninspired. The sighs of relief as our computers continued to operate on January 1, 2000 signaled the beginning of over a decade of mediocre programming for kids.
The 90s played host to a variety of intelligent and unique shows for children and young teenagers. Shows like Hey Arnold! and Recess meaningfully and unpatronizingly highlighted the nuances of life as a kid. The protagonists of these shows offered children understandable and often humorous environments in which to consider more profound topics, concepts like divorce, obscenity, multiculturalism, and gender stereotypes. Even secondary characters like Stoop Kid and Swinger Girl, while simple in some ways, contained layers of relatable emotions.
Though not all 90s kid’s shows offered the readily applicable morals of Hey Arnold!, most shows of the decade had something unique to offer. For many, any lack of obvious morality was made up for with bold originality. CatDog featured an anatomically confusing pair of protagonists and an instantly classic theme song; Dexter’s Laboratory introduced an array of fascinating secondary characters and was nominated for four consecutive Primetime Emmys; and The Powerpuff Girls parodied gendered superheroes and had Mojo Jojo.
Wishbone, The Magic School Bus, Legends of the Hidden Temple, and Bill Nye, the Science Guy set the standard for educational entertainment. All That was one of the first sketch comedy shows for kids. Rugrats and Doug became archetypes of kindhearted media for kids. The Big Comfy Couch championed a new generation of imaginative, small-set children’s shows. Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain uniquely combined academia, pop culture, slapstick comedy, and satire. Goosebumps and Are You Afraid of the Dark? brought the horror genre to kids in a way that has not been done since. Dragon Ball Z and Pokémon peaked in the 90s. And even Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, arguably the best of the Power Rangers franchise, existed in the 90s.
Compare these shows with modern entertainment like Dave the Barbarian, Brandy & Mr. Whiskers, and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, and you may notice the difference. While modern music, film, and television programming for adults and older youth are as inspired now as they were in the past, kid’s television shows are not.
Posted in Musings
Tagged 90s TV, big b, bill nye, catdog, dexter's laboratory, doug, dragon ball z, mo money, pokemon, rugrats, television show, the powerpuff girls, tv, wishbone
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November 19, 2012 November 20, 2012 pressteamscotland
Happy birthday to the National Lottery
Most people are aware of the difference National Lottery funding made to elite sport: we won only one gold medal in Atlanta before it started. London 2012 itself wouldn’t have happened without National Lottery funding: we paid for the cultural and community events across the UK; put money into building iconic venues; and even helped train some of the young volunteers.
Since it launched in 1994, The National Lottery has helped bring positive changes to the lives of people in communities all across the UK. It has funded projects that improve people’s health and the environment, enrich our culture and preserve our heritage. It has been changing lives every day for eighteen years and the scale of it is surprising. National Lottery players raise more than £30 million every week for Good Causes.
The National Lottery has funded something for everyone:
· From helping Sir Chris Hoy on his journey to six Olympic gold medals to enabling a small child learn to swim.
· From investing in Oscar-winning films like The King’s Speech to funding a theatre group for deaf children.
· From creating our much-loved Riverside Museum in Glasgow to regenerating thousands of public parks where we run, play and enjoy life.
In these past few years of economic uncertainty, National Lottery funding has been the one constant for thousands of charities that look after our society’s most vulnerable people. If you are homeless, disadvantaged, very young or very old, or a victim of violence or abuse, the chances are that the organisations that do such marvellous work to support you, are in turn supported by The National Lottery.
And, it does not stop there. Think of your last visit to a museum, an art gallery, the theatre or a sports centre – the chances are it has had Lottery money. Thousands of disabled people have had extra support to help them fulfill their potential – from Paralympians and theatre groups to grants to make historic buildings and parks accessible. The National Lottery has created thousands of jobs, more than a million training and volunteering opportunities and helped build vibrant, internationally renowned arts and film industries. It has provided the financial boost for communities up and down the UK to work together – community gardens, fun days, Big Lunches, park benches, town hall clocks, war memorials, village halls and community shops. We even paid for the people who live on the Isle of Gigha to buy their own island and take hold of their own destiny.
Find out more about the National Lottery Good Causes here
sportscotland
Published by pressteamscotland
Communications Officer View all posts by pressteamscotland
Previous £2.3m Boost for Newmains Community
Next Skye & Lochalsh Young Carers welcome Big Lottery Fund Scotland
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Bionic Tumbleweed
Always going (slowly).
About Christian K.P. McMahon
Category Archives: Women’s Rights
#HearAndHelp, American People, Disability, Diversity is Grand, Environmental Justice, Global Justice, Immigration Justice, LGBTQ, Politics, Poverty and Incarceration, Racial Justice, Veteran's Rights, Women's Rights
Hear And Help
Purple mountains are both real and majestic.
In the past months of shift and upheaval I find my thoughts drawing back to a single word. Vulnerability. So many of our people who were already vulnerable are now even more so. For those of us who have faced vulnerability in our own lives the though of this is overwhelming and can feel like it will stop us in our tracks. In my life it has always been the seemingly simple act of people showing up, listening, and doing what they can to lend a hand that has helped me through difficult times.
I’m telling you this because I need to shake myself out of this immobility, and I’m inviting you to join me. Shortly after election day I asked a few of my compassionate and connected friends to recommend organizations that help people who are especially vulnerable. Between mid November and Christmas I posted links on social media to one organization each day with a brief summary of the work that they do and with the hashtag #HearAndHelp inviting my friends to show up for as many of these groups as they could. The thought behind this is that actively supporting even just one group is infinitely more productive than none. This post will serve as a place to collect this small – in no way complete – group of organizations. I have taken the descriptions from each organizations’ website rather than creating my own. If you are interested in showing up for any of these groups I recommend doing these three things to start:
Follow these organizations on social media.
Donate money if you can.
Show up in person and volunteer.
As you engage, remember that before doing anything else, always, always, always listen.
Please share this post if you want to. There is much work to be done and we need as many people involved as possible. If you have organizations that you would like to add please share them on social media with the #HearAndHelp hashtag, or add them in the comments section.
Racial and Immigration Justice:
Showing Up For Racial Justice moves White people to act as part of a multi-racial majority for justice with passion and accountability.
Race Forward advances racial justice through research, media, and practice. Founded in 1981, Race Forward brings systemic analysis and an innovative approach to complex race issues to help people take effective action toward racial equity. Race Forward publishes the daily news site Colorlines and presents Facing Race, the country’s largest multiracial conference on racial justice.
Muslim Legal Fund Of America is a charity that funds legal work and programs to defend Muslims against injustice in American courtrooms, prisons, and communities. Muslim Legal Fund of America is the ONLY national tax-exempt nonprofit legal fund dedicated to defending Muslims’ civil rights and civil liberties in American courtrooms.
National Council of La Raza Since 1968, the National Council of La Raza has remained a trusted, nonpartisan voice for Latinos. This is the community we serve through our research, policy analysis, and state and national advocacy efforts, as well as in our programs work in communities nationwide.
Native American Rights Fund is oldest & largest nonprofit law firm dedicated to asserting & defending the rights of Indian tribes, organizations, and individuals nationwide.
National Immigration Law Center At NILC, we believe that all people who live in the U.S.—regardless of their race, gender, immigration and/or economic status—should have the opportunity to achieve their full potential. Over the years, we’ve been at the forefront of many of the country’s greatest challenges when it comes to immigration issues, and play a major leadership role in addressing the real-life impact of polices that affect the ability of low-income immigrants to prosper and thrive.
Black Lives Matter is a chapter-based national organization working for the validity of Black life. We are working to (re)build the Black liberation movement.
Council on Islamic-American Relations CAIR’s mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.
TheDream.US We’re working to help over 4,000 highly motivated DREAMers graduate from college with career-ready degrees. DREAMers are immigrant youth who came to this country at a very young age without documentation. Despite the fact that this is the only country they have ever known––they’ll receive no federal aid to go to college, have limited access to state aid, and often face paying out-of-state tuition.
Mijente Imagine a movement that is not just Pro-Latinx… but pro-Black, pro-woman, pro-queer, pro-poor because our community is all that and more.
MALDEF Founded in 1968, MALDEF is the nation’s leading Latino legal civil rights organization. Often described as the “law firm of the Latino community”, MALDEF promotes social change through advocacy, communications, community education, and litigation in the areas of education, employment, immigrant rights, and political access.
Disability:
Disability Rights Education And Defense Fund is a leading national civil rights law and policy center directed by individuals with disabilities and parents who have children with disabilities.
National Disability Rights Network works to improve the lives of people with disabilities by guarding against abuse; advocating for basic rights; and ensuring accountability in health care, education, employment, housing, transportation, and within the juvenile and criminal justice systems. NDRN is the nonprofit membership organization for the federally mandated Protection and Advocacy (P&A) Systems and the Client Assistance Programs (CAP) for individuals with disabilities. Collectively, the Network is the largest provider of legally based advocacy services to people with disabilities in the United States.
American Association of People with Disabilities is a convener, connector, and catalyst for change, increasing the political and economic power of people with disabilities.
Center for Disability Rights is a not-for-profit, community-based advocacy and service organization for people with all types of disabilities… CDR’s services and advocacy are controlled by people with disabilities. CDR’s Board of Directors and management staff are primarily people who themselves have disabilities. CDR is in the best position to respond to the needs of people with disabilities because CDR is composed of people with disabilities, as well as those without.
National Council on Independent Living advances independent living and the rights of people with disabilities. NCIL envisions a world in which people with disabilities are valued equally and participate fully.
ADAPT is a national grass-roots community that organizes disability rights activists to engage in nonviolent direct action, including civil disobedience, to assure the civil and human rights of people with disabilities to live in freedom.
U.S. International Council on Disabilities is a non-profit, membership, constituent-led organization committed to building bridges between American and international disability communities and cultures. Through a wide range of projects and programs, USICD promotes the inclusion of disability perspectives in U.S. foreign policy and aid and provides opportunities for domestic disability rights organizations to interface with their international counterparts.
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network seeks to advance the principles of the disability rights movement with regard to autism. ASAN believes that the goal of autism advocacy should be a world in which Autistic people enjoy the same access, rights, and opportunities as all other citizens. We work to empower Autistic people across the world to take control of our own lives and the future of our common community, and seek to organize the Autistic community to ensure our voices are heard in the national conversation about us. Nothing About Us, Without Us!
LGBTQ:
Lambda Legal Founded in 1973, Lambda Legal is the oldest and largest national legal organization whose mission is to achieve full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and those with HIV through impact litigation, education and public policy work.
Silvia Rivera Law Project works to guarantee that all people are free to self-determine gender identity and expression, regardless of income or race, and without facing harassment, discrimination or violence.
The Trevor Project Founded in 1998 by the creators of the Academy Award®-winning short film TREVOR, the Trevor Project is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) young people ages 13-24.
National Center for Transgender Equality is the nation’s leading social justice advocacy organization winning life-saving change for transgender people.
National Center for Lesbian Rights has been advancing the civil and human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their families through litigation, legislation, policy, and public education since it was founded in 1977.
Transgender Law Center works to change law, policy, and attitudes so that all people can live safely, authentically, and free from discrimination regardless of their gender identity or expression.
Southerners On New Ground SONG envisions a sustainable South that embodies the best of its freedom traditions and works towards the transformation of our economic, social, spiritual, and political relationships. We envision a multi-issue southern justice movement that unites us across class, age, race, ability, gender, immigration status, and sexuality; a movement in which LGBTQ people – poor and working class, immigrant, people of color, rural – take our rightful place as leaders shaping our region’s legacy and future. We are committed to restoring a way of being that recognizes our collective humanity and dependence on the Earth.
Environmental Justice:
Natural Resources Defense Council The Natural Resources Defense Council works to safeguard the earth – its people, its plants and animals, and the natural systems on which all life depends.
The Sierra Club Founded by legendary conservationist John Muir in 1892, the Sierra Club is now the nation’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization — with more than two million members and supporters. Our successes range from protecting millions of acres of wilderness to helping pass the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Endangered Species Act. More recently, we’ve made history by leading the charge to move away from the dirty fossil fuels that cause climate disruption and toward a clean energy economy.
Poverty and Incarceration:
National Fair Housing Alliance is the voice of fair housing. NFHA works to eliminate housing discrimination and to ensure equal housing opportunity for all people through leadership, education, outreach, membership services, public policy initiatives, advocacy and enforcement.
The Innocence Project founded in 1992 by Peter Neufeld and Barry Scheck at Cardozo School of Law, exonerates the wrongly convicted through DNA testing and reforms the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice.
Project NIA is an advocacy, organizing, popular education, research, and capacity-building center with the long-term goal of ending youth incarceration. We believe that several simultaneous approaches are necessary in order to develop and sustain community-based alternatives to the system of policing and incarceration. Our mission is to dramatically reduce the reliance on arrest, detention, and incarceration for addressing youth crime and to instead promote the use of restorative and transformative practices, a concept that relies on community-based alternatives.
Women’s Rights:
Planned Parenthood is a trusted health care provider, an informed educator, a passionate advocate, and a global partner helping similar organizations around the world. Planned Parenthood delivers vital reproductive health care, sex education, and information to millions of women, men, and young people worldwide.
EMILY’s List is committed to driving progressive change throughout our country by winning elections that put pro-choice Democratic women into office.
Echoing Ida We publish print and online articles. We conduct workshops and develop communication strategies for social justice organizations. We ensure our media and movements include the voices of Black women and nonbinary folks. By developing writers and removing publishing barriers, Echoing Ida amplifies the critical expertise of Black women and nonbinary folks. Together, we ensure our families and communities thrive.
Veteran’s Rights:
Swords to Plowshares In 1974, Swords to Plowshares started with a single grant and a small location on Valencia Street. Now, over 40 years later with an annual budget of $19 million, we are still doing the same thing we set out to do — heal the wounds of war, restore dignity, hope, and self-sufficiency to all veterans in need, and to prevent and end homelessness and poverty among veterans. From the beginning we’ve accomplished our mission by providing wrap-around services to veterans in our community, and advocating for improved care and services for all veterans. We have been at the forefront of the veterans’ rights movement since 1974, when six Vietnam veterans, frustrated with the inadequate system of care for veterans, founded Swords to Plowshares.
ProPublica is an independent, non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest. Our work focuses exclusively on truly important stories, stories with “moral force.” We do this by producing journalism that shines a light on exploitation of the weak by the strong and on the failures of those with power to vindicate the trust placed in them.
Southern Poverty Law Center The SPLC is dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of our society. Using litigation, education, and other forms of advocacy, the SPLC works toward the day when the ideals of equal justice and equal opportunity will be a reality.
The National Lawyers Guild is the nation’s oldest and largest progressive bar association and was the first one in the US to be racially integrated. Our mission is to use law for the people, uniting lawyers, law students, legal workers, and jailhouse lawyers to function as an effective force in the service of the people by valuing human rights over property interests.
International Rescue Committee The mission of the IRC is to help people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover and gain control of their future.
Human Rights Watch is a nonprofit, nongovernmental human rights organization made up of roughly 400 staff members around the globe. Its staff consists of human rights professionals including country experts, lawyers, journalists, and academics of diverse backgrounds and nationalities. Established in 1978, Human Rights Watch is known for its accurate fact-finding, impartial reporting, effective use of media, and targeted advocacy, often in partnership with local human rights groups. Each year, Human Rights Watch publishes more than 100 reports and briefings on human rights conditions in some 90 countries, generating extensive coverage in local and international media. With the leverage this brings, Human Rights Watch meets with governments, the United Nations, regional groups like the African Union and the European Union, financial institutions, and corporations to press for changes in policy and practice that promote human rights and justice around the world.
Doctors Without Borders We help people worldwide where the need is greatest, delivering emergency medical aid to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or exclusion from health care.
This country is big enough for all of us.
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Big Creek Coffee has found a new roasting place
July 2, 2019 By Michael Howell Leave a Comment
Randy Lint, owner of Big Creek Coffee, unloads coffee beans at his new wholesale production facility near Woodside. Michael Howell photo.
Randy Lint calls bailing out of his legal career into the coffee business “the best thing that’s ever happened to me.” Unlike his wife Jennifer, who has excelled in her own legal career long enough to be appointed District Court Judge, Randy found being a small town general practice attorney was just not his cup of tea…or should we say coffee. So, when he lost the Justice of the Peace position that he held from 1999-2000, instead of getting back to his practice he decided to try something new and started roasting coffee beans.
He began by installing a coffee roaster in the garage at his wife’s legal business. He worked successfully out of that little garage for about a year and half when he and Jennifer spotted an open business space in downtown Hamilton in the center of town with a four-way stop at the intersection.
“We thought it would make a nice coffee shop and we thought roasting the beans right in the shop might be an attraction. So they made the move in 2012.
Lint said he had only one employee who soon quit and he ran the whole business for about four or five months all by himself, opening the shop, roasting the beans, making and serving coffee all day, then cleaning up the shop and placing orders for coffee beans.
Randy Lint, owner of Big Creek Coffee, tests out a new machine. Michael Howell photo.
“I really can’t even imagine it now,” he said. “At the time, I guess I just couldn’t afford to fail.” And fail he did not. His business, both in the shop and online and mail order, was steadily growing. But as the two aspects of his business, serving lattes on the one hand and roasting beans on the other, both grew, a conflict began to develop in the shop.
Although the smell of roasting coffee did work as an attractant to the shop, it also generated a lot of heat which became problematic in the summertime without good air conditioning in the building. He bought another smaller coffee roaster and put it in the shop and went back to roasting mainly in the garage with the bigger machine. It was more efficient and more productive in less time than the small one. Eventually he phased out roasting at the coffee shop.
Then Jennifer got appointed to the District Court Judge position and closed her law office. That left Randy looking for another place to roast. He found one located along the highway north of Hamilton near Woodside.
The building, which serves as a wholesale production facility as well as a warehouse, is bigger than what he needs right now, he said, but he plans on growing into it. His business has already grown from employing only one person to employing seven people.
Lint said that dealing with the employees has become, surprisingly to him, one of the most satisfying parts of the business.
“I am proud of my staff and crew,” he said. “Probably the biggest measure of satisfaction I’ve gotten out of this business is the jobs I’ve created.” Lint said that his employees are really hard workers and always do it with a smile.
As much as he may like dealing with customers and employees, he can’t conceal his delight in the roasting process itself. His enthusiasm was evident as he demonstrated how his high tech, computer driven, mini-roaster can roast a small portion of beans (enough for about two cups of coffee) in about 5 to 6 minutes in a digitally controlled roasting cycle that slightly undercooks the beans. These beans are so lightly roasted that a person would ordinarily say it was too weak. But that’s because roasting the beans actually changes their taste and the object of this exercise is to see what the bean itself tastes like not the roasting process. This is one thing that makes coffee tasting an art.
The coffee beans come from all over the world. He has used the same four U.S. based brokers to purchase his beans for the last nine years. He buys some of his favorites and some of his customer’s favorites, he said.
