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Kane treble as England demolish Montenegro to book Euro 2020 spot
England lead Group A on 18 points with one game remaining and can now look forward to next year’s tournament in which the semi-finals and final will be played at Wembley.
England captain Harry Jane celebrates his goal against Montenegro at Wembley Stadium in London, England on 14 November 2019. Picture: @UEFAEURO/Twitter
UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying
LONDON - Harry Kane scored a first-half hat-trick as England booked their place in the finals of Euro 2020 as group winners with a crushing 7-0 victory over Montenegro at Wembley Stadium on Thursday.
Montenegro, level on three points with Bulgaria at the bottom of the table, offered no examination of the credentials of Gareth Southgate’s side for the tournament, which begins in June, but England’s total of 33 goals from seven games certainly shows the potency of their attack.
“We’ve won a group that we should win but we’ve won it comfortably and we’ve found a way of playing against those lower-ranked teams that defend in numbers,” said Southgate.
“We’ve found a way to break them down, which maybe in the past we haven’t,” he added.
Southgate again put his faith in youth, with the starting line-up’s average age of 23 years and 255 days, the youngest Three Lions side since 1959.
As expected, Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling was left out by Southgate as punishment for his role in an altercation with Liverpool’s Joe Gomez at England’s training camp on Monday. Gomez was booed by some fans at Wembley when he entered came on as a substitute.
But even without Sterling, England have no shortage of options in attack with Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford lining up alongside Kane in a three-pronged attack.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, whose progress with the national team has been hampered by injury, put England ahead in the 11th minute, drilling into the bottom corner after left back Ben Chilwell found him with a clever chip over the defence.
Leicester City’s Chilwell created the second seven minutes later with a free-kick that picked out Kane, who smartly glanced home a header.
The same pair combined for the third with Kane losing his marker to head in a corner from Chilwell.
Manchester United striker Rashford drove home the fourth, after Montenegro goalkeeper Milan Mijatovic parried out Harry Maguire’s header.
SHARP TURN
Kane wrapped up his hat-trick in the 37th minute, with a sharp turn and shot into the bottom corner as England went into the break 5-0 up.
“We have had one slip-up in the group and responded really well. Got the job done and wanted to put on a show in our 1,000th game and with five goals in the first half I think we did that,” said Kane, who moved up to fifth in England’s all-time top-scorer rankings.
Mason Mount had a goal disallowed for offside but an own goal from Aleksandar Sofranac made it six after a scramble in the box.
Substitute Tammy Abraham grabbed his first England goal, six minutes from the end, sliding in at the near post to convert a low cross from Sancho.
“Super quality passing and crossing and clinical finishing,” said Southgate, who warned that England’s defence would face sterner tests in the tournament.
“We have to get both ends of the pitch right. We conceded a couple of chances we shouldn’t. There is still work to do without the ball but we are improving,” he said.
Henderson, Bronze voted England's players of the year
Buttler apologises for Test outburst
The 2020 global news agenda
Major sports events in 2020
More in Sport
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Saldanha protest looms over job losses at ArcelorMittal facility
Demonstrators will descend on the ArcelorMittal facility on Thursday.
ArcelorMittal's Saldanha plant. Picture: arcelormittalsa.com
Saldanha Bay
Lauren Isaacs | 62 days ago
CAPE TOWN - Looming job losses at a Saldanha steel plant have been met with anger and now a protest.
The plant is to be shuttered, leaving hundreds of people without jobs.
Cape Chamber of Commerce slams ArcelorMittal decision on Saldanha plant
The South African Social and Economic Development Forum's Sammy Claassen said the closure of steel giant ArcelorMittal will devastate scores of Saldanha workers who will be left without an income to feed their families.
Claassen said he would write a letter to the president, the CEO of ArcelorMittal and Minister of Trade and Industry Ebrahim Patel, calling for an urgent meeting to discuss the company’s planned closure with the community.
He believes the plant could keep its doors open with urgent government intervention.
ArcelorMittal last week announced plans to close its steel operations at Saldanha Works because it could no longer compete in export markets.
Task team seeking alternatives to possible closure of Saldanha Bay steel plant
Lobby group urges govt to intervene to keep ArcelorMittal steel plant open
ArcelorMittal South Africa to close Saldanha operation
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Trump rejects environmental 'prophets of doom'
The US president branded those warning of out-of-control global warming and other environmental disasters "the heirs of yesterday's foolish fortune tellers".
Thunberg condemns climate inaction as Trump joins Davos
Before the US president's appearance, Greta Thunberg underlined the message that has inspired millions around the world, saying "basically nothing has been done" to fight climate change.
Greta Thunberg joins thousands at climate protest before Davos
Thunberg is due to address the summit in the Swiss Alpine resort of Davos next week with a call on governments and financial institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels.
Ricky Gervais skewers Hollywood's A-list as Golden Globes host
Gervais, known for his no-holds-barred style of comedy, joked about Hollywood’s lack of diversity, film producer Harvey Weinstein, who has been accused by more than 80 women of sexual misconduct, and the suicide of financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg is Time's 2019 person of the year
The 16-year-old first made headlines with her solo strike against global warming outside Sweden's parliament in August 2018.
Climate pledges 'misleading', Greta Thunberg tells UN meet
Greta Thunberg told negotiators at the UN climate change forum in Madrid that their promises on slashing greenhouse gas emissions were a world apart from what was needed.
Thunberg says 'our voices' being heard but not translating into action
Thunberg, who sparked a global youth-led protest movement after striking outside the Swedish parliament last year, said that asking children to skip school to protest inaction by governments on climate change was “not a sustainable solution”.
The year the world woke up to the climate emergency
Although scientists have warned for decades about the risk to humanity and Earth posed by unfettered burning of fossil fuels, in 2019 their message seems to have finally hit home.
Emerging from obscurity: 2019's unforeseen history-makers
Here are eight history-makers in politics, climate and humanitarian activism, music and astronomy who were unknown quantities in 2018.
Coldplay won't tour new album, say want gigs to be 'sustainable'
The rock group, known for songs like 'Yellow', 'Paradise' and 'Viva la Vida,' will release their eighth studio album 'Everyday Life' on Friday.
Greta Thunberg awarded international children's peace prize
The 16-year-old rose to international prominence last year when she founded the "school strikes for the climate" movement. Tens of thousands of children around the world have now got involved.
Trump 'so extreme' on climate he's waking people up - Greta Thunberg
The 16-year-old Swedish activist spoke in an interview with AFP on the eve of her departure from North America where she has spent almost three months.
Kim Kardashian praises climate activist Thunberg and hopes for meeting
Kim Kardashian said she would love to have dinner with Greta Thunberg, who told world leaders at the opening of a UN conference that they had stolen her childhood with 'empty words'.
Odds favour Greta Thunberg for Peace Prize, but experts sceptical
Online betting sites like Ladbrokes now put her as favourite to win what is perhaps the world's most prestigious prize.
Kardashian (38) said she would love to have dinner with Thunberg, who told world leaders at the opening of a United Nations conference last month that they had stolen her childhood with “empty words.”
Nobel buzz for Greta and literature duo
Odds from bookmakers such as Ladbrokes indicate the 16-year-old activist is the one to beat for the Nobel Peace Prize after she launched a school strike that inspired millions to join her 'Fridays for Future' movement.
Russia's Putin criticises 16-year-old Greta Thunberg's UN speech
'Go and explain to developing countries why they should continue living in poverty and not be like Sweden,' Russian President Vladimir Putin told an energy conference.
ANALYSIS: Greta Thunberg’s voice speaks just as loud as her words
The human voice is a sonic fingerprint - and Greta Thunberg's tells a powerful story.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg wins 'alternative Nobel Prize'
The 16-year-old denounced world leaders on Monday for failing to tackle climate change in a speech at the start of a climate summit at the United Nations in New York.
Edwin Ntshidi
Nthakoana Ngatane
Rams Mabote
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Exorcast
Blood Bath Blu-ray Review from Arrow Video
Posted by exorcast on July 31, 2016
Blood Bath Arrow Video Blu-Ray Review
Arrow Video has really blown me away with another incredible release. This isn’t just a set of four movies but it tell’s the crazy story of Roger Corman taking one movie and spawning three from it.
Disc 1 (Operation Titan & Portrait in Terror)
First up is Operation Titan which is the film that started it all. It’s basically an art heist/murder mystery with not much to offer. It is fairly well made, but really nothing special. I really understand why Roger Corman wasn’t happy with this movie because it never would have survived at the drive-in and as a result it would make him very little money. This brings us to the next incarnation of the film, Portrait in Terror, which is a re-cut of Operation Titan that has a new score and some added scenes.
Disc 2 (Blood Bath & Track of the Vampire)
Blood Bath is where the film transforms into some great shlock. This movie was the result of giving the movie to Jack Hill (Spider Baby, 1967)
and then to Stephanie Rothman (Terminal Island, 1973). Jack Hill made a rough cut of the movie and then it was handed over to Stephanie Rothman. The movie has nothing to do with Operation Terror and Portrait of Terror and are only connected by the footage that was reused and some of the same actors. Instead of a whodunit, the movie has been transformed into a bizarre and campy vampire flick and in true Jack Hill form, he cast Sid Haig (The Devil’s Rejects, 2003) in a role. Interspersed with the vampire story is some amusing and very tongue in cheek scenes of beatnik artists trying out some new forms of painting. Sid Haig plays one of the beatniks and is really the highlight o f those scenes.
What spawned from Blood Bath was Track of the Vampire, which was the extended TV cut of the film. A few parts are taken out, but much more is added. Blood Bath runs only 62 minutes while Track of the Vampire clocks in at about 80 minutes. This cut of the film makes it a bit more ridiculous than Blood Bath. The best example of this would be the incredibly bizarre chase scene that turns into an underwater vampire attack. It’s unintentionally funny and goes on for what
seems like forever. It is by far the best scene of aquatic blood sucking that I’ve ever witnessed.
Arrow really doesn’t mess around with the special features on this set. Portrait in Terror, Blood Bath and Track of the Vampire all have brand new 2K restorations that all look quite good. Operation Titan has been reconstructed with original film materials and standard definition inserts so it understandably has the worst picture quality out of the bunch. Although the picture is overall rather impressive, the sound is not. There is some aggressive background static throughout.
The first special feature in this set is, The Trouble with Titian Revisited. It is a brand new visual essay by Tim Lucas about the history and production of all four films. This feature is truly great, and not just a half assed featurette. Mr. Lucas originally penned a three part article in Video Watchdog and has now turned it into a feature length documentary. It’s incredibly interesting and informative that goes in depth about the production, complete with side by side shot comparison. The amount of information and insight in this documentary rivals many film classes I’ve taken.
Next up is a very short interview with Sid Haig called Bathing in Blood that was recorded for this release. This interview is so short that it’s almost unnecessary. But if you’re into hearing Sid Haig talk very quietly than check it out. We also get an even shorter archive interview with Jack Hill.
As part of the limited box set you get a beautiful double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artworks and a great limited edition booklet containing new writing on the film and its cast by Peter Stanfield, Anthony Nield, Vic Pratt and Cullen Gallagher. There is also Outtakes from Track of the Vampire, scanned from original film materials and the usual reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Dan Mumford.
I can’t recommend this set enough. Weather you’re a fan of Corman or Jack Hill, a fan of cheesy vampire movies, or just interested in a truly unique piece of film history, this set is for you. For about $35, you get 4 movies plus a feature length documentary. Blood Bath and the documentary alone are worth the money. And I implore you to pick up the limited set because the poster and book are very much worth it.
-DeadRat
Leave a comment Posted in reviews Tagged Arrow Video, arrow video us, blood bath, bluray horror, bluray review, jack hill, operation titan, portrait in terror, roger corman, sig haig, stephanie rothman, track of the vampire
Taxi Driver LP Rewiew from Wax Work Records
Posted by exorcast on July 4, 2016
Waxwork Records
We are in a vinyl resurgence, but it has been going on longer than you think. Especially if you are into punk and hardcore. The soundtrack boom however, is more recent. One of the label’s that had a hand in this is Waxwork Records. I learned about Waxwork due to their Chopping Mall release. I’m not a fan of the film, but the artwork and the hot pink colored record, felt like something I must have. That’s what made me a fan of theirs, and currently own all of their releases.
Waxwork as a label has gotten bigger and bigger. Having released soundtracks for films such as Friday the 13th, Trick ‘r Treat, and Goosebumps. Another huge release for them is the subject of this review, the soundtrack to Martin Scorsese’s masterpiece Taxi Driver.
The Taxi Driver score is conducted by Bernard Herrmann, famously known for his score to Psycho. Taxi Driver was his final score before his death. The score is haunting and really adds to the despair we experience with Travis Bickle. It’s downbeat and ominous, and really sets the tone of the film. While it is not really a soundtrack you would put on for a fun listening evening, it is great to listen to on a rainy somber day, waiting for the sun to shine.
This release from Waxwork shows why they are one of the best soundtrack companies around. The score is presented on two LPs, each being 180g. This was released on two different color options; a taxi cab yellow, and a white, yellow, and black tri-color. The tri-color one is the one I picked up, but both look amazing. The release sound really good, as well. Many will argue over the benefits of 180g vinyl, but I’m in the camp that states it does sound better. It sounds clean, real clean. Clean like my conscience.
In addition, this is the first time the score has been released in it’s entirety on vinyl.
So with the complete score, great sound, and a good looking LP, that should be enough right. Waxwork always goes above and beyond for their releases, and this one is no different. The artwork was done by Rich Kelly. We get gatefold artwork depicting one of the more bloodier scenes, that would be great on it’s own as a poster. Finally, we get liner notes by Martin Scorsese himself.
So listen you screwheads, if you are a fan of the film, you need this release in your collection. This is the definitive version of the soundtrack, it sounds great and has fantastic artwork. Suck on this.
Buy it here: http://waxworkrecords.com/products/taxi-driver
-Dance Commander Matt Hatfield
By the time you read this, I will hopefully not be dead. You can also listen to me twice a month on the CinemaVillainy podcast.
@cerial442
Leave a comment Posted in reviews Tagged bernard herrmann, martin scorsese, robert deniro, taxi driver, travis bickle, vinyl, vinyl sountrack, wax work records
The Swinging Cheerleaders Blu-ray Review from Arrow Video
Francesca BD/DVD/CD Coming September 27th from Unearthed Films
Return of the Killer Tomatoes Arrow Video Blu-ray Review
Violent Shit – The Movie is Out Now from REEL GORE RELEASING!!!
A House Is Not A Home hits DVD September 27th
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THE AVENTADOR IS A BLEND OF VISUAL BEAUTY
AND MIND-BLOWING PERFORMANCE
Limits? What limits? Enough is never enough at Lamborghini.
LAMBORGHINI AVENTADOR S LP740-4 TEST DRIVE
The Lamborghini Aventador S is about ‘more’ in every way!
THE AVENTADOR S HAS ONLY ONE GOAL IN LIFE... TO GO FAST!
Lamborghini doesn’t hold back, and neither should you.
Drive a Lamborghini Aventador S On a Racetrack!
If there’s a limit to how far a supercar can go, no one has ever told Lamborghini. The Aventador S proves it. With the Aventador LP700, Lamborghini made a car of extremes in every sense. From aesthetics to power to price, the first Aventador demanded that some superlative be a part of its description. Accordingly, Lamborghini states that, “an icon cannot be reinvented, it can only be challenged.” So, they took the already outrageous Aventador, and evolved it further still in to the Aventador S. read more >
Now, the Aventador S produces 740 horsepower from its redesigned 6.5-liter V12, a gain of 40 horsepower from its predecessor. Top speed for the Aventador S stretches to 217 MPH and 62 MPH from a standing start takes only 2.9 seconds. Some five seconds later, the speedometer will tickle 125 MPH when the average passenger car is getting to 60 MPH. Reinventing an icon, isn’t solely about gob-smacking numbers. The engineers and designers in Sant’Agata Bolognese improved their mighty flagship by considering every aspect of its performance, design and construction in order to truly elevate the Aventador S.
For all that power, Lamborghini employed its latest version of LDVA, which stands for Lamborghini Dinamica Veicolo Attiva in Italian. To us, it’s Lamborghini most advanced active vehicle dynamics technology. Made up of a combination of systems, LDVA is responsible for lateral vehicle dynamics through four-wheel steering, vertical vehicle dynamics through its Magneto-rheological suspension and active rear aerodynamics, plus longitudinal dynamics via its four-wheel drive. In case you lost count, the LDVA is constantly analyzing and adjusting performance for forces that come from the sides, top, front and back of the car to optimize all 740 horsepower as needed for a truly superior driving experience that lets you be the best driver you can be.
Stunning looks go without saying, but eye-catching design is as much to elevate the driving experience as it is to incite desire. Front downforce has increased 130% while cooling efficiency has been improved so that whether on track or on the road, there’s never a need to hold back.
Lamborghini Aventador S Video
Lamborghini Aventador S Gallery
Amazing experience!! I purchased for my son's high school graduation. Lifetime memories. Staff was amazing and made sure had an enjoyable experience. We are already planning the return visit!
My husband loved every minute! The staff was excellent and driver was awesome.
Driving 2 different Lamborghini's at Exotics Racing was one of the greatest experiences of my life. Has been a dream of mine since I was little. Can't wait to visit again one day!!
- Adrian
No improvements necessary. It was there most amazing experience. I thought I would be limited on speed and have driven very fast cars. Turns out I wasn't limited at all. And my instructor *** was top notch. Just do it
- Damon
My experience at Exotics Racing was nothing short of amazing. My racing pro *** was awesome and fully delivered on the super car racing experience. The customer service was great, from the rep at the counter to the mc to the Hellcat driver. Can’t rave enough about the exhilarating experience and will be sure to go back and try to set a track record soon.
- Andrew
It was an amazing experience to drive these cars and the instructions that were given by the instructor on how to drive these cars. I had *** as my instructor in the Lamborghini aventador s and the Audi R8 V10 plus. Greet instructions on how to drive these cars never been in a sports car or supercar will definitely be back to drive the McLaren 720S!!! And probably the Lamborghini again.
Staff was great, Great experience. Lap is a bit short so 5 laps is quick at a minute a lap.
- Robert
- Jianyi
Absolute blast! I have visited twice now and will continue to do so every time I come to Vegas. I have tried the driving experience, drift experience, and the go-karts. Each of them were great. The instructors are very informative and will help you drive the car as fast as possible. Can't wait to come back!
- Adam
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Motorcycle News, Views, and Reviews
BMW E-Power Roadster concept
Pacifica, California
8,623 / 15 / 698 / 2031
BMW continues to come up with an electric motorcycle design that their customers will love. This is a nice try, but does seem to be a work in progress. Not quite up to Energica's production electric motorcycle standards, though: https://riders.drivemag.com/news/mee...0-nm-of-torque
Richard - Current bikes: 2016 BMW R1200RS, 2018 16.6 kWh Zero S, 2011 Royal Enfield Bullet 500 Classic, 2009 BMW F650GS, 2005 Triumph T-100 Bonneville, 2002 Yamaha FZ1 (FZS1000N) and a 1978 Honda Kick 'N Go Senior.
WildWilly
F800Riders.org Supporter
SE Iowa
18,444 / 15 / 214 / 1480
I give 'em E for effort.
2013 F800GT Graphite Metallic
Not a 2nd childhood, still in the 1st
notacop
The original Schwartz Wald Troll
SoCalif. near Pasadena
12,840 / 8 / 110 / 2177
'04 DL-650A V-Strom
'13 G650GS (Single)
I didn't look at all the pics but with a bit of fairing it looks like the old K bikes from the 80's.
The mechanicals are not particularly attractive.
guidoveloce
Collesano, Italy
21,367 / 19 / 1216 / 2033
this concept bike weighs a lot, it's about 300 kg, maybe more. this is one of the main problem of the electric bikes, usually their weight is a lot more than bikes with thermal engine that can compared with them. the energica ego, for example, weighs more than 270 kg, it has a brutal acceleration, maybe more than any other 1000 cc sport bike, but its weight don't let it to reach the same maximum speed of the other sport bikes which weigh about 70 kg less. the maneuvering of these heavy electric bikes maybe is quite simple because they have the reverse gear and a sort of parking assistance (I think that every bike which weight is more than 160 kg should have this kind of assistance, but...), anyway riding such heavy bikes at low speed can be very difficult. it has no sense, because one of the purpose of an electric bike is to stop the dangerous emissions of the thermal engines and the place where it's more needed to do it is just inside the city traffic where you need bikes that can be handled easily at low speed.
"putenza du gibbiuni!" dissi u sceccu quannu vitti u mari... ("what a big pool!" said the donkey when has seen the sea...)
Post Thanks / Like - 1 Likes, 0 Dislikes
Richard230 liked this post
the frame of this concept bike recalls the one of the KTM Super Duke, the engine looks to heavy for this frame, but I suppose that the BMW engineers know what they have to do, in truth this kind of structure is very strong and resistant.
Yo, RIchard,
https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/31/cars/...les/index.html
DIdn't know where to put this but if places like Hanoi want to ban motorcycles by 2030, except maybe electric bikes, other cities may consider the same.
Seems Rome and Paris are restricting some traffic already?
Electric cars and bikes, no noise and atmospheric pollution. Whoda thunk it.
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Tristan Gommendy
Tristan Gommendy (born 4 January 1979) is a French professional racing driver.
Gommendy on the podium after winning the 2002 Macau Grand Prix
(1979-01-04) 4 January 1979 (age 41)
Le Chesnay, Yvelines
24 Hours of Le Mans career
2003 – 2004, 2010, 2013 –
Racing for Holland
Gerard Welter
Class wins
1 Racing career
1.1 Early career
1.2 GP2, Champ Car, and Superleague Formula
1.3 Sports cars
1.4 Return to IndyCar
2 Racing record
2.1 Career summary
2.2 Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results
2.3 Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results
2.4 Complete GP2 Series results
2.5 American Open-Wheel
2.5.1 Champ Car
2.6 Superleague Formula
2.6.1 2008-2009
2.6.2 2009 Super Final Results
2.7 Complete European Le Mans Series results
2.8 Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results
Racing careerEdit
Early careerEdit
Born in Le Chesnay, Yvelines, Gommendy began his professional career in French Formula Three in 2000. He won the prestigious Macau Grand Prix in 2002 and also won the French F3 Championship that year. In 2003 he drove in Eurocup Formula Renault V6 and finished third. He moved to its successor the World Series by Nissan in 2004 and finished 5th and another season in 2005 he finished fourth.
GP2, Champ Car, and Superleague FormulaEdit
In 2006 Gommendy drove in the first five rounds GP2 Series for the iSport International team and was on front row for his first race in front of Lewis Hamilton. He finished 20th in points, scoring a pair of fifth places at Circuit de Catalunya
On 8 March 2007 it was announced that Gommendy had been signed to drive for PKV Racing in the 2007 Champ Car season as a teammate to Neel Jani. At Houston and Long Beach, he led several laps before breaking down with few laps to go. Later at Circuit Mont-Tremblant, Gommendy won the pole and track record. He participated in twelve of the first thirteen races and finished 12th in points with a best finish of fourth in his final start at TT Circuit Assen.
Tristan Gommendy driving the FC Porto car at Donington Park during the 2008 Superleague Formula season.
With Champ Car merging with IndyCar the following year, resulting in fewer available race seats, Gommendy joined Superleague Formula driving for F.C. Porto, winning a race at ACI Vallelunga Circuit in 2008 and Donington Park in 2009. Gommendy continued in Superleague Formula with other teams and little success until the series shut down mid-way though the 2011 season.
Sports carsEdit
Gommendy made his first 24 Hours of Le Mans start in 2003. His team finished the race for the first time in 2010, driving a Welter Racing LMP2 entry to 8th in class. He competed in the LMP2 class of the 2009 Le Mans Series with Welter Racing.
In 2011 following the dissolution of Superleague Formula, Gommendy was largely out of racing until he appeared in the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans for Signatech in their LMP2 Alpine A450. The team finished 14th overall and 8th in class. He raced at the LMP2 class 2014 European Le Mans Series for Thiriet by TDS Racing, winning at Silverstone. The Frenchman remained at the team for the 2015 European Le Mans Series, claiming a win at Imola and a second place at Red Bull Ring. For the 2016 European Le Mans Series, the driver switched to Eurasia Motorsport, finishing second at Red Bull Ring.
Jackie Chan DC Racing hired Gommendy to compete at the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship, again in the LMP2 class. He finished third overall at the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Return to IndyCarEdit
On September 11, 2017, it was announced that Gommendy would return to American open-wheel racing, making his Indianapolis 500 debut at the 2018 Indianapolis 500, driving for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports in a partnership with former Larrousse F1 team boss Didier Calmels. However, that deal has since fallen through.
Racing recordEdit
Career summaryEdit
F/Laps
French Formula Renault Mygale 21 0 0 0 3 116 5th
French Formula Three ASM Elf 11 0 0 0 0 54 11th
British Formula 3 Championship 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC†
European Formula 3 Cup 1 0 0 0 0 N/A DNF
Masters of Formula 3 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 29th
French Formula Three ASM Elf 11 0 1 0 2 94 6th
Macau Grand Prix 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 14th
Korea Super Prix 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 10th
French Formula Three ASM Formule 3 14 5 10 7 10 202 1st
Macau Grand Prix 1 1 0 1 1 N/A 1st
Masters of Formula 3 1 0 0 0 1 N/A 3rd
Formula Renault V6 Eurocup ARTA-Signature 18 1 3 3 8 286 4th
24 Hours of Le Mans – LMP900 Racing for Holland 1 0 0 0 0 N/A DNF
World Series by Nissan Saulnier Racing 16 0 0 0 5 96 5th
24 Hours of Le Mans – LMP2 Gerard Welter 1 0 0 0 0 N/A DNF
Formula Renault 3.5 Series KTR 17 1 1 3 5 97 4th
GP2 Series iSport International 9 0 0 0 0 6 20th
Formula Renault 3.5 Series Pons Racing 4 0 1 0 1 16 19th
Champ Car World Series PKV Racing 11 0 1 0 0 140 12th
Superleague Formula F.C. Porto 11 1 0 0 2 277 7th
Le Mans Series – LMP2 WR Salini 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC
Le Mans Series – LMP2 WR Salini 4 0 0 0 0 3 15th
Superleague Formula Galatasaray S.K. 18 0 0 0 2 358 13th
Olympique Lyonnais 9 0 0 1 1 235 18th
24 Hours of Le Mans – LMP2 Gerard Welter 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 8th
Superleague Formula France - Girondins de Bordeaux 4 0 1 1 0 52 13th
24 Hours of Le Mans – LMP2 Signatech-Alpine 1 0 0 0 0 0 8th
European Le Mans Series – LMP2 Thiriet by TDS Racing 5 1 0 0 1 35 8th
24 Hours of Le Mans – LMP2 1 0 1 0 1 N/A 2nd
24 Hours of Le Mans – LMP2 1 0 0 0 0 N/A DNF
Asian Le Mans Series Eurasia Motorsport 1 0 0 0 1 18 9th
European Le Mans Series – LMP2 Eurasia Motorsport 6 0 0 0 1 10 9th
24 Hours of Le Mans – LMP2 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 5th
FIA World Endurance Championship – LMP2 Jackie Chan DC Racing 9 0 0 0 1 77 11th
European Le Mans Series – LMP2 Graff 6 0 0 0 0 23 14th
24 Hours of Le Mans – LMP2 Graff-SO24 1 0 0 0 1 N/A 2nd
European Le Mans Series – LMP2 Graff 2 0 0 0 0 20 6th*
† Ineligible for points.
* Season still in progress.
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans resultsEdit
Felipe Ortiz
Beppe Gabbiani Dome S101-Judd LMP900 316 DNF DNF
Jean-Bernard Bouvet
Bastien Brière WR LM2004-Peugeot LMP2 137 DNF DNF
Philippe Salini
Stéphane Salini WR LMP2008-Zytek LMP2 308 23rd 8th
Signatech-Alpine
Pierre Ragues
Nelson Panciatici Alpine A450-Nissan LMP2 317 14th 8th
Thiriet by TDS Racing
Pierre Thiriet
Ludovic Badey Ligier JS P2-Nissan LMP2 355 6th 2nd
Ludovic Badey Oreca 05-Nissan LMP2 204 DNF DNF
Eurasia Motorsport
Nick de Bruijn
Pu Jun Jin Oreca 05-Nissan LMP2 348 9th 5th
Jackie Chan DC Racing
David Cheng
Alex Brundle Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 363 3rd 2nd
Graff-SO24
Vincent Capillaire
Jonathan Hirschi Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 366 6th 2nd
Jonathan Hirschi Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 362 14th 9th
Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series resultsEdit
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
4 ZOL
Ret MON
1 LMS
15 LMS
16 BIL
3 BIL
19† OSC
2 DON
NC DON
4 EST
Ret MNZ
Pons Racing
1 IST
2 MIS
2 CAT
NC CAT
† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed more than 90% of the race distance.
Complete GP2 Series resultsEdit
iSport International
Ret VAL
11 IMO
Ret IMO
12 CAT
Ret SIL
FEA SIL
SPR MAG
FEA MAG
SPR HOC
FEA HOC
SPR HUN
FEA HUN
SPR IST
FEA IST
SPR MNZ
FEA MNZ
American Open-WheelEdit
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
Champ CarEdit
PKV Racing
Panoz DP01
Cosworth XFE V8 t
5 LBH
11 HOU
13 POR
7 CLE
13 MTT
15 EDM SJO
8 ROA
16 ASN
4 SRF MXC 12th 140
Superleague FormulaEdit
2008-2009Edit
(Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Alan Docking Racing
7 9 8 5 6 15 16 DN 8 1 2 12
Hitech Junior Team
16 7 12 7 8 1 7 13 6 5
2009 Super Final ResultsEdit
Super Final results in 2009 did not count for points towards the main championship.
2009 F.C. Porto
Hitech Junior Team MAG
DNQ ZOL
N/A DON
5 EST MOZ
N/A JAR
Galatasaray S.K.
Barazi-Epsilon
BEI†
14 14 X 8 8 X 14 9 X 13 14 X 9 3 5 14 3 4 8 17 X 9 13 X
Atech GP/Reid Motorsport
11 2 6 14 17 X 4 11 C 14 13 X
France - Girondins de Bordeaux
Azerti Motorsport
14 4 X 14 11 X
Complete European Le Mans Series resultsEdit
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
WR / Salini
WR LMP2008
Zytek ZG348 3.4 L V8
CAT MNZ SPA NÜR SIL
6 ALG NÜR
Ret SPA ALG HUN SIL
Morgan LMP2
Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8
1 IMO
Ligier JS P2
Ret LEC
Ret EST
Oreca 05
2 LEC
Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
10 MNZ
Ret RBR
8‡ ALG
6th*
‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.
Complete FIA World Endurance Championship resultsEdit
6 COA
5 FUJ
Ret SHA
8 BHR
^ "Drivers – Tristan Gommendy". DriverDatabase. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
Tristan Gommendy career summary at DriverDB.com
Sporting positions
Ryo Fukuda French Formula Three
2002 Succeeded by
Ryan Briscoe
(F3 Euroseries)
Takuma Sato Macau Grand Prix
Nicolas Lapierre
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Wikinews Shorts: August 5, 2010
A compilation of brief news reports for Thursday, August 5, 2010 .
1 Four dead in Chinese kindergarten school attack
2 Cutting down of tree flares up Lebanese violence
3 Music star Wyclef Jean to seek Haitian presidency
4 Pakistani president criticized over European tour
5 Boeing 787 orders go negative for 2010
6 Alex Rodriguez hits 600th home run
Contribute to Wikinews by expanding these briefs or add a new one.
The city of Zibo is in Shangdong province in eastern China
Image: Immanuel Giel.
Four dead in Chinese kindergarten school attack
A man armed with a 2-foot long knife killed three children and a teacher in a brutal attack in Zibo in eastern China. The Chinese government has been mostly silent on the incident.
The man who killed the people was identified as 26 year-old Fang Jiantang, and he later turned himself in to police. His motive for killing the children and the teacher is unknown.
Lily Kuo. "Four killed in attack on kindergarteners in China" — Los Angeles Times, August 5, 2010
Christopher Bodeen, Associated Press. "China mostly silent on latest school attack; 4 die" — Yahoo! News, August 4, 2010
The disputed border between Israel and Lebanon is known as the Blue Line (click to enlarge)
Image: Thomas Blomberg and other Wikimedia Commons users.
Cutting down of tree flares up Lebanese violence
After a rare clash between Israeli and Lebanese forces over the cutting down of a tree near the border of the two countries, it appears that all sides are attempting to restore peace.
The skirmish started after an Israeli soldier started cutting down a tree that has the capability to provide cover for Lebanese infiltrators. Israel has stated that they clear the border of underbrush weekly. After the tree was cut down, the Lebanese army started firing. The Lebanese were allegedly aiming at a base nearby, and the resulting skirmish killed a senior Israeli military officer, a Lebanese journalist, and two Lebanese army soldiers.
The United Nations peacekeeping force in south Lebanon has stated that Israel was operating in their own territory. However, Lebanese Information Minister Tarek Mitri said that the area of land which had the tree "[was] Lebanese territory," and also stated that though Lebanon respects the border, the country still contests part of it.
Yara Bayoumy. "U.N. supports Israeli assertion on Lebanon clash" — Reuters, August 4, 2010
Mark Lavie. "Flare-up over tree accents Israel-Lebanon tension" — Associated Press, August 4, 2010
Musician and presidential candidate Wyclef Jean pictured in 2006
Image: Ali Dan-Bouzoua / Flickr.
Music star Wyclef Jean to seek Haitian presidency
According to TIME magazine, Haitian-American music star Wyclef Jean is to seek Haiti's presidency this Thursday. Last week Jean, who is a former member of the Fugees music group, took legal steps to run for the presidency, and Jean said in an interview that "if I can't take five years out to serve my country as President, then everything I've been singing about, like equal rights, doesn't mean anything." His younger brother also said that his candidacy was "very serious."
On January 12 of this year, Haiti was rocked by a devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake that killed 300,000 and displaced millions. Whoever wins the presidency will face the task of rebuilding the crippled country. The presidential elections are scheduled for November 28.
"Wyclef Jean considering standing for president of Haiti" — Wikinews, July 28, 2010
Associated Press. "Wyclef's brother: Haiti presidential bid 'very serious'" — USA Today, August 4, 2010
"Wyclef Jean to seek Haitian presidency - TIME" — Reuters, August 4, 2010
Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan's president, has been criticized for continuing a tour of Europe while Pakistan suffers some of the worst flooding in living memory.
Image: Lawrence Jackson.
Pakistani president criticized over European tour
The president of Pakistan, Asif Zardari, is facing criticism for continuing a tour of Europe while his homeland is facing the worst flooding in 80 years.
Opposition politician Imran Khan called for the president "to head home immediately." Khan citicized Zardari for "[going] on this lavish tour — this money could be used on the victims. Remember, Pakistan is bankrupt right now so the government doesn't have enough money, so he should be mobilizing people to help these victims of the floods." Zardari is scheduled to meet UK Prime Minister David Cameron on Friday.
The flooding has killed over 1,500 people and has left over three million others in need of assistance. According to Islamabad's National Weather Forecasting Center, rain has been falling at a rate of 25-30% higher than average.
Theunis Bates. "Anger Swells in Pakistan Over President's Trip" — AOL News, August 4, 2010
Associated Press. "Floods kill dozens more in Pakistan; death toll surpasses 1,500" — USA Today, August 4, 2010
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner's first flight.
Image: Dave Sizer and Altair78.
Boeing 787 orders go negative for 2010
Aircraft company Boeing lost orders for 26 jets over the past week, according to the company's website. Boeing lost 15 orders for their new and long-delayed 787 Dreamliner, 10 for their Boeing 777 and one for their smaller 737 jet. The company also gained two orders for the 737, which makes for a net loss of 25 orders. Boeing hasn't identified the customers that cancelled their orders.
With the 15 dropped 787 orders, Boeing has lost four more orders than it gained for the aircraft this year. Boeing has gained 28 orders for the 787 and lost 32 in 2010. Boeing has gained 255 orders for its lineup this year, which consists of the 737, 747, 767, 777 and 787. 229 of those orders are for the 737 jet.
Ben Mutzabaugh. "Cancellations: Boeing's Dreamliner orders go negative for 2010" — USA Today, August 6, 2010
"Boeing Dreamliner orders go negative for the year" — Seattle Times, August 5, 2010
"Orders and Deliveries" — Boeing, August 3, 2010
File photo of Alex Rodriguez
Image: Keith Allison.
Alex Rodriguez hits 600th home run
Alex Rodriguez, baseball player for the New York Yankees, hit his 600th career home run on Wednesday. His 600th home run was hit in Yankee Stadium against the Toronto Blue Jays. The Yankees currently lead 5–1 against the Blue Jays in the game. Yankees manager Joe Girardi said that the homer was "an amazing feat — quite an accomplishment."
With the home run, Rodriguez, also known as A-Rod, became the seventh player in Major League Baseball history to reach the 600 milestone.
Seth Livingstone. "Alex Rodriguez Hits 600th Home Run" — Shreveport Times, August 4, 2010
Fanhouse staff. "Alex Rodriguez Hits 600th Home Run" — Fanhouse, August 4, 2010
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Irresistible Poison
Title: Irresistible Poison
Author(s): Rhysenn
Length: 123,712 words
Genre: m/m slash
External Links: Irresistible Poison (FictionAlley)
Irresistible Poison (Noire Sensus)
Screenshot via Wayback
1 Press
2 Its Relationship to "The Draco Trilogy"
3 Recs and Reviews
Irresistible Poison is one of the early Harry/Draco slash romance novels.
Summary: Under the influence of a love potion, Draco learns that poison doesn't always bring death.
Two lines of Irresistible Poison were quoted in the news article What to do about Harry Potter porn by Christopher Noxon. This article was originally posted in 2001, came to wider attention in Harry/Draco fandom, and was later taken up by several other online news sites. The article was reprinted in the Vancouver Sun in 2002. The article mentioned Rhysenn's name at one point, but did not specifically cite her as the author of Irresistible Poison. The article was widely viewed by fans as being purposefully inflammatory.
The story was also linked in Porn - for the rest of us.
Its Relationship to "The Draco Trilogy"
In 2012, Aja commented extensively on the climate of the Harry Potter fandom at the time both "Irresistible Poison" and The Draco Trilogy were first being published, and how the two stories gained energy off each other:
So in the first part, Draco Dormiens, which Cassandra Claire started posting in 2000, and which was immediately super popular, Harry and Draco actually become best friends. So, yes you had all these hate tropes but you also had this sort of, you know, had a bunch of people reading Draco Dormiens and the two other fics in the series and going, Wow, maybe they could be friends and maybe they could more that friends, you know? Before I even got to the fandom, they—she actually had put, you know Rhysenn had started writing "Irresistible Poison" and Cassie and Rhysenn were friends and they shared a mailing list together. So even though "Irresistible Poison" was hugely popular — but a lot of that led over into the populate, the fan base for Draco Veritas, or the Draco Trilogy, because they shared a mailing list. So even though they weren't — like, Draco Dormiens wasn't a slash novel, there was this wink wink, nod nod type thing going on, because obviously she's on a mailing list with a Harry/Draco writer who's very popular.
Then, there is that sense that [Cassandra Claire] is catering to the subtext, and she actually—she actively did cater to the subtext in a lot of ways. But that was all before I came along. And when I came along, I think the immediate, I guess, impression that I had was just that the writing was amazing, because I had actually tried to get into slash before, like I told you. And then I got pointed to the one archive where all of these really, where all the quote unquote "best writers" of the fandom were archived, sort of this one, like, elite archive called Diagon Alley, and I was just really drawn to the quality of the writing.
Which now I look back, and I'm like, Oh. I mean everybody thinks that "Irresistible Poison" is sort of twee and it's very cliché and very shmoopy. And it was, back then, too—it was very obviously, very shmoopy, but it also seemed to tap into a kind of, I guess, emotional undercurrent and I think the... I think just politically, like the fact that all of these people were reading you know, the Draco trilogy and then reading Irresistible Poison right away, because like almost inevitably, when you ask somebody who came into the Harry Potter at that point in time what their first fan fic was, they will almost always say "Irresistible Poison." If you ask them what their first H/D fan fic was, you know that just seems to be the one that everyone remembers. And I remember reading all these fics together because it just sort of hit me all in one weekend. So Irresistible Poison was one of many that I that I sort of intook and actually probably the one that made the biggest impression on me was Shalott's Weather of the Heart which is very much the hate sex/rivalry type thing. But Shalott was also coming from a completely different, I guess, part of the fandom. She was, I mean she was sort of in line with the pop slashers and the western media writers. Whereas you know Cassie was, you know sci-fi fantasy, steeped in that whole literary tradition of fandom. And I think a lot of the people I had early conversations about Harry/Draco with were also sort of within the more literary side of it. They come to Harry/Draco as readers first, maybe, and fans second, I guess. Whereas I think a lot of the people who came to the, sort of, love/hate trope were sort of fans first, if that makes sense. So I think it depends on what you're looking to get out of it. But I definitely, definitely think that the hugeness of popularity of the Draco Trilogy had a big deal to do with it. [1]
Recs and Reviews
This is a Harry/Draco classic, hands down. The writer was able to convey so much emotion and put such beauty in this fic. Beautifully-written, emotionally satisfying, and down-right one of the best I’ve ever read. I couldn’t stop reading it and it has been [...] translated into different languages.
In fact, it’s been rec.ed by so many readers out there and has an unspoken title of being a classic that it’s a wonder why I didn’t find this story in the beginning.
Sure, it’s the whole ‘love-potion-cliche’ but it’s so much more than that. It’s like, the epitomy of the whole category. It’s that good. I wished that it didn’t end. It was long, but very much worth the read. The beginning until the end was interesting, not one part being draggy AND there’s enough dry humor to keep you sort-of-chuckling albeit the angst. [...] Rating:10/10[2]
Absolutely classical H/D novel. Intense, captivating, amusing. Even very much so. Very well developed plot. Some scenes are simply elegant. Characters (especially the main ones) are absolutely charming. Somehow resembles Draco Trilogy; most likely because Rhysenn is a co-writer (and companion) of Cassandra Claire, their writing principles and approach to characters are clearly similar. In another words, this novel would be one of my first recs if somebody asked me what H/D to read. Rhysenn writes very well, and this is her most popular work.[3]
If you were going to read just one Draco/Harry fic and leave the fandom entirely, this is the one to read.[4]
Feel a bit silly posting this, because I know everyone's read it... Still, this story is the quintessential H/D fic. If you haven't read it, you haven't read H/D. Love is the most irresistable poison of all...[5]
↑ Fan Fiction Oral History Project with Bookshop
↑ ficrecdump. Irresistible Poison. (Accessed 09 April 2012)
↑ painless_j. “Irresistible Poison” by Rhysenn, 07 December 2006. (Accessed 09 April 2012)
↑ Journey to another place - Harry Potter Recs. (Accessed 09 April 2012)
↑ Switchknife's Slash Recommendations - ...harry/draco.... (Last updated 09 August 2004; accessed 20 January 2018.)
Retrieved from "https://fanlore.org/w/index.php?title=Irresistible_Poison&oldid=1110598"
Harry Potter Fanfiction
Slash Fanfiction
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Published: 05/26/2016 Words: Father Gore Post navigation
Relentlessly Fun Video Game Action with HARDCORE HENRY
Peaky Blinders – Season 3, Episode 4
MISERY’s Annie Wilkes is The Rotten Heart of Fandom
Misery. 1990. Directed by Rob Reiner. Screenplay by William Goldman; based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King.
Starring James Caan, Kathy Bates, Richard Farnsworth, Frances Sternhagen, Lauren Bacall, Graham Harvis, & Jerry Potter.
Castle Rock Entertainment/Nelson Entertainment
Rated 14A. 107 minutes.
Crime/Drama/Thriller
I’m a huge Stephen King fan. I’ve read almost everything he’s written, still working on that. His short stories are some of the best short stories out there, as far as I’m concerned; up with greats of similarly fashioned literature such as H.P. Lovecraft and Robert W. Chambers and others. He’s not simply a horror writer like so many pigeonhole him. Everything he does certainly has a dark, macabre and morbid, eerie tone. Rarely does he write anything without his brand of strange. But his stories and the plots within them are all so fascinatingly dark and equally as human. Part of why King is able to touch so many readers is because within all the macabre madness of his horrific tales, those human elements are what hooks people. The characters, their situations, their hopes and dreams and the all too often dashing of those desires are how King gets into the head of his readers, then allowing him the chance to creep us out.
Misery is one of the rare King novels I feel is just as good onscreen as it is on the page. No discounting his work. Like I said, I’m a massive fan. One of the biggest inspirations to me as a writer, personally. However, this is one of his stories that’s more confined and simple in location, the story is not supernatural or anything in that vein. The strength of the novel is in its focus on character and setting. The film is so perfect for the fact these characters are so well developed within the constraints of the story and its limited setting. All the psychological, emotional, and visceral angles of the horror are anchored to the performances of James Caan and Kathy Bates. Director Rob Reiner makes a lot of solid choices, but no doubt about it, those two steal the show.
Caan is a solid Paul Sheldon. He has this sort of old school tough guy feel about him, so that when he’s got his legs beat to pieces, laying in bed and stuck to that wheelchair, he has this air of wounded masculinity. Not in an obnoxious sense. In the way you feel bad for him. Furthermore, you know even if it was just one banged up leg, he might manage to get out of the situation. But he’s helpless in this situation and it renders Sheldon someone we empathize with, which Caan plays up so well. Better still is how he gets crafty after so long, and that’s something Caan uses to great effect. There’s always this awesome fine line with Caan where he’s serious as hell, and simultaneously funny, on the verge of always being able to make you laugh or smile. One of the best casting choices in any King film.
And that brings me to Bates. Oh my, Kathy. You’re a treasure. In everything from her early role in Straight Time to the wild roles she’s done on American Horror Story, she is a chameleon of an actor. She can be the sweetest sort of woman in one performance, then turn around and wow as an evil, ruthless psychotic. Wilkes is the latter. At the same time, even after we know she’s crazy there is often something sympathetic about her. She feels like the ultimate lonely person. The loneliest. To the point of dangerously disastrous behaviour, such as when she kidnaps Paul. Bates really brings out the mentally ill side of Annie, though not in a melodramatic way. Nor is her psychosis laughable. Even when she gets foolish and says “cockadoodie“, which is worthy of a chuckle, the scary side of her is always present. Never does Bates allow us to forget the danger of Annie. She draws us into the weird and darkly funny aspects of the character while making sure the psycho-thriller angle is never far behind.
Best of all, the character of Annie Wilkes (Bates) feels far ahead of her time. Originally written in 1987, she’s decades before the unbelievable mania that is fandom. You can look back at Misery and see it as a metaphor. About how fans demand what they want from the creators of the material they so dearly love. They demand so much, in fact, that it pains the creator, as they can’t always please their audience and also please themselves as an artist. Ultimately, Annie is the fandom that will not let artists (directors, writers, et cetera) grow organically, but rather impede development by wanting a show to be THEIRS. While a certain amount of what an artist does is out of their hands after they’ve finished creating it, there’s still a line that fans can cross. By stepping over that line you make clear it isn’t the artist’s talent which you’re in it for; you want a story that you dictate. Then it becomes something not of the creator, or in this case the author. Annie isn’t just some psychopath, though this works incredibly well on a surface level. She is further a representation of how fans can pin down the artists they admire with expectations, ones they wish to force.
In this day and age with Twitter and other social media platforms, Wilkes is an even better, more relevant character, as too often we’ve seen this direct connection between artists and fans create a headache for showrunners, directors, actors, writers, producers alike. Even to the point that nowadays these fandoms, or some of them, almost expect people (often this is the case with people running shows for AMC, BBC, HBO, so on) and the various networks to do what they want. This is no longer television, nor is is the movies. The fans are what put money into the production companies, in the end. Yet that doesn’t mean directors and writers have to be expected to put together material tailor made to every last fan. That’s absolutely, downright madness. Part of the excitement, for me, in film and television is NOT knowing. I like for writers to surprise me, directors, too. I don’t want to be able to telegraph every plot twist and movement. That’s boring. If that’s your bag, fine. But you’re an Annie Wilkes! If you want to have power to determine a movie or a television, how the casting or the plot or whatever goes, then you’re no better than her forcing Paul Sheldon into changing his book.
Today, people rage on the new Ghostbusters movie. Instead of just letting it be and not going to purchase a ticket, angry misogynists opt, like Annie, to try and burn the thing down. Exactly the way she made Paul crisp up his manuscript on the barbecue. Just let it be. Sheldon ending his character Misery could have proved disastrous to his career, maybe people wouldn’t want to read him any more once he moved on to something else. And maybe this new Ghostbusters could flop (retroactive note: it certainly didn’t do great). I personally don’t want it to, but it could. Only the rabid fans, Annie Wilkes, they can’t let things flow naturally. They have to have it their way, or no way.
There are some truly horrific moments in this movie. This has psychological horror, as well as real, physical stuff to tickle the visceral nerves. Even just Paul and his broken legs is a bit of body horror. Although, once Annie decides to toss out her story of the early days in diamond mines when they hobbled workers for stealing, things get gruesome. For all the horror movies I’ve seen over the years, this scene kills me. Every time. Funny enough, there’s nothing explicit or graphic. You actually barely see what happens.
There’s just the acting – Caan screaming in savage pain, Bates triumphantly walking the room with her sledgehammer – the sound design, all the build up in Reiner’s direction, “Moonlight Sonata” playing in the background. Changed a bit from the book to cut down on blood, but no less effective in its brutality. This whole bit is not only creepy, it also starts us down a descent towards a desperately tense, suspenseful finale.
This is a 5-star classic. A masterpiece. One of the best adaptations of a novel to screen I’ve yet to witness. So many books either change too much or just can’t capture the original novel’s enticing charm to satisfy fans. As one lifelong Stephen King lover, I find Misery so satisfying, in every way. The plot plays out wonderfully onscreen, adapting well from King in William Goldman’s screenplay, and everything fleshes out properly to keep the journey exciting and just as compelling. By the time the final frames play, we’ve had a long, arduous ride alongside Paul Sheldon in his wheelchair.
Cockadoodie
Hobbled
Psychological Horror
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XMM-Newton’s 20th Anniversary
[Music throughout] [XMM-Newton] [Launched on December 10, 1999,] [XMM-Newton is an ESA (European Space Agency) X-ray telescope supported by NASA.] [It has revolutionized the study of high-energy phenomena in the universe.] France Cordova: The longevity of XMM was not foreseen, it just kept right on going. Stephanie LaMassa: Something about looking at the night sky that just fills you with a sense of wonder and I just never grew up from that. Lisa Winter: XMM has been a part of my career from the earliest stages even until now. LaMassa: XMM is a space-based observatory that studies X-ray light from the most energetic phenomena in the universe. It spans [Stephanie LaMassa, Astronomer, Space Telescope Science Institute. Ph.D. thesis based on XMM-Newton data] the range of everything from studying energetic stars and exoplanets around those stars to the most distant universe. [Norbert Schartel, XMM-Newton Project Scientist, ESA] We can start with comets, which are very cold objects. We go then to compact objects where we observe very hot plasma near to the event horizon from a black hole. And then, completely different then we look in XMM-Newton data for signature of dark matter, and this I think makes this mission so great, that it allows such a broad science to be addressed. Cordova: I had a sabbatical in 1982 in the United Kingdom, and my officemate at the time was Steve Kahn. We had a third office mate it was Keith Mason. We came up with the [France Cordova, Director, National Science Foundation (NSF) Was co-PI of XMM-Newton Optical/UV Monitor Telescope] idea that it would be great to do multiwavelength observations from space. To do deep X-ray imaging and spectroscopy and simultaneously be able to observe cosmic sources in the ultraviolet and optical bands. If we could do all this from one platform in space, namely XMM, we it would be much more efficient. Then, when the X-rays saw something pop off, the ultraviolet/optical telescope would be right there seeing it right away. [Lisa Winter, Astronomer, NSF. Ph.D. thesis based on XMM-Newton data] XMM-Newton is a really fantastic telescope. It’s more than just one telescope actually. You can study the same object across a range of energies from the optical, where we can observe from the Earth, up into the UV and X-rays where you really have to go above into space. Cordova: It was great to be at the beginning of multiwavelength astronomy. There’s virtually no cosmic sources that just radiate at one frequency, and when you look at the universe with X-ray eyes you see something much different than when you look at the same universe in ultraviolet eyes. Steve Kahn: I led the US piece of one [Steve Kahn, Professor, SLAC National Accelerator Lab. Was co-PI of XMM-Newton Reflection Grating Spectrometer (RGS)] of the three major instruments on XMM-Newton, which was called the Reflection Grating Spectrometer. I developed the initial concept for that in the early 1980s when I was quite young. We knew that many systems in the universe emitted X-rays copiously, but we didn’t have very detailed models for how that X-ray emission arises and what it was actually telling us about the systems. [Maurice Leutenegger, Astronomer, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Was XMM-Newton RGS team member] Spectroscopy is the study of light emitted by atoms, but it’s more than that because atoms are peculiar. When they shine they don’t just give you all the colors of the rainbow, it looks more like a barcode. Kahn: You get very sharp peaks at very particular wavelengths and frequencies and those are associated with particular quantum states. Leutenegger: It’s extremely powerful, it’s just like a barcode, it looks like a bunch of garbage to human eyes but it can tell you you know, what’s in a product, and how much it costs, and what country it came from, and all that stuff. Kahn: By measuring that detailed pattern we can learn about the fundamental physics of what’s happening in these very exotic environments. What the temperatures are, the densities, the pressures. The spectroscopy that XMM-Newton did really answered a huge number of questions. Dheeraj Pasham: With the most recent result with XMM we were [Dheeraj Pasham, Einstein fellow, MIT. Ph.D. thesis based on XMM-Newton data] able to measure the spin of the black hole, and I liked the signal so much so that I put it on a cup and I drink from it every day, so. (laughs) Schartel: My son was shocked that other people in the school were knowing XMM-Newton. Small children from 10 years, that they know that XMM-Newton is X-ray satellite. Cordova: Ah, you know, it’s amazing. It’s like the Cal Ripkin of satellites, of space satellites, this thing that just keeps going and going and going and producing great data. Kahn: I’m delighted to see that number one the mission is still working and the instrument is stilling working and that there are all these young scientists that have been inspired to figure out great things to do with it. Cordova: And they’re using it for, in all sorts of ways, which is really amazing to see a telescope used in ways and for discoveries that you could never have predicted when you first were designing it and launching it. LaMassa: There’s certain science that XMM can do that other X-ray observatories can’t. Recently XMM has invested lots of time in these large-area multiwavelength survey fields including work that I’ve been leading, in a region of the sky that has lots of existing data. And that multiwavelength data is really important to harness the best scientific results out of XMM. Pasham: Astronomy is going through a revolution. There’s gravitational waves detected, there’s several kinds of weird supernovae detected, and having an X-ray instrument to simultaneously operate while these optical instruments are operating will be extremely beneficial. Winter: Many objects change — they have flares and outbursts — so it’s really a key observation to have everything from the X-ray, the optical, and the UV all precisely at the same time. Cordova: I’m so glad that XMM is a part of that, that it was taking people originally into the directions of the time, and today is taking people into entirely new directions. [XMM-Newton 20 years] [and looking forward]
andthattheX-rayX-ray ObservatoryXMM-Newton
By Carl Davis No Comments
Beaumont councilman defending decision to reach out to FEMA
Constitutional amendment becomes political hot potato in Korea
PUBLIC NOTICE – STATE SPONSORED TERRORISM – PUBLIC RECORD
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Posts Tagged Mark Colwill
new music: Tindersticks
Posted by Amy Steele in Music on November 11, 2015
Tindersticks, “Hey Lucinda”
I’ve long adored this band. It’s no secret that I gravitate toward darker music even though I love Brit Pop and followed Jesus Jones and The Charlatans UK on tour during the 90s. Tindersticks plays sexy, dark music. Singer Stuart Staples oozes romance with that brooding baritone and the varied instrumentation of violin, keyboards, percussion and guitar leads to gorgeous layered arrangements. Tinderstickswill release The Waiting Room [City Slang] on January 22nd. It’s a collaborative film project as well with each song on the album accompanied by a short film. Tindersticks created soundtracks for several Claire Denis films. The new album features guest appearances by Jehnny Beth of Savages and the late singer Lhasa De Sela.
Tindersticks formed in Nottingham, England in 1992 by Stuart Staples [vocalist], David Boulter [keyboardist], Neil Fraser [guitarist], Dickon Hinchcliffe [violinist], Mark Colwill [bassist] and Al Macaulay [drummer]. Staples, Boulter and Fraser remain in the current line-up.
“Hey Lucinda,” features the vocals of Lhasa De Sela and Rosie Pedlow and Joe King directed the short film.
“We are Dreamers” features a haunting and roiling melody. Jehnny Beth of Savages duets with Stuart Staples. Brazilian director Gabriel Sanna directed the short film.
David Boulter, Jehnny Beth, Mark Colwill, Neil Fraser, Savages, Stuart Staples, tindersticks
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Report | Environment New Jersey
Testimony In Favor Of Electric Buses to the Senate Select Committee on NJ Transit
The future is now for NJ Transit to commit to electrify their bus fleet over the next two decades. Dirty diesel buses, especially running through our cities and polluting our air and climate, need to be phased out by 2040. NJ Transit should join other major transit agencies to make the commitment to electrification. The Camden electrification pilot is a good start, but NJ Transit needs to aggressively ramp up electric buses in our cities in the early 2020s and to work to electrify all new bus purchases by the end of the next decade.
Read more about Testimony In Favor Of Electric Buses to the Senate Select Committee on NJ Transit
Report | Environment New Jersey Research & Policy Center
Electric Buses: Clean Transportation for Healthier Neighborhoods and Cleaner Air
A new report from Environment New Jersey Research & Policy Center and Frontier Group, “Electric Buses: Clean Transportation for Healthier Neighborhoods and Cleaner Air,” shows that a transition to electric buses for NJ Transit could avoid climate-altering and localized air pollution each day without losing reliability.
Read more about Electric Buses: Clean Transportation for Healthier Neighborhoods and Cleaner Air
Report | Environment America Research & Policy Center
Renewables on the Rise 2018
Over the last decade, clean energy has grown by leaps and bounds. Technologies that can help America shift away from fossil fuels — like solar panels, wind turbines, LED light bulbs, energy storage and electric cars — have gone from novelties to core features of the nation's energy landscape.
Read more about Renewables on the Rise 2018
Trouble in the Air
People across America and New Jersey regularly breathe unhealthy air that increases their risk of premature death, asthma attacks and other adverse health impacts. Levels of air pollution that meet current federal air quality standards can be harmful to health, especially with prolonged exposure. Metropolitan and micropolitan areas across New Jersey experienced more than 100 days on which smog and/or particulate pollution was “moderate” or higher – in other words, above the level that the EPA has determined presents “little to no risk.”
Read more about Trouble in the Air
Shining Cities 2018: How Smart Local Policies Are Expanding Solar Power in America
Solar power is expanding rapidly. The United States now has over 53 gigawatts (GW) of solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity installed – enough to power 10.1 million homes and 26 times as much capacity as was installed at the end of 2010.[1] Hundreds of thousands of Americans have invested in solar energy and millions more are ready to join them.
Read more about Shining Cities 2018: How Smart Local Policies Are Expanding Solar Power in America
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The role of uptake and efflux transporters in the pharmacokinetics of ß1-receptor blocker talinolol (2016)
Roustom, Tarek
Introduction: The β1-adrenergic receptor antagonist talinolol is a probe drug for P-glycoprotein (P-gp). It is absorbed erratically and incompletely from the gastrointestinal tract. However, its pharmacokinetics might also be influenced by further uptake and efflux transporters as concluded from interaction studies with naringin and verapamil in human. Additionally, the transcellular transport through the different tissues, including enterocytes, hepatocytes and kidney tubular cells, is not completely understood so far. Therefore, we aimed to measure the affinity of talinolol to drug transporting proteins (OCT1-3, PEPT1, OCTN2, ASBT, NTCP, MRP 1-3 and P-gp as well as OATP 1B1, 1B3, 2B1 and 1A2) and some of their genetic variants known to be of pharmacokinetic relevance (OATP1A2 *2 and*3 as well as OATP2B1 V201M, R312Q and S486F). In a further step, we retrospectively evaluated the impact of clinically relevant genetic polymorphisms of transporters on the pharmacokinetics of talinolol in healthy subjects. Materials and Methods: Time and concentration-dependent uptake assays with [3H]-talinolol were performed either in stable transfected HEK293 or MDCKII cells expressing OATP1A2 *1, *2 and *3, OATP1B1, OATP1B3, OATP2B1 (and its genetic variants p.V201M, p.R312Q and p.S486F), NTCP, ASBT, PEPT1, OCTN2, OCT 1-3 and the respective vector control or in inside-out lipovesicles expressing the efflux transporters MRP1-3 and P-gp. Talinolol was quantified by liquid scintillation counting. The transport rates were then corrected by the transporter proteomics measured in the cellular membrane. Regarding the pharmacogenomic evaluation, it was carried out retrospectively in 39 healthy subjects who had participated in former pharmacokinetic studies with talinolol. This evaluation included a variety of transporter related genetic variants, known to be of a clinical meaning for their substrates. Results: Among the uptake transporters, talinolol was shown to be a substrate of OATP1B3 (Km= 153 ± 137 μmol/l; Vmax= 168 ± 30.3 μmol/mgxmin), OATP1B1 (Km= 301 ± 133 μmol/l; Vmax= 1135 ± 348 μmol/mgxmin), OATP2B1 (Km= 459 ± 260 μmol/l; Vmax= 4.32 ± 1.33 μmol/mgxmin), OATP1A2 (Km= 477 ± 158 μmol/l; Vmax= 0.61 ± 0.1 μmol/mgxmin) and NTCP (Km= 2560 ± 781 μmol/l; Vmax= 15944 ± 3741 μmol/mgxmin) but not a substrate of OCT1-3, OCTN2, PEPT1 or ASBT. When it comes to the efflux transporters, talinolol was transported by both P-gp (Km = 175 ± 206 mol/l; Vmax = 14 ± 10.8 nmol/mgxmin) and MRP3 (Km= 86.8 ± 62.8 μmol/l; Vmax= 133 ± 51.5 μmol/mgxmin) but not by MRP2. The pharmacogenomic analysis supported the in-vitro results, as it showed a significant decrease in talinolol absorption (AUC and Cmax) in subjects with the loss of function variant MRP3 211C>T and in those with a decreased P-gp function due to having less than 5 T-allels in the haplotype P-gp 1236-2677-3435-TTT. No significant changes were found associated with other transporters’ genetic variants. Conclusion: Our in-vitro results suggested the vectorial transport of talinolol through the enterocytes to consist mainly of apical OATP2B1 and P-gp and basolateral MRP3. Additionally in the hepatocytes, apical OATP1B1, OATP1B3 and NTCP seem to be involved as well. This vectorial transport was demonstrated in-vivo for the first time by our pharmacogenomic analysis, where talinolol absorption was significantly influenced by both P-gp and MRP3 genetic variants.
Phosphoproteomic characterization of Staphylococcus aureus-induced host signaling (2016)
Richter, Erik
Bacterial infections represent an increasing threat in human health and hospital- acquired infections meanwhile account for 99,000 deaths every year in the United States (Ventola, 2015). Live-threating bacterial infections will certainly emerge to an even more serious concern in future, essentially by accelerated development of antibiotic resistance. Only recently, the discovery of plasmid-encoded mcr-1, that confers resistance against colistin, marks the point where this highly transmissible resistance mechanism is now reported for every so far developed antibiotic (Liu et al., 2016). Staphylococcus aureus is a Gram-positive bacterium and well-known for its ability to quickly acquire resistance toward antibiotics either by chromosomal mutations and/or horizontal gene transfer (Pantosti et al., 2007). Although approximately 30% of the population is colonized with S. aureus (Kluytmans et al., 1997), it can transform to an invasive pathogen that causes a wide range of severe infections including pneumonia. The success of S. aureus as opportunistic pathogen can be attributed to combinations of several beneficial properties and capabilities including the expression of an arsenal of virulence factors (Archer, 1998), intracellular persistence (Garzoni & Kelley, 2009) and subversion of host cell defense mechanisms (Schnaith et al., 2007). The airway epithelium is the first line of defense against bacterial pathogens by forming a relative impermeable physical barrier composed of epithelial cells that are linked by tight junctions, desmosomes and adherence junctions (Davies & Garrod, 1997). Additionally, the airway epithelium mediates the detection of bacterial pathogens via toll-like receptors (TLRs) that recognize a variety of bacterial molecular patterns such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS), peptidoglycan and flaggelin (Sha et al., 2012). This interaction is transduced via protein phosphorylations into the cell in order to promote adaptation to the infection by initiation of the adaptive and innate immune defense. Although few insights where obtained of the signaling host responses towards staphylococcal infections (Agerer et al., 2003; 2005; Ellington et al., 2001), a comprehensive description of the host signaling network is largely missing. Thus, this dissertation thesis focuses on the decipherment of phosphorylation-mediated signaling responses towards S. aureus infections in non- professional and professional phagocytes by mass spectrometry-based phosphoproteomic techniques. The results of this thesis are summarized in the four chapters. Chapter I introduces to recent advances in the development of methodologies applied in the field of phosphoproteomics, including quantification strategies, peptide fractionation techniques and phosphopeptide enrichment methods applied for the system-wide characterization of protein phosphorylations by mass spectrometry. Additionally, publications reporting phosphorylation-based host signaling responses towards bacterial pathogens or their molecular patterns that applied mass spectrometry-based phosphoproteomics are discussed. In chapter II, the responses of the human bronchial epithelial cell lines 16HBE14o- and S9 following challenge with staphylococcal alpha- toxin at the level of proteome and phosphoproteome are summarized. General and cell type-specific signaling events are highlighted and evidences linking the activity of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) with differences in tolerance toward alpha-toxin are provided. Chapter III describes the modulation of the host signaling network of 16HBE14o- airway epithelial cells triggered by infection with S. aureus including temporal dissection of signaling events. Several protein kinases were identified as important signaling hubs mediating the host response. Targeted pharmaceutical inhibition of these kinases was probed and resulted in reduction of intracellular bacterial load. Chapter IV describes the rearrangement of the kinome by the differentiation of THP-1 monocytes to macrophage-like cells by application of quantitative kinomics. This approach identified the kinase MAP3K7 (TAK1) as key mediator of bacterial clearance, chemokine secretion and the differentiation process itself.
Dynamics and paleo-climatic forcing of late Pleistocene glaciers in the Turgen and Khangai mountains (Mongolia) reconstructed from geomorphology, 10Be surface exposure dating, and ice flow modeling (2016)
Pötsch, Steffen
The focus of this study is on the geochronological and paleo-climatic characterization of late Pleistocene glaciations in Turgen and the Khangai Mountains located in central and western Mongolia. These two mountain ranges form a 700 km long NW-SE transect through Mongolia and allow assumptions of the temporal and causal dynamics of the regional late Quaternary glaciations and their correlation to other mountain glacier records from Central and High Asia. In order to evaluate extent and timing of the Pleistocene glaciations in Mongolia, geomorphological mapping and cosmogenic radionuclide (CRN) surface exposure dating (10Be) were carried out in four valley systems located in the Khangai and Turgen Mountains. Additionally, a coupled 2-D surface energy balance and ice flow model was used to determine steady-state conditions for glaciers under various climatic scenarios. With this model it is possible to test combinations of temperature and precipitation settings, which would produce glacier configurations that fit the field-mapped ice extent. In total, 47 glacial boulders and roche moutonnées were sampled, prepared and AMS measured to determine the absolute timing of moraine formation and ice retreat based on 10Be surface exposure dating. Of these, 27 samples were obtained from the Khangai Mountains (three separate moraine sequences) and 20 samples were taken from the Turgen Mountains (two moraine sequences). The dating results (presented as minimum ages) give evidence for a late Pleistocene maximum ice expansion during late MIS 5 (81−78 ka) and major ice advances during MIS 2 (26−20 ka) in both mountain ranges. Only in the Khangai Mountains (central Mongolia) very significant glacier advances also occurred during mid-MIS 3 (49−35 ka), which exceeded the ice limits set during the MIS 2 glaciation. A final ice position, constructed shortly before the onset of full ice retreat was formed between 19-16 ka, and is likely to represent a recessional ice stillstand, or alternatively a final ice readvance during the early part of the last-glacial-interglacial-transition (LGIT) in both mountain ranges. Energy/mass balance and ice flow modeling results suggest that climatic conditions during the MIS 5 and MIS 3 maximum advances in the Khangai Mountains were depressed between a ∆T of -6.0 to -5.2 °C with a precipitation factor of 1.25-1.75 (P = 125-175 %, compared to modern conditions), and a ∆T of -5.3 to -4.4 °C (P = 75-125 %), respectively. For the MIS 2 ice advances modeling results from the Turgen and Khangai Mountains suggest a temperature depression ∆T of -5.7 to -4.6 °C (at 22 ka; P = 25-50 %) in the East-Turgen, and a ∆T of -7.5 to -6.6 °C (at 20 ka; P = 25-50 %) in the Chulut area (Khangai Mountains). These results document a 1.8 - 2 °C difference of the modeled temperatures required to expand the studied paleo-glaciers in the Turgen and Khangai mountains to their field-mapped MIS 2 ice limits, highlighting a spatially differentiated pattern of paleo-temperature lowering across the studied 700 km NW-SE transect. Taken together, the presented record indicates that the largest ice advance in both investigated mountain ranges occurred during the MIS 5 / MIS 4 transition, despite earlier suggestions by previous studies that the local glacial maximum would be associated with the coldest periods of the last glacial cycle (i.e. MIS 4 or MIS 2). Glacier systems in the Khangai Mountains also increased substantially during MIS 3 (local LGM) in response to cool but comparable wet conditions, probably with a greater-than-today input from winter precipitation and an additional input of recycled moisture from expanded paleo-lakes in the Valley of the Great Lakes. The lack of a severe cooling during the MIS 3 ice advances, and probably also during the late MIS 5 ice expansion, suggests that variations in atmospheric circulation patterns, with its significance for controlling the regional precipitation/moisture supply, was a key driver for these late Pleistocene ice advances in Mongolia. This notwithstanding, there is also clear evidence for the development of an extensive glaciation during MIS 2, coinciding with a period of severe cooling and hyperarid conditions. This highlights that glacier systems in Mongolia responded sensitively, both, to variations in moisture supply and its seasonal distribution, and to the marked insolation minima during the last glacial cycle.
Cooling of anionic metal clusters stored in an electrostatic ion beam trap (2016)
Breitenfeldt, Christian
The thesis deals with ions stored in an electrostatic ion beam trap. In the first part of the thesis the so-called self-synchronization effect is discussed. It is demonstrated that the time a bunch of injected ions is conserved by the self-synchronization effect depends on the number of injected ions. In the second part of the thesis the cooling of small anionic cobalt and copper clusters is addressed. Measurements on anionic copper clusters consisting of four to seven atoms are presented and the decay of hot clusters is observed in order to draw conclusions on the internal temperature and the cooling process itself. Afterwards measurements on Co4- are discussed and a measurement scheme based on laser induced delayed electron emission is presented enabling to monitor the internal energy distribution of the clusters over storage time in a temperature-controlled environment. The cooling of initially hot clusters as well as the heating of initially cold clusters were observed.
Mediators of central immune response and peripheral immunosuppression in human and experimental stroke (2016)
Schulze, Juliane
Ischemic stroke is the second leading cause of death worldwide and a disease with a variety of risk factors including hypotension, nutrition/obesity, and smoking but also increased age. In an ageing society stroke is a great challenge and leaves the survivors with disabilities. The aim of this dissertation was to investigate the immunologic changes post ischemic stroke, in order to use a better understanding for new therapeutic approaches as well as for improvement of translation of results from bench to bedside. Ischemic stroke leads to a local and peripheral immune activation. On the other side an immune dysfunction/suppression occurs, that leads to a higher risk of stroke-associated infections. In this dissertation, a long-lasting elevation of HMGB1 after stroke and a correlation with blood leukocyte numbers could be shown. HMGB1 seems to be an important mediator of an endogenous inflammation and an interesting target for post-stroke immunomodulation. In a further study we showed that the quality of the immune response of infiltrating T cells has an impact on the neurologic outcome and functional recovery after experimental stroke. Importantly, a mechanism of how infections, mimicked by LPS injections, could worsen the outcome of stroke patients was revealed. In the context of stroke-induced immunosuppression regulatory T cells as an immunosuppressive T cells subset seem to not play a role as their suppressive capacity is reduced after stroke. Interestingly, the CD39 expression on Tregs is similarly increasing with age in humans and mice. This shows the importance of an age equivalent in experimental studies. In search of predictors for the outcome after stroke as well as the risk of infections, we performed single nucleotide polymorphism genotyping in the IL-1RN and TLR4 gene of stroke patients. Functional significant variants in the IL-1RN and TLR4 genes may have an impact on outcome and systemic markers of inflammation post stroke but these findings need to be replicated in studies with much larger cohorts.
Local measurement of the plasma diamagnetism with the Motional Stark Effect on ASDEX Upgrade (2016)
Reimer, René
In this Ph.D. project a method is developed to measure the magnetic field and to derive variations in the total plasma pressure due to (dia-) magnetic effects. For this purpose a plasma diagnostic has been set up at the fusion experiment ASDEX Upgrade to measure spectroscopically polarized light. The light is emitted from fast beam-particles excited by the plasma. Since the fast atoms travel through a magnetic field at high velocity, a strong Lorentz field is seen in the moving frame. This electric field gives rise to the so-called motional Stark-effect (MSE) and it is possible to conclude from the Stark-spectrum on the magnetic field.
Aspects of behavioral interventions for cardiovascular risk reduction: Target behaviors, recruitment strategies and use of new communication technologies (2016)
Gürtler, Diana
Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the major cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide and produces large productivity loss. The majority of CVD mortality could be prevented with changes in modifiable risk factors including tobacco use, physical inactivity, unhealthy diet and harmful use of alcohol. Successful behavioral prevention of CVD requires the identification of relevant target behaviors and reach of populations at risk. Presenteeism i.e. attending work while ill is discussed as a work-related risk factor for CVD. However, little is known about the interplay of presenteeism with established health risk behaviors. The first aim of this dissertation was to examine the association of presenteeism with health behaviors (study 1). The second aim was to examine factors that can enhance the public health impact of CVD prevention efforts. Therefore, the effect of recruitment strategy used on reach (study 2) and of communication channel used on intervention usage (study 3) was examined. Methods: Study 1 comprised data from 710 Australian employees aged 18 years and older who completed an online-survey. Linear regression analysis was used to examine the association of health behaviors (physical activity, work and non-work-related sitting time, sleep duration and sleep quality) with presenteeism. For study 2 individuals aged 40-65 years were invited to a two-stage cardio-preventive program including an on-site health screening and a cardiovascular examination program (CEP) using face-to-face recruitment in general practices (n = 671) and job centers (n = 1,049), and mail invitations from a health insurance company (n = 894). Recruitment strategies were compared regarding three aspects of reach: (1) participation rate, (2) participants’ characteristics i.e. socio-demographics, self-reported health and CVD risk factors, and (3) predictors of program participation. Study 3 compromised 16,948 users (aged 18 years and older) of the feely available physical activity promotion program 10,000 Steps. Users were grouped based on which platform (website, app) they logged their physical activity: Web-only, App-only, or Web-and-app. Groups were compared on socio-demographics, engagement parameters and logged physical activity. Non-usage attrition i.e. discontinued program usage over the first three months was examined using Kaplan-Meier survival curves. A Cox regression model was used to determine predictors of non-usage attrition. Results: Analyses from study 1 revealed that presenteeism was associated with poor sleep quality and suboptimal sleep duration after controlling for socio-demographics, work and health-related variables. Engaging in three health risk behaviors was associated with higher presenteeism compared with engaging in none or one. Study 2 showed screening participation rates of 56.0%, 32.8%, 23.5% for general practices, job centers and the health insurance company, respectively. Participation rate for the CEP among eligible individuals was 80.3%, 65.5%, and 96.1%, respectively. Job center clients showed the lowest socio-economic status and the most adverse CVD risk pattern. Whereas being female predicted screening participation across all strategies, higher age predicted screening participation only within individuals recruited via the health insurance company. Within general practices and job centers CEP participants were less likely to be smokers than non-participants. Study 3 revealed that engagement with the program was highest for Web-and-app users. Cox regression showed that user group predicted non-usage attrition: Web-and-app users (hazard ratio = 0.86; P < .001) and App-only users (hazard ratio = 0.63; P < .001) showed a reduced attrition risk compared to Web-only users. Further, older age, being male, being non-Australian, higher program engagement and higher number of steps logged were associated with reduced non-usage attrition risk. Conclusion: The results of this dissertation have three implications for designing CVD behavioral interventions with a high public health impact. First, employees suffering from presenteeism may require interventions addressing health risk behaviors including suboptimal sleep behaviors. Second, implementing prevention efforts in job centers may be especially useful to reduce health inequalities induced by social gradient. Third, the population impact of web-based interventions may be increased when using mobile delivery channels.
Affine Iterated Function Systems, invariant measures and their approximation (2016)
Peña, Helena
We consider Iterated Function Systems (IFS) on the real line and on the complex plane. Every IFS defines a self-similar measure supported on a self-similar set. We study the transfer operator (which acts on the space of continuous functions on the self-similar set) and the Hutchinson operator (which acts on the space of Borel regular measures on the self-similar set). We show that the transfer operator has an infinitely countable set of polynomial eigenfunctions. These eigenfunctions can be regarded as generalized Bernoulli polynomials. The polynomial eigenfuctions define a polynomial approximation of the self-similar measure. We also study the moments of the self-similar measure and give recursions for computing them. Further, we develop a numerical method based on Markov chains to study the spectrum of the Hutchinson and transfer operators. This method provides numerical approximations of the invariant measure for which we give error bounds in terms of the Wasserstein-distance. The standard example in this thesis is the parametric family of Bernoulli convolutions.
Approaching Universal Health Coverage in Kenya – The Potential of integrating Community Based Health Insurance Schemes (2016)
Ouedraogo, Lisa-Marie
Decades after international guidelines to approach Universal Health Coverage and Access for All to essential health care services have been formulated by the global community, social protection in health remains a major global challenge. This implies the devastating situation of having less than 15% of the global population benefiting of any kind of social protection in health, while more than 70% of the world population lacks any type of social protection coverage. 36 years after the famous and often-cited Alma-Ata Declaration proclaimed that „the promotion and protection of the health of the people is essential to sustained economic and social development and contributes to a better quality of life and to world peace”, people of the informal sector – which forms up to 90% of the population in many countries of sub-Saharan Africa – are still forced to take out loans or sell their assets to settle their hospital bills and in the end fall into poverty because of unbearable health care costs. While private health insurance schemes are mainly serving people living in urban areas and offer products and services that are not tailored to the needs of people of low-income from rural and/or remote areas, public social health insurance schemes are usually designed to serve the formal sector or are exclusively catering for public servants. At the same time, social protection in health is increasingly regarded to be a guarantor for development and economic growth of the national economy. In this context, some authors are convinced that community-based health financing is to be seen as a promising approach to insure parts of the population, which are normally excluded from any type of social protection in health, against catastrophic health care costs. With a focus on low-income people, Community-based Health Financing (CBHF) schemes offer products, processes and institutions that are tailored to the specific needs of their low-income target group, usually situated in the informal sector. In the aim to meet international standards and comply with the global development agenda, governments in sub-Saharan Africa are increasingly acknowledging the need to include the informal sector and people of low-income into their public health financing systems. As a result, innovative health systems evolved, which often comprise of hybrid sub-systems to cover various target groups of the society. While some governments – such as the governments of Rwanda, Ghana and Tanzania – have already implemented integrated national Social Health Insurance (SHI) systems that consider CBHF schemes to cover the informal sector, others are aiming at implementing this innovative idea in the near future, e.g. Burkina Faso and Togo. Given the above-illustrated situation, the overall research objective of this thesis is to explore the potential contribution of CBHF schemes towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in low- income countries of sub-Saharan Africa. Furthermore, the specific research objectives are set as follows; (1) To establish common lessons learnt from low-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa which implemented integrative SHI systems by combining efforts of national SHI schemes and CBHF schemes, or which are in an advanced stage of designing and implementing the same. (2) To comprehensively analyze the Kenyan health financing system and design adequate interventions towards the design and implementation of an integrative national SHI scheme in Kenya which is favoring UHC. (3) To develop a standard model for implementing integrative SHI systems in low-income countries of sub-Saharan Africa and the world. This thesis will at first provide a comprehensive topical background containing evidence about different relevant concepts such as Development, Universal Health Coverage, Social Protection, Health Financing and Micro Health Insurance. On this basis, the potential of combining community-based and national efforts towards tailored health care financing at national level will be explored by analyzing strengths and weaknesses of both approaches and providing brief insights from low-income countries of sub-Sahara Africa in this area. Furthermore, a comprehensive background to common development initiatives as well as the social protection and health care financing sectors in Kenya is provided to introduce the case study of chapter four. In the third chapter, common efforts of governments and other stakeholders involved in health care financing in sub-Saharan African countries to integrate CBHI schemes into public SHI schemes will be reviewed and analyzed. In the scope of this review, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burkina Faso and Ghana will serve as practical country case examples. Based on this extensive cross-country analysis, common lessons learnt regarding the complex process of designing integrative SHI systems in low-income countries of sub-Saharan Africa will be presented. In chapter four, through a comprehensive country case study, the Kenyan health and health financing sector and its stakeholders will be analyzed regarding its potential towards UHC, aiming at the development of most promising interventions towards the design and implementation of an integrated SHI scheme in Kenya, considering CBHF schemes as one building block of the system. A multi-stage model as well as a multi-level structure of a national SHI system to approach UHC in Kenya will be outlined and presented. The thesis will be concluded in chapter five by transferring the Kenyan experience to a global level and suggesting a standard model for implementing integrated SHI schemes in similar contexts as given in Kenya and the presented case examples. In the conclusion, common opportunities and limitations of community-based approaches towards UHC are highlighted and a way forward for the Kenyan context is suggested.
Safety and efficacy of a novel live marker vaccine against Classical swine fever virus (2016)
Dräger, Carolin
The presented study was dedicated to outstanding issues in regard to the safety and efficacy of the LAV “CP7_E2alf”, during the final licensing process and towards its putative implementation in outbreak scenarios as emergency vaccine. (I) For application of a genetically engineered virus under field conditions, knowledge about its genetic stability is mandatory. Therefore, the genetic stability of “CP7_E2alf” needed to be assessed in vivo and in vitro. Mutation rates were compared to the parental pestivirus strains (BVDV-1 “CP7” and CSFV “Alfort/187”), and BVDV or CSFV field-strains. There was no indication that “CP7_E2alf” could be more prone to mutational events than its parental viruses or representative field-strains. Moreover, no recombination events were observed in in vitro experiments. In conclusion, the data obtained in this study confirm a strong genetic stability of “CP7_E2alf” as an important safety component. (II) Since vaccination of breeding animals is often discussed, this study was conducted to assess the safety of “CP7_E2alf” vaccination of breeding male pigs. The study with “CP7_E2alf” vaccinated boar demonstrated that the new CSFV marker vaccine is suitable for application in reproductive boar. Neither in organs of the uro-genital tract related to sperm production nor in urine or feces, vaccine virus genome was detectable. Dissemination of “CP7_E2alf” through semen, and shedding with urine and feces, is therefore highly unlikely. (III) In order to investigate the influence of pre-existing pestivirus antibodies of the efficacy of “CP7_E2alf”, a vaccination-challenge-trial was conducted with “CP7_E2alf” (Suvaxyn® CSF Marker) and the “gold-standard” of live-modified CSFV vaccines, the C-strain (RIEMSER® Schweinepestvakzine). Pre-existing antibodies against BVDV-1 were provoked through intramuscular inoculation of a recent field isolate from Germany. Seven days after the vaccination, all animals were challenged with highly virulent CSFV strain “Koslov”. It was demonstrated that pre-existing anti- BVDV-1 antibodies do not impact the efficacy of both live attenuated vaccines against CSFV. Both C-strain “Riems” and marker vaccine “CP7_E2alf” were able to confer full protection against the highly virulent challenge. However, slight interference was seen with serological DIVA diagnostics accompanying “CP7_E2alf”. Amended sample preparation and combination of test systems was able to resolve most cases of false positive reactions. However, in such a coinfection scenario, optimization and embedding in a well-defined surveillance strategy is clearly needed for marker vaccination scenarios. (IV) To supplement the data about the kinetic of maternally derived antibodies in piglets from sows vaccinated during outbreaks, a single “emergency-type” vaccination of two pregnant sows was done. Focus was laid on the kinetics of maternally derived antibodies (MDA) in the screening assays of their offspring with screening assays that would be used in case of CSFV outbreaks, i.e. CSFV E2 and Erns antibody ELISA. Upon vaccination with “CP7_E2alf” 21 days before farrowing, MDAs were measurable in all piglets born to vaccinated sows. The E2- ELISA reactivities showed an almost linear decrease over ten weeks after which all piglets were tested negative in the ELISA. Future studies should investigate, if MDA are able to protect offspring of vaccinated sows or whether the piglets should also be vaccinated.
The Impact of Genetic Risk Factors for Major Psychiatric Disorders in the SHIP Study (2016)
Van der Auwera, Sandra
Psychiatric disorders are highly heritable. But the underlying molecular mechanisms are largely unknown or not understood. For many disorders, candidate genes have been proposed which are biologically driven or based on large GWAS studies. In this work different approaches were shown to investigate the impact of genetic risk factors for major psychiatric disorders in the general population. These genetic risk variants include single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with schizophrenia or major depression and were analyzed using the whole-genome information in polygenic scores or candidate marker analysis in GxE studies. Genetic data from SHIP-0 and SHIP-TREND have been used to calculate a polygenic risk score for schizophrenia. Here, the association between this genetic score and brain alterations is shown in three independent samples (SHIP-2, SHIP-TREND and BIG) which revealed no hint of a common genetic basis for schizophrenia and brain structure. These results are in line with other studies that also failed to find a genetic overlap. The same polygenic scores had been used in a PHEWAS analysis in SHIP-0 where an inverse association to migraine was found. This association could be attributed to the NMDA receptor activation via D-serine at the glutamatergic synapse. To assess the impact of environmental factors on the path from genes to phenotype, gene-environment interactions were applied. A significant interaction could be observed between rs7305115 (TPH2) and rs25531 (5-HTTLPR) and childhood abuse on current depression score in SHIP-LEGEND and SHIP-TREND. In summary, genetic variants associated with major psychiatric disorders can exhibit pleiotropic effects on common phenotypes in the general population.
Alcohol dehydrogenases as biocatalysts for the production of enantiomerically pure chiral alcohols (2016)
Kasprzak, Jakub
Summary Enantiomerically pure chiral alcohols are key compounds in the production of certain chemicals including pharmaceuticals. Chemical synthesis allows to obtain maximal yield of 50% for one enantiomer ( >50% yield is achievable with chiral catalysts used in chemical synthesis), whereas biosynthesis leads to nearly 100% yield. Hence, expensive and time consuming resolution of racemic mixture can be avoided. Alcohol dehydrogenases are the most popular enzymes used in the chiral alcohols synthesis due to high activity with appropriate aldehydes or ketones. ADHs require a cofactor which has to be regenerated after the conversion of aldehyde/ketone to the respective alcohol. Thereby, different regeneration methods were used in the practical work to compare and choose the better one. R. erythropolis and C. hydrogenoformans alcohol dehydrogenases were chosen based on the literature screening. Each gene was cloned into Xplor2 vector and pFPMT vector. Xplor2 vector was used for the transformation of A. adeninivorans and pFPMT vector was used for the transformation of H. polymorpha. Chemically synthesized alcohol dehydrogenase sequences from R. erythropolis (ReADH) and C. hydrogenoformans (ChADH) were cloned between TEF1 promoter and PHO5 terminator which are components of Xplor2 vector or between FMD promoter and MOX terminator which are genetic elements of pFPMT vector. Moreover, ChADH and ReADH sequences with His-tag encoding sequence at the 5’ or 3’ end were constructed and the most active form of the protein was selected for further studies. ReADH-6H was used for the synthesis of 1-(S)-phenylethanol and ethyl (R)-4-chloro-3-hydroxybutanoate whereas ChADH-6H was used for the production of ethyl (R)-mandelate. ReADH-6H synthesized in A. adeninivorans and H. polymorpha was fully biochemically characterized. The enzymes from the two yeast species showed some differences in their pH and temperature optima, thermostability and activity levels. A-ReADH (A. adeninivorans) and H-ReADH (H. polymorpha) were highly active with the same substrates which were: acetophenone, 4-hydroxy-3-butanone and ethyl 4-chloroacetoacetate for reduction reaction along with 1-phenylethanol and 1,6-hexanediol for oxidation reaction. Recombinant A-ReADH-6H and H-ReADH-6H were synthesized in A. adeninivorans and H. polymorpha, respectively. Both enzymes were used for the synthesis of 1-(S)-phenylethanol and ethyl (R)-4-chloro-3-hydroxybutanoate with the use of substrate-coupled cofactor regeneration system. The enantiopurity of the products was >99%. Moreover, A. adeninivorans whole cell catalyst was also used for the synthesis of both chiral alcohols. BmGDH (Bacillus megaterium glucose dehydrogenase) was co-expressed with ReADH-6H for NADH cofactor regeneration. Comparison between isolated enzymes and permeabilized whole cell catalysts indicate that cell biocatalysts are more suitable for the production of 1-(S)-phenylethanol with 92% of acetophenone being converted in 60 min. However, cells did not show any significant advantage over isolated enzymes in the synthesis of ethyl (R)-4-chloro-3-hydroxybutanoate although the velocity of the synthesis of ethyl (R)-4-chloro-3-hydroxybutanoate was slightly improved using whole-cell catalysts, giving an 80% substrate conversion in 120 min. Recombinant C. hydrogenoformans alcohol dehydrogenase was synthesized in A. adeninivorans and biochemically characterized. Enzyme showed high activity only with one substrate, ethyl benzoylformate. The A. adeninivorans and H. polymorpha cell catalysts synthesizing ChADH and BmGDH (Bacillus megaterium glucose dehydrogenase) were constructed and used in the synthesis of ethyl (R)-mandelate (reduction product of ethyl benzoylformate) with the enantiopurity of the reaction product being >98%. H. polymorpha catalysts were more effective in the synthesis than A. adeninivorans cells. The first were able to convert 93% of ethyl benzoylformate within 180 min and the latter were converting 94% of the substrate within 360 min. Re-use of non-immobilized cells and catalysts entrapped in Lentikat® was performed and the improvement of the stability of immobilized catalysts was reported. Space time yield of 3.07 mmol l-1 h-1 and 6.07 mmol l-1 h-1 was achieved with A. adeninivorans and H. polymorpha cell catalysts, respectively. Alcohol dehydrogenase 1 from A. adeninivorans was analyzed concerning the synthesis of enantiomerically pure chiral alcohols. The enzyme did not synthesize industrially attractive products. However, based on biochemical characterization enzyme plays a role in the synthesis of 1-butanol or ethanol and thereby it is of biotechnological interest.
