pred_label
stringclasses 2
values | pred_label_prob
float64 0.5
1
| wiki_prob
float64 0.25
1
| text
stringlengths 138
995k
| source
stringlengths 39
45
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
__label__cc
| 0.550911
| 0.449089
|
Movie Review: Jonah Lives (2012)
Poo-Review Ratings
Stay Away Don't Bother Seen Better Not Bad See It
In 1973’s “The Exorcist,” 1986’s “Witchboard” and 2014’s “Ouija” (among others), we learned that playing with a Ouija board can expose you to some really dangerous spirits. In countless other films (horror or otherwise), we learned that bored teenagers conjure up some pretty bad ideas to create excitement in their lives. In 2012’s new-to-DVD horror flick, Jonah Lives, we’re presented with more teenagers and more ill-advised Ouija playing, but this time, the viewers are the ones who end up bored.
Written and directed by Luis Carvalho, the story takes place in a basement, where a group of teens can’t seem to find an activity they all can enjoy. Inspired, Francis (Ryan Boudreau) runs upstairs and fetches a Ouija board from his room, first passing through a party his father is throwing for a number of friends. After some arguing about the dangers of using a spirit board, the teens make contact with a man named Jonah, and Jonah reveals that his wife poisoned him to get his money. Appalled and saddened by his fate, the teens decide to try and bring him back from the dead, and by the time they snap out of their trances, Jonah has climbed out of his grave and attacks.
Jonah Lives is touted as “a rude spiritual awakening,” which I assume refers to the way old Jonah was brought back from the dead by a bunch of teenagers who haphazardly chant, “Come to us, Jonah,” without thinking of the potential consequences. Clearly, these six have never watched a single horror movie in their lives. It probably sounded like a great idea when it was first conceived though: Teens play with a Ouija board and bring back a man who wants revenge on his wife. Come to find out — the teens are hanging out in the basement of the house where a party is being held — and the murderous wife is at the party!
Not an awful idea for a story, but the execution of that idea certainly is. The acting in this film is vapid, manic, and senseless; while I understand teenagers are occasionally prone to mood swings, these characters jump from one underdeveloped emotion to the next with no clear catalysts. At one point, Lydia (Nicole Lasala) is either possessed, highly entertained by the events of the evening, or she has lost her mind (it’s really impossible to tell), and in the next moment, she offers herself to the corpse and asks him to take her with him. In addition, not one of them seems truly alarmed when Tony (James Barrett) is bludgeoned and killed, and none of them want to LEAVE when they realize that a corpse is after them. The editing of the film is amateurish, and uses frenetic, repetitive shots of character reactions that uselessly extend, rather than further, various scenes in the film. It takes way too long for the film to reveal how the party guests are connected with the events occurring in the basement, and, honestly, by the time you figure it out, you’re too bored to appreciate the attempt at a twist in the story. All of the characters (from the teens to the father to the party guests) are shrill, one-dimensional space fillers and it really doesn’t matter who comes out alive in the end; you certainly never develop sympathy for any of them.
Overall, Jonah Lives is a poorly-acted, poorly-executed story that’s just one more example of awful back-from-the-dead movies that need to stay buried.
Critical Movie Critic Rating:
Movie Review: Judas Ghost (2013)
Movie Review: Clouds of Sils Maria (2014)
Tagged: death, revenge, teenager, zombie
About LisaPas
School teacher by day. Horror aficionado by night.
Movie Review: Mara (2018)
Movie Review: The First Purge (2018)
Movie Review: Truth or Dare (2018)
Movie Review: The Strangers: Prey at Night (2018)
Movie Review: Jigsaw (2017)
Movie Review: Winchester (2018)
Movie Review: Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018)
'Movie Review: Jonah Lives (2012)' has 1 comment
April 20, 2015 @ 11:18 pm Parmesan cheese
Sounds like a winner.
Jonah Lives (2012)
Genre(s): Drama, Horror, Thriller
Director(s): Luis Carvalho
Actor(s): Aaron Peaslee, Brinke Stevens, Cesar Pereira, James Barrett, Jocelyn Padilla, Nicole Lasala, Rob Roy, Ryan Boudreau
Writer(s): Luis Carvalho
Producer(s): Gary Andre, Luis Carvalho
Studio(s): LuGar Productions, WildEye Releasing
Release Date(s): US: April 21, 2015
IMDb Info: Jonah Lives
Official Page: Jonah Lives
Movie Trailer: Trailer
Home » Reviews » Movie Review: Jonah Lives (2012)
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line1957
|
__label__cc
| 0.506006
| 0.493994
|
TCK TALENT: As 2016 approaches, Lisa Liang dares to dream big for her one-woman show, “Alien Citizen”
Leave a comment Posted by The Displaced Nation Team on December 16, 2015
Photo credit (top right): Lights, camera, action! by Portable Antiquities Scheme via Flickr (CC BY 2.0).
In a year that took her to Spain and South Africa for performances of her play Alien Citizen, columnist Lisa Liang is already making big plans for 2016. You go girl!
Hello, dear readers. This month’s column is devoted to my recent experience filming my one-woman show, Alien Citizen: an earth odyssey, in Los Angeles, California. The show is about growing up a TCK of mixed heritage.
Two years ago, I had Alien Citizen video-recorded so that I could
send DVDs to potential booking agents and festivals; and
put a trailer and clips online as promotional material.
I had no budget and will be forever grateful to my friend, filmmaker Rod Bradley, for giving the video such high-caliber image quality. For readers who may be unfamiliar with my show, here is what we produced:
Taking it up a level
This year I wanted to film the show at an even higher level in order to…well, that’s the thing: I have many dreams for it. I want to sell it to individual customers and institutions. I also want to send it to the Sundance Channel, IFC, and PBS on the chance that they might like it enough to want to reshoot it as a “special” with a much higher budget. I would love for it to catch the attention of an off-Broadway producer who would give it a proper several-weeks run in Manhattan. I would love for it to inspire a studio to hire me to draft a screenplay or TV pilot based on it. I would love to get great stage and screen acting jobs from it. I would love for it to entice professional producers to come on board for my next solo show. I would love for it to get me great writing gigs.
I want a lot. I’m not sure how to pursue any of it. But I will try.
This all means that I need a filmed version that looks and sounds really good. So I took my ridiculously meager budget (at least I had a budget this time!) and rented a venue where years ago I was in the audience for the greatest live performance of a solo show I’ve ever seen.
Last month, at this tiny theatre, I produced as professional a film shoot as I could under the ultra-low-budget circumstances. We shot over two nights with two extremely high-end digital cameras on both nights—I got great deals on the cameras and equipment, largely thanks to my friend Rod again. I hired a DP (director of photography), a camera operator, and a professional sound recordist (who set up five microphones, including the lavalier attached to my sternum, for truly good sound quality).
My husband, Dan, ran the projections and sound cues, and I hired a stage manager to also hang lights, program the light board, and run lights.
My director, Sofie Calderon, worked tirelessly with the crew and me, having to “slate” the clapboard herself because we had no PA (production assistant) to do the job for her. She was wonderful.
Director Sophie Calderon puts her all into helping Lisa Liang with the filming of Alien Citizen in November (photos supplied).
We had no audience on the first night when we shot close-ups and medium shots; we had a full audience on the second night of close-ups and wide shots.
This is what I’ll say about performing a solo show for cameras but without an audience, starting and stopping for technical and performance adjustments: it’s utterly exhausting. We were at the venue for a good eight hours that night and we must have shot for at least four-and-a-half of those hours. This meant that I had to perform alone for close to five hours. No costar to work off of, no audience to bounce off of, nobody but the silent cameras, the silent crew, and me. Mind you, doing the 80-minute show nonstop is already a tremendous workout. I always say it’s like doing a sprint triathlon while emoting—and I would know because I’ve done a sprint tri. So now imagine doing it for 270 minutes.
Drama needs an audience
The next night’s shoot was much more fun, thanks to the warm, enthusiastic audience. They were mostly friends and friends-of-friends who were happy to be there, which made all the difference. I enjoyed myself and the performance felt “full.” We had to “hold” a few times due to sirens passing just outside the theatre—the bane of filming in a big city. But the audience was good humored and supportive throughout.
Afterward we had a Q&A moderated by one of my associate producers, Karen Smith, and people asked smart questions. I’ll include the Q&A on the DVD as an “extra” and maybe put it on YouTube as a promo. People stuck around for wine and goodies after that, and it was absolutely lovely to continue receiving support and enthusiasm well into the evening.
Associate producer Karen Smith conducts a talk back with Lisa and Sophie for a DVD “extra”; the lobby is decked out before the public show with an Alien Citizen backdrop for interviews later (photos supplied).
Have I mentioned that I performed with four injuries? I accidentally hurt my lower back in January, and the problem has flared up intermittently throughout the year. My left shoulder/neck area started bothering me over the summer. My right clavicle was injured accidentally at a chiropractic session for the first two injuries (!). And I hurt my right leg during a performance of an excerpt of the show in September. I’ve been doing all I can to take care of these problems: chiropractor, massage, acupuncture, cupping, at-home physical therapy, hot tub, you name it.
Stress with a capital “S”
So I can only think that the reason they all flared up (especially my back) with a vengeance in the weeks leading up to the shoot was: stress. It’s stressful to produce a film, even when it only shoots over two nights. If you’re the only actor in it, and it’s your “baby,” and you’re literally recording it for posterity, then the stress increases exponentially. So I felt more wrecked than usual on the mornings after both performances, and I laid low for a few days afterward. Luckily, Thanksgiving was soon upon us, so I used the holiday weekend as an excuse to stay in.
I look forward to editing the digital version of the show with my director’s input, and then sending it out into the world. The world has been very kind to Alien Citizen so far, so I’m allowing myself to hope for its future.
Meanwhile, my next live performance will be at Smith College on January 30, and my Asia-Pacific debut will be in Singapore in late April. The show still has legs and I’m so grateful to every single person who has supported it.
Since I’ve posted several entries about the show’s adventures in 2015, and you’ve been very indulgent of that, I’m pleased to announce that the first TCK Talent posting of the new year will be an interview of a wildly impressive creative ATCK. Happy holidays, all, and stay tuned!
Thank you, Lisa! It’s been quite a year for you and your solo show. I’m amazed you still had energy for a film shoot, especially given your injuries. You’re amazing! I think I speak for all the Displaced Nation readers in wishing the brightest of futures for Alien Citizen, in 2016…and beyond! —ML Awanohara
STAY TUNED for the next fab post!
If you enjoyed this post, we invite you to register for The Displaced Dispatch, a round up of weekly posts from The Displaced Nation, with news, book giveaways and other extras. Register for The Displaced Dispatch by clicking here!
TCK TALENT: Lisa Liang takes her show back on the road; second stop: Cape Town, South Africa (2/2)
TCK TALENT: Lisa Liang takes her show back on the road; first stop: Valencia, Spain!
TCK TALENT: Even without slide projector, projection of life as a Third Culture Kid engages Reykjavík audiences
TCK TALENT: Lisa Liang performs “Alien Citizen” before fellow aliens
What’s it like to “come out” as a Third Culture Kid on stage? Elizabeth Liang tells all!
Cool Columns, TCK Talent ATCK, California, Crosscultural, Film, Los Angeles, Performing arts, TCK, TCK Talent, Third Culture Kid, USA
← WORLD OF WORDS: At least know the meaning of “gauche” before you travel abroad For this precocious global adventurer, videographer and committed expat, a picture says… →
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line1958
|
__label__wiki
| 0.728616
| 0.728616
|
Tag Archives: Mark Alexander
10 BANDS TO START 2013 ROCKIN’!
January 11, 2013 by janaya64
TOXICROSE
https://www.facebook.com/TOXICROSE.Official?fref=ts
http://toxicrose.org/
Andy- Lead Vocals
Tom – Guitars
Goran – Bass
Michael – Drums
The up-and-coming sensational four-piece modern metal band ToxicRose was formed in Stockholm Sweden in 2010.
Consisting of Tom (Gemini Five), Andy and Michael (both EX Lipstixx ‘n’ Bulletz) and Goran (EX Sexydeath).
There is no compromising or limits in the world of ToxicRose. Powerful Vocals combined with Aggressive Guitars , Grand melodic Synths & Dark Emotional Lyrics.
TXR stands tall for the outcast and they’re here to take metal to a new level.
With their catchy melodic epic metal anthems and shocking look they are unstoppable!
https://www.facebook.com/OfficialPain
http://www.painworldwide.com/
Peter Tägtgren – Vocals & Guitar
David Wallin – Drums (2003)
Michael Bohlin – Guitar (2007)
Johan Husgafvel – Bass (2007)
PAIN is a musical project from Sweden that mix heavy metal with influences from electronic music and techno. The project started out as a hobby project for front man Peter Tägtgren, whose idea was to fuse heavy metal with 1980s-inspired electro-industrial and techno influences. Tägtgren, who is also the vocalist/guitarist of Hypocrisy and producer of his own The Abyss studios, is the only current member.
LONDON BASED HELLFIRECLUB
https://www.facebook.com/thelondonbasedhellfireclub
London Legrand: Vocals
Dixxi: Guitar
Vikki Violence: Guitar
Dizzy Leijon: Bass
Vixy Von Starshine: Dancer
Industrial Goth/Glam band that will make your skin crawl! Get ready ’cause once again Zombies and Vampires will walk among you
HALF PAST MY SIN
https://www.facebook.com/HalfPastMySin
http://halfpastmysin.com
Jason M Arigoni -Vocals-Songwriting
Dan Zavadil- Bass-Songwriting
Session Players:
Jason Bittner-Drums
Ben Carroll-Guitar
With strong melodic presences and driving beats, HALF PAST MY SIN will find a place with fans of bands like SEVENDUST, DISTURBED and DROWNING POOL, to name a few…..
The new Album from Half Past My Sin “4:44” featuring Sinn on vocals and Dan Zavadil on bass with special guests Jason Bittner of Shadows Fall on drums and Ben Carroll of RA on guitars!!! Also appearing on 4:44 will be the songwriting Clint Lowery of Sevendust!!!
Out early 2013!!!!
welcome to the sin!!!
https://www.facebook.com/jasonnewstedofficial
http://newstedheavymetal.com/
Jason Newsted – Bass, vocals
Jesus Mendez Jr. – Drums
Jessie Farnsworth – guitars
In December 2012, Jason announced that he had formed his own band called Newsted with drummer Jesus Mendez Jr. and guitarist Jessie Farnsworth. The band released a four-song EP, titled Metal, on January 8, 2013.
https://www.facebook.com/BlackStarRidersOfficial?fref=ts
http://www.blackstarriders.com
Ricky Warwick – Vocals/Guitar
Scott Gorham – Guitars
Damon Johnson – Guitars
Marco Mendoza – Bass
Jimmy DeGrasso – Drums
In October 2012 Thin Lizzy announced that they would not be recording new material under the Thin Lizzy monicker. The last incarnation of the band – Scott Gorham, Brian Downey, Darren Wharton, Ricky Warwick, Damon Johnson and Marco Mendoza – would be looking to form a new project.
Step forward Black Star Riders…
Today sees the announcement of the new band formed by Thin Lizzy alumni Ricky Warwick (vocals), Scott Gorham (guitar), Damon Johnson (guitar), Marco Mendoza (bass) with new addition Jimmy DeGrasso on drums (Alice Cooper, Megadeth, David Lee Roth, Suicidal Tendencies). The change in personnel came about as Brian Downey didn’t want to commit to the touring cycle a new album would entail and Darren Wharton wanted to concentrate on Dare and other music and film projects.
Black Star Riders is set to enter the studio in Los Angeles in January 2013 to start recording their debut album with the legendary Kevin Shirley (Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Aerosmith, Rush). The album will feature material the band wrote whilst touring as Thin Lizzy and the sound retains that classic feel but is very much its own as well. The Black Star Riders record is the next step in the evolution of the Thin Lizzy story.
MOBILE DEATH CAMP
https://www.facebook.com/mobiledeathcamp
http://www.mobiledeathcamp.net
Chad Smith – Drums
Boe Skadeland – Bass
Todd Evans – Guitar/Vocals
Based out of Toledo, Ohio, MOBILE DEATHCAMP has been sawing clubs in half, and leaving crowds with their collective jaws on the floor since the band’s inception in 2008. Formed by Todd Evans at the end of his 6 year stint as Beefcake The Mighty with the legendary shock rockers, GWAR, and joined in aural battle by Boe Skadeland and Chad Smith, this musical terror pocket has been consistently leveling venues across North America.
NEVERWAKE
https://www.facebook.com/neverwakemusic
http://www.neverwakemusic.com/
Johnny DiCarlo – Lead Vocals – Guitar
James Watson – Guitar – Vocals
Marcus Giannamore – Drums
George Scott – Bass
“NeverWake” concentrates on songs that reside between Rock and Metal to bridge both genres. They combine memorable, melodic vocals and gothic guitar harmonies over heavy distortion to achieve their style. They are currently looking to be signed to a record label and hit the road. NeverWake continues to develop their style by incorporating more complex riffs, heavier background vocal style, and dark orchestration while keeping their melodic lyricism. NeverWake released their debut full-length album “VITALITY” in August 2011, produced/engineered/mixed by Mike Ofca at Innovation Studios! “Vitality” is available on iTunes and other main online retailers. You can also order the hard copy by emailing neverwakemusic@gmail.com for inquires.
Recently, they have also released their debut music video on YouTube for the song “Pulse”, produced by Jeff Moore of Axtravaganza Films!
3 QUARTERS DEAD
https://www.facebook.com/pages/3-Quarters-Dead/149922983545
http://www.3quartersdeadmusic.com
Mark Alexander – Guitar
Sam Rhodes – Guitar
Jason Sain – Vocals
Matt Staley – Bass
Kenny Wyatt – Drums
3 Quarters Dead was formed back in 1999 with original members Kenny Wyatt and Mark Alexander. After they returned from a tour with Mushroomhead, they began recording their second full length CD with Steve Felton (Skinny) of Mushroomhead. The vocalist at that time was Waylon Reavis who was recruited by Mushroomhead to take the place of J-Mann (aka Jason Popson) who had announced his departure from the band. After starting all over, they finally found a vocalist that suited their style of music. Jason Sain started with the band in late 2007. In 2008 they recorded “Between Angels & Demons” with producer Jamie King of ‘Between The Buried & Me’, ‘The Human Abstract’ fame. In late 2009 they signed with indie label ‘Project Alpha Music’ and released their latest effort “Once Upon This Broken Glass” in March, 2010.
The lead single, “The Unknown” is off of their new CD “Once Upon This Broken Glass. It about loves someone who doesn’t love you back. This song has many melodic sections to it. But when you hear the change ups which are dynamic, it sets a tone of a story being told through 3 degrees of separation. These three levels are clearly defined and portrayed beautifully by the talents of these individuals.
https://www.facebook.com/witchmountain
http://witchmountain.bandcamp.com/
Uta Plotkin – Vocals
Rob Wrong – Guitar
Nathan Carson – Percussion
Neal Munson – Bass
In 2009, Uta Plotkin added her voice to Witch Mountain in front of a triumphant sold out crowd at Portland, OR’s venerable club Satyricon. Supporting Pentagram—East coast godfathers of American doom who also took far too long to receive their rightful due—Plotkin brought the necessary ingredient that Witch Mountain founders Rob Wrong and Nate Carson had been seeking since they initially formed the group back in 1997.
Originally far out of step with the lazy, indie-rock scene in Portland, guitarist Wrong and drummer Carson sought to put their own stamp on the tradition of doom metal as laid down by Black Sabbath, Candlemass, Trouble, and Saint Vitus. Years of road work in support of peers such as High on Fire, Spirit Caravan, Electric Wizard, YOB, Weedeater, Eyehategod, and all the rest had granted Witch Mountain a solid footnote in the history of one of music’s heaviest genres. And though real life careers took the band largely out of commission between 2003 and 2008, Plotkin’s emergence kicked the band back into a high gear that shows no signs of waning.
With renewed vigor, WM returned to the studio to capture the long-awaited sophomore album South of Salem. Produced by master “engine-ear” Billy Anderson (Sleep, Neurosis, Melvins), the record was self-released by the band on vinyl, and shortly thereafter recognized as the “#4 Best Metal Album of 2011” by NPR. With a SXSW showcase, west coast tours with Christian Mistress and Wino project Premonition 13, and a massively downloaded Adult Swim compilation under its belt, Witch Mountain proved its modern work ethic and soon signed up with dream label Profound Lore.
Once South of Salem was unleashed on CD and properly distributed, it was time to follow up with all new material. 2012’s Cauldron of the Wild was the answer, produced once more by Billy Anderson, and this time featuring a further matured sound and more immersive influence from Plotkin. Rob Wrong was writing the best, heaviest blues-metal he’d yet conjured, and Carson–as both manager and booker–kept the band grounded in a professional DIY ethic. New bassist Neal Munson fit like a glove, and overall the group has never fired on all cylinders so successfully.
you know you wanna listen…
the Hellion
Posted in Blues, Classic Metal, Classic Rock, Glam, Guitarists, Heavy metal, Internet Radio, Metal, Music, Rock, Rock N' Roll, RockStar, Sleaze, Tattoos, Thrash Metal, Whiskey Metal. Tagged 3 Quarters Dead, 4:44, 80's, Alternative Metal, Andy, Ben Carroll, Black Star Riders, Bleach Bang, Bleach Bangs, Bleach Bangs Radio, Bloodbath, Boe Skadeland, Chad Smith, Charlie Owens, Chophouse, Classic Rock, Clint Lowery, Damon Johnson, Dan Zavadil, David Wallin, Disturbed, Dixxi, Dizzy Leijon, Drowning Pool, Echobrain, Elektra, Flotsam and Jetsam, Gemini Five, George Scott, Glam, Glam Rock, Goran, Govt Mule, GWAR, Half Past My Sin, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Hypocrisy, Industrial Goth/ Glam, James Watson, Jason Bittner, Jason M Arigoni, Jason Newsted, Jason Sain, Jessie Farnsworth, Jesus Mendez Jr., Jimmy DeGrasso, Johan Husgafvel, Johnny DiCarlo, Kenny Wyatt, Lipstixx 'n' Bulletz, Lock Up, London Based Hellfireclub, London Legrand, Marco Mendoza, Marcus Giannamore, Mark Alexander, Matt Staley, Metal, Metal Blade, Metal Mind, Metallica, Michael, Michael Bohlin, Mobile Death Camp, Music, Nathan Carson, Neal Munson, NeverWake, Nuclear Blast, Ozzy Osbourne, PAIN, Papa Wheelie, Peter Tägtgren, Progressive Metal, Punk Rock, RA, Randy Norris, Ricky Warwick, Roadrunner Records, Rob Wrong, Rock, Rock N' Roll, Rock Star, Rock Star Supernova, RockStar, Sam Rhodes, Scott Gorham, Sevendust, Sexydeath, Spastik Children, Speed Metal, Stockholm Records, Stoner Rock, Surfdog, The End, the Hellion, the Hellion Rocks, theremin, Thin Lizzy, Thrash Metal, Todd Evans, Tom, ToxicRose, TXR, Uta Plotkin, Vikki Violence, Vixy Von Starshine, Voivod, WhoCares, Witch Mountain
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line1964
|
__label__wiki
| 0.671106
| 0.671106
|
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
-The Twentieth Century
Talks for groups
Tag Archives: Agnes Howard
Agnes Howard nee Tilney
Posted on December 7, 2016 by JuliaH
Today’s HistoryJar advent is Agnes Tilney better known as Agnes Howard, dowager duchess of Norfolk and Katherine Howard’s step-granny. Katherine was aged somewhere between fourteen and nineteen when she became queen on 28 July 1540. By November 1541 Thomas Cranmer had been presented with evidence he dared not ignore by religious reformer John Lascelles who may well have seen it as an opportunity to strike a blow at the conservative catholic faction headed by the duke of Norfolk. There followed a flurry of investigations and arrests. The 7th December 1541 saw the Privy Council investigating Katherine’s adultery and questioning “the lady of Norfolk” as this letter details:
“…all yesterday, they examined the lady of Norfolk, who denied all knowledge of the abomination between the Queen and Deram and pretended that she opened the coffers in order to send anything material to the King. Her denial makes for nothing, as they have sufficient testimony otherwise. Have today collected the material points touching her and lord William Howard ….that misprision of treason is proved against the lady of Norfolk and lord William, and that lady Howard, lady Bridgewater, Alice Wylkes, Kath. Tylney, Damport, Walgrave, Malin Tylney, Mary Lasselles, Bulmer, Ashby, Anne Howard and Margaret Benet are in the same case. Ask what the King will have done, and whether to commit lord William and his wife. All their goods are confiscated, with the profit of their lands for life, and “their bodies to perpetual prison.” Tomorrow at the lord Privy Seal’s house, will examine lady Bridgewater, and also Bulmer and Wylkes. Have sent for Mynster Chambre and one Philip, two principal witnesses against lord William and Lady Bridgewater. Christchurch, Wednesday night.
P.S.—Think they have all they shall get of Deram, who cannot be brought to any piece of Damport’s last confession; and would know the King’s pleasure touching the execution of him and Culpeper. Signed by Cranmer, Audeley, Suffolk, Southampton, Sussex, Hertford, Gardiner, Sir John Gage, Wriothesley, and Riche.
Misprison of treason was the charge arising from the 1534 Act of Treason which stated that it was treasonous to hide or not inform on someone else’s treason.
Agnes Tilney was the second wife of the second duke of Norfolk, or earl of Surrey as he was at the time of their marriage in 1497. His first wife had been Agnes’ cousin, Elizabeth. The pair married, with dispensation, four months after Elizabeth’s death. Agnes came from a Lincolnshire family which whilst gentry was not really of a high enough social standing for an earl – even one tarred with the white rose brush so it is possible that Thomas and Agnes married for love.
Thomas Howard worked hard during the reign of Henry VII to prove that he was a loyal subject of the Tudors having been notable for his support of Richard III and as time passed he was accepted into the Tudor fold. Agnes played her part at court and by the reign of Henry VIII they were sufficiently ensconced for Agnes not only to be one of Katherine of Aragon’s ladies in waiting but to be one of Princess Mary’s godmothers and just for good measure she was also godmother to Princess Elizabeth having carried Anne Boleyn’s train at her coronation. She may have had mixed feelings about the crowning of her step-granddaughter – remember Anne Boleyn was a Howard as well- as she expressed loyalty to Katherine of Aragon. She overcame her devotion and did testify that she had been part of the group which had put Katherine and Prince Arthur to bed. As well as being named the second lady at court she also had a busy life as the duchess bearing her husband eleven children six of whom survived infancy.
Quite clearly she was a court lady , friends with both Wolsey and Cranmer, but she was also responsible for a number of young Howards and Tilneys, many of whom came from poorer branches of the family as well as other young people of good families who sent their children to work in the home of the duchess of Norfolk believing it would improve their chances in the Tudor world. Her homes at both Horsham and Norfolk House, Lambeth could be described as a finishing school for young Howard ladies and gentlemen (remember Francis Dereham who claimed he was as a husband to Katherine was of Tilney descent)– though clearly with decided overtones of St Trinians. Agnes may have committed herself to the care of these young Howard and Tilney wards but her direct involvement was scarce and her management lacking even though the young women of the household were under the supervision of an older woman called Mother Emet.
Young Katherine Howard joined Agnes’ household when she was about six years old. We also know that it was in about 1536 that Henry Manox was employed to teach Agnes’ young wards music. Manox clearly took advantage of the situation and it was at this time that Katherine began to join in with the household activity of allowing young men into the female sleeping quarters at night.
When news of Katherine’s teenage indiscretions were revealed by Mary Hall and her brother John Lascelles the dowager initially tried to bluff it out saying that Katherine could not be punished for what had happened before her marriage then hurried home to burn any incriminating evidence in the form of letters from Dereham which were contained in a trunk or coffer that belonged to him. To get at the evidence she had to break the lock – an action which saw her being escorted to the Tower though not charged with treason on the grounds that she was old and unwell. Her denials were useless as Katherine’s relationship with Dereham only came to an end in 1539 when Agnes found out about it and beat Katherine. History does not know, however, how much the duchess knew about the relationship of her ward but the Tudors had their suspicions that Agnes knew more than she was letting on – as head of the household it was her job to know everything. Even worse it was a group of Howard women who had written to Katherine asking for her to find a place in her household for Thomas Culpepper – if Katherine’s pre-marital affairs could be swept under the carpet then her affair with Culpepper connived at by Jane Boleyn nee Parker Lady Rochester (a member of the Howard extended family being the widow of Agnes’ step-grandson) really couldn’t be ignored.
Dereham went to Ireland to make his fortune thinking that when he returned he and Katherine would be married. If this was the case and the pair had promised to marry one another then they were precontracted to marriage (which in Tudor terms was as good as marriage in which case Katherine was never truly married to Henry VIII so couldn’t have been guilty of adultery in a treasonous context with Culpepper.) But before Dereham could return to claim his intended bride Henry took a dislike to wife number four and Norfolk seeing a way of bringing Cromwell down looked about his extended family for single young women who might attract the king’s attention – Katherine Howard filled the bill – and as Dereham left for Ireland Katherine found herself appointed to be one of Anne of Cleves’ ladies in waiting. Agnes took over Katherine’s tuition on the duke of Norfolk’s order – possibly with classes on “how to become wife number five.”
Agnes clearly thought that with her arrest it was only a short walk to Tower Hill so took the precaution of making her will. The duke of Norfolk, who had used Katherine Howard as a device to gain political ascendency wrote to the king at about the same time distancing himself from his step-mother denouncing her for having known that Katherine was an unfit bride. Agnes was joined in the Tower by her son and daughter-inlaw and also her daughter Katherine. More than ten member of the Howard family were incarcerated. Lady Rochford would accompany Katherine to the block. The duke of Norfolk escaped arrest but Henry never trusted him fully again.
Agnes was released in May 1542 unlike her son and daughter-in-law who were sentenced to life imprisonment and confiscation of their lands and goods. Unsurprisingly Agnes was required to pay a financial forfeit. She died in 1545 and is buried in Lambeth.
The question arises did Agnes and the duke of Norfolk know that Katherine had already embarked upon two affairs and was possibly married to Dereham when they dangled her in front of the king. By this time Henry had treated two of his wives appallingly and his reign had been punctuated with judicial murder…consequentially if they did know they were either mind bogglingly optimistic to believe that they would get away with it or believed that they could control Katherine once she became queen. Increasingly I find myself thinking – poor Katherine.
Right I’m off to watch Lucy Worsely’s new series on BBC 1 at 9 o clock on the six wives of Henry VIII.
Wilkinson, Josephine.(2016) Katherine Howard: The Tragic Story of Henry VIII’s Fifth Queen. London: John Murray
‘Henry VIII: December 1541, 6-10’, in Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 16, 1540-1541, ed. James Gairdner and R H Brodie (London, 1898), pp. 660-671. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/letters-papers-hen8/vol16/pp660-671 [accessed 25 August 2016].
Posted in December, On this day..., Queens of England, Sixteenth Century, The Tudors, Uncategorized | Tagged Agnes Howard, Agnes Tilney, Anne Boleyn, duchess of Norfolk, Duke of Norfolk, Elizabeth I, Elizabeth Tilney, Francis Dereham, Henry Manox, Jane Boleyn, Jane Parker, John Lascelles, Katherine Howard, Katherine of Aragon, Lady Rochford, Lambeth, Mary Hall, Mary Tudor, Misprison of Treason, Mother Emet, Prince Arthur, Thomas Cranmer, Thomas Culpepper, Thomas Howard | 1 Reply
Categories Select Category Anglo Saxon Anglo-Irish history Anglo-Scottish history Anglo-Welsh History August Augustinian Border Reivers canon law Carlisle Castles Cathedrals Church Architecture Churches and Chapels Cistercian Collegiate Churches common law Cross stitch Crosswords Cumbria Dark Ages Day Schools December Derbyshire Development of English Eighteenth Century Eleventh Century English Civil War Events February Fifteenth Century folklore Fourteenth Century Further Reading Historical Artists Historical Rhymes History Jar Classes Jacobites January Kings of England Law Legends Literary connections Literature Local History links maps Mary Queen of Scots medieval Minsters Monasteries Napoleonic Wars Nineteenth Century Norman Conquest Northumberland nunnery On this day… Oversight Pele Towers Queens of England September Seventeenth Century Silly signs at places of interest Sixteenth Century surprising connections symbolism Tenth Century The Georgians The Normans The Plantagenets The Stuarts The Tudors Thirteenth Century Twelfth Century Uncategorized Viking Vikings Wales Wars of the Roses World War One
Click to open the National Archives Currency converter to find out how much old money is worth at the turn of the twenty-first century.
BBC Timeline of History
Bess of Hardwick's letters online
Battle of Towton
Cardinal Wolsey
Catherine of Aragon
Duke of Norfolk
Duke of Somerset
Earl of Essex
Earl of Salisbury
Earl of Warwick
Elizabeth of York
Elizabeth Woodville
Joan Beaufort
Katherine of Aragon
Margaret Beaufort
Margaret of Anjou
Mary Tudor
Richard of York
Robert Dudley
William Cecil
William Rufus
Detail from door grill leading to the vault where George Duke of Clarence and his wife Isobel Neville are buried in Tewkesbury Abbey.
History Jar Goodies
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line1965
|
__label__wiki
| 0.589343
| 0.589343
|
Who is eligible to apply for Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI)?
A person who is a citizen of another country, but was a citizen of India at the time of, or at any time after, the commencement of the constitution; or
A person who is a citizen of another country, but was eligible to become a citizen of India at the time of the commencement of the constitution; or
A person who is a citizen of another country, but belonged to a territory that become part of India after the 15th day of August, 1947; or
A person who is a child or a grand-child or a great grand-child of such a citizen, or
A person who is minor child of a person mentioned in clause (a); or
A person who is a minor child, and whose both parents are citizen of India or one of parents is a citizen of India; or
Spouse of foreign origin of a citizen of India or spouse of foreign origin of an overseas citizen of India card holder registered under section 7 A, Citizenship Act, 1955 and whose marriage has been registered and subsisted for a continuous period of not less than two years.
Who is not eligible for Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI)?
A person who is a Citizen of Pakistan and Bangladesh.
A person whose parents/Grandparents/Great Grandparents is or had been a citizen of Pakistan, Bangladesh or such other country.
Spouse of foreign origin of a citizen of India or spouse of foreign origin of an overseas citizen of India card holder registered under section 7 A, Citizenship Act, 1955 and whose marriage has been registered and subsisted for a continuous period of less than two years.
Requirements for obtaining overseas citizenship of india (OCI):
Foreign / Portuguese Passport
Valid Indian Entry Visa X-1 Category
Indian Immigration Entry Stamp page of the passport
Indian Cancelled Passport
Indian Passport Surrender Certificate
Marriage Certificate, Birth Certificate and Copy of the Passport of Spouse (if married)
Assento de Nascimento (In case of a Portuguese National)
Aadhaar Card (if available)
OCI of family members (if any)
4 Photographs (Light background (Strictly not white / cream), 51 x 51 mm, 80% Face Area)
Demand Draft for Rs. 15000/- in favor of: PAY & ACCOUNTS OFFICER (SECRETARIAT) MHA Payable at New Delhi
Online Form-Filling Assistance
Scan and Upload of documents as per requirement of FRRO
Assistance in obtaining an Indian Visa (for applicants currently in India)
Assistance in Cancellation of Indian passport on acquiring different Nationality
Assistance in obtaining Surrender Certificate from the Regional Passport Office on Surrendering Existing Indian passport
Follow up and Tracking of Status online on Successful submission
CONTACT NOS. OF OUR STAFF ASSISTING FOR OCI (Overseas citizen of india)
Muriel / Joseline / Gail / Arzu:+91 9860849641 /+91 9860090344
Arpita / Julia: +91 7028929503 /+91 9665524445
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line1967
|
__label__cc
| 0.71614
| 0.28386
|
Howdy, bug fans,
Today's star flew away from the approaching mower when the BugLady was mowing the lawn. The BugLady got all excited because although she has seen an occasional egg case (an “ootheca,” your vocabulary word for the day. The egg cases are about half the size of a ping pong ball and they look like gray, dried shaving cream and they’re attached to plant stems), this is the first adult Praying Mantis she has seen in Wisconsin. And she got a 10 minute “Photo-op Break” from mowing, too!
Mantises are in their own Order, Mantodea; older insect books group them with the grasshopper bunch. There ARE small, native mantises, but this isn't one of them. This looks like a Chinese Mantis; the other exotic mantis, the European Mantis, has a teeny, tiny black and white bulls-eye spot near its armpit. There is momentary confusion about their name – prAying mantis, because of their reverent posture, not prEying mantis for their eating habits.
The BugLady cannot testify about their religious inclinations, but they are superbly adapted as predators. The serrations/spines on the second and third sections of their abnormally long front legs interlock when they grab their prey, making escape impossible. Their eyes are situated so as to give them binocular vision; like hawks and owls they can see forward with both eyes and judge the distance to their prey. Also like the owl, they can rotate their heads significantly (but not like a corkscrew).
According to the wonderful Discover Nature around the House by Elizabeth Lawlor, when an insect is beyond the mantis’s considerable reach, the mantis engages in a slow, swaying dance, making eye contact with its proposed meal, edging forward as it sways, until it is suddenly in arm’s reach. People have observed that the BugLady presents a similar image as she photographs insects. It targets insects, spiders and other invertebrates, but tropical mantises have been observed holding hummingbirds, small snakes, bats, and baby mice.
Check out Lawlor’s book for a description of the development and “birth” of the young mantises.
Mantises are imported as biological pest controls, and that, they are very good at ("Crying, what I do is me, for this I came.") (G. M. Hopkins’ "As Kingfishers Catch Fire, Dragonflies Draw Flame"). Anyhow, the Catch 22 with Mantises is that no one bothered to tell them the distinction between your "good bug" and your "bad bug" and they scarf all, indiscriminately.
The BugLady photographed “Chinese mantis” on a trip to southern New Jersey. It is doing a pretty good job of disguising itself as part of the pickerelweed. At first, she was trying to figure out what part of the pickerelweed it was, since pickerelweed doesn’t have any parts where the mantis was sitting.
Females are famous for eating their mates, as we all saw on that memorable “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” episode, but this behavior is most often reported from observations of caged pairs, where the male can’t escape after mating. This is, undoubtedly, a metaphor for something, but the BugLady is SO not going to go there.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line1969
|
__label__wiki
| 0.527042
| 0.527042
|
Tag Archives: Tommy Merlotte
Everybody Wants Sookie (or should I say . . . SOOKEH!) – A Recap of True Blood’s “Beautifully Broken”
Well, would you look at that? It’s a gay vampire riding in on a white horse to “save the day!” (Insert sexual euphemism and/or cheesy pun here.)
Did I miss something? Did Valentine’s Day come early this year? Because there sure was a lot of LOVE in this episode. And I’m not just talking sex either. (Sadly, there was none of that.)
I’m talking about that real mushy gushy stuff. The kind of “stuff” that would make you drop someone’s favorite beverage at their doorstep a few minutes before dawn (Hoyt and Jessica); or write a list about why you’d be a good father to their kids (Terry and Arlene – He passed anger management and tamed an armadillo); or babysit a drunk (Andy and Jason); or save a person’s life (Lafayette and Tara); or feel “disturbingly human.” (Sookie and Eric)
So, what you do you say, we get this lovefest started?
Things That Go Growl In The Night . . .
“Mmmm, Eric, your breath smells refreshingly minty. What toothpaste do you use?
“AB – Negative.”
When we last left our good pal Sookie, her and Vampire Jessica were “feeling” Bill. Their “feelings” let them to a crashed car, with a werewolf corpse inside. Operation Werewolf markings were on both the body and vehicle. Despite having little luck previously, Sookie, armed with new intel, decided to take another shot at asking Vampire Eric for help in finding her Bill (or should I say “Beaaal” like she says it). At Fangtasia, Sookie tells Eric about the whole werewolf thing, and initially, he seems unimpressed. “Your obsession with Bill Compton is going to get you killed,” he says matter-of-factly.
But then Sookie, wisely, does the same thing I do whenever I get pulled over by a cop for suspected speeding (not that it happens often, mind you) . . . She cries!
Oh no! Not like THAT! That’s real crying! Ugly crying! That NEVER works . . .
Ahh . . . much better! Good form, Sookie!
Although his facial expression never changes, you can tell that Eric, in his own sexy vampiric way, is highly moved by Sookie’s tears. “Please don’t do that,” he says without affect, “It makes me feel disturbingly . . . human.”
WOO HOO! Sookie and Eric sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S . . .Sorry, got a little carried away for a moment there. I’m back now . . .
Dejected, Sookie leaves Fangtasia with a final plea to Eric that he help her find Bill. At first, it seems as though Eric has no intention of helping Sookie. Once she is out of sight, he crumbles up the paper she gave him with werewolf intel, and tosses it aside. But then . . . suddenly, he’s in Germany, in a Nazi uniform, and guess who’s there?
It’s GODRIC! He’s ALIVE! I mean . . . DEAD . . . I mean . . . undead?
Actually, the answer is none of the above. Godric (played by Allan Hyde) is still very dead-dead, which means this is a World War II flashback. Apparently (as Eric explains to Sookie later), Operation Werewolf had some sort of connection to the Nazis back in the day, but they, like the vampires, were around long before that.
In the flashback, a she-wolf eats an American solider. Eric and Godric come upon her, and Eric attacks the she-wolf. She claims they are on the “same side.” Eric disagrees. (Nice to know my lover isn’t a real Nazi. That would have been a bit of a turnoff, I think . . .)
Like the “Operation” Werewolves in present day, She-Wolf seems a bit hopped up on vampire blood. She begs Eric for a drink. And, although Godric cautions against it, Eric complies. But then She-Wolfs goes apesh*t, and Vampire Eric has to finish her off. Godric doesn’t like that at all, and he gives Eric a real judgy look. Parents . . . they’re no fun at all . . .
Later, Jason comes over to Sookie’s house to play. She tells him how much she misses Bill, and the way he says “Sookeh!” (Great impression, by the way! Way to go Anna P! Bet you and Mr. Moyer were practicing that one in bed!) She then tells him about the existence of werewolves. He’s thrilled! “Does that mean Bigfoot is real too? SANTA?!” He asks, excitedly.
Awww! Jason!! Sweet, hot, dim-witted Jason! I already saw this scene in the promos for the show. But it still made me giggle and squeal like a little school girl the second time around!
When Sookie arrives at work, she finds herself stalked by a real creepy looking werewolf. But he disappears before she can get a good look at his ugly mug. That night, ANOTHER werewolf breaks into Sookie house. Fortunately, Eric comes to the RESCUE!
There were a ton of great scenes in this episode, but I’m pretty sure this second Sookie / Eric scene of the evening was my favorite, for obvious reasons. Eric arrives at Sookie’s door and inquires after the intruder. He then tells her that he lied to her earlier, and comes clean about the whole “Operation Werewolf ” thing. “Why are you telling me this now?” Sookie asks.
“Because circumstances have changed . . . I have no interest in rescuing Bill. In fact, it would be advantageous to me if he were never to return. However, now they are coming after you . . . and I . . .” Eric hesitates, unsure of the proper words. (He seems almost . . . disturbingly human.)
” . . . my objective was to protect you from danger, not increase it. Your life is to valuable to throw away,” he finally concludes.
“What do you want me to do?” Sookie whispers.
“I want you to invite me in, so that I can protect you, and have passionate, primal sex with you. Hopefully both.”
Sookie seems taken aback by his request, a bit angered by his boldness, and more than a little turned on by the sexual proposition (REMEMBER “stamina” is Eric’s middle name).
A much stronger woman than I am (You had me at primal sex, Eric!), Sookie insists she still belongs to Bill. Eric concedes that is true. They talk a bit about the difficulties of Sookie’s relationship with Bill.
Suddenly, Eric gets up in Sookie’s face and demands he be invited in. Sookie begins to argue again, but notes the new insistence in his voice, and ultimately invites him inside. At that same moment, a werewolf enters the home, braced for attack.
Eric bares his fangs, and Sookie grabs her gun and shoots, just as the werewolf begins to pounce . . .
Andy and Jason = BFFs Forever
Cutest couple EVER!
While Sookie and Eric are battling werewolves and flirting shamelessly with one another, another adorable twosome is navigating the waters of a new and beautiful friendship. If you recall, Andy has taken the rap for shooting Eggs, even though Jason ACTUALLY shot him, in order to protect his big cuddly loverboy, Andy.
But now, Andy is being hailed as a hero, an Jason is a bit jealous. The elder Stackhouse copes with his feelings just like everyone else in this town seems to . . . by getting wasted, of course!
“I keep trying to be good and do the right thing,” slurs Jason. “But I always end up doing the wrong thing.”
Andy doesn’t know exactly how to respond to this sudden drunken show of emotion by his bromantic buddy. So, he does what any good boyfriend would do in this situation, he compliments his pal’s good looks. “You’re prettier than most girls!” Andy offers optimistically!
You can say THAT again! Andy!
But Andy doesn’t say it again. Instead, he tells Jason that he could do anything he puts his (admittedly small) mind to, as long as he applies himself. Andy then drags a drunken Jason along with him to a nearby trailer park called “Hot Shot,” where some guy named Calvin Norris is suspected of having a meth lab. While Andy is attempting to chase down the suspect, Jason comes across one of the few girls out there, who may actually be just as pretty as Jason, himself . . .
Jason tries to talk to Miss Pretty (Lindsay Pulpisher, playing the new upcoming role of Crystal Norris), but she runs away before he can get many words in. This gives Jason just enough time to tackle Calvin Norris for Andy and save the day! We knew Andy was right about Jason being pretty. But, it looks like he was also right about that whole “applying himself” thing. Who knew?
Vampire Jessica Makes Bill a Grandpa!
“Crap! I’m a mom! But, how can that be? I thought I was supposed to be a Virgin for all eternity! Is this like Divine Conception, or something?”
Vampire Jessica is a bit distracted. You see, she ate this guy, and fed him her blood. And now he’s rotting and decaying, and stinking up her coffin, not to mention her “dad’s” entire house. So, it’s understandable that she’s not exactly in the mood for nookie. So, when Hoyt arrives at her home, with a six pack of her favorite brand of True Blood, in hopes of reconciling, she’s a bit less than friendly.
To Hoyt’s credit, he gives this really great heartfelt speech to Vampire Jess, about how he understands why she tried to eat his mother, and how the two of them can fight their flawed natures together. Vampire Jess is clearly moved by the speech. But she’s so horrified by the heinous murder she committed, and embarrassed by her stinky home, that she pushes Hoyt away. And I felt so bad for the poor guy, I literally almost cried.
Convinced that her “victim” is “Dead-Dead,” Vampire Jessica begins to make plans for his proper disposal, even going as far as to rent a chainsaw to hack up Dead Guy’s body parts (Mmmmm, yummy!) However, when she returns to the basement that evening, the body is GONE!
Lafayette and Tara Meet Mysterious Men / Decide Life is Worth Living . . .
Surprising precisely NO ONE, Lafayette rescues Tara from her half-hearted pill-swallowing suicide attempt. Hoping to keep her from trying to off herself again, Lafayette takes Tara to a surprisingly classy mental hospital where Lafayette’s (extremely sharp and witty for a crazy gal) mom is currently residing . . .
Lafayette’s mom (Alfre Woodard) tells Lafayette that he was “killed” when he came out as being gay. He claims Tara was “killed” too. “Almost,” replies Tara, quite truthfully.
Neither Lafayette nor Tara say much to Mommy. After all, Lafayette didn’t really want to see her, he just wanted to use her to teach Tara a lesson. Namely, don’t go nuts like my mom, or I’ll lock YOU away too! Lafayette DOES exchange quite a few words with this guy, however . . .
. . . his mother’s caretaker, Jesus (played by Kevin Alejandro).
No, no . . . not that one. (It’s pronounced Hay-soos.)
And based on the close talking and lascivious looks these two were giving one another, you just KNOW they are going to hooking up sometime real soon! It’s HIGH TIME our boy Lafayette got some loving! After all, he hasn’t had Vampire Eric’s blood in a while, and he REALLY needs something new to dance about . . .
Back at Merlotte’s, a mysterious vampire approaches the bar. In hopes of making small talk, Tara tells him that she wants to kill herself. (Very nice, Tara! What a conversationalist you are! It’s a real wonder you’re still single!) Fortunately, for Tara (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it), the new vampire dude . . .
. . . who we know from promos is Franklin Mott (played by James Frain), is unperturbed by Tara’s admission. In fact, he’s so unperturbed, that later that night, he holds some drunk dudes upright while Tara kicks the crap out of them for fun. Ahhh . . . young love!
The Family That Shifts Together, Stays Together . . .
“Oh, don’t worry! This is how we greet ALL of our long lost relatives, down in Hickville!”
After being held at gunpoint by a man who ends up being his biological brother, Tommy (Marshall Allman), Sam is led inside a shabby home. There, he reunites with his worse-for-wear mother and father. As it turns out, both Mommy and Tommy Merlotte (well . . . Mickens, actually) are shifters, like Sam, while his father is “normal.”
Sam’s Mommy cries a bit (but the tears are no where near as pretty as Sookie’s, and therefore, are less, effective) about how she didn’t mean to give up Sam and blah, blah, blah . . . Sam’s a bit resentful about being put out to pasture to fend for himself as a child, but remains remarkably polite to his trashy bio parents.
The same cannot be said for Sam’s brother, Tommy, who instantly resents him for intruding on his “happy family.”
But then, suddenly (almost TOO suddenly), Tommy wants to make friends. His olive branch of peace? “Let’s go for a run,” offers Tommy.
Sam immediately takes off his shirt, and I get excited . . .
But then he turns into a dog . . .
Oh well . . . can’t win em all!
Tommy turns into a dog too. But he’s this weird funny looking bull dog thing . . . not cute at all. While the two are out running, a car conveniently swerves into their path.
“Miraculously” Tommy has enough foresight to turn into a bird and fly away before the car can hit him. Sam fares slightly less well, rolling out of the way, just moments before becoming road kill. The bad news is, his brother clearly tried to kill him. The good news is, Sam wound up naked in the bushes, as a result. SO HOT!
Who Knew There Were So Many Good Recipes You Could Make with Blood?
And lastly, we have Vampire Bill and his bloody journey to Mississippi. It looks like Alan Ball has heard our complaints. He seems to be totally intent on making Bill Compton more interesting this season.
Last week, Bon Temps’ Dullest Vamp starred in that hot gay dream with Sam. This week, he BIT OFF SOME DUDE’S EAR! (Now, that’s not very “Southern Gentleman” like, now is it?) Upon finding Vampire Bill looking like an extra in a zombie movie, Big Gay Vampire King Russell Edgington (Denis O’ Hare) . . .
. . . lectures head werewolf Coot (Grant Bowler) on letting his men feed on Vampire Bill. He then disposes of the remaining werewolves (aside from Coot). Finally, in yet another homoerotic scene that would not seem at all out of place on the cover of a romance novel, Russell invites Vampire Bill aboard his massive white steed . . .
Russell brings Vampire Bill back to his bedroom his mansion. It is there that Bill is introduced to Talbot (played by Theo Alexander), Russell’s lover, as well as home decorater, in-house chef, and host extraordinaire.
I haven’t known this character long, but already I ADORE him! In sheer queenishness, Talbot could give Lafayette a real run for his money. Here’s hoping Talbot ditches old fogey Edgington, and heads to Bon Temp for some Lafayette-flavored loving SUPER soon!
While Bill and Russell talk business in a way that is polite, while still filled with thinly veiled threats, Talbot regales them with a four course meal that includes, blood sherbert, blood soup, the blood of some Thai boy, and blood from a woman who eats nothing but Tangerines. Take that lame True Blood bottles from Merlotte’s!
Russell meanwhile has a proposition for Vampire Bill. If Bill spills the information he has on Queen Sophie Anne, Russell will give him the position of Sheriff of Area 2. Apparently, Russell would like to marry Sophie Anne, in order to increase the size of his dominion. He believes that having some blackmail material under his belt, might help him to persuade her to enter into the union. Bill claims he has no information on Sophie Ann. However, Russell begs to differ.
Russell insinuates that Bill initially traveled to Bon Temps on orders from Sophie Anne. We later learn that Russell has hired someone to search Bill’s home back in Bon Temps. There, the searcher finds a drawer full of personal information about Sookie.
Could Bill have seduced Sookie solely on Sophie Anne’s request? Is there whole relationship a LIE? If such a development means Sookie will dump Bill’s ass and run straight into Eric’s arms, I say, BRING IT ON, BABY!
When Bill fails to respond to Russell’s insinuations, the Big Gay Vampire King resorts to threatening Sookie’s life (by sending werewolves to her home perhaps?). That’s when Bill gets angry! It’s also when his maker Lorena magically appears . . .
And Bill responds by doing what fans of the show have wanted him to do to Lorena since she first appeared . . .
He throws a lamp at her head and SETS THE B*TCH ON FIRE!
Dammit, Bill Compton! Stop making me like you so much!
That’s all I’ve got folks. All in all, it was a stellar second episode, in my opinion. Quick-moving, well-plotted, and jam packed with sexually tense Sookie and Eric goodness — exactly how I like my True Blood!
Filed under True Blood
Tagged as Alexander Skarsgard, Alfre Woodard, Allan Hyde, Andy and Jason, Andy Bellefleur, Anna Paquin, Arlene and Terry, armadillo, Beautifully Broken, Bill Compton, Calvin Norris, Chris Bauer, crying, Crystal Norris, Deborah Ann Moll, Denis O'Hare, disturbingly human, Episode #3, Eric and Sookie, Eric Northman, flashback, Franklin Mott, Germany, Godric, Grant Bowler, Hotshot, Hoyt, Invite me in, J. Smith Cameron, James Frain, Jason Stackhouse, Jesus, Jim Parrack, Kevin Alejandro, Lafayette, Lafayette's mom, Lindsay Pulpisher, Lorena, marriage, Marshall Allman, Mommy Merlotte, Nelsan Ellis, Operation Werewolf, passionate primal love, prettier than most girls, Queen Sophie Anne, Rutina Wesley, Ryan Kwanten, Sam Trammel, Santa, shapeshifter, Sookie Stackhouse, Stephen Moyer, Talbot, Tara and Lafayette, Tara Thornton, Theo Alexander, to protect you, Tommy Merlotte, Tommy Micken, Tommy Mickens, too valuable to throw away, True Blood, Vampire Bill, Vampire Eric, Vampire Jessica, Vampire King of Mississippi, vampires, werewolves, white horse, World War II
“Conscience Off! Dick On!” – A Recap of True Blood’s Season 3 Premiere “Pack of Wolves”
“Hey, look at me. I’m naked on TV! That never happens!”
Welcome back fellow Fangbangers! Another season of True Blood is officially upon us. And from the looks of it, the town of Bon Temps is, once again, about to get very bloody (not to mention slutty). Tonight’s premiere episode, may not have given us all that much in the way of plot development. However, it did offer a ton of biting, a prospective new group of villians, some great one liners, and more hot shirtless men than a Gay Pride Parade.
Speaking of gay pride, am I the only one who was TOTALLY shipping a Bill and Sam coupling, after this episode? Those two are SPICY! And with a cool shipper name like BAM, it’s pretty obvious that this is a couple destined for greatness . . .
“I’ve always admired a man with big ‘belt buckle.'”
But, perhaps, I’m getting a bit ahead of myself here . . . let’s start at the beginning, shall we?
He’s My Boyfriend, and I’ll Whine if I Want To . . .
Bon Temps has installed a new security security system. Here’s how it works. These two nag and yell . . . and all men are instantly repelled.
The episode begins pretty much right where the Season 2 finale left off. Bill has been kidnapped, and Sookie is desperate to find him. And let me tell you, hell hath no fury, like a nearly-engaged woman jilted. After chewing out the female police officer investigating the crime scene, and interrogating a very distracted (and for good reason) Vampire Jessica, Sookie heads out to Fangtasia to put the moves on question Eric. But before she can speak to him, she has to get by Pam first.
Have I mentioned lately how THRILLED I am that this fabulous femme has been upgraded to “season regular” status?
“I don’t recall telling you that purple was my favorite color,” coos Pam, making Whiny Purple Dress-Wearing Sookie noticeably uncomfortable. (But Sookie, I thought you were bisexual? Or, maybe I’m mistaking you for the actress that plays you.)
“I don’t have time for any lesbian weirdness from you,” replies Sookie. (Awww! Poor Pam! Foiled again!)
After pushing past Pam, (“She overpowered me!”), Sookie finds Eric in the midst of a LONG screwing session with new Fangtasia dancer, Yvetta.
I’m not usually one to notice high production value, but I ADORED the way this encounter between Sookie and Eric was shot. With it’s soft lighting, and hazy pastel hues, the scene felt more like an erotic dream than a television show. Alexander Skaarsgard’s blatant nudity certaintly didn’t hurt either.
The tension between these two nearly hits a boiling point, when Sookie shamelessly accuses Vampire Eric of orchestrating Bill’s kidnapping. Eric gamely denies these allegations. However, he does take the opportunity to berate Vampire Bill’s sexual prowess (“Is Bill’s stamina not up to snuff?”), and flirt with Sookie (“I want what is his.”). After securing Vampire Eric’s “promise” to find Bill, Sookie heads to the police station to yell at more cops, before heading back home. There, she encounters fellow Spurned Sister on the Rag, Tara . . .
Tara’s Eggs are No Longer Sunny Side Up . . .
“Bacon just isn’t the same without Eggs . . . “
Now don’t get me wrong. I feel for Tara. If my boyfriend looked like this . . .
. . . and was shot dead, after confessing to a series of murders he committed while “not in his right mind,” I would be pretty bummed too. But it’s really hard to like Tara, when she spends all her time screaming at everybody. I mean, it’s always OK to yell at Arlene, because she’s dumb, annoying, and more than a little racist. But cute, cuddly, Andy Bellefleur? Unacceptable!
The worst, however, is when Tara lays into SOOKIE (who put a roof over her head, and saved her LIFE) for letting Eggs “see” the many murders that he committed, while under the influence of the maenad. “You basically signed his death warrant, you b*tch,” growls a Rabid Tara at her “former” best friend! (Someone shoot this girl with a tranquilizer gun, and put us ALL out of our misery, please!)
Tired of babysitting his unruly witch of a cousin, Lafayette passes Tara off to her self-centered, crazy, former alcoholic, born-again Christian MOTHER. BAD MOVE! After just a few hours with this unbearable woman, Tara is in the bathroom trying to OD on pills.
Of course, we already know she’ll survive. So, there’s really not much suspense here. After all, based on the promos we’ve seen, Tara has to LIVE, so that she can have some very NOT HOT vampire sex with THIS BLOODSUCKER . . .
“Hey, Bad Kisser Guy! Do us all a favor, and bite off her tongue, will you?”
First Sign of the Apocalypse: Jason Stackhouse can’t get it up!
“My weiner is depressed. Kiss it, and make it better?”
Thank heaven for Andy Bellefleur! Without his taking the rap for shooting Eggs, Jason Stackhouse would most certainly have been put in jail for murder. And while he would undoubtedly look cute in an orange jumpsuit, a SHIRTLESS Jason Stackhouse is a terrible thing to waste. Andy visits Jason at his house, in an attempt to keep him in line and to keep their “shooting story” straight.
And then, suddenly, and out of no where, it seemed as though Andy Bellefleur had been possessed by female True Blood fans everywhere. Because, for no rational reason whatsoever, Andy stopped talking about the dull “murder thing,” and started talking about how important it was for Jason to get laid . . .
“The Fangirls’ wish is my command!”
In order to “eliminate suspicion” and “keep up appearances,” Andy instructs Jason to act as he did BEFORE he shot Eggs (and BEFORE he joined that religious cult too, I guess). That means LOVING THE LADIES, and LOVING THEM LOTS!
“Conscience off! Dick on!” Andy commands.
Now THAT is a Jason Stackhouse motto, I can LIVE with!
Later, Jason hits up Merlotte’s with new roomie, Hoyt.
Welcome back, Jim Parrack! LOVE the new buff bod! Not such a fan of the new hair, though . . .
The two quickly and effortlessly pick up these pretty, but kind of dense, recent NYU grads, both of whom randomly have a thing for dogs. But when they bring the girls back home, Hoyt is too busy whining over the loss of Vampire Jessica to do much screwing, and Jason keeps picturing the girls with bullet holes in their heads. NOT a turn on! (Note to the men out there: If you TELL a girl that you keep seeing bullet holes in her head, she WILL think you want to murder her. Some things are better left UNSAID.)
Needless to say, neither of these sexy men get laid during this episode. This is too bad. Because I was REALLY hoping for some Jason Stackhouse Post-Coital Dancing . . .
“WOW! Look at the size of that bullet hole! Just kidding . . .LET’S BOOGIE!”
The Miraculous Tale of Vampire Bill, the F-U Crew, and Some Old Lady . . .
Well, the writers sure didn’t make us wait too long before telling us who took Vampire Bill. Although his captor referred to his Band of Bumbling Idiots as the “F*&k You Crew,” those who have watched the promos, undoubtedly recognized him Werewolf Biker Badass, Coot (played by Grant Bowler). . .
Coot and his DOGS are trying to drive Bill to their secret lair. The only problem is that they can’t seem to stop eating him. (Don’t you hate it when that happens?) So, the car goes off road, and Bill manages to escape. Having been drained of quite a bit of blood, Vampire Bill wanders into some Old Broad’s home, feeds on her, and leaves, but not before glamouring her, and extracting some very important information for the viewers at home. It turns out, our pal Bill is in Mississippi!
The Shirt Off His Back . . .
“Vampire Bill, I’m so upset! I had the lamest plotline of this ENTIRE episode!
“Let’s f*&k!”
“OK, Vampire Bill. That would make me feel much better.”
It’s a real shame that Vampire Bill is in Mississippi, and not Arkansas, where Sam is, because that would have undoubtedly improved this portion of the episode. Sam’s storyline tonight was a MAJOR snoozer. Apparently, he’s on a hunt for his biological trailer trash Mommy, and deadbeat brother . . . blah, blah, blah. Now on to the good stuff!
So, if you recall, last season, Sam was stabbed in the chest, and was seriously wounded as a result. If not for his massive intake of Vampire Bill’s blood, he would have died. Of course, taking a lot of blood from a Vampire has its consequences. For one thing, it makes you have sexual feelings for the Vampire you drank from, regardless of your previous sexual preference.
So, one night, while Sam is sleeping, he has a dream that someone has visited him at his hotel. THIS Vamp . . .
After being invited in, Vampire Bill asks Sam for some clothing, and Sam literally gives him the shirt off his back. But Vampire Bill doesn’t put it on. Instead, after admiring Sam’s physique, he asks to use his shower. He then invites Sam to join him, and Sam AGREES! “We are going to have a great time,” replies Bill.
And just when these two crazy kids are about to make out, Sam wakes up . . .
I WANT MORE BAM! And I want it NOW, dammit!
Vampire Blood for Sale! Get it While it’s Cheap!
So, it turns out, Vampire Eric wasn’t being entirely honest with Sookie, when he was asked if he had anything to do with Bill’s disappearance. In fact, HE had hired people to kidnap Bill TOO! Except, the F-U crew got there first! Pam instructs Eric to tell Queen Sophie Ann about Vampire Bill’s disappearance, since Bill is the only other vampire aware that the Queen and Eric are selling vampire blood on the black market.
Eric scoffs at this idea. However, soon after, Queen Sophie comes to HIM, along with that creepy dude who played J.J. on Big Love . . .
Apparently, there is some sort of two-for-one special on HBO Series stars.
I don’t recall what position “J.J.” holds in the vampire community. However, I assume it’s high ranking, and has something to do with “law enforcement.” (If you recall, this was the guy that forced Vampire Bill to “make” Vampire Jessica, as punishment for his killing another vampire. “J.J” also seems to be higher up than Queen Sophie Ann, because he was bossing her around quite a bit, throughout this scene.
I must admit, initially, I wasn’t overly impressed with Evan Rachel Wood’s portrayal of Queen Sophie Ann during Season 2. I just found her to be too over the top, and not nearly “queenly” enough. However, Wood went a long way toward redeeming herself in my eyes tonight. Watching her manipulate “J.J.” into thinking she was unaware of the marketing of Vampire Blood was pure poetry. And seeing her strong arm the typically unfazeable Vampire Eric into selling off all of his black market vampire blood at a major financial loss to him, was even more satisfying.
This classic scene was followed up by another equally pleasurable one in which Vampire Pam, on Eric’s orders, pressured Lafayette to sell off his “goods.” “Are you picking up what I’m putting down?” Pam whispered in the ear of a terrified Lafayette.
Clearly, no further elaboration was necessary. When Vampire Eric makes a request, Lafayette listens. End of story . . .
Cartoon created by the folks at www.campblood.org
16 and Pregnant? And a Vampire? (Well . . . not exactly)
When we last left Vampire Jessica, she had taken a major bite out of some D-baggy trucker dude, she picked up at a bar. Now, with Papa Vampire Bill nowhere to be found, Baby Vamp Jess is forced to pick up the pieces all by herself. She tries to revive the nearly dead dude, but does so to no avail. Eventually, he dies (or does he?). And in impulsive decision that, while misguided, was surprisingly astute for such a young vamp, Vampire Jessica feeds the maybe dead guy her own blood.
We don’t know yet whether he was actually turned into a vampire. All we know is that he’s stinking up Bill’s house. If I recall correctly, in True Blood world, the “transition” from human to vampire takes a few days. It’s also possible that if this guy was TOTALLY dead, it would be too late for him to actually “drink” Jessica’s blood and change over. So, we can’t really be sure whether Vampire Jessica has just made herself into a “teen mom” and Vampire Bill into an “absentee grandpa.” Only time will tell. But I’m excited about this plotline, nonetheless.
At the end of the episode, Sookie, having noticed that Vampire Pam can “feel” her maker, Eric, “call her,” approaches Vampire Jessica, wondering whether SHE can do the same thing. Apparently she can. Unfortunately, just like the airing of award shows, Vampire Jessica’s “sense” of Bill is on a time delay. So while, she was able to help Sookie find Bill’s crashed car and the dead F-U crew member in it, she was not able to find his current location, which is in the middle of a pack of ravenous werewolves.
It seems that they used REAL wolves in filming this scene, which makes the above picture all the more adorable, fangs and drool, notwithstanding.
So, there you have it folks, my first True Blood recap of the season. What did YOU think of the episode? Was it worth the wait?
Tagged as Alan Ball, Alexander Skarsgard, Andy and Jason, Andy Bellefleur, Anna Paquin, Anna Paquin is bisexual, Arkansas, Arlene, bam, Bill Compton, bisexual, blood bond, Bon Temps, Chris Bauer, conscience off dick on, Coot, Deborah Ann Moll, dream, eggs, Eric and Sookie, Eric Northman, Evan Rachel Wood, Grant Bowler, Hoyt, J.J. from Big Love, James Frain, Jason and Andy, Jason Stackhouse, Jim Parrack, kidnapped, Kristen Bauer, Lafayette, Louisianna, Mississippi, Nelsan Ellis, pack of wolves, Queen Sophie-Ann, Rutina Wesley, Ryan Kwanten, Sam and Bill, Sam Merlotte, Sam Trammell, Sam's brother, Season 3, season premiere, Shirtless Grant Bowler, Shirtless Jason Stackhouse, Shirtless Jim Parrack, Shirtless Mehcad Brooks, Shirtless Ryan Kwanten, Shirtless Sam Merlotte, Shirtless Sam Trammel, Shirtless Stephen Moyer, Shirtless Vampire Bill, Sookie Stackhouse, Stephen Moyer, Tara Thornton, Tara's mom, Tommy Merlotte, True Blood, V, Vampire Bill, vampire blood, Vampire Eric, Vampire Jessica, Vampire Pam, vampires, werewolves, Yvetta
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line1972
|
__label__wiki
| 0.658631
| 0.658631
|
Here's some text
This Week in USA
Coming Up Channel List TWIDW Archive Facebook Updates
The Romans: The Slave Traders
Last updated 14 June 2017
Broadcast: Wednesday 14th June 2017
7:00pm-7:30pm EDT (23:00 GMT) « »
Featuring: William Hartnell, Jacqueline Hill, Maureen O'Brien, William Russell
After relaxing at a Roman villa the Doctor is mistaken for a murdered lyre player and targeted by an assassin. Meanwhile, Ian and Barbara are captured by slave traders.
Synopsis Source: Doctor Who Guide
Broadcast Source: Retro TV
Home Region:
The weekly guide to Doctor Who broadcasts worldwide since 1998. Founded by Benjamin F. Elliott
Week 40: (5)
Week 47: (10)
Week 47: (146)
On This Day: 20th January
The Enemy of the World: Episode 5 premiered on BBC One in 1968 at 5:24pm, watched by 6.90 million viewers.
The Three Doctors: Episode Four premiered on BBC One in 1973 at 5:51pm, watched by 11.90 million viewers.
The Armageddon Factor: Part One premiered on BBC One in 1979 at 6:25pm, watched by 7.50 million viewers.
The Awakening: Part Two premiered on BBC One in 1984 at 6:41pm, watched by 6.60 million viewers.
The Ghosts of N Space: Episode One premiered on BBC Radio 2 in 1996 at 7:03pm
Olivia Hallinan is 35 today - 2 credits, including Emma-Louise Cowell in Out of Time(TW)
James O'Dee is 52 today - 3 credits, including Stunt Cybermen in Rise of the Cybermen / The Age of Steel
Liza Goddard is 70 today - credited as Kari in Terminus
Tom Baker is 86 today - 131 credits, including Doctor Who in Robot
Henry Woolf is 90 today - credited as Collector in The Sun Makers
Stephen Jack (died 1987 aged 85) would be 118 today - credited as Farrel Senior in Terror of the Autons
Ian Scoones (died 2010 aged 69) - 9 credits, including Visual Effects Designer for The Ambassadors of Death
Kevin Stoney (died 2008 aged 86) - 3 credits, including Mavic Chen in The Daleks' Master Plan
John Maxim (died 1990 aged 64) - 2 credits, including Cyberman in The Moonbase (as John Wills)
Doctor Who - Overnight Viewing Figures
Doctor Who Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror, was watched by 4.04 million viewers in the UK yesterday according to unofficial overnight figures.
Black Archive - Update
The latest edition of The Black Archive looks at the 1970 Third Doctor story The Silurians.
Doctor Who Virtual Reality Experience Launches Internationally
This Thursday will see the international launch of the BBC’s acclaimed virtual reality experience Doctor Who: The Runaway.
Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror - Pictures
The BBC has released new pictures from the upcoming episode of Doctor Who - Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror.
Geolocation by geoPlugin
doctorwhonews.net
THIS WEEK IN DOCTOR WHO IS COPYRIGHT © 2020: NEWS IN TIME AND SPACE Ltd. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line1973
|
__label__wiki
| 0.768199
| 0.768199
|
the adventures of amelia williams
Story written by Alex Pinfold
The red wine lapped around the inside of the glass, as fingers firmly grasped the stem and rolled the base in bored patterns across the table. Amelia Williams hardly looked up as a cultured voice gave the announcement that dinner was served. The owner of the voice coughed and then repeated the statement a little louder.
“Well, go on then!” snapped Amelia; “serve it before I pass out from starvation...”
“Much more of that rather excellent red that you’re wasting and it won’t be from starvation!”
“Excuse me...” said Amelia, raising her gaze to the man stood next to her; “Oh! Jimmy! I’m so sorry!”
“Not to worry old girl” said Jimmy, taking a seat opposite her. He was in his mid-forties, as Amelia was, and wore an expensively cut suit touched off with matching red tie and handkerchief. He too was a journalist, but for the London press, and had worked with Amelia if only briefly just a couple of months after the war. He continued: “It’s me that’s sorry actually. Raising your hopes and all that...”
“So I’m still going to starve then” Amelia frowned, returning to moving the glass around the table.
“So tell me” said Jimmy, “what are you doing here? Most welcome, of course...”
“Thanks” said Amelia; “actually, it’s just a stopover. I’m on my way home from a job, over the other side so I can’t really tell you about it, and now its home to New York. Well, it would be except that all the flights are booked up for a couple of days. So here I am”
“A newspaper job under the curtain?” asked Jimmy, running a hand through his black hair.
“Government actually” said Amelia; “so I can tell you about it, but I’ll have to kill you!”
“You probably would too” joked Jimmy; “my sister is here as well. Is it okay if..?”
“Yeah, of course” agreed Amelia, “there’s nobody else here keeping me company”
“Thanks” said Jimmy, turning and calling to a dazzling brunette wearing a green dress who waved in response and made her way over to join them. “Amelia, meet my sister Rosie”
“Hello Amelia”
“Amelia has just been on a trip” said Jimmy, “you know... over there!”
“Goodness!” cried Rosie; “do tell, darling...”
“Oh no!” said Jimmy; “she can’t tell you. Hush-hush and all that! Oh, that’s jolly awkward. I suppose if you tell me now, that means you’ll have to kill both of us!”
“Okay...” relented Amelia; “look, it’s no big deal. Just aliens trying to blow up Berlin!”
“Right...” said Jimmy; “erm... the East or West?”
“Oh...” said Jimmy, “bad show all round then? But you saved the day!”
“Yeah” said Amelia, dryly; “I did, and I have a medal to prove it too...”
“Really?” asked Jimmy, unsure whether his leg was being pulled or not; “look, you two ladies keep yourselves amused while I check on dinner and tell these chaps we’ve moved tables...”
Rosie waited for Jimmy to vanish towards the bar before turning to ask Amelia for a more detailed account of the latter’s adventures, suggesting that Jimmy once at the bar would take the chance to down a whisky on the sly before coming back. Thus it was that Amelia, in a non-linear order chosen by the wine rather than herself, recounted the events of the previous couple of days. Being called by the President, flown into West Berlin before crossing the border and meeting a real actual spy, the secret rendezvous of the scientist, the research centre with the alien spaceship, being captured and getting very sub-standard room service from the Stasi secret police, chasing the aliens through the forest, uncovering their plan, and ultimately saving the city from certain doom. Rosie was just taking a concerned look at the livid cuts and bruises left around Amelia’s wrists by the handcuffs when her brother returned from the bar, declaring that dinner would be along in a bit.
“Look at this!” cried Rosie, grasping Amelia’s arms and holding her hands out before Jimmy.
“What?” asked Jimmy through the haze of a fine Scotch; “oh... never wear your watch that tight!”
“Oh Jimmy...” sighed Rosie, letting go of Amelia; “how about inviting Amelia down for a few days?”
“Oh, no...” said Amelia; “I have to get back to Rory in New York”
“Oh, rot and rubbish!” cried Jimmy; “he can look after himself! Who is Rory anyway?”
“It would be alright just for a few days, wouldn’t it?” pleaded Rosie; “I so want you to come!”
“Well, he will be missing me but... okay, Rory won’t really mind!” lied Amelia, adding “too much...”
“Wonderful!” whooped Rosie; “Daddy will be pleased! Come home tonight, after dinner...”
“You live close by?” asked Amelia, “near London I mean?”
“Yes” said Rosie, “in a rather big place called Greengates, but Daddy simply won’t move anywhere smaller. Do come straight down, and we’ll put you up in a room and run you a hot bath”
“Yeah, a long soak will be nice” said Amelia, “the hotel in Berlin was really basic and it’s just been on and off planes since then. I’m so sleepy... but hungry too so that comes first”
“Well, I’ll make sure you have everything you need for a good scrub up” smiled Rosie as Amelia took off a shoe and rubbed with a thumb the deep grey stain of forest mud on the sole of her foot.
“Grub’s up...” said Jimmy, interrupting the girls’ discussion as two waiters carefully placed plates of steaming steak and dishes of vegetables onto the table from a serving trolley. Jimmy picked up the now empty wine bottle and held it up towards one of the men. “Same again please? Erm... no, hang on a minute. We can do better than this! Your best Claret please, gentlemen! Two bottles...”
The rest of dinner past with merriment and the enthusiastic telling of ever taller stories, albeit with no further mention of the most recent alien threat, and the trio collected Amelia’s unopened bags before climbing into Jimmy’s car. Within moments, Amelia’s head was resting against the soft furnishing of the car’s interior and she was dreaming about travelling from the distant past to the distant stars in a blue wooden box with her husband and her best friend. The hand that touched her shoulder to wake her was that of Rosie, and she looked out of the window as the other, her newest friend, got out and called for help with Amelia’s luggage. Slipping her shoes back on from where they lay on the floor of the car, she climbed out and accepted the steadying hand of Jimmy. It was impossible to see much of the house in the darkness of the early morning, though time was marching on and already the first rays of dawn were breaking from behind the nearby woodland. Rosie was striding towards the front doors, issuing orders to the household staff about getting a room ready and running a hot bath for the new guest. The cool air restored Amelia’s senses enough for her to follow Rosie inside, up the gothic wooden staircase that led from the impressive hallway to a wide landing, into a lavishly furnished guest room, and collapse exhausted onto a soft four poster bed. An hour later, bathed and wrapped in a robe that she felt could embrace her in its warmth for ever more, Amelia lay back on the bed and fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.
The gentle knock at the door woke Amelia, not suddenly but slowly as the caller repeated the sound. It was Rosie, bearing a tray with some toast and a cup of steaming hot tea.
“Sorry...” apologised Rosie; “you missed breakfast hours ago and I didn’t want to disturb you”
“That’s okay” said Amelia; “anyone who brings me toast and a cup of tea doesn’t need to apologise”
“Thanks” smiled Rosie; “look, Daddy is planning tonight and Jimmy has popped back into town...”
“Tonight?” asked Amelia, biting into the toast; “what’s going on tonight?”
“Oh, Daddy’s big party” explained Rosie; “well, quite a small party... but big news!”
“What’s the news?” asked Amelia.
“No idea!” laughed Rosie; “anyway, how would you like to come down to the stables with me?”
“You own a horse?” asked Amelia; “that is so cool! I always wanted to learn to ride...”
“Super!” cried Rosie, excited; “can’t promise a ride, but it’ll be fun! See you downstairs in an hour!”
“Cool” repeated Amelia, as Rosie disappeared back out of the room; “see you in an hour”
The day that followed the night before seemed very short by comparison. But with the events of the past week, not to mention a life spent up until recently in a time machine, Amelia was too familiar with having no grasp of the passage of time. Or perhaps having to concentrate more on where you were in the day, whatever planet you might actually be on and with however many suns or daylight hours that planet might possess, made a traveller more aware of the passage of time rather than less. Those for whom day followed night, in a regular pattern that required little conscious thought on the matter, were never challenged in their routine acceptance of the fact. Thinking about this only made Amelia’s head spin however, and she had instead concentrated upon enjoying the tour of the grounds immediately outside the house given her by Rosie on their circuitous route to and from the stable block. The house itself was an impressive country home, dating back to the 1700s, with various wings and towers constructed of solid looking grey stone. Around the house at intervals were heavy wooden doors, all of them locked except the main entrance, and several of the windows were adorned with stained glass patterns. Aside from a wide area of grass around the drive up to the house from the road, much of the building was surrounded by a complex of walled gardens. Each was elaborately decorated with brightly coloured flowers, and the two women greeted Greaves the gardener on their way through. The stables were concealed, behind a cluster of ancient trees that swayed gently in the afternoon breeze, and were constructed of the same grey stone as the house. They were formed of two rectangular buildings, joined to form an L shape around a courtyard, and inside were supported by a maze of heavy oak beams. Access to the yard was via a broad pair of oak doors, and each stable had an inner gate that gave onto a paved passage along the inside of the outer wall. It was cool inside the stable building, away from the mid-afternoon heat, and it gave the block a dark and chilling atmosphere. The horses however seemed happy and contented enough, as Rosie brushed them and told stories about their exploits together, and Amelia felt sure that if there was anything wrong with the atmosphere then the animals would get spooked first... probably.
“You’re looking for the maid?” said Rosie unexpectedly; “it’s okay, she won’t hurt you!”
“Sorry?” asked Amelia, confused by the question; “no... I’m sorry... what maid do you mean?”
“No, I’m sorry” said Rosie; “it’s just an old story about the house, and you looked chilled and a bit spooked out. You know, looking over your shoulder all the time!”
“Was I..?” said Amelia, startled that her subconscious thought had manifested itself so obviously.
“Yes, but don’t worry. The stables are perfectly fine, aren’t they?” said Rosie, directing the question at the horse she began to hug; “sometimes we’ve felt one or two strange things in the house, but never out here. Have we horsey?”
“So come on then!” demanded Amelia, determined not to be sidelined from the conversation by a horse; “tell me this story! How long ago was it? What happened, and who did it happen to?”
“Well, it was a very long time ago” began Rosie, seating herself on a stool and indicating that Amelia do the same; “back when the house was new, sometime in about 1720, there was a right to do with the man who built it originally. He was the leader of some cult or coven or something, and the story goes that he called something into existence in the cellar that was killing people and destroying the crops and all sorts of stuff. The legend goes that it was evil, though I suppose that’s obvious really if you think about it, and wanted to take over the world. Anyway, another chap just turns up out of the blue and sorts the horrid man and his creature out!”
“So, where does the maid come in?” asked Amelia; “and what was the hero called?”
“Well, that’s the weird bit!” said Rosie; “the story doesn’t say who the hero was or where he came from, only that he was physician or something. Later transcriptions call him the Doctor, but Daddy says that historically speaking that’s probably wrong. It’s called an... erm...”
“Anachronism” said Amelia, wondering where that word had sprung from without warning.
“Yes! That’s what Daddy called it!” said Rosie; “so anyway, everyone in the village thinks that this man called the Doctor or whatever is actually another sorcerer and that the girl who turns up with him is actually a witch! Her name was Rose too by the way, just like me. But there’s this girl from the house who goes to the village and stands up in front of them all, telling them to trust the new man and his friend because they’re good people who have come to save the village. So the villagers let the new man defeat the wicked one and banish the creature into outer space or something. When the owner finds out it was all this girl’s fault, he rides after her with his dogs like that other horrible man in The Hound of the Baskervilles! Have you ever read that book? Thrilling stuff!”
“Yeah, I read it” said Amelia; “that’s not quite how it happened, but the world wasn’t ready to know what the hound really was. Go on, what happened next?”
“Well, he tied her up in here for days to find out where the Doctor had gone!”
“What about when she didn’t tell him?”
“He is supposed to have had a secret underground chamber where he got up to all his dirty business and the story goes that he sacrificed the girl in there to call his creature back! But it didn’t work of course and so he sealed the chamber with the body inside as a curse. It’s just a story...”
“Yeah...” said Amelia, “who ever heard of a Doctor who just turns up and saves the world from aliens and stuff, and then disappears again! So this girl yeah, saves the Doctor and the whole world and yet he didn’t know? Maybe he never even noticed her! What was her name?”
The dinner party was indeed a small affair and, after changing into a suitable dress leant her by Rosie who just happened to share the same size, Amelia slipped discreetly into the drawing room where some pre-dinner drinks were being served. It was, after all, a family occasion for a family that she was not actually part of. Nonetheless, it was only a matter of moments before Rosie called her over and filled her hand with a glass before introducing her to the others occupants of the room. They were, in the order in which they were introduced:
Harold Eddington-Owens, actually introduced as Daddy, was the retired businessman whose wealth kept his family comfortable in the plush surroundings. Aged in his early seventies, but outwardly fit and deeply passionate about life, Harold enthused about sharing dinner with such a glamorous and interesting visitor as Amelia; further winning her affections by insisting that she was a visitor from Scotland and not America.
Edward Eddington-Owens was a very different character altogether. Despite being Harold’s brother and very nearly the same age, Edward had a cold manner and squinted at Amelia in a way that she found unsettling. Overweight and a chain smoker of cigars, Edward drank heavily and addressed the other guests in an abrupt tone that stifled conversation. He too was, apparently, successful in the same line of family business though the two brothers had split their assets between them some time ago.
Petronella Beckett was Edward’s secretary. Short and blonde with eyes as narrow as her employer’s that peered through cherry red spectacles, and a droning yet ingratiating voice that had a definite southern hemisphere inflection. She hung on the nauseating Edward’s every word and bounced like his every utterance was the most profound assertion ever expressed. Despite being young enough to be his grandchild, her obvious veneration of his every conceited utterance made it clear that her admiration surpassed the professional. Deciding not to dwell on the woman any longer, for fear that her instinctive desire to flush the little madam’s head down the toilet would manifest itself in reality, Amelia turned her thoughts to the final member of the gathering to whom she had been introduced.
Aunt Caroline was not actually anyone’s aunt at all. Well, she was probably somebody’s aunt; just not anyone present at Greengates. As was often the way, a kindly and close family friend had been given the title of Aunt before the children for want of anything better to call her that carried the respect of her position as an adult. James and Rose were now ‘grown ups’ in their own right, but it was still Aunt Caroline and probably always would be. She was the perfect antidote to Edward and his simpering secretary, with a cheerful and welcoming aspect to her personality the diffused the tension that otherwise threatened to spoil the party.
Dinner itself was a lively affair. The more Harold, Caroline, Jimmy and Rosie tried to include Amelia in conversation at the expense of Edward and Petronella, the more the latter raised their voices and tried to enforce their views upon the table. As bottles emptied, changing the subject at just the right moment became a game that Amelia and Jimmy played with the result of Harold and Rosie crying with laughter at the expense of the glowering Edward and the increasingly haughty Petronella. After the meal, the men retired to the drawing room for an hour and left the four women alone together. This very quickly became three, when Petronella excused herself to powder her nose. Once they were sure that the girl had pouted completely off the scene, the remaining ladies softly closed the dining room door and returned to the table.
“Clitheroe...” called Rosie, the call being promptly answered by a man in servant’s uniform.
“Yes, Miss Rosie?” asked Clitheroe.
“Some after dinner sherry please” instructed Rosie.
“Yes, Miss Rosie” said Clitheroe, eying the empty Claret bottles disapprovingly before complying.
“Do you have any idea what your father’s big news is?” asked Caroline; “thank you, Clitheroe”
“Not a clue!” replied Rosie; “it’s something that involves some money though. Thanks, Clitheroe”
“How do you know it involves money?” asked Amelia; “Cheers Clithers!”
“Will that be all, Miss Rosie?” asked Clitheroe, trying not to show disapproval of Amelia’s familiarity.
“Yes, thank you” said Rosie, adding as the man turned away from them: “...Clithers!”
“Quite so, Miss Rosie...” said Clitheroe; it struck Amelia that he seemed used to Rosie’s mad friends.
“Anyway!” continued Rosie; “how do I know? Because of old Davies, that’s how!”
“That explains everything” said Amelia, sipping her drink; “so who’s Davies when he’s at home?”
“Daddy’s legal chap!” explained Rosie, “his solicitor in town!”
“Ah...” said Aunt Caroline, “but is your father getting some money or spending it?”
“Oh...” said Rosie, “I hadn’t really thought about that. Getting some I hope!”
When the drawing room doors were thrown open and the ladies were invited inside, it seemed to Amelia that the tension in the room they were entering was so thick that a chainsaw rather than a knife would be needed to cut through it. Harold beamed at the new arrivals, and was clearly a man content in his own mind with his role in whatever events were occurring. His brother Edward was a mirror image of his mood, with an ominous expression of discontent. By contrast with the two older gentlemen, Jimmy simply looked confused and browbeaten.
“What’s going on?” asked Rosie, a note of genuine concern in her voice; “Jimmy?”
“Oh, don’t ask me to fill you in on the details!” said Jimmy; “you’ll find out soon enough!”
“My dears, and our two guests Mrs Williams and Miss... erm... yes, Beckett” began Harold; “do come in and make yourselves comfortable. As you can see, we’ve had a discussion but now I’m ready...”
“Ready to ruin yourself and your whole family!” shouted Edward, seething in a corner.
“Please, Edward...” said Aunt Caroline; “do quieten down and let Harold give his news to us!”
“Money” said Harold; “is a great necessity, especially when running an estate such as this! But in the banking system, your security is in other people’s hands. Worse, it’s in the hands of bankers! So as well as leaving enough in the account to keep this place going if anything happens to me, I have also decided to invest in something tangible. Not paper money that burns or gets blown away in the wind if you leave the window open, but something that has the dual purpose of actually being worth the effort of owning it in the first place. Something to admire, to share, and something that is definitely going to be worth a pretty penny even if every share in every company under the sun crashes. It is my great pleasure to introduce you, ladies and gentlemen, to the Ruby of Britannia!”
“Goodness!” cried Rosie as Harold opened a small wooden box to reveal a magnificent jewel.
“Madness!” bellowed Edward.
“What a pretty little rock...” said Jimmy in concealed admiration.
“Utter madness!” repeated Edward; “this is against all my advice. It isn’t safe here! You should trust your advisors and your bankers and your solicitors. Damn it man, you should trust me!”
Petronella bounced and said something unimportant that nobody listened to.
“It will be perfectly safe” argued Harold; “it will not leave this house, and my safe is perfectly secure”
“That is not the point” said Edward; “the temptation alone can make men do unlikely things”
“Well, I think it’s absolutely lovely” said Rosie; “and I think you’re terribly wise, Daddy”
“Thank you” said Harold; “and now I think you have all been tempted enough this evening, if you subscribe to the feelings of my brother, and so I’ll now put it away in my study”
With that, Harold departed with the stone while Clitheroe reappeared to serve more drinks.
Amelia stirred in her sleep and turned over, pulling the soft linen sheet further up above her head. Then she lowered it again and opened one eye. The sound that had woken her had been the bang of a door, and who would be abroad at this time of the early morning? Especially in light of the news at dinner the previous evening, there was reason to be alert for anything out of the ordinary. Where had the bang of the door come from? As her head cleared, so did her memory. It had been a sharp sound, yet all of the heavy wooden doors in this house closed with a dull thud against their equally ancient wooden frames. Was it instead the sound of something falling over, or being knocked over? With a sudden flash of realisation, her thoughts clearing as though a bucket of icy water had been thrown over her head, she knew what the sound was. It was the clear report of bullet exploding from the barrel of a gun. What’s more, whoever fired the weapon might still be in the house. Amelia leapt from the bed and pulled a borrowed robe over a borrowed nightdress, reaching down for her borrowed slippers and pulling them on. The door clicked as she opened it to leave the room, and the stairs boards creaked beneath her as she stealthily made her way along the short passage and out onto the landing. Another figure was running towards the landing from an opposite passage and she stepped out of site, tripping the man as he sped past her position. He yelled as he crashed heavily to the floor, an object flying from his grasp and thudding against the base of the wall. Lights came on as somebody flicked a switch and the whole scene became illuminated in a soft artificial glow.
Jimmy moaned as he climbed to a sitting position, nursing his left arm where he had fallen badly as Amelia tripped him. Rosie was calling his name as she ran from yet another direction, flinging open a door and hurtling towards them. Crouching down to check Jimmy’s injuries and apologise for failing to recognise him in the dark, Amelia’s eyes came to rest on the object that lay on the floor where Jimmy had dropped it. The army revolver became the proverbial elephant in the room as Amelia, Jimmy and Rosie all stared at it and then at each other. From the direction that Jimmy had come with the gun, new footsteps approached. It was Edward. As Aunt Caroline and Miss Beckett joined the impromptu late night gathering, and the staff could be heard approaching from downstairs, it was Edward that broke the silence.
“You had all better come and see this” declared Edward; “it’s Harold. He’s dead”
The Second Night
Rosie had watched tearfully as the black police car rolled slowly along the drive, taking Jimmy into custody beneath the accusation of murdering his own father. She had explained to Amelia that it was not even possible that such a thing could happen. The children loved their father who, after the passing of their mother many years previously, had cared for them and spent more time with them than the parents of any of their peers. Amelia was, for her part, inclined to agree with her. But she had to consider too the briefness of their acquaintance, for she had only met Jimmy on one previous occasion and been introduced to Rosie only two days before. Yet she also felt that, even in such a short time, she had been granted an opportunity to know both siblings well enough to form the view that neither was a murderer. And so it was that she decided to take the case and prove Jimmy’s innocence. All surviving members of the household had crowded into the passageway outside the bedroom of the late Harold Eddington-Owens the previous night, though Amelia had prevented any of them from entering the room in case they might disturb some vital piece of evidence required by the police. Edward had already entered the room on discovery of the crime and so he, along with the murderer, was one of two persons that had already visited the crime scene before the arrival of the police. That was assuming of course, that Edward and the perpetrator of the crime were not one and the same. No, Amelia decided as she fought to keep a clear and open mind; she must not allow her personal dislike of the man to influence her perception. If that were the case, Miss Becket would already be tried and convicted for sheer annoyance value.
The gun wrapped in a plastic bag and Jimmy under the ever watchful vigilance of Clitheroe, for both Amelia and Aunt Caroline had refused to allow Edward that responsibility, the police had been called to the house to investigate. With the bell trilling, the sound echoing off every wall in the grounds, a black car had sped up the drive and deposited an Inspector and three Constables at the door. After a brief summary of events from Edward, watched by Rosie to ensure an accurate account was given, Inspector Austen and Constable Jayne set up what they liked to call an incident office in the drawing room. Essentially, it was still just the drawing room only with Constables Park and Mansfield on duty guarding the door. Each of them had been questioned in turn by the Inspector, and again by Amelia or Caroline; everyone was keen to tell their story, or at least a story whether or not it be true. Jimmy claimed to have heard the shot and run to check on his father, knowing that the crystal had made him a target for such a crime, and found the gun lying next to the body. Edward also claimed to have heard the shot and run towards the open door, upon which he alleged to have been knocked over by Jimmy running from the room with the gun. Amelia of course had heard the shot and knocked Jimmy over in turn, while the remainder of the household merely sensed a commotion and began their stories on the landing with Jimmy recovering from the fall. Naturally, nobody owned up to being up before the shot was fired and a simple break in was the verdict of all except Jimmy’s accusers; they, of course, being Edward and his secretary.
It was early afternoon when Inspector Austen called everyone together in the drawing room, except the staff since Austen considered himself above declaring that ‘the butler did it’ after all, and made the arrest. Ordering silence, he revealed the progress of his enquiries.
“Thank you so much for complying with my instructions to stay at Greengates until such time as it was possible for me to complete our business here. I’m pleased to say that we can now move on and return to London. All of you are welcome to return to your business... all except one”
“And who is that, Inspector?” demanded Edward; “do stop these theatricals!”
“Calm down Mr Eddington-Owens” said Austen; “all will be revealed in due course”
“Well, I’m with Uncle” said Jimmy nervously; “don’t keep us in suspense”
“Very well” said Austen, removing the bag containing the gun from his pocket; “there was a detail about this weapon that was not immediately revealed to us. Can you confirm that this is yours?”
“Mine?” asked Jimmy as everyone turned aghast to fix their stares upon him.
“Yes” said Austen simply; “it is registered to you, is it not?”
“Just... just an old war souvenir” stammered Jimmy; “and it’s not supposed to be here!”
“And can you tell us where you would normally keep this article, Sir?” pressed Austen
“In my London office!” exclaimed Jimmy; “I was as surprised as anyone to see it here!”
“What a shame you forgot to explain this at the time of our interview...” said Austen
“Jimmy...” asked Rosie; “is that your gun?”
“Well, yes...” admitted Jimmy; “but I didn’t want to confess to owning the smoking gun!”
“Quite so” agreed Austen; “we can deal with the confessions down the station”
“Goodness” muttered Aunt Caroline; “don’t worry Jimmy; we’ll see you out of this!”
“Oh...” said Austen; “there is one other line of evidence. Did you know that you inherit all this?”
“Well, yes” confirmed Jimmy; “of course I’m Father’s heir!”
“Including this gem stone of his?” asked Austen
“I suppose so” said Jimmy
“Perfect motive, wouldn’t you say?” said Austen; “James Eddington-Owens, I’m arresting you for the murder of Harold Eddington-Owens last night. Mansfield, take him outside and read him his rights”
“We’ll come after you!” shouted Rosie as Mansfield led him from the room; “Inspector Austen, you cannot seriously think that my brother had anything to do with this. The will means nothing!”
“Let’s allow a jury of good men to work out what means something and what does not, Miss” said Austen as he followed his Constable outside; he stopped in the doorway to the drawing room and, turning back to them, added: “Oh, just one more thing. Mrs Williams, what is your business here?”
“Oh...” said Amelia; “I just happened to be here when the murder was committed. Like Miss Maple”
“Like who?” asked Austen incredulously.
Rosie and Amelia stood on the front steps of the house and watched the dust settle on the drive as the police car vanished from sight. Rosie’s father and brother were gone within a day of each other, leaving her to face Edward with only an aunt who was not really her aunt and a complete stranger for support. Amelia led her inside the house and took her to the parlour, a room with a half dozen French windows beside which stood a piano. Rosie sat on the stool.
“Do you play?” asked Amelia
“Sometimes” said Rosie; “sometimes I play when I can’t sleep, though it drives father mad...”
“Sorry...” comforted Amelia, putting a comforting arm around Rosie; “is there another room that..?”
“No” said Rosie; “every room will be the same, at least until Jimmy comes home. He didn’t do it!”
“Of course not” said Amelia; “but we have to prove it to Inspector Austen”
“How?” asked Rosie, unconvinced of their chances at persuading the Inspector without evidence.
“There has to be something” said Amelia; “but let’s try to clear our heads now, yeah?”
“Yes, I’ll try...” said Rosie, opening the lid on the piano and beginning to play.
“What’s that tune?” asked Amelia; “I don’t recognise it”
“It was my mother’s tune” explained Rosie; “that’s a painting of her above the piano”
“Okay...” said Amelia as she looked upwards. The face that looked out from the portrait, exquisitely painted in oil colours, was that of a woman no older than Amelia and Rosie were now. Her brown hair was tied in a delicate pattern above her head, and even the pin that held it was painted in detail that showed a fine pattern. The likeness of life was perfect, with clear eyes and a warm expression that seemed to transcend the art and look down at the piano player. “That’s not creepy...”
“Pardon?” asked Rosie, fortunately not catching Amelia’s mumbled verdict.
“The tune is lovely” said Amelia; “it has a melody that sings inside your head and makes you want to sing along even though you don’t know the words! Did your mother compose it?”
“Yes, when we were children” said Rosie, the notes stopping abruptly as memories took her.
“Let’s go sit somewhere else” said Amelia, lifting Rosie from the stool. Glancing up at the picture, she was absolutely sure in that instant that the woman inside it was smiling sympathetically down at her daughter; that she understood and did not mind the tune not being finished. Startled, Amelia looked away. When she looked back again, the picture was just a portrait and she felt nothing at all.