Lint obviously enjoys entrepreneurism and didn’t pass up the chance to interest an inquiring newspaper reporter with one of his latest products, a new single-serve Steeped Coffee. It looks like an oversized tea bag, but unlike many tea bags, there is no bio-waste involved. It comes in a biodegradable mesh sack with no glue or staples in the package. It is also bagged using a special nitrogen-sealed package to retain freshness. All it takes is a cup of hot water and you’ve got a fine specialty blend in the same time and with as little mess as you make brewing tea in a tea bag.
Lint is feeling really good about the move. He loves having the extra space and room for trucks to deliver large loads. It was always a hassle at the downtown shop hauling in large 150-pound bags of beans.
While the new facility is simply a workspace and not generally open to the public, you can still enjoy Randy’s company at the coffee shop in Hamilton. In fact, he said the new factory space has made the coffee roasting so much more efficient and faster that it has actually made more time for him to spend with customers at the downtown shop.
Lint has done such a good job in his business that his coffee shop has been recognized as one of America’s 50 Best Coffee Stores. It’s worth checking out. His coffee beans are also sold at Burnt Fork Market in Stevensville, Pattee Creek Market in Missoula, the Good Food Store in Missoula and Super 1 Foods in Stevensville.
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The Bookstore of Glen Ellyn
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Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (Paperback)
By Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett
The classic collaboration from the internationally bestselling authors Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, soon to be an original series starring Michael Sheen and David Tennant.
"Good Omens . . . is something like what would have happened if Thomas Pynchon, Tom Robbins and Don DeLillo had collaborated. Lots of literary inventiveness in the plotting and chunks of very good writing and characterization. It’s a wow. It would make one hell of a movie. Or a heavenly one. Take your pick."—Washington Post
According to The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (the world's only completely accurate book of prophecies, written in 1655, before she exploded), the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact. Just before dinner.
So the armies of Good and Evil are amassing, Atlantis is rising, frogs are falling, tempers are flaring. Everything appears to be going according to Divine Plan. Except a somewhat fussy angel and a fast-living demon—both of whom have lived amongst Earth's mortals since The Beginning and have grown rather fond of the lifestyle—are not actually looking forward to the coming Rapture.
And someone seems to have misplaced the Antichrist . . .
Neil Gaiman is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty books, including Norse Mythology, Neverwhere, and The Graveyard Book. Among his numerous literary awards are the Newbery and Carnegie medals, and the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, and Will Eisner awards. Originally from England, he now lives in America.
Sir Terry Pratchett was the internationally bestselling author of more than thirty books, including his phenomenally successful Discworld series. His young adult novel, The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, won the Carnegie Medal, and Where's My Cow?, his Discworld book for “readers of all ages,” was a New York Times bestseller. His novels have sold more than seventy five million (give or take a few million) copies worldwide. Named an Officer of the British Empire “for services to literature,” Pratchett lived in England. He died in 2015 at the age of sixty-six.
“The Apocalypse has never been funnier.”
— Clive Barker
“Hilariously naughty.”
— Kirkus Reviews
“Wacky and irreverent.”
“Reads like the Book of Revelation, rewritten by Monty Python.”
— San Francisco Chronicle
“Fiendishly funny.”
— New Orleans Times-Picayune
“From beginning to end, GOOD OMENS is side-splittingly funny . . . a ripping good time.”
— Rave Reviews
“If you’ve never read [GOOD OMENS], don’t miss it now. Grade: A.”
— Rocky Mountain News
“It could be called The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Armargeddon.”
— Palm Beach Post
“[L]ittle asides, quirky observations, simple puns and parody eventually add up to snorts, chortles and outright laughs.”
— San Diego Union-Tribune
“What’s so funny about Armageddon? More than you’d think . . . GOOD OMENS has arrived just in time.”
— Detroit Free Press
“Full-bore contemporary lunacy. A steamroller of silliness that made me giggle out loud.”
“A direct descendant of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.”
“An utter delight—fresh, exciting, uproariously funny.”
— Poul Anderson
“Outrageous . . . read it for a riotous good laugh!”
— Orlando Sentinel
“I whooped . . . I laughed . . . I was in near hysterics.:
— New York Review of Science Fiction
“A slapstick Apocalypse, a grinning grimoire, a comic Necronomicon, a hitchhiker’s guide to the netherworld.”
— James Morrow, author of Only Begotten Daughter
“One Hell of a funny book.”
— Gene Wolfe
— Locus
“Huge fun.”
— Sunday Express (London)
“Irreverently funny and unexpectedly wise . . . Highly recommended.”
— Library Journal
“Something like what would have happened if Thomas Pynchon, Tom Robbins and Don DeLillo had collaborated.”
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Publication Date: August 7th, 2007
Fiction / Fantasy / Humorous
Fiction / Science Fiction / Apocalyptic & Post-Apocalyptic
Fiction / Occult & Supernatural
Digital Audiobook (My Must Reads)
CD-Audio (November 10th, 2009): $39.99
CD-Audio (September 2019): $36.95
Paperback, Large Print (March 5th, 2019): $19.99
Compact Disc (April 2015): $24.95
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Augusta Read Thomas cello concerto to receive world premiere by Lynn Harrell and BSO
By Wynne Delacoma
Augusta Read Thomas’s Cello Concerto No. 3 “Legend of the Phoenix” will receive its world premiere Thursday night by soloist Lynn Harrell and the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Christoph Eschenbach. Photo: Michael J Lutch
Augusta Read Thomas is a composer, but poetry and visual art are almost as vital as clef markings and staff lines to the dramatic, inherently joyful music she writes.
Boston Symphony Orchestra audiences will get a taste of that heady blend in this week’s world premiere of her Cello Concerto No. 3, Legend of the Phoenix. Lynn Harrell is cello soloist, and Christoph Eschenbach, who has conducted several Thomas world premieres, will be on the podium.
Of the100-plus works Thomas has composed since 1990, all have poetic titles or subtitles, more often than not evoking images of ancient legends or the cosmos. They range from Vigil, her first work for cello and chamber orchestra from 1990, to Astral Canticle, a work for full orchestra. Commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra where she was composer-in-residence from 1999 to 2006, Astral Canticle was a finalist for the 2007 Pulitzer Prize.
As for visual art, the 48-year-old Thomas starts a new piece by literally drawing a map of how it will unfold—using lines, shapes and colors to outline elements such as harmonic shape, rhythm and overall form.
“When I compose, I don’t make a short score or piano reductions,” said Thomas. “I go from sketches directly into full-score pages, which I write on manuscript paper with pens, rulers and Wite-Out. The sketches are like architectural guide lines—or potent bullion cubes from which I can start to imagine how to cook a whole meal.”
The final sketch for the general outline of Legend of the Phoenix resembles a city skyline. Vertical shafts rise like skyscrapers from a flat base line that represents the concerto’s 30-minute running time. At various points, the skyscrapers, outlined with Easter egg pastels, bear labels like “Fanfare, Blazing” and “Rich-Robust.” A dark line representing the cello runs through the skyscrapers, shifting from straight and uncomplicated to undulating waves. Its final rise is as steep as a rollercoaster’s.
Curved arches float above the skyscrapers like so many rainbows, each accented with a different pastel. Some indicate expression markings—“majestic,” “whimsical, sprightly, playful.” The four largest delineate the concerto’s four, continuous movements.
Beneath the concerto’s flat timeline, looking like a cutaway view of subterranean vaults, are four columns of written instructions as well as tempo and dynamic markings. The overall image is of a vibrant, colorful city bursting with possibilities.
The concerto grew out of an invitation Thomas received from William G. Brown, a life trustee of the Chicago Symphony, who had commissioned two of her previous works. The Boston Symphony has performed several works by Thomas, who taught for many summers at the Tanglewood Music Center. (She was director of Tanglewood’s Festival of Contemporary Music in 2009.)
Eschenbach has had a long relationship with Thomas, first meeting her in Chicago during his guest appearances with the CSO. (Thomas makes her home in Chicago, where she is completing her second year as the University Professor of Composition at the University of Chicago’s Department of Music and the College.)
Thomas had never worked with Harrell, so she immersed herself in his recordings and videos as she worked on the concerto.
“I was thinking of Lynn Harrell as I wrote,” said Thomas. “I was really listening to his sound—the kind of muscle, the athleticism, the intense stomach and power and joy of sound that he brings. He’s a big, joyous player.”
When the concerto was finished, she flew to Los Angeles to go over the score with the cellist at his home in Santa Monica.
“We were sitting at the dining table, flipping through the pages and playing some of it at his piano,” said Thomas. “This was a month before the due date. I wanted Lynn to have time, if there was something he didn’t like, to tell me so that I could get it all done.” According to Thomas, Harrell told her, “Don’t change a note.’’
Lynn Harrell Photo: Christian Steiner
Along with the finished concerto, she took along four visual art sketches, one for each movement. (Though each movement is distinct—progressing from moderate to fast to dreamy to playful—there are no breaks between movements.)
“As we read through the score together,” she said, “I was able to quickly situate him in the overall form, flow and context. It was useful in our meeting.”
“I’d heard her earlier chamber cello concerto,” said Harrell, “but I met her only after we agreed to have this commission.” Looking at some of Thomas’ earlier work, he said, “I was fascinated with the musical language and the harmony, and the individuality of her personality. The music really sounds like her music.”
Thomas, who was born in Glen Cove, N.Y., studied piano and trumpet before settling on composition, but she has developed a strong affinity for string instruments.
“We saw so much eye to eye about the capacity of the cello,” Harrell said. “It’s very sweet to meet someone who has a [grasp] of what the cello can do in completely new ways but also being faithful to its intrinsic nature.
“There are frequent rests for the cello, for example, in this concerto. Most cello music has long sections where the sound is constantly happening. Augusta breaks this up so that we feel breath, we feel stuttering or speaking quickly, staccato-like.
“It adds to the panorama of what the cello’s nature is,” he said. “She understands that the cello is an instrument that’s always directly related to our voice. It never goes arbitrarily way higher than the voice as a violin does.”
Though Thomas’ works carry vivid titles, she doesn’t always start with a precise title in mind. Legend of the Phoenix grew out of the concerto’s content rather than vice versa.
“The music is so hot in my brain,” said Thomas, “that that is ultra-primary. But usually I do have an image or some kind of internal drama in my mind. Maybe there’s an inner momentum, [a sense] that the piece is going somewhere and that it’s going to traverse different sections for instance.
“This piece is extremely colorful,” she said, “very optimistic, full of sunshine. It’s clean; it’s not big mud puddles of orchestration. The overall affect is very positive, and so the idea of something [like a phoenix] rising out of the ashes seems very positive. Things keep re-emerging and re-building and re-sounding. And I like the image of fire–sparkling like a sparkler, stars in the night. Lynn thought this was the perfect title for what the piece sounds like.”
Eschenbach recalls his first encounter with Thomas in Chicago. “She showed me some of her works,’’ said Eschenbach, “and I liked very much her uncompromised personality. She’s a virtuoso in writing for the orchestra. In the cello concerto, the writing is extremely lucid. It’s very fiery, with high, long notes in the cello that fly over the orchestra. There’s a great sense of lyricism and of drama. There’s much drama in the cello concerto. And humor also, and a wistful element.
“It is,” he said with a chuckle, “a typical gusty Thomas piece.’’
Lynn Harrell, Christoph Eschenbach and the Boston Symphony Orchestra present the world premiere of Augusta Read Thomas’s Cello Concerto No. 3, Legend of the Phoenix 8 p.m. Thursday, 1:30 p.m. Friday and 8 p.m. Saturday at Symphony Hall. The program also includes Mozart’s Symphony No. 41 (“Jupiter”) and Saint-Saens Symphony No. 3 (“Organ”). bso.org; 888-266-1200.
Wynne Delacoma was the classical music critic for the Chicago Sun-Times from 1991 to 2006. She is a regular contributor to Chicago Classical Review, and continues to write for the Sun-Times, Musical America.com and other outlets. Since 1982 she has been an adjunct faculty member at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism teaching arts reporting and criticism as well as general reporting.
©2019 Boston Classical Review. All rights reserved. Contact Editor Lawrence A. Johnson at ljohnson@theclassicalreview.com. Subscribe via RSS.
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BTCHCOIN: Your Economic News
The economic news you want. The financial planning you need. Your inbox. Every Monday.
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Good News for your Monday
This week, Stats Canada announced that fewer Canadians are living under the official poverty line* than ever before. That’s huge.
What’s even better? Using data from 2017, Stats Canada found that 278,000 fewer children are living under the poverty line than in 2015.
Analysts have attributed the overall decline to two factors:
The economy is on a slight upswing in terms of employment. While our employment numbers aren’t quite as high as they were prior to the economic crash in 2008, they’re slowly rising.
The Canada Child Benefit (CCB), a tax-free federal benefit distributed to families, was introduced in 2017. Depending on income factors, families can receive up to $6,400 per child. Expect to hear about the CCB a lot come October: lifting children out of poverty was a core tenet of the Liberal’s platform, and every incumbent loves a heartwarming story about fulfilling their campaign promises.
The bottom line from their figures? Poverty and childhood poverty rates in Canada are on the decline. While that’s great news, it doesn’t mean economic hardship has ceased to exist in our country. The 2017 numbers indicate that 9.5% of our population still lives below the poverty line.
Let’s hope that the parties in our electoral system haven’t forgotten about that 9.5% by the time October rolls around. Here at Btchcoin, we’re eagerly anticipating policy proposals that will substantially tackle all types of poverty. We want to hear about affordable child care, tax reform, pharmacare, and housing. Until then, we’ll keep you in the loop.
*The poverty line is $22,133 for a single person or $38,335 for a family of three
Poverty Rates in Canada by Age Demographic
Credit: CBC News & Statistics Canada
Goodbye EARL The Gap Inc.
Last week, Gap Inc. announced their plans to shut down operations of nearly half of their stores in the coming two years – a whopping 230 locations worldwide. It’s speculated that many of these locations will be in Canada.
In an email to CBC, the San Francisco-based retail giant explains that these closures are a result of their commitment to shutter underperforming stores, and follows a mass cull of 175 locations by the company in 2015.
These closures come at a significant cost to Gap Inc. – projections indicate that the company will see a loss of approximately $635 million USD, but will ultimately result in $90 million USD in pre-tax annual savings following these operational changes.
Although the Gap Inc. is currently unwilling to state the exact number of Canadian closures, this cut-throat move is sure to have a notable impact on Canada’s clothing retail environment, an industry it has staked a significant claim in since it entered the Canadian market in the late 80s.
It’s not just The Gap that’s tapping out – retail really isn’t looking too rosy for Canada right now.
Gap Inc.’s announcement comes on the heels of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s decision to shut down all of its 37 Home Outfitters locations across the country, and news that Payless ShoeSource is exiting the Canadian market. Sears has been shutting storefronts across the country since 2017, and Town Shoes will also be closing shop at all of their nearly 60 locations across Canada.
The slumping Canadian retail sector witnessed a considerable dip in consumer spending last year, which has impacted Gap Inc. and other large retailer’s operations in the country. The drop in retail sales are a result of the low gasoline prices and fewer purchases of automobiles, plus the impact of rising interest rates on significant consumer expenditures, such as houses and real estate.
Gap’s future in Canada may be uncertain, but we can tell you we will CERTAINLY always think fondly of the brand that gave to the world some seriously iconic celebrity ad campaigns, repopularized turtlenecks, and gifted us with the unforgettable brightly coloured G-A-P hoodies of the 90s (ALL the rage on the playground back then).
Interestingly, the Zuck did not wear his Gap hoodie to the congressional hearings last year
Housing is more Affordable… but like still Unaffordable
We’ve talked about Canadian banks before, and specifically about the buzz around one hedge-fund’s decision to bet against Canadian banks, which are typically perceived to be a stable, relatively safe investment.
The hedge fund’s decision largely centred around the high level of household debt Canadians have, and fears that some may default on their mortgages or other loans.
This week, two of Canada’s largest banks, TD and CIBC, released first-quarter results that included higher than anticipated provisions for loan losses. Loan losses = The amount they have to cover for loans that their customers (either corporate or personal) cannot pay back.
Do loan losses indicate the ‘tip of the iceberg’ in terms of a potential wave of future Canadian defaults? No, not necessarily.
Both TD and CIBC lend in the US and Canada, meaning the losses are spread across the two countries. In addition, the losses could be seasonal: first quarter results typically reflect holiday spending, and we all know how terrifying our credit card statements can be in the New Year…
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Justin Bieber wasn't smiling behind closed doors after DUI arrest
While Justin Bieber gave an irksome smile in one of his DUI mugshots, the teenaged pop star was doing anything but smiling behind closed doors. After returning to a detention centre following his court appearance, sources say the 19-year-old was crying uncontrollably.
Justin was arrested early on Thursday morning for driving under the influence and drag racing in Miami.
Wearing an orange jumpsuit, he later appeared before a judge with his lawyer Roy Black. Justin's bail was set at $2,500; $1,000 for resisting arrest, $1,000 for his DUI, and $500 for driving with an expired driving license.
The All That Matters singer was dressed in a black hoodie and dark sunglasses as he left the Turner Guildford Knight Correctional Center following his release. But rather than making a quick exit in his SUV, he sat up on the roof to wave to the crowds of people waiting for him.
Justin waved to fans from the roof of his SUV after posting bail
In the police report, an officer noted that Justin had "bloodshot eyes" and "a stupor look on his face" at the time of his arrest. He also repeatedly cursed and objected while being patted down.
The singer's drag-race competitor, 19-year-old Khalil Amir Sharief, was also arrested for DUI. His bail was set at $1,000.
Celebrity Arrests
Canadians want to see Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus and Kim Kardashian take less selfies
'I'm retiring': Justin Bieber announces he may be quitting music after his new album is released
Paul Walker’s daughter Meadow attends the 'Justin Bieber’s Believe’ movie premiere
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The Top Ten eSports Today
March 14, 2019 by Natania C Leave a Comment
Competitive video game playing is nothing new. However, professional players who make their livings from competing in global video game tournaments are becoming increasingly common. The top players often make good money these days because of the rise in popularity among video game fans. Aside from poker, slots and other casino games, many people love watching and betting on eSports which has made the rise of games as a professional endeavour possible. Just like real sports, it is the public’s interest in the top competitors that is driving the industry. What are the top video games being played today and who are the leading players?
1. Dota 2
A multi-player battle game published by Valve Corporation, Dota 2 is the world’s leading eSports video game. Since it first came out in 2013, the prize money for the many tournaments that have sprung up has totalled over $175 million. Almost 3,000 players have taken part in professional Dota 2 tournaments. The International is the world’s leading Dota 2 competition.
2. Counter Strike: Global Offensive
Developed by Hidden Path Entertainment and Valve Corporation, this game was launched in 2012. Since then, approaching 4,000 professional tournaments have been organised with the top ones offering prize pools of $1.5 million. All of the top five players are Danish, with Andreas Højsleth being the all-time leader. The 23-year-old has career earnings of over $1.4 million. This title was named the eSports Game of the Year in 2016.