Comprehensive study of the discharge mode transition in inductively coupled radio frequency plasmas (2016)
Wegner, Thomas
In this contribution, the mode transition of an inductively coupled radio frequency plasma at low pressure is investigated. Therefore, a comprehensive set of plasma diagnostics were applied to determine plasma and processing parameters. Therewith, the plasma kinetics and especially the important elementary processes were studied. Hence, the reason for the mode transition was identified.
Quantum systems in restricted geometries coupled to bosonic fields (2016)
Koch, Thomas
Nanoengineering and laser optics allow for the fabrication of a wide range of systems that subject fermionic particles to geometric restrictions. In addition to strong correlations, the fermions may couple to internal or external bosonic fields, such as quantized lattice vibrations or light fields. This thesis considers the theoretical description of two such systems. One is a molecular junction, i.e., a small organic molecule contacted by metallic electrodes or leads. Itinerant electrons induce molecular vibrations and deformations, corresponding to phonon modes of considerable energy. The thesis investigates the effects of this local electron-phonon interaction on the electric and thermoelectric transport through the junction. Starting with an Anderson-Holstein quantum dot model, our ansatz is based on the application of a variational Lang-Firsov transformation that accounts for the polaronic character of the dot state. We solve the steady-state Kadanoff-Baym equations and derive a self-consistent approximation to the polaronic self-energy that accounts for finite densities and multi-phonon scattering processes. The optimal variational parameter is determined numerically by minimizing the thermodynamical potential. This allows a detailed study of the electronic dot spectral function for all interaction strengths and adiabaticity regimes. For instance, we discuss how a voltage dependent polaronic renormalization of the dot-lead coupling and the dot level causes negative differential conductance and novel conductance features. The investigation of the second system is motivated by recent experiments on the Bose-Einstein condensation of excitons in small semiconducting cuprous oxide crystals. At ultra cold temperatures three species of para- and orthoexcitons are caught in stress induced potential traps. Their decay luminescence is the primary method of detection. This thesis considers the thermodynamics of this system in terms of a multicomponent gas of weakly interacting bosons in external potentials. The coupled equations of motion are solved within a Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov-Popov approximation. For typical experimental parameters the density distributions of the interacting species are calculated numerically. Based on the luminescence formula by Shi and Verechaka we discuss, e.g., how the spectrum of the direct decay of thermal paraexcitons may reveal the formation of a nonluminescent paraexciton condensate as well as the spatial separation of strongly repulsive orthocondensates. First results for an extended luminescence theory are presented, which takes into account the polariton effect.
The radiation of truncatelloidean gastropods across the South Pacific (2016)
Zielske, Susan
This thesis draws a comprehensive picture about the radiation and diversification of truncatelloidean gastropods across the south pacific. It covers three more specifc studies focussing on the Truncelloideans from Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia, respectively. And a conclusive analysis that combines the results of the three more specific studies and enhances them using species from the Austral Islands, Lord Howe Island, the Indonesian island Sulawesi as well as several species from New Zealand and Australia. Molecular phylogenies were calculated using four nuclear gene fragments (ITS2; 18S rRNA; 28S rRNA and Histone 3) besides the mitochondrial COI and 16S rRNA. Further molecuular data was used to calculate dated phylogenies, perform ancestral range reconstructions and develop a modified molecular barcoding approach.
Redox Processes of Organic and Mineral Geochemical Phases at Aquatic Interfaces (2016)
Lau, Maximilian Peter
In this thesis, rates and extend as well as the ecological implications of electron exchange reactions that involve redox-active moieties in organic matter (OM) were explored. The research builds on earlier findings that confirmed that OM may act as terminal electron acceptor (TEA) for electrons released in microbial respiration. This property was associated with quinone moieties that are ubiquitously found in OM from terrestrial and aquatic environments and that may undergo reversible reduction to the respective hydroquinone. Earlier methodological advances allowed for a rapid, direct and precise quantification of the electron accepting and donating properties of quinones in dissolved OM (DOM) by mediated electrochemical analysis. In this work, the previously established mediated electrochemical analysis was adapted and used in the characterization of redox properties of particulate natural samples that contain redox active iron and organic matter ("geochemical phases"). For the first time, direct measurements confirmed that microorganisms transferred electrons (e) from microbial respiration to the organic and inorganic electron acceptors in the particulate phase. Particulate OM in the sediments was found to provide a capacity to accept or donate e of 650 µmol e/gC. An incubation experiment resolved the spatiotemporal dynamics of organic and inorganic TEA species (i.e., nitrate, sulfate, Fe- and Mn oxyhydroxides) in sediments upon changes in oxygen availability and hence redox conditions. Oxygen is consumed when the reduced species are oxidized and, by this means, re-generate their electron-accepting capacity. The use of mediated electrochemical analysis allowed for the quantification of the redox state of the geochemical phases during their reduction and re-oxidation. The electron fluxes initiated by the oxic re generation of the TEAs nitrate, sulfate, Fe(III), Mn(IV) and quinoid moieties in OM were therefore directly monitored instead of modeled from the species’ distribution profiles in interstitial waters. The cyclic reduction and re-oxidation of redox species exposed to oxygen fluctuations was suspected to be a critical component of many aquatic ecosystems. In stratified lakes, extended sediment volumes are exposed to oxygen only upon lake overturn. Lake oxygen budgets are therefore influenced by benthic redox processes. The combined field and laboratory study showed that lake overturn seasonally introduces a finite amount of oxygen to the hypolimnion and that about 50% of the subsequent sediment oxygen consumption is exclusively associated with the re-generation of TEA species. These species previously formed in the sediment when organic matter was microbially decomposed during anaerobia. While lake overturn can completely mix epi- and hypolimnetic waters, small-scaled dynamics in temperature and oxygen availability may confine discrete parts of the water column with oscillations in physicochemical conditions. In the studied lake, a transient thermocline cyclically introduces oxygen to hypoxic hyplimnetic waters close to the pelagic redox interface. In the lake, organic TEAs may represent an important component of the total pelagic electron acceptor capacity. Due to the rapid and reversible redox reactions of DOM, reduced organic TEAs are re-generated upon dislocation to oxic parts of the water column. Results show that diurnal fluctuations of oxycline depth shape a micro-environment selecting for microbial species that are released from TEA limitations by OM in oxidized state. Pelagic microbial communities subjected to the same amount of OM in different oxidation states differed by more than 50% after one day. This work substantiates earlier findings that suggested that OM may be an important TEA species in many aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. OM reduction in microbial respiration was shown to directly affect critical system parameters as bacterial activity, oxygen budgets and aquatic biodiversity. Both the microbial reduction and subsequent abiotic oxidation of OM are sufficiently fast for relevant interaction with oxycline fluctuation on different timescales. Given that organic TEAs are cyclically regenerated, a significant share of ecosystem respiration could be linked to OM reduction. This thesis demonstrated the new and important role electron exchange reactions in OM-rich environments play and explored the mechanism of this previously neglected part of lake functioning. As of today, linking the chemistry of aquatic turnover processes with the microbiological and physical conditions at redox interfaces remains challenging. In conclusions, by providing several cases from aquatic environments, this thesis contributes to the mechanistic understanding of OM reduction in microbial respiration. The results prompt for further research regarding the competitive inhibition of other respiration pathways, including the reductive production of the potent greenhouse gas methane.
The Value of Lateral Spread Response Monitoring in Predicting the Clinical Outcome after Microvascular Decompression in Hemifacial Spasm: A Prospective Study on 100 patients. (2016)
El Damaty, Ahmed
Background: Microvascular Decompression represents an effective treatment for hemifacial spasm. The use of lateral spread responses (LSRs) monitoring remains a useful intraoperative tool to ensure adequate decompression of the facial nerve. Objective: To assess the value of LSRs intraoperative monitoring as a prognostic indicator for the outcome of microvascular decompression in hemifacial spasm. Methods: Our study included 100 patients prospectively. The patients were classified into 4 groups whether LSRs were totally, partially, not relieved or not detected from the start. According to clinical outcome, the patients were classified into 4 groups depending on the clinical course after surgery and the residual symptoms if any. Then, correlations were made between LSRs events and treatment outcome to detect its reliability as a prognostic indicator. Results: LSRs were relieved totally in 56% of the patients, partially relieved in 14%, not relieved in 10% and were not detected in 20% of the patients from the start. HFS was relieved directly after operation in 62% with clinical improvement of 90-100%. 31% described 50-90% improvement over the next 3 months after surgery. Almost all of these 31% (28 out of 31 patients) reported further clinical improvement of 90-100% within one year after surgery. 3% suffered from a relapse after a HFS-free period and 4% reported minimal or no improvement describing 0-50% of the preoperative state. The percentage of the satisfied patients with the clinical outcome who reported after one year a clinical improvement of 90-100% was 90%. Statistical analysis did not find a significant correlation between the relief of LSRs and clinical outcome. Conclusion: LSRs may only represent an intraoperative tool to guide for an adequate decompression but failed to represent a reliable prognostic indicator for treatment outcome.
Proteomic analysis of endomyocardial biopsies and plasma of dilated cardiomyopathy patients treated by immunoadsorption therapy (2016)
Bhardwaj, Gourav
Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a myocardial disorder characterised by ventricular dilation with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). Immunoadsorption (IA) followed by immunoglobulin (IgG) substitution (IA/IgG) has been shown to be a promising therapeutic intervention to recover myocardial functions in DCM patients. The beneficial effects of IA/IgG therapy are associated with increased LVEF, decreased left ventricular inner diameter at diastole (LVIDd) and reduced myocardial inflammation. Despite knowing the cardiac benefits of IA/IgG, the precise molecular mechanism induced by therapy is still elusive. Additionally, only ≈60 % DCM patients treated with IA/IgG demonstrated improved heart function. Moreover, the reasons for this differential outcome among DCM patients after treatment have not been clearly understood. In this study, efforts were made to uncover the therapy induced proteomic changes in the heart of responders (relative change in LVEF ≤ 20%, LVEF < 5% absolute value) and non-responders using a global proteomic approach. Apart from it, proteomic profiling of endomyocardial biopsies and plasma was performed to find protein biomarker candidates which might be useful to distinguish responder and non-responder DCM patients before immunoadsorption therapy and support a selective and individualized treatment. To reveal therapy induced myocardial proteomic changes, endomyocardial biopsies of DCM patients before and after therapy were compared. LVEF increased (32 ± 8 to 45±7, p<0.002) and LVIDd decreased (66 ± 6 to 60±6, p<0.040) after therapy in responders, whereas non-responders did not show any significant changes in these clinical parameters. To address the changes in the myocardial proteome induced by therapy, a label-free proteomic approach was applied. The most prominent proteomic differences between both subgroups were observed in cytoskeletal, fibrosis, and extracellular matrix proteins. Therapy linked benefit in responders seems to be highly associated with the lower abundance of fibrotic and extracellular matrix proteins which seems to reflect a lower activity of transforming growth factor-β signaling. To elucidate proteomic differences between responders and non-responders at baseline, endomyocardial biopsies and plasma proteome profiling were performed. Responder and non-responder DCM patients did not show any significant differences in the clinical parameters (LVEF, LVIDd, age, inflammation, etc.) before IA/IgG therapy except for disease duration that was in tendency higher among non-responders. Proteomics profiling of endomyocardial biopsies revealed 54 differentially abundant proteins between responders and non-responders. Among those proteins, Protein S100-A8 and kininogen-1 was found higher whereas perilipin-4 was found lower abundant in responders. Plasma profiling of these subgroups revealed five proteins (S100-A8, S100-A9, C-Reactive protein, lipopolysaccharide-binding protein, and cysteine-rich secretory protein) displaying strong discriminative power between responders and non-responders. Higher abundance of Protein S100-A8 was observed in myocardium as well as in plasma among responders. Protein S100-A8 might be a potential candidate to distinguish responders and non-responders at baseline, and its potential utility at clinical levels must be evaluated. The last objective of the thesis was to establish a workflow for the relative quantitation of phosphopeptides for samples generally obtained in small amounts like myocardial biopsies. To address this question, optimization was performed with HL-1 cardiomyocytes using a PolyMAC phosphopeptide enrichment kit and the effect of TGF-β1 on the phosphoproteome was evaluated as a proof-of-principle study. Using only 200µg protein of each sample up to 2000 phosphopeptides with an efficiency of >90 percent could be covered. In total, upon TGF-β1 incubation alterations of 214, 92, and 53 phosphopeptides were observed after 1, 6 and 24 hours, respectively. Differentially altered phosphopeptides belonged to many signaling pathways including the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway, cytoskeletal regulation by Rho GTPase, calcium signaling, and TGF-β signaling. Thus, in this study a workflow for relative quantitation of phosphopeptides was established that may be later applied to precious biopsy samples. Along with this, TGF- β1 induced phosphoproteome was analysed in HL-1 cardiomyocytes.
Complications with alloplastic materials in pelvic floor reconstructive surgeries (Clinical applicability of the IUGA/ICS classification code) (2016)
Alwafai, Zaher
The aim of this retrospective observational study is to describe and discuss various complications that can arise after insertion of alloplastic materials in the field of urogynecology that require further surgical interventions in order to manage them or to at least improve the quality of life in those women. We were able to collect data on 77 patients who fulfilled the criteria. Medical history, data of clinical findings, and outcomes were collected and analyzed. The most common complication seen as an indication for resecting slings or meshes was de novo overactive bladder syndrome (40%). Other indications seen were lower urinary tract obstruction or obstructive voiding symptoms (21%), chronic pain (21%), and de novo dyspareunia (13%). 36% of the patients had recurrent symptoms (failure) after insertion of alloplastic materials in the form of urinary incontinence or prolapse, 32% presented with vaginal erosions, 2 women had severe signs of infection with abscess formation, another 3 women had urogenital fistulae. Other rare complications after mesh or sling insertion are perforations of the urinary bladder or urethra. Proper case selection is the key factor. The use of meshes and slings seems justified only in patients with known connective tissue weakness and recurrences after native tissue repair. Otherwise, patients will be exposed to unnecessary risk without any expectable improvement to their quality of life. Most of the complications are mainly caused by wrong and inadequate surgical techniques, wrong indications, or missed diagnosis of the underlying problem. In addition, lack of long-term follow-up is usually the cause behind the negligence towards many complications. Therefore, only experienced physicians should be allowed to perform such procedures, and long-term postoperative follow-up is strongly recommended. As slings and meshes are used for procedures of choice as means to improve quality of life, and not for life threatening situations, there is a need for intensive informed consent. All possible alternatives have to be discussed, as do the pros and cons of selected procedures, even the rare complications. Mesh or sling resection is considered to be an effective solution for the management of such complications. It has shown a high success rate in comparison to conservative treatment, and the majority of patients were satisfied and experienced a big improvement in their quality of life. The most common complication after resection is the recurrence of primary symptoms, either urinary incontinence or prolapse. Major or serious intra- or postoperative complications are very rare. All complications were classified and given a code according to the classification system of the international urogynecological association and the international continence society (IUGA/ICS) on 2011. The applicability and practicability of this code were evaluated, looking for ways to possibly improve it or to identify missing parameters. Many patients had more than one code, a problem that entirely torpedoed the idea of “simple” classification. Some complications are not covered individually in the classification, such as failure and recurrence or overactive bladder syndrome. These complications should be included. Many cases began with the same code, despite having different complications. Further sub-classifications should be considered to enable the reader to easily recognize the complication at hand. Patients who came with complications more than one year after mesh or sling insertion were categorized as (T4), regardless of whether the complication arose after 1 year of after 10. Therefore, sub-classifications in the (T4) category are recommended. The “site” category was not applicable in many cases. Furthermore, it is necessary that the severity of a complication is discernible, and should be mentioned in the code. We did not find any correlation between the code given and patient satisfaction. After re-modification and completion, the IUGA/ICS code could be more practical for clinical use, which would allow for the comparison of complications and make the assessment of adverse effects easier for research purposes.
Dental profiles and general features of referred and under GA treated children in Germany (2016)
Takriti, Moutaz
Background: Referral to specialized pediatric treatment seems to rise in Germany, especially for children under 5 years of age and mostly due to behaviour management problems, rampant caries and the need for comprehensive dental treatments. There are indications that more dental treatments under general anesthesia were needed in last decade, but there are very few studies on this topic in Germany. Aim: The objectives of this research were to investigate the characteristics and dental features of referred children to Greifswald university dental clinic in 2008 and 2011 as well as to assess dental treatment and characteristics of the children who underwent general anesthesia in 2011 at Greifswald University Clinic in comparison with three specialized pediatric private practices in Germany. Materials and methods: This retrospective analytical comparative study examined the records of all children younger than 18 years of age, whose were referred to the university dental clinic in Greifswald between 2008 and 2011. In addition, all cases that underwent general anesthesia at the university dental clinic and three other private practices in 2011 were analyzed anonymously. All data including age, gender, dental status and caries levels (dmft/DMFT), as well as diagnosis, referral/GA reasons and the dental treatments were collected and then analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences program (SPSS, Ver. 16 for Windows). Descriptive analysis was performed, along with univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Chi square tests. Differences between groups were tested through Mann-Whitney U test and Student’s t-test as appropriate. Results: The final study sample for children and adolescents referred to the university consisted of 389 under 18 years old (205 males and 184 females) with a mean age of 8.75 years in 2008 and 7.38 years in 2011. In addition, 297 children (160 males and 137 females) with a mean age of 4.77 years had been treated under general anesthesia in the three specialized private practices (n= 219, age: 4.81±2.06 years) and in the university (n=78, age: 4.65±2.59 years). More patients of age group 1 (5 yrs or younger), as well as, patients residing within a distance of 31-40 km away from the clinic were referred in 2011 (47.2% and 35.9% resp.) in comparison with 2008 (37.1% and 22.7% resp.) Panoramic and intraoral dental x-rays (46.7%, 11.8% resp.) have been widely carried out in 2011 compared to 2008 (29.9%, 6.5% resp. P = 0.002). Statistical analyses have shown that, younger children with higher values of dental caries indices (dmft, DMFT) were referred in 2011 (5.4 and 2.15 resp.) than in 2008 (5.16 and 1.57 resp.) with increasing demand for comprehensive dental treatment under GA. Whereas, more patients were diagnosed to have rampant caries (42.1%) in 2011 followed by orthodontic/oral surgery problems (16.9%) in comparison with 2008 (29.3%, 10.1% resp. P < 0.001). Non-invasive treatment was much more delivered (63%) in first dental visit for referred patients in 2011 followed by dental consultation (23.6%) compared to 2008 (53.6% and 21.3% resp.). While, on the other hand, considerably more fillings were supplied in 2008 (11.5%) compared to 2011 (2.6%). Further dental treatment pattern revealed more treatment under GA (27%) and a slightly more extractions (16.1%) were done in 2011 compared to 2008 (20.9%, 15.5% resp.). On the contrary, less fillings and preventive procedures were performed in 2011 (26.3% and 4.4% resp.) in comparison with 2008. Sixty-one percent of children were referred back to their family dentists in 2011 which was more than it in 2008. Indeed, about a half of children aged 5 years or younger preferred to stay at the University Clinics in 2011, while, the vast majority of children older than 12 years continued their dental care outside the University Clinics. About eighty percent and seventy percent of children underwent GA at both the university clinics and private practices respectively were under five years old. In total 7.1% mental disabilities and 2.4% preterm birth were detected in children treated under GA, as well as, dental caries were mostly diagnosed (37%) among them followed by irreversible pulpitis (21.5%) and Early Childhood Caries (ECC) (18.5%), where only 4.38% of all examined children had no carious lesions. More panoramic radiographs (41%) and less dental films (26.9%) were conducted at the university clinics as in the private practices (15.1% and 52.1% respectively) with a significant reduction in using x-rays at the university (69.2%) compared to private practices (94.1%). Dental extractions were often performed at university clinic (40.2%, 3.14±2.4) followed by fillings (33.9%, 2.65±2.7), while, more restorations and less extractions were supplied at private practices (47.8%, 5.47±3.1 and 16.3%, 1.86±2 resp.). Both of long (106-120 Min) and short (0-15 Min) treatment’s durations were needed in the university clinics to carried out the adequate dental therapy under GA, while, most of the GAs at private practices have lasted between 45 and 90 minutes. Conclusion: There is a growing definite need for specialized pediatric dentistry in Germany, especially for children under 5 years of age being referred with rampant caries and behaviour management problems to specialized pediatric dentistry. This results in a high number of extensive treatment performed under GA. In contrast to other countries, this seems to be a singular event for most children in Germany indicating a solid treatment under GA and possibly also improvements in the caries activity of the affected children afterwards. The range of dental treatment and its outcome at Greifswald University and in the examined three specialized private practices is very similar reflecting in both the profile of the children a valid indication for GA and the subsequent treatment up to date approaches in pediatric dentistry. Thus, the very professional treatment and effective secondary preventive strategies achieve better oral health and reestablished quality of life for these children, but a primary preventive approach would be preferable decreasing the number of children in need of dental treatment under general anaesthesia.
Novel methods and tools for lactonases, acylases and proteases (2016)
Last, Daniel
This thesis is about the establishment and the application of novel methods and tools that are re-lated to the most widely used enzyme class: hydrolases. It covers all fields from the identification to the application of these valuable enzymes with particular focus on lactonases, acylases and proteases. The activity assay introduced in Article I substantially extends the method toolbox for studies on lactonases and acylases that interfere with the bacterial cell-cell communication system. Article II describes a fully automatized robotic platform that represents the next-level tool for the high-throughput enzyme screening in the microtiter plate format. It was used, for instance, for the screening for improved porcine aminoacylase I variants. Diverse aspects of the protease-mediated hydrolysis of non-resistant proteins for the purification of resistant target proteins are highlighted in Article III.
Reservoir-driven inhomogeneous distribution of human Puumala virus cases in Central Europe (2016)
Drewes, Stephan
Hantaviruses are enveloped viruses with a single-stranded RNA genome of negative polarity. The genome consists of three segments: small (S), medium (M) and large (L). As zoonotic pathogen, hantaviruses are worldwide responsible for 150,000 to 200,000 human disease cases per year. Two forms of human disease are currently distinguished: In the Americas the hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS) and in Europe and Asia the hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS). Since the introduction of the German Protection against Infection Act in 2001 until now a total of 10,082 disease cases have been reported. As a result, hantavirus infections currently rank as the fifth frequent notifiable disease in Germany. More than 80% of these infections were caused by the hantavirus species Puumala virus (PUUV), transmitted by the bank vole Myodes glareolus. Besides temporal oscillations, an unequal geographical distribution of human PUUV cases was noticed in Germany and in other countries of Central Europe. This is reflected in the presence of endemic and non-endemic regions as well as of so-called outbreak years. Therefore, the overall objective of this study was to find out possible reasons for the inhomogeneous distribution of PUUV in Central Europe, in particular in Poland, Germany and certain districts of Baden-Wuerttemberg. The basic working hypothesis was that PUUV spread in Central Europe after the last glaciation with different evolutionary lineages of the bank vole and that the current emergence of PUUV in bank vole populations is determined by local geographical and ecological factors. Very little was known about the presence of PUUV in Poland. Earlier studies were based exclusively on serological detection of PUUV, but a molecular detection with subsequent phylogenetic investigation was missing so far. Therefore, 45 bank voles from the northeastern part of Poland were investigated by serological and molecular assays. In three animals from a forest region close to the city of Miko³ajki PUUV-reactive antibodies and/or PUUV RNA were detected. Phylogenetic analysis indicated the presence of a Latvian (LAT) PUUV strain. Viral RNA was detected in one bank vole of the Eastern evolutionary lineage and two animals of the Carpathian lineage. Thereby it could be demonstrated for the first time that the distribution of the LAT PUUV lineage ranges from Latvia south-west to the northeastern part of Poland. An inhomogeneous spatial distribution of human disease cases has been observed even for Baden-Wuerttemberg, a long time known endemic federal state of Germany. Therefore 660 bank voles were trapped during the outbreak and non-outbreak years 2012 and 2013 in four districts with high incidences (H) and in four districts with low incidences or lacking PUUV cases (L). During the outbreak year 2012 PUUV-positive bank voles were detected by serological and molecular investigations in seven of eight districts. In contrast, in the following year only in one district PUUV infected bank voles were detected. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that after a beech mast, i.e., a massive fructification of beech trees, in H districts with a higher percentage of beech forest coverage a higher number of human cases was notified, but not in L districts with a lower percentage of beech forest coverage. For the future development of early warning modules it is therefore necessary to have a long-term bank vole monitoring established that incorporates beech mast data and information on beech forest coverage. High endemic regions for PUUV are mainly located in the southern and western parts of Germany, whereas in the eastern and northern parts only low numbers or even no human cases are recorded. To find out possible reasons for this inhomogeneous distribution, 1,774 bank voles from different regions of Germany were investigated for PUUV infections and in parallel for the corresponding bank vole evolutionary lineage (Western, Eastern, Carpathian). The PUUV investigations indicated positive voles in the known endemic regions with an easternmost and northernmost occurrence in western Saxony-Anhalt, western Thuringia and in Osnabrück. In the northern and eastern part of Germany none of the 1,210 investigated bank voles showed a PUUV infection. In the southern and western parts of Germany only the Western bank vole lineage was identified, whereas the Eastern lineage was exclusively found in the eastern and northern part and the Carpathian lineage in the South-East and North-East of Germany. PUUV infections were found almost exclusively in bank voles of the Western lineage. Individuals of the other two vole lineages were found to be PUUV infected only in regions with sympatric occurrence of the Western lineage. The previously described contact zone of the different bank vole phylogroups ranges from Poland to the entire northern part of Germany. In conclusion, the results of this investigation indicate two potential major reasons for the inhomogeneous distribution of PUUV in Germany: First, PUUV of the CE lineage seems to be associated with the Western bank vole lineage. The current geographical distribution of virus and host might be explained by a post-glacial northern expansion of the bank vole starting at the western refuge. Second, the missing detection of PUUV in bank voles of the Western lineage in areas close to high endemic regions might be explained by the extinction of the virus due to a limited winter survival of infected animals during long and harsh winters. The virus stability outside the host or ecological barriers, such as isolated forest areas or broad rivers, might also influence the distribution of PUUV in bank vole populations.
Investigating noncommutative structures: quantum groups and dual groups in the context of quantum probability (2016)
Ulrich, Michaël
The history of Mathematics has been lead in part by the desire for generalization: once an object was given and had been understood, there was the desire to find a more general version of it, to fit it into a broader framework. Noncommutative Mathematics fits into this description, as its interests are objects analoguous to vector spaces, or probability spaces, etc., but without the commonsense interpretation that those latter objects possess. Indeed, a space can be described by its points, but also and equivalently, by the set of functions on this space. This set is actually a commutative algebra, sometimes equipped with some more structure: *-algebra, C*-algebra, von Neumann algebras, Hopf algebras, etc. The idea that lies at the basis of noncommutative Mathematics is to replace such algebras by algebras that are not necessarily commutative any more and to interpret them as "algebras of functions on noncommutative spaces". Of course, these spaces do not exist independently from their defining algebras, but facts show that a lot of the results holding in (classical) probability or (classical) group theory can be extended to their noncommutative counterparts, or find therein powerful analogues. The extensions of group theory into the realm of noncommutative Mathematics has long been studied and has yielded the various quantum groups. The easiest version of them, the compact quantum groups, consist of C*-algebras equipped with a *-homomorphism &Delta with values in the tensor product of the algebra with itself and verifying some coassociativity condition. It is also required that the compact quantum group verifies what is known as quantum cancellation property. It can be shown that (classical) compact groups are indeed a particular case of compact quantum groups. The area of compact quantum groups, and of quantum groups at large, is a fruitful area of research. Nevertheless, another generalization of group theory could be envisioned, namely by taking a comultiplication &Delta taking values not in the tensor product but rather in the free product (in the category of unital *-algebras). This leads to the theory of dual groups in the sense of Voiculescu, also called H-algebras by Zhang. These objects have not been so thoroughly studied as their quantum counterparts. It is true that they are not so flexible and that we therefore do not know many examples of them and showing that some relations cannot exist in the dual group case because they do not pass the coproduct. Nevertheless, I have been interested during a great part of my PhD work by these objects and I have made some progress towards their understanding, especially regarding quantum Lévy processes defined on them and Haar states.
Optimal Thickness of Shells with an Application to Cylindrical Bodies (2016)
Ziemann, Paul
This thesis deals with thickness optimization of shells. The overall task is to find an optimal thickness distribution in order to minimize the deformation of a loaded shell with prescribed volume. In addition, lower and upper bounds for the thickness are given. The shell is made of elastic, isotropic, homogeneous material. The deformation is modeled using equations from Linear Elasticity. Here, a basic shell model based on the Reissner-Mindlin assumption is used. Both the stationary and the dynamic case are considered. The continuity and the Gâteaux-differentiability of the control-to-state operator is investigated. These results are applied to the reduced objective with help of adjoint theory. In addition, techniques from shape optimization are compared to the optimal control approach. In the following, the theoretical results are applied to cylindrical shells and an efficient numerical implementation is presented. Finally, numerical results are shown and analyzed for different examples.
Global gyrokinetic and fluid hybrid simulations of tokamaks and stellarators (2016)
Cole, Michael
Achieving commercial production of electricity by magnetic confinement fusion requires improvements in energy and particle confinement. In order to better understand and optimise confinement, numerical simulations of plasma phenomena are useful. One particularly challenging regime is that in which long wavelength MHD phenomena interact with kinetic phenomena. In such a regime, global electromagnetic gyrokinetic simulations are necessary. In this regime, computational requirements have been excessive for Eulerian methods, while Particle-in-Cell (PIC) methods have been particularly badly affected by the "cancellation problem", a numerical problem resulting from the structure of the electromagnetic gyrokinetic equations. A number of researchers have been working on mitigating this problem with some significant successes. Another alternative to mitigating the problem is to move to a hybrid system of fluid and gyrokinetic equations. At the expense of reducing the physical content of the numerical model, particularly electron kinetic physics, it is possible in this way to perform global electromagnetic PIC simulations retaining ion gyrokinetic effects but eliminating the cancellation problem. The focus of this work has been the implementation of two such hybrid models into the gyrokinetic code EUTERPE. The two models treat electrons and the entire bulk plasma respectively as a fluid. Both models are additionally capable of considering the self-consistent interaction of an energetic ion species, described gyrokinetically, with the perturbed fields. These two models have been successfully benchmarked in linear growth rate and frequency against other codes for a Toroidal Alfvén Eigenmode (TAE) case. The m=1 internal kink mode, which is particularly challenging in terms of the fully gyrokinetic cancellation problem, has also been successfully benchmarked using the hybrid models with the MHD eigenvalue code CKA. Non-linear simulations in this TAE case have been performed confirming the analytical prediction of a quadratic relationship between the linear growth rate of the TAE and the saturated amplitude of the TAE for a range of moderate values of the linear growth rate. At higher linear growth rate, a slower scaling of saturated amplitude with linear growth rate is observed. This analysis has been extended to include the non-linear wave-wave coupling between multiple TAE modes. It has been shown that wave-wave coupling results in a significant reduction in the saturated amplitude. It has been demonstrated that both plasma elongation and ion kinetic effects can exert a stabilising influence on the internal kink mode. A population of energetic particles can also exert a stabilising influence at low normalised pressure. At high normalised fast particle pressure the stabilised kink mode has been shown to give way to the m=1 EPM, which has been simulated both linearly and non-linearly (the "fishbone" mode). The first self-consistent simulations of global modes in the magnetic geometry of the optimised stellarator Wendelstein 7-X have been performed both linearly and non-linearly. Limitations have been encountered in performing simulations in 3D geometry. A hypothesis for the cause of these problems is outlined and ideas for mitigation are briefly described. In addition to the hybrid model simulations, some of the first utilisations of a new scheme for mitigating the cancellation problem in the fully gyrokinetic regime have been carried out in the framework of this thesis. This scheme, which was developed separately, is concisely described in this work. The new scheme has been benchmarked with existing gyrokinetic and hybrid results. The linear Wendelstein 7-X simulations and linear and single mode non-linear TAE simulations have been repeated with the new model. It is shown that bulk plasma kinetics can suppress the growth rate of global modes in Wendelstein 7-X. The results of fully gyrokinetic TAE simulations, the first to have been performed to our knowledge, are shown to be in close agreement with those results obtained using hybrid models. In the TAE case, the hybrid models are an order of magnitude less computationally demanding than the new gyrokinetic scheme, which is in turn at least an order of magnitude less computationally demanding than the previous gyrokinetic scheme.
Improving biocatalysts via semi-rational protein design - Use of a multiple sequence alignment platform to reduce screening efforts and facilitate hit identification (2016)
Nobili, Alberto
The synthesis of valuable chemicals via traditional chemical methods can be often outperformed by the use of enzymes because of their excellent chemo-, regio- and stereoselectivity in aqueous solvents at ambient temperatures. On the other hand, enzymes often suffer from several limitations that hamper their industrial application. Protein engineering is commonly applied to overcome these limitations although the generation and the validation of mutants is often a laborious process that may not lead to the desired results within reasonable time frames. This thesis focuses on engineering the enantioselectivity and the substrate scope of industrially relevant enzymes, such as esterases and transaminases. Semi-rational protein engineering was employed to identify improved variants for the synthesis of valuable chemicals ensuring a reduced screening effort. Compared to previous works, 3DM’s applicability was extended to the study of correlated mutations and proved effective in the acceleration of the comprehension and in the mutation of these enzymatic scaffolds. Semi-rational approaches require an extensive amount of information such as protein structures, reaction mechanisms, previous mutational experiments reported in literature and a considerable amount of amino acid sequences from similar proteins to analyze amino acid distributions and correlated mutations. Here, we have exploited 3DM as a tool that can combine all this wealth of information: 3DM is a convenient solution to retrieve and integrate information simplifying decision making in the planning of a semi-rational mutant library since in 3DM’s multiple sequence alignments (MSA) is summarized Nature’s screening process for alternative variants. Furthermore, naturally evolving enzymes often require mutations at more than one position for the acquisition of a new property. Such mutations generate patterns that are recognized by the 3DM algorithm, which creates networks that can be investigated to design strategies that aim to improve the property of interest. Finally, these correlated mutations are connected to the mutations described in publications covered in the PubMed database, thus helping to investigate the role certain positions might play in the network. Article I shows that it is possible to improve the enantioselectivity of an esterase towards a highly symmetrical substrate while drastically reducing the screening effort. This was achieved through the creation of libraries that limit the variants to those identified in the 3DM alignment. Article II shows that networks of correlated mutations are composed of positions that may cluster around a function. These functions can be investigated because 3DM connects the positions in the network to their related publications. In this article, a mutant of the esterase PFE-I from Pseudomonas fluorescens was generated having increased enantioselectivity in the hydrolysis of important target compounds. Article III suggests that the in silico modelling software YASARA, combined with the use of the 3DM database, can further reduce the screening effort: it was possible to identify a hot-spot because both the 3DM database and YASARA docking studies, indicated its importance. This led to a further improved enantioselectivity of the enzyme variant identified in Article II. Article IV shows how MSA may be used to get structural insights into the catalytic properties of enzymes with documented activity. The study of the patterns observed in a large subfamily alignment allowed the definition of the structural determinants important for the substrate recognition in amine transaminases. Article V and VI apply the knowledge acquired for the improvement of the substrate scope in the amine transaminase from Vibrio fluvialis.
Metabolic aspects of host pathogen interactions revealed by metabolomics (2016)
Westhoff, Philipp
Interactions between bacteria and the human body are manifold and happen constantly. Most parts of the skin and gastrointestinal tract, the saliva, the oral mucosa, the conjunctiva and the vaginal mucosa are colonized with a multitude of bacterial species forming the human microbiota. Strikingly, the estimated amount of bacterial cells outnumbers the human body by 10 to 1. However, most of these bacteria colonize the human body without positive or negative effects and are regarded as commensals. Staphylococcus aureus a Gram positive bacterium is such a commensal bacterium of 25 % to 30 % of the world population. It is also an opportunistic pathogen and is able to cause infections in the lung, skin and heart and to induce sepsis. Its pathogenicity is mainly facilitated by the secretion of a broad spectrum of virulence factors which interact with the host. Some are distracting the immune system, others are targeting the host cell membrane or degrade macromolecular structures of the host in order to provide nutrients. Furthermore S. aureus is able to invade the host cell and to survive and replicate in the host cell cytosol or other compartments. The Gram negative proteobacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei is an environmental bacterium but still has the ability to enter the human body via body orifices or skin wounds. In a very efficient way it penetrates the host cell, replicates intracellular and the uses host structures to spread from cell to cell thereby causing the disease melioidosis often with fatal outcomes. Since the natural habitats of B. pseudomallei are wet soils, the change to the environment in the human body is drastic and requires a high degree of flexibility of the bacterium. Environmental stress conditions such as temperature, pH, nutrient limitation or presence of antibiotics induce a switch of colony morphology which is a special characteristic of this bacterium. Since it is assumed, that changes in colony morphology are connected to adaptive processes to the environmental changes, these morphology switches might also be important during infection. The host organism and the host cell on the other side try to kill and remove the bacterial threat by activating the immune system and cellular defence mechanisms. This includes generation of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, production of antimicrobial peptides and cellular processes such as phagocytosis, autophagy, apoptosis and activation of the immune response. The actions and reactions on both, the pathogen side and the host side, are summarized as host-pathogen interactions. In the field of functional genomics, methods were developed to understand various levels of host-pathogen interactions. The holistic analysis of the mRNA (the transcriptome) or translated proteins (the proteome) were already very useful tools to describe important cellular processes on the host and the pathogen site. The level of metabolites with regard to host-pathogen interactions however, has been neglected so far. In this dissertation the metabolic composition in the intracellular and extracellular space of the host and the pathogen was analyzed. For this matter biochemical analytical tools were used such as 1H-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and chromatographic methods (GC and HPLC) coupled to mass spectrometry. The combination of these methods allows a broad coverage of physicochemical diverse metabolites. In accordance to the above mentioned biological levels like mRNA and proteins, the sum of all metabolites is referred as the metabolome. Consequently to transcriptomics and proteomics the analysis of the metabolome is referred as metabolomics. To gain insights into the infection relevant metabolome of the host-pathogen relationship between S. aureus and human lung cells several approaches were developed. First the distribution of the recently identified bacillithiol in different S. aureus strains was investigated with regard to its role during the infection. For that matter a HPLC-methodology was used with fluorescence based detection of labelled low molecular weight thiols (article I: Distribution and infection-related functions of bacillithiol in Staphylococcus aureus). After that the next aim was to reveal the effect of S. aureus on the host cell metabolism. To reduce the complexity of effects on the host cells an artificial model was chosen in a first approach. The lung cells were treated with the staphylococcal virulence factor alpha-hemolysin, a pore forming toxin and a holistic metabolomics approach was performed (article II: Staphylococcus aureus Alpha-Toxin Mediates General and Cell Type-Specific Changes in Metabolite Concentrations of Immortalized Human Airway Epithelial Cells). Using this approach, a protocol for cell culture metabolomics was established and first changes in the host cell metabolome that could be caused by S. aureus were described. However, this only describes specific changes caused by one single virulence factor and does not necessarily describes the reality during a S. aureus infection. Therefore in a next approach, an infection model using a human lung epithelial cell line and the S. aureus strain USA300 was established and used for metabolome analysis. Furthermore a combination of inhibitor treatment and metabolic labelling was used to clarify the metabolic activity in the host cell after exposure to S. aureus (article III: Metabolic features of a human airway epithelial cell line infected with Staphylococcus aureus revealed by a metabolomics approach). Finally this thesis deals with the host-pathogen interaction of B. pseudomallei and its host with a focus on the role of the switch in colony morphology in basic metabolism. Various morphotypes of two strains were generated by nutrient limitation and their uptake of nutrients was monitored. Furthermore the morphotypes were used in in vitro and in vivo infections and subsequently isolated out of the cell line and mice respectively. After isolation, the colony morphology was determined and again the nutrient uptake profile was monitored (article IV: Burkholderia pseudomallei morphotypes show a synchronized metabolic pattern after acute infection). The information provided by this thesis adds a new complexity to the knowledge about the host-pathogen interactions of S. aureus and B. pseudomallei and their hosts. It furthermore lays the groundwork for future studies, which will deal with these and other bacterial host-pathogen interactions in order to understand the interdependencies of infection and metabolism.
Investigations on Cold Atmospheric Plasma Jets for Medical Applications (2016)
Schmidt-Bleker, Ansgar
In this work the mechanisms leading to the generation of the various reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) in a cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) jet and means to control their composition were studied. The investigated CAP jet kinpen is typically operated with Ar feed gas (pure or with molecular admixtures), driven at a frequency of approximately 1 MHz and features fast ionization waves or guided streamers, traveling at velocities of several km/s. The complex reaction networks were investigated by numerical and experimental techniques. Detailed experimental, analytical and computational investigations on the mass and heat transport in the plasma plume were performed: A novel analytical approach to diffusion in jet flows, the non-dispersive path mapping approximation (NDPM) was developed. The method for the first time allows for an estimation of the ambient species density in the near-field of jets that feature a non-homogeneous flow-field. The NDPM approximation was employed for the evaluation of laser induced fluorescence measurements on OH. Through combining measurements and NDPM approximation, this approach yielded an estimation for the ambient species density at the position of the guided streamers, not only in the laminar, but also in the (standard) turbulent operating regime. Accurate measurements of the temporally averaged ambient species density and temperature in the plasma plume were obtained by quantitative Schlieren measurements. The method yields temperature values with sub-Kelvin accuracy and, through combination with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, allowed for an estimation of the calorimetric power of the jet. In order to obtain a defined environment for the jet to operate in, a shielding gas device was designed in this work, which creates a gas curtain of defined composition around the plasma plume. The plasma dynamics on the ns timescale was investigated by phase resolved optical measurements. The effect of different shielding compositions ranging from pure N2 to pure O2 on guided streamer propagation was investigated. An electrostatic focusing mechanisms was discovered, which promotes the propagation of guided streamers along the channels formed by a noble gas in the plume of plasma jets operating in electronegative gases (such as air or O2). Two zero-dimensional (volume averaged) models were developed: First, the local processes in the guided streamer were modeled using an electron impact reaction kinetic model, which is closely correlated to densities of metastable argon (Ar*) obtained by laser atom absorption measurements. This first model shows that Ar* is the species which dominantly drives the plasma chemistry in the plasma plume. This is exploited in the second plug-flow reaction kinetics model, which is employed to investigate the formation of long-living RONS and uses an Ar* source term as sole energy input. The model uses the previous experimental data on mass and heat transport and temporal dynamics as input and is in turn verified by quantitative FTIR absorption measurements on O3, NO2, N2O, HNO3 and N2O5 in the far-field of the jet, where large absorption lengths can be achieved using a multi pass cell. For the evaluation of the zero-dimensional model, the time-of-flight of RONS from their generation to reaching the multi pass cell was determined using CFD simulations. The insight gained through this combined experimental-modeling approach on the reaction networks revealed relevant control parameters and enabled adjusting the plasma chemistry towards a desired RONS output. Through choosing appropriate feed-gas admixtures and shielding gas compositions, it is possible to generate an NOx-dominated plasma chemistry, although the jet usually produces a strongly O/O3-dominated chemistry. Understanding and controlling the plasma chemistry of cold atmospheric plasma sources for medical applications is not only essential for research, but is also the key for designing future plasma sources for specific medical applications that yield an optimum efficacy and avoid potential side effects of plasma treatment.
Antibodies against protamine/heparin complexes: Studies on the immune response and cross-reactivity with Neutral Protamine Hagedorn insulin (2016)
Zöllner, Heike
Protamine (PRT) is a positively charged protein, which is widely used in medicine as an adjunct to certain preparations of insulin and as a rapidly-acting antidote for heparin, particularly to neutralize the effects of high heparin concentrations needed for anticoagulation during cardiac surgical procedures using cardiopulmonary bypass. It has been demonstrated that PRT and heparin form multimolecular complexes and that these complexes have high immunogenicity in a mouse model. Studies in this thesis provide new insights into the pathophysiology of anti-PRT/heparin antibodies. The results of study I showed that the administration of PRT combined with heparin is responsible for high immunoglobulin G (IgG) immunization after cardiac surgery. A subset of these antibodies was able to induce platelet activation in a way similar to that observed by heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT). Using an animal model, we demonstrated that anti-PRT/heparin antibodies are capable of platelet destruction in the presence of PRT and heparin. Moreover, our data suggests that platelet-activating anti-PRT/heparin antibodies at surgery are potentially associated with postoperative thrombocytopenia and an increased risk for thromboembolic events. In study II, the immune response against PRT/heparin complexes was investigated. This study showed a relatively fast development of IgG with no general preceding IgM formation. In addition, patients undergoing liver transplantation developed anti-PRT/heparin antibodies without previous exposure to PRT. These results suggest that a previous contact with the antigen(s) itself or other antigens with molecular mimicry induced this immune response. In fact, we were able to identify Neutral Protamine Hagedorn (NPH) insulin and core histones (DNA-binding proteins) as potentially antigenic candidates for a previous immunization. Furthermore, the findings of study III demonstrate the ability of anti-PRT/heparin antibodies to activate platelets in the presence of NPH insulin in a heparin-dependent way suggesting that diabetic patients may have an enhanced risk for thromboembolic complications if treated with NPH insulin and possibly while receiving prophylactic heparin. These observations justify further clinical investigations to assess the impact of the interaction between anti-PRT/heparin antibodies and PRT-mimicking antigens, such as NPH insulin or histones.
Anti-protamine/heparin antibodies: Molecular and functional assessment of novel approaches to inhibit antibody-mediated platelet destruction (2016)
Jouni, Rabie
Protamine is administered as protamine sulfate to reverse the anticoagulant effect of heparin following cardiopulmonary bypass surgery. Immunogenicity of protamine has been recognized for decades in several patient groups including vasectomized men, diabetic patients on protamine-containing insulin and patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass surgery. Anti-protamine/heparin antibodies are a newly described class of heparin-dependent antibodies found in about 30% of patients exposed to protamine and heparin during cardiac surgery. A subset of seropositive patients especially who tested positive for platelet-activating anti-protamine/heparin immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies before surgery have prolonged postoperative thrombocytopenia with an increased risk for arterial occlusions. Studies presented in this thesis shed light on potential approaches that may prevent antibody-mediated platelet activation by anti-protamine/heparin antibodies. Two approaches are presented in this thesis, partially desulfated heparin (ODSH) and low molecular weight protamine (LMWP). Our studies demonstrated the ability of ODSH to inhibit anti-protamine/heparin antibody-mediated platelet destruction in the NOD/SCID mouse model by: i) reduction of antibody binding to preformed protamine/heparin complexes, as shown by enzyme immunoassay, ii) interfering with the binding of protamine/heparin complexes to platelets as shown by flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy, and iii) inhibition of antibody-mediated platelet activation. Interestingly, ODSH was also able to block ongoing platelet destruction by displacing pre-bound complexes from the platelet surface. In addition, our data suggest the use of synthesized LMWP as a substitute for protamine in heparin reversal. The in vitro investigations showed that synthesized LMWP efficiently neutralizes heparin using the activated partial thromboplastin time. Anti-protamine/heparin antibodies have low binding properties to LMWP/heparin complexes as indicated in enzyme immunoassay. The ability of platelet-activating anti-protamine/heparin antibodies to induce platelet activation in the functional assay was significantly reduced in the presence of LMWP/heparin compared to protamine/heparin complexes. Owing to findings obtained in our studies, both approaches might be a promising future option to reduce anti-protamine/heparin antibody-mediated adverse effects.
Engineering of enzymatic redox cascades involving oxygenases (2016)
Muschiol, Jan
Cascade reactions are not only of interest to chemists and biotechnologists, but also to life in general, because every metabolic reaction resembles a cascade reaction. This principle of substrate/intermediate channeling was only adapted by scientists. That way especially one-pot reactions became very attractive as for this no isolation of intermediates is necessary. Furthermore, unstable or toxic intermediates are only produced in low amounts and directly transformed in situ. In this PhD thesis two previously established cascade reactions were subject of further optimization. In the first part, a cascade reaction established in a DFG-funded project (Bo1862/6-1)in cooperation with the Vienna Technical University (Austria) for the production of chiral lactones was further optimized and extended. Therefore, on the one hand the genes encoding the needed enzymes were cloned for co-expression into a single plasmid in different arrangements to be expressed in pseudo-operon mode, with the aim to lower the metabolic burden of the cascade host cell. One out of the welve created constructs showed a reasonable activity of 15.3 ± 1.2 U · gCDW-1. On the other hand, this cascade reaction was aimed to be extended by the use of a hydroxylating enzyme to enable the use of limonene as renewable and chiral precursor for the proposed production of chiral polymers. Therefore, the feasibility of cytochrome P450-monooxygenases was studied. These turned out to be not applicable due to their bad regioselectivity for the hydroxylation of limonene or due to the difficulties of activity reconstitution. As alternative system for an initial hydroxylation step the use of a Rhodococcus equi strain, which was isolated from Cellulosimicrobium cellulans EB-8-4 and which is capable of very regioselective limonene-hydroxylation, was investigated. Therefore, the dioxygenase cluster responsible for the desired reaction was identified and especially the recombinant expression in a suitable host (Pseudomonas putida S12) was further studied. The results from these experiments revealed that the recombinant expression needs to be further optimized to enable the use of the recombinant dioxygenase in combination with the other enzymes for cascade reactions. The third part of this PhD thesis dealt with the immobilization of an established cascade reaction for the synthesis of poly-[caprolactone] precursors. Therefore, the use of a rotating bed reactor (RBR) was investigated. Preliminary studies using single enzymes involved in the desired cascade reaction demonstrated the general feasibility of this reactor concept. Especially the reusability of the catalysts was highly improved, because the catalytic particles were protected very effectively from mechanical forces within the voids of the reactor. For further work-flow optimization the immobilization was transformed into an in situ process by the application of a gas-shear device, which leads to decreased capsule size and thereby to increased mass transfer inside the particles. The developed methods were applied for encapsulation of the cells containing the enzymes needed for the reaction. After additional improvement of the reaction parameters a conversion of 93% (based on substrate depletion) was reached using catalysts produced by the established encapsulation procedure. In summary, the described cascade reactions were successfully optimized by either co-expression, extension applying a dioxygenase or immobilization. Furthermore, the general feasibility of an RBR was demonstrated.
Generation of highly reactive species by plasma-liquid interaction (2016)
Jablonowski, Helena Martha
Because of the vital role of the liquid as interface in plasma medicine, this work is focused on the elucidation of the interaction of plasmas with biologically relevant liquids. The results of this thesis are an important step in the direction of the applications to real biological liquids such as blood and wound secretion ex vivo as well as in vivo. In this thesis the following questions are investigated and answered with the special focus on the free radicals as highly reactive and, therefore, hard to detect relevant group of chemical species: What is the impact of the atmospheric-pressure argon plasma jet on biologically relevant solutions? Which species are generated due to the plasma treatment of liquids? What is an appropriate detection procedure for the qualification and quantification of the short-lived species? Does the surrounding conditions influence the formation of liquid-phase reactive species and can this influence be used to tailor a desired liquid composition? What is the influence of the plasma surroundings? What is the influence of feed gas manipulation regarding the reactive species generation? Can these impacts be used for a selected reactive species composition generation? Does the treated liquid medium affect the plasma-generated reactive species output and in what way? Which are the underlying mechanisms and origins of the plasma-caused chemical changes in the solutions? Do reactive species exist, which origin is located in the gaseous phase? What is the impact of the plasma jet radiation?
Caries Prevalence and Prevention in Young Children : a Community-Based Preventive Approach (2016)
Tarabaih, Ahmad Said
Background: Despite of the remarkable caries reduction in permanent dentition, caries levels of primary teeth has stagnated in Germany. Early Childhood Caries (ECC) or also known as baby bottle tooth decay is the most vulnerable form of caries in young children, but minimal data and information from different German states are available to determine the appropriate preventive programs. Aim: The purpose of the current study is to find the prevalence of ECC among young children in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (North-East Germany) and to optimize an intervention on ECC prevention in a community setting. In addition to education, fluoride varnish is evaluated on young children with active ECC. Design: In this cross-sectional study, a total of 4283 children living in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern were examined. Four age groups - with an accuracy of one day - were formed as follows: less than one year (n=8), one year (n=293), two years (n=1618) and three years (n=1888). The examination was carried out by community dental service’s examiners whom are calibrated to ECC diagnostic criteria of Robke and Buitkamp (2002), and dmf-t values for caries diagnosis. These data are compared by those of children (n=5355) of same age group for the year 2011-2012. In addition, a structured questionnaire on the starting preventive programme on ECC was filled out by the community dentists and for the city of Greifswald, fluoride varnish (Duraphat®, 5% NaF = 2.26%F, Colgate-Palmolive, Germany) was applied for 32 children previously diagnosed with active ECC (ECC1: n=15, ECC2: n=17). Lesions are identified as active or non active according to texture and luminosity, and oral hygiene index (OHI-S) is measured and re-evaluated at three months follow up. Results: The percentage of children under three years old in 2012-2013 with ECC was comparatively low (4%) which possibly reflects the very young age of the children and a restriction for ECC on the upper incisors. The overall caries prevalence in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern varied from 9% to 15%. Most cavitated lesions are untreated. These results are comparable with the results from other German counties. The interventions of the ECC programme vary considerably among the different counties. There was no significant difference in the oral hygiene index (OHI-S) prior and post fluoride varnish application (p-value = 0.25). The use of fluoride varnish resulted in an 81%, statistically significant decrease of active ECC lesions in Greifswald (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The prevalence of caries among young children was considerable in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. A preventive intervention in nurseries and fluoride varnish applications for active ECC lesions seems to be a feasible approach in controlling caries in early childhood. However, further quality management and standardization of the program should be reinforced.
Calcium regulation in normal and dystrophin-deficient muscle and the role of TRP channels (2016)
Zhang, Joachim Yaxin
All types of muscles use Ca2+ as their main intracellular messenger. In skeletal muscle fibers abnormal levels of intracellular calcium result in altered contractile properties, altered energy metabolism, and altered gene expression. Moreover, long term failure of normal Ca2+ homeostasis can lead to cell death of muscle fibers by necrosis and apoptosis. Elevations of intracellular Ca2+ levels are more and more regarded as the reason for pathological changes and muscle fiber damage in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). DMD is a severe recessive x-linked muscle disease caused by mutations in the dystrophin gene. The characteristics of DMD are muscle tissue wasting and fibrosis. Both muscle wasting and intracellular Ca2+ are to be reflected in changes of muscle force. Several Ca2+ conducting channels including transient receptor potential (TRP) channels are supposed to account for the abnormal Ca2+ homeostasis in DMD. Gene expressions of TRP channels have been studied in human and mouse skeletal muscle and among others TRPC3, TRPC6 and TRPV4 channels were found to occur in skeletal muscles. The present study followed the hypothesis that TRPC3, TRPC6 and TRPV4 are functional in skeletal muscle fibers and that they contribute to muscular Ca2+ homeostasis. Further, it was assumed that dysfunction of the mentioned TRP channels contributes to abnormal contractile properties and pathology and of dystrophin-deficient muscle. To study Ca2+ changes in mouse skeletal muscle fibers the fluorescent calcium indicator Fura-2 was used. Further, the technique of Mn2+ quench of Fura-2 fluorescence was applied. Muscle force measurements of mouse soleus and diaphragm strips were performed. To elucidate abnormalities of TRP channel function in dystrophin-deficient muscle, muscles and muscle fibers of mdx mice were studied. Hyperforin, an activator of TRPC6 channels elicited increases of calcium levels in wildtype muscle fibers. These increases were partly inhibited by the TRPC6 inhibitor 1-(5-chloronaphthalenesulfonyl) homopiperazine hydrochloride (ML-9). The TRPC3/TPRC6 activator 1-oleoyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycerol (OAG) resulted in increased calcium entry, which was attenuated by ML-9. 2-aminoethoxydiphenylborane (2-APB), an unspecific TRP channel inhibitor, suppressed calcium entry in muscle fibers under basal conditions. In addition, the specific TRPC3 inhibitor Pyr3, strongly inhibited background calcium entry. The TRPV4 activator 4α-phorbol 12,13-didecanoate (4α-PDD) induced significant increased calcium entry and this increase could be inhibited by the TRPV4 inhibitor HC 067047. During muscle force recordings ML-9 significantly inhibited twitches and tetani and accelerated muscle fatigue during sustained repetitive stimulation. The results indicate that TRPC3, TRPC6 and TRPV4 are functionally expressed in mouse muscle fibers. TRPC3 stays active under the basal conditions and contributes to background calcium entry. In contrast, TRPC6 and TRPV4 did not seem to be active at resting conditions, but could be pharmacologically activated. TRPC6 may play a role to counteract the calcium loss under long-term muscle fatigue. Though TRPC3 and C6 play a role for muscular Ca2+ homeostasis, it is unclear whether and how the two channels associate and cross-talk with each other in skeletal muscle cells. In mdx fibers Pyr3 inhibited background calcium influx stronger that in WT fibers, implying a possible over-activation of TRPC3 channels in mdx muscle fibers. At later stages mdx muscle showed marked decrease in force reflecting muscle wasting. Soleus showed moderate decrease and diaphragm showed severe decrease (more than 60%) in force. Resistance to muscle fatigue was shown in mdx soleus muscle when compared with WT soleus muscle. Diaphragm segments of mdx mice showed very strong resistance to muscle fatigue. The results indicate a substantial loss of muscle mass, an increase in oxidative fiber types and a reduction of fast fatigable muscle fibers. It is concluded that the hypothesis of functional expression of TRPC3, TRPC6 and TRPV4 in mouse skeletal muscle has been confirmed. The results give improved knowledge about the relation of Ca2+ homeostasis, mdx pathology and TRP channels. Diaphragms of old mdx mice show severe muscle weakness but the remaining fibers of the diaphragm showed strong fatigue-resistance. The application of a TRPC3 inhibitor may be a promising treatment to prevent high Ca2+ mediated muscle damage in muscular dystrophy.
Enzyme Evolution: Exploring Substrate Scope and Catalytic Promiscuity (2016)
Fibinger, Michael
Enzymatic evolution and the corresponding relationship to substrate scope and catalytic promiscuity were targeted in this thesis. As enzyme examples, pig liver esterase (PLE), oleate hydratases and linoleate isomerases, as well as epoxide hydrolases (EH) and haloalkane dehalogenases (HLD) were used. The substrate scope and the enantiopreference of PLE was analyzed by molecular modeling and substrate docking, since different enantiomeric excesses were detected for the conversion of malonate diethyl esters, depending on the PLE isoenzyme. Additionally, fatty acid converting enzymes with high identity were found and analyzed to comprehend the switch of both activities. Furthermore, the evolutionary connection between EH and HLD was investigated by interconversion studies to implement an HLD acitivity in an EH. By directed evolution and rational design, both possibilities of protein engineering were realized. Finally, a new methodology for targeted, continuous in vivo evolution was established by a temperature-dependent mutagenesis frequency.
Synthetic Sphingolipid analogues : biophysical properties and subcellular localization (2016)
Kargoll, Sabrina
An interesting subclass of the SLs are Cers, the simplest SLs. Cers are assigned a special role within SLs because of their involvement in many cellular and biophysical processes.In literature Cers are describe to modulate many events in signaling including apoptosis. Besides its role as second messenger and therefore the involvement in many signal cascades, Cers are also known to be essential in physical modifications and structural alternations of membranes. Such regulatory functions on membrane formation are e.g. domain formation with other lipids (i.g. SM and Chol), phase separation with sterols (Chol), vesicular trafficking, fusion, membrane curvature fluidity and thickness and the induction of membrane leakiness. In contrast to phospholipids, Cers can move from one side of the membrane leaflet to the other, due to their strong hydrophobicity. This movement is called flip-flop or as transbilayer movement and is controversially discussed. Consequently, no exact value has been reported about the flip-flop property of Cers, which probably plays an important role during the transmission of an extra cellular signal through the membrane.In order to probe the biophysical properties of ceramides, a synthetic access to 1-thioceramides (1-SHCer) analogues with different N-acyl chain length has been developed in this study. With 1SHCer the flip-flop was investigated on pre-formed liposomes and the data indicated a very rapid flip-flop of Cers with a half time t1/2 <10s in raft- and non-raft like membrane models. Furthermore, the acyl chain length exhibited no measurable impact on the speed of the flip-flop. Utilizing the same probes the importance of hydrogen bond donor and acceptor properties of Cers upon interaction with sphingomyelin in the presence or absence of cholesterol (Chol) has been probed. Performed fluorescent quenching experiments (P.Slotte) proposed the following relative preference in interaction with pSM:pSM:DAGs > pSM:Cer > pSM:Chol > pSM: 1-pCerSH.Most strikingly, the importance of the 1-OH H-bond acceptor functionality to replace Chol around and above the melting temperature of pSM has been demonstrated. Recently, an unusual subclass of SLs, named 1-deoxysphingoids have come to the foreground, as biomarker for metabolic disorders. 1-doxSA is physiologically generated (10-40nM) due to substrate promiscuity of SPT and shown to be elevated in patients with metabolic disorders. In this study an organic synthetic access to fluorescent DSB derivatives was established, featuring a fluorescent moiety at the lipid tail, such as FITC 26. Comprehensive fluorescent studies of 26 revealed an unusual subcellular distribution. Exogenous 1-doxSA analogues, such as FB1 and 1-doxSA-FITC, enter via specific entry points. During the next few hours these lipids accumulate within the cytosol prior to N-acylation by CerS. Upon N-acylation, the newly formed 1-doxdhCer and its analogues insert into the ER membrane.The fluorescent probe and most likely FB1 analogues accumulate within the late endosomal and lysosomal system, probably via a direct connection with the ER. Analysis of the lipid metabolism of unlabeled 1-doxSA and FB1 revealed a strikingly similar behavior, pointing towards a common pharmacological effect. Complete consumption of TG within 24h in epithelia cells combined with GO analysis of 1-doxSA interacting lipids indicates significant modulation of fatty acid degradation, pointing towards regulation of the energy metabolism. This is in good agreement with the observed induction of autophagy. Together, this rapid and similar metabolic change of both 1-doxSA and FB1, points toward direct 1-doxSA head-group related lipid-protein interaction and less toward the influence of FB1 on CerS activity. This work suggests the biological significance of 1-doxSA as a primary nutrient sensor to maintain nutrient homeostasis and its role in the pathophysiology of metabolic diseases.
Characterization of resident Sca-1 progenitor cells in the failing murine heart (2016)
Samal, Rasmita
Heart Failure is currently the most common cardiac disorder and a major public health concern worldwide. The adult mammalian heart harbors a subpopulation of cardiac progenitor cells (CPC) that are capable of improving cardiac function. The scope of this study was to delineate the molecular phenotype of a subpopulation of CPCs characterized by the expression of the stem cells antigen-1 surface marker (Sca-1+) and to further identify molecular alterations occurring under heart failure conditions. In order to understand the underlying cellular mechanisms an integrated approach of proteomics and transcriptomics-based techniques were employed. The first step towards achieving this goal was to unravel the native Sca-1+ cell characteristics of freshly isolated progenitor cells derived from healthy adult murine hearts. The proteome map of Sca-1 cells was established using a gel-based mass-spectrometry (gel LC-MS/MS) approach. For better interpretation, a comparison with the protein profiles of cardiomyocytes and Sca-1- cells obtained under similar experimental conditions was performed. All three cell-types were morphologically different in size and structure, which was also evident from their protein expression profiles. We observed that Sca-1+ cells lack endothelial-like and cardiac contractile phenotypes, unlike Sca-1- cells and cardiomyocytes, respectively. Functional assessment of both protein and gene expression profiles revealed a possible role of Sca-1+ cells in cell adhesion, migration, and proliferation. CPC remain in a dormant state under physiological condition unless challenged by myocardial injury. Previous studies revealed that resident Sca-1+ cells home to the injured myocardium but not to the healthy heart and further differentiate into functional cardiomyocytes. We investigated the molecular background of this behavior of adult Sca-1+ cells under heart failure condition which might provide a better insight into their cardiogenic potential in a pathological milieu. The double transgenic α-myosin heavy chain (MHC)-cyclin T1/Gαq overexpressing mouse was chosen as a model for heart failure. Using the comparative gene expression profiling we could detect the differential regulation of 197 genes with at least a 2-fold difference. Among these BDNF mRNA levels were 5-fold higher in the Sca-1+ cells derived from transgenic mice (Cyc+) in comparison to that of wild-type controls (Wt+). This difference was also observed at protein level. The substantially higher expression of BDNF during heart failure prompted us to investigate its regulatory effect on Sca1+ cells. In this current study we were able to show that small amounts of exogenous BDNF stimulated the migratory potential of Cyc+ cells. This effect was not seen in treated Wt+ cells. Furthermore, pulsed SILAC was employed to monitor BDNF mediated changes following treatment. After BDNF treatment, 58 proteins were differentially regulated of which proteins related to cell proliferation were reduced in level in Cyc+ cells while they displayed increased levels in Wt+ cells. Findings from bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) assays and immunoblotting indicated that BDNF might initiate a differentiation program by repressing cell proliferation in Cyc+ cells. Taken together, it could be shown that the BDNF effect on protein synthesis of Cyc+ and Wt+ cells varied considerably, suggesting an improvement of the cardiogenic potential of Sca-1+ cells under pathological conditions. Aldosterone levels are known to be elevated during heart failure. In this part of study it was hypothesized that endocrine factors associated with heart failure might influence the migration of CPC, thereby possibly restoring the cardiac function of diseased hearts. It could be shown that high concentrations of aldosterone, similar to those found in the plasma of heart failure patients, induced the migration of Sca-1+ cells by up to 60% when compared to control, while physiological levels had no significant influence. In addition, it could be demonstrated that the aldosterone stimulus led to the activation of the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) expressed on Sca1+ cells, which in turn facilitated migration. This was supported by application of MR antagonist eplerenone, which significantly reduced the aldosterone-induced increase in cell migration while a glucocorticoid antagonist exhibited no inhibitory effect. Hence, the results support the potential role of aldosterone in the mobilization of CPC. It is currently believed that the beneficial effects of cell-based therapies on cardiac repair are imparted to a large degree via paracrine mechanisms. We therefore focused on understanding the influence of pathophysiological levels of aldosterone on the extracellular environment of Sca-1+ cells. MS-based secretome profiling of cells treated for 24h with aldosterone treatment revealed higher levels of proteins associated with extracellular matrix remodeling and IGF signaling. Additionally, galectin-1 and gelsolin were significantly increased in level under pathological conditions indicating a possible paracrine tissue repair of Sca-1+ cells. To conclude, the global proteome and transcriptome profiles generated here revealed the molecular phenotype of Sca-1+ cells which may be used for future reference. The comparative microarray study provided deeper insight into the endogenous changes in mRNA expression during heart failure and delineated the cardiogenic characteristics of Sca-1+ cells. Moreover, the data presented here shed new light on the potential role of BDNF in regulating the mobilization and proliferation of CPCs. Our study on the influence of aldosterone on the migration and the extracellular proteome of CPCs provided new insights on the beneficial effects of this mineralocorticoid on cardiac cells.
Human humoral and cellular immune responses to Staphylococcus aureus lipoproteins and Panton-Valentine Leukocidin (PVL) (2016)
Vu, Chi Hai
Staphylococcus aureus is present in around a third of the human population as a constant commensal in the anterior nares, in a third as an intermittent commensal, and a third are non-carriers. However, S. aureus is also a dangerous pathogen, responsible for many types of infections. Recently, the emerging of methicillin-resistant S. aureus strains has aggravated the health problem. Treating infections caused by the invasive strains has become ineffective with conventional antibiotics. Noticeably, transmission of S. aureus has occurred not only in healthcare settings but also in the community; furthermore, transmission between humans and domestic animals has been reported. Although studies about host-pathogen interactions of S. aureus have advanced our knowledge in the last decades, we still have not fully understood mechanisms of the immune system in responses to S. aureus. The aim of this study is to unravel interactions of the human adaptive immune system to selected S. aureus virulence factors. In particular, the study focuses on two aspects: the reaction of human antibodies to the bacterial extracellular proteins in S. aureus-induced furunculosis with an emphasis on Panton-Valentine Leukocidin and responses of the adaptive immune system to membrane-bound lipoproteins of S. aureus. Furunculosis is a variety of hair follicle infection in which S. aureus is one of the chief causal pathogens involved. The corresponding bacterial strains are generally capable of producing of a pore-forming toxin, known as Panton-Valentine Leukocidin (PVL). Recently, the emerging of pvl-positive methicillin-resistant S. aureus has become a problem for treating the bacterially caused furuncles. Colonization with the bacteria is a risk factor for development of chronic or recurrent boils. It is not yet known why furunculosis patients are largely infants or young adults. In this context, we untangled the responses of antibody IgG antibodies to S. aureus extra-cellular factors, notably the PVL toxin, in families in which the patients were children. Multiplex PCR demonstrated that S. aureus clones, isolated from the patients’ wounds but also from the nares of family members, harbored genes coding for PVL toxin. Spa-typing highlighted that bacterial genotypes were very similar in each family. This suggests that transmission of pvl-positive S. aureus took place between family members. The finding also raises the question why only the young patients but not family members who were colonized by the same S. aureus clones suffered from furunculosis. 2D immune proteomics procedures showed a tendency of higher IgG titers against bacterial virulence factors in family healthy members than in patients. PVL-specific antibodies were measured using ELISA, in which patients’ PVL-specific IgG titers were low. This supports the idea that antibodies, probably in conjunction with T cells, might contribute to clinical protection in furunculosis. This research will serve as a foundation for future studies, in which our results should be validated in a larger cohort. Among S. aureus’ virulence factors are lipoproteins, which are anchored in the bacterial cell membrane. Lipoproteins perform various functions in colonization, immune evasion, and immunomodulation. These proteins are potent activators of the complex of innate immune receptors termed Toll-like receptors (TLR) 2 and 6. This study addressed the specific B-cell and T-cell responses to lipoproteins in human S. aureus carriers and non-carriers. 2D immune proteomics and ELISA approaches revealed that titers of serum antibody (IgG) binding to the S. aureus lipoproteins were very low or even unmeasurable in healthy individuals except for the lipoprotein SaeP. Only patients with cystic fibrosis or epidermolysis bullosa who were heavily exposed to the bacteria, generated an antibody response also to lipoproteins. Proliferation assays and cytokine profiling data showed only subtle responses of T cells in healthy individuals; three out of eight tested lipoproteins did not elicit proliferation. Hence, the robust activation of the innate immune system by S. aureus lipoproteins does not translate into a strong adaptive immune response. Reasons for this may be inaccessibility of lipoproteins for B cells as well as ineffective processing and presentation of the antigens to T cells. The main findings implicate that family members can serve as S. aureus reservoirs causing recurrent furunculosis in young patients and that antibodies may provide partial protection from such infections by S. aureus. We have found that, different from proteins that are secreted by S. aureus, lipoproteins which anchored in the bacterial cell membrane, do not trigger strong responses from the human adaptive immune system. This suggests that these proteins remain mostly hidden in the bacterial cell-wall.
Genetic diversity and reproductive systems of myxomycetes (2016)
Feng, Yun
Myxomycetes (Amoebozoa, plasmodial slime molds) are one of the last larger groups of organisms where the biodiversity is not yet investigated by molecular methods, except for a very few cultivable model species. Based on the first phylogenies for the group produced in 2012 and 2013, this thesis work explores the genetic diversity of wild populations of myxomycetes, addressing two questions: 1. Does diversity and phylogenetic trees found with barcode markers fit the current morphological species concept, and do barcode markers reveal a lower or higher diversity than found by morphological characters? In the first case, morphological characters seen as decisive for species differentiation would be plastic (shaped by the environment), in the second case we must assume the existence of cryptic species. 2. Can genetic markers be used to see if natural populations of myxomycetes reproduce mainly sexual or asexual? Sexuality is proven to occur in the Amoebozoa, but asexual reproduction should be advantageous for habitat colonization. Experiments with cultivable species have shown that both reproductive modes occur in the myxomycetes. Two species complexes were chosen for an in-depth investigation. The first species is the common wood-inhabiting myxomycete Trichia varia (Pers. ex J.F. Gmel.) Pers., one of the first myxomycetes to be described and always seen as a variable, yet single, species. The second example involves a snowbank species so far known as Lamproderma atrosporum Meyl., which was recently transferred to a genus on its own, Meriderma Mar. Mey. & Poulain, and a morphological species concept, including several taxa, was proposed. Trichia varia belongs to the bright-spored myxomycetes. Partial sequences of three independent markers (nuclear small-subunit ribosomal RNA gene, SSU, extrachromosomal; protein elongation factor 1 alpha gene, EF1A, chromosomal; cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 gene, COI, mitochondrial) from 198 specimens resulted in a three-gene phylogeny containing three groups, within each group combinations of the single-marker genotypes occurred exclusively. Complete SSU sequences were generated for 66 specimens, which revealed six positions that can carry group I introns and putatively functional or degenerated homing endonuclease genes in two groups. All observations (genotypic combinations of the three markers, signs of recombination, intron patterns) fit well into a pattern of three cryptic biological species that reproduce predominantly sexual but are reproductively isolated. The pattern of group I introns and inserted homing endonuclease genes mounts evidence that the Goddard-Burt intron life cycle model applies to naturally occurring myxomycete populations. A total of 89 specimens of the dark-spored myxomycete genus Meriderma from five European mountain ranges were sequenced for partial genes of SSU and EF1A. The latter gene includes an extremely variable spliceosomal intron. Three clades, the two morphologically recognizable taxa M. fuscatum, M. aggregatum, and the morphologically complicated complex species M. atrosporum agg., were recovered. The EF1A-based phylogeny of the 81 specimens of M. atrosporum agg. resulted in seven subclades, with the two EF1A-haplotypes of a sequence sharing always one subclade for each of the 50 heterozygous specimens, a pattern consistent with the existence of several independent but sexually reproducing biospecies. Identical EF1A genotypes occurred more often within a regional population than in between. A simulation assuming panmixis within a biospecies but not in between, and isolation between mountain ranges suggested that similar numbers of shared genotypes can be created by chance through sexual reproduction alone. Numbers of haplotypes shared between mountain ranges correlate with geographical distance, suggesting occasional long-distance dispersal by spores. An enlarged data set containing 227 partial SSU sequences of Meriderma spp. identified 53 ribotypes, with a ribotype accumulation curve indicating 68.4±14.5 ribotypes to expect according to the Chao2 estimator. The topology of the SSU phylogeny generally confirms results from the partial SSU and EF1A data set of 89 specimens, where several putative biospecies could be recognized. A novel method for automated analyses of SEM images allows to derive quantitative descriptors for spore ornamentation, which were subjected to multivariate analyses. Spore ornamentation provided traits with the highest explanatory power in a multivariate statistics, whereas spore size and stalk length were much less significant. For some but not all putative biospecies a unique combination of morphological characters was found, which is in accordance with the hypothesis of instant sympatric 8 speciation via mutations creating incompatible strains splitting from existing biospecies. The morphologically recognizable taxa of the genus are described and a key for the genus Meriderma is given. To compare morphological and molecular diversity in lignicolous myxomycetes, all specimens found in a study covering the late-autumn aspect were sequenced, using partial SSU gene as a barcode marker. A total of 161 logs in the old-growth forest Eldena, northeastern Germany, was surveyed, resulting in 530 collections representing 27 taxa from 14 genera. Bright-spores species were far more abundant than dark-spored taxa. A phylogeny based on partial SSU sequences for bright-spored myxomycetes revealed morphospecies to be largely consistent with phylogenetic groups. Most but not all morphospecies may contain multiple ribotypes that cannot be differentiated by light microscopy. This first study backing up a traditional morphology-based survey by a full molecular component demonstrates that partial SSU sequences can function as reliable barcode markers for myxomycetes, but reveals as well a significant, yet not infinite, amount of hidden diversity. The main conclusions of this work, set up in the frame of a project funded by the German Research Council (DFG), are the following: 1. Sexual reproduction seems to be an important, if not the dominating mode (apart from clonal myxamoebal populations built up by binary fission) of reproduction in naturally occurring populations of myxomycetes. 2. From the two investigated species complexes we can expect many, if not most, morphopecies to be composed of reproductively isolated, sexually reproducing, biospecies. 3. Partial SSU sequences, as most widely used in this study, seem to represent suitable barcode markers for the group and can be used to distinguish the (usually cryptic) biospecies, although they alone do not allow any conclusions about reproductive isolation and speciation processes. 4. We have to expect a significant amount of hidden diversity in myxomycetes, which will increase the number of taxa from ca. 1000 recognized morphologically by a factor between two and ten.
Exploring the diversity of tropical myxomycetes : a classical ecological assessment and modern molecular approach (2016)
Dagamac, Nikki Heherson Aldea
Myxomycetes are fungus-like protists of the supergroup Amoebozoa found to be abundant in all terrestrial ecosystems. Mainly based on its macroscopically visible fruit bodies, our knowledge on ecology and diversity of myxomycetes is better than for most other protistean groups, but there is still a lacking knowledge about global diversity patterns since tropical regions, especially the old world tropics, are still understudied. In this thesis a combination of classical ecological analyses and modern molecular methods were used to expand the current knowledge on myxomycete diversity and biogeography in the Paleotropics. A number of surveys in the Philippine archipelago are conducted to provide and to add information about the distribution of myxomycetes in the Southeast Asian region. A combination of field collecting and ca. 2500 moist chamber cultures from four unexplored areas in the Philippines, namely, the Bicol Peninsula (746 records, 57 taxa), Puerto Galera (926 records, 42 taxa), Quezon National Park (205 records, 35 taxa), and Negros Province (193 records, 28 taxa), now brings the number of species recorded for Philippines to 150; with one record, Stemonaria fuscoides, noted as new for the Asian Paleotropics. Collecting localities that have more diverse plant communities showed as well higher species diversity of myxomycetes. In congruence with studies from the Neotropical forests, it seems also that anthropogenic disturbances and the type of forest structure affect the occurrence of myxomycetes for the Philippines. Another survey carried out in another paleotropical region, the highlands of Ethiopia, revealed a total of 151 records, with all 39 species found as new for the country. Three records of Diderma cf. miniatum with a strong bright red peridium and one record of Didymium cf. flexuosum with a conspicuous broad reticulation in the spore ornamentation were described and barcoded, since both may represent morphospecies new to science. A number of rarely recorded species, like Didymium saturnus, Metatrichia floripara, Perichaena areolata, and Physarina echinospora showed that resembling to its unique flora, the east African mountain ranges harbor a diverse and distinctive myxomycete assemblage. One incentive of this study was to compile a solid large dataset for the Paleotropical region that is comparable to data obtained from comprehensive studies performed in the Neotropical areas a decade ago. A total of eight surveys (with four comprehensive regional surveys, two from lowland and two from highland, for each region, the Neo- and the Paleotropics) were used, to compare the myxomycete assemblages of both regions. Each survey comes from a region with fairly homogenous vegetation, and includes specimens from both field and moist chamber cultures component. A statistical analysis of species accumulation curves revealed that only between 70 and 95% of all species to be expected have been found. Even for >1000 specimens per survey these figures seem hardly to increase with increasing collection effort, since a high proportion of species is always represented by a single or a few records only. Both ordination and cluster analysis suggests that geographical separation explains differences in species composition of the myxomycete assemblages much better than elevational differences. 5 The molecular component of this thesis is a phylogeographic study of the widely distributed tropical myxomycete Hemitrichia serpula. It is a morphologically distinct species with golden-yellow fructifications forming a reticulum. However, subtle variation in spore ornamentation points to cryptic speciation within this myxomycete. Using two independent molecular markers, 135 partial sequences of the small subunit (SSU) rRNA (a nuclear but extrachromosomal gene) and 30 partial sequences of the elongation factor 1 alpha gene (EF1A) (a nuclear gene), a study of 135 Hemitrichia serpula specimens collected worldwide revealed the existence of four clades that are likely to represent reproductively isolated biospecies, since each clade shows a unique combination of SSU and EF1A genotypes. A Mantel test with the partial SSU sequences indicated geographical differentiation, giving a correlation coefficient of 0.467 between the pairwise computed geographic and genetic distances, compared with the 95% confidence interval from 999 permutations (-0.013 to 0.021). Biogeographical analysis of the 40 SSU ribotypes showed clear intraspecific variation and geographic differentiation demonstrating a limited gene flow among the world population. We argue that the distribution of cryptic species in the different clade can be explained by ongoing, but still incomplete speciation. An event-based ancestral area reconstruction using the software S-DIVA employed in RASP showed that the probable origin of the ribotypes was a global dispersal event in the Neotropics. Additional species distribution models that were implemented for the three most prominent clades show different putative ranges. As such H. serpula supports the moderate endemicity hypothesis for protists. In summary, myxomycete assemblages in the Paleotropics (1) displayed a higher diversity than for Neotropical forests, (2) harbor unique taxa that differentiates those assemblages in spite of the expected similar macroecological all over the Tropics, (3) are affected by geographical barriers that likely causes speciation both at a morphospecies and biospecies level, and (4) follow the ubiquitous model in the sense that gene flow mediated by long-distance dispersal of spores is high enough that a species can fill out its entire putative range, but (5) the gene flow is not high enough to prevent variation in regional gene pools, which may lead to speciation and is better explained by the moderate endemicity model. Our data are still too limited to draw a comprehensive picture of the diversity of tropical myxomycetes, but the baseline information compiled with the aid of both classical ecology and molecular approaches from this study are first major steps towards this goal.
Three-dimensional dusty plasmas : from single particle dynamics to the global structure (2016)
Killer, Carsten
This thesis is devoted to experiments on three-dimensional dust clouds which are confined in low temperature plasmas. Such ensembles of highly electrically charged micrometer-sized particles reveal fascinating physics, such as self-excited density waves and vortices. At the same time, these systems are challenging for experimental approaches due to their three-dimensional character. In this thesis, new optical diagnostics for dusty plasmas have been developed and, in combination with existing techniques, have been used to study these 3D dusty plasmas on different size and time scales.
Destination Image, Tourist Satisfaction and Destination Loyalty: A Case Study of Hue, Vietnam (2016)
Tran Thi Ngoc, Lien
Several studies have confirmed the interrelationship among destination image, tourist satisfaction and destination loyalty, in which destination image and tourist satisfaction are believed to have great influences on the destination loyalty of tourists. Located in the central region of Vietnam, Hue holds great potential for tourism development and this destination has also obtained numerous significant tourism achievements over recent years.Nevertheless, there are still a lot of issues needed to be addressed by the destination managers in order to make Hue gain a better position and higher level of destination loyalty in the tourism market, in which successfully communicating an attractive destination image to the tourists and improving their satisfaction are the most important tasks. In fact, there exist very few researches concerning destination image, tourist satisfaction or even destination loyalty which have been done in Hue. Moreover, most of these studies are in very small scale and they only examine either the destination image or the tourist satisfaction or the destination loyalty independently. This paper, therefore, aims to deliver the first and comprehensive theoretical and empirical analysis of destination image, tourist satisfaction and destination loyalty as well as the causal relationship among them in the context of Hue. In this study, a destination loyalty research model was proposed and hypotheses were derived. The empirical data base on two tourist surveys with a total number of 2042 questionnaires collected in Hue in 2013 and 2014. In addition, ten experts were interviewed in different periods during the study. The results find that the tourists’ perceptions on the destination image of Hue are quite positive and the positive level is higher for those who completely have no earlier experience in Hue. It is also discovered that the destination is offering tourists with a pretty satisfactory experience, not as high as their initial expectations, but acceptable with positive ratings received from the tourists. However, if the destination is able to better communicate a positive image to tourists and improves the quality of its offers and services, the tourists’ satisfaction will be increased and thus the destination loyalty will also be enhanced. This finding supports the proposed destination loyalty model: (1) destination image directly influences attribute-satisfaction; (2) destination image and attribute-satisfaction are both direct influences of overall-satisfaction; and (3) overall-satisfaction in turn has a direct and positive impact on destination loyalty. The findings also confirm that attribute-satisfaction and destination image are also the direct influences of destination loyalty. Furthermore, the results add to the proposed loyalty model a new relationship: Destination image is influenced strongly by tourist overall-satisfaction and attribute-satisfaction. The outcomes of this research are expected to be used as a valuable reference for the local policy-makers, governmental agencies, tourism companies and other relevant stakeholders. Also, important theoretical and managerial implications are drawn based on the study findings and the recommendations for future researchers are made from the limitations and scopes of the study.
Leaf-inhabiting fungal endophytes of F. benjamina, F. elastica, F. religiosa from Philippine tropical forests and German botanical greenhouses - Assessment of diversity, community composition and bioprospecting perspective (2016)
Solis, Michael Jay
Generally, all works dealt primarily with the biodiversity and phylogeny of leaf-inhabiting fungi of three Ficus species (F. benjamina, F. elastica and F. religiosa) with the exception of the bioprospecting which focused on discovering antimicrobial activities and secondary metabolite production. Investigations took place in natural and urban forests in the Philippines and in tropical greenhouse gardens in Germany.
Proteomics of Bacillus pumilus (2016)
Handtke, Stefan
Members of the species Bacillus pumilus get more and more in focus of the biotechnological industry as potential new production strains. Based on secretome analysis, Bacillus pumilus strain Jo2, possessing high secretion capability, was chosen for an omics based investigation. The physiology of Bacillus pumilus cells growing either in minimal or complex medium was analyzed by a combination of proteomic and metabolomic methods. Master gels of the cytosolic and the secreted proteome covering major parts of the main metabolic pathways were created by means of 2D gel electrophoresis. Quantification of 2D gels allowed displaying the most abundant proteins in these sub-proteomes. Application of the GeLC-MS/MS technique tripled the number of identified proteins and enabled detection of many intrinsic membrane proteins. In total, 1542 proteins were identified in growing B. pumilus cells, among them 1182 cytosolic proteins, 297 membrane and lipoproteins and 63 secreted proteins. This accounts for about 43 % of the 3616 proteins encoded in the B. pumilus Jo2 genome sequence. By using GC-MS, IP-LC/MS and H-NMR methods numerous metabolites were analyzed and assigned to the reconstructed metabolic pathways. Our data indicate that applying a combination of proteomic and metabolomic techniques a comprehensive view of the physiology of growing B. pumilus cells can be gained. In addition, selected production-relevant genome features such as the restriction modification system, NRPS clusters and the secretory system of B. pumilus Jo2 are discussed. In their natural habitat, the soil, B. pumilus cells are often exposed to growth limiting conditions due to the lack of sufficient amounts of nutrients. Such limitations can also occur during fermentation conditions and will negatively influence the efficiency of the process. Glucose is the main carbon and energy source of B. pumilus. Thus, a deficiency of glucose has an enormous impact on cell growth. A 1D LC-MS/MS approach was performed to quantify the proteins using an N14/N15 labeling and to analyze the changes in the protein equipment when B. pumilus cells stop their exponential growth and become stationary due to limitation of glucose. 1033 proteins in the cytosolic fraction of B. pumilus cells were quantified and 272 of them appeared to be upregulated when the cells experience glucose starvation. 2D-PAGE was used to analyze the exoproteome of those cells. Glucose starving B. pumilus cells seemed to focus on usage of proteins and peptides as alternative carbon and energy sources instead of other carbohydrates. Especially the exoproteome of glucose starving cells is dominated by proteases and peptidases. Furthermore, cells used fatty acids as carbon source indicated by upregulation of enzymes involved in β-oxidation and the methylcitrate pathway. Bacillus pumilus is characterized by a higher oxidative stress resistance than other comparable industrially relevant Bacilli such as B. subtilis or B. licheniformis. In this study the response of B. pumilus to oxidative stress was investigated during a treatment with high concentrations of hydrogen peroxide at the proteome, transcriptome and metabolome level. Genes/proteins belonging to regulons, which are known to have important functions in the oxidative stress response of other organisms, were found to be upregulated, such as the Fur, Spx, SOS or CtsR regulon. Strikingly, parts of the fundamental PerR regulon responding to peroxide stress in B. subtilis are not encoded in the B. pumilus genome. Thus, B. pumilus misses the catalase KatA, the DNA-protection protein MrgA or the alkyl hydroperoxide reductase AhpCF. Data of this study suggests that the catalase KatX2 takes over the function of the missing KatA in the oxidative stress response of B. pumilus. The genome-wide expression analysis revealed an induction of bacillithiol (Cys-GlcN-malate, BSH) relevant genes. An analysis of the intracellular metabolites detected high intracellular levels of this protective metabolite, which indicates the importance of bacillithiol in the peroxide stress resistance of B. pumilus. Using the physiological knowledge gained during our studies, we analyzed samples taken during an industrial fermentation process. Five samples were taken during the processes using a protease overexpressing B. pumilus strain and a non-overexpressing B. pumilus reference strain. 2D-PAGE was employed to analyze the samples. 448 proteins could be identified in the samples from the protease overexpressing stain as well as 453 proteins in the reference strain. The proteins were quantified relatively comparing the different growth phases of each strain as well as comparing the strains to each other. The physiological knowledge gained from the shake flask studies enabled us to interpret the findings. Both strains showed an induction of proteins involved in acquisition of alternative carbon sources and of proteins involved in degradation and usage of fatty acids, e.g. the methylcitrate pathway, when they stop exponential growth. This is comparable to the results gained from the analysis of B. pumilus cells under glucose limitation, indicating similar conditions during the processes. Especially in the late phases of the fermentation processes the cells were obviously exposed to severe stress conditions. Our results demonstrated that overexpressing cells showed a significantly stronger oxidative stress response at the end of the fermentation process compared to non-overexpressing cells, which indicated that not only the high cell densities but also the overproduction of the target protein might be responsible for these conditions.
Tumor specific delivery of siRNA coupled superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles, targeted against Polo-like kinase 1, stops progression of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (2016)
Mahajan, Ujwal Mukund
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most aggressive malignancy and projected to be the third leading cause of cancer related death by 2030. Despite extensive knowledge and insights into biological properties and genetic aberrations of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cells, therapeutic options remain temporary and ineffective. One plausible explanation for the futile response to therapy is an insufficient and nonspecific delivery of anticancer drugs to the tumor site. Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPION) coupled with siRNA targeted against the cell cycle specific serine-threonine-kinase, Polo-like kinase-1 (siPLK1-StAv-SPIONs) could serve a dual purpose for delivery of siPLK1 to tumor and noninvasive assessment of delivery in vivo. siPLK1-StAv-SPIONs were designed as theranostics to function via a membrane translocation peptide (MPAP-) as well as a tumor selective peptide (EPPT-1) to increase intracellular delivery and tumor specificity, respectively. In vitro and in vivo experiments using a syngenic orthotopic PDAC model as well as the endogenous LSL-KrasG12D,LSL-Trp53R172H,Pdx-1-Cre model revealed significant accumulation of siPLK1-StAv-SPIONs in PDAC resulting in efficient PLK1 silencing. Tumor specific silencing of PLK1 halts tumor growth, marked by decrease in tumor cell proliferation and increase in apoptosis. siPLK1-StAv-SPIONs are well tolerated with no observed systemic side effects. Our data suggests, siPLK1-StAv-SPIONs with dual specificity residues for tumor targeting and membrane translocation, represent an exciting opportunity for targeted therapy in PDAC.