Compared with her first afternoon at Greengates, the second had proceeded very slowly indeed. It was impossible to keep Rosie distracted from her loss, and so it was equally difficult to concentrate on the case in order to find some way of proving Jimmy’s innocence. Of course, the best way to do this would be to prove someone else guilty. But where to start was the question. The Inspector had taken all the evidence they were likely to have found in the bedroom and besides, this was a case best solved through reasoning rather than blundering into things and hoping for the best. Probably not a case ideally suited to Amelia after all then, she considered ruefully, but she owed it to her new friends to try her hardest. Rosie had needed very little persuasion to go to bed early, and Amelia had retired to her own room very soon after in order to get away from Edward and Petronella so that she could think clearly. She lay on the bed, fully dressed in a blouse and long skirt from her own suit case, when she became aware that something was not right. The rest of the house had, by this time, also gone to bed and yet she could hear music. It was not clear, but it sounded like the piano. The tune was muffled by the thick interior walls, and so Amelia crept out of the door into the passage beyond. The beat of the piano was unmistakable now and, feeling in no immediate danger of being swept away on another muddy adventure in the great outdoors, she left her shoes in her room and made her way almost silently to the door of the parlour. It was slightly ajar, so Amelia knocked and slowly pushed it open. From within, a familiar voice called to her to enter. Rosie sat at the piano and cheerfully smiled a greeting as she enthusiastically slammed the tune out on the keys. Amelia shut the door behind her carefully, though if anyone slept through the music they would certainly sleep through the click of the door closing.
The two woman sat together, Rosie on the piano stool and Amelia on a nearby chaise longue, while Rosie played a dozen or so tunes until she was too tired to play on. Amelia gave up her place on the chaise longue and helped Rosie to settle beneath a beautifully knitted woollen blanket. The other woman was asleep in moments and Amelia decided it was probably best to stay around, just in case her friend was also at risk with a violent criminal in the house. Opening the door, she heard the sound of another door opening in another part of the house. Sure that it was not an echo, and that it was also on the ground floor, she walked quickly toward the wing of the house containing the study. That was where the ruby had been locked away by Harold on the night of his murder. Entering the passage that led to the study, her skirt caught an umbrella stand and sent it crashing to the floor. The sound felt deafening in the still and silent night, causing Amelia to curse under her breath and run for the open study door. As she reached it and flung it open, there was another loud crash as the intruder leapt through the locked windows and sent glass showering onto the path outside. Amelia yelled a caution for them to stop and give themselves up, but the futility of any implied threat was obvious given the mystery visitor’s head start and the darkness that would protect them once out in the grounds. Reaching the window and climbing up onto the wooden chest that lay beneath it, she peered out through the shattered panes and realised that her quarry was already fled. She reached for the damaged frame to pull herself through in pursuit and yelped in pain as a shard of glass still attached to the wood spiked her palm. Letting go, while holding her other hand against the cut to reduce the bleeding, she looked around and could see broken glass all around the edges that would slice her to pieces if she climbed through. Not only that but the ground beneath the window, that she would have jumped down onto, was also covered in glass. She turned as a hand gripped her bare ankle, as though to prevent such a dangerous action, and she saw Rosie holding her. Moments later, the whole household was present. The incident was over, but would the intruder return.
The Third Night
After the activity and trials of the two previous nights at Greengates, with first a murder and then a failed attempt at burglary, Aunt Caroline had insisted that Rosie stay in bed and rest. It would be of no use to Jimmy, she had explained patiently, for his sister to become ill when he needed her most. Thus it was that Aunt Caroline and Amelia, both having partaken of an early breakfast and vacated the table before Edward and Petronella had arrived, were taking a turn around the maze of secret ornamental gardens that nestled between the walls surrounding the house.
“What, do you suppose, was their mission?” asked Aunt Caroline, referring to the night intruder.
“Just a wild stab in the dark here” began Amelia, “but I’m guessing to steal the ruby!”
“Might it have been something else though?” continued Aunt Caroline; “some papers perhaps?”
“The desk was undisturbed as far as I could see” said Amelia; “but the safe was uncovered...”
“We should guard the study, just in case they come back...” said Aunt Caroline
“Not sure about that” said Amelia, thoughtfully; “if it was just an opportunist, then there’s not any guarantee that they’re even going to come back. But if it was an inside job, then they’ll know not to bother if the room is guarded. So they still wouldn’t come back, and then we would never know...”
“Quite right, of course” agreed Aunt Caroline; “we need to tempt them into revealing themselves”
“And besides...” said Amelia, “who would do the guarding? We can’t expect the staff to stay up all night as well as doing everything else around the house. Rosie is under too much stress to be relied upon to keep watch without worrying herself to sleep. And would you trust Edward or Petronella to look after anything... I mean, really?”
“Yes...” said Aunt Caroline; “if only Harold, or even Jimmy, could be here...”
“Well, they’re not” said Amelia firmly; “so it’s down to us! Let’s have a look at the crime scene!”
Some minutes later, Amelia was crouching beneath the window of the study and was examining the shards of broken glass on the ground. Getting up, she inspected the window frame.
“Careful dear...” cautioned Aunt Caroline, looking at the sticking plaster on Amelia’s hand where she had caught it on the same glass the night before; “we don’t wish to run out of sticking plasters...”
“Have a look at this...” said Amelia, absorbed in her investigation of the window.
“What have you seen?” asked Aunt Caroline.
“Nothing” said Amelia; “and that’s the problem”
“Be a little clearer please, Amelia dear” said Aunt Caroline; “we’re not all super sleuths”
“There’s no damage to the window apart from where it’s been jumped through”
“Did that not cause enough damage for you? It’s smashed to pieces!”
“But there’s no damage to catches at the side here, and it was closed remember. That was why the intruder had to jump through it, because they couldn’t see how to open it in the dark...”
“Sorry, you still need to be clearer” said Aunt Caroline, slightly exasperated.
“If they didn’t come in this way, if the window hasn’t been opened for them to climb in, then how did they get into the house?” asked Amelia, starting to walk around the house.
“All these doors should be kept locked!” called Aunt Caroline; “in case of... intruders”
“Like this one, you mean?” Amelia called in return, throwing open a small door that opened onto a passage inside the house; “could this have been opened this morning?”
“No...” said Aunt Caroline; “I see no reason why it should have been, especially not with everyone still wandering around in a state of shock after... well, you know... everything”
“Then we have found how they got in, and we know how they got out” said Amelia; “and we think we know what they were taking from the safe. But that still leaves one important question...”
“Which is..?” asked Aunt Caroline
“Who opened this door to let them in?”
Further examination of the house, both outside and inside, yielded no further clues however. So it was a subdued dinner that evening, with two members of the household absent. Aunt Caroline and Rosie felt disinclined to converse with Edward or Petronella and Amelia found herself, socially if not in terms of place settings, in between the two factions of the family. The case was not discussed at dinner, largely because of Edward’s firm assertion that Jimmy had murdered his father and the fact that he had said so to the police. All parties retired early, and it was clear that the staff felt this to be a relief too since it also allowed them what they hoped would be a full and unbroken night’s rest. For her part, Amelia kept alert and awake for some time as she tried to monitor the rest of the house and make sure in her own mind that she knew where everyone was. Rosie and Aunt Caroline wished her a good night; Edward ignored her presence, and Petronella made a petulant show of slamming the door. Finally, with a dozen scenarios playing out in her imagination and each in turn failing to explain the mystery to her satisfaction, Amelia drifted off into a dream filled sleep.
Amelia woke. In just a couple of moments, she was wide awake and alert. Reaching across to the switch on the wall, she turned on the small bedside lamp and checked her watch. It was two o’clock in the morning and she could hear music. Once again, the unmistakable sound of the piano drifted up to her ears from its place in the parlour. But, as she dressed and slipped on her shoes to go down and keep Rosie company, Amelia realised that the acoustics were actually different to the previous night. The air must be clearer, or maybe there was a window open? This time the beat of the music was sharp and well defined, and the individual notes could be easily discerned as a familiar tune. It was the tune Rosie’s mother had composed for her as a child. The catchy melody rose and fell; high notes and low notes dancing together with life of their own that made Amelia want to dance along with them. Opening the door, she bounded down the stairs to the hall way and looked down the passage that led to the study on her way to the parlour. Amelia froze mid-step as she realised that a door was open and that a light shone from within. It was the study door. Turning and walking toward the room, she took extra care that her clothes missed anything like the umbrella stand that might fall and disturb whoever was trespassing. Reaching the door, she looked inside the study and found it empty. Worse still, the safe was open and that too was empty. As she stepped into the room, the palm of a strong hand thumped her hard between the shoulders and sent her spinning to the floor. A figure dressed all in black ran from the room into the protective darkness of the corridor outside and Amelia knew that this was a once only chance to apprehend the villain. With the safe robbed, they would have no need to return to the scene of the crime.
Getting painfully up from the floor, Amelia ran from the study and crashed into the wooden panels opposite the door before regaining her balance and speeding in the direction of the hallway. As she reached the hallway, the figure in front of her stopped to reach for something above them on the high wall between the parlour and front doors. Amelia realised that the man had reached for a spear from a display of African tribal artefacts and was hurling it towards her just in time to dive out of the way. The weapon missed her by inches as she threw herself sideways. Instead of embedding itself in the woodwork, the missile bounced off a loaded coat stand and clattered harmlessly to ground. In a moment of decision and driven by anger at having a spear thrown at her, Amelia grasped the handle of it in her hand and, standing with her feet slightly apart and firmly planted on the floorboards, took aim at the dark figure clearly silhouetted in the front doors against the moonlight. She hurled the spear straight and true and, unlike her would-be assailant, did not miss. A man’s voice screamed as the blade buried itself deep within his shoulder and an object flew from his hand, landing on the gravel of the drive. Amelia shouted loudly at the top of her voice as she ran outside to retrieve the object, and within moments everyone from both upstairs and down was running out of the house to join her. The identity of the man moaning softly on the ground was revealed when Miss Beckett took no interest in the small wooden box that Amelia held and ran straight for him instead.
An Explanation, a Discovery, and a Mission
Dawn was breaking once more as the two black police cars turned off the main road and drove up to the front of the house. An ambulance had arrived soon after the events of the morning, with a police car occupied by Inspector Austen close behind. Edward had been taken away to hospital, to later be charged with both the theft and his brother’s murder, while the Inspector had left Constable Jayne behind at the house to ensure that everyone, especially Miss Beckett, remain on the premises until his return. Clitheroe showed Inspector Austen into the parlour, where the main participants in the mystery awaited him. Behind him, Jimmy entered the room to be warmly welcomed home by Rosie and Aunt Caroline. It was the Inspector who opened the brief proceedings.
“Thank you all for gathering here” said Austen; “as you can see, I’m releasing Mr James Eddington-Owens from custody and all charges have been dropped. Edward Eddington-Owens has not as yet confessed the full account of his activities, and his reasons, but I’m sure it’s only a matter of time”
“We already know most of it, from what happened last night” said Amelia
“We do?” asked Rosie; “Oh, do tell us what this ghastly business is all about”
“It was all for the Ruby” explained Amelia; “Edward couldn’t get his hands on Harold’s money while it was in the bank, but the Ruby gave him an opportunity he couldn’t resist. All the protests and stuff about wanting Harold not to buy the stone was just a front. In fact, it encouraged Harold to buy the stone in the first place, to spite his brother”
“But I inherit the stone” said Jimmy; “he must have known that...”
“Of course he did” Amelia said patiently; “but you can’t inherit something that’s been stolen, can you? Edward needed the stone purchased and brought here where it was vulnerable, but then he had to steal it before Harold actually took his advice and got rid of it or put it somewhere actually safe. And for that, he needed Harold out of the way too”
“But he shot my father with my own gun!” exclaimed Jimmy; “how was that possible?”
“Had Edward been to your office in London recently?” asked Amelia
“Last week” said Jimmy
“Next question?” said Amelia
“What about the failed theft?” asked Aunt Caroline; “was it Edward who allowed someone into the house through the side entrance? They ran away of course when you found them!”
“Ah...” said Amelia; “I got that bit wrong, sorry. Edward was in the house all the time, and it was him that jumped through the window to get out of the house when he heard me coming. The door was opened by his accomplice to let him back in after the crime, not the other way around”
“Which brings me to my next and final duty here” said Inspector Austen; “Miss Petronella Beckett, I’m arresting you as an accessory to the murder of Harold Eddington-Owens and, although you have the right to remain silent, anything you do say may be used in evidence against you”
Petronella, who had been edging towards the door, now backed away from it while protesting her innocence and was looking around her for an exit plan. With an exaggerated sigh at the ineffectual response from the policemen in the room, Amelia decided to expedite matters and get her personal satisfaction at the same time. Snatching a pair of open handcuffs from a surprised Constable Jayne, she stepped silently up behind the retreating Petronella and pulled her arms behind her back before fastening them there with the chain. Taking hold of the squealing girl’s right arm above elbow, she marched her across to Inspector Austen and handed her over. As the police and their charge left the house and climbed into the waiting cars, Austen turned back to Amelia.
“Just one more thing...” said Austen; “you should be careful, throwing spears at people”
“It was self defence” replied Amelia self confidently.
“Self defence?!” retorted Austen, his incredulity rousing a laugh from the ensemble.
“He might have had two spears...” said Amelia.
“Yes...” said Austen, sounding unconvinced as he left the room and closed the doors behind him.
“The daft thing is, you know...” Amelia said to Rosie, “that if you hadn’t been playing the piano and woke me up again, I would never have caught him and they would both be miles away by now!”
“I wasn’t playing the piano” said Rosie; “I was woken by your calling from the hallway...”
“Then who...” began Amelia, looking across at Aunt Caroline who shook her head. They all looked up at the painting above the piano, and once again Amelia felt as though the picture was looking back at her. This time, it seemed as though the soft green eyes were staring right into her and demanding that she, Amelia Williams, do something to put right whatever sadness enveloped the house. Not the death of Harold for that was just the latest chapter. Something far older and far darker that was still hanging like a doom laden cloud over the building and those within its walls, and which was still causing disruption to time and reality. The picture was not alive, she told herself, but was merely a channel through which some distortion to the natural order of things was seeping. The two people she had met on a previous assignment, Mr Steel and Miss Sapphire, would have been able to sort this out just by looking at it. But this time it was down to her alone, Amy Pond formerly of time and space, to sort things out here. “Somebody get me a broom or anything with a long handle, except a spear obviously. This house needs sorting out! You remember that story, Rosie?”
“Yes...” replied Rosie perplexed.
“It wasn’t a story” said Amelia; “Rory took me to a really cool movie during the war, about Sherlock Holmes finding a secret room under an old house by following a ritual. You have a secret somewhere and I’m willing to bet that it’s right under here some place. How do you get down to the cellars?”
Initially, the search of the cellars beneath Greengates proved fruitless. Amelia tapped each stone in turn but without reward. Until, that is, a pile of crates were removed from a corner beneath a stone arch. As soon as the broom handle touched the centre most flagstone beneath the arch, Amelia was sure that she had found the object of their endeavours. Each of the previous neatly set squares had responded with a dull thud, but this one rang out like a bell to Amelia’s appreciative ears. Calling for some tools, she crouched down to examine it by the dim light given off by the single light bulb above them. Jimmy had gone for the tools, followed by Rosie in search of torches. Both returned, and with help from Jimmy, Amelia managed to work the flagstone loose enough to get the end of a crowbar underneath one side and lift it away. Jimmy cried out in surprise as he beheld the short drop down to a floor and the top of a steep flight of stone steps leading downward into the darkness. Jimmy and Amelia alone would explore, with the other members of the party remaining in the cellar.
Turning on her torch, Amelia jumped down first and shone the torch down the steep staircase. It was narrow, but there seemed to be more room to stand upright after the first few steps. She could make out the bottom of the flight in the powerful beam, and it looked like a passage laid with stone slabs led away around a corner to the left. Beginning the decent, she found that the steps were as solid and true as the rest of the house and seemed to have been built first with the cellars laid over the top. Standing in the passage, she waited for Jimmy to join her. It did indeed lead away at right angles from the bottom of the steps for short distance before turning right at the same angle. Jimmy observed that if the passage did turn right then it would lead directly under the centre of the house. Flashing their torches in all directions to take in the marvellous new discovery, and also to look out for any dangers, they turned the corner and stopped in amazement. They now stood in a much wider passage, still constructed of neatly laid stone walls and a flagstone floor, which seemed to be like the main hallway of whatever secret lair they had stumbled into. It was not long in itself, but five gates guarded archways that led away from it; two on each side and one at the end. None of the gates were locked, but they were stiff from centuries of lying dormant and the hinges squealed in protest as Amelia pushed them open in turn. They inspected the two rooms on the left first. Both were small, almost like alcoves, and yielded fascinating discoveries.
“Whoa!” cried Amelia as she pushed the gate of the first cell on the left open and stepped inside, shining her torch around the small room; “this is so cool, I have always wanted to find something like this! It’s like being in an Indiana Jones movie, but with less deadly traps! I hope...”
“What have you found?” asked Jimmy, himself peering into the next cell along.
“It’s just like a table and stool and stuff” said Amelia, “but a really cool old chest in here too...”
“Can you open it?” asked Jimmy, returning to see Amelia struggling with the catch.
“Hold on...” replied Amelia; the catch gave way, allowing the lid to fly open.
“What’s inside?” asked Jimmy, stepping into the cell to look over her shoulder.
“Letters and stuff” said Amelia, sorting through them; “they probably belonged to the evil guy”
“That could have the history of the Greengates legend in there!” exclaimed Jimmy; “I know some history chaps that would be terribly interested in those. We must take them back up with us...”
“What was in your room?” asked Amelia, shutting the chest and returning to the passage.
“Another chest” said Jimmy as Amelia stepped past and opened the gate; “shall we try and open it”
“No...” said Amelia; “it’s got a padlock and your history chaps won’t be happy if we break it...”
“Fair comment” agreed Jimmy, moving across to the cells opposite; “what’s in here then?”
“The first one’s empty...” said Amelia, moving to examine the second; “oh... this is amazing...”
“What can you see?” asked Jimmy as Amelia opened the cell; “do let me have a look, old girl!”
“This one’s like a dungeon” said Amelia, allowing Jimmy to join her in the tight space and pointing out to him the various chains fixed into the walls and floor, each with a lockable cuff at the end for restraining a prisoner’s wrists or ankles; she stepped around another, hanging from the ceiling that ended in a metal collar and added: “this guy meant business...”
“This place is terrible!” said Jimmy in a hushed but excited tone; “imagine being in here...”
“Don’t need to” Amelia said; “and actually I would give this three stars on TripAdvisor! It’s fairly dry, there’s no draft, probably no rats... no, I can honestly say that I have spent the night in worse...”
“Really?” asked Jimmy, not sure if she was joking him or not; “what about this last one...”
“Oh my...” muttered Amelia as she pushed open the final gate, the one standing at the end of the subterranean passage deep beneath the house. She and Jimmy stepped through the gate and found themselves in a circular stone walled chamber with a raised dais in the centre formed of a heavy iron grate surrounded by a stone wall. Directly above the dais was a smaller iron grate in the ceiling that presumably gave ventilation to the heat and smoke of any ceremonial, or even sacrificial, fires lit in the dais. But these were minor details for, on opposite sides of the dais’ broad lower grate and rising from floor to just below the ceiling, were two iron posts with rings fixed to the top and bottom on the edges. Suspended in mid-air by decaying ropes tied through the rings, hanging in the shape of a cross, was an adult female skeleton with the skull slumped forward and resting on the top of the rib cage. The passing centuries had seen the remainder of the corpse decay, leaving the bone structure almost clean, and it looked to Amelia and Jimmy so fragile that the gentlest touch might destroy it. The ropes that still bound the wrists and ankles kept the girl’s remains spread out between the iron columns as though on display in a museum, and Amelia tried to visualise the helpless struggles as the young woman met a terrifying end at the hands of a merciless and cruel killer.
It was decided to vacate the chamber immediately, causing as little disturbance as possible, and call in the archaeologists. They would ensure that ‘Clara, the maid of Greengates’ was taken down with care and properly buried, albeit two hundred and thirty years too late.
“That was your trouble, you know” Amelia explained to Jimmy and Rosie; “it was like an important event in history that never finished, it was left incomplete because the girl was left hanging over the sacrificial dais when the ceremony failed. It gave time, that’s time as a force or energy in itself, a way of breaking into your reality. That was the reason for all the weird stuff.”
“Thank you, Amelia” said Jimmy; “we really appreciate all you’ve done. But before you go, I need to ask your help again. An old chum of mine has got into a bit of bother in Africa with a scoundrel who has gone and abducted this chap’s sister...”
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line1981
|
__label__cc
| 0.549164
| 0.450836
|
Home » Articles » Aashna Hashmi: A Fashion Designer in Making
Aashna Hashmi: A Fashion Designer in Making3 min read
Posted by TM Team | Aug 14, 2017 | Articles, Fashion |
Aashna Hashmi is a budding fashion designer and hails from Wadsa, a small town near Nagpur, Maharashtra. She is a young dynamic 20-year-old girl, born on 21st September 1997. She is currently pursuing her Bachelor’s degree in Fashion Designing from INIFD, Nagpur while she did her schooling from Christanand School, Brahmapuri and continued her college from Janta College, Chandrapur.
Aashna had a very normal childhood and a very normal family.She loves playing cricket with her brother and is the apple of his eye. She is also very fond of cooking. On asking her about her inspiration on the choice of her career, she says she wanted to do something different. Mostly all the elders in her family are into engineering and thus she didn’t want to pursue the same. She was adamant on this but very clear about her goals, so, she came to Nagpur against her father’s wish to continue with her love for fashion designing. Her dad wanted her to be an architect.
Just like everybody, Aashna has also seen her share of good and bad times. She lost her father when she was in her 1st year and this incident broke her and demotivated her to keep going. It was very hard for her to continue
knowing that her father had disagreed with her career choice and was upset about the same. She could not handle the guilt. But thanks to her mother and brother, who both went extra miles for her just to see her fulfil her dream. They did not let Aashna miss her father, let alone being guilty and upset in any way. Her mentor, Mr. Saurabh Kumar, motivated her through the thick and thins and encouraged her to stick to her dreams and follow her heart. Her gratitude for her mentor is visible through her expressions and by the smile, she has on her face, every time she speaks about him.
She received the prestigious “INIFD Designer Award, 2016” at the end of her 1st year, which in itself is an achievement worth mentioning. While in conversation with Aashna, she mentioned to us on a lighter note, that when she was a kid, she used to draw human figures with different types of undergarments, which would automatically change its colour, if the person wearing it pees in it!! So one can understand that Aashna has a really fun and creative angle to her personality. She is sometimes kiddish in her behaviour but really mature in her work. Talking about her unusual work, Aashna has also designed a non-textile garment. It was completely made of paper and pencil waste. As mentioned earlier, her innovation and thinking are always out of the box, always have that creative edge, as told by her peers.
She is inspired by the great designer Tarun Tahiliani to design garments for males too. Aashna makes her own accessories and at present, she has her own label named, “Alarasi- Anything for You”.
We at Thousand Miles, wish her good luck for all her future endeavours and express great appreciation for her mother and brother for being supportive to her dreams and helping in carving out such a fine and passionate fashion designer for the country.
Thousand Miles to look forward to Aashna!
INIFD Designer Award, 2016 (Ceremonial Award Gallery)
Her Designed Wardrobe on-roll:
RAJAT NAKASHE
TM Team
Enchanted and Repelled: A Thunder Strike to Religion
A Dark Menace
The Moonlight | A Depth Take on Womanhood
Blood, Red and Metro: A Bloody Affair
Komal Dengani on August 16, 2017 at 9:33 AM
Good going Ashna…..keep it up…all the best
aatif on January 19, 2019 at 7:17 AM
For success to be there with you
in every walk of life.
May all the dreams that your heart
hold, dear, come true. And may each
day of life bring the Best For You.
All The Best😊
Buy our Latest Issue!
Article 15 | Movie Review | Ayushmann Khurrana Starrer
Luka Chuppi | Movie Review
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom | Movie Review
Score: 100%
Wildness by Snow Patrol | Music Album Review | Northern Irish-Scottish rock band Snow Patrol
Book Review: The Company of Women
Cessation Of The Dream
An Interview With Priyadeep Kaur
Poor Indian Economy and Unsafe Society For Women| Editorial: November’19
Environment Gallery By Deval | November’19 Gallery
NCRB 2017 and Farmer’s Suicide 2016 Report
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line1986
|
__label__cc
| 0.696295
| 0.303705
|
Throwing Chanclas
A Woman on the Verge...
Pachuca Productions
Just. One. Book. Sunday.
Post author By Margaret Elysia Garcia
7 Comments on Just. One. Book. Sunday.
Greetings! And Happy Father’s Day. As I’m a Gen Xer, when I think Father’s Day, I think of the Leonard Cohen’s First We Take Manhattan line “Well, it’s Father’s Day, and everybody’s wounded…” or Kurt Cobain’s “I tried hard to have a father but instead I had a dad.”
This might be why my kids call their father, ‘papa’ instead. I digress.
But maybe I don’t. I can quote pop culture because I grew up in record stores and libraries–and as many of you pointed out, it SAVED us. Remember feeling outside the norm in sixth grade and Harriet the Spy saving you? It did me. Also, I guarded my journal just in case–so Harriet became informative valuable info as well.
Much talk goes on in the mountains about suicide prevention. People organize to do TEEN nights and anti-alcohol and drug abuse talks. As someone who registers on the depression scale, I’m always skeptical of such things as actual prevention. I suppose we all have our own method that keeps the dark cloud from rising. Mine was/is books and music. Sometimes it’s listening (I dj at the local community radio station). Sometimes it’s doing (I perform locally singing with a ‘band’). Sometimes it’s reading and sometimes it’s writing. But there’s a connection between my body & soul with words and music and as long as I have that connection I feel like I belong to the world.
I want that for our 7th-12th graders at Greenville High School and Indian Valley Academy and it totally looks like you want that too. THANK YOU.
I am working on the Amazon list this morning and the Donerchoose.org that some of you pointed me too. You all got my techie husband all excited about the project! He’s not playing softball this season and was down and now you gave him the ultimate honey-do project. THANK YOU.
Yesterday we had six volunteers come in to sta rt opening boxes and recording what we’ve received and from whom if possible (some of you are anonymous). We emptied out more current events from the 1950s–60s. We’ve also had a great time getting to know the neighbors better. The mountains are like that. People who live here are often on their own path up here and you don’t see them. But right now? It’s all in. Everyone is astounded. It’s bringing people together. THANK YOU.
My husband got my dying MacBook Air up and running. It’s still on the brink of destruction so have patience with me–he seems to think it won’t last. We appreciate all you are doing. And I will answer all email. I did 100 emails yesterday. That’s about all I can do.
Have a great day! We’re going back in for another round of getting this thing going.
And hey! I got the audio done for the seven stories that will be featured in an audio book of my short stories in the fall done yesterday. It’s a very cool thing that in the Plumas National Forest we have so many talented people. Here’s Heidi Moore–she just finished her first full length feature film Dolly Deadly. We used locations and kids and adults all over Indian Valley to do the movie. Now she’s decided while waiting on film festival results and possible distribution to try audiobooks. So here we are taking a break from books to record an audio book. Audio is great. Those asking about audio books–yes those are appreciated. It took 4 hours and I couldn’t talk afterwards but looks like we’ll have an hour long book in the fall. Alas–mature audiences only. Oh well.
Now I’m off to input Amazon wish lists for teachers/students/and such. Thank you again and have a great Sunday.
By Margaret Elysia Garcia
Margaret Elysia Garcia primarily writes fiction, essays and poetry from a remote corner of the Sierra Nevada. She's currently working on a non-fiction book regarding body positivity through plus-sized alternative modeling .She blogs here and at Throwing Chanclas. And is the co-founder of Pachuca Productions a Latina owned microtheatre in Plumas County, California
← Just. One. Book. Saturday with List. → Just. One. Book. Thoughts from the Airport
7 replies on “Just. One. Book. Sunday.”
twbiotchsays:
this is such a wonderful thing that you’re doing for those kids. i told myself to only buy one book, but i couldn’t stop myself & bought three. books open up the world to kids – especially kids growing up in tiny mountain towns. i know, because i did. my best days were those spent devouring books for hours and hours. you’re a fantastic person! i wish i could be there to see the faces of those kids! best of luck with this, and all, of your projects.
Kathy Timmsays:
Maggie, I saw your first blog post on this subject in a FB share from a sorority sister. So I have shared it on page, and tagged my mother. Mom has “too many books” (50 + years of book club bestsellers, so probably not really all that appropriate for you) that I am encouraging her to down size. Additionally, Mom is the treasurer for the Friends of the Library in my hometown. They often need to find a place for books that need a home. And I will be sending you a box from my own shelves. I will try to mix it up a bit. So, from one crazy mom, who waves her arms and agitates for something better for our kids (In my case I wanted a boys swim team–and I don’t have a son) to another, LET’S GET YOU A LIBRARY! Kathy
Sandrasays:
Hi, I saw your original post and have organised for some Australian fiction! Such a wonderful thing you’re doing!!
Nan Bloomsays:
I will be sending a box out tomorrow of gently used books. I teach at a high poverty school in North Carolina, so I am always scouring thrift stores for books. I pulled some for you guys! You are a hero, Margaret. Don’t forget it. You are changing lives.
Angelasays:
Love seeing the pics! Thank you for the updates. It’s very exciting seeing this come together for the kids
Elizabethsays:
We’re putting together a box of books to send you from Word Up Community Bookshop/Libreria Comunitaria, an all-volunteer-run bookshop and arts space in Washington Heights in New York City. We just celebrated Word Up’s fifth birthday last Saturday, so we can testify to what can grow out of a small germ of an idea–when supported by lots of labor and love! Our volunteer collective of writers, artists, musicians, teachers, and neighbors shares your commitment to bringing books and music and art into the lives of our community, especially to the middle school and high school students in our neighborhood. We wish you every success with this terrific project, and if you’re ever in NYC, please come by Word Up (2113 Amsterdam Ave @ 165th St in Manhattan) and say hello!
facebook.com/WordUpBooks
https://wordupbooks.wordpress.com/
We are preparing a box of books to send you from Word Up Community Bookshop/Libreria Comunitaria, an all-volunteer-run bookshop and arts space in Washington Heights in New York City. We just celebrated Word Up’s fifth birthday this past Saturday, so we can testify to what can grow out of a small germ of an idea–when supported by lots of labor and love! Our volunteer collective of writers, artists, musicians, teachers, and neighbors shares your commitment to bringing books and music and art to our community, especially to the middle-school and high-school students in our neighborhood. We wish you every success, and if you’re ever in NYC, please come by (2113 Amsterdam Ave @ 165th St in Manhattan) and say hello!
https://www.facebook.com/WordUpBooks
Last Call for One Act Plays
Not Going for the Bait
Viva Pachuca
Places Like Home
The Second @ the Hotel Mission de Oro
Sharon E. Cathcart on Gloria.
Margaret Elysia Garc… on Juxtaposed.
megan mansfield on Ashes and Sage…
Margaret Elysia Garc… on Ashes and Sage…
PO Box 646 Greenville, CA 95947
MargaretElysiaGarcia
writerchickmama
Another awesome show
View margaretelysiagarcia’s profile on Facebook
View @maggiewells’s profile on Twitter
View writerchickmama’s profile on Instagram
View melysiagarcia’s profile on Pinterest
Follow Throwing Chanclas on WordPress.com
pachucaproductions.wordpress.com/
Koru Mag
Book Snob
Women Who Submit
One Axe
talesofasierramadre
My Clean Eating Experiment
Chris Brake Show Podcast
2HelpfulGuys
Sarah Maria Medina
Burlesque Press
X marks the Sport
Adventures in Living
View maggiewells’s profile on Twitter
© 2020 Throwing Chanclas
bringing relevant theatre to Plumas County
FOR DISCERNING READERS
Empowering women writers to submit their work for publication
Sharp | Singular | Stories
LIVE! Every Wednesday @ 8pm Eastern / 7pm Central on StrangeLabel.com
Seasoned with equal parts strange and sassy.
Writer, Poet, Journalist
BURLESQUE: A work that ridicules a topic by treating something exalted as if it were trivial or vice-versa. See also parody and travesty.
Write from the soul
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line1987
|
__label__wiki
| 0.628984
| 0.628984
|
‘Lucifer’ Season 5: Confirmed on Netflix season 5 will end with 10 episodes
Lucifer Season 5: Lucifer’s inevitable end is almost here - vidmid.com
The last days of the remarkable series “Lucifer” has already been announced and fans are visibly shaken.
by Topher Pimienta (article) and Jane Flowers (video)
17 June 2019 21:57 Updated on 18 June 2019 10:46
'Lucifer' Season 5 returns with 10 episodes but no release date yet - Video
After the many twists and turns, the series has suffered, Lucifer’s inevitable end is almost here. Their path to becoming one of the biggest series in recent years isn’t easy, but it was sure inspiring. When the show was unjustly cancelled by network giant FOX, die-hard fans did what they have to do. Tom Ellis, was very emotional with the fans' gestures and after a few weeks, the series was revived by Netflix.
Season 5 renewed by Netflix
So, how many episodes are we expecting for Season 5? Well, according to IIdy Modrovich, Lucifer’s co-show runner, the send-off season contains 10 episodes.
Same number of episodes as the pilot season. Frankly, there are still a lot of storylines that need some clarity on the show, but as of the moment, fans just have to wait. Tagged by TV experts as the most uncanny series, Lucifer Morningstar and his 'angels' have definitely made a name for themselves.
All about Deckerstar
Modrovich also chimed in regarding Season 5 and addresses some DeckerStar questions. Apparently, Season 3’s “Quintessential Deckerstar" isn’t quintessential after all. For those who haven’t watched Season 4 and its final episode, you still have time to catch up.
As we all know, hell needs a king to contain the devils. This prophecy, this obligation, this nightmare burns out Lucifer, but in the end, he has to do it. Probably the best line delivered on last season was when Tom Ellis a.k.a Lucifer Mornigstar stated, “My first love was never Eve, it was you Chloe, it has always has been”. Chloe’s wasn’t able to hold her emotions as she kisses and watch Lucifer spread his wings as he goes back to hell.
We selected the best for you. From our partner Music Crowns
Saco and Bernd team up for ‘We Are Young’ on Soave Records
It is almost guaranteed that Season 5 will begin with a "DeckerStar” plot. However, there are a few fans who believe that the focus will be on Lucifer and his return to his throne. Another intriguing part is when the showrunner stated that they have a “fun toy to play with” which will be considered as the germ for the series finale.
No release date yet
Regarding release date and returning characters, there are no confirmations either from the showrunners or the actors.
Some entertainment websites claimed that they have a date already, but it’s totally a hoax. The only thing that is guaranteed right now is that Lucifans will get Season 5. Nevertheless, “Lucifer” is a great example that there is hope in a TV series. They literally clawed their way back from hell. Despite being cancelled by FOX, their fandom sticks together. The cast didn’t lose hope and the showrunners kept on believing in their project.
Will Luficer confront God? Will Maze and Eve even be together? Will they give Lucifer and Chloe the happy ending they truly deserved, all those questions will be answered next season.
Topher Pimienta
Iḿ just a regular guy from the mountains who loves playing basketball and listening to old school rock. To this day, I still believe that Michael Jordan is the greatest of all time in the game!.
Follow kristoffer on Facebook
Read more on the same topic from Topher Pimienta:
Eminem’s New Album ‘Music To Be Murdered By’, A Masterpiece NBA Trade Rumors : Lakers Looking To Add Veterans Morris, Bertans Los Angeles Lakers: Championship or bust
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line1990
|
__label__wiki
| 0.896225
| 0.896225
|
Alison McGovern MP sends letter urging for Hillsborough Law support
News – Justice4Grenfell - justice4grenfell.org
The Prime Minister would have received a letter on the 11th May urging her to support the Hillsborough Law put to the Commons by Any Burnham in 2017
by Matthew Clifton (article) and Jane Flowers (video)
22 May 2018 09:17 22 May 2018 09:17
The Hillsborough Law would bring real accountability - Video
Alison McGovern MP sent a letter to the Prime Minister on the 11th May that urged support for ‘Hillsborough Law’ to assist Grenfell. The letter sent to Theresa May expressed cross-party support for ‘Hillsborough Law’, the Public Authority (Accountability) Bill, to assist the Grenfell public inquiry. The law which was introduced by Andy Burnham in 2017 would make lying or hiding the truth in inquests punishable by prison.
The law compels public officials involved in inquiries to be truthful and it extends further to ensure legal aid for bereaved families.
This came after inquests confirmed that the 96 fans were unlawfully killed in the Hillsborough disaster after senior officers lied and covered up the truth 28 years ago.
Justice for Grenfell
The letter sent to the Prime Minister reminded her that she argued that her government will prioritise fighting burning injustices within our society. The Grenfell Tower fire is a reminder that the system is inherently unequal. The way in which the families of the victims of the Hillsborough disaster were appallingly treated by public bodies, officials and the legal system should not be repeated and that is why Alison McGovern MP sent this letter to Theresa May.
Many people signed the letter and that includes now Mayor of Manchester, Andy Burnham and general secretary of Unite the Union, Len McCluskey. The letter states that “it is the hope” of those who have signed the letter that the government will make good commitment and take vital steps to changing the culture by supporting the measures contained within the Bill, which will improve accountability for public bodies and ultimately improving justice.
There is a lot to be done for justice and the inquiry itself could take until 2020, there are also concerns that it is not far-reaching enough. But the potential importance of the Hillsborough Law could mean that previously when something like this was covered up by authorities, there was no way the public could do anything about it but with a law like this, it would mean real accountability, or at least the beginning of real accountability.
There is significantly more and the law itself only covers the inquiry after the disaster and doesn’t address the inherent social and political issues that sees communities such as this left behind to face disaster, that wasn’t their fault, alone.
Research columnist and Senior Blaster with BN who specialises in history and foreign policy (in particular western involvement in the Middle East). Creator of Naturally Unnatural, however, I have had to take an extended break from updating it, due to an increase in workload elsewhere.
Follow matthew on Facebook Follow matthew on Linkedin
Read more on the same topic from Matthew Clifton:
Sajid Javid dismissed that the Conservatives had an Islamophobia issue The relationship between the media and Islam is of deep-rooted negativity Gaza reporting highlights negative inherent Muslim biases
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line1991
|
__label__wiki
| 0.919269
| 0.919269
|
Judd Trump
Trump curses luck in Murphy defeat
Yahoo Sport UK
Yahoo Sport UK 15 January 2020
Trump was the reigning World and Masters champion
Judd Trump was left nonplussed by his first-round Masters defeat to Shaun Murphy as he fell 6-3, despite making a hat-trick of centuries.
The reigning World Champion arrived at Alexandra Palace as tournament favourite, but the trend of the underdogs prevailing in the first round continued, as the Juddernaut became the fifth player on the spin to fall to that fate in north London.
And, after looking unstoppable once getting in amongst the balls in the early stages of the game - notching up a trio of thrilling centuries to lead 3-2 - the Whitchurch native struggled to wrap his head around Murphy’s comeback.
“It’s quite a hard game to evaluate really,” he said.
“I was the better player most of the game, he was just making the important clearances. It was a strange game, I didn’t feel like I played that badly.
“There were a few bad cannons at times, but I can’t really work out how it was 6-3.
“It wasn’t that many missed balls, just a couple of bad safeties. He was just getting away with one or two more than me.
“He played some good snooker, didn’t miss that many, played some good safeties, but I still don’t feel like I got outplayed by him. Every time I made a mistake he punished me.
“I didn’t play that badly, it was just one of those games where everything at the end of the game was going wrong. You just have to go away and try and win the next tournament.”
After setting up an early 147 attempt in the sixth frame, Trump lost position and let Murphy back into the picture to level things at 3-3, before the Magician won the next three to seal victory.
And though Trump believes that he was on the wrong side of several key moments throughout the match, he was quick to pay credit to Murphy’s quality.
“It’s not a surprise to me. Shaun’s a class player,” Trump continued.
“He made some very crucial clearances. He held himself together when he needed to and made all those clearances to stay in the match at the start.
“Any tournament he’s in, if he’s playing well he’s always going to be a danger. He’s going to definitely be one of the favourites.
“I’m not overly disappointed, it was just that the odd shot here and there would have changed the game.”
Watch the London Masters LIVE on Eurosport and Eurosport Player with analysis from Ronnie O'Sullivan, Jimmy White and Neal Foulds.
#judd-trump
#shaun-murphy
'Dolittle' bombs at the box office, and could lose studio £77 million
Boris Johnson will have an international scandal on his hands if he continues to throw EU citizens under the bus
Uncle builds miniature remote-controlled lorry for nephew to ride around his local park
Actor Laurence Fox will not date 'woke' women or those under 35
Backstage picture of former couple at SAG Awards sends fans into a frenzy
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line1992
|
__label__wiki
| 0.888474
| 0.888474
|
Xfinity Series race at Indianapolis will be on the road course in 2020
Yahoo Sports 15 January 2020
NASCAR and Indianapolis Motor Speedway said Wednesday that the beleaguered Xfinity Series race at the track would be run on the road course layout in 2020.
It’ll be the first NASCAR race on the road course, though the track has previously hosted sports car races on the layout. The IndyCar Series races on the road course two weeks before the Indianapolis 500 in May and the track has also hosted Formula 1 races on the layout.
“As we’ve seen in recent years, road course racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series provides some of the most thrilling action of the entire season and we are excited to bring it to an iconic venue like Indianapolis Motor Speedway,” NASCAR managing director of racing operations Ben Kennedy said in a statement. “[Track owner Roger Penske], [track president Doug Boles] and the entire IMS team have been tremendous partners in growing the Brickyard weekend and we’re looking forward to what promises to be a must-see event during July 4th weekend.”
The move is the first big one made at IMS since Penske’s purchase of the track. Penske closed on the purchase of the track earlier in 2020 after it was announced in November.
Xfinity Series has run at IMS since 2012
The move to the road course is the latest change in a host of them since NASCAR moved the Xfinity Series race from what’s now known as Lucas Oil Raceway to the 2.5-mile oval.
The Xfinity Series has perhaps the widest gulf between teams with financial resources and teams that don’t and that gulf is never more exposed than at IMS, a track that requires horsepower, handling and aerodynamic efficiency. And the teams that have the most money are also the ones that have the most of those three things.
And that gulf means the racing was, well, never really thrilling. NASCAR tried adding heat races in 2016 but Kyle Busch ended up leading 62 of the 63 laps at the track anyway in the main race. The heat races were gone after just a year and in 2017 NASCAR changed the rules to make it easier for cars to draft with each other in an effort to facilitate passing.
Now the Xfinity Series will make some right turns in addition to left turns in 2020. It’s a lot of changes in nine years when NASCAR could have easily stayed at Lucas Oil Raceway, a short track that always produced compelling racing. Xfinity Series races on road courses are fun. And this year’s race on a road course has a much higher probability of being entertaining than it would have if it was run on the oval. But it’s also hard not to think (again) that NASCAR should never have moved the Xfinity Series to IMS in the first place.
Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports
Wetzel: Cora deserves Rose-like lifetime ban from MLB
Paylor: Kuechly’s ‘early’ retirement shouldn’t harm HOF chances
Ex-player sues Franklin, Penn State for alleged hazing
Police decline AB’s donations after viral video outburst
#lucas-oil-raceway
#indianapolis
#nascar-xfinity-series
#indianapolis-motor-speedway
#roger-penske
#nascar
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line1993
|
__label__wiki
| 0.910399
| 0.910399
|
PCMag UK | News
Email Provider's Servers Wiped in 'Catastrophic' Hack
By Michael Kan
12 Feb 2019, 5:29 p.m.
Wisconsin-based VFEmail has offered email service since 2001. But this week, it reported a devastating hack on its servers that may have permanently destroyed US customers' data.
An email provider called VFEmail has suffered a "catastrophic" hack that may have wiped all the stored emails from its US customers.
"We have suffered catastrophic destruction at the hands of a hacker," now reads a notice posted on VFEmail's website. "This person has destroyed all data in the US, both primary and backup systems. We are working to recover what data we can."
The Wisconsin-based company has been serving businesses and consumers since 2001. But its various data centers were mysteriously taken offline this week. An unknown attacker was later discovered in VFEmail's systems. But emails were not stolen and no ransom demands were made. Instead, the hacker appeared intent on destroying the company's data by reformatting every server.
SEE ALSO: Valve: We're 'Absolutely Not' Making Left 4 Dead 3
"Every VM (virtual machine) is lost. Every file server is lost, every backup server is lost," the company reported on Twitter, later adding, "There was no ransom. Just attack and destroy."
VFEmail recovered a backup drive hosted in The Netherlands, owner Rick Romero told security journalist Brian Krebs. However, US customer data may be permanently gone, Romero said.
"Yes, @VFEmail is effectively gone. It will likely not return," Romero tweeted on Tuesday.
Who was behind the attack, and how it was pulled off isn't entirely known. But VFEmail traced the hack to a server based in Bulgaria with the IP address 94.155.49.9 and the username "aktv." The attacker gained access to not just one server but VFEmail's entire IT infrastructure.
Romero told PCMag he suspects the hacker exploited a software vulnerability to break in. That's because the company's servers used different login credentials and the passwords were not recorded on board.
For now, the company is warning certain customers to stop using their VFEmail accounts until the service can be restored. "At this time I am unsure of the status of existing mail for US users. If you have your own email client, DO NOT TRY TO MAKE IT WORK," the company said in its notice. "If you reconnect your client to your new mailbox, all your local mail will be lost."
The company has restored its ability to deliver and send incoming email to paid users. However, the ability to deliver email from VFEmail's free accounts remains down.
Valve: We're 'Absolutely Not' Making Left 4 Dead 3
Huawei Picks TomTom To Replace Google Maps
Instagram Realizes We Don't Love IGTV
iOS 13.3.1 Beta Offers U1 Ultra Wideband Chip Toggle
Michael Kan michael_kan@pcmag.com
Michael has been a PCMag reporter since October 2017. He previously covered tech news in China from 2010 to 2015, before moving to San Francisco to write about cybersecurity. See Full Bio
More From Michael Kan
NBC's Peacock Arrives in July as Free, Ad-Based Streaming Service
Microsoft to Go 'Carbon Negative' by 2030 to Combat Climate Change
Firefox's Developer Mozilla Lays Off 70 Staffers
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line1994
|
__label__wiki
| 0.983352
| 0.983352
|
October 3, 2017 / 6:38 AM / 2 years ago
Britvic cuts 240 jobs in Norwich closure, Unilever could follow
Radhika Rukmangadhan
(Reuters) - Britain’s Britvic Plc (BVIC.L) announced the closure of its Norwich factory on Tuesday, putting 240 jobs at risk and prompting fellow consumer goods producer Unilever to warn it might follow suite with a neighbouring plant.
FILE PHOTO - Bottles of soft drinks made by drinks company Britvic sit on a conveyor belt at Britvic's bottling plant in London March 25, 2009. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor
Britvic said it would transfer the production of its Robinsons and Fruit Shoot brands from the Norwich site, which is co-owned with Unilever (ULVR.L), to plants in East London, Leeds and Rugby.
Unilever, which makes famous English mustard brand Colman’s on the same site in Norwich, said it was launching a review of its production at the plant, with options including closure.
Britvic cast the decision to close the site as part of a 3-year, 240-million-pound restructuring programme the company began in 2015 to reorganise their British operations.
“We know this is upsetting news,” chief executive Simon Litherland said. “However the changes we are proposing today present significant productivity and efficiency savings in our manufacturing operations.”
Consumer demand in Britain has borne the brunt of a rise in inflation to its highest in nearly five years, largely due to the pound’s tumble since last year’s vote to leave the European Union.
The weaker pound has also pushed up costs for manufacturers who import ingredients, leading some companies to raise prices, sell key businesses or move manufacturing facilities out of Britain.
The regular PMI survey of manufacturing sentiment on Monday showed a slowdown in growth that overall has remained solid.
Trade union Unite, which expressed “concern for the future of Colman’s Mustard brand”, said Unilever is expected to conclude its review by the end of November.
Britvic said their plant will close by the end of 2019.
The company, which also makes J2O and Tango drinks, said the proposed closure would not affect its financial forecast. The job cuts also come at a time when the company and its rivals including A.G.Barr (BAG.L) face an impending British government tax on sugar-sweetened fizzy drinks.
Additional reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain, editing by Louise Heavens, Jason Neely and Patrick Graham
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line1995
|
__label__wiki
| 0.575781
| 0.575781
|
UHealth |
Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center |
Bascom Palmer Eye Institute
Font Size Group 30 Group 30
Papilledema
Search University of Miami Health System
Specialties Page 1
Corneal and External Diseases
General Eye Care
LASIK and Laser Vision Correction
Ocular Oncology
Retina and Vitreous Diseases
Strabismus (Misaligned Eyes)
View all Eye Conditions
Browse A-Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Patients & Families Page 1
Eye Emergency Service
Optical Service
Contact Lens Service
Patient Privacy Rights
About Bascom Palmer
Images Magazine
Eye Care Blog
Global Impact and Relief Efforts
Need a second opinion?
Research Page 1
What is a Clinical Study
Message From Our Scientific Director
View our clinical trials
Healthcare Professionals Page 1
Ocular Pathology Services
Clinical Observerships
Grand Rounds & Lectures
Master's in Vision Science (MVSIO)
Nursing & Allied Health Professionals
Continuing Education for Nurses and Allied Health Professionals
Alumni Dues
Translating research breakthroughs into more effective treatments remains one of Bascom Palmer’s highest priorities. Start search
My U Chart logo
UHealth Home
Doctors Shape Locations Plan Your Visit
Request an appointment online or call us.
View a list of insurance plans accepted at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute.
View Accepted Insurance Plans
Papilledema is a condition in which increased pressure in or around the brain causes the part of the optic nerve inside your eye to swell. Causes of this condition include:
Bleeding in the brain
Brain tumor or abscess
Inflammation of the brain
Pseudotumor cerebri (when the pressure inside your skull increases for no known reason)
Uncontrolled, life-threatening hypertension (high blood pressure)
The symptoms of papilledema are:
Double vision (diplopia)
Flickering or complete loss of vision
Nausea, vomiting, or both
Comprehensive Exam - Your doctor will conduct a thorough physical examination of your eyes – as well as gather a complete health history – to determine if you have papilledema. Your doctor may use an ophthalmoscope (specialized light with magnifying lenses) to look at the back of your eye.
Imaging - Your eye care specialist may order magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computerized tomography (CT) scan to help determine the cause of your papilledema. Your doctor may order ultrasonography of your eye to distinguish between papilledema and other disorders that can also cause swelling of the optic nerve.
Lumbar Puncture - Your doctor may order a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) to measure the pressure of the cerebrospinal fluid. A sample of this fluid may be sent to the laboratory to check for evidence of a brain tumor or infection.
Treatment of Underlying Cause - Your doctor will need to treat the other condition that’s causing your papilledema. For example, if the high pressure of cerebrospinal fluid is caused by a brain tumor, you may need corticosteroids to help reduce its size. If an infection has caused your papilledema, you’ll take an antibiotic medicine to clear up the infection. The treatment of your papilledema depends on its cause.
Why Choose Bascom Palmer Eye Institute?
Ranked #1 by U.S. News & World Report. Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, part of the University of Miami Health System, is the top-rated facility in the country for the treatment of diseases and disorders of the eye, according to U.S. News & World Report. When you choose us for your eye care, you will receive the best care in the nation in a compassionate setting.
Respected Doctors. Knowing the nation’s best eye doctors are on your team is vital to your peace of mind. Your physicians work together with our researchers and other University of Miami specialists to help manage your condition and restore you to health.
Our appointment specialists are ready to help you find what you need. Contact us today.
Call 800-329-7000 Request an Appointment
icon--channel-facebook icon--channel-twitter icon--channel-youtube
Miller School of Medicine
Physician News
Medical Disclaimer | Terms of Use | Privacy Statement | HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices
© 2017 University of Miami Health Systems. All rights reserved.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line1997
|
__label__wiki
| 0.514349
| 0.514349
|
Barnaby Joyce, Turnbull’s nightmare or the Nats gift to Labor
It’s official, Barnaby Joyce will soon be only a heart-beat away from being Prime Minister.
What is going on? What went wrong with the rumoured Liberal plan to keep Wokka on the payroll until after Turnbull got back in? Will Barnaby even be re-elected, given Tony Windsor’s threat to nominate as an independent who would at least represent his electorate and not sell out local farmers’ by giving their water to Shenhua mining? Is Barnaby the best man to arrest the National’s slow but inexorable shuffle into extinction?
As news of Joyce’s anointment as Nationals Leader filtered out Thursday, a mob of LNP loyalists in the ABC rushed to put a positive spin on the member for New England’s elevation, occasioned neither by merit nor popularity but by old bull Warren Truss’s retirement. Rumours of a challenge proved unfounded and no-one outside the Nationals could explain the process of acclamation or herd instinct which gave Barn the nod in the end. One thing is certain. A Barnaby explanation is unlikely to help.
ABC TV news showed an image of Joyce and Turnbull in profile in the Canberra afternoon sun, hayseed and spiv picking their way across press cables in the grounds of parliament house. It was not a reassuring image; not an election-winning look. The pair are at best an odd couple but many in MSM were keen to give the marriage of convenience a boost. Few bothered to note the different religions of the pro-foreign investment PM and his new keep the bastards out agrarian socialist deputy. It can’t last and it won’t work.
A few, such as Bernard Keane foresee disaster. With Robb’s resignation, Turnbull will lack capable and experienced hands on deck. An embattled PM will have to contend, moreover, with a deputy who is a maverick on fiscal policy and foreign investment. Tony Abbott had to drop him after four months as shadow finance minister. Joyce seemed set on playing the role of fiscal village idiot. Debt was so huge, he once alleged that Australia would soon default on its foreign debt. Just what you need, really in an aspiring deputy PM.
Someone on ABC’s The Drum gushed that Joyce would certainly get the Nat’s brand ‘out there’, whatever that may be, in an echo of the Liberal mantra. Bugger policy, just get the message out. No-one, however, would quibble with the ‘out there’. Another thought Barnaby said what he thought, unwittingly identifying his Achilles heel. Joyce’s cringe-worthy grandstand over Johnny Depp’s dogs has clearly worked well for him in some quarters. ‘Bugger off back to America’ certainly has a ring about it.
Who knows ‘We decide whose dogs come into this country’ could be an election winner in the way that a similar slogan worked for John Howard after the Tampa crisis. The country’s been barking mad on migration since.
Dubious claims and dog-whistling aside, what seems clear is that the Nationals are now packaged on MSM as a kind of circus who merit a cheer for giving us Joyce, a favourite clown, an outspoken but amiable and benign buffoon who will entertain us as a celebrity in the razzle-dazzle Luna Park of our national politics. Soft focus; no hard stuff. Jokey blokey.
Little space is made so far in the popular imagination for the real Barnaby whose unabashed populism, his loose grasp of fiscal policy and his capacity to shoot from the lip could well and truly cruel the coalition’s chances in the next election. Now he’s got the job, let’s not over-think the selection process.
Can Barnaby handle his responsibilities? So far most of these would appear to be well beyond him. Veteran cat herder as he may be in the national’s cupboard of a party room, with big Wokka as backup, he may now have to muster a whole coalition or front the despatch box while his PM is overseas innovating, posing for photographs with soldiers or selling off more of the farm, as befits any hot-eyed zealot of the cargo cult of free trade deals, the Liberals’ new evangelical religion.
With Wokka out to pasture, the new bull will need to do the mysterious things that Nats do in the name of leading the party. His critics say he has neither the discipline nor the character. Voting, it seems is rare, but somehow consensus is forged. Perhaps it’s a young-bull old-bull tussle. Even here, while Barnaby has the seniority and the scars to prove it, he may struggle a bit to exert authority given his unpopularity and his volatility. At least there’s only ten of them in parliament to contend with.
While Barnaby’s struggle to be boss of his party mirrors something of the same in Toff’s Corner between Malcolm and the many Liberals who can’t stand the man, his need for approval may also gee up his populist anti-foreign investment and debt rhetoric, heedless of its effect on the economy. Some of these are as well-presented and enlightened as his views on the climate.
“Look … I just – I’m always sceptical of the idea that the way that anybody’s going to change the climate – and I’m driving in this morning and we’re driving through a frost – is with bureaucrats and taxes. All that does is … it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. I make you feel guilty so I can get your money and put it in my pocket and send reports backwards and forth to one another.”
Dear old Barnaby, the sheep-wrangling syntax mangler, has some funny old views on a whole range of issues. He’s a cheerful climate change denialist who opposes same sex marriage because a diamond is not like a square. He warned us in 2010 of approaching economic Armageddon. Carbon tax, he notoriously claimed would kill sheep farming.
“It’ll be the end of our sheep industry. I don’t think your working mothers are going to be very happy when they’re paying over $100 for a roast.”
Joyce is also capable of picking a fight in court as when in October last year he accused Tony Windsor of profiteering out of selling property to Shenhua. Windsor threatened to sue.
But let’s not laugh at Barnaby. It’s too easy to rubbish the Nationals as an historical atavism, a party which has long since lost its relevance, party which is in terminal decline. Small in numbers it may be, but those numbers matter to the Liberals. Let’s remember that in 2010 without his leadership of the revolt against the carbon tax, Tony Abbott would never have seized the leadership from Malcolm Turnbull. Chances are, the way things are lining up, Barnaby could well be the Bill-Shorten-for-PM camp’s best ally.
February 12, 2016 · Posted in Political Comment ·
4 thoughts on “Barnaby Joyce, Turnbull’s nightmare or the Nats gift to Labor”
Audioio says:
An “agrarian socialist” who sells farmers out to foreign-owned corporations? Robb capable? Only of sacrificing our sovereignty to those same corporations.
I enjoy your blog, Urban, but these descriptions are waaaaaaay off the mark.
You do need a pretty big mark for Joyce, Audioio. Nailing a jelly to wall would be easier. Spot on, of course, about his selling out.
I intended ‘capable’ ironically for a Trade Minister who has gleefully sold us down the river with his TPP. Not a scrap of evidence that any of his deals benefit Australia but a lot to show that multinationals are vastly advantaged by our servility. Re-reading, I am can see that I have been guilty of giving Robb a bit of a boost.
If Robb or Joyce are the answer we are asking the wrong questions.
Joyce was still owning his agrarian socialism on ABC a few years ago. Go here to listen to his spiel
http://www.abc.net.au/site-archive/rural/nsw/content/2011/06/s3237860.htm
And in this recent interview with the AFR, Joyce is happy to profess his agrarian socialism.
http://www.afr.com/news/politics/national/nationals-deputy-leader-barnaby-joyce-is-mad-and-knows-it-20160211-gmr4w2
« Turnbull the waffling toff appears past his use by date.
Cabinet picked, Turnbull grins, spins in nightmare week from hell. »
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2006
|
__label__wiki
| 0.890986
| 0.890986
|
Read Next: BBC Boss Tony Hall Lands at U.K.'s National Gallery
December 29, 2015 10:38AM PT
‘Glee’ Star Mark Salling Arrested for Possession of Child Pornography
By Marianne Zumberge
Marianne Zumberge
News Editor, Variety.com @marianniepants FOLLOW
Marianne's Most Recent Stories
Radiohead, LCD Soundsystem to Headline Outside Lands
‘Batman v Superman’ Dipping to $50 Million Second Weekend
The Roots Cancel David Bowie Tribute Performance Over Dispute
CREDIT: Matt Baron/BEI/REX Shutterstock
Former “Glee” star Mark Salling has been arrested for possession of child pornography, Variety has confirmed.
Salling, known for playing Noah “Puck” Puckerman on “Glee,” was arrested early Tuesday after his Sunland, Calif., home was searched per a warrant from the Los Angeles Police Department Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
He was taken downtown for booking. Salling is being held on $20,000 bail, according to jail records.
This is not Salling’s first run-in with the law. Earlier this year, his girlfriend Roxanne Gorzela sued the 33 year-old actor for sexual battery after she claimed he shoved her and later forced her to have sex without a condom. Salling filed a countersuit for defamation of character.
Reps for Salling did not immediately respond to requests for comment, though the “Glee” alum is no longer represented by ICM or his managers at Full Circle Management, as the company severed ties with Salling in September.
A series regular on “Glee” since 2009, Salling had appeared in nearly 100 episodes of the popular Fox series.
According to the actor’s IMDB page, he was currently filming the low-budget pic “Adi Sankar’s Gods and Monsters” opposite Denise Richards.
Salling, born in Dallas, Texas, had also appeared in horror films “Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering” alongside Naomi Watts and “The Graveyard.”
Salling posted $20,000 bail later Tuesday afternoon and was released, according to CBS Los Angeles.
Leave a Reply26
Mark Salling
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2013
|
__label__cc
| 0.523358
| 0.476642
|
Monrovia, Indiana
Clip | 44s
Visit a grocery store in Monrovia, Indiana. Frederick Wiseman's latest documentary, MONROVIA, INDIANA, explores the mid-America farming community of Monrovia.
More ExtrasRight
Scenic Monrovia
View some of the picturesque farmland of Monrovia, Indiana.
Clip | 1m 33s
Watch an auctioneer, in Monrovia Indiana, as he auctions off farm vehicles.
Church Funeral
A pastor speaks at a church funeral in Monrovia, Indiana.
Watch employees hard at work in a collision repair shop in Monrovia.
At a town meeting, a resident discusses a non-functional fire hydrant near his house.
Homestead Meeting
Members of the Monrovia Planning Commission discuss housing development.
Clip | 2m 8s
A customer of the ‘Guns & Ordinance’ store talks with the store owner.
Freemason Ceremony
A longstanding member of The Grand Lodge of Indiana Freemasons is honored with an award.
Frederick Wiseman explores the town of Monrovia, Indiana, in his latest documentary film.
Preview | 1m 40s
Wiseman talks about the making of MONROVIA, INDIANA.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2019
|
__label__wiki
| 0.973291
| 0.973291
|
Inside McGill University’s Decision to Withdraw Varsity Redmen Name
Weeks After the School Dropped Its Team Name, McGill Student Athletes Tell Their Stories
Sports by John Ngala — Published May 3, 2019 | Comments
Follow @LhommeJo
McGill University has announced that they will be changing their mens varsity team name due in large part to activism done by students like Tomas Jirousek and Joshua Archibald. File photo Elaine Genest
For three years, Tomas Jirousek has been a part of the McGill men’s rowing roster. But outside his rowing family, he says he’s struggled to feel like he belongs at McGill because of a controversial name the university has used for decades: Redmen.
Three weeks ago, after Principal and Vice-Chancellor Suzanne Fortier announced McGill Men’s Varsity teams would no longer carry the name, Jirousek couldn’t help but enjoy a moment filled with optimism for change.
“Obviously I was very happy,” said the rower on his initial reaction to the news. “I had expected the decision […] It was my opinion that if the principal was legitimately listening and interacting with Indigenous people with an open mind, there was only one opinion you can form and it was that the Redmen name was extremely problematic and extremely hurtful.”
Originally intended to reflect the colours of the McGill athletes’ uniforms in the late 1920s, the Redmen name and its history since then has been deemed racist and discriminatory by the Indigenous community.
Evolving with time, the name then was used to refer to Indigenous men as “Indians” and women as “Squaws” in the 1950s. Despite both nicknames holding racial and derogatory meanings, in 1980, teams opted for a logo portraying an Indigenous man with a headdress.
Decision to Change the Redmen Name Postponed
McGill University Retires Redmen Name After Students Decry Racist Connotation
McGill Students Call For Change of the Redmen Name
Raised in Whitehorse, Yukon and now heavily implicated in student politics as Chairman of the Indigenous Affairs Committee at McGill, Jirousek was the spearhead of the movement demanding to change the name. He said the successful campaign reflected a common belief for most people on and off campus.
“So you had over 200 professors come up and support. You had multiple members of the Board of Governors coming out and supporting, you had senators, you had external media and visualizations from outside Montreal coming out and support. I think it was this external pressure that showed this wasn’t just isolated to the student body,” said Jirousek.
For defensive lineman Joshua Archibald, it’s clear what comes first: inclusivity.
“I feel like it’s not fair for other people who may be Indigenous, who are at McGill, especially who are playing as a Redmen, to feel excluded,” said the second year athlete.
Voicing his opinion during the school protests on behalf of the Black Student Network at McGill, Archibald expressed his discomfort regarding the name, given its past history. The lineman feels what’s most important is to “stand up for them, stand up for the minority groups.”
Though he believes the name doesn’t really define a team, he explains the change is a good step forward.
“We’re starting to realize everyone is human and you can’t judge a book by its cover. There’s no room for that. We’re moving into that age and it’s coming fast,” he said.
First year goalkeeper on the men’s soccer team Christopher Cinelli-Faia also admits the school is headed in the right direction.
“I think to a certain extent, everyone saw it coming, we expected it. It’s 2019, we’re all moving forward, we wanna be on the right side of history. Everyone came to terms with it. It was just a matter of time before they announced it,” said Faia.
Faia, like Archibald, stands firm on the idea that athletes represent McGill’s tradition and identity, which go beyond the name.
They play to win, and despite the immense scrutiny and tension involved in these trying times, the goal remains the same.
However, with Interim Deputy Provost Fabrice Labreau set to announce a permanent name only by spring 2020, student athletes have a full year to wait before officially closing this chapter.
In charge of the committee in place to establish this new name, Labreau made it clear in an email that the board “wants to ensure the full participation of [McGill] students in the process,” which would value a name all students can wear, represent and support with pride and joy, he continued.
McGill University Retires Redmen Name After Students Decry Racist Connotations
Erika Morris
Concordia 3, McGill 2 (OT): Stingers Men’s Hockey Team Starts Clicking
Dustin Kagan-Fleming
Concordia 1, McGill 0: Stingers Women’s Hockey Triumph in Rivalry Matchup in Overtime
Louis Pringle
Stingers Awards Gala Celebrates End of a Long Season
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2025
|
__label__wiki
| 0.837414
| 0.837414
|
theMReport.com Your trusted source for mortgage banking news
Current Digital Issue
Title and Escrow Guide
Property Valuation Guide
E-Lending Guide
Data & Analytics Guide
Origination Guide
Due Diligence Guide
Business Process Outsourcing Guide
DS News
Default Servicing News
Home >> Daily Dose >> HUD Secretary Ben Carson to Speak at Government Forum
HUD Secretary Ben Carson to Speak at Government Forum
in Daily Dose, Featured, Government, News March 23, 2018 898 Views
United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Dr. Benjamin Carson, will address attendees at the 2018 Five Star Government Forum in Washington, D.C., on April 3.
Now in its 9th year, this event is a day-long gathering where leaders in mortgage banking and the federal government engage and have an open dialogue about pressing issues.
"We are honored to host Dr. Carson as a keynote presenter," said Five Star Institute President and CEO Ed Delgado. "The importance of HUD's leadership in furthering the health and wellness of the United States housing market simply can not be overstated. We look forward to hearing Secretary Carson communicate his vision toward ensuring that responsive and responsible housing policies are maintained for the benefit of homeowners."
With representation from HUD, FHFA, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae, this year's Government Forum speakers have played an integral role in providing quality leadership to the federal government and the mortgage industry.
“A collaborative working relationship between regulatory agencies and the industry promotes understanding and ultimately benefits homeowners,” said Delgado. “The Five Star Government Forum facilitates the growth of those relationships by bringing together interested stakeholders to promote the exchange of ideas and best practices. We look forward to hosting this discussion."
Dr. Ben Carson Five Star Government Forum FSGF HUD HUD Secretary 2018-03-23
Radhika Ojha
Tagged with: Dr. Ben Carson Five Star Government Forum FSGF HUD HUD Secretary
Previous: Disrupting the Status Quo
Next: Mortgage Origination Profits Dip in Q4
About Author: Radhika Ojha
Radhika Ojha is an independent writer and editor. A former Online Editor and currently a reporter for MReport, she is a graduate of the University of Pune, India, where she received her B.A. in Commerce with a concentration in Accounting and Marketing and an M.A. in Mass Communication. Upon completion of her master’s degree, Ojha worked at a national English daily publication in India (The Indian Express) where she was a staff writer in the cultural and arts features section. Ojha also worked as Principal Correspondent at HT Media Ltd and at Honeywell as an executive in corporate communications. She and her husband currently reside in Houston, Texas.
Bringing Unique Experiences to Housing Policy
NAR Looking to Alter Approach to Housing Discrimination
Global Uncertainty Welcome News for Housing
Single Women Losing When Buying, Selling Homes
Millennial Homeownership Shrinking
Microsoft Announces $250M Affordable Housing Initiative
Wells Fargo’s Chief Risk Officer Mike Loughlin to Retire
Nationstar Elects Bray Chairman of the Board
Addressing the Potential for a Climate-Driven Foreclosure Crisis
Big Data: Changing the Mortgage Business
Going, Going … Not Really Gone
theMReport.com copyright 2020 is a registered trademark of The Five Star Institute
Sprout Mortgage Names CCO
Sprout Mortgage has announced that Gregory Walker has joined the company as Chief Compliance Officer and General Counsel, reporting directly to Michael Strauss, President.
GET THE NEWS YOU NEED, WHEN YOU NEED IT.
With daily content from MReport, you’ll never miss another important headline in originations, lending, or servicing. Subscribe to MDaily to begin receiving a complimentary daily email containing the top mortgage news and market information.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2026
|
__label__cc
| 0.663542
| 0.336458
|
Posts Tagged multidisciplinary
On Imperatives for Innovation
Posted by Bill Storage in Innovation management, Multidisciplinarians on December 9, 2013
Last year, innovation guru Julian Loren introduced me to Kim Chandler McDonald, who was researching innovators and how they think. Julian co-founded the Innovation Management Institute,and has helped many Fortune 500 firms with key innovation initiatives. I’ve had the privilege of working with Julian on large game conferences (gameferences) that prove just how quickly collaborators can dissolve communication barriers and bridge disciplines. Out of this flows proof that design synthesis, when properly facilitated, can emerge in days, not years. Kim is founder/editor of the “Capital I” Innovation Interview Series. She has built a far-reaching network of global thought leaders that she studies, documents, encourages and co-innovates with. I was honored to be interviewed for her 2013 book, !nnovation – how innovators think, act, and change our world. Find it on Amazon, or the online enhanced edition at innovationinterviews.com (also flatworld.me) to see what makes innovators like Kim, Julian and a host of others tick. In light of my recent posts on great innovators in history, reinvigorated by Bruce Vojac’s vibrant series on the same topic, Kim has approved my posting an excerpt of her conversations with me here.
How do you define Innovation?
Well that term is a bit overloaded these days. I think traditionally Innovation meant the creation of better or more effective products, services, processes, & ideas. While that’s something bigger than just normal product refinement, I think it pertained more to improvement of an item in a category rather than invention of a new category. More recently, the term seems to indicate new categories and radical breakthroughs and inventions. It’s probably not very productive to get too hung up on differentiating innovation and invention.
Also, many people, perhaps following Clayton Christensen, have come to equate innovation with market disruption, where the radical change results in a product being suddenly available to a new segment because some innovator broke a price or user-skill barrier. Then suddenly, you’re meeting previously unmet customer needs, generating a flurry of consumption and press, which hopefully stimulates more innovation. That seems a perfectly good definition too.
Neither of those definitions seem to capture the essence of the iPhone, the famous example of successful innovation, despite really being “merely” a collection of optimizations of prior art. So maybe we should expand the definitions to include things that improve quality of life very broadly or address some compelling need that we didn’t yet know we had – things that just have a gigantic “wow” factor.
I think there’s also room for seeing innovation as a new way of thinking about something. That doesn’t get much press; but I think it’s a fascinating subject that interacts with the other definitions, particularly in the sense that there are sometimes rather unseen innovations behind the big visible ones. Some innovations are innovations by virtue of spurring a stream of secondary ones. This cascade can occur across product spaces and even across disciplines. We can look at Galileo, Kepler, Copernicus and Einstein as innovators. These weren’t the plodding, analytical types. All went far out on a limb, defying conventional wisdom, often with wonderful fusions of logic, empiricism and wild creativity.
Finally, I think we have to include innovations in government, ethics and art. They occasionally do come along, and are important. Mankind went a long time without democracy, women’s rights or vanishing point perspective. Then some geniuses came along and broke with tradition – in a rational yet revolutionary way that only seemed self-evident after the fact. They fractured the existing model and shifted the paradigm. They innovated.
How important do you envisage innovation going forward?
Almost all businesses identify innovation as a priority, but despite the attention given to the topic, I think we’re still struggling to understand and manage it. I feel like the information age – communications speed and information volume – has profoundly changed competition in ways that we haven’t fully understood. I suppose every era is just like its predecessor in the sense that it perceives itself to be completely unlike its predecessors. That said, I think there’s ample evidence that a novel product with high demand, patented or not, gets you a much shorter time to milk the cow than it used to. Business, and hopefully our education system, is going to need to face the need for innovation (whether we continue with that term or not) much more directly and centrally, not as an add-on, strategy du jour, or department down the hall.
What do you think is imperative for Innovation to have the best chance of success; and what have you found to be the greatest barrier to its success?
A lot has been written about nurturing innovation and some of it is pretty good. Rather than putting design or designers on a pedestal, create an environment of design throughout. Find ways to reward design, and reward well.
One aspect of providing for innovation seems underrepresented in print – planning for the future by our education system and larger corporations. Innovating in all but the narrowest of product spaces – or idea spaces for that matter – requires multiple skills and people who can integrate and synthesize. We need multidisciplinarians, interdisciplinary teams and top-level designers, coordinators and facilitators. Despite all out talk and interest in synthesis as opposed to analysis – and our interest in holism and out-of-the-box thinking – we’re still praising ultra-specialists and educating too many of them. Some circles use the term tyranny of expertise. It’s probably applicable here.
I’ve done a fair amount of work in the world of complex systems – aerospace, nuclear, and pharmaceutical manufacture. In aerospace you cannot design an aircraft by getting a hundred specialists, one expert each in propulsion, hydraulics, flight controls, software, reliability, etc., and putting them in a room for a year. You get an airplane design by combining those people plus some who are generalists that know enough about each of those subsystems and disciplines to integrate them. These generalists aren’t jacks of all trades and masters of none, nor are they mere polymaths; they’re masters of integration, synthesis and facilitation – expert generalists. The need for such a role is very obvious in the case of an airplane, much less obvious in the case of a startup. But modern approaches to product and business model innovation benefit tremendously from people trained in multidisciplinarity.
I’m not sure if it’s the greatest barrier, but it seems to me that a significant barrier to almost any activity that combines critical thinking and creativity is to write a cookbook for that activity. We are still bombarded by consultancies, authors and charismatic speakers who capitalize on innovation by trivializing it. There’s a lot of money made by consultancies who reduce innovation to an n-step process or method derived from shallow studies of past success stories. You can get a lot of press by jumping on the erroneous and destructive left-brain/right-brain model. At best, it raises awareness, but the bandwagon is already full. I don’t think lack of interest in innovation is a problem; lack of enduring commitment probably is. Jargon-laden bullet-point lists have taken their toll. For example, it’s hard to even communicate meaningfully about certain tools or approaches to innovation using terms like “design thinking” or “systems thinking” because they’ve been diluted and redefined into meaninglessness.
What is your greatest strength?
What is your greatest weaknesses?
Brevity, on occasion.
innovation, multidisciplinary
Can the Tech World Hack Intergenerational Learning?
Posted by Bill Storage in Interdisciplinary learning on August 5, 2013
In politically correct America, Intergenerational Learning has become a euphemism for teaching grandpa how to work his AOL account. I’m not talking about that.
In social animal species, there is evidence that it benefits a population to have lifespans far in excess of the age when individuals can reproduce. For non-social species, those of us past our sexual primes are just consuming valuable resources in a limited ecosystem. But we social animals tend to continue to add skills, memories and mental abilities to our libraries, which can then be transmitted to youngsters much more quickly than they could be acquired through experience. That’s the theory anyway. Try it on your teenager.
It seems to me that in the world of tech – particularly software – great opportunities exist for improved cross-generational learning. This is apparent in our history of programming languages and development tools. Much of my history with software involves the C language and its offspring. I’ll draw an example from that experience.
I’ve always had an uneasy relationship with C (I started with Fortran). C seemed in many ways to be the perfectly wrong combination of a high and low level language. Pointer math is indeed fun, but there is danger. In my aerospace days, I was able to get an exemption from the US Air Force on their requirement that certain C-17 avionics be programmed in a “high level” programming language such as C. I opted for Assembly instead, the reason being that Assembly compiled much smaller, allowing us to get everything on a single 87C196 Intel chip. I didn’t think that “high level” of C significantly reduced the risk of bugs that would sneak through functional testing. The Air Force bought it, and history bears me out.
But C proved to be a bit too “low level” for enterprise software development. Higher-level languages (easier to code) like PowerBuilder and Visual Basic (early 90s) and then Java and C# (early 2000s) greatly improved rapid software development while reducing the skill level required for coders to be productive. But not without impact. The C guys were on the street, along with their vast experience in good design. It is far easier to learn to code in high level languages than to design good software (what we call “architecture” in an era of terminological inflation).
Eventually, after gross cost overruns and some clumsy architecture, the new coders grew into their jobs, right about at the time when “social” became a noun and drove the creation of new software tools, database engines, and programming languages. Ruby and Python gave newbie coders a lot of rope. Maybe not enough to hang themselves, but enough to lock some large firms into maintenance-nightmare codebases that will keep on costing until they’re retired. Rapid shifts in technology that inadvertently discard tribal knowledge are well documented in other fields, e.g., energy and heavy manufacturing.
We see an absence of cross-generational learning not only in programmers, but in those who create programming languages, tools, and development frameworks. VB’s syntax was a complete mess and its object orientation was an afterthought. Java cured all that, and we were glad to be done with VB’s type-promiscuity. But a generation later (in programmer years) Python repeated many of VB’s sins, along with being a scoping-rule disaster.
This problem in the world of software is exacerbated by cultural factors and the geek mystique. It extends beyond the technical realm. As Silicon Valley critic Vivek Wadhwa points out, the tech press and investors can’t get enough of the 20-year-old white male supergeek CEO myth. Incumbent in this myth is the notion that experience has negative value.
So how do we fix this? We can’t blame short-sighted downsizing and retirement for this loss of tribal knowledge. We seem to need broader knowledge, a dose of maturity or both. The problem is cultural, sociological or psychological; but the affected community is tech – not an area known for multidisciplinarity. How to fix it? Perhaps it will have to wait for the next generation. Maybe we can find some old farts who know how to do this.
Hack: withstand or manage (“I can’t just can’t hack that.”)
Hack: write code (e.g., TechCrunch NY 2013 Disrupt Hackathon)
interdisciplinary, Intergenerational Learning, Management Science, multidisciplinary
A Helicopter Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Posted by Bill Storage in Innovation management, Interdisciplinary teams on October 17, 2012
“Fail early and often.” This war cry du jour of speakers on entrepreneurial innovation addresses several aspects of what big companies need to learn from little ones about market dynamics at the speed of the internet. The shelf life of a product idea is pretty short these days. If you don’t cannibalize your own line, a nimble competitor will eat your lunch. Failure is a necessary step on the path to innovative solutions. Short-cycle failure is much cheaper than the long-cycle variety. Innovation entails new ideas, and the idea generation phase is not the time for Negative Nelly, the devil’s advocate, to demoralize your design team. A lot of bad ideas beget new insights that spawn good ideas.
My favorite story about letting crazy ideas fly deals with Pacific Power and Light, who supplies electricity to some remote spots in the Cascades. As the story goes, storms left thick ice on their power transmission lines. Linemen were sent out into the field, who climbed the icy towers and used long hooks to knock down the ice. The process was slow, expensive and dangerous.
PP&L’s brainstorming sessions initially yielded no clever solutions. They again attacked the issue, this time ensuring cognitive diversity by including linemen, accountants, secretaries, and the mail guy.
As a joke, a lineman suggested training bears to climb the poles and shake them. Someone else added that by putting honey pots on top of the poles, the bears would go for the honey without training, and perhaps shake the poles sufficiently to knock the ice off the lines. Continuing the silliness, someone suggested using helicopters to periodically fill the honey pots.
Bingo. A secretary, formerly a nurse’s aide in Vietnam, recalled the fury of the down-wash from the helicopter blades and asked if flying a helicopter near the power lines would be sufficient to shake the lines and knock the ice off. In fact, it is! By valuing cognitive diversity and by encouraging crazy thinking, the team found a solution. As the story goes, PP&L now uses helicopters to fly over the power transmission lines after ice storms and it works fabulously.
As is probably apparent to any student of mythology, literary form criticism or biblical criticism, the story is pure fiction. It appears in many tellings on the web, some dating back several decades. Veracity strike one: manuscript (version) differences indicate multiple independent secondary sources. Strike two: earlier versions have less textural detail than later versions (e.g., the lineman is named Bill in later tellings). Strike three: the setups for the convergence of a diverse group are strained and get more detailed over time (compare the aphorism setups in Gospel Mark vs. Matthew).
Sure, the story is fiction – but what of it? The tale itself is aphoristic – an adage. It does not rely on the credibility of its source or the accuracy of the details to be valid; it’s validity is self evident. Or as Jack Nicholson (R.P. McMurphy) is often quoted as saying in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, “Just because it didn’t happen, doesn’t mean it isn’t true.”
But as any movie fan with access to web-based movie scripts can attest, that quote never happened either. But just because McMurphy never said that just because it didn’t happen, doesn’t mean it isn’t true doesn’t mean that that isn’t true. (That last sentence contains a level-two embedded phrase, by the way.)
Further, just because Nicholson didn’t say it doesn’t mean it wasn’t said. It turns out a few others are cited as sources for this saying as well. The earliest one I could find. oddly enough, is Marcus Borg, theologian and New Testament scholar who found himself in the odd position of trying to defend Christianity while denying that Jesus said the things attributed to him. Borg’s tools are the same ones I used on the helicopter scriptures above.
Quote attribution is a tricky matter, especially when a more famous guy repeats a line from a less famous guy. Everyone knows the one about Oscar Wilde saying to James Whistler, “I wish I had said that.” To which, Whistler replied, “You will Oscar, you will.” I love this one, because it’s a quote about a quote. And none the worse when we discover, as you might expect, that it never happened – which, of course, doesn’t mean it isn’t true.
The exchange between Whistler and Wilde is cited in the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. They give the source as page 67 of Leonard Cresswell Ingleby’s 1907 book, Oscar Wilde. As you might expect from my mentioning it here, Inglesby’s book contains no such quote on page 67 or anywhere else in the book. However, the 1973 Monty Python skit, Oscar Wilde, does include this exchange between Whistler and Wilde. Inclusion by the Monty Python crew, who tend to research history better than most textbook authors, is reason enough to dig a bit further for a source. Oscar Wilde researcher Peter Raby would be the guy to check on this trivia. I did. Raby traces the quote back to rumors in the early 1900s. He finds that some time after Wilde’s death Herbert Vivien, Douglas Sladen and Frank Harris all recalled the quote but disagreed on whether Wilde or Whistler or neither were involved.
I will never be ashamed of citing a bad author if the line is good. – Seneca
Mix a little foolishness with your prudence: It’s good to be silly at the right moment. – Horace
In a world of crowdsourcing and open innovation, it barely matters – beyond frivolous patents of course – where an idea originates or if its pedigree is respectable. Fables about bears, helicopters and Jack Nicholson are fair game. Let a thousand flowers bloom.
innovation, interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary
Richard Rorty: A Matter for the Engineers
Posted by Bill Storage in Multidisciplinarians, Philosophy of Science on September 13, 2012
William Storage 13 Sep 2012
Visiting Scholar, UC Berkeley Science, Technology & Society Center
Richard Rorty (1931-2007) was arguably the most controversial philosopher in recent history. Unarguably, he was the most entertaining. Profoundly influenced by Thomas Kuhn, Rorty is fascinating and inspirational, even for engineers and scientists.
Rorty’s thought defied classification – literally; encyclopedias struggle to pin philosophical categories to him. He felt that confining yourself to a single category leads to personal stagnation on all levels. An interview excerpt at the end of this post ends with a casual yet weighty statement of his confidence in engineers’ ability to save the world.
Unlike many of his contemporaries, Rorty looked at familiar things in different light – and could explain his position in plain English. I never found much of Heidegger to be coherent, let alone important. No such problem with Dick Rorty.
Rorty could simplify arcane philosophical concepts. He saw similarities where others saw differences, being mostly rejected by schools of thought he drew from. This was especially true for pragmatism. Often accused of hijacking this term, Rorty offered that pragmatism is a vague, ambiguous, and overworked word, but nonetheless, “it names the chief glory of our country’s intellectual tradition.” He was enamored with moral and scientific progress, and often glowed with optimism and hope while his contemporaries brooded in murky, nihilistic dungeons.
Richard Rorty photo by Mary Rorty. Used by permission.
Rorty called himself a “Kuhnian” apart from those Kuhnians for whom The Structure of Scientific Revolution justified moral relativism and epistemic nihilism. Rorty’s critics in the hard sciences – at least those who embrace Kuhn – have gone to great lengths to distance Kuhn from Rorty. Philosophers have done the same, perhaps a bit sore from Rorty’s denigration of analytic philosophy and his insistence that philosophers have no special claim to wisdom. Kyle Cavagnini in the Spring 2012 issue of Stance (“Descriptions of Scientific Revolutions: Rorty’s Failure at Redescribing Scientific Progress”) finds that Rorty tries too hard to make Kuhn a relativist:
“Kuhn’s work provided a new framework in philosophy of science that garnered much attention, leading some of his theories to be adopted outside of the natural sciences. Unfortunately, some of these adoptions have not been faithful to Kuhn’s original theories, and at times just plain erroneous conclusions are drawn that use Kuhn as their justification. These misreadings not only detract from the power of Kuhn’s argument, but also serve to add false support for theories that Kuhn was very much against; Rorty was one such individual.”
Cavagnini may have some valid technical points. But it’s as easy to misread Rorty as to misread Kuhn. As I read Rorty, he derives from Kuhn that the authority of science has no basis beyond scientific consensus. It then follows for Rorty that instituational science and scientists have no basis for a privileged status in acquiring truth. Scientist who know their stuff shouldn’t disagree on this point. Rorty’s position is not cultural constructivism applied to science. He doesn’t remotely imply that one claim of truth – scientific or otherwise – is as good as another. In fact, Rorty explicitly argues against that position as applied to both science and ethics. Rorty then takes ideas he got from Kuhn to places that Kuhn would not have gone, without projecting his philosophical ideas onto Kuhn:
“To say that the study of the history of science, like the study of the rest of history, must be hermeneutical, and to deny (as I, but not Kuhn, would) that there is something extra called ‘rational reconstruction’ which can legitimize current scientific practice, is still not to say that the atoms, wave packages, etc., discovered by the physical scientists are creations of the human spirit.” – Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature
“I hope to convince the reader that the dialectic within analytical philosophy, which has carried … philosophy of science from Carnap to Kuhn, needs to be carried a few steps further.” – Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature
What Rorty calls “leveling down science” is aimed at the scientism of logical positivists in philosophy – those who try to “science-up” analytic philosophy:
“I tend to view natural science as in the business of controlling and predicting things, and as largely useless for philosophical purposes” – Rorty and Pragmatism: The Philosopher Responds to his Critics
For Rorty, both modern science and modern western ethics can claim superiority over their precursors and competitors. In other words, we are perfectly capable of judging that we’ve made moral and scientific progress without a need for a privileged position of any discipline, and without any basis beyond consensus. This line of thought enabled the political right to accuse Rorty of moral relativism and at the same time the left to accuse him of bigotry and ethnocentrism. Both did vigorously. [note]
You can get a taste of Rorty from the sound and video snippets available on the web, e.g. this clip where he dresses down the standard philosophical theory of truth with an argument that would thrill mathematician Kurt Gödel:
In his 2006 Dewey Lecture in Law and Philosophy at the University of Chicago, he explains his position, neither moral absolutist nor moral relativist (though accused of being both by different factions), in praise of western progress in science and ethics.
Another example of Rorty’s nuanced position is captured on tape in Stanford’s archives of the Entitled Opinions radio program. Host Robert Harrison is an eloquent scholar and announcer, but in a 2005 Entitled Opinions interview, Rorty frustrates Harrison to the point of being tongue-tied. At some point in the discussion Rorty offers that the rest of the world should become more like America. This strikes Harrison as perverse. Harrison asks for clarification, getting a response he finds even more perverse:
Harrison: What do you mean that the rest of the world should become a lot more like America? Would it be desirable to have all the various cultures across the globe Americanize? Would that not entail some sort of loss at least at the level of diversity or certain wisdoms that go back through their own particular traditions. What would be lost in the Americanization or Norwegianization of the world?
Rorty: A great deal would be lost. A great deal was lost when the Roman Empire suppressed a lot of native cultures. A great deal was lost when the Han Empire in China suppressed a lot of native cultures […]. Whenever there’s a rise in a great power a lot of great cultures get suppressed. That’s the price we pay for history.
Asked if this is not too high a price to pay, Rorty answers that if you could get American-style democracy around the globe, it would be a small price to have paid. Harrison is astounded, if not offended:
Harrison: Well here I’m going to speak in my own proper voice and to really disagree in this sense: that I think governments and forms of government are the result of a whole host of contingent geographical historical factors whereby western bourgeois liberalism or democracy arose through a whole set of circumstances that played themselves out over time, and I think that [there is in] America a certain set of presumptions that our form of democracy is infinitely exportable … [and] that we can just take this model of American democracy and make it work elsewhere. I think experience has shown us that it’s not that easy.
Rorty: We can’t make it work elsewhere but people coming to our country and finding out how things are done in the democratic west can go back and try to imitate that in their own countries. They’ve often done so with considerable success. I was very impressed on a visit to Guangzhou to see a replica of the statue of Liberty in one of the city parks. It was built by the first generation of Chinese students to visit America when they got back. They built a replica of the Statue of Liberty in order to help to try to explain to the other Chinese what was so great about the country they’d come back from. And remember that a replica of the Statue of Liberty was carried by the students in Tiananmen Square.
Harrison (agitated): Well OK but that’s one way. What if you… Why can’t we go to China and see a beautiful statue of the Buddha or something, and understand equally – have a moment of enlightenment and bring that statue back and say that we have something to learn from this other culture out there. And why is the statue of liberty the final transcend[ant] – you say yourself as a philosopher that you don’t – that there are no absolutes and that part of the misunderstanding in the history of philosophy is that there are no absolutes. It sounds like that for you the Statue of Liberty is an absolute.
Rorty: How about it’s the best thing anybody has come up with so far. It’s done more for humanity than the Buddha ever did. And it gives us something that … [interrupted]
Harrison: How can we know that!?
Rorty: From history.
Harrison: Well, for example, what do we know about the happiness of the Buddhist cultures from the inside? Can we really know from the outside that we’re happier than they are?
Rorty: I suspect so. We’ve all had experiences in moving around from culture to culture. They’re not closed off entities, opaque to outsiders. You can talk to people raised in lots of different places about how happy they are and what they’d like.
Then it spirals down a bit further. Harrison asks Rorty if he thinks capitalism is a neutral phenomenon. Rorty replies that capitalism is the worst system imaginable except for all the others that have been tried so far. He offers that communism, nationalization of production and state capitalism were utter disasters, adding that private property and private business are the only option left until some genius comes up with a new model.
Harrison then reveals his deep concern over the environment and the free market’s effect on it, suggesting that since the human story is now shown to be embedded in the world of nature, that philosophy might entertain the topic of “life” – specifically, progressing beyond 20th century humanist utopian values in light of climate change and resource usage. Rorty offers that unless we develop fusion energy or similar, we’ve had it just as much as if the terrorists get their hands on nuclear bombs. Rorty says human life and nature are valid concerns, but that he doesn’t see that they give any reason for philosophers to start talking about life, a topic he says philosophy has thus far failed to illuminate.
This irritates Harrison greatly. At one point he curtly addresses Rorty as “my dear Dick.” Rorty’s clarification, his apparent detachment, and his brevity seem to make things worse:
Rorty: “Well suppose that we find out that it’s all going to be wiped out by an asteroid. Would you want philosophers to suddenly start thinking about asteroids? We may well collapse due to the exhaustion of natural resources but what good is it going to do for philosophers to start thinking about natural resources?”
Harrison: “Yeah but Dick there’s a difference between thinking of asteroids, which is something that is outside of human control and which is not submitted to human decision and doesn’t enter into the political sphere, and talking about something which is completely under the governance of human action. I don’t say it’s under the governance of human will, but it is human action which is bringing about the asteroid, if you like. And therefore it’s not a question of waiting around for some kind of natural disaster to happen, because we are the disaster – or one could say that we are the disaster – and that the maximization of wealth for the maximum amount of people is exactly what is putting us on this track toward a disaster.
Rorty: Well, we’ve accommodated environmental change before. Maybe we can accommodate it again; maybe we can’t. But surely this is a matter for the engineers rather than the philosophers.
A matter for the engineers indeed.
1) Rorty and politics: The academic left cheered as Rorty shelled Ollie North’s run for the US Senate. As usual, not mincing words, Rorty called North a liar, a claim later repeated by Nancy Reagan. There was little cheering from the right when Rorty later had the academic left in his crosshairs; perhaps they failed to notice.. In 1997 Rorty wrote that the academic left must shed its anti-Americanism and its quest for even more abusive names for “The System.” “Outside the academy, Americans still want to feel patriotic,” observed Rorty. “They still want to feel part of a nation which can take control of its destiny and make itself a better place.”
On racism, Rorty observed that the left once promoted equality by saying we were all Americans, regardless of color. By contrast, he said, the contemporary left now “urges that America should not be a melting-pot, because we need to respect one another in our differences.” He chastised the academic left for destroying any hope for a sense of commonality by highlighting differences and preserving otherness. “National pride is to countries what self-respect is to individuals,” wrote Rorty.
For Dinesh D’Souza, patriotism is no substitute for religion. D’Souza still today seems obsessed with Rorty’s having once stated his intent “to arrange things so that students who enter as bigoted, homophobic religious fundamentalists will leave college with views more like our own.” This assault on Christianity lands Rorty on a D’Souza enemy list that includes Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, and Richard Dawkins, D’Souza apparently unaware that Rorty’s final understanding of pragmatism included an accomodation of liberal Christianity.
2) See Richard Rorty bibliographical material and photos maintained by the Rorty family on the Stanford web site.
engineering, History of Science, innovation, interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, Philosophy of Science, Thomas Kuhn
Dislodged Systems Engineers
Posted by Bill Storage in Engineering, Multidisciplinarians on July 17, 2012
When I mostly dislodged myself from aerospace a while back and became mostly embedded in Silicon Valley, I was surprised by the undisciplined use of the term “Systems Engineer.”
To me, Systems Engineering was a fairly concise term for an interdisciplinary approach to design and construct successful systems. Systems Engineering – as seen by INCOSE, the International Council on Systems Engineering – involves translating customer needs into requirements, then proceeding with design synthesis. This process integrates many disciplines and specialty groups into a team effort to transform concept into design, production and operation. Systems Engineering accommodates business, technical and regulatory needs and requirements toward the goal of providing a quality product that makes investors, customers, regulators and insurers happy. It’s a methodical, top-down, big-picture approach.
In Silicon Valley, “systems engineering” is usually short for “embedded–systems engineering,” i.e., the engineering of embedded systems. An embedded system is usually a computer system that performs specific control functions, often within a larger system – like those designed by systems engineers as described above. Embedded systems get their name by being completely contained within a physical (hardware) device. Embedded systems typically contain microcontrollers or digital signal processors for a particular task within the device. A common form of embedded system is the firmware that provides the logic for your smart phone.
There is often overlap. Aircraft, hospitals and irrigation management networks are all proper systems. And they contain many devices with embedded systems. Systems engineers need to have a cursory knowledge of what embedded-systems engineers do, and often detailed knowledge of the requirements for embedded systems. It’s a rare Systems Engineer who also does well at detailed design of embedded systems (Ron Bax at Crane Hydro-Aire take a bow). And vice versa. Designers of embedded systems usually only deal with a subset of the fundamentals of systems engineering – business problem statement, formulation of alternatives (trade studies), system modeling, integration, prototyping, performance assessment, reevaluation and iteration on these steps.
Because there are a lot more embedded-systems engineers than systems engineers in Silicon Valley, its residents are happy with dropping the “embedded” part, probably not realizing that doing so would make it hard for a systems engineer to find consulting work. Or perhaps “embedded” seems superfluous if you don’t know about the discipline of systems engineering at all. This is a shame, since a lot of firms who make things with embedded systems could use a bit – perhaps quite a bit – of systems engineering perspective.
This is an appeal for more discipline in the semantics of engineering (call me a pedantic windbag – my wife does) and for awareness of the discipline of Systems Engineering. Systems Engineering is a thing and the world could use more of it. Silicon Valley firms would benefit from the methodical, big-picture perspective of Systems Engineering by better transforming concept to design and design to product. Their investors would like it too.
In my work as a software engineer – not of the embedded sort – I’ve spent some time with various aspects of semantics and linguistics – forensic linguistics being the most fun. “Embedded” in linguistics refers to a phrase contained in a phrase of the same type. This makes for very difficult machine – and often human – parsing. Humans have little trouble with single embedding but struggle with double embedding. Triple embedding, though it appeared in ancient writing, sends modern humans running for the reboot switch. The ancient Romans were far more adept at parsing such sentences than we are today, though their language was more suited to it.
The child the dog bit got rabies shots. The child the dog the man shot bit got rabies shots. The child the dog the man the owner sued shot bit got rabies shots.
My wife is probably right.
embedded systems, engineering, holism, INCOSE, interdisciplinary, linguistics, multidisciplinary, Systems Engineering
Collective Decisions and Social Influence
Posted by Bill Storage in Crowd wisdom, Multidisciplinarians on April 26, 2012
People have practiced collective decision-making here and there since antiquity. Many see modern social connectedness as offering great new possibilities for the concept. I agree, with a few giant caveats. I’m fond of the topic because I do some work in the field and because it is multidisciplinary, standing at the intersection of technology and society. I’ve written a couple of recent posts on related topics. A lawyer friend emailed me to say she was interested in my recent post on Yelp and crowd wisdom. She said the color-coded scatter plots were pretty; but she wondered if I had a version with less whereas and more therefore. I’ll do that here and give some high points from some excellent studies I’ve read on the topic.
