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Revell 1/96 Saturn V: S-IVB Aft Interstage
18th April 2018 Oikofuge Leave a comment
Having finished building the S-IVB third stage of my Saturn V, I moved on to the S-IVB Aft Interstage—a conical support structure that separated the 6.6m-diameter S-IVB above from the 10-m diameter S-II second stage below. The real thing was assembled into the Saturn V stack as part of the S-IVB, but after launch it remained attached to the spent S-II stage when the S-IVB engine fired. (At the moment of separation of the two stages, the interstage fired four solid fuel retro-rockets that nudged the S-II backwards away from the S-IVB.)
The S-IVB and its aft interstage (from the Saturn V Flight Manual: AS 503 (19MB pdf)
So you’d think a “building” instalment that involves finishing a single kit part wouldn’t be a problem. But you’d be wrong. The S-IVB Aft Interstage strikes fear into the heart of anyone who has ever painted a Saturn V model kit, because it involves painting horizontal black/white separations around the curve of a ribbed cone. The potential for paint masking to go horribly wrong is high.
There are other, Revell-specific problems. The first is (as with every stage of this model) just getting the orientation of the interstage right. The basic part is symmetrical—a simple conic frustum with four retro-rocket fairings evenly placed around it. But it needs to be painted with a pattern that is strongly asymmetrical—four quadrants each with their own black/white scheme. So its orientation needs to be judged from how it fits to the parts above and below.
The upper end of the interstage contains two locating studs intended to fit between flanges at the base of the S-IVB stage.
But there are a lot of flanges, the kit instruction booklet contains no diagram of the intended fit, and none of the possible orientations make any sense when compared to photographs of the real launch vehicle.
All but one of the slots between flanges are associated with locating points for kit parts to be applied to the S-IVB itself. The remaining slot is a little wider than the others, so it seems likely that it was intended to engage with the wider stud on the aft interstage.
After a little deliberation, I sanded off both studs, with the intention of placing one of my own later, to engage with this slot on the S-IVB.
The base of the kit interstage has flanges of its own, with a broad locating gap intended to engage with a pair of locating strips moulded into the forward skirt of the S-II kit part. So that looks promising. There are two visible landmarks on the kit’s S-II forward skirt—a notch that marks the location of the service tunnel, and a circular depression that marks the location of the liquid hydrogen vent pipes. Unfortunately, these two landmarks aren’t even properly aligned with each other, and neither of them is in a correct relationship with the axes of the interstage as defined by its retro-rocket fairings.
S-II forward skirt
After checking with David Weeks’s jawdroppingly lovely Saturn V technical drawings, I sanded off the locating strips of my S-II forward skirt, and added styrene replacements 11/16″ (17 mm) to the right (as viewed from inside the skirt). This brings the S-II service tunnel into an appropriate orientation with the retro-rockets of the interstage, and I can deal with the LH2 vents as a separate issue when I get to that stage.
OK. With the relative orientation of the interstage and S-II nailed down, I now knew which quadrant of the interstage was which. Before I lost track of this, I scribed in a surface detail missing from the kit—a personnel access hatch that allowed workers to enter the interstage space. After measuring from Weeks’s drawings, I stuck Dymo Tape in place to act as a guide for my scribing tool. (Does anyone use Dymo Tape for its original purpose any more?)
Next I needed to think about the kit’s depiction of the retro-rocket fairings, which isn’t great. New Ware’s detailing set provides a set of resin replacement parts, which are slimmer than the kit detail, and include a moulded depiction of the detachable front covers of the fairings.
However, I would need to chisel out the moulded kit detail and refill smoothly around the resin replacements. After a bit of consideration, I decided not to risk the potential carnage I could wreak during such a replacement. Instead, I compromised by adding the front covers to the existing kit moulding, using epoxy resin and a little bit of masking tape.
Adding the resin to the kit fairing
On, then, to the paint masking. Having sworn off using Bare-Metal Foil after my struggle with it while building the Instrument Unit, I suddenly became enamoured of it again. I couldn’t think of any better way to mask the corrugated surface created by the interstage stringers. So for the arc of the model that requires a black/white horizontal demarcation, I measured along the length of each stringer with a precut length of styrene strip, marked with a pencil, and then masked with an individually patch of Bare-Metal Foil, carefully bedded into the space on either side of the stringer using a tooth-pick and a cotton bud.
The interstage was also marked with contrasting sway targets—little 2×2 checkerboards that allowed launchpad cameras to track any swaying of the launch vehicle. I masked these off, too, but ran into a couple of problems. The first is that the Revell kit’s stringers are notoriously overscale, and if I tried to stick to the correct size for the sway targets, they were just too distorted by the relatively large stringers and didn’t look square. So I ended up making them a little oversize, copying the dimensions of the sway target decals provided with the kit. The other problem is that David Weeks’s otherwise excellent technical drawings show two very slightly different positions for the sway target in quadrant B of the interstage—I didn’t notice this until after I’d masked and painted, and it looks like I chose the wrong diagram to follow.
The Bare-Metal Foil was as hard as ever to remove, and again needed a little white spirit to remove a dark residue from the white paintwork it had masked—but I got away without significant leaks, which was a major triumph.
With the interstage properly coloured, I put the S-IVB in place, correctly aligned, and made a light pencil mark where I needed to add a new locating stud to the interstage to register the flanges of the S-IVB stage correctly.
Tracing backwards through all the fiddling around to get things lined up, it turns out that the correct location is 1/8″ (3 mm) to the left of the slimmer original stud. So I needed to do this:
to produce this:
And that was that. The Saturn V stack grows ever higher, but I’m going to take a break and do something else before I tackle the travesty that is Revell’s S-II stage.
Go to S-II stage build log
Note added retrospectively: After taking a look at a photograph of the Apollo 11 S-IVB being stacked, I revised the internal colour of this interstage to zinc chromate yellow.
Saturn VSpaceflight
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Benjamin Franklin's Phonetic Alphabet
Benjamin Franklin took great interest in the promotion of spelling reform. While living in London in 1768 he wrote A Scheme for a new Alphabet and a Reformed Mode of Spelling in which he proposed a fairly accurate phonetic system for spelling English. The alphabet was published in 1779 in Franklin's Political, Miscellaneous, and Philosophical Pieces.
His new phonetic alphabet consisted all the lowercase letters of the Latin alphabet, minus c, j, q, w, x, and y, which he thought redundant, plus six new letters for sounds which he thought lacked unambiguous orthographic representation. The other letters all adhered to the principle of one symbol (or unique digraph) per sound.
Franklin commissioned a type foundry to prepare a suitable type including for the 6 new letters, but soon lost interest in his alphabet.
Double vowels represent long vowel sounds, e.g. aa = [a:] and ii = [i:].
Only one accented letter appears in the alphabet: ê, which represents the a in mane and lane.
Consonant combinations are used to represent such sounds as the ch in chew and the j in jaw.
Franklin's Phonetic Alphabet
Download an alphabet chart for Franklin's Phonetic Alphabet (Excel)
Much as the imperfections of the alphabet will admit of; the present bad spelling is only bad because contrary to the present bad rules: under the new rules it would be good -- the difficulty of learning to spell well in the old way is so great, that few attain it; thousands and thousands writing on to old age, without ever being able to acquire it. 'Tis, besides a difficulty continually increasing; as the sound gradually varies more and more from the spelling: and to foreigners.
Information about Benjamin Franklin's alphabet
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin%27s_phonetic_alphabett
http://www.historycarper.com/resources/twobf3/phonetic.htm
http://www.childrenofthecode.org/code-history/franklin.htm
http://www.foolswisdom.com/~sbett/franklin-webster.htm
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/benjamin-franklins-phonetic-alphabet-58078802/
Alternative spelling/writing systems
Benjamin Franklin's Phonetic Alphabet,
Dialectal Paleotype,
Interbet,
Pitman Initial Teaching Alphabet,
Quikscript/Read Alphabet,
Shavian,
Simpel-Fonetik,
Unifon
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Ninni Holmqvist
A chilling and gripping dystopian novel set in near-future Sweden
‘I liked The Unit very much... I know you will be riveted, as I was.' Margaret Atwood
‘Echoing work by Marge Piercy and Margaret Atwood, The Unit is as thought-provoking as it is compulsively readable.' Jessica Crispin, NPR.org
Ninni Holmqvist's eerie dystopian novel envisions a society in the not-so-distant future where men and women deemed economically worthless are sent to a retirement community called the Unit. With lavish apartments set amongst beautiful gardens and state-of-the-art facilities, elaborate gourmet meals, and wonderful music and art, they are free of financial worries and want for nothing. It's an idyllic place, but there's a catch: the residents - known as dispensables - must donate their organs, one by one, until the final donation. When Dorrit Weger arrives at the Unit, she resigns herself to this fate, seeking only peace in her final days. But she soon falls in love, and this unexpected, improbable happiness throws the future into doubt.
Clinical and haunting, The Unit is a modern-day classic and a spine-chilling cautionary tale about the value of human life.
Ninni Holmqvist lives in Skåne, Sweden. She is the author of three short-story collections, including Kostym (Suit), and two novels. She also works as a translator.
‘A haunting, deadpan tale set vaguely in the Scandinavian future… Holmqvist's spare prose interweaves the Unit's pleasures and cruelties with exquisite matter-of-factness... Readers actually begin to wonder…is life better as a pampered lab bunny or as a lonely indigent? But then [Holmqvist] turns the screw, presenting a set of events so miraculous and abominable that they literally made me gasp.'
- Washington Post
‘I liked The Unit very much... I know you will be riveted, as I was.'
- Margaret Atwood
‘The message is bold if not on the nose: If you don't fall into a classic nuclear family, then your value as a human are the spare parts you can give those who do contribute to traditional family structures. The book's main character, a writer named Dorrit, is forced to think about the meaning of her life. She'd had a lover, but he wouldn't leave his wife; she'd birthed art, but never a child. Holmqvist's writing is clear and precise…the clinical tone contributes to the The Unit's eeriness. The Unit itself is a place of luxury - amenities include a library, a cafe, immaculately manicured gardens - but it feels as much like home to Dorrit as the promotional photos of an upscale condo. Holmqvist's is a book of quiet cruelty, and perhaps the most harrowing twist of all is that the world outside the walls of the Unit - one with married couples, one with children - seems even worse. In that way, The Unit's strength is uncovering beauty in bleakness.'
- GQ
‘This haunting first novel imagines a nation in which men and women who haven't had children by a certain age are taken to a "reserve bank unit for biological material” and subjected to various physical and psychological experiments, while waiting to have their organs harvested for "needed” citizens in the outside world... Holmqvist evocatively details the experiences of a woman who falls in love with another resident, and at least momentarily attempts to escape her fate.'
- The New Yorker
‘Clinical and haunting, The Unit is a modern-day classic and a spine-chilling cautionary tale about the value of human life.'
- Waterstones
‘Holmqvist paces her revelations superbly and the reader is gripped by the atmosphere of slowly mounting claustrophobia.'
- New Internationalist
‘Holmqvist handles her dystopia with muted, subtle care… Neither satirical nor polemical, The Unit manages to express a fair degree of moral outrage without ever moralizing…it has enough spooks to make it a feminist, philosophical page-turner.'
- Time Out Chicago
‘This dystopian world is described with such exquisite balance between its luxuries and cruelties that the reader is emotionally drawn in and made to face up to often uncomfortable and challenging ethical dilemmas. I cannot recommend this novel, nor signal Holmqvist's evident talent as an author strongly enough; it is an excellent book.'
- What's On UK?
‘Ninni Holmqvist's The Unit offers a shrewd, timely exploration of gender… The novel has been compared to The Handmaid's Tale, but where Margaret Atwood's classic focuses on procreation, Holmqvist's novel feels broader, holding both capitalism and traditional gender roles under a harsh light. Dorrit is honest about her life, and she wonders whether the freedom she had in her youth was worth the price she pays now. Any woman - young or old - will relate to her plight.'
‘[A] chilling, stunning debut novel… Holmqvist's fluid, mesmerizing novel offers unnerving commentary on the way society devalues artistic creation while elevating procreation, and speculation on what it would be like if that was taken to an extreme. For Orwell and Huxley fans.'
- Booklist
‘Orwellian horrors in a Xanadu on Xanax - creepily profound and most provocative.'
‘An exploration of female desire, human need, and the purpose of life.'
‘I found this one riveting from start to finish. It could happily find a place on school reading lists alongside Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. Chilling, humorous, poignant, thought-provoking, and immensely readable, this is perfect reading-group material which cannot fail to provoke discussion.'
- New Books
‘Beautifully haunting… This is one of the best books I've read over the past two years… Thought-provoking and emotionally-moving, The Unit is a book you'll be discussing with others long after you're done reading it.'
- Orlando Sentinel
‘Savagely dystopian…remarkably deft.'
- Barnes and Noble Review
‘Ninni Holmqvist's book The Unit, newly reissued, imagines a world in which people who haven't procreated are forced to make a different - ultimate - contribution to society... The Unit feels like an inversion of Margaret Atwood's Gilead, where fertile women are forcibly impregnated under biblical sanction. Here, the justification for horror - the extraction of human tissue from the childfree - is secular, a capitalist democracy demanding its toll... The Unit contains elements that echo a number of different speculative and dystopian works. The domed environment and omnipresent cameras seem to predict Suzanne Collins's Hunger Games trilogy; the prospect of forcible organ donation brings to mind Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go... Holmqvist's intention isn't realism - it's to unravel and critique assumptions about the meaning of life. Is it criminal, she wonders, to live a quiet life dedicated only to self-actualization? Do artists who never achieve greatness have value? Does every citizen have a responsibility to contribute to their society? In exploring such questions, Holmqvist takes liberal assumptions about Scandinavian paternalism versus American individualism and flips them upside down... Holmqvist's writing is spare in style, elegantly succinct, but the layers of the world she's created are manifold. Other dystopian stories like The Handmaid's Tale might seem particularly chilling in a moment when democracy feels like it's under threat, but The Unit is haunting in its assertion that democracy itself isn't enough. The tyranny of popular sentiment can be just as dangerous, Holmqvist argues, presenting scene after scene of intelligent, compassionate citizens indoctrinated into doubting their own worth.'
- TheAtlantic.com
‘Echoing work by Marge Piercy and Margaret Atwood, The Unit is as thought-provoking as it is compulsively readable.'
- NPR
‘A remarkably thought-provoking novel.'
- Reading Matters
‘This Swedish novel imagines a dystopian future for the childless in which literally offering pieces of yourself is a legitimate contribution to society… Not only is it an intimate portrait of creative, single individuals coming to terms with a graphic and imminent death, but their apparent willingness to accept it for the good of others... This begs the question: what does it mean to be a good citizen? To whom are we ultimately responsible? How do we, as well as our society, measure worth? What is the value of one life or the cost of another?'
- Buzz Magazines
‘The Unit raises issues of love, gender, freedom, and social mores through the perspective of how we assess an individual's contribution to society… Holmqvist's ability to invest the reader in both the story and the characters is exceptional. It is a book you hesitate to put down… The Unit deserves a wide readership.'
- Blogcritics.org
‘For a debut novel I thought it was stunning.'
- Bookbag
Margaret Atwood has a line on the cover, and no surprise - this dystopian tale of childless men and women relocated in middle age to "a reserve bank unit for biological material” rivals The Handmaid's Tale for a weirdly believable future in which the childless support families with children giving up parts of their bodies until, at last, they make their "final donation” and disappear altogether. The reasonableness of this system feels very Scandinavian, certainly very Canadian... Holmqvist has written the sci-fi novel of our narcissistic era, when many people choose to focus on themselves and their art (Dorrit, the heroine of this novel, is a literary fiction writer) or their career over marriage and family. Not being needed by others is a boon when one is young but a death sentence for the middle aged.'
- Hudson Review
‘Like Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, this novel imagines a chilling dystopia: single, childless, midlife women are considered dispensable. At 50 the narrator, Dorrit, is taken to a facility where non-vital organs will be harvested one by one for people more valued by society; she knows that eventually she'll have to sacrifice something essential like her heart. Dorrit accepts her fate - until she falls in love and finds herself breaking the rules.'
- More Magazine
‘The Unit rattled me in a way few dystopian novels have… It's a story that will stick with me.'
- shelflove.wordpress.com
‘Holmqvist gives us a lesson in human nature and social engineering through a story that is spare, compelling, and all too human.'
- Psychiatric Services
‘The power of The Unit is its subtlety. Highly recommended.'
- Readmorebooks.wordpress.com
‘Compelling, chilling in spots, and at times heartbreaking.'
- Flashlight Worthy
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Browsing Faculty Research and Publications by Title
Coupling of CpCr(CO)3 and heterocyclic dithiadiazolyl radicals: synthetic, X-ray diffraction, dynamic NMR, EPR, CV and DFT studies
Lau, Hiu F.; Ang, Chwee Y.; Ng, Victor W. L.; Kuan, Seah L.; Goh, Lai Y.; Borisov, Alexey S.; Hazendonk, Paul; Roemmele, Tracey L.; Boeré, René T.; Webster, Richard D. (ACS PublicationsArts and ScienceDepartment of Chemistry and BiochemistryNational University of SingaporeUniversity of LethbridgeNanyang Technological Universityhttps://doi.org/10.1021/ic702128f, 2008)
The reaction of 1,2,3,5-dithiadiazolyls, (4-R-C6H4CN2S2)2 (R = Me, 2a; Cl, 2b; OMe, 2c; and CF3, 2d) and (3-NC-5-tBu-C6H3CN2S2)2 (2e) with (CpCr(CO)3]2 (Cp = η5-C5H5) (1) at ambient temperature, yielded respectively the ...
Crystal structure of a dimeric ß-diketiminate magnesium complex
MacNeil, Connor S.; Johnson, Kevin R. D.; Hayes, Paul G.; Boeré, René T. (International Union of CrystallographyArts and ScienceUniversity of Lethbridge, 2016)
The solid-state structure of a dimeric ß-diketiminate magnesium(II) complex is discussed. The compound, di- -iodido-bis[({4-amino-1,5-bis[2,6-bis(propan-2- yl)phenyl]pent-3-en-2-ylidene}azanido- 2N,N0)magnesium(II)] ...
Crystal structure of bis(triphenylphosphonium) hexabromadigallate(II) in the correct space group: conformational complexity in a heteroethan
Marasco, Olivia N. J. M.; Wolny, Sydney K.; Knott, Jackson P.; Stuart, Daniel; Roemmele, Tracey L.; Boeré, René T. (Cogent OAArts and ScienceDepartment of Chemistry and BiochemistryUniversity of Lethbridge, 2016)
The crystal structure of [Ph3PH]2[Ga2Br6], previously described as having a disordered anion in the space group R̄ 3, has been re-determined in the correct space group P̄ 3, where it is fully ordered. Interestingly, ...
Current and future experimental strategies for structural analysis of trichothecene mycotoxins-a prospectus
Shank, Roxanne A.; Foroud, Nora A.; Hazendonk, Paul; Eudes, François; Blackwell, Barbara A. (M D P I A GArts and ScienceDepartment of Chemistry & BiochemistryAgriculture and Agri-Food CanadaUniversity of Lethbridge, 2011)
Fungal toxins, such as those produced by members of the order Hypocreales, have widespread effects on cereal crops, resulting in yield losses and the potential for severe disease and mortality in humans and livestock. ...
A delayed mass-action model for the transcriptional control of Hmp, an NO detoxifying enzyme, by the iron-sulfur protein FNR
Roussel, Marc R. (SpringerArts and ScienceDepartment of Chemistry and BiochemistryUniversity of Lethbridge, 2019)
Diethylmethyleniminium chloride
Boeré, René T. (International Union of CrystallographyArts and ScienceDepartment of Chemistry and BiochemistryUniversity of Lethbridge, 2007)
A dimer of 4-(4-methoxyphenyl)-1,2,3,5-diselenadiazole
Parvez, Masood; Boeré, René T.; Moock, Klaus H. (International Union of CrystallographyDepartment of ChemistryUniversity of CalgaryUniversity of Lethbridge, 1995)
The analysis of the title compound, C8H7N2OSe2, shows that its crystals are composed of weakly linked dimers, with intramolecular Se--Se distances of 2.343(3) and 2.345 (2)A,, intermolecular Se-.-Se distances of 3.193(3) ...
Dimethyl 7-methoxytetracyclo[6.4.0.0(2,4).0(3,7)]dodeca-1(12),5,8,10-tetraene-3,4-dicarboxylate
Moazeni, Amin; Bender, Christopher O.; Boeré, René T. (International Union of CrystallographyArts and ScienceDepartment of Chemistry and BiochemistryUniversity of Lethbridge, 2012)
The diversity of the stable and persistent phosphorus-containing radicals
Armstrong, A.; Chivers, T.; Boeré, René T. (American Chemical SocietyArts and ScienceDepartment of Chemistry and BiochemistryUniversity of CalgaryUniversity of Lethbridge, 2005)
Stable and persistent phosphorus-containing radicals can be divided into five general categories: phosphinyl, diphosphanyl, 1,3-diphosphaallyl, lithiated tetrakisimidophosphates, and phosphaverdazyl systems. The syntheses, ...
DNA-protein pi-interactions in nature: abundance, structure, composition and strength of contacts between aromatic amino acids and DNA neucleobases or deoxyribose sugar
Wilson, Katie A.; Kellie, Jennifer L.; Wetmore, Stacey D. (Oxford University PressArts and ScienceDepartment of Chemistry and BiochemistryUniversity of Lethbridge, 2014)
Four hundred twenty-eight high-resolution DNA– protein complexes were chosen for a bioinformatics study. Although 164 crystal structures (38% of those searched) contained no interactions, 574 discrete pi- contacts ...
(E)-1,2-Bis(3-bromo-4-methylphenyl)-ethene
Boeré, René T.; Robbins, Steven J. (International Union of CrystallographyArts and ScienceDepartment of Chemistry and BiochemistryUniversity of Lethbridge, 2008)
Electrochemical and chemical reduction of disulfur dinitride: formation of [S4N4], EPR spectroscopic characterization of the [S2N2H]• radical and X-ray structure of [Na(15 crown-5)][S3N3]
Roemmele, Tracey L.; Konu, Jari; Boeré, René T.; Chivers, Tristram (ACS PublicationsArts and ScienceDepartment of Chemistry and BiochemistryUniversity of LethbridgeUniversity of Calgaryhttps://doi.org/10.1021/ic9014114, 2009)
Voltammetric studies of S2N2 employing both cyclic voltammetry (CV) and rotating disc electrode (RDE) methods on GC electrodes at RT revealed two irreversible reduction processes at ca. −1.4 V and −2.2 V in CH3CN, CH2Cl2 ...
Electrochemistry of redox-active Group 15/16 heterocycles
Boeré, René T.; Roemmele, Tracey L. (ElsevierArts and ScienceDepartment of Chemistry and BiochemistryUniversity of Lethbridgehttps://doi.org/10.1016/S0010-8545(00)00349-0, 2000)
This review is a critical overview of the literature on electrochemistry of unsaturated ring compounds containing bonds between Group 15 and Group 16 elements (principally S and N), including metallacycles. It contains ...
Equilibrium configuration of systems of trapped ions
Beekman, Richard A.; Roussel, Marc R.; Wilson, P. J. (American Physical SocietyArts and ScienceDepartment of Chemistry and BiochemistryDepartment of PhysicsUniversity of Lethbridgehttps://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.59.503, 1999)
We have computed the equilibrium conformations of clusters of up to 100 ions in a spherically symmetric harmonic trap by a simple optimization strategy called seeding in which ions are added or removed from ...
Exchange holes in inhomogeneous systems: a coordinate-space model
Becke, A. D.; Roussel, Marc R. (American Physical SocietyArts and ScienceDepartment of Chemistry and BiochemistryQueen's UniversityUniversity of Lethbridgehttps://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.39.3761, 1989)
We present a new coordinate-space model of spherically averaged exchange-hole functions in inhomogeneous systems that depends on local values of the density and its gradient and Laplacian, and also the kinetic energy ...
exo-10,11-Dibromotricyclo[6.3.1.02,7]-dodeca-2,4,6,9-tetraene
Johnson, Kevin R. D.; Bender, Christopher O.; Boeré, René T. (International Union of CrystallographyArts and ScienceDepartment of Chemistry and BiochemistryUniversity of Lethbridge, 2011)
Expanding the chemistry of 1,4diphosphinines by stable mono anion formation
Begum, Imtiaz; Schnakenburg, Gregor; Kelemen, Zsolt; Nyulászi, Laszlo; Boeré, René T.; Streubel, Rainer (Royal Society of ChemistryArts and ScienceDepartment of Chemistry and BiochemistryInstitut für Anorganische Chemie der Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität BonnBudapest University of Technology and EconomicsMTA-BME Computation Driven Chemistry ResearchUniversity of Lethbridge, 2018)
A new sulfur-enriched tricyclic 1,4-diphosphinine (2) was synthesized and novel reactivity studies on the phosphorus heterocycle was performed: A weak anionic nucleophile (KHMDS) adds selectively thus forming a stable ...
Experimental and computational evidence for "double pancake bonds": the role of dispersion-corrected DFT methods in strongly dimerized 5-arl-1λ2, 3λ2-dithia-2,4,6-triazines.a λ
Boeré, René T. (ACS PublicationsArts and ScienceDepartment of Chemistry and BiochemistryUniversity of Lethbridge, 2018)
Crystal structures are reported for bicyclic 3CF3C6H4CN5S3 and monocyclic 3-CF3C6H4CN3S2, the latter of which is strongly dimerized in a cis-cofacial geometry [3-CF3C6H4CN3S2]2. The title compounds have previously been ...
Five related N'-(2,2,2-trichloroethanimidoyl)benzene-1-carboximidamides
Boeré, René T.; Roemmele, Tracey L.; Suduweli Kondage, Savini; Zhou, Jiamin; Parvez, Masood (International Union of CrystallographyUniversity of LethbridgeUniversity of Calgary, 2011)
Heineken, Tsuchiya and Aris on the mathematical status of the pseudo-steady state hypothesis: a classic from volume 1 of Mathematical Biosciences
Roussel, Marc R. (ElsevierArts and ScienceDepartment of Chemistry and BiochemistryUniversity of Lethbridgehttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.mbs.2019.108274, 2019)
Volume 1, Issue 1 of Mathematical Biosciences was the venue for a now-classic paper on the application of singular perturbation theory in enzyme kinetics, “On the mathematical status of the pseudo-steady state hypothesis ...
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Author: DFNS
by DFNS · Published November 5, 2014
GD starts construction on US Navy’s new Arleigh Burke-class destroyer
General Dynamics (GD) Bath Iron Works (BIW) has started construction on the US Navy’s new Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, USS Daniel Inouye (DDG 118), at the BIW shipyard. …read more Source:: Naval Technology (Naval)
CPI Aero to develop wing kits for Northrop’s E-2D Hawkeye aircraft
CPI Aerostructures has been awarded a contract by Northrop Grumman for the delivery of outer wing panel (OWP) kits, used in the production of entire wings, for the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye and the C-2A...
Spain approves funding to cover extra costs in S 80 submarine programme
Key Points EUR759 million in extra funding added to budget for the long-delayed S 80 submarine programme Funding to begin in 2014 with a EUR192.8 million payment from the Ministry of Industry The Spanish...
Navy Expects LCS Mine Killing Drone Prototype by 2016
The Navy is building a 40-foot-long unmanned surface vehicle designed to launch from a Littoral Combat Ship and detonate and destroy underwater mines while keeping ships and sailors at a safe distance, service officials...
Sequester Could Kill Shipyards, Says Greenert. Really?
WASHINGTON: Navy readiness won’t fully recover from the second-order effects of the 2013 sequester for another year, the Chief of Naval Operations said this morning — and if the Budget Control Act cuts return...
Battle Rages For San Diego (Navy) House Seat
SAN DIEGO: There’s a hot race on here to represent much of the home of naval aviation. Scott Peters, the incumbent Democrat from the 52nd district, faces a rare bird, an openly gay Republican...
NATO Warns France of Warship Sale to Russia
Gen. Breedlove said he had renewed NATO warnings to France against selling two Mistral-class helicopter assault ships to Russia. …read more Source:: DoD Buzz (Naval)
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National Democratic Front of the Philippines
Why the Duterte regime cannot wipe out the armed revolution of the Filipino people
1 September 2019 1 September 2019
Photo NDFP Archive
By Jose Maria Sison, NDFP Chief Political Consultant
From the revolutionary publications of the Communist Party of the Philippines, the New People’s Army and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, I have been able to gather the ten points enumerated below to demonstrate why the Duterte regime cannot wipe out the armed revolution of the Filipino people.
1. The crisis of the world capitalist system is at its sharpest in countries like the Philippines which are semicolonial and semifeudal. The evil forces of imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism exploit and oppress the Filipino people and incite them to wage the new democratic revolution through protracted people’s war.
2. In committing mass murder and other gross crimes with impunity, the Duterte regime aggravates the chronic crisis of the domestic ruling system, which is dominated by imperialism and run by bureaucrat capitalists who represent the big comprador and landlord classes. The gross crimes that the regime commit characterize it as treasonous, tyrannical, murderous, and corrupt. They give no choice to the people but to engage in armed revolution.
3. The so-called whole nation approach, which is being carried out by the National Task Force to militarize and spread anti-communism in all branches and agencies of the government and all sectors of society involves huge wastage of public funds in an already bankrupt government and outrages the people who perceive it as a brazen scheme to impose fascist dictatorship through red-tagging, persecution, murders and widespread violation of democratic rights.
4. The Philippine economy is characterized by underdevelopment, misallocation of resources, mass unemployment and widespread poverty and the absence of any plan to industrialize and develop the economy, generate employment and improve the living conditions of the people. Public funds are being used to serve the interests of foreign corporations, the exploiting classes, the corrupt bureaucrats, the military and police.
5. The armed revolution is led by the Communist Party of the Philippines, which has a correct ideological, political and organizational line and which has the experience of overcoming the Marcos fascist dictatorship and the subsequent pseudo-democratic regimes. It always carries out theoretical and political education among the Party cadres and members, and political education on the Philippine society and the people’s democratic revolution among the masses of workers and peasants, the indigenous peoples, women and the youth who fight for national and social liberation.
NDFP archive
6. The CPP leads and provides the New People’s Army with the strategy and tactics of protracted people’s war for fighting the enemies of the people. The NPA now operates in more than 120 guerrilla fronts nationwide and can at will strike at the weakest points of the counterrevolutionary military and police in order to seize and increase its arms. It is carrying out land reform as the main content of the democratic revolution and is enabling the establishment of the democratic organs of political power which are growing in waves against the counterrevolutionary state.
7. The relatively stronger forces of the NPA have assisted the relatively weaker forces with the redeployment of cadres and arms. The problem of conservatism is now being solved. The overdispersal of NPA squads and small teams for mass work is now being corrected by the necessar balance of combat and mass work units in periodic rotation under the appropriate command. The “local guerrilla units” or people’s militia units are tasked to concentrate on internal security, instead of being expected to serve as combat units.
8. The NPA is determined to secure the people from the enemy military, police and paramilitary forces and from local tyrants and bad elements. Armed city partisans and rural-based commando teams are also being deployed to punish the big criminals in power and the criminal syndicates that are in urban areas and to disable or destroy the installations that allow the exploiters to control and exploit the people. Thus more and more armed forces of the enemy will be forced to do guard duty and become defensive.
9. The peasant masses in the countryside are being driven by the brutal enemy campaigns to support the revolutionary armed struggle, carry out land reform and other social reforms, strengthen their mass organizations and the organs of political power and to adopt necessary security measures. They are effectively applying the anti-feudal united front, neutralizing by persuasive means the unreliable sections of every locality and rallying to the democratic organs of political power.
10. The anti-communist witch hunts, the constant threats and violent attacks of the enemy against patriotic and progressive organizations in town centers and cities are generating widespread resistance, inducing said organizations and other democratic entities to fight back in defense of their democratic rights. Many social activists who are in danger of arrest or murder go underground and join the armed revolution. They are welcomed by the revolutionary forces and people in the countryside who need more personnel for military and civil tasks.
While the Duterte tyranny persists, the armed revolution will grow in strength and advance. The drive of the Duterte regime to impose fascist dictatorship on the Filipino people will be defeated, like the Marcos fascist dictatorship. The revolutionary forces and people will emerge ever larger and stronger as a result of the revolutionary struggle for national and social liberation.###
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The NDFP is the revolutionary united front organization of the Filipino people fighting for national freedom and for the democratic rights of the people. The NDFP seeks to develop and coordinate all progressive classes, sectors and forces in the Filipino people’s struggle to end the rule of US imperialism and its local allies of big landlords and compradors, and attain national and social liberation.
NDFP member organisations
Christians for National Liberation
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League of Scientists for the People
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Home Sports Mudassar not to seek extension as Director Academies NCA
Mudassar not to seek extension as Director Academies NCA
Dirtector Academies, National Cricket Academy, former Test cricketer Mudassar Nazar on Sunday confirmed he will not be seeking an extension to his contract when it expires on May 31, 2020.
Mudassar joined the PCB as Director – Academies on 1 June 2016 on a three-year contract, which was extended to another one year earlier this year.
Mudassar said here “It has been an exciting and satisfying time with the PCB as Director – Academies. When I had joined from the ICC Academy in Dubai in June 2016, I was clear in my mind that it will be a three-year period, but I extended to another year after being requested and convinced by my colleagues”.
“However, it is now time for me to return to the United Kingdom, spend time with my family and explore other opportunities”.
“I can reflect on my tenure at the National Cricket Academy with satisfaction as we have been able to identify and produce a number of quality cricketers, some of whom have already represented Pakistan while others are knocking on the doorsteps of international cricket”, he added.
Mudassar said, “We took the game to every nook and corner of the country through aggressive and proactive academy programmes and our U13, U16 and U19 talent hunt, coaching and event programmes provided opportunities to budding youngsters to express themselves”.
“I still have some time remaining in my contract, which I look forward to. This will also provide the PCB with a chance to find my replacement so that there is a smooth transition”, he said adding “I will like to thank all my colleagues, friends and peers for their support, backing and guidance. It has been a collective achievement and I am delighted I will leave the NCA with my head high”.
PCB Chief Executive Wasim Khan said: “We all respect Mudassar’s decision. “Mudassar has been an integral part of the PCB, looking after one of the most critical areas, which deals with players’ and coaches’ development. As Director – Academies, Mudassar’s contributions and efforts are acknowledged and we thank him for giving his very best”.
“Mudassar has always kept Pakistan cricket at the forefront of everything. The PCB has benefitted from Mudassar’s experience and knowledge in other areas. Change is inevitable and we will move forward in a different direction”. “On behalf of myself and everyone at PCB we thank him for his service and wish him well”. The PCB will start the process of finding Mudassar’s replacement in due course.—APP
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US9055149B2 - Managing, directing, and queuing communication events using image technology - Google Patents
Managing, directing, and queuing communication events using image technology Download PDF
US9055149B2 US13/479,870 US201213479870A US9055149B2 US 9055149 B2 US9055149 B2 US 9055149B2 US 201213479870 A US201213479870 A US 201213479870A US 9055149 B2 US9055149 B2 US 9055149B2
Eric I. Camulli
Mark J. Williams
Larry Miner
Virtual Hold Technology Solutions LLC
Virtual Hold Tech LLC
2012-05-24 Application filed by Virtual Hold Tech LLC filed Critical Virtual Hold Tech LLC
2012-08-06 Assigned to VIRTUAL HOLD TECHNOLOGY, LLC reassignment VIRTUAL HOLD TECHNOLOGY, LLC ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: CAMULLI, ERIC I., MINER, LARRY, WILLIAMS, MARK J.
2014-11-04 Priority claimed from US14/532,001 external-priority patent/US10375245B2/en
2016-03-22 Priority claimed from US15/076,658 external-priority patent/US20160205253A1/en
2018-07-18 Assigned to VIRTUAL HOLD TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, LLC reassignment VIRTUAL HOLD TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, LLC ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: VIRTUAL HOLD TECHNOLOGY, LLC
2018-07-30 Assigned to PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION reassignment PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION SECURITY INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: VIRTUAL HOLD TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, LLC
238000004891 communication Methods 0 abstract claims description title 244
238000005516 engineering processes Methods 0 abstract claims description title 17
230000000977 initiatory Effects 0 abstract claims description 15
230000000875 corresponding Effects 0 abstract claims description 10
239000004033 plastic Substances 0 claims description 3
229920003023 plastics Polymers 0 claims description 3
230000001815 facial Effects 0 claims description 2
239000003795 chemical substance by application Substances 0 description 48
238000010295 mobile communication Methods 0 description 6
230000003090 exacerbative Effects 0 description 3
239000000344 soaps Substances 0 description 3
230000001939 inductive effects Effects 0 description 2
230000003416 augmentation Effects 0 description 1
239000003999 initiator Substances 0 description 1
H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
H04M3/50—Centralised arrangements for answering calls; Centralised arrangements for recording messages for absent or busy subscribers ; Centralised arrangements for recording messages
H04M3/51—Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention, e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing
H04M3/523—Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention, e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing with call distribution or queueing
H04M3/5231—Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention, e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing with call distribution or queueing with call back arrangements
G06Q10/00—Administration; Management
G06Q10/02—Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
H04M3/5238—Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention, e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing with call distribution or queueing with waiting time or load prediction arrangements
H04M2207/00—Type of exchange or network, i.e. telephonic medium, in which the telephonic communication takes place
H04M2207/18—Type of exchange or network, i.e. telephonic medium, in which the telephonic communication takes place wireless networks
Embodiments of a system and method are disclosed for initiating a call-back sequence using image technology. Embodiments include capturing an image using an image sensor, sending the captured image to a communication system, searching a database of images for persons corresponding to the captured image, sending a request in a data format to the communication system for a connection with the persons, receiving an identification of active queues, displaying an indication of the active queues on a display screen using a session queuing component, obtaining a user selection of a queue as a selected queue using the session queuing component, sending a request to the communication system in a data format for expected wait time, receiving the expected wait time from the communication system, and sending a confirmation to the communication system in a data format for a call-back.
This application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/320,517, filed on Jan. 28, 2009, entitled “A MOBILE COMMUNICATION DEVICE FOR ESTABLISHING AUTOMATED CALL BACK,” which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
The systems and methods relate to managing the queuing of clients waiting to be connected by telephone to a service agent of a business communication center. More particularly, the systems and methods relate to enabling clients to be added to a queue utilizing web service messaging and relate to establishing a telephony connection between clients and service agents on an automated basis and in an order maintained by a queue.
Many businesses use groups of service representatives for communicating with clients who initiate communications with the business, such as by telephone calls. To most efficiently use the time and skills of each service representative, the service representatives may be organized into groups based on a skill set. For example, the groupings may be based on the representative's ability to handle client issues such as the opening of new accounts, billing issues and customer service issues on existing accounts.
Typically, if a client calls such a business, voice prompt menu choices enable the calling client to identify the issue for which the client requires service and the client is then queued for a service agent capable of handling the identified issue. As such, it is expected that clients who identify the purpose of their call as a “billing issue” will be queued for, and connected to, a service representative with the ability to handle billing issues. Similarly, it is expected that clients who identify the purpose of their call as a “customer service issue” will be queued for, and connected to, a service representative with the ability to handle customer service issues.
There are problems with existing communications systems, such as contact centers, including the following two problems. First, the voice prompt menus that are used to channel callers to the queue for the appropriate group of service agents are exacerbating to a client at best. It takes significant time to navigate the layered menus of voice prompts.
Second, waiting on-hold while the telephone connection is maintained in queue for connection to a service agent is also exacerbating to a client at best.
In an effort to reduce customer exacerbation caused by having to maintain a connection while on-hold in queue, secondary queue systems have been developed. A typical secondary queue system obtains a telephone number at which the calling client can be reached when a service representative is available (i.e., a call back number). The client disconnects, and then, at the proper time, a call back system establishes a connection to the client utilizing the call back number and couples the client to an available representative without waiting on-hold in queue. One exemplary system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,563,921 to Williams et al. which is commonly assigned with the present application.
While such a system may make the experience of waiting for a connection to a service representative slightly less exacerbating, it does not address the inconvenience of having to navigate an irritatingly slow and usually complicated voice prompt menu to enter the queue.
An embodiment of a system is disclosed for initiating a voice call-back sequence using image technology. The system includes an image sensor that captures an image, and a processor configured to execute a device application. The device application includes a first routine that sends the captured image to a communication system that searches a database of images for one or more persons corresponding to the captured image, and a second routine that receives from the communication system an identification of one or more active queues. The device application further includes a session queuing component that causes an indication of the one or more active queues to be displayed on a display screen of a communication device and obtains a user selection of a queue as a selected queue. The session queuing component resides within the communication device. The device application further includes a third routine that sends a confirmation in a data format for a voice call-back to the communication system.
An embodiment of a method is disclosed for initiating a call-back sequence using image technology. The method includes capturing an image using an image sensor on a communication device, sending the captured image to a communication system that searches a database of images for one or more persons corresponding to the captured image, sending a request in a data format to the communication system for a connection with the one or more persons, receiving an identification of one or more active queues, and displaying an indication of the one or more active queues on a display screen of the communication device using a session queuing component that resides within the communication device. The method further includes obtaining a user selection of a queue as a selected queue using the session queuing component, and sending a confirmation to the communication system in a data format for a call-back.
An embodiment of a non-transitory computer readable medium is disclosed for storing computer executable instructions for initiating a call-back sequence using image technology. The computer executable instructions include capturing an image using an image sensor, sending the captured image to a communication system that searches a database of images for one or more persons corresponding to the captured image, receiving from the communication system an identification of one or more active queues, and displaying an indication of the one or more active queues on a display screen of the communication device using a session queuing component that resides within the communication device. The computer executable instructions further include obtaining a user selection of a queue as a selected queue using the session queuing component, and sending a confirmation to the communication system in a data format for a call-back.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram representing an exemplary architecture of a system for sequencing communication devices in a selected queue of a selected provider;
FIG. 2 is a flow-chart of a method for call back sequencing;
FIG. 3A is a flow-chart of a method for assigning a placeholder in a queue for a call back to a communication device;
FIG. 3B is a block diagram representing an exemplary architecture of a system for sequencing communication devices in a selected queue of a selected provider;
FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary queue component;
FIG. 5A is an exemplary communication device adapted for operation;
FIG. 5B is an exemplary communication device adapted for operation in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 6 is a table representing an exemplary provider control and an exemplary service control in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;
FIGS. 7A-7D represent exemplary messaging structures packaged with transport layer and media layer information;
FIG. 8A is a flow chart representing exemplary operation of an active providers service or method in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 8B is an exemplary active providers data storage in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 8C is a flow chart representing exemplary operation of an active queues service or method in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 8D is an exemplary active queues data storage in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 8E is a flow chart representing exemplary operation of an expected wait time service or method in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 8E is a flow chart representing exemplary operation of an expected wait time service or method in accordance with an exemplary embodiment disclosed herein;
FIG. 8F is a flow chart representing exemplary operation of an add-to-queue method in accordance with an exemplary embodiment disclosed herein;
FIGS. 9A through 9E represent various exemplary communication devices adapted for operation according to various exemplary embodiments disclosed herein; and
FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating a method and/or procedures for initiating a call-back sequence using image technology, according to one or more exemplary embodiments disclosed herein.
The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, each element with a reference number is similar to other elements with the same reference number independent of any letter designation following the reference number. In the text, a reference number with a specific letter designation following the reference number refers to the specific element with the number and letter designation and a reference number without a specific letter designation refers to all elements with the same reference number independent of any letter designation following the reference number in the drawings.
It should also be appreciated that many of the elements discussed in this specification may be implemented in a hardware circuit(s), a processor executing software code which is encoded within computer readable media accessible to the processor, or a combination of a hardware circuit(s) and a processor or control block of an integrated circuit executing machine readable code encoded within a computer readable media. As such, the term circuit, module, server, or other equivalent description of an element as used throughout this specification is intended to encompass a hardware circuit (whether discrete elements or an integrated circuit block), a processor or control block executing code encoded in a computer readable media, or a combination of a hardware circuit(s) and a processor and/or control block executing such code.
It should also be appreciated that the table structures represented in this application are exemplary only and intended to show the mapping of relationships between various data elements. Other table structures may store similar data elements in various manners. Further, the applicant's use of the term “plurality” is intended to indicate not just “at least one”, but one, two, three, or any other quantity. The applicant's use of the term “group” is intended to indicate not just “at least one”, but two, three, or more of the items within the group.
FIG. 1 is a high level schematic illustration of a system 10 for placing a communication device 11 in a queue and calling a communication receiving device 50. The system 10 includes the communication device 11, a network 25, a call back component 15, a queue component 20, a sequence component 22, and the communication receiving device 50.
The system 10 assigns a placeholder for a communication device 11 (or an identifier for a communication device 11 such as its telephone number or other unique network identifier) in a selected queue (not shown in FIG. 1) of the queue component 20. The system uses a sequence component 22 to execute a call back sequence to a communication receiving device 50. When prompted, the call back component 15 places an outgoing call to a communication receiving device 50. The outgoing call attempts to establish a voice connection with the communication receiving device 50.
The communication receiving device 50 may be any device that can receive a telephone call. The communication receiving device 50 is often the communication device 11 that sent the initial data requesting a telephone connection.
In some embodiments, prior to allowing communication between a communication device 11 and the system 10, the system 10 performs one or more security checks. These security checks can be performed for a variety of purposes including ensuring that the software on the communication device 11 is authentic and valid for use on the device and that the device is authorized. Various software routines may be used by the system 10 and the communication device 11 to perform security checks. Encryption keys may be assigned to the communication devices 11 and used for the security check.
In an embodiment, the identifier for a communication device 11 is an encryption key. Each software application for communicating with the system 10 on a communication device 11 may have one or more unique encryption keys that are recognized by the system 10.
The network 25 (depicted by a cloud) can be any one or more of a variety of networks. The system 10 shown can support many communication devices 11 of various types and many queues (not shown in FIG. 1). The communication device 11 may communicate with the other components through the network using available techniques.
The communication device 11 may be a mobile communication device, such as a cellular telephone. The communication device 11 may also be a non-mobile device, such as a home entertainment device, a kiosk, or a point of purchase device.
Referring now to FIG. 2, shown is a flow chart of an exemplary embodiment of a method for initiating a call-back sequence in a communication system, such as a call center or contact center, for example. The method 200 includes receiving data from a communication device 11 (205), determining a queue for the data (210), determining the expected wait time in the queue (215) for the data and sending the expected wait time in the queue to a communication device 11 (220). The method further includes assigning a placeholder for the data in the queue (225). If a call back request is received from the communication device 11, the method includes initiating a call back to a communication receiving device 50. The method further includes placing an outgoing call to a communication receiving device 50 (235). The steps of the method may be performed in various different orders or chronology.
As noted above, the communication receiving device 50 may be any device that can receive a telephone call. The communication receiving device 50 is often the communication device 11 that sent the initial data requesting a telephone connection.
FIG. 3A is a flow chart of an embodiment of a method 300 for assigning a placeholder in a queue for a call back to a communication device 11 in a communication system. The description of the method 300 in FIG. 3A also references components and routines found in FIG. 3B. The method 300 of FIG. 3A includes the sequence component 22 receiving a request for a list of active providers from a communication device 11. This may be in the form of an active provider remote processing call 48 from a provider client routine 34 (305). The provider client 34 is a routine which is part of the session queuing component 24. The active provider remote processing call 48 originates from the communication device 11 and serves as the request for a list of active providers. The active providers may be associated with a user of the communication device 11. Upon receipt of the active provider remote processing call 48, the sequence component 22 launches an active provider routine 26. The routine generates a list of active providers associated with the user (310) of the communication device 11.
The method 300 further includes active provider routine 26 sending a list of active providers to the communication device 11 via an active providers message 50. More particularly, the provider client routine 34 in the session queuing component 24 receives active providers message 50 (315).
The method 300 further includes receiving a request for active queues in the queue component 20 via an active queue remote processing call 52 from the communication device 11 (320). The active queue remote processing call 52 serves as a request for a listing of active queues associated with the selected provider to an active queue routine or process 28 of the sequence component 22. The listing is populated into the service control 40 of the session queuing component 24.
The exemplary method 300 of FIG. 3A further includes sending active queues, via an active queues message 54, from active queue routine 28 to service client routine 38. The service client routine 38 in this example is resident on the communication device 11 (325). The active queues message 54 includes active queues wherein an identifier of a communication device 11 may be placed.
The method 300 further includes receiving a request for the expected wait time for receiving a call back from a provider. The expected wait time may be received via an expected wait time call 56 from the communication device 11 (330). Upon the user selecting a queue using the service control 40, the expected wait time client 42 generates an expected wait time call 56 to the sequence component 22. The method 300 includes the expected wait time routine 30 sending a request 62 for the expected wait time to the expected wait time component 18 (within the queue component 20) (335) and receiving the expected wait time 64 (340) from the expected wait time component 18.
With continuing reference to FIG. 3A, the method 300 further includes sending an expected wait time message 58 to the communication device 11 (345). More particularly, the expected wait time message 58 is sent from the expected wait time routine 30, of the sequence component 22, to an expected wait time client 42 of the session queuing component 24. The method 300 further includes receiving a confirmation call 60 from the communication device 11. More particularly, the confirmation call originates from confirmation client 46 (part of the session queuing component 24) and is sent to the confirmation routine 32 (350) of the sequence component 22. The method 300 further includes sending a request via a message 66 to the queue component 20 to add user's identifier to the selected queue (355).
FIG. 3B is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a telephone based system 10 showing multiple communication devices 11 a-11 d and multiple business communication centers 14 a-14 c. Each business communication center 14 a-14 c is typically associated with a company for which the business communication center 14 a-14 c is operated. The system 10 includes sequence component 22 and a session queuing component 24. The sequence component 22 performs the call back sequencing of the communication devices 11 a-11 d. The session queuing component 24 resides within a communication device 11 and can be loaded onto each communication device 11 a-11 d.
With continuing reference to FIG. 3B, each business communication center (using business communication center 14 a for reference) may be associated with a company and comprise a group of service agents 12. Each of the service agents 12 may be a service representative system for enabling a service representative to service a client. More specifically, the service representative may participate in an audio or audio/video session with a communication device 11 and service the requests of each client, or routine, of the session queuing component 24. The service agents 12 may be organized in a single service agent set grouped into multiple service agent sets based on the skill set of service agent operators (e.g., the operators of the service agents 12 at a communication system).
In an embodiment, the business communication center 14 a has at least one computer system including a processor operating the queue component 20, and memory. In general, the queue component 20 is adapted to maintain a group of queues 16 a, 16 b with each queue 16 a, 16 b being associated with one of sets 12 a, 12 b of the group of service agents 12. For example the set of service agents 12 a may be associated with queue 16 a while the second set of service agents 12 b may be associated with queue 16 b. In an embodiment, the queue component 20 identifies a sequential order of the devices 11 w, 11 x, 11 y, and 11 z, which are queued for connection to one of the service agents 12.
Expected wait time component 18 is adapted to determine an expected wait time value representing the time at which service agents 12 within the particular service agent group are expected to be available to service a client. The expected wait time can be calculated or determined in a number of different ways.
The expected wait time value may represent an estimated wait time calculated using primary estimated wait time techniques such as projecting a wait time based on the quantity of clients in the queue and any of a historical, present, or projected time allotment for handling each such queued client. Alternatively, the expected wait time value may be a function of both a primary estimated wait time calculation and a wait time augmentation calculation made based on service agent availability and/or scheduled change in service agent availability as disclosed in co-pending patent application Ser. No. 11/143,857 filed on Jun. 2, 2005 and assigned to the same assignee as the present invention. Such patent application is incorporated herein by reference.
The sequence component 22 may be embodied as a web services server. In one embodiment, the sequence component is connected to the internet and includes appropriate web services messaging systems (i.e., Simple Object Access Protocol or SOAP) for communicating with the session queuing component 24 on the devices 11 a-11 d. In an embodiment, the sequence component 22 communicates with queue component 20.
The sequence component 22 may include a processor (not shown) for executing the web services messaging systems as well as other applications stored on a memory (not shown). Such other applications may comprise an active provider routine 26, an active queue routine 28, an expected wait time routine 30, and a confirmation routine 32.
The session queuing component 24 may include a number of routines including for example, a provider client 34, a company or provider control 36, a queue or service client 38, a queue or service control 40, an expected wait time client 42, a confirmation control 44 and a confirmation client 46.
It should be appreciated that each of the routines of the session queuing component 24 are exemplary and for illustrative purposes. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the systems and functions of each routine described herein may be implemented by way of other permutations of components and sub systems.
In an embodiment, the session queuing component 24 may be an embedded application of a communication device 11. In another embodiment, the session queuing component may be a java script, ActiveX, or other similar structure downloaded and executed by a browser and an applicable browser plug-in executing on the telephone 11.
In this embodiment, the session queuing component 24 may include a combination of the java script or ActiveX control and components of the browser and/or the plug-in, which in combination drive operation of the session queuing component 24.
In an embodiment, the session queuing component 24 communicates with the sequence component 22 using web service messages and internet protocol. In an embodiment, the session queuing component 24 obtains user selection of a provider (from a group of providers) with which the user desires to communicate via a telephone communication session. The session queuing component 24 may also obtain user selection of a service of the selected provider (from a group of services) and an estimated wait time representing a duration of time the user can be expected to wait until connecting to the selected services. Session queuing component 24 confirms, after presenting the expected wait time to the user, that the user desires to connect to a service agent 12. More specifically, it confirms that the user wishes to speak with a particular type of service agent 12. The session queuing component 24 assists in placing the user in a queue for the user to receive a call back from the service agent 12 at a connection time.
The connection time may be when the user reaches the first position in the queue (i.e., after other clients in the selected queue prior to the client have all been connected to available service agents or abandoned their position in the queue selected) and a service agent becomes available, or at a specific scheduled time. The specific scheduled time may be a time calculated by adding the expected wait time to the time at which the expected wait time was presented to the user. The specific scheduled time may also be a time selected by the user.
The term “provider” is used interchangeably with the term “business communication center” or the “provider's business communication center” within this application, and the term “queue” is used interchangeably with the term “service” or the “queue for connection to a service agent providing the selected service.”
FIG. 4, is a block diagram of an embodiment of queue component 20. The queue component 20 may include primary queue 17 (ACD) adapted to queue communication devices 11 while maintaining the telephony connection (e.g., communication devices “on-hold”), a secondary queue component 19, a call back component 15 adapted to establish a telephony connection to communication device 11 for which a telephony connection is not maintained by the primary queue 17, and an expected wait time component 18.
The primary queue 17 may be embodied in a primary automated call director (ACD). In an embodiment, the ACD places in a queue client telephone connections which are “on-hold” waiting for a service agent 12. Such an ACD may use known technology adapted to (1) receive incoming calls from the communication device 11 (e.g., establishing a client connection with each) (2) identify which group of service agents the caller desires to connect (including using primary voice prompts) and (3) place the call in a queue for connection to the identified service agent group. If one of the service agents 12 within a service agent group becomes available, the ACD connects a next client connection from the queue to the available service agent 12.
The secondary queue component 19 may be coupled to a primary queue 17 as an accessory device. The secondary queue component 19 maintains the queue position of the communication device 11 in a manner that does not require the communication device 11 to remain “on hold” or otherwise maintain an active telephone connection with the primary queue 17. More specifically, for a communication device 11 calling the communication center utilizing the primary queue 17, the secondary queue component 19 may (1) obtain a network address for the communication device 11 (e.g., a telephone network call back telephone number or other telephone network address) and (2) write the network address of the telephone connection to a record of the queuing table (for example record 224 in the event a user of communication device 11 a calls the communication center in a primary manner). Further, the secondary queue component 19 may, at the appropriate connection time, (3) induce the call back system 15 to establish a connection to the communication device 11 utilizing the call back number. Inducing the call back system 15 to establish the connection may include generating a call back message 220 to the call back system 15.
The secondary queue component 19 may also (e.g., communication devices 11 being added to a queue utilizing telephone system 10), obtain a network address of a telephone connection to the communication device 11 (e.g., a telephone network call back telephone number or other telephone network address) via the messaging discussed above with respect to messages 62, 64, and 66 in FIG. 3B. The secondary queue component 19 may write the network address of the telephone connection to a record of the queuing table (for example record 226 in the event a user of communication device 11 b utilizing system 10 for being added to queue 16 a), and at the appropriate connection time, induce the call back system 15 to establish a connection to a communication device 11 utilizing the call back number. Inducing the call back system 15 to establish the connection may include generating a call back message 220 to the call back system 15. The call back message 220 may include identification of the telephone number to which the call back system 15 is to establish a telephone connection and identifying the queue 16 a, 16 b and/or service agent group 12 a, 12 b to which the telephone connection is to be connected.
After the call back system 15 has established a connection with the communication device 11, it may generate a priority connection to the available service agent 12 within the appropriate service agent group 12 a, 12 b. The priority connection 222 may be a transfer 222 a of the communication device 11 connection to the primary queue 17. Transfer 222 a may occur via a command such that the primary queue 17 connects the client to the next available one of the service agents 12 within the required service agent group 12 a-12 b (e.g., places the client at the front of the queue). The priority connection 222 may also be a connection 222 b directly to the next available service agent 12, bypassing primary queue 17.
The secondary queue system 19 may comprise a secondary queue application 91 and a secondary queue table 93. The secondary queue table 93 maintains, for each communication device 11 being handled by the secondary queue component 19, call back information. In more detail, secondary queue table 93 may comprise a plurality of records 95. Each record 95 associates a client identifier 97 with a call back telephone number 101 (or other network identifier) to which a telephone connection may be established with the subject communication device 11, or other communication receiving device 50 at a connection time 103. Secondary queue table 93 may also include a service agent ID 99 identifying the service agent 120, or subset of the group of service agents to which the client 11 is to be connected.
In one aspect, the secondary queue application 91 monitors the passage of time and, upon determining that time has advanced to the connection time 103 of one of the records 95 of the secondary queue table 93, drives the call back system 15 to establish a telephony connection to the subject client. Again, the telephony connection may be a primary PSTN connection or a telephony connection using an alternative technology such as VoIP.
After establishing the telephony connection, the priority connection to a service agent 12 within the required service agent group is generated.
The expected wait time component 18 may be part of the secondary queue system 19, part of the primary queue (ACD) 17, or a separate accessory system interoperating with the secondary queue system 19 and the primary queue (ACD) 17.
Referring now to FIG. 5A, each device 11 may include user interface 90 inclusive of display screen 92 and controls 94 (such as keys, touch panel, or other controls) for operation of controls rendered on the display screen (keys are represented), memory 96, and processor 98 for executing applications encoded in the memory 96.
The applications encoded in memory 96 may include a telephone application 100, and/or appropriate systems adapted to drive operation of the user interface, and the session queuing component 24.
The telephone application 100 may be adapted to signal, establish, and maintain an audio communication session (either as the session initiator or receiver) with remote endpoint devices over compatible networks (PSTN, VoIP, and other networks utilized for audio communication sessions). The endpoint devices include the business communication center systems 14 for signaling, establishing, and maintaining audio communication sessions between each service agent 12 and the business clients, each of which may utilize one of the communication devices 11 for communication with the business.
The session queuing component 24 may include a launch object 74 rendered as a “My Providers” icon on the display screen 92 and adapted to launch operation of the session queuing component 24 upon detecting user selection of the launch object 74.
Referring now to FIG. 5B, for purposes of performing the above described functions, visible objects of the session queuing component 24 (following activation by selection of the launch icon 74 as depicted in FIG. 5A) include a provider control 36, a service control 40, and a confirmation control 44.
The confirmation control 44 may include a window 44 a for confirming the identifier of a communication device 11 (i.e., the call back telephone number utilized to establish an inbound telephone call to the communication device 11 or other unique “call back” identifier used to establish an audio session with the communication device 11), an accept control object 44 b and a cancel control object 44 c.
In an exemplary embodiment, the telephone number of the communication device 11 may be pre-populated to the window object 44 a with the window object being active to enable the user to modify the telephone number in the event he or she desires the call back to be at a different telephone station.
The cancel control object 44 c may be a selection button adapted to detect user selection. Upon detecting user selection, cancel control object 44 c may be adapted to terminate operation of the session queuing component.
The accept control object 44 b may be a selection button adapted to launch the confirmation client 46 upon user selection.
Upon launch of the session queuing component 24 the visible objects of the session queuing component 24 may be rendered on the display screen 92 as depicted in FIG. 5B.
The provider control 36 may be rendered in an active state with the group of providers 78 (FIG. 6) populated into its drop down menu. From this menu, the user may select providers from the selected business communication center. The service control 40 is shown in an active state. The service control 40 and the confirmation control 44 may be rendered in an inactive state (i.e., rendered with no populated data, inoperable, and rendered with a gray tint to indicate the inactive state). In an embodiment, the provider client 34 (shown in FIG. 3B) populates the provider control 36 with a listing of the providers from the group of providers 78.
Referring now to FIG. 6, shown is an illustration of the provider control 36. The provider control 36 may be a drop down menu control which displays a group of providers 78. From this menu, the user may select a provider from the selected business communication center.
The service control 40 may be a drop down menu control (as represented by 40 a, 40 b) which displays, for the selected provider, the services/queues of a group of services/queues 80 a, 80 b associated with the selected provider's business communication center. A user may select a service from this menu.
Exemplary providers include Company A and Company B. For purposes of illustration, Company A may be a utility company and its services/queues associated with its business communication center may include a service/queue for reporting loss of services, a service/queue for handling billing matters, and a default service/queue for handling other matters.
Company B, for illustration, may be a bank and its services/queues associated with its business communication center may include a service for handling of checking, savings, or other deposit accounts, a service for handling credit card accounts, a service for handling mortgage accounts, and a default service for handling other matters.
FIG. 7A, shows an exemplary embodiment of a structure for communications or messages passing between the communication devices 11 and service providers. In this example, the structure of an active providers remote processing call 48 is shown. The structure may be an XML structure 100 with applicable SOAP or other remote processing call protocol information 102. The exemplary structure includes at least a method identifier 104, which identifies the active provider routine or process 26 as the remote process, and data arguments 106 for the active provider routine 26. The data arguments 106 may include at least identification of the user.
The remote processing call 48 may be encapsulated within appropriate TCP/IP and HTTP headers and other transport layer information 108 such as source IP address and source port number of the requesting device 11 and destination IP address and destination port number of the sequence component 22. Such combination may be encapsulated within appropriate media layer protocols 110 for transmission across physical communication media via various physical layer segments interconnecting the requesting device 11 and the sequence component 22.
FIGS. 7B-7D show exemplary structures of other messages or communications within system 10 similar to that of active providers remote processing call 48. The other communications that may be similarly structured, encapsulated, and transported may include the active queue remote processing call 52 (FIG. 7B), expected wait time call 56 (FIG. 7C), add-to-queue remote processing call 154, the active providers message 50, the active queue message 54, the expected wait time message 58, and the confirmation remote processing call 60 (FIG. 7D), for example.
More specifically, referring to FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B, the active provider routine 26 includes a looking up (at step 112) in an active providers data store 200, a list of active providers associated with the user. The active providers data store 200 and may include a group of records 202, with each record associating a user ID 204 with identification of a group of active providers 202 associated with the user ID 204. Step 114 represents building an active providers message 50 (shown in FIG. 3A) for return to the device generating the active providers remote processing call 48 (shown in FIG. 3A).
It should be appreciated that the above described structure and processes for populating the provider control 36 is exemplary only. Those skilled in the art will also recognize that the list of providers could be obtained and stored within the communication device 11. A list of providers stored within the communication device 11 may then be used for populating both the provider control 36 and the active queue control 40. Upon a user selecting a provider from the list of active providers 78 rendered or shown within the provider control, the service client routine 38 requests a listing of active queues from the active queue routine or process 28 of the sequence component 22. The service client routine 38 populates the service control 40 with a listing of active queues associated with the selected provider.
More specifically, referring to FIG. 8C and FIG. 8D, the active queue routine or process 28 includes looking up (at step 126) in an active queues data store 208, a list of active queues associated with the selected provider. The active queues data store 208 may include a group of records 210, with each record associating a company ID 212 (identifying a provider) with identification of a group of active queues 214 associated with the company ID 212. The build active queues list (step 128) represents building an active queues message 54 (described above) for return to the device generating the active queue remote processing call 52 (described above).
Upon receipt of the active queues message 54, by service client routine 38, the service control 40 is populated by the list of active queues 80 a as discussed with respect to FIG. 5B and FIG. 6.
It should be appreciated that the above described structure and processes for populating the service control 40 is exemplary only. Those skilled in the art will also recognize that lists of active queues for each provider could be obtained and stored within the communication device 11 utilizing one or more remote processing calls prior to user selection. As such, list of providers and active queues stored within the communication device 11 may then be used to populate both the provider control 36 and the active queue control 40. It is further envisioned that both the provider control 36 and the service control 40 may be combined within a single control listing combinations of a provider and a service.
More specifically, referring to FIG. 8E, the expected wait time routine or process 30 includes obtaining (at step 134) from the expected wait time component 18 associated with the selected queue of the selected provider, the expected wait time for the selected queue. Such step may include sending a remote processing call to the expected wait time component with data arguments (of the remote processing call) including identification of the selected queue. The return expected wait time to calling device (step 136) represents the expected wait time component 18 building an expected wait time message 58. The expected wait time message can then be sent to the device generating the expected wait time remote processing call 56.
Referring back to FIG. 5B, upon receipt of the expected wait time response message 58, the expected wait time value 148 identifying the expected wait time duration of time is rendered on the display screen as depicted by reference numeral 82. Following display of the identification of the duration of time, the confirmation control 44 may be activated for obtaining user input.
As discussed, the confirmation control may include a window 44 a for confirming a telephone number of the communication device 11 or the communication receiving device 50 (i.e., the telephone number utilized to establish an inbound telephone call to the communication device 11 or the communication receiving device 50), a confirmation control 44 b and a cancel control 44 c.
In an exemplary embodiment, the telephone number of the communication device 11 may be pre-populated to the window object 44 a with the window object being active to enable the user to modify the telephone number in the event he or she desires the call back to be at a different telephone station, such as the communication receiving device 50.
The cancel control 44 c may be a selection button adapted to detect user selection. Upon detecting user selection, the cancel control object may be adapted to terminate operation of the session queuing component.
The confirmation client 46 (shown in FIG. 3A) may be adapted to send a confirmation remote processing call 60 to the sequence component 22 via the message structure described above. In this instance, the data arguments may include at least the identification of a telephone number or other telephone network address of the communication receiving device 50 or communication device 11 that the user desires for use in the connection to the service agent. Typically such identification will be a PSTN telephone number that the provider systems will use as a “call back number” to establish a telephone connection between the user and a service agent at the appropriate call back time.
Further, the arguments of the confirmation remote processing call may include identification of the selected provider and selected queue which the user desires to join. Alternatively, the arguments may include a session ID matched to previous remote processing calls such that the sequence component may determine the selected provider and selected queue which the user desires to join.
More specifically, referring to FIG. 8F, the confirmation routine or process 32 includes (at step 216) generating an add-to-queue instruction 217. The instruction may include for example, a queue ID of the selected queue and the call back number (e.g., the telephone network identifier of the communication receiving device 50) in a format compatible for transmission to the selected business communication center's systems. The step 218 of passing the add-to-queue instruction 217 to the queue component 20 of the selected provider is shown in FIG. 8F. This step includes packaging the SOAP formatted add-to-queue instruction with applicable transport layer and media layer for transmission as discussed above. Upon receipt, the queue component 20 of the selected provider may add the user to the selected queue.
Current image technology can be integrated with search engines. For example, eBay's image recognition integration application allows a mobile telephone user to take a photo of an item on the mobile telephone, and then matches the photo with similar products currently on sale on a company's website. This image recognition integration application provides great convenience for a user because the user can point, click, upload, and find the product the user desires using an image search.
Similarly, SnapTell's visual product search technology allows a user to take a photo of the cover of any CD, DVD, book, or video game, and automatically identifies the product, and finds ratings and pricing information online from Google, Amazon, eBay and more. The company has a database of about 5 million or more products.
An embodiment of a system and method for managing, directing, and queuing communication events uses image technology to match an image that is captured by an image sensor, such as a camera or scanner (e.g., a camera on a mobile device or a mobile scanner). The image can be any identifier including for example, a company logo (which is typically a registered trademark), a bar code, a quick response (QR) code, product image, book image or a unique image of a person on a social networking website. The image is used to identify potential queues or phone numbers the user may wish to use. To determine this, the system correlates images to queues or sets of queues. For example, if the image is a company logo, an embodiment of the system and method for managing, directing, and queuing communication events cross-references the image with a database of company contacts of people who are subject matter experts, or who have knowledge for answering questions or providing information. This person, or group of people, may be reached by mobile communication device, by telephony inside of a contact center, or by any other communications medium known in the art. The individuals, groups or divisions can be arranged on telephone queues for access by customers or requesters. In this manner, images can be used by the system and method to assist in identifying queues or phone numbers corresponding to resources who might assist the users who took the images.
Generally, the method using visual identifiers has several steps, for example it may include two or more of the following steps: (a) interpret a visual identifier, for example by scanning or reading an image or code; (b) correlate the interpreted visual to one or more phone numbers, queues or a set or queues; (c) present the phone numbers or queues to a user who provided the visual identifier; (d) receive a selection of one or more presented queues or phone numbers; (e) display estimated wait time; (f) request a call back or schedule a call back; and (g) initiate a callback. The method can be used with a variety of hardware configurations including communication devices with visual interpreters.
An embodiment of the system and method for managing, directing, and queuing communication events cross-references for variations of an interpreted image with small and medium enterprises (SMEs), individuals, or groups. For instance, an image of a blue logo corresponds to one SME, whereas the same logo in green corresponds to a different SME or group. Each logo may be a registered trademark. Key words accompanying a logo may also create variations in who or what it corresponds to. For example, once an image of a FedEx logo has been successfully identified, accompanying word(s) in the image, such as “Ground” or “Custom Critical” can be used to narrow down and segment the selection further and fine tune the list of eligible SMEs or customer service representatives who are eligible to provide information or answer questions.
Once an image is captured and cross referenced to a person or group of people who can provide information, an embodiment of the system and method for managing, directing, and queuing communication events may present queues and allow a user to submit a request for a callback.
Embodiments of the system and method for managing, directing, and queuing communication events eliminate the need to find and dial a phone number for a product, person or company when one is not available. When a question about a product or service arises, a user can simply take a picture or otherwise obtain an image of the company's logo. The image may be recognized by the image technology and cross-referenced in a database that contains a list of the company or person that owns the logo or symbol. Relevant phone numbers or queues are located and a callback may be initiated and the parties connected.
FIG. 9A illustrates an embodiment of the system for managing, directing, and queuing communication events that uses an image sensor located on a communication device 908 (e.g., a mobile communicating device) to capture an image of a company logo 902 located on, for example, a product and cross-references the captured company logo 904 with a database of company contacts. Various available queues, divisions, or individual contacts may be shown to and viewed by the user. An embodiment of the system allows a user to submit a request for a callback, determines an expected wait time 906, and places an outgoing call to the communication device 908 after the expected wait time (or an approximately equivalent time) has passed. Alternatively, an embodiment of the system places an outgoing call to another communication receiving device (not shown) having a phone number provided by the user. One skilled in the art will appreciate that the expected wait time 906 may be very brief or substantially zero, in which case a call may be placed immediately, connecting the user to a person or group of people eligible to provide information or answer questions.
FIG. 9B illustrates an embodiment of the system for managing, directing, and queuing communication events that uses an image sensor, such as a bar code scanner, located on, for example, a communication device 918 (e.g., a mobile communication device) to scan a bar code or QR code 912 located on, for example, a product's shipping box 910. One skilled in the art will appreciate that the bar code or QR code scanner can be any scanner device, such as a stationary scanner device, a handheld scanning device, or a kiosk. Various configurations of scanners are known in the art. In some embodiments, a scanner may be removably plugged into communication device 918. An embodiment of the system retrieves company information 914 from bar code or QR code 912 and cross-references company information 914 with a database of company contacts or other relevant information associated with the company. In one embodiment, a bar code or QR code refers directly to a particular queue. In another embodiment, a bar code or QR code refers to a set of queues. An embodiment of the system allows a user to submit a request for a callback, determines an expected wait time 916, and places an outgoing call to mobile device 918 after a resource becomes available or the expected wait time (or an approximately equivalent time) has passed. Alternatively, an embodiment of the system places an outgoing call to another communication receiving device (not shown) having a phone number provided by the user. One skilled in the art will appreciate that expected wait time 916 may be very brief or substantially zero, in which case a call may be placed immediately, connecting the user to a person or group of people eligible to provide information or to answer questions.
FIG. 9C illustrates an embodiment of the system for managing, directing, and queuing communication events that uses an image sensor, such as a QR code reader, located on, for example, a communication device 928 (e.g., a mobile communication device) to scan a QR code 922 located on, for example, a company's business card 920. One skilled in the art will appreciate that the QR code reader can be located on any device, such as a non-mobile device or kiosk. Various configurations of QR code readers may be used. An embodiment of the system retrieves company information 924 from QR code 922 and cross-references company information 924 with a database of company contacts or other relevant information associated with the company. In one embodiment, QR code 922 refers directly to a particular queue. In another embodiment, QR code 922 refers to a set of queues. In one embodiment, the system maintains a database of QR codes 922 with additional data associated with QR codes 922. In yet another embodiment, a third party maintains a QR code database for use by the system. An embodiment of the system allows a user to submit a request for a callback, determines an expected wait time 926, and places an outgoing call to mobile device 928 when a resource becomes available or after the expected wait time (or an approximately equivalent time) has passed. Alternatively, an embodiment of the system places an outgoing call to another communication receiving device (not shown) having a phone number provided by the user. One skilled in the art will appreciate that expected wait time 926 may be very brief or substantially zero, in which case a call may be placed immediately, connecting the user to a person or group of people eligible to provide information or to answer questions.
FIG. 9D illustrates an embodiment of the system for managing, directing, and queuing communication events that uses an image sensor, such as a QR code reader, located on, for example, a communication device 938 (e.g., a mobile communication device) to scan a QR code 932 located on, for example, a company's webpage 930. One skilled in the art will appreciate that a QR code reader can be located on or connected to any device, such as a non-mobile device or kiosk. A QR code or image to be read can be rendered or created by many different electronic devices such as computers, laptops, tablet/pad devices, phones and other devices with visual displays. An embodiment of the system retrieves company information 934 or product information from QR code 932 and cross-references the company information 934 with a database of company contacts or product information with a set of queues. An embodiment of the system allows a user to submit a request for a callback, determines an expected wait time 936, and places an outgoing call to mobile device 938 when a resource becomes available or after the expected wait time (or an approximately equivalent time) has passed. Alternatively, an embodiment of the system places an outgoing call to another communication receiving device (not shown) having a phone number provided by the user. One skilled in the art will appreciate that the expected wait time 936 may be very brief or substantially zero, in which case a call may be placed immediately, connecting the user to a person or group of people eligible to provide information or to answer questions.
Embodiments of the system and method for managing, directing, and queuing communication events eliminate the need for a user to research, locate and find a specialist of a company to provide information or to answer questions regarding a product. When a question about a product or service arises, a user can simply scan a bar code or QR code that is located in a store, on a brochure, on a coupon, or on an actual product, and initiate a callback from a specialist who can answer questions, provide information, or complete an order to be shipped. A specialist or other resource may be in any location including for example, a contact center, in the same store, or in a different store. Thus, a purchaser can obtain information about a particular product he is contemplating on purchasing while viewing a product at a store.
In another embodiment (not shown), a card is scanned to locate one or more available queues suitable for a user. Like the other images, data on the card may be associated either directly or indirectly to queues or groups of resources. In other words the card may be associated directly to queues or with particular people or a business group of people. Those people or groups of people typically correspond to or are related to available queues. In some embodiments queues may be created and populated de novo for each specific image-based request, depending on business rules established by a company. Virtually any type of card may be used with the system including for example, plastic, paper, magnetic, metal cards and the like, credit cards, store cards, VIP cards, money cards, gift cards, point cards, award cards, library card, cards associated with products or devices such as a doll's ID card or an automobile card, and cards associated with services. Moreover, in some embodiments images that may be used to trigger one or more methods of the invention, or that may be used in conjunction with a system according to the invention, images are placed on or in documents such as word processing documents, spreadsheets, web sites, or emails, and may thereby enable documents to be used directly to initiate service or communications with a related business using systems or methods according to the invention.
An image device, or more particularly a card scanner, may be used to read data from the card. Data from the card may be sent to a central location which accesses information stored or displayed on, or pertaining to, the card, and relates it to one or more queues or groups of resources. Information about queues or groups may be sent to the user. A session queuing component displays the associated queues to the user. Estimated wait time information may or may not be made available to the user. Using this queue information, the user is able to select a desired queue or queues. A callback or scheduled call can then be arranged. As with the other embodiments, the card reader may be portable, handheld or stationary. Various types of card readers and card combinations may be used.
FIG. 9E illustrates an embodiment of the system for managing, directing, and queuing communication events that uses an image sensor located on a communication device 948 (e.g., a mobile communicating device) to capture a registered personal image 942 of an individual posted on a social networking website, for example. Individuals can register their own unique image, similar to a Facebook Avatar, in a database. The database of registered individual images and the registration process may be a standalone system or may be hosted on an embodiment of the system for managing, directing, and queuing communication events. The unique image may be placed on various media including electronic, paper, metal, plastic, and fabric for example a tablet computer, a poster, tote bag, brochure, coupon, pen, shirt or a business card. Moreover, in some embodiments unique user images that may be used to trigger one or more methods of the invention, or that may be used in conjunction with a system according to the invention, images are placed on or in documents such as word processing documents, spreadsheets, web sites, or emails, and may thereby enable documents to be used directly to initiate service or communications with a related business using systems or methods according to the invention. An embodiment of the system cross-references the captured personal image 944 with a database of registered personal images. The image may represent a particular individual or may represent a product, division, or company. An embodiment of the system allows a user to submit a request for a callback from the individual with the registered personal image 942, determines an expected wait time 946, and places an outgoing call to the communication device 948 after the expected wait time (or an approximately equivalent time) has passed. Alternatively, an embodiment of the system places an outgoing call to another communication receiving device (not shown) having a phone number provided by the user. One skilled in the art will appreciate that the expected wait time 946 may be very brief or substantially zero, in which cases a call may be placed immediately, connecting the user to the individual with the registered personal image 942.
Embodiments of the system and method for managing, directing, and queuing communication events eliminate the need for an individual to give out a phone number. Individuals can pass out business cards with a registered personal image 942. Individuals can change a personal image and re-register it to change how people contact him or her, similar to changing the individual's phone number.
An embodiment of the system may be in a callback cloud that bridges a user who requests a callback and an individual from whom a callback is requested.
An embodiment of the system provides a database and directory for looking up people's personal images, similar to a phone book. Individuals who register their personal images may have an online account in a hosted system. An individual may log into his or her online account and may change his or her personal image and the preferences of communication, e.g., via phone, email, text message, or instant message. The database may also include companies, their registered logos and symbols, and variations of said logos that include accompanying words or images.
An embodiment of the system may add a special symbol to any QR code, bar code, company logo, or personal unique image that indicates that a particular QR code, bar code, company logo, or personal unique image triggers or pertains to a callback for a user and connects the user to a relevant person.
FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a method 1000 for initiating a call-back sequence using image technology. The method 1000 starts by capturing an image using an image sensor. The image sensor may be on a communication device (block 1002), connected to a communication device or simply work with a communication device. The method 1000 then sends the captured image to a communication system (block 1104), searches a database of images for one or more persons or queues corresponding to the captured image (block 1106), sends a request in a data format to the communication system for a connection with the one or more persons (block 1108), and receives an identification of one or more active queues (block 1110). The method 1000 further displays an identification of the one or more active queues on a display screen of the communication device using a session queuing component that resides within the communication device (block 1112), obtains a user selection of a queue as a selected queue using the session queuing component (block 1114), sends a request to the communication system in a data format for expected wait time (bock 1116), receives the expected wait time from the communication system (block 1118), and sends a confirmation to the communication system in a data format for a call-back (block 1120).
In an embodiment of the method 1000, the image sensor is a camera located on a mobile device.
In an embodiment of the method 1000, the image sensor is a mobile scanner.
In an embodiment of the method 1000, the image is a company logo.
In an embodiment of the method 1000, the image is a bar code located on a product box.
In an embodiment of the method 1000, the image is placed on or in a document such as a word processing document, a spreadsheet, a web site, or an email, and thereby enables the document to be used directly to initiate service or communications with a related business.
In an embodiment of the method 1000, the image sensor is a quick response (QR) code reader and the image is a QR code.
In an embodiment of the method 1000, the image is a registered personal image of an individual posted on a social networking website.
An embodiment of the method 1000 may further cross-reference images that are stored in a database of registered personal images.
In another embodiment, the system uses facial recognition software to identify the individual in a captured image. The recognized person is then located in a database and a corresponding queue is located. Alternatively, once the recognized person's communication information is found, the recognized person may be called directly. The database of persons can be located at the communication device, at the central system or at a third location.
The above described system represents an exemplary embodiment of a connection system for sequencing communication device identifiers in a selected queue for connection to a service agent of a group of service agents at a business communication center. The present invention includes all such equivalents and modifications, and is limited only by the scope of the following claims.
The invention claimed is:
1. An apparatus for initiating a voice call-back sequence using image technology, comprising:
an image sensor capable of capturing an image;
a processor configured to execute a device application, wherein execution of the device application causes the apparatus to:
send a request to a communication system in a data format for a list of active providers, and receive a list of a plurality of active providers;
send a request to the communication system in a data format for an identification of active queues associated with at least one of the plurality of active providers, and receive an identification of the active queues;
sends data related to the captured image to the communication system, wherein the data related to the captured image is relevant to at least one of identification of active queues and identification of active providers; and
sends a confirmation in a data format for a voice call-back to the communication system.
2. The system apparatus of claim 1, wherein execution of the device application causes the apparatus to display an indication of the expected wait time and obtain a user selection of one of a confirmation command and a cancel command.
3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein execution of the device application further causes the apparatus to generate a confirmation message to the communication system in response to a user selection of the confirmation command, the confirmation message comprising a communication receiving device identifier and a request to add the device identifier to a selected queue.
4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the identifier is a telephone number.
5. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the identifier is a network or service address.
6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the image sensor is a camera located on a mobile device.
7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the image sensor is a mobile scanner that can be removably plugged into the communication device.
8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the image is a company logo.
9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the image is a bar code located on a product package.
10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the image is a QR code.
11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the QR code is located on a company webpage.
12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the QR code is located on one or more of business cards, plastic cards, paper cards, magnetic cards, metal cards, credit cards, store cards, VIP cards, money cards, gift cards, point cards, award cards, library cards, and cards associated with products or devices, and cards associated with services.
13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the QR code relates to a particular queue.
14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the QR code relates to a set of queues.
15. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein execution of the device application causes the image to be associated with a document such that the document can be used directly to initiate service or communications with a related entity.
16. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein execution of the device application causes the apparatus to obtain the image from a social networking website.
17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein execution of the device application causes the apparatus to cross-references images that are stored in a database of personal images.
18. A method for initiating a call-back sequence using image technology, the method comprising:
sending data related to a captured image to a communication system, wherein the data is relevant to at least one of identification of active queues and identification of active providers by the communication system;
sending a request in a data format to the communication system for a list of active providers:
receiving an identification of a plurality of active providers from the communication system;
sending a request to the communication system in a data format for a list of active queues associated with at least one of the plurality of active providers;
receiving an identification of the active queues;
displaying an indication of the active queues on a display screen of the communication device using a session queuing component that resides within the communication device;
obtaining a user selection of a queue using the session queuing component; and
sending a confirmation to the communication system in a data format for a call-back.
19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:
sending a request to the communication system in a data format for expected wait time;
receiving the expected wait time from the communication system; and
displaying an indication of the expected wait time and obtaining a user selection of one of a confirmation command and a cancel command.
20. The method of claim 18, further comprising capturing the image by a camera located on a mobile device.
21. The method of claim 18, further comprising capturing the image by a mobile scanner.
22. The method of claim 18, wherein the image is a company logo.
23. The method of claim 18, wherein the image is a bar code located on a product package.
24. The method of claim 18, wherein the image is a QR code.
25. The method of claim 18, further comprising obtaining the image from a social networking website.
26. The method of claim 18, further comprising cross-referencing images that are stored in a database of registered personal images.
27. The method of claim 18, further comprising associating the image with a document such that the document can be used directly to initiate service or communications with a related entity.
28. A non-transitory computer readable medium for storing computer executable instructions for initiating a call-back sequence using image technology, comprising instructions that configure a communication device to:
Sending a captured image to a communication system, wherein the image is relevant to at least one of identification of active queues and identification of active providers by the communication system;
send a request to a communication system in a data format for a list of active providers and receive from the communication system a list of a plurality of active providers;
display an indication of the one or more active queues on a display screen of the communication device using a session queuing component that resides within the communication device;
obtain a user selection of a queue as a selected queue using the session queuing component; and
send a confirmation to the communication system in a data format for a call-back.
29. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 28, wherein the computer executable instructions further configure the communication device to:
send a request to the communication system in a data format for an expected wait time;
receive the expected wait time from the communication system;
display a confirmation control on a display screen of the communication device, wherein the confirmation control displays an indication of the expected wait time; and
obtain a user selection of one of a confirmation command and a cancel command.
30. A communication system for receiving incoming communications data related to an image from a communication device and initiating a call-back, the system comprising:
a search component configured to receive from a communication device data related to a captured image and initiate a database search for information corresponding to the data related to the image;
a sequence component configured to communicate with a communication device, including:
receiving a request to identify a plurality of active providers and a request to identify active queues associated with at least one of the plurality of active providers;
sending a list of the plurality of active providers and an indication of active queues associated with the at least one of the plurality of active providers, wherein at least a portion of the sent active provider and active queue information is determined based on the result of the database search related to the image;
receiving an identification of a selected queue;
the sequence component being further configured to confirm a call-back and initiates a call-back sequence to a communication receiving device;
a queue component having more than one queue and configured to assign a placeholder associated with a communication receiving device in the selected queue; and
a call-back component configured to place an outgoing call to the communication receiving device-in response to the sequence component;
wherein each of the search component, sequence component, queue component, and call-back component are embodied as one or more of at least one processor and a non-transitory computer-readable medium.
31. The communication system of claim 30, wherein the search component is further configured to uses facial recognition to identify an individual in the captured image.
32. The communication system of claim 30, wherein the database is located at the communication device.
33. The communication system of claim 30, wherein the database is located at the communication system.
34. The communication system of claim 30, wherein the database is located at a third location.
35. A method for a communication system that receives incoming communications from a communication device has queues, and will call-back to a communication receiving device, the method comprising:
receiving from a communication device data related to a captured image and an identifier associated with the communication device;
initiating a database search for information corresponding to the data related to the captured image;
selecting active queues associated with at least one of a plurality of active providers based on at least one of the received data related to the captured image and the result of the database search;
sending information about the active queues to the communication device;
receiving, from the communication device, a selected queue desired for the identifier;
assigning a placeholder for the identifier in the selected queue; and
based on a call back request being received from the communication device, initiating a call back to the communication receiving device based upon the assigned placeholder in the selected queue.
36. A non-transitory computer readable medium for storing computer executable instructions for initiating a call-back sequence using image technology, the computer executable instructions configuring a communication system to:
receive from a communication device data related to a captured image and an identifier associated with the communication device;
initiate a database search for information corresponding to the data related to the captured image;
select active queues associated with at least one of a plurality of active providers based on at least one of the received data related to the captured image and the result of the database search;
send information about the active queues to the communication device;
receive from the communication device, the selected queue desired for the identifier;
based on a call back request being received from the communication device, initiate a call back to the communication receiving device based upon the assigned placeholder in the selected queue.
37. The communication system of claim 30, wherein the captured image comprises a QR code and the result of the database search comprises information associated with the QR code.
38. The method of claim 35, wherein the captured image comprises a QR code and the result of the database search comprises information associated with the QR code.
39. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 36, wherein the captured image comprises a QR code and the result of the database search comprises information associated with the QR code.
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., China Rules the World
Trump Puts Chinese Tariffs on Hold AGAIN!
Date: December 10, 2019Author: FromTheEditorsDesk 1 Comment
Oh Trumpo … you friggin weakling. The art of the deal? More like the art of the MUSH.
Our current 68 Billion in Tariffs do NOT offset the 500 BILLION dollar trade deficit. The new tariffs would be a drop in the bucket but at least they would bring it up to 125 Billion. But for the FIFTH TIME Trumpo has delayed tariffs because they are in “negotiations”
I call BULLSHIT. And who cares about China buying our agricultural products. And what’s this SHIT about giving 10 Billion MORE To farmers. Our farmers are rich fatcats already slopping in the mud like stuck pigs with a ONE TRILLION DOLLAR farmer bill which gave them billions for NOT PLANTING and other rip offs.
Somehow Trump thinks that makes him an evil genius, NO it makes him a wuss.
By not raising Tariffs as they SHOULD HAVE Trump has flunked the ART of the deal which is FIRST and FOREMOST to lead with a strong hand.
Never trust a Billionaire to do a mans job.
U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators are laying the groundwork for a delay of a fresh round of tariffs set to kick in on Dec. 15, according to officials on both sides, as they continue to haggle over how to get Beijing to commit to massive purchases of U.S. farm products President Trump is insisting on for a near-term deal.
In recent days, officials in both Beijing and Washington have signaled that Sunday is not the final date for reaching a so-called phase-one deal—even though that is the date President Trump has set for tariffs to increase on $165 billion of Chinese goods. That date could be extended, as has happened several times when the two sides thought they were on the verge of a deal. Those prior deals, though, never held and tariffs continued to mount.
Chinese and U.S. officials involved in the talks say they don’t have a hard deadline. On Friday, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on two television appearances that there were “no arbitrary deadlines.” Such remarks from Mr. Kudlow—especially when they are restated several times—often reflect the president’s views and have been echoed privately by other U.S. officials.
With both sides hinting that negotiations could be extended beyond Dec. 15, Mr. Trump himself has gone back and forth in his public remarks between threatening a prolonged trade battle and trying to calm jittery investors. White House adviser Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, has recently become involved in trying to help the two sides reach a trade agreement.
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Our favourite podcasts
In favourites
Inspired by Paul’s interview on the We Build Academy podcast, some of the team have chosen the podcasts they most enjoy listening to.
There’s an eclectic mix, so whether you’re a keen podcast listener or perhaps just getting started, we hope you discover something you like.
Our favourite karaoke songs
We’re a divided practice when it comes to karaoke. Some of us [like Liam, Alan & Tom] can’t wait to belt out a good tune. Then there’s some who wouldn’t say no…and the rest of us that definitely wouldn’t say yes!
But one thing we do agree on is that your tune of choice says a lot about you. We’ll leave you to judge our choices below, and if we ever do make it out for a team karaoke we’ll share the video evidence.
Jolene – Dolly Parton
Our favourite buildings that let in light
It’s safe to say 99% of our clients mention wanting more natural light when we first speak to them.
Moving natural light into the heart of any building is not only aesthetically pleasing, but it also improves comfort and reduces energy use.
It’s a subject Alan chats about in detail in the latest issue of Houseproud Stamford & Rutland Magazine and inspired this month’s theme.
Our favourite projects under construction
After blogging about health and safety on site this month, we’ve each chosen our favourite construction projects. We can only imagine the health and safety responsibilities involved in something like BIG’s energy-to-waste plant in Copenhagen! Needless to say, we’re really excited to see how these projects come to life.
Our favourite low-cost builds
We’re continually impressed and inspired by creative projects that have been achieved on a small budget. From fellow architects to community projects and self-builders; check out our favourite builds that haven’t cost the earth.
By the way, if you’re a self-builder take a look at our informative guide to financing your project here.
Our favourite builds without planning permission
Worried about trying to get planning permission for your project? You needn’t be as not all projects need permission.
Many, from small extensions to loft conversions, can be undertaken within your Permitted Development Rights.
Have a read of our latest blog to find out what you can achieve without planning permission.
We also hope our favourites below provides some inspiration!