3. League of Legends
A Riot Games multi-player online battle arena video game, League of Legends has been around for a decade. There have been over 2,200 professional tournaments that have offered players the chance to compete for cash prizes since then. Well over 6,000 players have taken part in them, winning a total of $64 million between them. The League of Legends World Championships offers the greatest purse. All of the top players are Asian, many from South Korea.
4. StarCraft II
Subtitled Wings of Liberty, StarCraft II offers real-time strategy and action. Players have been taking part in professional tournaments in it since 2010. Two expansion packs have been launched since the game first came out. The WCS Global Finals offer the greatest prizes. Most of the top players, such as Cho ‘Maru’ Sung Choo, are South Korean. Joona Sotala and Alex Sunderhaft are the leading players outside of that country, from Finland and the United States respectively.
5. Fortnite
An incredibly popular free-to-download game, Fortnite has been the subject of almost 200 professional tournaments since it came out in 2017. Developed by Epic Games, Fortnite has around 1,500 professional players. A total of $21 million has been won by gamers playing Fortnite. The leading players are all from the US. Timothy Miller, known as Bizzle, has won the most with career earnings of $500,000 to his name.
6. Heroes of the Storm
Heroes of the Storm is another multi-player online battle video game that offers a large playing arena. Developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment, it has seen around 450 professional eSports tournaments since it first became available in 2015. Heroes of the Storm has been played for a total prize fund of around $18 million with some of the top tournaments offering purses of up to $1 million each. This game is truly international. Top players come from South Korea as well as Sweden, the UK, France, the US and Denmark. The leading professional is Lee ‘Sake’ Jung Hyeog.
7. Hearthstone
Another free-to-play video game, Hearthstone first came out in 2014. It built on popular card trading games and relies greatly on strategic approaches to gameplay. Published by Blizzard Entertainment, the video game has been the subject of a total prize fund of $15.5 million thus far. BlizzCon 2016 offered the greatest prize pool ever at $1 million, a sum that was matched at the Hearthstone World Championship of 2017. Thijs Molendijk has won the most money of any professional Hearthstone player with total career earnings of $418,000.
8. Counter-Strike
Over $12 million has been won in prizes by eSports professionals playing Counter-Strike. A first-person shooter game, Counter-Strike first came out in 1999 and the brand has been used again in new iterations. Professionals playing the original version of the game must compete in teams of terrorist or counter-terrorist forces. All of the top players are European.
9. Overwatch
Released by Blizzard Entertainment in 2016, Overwatch is another team-based multi-player first-person shooter game. The Overwatch League Season 1 Playoffs were the biggest in the game’s history with a total prize pool of $1.7 million. Nearly all of the top earners are from South Korea.
10. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
Launched in 2017, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds takes a ‘Battle Royale’ format. Over 1,300 professional players have taken part in tournaments to win cash prizes playing it. Almost $9 million has thus far been won. Yao ‘lionkk’ Hao is the highest earner. Like many at the top of the all-time earnings chart, he is from China.
Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: best games, earnings, esports
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April 17, 2019 / 10:35 AM / 3 months ago
Chief executive of China's JD.com back in spotlight over civil suit accusation of rape
Cate Cadell
BEIJING (Reuters) - The personal life of JD.com chief Richard Liu returned to the spotlight of China’s social media on Wednesday, drawing 360 million views to briefly become the top trending item on the Twitter-like Weibo, after a civil lawsuit accused him of rape.
FILE PHOTO: JD.com founder Richard Liu attends a Reuters interview in Hong Kong, China June 9, 2017. REUTERS/Bobby Yip
Liu, who was briefly arrested after a University of Minnesota student accused him of rape last August, maintained his innocence throughout the investigation, which ended in December, with prosecutors declining to press charges.
The civil case brought by the student comes as the e-commerce giant faces a backlash over layoffs and its work culture after Liu railed against “slackers”, with his social media backing seeming to wane, in contrast to its support after his initial arrest and release.
“Now it’s coming to light how hard he’s working people and they’re trying to cut staff ... Suddenly the sympathy can evaporate pretty quickly,” said Mark Natkin, a managing director at Beijing-based tech consultancy Marbridge Consulting.
Earlier, people had been more willing to commiserate when the business appeared to be going well and employees were being treated well, he added.
Liu’s accuser, identified in the civil lawsuit for the first time as Liu Jingyao, a Chinese student at the U.S. university, has sought undisclosed damages in a Minneapolis court from both Liu and JD.com.
In a statement on Tuesday, Liu’s attorney, Jill Brisbois, said, “Based on the Hennepin county attorney’s declination to charge a case against our client and our belief in his innocence, we feel strongly that this suit is without merit and will vigorously defend against it.”
She was referring to prosecutors who declined to charge Liu after last year’s investigation.
A lawyer for JD.com, Peter Walsh of Hogan Lovells, said it would defend the company against the claims, which he described as “meritless”.
On Wednesday, some of the highest-trending Weibo comments on the new case contrasted the accusations with Liu’s recent comments that the number of “slackers” in his firm had grown.
“How did he find the time to commit such bad crimes in Minnesota when he was working 996 hours?” said a Weibo user, whose posting received more than 1,200 likes.
The reference is to a practice in the Chinese tech industry of working 72-hour weeks, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on six days, which has figured in online debate and protests on some coding platforms.
A JD.com spokesman has declined to comment on layoffs but said the company was making adjustments as a normal part of business.
Another user joked that Liu himself was the company’s “least cost-effective” employee, with the arrest wiping out billions of dollars in shareholder value.
Shares of JD.com are still down 4.5 percent from the period before Liu was arrested. That is despite a slight rise this year following last year’s fall of about 16 percent, for a loss of more than $7 billion in value in the week after his arrest.
“At that time it felt obvious to me that the woman sought to make some money from the situation,” said Gao Wei, a student in the Chinese capital, whose posts defending Liu on messaging app WeChat after his initial arrest drew hundreds of likes.
“I think there is a better understanding of Liu’s character now because of the 996 ... even though these are not directly related issues,” Gao, 22, told Reuters.
Reporting by Cate Cadell; Additional Reporting by Beijing and Shanghai Newsrooms; Editing by Tony Munroe and Clarence Fernandez
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Home Products WW1 1917 letter home from Canadian soldier 112th Battalion in UK
WW1 1917 letter home from Canadian soldier 112th Battalion in UK
Letter from soldier to his sister in New Brunswick. He was in the 112th Battalion and was absorbed into the 26th Reserve Battalion. He served in France but was discharged in 1917 due to severe trench fever.
June 10, 1917 Bramshot Camp UK
…Well dear sis this has been a heart of a day and there were 300 of us fricked out of 3 different Battn this morning to drill all day in the sleet and rain to go on a firing party at a funereal tomorrow morning of a Col. He was the staff Col., at the Hospital and we have to be shined up to the top notch in the morning…have a lot to do tonight to get ready my rifle to clean shoes and button to shine bayonet belt and all the brass…
…we are used to dull time in the army lots of people may think we have a good time in the army but we sure don’t it is not all pleasure and the worst is yet to come to a lot of us but I am ready to go to the front when they call for me for I am not afraid and feel happy that I am here to go do my bit and am not sorry I answered the call in Canada…
Harry 112th Battn #743050
4 pages.
10 x 16 cm. Small tear at left.
Some extracts from his service record:
BREWER, HARRY SINCLAIR
Regimental Number:743050
Born: York County N.B
Occupation: Farmer
Enlisted: 16th March 1916 Perth N.B.
Sailed from Halifax SS. Olympic 23-7-16
France 3-4-17
26th Battalion 5-5-17
#5 CFA (Canadian Field Ambulance) 22-6-17
22 General Hospital Camiers (France) 13-7-17
Ilford Emergency Hospital Ilford 26-7-17
Military Convalescence. Epsom 12-8-17
Discharged 17-8-17
His injury is listed as ‘Sev. PUO’ (Pyrexia of unknown origin) ‘Trench Fever’
www.bac-lac.gc.ca
The 112th Battalion (Nova Scotia), CEF, was an infantry battalion of the Great War Canadian Expeditionary Force. The 112th Battalion was authorized on 22 December 1915 and embarked for Great Britain on 23 July 1916, where it provided reinforcements for the Canadian Corps in the field until 7 January 1917, when its personnel were absorbed by the 26th Reserve Battalion, CEF. The battalion disbanded on 15 August 1918.
Bramshott Military Camp, often simplified to Camp Bramshott, was a temporary army camp set up on Bramshott Common, Hampshire, England during both the First and Second World Wars.
Camp Bramshott was one of three facilities in the Aldershot Command area established by the Canadian Army. The permanent facility on both occasions was at the British Army's Bordon Military Camp. Bramshott was one of two temporary camps set-up for additional accommodation in the lead-up to D-Day, along with Witley Camp.
'The Royal Scots' regimental cap badge
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The Power of the Portfolio: VCs and Entrepreneurs
Kudos to the venture-capital (VC) firm First Round Capital for offering its entrepreneurs an exchange fund: If First Round invests in your startup, you can exchange a small percentage of your own company shares for shares in a fund tied to the total First Round portfolio’s performance. As First Round’s managing director Josh Kopelman said, “When I was an entrepreneur, I remember the feeling of having all my eggs in one basket — and it is our hope that this fund will remove some of that stress.” Assuming the details of the plan are consistent with its spirit, it will be a great option for entrepreneurs and a positive differentiator for First Round.
That said, beyond the normal VC role of facilitating relationships among portfolio companies, how else can VC firms leverage their portfolio-holder position on behalf of those in the portfolio? For example, could a VC firm share a health-care/benefits program across all its early-stage startups? Each startup would pay its own way, just as if the startup had its own program. However, a portfolio-wide program would have better terms due to its size, would eliminate the cost and hassle of each startup finding and establishing its own plan, and would offer COBRA for individuals at failed startups (who ordinarily would be out of luck, since COBRA is predicated on the continued existence of a company).
I am sure other examples exist, and I look forward to seeing them emerge for the benefit of entrepreneurs and VCs alike.
Coding for an Audience
In Peter Seibel’s Coders at Work, I particularly enjoyed a story from Bernie Cosell, who was on the team that wrote the original routing software for the Internet. He was talking about a theme that occurs throughout the book, the idea that a good program is written not just for the computer but also for the humans who may need to understand the program or change it later—including the program’s original author:
At some college they had a two-semester course from September right through May and they had you work on some fairly hard program at the beginning. What they didn’t warn you was in April they were going to make you work on the program again, having now really run you through the hoops on other things. The idea was for you to be stunned at how hard it was to remember whatever it was you thought you understood perfectly clearly just six months ago.
This lesson is inevitable in any programmer’s career: You must write code for an audience, at minimum for the future you. It’s a well-known concept in software development, and is probably said often in various classes. But I suspect it’s rarely learned until the student gets burned by his or her own code, and that’s what the above does safely.
So, to whichever school did it, I thank you on behalf of the students and their future employers.
Labels: Web/Tech
Coders at Work by Peter Seibel
When I was eleven years old, my seventh-grade math teacher showed me this:
10 PRINT “HELLO”
When run, the program displayed on the screen a never-ending column of “HELLO”:
As I made the mental connection between the two lines of code and the output on the screen, I realized I could make it print “GOODBYE” instead of “HELLO.” And probably do other things.
The year was 1979. Relatively few people, and fewer kids, were using computers. As far as I could tell, writing a program was like making a machine, except the program was made of instructions, not physical parts. And that two-line program went faster than anything I’d seen a physical machine do. And like that stream of “HELLO”s, it could go on infinitely. And yes, it definitely could do other things.
Thirty years later, having explored many of those other things—only to realize how immensely more there is—I have not lost the fascination for the computer as a frontier to new possibilities. It’s a frontier that keeps extending as computers become more powerful and our understanding increases for how to harness that power.
With that preamble, I can now tell you about Coders at Work by Peter Seibel. It’s a book targeted to whatever is behind the above story, that impulse to explore what computers can do. The book features extended conversations with fifteen notable programmers, following their paths from first programs to famous projects, along the way discussing the craft, the ideals, and the challenges of their work. (That word work deserves qualification, because almost all the subjects were somehow smitten with computers first, then found a way to get paid to do what they loved.)
To appreciate Coders at Work, you need to be a relatively experienced programmer, because the shop talk does not come annotated. You also need to be interested in the old days—punch cards, Fortran, teletypes, time-sharing—because many of the conversations linger in the pre-PC era. And of course, you need to care about what makes for good programs and good programming. If those criteria work for you, the book will.
Here is the book’s Web site, which has some quotes from the various interviews, and the link at Amazon.
Recovering Energy from Shock Absorbers (Levant Power)
In the past, I’ve written about harvesting power from human motion, including the idea of generating power from vibrational energy imparted from vehicles to road structures like overpasses. Some former MIT students, now entrepreneurs, have hit on a smart variation of this idea: They harvest power not via the road structures but via the vehicles’ shock absorbers.
From their company’s Web site:
Levant Power Corp. has identified an alternative energy source previously
untapped by vehicles: the suspension system. The energy of a vehicle traversing varying roads and terrain is significant and currently dissipated as heat through conventional shock absorbers.
Our product, GenShock, recovers this energy and utilizes it for fuel economy gains, providing additional onboard electricity. In addition to extending a vehicle’s range, GenShock improves ride quality via an adaptable, variable-damping suspension. GenShock is a turnkey replacement for standard shock absorbers, requiring minimal installation time and little to no maintenance.
File that under, “Ideas, Good.”
Book Review: Invictus by John Carlin
You’ve probably heard of the movie Invictus, maybe seen it. I just read the book: John Carlin’s Playing the Enemy, now reissued under the title Invictus. I suggest you read it too. (Those who follow this blog know I rarely make unqualified recommendations. This is one.)
Invictus is the true story of Nelson Mandela’s journey from prisoner to president to uniter of South Africa, a country that seemed destined for civil war as apartheid gave way to majority rule in the 1990s. The minority whites had a lot to lose, and many of Mandela’s black supporters wanted to do the taking. Yet Mandela steered a course that balanced the aspirations of the new majority with respect for the whites as partners in a new South Africa.
The process crept along a thin edge, always a slip away from something like Northern Ireland or the Balkans, until June 24, 1995. On that day, Mandela’s most unlikely achievement culminated on a rugby field. To bewilderment from all sides, he had earlier adopted the country’s national rugby team—previously a symbol of white rule and still with no black players—as his own, as everyone’s team. He had inspired the organization, and the players personally, to reach out to black fans, to sing the black version of the national anthem, to be something that represented the whole nation. Now, against heavy odds, the team would play and win the rugby world cup final in Johannesburg. The day would be remembered as much for blacks and whites chanting Mandela’s name in unison as for the victory on the field.
In the words of a Mandela ally, “This was the moment when I understood more clearly than ever before that the liberation struggle of our people was not so much about liberating blacks from bondage, but more so, it was about liberating white people from fear. And there it was. ‘Nelson! Nelson! Nelson!’ Fear melting away.”
Carlin structures Invictus around this unlikely ending, tracing not only Mandela’s path to that rugby field but also those of his friends and foes, black and white. Through their intertwined stories, deftly told, the historical facts and lessons emerge. Among them are the possibility that deeply divided peoples can unite, that a single leader can make all the difference, that the misdeeds of the past don’t guarantee misdeeds of the future.
When this is the stuff of nonfiction, we are all the better for it.
Here’s the book’s link at Amazon.
Recovering Energy from Shock Absorbers (Levant Pow...
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Music from The Western Reserve: Ensemble HD in Hudson (Nov. 12)
November 14, 2017 by Timothy Robson
Download article as PDF
by Timothy Robson
There were no clinking glasses or telltale scents of hot dogs and Tater Tots on Sunday at Ensemble HD’s performance for Music from The Western Reserve at Christ Episcopal Church in Hudson. Let me explain: Ensemble HD was originally formed by several members of The Cleveland Orchestra to perform classical music gigs at Cleveland’s West Side iconic bar The Happy Dog, with its eclectic mix of entertainment.
Ensemble HD includes flutist Joshua Smith, violinist Amy Lee, cellist Charles Bernard, oboist Frank Rosenwein, and violist Joanna Patterson Zakany, and pianist Christina Dahl, who is the only non-TCO member in the group.
The performance venues could not be more different. The bar has very dry acoustics and listeners who might or might not be completely attentive. At Christ Episcopal Church the audience was rapt, but the very live acoustics of the sanctuary proved to be a serious detriment. Much of the detail was lost in the reverberation, and at times the Ensemble seemed to be overplaying, creating a plush, but indistinct, cloud of sound.
The program was intriguing, with two of the three works being rarities. Only Fauré’s Piano Quartet No. 1 in c, Op. 15, is a standard work.
French organist-composer Maurice Duruflé was a painstakingly self-critical composer, completing only a handful of works, the most famous of which is his Requiem. It was a treat to hear his rarely performed Prelude, Recitative and Variations, Op. 3, for flute, viola, and piano. The two outer movements comprise the majority of the work, with a brief recitative forming a bridge between the two. Piano and viola dominate the prelude, but the flute plays a more prominent role in the set of increasingly virtuosic variations. There is none of Duruflé’s Gregorian chant-based impressionism in this austere and dramatic work. The reading here was straightforward, but without the endless flexibility of rhythm that Duruflé learned from his idol and teacher, organist-composer Charles Tournemire.
Bohuslav Martinů’s 1947 Quartet for Oboe, Violin, Cello and Piano, H. 315, was written in New York while the composer was in exile from his native Czechoslovakia after World War II. Much of its short three movements are in a neoclassical style that harkens back to German romanticism, sometimes juxtaposing rapturous melody with spiky harmonies. Here, the church’s acoustics were most problematic, however, Rosenwein, Lee, Bernard, and Dahl gave an intense and committed performance.
The Fauré Quartet that closed the concert was the most successful in this acoustic, partly because the composer frequently builds textures by having the strings play in unisons and octaves above the piano. Lee, Zakany, Bernard, and Dahl enhanced the performance with enormous dynamic contrasts. The Scherzo was particularly attractive, with pizzicato strumming in the strings and fluttery piano figurations. The suave, legato violin melody in the trio is followed by a shortened recapitulation of the Scherzo. The fourth movement returns to Fauré’s octave/unison technique, building to a passionate final climax. This was a solid, satisfying performance.
Published on ClevelandClassical.com November 14, 2017.
Click here for a printable copy of this article
Return to the Front Page.
Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: Amy Lee, Charles Bernard, Christina Dahl, Ensemble HD, Frank Rosenwein, Joanna Patterson Zakany, Joshua Smith, Music From The Western Reserve
About Timothy Robson
Timothy Robson is Associate Director for Academic Engagement Services in the Kelvin Smith Library at Case Western Reserve University. In addition to being a regular contributor to ClevelandClassical, Robson is the regular Cleveland correspondent for Bachtrack.com, the London-based classical music site. Robson was Director of Music at Euclid Avenue Congregational Church in Cleveland for 27 years. Since then he has become an in-demand substitute organist in many churches in Northeast Ohio. He has performed many recitals in the area, including most recently at Church of the Covenant and Fairmount Presbyterian Church. He has made a specialty of performing music from our time and has played world premieres of several works written especially for him. Robson holds degrees in music and library science from Drake University and Case Western Reserve University.