First, in my post on the Yelp data, I accepted that many studies have shown that crowds can be wise. When large random crowds respond individually to certain quantitative questions, the median or geometric mean (though not the mean value) is often more accurate than answers by panels of experts. This requires that crowd members know at least a little something about the matter they’re voting on.
Then my experiments with Yelp data confirmed what others found in more detailed studies of similar data:
Yelp raters tend to give extreme ratings.
Ratings are skewed toward the high end.
Even a rater who rates high on average still rates many businesses very low.
Many businesses in certain categories have bimodal distributions – few average ratings, many high and low ratings.
Young businesses are more like to show bimodal distributions; established ones right-skewed.
I noted that these characteristics would reduce statisticians’ confidence in conclusions drawn from the data. I then speculated that social influence contributed to these characteristics of the data, also seen in detailed studies published on Amazon, Imdb and other high-volume sites. Some of those studies actually quantified social influence.
Two of my favorite studies show how mild social influence can damage crowd wisdom; and how a bit more can destroy it altogether. Both studies are beautiful examples of design of experiments and analysis of data.
In one (Lorenz, et. al., full citation below), the experimenters asked six questions to twelve groups of twelve students. In half the groups, people answered questions with no knowledge of the other members’ responses. In the other groups the experimenters reported information on the group’s responses to all twelve people in that group. Each member in such groups could then give new answers. They repeated the process five times allowing each member to revise and re-revise his response with knowledge about his group’s answers, and did statistical analyses on the results. The results showed that while the groups were initially wise, knowledge about the answers of others narrowed the range of answers. But this reduced range did not reduce collective error. This convergence is often called the social influence effect.
A related aspect of the change in a group’s answers might be termed the range reduction effect. It describes that fact that the correct answer moves progressively toward the periphery of the ordered group of answers as members revise their answers. A key consequence of this effect is that representatives of the crowd become less valuable in giving advice to external observers.
The most fascinating aspect of this study was the confidence effect. Communication of responses by other members of a group increased individual members’ confidence about their responses during convergence of their estimates – despite no increase in accuracy. One needn’t reach far to find examples in the form of unfounded guru status, overconfident but misled elitists, and Teflon financial advisors.
Another favorite of the many studies quantifying social influence (Salganik, et. al.) built a music site where visitors could listen to previously-unreleased songs and download them. Visitors were randomly placed in one of eight isolated groups. All groups listened to songs, rated them, and were allowed to download a copy. In some of the groups visitors could see a download count of each song, though this information was not emphasized. The download count, where present, was a weak indicator of the preferences of other visitors. Ratings from groups with no download count information yielded a measurement of song quality as judged by a large population (14,000 participants total). Behavior of the groups with visible download counts allowed the experimenters to quantify the effect of mild social influence.
The results of the music experiment were profound. It showed that mild social influence contributes greatly to inequality of outcomes in the music market. More importantly, it showed, by comparison of the isolated populations that could see download count, that social influence introduces instability and unpredictability in the results. That is, wildly different “hits” emerged in the identical groups when social influence was possible. In an identical parallel universe, Rihanna did just OK and Donnie Darko packed theaters for months.
Engineers and mathematicians might correctly see this instability situation as something like a third order dynamic system, highly sensitive to initial conditions. The first vote cast in each group was the flapping of the butterfly’s wings in Brazil that set off a tornado in Texas.
This study’s authors point out the ramifications of their work on our thoughts about popular success. Hit songs, top movies and superstars are orders of magnitude more successful than their peers. This leads to the sentiment that superstars are fundamentally different from the rest. Yet the study’s results show that success was weakly related to quality. The best songs were rarely unpopular; and the worst rarely were hits. Beyond that, anything could and did happen.
This probably explains why profit-motivated experts do so poorly at predicting which products will succeed, even minutes before a superstar emerges.
When information about a group is available, its members do not make decisions independently, but are influenced subtly or strongly by their peers. When more group information is present (stronger social influence), collective results become increasingly skewed and increasingly unpredictable.
The wisdom of crowds comes from aggregation of independent input. It is a matter of statistics, not of social psychology. This crucial fact seems to be missed by many of the most distinguished champions of crowdsourcing, collective wisdom, crowd-based-design and the like. Collective wisdom can be put to great use in crowdsourcing and collective decision making. The wisdom of crowds is real, and so is social influence; both can be immensely useful. Mixing the two makes a lot of sense in the many business cases where you seek bias and non-individualistic preferences, such as promoting consumer sales.
But extracting “truth” from a crowd is another matter – still entirely possible, in some situations, under controlled conditions. But in other situations, we’re left with the dilemma of encouraging information exchange while maintaining diversity, independence, and individuality. Too much social influence (which could be quite a small amount) in certain collective decisions about governance and the path forward might result in our arriving at a shocking place and having no idea how we got there. History provides some uncomfortable examples.
Sources cited:
Jan Lorenza, Heiko Rauhutb, Frank Schweitzera, and Dirk Helbing. “How social influence can undermine the wisdom of crowd effect” Proceedings of the National Acadamy of Science, May 31 2011.
Matthew J. Salganik, Peter Sheridan Dodds et. al. “Experimental Study of Inequality and Unpredictability in an Artificial Cultural Market,” Science Feb 10 2006.
crowd wisdom, crowdsourcing, multidisciplinary, social influence
Posted by Bill Storage in Systems Thinking on March 25, 2012
My goal for The Multidisciplinarian is to talk about multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary problem solving. This inevitably leads to systems, since problems requiring more than one perspective or approach tend to involve systems, whether biological, social, logical, mechanical or political.
I hope to touch upon a bunch of systems concepts at some point, including:
systems science
morphological analysis
systems philosophy
boundary object theory
I started following some of these terms on Twitter a few weeks ago, and ended up reading a lot of web topics on Systems Thinking. I found all the classics, along with, surprisingly, something of a battleground. I don’t mean attacks from the outside, like the view that organizations are not systems but processes. Instead I’m talking about the enemy within. It seems there are several issues of contention.
The matter of whether Systems Thinking is a deterministic or “hard” approach percolates through many of the discussions. “Hard” in this context means that it’s a mere extension of systems engineering, treating humans, society, and business organizations as predictable machinery. But on the street (as opposed to in academics), there’s also disagreement over whether that attribute is desirable or not. Some proponents defend Systems Thinking as being largely deterministic against criticism that it is soft. Other defenders of the approach argue against criticism that it is deterministic.
Is Systems Thinking an approach, a model, a methodology, or a theory? That’s debatable too; and therefore, it’s being debated. One can infer from the debates and discussions that much of the problem stems from semantics. The term means different things to different communities. Such overloaded terminology works fine as long as the communities don’t overlap. But they do overlap, since systems tend to involve multiple disciplines.
From a distance, you can grasp the gist of Systems Thinking. At its most rudimentary level, it is seeing the forest from the trees and using that vision to get things done. Barry Richmond, celebrated systems scientist, gave this high level definition:
At the conceptual end of the spectrum is adoption of a systems perspective or viewpoint. You are adopting a systems viewpoint when you are standing back far enough—in both space and time—to be able to see the underlying web of ongoing, reciprocal relationships which are cycling to produce the patterns of behavior that a system is exhibiting.
Peter Senge of MIT says that Systems Thinking is an approach for getting beyond cause and effect to the patterns of behavior that surface the cause and effect, and further, for identifying the underlying structure responsible for the patterns of behavior. If you, perhaps recalling your philosophy studies, detect a degree of rejection of reductionism in that definition, you’re right on track. More on that below. See the Systems Thinking World‘s definition page for a list of other definitions.
Barry Richmond, like Jay W Forrester, his mentor and prolific writer on Systems Thinking, was also heavily involved in System Dynamics. While many people equate the two concepts, others distinguish System Dynamics from Systems Thinking by the former’s use of feedback-loop computer models. Forrester, a consummate engineer and true innovator, developed the Systems Dynamics approach at MIT in the 1960s.
System dynamics model showing processing of caffeine by the body and effects on drowsiness
For several decades Forrester applied Systems Thinking to business management, society and politics, maintaining throughout, that system dynamics is the necessary foundation underlying effective thinking about systems. In a 2010 paper, Forrester, then in the Sloan School of Management, wrote:
Without a foundation of systems principles, simulation, and an experimental approach, systems thinking runs the risk of being superficial, ineffective, and prone to arriving at counterproductive conclusions. Those seeking an easy way to design better social systems will be as disappointed as if they were to seek an effortless route to designing bridges or doing heart transplants.
These bold and beautiful words are lost on the those who only know systems thinking from its current usage as little more than a strategic-initiative group-hug word. The quote is from Forrester’s appeal that Systems Thinking, at least as popularly defined, is insufficient without system dynamics modeling. Forrester speaks to usage of Systems Thinking that is nearly as deflated as current usage of “six-sigma,” by which our ancestors meant standard deviations of manufacturing tolerance (statistical process control). Nevertheless, as sociolinguists point out, a word means what a large body of its users think it means.
In the spirit of multidisciplinarity, it’s tempting to view this war from the perspective of study of religious cults. Too tempting – so I’ll succumb.
As with the internecine battles of religious cults, this is a war of small differences; often the factions in greatest dispute are the ones with the most similar views. Their differences are real, but imperceptible to most outsiders. They argue over definitions and interpretations, engaging in doctrinal disputes with constant deference to the cults’ founders. I also detect a fair amount of anxiety of influence in Systems Thinking advocates with roots in hard sciences.
Many systems engineers, including some very good ones, after opening the door to systems thinking, strain to differentiate themselves from their less evolved brethren. John Boardman and Brain Sauser, thought leaders for whom I have the utmost respect, oddly display the anxiety of influence in statements like this from their Worlds of Systems site:
Our engineering friends believe the term ‘system’ is theirs of right and they alone understand systems. After all, who builds them? Who gets the job done? You would think, to hear some engineers talk, that they invented the term itself. In fact what propelled it into the high currency values it occupies today were the ideas of Ludwig von Bertalanffy.
Here we have two brilliant engineers (see in particular their work on Systems of Systems) who – though perhaps in jest – downplay the development of systems thinking a la Forrester, deferring to Bertalanffy, the biologist who first used the term Systems Theory. Semantic mapping tools available on the web clearly show that Bertalanffy, ground-breaking as he was, had next to nothing to do with the propulsion of the term “system” to its current status. The route was, as you’d expect, from Greek philosophy to Renaissance astronomy, to biology and engineering, and then on to computers.
Without delving into heady problems of Bertalanffy’s worldview, such as the paradox of emergence and the paradox of system environment, I’ll suggest that Bertalanffy was a great thinker, but should not occupy too high a pedestal. His view that the reductionist nature of biology of the mid 1900s stemmed solely from the influence of Descartes and Newton (who thought nature could be modeled as mechanism) ignored the obvious necessity of reduction in order to link stimulus with response. Testing ten foods separately, to see which causes your allergic reaction, does not conflict with holism. Bertalanffy, despite his great contributions, beat a reductionist straw man to death. Finally, can anyone not find Bertalanffy’s language of his later works indistinguishable from that of liberal theologians? Paul Tillich meets business management?
Boardman and Sauser similarly quote Philip Spor’s remark, “the engineer must often go beyond the limits of science, or question judgment based on alleged existing science,” as if such going-beyond isn’t inherent in engineering. Really guys, does anyone really think that the science of turbomachinery predated the engineering of turbomachines? Recall that special relativity was solid before the fourth-order partial differential equations governing a turbocharger were nailed down, at which time Alfred Büchi ‘s invention was common on trucks and trains. The opponent here is also mostly made of straw – a purely reductionist caricature of a systems engineer.
As a scholar of history of science and a fan of history of religion, here’s what I think is going on. Systems thinking is often at the intersection of systems science and social and management science; and the most orthodox of each of those root beliefs accuses the others of being too hard (as seen by social science) or too soft (as seen by engineers). The most liberal (or reformist, in the religious model) accuse their own party of being entrenched in orthodoxy.
Cult members mine the writings of these clergymen for ammunition against rival cults, thus we see quotes from Forrester, Bertalanffy, Ackoff and the like on websites, grossly misunderstood, and out of context. And we see ludicrous and undisciplined extensions of their material, as with Gary Zukav, Fritjof Capra, and Roger Penrose. The cult’s most vocal advocates insist on deifying the movement’s founders, and speak in terms of discovery and illumination rather than evidence and development.
Reasoning by analogy, yes; but I think you’ll admit this analogy holds rather well.
Another face of the Systems Thinking wars deals not with definitions and philosophy but with efficacy. In a 2009 Fast Company piece Fred Collopy, an experienced practitioner and teacher of Systems Thinking opined more or less that Systems Thinking is a failure – not because it has internal flaws but because it is hard. Systems Thinking, says Collopy, requires mastery of a large number of techniques, none of which is particularly useful by itself. This requirement is at odds with the way people learn, except in strict academic circles. Collopy offers that Design Thinking is an alternative, but only if we can keep it from being bogged down in detailed process definition and becoming an overly restrictive framework. He notes that if Systems Thinking had worked like its early advocates hoped it would, there would be no management-by-design movement or calls for integrated management practice.
Interesting stuff indeed. It will be fun to see how this plays out. If history is a guide, and as Collopy seems to suggest, it may fizzle out before it plays out. Business schools and corporate leadership have a record of moving on to new, more fashionable approaches, independent of the value of current ones. More on that tomorrow.
Philosophy of science is as useful to scientists as ornithology is to birds. – Richard Feynman
Thanks to Ventana Systems, Inc. for use of their VENSIM® tools.
Thanks to @DanMezick for recent tweet exchange on Systems Thinking.
engineering, History of Science, holism, interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, Philosophy of Science, reductionism, System Dynamics, Systems Engineering, Systems Thinking
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2027
|
__label__cc
| 0.725907
| 0.274093
|
The difficult kind.
Posted by Pointman on April 19, 2013 · 31 Comments
My woman teaches the difficult young children. She does what’s called special needs and I think she was born to do it. She takes all the ones who’re a bit behind the pack and perhaps will always be, the ones who’re a bit lost, the silly hearts who’re still determined to stay a little bit longer in a child’s simple butterfly world or just out there somewhere else, in their own complete self-enclosed bubble, and she’s good at it.
They’re the distracted ones either living unwittingly on an unusually extended oxygen line of protective parental love or despite but because of parental stupidity, just about hanging on to the frayed tatters of their sometimes ruined childhoods. It can be a difficult row to hoe at times. I couldn’t do it.
She has that intuitive ability to get in touch with them and slowly inveigle them back into some sort of coping with the real world as it is. She gently brings them out of themselves, and gives them the confidence to re-engage with the grown up struggles of their lives. It’s the sort of emotional seduction that only a true empath can do.
Somehow, she breaks through and gets across to them that they’re okay, and everything will work out fine in the end, but in the meantime, let’s us work together on these squiggly letters. Sometimes that prediction is not likely to be true, and she knows that, but if it perhaps turns out to be wrong, it’s giving them a little shard of feel good about themselves, that the child needs to get them through the rough times ahead. Where there’s scant love about, sometimes children just need the hope of it. Some kids tear your heart open. Like I said, I couldn’t do her job.
It actually took a while for me to realise that all along, I was in some ways another one of her long-term but more exasperating projects and boy was that a bit of a surprise. So much for me being actually in control of anything. Subtlety wouldn’t be my natural strong suit, but while it takes a while, I do get there in the end. Because she cared for me, she was quietly centering me and to put it quite bluntly, civilising me.
She’s taught me innumerable useful things; pleases and thank youse, dragging a comb through my hair once in a while, it’s mebbe okay sitting with your back to the door when you’re at home, and a knife and fork were actually there to eat meals with, rather than just being casual weapons of opportunity you automatically clocked the locations of.
She is the huge factor in my life and our children’s lives, but while she’s helped me get along through some of the more difficult situations of a life, there are aspects of my personality that I choose not to have mediated, mollified or mitigated. They’re the essential me, whether good or bad. They’re the bits that got me through some shadowed valleys and I really don’t want fiddled with. She’s accepted that and it’s a part of the respect we pay each other, who even though we’re married, are still individuals.
You see, it’s actually okay to be a bit awkward, to be different. It’s your nature, and as you mature, you learn it can be an asset rather than a hindrance. It’s not as if you’re some sort of homicidal maniac, but you do take your own view on things, whether right or wrong. That’s the one sneaking doubt I’ve got about my woman’s work – it’s that strange oddness in perhaps one or two of the special needs kid which might produce the grand unified theory and she might be inadvertently hoovering that out of them. Some of their topsy turvey daydreams might just prove to be useful.
Nice people do nice things, and while I like them for that kind aspect of their nature, I also know I’m not one of them. At times when being nice simply won’t cut it – what’s needed is a necessary type of person. Sure, I’d always prefer to be as nice as pie, but when circumstances merit it, I’m prepared to be not so nice.
It’s the first reaction of nice people to discuss things, to sit down and talk things through with a someone who’s being totally unreasonable. They’re certain a workable accommodation can be reached. That’s nearly always a good thing except when you’re dealing with an elemental aggressor, because that’s exactly what they’re relying on you to do.
It’s the common failing of nice people to realise too late that they were all along dealing with someone who didn’t give a rat’s ass about reasoned discussion – they just want to win and they’re not choosy about which means or methods they’ll use to achieve that simple end. While all the well-intentioned discussions were going on, you were just being played and what’s worse, you’ve probably given away the whole damn shop.
But, let’s be more honest here and admit why such civilised discussions are initiated with people whom everyone can plainly see are nothing better than jumped up street corner thugs with soaring ambitions – it was supposed to be the nice people seizing the higher rational ground and consequently feeling better about themselves for having made that effort. Your hands are washed clean and you’ve weaseled out of any unsightly slugging matches with them.
I’m sorry but we all know that on too many occasions, that’s just a certain lack of backbone dressed up as an intellectually defensible position. A cojones-free zone. It’s covering your ass for posterity, but where does that leave the people you were supposed to be talking for, or the ones you appointed yourself to speak for?
You see, it’s the awkward and edgy nature of not so nice people, which produces stuff that gives people pause for thought. That’s the nature of the beast and some things can’t be tamed, no matter how many times you zap them hard with your cattle prod, but even more tellingly, no matter how hard you love them. It’s in their nature, it’s welded deep down into their primeval DNA. If you could possibly take that out of them, they’d just waste away in front of your eyes. You’d lose them. Put an Apache in a prison cell, they just die.
We’re not particularly smarter than anyone else, usually not as stylish, rarely much richer, but we do tend to be making moves. If there’s something we think is wrong, we’ll not only say that, but take the next step from bitching on about it from the sidelines – we’ll try to do something about it, irrespective of the odds. This blog is a move. There’s too much restless spirit and way too many questions you can’t get anything other than a slippery answer to.
GB Shaw noted that the reasonable man adapts himself to the world, the unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself, the corollary being that without unreasonable men, no progress would be made. Once you get past how slick it sounds, there’s a lot of truth in it. So much of what now passes for orthodoxy usually started off as heresy, and as we all know as climate heretics, it’s never a populist position, but we were right all along.
If you want peace, prepare for war, because that’s how you prevent wars from ever breaking out in the first place – a saying commonly attributed to Julius Caesar but just as true today as it was two millenia ago.
Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Saddam Hussein – you stand up to them and you save lives. You don’t, you’re staring down into that big ole megadeaths pit. One hundred and fifty million lives lost in the wars of the last century, and in nearly every case, for lack of the backbone to stand up to and face down a megolomaniac lunatic when they were just a minor bully.
It’s that basic lesson we’ve all learnt dealing with the local school bully, with any bully. You give in to them, they always hustle you harder and take more. You stand up to them, they run away and look for an easier pushover they can prey on.
In exactly the same way, the massive failure or should I say the outright cowardice, on the part of too many people whose real job it was to question the whole global warming bandwagon, has inflicted pain and suffering on the most vulnerable people, both here and in the developing world. There’s real blood on hands.
Around the world, the whole global warming scare is imploding and it’s happening at an increasing pace. We skeptics played a supporting role in that, but it is the economics of hard times, rather than us bit players, that is actually killing it off.
Across the whole spectrum of the thing, people are repositioning themselves furiously to get away from the craze, the love that no longer dares speak its name. Politicians, moneymen, establishment science, journalistic integrity-free tarts and pretty much all the various stripes of carpetbagger. The instruments carbon markets were trading have collapsed below junk bond status. Everyone is bailing out, because the gravy train has just derailed off the bridge and is dropping down into the gorge.
Everyone that is, except the big environmental organisations like Greenpeace or the WWF, but when their income stream dries up, they’ll wither on the vine to shadows of their former selves. Reputational damage and loss of political influence can do that sort of thing to you. They’ll deserve it too, because they betrayed their founding principles.
What we must not do now is have an attack of the nicey nices with them. They’re in the killing jar, they’re finally seeing that now and are going to start desperately flinging olive branches in our direction. They’re moving into stage three, the bargaining phase of the death rattle of their belief system. Work any offer ruthlessly, but don’t even dream of meeting them on some fabled middle ground. That doesn’t exist.
The bargaining scam, which they will get around to offering in the end, is some phony recognition of you, which is all they’ve got left to barter with, in the hope of appealing to your vanity, so you’ll hop into bed with them – at last, some recognition and respectability after all these years.
Every time you deal with them, develop the habit of looking hard at them and thinking back a few years to when you were being routinely compared to a holocaust denier. That’ll get your head right.
This is not the time to be nice with them.
Our secret weapon.
The Climate Wars revisited or No truce with kings.
The decline of the environmental lobby’s political influence.
How environmentalism turned to the dark side.
The death of the AGW belief system.
Filed under Article · Tagged with Blogosphere, Eco-fascism, Extremism, Fuel Poverty, Politics
← A postcard from warmer climes.
It’s an ill wind. →
31 Responses to “The difficult kind.”
Ed Moran. says:
Hard, harsh even, but correct. Think of the vulnerable people who have suffered and died. Rachel Carter (I know she’s not famous for “Global Warming” but she’s of a type) Hansen, UEA and many others are the easy targets but the old adage applies: follow the money! Yeo, Debden, Gore… they’re just the tip of the money iceberg. No doubt Lewandowski will add me to his long, long list of conspiracy nuts but the big bucks start with Goldman Sachs and move on to other corporates.
I hope (but don’t expect) that they will be forced into the spotlight.
Those we do find should expect no mercy.
“We meant well”, the Alarmists will say, as they look out on the field of corpses and blighted lives left by their feel-good fantasies.
The crash will go beyond the global warming community — the whole Green and NGO movements — all those who say “trust us, we know what’s best for you” — will take a huge hit, as will the authority of the legacy media (already in tatters), and even the views of those “in authority” who have supinely permitted this abomination to continue.
Your a very very good writer. Like your analysis hope it works out that way soon. About 500 billion has been wasted on this scam and its money from taxpayers who had to earn it hour by hour, by the selling of one coffee hour by hour for years, , by the sweat of their brows. And the most sustainable resource is money, taxpayers money and wasting it in these sorts of scams is a crime against humanity.
Some good reminders Mr Pointman. Truth supersedes being nice.
Rob Moore says:
Pointy-
I love reading your essays. You put into words what I believe( but never could put into such clear word pictures) I’m a livestock producer here in Australia and fought tooth and nail to get the rural agriculture lobby groups that are meant to represent us- to take the fight up and tell the Govt and CSIRO to get stuffed All the snake oil bulls.it about you might get credits….blah blah for your soil carbon and the associated companies that would provide the “vaseline”- had the media and and all the airheaded dreamers hooked.
It is law here now and the Carbon Farming Initiative- has no takers – no one can understand the rules and project has to be new and be in place for “100 years or you get nothing” This labor govt is in Disneyland and the carbon units in Europe are under $4 and our fruitloops have mandated a figure of $23 per tonne of CO2. Never seen such an act of self harm and stupidity in all my life.
I’m with you all the way my pointman- SHOW NO MERCY!.
These Climate Hysterics gave no quarter as they lied, cheated and stole their seats on the Gravy Train. They hijacked our nations’ wealth, kept the Third World impoverished and dependent on handouts from the West, denying them economic viability and development as their resources were stolen. Definitely no case for appeasement here – they deserve to sink in ignominy and disgrace.
Will they ever stand accountable in a court of law and suffer any penalty for their fifth-column activities? Probably not – but if the the Court of Public Opinion counts for anything, they already stand condemned.
Mrs P is a treasure. A retired friend of mine spent her professional life similarly working with ‘special needs’ people, and to this day she seems modestly unaware of the profound significance she had in their lives.
It’s a unique gift to find those tiny embers, nurse them into a glow of recognition and ultimately fan them into a warm sense of achievement. You have a special lady indeed.
Dead right. But rather than just not give ground, bear down. Relentlessly. It is suicide to want to believe those who have demonstrated they will deceive whenever it is to their advantage. And when their advantage is to the literally mortal detriment of vast numbers of people.
Some sceptic bloggers just said no harsh words about Gavin Schmidt on my blog..just coz the guy backed a little…not u Pointman… 🙂 …think ure right here.
Pointman, I would like to read your blog, but your choice of styles makes it very difficult to read on my high-end laptop with my low-end eyes.
As best as I can make out, your are using a serif font at 12 pixels and color of 666 (less than 50% grey). My monitor is a 1920×1080 16.9 in. laptop monitor, with IE set habitually to 150% zoom. Just a suggestion: change the font size to “1em” to make the display more dependent upon system settings than a hard pixel definition and set color to 999 or higher (fff) to add contrast to the grey backgrounds.
h1w7 says:
WR…you’re that clever to detect all that stuff, but have you yet to discover “cut & paste into a document & read it however you like”?
memoryvault says:
As one also with with low-end eyes, I suggest you select and highlight the text – that gives you white text on a dark blue background.
Hold down CTRL and the SPACE bar together, and hit the + signs as many times as needed to make the text as big as you want.
G’Day MV. You Good?
Hi Pointman,
I’m fine – just don’t bother commenting much anymore.
Down here in OZ at least, the foreseeable future’s now pretty-much set in stone.
And it doesn’t make for a pretty statue.
trustyetverify says:
I also had problems viewing this site, but now I view the site in User mode in the Opera browser. It gives the possibility to view a web page in Author mode (as the author designed it) or in User mode (no style or user defined style).
In the standard User mode, a web page is viewed with black, crisp letters on a white background. So if I want to view this site, I just switch to User mode and when going to other sites I switch it back to Author mode.
I don’t know if IE has something similar, but Opera is also available in Windows-flavor (and it is a very good browser by the way).
Well put, Pointman. Really good essay.
I just wonder if you might have understated your case. Perhaps there should be more names in the “bad guys” list? And perhaps more is collapsing than just the CAGW narrative?
But well done, again.
Thank you Pointman for always dragging my thinking back to the heart of the matter. We must never forget how recently even a stray word or two could see one branded as an earth-hater. I’ve seen the floating piles of rubbish a thousand miles from the nearest land, and know what true environmentalism is. It isn’t Greenpeace.
Graeme No.3 says:
If you want peace, prepare for war… a saying commonly attributed to Julius Caesar. Also attributed to Cicero, Appius Claudius the Blind and Vegetius (Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus). The latter didn’t actually say it but Qui desiderat pacem, bellum praeparat;… (Whosoever desires peace prepares for war;…). It seems to have been paraphrased as “Si vis pacem, para bellum” (If you want peace, prepare for war) many times.
That doesn’t make it any less true, nor less appropriate. The money men are moving out as fast as they can, occasionally like the squid leaving a cloud of ink to confuse their trail. Look at the announcements of the last 2 years from Companies getting rid of solar PV plants, wind turbine manufacture (unless further subsidies come from the Danish Government or B. Obama) or abandoning ‘renewable energy projects (“rationalising to core business” etc.).
Once they’ve gone, the journalists follow, as in Germany the last few months. With the squeeze of finances and increasing public resentment about costs, most politicians are now nearing the outskirts of Damascus. There’s no votes in being green. ( Ruinis inminentibus musculi praemigrant – When collapse is imminent, the little rodents flee).
The fanatics will never give up. You are right in saying we shouldn’t try and accommodate them; they will always keep working for their delusional aims, and their methods will not be pretty. As their hopes fade, expect them to turn violent. Indeed, prepare for war.
I’m still going to be nice to the nice people (so they might help throw the extremists under the proverbial metaphorical academic bus (and elsewhere)
but when hostile activist psychologists seek to silence their critics, by labelling them ‘conspiracy theorists’ in peer reviewed journals..
Absolutely no quarter.. (my comment )
http://www.shapingtomorrowsworld.org/news.php?p=2&t=75&&n=200#3087
http://www.frontiersin.org/personality_science_and_individual_differences/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00073/abstract
http://retractionwatch.wordpress.com/2013/03/28/why-publishers-should-explain-why-papers-disappear-the-complicated-lewandowsky-study-saga/
http://retractionwatch.wordpress.com/2013/04/03/update-lewandowsky-et-al-paper-on-conspiracist-ideation-provisionally-removed-due-to-complaints/
Spot on. What you say is so true. Unfortunately, there’ll be many that will “feel sorry” for these same people and give them an out. I hope I’m wrong. How many and how far they’ll go to soothe these scammers depends very much on how angry people are when the full crunch comes. The quiet anger is there, certainly, fury – I hope – is not far behind.
I don’t want any of these people to have an out. I fear that because so many are involved, it will be “easier” to let them all off because it will be seen as near impossible to bring them all to account.
If that happens, it will be the worst case of turning a blind eye this world will ever witness.
Old Mike says:
Excellent call.
I met so many of the self serving CAGW bigots during my career. What awaits them is well deserved.
I think the blogosphere is an amazing weapon of intelligence and had it been as prolific in the early days of the CAGW scam maybe thousands of lives would not have been lost.
stan stendera says:
Not thousands, but multi millions.
Off topic, but I know you won’t mind.
April 25th 2013 is the 98th anniversary of the landing on the Gallipoli Peninsular Turkey by Empire troops including the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACS).
Some might ask why we commemorate Anzac Day. It was no victorious battle; it was an ignominious defeat from which we crept in the dead of night. For nine months tens of thousands of men clung to those cliffs and beaches under constant shell and sniper fire and so many thousands died. It was obscene.
That’s where Australia learned what it was to be a newly federated sovereign nation, no longer a British colony. We lost the cream of a generation in that ghastly European war and today we remember them. Lest we forget.
… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WG48Ftsr3OI …
An honour to host your tribute to those men.
I agree with Delingpole’s ‘metaphor’
The climate alarmist industry has some very tough questions to answer: preferably in the defendant’s dock in a court of law, before a judge wearing a black cap.
Unfortunately Delingpole continues on to say:
…Should Michael Mann be given the electric chair for having concocted arguably the most risibly inept, misleading, cherry-picking, worthless and mendacious graph – the Hockey Stick – in the history of junk science?
Should George Monbiot be hanged by the neck for his decade or so’s hysterical promulgation of the great climate change scam and other idiocies too numerous to mention?…
It ought to go without saying that my answer to all these questions is – *regretful sigh* – no….
The last thing I would want is for Monbiot, Mann, Flannery, Jones, Hansen and the rest of the Climate rogues’ gallery to be granted the mercy of quick release. Publicly humiliated? Yes please. Having all their crappy books remaindered? Definitely. Dragged away from their taxpayer funded troughs and their cushy sinecures, to be replaced by people who actually know what they’re talking about? For sure. But hanging? Hell no. Hanging is far too good for such ineffable toerags….
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/jamesdelingpole/100210866/an-english-class-for-trolls-professional-offence-takers-and-climate-activists/
Anthony Watts and other skeptics then took Delingpole to task for invoking ‘Godwin’s Law’ by mentioning a Climate Nuremberg.
The problem is people like your wife, my mother and Anthony Watts literally can not SEE evil. They do not understand bullies. The concept that some ENJOY hurting other people is something they just can not grasp. And this enjoyment of causing pain has nothing to do with upbringing (my brother, a very nasty multimillionaire is a case in point). Unfortunately a capacity for stabbing others in the back and walking over dead bodies to reach your goal is well rewarded in both the corporate, academic and political arenas. The nice guy not only finishes last he gets trampled and sometimes killed.
Dr. Rummel show what happens if ‘Nice’ people do not develop the cojones to stop these people early and often. He calls it Democide: Death by Government – 169,202,000 have been Murdered by their own governments in the 20th century.
Just to give perspective on this incredible murder by government, if all these bodies were laid head to toe, with the average height being 5′, then they would circle the earth ten times. Also, this democide murdered 6 times more people than died in combat in all the foreign and internal wars of the century….
After eight-years and almost daily reading and recording of men, women, and children by the tens of millions being tortured or beaten to death, hung, shot, and buried alive, burned or starved to death, stabbed or chopped into pieces, and murdered in all the other ways creative and imaginative human beings can devise, I have never been so happy to conclude a project. I have not found it easy to read time and time again about the horrors innocent people have been forced to suffer. What has kept me at this was the belief, as preliminary research seemed to suggest, that there was a positive solution to all this killing and a clear course of political action and policy to end it. And the results verify this. The problem is Power. The solution is democracy. The course of action is to foster freedom.
Global Warming and its evil twin Agenda 21 is all about Power and the destruction of democracy and freedom.
Pascal Lamy, Director-General of the World Trade Organization has made it very very clear that this is a long term goal and Global Warming and the ‘financial crisis’ are part of the tools used to herd the sheeple.
…The profound shock of the recent financial crisis, our inability to face (let alone solve) global warming, the failure to halt nuclear proliferation, even the WTO’s stalled Doha negotiations illustrate that the status quo is no longer good enough. Events are passing us by.
So what is to be done?…
To improve the way the international system works, we must “network” global governance in a better way…. The WTO’s huge success in breaking down economic barriers was the result, not the cause, of a widening consensus about the value of open trade…
All had lived through the chaos of the 1930s — when turning inwards led to economic depression, nationalism and war. All, including the defeated powers, agreed that the road to peace lay with building a new international order — and an approach to international relations that questioned the Westphalian, sacrosanct principle of sovereignty…
Pascal Lamy: Whither Globalization?
So there in black and white is the long term goal ‘building a new international order’ and getting rid of ‘ the Westphalian, sacrosanct principle of sovereignty’ Seems those crazy Conspiracy Theorists weren’t very far off. (Someone needs to let Loony Lew know)
Lamy goes on in other articles to say
The specific challenge of legitimacy in global governance is therefore to deal with the perceived too distant, non-accountable and non-directly challengeable decision-making at the international level.…
The first efficiency challenge of any global governance system stems from the fact that the classical Westphalian order is based on the full sovereignty monopoly of nation states.
We must find ways to address the opposition from sovereign nation-states who resist more or less intensely – depending on the state and on the subject matter – transferring or sharing with international institutions their jurisdiction over certain matters….
Globalization and Global Governance
WOW, to think that people might have an objection to a world wide totalitarian government, who would have thunk!
So these would be bureaucratic dictators have another weapon in their arsonal:
…We live in a world of ever-growing interdependence and interconnectedness….
Pascal Lamy: Local governments, global governance
(Check out interdependence and Al Gore.) Interdependence is part of the grand plan BTW and Clinton admits it.
And Bill Clinton talks about the results of the “The WTO’s huge success in breaking down economic barriers…”
“We Made a Devil’s Bargain”: Fmr. President Clinton Apologizes for Trade Policies that Destroyed Haitian Rice Farming
BILL CLINTON: Since 1981, the United States has followed a policy, until the last year or so when we started rethinking it, that we rich countries that produce a lot of food should sell it to poor countries and relieve them of the burden of producing their own food, so, thank goodness, they can leap directly into the industrial era. It has not worked. It may have been good for some of my farmers in Arkansas, but it has not worked. It was a mistake. It was a mistake that I was a party to. I am not pointing the finger at anybody. I did that. I have to live every day with the consequences of the lost capacity to produce a rice crop in Haiti to feed those people, because of what I did. Nobody else.
KIM IVES: But what about the change in your thinking to have you issue your apology the other day about the food policies?
BILL CLINTON: Oh, I just think that, you know, there’s a movement all around the world now. It was first — I first saw Bob Zoellick say the same thing, the head of the World Bank, where he said, you know, starting in 1981, the wealthy agricultural producing countries genuinely believed that they and the emerging agricultural powers in Brazil and Argentina, which are the only two places that have, parenthetically, increased wheat yields per acre, grain yields per acre in the last decade, because they’re the only places with more than twenty feet of topsoil, that they really believed for twenty years that if you moved agricultural production there and then facilitated its introduction into poorer places, you would free those places to get aid to skip agricultural development and go straight into an industrial era.
And it’s failed everywhere it’s been tried. And you just can’t take the food chain out of production. And it also undermines a lot of the culture, the fabric of life, the sense of self-determination. And I have been involved for several years in agricultural products, principally in Rwanda, Malawi, other places in Africa, and now increasingly in Latin America, and I see this.
So we genuinely thought we were helping Haiti when we restored President Aristide, made a commitment to help rebuild the infrastructure through the Army Corps of Engineers there, and do a lot of other things. And we made this devil’s bargain on rice. And it wasn’t the right thing to do. We should have continued to work to help them be self-sufficient in agriculture.
And that brings us to a very critical question for todays world
Does economic interdependence increase or decrease the probability of war among states?
The prolonged debate between realists and liberals on the causes of war has been largely a debate about the relative salience of different causal variables. Realists stress such factors as relative power, while liberals focus on the absence or presence of collective security regimes and the pervasiveness of democratic communities.(1) Economic interdependence is the only factor that plays an important causal role in the thinking of both camps, and their perspectives are diametrically opposed.
Liberals argue that economic interdependence lowers the likelihood of war by increasing the value of trading over the alternative of aggression: interdependent states would rather trade than invade. As long as high levels of interdependence can be maintained, liberals assert, we have reason for optimism. Realists dismiss the liberal argument, arguing that high interdependence increases rather than decreases the probability of war. In anarchy, states must constantly worry about their security. Accordingly, interdependence – meaning mutual dependence and thus vulnerability – gives states an incentive to initiate war, if only to ensure continued access to necessary materials and goods.
The unsatisfactory nature of both liberal and realist theories is shown by their difficulties in explaining the run-ups to the two World Wars. The period up to World War I exposes a glaring anomaly for liberal theory: the European powers had reached unprecedented levels of trade, yet that did not prevent them from going to war. Realists certainly have the correlation right – the war was preceded by high interdependence – but trade levels had been high for the previous thirty years; hence, even if interdependence was a necessary condition for the war, it was not sufficient…..
Levels of interdependence and expectations of future trade, considered simultaneously, lead to new predictions. Interdependence can foster peace, as liberals argue, but this will only be so when states expect that trade levels will be high into the foreseeable future. If highly interdependent states expect that trade will be severely restricted – that is, if their expectations for future trade are low – realists are likely to be right: the most highly dependent states will be the ones most likely to initiate war, for fear of losing the economic wealth that supports their long-term security. In short, high interdependence can be either peace-inducing or war-inducing, depending on the expectations of future trade.…
Now think of what has happened to China in the last decades: increased interdependence thanks to WTO and dashed expectations of future trade as the Western economies tank. Not a happy situation.
Gail:
much as I admire your thoughts I see practical difficulties with punishing many of these frauds and impostors under the rule of law.
Take James Hansen; put him on trial and any competent lawyer would let him be questioned, and then, unless the prosecutor was hopelessly incompetent, plead diminished mental competency or insanity. Perhaps I am biased, but I have thought for some years that he is undoubtedly insane.
The loathsome Mann would love to be “persecuted”. He seems to see himself as a divine saviour, who will eventual triumph over evil. Spending the rest of his life being ignored or made fun of would be the worst possible outcome for him.
Certainly, people who have abused their status as “scientists” – Sir Paul Nurse and his predecessor at the Royal Society, Tim Flannery and Will Steffen in Australia, and many more, should be forced to explain their statements and have their reputations trashed.
But many will claim freedom of expression for their political views or even their ‘green’ religion.
Others might claim to have followed political instructions. It is hard to see how you can find a successful punishment in a democracy, except humiliation and possibly a demand for repayment of “monies obtained under false pretences”.
Besides, strident calls for punishments of all, could lead to them to “cling together else being hung separately”. Better to have some rats leave the ship and testify against the remainder.
I was thinking more of scientific fraud. There are a number of cases of known scientific fraud and I, as a scientist would love to see these people who have KNOWINGLY misled and falsified data defrocked, having their diplomas stripped and being barred from any teaching type position.
Pedeophiles are not allowed near children so why in heck should we allow those who would rape their minds free access?
This is what I am talking about:
…Stapel, former professor of cognitive social psychology and dean of Tilburg’s school of social and behavioural sciences, fabricated data published in at least 30 scientific publications, inflicting “serious harm” on the reputation and career opportunities of young scientists entrusted to him.
Some 35 co-authors are implicated in the publications, dating from 2000 to 2006 when he worked at the University of Groningen. In 14 out of 21 PhD theses where Stapel was a supervisor, the theses were written using data that was allegedly fabricated by him….
http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111103193525126
US Scientists Significantly More Likely to Publish Fake Research, Study Finds
The study author searched the PubMed database for every scientific research paper that had been withdrawn — and therefore officially expunged from the public record — between 2000 and 2010.
A total of 788 papers had been retracted during this period. Around three quarters of these papers had been withdrawn because of a serious error (545); the rest of the retractions were attributed to fraud (data fabrication or falsification).
The highest number of retracted papers were written by US first authors (260), accounting for a third of the total. One in three of these was attributed to fraud…..
Many of these people retain their positions and continue to teach. In industry they are rewarded for falsifying data and those who do not get fired. It is not just in climate science that scientists need to clean up their act. In the USA we have ‘Professional Engineers’ who have to perform under a Code of Ethics that means they have legal obligations but also legal protections.
Many years ago I had a long consultation over the differences in ethics as applied to the Professional Engineer vs scientists. As a scientist you are expected to lie for your employer as directed and have no legal recourse except quiting. A Professional Engineer can refuse to lie and has the law, at least in New York State, to back him up. Seems the politicians don’t want bridges collapsing or planes crashing but do not care over much if drugs are dangerous…
Gail, in a very real sense, the scientists we’re talking about here have blood on their hands. None of them will ever be punished for that.
You’ve nailed it here. The Frauds are among the teachers of our students so how can the basic tenets of Science fail to be warped in the process? As you say, if these ‘researchers’ were made to be legally accountable, we’d soon see an end to the current Ponzi disaster that is looming.
kim2ooo says:
Reblogged this on Climate Ponderings.
Leave a Reply to Jonathan Abbott Cancel reply
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2035
|
__label__cc
| 0.739678
| 0.260322
|
The Neocons and the “deep state” have neutered the Trump Presidency, it’s over folks! (UPDATED 2x)
174214 Views February 14, 2017 304 Comments Saker Analyses and Interviews The Saker
Less than a month ago I warned that a ‘color revolution ‘ was taking place in the USA. My first element of proof was the so-called “investigation” which the CIA, FBI, NSA and others were conducting against President Trump’s candidate to become National Security Advisor, General Flynn. Tonight, the plot to get rid of Flynn has finally succeeded and General Flynn had to offer his resignation. Trump accepted it.
Now let’s immediately get one thing out of the way: Flynn was hardly a saint or a perfect wise man who would single handedly saved the world. That he was not. However, what Flynn was is the cornerstone of Trump’s national security policy. For one thing, Flynn dared the unthinkable: he dared to declare that the bloated US intelligence community had to be reformed. Flynn also tried to subordinate the CIA and the Joint Chiefs to the President via the National Security Council. Put differently, Flynn tried to wrestle the ultimate power and authority from the CIA and the Pentagon and subordinate them back to the White House. Flynn also wanted to work with Russia. Not because he was a Russia lover, the notion of a Director of the DIA as a Putin-fan is ridiculous, but Flynn was rational, he understood that Russia was no threat to the USA or to Europe and that Russia had the West had common interests. That is another absolutely unforgivable crimethink in Washington DC.
The Neocon run ‘deep state’ has now forced Flynn to resign under the idiotic pretext that he had a telephone conversation, on an open, insecure and clearly monitored, line with the Russian ambassador.
And Trump accepted this resignation.
Ever since Trump made it to the White House, he has taken blow after blow from the Neocon-run Ziomedia, from Congress, from all the Hollywood doubleplusgoodthinking “stars” and even from European politicians. And Trump took each blow without ever fighting back. Nowhere was his famous “you are fired!” to be seen. But I still had hope. I wanted to hope. I felt that it was my duty to hope.
But now Trump has betrayed us all.
Remember how Obama showed his true face when he hypocritically denounced his friend and pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr.? Today, Trump has shown us his true face. Instead of refusing Flynn’s resignation and instead of firing those who dared cook up these ridiculous accusations against Flynn, Trump accepted the resignation. This is not only an act of abject cowardice, it is also an amazingly stupid and self-defeating betrayal because now Trump will be alone, completely alone, facing the likes of Mattis and Pence – hard Cold Warrior types, ideological to the core, folks who want war and simply don’t care about reality.
Again, Flynn was not my hero. But he was, by all accounts, Trump’s hero. And Trump betrayed him.
The consequences of this will be immense. For one thing, Trump is now clearly broken. It took the ‘deep state’ only weeks to castrate Trump and to make him bow to the powers that be. Those who would have stood behind Trump will now feel that he will not stand behind them and they will all move back away from him. The Neocons will feel elated by the elimination of their worst enemy and emboldened by this victory they will push on, doubling-down over and over and over again.
It’s over, folks, the deep state has won.
From now on, Trump will become the proverbial shabbos-goy, the errand boy of the Israel lobby. Hassan Nasrallah was right when he called him ‘an idiot‘.
The Chinese and Iranian will openly laugh. The Russians won’t – they will be polite, they will smile, and try to see if some common sense policies can still be salvaged from this disaster. Some might. But any dream of a partnership between Russia and the United States has died tonight.
The EU leaders will, of course, celebrate. Trump was nowhere the scary bogeyman they feared. Turns out that he is a doormat – very good for the EU.
Where does all this leave us – the millions of anonymous ‘deplorables’ who try as best we can to resist imperialism, war, violence and injustice?
I think that we were right in our hopes because that is all we had – hopes. No expectations, just hopes. But now we objectively have very little reasons left to hope. For one thing, the Washington ‘swamp’ will not be drained. If anything, the swamp has triumphed. We can only find some degree of solace in two undeniable facts:
Hillary would have been far worse than any version of a Trump Presidency.
In order to defeat Trump, the US deep state has had to terribly weaken the US and the AngloZionist Empire. Just like Erdogan’ purges have left the Turkish military in shambles, the anti-Trump ‘color revolution’ has inflicted terrible damage on the reputation, authority and even credibility of the USA.
The first one is obvious. So let me clarify the second one. In their hate-filled rage against Trump and the American people (aka “the basket of deplorables”) the Neocons have had to show their true face. By their rejection of the outcome of the elections, by their riots, their demonization of Trump, the Neocons have shown two crucial things: first, that the US democracy is a sad joke and that they, the Neocons, are an occupation regime which rules against the will of the American people. In other words, just like Israel, the USA has no legitimacy left. And since, just like Israel, the USA are unable to frighten their enemies, they are basically left with nothing, no legitimacy, no ability to coerce. So yes, the Neocons have won. But their victory is removes the last chance for the US to avoid a collapse.
Trump, for all his faults, did favor the US, as a country, over the global Empire. Trump was also acutely aware that ‘more of the same’ was not an option. He wanted policies commensurate with the actual capabilities of the USA. With Flynn gone and the Neocons back in full control – this is over. Now we are going to be right back to ideology over reality.
Trump probably could have made America, well, maybe not “great again”, but at least stronger, a major world power which could negotiate and use its leverage to get the best deal possible from the others. That’s over now. With Trump broken, Russia and China will go right back to their pre-Trump stance: a firm resistance backed by a willingness and capability to confront and defeat the USA at any level.
I am quite sure that nobody today is celebrating in the Kremlin. Putin, Lavrov and the others surely understand exactly what happened. It is as if Khodorkovsy would have succeeded in breaking Putin in 2003. In fact, I have to credit Russian analysts who for several weeks already have been comparing Trump to Yanukovich, who also was elected by a majority of the people and who failed to show the resolve needed to stop the ‘color revolution’ started against him. But if Trump is the new Yanukovich, will the US become the next Ukraine?
Flynn was very much the cornerstone of the hoped-for Trump foreign policy. There was a real chance that he would reign in the huge, bloated and all-powerful three letter agencies and that he would focus US power against the real enemy of the West: the Wahabis. With Flynn gone, this entire conceptual edifice has now come down. We are going to be left with the likes of Mattis and his anti-Iranian statements. Clowns who only impress other clowns.
Today Neocon victory is a huge event and it will probably be completely misrepresented by the official media. Ironically, Trump supporters will also try minimize it all. But the reality is that barring a most unlikely last-minute miracle, it’s over for Trump and the hopes of millions of people in the USA and the rest of the world who had hoped that the Neocons could be booted out of power by means of a peaceful election. That is clearly not going to happen.
I see very dark clouds on the horizon.
UPDATE1: Just to stress an important point: the disaster is not so much that Flynn is out but what Trump’s caving in to the Neocon tells us about Trump’s character (or lack thereof). Ask yourself – after what happened to Flynn, would you stick your neck out for Trump?
UPDATE2: Just as predicted – the Neocons are celebrating and, of course, doubling-down:
anti-Trump color revolution
Christoph on February 14, 2017 · at 7:19 am EST/EDT
Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory seems to be in the stars.
On a smaller scale in Germany the only opposition to Merkels regime, the AfD is about to fire a popular leader and risking fractricide.
We obviously need another round of suffering for everyone wake up and think.
Difficult but great when its behind us😊
bjo on February 14, 2017 · at 8:36 am EST/EDT
I don’t hold out much hope that enough people in this country will wake up under any circumstances. Essay by Caitlin Johnson (Feb 5) on the enjoyment of “liberals” participating in “fear porn” is interesting in this regard.
http://www.newslogue.com/debate/323/CaitlinJohnstone
Laika von old Monkshusen on February 14, 2017 · at 9:33 pm EST/EDT
Yes well, these aren’t people of course but sheeple. They do not count anyway, otherwise they wouldn’t watch JM$M, nor even worrry about their totally obvious pack of lies (Caitlin Johnson).
II completely agree with Saker’s point 2, which is all there is to it, anyway. I don’t see what is the big deal about this Flynn. He’s just a Nazi ‘educated’ general, not unlike all the rest of them (otherwise they wouldn’t be generals). I only once saw him on RT’s SophieCo and I didn’t like him at all. It (the interview) was a meaningless catastrophe actually.
As long as Trump isn’t assassinated (or poisoned/disabled) things are going just fine. The Roth-child mob is certainly trying to do that. It’s been these posonous rats’ trademark for centuries. Givi was one of their latest victims.
I don’t like Flynn at all either and am pretty certain I would not like any US high level military commander. However, Flynn was one that went against the grain in important ways – both in regards to the CIA and in regards to Russia. The bigger point though is that the intelligence community didn’t have too difficult a time in quickly demonstrating who runs the show.
TD Koka on February 16, 2017 · at 9:58 am EST/EDT
Fully agree.
TD Koka on February 16, 2017 · at 10:13 am EST/EDT
Fantastic, good article.
We, Europeans are trapped inside this diabolical cage, named “European Union”.
There is no escape, until those satanic leaders, like Merkel, Schultz, Verhofstadt, are in charge.
The only way out is to get rid of these garbage leaders, no matter how…
Anyone – including myself – was too optimistic, when beleiving that anything could be
changed by a “lone wolfe”, an outsider, named Trump.
Now it’s clearly visible, that he is NOT our champion, since he has failed at his first
probe. You said: “I see very dark clouds on the horizon.” According to my honest opinion,
the future more darker: distroyed nation states, slavery, wars,
Cmonsense101 on March 01, 2017 · at 10:11 am EST/EDT
Well, looks like Gen. Flynn and Trump’s testicular fortitude was the last thing standing against a full blown ww3. Now that both are gone, any remaining hope for stopping or at least postponing biblical armageddon is also gone. I feel sorry for those good folks still living in north america and western europe and not preparing to relocate for a greener pasture when things get rough. Most importantly, people need to keep their spiritual house in order. When radiation and cannibalism is rampant, how long does it take to lose your humanity/sanity?
Dean Cassady on April 24, 2017 · at 2:15 pm EST/EDT
Popular uprising is still a viable possibility.
The public, even the most brainwashed and actively maintained ignorance, are absorbing, if only at a sub-conscious level, the startling change of tune from the warmongering empirists’ prime quackers, i.e. McCain, Hillary (of course), and the rest of the usual suspects.
But this dissonance, between the waking mind and the sub-conscious mind is exploitable for motivational purposes.
Popular agency can be gained by subconsciously-targeted messaging, which could conceivably, on the surface, get past mainstream media/propaganda agency vetting systems, if packaged correctly.
Very few aspects of society could be immunized against such ‘opening of the eyes’; while police might be resistant, having been more thoroughly trained to suspend rational consideration, veteran armed services personnel could be MORE open to shedding component dysfunctional indoctrination, i.e. Standing Rock.
Somebody’s going to do it.
Othmar Regin on February 14, 2017 · at 3:57 pm EST/EDT
Both Trump and AfD where(are, not so much anymore) possibly the last hope for a peaceful solution.. everything else means civil/war
AriusArmenian on February 14, 2017 · at 6:25 pm EST/EDT
Another round of suffering is in the near term and beyond which is a continuation of the trajectory the US has been on since the end of the Cold War. With the start of the previous three US administrations there was always hope for better but it always ended up worse.
Why should we not expect more millions to suffer and more death and destruction? The US neocon/neolib ruled Deep State with Wall St and its intelligence agency jackals at it core want more and will kill and destroy to get it and will continue until they run up against a brick wall. It is up to the powers in the East, with Russia and China at its core, to stop the US and its Anglosphere and EU vassals.
All my hopes for the future depend on the Eastern powers standing up to the US. There is nothing in the West to give me any hope that it can correct itself.
Marilyn on February 14, 2017 · at 11:50 pm EST/EDT
What is “fracticide?” Is this a misspelling? Do you actually mean “fratricide?” Which means the killing of ones brother??
Anthony on February 24, 2017 · at 6:15 am EST/EDT
I am sure that is what he ment. How petty
Sergio Weigel on February 19, 2017 · at 8:05 am EST/EDT
Christoph, the AfD doesn’t matter, because it isn’t an opposition. It is what we call an U-Boot – an impostor. It was founded out of the CDU (founding members were all CDU people to my knowledge) in order to collect the deplorable, angry Germans before a true opposition with actual meaning arises (I am also convinced that Pegida is one of those Verfassungsschutz programs).
The only opposition of the AfD is the refugee thing, but that is just a minor problem, the last one that occurred after 25 years of slow neoliberalcon infiltration of the German mind, culture and society. The AfD would be an opposition if it called for German sovereignty, a new constitution to kick out the Yankees, close Ramstein etc. etc.
If you read the program of the AfD you will find that it is exactly the same neoliberal program Schröder and Merkel have given us – only just even a little harder, a bit more anti-social USA like.
Oh, and to leave NATO and EU, of course. :)
T1 on February 14, 2017 · at 7:20 am EST/EDT
Can anyone say
“President Pence?”
Mr Pindo on February 14, 2017 · at 8:00 am EST/EDT
Indeed,
If Trump did everything on Saker’s list he would already be dead and Pence would be president in a manner that is more than figurative.
nice try on February 14, 2017 · at 10:31 pm EST/EDT
While the US neocon Deep State as revealed itself to intelligent observers (like Saker and his readers), the US general public is still as clueless as ever, caught in the MSM web of Bernays-ian duopoly identity politics.
No, Pence is looking to be the new Dick Cheney, the power behind the buffoon. That way the US public will not see his hand manipulating the Trump-puppet.
Cyric London on February 16, 2017 · at 3:02 am EST/EDT
I do not see Pence as particularly gifted such that he would be the power behind the throne. He is at best a Neo-con puppet that will follow orders.
So disappointed in Trump to cave so easily. I thought he was made of sterner stuff. It seems the Russians miscalculated on him. We are going to be back on a war footing soon. I hate to admit it, but I think the world was a safer place under Obama, and this is the reason why. Obama took orders from Soros and the Saudis, and was at heart a globalist with a deep seated hatred of America. His actions can be seen as doing everything to undermine her from within, ie; Flooding the country with illegals, weakening the military, running up the debt, destroying the culture with gender perversion, promoting Islam…
With Trump we have a situation that is much more dangerous. Almost a seven days in May scenario, where they going to allow Trump to run around calling himself president until such time as they have enough momentum to impeach him or he resigns. At this rate he will not last a year. It is clear that he is totally out his element, and cares little for those that supported him. Recall Flynn was on of earliest supporters.
So the Military Complex is going to get everything their hearts desire. More money poured in, more weapons, more contracts and war with Russia.
Richard Townsend on February 14, 2017 · at 1:48 pm EST/EDT
I predicted Pence’s rise to the top spot a few month’s back. Trump was visibly uneasy at the nominating convention when Pence was essentially shoved down his throat as a running mate. A replay of history when Roosevelt’s very capable vice president Henry Wallace was nixed by the Left wing party machine in 1944 and a party puppet Truman was put in his place. Like Truman, Pence represents his party’s radical wing and, like Roosevelt, Trump’s early demise would put him in the top spot ! Truman’s contribution was the only use of an atomic weapon in wartime, the eventual death of labor unions through the passage of Taft-Hartley that remains unchallenged by Democrats today, the presidency being weakened by the 22nd Amendment that reduced that office holder’s tenure to two terms in office, and the Korean war that launched a forty year long Cold War ! Anther period of our country’s history where Democrats openly supported war !
forbesmag on February 14, 2017 · at 3:11 pm EST/EDT
How was “Pence…shoved down his throat as a running mate…at the nominating convention”? Trump picked Pence during the primary campaign when he was still running against many other Republicans. Pence was not picked at the convention.
Dolly on February 15, 2017 · at 7:06 am EST/EDT
How do you know what went on behind the scenes in the decision making? Were you there? VP “picks” have often been “compromise” choices, to put it kindly.
Do you really think Reagan wanted Bush the elder? Was JFK enamored with Johnson? Truman was a real piece of shyte the deep state wanted in power once Roosevelt succumbed to his illness —or so we are told.
Veritas on February 14, 2017 · at 2:01 pm EST/EDT
Dear The Saker,
https://www.rt.com/news/377282-flynn-resignation-kremlin-usa/
The end of this RT article states the following:
“General Keith Kellogg was appointed as acting national security advisor after Flynn’s resignation. …”
Who is Kellogg? Here is his background:
https://sputniknews.com/us/201702141050662670-keith-kellogg-biography/
Wikileaks have claimed the following:
https://sputniknews.com/us/201702141050674796-wikileaks-flynn-resignation/
“Former US National Security Advisor Michael Flynn has made a decision to step down as a result of a destabilization campaign by the media, intelligence community and the Democratic party, WikiLeaks said on Tuesday…..”
Another article which puts some perspective:
http://theduran.com/first-defeat-donald-trump-michael-flynn-resigns/
Ann on February 14, 2017 · at 7:07 pm EST/EDT
well.Cynthia McKinney, on her FB page commented “Good, but for different reasons than they’re stating”
Flynn was a jerk….good riddance.
The Duran article is logical and measured.
Vierotchka on February 14, 2017 · at 4:35 pm EST/EDT
Google “general keith kellogg” and you’ll find plenty of information about him. :)
Uncle Bob 1 on February 14, 2017 · at 7:43 am EST/EDT
It seems that VP Pence, in league with the deep-state was the driving force behind the Flynn resignation. Trump made a fatal error in picking a Russophobe neo-con for his Vice President. It will most likely end destroying him. If you are going to have a “second in command” who isn’t totally loyal to you. At least you pick one you can control. He made the mistake of not doing that. And unlike others in the regime. Even if Trump wanted to, he can’t fire his Vice President. He was elected to office,at the same time as Trump. So he’s stuck with him.
Anonymous on February 14, 2017 · at 8:51 am EST/EDT
”He was elected to office,at the same time as Trump. So he’s stuck with him.”
He was selected for this very reason.
AlfaAlfalfa on February 14, 2017 · at 10:08 am EST/EDT
Trump did not select Pence anymore than Reagan selected Bush, who later tried to kill him very early in his Presidency.
Pence was appointed as an overseer and guarantor of the Necon Deep State interests. If Trump does not play ball he will be eliminated quicker than you can say JFK. The calls for his assasination in MSM, couched as ‘predictions,’ were too frequent to ignore.
Anonymous on February 14, 2017 · at 10:28 am EST/EDT
thats what I meant by this ”He was selected for this very reason.”
Frankie on February 15, 2017 · at 4:39 am EST/EDT
Trump is pathetic. I never trusted much on him. He’s weak and has no idea of strategic play.
Robert HARNEIS on February 14, 2017 · at 7:44 am EST/EDT
Let us hope you are wrong. Perhaps his chief of staff Kellogg and possible sucessor will fulfill the same role as Flynn with less trumpets and drums.
Kerjean on February 14, 2017 · at 10:54 am EST/EDT
CNN and Fox say that they weigh for…… Petraeus.
Yes, it’s not a joke….
Beijing Expat on February 14, 2017 · at 1:19 pm EST/EDT
Whenever there is an opening the corporate media shills for a neocon
Mr Darcy on February 14, 2017 · at 8:59 pm EST/EDT
Oddly enough, when I heard about Flynn, the first thing to pop into my head was “Petraeus!” A real snake in the grass.
albagen on February 14, 2017 · at 7:47 am EST/EDT
@ saker: Why did Flynn lie about the content of the conversation?
The Saker on February 14, 2017 · at 7:54 am EST/EDT
I don’t think that he did. He had to say that to protect Trump. He “took the bullet”. Why would he lie about a totally benign conversation (had it been something important, an ex-Director of the DIA and a Russian Ambassador would not have used on open, insecure, line).
No – Trump sacrificed him under political pressure.
The Kulak on February 14, 2017 · at 8:09 am EST/EDT
Dear Saker,
My friend I do think this is an overreaction. I will be watching in the next few days to see if Flynn goes away quietly. Flynn may take a vacation for a while. But when he’s back, probably by the end of March, I expect him to start acting as a Trump surrogate — and going after his Deep State adversaries with both barrels. Watch for leaks of memos warning John Brennan about the rise of ISIS in 2014 or that TOW missiles and other US arms sent to ‘moderate rebels’ in Syria were flowing to Al Nusra/Qaeda if not ISIS. If there is no pushback or punishment of the neocons in govmt through firings of WaPost/NYT sources and further exposure of neocon complicity in the rise of Daesh, and if all the talk of detente with Russia comes to nought by summer, then I’ll agree with this analyses by the Saker.
I do concur that none of this makes much sense unless Flynn was carrying out his boss’s orders to see if he could basically cool off the confrontation Obama was deliberately creating with the Russians. It is hard to be a patriot who does the right thing and has his name dragged through the mud for it, but at least Flynn is still young enough to fight back — together with his son Mike Flynn Jr. who while not the most competent guy seems fiercely loyal to his dad.
The war to root out the neocons is a long one, and requires patience. If Trump is going to fight back, he needs ammo and allies from within the Deep State prepared to nail some of their colleagues on their soft coup actions and arming of terrorists, among other things. Putin had a critical mass of ‘siloviki’ who were prepared to do what needed to be done. Does Trump?
Greg Schofield on February 14, 2017 · at 8:58 am EST/EDT
Remember when Varoufakis stepped aside and then what happened to Syriza. These people take no prisoners, obey no rule they just apply pressure, there will be no respite they will pick another and then another. This is the beginning of the final showdown between the corporate powers and the people, by proxy as a factional war, but the Saker is right they lose everything in winning the first battle.
Can you expand on that, please? What do you mean?
Greg Schofield on February 14, 2017 · at 11:51 pm EST/EDT
Sorry Mr. Dacy I can be cryptic.
Read it in reverse, that is this group the core of US imperialism has had a minor setback with Trump, they are correcting it, but their blunt force way in which they rule the world is now applied to the home state (the US). It is like using a sledge hammer to crack an egg, it works but the results aren’t useful.
Trump does not have an organisation behind him, he represents a set of interests larger than his associates, but together they form a small faction that orbits the core power group. So Trump has a small tight web which is being pulled apart, and a large popular tendrils from the base up to his group there is no coordinating centre that links these two.
So Trump is vulnerable and was always vulnerable, he may occasionally act interdependently, but he does not have a powerful base so he looses, he must lose. That part is Obama part 2. However, what is incredible is the ineptness and weakness of the ‘powerful hub’ that has changed since 2008.
Excessive hegemonic force spends itself by such complete mobilisation, it looses its coordinating ability by overusing it. People wise up very fast now, illusions simply fall away, The real fight is now on the schedule, between the people’s public interest and cabal of private corporate interests.
If instead of taming or eliminating Trump they used him as a proxy to paper over the big problem,es and patch up the small ones (Obama could not they owned him too well), then the regime would last longer, internally strengthen. Some, if not most of what Trump is saying is not directed at people but at the core power group, he actually is a reformer of their more daft policies — but they are too corrupt for that they only now know the course they are on and anything that suggests change is threat to their control — that is weakness and it is showing internationally.
The empire is starting to deteriorate internally, the client states are floating away, Australia is so ‘Hillary’ bound that there has been a US troop increase in Darwin (doubling thew strength) and a continued partisanship against Trump politically and in the media —- we have always been so loyal to every US president until now, and that knot has been severed. This is happening all over.
Internal to the US the last vestige of of connection between the people, which was the presidential office, and the state has been fatally eroded. Soros has loosed the dogs, and when the participants sober up, they will not go back to their kennels to be released again — forces are being spent recklessly. The media whose standing has been low fro a long time, has become a joke that it cannot recover from, being ridiculed by the public is the last connection (the mainline media was the church of the modern world — it is no longer).
So regardless of anyone’s theory or thoughts, desires or dreams, society, world wide, has divided into two camps.
The fighting side, the side of apparent strength — “them” — have created “us”. The accord that is civil society has been destroyed by them, we are already in a period of civil war. We are many but lack coherence, all our power is potential there is nothing that realises it. Anything they comes up now is new, virginal and can concentrate a lot of latent power. But this will only come about when the old discords that kept us at each other’s throats are allowed to fade away.
The irony is that Trump was their last best chance.
deancassady on April 24, 2017 · at 2:28 pm EST/EDT
I understand the cynicism.
But it was always going to get ugly, eventually.
I agree that the overuse of the last tranche of mechanisms to manipulate public perception have exposed them/it/what ever ‘the flaw’ between the popular social myth and existence on the ground; there is a deep, significantly configured wedge between the waking consciousness, well-trained to readily download the latest fiction, now become absurd and ridiculous, and what can’t be hidden from the subconscious perception.
It’s like tinder, and could spread… astonishingly.
But everybody is in fear, fear of the powers that aren’t supposed to exist, but do exist, and are used to make people ‘go away’, not necessarily physically, but definitely in terms of any kind of meaningful suasion capability.
Reassurances of methods to resist the empire might inspire action, but of course, the early adapters will be crushed, so it would a lie, however, if people could subtly be shown the inevitability of the impending collapse, and associated atrocities, unavoidable, critical mass might be achieved.
Beijing Expat on February 14, 2017 · at 10:41 am EST/EDT
I agree. Flynn did what all good soldiers do and fell on his sword for the boss.
You have to remember, Flynn probably represented the faction of the elite that wanted to bring back reality. That elite is still there and Flynn can work with them behind the scenes.
Look at Roger Stone who left the campaign in August and has been working hard behind the scenes, mostly behind the scenes with the alternative media (infowars) to great effect.
Flynn is a huge loss to Trump and the country.
But the battle is not over yet. There were several times during the campaign when I thought it was over but Trump just kept on winning against impossible odds.
I don’t think Trump is tired of winning yet. And don’t forget, his support grows a little every day.
pogohere on February 14, 2017 · at 6:05 pm EST/EDT
It’s not at all clear that Flynn’s fall is such a great loss: Flynn and the colonels have a thing for Iran that will do no one any good:
The colonels shaping Trump’s Middle East policy
Underneath the drama and chaos of the Donald Trump White House — the rival power centers, combative press conferences mercilessly mocked on Saturday Night Live, leaked transcripts of Trump’s phone calls to allied leaders, and the often inflammatory tweeter-in-chief, fuming over the latest perceived insult while watching “Morning Joe” — a cadre of deeply serious, tested military intellectuals at the National Security Council is shaping Trump’s Middle East policies.
http://tinyurl.com/zt6k4td
Transcript: Michael Flynn on ISIL
Read the full transcript of our discussion about the rise of ISIL, the War on Terror, torture and how to deal with Iran.
http://tinyurl.com/hww2e4x
Most interesting. Thanks for posting. I hope you’re right.
Your ideas of what constitutes the Deep State have proven to be too shallow. See: http://breskin.com/Inquiramus/2017/01/18/the-deep-state/ There’s a reason for Obama to have vacationed in Bariloche, Argentina in 2016. See: http://tinyurl.com/hrd3haw and http://tinyurl.com/zds85no
Your hopes for the Trump administration were based on sentiment, not on political calculation. Trump is over his head.
The IMF meets April 21-23 in Wash DC. Quotas are up for review. A fall in the US quota of 16.53% (https://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/memdir/members.aspx) below 15% would eliminate the US veto on major actions that requires an 85% majority. The shake up in confidence in the global monetary regime should not be underestimated. April may come in like a lamb, but it may not go out as one.
The Reshetnikov interview is a gem. Thanks for that. Russia appears to be a civilization pulling itself together and searching for its cultural metaphors, as the man said:
“An Idea is what always wins, and if we do not offer an Idea but are offering just material values instead, we will only achieve temporary solutions that are essentially failures.
Attempts at resolving the conflicts among the nations or the states using exclusively economic methods are doomed, that’s is why we are losing.”
http://thesaker.is/general-reshetnikov-return-to-the-empire-superbly-controversial-interview/
Auslander on February 14, 2017 · at 7:51 am EST/EDT
It is always darkest before the dawn.
Beijing Expat on February 14, 2017 · at 12:04 pm EST/EDT
Lord of Chaos, bringer of light.
Wolfgang Star on February 14, 2017 · at 4:50 pm EST/EDT
Strange that you reply to Auslander, an Orthodox Christian, with a praise to Lucifer. Because KEK that Frog God who was morphed via 4 Chan, 8 Chan and Richard Spencers altright into the Trump campaign, is when all irony ends, just that: Lucifer, the first rebel, Lord of Chaos, Bringer of Light. The altright folks think that they have brought Trump with “meme magic” into power. A strange fringe now goes mainstream. Just the other extreme of political correctness. Political correctness made you bow before every designated victim group (designated by the elite); and now, having ridiculed this absurd nonsense, you bow before nothing anymore. Now you are just left with a manic laughter, an ironic insensitiveness about everything, especially human suffering. As it is due for an authentic worshipper of the Lord of Flies and of Lies. And even Orthodox Christians are not immune against this sort of stinking trash. Look at Kathenon, a supposedly Orthodox website, featuring A. Dugin that ardent admirer of Trump, posing as an Orthodox Christian. But who in his own words and truly is a follower of the Left Hand Path thus a Satanist. This pseudo traditionalists are now celebrating themselves for having shoved Alinsky’s “Rules For Radicals” right back In “The Left’s Ugly Face“. Imagine how the “Rules For Radicals” start: with a dedication to Lucifer. Beware of strange bedfellows.
Avarachan on February 14, 2017 · at 7:58 am EST/EDT
Regarding Gen. Flynn and Iran, I recommended this article from “The Duran”: http://theduran.com/general-flynn-hate-iran/
“It is difficult to avoid the impression that Flynn formed his ideas about Iran as a US intelligence officer during the George W. Bush administration’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. In both of those wars Iran and the US pursued parallel but often conflicting strategies, with both countries seeking the defeat of fundamentalist Sunni Jihadis in Afghanistan and Iraq, but wanting to prevent the other country from emerging the undisputed victor. The result was what might be called ‘duplicitous cooperation’, with Iran and the US simultaneously working with and against each other in an often totally ruthless and treacherous way.
It is not difficult to see why against this background General Flynn as a front line intelligence officer might come to see the Iranians as deceitful and treacherous, and conclude that they can’t be trusted, and why he might develop an intense loathing for them. Thus his interview with Al-Jazeera is peppered with comments like this
‘I could go on and on all day about Iran and their behaviour, you know, and their lies, flat out lies, and then their spewing of constant hatred, no matter whenever they talk.'”
Alexander P on February 14, 2017 · at 8:46 am EST/EDT
Thank you for this summary Avarachan. Flynn was as much a warmonger as other Neo-Cons, he was just more focused on Iran and friendlier towards Russia. The next goal in the US grand strategy in the mid-east is Iran though, and as such he was the choice Trump went for when picking him. I think the Saker is overreacting a bit here, maybe he was hoping for more of a change under D Trump, which I never expected, so this early ouster to me is not as shocking as to him.
This doesn’t mean there wasn’t any infighting in the deep state on organizational matters and raw power, but foreign policy wise, I doubt this move will much alter the very pre-determined course of history. Iran has been singled out, Ryan used the term ‘You have been put on notice’, after a completely legal missile launch by Teheran and Trump’s rhetoric with his Tweets towards Teheran are saying as much. I don’t get why anyone can’t see that. To say the firing of Flynn alone was the breaking point for Trump’s administration, vastly over-estimates the president’s wilingness or ability to take on the US deep-state. Had he wanted to do so, why pick Pompeo as head of the CIA? Why cosy up to Saudi-Arabia?
Anyway, on the grand chess board of things a pawn just tumbled and fell, because the King would not protect him. But it was just a pwan and the pieces will have to keep on moving.
Riadh on February 14, 2017 · at 1:11 pm EST/EDT
As i said it from the beginning, this so called trump hype was way over exagerated and this wishfull thinking of Trump-Putin duo saving the world was ridiculous.
Putin’s Russia is clearly rejecting the very foundation of what is the current USA, the petro $, so unless Putin was planning to return Russia to it’s 90’s era Zio-colony, there could never have been a common ground between the two.
Besides that there were also other signs like, an ex goldman sachs and soros fund management banker at the head of the secretary treasury, the constant hammering by the media about trump (as contrary to the complete black out on someone like Dr Ron Paul) …
Clearly this is a “non événement” and just another nail in the US coffin.
James lake on February 14, 2017 · at 8:07 am EST/EDT
At last the truth.
I was getting fed up with all the Trump fans. He never did anything to deserve the adulation
Since being in the whitehouse it has been a mess. He had not shown any foresight or strategic thinking.
Whatever cards he had to play he wasted them l
He has employed a whole team of neocons and as for any Russian partnership with the USA this was never ever going to happen – I don’t even know why anyone would think so,
There are too many differences
As for Flynn he was extremely anti Iranian how is that good for Russia
Curmudgeon on February 14, 2017 · at 5:53 pm EST/EDT
Trump, like Nixon, has awoken the “silent majority” and has done us a great service by attacking political correctness.
Trump, like Nixon, had to surround himself with members of the tribe that owns Congress, in order to have a fighting chance of success. Trump, like Nixon will not succeed, because the minefields were laid before he was sworn in.
The fact that outsider Trump has: exposed the internationalists, like Soros, for what they are; shown the “Antifa” hatefest to be ridiculously shallow; and, exposed the political activism of the courts; will pay long term dividends for those who oppose the current system.
My late Vietnam vet cousin predicted another revolution, but not in his lifetime. More of this treachery will only build the pyre waiting for a spark.
blue on February 14, 2017 · at 8:14 am EST/EDT
I would not put too much significance to this — Trump was never some kind of knight in shining armor, but just the alternative to Clinton. He may still do a few good things here and there, but the general thrust of his ideology — and yes he not simply transactional, because US realism (realpolitik) in itself is an ideology (at the heart of capitalism and empire, in fact).
As for the neocons, one might recall the advice (Sun Tzu?) that one should never intervene when the enemy is making a mistake. The deciding reason I voted for Trump is still holding — avoiding nuclear war, and it may yet hold for quite a while despite the neocons, since Clinton is not in the driver’s seat.
As for the economy, Trump, overall, will still bring it down, if simply by not averting the previously scheduled meltdown, with further deregulation, corporate tax cuts, hand-outs to the rich, destruction of social welfare, and so on.
It is not so much that it is over as that it was never really there, except as a very remote dream. This is just shifting another deck chair as we hit the iceberg, and all the great forces are still in play, albeit with the Clinton monster exorcised and sporting a necklace of garlic. The situation itself has improved, however, with Trump winning, and with more people more awake than ever in the last century. A lot more people can now see the iceberg.
Bro 93 on February 14, 2017 · at 9:45 am EST/EDT
Nice metaphors, blue! One after the other.
And many cool under pressure comments I have read in this thread.
That’s comforting. I can turn in and sleep soundly. I’m not joking.
It’s a war and when you realize it really is a war, and there is no easy, quick “peace channel” to switch to, you may as well figure you more than likely won’t live through this war, so you’re already a dead man or woman walking..
And just count your blessings if your grim assessment is wrong.
Can we have some some sense analysis now based on what is happening not what people want to happen
1. Ukraine escalation
2. NATO on Russia’s borders
3. Exercises in the black sea
4. Anti iranian rhetoric and sanctions
5. The smearing of Syrian govt by amnesty international
6. Unrest in Iraq – what is going on geolpolitical impact
7. Afghanistan – smearing or Russia
There is a whole list of issues that will impact Russia now can we talk about them instead of Trump
The environment around Russia has not improved and is set to get worse –
Russia would be stupid to have relaxed its guard
They need to behave as if Hillary was elected
There is not a no-fly-zone in Syria, and we are not composed of radioactive ash. That’s quite significant. The president is not all together but he is not the raging psychopath Clinton is. Let us be thankful for ‘small blessings’. I don’t recall anyone promising a rose garden.
E on February 15, 2017 · at 12:05 am EST/EDT
Trump told Erdogan and the Saudis if they can pay for it the US will back a NFZ in Syria. That’s my assumption.
8. Bling medals for the Saudi regime.
9. Unlimited honey pot $$$ for the Israeli apartheid state.
10. Media back out of Yemen crisis.
Sam on February 14, 2017 · at 10:54 pm EST/EDT
@ james
They need to behave as if Hillary was elected.
Agreed, exactly right, James!
So pleased to find this commentary here after having felt pretty sick about this development ever since it was reported tonight. Very grim. Have always thought that Trump did not pick the right close advisors in the beginning to protect him in what they had to know was going to get ugly. Agree wholeheartedly with your assessment. I got nowhere earlier tonight trying to explain my similar take to a few friends and family members. Nothing is going to save the US from its fate in the 11th hour. I find myself sometimes thinking that the collective psyche in this country actually years for its own destruction.
RileyO on February 14, 2017 · at 8:50 pm EST/EDT
“collective psyche”, I wonder the same thing.
” the real enemy of the West: the Wahabis” ? these are the creation of the west. Saker, why not Israel? why not the ”zionists”?
Ann on February 14, 2017 · at 10:58 am EST/EDT
the Wahhabis are from Saudi Arabia – although that regime was set up by England, I don’t think the Wahhabis were made in the West…
Anonymous on February 14, 2017 · at 2:56 pm EST/EDT
That may be, but they were on the receiving of vast pots of excess USD courtesy of Kissingers’ creation of the USD monopoly over oil pricing/sales. A cynic would suggest that the subsequent rise of extremist jihadis was forseen and deemed to be useful for the US/Anglo-Zionist Deep State.
Just to give everyone a laugh. It seems that 250 of the most experienced Ukraine ATO forces have been sent to the Congo – to act as peacekeepers! Orwell is not only turning over in his grave, he is spinning sufficiently rapidly to give us free unlimited energy if we could only harness it.
Rolf B on February 14, 2017 · at 6:24 pm EST/EDT
“Orwell is not only turning over in his grave, he is spinning sufficiently rapidly to give us free unlimited energy if we could only harness it.”
Thank you sir, best comment of the year. :)
Yes my friends, this is a war and it’s gonna get ugly.
Things are not moving in the right direction.
Israel is also created by the west. The only enemy of the “west” is anybody that opposes them. See Iran, China, Russia, etc. Now enemies of the people, not crooked govs, is a different story. My enemy is NOT Russia, China, Iran but the Zionist…and wahabis.
Redford on February 14, 2017 · at 8:56 am EST/EDT
From what I read Trump was mad at Flynn for two reasons. First he thinks in retrospect that the immigration ban he was pushed to sign by his advisors was a botched legal job. I guess that includes Flynn. Second it seems Flynn did lie to Trump about this, and I can’t see this flyîg with Trump.
Key Trump assets are hiring/firing and negociating. Maybe Flynn wasn’t up for the job. I’ll wait to see who he picks instead before making any call.
“I’ll wait to see who he picks instead before making any call.”
The Saker is normally ‘strategically’ a few days/weeks late on response to tectonic shifts … here he seems disappointed and early.
For those of us with a HCIS (High Cynical Index Syndrome) Trump and his circus clowns were simply a lesser flop than Clinton and her criminal gang.
Different finger puppets in the kid’s burger: same business hand on the till(er), imo.
Happy to disagree with Saker this time – Trump is, thus far, a proven entity. He replaced his campaign director in his ” hopeless ” campaign with just 4 months left to election day with Bannon and Conway and they knocked it out of the park.
Trump has a good eye for talent and I am almost sure he’ll find someone like-minded as Kelly in relatively short order.
The good captain is revealed in the storm. Trump will do what he can. It’s up to us to set our jaws and move forward. OK – the deep state has declared war; Molon Labe.
Vsquared on May 25, 2017 · at 7:43 pm EST/EDT
im with you on this one, shame for the others for throwing Trump to the fire so quickly,, Have faith, the man is not stupid
Peter AU on February 14, 2017 · at 9:09 am EST/EDT
Watching the senate hearings for the Trump nominees – all nominees had to express aggression towards at least one country. The US has lived by the sword and will die by the sword.. Sooner the better.
ioan on February 14, 2017 · at 12:18 pm EST/EDT
Hi Peter, I’m glad to find you here again. Regarding the hearings, I have watched them also, my first impression was that they were like some Gestapo hearings in the Third Reich times. And as you said, everyone had to say something to satisfy the Committee in order to get their approval. Actually, all of them have been cornered.
Cynthia McKinney on February 14, 2017 · at 9:09 am EST/EDT
Flynn was already compromised by the very neocon elements of which you write: Michael Ledeen. Also, Flynn isn’t the only one who can serve unflinchingly in this position. But, the Trump team will have to look beyond the tight circle of ideologues with no governance experience in order to find a suitable replacement. And yes, I do have some suggestions.
If you’re indeed Cynthia McKinney, it’s an honor to read you here. Curious about your suggestions, although I’d probably know nothing about them initially.
Hey Cynthia !! Great and positive comment – I hope Trump can find his way – Saker’s article is pretty convincing and sad.
sarz on February 14, 2017 · at 12:18 pm EST/EDT
I have a feeling all that anti-Iran rhetoric, like the anti-Russia rhetoric by all of Trump’s candidates in their hearings (that Trump claimed was just them speaking their own mind, irrespective of his expressed core views), is for getting Trump’s team in place without too much resistance by his own Republicans who are, after all, sworn to the neocon/Zionist order. (Who would know that better than you, Dr McKinney?} That means Flynn’s participation in the book coauthored with Ledeen was perhaps a ruse. Sure, he could subscribe to the theoretical part that condemns Wahhabism in support of traditional Islam (as Ledeen, the neocon, would pretend to do, to look human). But the operative part took issue with not just Iran but also with Russia for their supposed support to ‘terrorism’. So it looks like the whole thing was for show. Trump could have stuck it out with support for Flynn. I think there might have been other considerations. (Flynn’s son was earlier an embarrassment with his pursuit of Pizzagate.) If the Saker has privileged knowledge about the critical and indispensable role of Flynn, now is the time to come out with it.
larry, dfh on February 14, 2017 · at 4:11 pm EST/EDT
If you really are THE Dr. Cynthia McKinney: Happy Valentine’s Day, Dearheart. I proudly voted for you, and would love to do so again.
Gunnar Sivertsen on February 14, 2017 · at 2:11 pm EST/EDT
Cynthia McKinney – I’d be interested in your suggestions.
JennyG on February 15, 2017 · at 2:46 pm EST/EDT
“I have been a neo-Marxist, a neo-Trotskyist, a neo-socialist, a neoliberal, and finally a neoconservative.” – Irving Kristol, Neo-Conservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea
Ledeen is featured in, “The power of nightmares” documentary, along with Irving Kristol, Bill Kristol, Wolfowitz, Perle, et al.
In the segment with Reagan, we are told the neoconservatives, cold warriors, first suggested Muslim “terrorists” were being used by the former USSR and that Reagan should take this seriously and not try to “talk” with Russians.
This is based on a book they all read and spread through Washington. The book was discredited by the CIA, because they claimed that what was in the book…were CIA fabrications, used as propaganda against communists and their sympathizers.
When Casey becomes head of the CIA, he is sympathetic to the neocon world view of “democracy spreading”, and dismisses the assessment of the case officers who discredited the book.
Casey convinces Reagan, to court these “muslim terrorists”, as they are religious(using religion to galvanize public support is a a straussian view). Communists being atheists, neocons suggest these Muslims would be more sympathetic to America’s religious freedom philosophy and false “democracy” spreading. “democracy” is not in the Declaration of Independence.
“To watch the courageous Afghan freedom fighters battle modern arsenals with simple hand-held weapons is an inspiration to those who love freedom.” Ronald Reagan
Wether or not Flynn was duping Ledeen, the neocons had a point man in the Trump administration, or Trump used Flynn to obtain support from the military and get elected by the same constituency the neocons duped(Irving Kristol, “Embracing the religious”) into fighting the “evildoers”, remains to be seen.
Given Flynn’s statements on Iran and as “Cynthia” suggests, perhaps you should take a look at, “the power of nightmares”, and listen to the words of Ledeen. The film was dubbed by critics as a “conspiracy theory”.
Adam Curtis originally intended to make a film about conflict within the conservative movement between the ideologies of neoconservative “elitism” and the more individualist libertarian factions. During his research into the conservative movement, Curtis discovered what he saw as similarities in the origins of the neoconservative and Islamist ideologies. The topic of the planned documentary shifted to these other two ideologies, with the libertarian element eventually being phased out.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_of_Nightmares
Crosley Bendix on February 14, 2017 · at 9:55 am EST/EDT
As usual, if someone wants to understand what is going on in the world, he should look up what Nasrallah has to say. Finkelstein knows the score: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpIYHXHQOzA
As I expressed under Redford (February 14, 2017 at 8:56 am UTC) I’ll wait to see the next move.
However, if as the Saker implies, Flynn was a key knight on Trump’s board then perhaps he now has other ‘duties’ and freedoms to work across certain lines. Russians leaving the military to ‘free lance’ in the south east corners of the Ukraine come to mind.
In any case, one step back is sometimes a strategic move for another day. And if such a screw up then why isn’t John F. Tefft taking some heat for letting the trap be set?
Trump is muddling along and his approach (so far) reminds me of Deng Xiaoping’s “crossing the river by feeling the stones” analogy.
The task of reforming the corrupt and evil saturated DC swamp can’t be any less complicated than transforming China out of state communism.
I suspect Putin et al are just shrugging their shoulders and knocking another green bottle of the wall.
And I would add, the counter argument to your neutered Trump, although I agree reasonable, is the clear signal that “You’re fired!” applies to all and everyone. I doubt Pence is 100% bullet proof, nor beyond sacrifice if needs be.
juliania on February 14, 2017 · at 4:22 pm EST/EDT
He can’t be fired, but he can be assigned other duties. A certain vp Quail comes to mind. Agnew, anyone?
Larchmonter445 on February 14, 2017 · at 6:28 pm EST/EDT
Taking down Agnew was the beginning of the end of Nixon.
That’s how coups work.
Carter: Hamilton Jordan
Reagan: Richard Allen
JFK: His brother was always in the gunsights.
Check your history and you’ll see the Deep State patterns.
Even Ike had ungodly pressure to drop Dulles.
Then “mistakes” overseas. And “false flags” to get the wars going big time.
Louis Robert on February 14, 2017 · at 10:07 am EST/EDT
REMINDER… “The dangerous deception called the Trump presidency.”
“I state clearly my conviction, and please recall this as Trump Presidency policies unfold after January 20, 2017 to see if I am correct or not: Donald Trump was put into office to prepare America for war, a war the banks of Wall Street and the US military industrial complex are not presently in a position economically or industrially or otherwise, geopolitically, to win. His job will be to reposition the United States for them to reverse the trend to disintegration of American global hegemony, to, as the Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz Project for the New American Century put it in their September, 2000 report, “rebuild America’s defenses.” ” (F. William Engdahl)
http://journal-neo.org/2016/11/25/the-dangerous-deception-called-the-trump-presidency/
In less than a month…
“With Trump broken, Russia and China will go right back to their pre-Trump stance: a firm resistance backed by a willingness and capability to confront and defeat the USA at any level.”
Empire is Empire is Empire…
Robert Ferrin on February 14, 2017 · at 2:38 pm EST/EDT
No all empires fall from Rome to Spain to England and we are in the final days of the empire, bankrupt with a stagnant GDP and a 100,000,000 unemployed and poverty on the rise.
For the first time since 1960 I didn’t bother to vote for the country is not governed by those we elect, but those in the shadows that pull the string’s as Chalmers Johnson said in his last book in the series” Dismantling The Empire” that it was “Americas Last Best Hope”, and I agree with the Saker that hope is gone and its going to be a very long rough ride to the bottom with wars and rumors of war…
Srbenda Legenda on February 14, 2017 · at 10:10 am EST/EDT
Thanks for the great post Mr Saker, insightful as always. Being of Serbian descent I never had a real interest in US politics as nothing would change when it came to our political interests, be they historically or morally correct.
Naturally I despised the Bushes, especially the Clintons and like many supported Trump despite never truly believing he would succeed. We truly are in a historical moment in time and I share your thoughts regarding the “Colour Revolution” currently under way in the US.
I appears the powers that be are positioning themselves to remove him from office and I sadly predict that President Trump will lose out to the establishment who are hell bent to see his agenda destroyed!
My optimism that President Trump would bring about true change has been shattered by his somewhat reluctance to challenge those enemies within his own “party” and administration.
Sadly I only see this going one way and that is with President Trump walking away from this position in the foreseeable future as it is obvious the enemies abroad and within are determined to see him removed. He’s clearly over his head and the establishment would happily see VP Pence and the Republican trash continue the neocon agenda and ultimately draw us that step closer to war and destruction.
I never thought I would share the sympathies with the American people but the recent elections have demonstrated clearly to the world that despite all the posturing and illusions, the US is far from being a beacon of hope, freedom and prosperity. I truly believe President Trump genuinely wishes to “MAGA” but the opposition is too strong and with Flynn’s resignation it’s clear his team are working covertly to sabotage his presidency.
For the sake of world peace I pray that President Trump succeeds but my heart tells me he will falter and step aside allowing the enemy to continue to policies of death, suffering and enslavement of the American people.
In finishing I share your views regarding the unfolding developments and wish you and your family safety and continued success with the site. My apologies for the long post
Il Discobolo on February 14, 2017 · at 10:12 am EST/EDT
All ok what written… but, if the stakes are so high, why were general Flynn and the Russian ambassador so naive?
Nathan on February 14, 2017 · at 10:22 am EST/EDT
Trump was brought in to trigger the world wide financial collapse and start war. Earlier Obama was brought in to the chant Hope and Change.
I would give it a maximum of 4 months time before the earth caves in.
Well you’re right about almost everything here Saker.
One slight quibble, I suggest Trump has always been setup man for a long planned US colour revolution, though I am fairly certain he was personally unaware of it, just as he was unaware he would win the election.
Nasrallah has it right. Trump is a limited character, a one term President at best. Most of us will be only too glad to be fooled again when Ms. Gabbard makes it to position 1 or 2 on the next Democratic Presidential ticket.
Democracy has always been a cloak for the oligarchy.
Suzanne Majo De Kuyper on February 14, 2017 · at 10:30 am EST/EDT
I hope that you may be wrong. it feels as if you are right. USA is over then for sure.
Stalin on February 14, 2017 · at 10:34 am EST/EDT
I always knew that hopes in Trump are baseless. I am actually happy about development, we already reach point where the war is the only escape, there’s no other way around. It does NOT mean we gonna have a nuclear war, Hitler could use chemical warfare during battle for Stalingrad. He didn’t use it., so neocons will not dare either, and if they do, well, a new beginning.
Well, Stalin, I confess I did have hope and still have some till Trump will meet Putin personally. (a few days ago, Putin said that he would meet Trump in Slovenia – that made to have some bad feelings)
If nothing positive comes out, then the war shall solve all the problems (as continuation of policy with other means…)
Stalin on February 14, 2017 · at 1:49 pm EST/EDT
I guess you heard that picture of Russian ambassador’s assassination won World Press Photo award.
Disgrace!, they deserve the war. They are spoil brats, they will cry like little children.
After all is done we send Chechen to clean the swamps.
Greg Schofield on February 14, 2017 · at 10:38 am EST/EDT
Another astute analysis from the Saker.
Trump is the periphery displacing the centre in a Corporate dictatorship, it is the same when the Grand Council of Fascism ousted Mussolini and arrested him, as Trump did to Hillary Clinton’s turn, but the real power exerts itself to reverse the decision.
Trump appeases because that is all that is allowed him, his victory was measured in days, and so perhaps was Obama’s. Probably there have been direct threats, this is common when anybody steps out of line with the empire, blackmail (based on real or fictitious evidence is also common), and bribes — these are not alternatives they come all at once. Being threatened, blackmailed and bribed is a common enough gangster’s tactic. Then of course there are the favours, the often fake evidence of misdeeds done by the closet allies, who ride to the rescue their own fifth column having prepared the way for them. None of this excuses Trump, he uses similar but milder tactics.
The weakness is leadership, relying on it, the saviour complex, that somehow someone will blaze the way forward and change things for us, the beaten and oppressed. It is not happening, either we take the initiative or we fix up the mess once the whole thing has exploded — we get all the danger and all the work no matter what.
I am an Australian, my country has been run by yours since 1975 after we enjoyed three years of Independence from the US and Britain, after ’75 we got US gangster-ism — no velvet glove. so my point of view is so-long as the empire collapses all is well. Trump was a faction, there is civil war in the US between the big and little barons. Let both destroy each other.
Trouble is when giants fight little people get squashed. The empire has been squashing people by the millions for half a century (and before that). So I have indifference as to who gets hurt, I just want it to stop. If the US people are the last victims, then so be it.
The alternative is that the people of the US do everyone a favour including themselves and take these fascists out. I use the term in its exact meaning as corporatism (where corporations and the state become a joint enterprise, fostering a class of managers in its wake). I also acknowledge something very few here have heard — this includes social fascists.
Back in the thirties there were right wing fascists and also left wing ‘social’ fascists, you might recognise this in George Orwell’s 1984. The fact is the liberals (social fascists par excellence) have buried this, while the militant right wing fascists have been distanced from brethren by being described as Nazis. Neo-Nazis are detestable, but strangely enough are not actually fascists so much as criminal gangs (there is a difference).
Left and right don’t make much sense when the enemy has its own left and right. So there are the corporatists (fascists ) and us, the people.
So without leaders the people need to push and push hard, otherwise the next lot of cannon fodder will be you, not the client states, but the home state of ultra-imperialism. You do the world a favour by doing yourself a favour.
My suggestion is open rebellion means unsuccessful slaughter, guns are not going to work. The common weapon sounds like a joke, and it is a joke as it now stands — the Law. Make the corporates subject to the law. And the first effort is not the corporates, but the judges — the judicial system needs to be purged first, and from the bottom up.
Look for corruption, look for tax evasion, conflicts of interests anything that should qualify a judgement for acting in the people’s interest and get rid of them. Never mind their sex lives, or opinions, just whether they would be fit to judge cases of corporate fraud, tax fraud, misappropriations of funds, running corporations against the interests of shareholder dividend payout, corruption etc.,
Start the pressure locally, start with the local collaborators, ignore the higher ups, get to them later. If you are right work with lefties if you’re a lefty work with right-wingers, work across the spectrum, but get the judges on the people’s side by getting rid of the others — not issue based politics, but on facts, those that hobnob with the local bigwigs instead of the people, of belonging to a club where where business does private deals.
Start doing the little things that will make local self-organisation possible and the key is not the police, not the politicians, but the judiciary. Gather evidence, and when it sufficient make it public and demand legal remedies, and if none come, then some direct action.
RMM on February 14, 2017 · at 3:37 pm EST/EDT
Your recommendations in the last para are wise. Unfortunately, Trump & team lack the required skill, and they thought they should go for the CIA first. So not, there they are: le bec dans l’eau as the French say…
RMM thanks. Trump could never provide what is needed. My view is that getting things right comes after getting rid of what is wrong. even if Trump was perfect with the perfect team and large coordinated popular support, he could not get things right, because of the attrition of the corrupt, and if these are ‘fixed’ politically rather than legally society suffers. New laws are basically a political fix.
Redeploying existing laws, applying them to corporate entities and gaoling offenders is how a civil society works. First reform the lower judiciary, they will deal with rather small corporate misdeeds, but they will arrest criminals, who will be systematically let off by higher courts, which makes them the target for coordinated reform.
The elimination of corrupt judiciary, the promotion of honest magistrates creates a dual power in the modern world, the old way was to organise force for a showdown, I am suggesting winning a war of attrition, not movement — they are weak there, anything else will be brutally suppressed.
Talks-to-Cats on February 14, 2017 · at 5:51 pm EST/EDT
Never mind their sex lives
@Greg Schofield —
Catastrophic mistake. Proof of sexual misconduct accumulated by the deep state makes it possible to dictate the votes &c. of Congress, decisions of judges and administrators, &c.
Without a one-time blanket amnesty — however morally revolting — deep state control of government will endure. If you want to end its control of the ship of state, you must remove its nuclear option : blackmail (threat of exposure/prosecution/bankruptcy/family impoverishment/dying in prison).
No way around this.
the whole Military Intelligence is rife with pedophilia and sodomy – I can’t imagine how Flynn avoided it – the whole top ranking guys are involved – watch video interview of Kay Griggs –
Flynn was probably blackmailed
Good point, but there are many types of amnesty. The first is the amnesty of tolerance, consenting adult sex mutual or professional, no matter how distasteful or strange, whether adulterous or not, should be considered private and off the table, but never kiddy-fiddling (actual rather than fictitious, in the real that is). Publication of tolerated sexual matters should be slammed, tolerance does not mean condoning, tolerance is what it says tolerating what is not condoned.