Our favourite places to visit this summer
We really enjoyed compiling our summer guide last year, so we thought we’d create another. We hope we inspire you to have some more adventures this summer.
This month we’re joined by Paul Taylor from Actus Insurance. Paul has also written a brilliant blog with everything you need to know about project insurance. Have a read here.
Wentworth – Rotherham
It’s home to the magnificent Wentworth Woodhouse, with lovely grounds to have a walk around. Wentworth Garden Centre is also a great place to visit, with a fantastic outdoor play area, a small animal farm, as well as a restaurant, independent boutique shops & gardens. There are also two friendly village pubs. [Paul Taylor]
Love Among the Ruins: A Romance of the Near Future, S1 Artspace, Park Hill, Sheffield
Learn more about the iconic Park Hill Estate (a Sheffield landmark) through an exhibition of archival photography and film of residents. The exhibition runs until Saturday 15th September 2018. [Julie]
Bounce below – Blaenau Ffestiniog, Wales
Bounce below is a huge series of cargo-net trampolines suspended inside an old Welsh, slate mine. It’s a fun and unique experience for the whole family. With the creative use of lighting and cargo-nets also making it interesting from an architectural perspective. It also happens to be next door to some great mountain bike trails! [Al]
Season of Play – Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield
I never need an excuse to recommend visiting the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. This summer they’re celebrating the #SeasonOfPlay with a series of exhibitions, events and activities to enjoy all summer long. [Fera]
Rooftop Cinema Club – The Bussey Building, Peckham
The venue screens cult films alongside current releases with fantastic views of London. Before you head up to the roof don’t miss the great selection of bars and art/architecture installations! [Sam]
Polly by Charles Holland – Fountains Abbey, Ripon
Charles Holland’s work (and his Twitter feed) is hugely enjoyable with colour and exuberance. The fact that visiting his “Polly” installation at Fountains Abbey would also involve a visit to the excellent visitor centre (by Ted Cullinan) just adds to its appeal. The abbey and gardens are a fantastic day out and enlivened by this charming piece of flamboyant design. [Paul]
Outdoor Cinema – Fritton Lake, Norfolk
If you find yourself in Norfolk (this weekend) you could visit the Outdoor Cinema club in Fritton. There will be screenings of Big, Gremlins and Dirty Dancing. [Liam]
If you have any other suggestions of places to visit this summer we’d love to know.
Our favourite buildings that transform historical sites
What do St Paul’s Cathedral, Tate Modern, and the Angel of the North all have in common?
They’re all iconic destinations loved by many, and so it’s no surprise that they were recently named in a new top ten of heritage sites.
The list is part of Historic England’s Irreplaceable: a History of England in 100 Places campaign, which brings together historic places and buildings from around the country.
There are ten categories, so naturally we were most interested in Art, Architecture & Sculpture, in which the BBC’s Arts Editor Will Gompertz selected the final ten.
We were delighted to see some locals make it in: Chatsworth House, and the Yorkshire Sculpture Park (which Paul recently visited).
After looking at the top ten, we picked our own favourites from around the world. The results are below…
Bicycle Shelter, Oxford – James Wyman Architects
I really like the simple elegance of this bicycle shelter set next to an historic hotel in Oxford. It references historic motifs but in a very delicate contemporary way. This means it sits well with its historic neighbour without being overly dominant. [Alan]
Square Chapel Arts Centre, Halifax – Evans Vettori Architects
I had the pleasure of taking part in the RIBA Yorkshire awards shortlisting process this year and this is one of the projects that stood out for me. The way the extension knits together the existing context is beautiful and is a standout building from Evans Vettori’s impressive portfolio of work. [Paul]
Giants Causeway Visitor Centre, Northern Ireland – Heneghan Peng Architects
The visitor centre acts as a kind of elongated threshold that stretches to construct a route toward the famous stones. Concealed from the coast, it folds into a restored ridge line and camouflages itself with the skin of the landscape. Theres also something immensely satisfying about the conviction in its strong geometry; despite its interior looking a little like an airport… [Liam]
Neues Museum, Berlin – David Chipperfield Architects
I had the pleasure to visit this masterpiece in 2016 and it is absolutely magical! [Julie]
de Young Museum, San Francisco – Herzog & de Meuron and Fong & Chan Architects
I adore the de Young. It first opened in 1895 in Golden Gate park, and when it re-opened in 2005 it gave over two acres of land back to the park. A must-visit if you’re ever in the city! [Fera]
We also have two guest contributors this month.
John-Paul Walker is a partner at Walker Cunnington Architects and has extensive experience in conservation and reuse, often working with non-profit organisations. He also teaches at Sheffield School of Architecture and currently acts as Heritage At Risk Architect for Historic England.
The Great Court at the British Museum, London – Foster & Partners
An amazingly refined piece of architecture, but what I really like is the way that it not only unlocks the previously clogged up building, but creates a new urban route from St Pancras to Waterloo station. [J-P]
Sam Letchford is currently working with us and has just completed his fifth year studying architecture at the University of Sheffield.
Sala Beckett, Barcelona – Flores & Prats
The Sala Beckett Theatre reworks the complex layering of a 1920’s Barcelona building, which had suffered from disjointed development throughout it’s lifetime. Rather than stripping out the existing building, Flores & Prats brought it along for the ride, reworking it into new features and creating some fantastically theatrical spaces along the way. [Sam]
We’d love to know what you think of the 100 Places campaign (do give their podcast a listen!) and which of our selection is your favourite?
Our top 5 buildings in film
Our Top 5 this month has a cinematic theme. Buildings, set design and landscapes play an important role in film, from supporting key areas of the narrative, to establishing the look and tone of the scene. There has always been a close relationship between architecture and the film industry; we decided to pick our favourite films where buildings have taken a starring role.
We also asked Alex Maxwell to choose his favourite building. As well as teaching undergraduate architecture at the University of Sheffield, Alex co-owns design-led bookshop La Biblioteka which stocks a plethora of film publications – so it’s safe to say Alex was keen to be involved.
James Goldstein House – John Lautner – The Big Lebowski
I love the incredible concrete ceiling in the main living space and the way this house seamlessly blends inside and out. I also love the unusual views which are framed of the surrounding landscape. [Alan]
Nakatomi Plaza (Fox Plaza) – Johnson, Fain and Pereira Associates – Die Hard
Although aesthetically it leaves much to be desired, Nakatomi Plaza is more than just a location in Die Hard. It is both intrinsic to the conceit of the narrative and becomes its own character throughout the film, as John McClane navigates and utilises its shadowy corners to outwit Hans Gruber on Christmas Eve, 1988. The floor where the party-going staff are initially taken hostage had deliberately been designed in the style of Fallingwater, by Frank Lloyd Wright. But in all honesty, the reason why I chose it is because I just really love Die Hard. [Liam]
Vela di Scampa – Franz di Salvo – Gomorrah
While this tough watch scampers across central Italy as much as a Fellini caper, the scenes that hit home are the violent domestic strife, filmed at the Vela di Scampa housing estate, designed by Franz di Salvo in 1962. At the forefront of post-war social housing design in Italy, di Salvo was inspired by Kenzo Tange’s megastructures, and as well as distinctive triangular apartments. He wanted to provide ultra-modern meeting places, playing fields and other facilities, but unfortunately they never materialised and the oft-repeated story of estate decline was accelerated by an earthquake that left many homeless. Whilst known for its Camorra links, many families still call its aerial parks and streets-in-the-sky home. [Alex]
The Grid – Joseph Kosinski / Darren Gilford – Tron: Legacy
A film like Tron: Legacy (a son searching for his father inside a video game world) was always going to have a strong emphasis on design and visual effects, which explains why the film was directed by an architect. Joseph Kosinski’s Tron is a world in 3D, full of geometric lines, neon lights and futuristic vehicles that play against a soundtrack by Daft Punk, who are known as much for their visual imagery as they are their music. Jeff Bridges (who also starred in the 1982 original which Kosinski heavily references) said: “It’s interesting different filmmakers where they come from and what they bring to the film and he’s an architect, and so the film has a very, you know, heightened design feel to it”. I couldn’t have put it better myself, Jeff. [Fera]
Villa Arpel – Jacques Lagrange – Mon Oncle
French comedy Mon Oncle, directed by Jacques Tati in 1958, centres around the character Monsieur Hulot and his relationship with his nephew Gérard Arpel in postwar France. The ultra-modern Villa Arpel is situated in a new suburb of Paris and is Tati’s response to the modernism movement. The villa and garden looks as though it has just landed on earth and is anything but practical, which makes it perfect for comedy! And I love how this cold grey box becomes alive at night when the two circular windows looks like two big eyes. [Julie]
LA skyline – Dennis Gassner / Alessandra Querzola – Blade Runner 2049
My thoughts on the film Blade Runner 2049 were mixed; the film was absorbing but didn’t quite strike the same chord as the original. My lasting impressions, though, were of the place and the architecture which made the film for me. I went to see it with other Architects and we chatted more about this than the story afterwards – from the vast, desolate cityscapes to the stunningly formed and starkly lit interiors that disappeared into shadows. [Paul]
Now you’ve seen our selection, we would love to hear from you. What is your favourite building / architectural landscape from a film?
Our top 5 Rural Homes [& Landscapes]
This month we’re sharing our favourite homes in the countryside. These are houses which take advantage of, and enhance, the beautiful landscapes in which they’re sited. We’re often asked to look at isolated plots in stunning landscapes so we’re always interested in how others work in these idyllic settings. These are a collection of the projects that have inspired us recently.
We’ve also asked Simon Hall, as a Landscape Architect and regular collaborator on our NPPF55 projects, to give us his guest expert choice…
Shearer’s Quarters House – John Wardle Architects
This has a lovely mix of cheap robust cladding and a beautifully bespoke interior. The house’s sculptural form sits in the folds of the site and feels very rooted in its place. [Paul]
Tinhouse – Rural Design
This is an elegant and well thought through minimalist and cost effective design. It’s great that the magnificent view is at the centre of the design [Julie]
Marika Alderton House – Glenn Murcutt
Built as a prototype structure in response to the Australian authorities attempts at poorly accommodating masonry homes for Aborigine communities, the Marika Alderton House’s unique form and materiality is a result of its negotiation with the tropical climate of the Northern Territory of Australia.
Despite criticism suggesting it has willfully disregarded the mobile nature of the native aborigine culture, it has been conceived in a way that keeps it cool during intense and near perpetual heat, as well as lifting itself above the ground to alleviate severe flooding; whilst also keeping the spiders and snakes out! [Liam]
Coromandel Bach – Crosson Architect
I love the effortless simplicity of this New Zealand beach house. I also love the fact the main living space can be opened up on two sides which really blurs the line between indoors and out. [Alan]
Casablanca II – Teresa Moller
Inspired by their spellbinding recent lecture at #Landscape50, we have selected a landscape architect who has created beautifully understated landscapes within countryside and coastal settings. Chile based Teresa Moller described a series of commissions that show great restraint. The introduction of purposeful lines, forms and features truly enhance the stunning natural and agricultural settings. [Simon]
For this month’s post we’ve invited Simon Hall from PWP Design to share his favourite countryside based project. PWP Design are an imaginative Yorkshire based landscape architecture practice.
www.pwpdesign.co.uk
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On the Campus FYI: Findings
Published in the November 17, 2010 Issue
Steven Veach
Market forces may have driven America’s foreclosure crisis, but RACIAL SEGREGATION also played a significant role, according to research by Professor Douglas Massey and Ph.D. candidate Jacob Rugh published in the October issue of American Sociological Review. Using data from the 100 largest U.S. cities, the authors found that metropolitan areas with more segregation of blacks and Hispanics had higher rates of foreclosure. The authors recommend establishing regular government audits of the markets for credit, homes, and other goods to enforce civil rights law and curb discrimination.
The BIOLOGICAL CLOCKS of worms and humans may wind down for similar reasons, according a study led by Professor Coleen Murphy and published in Cell Oct. 15. Similarities in the genes that control the reproductive span of women and female C. elegans, nematodes commonly used to study genetics, might lead to new strategies for preserving fertility in women, according to the researchers.
DRYING SOILS Nature
International debate team wins title in Singapore
Slide show: Princeton-Harvard
Football was just one of the day's events for alumni and students on a near-perfect autumn day.
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The Latest Articles from PBS Wisconsin
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Plucky Robot Games
Osprey Adrift
The Designer Diaries
The Robot Plays
Kickstarter Highlight
Kickstarter Roundup
Kickstarter Game of the Week
September 1, 2018 September 1, 2018 pluckyrobot Kickstarter Roundup
September Kickstarter Roundup!
Happy day, friends!
Despite my best efforts, it’s been tough to find time to squeeze in any Kickstarter previews and reviews. Life (and work) have a way of eating all of my time. But never fear! I’m still bringing you some of my favorite Kickstarter games that are live this month. So without any more fiddlefarting, here they are…
Beatdown: Streets of Justice
If you grew up in the late ’80s and early ’90s like I did, then you’re probably no stranger to awesome side-scrolling beat-em-up arcade games like Final Fight, River City Ransom, Battletoads, etc. etc. etc. (Okay, Battletoads wasn’t my favorite, but only on account of its insane level of difficulty. Those motorcycles still haunt my nightmares.) Beatdown: Streets of Justice pays homage to those button-mashing classics of yesteryear in the form of a fast-paced, combo builder that can be played with up to four players co-operatively, or 100% solo.
Even the art style on the cards amps up the nostalgia factor – I immediately got some River City Ransom vibes, and with boss character names like Boss Newman and Reflecto the Brilliant, this game really understands its target audience. There’s a tounge-in-cheekness to it that’s great to see in an indie game.
In terms of gameplay, Beatdown: Streets of Justice looks like a riot. Depending on which fighter you’re playing as, you’ve got a totally unique fighting style and way of building combos with your moves (each represented by a card) that adds an element of press-your-luck to the game – with each move you add to your combo, it becomes harder and harder to land your next blow, and you could leave yourself open to enemies’ attacks. This, along with the art style and theme, is the perfect tabletop representation of those old school arcade games, where you had to time your strikes and combos just right.
If you’re a fan of classic arcade fighting games, or even if you’re not, be sure to check out Beatdown: Streets of Justice on Kickstarter!
Microwbrew
From the masterminds One Free Elephant (makers of Ore-some! and one of my favorites, Carcosa), Microbrew packs a lot of punch in a tiny box. It follows in the product design footsteps of other tiny-box games like Mint Works, which I absolutely love – I’m always in need of more grab-and-go games that I can take on road trips, camping, or keep in my pocket for a game emergency (hey, it’s a thing).
Microbrew combines some light worker placement with puzzle mechanics to create a light-to-medium weight game about brewing the *perfect* beer. Players try to to combine wort and hops in the correct combinations to earn loyal brewery customers. But there’s also an element of added puzzley-ness since players also have to manage the brewery’s advertisements and staff.
The core game has all the components for two players to go head-to-head, but the campaign allows you to pledge a reduced amount for two copies – which allows you to play with up to four players! The Kickstarter page even has some really great animation to show off the gameplay – swing over to the Kickstarter page and check out Microbrew!
Rap Godz
I’ve been following BGBrothas for awhile now on Instagram, and it’s so awesome to finally see Rap Godz live on Kickstarter! I’m a huge fan of underserved themes in board games, and Rap Godz delivers a great game and phenomenal art fully integrated into the theme of becoming a hip hop legend. While it’s true I’ll probably never tire of high fantasy or zombies, it’s a lot more exciting when you play a game that’s unique and fully-realized.
In Rap Godz, up to four players compete to earn the most plaques (bronze, gold, and platium, of course!) by taking over cities, achieving career goals, and starting beef with other players. One of the coolest examples of how the game is perfectly tuned to the theme, is the turntable-esque game board –
Everything about Rap Godz oozes theme – from the gameplay to the product design to the artwork. I’m not kidding when I say that I’d have backed this game just for the artwork alone. There’s a lot of old school hip hop nostalgia packed into this game, and I can’t wait to see these guys fully fund the Kickstarter and start unlocking stretch goals. Be sure to check out Rap Godz on Kickstarter!
World of Mythology: King of the Hill
Speaking of high fantasy… feast your eyes on all the glory that is World of Mythology: King of the Hill! World of Mythology: King of the Hill promises to be a role-playing board game, which can be played competitively, co-operatively, or even solo. (Score!) The gameplay is divided into two phases, with players exploring a gorgeously illustrated world to strengthen your hero with artifacts and treasures in the first phase, and then fight for the Holy Hill and the right to be called the highest god in the second phase.
This game is just packed to the brim with amazing gameplay – there’s a lot to love about it, and it’s great to see a somewhat weightier game on Kickstarter, which tends to favor lighter, more family-friendly fare. (Nothing wrong with that though!) The Kickstarter page has a nice rundown of the core elements of the strategic role-playing centric gameplay, and the Jumperound team is planning on posting a tutorial video in the near future as well.
Aside from the meaty and delicious gameplay, World of Mythology: King of the Hill also boasts an impressive amount of fiddly components. My poor nerd heart could barely contain itself when I pored over the board, cards, tokens, and… miniatures. These are some of the coolest miniatures I’ve seen from an indie Kickstarter. In all, there are 47 minis in 17 unique sculpts – all representing six different mythological pantheons (Greek, Egyptian, Norse, Slavic, Hindu, and a Lovecraftian “mixed” mythology).
I didn’t want to post a ton of pictures on the blog to save your devices some data if you’re on a cellular network… but be darned sure to check out the Kickstarter page to feast your eyes on all of World of Mythology: King of the Hill!
Well, gang, that’s all for today. Until next time! Keep it plucky!
Tagged Featured, Kickstarter Roundup
Published by pluckyrobot
View all posts by pluckyrobot
August Kickstarter Roundup!
October Kickstarter Roundup!
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Polenta & Baccalá
Cooking with Graziano – Authentic Italian recipes, and more
Appetizers / Antipasti
First Courses / Primi piatti
Main Courses / Secondi piatti
Pizza/Focaccia/Bread
Sunday lunch ideas
Vegan and/or Vegetarian
“How To Recognize Them”
Hungary Gastro Map
"How to recognize them"
“How To Recognize Them” – Italian Dry Cured Hams
Posted by polentaebaccala on May 23, 2017 May 24, 2017
Often outside Italy I hear people referring to “Italian prosciutto”, but that definition doesn’t mean much, and it doesn’t guarantee automatically if it’s a good product or not 🙂 there are so many varieties of cured ham in Italy, with different characteristics, that to be appropriate we should talk at the plural, and we have to specify each type if we want to speak a bit more deeply about this subject, and to really understand type to type.
First of all the origin of the name: “prosciutto” comes from the Latin word “perexsuctum” which means “dried”.
As always, there are good quality products and lower quality products (the latter almost always made with extra additives/preservatives added during the curing process). Here I am going to show the cured hams which are protected by a PDO/DOP certification (Protected Designation of Origin) or the PGI/IGP certification, the ones whose quality is certified and the ones having official procedural guidelines to keep certain quality standards. This is the symbol of the DOP/PDO certification:
Just to understand, most of the hams produced in Italy are made with pigs coming from other countries and they don’t have any consortium controlling the whole process: every year in Italy are produced about 18-20 millions of thighs (which are mostly used for the DOP/PDO certified products listed below), but about 60 millions of thighs are imported from northern and eastern European countries, to be processed in Italy and then sold as “made in Italy” at cheaper costs, and in most of cases at lower quality.
Obviously there are also small producers making very good quality products without being part of any DOP/IGP consortium, but in those cases you need a personal relationship based on trust to be sure that what you are buying is a good quality product, so in those cases it’s to judge case by case.
All the following hams are made with pigs thighs which are usually following the procedural guidelines of Parma and San Daniele hams (the 2 leading consortiums in Italy), they have similar techniques, but what’s changing are the locations where these hams are being aged: this is giving their typical organoleptic characteristics.
And what’s also important, all of the following DOP/PDO hams (and some of the IGP/PGI too) are produced without adding additives, colorants or preservatives (so no nitrites/nitrates/etc. are added), because they are prohibited by the strict rules of the Consortiums. And because they are not needed if who makes the hams is a skilled and expert artisan working only good quality and controlled raw ingredients with safe techniques. Moreover, they are usually not smoked too (with just few exceptions).
Basically they use just four ingredients: pork, salt, air and time 🙂
This I think is very important because as you maybe remember not long ago the WHO (World Health Organisation) warned about the consumption of processed meat because is related to the development of some tumors (when they are eaten regularly and often, although those numbers are not so huge as some medias/websites interpreted), especially because of the nitrites and the smoke which are usually used in most of the processed meat products available on the worldwide markets (they are not dangerous in itself and as you know there are always safety levels, but this is interesting especially if you cook those products because during the cooking process the nitrites can develop in nitrosamines, but also in the stomach they do unless next to those products you eat also enough vegetables containing vitamins C and E, acting as inhibitors against nitrosamines)…that’s the point, in those studies they put everything in the same group and without making differences between bad quality and good quality, and they never mention that there are also some good products which are made just with salt and nothing else, like these good quality products that I’m going to list below, but also some others deserve to be quoted: for example also the Dalmatian ham (Dalmatinski pršut) in Croatia, the Istrian ham (Istarski pršut) in Croatia too, the Kraški pršut in Slovenia (on the border with Italy), the Jambon de Bayonne Bio in France, and some of the best Spanish hams too (as the Joselito) they all don’t contain extra additives/preservatives too. Of course, also these products shouldn’t be eaten every day, as always moderation is the key, but there is a difference so let’s say it and let’s specify it.
Let’s see now which are the most famous Italian hams and let’s see their characteristics a bit more in the details and with the help of some links.
Prosciutto di Parma DOP (Parma ham): the most famous and the one with the highest numbers of production, with over 8 millions hams per year. It has a very long history and its roots date back to the Ancient Rome time: already at that time the people living in that area was famous for their hams, Cato de Elder in his “De Agri Cultura” described the process of making hams and it was very similar to the nowadays process. This ham has the PDO/DOP certification and its own official procedural guidelines to strictly follow: the pigs must be born and grown exclusively in 10 specific Italian regions and they must be specially bred Large White, Landrance and Duroc breeds, their diet is regulated by those guidelines (grains, cereals and whey from Parmigiano Reggiano cheese production), and they must be over 9 months old and having a weight around 160 Kg. Then the whole process has to be made in a limited area, south of the Emilia way not less than 5 km from it and up to a maximum altitude of 900 meters, bordered, to the East, by the River Enza and, to the West, by the Stirone stream. The fresh thighs have to rest 24 hours long in refrigerated rooms until it reaches 0 °C (at which the thigh it’s easier to trim). After the trimming the thighs lose about 24% of their original weight. Then comes the salting: the pigskin is covered with humid sea salt, while the muscular parts are covered with dry salt. This is a delicate operation that has to be made at the right temperatures: a too cold thigh will absorb less salt while at higher temperatures the meat could get worse. After this operation is going in a refrigerated room between 1 and 4 °C with 80% humidity for about one week and gets a second thin coating of salt (after having removed the first residual salt) which is left on another 15 to 18 days depending on weight. Salt is the only preservative used in the processing method, no chemical elements are allowed. After this time there is a further 4% of weight loss. Next the hams hang for a period ranging between 60 and 80 days in refrigerated rooms, at 75% humidity and at a temperature between 1 and 5 °C. During this step the air exchange is very frequent and after this period of time there is another 8/10% of weight loss. Then the hams are washed with warm water and brushed to remove excess salt and impurities, then hung in drying rooms for a few days. Now the hams are hung on frames (called “scalere”) in well ventilated rooms with large windows that are opened when the outside temperature and humidity are favorable, and by the end of this phase there is another 8/10% of weight loss. Then it comes the “sugnatura“, the greasing phase: the exposed surfaces of the hams are softened with a paste of minced lard, salt, ground pepper (and sometimes rice flour too) in order to prevent the external layers drying too rapidly. In the 7th month, the ham is transferred to the “cellars”, rooms with less air and light and hanged on racks until the curing is completed (and during this last phase there is a further 5% of weight loss). By law Parma Ham is cured at least 1 year (starting from the date of the first salting), and some may be cured as long as 3 years. After this time the hams are controlled by inspectors of the Quality Institute and branded with the identifying mark featuring the famous 5-pointed crown and some codes making each ham 100% traceable. Hams produced in the same region but not meeting the requirements set by the Consortium cannot be branded with the official certification mark and are not authorized to bear the name Parma, even if they originate from the Parma area.
Prosciutto di San Daniele DOP: the second for numbers with about 2.7 millions of hams per year. It’s produced exclusively in the hilly territory of San Daniele, a small town in Friuli Venezia Giulia region where the winds coming down from the Alps give their typical organoleptic characteristics. Also this ham has its own official procedural guidelines and also the PDO/DOP certification. It is recognizable also for its typical guitar shape. The pigs must be born and grown exclusively in 10 specific Italian regions, their diet is regulated by those guidelines (grains, cereals and whey), they must be over 9 months old when slaughtered, a weight of at least 160 kg and the fresh thighs must have a minimum weight of 11 Kg and it must have a layer of external fat of at least 15 mm, skin included. The thighs to be processed must have no less than 24 hours and no more than 120 hours. First the fresh thighs have to rest in refrigerated rooms until they reach 0 °C (at which the thigh it’s easier to trim). Then comes the trimming and then the salting, using just sea salt, and it lasts a number of days equal to the kilograms of each thigh. After this operation the residual salt is removed and it comes the “pressing” phase typical of San Daniele process, helping the salt to penetrate better in the meat and giving a better texture. Then it’s going in a refrigerated room between 4 and 6 °C with 70 to 80% humidity resting for 60 to 90 days. After the resting phase the thighs are washed and then put to dry in specific rooms for a period of time of 7/8 days. After that time it begins the aging phase which lasts usually 8 months and during this time comes 1 or 2 times a process of “sugnatura“, the greasing phase: the exposed surfaces of the hams are covered with a paste of minced lard, salt, ground pepper and rice flour. The whole aging process must last at least 13 months from the first step.
Valle d’Aosta Jambon de Bosses DOP: this is a mountain cured ham produced only in the small area of Saint-Rhémy-en-Bosses in the Aosta Valley region at about 1600 meters of altitude (“the highest ham in Europe”), it also has the PDO/DOP certification and its official procedural guidelines to follow. It’s also a ham with a long history: some registers confirm its existence back to the XIV century, and in this case the production is limited, less than 10.000 thighs per year. The pigs must come from Aosta Valley, Piedmont, Lombardy, Veneto or Emilia Romagna regions, they must be over 9 months old when slaughtered and a weight of at least 160 kg. The fresh thighs are being salted and also herbs are added: sage, rosemary, juniper, thyme, bay leaves, garlic, pepper and local mountain herbs. Any other additive/preservative is forbidden. During the first 15-18 days the thighs are massaged to push out all the blood. In the past the “maturazione” occured in humid cellars and barns, but nowadays the aging process takes place in controlled and clean rooms where those specific climates are reproduced. Then the thighs are being washed and dried, and on the cut side it’s applied a mixture of pepper, and then starts the aging time for at least 12 months and up to 30 months, in rooms were is reproduced the climate of the rascards, traditional granaries typical of this mountain area, where they lay on a bed of hay. The final product has to have a minimum weight of 7 kg.
Prosciutto di Carpegna DOP: it’s produced in the village of Carpegna (where the local hams are produced since the XV century) and it has the PDO/DOP certification and its official procedural guidelines to follow. The pigs must come from Lombardy, Emilia Romagna or Marche regions and must follow the same standards of the pigs for Parma ham and San Daniele ham. The salting process is no longer than 11 days and is made with salt, pepper and in some cases juniper, and the aging process is at least 13 months long. The final product has to have a minimum weight of 8 kg. Also for this ham any other additive/preservative is forbidden.
Prosciutto Toscano DOP: The pigs must come from Lombardy, Emilia Romagna, Marche, Umbria, Lazio or Tuscany regions and must follow the same standards of the pigs for Parma ham and San Daniele ham. It must be produced in Tuscany and it has the PDO/DOP certification and its official procedural guidelines to follow. The thighs are trimmed giving a typical arch shape, and for the salting phase are used salt, pepper and spices. Few years ago its official procedural guidelines have been updated and now any other additive/preservative is forbidden. After a first resting phase where the thighs lose liquids the thighs are washed and then it comes the “sugnatura“, the greasing phase: the exposed surfaces of the hams are softened with a paste of lard, salt, ground pepper and rice flour in order to prevent the external layers drying too rapidly. The aging process has to last at least 10 months for the hams with a weight between 7,5 and 8,5 kg, and at least 12 months for hams with a weight over 8,5 kg. Then it’s branded with the identifying mark featuring the text “PROSCIUTTO TOSCANO DOP” written on 3 lines over the image of Tuscany region and 4 stars, with a code that makes each ham traceable.
Prosciutto di Modena DOP: It’s produced in the area of Modena, neighboring the more famous Parma, and it’s also an area famous for pig farms. It has the PDO/DOP certification and its official procedural guidelines to follow. It has a pear shape, a minimum weight of 7 Kg. The pigs must be specially bred Large White, Landrance and Duroc breeds and they must be over 9 months old and having a weight around 150-160 Kg. The aging process is at least 12 months long and also for this ham any other additive/preservative is forbidden.
Prosciutto Veneto Berico-Euganeo DOP: It’s produced in the area of Veneto region (only some villages). It has the PDO/DOP certification and its official procedural guidelines to follow. It has a minimum weight of 7-8 Kg. The pigs must have a weight around 150-160 Kg. The aging process is at least 10 months long and also for this ham any other additive/preservative is forbidden.
Prosciutto Crudo di Cuneo DOP: It’s produced in between the provinces of Cuneo, Asti and Turin. It has the PDO/DOP certification and its official procedural guidelines to follow. It has a minimum weight of 7 Kg. The pigs must be specially bred Large White, Landrance and Duroc breeds and they must be over 8 months old and having a weight around 150-160 Kg. The aging process is at least 10 months long and also for this ham any other additive/preservative is forbidden.
Prosciutto di Sauris IGP: It’s produced only by 2 producers in the village of Sauris, between the mountains of Friuli Venezia-Giulia region, and it has the PGI/IGP certification and its official procedural guidelines to follow. It’s different than all the other Italian hams because it is lightly smoked with smoke made with beech wood and for no more than 72 hours. The smoking room is between 15 and 20 °C. This ham has a minimum weight of 7,5 Kg. The pigs must have a weight around 160 Kg. The aging process is at least 10 months long and also for this ham any other additive/preservative is forbidden.
Prosciutto di Norcia IGP: It’s produced between the villages of Norcia, Cascia, Preci, Poggiodomo, Monteleone di Spoleto, all in Umbria region, and it has the PGI/IGP certification and its official procedural guidelines to follow. This ham has a pear shape and a minimum weight of 8,5 Kg. The pigs must have a weight around 160 Kg. The aging process is at least 12 months long. Its procedural guidelines say that “salt and pepper are used for the seasoning”, but in this case they don’t explicitly specify if other additives are allowed. So there could be some using additives too, the solution to know it is to read well on the labels, as always.
Speck dell’Alto Adige IGP: it’s a smoked ham typical of Trentino Alto Adige, that area of Italy where German language is spoken. It’s made with deboned thighs, it’s smoked and it has the PGI/IGP certification. But their procedural guidelines allow to use not only Italian pigs but also pigs coming from other countries of European Community, and it’s also allowed to use additives/preservatives, although there are some producers that make it without additives/preservatives. There is to read the labels.
Other smaller productions without EU certifications where additives/preservatives are not used too:
Prosciutto di Cormons: made since 3 generations by the family D’Osvaldo in Cormons, near Slovenia, this ham is lightly smoked and aged between 16 and 24 months. No additives/preservatives are used, just salt, pepper and natural aromas.
Prosciutto di Nero dei Nebrodi: it’s a ham made on the Nebrodi mountains in Sicily, made with pigs of a specific old breed called Nero dei Nebrodi, amazing animals, which are living free range. Not everyone, but there are some producers that make these hams with no additives/preservatives.
Prosciutto di Cinta Senese: it’s made in Tuscany with the famous ancient breed called Cinta Senese, the only pig breed in Italy which is a PDO itself.
Prosciutto di Venticano: it’s produced in the village of Venticano since the ‘800. It’s made with Italian pigs and it’s aged for at least 16 months (but there are some hams aged up to 4 years). No additives/preservatives are used.
Prosciutto Irpino: it’s produced in Avellino province. It’s made with Italian pigs and it’s aged for at least 18 months. No additives/preservatives are used.
Gammune di Belmonte: It’s produced in the village of Belmonte in Calabria region, it’s similar to a Culatello, and it’s made only with pigs of the ancient local breed called Nero di Calabria. It’s seasoned with salt and bell pepper powder, and aged for at least 16 months. No additives/preservatives are used.
Prosciutto di Nero di Calabria: made with pigs from the breed Nero di Calabria (which live almost wild), and aged up to 36 months. No additives/preservatives are used. There is an association of producers called “Nero di Calabria”.
Prosciutto montano della Val Vigezzo: it’s a smoked ham produced at 800 m altitude in Val Vigezzo, an area of Piedmont region, using only thighs of Italian pigs. It’s aged for 15-18 months. No additives are used.
There are others too, smaller productions, but as I said you need a direct relationship with the producers or the sellers to be sure that no extra additives are used, and to be sure of the origin of the meat.
Resuming: nitrites/nitrates are usually needed (on industrial scale) in processed meat as salami, sausages, etc. where the meat is cut into smaller pieces and then aged, to avoid the botulism risk. But in the hams, where there is a whole piece of meat, as I previously said they are not needed. I repeat once again, this is true if who is making the hams knows perfectly his job, if he is very skillful and if the meat used is good quality respecting certain precise standards and trustworthy steps during their curing process. Processed meat is not to abuse, but since there are already nitrites/nitrates in most of salami and sausages my opinion is that at least we can avoid them when eating the hams by buying good quality products. And to buy good quality products we have to know well some more information.
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A Justice League Review – Lessons Learned
TITLE: Justice League
STARRING: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Gal Gadot, Ezra Miller
DIRECTOR: Zack Snyder
STUDIOS: Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Films, RatPac Entertainment, Atlas Entertainment, Cruel and Unusual Films
RATED: PG-13
RUN-TIME: 120 min
***WARNING: Spoilers lay ahead.***
By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder
Justice League is a standard superhero popcorn flick. It’s nowhere near as dark, dreary, and generally abysmal as Batman v Superman. But it also doesn’t accomplish anything remotely special. It’s about a team of heroes coming together to fight a villain with a doomsday plan. Been there, done that. Several times, actually. So what we get comes off completely and utterly average.
After all these years, the first Justice League feature film is just average. What an awful, heartbreaking waste…
The plot is basic enough to surmise from the advertising. As the world continues to mourn the death of Superman, we’ve got a new big bad in town. Steppenwolf, a tyrant from the hellscape world of Apokalips, has returned to Earth after thousands of years with his army of Parademons in tow. He aims to conquer the world using the immense power of three “Mother Boxes.” Batman and Wonder Woman prepare to meet this invasion head on by assembling a team of super-powered heroes. The Flash, Cyborg, and Aquaman are all called to action. But in the end, they won’t be enough. For this new team to triumph, Superman must return…
Trust me, it’s a lot more exciting on paper than it is on screen.
Justice League is the culmination of the years-long comedy of errors that is the “DC Extended Universe.” Man of Steel was an adequate start, flawed as it was with it’s dreary look and overindulgent third act. It was followed by the downright dour Batman v Superman, which robbed its characters of almost any charm, heart, or likability. Suicide Squad wasted arguably pop culture’s most iconic supervillain in the Joker, but managed to be fun in a mindless hot mess sort of way. Wonder Woman was the exception that made the rule. It felt like a single vision, with purpose, heart, and passion put into it.
And so, on one the most rickety foundations in cinematic history, Justice League was built. Like Suicide Squad before it, this movie feels like a melting pot of visions, voices, and priorities clumped together to form a viable commercial product. Our director is once again Zack Snyder. But with their confidence shaken from the backlash to Batman v Superman, Warner Bros. brought in Avengers director Joss Whedon to reshape the script. Thus, we have a Joss Whedon superhero movie taking place in Zack Snyder’s grim DC Universe, under the management of a studio desperate to compete with Marvel at the box office. Hot damn! Sign me up!
One of the major missteps in Justice League is it’s choice of villain. DC Comics lore is full of baddies worthy of challenging Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. Darkseid is the obvious choice. But you’ve also got big cosmic villains like Brainiac, Mongul, and Despero. Professor Ivo and the Amazo android could have made for an interesting story. Hell, team Lex Luthor up with the Joker! It sure as hell beats Steppenwolf…
Yes, Steppenwolf. A second-rate, paper-thin, poorly rendered Darkseid stand-in with an army of space bugs, a silly name, and a generic doomsday plot. This is who they came up with to face the Justice League in their debut feature film. Strictly from a cynical marketing standpoint, how the hell to you pass up slapping Darkseid, Brainiac, or Lex Luthor on t-shirts and posters, and instead opt for someone called Steppenwolf?
Justice League cost a whopping $300 million to make. That’s astounding, considering our CGI-rendered Steppenwolf looks like he was done in the late ’90s. It’s not just him, either. It’s been well documented that reshoots were done with a mustached Henry Cavill. The movie’s opening sequence wasn’t even over before Mrs. Primary Ignition turned to me and asked, “What’s up with Superman’s mouth?” Certain shots in Batman’s introduction are also extremely fake looking. Makes you wonder what the hell happened to good old fashioned stunt doubles and prosthetic make up…
Superman has a certain aura of reverence in this movie. Had that been earned or established in Man of Steel or Batman v Superman, that would have been fantastic. I’ve always been a proponent of Superman being the center, or at least part of the center, of the DC Universe. He’s certainly its moral backbone. But all this mourning we see over Superman doesn’t match the controversial figure we saw in Batman v Superman. Yes, some people loved him. But he was also the subject of protests and a congressional hearing. Lois Lane, Batman, Wonder Woman, and those who knew Superman have a reason to miss him. But based on what we saw before, there’d be a large contingent of people who’d be glad Superman died.
So now that I’ve sufficiently ripped Justice League apart, what’s there to like? What did they get right? Believe it or not, all was not lost from the get go…
Unlike in Batman v. Superman, almost all of our heroes are likable. Superman knows how to smile. Wonder Woman is compassionate, but still fierce. I’ve never needed a lot of selling on Ben Affleck’s Batman. Joss Whedon’s influence in the movie is obvious when the Dark Knight gets in a quip or two. Ezra Miller plays a socially inept Flash, who provides much of the comic relief. His costume looks absolutely ridiculous. But there’s a certain charm to him. Jason Momoa’s Aquaman is surprisingly okay as a dude bro. For a team flick, it works fine. Granted it’s not the approach I would have gone with, and they’ll obviously need to deepen his character for the Aquaman solo movie. Assuming that’s still in the pipeline after all this.
As much as this movie fell short of what it could have been, there is a certain warm and fuzzy quality to seeing these characters on the big screen together. Most of them aren’t true to the essence of the iconic characters they’re based on. But at the very least it’s cool on a superficial level to see Batman is standing next to Wonder Woman. Superman is running next to the Flash! Aquaman is in Atlantis! It’s a highly tarnished version of what we should be getting. But at least we’re getting it in some form. That counts for something.
And so, four years into the DC Extended Universe, what have we learned? What has the road to Justice League taught us? More than anything, it’s this: Darkness doesn’t equate to quality. At least not to larger audiences.
Some people point to darker tales like The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen as the pinnacle of the superhero genre. But while they pushed the boundaries of how these stories and characters could work and be seen, they weren’t simply dark for the sake of darkness. The Dark Knight Returns isn’t just about an older and grittier Batman getting to punch Superman in the face. It’s about a hero returning to face a world that’s changed in his absence. Watchmen isn’t about Rorschach beating people up. It’s a look at superheroes from a different, more grounded angle. The dark tones fit the stories and the characters, not the other way around.
We also need to remember that at the end of the day these characters are meant for children. That doesn’t mean we can’t love them as adults. We don’t need to dumb them down for kids, but we can’t keep them all for ourselves either. If DC and Warner Bros. should have learned one thing from Disney and Marvel, it wasn’t the cinematic universe element. It’s that these movies can be accessible to viewers of all ages. They can be mature without being meant for mature audiences.
The blame Justice League‘s failures, creative and otherwise, falls primarily on the studio higher-ups. But the finger also needs to be pointed at Zack Snyder. He’s got a devoted fanbase that will filet me for saying so. But if Batman v Superman didn’t convince you, the fact that the first Justice League movie didn’t outperform the third Thor movie should say it all. Snyder must be kept far away from any and all future DC films. I shudder to think what this movie would have looked like without Joss Whedon’s influence.
Superhero movies can be thrilling, emotional, and surprisingly versatile. But at their core, they aren’t complicated. Give us a hero worth rooting for, a villain worth rooting against, and a reason for them to fight. We don’t need to see a bad guy get his neck snapped, a bomb inside a jar of piss, or a city destroyed to compensate for a lack of emotional connection with the audience.
Lessons learned. Six years and millions of dollars too late. But lessons learned…
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This entry was posted in Comic Books/Graphic Novels, Movies and tagged Amy Adams, Aquaman, Arthur Curry, Atlas Entertainment, Barry Allen, Batman, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Ben Affleck, Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, comic book movies, Cruel and Unusual Films, Cyborg (DC Comics), DC Comics, DC Extended Universe, DC Films, Diana Prince, Ezra Miller, Gal Gadot, Henry Cavill, Jason Momoa, Joss Whedon, Justice League, Justice League (2017 film), Lois Lane, Man of Steel (2013), Mother Box, Movies, Mrs. Primary Ignition, parademons, PG-13, RatPac Entertainment, Ray Fisher, Rob Siebert, Steppenwolf, Suicide Squad (2016 film), superhero movies, Superman, The Avengers, The Avengers (2012 film), The Flash, Thor: Ragnarok, Victor Stone, Warner Bros., Warner Bros. Pictures, Wonder Woman, Wonder Woman (2017 film), Zack Snyder on 11/26/2017 by primaryignition.
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Symantec releases Norton 2008 products
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Norton AntiVirus 2008 offers convenience, effectiveness, and speed to consumers who want to protect their computers from viruses, spyware, worms and other threats. Norton AntiVirus 2008 includes behavior-based protection technology that detects emerging spyware and viruses even before threat signatures are available as well as browser protection to ensure that malware on websites cannot load and execute. For greater home network security, Norton AntiVirus 2008 enables users to quickly see which computers and devices are connected to their home networks.
Norton Internet Security 2008 focuses on delivering protection with better performance and usability, all backed by integrated and automated support functionality. New Browser Defender technology defends against drive-by downloads and other new or unknown threats that exploit vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer. New identity protection technology keeps confidential information safe, while performance and usability enhancements make security faster and easier than ever. New home network mapping feature checks the status of wireless network security, maps connected devices, and provides expert advice to help users manage network security settings.
Norton Internet Security 2008 includes antispyware, antivirus, antiphishing, rootkit detection and remediation, vulnerability protection, and firewall technologies. It also includes SONAR behavioral protection that detects threats even before signature-based definitions are available as well as browser protection to ensure that malware on websites cannot load and execute.
Norton AntiVirus 2008 and Norton Internet Security 2008 are available for purchase through the Symantec online store at http://www.symantecstore.com/ph as well as various retail locations.
The suggested retail price of Norton AntiVirus 2008 is PhP1, 999.00 for a one PC license which includes a one-year service subscription to use the product and receive Symantec’s protection updates. Norton AntiVirus 2008 is also available in three-, five- and 10-user licenses for a suggested retail price of PhP2, 929.00, PhP5,289.00 and PhP10,909.00 respectively.
The suggested retail price for Norton Internet Security 2008 is PhP2, 339.00 for a one PC license which includes a one-year service subscription to use the product and receive Symantec’s protection updates. Norton Internet Security 2008 is also available in three- and five-user and 10-user licenses for a suggested retail price of Php3, 219.00, PhP5,879.00 and PhP11,809.00 respectively.
Posted by prnews on November 21, 2007 in Symantec
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UK Cinema Release Dates
DetailedThis Week | Coming Soon | Now Showing | 3D | All | Most Popular | Premieres | Festivals | Documentaries | By Date
IMDb:https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005139/
Click the name of the film below for more details including synopsis, trailer, premiere, reviews and the option to create a showing alert
Directed By: Mike Leigh Starring: Maxine Peake, Rory Kinnear, Tim McInnerny...
Released in UK cinemas Friday 2nd November 2018 Age Rating: 12A Runtime: 154 mins Language: English Next Showing: Unknown
Please note that although the UK cinema release date schedule on posters2.FilmDates.co.uk is updated regularly, a release date can change at very short notice. Usually the closer a film is to its release date, the less likely its release date (and any other information) will change.
posters2.FilmDates.co.uk is also not responsible for the content of any external website. The links are provided "as is" with no warranty, express or implied, for the information provided within them.
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31 open access dissertations and theses found for:
if(Homebuilding) » Refine Search
1 - 30 of 31 displayed. Next >
The Great Recession of 2007 and the Housing Market Crash: Why Did So Many Builders Fail? Lessons for the Local Homebuilding Industry
by Hasbini, Mohamad Ali, D.B.A. University of South Florida. 2017: 151 pages; 10639267.
An examination of collective behavior, optimism, uncertainty and their effects on corporate strategies in the home building industry
by Locay, Alex, D.B.A. Nova Southeastern University. 2012: 213 pages; 3539498.
Job design factors in the workplace that support successful aging for older workers
by Sanders, Martha J., Ph.D. Walden University. 2009: 217 pages; 3366984.
Full Text - PDF (750 KB)
The housing transition in Mexico: Local impacts of national policy
by Monkkonen, Paavo Herbert, Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley. 2009: 168 pages; 3426604.
No lawn to mow: Co -ops, condominiums, and the revolution in collective homeownership in metropolitan America, 1881–1973
by Lasner, Matthew Gordon, Ph.D. Harvard University. 2007: 570 pages; 3265184.
Three essays on merger outcomes: Corporate strategy, bargaining power and valuation waves
by Jurich, Stephen N., Ph.D. The University of Mississippi. 2015: 191 pages; 3727128.
Sustainable missiology on the US/Mexico border
by Asbury, Lindsay C., M.A. California State University, Long Beach. 2012: 152 pages; 1517577.
Dimensions of Purchasing Social Responsibility in Sustainable Supply Chain Organizations
by Wolfe, Cynthia J., Ph.D. Northcentral University. 2012: 196 pages; 3496862.
Aboard and Beyond
by Stevens, Susannah, M.A. The George Washington University. 2017: 71 pages; 10283326.
The role of rating agencies and conflicts of interest: Evidence from rating agency adjustments
by Kraft, Pepa, Ph.D. The University of Chicago. 2010: 107 pages; 3408660.
A Mobile Wellness Program for Homeless in Los Angeles County, California: A Grant Proposal Project
by Gomez, Karla, M.S.W. California State University, Long Beach. 2018: 56 pages; 10977893.
Making “Peter Bergson:” Historical memory and a forgotten Holocaust hero
by Horne, Emily J., M.A. The George Washington University. 2009: 70 pages; 1461127.
Imported oil: Ethical perspectives and strategies toward American energy sustainability
by Chaves, Charles Almeida, Ph.D. Salve Regina University. 2009: 230 pages; 3436836.
Making the Modern Migrant: Work, Community, and Struggle in the Federal Migratory Labor Camp Program, 1935–1947
by Martinez-Matsuda, Veronica, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin. 2009: 351 pages; 3484423.
Full Text - PDF (100.28 MB)
“Drain the swamps for health and home”: Wetlands drainage, land conservation, and national water policy, 1850-1917
by Carlson, Anthony E., Ph.D. The University of Oklahoma. 2010: 334 pages; 3411936.
Breaking the Plains: Indians, Settlers, and Reformers in the Oklahoma Land Rush
by Brueck, Gregory James, Ph.D. University of California, Davis. 2012: 325 pages; 3555272.
Family preservation in families' Ecological Systems: Factors that predict out-of-home placement and maltreatment for service recipients in Richmond City
by Hearn, Jody Lynn, Ph.D. Virginia Commonwealth University. 2010: 221 pages; 3403165.
Cognitive and Representational Cues for Assigning Weight to Numerical Information in Decision-Making
by Rinne, Luke Frederick, Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley. 2010: 125 pages; 3449063.
A phenomenological investigation of small-business closure in California: An examination of the leadership process
by Robinson Harris, Theresa, Ed.D. Pepperdine University. 2016: 214 pages; 10107146.
Defying the Sunbelt: An Economic and Environmental History of Tampa, 1950-1980
by Massey, Brad Thomas, Ph.D. University of Florida. 2017: 267 pages; 13847475.
Land of the free, home of the (un)regulated: A look at market-building and liberalization in the EU and the US
by Hoffmann, Leif Soren Birger Per Ove Holm, Ph.D. University of Oregon. 2011: 387 pages; 3481228.
The Aesthetics of Frank Lloyd Wright's Organic Architecture: Hegel, Japanese Art, and Modernism
by Dahlin, Kenneth C., Ph.D. The University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. 2018: 322 pages; 13422325.
Effective neighborhood revitalization strategies: The array and impacts of subsidized place -based investments in Philadelphia
by Pooley, Karen Beck, Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania. 2007: 275 pages; 3261020.
Ruined for Life A Practical Theological Study of Post-Immersion Conversion Experiences of Amor en Acción Missionaries
by Masters, David Dominic, D.Min. Barry University. 2013: 275 pages; 3578402.
Developing an understanding of cultural aspects and beliefs of Latino/a families experiencing the American educational system
by Sweeden, Renee Leelnorearl Presley, Ph.D. University of Missouri - Kansas City. 2011: 314 pages; 3454581.
Home Front: The Restrictive Covenant Cases and the Making of the Civil Rights Movement
by Gonda, Jeffrey David, Ph.D. Yale University. 2012: 342 pages; 3525281.
Blight: The development of a contested concept
by Robick, Brian David, Ph.D. Carnegie Mellon University. 2011: 387 pages; 3452459.
Creative Federalism and Urban Policy: Placing the City in the Great Society
by Clement, Bell Julian, Ph.D. The George Washington University. 2014: 632 pages; 3637008.
"Teenagers Have Taken Over the House": Print Marketing, Teenage Girls, and the Representation, Decoration, and Design of the Postwar Home, c. 1945-1965
by Lichtman, Sarah A., Ph.D. The Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture. 2014: 465 pages; 3577907.
Flame, Furnace, Fuel: Creating Kansas City in the Nineteenth Century
by Dell, Twyla, Ph.D. Antioch University. 2009: 505 pages; 10805828.
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Strategic Language Focus - Intensifiers & degree complements in persuasive business writing (Video 2 Part 2)
English for Business and Entrepreneurship
Welcome to English for Business and Entrepreneurship, a course created by the University of Pennsylvania, and funded by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Office of English Language Programs. To enroll in this course for free, click on “Enroll now” and then select "Full Course. No certificate." This course is designed for non-native English speakers who are interested in learning more about the global business economy. In this course, you will learn about topics and language necessary to succeed in the international workplace. You will explore business English through authentic readings and video lectures, while learning about business vocabulary, concepts, and issues. Unit 1 will provide an introduction to entrepreneurship by examining ideas, products, and opportunities. In unit 2, you will learn about the basics of market research, including how to identify an opportunity. The next unit in the course will focus on business plans, why these plans are important, and will give you a chance to practice composing a business plan. In the final unit of the course, we will present basics for funding a business and will help you create a persuasive presentation, or pitch, based on a business plan. Unless otherwise noted, all course materials are available for re-use, repurposing and free distribution under a Creative Commons 4.0 Attribution license. Supplemental reading materials were provided by Newsela, which publishes daily news articles at a level that's just right for each English language learner.
Business Plan, Market Research, English Language, Entrepreneurship
A cornerstone course for anyone wanting to improve their English with focus on Business & Entrepreneurship. Takes you through setting up you Business and the English you might need. Good Course!
English for Business and Entrepreneurship course is a good and interesting course, i had fun learning.i'll definitely recommend the course to my loved ones. Kudos to the brain behind the course.
Unit 3: Creating a Business Plan (Part 1)
This first part of Unit 3 will review the importance of writing a business plan and will focus on the first two sections: operations and marketing.
Why write a business plan? (Video 1)4:19
Strategic Language Focus - Intensifiers & degree complements in persuasive business writing (Video 2 Part 1)5:04
Unlockable Achievement0:09
Business description, including management and operations (Video 3)5:18
Amy Nichols
Manager of International Research and Program Development
James Riedel
Selecionar um idiomaEspanholInglêsMongolian
Now let's look at how these degree complements can help make business writing more persuasive. Let's say the makers of Cricket Flour Are writing a business plan. Look at this sentence from their business plan. Cricket Flour is a healthy food product. The writers could make that sentence more persuasive by comparing cricket flour to other products. Cricket Flour is healthier than wheat flour because it has more protein. Notice that we use the word than after the comparative adjective. The writers could also use a superlative adjective to persuade their readers. Cricket Flour is one of the healthiest flours on the market today. Notice that we use the word the before the superlative adjective. Now let's look at another way to make business writing more persuasive Intensifiers. These are adverbs that make adjectives sound stronger. Some examples include very, much, and even. Let's explore how these words work in sentences using Cricket Flour as our example. Cricket flour will be a good product for people who like to buy healthy food. If we add very before good, we make the sentence stronger and more persuasive. Cricket Flour is healthier than other kinds of flour. We can add much to a comparative adjective like healthier to make it sound stronger. Cricket Flour has more protein than other health foods that athletes use. If you think that a comparison might surprise or impress your readers, You can add even before the comparison. Even can be used to strengthen verbs. Cricket Flour even contains iron or nouns. Even children will want to try Cricket Flour. Or adjectives, cricket flour is even healthier than protein powders. Remember that writers usually use even when they think their reader might be surprised or impressed by an idea. In this video, we've reviewed degree complements and intensifiers. We learned how to form comparatives and superlatives. We also learned how to use the intensifiers very, much, and even and looked at how these forms and words help entrepreneurs write more persuasively. Play game 1 to get more practice with intensifiers and degree compliments then complete the reading and video assignment from VOA News called Nigeria's Wecyclers work for reusable future in Lagos. The assignment will be followed by a comprehension check. Finally, be sure to share your ideas for businesses that will help your community in assessment 1.
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Title & authors Abstract Similar articles Cited by Publication types MeSH terms Substances LinkOut - more resources
, 138 (1), 52-64
Radioembolization for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Using Yttrium-90 Microspheres: A Comprehensive Report of Long-Term Outcomes
Riad Salem 1 , Robert J Lewandowski, Mary F Mulcahy, Ahsun Riaz, Robert K Ryu, Saad Ibrahim, Bassel Atassi, Talia Baker, Vanessa Gates, Frank H Miller, Kent T Sato, Ed Wang, Ramona Gupta, Al B Benson, Steven B Newman, Reed A Omary, Michael Abecassis, Laura Kulik
1 Section of Interventional Radiology, Department of Radiology, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago, Illinois 60611, USA. r-salem@northwestern.edu
DOI: 10.1053/j.gastro.2009.09.006
Riad Salem et al. Gastroenterology. Jan 2010
Background & aims: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has limited treatment options; long-term outcomes following intra-arterial radiation are unknown. We assessed clinical outcomes of patients treated with intra-arterial yttrium-90 microspheres (Y90).
Methods: Patients with HCC (n = 291) were treated with Y90 as part of a single-center, prospective, longitudinal cohort study. Toxicities were recorded using the Common Terminology Criteria version 3.0. Response rate and time to progression (TTP) were determined using World Health Organization (WHO) and European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) guidelines. Survival by stage was assessed. Univariate/multivariate analyses were performed.
Results: A total of 526 treatments were administered (mean, 1.8; range, 1-5). Toxicities included fatigue (57%), pain (23%), and nausea/vomiting (20%); 19% exhibited grade 3/4 bilirubin toxicity. The 30-day mortality rate was 3%. Response rates were 42% and 57% based on WHO and EASL criteria, respectively. The overall TTP was 7.9 months (95% confidence interval, 6-10.3). Survival times differed between patients with Child-Pugh A and B disease (A, 17.2 months; B, 7.7 months; P = .002). Patients with Child-Pugh B disease who had portal vein thrombosis (PVT) survived 5.6 months (95% confidence interval, 4.5-6.7). Baseline age; sex; performance status; presence of portal hypertension; tumor distribution; levels of bilirubin, albumin, and alpha-fetoprotein; and WHO/EASL response rate predicted survival.
Conclusions: Patients with Child-Pugh A disease, with or without PVT, benefited most from treatment. Patients with Child-Pugh B disease who had PVT had poor outcomes. TTP and overall survival varied by patient stage at baseline. These data can be used to design future Y90 trials and to describe Y90 as a potential treatment option for patients with HCC.
Copyright 2010 AGA Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Radioembolization With Use of yttrium-90 Resin Microspheres in Patients With Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Portal Vein Thrombosis
M Iñarrairaegui et al. J Vasc Interv Radiol 21 (8), 1205-12. Aug 2010. PMID 20598574.
Radioembolization of unresectable HCC and branch or main PVT with (90)Y resin microspheres was associated with minimal toxicity and a favorable median survival time. Furt …
Preliminary Experience in Radionuclide Therapy of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Using Hepatic Intra-Arterial Radio-Conjugates
GH Keng et al. Ann Acad Med Singapore 31 (3), 382-6. May 2002. PMID 12061301. - Clinical Trial
Our results in the adjuvant treatment of patients with I131 lipiodol following curative resection of early HCC and in the palliative treatment of unresectable HCC using Y …
Comparison of yttrium-90 Radioembolization and Transcatheter Arterial Chemoembolization for the Treatment of Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma
DA Kooby et al. J Vasc Interv Radiol 21 (2), 224-30. Feb 2010. PMID 20022765.
In this single-center study, preliminary evidence suggests that chemoembolization and radioembolization provided similar effectiveness and toxicity in patients with unres …
Radionuclide Therapy of Hepatocellular Carcinoma
GH Keng et al. Ann Acad Med Singapore 32 (4), 518-24. Jul 2003. PMID 12968558. - Review
Radionuclide therapy presents another interesting option for the treatment of HCC amidst the wide array of non-surgical modalities available.
State of the Art: Radiolabeled Microspheres Treatment for Liver Malignancies
A Deleporte et al. Expert Opin Pharmacother 11 (4), 579-86. Mar 2010. PMID 20163269. - Review
(90)Y-RE is a safe and efficient treatment modality in salvage therapy of colorectal cancer metastatic to the liver and in unresectable HCC. However, it has still to find …
Cited by 237 PubMed Central articles
Preclinical Verification of the Efficacy by Targeting Peptide-Linked Liposomal Nanoparticles for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Therapy
CD Wu et al. Nanobiomedicine (Rij) 6, 1849543519880762. 2019. PMID 31908670.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of targeting peptides chemotherapy to overcome adverse event in the conventional chemotherapy for human hepatoce …
Locoregional Therapy, Immunotherapy and the Combination in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Future Directions
MS Dendy et al. Liver Cancer 8 (5), 326-340. Oct 2019. PMID 31768343. - Review
Image-guided locoregional therapies (LRTs) have long been a vital part of treatment regimens for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Ablation, chemoembolization, and radioemb …
Modified Radiation Lobectomy: An Evolving Paradigm to Convert Patients to Liver Resection Candidacy
A Gabr et al. Semin Intervent Radiol 36 (4), 343-348. Oct 2019. PMID 31680726. - Review
Treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Patients With Portal Vein Tumor Thrombosis: Beyond the Known Frontiers
L Cerrito et al. World J Gastroenterol 25 (31), 4360-4382. 2019. PMID 31496618. - Review
Hepatocellular carcinoma is one of the most frequent malignant tumors worldwide: Portal vein tumor thrombosis (PVTT) occurs in about 35%-50% of patients and represents a …
Improved Survival in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients With Cardiac Arrhythmia by Amiodarone Treatment Through Autophagy
ST Huang et al. Int J Mol Sci 20 (16). 2019. PMID 31443312.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a primary malignancy of the liver. In basic studies, the regulation of autophagy has offered promising results for HCC treatment. This s …
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / mortality
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / radiotherapy *
Embolization, Therapeutic / adverse effects
Embolization, Therapeutic / methods *
Kaplan-Meier Estimate
Liver Neoplasms / mortality
Liver Neoplasms / radiotherapy *
Survival Rate
Yttrium Radioisotopes / therapeutic use *
Yttrium Radioisotopes
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Title & authors Abstract Similar articles Cited by References Publication types MeSH terms Substances LinkOut - more resources
Tumour Biol
, 37 (2), 2233-42
Association of Genetic Polymorphisms of Interleukins With Gastric Cancer and Precancerous Gastric Lesions in a High-Risk Chinese Population
Yu-Mei Wang 1 , Zhe-Xuan Li 1 , Fu-Bing Tang 1 , Yang Zhang 1 , Tong Zhou 1 , Lian Zhang 1 , Jun-Ling Ma 1 , Wei-Cheng You 2 , Kai-Feng Pan 3
1 Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education/Beijing), Department of Cancer Epidemiology, Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute, 52 Fu-cheng Road, Hai-dian District, Beijing, 100142, People's Republic of China.
2 Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education/Beijing), Department of Cancer Epidemiology, Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute, 52 Fu-cheng Road, Hai-dian District, Beijing, 100142, People's Republic of China. weichengyou@yahoo.com.
3 Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education/Beijing), Department of Cancer Epidemiology, Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute, 52 Fu-cheng Road, Hai-dian District, Beijing, 100142, People's Republic of China. pankaifeng2002@yahoo.com.
Yu-Mei Wang et al. Tumour Biol. Feb 2016
Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection and cytokine-mediated inflammatory responses play important roles in gastric cancer (GC) pathogenesis. To investigate an association between genetic polymorphisms in interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-4R, IL-8, IL-10, IL-16, IL-18RAP, IL-22, and IL-32 and risks of GC and its precursors, a population-based study was conducted in Linqu County. Genotypes were determined by Sequenom MassARRAY platform in 132 GC cases and 1198 subjects with gastric lesions. The H. pylori status was determined by (13)C-urea breath test ((13)C-UBT) or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Among 11 candidate single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), subjects carrying IL-18RAP rs917997 AA genotype were associated with risk of GC [adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 1.83, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.14-2.92] or chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG; OR = 1.55, 95 % CI 1.07-2.24). The risk of GC was also increased in subjects carrying IL-32 rs2015620 A allele (AA + AT; OR = 1.92, 95 % CI 1.09-3.39). Moreover, elevated risks of CAG (OR = 2.64, 95 % CI 1.89-3.69), intestinal metaplasia (IM; OR = 5.58, 95 % CI 3.86-8.05), and dysplasia (DYS; OR = 1.64, 95 % CI 1.18-2.26) were observed in subjects with IL-22 rs1179251 CC genotype. Stratified analysis indicated that risks of GC and its precursors were elevated in subjects with IL-32 rs2015620 A allele (AA + AT) or IL-22 rs1179251 CC genotype and H. pylori infection, and significant interactions between these two SNPs and H. pylori infection were found. These findings suggested that IL-18RAP rs917997, IL-32 rs2015620, IL-22 rs1179251, and interactions between these polymorphisms and H. pylori infection were associated with risks of gastric lesions. Genetic polymorphisms of interleukins may play crucial roles in H. pylori-induced gastric carcinogenesis.
Keywords: Gastric cancer; Genetic polymorphism; Helicobacter pylori; Interleukins; Precancerous gastric lesions.
Toll-like Receptor 1 and 10 Polymorphisms, Helicobacter Pylori Susceptibility and Risk of Gastric Lesions in a High-Risk Chinese Population
FB Tang et al. Infect Genet Evol 31, 263-9. Apr 2015. PMID 25687912.
Genetic polymorphisms of Toll-like receptor (TLR) 1 and 10 may influence Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) susceptibility. To evaluate associations between TLR1 and 10 poly …
NOD1 and NOD2 Genetic Variants in Association With Risk of Gastric Cancer and Its Precursors in a Chinese Population
ZX Li et al. PLoS One 10 (5), e0124949. 2015. PMID 25933107.
NOD1 rs2709800, NOD2 rs718226, rs2111235, rs7205423 and interaction between rs718226 and H. pylori infection may be related to risk of gastric lesions.
Impact of Pepsinogen C Polymorphism on Individual Susceptibility to Gastric Cancer and Its Precancerous Conditions in a Northeast Chinese Population
LP Sun et al. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 135 (8), 1033-9. Aug 2009. PMID 19132389.
The PGC gene polymorphism increases an individual's susceptibility to GC and its precancerous conditions. Moreover, the PGC gene polymorphism shows a positive link to H. …
Helicobacter Pylori Associated Chronic Gastritis, Clinical Syndromes, Precancerous Lesions, and Pathogenesis of Gastric Cancer Development
J Watari et al. World J Gastroenterol 20 (18), 5461-73. 2014. PMID 24833876. - Review
Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is well known to be associated with the development of precancerous lesions such as chronic atrophic gastritis (AG), or gastric …
Helicobacter Pylori Infection Synergistic With IL-1β Gene Polymorphisms Potentially Contributes to the Carcinogenesis of Gastric Cancer
JB Hong et al. Int J Med Sci 13 (4), 298-303. 2016. PMID 27076787. - Review
Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is the most common chronic bacterial infection in the world and the etiological agent for most gastric cancer (GC). Interleukin- …
Cited by 6 PubMed Central articles
Helicobacter pylori and Cytokine Gene Variants as Predictors of Premalignant Gastric Lesions
A Negovan et al. World J Gastroenterol 25 (30), 4105-4124. 2019. PMID 31435167. - Review
Gastric cancer remains the third leading cause of mortality from cancer worldwide and carries a poor prognosis, due largely to late diagnosis. The importance of the inter …
Interleukin-32: Frenemy in Cancer?
S Han et al. BMB Rep 52 (3), 165-174. Mar 2019. PMID 30638183. - Review
Interleukin-32 (IL-32) was originally identified in natural killer (NK) cells activated by IL-2 in 1992. Thus, it was named NK cell transcript 4 (NK4) because of its unkn …
Carcinogenic Helicobacter pylori Strains Selectively Dysregulate the In Vivo Gastric Proteome, Which May Be Associated With Stomach Cancer Progression
JM Noto et al. Mol Cell Proteomics 18 (2), 352-371. Feb 2019. PMID 30455363.
Helicobacter pylori is the strongest risk factor for gastric cancer. Initial interactions between H. pylori and its host originate at the microbial-gastric …
Association of IL-1B+3954 and IL-1RN Polymorphisms in Chronic Gastritis and Peptic Ulcer
N Motamedi Rad et al. Iran J Public Health 47 (9), 1364-1370. Sep 2018. PMID 30320011.
IL-1B and IL-1RNare associated with an increased risk for chronic gastritis and peptic ulcer disease.
Association of Three Promoter Polymorphisms in interleukin-10 Gene With Cancer Susceptibility in the Chinese Population: A Meta-Analysis
P Wang et al. Oncotarget 8 (37), 62382-62399. 2017. PMID 28977953.
Numerous studies have examined the associations of three promoter polymorphisms (-1082A/G, -819T/C and -592A/C) in IL-10 gene with cancer susceptibility in the Chi …
J Mol Med (Berl). 2010 Apr;88(4):423-9 - PubMed
Pol Przegl Chir. 2011 Jan;83(1):27-31 - PubMed
Exp Mol Pathol. 2007 Dec;83(3):474-9 - PubMed
Gastroenterology. 2007 Aug;133(2):659-72 - PubMed
Can J Gastroenterol. 2012 Aug;26(8):532-6 - PubMed
Asian Continental Ancestry Group / genetics
Genetic Predisposition to Disease / genetics *
Helicobacter Infections / complications
Helicobacter Infections / genetics
Interleukin-18 Receptor beta Subunit / genetics *
Interleukins / genetics *
Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis
Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide *
Precancerous Conditions / genetics *
Precancerous Conditions / microbiology
Stomach Neoplasms / genetics *
Stomach Neoplasms / microbiology
IL18RAP protein, human
IL32 protein, human
Interleukin-18 Receptor beta Subunit
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NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 6, 2017): Inauguration Anagrams
NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 6, 2017): Inauguration Anagrams:
Q: The word INAUGURATION contains the letters of GNU, GOAT, IGUANA, and AGOUTI, which are all animals. The name of what 9-letter animal can be spelled from the letters of INAUGURATION?
The 9-letter words I'm getting are RUINATION, URINATING and RATIONING. Other words are IGNORANT, RAINING, RANTING, RIOTING and ANGINA.
A: ORANGUTAN
Labels: anagrams, npr
Blaine Sun Aug 06, 06:20:00 AM PDT
Word Woman Sun Aug 06, 06:35:00 AM PDT
Getting the numbers up this week, eh, Will. 4,500?
Iris Corona Sun Aug 06, 06:40:00 AM PDT
UNITARIAN?
Curtis Sun Aug 06, 07:53:00 AM PDT
An interesting animal indeed
ecoarchitect Sun Aug 06, 06:42:00 AM PDT
A Vigenere cipher is rather easy to break these days especially when you can figure out that the plaintext appears to include https and .com. From that you can get the key and... I'm going to have to delete this comment for now.
Dang, I didn't know that. Then how about: if you Google the animal's name under news you get an awfully cute video (sorry WW, doesn't work with duckduckgo).
And this puzzle appears to have been posted a little too early.
Charles Sun Aug 06, 06:48:00 AM PDT
I think this provides a few too many hints
ron Sun Aug 06, 07:09:00 AM PDT
This week's puzzle/challenge is pathetically easy!
Other 8-letter words: iguanian, argonaut, rigatoni, training, untiring...
ron Sun Aug 06, 12:28:00 PM PDT
Solved in 819 milliseconds.
Rob Sun Aug 06, 07:18:00 AM PDT
Change one letter in the answer, and split the result into two words, and you get a description of you-know-who.
ViolinTeddy Sun Aug 06, 06:10:00 PM PDT
Ah yes....most amusing!
Ralph Loizzo Tue Aug 08, 11:23:00 AM PDT
Funny - I was thinking I didnt have to do any letter changing to get a description of you-know-who
Marie Tue Aug 08, 12:43:00 PM PDT
Ralph, I was thinking the same thing!
Unknown Thu Aug 10, 10:57:00 AM PDT
Yes the political implication of this puzzle is delicious!
skydiveboy Thu Aug 10, 11:08:00 AM PDT
It's the new black.
In case you missed it, here's a link to the 8/1/17 NYT article about the puzzlemaster.
Joe Kupe Sun Aug 06, 09:27:00 AM PDT
Thanks for the link. Sounded like a good read hearing Lulu talk about it.
Al Sun Aug 06, 08:01:00 AM PDT
Todays puzzle is a repeat from one on NPR about 16 years ago.
Chuck Sun Aug 06, 08:07:00 AM PDT
I gaped at the puzzle clue for a few moments and the answer came to me just like that. No looking over lists this week :)
Natasha Sun Aug 06, 08:30:00 AM PDT
Census day!
clotheslover Sun Aug 06, 10:31:00 AM PDT
This puzzle is su-prima easy. I'm walken on sunshine.
eighdreeuhn Sun Aug 06, 11:27:00 AM PDT
Solved in under 200 seconds, sad!
eighdreeuhn, what took you so long?
eighdreeuhn Sun Aug 06, 12:00:00 PM PDT
Problems of the Usual Sort...
skydiveboy Sun Aug 06, 11:32:00 AM PDT
Really! I solved it the instant I finished reading the question hours ago only half awake answering a call of nature. Sad indeed!
Jim Sun Aug 06, 11:52:00 AM PDT
Does anyone else feel that Berf's clue left at 4:57:00 AM PDT under last weeks blog is too revealing? I think it is too easy a synonym for the animal in question.
hugh Sun Aug 06, 01:34:00 PM PDT
In the Congo WS's favorite sport should have a different name.
cranberry Sun Aug 06, 01:37:00 PM PDT
Solve this one any which way you can.
Ralph Loizzo Mon Aug 07, 11:12:00 AM PDT
I like knowing what Will's favorite type of music is. He gave a nice little shoutout to Little Steven and his program. My favorite classic rock show is Time Warp with Bill St. James. If you listen to Z106.7 out of Jackson, MS you can hear both shows, one after the other.
Philly Cinephile Sun Aug 06, 02:09:00 PM PDT
Curtis Sun Aug 06, 06:29:00 PM PDT
Then there's this: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/nov/25/tom-hanks-clint-eastwood-treats-actors-like-horses
skydiveboy Sun Aug 06, 08:11:00 PM PDT
Help! I am hoping someone here can help me understand why it is NPR is always touting The National Endowment for the Manatees.
Paul Mon Aug 07, 04:44:00 AM PDT
http://imgur.com/r/funny/Ss2qt
skydiveboy Mon Aug 07, 05:05:00 AM PDT
Thanks, Paul. Now I see that it has to do with inflation.
legolambda Sun Aug 06, 11:56:00 PM PDT
ViolinTeddy Mon Aug 07, 02:29:00 AM PDT
Ah, Lego, I never would have gotten that particular answer for P!'s Dessert, without your giving this hint! NEVER heard of said word.
legolambda Mon Aug 07, 06:03:00 AM PDT
Will's puzzle this week smacks a bit of the Dessert that appears in this week's Puzzleria!, in which I challenge you to name a human body part (in more than six but much less than twelve letters) and then use those letters to spell out nine other words that are either body parts or words that are related to the human body. One of the nine words consists of consecutive letters in Will's 9-letter animal answer this week.
LegoSaysTheRedHerringIsAnAnimalToo
Anonymous Mon Aug 07, 09:52:00 AM PDT
The eyes have it....NOT!
Jean Dick Mon Aug 07, 02:28:00 PM PDT
Here's my hint for this week's puzzle. I think it's amusing and not too revealing.
Addams Family 2 has great camp value! Christina Ricci shines as Wednesday whose sadistic shenanigans are just shy of criminal. The reviews are in -4/5 (stars)! -Great (movie)!! -A pleasant experience (for the whole family!)
cranberry Mon Aug 07, 03:31:00 PM PDT
Anybody else notice in the on-air puzzle Will snuck in Eugene, Oregon again? What is it about that place?
Mendo Jim Mon Aug 07, 03:58:00 PM PDT
I think I remember a very similar puzzle some years ago, maybe only because it was too easy then as well..
If somebody has the date of that one, it will be interesting to compare the number of (claimed) correct responses.
68Charger Mon Aug 07, 07:37:00 PM PDT
A string walks into a bar with a few friends and orders a beer. The bartender says, "I'm sorry, but we don't serve strings here."
The string goes back to his table. He ties himself in a loop and messes up the top of his hair. He walks back up to the bar and orders a beer.
The bartender squints at him and says, "Hey, aren't you a string?"
The string says, "Nope, I'm a frayed knot."
skydiveboy Mon Aug 07, 07:59:00 PM PDT
Yes, but the real question is, was he strung out when he entered the bar, and if so, was he eventually strung up for being knotty?
Now, I have another question too. You indicate the string is male. I would be most interested in knowing how you determined this. Feel free to elaborate anatomically.
Oh, his name wasn't Stretch, by any chance?
Good yarn, though.
This tugs at my moral fiber and I was worried about being roped into this!
Knot to worry; just consider it a tie.
OK, I guess it's time to wind this down, reely.
ecoarchitect Mon Aug 07, 09:48:00 PM PDT
A favorite, er, line after doing a hitch as a cattle rustler? "No noose is good noose."
You could always ask for Larry at the bunkhouse.
Now, eco, I been thinkin' 'bout headin' down South a bit to watch that eeclipse they's all talkin' 'bout. I been hearin' Madras, Oreegon is one o' the best places to take it all in. Now, I know you was thinkin' o' doin' the same in Idyhoe, but I hear tell the campin' is in tents in Oreegon. Not to mention it bein' one o' the best places to witness it. So, I thought you might want to consider seein' it there too. I know it might be a tad farther, but hell we's drivin' all that way fur only two minutes anyway. So, you know, I jus' thought I'd mention it.
Actually Madras is about 220 miles and 4 hours closer to me, though it does require going 'round the Bend. And it's not far from the famous Mount Angel Library (but you knew that, of course).
But I figure Oregon's going to be packed solid with people, and I'm thinking the rugged beauty of the Sawtooth Mountains is the right aesthetic to see the eclipse of our nation. So even though it's a long row to hoe, Idaho there anyways.
Plans change whether the weather is wetter. Speaking of w's: WW which way watching will wend ye?
skydiveboy Tue Aug 08, 12:16:00 AM PDT
No, never heard of that library. We here in Seattle know nuthin' about books. I broke a colored pencil fillin' in my last one.
You might be right about the crowds in Oregon, but I suspect they will be in the Salem area, witch is not in the best part of Oregon to see it, but is on I-5 and closer to the high population areas, and I think that will keep the Madras area relatively calm. It is also open, not obstructed by forests, and easy to camp in. Also It is not all that far from the Dalles, on the Columbia River where they have good dining. The weather should be optimal there too. Think about it, eco, I just finished fixin' some major things on my Mercury Grand Marquis that have kept me from a road trip I had planned, and am now considering doing this. It was hard work too, and I could use the relaxation. I was hopin' to ask someone with a sense of humor, but you are all that's left.
Word Woman Tue Aug 08, 05:57:00 AM PDT
eco, I am thinking Nebraska.
You know, "Nebraska on my Mind."
ecoarchitect Tue Aug 08, 07:49:00 AM PDT
SDB: all the (damn) Californians I know are heading to eastern Oregon, they know the fog risks west of the coastal ranges. I know Madras is really in the middle of the state, not eastern, but it's kind of like New Yorkers calling Tarrytown "upstate". I suspect it will be more crowded than you think.
The Columbia gorge is, well, gorgeous, and tempting, but I'm still leaning towards Idaho. I'm not worried about the trees; at high elevations there are plenty of wide open spaces, nice lakes, jagged peaks, killer bears, etc.
The Mount Angel Abbey Library was designed by one of the greatest architects of the last century, it will endure much longer than your overblown Seattle Main.
WW: I was tempted to go to Nebraska, particularly Arthur, the home of the first strawbale buildings in the country (world?). But the possibility of cloud cover makes me nervous, and it is a pretty long haul from the west coast, not too bad from Colorado.
I'm most likely going to try Madras. They might have some good Indian food too. Probably not enough time for Trump to build a wall to keep the Californians out, and it might be difficult getting Mexico to pay for it anyway.
Mendo Jim Tue Aug 08, 09:40:00 AM PDT
The library is indeed unique in design and philosophy.
The maternal side of my family is from Scotts Miils, about two miles down the road. They were there to greet the Benedictines.
Does that library have books by Alexander Pushkin? I think he lives in Eugene.
They do, but it's an Onegin, off again thing.
At least they're not reneging.
ecoarchitect Tue Aug 08, 12:36:00 PM PDT
SDB: Sari I won't see you in Madras; be sure to curry favor with the locals. And have a saffron in your Marquis. Wish I could chaat all day, but I don't kheer to.
skydiveboy Tue Aug 08, 02:39:00 PM PDT
If I do go, I hope I can find a cheap spot to pitch my tent and don't get a shady deal.
If you're looking for a "real" campground you're very likely out of luck - the ones that take reservations have been booked for months.
Part of the advantage of a National Forest is you can basically camp anywhere for free. There are a couple of NF's near Madras, don't expect any facilities.
But you'll be in nature when nature calls. Just a stream of consciousness here.
I don't like most regular campgrounds. I prefer something out of the way. I'm an old climber and can and have camped in some very odd places. There may be next to nothing if hoards of people are going to be looking too.
Word Woman Tue Aug 08, 04:18:00 PM PDT
sdb, just be sure to keep your hoards away from the hordes. . .
Buck Bard Tue Aug 08, 10:09:00 AM PDT
I guess we know WS’s political leanings from this puzzle.
SuperZee Tue Aug 08, 10:34:00 AM PDT
(And it was '74.)
Correction (and thanx WW)
On this date, 43 years ago, (August 8, 1974), Richard Nixon resigned.
It is said that those who don't study history are condemned to repeat it.
We can only hope. We can only hope.
68Charger Tue Aug 08, 01:43:00 PM PDT
That's for sure!
Poor Glen Campbell...
I would say congratulations to Glen Campbell now he is free of that disease.
I agree, one of my relatives has that. Kind of like a thief in the night.
Paul Fri Aug 11, 07:39:00 AM PDT
Alice Cooper on Glen Campbell
'Cause I'll prob'ly lose it.
TomR Tue Aug 08, 03:06:00 PM PDT
Agouti just appeared in the syndicated version of the Sunday NYT puzzle. That is like, a new word, twice in one day.
Mendo Jim Tue Aug 08, 05:38:00 PM PDT
President Roy D. Mercer.
Look him up.
Mendo Jim Wed Aug 09, 04:16:00 PM PDT
Well, that was a lead balloon!
Paul Wed Aug 09, 05:33:00 PM PDT
Aw, cheer up, MJ :)
[Is this a Mercerized thread?]
Word Woman Wed Aug 09, 05:48:00 PM PDT
Shiny threads at Blaine's are de rigueur. Pearly Perle.
Sonnez les matines! Sonnez les matines!
ecoarchitect Wed Aug 09, 06:51:00 PM PDT
I haven't the foggiest idea what's going on with MJ's thread on Roy Mercer, but here's a sad story for an American institution.
Fried clams and democracy, good while we had them.
HoJo's!
68Charger Wed Aug 09, 07:39:00 PM PDT
Chuck Thu Aug 10, 05:29:00 AM PDT
I'm having cataract surgery on my other eye today so I'm pretty sure I won't be joining you a 2PM Central today. Have fun.
SuperZee Thu Aug 10, 11:23:00 AM PDT
Wishing you a speedy recovery
Mendo Jim Thu Aug 10, 08:49:00 AM PDT
Roy D. Mercer was a concoction of two Tulsa DJ's in the '90s. The character made very funny prank phone calls to various people (victims?).
Trump's current stupidity brought to mind Mercer's signature threats.
Several recordings are on youtube and other places. The best ones are LOL material.
Puzzled Thu Aug 10, 12:00:00 PM PDT
SuperZee Thu Aug 10, 12:00:00 PM PDT
Animal: Orangutan.
My comment about hanging around at the zoo was a reference to orangutans being arboreal. (But I thought Rob’s orange tan comment was far better.)
Word Woman Thu Aug 10, 12:00:00 PM PDT
"2 meters" is the average arm span of an orangutan
"Getting the numbers up this week, eh, Will. 4,500?" >>> 4,500 >>> 45 >>> the orange ORANGUTAN
Rob Thu Aug 10, 12:00:00 PM PDT
I wrote, "Change one letter in the answer, and split the result into two words, and you get a description of you-know-who.' The letter change and split produce ORANGE TAN, and you know who is you-know-who.
ecoarchitect Thu Aug 10, 12:04:00 PM PDT
I had originally posted a link (with Vigenere Code) to this site. Blaine said the answer could be too easily deciphered; I guess the Vigenere Code is all it's cracked up to be. How would he look with a red #MAGA hat (the orang, not Blaine)?
I also noted the puzzle was posted early; August 19th is International Orangutan Day.
Sadly, Chantek died this week. He was one of the first apes to learn sign language. I guess a moment of silence is appropriate.
clotheslover Thu Aug 10, 12:16:00 PM PDT
Louis Prima and Christopher Walken both voiced the orangutan King Louie, in the Jungle Book. I said this puzzle is "su-Prima easy...I'm Walken on sunshine."
Paul Thu Aug 10, 01:34:00 PM PDT
My hint was somewhat of a giveaway. "Ratiocination" is a word seldom used these days. If you sought insight from your favorite search engine, you might easily have been led to an encounter with an Ourang-Outang in the Rue Morgue.
Chuck Thu Aug 10, 01:53:00 PM PDT
Last Sunday I said, “I gaped at the puzzle clue for a few moments and the answer came to me just like that. Gaped as in Great Ape.
After cataract surgery today, you guys are looking a little fuzzy right now :)
68Charger Thu Aug 10, 03:08:00 PM PDT
Hope the surgery went well. Maybe it's a good sign that you are trying to follow this blog!
skydiveboy Thu Aug 10, 03:39:00 PM PDT
Chuck:
Obviously your cataract surgery today was a great success! The proof is we "are looking a little fuzzy right now."
Now should you decide to quit this blog you might as well dismiss your shrink too.
Chuck, here's hoping we are fuzzy as peaches but not as fuzzy as long-term fridge science experiments.
Glad things went well.
ron Thu Aug 10, 02:20:00 PM PDT
INAUGURATION >>> ORANGUTAN
Try THIS LINK and type in “inauguration” to see all the words that can be made from the letters in “inauguration.”
My clue: 819 = August 19th or International Orangutan Day. WS should have used this puzzle then, just before the eclipse. As ECO said, “the puzzle appears to have been posted a little too early.”
cranberry Thu Aug 10, 03:18:00 PM PDT
In the films "Any Which Way But Loose" and "Any Which Way You Can", Clint Eastwood starred alongside an orangutan, which I believe was named Clyde.
Curtis Thu Aug 10, 06:50:00 PM PDT
That's exactly where my clue was going...
eco, are you bidding on The Chartwell Estate?
I'm saving up to buy the other Clampett Mansion.
How many rooms? Pool? Floor?
After it rains a spell the floor becomes a pool. That's right convenient.
I bet it is, eco. Hey, let me ask you this. When the swimmin' is good after a big rain, and you're doing the crawl stroke, do you spit out the bugs, or swallow?
ecoarchitect Fri Aug 11, 07:47:00 AM PDT
I imagine Mark Spitz while trying the butterfly.
Trump's second favorite is the breaststroke ... but for now he's very worried about a Weissmuller.
skydiveboy Fri Aug 11, 10:40:00 AM PDT
And I imagine there are few, if any, Esther Williams, or Greg Louganis moments, not to mention all the pool toys are the same color and say Dunlop on them.
ron Fri Aug 11, 08:06:00 AM PDT
Hey, are you all CHOKING IN SEATTLE ?
Well it certainly has been covered in smoke that smells of British Columbian wildfires. It's almost back to normal today due to a wind shift. I have not noticed any physical problems, but several others have told me they have. Even healthy people have been warned not to exercise outside, but I have not had any problem doing so. We liked having the thick haze as it has kept all North Korean missiles from taking out the Space Needle. We are hoping Trump will demand Mexico pay for a huge wall along the Canadian border to keep the smoke and geese, with their little green lawn bombs, out!
Mendo Jim Fri Aug 11, 08:42:00 AM PDT
I have not grown completely comfortable with orangutan instead of orangutang.
I can't find if the difference is regional or temporal.
Clyde in Every Which Way But Loose, but not the sequel, was played by an orang named Manis.
Keep sleuthing. MJ!
MJ: are you comfortable with an orange-tan or an orange-Tang?
legolambda Fri Aug 11, 10:44:00 AM PDT
In my Monday comment, I mentioned the Dessert puzzle that appeared in last week's Puzzleria!, in which I challenged you use the seven letters in a human body part (FOREARM) to spell out nine other words that are either body parts or words that are related to the human body. The word that consisted of consecutive letters in Will's 9-letter animal (ORAngutan) was "ORA," plural of "OS" which means "mouth."
In this week's Puzzleria!, just uploaded this morning, my two Shortz Rip-Off puzzles ask you to find words that can be formed, not from INAUGURATION but from the words IMPEACHMENT and RESIGNATION.
LegoObservesThatIceFishingRequiresInaugeration
Philly Cinephile Fri Aug 11, 11:51:00 AM PDT
Michael Caine's real first name is Maurice, as in Maurice Evans, who played Dr. Zaius (an ORANGUTAN) in "Planet of the Apes".
68Charger Fri Aug 11, 12:51:00 PM PDT
Another Orange Man of note!
skydiveboy Fri Aug 11, 08:02:00 PM PDT
Car Talk is going to the crusher.
ecoarchitect Fri Aug 11, 09:52:00 PM PDT
They do like to wine, especially about the Frod Pinot. Can't get merlot than that.
When Porsche comes to Chev, it's all lubrication. You can take to the Maybach.
68Charger Sat Aug 12, 06:50:00 AM PDT
Just received an e-mail from Amazon.com saying that the eclipse glasses I bought from them a month ago, were not from an approved source. They are crediting my account and that I am not supposed to use them.
Fortunately, I bought some others a couple of weeks ago from a more legit supplier.
I should say that I bought the 2nd set from a more legit manufacturer.
jan Sun Aug 13, 05:51:00 AM PDT
The NPR staff is slow updating their web site, but here's next week's puzzle, as I recall from on air:
Name a popular TV show, in 2 words, add a C and rearrange to get another popular TV show, also in 2 words. Both shows are still on the air, but the second one was more popular in the past.
Over 2,000 correct entries last week.
That was fun. Going to phone this one in.
Yeah, the site shows today's player and dates but last week's puzzles.
Paul Sun Aug 13, 06:13:00 AM PDT
Aha! Must be "Gem Tracts".
At least Cranberry should get it quickly this week.
The fact that Will is using one of Cranberry's puzzles gives me hope for Guam.
NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 27, 2017): All Signs Point ...
NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 20, 2017): Don't Stare Dire...
NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 13, 2017): Watching Two-wor...
NPR Sunday Puzzle (Aug 6, 2017): Inauguration Anag...
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WorkReady takes the streets of Philadelphia on bus tour to showcase youth success
Program supporters are traveling to seven different work sites across the city to see youth demonstrate what they have learned and accomplished throughout the summer.
Category: WorkReady | Aug 10, 2016
PHILADELPHIA, PA (August 10) - On August 10 and August 11, WorkReady Philadelphia is hosting a citywide bus tour showcasing the accomplishments of the youth and young adults who participated in the program this summer. WorkReady supporters, including funders, government officials and other partners on the buses will have the opportunity to see and learn from the youth who participated in the summer program.
"The 2016 WorkReady Celebrations Tour puts a spotlight on our youth, who worked hard and accomplished so much during their summer program this year,” said Chekemma Fulmore-Townsend, President and CEO of the Philadelphia Youth Network (PYN), the organization that serves as managing partner of the WorkReady Program. "We are so proud to take our stakeholders all around the city, showing them a glimpse of the WorkReady summer programs success – straight from the youth themselves. This authentic experience allows us to also celebrate with our young people and partners citywide.”
Over the course of the two days, seven different worksites are being visited on the tours, those sites experiences will include:
United Communities Southeast Philadelphia
Projects and presentations at United Comunities Southeast Philadelphia will include two different components. The music club will be performing pieces inspired from different countries all over the world. There will also be a health and wellness group that will show a video about their urban farming projects.
Asian Americans United
Projects and presentations at Asian Americans United will be focused on a community meeting of people’s thoughts and struggles on voting. The information at this meeting will be based on student interviews with residents in the Chinese community. For the duration of the summer program students focused on 21st century skills by having the opportunity to problem solve and interact with a diverse group of people. Students participated in non-partisan civic engagement opportunities to register citizens to vote, primarily in the Chinese community. Afterwards students worked together and created a presentation centered around their findings.
Temple University – University Community Collaborative (UCC)
At Temple University, University Community Collaborative, the presentations will include a variety of exciting art projects which will feature four main projects:
Reclaiming Ourselves: A photography series where youth will describe a piece of their identities, including bodies, emotions and neighborhoods.
‘Breakin’ It Down’: A brief history of street art - youth will produce short videos breaking down the local history of street art.
Polarizing the Issue: Spoken word poetry - youth will use their poetry to move an audience on a social issue.
POPPYN News Episode: Guests will watch a short video all planned, shot and produced by youth in the program regarding the issues young people care about in this year's Presidential election.
The program at the Philadelphia Wooden Boat Factory provides an engaging experience for youth, focusing on boat building, sail making, sailing and the environment. Youth at this program will showcase actual boats that they have built this summer as well as their skills in rowing. Visitors will also be able to take a ride on one of the boats built by the youth in program, with those same youth acting as rowing instructors.
Caring People Alliance
The closing program will reveal how youth viewed data analysis, conducted experiments, and used a STEM-based approach to summer employment. STEM is a curriculum based on the idea of educating students in four themes, science, technology, engineering and mathematics. During the youth presentation a science fair will take place. Youth will use stations to display how certain substances change the natural behavior of living organisms.