Cost of care of community-dwelling primary care patients screened positive for dementia in Germany - Results of the DelpHi-MV trial (2016)
Michalowsky, Bernhard
Background: Demographic changes are leading to a rapid increase in the number and proportion of the elderly. This goes along with an increase of prevalence of age-associated illnesses, such as dementia. The prevalence of dementia is estimated to amount to 1.5 million in Germany. Up to three-quarter of the persons with dementia (PWD) were living in their own homes. In European countries, dementia is associated with substantial and increasing healthcare costs, which makes dementia one of the most expensive diseases in old age and a serious health care priority. Whereas analyses of total healthcare costs in dementia have been the focus of various cost-of-illness (COI) studies, so far little is known about several cost categories in detail. Firstly, detailed economic analyses of medication cost are currently still missing. Secondly, it is well known that dementia is under-diagnosed, but there is a lack of knowledge about the differences in resource utilization and its costs between dementia patients with and those without a formal dementia diagnosis. Finally, analyses that take the utilization and costs of professional formal and unpaid informal care as well as caregiver’s productivity losses into a consideration are currently missing. Objectives: (1) To determine medication cost, cost per drug and number of drugs taken and analyze their associated factors; to estimate the current price reduction of anti-dementia drugs due to implementation of low-priced generics. (2) To determine health care resource utilisation and costs of patients with a formal diagnosis and those without a formal diagnosis of dementia, and to analyse the association between having received a formal dementia diagnosis and health care costs (3) To determine the utilization and costs of formal and informal care for PwD, indirect costs because of productivity losses of caregivers and the associations between cost, socio-demographic and clinical variables. Methods: The present study is a cross-sectional analysis of health care resource utilization and health care cost of community-dwelling PWD in primary care. Analyses are based on primary data from the ongoing DelpHi-MV trial (Dementia: Life- and person-centered help in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany), a population-based, cluster-randomized, controlled intervention trial in the primary care setting (Clinical Trials gov. Identifier: NCT01401582). Eligible patients (older than 70 years, living at home) were screened in participating general practitioner practices for dementia using the DemTect. The utilization of healthcare resources was assessed within the baseline assessment at practitioner’s homes. Costs were calculated from the perspective of the statutory health insurance or the social perspective. Factors associated with healthcare cost were evaluated using multiple regression models. Results: (1) Medication cost and cost per drug were higher and the number of taken drugs lower in advanced stages of cognitive impairment. Prescription of anti-dementia generics could decrease overall medication cost by 28%. Medication cost was associated with number of diagnoses, deficits in activities of daily living and age. Dementia severity was related to cost per drug and number of drugs taken. (2) Patients formally diagnosed with dementia were treated significantly more often by a neurologist, but less often by all other outpatient specialists, and received anti-dementia drugs and day care more often. Diagnosed patients underwent shorter and less frequent planned in-hospital treatments. Dementia diagnosis was significantly associated with higher costs of anti-dementia drug treatment, but significantly associated with less total medical care costs, which valuated to be € 5,123 compared, to € 5,565 for undiagnosed patients. (3) Formal care were utilized less (26.3%) than informal care (85.1%), resulting in a cost ratio of one to ten (1,646 €; 16,473 €, respectively). In total, 29% of caregivers were employed, and every seventh (14.3%) experienced productivity losses, which corresponded to 1,258 € annually. Whereas increasing deficits in daily living activities were associated with higher formal and higher informal costs, living alone was significantly associated with higher formal care costs and the employment of a caregiver was associated with lower informal care costs. Conclusion: (1) Medication cost increases with the number of diagnoses and growing deficits in activities of daily living and decreases with age. Severely cognitively impaired persons are treated with a small number of high-priced drugs, which could suggest inadequate medication of multimorbid persons. (2) There are no significant differences in total health care cost between diagnosed and undiagnosed patients. Dementia diagnosis is beneficial for receiving cost-intensive anti-dementia drug treatments, but is currently insufficient to ensure adequate non-medication treatment for community-dwelling patients. (3) Informal care contributes the most to total care costs. Living alone is a major cost driver for formal costs because of the lower availability of potential informal care. The availability of informal care is limited and productivity losses are increased when a caregiver is employed.
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Home Fine Art Today Edie Nadelhaft: Evening in America
Fine Art Today
Edie Nadelhaft: Evening in America
Edie Nadelhaft, “NY Route 29,” 2019, oil on canvas, 36 x 60 in / 91 x 152 cm
“Evening in America” is Edie Nadelhaft’s second solo show with Lyons Wier Gallery (NY). This new group of road-trip paintings picks up where her last series, “Big Country” (2017), left off. “Evening in America” focuses on the visual nuances and psychological ambiguity of twilight.
Nadelhaft states, “There is a dreamy, magical, and oft-times haunted quality to this work that showcases otherwise unremarkable, pedestrian, and distinctly American settings.”
More from the gallery:
Nadelhaft draws inspiration from artists, writers, and filmmakers whose work explores the subtler (and often stranger) corners of the American experience, including David Lynch, Diane Arbus, Donna Tartt, and Walker Evans, whose 1974 comment about his own process sums it up nicely: “I lean toward the enchantment, the visual power of the aesthetically rejected subject.”
An avid motorcyclist, Nadelhaft takes annual weeks-long tours of the country’s lesser-known and less spectacular outposts, collecting sketches, photos, and memories that form the basis for her paintings of settings that hover between the built world and the natural landscape. No people are pictured, but each composition preserves some residue of the human presence: clouds gather over a neglected highway in northern Michigan; a signpost flashes by in a mysterious sequence of three small paintings depicting what might quite possibly be the literal end of the earth; the artist’s home base of New York City makes a cameo appearance in a triptych painting of a shuttered Luna Park shown at that magical impasse between day and night when the first few stars appear in the still-blue sky.
Motorcycle aesthetics feature prominently in the works, many of which are composed as rider’s-eye-view 3D constructions that incorporate actual motorcycle parts. These structures are pared down to the elegant and highly personal stylings of motorcycle culture, combining handlebars and mirror housings with custom handgrips and hardware to create sculptural objects that reference the inherent beauty of these machines.
Edie Nadelhaft, “After Robert Olsen,” 2019, oil on canvas, 16 x 23 in / 41 x 58 cm
The exhibition also includes a number of traditionally stretched canvases ranging in size from 12 x 16 inches to 36 x 60 inches. Rendered in a manner best described as perceptual realism, these paintings take the viewer into the scene, showing just as much — or as little — sharp detail as a human eye can process in person. The point of view and style of painting takes into account the fleeting nature of impressions, especially those formed while driving in low light on unfamiliar roads.
Nadelhaft states, “The exhibition title, ‘Evening in America,’ is both a literal description of the paintings on view, which are all set in late afternoon or early evening, as well as a questioning of the state of the nation. The words reference Ronald Reagan’s re-election campaign ad that featured imagery of Americans starting their day in a bright sunny world, and the opening line, ‘It’s morning again in America.’ We now seem to be driving on an unfamiliar road in low light. And evening is ambiguous, a potentially dangerous time in-between, especially for driving. Light is greatly diminished, but it is not quite dark enough to reap the full benefit of headlights.
Buildings, trees, and power lines appear and disappear in a murky, shimmering haze; nighttime is fluid, rife with intrigue, and for some, even dread. But the dark can also provide a portal to the imagination, opening up new possibilities and potential.” And for this artist, it brings an overwhelming sense of wonder and relief. Daylight can be so demanding! The night — especially traveling at night — offers protection, a respite, like a spell that conjures a brief suspension of responsibility and time as one hurtles through space fully enveloped in the totality of that experience.
Edie Nadelhaft studied painting and art history at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, SUNY at Purchase, NY, and received a BFA with honors from Massachusetts College of Art & Design, Boston, MA. Her work has been exhibited at art fairs, museums, and galleries throughout the US, and internationally in Taiwan, Shanghai, and Basel, Switzerland. Nadelhaft’s work is in the permanent collections of the Ford Foundation (New York, NY), the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center (Albuquerque, NM), and Falconworks Theatre for Social Change (Red Hook, NY), and has been written about in the Detroit News, the American Scholar, Domino Magazine, Juxtapoz, the Washington Post, the New York Times, and Wall Street International.
In December 2019, Nadelhaft will be the subject of the Virtual Memories Show podcast. Awards and residencies include the Artist in Residence at Platte Clove (Elka Park, NY), Artist in Residence at the Visible Vault, Yellowstone Art Museum (Billings, MT), Fine Arts Painting Department Merit Award, Massachusetts College of Art (Boston, MA), and the Combined Jewish Philanthropies Academic Scholarship (Boston, MA). Edie Nadelhaft has lived and worked in Lower Manhattan since 1998 and has been represented by Lyons Wier Gallery since 2013.
“Edie Nadelhaft: Evening in America” is on view at Lyons Wier Gallery (New York) through January 25.
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Published on Friday January 6th, 2012 Tuesday June 21st, 2016 by F Cobb
A tasting of Champagnes with different disgorgement dates
Champagne Tarlant. Cuvee Zero Brut Nature
Dom Perigon 1996
Oenothèque 1996
Louis Roederer '96
Roederer brut Premier
Champagne houses which put disgorgement dates on their wines
Despite its importance, disgorgement dates (when the lees are removed) don’t play much of a role at auction or otherwise. Most Champagne houses do not put disgorgement dates on their bottles although some enlightened producers are starting to do so. All non-vintage and vintage Champagnes undergo several disgorgements during their life-cycle, in the case of a Bollinger Grande Année this could be as many as five to six different disgorgements during the 2-2.5-year period of its commercialisation – somewhat confusing but, fortunately, since 2004 disgorgement dates are now also noted on the label of all Bollinger GA Note 1with the 1997 vintage.
Late disgorgement is a concept invented by Mme Bollinger when the company launched its iconic RD extra brut in 1961 (1952 vintage). RD is a reissue of the Grande Année, although not every year (for example 1989 and 1992 excepted). RD is characterised by the longer period on lees and the lower dosage, 3-5g/litre – "extra brut". Dom Pérignon has its own version – Oenothèque. According to Richard Geoffroy (the celebrated cellar master at Dom Pérignon): "one can’t really understand Champagne without knowing the post-disgorgement period", as once freed from its contact with the lees the wine is in a relatively less reductive state.
Disgorgement "has such an overall impact on the final expression... one has to know... " Speaking of Dom Pérignon/Oenothèque from the 1996 vintage, Geoffroy said that the salient characteristic of the 1996 vintage is “concentration”, highlighting the dehydration of the berries leading up to the harvest with higher levels of sugars, acidity, and fruit. “This was Dom Pérignon in a major mode. Gutsier than a normal Dom Pérignon. One might compare '96 to an '85 or '76. It is bold... provocative even... More structured but also with a particular sharpness.” 1996 was also the most challenging year he can remember in the 20 years he has overseen the production of Dom Pérignon. The two wines are from the same blend, only the dosage is different and, of course, the period on the lees (greater lees contact also brings more viscosity to the wine – "glide", as Geoffroy likes to term it). Dom Pérignon is also a testament to the whole thesis that great Champagne comes from an assemblage. The exact quantity – no one is even close to estimating it – seems relatively unimportant. Geoffroy tends to favour the Oenothèque '96 as the wine "which is truer to the spirit of Dom Pérignon", continuing, "the finish is the absolute truth of a wine". The lower dosage “is closer to the contour of the wine” (5-6g/litre in the case of Oenothèque, 9g/litre in the original release). He has also used a different liqueur, "which reinforces its drive and purity".
Echoing Geoffroy’s sentiments on the importance of disgorgement there is no doubt that different wines, different vintages and even different dosages play their role in determining which might be the most successful outcome. One thing is certain: non-vintage Champagne may be considerably improved with ageing. A highly reputed NV would not be disadvantaged by cellaring for even up to four years or more and one must conclude that most NV is drunk far too young.
This tasting (winter 2010/11) was conducted in order to try and establish distinctions and the evolution of different wines according to differences in their disgorgement dates which would confirm the importance of knowing, or at least understanding, the impact of this process. Currently, there are still very few Champagne houses which write their disgorgement dates on the bottles (see a list at the end of this article). Ironically, two of the wines below didn't have disgorgement dates but were nonetheless available from their producer so clearly this is something of interest to them even if the general public aren't invited to participate in the experiment. The sample of wines we tried was interesting. One, Tarlant, was provided because as it was 'zero dosage' so one might eliminate the impact of the dosage. Dom Perignon make a feature out of the disgorgement dates by renaming the wine as 'Oenotheque'. Louis Roederer provided a non vintage wine in addition to their vintage.
On reviewing all the notes, one was struck by one clear thought. Yes, the date of the disgorgement plays a significant role and it is vitally important to know what that date is. A clear example: Dom Perignon. They even rename their wine to make the distinction. However, the lesson, which was less clear when one started with the exercise, is not just the importance of the date of disgorgement but also the dosage. The type, sweetness, concentration, are vital in providing the right kind of balance to the wine and any cellarmaster would adapt this according to the evolution - it wouldn't make sense to ignore the direction a wine is taking given that one has opened the bottle to discover this path. Just how much this may be adapted by producers is unclear. Given that any vintage release will be commercialised over a number of years and that several disgorgements will take place this is an important factor.
The dosage therefore helps to provide a more reductive environment for the wine and this was very clear in the samples from Tarlant. Even in a relatively short time the 'Zero dosage' had begun to evolve whereas this was much less the case in the vintage wines. It was quite striking how fresh and crisp the later disgorged wines appeared compared to a wine which, afterall, only had a year of bottle age. Even the mid-point provided a waymark which would probably have been missed with a vintage wine carrying a hallmark dosage.
The DP '96 and Oenothèque were more about the interpretation of the path the wine was taking. Both bore the salient characteristics of the vintage but as Geoffroy says, the character of the Oenotheque was, he felt, truer to the true spirit of DP. One can't help feeling this is more to do with the dosage than the evolution of the wine. Certainly distinctions in the two wines exist, there are elements of freshness which doubtless come from the late disgorgement but these are complimented by the dosage.
The wines from Louis Roederer served to highlight the impact of dosage even more. Roederer is rightly famous for its excellent Champagnes. They have a currency even when mature and for the true Champagne lover there can be no finer moment than uncorking a wine which has some considerable age to its name. It is undoubtedly a motivating factor in their method of production. This contradicts the general status where most wine, especially Champagne, is consumed within hours of its purchase. Of course, depending on the type of wine one may wish to drink (fresher or with more evolved flavours) knowing disgorgement dates permits one to play the game. However, one needs to know the rules. If a fresh, crisp Champagne is demanded there are plenty out there which will do the trick. It seems a shame, therefore, to open up a bottle which is really just beginning to get into its stride. The LR '96 is a wine for the long haul.
One of the most interesting outcomes of this tasting was to observe the ageing of a non-vintage Champagne. One would have liked to have tried an older NV because the trajectory of the Roederer Brut Premier was one one would like to have followed in more depth. Its evolution was confirmation that one should always keep one's Champagne for at least 6 months before consuming it.
There is no doubt that the dosage needs time to be integrated into the story of a wine and an interesting question might be to ask whether the judgement made at the time of initial disgorgement regarding the level of dosage is better then or with the benefit of hindsight.
Cuvee Zero Brut Nature (from the 2007 bottling)
We tasted wines which had been disgorged on three different dates: October 2009, March 2010 and August 2010. This was interesting because the wines showed a clear evolution according to the dates. The earlier disgorged bottle had a distinctly darker colour and the tastes were much more of a older wine - warmer honey notes on the nose and palate. It was more mellow and without quite the sharpness of the later wines. The wine disgorged 6 months later was paler (10ct rather than 14ct gold). This had a rather more toasty bouquet with a creamy texture. Distinctly 'dry'. The later disgorged wine was altogether different with a much lighter, fresher taste. It was much more citrussy on the palate and provided a more elegant wine with a greater floral sense, acacia too. It was rather 'feminine'.
Dom Perigon 1996 (disgorged 2003)
The wine didn't show its age, with hardly any evolved flavours. It was lovely and yeasty and showed good balance. It was also quite sharp and refreshing with some real citrus flavours on the palate. Considering this was a wine already 14 years, disgorged some 7 years previously it appeared noticeably youthful.
Oenothèque 1996 (disgorged 2008)
The bright light straw colour, smooth attack and lots of depth with floral fruit flavours certainly marked this down as a younger wine than the DP '96. It was very elegant and rather moreish. Very smooth and buttery. What is interesting is the contrast of the fresh taste with the vintage qualities of the wine. The preferred wine by its cellarmaster over the DP '96.
Three disgorgements here - May 2010, December 2007 and August, 2003.
The earliest disgorgement was a wine in every sense a beautiful vintage Champagne. 14ct gold colour, very bready tones, full-bodied and succulent. Tons of depth in the flavours which include burnt, toasty bits, honey, kiwi, lichee and nuts even. It has a noticeable acidity. The Dec '07 disgorgement was a very smooth wine but it hadn't evolved into the structure of the earliest disgorgement. It was fresher without any evolved flavours, lacking the persistence and body but we're comparing wines alongside and there was no doubt that the wine had high aspirations. The wine from the 2010 disgorgement was an altogether 'different ketttle of fish'. A lighter wet straw look with lighter bready aromas. It was round but fresh. However, there was a distinct sense that the dosage hadn't been entirely integrated into the wine with some separation of the flavours. Comparing the '03 to the '10: the colour was similar but not quite matching. The '03 had a yeastier more bready aroma with some exotic fruit (very subtle) on the nose - this is less present in May 2010. The May '10 is at first quite fresh but has a denser dosage. The '03 is smoother with deeper flavours on the palate, whilst the presence of the acidity is still noticeable the acidity in the May '10 is more apparent.
Roederer brut Premier - two disgorgements (November 2009 and June 2010)
The older disgorged wine is by now over a year old - probably a little older than many people consumer their Champagne (6 months is the norm.) The wine has good depth but still quite a fresh taste. Lovely balance with perfect acidity. The second disgorgement, however, immediately shows its youth and provides a much crisper, fresher taste. Here the citrus notes still jostle with its yeasty nose. Very fine and light. It has a lighter colour too.
Champagne houses which put disgorgement dates on their wines: Note 2Correct at time of going to press
Krug (begrudgingly since 2011)
Bollinger (since 2004)
Jacquesson & Fils (2002)
Marguet Pere et fils
Moutard Diligent
Launois Père et Fils (2010)
This is not intended as an exhaustive list. Note 3Correct at time of going to press
1. ↑ with the 1997 vintage
2, 3. ↑ Correct at time of going to press
Filed in Champagne features, Know-how | Tagged Champagne, disgorgement, Dom Perignon, Know-how, zero dosage ||
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Glacier Grads Thiebes, Hill Earn Honors from Griz, Bobcats
Hill helped lead a punishing Bobcat defensive effort in Saturday’s 24-17 win over Montana in Missoula
By Dillon Tabish // Nov 22, 2016
Josh Hill. Dean Hendrickson | Montana State University
A pair of standout football players from the Flathead Valley finished their seasons with honors for the Montana Grizzlies and Montana State Bobcats.
Jackson Thiebes, a Glacier High School graduate and a redshirt senior at Montana, was named the program’s most outstanding offensive lineman of the year. Thiebes was a walk-on player who was cut and then successfully walked on for the Griz. He then became an anchor for the team’s offensive line.
Last weekend, Josh Hill, another former standout for Glacier and a freshman linebacker for the Bobcats, led Montana State’s defense with eight tackles, a forced fumble and an interception. The Bobcats defeated Montana 24-17 as both teams finished the regular season out of the FCS playoffs.
Hill earned ROOT Sports Big Sky Conference Player of the Week honors as well as a STATS FCS Honorable Mention Freshman of the Week award.
The Grizzlies season ended at 6-5 overall and 3-5 in the Big Sky Conference The Bobcats finished 4-7 and 2-6.
Spotlight Event: Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
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Stichwort :Übereinkommen zur Beseitigung jeder Form von Diskriminierung der Frau
21. Jul
Das Übereinkommen zur Beseitigung jeder Form von Diskriminierung der Frau (Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, CEDAW) war das erste rechtsverbindliche Instrument, das Frauen international umfassende Rechte gegen Diskriminierung gewährt. Insofern baut es auf dem allgemeinen Diskriminierungsverbot des Art. 2 I des Internationalen Paktes über bürgerliche und politische Rechte (IPbpR) auf und konkretisiert es. Seit seiner Annahme durch die Generalversammlung der VN am 18. Dezember 1979 (Res. 34/180) sind ihm 186 Staaten durch Ratifikation beigetreten (Stand: Juli 2011). Nicht beigetreten sind der Iran, Somalia, Sudan, kleinere Staaten aus dem Pazifik sowie die Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika. Für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland ist das Übereinkommen am 13. November 1985 in Kraft getreten (BGBl. 1985 II 1234); die ehemalige DDR ratifizierte es bereits am 9. Juli 1980. Lies den Rest dieses Beitrags →
Veröffentlicht in Dokumentation, Gesetze, Human Rights, Medien, Meinungen, Politik
Kommentare deaktiviert für Stichwort :Übereinkommen zur Beseitigung jeder Form von Diskriminierung der Frau
Schlagwörter: Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, Germany, Gesetze, Human Rights, Menschenrechte, Politik, UN, United Nations
An Urgent Call to Action: End Stoning Now!
6. Mrz
At the 57th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women, we call on States where stoning still exists in law and in practice to abide by their international human rights obligations, banning stoning through legislative measures and holding perpetrators accountable to law. This includes Iran and Mauritania, two Member States currently sitting on the UN Commission of the Status of Women.
We also call on all Member States of the United Nations to heed this urgent call and explicitly denounce the practice of executions by stoning as one of the most brutal forms of violence against women.
Stoning is a flagrant violation of human rights, and a most cruel form of torture intended to cause grievous pain before death. It is being meted out discriminately upon women, and is most often preceded by unfair judicial processes whereby those sentenced to execution suffer numerous other human, civil and political rights violations while in detention.
Women are disproportionately being sentenced to stoning, due to misogynist and discriminatory interpretations of religious laws and cultural mores which become the basis of social policies governing sexual relationships and the family. Women’s rights cannot be sacrificed to such interpretations, especially when women have the right to freely participate in and adhere to their own beliefs, yet are being silenced by violent actions against them. Such cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment cannot be tolerated, and the universality of human rights must be upheld.
Execution by stoning is still carried out in various parts of the world (either by State or non-state actors) as a punishment for ‘adultery’, homosexuality, and fornication.
Even though there is no direct reference to this form of punishment in the Quran, stoning is often claimed to be part of “Islamic Law”. There is absolutely no consensus amongst the global Muslim community over the validity of the practice as “Islamic Law”, and many clerics, scholars and Muslim-majority States have prohibited stoning, as a violation of human rights.
Execution by stoning is sanctioned by the penal codes of Iran and Mauritania – two member States currently sitting on the UN Commission on the Status of Women – as well as North Sudan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. In some States, stoning is condoned through local or tribal and religious-based courts. This is currently the case in Aceh in Indonesia; in Kelantan and Terengganu in Malaysia, in 12 northern states of Nigeria, in Afghanistan, Mali, Iraqi Kurdistan and Somalia.
Stoning is a grave violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and of subsequent international human rights covenants, the foremost of which are the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Convention Against Torture (CAT), the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
States have the responsibility to act with due diligence to protect all citizens from such brutal, inhuman and degrading violence, and prevent its occurrence. Whether carried out by State or non-state actors, perpetrators must be held accountable and prosecuted.
For more information and resources on stoning, contact info@violenceisnotourculture.org andwluml@wluml.org.
Veröffentlicht in Aktionen, Empfehlungen, Gesetze, Medien, Meinungen, Politik, Veranstaltungen
Kommentare deaktiviert für An Urgent Call to Action: End Stoning Now!
Schlagwörter: Ahmadinejad, Chamenei, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, Gefängnis, Gesetze, Human right, Human Rights, Iran, Medien, Menschenrechte, Politik, UN, United Nation, United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, Women in Iran
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Suicide Squad – Joint Reviews
Release Date: 5 August 2016 [USA]
Director: David Ayer
Writer: David Ayer
Cast: Will Smith - Jared Leto - Margot Robbie - Viola Davis
Posted August 10, 2016 by admin
Jonathan’s Perspective:
There’s a moment in David Ayer’s highly-anticipated, highly-maligned Suicide Squad in which Deadshot (Will Smith) is about to go into battle with his meta-human dirty dozen comrades. As they travel to the upper reaches of the high-rise office building where some mysterious villainy awaits, Deadshot pulls on a white mask. It prompts a little barb, one of many, from Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn.
Now, I say the following with the admission that I am not a fanboy. I do not read comics. I never have. I don’t know single verses, let alone multiverses. I see the movies from DC and Marvel because I see most everything. But I do not live them.
I have no clue why Deadshot pulls on that mask.
There, I said it. Maybe it’s obvious. Maybe it’s right there in the movie and I just missed it. Maybe it’s in his back story and will mean something to diehards. But not to me. And I mention this because it is just one of countless things that I simply do not understand about the story Ayer, as screenwriter, has crafted.
Suicide Squad is a supremely stupid, yet surprising entertaining, movie. The stupidity comes from a screenplay which makes no sense, asks us to accept ridiculous character motivation, and mangles its exposition from beginning to end. Under normal circumstances, I would lay most of the blame for this on the pen of the writer. In this case, I suspect Ayer, who both wrote and directed, was sabotaged by a studio so shaken by the failure of Batman v Superman that it demanded massive rewrites, reshoots, and recuts right up until the release. This is a complicated narrative with lots of moving parts, and even small changes have the potential to seriously undermine the finished product.
Think of RKO’s disembowelment of Welles’ The Magnificent Ambersons, or Miramax’s evisceration of Scorsese’s Gangs of New York. Those movies were strong enough to survive the blatant holes that all the post-production tinkering left. Suicide Squad is not anywhere near that league. Still there is enough there to make you long for what might have been.
First and foremost, there are a group of really good characters. It is tremendous fun to watch Jay Hernandez’s Diablo literally light up a room, or Adewale Akinnuoye’Agbaje’s Killer Croc slither off into the city’s sewers. Jared Leto’s over-the-top Joker only appears in small doses, which is a wise decision. At its center, Smith is a solid Deadshot and Robbie is a dynamite Harley.
It’s hard to grade Ayer’s direction since so much of this movie is dependent on costume and set design and soundtrack. A lot of the pieces, like that soundtrack, are strong. The major set pieces, especially the look of the ultimate Enchantress villain, have been done as well or better in a half dozen other movies by this point, so they fall a little bit flat. It’s actually kind of hard to distinguish some of those big ticket sequences from similar moments in a mediocrity like Breck Eisner’s The Last Witch Hunter. But overall, Ayer the director is not the problem here.
Ayer the screenwriter, on the other hand…
Deadshot and Harley are introduced in the first two sequences with some extended backstory. Then, after some exposition from Viola Davis’ puppet master Amanda Waller, we get a bit of a reintroduction. That kind of expository choppiness will become a hallmark of the movie, and is what I think is most attributable to all the tweaking that was done during post. Later, at a key moment when good guy Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) must own up to the real reason the suicide squaders are in this fight, he repeats almost verbatim a sequence we have already seen, adding absolutely nothing to the story. This kind of thing gets you a failing grade in most screenwriting classes.
The screenplay also does a very poor job of marking out why particular missions are being carried out, failing to provide logical back story. And perhaps even worse, it never adequately explains the powers that anyone has. This makes it very difficult to become involved in the immediate drama beyond the visceral thrill of sound and color and motion. The poorly defined army that the Enchantress is constructing looks scary at first, but after seeing Harley take out the fifth one with her baseball bat, we realize these are as big a disappointment as those glass-jawed Orcs from LOTR.
What’s more, Suicide Squad plays fast and loose with death, never a good movie. I won’t spoil anything, but just rest assured that if you see a character die, there’s a pretty good chance he or she is coming back later.
Maybe the biggest story flaw is the Ponzi scheme nature of the conflict. Again, without giving too much away, it appears that the central conflict here is something that has been created by Waller herself. It would be fascinating to interpret this through a lens which argues that Waller is in fact Ayer, forced by the ever increasing pressure of magic and technology to make up more and more scary shit for us to worry about. But I don’t want to go too far down that road. I just don’t want to think that hard.
I will say that Suicide Squad does something at its climax which is so reminiscent of BVS that it makes me start to wonder if this is just part of the DC playbook. Like Lex Luthor in BVS, the Enchantress has the game won. The only thing that can derail her is her own stupidity. If she simply took a nap at the climax, evil would triumph over good. But she, like Lex, doesn’t, and so an opening is provided.
Or perhaps I missed something. I don’t think I did, but it’s possible.
Now, if I could just figure out why Deadshot has that white mask…
@rockynrudy
Full Contributor
Olatide’s Perspective:
Suicide Squad probably one of the most highly anticipated movies of 2016, with one of the best movie marketing I have seen for a while, this movie was bound to receive massive hype and expected to reach extraordinary expectations. If the hype wasn’t already a big enough burden, due to the huge disappointment of Batman V Superman, everyone was counting on Suicide Squad to deliver and hoping the “bad guys” will be the ones not only to save the world but to save the DCEU movie franchise.
A few days before Suicide Squad’s official release, it received a huge flood of negative reviews similar to Batman V Superman. I wasn’t a fan of Batman V Superman and I wasn’t very excited about the film, but when I saw the reviews for suicide squad, honestly I was shocked. With Suicide Squad’s amazing trailers, talented cast and different concept (bad guys trying to save the world, not your typical “superhero film”) I wondered how bad can it be?
I went into the cinema with an open mind, ignoring the reviews and hoping for the best and I can tell you Suicide Squad is definitely not as bad as people are saying.
A U.S intelligence officer Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) decides to assemble a team of the most dangerous supervillains who she believes have the ability to do some good. Now armed with the worst heroes ever, Rick Flagg (Joel Kinnaman) must lead this team of misfits to complete a top-secret mission.
The first thing you will notice about Suicide Squad is its stellar cast which includes Margot Robbie, Will Smith, Jared Leto, Viola Davis and Cara Delevingne. The cast really give it their all as they portrayed their characters extremely well. But with a massive cast like this obviously some performances were going to steal the show while other characters just fade into the background. For me the standout performances were Margot Robbie and Will Smith, in their second film together after Focus (2015) where both stars showed they have natural chemistry. Once again in Suicide Squad Smith and Robbie prove to be great together while also shining individually.
Although I don’t read comic books, after watching Suicide Squad I can just say Margot Robbie was born to play Harley Quinn, the look, the voice, the performance was just flawless! Robbie gave a performance which was sexy and funny but still badass and psychotic. Will Smith was perfectly
casted as Deadshot; he performed like a charismatic natural born leader who was insanely cool and also… pretty badass! Then there is Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, wow… she was stone cold, Viola played Amanda superbly, just mean, ruthless and remorseless, all these characteristics Viola injected into her portrayal as Amanda Waller.
As I said before some characters faded into the background from time to time as Smith and Robbie were just stealing the show but Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang was pretty good, he was more of a comedic character didn’t have much input except during action scenes, but he definitely added humour into the darkly toned DC film. Other characters like El Diablo (Jay Hernadez) Katana (Karen Fukuhara) and Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) also deserve a mention for giving a good performance despite their smaller role; the film would have been better if these characters were more developed, as I was quite curious to know more about them.
Now the person you’ve probably been waiting for The Joker (Jared Leto) A.K.A as Mr J, you’ll probably be disappointed to know that he didn’t have enough screen time for me comment on his performance or compare him to the iconic Heath Ledger. But from what I saw Jared Leto gave a creepy, cool and twisted performance. When the promotional material for suicide squad was first released I wasn’t a fan of Leto’s look as one of the most iconic supervillains but watching the film you can see how his silver teeth, crazy tattoos and gold chains really suit the film. The Joker doesn’t add anything to the main plot he was pretty much doing his own thing in an interesting sub plot.
Moving away from the characters which were the best thing about this film, it’s time to discuss the flaws and there were many. The editing was a big problem, I did enjoy the movie but I won’t lie, it did feel very rushed, which doesn’t surprise me as the script was written in six weeks. There was a poor flow of narrative throughout the film, sometimes the jump from the present to a flashback scene didn’t flow and felt forced. The loud music in the first act of the filmed overpowered the dialogue so I struggled to hear what the characters were saying, it’s like the music was purposely put on blast to hypnotise the audience so they won’t notice the awful editing. The movie was very unbalanced; the second and third act felt like one massive finale shot in the same dark city. The biggest problem for me was the awful villain, so many problems with the villain that it messed up the plot. The unintimidating Villain was underdeveloped; their motive was unclear and all in all didn’t do much except gyrate and spread ugly CGI everywhere.
Despite Suicide Squads rubbish villain, messy plot and choppy editing, it did have good qualities which were enough to save the film and overshadow its flaws. What I love about Suicide Squad is its humour and comic book style I liked the colours and how each squad member was introduced with bright, quirky text. The film is cool, fun and highly enjoyable however not quite as edgy as it could have been; if Suicide Squad made the most of its 15 age rating maybe by having more blood, violence or just something to fulfil its certificate of 15 it would have been a better film.
I enjoyed Suicide Squad and had an absolute blast watching it, the action sequences were shot beautifully, the characters were great and acted fantastically. The scenes between Harley Quinn and The Joker were brilliant, their crazy relationship is very interesting and I’m glad they added it into the movie. Although annoying loud out times the soundtrack was awesome; when played at the right moment it really added to the entertainment factor of the film.
Yes, it did have flaws and definitely didn’t fulfil its potential of being the edgy, dark superhero film of 2016 which everyone loved. But for me Suicide Squad is way better than Batman V Superman and just tops Man Of Steel; despite the negative reviews it’s still a step forward for DC. I think the flaws of the movie bothered many people and led to huge disappointments which led to bad reviews, but a film with such huge hype and pressure to be excellent was always going to fall flat on its face. Also the reshoots and interference from Warner Bros to make the perfect DC film didn’t help ever.
However Suicide Squad should pick itself up and stand tall and proud as it’s probably the most entertaining film in the DC franchise even if it’s filled with flaws.
Olatide Renee
@popcornoncouch
PopcornOnCouch.com
PopcornOnCouch – Facebook
Alston’s Review:
Brace yourselves! David Ayer’s Suicide Squad is a big disappointment and far better than you could have hoped at the very same time. And for those fanboys and those who are DC-curious, it’s a far better film than Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Deep breaths, you’re alright.
Unlike the Marvel movies which have taken years of planning, Suicide Squad popped up on Warner Bros’ radar erratically. Word exclusively came out from The Hollywood Reporter’s mouth directly telling us that we were going to spectate a movie that was given to an inexperienced action blockbuster director who constructed a script in less than 6 months. And with Dawn of Justice drowning itself in negative reviews, we can be sure they all went into a frenzy.
Now obviously Warner Bros decided to empty their pockets to save this predicted blockbuster. Funding “funnier” reshoots seemed to have been in their best interest, and it does not end there. With the delightful response to the film’s Bohemian Rhapsody trailer, the film was given to the trailer’s studio house to make big edits for a hopefully less Christopher Nolan lookalike. This probably was Warner’s biggest mistake, but rest assured Suicide Squad strains and squeezes itself through in the end.
Enter Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller. Looking to make someone cry and have an inferiority complex? This petrifying motivator proves she is the right woman for the job. She assembles a team which consists of nine villainous heroes to fight evil-er forces in case the superheroes are out grabbing coffee.
From punching mattresses in jail to leading the squad, Will Smith’s Deadshot is one that grows on you. For a stone cold killer, he’s quite heartwarming and unexpectedly finds himself unifying everyone onboard. He and Margot Robbie’s psychiatrist-turned-psychopath Harley Quinn are employed as the new front faces of Squad. With b-list characters searching for fame right behind them and who could’ve only have been noticed if you have had a past (or a present) with comic books, it seemed like a wise decision indeed.
Revisiting both these characters’ pasts was an expected surprise, but a surprise nonetheless. Human emotion finally exists with DC, with Smith’s Deadshot’s fatherly love towards his daughter acting up and Quinn choosing the dark side in the name of love. We get a glimpse at what a smiling Gotham could potentially look like in the films to come. Surprisingly quenching, those two villains proceed to see themselves end up in prison thanks to the Bat who enters this party of a movie. Oh yes, if you found it intense watching your two favourite heroes battle each other in BvS, this was more than a visual treat and turned out to be the best ten minutes of the film.
Don’t be confused if you find the movie to have pacing issues, it comes along with the whole package. That and the fact that it feels like two completely different movies running simultaneously, as though it were choosing between two genre types. Whether it’s a serious or waggish film, that’s something you shall never know. You can forget the concept about character building with this one as you will never see it done. Or maybe you will and this movie will join the likes of them. With characters like Killer Croc, Diablo, Captain Boomerang, Enchantress and a few more making their onscreen debut, it is discomforting to witness something like this.
Oscar Winner Jared Leto is a man of many talents, and definitely, has a much darker side to him than we expected. While he may smile and maintain his calm persona (which is almost psychopathic if you have noticed on occasions), he delivers a Joker we have never seen before. Shiny jewellery, fancy gangster accessories, the whole shebang – this mafia clown has it all with a demeaning taste for a high-end lifestyle with his fair lady by his side.
If you know what a horror film feels like, you can expect yourself to feel the same eerie feeling you get while watching him in action. What’s interesting is that the character himself is not the kind to hold on to loose ends, yet Leto’s version finds himself risking his minions’ bones and limbs to get back his wicked beloved.
If you think this is disappointing news about the character? Here’s where I’m afraid to say, you can shed a few more tears because it doesn’t end there.
Ever read an Alex Ross DC graphic novel? This movie is populated with stunning visuals of these characters who have been lifted from the pages of popular books like these! With the story still trying to muddle its way to safety and with some gawdy action sequences, the film runs on the cast’s and imagery’s steam and nothing more. It also seems like Ayer wanted to tell the world he updated his Spotify list. With random ambiguous songs playing in the background, it’s evident they are compensating for a soundtrack that is nothing short of forgettable
Alas, with the clock almost striking twelve, a climax to save everything should’ve been in order. Meh. Needless to say, it was DC’s version of this year’s Ghostbusters, but with their characters just casually waltzing through the whole film.
David Ayer should find himself back to directing movies that aren’t out of his league, especially when there is a lot is riding on it. Sure, it is an infernal mess with a shady script and weak characters, but in the end, you can still stop to appreciate that Suicide Squad tried to be different in more ways than just one. He should watch his back, though, those were big words he threw around about Marvel at two Comic Cons.
Leaving you nodding your head, the non-kid friendly DC adventure is in theatres and is definitely worth your time and money at least once. Here’s to a brighter future for DC with a change in staff at Warner Bros maybe? Salut.
Alston Rodrigues
The Artsypant – Facebook Page
Michael’s Perspective:
Superman is dead. Amanda Waller, black-ops handler for the US government, has an idea for replacing Earth’s sentinel against the perceived meta-human threat. Compared to the Son of Krypton, her suggestion leaves a lot to be desired. Waller proposes the Suicide Squad; a crew of the most dangerous criminals currently in custody. However, dealing with unimaginable threats is only half the problem. Keeping this crew in check is the other.
It’s not long into the movie before we’re given a video-game style checklist of the Squad’s members. While some of the introductions are attention grabbing (Deadshot’s and Harley Quinn’s in particular), some are underwhelming while other well-advertised characters don’t even get a shout.
Right away, it’s painfully clear things are going wrong. There’s the reveal of the Joker (or rather lack thereof). Included in Quinn’s intro, the Joker is simply…there. No build up at all. Suicide Squad commits this wasteful sin twice on the Joker (the latter being a helicopter hijacking).
About half-way through we are then fecklessly shown Slipknot and Katana. Why these characters mean less than Captain Boomerang or El Diablo is a mystery. The coverage divvied out among the crew members is frustratingly lopsided.
As for the plot, it’s spiralling nonsense. The likes of the amoral Quinn and Deadshot do not behave as we’ve known them too and they are slaves to the plot’s trundling forth.
Pop-music is littered throughout the show and it can’t help but feel contrived. No doubt the studios have picked up on how dull and gloomy everyone thought Man of Steel and BvS were. Suicide Squad tries hard to reach the brilliant, punkish humour of Guardians of the Galaxy and falls embarrassingly short.
The performances is where Suicide Squad picks up some points. Will Smith and Margot Robbie are easily the ones to watch. Smith is back with his timing and sass that has not deteriorated. Robbie, while dealing with a poorly written Quinn, injects the mania necessary. At times an accent comes through sounding slightly like the now classic Arleen Sorkin voice but its Robbie’s hyperactive menace that you will remember.
Even when standing next to Killer Croc, it’s Viola Davis’ Waller that ends up as the real monster. Her power over the Suicide Squad gives her a worrying smugness, like she’s busy planning her own fiefdom.
There’s some real shame though that the rest of the cast aren’t given the time of day. Jai Courney’s Boomerang seems like a real bastard you want to get to know. As for Jared Leto’s Joker, you may be left with a feeling of disappointed confusion. Judging from news emerging after the film’s premier, the performance has apparently been stifled, Leto himself complaining of many scenes being cut. What there is to judge though is puzzling. Leto’s Joker, Marilyn Manson-esque, is a struggle to hear and over-acted at times. To top it off, the character is spoiled with some truly dreadful editing.
Most grating is Cara Delevingne as the Enchantress. It’s actually more like 3 performances; the unremarkable Dr. Moore, a primal version of Enchantress and finally a more goddess-like version who for some reason cannot stop shuffling while she preaches. She must be related to X-Men’s Apocalypse for their murky plots and ill-defined hatred of humanity are identical.
Even the action scenes (surely supposed to be the saving grace for a movie like this) are a mess. The minions are uninspired blackened zombies covered in frog spawn and with so many of them running around darkened streets and cramped office spaces, the fight scenes become visual vomit. This goes double for the rain-soaked slo-mo climax. Why make a fight scene difficult to comprehend? Has anyone involved here watched a Jackie Chan movie?
Suicide Squad continues DC’s streak of ineptitude in topping Marvel. The likes of Civil War handled more characters and yet executed them miles better than here. There are neither laughs nor gasps of shock and excitement. There surely must be a slightly enjoyable DC movie on the way since the bar is now so low.
Michael Keyes
Silences Band
@mkjk1990
Larry’s Perspective:
I am going to declare my allegiance now by saying that my favourite superheroes are Captain Yesterday, Clobberella and Super King Bender ‘the best of the three’. People take superhero movies way too seriously – cue large virtual objects thrown in my general direction. Growing up in the 1970s, we had terrible special effects and had to make do with ‘Doc Savage, Man of Bronze’ (superpower: he doesn’t tan). So I’m not going to get terribly upset that ‘Suicide Squad’ doesn’t deliver. Ok, just a little bit, like couldn’t they have hired a writer-director who has some feeling for the material?
I admit that I quite enjoyed the original ‘Superman’, mainly because of the humour and Christopher Reeve’s graceful never-break-a-sweat performance. Oh and the Gene Hackman-Ned Beatty double act, interrupted by Valerie Perrine (‘when I was young, my father said to me’ – ‘get out’). A great cast can make great superhero movies. I may not believe a man can fly, but I can forget about the green screen.
The DC comic book universe has evolved since then. There is no longer the optimism of ‘Superman’ but dark city streets crawling with villains who put more feeling into their wardrobe than their get rich quick schemes. The heroes are wounded, tortured souls who can only express themselves through nocturnal vigilante activities, latex or both. They usually have flaws like a dearth of real superpowers and a costume that makes combat difficult. Incidentally, just once I would like to see a superhero wearing slippers – also an easy to use weapon.
As we know from many a superhero flick or rogue cop movie or indeed any major action film in the last thirty years, there is not much difference between the heroes and their nemesis. They both over-compensate and resort to silly names where now an emoticon will do.
‘Suicide Squad’ is a film where the villains get called upon to save the world. Why? Because Mommy told them to! Viola Davis plays Amanda Waller, a government official who is down amongst the generals breaking the glass ceiling. She has the heart of a seven thousand year Enchantress in a box and she will go voodoo on it to keep her one coerced super-villain (Cara Delevigne) in line. For reasons best known to comic book readers, the US Defence Secretary approves the temporary recruitment of 50% of the Fantastic Four – all right, Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) and Diablo (Jay Hernandez) – as well as a sentimental assassin, Dead Shot (Will Smith), a demented advert for pop socks, Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie, terrific), a walking cliché, Boomerang (Jai Courtney channelling Eric Bana’s Mark ‘Chopper’ Read) and a native American (Adam Beach). They are all coerced in a manner familiar to viewers of ‘Escape from New York’.
Just when you thought the film couldn’t get more derivative, it has effects straight out of Stephen Sommers ‘The Mummy’ and an ending straight out of ‘Ghostbusters’ (either one, take your pick). You wonder what writer-director David Ayer (‘End of Watch’, ‘Fury’) was thinking.
The film makes no sense. Set in a city called Midway, it has extensive exposition that takes us ages to get there – introducing the characters with their ‘Top Trump’ values (if only). Incidentally, I can see the future US President banning that game – Hillary Clinton would like us to play ‘Scrabble’. The villains are rounded up by a well-known DC superhero (or two) and put in a maximum security Guantanamo Bay type facility. But where are those heroes when hell – or rather an ancient deity – breaks loose. Where are the Ghostbusters? (Either set, doesn’t matter.)
The bare minimum you’d expect from the film is repartee – ‘Snake Plissken, I thought you were dead’, that kind of thing. Nothing doing! Then you might hope for impressive action sequences. Not here. Satire? Nope! Endless DC comic in-jokes? No. Heck, after thirty minutes, you might wish for Joel Schumacher.
What this film has is Robbie – Robbie, Robbie, Robbie. Some actresses drink power shakes. Margot Robbie acts like she jumped into the juicer and then applied her make-up. She’s a pixie with a baseball bat, cheery, teasing and far more alive than anyone in the movie. She gives, in my estimation, a star making performance.
At the opposition end of the spectrum is Will Smith. He’s a man on the way out. He used to be the coolest person in the room, the quickest wit, the slickest mover. He does not for one milli-second convince as a villain-turned-good. (‘I don’t kill women or children’ – that’s all you need to know.) His daughter stops him shooting a franchise character, though if she didn’t step between them, a few lawyers might. Smith’s Dead Shot doesn’t have a superpower – he fires guns. Right now, that might not make him particularly popular – the Dallas sniper attack carried out by Micah Johnson is still fresh in people’s minds. (I’m amazed more film reviewers haven’t made the connection.) He really does look like a man out of time.
As for Jared Leto, he is certainly deranged and menacing, but he doesn’t have a singularly memorable bit of business as the Joker, a steel-capped make-up wearer laughing on the inside kind of clown. He has comparatively few scenes, but then he is neither hero nor villain, only Harley Quinn’s testing boyfriend. I don’t think super-villains believe in marriage; they worry about property rights.
The nominal good guy is Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), a special-forces officer trusted to lead Team ‘X’. He is in love with a scientist possessed by the Enchantress – every time her heart gets stabbed, he winces.
‘Suicide Squad’ has proved critic proof at the US box office. It has across the board comic book appeal. For most of us, it is the Margot Robbie show – give her a franchise right now. For about a minute I hoped that the Enchantress’ super plan was to give everyone on Earth a Delevigne-style uni-brow. That would be more original – and entertaining – than the majority of this flick.
@LarryOliverFilm
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The Lash
About The Lash
Big Bang Theory Opinions
Favorite Cast Members
Favorite Seasons
Favorite Episode
The Financial Permeability
Cheriekiwi
JE7
episodes 1224 'The Stockholm Syndrome' (May 16)
The Lash replied to Tripper's topic in Season 12 (Final Season)
Sad to see the end. I started watching in 2012 on a plane trip! The two last episodes were very good indeed. Wishing you all the best in your futures. Signing off............
1217 'The Conference Valuation' (March 7)
There is some irony in the rep from the rival drugs company making an offer to Penny and her asking that he write it on a napkin...... "like they do in the movies"........ being said by an actress earning around $1,000,000 an episode in a run of 24 over at least 6 seasons! It wasn't a bad episode; but they do seem (to quote Sheldon) "to be lowering the quality until nobody cares" I think the production team have a job on their hands wrapping up the storylines now, and they don't have much time left with only six episodes to go.
episodes 1216 'The D & D Vortex' (February 21)
You can tell it's coming to a close............. "All good things..........." (Title of the last episode of Star Trek NG)
episodes 1215 'The Donation Oscillation' (February 7)
The premise of the episode is ludicrous. Leonard has adored Penny since he first saw her. There is NO WAY he would proxy father a child with another woman and definitely not against Penny's wishes. But it's a sitcom.....so there's licence I suppose
episodes 1210 'The VCR Illumination' (December 6)
Th last season is going down the toilet unfortunately. Leonard; Penny and Raj need not be there at all. Bernadette and Howard have some good scenes - but the magic thing was just awful. The premise of the show was Leonard's efforts to get Penny.......once that was resolved, it became all about Sheldon - with the dreadful YS spin-off. Season 12 is the Big Whimper.....not the Big Bang To quote Sheldon "They slowly lowered the quality, until nobody cared"
episodes 1209 'The Citation Negation' (November 15)
Yes. It is only a sitcom and there has to be some suspension of disbelief, but world class scientists would KNOW this and look for corroboration or further evidence before throwing the towel in. The show is coming to an end and each episode seems to be intent on confirming this - probably a real pity that the team knew this before writing and producing all but the first two episodes.
episodes 1208 'The Consummation Deviation' (November 8)
Not great. Against the consensus, but I just don't see Raj with Anu. Especially not after some of the women he's dated like Emily. Penny and Leonard (Lenny) seem to have no real role in the plots anymore. AND WHERE IS DENISE?
episodes 1207 'The Grant Allocation Derivation' (November 1)
Yes this was a good one, after a few hiccoughs in the opening of the season. Nice to see Lenny not being quite so negative to each other and Howardette developing in the relationship to the point where they can accommodate for personal space and needs. I did have a few LOL moments and it's an episode I'd want to watch again, which is usually my criteria for a 'good' episode.
episodes 1206 'The Imitation Perturbation' (October 25)
It was a good comedic episode; best of the season so far. It will be rather strange next year as the 'milestones' of Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas etc come around, without the backdrop of a TBBT episode. All good things................
episodes 1205 'The Planetarium Collision' (October 18)
Watching this episode "has made me want to start cutting myself again"....!!
episodes 1203 'The Procreation Calculation' (October 4)
Stunise?......Denart, surely? Did not like the episode one bit. The writers seem to be setting up an 'incompatibility' plot with Leonard and Penny's characters - to what end I am not sure; but it would give the show a darker end if Lenny were to break up. Penny also seemed much more forthright and aggressive with Bernadette and Amy Denise can do better than Stuart - not a believable storyline. Howard and Bernadette were just silly - although Howards concern for Raj was well written and came over as genuine thanks to Simon's great acting. Raj and Anu? Not in a million years......run far, run fast my son. Raj can do way better than this......and the character deserves better than this. Nice to see Sheldon and Amy sidelined a bit; but given their marriage - isn't the storyline a bit of a dead end now? FWIW.......I can see the beginnings of how the show is moving towards the end.........I wonder if there will be any big surprises en route?
episodes 1201 'The Conjugal Configuration' (September 24)
For me, this episode was clearly written and filmed before the announcement of Jim ending his tenure on the show. The production team thought there was plenty of time and episodes to develop a number of ongoing storylines, hence the convoluted Shamy "coitus" and the Lenny incompatability repeat storylines. I just hope now, in the light of the end of the show being imminent, the writers and producers don't 'cram' and try to resolve too many things too quickly.....and messily. They clearly have run out of ideas for Raj as a character, hence the NdGT story, which was rather pointless......A pity really, because if any character apart from Sheldon, Leonard or Penny had been leaving, the show could have continued......but without Jim as Sheldon it's unworkable.
If the cast member who decided to leave was Johnny instead of Jim, would the series still end?
The Lash replied to Nevaeh Dibrof's topic in Season 12 (Final Season)
12 seasons is a fantastic run. I have just binge watched all 11 seasons and have noticed that all the actors have obviously aged in the time. I can fully understand Jim Parsons wanting to move on - I don't think the show would work with 40+ year old characters; and once all the leads are in relationships (Raj / Kunal aside) the show has kind of lost the "awkward nerd" paradigm that made it so viable and entertaining.
episodes 903 - The Bachelor Party Corrosion (October 5)
The Lash replied to Tripper's topic in Season 9
Nice to see the show back! Just watched 3 episodes back to back. (we're about 3 weeks behind in the U.K so internet catch-up) This was a good one. Enjoyed seeing Penny's "Dad" again..... and we now know Penny's last name!!!
Episodes 822 The Graduation Transmission (April 23)
Enjoyed this one (mind you, I enjoy all of 'em). A couple of laugh out loud moments.......Leonard in the gown putting the belt on! And a trip back to 'geekdom'. ......the little engineer who could! Nice to see Mr and Mrs Koothrapali again too. Big......big fun
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JeffG1 Posts: 11,222
stopgo wrote: »
JeffG1 wrote: »
Newspaper reviewer crap this morning. Difficult to work out what he's saying and intent on having banter with the presenters more than anything else. Made a complete tow of explaining what tick took is with nether the presenters or the viewer having much of a clue after his hamfisted explanation.
Nothing wrong with Bobby Seagull. His programmes with fellow genius Eric Monkman were very interesting. And what on earth is "tick took"? Not something I heard him mention.
Sorry should have been tick tock.
Still doesn't mean anything to me.
Trappedin80's Posts: 6,270
Looks good in that blue dress.
mossy2103 Posts: 79,486
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TikTok
BirthdayGirl Posts: 54,730
Be interesting to see how much airtime Breakfast give to Strictly now that Mike is out
testcard Posts: 7,751
BirthdayGirl wrote: »
ATNotts Posts: 1,238
Once again the medical cannabis campaigner, Hannah Deacon was on the Breakfast sofa, talking, apparently with some "authority" about cannabis and it's properties, and efficacy in certain conditions. She speaks forcefully and well and promotes her case very effectively.
It occurred to me that we never appear to be told what qualifications she has to speak with such apparent authority on the subject, and a google search appears to bring up a great deal about her and her very worthy campaign to get medical cannabis for her son for other's who would apparently benefit from cannabis drugs, but nothing that I could find relating to her scientific background, or indeed if she is in the pay of pressure groups backed by particular (pharmaceutical) companies who stand to gain from NICE approving further cannabis based drugs.
Other "experts" and "campaigners" have been given airtime in the past, promoted a particular line and later found to have been talking with no real authority - Dr Andrew Wakefield and the MMR vaccine is a case in point. If people are speak for themselves viewers should be told, equally if they are talking with real knowledge of their subject we should also know, so that we can properly assess for ourselves as consumers of the report, as to how much weight we should give it.
JVS Posts: 12,028
I thought it was mean of Louise Minchin to read out the Rolling Stone one star review of Last Christmas to the director, Paul Feig. What was the point?
Polecat Posts: 2,317
The sofa is with Louise in Bishop Auckland today....yes it's yet another traditional Labour seat that the Tories are targeting because of Brexit. It's like a broken record. How many times can you interview "local people" about Brexit who are going to automatically respond "just get it done". Where's the balance??
Actually it seems that no-one is interested in Brexit in Bishop Auckland! Good! But here's Jayne McCubbin so I'm off to work anyway
Edit...she is asking folk about Brexit....urgh.
inothernews Posts: 7,859
McCubbin in a completely deserted high street.
I suppose she has that effect on people.
inothernews wrote: »
One of the most pointless exercises in the history of BBC election coverage.
Paul_DNAP Posts: 14,811
What's the point of having a coffee van thing, if it isn't even serving people coffee? Or is it just a billboard for the logo?
redvers36 Posts: 4,312
Paul_DNAP wrote: »
It is a complete waste of time.
Hamlet77 Posts: 20,209
Can’t stand the woman, talks to everyone like they’re five years old.
ATNotts wrote: »
I am finding it increasingly annoying about Breakfast, whenever they get a largish response to an item they go at it like a dog with a bone, they will not leave it alone. In fact they seem to dedicate more and more time to it, as long as they continue to get a largish response.
The recent tragic death of a boy killed by the wife of a US diplomat was another example. That seemed rather good of them I thought, but since the parents have returned to the U.K. we are getting nothing from that story.
Hamlet77 wrote: »
The BBC will be very happy to hear that as it aligns exactly with their desired audience.
https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2019-03-29/bbc-younger-audiences-refresh-shows-annual-plan-2019-2020/
poshnosh Posts: 1,112
Sambda wrote: »
testcard wrote: »
More detail, hopefully she will take Kirkwood with her,
https://www.channel4.com/press/news/steph-mcgovern-present-steph-show-channel-4
Holy moly, that's not the best picture of her I've ever seen.
She tended to look better when she had the longer hair. And even then she had a resemblance to the Turin Shroud.
Funny you should say that. I have a tea towel with Steph’s face on it, but now I’m not so sure it is a tea towel.
Given her preferences, the second coming wouldn't bother Steph. Nor the first coming.
She did manage the immaculate conception though.
jojo01 Posts: 10,414
Does anyone like these trips they do around the UK around election time? They eventually told me this morning where Bishop Auckland is but I don't imagine many people other than those that live there, really care what the people in that town think. Just as no one outside of where I live would probably care what we think.
So Louise, Carol and Ben were up there this morning, and Christian Fraser this evening. It feels pointless to me.
Carol was cringingly embarrassing again this morning, having to refer to her cue cards about 5 words into her first presentation of the day. She can remember the weather, but no details about where she is when sent out and about.
The_Time_Being Posts: 400
There will now be a month of vox pops, Jayne McCubbin and uninformed 'just get it done' types. Great news for Kay Burley and Sky News. I'm certainly off over there in the mornings, for now, I'll just nip back for the local news once a morning (we do pretty well for local news in Kent) See you all on the other side of Polling Day!
stopgo Posts: 5,961
The_Time_Being wrote: »
On my own with this by the look of it but think McCubbin is more than okay at these outside broadcasts she does. By contrast Louise was all over the place with her interviews on Breakfast this morning with the guests having to wear name badges to help her remember who was who.
Another poor show from Louise interviewing Gove. Let him get away with just putting the standard replies out there and didn't really press him for more responses to the questions asked. Got to say Naga is far better at the political interviews.
Just what I was thinking, why do we need 5 weeks of campaigning if they are never going to answer a question? Why can't they just print their lies in a easy to read list and then we can go and vote for the one we think has lied to us the least.
And to be honest she didn't do much better with John Ashworth from "the other side", appearing to not understand that a "four day week" is about people working only 4 days from seven, and that "our" NHS (I hate that stupid turn of phrase so beloved of politicians) won't shut up shop for 3 days of the week. Perhaps she was just playing devils advocate to help the dimmer end of the BBC Breakfast audience understand that the NHS would still be available 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.
As for vox-pops, please, to quote "Brenda from Bristol" - not another one!!
Not really as Kay Burley is even worse with her silly "empty chairing" of someone who wasn't booked on her show anyway. That is before we get to her claiming she didn't vote which contradicted her own Twitter claims.
Think I caught a bit of that. Ashworth had to explain several times the concept of the four day week but she just didn't seem to grasp it.
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Square Enix Co., Ltd.
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Remember, the 2020 GDC Film Festival submissions close Friday!
December 3, 2019 | By Staff
More: Console/PC, GDC
Hey filmmakers, just a quick reminder that submissions for the 2020 GDC Film Festival are still open -- but only until this Friday, December 6th!
This is an important celebration to participate in because the GDC Film Festival is one of the first ever documentary and narrative film fests focused on the art and culture of video games.
It's a great place to showcase your work, but you must hurry; until Friday, organizers are seeking submissions from video game documentarians (in particular) as well as other filmmakers creating works that feature video games in a significant way.
This 3rd Annual GDC Film Festival will take place at the Yerba Buena Center For The Arts' Screening Room - directly adjacent to the Moscone Center - from Monday, March 16th to Wednesday, March 18th during GDC 2020.
Screenings will be open to all GDC 2020 pass-holders on a first-come, first-served basis. Across the three days a wide range of documentaries and other filmed material based around the video game medium will be screened, some for the very first time!
The Festival will include onstage Q&As with film-makers, and game producer/designer and journalist Mathew Kumar (Indivisible, Sound Shapes) will be MC-ing the festival and co-programming the featured films. As mentioned, organizers are seeking submissions from video game documentaries (in particular) and other films that feature video games in a major way, to augment films invited to present at the Festival.
Please submit using the provided form before this Friday, December 6th. Selected films will be displayed at the Festival and the filmmakers will receive 2 GDC Conference + Summits Passes and 2 Expo+ Passes to the event in San Francisco next March. You are not required to be present at GDC for your film to be shown.
For more details on GDC 2020 visit the show's official website, or subscribe to regular updates via Facebook, Twitter, or RSS.
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Great • Alfred • Nobel • Gives • Aspiration!
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Global Investigative Journalism Conference 2013 (https://gijc2013.org/prominence/homepage-featured/)
Homepage Featured
If you are using the Newspaper or Carousel optional homepage layout, add this label to posts to display them in the featured area on the homepage
Looking for the 2015 Global Conference?
By GIJN Staff | May 31, 2015
The 2015 Global Conference Investigative Journalism Conference is in Lillehammer, Norway, on October 8-11. You can find everything you need — registration, program details, tips on transportation and lodging — on our new conference site:
http://gijc2015.org
We will have hundreds of the world’s best investigative reporters, data journalists, and experts in security and FOI there. Hope to see you in Lillehammer!
GIJC13
After Rio: Check GIJN.org for Latest on Global Investigative Journalism
By David E. Kaplan | November 26, 2013
Thanks to everyone for an extraordinary conference. The eighth Global Investigative Journalism Conference brought in a record 1350 people from 93 countries. We had a great time, playing host to a phenomenal mix of reporters, editors and producers, data and security experts, hackers, professors and students, and staff from NGOs and nonprofits.
For ongoing coverage of investigative journalism around the world, be sure to check out our regular site, GIJN.org. You’ll find resource pages on data journalism, freedom of information, grants and fellowships, nonprofits, and more.
By Ryan Hicks | October 17, 2013
Biting Into the Food Industry, Investigating Agribusiness
By Jessica Weiss | October 16, 2013
The global food industry and, more generally, agribusiness are rich veins for investigative reporting, which deserve more attention. For example, “Olive Oil: The Green Gold Rush,” a new report from the Investigative Reporting Project Italy (IRPI), explores “food fraud” in the Mediterranean olive oil industry. It highlights fraud in the way olive oil is produced, distributed and marketed, exposing consumers to the industry’s gross manipulation of a regional commodity. Cecilia Anesi of IRPI spoke about a pending case against Azienda Olearia Valpesana, one of the biggest olive oil traders in Italy. Last year, four Valpesana executives were arrested on charges including fraud and forming a criminal network.
Video: Investigando Crimen Organizado con Datos Abiertos
By Mariana Santos | October 15, 2013
Giannina Segnini, jefa de la unidad de Investigación de La Nación de Costa Rica – y una de las panelistas más prolíficas de la Conferencia Global de Periodismo de Investigación (GIJC13) – brindó el taller “Investigando Crimen Organizado con Datos Abiertos”. A continuación, un video de sobre su sesión con grandes secretos y trucos para periodistas de investigación, producido por Mariana Santos, Knight International Journalism Fellow.
Global Shining Light Award Winners Announced
By GIJN Staff | October 15, 2013
Journalists from Azerbaijan, South Africa, Pakistan, Honored for Investigative Reporting under Threat
The winners of the fifth Global Shining Light Award were announced and presented at the Global Investigative Journalism Conference tonight in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The prize honors investigative journalism conducted in a developing or transitioning country, done under threat, duress, or in the direst of conditions. The award drew 65 submissions from 28 countries. An international panel of judges considered eight finalists and selected this year’s winners, and found the competition extraordinary. “The quality of entries this year shows how great investigative journalism has spread around the world,” noted David E. Kaplan, director of the award’s sponsor, the Global Investigative Journalism Network.
Challenges Face Investigative Reporting on Fracking
By Andrea Arzaba | October 15, 2013
Pablo is a journalist who is moved by environmental exploitation of gas extraction and it’s impact on the native people in a particular region of his country. After months of pressing his editors to cover the issue, they finally relent. Extractive industries, especially oil, are increasingly becoming a contentious issue in countries such as Nigeria, Uganda, Argentina, Brazil or Mexico, given that oil revenues can comprise profits for government, the private sector, and consequently, the important role this plays on infrastructure and national services. Aware of how big an issue extraction has become, Pablo eagerly proceeds conducting research and travels to the heart of the action where they’re extracting oil, gas, mining, fracking, you name it. Upon arrival, he attempts to interview people working for the enterprise, but nobody is willing to cooperate.
Crowdfunding Investigative Projects Turns Readers into Editors
By Piero Boeira Locatelli | October 15, 2013
In a search for cash to finance investigative journalism projects, an independent Brazilian news agency is trying to turn readers into editors. The idea was greeted with great interest during a panel discussion this week at the four-day, semi-annual Global Investigative Journalists Conference (GIJC2013) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The idea is simple: those who help finance the agency can choose what journalists should investigate. With this concept, Agência Pública raised almost $30,000 from 808 backers for a project called Reportagem Pública (Public Report).
Oil Industry’s Relationships with Governments Vexed by Complications
By Bolanle Omisore | October 14, 2013
Journalists willing to take on their governments and investigate oil production must be fearless by necessity. But a session at the Global Investigative Journalist Conference (GIJC2013) this past Sunday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, highlighted the complexities facing muckrakers trying to extract meaningful data from national governments and titans of industry, despite requirements for transparency. During the session, panelists discussed the glut of data that is simultaneously making investigations into the global extractive industries around the world easier, yet more difficult.
African Journalism Unit Focuses on Environmental Threats
By Yolaan Begbie | October 14, 2013
Endemic to sub-Saharan Africa, the oxpecker bird clings on to large mammals, feeding off the ticks, flies and other pests found on their hosts hide.“We aim to do the same with the world body,” says oxpeckers.org founder Fiona Mcleod, making one of the 150 panel presentations at the Global Investigative Journalists Conference (GIJC2013) this week in Rio de Janeiro. In this instance, however, the parasites she plans to identify and destroy are criminal poachers, such as those destroying African rhinos.
The 2015 Global Conference Investigative Journalism Conference is in Lillehammer, Norway, on October 8-11. You can find everything you need — registration, program details, tips on transportation and lodging — on our new conference site: http://gijc2015.org We will have hundreds of the world’s best investigative reporters, data journalists, and experts in security and FOI there. […]
Thanks to everyone for an extraordinary conference. The eighth Global Investigative Journalism Conference brought in a record 1350 people from 93 countries. We had a great time, playing host to a phenomenal mix of reporters, editors and producers, data and security experts, hackers, professors and students, and staff from NGOs and nonprofits. For ongoing […]
Arab Muckrakers Flock To Rio
Journalists from across the Middle East and North Africa flocked to Rio for the Global Investigative Journalism Conference (#GIJC13), joining more than than 1,300 colleagues from 90 countries. Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ) brought its largest-ever delegation to the global conference with 16 fellows and members speaking and networking on covering conflict, terrorism, fraud, and more.
Follow @gijn Subscribe to Our Newsletter Join the GIJN Listserv Subscribe via RSS
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Middleburg: A Visit to Boxwood Estate Winery
by Jai Williams | PUBLISHED Nov 30, 2015 | Travel, Wine | 2 MIN READ
Middleburg with its rolling hills and equestrian training centers offers more than five-star hotels, although we are partial to all three. With at least a dozen wineries in the surrounding county, each is one of the over 260 wineries and vineyards present around the...
Our Fave Crafty Bastards Picks
by Jai Williams | UPDATED Jan 6, 2019 | PUBLISHED Sep 25, 2015 | Autumn | 2 MIN READ
Oh, how we love Crafty Bastards and all of its bastardized glory. With two days of walking around Union Market and checking out over 140+ vendors you may miss some folks, but we’ve compiled a list of our favorite five. And don’t worry, if you happen to miss them or...
Where to Eat in Georgetown, Shaw and H Street
by Jai Williams | PUBLISHED Sep 1, 2015 | Restaurants/Food | 3 MIN READ
The Nation’s Capital, a place where monuments, history, and politics merge together to create one of the most unique cities in the world. Over the last five years Washington D.C. has changed drastically. With a taste for locally grown produce and skillfully crafted...
SKWR Kabobline Opens in McPherson Square
by Jai Williams | PUBLISHED Sep 1, 2015 | Archived | 2 MIN READ
It isn’t a new phenomenon. Kabobs (kebabs) have been a part of D.C.’s food scene for over 20 years, but many locations were across the bridge in Northern Virginia. Within the last few years, kabobs have been clumped together into one melting pot without any geographic...
Restaurant Week Spotlight: Daikaya Izakaya
by Jai Williams | PUBLISHED Aug 14, 2015 | Archived | < 1 MIN READ
Back in 2013, three masterminds came together to deliver one of the first ramen shops in D.C. and since then Washingtonians have lost their minds standing in line for hours to taste the craftsmanship of Daikaya’s superbly made noodles. Yet Daikaya is more than ramen...
Blackwall Hitch Opens in Alexandria
by Jai Williams | PUBLISHED Jul 16, 2015 | Archived | 2 MIN READ
Along the Potomac River, Blackwall Hitch perches just beyond reach from the water’s edge. Once a busy trading port, Alexandria’s waterfront was the docking location of those traveling from the historic Blackwall seaport in London where most of the 17th century...
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The Athlete Student: Sophomore Year By: Eugene D. Holloman | Book Review (ARC)
*note: cover image may no be visible to all depending on device.
The Athlete Student: Sophomore Year
Author: Eugene D. Holloman
Genre:Sports, Student-life, Fiction, Quick Reads
Rating: It was ok
Publisher: Holloman House Publishing
Release Date: TBD
Goodreads | Amazon |
After a rocky freshman year that included outstanding production on the field, unsatisfactory performances in the classroom, an unforgettable breakup and a suspension from the biggest game in school history – Michael “Tootie” Mayberry is ready to demonstrate growth and maturity in his upcoming college sophomore year.
However, while Tootie aims to improve upon a stellar season that made him a freshman All-American. He first has to rebuild a reputation that took massive blows stemming from a cheating scandal that landed him on academic probation. With his future of becoming a professional athlete hanging in the balance, how will Tootie respond to the increasing demands of being a student-athlete?
BOOK THOUGHTS:
Much like my impression of book one in this series, Athlete Student: Freshman Year two years ago, this book was a quick and easy read. And after going over my notes for book one, it left the lingering idea in my mind that these books are meant for a much younger audience than I initially remember.
Once that seed was planted it altered my take on the book and the series. With a more critical eye than before, as I tend to think of young readers like my cousin, turning the pages of this book. The thing that strikes me the most about the author’s concept is the level of insight and approach to tell a story like Tootie’s that I am sure mirrors many who grew up in similar situations like his and who live, breathe and sleep all things football just to fall victim to pressure or into a mistake that puts their (his) entire sports career, future, and life in jeopardy.
Then, having to come back to face those obstacles all over again, but have less faith in yourself or from others than they (he) did before. There are a lot of things that make me admire Tootie’s character in that sense, with his self-centered tendencies and impulsive behavior. With the book being as short as it is and not set up by establishing all the characters as book one did, it leaves me little room to discuss much without revealing key elements of the plot.
LORD OF THE SENSES (STORIES) BY: VIKRAM KOLMANNSKOG |BOOK REVIEW
Lord of the Senses (Stories)
By: Vikram Kolmannskog
Genre/Themes:LGBTQ/Gay, Fiction, Drama, Short Stories, Religion, Multi-Culture, Anti-Classism (18+)
Publisher: TeamAngelica
TeamAngelica | Amazon | AmazonUK
Synopsis: A groundbreaking collection of frank, provocative short stories from gay Indian-Norwegian Vikram Kolmannskog, published to coincide with the anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality in India.
From the forest-fringed suburbs of Oslo to the bustling heart of Bombay; from the timeless banks of the Ganges to the never-closing nightclubs of Berlin, Lord of the Senses captures a headily contemporary sense of what it is to be queer, cosmopolitan, spiritual and sexual.
~~With a combination of an extended month of unanticipated work, and several hiccups at the beginning of the school year for my cousin—this post is well overdue.~~
In terms of context and themes, Lord of the Senses does not hold any punches. The stories are straightforward, in your face, honest, revealing, open and unapologetic with a lot of the erotic material the stories cover. That’s not to say that the book needs to be apologetic or reined in. Moreover, since the stories build on this sense of caution, due to shameful (and dangerous) social judgment, the secretive means of being affectionate with their partners and the openness of these stories seem to counteract those barriers.
Trying to condense all of the themes and genres we can pick up in this book was a challenge as I did not want to spiral down any mythological or fantasy rabbit-holes, but Shredded Dates and Raven Leela were two of the main contenders for my notes on that.
And I love the simplistic bittersweetness we get from the shorts Raja, Nanima and Roger Toilet, Growing Up Queer, The Sunset Point, and The Sacred Heart. Moments and pieces from each of those just seemed to linger with me the longest as I moved on to the next story.
Lord of the Senses should not be viewed as a book entirely made up of short stories that have physically erotic scenes—even though it does—but rather, a collection of stories intent on invoking a connection of each character to the reader. Hence, another aspect I liked in this book was the different levels of (sometimes anonymous) intimacy; emotionally, physically, and spiritually.
The writer takes us on these brief journeys with each character/tale conveying these strong, open, and liberatingly potent perspectives. Some of which came directly from the deeply obscured minds of the characters, that as an outsider, I felt like I had been intruding on their private thoughts.
While organizing my thoughts to mention how the micro-detailed descriptions interlaced with the intricate sensory markers, and scenery specifics of these stories help to transport your mind to some of these places—I ended up reading this great interview with Vikram.
He brings up points on how some of the pieces in Lord of the Senses have developed from drafts over the years and through the course of the movement for equal rights for the LGBTQ community in India. In the interview, Vikram also speaks about his desire to not only have his stories tether connections to the LGBTQ community within India. But also, to straight individuals outside of the community with ties to India as a means of highlighting, as I understood it, just how similar we all are at our core.
When Women Ruled The World by: Kara Cooney | Review
When Women Ruled The World
By: Kara Cooney
Genre: History, Politics, Egypt, Non-fiction
Publisher: National Geographic Society
National Geographic | Amazon | B&N |
Synopsis: This riveting narrative explores the lives of six remarkable female pharaohs, from Hatshepsut to Cleopatra–women who ruled with real power–and shines a piercing light on our own perceptions of women in power today. Female rulers are a rare phenomenon–but thousands of years ago in ancient Egypt, women reigned supreme. Regularly, repeatedly, and with impunity, queens like Hatshepsut, Nefertiti, and Cleopatra controlled the totalitarian state as power-brokers and rulers. But throughout human history, women in positions of power were more often used as political pawns in a male-dominated society. What was so special about ancient Egypt that provided women this kind of access to the highest political office? What was it about these women that allowed them to transcend patriarchal obstacles? What did Egypt gain from its liberal reliance on female leadership, and could today’s world learn from its example?
Celebrated Egyptologist Kara Cooney delivers a fascinating tale of female power, exploring the reasons why it has seldom been allowed through the ages, and why we should care.
I really wanted to dive into this book and become immersed within its promise of breaking down the ancient, political power and stance for six of Egypt’s female Pharaohs, while comparing and contrasting it to the United States’ current political landscape from the female opposition.
However, the further I got into the book, the more I felt a deviation from the promised synopsis and expectations I had for the context. As I did not think it would resonate with any forward-thinking, politically-conscious feminists interested in similarities or uniquely explicit details of these female pharaohs’ reign (as I was) that could have been seen as awe-inspiring.
On top of feeling left out of the conversation as a queer, WOC in the perspective and points made for the “female” opposition. I felt dishearten and saddened by all the negativeness toward women with the general stance of this book. I just could not bring myself to stand behind it and it was really upsetting to be so excited to read this book and to come out on the other side having not liked it.
There were a few things that I felt went wrong with the direction and overall tone of this book that each chapter continued to repeat or reword a negative (semi)dated, and de-constructive viewpoint of the female in regards to both the past and the current references of women in power. I say “semi” because there are still difficulties, stereotypes, and biases that women in politics and positions of power have to face in the present. However, I strongly felt a lack of inclusion/mention of several positives that have happened over the years. Continue reading →
How To Wine With Your Boss: & 6 Other Tips To Fast Track Your Career By: Tiffany Yarde| Book Review
How To Wine With Your Boss: & Six Other Tips To Fast Track Your Career
By: Tiffany Yarde
Genre: Advice, Social Mobility, Wine, Career Development, Non-Fiction
Publisher: Prodigy Gold Books
Goodreads | Amazon | B&N|
Fourteen years of working in highly competitive international corporations will teach a person a lot about relationships, politics, and the “natural order” of things. There’s no one way to the top of a respective field but there are tactics that many people employ to build trust and to make sure their hard work doesn’t go unnoticed. “How to Wine With Your Boss” teaches you about positioning, tact, and how to tool your passions.
Wine is Tiffany’s story. For much of her career in accounting, marketing, and human resources, she has used her wine knowledge to connect with people. Inside, she takes readers through the journey of how she built relationships with colleagues who didn’t come from where she came from or necessarily saw the world through her lens. She gives readers an opportunity to build professional development skills while demystifying “wine enthusiasm” and potentially helping readers gain a new curiosity on the subject. People don’t grow in isolation; they grow with other people, so join Tiffany on this wine trip through grape regions, styles, and wine parties. While on the road, she’ll share the bumps she hit, and the resilience she fostered along the way
I loved reading How To Wine With Your Boss; the author covers a ton of helpful and relevant topics from mentors to networking, confidence building, finding a professional and personal balance in life, corporate culture, micro-aggression and of course a number of useful details about wine.
With the few topics I specifically want to draw attention to from this book, I first wanted to say how great I felt every subject covered in this book was–from start to finish. Simply because Yarde offers insightful, helpful, and motivational material with a genuinely sincere and honest tone. Moreover, written in a gender-neutral manner as to not isolate potential readers, making it the perfect book to share with my brothers and all of my friends.
A Book For Everyone:
How To Wine With Your Boss should, in my opinion, go on the ultimate list of books to have/read when you are looking for something that will help you to revamp your career and professional networking approach, self-confidence, self-evaluation or you if just want a light-hearted, crash course on wine–this would be the book for you.
Whether you are an intern or a pretty “seasoned” professional in the career world, it is the kind of book you might find yourself rereading, memorizing or carrying around with you long after reading it (like I did).
On a personal level, How To Wine With Your Boss felt like the perfect book suited to my lifestyle and career as a freelancer but with the next-step-guide, I need to transition into a new career venture. Reading this book also felt like a personal journey that would have been detrimental to my twenty-three-year-old-self trying to find her way a few years ago.
Pat Yourself On The Back, You’ve Earned It:
As Yarde’s steps and proposed accomplishment journal idea definitely felt like a self-journey an eye-opener for me as she discusses how branding or re-branding yourself to put your best career-foot forward is by putting your best self forward by showcasing your gifts, skills, and passions. Which is where the accomplishment journal comes in to play as it allows you to put all of the obstacles or goals you have already conquered in front of you, on to a page, that may have gone unrealized.
And it doesn’t have to be work/career centered accomplishments but personal, little ones–even from daily, weekly and yearly to-do lists–that you put down. When I started to do this, I was amazed by how long the list and my entries became in just a short time. This practice of accomplishment journaling with the physical representation of measuring one’s worth, value and potential will stick with you long after finishing the book.
The Athlete Student: Freshman Year By: Eugene Holloman | Book Review & Scholarship Opportunity!??
Title:The Athlete Student: Freshman Year
Author: Eugene Holloman
Genre: Sports, Student-life, Fiction
Release Date: February 1st 2018
High school senior Michael “Tootie” Mayberry has a dream of becoming a professional football player—but he faces one obstacle, COLLEGE. Over 480,000 student-athletes like Michael “Tootie” Mayberry want to play professionally, but less than 3.5% will. They train hard, planting and watering the mental seed that tells them they will reach the pinnacle of their sport. In the process, they often pick the easiest major available, and after graduation, they pay for it.
HOW DO STUDENT-ATHLETES GET TO THIS POINT?
Join “Tootie” Mayberry as he embarks on his college career, balances the stresses of high-level performances on the field and in the classroom, and fights through other challenges student-athletes face.
My first impression of this book was that it read like a novella because it was not an extremely long story and that it was passable for as an upper-middle school appropriate book for the most part. However, the author was able to touch on a lot of different scenarios as to how life as an athlete in school can be a huge challenge and a bit of a burden.
Such as the pressure to be good, to stand out, to stick to your guns and your passion; on top of the pressure from the media can affect you when aspects of your life start to unravel. With all that being said, I would have liked it if there were better pacing and resting periods in between each issue/obstacle that Tootie faced in this story. The reason for that is because it began to feel like everything was happening all at once the closer I got to the end and it made processing it all (and Tootie’s reactions) a bit difficult.
I think I should also mention that I am NOT a sports person by any means. Which is why I really liked the insight this book gave me about the high school to college football experience; from picking the perfect school or what might feel like the perfect school possibly feels like for athletes. As well as just how much they are pushed, both physically and mentally, in school with having such a rigorous schedule separate from the academic side of college.
Just from my personal experience, I knew and felt the pressure of the projects, test, papers, and studying. So, this book was really an eye-opener. It was also great to see the way Tootie’s s character instantly knew what college was right for him based on his personal aspirations for the future contrasted to the different ideas and expectations from nearly everyone else in his life perceived for the future. Tootie seemed to see those options as “safe” and “basic” schools, which I could really respect because he had something to prove, but at the same time, it gives Tootie a tough and maturing life lesson to learn and experience all on his own.
The Fox Hunt by: Mohammed Al Samawi | Book Review
The Fox Hunt
By: Mohammed Al Samawi
Genre: Non-fiction, Memoir, Religion, War, Politics, Non-Western
Publisher: William Marrow
Goodreads| HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
A young man’s moving story of war, friendship, and hope in which he recounts his harrowing escape from a brutal civil war in Yemen with the help of a daring plan engineered on social media by a small group of interfaith activists in the West.
Born in the Old City of Sana’a, Yemen, to a pair of middle-class doctors, Mohammed Al Samawi was a devout Muslim raised to think of Christians and Jews as his enemy. But when Mohammed was twenty-three, he secretly received a copy of the Bible, and what he read cast doubt on everything he’d previously believed. After connecting with Jews and Christians on social media, and at various international interfaith conferences, Mohammed became an activist, making it his mission to promote dialogue and cooperation in Yemen.
Then came the death threats: first on Facebook, then through terrifying anonymous phone calls. To protect himself and his family, Mohammed fled to the southern port city of Aden. He had no way of knowing that Aden was about to become the heart of a north-south civil war, and the battleground for a well-funded proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia. As gunfire and grenades exploded throughout the city, Mohammed hid in the bathroom of his apartment and desperately appealed to his contacts on Facebook.
Miraculously, a handful of people he barely knew responded. Over thirteen days, four ordinary young people with zero experience in diplomacy or military exfiltration worked across six technology platforms and ten time zones to save this innocent young man trapped between deadly forces— rebel fighters from the north and Al Qaeda operatives from the south.
The story of an improbable escape as riveting as the best page-turning thrillers, The Fox Hunt reminds us that goodness and decency can triumph in the darkest circumstances.
1,001 Ways to Be Creative: A Little Book of Everyday Inspiration By: Barbara Ann Kipfer | Book Review
April 11, 2018 April 9, 2018 2 Comments
1,001 Ways To Be Creative
By: Barbara Ann Kipfer
Genre: Self-help, Nonfiction, Creativity
Publisher: National Geographic
National Geographic | Amazon
Best-selling author Dr. Barbara Ann Kipfer is back with a new, beautifully illustrated book that will help you break free from to-do lists and find time to think and live more creatively. The third entry in Kipfer’s successful 1,001 Ways series, this interactive list book will inspire anyone looking to unleash their creative genius.
In today’s overscheduled world, there is often little room for creativity in our daily lives. 1,001 Ways to Be Creative shows you how to set your brain free, and will help you find the time and energy to play, dream, imagine, breathe, and explore. This inspirational book of lists offers a treasure trove of ways to bring a little creativity into your life, including ideas for innovative things to do, practical tips, and thought-provoking quotes. Interactive prompts inspire art projects, storytelling, innovative thinking, seeing like an artist, and more. With this energizing book by your side, your next Big Idea could be just around the corner!
Just grazing though this book sparked it’s own independent burst of inspiration. I intended to only pick out 20 creative spurs that caught my eye right away. However, I quickly became so immersed with the passages and ideas that I lost track of how many I marked down to try.
There really isn’t any one way of approaching these ideas based on a person’s creative venture and like the author states in the introduction, you really can just skip around in this book until you find the best ideas that speak to you. For now, here are some of my favorites (with quotes):
#523: The first step to controlling you destiny is to imagine it.
#600: Can you play any song on an instrument? Try to expand your repertoire. — Considering it’s been a while since I picked up my guitar and viola or even touched my keyboard, this one put a few things into perspective. I need to play more.
#596: Use popular culture to inspire your work. —This one jumped out at me because doing this takes me outside of my comfort zone when it comes to how I approached my creative projects, so this would definitely be an interesting one for me.
#557: Choose a creative project with the express purpose of learning something about yourself.
Quote: “They’re only crayons. You didn’t fear them in Kindergarten, why fear them now?” Huge MacLeod
#492: How would you like to contribute creatively to the world during your lifetime?
That’s What She Said: Wise Words From Influential Women By: Kimothy Joy|Book Review
That’s What She Said: Wise Words From Influential Women
By: Kimothy Joy
Genre: Non-fiction, Politics, Equality, Quotes
Publisher: Harper Wave/Harper Collins
An artist and activist committed to the empowerment of women and girls has created a gorgeous illustrated volume, blending watercolor and short biography to showcase the contributions of more than fifty influential female leaders whose words and actions are a passionate call to arms.
Distraught by the results of the 2016 election and the realization that the nation was not ready for its first female president, Kimothy Joy found herself poring over the biographies of brave women throughout history—those who persisted in the face of daunting circumstances—to learn from their experiences.
Turning to art, Joy channeled her feelings to the canvas, bringing these strong women to life in bold watercolor portraits surrounded by inspirational hand-lettered quotes. With each creation, Joy found catharsis and hope. She shared her watercolors with her online community and encouraged everyone to raise their own voices and recharge for the battles ahead.
Now, in this beautiful gift book, Joy has gathered her stunning illustrations and quotes and paired them with surprising, illuminating biographies of her subjects to inspire women of all ages, races, and backgrounds. That’s What She Said honors a powerful and diverse group of over fifty women—from Maya Angelou, Gloria Steinem, and Virginia Woolf to Sojourner Truth, Malala Yousafzai, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg—role models whose words and insights remind us that we must never give up the fight for a more just and equitable society.
Reclaiming the derogatory cultural barb “that’s what she said,” this stunning book celebrates strong female leadership throughout history and empowers current and future generations to find their voices and inspire change in their communities.
Along with the ingenues idea of reclaiming a phrase that has been overtly sexualized, That’s What She Said was such a breath of fresh air. It was hard to put it down and I found myself smiling with each turn of every page. I was happy to see that there were quiet a few women I recognized in this book and even more thrilled that there were others I didn’t know much about at all.
The snapshots of their biographies and the selected quotes were all inspiring and comforting. It made me feel like I was getting to know these wonderful women personally on a level.
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Tag Archives: WWE on FOX Sports Philippines
entertainment, Philippines, Sports, television
Thoughts on WWE Raw 25
January 17, 2018 ralphierce2018 Royal Rumble, 2018 WWE Royal Rumble, ESPN5, Fox Philippines, Royal Rumble, TV5, WrestleMania, WWE, WWE concerns, WWE criticisms, WWE issues, WWE Network, WWE on ESPN5, WWE on FOX Philippines, WWE on FOX Sports Philippines, WWE on TV5, WWE problems, WWE programs, WWE programs in the Philippines, WWE Raw, WWE Raw 25, WWE Raw 25th anniversary, WWE SmackDown, WWE SmackDown ESPN5, WWE SmackDown TV5, WWE YouTube page, YouTube 12 Comments
Next week will mark a celebration for WWE’s flagship program.
On January 22 (January 23 Manila time), WWE Raw will celebrate its 25th anniversary with a special three-hour presentation. The episode will feature special appearances from WWE legends as well as matches that will serve as a final tuneup for the Royal Rumble.
Unfortunately for Filipino wrestling fans, Raw has not been available on television for nearly a year after previous rightsholder FOX Philippines declined to renew its rights with the WWE. Instead, commercial-free 90-minute full episodes of Raw are currently uploaded on its YouTube page for the benefit of the fans.
There is also the WWE Network subscription service where every WWE programming is available on-demand, including live pay-per-views such as the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania. However, new episodes of Raw are only available weeks after its original broadcast.
As for TV5, even though it signed a contract with the WWE, it has so far opted to air only a one-hour condensed edition of SmackDown. It’s a shame since previous rightsholders made good use of a full complement of WWE programs including pay-per-views, and due to TV5’s delicate financial situation, they were unable to complement SmackDown with other programs such as Raw.
Regarding Raw 25 next week, snubbing such a show on Philippine television is an insult to wrestling fans in the country. After all, this is the longest-running and flagship program in the WWE, with so many great moments and legendary personalities to boot.
While WWE Network and an uploaded YouTube episode of Raw may be enough appeasement for fans, airing it on television may still be the better option given its wider availability and uninterrupted access. Even in the U.S., Raw is still aired on television because of reasons stated earlier.
In the end, fans can only hope that one day Raw will return to Philippine television in the near future. This is an important wrestling program that cannot be missed and fans deserve to see more of WWE’s top superstars (more than just the ones shown on SmackDown).