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Kevin Samuel Makol Mawien Cartier Diarra Kamau Stokes Xavier Sneed Barry Brown Dean Wade Desmond Bane Alex Robinson Sports Men's college basketball College basketball Basketball College sports Men's basketball Men's sports
Kansas State Big 12 TCU Kansas
No. 15 K-State beats TCU 70-61 in Big 12 quarterfinals
By DAVE SKRETTA - Mar. 14, 2019 05:59 PM EDT
Kansas State head coach Bruce Weber yells at an official during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against TCU in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 conference tournament in Kansas City, Mo., Thursday, March 14, 2019. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kamau Stokes had just been hammered by TCU on the way to the basket, and Kansas State's senior guard was still lying face-down on the floor when a scratchy voice rang out inside Sprint Center.
"Make your free throws!" Wildcats coach Bruce Weber yelled.
So much for sympathy.
Stokes made the first and clanked the second, but the Wildcats secured the rebound and Stokes buried a 3-pointer to atone for the miss. The four-point play allowed Kansas State to edge ahead, and the regular-season champs never trailed down the stretch in a 70-61 victory over the Horned Frogs on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament.
"Coach Weber always talks about toughness and I'm pretty sure he wanted me to get up," said Stokes, who finished with 11 points. "Just had to let the pain wear off a bit."
He'll have 24 hours to rest before a semifinal date with No. 5 seed Iowa State.
Xavier Sneed led all scorers with 19 points, none bigger than a 3-pointer as the shot clock sounded in the final minute. Barry Brown added 12 points and Makol Mawien had 10 for the Wildcats (25-7), who played without All-Big 12 forward Dean Wade in their first game as a No. 1-seed since 1977.
Wade watched the game from the sideline with a boot on his right foot, and probably had a hard time not leaping from his seat when Kansas State seized control in the second half.
"Just proud of our guys continuing to be resilient and fight," Weber said.
Desmond Bane had 16 points to lead the eighth-seeded Horned Frogs (20-13), who split with the Wildcats in the regular season. Alex Robinson added 12 points and Kevin Samuel had 11.
Now, coach Jamie Dixon's team must wait for Sunday to find out whether it has done enough to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. The Horned Frogs held on to beat Oklahoma State in the tournament's opening round, but they went just 7-11 against the league during the regular season.
"I feel like we definitely did enough," Bane said. "We got 20 wins in the best league in the country. That's really hard to do. Seven of our 11 losses came to the top teams in the country, the others on the road. I feel like we have no bad losses."
TCU was in the flow right from the tip, perhaps having benefited from that down-to-the-wire win over the Cowboys. The Horned Frogs were hot from the 3-point arc and solid on defense, and soon they'd built a double-digit lead on the regular-season conference champs.
They also took a crowd tinted Kansas State purple right out of the game.
"We didn't have the right energy, the right mindset," Brown said. "I though the first 10 or 12 minutes we just coasted. I tried to express it to our guys that it wasn't going to be easy."
The Wildcats finally clawed back into the game, getting a big lift from Cartier Diarra, their backup guard who returned after missing several weeks with a hand injury. He slammed an alley-oop dunk to ignite the crowd, and Sneed's buzzer-beating 3 got the Wildcats within 34-32 at the break.
They used a 15-2 run to take their first lead midway through the second half.
The Wildcats' lead eventually reached 10 before TCU mounted a comeback of its own. But after Mebane's basket made it 55-52 with 5 1/2 minutes to go, Snead buried his third 3-pointer while getting fouled. He converted the free throw and gave Kansas State some breathing room again.
The Horned Frogs were never able to catch all the way up.
"They just seemed to get more physical, more aggressive on our drives, our penetration," Dixon said. "They were keeping us from getting a direct line to the basket, and they hit a couple of shots."
WADE WATCH
Kansas State coach Bruce Weber said Wade was unlikely to play this weekend, and would instead get treatment on his injured. Weber is hopeful the All-Big 12 forward is ready for the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but he refused to commit to it earlier this week.
TCU was likely out of the NCAA Tournament if it lost to Oklahoma State. Now, the question is whether a win over the Cowboys and a competitive loss to Kansas State is enough to get in.
Kansas State spent the first 10 minutes as if in a post-title malaise, and the last five minutes trying to hold on for dear life. In between, the Wildcats looked capable of playing with anyone.
Kansas State plays the fifth-seeded Cyclones in the first semifinal Friday night.
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Children's Support
Protection Order Assistance
Planning to Leave
Escape Site
Commemorating Black History Month
Happy February! This month is filled with joy, love and excitement as we take one step further into the new year and look toward the upcoming spring and summer. February tends to be very well-known for one specific holiday: Valentine’s Day. In honor Saint Valentine himself, Valentine’s Day celebrates love and romance in our lives.
But even more special than one single day is what the entire month of February stands for: Black History Month. Black History Month is a time to remember, celebrate and commemorate the achievements and contributions by African-American men and women throughout U.S. history. When living an altruistic lifestyle, how can we take steps to truly honor Black History Month and those it recognizes? Let’s take a look at the history behind Black History Month and some ideas for how to commemorate it.
Studying Black History Month
The concept of Black History month first originated from historian Dr. Carter G. Woodson and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (now the Association for the Study of African American Life and History). As a young scholar, Woodson noticed the misrepresentation of African Americans in history books, or complete omission of their history altogether.
In 1926, Woodson announced the second week of February would be designated as “Negro History Week.” This week was first chosen because it coincided with the birthdate of Abraham Lincoln on February 12th, and Frederick douglass on February 14th, both of which were already celebrated by many African American communities.
During the U.S. Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, African Americans began to reclaim pride in their history and cultural identity. By 1976, African Americans had begun to completely embrace their heritage and celebrate other African Americans who had made significant contributions throughout history.
As part of the United States’ bicentennial celebration that year, the month of February was then officially declared as Black History Month in 1976. Other countries soon followed suit, such as the United Kingdom in 1987 and Canada in 1995. Dr. Woodson and his efforts had left an unforgettable mark on history, one we continue to celebrate today through Black History Month.
Woodson himself once stated, “If race has no history, it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated.” We can help maintain this tradition by taking steps to properly honor Black History Month. This February, take some time to learn more about Black History Month, its origins and some of the individuals it honors, such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks and Langston Hughes.
Learn about celebrated people in the African American community, and share about them with your friends and family. Watch films dedicated to black culture, listen to historically black music, read books and poetry by black authors or try new foods with historically black recipes. Most importantly, learn about some of the issues African Americans might still face in U.S. culture today. Have respectful, open-communication dialogues with individuals who may or may not look like you, and take this month as an opportunity to learn and grow in community.
No matter your race, Black History Month is an important time to celebrate the accomplishments of African American individuals. This February, use this time as a chance to look back and recognize how far the United States has come in racial inequality, and how far we still have to go. The month of February is about more than a romantic dinner and some candy: it’s about fully understanding all of U.S. history, and taking steps toward a better future.
Minot, ND 58702
© Domestic Violence Crisis Center 2019
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Binnall of America: Adam Davies & Lori Simmons
Posted by: Craig Woolheater on November 1st, 2014
For the first time ever and exclusively on BoA:Audio, cryptozoologist Adam Davies will reveal the secret Bigfoot expedition, from May of 2013, that was funded by renowned Oxford University geneticist Dr. Bryan Sykes. Sworn to secrecy for nearly a year and a half, Adam has finally been granted permission to divulge the details surrounding this clandestine research project and will do so on the BoA:Audio, Season 8 finale. Bigfoot researcher Lori Simmons, who took part in the expedition with Adam and Dr. Sykes, will also join us during the conversation to share her take on this groundbreaking and historic event. More on Adam’s various expeditions to search for cryptids around the world can be found in his new book Manbeasts: A personal investigation.
Check Out Paranormal Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with TimBinnall on BlogTalkRadio
BoA:Audio begins the process of closing the book on Season 8 as, in the first part of our dual episode Season Finale, we welcome cryptozoologist Adam Davies and Bigfoot researcher Lori Simmons who, for the first time ever and exclusively on BoA:Audio, reveal the secret Bigfoot expedition, from May of 2013, that was funded by renowned Oxford University geneticist Dr. Bryan Sykes. Sworn to secrecy for nearly a year and a half, Adam and Lori have finally been granted permission to divulge the details surrounding this clandestine research project and the remarkable happenings surrounding it.
Over the course of this marathon conversation that clocks in at nearly three hours, we learn about how Adam’s history of excellent on-site research melded with Lori’s astonishing story of habituation with Bigfoot and drew the attention as well as funding of Dr. Sykes. We leave virtually no stone unturned over the course of the episode and delve into a myriad of details surrounding the expedition, Lori’s relationship with the Bigfoot, Adam’s perspective on this stunning case, surprising help granted by the government towards it, and where it might go next.
Possibly an early glimpse of a future landmark case or yet another tantalizing tease from the ever-enigmatic Bigfoot, it’s a story that is likely to leave many BoA:Audio listeners breathless as the ‘Big Guy Project’ is revealed to the world.
Highlights: We kick things off by reflecting on how Adam’s new book, Manbeasts, contains an underlying thread surrounding his interest in researching Bigfoot which leads to a crescendo when Adam ultimately ends up in America on successive expeditions to study the creature. We have Adam detail how his friendship with Dr. Bryan Sykes first began and we address the fact that Sykes has given his consent for Adam and Lori to share the story of their collective American Bigfoot expedition in 2013. We also talk about why Sykes kept the May 2013 expedition secret until now.
Lori Simmons then joins the conversation and starts out by providing the standard bio / background for the listeners and shares the tale of how her interest in Bigfoot was spawned by the research of her late father, Donald Wallace. This leads to some discussion on how Lori seems to have established some kind of relationship with the Bigfoot which live in an area that her father researched the creatures. Adam joins in to note how, although Lori’s communion with the Bigfoot sounds fantastic, there are many witnesses who have seen some kind of evidence for this remarkable relationship.
Following that, we find out a bit about the specific location where this contact between Lori and the Bigfoot seems to be taking place. We also have Lori share her thoughts on the bizarre and unsettling game camera photograph that was taken on Adam’s first trip to America to study Lori’s Bigfoot location. Next, we have Lori recount Dr. Sykes’ first visit to the Bigfoot location as well as the strange communicative events which inspired him to fund a follow-up expedition to the area. Getting into the specifics of the Bigfoot interaction that seems to be taking place at the location, Adam explains how it appears the the creature was residing underground and communicating via noises and knocks.
Lori then sheds light on the primary Bigfoot which she has been in communication with for many years, dubbed ‘The Big Guy,’ and seems to be the main creature that makes itself known to visitors of the area. We then have Lori explain, specifically, how she communicates with the ‘Big Guy’ and how she learned the location where it seems to reside. We also address the possibility that the ‘Big Guy’ may not be a Bigfoot and, rather, could be a feral human or a hermit of some kind. Beyond the ‘Big Guy,’ we find out about other Bigfoot which seem to be living in the area and Lori shares her personal sighting of one of these creatures.
We then dig into the May 2013 secret expedition that was funded by Dr. Sykes and start by finding out how he actually received the first-ever research permit to study Bigfoot from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Adam also talks about the forensic precautions that were taken by Sykes during the trip and we marvel at the fact that Dr. Sykes invested so much time and money in this specific Bigfoot case. Adam also shares one unique test used to try and lure the Bigfoot out into the open in order to capture a picture of the creature.
This leads to some talk about the various attempts to garner DNA evidence from the creature and Lori recalls how she felt conflicted over her role in this aspect of the expedition since she felt like she was betraying the ‘Big Guy’ after establishing a longstanding ‘friendship’ with the creature. We then learn what, if any, evidence was obtained from the expedition. Following that, we talk about how game cameras seemed to be futile in attempting to document the ‘Big Guy’ as well as Adam’s reflections on how the American Bigfoot constitutes a wholly unique creature from the pantheon of cryptids that he’s previously researched.
Next, Lori details another experiment at the site where she played audio tapes of her late father and received some remarkable responses from the Bigfoot. We also have Lori give more specifics about how she communicates with the Bigfoot at the location, which leads to her talking about how her experience with the creature has changed following a hostile reaction the ‘Big Guy’ had to Adam’s presence at the site. Adam muses about how that hostile reaction led him to question his own safety on the trip and how Dr. Sykes was also put off by the potential danger that may be lurking at the site.
Getting meta for a moment, we talk about how Lori’s relationship with the ‘Big Guy’ mirrors the ideal scenario for Bigfoot research, centering around a woman building a personal connection with the creature, discussed in previous editions of BoA:Audio. That segues into talking about how that relationship with Lori has led the ‘Big Guy’ to exhibit bolder behavior than one might expect from a ‘normal’ Bigfoot and how that may lead to the breakthroughs necessary to garner new data about the creatures. We then circle back to get more details on Sykes’ visit to the location and find out specifically what sort of things were done during the expedition.
Considering that all this happened in May of 2013, we learn what sort of new projects, if any, have emerged since the expedition and the key challenge which seems to be keeping further research from happening. We also get meta, again, on this story and speculate if the story of Dr. Sykes funding a secret expedition to America will result in a lot of publicity from the mainstream media and interest from the cryptozoological community in the hopes that it will lead to further research in the area. We also speculate on what Dr. Sykes will say about this remarkable expedition when his book comes out in January.
We also find out how often Lori has returned to the ‘Big Guy’ location since the May 2013 expedition and we tease a potential Binnall visit to the area sometime in the future. Following that, we take a call from Toby from Oregon, who shares his perspective on researching Bigfoot and how personal relationships amongst those on an expedition seem to have some kind of effect on how the creature responds. In light of Lori’s interaction with the Bigfoot, we learn about any unique scents she may have noticed emanating from the creature.
Nearing the close of the live portion of the conversation, we revisit the eerie potential Bigfoot photograph from Adam’s first American expedition and learn whether or not Dr. Sykes camped out at the site or opted for a hotel room during the trip. We also get Lori’s take on how helpful the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife was in training Dr. Sykes for the expedition and Adam talks about how this flies in the face of theories that there is a government cover-up of the existence of Bigfoot. We then wrap up the live portion of the show and find out when Lori’s book, that details her expeditions with Adam and Dr. Sykes, will be available.
In our bonus portion of the program, we joke about how Adam and Binnall managed to slightly tease the Sykes revelations during his last appearance on BoA:Audio and he talks about how he was concerned that the story would break before we had the chance to first discuss it on the show. We then wrap up the discussion of the Sykes expedition by finding out if there were any anecdotes or details from the trip that hadn’t been discussed yet on the program and talk about the need to be careful with who is granted access to the ‘Big Guy’ site in order to avoid ‘Bigfooters’ who may have nefarious intentions. Next, we bid farewell to Lori and talk about her hopes for the ultimate resolution to her Bigfoot research as well as what drives her to continue her work.
In the final half hour of the show, we talk to Adam about some other aspects from Manbeasts, beginning with a lighthearted one, where Adam explains the awesome expression, “he’s all fur coat and no knickers.” We then talk about Adam’s pondering an expedition to go to Cambodia in search of the Barmanu and he talks about how his interest in various global cryptids has evolved over the years. Following that, Adam recalls having his wallet stolen in Abu Dhabi right at the start of an expedition in search of the Abominable Snowman. We then revisit Adam’s mountain climbing in the Himalayas and the dangerous nature of such exploration.
Closing out the conversation, we talk about how Bhutan is Adam’s dream location for an extreme expedition, Binnall’s shoutout in Adam’s new book, the need to have a sense of humor during these expeditions in extreme locations, prostitute taxis in Padong, cannonballs in pub windows, and, of course, what’s next for Adam Davies and what exotic location he may venture to next.
#BinnallofAmerica #AdamDavies #Manbeasts
This entry was posted on Saturday, November 1st, 2014 at 8:17 am and is filed under Abominable Snowman, Almas, Bigfoot, Bigfoot Report, Books, CryptoRadio, Cryptozoologists, Cryptozoology, Evidence, Expedition Reports, Eyewitness Accounts, Folklore, Men in Cryptozoology, Orang Pendek, Podcast, Pop Culture, Sasquatch, Yeren, Yeti. You can follow responses via our RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is not allowed.
Manbeasts Reviewed
Britain's Bigfoot: The Names
Adam Davies on Manbeasts
2 Responses to “Binnall of America: Adam Davies & Lori Simmons”
dconstrukt responds: November 2nd, 2014 at 11:35 am
cool story… reading now… listening later when I have more ‘downtime’….
cool for them, but how about sharing the evidence with the general public?
whats the point of keeping all the proof to yourself?
whats the point of posting these things if no ones willing to show their evidence?
you’re trying to prove this thing is real, hoarding the proof isn’t helping…
Adam Davies responds: November 13th, 2014 at 5:13 am
Dconstrukt et al: In order for the Science to be considered in accordance with appropriate protocols, it was important to wait until that had been completed.With this achieved, all the information is now available. 🙂
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China's scariest outdoor attractions
Home / Travel in China / China's scariest outdoor attractions
(CNN) — China is increasingly giving America a run for its money as the land of the biggest and the best.
As the world’s most populous nation with the world’s second-biggest economy, the self-styled Middle Kingdom is finding new and increasingly nerve-racking ways to attract and entertain tourists.
Here are some of the scariest outdoor attractions the country has to offer:
The many terrifying treats of Tianmen Mountain, Hunan
Not content with just one glass-bottomed walkway, Tianmen Mountain in Hunan province, southern China, has three, the most recent of which opened in the summer of 2016.
Known as Coiling Dragon Cliff Walk, the new addition consists of 1,500 meters (4,921 feet) of 6.35 centimeter (2.5 inch) thick glass that crowns the mountain top like a halo of horror.
Those who dare can enjoy a bird’s-eye view of the famous Tongtian Avenue — otherwise known as “Bending Road” thanks to its 99 hairpin turns — a dizzying 1,400 meters (4,600 feet) below.
Two other glass walkways lace the mountain range, one of which was formerly the world’s longest (see below for the new title holder) but is still currently the world’s highest at 300 meters (984 feet).
Also on hand for adrenalin junkies who just won’t quit is the world’s longest cable car ride, which spans seven kilometers (22,965 feet) and takes 30 minutes to complete.
The world’s new longest glass bridge at Hongyagu, Hebei
All hail China’s newest heart-stopping attraction.
Having stolen the crown from Tianmen Mountain, the new draw to Hebei province’s Hongyagu Scenic Area is now the world’s longest glass-bottom bridge.
And what makes a 488 meter-long (1,600 feet) glass bridge above a drop of 218 meters (715 feet) even more scary? Its suspension cables make it sway.
The bridge, made up of 1,077 glass panels of four centimeters (around 1.6 inches) thickness, strings together two peaks in the mountainous northeastern region.
Although it can apparently accommodate 2,000 people, only 600 are allowed on at any one time, shuffling along in special “shoe gloves” to protect the glass.
Staff are strategically positioned along its length to help those with jelly legs find their feet.