Urban Affairs Coalition, Community College of Philadelphia
The Urban Affairs Coalition is hosting a digital media day. Stations will be set up around the room covering photography, story writing, video testimonials, and social media.
Temple University – Information Technology and Society Research Group (ITSRG)
At Temple University Information Technology and Society Research Group (ITSRG), guests can visit 12 stations where youth will be showcasing their work on the integration of technology as it relates to community need. These stations will include asset mapping, art installations, mobile fitness apps, game apps, and live demos of soundproofing techniques.
About WorkReady Philadelphia
WorkReady Philadelphia is the city's workforce preparation system for youth and young adults, supported by investments from government, local and national philanthropies and Greater Philadelphia employers. WorkReady is overseen by the Philadelphia Council for College and Career Success, a committee of the Philadelphia Works board. Philadelphia Youth Network (PYN) serves as the managing partner and works with more than 60 organizations to operate WorkReady programs across the city. PYN also partners with the City of Philadelphia, the Greater Northeast Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, the Main Line Chamber of Commerce, Philadelphia Academies, Inc., and the School District of Philadelphia, United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey and The Urban Affairs Coalition to recruit investors to offer opportunities for youth through WorkReady. For more information about WorkReady, go to www.workreadyphila.org.
About the Philadelphia Youth Network
The Philadelphia Youth Network (PYN) is an intermediary organization dedicated to equipping young people with the skills necessary to accomplish academic achievement, economic opportunity and personal success. To succeed in this mission, we bring together cross-sector partners from around the city to expand access to services for underserved youth ages 12-25. For more information about PYN, go to www.pyninc.org.
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2017 Varsity Record
2014 JV Record
2019 Varsity Banquet
Roster 2019 Varsity
JV Roster
Weight Room Standards
Cougar Camp
True AP Summer Training
Spirit Pack
Head Coach – John Kelley
All-Time Win/Loss
Cougars in College
Past State Champions
Season Win/Loss Records
Where to?Home Season Schedule -- 2019 Varsity Schedule -- 2018 varsity schedule -- 2017 Varsity Schedule -- 2017 Varsity Record -- 2016 Varsity Record -- 2016 Varsity Schedule -- 2016 JV Schedule -- 2015 Varsity Record -- 2015 Varsity Schedule -- 2014 Varsity Record -- 2014 JV Record -- Passing League 2019 Varsity Banquet Player Info -- Roster 2019 Varsity -- JV Roster -- Athletic Forms -- College Information -- Weight Room Standards Online Registration Cougar Camp Summer 2020 -- True AP Summer Training -- Summer Camp -- Spirit Pack Coaches -- Head Coach – John Kelley -- Assistant Coaches Highlights -- Gallery -- Videos -- Calendar -- News -- Stats -- All-Time Win/Loss -- Career Stats -- Cougars in College -- Past State Champions -- Season Win/Loss Records -- 2014 Results Sponsors
Coach Kelley just completed his sixth year as Head Coach Football at Quince Orchard High School. He has a career record of 69-10 as head coach. The Cougars ended the 2019 season 12-1 after falling in the state semi-finals. The lost ended the Cougars 22 game win streak which was a program record . The 2018 season saw the Cougars defeat North Point high school 40-33 to bring home the Maryland 4A state championship, finishing the season with a 13-1 record. The 2017 Cougars finished 12-2 falling to Henry A. Wise in the 4A state championship game. In 2016 Kelley’s squad finished 12-2 on the season, including the football teams first regional title since 2012. After defeating Annapolis High School 42-14 in the Maryland 4A semi-final, Kelley’s team made an appearance in the Maryland 4A state championship game, falling 42-7 to Henry A. Wise. His current run as head coach includes 1 state championship, 3 state championship game appearances, 4 regional titles and 6 Montgomery County division titles. Kelley has also had 29 of his players move on to play college football.
Coach Kelley served as the Defensive Coordinator at QO for 5 seasons before taking over as head coach. This included back to back state championship game appearances in 2011 and 2012. During that time Kelley’s defense has allowed an average of 8.1 PAPG. Quince Orchard has also had three Defensive players named to the Washington-Post first team All-Met during his run as defensive Coordinator. QO has also had three defensive players earn consensus all-state honors.
Prior to joining Quince Orchard, Coach Kelley was an assistant coach at the college level for 6 seasons. In 2003 he was a student assistant to the defensive coordinator at Towson University. He moved on to Wesley College in 2004 and was the linebacker’s coach. Kelley spent the 2005 and 2006 season working at the University of Maryland. During 2005 he was a defensive intern working with the secondary. In 2006 he was an Offensive intern working with the Running backs. He was also a member of the 2007 Champs Sports Bowl team. Kelley spent the 2007-2008 season as the defensive line coach at North Carolina Central University.
Kelley is a 2004 graduate of Towson University where he earned a degree in Sport Studies with a minor in Psychology. He also played DE and DT on the Towson University football team. Kelley was team co-captain in 2002. He attended Seneca Valley High School where he was a member of teams who won back to back state championships in 1997 and 1998. He was also first team All-Met by the Washington Post in 1998. Kelley is married to Jill Kelley who teaches at Racheal Carson Elementary. They have three children daughters, Molly 9 and Brooklyn 7 and son Brady 5.
Coach John Kelley
Coaching Experience
2014-Present Head Coach Quince Orchard High School
2009-2013 Defensive Coordinator Quince Orchard High School
2007-2008 Defensive Line Coach North Carolina Central University
2006 Offensive Intern/GA University of Maryland
2005 Defensive Intern University of Maryland
2004 Linebacker Coach Wesley College
2003 Student Assistant Towson University
John Kelley
TJ Changuris
Chuck Oswald
Fred Kim
Marty Higgins
Bob Glass
Paul Belkin
Mike Sarni
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Lou Forbrich
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JV Head Coach
Alex Twine
Quince Orchard Cougars
Never Satisfied | Everyone has a Role
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Pink and Blue Notes
It's all about the music.
JAZZ MUSIC LINKS
Jazz guitarist Chris Standring reimagines his best
The album dropping June 21 consists of a dozen remixes, including the upcoming single, “Kaleidoscope” (Neptune Mix 2019).
STUDIO CITY (1 May 2018): Over twenty years and twelve albums into his career as a solo artist, chart-topping guitarist Chris Standring had no interest in putting out a typical “best of” album. After a gig, a fan approached him with a novel idea that did get his creative wheels spinning.
“I had thought about releasing a ‘best of’ for a long time, but it didn’t make a lot of sense because with streaming and downloadable songs, anyone can grab their favorite songs thus a compilation felt a little redundant. But then a fan brought me the idea to take my most popular songs and do something new with them. It’s nice to breathe new life into some music that has been around a while,” said Standring who drops “Best of Chris Standring Remixed” on June 21 on the Ultimate Vibe Recordings label.
The British guitarist remixed eleven songs from his catalogue of instrumental R&B, soul jazz and electronica, including the No. 1 Billboard Contemporary Jazz Track of the Year in 2010, “Bossa Blue,” and a 2014 Billboard No. 1 single, “Sneakin’ Out the Front Door.” According to Standring, the songs for “Best of Chris Standring Remixed” were selected based on two criteria.
“First and foremost, the popularity of each track. Most of these songs were heavily searched on the internet. Secondly, songs were chosen based on how each might lend itself to a remix,” said Standring, who will celebrate the album release by performing two shows at the Blue Note Napa in the heart of the Napa Valley on the record release date.
The only song not culled from a previous Standring solo album is the 1996 track “Stop It!” from an acid jazz band he was in called Solar System. One of his former bandmates and longtime songwriting partner, Rodney Lee, reconfigured that track along with four others – “Fast Train To Everywhere,” “Liquid Soul,” “Pandora’s Box” and “Sneakin’ Out The Front Door” – adding imaginative bursts of electronic ingenuity over chunky beats. British techno DJ Matt Cooper put a clubby trance vibe on three cuts – “Bossa Blue,” “Oliver’s Twist” and “Ready Steady Flow.” Standring’s only advance directive to Lee and Cooper was “‘Do your thing.’ I didn’t want them to be constrained in any way. And they certainly weren’t.”
Standring remixed four tracks himself, taking two swings at “Kaleidoscope.” The Neptune Mix 2019 version will be released as a single, collecting playlist adds on July 22.
Although placed in entirely fresh contexts, Standring’s guitar work throughout “Best of Chris Standring Remixed” – whether playing an electric jazz guitar or nylon-string instrument – remains at the fore, melodically embarking on lyrical runs, dexterous embellishments and impassioned finger-work forays.
A consistent hitmaker, the classically-trained guitarist basked in the glow of his “Sunlight” album last summer when it went No. 1 on the SmoothJazz.com chart. Standring notched three No. 1 Billboard singles the previous year, including duets with trumpeter Cindy Bradley (“Category A”) and two-time Grammy-winning guitarist Paul Brown (“Piccadilly Circus”). He was a first-call session player when he first came to America, recording with Jody Watley and Bebe & Cece Winans among many others before touring extensively with trumpeter Rick Braun.
In addition to playing spot dates such as a two-night Memorial Day Weekend stand (May 24 & 25) at Seal Beach’s Spaghettini, Standring will spend the year working on an album of all new music for release next year. In the meantime, he’s eager for people to hear his best material in an all-new way.
“My hope is that everyone embraces the experimentation that took place and simply loves it.”
“Best of Chris Standring Remixed” contains the following songs:
“Stop It!” (Mercury Mix 2019)
“Fast Train To Everywhere” (Jupiter Mix 2019)
“Bossa Blue” (Outside Mix 2019)
“Kaleidoscope” (Neptune Mix 2019)
“Liquid Soul” (Venus Mix 2019)
“Pandora’s Box” (Saturn Mix 2019)
“Sneakin’ Out The Front Door” (Earth Mix 2019)
“Soul Express” (Love Mix 2018)
“Oliver’s Twist” (Outside Mix 2012)
“Constellation” (Galaxy Mix 2018)
“Ready Steady Flow” (Outside Mix 2019)
“Kaleidoscope” (Cake Mix 2019)
For additional information, please visit http://www.chrisstandring.com.
Posted by Pink and Blue Notes in Jazz Artist
Tagged: "Best of Chris Standring Remixed", "Kaleidoscope", Blue Note Napa, Chris Standring, Spaghettini, Ulitmate Vibe Recordings
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Integrating the Traditional Chinese Understanding of the Kidneys into Western Herbalism
Integrating the Traditional Chinese Understanding…
Dr. Michael Tierra L.AC., O.M.D.
That Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is a complete system of primary health care is obvious to those who have devoted years in its study. However, for many who might appreciate a deeper understanding of its theories and principles, especially as it applies to the maintenance of health and the cure of disease, it would be useful to correlate as best as possible the relationship between the profound concepts of TCM with what is known and can be corroborated from Western physiology. From this we may be able to arrive at a better understanding of how certain herbs and and even Western drug medicines exert their therapeutic effects.
The Chinese, famed for their pragmatic outlook, historically tended to assume the presence of an organ by a process of induction. Perceiving a physiological function, they then attempted to describe or even invent, as in the case of such ubiquitous organ functions as the so called Triple Warmer (i.e. the overall regulation of fluid and heat throughout the entire body), appropriate organs and corresponding meridians. Further, since most herbs tend to have broader, more nutritive actions than chemical drugs, there was generally little need for specificity.
As to the kidney, for instance, the TCM KIDNEY INVOLVES ALL PHYSIOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS THAT INCLUDE THE KIDNEY-URINARY SYSTEM PLUS THE ENDOCRINE SYSTEMS and especially the adrenal glands. TCM Kidney Yin and Kidney Yang involves the regulation of electrolyte balance of sodium and potassium, necessary for the circulation of bioelectrical energy throughout the body. Further, the TCM concept of kidney yin very prominently involves the secretion of glucocorticoid hormone, cortisol, from the adrenal cortex. Kidney yang in addition to involving adrenaline secretions of the adrenal medula, also involve other endocrine functions including the pituitary and thyroid glands.
What TCM offers is a more holistic view of the dynamic interplay of complex physiological phenomena. This is especially useful for clinical practice. What it does not offer are specific physiological processes which are the well earned domain of Western scientific medicine. Given the difference between the two in point of view, it seems that learning to view health and disease from both perspectives will ultimately offer a broader, more comprehensive approach to health care in the future.
The concept of `kidney’ has been pivotal in Chinese medical theory at least since the time of the writing of the Nan Ching (Classic of Medical Difficulties) around 403-221 B.C. The other great medical classic, the Nei Ching (The Yellow Emperor’s Classic) written somewhere around 2800 B.C., established the prior dominance of the stomach and spleen school. With these two, we have the so called division what some regard as the `spleen’ and `kidney’ doctors. The former views disease as being caused by weak digestion and elimination with a resultant deficiency of acquired chi from air, food and water, while the latter considers the primary cause of disease to be from a weak inherited constitution, lowered resistance and lack of essence.
Western physiology and anatomy limits its description of the kidney to the actual organ itself, TCM assigns such profound, broad significance that it is obvious that the Chinese concept of `kidney’, as the home of the `ancestral chi’ (inherent constitution) and the root of yin and yang for the entire body refers to a much vaster terrain. After studying the functions and pathologies involved with the TCM kidney, it is obvious that at least part of the TCM kidney encompasses the urinary system, balance of mineral electrolytes as well as the entire endocrine system including prostaglandins and the various neuro-transmitters.
The Chinese had no need to extend their understanding beyond the identification of the kidneys as both urinary organs as well as the endocrine system. Perhaps this is because of the prominent hormone regulating role played by the adrenals which are two endocrine glands attached to the superior surface of the kidneys and important in the regulation of the autonomic nervous system.
The fundamental principle of health and healing in TCM is the concept of balance. In TCM, balance is expressed in broad strokes of hot-cold, dry-wet, strong-weak, excess-deficient, chronic-acute, etc., these concepts are applied both to the method of diagnosis as well as to the classification of food, medicine and treatment. These concepts are all broadly encompassed in the concept of yin and yang which, physiologically, is controlled by the kidneys.
In understanding the Traditional Chinese description of TCM Kidney function we must come to the same realization that occurs with each of the other 12 TCM organ-meridian influences, that what is implied may in fact, represent a synthesis of dynamic life processes that extend beyond what can be effectively grasped by current Western physiological models. This is especially true in terms of their being the origin of yin and yang throughout the body which involves a complex integration of the kidneys plus all endocrine functions.
Because the emphasis of Chinese physiological theory is more in terms of function rather than form, we are able to achieve a more holistic perspective in terms of the TCM Kidneys and their effect on the body-mind. Besides, by discovering how the TCM Kidneys are described in terms of TCM theory we can also arrive at a deeper understanding of how herbs, foods and lifestyle can be employed therapeutically.
Kidney Yin and Yang deficiency represents a distinct category of treatment within TCM that is not so clearly recognized or differentiated in Western herbalism. It is useful to understand these concepts because they involve conditions that are fundamental to health and the Chinese have described specific treatment protocols with herbs and other therapeutic substances emanating from the mineral and animals kingdoms that can be used to treat these conditions.
HOMEOSTASIS AND YIN YANG THEORY
According to TCM philosophy, “chi” or vital energy is a part of yang while “blood” is a part of yin. The characteristics of yin therefore are substantial, cool and moist, while the characteristics of yang are ephemeral warm, mobile and dry. In terms of homeostasis, Yin belongs to all those physiological aspects which are cooling, hypo-metabolic, receptive, anabolic and maintaining, while yang is warming, hypermetabolic, aggressive, catabolic, transforming and protective.
Yin relates to the chalice which receives and yang relates to the life energy with which it is filled. A deficiency of yin suggests that the maintaining and repairing function of the body is depleted or lacking. This is indicated by an overflowing or spilling out of yang chi as perceived by a variety of hypermetabolic signs such as flushed complexion, heat, nervousness, anxiety, insomnia, dryness and chronic signs of inflammation and wasting. A deficiency of yang is hypometabolic, with signs of coldness, paleness, tiredness, weakness, lack of vitality, low libido, edema and puffiness.
In TCM, the kidneys are described as housing the essence and being the root of yin and yang for the entire body-mind. This means that all the inherited constitutional potential of the individual is contained within the kidneys as well as the most essential aspects for maintaining homeostasis.
One way by which the regulation of yin and yang is governed by the kidneys is the regulation of electrolytes. Electrolytes consist of acids, bases and salts, especially sodium, chlorine and potassium which carry a positive and negative electrical charge as it regulates fluid metabolism in the body’s three fluid compartments, inside the cells, in the interstitial spaces and within the blood vessels.
Besides the regulation of electrolytes within the kidneys, the endocrine system as described above plays a pivotal role in regulating homeostasis which is described as yin and yang by the Chinese.
It is through these complex physiological processes that the Chinese assign the following spheres of influence to the TCM Kidneys:
Kidneys contain the Gate of Vitality (“Ming men”).
Kidneys are the Root of Yin and Yang for the Whole Body
Kidneys govern growth and maturation
Kidneys produce skill and house the will
Kidneys hold the essence (inherited constitution)
Kidneys govern the bones and teeth
Kidneys open into the ears
Kidneys manifest on the head hair
From the above, we arrive at the basic symptoms of TCM kidney imbalance of which at least three prominent symptoms are required to make a diagnosis regardless of any further specific conformations:
Basic signs of TCM Kidney imbalance
According to TCM differential diagnosis, one must have at least three prominent symptoms from the following:
low back pain joint and knee pains
stiffness impotence or frigidity
libido hearing
head hair urinary problems
growth and maturation bone and marrow problems
Kidney Yang becomes the reactive, sympathetic nervous system relating to the secretion of epinephrine and norepinephrine from the adrenal medulla as well as other yang-izing hormones from the pituitary, thyroid and other endocrine glands. In contrast, Kidney Yin is the parasympathetic nervous system relating to the secretion of corticosteroids from the adrenal cortex as well as other yin-izing hormones secreted by the anterior pituitary and other endocrine glands.
1. The Gate of Vitality (Ming Men)
The TCM kidneys are closely associated with the “the gate of vitality” or “Ming Men” as it is called in TCM. Zhang Jie Bin (1563-1640) said: ” there are two kidneys … (i.e. kidney yin and yang)… the Gate of Vitality is in between them. … it is the organ of water and fire, the abode of yin and yang, the sea of essence, and it determines life and death.”
Energy is produced as a result of both catabolic and anabolic reactions. The release of energy is associated with catabolism while its use is associated with anabolism. Ming Men is essentially concerned with the catabolic release of energy through heat. Heat is available in two forms, one is biologically useless since it can destroy living cells, the other is chemical and is available in the body as adenosine triphosphate (ATP).
ATP is one of the most important compounds in the world because it supplies energy directly to all kinds of living organisms from one-celled plants to billion-celled humans. The energy released from nutrients is used to form ATP. When ATP releases its energy, a phosphoric acid radical is split away forming ADP (adenosine diphosphate). The energy then derived from the cellular nutrients recombine to form new ATP in a continuous
cycle. As a result ATP is called the currency of the cells, since it can be spent and remade continuously.
Ming Men represents the fiery reaction which produces essential catabolic energy or “fire” for all the internal organs. As part of the root, Ming Men is part of the TCM Kidneys in much the same way that the TCM Kidneys are the root of Yin and Yang for the entire body.
Through the use of warming, acrid herbs such as aconitum carmichaeli praeparatum (fu zi), cinnamomum cassia (rou gui) and other warm spicy stimulants, the catabolic process associated with Ming Men can be stimulated. By so doing, TCM Kidney Yang is generated.
2. KIDNEYS: ROOT OF YIN AND YANG THROUGHOUT THE BODY
KIDNEY YIN
According to TCM, “The vital essence or kidney yin function is the material basis for reproduction, growth and development, formation of the bone marrow, nourishment of the brain and bones.” (1) Deficient kidney yin is manifested with symptoms of aching, soreness of the lumbar region of the back, weakness of the legs and knees, tinnitus, feverish sensation in the soles and palms, nocturnal emission, and in women, scanty menstrual flow and amenorrhea. Deficient liver yin has dizziness, tinnitus, dryness of the eyes, blurred vision, irritability and irascibility. The tongue is reddish with little or no coat. The pulse is wiry, rapid or thready.
The nature of all these symptoms are chronic and wasting and reflects a tendency which we in the West commonly understand as “burnout” neuresthenia or adrenal fatigue. There is also a difference between the ongoing condition of “yin deficiency” which many chronically have and what I call the occasional `exhausted yin’ caused by the stresses and ordeals of normal living.
Kidney Yin and the Glucocorticoids
Glucocorticoids, secreted by the adrenal cortex, are used metabolically to aid in the utilization of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. This partially corroborates the concept of the TCM kidney being the root not only of constitutional or inherited chi but acquired chi which comes from the digestion of food. Perhaps of even greater significance, however, is that the glucocorticoids are used by the body to counter and resist all forms of major and minor stress be it physical or mental.
Chinese Five Phase Theory describes the TCM kidneys as part of the water element with water being the mother or engendering aspect of the wood-liver. The Five Phase Doctrine, is the second natural philosophy of TCM (after yin-yang), and sometimes referred to as the “system of correspondences.” Said to originate in the 3rd century B.C., it is marvelous in its depiction of the relationship of the individual to all physiological and psychological processes, outer environment, food, and in fact all other natural phenomena. The Five Phase description of the engendering relationship between the TCM kidneys and the liver is represented at least partially through the metabolic use of proteins, carbohydrates and fats called gluconeogenesis.
Effects of cortisol on carbohydrate metabolism
Gluconeogenesis is a process where the liver secretes enzymes necessary to convert amino acids from proteins into glucose. The employment of cortisol and other glucocorticoids is used to help stimulate this process of gluconeogenesis as much as 6 to 10 times, corroborating the Chinese five phase principle of water as the “mother of wood,” i.e. the TCM kidneys engendering or nurturing the liver.
How is this done? First, one of the metabolic effects of cortisol is to increase the transport of amino acids from the extracellular fluids into the liver cells. From this, gluconeogenesis is better facilitated.
Secondly, cortisol helps all the enzymes convert these amino acids into blood glucose. Thirdly, cortisol causes the mobilization of amino acids from muscles and other extrahepatic tissue. The result of this is that more amino acids become available to enter into the liver’s process of gluconeogenesis. Finally, one of the effects of increased gluconeogenesis is a decided increase in liver glycogen stores.
Effects of Cortisol on Fat Metabolism
Similarly to the way it fosters amino acid mobilization from the muscles, cortisol promotes the mobilization of fatty acids from adipose tissue. This, despite the fact that individuals with excess cortisol develop a type of obesity which manifests as a fatty accumulation or edemic appearance of the chest and head regions of the body giving a kind of bullalo-like torso.
In this condition, as above, we see the results of a weakening of yang and consequent increase of fluid stagnation and yin. In addition to treating the TCM kidneys and yang chi, Chinese medicine may add spleen dampness removing herbs such as Poria cocos (fu ling), spleen yang warming herbs such as Aconitum carmichaeli praeparatum and Cinnamomum cassia, and spleen chi tonics with the use of Atractylodes alba and Astragalus membranicus.
The effects of cortisol on stress and inflammation
One of the most beneficial effect of cortisol is in the relief of stress. Besides the major physical and neurogenic stresses, there are various minor stresses that continually occur as part of normal living. Among many that may be cited are the movements of the joints and especially the knees (which take the greatest structural stress) and the initial reaction to food, especially stimulants such as coffee and simple carbohydrates such as sugar. In addition, there is psychological stress such as fear, paranoia and anger, and physiological stress caused by blows and injuries and exposure to severe cold or heat. All are buffered to some extent with the secretion of cortisol.
Just as the body requires some degree of yang adrenaline hormone to generate motivation to react both to normal as well as life threatening stimulus, it also has a nearly continual need for cortisol to buffer the effects of stress. In one sense, cortisol acts like oil in a heated engine. Without it, the gears grind down in much the same manner as for instance, in rheumatoid arthritis, where the joints become painful, dry and twisted or in yin deficient hypertension associated with anxiety, nervousness and irascibility.
In this we see that cortisol is necessary for trauma, infections, intense heat or cold, psychological and neurological stress, and recovery from any debilitating disease. As a result, there is a relationship between lack of cortisol and what is diagnosed as “kidney yin deficiency.”
Cortisol is clinically used in the form of hydrocortisone or prednisone to help control acute inflammation, rheumatoid arthritis, allergies and many eruptic skin diseases, to name a few. Because cortisol mobilizes amino acids, it is effective in helping to repair damaged tissue. Since it can suppress the immune system by reducing leukocytes and phagocytosis, it is used to suppress dangerously high fever, inflammation, certain poisonous reactions, arthritic conditions and allergies. With the administration of cortisol or other glucocorticoids, inflammation subsides within 24 to 48 hours.
Herbs have healing, anti-inflammatory actions like cortisol. Oftentimes, it is not the cortisol stimulating properties which are cited for their healing properties but some other biochemical agent such as allantoin in comfrey. The effects are the same with the exception that herbs such as unprocessed Rehmannia glutinosa and Licorice (Glycyrrhiza sp.), tend to be milder and more indirect, having the advantage, however, of not only suppressing but more often enhancing the immune system.
Despite its obvious life saving advantages, cortisol type drugs do not correct the basic disease condition. With prolonged use over weeks and months it will also cause many of the above described side effects such as muscle weakness, weakness of the immune system and edemic swelling of the tissues.
Licorice root (Glycyrrhiza sp.) is noted for having cortisone-like action. Glycyrrhizin, a derivative of glycyrrhetinic acid, is chemically very similar to certain adrenalcortical hormones, especially desoxycorticosterone (DOCA) and cortisone. It is not uncommon for plants to contain hormone-like substances similar to those found in humans and animals.
The anti-inflammatory properties of licorice were first recognized quite by accident when a Dutch pharmacist, observing the use of licorice juice by the people of Southern Italy as a cough loosening remedy, discovered, by chance its effectiveness in the treatment of gastric ulcers. People using licorice for their stomach symptoms found that the effect of licorice was more reliable and enduring than any other medication.
Licorice, like cortisone, though not as strong, can relieve symptoms of peptic ulcers by inhibiting the inflammatory reactions. The problem, according to Weiss, is that cortisone is so strong that it can mask the symptoms of perforation and there is a danger of peritonitis occurring, which is very dangerous. Licorice, which is far less powerful offers no risk of perforation at normal concentrations.
Also like cortisone, the regular and excess use of licorice will produce the edemic, moon face appearance of Cushing’s syndrome, a condition which can be described as `deficient kidney yang.’ As with corticoid therapy, licorice in regular and high dosage can cause, elevated potassium levels, resulting in edema and hypertension. It is, therefore, contraindicated for patients past the age of 65 with a tendency towards renal hypertension. (2)
The Traditional Chinese herbal combination that has been used for abdominal pains, presumably ulcers, is Peony and Licorice Decoction (shao yao gan cao tang) which combines 12 to 30 grams of paeonia alba root and 9-20 grams of honey fried licorice root.
According to Bensky, it “softens the liver, relieves painful spasms and alleviates pain.” It is indicated for” irritability, slight chills, spasms of the calf muscles with associated lack of tongue coating. It is also useful for cramps in the hands and abdominal pain.”
Bensky further describes this formula as being given for injury to the yin. Thus, there is a lack of tongue coating (a sign of yin deficiency), pain in the calves with blood deficiency (treated with the paeonia) or injury to the fluids (treated with licorice). The slight chills are caused by weakness of the yang which follows injury to the yin.
Bensky further describes this formula: “spasms, cramps, and abdominal pain are typical spasmodic, wind-like manifestations of Liver-blood deficiency,” and that “it is very popular for a wide variety of pain syndromes, especially spasmodic and cramping pain,” finally “it is used for treating intercostal neuralgia, sciatica, trigeminal neuralgia, chronic pelvic inflammatory disease and primary dysmenorrhea.” ((3))
Licorice, which is classified as a chi tonic in TCM is also recognized as moistening and therefore recognized by TCM practitioners as having yin tonic properties. It is used by itself to treat most metabolic poisons (including poisoning by aconite and overuse of ephedrine and other stimulants). It is also used for coughs, irritations, pains, allergies, colds and flus.
Licorice is often used to harmonize an herbal formula. This means that it ameliorates any undesirable reaction one may have to either a single herb or combination. In most instances this means that it improves the flavor of the tea but since it has a soothing cortisol action it diminishes the sympathetic stimulus and thereby softens its therapeutic effects.
Licorice is contraindicated for symptoms of excess of yin, especially with abdominal stagnation, bloating, edema and renal hypertension. Because of the yin nature of females, there is an even stronger propensity towards fluid retention so that licorice is used even more conservatively in women’s formulas, sometimes adding no more than a single slice for flavoring.
In high doses of up 12 grams or more, it has pseudoalderosterone activity caused by the glycerrhetinic acid content.(4)(5) This can cause symptoms of hypertension, hypokalemia, sodium and water retention. Licorice, has also been found to be effective in the management of Addison’s disease or adrenal failure.(6)
We note that while herbs like licorice and rehmannia glutinosa have compounds similar to cortisol, other herbs and substances that have demulcent, emollient properties seem to have analogous, though not identical, reactions. These are also classified as yin tonics and include oils and fats, pork meat, marshmallow (althea off.) and slippery elm (ulmus fulvus). Lacking the strong concentrated effects of cortisone, these tend to be milder, with broader nutritive actions and much less potential of harmful side effects in normal dosage.
Rehmannia Glutinosa
Rehmannia glutinosa called `Di huang’ is a member of the foxglove family and in fact so resembles foxglove in appearance that it is sometimes called Chinese Foxglove. The root is used raw as a detoxifying herb that `cools blood’ for the treatment of wasting fevers and is known as `sheng di huang.’ It is cured by soaking and drying the compressed roots nine times in rice wine. By so doing, it has a slightly warmer energy and is used as a nourishing blood and yin tonic known as `shu di huang.’
It is in this latter category that prepared rehmannia is a primary herb especially in formulas that nourish the blood and kidney yin but also with other kidney yang herbs and in kidney yang formulas such as “Rehmannia Eight.”
Rehmannia contains beta sitosterol, mannitol, stigmasterol, campesterol, rehmannin, catalpol, arginine and glucose. TCM classifies it as entering the liver, kidney and heart.
Prepared rehmannia, which is the form used as a blood and kidney yin tonic, is used in the treatment of anemia usually with Dang gui and for “yin” asthenia, dizziness, tinnitus, weakness and pain of the lower back and legs, thirst, spermatorrhea, amenorrhea and metrorrhagia.
Phamacologically, Rehmannia Six was found in mice to “antagonize the inhibitory action of dexamethasone on the pituitary-adrenal system, thereby increasing plasma cortisol.” (7)
Rehmannia helps the immune system by stimulating the formation of red blood cells and other immune potentiating substances in the bone marrow. The fact that rehmannia is classified in TCM as a blood tonic while it is commonly used as a kidney yin tonic suggests that there may be a proclivity for this herb to stimulate the secretion of another important kidney hormone, erythropoietin. This hormone acts on the bone marrow to stimulate the proliferation of precursor cells and their maturation into erythrocytes.
Rehmannia may also help in the excretion of discarded red blood cells from the liver. This is at least partially accomplished by the continuous excretion of discarded red blood cells from the liver which are transformed and excreted in the kidneys as urobilirubin.
It is the presence of this substance that gives the yellowish color to urine. As a result of this process, chronic kidney deficiency can cause a weakened immune system and anemia. In one study, the protective effects of Rehmannia where found to mitigate platelet damage caused by irradiation from an intraperitoneal injection 1 ml daily for 6 days. It could mitigate platelet damage caused by irradiation with 600 rad and hasten the normalization of platelet count. (8)
In TCM, licorice is not customarily used for treating kidney yin or essence deficiency. The primary formula and the root formula for most yin tonics is Rehmannia Six, called `Liu Wei Di Wan.’ It consists of the following:
1. Processed Rehmannia glutinosa (shu dihuang) 20-25gms
Nutritive herb which tonifies kidney yin and blood
2. Dioscorea Orientalis (shan yao) 10-15gms
used because it is a chi tonic that enters the lung, spleen and kidney organ meridians, thus it strengthens both acquired chi as well as nourishing both yin and essence
3. Alisma orientalis (Zie xie) 9-12 gms
diuretic, activating urinary function
4. Poria cocos (fu ling) 9-12 gms
diuretic, high in potassium and other mineral salts
5. Cornus Off. berries (shan zhu yu) 10-15 gms
astringent diuretic with warm properties, tonifies liver and kidney essence
6. Moutan peony (p. suffruticosa) (mu dan pi) 6-9 gms
enters the kidney, liver and heart, eliminates deficient heat, treating subclinical inflammatory conditions
The specific indications of this important classic formula is to reinforce the Yin (vital essence) of the liver and kidney. It is indicated for symptoms of dizziness, tinnitus, sore throat, tidal fever, nocturnal emission, night sweats, heat sensation in the palm and soles, toothache, dry mouth. It is given to children for retarded growth, also for lower back pain, optic neuritis, central retinitis, tuberculosis and all wasting diseases, diabetes, hyperthyroidism, Addison’s disease, hypertension, neuresthenia, functional anovular bleeding, chronic urinary tract infections and deafness, the tongue is red with a thin, dry coating and the pulse is thready and rapid.
While it is contraindicated for a person with deficient yang with accompanying weak digestion, coldness and sexual impotence, the same formula with the addition of two yang stimulating herbs, prepared aconite and cinnamon, is given for yang deficiency. Both Rehmannia six and Rehmannia eight, the latter with the addition of cinnamon bark and prepared aconite are the two most frequently prescribed formulas used for tonifying kidney yin and yang respectively
Rehmannia Six is used for all symptoms of aging, burnout, and wasting. It is specifically useful for joint pains, aching lower back, diabetes, thirst, chronic urinary disorders. Rehmannia Eight is used for the same conditions except with a decided tendency towards weakness, impotence and coldness. In practice, it is generally better to first give Rehmannia Six and if needed, especially for impotence and cold symptoms, prescribe Rehmannia Eight.
KIDNEY YANG
Kidney Yang relates especially to the adrenaline-like secretions of the adrenal medulla as well as some androgenic hormones secreted by the adrenal cortex, thyroid hormone, and growth hormone from the anterior pituitary gland. Kidney yang is also effected by the secretion of erythropoietin by cells in the kidneys and to a lesser extent, the liver, which which stimulates the bone marrow to create erthrocytes.
Before discussing the physiology of kidney yang deficiency, let’s outline the TCM characteristics which are used diagnostically. Besides having three of the basic TCM kidney symptoms mentioned above, kidney yang deficiency has three or more prominent indications from the following:
coldness lack of libido
impotence, sterility frequent, clear urine
dribbling urine night urination
spermatorrhea premature ejaculation lack of spirit general debilitation edema of the lower limbs thin, slow, weak pulse
thin, whitish, moist tongue fur
Coldness refers not only to the atmospheric sensation but also to general hypometabolic function throughout the body. Lack of sympathetic stimulation from the adrenal medulla is one cause of coldness and hypometabolic function. The adrenal medulla secretes two stimulating catecholamines — about 80% epinephrine and the rest norepinephrine. The importance of the these secretions is in their relationship to the sympathetic nervous system and the ability thereby to rally visceral response to appropriate stimuli throughout the body including most of the internal organs and glands of the body.
One of the underlying causes of certain kinds of anemia is Kidney Yang deficiency. Kidney Yang deficient anemia has the characteristic lack of red blood cells which in this case is caused by a lack of erythopoietin in the kidneys which in turn will give rise to many of the previously described conditions and symptoms associated with kidney yang deficiency. Testosterone, being a quintessential kidney yang hormone, also stimulates the secretion of erythropoietin. It is believed that this may account, at least in part, for higher hemoglobin count in men (16 g/dL) than in women (14 g/dL).
Deficient kidney chi and yang and hypothyroid
A diminished secretion of thyroid hormone will also account for patterns of deficient yang associated with coldness. Other symptoms associated with hypothyroid and TCM deficient kidney yang symptoms include retarded growth and sexual development, hypoglycemia, and a particular disease syndrome called myxedema which is characterized by a lack of mental and physical vigor, gain in weight, loss of hair and a thickening of the skin from an accumulation of subcutaneous fluid. One characteristic of this condition is that there is firmness to the skin and therefore it does not pit when pressed as in other forms of edema. Dark fluidic bags under they eyes is one symptom associated with low thyroid as well as deficient kidney chi and yang.
Many of these symptoms involve a deficiency of yang with coldness, edema and lowered metabolism being general symptoms. Specifically, however, kidney yang deficiency is associated with retarded growth and sexual development, loss of hair along with coldness and fluid retention.
Seaweed in various forms, especially kelp because it is high in trace minerals, especially iodine necessary for thyroid malfunction, is useful to regulate both hypo and hyperactive thyroids caused by a lack of iodine. It is, off course, especially indicated for goitre and swollen glands of the neck. Interestingly, Panax ginseng is also prescribed for low thyroid conditions. However, two of the most important TCM formulas that are used to warm and tonify kidney yang are as follows:
Rehmannia Eight (Ba wei wan or Jin gui shen qi wan)
1. Prepared Rhemannia Glutinosa 24 grams
(sheng di huang)
2. Fructus Corni Officinalis 12 grams
(shan zhu yu)
3. Radix Dioscoreae Oppositae 12 grams
(shan yao)
4. Sclerotium Poriae Cocos (fu ling) 9 grams
5. Rhizoma Alismatis Orientalis (ze xie) 9 grams
6. Cortex Moutan Radicis (mu dan pi) 9 grams
(all of the above is the Rehmannia Six formula for yin tonification)
Adding the following warm and help tonify yang:
7. Ramulus Cinnamomi Cassiae (gui zhi) 3 grams
8. Radix Aconiti Praeparata (fu zi) 3 grams
Indications: lower back pain, weakness of the lower extremities, cold sensation in the lower half of the body, either frequent or excessive urination, possibly with incontinence, edema, impotence, weak, frail pulse and pale, swollen tongue with thin, white and moist coat.
As one can see, this formula differs from Rehmannia Six with the addition of cinnamon bark and prepared aconite. Both of these are strong sympathetic stimulants which in turn may increase warmth by stimulating the secretion of adrenergic hormones such as testosterone, and consequently, erythropoietin by cells in the kidney.
Restore the Right kidney pill (you gui wan)
So named because the right kidney is considered the seat of vitality or of kidney yang.
Rehmannia glutinosa (shu di huang) 240 grams
Radix aconiti praeparata (fu zi) 60-180 grams
Cinnamon cassia (rou gui) 60-120 grams
Cornus officinalis (shan zhu yu) 90 grams
Dioscorea oppositae (shan yao) 120 grams
Lycium chinensis (gou gi zi) 120 grams
Eucommia ulmoides (du zhong) 120 grams
Angelica sinensis (dang gui) 90 grams
Cuscuta chinensis (tu si zi) 120 grams
Colloid of cervus nippon (lu jiao jiao) 120 grams
(deer antler)
Preparation: Grind all the ingredients to a fine powder. For this some of the moist herbs such as Rehmannia and Lycii may have to be baked in an open oven until dried enough to grind. Form into pills by mixing with honey. Take 9-15 grams, 2-3 times daily with warm water. It can also be made into a decoction with the appropriate dose reduction of the ingredients.
Indications: Warms and tonifies kidney yang, replenishes essence and blood. It is clinically used for spermatorrhea, impotence, premature ejaculation, intolerance of cold with cold extremities, pale complexion, weakness of the knees and aching soreness of the lower back, dizziness, diabetes, chronic nephritis, frequent urination, pulse is deep, slow and weak.
The primary difference between this formula and Rehmannia Six is that it does not have such a strong diuretic effect as the former. It is therefore more useful as a pure kidney yang tonic.
KIDNEY YANG AND ALDOSTERONE
That yin and yang are relative rather than absolute, applies to all physiological and biochemical polarities including the relation of potassium and sodium chloride to each other. From one perspective, both are mineral salts and have a cool, yin energy. However, in terms of their effects on the body, salt is more yang than potassium in that it tends to attract and hold fluids in the cells while potassium is generally excreted with the extracellular fluid and urine. Potassium is more yin because of its discharging and eliminative effects on extracellular fluid. (This idea of salt holding fluid while potassium releases it may be at least part of the rationale that George Ohsawa was considering when he reversed some aspects of the meaning of yin and yang in Macrobiotics.)
The osmotic process by which salt and potassium exchange ions between the intra and extracellular fluid also facilitates the passage of other nutrients necessary for cellular metabolism. There is an associated electrical charge which gives rise to the term, `electrolyte’ balance. This provides still another method wereby the kidneys function as the `root’ of chi and yin and yang for the whole body.
Aldosterone, the most important mineralocorticoid is mainly controled by the renin-angiotensin mechanism and by the concentration of potassium in the extracellular fluid. In the first instance a decrease of blood pressure in the glomeruli of the kidneys triggers the secretion of an enzyme, renin into the interstitial fluid which in turn ultimately results in the secretion of aldosterone from the adrenal cortex.
In the second instance, aldosterone is triggered by high concentrations of potassium in the extracellular fluid causing a concommitant decrease of concentrations of sodium and chloride. With the decrease of sodium chloride, there is a reciprocal decrease of total extracellular fluid and blood volume. In TCM this reduction of fluid and blood is one of the conditions of wasting or yin deficiency and is often associated with kidney hypertension.
An excessive loss of potassium from the extracellular fluid as a result of aldosterone causes a serious deficiency of plasma potassium concentration called hypokalemia. This manifests symptomatically with episodes of severe muscular weakness or paralysis, tetany and postural hypotension. Because this condition is associated with greatly reduced fluid and blood volume, this condition in TCM would be considered a condition of `Yin and Blood deficiency’ and treated with appropriate tonics.
A deficiency of aldosterone, on the other hand causes an abnormal rise in extracellular fluid potassium. The result is impaired circulatory function with associated coldness and in extreme cases, shock. There will also be serious effects on heart function with weakness of contraction, arrhythhmia and in extreme cases, cardiac death.
This latter condition is well described in TCM as `Kidney, Spleen and Heart Yang Deficiency.’ The kidneys being the root of the body’s yang chi are unable to support the generative and transformative functions of the other organs. With a degeneration of the “true yang” of the kidney, both the kidney and the spleen are unable to transform water which accumulates as edema, associated urinary difficulty, abdominal pains and aggravation by cold. Essentially, one might say that such a condition of kidney yang-aldosterone deficiency results in a “dampening of spirits” on both the physical as well as the psychological levels.
For this condition, one might use warm, yang stimulating herbs and formulas such as the use of cinnamon bark (Cinnamonum cassia), prepared aconite (Aconitum napellus praeparatus) and ginger (Zingiberis off.). One of the most important Chinese herbal formulas for activating the yang is called True Warrior Decoction or Vitality Combination (zhen wu tang) and consists of the following:
Prepared aconite (Fu Zi) 9grams
Atractylodes alba (Bai Zhu) 6grams
Poria cocos (Fu Ling) 9grams
Fresh Ginger (Zingiberis off.) 9grams
Paeonia lateriflora (Bai Shao) 9grams
The indications for this formula are deficient kidney and spleen yang with symptoms of tiredness, weakness, edema, and cold. It is used for edema, chronic nephritis, hypothyroidism, chronic diarrhea, rheumatic valvular heart disease, congestive heart failure, liver cirrhosis and other chronic hepatic disorders together with other conditions that cause edema and ascites, chronic enteritis, rheumatoid arthritis, frequent urination and weakness of the lungs caused by lymphatic congestion.
This formula, unlike the previous, does not focus so much on actual tonification but a restoring of yang function through the use of one of the strongest metabolic herbal stimulants, prepared aconite (Aconitum praeparatum), together with other herbs that have diuretic and warming properties and increase the yang fluid transforming function. Rehmannia would be counterproductive in this formula because it would contribute to the condition of damp stagnation. The mushroom, Poria cocos (fu ling), however, is amphoteric in its ability to regulate either high or low, potassium and sodium balance.
When any extracellular fluid is discharged whether its from the urine, skin pores, saliva or intestines, aldosterone is secreted to help the body conserve sodium chloride. This is especially true, of course, when the body tends to sweat more profusely as in hot environments. That is why it is often recommended that one take a little more salt in hot weather.
There seems good reason to believe that TCM Kidney Yang herbs are involved with the secretion of the enzyme, renin from the kidney which in turn stimulates aldosterone from the adrenals. Many herbs, such as Cistanches salsa, Cynomorii songaricum, Epimedium grandiflorum (yin yang huo), Morinda officinalis, Psoralea coryfolia, Eucommia ulmoiodes (du zhong) and possibly North American Gravel root (Purpureum perfoliatum) to name a few, are effective for treating edema and frequent urination possibly caused by a lack of aldosterone.
This is also associated with either constipation of diarrhea where aldosterone being generally low, manifests with poor sodium absorption from the intestines and consequent irregular bowel movements. This type of constipation caused by deficiency, usually does not respond to harsh purgatives such as rhubarb root, cascara, senna and sodium sulphite which tend to eliminate excess. Nevertheless, treatment to restore bowel movement with tonifying kidney yang herbs is usually a slow process.
One TCM formula used for TCM Kidney Yang deficiency constipation is called Benefit the River Decoction (ji chuan jian). It consists of the following:
1. Cistanche salsa (rou cong rong) 6-9 grams
primary kidney yang herb which moistens the intestines
2. Angelica sinensis (dang gui) 9-15 grams
tonifies blood and lubricates the intestines
3. Achryanthes bidentatae (niu xi) 6 grams
regulates blood circulation downward
4. Alisma plantago (ze xie) 4.5 grams
drains, puifies and circulates fluid downward
5. Citri seu ponciri ( green citrus or zhi ke) 3 grams
relaxes the intestines and directs the chi downward
6. Cimicifuga foetida (sheng ma) 1.5 to 3 grams has an ascending chi action, in combination with green citrus, which is descending, it helps regulate kidney chi mechanism.
This formula is used for kidney yang, chi, yin as well as blood deficiency. Centered around the chief herb, Cistanches, a kidney yang herb, it focuses on warming the the kidneys as well as moistening the intestines to facilitate the passage of stool. It is useful for atonic constipation, degenerative joint disease and chronic arthritis. Appropriate modifications can be made as follows:
for deficient vital energy add Panax ginseng
for kidney yin deficiency add prepared Rehmannia glutinosa.
for internal fire add scutellaria baicalensis
for chronic constipation with dryness add crushed cannabis seed (9-30 grams) and cynomorium songaricum (9-15 grams).
From the above, the importance of assigning salt to the TCM Five Element designation for the water element is definitely underscored because of its descending action and direct effect on kidney function. Therefore salt is used as a conductor in TCM Kidney tonic formulas by Chinese herbalists who recommend that a pinch of salt be taken either with the tea or the pills taken with warm, slightly saline, water (miso or soya sauce can be used for this). The Glucocorticoids and Yin Deficiency, the effects of Cortisol on Protein metabolism. Some of the functions of cortisol such as its gluconeogenesis effects on carbohydrates and fats and the ability to counteract stress, inflammation and promote healing relate to Kidney Yin functions. Other aspects, however, actually create a wasting or yin deficiency which manifests as a hypermetabolic condition. A prolonged, high concentration of cortisol seems to reduce protein stores in all body cells with the exception of those of the liver. This is caused both by decreased protein synthesis and increased catabolism or breakdown of protein in the cells. One of the many negative effects of excess cortisol is that the muscles can become severely weakened and immunity of the lymphoid tissue is decreased to a fraction of normal.
With the increase of liver protein synthesis, the liver has a tendency to enlarge causing ascites (abdominal swelling). There is a tendency for cortisol to mobilize amino acids from the tissues, increasing plasma amino acid concentration.
For this condition we use Rehmannia Six or Rehmannia Eight if there is associated coldness and sexual weakness. Rehmania six formula is selected because of its ability to drain fluid excess while at the same time nourishing TCM kidney and liver yin. This demonstrates that Rehmannia is amphoteric in regulating both TCM kidney yin and yang.
Ma Huang (Ephedra sinensis)
Ma huang is classified as a warming exterior releasing herb usually indicated for the treatment of cold fevers, allergies and respiratory problems. While not a tonic because it disperses rather than supplements, it can be used as a kidney yang stimulating herb to `get things moving.’ It helps the yang by dispersing cold, promoting urination and reducing edema.
It contains a variety of well known adrenaline-like compounds including ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, norephedrine and norepinephrine. As such it is a powerful sympathetic nervous stimulant which if overused can raise blood pressure, aggravate deficiencies, heart palpitations, restlessness and tremors.
Interestingly, like yohimbine which contains a number of similar alkaloids, Ma huang was combined with poria cocos (fu ling) and was used by the Mongols as an aphrodisiac.
Siberian ginseng (Eleutherococcus senticosus) has been widely acclaimed as an adenal tonic and adaptogen. Being in the araliaceae family, it is related to Panax ginseng, North American Devil’s Club (Oplopanax horridum) and Spikenard (Aralia racemosa and A. californica). All these have so called tonic adaptogen properties meaning that they increase the body’s resistance to stress.
Siberian ginseng is also closely related to a Chinese herb called `Wu jia pi’ or `Ci wu jia,’ traditionally used for rheumatic conditions. It has various Latin binomials including Acanthopanax gracilistylus, A. sessiloflorus, A. senticosus and according to Chang and But, the name given by Harms, Eleutherococcus senticosus.
The major chemical components of Siberian ginseng are eleuthrosides A-G (phenylpropanoid, sterol, lignans, isofraxin, carotenoids and coumarins) (9)
Both herbs have an acrid and warm energy making them contraindicated for Yin Deficient and inflammatory or heat signs. This fact alone suggests that Siberian ginseng is more of a warming TCM Kidney yang tonic with some anti-inflammatory effects associated with cortisol.
Nevertheless it does have anti-inflammatory effects as demonstrated on experimentally induced arthritis in rats. The fact that adrenalectomized rats showed no effect demonstrates that these herbs seem to possess adrenalcortical stimulating properties.(10) What we have is another instance of an herb amphoterically responding appropriately to the needs of the body, warming and stimulating or cooling and sedating as necessary.
Siberian ginseng has been extensively researched by the Russians and as a result is popular among workers and athletes in that country to improve performance, endurance and competitive abilities as well as preventing sickness in the workplace. All of this demonstrates the herb’s so called adaptogenic properties which is characterized by herbalist, Steve Blake as neither stimulating the yang-sympathetic nor the yin-parasympathetic but improving the body’s ability to appropriately switch back and forth more efficiently and at a faster rate.
“Wu Jia Pi” is used for conditions of cold, damp and painful rheumatic obstruction with liver and kidney deficiency and with weak and soft bones. It nevertheless is especially useful for smoothing the flow of chi and blood which tends to agree with Steve Blake’s description. “Wu Jia Pi” is made into a wine by the Chinese and is very suitable for treating the elderly. The recommended dose of “Wu Jia Pi” is 3 to 15 grams once or twice daily. There is no comparison with the relatively miniscule dose, usually in tincture or alcoholic extract recommended for Siberian Ginseng.
3. Kidneys govern growth, maturation and procreation
The TCM Kidneys are also described as being in charge of storing essence and dominating reproduction, growth and development. The essence of the TCM Kidney refers to two parts: Congenital chi, which is the inherited constitutional strength and Acquired chi, which is the body’s ability to receive transformed energy from food, air and water.
From a Western physiological perspective at least part of the above TCM functions refer to the relationship between the pituitary and the adrenals. One of the most important functions of the anterior pituitary is the secretion of growth hormone (GH) or somatotropin. Since the TCM Kidneys include most endocrine functions, the secretion of growth hormone is definitely included.
Unlike other hormones, growth hormone does not function through a target gland such as the ovaries, testes, thyroid, etc., but instead exerts an effect on all or most tissues of the body. Just as TCM designates the kidneys as governing normal growth and maturation, growth hormone is responsible for normal growth and development of the body down to the regulation of the size and number of individual cells.
Besides the specific effects of stimulating growth, growth hormone has many other generalized metabolic effects which relate to the TCM description of the kidney. These include the following:
Increased rate of protein synthesis in all cells of the body — An increased rate of growth may be the result of an increase of protein synthesis. One of the TCM designations of kidney deficiency is a patient who is either excessively malformed or presents a thin emaciated appearance, this may be caused by a deficiency of congenital TCM Kidney chi.
Increased mobilization of fatty acids from adipose tissue, and increased use of the fatty acids for energy — With a loss of kidney chi, spleen chi also becomes depleted and there may be a tendency to gain weight more easily with difficulty reducing. This is a common problem with aging. It is well known that fat tissue tends to be hydrophilic, and edemic, fluid stagnation in TCM indicates a deficiency of the yang fluid transforming powers of both the TCM kidney and spleen. Specifically, mushrooms such as Poria cocos (fuling), along with other chi and yang tonics are used as special diuretics to regulate both fluid and fat metabolism.
Decreased rate of glucose utilization throughout the body — TCM Kidney chi deficiency can effect our energy levels dramatically with poor utilization of carbohydrate which can cause hypo or hyper glycemic tendencies. Diabetes is considered a disease of internal wasting or kidney and liver yin deficiency. As such, one of the most important formulas used in TCM is Rehmannia six.
This formula is also given to children who exhibit abnormal problems of growth and developement. In adults, there may be various causes for abnormal growth
patterns and one may have to consider associated conformational tendencies such as dietary and assimilative malfunction associated with the TCM spleen, stagnation associated with a tumour or other excess type causes.
4. Kidneys produce skill and house the will
When there is abundant TCM kidney chi or essence, there will be a strong physical constitution as well as a strong innate sense of purpose and will. Such strength of will is often associated with the necessary self discipline to be able to succeed in any endeavour. As stated in the Nei Ching (11) , “the kidneys hold essence, and the essence holds the will.”
Fear, paranoia and insecurity are the negative emotions of the TCM Kidneys. One who inappropriately exhibits these tendencies is considered to have deficient kidney chi.
Here we see how the TCM Kidney, which includes the adrenals and in fact the entire endocrine system, goes beyond its Western physiological description as a urinary organ. The difference, as with all the “xang fu” or TCM organ systems, lies in what Unschuld , describes as “a system of relations and functions derived from conclusions by analogy”. The wide scope of influence of the kidneys encompassing the entire range of psychological as well sympathetic and parasympathetic reactions and functions further bears out Unschuld’s conclusion that “these analogies, cannot have originated from within the human body.” (12)
Chinese medicine, taking a more functional rather than mechanical view of the body, were able to generate psychological changes through the treatment of diet, herbs, acupuncture and other physiotherapies. By tonifying the kidneys, through the use of Rehmannia Six or Rehmannia Eight formulas as well as offering certain dietary suggestions such as the elimination of cold foods and drinks as well as cold natured foods such as citrus for instance, many of the physical and emotional symptoms of yang deficiency are able to be controled and eventually eliminated. The use of sugar, which is classified as a spleen yang, when taken in concentrated form in white sugar and fruit juice, can, through overstimulation of the sympathetic reflex, injure and deplete kidney yang.
5. Kidneys hold the essence
As stated, the kidneys are the location where the essence is stored. Essence refers to the genetic potential bestowed from birth. This forms `congenital chi’ which determines the constitution of the individual throughout life. Since this potential is also transferred through reproduction, essence also refers to the sperm and ovum.
A strong essence manifests as abundance of spirit and energy. A lack, corresponds to a dearth of vitality.
This same essence or congenital chi of the TCM kidneys
is imparted to all the internal organs and determines their form and function. Malformed organs with impaired function, being congenital, are attributed to TCM kidney essence deficiency. The best one can hope to achieve in treatment is an amelioration of associated malfunctions and to hold back further degeneration.
More recent scientific discoveries are revealing a plethora of neuro-transmiting hormones that effect certain moods and attitudes. In a sense, these powerful minute secretions are also a kind of TCM kidney essence, the absence of which can leave us feeling depressed and drained. This feeling can occur occasionally from an over indulgence in sex.
Kidney yin and blood tonics can be used both to replenish at least certain aspects of TCM kidney essence as well as prevent the loss and depletion of energy. Two important herbs that might be discussed in this context are Dendrobium nobile and Schizandra chinensis.
Dendrobium nobile (shi hu)
Dendrobium nobile, is the root of an orchid classified as a yin tonic. It nourishes the yin, clears heat and refreshes the chi, generates fluids, treats severe thirst, intractable fevers caused by injury to fluids. It also nourishes stomach yin and is used for stomach aches. Dendrobium is indicated for all wasting and thirsting conditions.
It contains a number of alkaloids including dendrobine, dendranime, nobilonine, dendroxine, dendrin, 5-hydroxydendroxine. The average dose is from 6 to 9 grams in decoction or powder. Experimentally, on animals, large doses have had an inhibitory effect on the heart and lungs and caused convulsion.
Dendrobium has been indicated for feelings of being drained and depleted generally and after sexual intercourse. The average dose is between 9 to 20 grams and it can be either taken in decoction or powder. It is contraindicated for individuals with an acute febrile or inflammatory condition with no symptoms of dryness or dehydration.
Schizandra chinensis (Wu wei zi)
An astringent tonic with some yin tonic properties, Schizandra chinensis is used as an astringent protective herb against leaking and loosing one’s energy and essence.
Besides restraining diarrhea, nocturnal emissions, spermatorrhea, premature ejaculation, leukorrhea and frequent urination, Schizandra berries are also used to stop excessive sweating, control coughing and wheezing. It is tonic to the nervous system, helping to calm the spirit, treat insomnia and forgetfulness.
Schizandra is called “Wu wei zi” or “five flavor herb,” because it possesses all five flavors considered therapeutically important in TCM. It seems to specifically exert an effect on the central nervous system, improving intellectual activity, concentration, fine coordination, sensitivity and endurance as demonstrated in healthy young males in various experiments including long distance marathon races. The average dose given was 5 to 10 mg once or twice daily. (13)
In this sense, Schizandra while classified as an astringent in the Chinese materia medica has definite mild adaptogenic properties which, like ginseng, help to regulate various body functions and counteract the effects of stress. Besides supplementing, to some extent, what has been lost, Schizandra’s greatest role as stated, is in preventing loss of energy and essence. The average dose is 3 to 9 grams. It is contraindicated for individuals with true heat, constipation, acute inflammatory and febrile conditions.
An important concept related to inherited constitutional strength, is the belief in TCM that the inherent potential or original chi (“yuan” or “ancestral chi”) inherited from one’s parents and which resides in the kidneys as the primal spark of life, cannot actually be supplemented or restored by either food (including herbs), water, air, the usual methods of supplementation. It is believed that the only way it can be supplemented is through internal Taoist practices using breath and meditation. This being very difficult for most (due to a lack of will and self discipline), we are left with the prospect of a finite amount of kidney essence which, when it is consumed in the course of a lifetime, results in the eventual process of aging, decline and death.
6. Kidneys govern the bones and the marrow
The Nei Ching says, “As regards the kidneys …. their fullness is in the bones.” One of the signs of kidney deficiency is weakness of the bones and teeth.
The formation and maintenance of the bones and the teeth is a complex process which is involved with many aspects of the endocrine system. Other more basic considerations need to be taken into account such as nutritional factors including the presence of sufficient protein, calcium, magnesium, vitamin C and vitamin D to name a few. Finally, since vitamin D is at least partially absorbed from the sun, lack of sufficient outdoor exercise and activity can have a detrimental effect leading to osteoporosis or weakening of the bones.
All of these have a complex interraction with the function of the kidneys and adrenals. There are at least three predominant physiological methods where the TCM kidneys have an effect on bone growth: 1. through the parathyroids, 2. through the previously discussed presence of growth hormone from the pituitary gland and, 3. the secretion of various sexual hormones including estrogen and testerone.
the parathyroids in relation to bones
There are usually four to five parathyroids attached to the lateral lobes of the thyroid gland.
They are mainly concerned with the regulation of the calcium-phosphorus balance on which the bones depend for strength. A lack of parathyroid hormone increases the excretion of phosphorus and calcium from the bones into the urine. In addition, parathyroid hormone is necessary for normal neuromuscular irritability, blood clotting, cell membrane permeability and the normal function of certain enzymes for maintaining blood concentration of calcium at normal levels. The presence, therefore, of parathyroid hormone in the tubules of the kidneys is necessary to increase the absorption of calcium for the maintenance and growth of the bones as well as strengthening and maintaining the nerves (kidney chi).
the relation of the bones to growth hormone
The secretion of growth hormone from the anterior pituitary stimulates the formation of cartilage and bones. This is accomplished through development of several small proteins, called somatomedin which are formed in the liver, possibly the muscles as well as the kidneys.
the relation of estrogen and testosterone to bone maintenance
Besides being produced in the reproductive organs of the male and female, both male and female sexual hormones are produced in the adrenals. These hormones are necessary for the proper growth and maintenance of many vital functions including the growth and maintenance of the bones and muscles as well as producing primary sex characteristics.
Since estrogen is known to have a bone stimulating activity, a postmenopausal lack of estrogen secretion in women is a primary cause of osteoporosis. Testerone has powerful anabolic or building effect in the utilization of protein and the consequent development of the muscles and bones.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the bones are considered part of the yin-substance of the body. They are are treated with certain blood and kidney yin tonic herbs which are known to strengthen and promote the healing of broken bones. In this category, one would definitely consider the use of various sources of organic and inorganic calcium and other minerals for strengthening the bones.
Comfrey root (Symphytum officinale) is an herb traditionally used by herbalists throughout the Western hemisphere as a yin tonic that promotes the growth and maintenance of bones and muscles. It contains an abundance of alantoin which is a recognized cell proliferent. Comfrey root has all the indications of a yin tonic have a cool, moist, nutritive energy. It is used not only to strengthens the bones but also to counteract inflammation and arthritic conditions. Recent findings of trace amounts of pyrolizidine alkaloids in certain species of comfrey have made many herbalists question its long term use. In TCM there are many yin or blood tonic herbs that have some of the properties of comfrey and could be substituted. One of the most important as previously discussed, is Rehmannia glutinosa (Di huang) which, like comfrey, is used as an anti-inflammatory yin tonic and healer of bones and tissues.
Because of the increased risk of cancer in women, estrogen is not so frequently prescribed for menopausal and post menopausal women in China as it is in Western countries. Instead, older Chinese women prefer to use herbs and formulas containing Rehmannnia to prevent bone degeneration as well as other menopausal symptoms.
Rehmannia Six and appropriate variations is one formula that is used and the other is as follows:
The Four Ingredients Decoction (Si wu tang)
Prepared Rehmannia (shu di huang) 10-15 grams
Dang Gui(angelica sinensis) 9-12 grams
Ligusticum Wallichi (chuan xuong) 6-9 grams
Paeonia Alba (bai shao) 9-12 grams
This is the most important gynecology formula. It is used for anemia and stagnant blood circulation and is given most typically to women with symptoms of sallow complexion, pale lips and fingernails, dizziness, vertigo, tinnitis, irregular menstruation, decreased blood flow, abdominal pain or ammenorhea. Tongue is pale and pulse is thready and weak.
7. The kidneys Open Into the Ears which are its orificesrificess
The Nei Ching says, Kidney chi goes up to the ears and when the kidneys are harmonious, the ears can perceive the five tones.” Since the kidneys are involved with the regulation of the autonomic nervous system, their capacity to differentiate between pitch, intensity and loudness is optimized. Similarly, since good kidney chi provides a general condition of sensory alertness, they provide the power to perceive not only sound but light, feeling, flavor and so forth.
In terms of the TCM kidney we do not look so much to the physiological structure of the ear (although, the fact that the ear has a superficial morphological resemblance to the kidneys is considered to have relevance). Of more importance is the complex physiological process whereby our nervous system responds to auditory stimulation and in turn transmits that information to the hearing centers of the brain.
TCM and the Mechanism of Hearing
The relationship of the TCM kidneys to hearing specifically involve two important physiological processes. One is the neurological response described above which is particularly complex and sensitive in terms of the transmission of sound wave vibrations. Impairment of the cochlea or auditory nerve has a functional relationship not only locally but also to the general strength of the sympathetic nervous system. Nerve deafness can be the ultimate result of a diminishing of nerve force and the ultimate degeneration of conducting nerves in the ear. Of course, there can be direct injury to the nerves from congenital defect, an accident or exposure to loud noises. This results in nerve deafness.
In TCM, nerve deafness, as with all neurological degeneration, is considered an type of yin deficiency. An appropriate yin tonic such as Rehmannia Six is prescribed possibly with some variation to suit the condition of the patient.
The second aspect of hearing that has a functional relationship to the kidneys is the ossicular system in the middle ear which involves three very small bones called `hammer'(malleus), `anvil'(incus) and `stirrup’ (stapes). Their names describe their shapes. Sound waves entering the external auditory canal ultimately strike against the tympanic membrane or eardrum, setting it in vibration. These vibrations cause the malleus or hammer, whose head attaches to the membrane to resound. This in turn moves the `anvil’ which is attached to the stapes.
Since the kidneys and the endocrine system, especially the parathyroids, are integral to the metabolism of calcium, any imbalance in calcium metabolism which influences the bones are likely to have an effect on the three delicate bones which are involved in the mechanism of hearing. These can become partially or completely destroyed or ankylosed (“frozen” in place by fibrosis or calcification) and result in conduction deafness.
In TCM this type of deafness is caused by stagnation and blockage and can be appropriately treated internally with herbs that stimulate circulation, promote proper digestion so as to avoid lymphatic congestion, promote diuresis, relieve `wind’ or spasms.
Nerve deafness and conduction deafness can be differentiated because in conduction deafness, the subject is still able to hear, although weakly, by sensing vibrations directly through the skull bones. In contrast, nerve deafness is more total since it is presumed to be caused by damage to the cochlea or the nervous system rather than the ossicular system.
The Tuning Fork Test to determine between nerve and Conduction Deafness. The two forms of deafness are differentiated by means of the tuning fork test. A weakly vibrating tuning fork is placed in front of the ear, gradually it is moved away until the subject can no longer hear it. Then the butt of the vibrating fork is placed directly against the mastoid process. If bone conduction is better than air conduction, the sound of the tuning fork will again be heard and bone conduction hearing is better that air conduction. Deafness, therefore, is caused by conduction deafness. If after placing the fork directly against the skull, it is still not heard, then it is nerve deafness.
Diseases of the ears
Nerve Deafness. This term includes damage to the cochlea (inner ear which transmits sound vibrations to the brain), the auditory nerve, or to the central nervous system circuits from the ear. This is usually tested either by air or bone conduction (the transmission of sound vibrations through the bones of the skull). Because of the tendency toward sclerosis and weakening of neurological response, some type of deafness, especially to high frequencies, usually occurs as a process of aging.
Other patterns of deafness frequently occur as follows:
1. deafness for low frequency sounds caused by excessive and prolonged exposure to very loud sounds (rock band and jet airplane engine), and 2. deafness to all frequencies caused by drug sensitivity of the organ of corti (in the inner ear), especially sensitivity to some antibiotics such as streptomycin, kanamycin and chloramphenicol.
From this we see how both sound and drug stress has a profound damaging effect not only on the hearing because they are such refined receptors but most likely on kidney chi generally. To make such a diagnosis, we would have to evaluate whether other symptoms of kidney imbalance are present such as urinary problems, joint and lower back pains.
2. Tinnitus. Here one may experience a subjective ringing, tinkling buzzing or other sounds in the ear. Frequently this occurs as a result of impaction of ear wax or inflammation of the eardrum or the middle ear.
Another cause is Meniere’s syndrome (named after Prosper Meniere, French physician 1799-1862). This is a disease with progressive symptoms of deafness, ringing in the ears, dizziness, and a sensation of fullness or pressure in the ears. The cause is not generally known but it seems that acute symptoms tend to worsen under stress and restis most effective. Autopsy has revealed edema in the membraneous labyrinth so that it is always a good idea to eliminate salt from the diet as it can aggravate conditions of edema and fluid retention.
This is a condition for which TCM has effective herbal treatments. For treatment to be effective we must differentiate between the various syndromes.
1. If tinnitus is caused by excess dampness and wind we should use herbs that are diuretic, antispasmodic, carminative, to prevent fluid accumulation as a result of weak digestion.
Decoction of Pinellia, White Atractylodes and Gastrodia
(Ban xia bai zhu tian ma tang)
1. Pinellia tuber (ban xia) 6-9gms
this herb resolves dampness in the gastrointestinal tract
2. Gastrodia tuber (tian ma) 3-6gms
this is one of the most powerful antispasmodics
3. Atractylodes alba (bai zhu) 6-9gms
this herb is used as a tonic carminative to aid digestion and eliminate GI tract fluid stagnation
4. Poria cocos (FuLing) 6-9gms
this herb is diuretic
5. Citrus reticulata peel (chen pi) 3-6gms
this herb is drying and carminative
6. licorice root (gan cao) 3-6gms
this herb is used to harmonize the ingredients and strengthen the digestion
7. fresh ginger (sheng jiang) 3-6gms
this herb is circulating, carminative
8. Jujube dates (da zao) 3-5 pc.
this is a tonic and added to harmonize the ingredients
The action of this formula is:
to resolve phlegm and indogenous wind (to eliminate, dry, and prevent the accumulation of edema and to relieve internal tension and spasm)
To strengthen the spleen and dispel dampness (to aid digestion and assimilation, preventing lymphatic congestion and to have diuretic action)
Besides its use for Meniere’s disease, it is also good for symptoms of vertigo, profuse phlegm, full and heavy feeling in the chest.
Tongue: white and greasy (signifying damp stagnation)
Pulse: soft and slippery (signifying the same with digestive weakness)
The next formula is specifically for deafness caused by nerve damage (kidney yin deficiency). It is based on the Rehmannia 6 formula which is the basic formula for kidney yin deficiency mentioned previously.
Pills for the deaf (Er long Zuo Ci wan)
1. Anemone altaica (Jiu Jie Chang Pu) 6-9 grams
the rhizome is used, it is a warming aromatic, stimulant, helping digestion and eliminating dampness
2. Magnetite or feric oxide (Ci shi) 1-3 grams
it has a cold energy but enters the kidney and liver organ meridians, it has a yin effect of calming and relaxing while at the same time because it is a mineral, it anchors the yang or destructive rising energy
3. Schizandra berries (wu wei zi) 6-9 grams
it has a yin tonic effect, helping to restrain the floating yang, calms the spirit and prevents leakage of energy
The remaining ingredients consist of Rehmannia 6 combination:
4. Prepared rehmannia (shu dihuang) 20-25 grams
tonifies kidney essence and yin
5. Cornus berries (shan zhu yu) 10-15 grams
6. Dioscorea batatas (shan yao) 10-15 grams
7. Alisma root (ze xie) 9-12 grams
8. Moutan peony (p. suffructicosa)(mu dan pi) 6-9 grams 9. Poria cocos (fu ling) 9-`12 grams
The actions of this formula are: 1. to nourish kidney yin and, 2. to open the hearing.
It is specifically indicated for an individual with hearing problems caused by kidney deficiency with associated tinnitus, deafness and vertigo. Tongue: red
Pulse: thready and rapid
It can be used for deafness, Meniere’s syndrome and diabetes.
From the above, we see that TCM considers neurological degeneration (as reflected in nerve deafness) as a condition of yin deficiency, and involves nerve deafness which would also be considered a condition of kidney yin deficiency. A chronic remedy such as Rehmannia Six is appropriate not only to improve the presenting condition of deafness, but to possibly prevent further degeneration of other vital functions. For many conditions, this may be the greatest benefit for its use.
We also recognize that dampness or lymphatic stagnation caused by poor digestion and assimilation can cause localized edema in the inner ear that can be the cause of tinnitus. If we were to prescribe the yin tonic, Rehmannia Six formula for this conformation it may aggravate the condition because rehmannia is a moist herb. To give a stimulating, drying and dampness dispelling formula is a correct approach but would be contraindicated for the condition of yin deficiency.
Now let’s consider some Western herbal treatments for the ear:
The late Doctor Christopher had a formula which he gave both for hearing loss, vertigo and brain damage. It was called B and B Tincture and consisted of a combination of black and blue cohosh, vervaine, scullcap and lobelia (all are antispasmodics and nerve tonics), together with garlic macerated in olive oil (the garlic oil has penetrating and regenerating properties).
Each night 4 to 6 drops of both the B and B tincture and the garlic oil are inserted in each ear, plugging them afterwards with cotton and leaving on overnight. This is done six days a week for 4 to 6 months or as needed. On the seventh day the ears are flushed out with equal parts warm apple cider vinegar and warm water.
This particular combination has proven to be effective not only for various conditions of hearing impairment but because of its penetrating action, for the treatment of brain damage as well. It is corroborated with the similar use of various medicated oils in Ayurvedic medicine. This can easily be combined with the internal treatments prescribed by TCM and will only hasten recovery, if it is at all possible.
B and B Tincture combines nerve tonic herbs such as skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora), Black cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa), Blue cohosh (Caulophylum thalictroides) and Vervaine (Verbena hastata) which besides their nerve tonic properties combine various waste discharging benefits as well. The garlic has a penetrating and stimulating action, helping to remove obstructions, in a base of olive oil, there is some softening and regenerative yin tonification as well. Altogether, the combination of herbs used externally, and the addition of internal herbal formuli makes for a superior herbal protocol for hearing difficulties.
8. Kidneys manifest on the Hair
Kidney chi is internal but it is manifested externally in the hair. Kidney chi being the root must rise to the top of the head, when it is strong and abundant the hair will be abundant, radiant and lustrous. When kidney chi declines, the hair looses its pigmentation, whithers and falls off. This is an inevitable process of aging.
1. Hair pigmentation. Hair receives its color from different amounts of melanin pigments in the outer layer (cortex) of the hair. Melanin is also responsible for skin pigmentation and both skin and hair is effected by exposure to sunlight.
As with other functions governed by TCM kidneys, the formation of melanin is regulated by the endocrine system, especially the adrenals. It is believed that the formation of melanin is regulated by aldosterone which is the most active mineralocorticoid hormone secreted by the adrenal cortex. This hormone is in itself stimulated by ACTH (adrenocorticaltropic hormone) from the pituitary. With a balanced and uniform secretion of cortisol from the adrenals, melanocyte stimulating hormone (MSH) is secreted which regulates hair and skin coloring.
Individuals with a deficiency of kidney yin and essence or a lack of adrenalcortical hormones, will tend towards loss of hair pigmentation or greying. As a result of this, there is a definite relationship between the effects of a sudden shock or stress on the adrenal glands that can deplete one’s adrenalcortical reserves as shock absorbers, so to speak, and result ultimately in either hair loss or greying.
At the base of each hair follicle is a loop of capillaries enclosed in a connective tissue covering called the hair papilla. Atop each papilla there are clusters of epithelial cells that reproduce and eventually form the hair shaft. In addition, to this there are small bundles of enervated muscles which under sudden stress such as cold or fright, causes the hair to stand on end. While the coloring is regulated by adrenalcortical hormones, the proper nerve strength which ennervates the arrector pili muscles attached to the base of the hair follicle, and is, I believe, responsible at least in part, for helping to hold the hair in place, is regulated by the sympathetic nervous system.
From this we see that hair is essentially nourished by blood and held in place and maintained by the sympathetic nervous system. A lack of proper nutrition will effect both hair coloring and growth while congestion and nervous exhaustion will diminish the body’s ability to conduct nutrients to the area as well as maintain retaining power.
The best results for treating alopecia or hair loss is to encourage hair growth with herbs that stimulate the scalp and hair bed. Alcoholic extracts, tinctures and oils are made using herbs such as echinacea root, rosemary, nettles, birch leaves, burdock root, and seed together with a small amount of essential oils such as oils of, rosemary, lavender and calamus. This mixture is rubbed vigorously into the scalp. If possible, one can follow this occasionally with a light tapping over the affected areas of the scalp with a Chinese dermal hammer.
Treatment should be applied regularly and daily for anywhere from a few weeks to months according to the severity of the condition. Many who have been consistent in their attempts, have stimulated new hair growth. This has been well documented by many cases both in Western and Asian countries including China.
The TCM internal treatment for hair loss is tonifying for either or both kidney yin or yang. Again, the approach is directed to strengthen the autonomic nervous system. Evidently a similar approach in the West is followed with the use of B Vitamins and mineral supplements, especially Zinc.
Two herbs in particular are used in TCM for helping to restore hair and skin pigmentation. These are Polygonum multiflorum (ho shou wu) and Rehmannia glutinosa (shu dihuang). Both are classified as blood tonics which nourish liver and kidney essence.
He Shou Wou (Polygonum multiflorum)orum
The use of He shou wuo for the hair emanates from an ancient story of a famous Chinese military officer who was condemned to death by confinement in a remote cell with no food or drink. He was able to survive by consuming the leaves and roots of a common vinelike weed (polygonum multiflorum). After one year his keepers went back to dispose of the remains of the condemned military officer, that found him fully rejuvenated with his lustrous black hair color fully restored. Since that time, the herb that General He Shou Wou consumed while incarcerated for a year has been named in his honor.
He shou wou, commercially misnamed in recent times, fo ti tieng, contains lecithin, anthraquinones, chrysophanic acid, emodin, rhein, and chrysophanic acid anthrone. Normally He shou wou has been cured by cooking it with black beans. It is bitter, sweet, astringent and slightly warm.
It is used as a tonic for the liver and kidney and also to nourish the blood, benefit the essence, and kidney and liver yin. It is therefore used for deficient yin and blood conformations including dizziness, blurred vision, prematurely gray hair, weak lower back and knees, soreness in the extremities and insomnia. All of these are basic signs and indications for adrenal depletion included under the signs of kidney yin deficiency. As it contains some anthraquinones it also possesses some demulcent and detoxifying properties making it useful for lubricating the intestines and promoting bowel movement especially in anemic individuals.
One of the most remarkable effects of He shou wou is its effects on lipid metabolism. It is believed that the lecithin in He shou wou is responsible for preventing the accumulation of cholesterol in the liver and the retention of lipids in the blood stream and finally the penetration of lipids into the arterial endothelium, hence reducing arteriosclerosis. (14)
The lecithin, besides being good for the hair, is found in He shou wou as a main component of nerve tissue, particularly of the brain and spinal cord. It is also an important raw material for the membranes of erythrocytes and other cells, promoting their growth and developement. (15)
One of the most commonly available and effective forms of He shou wou is in a Chinese patented formula called “Shou Wou Chih”. It is a liquid extract containing Shou wou along with Dang gui, Ligusticum, Polygonatum, Rehmannia root and other herbs that aid circulation and digestion. It is used as a liver tonic, tonifying, warming and invigorating the blood, nourishing the liver and kidneys, benefiting the eyes and tendons, strengthening the bones and tendons of the back, relieving joint pains and depletion caused by sexual excess, childbirth, or illness. Shou Wou Chih is suitable to take daily for a long period of time (3 months or more). The daily dose is 2-3 tablespoons, 3 x daily.
Another good remedy for restoring hair color is Black sesame seeds. Chinese medicine finds that herbs and foods that are black colored are usually particularly good for the TCM kidneys. Black sesame is rich in certain oils and is taken regularly, about one tablespoon daily, to prevent greying and help restore normal hair color. Black sesame seeds can be dry roasted and ground with a little salt to make a delicious condiment that can be sprinkled on rice and other foods. I have also combined about a thrid portion of ground he shou wou with the black sesame gomasio to increase its benefits. A delicious sweet version can be made by mixing the ground black sesame with honey or dry powdered pure sugar cane juice extract.
As with the discussion of other aspects of the TCM Kidneys and indeed herbal medicine generally, attempting to diagnose and treat a specific symptom such as premature hair loss or greying, leads one to use herbs and formulas that are indicated for the whole person. By treating hair symptoms, one eventually also finds that their energy and well being improves, joint pains disappear and perhaps is beneficial even, to one’s sex life. In this way one herb or formula can treat 100’s of symptoms while at the same time by applying TCM diagnostic criteria we can arrive at the correct approach that will achieve the best results for a specific symptomology.
9. Kidneys Grasp and descend Lung Chi
Another important function of the TCM Kidneys is their ability to grasp the chi of the lungs and pull it downward. Failure to do this results in a kind of adrenal exhaustive asthma where the lung energy does not properly descend.
What is the relationship of the kidneys to the lungs? The two end products of carbohydrate metabolism is metabolic water and carbon dioxide gas. While the main function of the kidneys is to eliminate excessive water from the blood, carbon dioxide gas is eliminated through the lungs.
The filtration of water through the glomeruli of the kidneys is dependent upon high oxygen arterial blood. If the arterial blood contains abnormal impurities from an improper diet rich in denatured, and refined foods, the kidneys require more oxygen to force elimination; this extra oxygen is supplied by the adrenal glands.
As Dr. Henry Bieler explains,” Nature wisely placed these glands near the kidneys, so that their internal secretion (adrenoxidase) can supply oxygen faster, in order to overcome any strain on the process taking place in the globule of the kidney.”(16)
Adrenal stimulants such as ma huang, cayenne pepper even coffee can stimulate the adrenals to secrete adrenoxidase to supply oxygen faster to compensate for any deficiency in the process occuring in the glomeruli of the kidneys. By so doing the adrenals especially in a yin deficienct individual are overly taxed to facilitate the elimination of toxins through the kidneys. This may possibly shorten the individual’s life by tending to deplete the adrenal’s reserves.
In asthma, the adrenal potential is much below normal and because of this kidney detoxifying function is greatly impaired. It is the lungs which try to help the weak kidneys by secreting some of the toxins through their mucous membranes. The lungs are not able to function very well as accessory kidneys and the result is inflammation and irritation of the lungs which lead to a degeneration and atrophy of the bronchiole tubes.
Herbal formulas which are useful for kidney deficient asthma include Rehmannia Six or Rehmannia Eight formulas previously described. When there is yin deficiency with dryness one can use Rehmannia Six with the addition of asparagus cochinchinensis (tian men dong), Ophiopogon japonica (mai men dong) and Scrophularia ningpoensis (xuan shen).
Asthma caused by asthenia or weakness of the kidney is treated with Rehmannia Eight (jin gui shen qi wan) together with schizandra chinensis (wu wei zi). An animal that is taken to treat kidney yang deficient asthma is gecko lizard. The male and female lizards are usually taken together with the head and feet removed, since these seem to have some toxic principle. Three to six grams are taken as a powder or nine to fifteen grams in decoction. This can be taken alone or together with Rehmannia eight for better effect.
Western approaches to treating the endocrine system
In the past, Western herbalism has been noticeably lacking in treating endocrine disorders. This is primarily because endocrine disorders occured more as a syndrome of different symptoms and Western herbalism has tended to orient itself around more clearly defined pathological conditions.
If there was a problem with a hypersympathetic nervous system, Western herbalists have tended use sedatives, nervines and perhaps anti-inflammatories. There has been little understanding of a condition of asthenic wasting. An herb such as marshmallow (althea officinalis) occurs more for its soothing demulcent properties rather than its ability to nourish the parasympathetic nervous system helping it to secrete adrenalcortical hormones such as cortisol.
Only recently have Western scientists and herbalists come to recognize the effects of certain herbs, most noticeably a strong sympathetic nervous stimulant such as Ma Huang and for the stimulation of adrenalcortical hormones, licorice and Siberian ginseng. As a result many of these herbs are appearing in Western herbal formulas for the adrenals and endocrine systems.
Other substances that are used with good effect are protomorphogens or glandular extracts. These include specific glands from animal sources such as adrenal, thyroid, pituitary, thymus, ovarian, etc. These may be prescribed alone or together with appropriate herbs, vitamins, minerals, etc.
In addition, a number of vitamin and mineral supplements are used to nourish and stimulate the endocrine system. These include vitamin C, all the B vitamins, Zinc, calcium and magnesium.
Throughout the nineteenth century consumption or tuberculosis was not uncommon. This condition is definitely one that would be classified as yin deficiency in TCM. It was treated with various yin tonic foods and medicines that often helped to stabilize and sometimes even cure the condition at least for awhile. Because of an epidemic occuring in China, the Chinese went to great lengths to import wild American ginseng (panax ginseng) from Eastern North America because of its yin tonic properties.
Two common substances used for T.B. where tannin leached acorns from the oak tree which served as a powerful nutritive yin tonic; in Russia, there were many cases of the use of large quantities of eggs taken on a daily basis over a period of months by Russian folk healers as described in a little book called “Russian Folk Medicine” by Paul M. Kourennoff and George St George.
The use of cayenne pepper and ma huang both serve as stimulants of the sympathetic nervous system. As such they help to raise metabolism and thus help the lungs by stimulating the removal of congestion and toxins from the system. This approach has worked very well for those who have a genuine excess and are only recently changing from a rich diet of red meat, dairy and refined sugar and flour. The same approach, however, given to individuals with sympathetic overload or a depletion of the parasympathetic system (kidney yin) is further weakening and debilitating.
All these approaches have demonstrated considerable beneficial clinical effects. It is in TCM, however, that the conditions associated with kidney yin or yang deficiency is so pivotal to the entire system. There is much that can be learned from TCM that can be integrated into a more effective clinical model. Even more important, we can appreciate that all the principles of TCM theory are in perfect agreement with the most recent discoveries and understandings of modern scientific physiology.
9. The kidneys correlates with the lower warmer and the bladder
The triple warmer in Chinese medicine is not an actual organ but a functional process whereby all the organs of the upper, middle and lower cavities of the body interract with each other. It is therefore the process which becomes the triple warmer. Considering the in the Nei Ching, “the triple warmer is the official in charge of irrigation and it controls the water passages,” there must be a direct relationship between the function of the triple warmer and the kidneys. That relationship
has to do with the regulation of fluid within the tissues and organs of the body.
In the upper warmer, fluid is described in the Nei ching “opening outwards, spreading the 5 tastes of the food essences, pervading the skin, filling the body and moistening the skin and it is like a mist.” The middle warmer is situated in the stomach and “receives the chi, expels the wastes, steams the body fluids, transforms the refined essences of food and connects upwards with the lungs.” The lower warmer is described as a drainage ditch because of its function of separating essences of food into the pure and impure.
It seems that the description of the triple warmer becomes a “summarization of the functions of all the yang organs (including the lungs and spleen) in their work of receiving, digesting, transforming, absorbing, nourishing and excreting. The triple warmer is like the great canal that was built in China in ancient times to connect the vast distant territories. So also is it warmed and motivated by the TCM function of the kidneys especially as it relates to the processing of fluids.
The bladder is the yang aspect of the kidneys, making it relevant to the Gate of Vitality from which it derives its energy. The function of the bladder is to store and excrete urine. If kidney yang is weak, there will be frequent but weak passage of urine. The holding
10. The Kidneys govern water
Within the kidneys themselves, as with all physiological processes, yin and yang qualities are manifested. The kidneys contribute to the function of eliminating acid waste products and helping to maintain proper PH throughout the body by their ability to reabsorb sodium, calcium and other mineral salts into the plasma. The lungs also contribute to this process by eliminating carbon dioxide which is the waste byproduct of glucose and lactic acid metabolism. Acid waste in the body are yang toxins because they cause inflammation and congestion. Sodium, chloride, potassium and other mineral ions which help to maintain homeostasis are yin. Since yin and yang are relative to each other, sodium is yang because it causes fluid retention while potassium would be yin.
Extracellular fluid in the form of blood and lymph occupies the interstitial spaces between the cells. It must maintain a proper amount of sodium chloride and bicarbonate with some potassium and calcium. Intercellular fluid on the other hand must maintain a predominance of potassium with a smaller amount of sodium. Let us posit that the extracellular fluid is yin while the intercellular fluid is yang. Similarly, salt is a yin substance while potassium is a yang substance. The balance and interaction of these two through the cell walls is in the form of an electrical charge that helps in carrying food, fluid and waste into and out of the cells.
Chinese medical theory maintains that the flavor of the kidneys is salty. By this the Chinese understood the specialized relationship the kidneys have with directly maintaining and regulating PH and by the reabsorption of sodium and calcium into the plasma. As with the regulation of yin and yang throughout the body, this function of the kidneys is also regulated by hormones of the adrenal cortex and of the posterior pituitary.
ANATOMY OF THE KIDNEY
The kidneys are paired reddish-brown organs situated one on each side of the vertebral column and on the posterior wall of the abdominal cavity. The adrenal glands are situated on the superior portion of each kidney. Being approximately 11 cm. long, they extend down from the level of the twelfth thoracic to the third lumbar vertebra. The right kidney sits slightly lower than the left because of the presence of the liver.
The kidney proper is composed of a cortex or outer layer; the medulla which is located deep to the cortex and consists of up to 18 triangular renal pyramids. The renal pelvis is the papilla of each pyramid projecting into a funnel-shaped minor calyx. The major calyces unite to form the renal pelvis which is the expanded upper end of the ureter. The urine passes as droplets from tiny pores in the papillae into the renal pelvis and finally the ureter, which carries it to the urinary bladder.
The nephron is the functional unit of the kidney where urine is produced. The two kidneys together contain about 2 1/2 million nephrons. The entire function of the kidney can be understood by the function of a single nephron.
The nephron is composed of 1. a glomerulus of tiny capillary blood vessels, and 2. a long tubule in which the filtered fluid is converted into urine on its way to the pelvis of the kidney. Blood enters the glomerulus through the afferent arteriole and leaves through the efferent arteriole. Pressure of blood in the glomerulus causes fluid to filter into Bowman’s capsule. Bowman’s capsule is named after a 19th century British physician and is a visceral layer close to the glomerulus. It functions as a filter in the formation of urine.
It is within the nephrons that the major functions of the urinary system is performed. The other parts of the system serve primarily as passageways and storage areas. Nephrons carry out three important processes:
They regulate blood concentration the volume by removing selected amounts of water and solutes.
They help regulate PH
The remove toxic waste from the blood.
In the process of performing these activities, the nephrons filter unwanted materials from the blood and return desireable ones required by the body. The discarded material or urine together with the entire volume of blood in the body is filtered approximately 60 times a day.
Urine is formed by a process of glomerular filtration caused by forcing fluids and dissolved substances through a membrane by pressure. In a healthy person, urine consists of all materials normally found in the blood except for the solid elements and most proteins which are too large to pass through the membrane.
Tubular reabsorption is the amount of filtrate that flows out of the renal corpuscles of both kidneys and is reabsorbed by the blood, which is about 99%. Thus, only about 1% actually leaves the body which is about 1 liter a day. If filtration is too slow, there is a reabsorption of chloride ions to increase the flow of blood which in turn balances the rate of filtration, helping to regulate the process.
Tubular secretion eliminates certain waste materials from the blood and helps to control PH. Through a complex process, tubular secretion releases hydrogen and ammonium ions which help to raise the blood PH which has been lowered through the digestive process (even though most diets provide primarily acidic foods). Ammonium and hydrogen ion secretion normalizes urine to a PH of about 6. As a result, urine Ph is lowered while blood PH is raised to normal.
Antidiuretic hormone (ADH) , called vasopressin, controls the rate at which water is lost from the body by controlling the permiability of the water collecting ducts. Without ADH water is expelled into the urine, with ADH it is reabsorbed back into the blood.
A normal adult excretes between 1 to 2 quarts of urine daily. Blood pressure is regulated by the secretion of renin from the juxtaglomerular apparatus which increases reabsorption. By so doing, blood volume and consequently blood pressure increases and urine decreases. By raising blood pressure, the kidneys are ensured enough oxygen (O2) and the normal volume of urine remains constant.
The amount of water that is consumed effects blood concentration. A small amount of water results in a lower concentration in the blood with the consequent release of ADH. The effect of ADH is to decrease the volume of urine, thus conserving water reserves.
Exposure to high temperatures stimulates the rate of perspiration or water loss. This also stimulates the release of ADH with an increase in water reapsorption in the blood and a decrease of urine. A lowering of temperature causes a dilation of the abdominal vessels with an increase of blood to the glomeruli, with a consequent increase of pressure and the expulsion of urine.
Diuretics are chemicals that increase urine flow. Some act on tubular flow in the kidneys while others such as coffee, tea and alcoholic beverages affect ADH by inhibiting its release. It is important that the rate of sodium loss in the urine also be increased with the loss of water.
Weiss points out that “it is useful to make a distinction between diuretics in the narrower sense, which are used to treat diseases of the urinary system, and diuretics in the wider sense, perhaps better referred to as anti-dyscratic drugs with diuretic properties, their actual indications being metabolic diseases, rheumatism and gout.” (Weiss, pg. 234)
Weiss then goes on to define the difference between diuretics in the narrower sense which include diuretics containing volatile oils and those where the diuretic property is due to their saponin content.