That is an amnesty that every civilised nation follows I can’t see why the US should not adopt it as it use to be the case. In Australia we tolerate a lot of things, ex prime minister Bob Hawke was a notorious womaniser a faithless husband, and his antics were a national laugh.
I also agree blackmail is one of the main weapons and sexuality is one of its mainstays. Its an puritanical extension of identity politics, I believe toleration is the amnesty. I think your logic and argument is correct.
Look at the other way, a corrupt person, rips off this person and that, they are a public menace. A corrupt judge that cheats on taxes, runs fictions companies, uses legal fictions to launder wealth is defrauding the public as a whole — it is a worse crime. By extension accepting bribes, favours, preferential treatment, corporate support is to provide inequality before the law, negate the whole purpose of the judiciary and again is a worse crime than tax fraud — it is at best a serious conflict of interest (serious enough for removal), but is usually the accepted method of tilting the judicial system which is, with evidence, criminal. and all the evidence has to be is that judge has accepted favours and their judgements demonstrate his gratitude to the social network that provided the favour.
Against this a man whose marriage is happy, but sexually disaster, visits prostitutes or keeps a mistress, or has fathered a child, is as is nothing — if only it was tolerated whilst terrible crimes are tolerated instead. Flint’s water poisoning is not a scandal it is a criminal conspiracy that stemmed from a criminal neglect. Banks that seize homes that they purposefully overvalued and over-lent of which we have a mountain of documents to show this was done purposefully — the banks are the ones that should suffer, not those desperate to own a house and were sent to them, by Real Estate agents and developer.
A sea change in attitude, on really simple stuff, has a disproportional effect. And today that is actually easier to achieve than ever before. My advice is to go to the local churches and argue that their fixation on sex is producing untold evils in the world and their moral righteousness is being misdirected. A direct confrontation on theological grounds etc.,
Sorry for the rant your point has been taken on board well and truly.
Talks-to-Cats on February 15, 2017 · at 2:26 am EST/EDT
The first is the amnesty of tolerance, consenting adult sex mutual or professional, no matter how distasteful or strange, whether adulterous or not, should be considered private and off the table, but never kiddy-fiddling (actual rather than fictitious, in the real that is).
@Greg —
No rant at all. IMO this is the real elephant in the political livingroom. People are coming to understand who the orcs are, how they operate and what their objective is. They can be mentioned now without everything melting down in a storm of terror.
But that they have the whole US government, industry and military (pardon the expression) “by the balls” is not known so well. Nor is it appreciated that no necessary change can be expected to gain political traction so long as this iron control continues.
The trial balloon figure of 30% compromised is probably a gross underestimate. And we are not talking about marital infidelities with secretaries or “escorts” but romping with adolescents (both sexes but apparently boys are their favorites —
http://educate-yourself.org/tg/franklincoverupexcerptwashtimesphoto.shtml
Franklin/Boys Town scandal, Sandusky/Penn State, pizzagate, et al.)
This may not be the place for it but, if not, where ? The “Age of Consent” to sexual relations in the early US varied, but was often put at 9 years of age (this when puberty occurred around age 17-18). I see this as no evidence of moral turpitude, but of hard-nosed realism. It was human nature (as you have the moral decency to note) that people were going to get up to stuff like that, and there was no need to make bigger issue of it than it was. If it stirred popular outrage, the perpetrator could expect to be lynched or, where I grew up, shot “in a tragic accident” during hunting season when he was in the woods. People took care of their own problems. And gravely mistrusted the judicial system where the ability of wealth and connections (business relationships and funny handshakes) all but guaranteed impunity.
We now take it for granted (see Goebbels on the power of simple repetition to create “public opinion”) that sex between an adolescent and an adult is the single worst moral outrage imaginable. In reality (I came to understand it inside the criminal justice system during 20+ years of working in it), making this a criminal offense, with the age of consent raised to 18 (completely ridiculous with puberty now happening in elementary school and given the “sexualization” of children by the orc media) was a strategic coup by the prison-industrial complex. By legally re-defining this as RAPE (!) and the perpetrator as a RAPIST (!) — well, repeat this often enough in court with an adolescent well coached by the childrens’ services caseworker to see herself as a VICTIM who was GROOMED by him (when the actual dynamics of the situation were often the other way around), and a conviction was a prosecutor’s easiest victory in an average month. Not to mention that the threat of sentence piling (pioneered during the Nixon years — prosecuting the same offense as as many separate crimes as possible, with sentences running consecutively) all but guaranteed “plea bargains” without even the expense or inconvenience of a trial.
Prisons love(d) this, as (except for homosexual pederasts) “sex offenders” (almost 100% White for some strange reason) are the most easily managed demographic of all. If a state prison (or private one) could house 2,500 of them, it could operate with a staff of, probably,10 guards per 8-hour shift.
Now, with the MSM and academia having turned sex with adolescents into the new “forbidden fruit,” the appeal of it to the idle imaginations of the susceptible is multiplied. The whole thing stinks to high heaven of rank hypocrisy, human exploitation and lives ruined by a system that exploits human frailties as profit & control opportunities.
Now I am ranting, so will stop here. Noting that there is a LOT more that needs to be said on this.
Once again, Saker was right…
And I was wrong.
I feel terribly ill this morning. It’s a disaster. Especially when I read, with horror, that Trump consider …. PETRAEUS(!!!!!!!!) for the job!! It’s amazing.
Why not Nuland or Kagan as State Secretary and Breedlove as Defens Secretary?
And what’s about Bannon? I can’t imagine that and Trump and Bannon are both totaly stupid and unaware.
Engdhal and Brandon Smith, for month and month warn that Trump is a fake from head to toes. Are they right.
If it is, we’ll soon see new tension with Russia and especially in Donbass. And if it’s true, we’ll see mainstream medias becoming very nice indulgent with Trump. Then, all the “liberals” and “progressists” who are shouting everywere again “Trump the fascist” will soon realise they’re cuckold, the medias batteries will now turn against them and they will very soon test what is the true fascism.
It’s a tragedy.
If Trump is sincere, without Flynn to protect him against the services, he’s dead.
If Trump is a fake…
Katherine on February 14, 2017 · at 7:03 pm EST/EDT
I wonder whether it all depends on how fast a learner Trump turns out to be.
Not the best circumstances for learning.
But it looks like there is no other option.
Franz on February 14, 2017 · at 8:22 pm EST/EDT
Trump is the perfect President for America – ignorant, arrogant and lost – but sensing that something is not right. I am at peace since my father always told me: “Remember, even the best of them are snakes.”
WizOz on February 14, 2017 · at 11:03 am EST/EDT
Saker’s frustration is understandable. Seeing your hopes dashed is always painful. But the few Cassandras (yours truly among them) who had no hope whatsoever that anything good can possibly come out from making “America great again” kept their calm. We took the cold shower and puked in advance. ‘We told you so’ and in no uncertain terms:
William Engdahl (“The Dangerous Deception Called The Trump Presidency”):
“The project called the Trump Presidency has just two months before its formal beginning. Yet already the hopes and fantasies of much of the world are making him into something and someone Donald Trump most definitely is not. Donald Trump is yet another project of the same boring old patriarchs who try again and again to create a one world order that they control absolutely, a New World Order that one close Trump backer once referred to as universal fascism. Ignore the sometimes fine rhetoric in some of his speeches. Talk is cheap. If we consider rather the agenda that’s taking form even in these very early days of cabinet naming, we can see that Donald Trump is the same agenda of war and global empire as Obama, as Bush before him, as Bill Clinton and Clinton’s “tutor”, George H.W. Bush before him. There is no good side to what the world is about to experience with President Trump.”
And people refuse to see the elephant trumping through the rooms of the Trump Tower (and now of the White House), blinded by the ‘glamour’ of Ivanka or the ‘Sois belle et tais-toi’ Melanie (excuse my French).
But we keep calm because we are sure that if amateur analysts could see through the fog of deception, the Russians saw it long before. Be sure that all counter-measures are in place.
José Carlos Vieira Filho on February 14, 2017 · at 11:56 am EST/EDT
Zumwalt, F35, and now Oroville Dam.
Red Ryder on February 14, 2017 · at 6:37 pm EST/EDT
You left off the Gerald Ford carrier.
But it is all part of Exceptionalism.
Olli on February 14, 2017 · at 12:23 pm EST/EDT
Remember that Trump has still plenty of options left. The fate of the US or, for that matter, of the world does not depend on mr Flynn whose judgement has shown so wanting that he would not have been the person to take down the bad elements among CIA et al anyhow. I trust in Trump’s fighting spirit and resilience, and I expect general Flynn’s resignation just to be a jump start to take on neocon elements in US governement and intelligence community seriously and, this time, hard and harsh. With whom in the lead, I don’t know, but remember that the US is a vast country with lots of folk competent and willing to accept the job of draining the intelligence part of the swamp.
As Pepe wrote, “The Swamp Strikes Back.”
Stavros Hadjiyiannis on February 14, 2017 · at 12:47 pm EST/EDT
Even though I respect The Saker’s opinion to a very high degree, I will have to disagree with some of the assertions made here.
But first of all, allow me to begin with what I agree with. This is no doubt a major victory for the neocons, the Deep State and the EU. This is a loss for Russia and the USA.
But, I’m not sure that Trump is done and dusted. From what I realize, Flynn did in fact breach protocol and the Deep State found a perfect opportunity to go on the offensive. It’s still within Trump’s power to appoint one of his own to replace Flynn. We’ll see.
But my main disagreement with The Saker is this. Trump (and his backers, themselves a minority within the Deep State) is not interested in cutting a deal with Russia due to any concerns about Wahabism, the neocons or any other such. Trump’s reason for wanting to withdraw the US from the NATO-GCC-ISR attack on Russia, was because he wanted to divert US power and energies against China and Iran. Trump also believes that the US is not getting anything out of its unconditional support for the EU and wanted to rearrange America’s posture.
The neocons, neoliberals and Eurocrats who oppose Trump so vehemently, believe that the EU project is sacrosanct (because it weakens and undermines Russia) that Iran should be brought on their side and used against Russia (only the most Zio-fanatics are not find of this proposition) and that China can only be faced down after Russia has been annihilated. If Russia cannot be defeated, then China must only be militarily contained (so that the PRC does not turn towards Russia in a serious way) and the “Free World” can only hope that China may collapse under its own contradictions. For the US Deep State, Russia must be fought against to the most bitter end, and on this, the Europeans are in enthusiastic agreement.
We’ll see how this turns out, but this development is nothing but deeply worrying. It would be stupid to sugarcoat this.
Baerlas on February 14, 2017 · at 12:47 pm EST/EDT
I always thought that “The Empire was, is and will be the Empire” and the president is merely the figurehead of this very Empire. That was obvious president after president, “beautifully depicted” by president Obama. To really make any changes you’d need a revolution which is totally outside the mental conceptions of Western peoples today, last not least lacking leading figures who could organize the people. Similarly, dreaming about Trump changing the world for a better one was an illusion right from the start. These who have always driven this ship along will, of course, now drive Trump. So… apart from a lot of shallow noise, what has changed? Nothing. And if that is correct it is still the better solution of whatever might be in the offing.
_smr on February 14, 2017 · at 12:56 pm EST/EDT
Trump is a trickster.
His job is not to make America great again – an impossible task anyway, as the Masonic project ‘America as the New Atlantis’ was a con job from the get go and was, like any film set, built primary as an eye candy and for temporarily use only.
The ZWO needed the USA as the launch pad, staging ground and propaganda central for almost resistance-less military-industrial subjection of the vast, still virgin goy-lands sprinkled all over planet Earth.
Who cared about the enslavement of South America, Africa, South East Asia, Bolshevik Russia, Maoist China as long Hollywood kept spinning out blockbuster after blockbuster, as long as NASA made everybody proud with their staged moon landings, as long as CIA lifetime actors like Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Jack Nicholson, Ernest Hemingway, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk dazzled our eyes and minds with magic too good to be true.
Now that the project is almost complete and the USA bankrupt beyond repair, the ZWO faces the tricky task of ushering in a rougher phase, while making sure the blame doesn’t fall on them, but on conspiracy theorists!, Nazis!, White Supremacists!, Fake News bloggers!, sexists!, racists! and what not.
That is where Trump comes in. All he has to do is to upset the apple cart. Saying some right words at wrong time. And some wrong things at the right time. Taking the wrong decisions at appropriate moments. Playing the joker not once, but again and again.
This is the best we can hope for now. And Trump – Inshallah! – will deliver.
Mairon on February 14, 2017 · at 12:56 pm EST/EDT
I was always cautiously optimistic about Trump. My expectations of his were rather modest. Of course, the very first thing that recommended him was the simple fact he is not Hillary. The second, perhaps, was his unortodox approach and what seems (still in the present, I think) to be a genuine desire to shake the establishment currently pulling the string in Washington.
He had some profound statements that were previously unthinkable from any US President (we’ll stop toppling regimes).
Taking all of that into consideration, and assuming that Trump has been sincere, there was always a huge problem for him: he is completely alone. He has no reliable allies to help him even start the battle with the power elite governing the US.
From his first day in office, it was clear they were going to oppose him at every step and Trump has little or no means to fight back.
I generally appreciate and agree with the Saker, but I think he is overly pessimistic here.
In my view, Trump has already showed to be willing to fight, but the resistance is too great for one man to handle. And Trump is, more or less, alone.
Willam B Travis on February 16, 2017 · at 1:37 am EST/EDT
Well said, Mairon.
J.L.Seagull on February 14, 2017 · at 1:00 pm EST/EDT
Can we get some name recognition for the Russians who were comparing Trump to Yanukovich from the start? Who were they?
ALex on February 14, 2017 · at 1:08 pm EST/EDT
You mean Trump is “White People’s Obama” ?
realist on February 14, 2017 · at 1:10 pm EST/EDT
It is naive from the get go to think that Trump will undo the Neocons’ agenda that started since 911! Trump from the beginning should have made sure the backings of the majority of the American people including the immigrants, remain neutral on Muslim issues, Russia, any policies that the fake liberals would have reason to antagonize him with, in order to minimize protests against him, like the fake Obama and Clintons. Once elected, he could then implement his policies. His administration and presidency campaign may have been sabotaged from the get go so that they have reason to blame him with afterwards.
Flynn resigned during PM Abe’s visit and when N Korea fired the missiles. Could these be the reason for his resignation instead of Russia?
cortisol on February 14, 2017 · at 1:31 pm EST/EDT
Look at the cuckold Trudeau and Trump meeting. Look at Trump when he is being forced to talk for the feminist agenda after 03:00. Just awful. This is total humiliation. He’s finished.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqkb-sJ31S4
Francisco Almeida on February 14, 2017 · at 1:34 pm EST/EDT
I deeply admire and respect The Saker.
But I think this time you rushed into final conclusions , while the game is just in its first few shots.
Trump still has infinite ammo : he can replace the hell out of whoever he wants to.
He won’t behave as a loser and cower down.
There’ll be counter-attacks , plenty I believe.
He’s calling the shots, not the neo-cons.
Mattis clearly states he hates wars, and … he is not a traitor ; he was put there to shield Trump – and he obviously agreed – while “barking war” for domestic consumption towards keeping quiet the warmonger crowd.
Smokes and mirrors game.
I think the core plan is still in place.
I don’t always agree with the Saker, but this time I do. The resignation of Flynn suggests that he was pushed out by the neocons and that Trump was unable – not unwilling – to prevent the push. Flynn’s lie, or cover-up is neither here nor there; it’s not the reason he had to resign. Trump has been left relatively isolated within his own administration. Unless he sacks some key figures, he will be politically vulnerable. So, Flynn’s departure is probably a sign of things to come: more neo-conservativism, more empire building, and more neoliberalism: back to the Washington Consensus – which never really disappeared.
“The resignation of Flynn suggests that he was pushed out by the neocons and that Trump was unable – not unwilling – to prevent the push. ”
I agree with this.I don’t have evidence.
But I think there must be more to the story.
As for the telephone call, so what? What about the Iran-Contra meetings in Paris that sank Carter by getting a promise out of the Iranians not to free the hostages until Reagan was being sworn in?
Same deal. Has anyone toldTrump about that?
Why not just say: Hey, there is no difference, guys! If that was OK, so was Flynn’s call to Russia to say “hello, and we plan to be friends wijoo.”
What is, actually, wrong with that?
There must be some other pressure on Trump.
This is probably Trump’s last chance to get a powerful loyalist near him.
He has made it easy for his enemies on the left and right with the Bannon appointment, immigration ban, and wild words re Iran, etc.
XL on February 14, 2017 · at 1:46 pm EST/EDT
*puts on tinfoil hat
Didnt Flynn accuse Hillary Clinton of being involved in chip trafficking around the time of the Pizzagate shooter? I’ve also read that the new media face of the Trump campaign, Stephen Miller is somehow involved with the nonsense going on behind the scenes in the WH. Is it possible these things are related?
Astraea on February 14, 2017 · at 1:49 pm EST/EDT
Trump’s daughter Ivanka and his son in law Jared Kushner are apparently Lubavitch Jews. That seems even more relevant to Trump’s weakness than Pence or anything much else. It was a group of Lubavitch rabbis who persuaded George Bush Junior to sign the so called “Noahide Laws” into American Law – which I find astounding, to put it mildly.
These so called “laws” demand the beheading of all people who practice “idolatry” . According to them I think the only religion on Earth which does not allow any kind of idolatry is Islam (perhaps also the Jains). Christianity definitely, according to these sinister people, practices idolatry in the form of The Cross and pictures of Jesus and so forth.
There have been rumors for years now about “fema camps”, but there are also photographs and videos of long white painted trains with UN painted on the sides. They are three storied carriages or cabooses with flat beds in between every few of these. Someone got into these carriages, years ago, and said that there are metal benches in them with ankle irons fixed to the floors.
On the flat beds guillotines were seen – “made in China”.
Which all makes my blood run cold. These Lubavitch really are as sinister as the original Levites!
A friend of mine who was in the Secret Service told me that, some years ago, they discovered a tank the “Jewish Defense League” had hidden in a warehouse in Philadelphia.
WizOz on February 14, 2017 · at 10:39 pm EST/EDT
@Ivanka and his son in law Jared Kushner are apparently Lubavitch Jews.
They definitely are.That was a ‘secret’ only to the extent that nobody wanted to see it, although the sickening details were all over the place:
“Trump was raised Presbyterian. Before her wedding, in July 2009, after studying for over a year with Rabbi Elie Weinstock from the Modern Orthodox Ramaz School, she converted to Orthodox Judaism and took the Hebrew name “Yael”. She describes her conversion as an “amazing and beautiful journey” and that her father supported her studies from day one, due to his respect for the Jewish religion. She attests to keeping a kosher diet and observing the Jewish Sabbath, saying in 2015: “We’re pretty observant… It’s been such a great life decision for me… I really find that with Judaism, it creates an amazing blueprint for family connectivity. From Friday to Saturday we don’t do anything but hang out with one another. We don’t make phone calls.”Trump sends her daughter to kindergarten at a Jewish school in New York City. She says that “It’s such a blessing for me to have her come home every night and share with me the Hebrew that she’s learned and sing songs for me around the holidays.” (Wikipedia)
“Trump vowed to be an advocate for women and Israel. Regarding her father’s support for Israel, Trump said he would be “an unbelievable champion for Israel and for the Jewish people. You will not be disappointed.”@http://www.algemeiner.com/2016/10/28/ivanka-trump-at-florida-synagogue-my-father-called-before-jewish-high-holidays-and-said-you-better-pray-hard-for-me/
“The biblical story of Esther is an imperfect allegory for the Trump family, but as for Ivanka, the comparison isn’t half bad. Esther is a Jewish woman who conceals her identity when she becomes the bride of a powerful king. It is only when she reveals who she is that she can save the Jewish people from an evil adviser plotting their destruction.
Like Esther, Ivanka might appear to be nothing more than a pretty face until she shows that she’s the savviest person in the room. Like Esther, Ivanka has a familial, almost accidental position of influence with a powerful gentile political figure. And like Esther, Ivanka’s Jewishness is veiled: Something she describes as an important part of her identity and family life—she’s an Orthodox convert, but she rarely agrees to talk about her faith—is essentially invisible to those who don’t know it’s there”.She’s the Orthodox daughter of David Duke’s favorite candidate for president—and a perfect cipher for the anxiety of assimilation.@https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/09/what-should-american-jews-make-of-ivanka-trump/498476/ So much for David Duke!
“Ynetnews reports: Businesswoman Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner have purchased a home in Washington DC in preparation for President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration. As a practicing Jewish couple, their impending move also necessitated joining a local synagogue. They Chose TheSHUL, a small synagogue run by international the Chabad Jewish community and outreach organization.
Rabbi Levi Shemtov heads TheSHUL, which has a congregation of 40 – 60 members, among them former senator Joe Lieberman, current Secretary of Treasury Jack Lew as well as several former ambassadors and Israeli dignitaries”.
It was never so ‘in your face’.
Other overlooked detail: ‘World’s Largest Jewish Center in Dnepropetrovsk’, ‘Dnepropetrovsk could be renamed – Jerusalem-on-the-Dnieper’
Would Trump abandon Ukraine?
WizOz on February 15, 2017 · at 3:42 am EST/EDT
@you included?
No, not me.
eric calderone on February 14, 2017 · at 1:53 pm EST/EDT
I essentially agree with the premise that the conflict between the Establishment and Trump is basically over Trump being elected as someone who didn’t rise through, and was not acculturated in a conventional Establishment political milieu. I further agree that Flynn’s resignation represents an important Establishment victory. However, the notion that Donald Trump represented the last chance to avert a major US meltdown, that he aspired to significantly change the path our capitalist system is pursuing, is quite frankly, hyperbole. You endow Donald Trump with undeserved importance.
Donald Trump does not represent now, nor did he ever, a challenge to the prevailing neo-liberal system. Even if he had parried Establishment’s previous challenges, or goes to ultimately push back successfully against existing and future challenges to his policies, there will not be a historical, significant change to ruling class domestic policies. Any alteration in US foreign policies, would be selective, and would not persist in the long term. Donald Trump, for all his idiosyncrasies, is very much a ruling class individual, possessing ruling class ideology.
Reorganization of the national security agencies, relegating the power of the CIA to the Executive, bringing some measure of common sense to America’s foreign policies vis a vis the Russian Federation, pulling back on America’s bloated and unsustainable military engagements, while welcome, would not amount to a material and long-term change to the nature of the American system and its empire.
Working people would have lived, and will still live, in a society with inadequate and worsening healthcare, housing, education, and public infrastructure,;and with declining unionization rates and collective bargaining power in the workplace. They would and will still pay taxes to a government which would expend those funds on a gargantuan and growing military budget; and on assistance to giant corporations. They would and will continue to be indoctrinated by a government and mass media with neo-liberal and bourgeois ideology. Nothing critical would have, or will change, under a Donald Trump administration.
Foreign policy is shaped by the economic nature of the beast. America under Donald Trump, or any other candidate of the “two” party system, in the long-term must pursue policies which continue to inject excess revenue into the system. That revenue represents value extracted from other countries. Otherwise, the economic engine of the US will not expand, and the system will soon collapse upon itself. Inevitably, the dynamic of the system engenders conflict with any foreign power or powers which stand in its way. That is why any lessening of conflict with Russia or China or any other major actor on the world stage would be purely temporary, and selective in nature.
Donald Trump was no one’s last hope. Don’t bestow upon him a significance he does not deserve.
blue on February 14, 2017 · at 8:04 pm EST/EDT
In other words, Trump is not of the crazies in the basement, but one the crazies on the main floor, as we had before GW Bush.
The only solution looks to me to be distributed leadership (real anarchy — no chiefs) and not looking for ‘leaders’ and ‘heroes’ to save the day. It has parallels with using relational (table driven) databases instead of the older hierarchical databases — a different model of organization.
Unfortunately, most people can’t yet conceive of or understand how this works on large scale — although they use it all the time among a group of friends which do things by consensus, and some people do it in worker-run businesses (which often takes a lot of adjustment for people to get the hang of).
Monty Pythons explains:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOOTKA0aGI0
Dennis The Constitutional Peasant
Texac in Donbass on February 14, 2017 · at 2:01 pm EST/EDT
This is an excellent article. Very realistic and precise. The thin hopes on Trump just got “wafer thin”, and it looks like we will all be in for a ride. So be it. Better to face the sad truth than fool ourselves. GREAT analysis, I will share.
Hi, Texac
Please deliver kindest and warmest regards to people in Donbass.
Greetings, and thanks and for work,
And perhaps it was never really about hope, but about many people just just keeping on working — and if one wants some hope one can find it in all those people who do.
Robert Draco on February 15, 2017 · at 1:40 am EST/EDT
In consolation to Mike Flynn leaving take a look at this:
Why Mike Flynn leaving was actually good for Trump by ex-CIA Robert Steele…..(not just a paper pusher he was actually clandestine for 10 of his years in intelligence work)
—Robert Steele: Dick Cheney, Not Donald Trump, Orchestrated Firing of Mike Flynn. Flynn Deserved to Be Fired, But Not for Talking to Russians—-
http://phibetaiota.net/2017/02/robert-steele-dick-cheney-not-donald-trump-orchestrated-firing-of-mike-flynn-flynn-deserved-to-be-fired-but-not-for-talking-to-russians/#more-123958
apna on February 15, 2017 · at 4:38 am EST/EDT
Duck Cheney is a known spy working for england.
He is an English asset for serving interest of england and anglosaxon cabal of 5 evil eyes.
I also want to mention the fantastic new book by the Legendary Dmitri Orlov – and an see why he is spoken of as legendary.
It is called “Shrinking the Technocracy.” Not to read this book would be a great loss.
Il Discobolo on February 14, 2017 · at 2:14 pm EST/EDT
Let me be clear.
If it is true that It is illegal for private citizens to conduct US diplomacy (as BBC writes), then the past December Flynn-Russia’s ambassador Kislyak phone conversation should not occur anyway before he was officially appointed National Security Adviser.
Considering the hysterical activity and agitation of the neocons/deep state and their russophobia, they would not loss any minimal pretext to attack Trump and his collaborators.
The question is: was the ambassador aware of that? With no clear benefits from such early talk, it should have appeared as a possible trap, planted for a “delayed” explosion. As indeed it has been.
The results is that now Flynn had to resign… And Kislyak?
Lars on February 14, 2017 · at 2:17 pm EST/EDT
The problem is that Flynn lied on the highest level. It’s not a problem to have a phone conversation with the Russians or be Russian friendly. The problem is when you claim it hasn’t happened. Flynn should’ve known better. His resignation is not a sign of the deep state taking over, but a logic consequence after breaking the trust.
He didn’t claim it didn’t happen, and he didn’t break any trust. As said at the Duran, it’s a concoction — a pretense. The main purpose of the call was apparently to start arrangements between Trump and Putin and get some conversation started, and there’s nothing wrong with that — except for the ‘neo’-crazies who insist on making Russia an enemy. This accusation is abut the same as accusing Russia of invading Crimea. There is a technical term for it in political science: horse-s**t.
It isn’t the deep state trying to take over, BTW, but one of the factions therein. The US is in a political (and cultural) civil war.
Gunnar Sivertsen on February 15, 2017 · at 6:22 am EST/EDT
I agree. Flynn’s “crime” was to talk to the Russians in terms of winding down Cold War II with Russia. His resignation is merely a symptom of the power struggle within the White House between various shades of neocons and ambitious individualists of various creeds and colours. One thing we don’t hear much about is Trump’s link with Henry Kissinger – the octogenarian warrior may yet give Trump some good advice.
Jeff Chiacchieri on February 14, 2017 · at 2:20 pm EST/EDT
I have been saying to everyone I know and posting on FB since Hillary entered the race it looks to me like the globalists could get more of what they want faster with Trump in the Whitehouse than with Hillary because they would have a better chance at destroying/blaming the liberty movement for the fiscal/social collapse planned. The only way to prevent the new administration from avoiding its promise to return power to the people is pro-liberty Americans opposing elected officials that were never drained from the swamp when they embrace globalism for the globalist plan abandoning pro-liberty legislation. How long can President Trump, his administration and America continue to endure so much subversion? There are endless criminal corrupt globalist organizations behind endless subversion’s openly against America/Trump
• CFR & Foundations behind the U.N. Agenda’s 21/2030/2050
• EU parliament
• Planned Parenthood
• All population control organizations
• George Soros and everything he funds
• The leaders of the global warming/climate change movement
• The mainstream media in the West that are controlled by global elites.
• The LGBT/feminist movements backed by the U.N..
• American public education institutions.
• The Vatican using Pope Francis openly laying the groundwork for a moral and religious case in favor of population control, all for totalitarian world government control
• The world’s largest corporations and multi-billionaires
• Militant Islam
• All of Obama’s Czars and thousands of other globalists like Obama working openly and not openly subverting America.
@Jeff Chiacchieri
Very good points !
Aquinnah Knight on February 14, 2017 · at 2:22 pm EST/EDT
Stay in denial that this is a spiritual war, and you shall continue your quixotic attempts at forming order out of the imminent chaos, which is the persona of all ends of eras. The Saker’s true Vineyard is Israel, and its impending Tribulation; for now, all ex-pat Israelis are draft dodgers from the coming onslaught.
I am predicting ~300 comments in this post by tomorrow, and a false flag or even a war before French election.
If Vassarionevich says so, then I believe so. :)
Vissarionovich – fk mod
Folks, think about it, Trump’s campaign had a hole in it from the beginning; the contradiction of Russia Vs Israel. The relationship between those two nations is paradox: Russia contradicts what Israel wants in the ME. Trump can’t be pro Russia and pro Israel at the same time. If he supports Israel fully, he has to oppose Russia’s involvement in Syria and Iran. Besides, The encirclement of Russia by NATO also involves Zionists. The irony is that, most Jews in Israel come from Russia and yet, they antagonize Russia. Is being anti Russia from the beginning the work of Zionists or the West? Hope some here can answer this for me. Who benefits from being Anti Russia? I believe Zionists and the West may have huge benefit from elliminating Russia so that they can scramble Russia’s resource and land.
That being said, Trump’s base is his supporters, unless they come out in full force to protect him and make neocons back off, he will further be controlled by the Neocons and Zionists. Already, Trump is backing on issues such as One China policy, not having US embassy in Jerusalem (probably a signal for Zionists to oust Trump) .
Hmm on February 14, 2017 · at 2:58 pm EST/EDT
The problem of firing/getting rid of someone for being “too pro-russian” is that this empowers anti-russian paranoia, Mccartism, and you never know who is next. This is a field day for those looking for russians under the beds.
Trump is an idiot because he endangered himself, as he too can be seen as “too pro russian”. He could be next. If Flynn lost his post for being too pro-russian, why not Trump too? He could be next.
Bro 93 on February 14, 2017 · at 4:17 pm EST/EDT
The deplorables don’t want war and on some level (sex, “Christian values”) respect Putin as a straight shooter and despise all of our crooked arrows when they make any comparison.
If Trump had not said what he said about Russia and Putin during the campaign, he never would have gotten 10% as far as he got.
You can’t be afraid of your shadow. If you are, you’re just a dead man walking, and you may as well jump into your grave and pull the lid over your coffin.
Keep pushing on “Russia is OK with me”……the McCarthy record is already severely scratched and is even a broken record with a lot of Americans, and it’s becoming a sad joke to many of them. They’re sick of those pulling this mind control chain. It’s ridiculous, and more and more Americans realize it every day. Escalate till the chains break on many millions more, whose minds have been weak enough to put up with this nonsense for far too many decades.
Dr. Lothar Ziegler Stuttgart/Germany on February 14, 2017 · at 2:59 pm EST/EDT
That is a very very bad news. I am a german. The West is finished. No hope, no hope …
ioan on February 14, 2017 · at 9:01 pm EST/EDT
Don’t be so pessimist, the Red Army will come and liberate you
vot tak on February 14, 2017 · at 3:02 pm EST/EDT
The trump regime really should be called the pence regime, since it is obvious now that pence manages it and trump is mostly the “showman” mouth and face.
The conversation of flynn and the Russian ambassador being the cause seems to me to be a phony reason. I speculate the real reason is something else. It could be about Russian relations, in which case, maybe flynn was actually more open to warming these, and pence/trump were not (trump having lied). They had a disagreement and flynn left.
It also could be about something else entirely, other policies flynn was tasked to work on, even a personality clash between flynn and pence.
It is also possible the israelis ordered flynn’s resignation for reasons unknown by me. They’ve done this before, and this whole scenario has a strong deja vu feel. Remember Andrew Young? They got him fired in almost the exact same manner, hyping a conversation he had with a Palestinian in their zio-gay media and forcing carter to fire him. Only in Young’s case, mossad spied on him and leaked info about Young’s meeting with Palestinians to the zio-gay media.
Perhaps mossad has something on flynn, they certainly spied on him. Regardless, perhaps they found out something, not necessarily to do with Russia, they didn’t like. With zionazis, pet goys have to be 100% unequivocally loyal or they’re out.
You know where is Netanyahu right now ? in Washington, wanting to meet with Trump.
vt – didn’t you ever see the video interviews of Kay Griggs ? Military Intelligence Wife Whistleblower – look it up –
Flynn must be involved in some of that cult stuff – its really bad – no one wants to hear about it but there’s so much pedophilia of young princes – Saudis – and then they are forever silenced – and Flynn being where he is in the Military Intelligence community – must have at least known it was going on…
He’s a creep and we’re fortunate he’s gone.
John on February 14, 2017 · at 3:09 pm EST/EDT
It’s just a dispute between 2 factions of the Zionist empire with Trump representing the more cautious faction. It is good he has been defeated this way so all the fools who think he could make any deals will have those illusions crushed. Even if his faction made deals they would be broken the second his faction is pushed out of power anyway, so such deals are worthless, just like the NATO pact not moving east.
T.C. on February 14, 2017 · at 3:10 pm EST/EDT
Michael Flynn resigned late on Monday after revelations he had discussed U.S. sanctions on Russia with the Russian ambassador to the United States before Trump took office and misled Vice President Mike Pence about the conversations.
“It’s obvious that Flynn was forced to write the letter of resignation under a certain amount of pressure,” Leonid Slutsky, head of the lower house of parliament’s foreign affairs committee, was quoted as saying by the RIA news agency.
Flynn was a strong advocate for the need for softer foreign policy toward Russia and his departure could slow Trump’s pledge to improve relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“The target was Russia-U.S. relations, undermining confidence in the new U.S. administration,” Slutsky said, without specifying who he thought was responsible. (MORE)
https://goo.gl/8mJ1P0
Peace loving Japanese on February 14, 2017 · at 3:12 pm EST/EDT
With all respect, I think the Saker blogger had been little too much in his optimism for late few months.
Trump is not gone tonight, but was gone when he turned his words, in admitting “Russians were meddling with the election” right after the brief conference of intelligence agency.
That was the very moment he surrendered. Not tonight.
I was giving up on him since then.
Lately he did associate with our awful dictator Shinzo Abe, why?
As long as he’s “asked”, not by Abe, but by the people who can tell what to do to Trump.
Alan on February 14, 2017 · at 3:15 pm EST/EDT
Quite opposing view to Saker at UNZ by Philip Giraldi (Article: Two Uninspiring Choices http://www.unz.com/pgiraldi/two-uninspiring-choices/). He thinks of Flynn rather differently. He says that “Michael Flynn the National Security Advisor and Nikki Haley as U.N. Ambassador unfortunately did manage to squeak through and will presumably be well placed to wreak havoc over the next four years”. Also the same day Elliott Abrams, the certified neocon is dismissed. This tells a lot. I tend to lean towards P.Giraldi. IMO it is NOT a “huge” victory for the neocon cabal but may be quite the contrary.
Yes, I agree. It is sometimes necessary to see the persons who have said they will support your policies in action. Not only shall I await further developments on the political scene, but also further analysis from Saker. He’s not above correcting his assumptions when and if that is needed, and this sudden techtonic shift in the powers that be does need further analysis. The press is rushing to interpret it one way, which has me very leery of theirs. Not for the first time.
Carmel by the Sea on February 14, 2017 · at 5:34 pm EST/EDT
Thank you so much for link. Philip Giraldi has always been one of those I admire greatly.
Mulk on February 14, 2017 · at 3:23 pm EST/EDT
Good thing too. Trump is a efin’ disaster.
I despise a possible president Pence, but to have someone stable at the US rudder would make me feel just a bit better. Trump is a train wreck running through more and more houses. People think they can control him, but they can’t. He wants to be in control, or look like he is, even though he has no idea of what he is doing. You can explain stuff to him, but he won’t listen or just doesn’t understand. He’s no genious, not even a business one. He is heading for tragedy.
Marek on February 14, 2017 · at 3:26 pm EST/EDT
I think Flynn was a trojan horse planted by the neocons himself. His history shows a career full of anti-Iran sentiment and an excessive push for a harsher approach toward that country, I can’t seem to see why his removal is necessarily a bad thing…
All those with anti-Iran sentiment are working for Israel’s interests firstly. Flynn is one of them.
As soon as they start anti-Iran rhetoric, you can immediately conclude who is behind them.
geoff on February 14, 2017 · at 3:46 pm EST/EDT
Saker, I am afraid that the only way anything will change is if the PEOPLE rise up and DEMAND change, possibly in a not entirely peaceful manner.
We cannot expect change from within the USG. IT WILL NOT HAPPEN. Trump is not powerful enough, he is no Putin or even a Kennedy. He is clueless and the only reason he rose to power was because he wasn’t Hillary.
Trump can still be worked with. But someone on “OUR” team must get an in with his administration.
It is the PEOPLE who must stand and demand change, demand an end to the Neocon infestation, demand an end to Imperialism, and demand an end to all regime change wars. It is the people who must demand that all those who Betrayed Humanity in their disgusting quest for power and self-aggrandizement be Punished for their crimes.
Do not worry. We will find a way to make it happen. And do not forget – You play a very important role in this process. Maybe you will find that one day, it was kind of like a self fulfilling prophesy.
-geoff
Robert Draco on February 14, 2017 · at 3:48 pm EST/EDT
You are premature. It will all depend on who Trump replaces him with.
In fact Flynn had already blundered by blaming Iran for attacking a US war ship, which they didn’t and called Iran the world’s biggest terror sponsor when it is Saudi Arabia. Flynn could have become a liability eventually and better for him to go now rather than later and I heard ex-CIA guy Philip Giraldi talk about this in this interesting read.
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/iran-hawks-take-the-white-house/
twilight on February 14, 2017 · at 3:49 pm EST/EDT
Once again I’ll state the biggest mistake here was Putin’s. Instead of ignoring the mountain of demonising press against Russia and Putin during the election of Trump, Putin allowed it to get to him, and he backed away in the aftermath of Trump’s election to ‘prove’ Trump was his own man.
But Putin’s decision created a vacuum (which was the entire idea behind the propaganda attacks), which Deep State agents all around Trump immediately filled. Putin should have moved heaven and Earth to craft a ***day one*** alliance to “fight ISIS to destruction”. Yes I know this would have been just PR nonsense, but that was all Trump had asked for daily on his election trail. With a guy like Trump, you race toward him, grasp him firmly by the hand, and promise him whatever he wants to hear. Putin did not do this.
Now Putin’s chance is dead. Trump is actually being successfully coerced to do and say anti-Russian stuff now. Nothing major, butenough to kill any hope to Trump working with Russia. And worse, the instinct in Trump to put Humanity’s greatest killing machine to immediate use is being successfully exploited.
We know Iran is the real target- not bluster over North Korea. But the bluster sets a tone that “rogue states” should not be allowed to advance their systems of self-defense. And that, of course, is the consistant cry of America against Iran. And for those of you who claim Iran is too ‘sneaky’ and ‘wily’ to give the USA an ‘excuse’- well sorry you are really clueless as to how this game is played.
Let me explain. Saddam after Gulf War 1 got down on his knees and begged the Americans to be allowed to offer them whatever they wanted in exchange for resurrecting the alliance America had with Iraq before the ‘invasion’ of Kuwait. His supply of oil to the USA would have been an economic boon beyond belief, so he did not get what the actual issue was. But we now know. Even tho Iraq was the idea Empire slave state, there were bigger plans in motion. The ***secular*** sunni state had to be destroyed so the skilled civilised sunnis of Iraq could be turned into slaves of the depraved wahhabi state of Saudi Arabia, and made the commanders of SA’s new extremist terror hoardes- butchers that we currently know as ISIS.
Saddam couldn’t imagine in a million years that his masters in the West wanted to Middle East to burn and fall to ‘sunni’ (actually wahhabi) extremist savages. After all the Deep State project, since the 19th century when Britain helped the Turkish Empire to fade away, was to encourage ***secular*** civilised Islamic rule. And those rulers of islamic heritage wanted to be as civilised as their brothers in the West- they didn’t want to hark back to medieval values or encourage their people to do the same. Saddam didn’t know that Tony Blair and the other demons had ripped up the rule book- and were determined to create hell on Earth within a lifetime.
PNAC made it clear that the 9/11 false flag would be the road to Iran’s ending. History shows their plans slipped- especially since the invaion of Iraq had no possible excuse, creating waves of revulsion amongst the general sheeple that became an anti-war sentiment. Obama was ‘accidently’ elected over Clinton slowing things down even more, and leading to the acceleration of the wahhabi terror play. Libya was taken out almost pointlessly (because Libya isn’t a good source of ISIS cannon fodder) simply because old animosity between the USA and Libya made it too much of a testing ground for the latter use of the same animosity between Iran and the USA.
For most Americans- Trump above all- Libya was the ‘little brother’ of Iran, and now the USA has finally ‘beaten up’ Libya, well it is ‘obvious’ it is time for Iran to go down as well.
There is but one issue now. Those Deep State demons that really run the USA have a level of power players beneath them that mostly think attacking Iran is the stupidest move possible. They can now jerk Trump around like a perfect puppet, but anyone Trump tries to use to put together the Iran war plan will hit long standing, well argued resistance. For conventional right-wing hard men, Iran is all lose and no gain. Sure, the racist psychopaths that frequently rule the zionist terror state of Israel are all for war with Iran, but this very fact is used as evidence that such a war would be utterly moronic by the right-wing thinkers of the USA.
Iran is the immovable object, but the demons are the irresistable force. And Iran only has to make one fatal slip- without even knowing it ***is*** a slip before successful demonising anti-Iranian propaganda takes hold. Of course, the BBC and every other zionist outlet has already tried attacking Iran every which way without success so far, but successful propaganda is as ‘trendy’ as a pop hit so you never know when a particular mud ball will stick.
We have a sense of this with the foul Soros HRW attack against Syria today, stating that “Syria used chemical weapons to take Allepo”. The Israeli controlled French government immediately demanded UN action against Assad. Of course, the demon play in Syria is done, but anti-Syrian rhetoric is just practise for Iran.
HRW is Soros and the US State Dept. Amnesty International is MI6. Neither is now trusted to the slightest degree by the informed, but the actions of both show current thinking and strategy of the Deep State.
Having lost Trump,Putin must now act ***immediately*** to save Iran. Giving weapons to Iran cannot do this. Having a public formal alliaince, with Russians working on the ground in Iran can. Of course the religious leaders who rule Iran distrust Russia, and Putin must do everything he can to point out that it is Russia protection or utter destruction for Iran- and to bluntly state the ***truth** – which is if the West does attack Iran, Russia will back off and leave Iran to its fate. It is prevention or disaster,
twilight – You are probably right: I retrospect, Putin should have been more proactive and made some specific alliance-forging suggestions with Trump/the U.S., for example regarding ISIS in Syria. And as far as Iran is concerned, it may be that Trump will order “surgical strikes” against their nuclear facilities, partly to reduce the pressure on him exerted by neocons and others and to try to diffuse the opposition against him and his rag-tag group of dissolute right-wingers in the White House.
I forgot to add this ex-CIA guy to the first. Robert David Steele …..on Mike Flynn. He thinks he deserved to be fired and he basically liked Flynn.
WikiLeaks chimes in:
WikiLeaks Claims Flynn’s Resignation Triggered by ‘Destabilization Campaign’
“Trump’s National Security Advisor Michael Flynn resigns after destabilization campaign by US spies, Democrats, press https://t.co/vKlX1Tqek1
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) 14 февраля 2017 г.”
Just speculation, or do they have something solid?
A Russian take:
Flynn’s Resignation ‘Won’t Have an Impact’ on Russian-US Relations
https://sputniknews.com/politics/201702141050673917-us-russia-flynn-resignation/
“The resignation of the US President’s National Security Adviser Michael Flynn won’t affect Russian-American relations because they are not shaped yet and there is, in fact, nothing to have an impact on,” Fyodor Lukyanov told Sputnik.
The political analyst further explained that it still remains unclear whether Donald Trump wanted to reset the relations with Russia with the help of either Michael Flynn or new Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. However, he again reiterated that it is impossible to have an impact on something that does not yet exist.
The expert explained that the attacks on Trump’s National Security Adviser for his alleged pro-Russian position were “something made out of thin air.” However he had to resign because he was not careful enough.
He further noted that there are still chaotic developments in the Trump administration and there might be more resignations coming.”
“The White House is under attack from elements inside the intelligence community” — Dennis Kucinich
An important interview:
http://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/2017/02/14/kucinich-pins-flynn-leak-on-intel-community-warns-another-cold-war.html
erichwwk on February 14, 2017 · at 9:42 pm EST/EDT
Kucinich: “Be VERY careful. That’s my warning this morning. ……WAKE UP AMERICA… ”
“This isn’t about whether you’re for or against Donald Trump. Hello! This is about whether the American people are bystanders in a power play inside the intelligence community…. and whether we can be forced to go to war with any country. ,,,, A game is being played with the security of our country. I [Dennis Kucinich] don’t often share the interviews I do, but ask that you watch and share this one because it’s important.
https://www.facebook.com/denniskucinich/posts/10154592754758218
Greg on February 14, 2017 · at 4:34 pm EST/EDT
What I don’t understand is this.
We see and read of the power exerted by the liberal/neocon “deep state” and their abilities to disrupt and damage Trump’s presidency.
But in order to get where he has gotten to today, Trump must have some powerful backers too.
So where are these powerful Trump supporters and what are they doing if anything?
JJ on February 14, 2017 · at 6:30 pm EST/EDT
Yup…am wondering about the 200 militaryeople said to be having Trump……any news of them? Maybe preparing a counter revolution on his behalf?
Saker, as you know very well my warnings that Flynn was the keystone, the means through which reform could come to IC, MIC, Deep State—the wombs of Khazarian Russophobia and Hegemony—I agree with you completely that your analysis is correct. It is over.
Trump will not be able to control Pompeo or Mattis.
Trump will not be able to penetrate the Deep State and uproot the warmongers.
Trump will not be able to end the Hegemony.
What he presented as stiff opening arguments against Iran and Russia are now weaponized with his signature on them. Ukraine will be on some budget line and kept viable. Syria will be a target again per Wolfowitz-Perle and Bibi.
Where ceasefire and peace was possible we will get more war and chaos.
ISIS will not be defeated anywhere soon. Russia will be forced to supply regular troops soon if it intends to clean out ISIS and al Nusra while it can. Or it will be bogged down (US goal for certain.)
Now, for what we must do: keep exposing the tools and persons who removed Flynn.
This was all at the surface of the Deep State. Most of the players were visible. No subtle, covert operation this assassination. And from that careful documentation we can keep “outing” the enemy within.
Trump, sadly, may have bought a one-term Presidency when he let this become a neocon issue.
His daughter and son-in-law tamping down his instincts to fight have been a huge disservice.
Bannon, a hegemonic ideologue in foreign policy, certainly would not protect Flynn. Bannon served the Naval Intel world in his career, and nothing good has ever come out of US Naval Intel. They plotted against their own man, JFK.
We, have, a hard choice. Despair and gnash our teeth, or continue to expose the evil operators inside the US government. Spare the Trump-bashing. He erred hugely. But it was predictable. Flynn was a wild card warrior. He was fearless and reckless in behalf of his mission. Trump sent him to the Russians. They had to know the outcome would be intense heat.
But what was unknown, the treachery in the inner circle. Pence is fully exposed now. Trump knows this clearly. He can’t share that with anyone. His circle is filled with like-minded who would serve Pence more comfortably than Trump himself.
Pence is Brutus. Watch him as he goes to the Munich meeting.
He is pure Neo-Con and a treacherous liar himself.
No greater threat exists to Peace than a traitor to the nation and the opportunity for Detente being thrown away.
Trump failed to protect his warrior. But the Intel agencies were withholding approvals of deputies’ clearances. They had denied Robin Townley, deputy for Africa a clearance for NSC. This signaled that they would undermine Flynn and Trump every day like the Dems have with the nominations and street riots. It was all Trump could do to try to get control of things. Messaging was scrambled, forward movement was stalled. He had to jettison Flynn. But it was all on him. He didn’t control Pence and marginalize him. He faced Pence and blinked.
Sad. Maybe Tragic. But, Trump has comeback potential. It just won’t be with the Intel Community.
He has to find leverage from elsewhere. Probably, why he’s talking to Chris Christie. I suspect DOJ and Sessions is one weapon. Maybe they will bring Christie in to DOJ, if he has a huge role, and use him to prosecute the leakers in Deep State. It’s only a guess.
Listen to Pence, watch Mattis. And know that Pompeo is more of the same in CIA.
Also, Kelly in DHS is weak and a go-along general. He’ll test the wind.
What has happened is Trump thought he had built a citadel using Flynn and the generals around him, with Mattis and Kelly. It has all been turned into a prison, and Trump is hostage.
http://theduran.com/these-8-neocons-are-gearing-up-to-destroy-president-trump-and-make-america-bomb-again/
background to these people
Ahh… an article on demonology at the Duran.
(Check out pictures of Abrams — clearly a creature from the netherworld.)
Demons, vampires, goblins and orcs, the occasional ogre.
Some crazies are made to live in the attic, while these prefer the basement and other underground abodes.
About the same gang as always.
(I see dead people. They are everywhere. They walk around like everyone else. They don’t even know they are dead. — The living dead — all psychopaths, surviving on human blood, so to speak.)
When Trump started loading up his cabinet with these ghouls and their associates or rivals it became obvious where it was going. As I said once before, the doctrine that states have no friends but rather interests this was saying the state is run by psychopaths, as that is precisely the mind set of psychopaths, individually or collectively.
Traits:
http://www.psych2go.net/10-traits-of-a-psychopath/
http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/15850/1/Characteristics-of-a-Sociopath.html
also Forbes article
http://www.forbes.com/sites/victorlipman/2013/04/25/the-disturbing-link-between-psychopathy-and-leadership/#10c4eca52740
The Disturbing Link Between Psychopathy And Leadership
[but the percentages seem to be way too low, and the current system tends to weed out non-psychos: wolves like to hang out with other wolves, not with sheep, whom they munch on for snacks]
Jean-David on February 14, 2017 · at 4:36 pm EST/EDT
If Trump understands this, and its implications, I suppose he will resign in frustration. Does anyone think he will have the political and emotional stamina to persevere?
anon21 on February 14, 2017 · at 4:45 pm EST/EDT
If one follows the logic that the globalist cabal touting the female was bent to attack Russia in early 2017, then the Trump election may has interrupted the schedule, but not, evidently, the plan, the war-plan, itself. They never gave up power…
The implication is that the war was scheduled, and still is.
Repeat. The implication is that the march to war is ongoing and deliberate.
Gen Smiht on February 14, 2017 · at 4:51 pm EST/EDT
Putin is yet to accept Flynn’s resignation, so there is still hope
Ralph on February 14, 2017 · at 4:52 pm EST/EDT
Well Saker, I’m going contrarian, which does not necessarily mean 180 degrees.
I viewed Flynn’s appointment as plus/negative, positive re Russia, negative re Iran. It’s still potentially positive re Russia as Tillerson is still in.
To write off Trump so early in his Presidency is really not very helpful, considering the monumental task he has of taking on the very corrupt establishment, did you think there would be no blowback? Also, clearly Trump is inexperienced politically and doesn’t know all the ins and outs of the political establishment in DC, so has to find his feet.
A big plus is that we have moved away from warfare and potentially a nuclear holocaust – if anybody thinks that mere radioactive fallout from exploding warheads is survivable hasn’t taken into account something which is far more deadly, how about many more nuclear power reactor failures like Fukushima, or worse?
Another point which has been overlooked is that he got rid of nuland – or at least she couldn’t work under him – either way I see that as major (personally) together with the much less hostile if not almost indifference to the Donbass, with kiev in turmoil. It was reported that a US warship won’t now visit Odessa – small but unmistakeable changes happening.
simon wagstaff on February 14, 2017 · at 4:54 pm EST/EDT
There is an old saying; “When you’re up to your ass in alligators it’s easy to forget your original intention was to drain the swamp.”
The single greatest lesson I learned in a decade of trying (and failing) to change national policy is that success is measured in inches, not miles. Bureaucratic inertia is a highly under-rated force in its own right. Real change can only be generational. Unless and until there is a “b” team of keenly aware and circumspect underlings who see the problems and understand the patience required to make incremental change, there will be no meaningful change.
Success isn’t home runs (although most who desire positive change would welcome the odd one). Real success is bases-on-balls, running out infield hits and bloop singles and advancing runners.
Trump must remember business 101…under-promise and over-deliver. If he wants to keep the tens of millions who voted for him engaged and positive he must deliver on small promises. I am dismayed that so many here see the “beginning of the end” instead of “the end of the beginning”.
Flynn (more than most) knew the rules going in and he blew it. His sins are sins of over-reach and forgetting the basics of protocol. His sacrifice will encourage others to step up. The dream of untangling the web is not dead. Too many millions (arguably billions) demand meaningful, positive change…those who have faith understand it will be a slow and sometimes painful process.
Dear Saker, don’t lose your faith
Real success is bases-on-balls, running out infield hits and bloop singles and advancing runners.
@Simon Wagstaff —
Allow me a moment of comedic relief in this tragic drama ?
This is true as a general principle. But somebody PLEASE get through to Clint Hurdle (Pittsburgh Pirates Manager) that wasting outs by bunting runners from first to second predictably results in them being stranded at third.
Small advances are potentially valuable, but when you run out of outs to achieve them they were mistakes.
Marnie on February 14, 2017 · at 5:03 pm EST/EDT
if there is any reason to save the Trump presidency, Pence needs to be isolated asap – w/removal of all Republican loyalists within WH including Priebus.
More to come re Pence role on how this all unfolded.
All politics is smoke and mirrors ie cabinet appointees – watch what we do; not what we say. Tillerson and Sessions esp forced to grovel by R’s and Dems –
One benefit to all this has been public revelation of Dems as partners with the Deep State parties. The true depth of their betrayal to the country is now undeniable as we already knew R’s could not be trusted.
ie payback coming re Lizzie Warren’s vitriol on Sessions. her poll numbers for 2018 election not looking good.
Cynthia – if those suggested names are viable, keep to yourself so as to avoid public exposure …at this point perhaps best messenger may be Ivanka
Outlaw Historian on February 14, 2017 · at 5:05 pm EST/EDT
The entirety of tRump’s foreign policy doesn’t revolve around Flynn’s status. Has tRump decided to reinstate the TTP and TTIP as “trade” policy goals? Decided to not renegotiate/pull out of NAFTA and other so-called trade pacts? Pull back/reconsolidate the Empire of Bases? Attempt to totally disrupt China’s OBOR or Russia’s EEU through the use of terrorist proxies as HRC’s Neocons planned? Then there’s Flynn’s illogical hatred of Iran and the complications that posed for reestablishing cordial relations with Russia. And those points are just a few of many.
IMO, Saker and other commentators have reacted in knee-jerk fashion to Flynn’s resignation, for he didn’t represent the be-all/end-all of tRump’s foreign policy agenda. I’m far more disturbed by many of tRump’s cabinet choices plus the fact that they were confirmed despite their lies and criminal actions, which is what’s provoked most of the resistance to the current national government–congress especially.
Dario on February 14, 2017 · at 5:11 pm EST/EDT
yes, and there’s more… Apparently the media makes their bets on VP Mike Pence … very similar to what happened in Brazil… same method, anyway…
from Politico.com:
“Pence molds the government in his own image
Pence and his team bring an entirely different ethos and set of values to the administration.”
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/how-does-mike-pence-view-government-234956
Alexander Mercouris posted article on the Duran…believes Trump’s nominations cabinet picks will be approved eventually……
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2040
|
__label__cc
| 0.571475
| 0.428525
|
Is your child feeling anxiety or fearful after the election?
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump holds up a rubber mask of himself during a campaign rally in the Robarts Arena at the Sarasota Fairgrounds November 7, 2016 in Sarasota, Florida. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
On Thursday morning, Austin Independent School District Trustee Paul Saldaña wrote an open letter to students in the district in response to the anxiety and fear many students across the district have reported feeling after hearing news of Donald Trump winning the presidential election. Election results-related anxiety is what led students at two local elementary schools — Sunset Valley and Matthews — to kneel during the Pledge of Allegiance on Wednesday in protest of Trump.
As a parent of a 9-year-old bright and curious child, I appreciate Saldaña’s gesture. I only wish I’d had it on Wednesday morning.
That’s when my 9 year-old son woke up wondering who had won the presidential election the night before. And, unlike past elections, I dreaded answering his question.
It was an especially trying and uncommon campaign season for us both. During most elections, I welcome reading and talking about candidates and the issues on the ballot. But, this election season, thanks to the hostile rhetoric that became to familiar, I did my best to shelter my 3rd grader from news of Trump or Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. Yet, despite my efforts, we had plenty of conversations about the two candidates vying for presidency during our drives to and from school. Unfortunately, most of those conversations were to specifically address my son’s fears over something the Republican candidate had said should happen or promised to do as president. At times I wondered if I was doing much to help my son settle his anxiety.
So when my son asked who won the election, I froze and changed the subject. What more could I say? I had already spent weeks trying to ensure him that regardless of the winner, he — no, WE as a family and WE, as a country — would be fine. Yet, I knew, news of the winner would be a hard blow for his kind and sensitive soul. As a child of Mexican American parents, the grand-child of immigrants and whose group of friends are as diverse as the fabric of this country, my son took each insult made by Trump as a direct hit to those in his closest circles. So, I told him. Silent tears followed.
Then, the most heartbreaking question came: “Mom, where was I born?”
My son spent weeks worrying about what might happen to his friends who spoke a different language or whose skin color was much darker. Now, with a president-elect that has shown little regard for people who look like my son’s friends and family members, he wondered how he personally would be affected by this new president.
There are families across this country, in this city in fact, having similar conversations with their children. And their taking place at schools, as well. Some educators, like Mathews Elementary Principal Grace Martino-Brewster, have taken the time to personally address this anxiety they see in their students.
Saldaña takes it a step further. He reassures all students in the district that they matter, that they are heard and that they are safe. He also is working to organize a town hall meeting soon to address the issue, he said.
“I have been hearing from students, teachers and parents the last two days and several have requested a community conversation,” Saldana wrote in an email. “Parents are struggling how to broker and/or respond to their children.”
The full text of his letter:
Author Gissela SantaCruzPosted on November 10, 2016 January 4, 2017 Categories Austin, Austin Independent School District, Central Texas, Donald Trump, Education, Elections, UncategorizedTags news
Previous Previous post: Looking for our 2016 endorsements?
Next Next post: Thank you for your ‘Dear President Trump’ letters
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2043
|
__label__wiki
| 0.671401
| 0.671401
|
Genre: Biography, Drama
Director: Bill Douglas
Writer: Bill Douglas
Stars: Stephen Archibald, Hughie Restorick, Jean Taylor Smith, Bernard McKenna, Mr. Munro
Jamie and Tommy are separated by the death of their grandmother; Jamie with another relative and Tommy to a welfare home. Now Jamie is all alone and his life is not at all happy taken over by silence, rejection and violence.
1973, Anne McLeod, attempted-suicide, Bernard McKenna, Bill Douglas, child-care, crossing-fingers, domestic-violence, education, grandfather-grandson-relationship, Helena Gloag, Hughie Restorick, Jean Taylor Smith, Jessie Combe, Mr. Munro, Paul Kermack, pet-dog, rejected-son, scotland, second-in-trilogy, separation-of-brothers, Stephen Archibald, suicide-by-gas, talking-to-an-animal, underage-drinking, United Kingdom, voice-over-letter, William Carroll
Also Known As: Ceux de chez moi, My Ain Folk
Stubbornly refusing to believe in Christmas, and to be separated from his inexhaustible wealth, the Victorian money lender and parsimonious recluse, Ebenezer Scrooge (Alastair Sim), can't be bothered with the poor and de...
Belladonna of Sadness-1973
Blessed--and at the same time cursed--with the precious but fatal gift of beauty, the young peasant, Jeanne, falls in love with the beautiful villager, Jean, in late-1800s France. However, as the village's foul feudal lo...
Widow’s Walk-2019
Eve's husband has been killed in Afghanistan. She takes her young son to a Suffolk beach house on the edge of the North Sea to grieve. But someone else is in the house grieving her loss from another war.::Alexandra Boyd...
Bonobo-2014
Judith, an uptight widow, is appalled when her daughter Lily quits law school to move into a commune of hippie-misfits who live according to the behavioural principles of the bonobo monkey, a species famous for its 'make...
We Used to Know Each Other-2019
Amid the dried out-and-dead desert oasis of suburban Las Vegas, and after three years apart, a young couple decides it's finally time to move in with each other and take their relationship to the next level....
Website is out
faaaart
‘My Ain Folk’ is the second of three autobiographical films written and directed by Bill Douglas, recounting his childhood and adolescence. In all three films, the protagonist — ostensibly Bill Douglas’s alter ego — is cried Jamie. The name change warns us that some fictionalisation is in the works, but we’re never told precisely at which points in the story, nor how extensively. The most famous case of this sort of substitution would be the example of Francois Truffaut and his cinematic alter ego Antoine Doinel. I suspect that Jamie conforms more closely to Bill Douglas’s life than Doinel to Truffaut’s.SPOILERS AHEAD. Cleverly yet bitterly, this movie opens with displays of triumph. We see a collie (a Scottish breed) standing atop a mountain above a glorious vista of landscape, in full colour. This quickly turns out to be a Lassie movie being screened in Jamie’s local cinema, a tuppenny fleapit in a coal-mining town. From here out, the rest of the film is in monochrome. From collie to colliery in one painful reel change.I found the first instalment in this trilogy, ‘My Childhood’, so utterly realistic as to be a painful experience. ‘My Ain Folk’, by contrast, felt slightly more like something Dickens invented for one of his novels. ‘My Childhood’ bleakly but expertly limned the utter desperation and grinding poverty of Jamie and his half-brother Tommy, raised by their elderly ‘gran’ while their mother languishes in a mental institution. Very realistic and compelling. Here in ‘My Ain Folk’, up pops some tosh about a necklace which Jamie’s mother has hidden, which apparently has enough value that someone else wants to find it. Pull the other one! Although I’m more than a decade younger than Douglas, I came from a background very similar (in Perthshire and a Glasgow council estate) and I know damned well that people this poor never have any heirlooms. Any object that can stave off hunger for a couple of hours is sold, bartered or pawned.Throughout this bleak trilogy, Douglas uses apples symbolically: they seem to represent prized treasures which are highly desirable in this impoverished landscape. In ‘My Ain Folk’, there’s a close-up of a large dish containing only one small Bramley apple and a set mousetrap. This felt to me like the sort of art-house image which director Douglas normally avoided … but it turned out that there was a legitimate reason for placing the trap next to the apple.During one shot of Jamie standing astride the local railway line, we hear on the soundtrack an offscreen train coming steadily nearer and louder, yet Jamie shows no inclination to get off the sleepers. (In the previous instalment, he actually lay down with his head on the rails!) Suddenly the train comes hurtling into the frame … on a different track we hadn’t noticed before. This one shot reminded me of several Buster Keaton films.Elsewhere in this movie, the soundtrack cuts out entirely. I started to put this down to alienation or some other symbolism, but apparently Douglas just had grotty film recording.After the death of Jamie’s gran, the film ends with a slight note of triumph: we see a Highland band marching downhill (another symbol?) while piping ‘Scotland the Brave’.In all three instalments of this trilogy, Douglas wrings astonishing performances from a (mostly) non-professional cast, and gets full benefit from the cinema-verite settings. I found the first instalment of this bleak trilogy (‘My Childhood’) deeply depressing yet moving, partly because some of it resembled my own experiences. I found ‘My Ain Folk’ equally depressing yet less cathartic. I’ll rate this downer 6 out of 10, mostly in recognition of Douglas’s skill rather than his depressing choice of subject matter.
rakhel paparoidames
Bill Douglas directs “My Childhood”, “My Ain Folk” and “My Way Home”, a trilogy of films which charter the life of Jaime (Stephen Archibald), a young boy living in 1940s Scotland. Based on the director’s own experiences, the series watches as Jaime is subjected to a series of misfortunes and abuses, most of which take place in the small mining village of Newcraighall.The trilogy is structured as a series of loosely repeated cycles, Jaime struggling to cope with parents, grandparents, surrogate parents, half-brothers and surrogate brothers. While Jaime remains locked in limbo, adults come and go, either dying, committing suicide, abandoning him or being consigned to mental wards. Douglas fancied himself as a class conscious artist, a “socialist realist”, but unlike most neorealist works, which sanctify the poor and downtrodden, his trilogy pushes past canned sorrow and proletariat piety and instead tries to tap into a kind of nauseating self-hate. Everyone here is cauldron of seething resent, long resigned to a life of dishing out and receiving emotional and physical abuse. Meanwhile, Jaime begins to plot his escape.And so Jaime hitches a ride on a coal train, befriends a German POW and falls in love with the idea of becoming an artist. This is where the trilogy gets problematic. It is not only that Douglas has a narrow view of the working classes, but that in tracing Jaime’s rise out of the slums (via his meeting the educated middle class, the elite upper class and the development of a love for art) the trilogy begins to exhibit a somewhat snobbish attitude and dismissive stance toward whence Jaime came.”My Childhood” and “My Ain Folk” are the best films of the trilogy. “My Way Home’s” narrative has been criticised for its “confusing” structure and Douglas’ refusal to explain major plot points, but such an initially jarring approach works well upon re-watches. The trilogy ends powerfully with the sound of what seems to be gunfire and explosions played over the glorious image of a tree, the juxtaposition epitomising the twin poles of Jaime’s uncertain future. “My Ain Folk” opens spectacularly with the glorious, triumphant image (taken from “Lassie”?) of a dog scaling a majestic mountain. This image – the allure of cinema and the hope of escape – then snap-cuts to grim, black-and-white Scotland.The trilogy’s narrative, which focuses solely on suffering townsfolk, is as depressing as Douglas’ aesthetic. Shot in black-and-white, the series stresses doom and gloom. Respite is infrequent. Douglas uses long periods of silence, slow camera work (and much locked down, static shots) and moments of eerie, discordant sounds, to create a unique aesthetic. The trilogy’s disturbing tone – autobiography meets creep-show horror – strongly resembles Lynch’s “Eraserhead”.The film represents another link in the spreading chain that is neorealism. Very loosely speaking, neorealism began in Italy in the 40s, spread to France (cinema-verite) in the 50s, to Britain in the late 50s and 60s (“Kitchen sink”), to the United States in the 60s and 70s, Scotland in the 70s and Iran in the 70s and 80s. The style is a delayed reaction to the socio-political-economic situations in these respective countries.Douglas’ filmography is revered in Scotland, Wales and Britain, but none of his films were widely distributed or have been widely seen. Because of this, they’ve developed a somewhat overinflated reputation.8/10 – Makes a good companion piece to Satyajit Ray’s Apu trilogy (“Song of the Little Road”, “The Unvanquished”, “The World of Apu”) and Truffaut’s Antoine Doinel series (“400 Blows”, “Stollen Kisses”, “Bed and Board”, “Love on the Run”), all autobiographical films chartering the transition of young boys into adulthood. Worth one viewing.
mr henry ross
All right, not much votes for that sublime oddity of a film. I saw it by chance, together with the other “episodes” of Bill Douglas’ autobiopic – if I may use that word. It is quite unique. No other piece of cinema ever reached that utter sadness, ever showed those quietly shivering landscapes – except may be Dreyer’s Vampyr, and possibly Straub / Huillet at their least boring. Dreyer ? Straub ? Huillet ? Yes, but you sometimes have those spectral moments, those white explosions in more mainstream, more meaty movies such as Them (just think of the beginning in the desert) or Kiss me deadly. Or, say, The Misfits, the garrulousness of which is (for me) redeemed by Monroe’s silent dance around a tree in the sparkling white night.When I hear Mr van Sant babbling about the cinema of reality and other fake highbrow concepts, I think of Bill Douglas who, 30 years before Mr van Sant, triggered the question with far more talent. Couldn’t Criterion do the world a favor and have these three films issued on DVD ?
Website is out...
maddison09
this movie is not working must be that bad the computer won't let me watch it....
REALLY WHY DOES IT TAKE SO LONG TO WATCH A MOVIE...
Yeah you are right...
2011 two-word-title 2010 death male-nudity topless-female-nudity based-on-novel 2009 2008 Hong Kong dog Germany 2018 nudity Canada mother-son-relationship female-nudity sex-scene new-york-city character-name-as-title 2019 revenge female-protagonist female-frontal-nudity family-relationships 2006 United Kingdom murder violence Italy India blood f-rated United States breasts 2016 sequel friendship bare-breasts father-son-relationship 2014 psychotronic-film father-daughter-relationship cult-film 2017 bare-chested-male Japan independent-film husband-wife-relationship China Australia one-word-title 2015 France Spain love 2007 police 2013 2012
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2044
|
__label__wiki
| 0.791136
| 0.791136
|
As Eye See It
Islamic Persecution
Reformation & Revival
Theology, History & Science
Primates 2016
TEC GC 2015
Diocese of SC vs. TEC 2013
Mere Anglicanism 2012
Anglican 1000 Summit 2012
PEAR Sacred Assembly 2012
AMiA Winter Conference 2012
Anglo-Catholics Victoria 2011
ACNA Ft. Worth 2009
TEC Financial Crisis
Hope & Future 2005
Primates Dublin 2011
General Synod, York, UK 2010
Synod, London UK 2010
FCA London 2009
ACC-14 Jamaica 2009
Lambeth 2008
Nottingham 2005
Dromantine 2005
Windsor Report 2004
CAIRO GS6 2016
GAFCON II Nairobi 2013
Lusanne Cape Town 2010
CAPA Uganda 2010
Global South, Singapore 2010
Anglican Primates Alexandria, Egypt 2009
GAFCON 2008
Dar Es Salaam 2007
CAPA Lagos 2004
David Virtue
THE FUTURE OF ANGLIC...
Speaking to reporters at the end of...
RICHMOND, VA: Episco...
Local Catholics, including some par...
VIRGINIA: Catholic B...
Area Catholics in the diocese of Ri...
CANTERBURY UNREPENTA...
It clarifies that Kent University,...
Church of England so...
The six principles 'for living well...
CHURCH OF ENGLAND PA...
Members of the Pastoral Advisory Gr...
ANGLICAN CHURCH IN A...
For a number of years, the TAC has...
ACNA HOUSE OF BISHOP...
With a nod to those who experience...
Extradited CofE prie...
The conviction comes at the end of...
ZIMBABWE: Anglican B...
Worse, the bishop and his accomplic...
jQuery Slider
Home » news » DALLAS: Evangelical Episcopal Bishop believes compromise can bring TEC and ACNA to the table
DALLAS: Evangelical Episcopal Bishop believes compromise can bring TEC and ACNA to the table
By David W. Virtue, DD
www.virtueonline.org
The evangelical Episcopal Bishop of Dallas, the Rt. Rev. George Sumner, believes the Episcopal Church and GAFCON, which includes the Anglican Church in North America, can find grounds for reconciliation here in North America.
In a byline story for COVENANT magazine, he writes; "[GAFCON] needs to be taken seriously because the primate of ACNA is the chair of the Primates' Council and we must "reckon with these developments."
He goes on to ask the question, "What are we to make of the lack of any acknowledgment that we are part of this complicated North American scene? We represent a group of dioceses, including several in Latin America, which haven't left, but dissent from some of our own church's decisions. We are, demographically speaking, a sodality comparable in size to ACNA itself."
Sumner is speaking, of course, of the Communion Partners bishops in TEC who claim to be orthodox in faith and morals. Over the years, this group has shrunk considerably.
According to ENS, eight bishops prohibit same-sex marriage in their dioceses. Among these are Albany Bishop William Love, Central Florida Bishop Greg Brewer, Dallas Bishop George Sumner, Florida Bishop John Howard, North Dakota Bishop Michael Smith, Springfield Bishop Dan Martins, Tennessee Bishop John Bauerschmidt and Virgin Islands Bishop Ambrose Gumbs.
According to the task force, Love, Brewer, Sumner, Martins and Bauerschmidt also prohibit clergy canonically resident in those dioceses to use the liturgies inside or outside of the diocese. Four are from Central America. 10 former CP bishops have either resigned or are dead.
If Sumner and these TEC dioceses want to be taken seriously, then perhaps the first thing that should happen is that TEC should stop the lawsuits that have ratcheted up the alienation between ACNA and TEC for more than a decade. The properties will be meaningless in a decade as TEC is demographically dying and will have to sell off most of the properties anyway.
If Sumner wants recognition by GAFCON, why have the Communion Partner bishops been so silent about these horrific lawsuits against ACNA priests and bishops, the priestly inhibitions and depositions, of priests being tossed out of their parishes and the tearing away of pensions? Their silence can only be construed as cowardly at best and complicit at worst.
Secondly, TEC would need to repent of its acceptance and promotion of of pansexual behaviors contrary to Scripture, Lambeth 1:10 and history, and admit it has been wrong imbibing sodomy and same-sex marriage.
Thirdly, GAFCON and by extension ACNA, wants to proclaim Christ faithfully to the nations. TEC has not gotten the theological ability to do that and most priests wouldn't know how or where to begin. They would have to acknowledge that their understanding of the gospel is deficient, driven by myriad social causes, but lacking in true gospel understanding of confession, repentance and newness of life. 95% of TEC priests not only could not do that, they wouldn't know where to begin even if the handful of CP claim they do.
Fourthly, PB Michael Curry would have to reverse himself in using money to push homosexuality onto the Global South, especially African provinces and admit he is wrong.
Sumner asks, "What kind of a body does GAFCON imagine itself to be? ... a renewal movement...or alternative structure." Well, ACNA claims to be a renewal movement, but I have yet to see any kind of renewal in the CP dioceses that reflects that! Furthermore, with ACNA priests having lost so much in being tossed out of their parishes and forced to restart their lives, what is the incentive to reach out to CP bishops? The answer is none.
The term "alternative structure" was never used by GAFCON leaders; that was the invention of ACC General Secretary Josiah Idowu-Fearon. The communique did talk about a "conciliar structure" but in a much narrower sense and framework. GAFCON has consistently said they are not leaving the Communion, that they are the true inheritors of the mantle of Anglicanism and it is the other side, that is, Welby et al who have departed from the faith. What does Sumner not understand about that!
Sumner compared the situation in Northern Ireland, where combatants were willing to talk with one another and asked why not GAFCON and TEC. He asked if the Archbishop of Canterbury could be the convener of such a meeting. May I remind Bishop Sumner that that was tried when the Primates met in Canterbury, in Jan. 2016, which included Archbishop Foley Beach, and nothing came of it. Curry remained entrenched in his position and Welby walked away empty handed. Nothing has changed since then, nothing. Reconciliation is a two-way street, and Curry shows no interest in reaching out to Beach. He wants to keep his turf "pure and undefiled" from orthodoxy in order to proclaim his "doctrines" of inclusion and diversity with a schmeer of "Jesus Movement" talk to make it all look and sound good. He will talk endlessly about racism and white privilege and his favorite topic "love."
"We are, demographically speaking, a sodality comparable in size to ACNA itself," writes Sumner. Only slightly. The difference is that ACNA is growing and nearly all the TEC dioceses are withering and dying with most parishes (at least 50%) unable to employ a full-time rector. The average age of ACNA priests is in the mid-forties, the average age of TEC priests is in the low 60s. Who wants to go to bed with priests who will be filling columbarium's ere long?
Sumner writes; "I doubt that ignoring Canterbury as the embodiment of this lineage of our ancestors in the "faith once delivered" could really work long-term among Anglican Churches in Africa."
GAFCON leaders have made it abundantly clear that it is not the office of Archbishop Welby that determines what Anglicanism is. GAFCON has claimed from the beginning: "We are not leaving the Anglican Communion; we are the majority of the Anglican Communion seeking to remain faithful to our Anglican heritage." As Archbishop Okoh stated in the inaugural Synodical Council: "We are merely doing what the Communion leadership should have done to uphold its own resolution in 1998."
Here is what Okoh said recently; "We reject the authority of those churches and leaders who have denied the orthodox faith in word or deed. We pray for them and call on them to repent and return to the Lord". What about this message does Sumner not get? Where there is no repentance, there must be realignment."
Sumner writes: "Anglicans from various perches can criticize the Windsor process and the Anglican Covenant as they wish, but sooner or later we may come to see that its conceptual pathways are unavoidable, if perhaps under different names." Both the Windsor Process and the Covenant are DOA, replaced by the Jerusalem Declaration which GAFCON has written and to which the CP bishops would have to bow, too. Are they willing? Don't count on it.
Sumner asks, "If we can consider full communion with Methodists, why could we not, on that post-litigious day, open ecumenical talks with our own fellow Anglicans?" The truth here is that liberals and revisionists in The Methodist Church are a minority, and because of their ecclesial structure it would be the liberals who would have to leave, because they would be outvoted by African Evangelical Methodists. That is the reverse in TEC. If TEC wants to make nice with liberal Methodists, then you can bet ACNA would not go down that road. ACNA is already in fellowship with evangelical Lutherans and may well unite with other fellow evangelicals in time.
Sumner: "I doubt that ignoring Canterbury as the embodiment of this lineage of our ancestors in the "faith once delivered" could really work long-term among Anglican Churches in Africa." This, of course, begs the question of who is maintaining the "faith once delivered". GAFCON leaders no longer believe Welby does as he so conflicted about homosexuality, so they won't be attending Lambeth 2020. Welby "embodies" nothing GAFCON wants or needs. GAFCON can remain solidly Anglican and ignore Canterbury; it's the faith, stupid, not the office that makes for authentic Anglicanism.
Sumner: "At the end of the day what we all need most are humility and hope. Is there a way forward amid all these conundra? "With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible" (Mark 10:27). To continue in a conflicted and awkward communion is not to be dismissed as mere temporizing, but can, when done with integrity, be an act of hope that something may change, or open up, that we cannot anticipate. At the very least it means that if communion does break down finally, we have done all that we possibly could. For such humility and hope we ought all to pray."
Not if heresy and apostasy continue to abound in TEC, that will never happen. The fabric of the communion has been torn and only TEC can fix it and they show no signs of doing that; that would require much "humility and hope" which they do not possess, because the revisionists have long since taken over the TEC asylum and they will never give up pansexuality for anybody, not even for God.
"I believe that concepts like "walking together or apart" or "degrees of communion" will come back into play," writes Sumner. Not a prayer. That message has been repeatedly denied by both the former Archbishop of Nigeria, Peter Akinola and by the present Archbishop Nicholas Okoh. That day is done.
Sumner can't have it both ways. He can't stay in TEC as the loyal opposition and hope to make nice with ACNA. TEC Presiding Bishop Michael Curry would never allow it and he would move to depose him and the CP bishops immediately they made any move.
TEC is a slow-moving train wreck, (but growing faster by the day) and why would ACNA throw in its lot with a dying institution, even if a handful of TEC bishops claim to wear the orthodox mantle! Already, Brewer has half rolled over and got thrown off the board of TSM for his compromise over the baptism of a child of two gay men. He is weak and will grow weaker with time as pressure mounts against him from within his diocese. He has no stomach for the fight.
Furthermore, it is now clear that as CP bishops retire they are being replaced by liberals. Witness what happened after Bishop Ed Little of Nthn. Indiana retired. His place was taken by a go along liberal establishment bishop with nary a murmur from any parish.
Sumner's hope for reconciliation is in vain. If he honestly believes that the Gospel is not being proclaimed in TEC, then he and his fellow CP bishops should up and leave, as six other dioceses have done and let the chips fall where they may. Truth is far more important than properties and pensions, but that is a lesson he and they will have to learn the hard way, if they want to learn it at all.
Get a bi-weekly summary of Anglican news from around the world.
Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee
Sustainable Ministry
Coffee, Community, Social Justice
DrinkCoffeeDoGood.com
Ordinariate / Anglo-Catholic
VOL Exclusives
VOL Viewpoints
JERUSALEM: Gafcon III - 2018
Primates Meeting 2016
TEC 78th GC 2015
Dio SC vs. TEC 2013
TEC GC77 Indianapolis 2012
Primates in Dublin 2011
Lausanne Cape Town 2010
CAPA, Entebee, Uganda 2010
Anglican 1000 Plano, TX 2010
Synod, London, UK 2010
FCA London, UK 2009
ACNA Ft. Worth, TX 2009
Primates in Alexandria 2009
GC75 Columbus, OH 2006
Screwtape's Episcopal Toast
VirtueOnline is the Anglican Communion's largest Biblically Orthodox Online News Service, read by more than 4,000,000 readers in 170 countries each year.
© Virtueonline 2014 all rights reserved.
570 Twin Lakes Rd.,
Shohola, PA 18458
info@virtueonline.org
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2048
|
__label__wiki
| 0.864694
| 0.864694
|
Inside the BRD: Hornsby Middle Football Team beats Grafton 13-12 in OT thriller for Bay Rivers title
Posted on November 5, 2012 by mrwilliamsburg
Our son has been blessed to be part of youth football in the Williamsburg VA area for the past eight years. First as a Williamsburg Hornet and this past year at Hornsby Middle School.
The teams success is mostly due to the amazing coaching staff most of whom have have been with the team for the entire eight year span.
Although the local high schools get all the press coverage I wanted to share this recap from the end of the season championship game played last Saturday.
Hornsby Middle School’s game-tying touchdown and game-winning point after in the Bay Rivers District football championship game were nearly disasters. Instead they will be remembered by Hawks players as the great ending to a 13-12 overtime victory over Grafton Middle School on Saturday at Bailey Field in Yorktown.
With the Hawks trailing 12-6 in OT, Hunter Brittain collided with teammate Jack Erwin vying for quarterback Caden Darber’s pass near the back of the end zone. Brittain gathered in the ball before it hit the ground and before going out of the back of the end zone to tie the game at 12-12.
Then Carter Weissenfluh, all 5-feet and 78 pounds of him, came on to kick the extra point, admitting “I was nervous.” But Weissenfluh kept his focus despite a “wiggly” hold and kicked the ball through the uprights to give the Hawks (8-0) the title.
“He’s clutch,” Hawks coach Scott Vinson said of Weissenfluh. “He missed one early in the game, but he’s made 13 this season.
“A lot of middle school teams don’t have kickers.”
Weissenfluh said, “The reason I was nervous, is because I knew it was such a big kick, but I knew I was going to make it.”
The ending was disappointing for the Clippers, who often outplayed the Hawks in building a 187-90 total offense advantage through regulation. The Clippers (6-2) lost the regular season meeting between the teams by three touchdowns, but controlled the action after a shaky beginning.
Darber, who’s zoned to play for Jamestown High, got the Hawks off to a spectacular start by running 54 yards on the first play from scrimmage. Two plays later he passed to a wide-open Erwin for a 23-yard touchdown and the Hawks led 6-0.
The Clippers, led by the rushing combination of Xavier Longoria and Jordan Ballowe, as well as the passing of Evan Cole, moved consistently every time they had the ball. Ballowe, a seventh-grader, made a terrific 25-yard run inside the Hawks 10, only to be stopped when Darber recovered his fumble.
“Caden Darber is the kind of kid you can build a around,” Vinson said of his QB and hard-hitting linebacker, who made tackle after tackle for the Hawks defense. “He’s a beast.
“And (linebacker) Trey Drummond, who’s all of 85 pounds, made a lot of tackles. He’s one of 15 players we have who are under 100 pounds.”
The Clippers had better luck on a drive early in the second half. Longoria had a 15-yard run and Cole (6 of 8 passing, 67 yards) threw for 14 yards to Ray Gonzalez (62 yards receiving).
That set up Longoria’s 1-yard touchdown run that tied the game at 6-6 late in the third quarter. But Marcos Piggott stopped Ballowe short on the two-point conversion run and the game would remain tied into overtime.
Longoria put Grafton on top 12-6 with a 1-yard TD run in overtime, following the block of big Chase Wilson into the end zone. Zach Pennycuff, one of the Hawks’ biggest players at 5-9, 148 pounds, came up big in stopping Longoria short of the goal line on the two-point conversion try.
“He came crashing down and penetrated through the line,” Pennycuff said. “I hit him, stopped him and we won.”
They did indeed, avoiding two near disasters when they got the ball in overtime. They celebrated, all 50 of them, by mobbing Weissenfluh after his clutch kick.
“We kept 50 kids and 10 coaches, none of them paid, which is probably the largest roster any middle school team has ever had,” Vinson said. “Many have played four or five years of little league, so we wanted them to have a place to play.
“They all got along, and among the 50 kids there were 200 A’s on their report cards at five classes apiece. These kids did what they were supposed to on the field and off.”
Filed under: Sports, williamsburg va, Youth Sports | Tagged: youth football williamsburg va |
« James City County recognizes Kingsmill Resort VOTE »
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2057
|
__label__wiki
| 0.500061
| 0.500061
|
Themes: ActionAdventureRPGHack and SlashOpen WorldSingle-player
Developer: Capcom
An epitaph speaks of another's demise... A mysterious island known as Bitterblack Isle appears off the coast of Gransys. Its depths have claimed the lives of many Arisen their voices still haunt the labyrinth that lies deep beneath its surface--a labyrinth ripe with secrets waiting to be discovered. The time to take up arms has come once again. Delve into the isle's depths and uncover its dark secret!
open_in_new Official websiteopen_in_new Wikipedia
Dyeritso Doodles
Game Faqs
Nintendo World Report
Donald Theriault—Apr 22, 2019
Before playing it on Switch, I always understood Dragon’s Dogma as one of the most underrated RPGs around. Having played it now, I really hope it doesn’t get overshadowed by the big RPGs, whether ports or original content, that are coming out around it. Dark Arisen has some of the most unique systems in modern RPGs, and great combat to go along with it. It’s a great adventure, and if they can improve the loads after the inns it’ll be essential.
Grady Penna—Apr 27, 2019
I wouldn’t call the Switch port of Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen the most definitive version, but it’s definitely a very good one. The story, voice acting, and characters are pretty underwhelming, but if you’ve played the game before that won’t be anything new. What is new, though, is the ability to play Dragon’s Dogma wherever and whenever you want thanks to the Switch’s portability. That’s a big plus, but it does come with the caveat of not being fully optimized for a small screen.
Game Revolution
Tyler Treese—Apr 22, 2019
While the Nintendo Switch version might not be the ultimate way to play Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen if you’re worried about graphical quality, it does bring forth its own share of positives. Being portable helps lessen some of the more disappointing aspects of the aging title, such as traveling in its lackluster world. If you’ve never played the action RPG before, then this is a great place to rectify that and it provides an easy way for veterans to sink some hours into it while killing time on commutes.
Yoku's Island Express
Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes
Code of Princess EX
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2064
|
__label__cc
| 0.665512
| 0.334488
|
From Frank to Mary on their 44th Anniversary
Love Notes from All-Creatures.org Guide to Kingdom Living
True Christian living requires us to live according to the Kingdom standards of God's Heavenly will, which bring Heaven to earth.
Happy Forty-fourth Anniversary, Mary
Our forty-four years of marriage have been a true joy to my heart and soul.
A bouquet of flowers is beautiful, but it fades after about a week.
The flowers of the garden and field bloom for a short season and then fade away until the following year,
But our love for one another has never faded; it just keeps blooming year after year.
Go on to: From Frank to Mary on their 45th Anniversary
Return to: From Frank to Mary on their 43rd Anniversary
Return to Love Notes
Return to Christian Living Articles
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2077
|
__label__cc
| 0.743509
| 0.256491
|
Chickens on Allotments
Livestock and Wildlife on Allotments
Bees on Allotments
Most of us associate allotments with the growing of fruit, vegetables & flowers, yet they can also be used to keep small domestic livestock such as chickens, rabbits & pigeons. Permission to keep livestock usually rests with the authority in charge of the site.
Of course the local wildlife (welcome or not) don't wait for permission!
Livestock on Allotments
British Hen Welfare Trust
British Bee Keepers Association
National Pigeon Association
Royal Pigeon Racing Association
Friends of the Honey Bee
Wildlife on Allotments
The Bumblebee Conservation Trust
Butterfly & Moth information database
Help a Hedgehog Hospital
Frog Life
Earthworm Society of Britain
Bat Conservation Trust
British Dragonfly Society
National Fox Welfare Society
Newts in your pond
Slug Watch
Badger Land
Which wildlife are important to your garden?
Some people don’t take kindly to creepy crawlies living in their back garden, but sometimes they can bring a host of benefits. From bees being important pollinators of plants and fruiting tress, to ladybirds feasting on aphids, some creatures have an important role to play in your garden’s upkeep.
Here, garden plants retailers Dobies look at why you should be more welcoming to certain wildlife.
Bees and butterflies
Bees and butterflies can help your back garden to flourish. As they are natural pollinators, they can help spread your flowers around the garden and encourage growth.
If you are trying to coax this wildlife into your garden, you’re advised to plant colourful flowers. Bees are attracted to these plants, as they source their energy from sugar-filled nectar and the pollen provides bees with protein and fat.
A great way to bring butterflies and bees into your back garden is to cluster your plants together. This will entice more bees to visit the area at the same time. Also, plant flowers that bloom at different times of year to encourage your flying friends to come to your garden.
Keeping slugs and snails at bay
Some creatures simply aren’t welcome in your garden. For example, slugs and snails leave holes in leaves and feast on your fresh green shoots.
Attracting hedgehogs into your green space is a great way to block these pesky animals from ruling the roost. They are known to be a gardener’s best friend, as they feed on slugs, slugs and other insects. Simply leave food out for them to encourage them to enter your garden. This could include anything from minced meat to tinned dog and cat food.
Although many people believe that hedgehogs enjoy drinking milk, it’s best avoiding leaving this out for them. It can upset their stomach and lead to them becoming dehydrated. Another way to attract them is to leave areas of your garden to grow wild. Piles of leaves and overgrown grass will help to encourage hedgehogs to set up camp.
It’s important to note that not all insects are an annoyance. Some will help protect your plants from an infestation of smaller creatures.
One problem for many gardeners are aphids. Otherwise known as greenfly and blackfly, aphids suck saps from plants and excrete it as honeydew. This sticky substance then falls on the lower leaves of the plant which can be harmful to its growth. Photosynthesis becomes inhibited and the plant becomes deprived of energy. In extreme aphid attacks, the insects can fully smother the plant — causing it to become stunted and weak, which leads it to die.
Creatures that can protect you from these attacks include ladybirds, or ladybird beetles. It is the larvae from these bugs that are predators of soft-bodied insects such as aphids. Encourage ladybirds to visit your garden by providing them with a water source. Fill saucers with pebbles and water, this allows the insect to take a drink without falling in and drowning.
Damsel bugs are soft-bodies, winged insects that you are likely to want to have around. They feed on aphids, small caterpillars and other irritating small creatures — helping your crop thrive!
It’s also possible to encourage ducks and chickens to forage around the garden and consume the insects that they find. However, don’t expect your neat rows of fruit and vegetables to stay that way!
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/beneficial/beneficial-garden-animals.htm
https://www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/wildlife/inthewild/gardenhedgehogs
https://www.jacksgardenstore.com/blog/2010/04/why-are-bees-good-for-your-garden/
http://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/solve-problems/aphids/
https://www.rodalesorganiclife.com/garden/10-insects-you-should-actually-want-around-your-plants/slide/3
Here are some more great links for anyone who keeps, or is thinking of keeping chickens
Kindly provided by Robin Meade - Pet Safety Blogger
Should I Get Chickens? Pros, Cons and a To-Do Checklist for Hobby Farmers -
https://www.homeadvisor.com/r/should-you-get-chickens-for-your-hobby-farm/
How to Build a Chicken Coop -
https://thetinylife.com/how-to-build-a-chicken-coop/
Cleaning Out the Chicken House and Run -
https://keeping-chickens.me.uk/routine-jobs/cleaning-out/
Poultry Diseases and How to Prevent Them -
https://chickenbreedslist.com/poultry-diseases-and-how-to-prevent-them/
How to Give Your Chicken a Bath -
https://www.hobbyfarms.com/how-to-give-your-chicken-a-bath/
A Guide to Chicken Feed -
https://www.ecopeanut.com/chicken-feed/
7 Ways to Get Cleaner Eggs from Your Chickens -
https://blog.mcmurrayhatchery.com/2015/10/08/cleaner-eggs-from-your-chickens/
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2078
|
__label__wiki
| 0.697178
| 0.697178
|
View from the Red Carpet: Girls Cast Goes Naked
By Jeffrey Slonim
It's definitely HBO. In the second season of Girls, and under the fearless leadership of writer, creator, co-star Lena Dunham, the cast continues to push boundaries even for cable, dropping their clothes for raw, realistic sex scenes with astonishing frequency. Has onscreen nudity become old hat for the returning veterans? Allure asked them to reveal all at the Cinema Society season debut in New York City on Wednesday.
Lena Dunham (Hannah): "It depends on my mood. Sometimes I could care less. And sometimes, I'm like, if I can't put some clothes on in ten seconds, I'm going to shoot myself through the skull. Yeah, it's my fault, I have no one to complain to..."
Zosia Mamet(Shoshanna): "I will pretty much do anything Lena Dunham asks me to. And our show operates with the utmost professionalism. Body makeup? No, we try to keep it as minimal as possible, as real as we can, but do what we need to to make us feel comfortable."
Jemima Kirke (Jesse): "Nude scenes? They're difficult when you're four months pregnant, your body is changing in ways that are not desirable, and you've got 30 men starring at you. It's actually like a nightmare!"
Andrew Rannells (Elijah): "Yes, I did have to wear the cock sock. And for the women, it's really archaic, it's an adhesive patch. So Allison and I looked like weird Ken and Barbie dolls. She's gorgeous!"
Allison Williams (Marnie): "There are things stuck to you, people telling you to kiss this way and that way. You just prepare by laughing."
Alex Karpovsky (Ray): "It's not tough. I've been nude in independent films and I've shown my junk, and once you do that...Lena does a great job creating a comfortable space for the actors. I've never had to wear the apparatus. I care, but it's mostly blankets over my tuchis and I'm kind of on top love-making. I hope Zosia was cool with it!"
⋅ Daily Beauty Reporter: Lena Dunham Stands Up for Non-Stick Thighs Everywhere
⋅ Daily Beauty Reporter: Celebrity Makeovers of the Year
⋅ Daily Beauty Reporter: View From the Red Carpet: Victoria's Body Makeup Secrets
Keywordsallison williamsjemima kirkelena dunhamNakednudetelevisionview from the red carpetZosia Mamet
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2080
|
__label__cc
| 0.70942
| 0.29058
|
LiDCO Group Plc – Pre-Close Trading Update and Notice of Results
by AIM Editor
in Trading Update
LiDCO (AIM: LID), the hemodynamic monitoring company, provides the following pre-close update for the full year ended 31 January 2019 (FY19).
LiDCO continues to make progress with its HUP offering. Since its launch 18 months ago, as of 19 February 2019 the Company had a total global contracted base of 191 HUP monitors (31 January 2018: 96) generating £1.50m (31 January 2018: £0.73m) of annualised HUP contracts with the revenue recognition being spread over the term of the contract.
Since the December 2018 trading update, LiDCO has gained a further two new US HUP customers, with the US contracted base as at 19 February standing at 114 monitors (2018: 58 units) worth £0.96m per annum. These two new HUP customers are prestigious reference accounts and bring the total number of customers won during the FY19 to 13.
As detailed in the December update, the transitioning of the Company’s larger UK customers to the SaaS business model has deferred revenue from the current financial year. Overall, LiDCO product revenues for FY19 were £6.19m (FY18: £6.87m) and total revenues (including third party products) were £7.32m (FY18: £8.27m). Whilst total revenues were marginally below market expectations, much of the effect of this on the bottom line is mitigated by favourable LiDCO product mix generating higher gross margins and overheads before share-based payments being approximately £0.28m lower than expected.
In the US, the strong growth of HUP meant that recurring revenues, which includes per patient disposables and service contracts, grew nearly 50% compared with the prior year to £1.27m (FY18: £0.85m). LiDCO product revenues for FY19 were £1.38m (FY18: £1.36m), with the prior year having exceptionally strong capital sales.
In the UK, LiDCO is seeking to convert its largest customers to the HUP business model. The Company initially
evaluated this approach with its largest UK account in January 2018 and, encouragingly, the customer has been able to treat more patients and has increased its investment in hemodynamic monitoring. Following this success, three more of LiDCO’s larger customers have signed multi-year HUP contracts, meaning that a total of £0.51m, or 15% of LiDCO’s FY19 recurring revenues in the UK, have been converted. This strategy, to actively convert UK customers to the SaaS business model, had a transitional impact on sales revenue recognition within the financial year through the deferral of revenues which would normally have been booked in the year. These deferred revenues will be recognised over the 12 months from signing the HUP agreements. The transition to HUP has also dampened Q4 sales, as some customers have reduced purchases of consumables in anticipation of converting to HUP in their new financial year, which commences in April 2019. Demand for capital monitor purchases has also been lower than expected as customers conserved or diverted cash as part of their Brexit mitigation measures. As a result, sales in Q4 were less than the usual peak and LiDCO product revenues for FY19 were £3.56m (FY18: £4.14m).
Following the previously announced termination of the Argon distribution contract and subsequent signing of new third-party opportunities, third party sales in FY19 were £1.13m (FY18: £1.40m). During FY19, the Company has sourced alternative distribution opportunities to replace the contribution made by Argon. The Company has recently signed an exclusive UK distribution agreement with Xavant Technology (Pty) Ltd. (“XAVANT”) to take full distribution responsibilities for Xavant’s Advanced Nerve Stimulation and Monitoring Technology in the UK as from 1 February 2019. Xavant is a leading supplier of quantitative neuromuscular monitoring for use during general anaesthesia. LiDCO is now the exclusive distributor for Maicuff, Antmed and Xavant in the UK.
Overall LiDCO revenues outside of the UK and US markets in FY19 were £1.25m (FY18: £1.37m). Strong revenue growth in Japan and preliminary orders from new distribution channels in Europe were offset by weaker demand from the Middle East region primarily driven by no sales to Iran, where the market has been impacted by US sanctions.