Philippines, Sports, television, United States
FTT Year 2017 in Review: The Hot or Not Stories That Define the Year in Media (Part IV)
December 22, 2017 ralphierce2016-17 PBA season, 2017 NBA Finals, 2017 NBA Playoffs, 2017 PBA Commissioner's Cup, 2017 PBA Governors' Cup, 2017 PBA Philippine Cup, Aaron Atayde, ABS-CBN, ABS-CBN News Channel, ABS-CBN S+A, ABS-CBN S+A HD, ABS-CBN Sports, Amanda Fernandez, Angel Atienza, ASEAN Basketball League, ASEAN Basketball League on ABS-CBN Sports, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, Basketball TV, BeIN Sport, Boom Gonzales, Chot Reyes, CNN Philippines, Cristiano Ronaldo, Dennis Principe, Doris Burke, ESPN, ESPN5, FIFA, FIFA on ABS-CBN Sports, Fox Philippines, FOX Philippines cancel WWE programs, FOX Philippines cancellation of WWE programs, FOX Philippines loses WWE programs, FOX Philippines loss of WWE rights, Fox Sports Philippines, Gametime, Gametime ANC, Jeff Van Gundy, La Liga, La Liga on ABS-CBN Sports, Lia Cruz, Lionel Messi, Magoo Marjon, Mark Jackson, Meg Siozon, Meralco Bolts, Mico Halili, Migs Bustos, Mike Breen, National Basketball Association, National Football League, NBA League Pass, NBA on ABS-CBN, NBA on ABS-CBN Sports, NBA Premium TV, NCAA on ABS-CBN Sports, NCAA Philippines, NFL on ESPN5, One Championship, One Championship on ABS-CBN Sports, PBA at Philippine Arena, PBA on ESPN5, People's Television Network, PFL on PTV-4, Philippine Arena, Philippine Basketball Association, Philippine SuperLiga, Philippines Football League, Premier League, Premier League on ABS-CBN Sports, President Rodrigo Duterte, PTV Sports, PTV-4, S+A, San Miguel Beermen, San Miguel Corporation, SkyCable, Solar Entertainment, Solar Entertainment Philippines, Solar Entertainment-SkyCable controversies, Sports Desk, Sports Desk CNN Philippines, SportsCenter Philippines, SportsCenter Philippines ESPN5, TJ Manotoc, Triple CH, TV5, TV5 Choose Courage, TV5 Choose Courage station ID, U.S. NCAA college basketball, U.S. NCAA college basketball on ESPN5, U.S. NCAA men's basketball, U.S. NCAA men's basketball on ESPN5, UAAP on ABS-CBN, UAAP on ABS-CBN Sports, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Champions League on ABS-CBN Sports, University Athletic Association of the Philippines, WWE, WWE Network, WWE on ESPN5, WWE on FOX Philippines, WWE on FOX Sports Philippines, WWE on TV5, WWE Raw, WWE SmackDown, YouTube 6 Comments
Another year is about to end. But before the calendar flips to 2018, here is a look back at the year that was in television and radio. This article looks back at some of the Hot or Not moments that define the Philippine media this year.
If you missed out on Part I, Part II and Part III of this series, click on the highlighted link for more information.
Here is Part IV of the four-part series. These stories are arranged in no particular order.
HOT: PBA at Philippine Arena
The final three games of the 2017 PBA Governors’ Cup Finals were held at the Philippine Arena. Not surprisingly, the venue was packed to the rafters, thanks in large part to the presence of crowd favorite and defending champion Barangay Ginebra San Miguel.
Ginebra went on to defeat the Meralco Bolts in seven games, with Game 7 becoming the highest-attended PBA game ever with over 54,000 spectators. The victory also gave San Miguel Corporation a perfect 3-for-3 in terms of championships in the 2016-17 PBA season, with the San Miguel Beermen having conquered both the Philippine and Commissioner’s Cup as well.
NOT: ESPN5
TV5 started 2017 by defiantly telling viewers to ‘choose courage’ in their station ID. By the end of the year, however, courage turned to cowardice as Chot Reyes gradually turned TV5 into a sports-oriented network and stripped whatever’s left of the station’s content.
The final straw came in October when TV5 signed a deal with ESPN to rename its sports division into ESPN5. Since then, the collaboration purchased the broadcast rights to the National Football League and U.S. NCAA college basketball to go along with local sports such as the PBA and the Philippine SuperLiga.
HOT: International Football on S+A
Already with the rights to the NBA, UAAP, NCAA, FIFA football, ABL and ONE Championship among other sports, ABS-CBN Sports acquired another big fish late in the year thanks to a collaboration with beIN Sport and Triple CH. The deal brought in the Premier League, La Liga and the UEFA Champions League to S+A.
The acquisition is, in many ways, beneficial to Filipino football fans who are craving to watch some of the world’s top footballers like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for free. However, with football having one of the most expensive broadcast rights in the world, it remains to be seen if ABS-CBN Sports’ risk will become a reward.
NOT: PFL on PTV-4
Suffice to say, the inaugural season of the Philippines Football League did not work out on the television side. The league faced plenty of problems with coveror PTV-4, namely weather postponements and the unexpected live broadcasts of President Rodrigo Duterte’s speeches.
By August the PFL suddenly disappeared from television as it became fed up with PTV-4’s presidential priorities. With the first season already complete, perhaps the time is now to find a new broadcast partner for next season.
HOT: NBA on ABS-CBN
2017 was a surprisingly productive year for ABS-CBN’s NBA coverage. Beginning with the 2017 playoffs, S+A aired NBA games every day up until the finals, with a few dates reserved for doubleheaders.
Once the finals began, ABS-CBN Sports employed a simulcast on both Channel 2 and S+A. The former featured commentary from Boom Gonzales and TJ Manotoc live from the U.S. while the latter used the feed featuring ESPN announcers Mike Breen, Mark Jackson, Jeff Van Gundy and Doris Burke.
ABS-CBN also made NBA games available on S+A’s HD platform, which was previously separate and distinct from its SD counterpart. However, ABS-CBN’s surprise increase in NBA game coverage was just a reprieve for SkyCable subscribers, no thanks in part to a brewing controversy.
NOT: Solar Entertainment/SkyCable Controversy
It was deja vu all over again as Solar Entertainment pulled out its cable channels from SkyCable amid furor over NBA broadcast rights. The network claimed that ABS-CBN owed them millions of pesos for the rights to carry Basketball TV and NBA Premium TV.
The conflict remains unresolved as of now due to conflicting statements between the two parties. This left angry NBA fans with no choice but to switch over to other cable and satellite outlets or subscribe to NBA League Pass.
HOT: Sports News Programs on TV
2017 saw two new sports news programs debut on Philippine television. In January, the ABS-CBN News Channel premiered ‘Gametime’ with Migs Bustos at the helm, while in December, ESPN5 brought in ‘SportsCenter Philippines’ with Aaron Atayde, Lia Cruz, Magoo Marjon and Amanda Fernandez as its anchors.
Meanwhile, CNN Philippines’ ‘Sports Desk’ lost one of its pillars as Mico Halili announced his departure from the network amid rumors of a reorganization. Finally, PTV-4 announced that PTV Sports would return as a standalone program after nearly a year’s absence, with Dennis Principe once again at the helm alongside Meg Siozon and Angel Atienza.
NOT: WWE on FOX
Carriage issues also got in the way of WWE programming on FOX Philippines’ family of networks as it announced that they would cease ties with the wresting promotion after a six-year run. This was due to the two parties’ inability to agree on a renewal.
Shortly thereafter, TV5 announced that they would air WWE programs on their networks, but so far, only the condensed edition of SmackDown is currently on their lineup. As for Raw, the commercial-free 90-minute edition was made available on WWE’s YouTube page (for Philippine viewers only) while other programs can be seen via the WWE Network service.
Overall, 2017 was both a challenge and an experience for media in the Philippines. Longstanding issues and pressing concerns were all over the place as each network tried its best to resolve each and every one of them.
Looking ahead to 2018, there are still plenty more challenges to conquer and some new tasks to take. The evolution in media does not stop here and From the Tube will continue to bring in the latest news in the world of broadcasting come next year.
In the meantime, have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Solar Channels Unavailable on SkyCable, Plus FOX Loses WWE Rights to TV5
April 18, 2017 ralphierce2017 NBA Playoffs, ABS-CBN Channel 2, ABS-CBN S+A, ABS-CBN Sports, AksyonTV, Basketball TV, Creative Programs Inc., CT, CT Solar Entertainment, CT Solar Entertainment Philippines, Fox Philippines, FOX Philippines cancel WWE programs, FOX Philippines cancellation of WWE programs, FOX Philippines loses WWE programs, FOX Philippines loss of WWE rights, Fox Sports Philippines, Hyper, Hyper channel, Jack TV, Jack TV Solar Entertainment, Jack TV Solar Entertainment Philippines, Manny Pacquiao, National Basketball Association, NBA, NBA on ABS-CBN, NBA on ABS-CBN Sports, NBA on Basketball TV, NBA Premium TV, S+A, SkyCable, Solar Entertainment, Solar Entertainment-SkyCable concerns, Solar Entertainment-SkyCable controversies, Solar Entertainment-SkyCable criticisms, Solar Entertainment-SkyCable issues, Solar Entertainment-SkyCable problems, Solar Sports, Solar-SkyCable concerns, Solar-SkyCable controversies, Solar-SkyCable criticisms, Solar-SkyCable issues, Solar-SkyCable problems, TV5, WWE, WWE 205 Live, WWE 205 Live FOX Philippines, WWE 205 Live FOX Sports Philippines, WWE Network, WWE NXT, WWE NXT FOX Philippines, WWE on FOX Philippines, WWE on FOX Sports Philippines, WWE on Sports5, WWE on TV5, WWE pay-per-views, WWE pay-per-views on FOX Philippines, WWE Raw, WWE Raw FOX Philippines, WWE Raw FOX Sports Philippines, WWE SmackDown, WWE SmackDown FOX Philippines, WWE SmackDown FOX Sports Philippines 18 Comments
Bad news for NBA and WWE fans in the Philippines.
Since last week, Solar Entertainment channels Basketball TV, NBA Premium TV, Jack TV, Solar Sports and CT were unavailable on SkyCable. The message posted by the company is as follows:
SKY regrets to inform its valuable subscribers that Solar channels, namely NBA Premium, BTV, Jack TV, Solar Sports, and CT are temporarily not available. It is unfortunate that it has affected the airing of the NBA playoffs.
Solar has been our valued partner for many years. We are working with them for a resolution, but we cannot comment on the details of our discussions.
NBA fans, however, can continue to watch the playoff games beginning this Sunday, April 16, all through the finals via ABS-CBN Sports + Action and Fox Sports channel. They can check the updated schedules posted here.
The concerns of our subscribers and viewers are of utmost importance to us. Again, we offer our sincere apologies for the inconvenience.
The loss of Solar channels hit NBA fans hard, as Basketball TV and NBA Premium TV air a majority of the games daily per season. As a result, the NBA decided to appease the demands of viewers by assigning two games per day on ABS-CBN’s S+A channel, plus a select amount on Fox Sports Philippines and ABS-CBN Channel 2 while the situation is being fixed.
This is not the first time that SkyCable viewers vented their anger over the company’s issues with Solar Entertainment. In 2008, SkyCable pulled out Basketball TV, Jack TV and Solar Sports in favor of Creative Programs’ own channels due to an alleged television contract issue with Manny Pacquiao, but the channels were later reinstated.
Moving over to the world of sports-entertainment, FOX Philippines stunned Filipino wrestling fans by announcing that they will no longer carry WWE programs on the network after an attempt to negotiate a renewal failed to materialize. The statement can be seen below.
FOX had been a valued partner of the WWE since 2011, airing not only pay-per-views, 205 Live, NXT, Raw and SmackDown, but also complementary programs. However, the network drew the ire of some wrestling fans when it failed to air a select number of pay-per-views following the brand extension last July.
In a related development, TV5 announced that they have agreed to air WWE programs beginning April 30. No further details were made, but the network is expected to use Channel 5, AksyonTV and HYPER as vehicles to broadcast WWE events, both live and recap.
It remains to be seen if TV5 will do the same things that FOX used to do, but regardless, wrestling fans should rejoice this decision. Good luck.
entertainment, Philippines, Sports, television, United States
FOX Philippines Adds More WWE Programs to Already Loaded Lineup
December 13, 2016 ralphierceFox Philippines, FOX Philippines concerns, FOX Philippines criticisms, FOX Philippines issues, FOX Philippines problems, Fox Sports Philippines, The Walking Dead, The Walking Dead FOX Philippines, WWE, WWE 205 Live, WWE 205 Live FOX Philippines, WWE 205 Live FOX Sports Philippines, WWE Afterburn, WWE Afterburn FOX Philippines, WWE Afterburn FOX Sports Philippines, WWE Bottom Line, WWE Bottom Line FOX Philippines, WWE Bottom Line FOX Sports Philippines, WWE Experience, WWE Experience FOX Philippines, WWE Experience FOX Sports Philippines, WWE in the Philippines, WWE Main Event, WWE NXT, WWE NXT FOX Philippines WWE Main Event FOX Philippines, WWE on FOX Philippines, WWE on FOX Sports Philippines, WWE pay-per-views, WWE pay-per-views on FOX Philippines, WWE programs, WWE programs in the Philippines, WWE Raw, WWE Raw brand, WWE Raw FOX Philippines, WWE Raw FOX Sports Philippines, WWE Roadblock, WWE Roadblock 2016, WWE Roadblock 2016 FOX Philippines, WWE Roadblock FOX Philippines, WWE SmackDown, WWE SmackDown brand, WWE SmackDown FOX Philippines, WWE SmackDown FOX Sports Philippines, WWE SmackDown Live, WWE SmackDown Live FOX Philippines, WWE SmackDown Live FOX Sports Philippines, WWE Superstars, WWE Superstars FOX Sports Philippines, WWE This Week, WWE This Week FOX Philippines, WWE This Week FOX Sports Philippines, WWE TLC, WWE TLC 2016, WWE TLC 2016 FOX Philippines, WWE TLC FOX Philippines, WWE Vintage, WWE Vintage FOX Philippines 10 Comments
FOX Philippines continues to strengthen its WWE programming with recap shows Bottom Line, Afterburn, This Week and Experience. (Logo courtesy of WWE)
It is clear that FOX Philippines is drastically changing its lineup for the benefit of wrestling fans.
Since the beginning of November, new episodes of WWE Raw and SmackDown Live are being aired on FOX Philippines within 12 hours of original American broadcast (FOX Sports Philippines continues to air both shows live). Now, more WWE programming awaits viewers of the said channel.
Starting the week of December 5, recap shows WWE Bottom Line, WWE This Week, WWE Afterburn and WWE Experience are placed on FOX Philippines’ regular lineup. They join the aforementioned Raw and SmackDown Live, as well as WWE Vintage, WWE NXT and WWE Main Event, in FOX’s menu.
Previously, Bottom Line, This Week, Afterburn and Experience were exclusive only to FOX Sports Philippines, who prior to nabbing the live broadcasts of Raw and SmackDown Live, were only content to air WWE recap shows to satisfy its commitments. Nowadays, the option of viewing WWE programs is more flexible than ever thanks to the two networks.
Despite that, however, there is still a question of whether or not FOX Philippines will recommit themselves to airing live pay-per-views. For now, though, that is out of the question, considering that ‘The Walking Dead’, by far the network’s most popular property, airs new episodes that could come in conflict with WWE pay-per-views.
Speaking of pay-per-views, FOX Philippines did air a SmackDown Live-exclusive pay-per-view when it aired WWE TLC last November 27. Still, it remains to be seen if they will indeed continue with this newfound commitment, now that the upcoming Raw-exclusive pay-per-view WWE Roadblock is slated for next week.
In other news, the replacement show for WWE Superstars, WWE 205 Live, is now being aired on FOX Sports Philippines. With that being said, FOX Philippines could find a way to accommodate this new program sooner or later, but for the time being, the program is exclusive only to FOX Sports Philippines.
Overall, FOX Philippines’ addition of more WWE programs is a good decision considering the renewed popularity of professional wrestling in the country. However, one week’s test is not enough so it’s up to them to keep this momentum going.
WWE Raw and SmackDown Airs Live Next Week, But FOX’s Problems Resurface
November 2, 2016 ralphierceAmerican Dad, American Dad FOX Philippines, Fox Philippines, FOX Philippines concerns, FOX Philippines criticisms, FOX Philippines issues, FOX Philippines problems, Fox Sports Philippines, The Simpsons, The Simpsons FOX Philippines, The Walking Dead, The Walking Dead FOX Philippines, WWE, WWE brand extension, WWE brand extension 2016, WWE Hell in a Cell, WWE Hell in a Cell 2016, WWE Hell in a Cell 2016 FOX Philippines, WWE Hell in a Cell FOX Philippines, WWE in the Philippines, WWE Live Manila, WWE on FOX Philippines, WWE on FOX Sports Philippines, WWE pay-per-views, WWE pay-per-views on FOX Philippines, WWE programs, WWE programs in the Philippines, WWE Raw, WWE Raw brand, WWE Raw FOX Philippines, WWE Raw FOX Sports Philippines, WWE SmackDown, WWE SmackDown brand, WWE SmackDown FOX Philippines, WWE SmackDown FOX Sports Philippines, WWE SmackDown Live, WWE SmackDown Live FOX Philippines, WWE SmackDown Live FOX Sports Philippines Leave a comment
WWE Raw and SmackDown will air live starting next week on FOX Sports Philippines, with a same-day replay on FOX Philippines. (Photo credit: WWE)
WWE fans in the Philippines are in for a big surprise.
Starting next Tuesday and Wednesday respectively, new episodes of WWE Raw and WWE SmackDown will now air live at 8:00 a.m. on FOX Sports Philippines. Same-day replays will air within 12 hours of original broadcast on FOX Philippines.
With viewers becoming more dependent on WWE’s social media accounts to follow the action as it happens, it was only imperative for FOX to make this drastic measure. After all, the success of WWE Live in Manila last September only furthered wrestling fans’ desire to watch WWE programming on a regular basis.
Although the announcement was enthusiastically welcomed by WWE fans in the country, there are still some issues to address. Last Monday morning in Manila, many viewers awaited the live telecast of the Raw-exclusive Hell in a Cell pay-per-view on FOX Philippines, only to be greeted by replays of ‘The Simpsons’ and ‘American Dad’.
The erratic WWE pay-per-view scheduling issue on FOX Philippines has been well-documented since it fully acquired the company’s broadcast rights in 2014. There were times when WWE pay-per-views were aired on the channel live, and there were other occasions when it first aired within 12-13 hours of original broadcast.
And just recently, FOX began to focus more on the flagship Raw brand once the brand extension came into play. As a result, SmackDown-branded pay-per-views were not aired, and to make matters worse, SmackDown itself was aired on a one-week delay.
While FOX Philippines should be excused for not airing Hell in a Cell live (thank you ‘The Walking Dead’), their indecision is an inexcusable one. Come on, FOX Sports Philippines also airs WWE programming (mostly recap shows), so why not transfer those live pay-per-views to the said channel.
As for the delay and subsequent snubbing of SmackDown and its related programs, it is unfair to do such a thing. Both Raw and SmackDown are equally important and must-watch shows, and deemphasizing either one of them is insulting to any wrestling fan.
As both FOX networks move on to upcoming pay-per-views and episodes of Raw and SmackDown, one thing is certain: no one wants to be left behind. For wrestling fans, this is a promise that FOX will have to fulfill in the weeks ahead.
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Make Your School Open House A Hit
By funservicesAdmin | September 23, 2019 | 0
What do you think of when you are invited to an open house independent of school, such as for a party or a business? Food? Speaker? Flexibility in schedule? Entertainment? Decorations? Socializing? Displays? Sales? A school open house is to showcase itself just as a business would. The goal of a school open house is…
Ready Set School! Ways to Reduce Back to School Anxiety
By funservicesAdmin | August 29, 2019 | 0
Can you believe summer is over and the kids are back in school?! The first month can be filled with anxiety by both the kids and the parents. The kids can be anxious about having a new teacher, not having friends in their class, whether or not they are ready for the next grade, etc.…
Crunch Time – How to Stay Organized While Wrapping Up the School Year
By funservicesAdmin | May 22, 2019 | 0
Can you believe the end of school is here?! If you are like most parents around this time, you are running around frantically trying to juggle final class projects, helping kids study for their final exams, volunteering at class parties, and finishing up with parent organization responsibilities. Below are 5 tips to keep you organized…
Fun Services Joins Forces with Marine Toys for Tots
By funservicesAdmin | March 21, 2019 | 0
Fun Services is a proud Corporate Sponsor with Marine Toys for Totsproviding donated gifts for the Toys for Tots Program. When a child purchases a gift “Tagged as Toys for Tots” at a Holiday Gift Shop or Santa’s Secret Shop program, Fun Services will donate a gift of equal value. Fun Services nationally donated $100,000…
By funservicesAdmin | November 20, 2017 | 0
What does it mean to, “Go Green?” “Going green means to pursue knowledge and practices that can lead to more environmentally friendly and ecologically responsible decisions and lifestyles, which can help protect the environment and sustain its natural resources for current and future generations,“ according to the Middleton Thrall Library. Fun Services offers ways to…
It’s for the Children
Sometimes we get lost in fulfilling requests, demands, and details and forget or don’t take the time to reflect on the purpose of a task or project. This is true for schools running Santa’s Secret Shop. Everyone has a different purpose, some run the program as a service to students, some as a fundraiser for…
Comparing Apples to Apples / Sample Box to Sample Box
By funservicesAdmin | October 27, 2017 | 0
Tradeshows for Parent Teacher Organizations Can Be Overwhelming If you have been to a trade show for PTA or PTO, it could be slightly overwhelming with all the different options for fundraisers. The number of options has increased drastically over the years. You can choose from selling food, goods, spiritwear, discounted tickets, organizing fun runs/jogathons,…
No Need for a Marketing Budget to Promote the Holiday Gift Shop
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5 Ways to Help Fill Parent Teacher Organization Committee Positions
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Filling committee positions for parent/teacher groups is always a challenge as members graduate, complete their terms or take on other responsibilities. The key to recruiting is increasing parent involvement as a whole. The more parents are involved, the more parents you have to assess skills, abilities, and availability and the more you can encourage them…
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About GRTC
GRTC Hall of Fame
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Freezeroo Series
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Matt St.James 5k Run/Walk
by Doug Jones | Jun 12, 2019 | 0 comments
August 24, 2019 @ 10:00 am – 11:00 am
2301 Westside Drive
$15 pre-reg
Alison & Bob St.James
HISTORY Matt St. James is a 2003 Churchville-Chili High School graduate. He graduated from Roberts Wesleyan College in 2007 with a degree in Social Work. As an undergraduate, Matthew was a top runner on the Cross Country and Track teams for four years. He was out running every day, giving it his all, running for the glory of God. On March 14, 2007, Matt was running at practice on the outdoor track when he had cardiac arrest with a brain injury as a result. After spending over 3 years at Monroe Community Hospital, he is now living at home. Matt has come a long way since that day. God is doing a mighty work in Matt.
LOCATION: Roberts Wesleyan College, 2301 Westside Drive Rochester, NY 14624
5K COURSE INFO: On the Roberts Wesleyan College trails at 10 a.m. Walkers will start at 10 a.m. as well. Please line up behind runners.Course Map: athletics.roberts.edu/RaceInfo
KIDS RUN: 1K run – Beginning at the completion of the 5k – Free (tshirt not included, but can be purchased)
5K ENTRY FEE: $15 per person pre-registration (through August 10); $20 per person August 11 through day of race
AWARDS: There will be awards for the 5K!
Donations will be going to Lauri Irwin who has been battling brain cancer.
Please come out and help us support this family.
Participants that pre-register for the 5K/walk will be guaranteed a free T-shirt. Those who sign up after pre-registration will receive a T-shirt as long as available. T-shirts will also be sold for $15.
* Email astjames@frontiernet.net if you wish to pre-register but not online
*Please make all checks payable to Alison St.James or Matthews Hope.
Copyright © GRTC
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Last Movie You've Seen
By papanesta, February 11, 2009 in Movies & TV
Please post more than just the title.
We don't need a War and Peace essay on the film, but at least give a couple of sentences of good and bad points and even throw in a rating if you want to, as long as you give some rationale.
Message added by Crokey
GTA-Biker 5,598
I watched Jurassic Park again two days ago (I lost count on how many times I watched that movie,probably at least 10 times),I can't wait to see Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom.Last night I watched The Avengers again,I can't wait to see Infinity War too.Today I watched Cars 3.
Edited February 26, 2018 by GTA-Biker
JaberDoe 470
Rolly-Polly-Olly
Paleto Bay Mayor's Office
Man, I envy you, lol.
You seem excited for so many movies.
Jurassic Park was amazing!
I agree,Jurassic Park is my favorite movie since I was a kid.
As for the new movies that are coming out this year,I'm actually only planning to see Jurassic World 2, Avengers 3 and maybe that new Star Wars movie about Han Solo in the theater.As for any others I'd like to see,I'll wait until they come to a local video store (there's still one of them in my neighborhood) and then I'll rent them.
Arrows to Athens 17,547
28 stab wounds
The end credits for JP3 always gives me chills:
Femme Fatale 10,203
prettier n nastier
Victim of The Pit™
The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story. A documentary about Robert and Richard Sherman, who wrote many great songs for musical films. Nowadays they're best known for It's a Small World, which is used on the Disney attraction of the same name. It's a pretty interesting look at a relationship between two brothers who are polar opposites, and yet they find a common place to create memorable songs.
Watched Charade (1963) today.
It was okay. Not the best comedy, and a bit too much "60s" in my opinion, to the point of being so ridiculous it's not even funny.
I'd say a 6.5/10 - not a must-watch IMO.
I watched Thor Ragnarok two days ago.It's awesome,I especially like the scenes where Led Zeppelin is playing in the background (the intro battle and the final battle scenes),there's lots of funny moments too.
Yesterday I watched the 2008 Hulk,and Jurassic Park was on TV again last night (not on the same channel as two weeks ago),so I watched it again.
My personal favorite is the original Jurassic Park theme song:
Every time I hear it,it brings a smile on my face.I have so much nostalgia for that movie.
I watched A Ghost Story (2017)
I adore the concept, and the idea of a film from a ghost's perspective is wonderful.
However, the execution was utterly boring and, apparently, deliberately confusing?
I'd give it a 6.5/10 - only recommended if you like artsy, slow type movies.
The piano melodies are just so euphoric.
Edited March 4, 2018 by Arrows to Athens
Skeever 1,728
Men Prefer Debt-Free Virgins Without Tattoos
It's been nearly a decade since I've been to a movie theater, so I decided to go see Death Wish (2018) today... save for a few instances of "fudd lore" that got on my nerves (e.g. one of the detectives claiming that most criminals use AR-15s), it was a pretty good film.
It wasn't nearly as good as the original from 1974 in my opinion, but that was to be expected.
Brobinski 464
PYPU
Leone Family Mafia
I remember, years ago now, discussing on here how I was worried but cautiously optimistic about a Blade Runner sequel that had just been announced. Denis Villenueve, my favourite director at the time, was set to helm it. Ryan Gosling, the day's leading man, was set to star. But still, I was worried.
Blade Runner didn't need a sequel.
Nobody wanted a sequel.
It took so long to get the original right. We didn't have that time again.
I trusted these people but it didn't mean they were good enough.
Then, a week or two back, I sat down. I was dreading it.
Then we got to this scene:
And it was like poetry.
It genuinely filled me with emotion seeing something that I'd loved for so long shown the respect it deserved. It wasn't a rehash like Star Wars (TFA), it wasn't a reboot like Jurassic World. It felt like the team not only had wanted to make a film that explores the themes of the first movie, but also show the appreciation by continuing further down the path it had started on and expand upon the themes.
It's just brilliant. I'm not saying it's better than the first because it's way too soon to even consider that sort of comparison.
It is, however, just plain f*cking brilliant.
ṼirulenⱦEqừinox 1,803
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
My Friend Dahmer based on a true story and written by an actual high school friend of Dahmer it shows what he was like in High School it doesn't show any of his actual kills or anything more or less an biopic about his high school days but still very intresting to say the least though
The Babysitter, it's a pretty entertaining horror comedy. I hope the kid who plays the lead doesn't f*ck up like most child actors do, he has a lot of potential imo.
Watched Stalker (1979)
It's directed by the famous "poetic cinema" meme guy and it's amazing.
So engrossing. So surreal. So heavy. Also very long! Kinda gets boring at times.
Still highly recommended.
Watched 3 Idiots (2009) last night.
Haven't seen an Indian film in ages. Mostly because the ones I saw were horrid.
But this one was on the IMDb Top 250, so I thought why not.
I honestly liked it. Still very lame and cheesy, with some immature jokes and melodrama inside.
Then again, felt genuine, looked beautiful and I liked the story and some of the songs.
I watched The Lost World Jurassic Park yesterday (the first movie was on TV last sunday,I guess they'll show them all before the fifth one gets released),and today I watched Dumb And Dumber 2.
You got good taste in movies.
jaljax 864
One of my favorite movies
GTA3Rockstar 2,823
Andolini Mafia Family
Daddy's Home and Monster Trucks
Edited March 13, 2018 by GTA3Rockstar
LiangHuBBB 167
when 2 of my favorite avengers make a serious movie
watched this yesterday, there aint lots of action but this movie was really well made
and worth to watch 9/10 great acting
I watched Warrior (2011) last night.
Great acting and a lot of heart.
But it was very cliche and the music ruined lots of moments. Still a solid film.
I watched Mad Max:Fury Road two days ago.It had some really great action scenes with trucks, cars and bikes crashing and exploding, people shooting each other from vehicles, jumping from one vehicle on another...Also,I loved how some guy is just standing on a truck and jamming on his flamethrower-guitar the whole time,he's really dedicated to playing that guitar lol.
Oh, hell, yeah!
Definition of BOMBASTIC!
Last I watched:
Just last night I saw How to Steal a Million (1966) and really enjoyed it!
A fun 60s' flick with great chemistry and performance by Audrey Hepburn and Peter O'Toole!
8/10 for sure.
Craigsters 2,214
no, I haven't been up all night on my PC
Suburbicon (2017) very strange film by George Clooney and for Matt Damon to star in, was ok to watch, but not worth the payperview price of $5.99 CAD
Villainess (2017)
Great camera work, long take shots, and action scenes.
The Humanity Bureau (2017) what a god awful film, Nicolas Cage's worst film ever, couldn't wait for it to end, don't waste your time watching it
Edited April 6, 2018 by Craigsters
Nic Cage's WORST?
That's saying a lot considering his other films!
darthYENIK 8,580
The Pick-up Artist.
What if Tony Stark was poor and not a engineering genius. Hed be the Pick-Up Artist.
Not a terrible movie, either. Great cast.
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The Top 9 Hostels in Reykjavik
Text by: Michael Chapman
What are the top picks for hostels in Iceland’s capital city, Reykjavík? What are the available options, and how much will one night at an average Reykjavík hostel cost? Read on to find out the top 9 Hostels in Reykjavík.
Explore the largest selection of Accommodation in Iceland
Browse a catalogue of unique and affordable Vacation Rental Cottages in Iceland
Find out Where to Stay in Reykjavík
Discover Where to Stay in Iceland
Read about the top 10 Hotels in Iceland
1 - Hostelling in Iceland's Capital
1.1 - Before Checking In
2 - Hlemmur Square
3 - Kex Hostel
4 - Loft HI Hostel
5 - Galaxy Pod Hostel
6 - Reykjavik HI Hostel
7 - Bus Hostel
8 - Hostel B47
9 - Reykjavik Hostel Village
10 - Reykjavik Downtown HI Hostel
Hostelling in Iceland's Capital
Let's face it. It's been said before. It will be said again.
Iceland is an expensive country...
This can be something of a deterring notion for prospective travellers, individuals, friends and families who are dying to experience the Land of Ice and Fire but feel it enormously exceeds their budget. This is especially true of the younger generation, travellers who sit within the 18-35 range, who tend to boast less in savings but are a touch more flamboyant with their disposable income.
After all, we're talking hotel rooms, we're talking rental cars, we're talking tour activities... and that's before we've even thought about food, drink, souvenirs and flights... there's no getting around it, a trip to Iceland requires denting the wallet.
Still, there are a great number of ways to minimise the cost, keeping both your financial advisor and holiday party satisfied. One of the major ways of slicing down your budget is to utilise one of Reykjavík's numerous hostels.
Of course, hostels do have something of a reputation, especially in places considered to be "party cities". Potential guests worry about a lack of privacy, too much noise, the possibility of theft.... well, let's pack those fears up right now.
The hostels found in Reykjavík are, without exception, safe, professional and catered to providing as much comfort, quality and privacy as possible. They also offer young travellers exactly the amenities required of them during their stay in the country (largely, convenience and low cost) and the opportunity to meet other travellers on the road. Positives such as these cannot be overlooked by the bank-weary road warrior.
See also: Airport Transfer from Keflavík Airport to Reykjavík Hotels
And let's be real for a moment, shall we? Travelling all the way to Reykjavík, Iceland, one should really be considering how much time you will be spending in the room anyway.
With an untapped wealth of natural attractions, be they waterfalls, glaciers or national parks, and activities to fit, there's frankly no other way of looking at accommodation in Iceland as anything but a place to store your gear and rest your head.
Before Checking In
No doubt, upon finishing the article you will have a far wiser idea on which hostel to stay at whilst in Iceland (for that, you can send tips directly to my bank account). However, the protocol for each hostel listed regarding check-in and departure differs somewhat; exact details can be found on their own websites. But, for an overview...
There are a number of important items on the checklist to tick off before arriving at your hostel. For one, you will need to make sure that you have a government-issued photo-ID, as well as proof of your booking, be it a printed voucher or e-ticket.
One should also be aware of the fact that a number of hostels in Iceland, in fact, belong to larger regulatory bodies, namely Hostelling International and National Youth Hostel Association.
See also: Ultimate Guide to Flights to Iceland
These are membership organisations, meaning that upon arrival, you can expect there to be a discrepancy between the rates for paying members and yourself (unless, of course, you are a member), so be wary of being caught out.
Often, membership will be offered when you check in for the first time, and if you decide against this, supplementary charges of approximately 700 ISK will be added to your rate. Those who are under 18 years old will also, more often than not, need to be in possession of a signed letter from their legal guardian permitting them to stay unsupervised.
Hlemmur Square Hostel
Photo from Hlemmur Square website.
Situated right next to the trendy Hlemmur Food Hall inside a beautiful art deco building in the centre of Reykjavík, Hlemmur Square is not only a hostel but also features a hotel, bar and restaurant. So if you're looking for a cheaper dorm room you can find that here, as well as a private hotel room. Convenient if travelling in a group with different budgets/priorities.
This is an upscale hostel where the spacious dorm rooms also offer seating areas with comfortable sofas. The beds are made up with linen, duvets, pillows and bed sheets and no sleeping bags are allowed. There are two kitchens for guests to cook in, as well as access to the ground floor bar where you should make the most of their daily happy hour.
However what makes this one of the best hostels in town is that it's so ready to support the local art scene. You'll often find live music here, or bump into the weekly lindy hop dance nights on weeknights. If you're lucky, you might even find yourself in an opening party for one of Reykjavík's best festivals, including Iceland Airwaves, Reykjavík International Film Festival or Reykjavík Fringe Festival.
For more information on Hlemmur Square Hostel click here.
See also: Top 10 Festivals in Iceland
KEX Hostel
Photo From: Kex Hostel.
KEX is situated in an old biscuit factory, a fact it has readily adopted with its vintage art-decor, live and swinging musical performances and tasteful drinks selection. The word 'Kex', in fact, translates to this lovable snack in Icelandic.
The gastropub, Sæmundur í Sparifötunum, sits directly within the hostel, offering fantastic meal options, genuine service and, most importantly, an elegance and class often overlooked in international hostels.
See also: Happy Hour | Reykjavik's Cheapest Beers
All of this and more has made KEX a beloved local spot, an attraction in its own right, making it, perhaps, one of the more iconic hostels to stay at whilst in Reykjavík city.
Regarding accommodation options, KEX offers a variety, ranging from 16-bed dorm rooms (kr 5,150.00) to 6-bed family rooms (kr 46,200.00). Those looking to stay in a double standard room are looking to pay around kr 26,900.00. A full list of their room prices can be found on the KEX Hostel website.
Loft Hostel
Photo From: Loft.
Loft Hostel is another establishment the locals hold dear to their hearts, in large part thanks to its 4th story balcony, from which one can idle away a summer’s day overlooking the cityscape whilst sipping at a cool lager.
Inside, the hostel boasts a bar and a large seating area adorned with rows upon rows of books, a physical reminder of the establishment's ever-running book drive. This point, in fact, makes Loft one of the nicest places to visit in Iceland, if only for an extended reading/drinking session... two activities I've always felt go hand in hand.
See also: Top 10 Apps for Travelling in Iceland
Loft places emphasis on community, hosting a number of events throughout the month. These can range from swap shops, where guests bring garments they no longer wear in the hopes of trading items with another, to musical performances, yoga and special events.
Loft’s accommodation takes the form of both dormitories (6-bed and 8-bed options), and rooms, (4-bed, double/twin rooms and double deluxe).
Galaxy Pod Hostel
Photo From: Galaxy Pod Hostel.
Capsule hotels were first conceived of in Japan, coming into existence in the year 1979. Since their inception, hotel owners have felt gratified in the number of guests they can now cater to in a relatively small space, whilst the guest themselves continue to enjoy both the novelty and privacy such pods provide.
The Galaxy Pod Hostel is Iceland's very own slice of Japan, providing a unique and futuristic experience when compared to other hostels in the city. For those on a budget, or those who feel aroused at the idea of total containment, the Galaxy Pod Hostel is a choice worthy of consideration.
See also: What To Do & Where To Go In Iceland
Accommodation options are split into 8-person dorm, 4-bed dorm, 6-person female dorm and a 24-person dormitory. Each of these dorms are, of course, comprised of a number of conjoined, but intimate pods.
Among the advantages of staying in your own capsule are: further privacy, air fans, a secure locker, electrical plugs and a reading light, complete with numerous settings. All linen is also provided and the room comes with extra secure lockers for storing your luggage.
Laying back, you'll feel as though you've taken a starring role in Prometheus, and for that, one should be grateful. This sense of fantasy and science fiction is only built upon further by the Stargate Virtual Reality Arcade, a part of the Galaxy Pod Hostel focused on providing quality VR games and services to the people of Reykjavík.
One particularly noteworthy service, save their collection of VR titles, is the ability to plan your trip in Iceland using a fully-immersive Google Earth.
Reykjavik City HI Hostel
Photo From: Reykjavík City Hostel.
Reykjavík City HI Hostel, a sub-branch of Hostelling International, is located close to Reykjavík Campground, which is itself adjacent to the highly popular sports centre and stadium, Laugardalsvöllur. Among others places in the area to visit are Reykjavík's ice rink, gymnasium and botanical gardens.
Roughly twenty-minute walk from the downtown area, this hostel is not as close to some of the other establishments mentioned but is within easy access to the city's bus routes.
Still, one of the hostel's biggest charms is the very fact that it sits a little way out of town, allowing travellers to experience quieter, more residential areas of the city that would otherwise be unexplored.
See also: Where to Stay in Iceland
The hostel has all of the amenities any traveller could ask for, making staying here as easy as an experience can be. There's laundry, a game's room, a self-catering kitchen, a cafe/bar, bicycle rental, lockers and a BBQ, not to mention the variety of room options available.
Photo From: Reykjavik Bus Hostel.
The creatively minded will find Bus Hostel to be one of the most suited establishments in Iceland. The walls are decked out with an eclectic range of artwork, adding a real homely feel to the hostel's lounge-like interior, complimented further with the inclusion of a well-stocked bar and cafe. This is all despite the famed "Ugly Wall", as photographed above.
One can also see the very last McDonald's hamburger sold in Iceland, an event that occurred in 2009 after the corporate food giant pulled out of the country following the banking crisis. You can check up on said burger, wherever you are in the world, by checking here; a constant, captivating recording of the burger's condition...
...and just think, this is the closest most Icelanders come to ever tucking into a Maccy Dees on their home soil. As much a blessing as it is shame... (I, for one, quite like snacking on MD's beef...)
See also: Nightlife in Reykjavík
One major point to be aware of at Bus Hostel; this is 'sleeping bag' accommodation, meaning that duvets are not included in the price. Guests are invited to bring their own or can rent one for 1000 ISK. The same applies to towels, which can be rented from the reception for a one time fee of 500 ISK.
Hostel B47
Photo From: Hostel B47.
Hostel B47 offers a PIN check-in, meaning instant access to your dorm room without the hassles associated with card keys. After an online booking, you will receive confirmation, then hang around until a few days before your holiday, at which point Hostel B47 will send you over your personal PIN number.
See also: Top 10 Things to Do in Reykjavik
This means you won't have to waste your valuable holiday time waiting at the reception but can instead unpack and start moving right away. This is just one of the ways that Hostel B47 has distinguished itself from the competition.
Another positive of the Hostel B47 is its artistically designed hallways, with certain rooms taking on a specific theme, be it as broad as ‘music’ or as tight as ‘The Lord of the Rings’. These creative wall murals certainly do make staying at the hostel B47 an aesthetic pleasure.
Feel free to check out the establishment on Google Maps, as created by the staff at the Hostel B47. Through the above street view, you can actually walk around the hostel, providing the absolute best insight into what's in store before your arrival.
Reykjavik Hostel Village
Photo From: Reykjavik Hostel Village.
Within an easy walking distance of both downtown and BSI, the city's main bus terminal, Reykjavík Hostel Village is a handy economical option for those travellers looking to avoid spending recklessly on transportation.
Reykjavík Hostel Village is a family-run business, sporting 45 rooms over 3 residential homes. This homely business model already sets the hostel apart from others across the city that tend to be owned by large corporations.
Though it should be pointed out, travellers looking to avoid larger chains could also look into the city's AirBnB market, which offers rooms and apartments (and, in one particular case, the back of a van) as temporary accommodation from private sellers. However, AirBnB housing is also driving up the rental price for locals and driving some locals out of the centre of the city.
For more information on Reykjavik Hostel Village click here.
Types of room vary; dorm rooms kitted out with bunk beds can house up to 5 people, while more expensive options, such as a full apartment, are better suited to couples who are worried less about their expenditure.
The rooms designed for 2 people come equipped with a decent dose of amenities, including a bar-sized fridge, electric kettle, tea and coffee, wardrobe and night table.
Reykjavik Downtown HI Hostel
Photo From: Reykjavík Downtown Hostel.
Situated within walking distance of Reykavík's picturesque Old Harbour, Reykjavík Downtown HI Hostel is right to consider it a "boutique" hostel. This fashionable area of town boasts some of the city's finest restaurants and bars and is in close walking distance to such museums as Whales of Iceland and the Saga Museum.
Like it's counterpart at Laugardalur, Reykjavík Downtown HI Hostel is eco-certified, providing free wi-fi and bed linen, as well as accommodation options offering shared or private bathrooms. They do not, however, include towels.
There is a recreational room where travellers can meet up to enjoy socialising over books, films and games, and a computer is free to use in the main lobby. Each day, the hostel serves an organic breakfast, and fairtrade coffee can be grabbed at the bar anytime.
In 2015, the hostel was voted the best Hostelling International branch in the world, thus guests should consider this to be the exemplary standard of the organisation's standards.
Did you enjoy our article, The Top 8 Hostels in Reykjavík? Which hostels grabbed your attention, or perhaps you have a hostel that you'd like to recommend? Make sure to leave your thoughts and queries in the Facebook comments' box below.
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NASA PubSpace – A free repository of (some) peer-reviewed papers from NASA
by Karthikeyan KC — July 12, 2018 · in Research
Photo by chuttersnap
Earlier this month, NASA announced PubSpace, a part of U.S. National Institutes of Health’s National Library of Medicine’s (NIH) PubMed Central (PMC), to give the public a free and open access to all the peer-reviewed papers from the researches that are funded by NASA.
This open access to all the papers within one year of publication excludes any researches involving personal patents, papers that are protected by privacy and proprietary laws, and the researches involving national security.
With more than 800 peer-reviewed papers, this effort from NASA has once again proven how a public organization should be transparent and open to the public. At the same time, it is also worth mentioning that the repository includes only papers that are published in the current decade—mostly since 2013—and as mentioned by NASA, all papers of researches that are funded since 2016.
If more institutes could open up access to their researches and papers, perhaps there won’t be a need for sites like sci-hub, which rather takes a different approach on enabling free knowledge to the public.
PubSpace
This post was first published on October 15, 2016.
Karthikeyan KC
Aeronautical engineer, dev, science fiction author, gamer, and an explorer. I am the creator of Geekswipe. I love writing about physics and astronomy. I am now creating Swyde.
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Swiper Chat
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© 2017 ThemeMountain.
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War Wings
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Home › Newsroom › North East Company Throws a Lifeline to the Nation’s SMEs With New Fund
North East Company Throws a Lifeline to the Nation’s SMEs With New Fund
A Gateshead company providing award-winning support to entrepreneurs today announced a new ethical loan fund to help grow businesses who find accessing finance difficult.
The fund, delivered by Transmit Growth Loans, has been created to support small business across England whose growth is stunted because of a lack of affordable finance.
It aims to make access to funding fair, flexible and simple, with loans of between £10,000 and £60,000 initially.
Applications will be considered from young businesses based on forecasts, not trading history, meaning even those with a short track record can finance their aspirations for growth providing they are credit-worthy.
Transmit, based at Northern Design Centre, also operate Transmit Startups, the UK’s leading provider of Start Up Loans who have lent over £55m to businesses across the country since 2012.
Richard Myers, Commercial Director at Transmit, said: “The Transmit Growth Fund means a lot to us because it helps address an issue close to our hearts. For too long, too many young and ambitious businesses have been unable to fulfil their potential because they’ve been frozen out by the traditional criteria of products offered by the banks.
“This fund promises to change that, providing the affordable and ethical finance that all entrepreneurs need and deserve. And because the loan isn’t coming from a bank and driven by profit, we have the freedom to be more flexible when it comes to considering individual circumstances.
“We are really excited to witness the impact this has on the nation’s SMEs and predict it could support everything from job creation in more disadvantaged areas to creating social mobility.”
Transmit was launched by Damian Baetens, Richard Myers and Ian Straker – three North Eastern entrepreneurs with a shared ambition to help others making their own way in business.
The new product complements Transmit’s existing range of funding, consulting, coaching and mentoringservices that are designed to support entrepreneurs throughout their business journey.
The Transmit Growth Loan provides a natural follow on to the alternative funding support provided by Transmit Startups, which has so far backed 5510 entrepreneurs and received the coveted Gold Trusted Service 2018 award from customer review platform Feefo.
Ian Straker, Operations Director at Transmit Group, said: “As a start-up ourselves we understand the challenges entrepreneurs face when running and growing their business and that empathy helps to set us apart from other lenders.
“Customers also tell us time and again that our Northern warmth is another major differentiator so we are obviously delighted to have secured this contract for the North East and our valued team.”
Transmit employs 28 people across its head office in Gateshead, its Scottish base in Glasgow and its network of consultants across the UK and is beginning to recruit further team members to handle its expanded services.
For more information about Transmit Growth Loans visit www.transmitgrowth.co.uk
Organic European Growth For Tyneside Nutrition
TIPPER OF THE WEEK: COURTNEY ROSEMEYER
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Morphological detection of placental anticoagulant protein-I (PAP-I) in human placenta
Sakata, M.; Funakoshi, T., 1990: Morphological detection of placental anticoagulant protein-I (PAP-I) in human placenta. Rinsho Byori. Japanese Journal of Clinical Pathology 38(10): 1173-1175
It has been reported that placental anticoagulant protein-I (PAP-I) inhibits the intrinsic and extrinsic pathways of blood coagulation and also the reconstituted prothrombinase activity. However, morphological study on the distribution of PAP-I in whole placenta or in placental cells has not been reported yet. We detected the PAP-I antigen, under light- and electron-microscope, by mean of immuno-cytological techniques. PAP-I was also present in microvilli of the placental syncytiotrophoblast cells and their cortical cytoplasm beneath the villi.
Yamaza, H.; Komatsu, T.; Chiba, T.; Toyama, H.; To, K.; Higami, Y.; Shimokawa, I., 2004: A transgenic dwarf rat model as a tool for the study of calorie restriction and aging. We have previously reported a long-lived transgenic dwarf rat model, in which the growth hormone (GH)-insulin like growth factor (IGF)-1 axis was selectively suppressed by overexpression of antisense GH transgene. Rats heterozygous for the transge...
Tan, E-K., 2007: The role of common genetic risk variants in Parkinson disease. Despite the discovery of at least five pathogenic genes in Parkinson disease (PD), the genetic etiology in the vast majority of PD remains to be clarified. Common genetic variants could act as susceptibility risk factors. Our previous meta-analysi...
Vives, Eduard., 2000: Notes on Iberian longicornes XI new or little known Cerambycidae from the Iberian fauna Insecta, Coleoptera Notas sobre longicornios ibericos XI Cerambycidae nuevos o poco conocidos para la fauna iberica Insecta, Coleoptera. Boletin de la SEA. Septiembre; 27: 69-71
De-Simone, G., 1975: Hide bleaching and decolorization for the furriers shop. Cuoio pelli materie concianti: 51 (2) 141-147
Fujita, Y.; Ito, C.; Mabuchi, K., 2004: Surveillance of mortality among atomic bomb survivors living in the United States using the National Death Index. The National Death Index is a useful source to establish the death of an individual and to determine the cause of death. We identified deaths in atomic bomb survivors in the United States who were lost to follow-up through the National Death Index...
Malvagia, S.; Poggi, G.Maria.; Pasquini, E.; Donati, M.Alice.; Pela, I.; Morrone, A.; Zammarchi, E., 2003: The de novo Q167K mutation in the POU1F1 gene leads to combined pituitary hormone deficiency in an Italian patient. The POU1F1 gene encodes a transcription factor that is important for the development and differentiation of the cells producing GH, prolactin, and TSH in the anterior pituitary gland. Patients with POU1F1 mutations show a combined pituitary hormon...
Khan, M.A.; Neyses, L.; Mamas, M.A., 2013: Atrial fibrillation in heart failure: an innocent bystander?. Heart failure (HF) and atrial fibrillation (AF) frequently coexist and each complicates the course of the other. The purpose of this review is to analyse the prognostic impact of AF in patients with HF and assess whether there is an advantage in t...
Flint, A., 1877: The Source of Muscular Power, as Deduced from Observations upon the Human Subject under conditions of Rest and of Exercise. Journal of Anatomy and Physiology 12(Pt 1): 91-141
Lomaga, M.A.; Hayter, C., 2004: Priapism as a possible acute side effect of radical radiotherapy for prostate cancer. We report a case of a 73 year-old male diagnosed with T1 N0 M0 prostate cancer, Gleason score 7, undergoing a course of radical radiotherapy using 7600 cGY delivered in 38 fractions. Several hours after receiving his 27th fraction, he reported exp...
Onuma, M.; Olson, C., 1977: Tumor-associated antigen in bovine and ovine lymphosarcoma. Specific tumor-associated antigens were found on the membrane and in the cytoplasm of lymph node cells and peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) from cattle and sheep with lymphosarcoma by immunofluorescence tests. Materials from 15 cattle with the a...
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Association of filaggrin variants with asthma and rhinitis: is eczema or allergic sensitization status an effect modifier?
Ziyab, A.H.; Karmaus, W.; Zhang, H.; Holloway, J.W.; Steck, S.E.; Ewart, S.; Arshad, S.Hasan., 2014: Association of filaggrin variants with asthma and rhinitis: is eczema or allergic sensitization status an effect modifier?. International Archives of Allergy and Immunology 164(4): 308-318
Associations of variants of the filaggrin gene, i.e. FLG with asthma and rhinitis have been shown to be modulated by eczema status. However, it is unknown whether allergic sensitization status modifies this association. The aim of this study was to determine whether FLG variants need eczema and/or allergic sensitization as a necessary component to execute adverse effects on coexisting and subsequent asthma and rhinitis. In the Isle of Wight birth cohort, repeated measurements of asthma, rhinitis, eczema and allergic sensitization (documented by skin-prick tests) were taken in 1,456 children at the ages of 1, 2, 4, 10 and 18 years. Filaggrin haploinsufficiency was defined as having at least the minor allele of R501X, 2282del4 or S3247X variants. log-binomial regression models were used to test associations and statistical interactions. FLG variants increased the risk of asthma [risk ratio (RR) 1.39, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.06-1.80] and rhinitis (RR 1.37, 95% CI 1.16-1.63). In the delayed-effects models, 'FLG variants plus allergic sensitization' and 'FLG variants plus eczema' increased the risk of subsequent asthma by 4.93-fold (95% CI 3.61-6.71) and 3.33-fold (95% CI 2.45-4.51), respectively, during the first 18 years of life. In contrast, neither eczema nor allergic sensitization in combination with FLG variants increased the risk of later rhinitis. Allergic sensitization and eczema modulated the association between FLG variants and asthma but not rhinitis. Our results imply that the mechanisms and pathways through which FLG variants predispose to an increased risk of asthma and rhinitis may be different.
DOI: 10.1159/000365990
Wu, M.L.; Whittemore, A.S.; Jung, D.L., 1986: Errors in reported dietary intakes. I. Short-term recall. Measures for quantifying reproducibility and between-subject variability of nutrient intake data are applied to intakes reported in two interviews (1-3 months apart) by 44 male and 17 female healthy white subjects aged 45-75 years. Intakes were as...
Gupta, A.; Ghimire, G.; Hage, F.G., 2014: Guidelines in review: 2013 ACCF/AHA Guideline for the Management of Heart Failure. Journal of Nuclear Cardiology 21(2): 397-399
Gould, H.J.; Rose, D.F.; Greenblatt, R.E.; Pousson, M.A., 1996: Absence of auditory N1 in children. Society for Neuroscience Abstracts 22(1-3): 1624
Boyne, P.J., 1969: Experimental evaluation of the osteogenic potential of bone graft materials. Annual Meeting - American Institute of Oral Biology: 13-21
Li, J.; Wang, L.; Zhan, Q.; Liu, Y.; Fu, B.; Wang, C., 2014: Sorghum bmr6 mutant analysis demonstrates that a shared MYB1 transcription factor binding site in the promoter links the expression of genes in related pathways. Sorghum is not only an important cereal crop but also a biofuel crop. The sorghum brown midrib mutant 6 (bmr6) has a reduced lignin content in the cell walls and vascular tissues, which could potentially be advantageous for cellulosic biofuel prod...
Selvaraj, C.J., 1951: Notes on the biology of Rodolia netara Kapur a predator of Pericerya purchasi. R. netara is extremely common in the High Ranges (5800 ft.) of Travancore (S. India), where it is more abundant than R. cardinalis, introduced for the control of the same pest. The premating period varies from 3-8 days, and the pre-oviposition per...
Gao Shanming, 1985: Origin and formation of spherical quartz sand in Jidong Plain, China. Acta Geographica Sinica 40(4): 347-355
Ruiz-Delgado, G.J.; Macías-Gallardo, J.; Lutz-Presno, J.; Garcés-Eisele, J.; Hernández-Arizpe, A.; Montes-Montiel, M.; Ruiz-Argüelles, G.J., 2011: Core binding factor acute myeloid leukemia (CBF-AML) in México: a single institution experience. Twenty one patients with CBF-AML presented prospectively in the Centro de Hematología y Medicina Interna de Puebla (Puebla, México) between February 1995 and March 2010, 14 with the t(8;21)(q22;q22) and 7 with the inv(16)(p13;q22)/t(16;16)(p13;q...
Foltmann, B., 1994: Outlines of the history of cheese rennet. Theriaca: 9-44
Bush, R.A.; Lei, B.; Tao, W.; Raz, D.; Chan, C-Chao.; Cox, T.A.; Santos-Muffley, M.; Sieving, P.A., 2004: Encapsulated cell-based intraocular delivery of ciliary neurotrophic factor in normal rabbit: dose-dependent effects on ERG and retinal histology. PURPOSE. ERG and histologic changes were investigated in normal rabbits after intravitreal implantation of encapsulated cell technology (ECT) devices releasing ciliary neurotrophic factor ( CNTF). METHODS. Fifteen adult New Zealand White albino ra...
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Ethan Fromes Psych
.. ie are isolated from each other due to Matties injuries. The aspect of isolation portrayed through the setting and actions of the characters contributes to the establishment of Whartons Ethan Frome as a psychological novel. The characters of Ethan Frome ironically seem to crave disorder and use it as a means of security. The characters put themselves into situations that present confusion and chaos.
Zeena is a prime example of a character that is unable to face reality and uses imaginary illnesses to compensate for the things that she lacks in life, spending her life caring for others as retribution for her own personal shortcomings and insecurities. When Zeena had no one left to care for, she then came down with a series of illnesses. Zeenas absorption in her ailments, whether real or imagined, is her chosen form of physical gratification (Fedorko 64). Zeena gives herself an imaginary illness, which requires her to travel to quack doctors and buy exotic, as well as expensive, wonder drugs. Zeenas illness gives her an escape and some have even proposed that it gives her a sense of identity.
Zeena naturally chooses to be sick because sickness promises adventure in its possible complications, sudden cures, and relapses (McDowell 74). In this aspect of needing chaos, Ethan is no better than Zeena. When Ethans mother becomes ill, Zeena arrives at the Frome farm to nurse her back to health. After Mrs. Frome dies, Ethan marries Zeena out of a sense of obligation and appreciation. After the death of both of his parents, Ethan could have started his life over, concentrating on engineering, his passion.
Because of his obvious insecurities, he clung to Zeena for comfort and support. Ethan needed something in his life to stop him from becoming his own person because of his insecurities. Another example of Ethans need for chaos is his haphazard romance with Mattie. Had Ethan carefully planned out their escape or at the least waited a few months longer, he and Mattie could have lived happily ever after. He was close to over coming his perverse need for chaos, but then his subconscious surfaced again and caused his plans to be ruined. The characters could have simply waited until spring to escape, and gone west as Ethan original plan stated, his life would have been near perfect, but his insecurities stopped him.
He lacked the confidence and faith in his actions to take a stand. Ethan is also crucially fearful of change and responsibility (Springer 46). He was able to have security in making plans, and the relief in knowing that he would never follow through. He abdicated his free will to Zeena when he failed to assert his wants and needs and let Mattie decide on their double suicide plan. Ethans inaction was part of the cause for his unhappiness.
Indeed as he passes the headstones that mark generations of Fromes in the family graveyard, they seem to mock him. We never got away- how should you? (Worth 66). Ethan needed to have the chaos in his life so that he could avoid the possibility of failure, needing to relinquish his ability to make decisions because of his lack of self-confidence in his actions. The weakness of Ethans spirit was a direct correlation to the isolation and helplessness that he was left with after his mothers death. Although he tried, he was not able to fully over come his feelings of loss and in turn project his insecurities in this manor. (Worth 44).
Ethan and Zeenas need for chaos established Ethan Frome as a psychological novel due to the insight of Wharton on the human psyche. Mattie Silver, in ever aspect, represents every individuals need for hope in Ethan Frome. She is the faint glimmer of light that Ethan holds on to that makes his life bearable. The way that Mattie is described is evidence of this aura of hope that she projects. Mattie [her last name is] of course, is Silver- twinkling, promising, sparkling (Springer 94). Ethan looks to Mattie for love that he has never felt; his mother was ill most of her life and his father was too preoccupied for Ethan. Zeenas unusual type of love is shown in her need to heal illness.
Ethan can talk to Mattie; in fact she is the object of his greatest release He can share his awe for the beauty of his surroundings, educate her about the heavens, and relieve himself of emotions that had hitherto been bottled up as a silent ache (Springer 52). Mattie represents for Ethan a perfect life, but his insecurities stop him from attaining this ideal. Whartons characterization of Mattie and her influence on Ethan more clearly shows Ethans flaws and insecurities. The characters offer a psychological look into the characters perceptions of hope and success. Because of Edith Whartons excellent use of imagery and description, Ethan Frome is a masterfully written example of a psychological novel.
By just the use of descriptive setting, Wharton sets the tone and mental conditions of the characters. She shows general truths about the human condition when she describes the characters insecurities and inabilities to overcome these obstacles. The characterization shows a depth of understanding that helps the reader to better understand the characters motives and actions. The novel is rich in analysis of the psyche and this is projected into the minds and actions of the characters. Edith Whartons Ethan Frome is a timeless classic that subtly and creatively lets readers understand the hidden depths of the human mind through psychological aspects present in the novel.
Bibliography Works Cited Fedorko, Kathy. Gender and the Gothic in the Fiction of Edith Wharton. Tuscaloosa: .University of Alabama Press, 1995. Goodwyn, Janet Patricia. Edith Wharton: Traveler in the Land of Letters. New York: .St.
Martins Press, 1990. McDowell, Margaret. Edith Wharton: Revised Edition. Boston: G.K. Hall and .Company, 1991 Springer, Marlene. Ethan Frome: A Nightmare of Need.
New York: Twayne .Publishers, 1993. Wharton, Edith. Ethan Frome. New York: Penguin Group, 1993. Worth, Richard. Edith Wharton. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1994. Psychology.
Edith Whartons Fantasy Is An Escape From Winter
Once Upon Time By Nadine Gordimer
Power And Glory
Ethan Frome And Jay Gatsby
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State-by-State High School Football News
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Florida High School Football News October 4, 2015
American Heritage and IMG move-up in National Top 25
by Jeff Fisher, High School Football America Another week, another nationally-ranked New Jersey team beaten and another move-up in the latest High School Football America National Top 25 for IMG Academy. IMG’s 24-12 win over former #15 St. Joseph Regional…
Florida High School Football News September 21, 2015
Miami Central enters Southeast Region Top 10
The only change in this week’s High School Football America Southeast Regional Top 10 is Miami Central moves-in at #10, while Flanagan drops-out. The Rockets, who began the year ranked #4 in our Preseason National Top 25, have rebounded from…
American Heritage climbs in new National Top 25; Other 3 Florida teams hold their spots
Plantation’s America Heritage has moved up three spots in the latest High School Football America National Top 25. The Patriots, whose only loss was by one point to #4 DeMatha (Maryland), moves-up to #22.
Alabama High School Football News, Arizona High School Football News, California High School Football News, Florida High School Football News, Georgia High School Football News, Illinois High School Football News, Indiana High School Football News, Mississippi High School Football News, Missouri High School Football News, National News, North Carolina High School Football, Ohio High School Football News, Southern California High School Football News, Tennessee High School Football News, Texas High School Football News, Utah High School Football News December 29, 2014
High School Football America’s 2014 Public Schools Top 25 – Final
Last Sunday we released our final national Top 25, which featured 18 public schools, including #1 ranked Allen, which won its third straight High School Football America national championship. The first one the Eagles won in 2012 was shared with…
Florida High School Football News December 6, 2014
2014 Florida High School Football Scores – Championships/Semifinals
Florida High School Football Scores Friday & Saturday, December 5-6, 2014 Championships 4A Booker T. Washington 54 Bolles 35 3A Trinity Christian 27 American Heritage (Delray Beach) 7 2A Victory Christian Academy 54 Indian Rocks Christian 16 1A Port St….
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High School Football America Public Schools Top 25
by Jeff Fisher During a conversation the other day, someone brought-up the fact that national rankings are dominated by private schools. To that, I said that 16 of the teams currently in the High School Football America Top 25 are…
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High School Football America Top 25 – October 16-18, 2014
High School Football America Top 25 Scoreboard 1. Allen Eagles (Texas) – Idle 2. De La Salle Spartans (California) – Idle 3. Booker T. Washington Tornadoes (Florida) defeated Gulliver Prep (Florida) 42-8 4. Paramus Catholic Paladins (New Jersey) – Idle…
Florida High School Football News October 14, 2014
FloridaHSFootball.com’s Top 25 – Week 7
by Joshua Wilson Founder FloridaHSFootball.com Follow @FlaHSFootball GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Columbus Explorers (6-1) re-enter the Top 25 this week after several week away, while American Heritage – Delray (5-1) enters the poll for the first time this season. However,…
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Travel Shmavel
Travel is one of those things that, in my socio-economic class at least, is an assumed good. All you have to do is peruse any dating app — at least in the Bay Area — and see that travel is this hallowed, revered act, an unquestioned good. Every woman, and I assume every man, proudly displays their pictures from exotic lands as they giddily inquire: Where's my next adventure? Jordan, maybe. Or Cappadocia! Let's grab our passports and go! This word, adventure, comes up a lot. I'll get to that.
All of this is unfortunate for me as, well, I don't particularly care for travel. And, in our world today, I'm the one who needs to defend this heretical belief. Such is the way of discourse: it establishes the terms of what can be said and the relative valence of those things. In the discourse of our times, travel is good. It just is. So as one who doesn't share this sentiment, the obligation falls upon me to explain myself.
The same goes for lots of things in my life. Take voting. Of course I don't vote. Why would I participate in such a conspicuously corrupt system and give the impression that voting mattered? (I've written about that here.) Yes, many of you are bristling as the usual mantras are paraded out. You can't complain if you don't vote. Which is funny as I feel the opposite: if you participate in this corrupt system, you can't complain! In any case, to most people, voting is an assumed good and so my refusal to participate is met first with a distinctly violent bile — so goes that liberal attitude! — and then with the burden of having to defend my presumed heresy.
Profanity is another area. I used to curse like a banshee in my lectures at Berkeley. Every semester, there would always be at least one student who'd ask me why I curse so much. This question really irked me. After all, why wouldn't I use any and all words at my disposal, especially ones that convey such emphatic umph?!? So I'd refuse to answer and put the question to them: Why don't you curse? The burden of defense should not fall to me. After their initial fluster, their answers never persuaded me to change my ways.
So, yes, travel. Let me be clear. I've traveled. I even enjoy traveling, sometimes. I've driven across the United States repeatedly, each time with great relish and delight. The rolling plains of Nebraska running into the towering peaks of the Rockies only to majestically descend into the salt flat desert before crossing the Sierras and meeting the Pacific Ocean in San Francisco: Oy! So good! And that's just taking i80! So, yes, I like seeing different skies and colors. I've even traveled all around Europe as people from my background tend to do. I feel like this needed to be said. I'm building my case. Bear with me.
Personally, I don't like traveling that much as it makes the most mundane things — water, food, bed, money — of the utmost importance. At home, all the quotidian nonsense is tended to: I know how to get water and food, where to pee, how to spend money. This allows me to focus on other things that interest me more, namely, ideas, words, my own sense of peace. Mind you, I understand that having the everyday become extraordinary affords its pleasure and, better, its pedagogy. But, for the most part, I'd rather have such things be taken for granted.
Language, however, is a more interesting matter when traveling. I relish speaking and speaking cleverly, eloquently, wittily, quickly. Being in another country strips me of all this. I always hated that thing that happens when I'm in another country and I'm reduced to the vocabulary of a toddler, at best, and so my native hosts and I giggle at my attempt to find a bathroom. It's humiliating. And yet I can see the value of doing it now and again, to be stripped of my linguistic scaffold, just to render me humble. So every now and again, yes, I can see that value of traveling.
But all the time? I have things to say, dammit! I want to be funny and witty. I want to make keen cultural references and not always have to explain them. I want to be able to discuss architectures of the invisible, topologies of the event, the nuances of an infinite gaze. I want to be able to flirt and inflect, emphasize and qualify, refine and explore. These are things I do here all the time that I can't do when I travel. So when someone tells me I need to travel to expand my boundaries, I tell them: Expand your vocabulary! Try to think radically differently!
Then there's this word I've noticed of late, a word travelers return to so readily: adventure. This is a tricky one as it's always relative. Travelers who seek adventure in Bora Bora more than likely don't seek adventure every day in who they are and how they go. In my experience, the people who talk the most about travel adventures are the most set in their ways. They have a salary job and always have had one; they own their place; they think and believe the same things day in and day out. Me, I refuse to have a job job so, financially, it's always an adventure. I try to think differently all the time, push myself — sometimes — to be different. And, yes, this might even involve traveling — but not because travel is inherently adventurous but because it takes me out of my comfort zone. I'd ask some of these Tinder travelers if they've ever considered the infinite curvature of space, the untethering of the ego, if they've smoked DMT and had their lives rearranged in ways they never thought possible.
I'll say this: the people I know who have traveled for adventure, truly, are the people who would never say they love travel and adventure. In fact, the person I know who's traveled the most extensively far and away, and the most adventurously, is the one person who rarely brings it up. In fact, when I met her through a dating app many years ago, I believe she never even mentioned travel in her profile. In my interpretation, she views thinking and being differently as continuous with travel.
On the other hand, I had a hilarious date once in which this exact subject came up. I knew the date was a disaster so, rather than playing my predefined role within the discourse, I turned it on its head. I told her I don't like traveling and why did she? She became flustered and said, I shit you not, "Travel expands my boundaries." To which I replied: "And yet you can't understand why I don't like travel (not to mention everything else about me)"? The irony was so glaring I couldn't stop laughing. Needless to say, there was no second date.
But it's pretty obvious that the squarest people are the ones who talk about the adventure of travel the most. What is square? As I've said, it's the people with a job they think they love with desires and aspirations right out of Hollywood drivel. Meanwhile, I've met — and loved — women who love to travel, love adventure, who are not square at all. And they don't assume travel is a good; they travel because they like it as a pedagogy and existential delight.
So why do the squarest people insist on travel adventures so insistently? Because they're miserable! This is the logic of people who live for the weekend: they accept that their time is owned by their capitalist overlords that they're grateful for the weekend. Eeesh! But I get it, I do. People are so unhappy as their vitality and well-being are drained from them in a systematic fashion. And rather than question this oppression, they take whatever slivers of life their owners dole out. Two weeks vacation! So of course they want to go hang gliding in Bora Bora! It's their only chance to be free.
And, yes, seeing the desert in Zion National Park, the Maasai in Tanzania, hiking the Himalayas are all of course amazing, even life changing, boundary extending adventures. But other things are amazing and life changing, too, that many "adventurous" travelers never indulge. Which is to say, just because travel can be amazing doesn't make it a mandate. More often that not, I fear, travel is a treat thrown to people by their colonial overlords to get a whiff of existence before returning to their cubicle. By having all the banalities of life rise to the fore, these people are forced to focus on things besides their life draining job and depressing search for a mate. It's a vacation, not an adventure — a respite from the fray, a way to quash any desire to leave or smash the system.
This is why travel is considered an inherent good in our popular discourse: it's become the opiate of the masses. To be as clear as possible, this is not to knock travel per se. It's to knock the widespread assumption that travel is an inherent good while masking deep existential malaise. I just wish this declared will to expand one's boundaries and experience adventure were a greater part of everyday life. Of course, maybe I'm just a homebody who enjoys his comforts (or so I've been told; I don't disagree). The more likely scenario, however, is it's all of the above.
By Daniel Coffeen at November 14, 2019 4 comments:
Space Taught Me Everything
On the eve of my 50th birthday, I found myself blissfully alone at ocean's edge — Stinson Beach, to be precise, just north of San Francisco, a slice of the coast tucked behind some earthly swells at the end of a stretch of windy-as-fuck Highway 1. Which is to say, while it is a well known beach, it is not so casually visited. There were no lit high schoolers with bonfires, no toddlers shrieking, no families arguing. It was just the infinite and me — and a freakish number of pelicans. I love pelicans — they're pterodactyls! — and they were kind enough to put on a show just for me.
Anyway, it was hours before the near full moon rose and, as the sun set, the sky became denser and denser with this and that. As I reckoned it and it, in turn, reckoned me, I could feel the cosmic embrace, the fullness of it surround me. And I realized that the key realizations in my life have been about space which, while seeming to contradict each other, actually conspire to offer a view on existence that informs my life at every turn, in every way.
My step father was an astronomer who studied the atmospheres of other planets. Perhaps this is what had me looking up at the night sky at a young age. But, unlike him, I wasn't interested in planets. Nor was I interested in stars, galaxies, asteroids; I never cared for the names on moons or constellation. I still don't know which way is north. No, I was interested in space itself, that infinite regress. (I wrote about that here).
And this, the infinity of space, is what transformed me starting at a very young age. To quote myself (what an odd and beautiful thing to do, to quote oneself, to see one's writing for what it is, fodder out there, no more mine than yours): "Lying alone at night tucked into my safari sheets, I'd track the movement in my head from the bed outwards — past my ceiling and roof, past the trees, through the clouds, past the everyday blue sky and moon, past the sun and planets, past the stars. What I loved was that the movement didn't end...." I found this experience at once intoxicating and erotic in a pre-sexual way: my nine year old body would quiver, the limits of my mind giving way as layer after layer of existence vanished in the rearview mirrior — past the ceiling, clouds, atmosphere, past the solar system, past all those stars — woosh, woosh, woosh until my mind and body became one continuous woosh! I became verb, a will to infinity, pure becoming.
This was my first awakening: space is infinite. It's not just so-called gods and ideas, morals and concepts, that are temporally infinite. The stuff of this world — the world itself! — is infinite. Extension, which everywhere seems limited, has no final limit. Oh yes.
And as space is infinite, there's no fixed position, no final orientation of anything — no center, no up or down. This radical decentering of my existence was exhilarating. I never found it upsetting or disorienting: I found it liberating, ecstatic — the ecstasy of vertigo as I imagined myself hurling through the cosmos. In such a vertiginous world, you're always where you are, a relative position that is nevertheless absolute precisely because you're not closer or farther from a center. You are the center just as no one is ever the center.
But then there is this second realization I had about space much later: space is shaped. It is relentlessly inflected, bending this way and that. We can see it when we look up at the sky and see the curvature, see the bends. Space, then, is not a neutral backdrop in which planets and other things move about. Space is itself something — a fabric, a flesh, so much stuff. It doesn't take an astrophysicist to see this. Just look up. You can see the shaping of space, its bends and curves, its swirls. I could sure see it, feel it, know it that night at Stinson. I could see, feel, and know the very texture of the cosmos — not as black abyss, not as a nothing, but as an all this.
A few days later, I was talking to my parents, sharing this very couple of insights. And my mother replies: "Well, that's a contradiction. Shapes have limits so can't be infinite." This, I'm willing to bet, is a common perception of both shape and infinity: shape is bound, infinity is unbound.
But that's confusion born of a series of interconnected mis-readings of things. We assume infinity is a generality, a concept rather than a function, an operation, or a trait. I knew as kid that there must be difference between the infinity that exists between numbers 1 and 2 and, say, the infinity of space. Sure, conceptually we can say they're both infinite and be done with it. But this disregards a very strange aspect of infinity: it's particular. There is not just one infinity — except as a concept. There are infinite infinities.
Consider the number Pi. It's infinite. And not only is it infinite, it's non-repeating (which means it's not 3.14141414...). It's an infinite number that is absolutely particular and unknowable before experiencing it: it is infinite along this trajectory and this trajectory alone, according to such and such rules that are continually playing themselves out. There are teams of scientists dedicated to finding the next number in Pi. So Pi is, indeed, infinite and has limits. After all, it doesn't sprawl in every direction as it becomes every number. No, it stays very much itself — unto infinity. It is a becoming, much like me lying in bed, my mind moving towards the infinity of space. We're all wooshes. Or, better, we're all wooshing.
This is all to say, there is no neutral ground, no backdrop, no nothing. All there is is something(s). The world is full of itself, a plenum. There is no vacuum per se. And everything is in the mix. We may look at the planets and stars but we look at space, too. And space is not nothing; on the contrary, it is something — the interstellar and intergalactic medium of plasma and such. Space is not a tablecloth on which we set the table. It pushes and pulls, it careens and swirls, bending light, gasses, bodies, moods, and minds.
We know this as we make our way through the world, walking down streets. Every moment is something, full and rich, brimming with sense, affect, light, gas, smell, dreams, dust. We tend to focus on ourselves and the petty nonsense that defines us — job, shopping, dinner, dates. But despite our best efforts to act like actors on the backdrop of the world, this backdrop is nudging us this way and that. All these swirls of mood. (The first three "Pirates of Caribbean" films perform this well: in the first, there are actors on a boat; in the second, the boat is alive; in the third, the ocean is alive until the whole thing is a gaseous mess, beautiful and unwieldy.)
This double whammy of ideas that came to me looking at the sky has informed everything I think and am:
Infinity is a dimension of extension as much as a dimension of thought.
This means there is no fixed orientation, no up or down. We are all free floating, the ecstasy of vertigo.
I am the center; there is no center; everything is the center; nothing is the center.
There is no such thing as neutrality; everything is inflected.
The infinite is inflected; there are infinite infinities.
A thing, including each person, is a particular infinity: Pi(n).
This is how I see the world: all these becomings becoming unto infinity, all these Non Terminating Non Repeating Decimals, all these inflections of space, all this stuff I'm swimming in and swimming with, all these eddies and streams of affect and thought and gas, all swishing every which way as we hurtle and plod and saunter through a shaped cosmos that is always becoming along an infinite trajectory. It's a messy every-which-way world and it's confusing and beautiful and asks very different things of us than perhaps we'd previously thought. Sometimes, we may even have to, together, turn the whole damn thing upside down.
By Daniel Coffeen at November 04, 2019 No comments:
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The Underground Railroad Leaves its Tracks in History
Last week during National Black History Month, ground was broken on the National Mall in Washington, DC, for what will become the National Museum of African American History and Culture. In his remarks at the ceremony, President Obama mentioned that he wanted his daughters to see the famous African Americans like Harriet Tubman not as larger-than-life characters, but as inspiration of “how ordinary Americans can do extraordinary things.”
Image: This original photo of Harriet Tubman in the handbook lists the many roles she played in addition to being a “conductor” on the Underground Railroad, including nurse, spy and scout for the Union army during the Civil War. Her quote: “I looked at my hands to see if I was the same person now I was free. There was such a glory over everything… I felt like I was in heaven.” Source: The Underground Railroad: Official National Park Handbook.
One of the most dramatic areas of African American history is the story of the fight against slavery and the profile in courage represented by the ordinary people who did extraordinary things while participating in the Underground Railroad.
The National Park Service (NPS) has produced a number of exemplary publications about it, with three of them available today from the U.S. Government Bookstore, including the
Underground Railroad: Official Map and Guide,
the Discovering the Underground Railroad: Junior Ranger Activity Book, and
the Underground Railroad: Official National Park Handbook, a perpetual bestseller.
That these items are not your typical guidebooks about a single historic site is due to the fact that the Underground Railroad itself is not a typical American national park.
Congress and the National Park Service act to preserve the legacy of the Underground Railroad
Back in 1990, Congress instructed the National Park Service to perform a special resource study of the Underground Railroad, its routes and operations in order to preserve and interpret this aspect of United States history.
Following the study, the National Park Service was mandated by Public Law 105-203 in 1998 (you can read the law on GPO’s FDSys site) to commemorate and preserve this history through a new National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program to “educate the public about the importance of the Underground Railroad in the eradication of slavery, its relevance in fostering the spirit of racial harmony and national reconciliation, and the evolution of our national civil rights movement.”
What was the Underground Railroad?
What was called the Underground Railroad was neither “underground” nor a “railroad,” but was instead a loose network of aid and assistance by antislavery sympathizers and freed blacks across the country that may have helped as many as one hundred thousand enslaved persons escape their bondage from before the American Revolution through the Civil War.
Image: NY State historical marker in Albany for the UGRR along the American Trails UGRR bicycle route.
Describing one of the most significant internal resistance movements ever, the National Park Service said in a 1996 press release that:
The Underground Railroad was perhaps the most dramatic protest against human bondage in United States history. It was a clandestine operation that began during colonial times, grew as part of the organized abolitionist movement, and reached a peak between 1830 and 1865. The story is filled with excitement and triumph as well as tragedy –-individual heroism and sacrifice as well as cooperation to help enslaved people reach freedom.
Where did the term “Underground Railroad” come from?
Historians cannot confirm the origins of the name, but one of the stories reported by the Park Service has the term coming out of Washington, DC, in 1839, when a recaptured fugitive slave allegedly claimed under torture that his escape plan instructions were to send him north, where “the railroad ran underground all the way to Boston.” However it came about, the term was widely in use by 1840, and is often shortened to “UGRR” by “those in the know.”
Image: An 1837 newspaper ad about a runaway slave from the book “The Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom” By Wilbur Henry Siebert, 1898.
Underground Railroad Routes
Another byproduct of the UGRR special resource study was that the National Park Service carried out an analysis of slavery and abolitionism and identified the primary escape routes used on the UGRR.
The map below is included in the Underground Railroad: Official Map and Guide, produced by the National Park Service Cartographic staff at Harpers Ferry Center, shows the general direction of escape routes. Contrary to popular belief, Canada was not the only destination for freedom-seeking slaves–since some fled to Mexico, Florida and the Caribbean– but it was the primary destination as the efforts to catch fugitives increased.
Image: Selected Routes of the Underground Railroad from the Underground Railroad: Official Map and Guide.
Additional outputs of the resource study and the subsequent research are the following three excellent Underground Railroad publications from the National Park Service.
Underground Railroad: Official National Park Handbook
The first book in our trio of publications is the Underground Railroad: Official National Park Handbook. It is comprised of a series of fascinating articles by top Underground Railroad historians that weave together a thorough view of the amazing stories behind the legend, illustrated with many drawings, court records, letters, paintings, photos, and other pictorial representations that help make this history come alive for the reader.
The handbook is broken into 3 major sections and 5 chapters:
Part I: An Epic in United States History:
1- Myth and Reality by Larry Gara. This introductory chapter reviews and evaluates the truths vs. the legends that grew about the Underground Railroad.
Part II: From Bondage to Freedom:
2- Slavery in America by Brenda E. Stevenson. In this chapter, the author details the rise of the institution of slavery in America and the harsh realities of life for the people who suffered under it. An interesting segment discusses the inequities of life for enslaved women vs. men.
3- The Underground Railroad by C. Peter Ripley. This fascinating chapter tells the courageous and often harrowing stories of freedom seekers and those who aided them, including Harriet Tubman who made nearly 20 trips to lead 300 slaves to freedom and Henry “Box” Brown who shipped himself in a 2X3’ wooden crate from Richmond to Philadelphia to escape. Sprinkled throughout are cameos of famous former fugitives and abolitionists including Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglas, and abolitionists William Lloyd Garrison and Gerritt Smith, among many others.
Part III: Tracking the Past:
4- Tracking the Past by the National Park Service. This chapter outlines some of the work done by the National Park Service and others to discover, verify and catalog the important people, places and artifacts related to the Underground Railroad.
5- Further Reading by Marie Tyler McGraw. In this final chapter, the author provides a recommended reading list for interested researchers of the authoritative works related to different aspects of the Underground Railroad story.
Underground Railroad: Official Map and Guide
This map and guide includes drawings, blurbs, maps and chronologies about different aspects of the slave trade and the Underground Railroad.
Included in this fold-out map and guide are the escape routes map shown earlier, vignettes of key figures from key “conductors” on the Railroad to abolitionists, and even a short glossary of terms related to the UGRR.
Discovering the Underground Railroad: Junior Ranger Activity Book
The final item in our trio of publications is the Discovering the Underground Railroad: Junior Ranger Activity Book.
Many National Parks offer visitors the opportunity to join the National Park Service Family as Junior Rangers. Interested students complete a series of activities during their park visit, share their answers with a park ranger, and receive an official Junior Ranger badge or patch and Junior Ranger certificate.
Since there is no one national park site for the Underground Railroad, the National Park Service came up with a different process with this activity book. Aspiring Underground Railroad Junior Rangers have to complete different numbers of activities in the book pertaining to their particular age level, then send the completed booklet in to the National Park Service’s Omaha office. There, “a ranger will go over your answers and then return your booklet along with an official Junior Ranger Badge for your efforts.”
This fun booklet includes activities appropriate from ages 5 to 10 and older, from word finders and mazes to essays and historical fact matching.
How can you get these Underground Railroad publications?
Buy them online 24/7 at GPO’s Online Bookstore:
Underground Railroad: Official National Park Handbook,
Browse our entire Black History Month collection of Federal publications at the GPO Online Bookstore.
Buy them at GPO’s retail bookstore at 710 North Capitol Street NW, Washington, DC 20401, open Monday-Friday, 9am to 4pm, except Federal holidays, (202) 512-0132.
Find them in a library.
Find some of the information online at the National Park Service’s National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom website.
About the Author: Michele Bartram is Promotions Manager for GPO’s Publication and Information Sales Division and is responsible for online and offline marketing of the US Government Online Bookstore (Bookstore.gpo.gov) and promoting Federal government content to the public.
This entry was posted on Monday, February 27th, 2012 at 2:01 pm and is filed under Congress, National Park Service. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
34 Responses to The Underground Railroad Leaves its Tracks in History
U Nelson says:
This is the very first time I frequented your website page and thus far I am surprised with the research you made to make this actual post extraordinary.
Nolan says:
This is a very nice article I’m doing a report about this and it has helped me tremendously. thank you!
Thanks for letting us know we were of help, Nolan! I’m sure you’ll get an “A” on your report! Best regards, Michele Bartram, Government Printing Office
The Emancipation Proclamation and its Role in GPO and African American History | Government Book Talk says:
[…] The National Park Service also has produced another children’s publication focusing on black history and mentioning the Emancipation Proclamation: Discovering the Underground Railroad: Junior Ranger Activity Book. Young children ranging from ages 5 to 10 and older are taught about the history of the Underground Railroad and the struggles African Americans endured in their quest for freedom. Activities include a wordsearch of terms related to the Civil War; a maze routing the journey to freedom; and a timeline highlighting significant events in Black History, such as the Emancipation Proclamation and much more. Upon completion of the activities, children are encouraged to send in their completed booklet for an official Jr. Ranger Badge. [Read about this and other Underground Railroad publications in our blog post: "The Underground Railroad Leaves its Tracks in History".] […]
Jacqueline Wiggins says:
I have read and used all of these sources in giving independent tours about the UGRR at Mother Bethel AME Church(African Methodist Episcopal) the Johnson House Historic Site, and where and whenever I’ve been asked to guide. These materials are well developed and very useful.
I’m glad they’ve been of use to you in giving Underground Railroad tours. Thanks for writing us!
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users to visit the web page, that’s what this web site is providing.
Federal Favorites: Our Best Selling Books of 2013 | Government Book Talk says:
[…] favorite Underground Railroad: Official Map and Guide (Read our post “The Underground Railroad Leaves its Tracks in History”) was joined by two publications commemorating 50th […]
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akxmh says:
Thanks for finally writing about >The Underground Railroad Leaves its Tracks in History | Government
Book Talk <Liked it!
Thank you guys for helping me w/ my research report on The Underground Railroad and its Greatest conductors.
We are very happy to help you! There is another coloring book related to the same time period that just came out about the history of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation that freed the slaves, called 150th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation: Commemorative Coloring Book: Forever Free.
fdgd says:
there should be some quotes
hope you guys feel good about the underground railroad am an teacher!!
SHUBER says:
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Thanks for the kind words! 🙂
Madaline says:
Funner says:
Wow, this article was excellent, with a ton of detail. I was one of those who didn’t pay attention years ago in History. So thanks for filling in all the information gaps.
Thanks for the kudos!
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Hanken2 says:
Babalola Kolawole Isaac says:
Great post, would like to read the book too.
Eli Colaizzi says:
Hi I would prefer paperback because I’m enjoy reading with leisure and anywhere I want.
[…]The Underground Railroad Leaves its Tracks in History « Government Book Talk[…]…
corporate lawyer nyc says:
I was looking up the Underground Railroad on Wikipedia and it said in one paragraph:
~Ismary Istroyer tells her story, “It were so hard to travel, all by myself. It took 89 long tiring days. I traveled through 23 swamps, and had nothing to eat, but grass, leaves, and the rare food I would get at a stationers house.”~
and then there is nothing else on the whole site about this Ismary Istroyer. I can’t even find anything about her when searching her name, only that same thing “Ismary Istroyer tells her story… etc.”
That’s really weird. I’d like to know more about this person, and why that’s all I can find on her. Does anyone know about this Ismary or where I can read about her??? I’d really like some answers. Thanks for whoever answers.
I did a little research myself about this, and you’re in luck. Ismary Istoyer is a character in a 2009 book by author Catherine Kenney Wilcoxson called “The Adventures of Captain Heman Kenney and Lady Catherine 1833-1917″. Evidently she was a fugitive slave he found on board his ship that he helped escape to Nova Scotia. I found a reference to the book on Google Books
. Hope this helps!
Another book with many harrowing tales of fugitives was written by William Still, renowned African-American abolitionist, conductor on the Underground Railroad, writer, historian and civil rights activist, who is featured in the National Park Service Handbook mentioned in our blog post. Still would write down the stories of fugitives that he assisted for posterity, eventually publishing them in a book called “The Underground Railroad”. It was described as “A Record of Facts, Authentic Narratives, Letters, &c., Narrating the Hardships, Hair-Breadth Escapes and Death Struggles of the Slaves in Their Efforts for Freedom, As Related by Themselves and Others, or Witnessed by the Author.” The entire book is available for free in various eBook formats from The Gutenberg Project.
gpojones says:
I REALLY LEARNED A LOT ABOUT THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD AND I LOVED IT.
Hot Doc: “The Underground Railroad Leaves its Tracks in History” | Zach's News says:
[…] In honor of Black History Month, GPO’s Book Talk blog explores how “The Underground Railroad Leaves its Tracks in History” with three National Park Service publications about the Underground Railroad: https://govbooktalk.gpo.gov/2012/02/27/underground-railroad/ […]
Jeff Imparato says:
Another wonderfully informative blog. Great job!
Thanks, Jeff! This was a fascinating subject, and had me reading the National Park Service’s Underground Railroad Handbook cover to cover. What a great read!
– Michele Bartram
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Goodbye GPO Access, Hello FDsys
Guest blogger Kelly Seifert, Lead Planning Specialist for GPO’s Library Services & Content Management Division, writes about the final switchover from GPO Access to FDsys, GPO’s state-of-the-art digital database of Federal information.
Farewell, GPO Access! GPO’s Federal Digital System (FDsys) is here to stay and is better than ever.
Today, March 16, 2012, marks a momentous occasion for the Government Printing Office and its groundbreaking service, GPO Access. After 16 years of keeping America informed, the GPO Access website is shutting down and been replaced by its successor, GPO’s Federal Digital System (FDsys).
Image: Switchover notice from GPO Access to FDsys
All of the information the public had access to on GPO Access and more is available through FDsys (pronounced by “those in the know” as “F – D – sis”).
While not the traditional “Government book” discussed on this blog, we at GPO thought it only appropriate to blog about a service that provides free access to a vast number of Federal Government publications. FDsys provides the American public with free online access to about 50 different collections of U.S. Government information ranging from the Code of Federal Regulations to the U.S. Government Manual to the U.S. Budget.
Image: GPO’s Federal Digital System (FDsys) home page, www.FDsys.gov
GPO Access introduced electronic access to Government information
In 1993, Congress passed the U.S. Government Printing Office Electronic Information Access Enhancement Act (Public Law 103-40), which expanded GPO’s mission to provide access to Federal Government information not only in print, but also electronically. In June 1994, in response to that legislation, GPO launched GPO Access.
FDsys takes electronic access to new levels
Even the best of information systems have to evolve. Thus it was in January 2009 that GPO unveiled the next generation of Government information online with FDsys. The countdown to the shut-down of GPO Access began on December 20, 2010, when FDsys became GPO’s official system of record for free access to information and publications from all three branches of the Federal Government. In November 2011, GPO Access entered its “archive only” state and transitioned its status to historical reference archive. From that point forward, FDsys was GPO’s only resource for access to current, updated information, and now, GPO Access has shut down for good.