Diuretics containing volatile oils
It is well understood that in general a warm or hot infusion of herbs with volatile oils will have a diaphoretic effect and a cool infusion will exert a diuretic effect. The following herbs are used in either of these ways:
Parsley (petroselinum sativum)
Celery fruits (apium graveolens)
Wild carrot (Daucus carota)
Lovage (Levisticum off.)
Cinnamon bark (cinnamomum cassia)
fresh Ginger (Zingiberis off.)
Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)
Burdock (arctium lappa)
Buchu (Barosma betulina)
Coriander (Coriandrum sativum)
Water Plantain (Alisma plantago)
Watercress (Nasturtium off.)
Gravel root (Eupatorium purpureum)
Diuretics containing saponins and sterols
spiny restharrow (ononis spinosa)
Horsetail (equisetum arvense)
Dandelion (Taraxacum off.)
Dianthus superbus
Goldenrod (solidago virgaurea) (directly increases renal function)
Ceanothus thyrsiflorus (California lilac)
Azuki beans (Phaseolus calcaratus) which are diuretic because they tend to filter sodium.
Corn silk (Zea mays)
Guiacum off.
Hydrangea arborescens
A diuretic subcategory are herbs that have urinary antiseptic properties and would include
Pipsissewa (Chimaphila spp.) also very useful for frequent urination.
Uva ursi (Arctostapholos uva ursi)
Plantain (Plantago spp.)
Cleavers (Galium aparine)
Many herbal diuretics exert their action by directly effecting electrolyte balance of minerals. Thus, those that are high in potassium tend to have a cooler energy and include dandelion (taraxacum Off.), the various mushrooms including Poria cocos, couchgrass (Agropynum repens), probably Atractylodes alba, Some diuretics such as Dianthus superbus promote diuretic action by stimulating more the secretion of potassium rather than sodium. Certain herbs of a demulcent or mucilaginous character such as marshmallow root (Althea off.), Slippery elm (Ulmus Fulva), Knotweed, (Polygonum aviculare), talcum, and Rehmannia glutinosa inhibit the osmotic reabsorption of fluid by the tubules. The single most important diuretic that inhibits antidiuretic hormone is water. When large amounts of water are ingested, ADH is no longer secreted from the supraoptico-posterior pituitary system. As a result large amounts of urine are discharged.
In addition to the above, emotions can influence the volume of urine. Nervousness and stress can increase blood pressure which in turn will increase glomerular filtration.
Urine Characteristics
Color is normally yellow or amber colored. Being a breakdown product of hemoglobin, urine is colored by urobilinogen and is more hypertonic than plasma and more acid. It consists of urea, urin acid, creatinine, ammonia, and hydrogen and potassium ions.
Turbidity of fresh urine is usually transparent. Slight turbidity is a result of mucin secreted by the lining of the urinary tract. If it is too dilute (specific gravity is low) there is not the proper balance of fluid filtered through the tubule. Goldenrod herb and root (Solidago virgurea) is one of the best to correct excessive albuminaria as well as oliguria
Odor of fresh urine can vary. Asparagus will give a characteristic smell. Of more importance, however, is a sweetish smell which can indicate the spilling of blood sugar into the urine, indicating diabetes. Normal urine has little odor.
PH of normal urine is slightly acidic, ranging from 4.6 to 8.0. Variations are closely related to the diet. High protein increases acidity while vegetables and fruit increase alkalinity. Fasting, exercise and high altitude will also vary the PH. Standing urine forms ammonium carbonate which is strongly alkaline.
Specific gravity is the ration of weight of solids to the weight of equal volume of distilled water. Water has a spcific gravity of 1000. The specific gravity of urine can vary from 1.001 to 1.035 in healthy people. This indicates health since there is a better overall filtering capacity. Above normal readings can indicate that the person has blood cells, casts or bacteria in the urine which is an indication of disease.
A. An increase in Albumin can indicate high blood pressure, metals in the body,bacterial toxins, disease of the glomeruli.
b. An increase of Glucose indicates high sugar from the diet and emotional stress. The utilization of glucose and some amino acids by the cells is dependent upon a process called “sodium co-transport” whereby the osmotic diffusion of sodium into the cells carries with it glucose and amino acids. Since the kidneys are responsible for regulating sodium levels, there is obviously an indirect relationship between kidney function and the absorption of nutrients. Since the kidneys are so directly involved with the regulation of sodium, we see the origin of adding a pinch of salt when taking a kidney yin or yang tonic. We can also see that if the kidneys are filtering too much salt, there can be symptoms of overall malnourishment.
c. An increase of Erythrocytes can be cause by hematuria, inflammation of the urinary organs, kidney stones, tumors, trauma and kidney disease. In TCM, this category is in the categorized as disease caused by heat and we look to the use of anti-inflammatory herbs such as echinacea, barberry, gentian as well as astringent diuretics such as pippsesewa, uva ursi and goldenrod.
d. An increase of Leukocytes indicates infection of the urinary organs. This betrays the presence of pus and could come from other areas of the body as well. Again, this is a condition of heat and requires the use of annti-inflammatory herbs such as echinacea, chaparral, golden seal as described above. If there is a urinary infection then uva ursi, pippsesewa and horsetail would be very effective.
e. In small amounts the presence of Ketone bodies is normal. In larger amounts it can indicate diabetes, starvation generally or overrall too little carbohydrates in the body. Ketones can create a mild feeling of euphoria which is the high frequently associated with fasting. When carbohydrates are not used, almost all the energy must come from the metabolism of fats. This can be taken from the fatty reserves of the body resulting in tremendous amounts of fatty acids being metabolized by the liver. This is often more than the cells can oxidize resulting in the accumulation high concentrations of acetoacetic acid and the other ketones in the blood.
f. Bilirubin is a byproduct of the hemolysis of red blood cells and hemoglobin. The average lifespan of red blood cells is 120 days after which they become too fragile to exist. Their cell membranes rupture and the released hemoglobin is phagocytized by reticuloendothelial cells throughout the body. Eventually these are converted bilirubin. Within hours, these are absorbed by the hepatic cells where it is combined with other substances and partially excreted as bile where it is excreted through the gall bladder into the small intestine where it stimulates peristalsis and is converted by bacterial action into a more soluble substance called absorbed through the intestinal mucosa into the blood and most of this is in turn re-excreted by the liver back into the gut. About 5% is excreted by the kidneys into the urine. After exposure to air in the urine, the urobilinogen becomes oxidized to urobilin, or in the feces it becomes altered and oxidized to form stercobilin. Herbs that treat a congestion or excess of bilirubin are classified in TCM as “Herbs that clear Damp Heat.” These include Oregon Grape (Mahonia), Barberry, Golden Seal, Gentian Yellow dock root (Rumex crispus) and Phellodendron amurense. They are important in the treatment of most genital urinary inflammations as well as herpes simplex and are so used with great effectiveness in both Chinese and Western herbalism.
g. Casts are tiny masses of hardened material made from white blood cells, red blood cells, epithelium that contains cells from the tubulars, fatty or granula cells. They indicate a kind of cellular dysfunction and are effectively treated and removed with a combination of herbs that eliminate “damp heat” and diuretics. These include cleavers (Galium aparine), Gentianae scabrae, Sophorae flavescentis, Phellodendron ammurense, hydrastis canadensis.
h. Renal calculi are crystal salts found in the urine that can solidify into renal calculi or kidney stones. Some of the conditions which lead to their formation include a decrease in water intake, increase in mineral salts and an abnormally alkaline or acidic urine. Many diuretic herbs have anti-lithic properties but three of the most important are as follows:
Gravel root (Eupatorium purpureum) combines both chi tonic as well as diuretic properties. As such, it is my opinion that it is somewhat similar in properties to the Chinese Atractylodes alba (Bai Zhu) which is also diuretic, carminative and tonic. Gravel root, as its name implies, is a most effective remedy for urinary calculi and gravel, having the ability to looosen, dissolve and void gravelly sediment in the urinary tract. Gravel root is a diuretic nervine which means that it is able to treat frequent, ineffective or nighttime urination due to weakness of the pelvic nerves. Since it has the ability to increase the elimination of solids in the urine, it is effective in cases of rheumatism and gout. Typically, as with all remedies in this class, they should be combined with a demulcent diuretic such as Marshmallow root (Althea off.) or talcum.
Hydrangea arborescens is another anti-lithic remedy often combined with gravel root for the elimination of stones. It is also good for urinary tract infections as well as infections and enlargement of the prostate gland.
Lysimachia christinae (Jin qian cao) is the main herb used in several Chinese patented formulas for the relief of both gallstones as well as urinary stones. One patented formula is called Specific Drug Passwan or “specially effective discharge stone pill.” It is not at all uncommon that herbs that dissolve stones of the urinary tract are also effective for the gallbladder. As such I have had many calls of appreciation from patients around the country who have used my Planetary formula, Stone Free (it does not contain lysimachia). This herb is a diuretic in the category of “clearing damp heat”. As such, it is also useful for jaundice, hepatitis, abscess and snake-bite.
i. Various Microbes are also found in urine and are a way of determining other problems in the body. Two that often cause problems are candida albicans and trichomonas vaginalis. These are in the category of damp heat and require diuretic herbs from this category as well as other metabolic adjustments in diet. Herbs that are used for these conditions include barberry root (Berberis vulgaris.) or Oregon grape root (Mahonia aquifolium), Gentinae scabrae and Sophorae flavescentis to name a few. Of course, these are most effective when prepared in a balanced formulation according to the constitution and symptoms of the patient.
Chinese Materia Medica by Bensky and Gamble, Publ. by Eastland Press
Formulas and Strategies by Bensky and Barolet, publ. by Eastland press
Medical Physiology by Guyton, publ. by Saunders
Pharmacology and Applicaions of Chinese Materia Medica by Chang and But, vols. 1 and 2 publ. by World Scientific
Textbook of Anatomy and Physiology by Anthony and Thibodeau, publ. by Mosby
Handbook of Chinese Herbs and Formulas, vol 1 and 2 by Yeung, self published.
The Wild Rose Scientific Herbal by Terry Willard, publ. by Wild Rose College of Natural Healing.
Herbal Medicine by Rudolf Weiss, publ. by Beaconsfield, England
Food Is Your Best Medicine by Dr. Henry Bieler M.D., Random House.
(1) Chinese Medicine, compiled by Dara Eitrem for the Five Branches Institute of Santa Cruz.
(2) Herbal Medicine, Weiss, Beaconsfield Arcanum, 1988.
(3)(3) Formulas and Strategies by Bensky and Gamble, publ. Eastland Press, 1990.
(4)Takeda, R. et al., Prolonged pseudoaldosterones induce glycyrrhizin, Endoc. Japan 26:541-7, 1979.
(5)Eptien, M., Espinier, E., et al., Effect of eating licorice on renin-angiotensin aldosterone receptors, Br. Med. J. !:488-90 1977.
(6)Armanini, D. et al., Affinity of Liquorice derivative for mineralcorticoid and glucocorticoid receptors, Clin. Edoc. 19:609-12, 1983.
(7))Chen RQ et al. Acta Academiae Medicinae Primae Shanghai 1979 6(6):393.
(8) Basic Sciences Department, Shenyang Medical College. Medical Research (Shenyang Medical college) 1975
(9) Vereshchagin, I.A., et al., Antiniotiki 27:2619 1985.
(10) Kirilov, O.I. “The effect of fluid extract of eleutherococcus root on the pituitary-adrenocortical system.” SIB. Otd. Acad. Nauk S.S.S.R., 23, 3-5, 1964.
(11) The Nei Ching or what is called The Yellow Emperor’s Book of Acupuncture is believed to be a compilation of a group of outstanding medical scholars around the third century B.C.. It is an invaluable classic which represents the excellence and experience of Medicine in ancient China. It is set in the form of a dialogue between the fabled Yellow Emperor and his minister Li Po. An English translation of the Chinese by Dr. Henry Lu is published by The Academy of Oriental Heritage, Vancouver, B.C., Canada.
(12) Unshuld, Paul U., Medicine in China, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1985. p.79.
(13) Jiangsu College of New Medicine. Encyclopedia of Chinese Materia Medica. Vol 1. Shanghai People’s Publishing house. 1977. p. 386.
(14)Tongren hospital of Beijing. References on medicine and health. 1963. p.1. also Information Department of Hunan institute of Medical and Pharmaceutical Industry. Chinese Traditional and Herbal Drugs Communications 1977 (4) :48.
(15)Editorial Group. National collection of Chinese materia medica. People’s Medical Publishing house. 1975. p. 458.
(16) Food Is Your Best Medicine, Henry G. Bieler, M.D., Random House, 1965, pp132-133.
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By TheDblTap
PUTTING MYSELF THROUGH A NIGHTMARE SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO
A little while ago MrZhangetsu went to heck and back by playing through and platting Vampyr, documenting his experience in a Review for the site. If you read his review, you will quickly realise that he had a bad time playing the game.
In his verdict he stated “but there’s likely fun to be had if you use the Infinite XP glitch which would remove combat as an obstacle.” And, well, I put that to the test.
Vampyr Infinite XP Exploit
How easy is the game after cheating?
My Illegitimate Vampyr Platinum Experience
In order to get infinite XP in the game you will need a physical copy of the game and a USB Keyboard.
When you put the game disc into your PS4 you will need to immediately cancel the update which adds to your downloads. If you have some sort of next-level high-end business internet that can download the whole update in a second, then you will probably want to disconnect from the internet until you are done with the exploit.
Launch the un-updated game with your USB Keyboard connected to the PS4 and play through the first section of the game until you reach the first safe-house and go to bed.
You will get this trophy for resting in the first bed.
When you sleep in the game, you’re presented with the RPG-style upgrade menu allowing you to buy skills for the main character “Johnathan”. You spend EXP which you can only get by “Embracing” the citizens of London, essentially killing them. This can be problematic, as you risk losing the ability to complete side-quests or acquire collectibles by doing this, but you also get locked out of the worst trophy in the game:
Not Even Once Finish the game without killing any citizens (not unlockable in Story Mode)
So, in order to plat the game, you need to get by with very little exp and be hugely underpowered against every opponent in the game. Something MrZhangetsu had to put up with.
However, while on this screen, if you pick up your trusty USB Keyboard and hold both the “O” and “P” keys simultaneously Jonathan’s exp will slowly tick up while the keys remain held. Just keep buying skills and holding the keys whenever you need more exp. I had a helping hand from MrZhangetsu who held the keys for me while I bought skills, speeding the process up a little. I felt better knowing there was an accessory to my crimes against trophy hunting.
I didn’t buy any skills in particular, I had very little experience with the game from my initial, short-lived, legitimate play-through and MrZhangetsu couldn’t remember which skills would be helpful – obviously having purged the memory from his traumatised hippocampus.
Armed with as many skills as I could buy and a level 50 main character, I headed out with great confidence that I would have a better experience than MrZhangetsu.
…But did I?
Dontnod have added themselves to a long list of developers who have a diamond rod in their pants over Dark Souls and the series’ famous combat system. So, naturally, they tried… and failed… to emulate it. This resulted in a frustrating combat system with serious input lag leaving you literally fumbling in the dark.
Luckily, that didn’t matter to me!
For the first few chapters in the game, I breezed through combat, taking out most enemies with just one hit. Towards the end, enemies were around level 32-37, still paling in comparison to my level of 50 and even the bosses would go down in just 3-4 hits at most. So, in a way, MrZhangetsu was correct and cheating did remove combat as an obstacle.
My skills were the most overpowered part about my arsenal, as my base attack strength was still somewhat dictated by the weapon I used and how much I had upgraded it.
Unfortunately, it didn’t remove every other horrific thing about this game. Allow me to summarize;
First up, the story is so dry and uninteresting. It’s your standard cut and dry Vampire storyline packed from front to end with tropes but that’s the least of its issues. The story is delivered in a generally poor effort from everyone involved.
The dialogue is written as though the writers were desperately trying to prove they were smart and had to convolute every line with poetry and big-boy words until they collapsed in fits of seizure from the sheer size of their unimaginably big brains. Although, really it just comes off as try-hard edgy with a pebble-dashing of cringe. It took every fibre of my being to not mash
through every dialogue exchange and spare myself the boredom.
Just look at these goofy expressionless 3D models…
There are the occasional cutscenes, seamlessly hidden between dialogue exchanges with a few clever camera movements, which is a decent effort. Except the voice-acting is pretty dry and there’s little-to-no emotion present in any given scene. Everybody is just morose and depressed. I mean, really.
The world is going to pot around these people but the delivery of the lines makes it seem as though nothing all that bad is actually happening, they’re all just as disinterested in what’s going on as I was, frankly.
The dialogue does shine, however, in comparison to the rigid animation of the characters. Also, almost all of the real action – something which would take effort to animate – is hidden off-screen or obscured in some way. Methods which are actually quite commonplace in videogames… About 8 years ago.
Overlooking the story, the game is at least semi-open-world. I add the “semi” because the game likes to block you off a lot. They took another page from the souls-borne book, by having shortcuts become unlockable as you progress, allowing you to return to places you’ve already been much quicker if you find and open the relevant gate… from the right side.
I did quite enjoy this gentleman walking around knocking wildly on people’s doors telling them not to welcome any strange people who come knocking on their doors.
Seriously, 90% of the shortcuts are just gates you need to open from a certain side. Following that, they open both ways. There’s no latch, no lock, no explicable reason for this, it’s just how it works.
This works in souls-borne games because you go through an absolute ordeal to travel a great distance and reach the next area, but in Vampr they just serve as a mild inconvenience, making you go around one or two extra buildings, never travelling very far due to the small size of the map. But maybe I’m just not seeing them for the saving grace they might be, because the combat was nothing more than a mild inconvenience for me.
Perhaps with difficult combat in the way, the map begins to feel much larger than it is.
Speaking of the map… The environment is yet another let-down of this game. There is little to no diversity in the environments, everything is just dark and damp, rotted and crumbling. There is nothing interesting to see and the labyrinthine layout makes it very easy to get lost.
Get a load of these drab environments!
The game does have a compass at the top of the screen, which works very well for games like Skyrim which have huge open spaces to navigate and a whole country to navigate, but Vampyr has a small, claustrophobic map made up of narrow streets and tight alleyways, making the compass practically useless except for giving you a general idea of where you placed your marker.
Ultimately, I ended up just hitting
to open up the in-game map every time I reached a crossroads in order to find my way to my destination.
My last major upset with this game comes from how it performs. I’m playing it on a PS4 Pro, but the game would frequently crash on me. It crashed on me 4 times in the 2 hours I played it just this morning. Not only that, though, here is a nice list of all the issues I repeatedly faced with the game’s performance:
Loading the game up fresh takes an insanely long time.
Loading screens between different areas (e.g. the sewer and the streets of London) would take 1-3 minutes.
The game would drop frames if I move through an area too quickly.
The game would frequently freeze up and display a loading screen as I was playing, which would take a very long time to pass.
There was a significant amount of input lag.
Embraced characters would fall to the ground and immediately clip through it, spasming wildly and reducing the game’s framerate.
It’s important to note that I did actually update the game after exploiting the save and so none of these issues are due to me running an older version of the game, it’s just poorly made. I got so fed up of the game crashing and then being forced to sit through the long loading process all over again. Every time I spoke to a citizen there was a 10% chance the game would crash and every time I embraced a citizen there was a 50% chance of it crashing.
The game would frequently freeze up and load like this for what felt like an eternity.
In summary, I’d say I did actually have an easier time platting the game than I would have had without cheating, but it really did not improve the game’s other flaws in any way. I did not have fun. I did not enjoy the game. I do, however, regret ever deciding to buy it. I was fooled because Dontnod’s Life is Strange games are fantastic.
Obviously, I started my playthrough off by cheating, as I’ve made very clear, but I did still need a plan in place in order to get the platinum in the smoothest way possible, avoiding multiple playthroughs.
The first 2 trophies to ensure I got were:
Just take a bite Embrace Clay during your first meeting with him
Merciful Release Let Clay live during your first meeting with him.
This was fairly simple. As soon as I got off the boat after acquiring the trophy “At dawn we row” I closed the game (it autosaves) and backed up my save to the Playstation Network. I then loaded the game back up and embraced Clay. After he died and the trophy popped, I quit the game, downloaded my save backup and continued through the game, having let him live.
The aforementioned “At dawn we row” trophy.
Now, I share my PS4 game library with MrZhangetsu, which means my PS4 is not set as my main console on my account. This prevents games from being backed up automatically to PSN so I didn’t need to worry about that. You might, so look out for that and ensure your console is not set up to automatically upload save data.
After that crucial point, I played through the story with complete disregard for collectables and weapons (my first mistake), doing a few misc trophies along the way like upgrading weapons and eating rats. After just 4 hours I had reached Chapter 6 and created a new back-up save by uploading my save data to the Playstation Network again. From there I finished the game’s story, netting the irritating Not even Once trophy.
Following that, I went around the map gathering collectables, which took longer than the actual game, probably would have been quicker had I done it as part of the story, but as I said, that was my first mistake. As I was hunting for collectables I also healed any sick citizens I could until I had the relevant trophy.
Be sure to heal 10 civilians for this trophy.
With the collectables gathered I was certain I could start killing people off to get this trophy:
London’s burning Turn all districts to hostile status.
So I did, getting weapons as I went along and it was going very smoothly indeed. Until I realised I couldn’t get the last weapon I needed; Newton’s Saber. I had accidentally and unwilingly locked myself out of getting the trophy, here’s how that happened…
For one of the trophies I needed to sleep 3 times:
Unlife is strange Save this poor plant with water.
Once you water the plant for this trophy you need to sleep thrice and then check the plant. I read online that you can sleep despite civilians being sick as long as they are not hostile. Once a location becomes hostile, people can begin to die from sickness. Luckily for me, no locations were hostile, so I went ahead and slept 3 times.
If only I had left this one until last…
To my surprise, on the third night, someone I had never met died randomly. I assumed that perhaps this was supposed to happen since I was assured that people cannot die unless a region has a hostile status.
Anyway, long story short, that guy was Newton. I could no longer get Newton’s Saber. It was the last item I needed and the only thing standing between me and the platinum trophy. So, I made every region hostile for the relevant trophy and then reloaded my backup save, thinking “It’s okay, I only need every Melee weapon, I have the off-hand and ranged trophies so it won’t take long.”
Oh, poor, naive me.
One of the melee weapons is a secret weapon tied to a puzzle tied to the collectables. To figure out the puzzle you need every collectable to find the combination specific to your save.
Interesting tidbit; the combination is indeed unique to every player, but not totally unique, as my combination was still exactly the same after reloading my backup save. Sadly, even though I was smart enough to write down my combination, it didn’t work. The game registers whether you have every collectable or not and as I no longer did, the combination – while correct – would not work.
Some collectables have symbols hidden on them. They key to the puzzle for the “Bloody Roots” trophy.
So, yes. I had to get every single collectable again. And since I only had a few, it took me another 3 hours to get them all again and then gather up every melee weapon to finally get the trophy. I genuinely nearly threw in the towel and admitted defeat. Which would have been a fitting end to my journey for such an ill-deserved attempt at the platinum.
I pretty much hated the whole experience and hated myself for being stubborn enough to keep going, even though I was having a much easier time than I would have without using an exploit. I don’t know how MrZhangetsu put up with it, and I have a lot more respect for him now, knowing what he went through.
My Verdict:
If you have any respect for yourself, don’t play this. Go play one of Dontnod’s Life is Strange games instead, they’re actually good at making those.
You can exploit it with a physical copy, reducing the length of the torture if you really want that platinum.
Performs, looks and plays poorly.
No Trophy
I was going to give the game a Bronze trophy, it seems weird to not award a trophy to a game which isn’t an indie title, but I struggle to find any single redeeming quality about Vampyr.
TheDblTap is fond of single-player action and adventure games as well as the odd collect-em-up or RPG. He thinks FPS games are stale and repetitive and has little patience for gunfights which are too drawn-out. Originally a Nintendo gamer, the PlayStation line of consoles quickly took their grasp as he fell in love with Sony’s gamer-centric approach and – eventually – collecting shiny, shiny trophies.
With a keen eye for secrets and treasure, TheDblTap’s play-style often benefits him as a trophy hunter, but as someone with poor timing, he struggles with more skill-based combat trophies…
More from TheDblTap
Check out some of our other Posts
By MrZhangetsu
The Seven Deadly Sins: Knights of Britannia
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Items where Author is "Croft, SL"
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Burza, S; Croft, SL; Boelaert, M; (2018) Leishmaniasis. Elsevier. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31204-2 Full text not available from this repository.
Van Bocxlaer, K; Gaukel, E; Hauser, D; Park, SH; Schock, S; Yardley, V; Randolph, R; Plattner, JJ; Merchant, T; Croft, SL; +2 more... Jacobs, RT; Wring, SA; (2018) Topical treatment for cutaneous leishmaniasis - dermato-pharmacokinetic led optimisation of benzoxaboroles. Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy. ISSN 0066-4804 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/AAC.02419-17
Voak, AA; Standing, JF; Sepúlveda, N; Harris, A; Croft, SL; Seifert, K; (2018) Pharmacodynamics and cellular accumulation of amphotericin B and miltefosine in Leishmania donovani-infected primary macrophages. The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy. ISSN 0305-7453 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jac/dky014
Wijnant, GJ; Van Bocxlaer, K; Fortes Francisco, A; Yardley, V; Harris, A; Alavijeh, M; Murdan, S; Croft, SL; (2018) Local skin inflammation in cutaneous leishmaniasis as a source of variable pharmacokinetics and therapeutic efficacy of liposomal amphotericin B. Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy. ISSN 0066-4804 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/AAC.00631-18
Wijnant, GJ; Van Bocxlaer, K; Yardley, V; Harris, A; Alavijeh, M; Silva-Pedrosa, R; Antunes, S; Mauricio, I; Murdan, S; Croft, SL; (2018) Comparative efficacy, toxicity and biodistribution of the liposomal amphotericin B formulations Fungisome® and AmBisome® in murine cutaneous leishmaniasis. International journal for parasitology Drugs and drug resistance, 8 (2). pp. 223-228. ISSN 2211-3207 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpddr.2018.04.001
Baker, DA; Stewart, LB; Large, JM; Bowyer, PW; Ansell, KH; Jiménez-Díaz, MB; El Bakkouri, M; Birchall, K; Dechering, KJ; Bouloc, NS; +19 more... Coombs, PJ; Whalley, D; Harding, DJ; Smiljanic-Hurley, E; Wheldon, MC; Walker, EM; Dessens, JT; Lafuente, MJ; Sanz, LM; Gamo, FJ; Ferrer, SB; Hui, R; Bousema, T; Angulo-Barturén, I; Merritt, AT; Croft, SL; Gutteridge, WE; Kettleborough, CA; Osborne, SA; (2017) A potent series targeting the malarial cGMP-dependent protein kinase clears infection and blocks transmission. Nature communications, 8 (1). p. 430. ISSN 2041-1723 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-00572-x
Basilico, N; Parapini, S; Sparatore, A; Romeo, S; Misiano, P; Vivas, L; Yardley, V; Croft, SL; Habluetzel, A; Lucantoni, L; +8 more... Renia, L; Russell, B; Suwanarusk, R; Nosten, F; Dondio, G; Bigogno, C; Jabes, D; Taramelli, D; (2017) In Vivo and In Vitro Activities and ADME-Tox Profile of a Quinolizidine-Modified 4-Aminoquinoline: A Potent Anti-P. falciparum and Anti-P. vivax Blood-Stage Antimalarial. Molecules (Basel, Switzerland), 22 (12). ISSN 1420-3049 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules22122102
Burrell-Saward, H; Harris, AJ; de LaFlor, R; Sallam, H; Alavijeh, MS; Ward, TH; Croft, SL; (2017) Dose-dependent effect and pharmacokinetics of fexinidazole and its metabolites in a mouse model of human african trypanosomiasis. International journal of antimicrobial agents, 50 (2). pp. 203-209. ISSN 0924-8579 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2017.01.038
Croft, SL; (2017) Leishmania and other intracellular pathogens: selectivity, drug distribution and PK-PD. Parasitology. pp. 1-11. ISSN 0031-1820 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0031182017001664
Voak, AA; Harris, A; Qaiser, Z; Croft, SL; Seifert, K; (2017) Treatment of experimental visceral leishmaniasis with single-dose liposomal amphotericin B - pharmacodynamics and biodistribution at different stages of disease. Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy, 61 (9). ISSN 0066-4804 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/AAC.00497-17
Wijnant, GJ; Van Bocxlaer, K; Yardley, V; Harris, A; Murdan, S; Croft, SL; (2017) AmBisome® treatment of murine cutaneous leishmaniasis: relation between skin pharmacokinetics and efficacy. Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy. ISSN 0066-4804 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/AAC.02009-17
Wijnant, GJ; Van Bocxlaer, K; Yardley, V; Murdan, S; Croft, S; (2017) Efficacy of a Paromomycin plus Chloroquine Combination Therapy in Experimental Cutaneous Leishmaniasis. Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy. ISSN 0066-4804 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/AAC.00358-17
Cameron, MM; Acosta-Serrano, A; Bern, C; Boelaert, M; den Boer, M; Burza, S; Chapman, LA; Chaskopoulou, A; Coleman, M; Courtenay, O; +21 more... Croft, S; Das, P; Dilger, E; Foster, G; Garlapati, R; Haines, L; Harris, A; Hemingway, J; Hollingsworth, TD; Jervis, S; Medley, G; Miles, M; Paine, M; Picado, A; Poché, R; Ready, P; Rogers, M; Rowland, M; Sundar, S; de Vlas, SJ; Weetman, D; (2016) Understanding the transmission dynamics of Leishmania donovani to provide robust evidence for interventions to eliminate visceral leishmaniasis in Bihar, India. Parasites & vectors, 9 (1). p. 25. ISSN 1756-3305 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-016-1309-8
Croft, SL; (2016) Neglected tropical diseases in the genomics era: re-evaluating the impact of new drugs and mass drug administration. Genome Biol, 17 (1). p. 46. ISSN 1474-760X DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13059-016-0916-1
Daunes, S; Yardley, V; Croft, SL; D'Silva, C; (2016) Antiprotozoal glutathione derivatives with flagellar membrane binding activity against T. brucei rhodesiense. Bioorganic & medicinal chemistry. ISSN 0968-0896 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bmc.2016.12.016
Hendrickx, S; Guerin, PJ; Caljon, G; Croft, SL; Maes, L; (2016) Evaluating drug resistance in visceral leishmaniasis: the challenges. Parasitology, 145 (4). pp. 453-463. ISSN 0031-1820 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0031182016002031
Tegazzini, D; Díaz, R; Aguilar, F; Peña, I; Presa, JL; Yardley, V; Martin, JJ; Coteron, JM; Croft, SL; Cantizani, J; (2016) A replicative in vitro assay for drug discovery against Leishmania donovani. Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy, 60 (6). pp. 3524-32. ISSN 0066-4804 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/AAC.01781-15
Van Bocxlaer, K; Yardley, V; Murdan, S; Croft, SL; (2016) Drug permeation and barrier damage in Leishmania-infected mouse skin. The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy, 71 (6). pp. 1578-85. ISSN 0305-7453 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jac/dkw012 Full text not available from this repository.
Van Bocxlaer, K; Yardley, V; Murdan, S; Croft, SL; (2016) Topical formulations of miltefosine for cutaneous leishmaniasis in a BALB/c mouse model. The Journal of pharmacy and pharmacology, 68 (7). pp. 862-72. ISSN 0022-3573 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jphp.12548
Xu, J; Bergquist, R; Qian, YJ; Wang, Q; Yu, Q; Peeling, R; Croft, S; Guo, JG; Zhou, XN; (2016) China-Africa and China-Asia Collaboration on Schistosomiasis Control: A SWOT Analysis. Adv Parasitol, 92. pp. 435-66. ISSN 2163-6079 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.apar.2016.02.005 Full text not available from this repository.
Croft, SL; Buffett, P; (2015) Leishmaniasis. In: Goldman, L; Schafer, AI, (eds.) Goldman’s Cecil Medicine, 25th ed. Elsevier-Saunders, pp. 2120-2025. http://researchonline.lshtm.ac.uk/id/eprint/2950079 Full text not available from this repository.
Croft, SL; Ward, S; (2015) The Nobel Prize in Medicine 2015: Two drugs that changed global health. Science translational medicine, 7 (316). 316ed14. ISSN 1946-6234 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.aad5868 Full text not available from this repository.
Kaur, H; Seifert, K; Hawkes, GE; Coumbarides, GS; Alvar, J; Croft, SL; (2015) Chemical and Bioassay Techniques to Authenticate Quality of the Anti-Leishmanial Drug Miltefosine. The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene, 92 (6 Supp). pp. 31-8. ISSN 0002-9637 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.14-0586
Riede, O; Seifert, K; Oswald, D; Endmann, A; Hock, C; Winkler, A; Salguero, FJ; Schroff, M; Croft, SL; Juhls, C; (2015) Preclinical safety and tolerability of a repeatedly administered human leishmaniasis DNA vaccine. Gene therapy, 22 (8). pp. 628-35. ISSN 0969-7128 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/gt.2015.35
Seifert, K; Juhls, C; Salguero, FJ; Croft, SL; (2015) Sequential chemo-immunotherapy of experimental visceral leishmaniasis using single low dose liposomal amphotericin B and a novel DNA vaccine candidate. Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy, 59 (9). pp. 5819-23. ISSN 0066-4804 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/AAC.00273-15 Full text not available from this repository.
Barrett, MP; Croft, SL; (2014) Emerging paradigms in anti-infective drug design. Parasitology, 141 (1). pp. 1-7. ISSN 0031-1820 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0031182013001224
Burrell-Saward, H; Rodgers, J; Bradley, B; Croft, SL; Ward, TH; (2014) A sensitive and reproducible in vivo imaging mouse model for evaluation of drugs against late-stage human African trypanosomiasis. The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy, 70 (2). pp. 510-7. ISSN 0305-7453 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jac/dku393
Das, S; Freier, A; Boussoffara, T; Das, S; Oswald, D; Losch, FO; Selka, M; Sacerdoti-Sierra, N; Schönian, G; Wiesmüller, KH; +10 more... Seifert, K; Schroff, M; Juhls, C; Jaffe, CL; Roy, S; Das, P; Louzir, H; Croft, SL; Modabber, F; Walden, P; (2014) Modular multiantigen T cell epitope-enriched DNA vaccine against human leishmaniasis. Science translational medicine, 6 (234). 234ra56. ISSN 1946-6234 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.3008222 Full text not available from this repository.
Ganguly, NK; Croft, S; Singh, L; Sinha, S; Balganesh, T; (2014) Biomedicine and biotechnology: public health impact. BioMed research international, 2014. p. 524785. ISSN 2314-6133 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/524785
Lamour, SD; Veselkov, KA; Posma, JM; Giraud, E; Rogers, ME; Croft, S; Marchesi, JR; Holmes, E; Seifert, K; Saric, J; (2014) Metabolic, Immune, and Gut Microbial Signals Mount a Systems Response to Leishmania major Infection. Journal of proteome research, 14 (1). pp. 318-329. ISSN 1535-3893 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/pr5008202 Full text not available from this repository.
Sanderson, L; Yardley, V; Croft, SL; (2014) Activity of anti-cancer protein kinase inhibitors against Leishmania spp. The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy. ISSN 0305-7453 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jac/dku069 Full text not available from this repository.
Croft, SL; Olliaro, P; (2011) Leishmaniasis chemotherapy-challenges and opportunities. Clinical microbiology and infection, 17 (10). pp. 1478-83. ISSN 1198-743X DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-0691.2011.03630.x Full text not available from this repository.
Laurent, T; Rijal, S; Yardley, V; Croft, S; De Doncker, S; Decuypere, S; Khanal, B; Singh, R; Schönian, G; Kuhls, K; +2 more... Chappuis, F; Dujardin, JC; (2006) Epidemiological dynamics of antimonial resistance in Leishmania donovani: Genotyping reveals a polyclonal population structure among naturally-resistant clinical isolates from Nepal. Infection, genetics and evolution, 7 (2). pp. 206-12. ISSN 1567-1348 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meegid.2006.08.005 Full text not available from this repository.
Perez-Victoria, FJ; Sanchez-Canete, MP; Seifert, K; Croft, SL; Sundar, S; Castanys, S; Gamarro, F; (2006) Mechanisms of experimental resistance of Leishmania to miltefosine: Implications for clinical use. Drug resistance updates, 9 (1-2). pp. 26-39. ISSN 1368-7646 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drup.2006.04.001 Full text not available from this repository.
This list was generated on Tue Nov 27 05:46:28 2018 GMT.
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Home > Express Routes > Express Route 99 – Altoona > Express Route 99 – Altoona
Express Route 99 – Altoona
Operates between Altoona and downtown Des Moines.
Guaranteed Ride Home: In case of an emergency, DART will guarantee a ride home to individuals riding Route 99 -- Altoona, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. To qualify for a Guaranteed Ride Home, you must be a monthly bus pass holder, Unlimited Access participant or RideShare vanpooler. For full program details, click here.
To learn how to read DART schedules, click here.
Westbound - Inbound Eastbound - Outbound
Weekday / Westbound - Inbound:
Route 99 • Weekday / Inbound • Effective 10/13/19
Westbound-Inbound Arrive Des Moines
Adventureland Dr & Prairie Meadows Adventureland Dr & 14th St NW 8th St SW & Scenic View Altoona Walmart 3rd & Grand Locust & 7th Locust & 4th
AM 5:39 5:41 5:49 5:52 6:09/6:10 6:17 6:18
6:00 6:02 6:10 6:13 6:30 6:38 6:40
PM 4:17 - - - - - - - - - - - - 4:37/4:43 4:52 4:54
4:46 - - - - - - - - - - - - 5:06/5:13 5:22 5:24
5:23 - - - - - - - - - - - - 5:43^ - - - - - - - -
^ These buses travel to the garage via 3rd, Grand Ave and 9th, and will stop at downtown bus stops along this route.
Weather, special events and traffic conditions may alter service.
Weekday / Eastbound - Outbound:
Route 99 • Weekday / Outbound • Effective 10/13/19
Leave Des Moines Eastbound-Outbound
3rd & Grand Locust & 7th Locust & 4th Altoona Walmart 8th St SW & Scenic View Adventureland Dr & 14th St NW Adventureland Dr & Prairie Meadows
AM 6:10 6:17 6:18 - - - - - - - - - - - - 6:37
6:30 6:38 6:40 - - - - - - - - - - - - 6:59
PM 3:38 3:46 3:47 4:05 4:07 4:15 4:17
Inbound AM: Beginning east on Adventureland Drive (Altoona) at Prairie Meadows Drive
CONTINUE east on Adventureland Drive to 5th Avenue NW
RIGHT (south) on 5th Avenue NW to 8th Street SW
RIGHT (west) on 8th Street SW to 36th Street SW
RIGHT (north) on 36th Street SW to the Walmart Frontage Road
RIGHT (east) on the Frontage Road to the Walmart Park & Ride
CONTINUE east on the Frontage Road to 34th Ave SW
RIGHT (south) on 34th Avenue SW to 8th Street SW
RIGHT (west) on 8th Street SW which BECOMES Broadway Ave (NE 46th Avenue)
CONTINUE west on Broadway Avenue to Hubbell Avenue
LEFT (southwest) on Hubbell Avenue to Euclid Avenue
RIGHT (west) on Euclid Avenue to I-235W
RIGHT (north, then loops south, then west) on I-235W to Downtown EXIT 8A to 3rd Street
LEFT (south) on 3rd Street to Grand Avenue
RIGHT (west) on Grand Avenue to 13th Street
LEFT (south) on 13th Street to Locust Street
LEFT (east) on Locust Street to 3rd Street
On Selected Reverse Commute Trips
CONTINUE east on Locust Street to 2nd Avenue
LEFT (north) on 2nd Avenue to I-235E
RIGHT (east) on I-235E to EXIT 137A I-80E
RIGHT (east) on I-80E to EXIT 142 Hubbell Avenue (Altoona)
RIGHT (southwest) on Hubbell Avenue to Adventureland Drive
LEFT (east) on Adventureland Drive to Prairie Meadows Drive
Outbound PM: Beginning south on 3rd Street to Grand Avenue
RIGHT (east, then north) on I-235E to EXIT 12 Euclid Avenue
RIGHT (east) on Euclid Avenue to Hubbell Avenue
LEFT (northwest) on Hubbell Avenue to Broadway Avenue (NE 46th Street)
RIGHT (east) on Broadway Avenue (NE 46th Street) which BECOMES 8th Street SW in Altoona
CONTINUE east on 8th Street SW to 36th Street SW
LEFT (north) on 36th Street SW to the Walmart Frontage Road
CONTINUE east on the Frontage Road to 34th Avenue SW
LEFT (east) on 8th Street SW to 5th Avenue SW
LEFT (north) on 5th Avenue SW to Adventureland Drive
LEFT (west) on Adventureland Drive to Prairie Meadows Drive
CONTINUE west on Adventureland Drive to Hubbell Avenue
RIGHT (northeast) on Hubbell Avenue to I-80W
LEFT (west) on I-80W to EXIT 137A I-235W
LEFT (south, then west) on I-235W to Downtown EXITS 8A to 3rd Street
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Tag Archives: jean harley was here
Book Club ABC Season 11, Episode 5: #BookclubABC
Posted on May 13, 2017 by Robin
It’s here again, the highlight of our week, The Book Club ABC. Look at Marieke sitting there like a ray of sunshine in yellow. Ace is also looking beautiful as is JBryne. Guests chef Adam Liaw and author Di Morrissey are introduced. Di Morrissey looks divine. She is dressed exactly as I imagine her to be. Soft pink floral coat, hair swept up with a pink flower, pearls, soft pink shimmering lipstick. Divine. I am very happy to be here right now.
Di introduces the classic, it’s The Group by Mary McCarthy. It’s sexy, emotional and fun. And the modern is Jean Harley Was Here by Heather Taylor Johnson. It’s about death, grief, and how you go on after someone you love is senselessly ripped from your life. I’m not crying, I just have allergies.
In literary news Fiona McFarlane is a genius. We all already knew that but finally it has been recorded. She won the Dylan Thomas Prize for her short story collection The High Place. Find her other stuff here.
Australian women writers are RED HOT at the moment. Slapping down high quality books all over the place. Check out Robin de Crespigny debut, People Smugglers and Susan Carland’s Fighting Hislam. Keep an eye out for The Dark Lake by Sarah Bailey and Scorched Earth by Sue Rosen, both coming out on the 24th.
And now it is time for the dramatic recreation of Jean Harley Was Here. She’s a mum, someone opens a car door whilst she’s riding her bike, she swerves, another car hits her, and she is dead. How will people cope? Still not crying, you’re the one crying. Just because I’m a mum with three kids does not mean that I am currently sobbing uncontrollably on the ground in the foetal position at the mere mention of the premise. I’m totally okay…. I am not okay. Call my therapist.
Ace declares Jean Harley Was Here charming. JByrne seconds it, can we get the motion carried? No, no we cannot. Di Morrissey does not carry that motion. She felt that there were too many snippets from too many perspectives so she could never really get to the heart of the matter. She names the dog chapter as being particularly deserving of hitting the editing room floor. Marieke agrees that she could have dealt without the dog chapter. JByrne is stunned. She felt that if Marieke had died she would definitely want animals to be writing about her.
Marieke says that she finds the book difficult to critique because she admires the premise so much. She says that Heather Taylor Johnson wrote this book after one of her friends had been unexpectedly taken from them. That this was a cathartic exploration of how you cope when you lose someone that you love. Not crying, I’m not crying. However, she did not love the execution of it.
Adam loved it. He said it was so faithful to South Australia that he knew exactly where everything was and the description was perfect. He says that if you’re looking for things not to like, you’ll find them, but if you’re just reading it as a reader looking to be swept away in a story, then you’ll love it. I do love getting different perspectives on book. So true, if you look at something trying to find fault you will ALWAYS find it. Always. Adam talks about how the book is about the ripples of effect out from the victim. His hand movements are hypnotic and I can’t help but visualise a karesansui.
Marieke didn’t like the way the death seemed so sudden and glossed over. JByrne loved that. She says death can be sudden and senseless. One moment you’re there, the next minute you’re next. Keep it together, must not cry, must not cry.
Marieke couldn’t help but imagine who the author identified with in this novel. Adam found it more interesting to think of who he was in the novel. At first he thought about being the grieving husband, and then he realised that he could be Jean. He could be the dead parent. Just quietly, I can imagine this book being written about me. Howling chapter of raging grief from my daughter, confused chapters from my three year old twin boys who can only comprehend mummy gone but not why, my besties Helen and Lisa staring at my empty seat, and then a sentence from my husband, ‘These things happen, just crack on.’
JByrne says that the book is extremely well written. Marieke calls bullshit and has a quote to challenge.
Adam says that all of the characters were lovely and he really liked that. Marieke points out that the MIL was no picnic. Di felt that they were merely sketches of characters rather than fully alive. Cut some, flesh them out. Marieke reiterates that she did not like the book but she admired it immensely.
Now excuse me whilst I go wash my face and attempt to stop sobbing uncontrollably.
It’s time for By the Bed! Hooray.
Di is reading The Mysterious Mr Jacob.
Ace is reading Enemy Within by Don Watson.
Adam is reading a cookbook, Aquacotta.
JByrne is reading A Separation.
And now it’s time for some group action. What I did there, you see it. JByrne says that The Group was banned in Australia and her mother was sneakily loaning out her copy to other women. Apparently it has a red hot sex scene. Must have been like Fifty Shades for women in the 60s. Why wasn’t Fifty Shades banned?
Di mentions that The Group was written in the 60s and set in the 30s and yet it is still frightfully relevant. Women are still struggling with being taken seriously. Women are still struggling to find support when they are mothers. Mother in laws are still mother in laws. Can we take a moment to address that if you are a cunt of a mother in law you are virulently anti-feminist? No? You don’t want to come on that journey and you’d prefer to just read about the show? Fair enough.
Marieke loved it. It has mental illness, emotional abuse, rape, oppression. It essentially has women being kicked in the vagina by life in every possible way, because societal expectations and the patriarchy are the worst.
JByrne points out that Sex and the City was a tribute to The Group. Candace Bushnell wanted to do her own modern version.
Adam felt that The Group was good but had too many lead characters. Cutting it back from eight to four would work better. Snaps to Candice, she went with four for her update. He says the book wasn’t his cup of tea and yet he still enjoyed it.
Ace said that the first time he read The Group he thought about the female characters but on the second he thought about the male characters. And here it comes, we’re talking about sex. I knew Ace couldn’t hold off. Apparently there’s a whole sex chapter. The word ‘deflowering’ is mentioned repeatedly at this point. I little bit of vom rushes towards my teeth. Nothing that a splash of moscatto won’t fix. Hot tip from Adam: Don’t listen to that chapter in the car when you’re children are in the back. Can we please Crowdfund some therapy for Adam’s children?
ACE SAYS THAT HE FOUND THE SEX SCENE A BIT MUCH! Somebody hold me. I am so confused. Ace didn’t like the sexy bit? What is going on? He’s all about the sex. I feel lost and vulnerable. I need to hit that moscatto again.
Di points out that the book was put down as silly and trivial as it deals with silly things like relationships. The same thing is still happening now. A spy who has greater skills than are plausible is considered a rollicking good read, but books about women, and yearning, and birth control, and finding your way are silly and trivial. DOWN WITH LITERARY SNOBBISM! Apparently this backlash ruined the author’s life. It was a best seller yet the critics savaged her into trauma. Arseholes.
Marieke says that The Group is a feminist book. It is about women having each other’s backs no matter what. Adam recommends that every feminist reads it. My eye twitches slightly as I remember his #notallmen reaction to the Stella shortlisted An Isolated Incident, which was an incredible exploration of societal reactions to domestic violence. Moving on.
JByrne says that all the characters lose in the end, which is a bit depressing but somewhat reflective of the female existence within the patriarchy. Ace says that Lakey wins. Marieke suggests that Polly kind of wins too. It’s complicated.
Ace says that he kept thinking of Katharine Hepburn whilst reading. Much like I often think of Ace when reading books with good looking English men in them.
Di says she would love to see it as a mini-series. I love 1930s clothes and I enjoyed Sex and the City so I am so on board for this. Make it happen Di.
JByrne mentions that The Group has a place in popular fiction and even Betty Draper was reading it in Mad Men. I really want to read this book it sounds lovely.
And now a time for a montage about books about friends. Is that two montages this seas. Two montages this season and they’re cut back to eight episodes. Am I going to have to chain myself to the TARDIS at the ABC Centre soon? I’m keeping a close eye on you, Michelle Guthrie.
Next week they’re talking about talking rabbits. Will Marieke like the talking rabbits better than the thinking dog? We’ll have to watch next week to find out.
Catch up on last week’s recap here.
Grab the drinking game here.
Watch past episodes on here.
Buy my shit here.
Read an extract of Jean Harley Was Here here.
See Di Morrissey at The Sydney Writers’ Festival (why yes I am a volunteer, how can I help) here.
Until next week enjoy my “friendship montage”:
Filed under Robinpedia and tagged book review, candace bushnell, haether taylor johnson, Jason Steger, jean harley was here, Jennifer Byrne, Marieke Hardy, mary mccarthy, sex and the city, the book club abc, the group, the high places | Leave a comment
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Rutland information Service
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Carer’s Allowance is the main state benefit for carers. You may be eligible to claim £62.70 a week if you meet all of the following conditions:
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Mark Sherman
Mark Sherman's Apps
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missouri group
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Mark Sherman's Page
I always had a feeling during my late teens that I wasn't going to fit into this so called 'regular / normal lifestyle. I never bought into the idea that if you were educated and worked hard enough, in the end all would be secure. I felt that preordained idea of society a little lame / bullshit. Not everybody is honest and too many people I've encountered have hidden agendas where the nice guy who gives ends up - disappointed, frustrated and so on.....
At my age, I have had the opportunity to travel most of the world by back pack. Every journey was enlightening, educating and a whole lotta fun. Fun yes, but as an extreme back packer, life many times was the farthest thing from fun. From blown out infected eardrums in the ports of Greece to almost dieing (really) by eating an expired chocolate bar on the top of Mount Sinai. Yeah, I was surprised to see an Arab vendor all set up to cash in on the top of the mountain. Boy, capitalism really travels to some funny destinations.
My point. Back packing is no vacation, it takes skill in plotting your course, getting shelter, currency and the best one of all: adapting and mixing with the new culture that has enveloped you during your stay. Today I have finished my travels, for now. Today, I look forward to joining a dedicated group, with a clear and achievable mission statement. I yearn to belong to a greater purpose than what is offered here. I don't belong here. Again, with my puppy husky Persia - we want to settle in a commune that truly is honest to the core, approachable and open minded........................I have more to express, but it's almost 4am. So good night........for now.
Clearly, traveling has been an important aspect of my life and who I am today.
http://marksherm@gmail.com
Mark Sherman's Photos
At 8:23pm on February 28, 2013, TigerMike Is Pappyson said…
Luvin U Bro N ur 4 legged friends!!
At 12:26pm on July 31, 2012, Zena L Kent said…
Thank you Mark, for your kind words and energy. Follow your heart - it seems to have a lot of "light". May you be richly blessed and find all you seek. Welcome Home to you!
At 4:10pm on July 21, 2012, Rashina A Young gave Mark Sherman a gift…
love your profile!! sounds like u have things under control and a clear view, you'll find that place we are all looking for. just share the love if you find it first! : )
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Red Sky Morning
By Tom Holloway
Directed by Sam Strong
With Erin Dewar, Sarah Sutherland & David Whiteley
Set by Peter Mumford
Lighting by Danny Pettingill
GREEN ROOM AWARDS: Best New Australian Play: Tom Holloway
GREEN ROOM NOMINATIONS: Best Production, Best Ensemble, Best Set Design, Best Lighting Design
Red Sky Morning (Aug 27 – Sept 27, 2008)
Alison Croggan, Theatre Notes (13/09/08)
I have often theorised, over various beverages (coffee, whiskey, absinthe) that, while Melbourne is an exciting place to be if you like going to the theatre, with some brilliant theatrical minds and bodies, our theatre suffers from one debilitating weakness: its writing. Waxing lyrical, I’d suggest that this might have something to do with an inward-looking, parochial literary culture. Or alternatively, perhaps it’s linked to a conviction I’ve encountered now and then among theatre artists and, sometimes, critics that literature and theatre are activities that are not only mutually exclusive, but naturally opposed.
Writers can react in defence by turning into enormous intellectual snobs or, alternatively, dump the idea of literature altogether as an unnecessary affectation.
There’s often been a broad streak of anti-intellectualism in Australian theatre, that can sideline literary art as a secondary, perhaps optional, part of the theatre. Actors might train for years to discipline their voices and bodies but, hey, any fool with a keyboard can write. The other response is for playwrights to become the sterile kings of an untouchable domain, a la the Edward Albee school of theatre. (There’s that joke: how many playwrights does it take to change a lightbulb? Answer: none. No changes!)
By the time I’ve reached this point, I usually have to be scraped off the floor and gently pushed home before I start dribbling. Or worse, before I begin to expound my ideas about what writing can be in the theatre, which is good for another three hours. But all this is a long-winded way of signalling that I think there is, in fact, a rich loam of theatre writing in Australia, which, despite the production of exciting playwrights like Lally Katz or Ross Mueller, remains mostly unploughed. Judging the RE Ross Trust Play Awards this year, I read a number of adventurous and intelligent texts that, above all, were clearly written for the theatre, as opposed to being transposed novels or bad attempts at poetry.
This is at once encouraging and challenging. Because if there are all these writers making interesting plays, how can our theatre culture support them? The talent out there far exceeds what our mainstream theatres, even with the best of intentions, can produce. I began to wonder if Melbourne needs a theatre specifically for writers, a theatre which exploits our sophisticated theatrical practice to realise the possibilities of this new work.
Or perhaps there’s Red Stitch. (I realise this is a cue for other independent theatres to clamour that they, too, put on new writing: yes, yes, yes. And I’m not ignoring La Mama or Hoy Polloy or any others. But certainly, there’s Red Stitch). Tom Holloway’s Red Sky Morning is the first product of Red Stitch Writers, a system of in-house play development started last year. This is a new step in Red Stitch’s history, which since 2001 has concentrated on picking up and producing the overseas work that escapes the notice of the MTC, and it demonstrates that there’s a world of difference between putting on a play, however well, and making theatre.
In choosing to produce Holloway’s play, Red Stitch made a courageous bet. And it’s paid off. Red Sky Morning is exciting work, which, as good theatre writing should, attempts to rethink the possibilities of theatre. And, crucially, the commitment of the director, performers and designers to realising this play shines through this production.
Tom Holloway has written what might be called a spoken oratorio, a poem for three voices that, like a piece of music, weaves through counterpoint and harmony and tonal collisions. Holloway exploits the patterns of ordinary speech, its repetitions and elisions and fractures, with consummate skill. There is, despite the year-long development, a suspicion now and then of over-writing, a mere whisper of a few words too many, but it’s a solid and artfully worked script with a powerful emotional engine.
It consists of three internal monologues that follow the course of 24 hours in the life of a rural family, a Man (David Whiteley), a Woman (Sarah Sutherland) and a Girl (Erin Dewar). Each monologue is autonomous, touching the others not through dialogue, but through a complex pattern of echoes and repetitions. It’s a device which reinforces not only the mutual isolation of each character but, poignantly, their unmet yearning to connect.
They are at first glance an “ordinary” family living an unremarkable life somewhere in country Australia. It’s a familiar landscape to anyone who has lived in a country town. The Man is a shopkeeper, his wife does housewifely duties, and their daughter is a schoolgirl whose major preoccupation is her crush on her schoolteacher. But, as Holloway begins to excavate their inner lives, it becomes clear that tragedy – as Chekhov understood profoundly – is not only the provenance of the large gesture. It exists in the smallest details of ordinary life: in the caress misunderstood, the moment missed, the dream unshared, despair unsaid and unheard.
In fact, Red Sky Morning is a play in which, quite literally, nothing happens, which is perhaps one of the hardest things to achieve successfully on stage. It begins with a missed moment of passion between the couple, when the Woman farts luxuriously in the bedroom, and their mutual embarrassment creates an impassable wall beyond which neither are able to reach, despite their longing for each other.
The Man goes to work, the Girl goes to school, the Woman waits for them to leave the house so she can begin drinking. Each moment of violent rebellion against the loneliness and tedium of their lives splutters out into impotent fantasy; the only character who can still express her rage is the Girl, and we suspect that she, too, will learn to push down her anger and despair, hiding it underneath the deadening normality of domestic routine.
The beast which haunts this family is represented by the recurring figure of a hallucinatory dog (like Les Murray’s black dog, which he used, after Churchill, to describe his own black depressions). The Man is deeply, suicidally depressed, a weight which perhaps has sparked his wife’s alcoholism. This profound dysfunction makes their daughter long for a “proper” family, a family whose weaknesses don’t expose her to shame and insecurity and finally, terrible fear.
Director Sam Strong gives this complex, delicate play a production which is remarkable for its precision – very necessary, given the demands of the text – and its troubling, erotically charged darkness. Peter Mumford’s design, moodily lit by Danny Pettingill, is a stylised Australian house floored with red earth, its walls defined by venetian blinds that can be snapped open and shut. Like the text, the design blurs the distinction between inside and outside, the hidden and the revealed.
The performances all rise to the challenges of the writing. Whiteley is almost the cliche of the decent, inarticulate country bloke, to the point where he is occasionally outshone by the other two actors (this might account for the odd moment of over-direction in his performance). Sutherland and Dewar give committed, focused performances, wringing out of the text its painfulness, violence and comedy.
If ever you need evidence that a production’s process is reflected in what happens on stage, this is it. It certainly justifies Red Stitch’s investment in Holloway, who is clearly a talent to watch. And it makes an intense, deeply absorbing hour in the theatre, a production that patiently accumulates power towards its devastating end.
Picture: Gemma Higgins-Sears. Sarah Sutherland, David Whiteley, Erin Dewar in Red Sky Morning by Tom Holloway.
John Bailey, The Sunday Age (21/09/08)
I haven’t seen every performance staged in 2008 but after racking up more than 100 I’m willing to nominate Red Stitch’s latest as Play of the Year. There’s no prize, but you should get along to see it. It’s the first piece presented as part of the company’s new writer’s program and the collaborative development has resulted in a work that succeeds on every level. Tom Holloway’s script is tight – hilarious and frequently heart-rending – and performances from David Whiteley, Sarah Sutherland and Erin Dear are pitch-perfect. They play a couple and their teenage daughter during a long, isolated day, and while the piece begins with the tender comedy of simple misunderstandings, an arresting portrait of deep depression, denial and helpless complicity rapidly emerges. Through a slow unfolding, the audience is drawn in to the despair of these utterly believable lives – unable to communicate with one another but drowning in their own thoughts. The recussing image of the black dog is the only aspect that yields to the obvious; in every other way this is a complex, urgent production that deserves to live on.
Chris Boyd, Herald Sun (15/09/08)
If ever the State Government decides Melbourne needs a full-time ensemble of actors to rival the Sydney Theatre Company’s Actors Company, it has a ready-made in Red Stitch. It’s an efficient and highly professional company. Prolific, too, without sacrificing quality. But money is tight.
Red Stitch fills up its little theatre at the eastern end of St Kilda for weeks at a time. But most of Melbourne still doesn’t know what it’s missing.
The company’s latest venture – called Red Stitch Writers – is to develop new plays. (Local plays haven’t been much of a priority for Red Stitch so far.) This one, Red Sky Morning, is the product of a year of readings, workshops and rewrites. And it shows. It hits the stage sprinting. It’s fully formed, impressively set and finely tuned.
It’s a modest yarn about a day in the life of a family: store manager father, boozy mother and shy teen daughter. They’re loving, but they’re deeply and tragically bottled up. Heartbreakingly inarticulate.
What they can’t say to one another they think aloud to us: their idle thoughts, their secrets, their fears, their black dog depressions. Sometimes all three chatter at once (the script is written in columns), so the director has to conduct the play like a score for three voices.
Sam Strong (who directed Shedding, brilliantly, at La Mama earlier this year) does a fine job keeping it all comprehensible. But, all due respect to Strong, with actors of the calibre of David Whiteley, Sarah Sutherland and Erin Dewar, a drover’s dog could have steered this one home. All three are chameleons. And all three are at their brilliant best.
The combination of lighting (Danny Pettingill) and set (Peter Mumford) is another highlight.
Michael Magnusson, On Stage and Walls (31/08/09)
Red Stitch Theatre’s new initiative of presenting work by local writers gets underway with a piece that is sheer virtuosity as text as well as performance. The story is of a day in the frustrating lives of a family whose channels of communication have broken down through an inability to name, let alone do anything, about the wife/mother’s alcoholism.
Peter Mumford’s set brilliantly locates the small town locale in a space with red dirt floor, laminex table, corrugated iron sheet across the back and, on three sides, venetian blinds. Throughout the play we peer into the lives of the three characters, father, mother and daughter through the venetians.
David Whiteley, Sarah Sutherland and Erin Dewar. Photography by Gemma Higgins-Sears.
Tom Holloway’s masterful script takes us one step further, into their very minds. Unable to confront the woman’s addiction all three no longer talk to one another. Instead of conventional dialogue, the actors speak their characters inner thoughts. These interior monologues, unheard by the other characters, propel the action toward a near fatal conclusion.
Unlike spoken words, thoughts can process many physical and emotional sensations are once and each monologue is a complex of sensations which often run parallel to each other and occasionally overlap, one word intruding from one monologue into another, like the baton in relay race, handed seamlessly from one to another, the family obviously attuned to each other’s fears and anxieties but not to speak.
Holloway’s text, as the programme note explains, was developed over many months and has attained a remarkable precision and clarity. In an early scene, where the family are waking at the start of the day, the juxtaposition of states of dreaming and waking are Joycian. In a similarly Joycian way Holloway’s internal dialogues examine sexual fantasies, an inopportune fart, the onslaught of a pimple or processing the feel of one’s own body in howlingly funny and obsessive detail. With the same clinical precision he describes a mind talking itself into committing suicide (the original title was to have been Love My Black Dog, ‘Black Dog’ referring to Winston Churchill’s nickname for his lifelong depressive episodes which make the repeated sightings in the play of a mysterious and threatening dog all the more potent). Holloway employs the device of comedy giving way quickly to deep drama as well as he employs words. The three actors realise this rich and multi-faceted text, coinciding the words they speak together or apart, as well as the author has written them. Whiteley, Sutherland and Dewar miraculously never miss a beat as though they were expert singers guided by an invisible conductor in singing a great and tragic madrigal. Like the most complex of Beckett’s writings in combining physical, psychological and spiritual states, Red Sky Morning is a remarkable theatrical experience.
* Strange Interlude was Eugene O’Neill’s most experimental play. In it he introduced internal monologues which were spoken by a character but which were unheard by other characters.
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azad nagar shiv sagar cooperative housing society
building redevelopment
HC supports razing of rickety house in Mumbai, urges eviction
The building, Azad Nagar Shiv Sagar Cooperative Housing Society, over 50 years old, is in a very dangerous condition certified the civic body and the housing board over a decade ago.Swati Deshpande | TNN | March 01, 2017, 11:00 IST
MUMBAI: Holding that a minority of four residents out of 32 holding up redevelopment was nothing but blackmail, the Bombay high court appointed a receiver to have them vacated, forcibly if necessary, from a low income group building in Andheri West.
It was a case, “perhaps more than most’’ said Justice Gautam Patel who passed the order, which “highlights one of the ongoing catastrophes facing this city’’. “More and more we find flat owners and society members being dishoused for years on end, forced into transit accommodation, their dreams of improved housing evaporating.’’ He added, “The causes are many and varied. Often errant developers are responsible…but when the damage to fellow members is occasioned by other society members, then the enemy is within. He said allowing the opposition to redevelopment by the few, was against every notion of equity.
The building, Azad Nagar Shiv Sagar Cooperative Housing Society, over 50 years old, is in a very dangerous condition certified the civic body and the housing board over a decade ago when it called for it to be vacated as it was beyond repairs. A redevelopment plan of 2006 was mired in legal battles till eventually a new developer, Pratham Varadvinayak, took over last year following a unanimous general body resolution passed by the housing society.
The developer had moved the HC against the four opponents and the society through law firm IC Legal. Its counsel Ravi Kadam said that civic permission were obtained last November for redevelopment. The society through its law firm Chitnis & Co and counsel Birendra Saraf said it supported the redevelopment, as the building in ruins. Most of the flat owners were senior citizens and had moved out, barring four who, as “honest and honorable members’’ opposed the process, pleading through their counsel Sanjay Jain that they ought to be “heard.’’ “The entire development, one with a long history, was held up now only because of these four ‘honest and honourable’ members,’’ said Justice Patel adding, “They hold their own society and their fellow members to ransom till they find a developer more tuned to their ‘principle. Theirs is a perspective of distortion in equity, defiance of law and defeasance of justice.”
“That the building itself, should it collapse, may endanger the public…So much for honesty. So much for honour. So much for being law abiding. This is blackmail. There is no other word for it,’’ the 20-page HC judgment said.
Justice Patel directed the court receiver to take peaceful physical possession of the four rooms by March 10, and from March 11 use force if necessary to delivery possession to the developer by March 14, for redevelopment to begin. Neither the receiver nor the developer will be liable for any loss or damage to their articles, during such forcible possession, the court ruled. The HC observed that one of the four who opposed, did not even reside in the building. And noted that the four recalcitrant members, had even made incorrect submissions on facts.
“Their obstruction delay development. It harms their own society. It hurts their fellow members and neighbours. Such parties must be put to terms,’’ said the judge while disposing of an arbitration petition filed by the developer. But making it clear that the justice system is not open to abuse, the judge said, “There is no law that requires a respondent unlimited, unrestricted and unconditional latitude to argue whatever takes his or her fancy, contrary to every law, standard and principle under the Cooperative Societies Act, and defeating every norm of neighbourhood responsibilities and cooperation.’’
The minority four flat owners will, however, not be deprived of their permanent allocation after redevelopment. Kadam, on behalf of the builders, Ashok Rane and Dharmesh Timwala, partners of the developers gave an undertaking that permanent alternate accommodation for the four will conform to the same specification as it would to the remaining consenting members. The four members, also stated that they are not interested in purchasing additional area.
Tags : Regulatory, Bombay high court, azad nagar shiv sagar cooperative housing society, Mumbai, building redevelopment, Andheri West
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Enthusiasm about Sri Aurobindo fades away
Religion in India is witnessing enhanced activity since prosperity and logistical support is on the rise. Political mobilisation and need for entertainment is driving more and more people into these celebrations. Live telecasts are responsible for excessive publicity and added legitimacy. Govt. support for smooth management spreads the impression of State sponsorship influencing public participation. But the kind of intellectual lethargy that these round-the-year events infuse among the young generation is a major cause of India's backwardness. Tourism industry gains to an extent but religious austerity prevents full scale spending and enjoyment.
It's common to notice on Twitter that many become enthusiastic about Sri Aurobindo for a couple of months or so and then it fades away. The glamour of current affairs and sports etc. are so overpowering that people tend to get bored with philosophy. Religious congregations offer an easy and entertaining escape. Being in a crowd prevents from ruminating over the meaning of life or such other serious propositions. Solitary activities like reading or meditation take a back seat. Many prefer and privilege discussions just to get rid of loneliness and boredom and, consequently, become a victim of inauthenticity as outlined by Heidegger.
It's true that it's impossible for any individual to unravel his own mystery within life's short span. Both Science and Philosophy have been a failure on this score as of date. So, the best course is to depend upon the words of The Mother & Sri Aurobindo instead of Schopenhauer and Eduard von Hartmann. But discovering the true worth of their teachings and being convinced of their prophecies is a long-term affair. The challenge for the young and educated adults, therefore, is to proceed with Sri Aurobindo's books in a slow and steady pace. Be Indian, be Sri Aurobindian. [TNM55]
The Mother's role in cementing a Judeo-Vedic project
From Magna Carta to Flipkart, the journey of human civilization is a long and interesting tale of intercourse between the East and the West. Those at the helm of affairs of our nation are grappling with the story of a glorious past and its relevance in the modern context. But, it's not an easy task as history merges with legends and Mythological fiction in many respects. Nevertheless, distilling timeless wisdom from our ancient texts continues to which Sri Aurobindo provided a great filip. The whole clue to the human future has not been monopolized by Science and Technology as of yet. Philosophy has a stellar role to play in moderating and reconciling disparate findings of Science emerging from time to time.
The West has made tremendous advances in all fields of human concern. But the Christian Mythology continuing is a shame for their scientific attitude. Even the best of Western Philosophy is simply a response to the Christian Ontology, either overt or covert. Most of Western Theory, similarly, are drawn from a limited geographical span and are constrained to that extent. For them, the rest of the world doesn't exist and this constitutes a serious handicap.
Sri Aurobindo was well aware of the importance of the West and sought to integrate its contributions with the ancient Indian wisdom. The Mother's role in cementing such a Judeo-Vedic project happens to be a landmark in India's history and this year, we are celebrating her arrival's Centenary. [TNM55]
No better source than Sri Aurobindo
Power is a good teacher as RSS is undergoing deep contemplation over a surfeit of issues from FDI to Gay rights to GM seeds. It will also discover many virtues of learning English and other foreign languages. The younger generation will not accept its Mythology-based worldview and hence a rational Ontology like Sri Aurobindo conceives will be in demand. Searching for examples of an ideal society in India's past is an error since Sri Aurobindo points at the future Evolution. Uncritical assumptions are a bane of RSS mindset which is likely to metamorphose due to political compulsions. It has earned some expertise in running primary schools but now the challenge is to redesign Universities and Business Schools. Obviously, much more intellectual inputs are needed than shouting Jai-Shri-Ram slogans. But, it's a tragedy that RSS has been too niggardly in investing in this arena.
Secrecy is another flaw which RSS should do away with. Responding to current issues in a free and frank manner can make it come to terms with reality. Playing hide and seek as regards its relations with BJP should also end. Looking beyond our borders can teach its footsoldiers not to confuse Gaza for Gujarat. Overall, it must not impose its outdated ideas and instead, encourage the citizens to think for themselves and choose or change their own lifestyles.
BJP too is learning and treading very cautiously. Becoming the mainstream ruling party in the 21st Century is not an easy task and being Democratic and transparent is still more challenging. Ensuring freedom and equal opportunity for all citizens is a sacred duty and BJP must never forget how it skidded in 1992 and 2002. As regards ideological anchorage, there is no better source than Sri Aurobindo and it is hoped that he will be adequately remembered on his birth anniversary on August 15. [TNM55]
Sri Aurobindo's belief on the power of the written word
It's generally agreed that Sri Aurobindo's synthetic Philosophy can be better appreciated when read against Nietzsche, Marx, Darwin, and Freud. Concepts like Evolution, Superman, and Psychoanalysis arose during that time and Sri Aurobindo gave his own version bypassing the crudities of Western theories. Philosophy, usually, fights shy of God but Sri Aurobindo commenced his elucidation with the Divine as the centre and the source. Understandably, the thrust of arguments are reversed as also the purpose and consequences. Priorities before us too change accordingly and afford an altogether different perspective. Social values and evolution of political ideals assume special significance as against mere material development and comforts.
Positing Yoga at the centrestage also forms a daring act by Sri Aurobindo. He was not interested in intellectual grasping only but to translate them in our life and action. By conceiving the Evolutionary Force as a catalyst in this effort, he opens our eyes to unseen worlds and their intentions vis-à-vis our instrumentality. That the Universe is moving towards regaining its Order, Beauty, and Harmony removes all traces of pessimism from our minds. Imperfections of the present society pose a challenge to be transformed in the light of Sri Aurobindo's prophecy. Not by avoiding but by grappling with them that seeds of truth can be sown to sprout in the future, assures The Mother.
Mother India of the current month has admirarably put together writings on ARYA commemorating its Centenary. The hope and certitude with which Sri Aurobindo accomplished this venture is something unparalleled in human history. His belief on the power of the written word, thinking, and pedagogy is so overpowering and contagious. Writing about it over the Cyberspace 100 years later, one feels a thrill that can never be explained adequately. Further, the confidence that here we have someone in India who can beat the Western philosophers right from Aristotle to Žižek of our times is so satisfying. [TNM55]
Sri Aurobindo stitches his philosophy with Exclusive Concentration
It's an oft-argued point that Sri Aurobindo stitches his philosophy with Exclusive Concentration which has also roots in the tradition. But his ticking off of False Subjectivity takes away the humanizing element ingrained in the former. How to justify human action and initiative, therefore, entails a deep problem within his Ontological framework. The grid of Swabhava and Psychic Being accumulating chosen experiences further complicates the matter. Overall, the lack of autonomy on our part imparts a body blow to our individuality regardless of the lofty destiny outlined for it in the distant future by The Mother & Sri Aurobindo. Surrender, finally, cuts away whatever is left. This may hold good in the Ashram situation but outside, one encounters difficulties at every step. Managing an ambivalent social image of oneself is a highly tricky task which runs the risk of being questioned for sanity.
This is nothing new in the path of Yoga but most of the time extremities are avoided through minor-seeming compromises. But on close scrutiny, one is never sure whether the diversion was also intended. Fortunately, we have The Mother's will to fall back upon irrespective of the consequence but spate of failures can lead to dilution of faith. The role of extraordinary persons often generates jealousy and confusion. Why the spiritually oriented are deprived of similar success never receives a satisfactory answer. Whether seeking the highest knowledge has a debilitating effect upon worldly ambitions still awaits a suitable explanation.
The question of latest empirical findings finding accommodation within philosophical traditions is attracting attention. This possibility seems remote so far as Sri Aurobindo's broad-strokes are concerned whereas The Mother's Mind of the Cells can have certain resonances. Besides, the pace of science being piecemeal and disjointed, adjusting the same within an integral picture is too ambitious and reckless. Yet, such ventures do cater to intellectual games and philosophical acrobatics. The followers of The Mother & Sri Aurobindo would find no attraction for such outright speculations. [TNM55]
Whether religion, like democracy, is legitimised by numbers
Excellent appraisal but at one place I felt inconvenient where you say Buddhism is gaining ground. The question is whether religion, like democracy, is legitimised by numbers although that is the most easily available and visible parameter for comparison or evaluation. [TNM55]
Religions which grew in pre-modern days have their own trajectories and time-frame. But a modern religion like Savitri Era ought to be different although many elements remain the same. The intellectual or Ontological underpinning is one major difference; the recent life-stories of the founders is another. The historical backdrops like the World Wars or Colonialism add a certain tension. Eminent contemporaries, moreover, provide diverse narratives for comparison.
Although, we have no means to display the results of Yoga practices as taught by The Mother & Sri Aurobindo, there is no ground to refute them either. Science has not been able to explain fully our existence within the Universe so far and hence relying upon Sri Aurobindian Ontology is the next best option. With all these advantages and swift communication mechanism, growth in numbers can come in a very short period with some message going viral in matter of a couple of hours. Sri Aurobindo perhaps alluded to such a situation by "hour of the unexpected." [TNM55]
The Life Divine and the human scene
Money and Power are legitimate elements that drive numerous vocations. Producing Quality work or deriving self-satisfaction are secondary factors. Earning a living or raising a family occupies the top of priorities. Social work or pursuing Arts are rare occurences. Spending is still restricted and hence the economic benifits don't reach the common people in India. Professionalism in many branches of the Service-sector is missing. Patronising handicrafts and cultural traditions is not widespread. Intellectual pursuits are mostly confined to respective professions.
Philosophical interrogation in India is still derivative and original inquiries are nonexistent. The large body of ancient works, on the one hand, and Sri Aurobindo's encyclopedic interpretations, on the other, leave little scope for fresh studies. The mythological upbringing of most in India blunts the critical faculty. Only miracle-seeking is doing good business which offers maximum profit with least investment. Religious-tourism is bursting at the seams being a major source of entertainment.
The basic human problems, however, linger despite myriad isms intervening. Modernity has not helped much in alleviating human suffering. Ashram goings on have burst many myths surrounding the efficacy of Sri Aurobindo's Integral Yoga. In such a scenario, one is forced to rely upon whatever little Science and Medicine brings or the politician distributes. [TNM55]
Sri Aurobindo's ideological highway against Nehruvian-Marxist-Hindutva narratives
It seems that RSS is expanding its intellectual reportoire beyond lambasting Marx and Macaulay as S. Gurumurthy recently tweeted criticising Weber and Popper: "India will go to pieces if Weberian and Popper theories are experimented and families and communities are disturbed. There will be no state." Being in power is probably forcing BJP & RSS to look beyond the Ram temple, Ram sethu, and Saraswati river. But, one wonders if Indian society is so fragile to be wrecked by worn out theories. No doubt, there are intellectual giants among Hindutva supporters but it's a mystery how they reconcile with mythological fiction and loads of superstition. Clinging to the falsehoods of tradition may be due to political compulsion and allied advantages but renouncing reason and its autonomy forces a serious temperamental and behavioural defect.
Sri Aurobindo was not happy about the RK Mission emphasis on Shankara's renunciation and Buddhist humanitarianism. Upon arrival of The Mother when the Ashram took shape in Puducherry, it was on the basis of enterprise and action. Many are insistent on Sri Aurobindo's debts from Vivekananda but the dissimimilarities are too many to be smoothly reconciled. His differences with Gandhi's fetish for nonviolence is well known. Tagore, he appreciated as a poet but not his political pronouncements or sociological assessments. Sri Aurobindo was also not in the same page with Theosophical Society. Further, despite his eulogy for Dayananda's pioneering work on Veda, he refrained from walking along the path of Arya Samaj.
Thus, the ideological highway that Sri Aurobindo had built independently, a Century back, remains as relevant as it used to be then. He provides a robust bulwark against the dominant Nehruvian-Marxist-Hindutva narratives across disciplines and social practices. The liberal and intellectually-anchored environment that he inaugurates is sure to blossom into a rejuvenated India leading the world in matters of collective progress and harmonious living transcending all differences. [TNM55]
Tusar Nath Mohapatra on 26 July 2014 at 9:23 am said:
Many isuues discussed above from testimony to applied ethics have been duly dealt with by Sri Aurobindo in his epochal book titled, “The Life Divine” which deserves to be the point of departure for any rethinking on the status (or progress, if you will) of Indian Philosophy. Why no one ever refers to his insights on this blog is certainly a mystery, which, I feel, must melt. Why blame science; philosophy not recognising philosophy itself is the culprit. Just imagine, how much you are deprived of by ignoring Sri Aurobindo here! [TNM55]
Individual is the key, underscores Sri Aurobindo
Pushing the envelope is perhaps the most appropriate daily task for the puny human intellect that adds to the collective Evolution. Individual is the key, underscores Sri Aurobindo, in the sense of the agency but the final causal source he locates in the Supermind. So, despite our best efforts, we remain clueless about the goings on surrounding us. Besides, a dramatic turn or an aesthetic circumstance also surprises us from time to time. So, to draw a representative picture of human life is impossible given the diversity concerning history, geography, and culture.
Literature or Psychology unveil only a fraction of our thinking; the rest remain buried in our minds. Dreams and Movies further complicate the matter relating to imagination. All this are very much a concrete part of human reality to the secret of which we have no access. The Spiritual paths recommended by The Mother & Sri Aurobindo too don't assure success by an individual. Further, pursuing excellence in job or business along with Spiritual practice is a tall order. The Gender factor poses many more impediments.
However, the overall scenario is not so pessimistic from the human point of view. That man is the highest conscious being on the planet and hence any happy change will unfold for and through him is a matter of considerable hope. For instance, incidents of successive air-crashes this month is undoubtedly spine-chilling but there must be some higher purpose and better prospects for the mankind hidden behind it. The unseen hand of Evolution is a sure actor in our midst and deciphering its choreography should engage the maximum of our attention. [TNM55]
Sai religion should go separate
The Sai Baba controversy of widespread encroaching upon Hindu temple premises promises to be interesting as well as intractable. This is perhaps the most formidable subversive attempt confronting the Hindu religion pushed insidiously. The Sai Baba empire has grown exponentially far and wide in recent years and certainly not by fair means. All kinds of corporate strategy has been employed to attract followers many of which were also replicated successfully in the recent Modi campaign. That man is succeptible to propaganda is a known phenomenon and whoever rides it can achieve his goal. Therefore, we have no complains against the Sai devotees; each person is free to pursue his faith. But the right course is to portray it as a separate religion and demand legal status as we Savitri Erans do. Else, corrupting another existing faith is not what decent people would do. Further, the question of real estate is also involved with cans of worms underneath.
Be that as it may, it's for the Parliament and the Judiciary to take a call but when it comes to personal level, changing religion, like in remarriage, leaves a scar. The Mother & Sri Aurobindo, therefore, advise against swaying someone's faith. The so called Hindu religion has seen many reform movements and ideological wars but this Sai episode unfolds in a democratic, modern, and technologically sound atmosphere. Let's see how far reason and fairness prevails. It also poses a severe challenge for the RSS. [TNM55]
Sri Aurobindo gives the example of the monkey
RSS ideals, at present, are confined to building a Ram temple, a Patel statue, or running a Bullet train since the chances of establishing a Hindu empire covering the whole of South Asia seems remote. Sri Aurobindo's ideal, on the other hand, is human Perfection down to the lmmortality of body and Evolution of a harmonious community life. Obviously, there is a wide gap which appears unbridgeable but Sri Aurobindo gives the example of the monkey who never imagined man succeeding him. Even Google was unthinkable before 1998. Sri Aurobindo's objectives are thus political, practical, and truly materialistic; there is nothing mystical about it.
So, how to go about it? The Ashram model is merely a laboratory and hardly has any visibility or viability. The Internet, on the other hand, presents a huge opportunity to popularize the words of The Mother & Sri Aurobindo and people at all corners of the world coming under their influence. It's a collective effort as no one knows whose tweet or post will go viral one fine morning. We are facing a most ambitious communication challenge in this case and may soon meet success by the grace of The Mother & Sri Aurobindo. [TNM55]
Sri Aurobindo alone is the answer
It's a fact that Sri Aurobindo as a political worker and writer found himself in affinity with Lal-Bal-Pal between 1906 and 1910. But his stature as a Philosopher and Seer-Poet far exceeds all his eminent contemporaries. Most educated people in India are either not equipped or too prejudiced to hold a just evaluation of Sri Aurobindo's place in history but that doesn't diminish his genius and greatness. Savitri and The Life Divine alone put him at the top of the world. The Mother was one person who could recognize him in advance in her very first meeting on March 29, 1914. Although outside politics, he had offered advice on several occasions which proves his foresight.
India today stands at crossroads unable to decide which way to go. RSS has discovered that a rigid Hindu-centric agenda is bound to face stiff resistance. The Congress decline has put Secularism under much suspicion. So the middle path, which Sri Aurobindo hewed a Century back, assumes immense significance. By cementing it with Judeo-Vedic Ontology, he makes it relevant, not only for modern India, but also for the whole world including Gaza. Thus, the task is how to understand it correctly and set our policies accordingly. There is no dearth of brain-power in our country now but escaping from the yoke of the past is proving arduous. [TNM55]
Role of culture in Sri Aurobindo's Yoga
The newspaper shapes us in many ways and draws the boundary of our interests and general awareness. Wellbeing is covered by many publications these days whereas focus on Books, Art, and Culture has nosedived. Colourful layout takes out the seriousness of occasional good peices on matters cerebral. Their catering to the public demand is, of course, not without justifications. Such is the level of public taste in India is that not even half its population is eager to read a newspaper. Struggle for earning livelihood relegates everything else to low priority and clamours of daily routine strangulates finer sensibilities.
Music, Art, and Poetry, reminds Sri Aurobindo, are like lubricants for the soul. These are culture-specific and come in diverse forms. The options are endless now in the age of Internet. But integrating appreciation within other loads of burden is not always possible. Differentiating between quality and mediocre offerings is also problematic. On the whole, an individual, despite sympathetic demeanour, is hard pressed to access the desired content at the opportune moment. Thus the push by Art, Literature, and Culture in Yoga goes only so far.
The growth of Google and Twitter etc. seem to be the zenith of human Civilization in terms of sharing sentiments and creativity. But without proper orientation on values like The Mother administers, most act like novices under pressure of instincts. Refining and sublimating the sentiments is a primary task and the lessons of Integral Yoga in this realm is unparalleled. It's true that one may not be able to practice all that The Mother & Sri Aurobindo teach but a good theoretical background goes a long way in helping face diverse circumstances in life. [TNM55]
Marx and Macaulay, Hegel or Whitehead
With the beginning of new College session, thousands of students will come to the Philosophy classes without any idea on the subject. It has no definite career prospects but even then those who have slim chances elsewhere study Philosophy. How far the subject equips them to handle knottier questions of life is not known but to swim with the subject in the present society is a strenuous task. Why Philosophy? Everyone wants an explanation leading to a final disapproval. This continues even after leaving the College.
Sri Aurobindo once wrote that he is not a philosopher and many take great delight in quoting it as if Philosophy is a weed. That he admitted of writing Philosophy is conveniently overlooked. Many of his stray remarks including conversational responses are quoted as though they are frozen in time and Sri Aurobindo stopped thinking thereafter. There is also a notion among the semi-educated that Philosophy is Mental and what they perform is Spiritual. The Mother's advice for adequate mental-gymnastics is safely forgotten.
There is danger from another side also who call themselves Nationalists. They can't tolerate anything Western, not even Hegel or Whitehead. The West is a pollutant and they banish Philosophy emanating from it lock, stock, and barrel. All they know is two names: Marx and Macaulay and pour vitriol on them at every available opportunity. They love their Mythological fiction and consider Philosophy as avoidable distraction. That Philosophy is alive in spite of all this is nothing short of a miracle. [TNM55]
Sri Aurobindo's Yoga and the elderly
From error to terror, human life and society is prone to countless imperfections managing which has been the story of civilisation. Further, how we are wired and how much we draw from habits is a complex mix determining behavior. Yoga introduces the chaos factor; nothing remains the same as in the past, the future becomes unpredictable. By consenting to the intervention of certain cosmic forces, one submits before their plan and action. But there are risks too and hence the necessity of vigilance.
Since science and culture alter their paradigms almost on a continuous basis, it's not easy for an individual to cope up with. Advanced age spurs survival instinct and forces to compromise with values; dependence on others leads to dilution of principles. The function of Yoga here is all the more important for providing firm ideological pillars. A keen follower can surely receive right guidance during lean periods.
Youth is celebrated in Sri Aurobindo's Yoga and the elderly in the Ashram undergo regular physical culture. But exercising apex executive functions by them may not be a corollary as the sordid state of affairs in the Ashram at present prove. On the other hand, projecting a rosy picture of Yoga is also deceptive. Be like a flower is surely what The Mother counsels but camouflaging the rough edges of old age by flowery language is akin to resorting to a defence mechanism. [TNM55]
Sri Aurobindo torpedoed his neatly knit Metaphysics
Many on Twitter speak with finality and forget Evolution. Life is a continuous opportunity for learning and altering our prejudices. Therefore, staying attuned to the right wavelength is crucial. Adorno will say one thing and Ambedkar another. Baudrillard will take on tour through strange territories and Roy Bhaskar will bring you back to surer shores. There is a drift in every thinker. Sri Aurobindo himself torpedoed his neatly knit Metaphysics of The Life Divine by introducing the Mind of Light a decade later. A series of essays that started with the significance of the body took a flight to the Mind of Light so unexpectedly.
Each one will come to Sri Aurobindo from the standpoint of his own understanding and beliefs. It's so unique that none of us is able to convince another. Further, mere intellectual concurring is not enough, the heart too must acquiesce. But the task of reading is common to all of us regardless of how much one agrees or assimilates. The Mantra aspect is also invoked when we read the writings of The Mother & Sri Aurobindo. We may refrain from scouting for firm philosophical formulations in them initially and revel in joyful swimming instead. [TNM55]
Indians demand genuine Democracy
The Congress is in doldrums today as it gave up ideology and latched on to Dynasty. AAP never felt the need of outlining its policies and paid the price. The BJP which came to power by dubious means is also unsure of firm principles and direction. The RSS which loves backroom operation is famous for its reticence and befuddling the people. In such an atmosphere, the Democracy in India is a mere eyewash. Media debates are more like Reality shows chasing TRP than triggering any real discourse among the public. The Constitutional machine runs without any genuine participation of the citizens. State satraps are ruling like erstwhile zamindars without having to stir much from their chairs. Corporate giants take advantage of their inaction and are encroaching more and more areas for commercial exploitation.
A number of institutions including Parliament are not functioning properly in India despite our having a most elaborate Constitutional framework. Ill-educated persons are managing crucial operations. Instead of respecting expertise and excellence, mediocrity is being patronised. Transparency remains a distant dream as responding to public criticism is rare. Overall, those who are at the helm of affairs are taking advantage of the helplessness of the common people. If such is the attitude of almost all political parties, then a severe churning may not be too far away. The people of India have already waited for too long; they cannot be deprived of a true Democratic dispensation. [TNM55]
The Mother & Sri Aurobindo have gifted us thousands of pages
Eliot admired Pascal and Dante but couldn't recognise Sri Aurobindo, a contemporary. Yeats was instrumental in bringing out a new translation of the Gita and the Upanishads but Sri Aurobindo's Essays on them escaped his attention. Had Marcel been a bit aware of The Life Divine, his The Mystery of Being would have been much more profound and penetrating. These instances show how the human civilisation has been deprived of crucial interventions during the course of its history. The intention of Evolution in designing such hiatuses is unknown to us but then we know that the butterfly takes birth through different dissimilar stages.
The Mother & Sri Aurobindo have gifted us thousands of pages to read but their unusual life stories are of much more significance. The Ashram they established at Puducherry is undergoing some tension at present but the ideals it represents is intact for the future generation. ARYA, the monthly magazine they started in 1914 has its Centenary this year on August 15 and let's hope that all Indians will wake up to the occasion. [TNM55]
No better guide than Sri Aurobindo
[@svpr: So is his remark on Rig Veda, if he has made it. I do not need Aurobindo to read Veda, I can, Spent eight Years on it.]
Just because someone spent 8 years in studying the Veda, he doesn't need to read Sri Aurobindo's The Secret of the Veda. This is a sample of the pathetic mindset that many educated Indians suffer from. Instead of exploring diverse voices, one closes his mind and relies entirely on ancient texts and commentaries in alien languages. Certain Universities in the West too promote this antique-mania lending credibility to dubious content. The Mother & Sri Aurobindo advise to steer clear of past theological formulations keeping the future Evolution in mind.
Sri Aurobindo himself has spent a lot of energy in synthesizing the received strands of spiritual praxis in order to make them relevant to modern times. But his tone is never to prescribe and rather aimed at helping the individual to choose according to his age and stage. His writings give the orientation and then one is free to chart his own course. But discarding him ab initio is surely a blunder on the part of any accomplished scholar. There is no better guide than Sri Aurobindo in the present times, let's remember. [TNM55]
Development needs appropriate Ontology
Faint murmurs of disenchantment with the new BJP Govt. is audible now from die hard supporters. That was expected. Governing a country like India is no joke and snatching votes with tall promises is sure to backfire. It took nearly a Century for RSS to capture power at the Centre and yet it has been found severely wanting on matters intellectual. No clarity on any issue is forthcoming from their think tanks.
Be that as it may, human problems have become so complex that it's not easy to tackle them. Many issues have international ramifications and technology choices add to the woe. So, we are not in a hurry to judge the performance of the new rulers. However, their Ontological illiteracy or Mythological dependency remains a concern and a potent threat.
Sri Aurobindo has endowed India with the most advanced and futuristic Metaphysical armament. Neglecting that and falling back upon worn out theories is fraught with acute danger. This is the anti-Evolutionary avenue which we have been crying hoarsh to warn against. Any sound model of Development must be backed by an appropriate Ontology. [TNM55]
Sri Aurobindo overcomes the average
It's a common complain among many professionals that what they studied is hardly of any use in their jobs. In life too, we make do with our ordinary intelligence or common sense without accessing higher faculties in most situations. Even the best of creative vocations turn mechanical or stereotypical over a period of time. Artists and performers often miss the opportunity to exhibit their talent when in best form. Kierkegaard achieved popularity long after he was dead. Cartels and monopolies prevent fresh geniuses from getting attention. As common concerns are taken care of by an average mentality, people are habituated to inhabit that comfort zone and shirk unfamiliar territories.