LiDCO continues to invest in geographical expansion, during the year applying for several regulatory registrations in key target markets in South East Asia and Latin America, which are expected to benefit FY20. Importantly, the Company made significant progress with registering its latest monitor platform in China. All the prerequisite testing and documentation was completed during 2018 with the submission to CFDA being made in January 2019. The normal timescales for the CFDA to review this type of filing is a few months.
The Company’s cash outflow in H2 was £0.32m compared with £1.19m in H1 and cash balances at 31 January 2019 totalled £1.72m (31 January 2018: £3.23m). The Company remains debt free and the Board believes that LiDCO retains the appropriate strength in its balance sheet to deliver its strategic objectives.
The Company intends to announce its results for the full year to 31 January 2019 on 26 March 2019.
Commenting, Matt Sassone, Chief Executive Officer of LiDCO, said: “Whilst the transition to the HUP business model has a short-term effect of deferring sales, we are encouraged by the progress made having built a recurring revenue base of over £1.5m in just 18 months from launch of the HUP business model. The fundamentals of our business remain strong and we believe that this is reiterated by our new customer wins this financial year. With continued focus on LiDCO’s HUP model, we are well-placed to grow the business in line with our objectives over the short to medium term.”
The sales numbers in this update are extracted from unaudited preliminary financial statements. The value of the contracted HUP base in the US has been translated to GBP at a rate of £1 = $1.30
Other News from this Company
LiDCO Group Plc - Half-year Report
LiDCO Group Plc - Trading update & Notice of results
LiDCO Group Plc - Final Results
LiDCO Group Plc - Directorate Change
LiDCO Group Plc - Pre-Close Trading Update and Notice of Results
More posts: LID
Latest AIM News
Distil PLC – Trading Update
Sosandar PLC – Trading Update
Coral Products PLC – Half-year Report
Audioboom Group PLC – Trading Update
Character Group PLC – Trading Update
Newest Companies
THE PEBBLE GROUP
Active: Trading
EPIC:
Sector: Software & Computer Services
LONGBOAT ENERGY
LBE
Sector: Oil & Gas Producers
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2083
|
__label__cc
| 0.512759
| 0.487241
|
Showing you results for "Luxor, Egypt"
Luxor Governorate
Things to do in Luxor Governorate
1. Valley of the Kings
“This desert valley contains the ancient burial ground of many Egyptian pharaohs. Among over 60 royal tombs is the famous Tomb of Tutankhamun that was found in pristine condition. You can visit 3 tombs with the entrance ticket. If you want to visit the tomb of Tutankhamun, it must be booked from the box office at the beginning of the trip as it has its own price.”
2. Luxor Temple
“Luxor Temple is a large Ancient Egyptian temple complex located on the east bank of the Nile River in the city today known as Luxor (ancient Thebes) and was constructed approximately 1400 BCE. It's great to visit this temple at night since it's all lit-up and you can stay out of the hot Egyptian sun!”
3. Karnak
“The Karnak Temple Complex, commonly known as Karnak (from Arabic Ka-Ranak meaning "fortified village"), comprises a vast mix of decayed temples, chapels, pylons, and other buildings in Egypt. Construction at the complex began during the reign of Senusret I in the Middle Kingdom and continued into the Ptolemaic period, although most of the extant buildings date from the New Kingdom.”
4. Medinet Habu
“The Mortuary Temple of Ramesses III at Medinet Habu is an important New Kingdom period structure in the West Bank of Luxor in Egypt. Aside from its size and architectural and artistic importance, the temple is probably best known as the source of inscribed reliefs depicting the advent and defeat of the Sea Peoples during the reign of Ramesses III.”
5. Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut
“The vast Temple of Hatshepsut in Deir el-Bahari rivals the Pyramids as one of the great funerary monuments of the ancient world. Built into the towering cliff face which shelter the Valley of the Kings on the other side, it rises on three enormous terraces connected by ramps, each level marked with a colonnade of stark, largely unadorned square pillars. Its namesake was one of the few female pharaohs of ancient Egypt, who not unfairly called her monument “Splendor of Splendors”. However, much of the construction dated from earlier rulers, starting with Mentuhotep II in 2050 BC. Numerous sphinxes and other statues have since disappeared, making the whole structure appear even more monolithic”
6. Colossi of Memnon
“The giant statues of Amenhotep III standing erect before the remains of his morturay temple. They are only just bringing this enormous temple back to life. You can see it on a drive by.”
7. Luxor Museum
“One of the best displays of antiquities in Egypt is located at the Luxor Museum opened in 1975. Housed within a modern building, the collection is limited in the number of items, but they are beautifully displayed. The admission price is high, but it is well worth the visit. Visiting hours can be somewhat restricted, so find out upon arrival in Luxor.”
8. Valley of the Queens
“IF you visit just one tomb in the whole of the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens then make it that of Queen Nefertari. The tomb of Nefertari is the most famous one of them; with its Stunning paintings. It has to be the most well preserved and colorful tomb in the whole of Egypt at the moment, I cannot put into words the detail of the murals and carvings, do it if you can.”
9. Mummification Museum
“It only takes about 30 minutes to look around this museum but very interesting. We always used to stop for Hot chocolate at the nearby Anubis cafe which was better in its glory days.”
10. Ramesseum
“Ramesseum (Mortuary Temple of Ramses II), While not as well preserved as nearby Medinet Habu, this mortuary temple dedicated to Ramses II, dating to 1258 BC, still has more than enough to interest the visitor. In the inner sanctuary, for example, the majority of the columns in the hypostyle hall are still standing, as are a number of osirid statues standing sentinel at the entrance, albeit mostly without heads. ”
11. El-Souk
“The Markets! An experience not to be missed! The hustle the bustle, the crazy trading antics... it's comes alive at night. Well worth a visit for the full Egyptian experience!”
12. Mortuary Temple of Seti I
“One of the lesser visited temples but well worth a visit. It's just a stones throw from the Retreat Centre. ”
13. Deir el-Bahari
14. Ferry Landing
“sail on felucca (diner, cold beer, sunset, guiet) an unforgettable experience :-)”
15. Sofra
16. El - Souk
[Private] Valley of The Kings & Beyond
Luxor City
Discover Luxor Rich archeology sites
[Private] Luxor Full Day Lunch & Pick Up
Karnak, Luxor temple & Luxor museum
Al Bairat
Valley of the Kings, temples & food
Full Day Luxor Tour East and West Bank
[Private] Luxor Past & Present
Valley of the Kings, Karnak, food & more
Nile View Restaurant
مطعم افريكان كوزين African Cusine Resturant
Hotel Sofitel Winter Palace Luxor
“beautiful, luxurious, old-fashioned hotel, combining the romantic spirit of the Victorian ethokah, it stopped the Kolevsky seven, the King Mamluk and the famous Agatha Christie in it you can visit restaurants and teahouses, with European and national food”
Aladdin's Kingdom
“The restaurant has a very nice garden and the food is simple but fresh, and you get plenty of bananas from the plantation for dessert. Recommended.”
Banana Island Sara
“ Banana Island is een eiland met een bananen plantage waar gewoon gewerkt word tijdens je bezoek. Voor je gevoel stap je 100 jaar terug de tijd in wanneer je over het eiland wandelt. Het is zeker een aanrader als je van bananen houdt aangezien je er vers geplukte bananen kunt eten. Mocht je toch niet zo van bananen houden, geen probleem want dan kun je alsnog genieten van de mooie natuur.”
Gezira Garden Restaurant
Sunflower Restaurant
Get to know Luxor Governorate
دليل Somaia
Somaia
Guidebook for Luxor
Guidebook for Dencarik
Bali Vacation Homes
Dawn’s guidebook
Guidebook for الأقصر
Alaa Aly Taie
Places to stay in Luxor Governorate
Experiences in Luxor Governorate
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2084
|
__label__cc
| 0.685445
| 0.314555
|
Ceiling Collapse At CDG
Bubbinski
RE: Ceiling Collapse At CDG
May the dead rest in peace. No matter who they were. And I salute the policemen who gave their lives to protect others.
"Simplify" - Thoreau
nycfuturepilot
This is terrible. I was very nervous as i thought that my girlfriend would be going through CDG this morning but I just got off the phone with her and apparently shes coming tomorrow so shes ok but my condolences go to those who lost loved ones in this tragic incident
Father, Son, HOYA spirit
COAB767
This is just tragic news. To hear of a jetway collapsing, and the ceiling giving way is just unbelievable. My condolonences go out to the friends and families who have lost loved ones in this tragic event.
Continental Micronesia: "Fly With The Warmth Of Paradise"
rev3oh2
The suggestion of problems with the reinforced concrete reminds me of a walkway collapse that happened outside of Charlotte Motor Speedway a few years ago. Unfortunately it happened right after a race and many people were badly hurt, although amazingly no one died.
The investigation revealed that there had been problems in the construction of the reinforced concrete sections used to support the walkway. Apparently a lime substance had been used which led to deterioration of the steel within the concrete over a relatively short period of time. When all the weight of the departing racing fans was put on it, the structure simply fractured in the middle, collapsing into a V shape onto the roadway, with dozens of people sliding towards the center on top of one another.
Many lawsuits followed.
...let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
Silver1SWA
With all do respect, but why does nationality matter? The fact is they are all human beings no matter what nationality they are. American casualties are no worse than French casualties or any other nationality. It is an equal loss no matter what nationality they are. We are all humanbeings regardless of our ethnicity. If I misunderstood you, then sorry.....
In the United States, the media likes to focus on the possibility of US casualties in foreign tragedies, especially when dealing with air-travel. Fox news probably mentioned that, and that person came on here and reported the same. No harm or disrespect was meant I'm sure.
ALL views, opinions expressed are mine ONLY and are NOT representative of those shared by Southwest Airlines Co.
Northwest717
WOW, there is really nothing I can say about this other than how sad it is that something like this could be allowed to happen. Especially at such a great airport as CDG! Those poor people!
Dubai: Center of the 21st Century
smcmac32msn
Just wanted to pass along my condolences to the families who lost loved ones today in ths tragedy. Its sad to see anything happen like this, no matter where it is.
Hey Obama, keep the change! I want my dollar back.
hirisk
this is truly sad news . may all the victims rest in peace.had this happened later,i think we all know the outcome of that would have been.
happy contrails
wgw2707
Just a comment, my earlier remark was in no way, shape or form a Franchophobic remark. I am a great admirer of France and very saddened by these two tragedies. It's a shocking coincidence really.
My suggestion that France evaluate their building code just to make sure there isn't some loophole that contractors are jumping through in order to cut costs. A huge number of building construction contractors are very corrupt in every country and tough regulation needs to be in place to govern them. It's very easy to leave open a loophole that permits safety violations. All I'm suggesting is that the French government take a look at their building codes to make sure that these incidents were pure horrible coincidence and that there is not a deficiency.
Again, my condolences to the victims. This was a terrible tragedy.
-WGW2707
PHLapproach
I'm not sure many remember this. Maybe only Americans, but about two years ago when the Milwaukee Brewers (A major League Baseball Team) were building their new stadium. The beams and pretty much the whole top of the structure collapsed inward, killing a few construction workers. This CDG thing reminds me of that incident. My condolences are sent out to the families.
First, no one who checks in on this website should be surprised by the inane, insensitive, untimely or just plain stupid comments, remarks, etc. Happens all the time on virtually any topic. We should all be used to it by now....there are just some genuine oatmeal-for-brains invididuals who get on here and blurt out anything that pops into their little melon, common sense be damned. They cannot be mortified because they don't get it, so it's a waste of time to try to castigate them...best thing to do is just ignore them and go on.
Now, what I'd like to know is which carriers were tenants of 2E. I checked Sabre for tomorrow's in and out from CDG and saw no x's (cncld flts). Many of the flts showed zero availibility, but often the carriers' revenue management dept will zero everything out to prevent bookings. Can anyone knowledgeable (please no guessing or speculation, opinions, etc) tell us what the plans are for handling the summer traffic into Paree (because it will be substantial) for whoever operated from 2E?
JA8915, I'd especially like to hear from you, as you are on the scene....any more news? Needless to say, all in the aviation community are shocked and saddened by this or any incident that causes loss of life, injury or great damage. But they still occur.....chow
I remember when......a plane trip was a big deal.
So sad news. Definitely a terrible tragedy.
Just to confirm, that terminal is NOT BA's terminal.
I don't recall it being that new when I was there earlier in the year??
I was so shocked to hear the news. You would never thought these type of things will happen is civilise western countries like this! It makes you think when you are in these new futuristic airports (eg. HKG, DXB etc....) whether the structure is safe or not?????
RayChuang
Here's the big question: if they do determine that CDG's Terminal 2E's roof is structurally unsafe, how long will it take to tear it down and replace it with a safer roof structure? At least one year?
L410Turbolet
According to CTK News Agency it was confirmed last night by the Czech consulate in Paris that one of the six (five?) dead is a woman from the Czech Republic and among the injured are supposed to be also women from China and Ivory Coast.
scottysair
It is horrible for CDG today and will ever repair with reconstructions into the concourses and will happening again in the future. I won't not able happening again either in the future and I already heard about them in the news today. I am worried about with CDG collapse down into the terminal and will they clean it up with midfield concourses.
Mikey711MN
To clear up some misconceptions on the engineering design and construction trades...
The typical order of concept to concrete goes as follows: (with some variety based on project type and location)
design calculations are made by engineer according to local, federal, and universal (i.e. UBC) codes
another designer provides an independent check on those calculations, discrepencies are settled, and calculations are placed in final book
directions given to tech based on design calcs, tech drafts them, original directive engineer reviews them, and independent engineer checks entire sheet
Professional Engineer or certified equivalent reviews calcs and sheet and signs both
reviewed and signed plan sheets are approved by owner or owner's rep and submitted to contractors for bids (unless it's a design-build job where effectively this step is skipped because the contractor and designer are teamed)
contractor selected by owner based on quality and economic qualifications
contractor reviews sheets and submits shop drawings to engineer of record for review
engineer approves to-be-built concept, i.e. rarely as designed based on things like availability of materials, acceptible construction methods, etc. or mandates any required changes
contractor fabricates and builds under inspection of owner's rep (sometimes the design engineer, but rarely) who will ensure QA/QC procedures of the owner are being met
engineer/tech submits final as-built sheets based on field changes for owner
...so, needless to say, to pin this horrific incident (or any of the others as previously mentioned in the thread) on one particular item is missing the point: this is not some Pandora's box of shady French building code, this is not an indicator of a poorly designed building, this is not an indicator of an incompetent, unsafe contractor, etc. This is a tragedy where people died. Period.
As a final comment, which admittedly doesn't sit well with some people, structural engineers are not dedicated to designing something that will stand forever. Our art is to develop predictable, reliable, safe failure modes to maximize safety for occupants and economy for the owner. Amongst these failure modes are warning signs like cracks, displacement, timed collapse, etc. that--and I believe this occured today--saves many lives by giving advance warning. The greatest tragedy of structural collapses is when police and firefighters are sent in to provide rescue when not heeding these built in warnings...may God rest their brave souls in giving their lives to protect others.
I plan on living forever. So far, so good...
If you ask me, they got a little too "cute" with the design. Simplicity rules...
And if you ask me, there is lots of "cute" design all over the world - and that's great cause we want to see beautiful buildings.
I think this is an airliners forum and I'm sure only few people here are specialists in architecture and statics.
My sympathy to all those caught up in this tragedy.
Shame on some members here for their cheap, puerile comment. This is neither time, nor the place.
tekelberry
Maybe only Americans, but about two years ago when the Milwaukee Brewers (A major League Baseball Team) were building their new stadium. The beams and pretty much the whole top of the structure collapsed inward, killing a few construction workers.
Just to clear something up here. All that happened was a crane (nicknamed "Big Blue") collapsed. There was nothing wrong with the actual stadium.
My condolences go out to all who were affected by the CDG tragedy.
[Edited 2004-05-24 10:01:19]
[Leave it to the French who build a structure with a flashy appearance, but the integrity is in shambles.]
Well, JMC1975, you managed to offend me too, and I live in the Midwest. How anyone can use this tragedy to make anti-French comments is totally beyond the scope of human decency. By the way, many fine people of French ancestry live in the USA, including my family. I am sick and tired of French bashing on all levels. France is a great country with a wonderful heritage. Have you forgotten who assisted us in the American revolution? Have you forgotten who gave us the Statue of Liberty?
All humanity experienced a great tragedy today, and my heart goes out to those who were killed or injured and their families. What possible reason could you have for such an insensitive statement. Your comments are truly insulting and tasteless. How would you feel if foreigners commented about the alleged shoddy construction of the World Trade Center the day of the tragedy?
sebolino
My suggestion that France evaluate their building code just to make sure there isn't some loophole that contractors are jumping through
Just to clarify things: France is not especially known for his building collapses.
The other tragedy your are talking about is different: there was no concrete, it was a temporary footbridge put there to allow people to visit the boat.
I apologize for my statement as I left it open for bad interpretation and representation of what I meant...got careless.
Too often these days, we as creative human beings seem to be pushing the limits and have a tendency to go a little over the top as we strive to better ourselves and our world. That structure is an airport terminal. A "conventional" structure would have served the same purpose just fine as long as it served its purpose and provided comfort. In my opinion, and remember, this is my opinion, there is no need for that kind of structure. I mean, as stated above in another post, this design brought many obstacles that otherwise would not have been an issue. It just seems like a lot of effort for something as simple as an airport terminal. I'm not going as far as to bash the French in this next statement like someone else chose, but I will say this building was a bit flashy. That is my opinion. I am not one that takes real kindly to things being "flashier" than they practically need be. I can do without a lot in this world as long as it serves its original intended purpose. I'm going to use the analogy here of cellular phones (possibly(?) a bad analogy). Cell phones are becoming ridiculous these days in that they contain so many features, that is seems the actual CALL function is at best a secondary feature. I can do without the camera, video, whatever else they come with these days. In fact I read a report of a study claiming that these new cellular network technologies are harmful to us when exposed...which we all are every day whether you use a cell phone or not. God only knows how bad the effects it will have on us will be down the road. We are killing ourselves these days as we push the limits with technology especially when mixed with our creativity. Creativity is very important to society, and no doubt they were just trying to be different and unique by adding such an incredible structure to CDG, but seeing how difficult it was to actually pull off, and the end result, I'd say it APPEARS, we MAY have pushed it too far. In the end, this was an airport terminal. If it had been kept as simple as that, rather than trying to create a modern marvel, it still would have served it's function and still could have been beautiful.
My heart goes out to those who died and their families for this is a tragic, and very sad event. I don't wish to take away from that. But when I saw the first pictures of that terminal, especially the one taken from inside, my immediate impression was, a bit too flashy!...or at least, unnecessarily flashy...
I have interrupted this topic enough and I wish not to take away from the attention of this horrible event any more than I may have already. I mean no harm with my comments and I direct them at no one, especially not the French. Just sharing my 2 cents...
canoecarrier
There certainly seems to be a lot of emotion and some bias running around this thread. The truth behind any structural collapse, in any country, especially with a new building, is the reasons are usually simple to trace.
1. A natural disaster: Earthquake, hurricane. Easy to rule out in this case.
2. Engineering failure: architects frequently ask for nearly impossible designs to be created. Structural Engineers attempt to take the drawings and make a safe structure. Unfortunately, this does not always happen, and there are a few examples in this thread of when they don't succeed.
3. Poor materials: Sometimes related to the engineers, lower grade steel or concrete used to build the structure.
4. Poor workmanship: The plans and materials were correct for the job. However, in the field they were not followed correctly. Thats why many cities require engineers to be present at crucial points during construction.
It was a bad day at CDG, and I feel bad for everyone involved. If any good side comes out of this, the reason will be found. Again, one of the things, or more likely a combination of them happened to bring this fine structure down. It would be a good guess that what caused this to happen will effect the entire structure at 2E.
The beatings will continue until morale improves
donder10
At least it wasn't T2C at that time in the morning
2c have more traffic than E? Which one of the Sub-T in T2 has the most Pax?
If you fly into CDG,avoid 2C in the morning like the plague-it's very busy.
Before 0630 on a Sunday they have flights coming from:
Kinshasa,Bamako,Dakar,Lome,St. Maarteen,Lagos and several others.
hoons90
Very sad and tragic news, Rest in peace to those who have passed away due to this unfortunate event.
The biggest mistake made by most human beings: Listening to only half, understanding just a quarter and telling double.
EUSWISS
Breaking news-Reports in French media that workers clearing the site have just evacuated the site because of a cracking sound in an other part of the building.
At least, it won't be hard to break it down before they make a new terminal ... They just have to shout a little bit and everything will collapse
N754PR
Sounds like a quality building!!
Bush, your a sad, sad man.
timdegroot
View Large View Medium
Photo © Philippe Noret
What a tragic event
Alderman Exit
longhaulheavy
Here's a report on the "fresh cracks." One wonders what exactly was done differently when they built this new section, and also what can be done to salvage what's left - if it's even possible at this point.
Jer32382
Just saw on the FOX news ticker that officials are considering demolishing the entire terminal after fresh new cracks are found.
MD80Nut
Looking at pictures of the damage, I think it's amazing only 4 people died. My thoughts are with the victims and their families.
I suggest we all wait to see what the investigation reveals before making statements about the cause of this sad tragedy.
cheers, Ralph
Fly Douglas Jets DC-8 / DC-9 / DC-10 / MD80 / MD11 / MD90 / 717
So how badly does this disrupt Air France's operation?
-In the short term, the closure of terminal 2E means an important loss for AF.
Terminal 2E as the most performant and most efficient, and its closure is a blow to AF.
-In the medium term, if the terminal can not be reopened soon, it could cause a delay in the launch of the A380 which is scheduled to be delivered to AF between 2006 and 2007. The first 2 gates to accomodate the A380 are planned to be from terminal 2E, and later from 2A, 2C and S3 in 2007-2008
-In the long term, a long closure or even demolition of the terminal 2E DOES NOT threaten AF profitability, analysts say.
https://www.airliners.net/open.file/584168/L/
Well here is a pretty good view of the construction for all us amateur architectural engineers.
You can see how the roof is keyed into the support column and from observation,and not having any structural engineering experience, it sure looks like at the floor level there would be some pretty good shear just above the key, and towards outside of the support column where the concrete starts to get thin.
I also noticed from pictures that there are some walk ways at the failure point to join the two buildings on the opposite side of most pictures. These are just observations.
FlySSC
Concerning how this will affect AF traffic and the A380, click on the link below and read my reply # 19 :
https://www.airliners.net/discussions/general_aviation/read.main/1580482/
ConcordeBoy
*I admit to not having read the majority of the [repetitive] responses in this thread*
...did they announce whether the dead were staff or passengers?
Faire du ciel le plus bel endroit de la terre c'est impossible sans Concorde!
My sympathies to anyone and everyone involved, particularly those families who lost loved ones. What a horrible accident, and as the investigation unfolds, hopefully it won't be for naught.
I know it's far too premature to discuss potential causes, but a couple things strike me: if there are fresh cracks, this could be nothing, or could be signs of an imminent structural failure. A chain-reaction might be in the making due to structural fatigue, much as stress risers will lead to catastrophic failure of a metal or structure. Another thing that I gleaned based on reading this:
To solve the problem, the project's chief architect, Paul Andreu, proposed using technology developed for the construction of tunnels. It was "a significant first, not without numerous difficulties, not least being the open air construction of the concrete shells," noted a 2002 press release from the French Technology Press Bureau.
The concrete shell, built by the French construction firms Eiffel and Laubeuf, was constructed in rings "with three interlocking elements, positioned one next to the other," the press release said. To simulate the pressure on an underground tunnel that keeps the concrete tube intact, the press release explained, steel reinforcement was built outside the shell, which was further reinforced with carbon fiber glued onto the inside.
The shell, its ceiling honeycombed with square windows, was expected to settle as much as 8 centimeters, according to the press release. It said France's Building Science and Testing Center performed a technical assessment of the structure.
If this shell settled, and fatigue cracks developed in the concrete shell, it's possible that the weight of the structure itself pushed the interlocking ring system (regardless of material) to physical limit. The pictures are tough to make a call from, but that's one possibility. That design may not be the most optimal to allow for changes in loading or the most forgiving.
Best of luck to the engineers and airport personnel as they work to recover.
Espion007
wow-i was at the 2E terminal last november and wow it was huge.Im amazed that the size of the colapsed area didnt claim more lives.
Snakes on a Plane!
Slider, I assure you that there is no way that fatigue is an issue here. Two factors of fatigue are the stress limit and the number of cycles: increase one and decrease the allowable of the other. This structure was open for a mere 11 months and was subject to relatively low stress cycles such as pedestrian live loads, thermal expansion, etc. Fatigue is a design consideration on things like aircraft frames and (more of my specialty) steel bridges where both factors are much higher.
ukair
Latest reports say there were four casualties, but there's no mention of any police being amongst them, as was thought earlier.
With all do respect, but why does nationality matter? The fact is they are all human beings no matter what nationality they are. American casualties are no worse than French casualties or any other nationality.
This comes from the Australian article given near the beginning of thread
"None of the dead or injured were Australian, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has said."
It's typical for news agencies to point out whether any of the known dead are nationals of that country, especially in situations where people from lots of nationalities could be affected. It's not so much to put emphasis on whose death is more important, but really just to let people know, "It's okay. There were no casualties from this country. You can put your mind at ease."
That is correct. BA operate in and out of Terminal 2B.
« On ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux » Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Quite interesting story develops around the identity of those poor souls who died at CDG on Sunday. According to earlier reports, one of the victims was supposed to be a Czech woman, which was confirmed by the consulate in Paris, based on travel documents found on site.
What a surprise for all involved it had to be, when police officers, who went to notify the relatives of that lady, found her at home and alive! Her passport was reported as stolen couple months ago.
Its funny to thing back about sitting way down in the 2E bar marvelling at the ceiling and structure of the place in December awaiing a my HK flight. They had better destrot the whole structure or I don't think anyone would marvel at it anymore. We've had masks in HK, I think hard hats in CDG would be in order. Very sad for everyone that lost their life in such an extraodinary way, I would bet that the Chinese were awaiting the same HK flight.
Users browsing this forum: 452QX, AF773, Akwagon, AR1160, B757Forever, BA744PHX, Baidu [Spider], BawliBooch, bgm, BigDavis, Bing [Bot], blacksoviet, bluestreak, bryanSE785, CDGIAD, ChEffeEffe, Coalways, COflyerBOS, Cubsrule, deltacle, DeltaPSCFlyer, DenverTed, DJ112, DobboDobbo, Dutchy, EDIGLA18, emcm541, EuroKick, evanb, F9LASDEN, Favre4, FlyGuyNash, FlyingVan, frmrCapCadet, fry530, FWAERJ, GlobalTrvlr, GoSteelers, headlessmike, holeham, Independence76, Internaute, Ishrion, itti06, IWMBH, jem2000, jking629, jmc1975, JoseSalazar, jplatts, kabi101, kalvado, keesje, Kindanew, Kn92, lawair, mapimi, MCOAviationFan, me89, MIflyer12, Motorhussy, mrglue, NWAD9S, OB1504, oldJoe, PDXFlyBoy, PeteKMCFC, rabader, reddevl442, Revelation, RicFlyer, RJLover, SDL, shamrock350, Skyblue39, SMKCosmopolitan, Starfuryt, TheAccountant, TObound, Tokushima, TrafficCop, TransWorldOne, TYWoolman, USAmidwest, usxguy, vhtje, vinniewinnie, william, WN732, XRAYretired, YULACYYZ and 649 guests
Popular Searches On Airliners.net
Top Photos of Last: 24 Hours • 48 Hours • 7 Days • 30 Days • 180 Days • 365 Days • All Time
Military Aircraft Every type from fighters to helicopters from air forces around the globe
Classic Airliners Props and jets from the good old days
Flight Decks Views from inside the cockpit
Aircraft Cabins Passenger cabin shots showing seat arrangements as well as cargo aircraft interior
Cargo Aircraft Pictures of great freighter aircraft
Government Aircraft Aircraft flying government officials
Helicopters Our large helicopter section. Both military and civil versions
Blimps / Airships Everything from the Goodyear blimp to the Zeppelin
Night Photos Beautiful shots taken while the sun is below the horizon
Accidents Accident, incident and crash related photos
Air to Air Photos taken by airborne photographers of airborne aircraft
Special Paint Schemes Aircraft painted in beautiful and original liveries
Airport Overviews Airport overviews from the air or ground
Tails and Winglets Tail and Winglet closeups with beautiful airline logos
Airliners.net is the leading community for discovering and sharing high-quality aviation photography. We thank you for your support and hope you'll join the largest aviation community on the web.
Copyright © VerticalScope Inc.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2085
|
__label__wiki
| 0.88356
| 0.88356
|
Livable Home Page
Age-Friendly Network
Livability Index
A-Z Archive
Florida's Complete Streets Implementation Plan
After ranking tops among the regions where crossing a street can be a life or death endeavor, the Sunshine State is working to make its roadways safer for people of all ages
AARP Livable Communities | Comments: 0
Download the plan.
The 2011 Dangerous by Design Report by the National Coalition of Complete Streets ranked four Florida metropolitan areas among the most dangerous in the nation for pedestrians. The poor marks inspired the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to take a look at itself and the state's car- and truck-oriented transportation network.
Subscribe for Free! AARP Livable Communities Newsletter
Working in partnership with Smart Growth America, FDOT released Complete Streets Implementation Plan M2D2: Multimodal Development and Delivery, a report outlining the state's strategy for how to disappear from the dangerous list.
A key outcome of the work was Florida's adoption in 2014 of a statewide Complete Streets policy that states:
"… the Department will routinely plan, design, construct, reconstruct and operate a context-sensitive system of 'Complete Streets.' While maintaining safety and mobility, Complete Streets shall service the transportation needs of transportation system users of all ages and abilities, including but not limited to: cyclists, freight handlers, motorists, pedestrians, and transit riders."
Billy Hattaway — Photo by David Kidd for Governing
5 Questions about Complete Streets for Florida Transportation Secretary Billy Hattaway
As part of the state's effort to make its roads friendlier to pedestrians and bicyclists, the FDOT has to make its internal procedures and documents friendlier to actually getting work done.
Because of that, the plan calls for changing FDOT's decision-making processes. It provides recommendations such as integrating Complete Streets policies into FDOT's long-range plans and aligning decision-making criteria with a Complete Streets approach.
The implementation plan outlines a five-part framework that provides strategies and recommendations for how key standards, manuals, procedures, policies, guides, reports and other documents can be revised to reflect Complete Street policies.
Key elements of the two-year implementation plan include:
Revising guidance, standards, manuals, policies and documents
Updating decision-making processes
Modifying approaches for measuring performance
Managing internal and external communication and collaboration
Providing ongoing education and training
A table that starts on page 8 lists the documents that need to be revised in some way (see the categories in the box below) in order to adhere to a Complete Streets approach:
Document review and revision categories and instructions from the Florida Complete Streets implementation plan.
"Integrating a Complete Streets approach into the documents used to guide daily decisions across programs will be a crucial step in successfully aligning FDOT's practices with the objectives of the Complete Streets Policy," the authors explain. "The FDOT has a wealth of guidance and research in place already that can support Complete Streets implementation, but much of it has not yet been integrated directly into decision-making on a large scale because the core documents that influence planning, programming, project development, design and operations on a daily basis do not reflect the findings."
For a state that developed and grew during the car-centric decades of the 20th century, there's a lot to do and undo. But the plan for moving forward is a good one, says Jana Lynott, a land-use and transportation planner who is a senior strategic policy adviser with the AARP Public Policy Institute: "The Florida Complete Streets Implementation Plan is a well thought out approach to ensuring the state's roads are designed, built and maintained with all users in mind. This is essential for improving the safety of Florida's 3.6 million road users over the age of 65 who are currently over-represented in fatal crashes, in particular those involving older pedestrians."
The final phase of the two-year timeline, slated for January 2018, proposes evaluating accomplishments and determining next steps.
Page published July 2016 | Summary by Laura Cantwell
Visit our Complete Streets archive
Check out Smart Growth America's 2014 Dangerous By Design Report
Watch the AARP slideshow "Dangerously Incomplete Streets"
Read the AARP Livability Fact Sheets
Stay Informed — For Free!
Each issue of the award-winning AARP Livable Communities e-Newsletter contains a mix of inspiring examples, community resources and information about livability efforts from places near and far. Subscribe today!
AARP.org/Livable
Enter a topic, name, place, etc.
See past issues: Visit our newsletter archive »
Our Free Publications!
See the complete list at AARP.org/LivableLibrary
Facebook: /AARPLivableCommunities
Twitter: @AARPLivable
If you don't yet subscribe to the free AARP Livable Communities e-Newsletter — which is where we announce news and new resources — sign-up now. The publication is weekly and award-winning. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Email AARP Livable Communities at Livable@AARP.org
Ask about the AARP Livability Index by completing this online form
AARP Members: If you have questions about your benefits, AARP The Magazine or the AARP Bulletin, please visit the AARP Contact Us page or call AARP toll-free at 1-888-OUR-AARP (1-888-687-2277)
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2088
|
__label__wiki
| 0.62022
| 0.62022
|
" Accelo is our main hub where we store all the documents that clients submit. Almost everything is done in Accelo. We no longer have to do things manually, and it has given us a lot of time back. "
BRITT WAIBEL
Financial Planning & Consulting
15 Staff
https://www.ascentmn.com
Providing the Gift of Time: How The Good P.A use Service Operations Automation to work virtually, efficiently and do it all with ease
Less Effort. More Profits: How TradiePad Eliminated Busy Work & Increased Productivity by 30%.
Create a Whole New Business. How One Integrated System helped Navigo/HROnboard Triple its Business.
How Accelo Is Giving Ascent Financial 300 Hours Back Annually
Prioritizing Client Satisfaction:
Ascent Financial is far from your typical consulting agency. The company serves the agricultural community with business and transition planning. They currently assist over 3,000 clients in 7 different states. As a business, it's important to them to ensure client satisfaction from providing visibility into who is assigned to what project, track the progress of each task, and provide thorough reports.
Though Ascent Financial has held a steady client-base, Britt Waibel, who has worked at the company for almost three years, found that employees were frustrated with the amount of time they spend on manual work each month. She also found that this major pain point was beginning to affect their clients.
"We didn’t know where each case was in the process,” Britt recalls. “We couldn't see where our clients were at, which was causing issues." Britt was tasked with finding a solution. Prior to using Accelo, Ascent Financial relied on a home-grown, legacy system, but quickly found that it lacked what the company needed. "The system was outdated and wasn't very user-friendly," Britt said. "It doesn't have the nice, clean workflows we needed.” At Ascent Financial, Britt is responsible for sending invoices to clients, receiving payments, tracking consulting hours, and more.
Before Accelo, Britt was spending 12 hours each month manually entering information into the system.
She remembers a particular situation where a sales consultant sent out an email to a client that she was not CC'ed on. The consultant was out-of-office, the client was struggling to find the email, and there was no other way to pull essential details from their email correspondence needed to complete the client task. They had no other choice but to contact the consultant and ask for it, causing frustration all around. As a company that prides itself on providing excellent customer service, making sure everyone is aligned on projects and that someone else can seamlessly take over communication for a consultant that is out-of-office is essential to making that happen.
Britt found Accelo after doing extensive research on alternative solutions. Right away, she noticed that Accelo was much easier to use compared to their older system. On top of the extensive visibility the platform offers, she was impressed by Accelo’s crisp, clean, and easy to use design.
"We work with some senior consultants, so it's important that they can figure it out and there are as few steps as possible as opposed to the 16 steps you need to take for the same result in the old system. We needed something more user-friendly."
After doing extensive research and sampling five other solutions, she chose to move forward with Accelo. The Projects and Retainers Modules have been particularly helpful, as it prevents the need to track hours and payments through Excel. Projects are also used to create Projects Budgets. Additionally, Retainers are used to ensure payment is made upfront, which differs from other companies that do the work first and send out the bill later. The Retainers functionality really stood out as competitors did not offer this feature and it is the primary manner in which Ascent Financial does business.
Since implementing Accelo, Britt has seen significant, company-wide improvements. Providing monthly updates, invoices, and reports that used to take 12 hours per month. With Accelo, she has decreased that time by 67%. As a company, Accelo has saved 25 hours monthly. "Accelo has helped me immensely with organizing, and knowing right away, what's been done yesterday or the day before," she says. "I can also plan ahead and check what's coming up in the next month or two." Britt also noted that client and consultant happiness has increased. Invoices are paid on time, which results in contractors being compensated on time."Accelo is our main hub where we store all the documents that clients submit," Britt explains. "Almost everything is done in Accelo. We no longer have to do things manually, and it has given us a lot of time back."
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2090
|
__label__wiki
| 0.720759
| 0.720759
|
Follow @AlwynAsh
Genesis Who
Pages »
Follyfoot
Alsyville HUB
ALSYVILLE »
Home » BookReview , Reviews » The Tannery - BookReview
The Tannery - BookReview
Thursday, November 03, 2011 BookReview, Reviews
Article author: Alwyn Ash
Life for Dolly Ramsden, a six-year-old child, is never an easy one, but what does that matter, really matter, when she has the love of a mother and protection – and financial security - of her father?
Mr Ramsden works at the local tannery and Dolly shares a vision with her mother, one of travel and adventure. Life is good. But the arrival of war changes all of that, snatching away her comfort blanket and stealing her dreams.
With her father gone, joining the war effort in 1941, Dolly faces a world where her mother subsidizes rations by taking on cleaning jobs. One, in particular, helps out financially until a fateful day when Dolly is responsible for her mother losing work. We reach a moment when emotional changes occur - her mother slaps Dolly across the face, both taken aback by the actions of a desperate woman.
This is when the bitterness pours out, blackening everything around both mother and daughter, sending them along a spiralling path of uncertainty and despair.
The hard times that both face are clearly realised, as Hewson develops the story further. We are in 1943, and Dolly, now twelve, is taken out of school to help with house chores and other work. By this time her mother is clearly struggling to face reality and instead looks for answers at the bottom of a bottle. The washing that they collect from people in the neighbourhood certainly brings in some cash, never enough.
Dolly’s mother, increasingly out of control, her flirtatious ways evolving into a far darker affair - eventually turns to prostitution!
1945. The war ends. But Dolly’s nightmarish life refuses to close with it. At this point there has been no word from Mr Ramsden, nor any sign that he is still alive. Dolly is also worried that, if he does return home, the truth about his wife's sordid liaisons will break him. What might the neighbours, who are all too familiar with Mrs Ramsden’s many male visitors, tell him?
One fateful day Dolly’s father does return and, for the briefest of moments, life appears to be returning to some kind of normality. Her mother, who had lost pride in her appearance during his absence, begins making an effort to look good. The “visits” stop, and something resembling calmness casts a gentle hand around family life. Until Mr Ramsden announces that he has been re-employed at the Tannery...
Mrs Ramsden’s dislike for his job is well and truly realised from the start of the book, and news of him returning to that damn awful place acts like a flick of a switch, undoing all the good that had been done since his arrival. It is sad to see a family without love, its soul ripped out. And it is Dolly I feel most for.
Stanley, the son of a funeral director, is the young girl’s salvation - now a young woman. They fall in love, Stanley’s feelings genuine and true. It is also a relationship that is kept between them, for the time being. However, they know that the secret must be told as some point.
Which leads to a climax that will startle, and sadden. That is all I am going to say about this stage of the book. What surprises me is just how good this story is, both in style and atmosphere. Okay, seeing as this is a "Quick Reads" there is certainly no room for indepth character and location development, but Hewson manages to delivery without compromising the plot. A début perhaps - but an excellent beginning to a writing career!
The novel was written as part of a five-part British television talent contest called Murder Most Famous (which aired on 3-7th March 2008, BBC2). Host Minette Walters tutored and judged six competing celebrity writers (Diarmuid Gavin, Angela Griffin, Matt Allwright, Kelvin MacKenzie, Sherrie Hewson, Brendan Cole), with the winner having his or her crime fiction novel published by Pan Macmillan on World Book Day, March 2009.
What I like on Twitter
“You can't wait for #inspiration because it may never come.”
—Erskin Caldwell #writing #writerslife #amwriting pic.twitter.com/eUNN7x6W5i
— Novelicious (@noveliciouss) March 12, 2016
FLONYC @Chirlane and @EmWatson light up the Empire State Building, to honor @HeforShe Arts Week, by @NYCMayoralPhoto pic.twitter.com/mqeY78qxYO
— Homeless Services (@NYCDHS) March 8, 2016
#Ghostbusters opens in 130 days.
Art by @shira_art. pic.twitter.com/8xzNIo4XZ4
— Ghostbusters: 111 (@GBCountdown) March 7, 2016
This is Mehri. This is her grave. She was a graphic artist at @TOLO_TV. Taliban called her a "spy" & killed her. pic.twitter.com/nNy0gUZrHe
— Ahmad Shuja احمدشجاع (@AhmadShuja) January 21, 2016
♫ You're the best of friends. ♫ pic.twitter.com/uKlJjKmRbM
— Disney (@Disney) December 29, 2015
Copyright © Alwyn Ash | Powered by Blogger
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2095
|
__label__cc
| 0.620315
| 0.379685
|
New Data Show Greater Bone Mineral Density Gains With Prolia Denosumab Compared With Zoledronic Acid
New Data Show Greater Bone Mineral Density Gains With Prolia® (Denosumab) Compared With Zoledronic Acid
Results From Study in Women With Postmenopausal Osteoporosis Previously Treated With Oral Bisphosphonates Presented at ASBMR
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif., Oct. 11, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) today announced findings from a randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, multicenter Phase 4 study showing that Prolia® (denosumab) achieved greater gains in bone mineral density (BMD) than the intravenous bisphosphonate zoledronic acid in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis following previous treatment with oral bisphosphonates. The findings were presented today at the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) 2015 Annual Meeting in Seattle.
"Despite the availability of newer therapies like denosumab, bisphosphonates are commonly used first-line to treat osteoporosis," said lead investigator Paul Miller, M.D., medical director of the Colorado Center for Bone Research, Lakewood, Colo. "Our findings showed that denosumab provides significantly greater bone mineral density increases than zoledronic acid."
The 12-month study (NCT01732770) included 643 women 55 years or older who had postmenopausal osteoporosis (BMD T-score –2.5 or less at the lumbar spine, total hip, or femoral neck) and had been taking oral bisphosphonate therapy for two or more years. The women were randomized 1:1 to receive either subcutaneous denosumab (60 mg) every six months plus intravenous placebo once yearly (denosumab group, 321 participants), or intravenous zoledronic acid (5 mg) once yearly plus subcutaneous placebo every six months (zoledronic acid group, 322 participants). The change from baseline in lumbar spine BMD at 12 months – the primary endpoint – in the denosumab group was significantly greater than that in the zoledronic acid group: 3.2 percent vs. 1.1 percent, respectively (p<0.0001).
The denosumab group also had significantly greater improvements than the zoledronic acid group in secondary and exploratory study endpoints, including BMD changes in the total hip (1.9 percent vs. 0.6 percent [p<0.0001]), femoral neck (1.2 percent vs. -0.1 percent [p<0.0001]), and 1/3 radius (0.6 percent vs. 0 percent [p<0.0184]).
"These findings add to the evidence supporting Prolia as an important therapeutic option for women with postmenopausal osteoporosis, especially those who have failed bisphosphonate treatment," said Sean E. Harper, M.D., executive vice president of Research and Development at Amgen. "Our continued research in this innovative antiresorptive reinforces Amgen's commitment to bone biology and understanding the value Prolia brings to treating osteoporosis in postmenopausal women at high risk for fracture."
In the study, no new safety signals were identified. The two study groups had similar incidences of overall adverse events (AEs), serious AEs, AEs leading to discontinuation, and fatal AEs. Three events consistent with the definition of atypical femoral fracture were observed, including two in the denosumab group and one in the zoledronic acid group. There were no cases of osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ), hypocalcemia, or delayed fracture healing.
About Osteoporosis
Excessive bone loss can lead to a condition called osteoporosis, which significantly increases a person's risk for fracture. Women specifically can lose up to 20 percent of their bone mass in the five to seven years after menopause,1 and up to half of all women over the age of 50 will have an osteoporosis-related fracture in their lifetime.2 Postmenopausal osteoporosis, the most common form of the disease,3 is a condition that weakens bones over time, making them thinner, more brittle, and more likely to break.1
About Prolia® (denosumab)
Prolia is the first approved therapy that specifically targets RANK Ligand, an essential regulator of bone-removing cells (osteoclasts).
Prolia is approved in the U.S. for the treatment of postmenopausal women with osteoporosis at high risk for fracture, defined as a history of osteoporotic fracture, or multiple risk factors for fracture; or patients who have failed or are intolerant to other available osteoporosis therapy. Prolia is also approved for treatment to increase bone mass in men with osteoporosis at high risk for fracture, defined as a history of osteoporotic fracture, or multiple risk factors for fracture; or patients who have failed or are intolerant to other available osteoporosis therapy.
Prolia is also indicated in the U.S. as a treatment to increase bone mass in women at high risk for fracture receiving adjuvant aromatase inhibitor therapy for breast cancer and in men at high risk for fracture receiving androgen deprivation therapy for non-metastatic prostate cancer.
Prolia is administered as a single subcutaneous injection of 60 mg once every six months.
Please see the Important Safety Information below.
Important Safety Information (U.S.)
Prolia is contraindicated in patients with hypocalcemia. Preexisting hypocalcemia must be corrected prior to initiating Prolia. Prolia is contraindicated in women who are pregnant and may cause fetal harm. Prolia is contraindicated in patients with a history of systemic hypersensitivity to any component of the product. Reactions have included anaphylaxis, facial swelling and urticaria.
Prolia® contains the same active ingredient (denosumab) found in XGEVA®. Patients receiving Prolia® should not receive XGEVA®.
Clinically significant hypersensitivity including anaphylaxis has been reported with Prolia®. Symptoms have included hypotension, dyspnea, throat tightness, facial and upper airway edema, pruritus, and urticaria. If an anaphylactic or other clinically significant allergic reaction occurs, initiate appropriate therapy and discontinue further use of Prolia®.
Hypocalcemia may worsen with the use of Prolia®, especially in patients with severe renal impairment. In patients predisposed to hypocalcemia and disturbances of mineral metabolism, clinical monitoring of calcium and mineral levels is highly recommended within 14 days of Prolia® injection. Adequately supplement all patients with calcium and vitamin D.
ONJ, which can occur spontaneously, is generally associated with tooth extraction and/or local infection with delayed healing, and has been reported in patients receiving Prolia®. An oral exam should be performed by the prescriber prior to initiation of Prolia®. A dental examination with appropriate preventive dentistry is recommended prior to treatment in patients with risk factors for ONJ such as invasive dental procedures, diagnosis of cancer, concomitant therapies (e.g. chemotherapy, corticosteroids, angiogenesis inhibitors), poor oral hygiene, and co-morbid disorders. Good oral hygiene practices should be maintained during treatment with Prolia®.
For patients requiring invasive dental procedures, clinical judgment should guide the management plan of each patient. Patients who are suspected of having or who develop ONJ should receive care by a dentist or an oral surgeon. Extensive dental surgery to treat ONJ may exacerbate the condition. Discontinuation of Prolia® should be considered based on individual benefit-risk assessment.
Atypical low-energy or low trauma fractures of the shaft have been reported in patients receiving Prolia®. Causality has not been established as these fractures also occur in osteoporotic patients who have not been treated with anti-resorptive agents.
During Prolia® treatment, patients should be advised to report new or unusual thigh, hip, or groin pain. Any patient who presents with thigh or groin pain should be evaluated to rule out an incomplete femur fracture. Interruption of Prolia® therapy should be considered, pending a risk/benefit assessment, on an individual basis.
In a clinical trial (N = 7808) in women with postmenopausal osteoporosis, serious infections leading to hospitalization were reported more frequently in the Prolia® group than in the placebo group. Serious skin infections, as well as infections of the abdomen, urinary tract and ear, were more frequent in patients treated with Prolia®.
Endocarditis was also reported more frequently in Prolia®-treated patients. The incidence of opportunistic infections and the overall incidence of infections were similar between the treatment groups. Advise patients to seek prompt medical attention if they develop signs or symptoms of severe infection, including cellulitis.
Patients on concomitant immunosuppressant agents or with impaired immune systems may be at increased risk for serious infections. In patients who develop serious infections while on Prolia®, prescribers should assess the need for continued Prolia® therapy.
In the same clinical trial in women with postmenopausal osteoporosis, epidermal and dermal adverse events such as dermatitis, eczema and rashes occurred at a significantly higher rate with Prolia® compared to placebo. Most of these events were not specific to the injection site. Consider discontinuing Prolia® if severe symptoms develop.
Severe and occasionally incapacitating bone, joint, and/or muscle pain has been reported in patients taking Prolia®. Consider discontinuing use if severe symptoms develop.
In clinical trials in women with postmenopausal osteoporosis, Prolia® resulted in significant suppression of bone remodeling as evidenced by markers of bone turnover and bone histomorphometry. The significance of these findings and the effect of long-term treatment are unknown. Monitor patients for consequences, including ONJ, atypical fractures, and delayed fracture healing.
The most common adverse reactions (>5 percent and more common than placebo) in women with postmenopausal osteoporosis are back pain, pain in extremity, musculoskeletal pain, hypercholesterolemia, and cystitis.
The most common adverse reactions (> 5 percent and more common than placebo) in men with osteoporosis are back pain, arthralgia, and nasopharyngitis. Pancreatitis has been reported with Prolia®.
In women with postmenopausal osteoporosis, the overall incidence of new malignancies was 4.3 percent in the placebo group and 4.8 percent in the Prolia® groups. In men with osteoporosis, new malignancies were reported in no patients in the placebo group and 4 (3.3 percent) patients in the Prolia® group. A causal relationship to drug exposure has not been established. Denosumab is a human monoclonal antibody. As with all therapeutic proteins, there is potential for immunogenicity.
The Prolia Postmarketing Active Safety Surveillance Program is available to collect information from prescribers on specific adverse events. Please see https://www.proliasafety.com/ or call 18007726436 for more information.
For more information, please see the Prolia Prescribing Information, and Medication Guide.
Amgen focuses on areas of high unmet medical need and leverages its biologics manufacturing expertise to strive for solutions that improve health outcomes and dramatically improve people's lives. A biotechnology pioneer since 1980, Amgen has grown to be one of the world's leading independent biotechnology companies, has reached millions of patients around the world and is developing a pipeline of medicines with breakaway potential.
This news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on management's current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including estimates of revenues, operating margins, capital expenditures, cash, other financial metrics, expected legal, arbitration, political, regulatory or clinical results or practices, customer and prescriber patterns or practices, reimbursement activities and outcomes and other such estimates and results. Forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties, including those discussed below and more fully described in the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reports filed by Amgen, including Amgen's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and any subsequent periodic reports on Form 10-Q and Form 8-K. Please refer to Amgen's most recent Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K for additional information on the uncertainties and risk factors related to our business. Unless otherwise noted, Amgen is providing this information as of Oct. 11, 2015, and expressly disclaims any duty to update information contained in this news release.
In addition, sales of our products are affected by the reimbursement policies imposed by third-party payors, including governments, private insurance plans and managed care providers and may be affected by regulatory, clinical and guideline developments and domestic and international trends toward managed care and healthcare cost containment as well as U.S. legislation affecting pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement. Government and others' regulations and reimbursement policies may affect the development, usage and pricing of our products. In addition, we compete with other companies with respect to some of our marketed products as well as for the discovery and development of new products. We believe that some of our newer products, product candidates or new indications for existing products, may face competition when and as they are approved and marketed. Our products may compete against products that have lower prices, established reimbursement, superior performance, are easier to administer, or that are otherwise competitive with our products. In addition, while we routinely obtain patents for our products and technology, the protection offered by our patents and patent applications may be challenged, invalidated or circumvented by our competitors and there can be no guarantee of our ability to obtain or maintain patent protection for our products or product candidates. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to produce commercially successful products or maintain the commercial success of our existing products. Our stock price may be affected by actual or perceived market opportunity, competitive position, and success or failure of our products or product candidates. Further, the discovery of significant problems with a product similar to one of our products that implicate an entire class of products could have a material adverse effect on sales of the affected products and on our business and results of operations. Our efforts to integrate the operations of companies we have acquired may not be successful. We may experience difficulties, delays or unexpected costs and not achieve anticipated benefits and savings from our ongoing restructuring plan. Our business performance could affect or limit the ability of our Board of Directors to declare a dividend or their ability to pay a dividend or repurchase our common stock.
Kristen Neese, 805-313-8267 (media)
1 American College of Preventative Medicine. Osteoporosis: A Resource from the American College of Preventative Medicine. 2009. Available https://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.acpm.org/resource/resmgr/timetools-files/osteoporosisclinicalreferenc.pdf. Accessed on March 5, 2015.
2 National Osteoporosis Foundation. What Women Need to Know. Available http://nof.org/articles/235. Accessed March 5, 2015.
3 American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Position Statement: Osteoporosis/Bone Health in Adults as a National Public Health Priority. December 2014. Available http://www.aaos.org/about/papers/position/1113.asp. Accessed on March 5, 2015.
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081015/AMGENLOGO
To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-data-show-greater-bone-mineral-density-gains-with-prolia-denosumab-compared-with-zoledronic-acid-300157509.html
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2097
|
__label__wiki
| 0.560746
| 0.560746
|
Home Reviews Hardware Reviews
Fiio X7 Mark II Android HiFi Audio Player Review
Josh Noriega
Last year, we reviewed a nice surprise from Fiio – its entry into the high-end digital audio player market (DAP). The Chinese company has historically been known as a manufacturer of bang-for-the-buck HiFi audio devices – and according to the audiophile community, one of the best ones out there. The X7 was new territory for Fiio in two ways: 1) A player made and priced to compete with higher-end competitors, and 2) Its first hack at using Android to drive it.
In a nutshell, we found the X7 to be a great first try at a high-end Android DAP, but in some ways it felt like a beta. At the $700 range, the design and function need to be near flawless. Well, Mark II of that device is now here, and we can see that Fiio worked very hard since. Fiio’s catchphrase for the X7 II is “Thoroughly Transformed, Inside and Out”, and that certainly is the case. Let’s go over the improvements and if we can recommend the X7 II at its still substantial $650 price.
The Fiio X7 II comes with the clear TPU case and screen protector installed out of the box.
Contents includes two cases, torx screwdriver, SD card slot ejector tool, coaxial adapter, and microUSB cable
The packaging of the Fiio X7 II is noteworthy, particularly because the company includes not one but two cases – a TPU wrap and a premium-feeling leather cover-up. Not many companies are this generous. What’s more, a screen protector comes pre-installed. Something else you won’t typically find in a device box is a torx screwdriver. If you know anything about the original X7, you may remember that it had a unique removable module feature that provided the flexibility to upgrade the amp or add balanced output. This design is back with the X7 II.
The amp module design of the X7 II is the same as the original, so they are interchangeable.
As for the player itself, the form doesn’t stray too far from the original, but it’s definitely more than just a touch-up. Most notably, the edge with the physical controls is lifted in an eye-catchingly angled manner. This creates a notch for the volume scroll wheel to reside in. The scroll wheel itself is also an upgrade from the volume rocker in the original, though we wish that Fiio made it a bit firmer. It locks to each increment (with a click sound) but very lightly and with a little play to it.
The X7 II is still a chunky, silver aluminum block like before, but feels much better in hand.
We like that all controls are on one side now, and distinguishable on the raised edge.
The X7 II maintains that same eye-catching blue light underneath the display. It is purely for looks and can be turned off if desired.
Two of our complaints in our review of the original X7 were that the display was raised above the chassis (increasing its vulnerability to mishaps) and a hump on the back that made the thick device even thicker. Fiio addressed both of these things with the X7 II. The screen is now flush and the elevation on the back is less noticeable. The unit lost about 1mm of thickness and 8 grams of weight.
Internally, Fiio made some natural component progressions, such as doubling the RAM from 1GB to 2GB and internal storage from 32GB to 64GB. What’s more, there’s now two microSD card slots that can each handle 256GB (so a whopping 512GB externally).
The two microSD trays are flush on the flat side of the X7 II, and require an ejector pin to access.
Battery capacity has also been bumped from 3,500mAh to 3,800mAh. But it looks to be using the same quad-core Rockchip RK3188 processor as before, along with same spec’d 4″ LCD IPS display with a measly 480×800 pixel resolution. I’m sure Fiio’s thinking was to focus on the components that really matter in an audiophile player. We just need the processor and display to work, and they do just fine.
The 8 hour battery rating is via the 3.5mm output. Using Balanced, we saw more like 7 hours. This isn’t spectacular. Also, while we appreciate better fidelity wireless audio with the AptX codec, we would’ve expected at least AptX HD in a high-end audio player.
More importantly is what upgrades have been made to improve sound quality? The original model used the latest from ESS Technology (the same high-end audio chip company that LG partners with on its V-series flagships), and the same is true here. Sound on the X7 II is processed with the SABRE ES9028PRO DAC, which particularly makes big steps to improve frequency response and signal-to-noise ratio.
A strength of the X7 is the ability to use Tidal HiFi streaming.
Our biggest gripe about the original X7 was that we intermittently heard interference when streaming music over WiFi. Fiio acknowledged the issue and rectified it in the X7 II by not just using better components but shielding area of the PCB that could cause it. And we’re happy to report that we don’t hear any noise whatsoever, even with highly sensitive Shure SE846 earphones.
On the software side, the X7 II features a custom Android 5.0 build (no, it’s far from the latest from Google but better than version 4.4.4 KitKat from before) and a revamped player interface. We didn’t find the original X7’s player to be very user friendly, and it sounds like that pain was heard. The X7 II software is a breath of fresh air.
Browsing your stored music library in the Fiio Music app is simple and intuitive.
Now Playing screen in the Fiio Music app. The pop up menu shows icons that clearly show the options.
Fiio’s equalizer only works in the Fiio Music app – we would like to see a system-wide one in the future.
On the Android side of things, we’re looking at a bare-bones version of Lollipop with minimal pre-loaded apps (basic things like clock, email, file explorer, and browser). The Play Store is on there, so you can install what you want. But being that you probably didn’t get this device to watch movies and surf the web, what you’ll add is music apps that you use.
Home screen of the X7 II.
Drop-down notification has stock Android look. Fiio placed audio relevant options in the quick settings menu.
System wide audio settings include digital filters and a switch between low and high gain (we’d like to see more gain tiers in the future).
One thing to note is that Fiio has a nifty software trick to throw the X7 II into a “Pure Music” mode. This essentially turns off every software feature but Fiio’s player. This way, if you want to use stored music, you don’t have to keep stuff on that you don’t need. The Fiio Music software is still available in Android mode via an app.
The stock amp module on the X7 II now includes a Balanced jack (2.5mm, TRRS).
Plainly said, Fiio wasn’t kidding when it said that the X7 II was revamped on the inside as well as out. As a user of the original X7, I can say that Mark II is a whole ‘nother animal (in a completely good way).
One of my biggest gripes with the first X7 was the sterile sound. It was detailed, no doubt, but Fiio’s reference aim sided too much for analytical listeners than those who want toe-tapping fun and energy. It’s immediately apparent with the X7 II that Fiio turned up the speakers, so to speak. The sound is now stupendously full and engaging. This is thanks in part to a commanding mid-range. That said, balance is beautifully struck, not just in the frequency response but in the delivery. The X7 II is equally as musical as it sonically skillful.
Separation is a grade-A quality of this DAP. There’s a real nice cleanness and discernible positioning to the different sounds. Its airiness serves well for the perceived dimensionality. Another notable quality is the sub-bass. It is deep and powerful, but in no way overdone. Moving into the mid-range, I don’t hear any bleeding. It’s all clean and articulated, even up to the elaborate treble. No particular frequency range is favored; each is equally detailed and present enough to be analyzed and appreciated.
I really struggle to find any flaw in the sound of the X7 II, which in itself leaves me at a loss for words. I review a lot of audio gear and can always pick off an imperfection or two in high-end devices. I just can’t here. This is what my ears want to hear, and what my headphones need to show their potential. As far as I’m concerned, Fiio has a hit with the X7 II.
Well, there is one thing…
If you recall my mention that the X7 II has standard 3.5mm (single-ended) and balanced 2.5mm jacks, turns out that they don’t sound quite the same. My impressions above were with the balanced output, which the audio system clearly favors. I don’t put Fiio completely at fault, because the company is simply trying to adhere to today’s audiophile standards. Many high-end mobile audiophiles use the 2.5mm balanced standard, and Fiio is far from the first company to do a DAP with standard and balanced options. Astell&Kern and Onkyo are two big examples that embrace balanced output.
So with that said, I find the standard output of the X7 II to be still be good, but it’s missing the key aspects that I praised with the balanced output. The full/liveliness takes a clear step back. The detail and balance is still present, but the punch and dynamics is average.
So back to the question from the beginning – Is the X7 II worth it? Well, the answer comes with a caveat. If you’re going to use the balanced output, then yes, yes, and yes. Unfortunately, that condition limits most of the mobile audio listeners out there. Most people probably don’t even know what a balanced cable is, let alone the ability to use one with their current headphones.
But for what it is, Fiio did an amazing job on the X7 II. It can definitely stand among the best DAPs out there, and at a price that undercuts them. Do not overlook this DAP if you’re in the market, especially for one that runs Android and can utilize streaming music services.
Fiio X7 Mark II product page
Android DAP
X7 II
X7 Mark II
Josh Noriega likes tech so much that he writes about it. Follow him on Twitter (@joshnor713) or Google+ (+JoshNoriega).
Sennheiser IE 800 S Flagship In-Ear Headphones Review – Small Upgrade, A Lot of Dough
Beyerdynamic Amiron Wireless High-End Over-Ear Headphones Review
Fiio Q5 HiFi Bluetooth-Capable Portable DAC review: The value to beat
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2099
|
__label__cc
| 0.737511
| 0.262489
|
Picture Courtesy- Instagram
Akshay spreads holiday cheer in family photo
New Delhi [India] July 22 (ANI): Bollywood star Akshay Kumar who was on a month-long vacation with wife Twinkle Khanna and kids, is cherishing the moments he had at the exotic family getaway.
The 'Khiladi' took to social media and shared an adorable family collage along with the caption which proves that he is missing the fun he had with his 'lifelines.'
He wrote, "Another beautiful holiday comes to an end and before getting back to the grind, cherishing some precious moments from the past month...until the next one? #lifelines"
Another beautiful holiday comes to an end and before getting back to the grind, cherishing some precious moments from the past month...until the next one? #lifelines
A post shared by Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) on Jul 22, 2018 at 2:13am PDT
On the work front, Kumar will next be seen in 'Gold.'
The sports drama, starring the 'Rustom' actor, takes the audience back in time to witness the struggle of a team to make the nation proud.
The upcoming flick will release this Independence Day, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of Free India's first gold medal at the 1948 Olympics.
The film boasts of an ensemble cast including Amit Sadh, Kunal Kapoor, Vineet Singh, and Sunny Kaushal, among others. (ANI)
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2101
|
__label__wiki
| 0.820772
| 0.820772
|
Facebook-f Twitter Youtube Pinterest Instagram
Testicle Problems
Blountstown Office
Carrabelle Office
Clearwater Office
Daytona Beach Offices
SE Regional Prostate Cancer Treatment Office
DeLand Office
Dunedin Office
Homosassa Office
Inverness Office
Largo Bardmoor Office
Leesburg Office
New Smyrna Beach Office
Ocala Offices
Timber Ridge Office
Windsor Oaks Office
Orange City Office
Oxford Offices
Advanced Prostate Cancer Institute
Panama Main Office
Palm Coast Office
Palm Harbor Offices
Palm Harbor East Lake Office
Palm Harbor US 19 Office
Perry Office
Port Orange Office
Radiation Oncology Center
Safety Harbor Office
St Augustine Offices
St Augustine Southpark Office
St Augustine Tuscan Office
St Petersburg Offices
St Petersburg 38th Street Office
St Petersburg Pasadena Office
Tampa Westchase Office
Thomasville Office
Trinity Offices
Trinity Duck Slough Office
Trinity Oaks Office
Insurance Participation List
SE Regional Prostate Cancer Treatment Center
St Petersburg Office 38th Street
Urinary tract infections (abbreviated ‘UTI’) account for over 7 million visits to health care providers annually and cost the US health care system 1 billion dollars annually. Nearly fifty percent of women will develop a urinary tract infection during their lifetime. Eighty percent of these women will subsequently develop another UTI within the ensuing 18 months. Women with recurrent UTIs typically experience two to three infections per year. Although it not always possible to prevent recurrent UTIs, the following information can help women devise a program to manage recurrent urinary tract infections.
The urinary tract consists of the kidneys, ureters (tubes that carry urine from the kidneys), bladder, and urethra (tube that carries urine from the bladder to the outside). Normally urine is sterile (free of infection). Urinary tract infections occur when small microscopic organisms called bacteria invade the urinary tract. A urinary tract infection is called pyelonephritis when it occurs in the kidney, cystitis when it occurs in the bladder and urethritis when it occurs in the urethra.
Finally, UTIs are subdivided into complicated and uncomplicated varieties. Urinary tract infections are classified as complicated when there is a history of hematuria (blood in the urine), neurogenic bladder (e.g., spinal cord injury), recent urinary tract surgery or catheterization, unusual types of bacteria (e.g. Klebsiella, Pseudomonas, or Proteus species), diabetes, compromised immune system (e.g., chronic steroid use, AIDS), UTIs that fail to respond to initial treatment, and renal failure. Other types of urinary tract infections are considered uncomplicated.
Etiology:
Over 80% of UTIs are caused by bacteria called e.coli. The bacteria originally come from the bowel and then make their way into the vagina. Bacteria such as lactobacteria are normally present in vagina and help maintain a healthy environment and prevent yeast overgrowth. It’s not unusual for bacteria to get massaged into the urethra and bladder during intercourse, but a protective lining inside the urinary tract prevents the bacteria from sticking to the surface until they get flushed out during urination. On the other hand, the protective barrier doesn’t work as well in women with recurrent UTIs; therefore, bacteria stick more easily.
In addition, certain types of bacterial are more virulent; they secrete chemicals that help them evade the immune system and sport special hair-like projections called ‘pili’that help them cling to the urinary tract lining.
Although rare, other factors that predispose women to recurrent urinary tract infections include infected kidney stones and a pocket of pus located beneath the urethra called a urethral diverticulum. These two conditions occur in women with persistent UTIs; that is, infections initially respond to antibiotic therapy and then reoccur once the medication is stopped. Special tests can help diagnose these conditions and surgery can correct the problem.
Need a Urologist?
Our Provider Locator
Copyright Advanced Urology Institute | All Rights Reserved © 2019
Language Assistance Available: Español, Kreyòl Ayisyen (French Creole), Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese), Português (Portuguese), 繁體中文 (Chinese), Français (French), Kreyòl Ayisyen (French Creole), Tagalog (Tagalog – Filipino, Русский (Russian), لعربية, Italiano (Italian), Deutsch (German), 한국어 (Korean), Polski (Polish), ภาษาไทย (Thai), ગુજરાતી (Gujarati), አማርኛ (Amharic), हिंदी (Hindi), فارسی
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2107
|
__label__wiki
| 0.844373
| 0.844373
|
Search Results for 'Belgium'
171 results found.
Brewing up a whole new sector in Mayo
Mayo Advertiser / NewsFri, Mar 27, 2015
There is a whole new sector brewing in Mayo.
Pomp and circumstance, and one unmarked grave
Galway Advertiser / NewsThu, Jan 22, 2015
On June 12 1922 a very special ceremony took place at Windsor Castle, near London. Following the establishment of the Irish Free State the previous December, five Irish regiments, including the Connaught Rangers, the Royal Irish, the Leinsters, the Munsters, and the Dublin Fusiliers, which had served the British army with exceptional valour at times, were disbanded. It was a day of special significance for both the participants and onlookers.
Council shows support to deaf community
Galway County Council has passed a motion calling on the Government to give official recognition status to Irish Sign Language.
Two boys from Loughrea
At the beginning of the last century, two boys grew up together in Loughrea. Socially they were far apart, but they were great friends. John Oliver was from a particularly poor background. His family lived in a tiny lean-to shack out on the Galway road on the edge of the town. His friend was Tom Wall, who lived in a comfortable house on Patrick Street. John enjoyed visiting their home. His friend played with a band, The Saharas, and there was often music and fun in their house, shared by his brother Ray, and their attractive sister Cissie.
Six Furey brothers did not return to Loughrea
Galway Advertiser / NewsTue, Dec 23, 2014
When it comes to the story of Galway and World War I there is no better man than William Henry. He came upon ‘the secrets in the attic shoe box’ some years ago when writing in a parish magazine he mentioned a relation of his in that war, and surprisingly opened a Pandora’s Box. People met him on the streets and told him that their grandfather, great-uncle, or cousin, or family friend also fought in that war. They had a box of their medals and uniform, letters or diaries somewhere at home.
Jurys Inn announces fundraiser for Olympian and local Galway man
Galway Advertiser / NewsThu, Dec 18, 2014
Jurys Inn Galway will hold a fundraiser on Saturday December 20 for Galway man and Special Olympian Martin Diskin who is currently being treated in University Hospital Galway following a serious road accident.
Cinema review: Fury
Galway Advertiser / #GalwayTue, Oct 28, 2014
AROUND THIS time of year we get our first look at the Oscar contenders. While the heavy hitters tend to emerge at the end of December and January, sometimes more genre based releases, like Gravity last year, are released a few weeks early.
Films From The Southern Mediterranean
FROM ISRAEL to Morocco, Galway audiences will get a chance to experience life through the lens of Southern Mediterranean film-makers this weekend.
Ford releases details of all-new Mondeo
Athlone Advertiser / MotoringThu, Sep 25, 2014
The long awaited all-new Mondeo will go on sale here in Ireland in late November. It will be available in two series initially, Zetec and Titanium, and prices will start from €28,995. Body styles will include five-door and a wagon (estate) variant.
Claremorris composer Patrick Cassidy nominated for 'Discovery of the Year' award
Mayo Advertiser / NewsMon, Sep 22, 2014
Claremorris born composer Patrick Cassidy been nominated for the Discovery of the Year Award, in the 14th World Soundtrack Academy programme. This prestigious accolade, which rewards up-and-coming talent, will be announced and presented during the World Soundtrack Awards and Concert on October 20 at the Kuipke Events Centre in Ghent, Belgium.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2111
|
__label__wiki
| 0.714509
| 0.714509
|
One E-8C JSTARS to undergo organic depot maintenance
AIR FORCE MATERIEL COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS / Published May 22, 2018
An E-8C Joint STARS flies over Robins Air Force Base, Ga., during a training mission, March 9, 2018. The 116th Air Control Wing, Georgia Air National Guard, flies the E-8C Joint STARS providing manned joint airborne command and control, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and combat support forces to meet state and national objectives. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sgt. Roger Parsons)
E-8C Joint Stars
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- The Air Force plans to bring an E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System, better known as JSTARS, into the Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex, Robins AFB, Georgia, for Programmed Depot Maintenance by Summer 2018.
The move would increase PDM capacity by demonstrating an organic depot-capacity proof of concept. If proven, this effort should help deliver needed JSTARS assets to operators more rapidly and efficiently and could provide a longer-term alternative to contractor-performed PDM.
“We’ve been focusing intensely for a couple of years on improving contractor-led depot performance, but aircraft are still remaining in depot too long,” said Steven Wert, the Air Force’s Program Executive Officer for Battle Management, who oversees these efforts. “We have to find ways to increase throughput and overall depot capacity, and we believe this option is well worth exploring.”
Inducting an aircraft, and potentially others in the future, at WR-ALC may offer numerous advantages. For instance, the program office, operational wings, functional check flight crews and Air Combat Command's flight test detachment are all located at Robins AFB. In addition, WR-ALC has significant expertise with JSTARS; the community of potential JSTARS mechanics is fairly broad; and transportation costs would be reduced.
“Our dedicated professionals and mission partners have extensive experience in overhauling and modifying large aircraft like the C-130, C-17 and C-5 fleet. I’m confident our team can leverage this experience and help the JSTARS community improve aircraft availability,” said Brig. Gen. John Kubinec, Commander, WR-ALC. “Our team is excited about this opportunity and we stand ready to support this effort by working closely with the PEO and Northrop Grumman.”
The Air Force has a Total System Support Responsibility contract with Northrop Grumman that runs through 2022. The proposed PDM work at Robins would supplement, not supplant, the work being done at Lake Charles. In fact, the Air Force will need Northrop’s help to successfully execute this proof of concept.
The Air Force is taking this action to increase aircraft availability, reduce depot flow days and add depot capacity, said Col. Ray Wier, chief of the Battle Management Directorate’s C2ISR Division.
“We believe this is one way to help achieve the goal of reducing depot flow days and increasing fleet availability,” he said. “We’ve worked hard with all stakeholders across the E-8C enterprise to make sure we’ll be ready to undertake this work and prove the organic depot concept.”
This proof of concept will also help the Air Force better understand the costs of performing E-8C depot work organically. Start-up costs are expected to be minimal due to the synergies of performing the work at Robins, which already hosts the E-8C operational wings.
Officials expect the E-8C induction at Robins to occur by July 2018.
Air Force Materiel Command AFMC JSTARS Robins AFB Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex WR-ALC E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System E-8 JSTARS
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2117
|
__label__wiki
| 0.578674
| 0.578674
|
Quick Search keyboard_arrow_right
keyboard_arrow_leftQuick Search
East Wenatchee | Wenatchee
Entiat | Entiat Valley
Orondo | Waterville
Cashmere | Leavenworth
Chelan | Manson
Clayton Homes
About Us keyboard_arrow_right
keyboard_arrow_leftAbout Us
Resources keyboard_arrow_right
keyboard_arrow_leftResources
NCW Build & Land Resources
Photography Tips from Travis
Vacant Land/Lot Property
457 S Portal Lp Sw, Ocean Shores, WA 98569
MLS # 1045625 | Pacific Region Realty Inc.
457 S Portal Lp Sw is a $22,500 property on a 0.18 acre lot located in Ocean Shores, WA.
Good level Lot, close to beach, and all the admen-dies Ocean Shores offer.
I am interested in 457 S Portal Lp Sw, Ocean Shores, WA 98569.
Paved Street
In Street
40 - Res-Less thn 1 Ac
Taxes $127.00
grays harbor
ocean shores elem
north beach mid
north beach high
None Third Party Approval Required
Based on information from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS), last updated 01/20/2020 at 01:35pm MST. Listing information is provided exclusively for consumers' personal, non-commercial use and may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties consumers may be interested in purchasing. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed by the MLS or this website. Disclaimer: The information contained in this listing has not been verified by AGENT509 | Keller Williams Realty NCW and should be verified by the buyer. See full DMCA disclaimer
Claims of Copyright Infringement & Related Issues (17 USC § 512 et seq.) We respect the intellectual property rights of others. Anyone who believes their work has been reproduced in a way that constitutes copyright infringement may notify our agent by providing the following information: a. Identification of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at the site; b. Identification of the material that you claim is infringing and needs to be removed, including a description of where it is located so that the copyright agent can locate it; c. Your address, telephone number, and, if available, e-mail address, so that the copyright agent may contact you about your complaint; and d. A signed statement that the above information is accurate; that you have a good faith belief that the identified use of the material is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and, under penalty of perjury, that you are the copyright owner or are authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf in this situation. Upon obtaining such knowledge we will act expeditiously to remove, or disable access to, the material. Please be aware that there are substantial penalties for false claims. ~ If a notice of copyright infringement has been wrongly filed against you, you may submit a counter notification to our agent. A valid counter notification is a written communication that incorporates the following elements: a. A physical or electronic signature of the poster; b. Identification of the material that has been removed or to which access has been disabled and the location at which the material appeared before it was removed or access to it was disabled; c. A statement under penalty of perjury that you have a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification; d. Your name, address, and telephone number; a statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of federal district court for the judicial district in which your address is located, or if your address is outside of the U.S., for any judicial district in which the service provider may be found; and that you will accept service of process from the complainant. ~ Notices of the foregoing copyright issues should be sent as follows: Jeff Hallman jeff@agent509.com (509) 387-0735 500 N. Wenatchee Avenue Suite B, Wenatchee WA 98801 If you give notice of copyright infringement by e-mail, an agent may begin investigating the alleged copyright infringement; however, we must receive your signed statement by mail or as an attachment to your e-mail before we are required to take any action. This information should not be construed as legal advice. We recommend you seek independent legal counsel before filing a notification or counter-notification. For further information about the DMCA, please visit the website of the United States Copyright Office at: http://www.copyright.gov/onlinesp.
Check out this property I found on AGENT509 | Keller Williams Realty NCW (AGENT509 | Keller Williams Realty NCW):
https://www.agent509.com/homes/457-s-portal-lp-sw-ocean-shores-wa-98569/7592827
office@agent509.com
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2119
|
__label__wiki
| 0.622497
| 0.622497
|
Tag: Kim Rae-won
Long Live the King (롱 리브 더 킹: 목포 영웅, Kang Yoon-sung, 2019)
October 30, 2019 by Hayley Scanlon
Back in the good old days, gangsters used to make a case for themselves that they were standing up for the little guy and protecting those who couldn’t protect themselves. Of course that wasn’t quite the truth, but one can’t deny how closely small town thuggery and political office can resemble one another. Following his breakout hit The Outlaws, Kang Yoon-sung returns with web comic adaptation Long Live the King (롱 리브 더 킹: 목포 영웅, Long Live the King: Mokpo Yeongwoong), another unconventional comedy in which a surprisingly loveable rogue rediscovers his national pride and finds a more positive direction in which to channel his desire to be helpful.
Se-chool (Kim Rae-won) is a notorious thug with a traumatic past currently working with a local gang hired to clear a small protest of stall owners trying to cling on to a traditional market space in working class Mokpo where a developer wants to build a theme park and upscale skyscraper. A feisty young lawyer, So-hyun (Won Jin-a), is working with the protesters on their case and has no problem telling the gangsters where to get off. Impressed, Se-chool is smitten and starts to wonder if he’s on the wrong side but his attempts to get So-hyun’s attention – being strangely nice to the protestors, buying everyone lunch etc, spectacularly backfire. Only when he hears about another man, Hwang-bo (Choi Moo-sung), who used to be a gangster but has now reformed and become a social justice campaigner running a small not-for-profit cafe serving meals to the vulnerable, does he begin to see an opening, vowing to give up the gangster life and commit himself to serving the people of Mokpo.
The irony is that everyone seems to think that Se-chool has a hidden agenda, but his only agenda is the obvious one in that he wants to win So-hyun’s heart even if that means he has to shape up and learn to become a decent person rather than a heartless gangster thug. Known as the king of the nightlife, Se-chool is regarded as a slightly eccentric, good time guy, so his sudden desire to go “legit” is met with bemusement rather than surprise, but old habits are hard to shake and it takes a while for him to realise that trying to help people with his fists is not the best way to go about it. Punching out some punks making trouble in a cafe gets him an earful from the proprietress who explains that she owes a lot of money to the guys’ gang so Se-chool’s chivalry has probably caused her a series of potentially serious problems she assumes he won’t be on hand to help her out with. Nevertheless, he retains his desire to wade in and do his bit, becoming a surprise local hero when he puts himself in danger to ensure the unconscious driver of a crashed bus gets out safely while the other passengers make their escape.
Meanwhile, local politics is starting to heat up. Venal politician Choi Man-su (Choi Gwi-hwa) is up for re-election and running on a platform of making Mokpo great again. It comes as no surprise that Man-su is deep into the corrupt theme park project and outsourcing general thuggery to Se-chool’s arch-enemy which eventually includes taking out potential rivals like Hwang-bo whose approval ratings are soaring while voters are becoming tired of Man-su’s big money tactics and insincere messaging. Soon enough, Se-chool is persuaded to enter the race seeing as his “local hero” persona puts him in good stead to oppose Man-su’s establishment credentials. But, in order to get elected and convince So-hyun he’s really changed, he’ll have to finally face his traumatic gangster past while learning to be open and honest with his feelings.
Kang goes in hard for the business of politics, taking pot-shots not only at corrupt establishment figures in so tight with organised crime that they’re little more than jumped up gangsters, but also at ambitious party hoppers, and misguided mobsters who think they’re onto the big ticket by hooking up with “legitimate” power. Poor Se-chool, meanwhile, actually thought he was doing “proper business” in his persona as a besuited gangster of the new, corporatised school little thinking about the little guy as he unwittingly went about his ultra-capitalist agenda. Heading for broad comedy, Long Live the King misses an opportunity for serious satire but has undeniable heart as the misused hero learns to accept himself in being accepted by others, falling in love not only with a feisty activist lawyer but with community spirit and progressive politics as he vows to fight for a better future for the people of Mokpo while opposing the inherent corruption in the system embodied by men like Man-su who feel themselves entitled to exploit solely by virtue of their own superiority.
Long Live the King was screened as part of the 2019 London East Asia Film Festival.
International trailer (English subtitles)
Posted in Korea, London East Asia Film Festival 2019Tagged 2010s, 2019, Ahn Ji-hye, Bae Hae-sun, Cha Yub, Choi Gwi-Hwa, Choi Jae-hwan, Choi Ji-ho, Choi Moo-sung, Geum Kwang-San, Gil Hae-yeon, Ha Soo-ho, Hong Jin-gi, Hong Ki-Joon, Hong Yi-Joo, Hwang Jung-In, Im Hyung-joon, Jang Ji-Gun, Jang Yoo-Bin, Jin Seon-Kyu, Jo Han-Na, Joo Jin-Mo, Joo Young-Ho, Jung Dong-Hoon, Jung Eun-kyung, Jung Sun-Chul, Jung Won-joong, Kim Bo-Jung, Kim Dong-Hyun, Kim Hong-Pyo, Kim Ji-Eun, Kim Ku-Taek, Kim Rae-won, Korea, Korean, LEAFF, LEAFF 2019, Lee Kyoo-Ho, Lee Sung-woo, Lee Yong-lee, Lim Chul-Hyung, Ma Dong-Seok, Min Moo-je, Shin Mi-Young, Song Hyung-Soo, Song Wook-Kyung, Won Jin-ah, Yoo Hee-Je, Yoon Byung-Hee, Yoon Kye-sang
The Prison (프리즌, Na Hyun, 2017)
May 19, 2017 May 19, 2017 by Hayley Scanlon 1 Comment
Prison can be a paradise if you’re doing it right, at least if you’re a top gangster in the movies. Na Hyun’s The Prison (프리즌) paints an interesting picture of incarceration and the way it links into his nation’s infinitely corrupt power structures. When investigators wonder why a crime spree suddenly came to an end, one of the frequently offered explanations is that the perpetrator was most likely arrested for another crime but what if you could turn this obviously solid alibi to your advantage and get those already behind bars to do your dirty work for you?
Disgraced policeman Song Yoo-gun (Kim Rae-Won) has wound up imprisoned alongside several of the men he himself helped put away. Like many cops who suddenly find themselves on the other side of the bars, Yoo-gun’s life is not easy. Badly beaten, tortured, and threatened with amputation Yoo-gun eventually starts fighting back and seizes the most likely path to prison survival – allying himself with the inside’s big guy, Jung Ik-ho (Han Suk-Kyu). Ik-ho, a notorious gangster famous for eating the eyeballs of his enemies, is the one who’s really in charge around here, not least because he’s the one running the gang of prison based hitmen trotted out to take care of the bad guys’ hit list.
What starts out as an intriguing idea quickly descends into predictability as Yoo-gun and Ik-ho face off against each other, finding common ground and camaraderie but ultimately existing on the plains of good and evil. Yoo-gun has his own reasons for landing himself in prison but his policeman’s heart still loves truth and justice even if he’s forced to become a prisoner whilst in prison. While he goes along with Ik-ho’s crimes, joining in the violence and intimidation he practices, he also wants to take Ik-ho down even if it means becoming him in the process.
While the interplay between the two men forms the central axis of the film as they develop an odd kind of grudging friendship which may still end on the point of a knife at any moment, Na tries his best to recreate the world of the grim ‘80s action thriller. Technically speaking, The Prison is set in the ‘90s (not that viewers outside of Korea would notice aside from the external lack of mobile phones, computers, internet etc) but wants to be the kind of tough, bruisy, fight heavy action movie they don’t make any more in which a righteous hero defeats a large-scale conspiracy by jump kicking hoodlums. He almost succeeds in this aim, but never quite manages to anchor the ongoing background conspiracy elements with the intense pugilism of the prison environment.
Yoo-gun and Ik-ho are obviously a special case but aside from their efforts, prison life in Korea is not too bad – the guards are OK, the warden is ineffectual, and the inmates are running the show. Nevertheless the prison is the centre of the conspiracy as elite bad guys take advantage of put upon poor ones who’ve found themselves thrown inside thanks to ongoing social inequality, trading cushy conditions to guys who’re never getting out in return for committing state sponsored crimes. Needless to say, someone is trying to expose the conspiracy which would be very bad news for everyone but rubbing them out might prove counter productive in the extreme.
Na lets the in-house shenanigans drag on far too long, pitching fight after fight but failing to make any of his punches land with the satisfaction they seem to expect. Flirting with the interplay between Yoo-gun and Ik-ho in wondering how far Yoo-gun is prepared to go or whether he is destined to become his criminal mentor rather than destroy him, Na never fully engages with the central idea preferring to focus on the action at the expense of character, psychology, or the corruption which underlines the rest of the film. Nevertheless The Prison does have the requisite levels of high-octane fights and impressive set pieces including the fiery if predictable prison riot finale. Life behind bars isn’t all it’s cracked up to be after all, the corrupt elites of Korea will have to actually pay people to off their enemies. Predictable and poorly paced, The Prison is best when it sticks to throwing punches but might be more fun if it placed them a little better.
The Prison was screened at the 19th Udine Far East Film Festival.
Posted in Korea, Udine Far East Film Festival 2017Tagged 2010s, 2017, Ahn Se-Ho, Cha Yub, Choi Sung-Won, Dong Hyun-bae, Ha Soo-ho, Han Joo-wan, Han Suk-kyu, Han Sung-Yong, Hong Jae-Sik, Jang Hyuk-jin, Jeon Bae-su, Jeong Gi-seop, Jo Jae-Yun, Jung Suk-won, Jung Woong-In, Kim Kwang-Hyun, Kim Rae-won, Kim Seung-Hoon, Kim Sung-kyun, Korea, Korean, Kwak Min-Ho, Lee Jae-kyoon, Lee Yong-jik, Na Hyeon, Na Kwang-Hoon, Park Jin-Woo, Park Joong-geum, Park Won-Sang, Shin Sung-Rok, Showbox, Song Kyung-cheol, Udine Far East Film Festival, Udine Far East Film Festival 2017, Yeon Song-ha, Yu Ha-jun
Gangnam Blues (강남 1970, Yoo Ha, 2015)
January 3, 2017 by Hayley Scanlon Leave a comment
Yoo ha takes us back to the 1970s for some Gangnam Blues (강남 1970, Gangnam 1970) in a sorry tale of fatherless men caught up in dangerous times of ambition and avarice, very much at the bottom of the heap and about to be eclipsed by the “new world” currently under construction. Back then, Gangnam really was all just fields, owned by farmers soon to be cheated out of their ancestral lands by enterprising gangsters engaged in a complicated series of land grab manoeuvres, anticipating the eventual expansion of the bursting at the seams capital. Far from the shining city of today, Gangnam was a wasteland frontier town, the sort of place where a man can make a name for himself trading on his wits and his fists alone.
In 1970, Jong-dae (Lee Min-ho) and Yong-ki (Kim Rae-won), sworn brothers from the same orphanage, are two street rats trying to survive in straightened times. When the shack they were squatting in is demolished and they come in to contact with a petty gangster, Kang (Jung Jin-young), the pair end up getting a one off job as thugs sent to smash up a political rally but get separated when the police arrive. Jong-dae finds himself taken in by Kang and his daughter Seon-hye (Kim Seol-hyun AKA Seolhyun) as a surrogate son and brother, repaying their affection by saving Kang’s life during an assassination attempt which later prompts his decision to retire from the criminal world altogether. Yong-ki joins the rival gang instead and seems to be making a success of himself but both find themselves at the mercy of an increasingly corrupt, dishonourable system hellbent on progress but only for the few.
Gangnam Blues has an overly complex, intricate narrative overlaying the generic brotherhood and betrayal theme that runs through the film. Dipping into a particularly dark period of history, Yoo is not afraid to step back into those difficult days marked by both rapid progress and increasing inequality furthered by complicated systems of interconnected corruption. The gangsters are at the service of the politicians but it’s always debatable who is running the show. Jong-dae’s participation in the land grab scheme is painted as amusing cleverness (at least at first) but little attention is paid to the farmers who are being “convinced” to sell their land off cheaply to gangsters who are each competing for the prime sections. Modern day Gangnam was built on blood and extortion, by men like Jong-dae and Yong-ki, even in the knowledge that they will be discarded as soon as their usefulness has been exhausted.
Jong-dae and Yong-ki are the bottom of the pile, orphaned and without family connections they have only each other to rely on yet their brotherly bond is repeatedly tested. The ‘70s Philippine folk song, Anak by Freddie Aguilar, which forms the film’s major musical motif has some very poignant lyrics about parents and their children but neither Jong-dae nor Yong-ki are able to find the kind of family they’re looking for. Both end up opting for the fraternal bond of a crime syndicate to replicate the kind of support usually offered by the family unit with Jong-dae finding a father figure in Kang who eventually takes him into his household as a son outside of the criminal world, and Yong-ki eventually marrying and soon to become a father himself. Forced into crime by their poverty, each becomes an outcast, permanently shut out from the thing they most want even whilst living a life of material comfort.
Yoo opts for a highly stylised approach filled with beautifully photographed, expertly choreographed scenes of violence including the traditional mass brawl in the rain, and a sequence of intercut killings each artfully sprayed with blood. Lee Min-ho acquits himself well enough in his first leading role as the noble hearted gangster Jong-dae with quality support from Kim Rae-won as the much less noble Yong-ki though the superfluity of secondary characters leads to an avoidable lack of depth. Relative newcomer Kim Seoul-hyun also does well with her underwritten role of the film’s most tragic character even if her domestic violence themed subplot seems like one too many. Another classic slice of gangster action from Korea, Gangnam Blues is an unflinching look back at a difficult era with uncanny echoes of the present day, and a suitably period tinged tale of melancholy ‘70s bleakness in which brotherhood and honour are merely words misused by men trying to justify their own ambitions.
Freddie Aguilar’s Anak as featured in the film:
Posted in KoreaTagged 2010s, 2015, Anak, Choi Byung-Mo, Choi Gwi-Hwa, Choi Jin-ho, Freddie Aguilar, Han Jae-Young, Heo Seong-min, Heo Sung-min, Jang Hyuk-jin, Jang In-ho, Jeon Bae-su, Ji Dae-han, Jo Mun-ui, Joo Hee-joong, Joo Yeon-seo, Jung Chan-woo, Jung Ho-bin, Jung Jin-Young, Kim Dae-jong, Kim Ji-soo, Kim Rae-won, Kim Seol-hyun, Kim Tae-hyun, Kim Yoo-yeon, Kim Yoon-joo, Korea, Korean, Kwak Min-Ho, Lee Min-ho, Lee Seok, Lee Suk, Lee Sun-Goo, Lee Yeon-doo, Park Hyeok-min, Park Min-gyu, Park Pal-Young, Park Tong-il, Seo Woo-jin, Seolhyun, Um Hyo-sup, Yoo Ha, Yoo Seung-Mok, Yoon Jong-hwa
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2121
|
__label__cc
| 0.531595
| 0.468405
|
Meet our amazing musicians
Gabriel Francisco
Heather & Steve Mass Transit
Sophia Rankin
Bill Manzanedo
Tony & Nicki
Amber Norgaard
Ken & Kaci
Sabra Faulk
Angel Perez
George Irwin
I started playing guitar at an early age. In college I began studying classical guitar and formed the group Downpour with 2 musician friends. Our mantra was “If they hear us, They will hire us”. This exposure led us to audition for Clive Davis of Arista records and, surprisingly, Stevie Wonder and his group sat in at our session.
Eventually we produced our own album, Fly Away and presented it To CBS, Warner Brothers, and various New York producers. We evolved into a full fledged rock band and our group lasted until 2000 playing unlimited venues. A musical span of almost thirty years.
After a short hiatus I returned to the stage as a solo artist, performing jazz, early rock, country and modern hits. Currently I live in Green Valley and have played at San Ignacio, Canoa Ranch, the Elks Club, Wisdom’s and Dos. Those who enjoy a diverse range of music, including Nat King Cole, the Beatles, James Taylor and some country hits should stop by and sing along.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2124
|
__label__wiki
| 0.919679
| 0.919679
|
Eagles Add More Shows to ‘Hotel California’ Tour
The Eagles are expanding next year's tour where they will play Hotel California in its entirety. They've revealed eight more shows, including two-night stands in a pair of new cities and a third night in four others that had been previously announced.
Atlanta, New York, Dallas and Los Angeles are the recipients of the extra shows, while Denver and St. Paul will now see the Eagles take the stage in their arenas. Ticketing dates varies depending on the venue, so check the dates below and visit Ticketmaster for full details, including pre-sale and VIP package information.
News of the Hotel California tour arrived shortly after the completion of the Eagles' brief stint last month in Las Vegas last month, where they performed their 1976 blockbuster with the assistance of an orchestra and choir, followed by an intermission and a second set comprised of their greatest hits.
Back in July it was learned that the band's lengthy tour in 2018 -- their first since the death of co-founder Glenn Frey -- landed them in the eighth spot on Forbes' annual list of the 100 highest-earning celebrities. They took in a reported $100 million, with $3.5 million earned at every stop.
Eagles, 'Hotel California' Tour (new dates in bold)
Feb. 7 -- Atlanta, GA @ State Farm Arena
Feb. 11 -- Atlanta, GA @ State Farm Arena
Feb. 14 -- New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
Feb. 29 -- Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center
March 1 -- Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center
March 6 -- Houston, TX @ Toyota Center
March 17 -- Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center
March 26 -- Denver, CO @ Pepsi Center
April 3 -- St. Paul @ Xcel Energy Center
April 11 -- San Francisco, CA @ Chase Center
April 17 -- Inglewood, CA @ The Forum
Eagles Lineup Changes: A Complete Guide
Next: Eagles Albums Ranked
Source: Eagles Add More Shows to ‘Hotel California’ Tour
Filed Under: The Eagles
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2126
|
__label__cc
| 0.599855
| 0.400145
|
Word Ninja Girl
Mimi DiFrancesca: Words, Poems, Photography, Art, Funny Stuff, Essays and the wisdom of the Universe. Oh, and coffee.. and glitter
About Mimi DiFrancesca…Word Ninja Girl
Appetizer Menu: a little taste of…The Grove: Awakened Book One
Appetizer Menu: a little taste of….ARC
Appetizer Menu: a little taste of… The Red Lotus Club
Appetizer Menu: A Little Taste of … Acceptance; Book One of The Leelanau Chronicles
Appetizer Menu: A Little Taste of Apprentice: Book Two of the Leelanau Chronicles
Appetizer Menu: A little taste of… Adept: Book Three of the Leelanau Chronicles
Poetry: Field Notes from One Woman’s Life
Which is more powerful: military science or pure magic? The world is about to find out…
A druid priestess is called hundreds of years into the future to awaken a gift that now lies dormant in humanity. A brother, a sister, a wiccan coven, a streetwise biker, a special forces covert operative and surprising arrivals from very different places come together to bring answers and hope to a modern world now racing towards its own destruction.
What Cerys shares with the unlikely collection of regular people she finds in this new world will begin a chain fire awakening around the globe. For some this heralds the possibility of a stable planet. For others, it marks the beginning of a threat to the corporate war machine whose tendrils reach into every aspect of life on Earth.
If you could suddenly stop a bullet with a thought; if you could read the minds of others and know a lie from the truth; if you could heal a body or a mind; if you could stop a natural disaster that could take the lives of thousands, would you? Would you give your private life away to be a part of something far greater? And would you be willing to do whatever it takes to secure the safety of others and the only home you know?
Join Cerys, John, Sylvana, Dee, Brick and the others as their simple lives explode into a global movement in The Grove: Awakened. Book One of the Awakened Trilogy.
Ordinary people can become extraordinary heroes
June 1996, Yankton Sioux Reservation, South Dakota
A Star Knowledge Conference took place in southeastern South Dakota in the early summer of 1996 where elders, shaman, spiritual teachers and delegates came to represent their indigenous nations at the gathering on the Yankton Sioux reservation. For ten days, they listened, they spoke. Each nation faced a modern world that stifled their sacred work of keeping the balance of nature, allowing life on Earth to continue.
The Star Knowledge Conference drew speakers and listeners to hear the ancient knowledge of our origins on other planets; each nation acknowledging the star system where their own people traveled from, ages earlier, to inhabit Earth. The plains people came: from the host Yankton Sioux nation, to the Oglala, Dakota, Blackfoot and Nakota peoples. From the southwest, came the Hopi, Yaqui and Mayan elders. The East sent their people from the Iroquois, Oneida, Seneca and Choctaw nations. A Maori Chief Shaman traveled from New Zealand so that his people would be represented at this unprecedented gathering, and a Saami speaker traveled from north of the Scandinavian Arctic Circle. White community representatives came to learn, to listen and to share their own knowledge. Each told their people’s legends of extraterrestrial contact and they shared the stories of more recent contact.
They spoke of the deteriorating eco-systems that served their people as food source and home land. They listened to the telling of the Hopi Prophecies; knowledge that had only recently been made public and the warning of the ending of the current Fourth World and the coming of a harder, technology free Fifth World, that will take all humankind back to a place where we live in balance with nature.
Each brought news of clear cutting and deforestation, strip mining and the systematic draining of ancient underground water aquifers that affected their daily lives. They spoke of the dangers of genetic manipulation of crops, dumping of chemicals into rivers, lakes and oceans and the burying of toxic waste. The extensive power grid systems were leading to a breakdown of the natural magnetic power grid that surrounds the planet. Some brought data and details of weather manipulation machines being built for the military and others spoke of mining survey equipment that, used in the wrong location on the living earth grid, could cause catastrophic damage to the planet.
The Grid was known to every nation around the world and so they shared their knowledge and legends. They called the Grid by many different names; Ley lines, Mother Earth, Dragon lines, Song Lines, Curry lines, Hartmann net, Schumann waves, Gaia Matrix and others. Along these naturally occurring magnetized lines surrounding the globe, temples of worship have been built; monasteries in the Himalayas, Medicine Wheels of the Native American Nations, capitol buildings in modern cities and the famous Rose Line that makes its straight journey north through Europe and the U.K..