Image: FDSys Advanced Search results page
FDsys offers new, improved features to find Government publications
FDsys boasts key enhancements to GPO Access that allow users from librarians to scholars, researchers, lawyers and the public to:
Easily search across multiple Government publications;
Perform advanced searches against robust metadata about each publication;
Construct complex search queries;
Refine and narrow searches;
Retrieve individual Government documents and publications in seconds directly from each search result;
View more information about a publication and access multiple file formats for each search result;
Access metadata in standard XML formats;
Download content and metadata packaged together as a single ZIP file;
Browse FDsys alphabetically by collection, by Congressional committee, by date, and by Government author; and
Utilize extensive help tools and tutorials.
Image: List of collections of Federal Government publications available on FDSys
Links to printed versions of Government publications
In addition to providing free access to almost 50 different Government publications online, FDsys also directs you to GPO’s Online Bookstore, where you can buy those same publications, if you wish to have a bound and printed official copy.
As a GPO employee who has worked extensively with FDsys, I think you will really enjoy it and the new, enhanced features that are provided by FDsys for navigating Government information.
How do I find Federal Government publications?
Search GPO’s Federal Digital System (FDsys) at www.FDsys.gov.
Search GPO’s Catalog of Government Publications (CGP) at http://catalog.gpo.gov.
Shop GPO’s Online Bookstore at http://bookstore.gpo.gov/, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year.
Visit GPO’s Retail Bookstore at 710 North Capitol Street NW, Washington, DC 20401, open Monday through Friday, 9am to 4pm, except Federal holidays. Call (202) 512-0132 for more information.
This entry was posted on Friday, March 16th, 2012 at 11:20 am and is filed under Congress, Government Printing Office (GPO), Libraries, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
11 Responses to Goodbye GPO Access, Hello FDsys
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Chanito Hancock says:
what is the difference between FDsys and GPO’s Catalog of Government Publications?
Great question! This is a good opportunity to clarify not only the differences between FDsys and the CGP (the Catalog of Government Publications), but also between FDsys and its predecessor, GPO Access.
FDSys vs. GPO Access
FDsys is GPO’s own collection that includes millions of Government documents that can be downloaded directly for free from the FDsys database, vs. merely pointing to where these documents can be found in libraries or other Federal websites, as is done in the CGP. FDsys has full-text PDF, XML, and Text files for about 50 legislative and judicial publications from the Federal Government, so you can search all Congressional Bills from many Congresses right here in one spot.
FDsys replaced GPO Access. The two web sites were comparable in that they provided free public access to the same materials. However, GPO Access was older technology that only had a very basic search engine with limited capabilities. Here are some key differences with the new FDsys database:
FDsys at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/ provides key enhancements to GPO Access, including the ability to:
• Easily search across multiple publications or collections of Government publications from a single search box
• Perform an advanced search against robust metadata about each publication from a single advanced search page
• Construct complex search queries using advanced Boolean and field operators
• Refine and narrow searches by applying filters, sorting search results, and searching within search results
• Retrieve individual Government documents and publications in seconds directly from each search result
• View more information about a publication and access multiple file formats from a “More Information” Web page that is available from each search result
• Access metadata or information about Government publications in standard formats such as MODS and PREMIS
• Download content and metadata packaged together as a single ZIP file
• Browse for a specific Government publication, and browse within the publication using its table of contents
• Utilize enhanced help options including context specific field level help and a searchable online help system.
FDsys vs. the Catalog of Government Publications (CGP)
The Catalog of Government Publications or CGP is a totally different tool than FDsys.
The CGP is a database of records, and a great finding tool, for all electronic and print publications produced by Federal agencies, not just those printed or produced at GPO. Documents of all sorts, from brochures and pamphlets to books, magazines and electronic publications are submitted to GPO by Federal agencies for cataloging. Like the online catalog (or OPAC) at your local library that contains titles held by that institution, the CGP is the online catalog for the Nation’s Federal Government publications.
As the authoritative national source for descriptive and subject cataloging for Federal Government documents, GPO then creates full bibliographic records for the Catalog. These descriptive records for both historical and current Federal publications include information about the publications, like the title, agency publisher, the GPO Superintendent of Documents (SuDocs) reference number, and how to find it in a library near you. If that same publication is accessible online from a Federal agency, the CGP will also give you a link to that.
Formerly the Catalog of Government Publications was available as a print catalog, but now is offered online only through the CGP website, http://catalog.gpo.gov, that is maintained by GPO and is searchable by both the public and libraries. GPO also uploads its records into Worldcat.org, a worldwide bibliographic database accessible from http://www.worldcat.org.
The CGP functions as a catalog and index and searches GPO-created records. FDsys, on the other hand, is a content management and preservation system that is searchable. Content files (and their associated metadata records) reside in FDsys. When one searches FDsys, metadata records as well as the full text of the content are searched.
The CGP and FDsys can be searched simultaneously by using MetaLib, an associated service of the CGP. You can search MetaLib from: http://metalib.gpo.gov/.
For more questions about any of these services, please contact our Library Services and Content Management Division (LSCM) via the askGPO Service.
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Qet Altafi says:
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randi_113 says:
Can you tell us more about this? I’d love to find out some additional information.
To find more about FDSys, you can visit its home page at
Joel Reeves says:
GPO AXES: I saw your birth, but I am still not sure who your father is. Enjoy your early retirement, most of us have work at least 30 years before they let us go.
armansyahardanis says:
Welcome FDsys, Thank you for The Father of Constitution., and now, GPO Access has moved on to greener pastures.
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Artwork: Chris Labrooy, Braun, Toaster
How Smart, Connected Products Are Transforming Competition
Michael E. Porter
James E. Heppelmann
From the November 2014 Issue
Reprint: R1411C
Information technology is revolutionizing products, from appliances to cars to mining equipment. Products once composed solely of mechanical and electrical parts have become complex systems combining hardware, sensors, electronics, and software that connect through the internet in myriad ways. These “smart, connected products” offer exponentially expanding opportunities for new functionality, far greater reliability, and capabilities that cut across and transcend traditional product boundaries.
The changing nature of products is disrupting value chains, argue Michael Porter and PTC CEO James Heppelmann, and forcing companies to rethink nearly everything they do, from how they conceive, design, and source their products; to how they manufacture, operate, and service them; to how they build and secure the necessary IT infrastructure.
Smart, connected products raise a broad set of new strategic choices for companies about how value is created and captured, how to work with traditional partners and what new partnerships will be required, and how to secure competitive advantage as the new capabilities reshape industry boundaries. For many firms, smart, connected products will force the fundamental question: “What business am I in?” This article provides a framework for developing strategy and achieving competitive advantage in a smart, connected world.
Information technology is revolutionizing products. Once composed solely of mechanical and electrical parts, products have become complex systems that combine hardware, sensors, data storage, microprocessors, software, and connectivity in myriad ways. These “smart, connected products”—made possible by vast improvements in processing power and device miniaturization and by the network benefits of ubiquitous wireless connectivity—have unleashed a new era of competition.
Smart, connected products offer exponentially expanding opportunities for new functionality, far greater reliability, much higher product utilization, and capabilities that cut across and transcend traditional product boundaries. The changing nature of products is also disrupting value chains, forcing companies to rethink and retool nearly everything they do internally.
Strategic Choices in Building the Smart, Connected Mine
Competitive Strategy Feature
Visit our companion case study and video on how Joy Global’s smart, connected mining equipment transforms mine performance.
These new types of products alter industry structure and the nature of competition, exposing companies to new competitive opportunities and threats. They are reshaping industry boundaries and creating entirely new industries. In many companies, smart, connected products will force the fundamental question, “What business am I in?”
Smart, connected products raise a new set of strategic choices related to how value is created and captured, how the prodigious amount of new (and sensitive) data they generate is utilized and managed, how relationships with traditional business partners such as channels are redefined, and what role companies should play as industry boundaries are expanded.
The phrase “internet of things” has arisen to reflect the growing number of smart, connected products and highlight the new opportunities they can represent. Yet this phrase is not very helpful in understanding the phenomenon or its implications. The internet, whether involving people or things, is simply a mechanism for transmitting information. What makes smart, connected products fundamentally different is not the internet, but the changing nature of the “things.” It is the expanded capabilities of smart, connected products and the data they generate that are ushering in a new era of competition. Companies must look beyond the technologies themselves to the competitive transformation taking place. This article, and a companion piece to be published soon in HBR, will deconstruct the smart, connected products revolution and explore its strategic and operational implications.
The Third Wave of IT-Driven Competition
Twice before over the past 50 years, information technology radically reshaped competition and strategy; we now stand at the brink of a third transformation. Before the advent of modern information technology, products were mechanical and activities in the value chain were performed using manual, paper processes and verbal communication. The first wave of IT, during the 1960s and 1970s, automated individual activities in the value chain, from order processing and bill paying to computer-aided design and manufacturing resource planning. (See “How Information Gives You Competitive Advantage,” by Michael Porter and Victor Millar, HBR, July 1985.) The productivity of activities dramatically increased, in part because huge amounts of new data could be captured and analyzed in each activity. This led to the standardization of processes across companies—and raised a dilemma for companies about how to capture IT’s operational benefits while maintaining distinctive strategies.
Smart, Connected Mining
<span>How Joy Global's smart, connected heavy machinery optimizes mine performance and safety.</span>
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The rise of the internet, with its inexpensive and ubiquitous connectivity, unleashed the second wave of IT-driven transformation, in the 1980s and 1990s (see Michael Porter’s “Strategy and the Internet,” HBR, March 2001). This enabled coordination and integration across individual activities; with outside suppliers, channels, and customers; and across geography. It allowed firms, for example, to closely integrate globally distributed supply chains.
The first two waves gave rise to huge productivity gains and growth across the economy. While the value chain was transformed, however, products themselves were largely unaffected.
Now, in the third wave, IT is becoming an integral part of the product itself. Embedded sensors, processors, software, and connectivity in products (in effect, computers are being put inside products), coupled with a product cloud in which product data is stored and analyzed and some applications are run, are driving dramatic improvements in product functionality and performance. Massive amounts of new product-usage data enable many of those improvements.
Another leap in productivity in the economy will be unleashed by these new and better products. In addition, producing them will reshape the value chain yet again, by changing product design, marketing, manufacturing, and after-sale service and by creating the need for new activities such as product data analytics and security. This will drive yet another wave of value-chain-based productivity improvement. The third wave of IT-driven transformation thus has the potential to be the biggest yet, triggering even more innovation, productivity gains, and economic growth than the previous two.
Some have suggested that the internet of things “changes everything,” but that is a dangerous oversimplification. As with the internet itself, smart, connected products reflect a whole new set of technological possibilities that have emerged. But the rules of competition and competitive advantage remain the same. Navigating the world of smart, connected products requires that companies understand these rules better than ever.
What Are Smart, Connected Products?
Smart, connected products have three core elements: physical components, “smart” components, and connectivity components. Smart components amplify the capabilities and value of the physical components, while connectivity amplifies the capabilities and value of the smart components and enables some of them to exist outside the physical product itself. The result is a virtuous cycle of value improvement.
Some have suggested that the internet of things “changes everything,” but that is a dangerous oversimplification.
Physical components comprise the product’s mechanical and electrical parts. In a car, for example, these include the engine block, tires, and batteries.
Smart components comprise the sensors, microprocessors, data storage, controls, software, and, typically, an embedded operating system and enhanced user interface. In a car, for example, smart components include the engine control unit, antilock braking system, rain-sensing windshields with automated wipers, and touch screen displays. In many products, software replaces some hardware components or enables a single physical device to perform at a variety of levels.
Connectivity components comprise the ports, antennae, and protocols enabling wired or wireless connections with the product. Connectivity takes three forms, which can be present together:
One-to-one: An individual product connects to the user, the manufacturer, or another product through a port or other interface—for example, when a car is hooked up to a diagnostic machine.
One-to-many: A central system is continuously or intermittently connected to many products simultaneously. For example, many Tesla automobiles are connected to a single manufacturer system that monitors performance and accomplishes remote service and upgrades.
Many-to-many: Multiple products connect to many other types of products and often also to external data sources. An array of types of farm equipment are connected to one another, and to geolocation data, to coordinate and optimize the farm system. For example, automated tillers inject nitrogen fertilizer at precise depths and intervals, and seeders follow, placing corn seeds directly in the fertilized soil.
Connectivity serves a dual purpose. First, it allows information to be exchanged between the product and its operating environment, its maker, its users, and other products and systems. Second, connectivity enables some functions of the product to exist outside the physical device, in what is known as the product cloud. For example, in Bose’s new Wi-Fi system, a smartphone application running in the product cloud streams music to the system from the internet. To achieve high levels of functionality, all three types of connectivity are necessary.
Smart, connected products are emerging across all manufacturing sectors. In heavy machinery, Schindler’s PORT Technology reduces elevator wait times by as much as 50% by predicting elevator demand patterns, calculating the fastest time to destination, and assigning the appropriate elevator to move passengers quickly. In the energy sector, ABB’s smart grid technology enables utilities to analyze huge amounts of real-time data across a wide range of generating, transforming, and distribution equipment (manufactured by ABB as well as others), such as changes in the temperature of transformers and secondary substations. This alerts utility control centers to possible overload conditions, allowing adjustments that can prevent blackouts before they occur. In consumer goods, Big Ass ceiling fans sense and engage automatically when a person enters a room, regulate speed on the basis of temperature and humidity, and recognize individual user preferences and adjust accordingly.
Digital Ubiquity
Technology & Operations Feature
Marco Iansiti and Karim R. Lakhani
How connections, sensors, and data are revolutionizing business.
Why now? An array of innovations across the technology landscape have converged to make smart, connected products technically and economically feasible. These include breakthroughs in the performance, miniaturization, and energy efficiency of sensors and batteries; highly compact, low-cost computer processing power and data storage, which make it feasible to put computers inside products; cheap connectivity ports and ubiquitous, low-cost wireless connectivity; tools that enable rapid software development; big data analytics; and a new IPv6 internet registration system opening up 340 trillion trillion trillion potential new internet addresses for individual devices, with protocols that support greater security, simplify handoffs as devices move across networks, and allow devices to request addresses autonomously without the need for IT support.
Smart, connected products require that companies build an entirely new technology infrastructure, consisting of a series of layers known as a “technology stack” (see the exhibit “The New Technology Stack”). This includes modified hardware, software applications, and an operating system embedded in the product itself; network communications to support connectivity; and a product cloud (software running on the manufacturer’s or a third-party server) containing the product-data database, a platform for building software applications, a rules engine and analytics platform, and smart product applications that are not embedded in the product. Cutting across all the layers is an identity and security structure, a gateway for accessing external data, and tools that connect the data from smart, connected products to other business systems (for example, ERP and CRM systems).
The New Technology Stack
Smart, connected products require companies to build and support an entirely new technology infrastructure. This “technology stack” is made up of multiple layers, including new product hardware, embedded software, connectivity, a product cloud consisting of software running on remote servers, a suite of security tools, a gateway for external information sources, and integration with enterprise business systems.
Source “How Smart, Connected Products Are Transforming Competition,” HBR, November 2014
Find this and other HBR graphics in our Visual Library
This technology enables not only rapid product application development and operation but the collection, analysis, and sharing of the potentially huge amounts of longitudinal data generated inside and outside the products that has never been available before. Building and supporting the technology stack for smart, connected products requires substantial investment and a range of new skills—such as software development, systems engineering, data analytics, and online security expertise—that are rarely found in manufacturing companies.
What Can Smart, Connected Products Do?
Intelligence and connectivity enable an entirely new set of product functions and capabilities, which can be grouped into four areas: monitoring, control, optimization, and autonomy. A product can potentially incorporate all four (see the exhibit “Capabilities of Smart, Connected Products”). Each capability is valuable in its own right and also sets the stage for the next level. For example, monitoring capabilities are the foundation for product control, optimization, and autonomy. A company must choose the set of capabilities that deliver its customer value and define its competitive positioning.
Capabilities of Smart, Connected Products
The capabilities of smart, connected products can be grouped into four areas: monitoring, control, optimization, and autonomy. Each builds on the preceding one; to have control capability, for example, a product must have monitoring capability.
Smart, connected products enable the comprehensive monitoring of a product’s condition, operation, and external environment through sensors and external data sources. Using data, a product can alert users or others to changes in circumstances or performance. Monitoring also allows companies and customers to track a product’s operating characteristics and history and to better understand how the product is actually used. This data has important implications for design (by reducing overengineering, for example), market segmentation (through the analysis of usage patterns by customer type), and after-sale service (by allowing the dispatch of the right technician with the right part, thus improving the first-time fix rate). Monitoring data may also reveal warranty compliance issues as well as new sales opportunities, such as the need for additional product capacity because of high utilization.
In some cases, such as medical devices, monitoring is the core element of value creation. Medtronic’s digital blood-glucose meter uses a sensor inserted under the patient’s skin to measure glucose levels in tissue fluid and connects wirelessly to a device that alerts patients and clinicians up to 30 minutes before a patient reaches a threshold blood-glucose level, enabling appropriate therapy adjustments.
Monitoring capabilities can span multiple products across distances. Joy Global, a leading mining equipment manufacturer, monitors operating conditions, safety parameters, and predictive service indicators for entire fleets of equipment far underground. Joy also monitors operating parameters across multiple mines in different countries for benchmarking purposes.
Control.
Smart, connected products can be controlled through remote commands or algorithms that are built into the device or reside in the product cloud. Algorithms are rules that direct the product to respond to specified changes in its condition or environment (for example, “if pressure gets too high, shut off the valve” or “when traffic in a parking garage reaches a certain level, turn the overhead lighting on or off”).
Control through software embedded in the product or the cloud allows the customization of product performance to a degree that previously was not cost effective or often even possible. The same technology also enables users to control and personalize their interaction with the product in many new ways. For example, users can adjust their Philips Lighting hue lightbulbs via smartphone, turning them on and off, programming them to blink red if an intruder is detected, or dimming them slowly at night. Doorbot, a smart, connected doorbell and lock, allows customers to give visitors access to the home remotely after screening them on their smartphones.
The rich flow of monitoring data from smart, connected products, coupled with the capacity to control product operation, allows companies to optimize product performance in numerous ways, many of which have not been previously possible. Smart, connected products can apply algorithms and analytics to in-use or historical data to dramatically improve output, utilization, and efficiency. In wind turbines, for instance, a local microcontroller can adjust each blade on every revolution to capture maximum wind energy. And each turbine can be adjusted to not only improve its performance but minimize its impact on the efficiency of those nearby.
Real-time monitoring data on product condition and product control capability enables firms to optimize service by performing preventative maintenance when failure is imminent and accomplishing repairs remotely, thereby reducing product downtime and the need to dispatch repair personnel. Even when on-site repair is required, advance information about what is broken, what parts are needed, and how to accomplish the fix reduces service costs and improves first-time fix rates. Diebold, for example, monitors many of its automated teller machines for early signs of trouble. After assessing a malfunctioning ATM’s status, the machine is repaired remotely if possible, or the company deploys a technician who has been given a detailed diagnosis of the problem, a recommended repair process, and, often, the needed parts. Finally, like many smart, connected products, Diebold’s ATMs can be updated when they are due for feature enhancements. Often these can occur remotely, via software.
Autonomy.
Monitoring, control, and optimization capabilities combine to allow smart, connected products to achieve a previously unattainable level of autonomy. At the simplest level is autonomous product operation like that of the iRobot Roomba, a vacuum cleaner that uses sensors and software to scan and clean floors in rooms with different layouts. More-sophisticated products are able to learn about their environment, self-diagnose their own service needs, and adapt to users’ preferences. Autonomy not only can reduce the need for operators but can improve safety in dangerous environments and facilitate operation in remote locations.
Autonomous products can also act in coordination with other products and systems. The value of these capabilities can grow exponentially as more and more products become connected. For example, the energy efficiency of the electric grid increases as more smart meters are connected, allowing the utility to gain insight into and respond to demand patterns over time.
Ultimately, products can function with complete autonomy, applying algorithms that utilize data about their performance and their environment—including the activity of other products in the system—and leveraging their ability to communicate with other products. Human operators merely monitor performance or watch over the fleet or the system, rather than individual units. Joy Global’s Longwall Mining System, for example, is able to operate autonomously far underground, overseen by a mine control center on the surface. Equipment is monitored continuously for performance and faults, and technicians are dispatched underground to deal with issues requiring human intervention.
Reshaping Industry Structure
To understand the effects of smart, connected products on industry competition and profitability, we must examine their impact on industry structure. In any industry, competition is driven by five competitive forces: the bargaining power of buyers, the nature and intensity of the rivalry among existing competitors, the threat of new entrants, the threat of substitute products or services, and the bargaining power of suppliers. The composition and strength of these forces collectively determine the nature of industry competition and the average profitability for incumbent competitors. Industry structure changes when new technology, customer needs, or other factors shift these five forces. Smart, connected products will substantially affect structure in many industries, as did the previous wave of internet-enabled IT. The effects will be greatest in manufacturing industries.
The Five Forces That Shape Industry Competition
Smart, connected products will have a transformative effect on industry structure. The five forces that shape competition provide the framework necessary for understanding the significance of these changes.
Bargaining power of buyers.
Smart, connected products dramatically expand opportunities for product differentiation, moving competition away from price alone. Knowing how customers actually use the products enhances a company’s ability to segment customers, customize products, set prices to better capture value, and extend value-added services. Smart, connected products also allow companies to develop much closer customer relationships. Through capturing rich historical and product-usage data, buyers’ costs of switching to a new supplier increase. In addition, smart, connected products allow firms to reduce their dependency on distribution or service partners, or even disintermediate them, thereby capturing more profit. All of this serves to mitigate or reduce buyers’ bargaining power.
GE Aviation, for example, is now able to provide more services to end users directly—a move that improves its power relative to its immediate customers, the airframe manufacturers. Information gathered from hundreds of engine sensors, for example, allows GE and airlines to optimize engine performance by identifying discrepancies between expected and actual performance. GE’s analysis of fuel-use data, for example, allowed the Italian airline Alitalia to identify changes to its flight procedures, such as the position of wing flaps during landing, that reduced fuel use. GE’s deep relationship with the airlines serves to improve differentiation with them while improving its clout with airframe manufacturers.
However, smart, connected products can increase buyer power by giving buyers a better understanding of true product performance, allowing them to play one manufacturer off another. Buyers may also find that having access to product usage data can decrease their reliance on the manufacturer for advice and support. Finally, compared with ownership models, “product as a service” business models or product-sharing services (discussed below) can increase buyers’ power by reducing the cost of switching to a new manufacturer.
Rivalry among competitors.
Smart, connected products have the potential to shift rivalry, opening up numerous new avenues for differentiation and value-added services. These products also enable firms to tailor offerings to more-specific segments of the market, and even customize products for individual customers, further enhancing differentiation and price realization.
Smart, connected products also create opportunities to broaden the value proposition beyond products per se, to include valuable data and enhanced service offerings. Babolat, for example, has produced tennis rackets and related equipment for 140 years. With its new Babolat Play Pure Drive system, which puts sensors and connectivity in the racket handle, the company now offers a service to help players improve their game through the tracking and analysis of ball speed, spin, and impact location, delivered through a smartphone application.
Offsetting this shift in rivalry away from price is the migration of the cost structure of smart, connected products toward higher fixed costs and lower variable costs. This results from the higher upfront costs of software development, more-complex product design, and high fixed costs of developing the technology stack, including reliable connectivity, robust data storage, analytics, and security (see again the exhibit “The New Technology Stack”). Industries with high fixed cost structures are vulnerable to price pressure as firms seek to spread their fixed costs across a larger number of units sold.
The huge expansion of capabilities in smart, connected products may also tempt companies to get into a feature and function arms race with rivals and give away too much of the improved product performance, a dynamic that escalates costs and erodes industry profitability.
Finally, rivalry among competitors can also increase as smart, connected products become part of broader product systems, a trend we will discuss further. For example, manufacturers of home lighting, audiovisual entertainment equipment, and climate control systems have not historically competed with one another. Yet each is now vying for a place in the emerging “connected home” that integrates and adds intelligence to a wide array of products in the home.
Threat of new entrants.
New entrants in a smart, connected world face significant new obstacles, starting with the high fixed costs of more-complex product design, embedded technology, and multiple layers of new IT infrastructure. For example, Thermo Fisher’s TruDefender FTi chemical analyzer added connectivity to a product that already had smart functionality, to enable chemical analysis from hazardous environments to be transmitted to users and mitigation to begin without having to wait for the machine and personnel to be decontaminated. Thermo Fisher needed to build a complete product cloud to securely capture, analyze, and store product data and distribute it both internally and to customers, a substantial undertaking.
Smart, connected products ultimately can function with complete autonomy. Human operators merely monitor performance or watch over the fleet or the system, rather than over individual units.
Broadening product definitions can raise barriers to entrants even higher. Biotronik, a medical device company, initially manufactured stand-alone pacemakers, insulin pumps, and other devices. Now it offers smart, connected devices, such as a home health-monitoring system that includes a data processing center that allows physicians to remotely monitor their patients’ devices and clinical status.
Barriers to entry also rise when agile incumbents capture critical first-mover advantages by collecting and accumulating product data and using it to improve products and services and to redefine after-sale service. Smart, connected products can also increase buyer loyalty and switching costs, further raising barriers to entry.
Barriers to entry go down, however, when smart, connected products leapfrog or invalidate the strengths and assets of incumbents. Moreover, incumbents may hesitate to fully embrace the capabilities of smart, connected products, preferring to protect hardware-based strengths and profitable legacy parts and service businesses. This opens the door to new competitors, such as the “productless” OnFarm, which is successfully competing with traditional agricultural equipment makers to provide services to farmers through collecting data on multiple types of farm equipment to help growers make better decisions, avoiding the need to be an equipment manufacturer at all. In home automation, Crestron, an integration solution provider, offers complex, dedicated home systems with rich user interfaces. Product companies are also facing challenges from other nontraditional competitors like Apple, which recently launched a simpler, smartphone-based approach to managing the connected home.
Threat of substitutes.
Smart, connected products can offer superior performance, customization, and customer value relative to traditional substitute products, reducing substitution threats and improving industry growth and profitability. However, in many industries smart, connected products create new types of substitution threats, such as wider product capabilities that subsume conventional products. For example, Fitbit’s wearable fitness device, which captures multiple types of health-related data including activity levels and sleep patterns, is a substitute for conventional devices such as running watches and pedometers.
New business models enabled by smart, connected products can create a substitute for product ownership, reducing overall demand for a product. Product-as-a-service business models, for example, allow users to have full access to a product but pay only for the amount of product they use.
Essential Background
The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy
They determine the long-run profitability of any industry.
A variation of product-as-a-service is the shared-usage model. Zipcar, for example, provides customers with real-time access to vehicles when and where they need them. This substitutes for car ownership and has led traditional automakers to enter the car-sharing market with offerings such as RelayRides from GM, DriveNow from BMW, and Dash from Toyota.
Another example is shared bike systems, which are springing up in more and more cities. A smartphone application shows the location of docking stations where bikes can be picked up and returned, and users are monitored and charged for the amount of time they use the bikes. Clearly, shared usage will reduce the need for urban residents to own bikes, but it may encourage more residents to use bikes since they do not have to buy and store them. Convenient shared bikes will be a substitute not only for purchased bikes but potentially for cars and other forms of urban transportation. Smart, connected capabilities make such substitutions for full ownership possible.
Bargaining power of suppliers.
Smart, connected products are shaking up traditional supplier relationships and redistributing bargaining power. As the smart and connectivity components of products deliver more value relative to physical components, the physical components can be commoditized or even replaced by software over time. Software also reduces the need for physical tailoring and hence the number of physical component varieties. The importance of traditional suppliers to total product cost will often decline, and their bargaining power will fall.
However, smart, connected products often introduce powerful new suppliers that manufacturers have never needed before: providers of sensors, software, connectivity, embedded operating systems, and data storage, analytics, and other parts of the technology stack. Some of these, like Google, Apple, and AT&T, are giants in their own industries. They have talent and capabilities that most manufacturing companies have not historically needed but that are becoming essential to product differentiation and cost. The bargaining power of those new suppliers can be high, allowing them to capture a bigger share of overall product value and reduce manufacturers’ profitability.
A good example of these new types of suppliers is the Open Automotive Alliance, in which General Motors, Honda, Audi, and Hyundai recently joined forces to utilize Google’s Android operating system for their vehicles. The auto OEMs lacked the specialized capabilities needed to develop a robust embedded operating system that delivers an excellent user experience while enabling an ecosystem of developers to build applications. Auto OEMs’ traditional clout relative to suppliers is greatly diminished with suppliers like Google, which have not only substantial resources and expertise but also strong consumer brands and numerous related applications (for example, consumers may prefer a car that can sync with their smartphone, music, and apps).
New suppliers of the technology stack for smart, connected products may also gain greater leverage given their relationships with end users and access to product usage data. As suppliers capture product usage data from end users, they can also provide new services to them, as GE has done with Alitalia.
New Industry Boundaries and Systems of Systems
The powerful capabilities of smart, connected products not only reshape competition within an industry, but they can expand the very definition of the industry itself. The competitive boundaries of an industry widen to encompass a set of related products that together meet a broader underlying need. The function of one product is optimized with other related products. For example, integrating smart, connected farm equipment—such as tractors, tillers, and planters—can enable better overall equipment performance.
The basis of competition thus shifts from the functionality of a discrete product to the performance of the broader product system, in which the firm is just one actor. The manufacturer can now offer a package of connected equipment and related services that optimize overall results. Thus in the farm example, the industry expands from tractor manufacturing to farm equipment optimization. In mining, Joy Global has shifted from optimizing the performance of individual pieces of mining equipment to optimizing across the fleet of equipment deployed in the mine. Industry boundaries expand from discrete types of mining machines to mining equipment systems.
Redefining Industry Boundaries
The increasing capabilities of smart, connected products not only reshape competition within industries but expand industry boundaries. This occurs as the basis of competition shifts from discrete products, to product systems consisting of closely related products, to systems of systems that link an array of product systems together. A tractor company, for example, may find itself competing in a broader farm automation industry.
Increasingly, however, industry boundaries are expanding even beyond product systems to systems of systems—that is, a set of disparate product systems as well as related external information that can be coordinated and optimized, such as a smart building, a smart home, or a smart city. John Deere and AGCO, for example, are beginning to connect not only farm machinery but irrigation systems and soil and nutrient sources with information on weather, crop prices, and commodity futures to optimize overall farm performance. Smart homes, which involve numerous product systems including lighting, HVAC, entertainment, and security, are another example. Companies whose products and designs have the greatest impact on total system performance will be in the best position to drive this process and capture disproportionate value.
Some companies—like John Deere, AGCO, and Joy Global—are intentionally seeking to broaden and redefine their industries. Others may find themselves threatened by this development, which creates new competitors, new bases for competition, and the need for entirely new and broader capabilities. Companies that fail to adapt may find their traditional products becoming commoditized or may themselves be relegated to the role of OEM supplier, with system integrators in control.
The net effect of smart, connected products on industry structure will vary across industries, but some tendencies seem clear. First, rising barriers to entry, coupled with first-mover advantages stemming from the early accumulation and analysis of product usage data, suggests that many industries may undergo consolidation.
Second, consolidation pressures will be amplified in industries whose boundaries are expanding. In such cases, single product manufacturers will have difficulty competing with multiproduct companies that can optimize product performance across broader systems. Third, important new entrants are likely to emerge, as companies unencumbered by legacy product definitions and entrenched ways of competing, and with no historical profit pools to protect, seize opportunities to leverage the full potential of smart, connected products to create value. Some of these strategies will be “productless”—that is, the system that connects products will be the core advantage, not the products themselves.
Smart, Connected Products and Competitive Advantage
How can companies achieve sustainable competitive advantage in a shifting industry structure? The basic tenets of strategy still apply. To achieve competitive advantage, a company must be able to differentiate itself and thus command a price premium, operate at a lower cost than its rivals, or both. This allows for superior profitability and growth relative to the industry average.
The foundation for competitive advantage is operational effectiveness (OE). OE requires embracing best practices across the value chain, including up-to-date product technologies, the latest production equipment, and state-of-the-art sales force methods, IT solutions, and supply chain management approaches.
OE is the table stakes of competition. If a company is not operationally effective and continually embracing new best practices, it will fall behind rivals in cost and quality. Yet OE is rarely a source of sustainable advantage, because competitors will implement the same best practices and catch up.
To move beyond OE, a company must define a distinctive strategic positioning. Whereas operational effectiveness is about doing things well, strategic positioning is about doing things differently. A company must choose how it will deliver unique value to the set of customers it chooses to serve. Strategy requires making trade-offs: deciding not only what to do but what not to do.
Smart, connected products are defining a new standard for operational effectiveness, dramatically raising the bar in terms of best practices. Every product company will have to decide how to incorporate smart, connected capabilities into its products. But not only the product itself is being affected. As we discussed earlier, the move to smart, connected products also creates new best practices across the value chain.
The implications of smart, connected products for the value chain will be discussed in detail in the second article in this series (see the sidebar “Charting the Impact on Competition”). Here we focus briefly on how smart, connected products affect product design, service, marketing, human resources, and security, because these shifting internal activities often bear directly on strategy choices.
Charting the Impact on Competition
This article is the first in a two-part series in which we examine how smart, connected products are shifting competition in many industries. At the most fundamental level, companies must ask four questions:
1. How does the move to smart, connected products affect the structure of the industry and industry boundaries?
2. How do smart, connected products affect the configuration of the value chain or the set of activities required to compete?
3. What new types of strategic choices will smart, connected products require companies to make to achieve competitive advantage?
4. What are the organizational implications of embracing these new types of products and the challenges that affect implementation success?
In this article, we examine the effect of smart, connected products on industry structure and industry boundaries and discuss the new strategic choices facing companies. In part two (forthcoming), we examine value chain impacts and organizational issues.
(Disclosure: PTC does business with more than 28,000 companies worldwide, many of which are mentioned in this article.)
Smart, connected products require a whole set of new design principles, such as designs that achieve hardware standardization through software-based customization, designs that enable personalization, designs that incorporate the ability to support ongoing product upgrades, and designs that enable predictive, enhanced, or remote service. Expertise in systems engineering and in agile software development is essential to integrate a product’s hardware, electronics, software, operating system, and connectivity components—expertise that is not well developed in many manufacturing companies. Product development processes will also need to accommodate more late-stage and post-purchase design changes quickly and efficiently. Companies will need to synchronize the very different “clock speeds” of hardware and software development; a software development team might create as many as 10 iterations of an application in the time it takes to generate a single new version of the hardware on which it runs.
After-sale service.
Smart, connected products offer major improvements in predictive maintenance and service productivity. New service organizational structures and delivery processes are required to take advantage of product data that can reveal existing and future problems and enable companies to make timely, and sometimes remote, repairs. Real-time product usage and performance data allows substantial reductions in field-service dispatch costs and major efficiencies in spare-parts inventory control. Early warnings about impending failure of parts or components can reduce breakdowns and allow more efficient service scheduling. Data on product usage and performance can feed insights back to product design, so that firms can reduce future product failures and associated service required. Product usage data can also be used to validate warranty claims and identify warranty agreement violations.
Joy Global
Smart, connected mining machines such as this Joy Global longwall shearer autonomously coordinate with other equipment to improve mining efficiency.
In some cases, firms can decrease service costs by replacing physical parts with “software parts.” For example, glass cockpit LCD displays in modern aircraft, which can be repaired or upgraded via software, have replaced electrical and mechanical dials and gauges. Product usage data also enables firms to better “design for service”—that is, reduce the complexity or placement of parts that are prone to failure in order to simplify repairs. All these opportunities change the service activities in the value chain substantially.
Smart, connected products allow companies to form new kinds of relationships with customers, requiring new marketing practices and skill sets. As companies accumulate and analyze product usage data, they gain new insights into how products create value for customers, allowing better positioning of offerings and more effective communication of product value to customers. Using data analytics tools, firms can segment their markets in more-sophisticated ways, tailor product and service bundles that deliver greater value to each segment, and price those bundles to capture more of that value. This approach works best when products can be quickly and efficiently tailored at low marginal cost through software (as opposed to hardware) variation. For example, whereas John Deere used to manufacture multiple engines with different levels of horsepower to serve different customer segments, it now can modify the horsepower rating on the same engine using software alone.
Smart, connected products create major new human resource requirements and challenges. The most urgent of these is the need to recruit new skill sets, many of which are in high demand. Engineering departments, traditionally staffed with mechanical engineers, must add talent in software development, systems engineering, product clouds, big data analytics, and other areas.
Smart, connected products create the need for robust security management to protect the data flowing to, from, and between products; protect products against unauthorized use; and secure access between the product technology stack and other corporate systems. This will require new authentication processes, secure storage of product data, protections against hackers for both product data and customer data, definition and control of access privileges, and protections for products themselves from hackers and unauthorized use.
Implications for Strategy
The path to competitive advantage ultimately rests on strategy. Our research reveals that in a smart, connected world companies face 10 new strategic choices. Each choice involves trade-offs, and each must reflect a company’s unique circumstances. The choices are also interdependent. The company’s entire set of choices must reinforce one another and define a coherent and distinctive overall strategic positioning for the company.
1. Which set of smart, connected product capabilities and features should the company pursue?
Smart, connected products dramatically expand the range of potential product capabilities and features. Companies may be tempted to add as many new features as possible, especially given the often low marginal cost of adding more sensors and new software applications, and the largely fixed costs of the product cloud and other infrastructure. But just because a company can offer many new capabilities does not mean that their value to customers exceeds their cost. And when companies get into a features and capabilities arms race, they end up blurring strategic differences and creating zero-sum competition.
A Tesla vehicle in need of repairs can autonomously call for a corrective software download, or, if necessary, send a notification to the customer with an invitation for a valet to pick up the car and deliver it to a Tesla facility.
How should a company determine which smart, connected capabilities to offer? First, it must decide which features will deliver real value to customers relative to their cost. In residential water heaters, A.O. Smith has developed capabilities for fault monitoring and notification, but water heaters are so long-lived and reliable that few households are willing to pay enough for these features to justify their current cost. Consequently, A.O. Smith offers them as options on only a few models. In commercial water heaters and boilers, however, adoption of such capabilities is high and rising. The value of remote monitoring and operation to commercial customers that often cannot operate without heat and hot water is high relative to their cost, and so these features are becoming standard. Note that the cost of incorporating smart, connected product features will tend to fall over time, as is the case in water heaters and boilers. When deciding what features to offer, then, companies must continually revisit the value equation.
Second, the value of features or capabilities will vary by market segment, and so the selection of features a company offers will depend on what segments it chooses to serve. Schneider Electric, for example, makes building products as well as integrated building management solutions that gather volumes of data about energy consumption and other building performance metrics. For one segment of customers, Schneider’s solution involves remote equipment monitoring, alerts, and advisory services in reducing energy use and other costs. For the segment of customers that want a fully outsourced solution, however, Schneider actually takes over remote control of equipment to minimize energy consumption on customers’ behalf.
Third, a company should incorporate those capabilities and features that reinforce its competitive positioning. A company competing with a high-end strategy can often reinforce differentiation through extensive features, while a low-cost competitor may choose to include only the most basic features that affect core product performance and that lower the cost of operation. For example, A.O. Smith’s Lochinvar boiler unit, which competes using a highly differentiated strategy, has made extensive smart, connected product features standard on its core products. In contrast, Rolex, the luxury watch maker, has decided that smart, connected capabilities are not an area in which it will compete.
2. How much functionality should be embedded in the product and how much in the cloud?
Once a company has decided which capabilities to offer, it must decide whether the enabling technology for each feature should be embedded in the product (raising the cost of every product), delivered through the product cloud, or both. In addition to cost, a number of factors should be taken into consideration.
Response time.
A feature that requires quick response times, such as a safety shutdown in a nuclear power plant, requires that the software be embedded in the physical product. This also reduces the risk that lost or degraded connectivity slows down response.
Products that are fully automated, such as antilock brakes, usually require that greater functionality be embedded into the device.
Network availability, reliability, and security.
Embedding software in the product minimizes dependence on network availability and the amount of data that must flow from the product to cloud-based applications, lowering the risk that sensitive or confidential data will be compromised during transmission.
Location of product use.
Companies that operate products in remote or hazardous locations can mitigate the associated dangers and costs by hosting functionality in the product cloud. As discussed above, Thermo Fisher’s chemical analyzers, used in hazardous or toxic environments, have cloud-based capabilities and connectivity that enable the instantaneous transmission of contamination data and allow the immediate initiation of mitigation efforts.
Nature of user interface.
If the product’s user interface is complex and is changed frequently, the interface may be best located in the cloud. The cloud offers the ability to deliver a much richer user experience and potentially to take advantage of an existing, familiar, and robust user interface like a smartphone.
Frequency of service or product upgrades.
Cloud-based applications and interfaces allow companies to make product changes and upgrades easily and automatically.
Home audio equipment maker Sonos, a smart, connected products pioneer, takes advantage of cloud-based capability to “reinvent home audio for the digital age,” putting a premium on convenience, variety of music, and ease of use. The company’s wireless systems place both the music source and the user interface in the cloud, enabling Sonos to simplify its products’ physical design: The portable device, which is controlled from a smartphone, contains only the amplifier and speaker. With this offering, Sonos attempted to disrupt the home audio market. The trade-off? Wireless streamed audio systems do not deliver the level of sound quality that true audiophiles demand. Competitors such as Bose will make different choices and trade-offs to secure their competitive differentiation.
We believe that as smart, connected products evolve, more human-machine interface capabilities may well move out of the product and into the cloud. However, the complexity facing users in operating these interfaces will increase. User interfaces may often overshoot in complexity, and user backlash may drive firms to restore simpler, easy-to-use interfaces for common functions, including on/off controls.
3. Should the company pursue an open or closed system?
Smart, connected products involve multiple types of functionality and services, and are often systems encompassing multiple products. A closed system approach aims to have customers purchase the entire smart, connected product system from a single manufacturer. Key interfaces are proprietary, and only chosen parties gain access. The operating data that GE gathers from its aircraft engines, for example, is available only to the airlines operating the engines. An open system, by contrast, enables the end customer to assemble the parts of the solution—both the products involved and the platform that ties the system together—from different companies. Here, the interfaces enabling access to each part of the system are open or standardized, allowing outside players to create new applications.
When smart wind turbines are networked, software can adjust the blades on each one to minimize impact on the efficiency of turbines nearby.
Closed systems create competitive advantage by allowing a company to control and optimize the design of all parts of the system relative to one another. The company maintains control over technology and data as well as the direction of development of the product and the product cloud. Producers of system components are restricted from accessing a closed system or are required to license the right to integrate their products into it. A closed approach may result in one manufacturer’s system becoming the de facto industry standard, enabling this company to capture the maximum value.
A closed approach requires significant investment and works best when a single manufacturer has a dominant position in the industry that can be leveraged to control the supply of all parts of the smart, connected product system. If either Philips Healthcare or GE Healthcare were the dominant manufacturer of medical imaging equipment, for example, it could drive a closed approach in which it could sell medical imaging management systems that included only its own or partners’ equipment to hospitals. However, neither company has the clout to restrict hospitals’ choice of other manufacturers’ equipment, so both companies’ imaging system platforms interface with other manufacturers’ machines.
A fully open system enables any entity to participate in and interface with the system. When Philips Lighting introduced the hue smart, connected lightbulb, for example, it included a basic smartphone application that allowed users to control the color and intensity of individual bulbs. Philips also published the application programming interface, which led independent software developers to quickly release dozens of applications that extended the utility of the hue bulbs, boosting sales. The open approach enables a faster rate of applications development and system innovation as multiple entities contribute. It can also result in a de facto industry standard, but one from which no company gains a proprietary benefit.
While a closed system is possible for individual product systems, it is often impractical for systems of systems. Whirlpool, for example, realizes that its strong position in home appliances will not be sufficient to become the leader in the “connected home,” which includes not only connected appliances but also automated lighting, HVAC, entertainment, and security. Therefore, Whirlpool designs its appliances to be readily connectable to the variety of home automation systems on the market, seeking to retain proprietary control only over its product features. A hybrid approach, in which a subset of functionality is open but the company controls access to full capabilities, occurs in industries like medical devices, where manufacturers support an industry standard interface but offer greater functionality only to customers. Over time, closed approaches become more challenging as technology spreads and customers resist limits on choice.
Babolat’s Play Pure Drive product system puts sensors and connectivity in the tennis racket handle, allowing users to track and analyze ball speed, spin, and impact location to improve their game.
4. Should the company develop the full set of smart, connected product capabilities and infrastructure internally or outsource to vendors and partners?
Developing the technology stack for smart, connected products requires significant investment in specialized skills, technologies, and infrastructure that have not been typically present in manufacturing companies. Many of these skills are scarce and in high demand.
A company must choose which layers of technology to develop and maintain in-house and which to outsource to suppliers and partners. In utilizing outside partners, it must decide whether to pursue custom development of tailored solutions or license off-the-shelf, best-of-breed solutions at each level. Our research suggests that the most successful companies choose a judicious combination of both.
Companies that develop smart, connected products in-house internalize key skills and infrastructure and retain greater control over features, functionality, and product data. They may also capture first-mover advantages and the ability to influence the direction of technology development. The company gets on its own, steeper learning curve, which can help maintain its competitive advantage. For example, while software skills are not well developed in most manufacturing companies, Jeff Immelt recently said that “every industrial company will become a software company.” The nature of technology for smart, connected products makes it clear why that might well be true and why building internal software capability is crucial.
Early pioneers AGCO and Deere have both taken a largely in-house route to develop smart farm equipment solutions for those reasons. GE has created a major software development center to build in-house capabilities it sees as strategic across business units.
However, as with the two previous IT waves, the difficulty, skills, time, and cost involved in building the entire technology stack for smart, connected products is formidable and leads to specialization at each layer. Just as Intel has specialized in microprocessors and Oracle in databases, new firms that specialize in components of the smart, connected products technology stack are already emerging, and their technology investments are amortized over many thousands of customers. Early movers that choose in-house development can overestimate their ability to stay ahead and end up slowing down their development time line.
But outsourcing can create new costs, as suppliers and partners demand a larger share of the value created. Companies that rely on partners also compromise their ability to differentiate going forward, and their ability to build and retain the in-house expertise required to set overall product design strategy, manage innovation, and choose vendors well.
In making these build-versus-buy choices, companies should identify those technology layers that offer the greatest opportunities for product insight, future innovation, and competitive advantage, and outsource those that will become commoditized or advance too quickly. For example, most companies should strive to maintain solid internal capabilities in areas such as device design, the user interface, systems engineering, data analytics, and rapid product application development.
These choices will evolve over time. In the early stages of smart, connected products technology, the number of capable and robust suppliers has been limited, and so companies have been faced with the imperative of in-house or custom development. Already, however, best-of-breed vendors with turnkey connectivity solutions and product clouds, secure high-performance application platforms, and ready-to-use data analytics are emerging. This makes it increasingly challenging for in-house efforts to keep up and can turn an early lead into a disadvantage.
Ralph Lauren’s Polo Tech Shirt, available in 2015, streams distance covered, calories burned, movement intensity, heart rate, and other data to the wearer’s mobile device.
5. What data must the company capture, secure, and analyze to maximize the value of its offering?
Product data is fundamental to value creation and competitive advantage in smart, connected products. But collecting data requires sensors, which add cost to the product, as does transmitting, storing, securing, and analyzing this data. Companies may also need to obtain rights to the data, adding complexity and cost. To determine which types of data provide sufficient value relative to cost, the firm must consider questions such as: How does each type of data create tangible value for functionality? For efficiency in the value chain? Will the data help the company understand and improve how the broader product system is performing over time? How often does the data need to be collected to optimize its usefulness, and how long should it be retained?
Companies must also consider the product integrity, security, or privacy risks for each type of data and the associated cost. The less sensitive data a company collects, the lower the risk of breaches and transmission disruptions. When security requirements are high, companies will need capabilities to protect the data and limit transmission risk by storing data in the product itself. (We will discuss security more extensively in part two of this series.)
The types of data a company chooses to collect and analyze also depend on its positioning. If the company’s strategy is focused on leading in product performance or minimizing service cost, it must usually capture extensive “immediate value” data that can be leveraged in real time. This is especially important for complex, expensive products for which downtime is costly, such as wind turbines or jet engines.
For companies seeking leadership in the product system, there is a need to invest in capturing and analyzing more-extensive data across multiple products and the external environment, even for products the company does not produce. For example a smart, connected product system might need to capture traffic data, weather conditions, and fuel prices at different locations for an entire fleet of vehicles.
Medtronic’s implanted digital blood glucose meter connects wirelessly to a monitoring and display device and can alert patients to trends in glucose levels requiring attention.
Different strategies involve different data-capture choices. Nest, which aims to lead in energy efficiency and energy cost, gathers extensive data on both product usage and peak demand across the energy grid. This has enabled the Rush Hour Rewards program, which raises residential customers’ air conditioning thermostat temperature to reduce energy use during peak demand periods and precools a home before peak demand begins. By partnering with energy providers, securing the data they provide, and integrating it with customer data, Nest enables customers to earn discounts or credits from their energy provider and to use less energy when everyone else is using more.
6. How does the company manage ownership and access rights to its product data?
As a company chooses which data to gather and analyze, it must determine how to secure rights to the data and manage data access. The key is who actually owns the data. The manufacturer may own the product, but product usage data potentially belongs to the customer. For example, who is the rightful owner of the data streaming from a smart, connected aircraft engine—the engine supplier, the airframe manufacturer, or the airline that owns and operates the planes?
There is a range of options for establishing data rights for smart, connected products. Companies may pursue outright ownership of product data, or seek joint ownership. There are also various levels of usage rights, including NDAs, the right to share the data, or the right to sell it. Firms must determine their approach to transparency in data collection and use. Rights to data can be laid out in an explicit agreement or buried in small print or hard-to-understand boilerplate documents. Although we are seeing the early stages of a movement toward more transparency in data gathering across industries, data disclosure and ownership standards often have yet to be established.
Another option for handling data rights and access includes the establishment of a data-sharing framework with component suppliers for providing information about the component’s condition and performance but not about its location. Limiting suppliers’ access to data, however, could reduce potential benefits if the supplier lacks a full understanding of how products are being used, slowing innovation.
Customers and users want a say in these choices. Some customers today are much more willing than others to share data on their product use. For example, part of Fitbit’s value proposition is its ability to share via social media the personal fitness information it collects. But not every customer wants to share this data. Likewise, cautious drivers may be willing to share data on their driving habits with insurance or rental car companies as a way to lower premiums or fees, but others may resist. Firms will need to provide a clear value proposition to customers to encourage them to share usage or other data. As consumers become more aware of the value that data generates across the value chain, they will become more active and demanding participants in decisions about what data is collected, how it is used, and who benefits.
Today it’s common to see “click through” agreements giving broad consent to collect product data the first time a smart, connected product is used. This consent allows companies to indiscriminately collect product data and use it with few constraints. In time we expect that more-stringent contractual frameworks and mechanisms governing those rights will emerge to define and protect intellectual property associated with smart, connected product data. It behooves companies to get ahead of this trend, especially on the product data they truly need to collect in order to drive value.
Careful stewardship of data will also be essential, especially in highly regulated industries such as medical devices. Regulatory standards for data access and security are already in place in many such fields. Biotronik has created infrastructure that allows it to securely gather patient information, such as arrhythmia events or pacemaker battery status, and share it only with a specified audience—the patient’s physician. Regardless of the industry, however, stewardship of data will be an essential capability, and data breaches will lead to serious consequences regardless of who is at fault. Ongoing security risk is part of the business case for which data to collect and how to manage it.
7. Should the company fully or partially disintermediate distribution channels or service networks?
Smart, connected products enable firms to maintain direct and deep customer relationships, which can reduce the need for distribution channel partners. Companies can also diagnose product performance problems and failures and sometimes make repairs remotely, reducing reliance on service partners. By minimizing the role of the middlemen, companies can potentially capture new revenue and boost margins. They can also improve their knowledge of customer needs, strengthen brand awareness, and boost loyalty by educating customers more directly about product value.
Tesla, for example, has disrupted the status quo in the automotive industry by selling its cars directly to consumers rather than through a traditional dealer network. This has simplified the firm’s pricing—consumers pay full sticker price, avoiding the haggling common at dealerships—greatly improving customer satisfaction. By eliminating third-party involvement in repairs, Tesla captures revenue and deepens its relationship with customers. The firm transmits software upgrades to its cars, continually improving the customer experience and giving drivers the equivalent of the “new car smell” with each update. When monitoring detects that a Tesla vehicle is due for repairs, the car either autonomously calls for a remote repair via software or sends a notification to the customer with an invitation to request that a valet deliver it to the Tesla facility. The firm was recently rated number one in customer satisfaction by Consumer Reports.
While disintermediation has definite advantages, some level of physical proximity to customers is still required and desirable in most industries. Customers must take delivery of and sometimes install a physical product, and some types of service visits are still necessary. In addition, customers may have strong relationships with resellers and channels that offer them a broader product line and deep and local field-based expertise. When manufacturers diminish the role of valuable channel partners, they risk losing them to competitors whose strategy is to embrace partners. Also, assuming roles formerly handled by partners—such as direct selling or service—can be challenging, involving high start-up costs and major new investments in value chain functions such as sales, logistics, inventory, and infrastructure.
The choice of whether or not to disintermediate a channel or service partner will depend in large part on the type of partner network the firm manages. Do partners simply distribute products, or are they critical to delivering training and service in the field? What percentage of partner activities can be replaced through smart, connected product capabilities? Do customers understand the value of eliminating the middleman? Do customers understand that traditional relationships with established channels are no longer necessary and involve extra cost?
Smart, connected products offer a rich new set of value creation and growth opportunities. However, efforts to seize those opportunities will not be without challenges. Some of the greatest strategic risks include the following:
Adding functionality that customers don’t want to pay for.
Just because a feature is now possible does not mean there is a clear value proposition for the customer. Adding enhanced capabilities and options can reach the point of diminishing returns, due to the cost and complexity of use.
Underestimating security and privacy risks.
Smart, connected products open major new gateways to corporate systems and data, requiring stepped-up network security, device and sensor security, and information encryption.
Failing to anticipate new competitive threats.
New competitors offering products with smart, connected capabilities (such as connectivity and embedded software) or performance- or service-based business models can emerge quickly and reshape competition and industry boundaries.
Waiting too long to get started.
Moving slowly enables competitors and new entrants to gain a foothold, begin capturing and analyzing data, and start moving up the learning curve.
Overestimating internal capabilities.
The shift to smart, connected products will demand new technologies, skills, and processes throughout the value chain (for example, big data analytics, systems engineering, and software application development). A realistic assessment about which capabilities should be developed in-house and which should be developed by new partners is crucial.
8. Should the company change its business model?
Manufacturers have traditionally focused on producing a physical good and capturing value by transferring ownership of the good to the customer through a sales transaction. The owner is then responsible for the costs of servicing the product and other costs of use, while bearing the risks of downtime and other product failures and defects not covered by warranties.
Smart, connected products allow the radical alteration of this long-standing business model. The manufacturer, through access to product data and the ability to anticipate, reduce, and repair failures, has an unprecedented ability to affect product performance and optimize service. This opens up a spectrum of new business models for capturing value, from a version of the traditional ownership model where the customer benefits from the new service efficiencies to the product-as-a-service model in which the manufacturer retains ownership and takes full responsibility for the costs of product operation and service in return for an ongoing charge. Customers pay as they go, not up front. Here, the value of product performance improvements that reduce operating cost (such as better energy efficiency) and service efficiencies are captured by the manufacturer.
Smart, connected products create a dilemma for manufacturers, particularly those that make complex, long-lived products for which parts and service generate significant revenue and often disproportionate profit. Whirlpool, for example, currently has a healthy business selling spare parts and service contracts—a model that can dull incentives to make products more reliable, more durable, and easier to fix. If, instead, Whirlpool moved to a product-as-a-service model, in which it maintained ownership of the product and the customer simply paid for the use of the machine, the economic incentives would be turned upside down.
The profitability of product-as-a-service models depends on the pricing and terms of contracts, which are a function of bargaining power. Product-as-a-service models can increase buyers’ power, because customers may be able to switch after the contract period (if the product is not embedded as with an elevator), unlike with perpetual ownership.
Product sharing, a variation of the product-as-a-service model, focuses on more efficient utilization of products that are used intermittently. Customers pay for the use of the product (such as cars or bikes) when they need it, and the company (such as Zipcar or Hubway) is responsible for everything else. Product sharing is spreading to nonmobile products such as houses.
Companies can also pursue hybrid models between the extremes of product-as-a-service and conventional ownership, such as product sales bundled with warranty or service contracts, or product sales bundled with performance-based contracts. Service contracts allow the manufacturer to keep service in-house and capture more of the value from service efficiencies. In a performance-based contract, the manufacturer sells the product along with a contract that promises that the product will perform to certain specifications (such as percentage of uptime). Here, ownership is transferred, but the manufacturer maintains responsibility and bears the risk of product performance.
The company’s wireless music systems place the user interface in the cloud, enabling users to control the portable device from a smartphone.
9. Should the company enter new businesses by monetizing its product data through selling it to outside parties?
Companies may find that the data they accumulate from smart, connected products is valuable to entities besides traditional customers. Companies may also discover that they can capture additional data, beyond what they need to optimize product value, that is valuable to other entities. In either case, this may lead to new services or even new businesses.
Data about the performance of a product’s components, for example, could be valuable to suppliers of those components. Data about driving conditions or delays gathered by a fleet of vehicles could be valuable to other drivers, to the operators of logistical systems, or to road repair crews. Data about driving characteristics could be valuable to fleet operators or insurance companies.
Again, in choosing how to capture new value from product data, companies must consider the likely reaction of core customers. While some of them may not care how their data is used, others may feel strongly about data privacy and reuse. Companies will need to identify mechanisms to provide valuable data to third parties without alienating customers. For example, a company might not sell individual customer data but rather blinded or aggregate data on purchasing patterns, driving habits, or energy usage.
10. Should the company expand its scope?
Smart, connected products not only transform existing products but often broaden industry boundaries. Products that have been separate and distinct can become parts of optimized systems of related products, or components of systems of systems. Shifting boundaries mean that companies that have been industry leaders for decades may find themselves playing more of a supporting role in a broader landscape.
The emergence of product systems and systems of systems raises at least two types of strategic choices about company scope. The first is whether a company should expand into related products or other parts of the system of systems. The second is whether a company should seek to provide the platform that connects the related products and information, even if it does not make or control all the parts.
Companies may be tempted to enter into related products in order to capture the big opportunity, but entry into related products always involves risk and the need for new capabilities. Companies must identify a clear value proposition before entering. Expanding product scope will be most attractive where there are major performance improvement opportunities through co-designing the related products to optimize the system. Alternatively, if optimization is not dependent on individual product designs, a company may be better off sticking to its knitting and providing open connectivity to related products produced by others. Success is less a function of traditional product design than systems engineering.
Smart, connected products will give rise to the next era of IT-driven productivity growth at a time when the impact of earlier waves of IT has largely played itself out.
Companies whose products (and associated technological capabilities) are central to overall product system operation and performance, such as Joy Global’s mining machines, will be in the best position to enter related products and integrate the system. Manufacturers that produce less system-critical machines, such as the trucks that move the material extracted from underground, will have less capability and credibility in customers’ eyes to take on a broader system provider role.
Users can control Philips Lighting hue lightbulbs via smartphone, turning them on and off, programming them to blink if they detect an intruder, or dimming them slowly at night.
The choice of whether or not to develop the technology platform that connects a product system or system of systems depends on some related questions. The first is whether the company can assemble the necessary IT skills and technology, which are quite different from those required in product design and manufacturing. Another key question is where system optimization takes place. “Inside product” optimization involves integrating individual product designs so that products work better together. “Outside product” optimization takes place through the algorithms that connect products and other information, where products themselves are modular. Inside product optimization creates the strongest rationale for expanding into related products and offering a proprietary platform. Outside product optimization favors an open platform, and the platform may be offered by a company that does not produce products at all.
Carrier Corporation offers an example of these choices. It has a 100-year history of innovation in the design of a full range of HVAC equipment such as furnaces, air conditioners, heat pumps, humidifiers, and ventilators. Carrier optimizes its HVAC product system performance by integrating individual designs across products, and its smart Infinity heating and cooling system platform connects them. However, HVAC is part of a broader home automation system. Carrier has not entered other product areas within home automation because of the need for very different capabilities. Rather, its Infinity platform provides interfaces to allow the HVAC product family to be integrated into the system of systems.
Finally, as smart, connected products expand industry scope and the boundaries of competition, many companies will need to rethink their corporate purpose. The focus is shifting to the broader need companies meet, rather than their traditional product definition. For example, Trane has moved from seeing itself as an HVAC equipment producer to a company that makes high-performance buildings better for everyone inside. As products continue to communicate and collaborate in networks, which are expanding both in number and diversity, many companies will have to reexamine their core mission and value proposition.
A company must make a clear choice in each of these dimensions of strategy but ensure that each choice is consistent with and reinforces the others. For example, a company pursuing product system leadership will enter related product categories, pursue inside product design integration, capture extensive product usage data, and develop more intensive internal capabilities across the technology stack. In contrast, a company that focuses on a single part of a product system will need to become best-of-breed in terms of features and functionality and provide transparent and open interfaces so that its product can be readily integrated into and becomes a valuable part of other companies’ systems and platforms. Ultimately, competitive success will arise not by imitating rivals but by defining a distinctive value proposition that the company can realistically achieve.
The Larger Opportunity
Smart, connected products are changing how value is created for customers, how companies compete, and the boundaries of competition itself. These shifts will affect virtually every industry, directly or indirectly. But smart, connected products will have a broader impact even than this. They will affect the trajectory of the overall economy, giving rise to the next era of IT-driven productivity growth for companies, their customers, and the global economy at a time when the impact of earlier waves of IT has largely played itself out and productivity growth has slowed down.
This third wave of IT not only will create step function improvements in product capability and performance but will radically improve our ability to meet many business and human needs. Across many fields, products will be far more efficient, effective, safe, reliable, and more fully utilized, while conserving scarce natural resources such as energy, water, and raw materials.
This opportunity to drive rapid innovation and economic growth, and with it a return to prosperity growth, comes none too soon. The past decade has been characterized by internal cost reduction, cautious investment, higher corporate profitability, rising M&A, and muted innovation across large parts of the economy. This path has resulted in slower job growth, slower improvements in wages and living standards for the average citizen, a diminished sense of economic opportunity, doubts about capitalism, and reduced public support for business.
The era of smart, connected products can change this trajectory, provided that companies move aggressively to embrace the opportunity. Business and government together will need to equip workers across all groups with the skills to participate, and agree on the rules and regulations needed to set standards, enable innovation, protect data, and overcome efforts to block progress (such as auto dealers’ political opposition to Tesla).
The United States stands to lead and benefit disproportionately in a smart, connected products world, given America’s strengths in the core underlying technologies, many of the skills required, and key supporting industries. If this new wave of technology allows the U.S. to reinvigorate its capacity as a technology leader in the global economy, it will breathe new life into the American dream while contributing to a better world.
A version of this article appeared in the November 2014 issue of Harvard Business Review.
Michael E. Porter is a University Professor at Harvard, based at Harvard Business School in Boston.
James E. Heppelmann is the president and CEO of PTC, a leading maker of industrial software.
This article is about COMPETITION
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Consumers Will Have Less Help, Fewer Days To Enroll In Obamacare
By Julio Ochoa • Aug 15, 2017
Consumers who want to enroll in Obamacare for 2018 will have less help and a shorter time to do it.
The enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act will be cut in half to 45 days from November 1 to December 15. The Trump administration also cut ties with two companies that helped Floridians sign up for insurance -- Cognosante in South Florida and CSRA in the Tampa Bay area.
The companies brought assistance into libraries, businesses and urban neighborhoods in 18 cities around the country, meaning shoppers on the insurance exchanges will have fewer places to turn for help signing up for coverage.
The loss of the groups will be felt during enrollment, said Melanie Hall, executive director of the Tampa Bay-based Family Healthcare Foundation.
CSRA would open a storefront in Hillsborough County about a month before enrollment began and stay through the end.
“So it provided another referral source that we could send consumers to particularly on the weekends,” Hall said. “We will definitely miss their services here in Hillsborough County”
The contracts awarded to Cognosante and CSRA in 2013 were never meant to be long term, said Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services spokeswoman Jane Norris in an email.
"These contracts were intended to help CMS provide temporary, in-person enrollment support during the early years" of the exchanges, Norris said. Other federally funded help with enrollment will continue, she said, including a year-round call center and grant-funded navigator programs. The existing program is "robust" and "we have the on-the-ground resources necessary" in key cities, Norris said.
The Family Healthcare Foundation, which helps people enroll in health insurance and find health care, will hire more navigators during enrollment to help cover the loss, Hall said. The added staff will work evening and weekend shifts, she said.
“Were going to make sure we’re available when it’s convenient for consumers to go through the application process with someone that can help them find something that is affordable and find the services they need,” Hall said.
Since most consumers enroll before the Dec. 15 deadline, the shorter period shouldn’t result in a big drop in enrollment, she said.
Still, Hall and others are trying to get the word out so people know they don’t have as much time.
The Tampa Bay area has always benefited from having multiple insurers in the Affordable Care Act marketplaces and this year is no different, Hall said.
The competition has given consumers choices and kept prices relatively low.
Even though premiums have increased every year, tax credits have also gone up, meaning the amount most consumers pay doesn’t fluctuate too much. As a result, enrollment in the Tampa Bay area has grown each year, Hall said.
But this year there is added uncertainty. The Trump administration could further destabilize the marketplaces where people shop for coverage by not promoting them or not enforcing the mandate compelling people to get coverage. The administration has already threatened to withhold payments to insurers to help people afford care, which would prompt insurers to sharply increase prices.
"There's a clear pattern of the administration trying to undermine and sabotage the Affordable Care Act," said Elizabeth Hagan, associate director of coverage initiatives for the liberal advocacy group Families USA. "It's not letting the law fail, it's making the law fail."
Hall said the uncertainty is causing some concern among consumers.
“There is certainly some anxiety and most of that comes from the fact that there is no reassurance coming directly from the current administration or even from the insurance companies themselves,” she said. “So I think there is some anxiety at the moment about what the unknown is.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
enrollement
Poll: It’s Time To Stop Trying To Repeal Obamacare
By The Associated Press • Aug 13, 2017
Message to President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans: Stop trying to scuttle the Obama health care law, and start trying to make it more effective.
What Would A Popular Health Care Plan Look Like?
By editor • Aug 3, 2017
A group of centrist lawmakers is set to begin work on a bipartisan health care bill. Meanwhile, public opinion is tilting in favor of government involvement in health care, with a third of Americans supporting a single-payer system.
Ralliers from District 26 to Rep. Curbelo: Protect Our Healthcare!
By Allison Light • Aug 4, 2017
Residents of Congressional District 26 gathered outside of Rep. Carlos Curbelo’s office on Thursday morning for a “Welcome Home” rally now that the representative has returned to South Florida for the August recess.
The organizers of the rally said Curbelo, a Republican, has been evading their requests to host and attend a town hall on the health care needs of the district.
Senate To Hold Bipartisan Hearings To Stabilize Insurance Markets
By Alison Kodjak • Aug 1, 2017
Updated 4:21 p.m. ET Aug. 1
Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., announced today that the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee will hold bipartisan hearings on ways to stabilize the Affordable Care Act marketplaces for 2018.
The hearings will start the week of Sept. 4. Their aim is to act by Sept. 27, when insurers must sign contracts to sell individual insurance plans on HealthCare.gov for 2018.
What Happens Next With Obamacare Repeal
By Susan Davis • Jul 28, 2017
The Senate effort to undo the Affordable Care Act failed dramatically early Friday morning, with Sen. John McCain casting a deciding "no" vote. The promise of repeal has animated the Republican Party for seven years, and the defeat was a devastating loss for the GOP and President Trump.
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Feminist Author Demands Germans Stop Having Babies To Save The Planet 01/23/2020 4:07am
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Expanding its internet service to more countries in Africa, Tizeti raises $3 million
Tizeti, the Nigerian internet service provider behind the brand Wifi.com.ng, has raised $3 million in a new round of funding as it expands its unlimited internet service into Ghana.
The new financing was led by 4DX Ventures, a new, Africa-focused fund that’s been deploying capital at an incredibly fast clip since its launch earlier this year. Its portfolio includes Sokowatch, a startup connecting local African retailers to international suppliers; the outsourced programmer placement and apprenticeship service, Andela; and the integrated pharmacy supplier and operator, mPharma.
For Walter Baddoo, one of 4DX Ventures co-founders and a new addition to the Tizeti board, the value in a company that operates as “the Comcast of Africa” was clear.
“If you take the efficiency of point to multipoint wireless technology and you add to that solar infrastructure, you leap-frog a generation of infrastructure. That makes getting cheap data to the hands of customers much easier,” Baddoo says.
Tizeti does exactly that. Using solar energy to power its wireless towers, the company provides residences, businesses, events and conferences with unlimited high-speed broadband internet access, which now covers more than 70 percent of Lagos. Since its launch from Y Combinator’s winter 2017 batch, the company has installed over 7,000 public Wi-Fi hotspots in Nigeria with 150,000 users.
Tizeti co-founders Ifeanyi Okonkwo and Kendall Ananyi
In November, the company partnered with Facebook to offer Express Wi-Fi and roll out hundreds of hotspots across the Nigerian capital of Abuja.
Now, with the new funding, Tizeti is expanding its operations outside of Nigeria, launching a new brand — Wifi.Africa — and pushing its service into Ghana.
“Tizeti was built to tackle poor internet connectivity not only in Nigeria, but on the continent as a whole, by developing a cost-effective solution from inception to delivery, for reliable and uncapped internet access for potentially millions of Africans,” said Kendall Ananyi, the co-founder and chief executive of Tizeti.
The company’s unlimited internet packages cost $30 per-month, a price it’s able to achieve through the use of cheap solar electricity to power its towers.
“Reducing the cost of data in Africa is a critical step in accelerating the pace of internet adoption across the continent,” Baddoo said in a statement. “Tizeti makes it easier and cheaper to connect Africa to the global digital economy and we are excited to partner with Kendall and his team on this mission.”
All of this is being powered by a network of new undersea cables stretching along the ocean floor that is bringing connectivity to the continent.
“There’s a ton of capacity going to 16 submarine cables [coming into Africa],” Ananyi told us back in 2017. “The problem is getting the internet to the customers. You have balloons and drones and that will work in the rural areas but it’s not effective in urban environments. We solve the internet problem in a dense area.”
It’s not a radical concept, and it’s one that has netted the company 3,000 subscribers already and nearly $1.2 million in annual recorded revenue in its first months of operations, Ananyi told us at the time.
“There are 1.2 billion people in Africa, but only 26 percent of them are online and most get internet over mobile phones,” says Ananyi. Perhaps only 6 percent of that population has an internet subscription, he said.
Photo courtesy of Flickr/Steve Song
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Blake Eikenberry
I am a Navy Veteran of 22 years, with a background in Computer Science, Engineering, Nuclear Power, Aviation, Surface Warfare, Amphibious Warfare, Space Systems, Synthetic Training, Communications, and Cybersecurity. I am currently supporting government information system owners in Cybersecurity.
DoD, Military, Navy, Security Clearance, Space Systems, Information Assurance, C4I, Systems Engineering, Information Management, Naval Aviation, Cyber Defense, Safety, Environmental Awareness, Command, CISSP, Security, Nuclear Engineering, Electronic Warfare, Integration, Government, Top Secret, Defense, C4ISR, Operational Planning, Military Experience, Intelligence, Military Operations, National Security, Operations Management, Leadership, Intelligence Analysis, Organizational Leadership, Force Protection, Weapons, SIGINT, Tactics, Readiness, Security+, Computer Security, Command & Control, DIACAP, Exercises, Helicopters, Government Contracting, Program Management, Military Training, Information Security, Training, Network Security, Networking
'CORONA' SIGINT, 'LITTLE' SIGINT, 'STRIKEZONE' SIGINT, 'SHORTFALL' SIGINT, "Knowledge Consulting Group" SIGINT, "Technical and Management Resources" SIGINT, "Knowledge Management" SIGINT, "Tech-Ed Services" SIGINT, "1 Source Consulting, Inc." SIGINT, "Symantec" SIGINT, "Knowledge Management, Inc." SIGINT, "Base One Technologies" SIGINT
Cybersecurity Team Lead
Leads the finest Cybersecurity team in assessing IT against NIST standards.
NIST, DoD, Military, Navy, Security Clearance, Space Systems, Information Assurance, C4I, Systems Engineering, Information Management, Naval Aviation, Cyber Defense, Safety, Environmental Awareness, Command, CISSP, Security, Nuclear Engineering, Electronic Warfare, Integration, Government, Top Secret, Defense, C4ISR, Operational Planning, Military Experience, Intelligence, Military Operations, National Security, Operations Management, Leadership, Intelligence Analysis, Organizational Leadership, Force Protection, Weapons, SIGINT, Tactics, Readiness, Security+, Computer Security, Command & Control, DIACAP, Exercises, Helicopters, Government Contracting, Program Management, Military Training, Information Security, Training, Network Security, Networking, Engineering, Nuclear Power, Aviation, Surface Warfare, Amphibious Warfare, Synthetic Training, Communications
Information Systems Officer
Guided the technical installation and personnel training for 5 local area networks within tenant helicopter squadrons and was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal.
Commander, Helicopter Antisubmarine Wing Atlantic
DoD, Military, Navy, Security Clearance, Space Systems, Information Assurance, C4I, Systems Engineering, Information Management, Naval Aviation, Cyber Defense, Safety, Environmental Awareness, Command, CISSP, Security, Nuclear Engineering, Electronic Warfare, Integration, Government, Top Secret, Defense, C4ISR, Operational Planning, Military Experience, Intelligence, Military Operations, National Security, Operations Management, Leadership, Intelligence Analysis, Organizational..., Force Protection, Weapons, SIGINT, Tactics, Readiness, Security+, Computer Security, Command & Control, DIACAP, Exercises, Helicopters, Government Contracting, Organizational Leadership, Program Management, Military Training, Information Security, Training, Network Security, Networking, Engineering, Nuclear Power, Aviation, Surface Warfare, Amphibious Warfare, Synthetic Training, Communications
Director/Officer In Charge
Officer in Charge at Distributed Training Center Atlantic. Directly supervised 41 military personnel and 21 contractors in the technical execution and management of operations, training, and budgeting for modeling and simulation based training for all East Coast Navy ships. Oversaw Electronic Key Management System (EKMS) account servicing 10 tenant organizations. • Through careful management and precise sequencing of resources, enabled preparation and deployment certification of seven Strike Groups by producing the smoothest and most successful 18 month period in the history of east coast Fleet Synthetic Training exercises.• During a DoD budget shortfall, reorganized and optimized manning to save the government $2.7M annually.• Ensured flawless assessment results for an EKMS account of over 2000 line items.• Awarded the Meritorious Service Medal for outstanding meritorious service.
Distributed Training Center Atlantic
EKMS, training, DoD, Military, Navy, Security Clearance, Space Systems, Information Assurance, C4I, Systems Engineering, Information Management, Naval Aviation, Cyber Defense, Safety, Environmental Awareness, Command, CISSP, Security, Nuclear Engineering, Electronic Warfare, Integration, Government, Top Secret, Defense, C4ISR, Operational Planning, Military Experience, Intelligence, Military Operations, National Security, Operations Management, Leadership, Intelligence Analysis, Organizational..., Force Protection, Weapons, SIGINT, Tactics, Readiness, Security+, Computer Security, Command & Control, DIACAP, Exercises, Helicopters, Government Contracting, Organizational Leadership, Program Management, Military Training, Information Security, Training, Network Security, Networking, Engineering, Nuclear Power, Aviation, Surface Warfare, Amphibious Warfare, Synthetic Training, Communications
Safety and Environmental Protection Officer
Systematically improved every aspect of ship’s Safety, Industrial Health and Environmental programs. Awarded the Navy Commendation Medal for meritorious service in the aggressive management of ship-wide safety and successful completion of 11 major ship inspections. Awarded another Navy Commendation Medal specifically for class-leading scores in all safety areas accessed by the board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV). Won the Ship Environmental Award for 2003. Qualified to control small boat operations.
USS BELLEAU WOOD (LHA-3)
INSURV, DoD, Military, Navy, Security Clearance, Space Systems, Information Assurance, C4I, Systems Engineering, Information Management, Naval Aviation, Cyber Defense, Safety, Environmental Awareness, Command, CISSP, Security, Nuclear Engineering, Electronic Warfare, Integration, Government, Top Secret, Defense, C4ISR, Operational Planning, Military Experience, Intelligence, Military Operations, National Security, Operations Management, Leadership, Intelligence Analysis, Organizational..., Force Protection, Weapons, SIGINT, Tactics, Readiness, Security+, Computer Security, Command & Control, DIACAP, Exercises, Helicopters, Government Contracting, Organizational Leadership, Program Management, Military Training, Information Security, Training, Network Security, Networking, Engineering, Nuclear Power, Aviation, Surface Warfare, Amphibious Warfare, Synthetic Training, Communications
Senior Cyber Security Analyst
Tech-lead and Master level assessor of federal information systems for Leidos supporting the Department of State. Audits management, operational and technical security controls against NIST standards. Evaluates organizational policies and procedures; examines information system configurations; and develops Plans of Action and Milestones for remediation. Quickly develops and mentors juniors to meet assessment quality and timeline standards.
Public Company
NIST, DoD, Military, Navy, Security Clearance, Space Systems, Information Assurance, C4I, Systems Engineering, Information Management, Naval Aviation, Cyber Defense, Safety, Environmental Awareness, Command, CISSP, Security, Nuclear Engineering, Electronic Warfare, Integration, Government, Top Secret, Defense, C4ISR, Operational Planning, Military Experience, Intelligence, Military Operations, National Security, Operations Management, Leadership, Intelligence Analysis, Organizational..., Force Protection, Weapons, SIGINT, Tactics, Readiness, Security+, Computer Security, Command & Control, DIACAP, Exercises, Helicopters, Government Contracting, Organizational Leadership, Program Management, Military Training, Information Security, Training, Network Security, Networking, Engineering, Nuclear Power, Aviation, Surface Warfare, Amphibious Warfare, Synthetic Training, Communications
Command, Control, and Communications Officer
Command, Control, and Communications Officer for Commander, Destroyer Squadron TWO. Directly supervised 2 personnel, and managed communications requirements for up to 12 warships. Tracked readiness and facilitated resolution for nine Destroyers and Frigates. Supervised maritime and air tactical operations at sea in support of Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom.• Flawlessly planned and executed HF, VHF, UHF, SHF, and EHF communications for two major multinational exercises. • Dramatically increased ship readiness inspection and certification assessment scores as the Senior Readiness Officer.• Ranked #1 amongst peer officers and awarded the Navy Commendation Medal and the Navy Achievement Medal for exemplary performance.
Commander, Destroyer Squadron TWO
Command, Control, VHF, UHF, SHF, DoD, Military, Navy, Security Clearance, Space Systems, Information Assurance, C4I, Systems Engineering, Information Management, Naval Aviation, Cyber Defense, Safety, Environmental Awareness, CISSP, Security, Nuclear Engineering, Electronic Warfare, Integration, Government, Top Secret, Defense, C4ISR, Operational Planning, Military Experience, Intelligence, Military Operations, National Security, Operations Management, Leadership, Intelligence Analysis, Organizational..., Force Protection, Weapons, SIGINT, Tactics, Readiness, Security+, Computer Security, Command & Control, DIACAP, Exercises, Helicopters, Government Contracting, Organizational Leadership, Program Management, Military Training, Information Security, Training, Network Security, Networking, Engineering, Nuclear Power, Aviation, Surface Warfare, Amphibious Warfare, Synthetic Training, Communications
Information Professional Officer/Information Dominance Corps
Core competencies of Command and Control, Communications, Information Assurance, Cyber-security, Knowledge Management, Information Systems, Space Systems, Combat Systems, Information Operations, Acquisition, & Leadership
Communications, Information Assurance, Cyber-security, Knowledge Management, Information Systems, Space Systems, Combat Systems, Information Operations, Acquisition, & Leadership, DoD, Military, Navy, Security Clearance, C4I, Systems Engineering, Information Management, Naval Aviation, Cyber Defense, Safety, Environmental Awareness, Command, CISSP, Security, Nuclear Engineering, Electronic Warfare, Integration, Government, Top Secret, Defense, C4ISR, Operational Planning, Military Experience, Intelligence, Military Operations, National Security, Operations Management, Leadership, Intelligence Analysis, Organizational..., Force Protection, Weapons, SIGINT, Tactics, Readiness, Security+, Computer Security, Command & Control, DIACAP, Exercises, Helicopters, Government Contracting, Organizational Leadership, Program Management, Military Training, Information Security, Training, Network Security, Networking, Engineering, Nuclear Power, Aviation, Surface Warfare, Amphibious Warfare, Synthetic Training
Assistant Chief of Staff for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Combat Systems (N6)
Assistant Chief of Staff for Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Combat Systems at Commander, Expeditionary Strike Group TWO. Directly supervised a staff of ten personnel to manage requirements for 25 tenant commands, including 15 amphibious warships. Identified shortfalls in command, control, and communications for the east coast Navy amphibious fleet and facilitated resolution. Prioritized IT requirements; directed and coordinated financial and budget activities to fund operations, maximize investments, and increase efficiency. • Synchronized readiness efforts across multiple organizations to expedite repair to command and control and combat systems to ensure the on-time deployment of three Amphibious Readiness Groups. Identified operational deficiencies for the Amphibious Operational Advisory Group and then advocated resolution. Oversaw installation and experimentation of new communication systems, such as 4G LTE. • Led the embarkation, communications planning and execution, and staff IT support for five major multinational exercises of for over 100 ships and 20 countries, including BOLD ALLIGATOR, PANAMAX, and BALTOPS.• Defined, documented and organized inter-departmental and command wide processes that improved effectiveness of mission accomplishment while creating a repository of explicit corporate knowledge for future employment.
Commander, Expeditionary Strike Group TWO
BOLD ALLIGATOR, PANAMAX, BALTOPS, Control, Communications, control, maximize investments, DoD, Military, Navy, Security Clearance, Space Systems, Information Assurance, C4I, Systems Engineering, Information Management, Naval Aviation, Cyber Defense, Safety, Environmental Awareness, Command, CISSP, Security, Nuclear Engineering, Electronic Warfare, Integration, Government, Top Secret, Defense, C4ISR, Operational Planning, Military Experience, Intelligence, Military Operations, National Security, Operations Management, Leadership, Intelligence Analysis, Organizational..., Force Protection, Weapons, SIGINT, Tactics, Readiness, Security+, Computer Security, Command & Control, DIACAP, Exercises, Helicopters, Government Contracting, Organizational Leadership, Program Management, Military Training, Information Security, Training, Network Security, Networking, Engineering, Nuclear Power, Aviation, Surface Warfare, Amphibious Warfare, Synthetic Training
Helicopter Pilot
Flew H-60 helicopter search and rescue operations for Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron 15.
Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron FIFTEEN
Executive Officer, International Zone Fiber Network Manager
Executive Officer at the International Zone Communications Support Office for Multi-National Forces - Iraq. Directly supervised 11 military personnel and managed 115+ contractors to design, install, and maintain a coalition communications infrastructure within government specifications, schedule and budget. As the Program Manager for the Iraqi International Zone Fiber Network (IZFN), oversaw operation, maintenance, and expansion of a 5-node Cisco ONS fiber network for Iraqi government communications. • Accomplished the strategic planning, prioritization, and integration of over $100M of assets to service over 4500 coalition personnel including more than 20 General Officers. Coordinated repair of multiple outages with Iraqi agencies.• Facilitated the migration of over 40 network enclaves to a consolidated forward operating base while maintaining complete command and control capability for commanders. • Collaborated with over 20 Iraqi government and private agencies to build national telecommunications infrastructure. Increased customer base of the use of the IZFN tenfold, including its first commercial telecommunications services. • Ranked #1 across peers of all military services. Awarded the Bronze Star Medal for exceptionally meritorious service, and the Iraqi Service Medal.
Multi-National Forces - Iraq, International Zone Communications Support Office
IZFN, install, oversaw operation, maintenance, prioritization, DoD, Military, Navy, Security Clearance, Space Systems, Information Assurance, C4I, Systems Engineering, Information Management, Naval Aviation, Cyber Defense, Safety, Environmental Awareness, Command, CISSP, Security, Nuclear Engineering, Electronic Warfare, Integration, Government, Top Secret, Defense, C4ISR, Operational Planning, Military Experience, Intelligence, Military Operations, National Security, Operations Management, Leadership, Intelligence Analysis, Organizational..., Force Protection, Weapons, SIGINT, Tactics, Readiness, Security+, Computer Security, Command & Control, DIACAP, Exercises, Helicopters, Government Contracting, Organizational Leadership, Program Management, Military Training, Information Security, Training, Network Security, Networking, Engineering, Nuclear Power, Aviation, Surface Warfare, Amphibious Warfare, Synthetic Training, Communications
Senior Information Systems Security Officer
• Executed Assessment & Authorization activities program. Analyzed and evaluated vulnerability results.• Ensured IT systems had security controls in place and functioning properly in accordance with NIST.• Coordinated forensic activities and capabilities with the Security Operations Center (SOC) personnel aimed to identify internal threats using state of the art technology and tools.• Developed and presented technical information and presentations to non-technical audiences.• Created change control processes and implemented a Change Control Board (CCB) for both classified systems. Monitored and improved processes over time.• Developed and implemented procedures for classified account control monitoring and audits.• Assisted in developing unified guidelines and procedures for conducting system-level evaluations of federal information systems and networks including critical infrastructure.
Knowledge Consulting Group
DoD, Military, Navy, Security Clearance, Space Systems, Information Assurance, C4I, Systems Engineering, Information Management, Naval Aviation, Cyber Defense, Safety, Environmental Awareness, Command, CISSP, Security, Nuclear Engineering, Electronic Warfare, Integration, Government, Top Secret, Defense, C4ISR, Operational Planning, Military Experience, Intelligence, Military Operations, National Security, Operations Management, Leadership, Intelligence Analysis, Organizational Leadership, Force Protection, Weapons, SIGINT, Tactics, Readiness, Security+, Computer Security, Command & Control, DIACAP, Exercises, Helicopters, Government Contracting, Program Management, Military Training, Information Security, Training, Network Security, Networking, Engineering, Nuclear Power, Aviation, Surface Warfare, Amphibious Warfare, Synthetic Training, Communications
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You are here: Home / Uncategorized / Reverence For Croatian Victims Of Serb Aggression: Vote Trashes Use Of Serbian Cyrillic In Vukovar
Reverence For Croatian Victims Of Serb Aggression: Vote Trashes Use Of Serbian Cyrillic In Vukovar
August 19, 2015 by inavukic 39 Comments
Bilingual signs with Serbian Cyrillic
Removed from Vukovar’s public buildings
Photo: G. Panic
This is a big move towards making solid steps for peace and healing of victims of Serb aggression and atrocities against Croats and non-Serbs in Vukovar in the early 1990’s. Those who oppose the “step” will call it by any other name except one that has even a tiny bit of positiveness in it; they will call it recist, denial of human rights, denial of minority rights and such.
The Vukovar City Council on Monday 17 August 2015 adopted amendments to the city Statute as per August 2014 Constitutional Court ruling that handed instructions to determine, within one year, in which of the city’s neighbourhoods bilingual signs can be displayed.
In the amendments the City Council of Vukovar voted constitute changes of the Statute of the city so that it no longer provides for the existence of bilingual signs, and Cyrillic alphabet, on the city’s and government institutions, squares and streets. The changes were adopted on the initiative of the Croatian Democratic Union/HDZ, the leading party in Vukovar local government. Serbian political representatives and the Councillors of the Social Democratic Party, the strongest party in the national government, unsuccessfully opposed the decision.
For a couple of years now much has happened in Vukovar with protests against bilingual (Croatian and Serbian) signs on public buildings and streets etc. Bilingual signs containing Serb Cyrillic were systematically pulled down, smashed and generally rejected by the Croats living in Vukovar. The Committee for the defence of Croatian Vukovar and their supporters, who represent the victims of Serb mass murders, rapes, destruction say that Cyrillic symbolically represents the utter terror and the horror inflicted upon innocent Croats in Vukovar as they went about seceding from communist Yugoslavia, seeking through democratic peaceful processes their freedom and democracy.
As was expected Serbia and some of Croatia’s antifascist riff-raff have protested against these amendments in Vukovar City Statute and have called them racist as well as denying human rights to minorities. Their protest also touches upon the decision in these amendments of the Statute of Vukovar to introduce charges of 3 Euro for any council document issued in Cyrillic at special request by an applicant.
Vukovar’s people who are behind the moves against the Serbian Cyrillic on public buildings, streets etc. and the councillors of the ruling coalition defended the amendments to the Statute which were proposed by city mayor Ivan Penava (HDZ) and all of these supporters continue seeking and calling for a new census. The last census, they say, was fraudulent and had many more Serbs who lived in Serbia, not Vukovar, recorded as living in Vukovar. Busloads of people from Serbia had come to Vukovar at time of census, falsely declared their residence there and then after went back to Serbia. All this in efforts to make-up the necessary minimum of 34% of population in a place needed to introduce bilingual signage on public buildings etc.! If that percentage is based on fraud – and all evidence argued and provided to the public so far seems to point that way – then those councillors in Vukovar that reject accepting that fraudulent census result as its benchmark for the introduction of bilingual signage are absolutely in the right!
There has been no information yet on how the government will react to the amendments made to Vukovar’s Statute, to the complaints made by the Serb Ethnic Minority Council and criticism coming out of Serbia calling the Vukovar council’s move racist, and in breach of human rights of minorities.
As regards Cyrillic signs in Vukovar the government has the possibility to directly enforce laws, bypassing the city statute, but the question is how much that would be in line with the ruling of the Constitutional Court instructing the government to propose to the parliament, within a period of one year, amendments to the Law on the Use of Languages and Scripts of Ethnic Minorities, including mechanisms for cases when local self-government bodies obstruct the right to bilingualism.
Along with the Serb Ethnic Minority Council of Vukovar, also dissatisfied with the amendments to the Vukovar City Statute is the Serb National Council (SNV), whose leaders on Monday described them as unconstitutional and unlawful and said that they would notify the relevant institutions in Croatia, as well as the EU, the Council of Europe and the UN.
They can write to EU and UN “till the cows come home” but they have no case! Vukovar council decision was in respect of human rights: those of the victims!
Besides, Tove Ernst, European Commission Press Officer, reportedly said to Serbia’s news agency Tanjug and responding to a plea to the European Commission to comment on the abolition of the Cyrillic alphabet in Croatian city of Vukovar: “the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU bans discrimination based on minority status. However, the Commission has no overall authority with regard to minorities, especially in relation to the issue of recognition of the status of minorities, their self-determination and autonomy, and the use of regional or minority languages.” According to her, the Member States retain a general power to make decisions about minorities and the provisions of the Charter of fundamental rights concern the EU Member States only when they implement EU laws.