On the face of it, Yoga appears anti-intellectual as it valorizes surrender but the reality is otherwise. A student of Sri Aurobindo is bound to encounter a series of stimulations throughout his life in various forms. Writings of The Mother & Sri Aurobindo themselves are full of innumerable new ideas and aspirations. But to put them into practice is constrained by the surrounding and other human beings who are unaware of any higher ideal. [TNM55]
Yoga of Sri Aurobindo
Poets and Philosophers who have left behind substantial amount of writing are certainly not ordinary individuals. Apart from understanding the past works, they not only receive fresh ideas intuitively but also struggle to present them systematically for the future generation. The story of their inner lives is hardly known to others except in rare cases who recount autobiographical details. Foucault, in recent times, was a reclusive writer who handled diverse subjects authoritatively. The twist he gave to the concept of history is surely revolutionary. But when we compare him with Sri Aurobindo, the Yoga aspect is missing. The same is the case with Steiner, Gebser, or Wilber.
The Mother & Sri Aurobindo have recorded their forays into the occult worlds to dispel any doubt. None of us can check their veracity but it gives an idea as to how spirituality works and how it is different from common notions of self-realization. Their writings, therefore, stand at a higher level than the works of other great philosophers. Many would classify their output under the rubric of religion but such a distinction seems arbitrary before the Sri Aurobindian dictum, "All life is Yoga." [TNM55]
Sri Aurobindo and the history of ideas
There is a lot of focus now on the history of History writing in India in the media in which Sri Aurobindo is often referred to for his stance on AIT (AMT, OIT). Sri Aurobindo wrote copious history but was no historian in the empiricist model. His visualizations of the past civilisations are broad strokes of human aspiration and Evolution. So, any literal interpretation of his utterances of a Century back are bound to lead to questionable inferences. Since many of Sri Aurobindo's books are independent works, reconciling them fruitfully too constitutes an onerous task.
Stress on India and to treat the West as a waste is an error; Sri Aurobindo never endorsed such an attitude. Hume is as important as Nagarjuna and Baudelaire is no less evocative than Tagore. Positivism, per se, need not be a pejorative nor postmodernism. History of ideas, both in Poetry and Philosophy as well as Management and Technology, are a treasure and must be studied diligently for deciphering the right path for the future. Fortunately, we have the guidance of The Mother & Sri Aurobindo on almost all spheres of life and action.
Values have been a debating point through the ages and Sri Aurobindo discovered the Veda as a valid starting point and source of codification in coded speech. Thus, by accommodating the normative within the Ontological frame, Sri Aurobindo has relinquished the dichotomy that is the bane of many theologies. The body, similarly, receives a special place in the scheme of The Mother & Sri Aurobindo. Such an ecosystem, surely, is not available elsewhere and it is imperative that Indians have a relook at Sri Aurobindo. [TNM55]
Posted by Tusar Nath Mohapatra at 10:39 AM 1 comment: Links
Sri Aurobindo's paradigm
[To be fair, much of life works this way. We do not start out with argument. Long before we are able to reason and make arguments, we are immersed in a worldview we simply absorb, one we take for granted. This is the pre-philosophical world of “prejudices” in the Gadamerian sense, of “intuitions”, of Aristotle’s phainomena, indeed of common sense. We are in this world before we get to the first principles of any paradigm. Thus first principles are not first in a chronological sense – there is much that comes before them – but rather in the logical sense that demonstrative arguments follow from them. One may be convinced of the consequences of a first principle without having any understanding of the first principle itself.] ~Amod Lele
[So, is common sense rooted in principles, or do principles flow from common sense? And is common sense universal, or does it change from epoch to epoch, culture to culture, cable network to cable network? First, we had better define the term. Before looking it up, I would say that it must have to do with knowledge accessible to every normal man by virtue of being one. It is preconceptual, or archetypal if you are Jung at heart -- not quite knowledge, but ready to become so: pre-knowledge. In Bion's scheme, a preconception mates with experience in order to become a conception, and a conception goes on to become a grownup concept. ] ~Gagdad Bob
Sri Aurobindo was conscious of the poor response his writings receive in India and yet he persisted with his style and content. The Mother's conversations, similarly, are hardly read or discussed either in India or the West. So, nothing surprising as they introduce an altogether new paradigm that is too futuristic for the present generation. The burden of the past accentuated by Internet accumulation is so overwhelming that most are simply buried under it irrespective of interpolations and questionable authorships.
Students of Western metaphysics are discovering that their philosophy has not progressed much beyond Bergson, Alexander, or Whitehead. Sri Aurobindo's ARYA writings fall under the same timeframe which provides a formidable alternative. Sri Aurobindo's foray into the Veda, further, is an unparalleled adventure. The Mother's experiments with her body cells, similarly, forms a new interrogation of the human condition. To be conversant with these unknown territories needs curiosity and critical apparatus. But inculcating some sympathy and appreciation for Sri Aurobindo is essential at the outset. [TNM55]
Sri Aurobindo fuses the past and the future
It's impossible to segregate the past influences from Sri Aurobindo's thought. The more one reads him and other authors, the more one confronts profusion of allusions and echoes. Perhaps, this is not surprising given the context of Western Romanticism and Indian Renaissance preceding his writings. The Colonial milieu, further, had imparted a definite tension and direction to a substantial portion of his oeuvre. However, the varied nature of his output establishes him as an outstanding thinker and superlative poet pursuing an Integral agenda.
Sri Aurobindo was convinced of India as the leader for the future humanity. That is at a time when it was under foreign rule and large sections of its population were uneducated. He was aware of the immense intellectual tradition of the West as well as India but was not unduly impressed by them. He charted out his own independent path that is aligned to the pulls of future Evolution. Past religions have exerted wrong effects upon our understanding of human existence and The Mother & Sri Aurobindo sought to correct it to the extent possible.
Assimilating Sri Aurobindo's thought is not an easy task.
To swim through his poetry is equally daunting.
He is worth reading nevertheless,
As there is no other way at the moment. [TNM55]
The Mother's role in cementing a Judeo-Vedic proje...
Sri Aurobindo's belief on the power of the written...
Sri Aurobindo stitches his philosophy with Exclusi...
Whether religion, like democracy, is legitimised b...
Sri Aurobindo's ideological highway against Nehruv...
Sri Aurobindo torpedoed his neatly knit Metaphysic...
The Mother & Sri Aurobindo have gifted us thousand...
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Rendering provided by Hollis and Miller Architects Inc.
The planned five-story housing development is designed with 193 units and an underground parking garage.
$50M housing complex planned downtown
BY: Kathryn Hardison, Reporterkhardison@sbj.net
Posted online September 6, 2019 | 11:41 am
A California-based developer is planning a $50 million housing complex in downtown Springfield, and project officials are targeting a groundbreaking next month.
College Town International LLC, a Los Angeles-based development company, is building a five-story, 194-unit complex at the site of the former Arbor motel on St. Louis Street. The site, a mostly vacant lot for over a decade, is adjacent to The Old Glass Place and across the street from the Discovery Center of Springfield Inc.
Dan Weinstein, managing partner of College Town International, said the roughly 225,000-square-foot complex will offer layout options from studios to four-bedroom apartments. Weinstein said he's been developing plans for the past nine months, and the company’s goal is to begin preleasing apartments in spring 2021. The development will be geared toward students and young professionals, he said.
“We are generally attracted to projects in areas that are seeking new redevelopment,” Weinstein said. “As downtown becomes revitalized, we think this would be a nice option for students and young people that may want to live downtown or close to work.”
Kansas City-based Hollis and Miller Architects Inc. is the primary architect, with local support from H Design Group LLC.
Rob Haik, principal architect for H Design Group, said building amenities include a fitness area, community kitchen, study area, pool, and indoor and outdoor lounges. He said a coffee shop is slated on the first floor for both residents and the public. The five-story complex also is designed with an underground parking garage for roughly 170 parking spaces, he said.
“The interiors to this project and what they’ll offer is at a whole different level than what Springfield is accustomed to,” Haik said.
Engineers on the project are Olsson Inc., civil; Hollis and Miller Architects Inc., structural; and Kansas City-based Henderson Engineers Inc., mechanical, electrical and plumbing. Crossland Construction Company Inc. was hired as the general contractor, Haik said.
Weinstein said one of his priorities for the project was offering privacy to residents. Each apartment is designed with a shared common area and kitchen, and each bedroom is equipped with a private bathroom. Though leasing terms have not been finalized, Weinstein said residents would rent by the bedroom or by the apartment.
“A lot of people might be living out of home for the first time, so we want to make it very comfortable and inviting, but at the same time private,” he said.
Weinstein said the lot at 505 St. Louis St. was appealing because it was in a qualified federal opportunity zone. The site is where the former Arbor motel was demolished in 2007 and early 2008, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting.
The apartment complex, which is expected to cover nearly half a block, also will utilize space where a pair of nearly century-old vacant downtown buildings were demolished in 2014. The roofs of the structures collapsed, creating a public safety hazard, according to past SBJ reporting.
Project officials are also seeking Springfield Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority approval. Matt Schaefer, senior planner with the city of Springfield, said an application for tax abatement under Chapter 353 was submitted in mid-July. Schaefer said the LCRA committee will review the application in October, and if approved, it will go to a public hearing with City Council in late October. He said the process takes about 70 days.
If approved, the property owner would receive up to 25 years of partial real property tax abatement.
College Town International is working with potential lenders on financing, Weinstein said. The company also is working on similar housing projects in southern California and Texas.
Crossland Construction leases downtown STD building
Hawthorn adds Simmons employees to expand mortgage practice
MSU board to vote on architects for Darr school, Tent Theatre
S&H Farm Supply nears opening of Branson store
Planned $27M apartment complex targets dog owners
Habitat for Humanity director to retire
Construction Outlook: Rick Quint
From the Ground Up: Solo Cup building addition
Raising Cane’s to make Springfield debut
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Daily Disaffirmations: The Good, Bad and Ugly of Murdoch’s Vision for iPad “Journalism”
Apr 15th, 2011 by scaredpoet
The “Carousel,” a feature for browsing content on The Daily
I don’t think anyone disagrees anymore at the notion that newspapers are probably going extinct within the next few years. Aside from older generations who grew up with the traditional media, a greater number of mobile individuals are finding that their existing smart devices are giving them their news fix just fine. And so, to survive, the traditional newspapers are trying to adapt.
The New York Times, one of the better heralded newspapers of its era, is going the paywall route. In a nutshell, they will deliver the same thing they’ve delivered online for years, but now you’ll have to pay for it if you happen to read the website a lot.
Other ventures, however, are going the subscription model, but are trying to make it worth your while. The Daily is one such venture, and I recently had an opportunity to get my hands on an iPad and try it out.
First things first: The Daily is a very well-executed, visually-appealing app. The design and delivery of the content takes full advantage of the iPad. It’s visually appealing, the interactive features and graphics are very well executed, and from a design perspective, it’s exactly what modern media SHOULD be. If newspaper companies could actually grasp the current technology like this app has and make some use of it, they probably wouldn’t be failing right now.
Unfortunately, for all the looks and polish, the actual content is utter rubbish. Every news piece is heavy editorialized, and parrots Fox News (in fact, a lot of the articles pretty much attribute Fox News as their source). Since this app is essentially Murdoch’s baby, it shouldn’t be a surprise there’s going to be some right-leaning opinions, but the propaganda is EVERYWHERE. News isn’t news in the Daily: it’s all editorialism, unabashed and unapologetic.
I can’t even recommend this app if your political views are right-leaning. You’d basically be paying for a copy-and-paste of whatever blather is coming out of Fox News that day… something you probably already get, and probably at less of a cost than the subscription for this app’s content. None of the pieces really bother to go in-depth. The editors for The Daily are all about quantity, not quality.
Perhaps you are extremely affluent and hard-right-leaning, and don’t have time to read more than a half-screen of an article at a time. So, maybe parting with an extra $40 a year for a subscription to this content is chump change. That’s fine, that’s your decision… just bear in mind that President Obama recently unveiled a government spending plan that would raise taxes for the top 2% of wealthy individuals. Only, The Daily isn’t really interested in reporting THAT to you, because it was MORE interested in posting a video about Biden falling asleep during the budget speech.
So, I’m telling you now – for free, no less – something that The Daily won’t: you should save your money.
Apple, News, app, iPad, review, technology
Why Sirius XM is going to kill itself
Jun 19th, 2009 by scaredpoet
Back in the day, I had a love affair with XM Satellite radio. In late 2001 when it launched, it was an awesome platform for music and entertainment that really offered a significant alternative from the crap that passes as radio as of late.
That all changed when the Big Merger happened. Sirius, XM’s major satellite radio competitor, was just about everything XM wasn’t. People subscribed to XM for deep, sometimes obscure audio content that rarely if ever saw airplay in modern airwaves. Sirius, on the other had was for people who wanted to pay to listen to some washed up old radio hack in his 50s get creepily perverted with young strippers. Whatever side of this fence you were on, having to mingle with the other camp was not something anyone had to pay for either service looked forward to.
Sure enough, both services suffered after the merger completed and content for both platforms merged. XM lost its identity, and in many respects Sirius lost its own by trying (and failing) to emulate XM.
Through this, I persevered, and kept paying my dues and listening. Admittedly, this is mainly because I’m an O&A fan. But additionally, I stay a subscriber because I spend quite a bit of time in my car and sadly, despite the horrid shape satellite radio content is in these days, it’s still leagues better than anything on “free” terrestrial radio, which has managed somehow to decline into an even worse state than
it was when satellite first began challenging the norm.
Say what you want. Sure, there are iPods, and iPhones and MP3 players and CD collections and even Slacker to keep people entertained. Lots of critics for years have claimed that the ‘net radio will kill satellite… just you wait! And yet it hasn’t happened. Why? Because satellite radio does one thing ‘net radio and MP3 players and personal music collections can’t: provide fresh, live, new content pretty much anywhere you go. Go on. Try to go on a multi-hour road trip while streaming last.fm or Slacker from your cell phone.
guaranteed you will hit a dead zone or non-3G spot somewhere that will jam up the works. And yet that silly little XM or Sirius box will keep working.
Even so, satellite radio is in deep trouble. In a stinging rebuke from the merger, almost half a million subscribers flushed their radios down the toilet last quarter, the first time either company has ever had negative subscriber growth. And Sirius XM doesn’t have podcasts, or iTunes or streaming audio to blame for this. In fact, they can only blame themselves.
Why? Pricing. You have to pay a monthly fee to get satellite radio. At first, it wasn’t so bad. $9.99 and later $12.95 a month to get about 170 or so digital channels anywhere in the US or parts of Canada, plus free internet streaming. If you’re an audiophile, want to keep track of CNN while you drive or travel, or just like good radio without being bombarded with annoying commercials, that’s not a bad deal.
But then the post-merger nickel and diming began. Despite promising the FCC that pre-merger customers could “lock in” their rates, and allegedly saving millions by merging two companies and axing most of the very good, but fiscally-redundant on air talent, the company began to raise prices. Got extra radios on your account? That’ll cost more than it used to. Enjoying your “included” internet streaming? Well, we’ll keep “including” it for ya… if you pay extra.
Now, Sirius XM has released their iPhone app. Satellite radio on your iPhone… amazing! And the app itself is Free! Free free!
Oh yeah, but if you want the app to actually do something after you’ve installed it, well, that will cost you, about as much as if you went out and actually bought a satellite radio. If you’re already a satellite subscriber, well, it cost even more. And by the way, if you’re one of the aformentioned diehard Sirius Fans that listen to the aging creepy guy, well, he’s nowhere to be heard on this app. Apparently, $500 million isn’t enough for the guy to release rights to allow his content to stream on “mobile devices.” Go figure.
Sirius, what the hell? Do you REALLY want to push yourself out of business? You might be able to play these games when you’re the only ones who beam your content through space. But with the iPhone, you’re now in the same house as your competitors who do the same thing for free. Your ace in the hole, even if I don’t like him, is Your Man Howard, and he’s AWOL. And you expect people to PAY for this horseshit?!
Like millions of other people, I downloaded the SiriusXM app, and then realized that I had to pay more than I already do for the privilege of making it do anything. As I imagine millions of others are also going to do, I then deleted the app from my phone, and rated it one star.
Oh, by the way, there are rumors that pricing is going to go up again in July. While it’s the result of the RIAA wanting to get their grubby mits into everyone’s revenue with royalty fees, the company is choosing to directly pass those rates on to consumers in a period when most are already in a tighten-your-belt mentality, instead of, say, trying to save money by renegotiating certain onerous, unjustifiably expensive contracts. If this turns out to be true, people who enjoyed all the things Sirius and XM offered them before the merger will have to pay 50% more for the “privilege” of having the same level of service. And even the idea of “same” is debatable considering the post-merger decimation of content and talent that listeners have had to suffer through.
Way to go Sirius. You’re well on your way to killing the platform. I’m going to have to think hard before giving you
Radio, Sirius, XM, app, iPhone, satellite
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‘Cyberasociality’: Sociologists find emerging condition
Not every single user – among the billions collecting friends and followers on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and other social media platforms – is perfectly comfortable conducting his or her social life online, according to sociologists at Cornell and the University of North Carolina.
Some people don’t find online interaction to be “real,” and the researchers dub these individuals the “cyberasocial.”
If you strongly agree with statements like, “I need face-to-face interaction before I can decide someone is trustworthy,” you, too, could be among the cyberasocial. Cybersocial (without the middle “a”) users of social media are likely to say, “I prefer to communicate online when discussing important or deep issues.”
Says Cornell’s Matthew E. Brashears, “We define cyberasociality as the inability or unwillingness of some people to relate to others via social media as they do when physically present. Cyberasociality may be emerging as a modern variation in digitally mediated sociality.”
An assistant professor of sociology in the College of Arts and Sciences, Brashears is co-author (with Zeynep Tufekci at UNC-Chapel Hill) of “Are we all equally at home socializing online? Cyberasociality and evidence for an unequal distribution of disdain for digitally-mediated sociality,” published this month in the journal Information, Communication and Society.
Brashears and Tufekci found plenty of unequally distributed disdain in the 827 undergraduate students they surveyed. Virtually all the research subjects used social media in their daily lives. But not all were comfortable using social media to be social.
Cyberasocial students happily used Facebook to find classmates to study with, for example, or Instagram to keep in touch with old friends at other schools. They were just uncomfortable using social media to broaden their social networks or to forge new social ties online.
The researchers tried to find patterns and correlations in their survey data, mostly without success. Gender hardly mattered, and neither did personality traits like introversion or openness. And the cyberasocial report having just as many offline friends and social connections as do the cybersocial.
But for some reason, online social connectivity – so engaging and fulfilling to the highly cybersocial – feels “hollow” and “vacant” to others, the authors report. (They highlighted one finding of interest: The odds of an African-American having made friends online were twice that of a white person, they wrote, “perhaps indicating that racial boundaries are easier to cross through online interaction.”)
The Cornell sociologist stops short of tweeting: “Cyberasociality is the new motion sickness.” But there are technology-related parallels, Brashears says: “Having the inner ear’s input stream disagree with the eyes – essentially, motion sickness – was not a problem when all we did was walk and run. Cars and boats and planes changed all that.”
The modern condition of cyberasociality – the possibility that a segment of the population remains unable or unwilling to relate to others socially via digitally mediated sociality – “could only emerge with the spread of online social interaction,” Brashears says.
The Cornell-UNC study was funded in part by the National Science Foundation.
Is cyberasociality the new dyslexia?
“Whatever the cause of dyslexia may be, it would not have been detectable in a pre-literate population as among such people, words are always and only just sounds,” Brashears and Tufekci write in their article. “Dyslexia emerges as a disadvantage only as a society incorporates the ease of use with the written word into the portfolio of expected competencies and, similarly, the increasing incorporation of online sociality may expose a segment of the population that is similarly disadvantaged in terms of using these technologies as effectively for social purposes.”
Think of all the online invitations to baby showers and bar mitzvahs the chronically cyberasocial will miss, the authors muse.
“On the other hand, less social interaction online may protect them from digital surveillance, and perhaps even emerge as an advantage in reputation management,” they write, leaving so much to the digital imagination.
Categories Brain & Behavior, Technology Post navigation
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1 thought on “‘Cyberasociality’: Sociologists find emerging condition”
This was also the period when websites started offering online games
such as tetris, ping pong, mario bros,super Mario, and other free online flash games and non-flash based games free
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It can be done through forums, chat rooms, and even profile pages.
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Why would the Kazon value water?
In the first episode of Voyager, Neelix and the Kazon are shown to value water extremely highly. Neelix goes hog wild over its abundance on Voyager. Jabin is impressed by a mere flask full. The Kazon-Ogla freak out over a few hundred gallons. This makes sense when they're shown to be an isolated, primitive mining village on a desert planet.
Later in the episode, the Kazon are shown to possess enormous spaceships with shields and weapons able to quickly reach the Caretaker and battle Voyager.
Voyager makes the point that the Kazon don't have transporters or replicators... but water isn't hard to make. If you have enough power you can reduce just about anything into hydrogen and oxygen and combine them to make water. If you can figure out how to maintain a warp drive, you can figure out how to make water. If there's no suitable matter where you are, fly to somewhere there is.
This is obviously a ploy by the writers to show how much more advanced Federation technology is. They wisely find better ways to demonstrate this. Anyone want to take a shot at propping it up with an in-universe explanation?
I want to get a satisfying answer, so here's some rebuttals to things going around in the comments.
Neelix: Not just the Kazon-Ogla can't seem to figure out how to make or get water, but Neelix also. He has a ship. He's jaunted all over the sector. He has a high motivation to get his hands on water to barter for Kes. He's met advanced societies who probably have the instructions for making water in basic chemistry texts.
The Kazon are on a desert planet: Space travel is casual enough they can fly to the Caretaker and form a fleet, they can fly to where there's water or the means to make it.
Water, or the means to make it, aren't abundant in the area: Hydrogen and oxygen are the first and third most abundant elements in the Universe. We're finding water everywhere we look. Just because water doesn't fall from the sky doesn't mean it's not there. There's extractable water on the Moon and Mars. There's water in rocks.
The Kazon don't know how to make water: We isolated oxygen and hydrogen in the early 1800s and were good enough at making it to fill balloons. Oxygen and hydrogen combine to make water (and a big bang). The Kazon aren't idiots like the Pakled. They can operate and repair warp capable starships and regularly interact with other species. They can pick up a chemistry textbook.
Water is too bulky for trade: The biggest supertanker can carry 700,000 tons, about the mass of Voyager. The Kazon ship that fights Voyager is much, much larger. They can fit a lot water in there.
Water is not economical for trade: If someone is willing and able to pay a lot for a good, it becomes worthwhile to ship and even fight for. Spices, tea, oil, bananas, cocoanut water. Make it valuable enough and we'll conquer a third world nation to get it and ship it across the world. The Kazon-Ogla have valuable ore to trade. If they were being extorted by a single provider, they have ships to seek better deals. It doesn't have to be other Kazon either, if someone's willing to pay well above market price for an item, other traders will come.
star-trek star-trek-voyager
Mithical
SchwernSchwern
while its possible to just take hydrogen and oxygen out of the air to make water, its a massive process with not alot of return, and if their planet doesn't have much hydrogen left in its atmosphere it may be impossible. without replicator tech, moving water from 1 planet to another its a costly and time consuming afair, as you have to create a ship large enough to hold the water. and if the closest planet with water is X weeks away, thats again a costly trip to fill a cargo hold with water and lug it back and forth across space. – Himarm Jan 14 '15 at 19:46
@Himarm, I don't buy that. Hydrogen is the most abundant substance in the universe. Space faring people should really know to get a hold of it. Same goes for oxygen. – Ghanima Jan 14 '15 at 19:49
@Ghanima just because hydrogen is the most abundant substance in the universe doesn't mean its in large quantities near you, i mean most of the hydrogen is inside of stars, however, harvesting hydrogen from a star seems alot harder then transporting water between planets. – Himarm Jan 14 '15 at 20:00
@Ricard The same way you get anything else into a large craft, you land at a port. Without transporters you need to be able to land. No port? Use smaller craft to shuttle the goods. It might seem like water is too bulky, but this is exactly what 19th century sailing ships did and might involve rowing barrels of water from shore to a ship anchored some distance out. It was known as "watering the ship". It was a time consuming, labor intensive process, but necessary. It's worth noting you have the same problem with the ore the Ogla are mining. – Schwern Jan 14 '15 at 21:49
Another rebuttal: if you have warp capable ships then you can fly to the nearest comet and harvest it. – Greenstone Walker Jan 15 '15 at 1:09
Because it's not economic to transport water in sufficient quantities to supply a population
It's not clear that the Kazon have much of a handle on their technology. They mostly stole it from another race (the Trabe) and have been trying to figure it out ever since. Those sects that have been doing best, technologically, seem to be those that are doing best socially.
Note their lack of transporters and replicators. Without those, transporting water would need to be done physically, via the loading of shuttles or ships from a water-rich planet, then flying at warp to the destination, then offloading and repeating. Without dedicated cargo vessels, such an undertaking would be enormously expensive and wasteful of materials (such as fuel) that the Kazon don't have in abundance. While it's reasonable to use shuttles to supply water to a single vessel (or even a fleet), doing so for an entire population would be a mind-bogglingly expensive task requiring hundreds of ships in constant motion.
Ocampa is a special case
Where Ocampa is concerned, you also need to take into account that until very recently, it was a (relatively) verdant world. The caretaker's arrival damaged the atmosphere in such a way as to result in the water table collapsing:
"We know there was an environmental disaster about the same time you arrived," she explained. Then, guessing again, "That was the debt that could never be repaid, wasn't it?"
"We're explorers from another galaxy." Its voice rang more strangely now--more like its own thinking, Janeway suspected.
"We had no idea our technology would be so destructive to their atmosphere. Two of us were chosen to stay behind to care for them." Caretaker
The obsession with water is an Ogla obsession.
It's pretty clear that a shifting mixture of sects control different areas of Kazon space, constantly jockeying for position and control of the choicest worlds. It's reasonable to assume that the Ogla's region of space simply doesn't contain that many water worlds. Their home base appears to be on a desert planet (Ocampa) whereas other sects, notably the Nistrum, seem far more interested in getting their hands on the replicators and transporters because they can provide advanced weapons or technical advantage.
The novelisation of the pilot episode Voy:Caretaker specifically identifies that although the Ogla are water-poor, their planet is known to be rich in a substance known as Cormaline, something said to be in high demand elsewhere:
"Who are the Kazon-Ogla?" Neelix waved down the dry riverbed toward the camp. "They are." He started forward without waiting for them, rubbing his hands with excitement. "Kazon sect controls this part of the quadrant. Some have water, some have ore, some have food. They all trade, and they all try to kill each other." They sounded like a lovely people. Janeway motioned everyone to follow on Neelix's heels as more and more Kazon spilled out into the sun, their weapons drawn. "I thought you said the Ocampa had our people."
I think the right path is that it's an Ogla obsession. It doesn't work out that it's uneconomical to ship, trade or produce. If it's so valuable you're impressed by a flask of water, it becomes economical. We shipped ice to India on sailing ships. If the other tribes are selling water at exorbitant prices, the Ogla would seek other sources with their own ships. Water isn't hard to make, we figured out how to isolate elemental hydrogen and oxygen in the early 1800s. If you can repair a warp core, you can make water, and you have the power source. – Schwern Jan 14 '15 at 20:29
@Schwern - The issue is that in the 30+ years since they overthrew the Trabe, they haven't even been able to form a functioning society. They rely largely on forced labour and barter. Their ships are ramshackle and poorly maintained (for the most part) which explains why they've only got such crappy worlds under their control. Presumably in the next few years they'll lose even those. – Valorum Jan 14 '15 at 20:40
I added a bunch of rebutals to various scenarios in my question. It doesn't have to be the Kazon supplying them. If the Ogla value water well above market value and have valuable ore to trade, someone will sell it to them and make a sweet profit. There has to be a reason this is implausible. Cultural taboo? Exclusive deal? Excessive secrecy? Doesn't explain why they're willing to deal with Neelix and why Neelix doesn't act as the middle man. – Schwern Jan 14 '15 at 21:09
@Schwern - Because bad writing. – Valorum Jan 14 '15 at 22:05
A noble effort! I appreciate it, but it doesn't work. You're right that transporting water is expensive, but according to Memory Alpha Ocampa isn't their home base, it's just a mining base. It is economical to ship water to an economically important mine. And do we know they're short on fuel? They sure spend a lot chasing Voyager! And, again, they could just make it, but this is something the Star Trek universe conveniently forgets. Sorry, I don't know if there is an in-universe answer for this one. – Schwern Jul 1 '16 at 17:03
There's something else to this question that bothers me.
Everyone is stating reasons they don't have water, or how hard it is to transport without transporters. Even a race that's only been space worthy for 30 years would find recycling water easy.
Assume this:
They are alive so the have some water
Purifying waste water isn't difficult in a dessert environment, and would be a priority if their numbers were medium or high
The most basic way of purifying water can be done in your kitchen with no power, (assuming your in a hot area like a dessert). You simply suspend a cone or pyramid of waterproof fabric above dirty water, and let the the water evaporate and re-condense into clean water. (over simplified but i think it makes the point).
The transport costs are irrelevant as you would only have to do it once. So the question should be why aren't they recycling the water? if they were they would have plenty.
I must also point out that water recycling is done on the international space station today, and I'm pretty sure none of them on-board could fix a warp reactor. Its such simple tech that the only explanation is bad writing.
EDIT Ohh and if you think its impractical on a large scale, waste water (including sewage) on earth today is purified, then returned to the river (or storage tanks), and that intern is feed back into the taps as drinking water
MattMatt
In a dessert environment they could just eat ice cream instead. – Valorum Aug 19 '16 at 18:10
Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged star-trek star-trek-voyager or ask your own question.
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Why did Michael Jonas betray Voyager?
Why didn't Voyager make a cloaking device?
Why didn't the Voyager crew take the shortcut in Prime Factors, abandoning the ship?
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SEO News Aggregator
3 key advertising metrics of YouTube
EU authorities against Google, Facebook and Twitter
VK added API methods to create a promotional record button
In Facebook will have its own sports and game shows
Facebook conducts negotiations with TV studios about licensing games and sports show, as well as scripts, ReCode writes.
According to sources, the company is interested in experimenting with different formats. However, she has no plans to invest in expensive movies and TV shows, the production of which involved Netflix and Amazon.
Director of global creative strategy Facebook Ricky van Veen commented on this information so:
Earlier this year we began the launch of a new Video section on Facebook. Our goal is to fill this tab, affiliate content, so we are exploring options of investment in production of video content specifically for our service. We want to show people what opportunities are available to them in the social network.
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The most popular instant messengers in Russia is WhatsApp and Viber
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Otterpool Park Update: Archaeology and a conflict of interests.
Posted on October 20, 2018 by shepwayvox in Shepwayvox // 0 Comments
The outline planning application for Otterpool Park is “very likely” to be put forward in January 2019, according to a senior Council officer.
Meanwhile on the 15th Oct at the Quaker’s meeting room in Ashford, Kate Clover the Archaeological representative of Arcadis, who are working for the promoters, Cozumel Estates Ltd and Folkestone & Hythe District Council gave a detailed talk on all the archaeology found to date within the Otterpool Park Site.
Ms Clover made it clear that the Roman Villa site found would NOT be built on and would remain as open space. In her talk Ms Glover spelt out that within the Otterpool Park boundary, Neolithic, Roman and Mediaeval artefacts had been discovered.
All in all the archaeologists have dug 300 trial trenches and undertaken Geophysical surveys over 300 hectares. Otterpool Park covers 765 hectares.
And of course we know in a number of these trenches Roman artefacts and building were discovered. The archaeologists discovered the underground heating system used by the Roman’s at the Villa they discovered.
Moving on there have been 16 contracts above £5,000 awarded to a variety of companies to undertake work on or relating to Otterpool Park. The value of these contracts is £2,269,633.
It is clear that on the 23/04/2018 Savills were awarded a £30,000 pound contract. The contract started on 24/04/2018 and will end on the 31/01/2019.
The contract was for Otterpool Park and in particular the Negotiation of Options to Purchase Land (OPCB). Further to previous advice (contract DN327056, purchase order CE00997) Savills valuers are appointed to negotiate with other landowners either options to purchase or outright purchases of land within the site of the proposed Otterpool New Town. Commission on behalf of the Otterpool Park Collaboration Board.
In our last update we told you about a Mr David Parry a Consultant for Savills (pictured) who in late April, early May 2018, made his way along the Ashford Rd between Barrowhill, Sellindge and Newingreen talking to business owners and home-owners who had received a letter from the Otterpool Park Collaboration Board in late March 2018. The letter made clear to the property owners if their property was within the Otterpool Boundary and if the promoters were intent of purchasing the properties and/or land or not.
Mr Parry of Savills:
“specialises in advising on options, promotion agreements, and sales and acquisitions of development land including mixed use schemes. His role includes the disposal of development land, including properties for conversion, as well as carrying out viability studies on all sizes of development sites, including strategic and proposed garden villages and towns.”
However, prior to this Mr Parry had been discussed at the Otterpool Park Collaboration Board on the 1st February 2017 meeting in London, the notes released and long since been in the public domain state at para 1.2:
Property owners our public face has spoken to, have said he, Mr Parry, made clear in his visit to property owners between Barrowhill Sellindge and Newingreen he was representing Cozumel Estates Ltd who are the one half of the promoters who sit on the Collaboration board. As we said 30 memories cannot ALL be wrong, nor thankfully can cctv.
So our question is to to Dr Susan Priest, Cllr David Monk and the Reuben Brothers, there exists incontrovertible evidence a clear conflict of interest has taken place, now what will you do about it.
The Shepwayvox Team – Dissent is NOT a Crime
collaboration board
Cozumel Estates Ltd
Folkestone & Hythe District Council
Neolithic finds
A Request For SDC Cllrs to undergo a DBS Check.
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Gold and Youth - Beyond Wilderness
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Release Date: May 14th, 2013
Beyond Wilderness is the debut full-length from Vancouver four-piece Gold & Youth. The album was produced and recorded by Colin Stewart (Black Mountain, New Pornographers, Dan Mangan) and mixed by Gareth Jones (Depeche Mode, Interpol, Grizzly Bear). Members of Gold & Youth are Matthew Lyall, Murray Mckenzie, Jeff Mitchelmore and Louise Burns. Beyond Wilderness is built with dark, expansive synthetic textures, punctuated by programmed drums and interwoven with melancholy vocals, detuned synth melodies and understated guitars. The result is an album with varied sounds, ranging from the cold, industrial sounds of Depeche Mode to the tenderness of Avalon-era Roxy Music.
1. City Of Quartz
2. Little Wild Love
3. Quarters
4. Tan Lines
6. Jewel
7. Come To Admire
8. Daylight Colours
9. Young Blood
10. Palm Villas
11. Time To Kill
Arts & Crafts Productions is a Toronto-based independent artist services company, offering expertise as an independent record label, management firm, merchandiser and publisher in Canada and worldwide.
Email raiseyourhands@arts-crafts.ca
© 2020, Arts & Crafts Shop
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Submissions / Volunteers
Tag: Leonard Woolf
Published on February 23, 2015 February 23, 2015 by emmaclairesweeney6 Comments
Someone recently told me that she considered my sister’s life to have no value.
My sister has severe autism and cerebral palsy, so she requires constant support from family, friends and paid carers. I stayed with Lou recently and, during this time, it was me who cut up her food into bite-size pieces, bathed and dressed her, held her hand to help her safely cross the road.
It would seem unthinkable now to dismiss Helen Keller’s life as valueless. And yet, many people must have written off this deaf-blind girl and pitied those who looked after this hot-tempered child.
In fact, Keller’s disabilities enabled her to look at our world from a distinctive vantage point – one that came to be valued by prestigious literary journals, world leaders and the general public alike.
As with many of the literary women we’ve featured on this site, it is difficult to prise apart Keller’s dazzling abilities from her apparent disabilities. Could Emily Dickinson have written such wildly challenging verse if she had conformed to the demands of the outside world? Could Jean Rhys have penned Wide Sargasso Sea without her own feelings of imprisonment? Could Virginia Woolf have rendered Septimus Smith’s shell shock had she not experienced the loosening grip of her own sanity?
The courage, determination and soaring talent of these writers were supported by the care and commitment of their family, friends and employees. Infamously reclusive, Dickinson underwent surgery on her eyes and a recent biographer claims that she may also have had epilepsy. Her writing life was facilitated by her siblings, and she received invaluable support from fellow writer Helen Hunt Jackson during a time when few others recognised the genius of her work – a subject we’ve written about for Shooter Literary Magazine.
Shooter Literary Magazine available from Foyles
During our interview with Diana Athill, she told us that Rhys relied in her youth on ‘helpful men’ to guide her through the trials of everyday life, while in later years ‘she was rescued by nice women like me’. Leonard Woolf – his wife’s most prized reader – helped to nurse her through dark times, never doubting her brilliance.
Throughout her long and dignified life, Keller relied on others night and day. Those who helped her were privileged to glean insights on how to value and be valued by a fellow human being. The support, of course, went both ways. Indeed, when Keller turned down offers from world-famous filmmakers in favour of the inexperienced Nancy Hamilton, she acted out of deep care for her friend.
During the past weeks, while I was helping my sister to bathe and dress and eat, she was looking after me in ways that were subtle but just as significant. Before travelling up to stay with her, I had been feeling uncharacteristically low. By welcoming me into her daily routine, Lou reminded me that joy can be found in all sorts of places: her face would light up when she selected an outfit from the clothes I’d laid out on her bed; in the cinema, she sang along to ‘Tomorrow’ with Annie, clapping her hands above her head; one evening, she dragged me around the marine lake at sunset, forcing me to run against the wind and laughing all the way.
Lou bringing a smile to my face
Later that night we went to a gig and Lou shook hands with all and sundry, repeating her favourite phrases: ‘What’s your name? You’re a ratbag! I like college.’ In this way, we got chatting to a young man, who – full of despair – had just dropped out of university. Lou reached across me to take hold of the young man, and they sat hand in hand for a long time. I like to think that she was helping him that night just as she was helping me: that her zest for life was rubbing off on him; that he would value – as I did – her reminder that there can be dignity and kindness in seeking and accepting care.
The Ship has set sail
We are delighted to announce that yet another of our guest bloggers has a book out this month. What’s more, Antonia Honeywell’s The Ship asks wise and searching questions about the value of life and what it really means to care.
Categories Nancy Hamilton and Helen Keller•Tags Antonia Honeywell, autism, blind, care, cerebral palsy, deaf, Diana Athill, Emily Dickinson, epilepsy, Helen Hunt Jackson, Helen Keller, Jean Rhys, Leonard Woolf, Nancy Hamilton, Septimus Smith, Shooter Literary Magazine, sisters, The Ship, Virginia Woolf, Wide Sargasso Sea
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Home›FootBall›Peter Crouch retires from soccer on the age of 38
Peter Crouch retires from soccer on the age of 38
The former England striker Peter Crouch has announced his retirement from soccer at the age of 38.
The 6ft 7in ahead made his English league debut in 2000 with QPR and went directly to play for nine golf equipment, consisting of Liverpool, Portsmouth, Tottenham, and Stoke before spending the second 1/2 of the final season at Burnley.
Crouch’s first England cap came against Colombia in May 2005 and he performed 42 times for the Three Lions, scoring 22 goals.
In a statement on Twitter, Crouch said: “After a variety of deliberation this summer time I have decided to retire from football. Our great sport has given me everything. I’m so grateful to absolutely everyone who helped me get there and to help me stay there for so long.
“If you told me at 17 I’d play in World Cups, get to a Champions League very last, win the FA Cup and get one hundred Premier League desires I could have avoided you at all prices. It’s been an absolute dream come real.”
Crouch scored 108 top-flight desires in 468 appearances for seven different golf equipment and additionally holds the file for the most headed desires, 51, in Premier League history. He played at the 2006 World Cup and scored his first aggressive aim for England for the duration of a 2-0 group-level victory towards Trinidad and Tobago. He was additionally decided on for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
The former England striker Alan Shearer wrote on Twitter: “Congrats huge man, a wonderful career and good luck going forward.” Current England players Harry Maguire and Jack Butland, a team-mate of Crouch’s in the course of his time at Stoke, also paid tribute to the striker. Maguire wrote: “Incredible profession. Enjoy retirement.” Butland added: “Been an honor to play and share a dressing room with you large guy peter crouch pleasant of success within the subsequent degree of your career.”
Crouch released an ebook – “How to be a Footballer” – ultimate 12 months and has additionally worked in the media.
Crouch, who won the FA Cup with Liverpool and helped them reach the 2007 Champions League very last, delivered he changed into looking ahead to spending more time along with his circle of relatives, having these days had a fourth child with his spouse, Abbey Clancy.
Even increasingly high faculty, college, and seasoned teams are starting to lessen the number of touch practices, still carrying the likes of soft-padded headgear and shoulder pads for introduced protection. But what if we ought to restriction the touch gamers see earlier than excessive faculty and center school at the same time as additionally addressing a number of the worries for the sport associated with it being absolutely regular into the Olympics? There’s a lot of talks these days revolving across the safety of tackle football, and now not simply in the NFL where concussions are a major situation. Starting as a long way again because the kid’s soccer stage, current evidence has surfaced helping the idea that even brief of a concussion, repeated head influences and collision can manifest in similar brain injuries later in existence for youngsters tested among the while of 8-thirteen. Many researchers are suggesting kids should not be playing football in any respect, suggesting that kids’ heads are “a bigger a part of their body, and their necks aren’t as sturdy as adults’ necks. So children may be at a more hazard of head and brain injuries than adults.”
DREW BREES BELIEVES FLAG FOOTBALL CAN SAVE FOOTBALL
As of 2015, studies show that flag soccer is the quickest developing youth recreation within the United States, greatly outpacing the increase of traditional address soccer. Many character high schools are making the switch to flag soccer over the address, getting different schools of their areas to comply with in shape creating organized leagues and divisions. It’s even a formally identified varsity game in lots of states, and with girls specifically, flag football is a way to allow less difficult participation versus the bodily nature of tackle. And he is now not the best one. Recently Drew Brees became interviewed through Peter King for NBC’s pregame show and had some strong words on why he believes flag football is the answer. “I experience like flag soccer can store football,” Brees stated. Brees coaches his son’s flag football crew, and played flag football himself thru junior high, in no way playing tackle football till high school. “I sense like (flag football) is an excellent introductory technique for numerous kids into soccer,” Brees stated. “Otherwise I experience it is very clean to head in and feature a bad revel in early on and then no longer need to ever play it again. I feel like once you placed the pads on there are just so many other elements to the game, and you’re on the mercy of the instruct in a variety of instances too. And to be sincere, I don’t think sufficient coaches are properly-versed enough in regards to the authentic fundamentals of the game mainly when the pads go on on the children level.” Many different seasoned athletes and coaches have expressed similar sentiments as properly, singing praises for the sport of flag soccer, and the upward push in reputation of the sport echoes that.
USA ninety four – 25 years on: football’s evolution captivates the world
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This World Cup has reminded us that soccer is still a lovely game
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Volkswagen Announces Partnership with Zoomcar, 200 Polo Hatchbacks Available on Subscription Basis
SLUH holds off Parkway West rally to win in Penilla’s head training debut
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Murder Runs in the Family
Anne George
Ruth Ann Phimister
Fiction & Literature, Mystery, Thriller & Horror, Suspense, Thriller
by David Baldacci
Anne George's novels offer a delightful mix of gentle comedy and compelling mystery. Murder Runs in the Family finds two feisty 60-something sisters doing a little amateur sleuthing into the death of a visiting genealogist. Mary Alice has spared no expense for her daughter's wedding. Two days after the glittering affair, Mary Alice and Patricia Anne are spending a fascinating lunch listening to the groom's cousin explain the 'dog-eat-dog" world of professional genealogy. Minutes later they are shocked to learn that the genteel woman they were just speaking with has fallen from a courthouse window. Determined to get to the bottom of things, Patricia Anne soon finds herself enmeshed in a world where proud old families are willing to kill to keep their ancestor's dirty laundry from being aired. Full of good clean fun, Anne George's novels deliver nonstop suspense tempered with light-hearted laughs and a cast of quirky characters. Ruth Ann Phimister's rollicking narration perfectly captures both the love of family and iron will of these two Southern ladies.
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SpaceX delays force Spaceflight to find alternative launches
by Jeff Foust — March 3, 2017
Spaceflight says it has found new rides for nearly 90 satellites originally scheduled to launch on its Sherpa tug because of Falcon 9 schedule delays. Credit: Spaceflight Industries
WASHINGTON — Delays in SpaceX’s launch schedule have led an aggregator of secondary payloads to find alternative rides for dozens of satellites it planned to fly on a Falcon 9.
In a March 2 message, Curt Blake, president of Seattle-based Spaceflight, said that “significant” delays in the planned launch of the Formosat-5 mission on a Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California forced the company to find alternative rides for nearly 90 satellites that were to launch as secondary payloads on a payload adapter called Sherpa.
“We learned our launch would occur potentially much later than expected,” Blake wrote, not giving a specific launch date. “While delays are inevitable in the launch business, we made the decision to rebook all our customers slated to launch on the FormoSat-5 mission.”
Formosat-5 and Sherpa were scheduled to launch on a Falcon 9 last year but were delayed, in part because of the Sept. 1 pad explosion of a Falcon 9 during preparations for a static-fire test at Cape Canaveral. That halted all Falcon 9 launches for four and a half months.
Blake, in an October 2016 interview, said Spaceflight was waiting on the Falcon 9 return to flight before getting a new launch date, and at the time didn’t expect a launch before early 2017. The company had told the owners of the satellites not to ship them to Spaceflight for integration onto the Sherpa adapter until it got a confirmed launch date from SpaceX.
SpaceX has not disclosed a launch date for Formosat-5, or many other upcoming launches from Vandenberg. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell, speaking at a Feb. 17 press conference at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, said the company had delayed the next Falcon 9 launch of Iridium satellites, from Vandenberg, from mid-April to mid-June “to fill in the queue of folks that have been waiting for a flight since we were down last September.” The company hasn’t identified those customers.
Blake said that, given the extended delays, the company decided to find other rides for the satellites that were to fly on Sherpa. “It took a huge effort, but within two weeks, the team hustled to have all customers who wanted to be rebooked confirmed on other launches!” he wrote.
Spaceflight spokeswoman Jodi Sorensen said March 2 that most of the satellites that had been flying on Sherpa will be rebooked on one of two launches. One is on the company’s own dedicated Falcon 9 mission, dubbed SSO-A, scheduled to launch from Vandenberg later this year. The other is an unspecified “international launch” scheduled for this summer or fall.
Spaceflight has brokered launches of small satellites as secondary payloads on a number of different vehicles. That included nine cubesats that launched on an Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) Feb. 14. Eight of the nine satellites were from Spire, a company deploying a constellation of cubesats for ship tracking and weather data. The ninth satellite was a cubesat from an Israeli university.
Blake, in a recent commentary, defended the use of PSLV, which developers of small satellite launchers in the U.S. have criticized for undercutting the market. “Contrary to popular belief, foreign launches are not less expensive than domestic ones” in part because of regulatory costs, he wrote in the SatMagazine op-ed.
In comments directed at President Trump, Blake called on the administration to avoid any making policy changes that would make it harder to launch on Indian or other non-U.S. rockets while the capacity in the domestic market grows. “We ask the current administration to allow these international launch options that are critical to the smallsat industry and to support the efforts and policies that expand — not restrict — access to space,” he wrote.
As for Sherpa itself, Sorensen said it could fly on the SSO-A mission or another launch with a different set of satellite payloads. “It’s completely flight ready, so if we can, we’ll definitely use it,” she said.
Commercial Launch Falcon 9SherpaSpaceflight IndustriesSpaceX
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Interest rate cut
Our Staff Reporter
The State Bank of Pakistan, in its latest bimonthly review of its base rate, has cut it by 50 basis points, or half a percent, to 12.5 percent. This comes after no change at the last review, and a one percent cut at the review before that, four months ago, and is aimed at providing a stimulus to the economy, which has been adversely affected by both the international financial crisis, which has meant that Pakistan's export markets abroad are just not buying any longer, and soaring prices of imported fuel and food. Though SBP had hiked interest rates to protect against the inflationary pressures buffeting the economy, it had also by this measure placed a brake on private-sector investment, which was the main means of getting out of the situation. Though this was not what it had intended, the State's action had made Pakistan a country that repelled the investment it badly needed to keep its economy on an even keel. Though it seems to have realised its mistake, it has not yet carried out a sufficient cut in interest rates. The State Bank, in its report on fiscal policy, pointed to the public sector's, or rather the government's hunger for money which was placing inflationary pressure on the economy. That is the key area for any federal Finance Minister to address, government spending, yet that is the area in which the present government's ministers are being given free rein. According to the State Bank, the Finance Ministry, while sticking to the pre-announced targets, had sold Rs 91 billion worth of Treasury Bills in the fiscal year so far, against maturities of Rs 37 billion. The report also makes the revelation that the country's financial policies are not made at home, by calling IMF conditionalities on gas and fuel necessary. These conditions were imposed solely to prevent Pakistan from taking an independent economic line. Though the report and the decision are both the SBP's, it is the government that will have to act to establish the country's independence, in its economy as well as its politics.
Gold rate soared Rs29,600 per tola last year
Crime rate in capital declined during 2019, claim police
Petrol price cut by meager 25 paisas
Strength of judges not enough to cut heavy caseload: CJP
Maxim Cartoon
I. M. Mohsin
The October outrage
Manmohan in Washington
A media war
Balochistan package
Hollow US rhetoric
Invisible cloak over AfPak border
What colour we'll have?
Humanity, emotion, wisdom, love, passion, action
Maligning one good man
A plot for the needy
Did he? Or didn't he?
Halal? Principled?
Who else but BJP?
Box the villain
Dying guilty
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UK General Election-Prediction by Mark Cullen
Forum Index -> Mundane Astrology & World Events
Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2019 9:44 pm Post subject: UK General Election-Prediction by Mark Cullen
Before the close of polls tonight I want to finally post up my analysis of the UK General Election on December 12th 2019! Better late than never. A few weeks ago I previously posted up some analysis of the opening of poll chart on Rod Chang’s Mundane Discussion group. I suggested that chart suggested to me an outright Conservative victory. But I have not had the time to follow up my analysis since then. Once the results are in I will add in the charts I have been discussing here.
It still seems worth making a detailed prediction here as the polls still indicate that while the Conservative party will definitely be the largest party it may or may not be able to form a majority. Without a majority the Conservative party look very short of allies. The only other right of centre party in the current Parliament are the Democratic Unionist Party. But the Brexit deal agreed by Johnson’s government with the EU is implacably opposed by the DUP. And of course the other parties in Westminster all oppose Brexit. Of course it is possible the Brexit party may also get a few seats in the next parliament. But historically, the first past the post electrical system is very harsh on smaller parties who rarely get anything approaching a fair share of seats reflecting their actual votes.
I have tried not to get heavily into reading the detailed astrological predictions of other astrologers. I think that can simply cloud ones own independent judgement and gut instincts. However, I have noted that astrologers like Smiljana Gavarancic, Rod Chang, and Marjorie Orr see a hung Parliament as likely. Other astrologers such as Barry Goddard, have suggested a landslide victory for the Conservatives.
I examine the following kinds of charts:
1 Jupiter-Saturn cycle.
2 Ingress charts (2019)
2 The opening of poll chart
4 Natal charts of Key players: Boris Johnson, Jeremy Corbyn, Jo Swinson. & Nicola Sturgeon
The Saturn-Jupiter cycle
In traditional astrology the main chronometers of world events are Jupiter and Saturn. While I do use outer planets too I still see the crucial players at this election being the positions of Jupiter and Saturn. We are nearing the end of the current Jupiter-Saturn Cycle which began in 2000 with a conjunction in the earth sign of Taurus. In December 2020 we will have the next conjunction in Aquarius. The last square in Jupiter-Saturn cycle was in 2016 and coincided with the UK Brexit vote. But this month Jupiter has ingressed Capricorn. This places both Jupiter and Saturn in this sign. What does this imply in general terms? Firstly, Saturn is in its sign of domicile rulership while Jupiter is in its sign of fall. Secondly, Saturn disposits Jupiter. This seems a clear indicator that at this time the influence of Saturn is much stronger than that of Jupiter. In mundane terms Jupiter tends to represent more progressive left of centre forces while Saturn symbolises more conservative , right wing influences. In economic terms Jupiter, in Capricorn could be seen as being a presage of an economic downturn as it was in 2008. In terms of global politics it seems more likely that conservative political movements will do better in the current astrological climate. So while we cannot precisely delineate the UK General election with just the placement of Jupiter and Saturn we start from an astrological landscape that seems more favourable to movements and ideas that are more reactionary and backward looking. In contrast this does not seem a very promising time astrologically for parties offering a radical, progressive transformation of society
Ingress charts
Ingress charts plot the position of the Sun as it enters each of the cardinal signs. Historically, primary focus was given to the Aries ingress. If the Aries ingress chart has a fixed sign rising it is used as the operative chart for the year. However, if the chart has a mutable sign rising you also examine the Libra ingress. Finally, if a cardinal sign rises in the Aries ingress chart you examine all four ingress charts. Before national charts were proposed by Charles Carter after WWI ingress charts were one of the primary techniques of mundane astrology. For more traditionally inspired mundane astrologers like myself they still are a major part of the astrological toolbox. I have taken a look at all the ingress charts prior to every UK General Election from 1918 when the franchise was extended to working class men and women for the first time. I note that both the ASC and MC in the Aries ingress chart for 2019 are both located in fixed signs. In a general sense this lends some support to the notion that will no major change this year and the existing government will stay in power.
We can see indications of the rather toxic political year we have had with Mars in detriment in Taurus squaring the 7th house ruler. The Moon is the 9th house ruler in the chart and applies to oppose the Sun (Lord 10) across the sign boundary. This could be seen as symbolising both the political and legal opposition to the government over the last year. Both the WSH 10th and MC ruler can be taken to indicate the incumbent Conservative government while the 4th house represents the political opposition. We see The Sun representing the government is in the WSH 6th but is succedent by sign division. In contrast the political opposition is symbolised by Saturn. Saturn is in the WSH 3rd and is cadent by sign division. Saturn is also applying to conjunct Pluto in the chart. The political opposition ultimately look weaker here.
As I suggested the fixed angles in the chart would seem to lend some support to the view that the incumbent party will stay in power. However, I have gone over every ingress prior to General elections since 1918. I found one example of an incumbent party losing with fixed angles in the Aries ingress which was 1964 when Labour defeated the Conservatives after 13 years in power. However, in 1964 the closest ingress (Libra) was very accurate in reflecting the weakness of the sitting Tory government. Based on practical experience of studying such charts I therefore think one should always still check out the closest ingress prior to an election for further verification irrespective of some traditional authorities view on this.
In this instance the Libra ingress for 2019 only seems to add weight to the earlier Aries ingress in showing the incumbent Conservative government emerging with a clear electoral victory. The Moon is the natural significator of the people and here it is aligned with being associated with the 10th house symbolising the current government. The ruler of the 10th house by both WSH and quadrant division is the Moon in Cancer. It is applying within 2 degrees to the MC. In contrast the political opposition represented by the 4th house ruler Saturn is strong by being on the angles too but the placement exactly on the IC could symbolise pollical obscurity of oblivion. It has to be said the Moon is applying to an opposition of Pluto indicating the troubled and possibly traumatic future ahead for the country.
Opening of Poll Chart
The opening of poll chart is timed for the start of the opening of polls in the UK which is 7am in the United Kingdom on 12th of December. There are several methods that can be utilised to delineate this chart. Firstly, like an ingress chart we can delineate the MC representing the government and the IC for the political opposition. Secondly, and probably the most popular astrological method is to treat the opening of poll as a contest chart with the ASC representing the incumbent government and the DESC the political opposition. This goes back to traditional ideas that the ASC =continuity while the 7th=change.
However, before the UK General Election in 2010 I was very impressed by a delineation of that opening of poll chart by the traditional astrologer Stephen Birchfield who proposed a different method. Birchfield’s method was to look at the three triplicity rulers of the MC. This was in part to reflect the political reality that despite the vagaries of the first past the post system the UK there is no longer a simplistic two party system. Birchfield instead suggested that as all the parties were effectively competing for the political prize of power none of them should be exclusively assigned the MC. Instead he delineated the three triplicity rulers of the MC to a broad political force.
Looking at the 2019 opening of poll chart we find Libra on the MC (very close to the ASC of the UK 1801 chart and the MC of the UK 1927 chart). The air signs have three triplicity rulers-Saturn (day ruler), Mercury (night ruler), Jupiter (participating ruler). The 2010 election also had an air sign on the MC (Aquarius) so following Steven Birchfield’s example I have taken the three triplicity rulers to symbolise respectively the Conservative party (Saturn), The Labour party ( Mercury) and the other r parties such as the Liberal Democrats, SNP and Brexit party (Jupiter).
The Conservatives seem in a relatively good position in this chart. Saturn is in its own domicile and is still conjunct the MC ruler (Venus) although it is separating by just under a degree. Saturn is in a succedent house so moderate in power. Saturn is out of sect which is somewhat weakening. Mars in its sign of Scorpio is forming a sextile from the 12th house and it is both Lord 12 and Lord 5 in the chart.
The Labour party symbolised my Mercury are in contrast quite weak in the chart as Mercury is both in its sign of detriment and by sign division is cadent in the 12th house. Mercury is in the whole sign first house. How do we reconcile that? Using the approach suggested by the Perso-Arabic astrologer Sahl the whole sign house gives the topic but the actualisation of the WSH potential depends on how planets lie in relation to the house cusps. Here Mercury is literally ‘falling away’ from the ASC by more than 3 degrees and by primary motion is falling even further into a deeper cadent position. Mitigating factors are that Mercury is in sect in the opening of poll chart. Also Mercury is making an applying sextile to the MC. However, most astrologers would agree sextiles are fairly weak in influence. I give more weight to the fact Mercury in in the 1st WSH but cadent in relation to the angles. To me this indicates ‘missing the mark’ in some respect.
Finally, we come to Jupiter and the other political parties. Jupiter is is in a strong position by accidental dignity falling an angular house by sign division. However, unlike Saturn, Jupiter here is in its sign of fall in Capricorn. Jupiter is also disposited by Saturn. Its noteable that Jupiter is under the beams of the Sun which indicates an increasingly weakened position for these political forces. In the case of the SNP a strong electoral result may not be enough if Labour do not perform strongly enough. Moreover, that party is facing a crisis of its own from March 2020 with the trial of its former leader Alex Salmond. The Liberal Democrats also do not look like being strong enough to be the ‘king makers’ in the next parliament. The fact Jupiter is going under the beams possibly indicates a good showing for these parties will ultimately be eclipsed by the final electoral arithmetic.
Nativities of the Key players
Looking at Boris Johnsons chart several astrological factors seem to be working in his favour at this time. Mars which is the ruler of Johnson’s Moon (his MC ruler) has moved into a much stronger placement in Scorpio. Johnson was going through a quite torrid time politically with Mars in his 1st house of Libra where as a malefic in its sign of detriment it was very weakening for him. Jupiter’s ingress into Capricorn is also helpful as in Sagittarius it was opposing his Gemini stellium.
On election day Jupiter is on his nodal axis. Admitedly, Jupiter is on the south node and in its sign of fall. However, it is forming a sextile to to his 5th house ruler Saturn and in a plactick trine to his natal Jupiter. Many people have noted the Moon is in Gemini and this may favour Johnson. However, the connection is stronger than that as the full Moon chart for the day of the election puts the Moon exactly at 19 Gemini which is the degree of Johnson’s natal mercury. That seems a rather strong symbolic connection indicating public popularity.
The Solar return chart showed the exceptionally difficult year Johnson had ahead and the powerful political opposition he would face with his MC ruler Mars in fall in Cancer and opposing Pluto. However, despite I note the MC in his SR chart (Located for New York) fell exactly on his Moon which is his MC ruler. We all know Johnson became Prime Minister shortly afterwards. However, I think a key point here is that his MC falls in a fixed sign for this SR. This would seem to indicate his remaining in power as Prime Minster. His Moon is weak at the end of Capricorn and VOC but it can expect improvement as it ingresses Aquarius.
Using secondary progressions the SP Moon is closely trining Johnson’s MC at this time. The SP Quotidian or true SP MC is exactly trine Johnson’s Moon (his MC ruler) Finally, the Quotidian ASC is in Gemini close to Johnson’s Sun on the day of the election. Tertiary progressed Jupiter is on the degree of Johnson’s MC on the day of the election.
One technique I have adopted fairly recently is working with the SP Moon by declination. Rather than showing precise hits like transits it shows a broad cycle of personal peaks and troughs as it moves from its higher declination north of the celestial equator to the south. Generally, the Moon rising in northern declination shows increasing prominence/success while its journey south of the celestial equator can indicate a lower personal ebb. In Johnson’s case the Moon is moving south by declination but is forming a parallel by declination at the time of the election to his natal Saturn which is his 4th and 5th house ruler. In his natal chart Saturn forms a trine to Johnson’s Moon so I see this contact as overall positive for Johnsonn ( See note on Corbyn to compare)
If there is a fly in the ointment to this analysis it may be what I see in the Solar arcs in Johnson’s chart. Solar arc Uranus is very close to Johnson’s Moon. At the same time his solar arc MC is almost conjunct his Uranus. Both solar arcs perfect in about 6 months. Moreover, I note that Johnson has a nodal return in April 2020. What might this imply? Could this indicate his imminent removal from office? If I was relying exclusively on solar arcs I might conclude that but I don’t. Of course the reality of a Brexit would fit this symbolism too and would be closer to perfection on January 31st. But if my analysis is ultimately flawed and Johnson fails to win with a working majority I think these solar arcs will be something to revisit.
Unfortunately we do not have an accurate birth time for Jeremy Corbyn although we do have a rectification offered by Julian Venables. Transit wise it could be argued that Corbyn like Johnson benefits from a Moon in Gemini on election day. However, the connection is less strong in Corbyns case as the prior full Moon chart does not pick up any of his key planet in Gemini by degree . The Moon at close of poll is on Corbyn’s Uranus. So can he expect a nice or unpleasant shock? Well, I note the position of Mercury on election day is exactly opposed to Corbyn’s Sun. If Venables rectification is correct Corbyn is Scorpio rising and Mars is Corbyn’s ASC ruler. However, on election day Mars is in an applying opposition to Corbyn’s natal Mars and Moon. Tr Uranus Rx applies to a square of Corbyn’s natal Jupiter in Aquarius.
Using the SP Moon by declination again Corbyn’s chart is quite striking as the Moon as at its lowest point by southern declination it can reach in an 18 year cycle. It also makes no aspects by parallel. To me this looks very like a career ending moment. If Corbyn becomes Prime Minister as some astrologers think I will need to have a chat to Karen Christino as that result would refute a method she has been advocating for some years.
Using an untimed chart there are no major solar arcs. However, Julian Venables rectified time is correct the solar arcs look very strong for Corbyn with SA MC on his rectified ASC and SA ASC on his Jupiter. However, I find it rather hard to accept this chart in light of my previous analysis.
I am fortunate to have timed data for the Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson. Swinson started off her campaign setting out her stall as an alternative Prime Minister. However, she has had several setbacks in this campaign. The Liberal Democrat policy to completely revoke article 50 and cancel Brexit has not proved as popular with the electorate as hoped. Moreover, Swinson’s track record in the coalition government supporting benefit cuts to the poor and disabled has come to light in the TV debates and lost Swinson support of more left leaning voters. A Leo rising with a Sun in Aquarius Swinson is yet another heavily air based politician with Moon at 26 Gemini. Again one could argue the Gemini focus may help Swinson. However, I see quite a lot of difficult transits for Swinson. Swinson is going through a Pluto-Pluto square right now. Mars (her MC ruler) applies to a square of her Sun on election day. This could be seen as invigorating on its own but not when you also have Venus and Saturn applying to square your natal Pluto. On election day the transiting Sun is close to Swinson’s Neptune. Overall, it looks like a disappointing and frustrating period for Swinson although she is young enough to recover from this setback.
And what of Nicola Surgeon, the first Minister of Scotland known to some as ‘The Queen of the North’’. If any politician is playing a long game it is surely Sturgeon. Since the SNP are not trying to be in government but rather stop Brexit and get another independence vote in Scotland their measure of success is a bit different from Labour and the Lib Dems. They are seeking to increase their share of the vote and seats in Westminster so they can negotiate from a position of strength. If Labour is elected they will seek a coalition or failing that a confidence and supply agreement like the DUP provided for the Conservatives. If Johnson is elected and a referendum is rejected they will seek to build momentum for a decisive electoral win at the 2021 Scottish Parliament election. With a strong electoral mandate at that election it will be more difficult to resist calls for another referendum. Interestingly, Uranus is going to square Sturgeon and the Scottish Parliament’s Moon in early 2021. However, it should be noted that Pluto is beginning to oppose Sturgeon’s Sun. This may in part be reflecting the trial taking place in March-April 202o of Alex Salmond, the previous First Minister of Scotland who was Sturgeon’s political mentor. Salmond is facing multiple accusations of sexual harassment and one accusation of rape. Whatever, the political dynamics this will be a very difficult process for both Sturgeon and the SNP as a whole. The Saturn-Pluto conjunction next year will occur right on the SNP Moon (1934) and oppose the SNP Pluto.
Still, on election day Sturgeon has Mars transiting her first house of Scorpio course which puts her in a strong fighting mode. However, Mars will be opposing Sturgeon Saturn (Moon ruler) over the next week. No matter how well the SNP perform in Scotland I don’t think they will be able to stop a blue wave in England.
Looking at a variety of astrological indicators it seems to me that the likeliest outcome of this General election is a win for Boris Johnson. Based on his strong natal chart on election day I expect the Conservatives to not just emerge as the largest party but to obtain an overall majority. The obvious implication of that being that Brexit will proceed to the dismay of about half the UK population.
I largely discount the solar eclipse on 26th December as relevant to Britain as it is not visible in Europe. However, we do have a highly significant lunar eclipse on January 10th falling on the UK Moon (1801). Moreover, I note that the Moon in the Aries Ingress in 2020 is at 13 Aquarius. This was the degree of the Moon in the EU referendum in 2016 which delivered the Brexit vote. Coincidence? We shall see….
��As thou conversest with the heavens, so instruct and inform thy minde according to the image of Divinity��� William Lilly
Last edited by Mark on Fri Dec 13, 2019 6:33 am; edited 2 times in total
woke satan
Posted: Fri Dec 13, 2019 12:19 am Post subject:
The problem with this post (and every other election post on this site) is that we don't have an American style presidential election system in the UK whereby votes are cast for individuals.
In the UK, we vote for parties, not personalities.
The proof in this theory (if there's any needed) is that if Boris where to die in a car crash tomorrow, the Conservative and Unionist party will still be in power for the next 5 years, whoever the leader is.
Another problem is that astrologers want to make their arguments as complicated as possible - and any one who's made a accurate prediction will know that's not how it works.
Last edited by woke satan on Fri Dec 13, 2019 12:30 am; edited 1 time in total
I'm critiquing the astrology that's appeared on this site for the general election.
We vote for political parties and not for personalities, right?
What I'm saying is, is that the emphasis of the astrological theories on the website has focused, almost exclusively, on the party leaders and not on the political philosophies of the parties. And that is what wins elections.
It's the party people vote for, not the personalities as is more the case in the US.
That's obvious?
So what happens if a US President dies? Is another vote held for another individual? No. the incumbent party make the Vice President leader for the remainder of that Presidential term.
Makes no difference: UK politics is different from the US. You'd have to look at, and get to grips with the US's political system to really understand the astrology of it.
It's the party people vote for, not the personalities as is more the case in the US. That's obvious?
Well no. Firstly, of the four methods I used above only one relied on nativities. The other three approaches looked at the parties. As a matter of fact I also studied the foundational charts for each of the political parties and this informed my prediction. I just didn't have the time to post that up.
Looks like you couldn't be bothered to actually read my prediction and prefer to set forth your pet theories.
As for your point about the UK political system what happens in the USA if the President dies? Do we get another election? No. the VP of the incumbent party takes over.
Plus US politics is not all about the Presidency you have Congress based on the parties too.
I have to ask do you actually practice any astrology or do you just prefer to troll those that do?
Forum Index -> Mundane Astrology & World Events All times are GMT
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Sunday with Zin: Richard Osgood, Tin House Plotto Master!
Posted by Zin Kenter on April 15, 2012
Richard chasing his wife - 'his momentum like the untwisting of a perpetual knot'
Hello, I am Zin! What a special Sunday: Richard Osgood won the first-ever Tin House blog Plotto flash contest Final Round on March 28 with his story “Millennium House” (he won the qualifying round in Week 2 with his entry “Rapid Eye”). Since I know Richard from the Flash Factory at Zoetrope, I asked him a few questions! I want to jump right into his comments, so I will put FMI about the Plotto contest and the Flash Factory at the end!
Hello, Richard, and Congratulations – what a major success, to win this contest! Was the Plotto three-clause method familiar to you, other than through this contest?
No, I had never heard of it before. Also I had never heard of the author, William Wallace Cook, but it is said he was singularly responsible for the deforestation of Canada. He was the author of adventure stories in the form of dime novels and serials. It might be fun one day to read some of his work.
I will admit, the Plotto prompts still do not quite make sense to me! But you seem to get it just fine.
Plotto is a methodology, a mechanical process from which stories can be written. It’s not really a “How To” book because it doesn’t contain anything on character development, creation of setting, story structure, or any of those “tips” and “insights” other authors might profess. The clauses represent three parts to a story: The A Clause establishes the protagonist (in general terms); the B Clause originates and continues the action; and the C Clause continues and resolves the action. A Masterplot (according to William Wallace Cook) “serves as a general theme or summary of the story at its most basic level.” The Plotto Chart contains a matrix of interchangeable clauses in order to mix and match story components, which can lead to what some say is an unlimited array of plots.
How did you go about creating the Master Plot for the final challenge – or did you have the story first?
I allowed the process to do its job and guide the story. First, let me back up a bit. I was confused initially about how Tin House wanted us to proceed using Plotto. The first five weeks (the Plotto Contest weeks) consisted of them providing a Conflict Statement (you can review them on the TH blog) but the Master Challenge required each of us to compose a Master Plot by utilizing the Clause matrix. I decided first to browse the conflict statements, and when I found one that suited my needs, I selected three clauses to match the conflict statement. So I wrote the story from an idea brought to fruition by means of the Plotto exercise. I didn’t have a completed version until a few hours before the deadline, but I had prepared for this story by digging deep into Calvino’s “Six Memos for the Next Millennium.”
And your protagonist builds a very interesting house! At what point did you start to go that way?
It is difficult sometimes to pin down the conception of a story. The idea came about from a discussion of Camus’ novel “The Stranger” by Professor Martin Stone who described the novel and Camus’ intent to be about the absurdity of human existence coupled with the tendency for humans to seek meaning for our absurd condition. Camus was not an existentialist or a nihilist, rather he recognized the futility of attempting to create meaning from thin air, to use human acceptance of unquantifiable explanations (faith) as wrap-and-bow on the otherwise unexplainable. This was the basic concept I wanted to address in the Master Plotto story. Initially it began as a house for no-man, then as a house for everyman, with the caveat that no matter how hard we as humans attempt to manipulate our environment, no matter how hard we attempt to build something concrete from the perpetually fluid, ultimate possession of the absurd remains elusive. This house and this story is about the non-place of place. I used as building blocks my analysis of Calvino’s “Six Memos,” in particular the basic concepts for each: Lightness, Quickness, Exactitude, Visibility, Multiplicity, and Consistency, so in a way it’s Calvino’s house this story represents. I suspect he would feel at home.
I am sure he would, since the Tin House blog describes as “Calvino-esque”! You have inspired me to read the “Six Memos” lectures, but I have just started and am not really able to frame a good question yet. So: just go for it! Tell us about the Six Memos!
Calvino didn’t write these memos to predict the future or speculate about the trajectory of fiction but to reinforce the value of literature in the context of a millennial transition. His intent was to present these as a series of lectures at Harvard in 1985 but a month before the scheduled event he died while still in Italy. He never finished the sixth memo, which was to be on Consistency, so the title “Six Memos” is in fact a bit deceiving. I don’t use this text as instructive but as reinforcement of the tendencies in my writing. Here are a few of my favorite quotes from the book:
“In an age when other fantastically speedy, widespread media are triumphing, and running the risk of flattening all communication onto a single, homogeneous surface, the function of literature is communication between things that are different simply because they are different, not blunting but even sharpening the differences between them . . .”
“What will be the future of the individual imagination in what is usually called the ‘civilization of the image’? Will the power of evoking images of things that are not there continue to develop in a human race increasingly inundated by a flood of prefabricated images?”
“. . . to represent the world as a knot, a tangled skein of yarn; to represent it without in the least diminishing the inextricable complexity or, to put it better, the simultaneous presence of the most disparate elements that converge to determine every event.”
“Think of what it would be to have a work conceived from outside the self, a work that would let us escape the limited perspective of the individual ego, not only to enter into selves like our own but to give speech to that which has no language . . .”
Many argue that it’s impossible to conceive anything other than from inside the self, that it’s impossible to escape the individual ego. I believe we have the ability to extend ourselves beyond the capsule of direct experience to a tethered assimilation of indirect experience, thereby establishing a connection outside the self—if by definition the self is a construct of direct experience. Indirect experience consists of the intellectual and emotional connection with worldly interactions of others’ direct experiences. While the act of assimilation is a direct experience, the “connection” with a direct experience of another person long since dead is indirect, and though maybe not completely “outside” the self, it is at least an oblique sidestep from the self such that it is not necessary for the self to be a material participant in the experience.
This is my interpretation of Calvino’s quote above, or at least how I hope to benefit from it. I believe, to varying degrees, that this method of indirect “connection” can apply to anything and anyone, from a squirrel on a fencepost to an inmate on death row, but not without the oblique sidestep necessary to indirectly assimilate the direct experience of a squirrel or a death row inmate. Ah, then comes arrogance, the spritely jokester at the edge of our peripheral vision, the single-minded obsession of individual ego to take control, to assume the shape and psyche of all perception, because the individual ego cannot stand the unlimited perspectives of otherness. But we’ve reached an agreement, my ego and me, where I am allowed to create landscapes of life as experience, to include the emotional, psychological, spatial, transcendental, and sensuous details, and like Millennium House, to indirectly connect a reader with the direct experience of (and within) the story.
So he is one of your major influences?
Yes, he’s on the stand next to my Vonnegut chair. You see, I’ve got this room with a half dozen chairs of different yet equal comfiness, each with a straight-on view through a different window, and each with a stack of books from authors I consider stylistically similar. I also have a Kerouac chair, a DeLillo chair, a John Irving chair, a Colum McCann chair, and a Donald Barthelme chair, each with other related authors of similar styles and tendencies. As I suspect most writers do, I read to re-ground myself, to seek refuge from the labyrinth of my wandering ways.
I decided to read “The Stranger” by Camus and “Six Memos” by Calvino in the same chair, which is really a bench pushed up against a half wall between the back room and the foyer that leads to the kitchen. I can’t be too comfortable reading Camus and Calvino. The straight-on window from that spot in the room is at such an angle that at any time of day or night, and in any light, all I see in the glass is my reflection. No trees or flowers or songbirds for these guys. This is also where I read works by John Hawkes and Georges Bataille, which can be quite exhausting, so I am grateful for its close proximity to the kitchen.
You are an Architect, yes? Aha! I love that you combine that with writing! When did you start writing fiction? Did you study writing (formally) at all as an undergrad or outside of college? Or is it purely a natural talent?
Currently I am the Building and Planning Director for a city in the Cincinnati metro area. My undergraduate work at Wesleyan University (in Connecticut) was in studio art with an architecture concentration. My graduate work at the University of Cincinnati was exclusively in architecture with a concentration on history, theory and criticism. I process all my stories in a spatial, architectural context, which I believe helps me create multi-dimensional characters, settings, and story structure. I tend to write from the inside out, or to put it another way, I visualize the story from within, emanating in multi-directional spatiality.
I didn’t start writing fiction (really) until the end of 2006 when I joined Zoe and the Flash Factory. I didn’t study writing–meaning, I never took any creative writing courses–but in building my own architectural “sensibility” I took a lot of philosophy and architectural theory classes, as well as history and of course studio art classes. Natural talent? I don’t know about that. I think it all has to do with perspective, and a back room deal with my ego for a polygamous sort of lifestyle.
How was working with the people at the Tin House blog?
They were wonderful. When “Rapid Eye” won the Week 2 Plotto Contest they sent me a couple e-mails to say how many “reads” the story was getting and that they were very pleased with how the Plotto contest was being received out there. They were very patient with me during the Master Plotto Challenge because I was so thick-headed about the instructions. We had an exchange of three or four e-mails before I finally “got it.” They also said to submit something for Flash Fiction Fridays and they would post it because I am a Plotto winner, which is really cool, but I haven’t sent anything yet. I can’t seem to find anything good enough.
I have known you for several years as the Guy In Charge of the Flash Factory at Zoetrope! How much of your published work comes from the Factory?
Most of my published work comes directly from participation in the Weekly Flash Gigs. I’ve participated in fifty or sixty Factory challenges over the past five years, which given the duration doesn’t amount to much. But I credit the Factory and the workers therein for all my successes, no matter how obscure or minimal. 2011 was a light year (definitely not a light-year) but 2012 has started strong, with 12 acceptances/publications in the first 2 1/2 months.
Why Flash Fiction?
I have always been non-traditional in my art and architecture projects, first at Wesleyan (where I was, in fact, a non-traditional student), and then with my critical and theoretical studies at the University of Cincinnati. Compressed fiction is a non-traditional form, a fusion of prose and poetics, where experimentation and the challenge of boundaries is the modus operandi. Flash Fiction is not pre-school or a training ground for longer fiction. It is a legitimate style worthy of serious consideration.
I am happy Tin House is finally recognizing the value and unique character of compressed fiction. Maybe they are following the lead of National Public Radio who has their own Three Minute Fiction segment, or maybe they have discovered that the quality of Flash Fiction in today’s environment rivals that of the traditional short story, at least in terms of a legitimate style and format.
Thank you, Richard! And again, Congratulations!
FMI:
The Flash Factory, an office at Zoetrope, has a weekly flash contest (and members also work on their Plotto entries!) and welcomes new members! If you sign up for Zoetrope Virtual Studios, you can send Richard Osgood a z-mail so he can add you to the office member list!
Check out the second Plotto Master Contest of All Plots at the Tin House blog, running right now! Do not be afraid! Get in on the fun!
Learn more about William Wallace Cook’s Plotto: The Master Book of All Plots. Or win one of the Weekly challenges and Tin House will send you a copy as your prize!
And best of all: Read more flash fiction by Richard online:
“Litchfield to Ashtabula”in apt, April 2012
“Brazil” in kill author Issue Nine Vonnegut, October 2010
“(Please) Don’t Walk On The Wet Floor, Edgar” in Ink Sweat and Tears, April 2010
“Unspoken” in decomP February 2012
“I Make Candy Every Day” in metazen September 2009
“Summer of ’74” in Dogzplot September 2009
“A Beautiful Day for Coop Renner to Play” in Mudluscious 9
“TubeTopia” from Nighttrain
“Urban Thoreau” in Clockwise Cat, October 2009
This entry was posted in Sunday with Zin, Tin House, What I've been Reading, Writing/Reading, Zin and tagged Italo Calvino, Richard Osgood. Bookmark the permalink.
Pushcart 2012: Celeste Ng, “Girls, At Play” from Bellevue Literary Review Fall 2010
Jonathan Lethem: “The Porn Critic” from The New Yorker
10 responses to “Sunday with Zin: Richard Osgood, Tin House Plotto Master!”
Richard Osgood says:
Thank you for the opportunity, Zin. This was a blast!
Zin Kenter says:
We will talk more about the Calvino! Thank you for spending Sunday with me! And congratulations again!
Wonderful interview, Zin and Richard! Reading Richard’s stories and now his interview makes me nostalgic for the sixties, when my ego, if not transcended, was at least polygamous.
Hello Jeanne – that polygamous ego seems to be on to something, I wonder if I should try it! 😉
My ego likes to fool around . . . #:-)
Gay Degani says:
Thanks for this interview Zin and clearing up my muddle about what all this plotto business is and Big Congrats to Richard who I see is once again out there leading the pack.
Hello, Gay, I am so happy to see you! Yes, Richard is quite the star. I told him that while I always knew he was a good writer, I never knew he was a genius until he told me about the different chairs for reading different writers! That is (slightly off-center) genius! You know, you could probably do pretty well with Plotto, too…
Thanks, Gay!
And I agree with Zin: You could do this Plotto thing too, and pretty well at that, I predict.
Pingback: Sunday With Zin – and Italo Calvino, Six Memos for the New Millenium, Part 1 « A Just Recompense
Pingback: Sunday with Zin: and Italo Calvino – Six Memos for the New Millennium, Part IV: Visibility « A Just Recompense
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Government Minimum Wage Laws
by Kenny Brown
The government sets workplace safety guidelines companies have to follow.
Ablestock.com/AbleStock.com/Getty Images
1 Employee Rights Under the Fair Labor Standards Act
2 Definition of a Full Time Exempt Employee
3 Payroll Calculation Rules
4 Laws & Regulations for Minimum Wage
The minimum wage laws in Texas are defined in the Texas Minimum Wage Act, with additional provisions in the Fair Labor Standards Act. These two laws set the guidelines for wage rates and note the wage reporting procedures.
Wage Requirements
The Texas Minimum Wage Act follows the federal minimum wage level, which was most recently set in 2009 at $7.25 an hour, and requires all employers to pay nonexempt employees the federal wage rate. Under certain circumstances, an employer may count tips, meals and lodging as part of a worker’s wages. Employees living on company property are not legally entitled to receive pay for on-call work. Additionally, certain employees with medical, mental and productivity conditions may be exempt. The law also allows employees to bargain collectively with their employer for a higher wage.
Wage Reporting Requirements
The Texas Minimum Wage Act requires that employees receive a written earnings statement, along with other wage information, from employers so they know if their wages are correct. The statement must be distributed at the end of every pay period and must include the employee’s pay rate, pay period earnings, any itemized deductions, pay rate after deductions and the number of hours worked or units produced, depending on how an employee is paid. Employers can document the information however they wish on a check voucher or bank draft.
Some employees are exempt from the Texas Minimum Wage Act if they fall into certain categories or industries. Most notably, employees covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act are exempt. In most cases, the act covers employees working for companies doing more than $500,00 in annual business that produce, fix, handle or sell goods involved in interstate commerce. Other potentially exempt employee categories include religious, educational, charitable and nonprofit organizations; professionals; certain salespersons; public officials; certain youths and students; inmates; family members; amusement and recreational establishments; domestic service workers; day laborers, housekeepers; chauffeurs; cooks; full-time babysitters; livestock workers; and dairy workers. Additionally, certain employees with medical, mental and productivity conditions may be exempt.
Agricultural Exemptions
Many employees in agriculture may be exempt from minimum wage requirements and work under a piece rate wage that is established by the Commissioner of Agriculture. The rate is designed to equal the minimum wage if workers apply average skills and effort.
Employees can sue their employer to recover unpaid wages. They have two years from the time the wages were due to file the lawsuit.
Texas Workforce Commission: Texas Minimum Wage Law Summary
U.S. Department of Labor: Employment Law Guide: Minimum Wage and Overtime Pay
Texas Constitution and Statutes: Minimum Wage
Kenny Brown has been a freelance writer for six years. Also a former news reporter, his works have appeared in the Bellingham Business Journal, New Britain Herald, Paddler Magazine, Paddle Dealer Magazine and Portland Magazine. Additionally, he has developed promotional copy for Web and print. He holds a bachelor's degree in communications and a master's degree in journalism.
Brown, Kenny. "Government Minimum Wage Laws." Small Business - Chron.com, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/government-minimum-wage-laws-2761.html. Accessed 20 January 2020.
Brown, Kenny. (n.d.). Government Minimum Wage Laws. Small Business - Chron.com. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/government-minimum-wage-laws-2761.html
Brown, Kenny. "Government Minimum Wage Laws" accessed January 20, 2020. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/government-minimum-wage-laws-2761.html
What Are the Benefits of the Fair Labor Standards Act?
What Is the Agriculture Exemption for Fair Labor Law?
The Disadvantages of 12-Hour Work Shifts
Time Worked & Labor Laws
Minimum Wage Compliance for Employers
Labor Board California Salary for an Employee
What Does Being Non-Exempt Mean in Employment?
Paycheck Laws
Important HR Rules & Laws
Do I Include Salaried Employees on a Certified Payroll Report?
Overtime Labor Laws
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Angola's thief gets a new job
In Angola, controlling the oil fields is indelibly linked to controlling the country.
Angola’s president is keeping control of state resources in the family. Faced with a struggling economy as global oil prices slump, president Jose Eduardo dos Santos appointed his daughter Isabel as head of the state-owned oil company Sonangol which manages Angola’s lucrative oil and gas reserves and contributes to about half of the country’s annual GDP while fueling a precarious and lop-sided post-war boom. The drop in global oil prices have hit Angola hard, forcing the country to cut public investment by 53%. Sonangol reported a net profit $710 million last year, down from more than $3 billion, according to Bloomberg.
Isabel dos Santos, 43, is said to be worth some $3.3 billion, much of which is linked to the country’s fortunes. Her assets include 25% of Angola’s largest mobile telecommunications company, Unitel, a 7% stake in the Portuguese oil and gas firm Galp Energia, a controlling share of a Portuguese cable television company, a lucrative stake in one of Angola’s largest banks Banco BIC and still more. Her 18.6% stake in Portugal’s second largest largest bank BPI is up for sale. Isabel dos Santos also dabbles in retail and owns a Luanda nightclub. Her vast wealth has attracted scrutiny and European officials have called for an investigation into her European Union investments. Lauded investigative journalist and activist Rafael Marques de Morais has accused Isabel dos Santos of directly using state funds as seed capital for her investments.
Her brothers Welwitchea José dos Santos and José Paulino dos Santos own Semba, a thriving communications company that is contracted by the state to run various publicity and marketing projects, according to Marques and the company’s own portfolio. It also doubles as a modelling agency. Semba has been accused of receiving funds directly from Angola’s national budget.
http://qz.com/699211/africas-richest-woman-and-presidents-daughter-will-head-angolas-state-oil-company/
Labels: Angola, corruption, Oil
The climate change threat
The New Colonialists?
Africa's Natural Wealth
Trading in Death
Good and Bad News
Ogaden: Ethiopia’s Hidden Shame.(video)
The unseen and unheard refugee crisis
South Africa's Migrant Crisis
South African miners have new hope
Democratic Capitalism or Colonialism (1960)
Mozambique's Resource Curse
Africa 1960 - Our view
Meeting on South Africa (1971)
UK Neo-colonialism
Lake Chad and the pending catastrophe
Canadian Colonialism
Chad and Dictators
Myth of overpopulation (1990)
Kenya's wealthy
Africa - no progress
Little changes
How to Rob Africa
The African Refugee Problem
Digest May 2016
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Dana Cloud
Syracuse activists issue ICE eviction orders
Ten immigrant rights supporters calling for the abolition of ICE were arrested when they blockaded ICE offices in Syracuse, New York.
When Facebook wants to see your papers
The social media giant is shutting down protest pages against the far right and ICE — and asking activists to show “proof of residency.”
Smeared for speaking the truth
A Fresno State professor's tweets about Barbara Bush has sparked an outcry even among those who defend academic freedom.
How you can respond to the right wing’s attacks
Numerous academics have been smeared, harassed and threatened by conservatives. Here's how to turn the tables on the right.
We won’t be preyed upon
More than 400 people defied the state's scare tactics and joined a demonstration against racist police violence in Syracuse.
In the New York Capitol to stand for BDS
About 150 supporters of Palestine liberation converged on New York's capital of Albany to protest the governor's attack on BDS.
No clinics means no choices
Abortion rights supporters protested in Texas after a federal court decision that effectively closes most of the state's clinics.
A Texas union stands with Salaita
The Texas State Employees Union general assembly unanimously passed a resolution in support of fired professor Steven Salaita.
East Austin protests charters
More than 100 teachers, students and members of Occupy Austin gathered to protest plans for charter schools in East Austin.
A ruling against free speech on campus
Loretta Capeheart, a professor at Chicago's Northeastern Illinois University, has gotten alarming news about her right to dissent.
Valentine’s march for equality
Two hundred students, faculty and staff rallied and marched for domestic-partner benefits on the University of Texas campus.
Austin celebrates King legacy
Martin Luther King Day festivities brought out a diverse crowd of more than 5,000 Austinites on January 17.
An anger that breeds violence
Joe Stack's deliberate crashing of his small plane was remarkable because of its extreme character--and how some pundits have embraced him.
Honoring workers killed on the job
Activists in Austin, Texas, gathered for a December vigil for three workers killed in a fall from a scaffold at a construction site.
The house that Horowitz built
Campuses have become a battleground, as the right launches a witch-hunt of professors who criticize Israel, defend multiculturalism or stand up as unionists.
Defending Loretta Capeheart
The campaign to defend a Northeastern Illinois University professor under fire for speaking out has gained strong support.
The “Yogurt Shop” frame-up falls apart
Two men convicted of murder in the notorious 1991 "Yogurt Shop" case in Austin, Texas, may be coming home soon.
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Topic Running an MSP
SubTopic All Subtopics
Service Provider Staffing
Channel M&A
MSP pricing
MSP Software
Channel Marker
Trace3 grows its innovation research program
Senior Site Editor
Channel Marker is the blog companion to SearchITChannel.com and SearchCloudProvider.com, websites that cover business and technology issues important to channel partners such as resellers, managed service providers and cloud solution providers. Channel Marker is the home for short articles that explore emerging technology trends and provide additional depth to the news and feature articles that appear on our channel sites.
Systems integrators emerge as key mobile SFA channel
MSP business trends, from e-waste to virtual warehouses
RPA software, partner program updates top 2019 blog posts
Channel partners see customers uncloud: Reverse cloud... – SearchITChannel
Customers grapple with emerging technology trends, ... – SearchITChannel
Tech matchmakers: VCs and consultants link IT ... – SearchCIO
Many channel partners run the rule over technology vendors in the course of doing business.
Trace3, an IT solutions provider and consulting firm, has taken the next step and made tech research a part of its business strategy. The company, based in Irvine, Calif., has been growing its Innovation Research Team over the past couple of years. The group’s charter is to provide a bi-directional conduit between the venture capital (VC) community and the startup world, on the one hand, and enterprise customers and CIOs, on the other.
Trace3 president Chad Cardenas says the purpose of the Innovation Research program is to provide CIO clients and prospects with early access to the next game-changing, disruptive technologies. Cardenas said Trace3’s innovation research model, which he called a pioneering effort, helps IT buyers “make much more informed purchasing decisions.”
Mark Campbell, who heads the team as vice president of research at Trace3, said customers face a multitude of new offerings hitting the market every year. Finding the appropriate technology needle in the haystack of early-stage companies and early-phase technologies can prove challenging. That’s where Trace3 believes it can assist customers.
“Clients … have a real need for implementing new and emerging technologies,” Campbell said. “They need some help sifting through that.”
There’s a lot to sift through. Campbell estimates that the Innovation Research Team looks at about 1,000 products a year, most of which are from startups. The team consists of full-time researchers in Denver and Phoenix, and there’s also a college intern program in the summer, Campbell noted. The core team reaches out to subject matter experts from Trace3’s engineering ranks to “accelerate and deepen our product evaluations,” he added.
The research team evaluates startup companies with varying degrees of depth. Some are ruled out immediately. Companies that make it through the initial screening get a closer look, with phone meetings conducted with the startup’s top engineers. The next step involves technology demos, in which the research team partners with the company’s field engineers to put products through their paces. If a particular technology looks promising and a customer expresses interest, Trace3 will install the product at the customer’s site for proof-of-concept testing.