They shared their people’s Flowers of Life, a mathematical wonder represented in each of the world’s major religions. Its image echoes the geometric pattern of the world energy grid. Each culture with ancient roots repeats the tales and mythologies of our stewardship over this vibrant, measurable life force that keeps the planet a safe and healthy home for human life. All of this was addressed that warm June on the windswept high plains of the host Sioux nation.
As the conference drew to a close, each had spoken, each had been heard and each would return with the sacred knowledge that soon, very soon, everything was about to change.
The Earth could no longer maintain its delicate balance without the intercession of the Keepers and the Keepers could no longer fulfill their sacred duties without the assistance of their own ancestors; the Star People from whom they had originated. The Conference was a call, out to the heavens, asking their ancestors for wisdom, guidance and assistance where they could offer it.
Military might and wealthy corporations were building machinery and technology that would soon threaten the sky above them, the earth below their feet and the air they breathe bringing a faster close to the Fourth World and a shocking start to the Fifth World; one without technology; one without our current government structures; one that would plunge modern humanity into desperate, survival mode. Now. Now was the time to make the call and beg for help.
As they gathered one last time to close the conference on the final night, each representative heard the silent answer that moved around the circle where they sat; they are coming.
Spring 2007 Roseburg, Oregon: 96.9 miles northwest of Medford
Brian Argent and his four man crew hauled “boomer” up to the site. It was easier to rent equipment locally than packing and shipping round trip their own electrical seismic topography machine. The $700 fee was a bargain and it allowed them to get in, scan the ground and get out on an evening flight without the hassle of preparing the freight for the return to their base in New Hampshire.
The men worked together to push the heavy wheeled cart bearing their gear, over the forest floor, much of it uphill. At the target zone, they unpacked the equipment and started the set up for the gas and oil scans the machine would record after it sent a series of powerful extremely low frequency pulses into the ground to locate pockets of the lucrative resources.
The entire operation would take them just over an hour and they could send the results back to headquarters to be analyzed and shared with the customer. If these scans showed gas or oil deposits, the finding fees would net the company a substantial boon.
One minute and forty two seconds after they fired up the rental equipment sending the first of hundreds of extremely low frequency waves into the ground, their booming ELF’s were answered with a return call from the ground itself. An immediate and substantial earthquake shook beneath their feet causing fissures and breaks in the hillside. Trees nearby tilted and fell into the six foot crevice that had opened a few dozen yards away from where the machine sat pounding out its challenge to the fracture zone. A crewman scrambled to the machine and slammed a hand down on the switch, silencing it. Gathering their belongings the five men made a fast retreat back to their waiting vehicle.
“Son of a bitch. I told them this was bat shit crazy to go looking for resources in a damn hot zone. Man, they don’t pay me enough to stay up there and be the cause of a quake that wipes out the damn state. No sir. This time I am god damned done.” The open flannel shirt over his t-shirt flapped in the breeze as Argent spit the words out while rushing to gather equipment.
The damage done, the crew gone, local people were none the wiser that the men were the source of the quake that was felt for miles around and peaked at 4.5 on the Richter scale. The epicenter; their machine on the side of a hill in Roseburg, Oregon. As surely as a one inch long, carelessly dropped match can burn an entire forest to the ground, the machine and the thousands others like them in use around the planet every day, had begun a precarious dance beneath the ground that would continue long after the off switches were engaged.
The 750 mile long fracture in the Cascadian subduction zone that runs from Northern California to British Columbia, rattled and shook for days with quakes as strong as 5.4 and peaking a few miles off shore at a reading of 6.1. Each rattle and shake would take the hotspot closer to the overdue cyclical mega-thrust quake. After 6,500 years of relative quiet activity, it was time.
While the search for oil and gas resources threatened the stability of the Earth’s crust, Auroral projects were threatening the sky and natural weather systems around the globe. Heating targeted areas of the ozone layer of the atmosphere to 50,000 degrees through a series of antennae arrays on every continent, Earth was facing its greatest challenge in its 4.5 billion year history. Like the small match that levels a forest, human technology in the hands of revenue seeking corporations in the pursuit of money and military organizations pursuing strategic domination of resources, gambled the triggering of cataclysmic global events.
Ten days later: Midtown Manhattan
“You know what Bob? You and the company may have the fat check book, a U.S. Military contract and the backing of some greasy palmed senators, but I have a PhD in geophysics and seismology. And I’m telling you, again, if you keep hitting this planet with ELF’s and ULF’s and every other fucking tool that helps you find your goose eggs, you’re going to be responsible for the end of life as we know it and THAT is MY expert opinion.” Dr. Argent slammed the end button on his phone and stalked to the window of his Manhattan hotel room.
He looked at his watch. Four forty five. The journalist would meet him at five thirty at the bar a short walk away. Mumbling a frustrated diatribe as he pulled on his corduroy sport coat and tugged the sleeves down on his denim shirt. This city sucks the life out of me. Gray. Everything’s gray, gray, gray. The buildings, the pavement, Christ! Even the damn sky is gray! I don’t know how people live like this. He picked up the briefcase with the printouts from the last twenty- seven surveys where quake activity followed immediately after the first pulses of the ELF equipment.
As he walked the hall way towards the elevator, he pulled his cell phone from his pocket and hit 1 on the speed dial. “Hi Honey, it’s me. Yeah, I’m just heading out to meet him now. Yes. I’m sure. This can’t go on. I know. I’ll call when it’s over. I love you too. Bye.” Flipping the phone shut, he tucked it into his coat pocket and took a deep, calming breath before stepping into the open doors to start a lifetime of looking over his shoulder.
In the crush of pedestrians Argent was bumped and herded along Lexington Ave. The woman readied the needle concealed in the ring she wore casually on her right hand while weaving her way through the crowd to her target. She had waited in the hotel lobby nursing an iced tea until she saw him exit the elevator and loosely trailed behind down the block. He barely felt the scratch on his wrist, like a kitten had swiped him with its paw. Four minutes later, as he passed the W Hotel, a tight burning screamed its way up his left arm and into his neck. Knees met pavement and the sea of pedestrians moved just slightly then continued moving-flowing like a river around a rock. As he lay there at the corner of 49th & Lex, Brian Argent looked up and noted the rare blue patch of sky straight above him as he gave his final breath. “Huh. Look at that.”
CHAPTER PREVIEWS!
On Their Way– ONE
Medford, June 19th, 2013
“Geez, Louise! Who lit your tampon string on fire?” Syl turned off the butane torch and lifted her safety glasses up, shoving them into her pastel blue and green hair caught atop her head in a messy ponytail. She turned on her work stool towards her brother where he lay stretching his long body across the small sofa in her studio. “Seriously, dude. You are an Olympic level buzz kill today. John, I love ya bro, but if you don’t get laid…soon, and I mean good and laid, I’m gonna call Brick and make him drag your ass to a brothel.”
“No one calls them brothels anymore, weirdo. And this is not a lack of sex problem. I’m, no, scratch that, we’re facing a real challenge here. If I can’t come up with the money to get the roadway rights back from Bothwell, the land is as good as gone; every acre, the grove, all of it. Everything our folks worked their asses off to hang on to so it would, one day, be ours… gone. You’re not taking this seriously, are you?” John sat up and swung his legs towards his sibling, who was tipping her can of Diet Dr. Pepper into her mouth.
She raised a hand and waved him back down on the sofa while she swallowed a burp from the carbonation. “I got it. I know how serious this is, but I also have a feeling that everything is going to turn around any minute now. Chillax. It’s gonna work out. We’ll find a way to buy the rights back and who knows, maybe we’ll find you a woman in the process. Someone amazing that I can stand to be around and not want to lock her in the walk in freezer like Princess Frosty Tits from Seattle. Trust me, John. These things have a way of working out in the most splendiforous and surprising ways.”
“Do you hear yourself? You’re such a sucker for all this magical thinking shit. You’re missing the harsh truth of what we’re up against. Is this the kind of crap you do with your Wiccan group up on the mountain? Send up rainbow wishes to fairies for a cash influx and a new pair of high heeled shoes while they’re at it?”
Syl was giggling as she set her jewelers tools back on her work desk and made her way over to the kitchenette. The converted garage studio held evidence of her talented family in the wall sized mural her mother had painted, the large glass roll down doors her father had found at an out of business car repair shop and the long wooden work bench her brother had made for her custom jewelry work. Swinging open the industrial wire door on the cabinet by the deep work sink, she grabbed the bag of sour cream and cheddar chips and stuffed a handful into her mouth. Around the loud crunching of chips, mouth open, she shared her thoughts with her brother, “See? Buzz kill.” Plopping down on the other end of the sofa she tossed the bag to him.
Washing chips down with soda, she went on. “Bro, the world is so much bigger and more complicated then we can ever imagine. Right now, at this very minute, somewhere, there’s someone starting their day and this day will include an action that will alter this situation for all of us. They’ve been making plans and they’re setting them in motion, because you and me, we’ve been sending out our requests to the Universe and they’ve been heard. I don’t know how and I don’t know why and I don’t know who but I can feel it in my bones. They’re on their way. Trust the force, Luke.”
“Shut the fuck up and hand me a beer, Oprah.”
She laughed and slapped his leg reaching into the small cooler on the floor to grab him a Rainier out of the ice water.
A Greater Magic–TWO
Cymru, June 22nd, 840, A.D.
Still awhile before the sun would rise, the last of the moon light through the small window gave barely enough illumination to see around her room. The effects of the milk tea they had used to perform the Imbas Forosna spell the night before had worn off but had left her with a fragile head. Fragments of a dream she had before waking flitted through her mind; the same one she’d had once or twice a year now since she was a girl. A face she could not name; a life she could not lead; she wondered why the Goddess would tempt her so with what she could not have at a time that required all of her skill and focus.
Holding her hands above her as she lay on the pallet, Cerys studied the woad designs inked with the needle onto her skin half a lifetime ago. The pain of the process she could easily remember. The deeper lesson she had learned that earned her the marks was as much a part of her soul now as was the gléfiosa- the shimmering energy that permeates the world and the true wisdom and perception of magic, light and deep that raised her to priestess in the eyes of her people.
With her right hand, marked with the three waved lines for water, she traced the flame symbol fixed in ink on the top of her left hand. The blue hue of the marks looked nearly black in the dim light. The day she had earned these stayed fresh in her memory and served as a constant reminder of the balance and control she must maintain when manipulating the elements for spells and simple charms; lessons that were never more relevant than they would be now. That lesson alone could save her life and the lives of others when she was called upon to do a greater work of magic, as she would be doing today.
When the sun rose on this day, she would be joining the arch druid at the sacred site. Together, they would be spinning a spell the likes of which is only done, perhaps, once a millennium; if it had ever been done at all. Requiring their undivided attention, the focused weaving of symbols and words, offerings of elements and sacred gifts that only she could give may be the last she would ever cast. A language spell had been given to her and if she survived, would be crucial for the journey ahead. For the greater good of all, she gladly took the task when Elidor had told her what must be done and how. By the very next rising sun, she would be somewhere else. She would be some when else as the magic she would weave would cast her forward to a time far in the future; perhaps, never to return to this place where she had lived and trained since her tenth summer. The sobering thought brought her back, not for the first time of late, to revisiting days gone by. Her thoughts now turned to the day when the druid, Elidor, had arrived at her parent’s door to bring her away with him.
He spoke little and his eyes left her only fleetingly to address her father or mother as they questioned him. He had taken food and drink at their table and Cerys had sat quietly listening. She stole glances at the woad marks that slid in and out of view on the druid’s arms, neck and feet as he moved and the fabric of his clothing slipped. His hair, long and dark with strands of silver led her to think he was of an age as her own father. He had several braided areas of hair and tied with bits of leather strip were small items; some silver, some looked like bones of a small animal; rabbit perhaps. On his wrists were metal bands and woad bands on his skin, of symbols, some she knew, others, new to her. The adults spoke of Cerys and some of the dreams she had that were fore telling; simple things like a rain that might harm the seeds they’d planted, others though had caused them to journey to the bedside of a friend, who, like in her dream, had died shortly after the visit.
Elidor had told her mother in a serious tone, that she was the one, the next, and that left untrained, her powers would rage out of control like fire on dry grasses. He had used exactly that example, and believing him and what was best for Cerys, they had gathered her few precious things; a few garments, a dagger that her father had made for her with a handle of bone and her mother’s golden torque armlet, passed down from her ancestors. Raising the sleeve of her own dark green dress as Cerys watched, her breath had caught when she realized what her mother was about to do.
“No, Máthair! You mustn’t. It’s your treasure. Please. Keep it with you always.” Cerys wiped the tears from her eyes that were falling freely. But her mother had insisted the bracelet was hers now and that this was exactly the right moment that she should have it. She took Cerys’ hand and slid the sleeve of her rough brown flaxen dress up her arm and with a gentle hand she worked the torque onto her daughter’s arm where it would stay.
Had she known at the time that a fever would take her mother before she ever saw her childhood home again, she would have looked deeper into her mother’s eyes. She would have tried to take the time to hear the things that were in her heart so she could know them as well as her own thoughts. As it was, Elidor insisted that they linger no longer. Before she had time enough to run crying back to the safety of her parent’s home, they had turned their horses south and the small thatched home with smoke from the dinner fire became a distant speck as she turned that last time to look from the crest of the hill. Three more steps and the view was gone and she slumped forward and took up a swatch of the horse’s mane to comfort herself; combing her fingers through the mare’s rough hair from neck to end. They began their journey towards Anglesey, days away, and somewhere on a sea she had only viewed in her waking dreams when she’d let her vision go soft while she did her daily chores. In her vision, she had seen herself near a stone building and she heard the cry of birds and felt a wet spray of salty water on her skin.
It had been a long while since she’d thought of the day she had left her family home. The memory was now thick in her chest. Cerys crossed her arms over her face there in the privacy of the small cottage that was her own and let her thoughts run through the twenty summers since she had last seen her own mother. Not one to brood or dwell much on things past, things she could not change, she allowed herself, on this one important day, to let her thoughts run freely. A respite, she thought, before the hard work ahead of her. She looked again at the marks on her hands and let the memory come. The fire day. She let the scenes play out in her mind again; every moment, every emotion, and every word that followed leading to those permanent marks on her hands.
It was her 15th summer and by then, Elidor had taught her much in the way of the gléfiosa, the bright knowledge that set apart those who worked with magic and those who were blind to its presence. For years, she gathered the herbs and bits for potions to aid the ill health of those around her. She learned what each plant and liquid held in the way of its own magic and which to combine with others; which to avoid, unless death was your goal. That dark magic, Elidor, had told her, was the realm of dark soul creatures and better left alone. He had taught her the ways of the Three Illuminations, and having mastered only the Coire Sois, the knowledge in the head, she was still like a sitting stool with only one leg. At fifteen years, though she had thought she knew enough already. How foolish she had been.
Working with an elemental spell that autumn day, she was drawing fire up with hands out stretched and the words of power flowing from her lips. Elidor would often have her work practice spells in the sight of distractions; noises from storms on the horizon, the ringing clatter of an iron workers anvil near at hand or the busy movement of local folk as they went about the business of their day. He was teaching her about the complete concentration that she must have to one day work greater magic and he had impressed on her again and again, that this was no game. The consequences of distraction were dire when elements got out of your control and he’d made his point with buckets of water over her head that had been held there with a spell until she’d insisted in scratching an itch on her nose and lost the focus of her mind. That day though, she had brought up a large flame and was holding it several feet above her head as she said the words of power. While she chanted the spell, Elidor walked around her, talking all the while.
“Pay attention girl! Do not allow anything outside of you break the flow of words and the spell that you’re weaving or you’ll kill us all for sure.”
They were practicing this day, on the edge of town and near to several small houses where children played around the ground and inside the cottages and wooden animal stalls. The summer had been long, reaching nearly to Samhain, and the food and grasses were harvested and brought to the out building just behind her. Some of the townsmen were busy taking loads of wheat from the nearby field to where the grain was thrashed and though Cerys kept her attention on the dancing flames above her, she could see the people moving in the periphery of her vision.
It was all going well until Berwyn had stopped a moment to pull his shirt over his head to wipe the sweat from his brow just to the right and across the pathway. He was just a few years older than her, and had she not been training as a priestess, he would have caught her eye years before. She had certainly caught his and somewhere inside that strong and muscled body, he was convinced that if he just kept showing up, she might abandon her vows and take him as her husband.
The flame was full and bright and she had held it there now for the better part of an hour, one of the training exercises that built strength in the body as well as the mind. If it hadn’t been for the heat of the day; if it hadn’t been for the sight of Berwyn’s tanned and muscled body and the fine strong arms as he lifted his shirt to wipe his brow, she would have been completely in control of the magic. As it was, her mind wandered and she was having a difficult time holding the spell. Beads of sweat began to course down her forehead as she tried in vain to bring her mind back to the task. He was a fine looking boy indeed. Vows do not make you blind.
“Where are you girl? Thinking about the fire over your head right now or that boy in your bed?” Elidor knew exactly what he was doing as he taunted her.
The flame flared out to ten times its size as she tried to reign in her embarrassment at being found out. She tried to bring the fire back into control. Instead of shaking off the errant thoughts, she let out a wild breath of frustration and thinking the sacred word for wind, hoping a breeze would dry her wet brow, the magic in her hands included the element into the fire spell. The flame rushed out over her head and the wind she’d accidentally created carried it onto the building behind her and into the dry autumn thatch that was its roof. The children playing inside didn’t see the flames catch, but the horses nearby whinnied and danced nervously, pulling on the tethers that kept them at the building. In a moment, the townsfolk had seen what was happening and in another moment after that, panic had spread as they watched their winter’s food stores and their children’s lives in the balance of what might happen next.
When Elidor could see that Cerys was out of her mind with worry, he threw his arms out and pushed her back out of the way. “Feck! Girl, leave it to me.”
With a booming voice and a wide wave of his hands, Elidor threw a spell out, quashing the flames and bringing a raincloud into view above the building. Water dumped down soaking the thatch until it there was only the damp stench of wet straw and the townsfolk stood aghast at what might have just happened there. Cerys was shamed. It would be a good long while before the townsfolk ceased their teasing of her whenever she entered a place with a hearth or when someone went to light a pipe in her presence, reminding her of the day she “almost cooked them all.”
Berwyn had come to her a few days after she got her marks and apologized, telling her he knew full well that he was standing in her view and he had only hoped, once again, that she might reconsider her life of celibacy. “There’s a great crime in someone who looks the way you look, Cerys, with a heart as sweet as yours, to spend your nights in a bed alone. To never know the warmth of a lover, your bodies caught together and to never see the faces of the children you might have with me. Cerys, girl it breaks my heart to think of you lonely, aye and me lonely without you.”
She had been kind to him that day when she told him for the hundredth time, that her path was destined and she was already far enough down it to know that she could not step off of it now. She told him, if there were another life after this one, when they were there together, that she would happily and proudly make a life with him. But it was not to be in this time. He had stared at her hands then. The bloody scabs over the marks Elidor had given her, fire on the left hand, water on the right, would remind her for every day of her life, what hangs in the balance when you work magic and manipulate elements to have certain outcome.
Elidor had brought her to the Grove to do the marking ceremony. The fire and water were just the first of many she would receive that would tell the story of her life and chart the path of her learning of the gléfiosa. A thousand stings of the needle and the woad that she’d learned to mix from the plant that grew in the marshes would become a part of her life from that moment on. Not a day would pass when she wouldn’t notice the flame and the water marks and remember the cost of losing your focus in the small things like working the elements, and the large, invisible things, like pouring water on the flame in her belly that would call a mundane girl to the bed of lover as effectively as the tide was lulled to the shore by the moon.
She broke her nostalgic reverie then and running her hands through her chestnut hair, she rose from the straw palette where she slept. She had stuffed the mat with purple summer flowers to perfume her sleeping space and to keep the small bugs away that the flowers repelled. Pushing off the narrow bed, she rose finally, and took herself to the small stream outside where she could wash her body and her hair. Next to a tree she did her morning ministrations.
Back in her one room cottage, she pulled her garments on. She wore her rough linen riding breeches and a shirt more suited to a man and tied a leather strap around her middle. She had dyed the fabric herself in a deep brown and her shirt an indigo color; dyed from the same woad plant used as the ink for her blue marks. The pouches at her waist held the things she had carefully gathered for the magic today and among them was a small vial that held the rusty dust of her own dried moon blood, a powerful spell binder that made a signature of her spirit tied inextricably together to the magic she would do. Elidor had told her to collect clotted bits each month since she had first begun to bleed and to dry it until it could be pounded down to powder. Men’s magic was a powerful thing, but the mother, the moon, the goddess oversaw women’s magic of creation and nothing was more powerful than that. Over the years, she had filled a clay jar with the powerful powder and she had used a bit in other binding spells. Today just might require all she had left.
She looked around the small cottage that had been her home this one last time, wondering if she would ever see this place again, and with a blessing word, she pulled the door closed and set her foot onto the path that would take her to Elidor and the work that lie ahead of them.
As she walked to the cottage where her teacher, her friend lived, she mentally reviewed each of the steps they had taken over the preceding few days in preparation for this very day. She and Elidor had placed the green stone where it would never be discovered or disturbed and where its power was at its peak on the solstice day. With the help of Arch druid Elidor, she dug a place deep enough to stand in on the north side of the center of their sacred grove, where it would be hidden from curious wanderers foolish enough to tamper with magic of this magnitude. They had returned there to that place of power the following night to perform the Imbas Forosna; the seeing ritual and to add the personal elements to the spell sight.
She had been on that very spot on the eve of high summer, after they wove powerful spells, she lay in her trance while Elidor had shown her all he could of where she would be going. The milk tea had made her sway and fall to the ground with the swirling visions. He had cast a spell of knowledge that gave her an understanding of words she had yet to learn. She had held in her hand the clear sister-stone like an anchor while he cast the Imbas Forosna spell, altering her mind and her vision to show her what lie ahead for her.
In her milk tea vision, the people looked physically the same, but their clothing was odd and fitted immodestly close to their skin. She heard the language, more Briton than the Gaelic but still familiar to her ears. As these people spoke, the words, first foreign to her ears, became words she understood. She saw glass fortresses rising into the sky and metal boxes moving at incredible speeds with people riding them. As she watched the vision playing out on her eyelids, time moved forward. She saw women, now dressed in odd clothing yet, still holding the hands of their small children as they went. They gathered foods at a building with indoor tables and shelves crammed with vessels and boxes, jars and odd containers that appeared to be made of a translucent stone as she had watched one fall to the ground and not shatter. The scenes went by for hours showing her wondrous devices as she swam in the drug dream of the milk tea. She saw herself there on the ground then, Elidor beside her, his lips still moving with the weaving of words of power. She watched as a shimmering ghost of herself floated up from where her body rested and rose upward then. Looking through the eyes of the ghostly figure, she could look back down and see a silver thread attached between her ghost body and the one that rested down below. It seemed to be endless in length, floating and swaying as she rose above the land and up so high that she could look back down and see the blue oceans, the land and mountains far below. Higher yet and she was looking back at what appeared to be a round stone, blue and green floating there in an ocean of stars. The sight took her breath away and she felt her heart swell at the beauty of it all.
She saw the dragon lines then, like a shining fishing net that had laid itself around the world. Her ghostly eyes focused and she could see that at each intersection of the lines, the light was brighter and pulsed with power. The power that ran along the webbing was a massive source of the Gléfiosa covering the world. As she turned her eyes to certain places along the dragon lines, on closer inspection, some threads ran with a weak light and some had broken completely, leaving that area vulnerable to whatever danger a world might be facing. An image of metal that looked like insects on a large square field came into view. She watched and listened as a wave of sound moved up and pierced the sky. As the wave fell back down, she saw lights dimming and ground moving in large rolling waves.
This was the message then; she must find the broken places and heal them with her magic. This journey she would be taking and the greater magic, greater even than the Imbas Forosna spell that held her mind now for it was bound to this web of light that guarded the world. Minutes later or perhaps it was hours, on her waking a final vision passed before her eyes; the Tree of Life. It was inked onto flesh; on an arm much the same as the design that made its way from the small of her own back, up and over her shoulders. The sight remained with her even after she had come out of the milk tea visions.
In this early morning light walking along the dusty path, her feet knew their way to the small cottage farthest from the village. Taking in the familiar trees and farms along the way, she recalled carefree days running through the woods with Wren as a child, when he would come to visit. His training was with the older brother of Elidor and the need for his healing skills kept them both a few days away for the better part of the year. For a moment, she tried to send a call out to Wren, along the dragon line that ran with the creek beside the path. Hoping he had felt her presence, she raised her head to see Elidor’s door swing open as he waved her in for a bowl of porridge before they began their day. He nodded in greeting and left her to her food. Busying himself with gathering things he would require at the sacred sight, Cerys could see that he was working to control the emotion that he typically held at bay. He moved quickly around the cottage taking down small jars and tucking them into the pouch he would carry while he spoke low and mostly to himself. She sat at his table, this last time, and watched him; vowing to remember everything she could about this man who had given her a world of knowledge, passing over students that she had felt were far more able than herself. He had waved off her doubts early on and after a good long while and years of study, she had grown into the power that he had seen so long ago in that little girl from the north.
They made their way back to the Sacred Grove where they had worked the spell the night before, and armed now with the significance of the Imbas Forosna vision, they stood together at the sight they had prepared. Elidor removed the silver cuff from his arm and without ceremony or an overture of emotion, he put it onto her own arm, there along with her mother’s torque. She had seen the cuff every day for twenty years. It was covered in runes of power and she noticed it often, as he went about his work and teachings. This elder was a father to her and though his methods were sometimes harsh, his heart was true and she knew he loved her like his own. The gift of his cuff would be with her always, wherever she was going.
Standing then, side by side, they placed the remaining objects of power around the place where they had buried the green stone. It was up to her to cast the greater magic that would send her forward to a time that hadn’t been yet and to another land that might be in this world, though she couldn’t be certain of that until she arrived; if she arrived. To be lost in the middle was a possibility that she could not give any air to for fear that it might become so. She must first locate the heir to the sister grove in that other place and help him with a smaller task and then he would be able to lead her to the larger task that awaited her. A trade of assistance, a favor for a favor.
She clasped her hands onto Elidor’s arms and he returned the gesture locking their arms and their eyes on each other for one last moment. Releasing him with a nod, she turned and stepped into the center of the circle and raising her arms, the words of power began to flow from her lips. She called on the awenyddion, the gifted ones and asked them to walk with her to this other place. “… Co Choisiche, a Bendith y Mamau…” She called upon the Cran Beatha, the Tree of Life itself to guide her to the sister grove. She asked for protection. “…feth Fiadha…”’ and she asked to become one on the journey with Gléfiosa.
A blinding ice blue light enveloped Cerys, and Elidor had to shield his eyes from it. A great flash, like a lightning bolt that began and ended in the circle, filled the air and when he lowered his hands from his eyes, he stood alone and Cerys was suddenly, somewhere else. She had called the greater magic and it had answered her in kind. He had called upon his guide, Owara, who told him Cerys was ready for what lies ahead. He blessed the ground and turned for home. Nothing more could be done from this side of the spell. Now it was up to Cerys to bring the lines of time together with the lines of power ensuring that the world they knew could go on. Her failure was not an option.
Arrival–THREE
Medford, Oregon, June 23rd 2013, A.D.
Cerys had closed her eyes hard against the blinding light. As it faded but still remained a shimmering echo, she opened them and taking in her surroundings, found an unfamiliar forest. New smells touched her nose, yet familiar in their earthiness. Creatures nearby had left their musky scent as they rubbed the trees in passing and the air seemed fresh here yet held a faint edge of something unfamiliar and acrid in the distance.
Coming back to herself, her body shook violently after having made the transfer to the sister grove using the two linked crystal points. The clear point had traveled with her. The other, the green mother-stone, similar in size to the one she now held with a death grip, had stayed deep beside the Logan Stone in the heart center of her own grove, where Elidor had been left behind.
In this grove, in what she hoped was the proper time in the distant future from where she was just a moment ago, she stood on shaking legs until the vibrating stopped and she could regain her balance and her courage to step out to a clearing and begin her search for the heir to the grove to bring him her message and offer her help in any way she could.
It was quiet here on this summer night and she was thankful for that as she gathered her wits and repositioned her satchel on her back to balance the weight. She had stored her crystal after wrapping it in leather and she bound it round with thong straps. In her bag, she carried pieces of silver and gold to trade for supplies she might need.
A few gemstones, supplied by Elidor, were tucked away and tapped her thigh when she walked, from where they hung in a small pouch beneath her breeches. She would save those only for a dire emergency as their value was far greater than the nuggets of metal and coin she carried in her bag.
Feeling confident in having made the journey and arriving whole, she took a step forward into this new world, this new time, where she had offered herself as sacrifice to protect what must be protected. The motion of her body set her brain to swaying and before she took a second step, her mind went black and her spent body crumbled to the ground among a pile of leaves.
Sometime later, the sun was starting its rise and Cerys woke, finding a fine buck standing guard over her. She rose and stood next to it placing her hand gently on its neck as it turned its head towards her.
A sound unlike anything she could have imagined rose up filling the woods and startling every living thing around. She felt the buck tense under her hand and as he bolted to the side, a loud crack sounded and she felt a flaming hot pain tear through her right shoulder as she fell to the ground from the sudden impact.
2 Replies to “Appetizer Menu: a little taste of…The Grove: Awakened Book One”
TopSpots says:
Love, love, love it!
Did I say I really love it?
Not my usualy fare, but this grabbed me, for sure. As an added bonus, I had to look up the what the Hopi prophesies and fifth world referred to, and got the heebie jeebies how accurate they are. I look forward to reading more!
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2129
|
__label__wiki
| 0.719604
| 0.719604
|
Burgess chooses Dialogue as content agency in 2018
By Vicki Sherman
Archant Dialogue extends luxury portfolio with a new content contract for Burgess, the world’s leader in luxury superyachts
Archant Dialogue has been newly appointed by Burgess to publish Burgess Magazine, an exclusive annual superyacht living and style publication, which is distributed to some of the world’s highest net worth individuals.
Burgess is a global leader in managing the entire experience of owning or chartering a superyacht, including construction, purchase and sale, support services, insurance and charter services.
The appointment confirms Dialogue’s position as a leading publisher of content for luxury and bespoke brands, with a client portfolio that includes Bentley Motors, Royal Ascot, Porsche Club and Air Charter Service among others.
The coveted 200-plus page Burgess Magazine is now in its 12th year of publication and is highly collectible, with eye-catching covers and extremely high production values. Each magazine features some of the world’s most beautiful yachts for sale and charter, as well as inspiring luxury lifestyle content from around the world.
Burgess Magazine’s distinctive design reflects the brand values and client priorities of the business, which was founded by renowned ocean racer Nigel Burgess in 1975. With a head office in London’s Regent Street, the company now spans the world, with branches as far afield as New York, Dubai, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo. Dialogue will refresh the design, imagery and content for 2019 and beyond, while retaining the values that have made Burgess Magazine so coveted by its exclusive audience.
Zoë Francis-Cox, Agency Director at Dialogue, says: “Burgess is a very exciting brand to work with and I am delighted they selected Dialogue. We won this by demonstrating an understanding of both the Burgess brand and the superyacht world, which is a natural extension of our other work in luxury content marketing. Our project management skills, global focus and attention to detail were also key factors in the win, alongside Dialogue’s proven editorial and design excellence.”
Craig Nayman, Executive Director at Archant, comments: “With our multi-sector in-house advertising team, we have an unparalleled track record in delivering advertising revenue against content that makes Dialogue a compelling choice for brands that want to monetise their owned content. This was a key consideration for Burgess and I’m delighted that this was recognised by its management team, alongside our award-winning content and design.”
Nicci Perides, Head of PR & Communications at Burgess, says: “Archant Dialogue approached us with a compelling proposal that combined a clear understanding of our brand and the luxury sector, along with an impressive design pitch. As a specialist in luxury content, with a global mindset, we are delighted to be working with Dialogue on Burgess Magazine.”
Want to discuss luxury content with us?
Complete the form below and one of our team will be in touch.
Job Title/Occupation
We're very impressed with both the Archant Dialogue team's creativity and its understanding of the updated brand goals Harley-Davidson set out in 2018.
Hayley Jones, Harley Owner’s Group EMEA
The stylish new direction of our magazine is a great fit for the Bentley brand and is executed well.
Rochelle Macdonald, Bentley Motors
Get in touch: craig.nayman@archantdialogue.co.uk
31-35 Kirby Street
EC1N 8TE
Rouen Road
NR1 1RE
Site by Archant Dialogue, part of Archant Community Media Limited ©2020 All rights reserved.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2132
|
__label__wiki
| 0.669143
| 0.669143
|
ARCS National
Metro Washington
ARCS Foundation
About ARCS
Advancing Science
Annual Report and Financials
Governance & Partners
About Our Scholars
Alumni Hall of Fame
Approved Universities
All Members Conference
Giving to National
Chapter Challenge
National Achievements
Chapter Achievements
Scholar Achievements
Achievement Archives
Chapters Across the US
Giving Campaign
Corporate Partners Play Key Role in Advancement of Science
ARCS Foundation partners with the greater industry in three primary ways:
"As we look out at the challenges before us in the 21st centry, it is clear that educating students in science, technology, engineering, and math is more important than ever for the future. Lockheed Martin is committed to working with policymakers, eductors, non-profit groups, and the business community to educate and inspire today's youth to become tomorrow's leaders through STEM."
- Marilyn A. Hewson, Chief Executive Officer and President, Lockheed Martin Corporation
Organizational & Event Sponsorship
Each year, dedicated philanthropists from around the nation gather to celebrate the successes of the past and share opportunities for advancing the mission of ARCS Foundation at our annual conference. Sponsors play a vital role in the event and all that it offers attendees – from world class speakers and seminars, to fascinating and informative tours, to top-notch networking. Becoming a sponsor for ARCS Foundation events helps the organization ensure that it may elevate the work of our nation’s best and brightest.
Organizations that support the mission of ARCS Foundation are vital to providing the resources needed to fund our work. A shining example of this is Lockheed Martin, which has long displayed a commitment to supporting student achievement to further STEM education.
Lockheed Martin Corporation is a presenting sponsor of the 2018 AMC in Washington, D.C.
GET 2019 AMC SPONSORSHIP INFORMATION
National Corporate Scholar Program
With fewer new scientists earning degrees in the United States than our competitor nations, the edge goes to those enterprises that have the talent to innovate. National Corporate Scholar Programs are partnerships between ARCS Foundation and companies that fund ARCS Scholars across the country who are developing the knowledge to help advance STEM in the United States.
ARCS Foundation is dedicated to building corporate partnerships as a key way to advance science in America.
As a Corporate Partner in a National Corporate Scholar Program, organizations will leverage the expertise and infrastructure of ARCS Foundation Scholar Award programs to reach promising scholars across the country.
The National Corporate Scholar Program is a collaborative, joint funding model that helps ARCS scholars obtain advanced STEM degrees, filling the STEM pipeline with the future leaders of scientific innovation.
ARCS Corporate Partner identifies areas of study for the program
Funding comes from ARCS Corporate Partner with matching funds from ARCS Chapters
ARCS Foundation’s top-ranked Academic Partners select high-potential scholars as recipients within established guidelines for ARCS Scholar selection
ARCS Scholars are chosen across all chapter regions creating a multi-year class of scholars dedicated to a specific area of study
Corporate Partner Benefits
Enhances the corporation’s national visibility
Facilitates connections with new talent in your field
Provides access to a network of top-ranked universities for recruiting recent graduates
Taps established ARCS Foundation Scholar Award Program Administration
Case Study: The Roche/ARCS Foundation Scholar Award Program in the Life Sciences
The Roche/ARCS Foundation Scholar Award Program in the Life Sciences
The Roches Foundation and ARCS Foundation are jointly offering a unique program to support outstanding graduate life science students at universities across the United States. The Roche/ARCS Foundation Scholar Award Program in the Life Sciences supports the next generation of life science leaders and furthers the foundations' shared interest in the advancement of science.
Through this partnership, The Roche Foundation will provide a total of $663,000 in funding to support as Roche/ARCS Foundation Scholars over the next three years. All awardees will be PhD candidates in the life sciences at universities that are ARCS Foundation academic partners.
The program will be administered by ARCS Foundation National and its chapters and is the first program of this type for both foundations. It will leverage ARCS Foundation's established infrastructure and expertise in supporting US STEM students and demonstrates The Roche Foundation's commitment to strengthening America's capacity for innovative research.
READ THE PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENT
READ ABOUT THE FIRST CLASS OF ROCHE/ARCS SCHOLARS
“Roche is honored to support the ARCS Foundation and the development of the next generation of scientists and engineers. We believe that scientific advances and innovation have profound benefits for society, and serve as the foundation for important new medicines.”
Sandra Horning, M.D.
Chief Medical Officer & Head of Global Product Development, F. Hoffman-La Roche
In today’s global economy, industry leaders must constantly reinvent and develop new ideas to compete successfully during a time of perpetual worldwide change and growth. With an aging scientific workforce and fewer new scientists earning degrees in the U.S. compared to competitor nations, the edge goes to those enterprises that have the talent to innovate.
ARCS Foundation is positioned to work closely with industry partners to address current needs for more innovation and the STEM-related challenges to our nation’s prosperity.
ARCS Enhances Role in Fostering U.S. Growth with Membership in Council of Competitiveness
Membership in the Council of Competitiveness comes by invitation only, and ARCS was honored to be invited to join this influential group in 2015. Composed of peer corporate CEOs, university presidents, labor leaders and national laboratory directors, this visionary group is a powerful “brain trust” to recommend actionable pathways to drive U.S. economic growth.
As an affiliate member, ARCS Foundation highlights the critical role established nonprofits and education-focused philanthropy can play in mobilizing resources and investing strategically in scientific research and invention.
“America’s leadership depends upon new discovery and the innovation that creates new opportunities and underpins future growth. The Council is honored to have ARCS Foundation as an affiliate member to the pursuit of our shared mission."
Deborah L. Wince-Smith, President and CEO, Council on Competitiveness
Lockheed Martin and the Lockheed Martin Logo are registered and/or trademarks of Lockheed Martin Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
Empower more scholars. Get involved with ARCS.
ARCS Foundation, Inc.
national@arcsfoundation.org
2016© Achievement Rewards for College Scientists Foundation, Inc. Hosted by Cividesk.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2134
|
__label__wiki
| 0.776698
| 0.776698
|
» Study » Scholarships » Find a scholarship » Office of National Intelligence and National Security College Scholarship for Women
Office of National Intelligence and National Security College Scholarship for Women
In 2020, the National Security College at the Australian National University will offer the scholarship, The Office of National Intelligence and National Security College Scholarship for Women.
The objectives of the Scholarship are to foster the talent of Australian women interested in national security and pursuing a career in the national intelligence community, to showcase the College's programs for high achievers, and to provide an opportunity to a standout woman who may otherwise be unable to undertake a Master of National Security Policy degree due to financial constraints.
Funding for this award has been provided by the Office of National Intelligence.
National Security Policy
The award is available each year to a prospective ANU student who:
(a) is an Australian citizen; and
(b) has completed a Bachelor degree or international equivalent with a minimum GPA of 5.0/7.0 or above; and
(c) identifies as female; and
(d) is enrolling in the Master of National Security Policy degree program; and
(e) is not a member of the Australian Public Service/State and Territory equivalents/National Intelligence Community.
Full tuition fee payment for the 7871 MNSEP Master of Security Policy.
Please send your application to Crawford.degrees@anu.edu.au with the subject title 'Application for the ONI-NSC Scholarship for Women' before the closing date. The application is submitted as:
(a) a statement of claims of no more than 500 words; and
(b) a current Curriculum Vitae of no more than three pages; and
(c) two (2) academic written references
For further information please contact the Senior Student Engagement Coordinator at either 6125 6261 or crawford.degrees@anu.edu.au.
Full tuition scholarship
1 on offer
Payments made per semester
Payments made for program duration.
Learn more about scholarship types »
Application periods
26 November 2019 – 19 January 2020
Reference document
Conditions of Award 291_2019 (PDF, 435.43 KB)
Use contact details to request an alternative file format or conditions of award for past years not listed.
Ongoing eligibility
Continuation based on academic performance
Page owner: Division of Student Administration and Academic Services
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2139
|
__label__cc
| 0.51784
| 0.48216
|
Ex-President Obama, overseas with Michelle, said it’s time for women to run the world
Brian Niemietz
This ought to have conspiracy theorists scratching their tin foil helmets.
Speaking at a private event in Singapore, where he’s travelling with former First Lady Michelle Obama, former President Barack Obama implied the front-runners from both parties should step aside for a female candidate.
“Women, I just want you to know, you are not perfect, but what I can say pretty indisputably is that you’re better than us,” Obama reportedly said Monday. “I’m absolutely confident that for two years if every nation on Earth was run by women, you would see a significant improvement across the board on just about everything."
The 44th president’s comments were reported by the BBC. Obama, who implied his days in government may be over, also gave something less than a ringing endorsement for Democratic candidates Joe Biden, 77; Michael Bloomberg, 77; Bernie Sanders, 78, or GOP incumbent Donald Trump, 73.
Joe Biden says he told Obama not to endorse after 'brother’ stops short of backing him in 2020 race
“If you look at the world and look at the problems it’s usually old people, usually old men, not getting out of the way,” Obama continued.
Michelle Obama, Julia Roberts and Jenna Hager visit students in Vietnam
Former U.S. first lady Michelle Obama, actresses Julia Roberts and Lana Condor listen to female students at the Can Giuoc high school in Long An province, Vietnam, Monday, Dec. 9, 2019. Mrs. Obama and the actresses are on a visit to Vietnam to promote education for adolescent girls. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)
Actress Julia Roberts listens to a student at Can Giuoc high school in Long An province, Vietnam Monday, Dec. 9, 2019. Roberts is accompanying U.S. former first lady Michelle Obama on a trip to Vietnam to promote education for adolescent girls. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)
Former U.S. fist lady Michelle Obama, actress Julia Roberts, fifth left, and Jenna Bush Hager, fourth left, talk with female students at the Can Giuoc high school in Long An province, Vietnam on Monday, Dec. 9, 2019. Mrs. Obama is on a trip to Vietnam to promote education for adolescent girls. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)
Former US First Lady Michelle Obama (C) poses for picture with Vietnamese students in Can Giuoc district, Long An province on December 9, 2019. - Michelle Obama and Julia Roberts visit to promote girls' education in Vietnam. (Photo by Nhac NGUYEN / AFP) (Photo by NHAC NGUYEN/AFP via Getty Images)
Former US First Lady Michelle Obama meets Vietnamese students in Can Giuoc district, Long An province on December 9, 2019. - Michelle Obama and Julia Roberts visit to promote girls' education in Vietnam. (Photo by Nhac NGUYEN / AFP) (Photo by NHAC NGUYEN/AFP via Getty Images)
Jenna Bush Hager, daughter of former US president George W. Bush, poses for picture with Vietnamese student in Can Giuoc district, Long An province on December 9, 2019 during a visit with former US First Lady Michelle Obama (not pictured). - Michelle Obama and Julia Roberts visit to promote girls' education in Vietnam. (Photo by Nhac NGUYEN / AFP) (Photo by NHAC NGUYEN/AFP via Getty Images)
Jenna Bush Hager, daughter of former US president George W. Bush, embraces a Vietnamese student in Can Giuoc district, Long An province on December 9, 2019 during a visit with former US First Lady Michelle Obama (not pictured). - Michelle Obama and Julia Roberts visit to promote girls' education in Vietnam. (Photo by Nhac NGUYEN / AFP) (Photo by NHAC NGUYEN/AFP via Getty Images)
Former US First Lady Michelle Obama (R), actress Julia Roberts (2nd L) and Jenna Bush Hager (L), daughter of former US president George W. Bush meet Vietnamese students in Can Giuoc district, Long An province on December 9, 2019. - Michelle Obama and Julia Roberts visit to promote girls' education in Vietnam. (Photo by Nhac NGUYEN / AFP) (Photo by NHAC NGUYEN/AFP via Getty Images)
Jenna Bush Hager (L), daughter of former US president George W. Bush, and actress Julia Roberts (R) meet Vietnamese students in Can Giuoc district, Long An province on December 9, 2019 during a visit with former US First Lady Michelle Obama (not pictured). - Michelle Obama and Julia Roberts visit to promote girls' education in Vietnam. (Photo by Nhac NGUYEN / AFP) (Photo by NHAC NGUYEN/AFP via Getty Images)
Former US First Lady Michelle Obama speaks to Vietnamese students in Can Giuoc district, Long An province on December 9, 2019. - Michelle Obama and Julia Roberts visit to promote girls' education in Vietnam. (Photo by Nhac NGUYEN / AFP) (Photo by NHAC NGUYEN/AFP via Getty Images)
Former US First Lady Michelle Obama (R), actress Julia Roberts (2nd L) and Jenna Bush Hager (L) meet Vietnamese students in Can Giuoc district, Long An province on December 9, 2019. - Michelle Obama and Julia Roberts visit to promote girls' education in Vietnam. (Photo by Nhac NGUYEN / AFP) (Photo by NHAC NGUYEN/AFP via Getty Images)
Former US First Lady Michelle Obama (R) and actress Julia Roberts (L) meet Vietnamese students in Can Giuoc district, Long An province on December 9, 2019. - Michelle Obama and Julia Roberts visit to promote girls' education in Vietnam. (Photo by Nhac NGUYEN / AFP) (Photo by NHAC NGUYEN/AFP via Getty Images)
Former US First Lady Michelle Obama (C) and actress Julia Roberts (1st L) meet Vietnamese students in Can Giuoc district, Long An province on December 9, 2019 - Michelle Obama and Julia Roberts visit to promote girls' education in Vietnam. (Photo by Nhac NGUYEN / AFP) (Photo by NHAC NGUYEN/AFP via Getty Images)
Former US First Lady Michelle Obama (C) and actress Julia Roberts (L) meet Vietnamese students in Can Giuoc district, Long An province on December 9, 2019 - Michelle Obama and Julia Roberts visit to promote girls' education in Vietnam. (Photo by Nhac NGUYEN / AFP) (Photo by NHAC NGUYEN/AFP via Getty Images)
Among the issues Obama thinks female leaders would excel are war and youth issues. The 58-year-old former two-term president reportedly said powerful men are too stuck in their ways to move the world forward.
“They cling to power, they are insecure, they have outdated ideas and the energy and fresh vision and new approaches are squashed,” he said.
Late last month, Fox News conspiracy theorist Tucker Carlson floated the idea Michelle Obama could be a strong presidential candidate, even though she’s not on the 2020 ticket and has repeatedly said she has no interest in seeking public office. Conservative outlets including the Washington Examiner glommed onto the unfounded speculation.
Michelle Obama compares Donald Trump to a ‘divorced dad’
“If you’re wondering who the Democratic nominee will be, don’t bet against Michelle Obama,” the right-wing pundit reportedly said late last month on his Fox News program.
Carlson’s comments came days after Michelle, visiting the Lower East Side, repeated her often-made claim that she is not seeking public office.
During her 2019 book tour for her best-seller “Becoming,” Michelle said she was “not interested in politics” and was looking forward to enjoying civilian life after eight years in the White House, according to Newsweek. In August, the former first lady clearly stated again there was “zero chance” she’d run for president.
A USA Today poll published Oct. 30 showed nearly one-in-five Democratic voters would like to see their party’s list of 2020 presidential candidates expand and 10% of those surveyed chose Michelle Obama as the newcomer they’d support.
More from New York Daily News:
Tis the season for clemency: Gov. Cuomo should let more New Yorkers out of prison now
Business at a breaking point: Owners struggle to survive as the city adds on more and more regulations
Making the case: Democrats should let former Republican Justin Amash help argue when the case moves to the Senate
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2141
|
__label__cc
| 0.700925
| 0.299075
|
Richard G. Asarch, MD
Laura Thomason, MD
James Twede, MD
Amber Long
Kathryn Harrison
Kristie Borne
Jennifer Burke, FNP
Tamara Wint
Marie Hilfiger
Bobbi Messelt, Aesthetician
Kolbi Smith, Aesthetician
Specials/Promotions
Books/Awards
DermaSpa RX Products
Diabetic Skin Care
Facial Blood Vessels
Lentigo
Rosacea Treatment in Denver, CO
Exilis ELITE™
Acne Lift Treatment
Light Therapy (NeoLTS)
Photo Dynamic Therapy
XTRAC
TheraClear
Locations >>
What is Dermatitis?
Dermatitis and eczema are often used interchangeably. Both represent an inflammation in the skin which can be aggravated by Colorado’s dry climate. There are many types of dermatitis, which literally means inflammation of the dermis. In most cases, dermatitis is characterized by inflamed, red, dry, itchy skin. More serious dermatitis may present itself as scales or oozing sores or blisters.
What Causes Dermatitis?
Since there are an endless number of things that can irritate the skin, your doctor will try to narrow the diagnosis to a specific category of dermatitis.
Types of Dermatitis
Contact dermatitis – includes allergic contact dermatitis is a skin reaction to an agent that touches the skin causing a rash.
Nummular dermatitis – is common in a dry environment and presents itself as round, red plaques that are most commonly seen on the legs, hands, arms, and torso.
Atopic dermatitis, or eczema – causes the skin to itch, swell, and sometimes blister. This type of eczema is usually genetic and appears at a very young age.
Seborrheic dermatitis – called cradle cap in infants and dandruff in adults, consists of greasy, yellowish or reddish scaling on the scalp, face, or genitals.
Stasis dermatitis – leads to irritation around the ankles and is caused by poor circulation in the legs.
Dermatitis Treatment
Even though there are many types of dermatitis, treatment is similar for most skin irritation and inflammation. Treatment will be determined by your doctor after a diagnosis of the type of dermatitis you have. Treatment options range from avoiding the allergen to topical medications, antihistamine pills, and antibiotics. At the Asarch Center for Dermatology, Laser & Mohs Surgery, our medical professionals will help you diagnose and treat your dermatitis appropriately.
What is Allergic Contact Dermatitis?
At the Asarch Center, we see many cases of Allergic Contact Dermatitis each year. Almost everyone will develop contact dermatitis, a type of eczema, at least once during their lives. Contact dermatitis occurs as the result of an agent touching our skin that causes a rash. Sometimes the rash happens immediately. More often, it takes some time to appear.
This itchy skin condition, caused by a reaction to agents that come in contact with the skin, occurs after the immune system processes the absorbed material and mounts an immune response against it.
What Does Allergic Contact Dermatitis Look Like?
The skin reaction results in severe itching, swelling and redness in the affected area. The first reaction may be delayed in appearance, but future exposure to the agent responsible will cause reactions to appear within 24 hours.
Treatment of Allergic Contact Dermatitis
Prescription medications are often necessary to control the process. Poison ivy is a classic example of allergic contact Ddrmatitis. For mild cases, topical prescription medications are used to control the process. If the problem is widespread, oral prednisone may be needed.
What Is Perioral Dermatitis?
This type of dermatitis is characterized by a facial rash with raised bumps forming around the mouth. In some cases, a similar rash may appear around the eyes, nose, or forehead. At the Asarch Center, 90% of the cases of the patients with perioral dermatitis that we see and treat are young women.
Causes Of Perioral Dermatitis
Though the exact cause of perioral dermatitis is not known, it can appear following the treatment of topical steroid creams which have been used to treat other skin conditions.
Symptoms of Perioral Dermatitis
In addition to the bumps that appear on the skin, the perioral dermatitis is characterized by an uncomfortable burning sensation around the mouth.
Perioral Dermatitis Treatment
To treat perioral dermatitis, the first suggestion doctors make is to stop using all topical steroid medications and facial creams. Anti-inflammatory oral antibiotics may also be prescribed.
What is Seborrheic Dermatitis?
Seborrheic dermatitis is a common, scaling rash that sometimes itches. Babies generally develop seborrheic dermatitis as cradle cap, while adults develop a rash that is reddish in color, swollen and scaly. One or more of these rashes can appear on the body. Sometimes, the affected skin itches. Dandruff is a common form of seborrheic dermatitis, but this condition can appear anywhere on the skin.
What Causes Seborrheic Dermatitis?
Researchers are still trying to piece together what causes this skin disorder, but they agree that it is not caused by poor personal hygiene, is not an allergy and does not harm the body. Many factors seem to work together to cause seborrheic dermatitis, including the yeast that normally lives on our skin, our genes, our environment, our stress level, and our overall health.
Treatment of Seborrheic Dermatitis
The type of treatment a dermatologist prescribes varies with age and where the seborrheic dermatitis appears on the skin. This condition is not contagious and may respond to medicated shampoos and prescription topical medications which can control the flare-ups. No long-term cure is known at this time. Many adults will have multiple flare-ups during their lifetime, while infant seborrheic dermatitis usually clears up by age 1.
3701 S Clarkson St
2356 Meadows Blvd
255 S Routt Street
© 2020 Asarch Center for Dermatology. All Rights Reserved. Design and Development by Advice Media
Englewood, CO 303-761-7797
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2146
|
__label__cc
| 0.582397
| 0.417603
|
Anatomic Considerations of Anterior Transarticular Screw Fixation for Atlantoaxial Instability
Asian Spine J. 2019;13(6):890-894
Asian Spine JJournal ArchiveAsian Spine J. 2019;13(6)
Publication date (electronic) : 2019 July 17
doi : https://doi.org/10.31616/asj.2019.0006
Sandeep Sonone1, Aditya Anand Dahapute1, Chaitanya Waghchoure1, Nandan Marathe1, Swapnil Anil Keny1, Kritarth Singh2, Rohan Gala1
1Department of Orthopaedics, Seth GS Medical College and KEM Hospital, Mumbai, India
2Department of Pharmacology, Seth GS Medical College and KEM Hospital, Mumbai, India
Corresponding author: Aditya Dahapute Department of Orthopaedics, MSB 6th floor, KEM Hospital, Parel, Mumbai-400 012, Maharashtra, India Tel: +91-8600600446, E-mail: adityadahapute1986@gmail.com
Received 2019 January 11; Revised 2019 February 19; Accepted 2019 April 13.
Cadaveric, observational study.
Atlantoaxial instability (AAI) is characterized by excessive movement at the C1–C2 junction between the atlas and axis. An anterior surgical approach to expose the upper cervical spine for internal fixation and bone grafting has been developed to fix AAI. Currently, no anatomic information exists on the anterior transarticular atlantoaxial screw or screw and plate fixation between C1 and C2 in the Indian population. The objective of this study is to assess the anatomic landmarks of C1–C2 vertebrae: entry point, trajectory, screw length, and safety of the procedure.
Methods outlined by Magerl and Harms are the optimal approaches among the dorsal techniques. Contraindications for these techniques include aberrant location of vertebral arteries, fractures of C1–C2 posterior structures. In these cases, anterior transarticular fixation is an alternative. Several available screw insertion trajectories have been reported. Biomechanical studies have demonstrated that adequate rigidity of this fixation is comparable with posterior fusion techniques.
Direct measurements using Vernier calipers and a goniometer were recorded from 30 embalmed human cadavers. The primary parameters measured were the minimum and maximum lateral and posterior angulations of the screw in the sagittal and coronal planes, respectively, and optimum screw length, if it was placed accurately.
The posterior and lateral angles of screw placement in the coronal and sagittal planes ranged from 16° to 30° (mean±standard deviation [SD], 23.93°±3.93°) and 8° to 17° (mean±SD, 13.3°±2.26°), respectively. The optimum screw length was 25–38 mm (mean±SD, 28.76±3.69 mm).
If the screw was inserted without lateral angulation, the spinal canal or cord could be violated. If a longer screw was inserted with greater posterior angulation, the vertebral artery at the posterior or posterolateral aspect of the C1 superior facet could be violated. Thus, 26° and 30° of lateral and posterior angulations, respectively, are the maximum angles permissible to avoid injury of the vertebral artery and violations of the spinal canal or atlanto-occipital joint.
Keywords: Atlantoaxial instability; Transarticular screw; Cadaveric
Atlantoaxial instability (AAI) is characterized by excessive movement at the junction between the atlas (C1) and axis (C2) as a result of bony or ligamentous abnormality. Various methods for C1–C2 fixation include posterior methods with interlaminar clamps, wiring techniques, transarticular screw placement, and pedicle screw fixation. AAI caused by trauma or congenital malformation usually requires C1/2 arthrodesis. Posterior transarticular screw fixation with wiring techniques or laminar clamps is widely used by surgeons and considered the gold standard for C1/2 fusion [1-3]. However, the complicated structures of atlantoaxial complex deem surgery for this region as high risk. Elgafy et al. [4] have reported that 10%–23% of patients who require atlantoaxial arthrodesis have anatomic variations of the vertebral artery on at least one side and are not suitable for posterior transarticular screw fixation. The rate reported by Lau et al. [5] is approximately 40%.
In 1997, anterior transarticular screw (ATS) fixation for atlantoaxial joint instability was first described by Barbour [6]. In 1998, Lu et al. [7] conducted an anatomic study for ATS fixation. Till 2003, no additional studies had been reported on the topic until Reindl et al. [8] demonstrated the technique using a standard Smith–Robinson approach.
This approach has several advantages over other methods of AAI management. ATS fixations require only a single approach for anterior soft tissue release, decompression, reduction of the C1–C2 vertebrae, and fixation through the same approach along with freshening of the atlantoaxial joint and placement of autologous bone graft, thus avoiding the posterior neck approach. The surgical approach is far less traumatic and exploits a virtual space rather than dissection through a muscle, thereby decreasing the infection rate. However, this approach leaves a more cosmetically acceptable scar remains. The approach also decreases the risk of vertebral artery injury because the starting point is closer to the vertebral artery foramen; therefore, the screw path is easier to control. Additionally, the occipital condyles limit potential migration of a Kirschner wire or placement of a long screw that would otherwise risk injuring the adjacent nervous structures. Finally, in the setting of trauma, positioning of the patient is simpler and is preferred for an unstable cervical spine. This approach is an option in the cases of irreducible atlantoaxial dislocation where anterior release can be combined with anterior fixation, keeping the posterior tension band and muscle attachments of C2 intact.
After an extensive literature research, no anatomic information was found regarding the anterior transarticular atlantoaxial screw or screw and plate fixation between C1 and C2. These anatomic landmarks must be decided so that AAI fixation can be applied successfully in patients. Thus, we conducted a cadaveric study to assess the anatomic landmarks of the C1–C2 vertebrae, the screw entry point, trajectory, and length, and safety of the procedure in cervical spines of the Indian population. This study was conducted to aid in the safe and accurate ATS fixation for AAI.
The study was carried out at Seth G.S. Medical College & K.E.M. Hospital. in 30 human embalmed cadavers. Ethics committee approval was obtained before initiating the study. Since it was a cadaveric study we obtained a consent waiver for this study. The parameters related to anterior transarticular atlantoaxial screw fixation or screw and plate fixation between the C1 lateral mass and C2 vertebral body were recorded using Vernier calipers and a goniometer as direct measurements. The anterior transarticular C1–C2 screw insertion point was at the junction of the lateral edge of the C2 vertebral body to 4 mm above the inferior edge of the C2 anterior arch.
First, the cervical spine was dissected anteriorly by removing the larynx and pharynx up to the longus coli muscles. The course of the vertebral arteries was bilaterally dissected (Fig. 1) in the transverse foramen from the C3 vertebra from below upwards. Next, the distance of the vertebral arteries at the C2 level from the entry point on C2 was measured using Vernier calipers. The entire course of the vertebral arteries was then posteriorly traced upwards over the C1 arch into the foramen magnum. Thereafter, the parameters of the C1–C2 facets were measured as the anteroposterior diameter of the inferior facet of C1 and superior facet of C2 using Vernier calipers. Moreover, the vertical height of the C1 lateral mass was measured.
Disarticulated cadaveric specimen showing the course of the vertebral artery.
A concavity of the anterior cortex of the C2 arch consistently found in all specimens served as an anatomic landmark (4 mm above the inferior edge of the C2 arch at the lateral border of the C2 vertebral body) for the entry point of ATS fixation. Kirschner wires were placed from the entry point using a drill directed laterally and posteriorly toward the C1–C2 facet joints on the same side (Fig. 2). The position and trajectory of the wires were radiologically confirmed (Fig. 3). The corresponding minimum and maximum angulations of the screw path relative to the sagittal and coronal planes were determined. The maximum posterior angulation of screw placement relative to the coronal plane was also determined. The exit point of the wire was then assessed by disarticulating the atlantooccipital joint. To place the transarticular screw, the length of the wire was measured using Vernier calipers.
Cadaveric specimen showing disarticulated C1–C2.
Anteroposterior view of disarticulated C1–C2.
Statistical analysis was performed using Graphpad InStat software (GraphPad Software, San Diego, CA, USA) and the parameter values were represented as means±standard deviation (SD).
The primary parameters measured were the minimum and maximum lateral and posterior angulations of the screw in the sagittal and coronal planes, respectively, and the optimum screw length, if placed accurately. The posterior and lateral angles of screw placement in the coronal and sagittal planes ranged from 16° to 30° (mean±SD, 23.93°±3.93°) and 8° to 17° (mean±SD, 13.3°±2.26°), respectively. The optimum screw length was 25–38 mm (mean±SD, 28.76±3.69 mm).
The secondary parameters measured were related to the anatomy of the C1–C2 vertebrae and vertebral artery. The anteroposterior diameters of the inferior and superior articular facets of the C1 and C2 vertebrae ranged from 16 to 21 mm (mean±SD, 18.41±1.5 mm) and 14 to 21 mm (mean±SD, 18.23±1.74 mm), respectively.
The vertical height of the lateral mass of the C1 vertebra measured at the midpoint of the lateral mass and anterior surface ranged from 17 to 22 mm (mean, 18.67±1.54 mm). The distance of the vertebral artery at the level of the C2 vertebra from the entry point for screw placement ranged from 7 to 10 mm (mean±SD, 9.06±0.91 mm).
Table 1 summarizes the minimum and maximum values of the variables measured using mean±SD values.
Cadaveric variables related to anterior transarticular atlantoaxial screw fixation or screw and plate fixation between the C1 lateral mass and the C2 vertebral body
Various methods of atlantoaxial fusion have been described. Methods outlined by Magerl and Harms are typically regarded as the optimal approaches among the dorsal techniques [9,10]. The incidence of fusion formation among all cases of screw fixation is 93% [11]. Contraindications for these techniques include the aberrant location of vertebral arteries, fractures of C1–C2 posterior structures, and fractures of C1 lateral masses. In these cases, anterior transarticular fixation is an alternative to the Magerl and Harms methods. Several available screw insertion trajectories have been reported to date [8,12,13]. Biomechanical studies have demonstrated that the adequate rigidity of this fixation is comparable with that of posterior fusion techniques [14,15]. No complications associated with the surgical technique have been reported in the literature.
In the current study, we measured minimum and maximum values of the angulation of screw placement relative to the sagittal and coronal planes and lengths of the screw. This cadaveric investigation demonstrated that a screw >28 mm increases the chance of violating the superior surface of the C1 superior facet, possibly leading to transfixation of the atlanto-occipital joint.
Anterior screw placement across the C1–C2 facet joint toward the lateral mass of C1 is invisible to the surgeon. Although a range of angulations of screw placement relative to the sagittal and coronal planes has been provided in the current study, fluoroscopic guidance should be used during surgery to ensure the proper screw trajectory. Therefore, extreme caution should be taken while performing this technique in vivo.
With lateral fluoroscopic monitoring, the drill trajectory was aimed toward the middle- or posterior-third of the C1 superior facet. Trajectories from 8° to 17° laterally and 16° to 30° posteriorly are required in the Indian population for transarticular screw fixation. Therefore, this study showed that if a screw is inserted without lateral angulation, the spinal canal or cord can be violated. If a longer screw is inserted with greater posterior angulation, the vertebral artery situated at the posterior or posterolateral aspect of the C1 superior facet (vertebral artery groove) can be violated; thus, 17° of lateral and 30° of posterior angulations are the maximum angles permissible to avoid injury of the vertebral artery and violations of the spinal canal or atlanto-occipital joint.
If maximum purchase of the screws into the C1 lateral mass is expected, the screws should be inserted as close as possible to the postero-superior edge of the C1 superior facets. The potential for injury to the vertebral artery should be of concern during this surgical procedure. If rigid fixation of the atlantoaxial joint is expected, two screws can be medially and laterally placed.
The distance of the vertebral artery from the entry point laterally at an average of 9 mm is safe and accurate for ATS fixation with further avoidance of the risk of vertebral artery injury by placing the screws in a safe trajectory as achieved in this study.
Using this procedure, iatrogenic injury of the cervical cord caused by even minor flexion of the head and morbidity and mortality associated with posterior surgical approaches may be avoided. Removal of the displaced odontoid process for relief of the ventral compression of the spinal cord, decortication of the articular cartilages between the superior and inferior surfaces of the atlantoaxial joints, and release of the locked atlantoaxial joints can be accomplished simultaneously.
An anterior transarticular atlantoaxial screw 25- to 38-mm long can be inserted with a lateral angulation of 8°–17° relative to the sagittal plane and a posterior angulation of 16°–30° relative to the coronal plane with the least possibility for iatrogenic injury to the vertebral artery and spinal cord. Anterior atlantoaxial transarticular screw fixation provides an alternative method to achieve stabilization and fusion at C1–C2 vertebrae. This method is applicable in cases where posterior atlantoaxial fusion is not achievable due to anatomical characteristics of patients or if a prone position is undesirable due to concomitant diseases or combined injuries.
No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.
Study design and concept: Sandeep Sonone; data collection and data analysis: Aditya Dahapute; review of literature: Chaitanya Waghchoure, Nandan Marathe; editing and proof reading: Nandan Marathe, Rohan Gala; and statistics and data analysis: Swapnil Keny, Kritarth Singh.
1. Dickman CA, Sonntag VK. Posterior C1-C2 transarticular screw fixation for atlantoaxial arthrodesis. Neurosurgery 1998;43:275–80.
2. Fuji T, Oda T, Kato Y, Fujita S, Tanaka M. Accuracy of atlantoaxial transarticular screw insertion. Spine (Phila Pa 1976) 2000;25:1760–4.
3. Weidner A, Wahler M, Chiu ST, Ullrich CG. Modification of C1-C2 transarticular screw fixation by image-guided surgery. Spine (Phila Pa 1976) 2000;25:2668–73.
4. Elgafy H, Potluri T, Goel VK, Foster S, Faizan A, Kulkarni N. Biomechanical analysis comparing three C1-C2 transarticular screw salvaging fixation techniques. Spine (Phila Pa 1976) 2010;35:378–85.
5. Lau SW, Sun LK, Lai R, et al. Study of the anatomical variations of vertebral artery in C2 vertebra with magnetic resonance imaging and its application in the C1-C2 transarticular screw fixation. Spine (Phila Pa 1976) 2010;35:1136–43.
6. Barbour JR. Screw fixation in fracture of the odontoid process. S Aust Clin 1971;5:20.
7. Lu J, Ebraheim NA, Yang H, Heck BE, Yeasting RA. Anatomic considerations of anterior transarticular screw fixation for atlantoaxial instability. Spine (Phila Pa 1976) 1998;23:1229–35.
8. Reindl R, Sen M, Aebi M. Anterior instrumentation for traumatic C1-C2 instability. Spine (Phila Pa 1976) 2003;28:E329–33.
9. Greene KA, Dickman CA, Marciano FF, Drabier JB, Hadley MN, Sonntag VK. Acute axis fractures: analysis of management and outcome in 340 consecutive cases. Spine (Phila Pa 1976) 1997;22:1843–52.
10. Jacobson ME, Khan SN, An HS. C1-C2 posterior fixation: indications, technique, and results. Orthop Clin North Am 2012;43:11–8.
11. Elliott RE, Tanweer O, Boah A, et al. Outcome comparison of atlantoaxial fusion with transarticular screws and screw-rod constructs: meta-analysis and review of literature. J Spinal Disord Tech 2014;27:11–28.
12. Koller H, Kammermeier V, Ulbricht D, et al. Anterior retropharyngeal fixation C1-2 for stabilization of atlantoaxial instabilities: study of feasibility, technical description and preliminary results. Eur Spine J 2006;15:1326–38.
13. Ji W, Zheng M, Tong J, et al. Feasibility and trajectory study of anterior transarticular crossing screw placement for atlantoaxial joint instability: a cadaveric study and description of a novel technique. Eur Spine J 2015;24:2954–60.
14. Sen MK, Steffen T, Beckman L, Tsantrizos A, Reindl R, Aebi M. Atlantoaxial fusion using anterior transarticular screw fixation of C1-C2: technical innovation and biomechanical study. Eur Spine J 2005;14:512–8.
15. Lapsiwala SB, Anderson PA, Oza A, Resnick DK. Biomechanical comparison of four C1 to C2 rigid fixative techniques: anterior transarticular, posterior transarticular, C1 to C2 pedicle, and C1 to C2 intralaminar screws. Neurosurgery 2006;58:516–21.
Copyright © 2019 by Korean Society of Spine Surgery
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Mean±standard deviation
AP diameter of inferior facet of C1 (mm) 21 16 18.41±1.5
AP diameter of superior facet of C2 (mm) 21 14 18.23±1.74
Vertical height of C1 lateral mass (mm) 22 17 18.67±1.54
Distance of vertebral artery from screw entry point (mm) 10 7 9.06±0.91
Length of the screw (mm) 38 25 28.76±3.69
Posterior angle of screw placement in coronal plane (°) 30 16 23.93±3.93
Lateral angle of screw placement in sagittal plane (°) 17 8 13.3±2.26
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2148
|
__label__cc
| 0.524429
| 0.475571
|
2016 in prospect
Saturn transits Scorpio for the whole of 2016, continuing his lessons of transformation, intense focus, sexuality and healing. People with personal planets in the second half of Scorpio will be tested and stretched beyond the point they consider necessary - or even possible! Take heart if you feel singled out, as your experience will have a karmic quality, with heavy dues, but high potential. Saturn has exacting standards and makes us an expert and connoisseur when we step up.
Those with the Moon in (sidereal) Scorpio especially are in peak Sade-Sati, the emotionally maturing period everyone goes through at thirty year intervals. If this is your first Saturn-Moon transit, prepare for a transformation, and you will be a quite different person by the end of the year.
Saturn will also be in Jyeshta nakshatra throughout 2016, a Saturn-ruled asterism which reinforces the message of thoroughness and patience. Jyeshta’s symbol is an umbrella, and the UK in particular is currently absorbing lessons of constructing adequate flood defences. Jyeshta is also associated with Alakshmi, the elder sister of Lakshmi Devi, goddess of prosperity. Alakshmi rules everything opposed to her younger sister: greed, misfortune and arrogance – the pitfalls of become rich. This could be an omen for the supposed economic recovery and learning the mistakes of the last banker-fueled boom period.
In the news, stand by for more revelations of ‘historic sexual abuse’ as Saturn in Scorpio sets the scales right.
The message of boundaries and staying within limits is repeated by Jupiter in Leo aspected by Saturn until August. These two are the planets of boom and bust, stick and twist, which together symbolize slow building and fixing the roof while the sun shines. On the personal level too, they show modesty and a definition of our personal code. Unlimited expansion is not for everyone and we all have to work within boundaries. Jupiter goes retrograde on 8th January, turning from the very end of Leo back into Purva Phalguni nakshatra by mid-Feburary (until May 9th). This nakshatra is ruled by Venus and is associated with pleasure and the arts.
Jupiter moves into Virgo on 12th August, the sign of its enemy Mercury and a generally lower-key affair after the theatrics of Leo. Still, Jupiter escapes the dread gaze of Saturn, which suggests that going quietly about our business serves us better than a grandiose scheme which doesn’t get off the ground. Those with a (sidereal) mutable ascendant: Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces, along with fellow earth rising signs Taurus and Capricorn will do best from Jupiter in Virgo.
There is an inherent conflict for Saturn in a Mars-ruled sign, between prudence and instant results. Mars itself, planet of energy and conflict, stays in Scorpio from February to September: twice its usual duration. It comes together with Saturn in August, and shows a ‘drilling-down’: either exploring a subject in great depth, or actual mining for things underground – gold, oil, natural gas. Along with perennial issue of wars over oil, I expect the controversy over fracking to become ever-more heated.
Mars and Saturn conjoined shows people acting out of fear; with frustration, tension, and get–your-retaliation-in-first. Again, this is politics-with-the-gloves-off. On the plus side these planets show concentrated effort. Mars in his home sign holds sway here, and together with Saturn, planet of work and discipline, brings potential for focused, forensic energy into a long-overdue task. A diet, fitness or rehabilitation programme could go extremely well: give yourself a deadline and just go for it.
Mercury will be retrograde from 6th to 25th January, so everyone will be reviewing the past year and thinking about 2016 their resolutions/sankalpa. This three-week window will let you decide how serious your gym subscription and plans for daily yoga really are.
Other Mercury retro periods are 28th April – 22nd May and 30th August – 22nd September. (Pedants and paranoiacs might want to look at the Mercury shadow and mirror phases too!)
In addition to Jupiter retrograde, 9th January brings another major movement. The Moon’s nodes, Rahu and Ketu, enter Leo-Aquarius for the next 18 months, showing the axis around which 2016’s solar and lunar eclipses will revolve.
2016 Eclipses:
March 9th 01:35am Solar 24° Aquarius Purva Bhadrapada
March 23rd 11:42am Lunar 8° Virgo Uttara Phalguni
September 1st 08:44am Solar 14° Leo Purva Phalguni
September 16th 18:46pm Lunar 29° Aquarius Purva Bhadrapada
Eclipses are stress-points that show restlessness, sudden change, anxiety and inspiration, and they centre around something in our lives getting eclipsed. Our attachment might be personal, material or emotional, but the eclipse shows a transition when we no longer need a particular form of security - whether or not we actually realize it. Eclipses also dramatize everything, and the rule of thumb is not to make a major decision until at least three days after the event. Vedic astrology considers eclipses to be inauspicious for most material purposes, certainly for a new enterprise, though outstanding spiritually. Chanting and meditation during the eclipse is said to have many times its usual power.
The lunar eclipse on March 9th falls exactly opposite Jupiter, with a close aspect of Saturn. This is a time of impulsiveness when there will be a clamour for instant action.
In January, Rahu in Leo joins Jupiter exactly at 29 degrees of this sign, a rare event. Together these two planets embody opposing values: Jupiter is the Guru symbolizing spiritual knowledge, truth and right action, whereas Rahu is all desire, materialism and dirty politics. Jupiter plays by the rules – creates them – while Rahu rebels and cuts corners. A potted definition of this pair in a natal chart (Guru-Chandala Yoga), shows either a very spiritual person who struggles financially, or a very rich person with major soul lessons to learn.
United Kingdom unification chart. 1st Jan 1801, 00 hrs, London.
The UK’s national horoscope, in fact, has this Rahu-Jupiter configuration (mutual aspect) and is a notably secular country with a history of expedient political deals and alliances. It bills itself as a beacon of justice and fairness, but Britain never loses an opportunity to act in its own self-interest, often ruthlessly. Jupiter-Rahu is canny and calculating, and the UK made an Empire through creativity, commercial enterprise, divide-and-rule politics and sheer greed. What is more, the country is in a Rahu-Jupiter period throughout 2016, which should see greater prosperity, particularly from mid-May to mid-September, but also manoeuvring and double-standards. No change there!
Crucially, the United States will also be in a Rahu period through 2016. It has come out of its seven-year Mars phase and so should be less bellicose abroad, though everything is relative. With the Presidential election at the end of the year, America will be looking for something different. Rahu’s material influence sees vulgar populism having its appeal after the cool detachment of the Obama years. Still, Rahu rules outsiders and there is nothing more left-field than a socialist running for public office in the USA.
Rahu-Jupiter aspected by Saturn, planet of mining, shows Mammon worship, of gold in particular, and extra-particularly black gold: oil. There will be media manipulation, false flags, greed, hypocrisy; in short, the whole Machiavellian trick-bag that passes for modern political wisdom. Surely too, there will be a clash of personal faiths and philosophies and religion, or this will be used as a cover. There may be a genuine attempt at understanding and mutual respect, or – more likely – the use of a particular belief to justify a pre-emptive strike or power-grab. This intense period lasts until August 12th when Jupiter moves out of Leo.
From a Western astrology standpoint, the series of seven Uranus-Pluto squares 2012-15 is over. This period saw a clash between radical, guerrilla-type initiatives versus corporate hierarchies and national power; the little guy versus the state. Broadband-era social media in particular made it increasingly hard for governments to keep the lid on secrets and to manipulate the news.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2150
|
__label__wiki
| 0.732979
| 0.732979
|
Wraith Kings, Book 2
By: Grace Draven
Narrated by: Gabrielle Baker
Series: Wraith Kings, Book 2
Wraith Kings, Volume 1
Brishen Khaskem, prince of the Kai, has lived content as the nonessential spare heir to a throne secured many times over. A trade and political alliance between the human kingdom of Gaur and the Kai kingdom of Bast-Haradis requires that he marry a Gauri woman to seal the treaty. Always a dutiful son, Brishen agrees to the marriage and discovers his bride is as ugly as he expected and more beautiful than he could have imagined.
By Metaltoe on 07-05-16
Phoenix Unbound
The Fallen Empire Series, Book 1
Narrated by: Katharine Lee McEwan
Every year, each village is required to send a young woman to the Empire's capital - her fate to be burned alive for the entertainment of the masses. For the last five years, one small village's tithe has been the same woman. Gilene's sacrifice protects all the other young women of her village, and her secret to staying alive lies with the magic only she possesses. But this year is different. Azarion, the Empire's most famous gladiator, has somehow seen through her illusion - and is set on blackmailing Gilene into using her abilities to help him escape his life of slavery.
I found it boring and unneccessarily graphic.
By Aarin on 17-08-19
Master of Crows
Narrated by: Jay Britton
In an isolated fortress, the Master of Crows battles an ancient god for possession of his soul. Renegade and heretic, he dreams of ways to defeat the god and destroy the priesthood who would execute him. Sent by her masters to betray him, a woman comes who possesses a weapon he can use to triumph over both, but only with the ultimate sacrifice. A tale of love and allegiance.
A wonderful story, beautifully told.
By Gabrielle baker on 26-09-16
The Cruel Prince
The Folk of the Air, Book 1
By: Holly Black
Narrated by: Caitlin Kelly
Of course I want to be like them. They're beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever. And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe. One terrible morning, Jude and her sisters see their parents murdered in front of them. The terrifying assassin abducts all three girls to the world of Faerie, where Jude is installed in the royal court but mocked and tormented by the Faerie royalty for being mortal.
A must read!
By Vicky Hemingway on 21-01-18
Entreat Me
Narrated by: Stacey Holmes
Afflicted by a centuries-old curse, a warlord slowly surrenders his humanity and descends toward madness. Ballard of Ketach Tor holds no hope of escaping his fate until his son returns home one day, accompanied by a woman of incomparable beauty. His family believes her arrival may herald Ballard’s salvation...until they confront her elder sister.
Fantastic story and narration
By Kindling Micky on 18-12-19
The Four Horsemen, Book 1
By: Laura Thalassa
Narrated by: Susannah Jones
When Pestilence comes for Sara Burn’s town, one thing is certain: everyone she knows and loves is marked for death. Unless, of course, the angelic-looking horseman is stopped, which is exactly what Sara has in mind when she shoots the unholy beast off his steed. Too bad no one told her Pestilence can’t be killed. Now the horseman, very much alive and very pissed off, has taken her prisoner, and he’s eager to make her suffer. Only, the longer she’s with him, the more uncertain she is about his true feelings towards her, and hers towards him. And now, well, Sara might still be able to save the world, but in order to do so, she'll have to sacrifice her heart in the process.
Enjoyed.
By Enellyia on 07-10-18
Serpent & Dove
By: Shelby Mahurin
Narrated by: Holter Graham, Saskia Maarleveld
Two years ago, Louise le Blanc fled her coven and took shelter in the city of Cesarine, forsaking all magic and living off whatever she could steal. There, witches like Lou are hunted. They are feared. And they are burned. As a huntsman of the Church, Reid Diggory has lived his life by one principle: Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. But when Lou pulls a wicked stunt, the two are forced into an impossible situation - marriage. Lou, unable to ignore her growing feelings, yet powerless to change what she is, must make a choice. And love makes fools of us all.
What a book!
By Zara Anderson on 19-01-20
Rhapsodic
The Bargainer, Book 1
Callypso Lillis is a siren with a very big problem, one that stretches up her arm and far into her past. For the last seven years she's been collecting a bracelet of black beads up her wrist, magical IOUs for favors she's received. Only death or repayment will fulfill the obligations. Only then will the beads disappear. Everyone knows that if you need a favor, you go to the Bargainer to make it happen. He's a man who can get you anything you want...at a price. And everyone knows that sooner or later he always collects. But for one client, he's never asked for repayment. Not until now.
By Jessica Wolfe on 30-11-17
In the Unlikely Event
By: L.J. Shen
Narrated by: Joe Arden, Shane East, Muffy Newtown, and others
Sometimes you meet people who are out of this world, so you make them a part of yours. A one-night stand born from vengeance in a foreign land. An explosive chemistry neither of us could deny. We signed a contract on the back of a Boar’s Head Pub napkin that said if we ever met again, we would drop everything and be together. Eight years and thousands of miles later, he’s here. In New York. And he’s America’s music obsession.
Favourite of L.J. Shen
By Ellesbells on 06-01-20
Crossbreed Series, Book 1
By: Dannika Dark
Narrated by: Nicole Poole
When the road forks, how do you know which path is the right one? Raven Black hunts evildoers for fun, but her vigilante justice isn't the only reason she's hiding from the law. Half vampire, half mage, she's spent years living as a rogue to stay alive. When a Russian shifter offers her a job in his covert organization hunting outlaws, dignity and a respectable career are finally within her grasp.
By I OFarrell on 11-02-17
The Beginning of Everything
The Rising, Book 1
By: Kristen Ashley
Narrated by: Liz Thompson, Dina Pearlman, Stella Bloom, and others
Once upon a time, in a parallel universe, there existed the continent of Triton. The land was filled with beauty, but it was also splintered by war. Out of the chaos grew a conspiracy to reawaken the Beast, a fearsome creature who wrought only tragedy and devastation. The only way to stop him was to fulfill an ancient prophecy: Triton’s four strongest warriors must wed its four most powerful witches, binding all nations together and finally bringing peace to the land.
Gruesome in parts, echoes of Free and Honey series
By Lizziebe on 27-11-19
No Man Can Tame
Dark-Elves of Nightbloom Series, Book 1
By: Miranda Honfleur
Narrated by: Dara Rosenberg
After a failed courtship in an ally kingdom, 21-year-old Princess Alessandra returns home to a land torn apart by mutual hatred between the humans and the dark-elves. The "Beast Princess", as Aless is known by courtiers, confidently sets her mind to ways of making peace, but her father has already decided for her: She is to marry one of the mysterious and monstrous dark-elves to forge a treaty. While she intends to preserve the peace, the Beast Princess has plans of her own.
Kill the Queen
Crown of Shards Series, Book 1
By: Jennifer Estep
Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang
In a realm where one’s magical power determines one’s worth, Lady Everleigh’s lack of obvious ability relegates her to the shadows of the royal court of Bellona, a kingdom steeped in gladiator tradition. Seventeenth in line for the throne, Evie is nothing more than a ceremonial fixture, overlooked and mostly forgotten. But dark forces are at work inside the palace. When her cousin Vasilia, the crown princess, assassinates her mother the queen and takes the throne by force, Evie is also attacked, along with the rest of the royal family.
glad I stuck to it
By Kapaxiana on 27-01-19
Frostblood
The Frostblood Saga, Book One
By: Elly Blake
Narrated by: Jennifer English
Enter a world where fire and ice are mortal enemies.... Ruby is a Fireblood. In a land ruled by frost, her very existence is a crime. She's spent her whole life in hiding. Until the day Frostblood soldiers raid her village and kill her mother. The day she swears to avenge her people. She must travel deep into the heart of the enemy, to the court of the Frost King, with only the mysterious warrior Arcus - a Frostblood rebel - by her side. But with alliances between flame and ice strictly forbidden, is Arcus friend or foe?
Great fantasy story
By E Sawyer on 13-03-17
A Court of Thorns and Roses
By: Sarah J. Maas
Narrated by: Jennifer Ikeda
When Feyre kills a wolf, a beastlike creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a magical land Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal. As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient shadow is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it....
Wonderful!!!
By Bibliophile on 21-02-18
Sorcery of Thorns
By: Margaret Rogerson
Narrated by: Emily Ellet
All sorcerers are evil. Elisabeth has known that as long as she has known anything. Raised as a foundling in one of Austermeer’s Great Libraries, Elisabeth has grown up among the tools of sorcery - magical grimoires that whisper on shelves and rattle beneath iron chains. If provoked, they transform into grotesque monsters of ink and leather. She hopes to become a warden, charged with protecting the kingdom from their power.
Enchanting and hilarious
By Crumble on 09-06-19
The Queen's Wing
The Queen's Wing Series, Book 1
By: Jessica Thorne
Narrated by: Heather Costa
Bel, born to nobility, would do anything to spend her days alongside her brothers - soaring through the heavens in her beloved flyer. She’s faster than any of them, but she knows her days in the skies are numbered. When a surprise attack on the palace lands Bel’s father on the throne, her life is forever changed. In order to secure her father’s empire, Bel must travel to a distant land to marry Conleith, the recently widowed young ruler.
By Penelope Winterbottom on 09-12-18
Angels' Blood
The Guild Hunter Series, Book 1
By: Nalini Singh
Narrated by: Justine Eyre
Vampire hunter Elena Deveraux knows she's the best - but she doesn't know if she's good enough for this job. Hired by the dangerously beautiful Archangel Raphael, a being so lethal that no mortal wants his attention, only one thing is clear - failure is not an option... even if the task she's been set is impossible. Because this time, it's not a wayward vamp she has to track. It's an archangel gone bad. The job will put Elena in the midst of a killing spree like no other, and pull her to the razor's edge of passion.
Must read/ listen
By Dr on 30-11-14
Eidolon is the sequel to Radiance and book two in the Wraith Kings series.
In a bid for more power, the Shadow Queen of Haradis unleashes a malignant force into the world. Her son Brishen, younger prince of the Kai royal house, suddenly finds himself ruler of a kingdom blighted by a diseased darkness. His human wife Ildiko must decide if she will give up the man she loves in order to save his throne. Three kingdoms on the verge of war must unite to save each other, and a one-eyed, reluctant king will raise an army of the dead to challenge an army of the damned. A tale of alliance and sacrifice.
©2015, 2016 Denise Shaw (P)2016 Denise Shaw
Curse of the Poppy
Penelope Winterbottom
This story had soo much potential but lacked detail and there was holes in the story, first book much better .. I was hoping for an epic story but felt frustrated and lost interest.. I couldn’t get into the story partly due to the narrator .. quite wooden at times and lacked emotion at pivotal parts .. the book needed someone like Elizabeth Evans/Lauren Fortgang or heather Wilde’s then maybe it would be something more .. I don’t like leaving negative feedback as so much work goes into novels but i felt frustrated. Sorry
Annie A
Amazing....
What a super second book just didn’t want it to end. Absolutely love GD’s writing 👏
I don’t usually write reviews but Ioved these stories. The story line was brilliant as was the narrator. I wish there could be another book in the series as there seem to be other stories to be told
DOES LOVE ALWAYS TRIUMPH?
It's out of character for me to choose a sweet love story since they tend to be cookie-cutter so I generally stay away. I prefer dark, gritty, suspense, action, fun and sex. I chose this series because of the human+alien+ugly factor. It drew me in from the beginning and turned out to be so much more.
This book picks up exactly where Radiance left off.
In the Shadow Queens greed for power she dabbles in black magic. In doing so she unleashes a horror over the kingdom.
Meanwhile Brishen and Ildiko have fallen deeply in love, and adore each other. When word travels to them about the horror of his parents kingdom...Brishen has to take the King's throne. Because Ildiko is human they are told she can not be Queen. The King is supposed to produce heirs and humans and Kai cannot conceive. This obviously causes angst between Brishen and Ildiko.
In addition to Brishen and Ildiko's troubles the horror unleashed on Brishen's parents kingdom also threatens neighboring kingdoms. The Kings form an alliance to deal with the horror.
I'm about to say something about a series I've never said before: I fell in love with Brishen and Ildiko. You can feel their love for each other. I'm looking forward to the continuation of their story.
Between Grace Draven's writing and Gabrielle Baker's performance you will also fall in love with Brishen and Ildiko.
Absolutely worth a credit/$$.
Love It ~ Awesome Sequel!
I'll admit, I've stalked Audible everyday for over a month after learning the sequel to Radiance was coming to audio. The day Eidolon hit Audible, I downloaded it, and the story was every bit as good as book one! If you have not listened to Radiance, I highly recommend starting there!
I loved Brishen and Ildiko from book one, and while book one was "their" falling in love story, book two picks up nicely on their relationship, but has more of a fantasy feel. An evil force has come to destroy everything in it's path, and Brishen will have to make hard decisions, unite kings, raise an army, and rob his people if he is to have any hopes of banishing these evil forces. While Brishen prepares for the ultimate battle, Ildiko faces hard decisions as well; does she stay with the man she loves or let him go so he can find a suitable queen to take her place among his people. Their relationship will face many trials, but neither of them are willing to let go. The banter between Brisen and Ildiko was sweet and funny.
Gabrielle Baker's performance was fantastic! She narrates the story with such grace. However, it would be awesome, and add more depth to the romance, if future stories were narrated from a m/f dual narrating team. But regardless if it's one or two narrators, as long as Gabrielle Baker is one of the narrators, I'm on board for the rest of the series audio.
I loved Eidolon! It's full adventure, action, love, and loss. Grace Draven did an amazing job with the world building, and character development. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series. Well worth the credit and time!
Great, but the first part of the series was better
I greatly enjoyed revisiting these characters. Eidolan made for an entertaining story. It is more dramatic and suspenseful than its predecessor. While still a good story, the shift away from romance made its less enjoyable than the first for me.
Better than expected!
Many mixed reviews. In short, if you liked the first one you'll like this one. Great sequel. The only reason I didn't do 5 starts is I missed having flash back moments in this book (as done in 1st) and I would have liked more info on what became of certain characters (no there's no crazy cliff hangers and yes there's enough left open for new novel).
An epic, moving, and thrilling tale
I adored the book when I read it, but listening to Grace Draven's incandescent words uttered by marvelous narrator Gabrielle Baker lifted it to an entirely new level. The tail is epic, fierce and fraught with danger, yet the true heart and soul of Eidolon is the deep vein of abiding love between Kai prince Brishen and his beloved human princess, Ildiko. A novel that remains with the listener long after the last syllable is spoken.
this book was utterly wounderful! I am forever a Grace draven fan. this book combined with the first in the series are ones I often listen to. even those who don't generally care for fantasy books will fall in love with these characters and their world.
grace Draven has a way with writing great fantasy novels. She is a thorough writer and totally sucks you into the khi world
solid writing that is narrated to perfection.
solid writing that is narrated to perfection. One of my favorite authors narrated by one of my favorite narrators.
OMG I LOVED IT!!!!!
Where does Eidolon rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
I've listened to hundreds of books and this book tops them all so much so that this is my first time writing a review I was that impressed.
The building on this love story was gradual but not so slow that you lose interest in the story line. The friendship that turned into love made it feel so real
What does Gabrielle Baker bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Raw emotion pure and simple.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
I loved the humor between the two lovers so at time I found myself laughing.
Please tell me there will be a third book that focus on the lost King ( the monk) and a love story between Serovek and Anhuset.
Wonderful world building, and an excellent narrato
Book 2 in the wraith king saga was worth the wait. Grace write faster please.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2154
|
__label__wiki
| 0.631863
| 0.631863
|
HomeMarketing - Industry Mitel-Avaya Merger | Why the Two Will Go Hand in Hand
Mitel-Avaya Merger | Why the Two Will Go Hand in Hand
May 21, 2019 By Tony Parish No comments yet
Two of telecommunications’ biggest names are on the verge of a colossal merger, according to the Wall Street Journal. Reports at the end of April suggest that Mitel are in talks with Avaya, offering between $2.2 to 2.4 billion for the rival company.
In doing so, they would bring together the resources, capabilities and global reach of two powerful brands. Most importantly, the merger has a range of potential benefits for both partners and customers.
Complementary strengths
While some will say that they offer very similar products, I believe that Mitel and Avaya products are complementary on many levels. Avaya is the world’s largest pure-play company for collaboration and contact centre solutions. They’re industry leaders, known for solid products in their two specialist areas.
On the flipside, Mitel has diversified its offering over the past few decades. Alongside platforms and applications for UC and CC, they have built up a strong portfolio in hosted solutions. Coming together, Avaya would benefit from Mitel’s success in cloud communications solutions/flexibility, while Mitel could take on-board industry-leading technology.
This complementary nature extends to their customer bases, with Avaya attracting enterprise-level customers while Mitel typically works with SMEs. That opens up some huge opportunities moving forward. I think Mitel’s success in cloud technology could prove very fruitful as part of a joint venture in the enterprise space, for instance.
Competing with the big boys
Of course, merging the two companies also means combining their installed bases. What were previously two competing vendors would become one combined super-power with a market-leading share in regions across the world. In doing so, Mitel-Avaya would create dangerous competition for the likes of Cisco and Microsoft.
By merging their amazing technology together, they can also create brilliant solutions for the future of communications. Based on their latest product releases, I believe that both vendors have what it takes to thrive in the digitalization of companies. But together they could develop faster, better solutions. This will definitely pose a challenge to Cisco and Microsoft. All this will translate into an even more dynamic and faster evolution of AI, big data, customer experience and collaboration.
Needless to say, this would be a big win for channel partners.
A more dynamic offering and better coverage in all regions will give Avaya and Mitel partners more appeal for new clients, versus the big-name competition. With Mitel being channel-centric, a merger might get the best of the two channel programs, empowering partners even more and creating more solid competition to other players.
Better results for customers
Most importantly, current Avaya and Mitel customers will benefit from more flexibility should a merger take place. Large enterprises can combine robust Avaya products with Mitel technology in-branch, while all customers will benefit from more versatile cloud offerings.
Already in 2019, we’ve seen Avaya shifting to focus on the next generation of contact centre technology. In April, Standard Chartered announced plans to replace 18 on-premises contact centres with four cloud-based centres using Avaya’s OneCloud private cloud. By coming together, Avaya and Mitel will be better equipped to take on more of these digital transformation projects.
With partners adapting to offer both Mitel and Avaya, customers can get best-of-breed across the board. At Aura Alliance, we have numerous strategic partners that offer both Avaya and Mitel, assisting in seamless deployment and support for either technology – or both.
We have a great relationship with Mitel – and we look forward to the possibility of a joint collaboration in the future.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2155
|
__label__wiki
| 0.850196
| 0.850196
|
Biplane Houses by Les Murray & Collected Poems by Les Murray
Reviewed by Lisa Gorton •
June-July 2006, no. 282
Biplane Houses
by Les Murray
Black Inc., $24.95 pb, 93 pp, 1863952144
Black Inc., $45 pb, 577 pp, 1863952225
Perhaps only John Shaw Neilson and Judith Wright have brought an equal sense of place to Australian poetry: the sense of place as a fact of consciousness with geographic truth. But in his latest collection, Biplane Houses, Les Murray considers more airy habitations – flights, cliff roads and weather – and the collection has a matching airiness that is only sometimes lightness. Take his sequence, ‘Nostril Songs’, a set of poems about smells and their messages: playful, fluid with small shocks of precision. It is the longest sequence in this collection. That is to say, Biplane Houses has no sequence with the weight of Murray’s 1972 sequence, ‘Walking to the Cattle Place’ or ‘The Idyll Wheel: Cycle of a Year at Bunyah, New South Wales, April 1986–April 1987’; nothing with the reach of his 1992 sequence, ‘Presence: Translations from the Natural World’. All the same, there are poems here to equal any he has written. ‘The Welter’, for instance, which begins:
How deep is the weatherfront of time
that advances, roaring and calm
unendingly between was and will be?
A millisecond? A few hours? All secular life
worldwide, all consequences of past life
travel in it. It’s weird to move ahead of ¼
Here that word ‘weird’ helps define the character of this collection: its light touch and quizzical kind of seriousness; its sprezzatura.
It is an airiness to equal the idea of air in this collection: crowded with smells and weather and all that endures, like the past, out of reach or out of ken but, in effect, momentous:
Tropopause, stratopause, Van Allen –
high floors of the world tower
which spores and points of charge
too minute to age climb off the planet.
‘Airscapes’
Lisa Gorton
Les Murray
Lisa Gorton, who lives in Melbourne, is a poet, novelist, and critic, and a former Poetry Editor of ABR. She studied at the Universities of Melbourne and Oxford. A Rhodes Scholar, she completed a Masters in Renaissance Literature and a Doctorate on John Donne at Oxford University, and was awarded the John Donne Society Award for Distinguished Publication in Donne Studies. Her first poetry collection, Press Release (2007), won the Victorian Premier’s Prize for Poetry. She has also been awarded the Vincent Buckley Poetry Prize. A second poetry collection followed in 2013: Hotel Hyperion (also Giramondo). Lisa has also written a children’s novel, Cloudland (2008). Her novel The Life of Houses (2015) shared the 2016 Prime Minister’s Award for fiction. She is the editor of The Best Australian Poems 2013 (Black Inc.).
See You at the Toxteth by Peter Corris, selected by Jean Bedford & The Red Hand by Peter Temple
Reviewed by Chris Flynn
The Europeans: Three lives and the making of a cosmopolitan culture by Orlando Figes
Reviewed by Michael Shmith
Heide by Π.O.
Reviewed by James Jiang
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2157
|
__label__cc
| 0.69463
| 0.30537
|
About Dan Pimentel
#Oshbash 2019
Sometimes serious. Sometimes humorous. Always unpredictable.
By Dan Pimentel - Topics include coverage of general and business aviation, the airlines, life, health and happiness, EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, and the generous community of aviators called #Avgeeks...they are my aviation family.
I am currently available for magazine and corporate writing assignments - Email me here.
The Epicenter of General Aviation – as Seen From Space
Google Earth's satellite images of the crust of our planet are a marvel of modern technology. I am forever amazed at how detailed they have become, and that makes me wonder what even more precise detail our country's spy satellites can achieve.