The Vukovar Council said it supported full application of the Constitutional Law on the Rights of Ethnic Minorities and the Law on the Use of Minority Languages and Scripts and warned that minority rights must not depend on daily politics. Ina Vukic, Prof. (Zgb); B.A., M.A.Ps. (Syd)
Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Croatia, Croatian Homeland War, Cyrillic, former Yugoslavia, Ivan Penava, No Cyrillic in Vukovar, Serb aggression, Serbia, Vukovar
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David B. says:
From Facebook: This is the correct move! 98% or more of Brownsville, Texas speaks on Spanish language as primary language, the other 2% know enough Spanish to get by in the streets, yet ALL the street signs and government building signs are in English and ALL the court proceedings are in English and ALL the government proceedings of any sort are in English and nobody complains. By the way, the majority of the local government officials speak in Spanish in their private time. My point is that Vukovar council is not discriminatory and you have the example of this town and county in South Texas to demonstrate that point. It could well be the only thing worthwhile to come out of this place.
Good one, David and thank you
Great example David. It applies to so many jurisdictions on the planet…but not in crazy pseudo “Greater Serbia.”
They are attempting to do in peace time through political means, political pressure, etc., what they could not accomplish with guns and tanks in the war.
Only in Croatia can NGO’s and Serb Cetnik publications get funding from a leftist Yugo regime that hates Croatia and her residents.
…it is NONE of Serbia’s (or anyone else’s) business to dictate what language or alphabet that Croatia will use in its OWN house!
Yes and the infuriating thing is that Serbia’s Prime Minister Aleksander Vucic has just compared upped his hateful game by saying that it would be a world scandal if Serbia took away the Latin alphabet from its cities streets buildings etc – totally of course disregarding the fact that it was the carnage, torture, rape committed by Serbs in Croatia has resulted in victims wanting nothing to do with the Serb alphabet Cyrillic – too cruel and painful reminders
DELETED as misrepresentation of facts of battles in Vukovar 1990’s
The Serbs were there (Vukovar) before it became part of Croatia.
Croatia should have never gotten Slavonia in the first place.
Fact – 16th century: Ottoman conquests forced the Serbs to move to Croatia and Slavonia. Keep on dreaming jj
steficanicol says:
Bilingual street signs? In Sydney that would be like Bankstown having English/Arabic signs, Leichhardt with English/Italian signs and Bondi having English/Hebrew signs…or in one word…ridiculous! The country is Australia so it’s English. The country is Croatia so it’s Croatian.
For sure, steficanicol 🙂
Since when are bilingual signs a human right? Only in bizzaro EU world apparently. If bilingual sings are a human right, God help Australia, we’ll have our work cut out for us in installing several language signs all across major cities and public buildings. EU countries should start worrying about REAL human rights and problems, such as the constant arrival of illegal immigrants, or the massive youth unemployment in several countries, failing economies, the massive amounts of emigration, children going hungry, lack of free speech, etc.
Australia (or other similarly populated country in the West) could also end up like Croatia did in 1990’s, Kat, with foreign nationals or migrants wanting to create a separate state out of suburbs, their own, just because 30 or 40 percent of them live in the areas, employing aggression as Serbs did in Croatia…nothing it seems is beyond the aggressive lot but that god for the several that have the courage to stand up against the nasty madness
Well at least in Australia, there is still hope that the sane majority would laugh them off and tell them where to stick it. In Croatia, our ruling elite enables this idiocy and blatant disregard for the human rights of Croatian war victims. It’s a shame that some of the most intelligent, successful Croats who care about the well-being of the nation, are not the ones running it. Too many such people find no use for the games of politics, but we’d be better off if they had a greater influence, as it seems more and more European leaders are actively working against the best interests of the native populations of their countries.
Yep, Kat – and let’s hope that the one who know and care will seize the governing reins soon in Croatia otherwise slavery will take over…
I am so sorry for the beheading. It is harsh and barbaric. May he rest in peace. Hugs, Barbara
Such sadness and misery, Barbara. Hugs.
Thank you so much for continuing to share with us.
Thank YOU, Sheri
Hello Ina Vukic !
Thank you, Aliosa
In Wales and Scotland, around 1900, children were humiliated or beaten for using the local Celtic language rather than English. The result was that many people lost the ability to speak it; but those who did not became very very angry, and now their language is a huge part of their identity- as English is, of course, a huge part of mine.
Serbs in Vukovar are free to speak, write etc Serbian language in their private lives, buy Serbian language newspapers and magazines but signs on public buildings, streets and town-squares are to be in Croatian only. This is not the same as the behaviour of the English towards Welsh, Scots, Irish as you can see, Clare. In Australia the Irish Catholics had a cruel life originally because the English banned the practice of all other religions except Anglican…
I believe public buildings should legally have bilingual signs along with Braille for the Blind, Ina. Hugs, ♡Robin
I think so too, Robin, that way the visually impaired (the disabled) would have better independent access instead of depending on others to guide them. Much to be done on “breaking the barriers” for the disabled in many places around the world.
Just a couple of thoughts…maybe in vukovar there should be bilingual signs on condition that these signs are accompanied by an iconic picture of the destruction of Vukovar and a description under it saying, “…we serbs were responsible for the criminal destruction of Vukovar and the murder of its Croatian people. We are grateful and humbled that Croatian victims have allowed the script of the murderous Serbs to be allowed.”
The other thing is that we keep reacting to Serb provocations; always on the defensive – we even cow when Serb patriarch in Croatia claims that their monastery is evidence of Serb culture in Croatia for over 400 years and that Croatians have done more harm to Serbs than Serbs to Croats – can you image this being said in any other Country. Let’s stop responding directly and start responding on things on our agenda; our unresolved issues with Serbia – listing all of the things that Serbs have done to Croatia from landmines, to missing persons and cultural artifacts, to mass rape, to torturing of croatian prisoners of, to concentration camps, to reparations, to Croatian minority rights in Serbia to it’s historical brutality of Croatia and it’s criminal Greater Serbia plans. This BS about bilingual signs and Serbia response is war mongering and yet Croatians in Serbia have far less rights; but no one knows this.
Yes, Sunman, we’re still waiting for a politician in Croatia to take a lead in sorting Serbia’s BS out rather than responding to Serbia’s insults and insults of it’s church
‘s leader. As to Croats in Serbia – an example of true denial of ethnic minority rights.
The politics are so complicated, that I can barely understand!
Yep, Luanne, these days one needs to be vigilant at politicians – one can’t trust them 100%, really. But the bottom of the line here are the victims and their well-being which not many politicians are coming out with as something not negotiable. Buggers they are.
therealamericro says:
Serbs in Vukovar do not meet the 33 percent threshold, as many are registered in Vukovar but live, work and pay taxes in Vojvodina, RS and Beograd. That is why Croat calls for an updated census fell on deaf ears.
This was a machinated scandal to divert attention from all of the government’s failings, a tanking economy, the fact that Slavonians were and are leaving in large numbers to the EU for work, and was and is a convenient distraction from the Veterans’ protest.
A farce from the get go.
When a real census takes place and the real percentages are available, then we can talk about bilingual signs (which is unnecessary since most Serbs learn Latin script in Croatia first anyway, and Latin script is Serbia’s official script and has been for years).
That and of course Poopie and SNV publicly recognize the JNA/VRSK aggression and wholesale ethnic cleansing – and permanently barring the return of – of 99.5% of Croats and non-Serbs, and apologize for it, and recognize the ICTY ruling of Gotovina et. al., then bilingual signs can be considered.
Until then no dice.
Hear, hear – therealamericro! I’m on that team too. No dice, no negotiation with justice.
Nek mi gospodja Ina Vukic nesto objasni:
The Court further describes the main events that took place in Croatia between 1990 and 1995. It notes in particular that, shortly after the latter’s declaration of independence on 25 June 1991, an armed conflict broke out between, on the one hand, Croatia’s armed forces and, on the other, forces opposed to its independence (namely forces created by part of the Serb minority within Croatia and various paramilitary groups, to which the Court refers collectively as “Serb forces”, irrespective of the issue of attribution of their conduct) and at least from September 1991 the Yugoslav National Army (“JNA”). By late 1991, these Serb forces and the JNA controlled around one-third of Croatian territory within its boundaries in the SFRY, a situation which lasted until 1995. It was during this conflict that the genocide alleged by Croatia is claimed to have been committed. Finally, the Court describes how, during the spring and summer of 1995, Croatia succeeded, as a result of a series of military operations, in re-taking the greater part of the territory of which it had previously lost control. It was during Operation “Storm”, in August 1995, that the genocide alleged by Serbia in its counter-claim is claimed to have taken place.
Sto mene interesira je recenica: By late 1991, these Serb forces and the JNA controlled around one-third of Croatian territory within its boundaries in the SFRY, a situation which lasted until 1995
A sada nek mi objasni pojam Agresije unutar granice SFRJ
iz: Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Croatia v. Serbia)
The Court rejects Croatia’s claim and Serbia’s counter-claim
There is nothing I can explain, Emil – while you decide to take snippets and turn them out of context the ICJ did rule that there were acts of genocide perpetrated on Croatian soil, none on Serbia’s of course because it was only Serbs (Montenegrins) that were the aggressors against sovereign states within former Yugoslavia (Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina) and not the other way around and if people needed to defend themselves against that aggression I say good on them – THhnk God they were able to.
Sorry you have no idea about international law, not be the smartest and I see another article by pushing on one same line that showed you that Franjo Tudjman, anyway what international law says. I was just ICTY versus Prlic and others known to the term used aggression and to the Republic of Croatia against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Emil, Emil – where did you finish you law degrees? I certainly don’t pretend to be an expert but I do understand and know quite a bit perhaps more than you but as far as Prlic et al are concerned the case is still in process, not finished – given that you claim to know the law I’m sure you know the meaning of due process and Appeal is part of that. As to Croatian aggression against Bosnia & Herzegovina – pure political lie and concoction thank you but of course a court case can pronounce it given that shonky evidence and liars gave testimony. Just think of Bihac – in August 1995 – were it not for Croats it would have become another Srebrenica – genocide and that is recognised – you want to call that aggression – go ahead!
Stjepan F. says:
There is an article on Huffington Post that relates to this. The author thinks that the signs are a waste of money since there is no issue of bilingualism. There is one language (called Croato-Serbian) that the local Serbs can read in the Latin script and have nothing to complain about. See: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/zarko-perovic/the-endless-balkan-langua_b_9005276.html
Oh dear, oh dear – what possessed the author of that article to drag out the Serbo-Croatian language that was “banned” in Croatia in 1970’s after which one could officially speak/write either Croatia or Serbian but not both combined and reasons for that were and are obvious and part of people power. But then again being a Serb from Serbia who says he speaks Serbo-Croatian today even though the language ceased as such combination 40 years ago, before he was born probably, tells you something… In Bosnia and Herzegovina the Bosnian language had become official an internationally recognised some 20 or so years ago, so why would people go back to using something that had brought so much pain. Can’t think of any other reason but underhanded attempt to stir further unrest.
Reverence For Croatian Victims Of Serb Aggression: Vote Trashes Use Of Serbian Cyrillic In Vukovar | Ace News Room says:
[…] First published August 19th 2015 […]
Croatia: Majority (Croat) Rights Vs. Minority (Serb) Rights – Croatia, the War, and the Future says:
[…] In August 2015, Vukovar changed its town statute to say that the collective rights of the Serb minority [re street signs, government building signs etc.) in the area of the town of Vukovar are to be ensured when the conditions are met. […]
Croatia: Majority (Croat) Rights Vs. Minority (Serb) Rights – Domovina says:
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Nissan International Cycle Race..1986..01.10.1986..10.01.1986..1st October 1986..The Nissan Classic began today from Trinity College,Dublin. The offical race starter was The Taoiseach,Dr Garrett FitzGerald TD. He was accompanied by the Minister for Sport,Mr Sean Barrett TD..Sean Kelly was returning to defend his title but his opposition included Greg LeMond, the 1983 world champion and the winner of the Tour de France of the previous July. Roche was out due to his injured leg. Adri van der Poel was back with 1980 Tour de France winner and 1985 world champion Joop Zoetemelk. Teun van Vliet was back too. The winner of the green jersey of the Tour de France that July, Eric Vanderaerden was there as well as Australians Phil Anderson and Alan Peiper as well the Scottish cyclist Robert Millar...Representatives of Nissan Ireland are pictured with the Minister for Sport Mr Sean Barrett TD.
Eire Bertie Ahern Nissan Ireland 1980s Republic of Ireland images of Ireland picture library Nissan Classic Greg Lemond black and white pictures Lord Mayor Irish society round Ireland cycle race Taoiseach Irish images Irish pictures photographs of Ireland Garret Fitzgerald Ireland image library black and white Trinity College Dublin
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By: Madhava Smullen for ISKCON News on Aug. 7, 2010
Photo Credits: newvrindaban
Varshana Swami, a long-time resident of New Vrindaban in West Virginia, welcomed devotees this July 25th to see his progress in recreating the holy places of the original Vrindaban at the ISKCON community’s rural property.
This, in fact, was one of ISKCON Founder Srila Prabhupada’s primary mandates for the community when it was first established in the 1960s—the second being to live in harmony with nature. “I understand the spot [New Vrindaban] is very beautiful, and the hills may be renamed as New Govardhana,” he wrote to Hayagriva Dasa in a 1968 letter. “If there are lakes, they can be renamed as Shyama Kunda and Radha Kunda.”
Between 1972 and 1988, Varshana Swami spent most of his time in dedication to the second mandate, utilizing his experience in animal power and natural resources to farm the land.
In 1979, since there were no lakes at New Vrindaban, he also “excavated” ponds that would replicate the sacred lakes Radha Kunda and Shyama Kunda in Krishna’s birthplace of Vrindaban, India.
By the year 2000, Varshana Swami had begun to focus predominantly on Prabhupada’s first mandate—recreating holy places—and purchased the section of land at New Vrindaban that contained the lakes.
“It’s very geographically similar to the original Vrindaban,” he says. “What we call ‘the swan-boat lake,’ on which the Deities of Radha-Vrindaban-Chandra are taken out for a ride, looks like a very rustic rendition of Kushum Sarovara. And just as in the original Vrindaban, it lies at the foot of Govardhana Hill, which is here represented by a large ridge. Past this are the twin sacred lakes Radha Kunda and Shyama Kunda.”
Since 2000, Varshana Swami has been living and working on the land—right across the road from the famous Prabhupada’s Palace—and developing it according to his vision.
Recently, he began to pray for help with the project he’d tackled alone for years. Sure enough, help came—but not in exactly the form he’d imagined. Instead of direct human labor, devotees sponsored dioramas of the 16th Century Vaishnava saints known as the Six Goswamis of Vrindavana.
“Looking at it according to our tradition, it was actually very appropriate that it was the Six Goswamis who came to help in excavating the holy places,” says Varshana Swami. “And that’s not just philosophical—with their arrival, devotees’ interest in the project has increased.”
The fiberglass dioramas of Rupa, Sanatan, Raghunatha Bhatta, Jiva, Gopal Bhatta, and Raghunatha Dasa Goswamis were created by Milan, a Bengal-based sculptor whom Srila Prabhupada knew and praised.
In an official ceremony on Sunday July 25th—the holy day of Guru Purnima and the disappearance day of Sanatana Goswami—the colorful two-foot dioramas were welcomed to New Vrindaban, along with 8-inch forms of the Asta-Sakhi gopis, who are eternal servants of Radha and Krishna in the spiritual world.
They were joined by Radha-Gopinatha, Deities who have been resident in a cabin known as Radha-Gopinath Mandir on the banks of Radha Kunda and Shyama Kunda since 2000. Also revealed on the day was a three-foot diorama of Vrinda Devi, a leading gopi who assists in Radha-Krishna’s pastimes, and Vishva Mahadeva, better known as Lord Shiva.
Forty to fifty devotees, mostly local, attended the event from 5pm on into the evening. After bathing Radha-Gopinath in a sacred ceremony known as abhisekha, Varshana Swami gave a tour of the pilgrimage site, explaining the relationship between the different Deities present.
“Although the term ‘Six Goswamis’ is widely used, there were in fact eight goswamis who were contemporaries, including Lokanatha Dasa and Krishna Dasa Kaviraja,” he says. “The theological perspective of the relationship between the eight goswamis, the Asta-Sakhis, and Radha-Krishna is compared to a lotus: Radha and Krishna are the whorl, the Asta-Sakhis are the petals, and eight more confidential gopi servants called the Asta-Manjaris—who are the eternal forms of the eight goswamis—are the stem.”
Because of the Manjaris’ close proximity to Radha-Krishna, as well as their eternal youthful innocence and emotional intensity, Vaishnava tradition describes them as having the deepest understanding of the nature of Radha-Krishna.
“Therefore,” Varshana Swami explains, “The eight goswamis are the most appropriate emissaries of Lord Chaitanya’s mission, able to present it in a way that is beneficial to this world’s present and future generations. And this also makes them the essential foundation of ISKCON and our spiritual progress.”
Next, Varshana Swami will continue to develop his project into a larger vision. Work on an Asta-Sakhi Mandir—a simple yet beautiful gazebo-style octagon—began two weeks ago. And the temple, a sister to the already existing Radha-Gopinath Mandir, will be opened this September 15th in honor of Srimati Radharani’s Appearance Day.
The recreated holy places will become a major part of festivals related to Govardhana Hill, Radha-Kunda and Shyama Kunda, the Six Goswamis, and the Asta-Sakhis, as well as being another spiritual attaction for New Vrindaban pilgrims.
But the project will also incorporate Prabhupada’s other primary mandate for New Vrindaban— living in harmony with nature.
“Since we welcomed the Six Goswamis, devotees have consistently given me feedback that this is just like the original Vrindaban, because of its rural quality and simplicity,” says Varshana Swami. “So I’ve felt inspired to incorporate my previous service of natural resources and animal power. Already, we have a team of oxen, and I’m developing a garden. We also have a conservancy of five-year-old fruit and nut trees such as Chinese chestnut, persimmon, apple, sugar maple, and paw-paw.”
Varshana Swami would like to expand these efforts to bring New Vrindaban back to its previous high level of natural living.
“And with the presence of Vrinda Devi, who orchestrates the natural world for Radha and Krishna’s pastimes,”he concludes, “I feel certain that the project will be blessed.”
[ holy-places ] [ new-vrindavana ]
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How old was Chris O'Donnell in Max Payne?
Chris O'Donnell was 37 in Max Payne when he played the character 'Jason Colvin'.
Today he is 49, and has starred in 26 movies in total, 5 since Max Payne was released.
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“…The Phone Rings In The Middle Of The Night…”
In the late 1970s, an obscure young rock musician from Philadelphia, Robert Hazard, discovered the Sex Pistols & The Clash, & soon formed the band Robert Hazard & The Heroes. In 1979 The Heroes recorded a raw demo tape featuring their feminist anthem: “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”, a world-weary gem of teenage lust & longing. Four years later, Cyndi Lauper’s cover put the song on the mainstream map. An 80’s classic was born.
Chromatics’ version of “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” is a moonage daydream. This limited edition maxi-single features several different versions for DJs, including dub mixes & instrumentals. Our personal favorite, the ethereal “Girls Just Wanna Have Some” highlights the single. Kate Moss & Cara Delevingne appear on the cover as a tribute to the past, present, & future female icons.
Produced & Mixed By Johnny Jewel
Artwork By Johnny Jewel
Photography Courtesy Of Inez & Vinoodh
Dub (3:04)
Some Girls (3:43)
Girls Just Wanna Have Drums (4:53)
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (3:47)
Rhythms (4:53)
Just Some (3:43)
No Fun (3:47)
Total Running Time (27:51)
UPC SKU N/A Categories VINYL, CHROMATICS, MP3, LOSSLESS WAV
CHROMATICS "Night Drive"
CHROMATICS "Cherry" (Deluxe)
CHROMATICS "Kill For Love"
CHROMATICS "In The City"
© Italians Do It Better. All rights reserved.
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Applebee's Grill + Bar, South 3rd Street, Terre Haute, IN, USA
South 3rd Street, Terre Haute, 47802 Indiana, United States
“Throwing up and p**ing at the same time and feel very cold even though I’m in the heat my hands feel as cold as Ice I think I have a fever haven’t had time to check because my throwing up and p**ing”
1 person had — diarrhea, nausea and vomiting
Reported: Dec 26 2018 at 10:54 AM
More incidents from: Bar Restaurant
Jan 14 2020 at 9:15 AM
“I Went at 11:00pm (close 12am) got the mix and 2 for $6. Spicy chicken and a whopper. The chicken is clearly undercooked and whopper was cold as well. I went back at 11:11pm and no one would come back to the window to resolve it.. ”
Arizona Family Restaurant, West Esperanza Boulevard, Green Valley, AZ, USA
“Ordered takeout dinner from restaurant 12-29-19 at 3:52 pm. Two turkey dinners with mashed potatoes gravy, corn, beans. Within 3 hours got very nauseated, started to vomit and had diarrhea. Both my wife and I had the same symptoms. Called restaurant this morning and they said will have cook check... See More into it. ”
Chick-fil-A, 5803 Babcock Rd, San Antonio, TX 78240, USA
Symptoms: Diarrhea Nausea Vomiting Other Cramps Sweating
“On 01/20/2020 at 14:00, I ate a Spicy Deluxe chicken sandwich meal with large waffle fries and 1/2 unsweet tea / 1/2 lemonade drink. I woke up at midnight that day with severe abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting, sweats and ending with diarrhea. I did not seek medical care. ”
Texas Roadhouse, Northwest Peacock Boulevard, Port St. Lucie, FL, USA
Symptoms: Diarrhea Stomach Pain
“I went there on 1/11/2020 at 3:00pm. I ordered Ribeye steak medium well, baked potato with butter and Caesar salad. My wife ordered a completely different meal and she had no issues. On the following day I started feeling pain in my stomach and it started churning and I went... See More to the bathroom. From 10:00am till 9:00pm I went to the toilet about a dozen times. After the first trip to the toilet all of the others were nothing but liquid. My stomach made gurgling noises all day long with little notice to head to the toilet. Now it is 1/13/2020 and I am starting off the day in a similar fashion. I will be very grateful when this is finally over. Based on what I ordered, if I had to guess at the most likely culprit, I would have to say the Caesar salad, due to all of the issues with Romaine lettuce. ”
Olive Garden Italian Restaurant, S University Dr, Plantation, FL, USA
“On 12/25/19-11am Tuesday wife felt bad as she left the restaurant, she had the runs before she reached the exit, she had to use a blanket in the car to set on. She pooped all the way home in her pants. My son and I had to stand in the... See More parking lot while she went home, showered, threw away her clothes & drove back to pick use up. Later my son and I both had the runs from our meals. Wife had lentil soup & salad. My son & I had scoobie soup. We took home two lasana meals that were like a role of noodles with sauce on top, for the next day. The poorest lasana I have ever had. We both had the runs after eating it the next day. I got a $50 card with $10 bonus card. But with the experience we won't be using the dated $10 card. The waitress was nice but she had to run all over the building because her tables are all over the place. It's nice having the waitress work tables in a certain area, instead of all over the floor. We have always liked this restaurant but it will be a long while till we go back. ”
Applebee's Grill + Bar, West 120th Avenue, Broomfield, CO, USA
Symptoms: Diarrhea Nausea Vomiting Loss of Appetite Stomach Pain
“Chicken Wonton Tacos from there. After lunch, about 30 minutes, I developed nausea, stomach pain, sour stomach, and loss of appetite. Later in the day I got worse, and I vomited all night, along with diarrhea. ”
Upper Thomson Road, Habitat Coffee, Singapore
Symptoms: Diarrhea Nausea Vomiting Stomach Pain
Jan 9 2020 at 7:38 AM
“Had the yakiniku bowl for dinner around 7+pm which consisted of kimchi, beef slices and a soft boiled egg. After about 4 hours, started feeling nauseous, and stomach was feeling weird. Took carbon pills, after a while felt a sharp pain in the stomach and got diarrhea. The nausea persisted... See More and shortly vomited after that. Around 2 hours later, the second round of diarrhea and vomiting occurred, and half hour later another round of vomiting. Took medication for nausea and diarrhea and slept, after that it seems like all the symptoms have stopped. Went to the doc, he mentioned it could be a viral infection from contaminated food since there was no fever and stomach cramps. ”
Hard-boiled eggs sold at Wal-Mart, Costco, Kroger and more - Possible Listeria Contamination
Report Type: Food Recall
“On December 18th, the FDA notified Almark Foods that Hard-Boiled and Peeled eggs manufactured at the Gainesville, GA facility may be associated with a Listeria monocytogenes outbreak that has been linked to several reported illnesses and one reported death. A more recent FDA sample from the facility also matched the... See More outbreak strain, indicating the possibility that the contamination may still be present. The hard-boiled eggs were sold nationwide at Wal-Mart, Costco, Kroger, ShopRite, Giant Eagle, LIDL, Fresh Thyme, and more. They could be sold as but not limited to the following brands: 7 Select, Best Choice, Egglands Best, Everyday Essentials, Fresh Thyme, Giant Eagle, Great Day, Great Value, Inspired Organics, Kirkland Signature, Kroger, LIDL, Lucerne, and Members Mark. Customers who have purchased these products are urged to immediately discard and not consume the products. The affected product can be identified by viewing the printed “Best If Used By” date coding on the product package. If the “Best If Used By” code starts with the prefix “G”, the product was manufactured at the company’s Gainesville, Georgia facility and is subject to this recall. For a full list of products click here: fda.gov Source: FDA ”
Whole Foods Market, North Halsted Street, Chicago, IL, USA
“It was either the precooked frozen meatballs I had or Naked juice (I also had pasta and marinara). About an hour after eating, I was throwing up nonstop for hours and had mild diarrhea and ended up in the ER for dehydration. ”
Applebee's Grill + Bar, Fairfield, CA, USA
Symptoms: Diarrhea Nausea Vomiting Lightheaded Stomach Pain
“Three cheese chicken penne and artichoke dip Immediately felt nauseous after 5 minutes of completing meal. I’m the only person who got sick I was unable to drive to my destination from the nausea 10 minutes later I was having uncontrollable diarrhea and vomiting. Sharp stomach pain and head aches ”
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Linda Ronstadt Tribute Holiday Special: "Get Closer!" Event Time & Tickets
Linda Ronstadt Tribute Holiday Special: "Get Closer!" in Fernandina Beach
Saturday 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM
Story & Song Bookstore Bistro
Fernandina Beach, Florida 32034
Find Tickets brownpapertickets.com
Linda Ronstadt Tribute Holiday Special: "Get Closer!"
Join Debbie Rider as she emulates Linda Ronstadt in voice, style, and wardrobe, with 7-piece band (Kenny Levine - piano /keyboards/vocals, Larry Raulerson - bass/vocals, Mark Dennison - guitar/vocals, Sammy Buonocore, Sr. - drums, Michael Bennick - acoustic and electric guitars, John Lemaster - pedal steel, Teri Harris Levine - backing vocals), plus special guests on upright bass (Jeff Ganz), trumpet (Ray Callendar) and vocals (Torrey Kingry)! Debbie and her group perform all Linda Ronstadt's top hit songs spanning Linda's 40 year career in all genres of music from 60's Stone Poneys to Nelson Riddle Great American Songbook and more! In 2000, Linda's Christmas Album "A Merry Little Christmas" featured her amazing voice on Christmas standards and since it is Christmas, Get Closer! A Tribute to Linda Ronstadt, will get you into the Christmas spirit with beautiful renditions of five tunes from the Christmas album. If you saw this show in April, you will want to see this one too, as there are new songs; from Little Feat's "All That You Dream" and the title cut from Linda's 80's album, "Get Closer" , "What's New" will debut as well as Christmas songs like, "White Christmas", "I'll be Home for Christmas", and Linda's cover of Joni Mitchell's "River"! In the intimate setting of Story & Song, you will think you are back in time with Debbie as Linda when you hear all your favorite Linda Ronstadt songs and then some.
Categories: Concerts & Tour Dates | Holiday
Buy tickets at brownpapertickets.com!
at Story & Song Bookstore Bistro
"An Evening of Gypsy Jazz"
Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell
"You Don't Know Me"
Sorry, you missed Linda Ronstadt Tribute Holi... at Story & Song Bookstore Bistro.
Demand that Story & Song Bookstore Bistro gets added to the next tour!
Demand that Fernandina Beach gets added to the next tour!
You missed Linda Ronstadt Tribute Holi... at Story & Song Bookstore Bistro.
We're generating custom event recommendations for you based on Linda Ronstadt Tribute Holi... right now!
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James Madison Papers
Joseph C. Cabell to James Madison, 16 March 1829
Wmsburg. 16 march. 1829.
I went out of the house yesterday for the first time, since my arrival at this time: but my health is still in a feeble state, and it will probably be some weeks before I shall be able to resume my usual private pursuits. I do not take the Enquirer, and therefore am often ignorant of what is said in that paper. I filed away the numbers of Mr. Giles’s commentaries upon your letters, as far as they had appeared before I left Richmond—intending to examine them when I should have more leisure and health. Yesterday by accident I fell in with his 9th. & last number. I need not express to you the indignation with which I was filled on the perusal of his calumnies. I am decidedly of opinion that neither yourself nor your friends should shew any unusual sensibility at his misrepresentations. They carry their antidote along with them. He knows that the pamphlet containing your letters is about to be extensively circulated, and he seeks to destroy its effect: but this he cannot do. I am doubtful whether I would do best to be silent—or to come out with a brief statement of facts as to the manner & circumstances under which you were induced by me to write the letters. His missiles cannot reach you—and it might look like seeking public forgiveness for using the freedom of speech. Besides, the short statements in the National Intelligencer prefixed to the first publication, contained the whole of the essential facts: and any further statement would only be a development of the first. On the other hand, the fact of your refusal to suffer the publication till after the termination of the Presidential election, might have weight with a portion of the community. This consideration, however, is weakened by the circumstance that the time selected for the publication must have struck every candid mind as the most appropriate & least exceptionable that could have been adopted. If any such statement as the one above alluded to should be preferable to silence, I would cheerfully make it. I think a short delay would not be disadvantageous. In the interim—I write to ask a favor of you—it is—that you will have the kindness to furnish me with copies of my letter[s] to you in the spring of 1827 stating what had occurred in the Senate on the subject of Mr. Giles’s resolutions: & requesting the favor of you to give me information on the question of the Constitutional power of Congress to protect domestic manufactures: as also copies of the letters which I wrote you from Warminster last fall, requesting you to write to me, and afterwards requesting permission to publish: I would not put you to this trouble: but as I kept no copies, and may have occasion to make some statement, I would be thankful for them. I truly regret that I should in any way have been instrumental in disturbing the calm of your retirement. But was there any just ground to expect the illiberal course which has been taken? And after all, will any candid man say that much good will not result to the cause of truth and the Constitution? The letters assume more importance since the disclosure of Genl. Jackson’s opinions. He is claimed by the Southern party. His friends to the North will doubtless claim him also. And what but the truth will save the nation from the consequences of the struggle that is to ensue? I confess I was surprized when I read the message. Two of the Professors of Wm. & mary, with whom I was lately conversing (Mr. Dun & Mr. Page) both antitariffites & friends of the election of Genl. Jackson, construe the message differently; the latter contending that the message approved none but revenue duties, the former that it would sanction also other duties. I am, dear Sir, most resy. & truly yours
Jos: C: Cabell
RC (DLC). Docketed by JM.
Early Access Link What’s this?
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/99-02-02-1734
Madison Papers
Cabell, Joseph C.
“Joseph C. Cabell to James Madison, 16 March 1829,” Founders Online, National Archives, accessed September 29, 2019, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/99-02-02-1734. [This is an Early Access document from The Papers of James Madison. It is not an authoritative final version.]
From Cabell to Madison [13 March 1829]
From Madison to Cabell [19 March 1829]
All correspondence between Cabell and Madison
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Cruel Story of Youth (Includes DVD)
Eureka Entertainment to release Japanese Director Nagisa Oshima’s landmark film CRUEL STORY OF YOUTH, a shocking tale of youthful delinquency in post-Hiroshima Japan, on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK in a Dual Format edition, available from 17 August 2015.
This second feature by the Japanese cinema-insurgent Nagisa Ôshima (In the Realm of the Senses, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence) galvanised its home-turf with its topsy-turvy directorial dexterity and stinging castigation of an indolent, self-indulgent youth culture reposing on the eve of the turbulent 1960s.
When high-schooler Makoto is saved from the advances of a lecherous middle-aged man by uni student Kiyoshi, the pair embark on a fits-and-starts affair that finally settles into a sexually extortionary, mutually exploitative dependency that promises to spell their relationship’s doom.
Ôshima’s breakthrough portrait of alienated youth comes courtesy of the 2014 Shochiku 4K scan that resurrected the film’s glorious colour palette, recently described by critic and programmer James Quandt as “running riot with retro: pulsing neon, turquoise telephones, hair teased into shellacked grandeur.” The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present Cruel Story of Youth in a Dual Format edition, for the first time on Blu-ray in the UK.
Gorgeous 1080p presentation of the film on Blu-ray from the 2014 4K Shochiku restoration
Optional English subtitles
New video interview with film critic Tony Rayns
36-page booklet containing an essay, interview material, and rare archival imagery
Miyuki Kuwano, Yûsuke Kawazu, Yoshiko Kuga
96 mins approx.
Masters of Cinema
2 pour 22€
Découvrez cette sélection de Blu-ray et DVD et obtenez vos deux préférés pour 22€ seulement ! Ajoutez les deux films de votre choix dans votre panier pour que la réduction soit appliquée.
Fellini Satyricon (Masters of Cinema)
Harmonium (Masters Of Cinema) - Dual Format (Includes DVD)
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Rupert spills the beans on Angie
The email inbox here at Hoaxtead Research is a funny thing. We receive all sorts, from death threats and lectures from people who still believe there’s a cult operating in Hampstead, to tips and information about ongoing stories. But every now and then we find something truly special—as we did last night.
Rupert Quaintance IV was arrested on Wednesday last, and while we’re still in the dark about his current whereabouts and legal status, we were most interested to receive an email from someone who was in touch with him via Facebook text in the days leading up to his arrest.
Our anonymous informant offered us a series of screenshots from a conversation they’d had with Rupert. We think they offer some intriguing insights, not only into Rupert and his relationship with Angie, but his opinion of the Hoaxtead pushers as a whole, and the potential future of his so-called ‘documentary’.
We present the screenshots to you here, just as we received them:
There you have it: Rupert finds Angela “disgusting”, “abusive”, and “gross”, and he was unimpressed with her claim that they were “in love with each other”. We wonder whether Angie really does understand the depth of Rupert’s loathing for her. As we’ve seen, she has an uncanny ability to twist reality until it suits her purposes, and there’s no reason to believe she’d do any differently in her relationship with Rupert.
We were interested to note that Rupert is dismissive of the “MKULTRA porn” that Angela and her fellow Hoaxtead pushers find so fascinating; and he says “I have distanced myself from all of them. I’ve seen all I need to”.
Is it safe to say that having accepting Angela’s generosity in paying for his flight to London, Rupert suddenly discovered that he’d bitten off far more than he could chew?
He sounds deeply disappointed in his grand European adventure now: not only does he despise Angie, but even the sainted Kevin Galalae is starting to sound like a less than delightful travel companion. (Not that anyone could have predicted that.) He’s broke, he’s been arrested, he’s disgusted with the entire business.
In fact, here are a couple of snippets from Rupert yesterday, responding to a slagfest between Angie and Yannis:
If we didn’t know better, we’d say the fight’s gone right out of him. Ah well, bravado and big talk will only get one so far. If Rupert’s wise, he’ll take that as a lesson.
18/09/2016 in Hoaxer infighting. Tags: Angela Power-Disney, Hampstead hoax, Rupert Quaintaince IV
Rupert in London this week?
Sophia Green lays waste to Rupert and Angie
Hoaxtead erupts into giant bun fight
← Will Angie show her face at today’s protest?
Angie a no-show at child abuse rally →
137 thoughts on “Rupert spills the beans on Angie”
Gone but not forgotten Rupert…. Not by a long chalk. After what you’ve done, of your own volition, you don’t get to come back from this. NO matter how you paint it you issued threats against innocent people. Desecrated things that matter, and made false accusations against people who had done nothing wrong. – all in pursuit of some childish idiotic ‘dream’ you have of fame. You’ve hurt little children; left them with nightmares, maybe scarred them for life. Disrupted the lives of decent families. No….. You don’t walk away from that.
You’re NEVER coming back from this and can forget any ideas of ‘making it’ in entertainment. You never had any skill or talent anyway – but this ends it. Take yourself OFF the internet completely and hope and pray somebody lets you shovel shit for a living.
How to deactivate your account Rupert…..
1) Click the downward arrow at the top right of any Facebook page.
2) Click “Security” in the left column.
3) Choose “Deactivate your account”, then follow the steps to confirm.
And BTW I think the lads may be round for a chat later. Don’t get up though; they’ve got a key……
http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/resources/images/1926763/
It’s simple. People have been terrorised by the stuff and people he thinks is so great to get involved in …….. for ratings …….. a quick buck. Well done Rupert.
Well, it’s not like we didn’t try to warn him….
He obviously has no concept of the damage he’s done or how angry people are. Quite why he would chose to exploit and offend the very people that might have helped his ambitions is beyond any fathoming. But he needs to understand his days as a backwater hotel clerk were the pinnacle of his career.
It’s interesting: I think one reason people are so furious with Rupert is his incredible arrogance, combined with the truly terrible choice he made to follow Angie, who is clearly a foul individual, a liar with no conscience and no scruples. So many bad choices, and where has it led? Hardly to the success and fame he craves.
He obviously thinks increasing an Internet radio station’s ratings is worth it. He’s more mercenary than I thought, and that’s an incredible streak of cruelty to carry round. I pity him to be honest. It is a trait of psychopaths. As is grandiosity.
I saw him be rude to the Erith woman. That sealed it for me. That was him being natural, himself, with a woman who did nothing more than look out of her front door at what was going on in the alley by her flat.
Yes, that was Rupert in an unguarded, unrehearsed moment. It was not a pretty sight.
Rupert is a spoilt brat, lazy and dim-witted. And fundamentally dishonest. This is one reason why he thinks fame can simply be grasped without paying the appropriate dues. – He’s never grown beyond that childish ‘pretend’ stage where one day you can be a Fireman and in the afternoon a Doctor; his life is just play-acting. And he’s got away with that because no-one has made him stand on his own two feet. ….This internet ‘radio’ station? Just a child’s toy really; the 21st century equivalent of a CB set! ‘Film maker’? Wandering around like some twelve-year-old with a toy camera…. It’s all just childish fantasy.
But I’m afraid he went far too far when he started interfering with the real lives of grown-ups.
Yes, that’s the real crux of it: when his actions started causing people to fear for their children’s safety, it stopped being fun and games.
I think Joe Kerr says everything I think so no need to repeat it except I don’t forgive anyone who has contributed to the attempts to destroy even further, the lives of the 2 kids in this drama and their father and all those other innocent North London folk including that poor woman who fled her church flat with her kids.
Everyone else’s comments are also spot on.
And you do not get to tell the world : ” these people want to fuck little kid’s arseholes and it almost makes you want to try it to see what it’s like” or say you pissed up against a church wall ( I’m non-religious but have total respect for anyone’s religious beliefs and would never insult them for it) of infer you carry a knife which is a serious crime in the UK and then ramble on about how many bloody guns you and your mum have, and put these things on the web for the direct purpose of making people believe it’s true and then back peddle like crazy. moaning when it all goes arse over tit.
And staying with and being friendly with people like Power-Disney and then calling her all sorts of names because the whole shemozzle fell apart just shows that you ain’t no Southern Gentleman and are still just an arrogant prick.
Is there a link to that? I missed that. Need to see any Rupert Action that re-enforces his capacity to be a Class One Prat.
Yes, it’s not as if Angie wasn’t obviously a lying manipulator from the start. Seems odd to be surprised now.
It was on his GoFundMe page, I believe.
I watched the video on his GoFundme page (hard going- arrogance abounds) but I had to stop for a while after spluttering my tea yet again when he boasts the:
“trolls said I would be arrested..and I came through here twice now and no problems whatsoever” LOL.
It’s true..he cannot deny we didn’t warn him about everything that has unfolded.
Also note : Angie has now added a post to her Irish demo stating “this is how the Irish do it” (apparently the Irish ‘do it’ like every other bloody nation does) several hours after Hoaxtead queries the photo and one cleverly unmasked it as not a snap taken in London.
Poor Angie- it’s all unraveling.
Is Rupert still in England?
It seems to me that Rupert must be waiting for a court case otherwise why is he sticking around.
Perhaps he didn’t listen to the people on here because we told him so and that made him want to stick by Angela longer than he has.
At least he has finally realised what she is.
I don’t understand re the Yannis “YUCK” Emmanuol situation why Rupert didn’t just delete the whole thread where he says he’s had enough etc. If it was too much just delete…
As for tor this Quaintance goose ludicrously stating the UK will be “legalizing child sex abuse” perhaps he should read this report:
“”Even if the true prevalence of child sexual abuse is not known, most will agree that there will be 500,000 babies born in the US this year that will be sexually abused before they turn 18 if we do not prevent it,” according to the Children Assessment Centre (CAC).
The US Department of Health and Human Services’ Children’s Bureau report Child Maltreatment 2010 found that 16% of young people aged 14 to 17 had been sexually victimized in that year, and over the course of their lifetime, 28% of young people in the US, aged 14 to 17, had been sexually victimized.”
Quaintance is a vacuous lightweight phony who seized upon a scheme fomented by an Irish scammer as a way of getting a free trip to the UK but it blew up in his face.
# and what DID happen to those pals in Rome on their hunger strike? Dropped for being no longer of use?
The real problem for Rupert Wilson Quainance is that he has now ensured an entire internet trail of his infractions, scams and arrest has been laid out for all the world to see. We still don’t know the details of his arrest but we will eventually.
When people go for a job these days (unlike in my youth) there are another 200 seeking that job. Antone with the slightest mark against their name doesn’t get past first base. Unfair but that’s reality and probably as true in Culpepper as in London.
If his dad does work associated with the CIA I reckon he would be appalled with his son’s reckless adventure. Rupert should atone for his actions by taking up genuine charity work in Culpepper- feeding the homeless and so on until he has redeemed himself.
Sounds to me by the very muted way he is posting remarks and his “I’m outa this particular scam” and ” I wuz fooled by a crazy lady” he may still be in the UK and has been advised by a lawyer to cool his language.
I think if he were back in the USA he would be laying into how ghastly and corrupt the British cops are and the legal system is run by pedos and The Cult deliberately silenced the Great Warrior etc etc, yadda yadda, blah,blah blah.
## I still believe it’s all about a visa irregularity and it’s not uncommon for Immigration to delay immediately deporting an offender and because illegal workers are such a huge problem they may chose to charge him and put him through the court process for maximum publicity.
Of course even I can be wrong !!
LOL, Angela will shit when she sees this.
And Rupert will be so pissed off when he realises his convo wasn’t as private as he thought. EC’s contact has really done a number on him and stabbed in in the back. So sneaky, so mean…and I for one truly appreciate it. Hehe 😀
A lot of these old posts and comments have taken on a whole new meaning now. LOL 😀
https://hoaxteadresearch.wordpress.com/2016/04/01/qbert-gets-cold-feet
I’m trying to find an old screenshot of a conversation that Danielle George (I think) had with Rupert around March/April, in which he admitted that the donations to his GoFundMe (especially Angie’s £1,000) were a bit much and implied that he was regretting getting involved…
Sorry, I can’t find the screenshot in question but this is a related one, posted at the time:
Oh now I see the Rome hunger striker IS Kevin Galalae- so hard to keep track of these truthers.
I see there is yet another of these ‘TV Networks ” which are just Youtube channels but this one called WHDT World Television service goes all out with a suited talking head and a back drop that looks very kosher and so on but really- it’s just another form of deception by amateurs imitating real TV networks and trying to give the appearance of a solid entity when it’s just cheap smoke & mirrors.
On this one the ‘newsreader’ says in 2014 that Galalae’s hunger strike may force The Pope to ..oh I don’t know…do something like come out of The Vatican and speak to Kevin but of course he did sod all connected with them.
What a strange world they inhabit. I mean we do live in a strange world full of media we can’t really trust but this Truther Mob take it to a whole new level where they fool themselves and a few 100 devoted followers if they are lucky.
And they call us a Cult !!
Oh and lest we forget:
(Go to 4:57)
Back-tracking par excellence:
From early April:
I wonder whether it was Papa Quaintance the Turd or Ma Kazza who used to whack Rupert with a paddle.
And it does rather beg the question of why she’s been unable to upload any real pics of the child abuse rally that she, ahem, definitely did attend.
My prediction is that in her next video, Angie will bang on about how Rupert was brainwashed and/or mind-controlled by the cult while he was in police custody.
Rupert handled this opportunity badly, he would have been better to have taken note of journalists such as Louise Theroux in approaching the Hamsptead subject from a less confrontational, objective and open-ended point of view. I doubt many of those opposing the hoax were willing to talk to Rupert, so all he has is the material of crazies such as Jake Clarke and Neelu Berry to play with for his “documentary.”
Rupert Wilson Quaintance IV was never middle of the road in his public actions and words, he waged war on the innocent victims of this hoax, he waged war against Satanism, he waged war on the children. Rupert is the one Satan Hunter who has pissed me off the most.
People’s mothers read about all this stuff that Abraham Christie and Ella Draper torturned their children into saying about them. People’s mothers know about shit through people’s doors. People’s mothers know about emails sent to everyone at their child’s workplace. People’s mothers know that their children have fireproofed their doors against arson and petrol bombs. People’s mothers know their families have had to move. People’s mothers know their grandchildren have had to move school because of a pair of evil POS.
Rupert and his mum get really butthurt. People in the UK are supposed just be all smiles and nicey nicey about all this utter evil.
I think we’ve got to wait until Thursday for the latest update “show”.
Madam says she is travelling tomorrow.
Well it’s not to Luton’s Coral Unit or Luton Airport but to Lanzarote.
Nice work if you can get it.
Funny how Angela never explains how she gets the money she lives on, or how she pays for all of her travel, mmm…
From what I have heard, the present Pope is quite good at getting back to people if they approach him through the regular channels. I don’t suppose he would get back to anyone who was clearly mad and accusing him of being involved in a New World Order depopulation plot.
The truth is more like, Rupert’s had a complete break from the manipulating Angela and come to his senses finally.
He’s realised all the people he’s involved himself with in this hoax are “nuts” in some way.
He can’t wait to get back home to Mom and wants to break away from everyone involved with this Hampstead saga, but they came on his fb page and stirred things again for him.
Yucky Yannis and Agitator Angie.
He will come out of this realising there was no such thing as a free lunch.
As for any future career well there probably never was going to be one anyway.
Rupert had all the privileges and didn’t get anywhere…
Angela Power Disney is now carrying Rupert’s baby, after their nights of sexual passion.
amama says:
Nevertheless “they’re all nuts” is a sign that a glimmer of reality is beginning to shine through the brain clouds. “All nuts”. Group psychosis, folie a multitude.
This is fascinating stuff. We did speculate that Rupert might not be as green as he is cabbage looking. The thing is, Hoaxtead is not the sort of subject that can be turned into a documentary. The involvement of children makes it almost impossible to do without breaching existing court orders or further invading the privacy of the victims. The Hoaxers can be exposed, but their victims will want to remain anonymous.
She will have about every benefit and hand out milkable from the system,together with a few charity wheezes,insurance fiddles and no doubt other yet to be uncovered earners.
The woman is one of lifes opportunists and void of any scruples or conscience. She considers herself entitled and can do precisely as she pleases.She even believes she has the big G covering her arse!!!If anything does not “fit” with her world(like say the truth)she will seek onlt to to eliminate it.
Nothing will ever change inside Angie but the world can hopefully learn to give her a wide berth.Sadly after all this there will be fresh victims and until she is raptured in one way or another that is the unfortunate situation.
I suspect her kids bit by bit will gravity away from her grip and she may at best receive occasional duty xmas cards etc.The real worth and wheat in life will seep away through the cracks and Angie will end up as a sack of shit decaying in an obscure u bend of history.Not a beautiful life.
What a fucking idiot he is…..
I’m certain they have the equivalent of our FE/HE colleges over there. If he wanted to get into performance why didn’t he sign up for a course, join some theatre groups, perhaps even move on to study at Bachelor level? Too lazy and stupid to pay his dues that’s why.
Journalists such as Louise Theroux are educated people who took the time to learn and understand the rules and work with the backup of a team of experts….. Directors, Commissioning Editors, Lawyers and Paralegals, Researchers, PR, Technicians et.
Rupert is (literally) some wanker with a flea-market tripod, a shitty toy video camera of the type your Granny might take on holiday, lacking the patience to edit and with no clue of how the law or the world works.
That prank is just nasty 😮
Actually, if you know what you’re doing a subject like Hoaxtead might well yield, or at least contribute to a legitimate documentary. A skilled professional would understand perfectly how to work within the constraints of standard reporting restrictions. An honest agent would faithfully report the story that emerges. And they would understand the limits that professionalism places on someone positioning themselves as an insider; especially in terms of their future reporting.
Rupert, on the other hand, is every bit as cabbage as he is cabbage looking. He’s done, I doubt the hotel will have him back now, they’ll be made aware of his antics and the likely impact on bookings. He should perhaps apply to the local Cleansing Department; though I can understand if people object to him walking the streets and coming near their children.
Seems to be a film prop….. I agree, you shouldn’t go around doing that to people, but it’s really skilfully made.
Keep digging, fruitloop!
By the way, how’s this for shoveling? She’s posted that comment under the pics of her posing by Big Ben etc., not of the one of the Dublin water bill march that she hilariously tried to pass off as a London child abuse rally. She knows full well what pics we’re referring to.
And as for Kristie Sue Costa, the mad bint has actually been PMing a number of us (not the other way round), desperate for dirt on Angie’s fake pic and ‘alleged’ no-show. LOL
The KSC ‘article’ is up:
https://www.facebook.com/notes/believe-the-children/panem-circenses/251732221889110
This really is a bloody soap opera, isn’t it. And in this Angie v Kristie episode, it’s impossible to know who to root for, as they’re both arseholes. A plague on both arseholes, I say.
“Since early-2015, there have been extensive online efforts to discredit the testimony of the two children involved in the Hampstead allegations, and in particular, the integrity of their mother who first reported the allegations to authorities.”
Actually, Kristie Sue, Ella discredited herself bye…er…NOT reporting the abuse to the authorities. No, that was left to her brother-in-law Jean Clement, because Ella and Abe couldn’t be arsed.
How she manages all this when her bank account is empty I really can’t fathom.
Yes, that’s my understanding as well.
KSC has written a whole section on ‘Spreading Horrible Rumours’.
“Angela claims the information came from a reliable source (in her opinion) yet has not seen any concrete evidence to confirm or deny the allegations to date. Quite an irresponsible act to publish such allegations without seeing the evidence, or doing a little research…”
No hypocrisy there, then.
Incoming…… A collective response to Rupert follows.
1) You’re a liar… There is blending in and there is rolling about in the shit. Delusional idiot that you are, you thought you could just play Journalist and score a free world tour. You backed the wrong donkey. But in the process you CHOSE to abuse a lot of innocent people. As Joe points out, many of them are the very folk that could have assisted you in your aspirations. Your doors are now closed.
2) You got caught in the middle because you ran there and started goading people. Take a look in the mirror you fucked-up puny little stick insect. Yes, you’re not only a ‘disappointment’ your a fraud and a failure. And there is a cost to that.
3) You want to apologise? Then you remove EVERY piece of social media content you ever posted and you leave a single paragraph apology on them all. You go back to Virginia and live the life of the nobody you are. And pray, just pray, that when you inherit nobody comes after you for every sorry penny you never earned. Be aware that you’ve upset REAL Journalists REAL Lawyers and REAL entertainment people. Lift your face off the floor you’re sweeping and they’ll see to it you’re living in a cardboard box under a bridge just like your Italian friends. Capiche?
4) You didn’t get “investigatey”. – That’s nowhere in your skillset. You are a delusional arsehole. Your and your family’s name are now MUD thanks to your antics. You’ll get your shitty little toy camera and flea market tripod back. Expect your holiday snaps to be erased; but in any case… Use a frame of it and a great big huge machine will come along and sue the Quaintance clan into obscurity. – We don’t care if your brother has a machine gun or mommy packs a piece in her knickers. What we do will be legal and justified, unlike the shit you got up to.
5) We expect to see you deleting yourself by 00:00 hours GMT on the 20th of September.
Oh, now, don’t confuse her with facts. You know how she gets.
Hahahahahahaha!! 😂😂😂
Nobody believes for a moment you were ever going to “burn the activists down”. IF that were the case you would NEVER have used rhetoric that left little children frightened to go to sleep at night in case you ‘kicked down the doors’ of their school or even their home. You wouldn’t have hurt and frightened little old ladies by implying you were literally pissing on their sincerely-held Christian beliefs ( some fucking ‘conservative’ you are!) and waiting around the corner with a ‘biscuit’ (i.e. blade) in your pocket!
Where the fuck do you get off leaving some respectable straight-laced old person too frightened to go to church on a Sunday?
It’s quite comical that you tried to play the tough guy Rupert, you’re such an underdeveloped little man! But still, anyone who knew what they were doing and was capable of infiltrating such a group would have known better than to cross that line. Incidentally – the ‘group’ responsible for the above response includes the very Lawyers who hope to have the opportunity to financially cripple you and your family. And some very angry policemen too! You have a chance to walk. – Walk! Fast and far!
For Ghost of Sam, if you have not found it already.
Rupert being “charming” from about 2m20 on
uh?, dont know why that is not showing but for Ghost of Sam.
Go to his Facebook page
hi its rupert
click on videos and it is a fairly recent one labelled ‘UK Pedos: Update 2’. He starts his ‘hearts and minds’ charm offensive (!) on the local people at about 2m20s
Don’t worry, mate – it is showing. If you can’t see it, it’s because you’ve been blocked by Rupert. And don’t take that personally – he does it to all of us, LOL.
Whatever Rupert has been busted for, his experience has reduced him to a cowardly cringing puppy.
Yes, the problem of course is that when we expose her lies, she must lie about having lied. It’s all very complicated.
He was that already. – Thought he could snarl like a big dog.
Oh, at very least. And I will see your “they brainwashed/mind-controlled Rupert” and raise you a “they injected Angie with cancer”. I’m still fully expecting a cancer scare from her, and I’m sure it’ll be linked in some way to “MKULTRA”.
I had a puppy once who used to run around yapping and piddling on the carpet. If you scolded him, he’d yap louder and piddle more…he never really seemed to realise that the yapping and piddling were what caused the scolding.
Eventually, that dog was able to be housetrained. I wonder if the same will be said for Rupert?
Yes, I think “what’s wrong with Angie” comes down to a malignant personality disorder. She’s stated this in at least one of her videos, seemed to think it was a joke. It’s not.
He is a cringing puppy with no teeth.
She’s already done the cancer scare thing, though. She mentioned it the other day, saying she was cured using cannabis. She must be running out of scam ideas now.
Yes, before he decided to come here to raise hell, he might have thought just a little bit about the people he would be attacking. It’s not as if this was a spur of the moment decision: he and Angie had plenty of time to work it all out, and the hoax has been debunked several ways, in various places around the internet.
I cannot imagine being so dense as to think that he’d be welcomed, or even received neutrally, by people who have been through what the victims of this hoax have endured.
Two new ones from MKD/CCNE:
Not really…… Talk is circulating now of the Quaintances being sued. Certain individuals have obtained diagnosis of what for the moment I’ll mis-label ‘PTSD’ type ilness as the result of what Rupert did aggravated by Karen’s involvement/endorsement. And some of these people have the knowledge connections and financial clout to start proceedings against him through the U.S. courts. – Unlike Rupert, they’re not fantasists. And are angry enough to start throwing six-figure lawsuits at both Rupert and Karen.
He and his family might not be left with a house for him to be house-trained to!
Haha, Angie will be over the moon to see she’s been soundtracked by her bête noire Cliff Richard 😀
Running out of scam ideas? Angie? Nevah!
Not odd, just dishonest.
You mean the one that ahem, definitely did happen? The one that didn’t consist of two Collies and a man who thought he was going to meet Stirling Moss? The one that didn’t collapse due to being overrun by nutcases?
what a coincidence! sabine who was involved in the hollie greigg scam was good friends with ella, what are the odds?
Astonishing, isn’t it? We posted a series about the genesis of the hoax some time ago; it might be time to revive those posts. 🙂
The very one! I’m waiting for a firsthand account of the event…will let you know when it comes in.
I thought she was a huge fan of Cliffs? Especially as her life is all about driving as fast as possible towards the edge of one!
If she is, she hides it very well!
He couldn’t have regretted it that much as he kept asking for more money at every opportunity that he had.
Surely if yesterday was any success, numbers wise then Angie wouldn’t hesitate to post the photos up. So i think her silence says it all.
He was that…… In fact he was milking it for all he was worth right up to the point where the Police lifted him. He’s only back-pedalling now because he realises he’s in serious trouble, his toys have been taken off him and there is a very good chance he and his mother are going to be hit with substantial lawsuits.
And it is a pleasure to see Rupert for the coward that we said he was all along.
No wonder Cliff says they have almost destroyed his life.
How many goons are there out there just like this Irish battleaxe that simply accept any accusation as long as it involves their favourite subject- child abuse (apart from one of the allegations had Cliff on roller skates, skating down a High Street and suddenly veering into a ship to grope a lad and out again and then return a few minutes later, quick fumble and then zoom off on his skates!)
Whatever happens with this Hoaxtead case which I believe will peter out of it’s own accord eventually given the main players are now all facing court and are bound to be given even stricter silence orders – I’m determined this Power-Disney dame is not let off the hook. She must pursued and exposed so no-one gets taken in be her again.
As for Rupert Quaintance now claiming he was never really part of these fanatics, who does he think he’s kidding? He actively encouraged people to post images of the children. And now I’ve seen his arrogant go at some poor lady who opened her door and probably wondered why some goon was wondering up and down her alley way- he shall not be forgiven for his rudeness.
Obviously no-one went to that rally because they weren’t going in the first place. For the vast majority of Hoaxers this matter is already becoming a bore and they are looking for a new sensation. It was just the hardcore and they all got arrested, except Angie and her pathetic attempt to pretend there was a rally- she’s just one really bad liar.
The Hollie Greigg case proved you could cause immense damage in people’s lives (the falsely accused) and almost get away with it. But those brave ladies fought back and eventually cleared their names but it took a few years.
i think Ella took note and thought she could cause the same grief for her ex-husband but with the career criminal Abraham Christie on the case the whole thing blew up into a drama that hit the national media and blew up in their faces.
MK Ultra 666esque level of dark image play there Spiny.Top work 😉
Rupert on APD “Lets just say when I visited her, oh it was terrible.”
Call me inquisitive, but I’d love him to expand on that..
And lest we forget they got the scamming bastard Robert Green incarcerated.
He says he has a recording of Angela and Kevin being abusive to him. I’d pay to hear that.
I dont suppose he has made contact with that nurse at Jakes clinic whom he insulted and blazened across the internet.He is in damage limitation made. When he is back in his safe space with momie he will most likely revert to type eg complete wanker.
His antics are unforgivable even if he was an 18 year old kid,the fact that he is pushing 40 makes this individual terminally beyond the pail.Well done Karen for defending him and not reigning him in.Shit child, shit parents.
This is exactly why people are talking about going after them financially Mik. When he was posting here as FOTW the other night he was as arrogant as ever and only started to get rattled when it became clear he was fooling no-one. Once he gets back to the US he will start imagining himself invincible again. Him and the old bat that raised him need hitting where it hurts; with these ‘types’ that’s in the pocketbook.
Yeah come on Rupert if ya gonna splll the beans go the full hog.
Actually Sam/Lisa, one of the big problems with the Hollie Greig case is that the authorities FAILED to clear the names of the people Green had defamed. The ladies you refer to didn’t get anyone put away. – Green was jailed for breach of the peace, mainly on the basis that he had frightened people on a certain Aberdeen housing estate. Which – like the carry on with Neelu and Sabine – was a completely inappropriate charge. Green only went down because instead of defending himself he tried to use his own trial as a platform to pursue his wider bizarre agenda. His subsequent visits inside were due to him breaching various orders and conditions.
It’s was, I’m told on good authority, said by one of Scotland’s leading criminal defence lawyers that Green’s conviction was “unfortunate and unnecessary”. – But (as was also put to me) ‘his own mother’ sitting as Sheriff would have had no choice but to convict him and the complete pile of bloody nonsense he offered as a ‘defence’ was of absolutely no relevance to the charge he was facing! There isn’t a shred of doubt that beyond what she was compensated for the allegations in relation to Hollie Greig are not supported by a shred of evidence, and actually debunk themselves (like Hoaxtead). But the one thing that keeps it ‘in the air’ is that the whole debacle represents a twisted failure of justice. – The links to McKenzie and other well-known scammers, and even (arguably) a now-convicted child rapist only make the waters surrounding the Hollie Greig hoax muddier!
Don’t tell him that…he’ll have a pay-per-view site up next, LOL.
I know, it’s interesting. Not quite the way Angie would like the world to see it, but that’s no surprise.
Am I the only one who finds it amusing that the way the nutters convince one another that their ‘news channels’ are legit is by dressing them up to look like…well, the dreaded mainstream media (MSM)?
Rupert: “…I’d really like my equipment back…” seems to be the crux of the biscuit, IMO.
I think he’s hoping that “I totally agree with the police now”, etc., will facilitate the return of his equipment.
But I already bought it, through a “seized items” auction, and crushed it in an industrial garbage compactor 🙂
What a terrible thing to do, JS! Now you owe Rupert at least $5.
Rupert has said himself that his dream is to live by being on camera and has looked at Alex Jones as an inspiration. However, most of what Jones puts out is attacking adults that to some degree expect to be attacked. Politicians and big business…etc.
This case involves the average person and their children. People have truly been harmed by this case and they are still being attacked. To put it mildly, Rupert was very misguided to have chosen this as a subject matter, regardless of how neutral he now claims to be. Even more misguided to have aligned himself with Angie, one of the worst for spreading misinformation, disinformation and outright lies.
As others have said, the most interesting documentary angle would be looking at the dynamics of Angie and her friends. If you look at documentaries about WBC, survivalists, UFO enthusiasts, Scientologists…etc, what makes it interesting is the relationships between those members and what brings them together. The likes of Angie, Sabine, Neelu, Belinda…etc, really are a cult. A cult worthy of investigation. The only real cult in this case.
Very much so, Dave. Scarlet Scoop was saying that when she founded the blog a year and half ago, but it bears repeating.
C.I.A says:
https://m.facebook.com/notes/believe-the-children/panem-circenses/251732221889110/?__mref=message_bubble
Rupert can dream, as many do, until he’s blue in the face. But he’s clearly unprepared to learn the basics of the craft to which he aspires. He’s what we call a ‘mug punter’. And has bought the snake-oil version of media success. He’s not bright enough to realise that people like Alex Jones are just the 21st century evolution of the old side-show travelling salesmen. And they are basically there to shift ‘Dr Good’ style rubbish. – Additionally, these guys are seriously invested in the literacy of their genre and the technology which underpins it….. It’s a cold business.
Rupert remains just a random tosser with a toy video camera. – And it’s maybe part of the great game that the likes of Alex Jones isn’t honest enough to reign a clown like this in. He won’t be ‘too keen’ on competition for his audience share. And where it does ’emerge’ it will be from within a carefully vetted ‘inner circle’. As for Angie, Neelu Sabine and the rest of the ‘McKenzie Group’ scams. – They seem to be part of a relatively small ‘pool’ of London based criminals that have been running various scams since at least the early 1980s. I do know of people who are researching themes surrounding them. More than that I’d prefer not to say.
He’ll get his toy rubbish back eventually, minus the harassing material which will be erased. Of course, he MAY have to return to London to collect it; by which time he’ll be banned from entering the UK. – I did enjoy “Catch 22”.
What he had was cheap junk anyway.
I can’t find the comment now, I think it might have been from Joe, about Deatheaters and how clownish showboating not only contributes nothing to Child Protection but actively distracts from the serious work on Child Protection issues. I wanted to say how much I appreciated that comment, whomever you are.
Particularly disturbing to me is Deatheaters obsession with the mythology of child “snuff” porn, and like so many similar conspiranoids, their uncritical acceptance of Dave McGowan’s “The Pedophocracy” as an accurate revelation & analysis of “what’s really going on”. Actually, McGowan was a sh*t researcher, none of his material was original research – he simply compiled other people’s paranoid misinformation into one grand thesis with no understanding of the original source info that he misquotes and misinterprets to serve his own purposes.
For example – in the late 1990’s the Russian Mafia was running some boy-porn operations and selling videos of their “work” over the internet. (They were selling some of the ‘models’ too, even more disturbing!)
The FBI, Interpol and Russian police worked together to bust one of these operations, which had a “pedo necros” listing in their ‘catalog’. (These titles turned out not to be actual “snuff”, just child S&M being marketed that way). Police investigators turned this operation into one of their favorite and most effective stings. They traced the server through which the porn operation was marketing their stuff and caught the operator by surprise, at the controls. Instead of shutting it down, they replaced the operator with a specialist investigator who took over the controls and carried on the operation for several months, playing the role of the server operator. This allows them to access the info about customers necessary to trace them, research them, and target the ones with access to children for priority arrests.
After the conclusion of the police sting, when the operation really was shut down and customers were arrested, the Italian press published some email conversation evidence which revealed the true depravity of some child porn customers. One example, which I’m not going to quote precisely, went like this:
Snuff seeking customer: “I’ve been burned before. How do I know this will be the real thing?”
Operator: “Trust me, this one dies”
McGowan and his idiot fans use this as proof that the Russian mob really was selling “snuff” porn, demonstrating that they don’t understand the “Operator” in that conversation was THE POLICE INVESTIGATOR, dutifully playing the role of mobster porn marketer. Although he knows better, he is doing his best to lure this customer into making a purchase – he REALLY wants this snuff-seeking sicko’s info, from the purchase, because he is the type of depraved pervert who will be targeted for priority arrest – for obvious reasons.
McGowan’s naive assumptions about this are accepted as fact by people like Deatheaters and the misinformation about it is repeated over & over throughout their networks.
It possibly was myself Justin; I’m not alone in questioning this infantilisation of what is a particularly dreadful, soul-sucking and just ‘dirty’ form of abuse. One of the lowest ebbs humanity can sink to.
In the late 90s the internet was much smaller and slower. And I understand where the press ‘were coming from’ in publishing that account as they did. Hindsight being 20:20 I doubt the wisdom of it though as it does seem to have encouraged a fanciful narrative. Surprised they could stream much in the way of video back then. I’ve recently learned that even these days material is typically sent on USB media, partly to evade the attention busy servers might draw.
I see a comment above about will Angie pull a cancer scare. No doubts. She is like Janet Schrodenberg (sorry if thats bad spelling) She has claimed many times to have had cancer. Ironically dim jim is talking to her and her good friend Adeybob on twitter, even with the news their good friend Darren Laverty is looking to be sentenced for trolling a survivor and Sonya Poulton. He really doesn’t have a good nose for wrong’ens. Janet is harbouring her brother in holland, i won’t begin to talk about her brother and his crime, its too horrid to post.
I am aware of certain feuds between people, convictions, arrests. I generally keep my opinion to myself really.
The sting with a police operator is how Sabine’s friend got caught and convicted.
Fair dues
There’s a truly interesting story about who actually benefits, has their aims furthered, by lurid tales of child abuse cover ups. I can tell you, Anjem Choudary’s very last tweet, one last year, gone because his account was deleted, included the hashtag #TedHeath. He was also complaining about child protection. Also, who also is well know for government sponsored media peddling outright conspiracy stuff? Iran and Russia for a start off the top of my head. Which politician is riding the wave of support from basement conspiracists and admires Putin?
I’m not conspiracy minded myself but I have seen this stuff benefit bad people. When people trust no one in government or authority someone is going to step into that vacuum and I only see bad portents so far.
I’m somewhat aware of the technique Ginger….. The police do what they need to do. If they’re banging these perverts up they get no criticism from me.
@Joe – sorry, I might not have given you a wrong impression from my bare-bones account of that operation. My understanding is, the mobster’s website had a catalog divided into categories, under each of which there were small ‘teaser’ clip samples from the VIDEOTAPES that they were selling. People might recall this case from the surprising revelation that the mobsters actually used a well known international courier service to deliver the video cassettes to their customers.
And as JK said, Rupert’s only regretting it now because he realises he’s in big trouble and his toys (i.e. camera equipment) have been confiscated. I very much doubt there’s a genuine sense of remorse for the damage he’s done.
Agreed, Dave. Before we let Jones off the hook, though, I feel I should point out that he too jumped on the Hampstead bandwagon at one point and sought to fan the SRA flames. Somewhere there’s a video of him ranting about it but I can’t seem to find it.
Is this the comment you’re looking for, Justin?:
https://hoaxteadresearch.wordpress.com/2016/09/17/will-angie-show-her-face-at-todays-protest/#comment-43374
Ah! I see! I did wonder, but then you can put nothing past these characters. IIRC correctly sending a video file was just about possible back then, but it would have been at very low resolution and reduced frame rate. And possibly taken days to download. – And right enough, what would cause the minimum suspicion BUT a mainstream courier.
Hey diddle,diddle
The bats on the fiddle
The old cow jumped over the moon.(Resulting from a serious bullshit generated methane overload)
The coyote did laugh
to see such fun
because her shit stirring spoon is now firmly stuck right up her arse.
Angie spotted embarking on a new career stealing Xmas tress.
The more I think about it Spiny, Jones has run plenty of stories as sickening as this case. I missed the video in which he discusses this. Interestingly, Paul Joseph Watson of Infowars, called this as a hoax early on, and has also had run ins with Rupert.
I wouldn’t be surprised if she does really get throat cancer or emphysema the amount of fags she gets through.
Don’t wish it upon her or anyone but it would be ironic if she did as who would believe her?. I also think the cigarettes are why she has that throaty voice and note, she is always coughing.
I think Angela Power Disney has a natural nose for associating with paedophiles, hence her choosing Rupert and Jake, both who I think are latent paedophiles. I think all efforts to keep Jake and Rupert away from children will save a child from being badly raped or abused.
For those who may have missed it first time around, the Radio 4 documentary ‘The Satanic Cult That Wasn’t’ by David Aaronovitch does a decent job and generated the usual flack from the usual suspects (always been a source of great disappointment that Bea Campbell still props up the belief in SRA)
But, anyhoo, worth a listen, as is the two parter, The Anatomy of a Panic, that R4 did a month later about the history of SRA..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05r40r5
Angie as always posting endless links to dodgy satanist pedo tales (is this what she means by being an “activist” against child abuse?- surfing the net?)
These clots never do real research though. One of her latest grabbed my attention because it mentioned Australia but alas, it lead to the well known “truther” nutcase Henry Makow.
I chose a random paragraph (can’t take reading their entire B/S) and yes, there was one glaring and idiotic mistake which amply demonstrates this dangerous mob of sheeple (they are the ‘sheeple’ blindly accepting every nutcase’s web rantings.
It claimed the US Federal Reserve also own the Reserve Bank in Australia. Not so-the US Federal Reserve is a privately owned entity that wields much power.
The Australian Reserve Bank is a government body and always has been. It’s directors and CEO are government appointees and it oversees control of private banks with some of the strictest controls on banks in the world, so much so that an Aussie bank has never gone bust and they all make huge profits with the Reserve Bank setting interest rates and this is one reason why Australia wasn’t hit by the 2007/8 financial collapse in the US and basically rode out the calamity relatively unscathed.
So no devil-worshipers there.
Yes, why bother with actual research when you can rely on guesswork and innuendo?
You can generate judge the worth of these programmes by the volume of screeching they elicit from the other side.
#Yup
I think the pay out to Hollie by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board (am I right?) seemed to confuse matters a lot and made people assume there was more substance in the outlandish claims than there was. We have seen something similar with Bishop Bell recently. I know some clerics who are very angry that the Church of England paid out a lot of money on the basis of very little investigation and managed to blacken the reputation of a man who many still regard very highly.
Hollywood has a lot to answer for. Usually characters in movies become great successes through “putting their heart into it” or “really wanting it” rather, than studying or training over a period of many years (not that that would make an interesting story line).
I hope the investigations into the McKenzie Group are going to produce some results.
The CICA payout was made on the basis that – on the balance of probability – she was abused as a child. And it’s actually fairly clear who is implicated in that. It’s also the case that the evidence surrounding THAT issue implicates the mother as being complicit in covering up that abuse. The waters were muddied further by the determination of some factions to discredit these official findings…… i.e. It wasn’t enough to clear the names of the defamed and debunk Anne Greig’s fabrications. It remains the case therefore than many credible people are convinced there was ‘something to hide’; although it’s not what Green tried to promote. The recent conviction of Hugh Mitchell may light a few lights, time will tell, the Police need the opportunity to do what they need to do. But it I hope it will all unravel in the end.
You’re right in suggesting the CICA payment was conflated by Green and his cohorts as if it proved other things had happened. It was effective because that (court) decision has weight, and trying to debunk it only drew suspicion on the people doing so. But then that IS Green’s (and McKenzie’s) ‘way of working’. The Irony is that if he had been convicted in some way that allowed his fairy stories to be explored in court, not only would the people he defamed had their names PROPERLY cleared in court (as they have a right to) but it might well have brought a whole house of cards tumbling down. It’s really not good enough that the only place these women have been vindicated is in an article written by a spud-faced wee nyaff who many people opine might well wind up on a sex-offender’s wing himself one day!
And this is where the interesting comparison with the Berry/McNeill case comes in. – They ‘got off’ quite easily on a technicality. Had Green offered any kind of relevant defence, the probability is that he would have walked too! That’s not just my opinion but one I’ve heard from a well-known Scottish QC! The question that arises from this is why did the authorities go to such lengths to avoid PROPERLY shutting the hoax down? SO, why ARE the authorities – the Crown Office and the CPS – fucking these cases up so royally? Answers on the back of an open cheque for about £500K please!
The amount of public money and police time wasted when these cases aren’t prosecuted properly is downright criminal.
I know a man who was generally regarded as a “wrong un'” by people in the village. He did a lot of minor things and was filmed by the police doing something serious which should have put a stop to many of his activities. The case fell through thanks to the intervention of a senior police officer who happened to be a member of the same golf club. The man in question continued in his ways and is now in prison for the murder of his own wife. (I can’t be more specific – I am very close to my source who knows exactly went on but has sworn me to secrecy).
I’m sure she’s already stated on previous videos that she has been diagnosed with COPD due to her smoking.
Lmao, classic picture Spiny. He does have bit of a bean head doesn’t he?
Then there is the more routine human cost…… Is it not the case that someone felt sufficiently unsafe in their flat near the church that they moved out? And we have another family just moved up here from Hampstead that include this very hoax among their reasons for getting out! The Hollie case wrecked businesses and severely disrupted lives, for what? – I do realise that people may be jealous of the Hampstead lifestyle and in some cases people might have rubbed others up the wrong way. But by what measure is hoaxing any way to ‘deal with’ such things?
I think it may be a symptom of “post-factual” politics. If reality doesn’t suit you, just make shit up. Quite depressing really. The French Revolution was in part started by scurrilous pamphlets about the alleged sex lives of Lois XVI and Marie-Antoinette. Whatever corruption there was in the ancien regime, drowning nuns in the Seine wasn’t the answer to anyone’s problems.
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Ella and Abe can’t keep their stories straight
Ella’s latest interview, produced by “Sean” of the oddly secretive Russia-philic “gold and silver trading” site SGT, may be the hottest thing on the American #Piece-o-hate lovers’ horizon, but that’s probably because it’s fresh new fodder to them. To us, it’s old hat…in this case a grease-stained, smelly old flat cap that’s been chewed by the family dog.
We’re all too familiar with the lurid details of the Hampstead SRA hoax, so it didn’t take much effort to pinpoint the inconsistencies between Hoaxtead version 1.0, released circa February 2 2015, and Hoaxtead version 3.5, released two days ago.
For example, only a minute and a half into the video, Ella states that Hoaxtead involved “an array of counterintelligence operatives connected to child trafficking, snuff movies, organ trafficking, ritual sexual abuse, torture, and money laundering“. Later in the video, she states that there were “38,000 shell companies [at a building] on Finchley Road in Hampstead….Some parents in the cult are involved in this money-laundering operation”.
Well, hold the bloody phone just a minute here: since when were snuff movies, organ trafficking, and money laundering part of the Hoaxtead narrative? Clearly, Abe and Ella have been doing some work on the hoax since we last checked in with them. We recognise the money-laundering allegation as one of Charlotte Ward’s lies from her old Hamster Research blog, but the rest seem to have been invented from whole cloth.
Then at 25:45 in the video, Ella claims that “the children were being made to touch animals”: where did this come from? Again, bestiality certainly wasn’t part of the original story. It appears to have been added in to create that extra frisson of disgust in a new audience.
But we thought the cult members were ‘elites’?
Contrary to Abe and Ella’s original claim that the cult was run by incredibly wealthy and powerful “elites” in a posh London enclave, Ella now describes RD in very different terms.
At 35:24 she says, “He’s coming from a family of miners, so total poverty—I’ve been to their house…they don’t have much money at all….” How does this square with the allegation that RD’s entire family, going back generations, has been involved in cult ritual abuse? Surely there must be a fundamental disconnect between “they’re all doing it because they’re rich and powerful and can get away with it” and “he comes from a poor working-class family”?
‘Why didn’t they arrest me?’
We confess that we laughed out loud at the end of the video, when Ella pouted, “If I’ve committed offences, why didn’t they arrest me?”
All together now: “Because you jumped out the window and ran away when the police came!”
‘She stared into my eyes…’
One of the most glaring inconsistencies, though, comes close to the end of the new video, at 53:35, when Ella describes how the alleged “special children” want out of the “cult”:
A told me that her friend she came to our house, they wanted to tell. But she was scared—they were threatened that their entire family would be killed. Their mum would be killed, their grandparents would be killed even if they said anything. So the girl got scared and never said anything. And I knew, I felt it, I mean the girl was like looking into my eyes like she wanted to say something. And obviously they knew I’m not part of it….”
Such a touching story—a little girl, terrified and pleading with her eyes to the one woman she knows isn’t part of the cult, who might be able to help her.
But compare and contrast to the following:
Some of you who’ve followed this hoax from the outset might recall a post on Charlotte Ward’s Hamster Research blog titled “Message from Abraham”, published 1st June 2015. While the blog is long gone now, we were able to find the post in its entirety on the David Icke Forum’s never-ending Hampstead hoax thread:
And then, just in case we were wondering who “M” might be: So amazingly, Abe and Ella both had exactly the same experience of a young child looking imploringly into their eyes, silently begging for their help in freeing them from the murderous cult? Funny how this story, once belonging to Abe, has now been given to Ella, the new spokesperson for the couple.
And quite fascinating that their story, far from remaining static, seems to be developing new twists, turns, and angles, the longer they are able to sit and mull about it in their Spanish hideaway. We can think of only one way to stop them at this point: this pair really wants arresting.
23/03/2017 in Ella Gareeva Draper. Tags: Abraham Christie, Ella Draper, evidence, lies, video
Belinda’s child-abuse theory meshes with Abe’s
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176 thoughts on “Ella and Abe can’t keep their stories straight”
Barchon Mad says:
great work EC
Thanks, Barchon. 🙂
Hey, EC – haven’t you heard? Reboots are all the rage! 😀
Fresh plot. New backstory. New characters…And if they can get Abe to fuck off, we’ll even get an all-female cast à la Ghostbusters and Ocean’s 8!
LOL! Pity their new audience never saw the original, though. 🙂
Snuff movies are trending, it seems. Abrella have timed their marketing strategy well.
(Thanks to Barchon for this screenshot.)
Not only did Abe and Ella “jump out the window and run away when the police came” but as I recall, they’d also spent some time beforehand refusing to let them into the house to question/arrest them. How do we know this? Because Abe & Ella uploaded the recording themselves! Same mistake that they made with the ‘coaching’ videos. Word to the wise, Abrella – if you’re going to tell lies on the internet, it’s probably best not to upload videos that disprove what you’re saying. Sit back and leave that to us, haha.
There’s something very creepy about the image of a little child “looking deeply” into Abe’s eyes.
And are they sure the kids’ eyes were green or will they change to brown for the reboot? 😀
I do seem to remember very early on, it being mentioned about the children touching the dog in one of their interviews but I don’t think they ever mentioned it again.
The two of them are so easy to see through! Ella’s new video was obviously revamped to appeal to the pizzagaters who swarm around it like flies to the shit that it is. Abe and Ella knew exactly what they were doing and saw it as a chance to make money.
They didn’t bank on us getting their fundraising page shut down though..:D
Any description or involvement with children that comes from Abe is always disturbing.
He is a predator of the vunerable whatever their age.
Kudos on your thorough research, EC. You must have spent ages trawling for such obscure, long lost evidence. There are certain troofhoaxers who could learn a thing or two from you.
Well, let’s face it – all of them!
Speaking of sick lying fucks…
Thanks to BM for drawing my attention to this perverse video. I’ve made my feelings known to Titarse Frost, who uploaded it:
Anyone any suggestions on how I can segue seemlessly from the current topic to my latest Angie meme without looking contrived, random or irrelevant?
OK, let’s try this…
Ah, Abe & Ella – the couple from Hell.
Speaking of weird fruitloop pairings….
I love you comic strips.
Guy on the left is Woody Brown, Benidorm tribute act to Chubbs.
Hands Off Hampstead says:
introducing Corey Steele the kids.
Thanks, WN–in fact this one wasn’t hard, as I vividly recalled my disgust at Abe’s description of the event (first time round, that is). My filing system is a bit eccentric in that it’s ranked by Revulsion Levels.
Yes, I thought the same.
Yes, this lot are so keen to document every moment of their misbegotten lives, it makes it easy for us to find the great gaping holes in their lies.
Yep, I remember the dog, plus one of the children or both was/were alleged to have touched a younger child.
I just laughed and scared my cats.
I’ve met two-year-olds with more rational self-control than Corey.
Honestly until this SGT Report and pizzagate nutter came on the scene I have never heard such utter lunacy, their ideas are beyond stupid.
https://postimg.org/gallery/jpberw3g/
Ye i remember hearing the kids saying they had stopped touching each other and ella saying about the dog ? While they were all in morroco abe said their was a little one the kids molested but my questions what happend about that were never answered , ie did the child receive hospital treatment and now that the kids are molesting others what steps are taken to keep them and others safe – and the poor dog
Asks 5 times, then says he won’t ask twice. How does that work?
Thanks, Barchon:
https://hoaxteadresearch.wordpress.com/main-players/trolls/#comment-62142
Angela Power Disney; Ella Draper; Abraham Christie… top 3 targets that I think the legal authorities has to make a bigger effort to arrest before someone gets hurt.
Honestly you can’t make this stuff
Angela on her latest video says she was “intellectually trained” ( STOP that giggling up at the back Spiny Norman. I’ve got my eye on you) and learned karate where she used “kanakas” (presumably nunchucks).
Ref : Sugar slaves | Queensland Historical Atlas Development › Exploitation
These peoples were collectively referred to as Kanakas, but prefer to be called South Sea Islanders as the word ‘kanaka’ is considered derogatory by Islander communities in the Pacific and Australia.
She says this to a black man she is interviewing. University education shining through again.
Haha Angela must mean those “toys” we had in the early 70’s I think called nackers/knackers of something like that.
What a load of hog wash as usual.
I wonder what belt she claims to have been because she said it wasn’t a black belt.
Lol you just couldn’t make her tales up, honestly, pure fantasy.
The only equipment she uses is t-squares, garden rake, bamboo sticks and the bottle of gin in her hand.
My tolerance with the internet companies such as Patreon has run out.
https://satanicviews.wordpress.com/2017/03/23/on-liberty-and-responsibility/
Yes agreed SV.
Angela is too prolific at getting people to do her dirty work, encouraging and manipulating them.
It might not be long before one of her stooges takes things into their own hands and becomes physically violent.
I mean Heifer seems to be getting a bit wound up, with her threats of knowing where Sheva sleeps.
No you don’t Heifer plus her intending to pay a visit to Erith and also Jockney.
Not good Heifer, all 3 are threats and intimidating.
Even Angela recognises that.
Do we have any news about Neelu’s home repossession?
Also thanks to Angela Power Disney, the Heifer has approached Barnet Social Services for information about the RD children putting their wellbeing at risk.
Well it certainly wasnt a chasity belt given her tales of dalliances with anyone in whose who in the past century and a half.Might have been a fan belt mind.
I’ve missed that.
They are not her children, it’s none of her damn business where they are!
Why on earth did this busy body think she would be given that sort of information??
Talk about arse licking Angela.
Angela must love it having a new donkey to do all the dirty work for her.
What a fool Heifer is.
I’m suspecting though that when Angela turns on Heifer and/or when Heifer gets fed up of us not being able to hear what she has to say, Power Disney will get Heifer’s wrath.
Heifer tell Angela to shut the f up because I actually want to hear what you have to say, you’re a damn sight more interesting than that old has been Power Disney.
After all, if Heifer does indeed have a son and it looks increasingly like he doesn’t want to have anything to do with her, as he’s 25 years and not 18, then she must be a bit peeved that someone like Angela, a self confessed drinker, pot head and someone with all these Mental Health diagnosis’ managed to keep all of her 3 children, despite Angela’s own family knowing Angela was not good enough to bring up the daughter let alone the 2 boys.
Neelu Berry is the type of individual who will fight to the bitter end, i.e. will have to be carried out screaming from her house. There is unlikely to be any immediate results today as the baliffs will have to be used to remove Neelu Berry requiring several more days delay i.e. nothing major will happen until next week.
The following link provides information on the eviction process:
http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/eviction/court_action_for_eviction/court_orders
I am unsure what results the Heifer got from their enquiries, but evidently an idiot in Barnet Social Services gave out some information they should not have, and Angela Power Disney is making claims (true or false – unknown) on the internet based upon this.
I appreciate they need to build a solid case for Crown prosecution to give the nod to proceed in securing conviction etc but all three in anyones book surely have passed every test for slapping the cuffs on.
Also appreciate shortage of manpower particularly in light of yesterdays appalling events.The thing is investment now in bringing these prime movers to book will save a fortune long term yet alone potentially save an incident and future inquiries etc etc. Be some serious squirming before a parliamentary committee by those attempting to justify such inactivity if some unhinged lunatic inspired by Angie et als hate speech chose to go on a cause celeb rampage.
It only takes one after all.
All parts crossed things are plodding along behind the scenes and an operation will soon be swooping to lance this horrendous boil.
“grease-stained, smelly old flat cap that’s been chewed by the family dog.”
That’s getting a bit personal and close to home if you don’t mind. 🙂
A nice little collection of..collective madness,
Good grief.If someone in Barnet SSD did gave away any confidential information they will definately get hauled over the carpet or much worse.Major carpet fire if any such is subsequently emblazoned across internet.
Might well be hyped up attention seeking bollox of course.
There is enough resources, enough evidence to pull Angela Power Disney, Ella Draper and Abraham Christie into custody inside 48 hours; what the legal authorities lack is willpower, and thus this farce of a hoax spins and spins further out of control causing misery, fear and further illegality wasting more and more public money dealing with it. There is no excuses, it is pure incompetance, complacency, laziness and stupidity on the part of the legal authorities, drinking too much tea dunked with chocolate digestives, and avoiding the key actions that can put an end to three of the largest promoters of this hoax. If there is any legal person reading this, get off your arses and start doing something about this.
We’ve made some inquiries about this, and it seems that Heifer is lying about having received any information from Barnet Social Services.
What the whistleblower nun said, with a side order of extra insults.
Thanks SV.
I think Angela should support Neelu on the next Bailiff’s visit and the police who will probably be called can arrest her at the same time.
This was the occasion ella was shouting “No speeky English” through the door wasn’t it?
I imagine the effect of looking deeply into Abe’s eyes is something like this:
‘She can’t keep her story straight because it didn’t happen.’
This is why she’s never shown any emotion when talking about the children. In Abe and Ella’s earlier interviews they talked more about hemp than they did about the kids and Ella could be heard giggling and chatting like nothing happened and that’s because…er….she knows nothing happened.
Abe: ‘Naively or otherwise I decided to trust and go to the authorities.’ Let’s remember that this is from a man with more than 30 previous convictions who has spent time in prison. I don’t think he has a naive bone in his body. Incidentally it’s a matter of debate whether he went to the ‘authorities’ because what he actually did was tell his brother-in-law who is a ‘Special’ (volunteer) policeman and was off duty at the time. It was the brother-in-law who reported this to the Police.
p.s. I know I’m preaching to the converted here but I’m repeating the above information in case someone uninformed happens to stop in and have a look. If you are the ‘uninformed’ please click on ‘Hampstead Hoax FAQ’ above. This is an incredibly useful part of this blog.
I personally must have missed the mention of a “dog”, something like this would not happen unless a child had been encouraged to do that. As I recall an incident happened at the school involving a pupil encouraging other children to show or/and touch private parts, but something that is not necessarily sinister. The sinister part is how much involvement Abraham Christie has played in encouraging or even participating in any sexual situations with those children. I am going from the small facts I am aware of and intuition, but I think there is a lot the police have not said involving Abraham Christie, I am thinking whilst he is running around free, many other children may be at risk from him.
A certain Mr Hopkins does a great impression of Abe and is available for weddings,funerals and bar mitzvahs (allegedly).
you don’t think she will move in with Belinda?
She had David Shayler as a house guest. That must have been pretty weird.
Fixed mate, fixed.
I had my doubts as Heather is not too bright in the detective dept, and Angela is a liar and a fantasist. The source was probably a friend of a friend she used to know who had a cleaning job for round the corner from barnet council who once overheard a woman talking about children whilst queing for a tuna mayonnaise panini on her lunch break.
Or she just made it all up cos she wants Angie to like her and loves the attention of doing a show, as she can get pissed up, talk bollocks, and sit in the dark whilst listening to the sound of someone else’s voice other than her own for an hour to stem the lonliness.
It’s beyond a joke. There have been cases where people were arrested or sued over a single tweet or social media message, justnone single one if it applies to a public figure.
But its okay for mindless hate filled witch hunters to send daily threats to the father and others.
The Pizzagate, JA and Podesta, if it was one or two people they would have nipped it in the bud but tens of thousands all saying the same and it will just snowball if they try and deal with them all, like that yank flouride blank eyed ghoul at the pizzagate rally crying about censorship on twatter and reddit, OMG, like the evidence is so ummm, overwhelming, like, on social media, voat, just so much evidenzzzzzzzz.