Trace3 may go on to forge partnerships with a startup that makes it through the vetting process. Startups, for their part, are increasingly looking at channel partners as a way to scale more quickly and leverage partners’ customer relationships.
Trace3 gets an early view of the startup pipeline through its relationships with 25 top-tier IT venture capital firms, Campbell said. That VC affiliation gives Trace3 the inside track on products in the alpha stage, before they are available on the market but may be introduced to select customers. The Trace3 research team, meanwhile, provides feedback to VCs on their tech investment ideas, based on Trace3’s knowledge of what customers want and what they are willing to pay for.
Trace3 houses the data it collects on startups and their technologies in a repository. The repository, Campbell noted, includes both commercial and open source offerings, as well as information on “incumbents” — established IT vendors. Trace3 users, such as field engineers, can search the repository. A few months ago, Trace3 opened access to the repository to select customers, who can now go into the database and conduct searches on their own.
The Trace3 innovation research group also combs the repository for trends in particular technology categories. The company now publishes monthly reports, geared toward CIOs, on a rotating set of topics such as storage, hybrid cloud and cybersecurity. In July 2016, for example, the research team released research on user behavior analytics and security information and event management.
The research team’s efforts also feed into Trace3’s Venture Capital CIO Briefing program. The team handpicks what it views as the best of the up-and-coming companies it has evaluated and matches those to the challenges its customers face, Campbell said. Trace3 conducts six or seven briefings each month.
“The briefing program is something that has really caught on,” Campbell said. “We can tailor [the briefing topic] and focus on problems relevant to customers.”
Campbell said Trace3’s research provides the ability to anticipate trends through its early access to emerging technologies.
“It’s a differentiator … that puts us at a huge advantage when we talk to a CIO,” Campbell said.
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What' s on TV
More soaps
TV&Satellite Week
Monster sewer fatberg set for ‘autopsy’ on TV show – yuck!
Press Association Thu, February 8 1:57pm
The C4 programme will take an ‘in-depth look at a growing urban phenomenon’.
A TV show will feature an “autopsy” on a giant fatberg – as a section from another of the gruesome objects goes on display in a museum.
The last remaining piece of the Whitechapel fatberg, which once weighed 130 tonnes and stretched over 250 metres, is going on show at the Museum of London.
Meanwhile, Channel 4 will take an “in-depth look” at the phenomenon in a one-hour programme.
Producers have been given exclusive access to a recently detected fatberg, believed to be one of the largest found in London and “possibly dwarfing the infamous Whitechapel discovery”.
Meanwhile, C4 will take an “in-depth look” at the phenomenon in a one-hour programme.
Part of the Whitechapel fatberg (Thames Water/PA)
The “modern monster from the sewers” will be dissected “to find out what is clogging these vital pipes and tunnels” in the programme, presented by Rick Edwards.
The show is C4’s first commission from BBC Studios, the BBC’s commercial production business.
BBC Studios’ executive producer Paul Overton said: “The project promises to be both shocking and fascinating and should be an unforgettable sight for viewers.”
The fatberg at the Museum of London goes on display on Friday.
The fatberg is coming to the Museum of London. Do you dare face it on 9 February? https://t.co/LE7sul7I9K #fatbergiscoming pic.twitter.com/Pj0R1I18cp
— Museum of London (@MuseumofLondon) February 7, 2018
The museum’s curator of social and working history Vyki Sparkes said it had been an “incredible challenge to preserve” the last remaining piece of the object.
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“Fatbergs are disgusting, fascinating things which mark a particular moment in London’s history, created by people and businesses who discard rubbish and fat which London’s Victorian sewer system was never designed to cope with.”
A hazmat suit on display at the Museum of London (David Parry/PA)
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Milind’s Reflections: The Hypocrisy called Aamir Khan!
Milind, May 6, 2012 March 11, 2014 , Articles, Exclusive, Hall of Fame, 51
He has had a bad marriage. I won’t talk about it. Lets forgive him.
He has had a surrogate baby. Who am I to poke my nose in?
Thousands of orphan girls are straying in India. This is my concern.
Aamir could have adopted a “girl child” to at least secure the future of a girl! He did not. He rented a womb in the desire to have his “own” child. I have no business even there.
Suddenly I stump across a show of SJ where he talks about Female Infanticide. Now I have a problem.Serious one!!
A man who claims to “hurt where it matters the most” could not introspect his own mind and soul and secure future for a girl who would have been equally proud to have a social-messiah like Aamir as her dad,instead going for a surrogate baby just to believe in the “quality of blood” decides the status of a man. Hypocrisy in the mean process got a new name called Aamir Khan!
Role Models lead by example not by sitting on a cosy sofa and acting as if they are hurt by females being killed. Aamir does this all so as to create a good-will for himself. The “solution” intended is so obscure and so far away from reality that it is hilarious. The “problem” discussed has no novelty to it considering it is a grave issue. There is no desire to penetrate the soul. There is just an ambition to create further impression of himself. Personal gains are at stake here. You won’t see Aamir ever advocating about any stuff after SJ, I bet that. This man never ever voiced again his opinion after Fanaa released in context of Narmada Bachao Aandolan. This man wont ever march again with candle since RDB is long lost in past. This man wont attend any wedding now as SJ is already on air. This man won’t sit with Anna anymore as Anna effect is waving away. This man won’t be himself ever. He will always try projecting himself as “different”, knowing very little all the time what is different. To add to his fanatics will proclaim all other “star’s” work as “bought” but his superficial work as masterpiece. If they know what chappal he wears to bathroom, that is none of my business but if they claim that those chappals smell of roses, I wont spare a thought before making them smell that.
I frankly ask you all a question. The purpose of spreading awareness regards Female Infanticide is absolutely unnecessary. Ask me why? Because the “secrecy” with which it is done itself is a living testimony to the fact that it is already known to be an evil. The problem is not in “system” or in “the existing laws”..the problem is in a long socio-cultural background. Right from mythology to present date, males in Indian community have been given preference. It is another fact that woman have enjoyed respect and displayed valour too. But the requirement of a male to shoulder the family is a gift of our own culture.Woman not being given equal rights to be born,to work,to breathe is a result of our own mindset that is myopic enough to not see the obvious. A show on a couch with a select people can just expose the already known problem but can never change the “mindset”. You cannot escape this obvious fact by saying “Atleast someone started this” –because a social messiah like Aamir was never expected to touch the elementary notes, he was deemed to strike a forceful impact of a horror story under blankets. What he has done is to chose a less experimental path, infact a mundane path that caters to his image more than the “real” problem. This results in a serious disharmony between the purpose “intended” and the purpose “achieved”.
The show in spite of all this was never meant to be criticized. Why? How do you criticize even a superficial show on a serious grave matter. This is the safest root to debut on TV where the element of “criticism” and “experiment”..both are equally minimized. Thus the show in spite of stirring just fails to take the stir to a whorl. A look at other star’s charity stuffs will show how they actually bring smile on people’s faces and how they never speak about it. How they are ridiculed for buying even charity but how they have proudly maintained a dignified silence. Real work may not have a publicity but a show like Sj definitely had one,that too a misleading one!
Not disappointed as such, but hugely nonchalant about it now. It is a superficial show,a shallow show lacking the knack to deliver! Dil par nahi lagi yaar. Ye baat dil par nahi lagi.!!
Tags: Aamir Khan Satyamev Jayate
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What Emraan gained and Pitobash lost in SHANGHAI!
Tango, June 10, 2012 June 10, 2012 , Articles, 0
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Milind 8 years ago
Sputnik –Thanks for inspiration for the start up of my note! I took it for the epilogue type stuff! 🙂
John Galt 8 years ago
In the progressing course of my life, I have started believing in a philosophy of action before words…I used to always criticize people that whatever they are doing is not enough, or it is hollow or narrow minded or incomplete in the context of social activism. And then it hit me, what am I doing to even critique that?
Take an example of Satyamev Jayate (aamir khan) or Kuch Dil se (smriti Irani) or The Oprah Winfrey show
I sit in a comfy couch and watch a show where a man/woman on the screen is sitting in another comfy couch and talking about social causes to millions of people. If I critique them, then the question is right there on the wall– “Who is the bigger hypocrite ? “
sputnik 8 years ago
The guy sitting on the sofa and critiquing the show may or may not be doing anything about the issue but he at least is not profiting by talking about other people’s problems or issues.
Now tell me who is the bigger hypocrite?
Baba Ji 8 years ago
John galt – as spuntik says often and i agree with him,I find this a very botched up logic.
“what am I doing to even critique that?” This way i might hv to show respect to Tushar kapoor in the future too bcos I never did acting!
Sputnik – you are absolutely right about the money part too.fully agreed.
Babaji,
My comment was in context of social activism. You cinema analogy is right but doesn’t fit here, because cinema is meant for reception and hence the criticism. Doing something for social causes is a result of a person’s own consciousness and belief. Try to understand the difference between the two. If I go and teach at an NGO- I will not have people view it and analyze it. There’s a big difference between doing something to entertain people and doing something because your gut tells you to do so. Also, If you would like to discuss this, I’d suggest discussing keeping aamir or satyamev jayate aside, because my point is beyond that.
I still dont agree or see it as a different point.Ppl can curse politicians to cricketers. there are critics of anna hazare too and they very well qualify to criticise him.Good or bad,we are all citizens of this country.itna to haq banta hai 😀
Sputnik,
I am against the whole idea of making money in lieu of social activism and I had not liked the news of the money involved in this show and been vocal about it too…
But the point I am trying to make here is totally beyond that.
If I know the money involved in a venture like this and still I do not take an action (hopefully free of money) I am still the bigger hypocrite.
For your kind information,I am criticisng Aamir considering only after a belief that I am doing a far greater work than a hypocrite who has nothing to do. Guess in that sense you are fast emerging as the biggest hypocrite who may not be agreeing to what Aamir is doing but also defending him by attacking my contribution to society.Double Edged Sword!! Sadly in this case for you,I being a medical professional automatically assume a nobler stance than you or Aamir. 😀
Very good Milind. Keep up the good work.
I may have been harsh..but my intent was to make it clear that NO ONE IN INDIA NEEDS TO KNOW THAT FEMALE INFANTICIDE IS WRONG.They already know it.That is why they do it in darkness! What is needed is an endeavour to interact with society at large taking up this issue,trying to somehow mould the mentality. A show as superficial as this one won’t do any good.Countless came and went by! Yes this will allow people to have good image of Aamir..maybe Talaash will have few more coming to see it!
That’s alright Milind. My views weren’t about Aamir or Talaash, anyways. I am not concerned either with Aamir’s image or Talaash’s Box Office. The discussion for me is over.
My views must not be seen as anti-aamir.I am anti-hypocrisy!
narad_muni 8 years ago
Milind spot on..Bingo!
The show is superficial, nothing new, just done to project the social-messiah image if Aamir. No doubt he is one of the biggest hypocrites. And on top of that, he looks like a 60 year old trying hard to hide his age but alas … 😉
Alfa 8 years ago
Absolutely right Milind ! This is nothing but to gain popularity and to project that Aamir is social messiah !
aryan 8 years ago
Abhi 12 episodes bardash karna hai.
Pooh 8 years ago
Dekhne kisne bola hai..mat dekho
Serenzy 8 years ago
Aamir’s Brand Value is increasing a lot thru SMJ though.
At the end of d day, ppl(many f dem incl. me too to an extent) will say he took up social causes & did a good job(inspite f d TRP’s & Hypocrisy and little impact f d show) and not some flashy entertainment lyk Just Dance,DKD,ZKJ,Paanchvi Pass etc.
Brand Aamir always gets a Boost over others(even if SMJ’s impact is minimal) but he benefits,Talaash benefits.
Poor SRK loses it wid stuff lyk ZKJ & RA.One.
Beelzebub 8 years ago
There aren’t a whole lot of people who can sound both pedantic as well as ignorant at the same time. Congratulations, you just made the list. And, no before you say anything let me clarify: I am not in love with Aamir Khan. I do not believe he does stuff for free and neither do I expect him to. He’s an actor. And, despite what Santa might’ve told you they charge money, millions and millions. What’s so evil with that? People like to see him on the screen and are willing to pay for it. I see your problem is not Aamir doing a Ghajini, your problem is with SJ. May I ask why? Ah, yes, because he’s making bucks off it. That’s your problem. Let me ask you this. You’re a medical student you say. Tomorrow, will you start practicing for free? Nope. So why this double set of standards. You portray yourself as a loquacious, carefree rebel with a sharp mind and a sharper tongue but you deliberately fail to see the obvious, that we as a society, NEED these so-called icons to slap us out of the sleep and pump us into action. India is a county of hero-worshippers, we expect Anna to wave a wand and cure corruption and make everything goody-goody. Even as we’re talking there are people saying what good a politician Sachin will make. I mean this is fucked-up. Totally and completely. But, that’s the way it is. After being enslaved for two centuries the very soul of a country is incarcerated. The Brits didn’t just snatch away Kohinoor, they took away our belief in ourselves, our very esteem. We were happily snubbing yoga before the westerners rediscovered it. Then, it became a fad. But don’t judge us too harshly for we are still evolving, as a society, as a nation. I see I’ve digressed but that’s pretty much it. I don’t believe that Aamir is God’s incarnation sent down here to rid this country of its banes but I do applaud his sincere effort to throw some light on society’s ugly truths. Regarding his intentions, his motto, since I’m not a telepath I will reserve my judgment on that. And besides you lot don’t yap when Salman makes a gaudy show of the “Being Human” crap so why begrudge another actor an effort that’s at least more sincere and clinical.
Ok.I am pedantic and pedestrian. And you are ethereally intelligent. Agreed!
My concern is not if people are willing to pay him 8 crores or 8Rs to for such stuffs,my concern is that if a show that beats the pompous horn of “Dil par lagegi tabhi baat banegi”,which in my opinion is a big thing then it should uphold the values of it. Why actually pump it up when you are actually not fulfilling the intent of the show.
You say Will I charge for my practice? Yes I will.Give me an alternate career which fetches me 25 crores/movie,I will do it for free for 13 sundays in mid-year. A Middle Class man like me can afford that much.Do not know How does your “messiah” not manage that. But let that be for pedantics like me.Let intelligent souls like you be unable to spot the difference between my not charging or charging my patients and a certain millionare superstars charging 3 Crores/episode and then asking people to contribute by SMS. Poor man like me cannot understand the logic. You never begin changes in lifestyles by adapting to the most rampant “evil” that affects lifestyle–Money!
It’s another stuff that with such low TRP’s,even the sponsors are facing a tough time to recover costs in what is touted as the most expensive show ever in India.
You really needed a superstar who has not even finished college to make you realise the evils in society? Considering you are so brilliant,you actually needed Aamir Khan to make you realise female foeticide.And to those for whom it was shown,they are going to change their mindsets because a certain fucking superstar discussed female foeticide over a cup of coffee.Guess India remembers more about Koffe with Karan and topics in it over a sip of coffee that it will ever remember FF. So finally after it is clear that this show was necessary for you to “feel” the pathos of female foeticide,I am bowing down to your “till date” dead conscience that suddenly showed colossal upsurge after 6th May.mark it,before 6th May,a brilliant soul like you was intellectually and emotionally dead before 6th. Chalo,atleast Aamir managed to give you life.
“India is a county of hero-worshippers, we expect Anna to wave a wand and cure corruption and make everything goody-goody. Even as we’re talking there are people saying what good a politician Sachin will make. I mean this is fucked-up. Totally and completely. But, that’s the way it is”
See.You are amongst the Indians who are so helplessly attached to a way of living.That India is a land of Hero-Worshippers and you say that is fucked up and still you are helplessly slave to it,clearly depicts how much will guys and girls like you change after Satyamev Jayte,a supposedly brilliant attempt by Aamir to evoke conscience.You yourself are answering my concerns over this show by accepting “nothing is going to change” as “it is the way it is”. Thank you,but even those who commit that sin know it is wrong.The purpose of committing the sin lies deep in mental texture that you are certainly not well versed with.What is needed is beyond it that SJ does not provide.And then SJ’s purpose is defeated considering Indians already know it is a sin and that you are accepting that we Indians easily accept a fucked up situation as the “way it is”.
I detest Ghajini more than anyone. I liked DKD as it did not have a hollow intent.It entertained,fulfilled its intent.SJ does not.I hated ZKJ,it was gross. I like KBC.
My problem is far deeper than an elite like you can get it.But alas,I am pedantic.I will bow to you. 😀
Hahaha! Alle-le-le-le I am choo chorry. Nasty Beelzey made Ickle Mili cry. Hush now, love, you are not pedantic, okay. You’re choo strong and brave, you killed that ant, see. Poor Milind’s the best child in the world, happy now?
Man, let me retract my original statement. You are not pedantic. You’re a pontificator. You know you took so much pain thinking of and writing down all those impressive adjectives and clever retorts when all I could make out was this: sanctimony … narcissism … judgment … an adjective … sniveling … sanctimony … another adjective and so on and so forth. You want me to vivisect your psyche, I shan’t disappoint you, let me grab my kit!
First of all, I definitely seem to have touched a nerve somewhere here. Man, I am not ethereally intelligent or (please fill in any adjective of your choice) clever. I’m a humble man (a telepath unlike you) who thinks about what he sees and tries to draw an inference without letting his emotions and presumptions get in the way. Seriously it pains me to see a well-read man like you making such fatuous arguments. But then well-read doesn’t necessarily mean well-educated. Kudos to you for teaching me that!
“Give me an alternate career which fetches me 25 crores/movie,I will do it for free for 13 sundays in mid-year. A Middle Class man like me can afford that much.”
THIS IS CRAP! You know there’s a specific word for people who curse their circumstances, argue about what doesn’t exist. “I’m a middle class man, I can’t afford to treat people for free, had my dick been another inch longer I’d have schtupped Katrina.” That word’s loser. If you’ve the guts to say something’s fucked up have the guts to unfuck it or stop whining. If you made 25 crores a year then you’d have done something for the society. Aamir Khan’s reply: if I made as much as Oprah Winfrey does I’d have done the show for free. Humbug! You know you are acting like a ten-year old with a crush on that cute girl of his class. Aamir’s mean, I don’t like Aamir, let’s not talk about Aamir. But it’s alright, it’s cute in a moronic sort of way.
” How does your “messiah” not manage that?”
I don’t think of him as a messiah, I think of him as an actor who’s hosting a show that deals with issues relevant to our society. Nothing more, nothing less. But you definitely think that or at least think that people think that. Seriously man, tell me what happened? Did you bunk your lectures to watch his movie and didn’t get the tickets or did he say he loved you and married someone else? My bet’s on the latter. That explains why the fuck are you more interested in his phallus than his performances. Aamir has a surrogate child, Aamir has had a bad marriage, Aamir sodomized me in sleep … Grow up man!
You really needed a superstar who has not even finished college to make you realise the evils in society? I am bowing down to your “till date” dead conscience that suddenly showed colossal upsurge after 6th May.mark it,before 6th May,a brilliant soul like you was intellectually and emotionally dead before 6th. Chalo,atleast Aamir managed to give you life.”
This one’s epic. Not only can you read people’s minds you can tell the story of their lives by simply reading a few lines they wrote! I don’t need no show to tell me about female feticide but you definitely need these shows to bitch about something. Empty vessels made more voice I always knew that but I was unaware they could become pretentious, self-righteous bloggers. You know you attended a single Psych posting and started fancying yourself as the next Freud or Jung or Reich but from where I see you are more likely to end up on their couches than in their shoes.
” See.You are amongst the Indians who are so helplessly attached to a way of living.That India is a land of Hero-Worshippers and you say that is fucked up and still you are helplessly slave to it,clearly depicts how much will guys and girls like you change after Satyamev Jayte,a supposedly brilliant attempt by Aamir to evoke conscience.You yourself are answering my concerns over this show by accepting “nothing is going to change” as “it is the way it is”. Thank you,but even those who commit that sin know it is wrong.The purpose of committing the sin lies deep in mental texture that you are certainly not well versed with.What is needed is beyond it that SJ does not provide.And then SJ’s purpose is defeated considering Indians already know it is a sin and that you are accepting that we Indians easily accept a fucked up situation as the “way it is”.”
Man, this enraged me! You interpret my words any way you like, I can live with that. But here you turned them, twisted them until they were defaced in a manner suited to define the meaning of a cliché I’ve been hearing since I was a child. When the fuck did I ever say nothing ‘s going to change? How conveniently you left out the part where I insist voraciously, vehemently that we are a nation in transition, that we’re still evolving. I abide by what I said and if you had the sense gods gave a sea-slug you would too. When you attend another Psych posting, may be in the third professional, you’ll read the Kubler-Ross model. Acceptance comes very late, after denial, anger, bargaining and depression, but once it does healing’s no big deal. THAT WAS MY POINT! First lets accept what’s wrong with us and then bark aloud radical ideas of changing the world. Shit happens all around us. Instead of talking about it let’s assume we’re the smartest sons-of-bitches ever to walk across the face of this earth and mock anyone and everyone who even tries to do something about it. That “mental texture” thing is yet another testament of what I said before. You see a couple of patients, you suddenly discover your love for psychiatry but you foolishly forget one of the prerequisites of becoming a shrink. NEVER JUDGE PEOPLE! Instead you start writing pretentiously cursing and blaming what YOU don’t like, what YOU think is right, this disgusts me. I don’t think I want to argue with you anymore seeing you’ve your head so far up your ass that all you can see and think is crap.
Assume or think what you will. For me this discussion’s over!
Comments like this will not be tolerated here. I would have deleted your comment had there not been a comment in response to this. I thought of editing your comment partially but would have to edit quite a bit.
You can criticize the article or Milind’s comments and argue with him rationally but you are just making personal attacks and mocking him.
“I don’t believe that Aamir is God’s incarnation sent down here to rid this country of its banes but I do applaud his sincere effort to throw some light on society’s ugly truths. Regarding his intentions, his motto, since I’m not a telepath I will reserve my judgment on that.”
You say you don’t know Aamir’s intentions but you also say you applaud his “sincere” effort. How do you know it is sincere if you do not know his intentions?
Posting my comment from another thread.
‘When the camera deliberately pans to Aamir wiping his tear off or Aamir giving “acting” expressions or Aamir deliberately hugging one of the victims then its no longer a show meant to raise issues. It is meant for TRPs, recognition and fame. Now compare that to the Zindagi Live show. The host is not doing any “acting”. ‘
“I don’t think of him as a messiah, I think of him as an actor who’s hosting a show that deals with issues relevant to our society. Nothing more, nothing less.”
If that’s the case why are you so worked up about someone criticizing a damn TV show? Just because it is dealing with issues (which have already been dealt before on news channels in a much better manner like Zindagi Live) no one should criticize it?
“People should actually drop the pretense they are supporting this show because it is based on issues. Majority are supporting it because it is a Aamir Khan show and they are either Aamir fans or admire Aamir Khan Period.
For if they really were supporting the show because of issues they should have also supported shows like Zindagi Live and other shows that came on NDTV/IBN on same/similar issues before. If they did not watch those shows then that just means that they were not interested in those shows/issues in the first place and that they are watching this show only because Aamir is hosting it.”
And about the money thing.
“I personally do not have a problem with anyone if he makes Crores of money and does not even donate a single paise out of it. It is his hard earned money (assuming) and he can do whatever the hell he wants to with that money and he owes no answers to anyone. But if someone claims to be socially concerned about the poor or about issues then I think it is perfectly alright to raise the question as to what he is doing about those issues or how much money did he donate? ”
If Aamir is going to say you can donate money to this charity then someone will ask how much did you donate? He cannot say I will ask other people to donate money while I make Crores asking them to do that. There is a simple rule “Practice before you preach”. Otherwise it is the case of “Do as I say, Not as I do”
“Aamir has a surrogate child, Aamir has had a bad marriage”
Don’t you think it is hypocritical of a star to talk about female foeticide and about femele kids and then have a baby of his own using surrogacy? He could have adopted a female child – one that was saved from female foeticide. That is how you lead by example. A single, unmarried female star Sushmita Sen adopts two female children and the superstar who makes movies and does TV show on social issues prefers to have his own child using surrogacy.
While having a surrogate child using some other woman might be perfectly alright to you please do some research on surrogacy and how poor women are exploited to carry babies for others (it is banned in many countries). I don’t think Aamir will do a show on that and if even he does it will have a positive spin on it because he himself has benefited from it.
Now I can use this very site to post a well researched (much more than SJ is) article on Surrogacy (I won’t even charge a dime for it) and how its a social evil but then I will be accused of being a Aamir hater.
Thank Yourself that this discussion is over or else your counter-argument would have been met with a more than adequate response.
BTW,your getting personal clearly showed that you are hurt where it mattered the most.
And when I turn your own statement against yourself then you start making another line of defense based on a model that is not at all related to this discussion. ,Maybe when you actually are awarded with a MBBS degree,you will realize that your juvenille theories cant save the day for you! 😀
Vehement replies are seldom effective! That is called the model of common sense used restraint! 🙂
@beelzebub
I agree and it would have been great if the people (mainly at this or other blogs) would have given their attention to the cause rather than the host of the show.
@Milind
‘You really needed a superstar who has not even finished college to make you realise the evils in society”
Nobody needs a superstar for anything. Take him as just another show host. And no, most adults wouldn’t need anyone to make them realise the evils of the society but its good to have someone who can make you revisit these evils, so that we as citizens can think of doing something about it, and then one amongst 1000s may actually do something about it. don’t you think it would be an achievment ?
“it would have been great if the people (mainly at this or other blogs) would have given their attention to the cause rather than the host of the show.”
Well the same thing can be said about MNIK.
“but its good to have someone who can make you revisit these evils, so that we as citizens can think of doing something about it, and then one amongst 1000s may actually do something about it. don’t you think it would be an achievment ?”
I can use this very same argument for MNIK.
You said in another thread that “I support stuff if the intention is good”
So did you support MNIK and did you object to people on other blogs who were mocking/attacking MNIK?
“Take him as just another show host.”
Taking him as just another show host why does this show have to be defended or praised when there are much better shows by other hosts? Shouldn’t we be praising those shows and those hosts instead?
It is fine.When I write something,the reader has the right to be judgmental. I appreciate your concern though. Yes he went personal and illogically illogical at times but then TQ stands for democracy and right to speech.
Let him speak it out.I actually want to see the length to which a man can go to defy his own previous commentary. Rest you have answered back well.I have no zeal to type a reply long enough and allow a vicious circle to commence!
People come here in hidden ID’s who know about me and my ideas and thoughts.They cannot expose their real names fearing the same will happen to them regarding their opinion. 😀
@John Galt
So you were waiting for 6th May,2012 to take a resolution regards “saving the world”. So,you while watching the common ambiance while travelling on train or bus or in slums or by the roadside,you were not moved while the “evidence” was in your eyes.India was never moved. But guess,after Aamir took up the cause,you started beholding!
Therein lies the infirmity of your argument.
Achievement of a project of this scale is not at all in making people aware! For they ARE aware! The real achievement would have been had it allowed for some grounded and rooted discussion encompassing all layers of society and also the government[which it deliberately approaches after the show] and then try to find the weak points,the soft junctions and then maybe allow for a solution.Asking people to SMS for a cause or contest is same.Pathetic routined approach!
Whosoever said that MNIK’s theme wasn’t a noble one? It was never a bad theme. Karan Johar messed it up dramatically in the latter half and thats where the movie sucked. Moreover, I am not seeing Satyamev Jayate as a medium of social activism through entertainment. Iam just seeing it as a show about social activism.
Your entire argument is about a few people who are aware. I would prefer not discussing this further as I am talking about a different audience compared to you. Please continue building templates for criticising the future shows as well.
You said– See the show not the man who is hosting it.
Here you are actually not seeing the “issues” raised but pointing a finger at the author.
What should I believe?
Show on social activism or Show on the periphery of some vague aspects of social activism!
Frankly pooch raha hoon– Bachche ke arsehole me ghusaa dena galat hai,ye kaun nahi jaanta.Iske liye tumhe Aamir ki jarurat thi.Ya kisi ko hai.If the show would have explored it deeply regarding all causes,I would have left no stone unturned to praise it!
“Karan Johar messed it up dramatically in the latter half and thats where the movie sucked.”
Yes that’s right but even though the latter half sucked, you should still praise/defend it as it had “good intentions” using your own logic on Aamir’s show.
“I am not seeing Satyamev Jayate as a medium of social activism through entertainment. Iam just seeing it as a show about social activism.”
Disagree on that.
When the camera deliberately pans to Aamir wiping his tear off or Aamir giving “acting” expressions or Aamir deliberately hugging one of the victims or some lady who is displaying shocked/surprised expressions or crying then its no longer a show about social activism. It is theater. The lady who got bitten by her husband rises up and delivers a couplet and a abused woman sings on the show (Is this Indian Idol)? May be this is alright to you but to me this is scripted stuff.
Entertainment does not mean only comedy – rona dhona movies/serials are also entertainment for many. There is some comedy on a show about social activism too with Salman and Bodyguard referenced in two shows for some laughter.
So it is in fact “social activism through entertainment”.
“Whosoever said that MNIK’s theme wasn’t a noble one? It was never a bad theme. Karan Johar messed it up dramatically in the latter half and thats where the movie sucked”
Similarly I have said KUDOS to Aamir’s effort to touch subjects but as you are reflecting on the “messing up on the latter half of movie”..I am also reflecting on stuffs that are messed up in the shows.
I do not have to create templates.Infact same can be said about you vis-a-vis MNIK!
‘Infact same can be said about you vis-a-vis MNIK!’
Have you seen a post by me on MNIK ? btw, you still haven’t answered that question I asked about Anurag Kashyap.
Milind by your logic, everyone knows everything. Nobody needed Aamir to tell them that child sexual abuse is an issue. But how many parents do actually think of child sex abuse when they are thinking about taking care of their childeren. Try to understand this, there are many things that we think that can never happen to our family and we start to ignore them. If you see the show carefully, this is what aamir was trying to portray in the earlier part of the show–about how this is NOT a non-issue.
Also, What more exploration were you looking for, them doing a sting operation on a guy doing sexual abuse on the child??? They showed you the cases of people who went through this. They made you meet the parents of one of those people. They even, gave you probable solutions to what can you do as a child or as a parent. They stressed hard on the fact that its prevalant and how. And then you say you are actually stressing on the problems you have with the show and not with who is hosting it.
Here’s the deal Milind, and I am saying this with utmost sincerity, as an audience I found the show informative and something that will help the people in concern. If I am a child going through sexual abuse and I watch that show, I will not think, Milind uncle says this show cannot eradicate problem from grassroot level and hence its useless, I will think about letting my parents know so that they would actually KNOW it, or even diel that helpline.( Frankly, I did not know about the helpline before this show–and yes you can call me ignorant.) If I am a parent I will start giving my child a little ore attention if he/she has been saying similar stuff to me and I have been overlooking it (like the rest of the parents were in that show).
Here’s one more sincere request- I am a very difference audience than you are. So lets just both stick to that and not discuss it any further. If something moves me, I will support it irrespective of any einsteinian theories. I do feel the show raised an important issue and handled it well enough to make people aware.
This show didnt suck for me, while MNIK did and thats what my comments reflect. Infact, I was quite impressed by the show. Let me tell you something about Aamir and his expressions. Believe it if you want to, “I actually didnt even remember Aamir from either of the episodes at all. I remembered the people, their stories and the issue at hand.” The second half of MNIK, though was a mood killer and sheer bad and hence I can’t praise. I have however mentioned that the theme was indeed noble.
“This show didnt suck for me, while MNIK did and thats what my comments reflect”
So what is wrong if this show is failing to live upto its original pompous declaration according to me.You were hell bent on judging it related to my star preferences.I can also say,you are a SRK-hater thus you are mauling a noble intent laden film called MNIK. You may not have made a post post on it but we know your opinion..right!!! You say look beyond the host.Why cannot you look beyond the author?Why did MNIK suck according to you?Because of some minor/major flaws in second half! Right? Same way SJ is not upto the standard because of umpteen reasons that I have given,none of which you have been able to refute.You are yselessly harping on “what if one child is benefitted” but escaping Sputnik’s question–“what if one adult is falsely implicated”. Justice is related to a fact that not even one innocent should be hanged.What if an adult is falsely or wrongly implicated. Does this show talk about it so deeply and openly so as it to give a true picture? It talks about Sodomy.Does it define about the touches,the wrong ones..and etc.? Does it speak about the ‘reasosn” of such happenings.What it does is to put up a helpline number..what a measure taken?Clap Clap Clap!! There are more than 10 helpline numbers for women,some have stopped functioning,those which do are useless as they never intervene on time.What are you trying to tell me? That one needed this show only to expose the matter of child abuse!! See India TV,Aaj tak,Crime Patrol,Saavdhaan India,IBN7 show,Vaardaat…all speak and do the same.Infact Crime Patrol does deal with it in a far more eloquent manner and also shows the reasons in a far more apt manner.Why just shout from rooftops as soon as this show started.It would have still be fine had it been a worthy one.But issues over a sip of coffee are as shallow as the pond which is drying up.
I deduced you are an Anurag Kashyap fan as you deduced I am a SRK fan. 😀
Yes all know that if their 10 year old daughter is caressed on chest ,it is wrong.You do not expect parents to put up a CCTV camera everywhere at home.Do You? Or do you think that a child will ever[save one or two out of hundred] will actually speak up that their “mama” “chacha” has caressed their vagina.Let us be straight here.The majority of child abuse takes place in poverty stricken areas,in low socio-economic strata. You expect a child of that strata who never gets even two meals properly to actually speak up for this issue after having watched SJ,which in all probability they will not have watched. Khaane ko do waqt ki roti nahi,TV/Radio kahaan se laayenge. And if this show is for urban people,they are already sure that this is not a non-issue.The real matter is that no child,be it urban or rural,will ever come up with this issue until and unless you start reaching homes via the school medium utilising school as the place where such stuffs be taught and the children made to speak up.But after all that is a long procedure.Superstar Aamir Khan has just 13 Sundays,3 croe/each episode is the fee,a fee in which more than 10 primary school will be erected. Why would he go for a longer route.After all aren’t we all prats of an escapist culture,a theory that some Beezlebubble was trying to evoke and ultimately had his own theory strangulated by it!
@Sputnik:
Tell me the purpose a debate serves. Two people with different sometimes antithetic mindsets argue about the strengths and fallacies of their arguments, learning a thing or two about the other ideology in the process. You say I got personal and insulting. I admit I did but what about the article on which this very discussion was based. Wasn’t it judgmental, wasn’t it grossly personal, wasn’t it sadly focused on the narrow view-point of a single person’s perceptions of right and wrong? I think it was. I was shocked by seeing the absolute belief the writer has in his ideas, unshakable. Well, there’s only one kind of belief that’s unshakable, a delusion. But let me tell you, there are lots of people on the net writing lots of articles, I don’t go and argue with the entire lot of them. John Galt actually wrote the most beautiful thing, “In the progressing course of my life, I have started believing in a philosophy of action before words…” and you and your mates pounced upon him, making such lame arguments bringing Tushar Kapoor and God knows what in the debate. As you found my comment mocking so did I. That sprung me in action. Man, there’s two kinds of people. One, decent by default, the other who seem decent in the presence of people nastier than them. I wouldn’t have dared written all this hadn’t the writer struck me as the latter.
@Bezzlefizzle
Don’t spring into action so soon.
My views are myopic.Yours cover a wide arena.Okay let us take this as a fact. Waise your own belief in your own arguments is a “belief” or “delusion”! 😉
You are describing the purpose of the debate.And say you wanted to learn a thing or two. Woahh! And you start by the words “pedantic” and what not! That was a pre-conceived notion or did you want to learn some new English words from me in return! Guess then you have been successful! 🙂 You are amazed at my staunch belief.Yes i rather not write what I do not believe.Maybe I am unlike the not so pedantic souls like you who start their debate by such lousy losers language like “I made you cry and this and that”. You prposed few arguments.I used them against you only.You got enraged and termed it twisting of words. Mate,when you are in a debate,learn to choose what to speak and what not! Seems you never knew how to debate or maybe this is your first chance. 🙂
Let us dissect your approach to the arguments:
1. “Seriously it pains me to see a well-read man like you making such fatuous arguments”
You are so happily terming my arguments against you as factitious but are so worked up if I am turning your own arguments against you. Wowwww! Respect! You do not read to be well read to make out a child abuse stuff.That is where you lack an education.That is where you seem like a man/woman who is so much in deep love with Aamir that for him education began on 6th May 2012 and if his/her child or any child in the locality would have been abused in front of him/her,he/she would have turned a blind eye. Guess you are actually very much less -read about the circumstances related to child abuse but then you never need to be read or educated.It is common sense.You cannot educate the “core” target [the children in slum areas/low socio-economic strata] by some pathetic TV show. You also cannot make anyone aware for they are.What they aren’t aware of is the issues behind child abuse.SJ rarely goes behind the walls.
2. “I’m a middle class man, I can’t afford to treat people for free, had my dick been another inch longer I’d have schtupped Katrina.” That word’s loser. If you’ve the guts to say something’s fucked up have the guts to unfuck it or stop whining. If you made 25 crores a year then you’d have done something for the society. Aamir Khan’s reply: if I made as much as Oprah Winfrey does I’d have done the show for free. Humbug! You know you are acting like a ten-year old with a crush on that cute girl of his class. Aamir’s mean, I don’t like Aamir, let’s not talk about Aamir. But it’s alright, it’s cute in a moronic sort of way.”
What an intelligent reply mistah!! I just said that if I would have earned 25 crores/movie and some 80 croees from advertisements,I would not have charged some 3 crore Rs/episode ,an amount that can be used to build 10 primary schools from where you can actually educate children about Child Abuse.But alas I respect your intelligent mind that does not understand this.Yes,I know of many people who actually have passed of IIM and are serving in rural areas when middle class guys like them could get a package of 25 lakhs/year.I know of doctors who after graduating from likes of CMC and PGI have devoted their lives in a rural area.I know of engineers who actually take up projects in naxal-infested areas when many others deny. And then I know of Aamir khan who just cares about his brand-building via such in-room coffee house shows. 🙂 Yes If my dick would have been larger,I would have fucked Katrina but guess you may also not know you need just 2 inches to satisfy a woman.Well Read you are,certainly!
3. “I don’t think of him as a messiah, I think of him as an actor who’s hosting a show that deals with issues relevant to our society. Nothing more, nothing less. But you definitely think that or at least think that people think that. Seriously man, tell me what happened? Did you bunk your lectures to watch his movie and didn’t get the tickets or did he say he loved you and married someone else? My bet’s on the latter. That explains why the fuck are you more interested in his phallus than his performances. Aamir has a surrogate child, Aamir has had a bad marriage, Aamir sodomized me in sleep … Grow up man!”
The manner in which your argument is going from worse to pathetic,it seems you think of him as the heavenly Father in Heaven.But whatever! I am not interested in his phallus.Surrogate pregnancy does not impose a question mark on his phallus.Or your well read mind also does not know that! 🙂 😀 I clearly said i am not interested in his surrogate child.A process that itself has far more negatives than positives.But that is not my concern.But then do not boast of female foeticide and the shit associated.Your desire to have your “own” child by a means that is emotionally wrecking and associated with some other grave stuffs is no less worse than the “desire” to have a son at any cost! Aamir could have adopted a girl! AT;LEAST ONE GIRL WOULD HAVE BEEN BENEFITED.Wouldn’t that had been achievement! But you keep being entangled in phallus,dick,Katrina and your own mental graves. Kudos intelligent man!
4. “This one’s epic. Not only can you read people’s minds you can tell the story of their lives by simply reading a few lines they wrote! I don’t need no show to tell me about female feticide but you definitely need these shows to bitch about something. Empty vessels made more voice I always knew that but I was unaware they could become pretentious, self-righteous bloggers. You know you attended a single Psych posting and started fancying yourself as the next Freud or Jung or Reich but from where I see you are more likely to end up on their couches than in their shoes.”
Oh! So now matters are dipping beneath the ground! Ha Ha! The debator in the process of mocking me to have read people’s mind is doing the same mistake himself.Trying to read me andf what I have become and that I am pretentious. 🙂 That has been the weakness of your arguments–you are speaking pearls against your own self! Now this is not Epic! But this is pathetic 🙂 Thank You but I am in the couch with Harrison and Braunwald.Ha ha!
5.”Man, this enraged me! You interpret my words any way you like, I can live with that. But here you turned them, twisted them until they were defaced in a manner suited to define the meaning of a cliché I’ve been hearing since I was a child. When the fuck did I ever say nothing ‘s going to change? How conveniently you left out the part where I insist voraciously, vehemently that we are a nation in transition, that we’re still evolving. I abide by what I said and if you had the sense gods gave a sea-slug you would too. When you attend another Psych posting, may be in the third professional, you’ll read the Kubler-Ross model. Acceptance comes very late, after denial, anger, bargaining and depression, but once it does healing’s no big deal. THAT WAS MY POINT! First lets accept what’s wrong with us and then bark aloud radical ideas of changing the world. Shit happens all around us. Instead of talking about it let’s assume we’re the smartest sons-of-bitches ever to walk across the face of this earth and mock anyone and everyone who even tries to do something about it. That “mental texture” thing is yet another testament of what I said before. You see a couple of patients, you suddenly discover your love for psychiatry but you foolishly forget one of the prerequisites of becoming a shrink. NEVER JUDGE PEOPLE! Instead you start writing pretentiously cursing and blaming what YOU don’t like, what YOU think is right, this disgusts me. I don’t think I want to argue with you anymore seeing you’ve your head so far up your ass that all you can see and think is crap.”
5. Kubler-Ross Model.We will come to this later.First let me quote you fr0om youe earlier argument:
” we as a society, NEED these so-called icons to slap us out of the sleep and pump us into action. India is a county of hero-worshippers, we expect Anna to wave a wand and cure corruption and make everything goody-goody. Even as we’re talking there are people saying what good a politician Sachin will make. I mean this is fucked-up. Totally and completely. But, that’s the way it is. After being enslaved for two centuries the very soul of a country is incarcerated. The Brits didn’t just snatch away Kohinoor, they took away our belief in ourselves, our very esteem. We were happily snubbing yoga before the westerners rediscovered it. Then, it became a fad. But don’t judge us too harshly for we are still evolving, as a society, as a nation”
If we are a nation that is evolving according to you,why do we need the “British-mentality” actions still where heroes must rise so that evil must fall.If that practice be still used,the nation is regressing rather than evolving.The Anna movement failed in its later half much due to the same effect–Hero-Worshipping. The days of a Gandhi are over,my intelligent well read friend! You say we are a nation in transition.Is this transition where the earliest medieval practices are still rampant.That British needed a Joh the 13th or Jack the 7th or Jill the 3rd is well known but history.That we Indians need some petite actor called Aamir Khan to make us realise the gravest issues,which he fails to completely,is actually EPIC for me! That you remain in slumber when you walk down the roads or travel in trains or read newpapers and the slap on 6th may did it all is actually NEWS to me.I am enraged but contrary to your damn great argumentative style whereby you look like a child fighting for a toffee,I will keep my cool. That you refute you own statement’s latter half by its proximal one is actually howlarious.You claim that Indians will need to get out of the “slumber” but you actually fail to see that they are being actually doped by such hero-worshiping practices in terms of social stuffs.Guess that is why you are so unclear in your arguments.I fail to see a purpose in your debate.You are actually patronizing the show as if conscience within you took a spring of life post this. And usng the Kubler-Ross model here is futile.The nation is evolving.It does not need this theory.We are not being inflicted with ;pain here.We are not being hurt here.We are not dying.Instead we are evolving into a nation where each man considers himself a Hero and many work at grass-root level.Many fight corruption.But alas,your Aamir being a superstar takes away all the page 1 stuff in newspapers and poor men like Alex paul Menon get a coverage only when they are abducted. We have evils within us.Agreed.We know about it.You have to agree.We turn a blind eye.All agree.We will keep turning a blind eye till we do not feel it within ourselves to take the matters in hand.You cannot finish corruption by a Lokpaal and you cannot even imagine to add anything new to the issue of female foeticide by such shows. I do not need a superstar to wake me up from slumber.Thank You.I have newspapers,my eyes and a brain.If you had none,complain to God about it.Not me!
And I never had to skip classes for Aamir’s films.I used to attend any show.Got tickets.Never found his movies housefull till very late 😀
By God what an inflated sense of self-worth you have, in fact so much so that I’m pretty amazed you can fit into the couch with the likes of Harrison and Braunwald. This post was meant for your buddy Sputnik, not you but you JUST HAD to poke your nose in. I’ll try and keep this one short for what’s that saying about a fanatic being the one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject. All your arguments, every single fuckin one of them is based on one and only one assumption: People who like SJ are hypocrites who were what “slumbering” before the show aired and you knew from the beginning it was a farce and are hence not only smarter but holier than the rest of them. My Assholiness! Would you please tell us what amazing gadget or superpower you possess that enables you to see so clearly the motives and ideologies of so very many people. Ever since I’ve stumbled upon your page all I’ve heard is this: blah blah blah Aamir Khan blah blah blah 6th May blah blah blah dead conscience blah blah blah hypocrisy blah blah blah. Is it just me or do you really not have any other point. But we all have our things. All those “people” you know who sacrificed materialistic comforts search the meaning of their lives by getting out in the open and dirtying their hands. The meaning of your existence, on the other hand, may be is defined by rambling on and on and on about one person and his show. Whatever floats your boat, buddy!
PS: That teaching me English thing was hilarious. Tell me when you see an illiterate patient or better some poor sod struggling with the language do you puff up hideously and feel all important and precious? THIS IS WHY I SAID YOU LACK AN EDUCATION! By the way, its juvenile NOT “juvenille and “houseful” NOT “housefull” (Since people inadvertently learn the language from you its essential you learn it first). In the end, I’m sorry if I’ve offended you or anything but I can’t help it. Hoping never to hear from you again. Goodbye and good-riddance (please)!
Partly edited to remove abuse and mocking member name
Beelzebub – Milind cannot be stopped from writing anything against anyone as long as he is not abusive or spamming.stars ,tv shows and films are public property and they can be loved ,hated,abused and screwed.
I have read your arguments here and as sputnik pointed out ,they are full of inconsistencies bcos u r dishonest.Just say that ur watching and supporting a poorly researched and half baked show bcos ur an aamir fanatic.No point in beating around bush.
@Babaji:
.stars ,tv shows and films are public property and they can be loved ,hated,abused and screwed.
I beg you please don’t embarrass yourself!
SJ is a national traesure.Shubh Shubh bolo. ROFL!
You yourself admit you got personal and insulting. I am not going to allow such stuff here period. If you make one more comment using the language you are using and make personal attacks that will be the end of your comments here.
“Wasn’t it judgmental, wasn’t it grossly personal, wasn’t it sadly focused on the narrow view-point of a single person’s perceptions of right and wrong”
Milind criticized a show, the host and the handling of issues but he did not use language against Aamir like you have used against him – “your head so far up your ass that all you can see and think is crap.” or say “I’m allergic to assholes” against Aamir.
“John Galt actually wrote the most beautiful thing, “In the progressing course of my life, I have started believing in a philosophy of action before words…” and you and your mates pounced upon him, making such lame arguments bringing Tushar Kapoor and God knows what in the debate.”]
I guess this “action before words” applies to everyone who criticizes the show but not to the host of the show. Milind and me were applying the same “action before words” to Aamir.
John Galt’s position has been a ever changing one – first it was “only movies are open to critique and not TV Shows” then “action before words” and then “I will praise because of intention” and then finally “I like the show”. I don’t think anyone can argue against a constantly changing position.
Personal Attacks? You lot start off doing that yourself and then begrudge me the same?! Can’t you see or may be you don’t want to, the language being used against me. Let’s have a look at how this all started:
Milind began by pretentiously “forgiving” Aamir Khan’s sin of second marriage. Tell me, is it against the law. Nope. Then why make an issue out of it. Yeah, you might say I said let’s forgive them but that’s BS. The very purpose of opening with these lines was to create a bias in the mind of the reader plus it showed how self-righteous the writer thinks he is. In response to that I called him a pedantic. How is this insulting? He replied by judging me, calling my conscience a dead one and blah blah blah! When you yourself can not abide by to the rules you make how can you expect me to. Your problem is I called him an A-hole. That was an obvious insult in response to him calling me brainless. I think that makes us even! What I am trying to say is this: I don’t know any of you personally, may be if we met over a pitcher of margaritas we’d have gotten along pretty well. I don’t hate him or you and I am not in love with John Galt and Aamir Khan but I don’t believe in disparity. You abandon logic and start showering judgments on someone, he has all the right in this world to retort. And once you stoop down from that level I don’t think you can categorize mocking, saying that calling someone brainless is okay but calling someone an asshole is a sin.
That my pardoning Aamir for second marriage is “pretentious” is again a matter of cracking one’s own theory by having commented before that I am not telepathic and I do not assume! 🙂
All the more I never talked about second marriage.I talked about a bad one! Why are you so hurt.Agree to it that you are an aamir fanatic who wants to take the garb of neutrality and support this show wherein all your logic has been turned against you. Your whole argumentative style is hollow and you live in a phantasmagorical world where you believe you are correct. Argue on my points,I have replied to you wherever you have. I have constantly respected your intelligent well read mind.Haven’t I ?You begin with the fact that I am trying to create an impression upon the reader.Any writer does that.You are not lobotomized to not able to feel something if I write.But the manner in which you are defensive and offensive is more than hilarious.No points,irrelevant model theories,hopeless arguments,killing one;s own arguments with later commentary–am i responsible for all the stuff you doing against yourself.
Yes he has a bad marriage because it is widely believed ad substantiated too [via interviews with Ashu post Lagaan where he is quizzed about Hina who was involved with Lagaan and was also in talks for Swades stuff.Kiran Rao was some stuff on the sets of Lagaan] that he got involved with someone else.Thus I wrote lets forgive him in a metaphorical tone! If you are so naive not to get it,I am sorry none can help you!
Your language clearly defeats every statement you have made and also exposes you as an Aamir fanatic,maybe! I have attacked your logic.All you have attacked is my supposed intent that you have gauged while at the same time pleading me to not judge the show as I am. I am unable to comment further seeing such contradictions in one’s own statement.
You win. Please do yourself a favor and skip the rest of the episodes of Satyamev Jayate. It will save you the trouble of blasting it in a different fashion every time. I am henceforth, not going to comment on any of them anyways. So you may have just a couple of comments in support of you as a response.
Please don not live under the impression that if you don’t comment there will be no debate on my posts. 😀
Very Well.
@Milind, @Baba,
I don’t think there is any point in carrying this discussion forward with Beelzebub. So please don’t respond to his comments.
@Beelzebub,
I would say the same to you – avoid any more comments with Milind and Baba because all of you have made your points.
@Baba, @Milind, @Beelzebub
I have deleted few comments by you all.
If you start getting personal because some star or his show was criticized then I don’t think this forum is suitable for you. Stars and shows will be criticized here and you need to have a thick skin for that. All your comments from now on will go through moderation.
I cannot allow personal attacks and mudslinging here because that would defeat the very purpose of this forum to be a place where people can debate without attacking each other personally and abusing each other.
good action sputnik.
Beezelbub – Using obscure and misplaced big english words do not an argument make.You had no point right from the start .You want milind to stop writing against SJ bcos of aamir presence.unfortunately for u,No u cannot.and ur also not good enuff to make a case for SJ.when u read this archive 2 years from now and hopefully past your fanaticism,you will realise how silly you were.
How can this be changing position:
I said action before words– I have maintained that. If you had a little more acceptance to that statement you would have understood it. Here’s what it means. I will not talk about corruption, If I am myself bribing the government officials. I will not say how ineffificient somebody’s steps in dealing with female foeticide is, if I have haven’t done a single dime’s worth stuff myself.
And again what is so changing about “Liking the show” and “not criticising it because of action before words” and appreciating the intent” to me they are all very very consistent…You are, in a way, setting standards of what someone should say about arguing and debating. I am really amazed at your last statement. How and I mean how did you find that changing position?? Changing position would be saying I don’t like to eat sweet stuff and then saying how fond of cotton candy I am. Saying I admire the intent of the show does not mean I CANNOT have an opinion about the rest of the show.
I said that I liked how they dealt with the issue and that It didn’t suck (unlike MNIK, in that example).
And btw, this is what I said regarding critiquing movies in reply to BabaJi
“My comment was in context of social activism. You cinema analogy is right but doesn’t fit here, because cinema is meant for reception and hence the criticism. Doing something for social causes is a result of a person’s own consciousness and belief”
Now if you want to interpret as “only movies are open to critique and not TV Shows” and make a statement about it, well then I have nothing mroe to say.
I am saying apply this whole “action before words” to Aamir. I am sorry but action does not mean making a TV show and telling others what to do. It is doing something about it in your personal life and setting an example for others. Aamir is asking people to donate to the charities in the show but he is also saying this
“since you asked I am getting Rs 3.5 crore per episode. Firstly what I get is none of anyone’s business. Main apni mehnat ki kama aur khaa raha hoon. [I am earning and enjoying the benefits of my hard-work]. I am not doing anything wrong. Main izzat se, achchaa kaam karke roti kama raha hoon aur mujhe fakr hai is baat ka [I am honourably, by doing good work, earning my bread, and I am proud of it]. Secondly to clear the misconception this amount includes the cost of the episode also. The bulk of the money goes into the cost and some of the episodes may have overshot the amount. Thirdly, I have endorsements deals of about Rs 100-125 crore per year. I have stopped them for a year while the show is on. There’s no logic in the decision, it’s purely emotional. But tell me who has ever said no to Rs 100 crore for a cause?”
No mention of how much he is donating to the charities mentioned in his show. If that is his hard earned money then the money that he is asking to donate to charity is also someone else’s hard earned money. And if he has stopped endorsement deals of Rs 100-125 crore for the year as he says then would it not have been better that he had done those endorsement deals instead and then used that 100-125 Cr to do something real on the ground?
See he talked about female foeticide and cried for female children being aborted which is all good but then had a surrogate baby. Now you will say it is his personal life but then Commercial Surrogacy is also exploitation of poor women and it is banned in many countries. Now tell me what did Aamir do against female foeticide? Has he adopted or monetarily supported female children rescued from female foeticide and their families?
You began commenting by suggesting anyone who criticizes the show is a hypocrite because they are not doing anything about it while Aamir is doing a TV show about it. I brought the point that we at least are not exploiting someone’s story to make ourselves richer.
See its a TV show and a TV show is also for reception and one can criticize a TV show just as one can criticize a movie. Just because a movie/TV show is talking about “issues” or has a “noble theme” does not mean that one cannot criticize it for its cheesy, manipulative or bad content. Yeah you can say I appreciate the issues or theme but it sucked. And that’s what we are doing.
I am not setting any standards. You started setting the standards that one should criticize it only if they are doing some social work . I just used that same argument on MNIK saying how can you criticize it since you were not doing anything to alleviate the Muslim (technically brown people because even Hindus get affected) discrimination problem using your own argument.
And even with respect to Social Activism, NGOs can be criticized too. People criticize the Prime Minister/Chief Minister and so on too without ever having been one or having administrated any public office.
Finally if you have liked the show and think this is going to alleviate the problems then great for you. You have every right to say that here but please don’t expect everyone else to agree with it.
“I am not setting any standards. You started setting the standards that one should criticize it only if they are doing some social work ”
When did I ask anyone of you to follow what I preach? Please read my comment again. I have commented what I follow and that I’d be a bigger hypocrite if Critique it. I don’t thik I could be anymore clearer.
Of course I do understand people have different beliefs which they follow, and if thats the case, then why did you have a problem with what I commented- It was about my thinking and I was in no way implying that you follow it, so why the questioning in the first place? 😉
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Athlete of the Week: Dana Bandurick ’23
Looping You In On Looped
In Gratitude for the Learning4Life Program
Swarthmore Fall Sports Recap
Three Times the Willets Fire Alarm Went off, and One Time it Didn’t
The Independent Campus Newspaper of Swarthmore College Since 1881
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Op-Ed Opinion
Op-Ed: A Letter to Swarthmore- The Wall
April 23, 2013 Op-Ed 77 Comments
Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG.
Op-Ed submitted by Swarthmore Students for Peace and Justice in Palestine
Swarthmore Students for Peace and Justice in Palestine (SPJP) aims to raise awareness and push conversations about the conditions of life in Israel and the Palestinian Territories. This week, we will be hosting a series of events exploring different aspects of the current conflict, in which we invite you to participate. Our events are open to all students and we welcome hearing from all perspectives.
The most visible event this week will be the installation of a wall in front of Parrish, which will be up from Wednesday through Friday. This wall is designed to invoke the Wall that separates Palestinian communities from Israel and Israeli settlements in Palestine. Our intent in putting up this wall is to draw attention to the permanent reality of living in the Palestinian Territories. As you interact with the wall during the latter part of this week, we hope that you will reflect upon the conditions of life that such a wall creates, and the structures that have allowed such a wall to be created and maintained.
As some may recall, we had a similar installation three years ago. While much has changed since we first created the installation, the Wall and checkpoints in the Palestinian Territories remain. In fact, its construction — along with the construction of new Israeli settlements in Palestine — has accelerated. Three years ago we wanted to build a wall on campus to draw attention to the impact the Wall has in the Palestinian Territories, and we approach this year’s project with the same goal. We see the acknowledgment of these structural barriers and their effects as a crucial step in understanding the conflict.
We will be holding a checkpoint simulation at the wall from 10 to 2 on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. During this simulation, you will be given an ID card representing an Israeli, an international citizen, a Palestinian with a travel permit, and a Palestinian without a travel permit. Your treatment at the checkpoint may correspond with what someone with a similar ID would likely experience at a checkpoint. If you do not want to participate in this simulation, please exit Parrish from a side door, as McGill Walk will be occupied by the wall.
We recognize that this installation may be triggering for some people, and may bring up complicated feelings and emotions for many on campus. We would like to see all of these feelings channeled and discussed in a productive manner. To help facilitate this, we are hosting an open discussion on Friday April 26 at 2pm in Kohlberg 116, facilitated by Dean Alina Wong and Professor Elliot Ratzman. The discussion three years ago was an incredible success, and we hope that this discussion will be similarly productive. Part of that meeting’s success was due to the diversity of perspectives shared at the meeting, and we encourage everyone — regardless of their opinion on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or our installation — to attend.
We also wish to invite you to a screening of the Academy Award nominated documentary “5 Broken Cameras” and also our remembrance ceremony for the American peace activist Rachel Corrie. The film screening will be on Friday, April 26 at 8pm in Science Center 105, and the remembrance ceremony will take place on Thursday, April 25 at 7:30pm in front of Parrish.
Students for Peace and Justice in Palestine (sfpatswat@gmail.com)
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The Swatter: April 15-22 →
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cmon son says:
Sorry SPJP, you guys went soft this year and have officially lost the most annoying group on campus award. Didnt even come close. If you want coverage and attention youre gonna have to innovate.
Mahmoud Abbas says:
Since we are trying to accurately depict the setting in Israel and the Palestinian Territories, will there be fake suicide bombers trying to pass the fake check points? Or maybe fake rocks being thrown over the fake wall to kill fake innocent bystanders?
Wouldn’t want to unjustly represent the cause of justice in Palestine.
parent says:
“Hamas teaches Palestinian schoolboys how to fire Kalashnikovs
Palestinian schoolboys are learning how to fire Kalashnikovs, throw grenades and plant improvised explosive devices as part of a programme run by Hamas’s education ministry.”
Another example of whom the Swarthmore students align yourselves with. This obviously is not in the Quaker tradition. And yes, a crossing into Israel was closed this weekend after more rockets were fired at Israeli civilians celebrating a holiday. The Palestinian violence does not fit with Quaker principles. Or any other ideals that promote peace or good will. Shame on the Swarthmore administration that condones “student” groups supporting terrorists like Hamas to take over Parrish.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/palestinianauthority/10023810/Hamas-teaches-Palestinian-schoolboys-how-to-fire-Kalashnikovs.html
She doesn’t even go here!
Ygritte ( User Karma: 0 ) says:
As a wilding, I must vehemently oppose the wall. You know nothing, Joe Swarthmore.
Tormund Giantsbane says:
I think she’s a crow. Impersonator!
Jewish Internet Defense Force says:
I second this^^
Pro-Israel says:
I think someone should take a sledgehammer to the wall and give SPJP a sense of how it feels to be an Israeli…
Um... says:
More like take a bulldozer to your house, to give you a sense of how it feels to be a Palestinian… Or build a wall through your village… Or bomb your hospitals… Or torture your children…
Student '15 says:
I feel like SPJP has done an excellent job in the past bringing to light the issues that are currently taking place between Israel and Palestine. Whether it was posters/signs or the demonstration that was setup behind Kohlberg, I believe in the Fall Semester, much of their campaigning has been interesting and effective.
The wall however, takes this too far. It’s annoying, and impedes hundreds of Swatties each day that it is kept up. McGill walk is a heavy traffic area, and as the members of SPJP should know, Swatties are busy and everybody cuts through Parrish. I don’t need to be told I cannot walk down or up McGill on my way to class/Sharples/my dorm. If there was an option to participate in the demonstration or not, and the wall left half the walk open for those that didn’t wish to participate, fine. However, this does not seem to be the case as I was forced to walk around the wall today. This is beginning to look as excessive as the “VoteYes” chalkings, with the addition of actually being physically impeding. Not to mention, as the weather continues to get nicer, tours pick up. Is this the type of image we want perspective students to see? A big wall thats looks like scaffolding in front of Parrish? I thought we were doing more work on Parrish as I approached it this morning en route to class. SPJP, you’ve campaigned so effectively, why do this?
Actually I think that it would be helpful for the parent and student tours to see this fence.
If we had seen it, my student would have gone elsewhere and could have saved much time and money, going to a better school that has less hostility.
One reason that Swarthmore was chosen was due to the past affiliation with Quakerism. This wall is totally not in line with that spirit. What a mistake we made!
Non-Quaker says:
As a non-Quaker, I actually see this wall as perfectly in line with Quaker values. Many of the Quakers I’ve talked to see social action as a huge part of their spiritual project. Drawing attention to the violence of the wall in Gaza is an act against violence, not for it. I’m not sure what admissions told you, but if you wanted a school of students who stood silently by as injustice happened then maybe you really have made a mistake.
No, I wanted a school that was more in line with Quaker actions. Swarthmore is nowhere near that now. I suggest that you research the Quaker approach to political conflicts. It does not involve intimidating, dividing, and provoking fear, as is done with this wall.
I realize that the student body at Swarthmore generally is aligned with Hamas when the issue of Israel comes up. The bulk of the students there agree with Shariah Law and the oppression of women, gays, and transgenders in the Arab countries, including in Gaza by Hamas.
If that is how the student body feels, and accepts this organization that celebrates the Hamas rule of Gaza, and accuses Israel of all types of human rights violations, then so be it.
But it is very clear that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East that allows freedom of religion and speech for Christians, Jews and Muslims, including women, and gays. It is not perfect, and no country is.
However, during the last attacks from Gaza on Israel, perhaps you remember 2 men who were accused by Hamas in Gaza of being sympathetic with Israel. Then with no trial, they were shot by Hamas in their heads and dragged through the streets on the backs of motorcycles until their bodies disintegrated.
That is the group that the bulk of Swarthmore students appear to support. A wall to defend itself is a necessity because of the terrorists who have brutally attacked Israel.
Israeli Christians, Jews and Muslims are people too, and it would good if the terrorists in Gaza and the West Bank stopped killing them.
But I expect the sentiment here will go with Hamas. Terror must be politically correct now at Swarthmore.
Razi Shaban '16 ( User Karma: 0 ) says:
I can’t even… I would respond to this, but I can’t take you seriously. Have you ever visited Swarthmore?
dying laughing says:
wow holy shit
because orthodox judaism and ANY/ALL ORTHODOX / FAR RIGHT SECTS OF RELIGION are way more friendly to women, “gays and transgenders”
(actually some orthodox interpretations of the quran can be very surprisingly down for women, soooo)
your ass is showing
also if you are not a gay or transgender person please stop tokenizing us so you can feel self-righteous about your tantrum
(Impersonator) Joe B. (the actual actual one) but really David H. IV '13 says:
parent troll is trollish
yeah ok
hamas 4evz luvz them kisses xoxoxoxoxoxo 😡 😡 😡
(Impersonator) Joe B. says:
Well, they just want to ruin your day because they’re spiteful little cretins. Can you blame them?
Editor’s Note: The name of this commenter was modified because it was posted by an impersonator.
Joe Boninge '16 (the actual one) ( User Karma: 1 ) says:
I didn’t write this either! This is really getting out of hand.
Again, why are there so many people impersonating me? I didn’t know I was so popular.
Justice Troll says:
Yo but is this actually a problem for you, being forced to walk around a wall? We’re all forced to walk around walls everyday. It’s called being in any building ever.
Perhaps if you wanted to make it more realistic, you should just make ML kids have to go through it!
Hannah G says:
Out of curiosity, what does JStreet think?
Who cares about JStreet?
Joe Boninger '16 (the actual one) says:
That isn’t actually me! Way to sabotage this discussion, someone.
Neither of those were me. What the hell? This is fucking pointless.
(Impersonator) (Impersonator) (actual) says:
I am the real (Impersonator), and the other (Impersonators) are impersonating me. This is deconstructing my identity.
(Impersonator) Joe B. (the simulacrum) but really David H. IV '14 (actually) says:
it’s over you guys
the daily gazette is over
identity is over
daily gazette, you’re drunk
(Impersonator) (Impersonator) Joe B (actual impersonator) but really David H. IV '13 (actual) says:
But who among us is real?
Wait wat
Interestingly, none of the anti-Israeli organizations are concerned with the recent crackdowns by Hamas on women in Gaza. Women at public universities are now required to cover fully, including hijabs and burkas. They are not allowed to ride bikes. The books that they can read are being limited. Mixed parties are banned.
Journalists are also facing censure. Hamas has carried out a wave of arrests of Palestinian journalists in the coastal territory, accusing them of being involved in “suspicious activities.” Palestinian human rights groups say internal security services in the Gaza Strip have stepped up harassment of journalists in the Gaza Strip.
“A recent 43-page report by Human Rights Watch documents extensive violations by Hamas security services, including warrantless arrests, failure to inform families promptly of detainees’ whereabouts, and subjecting detainees to torture. It also documents violations of detainees’ rights by prosecutors and courts. Military courts frequently try civilians, in violation of international law. Prosecutors often deny detainees access to a lawyer, and courts have failed to uphold detainees’ due process rights in cases of warrantless arrest and abusive interrogations, Human Rights Watch found.”
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2012/10/03/abusive-system-0
Ding Ding says:
You win the derailment award! First prize in the, “But they’re talking about an issue in the Middle East and NOT talking about how oppressed their poor, poor women are” category. Congratulations said no one who actually read this article.
? ( User Karma: 0 ) says:
i’ve heard that the president’s office paid for this, is that true?
?? says:
Is this the same President’s Office that actively fights divestment from coal? You really think it would support divestment from an apartheid state?
Dude, chill out. Israel’s not an apartheid state.
actually ( User Karma: 3 ) says:
Apartheid is an extremely accurate way of describing what happens in Israel. I’m usually not a fan of the Swarthmore activism (’13’s post is partly the reason) but on this issue I’m totally behind them.
Dear Frustrated ( User Karma: 1 ) says:
That was not Joe Boninger. That was a troll.
Frustrated '14 says:
To Joe Boninger ’16 (the actual one): The state of Israel and Judaism/Jewish people are not the same things. Calling out Israel as an apartheid state is not anti-semitism; it’s criticizing the actions of a state. There are many Jews who would say Israel is an apartheid state.
That’s…a little antisemitic. I’d expect similar comments from jihadists and neo-nazis.
Joe Boninger '16 ( User Karma: 1 ) says:
After thinking more about this, my opinion has become stronger. It’s difficult for me to believe that a group calling themselves “Students for Peace and Justice in Palestine” would subject the campus to such a blatantly biased, one-sided demonstration that vilifies Israelis without publicly showing the other side of the issue at all.
I would be very interested to hear the rationale of one the DG readers that disliked my previous comment. Can one of them reply and explain what I’m not getting here?
Will '13 says:
I didn’t downvote your previous comment, but I’ll reply here. I think you’re asking too much of SPJP to encapsulate the entirety of a complex issue with one demonstration. No public display, lecture, or discussion can do that. I imagine that’s why there are a variety of forums: “This week, we will be hosting a series of events exploring different aspects of the current conflict, in which we invite you to participate. Our events are open to all students and we welcome hearing from all perspectives.”
Besides, there is particular value in articulating a specifically Palestinian perspective on the conflict. Mainstream U.S. media and political discourse is hugely biased toward Israel. For example, only 2% of network news programs on the conflict mention that Israel is militarily occupying areas legally recognized as Palestinian territory by the U.N. Palestinian deaths do not receive the same media coverage as do Israeli deaths (http://ifamericansknew.org/media/nyt-report.html), nor does the media accurately reflect the vast disparity of force deployed by Israel and Palestine, or the legally encoded disparities in civil rights between Israelis and Palestinians. And that’s just scratching the surface. In this context, when the pro-Israel perspective is given to us every day, it is important to have a demonstration that is unapologetically from a Palestinian point of view.
I also don’t think the wall “vilifies Israelis,” as you say. It offers a pointed critique of Israeli governmental policy (and by extension, U.S. support for that policy), but I don’t see at all how it condemns individual Israelis. Critique of a government is not critique of a people.
'13 says:
I find many of your points compelling but want to question a little bit further what you believe they justify. Discourse on mainstream outlets and in our congress is certainly biased towards Israel, due in part to American interests, lobby groups, and foreign policy based on democratic idealism (which is not always good). However, the discourse in leftist circles, on college campuses, and specifically at Swarthmore, I think you will find is the opposite.
Whatever the case, my problem is that I do not think bias justifies bias. This is a remarkably one sided presentation of the issue which likens the wall to an arbitrary barrier between two sections of campus. In sticking the wall on campus like this, the “simulation” lacks context or history. The meaning of any signifier can be manipulated by a systematic replacement of its context. In what way is this a pointed criticism? It seems a rather blunt gesture at a more complex issue.
What’s more, I wonder the training Spjp members who are conducting this simulation went through. Did they speak with membera of the idf about procedures? Do they have extenaive experience? do they have extenaive experience as someone with wach of the id’s thwy are handing put. isnt it possible to mischaracterize a situation based on your subjective experience without thought about parallel narratives? you might level, with good reason, these criticisms against israeli policies, but that would be a deflection of responsibility for the actions being taken on this campus. To what extent is honest presentation the goal of this action? And if it is not, I don’t think it should be presented as such.
I am deeply grateful to Spjp for starting discussions like this on campus, but again, as was the case 3 years ago, I think they have not considered ethical presentation in the pursuit of dramatic presentation. I think they received feedback much like what I am presenting then and should have taken this into account when planning another action. When an argument grows so heated that the two sides are hurling insults at each other, an unfortunate situation in which both sides are actively precluding a solution, if coverage of this argument simply quotes a single insult it disingenuously portrays this action as unjustified and only shows a limited set of consequences. This simulation is much the same. Where were the simulations of attacks by a very marginal, radical portion of the population on campus in the weeks preceding the construction of this wall? While in Israel the wall constitutes a problematic, immoral institution of psychological and physical domination, it has also been the only effective solution to a problem that has cost the lives of over a thousand, the injury of thousands, and the traumatization of a nation’s children.
Again, Spjp thanks for bravely continuing to bring these persistent conflicts, injustices, and tragedies into our discourse. You are performing the work of repairing the world.
Just because an anti-mainstream discourse might exist at Swarthmore doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be working to confront mainstream discourse. Swarthmore is not actually a bubble: we do get the same news coverage as everyone else.
I would strongly disagree with your statement that bias does not justify more bias. While I think there is a place for reporting the aims to report facts, SPJP are not journalists: they’re interested in drawing attention to an issue. So-called “objective” opinions would have no need to debate one another, would they? Bias vs Bias is the whole point of any dialogue. Of course issues are complex, but it’s unfair to tell everyone they have to present every side of an issue, especially one they have a political and/or personal interest in effecting.
As someone who hasn’t been involved in organizing this project and is unaffiliated with SPJP, I think the point of the wall is to say that there isn’t a context when a wall like this can ever make sense. It’s also just one part of a larger series of events and discussions aimed at providing historical and political context. Of course the wall isn’t meant as an honest simulation. It’s made of plastic, and SPJP members acting as IDF aren’t carrying weapons and can’t actually force you from getting through Parrish. They’re also not keeping residents on the other side of campus on a diet (http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/2-279-calories-per-person-how-israel-made-sure-gaza-didn-t-starve.premium-1.470419). It’s not capable of *actually* simulating the experience of getting through the wall, or any of the contexts for the wall itself, and it doesn’t need to be.
“When an argument grows so heated that the two sides are hurling insults at each other, an unfortunate situation in which both sides are actively precluding a solution, if coverage of this argument simply quotes a single insult it disingenuously portrays this action as unjustified and only shows a limited set of consequences.” The two sides aren’t hurling insults at each other, they’re hurling rockets, and one side is hurling white phosphorous. The situation is much, much more complex then you’re making it out to be. What, would you say, are the consequences of this action aside from drawing attention to the conflict? If people can opt-out of the experience, then what risks does it pose?
To another of your points: “While in Israel the wall constitutes a problematic, immoral institution of psychological and physical domination, it has also been the only effective solution to a problem that has cost the lives of over a thousand, the injury of thousands, and the traumatization of a nation’s children.” Something that hasn’t been discussed on this thread is the violence perpetrated by Israel against Palestine. While NONE of this violence should be happening, let’s not pretend that the two sides are equal. Israel is a major military power supported by US funds, and Palestine is a non-member state of the UN. The damage inflicted on Israel by Palestine, while tragic, is totally incomparable to that inflicted on Palestine by Israel.
(Impersonator) Razi S. says:
softclapper says:
Let me clarify:
Perhaps the DG could look into a two pronged system with two different type of usernames. The first type of username would be a continuation of unverified usernames for people (like me) who wish to remain anonymous.
But also, perhaps the DG could also make a NEW type of verified username for people who like to use their full names. This could be done by using a swarthmore e-mail accounts or perhaps signing in through facebook. Verified accounts would have more weight than simply putting one’s name: e.g. Joe Smith ’13.
I hope I’m not hijacking the comment thread or giving you an idea that will require too much coding. I just wanted to clarify, because I too believe there is anonymity but there is also value in using one’s full name. Perhaps the DG could look into a system that takes the best of both!
– H ’12
Hey Razi,
If that really wasn’t you, I apologize for the comment.
Maybe the DG could look into actual usernames and passwords for students and alumni.
-H ’12
Max Nesterak ( User Karma: 0 ) says:
Dear H ’12/softclapper (if that is your real pseudonym),
Thanks for your concern. Right now we don’t have the capabilities to do that, and I don’t think it’s something we will be looking into. The Daily Gazette believes in an open forum and believes there is value in anonymity. We also believe students from other colleges, parents, and others should be able to join the discussion. This does come at the cost of the occasional troll and, more seriously, commenters posing as others and then commenters posing as those commenters posing as others. If you find that someone has commented under your name, email the editors at editors@daily.swarthmore.edu from your Swarthmore email and we will rectify it immediately.
We encourage an honest, open discussion and hope the majority will continue to honor the spirit of the DG comment thread.
Max Nesterak ’13
Razi Shaban '16 (but actually) ( User Karma: 0 ) says:
Hahaha if anyone believes I actually posted this at 6:37am… Get to know me.
Also, awkward — I just downvoted myself?
Max, could you remove these comments posted under mine and Joe’s names? Thanks!
Hi Razi,
I hate having to down vote myself! Can you and Joe Boninger ’16 (the actual actual one) send me an email from your Swarthmore email accounts telling me the time stamps of the comments that are not from you. mnester1@swarthmore.edu
Uh, in similar vein, is this actually Razi Shaban ’16?
*soft clap* says:
Great job Razi Shaban! You have the time and resources to build a huge wall @ the most travelled location of your school but you won’t take the time to read a senior’s non-confrontational well-worded criticism of your political stance. /sarcasm
Re: '13 ( User Karma: 1 ) says:
Hey Will,
Thank you for that response. It really helped explain the demonstration for me. I see what you’re saying, and while I still wish that this op-ed could reflect a broader perspective, I agree with your points. The American media does show a bias toward Israel, which has always bothered me.
Once again, I apologize if anyone was offended by my words. That was not my intention.
As a practicing Jewish person with a not-yet clearly defined viewpoint on the right way to approach the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, reading this article was an interesting experience for me. On one hand, I support peace and justice in the Middle East, and this project is sure to create a productive and informative dialogue (look, it’s already doing that!). I’ll be the first to admit that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is very far from simple, and that there are atrocities being committed by Israelis, against Palestinians, that I am not okay with.
On the other hand, I would be lying if I said this op-ed didn’t make me a little uncomfortable. For reasons that should be obvious, this simulation of a checkpoint is making an inherently one-sided statement. The article is quick to talk about how the wall will “draw attention to the permanent reality of living in the Palestinian Territories” but it doesn’t even mention the reason why the checkpoints have been created in the first place, part of which involves missiles and other attacks by a small percentage of Palestinians against Israelis.
In place of legitimizing any opposing viewpoints, the article reads: “We recognize that this installation may be triggering for some people, and may bring up complicated feelings and emotions for many on campus. We would like to see all of these feelings channeled and discussed in a productive manner.” This seems to me to be slightly passive-aggressive and completely unapologetic to those who experience such feelings.
I don’t mean to offend anyone, and I am being completely honest when I say that I have no clearly-defined viewpoint on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I simply wanted to share why, as a Jewish person, I find this op-ed difficult. I hope that this can continue to be a productive discussion.
Question? says:
When a wall simulation was done a few years ago, I believe it was assembled by Facilities. At the time it seemed inappropriate to me that the college would help to put together a political demonstration, however worthwhile. Is it the same with the wall this year?
Hey Question?,
I helped build the wall along with a number of other students. We had someone from facilities helping us make sure the wall was safe (i.e. not at risk of falling down and hurting Swarthmore students). But the actual construction was done by the students of SPJP; the same happened last time.
Question? Answered says:
makes sense, thanks for the info!
David F. Hill IV says:
While your cause is certainly noble, alleviating the suffering of anyone generally qualifies as such, I will politely inform you that you will not stop me or any other student from using the main entrance of Parrish Hall or MacGill Walk at any time we wish to use them.
annoyed with David Hill says:
First of all, it’s Magill Walk. Second of all, can you stop being such a dick every time you comment? This is an effort to spread knowledge about another part of the world. Stop hating on other people’s efforts for once. I think this is why most people on this campus would consider you annoying.
Nice. I’m glad that being a dick isn’t common on this campus. It’s a good thing people don’t cowardly hide behind anonymity in order to be douchebags to one another…
Ok, granted, I was being a bit of a douchebag there.
Seriously! says:
He’s probably just upset that the wall is too big to take down like he did the SwatVoteYes flyers.
chief keef says:
hahaha still mad about that?
Why wouldn’t they be mad about one student silencing the legitimate speech of others?
Love the username, by the way. Keep it forever.
lolz says:
yo man, no one’s *actually* going to stop you if you’re that determined to go through.
against intimidation at Swarthmore says:
Actually last time they perpetuated this farce at Swarthmore, it was very disruptive.
The world reacted to the bombing in Boston last week. Thousands of Israeli Christians, Jews and Muslims have been blown to shreds by Arab/Palestinian suicide bombers in the past 20 years. In fact, doctors in Boston were calling the Israelis for assistance in managing the bombing victims last week, because this is what’s been happening there for so many years, by Palestinian terrorists.
The only thing that has slowed down the terrorist bombings in Israel are the fences, which help to screen out suicide bombers.
These events at Swarthmore have made me deeply regret paying for my child to attend Swarthmore. I would not give a cent to the college because it supports these type of deceiving, disruptive activities.
I would urge all donors to scrutinize this type of activity at Swarthmore. I would also encourage all parents of prospective students to think twice about sending your children to Swarthmore College, where open intimidation on campus by these biased, untruthful students is encouraged.
Swarthmore students are not suicide bombers and should not be treated like suicide bombers. It is one of the most expensive colleges in the country. We do not pay to be treated like terrorists.
David F. Hill, IV says:
Since this type of lunacy is what decides to come to my defense, I retract my earlier statement and apologize. Best of luck with your experiment. Against Intimadation, as a member of the loyal opposition to most of Swarthmore activism, I promise you that they aren’t oppressive, vocal as they are.
the infamous parent2 returns!
Seriously? says:
If you think that their cause is noble, why are you going to actively disrupt their peaceful protest? Is it really that much hassle to go around?
Slightly Confused says:
“During this simulation, you will be given an ID card representing an Israeli, an international citizen, a Palestinian with a travel permit, and a Palestinian without a travel permit.”
So we get to choose which ID we want to use? Or is one assigned to us?
I can explain says:
I believe they are distributed randomly
Prof. Taheri says:
Security cannot justify occupation. But then, one cannot ignore recent history.
Israel took its chances withdrawing from Gaza. The Palestinians greeted the withdrawal with thousands of rockets, forcing Israel to impose a blockade to limit the number and size of weapons that can enter the Strip.
Why would Israel now unilaterally withdraw from the West Bank, constricting its width to nine miles, and leaving its soft belly exposed? Any passenger jet landing at Israel’s international airport would be within range of should-fired surface-to-air missiles. There are many such nightmarish scenarios.
Trying to negotiate a withdrawal is impossible. The Palestinians insist on the right of return, in effect insisting that they will only make peace with Israel if there is no Israel.
In the meanwhile, there are dozens of Palestinian attempts to murder innocent Israelis every single month (http://www.shabak.gov.il/English/EnTerrorData/Reports/Pages/default.aspx), and the only things that are stopping them are the onerous security measures that make Palestinian life difficult: The checkpoints, the barrier, and the preemptive arrests.
The relentless bashing of Israel for defending herself may lead to events such as the ones brilliantly depicted in Jonathan Bloomfield’s award-winning thriller, “Palestine.”
Suggestions says:
Prof. Taheri, I suggest you read the article. I’m sure comments on it and the project would be appreciated.
Angry, hateful, uninformed and unproductive rants are not–by anyone. As I see it, this project and the other events this week are meant to spark thought and discussion among intelligent and considerate peers. There may well be those who hold conflicting opinions or disagree with the Wall project. However, I would expect them to voice their opinions and disagreements in an intelligent and non-combative manner taking into account that this campus is home to people of diverse beliefs and backgrounds, all of whom deserve to be treated with respect and consideration.
I actually hope that my response will be the only response to the above post, and that future comments will address the project and its purpose in a respectful manner.
How is Prof. Taheri’s post angry, hateful, and uninformed? It’s full of accurate information, actually. So It’s definitely not uninformed. Perhaps we can take issue with Taheri’s assertion that “the only things stopping [the Palestinians] are the onerous security measures that make Palestinian life difficult.” But I think even that’s a true statement. Taheri is not saying that if not for these checkpoints, all Palestinians would murder Israelis. He’s even saying that they make life difficult for the Palestinians, which is an understatement. Instead, he’s saying the simply true fact that they stop “Palestinian attempts to murder innocent Israelis,” which is, undoubtably, true, whatever else the downsides of the wall may be. I see in no way how his post was angry, hurtful, or ill-informed. Don’t you think it might be hurtful for some of us more Pro-Israel students to walk around a campus where we feel like we’ll be judged and insulted for voicing our opinions? And not everyone can make it to your forum, though I commend you for hosting it.
clarifying says:
I think “Suggestions” takes issue with Prof. Taheri making generalizing statements about “The Palestinians” which actually are unproductive and hurtful.
Prof. Taheri uses both “Palestinians” and “Israelis” in his above comments to refer to nation-states, not every individual in those nations. It’s pretty obvious he’s not talking about all Palestinians, just as I would never think this wall takes issue with all Israelis.
I’m not arguing, just to make it clear, that all or even anywhere near a majority of Palestinians are attempting to “murder innocent Israelis”; only that the wall has stopped some of the minority of those who do want to use terror.
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Athlete of the Week: Dana Bandurick ’23 December 8, 2019
Looping You In On Looped December 5, 2019
In Gratitude for the Learning4Life Program December 5, 2019
Swarthmore Fall Sports Recap December 5, 2019
Three Times the Willets Fire Alarm Went off, and One Time it Didn’t December 5, 2019
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Remate & La Loco Band
REMATE No Land Recordings (double album) -Acuarela 2007- "No land Recordings", his new double album with 25 songs, is jam-packed with clouds of latex, giant wings, toxic passion, dinosaurs, enemies, falls, one-eyed singers, pain in vain, kitties and beautiful ladies, love at first sight, howls, fireflies, propeller beanies, TV shows, sports, calls, Superman, glowing colours, bankruptcy, tenderness, mends. Whereabouts are the best songs being born? Where do they grow up like unhappy children? Which are the shops where you can buy propeller beanies? From gospel sketches and echoes to silences. From children playing to omnichords and pedal steel guitars. The dregs of his songs spread out like purple stains. Split in two CDs called "Beetle" and "Bird", we face the work of a brilliant and dazzling personality. A diptych drowned by a bitter liquid chained to an umbilical cord of appellant substances: free will, digressing songs and great enemies. Their morphology and dynamics go beyond these recordings, where we also find several collaborations, like the Loco Band (Paco Loco, Muni Camón, Pablo Errea), members of the Spanish band PAL (Carlos Toronado, Kike Pierrot) and even Gary Louris of the Jayhawks). Rumour is that a girl came close to him drawled: "Remate... you are sinister. I close my eyes and I become part of a David Lynch film". We have seen other girl crying because something moved inside her, and anoher guy holding himself trying not to fall down listening to the piano that opens "Toxic Love II". John Golden (a sound engineer who has worked with Sonic Youth, Chris Isaak or Low...) praised the CHARACTER (right this way, in capital letters) among others virtues of "No Land Recordings". And a family in not the best of moods/situation/emotional balance drove a hundred miles at night just to listen to his songs. It was very foggy in the lost highway, and next to the steering wheel, there was a compass to get lost by GPS. Remate: specie on the way to extinction. With a proper voice, manner and language. With plenty of humanity (faith and madness), the one and only inhabitant of No Land Recordings. Come in without knocking. Acuarela. (www.acuareladiscos.com)
Habana Annex 708 E 6th St
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Issues paper
Presentations and briefings
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About OICS
Custodial environment 2017-2018
Independent Visitor Service
Current and impending inspections
The Office is required by the Inspector of Custodial Services Act (2003) (the Act) to inspect each prison, detention centre, court custody centre and prescribed lock up in Western Australia at least once every three years. The Inspector has autonomous authority to decide which facilities to inspect and in what order. However, the Act provides that the responsible Minister may direct the Inspector to conduct an inspection or review of a custodial service.
Full Inspection is a routine inspection conducted according to the legislative requirement for each custodial facility or service to be inspected at least once every three years. These inspections are scheduled according to the required three year cycle. Such inspections follow the standard planning and procedures developed by the Office and contained in its Inspection Manual for Inspection and Research Officers.
Unannounced and short follow-up inspections occur outside of the routine three year cycle required by our legislation. They are typically reserved for custodial places where there may have been a critical event that requires the Inspector to exercise his powers and functions in the public interest. These inspections may also occur when the inspector receives information over a period of time that suggests that the performance of a prison has deteriorated to such an extent that the treatment and conditions for prisoners are being compromised. This information may come from a variety of sources, such as liaison visit notes and Independent Visitor reports.
Each custodial facility or services that falls within the jurisdiction of the Office is allocated a Inspection and Research Officer to act as a liaison officer between the office and the facility or provider. This designated liaison officer is responsible for developing an ongoing relationship with the facility and a knowledge of its operations and progress against previous inspection reports. A key aspect of undertaking this task is to conduct a minimum number of on-site liaison visits to their designated facilities each financial year. The number of visits required is determined by the assessed level of risk that the facility poses and encompasses such factors as size, security level, and previous inspection findings and assessments. At a minimum each facility is subject to at least four liaison visits per year.
Since 2007 the Inspector has published three standards to assist it during its inspections. The three standards are:
Code of inspection standards for adult custodial services (2007);
Inspection standards for Aboriginal prisoners (2008)
Code of inspection standards for young people in detention (2010)
The publication of these standards represented an important contribution to consistency and transparency of prison inspection in Western Australia. The standards were developed taking into account the full range of relevant international treaties, covenants, and the Standard Guidelines for Corrections in Australia. They have also drawn upon the UK Prison Service’s Decency Agenda, the UK Inspector of Prisons’ Expectations, the then Western Australia Ministry of Justice Inspections Manual, the national correctional reporting framework, observed practice, community standards and relevant research into the performance of custodial services. But perhaps most influential in developing the standards was the experience gained in inspections conducted and reported upon by the Inspector since 2001.
Page last updated: 20 Jun 2018
The Government of Western Australia acknowledges the traditional custodians throughout Western Australia and their continuing connection to the land, waters and community. We pay our respects to all members of the aboriginal communities and their cultures, and to Elders both past and present.
© Government of Western Australia 2018
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Texas Housers
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Local issues National issues
Homeownership and the racial wealth gap, in Houston and beyond
Yesterday our co-director, John Henneberger, appeared on Houston Public Media to discuss how rates of homeownership affect the racial wealth gap.
“The segregation of people of color into neighborhoods where home equity does not accumulate as fast, where foreclosure rates are often higher, where property values remain low, basically prevents people from being able to accumulate assets, and assets are the essential thing that allows the next generation to be able to afford a home,” John told the station (listen to the full story here).
The story detailed a recent study by Demos and Brandeis University indicating that homeownership is the most significant factor contributing to the gap in wealth between whites and minorities. That gap stems from a legacy of racial segregation, and segregation continues to drive it.
The Houston area’s racial homeownership rates closely resemble the country’s. As of 2010, 73 percent of white/non-Hispanic households in Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown own their home, compared to 68 percent of Asian households, 53 percent of Hispanic households and 45 percent of African-American households. According to the Demos/Brandeis study, if homeownership was equalized nationwide, the wealth gap between African-Americans and whites would shrink by 31 percent and the gap for Hispanic households would shrink by 28 percent.
The authors of the study emphasized the impact that “redlining,” the forced racial segregation of neighborhoods in the 20th century, continues to have on American cities. “Residential segregation by government design has a long legacy in this country and underpins many of the challenges African-American families face in buying homes and increasing equity,” Brandeis researchers wrote in a 2013 report that specifically tackled the black-white economic divide.
“Homeownership is really the largest investments that most American families have and it’s by far the biggest item in their wealth portfolio,” John told Houston Public Media. But due to redlining and discrimination in mortgage lending, credit and other housing factors, historic segregation has prevented many minority families from investing in homes and accumulating wealth at the same rate as whites.
In fact, Brandeis found that years of homeownership, not just homeownership itself, is the driving force of racial wealth inequality. African-American homeownership duration has been historically limited in many ways. Redlining artificially lowered the demand for housing in segregated neighborhoods, greatly reducing the market for African-American homeowners to sell their homes or increase their investments. Decades (if not centuries) of wealth accumulation makes it much easier for white households to use inheritance or family help for a down payment on a home – white families purchase homes and start building equity an average of eight years earlier than African-American families. And if those down payments are larger, since white families are far more likely to be able to afford greater upfront costs, that lowers ongoing loans and interest rates. The wealth gap is a vicious cycle: Those who have historically been wealthy are more likely to build greater wealth.
And the gap is getting worse. According to Brandeis, wealth inequality between black and white households tripled in the 25 years between 1984 and 2009. Minority families must confront new drivers of racial inequality, such as subprime loans and the diminishment of home values, even as the historic wealth accumulation cycle increases wealth disparity further and further. African-American homeowners are now 50 percent more likely than whites to lose their homeownership status, while in the 2000s African-Americans were twice as likely as whites with similar incomes to sign subprime mortgage loans, thanks in part to discriminatory targeting practices.
In Houston, the average resident is less likely to be rejected for a home loan than the average American. But a study released in February by Zillow, Inc. found that African-American and Hispanic Houstonians are more than twice as likely to be rejected than their white counterparts. Just 7.6 percent of white Houstonians are denied home loans, compared with 12.5 of Asian applicants, 16.6 percent of Hispanic applicants and 19.6 percent of African-American applicants. Meanwhile, home values and homeownership rates have sharply declined in Houston’s minority neighborhoods as the city’s housing market is ranked as one of the least affordable in the United States for first-time homebuyers.