Despite the many uses for Google satellite images in our daily lives, one weakness in their system was the often stale nature of the images. We the viewer were always at the mercy of Google's satellite orbital schedule, and since this planet is a fairly large target, sometimes an image stays on their system for a very long time.
So it is very good news that somehow, the current Google Earth satellite image of Wittman Regional Airport (KOSH) was taken on opening day of AirVenture Oshkosh last summer on July 25 according to EAA.
When you take a zoomed-in look at the Oshkosh show grounds in these Google images, it is easy to spot favorite locations on the field. Of interest to me were two spots, one was the parking spot of Cory Robin's “Wilgabeast” out in the North 40:
From space, Cory's 1984 PZL 104 Wilga 35A looks much like any other high wing airplane parked in the endless rows of parking that parallel's KOSH's runway 9/27. But the way Cory brought us all along for the ride as he journeyed to and from Wisconsin is notable. He tweeted and posted on Facebook about going “Low and Slow to Oshkosh” and it was a really interesting look at a very interesting flying machine. Once there, Robin personally impressed me when he donated two dozen posters of Amanda Franklin to my magazine's Tweeplechase event. He had purchased the posters as a fund raiser for the Franklin Flying Circus, and by donating them to Airplanista Magazine, he leveraged that purchase to do as much good as possible. BTW, the “Wilgabeast” as it is affectionately called, has undergone a complete off-season engine replacement, adding another 100hp, and will have a new paint scheme and super groovy new nose art designed by a Brussels artist when we see it again this summer at Oshkosh 2012.
Also of note was a look at the opposite end of the show, down in Camp Scholler:
When you look at the screen grab posted in Twitter by @Eyeno of Camp Bacon, you see all that makes a trip to Oshkosh so special. The red vehicle at the top of the inset above is the Chevrolet HHR owned by Martt Klupper, a.k.a @AirPigz, and the large RV to the bottom of the inset is Mike Miley's @HomeSweetRoad, a.k.a. the mobile home of the MyTransponder digital universe during AirVenture. The RV to the right was the OSH temporary home of @Adamcanfly and @PilotStu. This collection of tents, beer, bacon, camaraderie and aviators demonstrates the social nature of this event. Throughout the show, people come and go at Camp Bacon, telling stories and enjoying the company of many like minds. Camp Baconites lean heavily on the geek end of the aviator spectrum, all are on Twitter all day every day, and the camp is ground zero for meet-ups between new friends and those who are eating the bacon (drinking the Kool-aid?) for the first time. Oh, and all that bacon? It's a Martt thing, 'nuf said.
While the two tiny insets I have added above give you a glimpse into just two stories that were running concurrently at #OSH11, the enormity of the entire show grounds multiplies those stories many thousands of times. If you have been lucky enough to get to the “World's Largest Aviation Celebration” and have walked all day every day, now that you see the show as a whole, you know why your feet and legs ached when you finally stopped for the night.
Every speck of this satellite image has a back story, a tale of aviators who waited all year to load up the Cessna and plow across the square states towards the biggest hangar party ever created. If you have never been to AirVenture, go here and zoom around a bit, and try to imagine being down there on the ground, immersed in all that aviation goodness.
Many of you will be already planning your #OSH12 trip, but I do not think I will be in your camp this summer. I have a massive European trip planned about the same time, and taking time off work for both Oshkosh AND Vienna will be impossible. So I think I'll be skipping this year's version of the Oshbash, which is a bummer but it'll give me many more months to prep for a grand re-appearance at #OSH13.
Dan Pimentel
Editor@airplanista.com
Tweets by @Av8rdan
TOP RANKED BLOG
A Rare Opportunity for an Up Close Look at the F-2...
The Epicenter of General Aviation – as Seen From S...
Hidden Treasures in Your Own Backyard
Schappert's New FAR/AIM Book Is a Very Good Idea
Looking Back on Four Years of Aircraft Ownership
Steam Gauge Studies
Join Santa’s Flight Crew by making a donationto su...
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2159
|
__label__wiki
| 0.506952
| 0.506952
|
Issue 27 – Bell UH-1 Iroquois
Published on 3rd October 2016 6th February 2018 by
The success of the Bell Huey family is an astounding achievement in rotary winged design; some of the first helicopters built in the 1960s are still in regular use today.
Firstly, I have to apologise to the readers who were expecting the Huey to be the subject of the last issue, I am afraid I broke my left arm rather badly in an accident so was unable to complete the work in time. I would like to offer my thanks to Dan Sharp who filled in with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 issue so well, and to surgeon Nick Gillham who made such an excellent job of putting me back together again. I would also like to thank my physiotherapist, Harriet, for her patience!
To the subject of this issue, and what a subject it is. The story of Larry Bell and the company he built is one of the inspiring tales of aviation history, a man driven to work at the cutting edge of technology and the incredible machines he created. His support of Arthur Young in 1941 was to kick-start the development of rotary winged flight.
Helicopters today have become a common part of daily life in most cities, many different models filling the skies as they ply their trade for the police and ambulance services as well as the business and TV community among others. Among all of these varied machines, only a few helicopters have become part of the public consciousness, instantly recognisable wherever they appear.
The Huey and its variants first came to public attention in the news coverage of the Vietnam War, reinforced in modern culture through film and television shows, as well as through regular appearances saving lives or dousing fires on the news. The memorable scenes from movies such as Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now and Randall Wallace’s We Were Soldiers are only part of the cultural popularity of the type, the physical appearance of the aircraft and its unmistakeable sounds are just as responsible for its iconic status.
The Huey sounds like no other helicopter, the early big twin bladed rotor making a deep repetitive thud over a high pitched turbine howl, the tail rotor interfering with its own beat as the aspect of the aircraft to the listener changes. The twin rotor gave way to the four bladed version it is true, but somehow the beat remains, albeit somewhat less basso profundo with a slightly faster tempo.
As to appearance, from the earliest incarnations the Huey had a ‘face’, a cheerful look and if anything this has increased in the most recent models. Aside from this slight anthropomorphisation, a very human trait with machines, the Huey has always looked solid, dependable. It inspires confidence just in the way it sits on the ground, let alone flies.
The engineering behind the aircraft is also responsible for its longevity in two most important respects. Firstly, the central pillar and twin spar structure enabled the Huey to be stretched like no other helicopter, resulting in a flexible range of models to suit widely varying customer needs. It also made the Huey incredibly strong and easy to work on, resulting in a long lived and very cost effective airframe, maintenance costs being low from the start.
Couple this with the powerful, light and fuel efficient T53 turbine engine and you have the first truly capable transport helicopter. Altogether, these traits have made the Huey popular with the public, operators and pilots, and have further translated so no museum seems complete without at least one of the helicopters in its collection.
On a personal note, I have been lucky enough to both fly and fly in a UH-1H and the later 412 versions of the aircraft and can tell you this, even a non-helicopter pilot such as myself found the Huey straightforward to understand and to operate. Not terribly accurately in my case it must be said, but that was my fault not the Huey’s!
Having also been used as a rescue dummy by both SARTU and 84 Squadron in Cyprus, I can honestly say there is no helicopter I would rather be hanging underneath, as I said, the reputation for reliability just inspires confidence. With the latest version, the UH-1Y, giving excellent account of itself already in operations in the harsh climate of Afghanistan, the Huey is destined to be with us for many years to come and is likely to be the first helicopter to join the 100 club of aircraft with a century of service behind them.I would like to express my thanks to Dana Schenk and the team at Bell Helicopter, and my congratulations to them on continuing to build a living legend.
Extraordinary utility
Bell – Innovation in design
Civil counterparts
Oddities and one offs
The longbodies
South American success
The UH-1N, 212 and 214
Four bladed success
Unlicensed and licensed
British Hueys
A helicopter for the world
Super Huey
Inside the Huey
Issue 23 – F/A-18A/B/C and D Hornet
Issue 15 – Hurricane
Issue 24 – Avro Shackleton
Previous Previous post: Issue 26 – Focke-Wulf Fw 190
Next Next post: Issue 28 – Aero L-39 Albatros
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2160
|
__label__cc
| 0.644012
| 0.355988
|
BenQ's Commercial Digital Signage Lines
By AVNetwork Staff (AVTechnology) 2014-11-06T14:30:00Z
BenQ America Corp. announced that it is now shipping its series of digital signage solutions. Consisting of three main product lines, the D Series dual-side, BH Series bar-type, and TL Series transparent display models are commercial installations looking to increase the impact of their advertising efforts and public information points. Allowing the flexibility to place screen-based content in narrow spaces, deliver highly interactive user experiences, and provide front-and-back imaging capabilities, the ten new panels are screens that use brightness, installation flexibility, and high image quality for any retail or public space.
"Public spaces are in need of solutions that can engage, inform, and entertain viewers in order to break away from today's crowded multimedia surroundings," said Bob Wudeck, Associate Vice President, Strategy and Business Development at BenQ America Corp. "By putting research and development at the center of our innovation process, we've developed a family of digital signage products that use interactivity, aesthetics, and new display possibilities to genuinely capture the attention of viewers. The results are new interactive experiences that can effectively deliver high quality content in any setting."
BenQ's series of dual-sided signage panels include four 55-inch displays (DH550C, DL550C, DH550F, and DL550F) that combine reliability, an aero-thin design, and the ability to provide engaging content from both sides of the panel. Providing both horizontal and vertical installation options, the solutions can be mounted to walls and ceilings in both indoor and outdoor settings, making the series ideal for a wide range of locations including airports, train stations, transportation hubs, and retail stores — replacing traditional light-box advertisements with engaging electronic information displays. Featuring brightness levels between 450 and 700 nits, the lightweight displays, which measure less than 25 mm thick, make the product family a flexible advertising solution that remains both aesthetically attractive and easy to install.
BenQ's 28-inch BH280 and 38-inch BH380 bar-type displays feature a sleek and slim design to deliver content in any setting such as buses and subway cars, restaurants, government offices, post office counters, banks, convenience stores, or exhibition spaces. Featuring an ultra-bright 700 nits (BH280) or 800 nits (BH380), an average life of 50,000 hours, and a Smart Light function that allows viewing even in environments with ambient light, the duo becomes a reliable choice for any of today's portrait or landscape digital signage applications. To provide full connectivity, the panels accept DVI and VGA inputs, ensuring simple integration with an existing system for content delivery and a simple installation process.
The TL320F, TL500F, TL650F, and TL320C transparent displays are signage innovations that bring content interaction to customers in order to unleash new product display and advertisement opportunities. Featuring a dual display function, the solutions allow consumers to observe both on-screen advertisements and actual products encased inside the transparent boxes — creating a display breakthrough for retail showcase windows, museum exhibitions, and other environments. Available in 32-, 50-, and 65-inch models, the displays can also be custom-built to fit any product placement requirement. Equipped with multiple inputs including USB ports (TL320C) for easy media and system integration, the panels provide audio through two built-in 2W speakers for a full-on interactive experience that captures the attention and imagination of passersby.
The entire BenQ digital signage lineup is now shipping in North America.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2161
|
__label__cc
| 0.539852
| 0.460148
|
Discovering Religion, Art & Philosophy in a Cuban Alley
Our travels a few weeks ago in Cuba brought us to Central Havana, in a barrio called Cayo Hueso ("Key West").
There, we found ourselves in the Callejón de Hamel ("The Hamel Alley"), two traffic-free blocks of street art murals and scrap material sculptures, named after 19th century German arms dealer and slave trader Fernando Hamel.
If you were to visit, you might come upon a Santería priest smoking a cigar or a band of Afro-Cuban musicians playing rumba while they twirl their brightly-colored dresses.
Of course, it was only after Russia pulled out of Cuba in 1990 (and the resulting collapse of the economy) that Santería was able to emerge from the underground, where it had been hiding from the government stronghold on religion.
You wouldn't have found this alley in Havana before then.
Now, you could swear you're in a California sculpture garden.
While the sounds of rumba swelled around me, and the rain fell on top of me, I noticed a stone wall embedded with metal bathtubs that had been painted with characters from The Little Prince ("El Principito"), one of my favorite books of all time.
But the words aren't those of French author (and pilot) Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. They're excerpts from Cuban literature, namely a 1989 children's book called La Noche by Havana's own Excilia Saldaña Molina.
The excerpted passages chronicle a philosophical conversation between a young girl and her grandmother. It ponders the bigness of the universe through questions she asks her. For instance, "If freedom is happiness, then what's happiness?" The answer, her abuela says, is peace.
The answers aren't always quite so simple. Is it better to be a river or a bridge? Well, that depends on whether you want to keep moving or if you don't want to get cold.
Why do poor people fight? For love and respect. Why do the rich fight? For gold and for fun.
Like The Little Prince, it covers some pretty heavy topics like envy, jealousy, fear, and loneliness.
And those are all things we all can relate to—regardless of which language we speak, write, or read, and regardless of whether we're as young as that little girl (or The Little Prince himself) or as old as the grandmother (or the pilot).
I think there's something about The Little Prince that really resonates in Cuba. You have to see things with the heart in order to see them rightly there. If you're only looking with your eyes, you're likely to miss out on what's really essential.
Photo Essay: The Picasso of The Caribbean's Surreal, Ceramic Land
Photo Essay: The Rite of Zorthian Ranch, By Invitation Only
Photo Essay: Saving Sculptures from the Scrapyard
Tags: Art, Cuba, ExistentialCrisis, FolkArt, Photography, Religion, Travel
Photo Essay: A Museum of Misfit Artists
Glimpses of Havana in the Final Days of Fidel
Discovering Religion, Art & Philosophy in a Cuban ...
A Cooking Oil Factory Heats Up Cuban Nightlife
Photo Essay: Hemingway's Havana Home
Cruisin' Cuba in a Convertible
Photo Essay: A Night on the Battleship (Updated fo...
Photo Essay: The Picasso of The Caribbean's Surrea...
Open Letter to Our New President
Halloween at the Dead Doctor's Mansion
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2162
|
__label__cc
| 0.598055
| 0.401945
|
Category Archives: Arts & Culture
Darynne Dahlem Crowned Miss Arkansas
Arts & Culture, BlogBy Tyler Hale June 18, 2019
The fifth time is the charm. Or at least it is for Darynne Dahlem, who was crowned Miss Arkansas this weekend. Dahlem was recognized as the new Miss Arkansas at the 82nd Miss Arkansas Scholarship Pageant, held in Little Rock, this weekend. Outgoing Miss Arkansas Claudio Raffo, of Jonesboro, crowned Dahlem. Previously, Dahlem held the titles…
Go Back in Time to the 80s for a Mall Party!
In July, hop into the DeLorean and go back in time to the raging 80s! The Downtown Little Rock Partnership (DLRP) is hosting a truly retro, glam 80s Mall Party on Saturday, July 13, at the old Main Street Mall. The party will be a time capsule of all the trends from the decade and…
New Evanescence Album Expected in 2020
The wait for a new Evanescence album may be coming to an end. Amy Lee, the band’s frontwoman, told SiriusXM that the band expects to release a new album in 2020. In the past year, she says the band has been developing materials and writing songs. In the meantime, they have been touring and playing…
Live Music Lineup: Celebrate Great Music and Great Times!
Arts & Culture, BlogBy Sarah Woolf June 14, 2019
Sarah Woolf of Follow the Woolf has your guide to Arkansas’ music scene. This week, go to the Juneteenth Celebration, Fouke Monster Festival, and more. Around Little Rock Friday 6/14 Avenue Q/ The Weekend Theater – 1001 W 7th St./ June 14-16, 21-23,27- 30 / Sunday matinees start 2:30 all other shows 7:30 / $22 adults, $18 students, seniors…
Weekend Plans: Jamming in the Village and More
Arts & Culture, BlogBy Matthew King June 13, 2019
Stay “in the know” about all the great events going on around Arkansas. AY’s Publisher, Heather Baker, will tell you what the hot spots are this weekend. Sunday, June 02 – Saturday, June 15 What: Hot Springs Music Festival Where: See Schedule for Venues When: See Schedule for showtimes Season 24 of the Hot Springs…
Are You Pumped for East Village Jam?
Are you ready to jam? No, we’re not talking about Space Jam – although we’re always ready for Space Jam. This week, Little Rock is hosting the second annual East Village Jam. Originally developed as Little Rock’s first industrial district, East Village is the newest neighborhood in Central Arkansas. Sparked by the construction of the…
Reel in a Big One at the Big Buzz Bass Tournament
Break out your fishing poles and tackle box because one of the state’s biggest fishing tournaments is being held this weekend. The fourth annual Big Buzz Bass Tournament will be held Saturday, June 15, in Roland. The top five winning teams will be awarded over $6,000 in cash prizes with the first place winner reeling…
Alison Krauss Set for Little Rock Concert in October
Arts & Culture, BlogBy Tyler Hale June 7, 2019
Will you be “The Lucky One” who gets to see Alison Krauss in concert this October. Celebrity Attractions has announced that Krauss, a 27-time Grammy Award winner, will be coming to the Robinson Performance Hall in Little Rock for a concert on Wednesday, Oct. 9. Krauss is a bluegrass-country singer and musician (violin) who made…
MusicFest Bringing National Acts to El Dorado for 2019 Festival
Arkansas might not have the same profile as Memphis or Nashville when it comes to music, but the Natural State is a hotbed for musical talent and performances. One of the musical highlights each year in Arkansas Murphy Arts District’s MusicFest. For more than 30 years, MusicFest has been bringing great talent into downtown El…
Live Music Lineup: Rocking and Rolling into Summer
Sarah Woolf of Follow the Woolf has your guide to Arkansas’ music scene. This week, go see Malcolm Holcombe, the return of Pizza D’ Action and more. Around Little Rock Friday 6/7 Chris DeClerk/ Bar Louie – Pleasant Ridge Town Center, 11525 Cantrell Rd. / 8-10 Solo-acoustic show with Little Rock singer-songwriter Chris DeClerk singing originals and songs…
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2166
|
__label__wiki
| 0.648121
| 0.648121
|
March in protection of Amulsar starts from Liberty Square
Read Aysor.am inTelegram
A group of activists have initiated today march in protection of Amulsar.
A number of environmentalists, representatives of civil society, young people, political figures, including representatives of Sasna Tsrer party are participating in the protest action.
“Amulsar will remain only a mount,” the participants of the action were saying.
In case you have found a mistake in the text, please send a message to the editor by selecting the mistake and pressing Ctrl-Enter.
20/01/2020 17:20 Putin suggests sacking Russia’s top prosecutor 20/01/2020 17:00 No hike of gas price on border expected: Armenian government 20/01/2020 16:21 Dozens of Iraqi protesters wounded as anti-government unrest resumes 20/01/2020 15:29 Iran's steps to reduce commitments to nuclear pact are over: Iran foreign minister 20/01/2020 14:57 Butchers stop protest action, to close roads tomorrow from 8am 20/01/2020 14:38 Ukrainian president says beginning of dialogue with Putin yields positive results 20/01/2020 13:38 No signs of violence found on Georgi Kutoyan’s body 20/01/2020 13:34 Butchers gather outside government building, protest against slaughter houses 20/01/2020 13:20 Czech fire: Eight killed at disabled people's home in Vejprty 20/01/2020 12:51 Armenia’s Health Ministry allocated over 185 million AMD bonuses to staff in 2019 20/01/2020 12:15 Harry and Meghan: No other option but to step back, says duke (video) 20/01/2020 12:00 In Hrayr Tovmasyan’s issue law enforcers must not be guided by whims or wishes: Gagik Tsarukyan 20/01/2020 11:31 Prosperous Armenia faction head describes decision to close maternity houses in provinces as wrong 20/01/2020 11:23 Armenia’s NSS ex-director Artur Vanetsyan urges to stop hatred and inner hostility 20/01/2020 10:36 China coronavirus: Number of cases jumps as virus spreads to new cities 18/01/2020 16:32 Georgi Kutoyan left for his apartment on Paruyr Sevak street telling family members about his intention to rest for 2-3 days: IC unveils details 18/01/2020 14:33 “Viber Stickers”: say it with a sticker 18/01/2020 13:58 Azerbaijan violates ceasefire regime over 80 times during past week 18/01/2020 13:36 News on untimely death of NSS former director Georgi Kutoyan painful and shocking: NSS 18/01/2020 13:11 Ex-CC chairman considers revelation of Georgi Kutoyan’s death circumstances extremely important 18/01/2020 13:01 Three persons stop hunger strike at Hospital of Convicts 18/01/2020 11:57 Australia fires: Heavy rains hit some blaze-hit regions 18/01/2020 11:15 Artur Vanetsyan’s former spokesperson denies information about being awarded nominal weapon by NSS ex-director: Zhoghovurd 18/01/2020 10:46 New Chinese virus 'will have infected hundreds' 18/01/2020 10:32 Two earthquakes of 4-5 and 3 magnitudes registered 10 km of Armenia’s Ashotsk community 17/01/2020 19:35 Georgi Kutoyan was wounded in the temple 17/01/2020 19:19 Kutoyan’s case may be a crime shown as suicide: IC top official says different hypotheses will be viewed 17/01/2020 18:52 Armenia’s third president expresses condolences on death of Georgi Kutoyan, says shocked of the news 17/01/2020 17:03 Viva-MTS: new corporate logo 17/01/2020 16:47 NSS ex-director’s body discovered by his spouse 17/01/2020 16:37 Traces of shots discovered on walls of NSS ex-director’s apartment 17/01/2020 16:07 I am shocked, in near future the details of the case will be clear: Alen Simonyan on Georgi Kutoyan’s death 17/01/2020 15:11 Body of ex-chief of National Security Service Georgi Kutoyan found with gun wound 17/01/2020 15:02 Panama: Seven people found dead after suspected exorcism 17/01/2020 14:39 My Step faction discusses visions of 2020, to work more to double results registered in 2019: NA vice-speaker 17/01/2020 14:24 My Step faction head says no issue of gas tariff growth discussed now 17/01/2020 13:19 Armenia’s MFA reports about meetings on Karabakh after agreeing all details: spokesperson 17/01/2020 13:11 PM’s Administration confirms – Nairi Hunanyan addressed a letter to PM Pashinyan 17/01/2020 13:03 Ukraine PM Honcharuk offers to quit in audiotape furore 17/01/2020 12:11 EU follows closely developments over Armenia’s Constitutional Court: ambassador 17/01/2020 12:06 Endangering funding of Armath labs to seriously affect future of IT sector in Armenia: Artur Vanetsyan 17/01/2020 11:52 VivaCell-MTS and Fuller Center for Housing Armenia hosted by the Muradyans from Mayakovski village, in frames of reporting visits 17/01/2020 11:23 Manvel Grigoryan’s health condition deteriorated more on day of release: Armenia’s Ombudsman 17/01/2020 11:00 China's economic growth hits three-decade low 17/01/2020 10:35 Khamenei to lead Friday prayers for first time since 2012 17/01/2020 10:25 Gazprom Armenia to likely apply to Public Services Regulatory Commission for raising gas tariff 16/01/2020 19:03 Armenia’s PM congratulates Mikhail Mishustin on appointment 16/01/2020 18:36 Fourfold increase in 4G/LTE traffic in VivaCell-MTS network on New Year's Eve and the first day of the year compared to the same period a year ago 16/01/2020 18:34 Armenia’s PM announces new phase of repressions against opposition media and two TV channels: Aghasi Yenokyan 16/01/2020 18:11 Armenian contract serviceman wounded by Azerbaijani sniper, condition is grave 16/01/2020 18:07 Gas price for consumers may be raised: Gazprom Armenia to possibly apply for raising gas tariff 16/01/2020 17:10 Kashmir avalanche: Girl rescued after 18 hours buried in snow 16/01/2020 16:51 Law on sending CC judges to pension adopted with violations: National Anti-Corruption Council 16/01/2020 16:18 Man arrested in Peru airport with 20 birds in suitcase 16/01/2020 15:21 Armenia’s Education Ministry allocates over 456 million AMD for bonuses to the staff in 2019 16/01/2020 14:29 It is yet early to speak about meeting of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan: Armenia’s FM 16/01/2020 13:59 Our health condition is incompatible with imprisonment: three arrestees declare hunger strike, request meeting with prosecutor, justice minister 16/01/2020 13:27 Neanderthals 'dived in the ocean' for shellfish 16/01/2020 13:00 Ex-lawmaker Manvel Grigoryan’s health condition remains extremely grave: lawyer 16/01/2020 12:55 Armenia’s Justice Minister, U.S. Ambassador discuss anti-corruption reforms in Armenia 16/01/2020 12:46 Russian PM candidate Mishustin announces planned changes in new Cabinet 16/01/2020 12:30 Hrayr Tovmasyan’s defense team applies to investigative body to learn whether petition to carry out search of CC Chairman’s apartment was submitted or not 16/01/2020 11:58 Armenia’s PM urges to apply mechanisms to reveal real owners of TV companies 16/01/2020 11:35 People must be motivated to work: Armenia’s PM 16/01/2020 11:07 Putin nominates tax service chief Mikhail Mishustin as Russia's new PM 16/01/2020 10:30 Armenia’s PM’s next press conference scheduled for January 25 16/01/2020 10:19 US and China sign deal to ease trade war 15/01/2020 20:33 Ex-lawmaker Manvel Grigoryan to be released from custody 15/01/2020 18:20 Armenia’s Emergency Situations Ministry allocated over 1,8 billion AMD for bonuses to the staff in 2019 15/01/2020 18:14 Russian government resigns 15/01/2020 17:11 Artur Vanetsyan, Sasun Khachatryan interrogated over wiretapped conversation case earlier 15/01/2020 16:48 Extraordinary court hearing to be convened to discuss change of Manvel Grigoryan’s preventive measure following deterioration of his health condition 15/01/2020 16:37 Ex-chairman of State Revenue Committee Gagik Khachatryan hospitalized 15/01/2020 16:10 Nikol Pashinyan’s interrogation lasted 2,5 hours: Investigative Committee 15/01/2020 15:04 737 Max crisis: Boeing sees lowest orders in decades 15/01/2020 14:40 YSU Student Council president demands his case to be examined at SIS and not be limited with service examination 15/01/2020 14:14 Armenia’s Labor and Social Affairs Ministry allocated about 400 million AMD for bonuses to the staff 15/01/2020 13:25 Amazon in India: Jeff Bezos announces $1bn Indian investment 15/01/2020 12:44 ARMENIA WINE'S 2019 achievements and 2020 priorities 15/01/2020 12:36 Ruling faction deputies offer to pay off tuition fee of working students in form of income tax 15/01/2020 12:15 Similar, but different January. Baku 1990, Vilnius 1991: Lithuanian historian’s article dedicated to 30th anniversary of pogroms of Armenians in Baku 15/01/2020 11:53 Process of revealing fakes accelerates recently: information security expert 15/01/2020 11:18 NSS ex-chief explains what threats he warned about months ago 15/01/2020 11:07 Top Iranian diplomat says European nations’ decision on nuclear deal "strategic mistake" 15/01/2020 10:36 Decoding of downed Ukraine plane's black boxes to start on January 20 15/01/2020 10:14 Armenia’s PM Nikol Pashinyan is at Investigative Committee 14/01/2020 19:02 Hrayr Tovmasyan’s lawyer does not exclude unlawful arrest of his defendant 14/01/2020 17:05 Harry and Meghan: Boris Johnson 'confident' over future role 14/01/2020 16:20 Yeghvard maternity house to continue operating: Kotayk governor 14/01/2020 16:02 Bright Armenia faction deputies meet with Armenia’s DM Davit Tonoyan 14/01/2020 15:40 Armenia’s DM confirms Pashianyan’s statement about historic minimum of number of victims in the army 14/01/2020 15:17 Iran nuclear deal: European powers triggered dispute mechanism 14/01/2020 14:19 Several people arrested in Iran in Ukrainian plane crash case 14/01/2020 13:41 Ex-lawmaker Manvel Grigoryan transported to resuscitation department in grave condition: lawyer 14/01/2020 13:35 Kotayk governor to meet with Yeghvard residents and employees of maternity house today 14/01/2020 12:36 Over half billion AMD allocated for bonuses to Armenia's PM staff 14/01/2020 12:16 Monuments should be treated more cautiously: architect on opening historic layer under Republican Square 14/01/2020 12:01 About 1,000 people leave militants-controlled areas in Syria’s Idlib 14/01/2020 11:32 China sinkhole: Six killed as ground swallows bus 14/01/2020 11:09 Former deputy minister’s lawyer submits petition to interrogate education minister Arayik Harutyunyan
Recent news of this section
20/01/2020 17:00 No hike of gas price on border expected: Armenian government
Butchers stop protest action, to close roads tomorrow from 8am
“The road taking to Georgia is closed. Great job, thank you. You are standing there for us, and we are standing here for you,” the protester said, speaking on the phone.
No signs of violence found on Georgi Kutoyan’s body
“The external examination of the body revealed no traces of violence,” spokesperson of Investigative Committee Naira Harutyunyan told Aysor.am.
Butchers gather outside government building, protest against slaughter houses
Another protester urged the butchers of all provinces close the roads from 8am tomorrow.
Armenia’s Health Ministry allocated over 185 million AMD bonuses to staff in 2019
In response to Aysor.am’s inquiry the ministry’s official reported that the total sum of bonuses in 2019 made 185 million 302, 452 AMD.
34B Khorenatsi St., Yerevan, Armenia
2008-2012 © All rights reserved. Use of aysor.am materials without referring to the source is prohibited.
The opinion of publishing author not always coincides with the opinion of editorial staff.
Advertisers carry responsibility for the content of their advertisements.
{"core.blocks.header.spell_message1":"Selected error: ","core.blocks.header.spell_message2":"Do you want to send message about this error?","core.blocks.header.menu.search":"Search"}
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2167
|
__label__cc
| 0.721124
| 0.278876
|
Azazelin Tähti – Blogi
Category Archives: Symbolism
ON THE SYMBOLISM OF FOREST FIRE
In the bright crystal of your eyes
Show the havoc of fire, show its inspired works
And the paradise of its ashes
In her “Blake and Antiquity”, Kathleen Raine, the eminent scholar of William Blake, writes in the chapter “The Nether-World of Alchemy”, about Blake’s paracelsian influences. Perhaps one could take it as a mark of Blake’s genuine Gnosticism that in his visionary world, nature and forests are always symbolic of evil. His shadowy female, Vala, roams “in forests of eternal death, and shrieking in hollow trees”.
The forests especially are associated with smoke and fire. According to Kathleen Raine, Blake is here following the ideas of Paracelsus on nature’s Great Mystery. Here nature is seen as in eternal flame, always burning as it grows, endlessly returning to the nothing from which it emerges. Thus all of nature is essentially but a heap of ashes, and her creatures but fumes and smoke. Thus the dark female spirit of the woods, the personification of “the ever-growing, the ever-consuming mystery of nature”, is called The Demoness of Smoke.
In India, there is also a fierce Goddess, called Durga, who, like Vala, is dressed in red and associated with forest fires. Like the demoness Vala, who shrieks in the hollow trees, Durga is originally, in her earlier form as Shakambari, a devouring goddess of vegetation from whose body the different plants grew, and who has Her home in the ghostly-looking sheora tree, that is a traditional habitant of demonesses in India. But although Durga is a mother of demons, she is also, and most prominently, the slayer of demons.
In the 2nd chapter Devi Mahatmya, dedicated to Mahalakshmi, the gods are losing their battle against the demi-gods, when they bring forth Durga from their combined anger, giving each Her their signature weapons, and a lion for Her to ride on into the cosmic battle field. Here are two examples of Her association with forest fires from the Devi Mahatmya:
Her lion mount, shaking its mane in fury, stalked among the throngs as fire rages through forest. (2.52)
In an instant, Ambika led that vast legion of foes to its destruction, as quickly as fire consumes a heap of straw and wood. (2.67)
The scope of this cosmic forest fire is lucidly clarified by Brahmas’ words in the 1st chapter:
By you is this universe supported, of you is this world born, by you it is protected, O Devi, and you always consume it in the end. You are the creative force at the world’s birth and its sustenance for as long as it endures. So even at the end of this world, you appear as its dissolution, you who encompass it all. You are the great knowledge and the great illusion, the great intelligence, the great memory and the great delusion, the great goddess and the great demoness. You are the primordial matter, differentiating into threefold qualities of everything. You are the dark night of periodic dissolution, the great night of final dissolution, and the terrifying night of delusion. You are radiant splendor; you reign supreme yet are unassuming; you are the light of understanding. Modesty are you, and prosperity, contentment, tranquility and forebearence. (1.75 – 79).
As the fiery renewal of nature she is both the protecting Goddess and the annihilating Demoness, and the dark nothingness from which the woods grow up and into which they return, ever in unseen flames. The paraclesian realization that all nature and creatures are but ashes is echoed in the old Shaiva vow of the Pashupata sect from the Atharvasiras Upanishsad, in which the initiate confirms that everything is ash – but sacred ash, for fire makes holy.
A similar realization is found in the alchemical interpretation of the sign reading INRI attached to the wood above the head of the crucified Christ:” Igne Natura Renovatur Integra”, that is Latin for “through fire nature is reborn whole”. This invisible fire is not unlike a presence in all nature. The beginnings and the endings of the myriads of worlds can be found from a dim glow of the will-o-the-wisp by night. She becomes a companion, inspiring such reveries as Gaston Bachelard’s in his “The Psychoanalysis of Fire”:
Death in the flame is the least lonely of deaths. It is truly a cosmic death in which a whole universe is reduced to nothingness along with the thinker. The funeral pyre accompanies him in his passing.
Bachelard, Gaston: “The Psychoanalysis of Fire”
Foster, Damon, S.: “A Blake Dictionary”
Kali, Devadatta: “In Praise of the Goddess – The Devimahatmya and Its Meaning”
McDaniel, June: “Offering Flowers, Feeding Skulls”
Raine, Kathleen: “Blake and Antiquity”
This entry was posted in General, Symbolism on 3.11.2017 by Frater Obnoxion.
Fear Not Your Freedom
John Collier – The Death of Albine
Fear no more the lightning flash,
Nor the all-dreaded thunder stone;
Fear not slander, censure rash;
Thou hast finished joy and moan:
All lovers young, all lovers must
Consign to thee, and come to dust.
-Shakespeare
The aim of our lives, I often reflect, should be to become free. Free to exist as we wish, to dare to think, look and to feel in a way that reflects our true selves.
For an artist, freedom is in some ways allowed more easily than to others. In this profession, one is allowed to be a little strange. In some ways it is even expected of an artist; expected that our daily rhythms are not so fixed, that we may be wholly and completely arrested by the smallest thing -a blade of a grass which cuts the air swiftly like a sword, the eye of a fish opening a gate to the underworld with its stare, a paragraph in a book which was written as if straight into our heart with love’s hot needle. So the creative mind swoons at the face of such mysteries, deeply moved, and the person who is perhaps not so inclined looks upon this and thinks, what a wonderfully easy, free (and a little bit useless) life you must lead!
But, freedom is no synonym to comfortable, nor to easy (as is indeed not, the life of an artist, either). Quite the opposite. Freedom is actually quite difficult. It takes work, to not to care for the critics and the slander, to keep doing your thing when all the doors seem to close while simultaneously, nothing opens, to do your thing despite that it may be something which is not considered the norm. Any practicer of the Left Hand Path is familiar with such confrontations with their surroundings. Success takes that one is true to themselves and very brave, which is very hard indeed.
John Collier – Lady Godiva
Certainly, freedom is not for everyone, because not everyone can handle it. We are taught to not handle it; we are taught to not lead and to not experience, but to obey and follow instructions and protocols. To not care very much, to not feel very deeply. The curse of our times is a kind of nihilism and apathy. It’s very easy to fall prey to belittling everything -that one person can’t make a difference, that at a certain age one should no longer play, that things don’t matter, that I should not hold the reins of my own life – and so forth.
What I often find common in people who are, shall we say, free, is that they think of death quite a lot. The realisation that everything dies; one’s parents, friends, pets, yourself, that time is ticking away- there’s something very liberating in this. Both because we will cease to be, our bodies will disappear into the earth, and slowly every item that we touched, will break, be forgotten, burned, thrown away- it all will come to dust.
Death truly is the great liberator and depending on how we relate to death and dying, the idea of dying can either feel like a suffocating prison or the ultimate freedom.
Death will tear away the chains of flesh which bind us here. It will tear away our emotions, the things we touch, the things that touched us. In the face of our struggles, problems, fears, death looks upon, impassive, untouched, inevitable.
What a wonderful thing, that in the midst of life which is filled with chaos, something can be trusted to happen so surely. Perhaps death is the only thing that can be trusted.
Then why should one be afraid of anything if the price for that is the loss of one’s freedom, or that one would never even taste freedom in the first place? How many times is it so that a person, at the moments before their death feels fear and regret? Regret for the things they did not do, for the words they dared not speak in fear of being ridiculed or judged? The passions they dreamt of but never dared live?
It may well be a life-long journey to learn how to fear no more -to not fear freedom, nor that great liberator to whom we all must in the end bow our heads to. But these are worth thinking about. The latter will come inevitably whether one wants it or not. But the former is something that one has to work towards achieving and earning.
John William Waterhouse – Psyche Opening the Golden Box
This entry was posted in General, Symbolism and tagged death, esoteric aspects, fear, poetry, red on 6.5.2017 by soror Heiðr.
On Remembering the Dead
Hermann Hesse notes that when artists create pictures and thinkers search for laws and formulate thoughts, it is in order to salvage something from the great dance of death, to make something last longer than we do. It seems that the ancient Egyptians, obsessed with death, were much wiser than the contemporary man in this aspect, as they understood the importance of death in the development of human life.
A person’s life becomes defined at the moment they die. It’s a strange feeling, looking at their phone number and knowing that no one will answer should one try to call. It feels even stranger reading an letter from them- it was, after all, only a few months ago that this was written by warm, moving, living hands that created, and no longer exist. Where she was in one’s mind, is now a kind of a hole, and no one to occupy that space. Each person’s relationship and meaning to our lives is unique, and it can only be understood and seen completely when they are dead. The high and low points of that relationship are considered carefully and with a deeper perspective, because they are gone. Just like funerary rites, this too is a ritual, a final and defining chapter on the relationship that is now dramatically changed.
The evaluation of objects and items too change when a person dies. A bag of salt from her becomes the bag of salt, and it is forever differently defined from other bags of salt. It was hers- hers who died, and now it is mine. There is something powerful and mysterious about it now, on this exchange between the living and the dead. Every time this salt is used, she is there in my mind. An object that was nothing more than a household item for the deceased has now gained a radically different meaning and symbolism through her death. It has begun to feel like a ritual item, much more important than other objects she left behind that had monetary value; and I find that the items that had value in the eyes of the world mean nothing to me.
It’s a curious thing.
This bag of black salt that becomes less every time it is used, and when the bag is empty, there is no way to fill it. One can replace the salt with other salt, but it is not the same. This simple thought fills me with humble wonder, it is almost like a secret; it is a key to understanding. The bag of salt has become a memento mori in the most holistic way. The salt will lessen, and I too, shall die.
What is left then, when a person dies? Not much. A few items, some books, their handprint at the edge of the garden where a sitting area was built years ago. The other hands that carried, built, and planted on that sunny day are still living, moving, warm. What is left for the living are memories that fade and change over time, and if one is lucky, perhaps artworks that reveal little of the inner world of the deceased and stare back at us like a riddle, saying that there is something which can not be yet told. A veil has been drawn between us, a veil that one can truly only part when their own life becomes defined.
At the end of this small pondering, I’d like to address a question that was sent to our general mail a few weeks ago.
If I feel that death is a positive, even holy force, is it wrong to feel sad over the loss of a relative?
I don’t deceive myself enough to claim that I understand the mysteries of death better than the next person. While I believe that death itself is not a tragedy (as opposed to the circumstances that lead to or surround it which may be) it is not wrong to feel sorrow over the departure of a friend or a loved one- they have gone on a journey to which we have not been invited yet and no one can truly know if there can be a reunion or not. It even seems to me that it would be inhuman to deny ourselves the right to feel anything, because we are beings that process via our emotions.
But one thing I think, dear reader, is that when that call does come, be that in fifty years or tomorrow, one should be able to step on the other side of the curtain knowing in their heart that they became the best they can be- that the grains of that black salt were not used foolishly.
One should have a heart that leads them on like a compass, straight as an arrow, regardless of what may come to pass. Suffering is a very human thing, as is sorrow. They both can have the ability to teach us- for the world is an ocean, and each wave that rages against us we can either choose to battle with our flimsy little fists or let it wash over us with the knowledge that once that struggle passes, the wave travels onwards, perishes into the horizon and will never return.
This entry was posted in General, Stories, Symbolism and tagged death, red on 22.4.2016 by soror Heiðr.
Old Norse Cosmogony: a Kabbalistic Interpretation
Recently I found myself idly returning to an old suggestion: fitting Old Norse cosmogony into a Kabbalistic template. Both have similar emanatory passages, although as Kabbalists vociferously used the written word to transmit, formulate, and arguably consciously create their mythology, they had similarly detailed personal redemptive paths, something which Old Norse mythology has not preserved to such an extent. Accordingly, this aspect has been left absent.
In under a thousand words, this is obviously not a detailed interpretation. It is also worth clarifying that the Lurianic Kabbalistic template I have adopted here is predominantly derived from Aryeh Kaplan’s Inner Space – which serves as an excellent introduction to Kabbalistic concepts – and, to a lesser extent, Sanford Drob’s Kabbalah and Postmodernism.
This entry was posted in Symbolism and tagged Comparative Mythology, Kabbalah, Old Norse on 26.10.2015 by frater Jiva.
Symbolism of the Lucifer Lodge: Rainbow and the Essence of Light
The article series dealing with the symbolism of the Star of Azazel, and specifically of the Lucifer Lodge, begins with a text contemplating the meanings of rainbow and light. These both have been addressed in many vivid contexts and they truly are important symbols in occultism, although their depth isn’t always fully understood.
The most common view is that the rainbow is the union between man and God; heaven and earth; man’s lower, personal constitution and the higher self. The unity of different elements can be seen in the rainbow as it is comprised of a projection of water and light (fire) as it ascends to the heavens when viewed from Earth. Rainbow is also Antahkarana, the rainbow bridge that leads man’s Luciferian intellect and self-awareness, Manas, to ever-higher divinity. And just like the rainbow, Antahkarana is unreachable through worldly manners and deeds. It eludes the one who tries to reach it through action, since it can only be approached through spiritual efforts.
The seven foundational rays and colours of humanity are visible in the rainbow. They emanate from the original light and energy, manifesting just like they do in the human chakra system. However, when viewed from Earth, the colours appear upside-down when compared to the chakra system, in which they traditionally begin from the bottom with red and up to purple. However, this is not the case when viewed from above, as rainbow then appears as a circle with its colours forming a halo; the inmost colour being purple and the outmost being red. This expresses the inner connection of physical and less-physical both in man and the macrocosm: the dense parts settle in the outer ring and the less-physical in the middle. Outside of these two observable extremes is a spectrum of manifestations invisible to man: the physical end, which can’t be consciously reached by senses in their normal state, and the invisible reaches of spirituality. Each of these and everything in between exist on the same spectre, even though it isn’t visible to the naked eye. Whiteness and light shine to the universe in every one of these shades, radiating every colour out of itself while keeping darkness, the unmanifested spiritual perfection, at its core.
Traditionally, rainbow has also been interpreted as the thunder god’s (e.g. Jupiter, Indra, Ukko) bow. Also, just as noted earlier, rainbow is the bridge of Venus-Lucifer, Manas, the purest self-awareness to reach towards the middle point, the mutual source of existence of every living being. This duality, in the sense of energy reaching from the center to the outer circles, can also be seen as Jupiter’s or Indra’s lightning, vajra, which electrifies and puts physical matter in motion. While rainbow can be seen as energy traversing in two directions, vajra also shares this duality: in addition to the lightning, it also is a diamond, man’s solid, divine self and consciousness. It is Manas, which like a diamond, cuts through everything, but is so dense itself that it cannot be cut or divided. It’s the crown that Lucifer sets on the rainbow, the power he has given to us; misinterpreted as a fall, and more correctly seen as lightning flashing from the sky toward earth.
What should be determined from all this? The rainbow symbolizes the oneness of everything manifested and unmanifested. It expresses every one of the rays both together and separated, and especially those which are important to human life, even though it’s only a fraction of everything that exist. They are levels in which the consciousness can traverse, and from which everything is manifestable by it for any period of time. None of these shades is in the wrong place. They’re all in harmonic order. Only through misguided action can we abandon one of its aspects, just like we’ve witnessed with misguided religions and our own misguided actions in the past and present. Still, this wholeness is available and examinable to us, limited only by our capability to comprehend our possibilities towards it. We do not embody just one of those rays. In actuality, the one ray we radiate outward includes the others, which we, for one reason or another, haven’t chosen to emphasize at the moment. This is the reason we can also say that light, the oneness and source of all colours, envelopes darkness, and that darkness, too, contains only the most perfect light of all.
This entry was posted in Symbolism on 27.7.2012 by frater Aquila.
Star of Azazel
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2168
|
__label__wiki
| 0.967859
| 0.967859
|
Former Arizona State quarterback Joey Yellen transferring to Pitt
Former ASU quarterback Joey Yellen is transferring to Pitt, where he will be eligible in 2021 as a redshirt sophomore
Former Arizona State quarterback Joey Yellen transferring to Pitt Former ASU quarterback Joey Yellen is transferring to Pitt, where he will be eligible in 2021 as a redshirt sophomore Check out this story on azcentral.com: https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/college/asu/2020/01/02/pitt-football-lands-arizona-state-quarterback-transfer-joey-yellen/2798964001/
Jeff Metcalfe, Arizona Republic Published 3:13 p.m. MT Jan. 2, 2020 | Updated 5:07 p.m. MT Jan. 2, 2020
Former Arizona State quarterback Joey Yellen has a new home.
The ASU freshman is transferring to Pitt, where he will enroll in the spring semester and participate in spring practice, according to Panther Lair, the Rivals web site for Pitt athletics.
Yellen must sit out in 2020 -- unless an appeal to the NCAA for immediate eligiblity is successful -- and would be eligible in 2021 as a redshirt sophomore.
Yellen said ASU offensive analyst Trey Anderson helped him in the re-recruiting process after he entered the transfer portal.
“When I first decided to transfer it was a dead period so I kind of had to put some feelers out there to see who was interested," Yellen said "I talked to a few, but I thought this was the best situation for me."
Yellen, from California, said his mother is a Pittsbugh Steelers fan and that his family attended a Steelers home game a few years ago.
“I think a fresh start will be good for me," Yellen said. "The job is wide open and I certainly know what it’s like to compete so I’m ready to go there and do it.”
At ASU, Yellen started in place of injured Jayden Daniels against USC. He was 28-of-44 passing for 292 yards and four touchdowns in a 31-26 loss despite suffering an early shoulder injury.
Are you a sports fan? Stay in the know. Subscribe to azcentral.com today
With Daniels, also a true freshman in 2019, returning for at least two more seasons, Yellen decided after the regular season finale to transfer.
Ethan Long is ASU's backup quarterback going into spring practice. The Sun Devils are expected to sign a high school quarterback in February.
Arizona State Sun Devils quarterback Joey Yellen (18) looks to pass against USC in the second half on Nov. 9, 2019 in Tempe, Ariz. (Photo: Rob Schumacher/The Republic)
Pitt is coached by Pat Narduzzi and went 8-5, beating Eastern Michigan in the Quick Lane Bowl.
Junior Kenny Pickett was the Panthers' starting quarterback.
Reach the reporter at jeff.metcalfe@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8053. Follow him on Twitter @jeffmetcalfe.
Support local journalism: Subscribe to azcentral.com today.
Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon elites unable to set records after course error
David Johnson trade speculation: Cardinals running back needs fresh start
Diamondbacks a 'wild card' in pursuit of Chicago Cubs' Kris Bryant?
All-Arizona QB Chubba Purdy has medical scare at home
NFL mock draft: Former North Canyon standout surging up 2020 NFL draft boards
NBA mock draft: Why no love for Markus Howard, the nation's leading scorer?
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2169
|
__label__wiki
| 0.591788
| 0.591788
|
Posted in | Water | Sustainability
MIT Focuses on Sustainability Practices in Water Consumption
Written by AZoCleantechAug 6 2019
At the 2019 MIT Commencement address, Michael Bloomberg highlighted the climate crisis as "the challenge of our time." Climate change is expected to worsen drought and cause Boston, Massachusetts, sea level to rise by 1.5 feet by 2050. While numerous MIT students and researchers are working to ensure access to clean and sustainable sources of drinking water well into the future, MIT is also responding to the urgency of the climate crisis with a close examination of campus sustainability practices, including a recent focus on its own water consumption.
A working group on campus water use, led by the MIT Office of Sustainability (MITOS) and Department of Facilities, is supported by the Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab (J-WAFS) and includes representatives of numerous other groups, offices, students, and campus leaders. While the MITOS initiative is focusing on campus water management, MIT student clubs are raising local consciousness around drinking-water issues via research and outreach activities. Through all of these efforts, members of the community aim to help MIT change its water usage practices and become a model for sustainable water use at the university level.
The water subcommittee: providing water leadership to promote institutional change
Gathering campus stakeholders to develop sustainability recommendations is a practiced strategy for the Office of Sustainability. MITOS working groups have previously analyzed environmental issues such as energy use, storm water management, and the sustainability of MIT's food system, another initiative in which J-WAFS has played a role. The current working group addressing campus water use practices is managed by Steven Lanou, sustainability project manager at MITOS. "Work done in the late 1990s reduced campus water use by an estimated 60 percent," he explains. "And now, we need to look strategically again at all of our systems" to improve water management in the face of future climate uncertainty.
Beginning in fall 2018, MITOS met with local stakeholders, including the Cambridge Water Department, the MIT Department of Facilities, and the MIT Water Club, to explore how water is used and managed on campus.
The water subcommittee falls underneath the Sustainability Leadership Steering Committee, which was created by, and reports to, the Office of the Provost and the Office of the Executive Vice President and Treasurer, upon which Professor John H. Lienhard, director of J-WAFS and Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Water and Mechanical Engineering, also sits. The steering committee is charged by the provost and the executive vice president and treasurer of MIT to recommend strategies for campus leadership on sustainability issues. The water subcommittee will bring concrete suggestions for water usage changes to the MIT administration and work to implement them across campus. Professor Lienhard has "been key in helping us shape what a water stewardship program might look like," according to Lanou.
Other J-WAFS staff are also involved in the subcommittee, as well as leaders from the Environmental Solutions Initiative (ESI), Department of Facilities, MIT Dining, the MIT Investment Management Company, and the Water Club. Based on a thorough review of data related to MIT's water use, the subcommittee has started to identify the most strategic areas for intervention, and is gearing up now to get additional input this fall and begin to develop recommendations for how MIT can reduce water consumption, mitigate its overall climate impact, and adapt to an uncertain future.
Water has been a focus of discussion and planning for sustainable campus practices for several years already. A MITOS stormwater and land management working group devoted to priority-setting for campus sustainability, which convened in the 2014 academic year, identified MIT's water footprint as one of several key areas for discussion and intervention. Following the release of the stormwater and land management working group recommendations in 2016, MITOS teamed up with the Office of Campus Planning, the Department of Facilities, and the Office of Environment, Health and Safety to explore stormwater management solutions that improve the health of Cambridge, Massachusetts waterways and ecosystems. Among the outcomes was a draft stormwater management and landscape ecology plan that is focused on enhancing the productivity of the campus' built and ecological systems in order to capture, absorb, reuse, and treat stormwater. This effort has informed the implementation of advanced stormwater management infrastructure on campus, including the recently completed North Corridor improvements in conjunction with the construction of the MIT.nano building.
In addition, MITOS is leading a research effort with the MIT Center for Global Change Science and Department of Facilities to understand campus risks to flooding during current and future climate conditions. The team is evaluating probabilities and flood depths to a range of scenarios, including intense, short-duration rainfall over campus; 24-hour rainfall over campus/Cambridge from tropical storms or nor'easters; sea-level rise and coastal storm surge of the Charles River; and up-river rainfall that raises the level of the Charles River. To understand MIT's water consumption and key areas for intervention, this year's water subcommittee is informed by data gathered by Lanou on the water consumption across campus — in buildings, labs, and landscaping processes — as well as the consumption of water by the MIT community.
An additional dimension of water stewardship to be considered by the subcommittee is the role and impact of bottled-water purchases on campus. The subcommittee has begun to look at data on annual bottled-water consumption to help understand the current trends. Understanding the impacts of single-use disposable bottles on campus is important. "I see so much bottled water consumption on campus," notes John Lienhard. "It's costly, energy-intensive, and adds plastic to the environment." Only 9 percent of all plastics manufactured since 2015 has been recycled, and 12 billion metric tons of plastic will end up in landfills by 2050. Mark Hayes, director of MIT Dining and another subcommittee member, has participated in student-led bottled-water reduction efforts on two college campuses, and he hopes to help MIT better understand and address the issue here. Hayes would like to see MIT consider "expanding water refilling stations, exploring the impact and reduction [of] plastic recycling, and increasing campus education on these efforts." Taking on the challenge of changing campus water consumption habits, and decreasing the associated waste, will hopefully position MIT as a leader in these kinds of sustainability efforts and encourage other campuses to adopt similar policies.
Students taking action
Better Data Management Makes Water Utility Compliance Easier and Cheaper
MIT Water Summit Addresses Urban Water Scarcity
TMW Series Water-to-Water Heat Pumps Provide Hot Water for Domestic Use
Student groups are also using education around bottled water alternatives to encourage behavior change. Andrew Bouma, a PhD student in John Lienhard's lab, is investigating local attitudes toward bottled water. His interest in this issue began upon meeting several students who drank mostly bottled water. "It frustrated me that people had this perception that the tap water wasn't safe," Bouma explains, "even though Cambridge and Boston have really great water." He became involved with the MIT Water Club and ran a blind taste test at the 2019 MIT Water Night to evaluate perceptions of tap water, bottled water, and recycled wastewater.
Bouma explained that bottled-water drinkers often cite superior flavor as a motivating factor; however, only four or five of the 70-80 participants correctly identified the different sources, suggesting that the flavor argument holds little water. Many participants also held reservations about water safety. Bouma hopes that the taste test can address these barriers more effectively than sharing statistics. "When people can hold a cup of water in their hands and see it and taste it, it makes people confront their presumptions in a different way," he explains.
A broader impact
The MIT Water Club, including Bouma, repeated the taste test at the Cambridge River Arts Festival in June to examine public perceptions of public and bottled water. Fewer than 5 percent of the 242 respondents identified all four water sources, approximately the same outcome as would be expected from random guessing. Many participants held concerns about the safety of public water, which the Water Club tried to combat with information about water treatment and testing procedures. Bouma hopes to continue addressing water consumption issues as co-president of the Water Club.
Other student groups are encouraging behavior change around water consumption as well. The MIT Graduate Student Council (GSC) and the GSC Sustainability Subcommittee, with support from the Department of Facilities, funded five water-bottle refilling stations across campus in 2015. These efforts underscore the commitment of MIT students to promoting sustainable water consumption on campus.
A unique "MIT spin" on campus water sustainability
Lanou hopes that MIT will bring its technical strength to bear on water issues by using campus as a living laboratory to test water technologies. For example, Kripa Varanasi, professor of mechanical engineering and a J-WAFS-funded principal investigator, is piloting a water capture project at MIT's Central Utility Plant that uses electricity to condense fog into liquid water for collection. Varanasi's lab is able to test the technology in real-world conditions and improve the plant's water efficiency at the same time. "It's a great example of MIT being willing to use its facilities to test campus research," explains Lanou. These technological advancements — many of which are supported by J-WAFS — could support water resilience at MIT and elsewhere.
As the climate crisis brings water scarcity issues to the forefront, understanding and modeling water-use practices will become increasingly critical. With the water subcommittee working to bring recommendations for campus water use to the administration, and MIT students engaging with the broader Cambridge community on bottled water issues, the MIT community is poised to rise to the challenge.
Source: http://web.mit.edu/
Private Feedback to AZoCleantech.com
Turning Wastewater into Renewable Energy
Zonetta E. English
Zonetta English discusses her goal to find the ideal technology to turn wastewater into renewable energy. Her findings on thermal hydrolysis will be discussed at Pittcon 2019.
Producing Clean Hydrogen with Near-Zero Carbon Emissions with The Hazer Process
Geoff Pocock
Geoff Pocock, Managing Director and Founder of the Hazer Group talks to AZoCleantech about how the Hazer Process is producing clean hydrogen with Near-Zero Carbon Emissions.
Relocating the Growing of Food to Urban Areas
Dr Michael Hardman
Dr Michael Hardman from the School of Enviroment and Life Sciences from Salford University talks to AZoCleantech about relocating the growing of food to urban areas.
Real-Time Imaging of Thermal Dynamics with In Situ TEM
Thermal studies can be carried out in a stable and controlled environment within your TEM using the Wildfire In Situ Heating Series.
From DENSsolutions
Ultrasonic Level Sensors with Deterioration Resistance from Chemical Exposure
The ToughSonic Chem ultrasonic level sensors measure a wide variety of liquids, from diesel fuel to chemical tanks, and possess deterioration resistance.
From Senix Corporation
The Importance of Measuring Crude Oil
This product profile discusses vapor pressure in crude oil.
From Grabner Instruments
1 Underwater Loudspeakers are Making Fish Flock Back to Coral Reefs
3 Study Shows a Smarter Technique to Replenish Groundwater
4 Researchers Find a Better Way to Scrub CO2 from Smokestack Emissions
5 New Solution for Developing Low-Cost Solar Technology
Perovskite Solar Cell Degradation Caused by Temperature
From DENSsolutions 1 Oct 2019
Detecting Sea Level Changes to Predict Tsunamis
From Senix Corporation 19 Sep 2019
Using Nanotechnology to Make Solar Cells Cheaper and More Efficient
The Development of Hydrogen Fuel Cells for Vehicles is Another Step Closer
AZoCleantech.com - An AZoNetwork Site
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2170
|
__label__wiki
| 0.703536
| 0.703536
|
Winners and Finalists for the 2017 Governor’s Celebration of Innovation Announced by Arizona Technology Council and Arizona Commerce Authority
Tickets Available for Arizona’s Premier Technology Industry Event, Held at the Rawhide Event Center on Thursday, November 2, 2017
PHOENIX, October 9, 2017 — The Arizona Technology Council and the Arizona Commerce Authority have announced individual award winners, company award finalists, Future Innovators of the Year and Teacher of the Year winners for the 2017 Governor’s Celebration of Innovation Awards (GCOI). The awards honor the visionaries of Arizona’s technology ecosystem whose passion and dedication energize Arizona’s rapidly growing technology community.
“We are proud to celebrate the accomplishments of our 2017 award winners,” said Sandra Watson, president and CEO of the Arizona Commerce Authority. “Arizona is a leading hub for technology and innovation, and we’re fortunate to have such incredible talent in our state.”
“Determining the winners and finalists for this year’s GCOI was no simple task,” said Steven G. Zylstra, president and CEO of the Arizona Technology Council. “Our technology community is expanding every year and the innovators that apply are truly the best and brightest. We congratulate those that were selected and look forward to honoring them.”
The individual/company award winners are:
Ed Denison Business Leader of the Year: Jeffrey Pruitt, founder, CEO and chairman, Tallwave and Tallwave Capital, Scottsdale
Large Company Award: PacSci EMC, Chandler
Judges Award: Digital Citizen Academy, Scottsdale
One company within each of the following categories will be announced as the winner at the GCOI event:
Start-Up Company Award: Akos MD, LLC, Phoenix; Codelucida, Inc., Tucson; Cyber Reconnaissance, Inc., Phoenix
Small Company Award: AudioEye, Inc., Tucson; Cancer Prevention Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Tucson; Incyphae, Inc., Scottsdale; Paragon Space Development Corporation, Tucson
Innovator of the Year Award – Academia: ASU Center for Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics, Phoenix; Professors Jeffrey Pyun, Robert (Bob) Norwood, Novel Polymeric Materials, University of Arizona, Tucson; Professor Nasser Peyghambarian, Holographic 3D Display and Telepresence, University of Arizona, Tucson
The individual company award winners and finalist were evaluated and chosen by the following selection committee of expert independent of the Council:
Islamshah Amlani, Honeywell Aerospace
James Goulka, Arizona Tech Investors
Dave Higgins, BenchMark
Doug Hockstad, Tech Launch Arizona
William Loux, Arizona Technology Enterprises
Eric Miller, PADT
Mary O’Reilly, PhD, CEM, Science Foundation Arizona
Chuck Vermillion, AccountabilIT
The Future Innovators of the Year award winners represent the “Best of the Best” of the Arizona Engineering and Science Fairs (grades 9-12) for the year 2016. The winning teacher will receive a $1,000 cash award and each of the winning students will receive a $1,000 scholarship to further enhance their education.
Future Innovators of the Year Award Winners:
Somil Jain and Sachin Jaishankar, Hamilton High School, Chandler
Joseph Galasso, Galasso Homeschool, Tucson
Seoyoon Kim, BASIS Peoria High School, Peoria
Vilina Mehta, Basis Scottsdale High School, Scottsdale
Future Innovators of the Year Honorable Mentions:
Ava Christensen, Empire High school, Tucson
Heaven May Murphy, Tombstone High School, Tombstone
Teacher of the Year Award Winner:
Marni Landry, Paradise Valley CREST (Center for Research Engineering Science and Technology), Phoenix
Teacher Honorable Mentions:
Pradip C Misra, Bagdad High School, Bagdad
The Future Innovators and Teacher of the Year award winners were evaluated and chosen by a selection committee independent of the Council including members of the Arizona Council of Engineering and Scientific Associations (ACESA). ACESA supports, promotes and coordinates programs and activities of the engineering and science associations within the state of Arizona through facilitated communication and leadership.
In its 14th year, GCOI is being held on Thursday, November 2, 2017 at the Rawhide Event Center, 5700 W. North Loop Road, Chandler, AZ 85226 from 5:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. The event attracts more than 850 attendees each year for a night of networking, food and entertainment.
This year, the event will consist of a theatre style awards program with a sit-down dinner followed by a Tech Jam company showcase with live music. The Tech Jam companies consist of award finalists, sponsors and AZTC partners. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased online at aztechcouncil.org.
Filed Under: AZTC Events, Council News, News and Press
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2171
|
__label__wiki
| 0.61013
| 0.61013
|
Wilkes-Barre Bed and Breakfasts
Wilkes-Barre (1)
The Parsonage B&B
Jim Thorpe, PA (27 miles from Wilkes-Barre)
When you a stay at The Parsonage B&B in Jim Thorpe, you'll be in the historical district, just st...
(27 miles from Wilkes-Barre)
Hill Home Forge
When you stay at Hill Home Forge in Jim Thorpe, you'll be in the mountains, within a 5-minute dri...
The Harry Packer Mansion Inn
Located in Jim Thorpe, The Harry Packer Mansion Inn is in the historical district, within a 5-min...
Memorytown USA
Mount Pocono, PA (30 miles from Wilkes-Barre)
With a stay at Memorytown USA in Mount Pocono, you'll be 7.4 mi (11.9 km) from The Crossings Prem...
Maurrocks Bed & Breakfast
With a stay at Maurrocks Bed & Breakfast in Mount Pocono, you'll be 6.6 mi (10.5 km) from The Cro...
Mountaintop Lodge at Lake Naomi
Pocono Pines, PA (24 miles from Wilkes-Barre)
With a stay at Mountaintop Lodge at Lake Naomi in Pocono Pines, you'll be a 1-minute walk from La...
Pocono Pines, PA
Paradise Pine Getaway Cabins
Located in Pocono Pines, Paradise Pine Getaway Cabins is in the mountains, a 1-minute drive from ...
Camelot Restaurant & Inn
Clarks Summit, PA (23 miles from Wilkes-Barre)
With a stay at Camelot Restaurant & Inn in Clarks Summit, you'll be within a 15-minute drive of U...
Red Barn Village Bed and Breakfast
With a stay at Red Barn Village Bed and Breakfast in Clarks Summit, you'll be 6.6 mi (10.6 km) fr...
Bischwind Inn Bed and Breakfast
Bear Creek, PA (8 miles from Wilkes-Barre)
When you stay at Bischwind Inn Bed and Breakfast in Bear Creek Village, you'll be on a lake and s...
Bear Creek, PA
(8 miles from Wilkes-Barre)
Inn At Hickory Run
White Haven, PA (16 miles from Wilkes-Barre)
Located in White Haven, Inn At Hickory Run is in a regional park, a 4-minute drive from Hickory R...
The Beaumont Inn
Dallas, PA (11 miles from Wilkes-Barre)
When you stay at The Beaumont Inn in Dallas, you'll be steps from Endless Mountains. This inn is...
Hillard House Inn
Wilkes-Barre, PA (30 miles from Wilkes-Barre)
With a stay at Hillard House Inn in Wilkes-Barre, you'll be within a 10-minute drive of Mohegan S...
Dallas,PA 1 7 mi.
Clarks Summit,PA 2 19 mi.
Pocono Pines,PA 2 24 mi.
Jim Thorpe,PA 3 26 mi.
Mount Pocono,PA 2 28 mi.
Asheville,NC 24
Fredericksburg,TX 16
Lancaster,PA 6
Boston,MA 15
New Orleans,LA 34
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2173
|
__label__cc
| 0.686777
| 0.313223
|
Bennett CEO Marcia G. Taylor Featured on Our American Stories Podcast With Lee Habeeb
The Bennett Blog
May 17, 2019 / Bennett International Group / Blog, Media Coverage
If you want to know the History of Bennett, it is best to ask our CEO, and founder Marcia Garrison Taylor. Mrs. Taylor was featured on a recent podcast of Our American Stories with Lee Habeeb. In this deeply personal interview with Aubree Riggle, Marcia talks about her journey as a young mother from southern Illinois to Georgia, where she and her husband purchased a small trucking company that eventually became Bennett International Group. Dubbed an “American Dreamer’s Story”, this podcast discusses the beginnings just trying to make payroll, Marcia’s deep faith in God that guided the company through challenging times all the way to today as Bennett passed half a billion dollars in revenue for the first time. Listen to the complete interview Our American Stories Network.
Bennett CEO Marcia Taylor Discusses Gender Diversity… The magazine publication of the Women in Trucking Association featured…
Taylor Family Foundation Sponsors 2018 American… (MCDONOUGH, GA) – The Taylor Family Foundation sponsored the largest…
Bennett CEO Marcia Taylor Profiled by Local Media… Bennett CEO Marcia Taylor is one of two women in…
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2176
|
__label__wiki
| 0.761015
| 0.761015
|
BARASOAIN CHURCH
OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL PARISH
Calendar of Activities | Mass Schedules | NHCP - Barasoain | View Live Stream | Donations
Malolos Congress
120th Anniversary of the Opening of Malolos Congress
Update: The celebration for the Opening of Malolos Congress tomorrow (15 September 2018) is cancelled due to Typhoon Ompong (Mangkhut). A simpler wreath-laying rite will be held instead. This story will be updated once new information becomes available.
Malolos Congress, 1898
Senator Vicente Sotto III
Barasoain Church will host the celebration for this year's Anniversary of the Opening of Malolos Congress which will be held on 15 September 2018. This year will be the 120th anniversary of the said event.
The National Historical Commission of the Philippines - Barasoain Church Historical Landmark, Provincial Government of Bulacan and City Government of Malolos, with the participation of the community of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish - Barasoain Church are the chief organizers of the event.
Senator Vicente C. Sotto III be the honored guest of this year's event. It will begin at 8:00 AM in Barasoain Church on 15 September 2018, Saturday.
The celebration of the Anniversary of the Malolos Congress commemorates its opening session with delegates from various parts of the country, gathered to begin the national convention of the Philippine revolutionary government. It showcased the ability of the Filipinos to independently lead the country from foreign intervention.
The invitation and official program pamphlet can be viewed here.
Everybody is invited to attend the said event.
List of Activities for the Feasts of Black Nazarene and Santo Niño
The parish has been preparing for the two upcoming feast days within the month. The activities in relation to these feasts have been released and are...
Parish Pilgrimage to be Held in February
The parish will be organizing a pilgrimage from 7 - 8 February 2020. The said pilgrimage will be focusing on churches in the province of Batangas.
Thos...
Music Ministry to Stage Concert for Christmas
Fr. Cabral Launches Two Books for Christmas
Youth Stages "The Greatest Showman"
Schedule of Masses for the Immaculate Conception
New Parish Pastoral Council Officers Inducted
Parish Releases Schedule for Christmas
Parish Joins in Red Wednesday Campaign
List of Masses and Activities for Christ the King 2019
NHCP - Barasoain
View Live Stream
The Lay
The Patroness
Baptismal Services
Blessings and Sick Call Service
Basic Ecclesial Communities
Eucharistic Services
Formation and Development
Services for the Deceased
Parish Publications
Sub-Parish Pastoral Councils
PARISH PRIEST'S MESSAGE
(c) 2019. Managed by DSMP - Commission on Social Communications
All rights reserved. Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish - Barasoain Church
Terms of Use | Webmaster Login
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2183
|
__label__cc
| 0.665499
| 0.334501
|
Seed Grant Program
Course/Module Development
MS/MA Program
Sustainable Wetland/Floodplain Communities from a Human and Ecosystem Perspective
Sustainable Forest Communities
Local Sustainable Communities (U.S.)
Sustainable Island Communities
Sustainable Energy Communities
Wetlands serve as valuable resources for human and natural communities. By filtering and sequestering harmful contaminants such as nutrients, road salts, pharmaceuticals, heavy metals and pesticides, wetland communities play a significant role in protecting our water. Wetlands are also an essential habitat for a diversity of wildlife and provide environments that contribute to the health of the human communities. Thus, the contaminants that wetlands filter can lead to negative consequences on sensitive wetland organisms and the people who live in the region. Understanding the resilience of wetland communities to contaminants and how natural settings contribute to human health is paramount to protecting the ecosystem-level services provided by wetlands and maintaining sustainable human and wetland communities.
Toward this goal, future work will pursue three lines of research:
1. Can low, environmentally relevant concentrations of contaminants reduce wetland resilience?
2. Can populations within wetland communities evolve resistance to contaminants?
3. How do contaminants interact with other stressors, such as pathogens, to shape wetland resilience?
For more information, contact Professor Joe Graney.
Specific projects:
• Jessica Hua, Biological Sciences
• George Homsy, Public Administration and Environmental Studies
• Joe Graney, Geological Sciences and Environmental Studies
• Gale Spencer, Nursing
• Weixing Zhu, Biological Sciences
• Tom Kulp, Geological Sciences and Environmental Studies
• Peter Knuepfer, Geological Sciences and Environmental Studies
• Qiusheng Wu, Geography
• John Titus, Biological Sciences
Collaborating organizations:
Binghamton University Facilities: Binghamton University Wetland Project
Center for Integrated Watershed Studies (CIWS)
Environmental Studies (ENVI)
Biological Sciences/Ecology, Evolution and Behavior (EEB)
Sustainable Communities master's program (SUST)
North American Eastern Deciduous Forest communities provide essential ecosystem services with benefits to society. Intact forest communities provide aesthetic, cultural and recreational value to people, support biodiversity including functionally important species such as pollinators and natural predators, provide habitat for wildlife, mitigate climate change and are integral components of watersheds. These forests have undergone major transformations in response to land-use changes. Very little of this ecosystem has been left undisturbed, with the remainder in smaller fragments surrounded by urban and agricultural areas. In addition to habitat loss and fragmentation, remaining forests are under threat from multiple environmental stressors including invasive plants, insects and pathogens, overabundance of some native species like deer, pollution, changes to nutrient regimes and climate change. These types of global change stressors are linked and can have synergistic effects on ecosystems. In efforts to mitigate and manage forests that sustain essential ecosystem services, we need to understand the impacts of multiple global change stressors on forest communities. However, impacts and management of ecosystems are often focused on only one or a few stressors (such as the impact and removal of a single invasive species).
Binghamton University sits in a unique position to conduct research on the impacts of multiple environmental change stressors on forest communities and to explore management practices. The University owns over 600 acres of protected deciduous forest that is dedicated to teaching, outreach and research. One example research project is to examine how to best restore native understory plant communities that have been decimated by overgrazing, habitat fragmentation and invasive species. Additionally, as forests are embedded within an urban and agricultural matrix, understanding the feedbacks between society and natural forest ecosystems is essential to promote both sustainable living and natural ecosystems.
For more information, contact Professor Weixing Zhu.
• Kirsten Prior, Biological Sciences
• Robert Holahan, Environmental Studies
• Rory Eckardt, Management
• George Meindl, Environmental Studies
• Ralph Garruto, Anthropology
• Mark Blumler, Geography
• Chengbin Deng, Geography
• Julian Shepherd, Biological Sciences
• Dick Andrus, Environmental Studies
• Dylan Horvath, Nature Preserve
Nuthatch Hollow and Nature Preserve
At Binghamton University, sustainability involves integrating the natural world with issues of social justice and local communities, both urban and rural. At the core of our collective work is a focus on poverty, inequality and community-scale sustainability, particularly through capacity building. Social justice, including issues of equity and education are central to the sustainable communities research efforts. Opportunities to share research findings and data from locally-based projects and forums to form/strengthen a research community around local social justice issues provide productive avenue for collaboration and research efforts.
For more information, contact Assistant Professor George Homsy.
• Aleksey Polunchenko, Mathematical Sciences
• Andreas Pape, Economics
• David Sloan Wilson, Biological Sciences
• Eugene Tettey-Fio, Geography
• Judy Quaranta, Nursing
• Lisa Blitz, Social Work
• Norah Henry, Geography
• Pam Mischen, Public Administration
• Valerie Imbruce, Undergraduate Research
• Youjung Lee, Social Work
• Yu Chen, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Evolutionary Studies Program (EvoS)
Center for Collective Dynamics of Complex Systems (CoCo)
Volunteers Improving Neighborhood Environments, INC. (VINES)
Islands present unique conditions that challenge the sustainability of communities. Often small in land mass, limited in overall resources and isolated, island communities must consider inherent constraints in local resources with few local alternatives. These constraints, however, can lead communities to organizations and practices that are remarkably resilient and that have persisted for millennia. These unique solutions offer exemplars that can be used to evaluate hypotheses about the factors necessary for sustainability and valuable insights into practices that can be adopted in terrestrial contexts.
At Binghamton University, researchers work on islands around the world to investigate aspects of community health, organization, economic development and subsistence practices. Our work spans from Haiti in the Caribbean to Vanuatu and Easter Island in the Pacific.
Carl Lipo: Easter Island, prehistoric community and sustainability.
Pam Mischen: Easter Island, contemporary community sustainability and organization.
Tom Sinclair: Haiti, contemporary community sustainability
Robyn Cope: Haiti, community sustainability.
Ralph Garruto and Koji Lum: Vanuatu, community health
GIS and Remote Sensing Core Facility that fosters research and education in geographical information systems (GIS), remote sensing and global positioning systems (GPS).
Coupled Natural and Human Systems Working Group (CNH)
Sustainable energy communities use an integrated systems approach to fulfill energy requirements. Co-generation energy sources (sources that provide useable heat and electricity simultaneously), renewable solar and wind energy, passive and active solar thermal systems, and redundancy in the production and distribution of energy are often utilized.
Ecovillages are examples of sustainable energy communities. They are helping to transition residential energy in the United States and elsewhere in the world. The nearest ecovillage to Binghamton University is in Ithaca, N.Y. Binghamton University is developing the Living Building at Nuthatch Hollow which will produce 105 percent of its energy requirement from renewable sources.
The production and distribution of renewable energy has received a great deal of attention. When we speak of sustainable energy, we mostly think of renewable forms such as solar or wind. Tools have been developed that estimate the performance of potential photovoltaic (PV) installations. Two examples are the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) PVWatts Calculator and the NREL Wind Prospector that estimates wind energy. More generally, in the U. S. the Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, an office within the U. S. Department of Energy, manages the Energy Saver website. These resources can be of use to small communities and individual home owners wishing to move to more sustainable energy.
The emphasis is not just on the generation and distribution of energy in these communities, but also the more efficient utilization of energy. There are national efforts in some countries to promote higher standards of energy efficiency and renewable energy usage to promote better energy communities, for example in Ireland. In the U. S., Energy Star, a joint program of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Energy (DOE), promotes energy efficiency. Reducing the utilization of energy is a necessary part of becoming a more sustainable energy community.
• Carl Lipo, Anthroplogy and Environmental Studies
• Mike Elmore, Engineering Design Division, switching power converter design and control optimization for higher efficiencies and better performance.
Switching power converters are found in many, if not most, electronic devices. They provide a more efficient means of electrical power conversion than other technologies, such as linear regulators. Some power converters can shape alternating current (AC) to reduce current distortion and increase power factor (PF). Energy Star guidelines call for PFs above 0.9, but this is not mandated in the U. S. In Europe EN 61000-3-2 requires power factor correction to be incorporated into consumer products. Optimization of switching power converter efficiencies and performance reduces the electrical load on the power grid. Optimized converters for increased efficiency is a necessary part of an integrated systems approach to achieving sustainable energy in our communities.
• John Zhang, Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Rob Holahan, Environmental Studies
• Hiroki Sayama, Systems Science and Industrial Engineering
• Sandy DeJohn, Binghamton University Facilities
Energy related initiatives:
Living Building at Nuthatch Hollow
Innovative Technologies Complex
Binghamton University Facilities Management
Center for Collective Dynamics of Collective Systems (CoCo)
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2184
|
__label__cc
| 0.524378
| 0.475622
|
RE/Search Nos. 1, 2 and 3
By: Vale, V., ed.
Tabloid newspaper, 11 1/4 by 17 1/2-inches. The first three issues of RE/Search, one first printing and two reprints. The tabloid ‘zine that morphed, with issue 4/5, into a book publisher that specialized in subculture themes like industrial music, tattooing and piercing, “strange” films and music, etc. Founded by V. Vale, who published the venerable Search & Destroy from 1977 to 1979. Included are: RE/Search 1. 1988 reprint (originally published in 1980), 36 pp. Newsprint is yellowed with light edge wear and small chips, and a 5 1/2-inch tear at the center crease of the front cover. Includes articles on The Slits, punk prostitutes, Cabaret Voltaire, J.G. Ballard, Throbbing Gristle, Sun-Ra, Non; RE/Search 2. 1981 (original printing), 36 pp. Light yellowing and a few small tears. Articles on Monte Cazazza, Diane Di Prima, performance artist Z’ev, musician and producer James Blood Ulmer, a German electronic music chart, “A Novices Guide to West African Music;” RE/Search 3. 1988 reprint (originally published in 1981), 40 pp. Light yellowing and edge wear. Articles on Fela Kuti, Kathy Acker, Sordide Sentimental, female modification, S&M lesbians, SPK, cannibalism, etc.
Title: RE/Search Nos. 1, 2 and 3
Author Name: Vale, V., ed.
Categories: Music, Industrial,
Publisher: San Francisco, RE/Search-Rough Trade-Searchlight Publishing:
D.I.Y. The Do-It-Yourself Music Magazine, Issue 11980 [California New Wave Zine]
By: Taylor, Jonathan, ed.
Melody Maker, April 23, 1977 – Clash Cover
By: [The Clash] Coleman, Ray, ed.
Street Sounds Nos. 1 – 11 [Music Magazine, Punk SKA Skinhead Oi!]
By: Street Sounds Collective; Paul Hallam; Donna Damage; G. Llewellyn Barker, et al.
Sanamu: Adventures in Search of African Art
By: Dick-Read, Robert
Africa Witchcraft & Ritual Music: Recorded in Kenya and Tanzania by David Fanshawe (LP Record)
By: Fanshawe, David
Wax Poetics: A Quarterly Journal, Issue Number One, Winter 2002
By: Torres, Andre; Brian DiGenti; Kevin DeBernardi; John Paul Jones, eds., et al.
Easy Rider: Music from the Soundtrack (LP Record)
By: Steppenwolf; Smith; The Byrds; The Holy Modal Rounders; Fraternity of Man; The Jimi Hendrix Experience; The Electric Prunes; Roger McGuinn
African Music: Meeting in Yaoundé (Cameroon), 23-27 February 1970, Organized by UNESCO [Signed by Zelma George]
By: UNESCO
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2194
|
__label__cc
| 0.623428
| 0.376572
|
I'm allergic to A in titles
Forum » Release Challenges » Parent Thread | Refresh | Search
Threaded - Full Flat - Latest First Threaded - Condensed
tabby-cat-owner 4 yrs ago
I'm allergic to A in titles release #5-10
5. Oxford Blood
6. Snuggle up, Sleepy Ones
7. O Pioneers!
8. Sleeping Bunny
9. The Count of Monte Cristo
10. Polly's Picnic
I will add links later.
Complete Thread
babypooh 4 yrs ago
Try to find a book without the letter A in the title.
For even more fun try to also do the authors name without a title.
Books like:
Stone Cold by: David Baldacci and
The Inner Circle by: Brad Meitzer
Authors like:
F. Scott and
it would not work for author and title if it was:
Carribbean by: James A. Michener
you also can't have just the author you have to have the title and the author is optional
The challenge starts June 26, 2015 and ends July 26, 2015
If you have any questions contact my grandmother Booklady331
booklady331 4 yrs ago
This is my granddaughter and she is excited about her first release challenge. Just like she posted, if you have any questions you can PM me.
GoryDetails 4 yrs ago
RE: I'm allergic to A in titles
Interesting! I always save books for the November "E-less" challenge, but haven't tried an "A-less" one before - will see what I have on hand!
RE: RE: I'm allergic to A in titles
T02S03B11D20 4 yrs ago
Just a very quick glance
tells me I have at least 12 books where there is no "A" in the title or author. Problem is, I haven't read them yet!
Tips: Try looking for C.J. Box, Robin Cook, Kevin O'Brien for starters.
RE: Just a very quick glance
is the tip for what books you have?
you have to write it down to be in the challenge
if they are then you can either try to read them THEN release then or just release them
P.S. There is no prize (Besides the winners name on the Buzz:)
RE: RE: Just a very quick glance
I know...yes, I do have them. point is, I want to read them before they are released. I just have others promised to people to read first. I know I will not get to them soon.
RE: RE: RE: Just a very quick glance
you can SAY you relesed them so you have time to read them and that will count (for this challenge at least)
2015 Allergic to A release #1:
1. Under the Egg ( http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13423063/ ), wild release, multiple challenges, photo.
RE: 2015 Allergic to A release #1:
+it a sec can i have the author's name too please
RE: RE: 2015 Allergic to A release #1:
Oh, I didn't think you needed that unless the author's name had no A's in it. Under the Egg is by Laura Marx Fitzgerald.
RE: RE: RE: 2015 Allergic to A release #1:
Oh just for fun
Allergic to A Release #1
The Wounded by Yi Chongjun -- No "A" in title and author
http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13256640
solittletime 4 yrs ago
I'll see if I can find some to release
gypsysmom 4 yrs ago
I'm allergic to A in titles Release #1
The Collected Works of Billy the Kid:
but the author has three A's in his name:
RE: I'm allergic to A in titles Release #1
its okay you don't HAVE to have no A's in the author
sakirmo 4 yrs ago
These are not released yet, but will be by the end of the challenge... I just need to post them all now because I'll be travelling most of the time & won't have time for it later :)
1. Photo Finish
http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13435641/
2. Suden vuosi
3. Yölisko
4. Irish story / R.F. Foster
5. F is for fugitive
6. Bird
7. Dublin 4
8. Dubliners
9. I is for innocent
10. Moving pictures
11. Killer secrets
12. Muuttolinnut
okay thats fine
It has to be the title... For no A's
The author is optinal Sorry:(
hyphen8 4 yrs ago
Sounds like fun.
Is this for wild books only? Or do other types count too?
(It is tricky to question when the word for letting books go includes one letter which is forbidden.)
RE: Sounds like fun.
Yes you can have any kind of release
NancyNova 4 yrs ago
Releases 1 - 7
Welcome BabyPooh!
I'll keep a sharp eye on the titles as I do my wild releases for the lack of a's.
1. Bright Flows the River http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13283912?... (no A in title)
2. The Secret Wife http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/9863991?... (no a in title)
3. Forever his Bride http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/12575933?... (no a in title)
4. His Brother's Bride http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/11832231?... (no a in title)
5. Folly's Bride http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/7154486?... (no a in title)
6. Society Bride http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/6483921?... (no a in title)
7. The Goodbye Groom http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/7618191?... (no a in title)
Didn't find any titles with no "a" in the author's name too this week, but will add a reminder note to myself to look for those when I release more later this week.
1. Henry V, http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13159456/
Releases # 2 - 3
2. Smoke Screen by Sandra Brown
3. The Overton Window by Glenn Beck -- No "A" in title and name
I'm allergic to A
You guys are doing AWSOME!!!!!
Found another one that works that I was releasing for the Canada Days challenge
#2 Beethoven's Tenth by Brian Harvey
You guys are doing awsome
Camperfan 4 yrs ago
Do you take Dutch titels?
I found 3 books:
In de wildernis - Kobie Krüger = released
Riders - Jilly Cooper = released.
http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/3307186
Murder she wrote - Jessica Fletcher = released
I still have to read them but I will put 'Released' behind them when I have done it.
RE: Do you take Dutch titles?
yes if you can translate the titles for me please and there are no A's
RE: RE: Do you take Dutch titels?
nevermind only the 3rd one doesnt count
RE: RE: RE: Do you take Dutch titels?
OK, I cleaned up my act :-)
Here's another one from my Canada Days pile:
#3 Curiosity by Joan Thomas
2. Coming Home, http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13379155/
Diane-Fraser 4 yrs ago
Whoop! Whoop! I have one!!
First Love by James Patterson http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13447098/
tomato68 4 yrs ago
Releases 1 & 2
1. Thunder Dog http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/12813352
2. Missing Persons http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/12843302
BruceAlexander 4 yrs ago
1 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13303883/ My First Book (author is Jane Belk Moncure but the illustrator is COLIN KING)
2 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13450917/ Peeled (Joan Bauer)
3 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13398006/ Body of Lies (Deirdre Savoy)
4 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/392694/ The Presence (John Saul)
5 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/5817927/ If There Be Thorns (V. C. Andrews)
6 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13282964/ Fools Rush In (Kristan Higgins)
7 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13398005/ Soft Focus (Jayne Ann Krentz)
2015 Allergic to A in titles releases #2-12:
2. Demon Dentist, by David Walliams ( http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/12636132/ ), wild release, multiple challenges, photo.
3. Wilderness Tips, by Margaret Atwood ( http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13231571/ ), wild release, multiple challenges, photo.
4. How the Light Gets In, by Louise Penny ( http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/12873237/ ), wild release, multiple challenges, photo. [Title *and* author are A-less here.]
5. Fever 1793, by Laurie Halse Anderson ( http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13283075/ ), wild release, multiple challenges, photo.
6. Othello 6, by Satomi Ikezewa ( http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/12439811/ ), wild release, multiple challenges, photo.
7. My Love Story!!, by Kazune Kawahara ( http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/12843224 ), controlled release, multiple challenges.
8. Buso Renkin, by Nobuhiro Watsuki ( http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/11659366/ ), controlled release, multiple challenges.
9. My Neighbor Seki, by Takuma Morishige ( http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13161202/ ), controlled release.
10. Tokyo Ghoul, by Sui Ishida ( http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13445786/ ), controlled release.
11. Bride of Deimos by Etsuko Ikeda ( http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13083496/ ), controlled release, multiple challenges.
12. Othello, by Toui Hasumi ( http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/5269785/ ), controlled release, multiple challenges.
AWSOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
#4 Triggers by Robert Sawyer
and this time the author doesn't have any "a"s in his name either
#5 The Best of Robert Service by Robert W. Service
I'm Allergic Release #4
motherof11 4 yrs ago
release #1
1. Erfzonde: http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13148119/
3. The Three Coffins, http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13398055/
I'm allergic to A in titles - # 1 - 6
I'm not great at this type of Challenge. I sometimes don't notice the letter is there when I release it for the Challenge. So if I list one with an A in it by mistake, let me know and I'll delete it.
1 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13233608/ One for the Money
2 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13242009/ Top 8
3 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13212856 The Ninth Wife
4 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13445050/ How Do I Love Thee: Three Stories
5 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13317224/ Every Storm
6 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13205893/ Undertow
5. The Tough Kid Tool Box
6. The Tough Kid Book
7. The Tough Kid Book (2nd copy)
4. The Meryl Streep Movie Club, http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13181351
I'm allergic to A releases #13-19:
13. The Prestige, by Christopher Priest ( http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13083501/ ), wild release, multiple challenges, photo. [A-less author, too!]
14. Cujo, by Stephen King ( http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13454427/ ), wild release, multiple challenges, photo. [Another A-less author.]
15. Misery, by Stephen King ( http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13454426/ ), wlid release, multiple challenges. [A-less author]
16. The Descent, by Jeff Long ( http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13337926/ ), controlled release, multiple challenges. [A-less author.]
17. Ex-Heroes, by Peter Clines ( http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/12517904/ ), controlled release. [A-less author]
18. I Remember You, by Yrsa Sigurdardottir ( http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13361502/ ), controlled release.
19. New Cthulhu 2: More Recent Weird, by Paula Guran ( http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13353881/ ), controlled release.
Release # 8 wild
Annelis 4 yrs ago
1. Missä viipyy poliisi (in Finnish) by Maj Sjöwall, Per Wahlöö
2. Ilobilleri (in Finnish) by Malin Biller
3. Sisäpiirissä (in Finnish) by Viveca Sten
4. Morning Comes Softly by Debbie Macomber
5. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
6. Nuoruus (in Finnish) by Patrick Modiano
7. Meil on tää meijä huumori (in Finnish) by Örppis
8. Selviytyjätyyppi (in Finnish) by Anna-Maija Elonen
9. Sjöjungfrun (in Swedish) by Camilla Läckberg
10. Sukellus (in Finnish) by Matti Remes
2. Herinner mij by Liz Rigbey: http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/12357658/
Release #9 controlled release
Beyond the Horizon by Colin Angus 6/8/12
5. Twelve Red Herrings, http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13421031/
(red, white and blue on cover)
eponine38 4 yrs ago
2015 Allergic to A in titles #1
1. http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13456694/ Boo! (multiple challenges)
I'm allergic to A in titles release #20:
20. Don't Look Now by Daphne du Maurier ( http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13231538/ ), wild release, multiple challenges, photo.
I'm allergic to A in titles - # 7 - 31
7 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13254611/ Beloved
8 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13346000/ Honeymoon
9 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13091013/ Children of the River
10 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13217525/ The River Between Us
11 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13012585/ The Pilot's Wife
12 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13208556/ Clouds
13 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13203324/ Silent Snow
14 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13012568/ Love You Forever
15 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13226531/ Seven Spiders Spinning
16 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13223488/ Four Stupid Cupids
17 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13277732/ Light on Snow
18 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13260038/ The Three Questions
19 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13204600/ Cross
20 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13244883/ Blue Smoke
21- http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13447342/ Riptide
22 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13354208/ Executive Orders
23 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13157927/ Dude, Where's My Country?
24 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13085612/ Lost Voice
25 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13201768/ Rising Sun
26 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13217451/ I'll Be Seeing You
27 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13284150/ Long Time No See
28 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13249562/ Night Vision
29 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13158052/ Innocent Blood
30 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13256852/ Jitterbug Perfume
31 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13296910/ Utterly Ingenious Five-Minute Mysteries
#10 Shoot the Moon
by Billie Letts
I'm allergic to A in titles - releases #21-23:
21. Shy Intentions by Shoku Takaku ( http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/12832365/ ), controlled release, multiple challenges.
22. Grief by Andrew Holleran ( http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/12905859/ ), controlled release, multiple challenges.
23. The Boy Who Picked the Bullets Up by Charles Nelson ( http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/12481415/ ), controlled release.
Release #11
Cinder by Marissa Meyer to CrazyCreep
Lost 3: http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/7091482/
Releases #12 and 13
12. Four Letters of Love by Niall Williams
13. To Sir With Love
I'm allergic to A in titles, release #24:
24. Rhysmyth by Anthony Andora and Lincy Chan ( http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/10196315/ ), wild release, multiple challenges, photo.
Eyes Know
Home to HOLLY Springs
3. For the Roses http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13468755
25. The Witching Hour, by Anne Rice ( http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/12191837/ ), wild release, multiple challenges, photo.
Divine Justice
Desert Noir by Betty Webb
26. eV by James Farr ( http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/10133990/ ), wild release, multiple challenges, photo.
Releases # 18 - 25
Eyes Knows it by Paul Jennings -- 8 copies: 6 to HI77 and 2 wild
Release #26 and 27
26. The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan
27. The Keeper
msrubble 4 yrs ago
Release 1 (Dual challenge)
The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd. No A in title OR author.
Also in the Movie Books challenge.
I'm allergic to A in titles - # 32 - 34
33 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13260065/ The Wedding Gift
34 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13326732/ Murder on 34th Street
28. The Good Luck of Right Now by Matthew Quick
Let's Be Jolly
27. My Lobotomy, by Howard Dully and Charles Fleming ( http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/12794263/ ), wild release, multiple challenges, photo.
I'm allergic to A in titles - release # 35 - 44
35 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13354234 18Mm Blues
36 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13253728/ Sounder
37 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13354235/ One True Thing
38 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13268416/ Six Out Seven
39 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13158077/ The Story of Miss Moppet
40 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13260707/ Four Blind Mice
41 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13381569/ One-Minute Devotions for Boys
43 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/12742647/ Never Let Them See You Cry
44 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13233199/ Silent Night
3. Onder de bomen by J. Bernlef: http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13202753
83dea 4 yrs ago
83dea
1. Mr. Shivers
2. Die sieben Minuten
3. Die Orden heute
4. Zeitlupe
5. Hirtennovelle
6. Die Löwin
7. Die Templerin
8. Die Seher der Iben
9. Bier Zum Trinken und Kochen
10. Die endlose Steppe
11. Entmündigt
12. Ferien in Sicht
13. Fondue
14. Ein Mensch
15. Kegeln und Kegelspiele
16. Gemüse
17. Der Renner
18. Frösche küssen besser
19. Scriptum
20. Himmel und Erde : Unordentliche Erinnerungen
21. Holunderküsschen
22. Die Prozedur
I'm allergic to A in titles, releases #28-29:
28. Going Bovine, by Libba Bray ( http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/12712721/ ), wild release, multiple challenges.
29. Winter Ghosts, by Kate Mosse ( http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13427486/ ), wild release.
4. De kroongetuige: http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/12903039/
I'm allergic to A in titles - release # 45
45 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13452570 Sights Unseen
5. Nu weet ik het by Elli Kuhne: http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/11662164/
2015 Allergic to A in titles # 2 & 3
2. http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13466550/ The Devil Served Tortellini
3. http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13464496 Criss Cross (multiple challenges)
46 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13447344/ Tent Show
47 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13242010/ Mystery Men
48 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13399906/ My Lord John
49 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13326733/ Brother Wind
50 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13480640/ The Best Present
6. Bolle: http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13396404/
30. Good Ghouls Do from needmorezoloft to operation paperback
31.Queen of the Night
32. Body of Evidence
33.Whitethorn Woods
34. Night Whispers
35. Locked in Time
The Toynbee Convector
Also in the TV Series release challenge.
36. Stone Cold
releases 8 - 11
8. Promise Me http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13285317?...
9. Lost Love by George Cooper http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/9704738?...
10. The Shell Seekers http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/8334124?...
11. Sights Unseen http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/7878321?...
One with both title and author as noted above.
Red Wing Collectibles
51 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13473881/ Ellie's People Book 1: Ellie
52 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13488256/ One More Night
53 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13354236/ To The Lighthouse
SCOUT-FINCH 4 yrs ago
#1. Looking for Bobowicz http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13449029 (multiple challenges)
releases 12 - 13
12. Secret Strength http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/12223557?...
13. Retief Unbound http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/12913252?...
A's in both author names
14. Sweet Suspicions by Julie Tetel http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/6575912?...
15. Fortune's Fool http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/10189820?...
16. Stocking Stumpers http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13285741?...
Release #37 - 38
37. Five-Minute Mini-Mysteries
38. She Who Remembers
30. M. Butterfly, by David Henry Hwang ( http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13429646/ ), wild release, multiple challenges, photo.
31. Yondering, by Louis L'Amour ( http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13083508/ ), wild release.
32. Prowlers, by Christopher Golden ( http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/13083500/ ), wild release, A-less author.
Winesburg, Ohio
"When the Day of Judgment dawns and people, great and small, come marching in to receive their heavenly rewards, the Almighty will gaze upon the mere bookworms and say to Peter, 'Look, these need no reward. We have nothing to give them. They have loved reading.'"
- Virginia Woolf
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2197
|
__label__wiki
| 0.543033
| 0.543033
|
By: David I. Kertzer
Narrator: Arthur Morey
Genre: History - Europe - Western
Categories: History - Europe - Western
Bologna, 1858: A police posse, acting on the orders of a Catholic inquisitor, invades the home of a Jewish merchant, Momolo Mortara, wrenches his crying six-year-old son from his arms, and rushes him off in a carriage bound for Rome. His mother is so distraught that she collapses and has to be taken to a neighbor's house, but her weeping can be heard across the city. With this terrifying scene--one that would haunt this family forever--David I. Kertzer begins his fascinating investigation of the dramatic kidnapping, and shows how the deep-rooted antisemitism of the Catholic Church would eventually contribute to the collapse of its temporal power in Italy. As Edgardo's parents desperately search for a way to get their son back, they learn why he--out of all their eight children--was taken. Years earlier, the family's Catholic serving girl, fearful that the infant might die of an illness, had secretly baptized him (or so she claimed). Edgardo recovered, but when the story reached the Bologna Inquisitor, the result was his order for Edgardo to be seized and sent to a special monastery where Jews were converted into good Catholics. His justification in Church teachings: No Christian child could be raised by Jewish parents. The case of Edgardo Mortara became an international cause célèbre. Although such kidnappings were not uncommon in Jewish communities across Europe, this time the political climate had changed. As news of the family's plight spread to Britain, where the Rothschilds got involved, to France, where it mobilized Napoleon III, and even to America, public opinion turned against the Vatican. The fate of this one boy came to symbolize the entire revolutionary campaign of Mazzini and Garibaldi to end the dominance of the Catholic Church and establish a modern, secular Italian state. A riveting story which has been remarkably ignored by modern historians--The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara will prompt intense interest and discussion as it lays bare attitudes of the Catholic Church that would have such enormous consequences in the twentieth century.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2198
|
__label__cc
| 0.537671
| 0.462329
|
Bootie Bridgestone Clamont CWS Dahon Katakura Micro Moulton Moulton Mini (Super 4) Neckermann Raleigh RSW Royal Enfield Speedwell Stella Poketby
About small wheelers Adelaide free bike hire Adjusting the classic Sturmey Archer 3 speed hub Derailleurs, internal gear hubs and the transport cyclist Different tyres front and rear Door zone: Not compulsory! Drum brake shuddering Linux OS: Had a gutful of Windows? Moulton 'F' frame plastic cable guide replacement Moulton Mini fractured frames Photos from the swinging 60s Plain English: Word & sentence length Raleigh RSW tyres Solid 'airless' Tannus tyres So you want to ride to work… Sturmey Archer TCW three speed hub with coaster brake Tip Turkey (reviews, gripes and little discoveries)
First generation Trusty Spacemaster 1965
A small manufacturer's answer to the Moulton Stowaway
Meet the Spacemaster, a small-wheeled bike that separated into two pieces for easy transport and storage. It was Trusty Manufacturing's take on the Moulton Stowaway, the original small-wheeled separable.