All the fruitcakes should move into Bellenders home including that crazy stalker lady who was posting belindas address and saying belinda was keeping the tunnels for herself when the meteors hit.
They can all sit around and have a mad hatters tea party, dave sharter can come round dressed as Alice and they can all go down the rabbit hole/bellenders tunnels.
FS, I think that was Ella’s Mother who shouted that. Her Mother and Father were in the house at the time too.
Re: Patreon
One of my team have given Patreon a couple of days to remove the Ella Draper campaign, and then we will take action against them on a political, media and internet level. I don’t know what the hell is going on in their heads, they either refuse or are incapable of enforcing their own terms and conditions. If anyone has not done so, or if they can do so again, a straightforward referral can be made here:
http://bit.ly/2bRmQJX
Barchon Mad, I am seriously pissed off that the legal authorities can pursue me for a legal complaint of harrassment by RQ, but apparently do nothing against people like Angela Power Disney, Ella Draper and Abraham Christie who are saying and doing as they please without any apparant legal counter-action. My frustration is being taken out on the social media companies such as Patreon.
Fanny, I think you mean Clackers. You don’t want to be banging your knackers together, although that hazard increases with age and baggy underwear.
Is that Cory a reincarnation of Kane S?
FA, go to 2:17 of this video. This is the false information which Angie gave out regarding the children.
You’re right that the family dog was mentioned at the beginning, but to my knowledge there was never any suggestion that the so-called cult had mandated anything to do with animals. This was added in after the fact, along with a number of other embellishments, such as the story that the children had assaulted a young child.
If the conspirasheep wish to truly “believe the children”, they might want to consider that nowhere in any of their recitals on video to Abe and Ella, nor in the illegally released police videos, did the children mention that bestiality was part of the alleged cult, nor that they had attacked any child not previously named. So Ella’s addition of bestiality to the catalogue of alleged “cult activities” is clearly an after-the-fact creation of her and Abe’s imaginations.
Memories of 2015..
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The pizzagaters who are jumping aboard the hoax really need to listen to the Jean Clement Recording. Abe is shown up for the piece of shit he really is on it. Constantly coaching the children with ridiculous claims.
The reason for starting the hoax and the timing of it is also evident when Abe says to Jean Clement (regarding Ricky Dearman) “He’s taking their Mother to court as he wants to see his children, we can’t let that happen and he must be arrested.” Abe and Ella wanted to cut Ricky off from his access rights.
Nobody ever looks at what went on just before the hoax started, the answers are all there. Their disagreements with Social Services, with other parents, with the School staff, etc.
It’s also worth mentioning to them that Indiegogo has made the correct decision and include a link to the Indiegogo Generosity page. That could make them see that other online fundraising platforms are banning Abe and Ella from fleecing the gullible.
She’ll do a Tom Crawford, hero of the Freeman movement and probably perch on the roof Lucy Jordon style until she is inevitably carted off.
I find no joy in anyone being evicted but Neelu should have paid more attention to things that really matter, like trying to pay her mortgage instead of hanging around churches and demanding judges be lynched for treason.
It will be interesting to see which of the fruitloops turn out to support her – if they can possibly put their indifference’s aside. After all they love a bit of a hullabaloo but then they usually slope off to the pub or McDonalds once the party is over.
Nothing odd about an utter creep careering down the highway and recording into his phone a false tale about – a dreadful incident in London where a man drove a car at high speed at pedestrians. God help us.
And once again, the concept of a CSA and murder “snuff” film industry is just a fantasy.
Not only has a genuine “commercial” child snuff film NEVER surfaced, from the 1950’s to 2010, the whole idea is inherently nonsensical. The idea is supposed to be, such a film would have a high value because it would be very rare, with restricted distribution. But there would be nothing to stop a buyer from making 500 copies themselves, and re-selling them on the cheap or even giving them away – destroying the rarity value overnight.
But there’s even better evidence that this “snuff” idea is bullshit. My little network of historic CSA video victims includes some persons who were allegedly “child snuff” victims. I can personally assure you, those persons are still very much alive today.
Thanks Jake Blake.
I haven’t managed to catch up with that video yet!
They are coming in so fast and furious, I haven’t got enough hours in the day.
This claim is as true as Angela’s claims about Ella masturbating the small boy.
Poor old Dave, believing it all.
Why does she make this rubbish up?
I expect it’s for the “attention” and to feel important.
As for Dave, I think he is Schizophrenic.
One of my son’s has a friend that comes out with similar tales.
The nearest thing to real snuff movies seems to be the Peter Scully case. That was in the Philipines; and it was uncovered, and he was prosecuted. It is hard to imagine such things occurring in central Washington or London without anyone noticing.
Whoopsie daisy!
Must be clackers then, never mind I was near (ish).
Great post as always EC. I can just picture Abe & Ella sat watching pizzagate videos on Youtube all day and looking out for new subjects to add to their original lies. They’ve got to keep attracting new conspirasheep all the time otherwise their story will be left behind while yet another conspiracy suddenly takes all the headlines and the conspirasheep with it.
Will Belinda really be able to put up with Neelu and her Mum 24/7?
I suppose that is the obvious solution in the short term, but what will happen with Belinda at 8am tomorrow?
I shall think about her as I’m driving at that time…
And then tune in for the Updates later.
Yeah and she’s still got his cat!
Yes, the Peter Scully case was sickening.
Barchon I think they actually already do that.
Funny how none of their believers ever mention Ella & Abe running away from the cops. Innocent people have no reason to run from the law whereas guilty people certainly do.
The conspirasheep really despise that fact that Hoaxtead Research exists. I’ve seen a few comments on Youtube now saying how people’s computers would play up after visiting this blog. Obviously a ploy to try and scare folk away from visiting this blog and reading actual facts with evidence to back them up as opposed to the lies and fantasies they prefer to believe in.
We’ll have ring side seats as we watch the inevitable videos.
But I suppose it would probably be more interesting to actually be there.
Will Neelu’s love interest, Mr. Andy Peacher come down all the way from Scotland?
I very much doubt it.
I predict Kevin Wearechange Weaver, Barry backpack, maybe Lee Cant after all Neelu did go in search of him to the Police Station and promptly got herself arrested, Yet again, grrr…
They might as well reserve a cell for her.
Tracey Morris is going to court tomorrow to represent someone against Social Services.
I think I read it on Gayle Fawkes fb page.
Yes Spiny, i think they could all learn a lot from EC and others. But that would be boring to them as they prefer to believe wild stories told to them by fruitloops on Youtube.
The rat/mouse on the right in that picture reminds me of Tracey Morris.
Ah the Fat Slags from Viz comic, there’s a blast from the past indeed. The pair of them along with other characters such as Sid the sexist and Postman Plod gave me so many laughs in the past.
He’s certainly no Carol Vorderman when it comes to mathematics.
What an Ass Hat that “Titus” character is! “Pizzagate March” WTH? ffs! Stupid as dirt. I hope they all get arrested…Ella and Abe have hit a new low. I agree with S.V.. If they can take the time to question him due to R bloody Q’s crappola and paranoia, they can arrest them lickity damn quick, it is complete BS. Are they waiting for a crazier Edgar Welch? I was reading about this “Shayler” person. Very strange guy and story. He probably met agony Abe at the “eco-squat” commune of weirdos or one of three prisons? Bizarre as hell. Was his “info” on Col. Ghadaffi true in re: 1996 Newspaper reports in UK?? What is his ex-partners deal? Anybody have a good link or source on these two? Sincere condolences for yesterday’s Tragedy. RIP
The additions must be the result of more “brainstorming”. I used to hold some sympathy for Ella, taking her as someone caught up in Abraham’s web of destruction. However, she sat back and watched Abraham beat RD’s children and is now making these scam videos for a quick buck, exploiting her own children. She knows exactly what she is doing.
Haha! Their computers play up after visiting a WordPress.com site? Do they realise that the “.com” version of WordPress doesn’t allow any sort of code changes or plug-ins that one would have to use to do anything nefarious? So even if we wanted to, which we don’t, it couldn’t happen.
Eddy! 🙂
Thanks, AP. I was particularly amused by their “big (green) eyes” story, which is apparently interchangeable between Abe and Ella.
Yes, this has been my understanding too. The concept of “snuff movies” originated in the 1970s or 1980s, and was HUGE for a while, until people began to realise that no one had ever seen a real one.
Yes they aren’t the type of people to let facts such as that stop their stupid lies.
Yes, sadly the truth is much less melodramatic than the lies they’re being fed.
Yes, when it boils down to it, she’s quite willing to sell her children to make a bit of money. That says it all to me.
Patreon has until Tuesday to remove that content, then I and others will initate the process to get politicians to roll out legislation to regulate social media. A member of parliament is now aware, and on standby.
How did she meet her husband Mr. Draper?
Was she a mail order bride?
Thank you, EC 🙂
Looks like TC has actually googled hoaxsted, finally. ffs MKD? lol
I can imagine in order to make any semblance of what the hell this catalogue of abusers,grifters and plain mentally bonkers individuals are up to,some creative process of collating, prioritizing and generally sifting serious criminality from gibbering verbal masturbation is inevitable.The saying “necessity is the mother of invention” has no doubt held some sway in regards keeping tabs on events.
Mr Einstein somehow created order from chaos and back again amidst papers sliding about all over the shop but no doubt he had contrived some system that at least worked for him in attempting to fathom the workings of everything.Not convinced he could have come up with a general theory of fruitloops though.
Sterling stuff and clearly the revulsion method is prooving just the ticket.
Great to see the new batch of interns settling into their positions btw. 😉
Abe’s website is disgusting. Someone named DOCTOR_MOEBIUS has left this comment on it, this month:
“I would hunt down this ‘father’ and blow his genitals off. If anyone out there feels compelled to do so, I’m sure it’s a worthy cause.”
MKD’s on form today! 😀
“Bellenders tunnels-The movie” would almost certainly attract a “restricted18” by the British Board of Film Classification.
Because I do not live in the Hampstead area covered by the MP Tulip Siddiq, please can anyone who lives in that area contact her when they feel ready. This MP is Labour and a Muslim. The issue is regulation of internet social media companies to force them to remove abusive, hateful, illegal and harrassing content in a reasonable time of notification, preferably by an independent body. Highlight the problems encountered trying to get social media such as Facebook, Google and Patreon to remove content, and the distress, fear and other negative impacts this has had on its victims.
Although arrests and convictions help, it is by forcing social media companies to remove content that will bring to an end this hoax and protect the children at the heart of this hoax from the psychological harm it will do when they start to read and see it when they are older.
For an MP to act, you must live in the area they serve. You must include personal contact details such as your address and contact number. If the MP is different in your area, then please consider contacting them.
The details for Tulip Siddiq is:
By phone – Call on 0208 127 5525 (This line is open 10am – 4pm, Tuesday – Friday)
By email – My address is tulip@tulipsiddiq.com
By mail – Write to Tulip Siddiq MP, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA
At a Constituency Surgery – If you would like an appointment at a constituency surgery then please call on 0208 127 5525 or email tulip@tulipsiddiq.com
Enraged here about too about Patreons stance.Will contact again venting disgust at flaunting their own T&C + inactivity.They could at least have suspended account pending enquiries.
The lack of regulation enables the more disreputable and unprincipled platforms to effectively flick a V at complaints possibly because they dont like reducing their user figures or of course they are simply inept and simply cant be arsed with such triffling matters that doesnt bring in $$$.
Great you have initiated upping the ante to political arena SV.This whole area is going to become massive over the next few years and politicians worth their salt will get stuck into these shysters.
The political and media climate is perfect to refer the Hampstead hoax as a whole to the politicians as a good reason to regulate against the social media giants.
The fact this is going on, and internet companies do nothing about this is why I am now on the warpath.
I understand, SV, it’s getting out of control. That person is talking about shooting an innocent man in the genitals. I honestly fear for RD’s life sometimes.
It was Eddy who gave the game away.
Where’s Lord Ashtar, that’s what I want to know.
Bob needs to get back to his seat and stop licking the office carpet, he’s on his last warning.
..and there’s always one, isn’t there? Jasmine on the right, waving to the camera, I see you! Get back to work!
People tend to forget that once the Police get a warrant almost anyone can be traced.
David Shurter, seems afraid of Hoaxtead. I am impressed with El Coyote that he has such power to shake the Dark Jesus, Messiah, Dark Lord or whatever dark master demon this Shurter has become to his very abyssmal core, backed by the most powerful magicks of Satanism, and who has defeated all the fallen ones, and created a new hell for all those who oppose his will. Do dark ones like Shurter bleed and die?
I think probably Shurter lacks the master ring that is supposed to control the other rings, and a certain creature living in Kent might have it.
Also, I speak on occasion with Dr Michael Aquino over at 600Club, Shurter should come over and talk there sometime.
Shurter reminds me of this guy in his video:
I absolutely love that movie. Nicholson and Duvall were excellent in it.
By the way, SV. Your comment under the video will be seen by him as a threat.
Just became aware of its meaning, whoops.
EC… please edit removing Red Rum part… I woud not have posted that had I known its meaning.
No trigger warning needed but McKenzie’s Devils should have included a Sensitivity Warning. Can you die from blushing?
No matter how long ago..
“Cheryl Grimmer: Man arrested over girl’s 1970 disappearance”
Hi Jake!
I was gloating about McKenzie’s Arrest on tOm Cahill’s yt channel and apparently spurred on a flurry of activity. Sorry Hoaxsted! ffs! omg ….sigh
Such a shame her parents never lived to hear the news. The killer would have been 16 at the time too.
LOL! How wrong can t0m Cahill be?? 😀
I was glad to see that Generosity finally took down their page (although it took long enough, my first reply from them was 1/3/17), whereas I never even got a reply at all from Patreon and they still have their page up despite many complaints being received (as was logged here)
(plus the nightmare involved in actually reporting pages to these companies- what a kludge their reporting systems are)
Hi Steved, like you I have had to navigate a reporting system designed to put people off from complaining about content. These internet companies hale largely from Silicon Valley in USA with the same attitude of money over any other concerns. They don’t care about the innocent people of Hampstead, or the children, if it brings in money, thats all that matters to them.
Yes do it.
As one who has been trying to remove hateful and shocking lies for over 5 years now, about a woman who passed away in the meantime (aged 85) it can be a very debilitating and frustrating experience.
I’ve had some successes and failures: the failures are that even though the posts etc breach the rules of an internet entity’s own rules, we all know from Youtube experience they take an aeon for them to act if at all.
And then of course the stuff pops up again posted by someone else.
The US election has now shown. whatever the truth may be, that Fake News (and that is what Hampstead is) can be a very dangerous thing.
I’ve joined a group who have set themselves up as internet ‘vigilantes’ – not to attack anyone, but to use any legal means to get hateful, spiteful lies removed. We have 3 lawyers aiding but as anyone knows, a legal process can take years as well.
I believe the EU Parliament will be one of the main aids in this campaign as they generally seek to look after the welfare of their own citizens. Several countries are enacting legislation such as the ‘Right to Be Forgotten”. France has demanded this apply worldwide now for any French citizen. They have fought a fierce battle with a cashed-up Google on this but succeeded but it really takes the power of government to win.
And what a slap in the face it is from these internet giants that are all tax avoiding entities leaching off other taxpayers and then using their might to prevent citizens having rights to privacy without being harassed.
However the world is waking up to the dangers of internet defamation and while MPs can often be the last to act, once a politician comes aboard a cause they can wield considerable power.
I mean really- he looks unwashed, unshaven, unkempt and his teeth are stained and you can almost smell his hideous bad breath..but he puts on a clean shirt and bow-tie to make a video? It looks like a fake shirt & tie as well, like something with no back that you just wrap around your front.
GOS Fashion Tip of The Day.
LOL – “You can suck all the dick you want and still be a virgin”.
GoS, that is another thing, my business has to pay so much tax, yet these internet giants escape. It is totally wrong that kids and innocent people of a London community suffer because of what is essentially greed by foreign internet companies. Bottom line, all these companies are interested in is money, they have no interest in freedom of speech etc, they are just as quick to shut someone down that they disagree with.
ISIL make snuff movies which the media are only too happy to promote (although they refuse to in France) but the Hoaxers of course think they are ‘false flags’ and MI6 / CIA productions.
LOL! Apparently he doesn’t like it that Scarlet Scoop has pointed out his virulent anti-Semitism from time to time. So his way of disproving that…is to accuse us of being “Jewish cointelpro”? How does that work?
Noam Chomsky describes the problems well:
LOL! Love it. 🙂
How does that work? EC, it doesn’t! LOL
Tom and Cody are both obsessed with “cointelpro.”
Just like the hoaxers see paedophiles around every corner, they see cointelpro everywhere. 😀
Snazzy tie. 🙂
They are based in Silicon Valley when it suits – repeating that tired old mantra of Free Speech when confronted with internet libels.
They are based in The Caymans when it comes to (not) paying tax despite just having an unmanned office and their funds in a US or UK bank.
They have become all-powerful and basically bullies because they can get away with as politicians have been too slow to realise what is happening.
There should be a Fiddler on the Roof HH Meme Spiny!! LOL Abe and Ella Escaping…
Well, if I can get some sort of badge and a pay cheque out of it, I’m in. Not sure how I’ll sort the Jewish part though. Are there any Jewish coyotes? If so, how do they keep their yarmulkes on? Tis a puzzlement.
Fake News Alert !. Cats do NOT work and never have.
Very true, G0S. Those filmed murders aren’t intended to provide sexual titillation, but as far as I’m aware they’re the only real “snuff” movies out there. And the conspirasheep don’t believe they’re real. Go figure.
It was indeed. And he played a pivotal role in the “Hoaxtenders” cartoon series. 🙂
Too right, MC.
I wouldn’t wait : any politician needing a platform should jump on this ASAP and get in early.
Fugitives from the law Draper & Christie are breaching Patreon’s own rules (so much for their claim to be aiding those in the arts) but Patreon is also breaking the law and need to come to the attention of the FBI.
I would NOT give entities like Patreon the slightest wriggle room.
Amusingly they go on at length about how the poster indemnifies Patreon for any breaches of copyright etc but this is a ruse.
Patreon is liable for such breaches themselves for civil breaches of copyright and criminal law. You cannot be indemnified for such things. And considering they do minimal checks on authenticity (as exampled by hosting Draper’s criminal fundraising) it is a matter of time before events and the law catches up with them.
# This reminds me very much of a long conversation I had with a lawyer nearly 5 years ago about Uber. He was acting for a Black Cab driver in an unrelated dispute as conversation got around to how governments were falling over Uber’s seductive campaigns. He said they were breaching laws in dozens of ways which. despite the fact people may like the service, it was just a matter of time before it all came down in a heap. That included matters like whether they were employers, complicated liability insurance, VAT etc etc and likened the whole idea to a very sophisticated Pyramid Scheme. Now the whole edifice is beginning to crumble as directors bail out having made $Millions in the meantime.
A prime example of how the law and governments can become bamboozled by how the internet is being used.
@GoS
I get the impression that Patreon is as arrogant as Uber.
One of my associates jumped the gun and contacted Tulip Siddiq MP, but do not live in Hampstead. Since there has been one contact to this MP already, it is ideal to contact them now.
You are probably right. Why Wait?
Stop the Rot and End the Hate
Against the Innocent Victims
of the Hampstead Hoax and Pizzagate
Conspirifruit Episode 2 – Legend of the Fail – https://youtu.be/LauMBymTTVk
Conspirifruit Episode 3 – Really Disgraceful – https://youtu.be/M-EOu3WMoKc
Loving the Conspirifruit series BM.Keep them coming 🙂
If someone like the deliciously mental Sandie Bergen-Whatever-Whatever came round to ‘blow my genitals off’, she would be more than welcome… Anytime…
The added benefit of course, being it would stop her whiny, insane utterances.
All after the obligatory ‘implant check’, of course 😉
Chuffing Pizzagate.
Mad https://youtu.be/qSP7wZ2l95s
Sensible https://youtu.be/2OrX0U4qwTM
Cheers mate, I can only do them when the house is free of infidels as they would think I really am Barchon Mad.
They are beyond hope. Thank you for the links mate.
These people truly are Sheeple who cannot think for themselves including that Loon Wolfe.
MKD’s on a roll tonight 😀
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When Heifer eventually turns on Angela, I confidently expect Angela to shout about how she’d always had her doubts about her. She really does excel in the arts of back-pedalling and back-stabbing.
Would it be an underground movie, Mik?
Hostel: real
Westminster attack: fake
Ah, the mind of a troofer.
So nice to see an American with stained teeth, Sam, after all they’ve said about ours 😀
Mik, you never need to apologise for upsetting Tom Cahill. I can almost hear the Jewish community applauding you.
I completely dispute Tom’s wesearch.
“Vanilla Scoop”
I love it! 😀
Your wish is my command…
No two ways about it, BM – you’re a fucking genius!
21:09 – “We know basically most of science is just made up.”
Wow. Just…wow 😮
So he’s not just into Hegel for Dummies, he’s an anti-science proponent too? This just gets better and better.
“All day long I’d diddle diddle dum, if I were a wealthy man”…takes on a whole new sinister tone, doesn’t it?
Hehe. Thanks, EC. Plus it all scans too 🙂
Moaning bastard says:
Mr Draper would be well advised to read the T&C as he could well be in line for a full refund under goods and services act.I am sure trading standards would be very interested if UK residents are being flogged dangerous,inflammable materials under false pretences.
I am not sure if there is an ombudsman for the mail order bride/grey import industry but if not the Ombudman for Ombudsmen should bloody well pull his finger out and make one sharpish.ITS NOT GOOD ENOUGH.
What on Earth is the world coming to???
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How many lies can Angela fit into one video?
Oh bliss, oh joy, Angela Power-Disney has released another exciting video. This time she has a brand new victim interviewee, a woman named Nicola from Manchester who Angie appears to be grooming for life in the conspiranoid lane.
And in the process, Angie seems to be trying to outdo herself in the “Outrageous Lies and Made-up Shit” department.
Oh Gawd, not the poison pen letters again…
Angela does her obligatory “Hoaxtead Research is the root of all evil” routine starting at about 25:58.
As usual, she dredges up the many-times-discredited poison pen letters, which she insists were sent by this blog to various people in her community. She claimed at the time that the letters had been sent to “friends, neighbours, police, charities, a FAMILY COUNSELLOR, local and national papers calling me a charity scammer and hoaxer re Hampstead”.
We still don’t know the names or addresses of any of those she claims were contacted, and wouldn’t have known how to contact them then, even if we’d wanted to. Which we didn’t.
It does seem to us faintly ridiculous to “prove” that the letters came from us by clipping out a colour print of this blog’s masthead and stapling it to the top of the letter she waved in front of the camera, but sadly, Nicola seemed to buy it.
Here, Angie, let us Google that for you…
The video is not without its moments of unintentional humour, however.
At about 30:42 you will find this gem:
But the thing I believe is that originally El Coyote was a Welsh writer living in Ireland, called David le Dingue. And ‘dingue’ is French for ‘dingo’, which is the same as ‘coyote’.
We would just like to point out that it took us mere seconds to Google the French-to-English translation for “le dingue”.
Surprise! It has absolutely nothing to do with “dingos” (which aren’t the same thing as coyotes: dingos are descended from the domesticated dog, canis familiaris, and are native to Australia; coyotes (canis latrans) are wild canines native to North America).
Angela actually has fond memories of Le Dingue, though:
And he was a very educated man and he was trolling very intensely in the early days and he was actually kind to me, because when I started covering Hampstead around March 2015 and then my sister died in very suspicious circumstances in April/May, two months later, and he called the trolls off, coz I was started [sic] getting trolled way back then, and when my sister died, he said, “Right, everybody, back off. Leave her alone for a week out of respect”.
Isn’t that nice? Except that it wasn’t Le Dingue who said that. It was our very own Scarlet Scoop who notified blog readers that Angela’s sister had died and suggested that Angela be given a week’s grace out of respect.
And even more bollocksy bollocks!
Honestly, we don’t know where Angela comes up with this stuff [Hint: she’s sitting on it—Ed.]:
You know. So, you know, and I think he was the original El Coyote.
As it happens, if one digs deep into the Hoaxtead Research archives, one finds a post welcoming Le Dingue to the blog, several days after the blog began publication. He’d been contributing to the Icke forum “thread that wouldn’t end” for some time, and we were happy for his input here, but he was never a moderator or writer for HR.
El Coyote, on the other hand, appeared with the advent of the “Hoaxtenders” comic strip, which ran for 75 episodes in late spring/summer 2015. Later that summer, EC took over writing duties from Scarlet, who had put in yeoman’s duty on that front.
Then there’s this:
And also there was a lot of evidence to indicate that [RD] was originally Spiny Norman and running other avatars—Sam Best and different avatars—and I think what’s happened is the Ricky Dearmans and the David Le Dingues and the high level guys, after about a year, they stepped back but they handed on the avatars to other people to write the functioning avatar go for it [sic].
“A lot of evidence”? Seriously? Could we see it, please?
We strongly suspect that Mr Best and Spiny, who have always spoken for themselves, would be quite incensed to find that they were merely RD’s socks. And RD, who has never had anything to do with this blog, might be a touch surprised as well.
In fact, Angela might be interested to know that EC decided to participate in Flo Destroyer’s “After Dark” livestream shortly after Angela was visited by the police, specifically in order to demonstrate that the blog was not run by RD, but by a Canadian woman. In essence, it had become important that Angela not be allowed the “out” of claiming that she was harassing RD because of any perceived harassment she was receiving here.
What in hell is a “second-generation troll”?
So I don’t buy Karen Irving’s story about it was after her favourite dog or whatever—I think she’s just a second generation troll, you know.
No one is asking Angela to buy anything—whether she believes that EC owned a half-coyote dog many years ago is really no concern of ours. (However, we will state that the dog was both more intelligent and had a sweeter disposition than some “journalists” we know. Ahem.)
And ‘troll’ is the wrong word. She writes in her biography—and you can see this in Spidercatweb blog—about how she’s an ex-social worker and specialising in adoption, wrote a book about adoption and so on. But she talks about how psychology is her first love and the fascination of what makes the human mind tick, which is exactly what we’ve been discussing with MK Ultra.
Wait, hold the phone. EC wrote what in her biography? Which biography was this?
Because although it’s true that she has a Master’s degree in social work, and worked during the late 1980s and all of the 1990s with adult survivors of child sexual abuse, as well as a year-long stint with homeless women at a women’s day centre, “adoption” is nowhere in her resumé.
However, a wee bit more of that new-fangled “Googling” thing informs us that another person named Karen Irving was chief executive of a London-based adoption agency called “Parents for Children”.
According to the list of contributors to the book Adoption: Changing Families, Changing Times (published in 2002) for which she wrote the chapter, “Troubled children and how to place them”, the agency was founded in 1976, and “was the first adoption society in the UK and Europe to help children who had not been thought of for adoption. Karen Irving has 25 years’ experience in working in fostering and adoption and is chairperson of the Connaught Group of children’s charities. She has been awarded a Churchill Memorial Fellowship to undertake further study of methods of helping children who have been maltreated”.
We are certain this other Karen Irving is a fine and accomplished person, but a bit of simple maths tells us that she cannot be the Canadian author. You see, that book was published in 2002. At time of publication, the chief executive of Parents for Children is said to have had “25 years’ experience” in her chosen field—i.e., she began working in adoptions in the mid-1970s. EC, meanwhile, did not graduate until 1988.
The rest of the video
It’s the usual dog’s breakfast: Angela making wild and unsubstantiated claims about all and sundry, Angela claiming to have been a real journalist, Angela complaining that she didn’t inherit enough money from her sister (who was “worth much more” than the piddling €20,000 she received from her will)…we’ve heard it all before, and we’re sure we’ll hear it all again.
We hope that eventually, after the inevitable breakup, Nicola will realise that almost everything which emerges from her new friend’s mouth is either false or heavily embroidered. For now, though, all we can do is wish her luck and hope she doesn’t eventually become the victim of another of Angela’s “tell-all” videos. Watch your back, Nicola.
25/09/2018 in Angela Power-Disney. Tags: Angela Power-Disney, Hoaxtead Research, lies, video
Angela receives (another) anonymous letter
Angie publishes ‘poison-pen’ letters
Tracking Angela’s lies: 2 letters, 4 envelopes?
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135 thoughts on “How many lies can Angela fit into one video?”
I’d say angela was guilty of a series of massive knee jerk reactions. but there’s no actual knee involved.
Nicola – RUN AWAAAAAYYYY NOW while you still have a chance…..
By all means investigate the Hampstead case. Read the info from both sides of the fence and use critical thinking. But, if you value your sanity and your privacy and you truly want the truth, stay away from this woman!
Hope she takes that advice, but in the shadowlands of conspiracy island people interpret information only to serve their own views. analysis and evaluation seem to be beyond them. As for angela’s research ? she just reads any old claptrap off google and insists it amounts to something. i can’t really say she’s lost the plot as i doubt she had it to begin with.
The Becki Percy saga is getting fascinating:
https://catherinemoncada21.wordpress.com
I could barely follow the thread as the writer isn’t very structured in her approach. becki seems to be trying to promote her lacklustre candle business at the moment and doesn’t seem to understand target markets, demographics or promotion in general. it’s all a bit much for her trying to understand that an audience who follow a twitter account to read about satanic abuse aren’t in the market for overpriced candles.
These people really do live in a fantasy world:
“An Open Secret is the Twitter account for the movie An Open Secret which was a multi-million dollar documentary about pedophelia in Hollywood.
The Twitter account is run by the two guys who made the movie An Open Secret.
They care enough about children THEY SPENT THEIR OWN MONEY ON THIS DOCUMENTARY!”
The last 2 professional jobs I did before retiring was helping on documentaries that were eventually screened on the BBC. The budgets for both were around £25K each. Documentaries that involve lots of interviews are the cheapest to make. Travel starts to make docos very expensive. I’ve watched that so-called documentary. $Millions my arse.
“The care about the children”.
No they don’t. If they had $$multi millions to spend on kids there are millions in the USA living in poverty (a shocking a dreadful form of abuse with possibly far worse & long lasting mental effects than sexual abuse- and there is no therapy for them. Or perhaps the 30,000 plus who die daily from hunger & preventable diseases.
At some stage, some of these fantasists- Becki etc (APD? Hopeless Girl ) are going to be done for fraud. Probably- the one law that snares them the easiest in the USA- Mail Fraud. They are no different to Nigerian email scammers or blokes (women?) who defraud hapless partners looking for love via the net. Or fradulent Ebayers who scam customers for non-existent goods.
It will happen.
On a tangent the pie&masher, he of boxing skills, the histrionic hero of howt de la garren, the Gnome bashing documentary king bill maloney has an IMDB listing. that means anyone registering an account could go and write a review of his award winning documentary sun sea and satan. In fact a few people could. i’ll just leave that idea out there. that’s IMDB bill maloney sun sea and satan.
Multi million ? a serveral month’s long schedule with multiple camera crews, helicoptors , scouts, on set consultants, travel costs, insurance, hotels, travel permits and visas, guides, security consultants, equipment hire, catering and the logistics of getting to remote places and then paying morgan freeman to do you a voiceover and some fancy visual and sound editing plus computer graphics and music rights or the fee of a composer would cost multi millions for sure. a few interviews edited together ? not so much. The cost of a camera, a tripod and computer plus a venue to shoot in is about it for a bottom line amateur job. not seen the open secret but it’s probably not gone with the wind.
duffy1958 says:
For your record, cause ya’ll keep records right? I quoted what An Open Secret quoted as what they spent.
I have no idea how they made their movie to arrive at that cost.
They should be commended I think.
Especially since you watched the documentary.
It really isn’t up to one to tell the other how to spend their money yes? You want to feed children, they want Hollywood to stop exploiting children.
Sounds like a win/win. Everyone wants something good for the children.
Ya’ll know I just follow the link over here?
Duffy1958, Ghost of Sam is saying that the documentary makers appear to be lying to people. It would be a useful thing to exaggerate need to increase donations. Particulary something as emotive as child abuse. Can’t criticise or question people who claim to be helping children eh?
Nice one, EC. And to answer the question in your post title, even more than it seems. The examples you’ve cited are just the tip of the iceberg. She also slanders RD from 14:04 and Hoaxtead from 25:58 (before the stuff about you, le Dingue etc.) and spends the most of the first half of the video spouting MK Ultra bollocks and other assorted womble-guff (including how Tupac is alive and well and living in Cuba and his son is a “targeted individual”, natch). She then spends the last section spewing crap about a range of topics, including a claim that ‘America’s Got Talent’ is an “MK Ultra ABC manual”, a remark about Hampstead being “our McMartin” and her tired old porky about how she’s had Hampstead cult members contacting her to say they want out. I genuinely believe this video deserves a spot in the Guinness Book of Records for highest ever bullshit-per-minute quota. Bravo, JournoAngie 🙄
“A claim that ‘America’s Got Talent’ is an ‘ABC of MK Ultra mind control'”
What made me laugh about that is that she says her kids watch it in her presence and it really annoys her. Can you imagine settling down on the sofa on a Saturday night to watch TV with this woman? It must be a nightmare for her kids – I bet she sits there tutting and sighing all the way through and praying to the Lord to protect her kith and kin from the evils of TV brainwashing.
I wonder which acts scare her the most. Clowns? Jugglers? Acrobats? I think we should be told.
Bet she freaked out when she saw this one 😂
Duffy1958
I was wondering, is there any reason in particular that you can think of why you were successfully scammed? I can only imagine how tough it would be.
I see it as a bit like the 419 emails, they are so badly written that the only people who respond are those who for whenever reason will ignore the most blatant red flags.
Becki Perci will be fine in the U.K.The worst that will happen from her point of view is no one pays her any attention.
What’s this about all schoolchildren being given the flu vaccination (at 12:13)?
Oh and I’ve just noticed that at 29:59 she claims that we had Cat Scot’s YouTube channel taken down. Er…nope. She has two and they’re both still up.
‘The two guys who made the movie’ it was directed by a woman called Amy Berg. one person, not two. female, not male. Duffy1958 you are not in an arena where such, i hesitate to call them lies, factually incorrect statements are going to be tolerated. I can appreciate you have had very little in the way of education and are probably limited in your faculties but if you’re going to claim you spoke to a well known documentary director through a twitter account and that it was actually 2 guys you spoke to and not a woman then you have probably been speaking to a fake account. you really can’t expect to post such incorrect babble online and not be called out on it.
The worst things that will happen are 1. The police nab her. 2. She’s up for a civil case. 3. Mainstream media decide to cover her evil behaviour. 4. Amateur press cover her. 5. She may have to live on the streets or a wino filled homeless doss house. she can’t go home and has few friends. 6. sign on for benefit, difficult as she neglected to pay any tax or national insurance contributions for the last 3 years. 7. Get a job. 8. Grow up and stop being such a knobhead. 9. develope a moral conscience and accept responsibility for her actions.
At 47:32 Angie tells Nicola about the meme she’s used in her video thumbnail, with four coppers running to stop someone telling the truth on YouTube. And Nicola thinks she’s describing a real incident 😂
There are hoaxteaders who want out ? when we get fed up we simply say goodbye. as if anyone contacts angie about it. she’s not wise that one.
Rest assured, though – we’re working on it 😜
That isn’t a criticism of you. I am just curious.
In a similar twist, Ogilfail is claiming that Cathy fox has been banned from Twitter:
Thing is, she hasn’t:
https://twitter.com /CathyCathyFox
Also not trying to blame a victim. Is there any advice you would give?
Fruitcake quote from Stolpman’s slime video. I’m guessing English isn’t her strongest suit…
Nee Naw says:
I suspect however Angelas time honoured “Godiva” masterpiece will sweep the floor yet again at this years annual pretentious wanker bash.
The @anopensecret twitter account isn’t verified, which you’d expect it to be if it was officially connected to the film/filmmakers. most of the accounts tweets are defending alex jones who they believe shouldn’t have been banned from twitter for such antics as calling the sandy hook families liars who made up having their children killed. okay, i think you have the picture now. duffy1958 should be checking who she’s messaging and if they are who they claim to be. It’s a jungle out there.
It had a limited release in a handful of theatres grossing $200 but when put on vimeo for got some attention as they made it free to view at the time of the harvey wankstain news. i haven’t been able to find it’s budget but it’ll be under 250k as it’s mostly talking heads and archive footage, possibly 100k or so. certainly not multi millions as quoted by duffy.
(6) It doesn’t work like that anymore. She can claim Universal Credit.
Shit, this dude’s planning to torture RD with crap spelling 😮
Not according to Urban Dictionary* it doesn’t! 😱 She’s been watching the wrong videos again!
* Those of a nervous disposition shouldn’t look it up.
I’d like to see her claim form. previous job ~ candle maker and ceo of gentlearoma, previous addresses ? 14 months in usa custody for immigration issues. family ? at least 5, most of whom are satanists, cannibals and infant murderers. do you have any medical issues ? yes i’ve been raped 1000s of times as part of a satanic woodland chase, been trafficked for sex, but always made it back from abroad to attend school the next day and have Ptsd from burying my sister’s body in several graves. Yeah. the Dwp are gonna love her. i expect she’ll be claiming more abuse when she gets home.
Ghost of Cecil B. DeMille says:
Yes I watched it and it was what Hollywood does best: 90% Bullshit & 10% Fact.
There are extremely tough laws in California governing the whole of the film industry and they have been in place for decades. It is impossible to take advantage of a child in movie making and no legitimate company would bother trying to. It’s virtually impossible to take advantage of adults or the crew or even extras who are all governed by strict laws.
That doesn’t mean that Los Angeles, indeed the US, isn’t riddled with phonies and hangers-on who give the industry a bad name. “Stage mothers” and would-be actors flock to LA in their 1000s and can get involved with phony agents etc who promise the world.
Sadly 1000s of naive people still arrive daily and fall for scams or people who are connected to genuine film-making via 7 degrees of separation. Of course, there are offenders who may be in a position of power who may abuse. They take enormous risks.
People can make stupid decisions & think they are helping a career by jumping into bed with the wrong person. While they will be taken advantage of (loose morals?) and it’s dreadful, it happens all around the world in every industry.
Goats like Corey Feldman promote rubbish because he had a limited talent and as an adult, he is a turn off as an actor. People are only “blacklisted” if they are likely to cause trouble and cost money. A film is an ongoing money costing production that can cost $100,000s every day whether the footage is being produced or not. Any delays caused by anyone, star or not risks everyone’s job.
The absolute waffle that Hollywood is some vast Satanic organism whose purpose is to exploit and abuse is a moronic myth.
While I won’t speculate on Harvey Weinstein (how would I know what he has or hasn’t done?) but I will mention just one person who is a victim of the ludicrous Witch Hunt that is currently underway and is destroying a reasonable @MeToo movement that had merit but the overpaid egotistical stars who have leaped aboard the bandwagon are causing untold damage by making it all about them.
Take the unproved accusations about Kevin Spacey. His last film flopped- The Billionaire Boys (it’s a really good film). The media celebrates- the SRA Mob claim it as a victory. They forget that 1. Spacey was paid up front- probably a fee equal to more money most people will ever earn in their lives.
2. The mainly Canadian backers have lost their investment. That money was sourced from Canadian Superannuation Funds taking advantage of tax investment subsidies. The real losers are ordinary Canadian workers paying into Superannuation Funds for their retirement.
3. The production company that made this film have laid off about 30 film industry workers as it has set back their plans for a few years. One is my pal who has a family, kids and a mortgage. He’s working as a mechanic for the moment but only because he was trained as one decades ago. Pity the others.
When they call Hollywood a Factory that’s what it is. That’s how it works. Behind every film and studio are 10,000s of ordinary Americans earning a living and living ordinary lives in a time consuming an arduous industry.
# The producers of an Open Secret are bullshitting when they say they are “saving children”. The movie went no-where, not because some SRA Cabal blocked it but because distributors decided it would be a box office flop. And it would have been -such a depressing subject. Igf film-distributors though even a small profit could be made they sell a movie featured two cats fighting if they could.
The producer Amy Berg has gone on to make more documentaries- saleable ones (none costing $Millions) & I see her career of “saving children” has been forgotten.
Bill Baloney is a classic who illustrates the lies told about the film industry.
BTW I have several IMBD listing on films but I’m not telling which. Anyone connected to a film -even as a gofer (me on a big film) can have themselves listed. That’s what the site is for.
Maloney falsely claimed he won an award at the very prestige New York Film Festival. It was a blatant lie: he “won an award” at a phony & now defunct New York Film & Video Festival trying to cash in on the real thing. They crop up over America all the time usually run by the same scam artists and disappear as quickly. You pay a huge fee to enter & are guaranteed a prize!. Their “premiere film screenings for the media” are usually in some clapped out cinema in Queens and not even the local rag turns up.
They are a good example of the con artists that surround the genuine film industry which has some of the strictest laws in the USA because it’s a $ multi-billion generating business employing 100,000s of people.
Of course the SRA promoters and fruit-loops think it’s all about Meryl Streep.
It had a small theatrical release in half a dozen theatres. made two hundred dollars and was pulled. absolute flop. nobody wants that in a theatre. it belongs on streaming and, maybe, tv. the director had previously had critical acclaim with a Paedo priest docu that looks like a vastly superior film.
And this one’s a whole new level of stupid:
Angela had another ‘fan’ I see. 😂
I’ll be checking periodically to read all the loving reviews of bill’s finely crafted expose of ugly garden Gnomes and a fibreglass pan statue in a pond. the cinematography was sublime. the editing stripped down and bare. and who can forget the use of adagio as bill, scared by a statue, proclaims ‘i’ve got a friend in jesus’ before hurrying away as a cold wind falls upon the harrowing scene. who can forget the constant visits to a garden to note the additions of hats to weird Gnomes or the skeleton in a window ?
Wow, that’s an awesome thread! Great find, Lucca.
This comment is particularly intriguing:
Lee Shannon and Aaron Morris duly added to the ever-growing list of friends out with whom Angela’s fallen.
And the thread has been archived here:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1WtNgYxedyicZ8u7cNytxVwEtOyoyvNXA
Thanks, Lucca 😀
“I can’t believe this is real life”
Hmm, and still the alarm bells don’t ring in her head. Sigh
Wow….😳
And this one’s calling for people to be put to death if they fail a polygraph test. Yup.
The amazing thing is that Becki’s parents still seem keen to have her back. They obviously care about her deeply. It is some years since I last visited Planet Coffee. It was a very popular place with students in Hull, it was the first modern coffee shop on Newland Avenue in the 1990s and rather a catalyst for a previously depressed area. The wickedest thing Mr & Mrs Percy have done is to peoples waistlines with their cakes, sweeties on the side and whipped cream.
I know. You are trying to find a reliable news source for a story about Richard Branson’s latest business venture so you Google “Virgin BBC” … and get something quite unexpected.
Seriously ? they’d take her back after all the grief she caused them ? they must be cracked in the coconut.
Yes richard’s doing a new line in delicious cakes so google BBC creampie virgin
I’ll let this one speak for itself:
See, the only reason I visit HR is because people in the comments threads use “whom” when appropriate.
I understand that they sent letters to Mummies #2 and #3 saying that they wanted their daughter back. Becki should think herself fortunate to have such a loving family.
Someone send angela a link to chickenhawk 1994 about nambla. She could film her reaction to it. seriously, why do people bother with the fake stories when the truth that’s out there is brutally chilling ? that’s ‘chickenhawk’ 1994 do not watch if easily triggered it’s one creepy portrait of just how deluded and remorseless Paedophiles are.
A few years ago, I was checking some facts about the American Occupy movement for a national newspaper opinion piece I was co-writing and as the UK version used the name UK Uncut I stupidly Googled “US Uncut” without the safe search filter on. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it!
How long until Angie falls out with Seven, I wonder 😂
How can they still love a creature that lied through her teeth in such a vicious way ? becki is a seriously nasty piece of work. if it was me i’d blank her out.
You should just look at the sheer unbridled joy people get from riding horses without a saddle. so that’s
‘ gay bareback ‘
Surely that’ll be happy viewing that just makes you warm inside.
Sorry I can’t get screenshots, my internet is very erratic atm. Result of the storm I think.
Don’t forget to pay him* Ange!
*Or her 😇
That would mean she would have to deal with real pedophilia, which is unpleasant and banal. Fictional SRA claims with all star casts and huge set piece orgies out of Dennis Wheatley via Lawrence Pazder are endless fun. Accuse who you like and never feel the need to produce any evidence – because of course “they” are super efficient at covering it all up.
Working Class Orange says:
Sorry, she wouldn’t tell me:
An Open Secret doesn’t take donations. Now what?
Angela Power Disney is a compulsive liar and attention seeker, thats all people need to know about her.
If I wanted to torture anyone, I would lock them in a room with Neelu Berry for a week.
I bet he wonders why Angie is dressed as an Edwardian nanny and keeps pouting whenever he comes close.
The latest as I understand it re: Becki Percy @becki_p20 (Twitter)
1. Asked for a benefit from US Immigration such as Green Card or permission to seek employment in USA, has been turned down, needs immigration attorney to appeal decision.
2. Had three pro-bono immigration attorneys working for her at one time, treated them all badly, and now has none working for her.
3. Trump has given his intent to cut number of immigrants to USA by half, and drastically cut the backlog of immigrants wanting to enter USA in 2019.
4. Rumour of divorce of her third “mom” and “dad” the McAvenes – reason unknown.
5. McAvene house up for sale, and there is a site showing it for sale.
6. Wendy McAvene is totally in the power of Becki Percy, won’t end well.
7. Lots of people are starting to catch on about Becki Percy, and are starting to distance themselves.
8. Becki Percy is actively recruiting sexually abused people to her cause.
9. The candle selling business is not going well. As noted by others the products are expensive, hardly unique, and are sold under the brand of being a victim of SRA.
10. Lots of product lines in the Becki Percy business has been slashed by 50% as she prepares to move house, she is asking Twitter followers what they think about potential new products.
11. Wendy and Becki is actively asking for a “probono” immigration lawyer.
12. Still no known dates for the appeal hearing, which will probably have to be heard in California area in 2019. I do not anticipate Becki will succeed, she is playing for time.
13. Becki Percy has some form of mental illness.
14. I will move soon to actively rip apart her allegations.
One of those awkward situations being up the chimney with Angela Power Disney below you.
I think that sending out job applications with creative stories of the type Becki Percy has been putting about won’t win many job interviews.
Ya’ll sound like gossipy old women over here. Really. This is gossipy old woman stuff.
Why are you trying to take issue with who made the movie? Did I say director? I know who directed the movie. I wasn’t talking about the director.
As far as Matt and Gabe the guys who PAID to make the movie, and who cared enough about the subject matter to PAY Amy Berg to direct the film, I met them through other people. People I know in real life, know them in real life. Now what?
The documentary is very good. I don’t know why you would complain about it if you care about children.
I forget the one boy’s name who collected his own evidence of child abuse. He impressed me. Not impressed? Interesting. I thought it was captivating. I’m easily held captive I guess. Must go along with my level of education …
which you are speculating at Mr. (?) this is the Corner of Truth.
I would love to comment further but I do have things to do.
I would be glad to forget some things not in common and meet on things IN common. Being accurate and responsible on social media is a good conversation to have but I’m not having it with people who strain at a gnat and swallow a camel.
No that’s a good question really. Do ya’ll think I haven’t ask myself this? Yeah. I have. A lot. This hurt my family. It’s questions I need to answer for myself too.
Haha. No I just don’t know how this WordPress thing works. The back and forth comments.
I’m sure you have. I know it hurt your family, and it can’t be easy trying to look back and pinpoint how it all went so wrong. I do believe you were doing your best to help, and had that thrown back in your face.
To act like Hollywood has done anything less than and besides exploit children is just a convo I’m not having.
It’s a cess pool and parents should pull their children. All of them.
To act like there aren’t children sacrificing, blood drinking satanist in Hollywood is ANOTHER convo I’m not having. Who? How many?
They are there. And they think they are above the law. They are.
Man’s law.
They don’t figure there is ANOTHER.
I don’t need to be on social media yelling their name out before they get charged. I’m good to wait for the names to come out under indictment.
As far as Kevin Spacey, his ordeal would not have gained the traction it did without PICTURES. Mmhmm Pictures.
You mention the fallout of the failure of the film Kevin Spacey did. It’s unfortunate. Everyone loses. That is a boat load of loss and hurt.
Don’t hire people like Kevin Spacey. Don’t act like Kevin Spacey.
That’s what it is coming to though. People are becoming aware of what has happened to our children. They aren’t having it.
Clean up your act with children or there are consequences.
I appreciate your knowledge of the film industry. Explain it to me. To us. Please explain more. Write a blog.
Talk about it.
Whether we agree or disagree on exploitation of children it’s good knowledge you have. Helpful. I’m nosy too.
Especially when she says “You remind me of my friend Rupert …”
Gawd I wish people would visit LA and see what a huge normal business movie making is.
There isn’t one..not ONE former child actor – out of the 10,000s who have been in movies – who is successful has made claims about “powerful pedo rings” and other such claptrap.
The handful who have are failed actors who were never going to be successful in the industry as adults. They find a reason or people to blame for their failure. But of course, there is a handful who have been abused as there is in every city and town in the USA.
And there are 100s of former child actors who realized being a cute kid and being photogenic was never going to work for them as adults so chose to have other highly successful careers using their experience to work for them- as real estate agents, restauranteurs etc. Hollywood is awash with successful entrepreneurs who worked in movies as kids and the most frightening thing they ever saw was Bela Lugosi at a film premiere.
I’ve seen videos on Youtube making outlandish claims such as Keanu Reeves or McCauley Culkin “exposing” Hollywood. It’s utter claptrap and they have said no such thing.
# You know all this reminds me how the Crazy Mob of the Internet claim the vile David Icke was the first to claim Ted Heath or Jimmy Savile were “pedos” but it’s complete claptrap (he’s never said an original thing in his life). He did no such thing. But because it gets said on the Net it’s accepted as gospel and repeated ad infinitum.
## where is the proof of these pedo rings and Satanic orgies were children are murdered?. There is none, nothing, zilch. Why do people believe every wacky thing they read on the net?
This is the thing.
My children have done things not unlike this business with Rebecca. I will be writing of my son. He was a study. Of his own.
He would tip his hat to Rebecca for being the bigger rebel.
He also would have died for her if anyone would have tried to hurt her. He would have. I’m not exaggerating.
My son and I spent a good majority of his 38 years crossways with each other because he was always trying to do something he wasn’t suppose to and I was always trying to stop him.
My son would also know, if you are crossways with me? You did a LOT before you got crossways with me and that I had you dead to rights.
I told Rebecca “Do you think you are the first 21 year old who has lied to me in my face? With a straight face?”
I’ve helped raise more children than my own.
I don’t need evidence for a jury. But I made sure before I acted.
Did a girl with no boundaries start this years ago? From the beginning? Her behavior always like this?
My son could pull a stunt, be in trouble and shout at me “MOM! I’m the GOOD son. The son YOU raised. The guy who helps little old ladies across the street!” And he did. He would.
He was good. He was a warrior. He hated the right things. He also loved temptation and was passionate about everything he did.
I use the situation with my son. I tried everything to keep authorities out. It didn’t work. Then I had to get authorities involved.
Who did it? Him.
Who pays the consequences? Everyone.
Everyone.
Rebecca has started an international incident and the consequences are going to be felt internationally.
Are.
Starting an international incident, going on social media and blowing the international incident up? My son would be giving a standing ovation right here.
If only this were a circus side show. For any of us.
Legally speaking the next thing is an argument before the 9th circuit court of appeals.
If someone would please tell Wendy, the bond company offers pro bono attorneys. It is in the contract you sign. I saw where Wendy was asking for a pro bono attorney. She may not know the bail bond company says they have pro bono attorneys. IDK
One thing my son would not have done was jack with the subject of childhood sexual abuse. You would be crossways with him big time.
If I told my family of this business? They would be able to play this like a genius chess game. I am that predictable.
My son would think things through a little more than this? Because despite his behavior I did teach consequences. For parents with hard children, don’t stop. Don’t fold. There are pay offs.
Rebecca knows the stories about my son. He passed away from a drug overdose before she came to my house.
She knows about other stands I have had to take with serious consequences.
Wendy doesn’t know me so well.
my life is not about Rebecca or social media click bait. Stop. I rebuke you in Jesus name.
Lots of people have a dog in this fight. I just know I’m not lying.
I have been gracious.
Full of mercy.
And I’ve also said “Enough.”
So you are condemning an entire industry on one boy’s claims?. Did he go to the police?. This is madness. It’s like the entire plumbing industry whould be blamed for one errant plumber of the buidling industry should be blamed because Donald Trump sends contracators broke and doesn’t pay his bills.
Enough of the old please and this is not gossip on here- it’s anti-gossip.
We are pointing out the frauds and charlatans who have made the lives of an innocent father & his 2 kids a nightmare along with the residents of a London suburb by falsely accusing them of vile crimes (which a court found were false).
How are these film-makers helping children? Point out one child they have helped.
You can’t say angela doesn’t produce evidence. she does nothing but. problem is it’s all against herself. div mare.
I can see how and why you were utterly taken in by becki.
I doubt becki is mentally ill. she knows she’s lying, she knows it’s wrong to lie. She’s just just plain nasty.
When Angie brings up the topic of the 50 supposed poison pen letters that were sent to her neighbours and local newspapers etc. Well doesn’t it strike you as strange how out of those 50 poison pen letters supposedly sent out by HR and not a single recipient of one of the letters could be bothered to contact HR for further information? It kinda makes me think that it is just another cock & bull story from Angie, hard to believe i know.
No I’m not condemning or judging an entire industry on the young men who were featured on An Open Secret. Not at all.
The young man who collected his own evidence did go to authorities. That’s why he collected his own evidence. Watch the documentary. It tells you.
Hmmm false gossip in Hollywood is hard to come by. Really the truth is bad enough. I’m not talking about people just naming names.
There are lists of young people who grew up Hollywood. Where are they now? What are they doing?
They are the same ones out there seducing youth to do what? By music. Their acting careers etc.
Miley Cyrus has crossed every line. Katy Perry. The list goes on.
Those are the fruit of Hollywood.
How many well adjusted children have we seen grow up? I haven’t seen that list.
I get you are defensive of an industry you worked in right? You are saying from your perspective. It’s good to hear it.
Surely you recognize the children coming from the industry though. I would not want this for my children.
Miley Cyrus and the baby video where she was the baby was catering to the baby fetish. That’s too much.
The Hampstead children. I’m sorry I don’t know their names. No disrespect intended please.
I’ve seen some of the videos. A little bit of them. Even Bombards did a video on the children of Hampstead. I think I watched a little bit of that.
For the record, I don’t know who the father is and I don’t know who the mother is. I don’t know who their on line profiles are etc.
I’m pretty unfamiliar with this situation.
There are children involved here. It’s not social media fodder.
The system sucks. I work with the same one everyone else does.
I said in one of my blogs challenging people to make a difference in real life. Real life children. Wait until you get the first one you can’t do jack about. Or for.
I just speak from my own experiences.
How is An Open Secret helping children? To me there are some obvious answers. Maybe I’ll write a blog about it because in my estimation it deserves one. Or more.
The system sucks. It’s a failure. So there’s that.
One big problem I have is contending these sorts of crimes don’t happen.
That makes people look guilty as heck. Because these crimes DO happen.
I’ve talked with survivors of some of these crimes and one in particular; would not, has not, will not ever go on social media and say a thing.
The children who have been harmed since this one in particular got away? She can’t stop it.
She legally changed her name, identity. Social Security number.
To change a social security number is not easy. You must show just cause. She did.
And she has never looked back. And never told anyone except for my son. My son said we have to talk to my mom. She said no I’m not. She was not. Did not. She was terrified.
She had gone on to be a wife, mother and bank president. Then got into drugs.
So to say these crimes don’t happen? Yes. They do.
That particular woman saw children in cages. Being sold.
People who are fraudulent HURT those who saw children in cages.
An Open Secret has taken the heat in Hollywood. To try to minimize what they’ve done doesn’t look to be on the side of children.
An Open Secret was one of the ones to call Rebecca out. They knew it would bring heat.
I’m not a spokesperson for An Open Secret but have been a long time supporter. I don’t agree with everything. Whatever.
I don’t know the particulars about anything but my own experiences which I’ve blogged about. I’m not an expert or trying to act like one.
Before this? I gardened. I wrote a blog about it.
I would love to see your evidence Duffy, of child sacrifice and blood drinking Satanists in Hollywood. You should make it public and you could make yourself a nice little fortune by doing so.
Yes, funny that!
I’m still convinced that she printed out our header and stapled it to the letter so she could wave it in front of the camera. Whoever sent the letters might have used our header, but I don’t think so.
She does say that there was no return address and no name or other identifying info on the letters, which means the sender wanted to stay anonymous. If we had been stupid enough to send her those letters with the headers stapled on, it would have been a very simple matter for the police to contact WordPress to get the name of the registered owner of our site, and we’d have been facing malicious communications charges at the time.
Indeed EC. If the recipients of the letters had no return address to write to or an email then surely it wouldn’t take much thinking by them to think about entering the name ‘Hoaxtead Research’ into Google to try and glean at least some information on where these letters may have come form.
No. I never received a letter of any sort. I received a tweet from what was evidently Ann Percy’s Twitter profile. Is that what you are suppose to be talking about?
1. I seriously doubt any letters were sent.
2. I have even less belief that anyone either running or commenting here would bother paying the postage to communicate their opinions on angela, when there’s already a platform to do so.
3. Anyone who lives near to or knows angela hardly needs to be written to about her, they already know what’s she’s like and are wholly aware of her bizarre online activities what with her using her own name, face and voice on her material.
Judge grobnob dismisses the letters from the grand kangeroo jury as being fabricated nonsense.
She has a brand new victim. how true.
Yes, I think that covers it nicely SV.
I noticed Angie mention how she had been on some paedophile chat-sites where they were discussing different drugs to use whilst abusing children. What a handy excuse to give to the police when they discover on her laptop that she had visited such a website.
I seem to remember a claim that the profits from her kit candles in towards helping victims. she doesn’t cite a particular charity nor does she have accredited charity status herself. i’ll be raising that matter though i doubt she’ll reply. we have every right to full transparency if she’s claiming to raise money for charity.
I truly am shocked to hear FS that Becki’s parents would be happy to have her back home living with them. I certainly never saw that coming.
So very sorry for your loss.
You change the story so much. you spoke to them on twitter. you met them in real life. they spent multi millions. they’re hollywood people. they aren’t on twitter as the @anopensecret account is unverified and obviously not official. you’re just changing the story. if you’d met the people, or people who know the people you wouldn’t be saying you messaged them on twitter. stop talking rubbish.
Thank you. I appreciate that.
Sorry for your loss duffy1958
I cannot imagine how terrible it must be to suffer the loss of a child in such circumstances.
I do not share your religious beliefs or your beliefs about satanic ritual abuse but, like you I care very much about the abuse and exploitation of children. I am also extremely knowledgable (at least compared to most other ordinary people) about how religious movements and beliefs can be used to abuse children and vulnerable adults. I would be more than happy to share information about how such abusers operate if it would help you to be able to discern truth from fiction and to better identify genuine survivors from people like Rebecca. Rebecca is just one of a long history of grifters and people with a certain kind of personality disorder who make a habit of defrauding well meaning, kind-hearted people using fake claims of satanic cults.
You might find it helpful to read about a certain Derry Knight, his story is here:
Also the sorry story of Leone Steyn may interest you
https://www.iol.co.za/news/woman-pleads-guilty-to-satanic-child-porn-scam-2020898
I have met similar characters in real life and, in my experience, they are motivated partly by a desire to better their lives financially and socially but are also motivated by a need to generate concerned excitement in those around them.
You are not the only person to have fallen for such a cruel, manipulative and disgusting scam.
I am so sorry that the list of people Rebecca has exploited and abused includes you and your family. It sounds like you had already endured overwhelming pain and anguish before Rebecca even got started on exploiting you.
I wish you well
Nice little find from Special Agent E. I defy anyone to find a more idiotic comment that this one…
It’s interesting to hear Angie say she wants to be careful to call her Nicola video an chat rather than an interview, in case the Garda are listening, as in her own blog post about it she calls it an interview 😆
https://angelascaches.org/mind-control-tupac-hampad-dingos-coyotes
I suspect that that there is an, as yet, undiagnosed category of people (mostly religious entrepreneurs and grifters) who manifest distinct features within the “dramatic” or “cluster B” types of personality disorders.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cluster_B_personality_disorders
This is one of the very difficult issues with regards to dealing with such people, it can be extremely difficult to determine the extent to which they are mad or bad or both.
Alarm bells had already rung when she said “Let’s not make it too broad”, when Nicola wad going off on a tangent. Who would do that in an informal chat, lol?
You have, at least partly, answered your own question.
Becky invited you to share delicate information about your personal life and various traumas, troubles and challenges and then, as people like her always do, she used that knowledge to manipulate you.
Cat’s family’s are called SELVESTER.
So that’d be like “the dweller in the wood” aye?
http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Selvester
As in the Blair Witch. Or the witch in ‘Hansel and Gretel’, who EATS CHILDREN!!!
JOIN THE DOTS, SHEEPLE 😮
Live now !
The tinfoil says it all…
The weirdo isn’t letting this one go…
Dr Horton’s videos are a hoot. 😂 I’ve been watching her for a long time.
Crikey, so does that make Shakespeare a paedophile too, after creating a character named Ophelia?
Shakespeare’s Ophelia went insane.. just the way Cat is heading.
Scratch that.. Cat’s already there.
I remember. I figured you’d like that one 😀
Ogilfail’s a fan of hers, which speaks volumes about her!
Sigh.. she did say she was settling down to read Aangirfan the other night and that’s the nonsense she picked up from it. 🙄
Sad to see her recommending a book that contains the addresses of people she accuses of being part of the “secret societies” so they can be attacked.
But…but…if Aangirfan says it, it must be true, right?
I doubt he’s watched it, though (he rarely watches the videos he promotes or the posts he regurgitates/plagiarises). He’s only posted it because Aangirfan did.
I don’t think he’ll be a fan for the same reason as me. I watch them for a laugh, he probably sits and nods his head in agreement at them. 😆
Oh I know, lol. Sorry, I hope it didn’t sound like I was lumping you in with that knuckle-scraping weirdo.
I’ll bet the child catcher has saved loads of kids from going off with strangers, people offering sweets or accepting lifts in cars. it’s like a hollywood version of a charley says advert from the seventies. What kind of lunatic mind would be try and turn a creepy villain in a family musical into evidence of government conspiracy. what next ? fiddler on the roof ?
Good point, mate
LOL, I’ve never seen this version before:
I would hope not. 😂
Interview ? angela can’t interview. she engages in her usual onesided overblown conspirafests while the invited guest struggles to get a word in. angela doesn’t research and cannot interview. she just spews her insane nonsense against anyone she can. I’ll wager the officers involved are putting in requests for overtime to get through the mountains of garbage she produces and aspirin for the migranes they get listening to it again. oh not her again searge ?
Charley was voiced by Kenny everett the madcap radio dj and tv comic performer. He frequently ended up half drowned or in bandages for his trouble and advert after advert went through his nine lives saving that moronic kid. If you look around you’ll find jimmy savile giving safety lessons and rolf harris taking to kids about ‘bad touches’ as well as teaching kids to swim. the king of all safety adverts is the spirit of lonely water. i have a dvd called charley says and it has over 150 of them going back to the 50s including the protect and survive ones that have now lost all ability to shock because the voiceover artist went on to become most famous for the intros to the smell of reeves and mortimer. Fascinating genre and well worth further study.
Mentions Hoaxtead, EC and Sheva at 1:24:28!
Oh mister that’s a big bushy one. and the pole’s soooo long. oh yeah. get it right up there. right up the smutty pipe. oh yeah. do you like my chimney breast? oh gawd. confessions of a chimney sweep.
Poor thing- the silver foil didn’t work. One question: why do the Evil Overlords attack the most boring people on the planet? (not mentioning any names but the word Neelu comes to mind among a cast of 1000s)
She does attract the brightest though. My question for Lion & The Lamb is: who are the ones who won’t die?. What’s their secret?
Fruit Loops R Us says:
WOW she takes First Prize !. She actually sleeps in a tin foil hat in a tin foiled room. Dr Horton gets full marks for being the most dedicated Tin Foil Hatter of all time.
You forgot treacherous bully and habitual ebegger with overblown delusions of grandeur and a grotesquely over inflated sense of entitlement. Plus she’s bitter, narcissistic and a chainsmoking drunk. quite a skill set and one of the ubertrolls at work in the shadow community. she’s so voracious she frequently turns on her own allies and savages them. model citizen.
I will respond to this now. There isn’t any confusion to what I’ve written.
I know people who know both Matt and Gabe.
I never said I met them. I have not.
My understanding is the movie cost almost 2 million to make. I don’t make movies.
They don’t ask for money I will throw that in for free.
I have no idea why An Open Secret is not verified. Maybe it has something to do with giving Twitter your drivers license. Evidently being verified isn’t important enough for them to give Jack their drivers license. It’s what it looks like to me.
I’m not sure about the confusion with me messaging An Open Secret.
It is no secret that I messaged with them. My Twitter DM’s were hacked. It was no secret that I messaged with them.
They are both very approachable people as long as you don’t act like an asshat with them.
They did a good thing and to criticize them makes it look to me like you just complain about everything. Never satisfied.
It also looks like you are attacking anything having to do with children being sexually abused.
If everyone is concerned about children then it should show up somewhere. Right?
That’s why I said I don’t want to talk with people who strain at a gnat and swallow a camel.
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Belinda McKenzie on trial for contempt of court
Belinda McKenzie is to attend Southwark Crown Court at 10:00 a.m. today to face a charge of contempt of court related to the recently concluded trial of Sabine McNeill.
Belinda was charged in court on 10 December, when it was alleged that she made a Facebook post which was in breach of the publication restriction placed upon Sabine’s case in December 2017 by Judge Beddoe. Following this charge, Belinda voluntarily absented herself for the duration of Sabine’s trial.
A few days earlier, HHJ Sally Cahill QC had made a pointed warning to those in the public gallery, noting that any form of communication which identified certain witnesses in Sabine’s trial would constitute contempt of court and would be taken very seriously.
Judge Cahill will hear Belinda’s case this morning, and we will report details as soon as we receive them.
UPDATE: Belinda’s hearing this morning has been adjourned to tomorrow, as the defendant failed to turn up at court, claiming that she is suffering from dangerously high blood pressure which requires medication, and that she had an appointment to visit the doctor at 11:00 a.m. to determine whether the medicine was working or not. Judge Cahill stated that she required a medical note by 11:30 a.m. if that was the case.
UPDATE 2: Belinda’s hearing on Friday, 11 January, will be held at 10:15 a.m. in Court 3.
Court 3 – HER HONOUR JUDGE CAHILL QC (09) SITTING AT 10.15 AM
For Contempt S20180335 MCKENZIE Belinda
*PAPER FILE*
We remind readers that this case is sub judice, and caution against any comments which could be considered prejudicial.
10/01/2019 in Legal news. Tags: Belinda McKenzie, contempt of court, Sabine McNeill, trial
What really happened at Belinda McKenzie’s trial?
Sabine McNeill in court for bail application today
← BREAKING: Sabine McNeill sentenced to 9 years
Sentencing remarks clarify Sabine’s 9-year sentence →
187 thoughts on “Belinda McKenzie on trial for contempt of court”
9 years for Sabine, and now this- I wonder how some of the other hoaxers are starting to feel, especially those who were mentioned by Judge Cahill by name during Sabines trial…. (APD???)
Thanks for the update, EC
Next up in the butt-hurt parade… Tim Veater:
https://veaterecosan.blogspot.com/2019/01/sabine-mcneill-74-sentenced-to-nine.html?fbclid=IwAR0PLx1hZmJBIAAP3qTka1k9XwqxldAPa3NG2RxhONwSOl84rcDhqDDnWiI
The awful Hoaxstead web site AKA “El Coyote “, which for years has run a venomous campaign against anyone with the temerity to believe either the children or mother central to the notorious Hampstead case, yet strangely un-harassed by any policing or legal authority in stark contrast to its victims, reports that Sabine McNeill has been handed down a nine (9!) year prison sentence. (See: https://hoaxteadresearch.wordpress.com/2019/01/09/breaking-sabine-mcneill-sentenced-to-9-years/)
I have tried without success to find any impartial or fair reporting of the recent trial of of the judge’s reasoning for this incredibly harsh and disproportionate sentence. We shall have to await the media reports that to date have largely either ignored this important case or poured scorn on the children’s and mother’s allegations, which were promulgated by Ms McNeill and which have got her into such trouble with the police and courts, culminating in this outrageous sentence that equates her action with the most serious crimes possible and contrasts with sentences handed down for actual child abuse.
A friend of McNeill, Angela Power Disney, who has herself been raided by the Irish police (Garda) at the behest of the children’s father interviewed by the BBC here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5f9N6wmiLQ (People must make their own minds up about the voracity of that) has responded to the news of the sentence in the following video:
Yet another “citizen journalist” who can’t spell ‘Hoaxtead’.
There’s a hilarious rant from Angie in the comments, btw. She describes herself as “Gobsmacked! Disgusted! Dismayed!” and goes on to compare Sabine to Ruth Ellis 😀
Angie’s comment in full:
UK elderly, disabled whistleblower particularly of FORCED ADOPTION and SATANIC RITUAL ABUSE has just been sentenced to NINE YEARS IN JAIL for her campaigning!!
PLEASE PRAY FOR SABINE AND WHISTEBLOWERS EVERYWHERE. ALL EVIL NEEDS TO PERSIST IS THAT GOOD PEOPLE DO NOTHING
Gobsmacked! Disgusted! Dismayed!
Clearly this is the legal establishment making an example of anyone brave (or stupid) enough to defy them in order to bring child abuse to light, when the same legal establishment has refused to do so. What conclusion can be drawn from this other than an an utterly disturbing one?
What further proof is required that in respect of uncovering child abuse, especially when a certain influential or respected sector of the community is concerned, Britain’s justice system is deeply flawed. It appears to be far more concerned to protect its own than to protect the innocent or reveal the truth. Indeed this case and sentence appears to suggest it is determined to do the very opposite.
The following article promotes the view that the children’s account in the Hampstead case was pure fantasy, as a result of evil coaxing by mother and step father (anyone who saw those videos of interviews by police and others – and there were millions of them – must beg to disagree) and that anyone who believes or promotes the idea that they were in fact telling their perception of the truth, supported it has to be said by independent medical and other professional opinion, are evil fantasists themselves. This narrative that seems to have been adopted by all the major outlets is itself a perversion of the truth as anyone who has studied the case must surely admit.
The former persecution, confinement and nine year prison sentence handed down to a leading spokesman for the children, 74 year old Sabine McNeil, is merely confirmation of the lengths to which a wicked system is prepared to go to silence any mention of a notorious case and as punishment for any defiance of court orders imposed, despite earlier acquittal from the initial charges.
Not since the hanging of Ruth Ellis has there been a more unjust or brutal sentence passed in an English court. The fake news that surrounds it deserves to be shown for what it is.
Videos relating to the case are still widely available on You Tube and other formats.
This is a flagrant example of disproportionate sentencing for which the legal term “In Terrorem” seems justified. It appears to be intended to put the ‘fear of god’ into any individual or organisation that dares to represent the children or mother’s version of events, or more generally in respect of those who allege sexual abuse.
Further it appears out of all proportion to the offence given and for which she was formally acquitted. How can it be just, even if convicted at a second trial, to impose such inordinate penalty? It is impossible not to compare it to the treatment of those specifically accused by the children or those actually convicted of offences connected with child abuse itself which renders it even more outrageous.
Following this case, how can the British public have any confidence in the British justice system as it relates to the matter of child abuse, biased as it seems to be in favour of the potentially guilty parties and opposed to those found innocent at trial as Ms McNeil formerly was?
Videos relating to the case are still widely available on You Tube and other formats. A lengthy one that considers the children’s testimony in a responsible and balanced way can be found here:
She then ends with a link Lift the Veil, because hey, every “citizen journalist” knows what a reliable fucking source he is, right? 🤭
“The following article promotes the view that the children’s account in the Hampstead case was pure fantasy, as a result of evil coaxing by mother and step father (anyone who saw those videos of interviews by police and others – and there were millions of them – must beg to disagree)”
Well, this is awkward…
“It appears to be intended to put the ‘fear of god’ into any individual or organisation that dares to represent the children or mother’s version of events, or more generally in respect of those who allege sexual abuse.”
Ah, so is that why you repeatedly accused the mother of sexually abusing the boy then, Angie? 🤔
“I suggest we bring back firing squads” 🙄
Next up, Pikey…
And here’s some more in-fight entertainment:
Dream Time says:
They truly believe that King John Wanoa will abolish the UK courts from his council flat in Rotaru, Andy Devine will start the Yellow Jacket revolution from a Greek island while General Sands will steam into town to free Sabine and Julian Assange having swapped Google for their freedom.
# You think I’m making it up don;t you.
“I have tried without success to find any impartial or fair reporting of the recent trial”.
EC’s daily reports were as accurate word for word recording of the day’s events that one could ever expert.
Veater is being disingenuous. He could have attended the court himself.
Very wrong to falsely accuse Hoaxtead commenters of a “venomous campaign” although many comments take the Mickey out of their opponents who have in fact conducted one of the most venomous campaigns against this website accusing all and sundry of wicked crimes against humanity and accused everyone of being either one of the victims in the case or paid agents of secret services or part of some mythical Freemason Pedo Gang.
All while accusing 2 innocent children of having participated in the murder of babies but can’t get it through their thick heads that when those kids admitted they were tortured to make false claims and they along with other falsely accused victims were declared innocent by courts it should be a joyful outcome.
## I won’t name those who have participated in these venomous fabrications but the words Tim & Veater come to mind.
“What conclusion can be drawn from this…”. that you’re probably for the high jump as well.
Now the judge is part of Finchley Road and has had a sex change.
Aw poor andy, how dare we use facts to discredit him….
“and they’re using them facts against me, to discredit me”
(18.07 on his livefeed)
Another one that is doubling down on his harassment and stalking…
Tick tock andy, tick tock….
From one of the fruitloops on Angie’s timeline..
Does anyone have a contact number for these Alien Abductors?. I want to suggest a few names they should round up for probing.
“The whole case was shrouded in secrecy and today’s sentencing was nowhere to be found on any list.”
Actually it was listed on both CourtServe and Xhibit. So perhaps we can expect a retraction of that allegation from both ‘Stupid Boy’ Pike and Andy ‘I regurgitate everything that’s fed to me by my creepy mates without questioning or checking them in any way whatsoever’ Devine.
A trial that was so shrouded in secrecy that it was attended by several members of the public (including many of Sabine’s supporters), reported on every day on this blog and covered in two newspapers?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6411241/Pensioner-74-lives-innocent-families-misery.html
https://metro.co.uk/2018/12/17/pensioner-facing-jail-accusing-primary-school-parents-satanic-abuse-8257489
Wind yer fucking neck in, Pike, you lying prick
I have tried without success to find any impartial or fair reporting of the recent trial
If it was that important to him, he could have attended it, instead of expecting someone else to do the work.
“When the King arrives”?! Tolkein LARPing is no way to go through life, people, and a drug-addled old scrote is no substitute for Arrowroot son of Arrowshoot.
Well said, Sam.
Veater would indeed have been able to attend court and report on the proceedings himself if he’d so desired. There were no such restrictions. Pikey’s been making the same disingenuous claim about secrecy (see below) and that’s naturally been regurgitated without question by his Greece-based lapdog.
By the way, regarding “venomous campaigns”, it’s worth also pointing out that some people associated with this blog have received death threats/wishes since last night as a result of celebratory comments they’d made on here.
Q: “What are they accusing her of?”
A: “Protecting babies and children”
Oh, really? I must have missed that.
EC, were there some charges you didn’t tell us about? 🤔
I believe that the King has shifted his Court to the palatial accommodation available in Katikati (population 4710).
Bellenders rear must be quivering like a dog pooping razor blades! Does the UK have an extradition agreement with Greece? Another thing, I have notified UK Border Forces of ” King Johns’ ” intentions when he comes back in March and had a very encouraging reply. Any bets on him being denied entry?
I would have thought the European arrest warrant would cover Greece, wouldn’t it?
It is evident from Wanoa’s account of his last visit that he is impecunious and intends to sustain himself in the UK by bludging.
http://kingjohnwanoa.blogspot.com/2018/12/penniless-in-london.html
Devine’s Sabine-themed live feed for anyone who missed it:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1svKG9r0vhVCSBfEVhZhIbbnZsnEBhBhf
Blimey, they’re all crawling out of the woodwork now…
To the tune of ‘Pump Up the Volume’:
♫ Bring on the butt-hurt, bring on the butt-hurt…
Great Moments of Irony:
Apart from Veater and The Mob who all repeatedly claim the courts are ‘secret” which is wrong they also to a man & woman ( I’m thinking of our new Southern Belle – available for dates- addition to The Crazies) are vocal supporters of President Trump.
Well they have a right to support whatever politician they like but at the very same time are claiming Trump has ordered mass arrests (something he has no power to do) of 1000s of alleged pedophile baby killers (all famous) IN SECRET and they are all being transported to Gitmo for secret trials and an eventual firing squad which they seem to heartily approve of.
They are just bizarre the way they pick up on any current meme they had never heard of until yesterday and jump on board the bandwagon and weave it into all the other nutty conspiracies they lurve.
Not mentioning any particular meme although for some reason this snap comes to mind:
Great Freudian Slips:
Unlike Groucho Marx who said “these are my principals and if you don’t like then I have others”..facts are facts.
There is no alternative to facts.
Wow, good spot mate. That truly is a whole new level of hypocrisy right there!
“Now, if I was back in UK I’d be banging day and night on the gates of Buckingham Palace”
Yeah but you’re not, are you?
As I think Jake Blake has previously asked, what is this obsession Pikey has with people’s ages?
It would, though no-one should place any bets on what will happen after March at the moment.
There have to be grounds to believe the defendant has done something which is a crime in both countries – contempt of court isn’t a crime, and I’m not sure what he’s done that’s criminal rather than just unpleasant or bonkers. With his John Wonoana stuff and hatred of the queen he does seem to be edging towards sedition or even treason but it’s so stupid I doubt anyone would take it seriously. But I haven’t listened to all his words of wisdom because I fall asleep at the 5th minute obviously. I also suspect that he could run a fitness to plead defence; I’m sorry for his family.
Ok what was interesting, actually fascinating was….
The judge asked sm to stand as so to give her sentence.
So as she the judge called sm to her feet, sm…..and this is fcuking brilliant and what the whole feeling, attitude, lack of any sympathy in absolutely any way from sm, and totally embodies who and what she is……
……sm looks to her left, and then to her right, and then back to her left, and then looks up in a way to say …..ohhhh me? Do you mean poor old 74 year old me? Oh yes, yes…..me, yes that’s right.
SM knew who the fcuk the judge meant! Who the fcuk else would it be You total idiot of a person!
It was yet another display that sm has done from the first second in this complete BS saga.
She has simply destroyed the lives of many, yet to accept any wrongdoing pretends, lies, and one of the words the judge used to describe her…..”manipulative”, in the highest order.
It is done so, sooooooo much that it becomes so obvious that it is nothing short of astounding.
And the judge……thankfully was totally and utterly all over this/her behaviour!
To see BM even at this late stage of the case, continuing to pretend, even having the capability as she walked into the room to sit, to look over to MR and to give a wink and smile, as if to say fcuk these families, children and people…….I’m SM!
Horrific doesn’t even come close to encompass what I just witnessed.
And tmo it is this attitude that sm got rightly what was coming to her anyway.
There were underlying emotions, tricks and games going on that…..and I dare say this without consequence……NO ONE…….absolutely NO ONE should feel any sorrow or pity for this, and in the judges words……
“In my judgement you are an arrogant, malicious, evil and manipulative woman.”
Compares Sabine to Ruth Ellis you say? So admitting her guilt!
Since we’re talking facts here, why has she illustrated “London Bridge is Falling Down” with Tower Bridge? Arse. May I introduce you to elbow?
I assume “To see BM…” should have been SM? Or did BM turn up?
“It’s obvious when I shot him I intended to kill him.”
The words of Ruth Ellis, in the Old Bailey 20 June 1955, admitting that she deliberately murdered her lover.
I don’t agree with the death penalty, but everyone agrees that Ellis did the deed. Is APD admitting that Sabine was also guilty of a terrible crime?
Lurker from the fourth floor says:
“The main types of criminal contempt are failing to answer questions in court, physically interfering with a trial, threatening witnesses and conduct obstructing or calculated to prejudice the due administration of justice. It can arise before, during or after criminal proceedings at either the Crown Court or the magistrates’ court, or in the course of any civil proceedings.”
(from the CPS website)
Sarf London update.
For Contempt – Case adjourned until 11:30
Aww, I don’t think Angie liked last night’s hangout, Flo 😆
The Tinfoil Twatwagon says:
And where did Ellis commit this dastardly deed? Hampstead! Join the dots, sheeple 😮
Here yer go – all the post-sentencing butt-hurt in one place. Enjoy:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1EkWdM7Uvbj8FCjSg4BBPDGKY-Vss4ltB
Order Of Truth says:
I am usually quite liberal in my view of the world but when I see idiots who support the terrible two I do have a certain nostalgic yearning for the good old days when you could just hitch up a horse and cart, visit their villages, round them up, and then dump them in some deep dark dungeon never to be seen again. 🙂
Fingers double triple crossed that McKenzie gets a custodial sentence.
Or veracity.
In legal terms, all suspended sentences are custodial 😉 It’s just that the court may decide to suspend them.
Ain’t that the truth.
A charge, if it were true, she is most certainly innocent of.
Expect the nationals to start picking up the story.
http://courtnewsuk.co.uk/nine-years-for-britains-worst-troll/
Another bit of good news:
Contempt is a sui generis procedure not covered by general criminal procedure, hence one of the magic questions Vanessa of the Family Fruitloop suggests you say is “is this a criminal or a civil contempt” and when the court can’t answer the question (as it’s not really either), she tells you that you get off! DO NOT try this.
As this was in criminal proceedings it’s what’s commonly called a criminal contempt, governed by the Criminal Procedure Rules Part 48. There’s a very useful summary of courts’ powers in the rubrics to Rules 48.5 and 48.9: https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/criminal/docs/2015/crim-proc-rules-2015-part-48.pdf
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6577369/Hampstead-pensioner-74-claimed-parents-satanic-cult-jailed-nine-years.html
I got a similar notification, however, the @drifloud account is still viewable although it has been “temporarily restricted.”
If you’re wondering why it says 4 counts of harassment rather than stalking, that’s because they have got it from CourtNewsUK. I’ve emailed them to ask for a correction, but early adopters will have the original text. People might want to email the individual editors to correct their versions.
I won’t publish the Court News text as it is copyright and how they earn their money, but I wouldn’t be wrong in stating that, apart from the headline and bullet points, the DM article is word for word the same.
Just wanted to congratulate Sabine McNeill on winning the prize of being Britain’s worst troll. Sabine will now go through to the international section representing England against the likes of Donald Trump and that leader in North Korea.
Stop The Presses: politics will never be the same.
Yes Araya
Everyone is going to pay attention to your “exposes” when you spent time at the notorious “clinic” run by the quack and cult leader Joao de Deus or John of God who has been accused of sexual assaults by hundreds of women.
There are several videos on your youtube channel showing your visit, in this one it can be clearly seen that the “casa” is that of Joao de Deus. The fact that you titled some of the videos “Joao de Deus” also gives the game away somewhat 😉
I was just wondering whether you have any concerns about promoting such an evil man via your youtube channel?
He’s currently in jail facing charges of rape. Are you going to expose him too or is it only innocent people you “expose”?
She’s a fan of Godfrey Bloom? He was accused of sexual assault at a dinner party in 2004.
Beware Araya, if you don’t clean behind his fridge enough he will have you shipped back to “Bongo Bongo” land.
John of God for newcomers to the subject
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-brazil-crime-faithhealer/brazilian-prosecutors-charge-healer-john-of-god-with-rape-sexual-assault-idUKKCN1OR1LN
Ad- and pop-up -free version:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1mkoatTCyKqLGglyFEAtTiVXaJaaSyHxg
Yes, they also seem to believe that Sabine made the material up herself, and that she attended the demonstrations outside the church.
OMG, well played Sheva! 😀
Glaston is a village of 185 souls with a parish council. Becoming a parish councillor usually only involves being willing to turn up. Still, if you’re going to expose Freemason in the heart of government you have to start somewhere. 🤣🤣🤣
Araya Soma for the uninitiated:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1R5I46zUISQojaJ6oWhYwy5pW-7d4i7K2
Sabine is Britain’s worst troll? Angie will be so disappointed 😦
One reservation here, SH – ’60 Minutes Australia’ is not a reliable source, to say the least. Their show about SRA in the UK was a travesty:
“THIS COULD BE MY LAST VIDEO ON HERE!!” 😃
Is she not just abbreviating Glastonbury?
She’s on two strikes. One more within 3 months and bang goes her channel 🙂
@ Tinribs
A bit like Dispatches then. Some good stuff and sone utter shite.
I can remember 60 minutes being panned here before “60 Minutes of Shite” if my memory is correct. Even if that description is well deserved the JoG expose is definitely worth watching.
The expose of John of God is very long overdue. Accused of child sexual abuse by his own daughter, claims for decades about rapes and molestations, multiple network connections to other extremely sinister criminal cults, debunked as dangerous quackery by proper surgeons for decades and, of course, promoted by Ophra Winfrey.
All the red flags were there and have been there for far too long before anything was done.
Some interesting videos about him on this channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkXTM_wuWLLplg4kgDe4oiQ/videos
The news about the rapes and sexual assaults are all over the MSM so you can take your pick of channels to check out the stories.
Thought that at first. but Glaston is Godfrey Bloom’s neck of the woods.
Where’s Roger the 8-foot butterfly when you need him? 😦
fascinating blog post here
https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:HKG49AGoMt4J:https://fionaolearyblog.wordpress.com/2018/04/01/john-of-god-quack-butcher-and-fraud/+&cd=10&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk&client=safari
something I didn’t know
he blames various illnesses on satanism and performs exorcisms according to this video
The above video also touches on the franchising (MLM?) element of the scam, as JoG has been training other people to become psychic surgeons and snake oil merchants, they train others and so it spreads like a hideous disease.
I love it when internet grifters eat eat other,just love it.
That’s a relief. Hopefully she can hook up with Godfrey and they will both go away and stop bothering the rest of the world.
Kevin Keegan says:
I love it when the mob come to blows with each other,just love it.
I think I recall Ghost of Sam saying it used to be a really reputable show but for some reason went into rapid decline at some point. If he’s around, he might be able to expand on that. Anyone good at summoning up ghosts? Oui? Ja?
@Heather Brown – How much more crap are you gonna post before it dawns on you that they just go straight to trash? Scream and shout abuse as much as you like but we won’t approve them – you’re wasting your time, dear.
I have to say that, while I am gratified that the courts are taking a hard line with the Hampstead hoaxers, I feel more than a pang of anguish about how it is that Valerie Sinason, Fleur Fisher, Rachel Thomas and all the various charlatans associated with the satanic panic generally and the terrible abuses against and mysterious death of Carol Felstead are still walking around not only free but offering mental health services to vulnerable people.
When I went to the police about abuses I suffered at the hands of one of these disgusting quacks I was told that it was “not a police matter”.
The fact is that while the agonies suffered by the innocent people of Hampstead are very serious they are only a tiny element of the massive, fraudulent hoax engineered by various corrupt and / or deluded mental health professionals.
Families have been destroyed, reputations ruined, vulnerable people driven quite mad and the suffering of innocents has been immense. Police budgets have been squandered on wild goose chases leaving real predators free of police interest. What about the anguish caused to Lord and Lady Bramall over false accusations of historic sexual abuse, especially to Lady Bramall who died not knowing that her husband, a war hero no less, had been exonerated?
When will Sinason and her cronies end up in jail? How many more decent families are torn apart by false accusations before their disgusting theatrical pretence at “mental health services” is closed down?
Agreed, SH. Sinason is a menace to society.
Robert Green should be locked back up too imo, having repeatedly breached the conditions of his gagging order.
and Ray Savage too
He’s 110% guilty IMO
I have to say that she strikes me as a complete and utter manipulator and this “panic” video stinks a bit. Angela’s actions online are always calculated to an agenda.
So, in reality, at this moment in time, following Sabine’s sentencing, she must be seriously worried about the consequences of the police investigation in to her.
Everyone should bear that in mind when she produces videos or posts on twitter or facebook.
I do love Neelu’s metaphors: “beehive”, “the last breath of the sinking titanic” etc
possibly of perverting the course of justice, possibly also of impersonating a police officer
definitely of crimes against arithmetic and reason
I did wonder if Mrs McKenzie would attend the hearing – sounds as if she contacted them to say she was ill.
I don’t want to brag, but the hoaxers have done a lot of praying over the last few weeks and got diddly squat for all their intercessions. On the other hand only a few words with The Father about making sure an evil individual from NW6 got what she deserved, and Sabine got 9 years.
This has been an advert for the Church of Rome. Other faiths are available, but it seems my God is better than their gods.
Finally! I was starting to think he’d never get round to joining the butt-hurt parade…
Thing is, if you actually study serious organised crime, especially re long cons, you will notice that theatre is a central theme.
The ITNJ’s farcical larpfest is typical of the kind of parallel power structure that can be created by criminals using theatre and theatrical props.
If you do a bit of digging you will find websites offering the services of fake solicitors and lawyers, fake PR and news companies, fake real estate companies, fake banks, the list is endless. Sometimes the fake websites feature grifters dressed in fake costumes just like the ITNJ but more commonly photos of real professionals stolen from genuine websites. Sometimes the websites are fake subsidiaries of real corporate entities.
Why have a real lawyer when you can have Bellender or Sabine? Why go to an oncologist when you can visit a psychic surgeon like John of God? Why have a midwife when you can see a doula? Why see a proper mental health professional when you can see a life coach?
Of course the other serious problem is that, even if you do take care to select properly qualified professionals you can end up with someone like Sinason.
These grifters routinely promote narrative about “clearing blockages”, “burning bad karma” ridding the body of “psychic parasites” etc. but the fact is our society needs some kind of collective enema to flush out the quacks and predators who lurk hidden in the bowels of our NHS mental health services.
Your? Aloud?
Does God’s guidance not stretch to spelling?
Yes indeed it was a very good investigative show when it was run by the American who set it up in Australia for Kerry Packer.
But it’s pretty much tabloid TV now with an occasionally good investigation.
I think the week before they did a show on that Pedo Hunter (can’t remember his name) – the one who burnt down a school and were almost gushing praise upon him.
I think they also did a really dangerous show in Beirut about a Lebanese Australian father who had taken his children there. They took the mother and planned to film her snatching the kids back but the entire crew got nabbed by police, possibly for their own safety as they were in the most dangerous area of town. So many strings were pulled by the government to get them freed and I believe around $250K was paid secretly to the father so he wouldn’t press charges.