The world’s biggest glass viewing platform at Shilinxia, Beijing
It’s perhaps fitting that the home of the Great Wall would now also have the longest glass-bottomed walkway in the world. Jutting 32.8 meters (107 feet) over the edge of a 396 meter (1,300 feet) valley, the Shilinxia Viewing Platform stretches a whole 11 meters farther than the Grand Canyon Skywalk.
The vertigo-inducing attraction adorns the highest peak of Shinlin Gorge, an area of towering forest-like rock formations in the district of Pinggu, 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Beijing city center.
It’s a hefty 1.5-hour hike from the valley floor to the platform, or you can make your head spin twice in one day and take the cable car up.
Dubbed the “Flying Saucer,” the circular walkway is suspended from the mountain cantilever style.
It’s constructed with titanium alloy, the material used in airplanes and space shuttles, so it can apparently hold a maximum load of 150 tons and 2,000 people.
China’s top tourist attractions can get busy, but hopefully they’ll never have to put those calculations to the test.
Hiking horror at Mount Huashan, Shaanxi
Some of the paths comprise nothing more than a few rickety wooden planks bolted onto the mountainside.
tak.wing/flickr
Hikes don’t come much more hair-raising than on China’s Mount Huashan, said to be home to some of the most dangerous trails in the world.
The five separate peaks backing Huayin City in China’s central Shaanxi province are a test for even the most adventurous travelers.
East Peak leads the pack for the most fear-inducing trail names, with passes such as the Thousand-Foot Precipice, the Hundred-Foot Crevice and Black Dragon Ridge.
This isn’t just a scare tactic. The paths are genuinely terrifying, consisting of modest foot-grooves cut into a 2,090 meter-high (6,857 feet) sheer rock face and rusting metal bars serving as makeshift vertical staircases.
All that lies between hikers and vertiginous drops are thin chain banisters, adorned with the love locks of courageous couples.
The real fun starts on the 2,160-meter (7,087 foot) South Peak, home to the Changing Plank Road.
The so-called “road,” which does indeed have two-way traffic, comprises nothing more than a few rickety wooden planks bolted onto the mountainside.
Looking as though it could give way at any moment, the path is just 0.3 meters (1 foot) at its widest.
The cracking glass walkway in East Taihang, Hebei
Even non-sufferers of vertigo might be scared silly by this China attraction.
The glass walkway at the East Taihang Scenic Area in northern Hebei Province went viral late last year when video footage emerged showing a terrified tour guide falling to his hands and knees as the glass apparently started cracking under his weight.
While the East Taihang government promptly apologized for freaking out China’s online population, this was no accident of engineering.
Shattered glass fragments were placed underneath solid panels to make the walkway look and sound as though it’s splintering when trodden upon.
While the unique addition to the eastern face of Taihang Mountain is therefore safe to traverse, internet users were quick to point out that at 1,180 meters (3,871 feet) above sea level, the gimmick could still induce palpitations.
The rickety Sky Ladder at Tiger Leaping Gorge, Yunnan
Here’s one for those who value time above all else.
When hiking through the stunning Tiger Leaping Gorge in Yunnan province, southwest China, visitors will be faced with a choice of much importance. Brace the long and arduous climb back up to the road from the Jinsha River, or suffer a quick but perilous stint on the “Sky Ladder.”
The series of mostly vertical ladders is attached to planks of aging wood that may or may not be bolted onto the cliff face.
There’s no safety equipment whatsoever, and the 170-odd rungs are so narrow, a slick of rain (or a cold sweat) could easily dislodge a white-knuckle grip.
Sensible shoes and a cool head are needed while ascending from the abyss, which reaches 3,790 meters (12,434 feet) at the gorge’s highest point. Don’t look down.
This article was published by cnn.com. Click here to read the original.
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Bay Youth
Colwyn Bay People
Eirias Park
Ministry of Food
Old Colwyn
Pier and Pavilion
Rhos-on-Sea
Town Features
Colwyn Bay Heritage > History > Lord Colwyn and the Charter of Incorporation, 1934
The presentation of the Charter of Incorporation to the Borough of Colwyn Bay took place on September 20th, 1934.
The Right Honourable Lord Colwyn, born Frederick Henry Smith in Eccles in 1859, was a very popular choice as Charter Mayor. He was made a peer in 1917 taking the title Baron Colwyn, having always had a great love for north Wales, and especially Colwyn Bay.
Both Lord and Lady Colwyn (formerly Miss Elizabeth Savage) were great benefactors of the town, were active supporters of the Colwyn Bay and West Denbighshire Hospital and presented the beautiful west window of St. Paul’s Church.
Early on the morning of Thursday, September 20th, 1934 the Charter Mayor placed a wreath of remembrance at the foot of the War Memorial in front of the Town Hall on Conway Road. It was Lord Colwyn who had unveiled the War Memorial on November 11th, 1922.
A procession of over 30 cars then left the Town Hall and travelled along Abergele Road to the open space in front of the Railway Hotel, Llanddulas to greet the Lord Lieutenant of Denbighshire, Lieutenant-Colonel R.W.H.W. Williams-Wynn, C.B., D.S.O., accompanied by Mrs. Williams-Wynn, who brought the Charter of Incorporation on behalf of King George V.
The presentation ceremony and celebrations took place at Eirias Park where a large crowd had assembled and where a stand and marquee were built and music provided by the Band of the Welsh Guards. A guard of honour was drawn up at the entrance to the main marquee, including detachments of the 243rd battery of the 61st medium brigade Royal Artillery, British Legion, Boy Scouts and Girl Guides. The Lord Lieutenant and the Charter Mayor inspected the guard of honour while the distinguished visitors, Councillors and Public Servants filed into the main marquee.
At twelve noon the Lord Lieutenant presented the Charter of Incorporation to the Charter Mayor, who acknowledged its receipt and then handed it to the Chairman of the Urban District Council, Councillor W.G. Knowlson.
The hymn “O God, our help in ages past” was sung to accompaniment by the Band of His Majesty’s Welsh Guards, conducted by Andrew Harris, and followed by a lesson read in Welsh by the Rev. G. J. Owen and in English by the Rev. Alun Lewis. The Right Rev. Thomas Lloyd, the Bishop of Maenan, conferred the blessing of the Charter. The singing of the national anthem “Hen Wlad fy Nhadau” concluded the ceremony.
Following a luncheon at the Pier Pavilion the Charter Mayor returned to Eirias Park to plant an oak tree to commemorate the day.
As part of the celebrations a Special Gala and Fancy Dress Carnival Ball were held at Rhos-on-Sea Swimming Pool.
During the evening a Mayoral Reception and Ball were held at the Pier Pavilion and a “Grand Aerial Pyrotechnic Display” by Messrs. Brocks Ltd of Crystal Palace, London, was released from Bryn Euryn on Thursday and Friday evenings.
On Friday, September 21st, more informal celebrations took place with entertainments for children and for the unemployed at local cinemas and at Eirias Park. A supper for unemployed men and their wives was arranged in the marquee at Eirias Park and tickets were sent to about twelve hundred people.
Lord Colwyn was appointed the first Mayor of the borough the following year, but resigned after Christmas. In 1939, at 80 years of age, he received the Freedom of the Borough.
Lady Colwyn, who was once described as “the uncrowned queen of Colwyn Bay”, passed away in 1945 and Lord Colwyn in January 1946.
This article appears in Eunice Roberts and Helen Morley’s book “The Spirit of Colwyn Bay: 2” and is reproduced here with their kind permission.
Prince Llewelyn and Ednyfed
Who owned our land in the 16th century?
The Wireless College
20. The Four Oaks
61 AD Roman legion ambushed
Colwyn Bay Horticultural Society – history
Filed Under: History
This website has been developed by the Colwyn Bay Heritage Group which is made up of local volunteers and organisations.
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National Segments
Local Segments
The Out for America Project - 5:54
with Ruben Gonzales of The Victory Institute
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https://comcastnewsmakers.com/Videos/2018/5/31/The-Out-for-America-Project
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In 1974, Kathy Kozachenko was elected to the Ann Arbor City Council in Michigan, becoming the first openly gay or lesbian candidate elected to public office in the United States. Forty-four years later, representation stands at 539 elected officials who openly identify as LGBTQ, holding public office from municipal to federal levels. While this number is at an all-time high, this population remains underrepresented at just 0.1 percent of all elected official nationwide.
Ruben Gonzales, Vice President of Leadership Initiatives at the LGBTQ Victory Institute, joins Paul Lisnek to discuss efforts to increase the ranks of LGBTQ elected officials and create a national network to help further LGBTQ equality through the organization’s “Out for America Census Project.
Hosted by: Paul Lisnek Produced by: National Newsmakers Team
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Lisnek: There are more than 500,000 elected officials across the United States, from members of Congress to municipal officials. Well, of those, 539 are openly LGBTQ. Hi, welcome to "Comcast Newsmakers." I´m Paul Lisnek. And joining me for a discussion about the representation of the LGBTQ community in public office is Ruben Gonzales. He´s the Vice President of Leadership Initiatives with the LGBTQ Victory Institute. Ruben, so good to see you.
Gonzales: Thank you, Paul. Good to see you.
Lisnek: I just said 539 LGBTQ members, but the truth is, that´s a moment in time.
Gonzales: That´s correct. That is absolutely just a moment in time today. We have 539 people that we know about that are out and in elected office. This December, Victory Institute launched an Out For America map. It´s at outforamerica.org, and it´s a map of all the elected officials that we know of, and that´s at every level, from Senator Tammy Baldwin in the Senate all the way to school-board members, local city-council members, your local neighborhood-council representatives. We tried to get everybody who´s out, and that´s why we´re doing a census right now. We´re calling it our Come To Your Census program, and we´re trying to find more people. We know there´s lots of people that are out there, and so we´re expecting the number to even grow beyond 539.
Lisnek: Now, on one perspective, I could look and say I know the goal here is to reach at least 1% if you want to have proper representation of the LGBTQ community there, but on the positive side, there are more elected LGBTQ officials than ever before.
Gonzales: Absolutely. There´s more people than ever that are representing the LGBTQ community in positions across the country, and we´re really proud to stand with them. But you´re absolutely right. Of the 510,000 positions that are elected office in this country, if we were -- even taking the most conservative estimate of the LGBTQ population, which is about 4%, we would need to elect thousands more people -- about 21,000 more positions to office in order to have equal representation.
Lisnek: So, we may have people watching us now who are thinking, "Ah, I´d love to run for office. I can´t do that. And how do I deal with the fact that I´m lesbian or gay or bisexual, transgender?" The reality of it is, you guys have training sessions for folks who want to enter this world, so talk to me about that.
Gonzales: We do. After the 2016 election, I think one of the really exciting things was people were inspired to run for office, people were inspired to do more -- people from all walks of life. People who had never considered running for office or doing any types of public service before wanted to do something. That´s where Victory Institute comes in. We have a couple of different programs that help people get ready for that. We like to work with people from across sectors, across different fields who want to serve their communities, and we try to help get them prepared for that.
Lisnek: You, by the way, have a pretty illustrious group of alumni from that program -- Senator Tammy Baldwin from Wisconsin, Congressman Jared Polis, you got him. And, by the way, Danica Roem, I think, is the first transgender elected person, but she went through your training.
Gonzales: She did. She went to our training in 2016, and we´re very proud of what she was able to accomplish in November. One of the things that we´re most proud of is that Delegate Roem stuck to the issues. She knew what her constituents wanted to hear about, she knew what was most important to them, and it´s one of the key things that you´ll take away from a Victory Institute training, that hopefully it´s not going to detract from your voters that you´re an out LGBTQ person. In fact, they appreciate your honesty. They appreciate the authenticity that you come to the table with. But, at the end of the day, that´s not going to win the office for you. There´s very few communities in the country that are a majority of LGBTQ people, and so that´s not going to take you over the top. You´ve got to serve your constituents, and so Danica Roem did a fantastic job of connecting to the issues that her community members cared about, and that´s why she won.
Lisnek: In fact, I remember, in all the interviews she did, all the interview questions were, "You´re transgender. Talk about that." She went, "I´ve got bridges to build, I´ve got roads to repair." So that came from your training?
Gonzales: It did. It´s one of the things that we drive home, that you have to know your voters. You have to talk to them about issues that they care about. And, at the end of the day, they may not care that you´re the first transgender person to be elected as an out transgender person, but they are going to care about that you are concerned about their traffic patterns, that you´re concerned about their schools, that you´re concerned about their job potential in the cities that they´re working in.
Lisnek: We´re all just Americans. You also have LGBTQ leadership summits, and I want just a quick mention of that because there are people out there who are like, "I´m thinking maybe I´ll run."
Gonzales: Right. So, we do leadership summits across the country. We try to do these in states that may be facing anti-LGBTQ legislation or don´t have a high representation of LGBTQ people in public service, so we´re doing those, and this year we´ll be doing them in Phoenix, Arizona, Columbus, Ohio, and Milwaukee, and we´ll be in New Orleans in a couple of weeks. And the idea is to get people who have any sort of idea of wanting to do something in public service, and we bring them together for a day. We bring out elected officials, out appointed officials from their local community to come talk to them about their path to success and how they got there and what they´re working on and what´s important for them, and we hope that they´ll leave that training with a better idea of, "Yes, I want to do more, and here´s what my potential is to do more."
Lisnek: Ruben, I imagine, as we watch these numbers through the years, we´ll see that 539 go up.
Gonzales: Absolutely. We work with people over the year who are running for office, and we expect that number to always grow.
Lisnek: All right. We´re going to monitor it as we go. –
Gonzales: Fantastic. –
Lisnek: Ruben Gonzales with the LGBTQ Victory Institute. Appreciate your time, and thanks to you for watching. If you want more great conversations with leaders in your community, across our country, just visit comcastnewsmakers.com. I´m Paul Lisnek. Bye-bye.
#National #Government #LGBTQ
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For LGBTQ people ages 10 to 24, suicide is a leading cause of death. David Johns, Executive Director of the National Black Justice Coalition, sheds light on efforts to advance acceptance and empowerment of black LGBTQ students.
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Advancing LGBTQ Businesses
Advancing LGBTQ Businesses - 5:49
LGBTQ businesses contribute more than $1.7 trillion to the U.S. economy, creating thousands of jobs every year. Sabrina Kent of the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce discusses how the Chamber advocates for the economic empowerment of America’s 1.4 million LGBTQ-owned businesses.
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Journey Toward LGBTQ Acceptance: Families and Allies at the Forefront - 6:39
According to the National Association for Mental Illness, members of the LGBTQ community are approximately three times more likely than the general population to experience depression, generalized anxiety disorder, and other mental health conditions. Brian Bond, Executive Director of PFLAG National, joins host Paul Lisnek to discuss how fostering LGBTQ acceptance at home is vital to improving mental health in the community.
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The Equality Act
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In 2012, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., became the first openly gay person elected to the U.S. Senate. Baldwin is co-sponsor of the Equality Act of 2019, pending legislation that aims to curb discrimination and extend civil rights protections to the LGBTQ community.
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Since 1998, the U.S. has issued more than 16,000 deportation orders to Vietnamese, Cambodian and Laotian Americans.
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Championing LGBTQ Inclusion in Government
Championing LGBTQ Inclusion in Government - 5:33
While the LGBTQ community accounts for 4.5% of the U.S. population, the LGBTQ Victory Institute reports that LGBTQ Americans hold 0.1% of all elected positions nationwide. Ruben Gonzales, Vice President of the LGBTQ Victory Institute, joins host Paul Lisnek to discuss his organization’s efforts to ensure diversity and inclusion at every level of government.
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Ethics and Campaign Finance Reform - 7:07
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Tag Archives: Southern California Writers Group
Review: ‘The Case Against Satan’ by Ray Russell
Ray Russell illustration by Henry Chamberlain
When you write a story about the Devil, you are in some sense, summoning him. You cannot take that lightly for one very good reason: if you don’t take it seriously, you will amount with less than a gripping story. Ray Russell knew not to disturb Satan for no good reason. Russell was, by extension, part of the original Southern California Writers Group of the Sixties. This was “The Group,” the guys who went on to do such amazing things as write for the original Twilight Zone. Ray was not so much a regular at gatherings but he knew the art of writing as well as the best of them. He published the best of them as the fiction editor at Playboy, no less. And his own writing rose to the occasion too. One shining example of this is his 1962 novel, “The Case Against Satan.”
The early Sixties were dripping with modern cool with trailblazers bursting upon all the arts. In writing, one fertile ground was pushing the limits of gothic and dark fantasy. It is in “The Case Against Satan” that Russell broke new ground and created the contemporary demon possession story. It is more than fair to say that it was the precursor to William Peter Blatty’s 1971 novel, “The Exorcist.” And, most assuredly, it is a novel still every bit as chilling today, oddly enhanced by its vintage. Certain modes of communication, like social media, just weren’t available to our characters in 1962 while others were more commonly relied upon, like a simple pamphlet, printed by the local zealot, and circulated amongst the neighborhood.
This is a story that depends a lot upon communication. Susan, a pretty sixteen-year-old, will prove a most enigmatic figure who may, or may not, be possessed by Lucifer himself. Her every word seems to harbor a double meaning. And, as we progress, all depends upon what is true and what is false. This is also a philosophical story as Susan will bring two men with very differing views together to help save her soul. The argument between them is one of faith. Can you only believe what you choose to believe or, when push comes to shove, must you give yourself completely over? The question is whether Satan actually exists. Sure, God is relatively easy to believe in. But, if there is a God, is there not a Satan?
Russell is more than just a master of the horror genre. You could say that simply writing horror is only the first step. In order for it to matter, the writer has to take on his own leap of faith. The writer has to have skin in the game, so to speak. Well, Russell is, without a doubt, a writer willing to give his skin, and heart, over to what he did. He has a way of drawing you in completely too. You arrive closer and closer to the bogeyman to find yourself butting right up against him and then you may gasp, or you may be in awe, as to how you got there. Russell does not hammer away. He may mention something only once but that one time will suffice. You cannot help but bookmark it and eagerly anticipate a return.
Much in line with the trim and fast-paced novels of the era, like Robert Bloch’s 1959 novel, “Psycho,” this is story that is very focused, very much a page-turner, with an eerie elegance running throughout. It breaks my heart to think that this was never turned into a major motion picture. With some adjustments, it could still be made as an updated version. Or, better yet, you could remain close to the spooky cool of the original.
Perhaps it might do well to adapt this story into a play. “Doubt” comes to mind. For this is very much a story about overcoming one’s doubt. It is, in large part, a story about Gregory, a priest in crisis, at a crossroads in early middle age. And his counterpart, mentor, and friend, is a visiting bishop. In fact, the meeting between them was to be fleeting at best. However, circumstances would dictate otherwise. Above all else, Russell masterfully balances the inner and outer turmoil of these two, among a cast of other characters emerging from varied backgrounds, all brought together by a demon possession, that may or may not be true.
“The Case Against Satan” is a 160-page paperback published by Penguin Random House. For more information, and to purchase, visit our friends at Penguin Random House right here.