What’s happened in Houston has happened in much of the country: the enduring damage of segregation combined with, and exacerbated by, new versions of discrimination and expanding inequalities in wealth accumulation. The Houston Public Media story highlights the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA), which helped an African-American Houstonian, Erica Jackson, with comprehensive mortgage counseling that has allowed her to purchase her family’s first home in Cypress, a mostly white, higher opportunity community in unincorporated Harris County.
Programs like NACA can help families like Jackson’s. But without large-scale action taken by cities like Houston to promote integration and alleviate racial divisions in housing practice, the wealth gap will continue to increase. “The city needs to not locate affordable housing opportunities targeted to people of color exclusively in low-income neighborhoods of color,” John said on the radio yesterday. Expanding housing opportunities beyond traditional racial borders will be the first step toward crumbling housing segregation and spreading more wealth to all.
TagsFair housing • homeownership • Housing segregation • Houston
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New field of sociovirology headed by UCD professor studies importance of social interactions between viruses
Margo Rosenbaum — science@theaggie.org
Photo Credits: COURTESY
Assistant professor makes novel discoveries about necessity of social interactions between viruses for reproduction, evolution
Viruses are more codependent and social than one may think — Samuel Díaz-Muñoz, a UC Davis assistant professor of microbiology and molecular genetics, studies these interactions and their relation to virus evolution. Through this research, Díaz-Muñoz hopes to learn more about how to better fight infections with treatments that revolve around viruses’ tendencies to socially interact.
“I tend to call … my work the ‘social lives of viruses,’ which is basically how viruses interact with each other, change their genetic makeup or evolution and, ultimately, how they interact with their host,” Díaz-Muñoz said. “We look at viruses as organisms, not as disease agents, which they are, but we are more interested in what the viruses are doing and why.”
In his lab, which is entering its third year, Díaz-Muñoz uses the social evolution theory to understand the behavior between bacterial and viral groups. It has been known for some time now that viruses live in groups, but little has been studied about how they coordinate and interact, according to Díaz-Muñoz.
In 2010, a paper coined the term “sociomicrobiology,” which first explored the interactions between microbes, and illustrated how the field was changing. In 2017, Díaz-Muñoz collaborated with two other professors — Rafael Sanjuán of the University of Valencia and Stuart West of the University of Oxford — to write a paper coining the term “sociovirology,” which encompasses the interactions that occur between viruses for survival.
As the principal investigator in the lab, Díaz-Muñoz leads the research program, which is comprised of three post doctorates, one graduate student and an associate specialist, through various studies and projects. He is in charge of obtaining funding, ensuring projects are executed correctly and safely, as well as mentoring the students and other researchers to reach their goals.
“It’s the search for knowledge, academia, and research that is exciting,” Díaz-Muñoz said. “We have just started studying viruses in this way.”
In the labs, researchers conduct experiments in which they create infections with many different types of viruses. Their goal is to see how much genetic exchange occurs between two viruses and what their offspring look like, Díaz-Muñoz said. Sequencing is required to determine how many genes each offspring virus gets from each parent virus.
“Most studies in virology by necessity are just with one virus because researchers want to control all your variables,” Díaz-Muñoz said. “In reality, out there, there’s hundreds of different strains of viruses interacting, and they go far beyond one or two, so in our lab we find patterns for all variables with multiple types of viruses.”
In Díaz-Muñoz’s lab, he said that because scientific tools are becoming more sophisticated, researchers can perform novel experiments like infecting and isolating single cells.
“We can look at treatment strategies in a very different way,” Díaz-Muñoz said. “Instead of creating a particular drug that targets a particular part of the virus, we can actually use viral competition to help.”
Díaz-Muñoz clarified that viruses are not actually consciously thinking or aware of their actions. When researchers refer to them as being selfish or cheating, they are describing a reproduction strategy viruses use to best pass on their traits. For virologists, acting “socially” means that one virus affects another’s reproduction, as stated in an article by UC Davis. Successful social interactions aid in survival, while unsuccessful attempts could result in poor outcomes like death.
Many of Díaz-Muñoz’s findings from his research were documented in the paper published in 2017 with West and Sanjuán.
“That collaboration was mostly an intellectual collaboration,” Díaz-Muñoz said. “With [West] at Oxford, he’s very interested in social evolution theory, and he had been thinking about its implications for viruses. [Sanjuán] has been studying viruses for a long time. He’s a proper virologist and he’s the only other person devoting his lab to sociovirology.”
Their collaboration included getting together to study the social interactions occurring among viruses, Díaz-Muñoz said. This paper explains their new understanding of the social relationships of viruses in relation with the social evolution theory.
“That paper was applying concepts that we usually apply to animals, to look at things like cooperation and altruism, and examining how they apply to viruses,” West said. “This allows us to better understand the success and dynamics of viruses.”
With the help of West and Sanjuán’s virus studies, Díaz-Muñoz was able to legitimize many of his findings.
“[The social evolution theory] is a mathematical, legitimate theory with decades of work put into it,” Díaz-Muñoz said. “We think this is an exciting field and people should pay attention to it. Our understanding about viruses may be changed.”
Díaz-Muñoz said that while only him and Sanjuán have labs dedicated to studying sociovirology, other scientists may be doing similar research without using the same name.
“I did not invent this,” Díaz-Muñoz said. “People have been talking about it since 1999 at least, but it has always been this niche area and now it is becoming more mainstream and incorporated. Nobody thinks about viruses without other viruses, and not many think about viruses without their hosts, and I want it to be more like that.”
Both West and Díaz-Muñoz said they hope their work will open up this area of research for other scientists to investigate. Díaz-Muñoz said their studies can help create new vaccines that beneficially take into account the social interactions between viruses, providing alternate treatment options for human use.
“Very few people had previously thought about viruses as cooperative social organisms,” West said. “[Díaz-Muñoz] is doing something really novel and different. It was very exciting to get involved in that.”
Written by: Margo Rosenbaum — science@theaggie.org
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Children of immigrants integrate into US economy at same rate as their hist
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Tag: releases
Posted on February 19, 2009 March 8, 2018 in Audio, music, Press Releases, Uncategorized
Big Cheap Motel LP Ready For Order!
Reprinted with permission of the author
The first of Siltbreeze Axemen re-issues one out of the gate is the trio’s 1983 Big Cheap Motel, their difficult third album, their protest album (following the blistering, insane, and completely live debut Equinox and the studio / live tribute to punk-dub-beer-noise-cubism, Mick’s Dancefloor (Mix)). Rarely heard outside the Southern Hemisphere, this montage of rough-and-ready live performances and Peterboro Studio recordings teeters on the precipice of chaotic genius alongside such stalwarts as Alternative TV / Hear & Now’s What You See Is What You Are and 1/2 Japanese’s Loud.‚
Says band member Stevie McCabe; “Bob and myself went down to check out the Christchurch Botanic Gardens, the scene of the summertime concert-in-the-park series of free outdoor events sponsored by the local council and Big M milk drinks, only to find the park plastered with billboard-sized posters of scantily clad young ladies advertising the sponsor’s wares. We immediately scrapped our set list– which extolled the joy of festivals and praised the council and Big M milk drinks as worthy town governors and milk-based food products, respectively– and replaced them with a set of ‘protest’ songs about the travesty, which were performed at the event, to the mild annoyance of the council and the sponsors. Following this brutal coming of age and awakening to the influence and power of advertising, The Axemen swore to use advertising to its full extent in future, but only for good (e.g. promotion of The Axemen), never for evil (anything else).”‚
Not exactly a Crass concert, but, hey, be careful what you wish for. Comes with a reproduction of original insert and original cover design, in a one-time edition of 500.
Reprinted from: https://flyingout.co.nz/products/the-axemen-big-cheap-motel?variant=339346039
Axemen’s ‘Big Cheap Motel’ LP Ready For Order!
So the 1st of the Axemen reissue lp series is now available. ‘Big Cheap Motel’ was originally released as a cassette in 1983 & documents the band’s assault on a free concert sponsored by the Big M milk congolmerate. On here one finds the Axemen to be the living embodiment of early ‘don’t man hate, man educate’ Riot Grrrl doctrine, caterwauling a set of on-the-spot original protests (+ a Rolling Stones cover) aimed at local city council & Big M’s salacious advertising that falls somewhere between ATV’s ‘What You See Is What You Are’ & Half Japanese live in DuPont Circle (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTuA_FGKzWk). Would Alan Alda approve? Hard to say, but hopefully it’s a formidable enough aural action to keep Germaine Greer’s piehole shut. It’s no Crass, but then, what is?
This lp is an edition of 700.
All copies include an insert & most come w/stickers suitable for bodily application.
Step right up & order.
15$ ppd US
17$ ppd Canada
25$ ppd elsewhere
Paypal to; sltrx@pil.net
posted by: Germaine Greer’s Piehole
2009 LP records releases Siltbreeze
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The Road to Stand-Up Stardom, circa 1989, via LaughTrack mag
Posted by Sean L. McCarthy | Feb 19, 2015 | Uncategorized | 0 |
LaughTrack’s Road To Stand-Up Stardom, from our Premiere Issue: March 1989. LaughTrack was like the Rolling Stone for comedy, handed out at almost every comedy club in the country during stand-up’s golden age.
— Courtesy of LaughTrack’s Founding Editor/Editor-in-Chief, Rick Siegel
Siegel told The Comic’s Comic that when LaughTrack launched that spring 26 years ago, “My art director was David Kaestle, who is in the AD Hall of Fame for his Lampoon “Kill this Dog” cover and his overall work. Sean Kelly was my contributing editor. We had a 550,000 circulation to every comedy club in the country.”
As for the magazine’s pull-out board game for stand-up stardom: See how much easier it was back then? Actually, change a few names, add some spaces for things such as webseries and podcasts…maybe not that much different? The more things change in stand-up comedy, the more they stay the same. Or is 2015 shaping up to be the 1989 of this comedy boom?
Somebody please whip up a new version of this game for The Comic’s Comic and we’ll circulate it.
Unless you’ve already made it and sold it as an app.
In which case, never mind.
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Sean L. McCarthy
Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.
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New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Saweetie and Quavo have decided to bring their relationship to the studio, a move that resulted in a pair of Icy collaborations. One of them, the radio-friendly "Emotional" has officially received a lavish video treatment, suggesting that they're looking to move this one forward in a major way.
In the sultry video for the latter, the real-life couple turns up the heat. Saweetie stuns as she enters the club before meeting up with her Migos beau. They show off their chemistry as they make out in the back of a car. The fashionista also flaunts her sexy body in lingerie and dazzles while putting on a show with her girls.
"I'm emotional / You know I can't let you go, I'm emotional," sings Saweetie.
"'Emotional' shows more of a vulnerable side of me compared to braggadocios tracks like 'ICY GIRL' and 'Pissed'," explained Saweetie. "It's been a year since my last project, so I'm excited for my supporters to witness my growth. Music is special because it creates a nostalgic moment in time, and I'm ready to create that next season with my listeners."
One year after dropping her debut EP High Maintenance, Saweetie returns with her newest EP ICY. The seven-track project features production from Hit-Boy, Murda Beatz, and London On Da Track, along with two collaborations with Quavo including "Tip Toes" and "Emotional."
Why Nothing But Thieves Are So Underappreciated
Hazelfest 2019 To Feature Headliner Jeremy Messersmith, "The Voice" All-Stars
Bay Area Band The Happys Bring Sunshine To Dark Places On New Single/Video "Cut The Rope"
Interview With Singer And L.A.-based Educator, Diamonique Jackson On Her Newest Song, Finding Balance And More!
NY's Handsome Young Ladies Releases New Album 'We Got It Covered' On May 17, 2019
Diplo Debuts New House Tracks "Hold You Tight" And "Bubble Up"
CCMA Winners And Juno Nominees The Reklaws Release Brand New Song "I Do Too," Out Now
All-Star Collaborations Announced For The "54th Academy Of Country Music Awards"
Tina - The Tina Turner Musical Cast Recording Available Now
Ajay Mathur's New Video "Start Living Again" Takes Viewers On A Journey Of Resilience And Redemption
Ciara Announces New Album "Beauty Marks," Shares New Song "Thinkin Bout You"
Israeli Pop Punk Band Loyal Panic Releases Motivational Single "Hero"
Hyro The Hero Reveals Details On Upcoming Tour Dates & Festival Appearances
Jenny Tolman's Wry, Brazen Debut 'There Goes The Neighborhood' Due July 19, 2019
O.A.R Releases New Album 'The Mighty' Today
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Monday 23rd October, 2017
What Mongolian Nomads Teach Us About the Digital Future
People who pack up and transport their house twice a year become choosy about their possessions. I recently traveled among the nomads of Mongolia for two weeks and had a chance to inspect their belongings. I was there to photograph their traditional practices, which were more intact than I expected. Along the way I discovered the Mongolians may have a few lessons for the future of digital culture.
The population of Mongolia is 3 million. Half of them live in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar, which may be the least green city in the world. Drab Soviet apartment blocks cram a town without parks, lawns, or trees. The other half of Mongolians live in deeply rural areas. An abrupt boundary at the edge of the city marks the end of the concrete and the beginning of the infinite grasslands that stretch to the horizon.
For the next 600 miles in any direction there is not a single fence on this treeless lawn. The cropped grass wraps the contours like a green rug. This uninterrupted carpet is marred by very few paved roads, and fewer electrical lines. It is perhaps the most primeval landscape on the planet: wide open plains of nothing but grass, rock, and sky.
Read the rest of this article at: Wired
Thinking Like a Mountain
Fantasy answers a lack, however imperfectly. And so much is lacking. Every inhabited continent has been denuded of ecosystems and species. Most North American places have shed wolves, elk, moose, brown bears, panthers, bison, and a variety of fish and wild plants, which were all abundant four hundred years ago. Before those species were driven out, there was the slaughter of the mammoth, the ground sloth, the wild horse. The squirrels, rabbits, and sparrows that surround my North Carolina porch are less signs of burgeoning life than survivors of an apocalypse; so are the revenant coyotes that poach chickens and puppies from the neo-hippie farmsteads outside town. Yet in the restored Arts and Crafts cottages that fill my neighborhood, the children’s bedrooms are as totemic as the Chauvet Cave: covered in animal iconography from the farm, the rain forest, the Cretaceous, and the deep sea. Planet Earth, the BBC series narrated by David Attenborough, makes us invisible participants in lives otherwise as remote as those in the Ramayana. We witness migrations, hunts, nestings, and hatchings. Forty years ago, John Berger called the zoo “an epitaph to a relationship” between people and animals. Today those words could be applied to much of middle-class mass culture: it has become a kind of memorial to the nonhuman world, revived in a thousand representations even as it disappears all at once.
Read the rest of this article at: n+1 Magazine
Shop the Tuscany Tote in Midnight
at Belgrave Crescent & shop.thisisglamorous.com
One Drug Dealer, Two Corrupt Cops and a Risky FBI Sting
On a humid summer day in 2004, Davon Mayer stepped out of his house on Bennett Place in the heart of Baltimore. Sixteen years old, Davon was short, plump and baby-faced, still more of a kid than an adolescent. Like many other boys in his neighbourhood, he had long since stopped going to school and was dealing drugs full-time.
On any other day, Davon would have been busy by this hour, trading vials of crack for cash on the pavement, keeping an eye out for the police. But this morning, he was on his way to meet with a narcotics detective named William King. Weeks earlier, the detective had arrested Davon after catching him selling drugs. He had taken Davon to the police station and then let him go, asking that Davon call him. When Davon failed to call, King had paid him a visit to let him know he wasn’t playing around.
As Davon walked to a nearby strip mall where King had arranged to meet, his mind was weighed down by anxiety. What could a city detective possibly want from a small-time drug dealer such as himself? The only answer Davon could think of was that King wanted him to become an informant. The more Davon dwelled on that possibility, the more panicked he got. Where he came from, there was nothing worse than helping the police. To snitch on fellow drug dealers was to invite death.
He got to the mall’s parking lot and saw King’s pickup truck. King was sitting behind the wheel, dressed in sweatpants and a T-shirt. He asked Davon to get in the back seat and turned on the engine. “I have been watching you,” King said, as they drove around. “I like the way you do business.”
Read the rest of this article at: The Guardian
Why Race Is Not a Thing, According to Genetics
Today, scientists routinely map the genomes of the long dead, from Neanderthals to medieval kings. What they’re finding out, says British geneticist Adam Rutherford in A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived, rewrites the story of human life on Earth—with some unexpected twists.
Speaking from the BBC studio in London where he hosts the weekly radio program Inside Science, Rutherford explains how the development of farming changed human biology; why the most important story our genes tell is that we are all family, despite race or tribe; and why it’s not genes that turn people into mass shooters.
If you think of DNA simply as a data storage device, the data it stores is biological information. In us, it’s three billion letters of individual code, or 20,000 genes. Paleogenetics is the study of our DNA from things that have been dead for a long time—paleo simply means old. It’s new because we’ve only invented the technology to do it in the last 10 years and, in a serious way, in the last five years.
What’s interesting is that DNA is far more stable than a digital disk or tape. Under the right conditions, DNA will last for thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years trapped inside the bones of a person or organism. With the advent of our ability to get it out, we can do genome studies on creatures that have been dead for thousands of centuries.
Read the rest of this article at: National Geographic
Walter Isaacson Goes Inside the Most Creative
Mind in History: Leonardo da Vinci
Midway through Walter Isaacson’s luminous new biography, Leonardo Da Vinci, the artist of rising reputation moves from Milan to Florence, and in 1502 agrees to meet the warlord Cesare Borgia. Leonardo at this point is fifty-three, handsome, a success, with a keen eye for elegant form, and happily coupled with a younger man.
Milan had given Leonardo his launch, stability and continuing work. He went back to Florence, where he was from, for new opportunities and commissions. Meanwhile, leaders of Florence, an artistic and commercial power, paid Borgia 36,000 florins in protection money, bribing him not to attack the city.
“Name any odious activity and Borgia was the master of it: murder, treachery, incest, debauchery, wanton cruelty, and corruption. He had a brutal tyrant’s hunger for power combined with a sociopath’s thirst for blood,” writes Isaacson. After some seasoning of gory proof, the author adds: “His only sliver of historical redemption, which is undeserved, came when Machiavelli used him as a model of cunning in The Prince and taught that his ruthlessness was a tool for power.”
Machiavelli has a brief role in the build-up to Leonardo’s encounter with Borgia. The Florentine diplomat-writer, “well-educated but poor,” goes with an influential priest to see Borgia, who had been made a cardinal at eighteen but stepped down after showing “less than zero predilection for piety.”
Simon and Schuster in the book’s press release has disclosed that Leonardo DiCaprio optioned the film rights. Picture Leo as Leonardo, nervous over Machiavelli’s negotiations. Cut to Andy Garcia as Machiavelli, fearful in his approach with the priest inside the ducal palace at Urbino, east of Florence, where the evil Borgia (Al Pacino? Robert De Niro?) sits wizened and coiled. The book continues:
“Borgia knew how to put on a power show. He was seated in a dark room, his bearded and pockmarked face lit by a single candle. He insisted that Florence show him respect and support. Once again a vague accommodation seems to have been reached, and Borgia did not attack. A few days later, probably as part of his arrangement with Florence that Machiavelli had helped to negotiate, Borgia secured the services of the city’s most famous artist and engineer, Leonardo da Vinci.”
Read the rest of this article at: Daily Beast
P.S. previous articles & more by P.F.M. // Top images: @alabasterfox; @candiceperrin; @brothervellies
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Sunday dreams ☁️ . & at TIG, P’s Weekend Pla
Twenty Goals for 2020 To worry less To dream more
Keeping cosy on these chilly January days / & at T
Pink powder room perfection & Happy Friday . 📷
Happy Friday! It’s a beautiful sunny day & at TI
Tags: architecture • articles • boots • collage • Creative • current events • FBI • french dots • Genetics • glitter • instagram • leonardo da vinci • Mongolian Nomads • Mountain • news • p • Paris • roses • Walter Isaacson
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Programs and Funding
Posts Tagged: entrepreneurship
Johnson & Johnson Innovation Opens JLABS @ Toronto
TORONTO (May 11, 2016) – Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC, today announced the opening of JLABS @ Toronto, a new 40,000-square-foot life sciences incubator, providing entrepreneurs shared lab space and offices, modular lab suites and access to scientific, industry and capital funding experts as they work to build important and successful early-stage companies. The new JLABS facility can accommodate up to 50 start-ups and opens with 22 companies that represent a range of sectors including therapeutics, medical devices and consumer health ...
May 11, 2016 in Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Government Partners, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Industry Partners, MaRS Discovery District, Media Coverage, Member Institutions, Mount Sinai Hospital, News, Partnerships, Ryerson University, St. Michael's Hospital, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), The Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR), Thunder Bay Regional Research Institute (TBRRI), University Health Network, University of Toronto, Women's College Hospital, York University
Ryerson University to host Dr. Daniel Kraft on Future of Health and Medicine
MaRS Innovation and the Ontario Centres of Excellence among the event's sponsors On Tuesday, May 31, 2016, Diane Francis, the first woman editor of a national daily newspaper in Canada and a distinguished professor at the Ted Rogers School of Management, will guide a conversation that begins with a keynote address by Dr. Daniel Kraft, one of the world’s foremost health experts and innovators whose ideas and work are shaping digital health. Dr. Daniel Kraft will be sharing his insights and experiences as ...
May 7, 2016 in MaRS Discovery District, Member Institutions, Ryerson University
MaRS Innovation forms strategic partnership with TandemLaunch
Montreal-based venture capital fund and entrepreneurship program brings over $20 million in funding and deep expertise in consumer electronics to MI members; first deal in speech recognition TORONTO and MONTREAL, (May 3, 2016) — MaRS Innovation, the commercialization agent for fifteen of Toronto’s top academic institutions, and TandemLaunch, a Montreal-based venture capital fund and startup incubator that specializes in consumer electronics have formed a strategic partnership (see the Areas of Interest chart below for examples). The partnership will co-develop promising technology emerging ...
May 4, 2016 in Funding or Fundraising-Announcements, Industry Partners, News, Partnerships
MaRS Innovation sponsoring Angels’ Den competition
Prima IP co-sponsoring the Ryerson University and St. Michael’s Hospital event When your business demands staying current with the newest inventions springing up across 15 academic members, keeping pace with what’s happening is half the challenge. That’s part of the reason why MaRS Innovation and Prima IP are sponsoring winners of an Angels’ Den competition involving the Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Science and Technology (iBEST). iBEST is a partnership between Ryerson University and St. Michael's Hospital that brings together Ryerson's engineering and science strengths ...
September 22, 2015 in Awards, Funding or Fundraising-Announcements, Industry Partners, MaRS Innovation Staff, Member Institutions, News, Partnerships, Ryerson University, St. Michael's Hospital
University of Toronto’s entrepreneurship programs to share over $3 million from province’s Campus-Linked Accelerator Program
UTEST among the four U of T entrepreneurship programs to be funded through Ontario's CLA program The University of Toronto will receive $3,056,000 in funding over two years from the Ontario government to increase its training and support for student entrepreneurship. The funding is part of the Campus-Linked Accelerator Program (CLA), announced today by Reza Moridi, Ontario’s Minister of Research and Innovation, and Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities. “Fostering the entrepreneurial spirit among students is a key component of Ontario’s Youth Jobs Strategy, ...
September 23, 2014 in Funding or Fundraising-Announcements, Government Partners, Member Institutions, News, Partnerships, University of Toronto, UTEST Program
Globe and Mail: Strong incubators are key to driving innovation
Jeff Cates' op-ed in the Globe and Mail's Small Business/Digital Innovation section on June 19, 2014 argues that incubators have a key role to play in fostering innovation, entrepreneurship and growing new industries in Ontario. Cates states this is particularly true when incubators when they provide programs and services to help young entrepreneurs succeed. The University of Toronto Early-Stage Technology program (UTEST), co-managed with MaRS Innovation, is one such program. UTEST is set to announce its third cohort within the next month. (more…)
June 19, 2014 in Media Coverage, News, Portfolio, Start-Up Companies, UTEST Program, Whirlscape
MaRS Innovation Industry Access Program (MI-IAP) accepting applications until April 10
Researchers working in orphan indications, drug delivery devices, big data and other key areas invited to submit a brief Statement of Interest The MaRS Innovation Industry Access Program (MI-IAP) is a simple, formalized process for marketing early-stage technologies to MI's industry partners: Baxter, LifeLabs (formerly CML Healthcare), GSK, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and Merck. The program's goal is to secure funding for researchers within MI's membership through these collaborative, strategic R&D partnership programs. First run in November 2013, the MI-IAP allows researchers to easily ...
March 24, 2014 in Funding or Fundraising-Announcements, Industry Partners, MaRS Innovation Staff, Member Institutions, News, Partnerships
UTEST’s co-directors share what makes for a great start-up application
The University of Toronto Early-Stage Technology (UTEST) program helps U of T students, recent grads or professors to take their ideas to market. Successful applicants get mentoring, funding and work space over a 12-month period as they advance their ideas. The program is co-managed by MaRS Innovation and the University of Toronto. In a U of T "Spotlight on Startups" news article, Brianna Goldberg spoke with Mike Betts and Kurtis Scissons, UTEST co-directors, on what makes for a great applicant. Here's an excerpt: What are ...
March 18, 2014 in Crowdmark, Granata Decision Systems, MaRS Innovation Staff, Media Coverage, Member Institutions, News, Partnerships, Portfolio, Treata Smart Solutions Inc., TrendMD, University of Toronto, UTEST Program, Whirlscape
Whirlscape exits beta, launches version 2.0 of the Minuum keyboard
Whirlscape Inc., a graduate of the University of Toronto Early-Stage Technology (UTEST) program's cohort graduate, exits beta with the version 2.0 release of Minuum, their hit "small keyboard for big fingers." Whirlscape Inc. graduated from the University of Toronto Early-Stage Technology (UTEST) program's first cohort. UTEST is accepting applications for its third cohort until April 17. Click here to apply. Version 2.0's release is already a popular download for Android Apps in the Google Play store. Users can get a 30-day free trial of Minuum and ...
March 13, 2014 in Media Coverage, Member Institutions, News, Portfolio, Start-Up Companies, University of Toronto, UTEST Program, Whirlscape
MaRS Innovation sponsoring OCAD’s incubator companies in The Artist Project
OCAD U, one of MaRS Innovation’s 16 member institutions, is participating in seventh annual showcase know as The Artist Project from February 20 to 23. The event demonstrates how art intersects with people, fashion and the environment. MaRS Innovation is supporting several fashion installations through OCAD’s Imagination Catalyst in the Installation Zone, specifically artists Jennifer Ilett and MeU. Jennifer Ilett, in collaboration with Sprout Guerrilla, will be showcasing a special moss graffiti art installation that combines technical, digital techniques and imagery with the ...
February 21, 2014 in MaRS Innovation Staff, Media Coverage, Member Institutions, News
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The Vincent Motorcycle – Fulfilling a Lifetimes Ambition
Written by Dan Steele in Classic Motorcycles
Anyone who knows me will happily confirm that for most of my adult life I have wanted to own a Vincent motorcycle. I’ve come close at least twice but the stars were never quite aligned.
Lately, I had come to terms with the fact that owning a Vincent motorcycle was not meant to be. That was, until a few months ago.
For the uninitiated, a Vincent motorcycle is the classical embodiment of speed and sophistication, a triumph of technical expertise from the golden era of the British motorcycle industry.
Both frame and engine are considered well advanced for their nineteen thirties design. Philip Vincent was apparently a budding young engineer whilst still in school. He used to draw plans for his motorcycle frame during lessons, which he asserted was superior to anything else in production at that time, history would prove him right.
To put his plans into reality, Vincent’s father sold one of the family land-holdings in Argentina and purchased the HRD Motorcycle Company from Howard Raymond Davies, the rest is, as they say, history.
My desire has always been for the 50-degree, V-twin of the series B and C models, the kernels of which were sown as a young man hanging on the fence at Claremont Speedway listening to the mighty engines in the sidecars as they battled for supremacy.
On the long, three-hour drive home, I would listen intently to my Dad and his mates chat about what had been dominating the racing that evening and, in the sidecars, it was always the Vincent. Dad and his mates found it quite incredulous that people would take the engine from a motorcycle that cost as much as a small house, and throw it into a racing outfit, to be flogged to within an inch of its life.
And therein lies the secret. Aside from being a powerfully, torquey engine, they hung together, week after week. Sidecar racers could rely on their Vincent v-twin engine holding together despite the thrashing they were dishing out.
Over the decades that have passed since I was that small boy at speedway marvelling over the motorcycle of legends, I have been immersing myself in the literature, both technical and folklore of the Vincent motorcycle.
Often, I found the dream very nearly outgrew the reality. If I was lucky enough to stumble upon an actual Vincent motorcycle, I would stand looking at the machine, drinking in the lines and babbling about it to any and everyone within earshot. It was as if these motorcycles were an entity beyond anything else with two wheels.
In reality, Vincent motorcycles are not some mythical creature, they have been created by man, made of metal and alloy and they’re not exactly rare, just very expensive, so, fiscal resources aside, my dream was destined to one day become a reality – I just didn’t expect it would take me forty years!
Of course, having been created by man so too can they be improved by man. One man particularly versed in improving the Vincent is Terry Prince.
Throughout the life of the Vincent motorcycle a few names come to the fore, Howard Raymond Davies (HRD), Phillip Vincent, Phillip Irving and Terry Prince.
There’s a great many others but those four gentlemen feature prominently in Vincent discourse that I’ve been drawn to over a lifetime of consuming information on the marque. With Terry Prince being the only who is still alive, and therefore still active in Vincent engineering, he is keeper of the Vincent flame.
Terry is known around the world as one handful of specialist engineers who will manufacture a complete, Vincent engine, and even the whole motorcycle, using modern engineering and materials. Such is the timelessness of the engine, they are now commonly being produced in 1200 or 1375cc variants, are raced with great success in both two and three-wheel formats.
The Australian Irving Vincent is a case in point. They continue to perfect and fettle their modern creation which they have named in a tilt to the designer of the v-twin engine – Phil Irving.
It had crossed my mind to build a creation from after-market engine parts and slot it into an Egli or Norton Featherbed frame. I have machines using both of these frames but they use period-correct Triumph triple and twin engines respectively.
Constructing a replica engine would be an indulgent, expensive process that wouldn’t actually slake my desire to own an actual Vincent motorcycle, such as that I which have coveted most of my life.
A motorcycle from the nineteen forties or fifties comes with a provenance that can’t be created. It is the embodiment of the previous owners, all of whom, I would suspect, had similar desires and dreams as my own.
When a 1948 Vincent Rapide popped up on the market laying claim to having been restored by Terry Prince consisting 85% of new parts it well and truly pinged my motorcycle radar.
Lovingly restored 1948 Vincent Rapide
Here was a Vincent that promised a balance between original, precious metal and a road-going, reliable link to the iconic motorcycle, in modern parlance, an everyday-rider.
The advertising blurb read, amongst other things….
“Prince’s hand is evident all around the bike, starting with the front brake hubs, which contain four-leading-shoe internals. Suspension has been upgraded with modern dampers front and rear. An accessory tread-Down centre-stand eases parking chores. The Shadow 5in. ‘clock’ perched atop the forks is a nice touch. Of course the engine – just overhauled by Prince and breathing though modern carbs.”
The 5-inch ‘clock,’ referred to in the advert, is a massive speedo that has been lifted from Vincent’s own hot-rod, the Black Shadow. Rumour has it people have been booked for speeding by police who have been able the read the speedo from a position slightly astern of an errant Vincent rider.
Legend has it, having stopped the Vincent, the cop asks “Do you know how fast you were going?”
“I do, I could read your speedo from the driver’s seat of my patrol car!”
It may be true, who knows. The Black Shadow was capable, indeed guaranteed, to be good for 125 mph. They are rare and, aside from the Black Lightening or Series A machines, are the most collectible.
Just about every Vincent Rapide that is rebuilt these days is done so to Black Shadow specs, including the machine I was looking at. The Black Shadow touches added to the desirability of the machine, although, it should be said, a Vincent Rapide in stock trim is a highly desirable machine on its own. Improved suspension and twin-leading brakes up front also piqued my interest.
I resolved to call Terry Prince.
Having made the decision to call Terry, I found I was a bit nervous. What if I wasn’t deemed competent to own a Vincent? I had let opportunities of ownership slip through my fingers in the past, maybe the motorcycle gods had already decided I wasn’t eligible to join the ranks of Vincent owners. Or, perhaps it could be fatalism with all the other machines being pushed aside until this one came along. With all the nervousness of a job interview I made the call.
Within moments of calling Terry Prince I was relaxed and we were chatting like old friends. The more we talked the more I wanted that motorcycle. I learned the bike had been reassembled by Terry from a basket case presented to him along with a Vincent Black Shadow.
At the time of building the machine it was Terry’s intention keep it as his personal everyday rider, which reinforced the notion of no expense spared when it came to building the machine with upgraded brakes, suspension, modern carbs and electronic ignition.
At the time of calling Terry two other people had expressed an interest in the bike and one was particularly serious, so serious in fact the bike had been shipped from the US to Melbourne as the prospective purchaser lived in Victoria. How the bike came to be in the US is a long story, but, at the time of my call, it was still sitting in California.
Before the bike was due to leave the US a Black Shadow came up for auction in Australia and purchaser number one was keen to bid on it and Terry was prepared to hold the Rapide pending the outcome of the auction.
Evidently, he won the auction, with a bid of $AUD160,000, as two days later when I phoned Terry he hadn’t heard from either gentleman and the way was cleared for me to send my deposit to secure the motorcycle. I hurriedly sent off a great chunk of the funds I had set aside for my daughter’s forthcoming wedding (sorry Love).
Sometime later the Vincent was loaded on a ship destined for Melbourne. I waited a few short weeks and as soon as the boat berthed in Melbourne I booked my flights, first to Melbourne to check out the bike and secondly to Sydney to meet the man himself and hand a cheque over.
10 weeks after striking our deal I was standing in front of my Vincent (I still get a pang of excitement when I say ‘my Vincent). She’s a beauty. After two years in the US she’d lost a bit of lustre but I know within a few hours of the bike arriving in my shed she will be looking as good as new. I spent a couple of hours running my eyes and hands over the bike and heard her running. Satisfied with my purchase I set off for Sydney.
Arriving at Terry’s forest hideaway I’m met first by Ursala and then Terry comes out to greet me. Again, I’m immediately at ease with this couple who have invited me into their house for the night. After coffee and a chat I was treated to a visit to the workshop.
There were four Vincent motorcycles and at least one complete engine in the workshop. I was particularly intrigued by the engine because it is a new one, made from all new parts.
Sadly, the parts don’t simply just bolt together and, out of frustration, it has been sent to Terry to rectify and make usable, causing him a host of frustrations. Had he been on the job from the get-go it would be fine but now Terry is having to go back to bring someone else’s work up to spec. It’s a difficult and costly task which, at the end of the day, will result in someone having spent a lot of money for a replica Vincent engine.
Standing in the workshop, I’m juxtaposed between the old and the new, where items from this century and last are found in the same engine. Terry’s original engine, one he’s owned for close to 65 years, sits in a modern chassis and is reportedly pumping out over three times its original 45 horsepower.
That same engine has also seen regular service in Terry’s Land Speed Sidecar – which still holds world records at Bonneville Speedway. This creation is not unlike Bert Munro’s famous Indian, except Terry started with better stock in the Vincent than a clunky, old vintage Indian.
The stock of new parts, heads, barrels, pistons and just about everything that has a thread is tantalising. One of my close calls to Vincent ownership includes me recently bidding on a pair of Vincent crankcases. Two lumps of alloy that were sold for close to $AUD5,000.
At the close of the auction I was slightly relieved not to have been the winning bidder, a relief that was even more palpable when I saw the look on Terry’s face as I recounted the story. Suffice to say I would have been up for a lot of money to bring those crankcases up to anything resembling a functional engine.
Not that I need worry any more. As a proud owner of my very own 1948 Vincent motorcycle that thanks to a few complimentary modern parts will outlast me, I couldn’t be happier. I plan to get some serious mileage out of this beautiful machine.
In all its glory, my Vincent motorcycle
Please support by sharing
Dan Steele
Dan is a vintage motorcycle fan based in Australia. He boasts a collection that includes Triumph and Norton classics as well as his latest pride and joy, a Vincent Rapide
One thought on “The Vincent Motorcycle – Fulfilling a Lifetimes Ambition”
Glynn Miller says:
Great story.another dream fullfilled.its a pity we have to wait so long for realisation.happy trails my friend.
link to The Harley Davidson V-Twin Engine
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With special guest appearances by Vincent and Ducati What gives the Harley Davidson its distinctive sound? Here, Dan explains how the famous 45 degree V-twin engine not only produces the most...
link to Red Duster Racers 2019 Lake Perkolilli, Western Australia
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Standing in the vast, open-plain, dry lake bed in the Australian Outback is a world away from where I had been just 10 days earlier. The red dust of the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia is...
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Mordechai Vanunu: a defiant spirit
Billy Briggs on July 18, 2017 April 18, 2019
The whistleblower who revealed Israel's secret nuclear missile programme and was jailed for 18 years has been sentenced again.
Historic vote to ban nuclear bombs praised by Sturgeon – but dissed by Westminster
Rob Edwards on July 12, 2017 April 18, 2019
Backed by Nicola Sturgeon but boycotted by Westminster, 122 countries agree a treaty for the “irreversible elimination” of nuclear weapons.
Bid to sue UK government for Trident ‘war crimes’ under investigation
The Attorney General’s Office is investigating whether Prime Minister Theresa May can be taken to court for conspiring to commit war crimes with Trident.
Alarm over steep rise in nuclear bomb convoys in Scotland
Rob Edwards on May 2, 2017 May 8, 2017
The number of nuclear bombs being driven to and from the Clyde rose more than fivefold last year to help modernise Trident.
Westminster under fire for defying UN on nuclear weapons
Rob Edwards on October 31, 2016 November 2, 2016
The UK government has been lambasted for rejecting a move by the United Nations to outlaw nuclear weapons.
Nuclear convoy collisions and breakdowns exposed
Rob Edwards on September 21, 2016 October 2, 2016
The nuclear bomb convoys that shuttle across the country have reported 43 safety incidents in the last three years, according to the Ministry of Defence.
Trident plans ‘in doubt’, says government watchdog
Rob Edwards on August 8, 2016 August 8, 2016
The Infrastructure and Projects Authority told the Cabinet Office that £31bn programme for new nuclear submarines faces "major risks".
Westminster ‘lied’ on Trident independence
Rob Edwards on July 18, 2016 July 18, 2016
Successive Westminster governments have deceived the public by pretending that Trident is a British bomb when it’s actually American, according to a new expert report.
Skills shortage threatens Trident safety, says MoD
Rob Edwards on June 9, 2016 June 21, 2016
New safety fears over 10-year failure to recruit enough skilled and experienced staff to work on UK nuclear weapons and submarines.
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Reba Maybury’s company Wet Satin Press publishes books about, ‘perversion, worms, fetish, women, being a woman, passion, being a man, control, power, sex, identity, hating the Tories, integrity, guttural emotion and boredom.’ Basically, everything interesting and nothing dull. In the past, the editor, writer and dominatrix has collaborated with slaves to produce a zine, and written a book exploring female friendships in the porn industry. Her new book, Dining with Humpty Dumpty, is set in the air-conditioned chain restaurants of London, a true-ish story of Mistress Rebecca’s relationship with a sub she calls Humpty, a man who is looking for a woman to help him ‘balloon in size’.
You grew up in a village. Did you ever feel like you fit in? What did you want to be when you grew up?
I grew up in the kind of village that people move to so they can retire, so just being young in itself was alienating, let alone all the burgeoning adolescent ideas of revolt that happen where you can question whether you fit in or not! I do remember writing in chalk on the walls of buildings ‘I hate The Daily Mail’ when I was a young teenager which is hilariously embarrassing. I suppose that was my way of understanding political disparity in an environment of pleasant mundanity - the power of the right wing press! I used to fantasise about living in a city, being able to walk to see friends and shops that were open 24 hours. I wanted to exist within an energy that questioned transgression. I don’t remember ever having one fixed ambition, but I did like the idea of being a sexologist.
You're interested in subcultures, gender, sexuality - can you remember when you first started asking questions about these things?
Yes, this all happened the day I started my period when I was 10 years old. My body became more advanced than my mind and I had to understand what that meant in a world where women are commodities to men when I didn’t even know I had a vagina.
What are your thoughts on subculture today? What are your thoughts on feminism in popular media?
Both subculture and feminism have been commodified to laughable perversities. I like real activism, like Sisters Uncut. The haze of posh girls with caucasian armpit hair on social media is a distraction for all of us.
Acquiring power as a woman is more complicated than I could have ever imagined, both fictionally and in lived reality.
What's important to you as a publisher? What stories do you want to tell?
I am fascinated in stories that deconstruct power and the mundanity of neoliberalism.
When did you start working as a dominatrix?
Two years ago.
What have you learned about the sex industry?
Many things. Perhaps the most prominent one is that acquiring power as a woman is more complicated than I could have ever imagined, both fictionally and in lived reality. It has made me realise in absolute clarity that all life is is a constant battle with control and someone always wants to be at the top.
What is your relationship like with your slaves?
They are all different and it depends on the severity of the relationship. The more mutually respectful, the better the relationship is. There have been a couple of slaves who have wanted a more emotionally fulfilling relationship with me who I have had to cut off contact with. But I do have a couple of favourites.
Tell me about Humpty and his reaction to your book.
Humpty’s character is fictional and based on a couple of subs that I’ve had, rolled into one. The day after the launch of the book at Bridget Donahue gallery in NYC I received a death threat from an anonymous phone number. The police suspect that it is one of the subs I was seeing last year, however I never gave him my phone number. I have been doing a lot of research about death threats and all sorts of women get them simply for having a voice, so this text message may be from someone totally different.
I wanted to create a character who possesses everything that is unchallenged in modern white, cis, corporate masculinity and the book goes into great detail deconstructing these elements.This book isn't entirely about my experiences of being a dominatrix projected onto the character of Mistress Rebecca, it is certainly a large part of it but it’s just as much (if not more) about the voyeurism of a very particular type of man who exists as a powerful but mundane totem of accepted masculinity in our culture. It’s about looking at male behaviour on the tube, really staring at the type of leather jackets a lot of men wear and wondering who designed them and what they symbolise, really thinking about what it means when a straight white Tory says he loved David Bowie.
Fetish is universal regardless of your class, gender or ethnicity but this book is essentially about a dissection of corporate masculinity pre Brexit and pre Trump through the dynamic of a dominatrix and her submissive. Mistress Rebecca, the book’s narrator, is a 25 year old art school graduate who visits Humpty in chain restaurants throughout central London during January 2016. During these dinners they discuss the submissive’s fantasies, including his 'female supremacy' and then his actual political views - that he voted for the Conservative party in the last election.
Ultimately the book is about someone’s use of a serious political issue being used as his sexual fantasy that he doesn't practice in his day to day life and how his dominatrix decides to digest this difficult juxtapostion.
Through a series of fortunate incidents, I discovered that you were [Turner Prize-winning artist] Rachel Whiteread's nanny. How did she influence you?
Rachel taught me that all that matters is your work. And if your work is good nothing else matters.
Photography by Ivan Ruberto
TFS i-D Staff 09 November 2016
harley weir's
five women
Across five cities in five countries, Harley Weir captures five creative women at different stages of their young lives, each inspired by the complex characteristics of CHANEL Nº5.
photostory NOZOMI KINOSHITA 22 February 2017
the colourful world of motoko 'motty' marui
Tokyo-based art director and graphic designer Motoko 'Motty' Marui’s practice is rich in vibrant colours that leave behind a visual explosion with a lasting effect.
photostory zoe whitfield 19 March 2017
adama jalloh's intimate gaze
Photographer Adama Jalloh has fast made a name for herself shooting up close and personal moments from her life experience.
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Dear Di
An Exploration of Sportation: Beer League goaltending
Charley Dutil
2019/03/22, 1:41 pm
Yours truly between the pipes. Photo: Olivier Roberge Milanese.
Thwarting pucks and mending nets with no pressure
The joy of beer league comes from the fact that I don’t feel any underlying pressure to perform and be quasi-perfect in the net.
Once upon a time if I faltered, I’d feel a deep sense of shame towards myself, my team, my parents, and fear of failing to make whatever team I was on when tryouts rolled around in April or September.
This would make me self-question every move I made on the ice, preventing my subconscious and reflexes from taking over and doing their job. And, as any athlete knows, when you think too much, you don’t perform.
As a goalie, you don’t have time to question yourself — any hesitation means the puck is behind you. So all throughout minor hockey I’d go through long highs and lows. This happened so much that I hid my personality in dressing rooms back in the day, and I think it’s the case for most goalies that play high-level hockey.
It’s tough to interact with players when you know that any goal that may be your fault or a player’s fault will be blamed on you, and can cause players or coaches to lash out even after good performances.
But beer league is different.
Everyone is there to have fun — as opposed to minor hockey, where everyone felt a certain amount of pressure from their parents and coaches. In beer league, everyone is here by their own will and is just trying to escape their daily struggles of having two 2,000-word essays to hand in a couple of days, and budget two weeks of meals on a student’s income.
As a goalie, I don’t feel loathed anymore. I feel appreciated — not a lot of goalies make it out of minor hockey, so goalies are rare to come by. I let my personality out, and I ain’t scared to say what I think.
When I step on the ice, I don’t play for an organization as I did back in the day. I don’t have to worry about what others think — it doesn’t depend on them. In other words, I don’t play for the Milton Winterhawks or the Halton Ravens anymore. I play for the Mighty Drunks or Les Gros Bats. I play for my teammates, not for myself or my standing as a goalie in an organization.
At the end of the day, whether we win 8–0 or lose 8–0 at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. We’ll talk about the good plays and try to concentrate on the positives, in spite of how little there may be, because that’s how you grow as a team and get better when you don’t have any practices.
And finally, I almost forgot. After a game in beer league, instead of a long ride home you get to enjoy cold ones with your teammates.
Beer LeagueCharley DutilGoaltendingLes Gros BatsMighty DrunksOlivier Roberge Milanese
Women’s basketball squad comes away with bronze
“I’m so proud of the school—they’ve stepped up, they did travel well, we had a whole section there that was hugely supportive and we felt it. I couldn’t be more proud.”— Andy Sparks, Gee-Gees head women’s basketball coach.
Gee-Gees beat Laurier for first time since 2017
The men’s basketball team opened their regular season with a big test on Friday night at Montpetit Hall. The Gees faced the No. 6 ranked program in the country, the Wilfred Laurier Golden Hawks, in what promised to be a heated affair.
Men’s hockey team loses Colonel By Classic banner in shootout
Entering the game, the Gee-Gees were undefeated in regulation, sitting in first place in the OUA with a record of 9-0-1, while Carleton sat in fifth with a weaker 6-3-2 record.
An exploration of Sportation
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Latest From Youtube
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RT @Sue_Hylland: 👍🏻🐎👍🏻🐎Nice story about a great @GeeGeesWSOC team that made all @UOttawa @uOttawaGeeGees so proud! 👍🏻🐎🇨🇦🇨🇦 https://t.co/rFjoOj89oh
The Gee-Gees young guns prevailed as the U of O men’s basketball @GeeGeesMBB team picked up its third straight win… https://t.co/16xa617zPT
The Gee-Gees women’s basketball team looked to improve on their 12-2 record down at Montpetit Hall on Saturday nigh… https://t.co/OsSF1gISlS
The Fulcrum
Dear TY
Copyright © 2018, The Fulcrum Publishing Society. All rights reserved. Privacy
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Healthy Howard coverage expansion could inform future reforms
Aug 11, 2008 • 4
By Sarah Arnquist
Howard County, Maryland is set to launch an ambitious universal health coverage, and the county’s top health officials says the effort will provide valuable lessons for future reformers.
Starting next month, 2,200 of Howard County’s 20,000
uninsured residents can enroll in the Healthy Howard Plan,
which will provide them access to primary, specialty and hospital care, and
prescriptions drugs for $85 or less a month.
Dr. Peter Beilenson, Howard County health commissioner and former Baltimore City health commissioner who ran for Congress in 2006, said this is the most ambitious local effort at universal coverage since San Francisco launched a universal coverage plan in April 2007.
Like Healthy San Francisco, Healthy Howard is not portable health insurance but rather health coverage for local treatment. Instead of levying a "pay or play" tax on businesses like San Francisco, however, Healthy Howard’s funding comes from individual premiums, county general fund dollars and substantial amounts of charity. (The Golden gate Restaurant Association is battling San Francisco in court over its tax.)
Beyond the grand ambition to provide universal health coverage, what Beilenson says distinguishes Healthy Howard is its emphasis on personal responsibility, mandatory health coaching and a forthcoming rigorous evaluation.
Healthy Howard is built on the philosophy that health care is a right and a responsibility. Thus, each enrollee has to complete a health assessment and is assigned a health coach, who helps them reach the goals set in their "health action plan."
If participants are not "substantively compliant" (yet to be defined) with their action plan, they can be dropped from the program. But the coach’s job is to make it as easy as possible comply, Beilenson said.
For example, if a woman’s action plan requires her to exercise three times a week, but she says she can’t because she lacks day care, the health coach will help her find an affordable exercise option with day care, he said.
The health coaching is based on the strategy of telephone health coaches that many insurance plans offer, but Howard County’s will be local, hands-on coaches to increase relationship building and accountability. The decision to make it mandatory was hotly debated, Beilenson said, but ultimately it reinforces their philosophy of personal responsibility.
Meanwhile, all the participants’ activities and health care use will be tracked electronically. Researchers at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health will use that data to track health status changes, specialist, hospital and emergency room utilization. This will be one of the most rigorous analysis of its kind, Beilenson said.
In 1998, Beilenson founded Maryland’s Health Care For All movement. Despite, his history with health care bureaucracy, politics and unsuccessful reform efforts, Beilenson said working through the "nitty gritty details" of the Healthy Howard plan has been the most convincing evidence that a single-payer system is the most sensible reform option."The most equitable and fair system would be a single-payer system because it removes so many of the barriers and fragmentations of the current health care system," he said. "That being said, it’s not going to happen anytime soon so we’re doing the best we can in the county."
Healthy Howard relies on charity care from the local hospital, deeply discounted drugs from pharmaceutical companies and pro bono work from specialists. Beilenson knows the financing is unsustainable and doesn’t pretend otherwise. But he doesn’t think that makes the effort futile.
As long as national health care politics remain paralyzed, local and state governments will experiment with reform and coverage expansion plans. Evaluations of Healthy Howard and other regional efforts can offer valuable lessons about what does and doesn’t work to lower costs, keep providers and patients happy and improve health.
And in the meantime, thousands of Howard County residents will have affordable access to a doctor, prescription drugs and a personal coach to help them reach their health goals.
For local governments thinking about launching a health coverage expansion, Beilenson offered this advice:
1. Support from the county executive is critical. The political capital raised from a supportive county executive or another elected official makes an ambitious effort like this possible.
2. A health department willing to work hard to make such an ambitious plan possible. "This has been an immense amount of work," Beilenson said. "I would estimate that as a health officer well over half my time is spent on this, and two of the top three people in the health department spend two-thirds of their time on this."
3. Learn from Healthy Howard’s successes and mistakes. An initial evaluation should be ready within six to 12 months to highlight what aspects of the program are working well and not so well.
Tagged as: Policy, Policy/Politics, primary care, public health, Sarah Arnquist
Volunteer doctors blocked by red tape
Happy Fifth Birthday, THCB
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Lauren Muney
Health coaching is a quality way to institute behavior modification. As an individual health coach and health behavior corporate consultant, I have seen great results due to the individual attention, but there are no “profits” to be won from coaching: only healthier individuals who stay out of hospitals longer and/or more useful to work, community and family. Coaching doesn’t seem to be a business model for companies who sell drugs, fast junk food, or placebo pharma, nor for hospitals that want profit for its shareholders. However, there are countries in Europe which believe that health care is a right– and… Read more »
“Beilenson knows the financing is unsustainable and doesn’t pretend otherwise.”
Good luck to Howard but I doubt any universal plan can survive without the larger tax base of the federal government – along with price/cost controls. I wonder how many single-pay counties have to institute
“mandatory health coaching”? Not one I bet. Easier just to tax fast food and give proceeds to healthcare.
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Day schools Halifax 2019/20
Derby Classes 2019/20
Kings, Queens and Mistresses
Medieval Monasteries
Benedictine Monasteries in Alphabetical Order
Timeline of History
The Eleventh Century
The Twelfth Century
The Thirteenth Century
The Fourteenth Century
-The Fifteenth Century
The Sixteenth Century
The Seventeenth Century
The Eighteenth Century
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Talks for groups
Elizabeth Denton
Posted on September 25, 2016 by JuliaH
I have just been re-reading Philippa Jones book on Henry VIII’s wives and mistresses. She suggests that Elizabeth Denton nee Jerningham was Henry VIII’s, or Prince Henry as he was then, first bit on the side. Not only that but she was hand selected for the role by Lady Margaret Beaufort which rather knocks the idea of her saintly piety to one side; though it might give an insight into the prevailing views of the rights of kingship. Its a thought that certainly made me sit up and take notice!
The idea that Jones puts forward is that young men’s minds inevitably turn to the birds and the bees. Lady Margaret Beaufort eager to avoid scandal and a mistress likely to make demands selected the lady mistress of the royal nursery for the role of…er…lady mistress on the grounds that she would know her place and not make any trouble.
For a man whose marital history has caused scandal for the last five hundred years relatively little is actually known about his mistresses and potential children but then the evidence against Denton seemed a little, well, vague. As Licence observes the claim rests entirely on the evidence of grants given in 1509 and in 1515.
So, what have we got. Well we know for sure that Lady Elizabeth Denton died in 1519 and that she was Henry VIII’s governess. Already one of Elizabeth of York’s ladies, her wardrobe keeper, she was appointed in 1497 to the role looking after the royal children which would have been Henry, Margaret and Mary replacing Lady Elizabeth Darcy in the job. The Princess Elizabeth was born in 1492 but died in 1495. Prince Arthur had his own household. We know that Lady Margaret Beaufort wrote the rules for the ordering of the royal nursery and that Elizabeth Denton received £20 per annum. If nothing else we can always rely on the account books. Alison Weir speculates as to the role played by Elizabeth of York and the relationship she had with her younger children.
Its those same account books that give the ‘evidence’ of Elizabeth Denton’s having been the lady mistress of the nursery in more ways than one. In 1509 she was awarded an annuity of £50 a year as well as the keepership during her lifetime of Coldharbour, Lady Margaret Beaufort’s former London residence. In addition there was a tun of Gascon wine delivered each year throughout her life (Hutchinson). It is based on this very generous remembrance that Jones bases her hypothesis. She argues that royal servants might receive allowances but this was a very generous allowance indeed suggesting that Elizabeth Denton had done rather more than the known facts would account for. This is the problem with many of Henry VIII’s women. Unless they end up married to him there’s very little concrete fact to go on. It all comes down to looking at the evidence; adding up two and two to arrive at mistress or illegitimate offspring. For a very public monarch much of Henry’s life is surprisingly private.
If we apply the same rule regarding the giving of grants and annuities across the board we should also be looking askance at Anne Oxenbridge another nursery maid who received £20 a year for life in 1509. In fact Hutchinson reveals that a whole series of generous annuities and appointments that were made by Henry at this time celebrating the start of his reign and rewarding loyal service to his parents by many men and women but no one is accusing Henry’s male french tutor of being up to no good! Nor for that matter has anyone suggested that Elizabeth Saxby who was also in receipt of a grant at this time was being paid for any of ‘those kinds of service’ rendered. It is a known fact that Henry VIII wanted to appear much more generous than his legendarily parsimonious father- so perhaps its not unreasonable that he should have looked kindly upon the men and women who cared for him during his childhood.
We know that an Elizabeth Denton went with Princess Margaret to Scotland in 1503 and that she probably returned when King James ordered that the number of English women serving her was to be reduced. We also know that she lived in the precinct of Blackfriars until her death and that she raised her own monument, her husband John having predeceased her before the contentious grant was given.
Nothing is known about John Denton but Alison Weir mentions a William Denton who served as Elizabeth of York’s carver as well as the king’s in receipt of £26 per year.
Elizabeth went on to be appointed to the care of Princess Mary’s nursery in 1516 having been appointed to the same position for the short lived Prince Henry in 1511. This in itself would suggest that she was a woman thought to be of sound moral values rather than femme fatale. It is, perhaps, unlikely that Henry would have put a woman of dubious morals in charge of his children’s welfare.
In fact, as much as I would have liked to have posted a highly inflammatory article I can’t because there is no direct existing evidence, that I know of, that Henry VIII was permitted a mistress before his marriage and that both his father and grandmother kept a very close eye on him indeed. Ambassadors recorded that he was kept as closely as a maiden which might, perchance, account for his delight in the romantic chase of his various wives’ ladies in waiting once he became king. Having said that it does make an excellent story and Henry was known to like a more mature lady during his early years… and no, last time I checked just because its a good story doesn’t make it good history.
The next post, reflecting the fact that I am somewhat Tudor orientated at the moment, will be about Cardinal Wolsey – someone else known for their flamboyant dress sense. Not only was he Henry FitzRoy’s (Henry VIII’s only openly acknowledged illegitimate child) godfather but he also had a ‘nephew’ of his own. Just think what the Sunday papers would have made of it, had they existed!
This entry was posted in Kings of England, Sixteenth Century, The Tudors and tagged Anne Oxenbridge, Coldharbour, Elizabeth Denton, Elizabeth Jerningham, Elizabeth of York, Elizabeth Saxby, Henry VIII, John Denton, Lady Elizabeth Darcy, Lady Margaret Beaufort, Princess Margaret Tudor, William Denton by JuliaH. Bookmark the permalink.
One thought on “Elizabeth Denton”
Sir Kevin Parr Bt on September 25, 2016 at 6:38 pm said:
Good article and hard to the truth. If the Sunday Papers had existed then we would have had the working class as Gentry.thank God we live in today world, if in lawless Latvia. Here my rank is totally ignored which is very humbling as it has severed me all my life until now no better than the turf under my estate lawn here.;Latvians slaves to the Russian overlords murdered raped and beaten into Siberian prisons .My partners grandparents shot in the attempt to hide food from the troops who took their house and shot them dead in the garden. Not history but 1945 to 1969.Living memory and true to the core. God himself must be protecting me from the wrath of the living who hate the aristo. Just hope it not France again. I keep a very low profile now..
Margaret Beaufort was an easy lady when a cock stood ready to serve. It mattered not she was obliging to all. Today we might call her a whore but she never told whom was the sire of her loins. Henry,the bastard. A tall French officer of the army he was and behind her husbands back she adored him every bit as much as proud Cecily Nevil did love the French soldiers. Yes in my humble factual experience her oldest son Edward 1V was not the son of her husband York.
Then my Richard was and all hell came to his reign but all leads back like a yoyo to Margaret bloody Beaufort and Arch Bishop Morton.
Glad am I ,this old fool,l who knows that you will now dig and dig to prove it one way or an other. In that effort my duty is done and I may rest in peace at last.
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Duke of Buckingham
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Elizabeth Woodville
Joan Beaufort
John of Gaunt
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Margaret of Anjou
Mary Tudor
Richard of York
Thomas Cromwell
William Cecil
William Rufus
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Top 5 Best RPGs of Q4 2018
Hayes Madsen
Published on January 10, 2019 Hayes Madsen
Home » Features » Top 5 Best RPGs of Q4 2018
Best RPGs of Q4 2018
Assassin’s Creed Origins started introducing heavy RPG mechanics into the franchise, but with Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, it feels like Ubisoft is doubling down.
Odyssey introduces the RPG tradition of moral choices, and it does a pretty good job of it. There are some seriously tough choices to make along the way, and those choices can severely alter the world and/or the story.
In fact, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is all about giving you choices. The choice to explore anywhere you want, the choice to approach the three main stories however you want, and the choice to take down enemies however you want.
Odyssey’s combat is much more robust than Origins, really leaning into the difference between character builds.
The world of Ancient Greece is stunningly gorgeous, and the great variation in color scheme is refreshing after the sands of Origins.
The writing in Odyssey is also top-notch, with consistently funny missions and situations. It also helps that Kassandra and Alexios are arguably the most likable Assassin’s Creed protagonists since Ezio.
Despite being just one year after Origins, Odyssey makes a strong case for the future of the series, and is easily one of the best of the entire franchise.
The early days of the Xbox 360 was, surprisingly, a hotbed for the JRPG genre. Tons of quality games released like Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, and Tales of Vesperia. A few, however, got easily overlooked, and The Last Remnant was one of them.
The Last Remnant Remastered sports your typical angsty teenage hero, this time named Rush Sykes. The game takes place in a world where powerful “Remnants” have started wars and conflicts throughout history, and each one is bound to a specific person.
Despite its apparent cliches, The Last Remnant actually manages to be an exciting tale with a host of strong written characters.
What really shines in the game, however, is its unique systems and combat. Instead of single party members, The Last Remnant has you bring units of characters into battle that function together.
This creates massive battles with tens of characters at once, and each time a unit acts every character within that unit acts. Of course, the same is also true for the enemy.
Combat ends up being incredibly strategic, as you’ll need to carefully plan what to equip on each character and unit, where to send them in battle, and more. There are so many small pieces that add up to the larger thing.
Despite what The Last Remnant does well, the original game was riddled with bugs and graphical hitches, partially because of it being one of Square Enix’s first experiences with Unreal 3.
Luckily, the remaster irons out those issues entirely, and even adds a fast run option for getting around the field faster.
The Last Remnant Remastered is a great way to experience a JRPG that you, probably, overlooked last gen.
Ashen drew quite a bit of attention back in 2015 when it was announced, mostly due to its striking art style. It’s been a long wait since then, but Ashen finally released on Xbox One, and it turns out it was worth the wait.
Ashen makes no attempt to hide its Dark Souls inspirations, and if you’re familiar with From Software’s iconic series, Ashen will fit like a glove.
Combat has the same methodical style right down to button mapping, and there’s a big emphasis on using timing and keyframes.
A few wrinkles are added onto the formula with Ashen’s open world and co-op. You can bring a friend or AI buddy along for the ride with you, letting you create more strategies for taking down enemies.
The muted cel-shaded aesthetic of Ashen also gives the game an entirely unique flavor, and its open world is gorgeous to behold, both before and after you save locations from the darkness that’s overtaken it.
If you’re a fan of the Souls-like you owe it to yourself to play Ashen, as it does a phenomenal job of adapting the core ideas of the genre while adding a few unique, interesting wrinkles on top.
Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee
Pokemon was one of the most awaited games once the Nintendo Switch was announced, and while Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee might not be a brand new gen, they’re wonderfully fun remakes of the classic Pokemon Yellow.
Beat for beat, the Let’s Go games follow the same story and outline of Yellow, but there are some big changes made to the overall Pokemon formula.
There are no more random battles, instead, you’re only catching Pokemon out in the wild, the same way you do in Pokemon GO.
Battles are now entirely relegated to trainers, but by and large there are more of them. Luckily, Let’s Go makes it easier to train your Pokemon as well, as each one in your party gets experience no matter what you do.
The art style of the Let’s Go games does a great job of adding even more detail to Kanto, and helps bolster the genuine feeling of joy you get while playing.
There are additional changes layered in, of course, like featuring Red, Blue, and Green as characters and a much more robust post-game.
Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee may be a bit simplified, but some of the changes made are genuinely great, and they’re yet another robust addition to the Switch’s growing library.
The Witcher 3 set the world on fire when it released in 2015, experiencing success the series had never seen before.
Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales has CD Projekt Red returning to the world of the Witcher once again, this time with a much different experience.
Thronebreaker is a single-player card-based RPG, with battles that take the form of Gwent matches.
The story follows Meve, Queen of Lyria and Rivia, as the Nilfgaard Empire invades and takes over her lands. Meve has to gather a ragtag group of bandits, knights, dwarves, and more in order to fight and take back her kingdom.
The writing and character development of Thronebreaker is absolutely top notch, on the same level as The Witcher 3. A strong score and voice acting back it up, and help add gravitas to the story.
However, it’s not just the story that’s engaging, as CD Projekt does a fantastic job at making combat unique, and applying unique mechanics across the entire experience.
One battle might have you sneaking into a keep, while another has you facing dwarves in a drinking battle. These all use Gwent mechanics, but do it in smart ways as to fit the theme.
Thronebreaker is a great addition to the Witcher universe, telling a gripping tale that provides even more lore and context to the world. There’s really no other game like it, and it’s one of the games from 2018 that you absolutely should not overlook.
Related Topics:assassin's creed odyssey, best jrpgs, best rpgs, MultiPost, pokemon let's go pikachu, q4 2018, the last remnant, thronebreaker
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09:59 Thanks Rivaldo There is also a bit on this on ProactiveInvestor, who cover Arecor. See also the December interview with CEO Sarah Howell (link in article below) https://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/910249/arecor-signs-agreement-with-hikma-pharma-to-develop-new-injectable-medicine-910249.html Arecor are also in a couple of the Oxford Tech VCTs and the Albion VCTs portfolios, hence my interest
timbo003
08:43 Thanks for posting Rivaldo. On current SCLP share price, I reckon HYG is still at a 30%+ discount to NAV so once this factors in, that should make it even better
jonesy100
08:17 Huge news just announced for Arecor, in which HYG's investment was most recently valued at £205k: Https://www.investegate.co.uk/arecor-limited/rns/arecor-and-hikma-exclusive-agreement/202001090800042141Z/ "HIKMA AND ARECOR ANNOUNCE EXCLUSIVE AGREEMENT TO DEVELOP AND COMMERCIALISE READY-TO-USE MEDICINE USING ARESTAT™ TECHNOLOGY Product designed to provide safer, more immediate treatment option for patients London and Cambridge, January 9, 2020 - Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC (Hikma, Group / LSE: HIK / NASDAQ Dubai: HIK / OTC: HKMPY) (rated Ba1/stable Moody's and BB+/positive S&P), the multinational generic pharmaceutical company, and Arecor Ltd, the biopharmaceutical company advancing today's therapies to enable healthier lives, today announce they have entered into an exclusive agreement to co-develop a new, ready-to-use injectable medicine in the US through Hikma's affiliate, Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. The product, which will be announced prior to launch, is being developed using Arecor's proprietary drug formulation technology platform Arestat™, which enhances the properties of approved therapeutic proteins and peptides to deliver new reformulations of existing, complex products. Hikma will seek approval for the product under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway, with filing expected in 2021. "We are pleased to enter into this partnership with Arecor. This is another important step forward for Hikma in developing and commercialising complex medicines and delivery systems that benefit patients and position our business for continued long-term growth," said Riad Mishlawi, President, Hikma Injectables. "We are confident that Arecor's state-of-the-art development platform, combined with Hikma's strong manufacturing capabilities and excellent commercial team, with its broad relationships across US hospital systems, will bring an important new treatment option to patients and healthcare providers." "We are proud to be working with Hikma," said Sarah Howell, Chief Executive Officer of Arecor. "Arecor has an excellent track record in developing ready-to-use (RTU) and ready-to-administer (RTA) medicines, which are becoming increasingly important to enable fast, safe and effective treatment of patients. Hikma has a strong and respected US hospital market presence and is focused on providing cost effective therapies which improve patient care and advance the delivery of medication. We look forward to the joint development of this first product as part of a broad collaboration with Hikma." Under the terms of the royalty-based agreement, Arecor will receive an upfront payment and further payments on the achievement of development, regulatory and commercial milestones. Hikma will be responsible for the manufacture and commercialisation of the product. Arecor retains the right to develop and commercialise the product in certain markets outside the US."
15:26 Good to see both Arecor and ImmBio progressing according to the Oxford Tech VCT results out this morning: Https://www.investegate.co.uk/oxford-tech-2-vct--oxh-/gnw/oxford-technology-2-venture-capital-trust-plc---half-year-report/20190919070000H3436/ "Arecor and ImmBio are both about 20% of the portfolio. Arecor have started dosing in their Phase 1 clinical trial of rapid action insulin. They have also signed multiple development agreements to develop room temperature liquid formulations with global pharma companies. In March, OT2 invested £8,230 in ImmBio. This investment enables ImmBio to go through the process of technology transfer of PnuBioVax vaccine strains to the Chinese National Biotech Company as required by the license agreement. Discussions are also ongoing with pharma companies in other regions of the world."
13:09 A report on the Oxford Tech VCT's AGMs last month includes this section on Arecor and Immbio (thx to Tim Grattan): Https://sharesoc.ning.com/forum/topics/the-agm-forum?id=6389471%3ATopic%3A613&page=62#comments "Arecor (OT2, OT3 and OT4) http://arecor.com/ Sarah Howell (CEO) gave the presentation for Arecor, see link below for slide deck: https://www.oxfordtechnologyvct.com/admin/jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins... Sarah also gave a presentation at the 2017 Oxford VCT AGMs (link to 2017 notes https://sharesoc.ning.com/forum/topics/the-agm-forum?commentId=6389... ), so it was interesting to learn about the progress in the last two years. Since the 2017 the company has managed to secure funding from three new VCT/EIS institutional investors (Albion, Downing and Calculus) and they have continued with their two main business activities: 1) Formulation work for big pharma charged as fee for service (plus milestone payments/royalties if work leads to product launch) 2) In house development of improved products to treat type I diabetics. There has been a switch in emphasis in the last two years from developing stable liquid glucagon solutions suitable for parenteral administration, to developing improved stable insulin formulations for parenteral administration, the reasons for this are entirely commercial. Arecor now have main two products in development, the first is a faster acting formulation, which avoids the time lag for onset of action which is seen with conventional formulations. The second development product is 10X more concentrated than conventional formulations (but still acts reasonably rapidly), making it suitable for administration via an insulin pump and especially suitable for children who use insulin pumps. The commercial potential for such products is estimated to be substantial, for example, Eli Lilly have successfully developed one product (Humulin) which is 5X more concentrated than standard and this commands annual sales of $1.2Bn. One direct competitor (Adocia) recently signed a deal with Lilly worth over $500m in upfront payments and milestones plus royalties, the deal eventually fell through but not before they had collected substantial milestone payments, furthermore, they have now re-licenced their product to a Chinese company in a regional deal (China only) worth $130m in milestones plus double digit royalties. Another competitor (Thermalin) recently signed a deal with Sanofi worth over $700m in milestones plus double digit royalties. I spoke to Sarah after the meeting to ask about the status of the glucagon product, I was told that it is still going, but it is now assigned a lower priority and it is currently being funded by grants. I also asked about the technical difficulties encountered when producing the more concentrated formula for insulin. Apparently the main problem is not a solubility or viscosity issue, but one of bioavailability at the site of action and this is related to the degree of binding of the zinc at the centre of the insulin hexamer. Immbio (OT2, OT3, OT4) http://www.immbio.com/ Andrea Mica gave the presentation on behalf of the company, see link to presentation slide deck below https://www.oxfordtechnologyvct.com/admin/jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins... ImmBio previously presented at the 2017 Oxford VCT AGMs (link to 2017 notes https://sharesoc.ning.com/forum/topics/the-agm-forum?commentId=6389... ) so this was a timely update. Earlier this year Immbio signed a multi-million licensing deal with the largest Chinese Vaccine Pharma company, CNBGSinopharm, for co-development and commercialization in China of ImmBio’s lead product PnuBioVax which is a vaccine to treat pneumococcal infections, a major cause of mortality in the young and elderly (1.6M deaths worldwide per annum), Current pneumococcal vaccines are relatively expensive and they are becoming less effective as different strains emerge, this problem is being exacerbated as antibiotic resistance becomes more prevalent (25% cases of all pneumonia now show antibiotic resistance). Immbio’s vaccines (including PnuBioVax) have a novel mechanism of action: they protect against pathogens by mimicking the natural immune response to infection by utilising heat shock proteins. These vaccines should be active against all stains of the targeted pathogen (not just some) and they should be relatively cheap to produce. The lead product PnuBioVax has completed Phase I studies and preparations are underway for a Phase II study in elderly patients. Immbio are intending to raise £4.5m to fund the Phase II study, although this figure would be reduced if they sign further regional licencing deals for PnuBioVax."
13:47 Results are out today (not shown above for some reason), with a 65.1p per share NAV. More importantly, following the 10p dividend paid in January, HYG plan to declare another 18p dividend next month: Https://www.investegate.co.uk/seneca-growth-cap---hyg-/rns/final-results/201904290852223247X/ NAV progress will be dependent as usual on SCLP and ODX in the listed arena, whilst OR Productivity seems to be progressing OK in the unlisteds on a £0.7m valuation.
16:23 Sorry I should have been clearer. The discount is disappearing so once 10p is paid, this will trade at a premium to NAV won't it? If so, I can't see that justified by SCLP or other performance. That said, I am very long here if continually disappointed by Scancell
12:47 Of course the price will either multi-bag if SCLP does well or will fall if not. But I'm also confident that ODX will do well over time. And there's also a large investment in OR Productivity, plus Arecor seems to be doing pretty well. Plus HYG now have a large cash pile to support the share price and to invest in new ventures or support existing investments.
11:31 Thanks. For some reason was not showing up on my feed service. I am surprised people are chasing this for the divi. If Nav low 60s including Hallmarq, the price will adjust fast unless Scancell delivers. Or am I wrong?
23:05 Try here Jonesy100: Https://www.investegate.co.uk/seneca-growth-cap---hyg-/rns/dividend-declaration/201812280700026071L/
21:42 Hi Rivaldo, where is the info posted on the 10p special dividend? Thanks
15:11 For the record, HYG are paying a 10p special dividend - the ex-div date is Thursday, so evidently a few people are keen to get in before then! I've done a quick update of the thread header post for the record.
11:32 Big news - Hallmarq has been sold, so HYG will receive just over £2.9m cash (against the current £3.65m m/cap): Https://www.investegate.co.uk/seneca-growth-cap---hyg-/rns/update-on-hallmarq/201812180956318171K/ Current NAV is 63.4p per share, including SCLP, ODX and the unquoteds. Since most of this is now cash there will soon be distributions to shareholders. I had hoped that Hallmarq would simply grow and grow for a few more years. Not to be. The hope now is that SCLP and ODX in particular will realise their potential. I hold ODX separately and am pretty optimistic about it. SCLP I know much less about and looks to be a toss of the coin bet really.
07:58 Good news from Arecor (current carrying value £252k): Https://www.biospace.com/article/biopharma-company-arecor-raises-6m-for-revolutionary-diabetes-treatments/ "Biopharma Company Arecor raises £6m for revolutionary diabetes treatments Published: Sep 12, 2018 10 September 2018 – Arecor, the UK-based biopharmaceutical formulation company, has raised £6 million from new and existing investors to develop groundbreaking pharmaceutical drugs to transform the treatment of diabetes. The fundraising was led by Calculus Capital, Albion Capital, and Downing Ventures. BioScience Managers Limited, the international healthcare investment firm, advised Downing Ventures. Through the application of its technology platform, Arecor is creating faster working, more effective drugs that help progress the creation of the next generation of artificial pancreas systems. The Company’s ultra-rapid acting insulin and ultra-concentrated insulins more closely mimic the insulin profile and response to glucose of healthy individuals, improving health outcomes and quality of life for people living with diabetes while reducing the wider costs to health services and society. Arecor has developed a series of differentiated and proprietary formulations of generic insulin and glucagon drugs, which are used in the regulation of blood glucose. In people with diabetes, insulin is either lacking, not enough is produced or when produced, the insulin cannot be used effectively. Arecor plans to complete a series of first-in-man clinical trials for each of its three diabetic compounds and ultimately to partner with specialist diabetes companies for late stage clinical studies and global market access. The company’s insulin and glucagon products, which are set to transform diabetes treatments, could have peak annual sales of between $200 million and $1 billion each. etc"
15:09 The managers of the Oxford Technology VCT portfolios gave a presentation at their AGM in late July - it was covered by Sharesoc, who posted these rather positive comments from management on ImmBio and Arecor: "ImmBio (OT2, OT3 and OT4) hxxp://www.immbio.com/ The level of interest in ImmBio’s lead pneumococcal vaccine (ImmBioVax) shown in the recent past by western based Pharma companies has been disappointing, but there has been considerable interest from China’s CNBG (head of terms agreement recently signed) which appears to be beginning to stimulate interest from Western Pharmas. Arecor (OT2, OT3 and OT4) hxxp://arecor.com/ The company’s unique technology of protein solubilisation and stabilisation is currently being developed to produce improved formulations for the management of diabetes, Arecor have recently attracted grant funding of just over £1m to assist with this development."
10:49 Nearly 30% discount to NAV - either cautious or not very hopeful?
toffeeman
10:04 Interims are out: Https://www.investegate.co.uk/hygea-vct-plc--hyg-/gnw/hygea-vct-plc---half-year-report/20180724070029H6722/ NAV of just over 62p per share. No commentary on the unquoteds, though good to see no writedowns and OR Productivity holding its value. Most importantly, there's this: "I have previously expressed some optimism regarding potential liquidity events in the portfolio and your Board remains of the view that such an event may occur before the Company's year-end." I'm not holding my breath given the track record to date! However, I am very hopeful that Hallmarq will produce a substantial return - at some point - and that this is the likely company set for the "liquidity event". If SCLP ever actually takes off we'll be many quids in - if HYG haven't had to sell most of the holding by then.
09:50 hxxp://arecor.com/2018/ £1m grant for Arecor - every little helps!!! Best regards SBP
stupidboypike
09:09 Hi Toffeeman, good to see you here. It's been a long wait....like SCE :o)) Apologies for the delayed reply, but I don't visit here too often as it's only a small holding, which I may add to if I become aware of portfolio news before the wider market by monitoring investee news flow.... I can't really say more than to point you in the direction of this RNS from HYG which should explain it all. Https://www.investegate.co.uk/hygea-vct-plc--hyg-/gnw/hygea-vct-plc---circular-posted-and-notice-of-g---/20171215144748H6567/ Good to see from Oxford Tech VCT's results this morning that both Arecor and ImmBio seem to be making progress: "At the end of November 2017, we made a £200k follow-on investment into Arecor, making it the second largest holding in the Company's portfolio. Arecor is a potentially world class pharmaceutical research company based in Cambridge and has a very advanced diabetes drug formulation technology. During the past year Arecor has announced significant progress, including a licence agreement with a major global healthcare company, as well as the successful pre-clinical development of stable rapid-acting, ultra-concentrated insulin for the significantly enhanced treatment of type 1 diabetes. It has had other good news flow and won an Innovate grant. The company is still trying to finalise the investment terms for the full £6m round it is seeking, and there is a risk that the terms may be at a lower price than that at which we invested in November; we have therefore taken a prudent view with our valuation and hence there is a small reduction in the value of our investment in the year. The recent investment of £30k in ImmBio was in a new class of share with a significant preference. This has resulted in an uplift in its valuation of £83k. The investment was made to support continued commercialisation of its PnuBioVax Vaccine. The final results to come from their First-in-Human study were positive and was found to be safe and well tolerated, and capable of producing antibody responses against key S. pneumoniae antigens broadly conserved across strains. Negotiations are progressing with first licensees for the vaccine, and a further £12,000 was committed in April 2018 to allow time for these conversations to progress."
16:00 Hi Riv - keep 'bumping into you!' Can you tell me about the Senneca link? I have a Senneca EIS and they say they are launching a VCT and mention HYG. I can't see what the advantage is of doing a Senneca VCT when one can by this stock directly. Any advice appreciated.
11:01 2017 results are out: Https://www.investegate.co.uk/hygea-vct-plc--hyg-/gnw/hygea-vct-plc---final-results/20180206082101H6370/ NAV is steady at around 64p. However, this sentence is rather intriguing: "Current indications are that the unquoted portfolio may see a liquidity event sooner than previously envisaged" I wonder if this refers to Hallmarq? I notice there's no specific reference to Hallmarq in the narrative - perhaps HYG don't want to say too much as they know there's something happening? With annual running costs now seemingly reverting to Seneca and the B shares, perhaps things are looking interesting now.
10:39 Although a relatively small holding, Arecor carries on advancing too:- hxxp://www.arecor.com/news-events/ particularly "Arecor Announces License Agreement with Global Pharmaceutical Company" Best regards SBP
10:10 Quarterly update just out - NAV barely changed at 64p per share: Https://www.investegate.co.uk/hygea-vct-plc--hyg-/gnw/hygea-vct-plc---update-for-the-quarter-ended-30---/20171108070032H7889/ Glide is gone, SCLP bobbing about. ODX is now the only other listed holding (which I hope they hold on to as it's imo on the cusp of a great leap forwards....). Interestingly: "In the absence of realisations, the Board continues to investigate ways to mitigate the ongoing running costs of the Company and has had discussions with various parties with a view to the expansion of the capital and investment base. Once any such discussions are sufficiently advanced, an announcement will be made but at present there is no certainty that any of the discussions will lead to a proposal.£ This is one of my smallest investments (and longest-held!). I'll continue holding as the upside from Hallmarq, ODX and/or SCLP could be significant. I believe Hallmarq justifies much of the current NAV by itself, so hopefully the downside is limited. But it's frustrating for sure....
08:37 This is not insignificant:- hxxp://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/business/life-sciences/arecors-45m-deal-rubber-stamped-12875547 Hygea's current valuation implies a valuation on Arecor (the whole company) of around £6.8M. Best regards SBP
Seneca Gro..
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PCMag UK | News & Analysis | News
Tesla Launches a $1,500 Surfboard
By Matthew Humphries
Nobody expected Tesla to launch a surfboard, but last night that's exactly what happened. Only 200 of the $1,500 board were made available, and inevitably they sold out almost immediately. Expect to pay a large premium on eBay if you're desperate to own one.
Tesla made a few waves (sorry!) last night by quietly launching a very limited edition surfboard. It cost $1,500, only 200 have been produced, and unsurprisingly it sold out almost immediately.
As Electrek reports, the surfboard was designed by the Tesla Design Studio with the input of Lost Surfboards and Matt "Mayhem" Biolos who has been sanding and shaping boards since leaving high school in 1987. The top is black and the underside red, with both sides carrying Tesla branding.
Tesla designed the board to use the same high-quality matte and gloss finishes you find on the company's cars. The top ("the deck") is covered in "Black Dart" lightweight carbon fiber, and Tesla car owners will be pleased to hear the surf board fits inside the Model 3, S, and X.
SEE ALSO: Drop, Cover, and Hold On: How Los Angeles Preps for Disasters
Of course, it will only fit if you managed to buy one. As Tesla only decided to make 200 of the custom made boards they inevitably sold out very quickly. Even those who were lucky enough to buy one will have to wait up to 10 weeks before their board gets delivered. One final disappointment: the fins you see on the bottom of the board aren't actually included with the board.
Tesla may be best known for its electric vehicles, batteries, and green energy generation projects, but the company also offers a growing range of lifestyle products and apparel. Men's, women's, and children's clothes and hats are offered alongside scale models of Tesla's cars, leather items, drinkware, tech, and sports goods, which the surfboard falls under. One of Tesla's best-selling lifestyle products is a $600 battery powered Tesla Model S for kids.
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Tesla Surfboard Prices Hit $5K
Matthew Humphries Senior Editor
Matthew is PCMag's UK-based editor and news reporter. Prior to joining the team, he spent 14 years writing and editing content on our sister site Geek.com and has covered most areas of technology, but is especially passionate about games tech. Alongside PCMag, he's a freelance video game designer. Matthew holds a BSc degree in Computer Science from Birmingham University and a Masters in Computer Games Development from Abertay University. See Full Bio
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People Aren't Impressed With The Name Of Charlotte Tilbury's New Palette
Jacqueline Kilikita
Refinery 29 UK 13 August 2019
Charlotte Tilbury has truly spoiled makeup lovers this year, having launched numerous limited edition collections, from Hot Lips to The Icons. But her latest eyeshadow palette, named 'Walk Of Shame ', is proving controversial among some of her fans.
Charlotte Tilbury's Matte Revolution lipstick and matching lip liner in Walk Of Shame have been available for a while, but the brand took to Instagram over the weekend to show off a shiny new addition to the collection, an eyeshadow palette quad, using Chloé Lloyd as a model. While most of Charlotte's followers obsessed over the pink eye makeup look and matching glossy lips, a number of fans took to the comments section to call out the title of the palette.
The phrase 'walk of shame' has widely drawn criticism for slut-shaming and humiliating women after casual sexual encounters, and it seems it has upset some followers who aren't keen on the name, implying it is a tone-deaf move from the brand.
Comments included: "The name of this palette bugs me" and "Pillow Talk and Glowgasm, OK. But why Walk Of Shame?" Another commented: "The name of this gorgeous palette is a real oversight." Beauty editors also took to Instagram stories over the weekend to share their love of the shiny new palette but mentioned that they aren't so sure about the name, either.
Other palettes in the collection, which cost £39.99 each, include Pillow Talk, Dreamgasm and The Uptown Girl.
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Food is delicious.
LatestFeaturesTaste TestRecipesDrinkeryThe Salty WaitressHot Dogs
This Papa John’s thing is never going to be over, is it
Friday's Best Deals: Dog Toys, Tire Inflators, Champagne Glasses, Water Flossers, and More
and Corey Foster
Gwen Ihnat
Filed to:Papa John's
Photo: Wolterk ( iStock)
There are the great rivalries of our time: Yankees versus Red Sox. Mothra versus Godzilla. Taylor Swift versus Katy Perry. And then, there are the really crap, petty rivalries that put even Taylor and Katy to shame: Like the current grudge match between Papa John’s founder John Schnatter and current CEO Steve Ritchie that somehow keeps churning out daily doses of petulance and vitriol, even as we wail and rend our garments and wish to the high heavens that Schnatter had never even thought of creating a pizza box with his face on it in the first place.
Just this week on As The Papa John’s World Turns, you may recall that Papa John’s put out a statement thanking its many detractors for calling the chain out as racist. CEO Ritchie also released a long Twitter thread about overhauling the company’s overall corporate culture. Schnatter, naturally, took this lying down, enjoying a tropical drink with at least two fingers of rum and an umbrella in it at some fabulous resort on his now-permanent vacation.
Haha, of course he didn’t. Instead, he composed a letter to his franchisees on his “truther” website, savepapajohns.com, saying that Ritchie “is out of his depth as CEO.” Schnatter also says “claims he told the company’s board in June that Ritchie ‘needed to go’ and ‘they agreed with me’” and wanted him to return to the company, says USA Today. In an interview this week with CNN Money, Schnatter continued his rant, saying that he was being scapegoated for the company’s current dire financial straits: “You can’t blame everything on two comments,” referring to his statements regarding the NFL’s national anthem controversy and a racial slur he used during a marketing phone call, which resulted in Schnatter stepping down as chairman of the board.
Surprising no one, Papa John’s has already released a statement, calling “the accusations ‘untrue and disparaging,’ characterizing them as ‘a self-serving attempt to distract from the damaging impact his own words and actions have had on the company and our stakeholders,’” says CNN Money.
As with Mothra and Godzilla, you have to ask yourself: How will this all end? In the courts? (Seems likely.) A division of assets? A daily joint smear campaign for all the world to see, as in current times? We’ve seen Hamilton, so we know this doesn’t usually end well, but what we wouldn’t give for a good old slap across the face with a white glove, resulting in pistols at dawn. Since we obviously can’t do that, maybe a good old arm-wrestling or thumb-wrestling match? Papa John’s trivia team? Pizza-eating contest? Anything, just so we can declare a winner and be done with it. Please, make it stop.
More from The Takeout
Papa John’s: Thank you for calling us racists
Papa John's founder launches truther website [UPDATED]
Papa John’s now offering financial help to suffering franchisees
The Papas John are taking their battle to court
Gwen Ihnat is the Editorial Coordinator for The A.V. Club.
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Phou Si
Walking the temple lined streets of the northern Laotian city Luang Prabang, you are enthralled by the complex history of the area. Lao ladies crouch by the roadside serving steaming bowls of noodles heaped with herbs and peanuts. Behind them are swanky cafes that deal in French coffee and patisserie concoctions that owe their popularity to the colonial overlords that once held the reins of Indochina. Luang Prabang was a protectorate under the French and the palace of the former kings of the area still captivates visitors. The heritage at Luang Prabang is deep enough to bathe in and was spared the renewal that was brought about by the communist Pathet Lao in the mid-1970s. There are so many temples in Luang Prabang, you are choking on them. Your eyes dart excitedly all over the place, unable to focus on one spot. Walking up Sisavangvong Road in the centre of the peninsula, to the right lies the former palace, but your left is dominated by a hill that fills the middle of the small town. Phou Si stands in silent watch over the city it has guarded for centuries.
Vat Phra That Chom Si
Luang Prabang, previously called Muang Sua and Xiang Dong Xiang Thong, was the ancient capital of the Kingdom of Lan Xang Hôm Khao (meaning “one million elephants and the white parasol”). The elephants represented military power and the parasol symbolic of Buddhist royalty. Better known as Lan Xang, the kingdom was founded in the mid-14th century by the famous ruler Fa Ngum. The city had existed before the foundation of Lan Xang as a vassal of the Khmer empire. Fa Ngum, with the support of Angkor, carved a kingdom out for himself and his bride, the Khmer princess Kèo Kèngkanya. Originally he settled in Viang Chan Viang Kham (Vientiane) and in order to assert his religious agenda, he enshrined the Prabang (or Pha Bang) Buddha image there. The Prabang was a gift from Fa Ngum’s father in law, the Khmer king. When he later moved his capital to Xiang Dong Xiang Thong, he brought the image, along with Khmer monks and Theravada Buddhism with him. The city was renamed Luang Prabang (Royal Buddha Image in the Dispelling Fear Mudra) in honour of the sacred statue it was now home to.
Haw Pha Bang
To your right is the legacy of that image. The Royal Palace (now museum) grounds are host to a temple that is almost complete. The construction of the Haw Pha Bang was begun in 1963 during the reign of Sisavang Vatthana, the last King of Luang Prabang. After the Pathet Lao came to power, they forced his abdication and work halted as the communists tried to eradicate religion and disparaged the Prabang as a royalist symbol. The policy changed in the early 1990s, and work on the temple started again in 1993. The Haw Pha Bang will, when fully completed, be the final resting place of the Prabang. The sacred image has lived in Vat Wisunalat and Vat Mai, but now rests in the palace museum. Unable to resist, you are drawn to the shrine on the outside of the palace building to look at the famous Prabang. The image only ever leaves at Lao New Year for ritual cleansing at Vat Mai. The image is almost solid gold and at 83 centimetres, it weighs a hefty 50 kilograms. The diminutive statue is magnetically potent and your eyes are dazzled by its presence. The hands are in the Abhayamudra, or dispelling fear gesture and it is a strangely reassuring presence. Indeed, looking at it, you can see how it rallied a nation around Fa Ngum and subsequent rulers. It has moved between Luang Prabang, Vientiane and Thailand on several occasions, but soon it will have a permanent home in the temple being built for that very purpose.
Haw Pha Bang Façade
Constructed in the Luang Prabang style, the sim (ordination hall) is huge. It is made of concrete, steel and other non-traditional materials. It is vastly over the top and the tall platform and ornate roof, combined with its sheer size elevate it to the status required for the home of such a sacred image. Gold covers so much of the interior and exterior while nāgas and dragons rest on every bannister. Inside, the throne of the Prabang sits empty. It will be a proud moment when the image is enshrined in this glorious building. Having had your fill of this new and empty feeling structure, you move on to the large mound that awaits you across the road.
Vat Pa Houak
Phou Si (Holy Mountain) is a beautiful hill in the heart of the city. It is covered in vegetation and is the lush green mound that divides the two rivers of the region. Along its northwestern vista is the iconic Mekong River and below it on the other side of the isthmus, the Nam Khan flows. All around the 100-metre-tall hill, low-lying buildings frame the natural protrusion. As you climb up the first steps, you see a small temple on a brief plateau. Near the temple, a Bodhi Tree offers some shade, much as one of its magnificent forbears did to the Buddha as he gained enlightenment. This, as most are, is a cutting from the one at Bodhgaya; the location of the enlightenment. It was donated by the Indian Government in 1957 to mark the 2500th anniversary of the Buddha’s passing to nibbāna (nirvāṇa).