Trusty was a maker of children's pavement cycles based at the Angel Factory Colony, Edmonton, North London. It was established in 1959 by the principals of the defunct Aberdale Cycle Co Ltd, which made autocycles and small motorcycles at a factory (demolished in 2015) in nearby Bridport Road. (Thanks to Iceni CAM Magazine / Mark Daniels)
The products of the new firm were somewhat unconventional, with unique frames and a look all their own. One distinctive feature was motorcycle-style triple clamps – triangular plates, upper and lower, locating the forks – which was perhaps a reflection of their experience with motorised two wheelers. And they didn't change their ways when it came time to produce a bike for adults; it was just more of the same, only bigger.
A unique design
The Spacemaster may separate like the Moulton Stowaway, but the way it does so is entirely different. There is no split midway along the frame (à la Moulton), or the weakness that goes with it. Instead the fork/handlebar assembly separates from the rest of the bike. The two chunks, the fork/handlebar assembly and the rest, are held together by a cylindrical extension on the front of the frame that fits snugly into a 'hole' in the fork/handlebar assembly, and is secured there by a Campagnolo quick release. The hole is actually the void within the inner races of the headset bearings. On a conventional bike, the steerer occupies that space, while the races themselves are located in the frame (i.e. the steer tube), the opposite of the arrangement on the Trusty.
Princess Diana's childhood Trusty Tracker
Each fork blade extends upwards way above the forks themselves, and each has an open top. Each of the handlebars – yes, there are two separate handlebars – fits into one of those open tops. The bars can be swivelled out of the way to save storage space (and they can be removed altogether, albeit with the brake cable still attached to one). In the riding position a notched tab on each handlebar interlocks with the other, and they are secured in that position by an (extra long) seat post bolt that clamps them within their fork tubes. (That bit's important; I got a terrible fright when I rode it without that clamp tight enough.)
The square section seat tube, with the bottom bracket shell on its lower extremity, neatly abuts the rear of the rectangular-section main beam. The seat stays kink their way across a low arc from the dropouts to the join of the main member and seat tube. The chain stays are short but otherwise boringly conventional. The seat post, being square to match the seat tube, is topped by a short section of round tube to accommodate a conventional saddle clamp. The seat post is heavily chromed and quite presentable, as befits a world first. Even Dr Moulton didn't think so far outside the square (ahem).
Being a separable, it would have been impracticable to have cables going to the rear, so a (cable-controlled) three speed hub and/or rear brake would not have been suitable. Rather than content themselves with a single speed and coaster brake, the Trusty people did the smart thing and opted for the German two speed Fichtel & Sachs Duomatic hub. This offers a much-needed second gear as well as a coaster brake, without the need for any cables. It suits the bike to a tee, and as a bonus there's nothing to go wrong, minimal maintenance is needed and there is no cable ugliness. I like to kid myself that the Trusty people, sensitive to the panzerwerks aesthetic of their new baby, chose the duomatic because they couldn't bear to have messy cables spoiling the looks!
This particular Spacemaster, somewhat less than pristine, looks like another rescue, perhaps straight out of a skip bin – and it's good to see it saved. Fully rebuilt (no expense spared!), the only non-original parts are the bottom bracket spindle, bearings and fixed cup, and the front brake cable. It was a blow to lose the rusted original cable, as it had a braided outer sheath which I think would be quite unusual, like the whole bike for that matter.
As for riding, the Trusty is pleasant enough, but it’s a fairly small bike, and I’m sometimes conscious of that when I feel as though I’m ‘perched’ on it (and I’m only 170cm). It has the same 305 ETRTO wheels and fat tyres as the Raleigh RSW and CWS Commuter, and as with those bikes I’m initially aware of the high rolling resistance but soon forget about it. There's nothing particularly notable about the steering, once you get used to the fact that one handgrip is noticeably higher than the other (did you really expect it to be that normal?). Occasionally a resonant hum, emanating from the hollows of the rectangular-section frame, accompanies my ride; a friendly reminder, if I needed one, that this ain’t no ordinary bike.
Having only two speeds, the Spacemaster can be a bit of a workout compared to a three speed in hilly terrain, but it generally suits this bike's purpose in life. Further, the convenience of the kick-back gearchange is very easy to get used to, and one could forgive it all sorts of sins for that. And besides, the thing puts a smile on my face. The front caliper brake, the typical steel single pivot type of the time, but with a long reach to clear the fat tyres, is only marginal, but the coaster at the rear is good enough to be reassuring. Overall, it’s fine for its intended purpose.
Later Spacemasters and Spacemaster copies
This model Trusty Spacemaster, the first generation, was only around for a year or two. Subsequent models became progressively more 'normal'.
Later generations of Trusty Spacemaster
Over time they gained 20" wheels, conventional forks and conventional seat stays. However, they did maintain a version of the signature tapered, rectangular section main member, to the end (in the mid-70s?). The later Spacemasters were available in both 'fixed' and folding (not separable) versions (with a knob on top to release the hinge) and sold under the 'Delta' and then 'Viscount' names.
The existence of a couple of Spacemaster lookalikes suggests others appreciated the merits of the original Trusty design. The first of these is one I found on my internet travels. Unmistakable, but badged as a 'Tempest' (Dutch?), it has so much in common with the real thing that it may well be a licence-built version (that's a 70s Chinese '5 Rams' extendable behind it). The Tempest looks like a single speed, second generation Spacemaster, but with smaller wheels. It also has a stirrup (rod) front brake, which Spacemasters never had.
The other lookalike, badged as a 'Columbia', is believed to be a Dutch Sparta. It has the separating mechanism and the separate handlebars of the first generation Spacemaster, but bigger wheels. (Thanks to the Folding Society)
I hope you've enjoyed this little treatise on Trusty's contribution to the world of separable bikes. However, I cannot close without giving due mention to the one and only celebrity Trusty. Yes, the maker of the Spacemaster did have its 15 minutes of fame, but it had to wait until May 2007, when the late Princess Diana's childhood bike went under the hammer. The red Trusty 'Tracker', a Raleigh Chopper-style bike, sold for £1200. It now lives in the House On The Hill Toy Museum in Stansted, Essex. If only the little Trusty firm had had some idea, in those far off days, that they enjoyed such royal patronage…
Bootiebike – First generation Trusty Spacemaster – Last updated: 18/1/16
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2199
|
__label__cc
| 0.668584
| 0.331416
|
In Response to Criticism About Harassment, FanX Salt Lake Tweets NYT Bestselling Author’s Private Email Address
Posted on May 23, 2018 | by Kaitlyn Booth | 0 Comment(s)
Salt Lake FanX is back in the news, and it’s, once again, not for anything particularly positive. Recently a local author was not invited back to the convention following allegations that he had repeatedly touched a female author without her consent. When New York Times bestselling author Shannon Hale emailed Bryan Brandenberg about making sure that a solid policy regarding harassment was in place, she didn’t get the best response. Then the Twitter account for Salt Lake FanX doxxed her (whether intentionally or not) by posting the email correspondence without redacting her email address.
This is what @fanxsaltlake does to a woman who publicly speaks up about harassment at their con: publishes her email without redacting her private email address (I did that on this screenshot) but deletes the parts of the email that makes them look bad pic.twitter.com/8m2dgwtm9P
— Shannon Hale (@haleshannon) May 21, 2018
The tweet has since been deleted. The most telling line of the email is the following:
“Maybe it is best that you sit this one out and then wait to hear how it went. I don’t think there is anything we can say to convince you to come and quite frankly I’m not willing to try. I know in my heart that we take this seriously and I don’t think you get it. I have four daughters and I’ve been sensitive to these issues for decades, long before it became trendy with #metoo.”
There are a lot of things wrong with that response. First, there is the way Brandenberg dismisses her and tells Hale that she should “sit this out” like the issue is only about her when she was clearly looking out for the well being of other women. He also used the defense that “I have four daughters and I’ve been sensitive to these issues for decades” as if if his daughters somehow give him a pass for how he handles this situation. This would like Brandenberg insisting he works with the gay community while dismissing the concerns of the community at hand when dealing with a controversial guest. The fact that he closes this portion of the email by calling the #metoo movement “trendy” misses the entire point that it’s been so hard for women to speak up about these issues in the past and now they feel empowered. Someone posting your personal email address when you’re trying to address these sorts of issues is one of the reasons women haven’t spoken up.
This had led to multiple authors taking to Twitter about how they have tried to work with FanX about this new policy without any success.
For months, authors have been asking for a better sexual harassment policy from @fanxsaltlake. What happened publicly today on twitter is an indication of how women have been treated privately by those running this con. https://t.co/lJeYb30dC9
— Ally Condie (@allycondie) May 21, 2018
I can't stress enough how many private emails were sent, by many people, and how much we did NOT want this to go so badly. We're tired. We want to write our books and go to public events and not be touched and harassed. That is all. Please.
This thread is what I basically came here to say. Allow me to add that I spent MY ENTIRE TOUR emailing back and forth with one of the con's programmers, and could not get him to say "yes" when it came to whether they would enforce their shiny new policy. https://t.co/qCAH81ZU9G
— Jessica Day George (@JessDayGeorge) May 21, 2018
It's just empty words when a convention claims zero tolerance for harassment, but then protects the rich and powerful while doxxing victims.
And by "empty words" I mean "absolute hypocrisy," and "dangerously misleading."
— Howard Tayler (@howardtayler) May 21, 2018
Over on Facebook, Brandenberg decided to “poll” the group for feedback on the policy while leaving only two negative options.
Author Brendan Reichs also announced that he is withdrawing from the convention and posted part of the policy in question that FanX violated when they posted Hale’s email.
Here’s the confidentiality section in the new FanX harassment policy. As a protection it’s disappointingly weak to begin with—“legitimate business interest?”—yet @haleshannon had a private email REGARDING A HARASSMENT COMPLAINT published with clear identifying info. On Twitter. pic.twitter.com/qQo5Rgs9u5
— Brendan Reichs (@BrendanReichs) May 21, 2018
This far from the first time that Brandenberg and company have put their foot in their mouth when it comes to handling sensitive issues. Before the previous event the convention was thinking of inviting Orson Scott Card and ended up backing out after a huge public backlash. They aren’t sending a great message here, as Hale put it in a Salt Lake Tribune article:
“To me, that was sending a signal to abusers that ‘You’ll get a pass here,’ and to victims, that if you speak up, we’re not going to take you seriously.”
Brandenberg has since made a public apology on his Facebook page.
For a con that seems to believe they are on their way to being the next Comic-Con International, this kind of attitude toward the harassment of your guests is not the way to go.
About Kaitlyn Booth
Kaitlyn is the Editor-in-Chief at Bleeding Cool. She loves movies, television, comics, and political satire. She's a member of the UFCA and the GALECA. Feminist. Writer. Nerd. Follow her on twitter @katiesmovies and @safaiagem on instagram. She's also a co-host at The Nerd Dome Podcast. Listen to it at http://www.nerddomepodcast.com
twitter facebook square instagram globe
Posted in Comics, Events
RuneScape Classic Going Offline After 17 Years of Service
What’s in the Box?!: Loot Gaming – May 2018
Popular Today in Events
The Sword from “Mulan” is on Display at SDCC
“Teen Titans GO! Vs. Teen Titans”: Scott Menville Talks Dueling “Robins” & More! [INTERVIEW]
“The Last Kids on Earth” Team Talk Netflix Animated Series; Max Brallier on Book Series’ Future
“Castlevania”: Warren Ellis Talks Adapting Video Game, Working with Netflix, Dracula & More [INTERVIEW]
Popular This Week in Events
Updated: 7 Cars Destroyed by Arson at ALA, Cosplayer’s Stalker Suspected
“Stumptown” Team on Portland Influence, Deviating from Comics, Importance of Representation & More [INTERVIEW]
More from Bleeding Cool in Comics
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2204
|
__label__cc
| 0.746011
| 0.253989
|
Konami Adds Some Other IP Assets Into Metal Gear Survive
If you happen to be one of the people still playing Metal Gear Survive, Konami has added in some familiar additions to the game. Starting on October 23rd, the company will be adding in some content from some of their other properties for you to use in the game, such as the Pyramid Head from Silent […]
Review: Metal Gear Survive is a Recycled Mess of a Game
Going into Metal Gear Survive, I told myself one thing: I would not try to hold this game up to the standards of the previous Metal Gear games. Survive recycles a lot of assets and gameplay mechanics from The Phantom Pain, and has a pretty fitting theme considering that fact. Survive is appropriately named, given the entire […]
Metal Gear Survive Tops Sony’s Japanese Games Market This Week
Konami’s Metal Gear Survive has taken Monster Hunter: World off the top of Sony Japan’s digital game sales listings, which is a pretty startling upset considering the Western world’s reaction to MGS. Of course, these sales just refer to Sony’s digital sales and do not reflect the total market score for either game. That said, for the week […]
Note Showing Support For Kojima Productions Over Konami Found in Metal Gear Survive
A note seemingly damning Konami and offering support for Hideo Kojima has been found in Metal Gear Survive. Well, this certainly is something. For some important context to catch you up, there was a huge shift for Metal Gear back in 2015. Kojima, the creator of the franchise, left Konami just prior to the release of Metal Gear […]
Metal Gear Survive’s Daily Challenge Missions Start Today
If you’ve picked up Konami’s latest Metal Gear, you’ll probably be interested to know that Metal Gear Survive will be getting new daily and weekly missions starting today. As part of these new missions, more rewards and special battle conditions will be offered to add variety to co-op game play, fostering different team strategies. This should […]
Metal Gear Survive Charges Money For a New Save Slot
Metal Gear Survive charges money for a new save slot, it’s been discovered causing many to question the decision. Microtransactions are in a weird spot right now. It feels every game is under extreme scrutiny after several high profile conversations around games like Shadow of War, Destiny 2 and Star Wars Battlefront II. It seems patience with […]
Check Out the Latest Video Game Releases for February 20–26, 2018
This week’s list of video game releases is a weird mix of originals and re-releases that have been cleaned up for modern consoles. So there’s a hearty variety of old and new in here that might get you excited. Choose your games wisely, and as always: have fun! February 20th Age of Empires: Definitive Edition […]
Metal Gear Survive Gets a Hyperactive Trailer Preparing for This Week’s Launch
Konami has released a new trailer to celebrate the nearing launch of Metal Gear Survive. There is something about Metal Gear Survive that has me genuinely interested. It’s such a bizarre mash-up of franchise and genre that there certainly is a curiosity in seeing how the full game pans out. It’s had a couple betas, […]
Metal Gear Survive is Getting Another Beta Next Week – This Time on PC Too
Metal Gear Survive is getting a second beta next week, only this time players on PC will be able to check it out. The first Metal Gear Survive beta seemed to land with mixed reactions. The game has had an uphill battle since it was announced, at least in terms of perception. It’s the first […]
Konami Confirms That Metal Gear Survive Will Include Micro-transactions
Konami has confirmed that Metal Gear Survive will require a constant online connection in order for you to play it, and it will include a micro-transaction system. To the surprise of pretty much no one. Many games have some kind of online connectivity requirement these days, especially when they’re designed to be massive multiplayer machines like MGSV […]
Metal Gear Survive Trailer Shows off a 5-Minute Overview of Everything You’ll Be Doing in Game
Metal Gear Survive has gotten a new trailer showing off all sort of stuff in the game, from base building to story content As posted by IGN on YouTube, the game’s five-minute trailer acts as an overview of the entire title. It’s all a bit scattershot, but it starts with how it ties into Metal […]
Metal Gear Survive Shows Off Crafting and Structure in Single Player Campaign Trailer
Konami has put out the first look at Metal Gear Survive‘s single-player campaign in a new trailer. The rundown shows off the structure, weapons and survival elements you’ll need to get by in this offshoot of Metal Gear Solid V. Perhaps one of the surprising things about this trailer is, and this might sound silly, […]
Metal Gear Survive’s Open Beta Starts in January
Konami’s first attempt to make Metal Gear games without Hideo Kojima, Metal Gear Survive, a multiplayer version of Metal Gear V: The Phantom Pain‘s forward operating base missions, will be out this coming February. The company has announced the game’s open beta dates today. Metal Gear Survive will hold an open beta on PS4 and Xbox One from January 18th-21st. […]
Konami Give Out Info & Release Dates For ‘Metal Gear Survive’
Like it or not, Konami is releasing their zombie-esq version of Metal Gear in 2018 without Kojima. Today, the company released images, release dates and more info about the game, which we’ve included below as we wait for it to be released on February 20th for PC, PS4, and Xbox One for $40. Metal Gear Survive picks […]
Can Metal Gear Survive Save Konami?
In an attempt to keep Metal Gear’s success going after Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Konami is attempting to bring us a survival horror game set in an alternate version of the MGS universe. I got my hands on Metal Gear Survive back at E3. For Survive, Konami took the combat engine of Metal Gear Solid V and dropped […]
A New Metal Gear Co-Op Game Has Been Announced And It’s Bananas In The Weirdest Way
For the past year or so, everyone has assumed that Konami have been out of the AAA game development scene. Well, it seems they are back in the game, in the most truly bizarre way possible. The publisher has just announced Metal Gear Survive, a co-op game set in an alternate version of the universe […]
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2205
|
__label__wiki
| 0.982695
| 0.982695
|
UK Sport News
Championship gossip: Biesla gives update on Leeds United transfer plans; former Aston Villa star could be given way back into the game; Birmingham City make first signing
The rumour mill keeps turning
David Byrom
Here is all the latest news from around the Championship transfer window.
Biesla not bringing many in
New Leeds United boss Marcelo Biesla says he will not be looking to make too many additions to his squad.
In his first press conference since being appointed Elland Road boss, Biesla revealed that he favoured continuity over a squad overhaul.
"For the moment, we're not intending to bring too many new faces in," said Bielsa.
"From my point of view, the club currently have many players on the books who should remain.
"In terms of the transfer process, I get names from (director of football) Victor Orta, I then give my opinion on them.
"If we arrive at an agreement and are on the same page moving forward, that’s when the process starts."
Manchester United star to decide on Arsenal move; Chelsea star's move is "likely"; Liverpool move for target is thwarted
Agbonlahor interests Championship clubs
Gabriel Agbonlahor of Aston Villa is challenged by Conor McCormack
BirminghamLive report that a number of Championship clubs could give former Aston Villa star Gabby Agbonlahor a way back into football.
The striker left Aston Villa this summer after 17 years at the club, but a number of clubs in the Championship are willing to offer him a way back into football.
Agbonlahor, 31, scored 87 goals and made almost 400 appearances for the Claret and Blues in 13 professional seasons.
There was a suggestion that the MLS might have been an option for Agbonlahor, and clubs in the SPL were reportedly keen too - though it appears Agbonlahor was less than enthused about the prospect of moving north of the border.
The striker has managed only three goals in his last three seasons at B6 but clubs in the second tier could still offer him a role as a squad player in the season to come as he looks to resolve his future.
West Bromwich Albion star ready to hand in transfer request in move that could impact Bristol City
Pederson becomes a Blue
Birmingham City have completed their first deal of the summer, signing highly-rated left-back Kristian Pedersen from Union Berlin.
He spent the last two years with Berlin after joining them from HB Koge in his home country of Denmark.
BirminghamLive report that he admitted that making the decision to leave was not easy, but it was the right time to take the next step in his career.
"It is not easy for me to go because I felt very comfortable in Berlin.
"I have been able to develop very well here, but now it's time to take another step. That's why I'm looking forward to the Championship and Birmingham.
"Thanks to the fans, the team, the whole club - the support here at Union was really great. I will always keep this special club in good memory. Thank you Union!"
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2209
|
__label__wiki
| 0.526116
| 0.526116
|
Registration is closed for this event
External participants £ 70.00
IPCAPA trainees £ 0.00
IPCAPA community £ 0.00
British Psychotherapy Foundation
37 Mapesbury Road
London, NW2 4HJ
trauma, neglect and neurodevelopment: technical challenges of working with complex disabilities
The bpf is bringing together experienced professionals working with children and young people who have experienced trauma, neglect or neurodevelopmental issues to discuss the technical challenges of working with complex disabilities.
This event is open to all professionals working with or interested in the mental health of young people.
10:15 – 10:20: Welcome and Introduction by Dr Janine Sternberg, Clinical Course Director and Dr Anna Cohen, Senior Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist at Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
10:20 – 11.30: Disabled Children and their Families: What Can Child Psychotherapy Offer? Pamela Bartram, Child, Adolescent and Adult Psychotherapist
11:30 – 11:45: Coffee Break
11:45 – 13:00: Shut-down Deactivated States of Mind and Clinical Challenges: Trauma, Neglect, Dissociation and the Body - Graham Music, Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist at the Tavistock Centre
13:00 – 13:45: Lunch
13:45 – 14:45pm: The Complex Interaction of Trauma and Neurodevelopmental Factors - Dr Jamie Carter, Consultant Paediatrician at Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
15:00 – 16:15pm: Presentation from Anna Cohen, Janine Sternberg & Yael Yadlin (Year 4 Trainee) “I want to see where babies come from!” The journey of a 5 year old towards making sense of himself
16.15pm: Tea/Mince pies
Pamela Bartram is a Child, Adolescent and Adult Psychotherapist. She originally trained as a Music Therapist and her interest in working with children and adults with a disability has carried over into her work as a psychotherapist. She worked in the NHS, as a clinician/manager of a CAMHS team for children with disabilities and their families and is now solely in private practice. She is currently Chair of the bpf Infant Observation Committee and is particularly interested in the non -verbal aspects of communication.
Dr Jamie Carter is a Consultant Paediatrician in Brighton and Hove. He has an interest in the impact of ante-natal factors on the developing brain and on post-natal events and developmental trauma in children. He co-leads an FASD assessment service for children in Brighton and leads a developmental trauma (and sensory attachment issues) clinic for children and parents/carers where there are uncertainties about diagnosis/formulation.
Dr Anna Cohen is a senior Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist and Trauma Care Pathway Lead at Brighton CAMHS. She has a particular interest in therapy with children and young people who are neuro-atypical or have a Learning Disability.
Dr Graham Music is Consultant Child Psychotherapist at the Tavistock Centre and adult psychotherapist in private practice. His publications include Nurturing Children: From Trauma to Hope using neurobiology, psychoanalysis and attachment (2019), Nurturing Natures: (2016, 2010), Affect and Emotion (2001), and The Good Life (2014). He has a passion for exploring the interface between developmental findings and clinical work. A former Associate Clinical Director at the Tavistock, he has managed and developed many services working with the aftermath of child maltreatment. He works clinically with forensic cases at The Portman Clinic, and teaches, lectures and supervises in Britain and abroad.
Dr Janine Sternberg is a Child, Adolescent and Adult Psychotherapist who is clinical course director of the Doctorate in Child & Adolescent Psychotherapy delivered jointly by IPCAPA at the bpf and the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families. She has a special interest in infant observation and in issues to do with training.
Yael Yadlin is a year 4 trainee on the Doctorate in Child & Adolescent Psychotherapy who has her training placement with Anna Cohen in Brighton CAMHS.
access information: The bpf building has limited access. Please contact us to find out more on 0208 452 9823 or at enquiries@bpf-psychotherapy.org.uk.
disclaimer: The bpf will not be held responsible for travel/hotel expenses made or incurred in the unlikely event of this course either being cancelled or postponed.
See our cancellation & refund policy
Please help us and let your friends, colleagues and followers know about our page: trauma, neglect and neurodevelopment: technical challenges of working with complex disabilities
https://www.britishpsychotherapyfoundation.org.uk/civicrm/event/info?id=293&reset=1
Event Fee(s)
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2211
|
__label__cc
| 0.563718
| 0.436282
|
This external link is not available in presentation mode.
Enable JavaScript in your browser to access brose.com.
Brose in Mexico
Locations in Mexico
Technology for vehicle doors and liftgates
Adjustment systems for front and rear seats
Electric motors and drives
E-bike drives
Working at Brose México
Brose Stories
Investments-Supply of Services
Handbooks-Templates
PKI / E-Mail encryption
Czech English
Provider, Legal Notices and Terms
Jobs at Brose
Brose arouses girls interest in technical professions
Coburg, 2010-15-07
Twelve girls will experience the fascination and various facets of a technical apprenticeship when taking part in the "Girls for Technology Camp" project week organized by the automotive supplier Brose at the beginning of August. From August 1st to 5th, 2010, the 12 to 14-year-old girls from secondary schools in Coburg, Kronach, Bamberg, Rattelsdorf and Bad Königshofen will gain an insight into working in a modern technical profession.
This year, Brose takes part for the ninth time in a row in this initiative of the Bildungswerk der Bayerischen Wirtschaft e.V. (Education Center of the Bavarian Industry Association) and is actually the only company in Upper Franconia to do so. The event, which is organized by the Bildungswerk throughout Bavaria, is also promoted by the Bavarian Ministry for Economic Affairs, Infrastructure, Transport and Technology. The main objective of the camp is to raise girls' acceptance of technology and hence win more female applicants for this area.
Brose will introduce the participants to professions such as mechatronics engineer, machine tool technician and technical product designer. Under the guidance of Brose's trainers, the girls can put their technical skills to the test in the production of a metal board game, a seat adjuster which can be used as a cell phone holder and an electric switch. Representatives of the organization team and the company as well as the parents will be invited to view the project results in a final presentation.
"Young women with a good education have excellent career opportunities in technical professions. Our objective with this camp initiative is to encourage girls' desire to experiment by providing them with the opportunity to put their theoretical knowledge of maths and physics learned at school into practice," Michael Stammberger, head of apprentice training, explains the company's involvement.
In addition to eight commercial and industrial/technical apprenticeships, Brose cooperates with the universities of cooperative education in Stuttgart and Friedrichshafen and offers three degree programs for Bachelor of Engineering (cooperative education) as well as Bachelor of Science in Information Systems.
At present, 230 young people are participating in Brose's apprenticeship programs in Coburg, Hallstadt, Würzburg, Wuppertal and Berlin.
Press Contact Kommunikation Brose Gruppe +49 9561 21 1188 E-mail
Brose México, S.A. de C.V. Parque Industrial El Marqués C.P. 76246 El Marqués, Qro.
Press Release as PDF
brose News
© 2020 Brose Fahrzeugteile SE & Co. KG, Coburg
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2213
|
__label__wiki
| 0.6768
| 0.6768
|
'Can you download from Hulu?': You can with the Hulu app and a No Ads subscription — here's how to do it
Jennifer Still
You can download movies and TV shows from the Hulu app to your phone or tablet.
It's possible to download from Hulu so you can watch your favorite movies and TV shows while offline.
Only subscribers with the $11.99 monthly Hulu (No Ads) plan can download from Hulu and not all titles are available to download.
Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
While most of us are connected to the Internet pretty much 24 hours a day, there are times when being online isn't an option, like flying with an airline that doesn't offer in-flight Wi-Fi or while on vacation in an area with low, or no, coverage.
That means that if you want to watch some TV shows or movies on Hulu to entertain you on these occasions, you'll need to download them so you can access them while offline.
Hulu only introduced the downloading option in October 2019, and unfortunately, it's still only available to subscribers on the $11.99 per month No Ads plan — subscribers to the basic $5.99 per month plan aren't eligible.
You can download up to 25 titles at a time across up to five different devices, and they'll stay on your device for 30 days before expiring, giving you plenty to watch in the meantime.
Here's how to download movies and shows on the Hulu app.
Check out the products mentioned in this article:
Hulu (No Ads) subscription (From $11.99/month)
How to download on Hulu for offline viewing
1. On your device's home screen, tap the Hulu icon to open the app.
2. Since the downloading feature is still new and there aren't many titles available, it makes sense to go directly to the "Downloadable" section listed at the top of the "Search" menu.
To find this option, simply tap the "Search" option in the menu bar at the bottom of your screen, then tap "Downloadable."
Tap "Downloadable" to find movies and TV shows to download.
Jennifer Still/Business Insider
3. Tap on the TV show or movie you wish to download.
4. Tap the small icon next to the episode or movie title you want to download, which contains a downward-pointing arrow inside of a circle.
You can also download movies and TV shows by tapping the arrow icon next to the title.
5. Your file will then begin downloading. Once finished, you'll be able to access your downloads by tapping the "Downloads" option on the bottom menu bar.
It should be noted that downloading isn't available on desktop via the Hulu.com website.
Related coverage from How To Do Everything: Tech:
'How many people can watch Hulu at once?': An unlimited amount, with the right subscription — here's what you need to know
How to cancel your Hulu subscription, or temporarily pause it for up to 12 weeks
You can't watch Netflix on a Nintendo Switch, but you can watch YouTube and Hulu — here's what you need to know
'Can you watch Hulu on a Nintendo Switch?': Yes, you can — here's how to set up the Switch's Hulu app
Insider receives a commission when you buy through our links.
SEE ALSO: The best iPhone for every type of person and budget
More: Tech How To Hulu iPhone Android
Newsroom Affiliate How To
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2216
|
__label__cc
| 0.551462
| 0.448538
|
Washington Post staff are jealous of the free M&M’s and wasabi peas at The New York Times — and they want similar perks from Jeff Bezos
Isobel Asher Hamilton
Amazon CEO and owner of the Washington Post Jeff Bezos.
Reuters/Lindsey Wasson
Employees at The Washington Post are asking owner Jeff Bezos for fairer pay and benefits.
But it's not just the fundamentals unionised staff are campaigning over, they also have their eye on other perks — free snacks.
In a bulletin circulated internally last week, unionized staff outlined the superior benefits their peers at The New York Times receive.
Included was a jokey aside on the fact that Times employees get free popcorn, M&M's, and wasabi peas, while Post staff are limited to coffee and mouth wash.
The implied message to Bezos and Post management was: We'd like some of the same.
More than 400 Washington Post employees sent an open letter to owner Jeff Bezos last week demanding that the Amazon CEO improve their pay and benefits.
In the letter, they called for fair pay, benefits, and job security, decrying "shocking" current practices. But it's not just the fundamentals unionized staff are campaigning over, they also have their eye on other perks — free snacks.
The Post's union, The Washington Post Guild, sent Business Insider a copy of a bulletin that was circulated internally on Friday last week.
It outlines the superior benefits their peers at The New York Times receive, addressing the disparity in wages, retirement, family leave, holidays, job security, and severance.
Some of the bulletin has already been shared on Twitter by Post journalist Abigail Hauslohner:
—Abigail Hauslohner (@ahauslohner) June 14, 2018
At the end of the memo is a jokey afterthought, which highlights the generosity of The New York Times when it comes to free perks in the office. The implied message to Bezos and Post management was: We'd like some of the same.
"The Times offers its staff free coffee — and free snacks, too: fresh fruit, popcorn, M&M’s, trail mix and wasabi peas, to name a few," the bulletin said. "The Post has started providing free coffee this year. Oh, and mouth wash."
In a recent Huffington Post article, journalist and co-chair of the Washington Post Guild bargaining unit, Frederick Kunkle, accused Bezos of trying to cultivate an image as a philanthropist while "taking from the very people who helped him build his fortune."
Kunkle told Business Insider that the Guild has had no response from Bezos since the open letter was issued, "none at all." He also said Martin Baron, the Post's venerated editor, has not got involved in the debate.
"Marty has not directly entered into it at all, and honestly I sort of wish he would. And I wish he would stick up for having good jobs for the people who come here, and not just expanding the newsroom," Kunkle added.
Business Insider has contacted The Washington Post for comment.
SEE ALSO: More than 400 Washington Post staffers wrote an open letter to Jeff Bezos calling out his 'shocking' pay practices
More: Jeff Bezos Washington Post Fair wages Benefits
Wasabi peas
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2217
|
__label__wiki
| 0.910774
| 0.910774
|
Two Cambridge restaurants make The Sunday Times Top 100 Restaurants
Congratulations to two of our top local restaurants
Emily Martin
National recognition for two local favourites
It's a proud day for Cambridge as not one, but TWO local places have won national recognition in The Sunday Times Top 100 Restaurants.
The Hole In The Wall in Little Wilbraham, which is run by former MasterChef finalist Alex Rushmer.
And The Pint Shop in Cambridge, where the Scotch egg is singled out as a star dish.
The Hole in the Wall is owned and run by Masterchef finalist and chef Alex Rushmer.
Set in the beautiful village of Little Wilbraham, diners are guaranteed a culinary experience like no other.
Alex says: "It's absolutely tremendous to be recognised on a national level by a panel of industry experts.
I'm thrilled that The Hole in the Wall has been included in the list and it is testament to all the hard work that everyone on the team puts in.
I'm very privileged to work alongside such an amazing group of people.'"
Pint Shop
The Pint Shop on Peas Hill
The Sunday Times has singled out the Pint Shop's Scotch Egg as this establishment's star dish.
Head chef Guy Segev says: "We're very pleased to be included in this list. We've worked extremely hard to get Pint Shop to this point and it's nice to be appreciated and see that we're getting results.
But it's a team effort obviously and a really nice moment for all us".
And what about the Scotch egg?
"We do sell a lot of this, it's so popular we often sell out!," says Guy. "It has a soft runny yolk, pork mix and we use Japanese bread crumbs which make it extra crusty.
We tend to a special Scotch egg at the weekend too. Last week we did a haggis one.
And For Valentine's we'll be doing a smoked salmon one with beetroot inside so it's pink when you cut into it."
A romantic Scotch egg? Now there's a thought.
Any Sunday Times winners nearby?
Yes! Zoom out a bit and East Anglia is home to a total of five restaurants in The Sunday Times Top 100 Restaurants supplement, which is published on Sunday February 5.
The other three places you need to check out are:
Morston Hall
Morston Hall serves a tasting menu which changes each day, featuring dishes such as Brancaster mussels with perry and lovage.
We're having: Confit loin of Norfolk horn lamb, pearl barley, swede purée, curly kale, sage oil, pine nut lamb jus, from the tasting menu, £70 per person.
Benedicts
Benedicts’ modern British menu features meat sourced only from Norfolk farms, such as the star dish Norfolk lamb, Jerusalem artichoke, truffle, parsley sponge.
We're having: Brancaster Mussels, Kohlrabi, Pickled Red Currants, Hyssop, part of a 3 course menu for £36.
*Wonders what Kohlrabi and Hyssop are but reassured it'll all taste amazing*
The Butley Orford Oysterage
Then there's The Butley Orford Oysterage, in Suffolk, specialises in seafood caught fresh off the coast, with the magazine singling out the fish pie for praise.
We're having: The fish pie, £14 with Oyster Soup to start, £6.80
Editor of The Sunday Times Top 100 Restaurants, Laurel Ives, said: “The Sunday Times Top 100 Restaurants judging panel is made up of some of the most experienced and knowledgeable people in the industry, from chefs and owners, to our own expert writers.
They have picked out the very best establishments that the UK’s impressive culinary scene has to offer.”
Congratulations to everyone who made the list, but especially the Cambridge ones.
Book The Hole in the Wall.
Book Pint Shop.
Hot Numbers makes it into The Telegraph's list of Britain's 30 best coffee shops
Local NewsLook inside Cambridgeshire's first inflatable theme parkInflata Nation has opened its doors and promises plenty of family fun
Local NewsGood Pub Guide 2020: The award-winning Cambridgeshire spots you need to visitOakham brewery based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, was named the Good Pub Guide 2020 Brewery of the Year
Cambridge NewsWok to Walk Asian restaurant offering healthy noodle dishes could be coming to CambridgeWok to Walk, which would open on Market Street, serves up healthy and fresh wok dishes that can be made vegan and vegetarian friendly
Marks & SpencerM&S and Next closing in Milton Keynes Kingston Park shopping centreMarks & Spencer and Next is leaving a busy Milton Keynes shopping centre
What's On20 delicious street food vans in Cambridge and what they serveOur top pick of delicious street food vans in Cambridge
UK & World NewsWhy drivers should always fill fuel tanks all the way to the topUnder filling your car could have some terrifying - and expensive - consequences
Traffic & TravelWork to begin on Histon Road plans which will eventually shut busy road for a yearThe busy main road will be closed to inbound traffic
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2219
|
__label__cc
| 0.726389
| 0.273611
|
How Email Marketing + Landing Pages Work Together to Get Awesome Results
CAMPAIGN MONITOR - MAY 23, 2019
Article first published January 2016, updated May 2019
When you send an email, you want subscribers to take action. You want them to sign up for your newsletter, shop on your site, download your latest white paper, register for a webinar, or any number of calls to action you may desire.
So how can you get more subscribers to take action? Plenty of businesses are creating awesome email campaigns, but some are struggling with conversion rates. Only 22% of businesses say they’re satisfied with conversion rates, according to Econsultancy.
To supercharge your conversion rates, you can pair your email campaigns with a landing page.
Read on to discover how email marketing and landing pages work together to deliver awesome results.
What is a landing page in marketing?
A landing page is a web page whose sole purpose is to move prospects down your sales funnel. It’s designed and optimized to convert interested prospects into buyers. One of the best ways to get visitors to your landing page is via email.
There’s no better combination of tools than a landing page and your email marketing platform to lead you to a successful and profitable marketing campaign.
While the traffic to your landing page can come from your email list, it can also come from other sources, such as:
Social media page
In essence, a landing page is where you take visitors to your website in order for them to take action on your marketing goal.
How to optimize landing pages to increase conversions
Because of its importance in your funnel, it’s imperative that you know how to optimize your landing page for higher conversion rates. Here are a few tips to get you started:
Craft captivating headlines
What do a landing page and email marketing have in common?
Their success hinges on the headlines you use.
When it comes to creating a headline for your landing page, make sure it offers the same benefits as the source of traffic. Failure to do so will lead to confusion and prospects dropping off.
Nothing inspires confidence more than the testimonials of satisfied customers. Including testimonials on your landing page is a great way to encourage prospects to take action.
Source: Greats
Another great way to build trust is by including your contact details in the footer of your landing page. When people know that they can easily reach you, it alleviates their fears that they may be dealing with a scammer.
Follow SEO best practices
While your main aim is to couple your landing page and email marketing campaign, it’s also advisable to optimize your landing page for SEO. The organic traffic it’ll draw will boost your results.
Implement practices such as researching and using the impactful keywords in the right places.
Employ FOMO
People don’t like missing out on a good deal. If that good deal will be around forever, they’ll take their time to grab it. This is why employing FOMO techniques on your landing page is a great idea if you want to increase conversions.
You can easily do this by running limited-time (or stock/slots) offers. You can also run time-sensitive discount offers. However you go about it, let your prospects know that, by not grabbing the opportunity you’re presenting them, they’re definitely missing out.
How a landing page and email marketing campaign work together
Here’s how it works. You create an effective email, like the one below from Le Mer. The goal of this email is to learn more about the story behind their Blue Heart moisturizing cream.
When a subscriber clicks on the call to action, which, in this case, is the white “Learn More” button, he or she is taken to the specific landing page below. This landing page highlights the company’s entire Blue Heart Collection.
Landing pages like this can help increase conversion rates. How? Let’s dig into the reasons landing pages are effective.
What makes landing pages so effective?
Not all landing pages convert the same. So what are some qualities that make an effective landing page?
Focused attention
When a subscriber clicks on an offer in an email and is taken to a landing page, he or she is focused on one task alone. That increases the likelihood of a subscriber following through with the action.
What happens if there isn’t a specific landing page for an email offer? Most likely, the subscriber is taken to the homepage and has to figure out how to take action.
Your homepage is also full of a dozen other links, tab, and images. All of these things can be distracting to this particular subscriber, who just wants to follow through with the action outlined in the email. That’s what makes landing pages so effective—they cut through the clutter. A subscriber is less likely to get sidetracked or confused because he or she arrives on a page that focuses on the offer from the email and allows him or her to take action.
Message match
A landing page provides continuity. Both the email campaign and the landing page should have similar text and design.
By looking at the email and the landing page, there’s no question that the two are connected. This streamlined approach makes it easy for the subscriber to take action.
By combining an email campaign with a landing page, you’re more likely to capture the lead.
How to create landing pages that integrate with Campaign Monitor
For Campaign Monitor users, it’s easy to combine the power of email marketing and landing pages. Campaign Monitor has integrations with several top-notch landing page tools, including Unbounce, Instapage, and Wishpond. These tools have premade templates, mobile-friendly options, and tools that make designing a landing page simple, even for those without a lot of technical experience.
Because these tools are integrated with Campaign Monitor, email addresses that are collected are automatically added to your contact list in your Campaign Monitor account. It’s a major perk, and it only takes a few minutes to set up.
Tips to create effective email and landing pages
There’s an art to creating emails and landing pages. It requires some attention to detail, but it’s a fairly easy process when you take these tips into consideration:
Matching message
We mentioned before that the message in the email and message on the landing page should match. In other words, if the email offers a 50% off coupon for any regularly priced item, the headline of the landing page should mention the same offer. Repetition is your friend here.
Matching look
The email and landing page should have a similar look. That means using the same color scheme, font, and overall design. When subscribers click on an email’s call to action and are taken to a matching landing page, they instantly know they’re in the right spot. It’s a visual cue that helps subscribers follow through with the action.
Don’t try to overcomplicate your landing page. You don’t need a mountain of text and bunch of stock photos. To stick to the basics, keep the text simple and use one image as a background image or use a product image.
Reinforce the decision
In both your email and the landing page, you should reinforce the subscriber’s decision to take action. If you’re encouraging a subscriber to try your software for 30 days, tell them why it’s a good idea. Explain the benefits or provide testimonials that prove your software is worthy of a trial. It could provide the necessary push a subscriber needs to convert.
One call to action
Your landing page should have one call to action. It might be tempting to add an extra one to drive traffic to your homepage or blog, but now isn’t the time. The whole point of landing pages is to keep subscribers focused on one task; so don’t introduce additional options now.
The call to action should be clear. Create a call-to-action button that’s a different color from the rest of the landing page. You want it to stand out.
Keep forms short
Whether subscribers are claiming a deal or signing up for your email list, they’ll likely have to fill out a form. You can customize this form to collect any kind of information, but we suggest keeping the form as short as possible.
Emails and landing pages work well together because they streamline a process, you don’t want to hinder your efficiency now with a lengthy form. A form with three fields has a conversion rate of 25%. That rate decreases as more fields are added, according to Unbounce.
Test your landing pages
Just as we suggest testing your emails to maximize your success, we suggest the same with landing pages.
Fortunately, testing is easy. You can change certain elements of your landing page and see which image, text, or call to action resonates best with your audience.
Email campaigns and landing pages create the perfect one-two punch for effective digital marketing. Increase the effectiveness of your email marketing campaigns by using landing pages today.
Remember, not all landing pages convert the same. To get the most out of yours, follow landing page best practices to optimize your landing page for higher conversions. And make sure to use the dynamic duo of a landing page and email marketing platform to reach your goals faster.
For inspiration on your next landing page design, check out our article entitled “12 Best Landing Page Designs of 2018.” Not only will you get design inspiration, but you’ll get more tips on how to master this powerful marketing tool.
Subscribe to the blog Become a better email marketer. Get our best tips, trends, and analysis in your inbox. GET NEW POSTS DELIVERED
How to Use Psychology to Optimize a Landing Page
How to apply psychological principles to design a landing page that converts.
Campaign Monitor & Unbounce Present: The Ultimate Holiday Email Marketing + Landing Page Guide
Get the free guide to optimizing your email marketing and landing pages for the holidays….
Integrating Your Email with Other Apps
Learn how integrating your email marketing solution with your other business apps can enable you...
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2220
|
__label__wiki
| 0.751608
| 0.751608
|
REVIEW: Soho Cinders at St Mark's Hall, Highcliffe
By Jess Stoddard
EVER wondered what Cinderella would be like if it were set in London's Soho in a laundrette? Well, George Stiles and Anthony Drewe's reworking of the classic fairytale is heartfelt, moving and the best of British comedy.
The pair have created an upbeat score with witty rhymes and gorgeous melodies that will get you laughing.
Opening with a bang, the audience is transported to the Eastenders-esk Old Compton Street, where we are introduced to all the characters in the show. The high energy opening sets the tone for the show, with rainbow flags flying high around the stage.
The storyline of Cinderella is flipped on his head, where the lead becomes a young gay heartthrob called Robbie. Robbie has fallen in love with his very own Prince Charming, London's mayoral candidate James Prince. The course of love never did run smoothly, as James is engaged to be married to Marilyn.
The panto element of this musical shines through, with ugly stepsisters and a best friend to help Robbie on his way. However, sometimes the modern references to Love Island, TOWIE and Brexit interrupts the quality of the music that Stiles and Drewe have created.
By using a transverse stage, director Adam Myers' allows the audience to become part of the action and get to know the characters up close and personal. However, at some points, I was nervous that the cast may fall off the small runway as they whizzed up and down on office chairs, bumping into each other at moments as they exited the stage.
With this staging, there were a couple of moments when you struggled to hear the lead vocals over the ensemble and live band. Nevertheless, the story was told powerfully and boldly that is deserving of this kind of show.
There are a collection of strong lead performances from Harry Young as Robbie, who captures the audience with his emotion fuelled performance of "Glass Slippers". Robbie's duet with lover James Prince, "Gypsies of the Ether" was beautiful, with Teddy Clements' soft and gorgeous voice complementing Young's perfectly.
A stand out performance came from Coral Norton, playing Robbie's best friend Velcro. Norton's shows off her impressive range, and the tear-jerking "Let Him Go" was beautifully performed with Poppy Danielle as Marilyn.
However, like with all pantos, the favourites on stage have to be the Ugly Sister characters, in this case, Robbie's stepsisters Clodagh and Dana. Dolled up in leopard print, silver leggings and an obscene amount of neon, the vulgar and extremely grotesque Tracey Taylor-Jenkins and Georgina Smith bring the house down in their Act 1 number "I'm So Over Men". The pair work brilliantly together, bouncy off each other's energy and cheeky looks. With some stellar vocals, this pair is the show steeler.
This bright and lively production is an easy and enjoyable watch and will entertain anyone who sees it.
REVIEW: Jack and the Beanstalk, Highcliffe Charity Players, Regent Centre
REVIEW: The music of Prince – New Purple Celebration at the Pavilion
REVIEW: New Year Johann Strauss Gala at Lighthouse in Poole
REVIEW - Tidings of Joy with Weymouth Choral Society, St John's Church, Weymouth
Dorset author publishes new book on WW2's Burma campaign
REVIEW: Celebration of Christmas Carols, Lighthouse, Poole
Rock choir raises the roof... and £2,000 for hospice charity
REVIEW: The Wonder Stuff at the O2 Academy in Boscombe
REVIEW: Three dames, hilarious comedy routines and super dooper costumes - you won't regret seeing Cinderella at Weymouth Pavilion
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2222
|
__label__wiki
| 0.710177
| 0.710177
|
Asa Soltan Rahmati Made Her Return to Shahs of Sunset — Here's Why
October 26, 2018, 10:35 AM ET
The mom and boutique owner shared a message with fans upon her appearance in Season 7.
Who Does Asa Soltan Rahmati Keep in Touch With?
She's baaaaaack! Asa Soltan Rahmati made her triumphant return to Shahs of Sunset in Thursday night's episode.
In the episode, Reza Farahan's husband, Adam Farahan, paid a visit to Asa's new boutique in Venice, California. As Adam browsed the shop's sunglasses, blankets, and swimwear, he and Asa had a heart-to-heart about the future of his relationship with Reza and if it included children.
Adam wasn't the only one feeling the love for Asa. She also received tons of messages of support from fans on social media about her appearance on Shahs of Sunset. Asa expressed her gratitude for all of the kind words she received from fans in a post on Instagram. "Love you all much too much and thank you from the deepest warmest part of my heart for your incredibly sweet and beautiful messages," Asa gushed. "I love you MORE."
As promised I made a quick cameo tonight my beautiful ones. My baby Adam Joon comes to visit me at @asakaftans boutique. Love you all much too much and Thank you from the deepest warmest part of my heart for your incredibly sweet and beautiful messages. I love you MORE. #Golden #asasoltan #asakaftansboutique #PersianPopPriestess #Shine ❤️🙏🏽💃🏽💋💋
A post shared by Asa Soltan Rahmati (@asasoltan) on Oct 25, 2018 at 7:17pm PDT
Asa and Adam also recently got in some "long overdue" hang time, as Adam shared on Instagram earlier this month.
Hanging with my Persian Pop Priestess. Some quality time is long over due @asasoltan . #living #shahs #persianpoppriestess #asakaftans
A post shared by Adam Farahan (@theadamneely) on Oct 18, 2018 at 1:33pm PDT
Asa announced that she would be taking a step back from Shahs of Sunset in June. She has been focusing on her business, her family, and raising her son, Soltan Jackson, with her longtime love Jermaine Jackson Jr. Soltan turns 2 in January.
This Is What Asa Soltan Rahmati Is Up to These Days
And in case you were wondering, Asa is currently "living [her] best life," as she recently shared with one fan on Twitter.
Thank you so much. I’m living my best life. https://t.co/9J0ohWaYFT
— Asa Soltan Rahmati (@AsaSoltan) October 26, 2018
Catch up with Asa and find out more about her life as a mom, below.
Asa Soltan Rahmati Opens Up About the Joys of Motherhood
Asa Soltan Rahmati
Reza Farahan
Jermaine Jackson Jr.
Asa Addresses Presence in Season 7 of Shahs of Sunset
MJ and Reza on Asa Stepping Back from Shahs of Sunset
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2229
|
__label__cc
| 0.511987
| 0.488013
|
Tag: micro
Newspapers are Old News
adminDecember 30, 2008in Social Media
Credit As a follow up to my post, “Extra Extra, Read All About It! Newspapers Respond to the Social Web,” new research emerges that documents the looming exit of print newspapers as a primary source of national and international news. According to the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, a new survey indicates that 40% of respondents claim the Internet as their primary source for national and international news, versus 24% in 2007. In comparison, 35%, up…
State of the Twittersphere – Q4 2008
adminDecember 22, 2008in New Media, Social Media
HubSpot released a report based on the analysis of over 600,000 Twitter users who have utilized the company’s Twitter Grader app. The full study is free and available for download in PDF. Here are the highlights: – Twitter has about 4-5 million users, about 30% are relatively new or unengaged users – Twitter is dominated by newer users – 70% of Twitter users joined in 2008 – An estimated 5-10 thousand new accounts are opened per day – 35% of…
Extra Extra, Read All About It! Newspapers Respond to the Social Web
adminDecember 19, 2008in New Media
Source Yes, the headline isn’t really breaking news to many of us. However, I received an interesting report this week that ties numbers to the tumultuous newspaper industry and its struggle to remain relevant, today and tomorrow. I wanted to share the numbers with you… Every year, The Bivings Group, analyzes how and to what extent America’s largest newspapers are embracing the Web. With Social Media opening the flood gates for innovation in online content creation and distribution, newspapers are…
Saying More with Less: A Directory of Short URL Services
adminDecember 9, 2008in New Media, Social Media
Source Through brevity there’s clarity. As marketers and communicators in the era of socialized media, we’re relearning how to summarize and illustrate what we represent so that we might briefly captivate the attention of those we wish to reach. Twitter, FriendFeed, Plurk, Qik, Seesmic, 12seconds, Facebook News Feeds, and all other forms of micromedia communities prosper through a concise economy of language and forethought. It is the exchange of this richer dialog that flourishes through succinctness. This introspective and empathetic…
Introducing MicroPR, A PR Resource for Journalists, Analysts and Bloggers on Twitter
adminNovember 25, 2008in New Media, Social Media
In the era of the Social Web, transparency, engagement, and a commitment to authentically connect people to your story are essential principles for practicing successful and meaningful Public Relations. Concurrently, the socialization of media is creating new communities and communications channels that are empowering journalists, bloggers, analysts, as well as everyday people, to actively and passionately contribute, share, and discover the stories around us. It’s changing the information ecosystem. Media and communications professionals must stay connected and work together now…
Facebook’s Attempt to Acquire Twitter = Fail Whale
adminNovember 24, 2008in Social Media
Mark Zuckerberg at Web 2.0 Expo Evan Williams at TechCrunch50 Kara Swisher has written a tremendous post on Facebook’s quiet attempt at acquiring Twitter. It inspired me to share my thoughts on the subject. During the Web 2.0 Summit, John Batelle interviewed Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg, and if you listened closely enough, it was clear that Batelle was prodding Zuckerberg to validate the rumors that Facebook was exploring the possibility of acquiring Twitter. With a teasing smile, Zuckerberg described Twitter…
Twitter Tools for Marketing and Community Professionals
adminOctober 17, 2008in Business Growth, New Media, Social Media
Twitter is nothing short of a phenomenon. At the very least, it connects people to each other through a rich and active exchange of ideas, thoughts, observations, and vision in one, highly conducive ecosystem (known as the Twitterverse). The social fibers that weave together this unique micromedia network is strengthened by the expertise, respect, trust, admiration, and commonalities. These fabrics bind the people who breathe life and personality into the global community as well as fueling the disparate micro communities…
Distributed Conversations and Fragmented Attention
adminApril 13, 2008in Business Growth, New Media, Social Media
There’s an incredible discussion circling the blogosphere aka The 250 aka The Echo Chamber regarding distributed conversations and the potential loss of control of our content. Normally I don’t let myself get caught up in every popular meme cycle, but this is a informative and important conversation and personally I think it’s worth your time. And, it just so happens to be a natural extension to my recent post, “Ladies and Gentlemen, The Conversation Has Left the Building,” which explores…
MicroMedia Paves the Way for Macro Influence
adminOctober 30, 2007in New Media, Social Media
Warning! This post is about MicroMedia and the emerging market for Media Snacking, but it is not served as a “byte” sized snack. It is instead, a full meal, so I hope you brought your appetite. The inspiration for this story comes from a meme circulating through the Web that discusses “snacks” and the market for “media snacking.” It was started by Forrester analyst Jeremiah Owyang when he publickly asked whether or not you respect media snackers. He then tagged…
Is Pownce the Twitter or Jaiku Killer?
adminJuly 6, 2007in New Media, Social Media
There’s a new kid on the block and the edglings are a twitter over whether there’s room for another player in the presence application market. Pownce, the latest brain child from Digg founder, Kevin Rose, is off to a whirlwind start, with many asking whether or not it is already the “new” Twitter and Jaiku Killer. While Twitter and Jaiku are the current leaders, we’re really still too early to predict winners and losers in a market that is far…
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2231
|
__label__wiki
| 0.89017
| 0.89017
|
BBO Discussion Forums: Has U.S. Democracy Been Trumped? - BBO Discussion Forums
> Off-Topic
> The Water Cooler
Has U.S. Democracy Been Trumped? Bernie Sanders wants to know who owns America?
#14061 Winstonm
Location:Tulsa, Oklahoma
Interests:Art, music
Posted 2019-October-19, 18:05
The WaPo:
While under siege from opponents as treasury secretary, Hamilton sketched out the type of charlatan who would most threaten the republic: “When a man unprincipled in private life[,] desperate in his fortune, bold in his temper . . . despotic in his ordinary demeanour — known to have scoffed in private at the principles of liberty — when such a man is seen to mount the hobby horse of popularity — to join in the cry of danger to liberty — to take every opportunity of embarrassing the General Government & bringing it under suspicion — to flatter and fall in with all the non sense of the zealots of the day — It may justly be suspected that his object is to throw things into confusion that he may ‘ride the storm and direct the whirlwind.’ ” Given the way Trump has broadcast suspicions about the CIA, the FBI, the diplomatic corps, senior civil servants and the “deep state,” Hamilton’s warning about those who would seek to discredit the government as prelude to a possible autocracy seems prophetic.
Alexander Hamilton was obviously an "enemy of the people" who was trying to invalidate the 2016 election. What else would you expect from an immigrant from a sh$%hole country in the West Indies.
“It’s just so unfair that American companies aren’t allowed to pay bribes to get business overseas,” Trump whines
#14062 y66
From Josh Kraushaar at the National Journal:
Buried in the Washington drama of impeachment, corruption, and foreign policy chaos this past week was a ground-shaking bit of news: New polling and fundraising figures show that Mitch McConnell’s hold on the Senate majority is looking awfully precarious. Indeed, the pathway for a narrow Democratic takeover of the upper chamber is looking clearer than ever.
Four Republican senators were outraised by their Democratic challengers in the third fundraising quarter, with three of them representing battleground states (Iowa, Maine, and Arizona) that Republicans will need to win to maintain power. And in North Carolina, Sen. Thom Tillis raised only $1.2 million, an underwhelming sum for a senator facing a credible primary threat and an expensive general election ahead. All four swing-state senators also are viewed unfavorably by their constituents according to new quarterly Morning Consult polling, underscoring the sudden shift in support away from Republicans.
In Iowa, Sen. Joni Ernst failed even to hit the million-dollar mark in fundraising, a financial baseline of sorts for senators running for reelection. She was outraised by a Democratic outsider, businesswoman Theresa Greenfield, who raised $1.1 million despite facing a contested Democratic primary and refusing donations from corporate PACs.
As her fundraising has slowed, Ernst’s support back home has also declined. The Morning Consult tracking poll found Ernst with an underwater job-approval rating of 39/43, with more independents viewing her unfavorably than favorably. That’s a shift from her net-positive job approval over the spring, which stood at 42/38.
Donald Trump comfortably carried her state in 2016, but since then, Iowa farmers have taken a serious hit from the president’s trade war. Both Gallup and Morning Consult have found his support sinking in the state, with a March Des Moines Register poll showing even 28 percent of Iowa Republicans believing the tariffs have hurt the state’s agribusiness.
These are all major red flags suggesting Iowa is a much bigger battleground than Republicans anticipated at the beginning of the year.
The GOP’s outlook in Arizona and North Carolina is also looking gloomier. Both Sen. Martha McSally of Arizona and Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina are facing nuisance primary challengers, which makes it harder for the incumbents to consolidate their base. But the more they try to protect their right flank, the tougher it becomes to win over the suburban moderates who decide races in these swing states.
McSally, who lost last year’s election before being appointed to her seat, trailed Democratic challenger Mark Kelly by 5 points, 46 to 41 percent, in a poll taken in August. She’s been outraised in all three of the fundraising quarters by significant margins—an unusual disadvantage for a sitting senator. She already lags Kelly in campaign cash by nearly $4 million.
Tillis holds the lowest approval rating (33 percent) of any sitting senator, according to the Morning Consult survey. A Democratic poll conducted in September found him trailing his little-known Democratic opponent Cal Cunningham, 45 to 43 percent. But before he even faces Cunningham, he’ll have to get past self-funded businessman Garland Tucker in the primary. Tucker has poured $1.2 million of his own money into the campaign—around the same amount Tillis raised in the last three months. Tucker has already been using that money on anti-Tillis campaign ads, forcing the senator to respond in kind.
Cunningham wasn’t the Democrats’ top recruit, but this race is turning more into a referendum on Tillis. If Cunningham wins the nomination and runs a competent race, Tillis will face major hurdles in winning a second term.
In Maine, a race that Republicans consider the nation’s biggest bellwether, Sen. Susan Collins is suddenly facing a real fight. State House Speaker Sara Gideon raised a whopping $3.2 million in the third quarter, outpacing Collins by more than $1 million. More significantly, Collins’ once-golden image back home has continued to slip, according to the Morning Consult numbers. Her popularity has hit an all-time low in the tracking survey, down to 43/49 job approval.
Collins has already gone up with an early advertisement, a sign that her team recognizes this race will be the toughest campaign that the senator has faced.
Here’s the big picture: If Trump doesn’t win a second term, Democrats need to net only three seats to win back the majority. Assuming they can’t hang onto Sen. Doug Jones’ seat in ruby-red Alabama (but hold Sen. Gary Peters’ seat in traditionally blue Michigan), the magic number is four. And when you add Sen. Cory Gardner’s tough race in Colorado to the toss-up list, they’ve got five promising opportunities to defeat Republican senators.
In a normal political environment, Republicans would have good reason to be confident they could win some of these hotly contested races. But given the trajectory of Trump’s presidency and the trend lines in the battlegrounds, Republicans don’t have much room for error. Right now, control of the Senate past 2020 looks awfully close to a toss-up with over a year until the election.
If you lose all hope, you can always find it again -- Richard Ford in The Sportswriter
#14063 barmar
hrothgar, on 2019-October-17, 09:12, said:
No. It is another example of an idiot Russian playing what-about-ism games...
1. I am not aware of any US laws that ban American citizens from interfering in foreign elections. So, even if this were tre, this wouldn't be an issue under American law
Just because it's legal, that doesn't mean it's right.
There's a general principle of national sovereignty. If we expect other countries to respect our election processes, we should respect theirs, even if they don't pass laws requiring it.
However, merely expressing an opinion about a candidate is hardly comparable to the kinds of interference the Russians did in 2016 and what Trump asked the Ukrainians to do this year.
barmar, on 2019-October-20, 14:01, said:
A citizen expressing an opinion about a foreign election is a first amendment right of freedom of speech.
The head of the executive branch of the United States actively withholding aid while offering a White House meeting in exchange for a formal and loud bogus investigation into a political rival paid for in part by a Ukrainian oligarch who is fighting extradition to the U.S. to face criminal charges is not even in the same universes 1-11.
In fact, it could well be bribery, a clear-cut impeachable offense.
This could be an interesting and critical turn as the judge has ruled that the DOJ cannot redact the reasons they did not compel testimony from Don Jr. and Senior Turmp in front of the Grand Jury, especially note this tweet form Ms Wheeler:
@emptywheel
One important point abt Don Jr refusing to testify, even to the GJ, is that he invoked the Fifth when the people asking the questions had been able to subpoena for records.
He did NOT invoke the Fifth when Congress asked him questions.
It says a lot about Jr. when Dad is in the White House and is refusing to comply with any Congressional subpoenas but when the law calls on Jr. he pleads the fifth. The issue he seems to be queasy about is document production. Wonder what those could be?
Meanwhile, Trump estimated it has cost him $2 billion to $5 billion “between what I lose and what I could’ve made” to be president.
“I don’t care,” he said. “If you’re rich it doesn’t matter.”
Yes, if you're rich it doesn't matter. But what if you are Donald Trump?
#14067 kenberg
Location:Northern Maryland
Just the other day I was telling Becky that sure I could have been a couple of billion richer but really it doesn't matter. I also could have been a tennis champion and one of history's great lovers, que sera sera. Fortunately I did become a stable genius. I am very skilled at cleaning out stables.
#14068 Chas_P
Group: Yellows
Location:Gainesville, GA USA
kenberg, on 2019-October-21, 15:05, said:
You are also very witty, level-headed, and a pleasure to encounter in cyberspace. Please carry on.
#14069 Zelandakh
Joined: 2006-May-18
Chas_P, on 2019-October-21, 18:28, said:
One might almost describe him as a stable genius perhaps...
When giving Dodgy Donald's 2-5 billion comment I think it is useful to point out that 5 billion dollars is not only more than his total wealth now but more than he has ever been worth at any time in his life. As always, one should treat the words of the American president in much the same way as an online troll and double-check every little detail before accepting something as true.
(-: Zel :-)
cherdano, on 2018-April-05, 17:14, said:
Quite a few posters here wrote a lot of words about their concern that Clinton did not comply with State department email protocols.
https://www.axios.co...ampaign=organic
I am sure that adds a LOT of worry about the current White House for all of you.
Oh, it doesn't? Then, perhaps, just maybe, your attention to Clinton's email management decisions was a tiny bit overblown? Just a tiny bit?
Overblown? Case closed.
This speaks to most men living lives of quiet desperation.
But the U.S. is also the only rich country in the world where the mortality rate has been going up, not down. Much of that trend is driven by men without college degrees in America’s heartland, according to Brookings.
#14072 cherdano
Yeah. I am still wondering whether anyone here who wrote loads and loads of posts about Clinton's emails - why she did it, what it showed about her judgement, what should have led her not to follow the advice to set up a private server, etc. etc. - whether they may have given the issue just a little bit too much weight.
In retrospect, is Clinton's decision to follow the advice by one of her staff to set up a private server so she could more easily access her emails while travelling, and thereby violating state department IT guidelines, indeed the most important information about her character and suitability to become president?
The easiest way to count losers is to line up the people who talk about loser count, and count them. -Kieran Dyke
I believe this exchange is directly attributable to AG Bill Barr and his influence on the President's beliefs:
Donald Trump reportedly told a room of his top aides that he is in charge of the Hatch Act, when warned by his chief of staff that bringing his cabinet members to a campaign rally could violate ethics rules.
The comment, reported in a new Wall Street Journal article, illustrates the degree to which Mr Trump believes his administration does not have to worry about the rule, which was passed a century ago with the intention of warding off political activity by government employees.
This falls in with Barr's belief that as the head of the executive branch the president is also the top federal law enforcement officer so he alone is the final arbiter of federal criminal violations, i.e., above all federal laws and only by impeachment can he be held accountable.
ALERT! I believe there is a valid claim. Down 13, redoubled. And Vulnerable.
Testimony of Acting Ukraine Ambassador Bill Taylor
Ambassador Sondland also told me that he now recognized that he had made a mistake by earlier telling the Ukrainian officials to whom he spoke that a White House meeting with President Zelenskyy was dependent on a public announcement of investigations,” Taylor said. “In fact, Ambassador Sondland said, ‘everything’ was dependent on such an announcement, including security assistance.”
“He said that President Trump wanted President Zelenskyy ‘in a public box’ by making a public statement about ordering such investigations,” Taylor continued.
#14075 hrothgar
Location:Natick, MA
Interests:Travel
So, recall a couple weeks back when Andrei was complaining about "unnamed sources?"
andrei, on 2019-September-26, 10:14, said:
It is out and it sounds like a Maggie Haberman piece.
I have never seen/heard anything, but unnamed sources have told me that ....
Wonder whether he'll change his tune now that the following happened
https://cdn.vox-cdn....r_testimony.pdf
According to Mr. Morrison, President
Trump told Ambassador Sondland that he was not asking for a “quid pro quo.” But
President Trump did insist that President Zelenskyy go to a microphone and say he is
opening investigations of Biden and 2016 election interference, and that President
Zelenskyy should want to do this himself. Mr. Morrison said that he told Ambassador
Bolton and the NSC lawyers of this phone call between President Trump and
Ambassador Sondland.
The following day, on September 8, Ambassador Sondland and I spoke on the phone.
He said he had talked to President Trump as I had suggested a week earlier, but that
President Trump was adamant that President Zelenskyy, himself, had to “clear things up
and do it in public.” President Trump said it was not a “quid pro quo.” Ambassador
Sondland said that he had talked to President Zelenskyy and Mr. Yermak and told them
that, although this was not a quid pro quo, if President Zelenskyy did not “clear things
up” in public, we would be at a “stalemate.” I understood a “stalemate” to mean that
Ukraine would not receive the much-needed military assistance.
Alderaan delenda est
Concerning Trump's continued search for "the DNC server", he needs some tech lessons:
Now ask yourself which of these servers in this or some other data center might have hosted John Podesta’s emails, or those of 300 other people linked to the Clinton campaign and the Democratic Party targeted by Russia in the same March 2016 bulk phishing attack?
Not a single one of them — probably many of them.
And the data and applications may not stay in one server, one rack, one site alone. It could be spread all over depending on what’s most efficient and available at any time, and the architecture of failover redundancy.
From CNN:
Our latest CNN poll conducted by SSRS shows that 50% of Americans and 51% of voters want Donald Trump to be impeached and removed from office. This is the highest level of support for impeaching and removing Trump from office ever recorded by CNN. Only 43% of Americans and 44% of voters are against impeaching and removing him.
It’s also the first time that the percentage who want to impeach and remove Trump significantly outnumbers the percentage who don’t want him impeached removed.
In the two polls taken on the subject since the House’s impeachment inquiry began, a plurality of Americans have said they wanted to impeach and remove Trump. In no poll taken before then was this the case.
Here are a few other takeaways from the poll:
Our poll is not an outlier and is fairly close to the average spread in October of 48% who want to impeach and remove Trump from office and 44% who don’t.
Mike Pence’s net favorability rating (-7 points) is 7 points higher than Trump’s (-14 points).
More Americans want to impeach and remove Trump from office now than Americans did at this point of the impeachment sagas of Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon.
The percentage of Americans who feel strongly about Trump not being impeached and removed has dropped from 45% in the spring of this year to 37% now, which suggests Trump has room to lose more ground going forward.
Rudy Giuliani’s favorable rating is lower than ever, while Nancy Pelosi’s is the highest in over a decade.
With the quid pro quo verified, will Trump fight to the end and trust the Senate to save him or will he look for a way out?
The latest Dodgy Donald defence seems to be that Ukraine were not aware of why aid + call + WH meeting were being withheld. Unfortunately this does not even pass the lightest of brushes with the evidence of Bill Taylor's testimony:
In early September, Taylor said he spoke with an NSC official who described a conversation Sondland had with a Ukrainian official at an event in Poland. Sondland told the official "the security assistance money would not come until President Zelenskiy committed to pursue the Burisma investigation" — a reference to the company Hunter Biden was working for.
"Ambassador Sondland also told me that he now recognized that he had made a mistake by earlier telling the Ukrainian officials to whom he spoke that a White House meeting with President Zelinskiy was dependent on a public announcement of investigations — in fact, Ambassador Sondland said, 'everything' was dependent on such an announcement, including security assistance."
Taylor said he and Sondland spoke on the phone. According to Taylor, Sondland said he had told Zelenskiy and one of his top advisers "that, although this was not a quid pro quo, if President Zelenskiy did not 'clear things up in public,' we would be at a 'stalemate.'
"I understood a 'stalemate' to mean that Ukraine would not receive the much-needed military assistance. Ambassador Sondland said this conversation concluded with President Zelenskiy agreeing to make a public statement in an interview with CNN," Taylor wrote.
The fallback line other Republicans seem to be manning is that the QPQ is wrong but does not rise to the level of an impeachable offence. And yet it seems obvious in the extreme that this is precisely the sort of abuse of power that was meant in the drafting of the Constitution, so that position is surely untenable over any length of time. Any of our resident Reds want to suggest a defence they could get behind and believe in?
The "fighting corruption" defense won't fly:
The Trump administration has sought repeatedly to cut foreign aid programs tasked with combating corruption in Ukraine and elsewhere overseas, White House budget documents show, despite recent claims from President Trump and his administration that they have been singularly concerned with fighting corruption in Ukraine.
Winstonm,
sharon j,
Chas_P
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2232
|
__label__wiki
| 0.817145
| 0.817145
|
Venue: The Rose Playhouse , Bankside (56 Park Street, London SE1 9AR)
Dates: 16th June – 4th July 2015, Tues – Sat 7.30pm, Sun 3pm only
Box office: 020 7261 9565, boxoffice@roseplayhouse.org.uk
Tickets: £ 12 (£ 10 Concessions)) Website: www.roseplayhouse.org.uk
Twitter: @RoseTheatreSE1, @PamelaSchermann www.PamelaShermann.com
A masterful play about loyalty, sacrifice and the power of the female voice.
Director Pamela Schermann, whose productions atThe Rose Playhouse include The Taming of the Shrew, Orpheus and Eurydice and Othello, directs (Hon) Artistic Associate of The Rose, Suzanne Marie, in a newproduction of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Iphigenia in Tauris. The play, which is based on the Greek tragedy by Euripides, tells the storyof Iphigenia and the curse of the Tantalid family. The daughter ofAgamemnon is in exile in Tauris, where she serves as priestess in thetemple of Diana. Longing to return to her home country, she needs tomake a crucial decision when her brother Orestes and his friend Pyladesarrive at the island.
The play examines how ideals can be corrupted and how a woman tornbetween hesitance and action can overcome discord. “Iphigenia findsherself in the middle of four powerful forces – similar to the fourelements fire, water, earth and air, which served as my inspiration“, saysSchermann. “King Thoas asks her to become his wife, and Arkassupports the suit of his king by reminding her of the duties she owes tothe man who gave her shelter on Tauris. Iphigenia’s brother Orestes andhis friend Pylades require her help to escape from Tauris. Each forcefights for their cause, which they believe is the only right way. But Iphigenia realises that this conflict as well as her family curse can onlybe solved if people have the courage to tell the truth, rather than fightingand deceiving each other. The Theory of the Balance between theElements is part of many religions and cultures, and I think it can also serve as a universal message: Every human being is different in theirnature, culture and beliefs, but the world will only continue to exist ifwe find a way to live together peacefully despite our different positionsand demands.“
CAST Suzanne Marie, Ben Hale, James Barnes, Andrew Strafford-Baker and Alec Bennie.
CREATIVES AND TEAM Pamela Schermann (director), AnnegretMärten (dramaturge), Gillian Steventon (costume designer), Petr Vocka(lighting designer), Philip Matejtschuk (sound designer), Theresa Schwarzkopf (Stage manager), Armi Utriainen (production assistant).
PRODUCER The Rose Playhouse
Praise for Pamela Schermann’s previous productions at The Rose Playhouse:
★★★★★ “Othello has always been a good play, but whatSchermann has brought to this production is
clearly evident – a fresh vision to a familiar tale, withfresh insights to boot.” (Female Arts)
★★★★★ “A marvellous re-imagining… It should be a shoe in for a transfer to the West End where I will
happily be queuing to see it again.“ (London Theatre One)
“I loved Pamela Schermann’s latest adaptation of Othello. This was theatre stripped back to its essence, and it works wonderfully. Thoroughly recommended.” (Southwark News)
The Rose Playhouse The indoor archaeological site hosts award-winning productions and tells the visitors much about its life between 1587 and 1605. Since its re-discovery in 1989, the site of Bankside’s first theatre has inspired artists and audiences alike just as it did over 400 years ago. The viewing platform above the partially excavated site serves not only as the stage area for the performances, but also allows the visitors to look down at the site, where red rope lights indicate the archaeology of the historic Rose Playhouse below. The ruins are currently hidden under a layer of sand and water, which helps conserve them. After being awarded a Development Grant fromThe Heritage Lottery Fund in 2012, plans are underway to fully excavate the site and put it on permanent display.
“A unique theatrical experience” (What’s On Stage)
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2239
|
__label__cc
| 0.72123
| 0.27877
|
CIC News / 2017 / October / Alberta Immigration Announces New Opportunity Stream
Alberta Immigration Announces New Opportunity Stream
October 20, 2017 by Hugo O'Doherty
Immigration authorities in the Canadian province of Alberta have announced a new immigration stream, known as the Opportunity stream, which will begin accepting applications as of January 2, 2018 under the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP).
The Opportunity stream will provide a pathway to Canadian permanent residence for foreign workers working in Alberta. Like all other AINP streams, this is a base Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) stream, whereby applications are processed entirely outside the federal Express Entry selection system. Successful applicants to the AINP obtain a provincial nomination, which may then be used to apply for permanent residence.
The stream will replace will replace two currently existing AINP streams: the Employer-Driven stream and the Strategic Recruitment stream. Until the Opportunity stream takes effect, applications under the existing streams will continue to be accepted, and processing of those applications may continue after January, 2018, even though new applications will not be accepted.
Applicants to the Opportunity stream require a job offer from an employer in Alberta. The job offer does not necessarily need to be in a skilled occupation, as most occupations under National Occupational Classification (NOC) skill levels 0, A, B, C and D are eligible.
Applicants must have valid temporary resident status at the time of the application, and must not be living or working in a province or territory other than Alberta. Applicants not working in a job supported by a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) must have an exemption for workers covered under international trade agreements, workers transferred within a company, or people taking part in International Experience Canada (IEC), as determined by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
Applicants must also prove English or French ability at or above Canadian Language Benchmark 4, as proven by a language test recognized by the government of Alberta. This is a lower requirement than for many other economic immigration programs in Canada, including the popular Federal Skilled Worker Class (FSWC). As of January 2, 2019, the test score required for English and French language skills will be increased to a minimum of CLB 5 in each language skill.
A higher language ability threshold of CLB 7 or higher has been set for nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates (NOC 3413).
Like the FSWC, applicants must have completed high school or a higher level of education. Applicants who did not study in Canada need to obtain an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) from a recognized authority. In certain instances, applicants with work experience that qualifies them in a compulsory or optional trade, and who also have a recognized valid Alberta Qualification Certificate or trade certificate, may not have to obtain an ECA, even if they did not study in Canada.
Applicants must have either a minimum of 12 months full-time work experience in their current occupation in Alberta within the last 18 months, or a minimum of 24 months of full-time work experience in their current occupation in Canada and/or abroad within the last 30 months (this work experience can be a combination of experience gained in Alberta, in another Canadian province or territory and/or abroad).
Finally, applicants must satisfy a minimum income threshold, depending on the size of their family.
Number of members in family unit (including applicant) Gross annual income required (CAD)
10 $78,905
Ineligible occupations
Individuals working in any of the following occupations will not be eligible to apply under the AINP Opportunity stream.
Occupation NOC
Legislators 0011
School Principals and Administrators of Elementary and Secondary Education 0422
Managers in Social, Community and Correctional Services 0423
Fire Chiefs and Senior Firefighting Officers 0432
Escort Agency Managers, Massage Parlour Managers 0651
Secondary School Teachers 4031
Elementary School and Kindergarten Teachers 4032
Professional Occupations in Religion 4154
Authors and Writers 5121
Musicians and Singers 5133
Actors and Comedians 5135
Painters, Sculptors and Other Visual Artists 5136
Court Officers and Justices of the Peace 1227
Dental Laboratory Bench Workers 3223
Early Childhood Educators and Assistants* 4214
Other Instructors 4216
Other Religious Occupations 4217
Other Performers, n.e.c. 5232
Artisans and Craftspersons 5244
Athletes 5251
Real Estate Agents and Salespersons 6232
Home Child Care Providers 4411
Home Support Workers, Housekeepers and Related Occupations 4412
Elementary and Secondary School Teacher Assistants 4413
Casino Occupations 6533
Other Personal Service Occupations 6564
Taxi and Limousine Drivers and Chauffeurs 7513
Trappers and Hunters 8442
Other Sales Related Occupations 6623
Operators and Attendants in Amusement, Recreation and Sport 6722
Other Service Support Occupations, n.e.c. 6742
Harvesting Labourers 8611
Landscaping and Grounds Maintenance Labourers 8612
Aquaculture and Marine Harvest Labourers 8613
Mine Labourers 8614
*only those without certification as a Child Development Worker (Level 2) or Child Development Supervisor (Level 3) through Alberta Children’s Services – Child Care Staff Certification Office.
To find out if you are eligible to immigrate to Canada permanently, fill out a free online assessment form.
About Hugo O'Doherty
Next Article: Slight Decrease in CRS Points Requirement in October 18 Express Entry Draw
Previous Article: Alberta to Launch Express Entry Immigration Stream
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2242
|
__label__wiki
| 0.828542
| 0.828542
|
The City is Ours takes an optimistic look at urban futures
By Michael 20th July 2017
Pollution, crime, affordable housing shortages, racial tensions... modern cities are facing their share of challenges. The Museum of London’s major new exhibition The City is Ours doesn’t shy away from the realities faced by the world’s estimated four billion urbanites. Opening last week as part of the...
Pollution, crime, affordable housing shortages, racial tensions… modern cities are facing their share of challenges.
The Museum of London’s major new exhibition The City is Ours doesn’t shy away from the realities faced by the world’s estimated four billion urbanites.
Opening last week as part of the year-long City Now City Future programme, the exhibition is unflinching in its portrayal of urban failings, from the mass exodus of a housing estate in the face of skyrocketing unemployment in the German city of Leipzig, to naming and shaming the worst culprits for greenhouse gas emissions.
But it doesn’t dwell on them either.
DIY veggie patches in Detroit, metropolitan reforestation in Milan, and a participative social housing pilot in Chile are also front and centre, as if creators Cite des sciences et de l’industrie in Paris have adopted the naff management mantra ‘don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions’.
The result is, overall, an optimistic look at the environmental, social and technological impact of global urbanisation on cities, and how their inhabitants are responding.
Exhibits are split into four categories. ‘Urban Earth’ presents a data comparison of major cities from around the world, while ‘Cities Under Pressure’ is a collection of films and photographs detailing changes to our urban environments and the challenges they present.
Among the highlights in this category, The Pulse of the City collates signals from phone calls, texts and emails, translating them into a soundscape for different days in Paris, a personal favourite of lead curator Foteini Aravani.
“I really like this exhibit because it touches upon an invisible part of the city,” she says. “The bulk of data that each city produces every day, we can’t see.”
The third category, ‘Urban Futures,’ is a collection of case studies from around the world that demonstrates how innovation can improve the way a city works, from sustainability to security.
Participative Social Housing: For and With Residents follows architect Alejandro Aravena’s scheme to build basic units to address a housing shortage in Chile, then allowing families to customise and finish them off themselves, while Zero Waste is a film chronicling San Francisco’s efforts towards recycling all waste by 2020.
Digital installations rule throughout, from virtual reality positioning visitors on the rooftop of a Hong Kong skyscraper to consider the implications of building upward, to monitoring CCTV footage from within the exhibition to highlight cities’ increasing surveillance.
But perhaps the most impressive tech is Pulse, a real-time visualisation from data studio Tekja that harvests geolocated tweets to capture the pulse of London by local area.
“Every five minutes we have the London Live Update to show us how London feels; the happiest borough, the saddest borough, the most tweeted keywords, what London thinks and what we think about,” Foteini explains.
Projected on massive screens at the entrance to the exhibition, Pulse’s slick presentation lends a wow-factor addition to the exhibition, but it’s the more simplistic It’s Here exhibit that is the most powerful; an interactive map of 25 city-saving initiatives going on right in our backyard.
“It gives a snapshot of the plethora of interesting projects that are happening in London around us,” Foteini says. “From government initiatives to academic, and from grassroots to individuals, on a bigger or smaller scale, one way or another these are initiatives that improve our everyday life.”
Each is a poignant example of a city’s resilience, which, after a month of particularly hard knocks, couldn’t have arrived at a better time.
The City is Ours is on at the Museum of London until 2 January.
New art installation lands at London Mithraeum Bloomberg SPACE
Berber & Q Shwarma Bar’s Pita Party is back
London employers set to be challenged by job market in 2020
Museum of London display to celebrate Dub Reggae
The Smithfield Street Party: A Beastly Adventure
Winner announced for Culture Mile competition
Jail for mum who faked own death
'Culture Mile' to catapult City onto world's stage
Complaints and Code of Conduct
Welcome to City Matters – the social enterprise news platform for the City of London.
Established in 2016 across print and digital, our ethos is simple; to provide the great City of London with the community voice it deserves while championing the social sector.
Editorial Email: editorial@citymatters.london Advertising Email: advertising@citymatters.london
City Publishing Limited
12 Pinchin Street
London E1 1SA
© 2018 City Publishing Limited | Web design - Sites for Business
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2245
|
__label__wiki
| 0.965258
| 0.965258
|
(-) Interview
Can Afghan Forces Resist the Taliban?
The battle for Kunduz highlights the military and political challenges facing Afghanistan and the narrowly defined U.S. mission there, says CFR’s Stephen Biddle.
Interview by Stephen D. Biddle and Zachary Laub
An Exclusive Interview With the World’s Leading Trade Scholar, Jagdish Bhagwati
In an interview with Gordon Campbell of Werewolf, Jagdish N. Bhagwati discusses his concerns about the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Interview by Gordon Campbell and Jagdish N. Bhagwati Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies
U.S. Will Press Broad NATO ‘Offensive’ in Afghanistan
A top U.S. State Department official says Washington wants the alliance to beat back the Taliban’s resurgence.
Interview by Kurt Volker and Robert McMahon
Drozdiak: Upcoming German Election, ‘Most Important’ in Nearly Forty Years
William Drozdiak, president of the American Council on Germany, and a former foreign editor of the Washington Post, says this Sunday’s parliamentary election in Germany “is probably the most importan…
Interview by Bernard Gwertzman and William Drozdiak
Hoge: Bush’s Image and Message Likely Enhanced by Trip to Britain
Warren Hoge, the chief London correspondent for The New York Times, says that as a result of his trip to Britain, President Bush “has certainly improved his image” overseas. What remains t…
Interview by Bernard Gwertzman and Warren Hoge
General Bernard E. Trainor Sees War with Iraq Starting by Mid-March and Ending with Quick U.S.-led Victory
Bernard E. Trainor, a retired three-star Marine general and a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, says a war against Iraq could start in the period from late February to the middle of…
Interview by Bernard Gwertzman and Bernard Marine Lieut. Gen. (ret.) E. Trainor
Africa in Transition
Ralph Bunche Senior Fellow for Africa Policy Studies
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2256
|
__label__cc
| 0.554453
| 0.445547
|
1,057 Results for:
(-) Blog Post
Campaign Foreign Policy Roundup: The Seventh Democratic Debate
Each Friday, I look at what the presidential challengers are saying about foreign policy. This week: the Democrats debate in Des Moines, the New York Times interviews the candidates, and two new poll…
Blog Post by James M. Lindsay The Water's Edge
Five Questions About the Senate Impeachment Trial Answered
The impeachment trial of President Donald Trump began today as the House trial managers read the articles of impeachment on the Senate floor and Chief Justice John Roberts swore in ninety-nine U.S. s…
Campaign Foreign Policy Roundup: Elizabeth Warren Endorses the USMCA
Each Friday, I look at what the presidential challengers are saying about foreign policy. This week: Elizabeth Warren says she will vote for NAFTA’s replacement, the candidates tout Congress’s war po…
Campaign Foreign Policy Roundup: The Killing of Qasem Soleimani
Each Friday, I look at what the presidential challengers are saying about foreign policy. This week: the U.S. drone strike that killed an Iranian general, the wisdom of Joe Biden’s Iraq vote, and for…
Ten World Figures Who Died in 2019
I wrote yesterday about ten Americans who died in 2019 who shaped U.S. foreign policy during their lifetimes. But Americans are not the only ones who influence world affairs. Below are ten world figu…
Campaign Foreign Policy Roundup: The National Defense Authorization Act
Each Friday, I look at what the presidential challengers are saying about foreign policy. This week: the National Defense Authorization Act, Latin America, and climate change.
Campaign Foreign Policy Roundup: NATO and the Future of Transatlantic Relations
Each Friday, I look at what the presidential challengers are saying about foreign policy.
The President's Inbox: Should the United States Pursue the Israeli-Palestinian Two-State Solution?
Each week between now and the Iowa caucuses, I’m talking with two experts with differing views on how the United States should handle a foreign policy challenge it faces. These special episodes are p…
Meet Michael Bloomberg, Democratic Presidential Candidate
Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg seems to be taking the advice of John Maynard Keynes. The legendary economist is said to have remarked, “When the facts change, I change my mind.” Back in Marc…
Protected at Home, China’s Medical Device Industry Looks Abroad
Michael Collins is a research associate for Asia Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. Over the past three decades, China has experienced consistent double-digit growth in its medical devic…
Blog Post by Guest Blogger for Asia Unbound Asia Unbound
Michael B.G. Froman
Distinguished Fellow
Michael A. Brooks
Military Fellow, U.S. Marine Corps
Michael J. Jackson
Military Fellow, U.S. Army
A. Michael Spence
Distinguished Visiting Fellow
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2257
|
__label__wiki
| 0.654872
| 0.654872
|
(-) Book
The Sovereignty Wars
Stewart Patrick argues that the United States can protect its sovereignty while advancing American interests in a global age. He clarifies what is at stake in the sovereignty debate, arguing that the…
Book by Stewart M. Patrick International Institutions and Global Governance Program
How We Win
Farah Pandith argues for a paradigm shift in our approach to combating extremism, one that mobilizes the expertise and resources of diplomats, corporate leaders, mental health experts, social scientists, entrepreneurs, local communities, and, most of all, global youth themselves.
Book by Farah Pandith Middle East Program
False Dawn
A sweeping narrative account of the last five years in the Middle East and a timely argument of how and why the Arab uprisings failed.
Book by Steven A. Cook
Political History and Theory
The Marshall Plan
Benn Steil, the award-winning author of The Battle of Bretton Woods, reveals the gripping history behind the Marshall Plan—told with verve, insight, and resonance for today.
Book by Benn Steil
The Corrosion of Conservatism
Max Boot recounts his extraordinary journey from lifelong Republican to vehement Trump opponent. From the isolated position of a man without a party, Boot launches this bold declaration of dissent an…
Book by Max Boot
The Third Revolution
Elizabeth Economy’s The Third Revolution: Xi Jinping and the New Chinese State argues that the intersection of Xi Jinping’s dual-reform trajectories—a more authoritarian and controlling system at home and a more ambitious and activist foreign policy abroad—provides Beijing with new levers of influence and power that the United States and others must learn to exploit and counter in order to protect and advance their own interests.
Book by Elizabeth C. Economy Asia Program
Taming the Sun
Solar energy is the world’s cheapest and fastest-growing power source, but its rise is in danger of stalling. Varun Sivaram argues that realizing solar's potential will require innovation—creative fi…
Book by Varun Sivaram Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies
A rising India wants a seat at the table of global powers, and is ready to set its own terms on everything from defense to climate to trade. Ayres considers how a fiercely independent India seeks its place as a leading power, and how the United States should respond.
Book by Alyssa Ayres
Energy is a much more important driver of foreign affairs than so many other factors given much more attention. O'Sullivan demonstrates how the move from global energy scarcity to energy abundance is…
Book by Meghan L. O'Sullivan Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies
Failure to Adjust
A history of the last four decades of U.S. trade policies and a blueprint for how to keep the United States competitive in a globalized economy.
Book by Edward Alden
International Institutions and Global Governance Program
The Internationalist
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2258
|
__label__wiki
| 0.751904
| 0.751904
|
DataBase Ratings
NBA Daily
Top Bookies
Meet Our Analysts
Betting Academy
PART 1 – Profitable Betting 101
PART 2 – Where To Bet: The Bookies
Analyst Summary: November 2019
Horse Racing, Sports Betting
By Champion Bets
Spring racing continued into November, and our analysts were largely able to navigate the big volumes and big races and deliver positive results overall. The star of the show, without a doubt, was Cameron O’Brien’s Key Bets, who delivered a massive 40.2 units profit at 64 per cent profit-on-turnover. It’s a very pleasing reward for Cam, who has put together some great “mini runs” recently without maintaining it for a whole month. And he’s certainly not done yet… the start to December has been just as big, and the winners continue to flow.
Also on the national front, we saw DataBase Bets really hit its straps and return 34.9 units profit at 35 per cent PoT. This was a great result which reversed some of the earlier negative variance we’d seen, and showed what Andrew is really capable of. We’re expecting big things in the future.
The third big winner of the month was Dean’s Winners, which converted some great big-race results into a cracking 35.0 units profit at 26 per cent PoT. Unfortunately Dean’s other service,Trial Spy, didn’t fare as well, dropping 24.3 units for the month at -30 per cent PoT. This is disappointing in isolation, but it’s important to remember it’s just one month’s numbers… go back one month to October and Trial Spy won 36 units. It’s a great illustration of how punters benefit when they look beyond the short term and stick with the program.
The results for Trevor Lawson’s Melbourne Ratings were interesting this month. In the extremely competitive Melbourne racing market, Trev has struggled to find volume lately as bookmakers continue to drive market percentages up. But when Trev does find value, he strikes hard. That’s reflected in November’s results… 15.7 units profit at a whopping 45.2 per cent PoT. It shows that Trev continues to be an astute judge wherever he finds an opportunity. To assist with this, Trevor has started spreading his analysis further around Victoria, and is also providing his Melbourne Ratings members with selections on country racing, on top of his metro racing service.
It was a small losing month for The Professor’s Queensland Winners, which dropped 2.0 units at -4.0% PoT. It’s a disappointing results, but hardly a major concern for a service that has been running for fifteen months and still sits at 22.1 per cent PoT overall. It was a similarly frustrating month for Mark Rhoden’s NSW Winners, which dropped 3.3 units at -5.2 per cent PoT. While a disappointing result, it was somewhat of an improvement on the larger losses of October.
Scott Kellen’s NFL Tips finished at precisely break-even for November. As always, the margins in such a massive betting sport remain extremely tight! Two push results cost us this month – we had the Saints and the Bucs for under 51 (the exact score they finished on), and the Bucs +6 against the Seahawks, which finished 34 – 40. That’s 4.5 units profit which puts us close to 10 per cent PoT for the month. Fine margins!
November saw somewhat of a return to reality for NFL Prime Time. After a ridiculous 45 units profit at 35% PoT in October, November saw a small loss of 5.4 units at -4.2 per cent PoT.
It’s been a relatively slow start to the season for NBA Tips with Kris Dawson, which currently sits at -14.3 units at -12 per cent PoT. As predicted, this service has a lot of bets – we had 123 bets in November, which is huge for a sports betting service. What that means, of course, is we have ample opportunity to overcome variance, with the season running all the way through to June 2020.
On the other hand, it was a huge month for NBA Specials from Brett’s Betting Syndicate. Brett’s player props model has been on fire early in the season across multiple sports, and that resulted in 39.1 units profit at 12 per cent PoT on the NBA for November.
The Golf Insider recorded a small loss of 7.1 units for November at -18% PoT..Again, we had some solid results without landing that big-priced winner which really kicks things into overdrive. This is merely a matter of timing… the Gold Insider’s focus in outright markets is mispriced players at longer odds, so we can usually expect a decent wait between wins… but when they come, they’re very big!
Our best results for the month came on Victor Perez in the WGC-HSBC Championship. We backed him each-way for First Round Leader, collecting at $23.50 for the place We also collected on him for a Top 20 overall finish, and in the three-ball contest.
Close results in the outright market were Brian Gay at the Bermuda Championship at $34, Perez again at the Turkish Open, also at $34, Harris English at $41 at the Mayakoba Classic and Brendan Todd ($41) and Scottie Scheffler ($29) at the RSM Classic. We collected on all these players for the place, but none were able to crack it for the win. We’re so close and the Golf Insider is clearly seeing the form very well… the big win is not far away!
The Professor launched his Queensland Winners service in September 2018, and it’s been nothing short of a remarkable success to date.
Over $13,000 profit at 23% Profit on Turnover speaks volumes to his ability as a tipster.
Don’t miss another winner – find out more about Queensland Winners.
Betting Tips & News Every Wed, Thu, Fri
Champion Bets has been Australia’s favourite source of betting tips for almost 14 years. With professional punters and expert analysts across a variety of sports including Horse Racing, NRL, AFL, NBA, NFL, Golf and more; there’s a membership for everyone.
team@championbets.com.au
Mon-Sat 9am-5pm AEST
This page is explicitly18+ only. Gamble Responsibly. Visit www.gamblinghelponline.org.au or call Gambling Help on 1800 858 858. Copyright © 2019 Champion Bets
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2259
|
__label__wiki
| 0.794062
| 0.794062
|
Smart TV ads more effective for brands: Report
Pilot study by Adconion Media Group and LG Electronics on smart TV usage finds nearly one third of viewers have engaged in an action as a direct result of an advertisement
Advertising brands across both smart TV and traditional TV platforms increases the awareness, purchase intent and recommendation impact on consumers, according to a new report.
The pilot study, which was conducted by cross-channel platform provider, Adconion Media Group, and LG Electronics, found half of smart TV users surveyed have already interacted with an ad, and have a positive attitude towards advertising. In addition, 31 per cent engaged in an action as a result.
Fifteen per cent also said they thought about buying the product straightaway, while 24 per cent talked about the ad and 20 per cent searched for more information online on the brand or product advertised.
In comparison with traditional TV viewers, smart TV users show a 21 per cent higher brand recall and a 13 per cent higher message recall. Purchase intent was also higher by 60 per cent, and 23 per cent of smart TV users are more likely to recommend the products or services being advertised.
The report also showed more than 80 per cent of smart TVs purchased are at least 40-inches wide, and are owned by above average, educated people of 20-49 years of age with high purchasing power - a group difficult to reach via traditional TV, the report claimed. Eighty per cent use their smart TV set for Internet features.
Like traditional TV viewers, 62 per cent of smart TV owners on watching between 6-9pm. According to Strategy Analytics’ latest Global Smart TV Vendor Market Share report, 12.7 million smart TV units were shipped in the first quarter of this year globally.
“The screen size of the smart TV compared to other devices makes it effective for advertising,” senior vice-president of connected TV for Adconion’s smartclip platform, Shrilene Chandrapal, said. “We have seen an increase in traffic across all LG smart TVs; whereas brands often grapple with the small screen size on mobile, smart TV offers alternatives to engage the audience.”
How Telstra united TV and digital analytics
Twitter acquires Trendr to get a better handle on TV tweets
Facebook talks hyper-targeting, analytics and cross-platforms
Nearly half of survey respondents said ads must be relevant, informative and easy to understand if they’re to be effective. Top reasons why users interacted with a smart TV ad included interesting products and brands, discount offers and appealing or eye-catching content.
Read more CMOs urged to use ‘peace data’ to create brand purpose while affecting positive social change
“This research has revealed that Smart TV has huge potential to engage audiences and we expect to see more and more advertisers capitalising on this platform in more creative ways,” Chandrapal added.
The research was conducted across 2000 consumers across both traditional and smart TV platforms in the UK, Germany, Spain, Russia and Australia by Nielsen in June. It involved a usage study where respondents from both groups were exposed to traditional TV programs with ads, followed by smart TV tasks where the same brand ads were displayed in different placements. Users were then asked to fill in a questionnaire.
The survey was followed-up with calls and an online survey.
Key findings from the Smartclip study can be found here.
Follow CMO on Twitter: @CMOAustralia, take part in the CMO Australia conversation on LinkedIn: CMO Australia, or join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CMOAustralia
Signup to CMO’s new email newsletter to receive your weekly dose of targeted content for the modern marketing chief.
Tags: market researchTV advertisingSmart TVcustomer insightsbrand awarenessAdconion Media Group
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0036.json.gz/line2265
|
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.