Filed under Book Reviews, Books, Penguin Random House, Playboy, Ray Russell, Satan, Southern California Writers Group, The Twilight Zone
Tagged as Book Reviews, Books, Entertainment, Media, Penguin Random House, Playboy, Pop Culture, Publishing, Ray Russell, Satan, Southern California Writers Group, The Twilight Zone
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America. You are in big trouble
America, you are in trouble. Big, big, trouble. You just don’t know it yet. Or maybe you do and you just don’t want to admit it.
No. It’s not your politics. This time.
No, I am not talking about Trump and Clinton. I could.
If anyone ran a poll for the worst Presidential candidates in history, those two would win in a landslide. I do feel for you, having to choose between such a pair of losers.
And it is too trite, too simple, too easy to say that firearm ownership is at the heart of all your troubles. No doubt it’s playing a part. You guys have crazy, crazy, crazy gun laws. When you give mad people guns, innocent people get killed. Everyone knows this except you.
Sadly, the kind of trouble I’m talking about this time is much, much worse. Part of you is a stinking, wretched, seething, cauldron of institutionalised hate. How big a part of you? Big enough to truly shock and amaze the rest of the world. And, yes hate. The worst kind of hatred there is.
Race hate.
It’s hard to imagine there could be a worse kind. But what could be worse than law enforcement driven hate? Your police force hates black people.
How can you possibly draw any other conclusion? In the words of your own black President, Blacks and Hispanics are 30 percent more likely to be pulled over by police, three times more likely to be searched and twice as likely to be shot by police as white people. These are not statistics to be proud of. The color of your skin can get you killed, mighty fast in the good old U.S.A. Of course, not every serving police officer in America hates black people. But enough rotten cops do and it’s happening enough times across America to now say it has to stop.
What happened in the past 48 hours, is quite unbelievable.
In the remaining few seconds of his life, Alton Sterling a 37-year-old Louisiana black man seemed completely immobile. How do we know this? The entire incident, happened to be recorded on a phone-video-camera, by a random bystander.
You see on the video, two Baton Rouge, Louisiana police officers pinning Alton to the ground. You see clearly on the video, he is unable to move. One of the police officers then yells: “He’s got a gun” Within seconds, another police officer shoots Alton Sterling in the chest, at point blank range, not once but multiple times confirmed later by the post mortem examination. So how did this all come to pass? It seems cops were called to a convenience store after receiving an anonymous tip that a Black man, in a red shirt, was selling CD’s and waving a gun around. They got part of it right. Alton Sterling was a black man, matching the description. He was selling CDs and wearing a red shirt. Both police officers involved in this tragedy are now on ‘administrative leave’ and the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division is leading the investigation.
If that police shooting wasn’t bad enough?
Try this for size.
Twenty-four hours later. Another police shooting of a black man. This time it happened many, many kilometres away in Minnesota. Thirty-two-year old Philander Castile is driving a car with a broken taillight. He’s stopped by police. He tells police he is legally carrying a firearm. Not a good idea. He reaches into his pants pocket for his driver’s license. Police interpret this as him reaching for his firearm. They shoot and Philander slumps back in his seat while his girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, videos the entire incident and streams it live to Facebook. The police officer, still pointing his gun yells at her “keep your hands where they are.” Reynolds doesn’t scream. Doesn’t cry. Remains polite at all times. In the car, as Castile moans dying beside her, Reynolds keeps talking, repeating similar phrases:
“Please, Jesus, don’t tell me that he’s gone.”
“Please don’t tell me he’s gone.”
“Please, officer, don’t tell me that you just did this to him.”
Later, at a press conference, the Minnesota Governor said what everyone already knew. “Would this have happened if the driver and the passenger were white? I don’t think it would have.
“This kind of racism exists and it’s incumbent on all of us to vow and ensure that it doesn’t continue to happen.”
Time to draw a line in the sand. We need to call it for what it is. These are hate crimes. In my honest opinion, there is no other way to describe them. Institutionalised hate crimes perpetrated by police because they don’t like the colour of a person’s skin. Worse still. It could insight a race war. What happened in Dallas in the last couple of hours is very worrying. Very troubling. America.you are in trouble.
July 8, 2016 July 8, 2016 Damien Comerford
Alton SterlingBaton Rougeblack manDallas shootingDiamond Reynoldsfatal shootingMinnesotaPhilander Castilepolice shootingracial prejudice
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One thought on “America. You are in big trouble”
Invisible Mikey says:
I agree with you, except in labeling them “hate” crimes. Hate is proactive. These are FEAR crimes, the irrational fear of non-whites (especially blacks) held by white police.
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2007: Looking Back and Looking Forward
cultural change
speed of change
Recently, I have been struck by the number of anniversaries of significant events that have been acknowledged this year. This past summer was the 40th anniversary of the “Summer of Loveâ€. August was the 60th anniversary of the independence of India and Pakistan. This week marked the 50th anniversary of the desegregation of public schools in Little Rock Arkansas. This year is also the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao, Spain. Next week is the 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik. All of these events were very significant events.
Why is a column with the tag line “A Future Look at Today†taking a look back on significant events? The accelerating speed of change is the reason. It is clear that, in the past 200 years, the speed of change has been accelerating. During the 1800s, the first full century of the industrial revolution, the rate of change was noticeably faster than the 1700s. The amount of change that occurred in the 1900s dwarfed that of the prior century. The speed of change coming into the current century is much faster than it was coming into the last century, perhaps ten times faster. In the Shift Age we are now in, the speed of change has literally become part of our environment.
What all this means is that the next 10, 40, 50 and 60 years will all encompass more change, more innovation, more acceleration than in the same amounts of time looking back to the last century.
The transformation of India in the last 60 years has been amazing. At independence, India was a poverty stricken agrarian economy with a rigid caste system. While still suffering great amounts of poverty, India is now the most populous democracy and the twelfth largest economy in the world. It has leapt into the Information Age in such a way that it is the back office and customer service center of the world. What will it look like in 2067? It is almost impossible to imagine.
Triggered by the landmark Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling, the forced integration of Little Rock schools 50 years ago truly ushered in the era of the federal government supported civil rights movement. The emergence of Dr. King as a great moral leader, the march on Washington D.C., and the Civil Rights act of 1964 all quickly followed. There is no question that racial issues are still on the front pages today. We have come an incredibly long way, but we clearly have a way to go. What will equality and race relations look like in 2057? I can’t help but think that it will quite different that it is today.
Think about the cultural revolution that began during the “Summer of Love†in 1967. American culture and European culture was transformed. Music, art, fashion, sexual mores and hair styles all changed dramatically. Drug use, political protests and cause related demonstrations, meditation, and a changing concept of one’s place in the world and role in life all brought about cultural and political changes that reverberate still. There has been more cultural change in America in the last 40 years than in any similar period of time in our country’s history. However, given the accelerating speed of change, the cultural changes that will occur between now and 2047 will be even more transformative. Hold on to your hats!
In 1997 when the Frank Gehry designed Guggenheim museum opened in rusty old Bilbao, Spain, it transformed the way that cities could reinvent themselves during the transition from one age to another. There has been an explosion in the building of either new art museums or major additions to existing ones. It seems like every major city in the world has decided to make some sort of image enhancing investment in a new museum or cultural edifice. In addition the elevation of architecture and the star architect can be seen all over the world. Just look at the skyline of Shanghai or Dubai. It is probable that the changes around the world in this area for the next ten years will match and exceed the last ten.
Please stop and reflect on all the changes and the rapidity of change that we have all experienced in the past decades. Then look ahead and embrace the concept that this recent past is only a comparatively slow prologue to the decades ahead. Fasten your seat belts.
As for the 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik next week, well that deserves a column unto itself, next week.
Prev: A Happiness Index
Sputnik: 50 Years Later: Next
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People August 27, 2018 | 11:16 am
Northwest belle is crowned Miss Dominican Republic
A. Bernard, Photo amoamao.net
Santiago.- Aldy Bernard, representative from Valverde province (northwest), was crowned Miss Dominican Republic Universe, during a ceremony held at the Gran Arena del Cibao, Santiago.
The belle, 22, was selected from 20 candidates, to represent the country in the Miss Universe 2018 pageant, which will take place next December, in Bangkok, Thailand.
The crown was placed on the new sovereign from Laguna Salada, by Carmen Muñoz, Miss Dominican Republic Universe 2017.
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Brands We've Worked With
PetsPyjamas is the award-winning No. 1 pet lifestyle website - featuring more than 10,000 pet accessories, mainly from British makers, and hundreds of bookable, pet-friendly hotels, cottages and B&Bs.
Orange UK was a mobile network operator and former internet service provider in the UK.
We are an all female team who specialise in footwear and accessories and we are hugely fortunate that we love what we do.
EEDI
Eedi is a toolkit for teachers, students and parents, designed to make learning and understanding easier for everyone.
MiDRIVE
Midrive’s mission is to increase the learner pass rate and help make safer drivers. 1 in 5 newly qualified drivers are involved in a serious road traffic collision within 6 months….
Our business operates across 30 countries and covers the entire value chain of the retail foreign exchange industry.
LOOK FABULOUS FOREVER
At LFF we are not just a beauty brand, we are a movement. A movement to celebrate mature beauty. To challenge perceptions, and to embrace the benefits of ageing.
Hailo was a British technology platform that matched taxi drivers and passengers through its mobile phone application. Founded in London in 2011, the Hailo taxi service was available in 16 cities.
LANTUM
The NHS is under increasing pressure and patterns of patient demand are getting ever more difficult to predict. Lantum exists to help release that pressure by making it easier for healthcare providers and sessional doctors to connect and build long-lasting professional relationships – without the need for expensive and bureaucratic, third-party agencies.
Positive Luxury’s mission is to inspire people to buy better and influence brands to do better. We award the Butterfly Mark to luxury brands that are committed to sustainability, helping consumers shop with confidence.
VOCAL TONIX
Vocal Tonix is for people who want to sing for the fun of it but can’t necessarily read music and don’t want the pressure of joining a choir.
ROYAL VAUXHALL TAVERN
The Royal Vauxhall Tavern is one of London’s most Iconic award-winning cabaret, performance and club night venues which is once again the venue of choice for many leading artists, promoters and the LGBT community.
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Using data to deliver better customer experience
Home AI Using data to deliver better customer experience
By dreamstatedigital | AI, Branding, Content Marketing, Data, Digital Marketing, Growth Marketing, Inbound Marketing, Lead Gen, SEO, SMB, Social Media Marketing, Video Marketing | 0 comment | 12 January, 2019 | 0
Today, food delivery competition has expanded from traditional restaurants to include local grocery stores and data-driven giants like Amazon. To stand out, companies need a competitive differentiator. Domino’s, founded in 1960, cut through the increased competition’s crust and remains one of the largest pizza companies in the world because it recognizes this.
The company boasts significant business in both delivery and carryout, serving a million pizzas daily out of its more than 14,000 stores in 85 markets. They do this by integrating customer data across multiple platforms, including mobile, social and email, to increase efficiency and provide a more flexible customer ordering experience. Relying on technology as a competitive differentiator helped the pizza giant achieve more than 50 percent of all global retail sales in 2017 from digital channels, primarily online ordering and mobile applications.
Here’s how the pizza company did it, and the tips you can take to do the same:
Domino’s AnyWare creates data everywhere: AnyWare is a digital platform that allows the company’s customers to order pizza from their smartwatches, TVs, car entertainment systems and social media platforms. All of these pizza orders across the array of digital mediums create an information tsunami, or in the company’s eyes, a competitive advantage. The pizza company realized that data is a weapon in its competitive market, and it needed to be available on demand. The company defined the requirements and goals for a solution, including speed-to-market implementation, cost and the ability to streamline workflow and reduce custom development work.
Cut down on complexity and streamline the process: Previously, the pizza company used multiple tools for capturing data and multiple agencies for marketing campaigns, all while trying to manage 17 terabytes of data. To cut down on complexity and streamline its processes, the pizza company teamed up with Talend, a cloud data integration company, to deploy Talend Big Data to integrate all of this data from everywhere – 85,000 structured and unstructured data sources in all, pouring into its system every day – to create a single view of its customers and global operations. The company uses this solution to ensure it is delivering the best product it can to its customers as fast as possible, while also analyzing all segments of its business to keep up with changing needs and constantly evolving competitive pressures. Implementing this new technology quickly transitioned the pizza company from a traditional ordering mechanism to an e-commerce platform.
Multiple touchpoints, one buying experience: Domino’s built a data infrastructure that collects information from every touchpoint, including all the company’s point of sales systems and 26 supply chain centers, and through all its channels, including text messages, Twitter, Pebble, Android and Amazon Echo. Data is then fed into the company’s Enterprise Management Framework and then combined with enrichment data from third-party sources and geocode, demographic and competitive information. Now, the pizza company has a trusted, single source of the truth that it can use to improve business performance from logistics to financial forecasting while enabling one-to-one buying experiences across multiple touchpoints.
With all of the challenges a business faces in trying to create a digital transformation, one of the main lessons to be learned from this story is that having a bird’s eye view is of the utmost importance, and that data can help any brand deliver a better customer experience. The pizza company integrated data from everywhere to create a 360-degree view of its customers, holding the pizza company’s spot at the top of the food chain. Now Domino’s isn’t only able to deliver pizza; they are delivering a tailored experience to every consumer that interacts with the brand, no matter the medium.
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Smoking, drinking and illicit drugs are costing the Australian economy $56 billion a year.
Australia’s drinking, smoking and drug-taking caused a lot of sickness, disease, premature death, reduced productivity, crime and accidents in the year to July 2005. The report shows costs were up to $56 billion, from about $34 billion when the estimate was last made in the late 1990s.
The latest estimate puts the cost of alcohol-associated problems at $15 billion. It estimates Illicit drugs cost Australia about $8 billion. But by far the biggest problem is tobacco. The report says it cost $31.5 billion – 56 per cent of the total.
“The smoking rates are reducing but the delayed health effects of past smoking are still being seen,” Health Minister Nicola Roxon said. “So we do hope that in the future, pretty long term in the future, that the lower rates of smoking will see a decline in this social cost.”
Professor Simon Chapman from the School of Public Health at the University of Sydney says Australia is a world leader in anti-tobacco campaigns, but more practical steps need to be taken to make smoking history. “We could begin by putting all cigarettes under the counter in the way that pharmaceutical, ethical drugs are not displayed,” he told AM.
“We could put them in plain packaging rather than the really enticing attractive boxes which are highly market researched to appeal to young people. We could put the price of cigarettes up a lot more and we could regulate the product itself. It’s the only product that is taken into the body which is not subject to, sort of quality controls, safety controls.”
The Labor Party says it is taking a different approach to the previous government in health policy, putting more emphasis on prevention. The director of the Australian Institute of Health Policy Studies, Professor Brian Oldenburg, says there is little detail so far.
“I think at least compared to the previous government, there is the expressed intent to really put more effort into prevention, but we are still waiting to see how that is going to work its way through the system,” he said. Ms Roxon will release the figures on the social costs of drugs and alcohol at the first ever national illness prevention summit, which begins in Melbourne today.
Source: ABC News April 9th 2008
Filed under: Australia :
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Tag Archives: Secretary of State for the colonies
Earl Grey’s Irish Famine Orphans (21):why did the Earl Grey scheme come to an end?
Posted on August 1, 2015 by Trevor McClaughlin under Earl Grey orphans in South Australia, Earl Grey orphans in Victoria, Earl Grey's Irish female orphans, Female orphan photographs, Irish Famine orphans in Australia, Irish female emigration, Irish female emigration to Australia, Irish Female Orphans, Irish-Australian Studies, Port Phillip orphans, The Earl Grey scheme
Why did the Earl Grey scheme come to an end?
As per the ‘About’ page of this blog, you’re not forced to accept anything I say. Please, feel free to let me know your take on why the Earl Grey scheme came to an end. History has always been about discussion and debate.
“‘Uncertainty in meaning is incipient poetry‘-who said that?” (Brian Friel, Translations)
One of the problems we face is that the most accessible sources that have survived–government enquiries, parliamentary papers, newspaper articles and the like–were written from the vantage point of the upper and middle-class establishment. It would be a shame to let that decide for us what is important and accept what they say at face value. It would give us a one-sided history. But sometimes, as in this case, they are very important. I just hope we don’t lose sight of the young women themselves, or at least, make sure we come back to them.
I’ve always found that writing something down is a good first step. More than one draft is always needed.
Returning readers will be aware of recent revisions (June 2017) to this blog post (first published in August 2015). Here’s another go (July 2019). My initial effort constructed its analysis of the demise of the Earl Grey scheme with ideology and Imperial-colonial politics at its base before suggesting the scheme’s innate structural weaknesses ‘doomed’ it from the start. What also worked against it from the start were the scandals associated with the Subraon and the first vessel to arrive in Sydney, the Earl Grey.
In the end, demolition of the scheme came from within the colonies themselves. Mounting opposition in the colonial press maligned the young orphans as ignorant workhouse Irish; they were untrained and immoral girls, sent out to Romanize the colonies.The cry went up that no more young women be sent from Irish workhouses.
About two thirds of the way down my initial post, in the section called “Bad Press” where i invited readers to go to ‘Trove’, I asked,
‘Were colonists opposed to the scheme because the orphans were Irish, Bog Irish dirty, Roman Catholic, from the workhouse, poorly trained, and immoral? Because there were too many of them and not enough from England and Scotland? Because the scheme belonged to Earl Grey and the British Imperial power? Because they wanted full control of their Land fund and immigration policies? ‘ My intention was to direct readers to ways they might unpick the prejudices against the young Irish female workhouse orphans. Maybe I should have a go at that myself.
We can start by looking at Earl Grey’s relationship with the Australian colonies, that is, the larger context of the Orphan Emigration Scheme.
The larger context: Imperial and colonial politics
What political issues formed the backdrop to the Earl Grey Scheme? For example, who controlled Imperial and colonial finances? Where was the money to come from to pay for government-assisted emigration? Were colonial ‘Crown Revenues’ completely under the Crown’s control, to be used and spent as Earl Grey wished? Did Earl Grey arbitrarily charge colonial crown revenues for continued convict transportation to Van Diemen’s Land, and for his underhand renewal of convict, or ‘exile’, transportation to New South Wales?
Perhaps Earl Grey’s personal papers have something to say about his surrender to colonial demands to end the orphan emigration scheme? I certainly haven’t looked at these. What I’m suggesting here, is that there is more to this question than meets the eye. The ideology that underpins political decisions is worth considering. Things which on the surface do not appear to be linked, are in fact very much part of a whole.
At base, the Irish Famine orphan emigration scheme is linked to a number of sensitive political matters: colonial labour supply and the expansion of government-assisted emigration; Grey’s attempt to continue Lord Stanley’s renewal of convict transportation to New South Wales; control of the Land fund and colonial revenues generally; and how Imperial Government and Colonial legislatures would handle the approaching constitutional reform.