Vat Pa Houak Murals
Vat Pa Houak (Monastery of the Thornless Bamboo Forest) is a small temple, of which only the sim still exists. It was founded by the monk Phaya Si Mahanam in 1861 in what was then a bamboo forest. The Vientiane-style sim looks somewhat shabby after years of poor maintenance, but it remains charming. Above the doors, the damaged façade depicts the god Indra riding his elephant Erawan. The rest of the plaster and mosaic has almost entirely fallen from the wooden structure, and indeed the Indra relief is a reconstruction. Entering the doors past the weathered portico and its octagonal columns, you step into a magical little space. The walls are covered from top to bottom in colourful murals. These murals are contemporary with the construction of the building during the reign of King Chantharath in the mid-19th century. Despite being worn by the elements and disparaged by the great chronicler of French Indochina Henri Parmentier, the frescoes glow with energetic vibrancy. The murals depict a rather unusual subject. The main theme is Buddha humbling the boastful King Jambupati, a story and depiction popular in Burma. They also depict Luang Prabang as an international utopia and typical scenes of the time. You feel the warmth of the small chamber emanating from the artwork and the statues of Buddha that hold court here.
Phou Si Stairway
Back in the daylight, you find yourself at the foot of a set of steps that appear to climb into the heavens. The trek takes you through tropical undergrowth and the path is lined with the holy champa trees (frangipanis), the national flowering tree of Laos. The sweet intoxicating fragrance embeds itself in your nostrils, making your ascent more paradisiacal. As you break through to the top, a golden spire shimmers through the vegetation. Clearing verdant greenery, you come out onto a rock escarpment and see the stupa in its full glinting glory.
That Chom Si
Vat Phra That Chomsi, built in 1804, is seen by the locals as the most sacred spot in the city. The famous golden that (stupa) can be seen from almost any point in the town, like a beacon that illuminates the entire peninsula. Built at the end of the reign of King Anourathurath, the that was restored in 1914 and 1926 upon the construction of the staircase. That Chomsi is a Laotian-style stupa and is tall and angular. It resembles a stylized unopened lotus bud and parallels can be drawn to the large Pha That Luang in Vientiane. The 21-metre-tall that is the point at which a procession begins during the Lao New Year. It sits on a three-tiered base and is protected on the diagonal points by four golden seven-tiered ceremonial umbrellas, like the one that tops the main spire.
Panorama of Luang Prabang
From the base of the stupa, you look out at the city that surrounds you. To your left is the Nam Kahn, to your right, the Mekong. The view is the best in town and all around you temple roofs glimmer in the sunlight. Looking back at the that, you recall the legendary story of its foundation. Before the stupa was constructed, a danger-filled tunnel to the centre of the world was found here. A local monk entered the shaft and found a glorious treasure. The greedy locals stole the treasure from him and trapped the monk in the pit. The monk defeated the seven guardians of the treasure and escaped due to his magical powers. When the King heard the story, he punished the locals and the stupa was built.
Monday Buddha
Leaving the pinnacle, you go past a Russian anti-aircraft gun that is rusted and has not seen use for many years. The urge to get on it and play is primal and giving into your impulse, you spend a minute or to pivoting around on it. The zig-zag stairs bring you to Vat Tham Phou Si (Holy Mountain Cave Temple), also from 1804. It is actually a cave shrine and mostly consists of various statues in different poses. The Monday Buddha stands with his hands in the Pacifying the Relatives mudra like a sentinel, while the Tuesday Buddha reclines in nibbāna. The small cave grotto has an interesting statue of Pha Kasai (Kātyāyana or Kaccāna). Although a little unusual to see in Laos, the fat bellied image (not be confused with the Chinese Bùdài) is more popular in Thailand, where he is called Phra Sangkajai. One of the original Ten Disciples of the Buddha, he studied under the Hindu ascetic Asita who predicted that Gautama Siddhartha would become a great king or a Buddha. Caves have a particular significance in Buddhism, as they are a place to both dwell and meditate for a monk. They are a place for retreat and reflection and the Buddha himself also used caves for this purpose. In the Thai and Laos Forest Tradition, monks wander the forests until the rains retreat, when they enter the monasteries. If a monk is in a cave, he will hang a yellow cloth at the cavern opening.
Vat Phra Bat Nua Spirit Shrine
Passing the statues and following the path further, you see a small shrine on the cliff edge. It is for local spirits, and echoes similar such shrines in the neighbouring Southeast Asian countries. As with its neighbours, Laos still retains an animist sub-religion. The Baci ceremony, for example, is a ritual used to invoke the 32 Kwan (spirits of the body’s organs) and is as deeply ingrained in the Lao religious psyche as Buddhism is. Under the shrine, you come to Vat Phra Bat Nua, marked by a nāga banister. Not much remains of the temple built during the reign of Phaya Samsenthai in the late 14th century. The kingdom of Lanna (now Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand) is said to have heavily influence the temple styling. The main feature is the metre-long Buddha footprint. The footprint is a natural recess in a stone and has been painted gold to highlight it. It is covered by a small shelter. The footprint is symbolic of the transmission of the teachings of Buddha. In early Buddhism, images of The Buddha were unheard of. The earliest temples depicted Buddha’s footprint and natural ones were particularly revered.
Vat Phra Bat Nua Footprint
Finally, you make your ultimate descent. Here, on the southern flank of the hill, you look out over the Nam Khan. A bamboo bridge spans it so that locals can have access to their land. Vegetables grow in neat little rows on the other side of the bank and from here, the only sign that you are in the 21st century is the two plastic umbrellas of a makeshift beach on the sandy flats of the river. Casually climbing down the hill, you enter back into the sleepy town. If it were not for the few cars, you could be forgiven for feeling like a time-traveller. As the sun begins to go down, you settle into a café behind the hill for a cup of tea and some kaipen, a snack made of dried algae and served with Jeow bong (chili paste). The night falls quickly here and as the light dims, you feel yourself filled with a tranquillity that countless weary travellers have felt before you in the ancient city in the heart of the Laotian jungle.
Nam Khan
Filed Under: Buddhist, Laos Tagged With: Footprint, Kātyāyana, Lan Xang, Lanna, Lao, Luang Prabang, Mekong, Naga, Nam Khan, Sim, Stupa, That, Vat, Wat
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Power Writing Prompts with Pluto
You haven’t written in several days, maybe weeks, or you’re stuck writing a scene that isn’t quite coming out how you’d like. We’ve all had those blocked moments, so we try everything other well-established and published authors suggest we do, whether it’s taking break from a project and trying some self-care or reading for inspiration, trying something more creative—and yet nothing seems to change. We realize that while sometimes these strategies will work, most of the time we’re still where we started.
Pluto is the planet of rebirth, death and resurrection. Although it’s gotten the status of dwarf planet and astrologers have shifted their gears to not include it, we like to still consider it in readings. It’s still part of our orb and for a long a time a very strong part of our astrology discussions. It historically ruled Scorpio, so it deals a lot with digging into our own depths and embracing our shadows. Body-wise, Pluto is that draining feeling we feel when we’re completely spent and exhausted. Writing-wise, Pluto is often that urging to keep writing, despite the blocks.
READ MORE: This week’s worksheet is to take inventory of what we’re leaving behind when we die—the books, the bills, the characters and chapters that we’ll be dropping, if we were to drop today.
So how do we learn to go with that energy of letting certain ideas, concepts and even parts of ourselves—die. We created a printable to help you answer those Pluto questions, but also provided some tips to help you sort through its energy. But below we break down what a Pluto self-diagnosis entails with a little follow prompt to give you a boost. Now, find your sign and get to work.
Aries. Temperamental is the name of the game when Pluto is vibin’ with your energy. What bridges have you burned in the past—and what did you learn from that?
Taurus. Be careful not to use money to manipulate or to try to guide your self-esteem. How do you indulge yourself with material things?
Gemini. Careful not to be too critical. Think of a recent argument you had—and what was the result or how was it (if at all) resolved)?
Cancer. The concept of nurturing is a means to an end, and often an end you want to control. Who “wore the pants” in your family life growing up? Write about when you first realized this power dynamic.
Leo. You can easily become highly possessive of those you love. Have you ever been jealous of a lover’s relationship with someone—and what did you learn from that about yourself?
Virgo. Your job becomes a source of power and you highly relate to your career label. Write about your coworkers over the years and how you relate to them or attempt to, at least.
Libra. The balance game it’s what you play with everything—even the physically. Write about a character, a senior or older person, who falls and loses consciousness. How does it feel that sense of powerlessness—after the coming to? And the understanding, or lack of it, of keeping a balance between what we feel and what the body tries to tell this character (hey, you’re too old for that!).
Scorpio. Pluto feels at home in your energy. Power, to you, isn’t a foreign concept. You’ve been in fact carving out what it means to you, since you realized it’s what makes your energy tick a bit. Think and write about your journey with power. What does it mean—the sensation—to wield it, sharpen it from time to time and how what do you think it’ll feel like to finally express it?
Sagittarius. Pluto in this sign seeks power in the spiritual and religion. It wants to express its sense of control through the higher powers that be, the concept of organized religion and philosophies of the world. Create a character who is struggling with his beliefs; no longer able to believe blindly and continue with the rituals of his day-to-day. What does it feel like to lose that sense of an identity—a source of his power—for this character?
Capricorn. The power here is in your ambition. What does it mean to be ambitious and have ambition and to function with this as a key trait? Write about a time when having ambition overrode all your other senses, or when the lack of it—led you astray.
Aquarius. Your superpower is in who you know. Write about a friendship that’s off-balanced, with one character using the other and how does this end?
Pisces. To understand Pluto with Pisces, think about a deep, strong secret that only you or you and probably one other person only know. That’s what Pluto is capable of with this sign. Write about a family with such a deep secret; although they’ve been able to function, ignoring the secret, it’s somehow caught up to them. Write about how the seams of this family’s life and routines tear apart.
ALSO, TO DO: Don’t forget to create a list of all the thing you’ll be leaving behind, were you to die today.
Posted in: Cosmic, Writing Life | Tagged: Pluto, Writing, writing ideas, writing prompts, writing tips, writing tools
Meditation Wednesday: Embrace the Air
Going Deep with Mercury Retrograde and #NaNoWriMo
What you think? Cancel reply
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Travelers Lane
….Relax! Recharge! Rejuvenate!
Alaska Cruise, Tour w/Denali, Kenai Fjords! = $
Cuba Cruise: Cuba by Land and Sea
Pacific Coast w/Alaska Cruise: $
Peru with Galapagos Cruise: August 14 – 26, 2016
Guided Tours-Africa
South Africa and Victoria Falls
Guided Tours-Asia
China and the Yangtze River: Sept. 7 – 19, 2016 = $3649
Vietnam & Cambodia with Chiang Mai: Oct. 31 – Nov. 17, 2015
Vietnam, Cambodia, Luang Prabang, & Chiang Mai: Oct. 31 – Nov. 20, 2015
Vietnam, Cambodia, Luang Prabang, Chiang Mai, and Bangkok
Guided Tours-Australia
Australia and New Zealand: 19 Days $
Guided Tours-Europe
Britain and Ireland 10 Day Tour: $**
Britain and Ireland: 15 Day Tour; Military Tattoo $**
Britain on a Budget, 9 days: =
Britain, Ireland-15 Days on a Budget: = $*
Essential Britain with Military Tattoo: Aug. 13 – 25, 2017
Eastern Europe: June 5 – 19, 2016 = $2622**
France 8 Day Tour: Sept. 24 – Oct. 2, 2016 = $2242**-*
France 15 Day Tour: May 27 – June 11, 2016 = $3515**
France on a Budget, 14 days: Oct. 8 – 22, 2016 = $2169*
France: Sept. 9-24, 2016
Germany: June 14 – 25, 2016 = $2299**
Germany Customized: June 6 – 17, 2016
Germany: Highlights
Germany-European Reformation: June 6-17, 2016 = $2176**
Iceland: **
Ireland: ** 10 day tour
Ireland on a Budget: ** 9 Day Tour
Italy – 8 Days: Sept. 24 – Oct. 2, 2016 = $1720**
Italy – 10 Days: Oct. 20 – 30, 2016 = $2603.**
Italy-Join a Private Tour! Oct. 14-27, 2019 $3799–20 People Max!*
Missouri Life: France
Scandinavia: **
Scotland – 7 Day Tour: July 20 – 27, 2016 = $1682**
Scotland 14 Day Tour: July 8 – 22, 2016 = $3279**
Truman University: Scotland May 31 – June 8, 2017
Spain – 9 Day Tour: Oct. 7 – 16, 2016 = $1824**
Spain 14 Day Tour: Oct. 2 – 16, 2016 = $2584**
Spain on a Budget: Oct. 14 – 29, 2016 = $1899*
Spain, Portugal, 1 nt. in Morocco: Oct. 10 – 23, 2016 = $2157**
Switzerland 9 Day Tour: July 14 – 23, 2016 = $2584
WWII, Poland, and East Germany: June 13 – 26, 2016 = $2414**
Guided Tours-N. Am. Canada
Canada Train Trip $*
Canada Train Trip on a Budget: $
Canada-East
Eastern Canada and Maine = $
Eastern Canada and New England on a Budget: $*
French Canada and Ontario: $
Eastern Canada, New England, 12 Days incl. 7 night cruise: $**
Canada-West
Canadian Rockies on a Budget: July 22 – Aug. 3, 2016 = $1600*
Canadian Rockies Budget, 13 Days: *
Calgary Stampede:
Canada’s Western Wonders: $2084 if booked by March 22, 2016!
Canadian Rockies and Calgary Stampede: **
Canadian Rockies and Glacier National Park:
Canadian Rockies, Glacier Nat’l Park, Calgary Stampede: June 27 – July 7, 2016
Canadian Rockies – Great Resorts: Sept. 4 – 10, 2016**
Route 66: July 16 – 31 or Sept. 10 – 25, 2016 = $2369
Guided Tours-N. Am. Cuba
Cuba-9 Day Tour: Jan. 14 – 22, 2017 = $2459**
Cuba Colonial Cities:
Guided Tours-N. Am. USA
USA-Alaska, Hawaii
Alaska Tour and Cruise:
Hawaiian Islands on a Budget: 4 Islands – From $2269!*
USA-East
America’s Historic Heritage: Oct. 8 – 16, 2016 $1569!
America’s History: East-Oct. 8-15, 2016
Fall Foliage: Oct. 5 – 13, 2016 = $2385**
New York, Niagara Falls, Washington DC: $*
USA-West
Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta: Sept. 30 – Oct. 4, 2016 = $1245!**
American West:
America’s Parks-15 days**
Canyonlands on a Budget:
Canyonlands: July 10 – 20, 2016 = $2894**!*
National Parks: July 7 – 17, 2016 = $2257**
Pacific Coast Adventure: June 6 – 18 or July 18 – 30, 2016 = $2269!*
Tournament of Roses-*
Yellowstone in Winter: *-**
Yosemite in Winter: Dec. 2 – 7 or Dec. 7 -12, 2016 = $2157*
Guided Tours-S. Am.
Costa Rica: January 14 – 22, 2017 = $1781 – $1979*
Missouri Life: Costa Rica Trip — January 14 – 22, 2017
Peru: Aug. 14 – 21, 2016 = $2216**
Faith-Based Tours
Germany-The European Reformation: **
Danube Budapest to Bucharest River Cruise =$**
Danube Bucharest to Budapest River Cruise: $**
Canals, Vineyards, Paris River Cruise: July 11 – 21, 2016 = $3479!**
Central Europe River Cruise-Prague to Paris: **
China and the Yangtze River with Hong Kong: Sept. 7 – 22, 2016 = $4399
Danube River Cruise: July 18 – 27, 2016 = $3015!**
Danube River Cruise:
Danube River Cruise-Budapest to Prague: July 12 – 24, 2016 = $4159!**
France River Cruise-Burgundy and Provence: June 4 – 15, 2016 = $4289!
Paris to Normandy’s Landing Beaches River Cruise: $3289!**
Rhine River Cruise: July 22-30, 2016. $3289 – Other dates available
Tulips in Spring River Cruise – Holland and Belgium, northbound: $2939!**
Tulips in Spring River Cruise – Holland, Belgium, southbound: $2939!**
Alaska’s Iditarod: 8 Day Tour – Only $2004!** Feb. 24-March 10, 2017
Tulips in Spring River Cruise – Holland, Belgium, northbound: $2939!**
Scotland Tour – 8 Days
*Prices based on double room occupancy. Air fare is additional.
Famous for its historic castles, fascinating and often bloody history, breathtaking scenery, lively cities, charming villages, and the legendary Loch Ness monster, Scotland fills visitors with a sense of magic and delight. On this Scotland tour you’ll get an introduction to this enchanting country, starting with a guided tour of a whisky distillery north of Glasgow and ending in fascinating Edinburgh. In between, you’ll experience some of Scotland’s most scenic areas and fascinating sights.
Stunning scenery awaits you on this tour. You’ll follow the “Road to the Isles,” with its breathtaking hills, green woodlands, and spectacular beaches. You’ll overnight on the Isle of Skye, with some of Scotland’s most spectacular scenery, and drive through Cairngorms National Park, with its sub-arctic mountains and varied wildlife. Be on the lookout for the mysterious Loch Ness monster in the Highlands, and take photos of stunning Loch Lomond.
Learn about Scotland’s fascinating history and visit some of the famous battle sights, including the Bannockburn Visitor Centre, commemorating one of Scotland’s most notable battles in 1314, and the Culloden Visitor Centre, where you’ll learn about the battle in 1746 when Bonnie Prince Charles was defeated. For those wanting to follow in the footsteps of royalty, this Scotland tour offers Edinburgh Castle, dating to the 12th century, once residence of Scottish monarchs, and today home to the Scottish Crown Jewels. You’ll also board and tour the Royal Yacht Britannia, home to Her Majesty the Queen and the Royal Family for over 40 years. This is just one of the out-of-the-ordinary, fascinating experiences offered by Globus on this fun-filled, exciting Scotland vacation.
May 31, 2017 Depart US
June 1, 2017 Day 1 Arrive In Glasgow, Scotland
Welcome to Glasgow! Check into your hotel. The rest of the day is free for you to relax in Scotland’s largest city. Meet your Tour Director and traveling companions for a TRUMAN WELCOME RECEPTION BEFORE A COMPLIMENTARY DINNER WITH WINE at your hotel.
June 2, 2017 Day 2 Glasgow. Glengoyne, Stirling & Bannockburn Excursion
Start your day with a guided tour of a WHISKY DISTILLERY, where you hear about the ancient art of converting barley, water, and yeast into a heart-warming liquor. Next, visit STIRLING CASTLE, a great symbol of Scottish independence and favored residence of Scotland’s kings and queens. Today’s final highlight is the BANNOCKBURN VISITOR CENTRE, commemorating the key battle in the Scottish Wars of Independence of June 23-24, 1314. Back in vibrant Glasgow, an orientation drive takes in the fine 12th-century cathedral, imposing university buildings, and elegant Georgian squares built by wealthy tobacco barons.
June 3, 2017 Day 3 Glasgow–Fort William–Glenfinnan–Isle of Skye
Drive along the “Bonnie Banks” of Loch Lomond, then proceed via Rannoch Moor, scenic Glen Coe, and Fort William, and follow the “Road to the Isles” to Glenfinnan. At Mallaig, board your FERRY for the crossing to the Isle of Skye, the largest island of the Inner Hebrides and famous for its dramatic landscapes. Before dinner tonight, why not join an optional excursion to the spectacular Eilean Donan Castle, followed by a drink at a local pub?
June 4, 2017 Day 4 Isle of Skye–Culloden Moor–Pitlochry–Dunkeld
Return to the mainland this morning and trace the shores of Loch Ness on your way to the CULLODEN VISITOR CENTRE, where you hear the story of the crushing Hanoverian victory over Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Scottish clans. Then, a unique treat: admire a champion shepherd at Leault Farm as he manipulates his flock with up to eight border collies in a SHEEPDOG DISPLAY. Enjoy more spectacular Highland scenery as you drive through Cairngorms National Park and Glen Garry to the Victorian mountain resort of Pitlochry and then to your overnight destination: Dunkeld.
June 5, 2017 Day 5 Dunkeld–St. Andrews–Edinburgh
Look forward to a special visit to SCONE PALACE, the stately home of the Earl and Countess of Mansfield. Join your guide on a private tour of the Murray family home and hear about the crowning of Scottish kings, including Macbeth and Robert the Bruce, then enjoy COFFEE and SHORTBREAD. Plenty of time later to explore the palace grounds. Continue on to St. Andrews, whose Royal and Ancient Golf Club, founded in 1754, has given us the rules of golfing. A fun inclusion is the opportunity to hit a few balls at the ST. ANDREWS GOLF PRACTICE CENTRE. Cross the mighty Forth Road Bridge to Edinburgh and tonight, don’t miss our optional Scottish evening with Highland dancers, bagpipers, and the Ceremony of the Haggis.
June 6, 2017 Day 6 Edinburgh
Morning city sightseeing with a Local Guide introduces you to the 200-year-old “New Town” and famous scientists, inventors, and novelists who lived there. In the “Old Town,” drive up the narrow Royal Mile to EDINBURGH CASTLE to admire Scotland’s Crown Jewels. The afternoon is free to enjoy the Scottish capital at your own pace. Later, a unique experience: board the former Royal Yacht Britannia, once the perfect royal residence for glittering state visits and family holidays. Tour five decks and see how the Royal Family and crew of 240 lived and worked on board. Dinner rounds off this exceptional evening. For departures August 4, August 11 and August 18, tickets are included for tonight’s performance of the world-renowned MILITARY TATTOO, a vast spectacle of massed Scottish pipe bands that takes place in an arena on the esplanade of Edinburgh Castle.
Free Day to explore this marvelous city. TRUMAN COMPLIMENTARY DINNER!
Depart for Home or onto London Extension.
June 8 – 11, 2017 London Extension (Optional)
Three nights accommodations in 4-star hotel, daily buffet breakfast, a city tour of London including a visit to St. Paul’s Cathedral and Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace (if held), a destination guide, and a city map. Call/email Pat at 314.223.1224/travelerslane@hotmail.com for details.
Vacation Highlights
Truman Welcome Reception; Welcome dinner; orientation drive
Guided tour of the whisky distillery
Visit Stirling Castle
Visit the innovative new visitor centre commemorating Robert the Bruce’s victory
Take photographs of this stunning beauty spot
Take pictures of the monument
MALLAIG–ARMADALE
Cross the Sound of Sleat by ferry
Visit the battle site’s visitor center
[LF] Enjoy a fascinating sheepdog display at Leault Farm
Visit the Victorian mountain resort
SCONE PALACE
[LF] Coffee, shortbread, and a private guided tour of the Earl and Countess of Mansfield’s stately home
[LF] Practice at the Golf Center
Guided sightseeing, visit Edinburgh Castle, [LF] visit the former Royal Yacht Britannia and enjoy dinner at a local restaurant; Truman Complimentary Farewell Dinner at a local restaurant
Full Scottish breakfast daily; 5 three-course dinners with wine and choice of menus, including a welcome dinner in Glasgow and two dinners at local restaurants in Edinburgh
Glasgow City Hotel
Thistle Glasgow is a luxury hotel in Glasgow City Centre. It is ideally located for the Central Train Station and for all the sights and special events that make Glasgow so unique. The Thistle Glasgow hotel is within a short distance of the fashionable boutiques and restaurants of Princes Square, the roar of Hampden Park for football or music events and the ‘Armadillo’ for concerts.
Dunollie Hotel
The Dunollie Hotel is set by the serene waterside of Broadford Bay, at the foot of the mountains that lead to the famous Cuillin Hills. With 84 en suite bedrooms, a bar and restaurant, it is perfectly placed to explore an area rich in history.
Dunkeld House
Discover a highland escape at Hilton Dunkeld House. Once the summer residence of the Dukes of Atholl, the hotel is idyllically set on the banks of the River Tay in the heart of Perthshire’s Big Tree Country. The Garden Restaurant has Scottish specialty dishes prepared using the freshest local ingredients and overlooks the River Tay. Enjoy a single-malt in the Garden Bar or relax in the cozy atmosphere of the River Lounge with a light lunch or aromatic coffee.
Mercure Edinburgh Princes Street
A fine 3 star Edinburgh hotel, ideally located in the city center’s popular Princes Street. Mercure Edinburgh City Princes Street Hotel has great views of Edinburgh Castle. The 158 stylish rooms all have internet access and satellite TV. PrincesDining Room and Bar are open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as for light snacks and drinks.
Prices based on double room occupancy. Air fare is additional.
Single room supplement:
Triple room reduction per person:
Extra nights per person in Glasgow:
in single room $144-$160, in twin $93-$109, in triple $88-$105
Extra nights per person in Edinburgh:
Travel Terms & Conditions
The purchase of any travel services offered by Globus, constitutes a contractual arrangement between you (the Traveler) and Globus, and represents your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions. Please ensure that you read carefully and understand the Terms & Conditions prior to booking. These Terms & Conditions cover Deposit & Final Payment information, Air-Inclusive Deposits & Final Payment, Revisions & Revision Fees, Air Arrangements, Participation, Travelers Who Need Special Assistance, Young Travelers, Smoking, Price Policy, Visas and Passports, Hotels & Accommodations, Baggage Allowance, Travel Documents, Not Included in the Land Price, Refunds, Service Inquires After the Vacation, Holidays, Safety, Photos & Pictures, Optional Excursions, and Responsibility.
A non-refundable, non-transferable deposit is required for Globus to reserve space for you. View Terms & Conditions for limited exceptions.
The following charges are not included in the land vacation price unless otherwise noted: airfare to and from the start of your vacation; Intra-vacation air unless specified in the itinerary; airline baggage fees including checked and/or excess baggage fees; Federal inspection fees for the Federal U.S. Customs and Immigrations; International Air Transportation tax; agricultural tax; other per person taxes imposed by government entities; airport taxes and fees including the September 11th Security fee up to $11.20 per person, passenger facility charges up to $18 per person, Federal domestic flight segment fees up to $4.00 per segment, and U.S. and International arrival and departure and other government-imposed added by the airline and applicable at time of booking; port taxes; passports; visas (except on Cuba programs) and vaccinations; tips to your Tour or Cruise Director, Globus Group Leader in Cuba, Local Host, driver, Local Guides, and/or ship’s crew; gratuities on ferries, trains, and cruise ships; laundry; telephone; minibar; alcohol, beverages, and food outside of the contracted Globus menu as presented at a hotel or restaurant or onboard your vessel (these extra items will be billed to you before leaving the hotel, ship, or restaurant); airport transfers on non-qualifying flights; optional excursions; additional activities and excursions purchased online; porterage at airports and train stations; Travel Protection; and all other items of a personal nature.
For air departure dates within 331 days, you’ll be offered a choice of carriers and flight schedules as well as price points to choose from when selecting your flights. Your schedule will be provided to you at the time of booking (schedules are subject to change by carriers). Globus offers 2 air options: Flex Air and Instant Purchase Air. Flex Air allows flexibility if you want to make changes to your vacation schedule. Instant Purchase Air may offer additional airline options but has more restrictions. Some vacations may only offer one Air type option. Guaranteed air-inclusive prices: air is only available to passengers traveling from the United States and only available when booked in conjunction with a land vacation. An additional $300 per person non-refundable air deposit is required for Flex Air booked in conjunction with any land vacation (i.e. air-inclusive vacation). Air can only be booked by Globus in conjunction with a vacation package. Instant Purchase Air requires air payment in full at time of booking (i.e. air-inclusive vacation) plus non-refundable per person service fee ($30 for North/Central America, $50 for Europe/Middle East and $80 for all other destinations. Once booked, Instant Purchase Air is non-refundable, and non-changeable. Some vacations may only offer one Air type option. However, once your airfare is confirmed and Globus has received your full air and land deposit, your air-inclusive vacation price is guaranteed.
Air-inclusive vacations include government-imposed taxes and fees applicable at the time of booking and will be shown as a Total Amount. Additional airline fees for baggage may apply. At the time of booking your air-inclusive vacation online, carrier Websites will be provided to check baggage fees, or you can visit http://www.iflybags.com for up-to-date baggage pricing/restrictions. For return travel from some countries, international travelers are required to pay entry and/or exit fees at the airport. These fees will be collected by the local government and are payable by the traveler at time of travel. Your confirmation booking information will contain information about these fees.
[LF] – Globus has created special experiences that will bring you behind the scenes, spotlight the unique stories of your journey, and bring to life the local flavor of your destination. Just look for the “[LF]” to see what we’ve included for you.
Independent: Simple, Support
Affordable Tours
Faith-based Travel
12430 Tesson Ferry Rd. #251
travelerslane@hotmail.com
Sat.: By Appointment
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Storage Ideas for Pop-Up Campers
How to Make Your Own Slide-In Pickup Camper
How to Build a Camper From a Van
Meg Jernigan, Leaf Group
A converted van is an economical alternative for campers. (Photo: John Foxx/Stockbyte/Getty Images )
How to Increase Storage in Campers
Ways to Carry a Generator on a Camping Trailer
A van converted to a camper will feature the basics needed for a vacation or getaway with amenities such as sleeping and eating quarters. While a converted van can never have the amenities of a Class A motor home or a travel trailer, a bed and a place to sit beat a weekend in the rain in a leaky tent for many campers. Because of the limited space in a van, the conversion is most useful for one camper or two who don't mind sharing a narrow bed.
2-by-4 lumber
Paint or stain
Contractor's glue
4-inch foam rubber
Heavy-duty fabric
Strip the interior of the van, leaving the front compartment intact. Remove the seats and the seat hardware, unless you intend to convert the camper back into a van at some point. If you do, leave the seat hardware and store the seats. Leave the carpet and windows intact.
Add a banquette. A banquette is a booth with a table, or, in the case of RVs, a table with benches on each side that converts to a bed, providing both a place to sleep and a place to dine. Build two simple, 4-foot wide and 3-foot deep enclosed wooden benches from plywood supported by a frame built from 2-by-4s.
Attach a 4-foot long piece of 2-by-4 to the front of each bench, with the short edge facing up, an inch below the front of the bench.The 2-by-4 supports the table when it's lowered to make a bed. Paint or stain the benches. Plan for one bench to be flush with and parallel to the rear of the driver's seat and the other to face the front of the van.
Buy a table from the RV supply store, or make your own. The tabletop must be the exact width of the distance between the two benches so that when it is set on the supporting strips of wood it will span the gap evenly. The width of the table determines how long the bed will be once it's slid into place between the benches. Whatever table you build must have a removable or collapsible base.
Secure the benches to the floor of the van with construction or contractor's adhesive. Typically, the adhesive comes in tubes similar to caulk tubes. Follow the directions on the package for the type of glue you're using. Alternatively, use lag bolts to attach the benches to the undercarriage.
Make cushions for the benches and the top of the table for when it's in use as a bed. Use four-inch foam rubber and cover it with heavy-duty fabric that's easy to clean. Make curtains for the windows by attaching a strip of Velcro above and below each window. Sew curtains to fit and add Velcro at the top and bottom. Stick the curtains in place when you're camping.
Create more living space when you're parked by installing an awning on the side of the van with the sliding door. If the van has a rear hatch that opens upward, make a tent from canvas or mosquito netting that drapes over the opened hatch door. Use the tent area for outdoor dining or lounging.
Put trailer mirrors on the van if your view is obscured by the contents of the interior.
Put hinged tops on the bench seats so they can be opened for storage.
Stow a small microwave oven, hot plate and electric teakettle for use at campgrounds with electric service.
Stow an RV portable restroom. If you only need a sleeping area, build a platform in the back of the van with storage drawers under it. Top the platform with a foam rubber mattress.
RV tables are supported on a removable metal tube that fits into a single flange in the floor and a single flange on the underside of the table.
Unless you have designed a bench that can be used with an existing shoulder seatbelt, it is unsafe to have passengers in the rear of the van when it's moving.
How to Convert Volkswagen Bus or Van to Camper: Lindsay Porter
Popular Mechanics: Build Your Own Foyer Bench
Cheap RV Living: Van Conversion
Meg Jernigan has been writing for more than 30 years. She specializes in travel, cooking and interior decorating. Her offline credits include copy editing full-length books and creating marketing copy for nonprofit organizations. Jernigan attended George Washington University, majoring in speech and drama.
How to Pack an RV for a Trip
How to Replace the Screen on a Camper Shell Window
How to Make a Teepee Tent
RV Sofa Bed Ideas
How to Convert a Honda Minivan to a Camper
Travel Preparation & Accommodations»
Travel & Electronics»
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/ Schnitz
Schnitz
62A Forsyth Street
At Schnitz, they bring the age-old culinary tradition of the schnitzel to modern-day taste buds through fresh ingredients, a healthier pan-cooking technique and a delicious, crunchy crumb that would make even the most seasoned schnitzel pro swoon.
Schnitz began its journey in 2007 when founder Roman Dyduk opened with a single restaurant. The Polish-born schnitzel expert had helmed restaurants in the past, all featuring his signature schnitzel on the menu. But this was different. With this restaurant, Roman and his sons Andrew and Tom had a single-minded focus to perfect the art of schnitzel making.
Since those humble but dedicated beginnings, Schnitz has grown from one restaurant to the over 60 that they have today. And they will continue to grow at the same rate that Australia’s appetite for schnitzels grows. Their sole aim is to keep bringing you the benchmark in schnitzel making. And to do that, they will continue to combine culinary tradition with modern methods, the freshest ingredients Australia has to offer, and a commitment to make every schnitzel to order.
Alfresco/Outdoor Dining
Takeaway Available
E visitors@wagga.nsw.gov.au
W http://schnitz.com.au/
Want to know more? Ask Schnitz:
Harans Patisserie
Cave BBQ
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GDC 2019: Beat Saber Will Be An Oculus Quest Launch Title
VR’s best-selling title is confirmed for release on the upcoming standalone headset.
This years highly-anticipated Game Developers Conference kicked-off with a bang today as Oculus confirmed the release of Beat Games’ insanely popular beat-slashing rhythm game on the upcoming Oculus Quest.
According to an official blog post released by Oculus earlier this morning, the Quest version of Beat Saber will be identical to the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and PSVR releases, with exception of course to the custom songs available on through modding on both the Rift and Vive.
“Playing Beat Saber on Oculus Quest allows you to make literally any move you want,” states Beat Games Head of Marketing Michaela Dvorak, in the official release. “You can easily add that extra dance move, and that feeling when you don’t have to watch out for any cables is priceless. I’m a big fan of Rift, but Beat Saber on Quest is a whole new level of experience! Visuals look absolutely stunning, gameplay is smooth and polished, and tracking is just great. Watching the game evolve on this platform was pretty exciting.”
In an interview with Oculus, Dvorak goes on to express his excitement for the Oculus Quest and what it could mean for the VR industry as a whole.
“Free movement in VR is very important, especially with games where you have to move a lot. For me, the biggest plus is the accessibility of these types of devices. No PCs, no cables, no waiting—you just put it on and play. You can take it anywhere with you and show it to your friends and family. With standalone headsets entering the market, more people will be excited to get into VR.”
Beat Saber running on the Oculus Quest / Image Credit: Beat Games
“I am 100% sure that Oculus Quest will change everything. VR is going to finally become a technology literally for everyone. No limitations—not the space, nor the price, nor overcomplicated setup. VR is going to break into our lives and give us totally new possibilities.”
Based on some playful teasing by the developer back in September of last year, we had our suspicions the popular rhythm game would be making its way to the highly-anticipated headset, but it’s exciting to receive an official confirmation by Oculus non-the-less. Beat Saber recently broke one million sales, becoming the first VR game in history to achieve that level of success. It’s only March and 2019 is already shaping up to be Beat Saber’s biggest year yet.
With GDC 2019 just kicking-off, this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of Quest-related announcements. With a whopping five days of conference still ahead of us, we’re about to be hit by a wave of new reveals and exciting debuts.
Beat Games Beat Saber Game Developers Conference GDC 2019 Oculus Oculus Quest
Denmark Is Turning To VR To Combat Teen Drinking Problem
Japan Using Exercise Bikes & VR Porn To Generate Electricity
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‘Ocean To Plate’ Uses VR To Reveal Waste In Our Seafood Harvesting
Explore every step of seafood production in Daydream Impact’s latest VR documentary.
More than a third of the global harvested seafood is lost or wasted on its journey to your dinner table. In the U.S. it is closer to half, with most fish being wasted by consumers.
Ocean to Plate: A Journey into the Seafood Supply Chain, takes viewers on a 360° experience that lifts the curtain on modern seafood production, revealing the process and its resulting waste.
Brought to us by The World Wildlife Fund, Condition One, and Google as part of our Daydream Impact program, the powerful documentary was released in honor of World Ocean’s Day in the hopes of shining a light on the impact harvesting seafood can have.
Over the last 50 years, demand for seafood has increased five-fold,” said Daydream Impact, “and as a result, nearly 90 percent of the world’s fisheries are harvested up to or beyond their limit.”
The documentary highlights not only how environmentally damaging harvesting fish can be, but the environmental impact of every aspect of the industry. This is due in large part to the amount of energy it takes to refrigerate fish at every step of the production process.
Seafood isn’t the only type of food waste the World Wildlife Fund is trying to bring attention to. The U.S. leads the world in food waste, therefore bringing awareness to the waste of water, meats, fruits, vegetables, and other valuable resources the country carelessly disposes of could potentially slow the effects of climate change.
The immersive educational experience, available on YouTube or by a VR viewer with Google Cardboard, taps into VR’s power as a tool of empathy. The 360 perspective shows seafood production as if you are a fly on the wall, or a fish awaiting prep in a grocery store.
For those who want to dive deeper into the steps of the industry, Daydream Impact also created a Google Earth experience that allows you to actually see the physical journey seafood takes.
While the documentary focuses on creating awareness about the limitations of the ocean, Daydream Impact has also released other virtual experiences celebrating the beauty of our vast ocean’s.
Google Earth has also added a new experience for World Ocean’s Day, “Waterways from Space,” which highlights beautiful satellite images of the ocean captured by NASA.
Image Credit: NASA / Christian Serge
Condition One Daydream Impact Google Google Cardboard NASA Ocean to Plate: A Journey into the Seafood Supply Chain VR Documentary World Wildlife Fund YouTube
The Glitch Mob Celebrates New Album With Interactive VR Show
E3 2018: Rick & Morty Co-Creator Announces ‘Trover Saves The Universe’ For PS VR
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We Expose An Hispanic Triumphalist
A Reader Reflects On That Affirmative Action Bake Sale.
From: Elio [email him]
Hi my name is Elio and I currently live in Canada (legally) but I lived in Texas and then in Queens, NY ilegally. It's funny to read your pathetic website and see all the buffing and whining towards us Latinos, that's the typical signature of a dying white race that cannot accept the fact that they are almost out of fuel in nature's grand scheme of things. The law of Darwin says that all species have to come to an end, and you anglo-saxons are no exception. These were Darwin's "signatures" of a dying species:
The dying species fails to propogate itself having reached it's zenith, it's female members become infertile and the species continues to die little by little, with deaths outnumbering births [you anglo-saxons have that problem, your women are coming to the point of total infertility, 97% of aborted babies in the USA are white].
The dying species fails to cover/conquer territory [you white Americans are not covering any more territory, you are retreating in a backward fashion, as a matter of fact we Hispanics are overtaking dozens of towns and cities every year with massive immigration and heavy birth rates, even higher birthrates than blacks. when was the last time you heard that anglo-saxon immigration had outnumbered an area originally populated with Hispanics?]
The dying species starts to cede it's turf/territory to more dominant and vibrant species [white anglo-saxons started to cede territory to us latinos starting 25 years ago and the pace has not stopped, we hispanics are flooding the USA and are outnumbering everybody, even traditionally non-hispanic areas such as Kansas and Georgia are having a massive hispanic flood coming in]
Let's face it, we Hispanics are a vibrant and virulent new species, we are a mixed race especially adapted to conquering and flooding territories like a swarm of locust. You anglo-saxons can never compete with us because our genetic code is new, you white americans are a dying species with an outdated genetic code, this is the reason why you no longer have that vibrancy and fertility you had centuries back.
It's also worth mentioning that your culture has stagnated while latin culture is still growing and expanding. It's no coincidence that the entire world is now hooked to latin pop culture, even mainstream anglo-saxon america is feeling the latin vibrancy taking over their entertainment and music industry.
Darwin was right, some species die and other new, more vibrant ones take over. You Americans are trying to plug the sea with your pinky finger when trying to stop hispanic immigration and whining like a hog in this website, you CANNOT stop us, we are a locust swarm, a fresh mixed race in our infancy and with a thirst for conquering and colonization.
America will be 70% latino in 30 years, you guys should stop the whining and let nature and Darwin's "survival of the fittest" criteria take over.
Peter Brimelow writes: Aha, you can't fool us! This is obviously written by a white radical agent provocateur, possibly the savagely witty but scabrously incorrect Alex Linder himself. One clue: whoever talks of Darwin, apart from our own Estefan Sailer? Another clue: it's simply a matter of public record that over half all American abortions are non-white, and Hispanics are actually more than twice as likely as whites to have them, just as they have more of every other family dysfunction. No real Hispanic chauvinist would lead with such a weak card.
We are a little puzzled, though, by the poor grammar, which we've rather unsportingly left uncorrected. Whatever else you can say about Linder, he can write.
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THE TIGER & ME - CROSS TO BEAR (BalconyTV)
par BalconyTV
THE TIGER & ME performs the song "CROSS TO BEAR" for BalconyTV.
Subscribe to us right now at http://bit.ly/15yj4oc
'Like' us on Facebook - http://Facebook.com/balconytv
Follow us on Twitter - http://Twitter.com/balconytv
PRESENTED BY RACHEL
Melbourne's The Tiger & Me walk a line that threads through indie anthems, folk duos, theatrical electro-pop and driving rock.
The five-piece band features three lead singers fronting a dynamic rhythm section who combine for a highly varied live show, at times bursting with energy, at times whispering ballads. Driven by vocals, keys, guitar, bass and drums, the band has also drawn on ukulele, accordion, banjo, violin and trumpet to create their varied sound.
In 2012 they signed to ABC Music's imprint label "Four|Four" (Tim Rogers, Boy in a Box), before collaborating with ARIA-nominated producer Steven Schram (Little Birdy, The Cat Empire) to create their second full-length album, The Drifter's Dawn. The record was album of the week on ABC Dig and PBS. The band then joined the roster at Fleming Artists to take to the road for a string of successful tours Australia wide.
A third album is currently in the making, with Steven Schram again behind the console. The recording further evolves the sound of a band that refuses to sit still. Slimming from six to five members and cutting back on instrument-swapping has brought a tighter focus to their sound, with silky electro-pop and swaggering rock beats the result. Stay tuned for a single in 2014 and album in 2015.
"Driven by the trio of voices, which partner effortlessly with the underlying music, the record sometimes thunders, it sometimes whispers, the plethora of melody, the hooks, bringing you back for more, sticking in your brain as good pop should"
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 2013
http://www.thetigerandme.com.au
Tune in again to BalconyTV //
BONJAH (BalconyTV)
D & M (BalconyTV)
ZAK SMITH (BalconyTV)
TRIPLE DROP (BalconyTV)
SPUHTNIK (BalconyTV)
LAZYTALK - ADVERTS (BalconyTV)
MCALISTER DRIVE (BalconyTV)
SCALE MODEL (BalconyTV)
THE AFTERMATH (BalconyTV)
BRAZEN LUNGS (BalconyTV)
INDIAN OCEAN (BalconyTV)
H-BEAM (BalconyTV)
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Local, USA
Veterans Coming Home - Health
Season 3 Episode 16 | 27m 59s
VETERANS COMING HOME: HEALTH highlights the challenges veterans - those with physical and/or mental wounds - face in transitioning from military to civilian life. Stories include a program training veterans and dogs to work together to combat the effects of PTSD, TBI & Military Sexual Abuse, and the recovery of a veteran from after he was physically injured to today as a Taekwondo Grandmaster.
Funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Additional funding provided by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Wyncote Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Season 3 Season 2 Season 1
Tariq's Cube
The coming-of-age story of a young Muslim American competing at Rubik cubing competitions.
Kids in Crisis: You're Not Alone
The mental health journeys of four young people, told entirely in their own words.
Veterans Coming Home - Careers
Showcases veterans finding new career paths and adapting to the civilian work world.
The health challenges veterans face in transitioning from military to civilian life.
The Seven Generation River
An environmental restoration effort led by the Pokagon Band of the Potawatomi Indians.
Beyond Graduation - DOCS!
A BEYOND GRADUATION collection of two short documentary stories.
Behind-the-Scenes - Beyond Graduation
Go behind-the-scenes of the production of BEYOND GRADUATION.
Crossing the Divide
Young journalists travel the U.S. exploring issues that divide us & stories that unite us.
Opioids from Inside
Follow the journey of three women, who have served time in jail for opioid-related crimes.
My Everyday Hustle
Meet five men and women chasing their versions of the American Dream in New York.
The Mayors of Shiprock
Meet THE MAYORS OF SHIPROCK - unstoppable young Navajo leaders working to bridge divides.
Finding America 2
The relationships between individuals and the communities they live in across the country.
Veterans Coming Home - Health | Trailer
Preview: S3 Ep16 | 1m 9s
Veterans Coming Home - Health | Promo
Preview: S3 Ep16 | 30s
More Indie Films ShowsRight
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A Business Affair (1994)
Genre: A ‘Love-Triangle’ Drama (with a dash of comedy)
Walken in Short: Walken plays smooth-talking, womanizing New York literary publisher ‘Vanni Corso’. He has plenty of screen-time and oodles of lines.
Movie in a Sentence: Kate (Carole Bouquet) is a sassy French model married to an unpleasant yet successful British author named Alec (Jonathan Pryce), but she wants to make it as a writer too, so it’s a good thing they’ve both just met Vanni, a charming, ambitious New York publisher (Christopher Walken) who wants to lure Alec away from his previous publishing-house, and Kate from her husband.
Specs: one hour and 45 minutes long/ rated ‘R’ (swearing, drinking, no drugs, a fist-fight but no real violence, several brief glimpses of Ms. Bouquet’s nipples) / available on DVD but not Blu-ray
Director: Charlotte Brandstrom
Writer: William Stadiem and Charlotte Brandstrom (based on the novel “Weep No More” by Barbara Skelton
Actors Other Than Walken:
Carole Bouquet plays ‘Kate’. She is the lead, the woman at the center of this triangle. She is saucy and sassy, and she speaks with a thick French accent. You may remember Miss Bouquet as the Bond-girl Melina Havelock in the Roger Moore Bond-flick ‘For Your Eyes Only’ (1981).
Jonathan Pryce plays ‘Alec’, Kate’s insufferably arrogant and tactless husband. This is a role that he plays perfectly, and I promise you by the time the film ends you will hate this man. So I guess in that he is wildly successful. I will always know Pryce as the bumbling everyman in Terry Gilliam’s epic masterpiece ‘Brazil’ (1985). He worked with Walken again in 2001 in (curiously enough) another film with the word “affair’ in it: ‘The Affair of the Necklace’.
Tom Wilkinson has a bit-part as ‘Bob‘. Basically he only has a scene or two where Kate uses him as a sounding board for her troubles. It’s kind of a waste of a brilliant actor, but it’s still nice to see his face in this, if only for a moment. Although it seems like he MUST have at some time, Wilkinson has never been in another film with Walken.
Similar Films: The Object of Beauty (1991), Vicki Christina Barcelona (2008), Sabrina (1954)
Walken Content: 79% – He’s all over this film, he has several small speeches that he knocks out of the park (as usual), and he imbues his character with all kinds of small humanizing details that make him a joy to watch.
Walken Quote: Okay, so Walken and ‘Alec’ are in a restaurant together. Walken’s trying to convince him to switch publishers. Alec tells him that “you can’t turn literature into a business”. Walken smirks and responds thusly:
“Sure you can, look Alec, I know. You think I’m a nouveau riche philistine schmuck but you’d be wrong. I’ve been a millionaire nearly all my adult life, and I’ll tell you something: I graduated with top honors. Ask me from where. The university of LIFE pal. All that Latin and Greek and quotations and epigrams. None of that means diddly-squat.” (Alec stammers: ‘D-d-diddly?’)
“Squat. That’s a word I learned in Harvard.”
~ Vanni Corso (Walken)
Should You Watch This? Hard to say, really. I think that as a whole, this film is rather weak, and I would probably get hate-mail if I told you to watch it on its own merit. But on the other hand, Walken gets a lot of screen-time, a lot of lines. He’s eccentric and believable. There is a lot of Walken-FLAVORING sprinkled throughout this entire film. Too much to ignore.
FUN FACT: He has mentioned in an interview with James Lipton that among his film-roles to date (circa 1995) this is the role that he most identifies with.
Unfortunately, as a whole, I can’t endorse this film. It is a mediocre and half-baked romance that makes some ridiculous decisions in the third act, which subverts the strengths of all three leads. Ugh. Honestly, it ends on such a sour note, although the journey there is peppered with enough entertainment to make it tolerable, and at times entertaining.
If, however, you’re coming at this film from a purely Walken standpoint, then I’ve got to say “Do it.”
Walken tangos, golfs in stupid golf-outfits (multiple times), jogs, gets punched, gets drenched, has sex, takes a bath (with a lady!), sets a jealousy-trap with a hooker, and generally exudes enough charm to choke a cobra.
Here, check these out:
Now if that series of photos from this film doesn’t convince you that it’s worth at least taking a peek at, then I’m going to need to take away your Walken-Fan registration card, right now!
It’s your decision.
This entry was posted on September 28, 2014 by Something Something (todd) and tagged A Business Affair, Carole Bouquet, Charlotte Brandstrom, Christopher Walken, dances the tango, drama, Jonathan Pryce, love triangle, publisher, romantic lead, The Affair of the Necklace, Tom Wilkinson, Vanni Corso, Walken Chronicles, Walken Film Review.
https://wp.me/p2iyE8-oP
Something Something (todd)
Todd has a wonderful job in the evenings that not only allows him to write prodigiously during the day, but it also puts that trusty B.A. in Media (@USM) to regular use at night. He is a published writer, so that's good. And, can I tell you something? Something in private? The people. The people, they say he is *whispered* ... a lyrical maaadman! They say his words will set you on fire. Literally. So get friendly with the aloe, my friend. ... Actually, he IS required by the state of Maine & jolly old Uncle Sam to provide that warning written in the third person for your initial protection. He will not mention it again.
The Funeral (1996)
Basquiat (1996)
Celluloide (1996)
Wild Side (1995)
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Brain Scans Indicate Brain Health Could Be Tied to Feeling Younger Than Your Age
Wall Street Rebel | James DiGeorgia
The human brain – even with the tremendous leaps in science and medicine – remains largely a mystery. Neuroscientists barely comprehend which hemispheres of the brain control which functions of the human body and what causes some of the most common disease like Alzheimer’s.
The amount of false information on the brain and how it works could literally reach the moon and back laid-out on stationary paper and stacked. We do know, however, that there are exercises that can sharpen the human mind.
Now, according to new research published in the journal Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, there could be another way of keeping human brains youthful.
Jeanyung Chey, a researcher at Seoul National University in Korea, decided to investigate the link between subjective and real brain age. She and a team recruited from her University 68 healthy people aged 59 to 84 years and performed MRI brain scans to analyze the amount of grey matter in different areas.
The participants also completed a questionnaire about how old they were and whether they felt older or younger; their cognitive abilities and perceived health was also assessed.
The people who said they felt younger than their age were more likely to get a better score on a memory test. Also, they appeared to consider themselves healthier, and were less likely to be depressed.
It wasn't just down to performance, as those who felt younger also had increased grey matter volume in the inferior frontal gyrus and the superior temporal gyrus – areas associated with language, speech, and sound.
"We found that people who feel younger have the structural characteristics of a younger brain," Chey said in a statement.
"Importantly, this difference remains robust even when other possible factors, including personality, subjective health, depressive symptoms, or cognitive functions are accounted for."
The researchers don't know for sure whether younger brain characteristics are responsible for someone's subjective age or not, but they think those who feel older may be more aware of the aging process of their brains.
Another possible explanation is people who feel younger engage in more physical and mental activity and lead a generally more stimulating life, which improves their brain health.
Those who feel older may have resigned themselves to their age and stopped being so agile and spritely, which impacts their cognitive abilities. According to Chey…
"If somebody feels older than their age, it could be a sign for them to evaluate their lifestyle, habits, and activities that could contribute to brain aging and take measures to better care for their brain health."
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Vulcan soccer coach, Marc Miranda, Living his childhood dream
Marc Miranda
Childhood dreams often disappear as we get older and different things get in the way as we are shuffled into different paths.
But for some of us, lucky enough to keep the flame going well into adulthood, those childhood dreams can pay off into a lifelong clenching satisfaction of today’s reality.
For Marc Miranda growing up in Honokaa was a continuous journey of activity starting with riding his bike everywhere.
“My friends and I had a pretty active lifestyle,” Miranda said. “We biked everywhere and anywhere we could whether it was down Waipio Valley or up to Waimea to go swimming in Anna’s Pond.”
Miranda’s true calling in sports participation came at St. Joseph Elementary School with a teacher named Bob Holt.
“Mr. Holt introduced soccer to me,” Miranda said. “I played every recess on the asphalt parking lot right behind the Our Lady of Lords Catholic Church.”
Miranda recalls some epic matches on the school’s campus with fellow students and at the end of the day, when it was time to go home to Honokaa, he remembers going with his best friend, David Cypriano, to play in his Aunty Nancy’s yard.
“Her house had two monkey pod trees that were four yards apart, which was a perfect goal, and then the other goal was facing her kitchen window,” Miranda said. “That was the one we wanted to defend because the other person never wanted to shoot because if they hit that window, ‘GAME OVER!’
Miranda and his friends played soccer everyday for countless hours, but his love for other sports also grew.
“My friends and I would play everything, football, basketball, body boarding, baseball, dodge ball, you name it and we did it,” Miranda said.
Miranda explains that due to the lack of quality video games back during his childhood he and his friends were always outside, playing.
In high school Miranda played volleyball, baseball and ran track during his senior year for the Cardinal, but soccer was his true love.
“None of the other sports really stuck with me too long because we usually had a soccer tourney that we were gearing up for and traveling to and that took up most of my time,” he said.
His love for soccer paid dividends as the 1997 St. Joseph graduate went on to play collegiately for Missouri Valley College in Marshall.
“I got to play all four years in college and it also afforded me the opportunity to see parts of the United States that I’d never thought I’d get to see,” Miranda said. “It made me appreciate coming home to Hawaii, for sure.”
Today Miranda is a Personal Banker for First Hawaiian Bank in Hilo where he provides a wide range of services in what he calls a customer oriented operation.
“It’s my job to come up with different strategy’s on individuals personal investments,” Miranda said. “There is a bit of pressure associated with that and making sure that our investors are taken care of during a period when our economy is fluctuating.”
Miranda is also the Head Soccer Coach at the University of Hawaii at Hilo where he is responsible for 30 young women between the ages of 18 and 24.
“The soccer stuff is easy, it’s the traveling during the season that is added stress on my body and mind as we need to organize events so that there is a minimal amount of stress that the athletes have to deal with while on the trip,” he said.
As a stress relief Miranda will get into the UHH athletic facility at least twice a week to work on his cardio, either on the elliptical machine and working out with his ladies team.
“I’ll spend 35 minutes on the elliptical machine, then 20 minutes on free weights,” Miranda said. “I’ll also walk my dog almost every day for 20 to 30 minutes so that he gets his exercise.”
Of course, Miranda can also be seen on the soccer field kicking the ball around with the women on a regular basis.
I had to laugh when Miranda told me that as he gets older, he’s 32, he needs to be more conscience of what he eats and the portion size.
“I stay away from white rice and fried foods as much as I can and really try to eat more vegetables and freshly grown foods,” he said.
Miranda also just discovered the value of a juicer and tried to juice every meal, for two weeks, with amazing results.
“I juiced everything and added some exercise and lost 20 pounds during that 2 week period,” Miranda said. “The weight loss made a huge difference in my energy level and overall mood.”
Miranda will still juice every morning, but admits to finding it difficult to drink kale and other vegetable every day.
“My girlfriend, Megan Fuller is an ER nurse, and she got me started into juicing,” he said. “She is usually right about all things concerning the body.”
In three years, or by the time he turns 35, Miranda hopes to run his first marathon, a distance of 26.2 miles.
“Running a marathon would mean getting dedicated and having a long term plan and sticking with it,” Miranda said. “I’d also like to get back down to my college playing weight of 180 to 185 as this was the best shape I’d ever been.”
Miranda continues to play in a men’s soccer league in Hilo while working two jobs.
“I find that if I don’t exercise for at least 30 minutes per day the stress really piles up, he said. Exercise allows me time to stop thinking and just be focused on one singular task and sort of just quiets my mind, which is a great thing for me.”
Miranda continues to live his childhood dream while serving his community on a daily basis.
And someday should you happen to see a tall, thin stranger coming jogging the streets of Keaau remember to smile, say “woof” and never shy away from “Running with the Big Dog.”
Email the Big Dog at waiakeabigdog@aol.com.
October 31, 2011 - Posted by waynejoseph | Profiles | Bob Holt, David Cypriano, First Hawaiian Bank in Hilo, Marc Miranda, Megan Fuller, Missouri Valley College, Our Lady of Lords Catholic Church, Running with the Big Dog, St. Joseph Elementary School, UHH soccer, Vulcan soccer
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by Charlie Largent Jun 18, 2019
1936 / 1.33 : 1 / 103 Min.
Starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers
Cinematography by David Abel
Directed by George Stevens
The image of a tuxedo clad Fred Astaire hopping an empty boxcar sums up the double-edged appeal of Swing Time, a transcendent musical-comedy in which Fred and Ginger meet the depression head-on – Runyonesque sentimentality is avoided thanks to George Stevens’ no-nonsense direction and the clear-eyed love songs of Dorothy Fields and Jerome Kern.
Astaire plays a down-on-his-luck hoofer named Lucky who catches sight of a beautiful dance instructor named Penny and naturally falls in love (those too-perfect names will hang over the movie like a curse). The smitten hoofer trails her to the studio where she coaches would-be romantics in the art of… being Fred Astaire. Penny does her best with the supposedly flat-footed interloper but only succeeds in getting fired by her bad-tempered boss played by Eric Blore.
Lucky saves the day along with Penny’s job with a fast-paced polka to Pick Yourself Up, one of the most joyous entries in the Astaire-Rogers canon. Though the number has enough twists and turns for a tilt-a-whirl the couple remains serenely nonchalant – sailing above the fray of their own making.
That dance is “technically” a polka but there is nothing beer barrel about Fred and Ginger’s supercharged performance – just as Astaire presents himself as a stumblebum to Penny’s perplexed dance coach, the many-layered musical routines underscore the uncertainty at the heart of their love affair – a “perfectly swell” romance played out against an equally uncertain moment for the country.
That worried feeling permeates The Way You Look Tonight, one of the most swooningly romantic songs ever written. Though the tune is an anthem to everlasting love it’s staged as a comedy routine – as Fred croons “lovely, lovely, never, never change”, Ginger appears from the bathroom in an absurd soap suds wig. Even then Fields’ lyrics reveal a melancholy undertow – when Astaire intones “Someday, when I’m very low” he’s already imagining their separation.
Lucky and Penny’s “fine romance” ebbs and flows according to the dictates of the plot, an on again, off again affair that sees them attaining higher levels of success while growing further apart – thanks in part to a slippery band leader (played by Georges Metaxa) intent on coming between them (though the notion of Ginger falling for this glad-handing blowhard is a bridge too far for any audience).
Their stormy relationship reaches its come to Jesus moment with Never Gonna Dance, an about-face to the sunny optimism of Pick Yourself Up and a defining moment in Astaire and Rogers’ career – and movie musicals in general.
Choreographed by Hermès Pan and performed with dazzling gravitas by the duo, the songs heard throughout the film are woven throughout the sequence – turning the dance into a heartbreaking snapshot of their love affair.
George Stevens plays the indispensable third wheel in Fred and Ginger’s night on the town – his lucid and transparent style – a technique that matches Astaire’s no-frills attitude toward his meticulously planned routines (Never Gonna Dance, the ne plus ultra of that approach, was an unbroken take).
There are shiny art-deco sets aplenty, solid gold comedy from Blore and Helen Broderick and the movie ends in gales of laughter – but the feeble box office reflected the ticket buyer’s misgivings about the film’s bittersweet mood. Carefree, their 1937 entry, may have been a mea culpa for Swing Time’s brush with the real world but to no avail – it was the first Astaire-Rogers film to not show a profit.
Criterion’s new Blu ray package isn’t as loaded as, say, their release of Equinox – but to quote Spencer Tracy, “what’s there is cherce.”
Most welcome is the presence of the great jazz critic – and equally impressive film writer – Gary Giddins. His take on the hue and cry surrounding the racism of the Bojangles number (a tribute to Bill Robinson with Astaire performing in blackface) are thoughtful and unsparing. Mia Mask chimes in with more thoughts on the famously, tragically, problematic sequence.
The supplements are, via Criterion’s site:
New 2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
Audio commentary from 1986 featuring John Mueller, author of Astaire Dancing: The Musical Films
Archival interviews with performers Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and choreographer Hermes Pan
New interview with George Stevens Jr.
In Full Swing, a new program on the film’s choreography and soundtrack featuring jazz and film critic Gary Giddins, dance critic Brian Seibert, and Dorothy Fields biographer Deborah Grace Winer
New interview with film scholar Mia Mask on the “Bojangles of Harlem” number
PLUS: An essay by critic Imogen Sara Smith
Here’s Gary Giddins on Sweet Smell of Success – with a brilliant deep dive into the film’s jazz milieu and the score by Elmer Bernstein.
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TransBioLine promises a decisive advance in biomarker discovery, development, validation, regulatory qualification and application, and bring about a fundamental change in the way drug safety is monitored in clinical trials, and toxicities are diagnosed and managed in clinical practice.
Project2019-11-06T16:50:17+00:00
Biomarkers of kidney injury (WP1)
TransBioLine aims to qualify protein biomarkers for drug-induced glomerular, liver, pancreatic, vascular and brain damage. We aim for identification of novel glomerular injury biomarkers in patients at risk and demonstrating how a panel of glomerular specific biomarkers can optimize insights to drug-induced renal injury. We aim to facilitate detection of subclinical (without alterations in serum-creatinine and progressive elevations of proteinuria) glomerular injury. We plan to include patients with preeclampsia as well as cancer patients treated with VEGF-inhibitors. Both disorders are associated with a significant degree of glomerular injury as manifested by progressive proteinuria and impairment of kidney function.
Biomarkers of liver injury (WP2)
The aim of WP2 is to identify new biomarkers that improve the diagnostic and prognostic assessment of Drug Induced Liver Injury (DILI). Once DILI has occurred in a patient, the subsequent clinical course is often difficult to predict with the use of standard parameters such as the aminotransferases ALT/AST. A new biomarker that assesses the risk of progression to more severe liver injury would be a major advance in the management of DILI. Moreover, new biomarkers may provide insight into the pathogenetic mechanisms and immune components that lead to idiosyncratic adverse hepatic reactions.
Biomarkers of pancreatic injury (WP3)
The remit of WP3 is to qualify biomarkers to detect and predict prognosis of pancreas injury associated with acute pancreatitis, including when caused by approved or experimental drugs. Current biomarkers of pancreas injury (e.g. amylase, lipase) lack sufficient sensitivity and specificity to detect early stages of drug-induced pancreas injury or provide valuable prognostic information for the clinical management of acute pancreatitis. Although drug-induced pancreas injury (DIPI) is rare, the consequences can be severe. Additionally, better safety biomarkers will allow progression of potentially impactful medicines into human clinical trials when pancreas effects are detected in pre-clinical toxicology studies that may or may not predict human pancreas injury. Recent reports have shown the promise of using circulating micro-RNA (miR) as sensitive and specific biomarkers for DIPI. Select proteins related to exocrine proteases have also shown utility. WP3 will investigate both types of markers to determine if they will allow prognostic detection of acute pancreatitis.
Biomarkers of vascular injury (WP4)
WP4 focusses on the discovery, evaluation and qualification of new biomarkers for drug-induced vascular injury (DIVI). Because this is a rare, but important type of organ injury to mitigate during drug development or evaluation, we take advantage of the strong similarity of tissue changes in DIVI and inflammation of blood vessels in systemic autoimmune diseases called vasculitides, as well as acute transient injury caused by angioplasty procedures. By analyzing blood-based proteins and microRNA biomarkers in systemic vasculitides, we seek to establish a sensitive and specific pattern of response to vascular injury. Ideally, this will allow detection and monitoring of DIVI. Because different organs may be involved in vascular injury, we collaborate with WP1, as kidney is a frequently involved site of vascular injury and detected by a similar set of urinary biomarkers.
Biomarkers of CNS injury (WP5)
The objective of the TransBioLine Drug Induced CNS Injury (DINI) Work Package is to qualify blood-based biomarkers of drug-induced CNS neurotoxicity to enable decisions (e.g. dose selection, termination, etc.) in early clinical trials with neurotoxicity risk. DINI can lead to severe and irreversible neurological damage. Thus, early detection of DINI is of utmost importance and there is a pressing unmet medical need for safety biomarkers to safeguard healthy volunteers and patients from serious, irreversible CNS injury and to guide decision-making in early clinical trials.
Liquid biopsies (WP6)
Focusing on the discovery, evaluation and qualification of microRNAs in liquid biopsies as reliable, non-invasive, and sensitive safety biomarkers is the remit of WP6. Since the transcription of certain microRNAs is restricted to specific cell types they can be used as accessible tissue- and mechanism- specific biomarkers enabling an early and precise detection of drug-induced organ injuries. Within TransBioLine WP6 supports other work packages during the qualification of organ- and disease- specific microRNA signatures in 5 organ/disease areas, and to develop systems biology tools that will improve our understanding of the biological mechanisms underlying drug-induced tissue damage.
Assay and sample management (WP7)
Work package 7 has two task areas: (i) sample workflow and management (Central Biomaterial Bank Charité, ZeBanC) and (ii) assay development and biomarker analysis (Signatope).
The ZeBanC is responsible for harmonisation of workflows, documents and the coordination of the interfaces within the context of the collection of biosamples. ID management as an important basis for the unique coding and linkage of patient data and samples is a further task of WP7. The ZeBanC guaranties quality-assured biobanking including sample storage, documentation and provision of samples for downstream analyses. In essence, the work of the ZeBanC provides an excellent basis for assay development as performed by the co-lead of WP7, Signatope.
Protein biomarkers have proven valuable in identifying drug safety issues. Certain proteins found in organs or certain cell types are released either actively by a mechanism or by cell death in the event of drug-induced organ injury. TransBioLine aims to qualify protein biomarkers for drug-induced kidney, liver, pancreatic, vascular and CNS damage. Applied assay technologies include novel analytical strategies such as coupling immunoprecipitation with mass spectrometry and ultra-highly sensitive sandwich immunoassays as well as classical sandwich immunoassays. In order to demonstrate and test the translational character of biomarkers from preclinical to clinical studies, the assays can also be used for animal models.
Data management and analysis (WP8)
WP8 provides the data management and the underlying infrastructure and tools for efficient data analysis across the consortium. In this context WP8 is leading a cross-WP group ensuring smooth communication and harmonised interaction between project stakeholders as well as information and data flows within the project. Alignments of data structure and semantics as well as general interoperability aspects are here the main focus points.
Generate exploratory and confirmatory data enabling regulatory qualification of new safety biomarkers for application in drug development.
Establish robust datasets on the biomarkers across relevant patient populations to enhance diagnosis and prognosis of disease for application in clinical practice.
Implement profiles of circulating microRNAs as tissue- and mechanism- specific diagnostic tools, supported by suitable bioinformatics systems, to facilitate in-depth mechanistic understanding of drug side- effects and disease, and/or to strengthen risk assessment and safety monitoring.
Develop and validate assays for new safety biomarkers, suitable for application in drug development and clinical practice.
Have key safety biomarkers accepted as qualified drug development tools by EMA, FDA, and PMDA. Support continuous improvement of biomarker qualification methodology and processes in close collaboration with key regulatory agencies.
Facilitate sustainability of the consortium’s efforts by establishing and maintaining a European expert and knowledge network for biomarker qualification, the “Safety Biomarker Factory” and “Safety Biomarker Warehouse”, allowing for future continuous feed-in and qualification of new biomarker candidates, as well as access to comprehensive safety biomarker data.
Core Science Cluster
XWP Task Force
Cross-WP alignment
DIKI WP2
DILI WP3
DIPI WP4
DIVI WP5
LB WP7
Assay/sample management WP8
Data management and analysis
Regulatory interaction WP11
Communication, dissemination, sustainability
Organ Work Packages
Organ WPs (DIKI, DILI, DIPI, DIVI and DINI) are focused on study design/strategy, timely recruitment of the patients, sample acquisition, statistical analyses, and the selection, evaluation and qualification of respective biomarkers.
Assay and Biobank Work Packages
These WPs develop and provide assays for miRNA and protein biomarkers. WP7 will also be in-charged of sample management–sample shipment, biobanking, and sample data repository.
WP8 oversee and lead data capture, data management, and data analysis. In particular, setting up eCRFs and the consortium database is the responsibility of this WP.
Regulatory interactions
Communication, Dissemunation & Sustainability
Tweets by @IMITransBioLine
ABOUT IMI
The Innovative Medicines Initiative is a partnership between the European Union and the European pharmaceutical industry, represented by the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA). It is working to improve health by speeding up the development of the next generation of medicines, particularly in areas where there is an unmet medical or social need. It works by facilitating collaboration between the key players involved in health research, including universities, research centres, the pharmaceutical and other industries, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), patient organisations, and medicines regulators. IMI is the world's biggest public-private partnership (PPP) in the life sciences.
This project has received funding from the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No 821283. This Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and EFPIA companies.
IMI Europa
info@transbioline.com
© Copyright | TransBioLine | Disclaimer: The TransBioLine website reflects the author’s view and that neither IMI nor the European Union, EFPIA, or any Associated Partners are responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.
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Dotonbori
Follow the trail of Osaka's iconic landmarks.
The famous Dotonbori neighborhood, now an eccentric mix of tourists and locals, restaurants and hostess bars, was once the heart of the theater district of old Osaka. The Shochiku-za Theatre, specializing in Kabuki and dating back to 1923, is all that remains of the old district, a reminder that this hotbed of nightlife used to be the center of intellectual culture in Osaka.
Today you can enjoy Dotonbori in many ways, from many perspectives: by walking in the crowded streets and across the packed pedestrian bridges, or down the ramps and by the edge of the Dotonbori River. You can take a river cruise and view the towering buildings and glaring lights from below, or you can go to the top of one of the many restaurants and people watch from above.
Take a Dotonbori canal tour to see the area from the water.
Dotonbori is famous for it towering neon signs advertising the latest products, but its most famous sign is also its oldest. The Glico Man, as it’s known, depicts a man in white gym clothes running down a bright blue track.
The Neon Lights of Dotonbori
The digital background changes colors in rapid succession and features various landmarks of Osaka. Standing 33 meters tall, it was built in 1935 and has gone through six iterations, the most recent of which was unveiled in 2015 and features LED lights rather than its previous neon lights.
Famous for Pocky, the popular chocolate-coated biscuit sticks, the Glico snack company was first known for their caramels, which are still widely enjoyed today. An ad campaign for their caramels gave birth to the running man logo: a selling point for the sweets was that they were 15.4 kcal, the energy supposedly needed to run exactly 300 meters.
You can view the sign best from the Ebisu-bashi pedestrian bridge, a central point and popular meet-up spot in Dotonbori. This bridge links the two major shotengai (covered shopping arcades), Shinsaibashi-suji and Ebisubashi-suji.
Get a selfie with the Glico man from Ebisu-bashi bridge.
Down the street from the Glico Man sign, you can find the famous Kuidaore Taro, a mechanical clown that has become a symbol for Osaka. The statue was created in 1950 by Rokuro Yamada, the owner of the Cuida-ore restaurant, once an iconic Dotonbori establishment that closed in 2008. To appeal to families, Yamada designed a clown mascot modeled on the Bunraku puppets native to the city.
When commissioning the electronic puppet, he tried several models for the face until finally settling on his own. The somewhat unnerving puppet remains prominently displayed today, still mechanically drumming his drum. It has been featured in many ad campaigns and promotions for Osaka tourism and sports teams.
Kuida-ore literally translates to “to eat oneself bankrupt,” which has become a saying synonymous with the many culinary delights one can find in Dotonbori. Osaka’s culinary history dates back to the Edo era (17th through 19th centuries) when its fresh seafood drew chefs from all over Japan to study cooking and enjoy the fruits of the nearby sea. An old saying goes, “Ki-daore in Kyoto and Kui-daore in Osaka,” referring to the popularity of kimono in Kyoto and of eating one’s face off in Osaka.
Topics: food and drink, Iconic, Osaka, popular, shopping
Dotonbori is the beating heart of Osaka’s nightlife and is famous for its neon lights and entertainment, and really comes alive at night when the neon lights up together with the sounds and smells of the district.
Dotonbori, Chuo Ward, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture 542-0071, Japan
Dotonbori is a 5 minute walk from Namba Station.
Yodogawanul Hotel Apartment
Chuo-ku Shimanouchi 2-17-6 Osaka-Shi, Osaka 542-0082
Powered by Booking.com
Hostel Enisia Namba
Chuo-ku Sennichimae 1-7-14 Moco Building 2F, 3F Osaka-Shi, Osaka 542-0074
Destination Osaka
Namba Yasaka Shrine
This secret shrine is Osaka in a nutshell.
Imamiya Ebisu Shrine
Don’t miss out on one of Osaka’s most exciting New Year's festivals at this beloved shrine.
One of western Japan’s oldest shrines.
Top 10 Winter Illuminations To See In Japan
Top 15 Hot Spring Destinations for Winter in Japan
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Other Places in Osaka
Osaka Castle Park
Osaka Den Den Town
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Legal and party nomenklatura foundation of the soviet state bureaucracy in the years 1917-1929
Author: Artyom M. Vaganov
Artyom M. Vaganov,
This article presents the results of a study becoming a model of the Soviet nomenklatura state bureaucracy, prerequisites and consequences. Marked theoretical and methodological aspects of the study of public administration. Study the legal regulation of the functioning of the party and the Soviet state bureaucracy. On the basis of scientific concepts in the domestic jurisprudence formulated the author's point of view on the problems of the definition of acts of the RSDLP (b), of the RCP (b), the CPSU (b) in the sources of Soviet law. We studied the legal and political basis for relations in the Soviet civil service by determining the scope of legal regulation and the predominant influence of the Communist Party in the regulation of relations connected with the process of the civil service, with the definition of the rights, duties and responsibilities of employees.
Nomenklatura principle of personnel recruitment
sources of Soviet law
Soviet state and legal construction
distinctive features of the Russian state and legal system
1. Vaganov A. M. Pravovye osnovy sovetskoj gosudarstvennoj bjurokrati (1917-1929 gg.): istoriko-pravovoj aspekt [The Legal Foundation of Soviet State Bureaucracy in the Years 1917-1929: Historical and Legal Aspects]. Thesis. Cheljabinsk, 2013. Pp. 2-43. (In Russian)
2. Vinnichenko O. Ju., Vaganov A. M. Administrativnaja reforma v Sovetskoj Rossii 1920-h gg.: sochetanie tradicii i novizny [The Administrative Reform in Soviet (Bolshevik) Russia in the Years 1920s: Tradition and Novelty]. Vestnik Juzhno-Ural’skogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta [South Ural State University Herald]. 2012. No 29. Pp. 6-10. (In Russian)
3. Vinnichenko O. Ju. Rossijskaja gosudarstvennost’ v kontekste civilizacionnogo razvitija [Russian Nation-Building within the Framework of Civilization Development]. Tyumen: Tyumen State University Publishing House, 2008. 172 p.; Ahiezer, A., Kljamkin I., Jakovenko I. Istorija Rossii: konec ili novoe nachalo? [The History of Russia: The End or a New Beginning?]. Moscow: Novoe izdatel’stvo, 2005. 708 p.; Berdyaev N. A. Istoki i smysl russkogo kommunizma [The Origin of Russian Communism]. Moscow: Nauka, 1990. 224 p.; Ilyin I. A. Nashi zadachi. Istoricheskaja sud’ba i budushhee Rossii [Our Goals. The Historical Fate and the Future of Russia]. Antologija mirovoj politicheskoj mysli [An Anthology of World Political Thought]. 1997. Vol. 4. Mysl’. Pp. 663-676. (In Russian)
4. Vinnichenko O. Ju., Vaganov A. M. K voprosu ob opredelenii statusa partijnyh aktov v sisteme istochnikov sovetskogo prava [Revisiting the Problem of Defining the Status of the Acts of the Party in the System of the Sources of Soviet Law]. Vestnik Tjumenskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta [Tyumen State University Herald]. 2012. No 3. Pp. 204-209. (In Russian)
5. Voslenskij M. S. Nomenklatura. Gospodstvujushhij klass Sovetskogo Sojuza [Nomenklatura. The Dominant Class of the Soviet Union]. Moscow: Sovetskaja Rossija; Oktjabr’, 1991. 624 p.; Izmozik V. S., Starkov B. A. Podlinnaja istorija RSDRP-RKPb-VKPb. Kratkij kurs. Bez umolchanij i fal’sifikacij [A True Story of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party — Russian Communist Party of Bolsheviks — All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. Short Course: Complete and Intrinsic]. St. Petersburg: Piter, 2010. 496 p.; Makarenko V. P. Bjurokratija i stalinizm [Bureaucracy and Stalinism]. Izd-vo Rostovskogo Universiteta [Rostov University Publishing House], 1989. 362 p.; Pavljuchenkov S. A.‘Orden mechenoscev’. Partija i vlast’ posle Revoljucii 1917-1929 gg. [The Order of the Brothers of the Sword. The Party and Power Following the Revolution:1917-1929]. Moscow: Sobranie, 2008. 464 p. (In Russian)
6. Dekret SNK RSFSR “O bor’be so vzjatochnichestvom’ ot 16 avgusta 1921 goda [Decree of the Government (the Council of People’s Commissars) of the R.S.F.S.R. ‘On Bribery Control’ of August 16, 1921]. Sobranie uzakonenii RSFSR [Collection of Decrees of the R.S.F.S.R.]”. 1921. No 60. Article 421; Postanovlenie CIK SSSR, SNK SSSR “Ob imushhestvennoj otvetstvennosti rabochih i sluzhashhih za ushherb, prichinennyj imi nanimateljam’ ot 12 ijunja 1929 goda [Act of the Central Executive Committee and of the Government (the Council of People’s Commissars) of the R.S.F.S.R. ‘On Property Liability of Manual and Office Workers for Detriment Caused by Employers’ of June 12, 1929]”. Sobranie uzakonenii RSFSR [Collection of Decrees of the R.S.F.S.R.]. 1929. No 42. Article 367; Postanovlenie CIK SSSR, SNK SSSR “Ob osnovah disciplinarnogo zakonodatel'stva Sojuza SSR i sojuznyh respublik’ ot 13 oktjabrja 1929 goda [Act of the Central Executive Committee and of the Government (the Council of People’s Commissars) of the R.S.F.S.R. ‘On the Principles of Disciplinary Legislation of the U.S.S.R. and of Union Republics’ of October 13, 1929]”. Sobranie uzakonenii RSFSR [Collection of Decrees of the R.S.F.S.R.]. 1929. No 71. Article 670; Postanovlenie SNK SSSR “O merah k ukrepleniju trudovoj discipliny v gosudarstvennyh predprijatijah’ ot 6 marta 1929 goda [Decree of the Government (the Council of People’s Commissars) of the R.S.F.S.R. ‘On Measures to Promote Employment Security in State-Run Enterprises’ of March 6, 1929]”. Sobranie uzakonenii RSFSR [Collection of Decrees of the R.S.F.S.R.].1929. No 19. Article 167; Dekret VCIK RSFSR “O vvedenii v dejstvie Grazhdanskogo kodeksa RSFSR’ ot 11 nojabrja 1922 goda [Decree of the VTsIK (The All-Russian Central Executive Committee) of the R.S.F.S.R. ‘On the Enactment of the Civil Code of the R.S.F.S.R.’ of November 11, 1922]”. Sobranie uzakonenii RSFSR [Collection of Decrees of the R.S.F.S.R.]. 1922. No 71. Article 904; Postanovlenie VCIK “O vvedenii v dejstvie Ugolovnogo Kodeksa RSFSR redakcii 1926 goda’ ot 22 nojabrja 1926 goda [Decree of the VTsIK (The All-Russian Central Executive Committee) of the R.S.F.S.R. ‘On the Enactment of the Criminal Code of the R.S.F.S.R.’ of November 22, 1926]”. Sobranie uzakonenii RSFSR [Collection of Decrees of the R.S.F.S.R.]. 1926. No 80. Article 600. (In Russian)
7. Kodeks zakonov o trude (prinjat Vserossijskim Central’nym Ispolnitel’nym Komitetom) [Law Code on Employment (adopted by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee)]. Sobranie uzakonenii RSFSR [Collection of Decrees of the R.S.F.S.R.]. 1918. Pp. 87-88. Article 905; Postanovlenie Vserossijskogo Central’nogo Ispolnitel’nogo Komiteta “O vvedenii v dejstvie Kodeksa Zakonov o Trude R.S.F.S.R. izd. 1922 g.’ ot 9 nojabrja 1922 goda [Act of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee ‘On the Enactment of the Law Code on Employment of the R.S.F.S.R. publ. 1922’ of November 9, 1922]”. Sobranie uzakonenii RSFSR [Collection of Decrees of the R.S.F.S.R.]. 1922. No 70. Article 903; Dekret SNK RSFSR “Vremennye pravila o sluzhbe v gosudarstvennyh uchrezhdenijah i predprijatijah’ ot 21 dekabrja 1922 goda [Decree of the Government (the Council of People’s Commissars) of the R.S.F.S.R. ‘Transitional Provision on Employment at State-Run Institutions and Entreprises’ of December 21, 1922]”. Sobranie uzakonenii RSFSR [Collection of Decrees of the R.S.F.S.R.] 1 (1923). Article 8; Dekret VCIK RSFSR ‘O porjadke najma i uvol’nenija rabochih i sluzhashhih’ ot 3 marta 1922 goda [Decree of the VTsIK (The All-Russian Central Executive Committee) of the R.S.F.S.R. ‘On Recruitment and Dismissal of Manual and Office Workers’ of March 3, 1922]. Sobranie uzakonenii RSFSR [Collection of Decrees of the R.S.F.S.R.]. 1922. No 22. Article 236; Postanovlenie Prezidiuma CIK SSSR “O mobilizacii chlenov gorodskih Sovetov na rukovodjashhuju rabotu v sel’skih Sovetah i rajonnyh ispolnitel’nyh komitetah v rajonah sploshnoj kollektivizacii’ ot 16 fevralja 1930 goda [Act of the Presidium of the Central Executive Office of the Soviet Union ‘On Mobilization of Members of City Soviets of People’s Deputies for Managerial Work at Rural Soviets (Selsoviets) and at Raion Executive Committees in All-Out Collectivization Areas’ of February 16, 1930]”. Sobranie uzakonenii RSFSR [Collection of Decrees of the R.S.F.S.R.]. 1930. No12. Article 140. (In Russian)
8. Postanovlenie SNK RSFSR “Ob ogranichenii sovmestnoj sluzhby rodstvennikov v sovetskih uchrezhdenijah” ot 27 ijulja 1918 goda [Act of the Government (the Council of People’s Commissars) of the R.S.F.S.R. ‘On Limiting the Employment of Relatives in Soviet Institutions’ of July 27, 1918]. Sobranie uzakonenii RSFSR [Collection of Decrees of the R.S.F.S.R.]. 1918. No 56. Article. 615; Dekret SNK RSFSR “O zapreshhenii vydachi byvshim chinovnikam starogo rezhima udostoverenij o dvizhenii po prezhnej sluzhbe’ ot 19 sentjabrja 1918 goda [Decree of the Government (the Council of People’s Commissars) of the R.S.F.S.R. ‘On the Prohibition against the Issue of Certificates of Promotion at Previous Work to Old Regime Civil Servants’ of September 19, 1918]”. Sobranie uzakonenii RSFSR [Collection of Decrees of the R.S.F.S.R.]. 1918. No 70. Article 760; Dekret SNK RSFSR “O porjadke sovmestitel’stva dolzhnostej’ ot 18 sentjabrja 1919 goda [Decree of the Government (the Council of People’s Commissars) of the R.S.F.S.R. ‘On the Procedure of Secondary Employment’ of September 18, 1919]”. Sobranie uzakonenii RSFSR [Collection of Decrees of the R.S.F.S.R.]. 1919. No 46. Article 449; Dekret SNK RSFSR “O sovmestnoj sluzhbe rodstvennikov v sovetskih uchrezhdenijah’ ot 16 ijunja 1920 goda [Decree of the Government (the Council of People’s Commissars) of the R.S.F.S.R. ‘On Employment of Relatives in Soviet Institutions’ of June 16, 1920]”. Sobranie uzakonenii RSFSR [Collection of Decrees of the R.S.F.S.R.]. 1920. No 63.Article 277; Dekret SNK RSFSR “O porjadke predostavlenija raboty sluzhiteljam religioznyh kul’tov’ ot 13 janvarja 1921 [Decree of the Government (the Council of People’s Commissars) of the R.S.F.S.R. ‘On Provision of Employment to Clergy’ of January 13, 1921]”. Sobranie uzakonenii RSFSR [Collection of Decrees of the R.S.F.S.R.]. 1921. No 8. Article 56; Dekret SNK RSFSR “Polozhenie o sovmestitel’stve’ ot 22 sentjabrja 1921 goda [Decree of the Government (the Council of People’s Commissars) of the R.S.F.S.R. ‘On Provision of Employment to Clergy’of September 22, 1921]”. Sobranie uzakonenii RSFSR [Collection of Decrees of the R.S.F.S.R.]. 1921. No 67. Article 515. (In Russian)
9. RGASPI [Russian State Archive for Socio-Political History]. F. 17. Op. 3, 34, 65, 67, 68, 69, 74, 84, 85, 112, 113, 162. (In Russian)
10. RGASPI [Russian State Archive for Socio-Political History]. F. 17. Op. 3, 34, 65, 67, 68, 69, 74, 84, 85, 112, 113, 162. (In Russian)
RGASPI [Russian State Archive for Socio-Political History]. F. 17. Op. 3, 34, 65, 67, 68, 69, 74, 84, 85, 112, 113, 162. (In Russian)
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unshavedmouse
Neil Sharpson- Author, Playwright, Blogger, YouTuber
The Disney Rankings
The Marvel Rankings
“That’s how Dad did it. That’s how America does it. And it’s worked out pretty well so far.”
Iron Man is one of the five most recognisable superheroes in the world today and that is goddamn insane.
From pretty much the early forties to the turn of the millennium there were only two comic book characters that everyone knew, even if they’d never picked up a comic in their lives and that was the two DC icons; Batman and Superman. And despite the fact that Marvel’s actual comics had consistently outsold DC’s for most of their history, no one Marvel character had ever managed to achieve that kind of cultural purchase with maybe the possible exception of Spider-man. And if you were to pick a character that would upend that status quo and be the first Marvel hero to achieve that kind of instant, iconic, worldwide recognition…you probably wouldn’t pick Iron Man.
Here’s the thing, for most of its existence, the Avengers was not the cool kids’ table at Marvel. The Avengers comic book was a support network for characters who needed exposure and whose solo titles weren’t doing so hot (if they even had their own books). Know why Spider-man and Wolverine didn’t join the Avengers until 2005? Because their books were selling just fine thank you very much. So the fact that Iron Man is a founding member of the Avengers and has been with the team for almost its entire history should tell you a lot. This guy was kind of a B-lister, with more than his fair share of knocks from the bad story stick.
We do not speak of teen Tony.
So how did this character go from perennial also-ran to the most recognised face of the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Sit down and I’ll learn ya.
The initial idea for Iron Man was Stan Lee’s because he is a massive, massive troll and we love him for it.
See, it was the sixties and Stan knew that most of his readers were college kids who hated the military and capitalism and bathing so he thought it would be an interesting challenge to sell them on a character that embodied all those traits.
He’s a capitalist arms-dealer in the shower. Can you handle that, hippies?
I don’t think this was really a political thing (Stan seems to be a fairly middle of the road Democrat) but simply came from Stan’s unwavering ability to find niches that hadn’t been filled yet. The great Jack Kirby did the cover and so created the character’s first visual design, and then the actual first issue that Iron Man appeared in was written by Stan’s brother Larry Lieber and drawn by Don Heck. Iron Man therefore had four daddies, which probably explains why he’s trying to form a gay polyamorous harem with Steve Rogers, Rhodey and Sam Wilson in every second piece of fan fiction featuring the character.
So why was this character chosen to launch Marvel’s massively ambitious experiment in inter-movie continuity porn? Basically, he got it by default.
By the mid 2000s Marvel had sold the movie rights to most of their major properties and were starting to feel like they were getting screwed. Sony had the rights to Spider-man, Fox had X-Men, Daredevil and Fantastic Four which combined represented a huge swathe of some of Marvels’ most iconic heroes, villains and supporting characters. When the time came for Marvel to set up their own movie studio they realised they were basically left with the Avengers who, at the time at least, were very much second stringers. It was deemed that the time was not right for another Captain America movie (too soon, we needed time to heal) and the corpse of Ang Lee’s Hulk was still warm. That left…Thor? Well, Thor’s great and all but…
Yeah, so they went with Iron Man. How did it turn out? Weeeelllllll it was one of the most critically acclaimed movies of the year, completed Robert Downey Junior’s journey from washed up recovering drug addict to A-list superstar and created the future in which we now live. But does it hold up as a movie? Let’s take a look.
Posted in Comics, Humour, Long Reads, Marvel Movies, Review, Uncategorized and tagged comedy, humor, humour, iron man, Marvel, mcu, movie, review, reviews, robert downey junior, unshaved mouse on December 10, 2015 by unshavedmouse. 65 Comments
“A fourth wall break inside a fourth wall break? That’s like…sixteen walls!”
When I was 36, it was a very good year…
And to all a good night…
The Rise of Skywalker I saw (and nobody else did)
Disney(ish) reviews with the Unshaved Mouse: Olaf’s Frozen Adventure
(1930s)
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21st Century Film Corporation
Axiom Films
bald frog reviews
bats versus bolts
Charity Movie Deathmatch
Check this guy/girl out!
Comix Wave Inc
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Never Heard Of 'Em
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No, it’s not a real website, and why in God’s name did you click on this?
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The Adventures of Prince Akbar
The classic fictionalized story of a little boy who lived to be perhaps the greatest king this world has ever seen.
Long before he entered history books as Emperor Akbar, the Great Mughal, Prince Akbar was a brave young boy, growing up alone while his father Humayun was far away, fighting to win back the throne of Hindustan. But he had his faithful companions, a fierce black sheepdog and a clever snow-white cat, to protect him from demons and other dangers. Join him in The Adventures of Prince Akbar as he gets entangled in conspiracies and battles, foils his wicked uncle’s attempts to kidnap him and playfully chases a bear over the snow, into a hidden green valley. A timeless classic read by children across the years and countries, The Adventures of Prince Akbar comes now with an introduction by Ruskin Bond and will be a book to treasure for a lifetime.
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NZ free diver Ant Williams..
NZ free diver Ant Williams breaks world record under ice in Norway
Free diver Ant Williams was working as a sport psychologist, coaching risk takers on how to break through mental barriers, when he realised he hadn’t really done anything risky in his life himself.
The New Zealand born now Torquay resident eventually found free diving, putting his body under extreme pressure by holding his breath and diving under ice.
Last week in Norway Williams broke the world record for the deepest dive under ice.
He told Neil Mitchell when he’s not diving he can hold his breath for just over eight minutes.
“It takes a lot of training but over the years I’ve been very focused on competing and holding my breath it’s now up there with a world-class breath hold,” he said.
“The record I was after was to become the deepest man under ice.
“It took us a full day to cut a hole in the ice and then I had several attempts.
“The world record was 65 metres, on the first attempt I did 70 metres and then two days later I did 75 metres.”
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