If I may illustrate this further, at an early stage of his administration, Grey accepted pastoralists’ demands for access to lands that Governor Gipps had previously denied. But he had little faith in New South Wales pastoralists’ ability to govern in the best interests of the colonies. The whole issue of constitutional reform for the Australian colonies, which was to lead to ‘Representative‘ and later ‘Responsible‘ government, was a burning issue for Grey’s administration. As my good friend Professor Frank Clarke puts it, “Grey always harboured the most serious mistrust over the ability of squatter-dominated colonial legislatures to administer the land revenues in an impartial fashion. He thought they would more often than not treat the land funds as loot to be distributed among themselves. He appeared to have a fine understanding of the mindset of most colonial conservatives“. Some may argue that constitutional reform lay in the future. But it was nonetheless there, and not always in the background, as opposition to the orphan emigration scheme unfolded in Australia.
Let me give you an example to clarify this.
The convict issue and Earl Grey’s attempt to supply labour
Even though convict transportation to New South Wales had ceased in 1840, Grey, without consulting colonists, sent a number of convicts between 1847 and 1849. For him, it was another way of supplying labour to the colonies. The Joseph Soames, Adelaide, Randolph, Havering, Hashemy and Mount Stewart Elphinstone arrived in Port Phillip, Port Jackson and Moreton Bay carrying convicts, or ‘exiles’ as they were euphemistically known. The ‘exiles’ were given tickets-of-leave immediately on landing, and dispersed throughout New South Wales. Some were forwarded to Sydney from Port Phillip because they were not wanted there. Others were farmed out to Maitland, Newcastle, Clarence River, and the Moreton Bay districts.
When the Hashemy arrived in Port Jackson in the middle of 1849, c.4500 people took part in a public protest in the streets of Sydney, precisely when the Irish orphan emigration scheme was in full cry. In June 1849, the protesters presented Governor Fitzroy with a petition asking the ‘exiles’ be sent back to England and Ireland. When he refused, he was presented with resolutions adopted at a public meeting viz. (1) censuring the Governor himself for his lack of courtesy, (2) demanding the dismissal of Earl Grey from office, and (3) advocating the introduction of responsible government immediately! One can see how easy it was for colonists to say “we don’t want your convicts, and we don’t want your paupers”! Reports of “The Great Protest against Transportation” appeared in newspapers around the country: “the injustice they now faced was far more flagrant, far more oppressive than that which had given birth to the American rebellion” (Colonial Times, Hobart 29 June, p.4). Little wonder then, that the Imperial Government in London was ready to listen, and put a stop to Grey’s sending convicts and workhouse orphans.
By September 1849 Orphan Committees in Adelaide and Melbourne were calling for a reduction in the number of orphans, and by the end of the year or early 1850, that the scheme should stop. [See the documents appended at the end of this post. They were part of H.H. Browne’s submission to the NSW Parliamentary enquiry.] As early as October 1849, for example, the Melbourne authorities were suggesting orphan immigration to the Port Phillip district should be suspended. But it was not until April 1850 that the last orphan ship, the Tippoo Saib, would leave Plymouth.
To quote something I wrote earlier viz. “Grey’s larger concern, providing the Australian colonies with labour, was to draw him into the quagmire of renewed transportation, ‘exile-ism’, and the emigration of convict families, political issues that would tarnish his name and from which he never really recovered. Not helped, of course, by his own high-minded attitude to colonials. Grey’s principal means of meeting colonial demands for labour was the renewal of large-scale government-assisted emigration. And of this, the female orphan scheme was but a part.
Yet, as Grey responded to pressing colonial demands for labour, he failed to resolve the long-standing differences between colonist and Imperial authority over the question of how government-assisted emigration should be funded and run. In fact he aggravated these differences by insisting that Britain keep control over land funds, and hence, emigration policy. His opponents would seize on the Female Orphan scheme as a means of embarrassing him and of pursuing their own political claims. In turn, some of the odium attached to Earl Grey rubbed off on the female orphans. Whether the orphans, themselves, were aware of being pawns in this larger political contest remains to be seen, it is clear their immediate fate was inextricably bound up with the name of Earl Grey”.
Weaknesses of the scheme
Some of the scheme’s weaknesses were ‘structural’ or ‘systemic’ weaknesses. Even before the first orphan ships had arrived, South Australian government officials were advocating the scheme should include a proportionate number of female ‘orphans’ sent from workhouses in England and Scotland. But that was always difficult to arrange. Young people in English Parish workhouses were sent into service at an early age, 14 or 15 years, was the response when the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners (CLEC) enquired about the possibility. [There were c. 80, in fact, sent from English workhouses to different parts of Australia, including some on the Ramillies to South Australia]. From a purely organisational point of view, it was easier for the CLEC to bring young women from Irish workhouses. Nonetheless, the cry that there should be young women sent from England and Scotland in proportionate numbers, was something critics of the scheme in Australia could and would use to their advantage.
The CLEC became a victim of their own organisational skills. Once the ‘production line’ of orphan ships was set in motion it was difficult to stop. Commissioners sent too many, too soon–that is– from an Australian point of view, not an Irish one. By early 1850, there was an oversupply of Irish female servants in Melbourne and Sydney. It became increasingly difficult to find employers the Sydney and Melbourne Orphan committees approved of.
Similarly, organisation of the scheme in Australia–Orphan Committees, master-servant regulations, children’s apprenticeships and the like–would come back to cause trouble for colonial authorities. South Australia, for example, stepped around the master-servant apprenticeship arrangements the Imperial government had asked for (except for the very young): they were too expensive to administer. Only to find the Irish orphans could exploit this weakness. Some of the orphans, knowing authorities were obliged to ‘protect’ them, returned to immigration depots when things were not to their liking. The orphans were to prove a lot more savvy than people expected. But their returning to the immigration depot was also an unwelcome expense colonial authorities had not foreseen.
After the scheme had ended, the Irish Poor Law Commissioners were to “ascribe much of the misconduct of the Irish orphan girls, to the mistaken injudicious leniency and indulgence shown to them by the [Children’s Apprenticeship] Board…whilst they were allowed to resort to the Depot from the country and from their employers, and to the absence of sufficient discipline and control whilst they were at the Depot on their first resort to it…“. Grey himself agreed: “...in my opinion the Irish Poor Law Commissioners have succeeded in showing that a considerable part of the causes which led to the failure of the plan is to be found in the injurious though well-meant kindness which was shown to the orphans by the colonial authorities” (Grey to Governor Young 24 Feb. 1851, British Parliamentary Papers Colonies Australia vol.13 Session 1851-2, p.348). See the same place for the full Report of the Irish Poor Law Commission, pp.348-52.
a ‘collective male mentality’
Also working against the scheme, was what we might call a ‘collective (male) mentality’ towards single female emigrants who dared travel “without natural protectors”. Here’s something from my Preface to volume one of Barefoot and Pregnant? to clarify what I mean.
“It is worth making the general point that contemporary attitudes towards females were inimical to any easy acceptance of the orphans. Single female immigrants to Australia were too often looked down upon by religious leaders and members of the upper and middle-class public in both Britain and Australia for much of the nineteenth century. It was as if the language of ships’ captains and surgeons, who were uncomfortable if not downright hostile to women convicts and female paupers in their charge, was the accepted way of saying things. Their condemnatory language was repeated parrot fashion by a succession of commentators on female immigrants as a way of attracting attention. The hostility of the early days towards convicts, and the paupers of the 1830s, for example, was to forge images and condition attitudes towards later female migrants, not least the famine orphans from Irish workhouses. Virtuous single women just did not emigrate to such a faraway country as Australia ‘without natural protectors’. Therefore those who did, could not have been really virtuous. George Hall put it to a South Australian Parliamentary enquiry in 1856 that one ‘could never expect to derive such girls of good character from such a source’, as Irish Poor Law Unions. Such a propensity for prejudging the young women led to the condemnation of them all, not just a few, as prostitutes, ill-disciplined and promiscuous during the voyage, and ill-suited for work in the colonies. The stereotype, once fixed, became very difficult to remove”.
No doubt there are exceptions to such generalisations. Surgeon Strutt comes immediately to mind, and no doubt many male commentators were well-meaning; they saw themselves as guardians working to improve the morals of the lower classes. Their fear was that the orphans would easily be led astray, and fall on ‘evil courses’. All they required, however, was one or two examples of ‘misconduct’ and their prophecy became self-fulfilling.
Thus for example, the Presbyterian Reverend Robert Haining accepting his appointment to the Orphan Committee in Adelaide, and before any orphans had arrived, suggested the young women be allowed “as little intercourse with the town of Adelaide as possible until they obtain situations and never if it can be managed, without some sort of surveillance for otherwise they will undoubtedly be thrown into the society of evil disposed persons who will both lead them into much harm and hold out inducements to them to withdraw themselves from under all control whatsoever and thus defeat the object which the government at home has in using that of indenturing them to respectable colonists who will look to their welfare and morals…“. (State Records of South Australia GRG 24/6 1287, 22 August 1848).
Or, from the Sydney Immigration Board, on the scandal associated with the Subraon which arrived shortly before the Earl Grey.
“a party of 12 female orphans had been put on board from a foundling institution in Dublin. The ship had not long left Plymouth when some of these girls were taken to wait on the officers and surgeon. A connexion of the worst kind sprung up between the first and third mates and some of these girls; and it is difficult to doubt that the same was the case with the captain, whose conduct and language to the girl who attended upon him is described by her as of the most improper and corrupting kind…the girls were repeatedly seen intoxicated with liquor given them by the captain and mates…several of these girls are now pursuing in Sydney the evil course into which they had been initiated on the voyage by the misconduct of the captain and his officers”. (Minutes of the Proceedings of the Immigration Board at Sydney respecting certain irregularities which occurred in board the ship “Subraon”. Printed for the use of the Government only, Bent St., Sydney, 1848) The enquiry into what happened on the Subraon occurred in May and June 1848, just a few months before the arrival of the first orphan ship.
A troubled beginning. The scandal associated with the first orphan ship, the ‘EARL GREY’.
Shortly after the Subraon brouhaha came the shock of Surgeon-Superintendent Henry Grattan Douglass’ report on the first vessel of the official scheme to arrive in Sydney, the Earl Grey. In a letter to the Colonial Secretary, dated 7 October 1848, only a day after the ship arrived in Port Jackson, Douglass claimed, that in the selection of orphans,
“gross imposition had been practised upon the Land and Emigration Commissioners;
that instead of girls educated in the orphan schools in Ireland (as the Secretary of the Emigration Board in London had led him to expect) the females placed under his charge had been early abandoned to the unrestricted gratification of their desires, and left to conceive as erroneous any idea of the value of truth as of the necessity of personal restraint;
that there are not wanting among them those who boast of the prolific issue of their vices;
that expatriation had been held out to them as the reward of the workhouse, and that the professed public woman and barefooted little country beggar have been alike sought after as fit persons to pass through the purification of the workhouse ere they were sent as a valuable addition to the colonists of New South Wales”.
Two weeks later, shortly after the arrival of the Roman Emperor in Adelaide, a similar letter was sent to the Colonial secretary by Surgeon Superintendent Richard Eades,
“the moral education of a great number of the emigrants was neglected, erroneous or vicious, careless of the opinion of society, possessing little self respect, and less self control, they were governed by their passions and impulses. Hence I experienced much difficulty in preventing moral degradation and in establishing and preserving good order…I gave several lectures on the cultivation of moral virtues“. (GRG 24/6 1763 CSO letters received)
The rationale of sending mainly Protestant northerners in the first vessels had backfired on the Imperial government.
But it was Surgeon Douglass’s report and the ensuing Sydney Immigration Board enquiry that was to prove the most damaging.
It was to take a year and several other enquiries–one by the Sydney Immigration Board, one by the Irish Poor Law Commissioners led by C. G Otway in Belfast, and one from the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners, in London,–before Grey made his own views known, viz.
Dr Douglass made charges of too sweeping a nature; …I think it is to be lamented that he had not been more scrupulous in specifying the persons he felt justified in describing in such unfavourable terms, instead of casting a general and indiscriminate stigma upon a large body of young women, several of whom must be presumed from the present evidence to have been undeserving of such blame.
The length of time it took for communication between England and New South Wales had worked to the disadvantage of the scheme. It, too, was a victim of the ‘tyranny of distance’.
Colonial opposition to the scheme
The immediate cause of the scheme coming to an end was that colonists in South Australia and New South Wales demanded it end. And Grey acceded to their demand. One advantage of the ‘electronic revolution’ of the last forty or fifty years is that we can read about, and explore, the opposition to the scheme by means of http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper The National Library of Australia has digitized, and made available online, lots and lots of newspapers. May I invite you to explore this great resource for yourself?
Not every newspaper is digitized; I recently was unsuccessful in looking for the Port Phillip Patriot (trying to find out more about William Kerr, the editor of the Argus) and The Miner and Weekly Star (what happened to poor Mary Coghlan). Alas nor is the Melbourne Morning Herald. But there are enough newspapers for our purpose. We might compare how the orphans were treated in South Australia, the Port Phillip district, and the rest of New South Wales, for example. The press coverage in each was slightly different: the ‘bad press’ and ‘scandals’ associated with the orphans were not the same in each district.
Typing ‘Irish orphans’ into the search box will bring up too many items to read. It would be best to ‘refine’ our search terms. Try typing things like ‘Irish orphans Land fund’; ‘Irish orphans workhouse’; ‘Irish orphans immoral’ into the search box. Maybe set a time limit too: 1849, 1850 would be the years to search. Let me give you a taste of the ‘gems’ we can discover.
I’ll start with the rabid sectarianism of the Reverend John Dunmore Lang who was in England between 1846 and 1849. Here’s a link to some of the letters he wrote to the British Banner while he was in England.
https://ia902606.us.archive.org/25/items/LettersOfDr.JohnDumoreLangInBritishBanner/Letters_of_Dr_John_Dunmore_Lang_in_British_Banner_1953.PDF See page 8 in particular for the following well-known quotation,
…I am as confident as I am of my own existence that these young women (Orphans from the Union workhouses in the south of Ireland) who are almost exclusively Roman Catholics, from the most thoroughly Romish and bigotted parts of Ireland, have been selected as free emigrants for Australia, expressly with the view to their becoming wives of the English settler and Scotch Protestant shepherds and stockmen of New South Wales, and thereby silently subverting the Protestantism and extending the Romanism of the colony through the vile, Jesuitical, diabolical system of “mixed marriages”.
The views he expressed here were later taken up by one of his acolytes, William Kerr, editor of the Argus newspaper in Melbourne, and in letters to the editor of the Sydney Morning Herald. See the letter in the Herald from “A Looker-On” on page 3, 1 March 1850, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/page/1511476?zoomLevel=3
Kerr’s attack on the Irish orphans in the Argus and in the Melbourne City Council was to give rise to a furious debate in the first half of 1850. This link will take you to a passage that is often quoted about the orphans’ lack of domestic skills. I’m sure you know it already; it’s the one about ‘distinguishing the inside from the outside of a potato‘, and ‘chasing a runaway pig across a bog‘–page 2 of the Argus 24 January 1850. It also reiterates the views expressed by the Reverend Lang above, and criticises migration policies that neglect the ‘braw lasses of bonnie Scotland‘ and ‘the rosy cheeked girls of England‘. Do have a look.
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/4771328?searchTerm=argus%2024%20January%201850%20irish%20orphans&searchLimits=l-title=13
The South Australian denunciation of the orphans took a different turn, even though the underlying issues were much the same. I’ll call this one ‘CULTURE CLASH‘.
Aliquis (hiding behind a pen-name is obviously not the prerogative of present-day social media) wrote in a letter to the South Australian Register 21 January 1850, page 3, column 5, under the heading “The Government Brothel at the Native Location”,
I allude to the depot at the Native Location for the reception of the female orphans landed upon our shores, where the most disgusting scenes are nightly enacted. I will not attempt to portray the Bacchanalian orgies to be witnessed there every night…
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/page/3932031?zoomLevel=1
The accusations were so pointed that Moorhouse [Matthew Moorhouse was the Secretary to the Children’s Apprenticeship Board which was the legal guardian of the orphans] organised an enquiry to show such claims were without foundation. (You can read the evidence collected at the enquiry, in my Barefoot vol. 2 pp.35-43 ). What came to light, however, is how fearful some of the young orphans were, left on their own, in a strange place, not knowing where the toilet was. Or maybe they were what Moorhouse accused them of being, ‘dirty Irish brutes” .
On the arrival of the Inconstant we had for some time from 70 to 100 girls in the Depot. Their habits were insufferably dirty; we had ample water closet accommodation, but they were too lazy to cross the yard, to use this convenience…(ibid. p 42)
And to defend himself against calling the orphans ‘brutes’, he told of the orphans assaulting one of the matrons, Mrs Kelly. They were obviously hungry for food that reminded them of home. Maybe another kind of ‘culture clash’?
There were 110 girls in the Mess Room, and as soon as they saw the potatoes, they rose, en masse, seized the Matron, tore some of her clothes off her back, and got possession of the potatoes. (p.42)
The Register later concurred with the Board that the allegations made by Aliquis were groundless. But nonetheless continued criticising the orphan migration scheme. See page 2 column 5 and particularly page 3 column 1 of this http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/page/3932169?zoomLevel=2
[The young and friendless orphans from Ireland] are provided with situations sometimes, and occasionally retain them with credit and character. Those who have not been debauched on board ship by the men, in some instances, from the Captain downwards to the cook, of course have a good chance of a quieter and a happier home than poor Ireland can give.
The contemporary media; a critical refrain
By early 1850, the refrain of the major Australian newspapers was the Irish orphans were ‘useless trollops’ who did little for ‘their’ colony. They were sent from the workhouse, without any skills, imposed upon them, using ‘their’ money when that money could be better spent on bringing others from England and Scotland. There were just far, far, too many of them flooding into the country. The SYDNEY MORNING HERALD stated its objections in its editorial of 13 March 1850. See page 2, beginning column 2, near the bottom of the page,
Instead of a few hundreds, the girls are coming out by thousands. Instead of mere orphans, we are being inundated with Irish paupers. Instead of a temporary expedient,…we behold a settled system of poorhouse deliverance which, if not checked by colonial remonstrance, bids fair to go on as long as the Irish parishes have girls to spare, and the colony the means of paying for their emigration…
Of British female orphans we do not complain that we have had a disproportion, but that we have had none at all. This new species of immigration is altogether one-sided–it is exclusively Irish, and exclusively Roman Catholic…It is not an immigration of mere labour, but of sex; of females, and of young females. The destiny of these girls is understood by everybody…
The ground, then, upon which the colonists complain…is not simply that Ireland monopolises too large a share of their emigration fund, nor that Irish paupers are thrust upon them under the name of orphans; but that their unmarried youth are coerced into matrimonial alliances with Irish Roman Catholics.
To which the ARGUS added its own besmirching commentary; ‘their [the orphans] coming amongst us has not tended at all to raise the tone of colonial morality’ (editorial 22 December 1849): ‘…they hang on hand at the depot till a very considerable proportion of their number join the ranks of prostitutes infesting the more public streets of the city’ (15 March 1850 editorial):
and from a correspondent, ‘Adsum‘, 24 April 1850,
The females of this class can neither wash nor bake, they can neither attend to household wants nor field labour. They refuse in general to go into the country, and when placed in town they refuse either to work, or to learn those parts of their business of which they are ignorant. They lose their places, -and they have no friends to fall back upon–the brothel is open, and it receives them–and there amid unhallowed orgies, that youth, and strength and beauty, is spent and ruined…
[My own Barefoot & Pregnant? volume 2 pp. 35-78, has lots of extracts from the Melbourne press about the orphans and the great furore that occurred when the Melbourne Irish community took up the cudgels in their defense. See for example the wordy report in the Melbourne Morning Herald, Friday April 19, 1850, “Irish Orphan Immigration. Public meeting. In pursuance of a public notification to this effect, a public meeting of all persons interested in the cause of Irish immigration was held at the St Francis Hall, Lonsdale Street, last evening; the attendance was numerous in the extreme, every part of the building being filled to overflowing“. Alas the Melbourne Morning Herald does not appear to have been digitised and made its way to Trove as yet].
Some positive reports
Sometimes one reads a positive newspaper report about the orphans–the arrival of 105 orphans in Yass along with Dr Strutt, in the Goulburn Herald and County of Argyle Advertiser, for example,
http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/result?q=yass+irish+orphans&l-state=New+South+Wales&l-title=364
–Or of their compatriots taking up their defense, the St Patrick’s Society of Australia Felix, in the Melbourne Morning Herald, 11 May 1850, 24 May and 6 June– against the Argus and the Melbourne City Council.
[See also Edward Finn’s letter to the Superintendent of Port Phillip at PROV VPRS 116/p unit 1 file 51/95 reporting the motions passed at a public meeting at St Patrick’s Hall, Melbourne on the 9th May 1850 for another taste of that Melbourne furore].
–or from letter-writers who were at pains to point out the young women entered agreements with their employer to be taught the trade of domestic servant. For this they were to be given food and lodging, and wages below the current rate for servants. Give them a chance and they would learn.
–or perhaps most interesting of all,
orphans who in the Moreton Bay district, in the words of Dr Connors, “appropriated the politics of law to defend their rights and status”. It is as if some orphans had heard the young woman in Brian Merriman’s Cúirt An Mheán Oiche (Midnight Court). I like to think some of the orphans in Brisbane courts did indeed channel that particular young woman.
Tar éis bheith tamall don ainnir ag éisteacht
Do léim ina seasamh go tapa gan foighne,
Do labhair sí leis agus loise ina súile
Is rabhartaí feirge feilce fúithi:
http://midnight-court.com/tmc-part-iv.html
Maybe there’s a different kind of culture-clash. That of feisty orphans. Here are some orphan voices from court cases,
“I worked twenty days for James Kelly the defendant at 3 shillings a day about four months ago which he now refuses to pay”.
“I couldn’t carry the water. I left because I couldn’t stand the abuse”.
“Mrs Williams caught me and put me out of the house–and I slept at Mrs Baldwin’s. I want my agreement cancelled”.
“She called me a bitch and ordered me out of the house…and held up a stick as thick as her arm to beat me with…I had to sleep on the dresser and buy soap to wash my own clothes”.
“What quality do you expect on Sunday that ye must have the knives cleaned?… No, I don’t know any better”.
“I’m not going upstairs just to please you”. “I won’t eat with a heretic”.
NOT THE WHOLE STORY
Clearly the press campaign against Earl Grey’s Irish orphan scheme is not the whole story. But it helps explain why the scheme was short-lived. The first vessel arrived in early October 1848, the last one, twenty-two months later, at the end of July 1850. Advice from the Governors of South Australia and New South Wales–based on requests from each of the Orphan committees in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney–may have been enough to persuade Earl Grey. A clamouring colonial press and ‘awkward’ questions in the British Parliament convinced him he should bring the scheme to an end. Thereafter, he simply may have re-directed other orphans from Irish workhouses to a different destination within the British Empire, Canada for example?
Some readers will have noticed that i have not made use of the “Legislative Assembly of New South Wales, Report from the Select Committee on Irish Female Immigrants..together with Minutes of Evidence, 1858-59, Ordered by the Legislative Assembly to be printed, 2 February 1859 (78 pages)”.
I intend looking at this separately. Indeed, there is much in the minutes of evidence about the Earl Grey scheme. It reminds us there would be further repercussions at a later date. But it is first and foremost about the Celtic Association in Sydney petitioning against the prejudices of the Immigration Agent, H.H. Browne. Browne had made adverse comments about Irish female immigrants in his Immigration reports for 1854 and 1855. He was allowed to attend the enquiry, able to put direct questions to witnesses, and given every opportunity to defend himself. The evidence he was allowed to present, as valuable as it is for the history of the orphans, is heavily weighted in his defense. There would be no rocking of the boat. Moreover, the witnesses, in talking about the orphans were relying on memories more than eight years old, a memory whose reliability may be questioned. I look forward to studying it more closely. See http://wp.me/p4SlVj-BT
By way of an incomplete conclusion
Obviously we need to pull all this together at some stage. The 1859 Report emphasizes opposition to the scheme was largely because the young women came from workhouses and were not domestic servants trained for city living: they were better suited to country living. But was this all of the story?
I’ve suggested ‘far from it’. There are other things in the mix as well: anti-Irish, anti- Catholic sectarianism, class prejudice, a very limited understanding of the famine and workhouse experience of the famine orphans both in Whitehall and in the colonies, a concerted campaign on the part of the colonial press against the scheme, particularly in Melbourne but not exclusively so, constitutional issues such as whether the Australian colonies should have control of their Land Fund, inbuilt structural weaknesses aggravated by the ‘tyranny of distance’, opposition to Earl Grey himself by his political opponents both in Britain and in Australia. In early 1850, for example, in the House of Lords, the Earl of Mountcashel repeatedly criticised the scheme for what he called its abuse “of the most disgusting and disgraceful character” of young Irish women, claims which naturally Grey ‘scornfully dismissed’ (Robins, p.218.) Under fire from so many quarters, Grey would call a halt to his female orphan emigration scheme.
Joseph Robins’ The Lost Children: a study of the charity children in Ireland 1700-1900, Institute of Public Administration, Dublin, 1980, has a solidly researched chapter, chapter 9, on “Orphan Emigration to Australia”. It is well worth your attention.
Interestingly, right at the end of this chapter, Dr Robins answers a question i was about to put to you, “How much weight do you put on each of the things I’ve identified in this post?” He says (p.221) “…probably the main influence operating against the scheme was not so much that it related to immigrants who were both Irish and Catholic but that the colonists had now developed an amour propre which rejected the idea that their burgeoning state should continue to be built up on the unwanted produce of the workhouses and gaols of Britain and Ireland.”
Would you agree with this? With all I’ve said in this blog post? I’m glad to say that my analysis of the collapse of the Earl Grey scheme is not totally at odds with what Dr Robins’ writes in his chapter. His analysis concentrates on traditional political sources. He may disagree with my insistence that we attempt to view things from an ‘orphan’ perspective. He may disagree with what I have to say in my next post on “Cancelled Indentures”? http://wp.me/p4SlVj-vf
I’ve added (April 2018) some appendices from the NSW 1859 Parliamentary Report to the end of this post. They tell us WHEN exactly colonial officials made clear their opposition to the scheme, among other things.
May I remind you of the annual gathering at the monument at Hyde Park Barracks on the 27th August, 2017? [The 20th annual gathering is on 25 August 2019] see www.irishfaminememorial.org for more information.
Just a few more orphan photos to end with; they are in order, Catherine Crowley per John Knox, Bridget Gaffney per Digby, Catherine Rooney per Eliza Caroline, and Eliza White per William and Mary. My thanks to their descendants who sent me these photos to use.
Catherine Crowley per John Knox
Bridget Gaffney per Digby
Catherine Rooney per Eliza Caroline
from the 1859 NSW Parliamentary Report
A Colonial Government want the scheme to end.
Appendix A is the Report of the Sydney Immigration committee re the first vessel the Earl Grey. These are appendices that H. H. Browne submitted to the NSW parliamentary enquiry. You will notice, page 62, that the Port Phillip Superintendent considered the William and Mary and Mahomet Shah to have brought orphans to Melbourne. These two ships were never recognized as part of the Earl Grey scheme.
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It’s Time to Prune Cybersecurity Portfolios: A Podcast with Rick Tracy of Telos
Deceiving the Attackers: A Q&A with Carolyn Crandall of Attivo Networks If It's Good Enough for the CIA: A Q&A with Rick Tracy of Telos
In Early Adopter Research’s continuing series on cybersecurity from the RSA 2019 conference, Dan Woods spoke with Rick Tracy, chief security officer for Telos. Woods asked his three big cybersecurity questions for 2019, as well as exploring the landscape of cybersecurity in general. Their conversation covers:
* :50 – Telos’ fit in the cybersecurity landscape
* 6:30 – What does zero trust mean in practice?
* 12:00 – The expanding world of cybersecurity products
* 20:30 – The impact of the CIA’s decision to adopt the cloud
Woods: Can you explain what Telos does using the NIST Framework that identifies identify, protect, detect, respond, and recover as the basic food groups of cybersecurity capabilities?
Tracy: Telos is a pure play cybersecurity company. We were founded in 1968 or 1969. And over time, we’ve centralized our offerings on cybersecurity solutions. And at a high level, we use automation to make certain security objectives easier, faster, and less complex for customers. The segment of the business that I’m most involved in is the security risk and compliance management business, where we founded a platform in 2000 that is designed to operationalize security risk and compliance frameworks, largely around the way NIST organized it. So it’s the risk management framework, the cybersecurity framework, and, more recently, we help organizations who have a desire to become FedRAMP certified. We operationalize that framework as well. And a more nuanced offering is contractors who do business for the federal government and have to comply with this new standard called 800-171 for controlled unclassified information. We also offer a solution that helps those organizations deal with that cybersecurity requirement.
It sounds like it’s not providing cybersecurity control capabilities, but more cybersecurity management capabilities.
Yes, that’s a great point. It’s more about helping organizations understand and demonstrate that they have met security controls that are needed for their systems to be operational. And so that’s particularly true as it relates to the RMF (Risk Management Framework), where there’s this notion of an authority to operate, or ATO. But the ATO requirement doesn’t exist per se with the cybersecurity framework where people recognize the cybersecurity framework based on a core set of terms called identify, protect, detect, respond, and recover. It is a voluntary framework that came about as a result of an executive order in I think 2013. The framework was launched by NIST in 2014. It was intended for critical infrastructure sectors, of which there are 16 as identified by the Department of Homeland Security. The framework has become so popular, though, that it’s not just critical infrastructure sectors that are adopting it. More than 20 countries—as I understand it—around the world have embraced the cybersecurity framework. Much like TurboTax helps someone step through the process of creating their tax reporting, the idea behind our products is to create a purpose-built workflow for RMF, something that’s slightly different for FedRAMP, something that’s different again for CSF, the cybersecurity framework. And it’s a wizard that helps people gather, organize, collect, and document the data that’s needed to come to some conclusion. You have to manage it over time using automated continuous monitoring.
My first question is about zero trust. I’ve been struggling with the notion of what it really means in practice right now. The target for zero trust is a world in which you don’t have a perimeter, in which everybody, every asset is protected by the system understanding what it is, what it wants to get access to, and then creating a custom micro segment around that asset or that person so that it can do the work it needs to do. Now most people don’t have a perimeter-less world and they’re going to have a perimeter for the foreseeable future. But people are going to be moving in and out of that perimeter. So what does zero trust mean as a practical matter?
That’s a really good question. A way to think about the perimeter is that it’s not a static boundary anymore. It’s constantly moving based on where your employees are and the assets that they have with them. So the discussion about does a perimeter exist or not is an interesting one. But I have a tendency to lean towards perimeter-less or dynamic perimeter. As it relates to zero trust, as with all things in this industry, I have become a bit jaded because the industry is heavily marketing driven. This notion of zero trust is a concept that begs for more definition. Zero trust is absolutely sure that the right people only have access to certain resources. And perhaps that means putting a boundary around those resources that require zero trust. I don’t actually know. The definition for zero trust is evolving. I also will say that it doesn’t help organizations who don’t have a lot of skills and resources. What does a smaller company that doesn’t have the ability to implement something do?
And if you think of the progenitors of this, we had Google with their BeyondCore structure, which they implemented with a very rich stack of custom-built components. Their idea of zero trust is a very full, deep, wide implementation that has considered so many different things and has a rich implementation. No vendor has all of that. You cannot buy that from anybody.
So the question is, what do you do about that observation? How many of these capabilities would a CISO need to put together before they could say, “You know what? I think I’m doing a pretty good job with zero trust.”
There’s been all this talk for years about defense in depth and all the layers of security that need to work in harmony with each other. And every year you come to shows like this and it seems like there’s another layer for which there’s another set of technologies that have to be integrated with what you already have. So the problem just becomes increasingly difficult. I have a friend who has an idea about zero trust where basically he assumes there are two types of companies: those that have been hacked and those that don’t know they’ve been hacked. I don’t necessarily subscribe to that thinking, but if you do, his philosophy is, “That critical server has been compromised within the past hour.” He doesn’t know that. He assumes that. So what he does is he assumes zero trust as it relates to critical servers, he takes them down, and replaces them with pristine images. So if someone is in that server, they’re no longer in the server because it’s being replaced at some frequency that the customer or the user identifies—15 minutes, an hour, 90 minutes, every day.
What you said about the vast sea of vendors goes to my next question, which is about portfolio pruning. Every generation of cybersecurity, you have a new set of vendors, a new set of capabilities coming out to deal with a new set of threats. Now that’s natural because the attack surface has grown. But it seems like it’s always additive. When are we ever going to get to the point where we can prune the portfolio? And what would it mean to prune the portfolio?
A lot of things that you see at shows like this, in my opinion, aren’t products; they’re features. A feature is a very important capability that probably should reside on a larger platform as opposed to being a standalone thing that the user now has to figure out how to integrate and get the most benefit from by integrating it with IDS, IPS encryption and firewalls, and the sea of security solutions that are within an organization now. Over time, what I would hope to see is market consolidation, that some of these smaller companies get bought by the larger companies, they’re embedded and integrated so that you or I don’t have to figure out how to do that.
That’s pruning at the vendor level. It’s not pruning at the capability level. Is there any other meaningful way we can prune?
I can only tell you what I do. When I talk to a vendor about their solution and what they feel they can do for Telos, the first thing I ask is what can I get rid of? What technology or technologies can you replace?
But is the answer ever, “Yes, you can replace this or that.”
Yes. We were talking to a company called Darktrace. And they identified a number of things in our security portfolio that they felt we could live without. And generally speaking, we agreed with them.
Most of the time, I see replacement happening within a capability level. But there, we haven’t pruned the capability, but we’ve pruned the number of vendors.
That’s the goal, right? To reduce the cost and the complexity of managing.
The next question I have is about cloud migration of cybersecurity. As we think about people migrating applications to SaaS and other cloud-based forms, migrating infrastructure to cloud, what are the cybersecurity implications of that?
As it relates to the cloud and security implications around the cloud, the shot heard around the world in 2014 was the CIA saying, “We’re going to the cloud.” That caused many organizations to say, “If it’s good enough for the CIA, it’s got to be good enough for us. Let’s figure it out.” The adoption has been slower than expected, but it’s accelerated, largely based on the CIA’s decision to adopt the cloud in this region called C2S, Commercial Cloud Services. An executive from the agency, at a public sector conference said, “The cloud on its worst day is better than client server technology,” and it was directly related to security. I happen to agree with that because many organizations can’t afford to invest in the infrastructure and the physical security characteristics that you get just by virtue of you putting your workloads into the cloud. Gates, guards, guns, separation of duties, access to systems and data, all of that stuff is managed by AWS physical security control management procedures and such.
At the layer of the network, the layer of the machine, a lot of those things are underneath the kind of cloud API boundary. It’s not that the issues don’t have to be taken care of; it’s just that somebody else is doing it.
Yes, from the managed service standpoint. These cloud platforms continue to innovate with security tooling. If your stuff is in the cloud, you don’t have a hodgepodge of technologies that are difficult to integrate and require a lot of resources to understand and manage. The consistency of the cloud tooling, security tooling, in particular, makes the job easier. So how much security belongs in the cloud? I think that’s for everyone to ask themselves. But I think we’re getting to the point where people are becoming increasingly comfortable.
I have three bonus questions. First is about ops discipline. Isn’t it true that most companies would be better off if their CISOs didn’t invest in another cybersecurity capability but invested in improving their operational discipline with respect to configuration management, patch management, asset inventory, automation levels, and an abstraction of all this so it can be managed at a higher level?
Yes. It’s the cart before the horse. If you’re talking about AI and ML before you have an inventory of what it is you need to protect within your organization and some vulnerability management capability that drives patch management, that’s basic blocking and tackling. Why would you be talking about advanced cybersecurity management capabilities if you don’t have the fundamentals nailed down? Why is it not addressed when everyone recognizes that it’s important? It’s more difficult. It seems pedestrian, but these things are more difficult than you might think they are.
My next question is about cybersecurity culture and training. This is another thing that is really important, but people often don’t do as well as they should. What is the secret to getting that culture in place and having it sustained?
With government agencies, they have a very important mission, but they’re not for profit. Organizations that are trying to maximize profitability are concerned about things like consultants being engaged on billable assignments. The conventional thinking around cybersecurity awareness and training is that it all takes time. It’s CBTs, auditorium presentations — all of this takes people out of the line and out of the work that they’re supposed to be doing for a customer. There’s always this tug of war between the security people in the company and the operations people who are trying to deliver on a number. How do we minimize the amount of time that we have to send people to security training? From an industry standpoint, cybersecurity training and awareness is a segment of the industry that is ripe for disruption and innovation. I don’t know the answer. It seems to me that it shouldn’t be heavy duty awareness security training for three hours on this week and then you get it in six months or a year. There needs to be some way of slow and steady, trickle charge to reinforce concepts in ways that are less disruptive.
The last question is on cyber insurance. A lot of people are being forced to buy cyber insurance and they don’t like it because they feel that it’s bad insurance. It doesn’t cover enough. But very few CISOs, CTOs, or CIOs win the argument. So how can they turn cyber insurance to their advantage and actually have it make a positive impact?
Cyber insurance has a place. Low frequency, very high impact events; that’s what we should be focused on as it relates to insurance. If you’re referring to the Zurich Insurance claim that was rejected for the parent of Oreo Cookie, where Zurich denied the claim, which was hundreds of millions of dollars because they determined that the attack mechanism was an act of terrorism or war, that stands out. If that continues, it’s going to destroy the cyber insurance industry because people just aren’t going to pay for something if they think that they’re not going to have the coverage. My advice is to work with your broker and have your broker ask those tough questions. Make sure that the exclusions and the caveats and the footnotes are all understood so that when you buy cyber insurance, you have a high degree of confidence that you’re going to get what you need when you need that coverage.
cyber insurance rsa 2019 zero trust
Author: Jennifer Walker
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