Thanks Sam
And I think the person you’re thinking of is Stinson Hunter:
https://hoaxteadresearch.wordpress.com/2017/03/06/sabine-claims-police-are-asking-vigilante-groups-to-do-their-jobs/comment-page-1/#comment-59497
I guess the penny hasn’t dropped yet (or maybe it has for a few Yellow Jackets) that so many have encouraged and aided Sabine in her illegal campaigns- APD, Devine, Neelu..you know who they all are – and therefore they are not just guilty of causing Sabine to be jailed for so long but they are by association also guilty of serious harassment.
And still it hasn’t occurred to one single one of them : if the 2 children in question still believed the claims they can speak out at any time. I think one is now a teen and over the next 3/4 years they will be pretty independent and will be able to go and tell the world if they had been abused.
Logical thinking is another thing missing from The Mob just as not ONE single one ever went back to spot the alleged baby carriages being wheeled in every Wednesday, bought a McDonalds to have it tested or any of the other numerous real investigations they could have conducted even as amateurs.
And of course they will claim the children have now been indoctrinated, inducted into the mythical cult etc and possibly they will try to make their lives a misery.
It’s very hard to imagine what it must be like to be the victim of an internet hate campaign conducted by 1000s of idiots.
Looks like they’ve squeezed it in in a court where the jury is out.
I think poor Lady Brammal was suffering from dementia so wasn’t fully aware of the drama. However that great war hero Lord Bramall was treated disgracefully and by the police who were flying high at the time.
The trial of ‘Nick’ is going to be fascinating (if only we could convince EC to cover that trial as well !!). I bet there are a lot of very nervous people who were involved with ‘Nick’ who may now be regretting their actions.
agreed 100% and worth repeating I think
I’m going to bet 5p on it being adjourned either because of absence or lack of court time.
Ah, so you are the full shilling after all 🙂
Should be enough court time. 9:30pm is a For Mention which is unlikely to be more than 30 minutes and a contempt hearing doesn’t usually take up much time. Option (a) on the other hand…
Her’s just one example of a dodgy company with a dodgy website of the type I mentioned in my above post
I have chosen the “partners” page as it links to a number of extremely dodgy / fraudulent enterprises, one of which is actually nothing more than a fictional organisation from a well known TV series. The scammers must have been having fun with their victims when they included that one in their webpage.
https://web.archive.org/web/20070624090536/http://ganeshaglobal.eu/partners.htm
There are zillions of websites like this and I am working fairly hard to put something together to educate people about this kind of crime.
Of course the Hampstead hoaxers never expose real criminals, they just create misery by making money from exploiting already abused children. Shame on them. They richly deserve whatever jail time is coming their way.
This guy is another one who is extremely manipulative. He tries to milk his ‘followers’ by throwing out ‘dog whistle’ phrases that he knows will keep them listening, enraptured by these tales of sordid goings-on.
Firstly names innocent children at 4m40s.
He then states as fact here:
6m22s “Children were raped! Children, children were raped! Wednesday, Wednesday is the biggest day for sex”
6m41s – names the primary school
9m30s – again names the children
17m04s – names a protected witness from Sabine’s case.
He seems to enjoy talking up the sordid details. Then talks about about T shirt sales.
He talks about how children everywhere are under attack. He does not mention the children who were affected by Sabine’s actions. Does not say why she was sentenced to 9 years.
No thought about the nutters who will threaten even more innocent families after he again does in this video exactly what Sabine has been found guilty of.
Disgusting broadcast.
This is exactly what Angela does, what Belinda has always done too. There is a consistent pattern of behaviour. For the sake of money or publicity, they incite or provoke unthinking idiots or unstable people (who follow them blindly or take their word as gospel) to do very bad things and then they slip away on to another scam and try to evade any responsibility.
Disgusting people.
Surely we’ll notice something to complain about?
She is grasping at straws that broke the camel’s back.
Off topic but worth reading:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/jan/07/conspiracy-theorist-max-spiers-died-taking-anxiety-drug-poland?CMP=share_btn_fb&fbclid=IwAR3toRTisMSp9RyBReFmhOBYTqFIY67DMIKVDJZyZe53a9qyDnZg2BddXbg
I don’t remember her weeping in court yesterday, but I do remember her turning to one of her supporters with a smile and a wink, she obviousely learnt nothing.
Well, at least Christine’s taking it well…
“Charles is a close blood relative of Dracula”
It isn’t difficult to spell Hoaxtead correctly but it is a rare sight to see any of the fruitloops spell it correctly.
Angie is determined to be the last woman standing regarding this hoax. I can’t wait to see the day that she has to answer for her actions in a court of law.
I cannot fathom how on earth anybody can fall for the King John Wanoa crap.
Pike said, “the whole case from beginning to end was shrouded in secrecy”. Not a well kept secret then as everybody knows all about it.
Angie isn’t happy unless she is in conflict with someone. She thrives on it and that’s why she can never stay friends with anyone for long.
Nice work, thank you TOT.
Not to mention Chris Spivey.
Nice one Sheva.
Araya is the original piss taker, she takes it and then drinks it.
Not to mention, stoning the crows that are better in your hand than in a bush. 😏
Thanks for saving us from having to read the venom that comes out of Heather’s mouth. Well played Scarlet.
I’m probably late to the party but has she been reported for posting this?
I remember after listening to his last interview that i left a comment somewhere saying that Max sounded like he was on a mixture of heroin and benzo’s.
To be fair Charles does possess a stake in some real estate property Romania.
In my above post I thought it would nest below Hagwatch’s comment about C.A.S. posting a list of names. I think there may be some truth in Dracula being a distant ancestor of Charles because I saw him allude to it in an interview once. Trouble is some people take something with a little bit of truth to it and twist it to make something idiotic. I always liked the romantic explanation of the Order of the Garter regarding Edward III and the Countess of Salisbury but that’s probably as bogus as Hoaxted (but that legend doesn’t or didn’t hurt anyone).
For the avoidance of doubt, re: my above post, an interview with Prince Charles and not Count Dracula.
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So The Family aka The Children of God aka The Family International are also the same entity as The Finders?
Anne Hamilton Byrne’s cult combined elements of yoga, meditation, brainwashing and psychoactive drugs (especially LSD) with organised crime, child stealing, child neglect and abuse, the creation of parallel power structures (the MO she used to steal children was to recruit social workers, psychiatrists, doctors, nurses, etc. and to use them to steal children from vulnerable people in their care) and fraud. Hamilton Byrne’s cult was one of a number of cults using the name Great White Brotherhood but to my knowledge her cult was not associated with The Finders or the Children of God.
For someone who claims to know about all kinds of sooper sekrit cult activities she seems to know nothing,
No big surprise there though as she is just a giant bag of screeching wind.
“We called and spoke with Wikileaks”
The main message from Rantmaster-General Sands seems to be “Sabine committed even more criminal acts than the ones she was convicted for”.
The background behind her Assange / Family fabrication is fascinating in its own way:
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/nov/20/growing-up-with-the-family-inside-anne-hamilton-byrnes-sinister-cult
thefatboieffect says:
Any updates regarding Belinda?
Fat boi
Trouble is that you jail one and others just start new twitter feeds
Trying to contain it is like trying to herd rats
She’s a dangerous lady you know.
Trash says:
Mama said there’ll be days like this.
I hope Belinda McKenzie was very, very ill, for her sake. I don’t think courts like defendants not turning up.
@y-tracy – you were right! Twitter wanted me to prove I’m not a robot 🙂
I think they were upset about my logging onto their site using the international feeds we have access to, here at MI-99 headquarters 🙂 So I’m not using Twitter at work anymore 😦
Did APd write that? It doesn’t seem like her usual style of communication i.e. guilty of halfway making some semblance of otherwise nonsensical bollix and baloney ……she managed to proffer her whateves opinion using proper bespoke English…..that’s unusual for her and beyond her capabilities
Well done for alerting the border force patrol, FS.
Yeah, to be fair it’s very similar to the stuff she writes on her blog, rather than what she puts in FB/YT comments.
Glad I got a screenshot before he changed that title 🙂
Tough room
Certainly has. I’m not holding my breath, though.
hmmmmm…..
Yes, Sage has posted it higher up the page. She was taken ill today and is due to appear tomorrow morning instead.
Thought so!
Sabine’s sentence has made the Telegraph now as well:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=16-Jng-ibL0zaFlBhDFi52Ily9e1r4gnG
That Wilmott bloke is one weird dude.
Al Crowley says:
Well said SH, her shitty clinic has clients referred from the NHS – that’s our money propping up her deluded shite.
Thanks for writing, Anon!
I happened to see Sean Maguire hawking his interviews with sabine from in 2015 in the comments on the devine livestream yesterday and listened for a little refresher of Sabine’s attitude and behaviour. This material should also come down now, I imagine, and wonder if the current attempt to erase everything that Sabine put up should really include these, somehow? ‘Airtight?’ She names the children and spouts her stuff about the case, and given what I know from my own research, can only conclude that she was either stupid or willfully ignorant, ie evil to not care enough to read the counter-arguments regarding the case, eg from this blog and review her beliefs, allegedly she had some kind of academic talent? and said she was a ‘systems analyst’.
If she had any integrity she should have considered carefully what everyone was saying. But she was just extreme and dangerous to others. Without any regard for others, or sense of responsibility towards other human beings although made aware over and over again by the authorities, and, btw, we are all forgetting one hero here, and that is Steve Martin? Excellent work!
Maguire reads out a question from a listener, asking how many cases she’s ever won as a McKenzie Friend.
Worth listening to for a reminder of what Sabine is like. Comedy gold in some parts. Listening to it now may be accompanied by different thoughts and feelings by some, now she’s been sentenced.
I looked for an image of Sally Cahill today, I recommend others do the same. She is a good judge of character. Extreme people do need extreme measures, as nothing else will stop them.
They turn on sixpence here.
Shall we get our coats?
That is very good news, well done.
Neelu’s not happy and she’s on the warpath for… er… every judge she can think of 🙄
(I’ve sliced off the judge mugshots, btw.)
The article has been updated.
Getting better–glad to see they mentioned Abe and Ella.
They’re not praying to JC because I’ve had a word with him (her?) and he/she doesn’t want a bar of them. And he said “tell that Power-Disney dame that we don’t accept non-religious “Christians” up here and her name isn’t on the guest list – the door bitch will call security if she dares knock on my Pearly Gates.”
Not until I’ve had my two pence worth.
Me Neither….but please allow me to say this about Irish people, we are world-renowned for being fair and liberal-minded….that cvnt Tracey, that bitch APD, ………
My God, Sabine looks like Dracula in that picture in the telegraph!
@smut clyde
https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Bored-of-the-Rings/The-Harvard-Lampoon/9781451672664
Thanks, CM. I’ve updated the archive accordingly:
According to the Daily Mail
“Ella Draper, 45, is believed to be in Spain having evaded arrest in February 2015 – while her former partner Abraham Christie remains on the run.
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police told MailOnline today: ‘A 45-year-old woman and 61-year-old man are both wanted for questioning in relation to perverting the course of justice and child cruelty. Enquiries continue.’“
I knew they would not have forgotten P & Q and about justice for them.♥️
Well, it didn’t really detail the full vileness of Sabines actions, my comments stating that have not passed moderation. ‘Sad face’
Marna Nightingale says:
Millions of them? Not, like, millions of copies of the same few?
Meanwhile, children have been separated from their parents and in at least two cases allowed to die on Trump’s watch.
When they say “the children” it reminds me of “support the troops”: the ones we have decided to care about, who look like us and who don’t actually need anything complicated or expensive.
Yep – Green has a lifetime gagging order, which he’s breached countless times.
He’s also banned from the city of Aberdeen, yet not only has he recently visited it but he even filmed himself giving a speech in the street!
You’re right, it should be “Arrowroot son of Arrowshirt”.
Crows? Those were seabirds! I left no terns unstoned.
You two are raven mad.
Things are really hotting up between Angie and Chrstine Hart.
(Name of a protected witness obscured)
I thought the same thing, but then I’ve never looked at her blog. I bet she pays someone to write blog articles and comments for her off some site like fiverr etc.
My Pet Moloch says:
Just had a peep at Sands insane fb page and followed a link which lists EVERYONE alleged to be in cult, including names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses plus names of all children involved – why is this still up?
I claim my 5p
Ok giving it up for the night as now my brain hurts! TC
Flo Destroyer says:
I would be interested in that video please if possible.
When/what date?
That is another kettle of fish in a barrel.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1WPTmJ0u10-w_iG2rkI3wqzAE0Wm2pojY
I agree, this should be taken down immediately.
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Not just squandered public money but other outrages; innocent family members falsely accused of CSA/SRA by their own loved ones, vulnerable people abused and alienated from their families, reputations and lives ruined, mentally healthy falsely diagnosed with serious mental illnesses, seriously traumatised people further traumatised, mental health services unavailable for people who desperately need them because of insane amounts of money spent on satan hunting.
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Tom Dunn: Following Angie in all things
Saturday was Thomas Dunn’s birthday. By sheer coincidence it was also Adolf Hitler’s natal day, but of course that has nothing to do with Dunn.
Err, not much to do with him.
Dunn celebrated the day by gorging himself on his favourite breakfast comestibles, then taking to his bed to deliver a few “seig heils” of his own.
Aside from some hilarious chitchat about the helmet of salvation and the breastplate of self-righteousness (he takes a C cup, in case you were wondering), much of his rant was dedicated to railing against “the satanic underground cults, the paedophiles, the child rapists” who he believes inhabit the UK in general and Hampstead in particular.
“We cannot allow them to get away with this!” he screamed at one point, adding later, ““Every person who raped a child on Wednesday in Hampstead, you will bow before the king of kings!”
Apparently those who rape children on the other six days of the week get a free pass?
Plus frankly, if people are raping children (on any day of the week), wouldn’t it be preferable to have them arrested, tried, and sentenced to prison? Bowing before some über-king seems a bit lame, if we’re honest.
Dunn repeats the ‘white powder’ rumour
Dunn refers several times to the Hampstead children and a protected witness, and repeats the lie that the witness forced one of the children to sniff a white powder, which made him feel dizzy. It’s odd that we’ve been able to find no trace of the child actually saying this on any of the videos which Sabine McNeill released, though it did appear in some of her writings.
More to the point, in the medical examination, Dr Hodes (who sided with the mother regarding the sexual abuse allegations) stated she’d found evidence of THC, an active ingredient in cannabis, in the children’s hair samples. She said nothing about any other drug, including cocaine, which is what the “white powder” rumour seems to imply.
It’s pretty easy to determine where Dunn picked up the “white powder” rumour: his mentor, Angela Power-Disney, has mentioned it several times, including in a video interview with Jason Goodman of “Crowdsurfing the Truth”. [You’re sure that’s not ‘Crowdsourcing‘? Oh, never mind—Ed.]
Like much of what Dunn has parroted about the Hampstead hoax, it seems very unlikely that he has bothered to do any actual research himself, but has merely swallowed Angela’s lies and inaccuracies holus-bolus.
Threats against protected witness
Referring to a protected witness, Dunn shrieked,
“We think he’s living in California—is anybody concerned about this?
Is anybody concerned about the accused paedophile and rapist living in California?
FBI? Coming to my house? Does anybody care about this?
These people don’t quit until they’re forced to quit! I’m not saying that, the children said it. And they said it real good! I sure hope the FBI is watching this guy like a hawk.
This sounds an awful lot like a request to his deluded followers to hunt somebody down—something the FBI should probably know about, especially as they have already enraged Dunn by daring to turn up on his doorstep and ask him some questions about his previous threats.
Dunn’s response to this perceived insult is to shriek into the camera,
They’re censoring us and they’ve taken down our video of Ella. They want the truth censored. they’re calling the police on us and they’re calling the FBI on us but that only emboldens us to speak out more!
Hmm. Isn’t this the strategy Angela employed following last summer’s visit by the gardaí, when all her tech was removed for investigation? That worked like a bleedin’ charm, didn’t it?
Instead of informing her that they were coming to arrest those of us who’ve been pointing out her criminal activities for the past four years, the “friendly” gardaí told her a few weeks ago that the results of their investigation had been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions, where a decision would be made as to whether to prosecute, and if so, what the charges would be. Angela responded to this, as we know, by going on a drinking binge, and finally checking herself into rehab—possibly the first sensible thing we’ve seen her do.
As for Dunn, while his helmet of salvation and breastplate of self-righteousness might help him out in his next cosplay adventure, we strongly suspect that they will be of no use whatsoever when the FBI next come to call.
23/04/2019 in Assorted knobheads. Tags: Angela Power-Disney, false allegation, Gardaí, harassment, lies, police investigation, Thomas Dunn, threats
Thomas Dunn’s ultimatum: ‘Join us or die, okay?’
Deplorable Dunn to exploit Hampstead kids at conference
← Video share: Who is Abraham Christie?
Video share: Who is Ella Draper? →
50 thoughts on “Tom Dunn: Following Angie in all things”
It’s great to see your new youtube channel up EC.
But just to make sure you understand: Youtube is not your friend.
I put some stuff up about Abe Christie that I think you would find very interesting. But Youtube deleted it. I have some other friends who put some other ‘interesting’ stuff up. That got deleted as well.
So just know that there are people watching your channel. Some of them can’t sub to you (they sub but they get deleted). Many of them can’t comment on your videos. It’s incredibly frustrating, and that is why I don’t use Youtube as a ‘platform’ any more.
They will allow you to exist within your own little echo chamber. They will also allow ‘trolls’ to abuse you. But if some people give real information, they will just delete what they have to say and cut out their tongues.
Youtube is cancer.
They give a voice to the mangelas and the dunces, but erase at source some of us with real information.
I only drop by now and again. There is no point in engaging with you. It all gets deleted. There are so many things you don’t know as well. But it’s a real task to get this information to you. Some of it might be valid, some of it rubbish. But it’s just getting it out there that is the real difficulty.
I’m seeing you covering stuff and coming around to stuff that we were trying to get out to you in the last six months past.
I realise this sounds a bit paranoid.
It’s late here.
Keep on doing what you’re doing. It’s making a difference all the same.
Really, what we have to say is not so earth shattering, but it’s the shutting down of lines of communication between us that is so utterly frustrating.
There are no ‘scoops about Ted Heath was a pedo, kind of thing, but more stuff like, xxx is a wrong un’, don’t waste your time on them. We see you go round in circles.
But you do come to the right conclusions eventually.
Youtube is not your friend. Just remember that.
‘…he takes a C cup, in case you were wondering’
If he can’t find a breastplate I believe Playtex still do a Wonderbra.
Thanks for the caution. Should you ever wish to contact me directly, you can use the “Contact us” box at the top of the blog—I receive emails directly from that, and they are not public to the blog.
I’m also trying to envision him in the helmet of salvation. It’s not a pleasant thought.
Is Dunny’s helmet of salvation what makes him such a dickhead? 🤔
“Angela responded to this by going on a drinking binge and finally checking herself into rehab”
Interestingly, she said she was going in for two weeks. It’s been nearly four so far 🤔
Hugh Mungus-Titzling says:
Thanks for letting us know, MC. I shall have to peruse their catalogue later. For educational purposes, you understand.
For anyone who missed this last night, it seems Devine’s not happy about losing his Facebook account (and being suspended from his four back-up accounts) and he’s blaming us for it – perish the thought 🤭🤐😇
Had to laugh at “there’s so many sockpuppet accounts on Youtube, it’s unreal”
Says the man with at least 5 accounts on Facebook and an unknown number on youtube….
(and really, an hour eight of him droning on about whatever pops into his vacuous mind…)
Remember less is more…
Yeah, it’s weird how he spends 8 hours a day telling us to “keep it simple, stupid”.
I don’t think sock puppets are a secret anymore. Didn’t Amazon cut down on fake reviews? For some reason the talk about bra cups made me think of “Judge” Rinder and the mankini* https://youtu.be/j2CbJvqe4cQ
Being more serious, Mr D seems to want to believe doctors when it suits him (I was thinking of AD here), for instance he wants to believe Dr Hodes although a different opinion was given later, but then he witters on about how good hemp is. (I know there have been some people who have said marijuana helps their pain but I’m not sure it’s a good idea for it to be dispensed willy-nilly).
* Not a real judge – I think the cases are real but they are for entertainment, not legally binding.
Joe Friday says:
I’m fascinated that Dunn was visited by the FBI. We have that in common. My visit was in 1977 in a New York hotel after I “passed” a counterfeit $5 note in the Deli.
I can’t tell you how polite and nice the 2 agents were. All they wanted to do was track down the source of my note which happened to be a bank a few hours earlier ( US dollars must be the easiest in the world to copy).
In fact one agent phoned me the following day to confirm what I said and to thank me for “my co-operation”.
I bet if I wasn’t innocent I’d have been on their radar for the the next few months I was in the US.
The FBI are legendary for their manner which is always professional & polite when dealing with so-called “civilians” (thank the alleged cross dressing J.Edgar Hoover for that).
If Dunn was visited over Hoaxstead he’s really fooling himself if he thinks he’s now not on the FBI radar. There is a method to the politeness of the FBI. It disarms those they really suspect of illegality as they probe even deeper. (ask anyone from the Mafia who tremble when they hear the FBI is showing interest.)
He’s FBI visit is the best news I’ve heard for yonks.
Few grammar mistakes there & I’m sober !!!
Mr. D? Do you mean Dunn or Devine?
I thought it was three months?
By Mr D I meant Mr Devine but then I realised Tom Dunn is also a Mr D which was why I said AD the next time. Tinribs, I can proofread other peoples’ writing wonderfully, my own not so well.
I just had a thought (though I daresay others have had the same thought previously) but if people who contribute to this blog really had the powerful connections opposing voices believe them to have wouldn’t the opposing views have been shut down by now? And I mean, really shut down, not banned from social media platforms for a few day (and even that hasn’t been achieved easily from what I can make out).
Also, why do folk think “Hoaxtead” is a group? I have commented here sometimes over the past few months but I don’t belong to a “group”. I don’t even live in London. Personally I’d run a mile if anybody tried to involve me in Satanism*. The only people I’ve seen comment here who might have a link thus are HH and SV (and I’m not sure how much they are leg-pulling) and one is in the USA and the other in Australia so how the heck would anybody think they would be coming to Hampstead to take part in a group? Well, Concorde was a fast plane but it’s been discontinued.
* Though there are some nutters on YouTube who think Catholics worship Lucifer. In the service I attended on Sunday we renewed our baptismal vows and renounced Satan and all his works.
Possibly but her blog post said a few weeks:
https://angelascaches.org/last-post-for-a-few-weeks-satanic-ritual-abuse
To be honest, she probably said both. She’s another one who changes her stories more often than her underwear.
Interesting points there, CAW.
One thing – James definitely isn’t leg-pulling. He’s very serious about his religion and it means a great deal to him.
Joe Friday's cat and part-time typist says:
Yeah but I’m not. Hic 🍷
Devine is live on YT now. I can’t link it, though, as the children and their father have been named.
Facts Over Fiction says:
Oh right, it was that cave-dwelling wackadoo who said three months.
@Liz Wales
https://hoaxteadresearch.wordpress.com/2018/10/06/new-evidence-shows-ella-failed-polygraph-test
Well: this is surprising. Just received from Praterson….
Not sure what has made him suddenly decide that both Finchley Road and Hampstead are hoaxes. There really is no telling what goes on in his mind.
Fred Fintstone says:
Hey, don’t drag me into this!
The idea that Roman Catholics are actually (if not knowingly) worshipping Lucifer is older than nutters on YouTube. C.H. Spurgeon saw Rome as the place where Satan’s seat was.
https://www.whatsaiththescripture.com/Voice/Spurgeon.On.Catholicism.html
Read all that sort of crap in the FIEC (Fellowship (sic) of Independent Evangelical Churches) newspaper back in the 70’s too – my ex’s parents, and her too, attended an FIEC “church”. And of course ecumenicalism is Satanism in disguise, too.
Depressing, or what.
“By their fruits you shall know them”……
Syntax not simtex. So funny.
Though there are some nutters on YouTube who think Catholics worship Lucifer.
I can confirm that that is not true. In addition to the yearly renouncing I’m also a godfather to a niece and a nephew so have an extra two pro bono renouncings under my belt. Although I am a bit of a goth and I am enjoying season two of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.
I also should admit that I was a bit surprised when our local Easter services went ahead. Neelu had assured everyone in February that the Pope was going to make an announcement and the Catholic Church was closing down for good in March. Still the internet is a bit slow in my parish, so I’ll await the news to finally arrive at some point.
Wow has he turned on the dark side and come to his senses, that doesn’t ring true imo but I hope he has
It was hard to keep track of Andy’s lies in that broadcast, not to mention those of his idiotic supporters in the chat.
Great fruitloop quote from him, mind:
“You keep that truth from not getting out and I’ll keep that truth from getting out.”
I think that’s unlikely; more probably he is (as usual) confused. 🙂
That one was definitely a classic.
There’s a good’un in this one too, from this rather irate Australian gentleman – “You arseholes are causing mental health.”
By the way, he totally loses it with MKD at 12:52.
Devine was saying it was EC who put out the rumour that Abe sold hemp, lol. Then when Steve Douglas and I pointed out that it came from Abe himself, he switched to asking what’s wrong with selling hemp! Strawmen-R-Us 😀
Oh and he’s claiming that we said Ray Savage doesn’t exist! 🙄
And there was me thinking that Cat cared about children…
Meanwhile, her bid to get arrested continues apace:
What’s a pertner? 🤔
Deinve @ 35:20 – “If you are hurting children, you all deserve killing, mate.”
You’re basing your statement and belief that there is a mind that works for anything to actually “go on”.
And just when you thought he couldn’t get any more desperate, he’s now sharing old Chris Everard videos to support his Hampstead allegations 😂
Why is it, when I see “The Cat” insult “the Hoaxsted twats” and so forth, I automatically hear this Eddie Izzard live stand up in my head (remembering when he was younger).
And actually you can get away with anything! I mean, John Major got away with a very good one just recently, he was talking about civil service, and there was a reporter that came out saying it was very wasteful or whatever, and Major said, “If you don’t think that civil service is the best in the world… then you should!” Kind of a dodgy argument there, you know… “Then you should.” I remember when I was five, going, “You smell… ‘cause you do! You’re a twit… ‘cause you are!” (rolling eyes) “Then you should!”
And she STILL hasn’t responded to EC’s offer of a live Q&A session. Seems “The Cat” is a pussy after all.
Not much of a lady is she lol defending abe Christie aswell this chick would make the devil blush doesn’t she know dr hemp has got a few skeletons in the cupboard or does she choose not to believe them lol some ppl smh
True. Foolish moi.
Yes, when children of rich people die, it’s okay by her. Apparently.
Does she not realise that no matter how much money that man has, he will never be able to buy back the lives of his children?
Yes, she’s been flirting with Christie the child torturer—it’s sickening to watch tbh.
Yes, that offer remains open, Cat.
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BREAKING: ‘Alan Alanson’ sentenced to 9 months
Alan Colley, known to Hampstead hoax followers as “Alan Alanson”, was sentenced to nine months in prison at Newcastle Crown Court earlier today. Colley/Alanson also received a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO), which will remain in place until a further order supersedes it.
Colley had originally faced charges of Harassment 4, “harassment putting people in fear of violence”, but at his 9 May hearing he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of malicious communication—”sending an electronic communication with intent to cause distress or anxiety”.
As “Alan Alanson”, Colley posted a slew of malicious and threatening posts on Facebook, many directed at the parents in the Hampstead case. His posts were notable, as well, for their anti-Semitic bent. Colley also posted as “Alan Boyes”, but that account appeared to be for the benefit of his non-conspiranoid friends and family members.
While Colley could seem almost amiable at times, striking up near-civil conversations in the comments section of this blog, he showed his true colours in the days immediately following his November 2016 arrest:
Maybe it’s just us, but it seems just a bit unwise to give a “no comment” interview to the plod, then be led away effing and blinding, only to blurt out the nature and details of one’s offence in a crowded (and well-CCTV’d) custody suite.
Despite his many claims that he was a devout Christian, Colley was fond of making threatening allusions to shooting people in the head, as in this November 2017 post:
Hoaxtead Research’s interest in the case
Colley’s case was of particular interest to us, as EC had been scheduled as a witness at his trial, having provided police with some small pieces of evidence in the lead-up to his arrest.
So we were surprised in February this year when he posted in the comments section that he had not been charged:
Just thought I’d pop by and say hello sports fans… Out of ten, ‘how much does it piss you off that I have not been charged’?
Was this wishful thinking on Colley’s part? Or an attempt to goad EC into contradicting him? Hard to say. However, he followed up with two more before calling it a night:
Oh you do mind/remember me Kazza, you should?
Why do you feel/think you need to censor my posts… are you yellow ? are you frightened of what I might say… Karen Irving, do you deny being El Coyote? be careful before you answer… Because there are folk busying to link you to such a handle… Will check in later to see if you have gained some fortitude.
Colley had apparently not been keeping up, as EC’s identity had been well known for at least a year by this time. However, it again seemed unwise of him to attempt to contact a person who he must have known was a witness in his case.
As “Alan Alanson”, Colley had forged online relationships with Hampstead hoax pushers such as Angela Power-Disney, Jake Clarke, Kristie Sue Costa, and others.
His sentence comes in the wake of a slew of stern sentences related to child sex abuse hoaxes, and may reflect a growing understanding of the damage which can be done by false allegations of sexual abuse, especially when they are amplified online.
16/08/2019 in Breaking news. Tags: Alan Alanson, Alan Colley, Criminal Behaviour Order, guilty, malicious communications, Newcastle Crown Court, sentencing
‘Alanson’ pleads guilty to malicious communications
Further details give a clearer picture of Alanson/Colley sentencing
Matt Taylor arrested; Alanson breaches bail conditions
← Conspiracy theories spring up in wake of Epstein suicide
Video share: The children’s retractions and what they mean →
407 thoughts on “BREAKING: ‘Alan Alanson’ sentenced to 9 months”
Ooh, so he got a Rupert! Thanks for sharing, EC 🙂
I hope this sends out a message to all the other people who every day are still doing exactly what Alanson did. Everyone from Inverness to Oldcastle to Brighton to Kincorth should take note. I wonder who’ll be next.
So this worked out well for him, then:
If I LMAO does it mean I’m a horrible person?
If so, I think you’re one of many. 😂
Oh sorry, EC – just seen you already quoted that in your post. Oh well, consider it a visual aid 🤭
Great! Angela’s take on this will naturally be entirely opposite to the truth after she picks it up from here as she usually does.
Thanks for the news EC.
Good news! Another moron who talked his way into prison. Not many of them left now.
Yet another new Praterson channel? 💤
Let’s see how quickly we can get this one taken down 🤭
This one goes out to JP…
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2yK92qEi4igYLOAr3EFn8w/videos
Have reported both videos that are on there (the one below for the description), as well as the channel name.
Well, slap my arse and call me Susan – that was quick! 😃
Oh Christ, Ramola D and David Noakes. Kill me now 🤮
Noakes @ 2:25 – “The Data Protection Act is yet another piece of European legislation that takes away our rights” 😖
OK, I’m pretty sure I won’t make it to the end of this.
Bacov Thenet says:
Pavement Taster the bandwidth waster must be apoplectic. Meanwhile well done EP et al for cutting of this loathsome,pointless twat off from both of his viewers.
Not a problem–I’m glad you had the screenshot, as I couldn’t lay hands on it in my morass of unsorted files. 🙂
At 16:35 Noakes says that the punishment for treason is death and goes off on one about all the people that should be “hung by the neck until dead” 🙄
Abe Christie: “…once I return…” 🤔
Thanks, BT 🙂
Well done. Paterson seems to be getting quite vicious in his posts. It’s still a mystery to me why those who follow John Wanoa are absolutely fixated on the Hampstead matter and have woven it into the mix.
I had no idea Alanson had been charged but his behavior, or at least the posts about his arrest seem a bit fictional to me and like a case of false bravado.
Odd that they don’t take even police warnings seriously.
It must be very taxing for the father to have to endlessly pursue these attackers. Bizarre how they cannot spare a thought for the children in this case. They’re all approaching those difficult teen years.
He was arrested and charged nearly three years ago. It’s been a slow process.
This is a more recent post, announcing his guilty plea:
https://hoaxteadresearch.wordpress.com/2019/05/10/alanson-pleads-guilty-to-malicious-communications
Not convinced by this David Noakes and his attachment to the Fruit loop Brigade.
He can’t be that silly seeing he amassed a reputed £8M fortune from his quack “cure” and purchased planes which he could fly and luxury cars.
If these fake cancer cure grifters are such humane types why don’t they just give away their “cure”?
Noakes is doing his partner’s case no good. He plead guilty in court and he gives the appearance of mocking his light sentence as he now claims he is the victim.
I hope French authorities are taking note. Whatever Thyer says in court has to be seriously questioned.
I expect Noakes’ victims- those who had side effects and believed his rubbish -have a case for suing him in a civil court for damages.
I reckon he’s trying to create confusion in an attempt to delay and stop anyone pursuing his money.
When you have dingbats like Ramola D to promote you it’s easy to portray yourself as some sort of crackpot rather than a cold and manipulating con artist ripping off desperate people.
Christ, he’s got another one back up already 🙄
He’ll never learn…
Yes he / she is an Exceptional Elementary Penguin.
Paterson needs a good hobby. He’s getting far too angry which I expect is out of sheer frustration that EC is not upset about being called fat or purple / red haired or even, a lesbian !
Why does he think being called a lesbian is an insult ? . It was an insult dodgy blokes use to hurl at ladies who gave then the cold shoulder in the 1960/80s if they dared rebuff their “gentlemanly” advances.
Besides we know he could never afford a wood-chipper seeing he lives on “the social”.
Can we pass the hat around and buy him a ticket to return post-haste?
Sad, but not surprised to see the usual suspects are following it (Neelu’s dancing the line as usual,, she already has a court order regarding the Hampstead case, following a person breaking it is skirting dangerously close to the edge…imho)
From someone on Guernsey, four years ago:
“As someone who has had face to face dealings with David Noakes. It is my opinion that that he does actually belive much of the bonkers conspiracy theory stuff he spouts”
From that same comment thread:
“There seems to be an increasing cross-over between GcMAF grifters and the stalkers and stoners of the broader ‘truther’ community — people who have moved on from denying any one specific official account (9/11, Sandy Hook) to a general philosophy of *everything* is a Gubblement Lie.”
Aww, does Praterson think Mark Zuckerberg owns YouTube? Bless
And two of those are John himself, subbing his own channel. The sad twat
He does realise that they can IP block, or if they really wanted to, could contact his ISP and get his net access removed- sure there are ways around it, but his ‘technical expertise’ seems rather um poor, shall we say…
LOL, didn’t notice that
Yes, I’ll look forward to hearing her views on the matter. 😉
Yes, the field is definitely narrowing, isn’t it?
That has got to be some sort of land speed record, EP! Well done!
Well, I gave her the link to this post (via a YT thread) within minutes of EC putting it up, so she’s aware of it 🙂
Yes, I fear he is distraught that I have never responded to any of the hundreds of emails he has sent me. Sadly, I cannot reciprocate his devotion, as my heart belongs to another, but I can certainly understand his frustration. I hope that one day he will be able to move on.
Also, if he has several hundred channels, why does he need to keep making new ones? He seems oblivious to the fact that “Date joined: August 16th, 2019” is clearly displayed on his ‘About’ page 😆
Well if he’s desperate, Kaley Einav has a thing for him.
New Matt Taylor channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmP8UJgEIDZYWG6jE4GGhzg/videos
Major F Earmonger retd says:
We must all pull together in these challenging times and ensure the seizure and safe repatriiation to Blighty of this evil monsters ill gotten spoon collection as our great nation faces its deepest ever national kitchen utensil crisis since Uri Geller was fannying about with them in the 1970`s.
I am sure sufficient funds will be made available to facilitate th̶e̶ ̶s̶l̶i̶m̶e̶y̶ ̶l̶i̶t̶t̶l̶e̶ ̶w̶a̶n̶k̶e̶r̶ Mr Hemp to be placed in the hold as excess baggage along with other animals and noxious waste matter during this vital operation.Thankyou for your service.
Last night I had a dream / nightmare that featured Lee Cant briefly. Maybe it was because of my medication, some similar to what Lord Wanoa is currently on.
We and 100s of others were in some bizarre huge factory filled with zillions of mechanic parts and Cant was pontificating on how to fix something but he had it all wrong.
You will be pleased to know I gave him a good telling off and he looked quite stunned and was silent.
If I start to dream about Paterson that’s it- back to the doctor for different melds.
In the rest of the dream I was at a beach where 1000s of people had gathered to watch Megan Markle and Hilary Clinton go swimming together.
No more late night snacks or reading the MailOnline just before bed for me. What if I start having wet dreams about Neelu?.
He visibly shudders.
Why do this lot even want to be on YT if the hate Zuckerberg so much and think it’s owned by “the Joos”.
And not a single view of the dozens of videos. Why does he bother?
Finally another Andy walk ‘n’ whinge:
No dogs today, though. Apparently the missus already took ’em out earlier this morning… and spotted a wild boar that looked like Rick Coll. Or something.
Good to see another idiot come up short against the majesty of the law.
News from Glastonbury – Araya Soma has gone to ground completely as far as I can see. All her facebook profiles are now gone and she’s keeping a low profile in Glastonbury too. Can’t post it here, but if I were her, I’d be looking at a different way of making money. She was placing herself as the big name in the anti-5g group in town, which is full of the usual stoners and conspiracy nuts. But an acquaintance of mine wrote to all the local councillors with screen shots of some of her facebook posts – the ones praising Hitler etc. and her own gang then realised what a liability she is. Also a bit of a blow (no doubt) was when she was openly ridiculed on our local facebook noticeboard (which tbh is for the very thick-skinned only)… and what was lovely to see was by the tone and information in the posts, it was pretty clear that she’d been checked out here on Hoaxtead!
Good of Praterson to share his secret crush and sexual fantasy with us but the phrase “too much information” springs to mind:
The customary Hampstead bullshit comes at 11:43.
And the inevitable Hoaxtead rant comes at 15:22, followed by a death threat to everyone associated with the blog and a rant about the “assassination attempt” on Praterson 😆
“Which is why I chose to do what I do”…basically walk around the streets or sit at home sucking on his roll-ups boring the tits of everyone with his endless waffle. Pillock.
There’s a really vile death threat towards the end too.
Will make a lowlights video of this one.
Ooh, someone’s getting sweaty palms 🤭
Have reported this one from Praterson (here plagiarising Hope Tart) for hate speech:
This just in. Turns out it was me 🤭
🙄🤦♂️🤪
Haha, good to hear, PA!
As it always does with him.
3:47 – “It’s plain for anyone that’s got an inkling of arse”
@Sam, well done for giving him a good telling off. 😆 Btw, don’t eat after 6pm & only read the MailOnline in the afternoon for fear of ….well…..Neelu! 🙃
@Susan/aka EL, he never will return as we all know, he is what in the olden days we would call, not pc days sorry, a big girl’s blouse.
He’s a zombie! 🧟♂️
I can well believe that someone can believe this stuff and amass a lot of ££ as well. Noakes was clever or lucky in his choice of con. The combination of an easy product -none of the cost of research, testing, approved production methods – plus a desperate customer base willing to try anything, leads to a licence to print money. Combine that with the narcissm which is immune to the wickedness of his actions or the pain he’s causing. Such a person could easily be persuaded that there’s a magic loophole that only clever people like him know. And that lawyers who tell him it’s not true are just protecting themselves. It would be hard for him to believe they are professionals with his interests at heart because that’s a mindset completely alien to him – he thinks only of himself and so believes everyone else is the same. Such people are easy to con as they only see things from their point of view – look at Sabine’s former friend, Elizabeth Watson.
Arse and house are homonyms in the Derbyshire dialect though it still doesn’t make sense so I offer this linguistic snippet solely for entertainment.
Call me naive, call me slow or even call me Ethel but is there much difference between John Wanoa, Andy Devine and John Paterson threatening mass murder by lynching all manner of people (those who disagree with them) and this case?:
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/skbaer/man-texts-mass-shooting-threats
” 25-Year-Old Man Was Arrested After Allegedly Texting His Ex-Girlfriend That He Wanted To Commit A Mass Shooting”
Wow, how much bullshit can you cram into one paragraph?!
Aww, poor old Praterson’s been having one of his meltdowns on Abe Christie’s page.
(The comments below were directed at Flo, Kilrush and ‘George Dufort’, lol.)
L.B. Beck says:
I think I’ve worked out who Praterson’s California contact is who’s gonna terminate us all. It’s his second favourite Austrian:
As an old boss of mine would say “Empty barrels make the most noise”.
One year? Meh, that’s probably as they have better thing to do – like deal with real child molesters etc. Don’t worry…..they’ll get to you Angie……..trust me on this.
OOOOH Zombies go for the brain. Don’t worry Angie, you’re safe.
Apologies – have corrected the date in the video description. The live feed that this is taken from went out this morning.
Bonne chance avec ça, Neelu 😆
Elementary Lenguin? 🤭
Hmm. I keg to differ.
(Sorry Sam, if you’re watching)
Noakes was clever or lucky in his choice of con.
Cons, plural. Noakes was simultaneously pimping a second Secret Cure for Cancer Suppressed by Big Pharma, something called Sodium dichloroacetate or DCA.
https://web.archive.org/web/20120814114309/http://dcashop.eu/info/
However, DCA did not lend itself so well as a cure for autism and CFS and umpteen other conditions, so Noakes eventually found GcMAF to be more profitable.
Such people are easy to con as they only see things from their point of view
Truthers are such easy prey.
Princess Fairy-Poo keeps whinging about “assassination attempts” while exulting in the company of Praterson and his incessant claims to be a multiple murderer leading an international team of assassins. It’s almost as if she tries to be a nauseating piece of trash.
Hahaha, slip of the finger! 🤭
Well now, here’s an interesting development…
Everyone needs a goal, I suppose.
No response yet on his Facebook page but I kinda wish I hadn’t looked now…
“and record the calls”
I hope this conversation-taping lady is not too hung up about her own right to privacy, because otherwise she would look like a hypocritical piece of garbage, no wait.
A href=”https://everydayconcerned.net/2019/06/13/biomedical-researcher-lynda-thyer-traumatized-by-extradition-threat-narrowly-escapes-kidnap-attempt-as-natural-remedy-gcmaf-effective-in-cancer-treatment-is-demonized-by-mhra-and-pharmaceutical-estab/”>Secret Surveillance and Profound Invasion of Privacy
This crowd haven’t really reached the “object-permanence” state of development… if Lynda Thyer is not directly in their field of view, that means she doesn’t exist any more.
An attitude crystalised by a number of calls in which she’s insisted on the receptionist giving her their name whilst point blank refusing to give them hers.
Just asked TN which video he got taken down and it turns out it was the one about Sandy Hook being fake. I remember the one he means. It seems YT are a bit twitchy after the whole Alex Jones debacle 🙂
Agent 96 says:
I’m not too sure.
Arnie is married to a Kennedy ie: one of the Illuminati Freemason Elite Reptile Shape-Shifting Mob. Another member of the Hollywood Elite.
I guarantee it will be revealed his phone-number is recorded in the little black book owned by Mrs Eloise Frobisher who lives just two blocks from the late Jeffrey Epstein’s NY house who despite never even hearing of the late billionaire, this will prove Arnie is connected to the Lolita Express and is known to be have been in LA one day when the plane flew over.
Arnie is one of “them” although he could have course seduced Prattleon into revealing the inner secrets of Lord Wanoa’s plans for World Domination.
Ghost of Julius Streicher says:
It’s pleasing to see Johnny is now restraining his anti-Semitic attacks after so many complaints about his racism.
As Prattleon has said many times :
“I’m not in the least bit antisemitic and that is a vile attack. I do not hate Jews. I just hate all Israelis and those other Joos who live everywhere else. It’s terrible to accuse me of racism just because I point out that every Joo on the planet thinks and acts alike and the vast majority are Lesbian Drag Queens with funny colored hair who should lose a bit of bloody weight. How can that be racism?”.
“This is as bad as falsely accusing me of issuing death threats when all I want to do is arbitrarily lynch a few (100) of my critics and feed their limp bodies into a wood-chipper (feet first) to provide fertilizer for our soil. I’m sure Andy Devine will back me up on this”.
“Indeed as I said to Andy just the other day- I’m very liberal minded and even read the far left wing newspaper Der Stürmer which provides all the facts and figures I need about the Jewish World Plot to force everyone on the planet to celebrate Rosh Hashanah and eat apples and honey and open a high fee account at a Rotshchild Bank”.
“And Andy like me has complained that someone seems to be nicking out daily copy of Der Stürmer as the last one I received was in 1942.”
Angie will be most upset that it’s now been revealed that Tommy Robinson’s go-to Iman “Sheikh” Mohammad Tawhidi who constantly claims in interviews that all Mosques should be pulled down and says Robinson is correct saying that Muslims plan to set up Sharia Law systems in the West (as promoted by John Wanoa and believed by Neelu) is a complete fake who never passed any exams and has tried to pass himself off as the leader of the South Australian Muslim community when Australia’s peak Muslim bodies have all pronounced his as bogus.
Possibly just another con-artist but these creeps can be dangerous. The awful Sydney Lindt Cafe Sydney siege killer who murdered two innocents passed himself as as a desperate political refugee Iman from Iran when in fact he had fled Tehran after ripping off a travel agency he worked at for a small fortune.
http://guerillawire.org/politics/tommy-robinsons-go-to-imam-isnt/
“Tommy Robinson’s Go-To Imam ISN’T ”
Mind you he was exposed previously on the excellent Oz ABC TV show Media Watch which really shows up the paucity of “research” that Robinson and supporters (Angie) “research”.
https://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/episodes/fake-sheikh-of-shock/9972660
” ‘Fake’ Sheikh of shock”
7:50 – “I would safely say that Smut Clyde, the Office Tapir, Elementary Penguin, Danny Royce, El Coyote are all one and the same person. I think all these accounts are Karen.”
😆😂🤣🤪
Dammit, I always suspected that Karen was me and now it’s been verified by a – cough cough – reliable source 😆
And Smutty too, who has his own successful blog. He’s me too!
I must say I’m immensely flattered 😃
By the way, it’s interesting to see Babs sucking up to the mentally unhinged jungle-dwelling anti-Semite, racist and serial liar Tom Cahill. Nothing creepy or desperate there, then 🙄
That’s quite an achievement to be running two excellent blogs with completely different styles. Fair play to you, Smutty… er, EC… er, me. Fuck, I think I need a lie-down.
Aww, it’s not fair. It was my turn to be Karen this week 😦
So now I’m Smut, Karen, Karen’s daughter, Karen’s husband, Karen’s son, Danielle la Verite, Christine Sands, Yannis Emmanouel, Sheva Burton, a Scotsman called Dom, a Mancunian called Danny, a “Brummie nonce”, the Hampstead dad, an old lady from Hounslow and a university lecturer from Medway.
Mine’s a Scotch, please, with a vodka-and-Xanax chaser.
Uhh?.. are you sure? It’s in my diary this week to be EC and I’ve worked for ages on my look :
overweight.. check
red/purple haired..check
lesbian..take my word for it
Drag queen / Transgender..check
Jewish..could be
Gorgeous..of course
Eww, too much (fake) information at 0:11 and 5:05 🤮
I think they are on to us. Only a matter of time before they discover I am actually me.
Does she not get that me commenting in French was meant as a jokey reference to Neelu’s request for people to call the French government? Is she really that stupid?
No just one broken neck bone which a doctor said is not that unusual in much older males.
23? Pffft. Bloody amateur:
Stop it, you’re killing me 😆😂🤣
You’re one of the few people Babs says is real, lol. She took a few liberties with estimating your age, though 😆
@Babs
Va te faire foutre!
Und fahr’ in die Hölle!
SP, Moorzy doesn’t appreciate that even if (very, very big if) Krusty became king in the UK, Mark Zuckerberg isn’t a British subject so UK laws wouldn’t apply to him then?
I didn’t intend to comment here today but having seen the video EP cites (and part 2 is up now), I hadn’t heard of the Belinda who made that video previously but I thought it ironic that she referred to people to visit this blog as being “obsessive”.
Please don’t take the piss out of Araya, she’ll have nothing left to drink.
Danny de la Royce says:
Mainstream media when it suits them, eh 🙄
By the way, anyone know what this Elvis mystery is that she refers to? 🤔
Good spot, CAW!
Fact-checking isn’t the fruitloops forte, I’m afraid. I mean, yesterday Praterson was blaming Zuckerberg for taking down his YT videos. I don’t think he’s quite worked out that YouTube and Facebook are two different things yet.
If only, mate 🍷 🍷 🍷 😖 🤮
I see that since I commented (very recently) EP has linked part 2 of the Belinda video. Ghost, I wouldn’t be surprised if somebody thinks that really is your picture. There are some folk who take things literally, don’t seem to get a joke.
In regard to the notion that EC is a woman of many parts, or should there be many IDs, I did come across a conspiracy theory in the looniverse where some folk believe people “play” multiple real life people. Bill Hicks (whomsoever he is or was) is also Alex Jones is one such suggestion made out there in YouTubeland and the late Princess Diana faked her death and is either Yvonne Rothschild or Elton John’s husband (depending on which conspiracy theorist is myth-making that day).
They’ll probably say the facts are faked, SP.
Abe comes back. Policeman appears. “Hollow hollow”. (I’ll get me parka….)
He’s not really come to grips with this Christianity thing has he…..
“Siri, give me an example of a rhetorical question.”
I hope they DO think it’s my picture. It’s how I would like to be seen. Glamour and class.
EC may be a woman of many parts but I am also a man of many of many parts.
Sadly most of them are beyond their use by date and in urgent need of repair.
I love that. Even if it is a bit deep for me.
Really good film from one of my favourite directors. Highly recommended.
Brilliant ! If only she knew I am a figment of my own imagination.
# I’ve been taking liberties with my age for decades.
Yes..Elvis didn’t die sitting on the toilet scoffing a peanut butter sandwich but faked his death and is living in Israel with JFK, Michael Jackson and now Jeffrey Epstein.
Little known fact: Elvis wore an Chai necklace in honour of his mother who was (for Pete’s sake don’t tell Paterson) a Joo.
# although some say he is actually working at Gracelands as a caretaker.
info@geneva-academy.ch
Princess Cockwomble wants you to liberate Lynda Thyer by emailing or ringing the receptionist at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. Which is “a postgraduate joint center (between the University of Geneva and the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies) located in Geneva, Switzerland.”
It’s a teaching / research college.
Posted by Angie under the second Babs video. Any idea what she’s babbling about…?
Monsieur Royce says:
“Eccentric but knowledgeable” 😆
Danné Roycée says:
Le Tapir du Bureau says:
Good luck with sucking up to Babs, Angie. This is what she thinks of you:
Well, this is awkward.
tomrebelresearchde says:
Ciccada 3301 is a Crypto-Community/Tribe that puts out very elaborate puzzles, some say for pure entertainment, others say to recruit crypto talent. Thomas Schoenberger seems to be a componist who tends to use some of the mathematics involved in crypto in his compositions. Both have been linked via a bunch of conspiracy theories. Schoenberger seems to be a complex, multi-facetted character as artists often seem to be. Some people state he is a troll. I have not yet looked into him. Ciccada on the other hand is fascinating and you can find good info on them on Wikipedia and on Brainscratch.
Well, this is awkward:
https://hoaxteadresearch.wordpress.com/2016/11/30/in-the-presence-of-genius
In any event, the broken hyoid bone is still evidence of death – it’s just (leaving Epstein’s age out of it) more likely to be evidence of death by strangulation. So a broken hyoid bone doesn’t mean he’s not dead, it means at the most that he’s dead a different way.
To be fair, I think “assassination” means something different to her than it does to most people and the dictionary. “Assassination” in Neelu-speak means “bring a legal process to bear”. So you can be assassinated by receiving a parking ticket or a notice that your street’s going to closed for repairs. Just as “treason” means “do something Neelu disapproves of”.
Also, don’t you have to be someone important or prominent for it to be an assassination rather than just murder?
I think the problem is how obviously hopeless they are. The definition of threat to kill is: made a threat to kill another person, intending that someone (not necessarily the intended victim) would fear that the defendant intended to carry out the threat.
I find it impossible to believe that any of these intend to do anything which involves more effort than typing or yelling. We’ve seen (outside the RCJ) what happens when John Paterson encounters actual physical violence rather than talking about it.
That said someone who didn’t know them better might take it seriously, so they are at risk to some extent. But if I were defending them I would present my client as the chief exhibit.
“Goth Look”? I am now personally hurt by that suggestion having just returned from traveling 900 miles to see The Cure. Boo Babs! Boo to you!!!
But isn’t there a difference between, say, US and UK definitions? I know in the US they use the test of whether they believe whether there is an actual intention by the perp to kill, which is why so many “death threats” don’t result in any American police action, whilst the UK police will intervene and interview on whether the victim thinks there is a threat but an actual prosecution will rely on the man on the Clapham Omnibus interpretation?
Great choice, mate. I’m a big fan and saw them on the Cure in Orange Tour in ’87 😍🎵🍊
I found Alan’s supposed rant in the police station hilarious. I bet he was on his best behaviour and wouldn’t dare raise his voice to a copper.
Lol, nice video. Just a shame that Paterson hasn’t got the sense to let this be a warning to him to quit with his death threats
Well done UKC
Damn, can you imagine how insulting Paterson could be if he was antisemitic
I see that mad old bat Heather Brown’s been ranting away on Babs’s videos
As a general comment, and not just this court case, I cannot understand where the claimed viewing figure of 4 million derived from regarding the original footage of the kids talking to camera. The number of true believers in the hoax seems to be in the region of a few dozen.
So this numptie is trying to determine the Hoaxtead EOB? She has added “ELINT traffic analyst” to her repertoire of dress-up games? Feckin amateurs.
“Learning from others’ misfortunes” does not seem to be one of this gang’s fortes.
Thanks, BT. 🙂
Does he even know what a residential school was? Could he name a single location of one? Does he know when the last one was closed down?
I know, I know, expecting facts from these numpties is a lot to ask. 🙄
The mind boggles.
Well done, TN! And I hear Dunny is none too pleased about it. 🙂
I only wish I were clever enough to run Smutty’s blog.
Wouldn’t it be amazing if there were someplace where you could just punch in your questions and find out the answer almost instantaneously? For instance, I would love to know just how many Canadians actually speak French.
Oh, wait. Maybe I will ask the Goofle.
tappity-tappity-tap
Hang on just a cotton-pickin’ minute, I think we’ve hit pay dirt!
French is the mother tongue of about 7.2 million Canadians (20.6 percent of the Canadian population, second to English at 56 percent) according to Census Canada 2016.[1] Most native speakers of the French language in Canada live in Quebec, where French is the official and majority language. 77 percent of Quebec’s population are native francophones, and 95 percent of the population speak French as their first or second language.[2] Additionally, about one million native francophones live in other provinces, forming a sizeable minority in New Brunswick, which is officially a bilingual province, where about one-third of the population are francophone. There are also French-speaking communities in Manitoba and Ontario, where francophones make up about 4 percent of the population,[3] as well as significantly smaller communities in Alberta, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan – around 1–2 percent.[3] Many of these communities are supported by French-language institutions.
Or as we way back in my Canajun homeland, “Take off, ya hoser!”
I only wish I had the energy and inspiration to post there.
Remember Leonardo Edwards? The bleach-enema scammer whose infant son was taken into custody because his idea of “treating life-threatening diarrhea in an infant” is “pump bleach up his butt”, and who responded by going through the legal steps for return of custody catching the next plane to Portugal?
https://hoaxteadresearch.wordpress.com/2019/01/07/parents-of-snatched-baby-promote-toxic-cure-all/
I see he has a new grift now, in addition to “selling industrial bleach as a health panacea at a huge mark-up” and “whoring for donations through a GoFundMe appeal to support his life-style“… he’s joined the Sovereign Citizen business, spells his name with extra colons, and sells copies of the Quantum Grammar book to would-be scammers who want to learn the secret incantations that win every court-case (Judges hate it!).
This has caused some strife with other scammers who reckon that they have exclusive rights to rip off would-be scammers.
Edwards has not returned to the UK to wield the quantum-grammar powers and win court cases and regain custody of his no-longer-infant son, so it’s almost as if he knows the book is total shite.
Aww, it seems Angie’s not happy. If only we’d tried to warn her about Heather. Oh wait – we did. Repeatedly. But she called us lying trolls and blocked us 🙄
“2. The subject children have been named repeatedly on the internet. Their photographs and film clips in which they feature have been published and re-published widely. Filmed police interviews of the children have been uploaded on to publicly accessible websites; so, too, intensely personal information relating to both children. As at 10 March 2015, more than 4 million people worldwide had viewed online material relating to this case.”
http://www.bailii.org/cgi-bin/markup.cgi?doc=/ew/cases/EWFC/HCJ/2015/26.html&query=ZC14C00315&method=Boolean
“How Hampstead satanic abuse cult allegations came to be online and viewed by four million people worldwide”
https://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/crime-court/timeline-how-fantasy-hampstead-satanic-abuse-cult-allegations-came-to-be-online-1-4001668
“The judge said that four million people had viewed material about the case online, many of whom had ‘a sexual interest in children’. Several of those implicated had received menacing emails and phone calls at all hours of the day or night.”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/11483750/Evil-mother-tortured-children-into-telling-police-their-father-was-leader-of-Satanic-sex-cult.html
No but he knows how to copy and paste Hope Girl’s hissy fits and pass them off as his own 😀
Indeed. He’s put up a video today in which he rants about “YouTube censorship” an vowed to find an alternative platform. Sound familiar? 😀
Yes indeed. And in two separate videos yesterday Babs uttered the immortal line, “Something like that anyway but I can’t be arsed to check.” But hey, she’s a trooper and a little ‘blockage’ like that wasn’t going to stop her from speaking with authority on a range of topics and slinging mud at random people. Noooo
Wow. Just jaw-dropping! Thanks for sharing, SC
Nurse! Mr. Paterson’s having another one of his turns…
Paragraph 2 of Mrs Justice Anna Pauffley’s judgment following her March 2015 fact-finding hearing reads:
This number, I believe, was derived from viewing estimates found on YouTube, the Change.org petitions set up by Sabine McNeill, and Vid.me. There may have been other sources of which I’m not aware.
Obviously, every person who viewed the videos did not instantly become a full-scale promoter of the hoax. The great majority would have seen the videos and been horrified, but not everyone would have believed that what the children were saying was true; and of those who did believe what they said, only a few would have bothered to become “activists”. Even on the fabled never-ending David Icke Forum discussion group, the true believers were really a small core, while others might have accepted some parts of the story, and still others thought the whole thing was bunkum.
That said, whenever there has been a revival of the videos, for example by Thomas “Giant Honking Nostrils of Doom” Dunn, we notice small resurgences in those who claim to believe in the hoax. It seems to have reached the status of urban legend, with few bothering to look closely enough to determine that they have been fed a load of nonsense.
Meanwhile, over on ShitBoot…
Nostrilsofdoom? Wasn’t he that French philosopher bloke who used to predict the future?
If memory serves, some of the original Henry Curteis uploads of the Hampstead videos had view counts in the millions before we got them taken down.
Calm down, dear…
Julian & Christine – a modern romance
Angie promoting Devine’s drunken Hampstead rant, the one with all the head-swaying, slurred speech and death threats:
The only person who talked of any of that was Chris Fay, oh and may be a bit of Bill Maloney too, She`s not great with dates? she`s not great with the truth either, how come no one else saw the said picture? even Chris Fay said he didn`t know where it went. Angela, you`re full of shit, So Angie you didn`t think of telling anyone when you actually saw the picture, you just happen to mention it now.
I would think that real pedophiles would find those videos irresistible – two angelic looking kids talking about sex and often in an excitable and enthusiastic manner (knowing that had to please that brute Christie who would slap them if they got it wrong).
From my limited reading about “pedos”, there can be quite a bit of fantasy involved in the belief pre-pubescent kids actually want sex with their abuser.
And not a single one of the hoax promoters gives a thought to the children’s right to privacy. Pleasing that as they become teenagers, looks rapidly change and it’s often hard to recognise a 15 yr old from when they were 9.
So I guess that means she’s not on Julian Assange’s visiting list at Belmarsh?
Of course judges do hate it, because: it’s so time consuming (though less so now that it’s so recognisable); it’s hard to resist jumping across the bench, grabbling the defendant by the lapels and asking how can you be so stupid; and there’s always the nagging fear that the defendant might have a defence which they’re doing so much to conceal that you’ll miss it. I had a fotler trying to prevent the prosecution offering no evidence and the court dismissing all the charges against him, and then he tried to judicially review the court for finding him not guilty.
Attack of the Flowerpot Men! Trouble is they always crumbled when Little Weed told them what to do.
I was wondering if Tom’s proud of his nostrils since he points the camera up ’em in almost every other video. I’m just grateful he’s not afflicted with nose hair.
Sooooooooo does that mean she has a Sword of Steam (possibly a Russell Hobbs Iron?) or is it just a hilt due to water and fire cancelling each other out? I’m so confused and that’s before we get to grammar and general rules of the English language.
Maybe that’s what he’s trying to show us: “Look, Ma, no nose hair!”
In cartographic circles this self-filming angle is known as the ‘sinusoidal projection’.
This just in:
I only hope Mr. Assange can cope with the 30-day wait until the next love letter 😮
But it involves 16th century maths. Ergo: SATANIC!
Who knows? Let’s hope someone leaks said list, if only for the irony value 🤭
They’re just such a massive waste of everyone’s time and energy.
Fotler? 🤔
Poor little fellers. I wonder if they made it to San Francisco in the end.
Yes, much like she didn’t think of reporting alleged videos of Ella participating in child sexual abuse…until she was in a spat with Team Ella on the HRes Facebook group, and needed a weapon against them.
Multiple reports from me already.
“Fat Purple Haired Dyke….” Oh dear… Now I’m no expert on UK law but I’m pretty sure that’s libellous, criminal and an invitation to the men in the white coats to make return visit with their rubber walled van.
Freeman On The Land-er
Ironically, an extra colon is probably what you need if someone gives you enemas with bleach.
Aww, Andy’s not happy with us in his latest video ‘Exposing How The Darkside Work And How To Deal With Them !!’ 🤭
“They should be imprisoned for impersonating” 😆
He’s saying John Paterson was punched in the temple. I could have sworn it was in the street outside Southwark Crown Court.
Aww, he didn’t like my drinking game 🤭
Using the Freedom of Information Act I have managed to track down footage of the Jew hater’s assault. It clearly identifies the mystery assailant.
Praterson now reckons he’s having us tracked down by “all intelligence agencies” 😂
I think more than a little weed is involved.
Ay oop, his chief arselicker’s just turned up:
I’ve reported Andy’s video at two points so far.
By the way, little tip in case you didn’t know – if you report different parts of the same video, do it from different accounts/channels. If you use the same channel to report it twice, the second one overrides the first.
Hang on a minute. I thought WE were the intelligence agencies?
Yep – we’re tracking ourselves. Didn’t you get the memo?
😆🤣😂
I’m dying here 😂
Aww, Praterson’s still not a happy camper, it seems…
Word salad anyone? 🤪
If you don’t know already, “Abel Danger” is the handle and website of of Field McConnell, conspiracy theorist and general all round right wing nut job. Big hat – no cattle as our American cousins say.
It seems that Sasha Stone has made a really terrifying film about 5G called ‘5G Apocalypse – The Extinction Event. It starts with Mark Steele saying the 5G rollout is a weapons system. The way he describes the development of the generations and what’s to come I found myself waiting for him to announce that 5G will become self-aware at some point, in which case we can expect a terminator….or something. Anyway, David Icke makes an appearance. Mark Steele does his thing to save Gateshead. Then someone called Thomas Joseph Brown appears and he’s apparently ‘Director of Sciences – New Earth University fellow’. I have to say that description piqued my interest so I went off to look at the New Earth University website. First thing to come up was an advert for Jim Humble’s (bleach man himself!) book. Jim is also a ‘fellow’.
The faculty at the New Earth University will be interesting to some of you as Sir John Walsh of Brannagh (now also using the title ‘Dr’) is on it. There’s a smattering of real Phd’s in there alongside some dubious ones and I enjoyed reading about people’s specialisms. There’s the usual wellness and woo stuff in there as well as some more (probably Glastonbury friendly) topics about energy and the like. (Some of the faculty have done Ted Talks so who am I to judge!) While wellness and woo predominates I came away disappointed not to find courses in Defence Against the Dark Arts or Mandrake potting. Closest thing was ‘vibrational testing’. I’ll leave that to your imaginations.
Second helping…?
To be fair they seem to have rumbled our hidden agenda behind 5G.
Since at some point all internet traffic will be routed (at least partially) through 5G networks, the only way that Neelu, Devine and the walk-into-lamposts man can be certain that they will not be effected by this terrible directed weapon system is to perform a precautionary disconnect, smash their routers and never use the internet again.
Of course. if they do that, the rest of us will be able to enjoy fast connectivity without having to endure these nutcases.
Lots of Freeman-on-the-Land scamming there:
“UCC: How to Own Your Strawman by Bibi Bacchus, NEU School of Natural Law Faculty. Learn from this inspiring, eye-opening 40-min. film gifted by Sacha Stone introducing Bibi explaining the basics of Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) – how to kill and then own “your strawman.” 25,000 + people have studied this …”
Ghost of Sacha Stone says:
I’m not too sure I like your tone as I am a former student of the NewEarth Uni and received First Class Honours in ‘Own Your Own Strawman’.
You make it sound questionable?. Did you make it past third grade? I did. I am indeed, one of the 25,000. They’re going to make a TV series about us and I’ve just received the synopsis: The Disappeared : “25000 people suddenly disappear and the re-appear 10 years later having not aged a minute but seemingly have had their brains re-arranged spouting all sorts of New Age Claptrap leaving family members puzzled” : a script by former Warwick University Chancellor Angela Power D’Isigny (for it is she) Ben Affleck & Matt Damon, creators of the Oscar winning movie ‘Good Will Hunting’ (although Damon & Affleck played very minor roles and were deemed “co-writers” even though they just worked in the studio canteen.)
My Strawman:
## apologies..a mix-up: that’s just a snap of me on the way home from the pub.
The next course I plan to major in is “Why Do Vegetables Need Friends?”. This is one of those questions that have vexed me all my life. Kept me awake at times & on other occasions I’ve woken up with start after a nightmare where I’m being chased by giant carrots yelling “won’t someone think of the vegetables ! ..oh the humanity ” (especially after a late night snack of cabbage soup).
I cave in Andy..guilty on breaching your copyright. You can have my £1Million Pound Note. Contact the Lord Wanoa Bank c/ A Council Car Park somewhere in Auckland.
“we need more men like you”. What layabouts that make videos everyday a’moaning and a’groaning and making no sense and boring us all witless?.
We entered with Alan Alanson going to prison – haven’t any of the hoaxers reacted? Took them all of a month to forget all about Sabine …
Not a word! Poor Alan, how quickly his efforts have been forgotten.
OH oh, look out, Pratterson’s got ‘BillnBen’ ex SAS out after us…
Ex Seed And Soil
Both experienced Sappers!!!
Woodchippers at the ready!!!!
He lost his train of thought.
I think he’s dropped a Clanger.
Blimey Slacha, I’m reading the New Earth University handbook and it says you should lie down while I test your vibrations. As Sir John would no doubt say “Trust me, I’m a doctor.”
Who’s Alan?
Mr :Bonkers: says:
Patersons natural talent for colliding with things could have launched a career on the telly or assisting medical students studying the long term effects of post concussion syndrome.The man is truly wasted simply joining words together randomly on YouTube at his ripe old age.Sad.
I informed Angela, Kaley, Matt, Praterson and Devine and asked them for their thoughts, to no avail.
Not even Alanson’s on-off blood brother Arthur Kaoutal has said anything.
Meanwhile, Alanson’s old mucker Malcolm Ogilvy, who traditionally posts 5-7 posts about the Hampstead dad a day, hasn’t mentioned him once since Alanson’s sentence was announced. Read into that what you will 🙂
I’ve genuinely lost count of how many identities Heather Brown’s attributed to me in the last 24 hours. I’m Steve Keys now, apparently. And she also seems to think Steve’s a copper 😆
And how’s this for irony…?
Heather’s been naming, attacking and slandering Steve Keys’ wife again:
Lowest of the low. Still, at least this time she hasn’t threatened to have his parents’ café burnt down with them and his wife inside.
Is ‘Shiva’s Revenge’ another name for Delhi-Belly?
Devine’s question-dodging antics show no sign of letting up, I see.
Babs @ 4:23 – “I wish you’d stop bullying Andy Devine. Can’t you see this man’s vulnerable?” 😆
LOL, I’ll bear that in mind next time he names a protected witness and his children and threatens to have him and everyone who defends him put through a woodchipper by gangsters or hanged from the nearest lamppost. Bless ‘im 🙄
Andy really is proving himself once again to be a despicable onanist in every sense. I see that he hasn’t taken up my suggestion that he get a soap box and get down to the Marina to spout his bollocks to all the holiday makers, surely the much wider audience he so obviously craves. “Manic Street Preacher “…Oh the irony! I reckon he is shitting bricks because after what happened to Sabine and now Alanson he must know that if a certain father has made formal complaints about him then a return to the UK may not be beneficial or easy!
EP. Don’t let up on this bastard. You have him by the balls and he hates it. Shove his 200 year old plastic royal seal right up him!
I see Praterson’s re-uploaded four more old videos. More opportunities to report him, hehe. I’ve reported his death threat at 8:04 in this one for starters:
For I concur.
Same end result- s..t goes everywhere…
I see Kaley’s on particularly bizarre form:
The “people are guilty until proven innocent” stuff at 44:45, 48:24 and 49:20 are particularly idiotic.
Would any of you like to contribute to this worthy crowdfunding campaign? We only need £6.4 billion a month. Form an orderly queue 🤪
Nope. Not common at all, Angie.
By the way, Daily Star – great source
The silly deluded bint has realised that in any sensible live debate she would be absolutely destroyed.She should just crawl back up Devines orrifice.
That didn’t happen in the UK, btw. It was South Africa. Angie forgot to mention that – or as usual, couldn’t be arsed to actually read the article before posting it and commenting on it.
So if we accuse Kaley (or any of the Mob) of something then she’s automatically guilty? Riiight…I think she may regret that she shared that belief.
Call me naive, call me simple, call me Alice Bracegirdle-Smythe if you must (the name I use at the Bridge Club) but seeing David Noakes made a few ££million quid from GcMAF why can’t he fund a trial of 20 cancer patients under the gaze of accredited cancer specialists and prove his concoction works and at the same time save his partner-in-crime from a French jail?
No, thought not.
Angie believes if she can conjure up any old newspaper article of abuse it somehow justifies all her claims of which she has no proof.
Anyway she better watch out- there’s a new Sheriff in Town called Kaley who has a new method of deciding guilt.
King John…..The nominee and stand out for the best actor award….!
I got all confused by the title and thought Danny had asked her to go and LIVE with him. Lots of head scratching and thinking ‘won’t his wife mind?’
I thought the man who challenged Andy had some good points but he wasn’t articulate enough and not calm enough to stay the course. The threats at the end were awful. Who is he?
I’ve been out of the loop on this one and thought I better catch up so I sat down to watch John Wanoa this afternoon. I think he’s been on a Stanley Unwin course. Do they offer that at the New Earth University?
LOL, I thought that at first too 😀
Am i right in thinking he’s one of the Pendragons, or did I dream that?
And yes, I wasn’t impressed by the threats either, especially to Devine’s dogs. If those two are gonna have a barney, at least leave the doggies out of it 😮
LOL, good luck with that, Angie 😆
Another Kenya snoozefest from Angie, if you can bear it:
And if that weren’t enough, she’s followed that up with a stats analysis snoozefest.
(Sorry, I can’t link it, as she starts it with an attack on the Hampstead dad.)
On the bright side, though, she says she’s had severe depression for the last few days.
6:56 – “Research is not my lane.”
No shit, Angie 😆
Wow, she’s up to .25 million views in her first year? We’ll have to get on our bicycles, she’s catching up…if she keeps going at that rate, in another seven years she will be where we are now!
At 10:50 she pleads for someone to give her a part-time job 😀
Next up, Devine…
Meanwhile, Wanoa’s looking and sounding really ill:
I see Kaley Einav’s taken down all her videos or set them to private:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFOWB-cRbLgcCXXZtw42iOQ/videos
I’m well pissed off. I actually watched all three John Wanoa videos and was going to treat her to my opinion.
Sneak preview of David Noakes’ next appearance (with support group) in Southwark Crown Court:
The court had to be cleared owing to the roars of ribald laughter which greeted the appearance in the witness-box of the twelve red-bearded dwarfs all in a heap. Their names were read out amid growing uproar. The names appeared to be: Sophus Barkayo-Tong, Amaninter Axling, Farjole Merrybody, Guttergorm Guttergormpton, Badly Oronparser, Churm Rincewind, Cleveland Zackhouse, Molonay Tubilderborst, Edeledel Edel, Scorpion de Rooftrouser, Listenis Younghaupt, Frums Gillygottle.
Cocklecarrot: Are these genuine names?
A Dwarf; No, m’worship.
Cocklecarrot: Then what’s your name?
Dwarf: Bogus, m’ludship.
Cocklecarrot: No, your real name.
Dwarf: My real name is Bogus, your excellency.
(At this point the court had to be cleared)
Devine reads a Neelu Berry screed very badly (Linda Thyer, Crown and Lord Bishops, Equity Lawyer, Swiss Indo, all the usual stuff). Then we get one of Neelu’s phone calls to the RCJ where she’s demanding that they allow Noakes appeal and stop Thyer’s extradition. The admin officer who answers the phone stands for no nonsense but then rather meanly passes her on to a team leader who gives her far too much information before realising and telling her to to email in.
Neelu then rings and asks to speak to Dominic Raab. Thyer and Noakes are now “whistleblowers” – another Humpty Dumpty word with Neelu – whistleblower = criminal. She gets a bit distracted by geography. “Are we still in the commonwealth? Does that include Europe, is Europe in the Commonwealth?” Having rung the wrong person in the wrong department she gets cross with them for not having the right information. Then she rings the foreign office and same again, Linda Thyer has been kidnapped and disappeared and that is the sanest thing she says. She is a witness of the assassination of 2 million people and a qualified pharmacist (sounds like a confession).
Then she rings someone else “you’re through to the British Consulate in Paris.” “Is that in France?” This receptionist sternly says she can’t share details with any old nutter who rings up and that’s that.
Then Andy Devine says he’s surprised that Linda Thyer wasn’t released after all that.
where she’s demanding that they allow Noakes appeal and stop Thyer’s extradition
There is no Noakes appeal. The hearing for confiscating his proceeds of fraud has been postponed due to his insistence on dispensing with legal counsel and not bothering to prepare himself… after that comes his extradition hearing. Thyer has been extradited, so there is naught for the RCJ to do there.
LOL, go to 1:51 – 5:11
Dunny & Chrestman have been moaning about their YT strikes and flailing round wildly trying to work out what they were for 🙂
Great work T. Niedermeier, who’s manage to get two strikes against these pr*cks in the last week
👍🎯🥂
Another name for the list of people Angie’s fallen out with 🤦♂️
Anyone have a spare bridge they need guarding?
Or a field they need guarding from crows?
“CALL TO ACTION : GcMAF Awareness Day – 11th SEPT 2019”
Warning, ranty gobshite alert.
Thanks, Smut.
I was going to share that link you posted on Twitter to that old site showing David Noake’s previous attempts to promote another fake cancer cure before GcMAF (the one where you asked why he’d stopped and whether it was because it wasn’t profitable enough), but I can’t seem to find it. Would you mind posting it here for people to see?
Question of the day: can God get hanged for treason? 😂
Brilliant. Thanks, mate 👍
22:04 – “Don’t fall for all the global warming, climate change or anthropogenic climate change bullshit”
Yeah, don’t believe in global warming or climate change, folks. But do believe in chemtrails 🙄
Crane would prefer people to concentrate their concerns on the *real* threats to the environment, i.e. chemtrails, 5G mobile telephony, and immigration destroying the homogeneity of white countries.
What is it Kaley and her cronies always say about channels that have no content? 🤭
Not directly to do with the blog, but I’ve had a call from a number withheld company saying that they’d been in touch with people in my road earlier this year (not with me they hadn’t) about funding for works and that the government would be releasing the funds this time next year and would I be interested. I said I wouldn’t do business with a company with a withheld number and discontinued the call. He rang back and I said I didn’t want to seem rude but I wouldn’t do business with a company that withheld its number. Am I being overly cautious? I don’t want to be discourteous to genuine people.
I had a look at an old BBC article (from around November last year) and if I read it correctly Mr Noakes no longer claims that gc-maf cures cancer. I posted under the video asking people to be vigilant (I didn’t exactly put it like that). Unfortunately, people who believe in unproven conspiracies will probably think the BBC are part of “them”.
Smut, I always wonder why the people who believe in chem trails don’t take into account that “they” or “the elite” or whatever they like to name the powers that be breathe the same air as we lesser mortals.
Sorry, link to the BBC article https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-guernsey-46308221
Certainly not being over-cautious. I would never discuss business from an undisclosed phone number and I had this problem 5 years ago dealing with a car insurance company trying to beat me down in price for a write-off after an accident.
Each time they rang from an undisclosed number and were trying to beat me down on the payout- each time I made them ring back on a recognizable number so I would have a record of the call- each time they got the huff and inferring I was being unreasonable- each time I told them basically to piss off. I got what I wanted in the end and my records of their calls became a complaint with the insurance regulator which ordered them to apologise and cease calling from undisclosed phone numbers.
Jeezuz H Christ- all because Julian Assange won’t take her calls.
Who IS this bloke?. He’s always pontificating from a field somewhere. What’s that all about?
I guess she was..something she accuses everyone else of : triggered !!!😂😂😂
With you 100%, CAW. I don’t even allow withheld numbers to call my landline.
Well said about the contradictory nature of the chemtrail conspiracy. This video makes the same point (and applies the principle to other conspiracies too):
Still rambling on with his nonsense but wow- very slow. His lost his aggression but still believes if you put it in writing (but not briefly ie: 100 pages) it makes it real.
Poor old thing. he & Andy won’t be leading any Revolution.
You can also run the number through sites such as WhoCallsMe to see if the number’s been reported by other people, who often leave quite detailed descriptions of their experiences with the number in question. I usually just type the number into Google and several SCM-type sites come up linking to info’ on it.
“I’m a Private Investigator for the Crown and Lord Bishops”. Nutter.
How could Noakes appeal a case he plead guilty to and has served the sentence?.
I’ve never in a lifetime of meeting nutters, one who thinks you can ring a court and get a case acted upon.
And because the Queen ate Princess Diana, natch.
Well, he may not know much about medicine but he’s out standing in his field.
I’ll get me coat.
It’s been speculated that he may be on chlorpromazine 🤔
LOL:
It’s all a government conspiracy, apparently…
I don’t think the bible has a single reference to a steam iron which presumably is what she means by a sword of fire and water. Nor to the royal family, if it comes to that .
Yeah, because the government hasn’t anything else to do right now.
Isn’t one of the things about 5G that it causes cancer? So what’s his problem if he has a cure?
Yes, 25,000 people wanted to gloat. They are all waiting with bated breath for the DPP to lay charges now. (Good thing they aren’t literally holding their breath, though.)
That’s what he sounds like to me. Even more slurry than usual.
Angie – still determined to dig herself a massive hole 🤦♂️
Another slice of psychotic butt-hurt from John Prattle-On 🙄
That’s not a new video, btw. It’s the same one (the phone call to the police about his assault) that he’s uploaded numerous times already to various channels 💤
Interesting that at 6:33 he describes the assault as “a punch in the face”. I wonder when he changed his mind and decided that it was “a punch in the temple, which is attempted murder” 🤔
Wow, how’s this for a coinkydink…? 🎯
Great minds think alike and all that 😀
I’ve lost track of the number of versions of that story he’s told: he’s named multiple assailants (some imaginary); he’s got up and chased the guy, beaten him up, or maybe not; he’s described the punch as nothing serious, a punch in the face, a punch to the temple, and a death blow; and he’s said he went home afterwards because he saw no need to see a doctor, and that he had to go to the hospital for treatment. If I had to guess, I’d suggest this might be related to the police’s reluctance to pursue the matter in court.
WTF, lol…?
https://angelascaches.org/rev-pike-where-are-you-and-compte-de-poher
Boom! 😃
Angela is really a nasty cow, she’s trying to gain more viewers imho now that her PayPal has been shut down, obviously her ‘undeclared’ income has gone down then so.
And make it snappy- don’t linger and let the grass grow under your feet.
I hope you’re all ready for a good laugh ‘cos this is one of the funniest things I’ve seen in ages.
Here’s Tom Dunn talking to Caspar McCloud who lives in the USA but apparently grew up in Manchester.
When Caspar speaks there’s no trace of a Manchester accent. In fact I thought he was South African and had probably lived in Liverpool or Birmingham for a while. But no, he claims to be English. He doesn’t know how to pronounce ‘Savile’ properly though, which is odd and a bit of a red flag.
But heck, Caspar can’t be telling lies. He was famous! He was touted as the next Jimi Hendrix!
https://www.casparmccloudmusic.com/about-2/
Was he famous? Is he English?
https://www.rebeccameiser.com/Meiser_040208.html
Oh crap! Tom does the interview and notices nothing odd because…er…I have no idea because how couldn’t you spot this scammer at 50 paces? Tom seems to think all is ok though. Do they give awards for gullible?
“was touted as the “next Jimi Hendrix” by the legendary Ahmet Ertegun, CEO, and Founder of Atlantic Records.”..indeed he was but what Ahmet said at the end of that sentence was.. “ie: career dead and over by age 27”
Having a spot of insomnia here and thought I’d watch Caspar and Dunny…first thought was OMIGOD THE HAIR!!! But that was before Caspar started talking. I nearly ruptured something laughing…he looks like a fox eating shit out of a wire brush. And what in the name of all that’s holy is that accent supposed to be? How does anybody actually believe this person about…well, anything? I thought my respect for Dunny could descend no further. I was wrong.
Oh FFS : “we can prove some of these things actually ‘appened” with “‘appened” a distinct Lennonesque Liverpool pronunciation but he’s from Cleveland, USA? LOL.
Bloody hell, this has gotta be King Johns sister surely…..?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7381313/Maori-group-makes-claim-valuable-piece-land-Australia.html
He’s also appears to be wearing one of Tere Joyce’s discarded wigs.
“Lady Crown is an ancestor of Paramount Chief Te Pahi, Maori King Hongi Hika, Queen Turikatuku III and Maori King Te Ruki Kawiti”
Oh Daily Fail, don’t ever change. Don’t hire literate staff, that would ruin everything.
Let’s say that she’s plagiarising from the same tradition of conmanship.
https://scontent.fpmr1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/68476438_1390837901069110_5862182204972466176_n.jpg?_nc_cat=101&_nc_oc=AQnmskWAf7bLA-EiPTdxuSAogtuc_xdoQl422ZW6bk_PMSdxdzgrse40KNjCpc-v5s0&_nc_ht=scontent.fpmr1-1.fna&oh=b76d56abdf5346d5f3a5cacac4411c58&oe=5E1411DE
Needless to say she’s a FotL grifter as well.
And believe me – Ertegun knew what he was talking about. I don’t know if you’re familiar with him – and apologies if I’m teaching Grandmother to suck eggs – but he was one of the people behind not only Atlantic records but also its subsidiary Stax, which was arguably the most influential and important label in the history of soul music, creating as it did that legendary sound generated by the stable of talent that included Otis Redding, Wilson Picket, Booker T and the MGs, Arthur Conley, The Bar-Kays, Sam & Dave, Isaac Hayes, Eddie Floyd, the Staple Singers and many more. I was going to recommend a book called ‘Ahmet Ertegun and the Godfathers of Soul’ or something like that. I read it years ago but it doesn’t appear to be in print any more. But dare I say it, the Blues Brothers movie is also a great love letter to Stax, featuring as it does several songs from the label, with their band made up primarily of former Stax musicians 🙂
And while I’m on on, I consider this one of the greatest live performances of all time:
There’s a lot of homophobia from hot-diggety man and then from the Duncemeister himself, starting at 31:34. I’ve reported it anyway – I always try to grab opportunities to shut Dunny up when they present themselves 🤭
35:13 – We’ve all been brainwashed by George Harrison, apparently 🙄🤦♂️🤪
I’ve left them a comment. Let me know if you think I should tweak anything:
Hilariously ironic lyric at 48:19 🤭
For I concur 👍
Andy is either gonna cream his jeans or explode with rage over this Moani usurper/clone/wannabe. Is it gonna be Kings Law/Bench or Queens Law/Bench which comes out on top? Strap your selves in for a bumpy ride folks.
Before she became Lady Crown, invented a genealogy and acquired a facial tat in emulation of her newly-acquired ancestress, she was Jennifer Holt-Alexander.
https://alfgrumblemp.wordpress.com/2012/04/23/a-tip-for-australias-aboriginals-get-your-land-claims-in-ahead-of-the-maori-takeover/
Her pre-scamming career was as “Head Lice Removal Specialist”. https://nomorenitz.wordpress.com/info/
Nothing obsessive there, then:
Well, after having looked into him, i have come to the conclusion that he is not gullible, he just does not give a fuck. He has a long history of working with criminals and hoaxsters. Among them APD of course, but also racist hatepreacher Coach Dave who was driven out of his coaching job by a citizens initiative, SRA scammer par exellence “Honeybee aka Moneybee” Melissa Zacharia who scammed concerned “pseudochristians” off of 20.000 Dollars for a groundbreaking “documentary” about SRA that she never delivered. She also took footage from a mexican drug cartel murder and claimed it was a satanic snuff film. She then used this illegal footage to get another 10.000 via Gofundme for a “Memorial Film”. Researching her court records, i found out that she herself has been convicted of child abuse and neglect. Dunn will sell her as a heroic fighter for the good, nevertheless.
The same goes for L.A.. Marzulli who bought the corpse of a “demon fairy” from some guy in Mexico, heavily monetizing it and using it as proof for the coming apocalypse and the existence of demons and angels. Later it turned out that the demon fairy was the crude work of a makeshift taxidermist. And the list goes on and on. Long debunked fake SRA victim Karly Franz Noel: he had her on of course, and his idiotic followers believed every word. Karly has changed her narrative in the meantime, she is a secret clone now, and enslaved author and songwriter who wrote most of Lady Gagas songs without being compensated. I could continue this list for hours, but just to give you one last example, he made a “documentary” about a guy called David Arthur, who of course was a gay/trans/drug-addict/criminal/pedophile, got infected with HIV and was miraculously cured on his deathbed after he found the lord. Dunn regularly states that all gay people are pedophiles by nature. In one of his latest videos “Are you ready for legion” he advertises tutorial courses he holds for exorcism. Of course these are free, except for the cost of the printed material you get. wink wink .He states that in in some cases these exorcisms wear down on all participants, may cause fatigue and other injuries, even serious harm. But never mind, because everything is better than having demons amongst us. Exorcising adolescents a speciality. I reported him for damgerous conduct and scamming and would appreciate if you did the same. In his latest video “Good boys” he tries to contain himself, yet it is full of homophobic slurs and states that gay and trans people are only waiting to become pedophiles and go after your children, should they not already be after them right now. Of course he is also extremly anti-abortion and calls the abortions either “satanic child sacrifice” or “baby holocaust”. Whoever does not agree with him is blatantly called a Nazi. This is something i am especially disgusted by, because he shares most of their worldviews, especially regarding his homophobic and antisemitic slurs. He and “Call for an uprising” to a large part led me to reconsider my religous worldviews and explore other paradigms.
In “The story of David Arthur” you can learn more about the miracle healing of this guy. It is full of hatespeech. I just found another video where L.A. Marzulli. claims his house burnt down during the california fires and asks for donations. Isn’t it funny how it is always gods good people who get their equipment stolen multiple times like APD or get their house burnt down. Makes you question your faith, doesn’t it ?
They are either related, she’s been inspired by Lord Wanoa or been breathing in the same FOTL Chem Trail because..it’s always about a Council Car Park !
Is that why I took up playing the sitar?
Must be love.
Are all those little bottles in the background Anti-Lice Solution?.
Just taken an opportunity to report Matt Taylor’s latest channel. In his latest video he gives out the name and address of a fellow troll and makes a remark that he hopes he was anally raped in prison.
At 39:25 he names and attacks the Hampstead dad (and hilariously claims he’s MKD and says he’s gonna report the dad to the police for it 😂).
Ooh, good question. Do you find that you’re chansmoking and chanting Hare Krishna more than usual too? 🤔
Batshit, even by Neelu’s standards:
Taylor must fast be approaching the threshold for prosecution…
Criminal Law Act 1967
5 Penalties for concealing offences or giving false information.
(2) Where a person causes any wasteful employment of the police by knowingly making to any person a false report tending to show that an offence has been committed, or to give rise to apprehension for the safety of any persons or property, or tending to show that he has information material to any police inquiry, he shall be liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for not more than six months or to a fine of not more than level 4 on the standard scale or to both.
That joke is at the very minimum 17 years old, and I suspect the only reason the original can’t be found on Google is that it was on CompuServe forums in the 1990s!
Yes, i thought it rang a bell. I bet Neelu thinks it’s real though, lol.
Yes, at a good rate of speed, too.
Hi – How can I find his (youtube ?) channel ? The only ones I can find have been taken down !
He’s panicked and taken that video down, by the way. But I managed to get a backup copy just in time, which will be forwarded to Sussex Police. He watches this page like a hawk and when he gets wind that we’re gonna report one of his videos to YouTube and/or the authorities, he gets cold feet and takes it down. I should think he wouldn’t want his anti-abuse mates to hear his rant about how he hopes someone got anally raped either. But he may have to suck it up, as I’m putting a highlights vid together as we speak 🙂
He posted those videos of himself reporting that protected witness to police and even said in them that he acknowledged that he was on a suppression order forbidding him from naming him.
This really is endless harassment and a case of making that victim fearful as he wouldn’t know from day to day whether Taylor is going to falsely accuse him or not. The man has children to look after- children who really have been through an awful experience of being tortured into making false allegations.
This mob won’t let it drop. They are a danger to the father and his children. We don’t what deranged person could pick up on these allegations and think they should mete out punishment.
Day after day it’s a battle on here to get their attacking and illegal videos that name people taken down.
More of them must go to jail and be dealt with harshly. I now believe McNeil deserves her lengthy sentence as her campaign has spread far and wide. Her lack of remorse has painted her as a martyr to her followers (not that they really give a stuff about Sabine) and they have taken up where she left off.
“The money won’t be going into John Wanoa’s pocket”..oh yes it will as Wanoa has said many times that the “seed money” can be spent on his living expenses while he sets up his imaginary corporation and he has filmed himself spending it on living expenses at Hong Kong airport etc.
I don’t whether these Wanoa fools are so thick they believe this hogwash or just scammers like Wanoa.
# That Daily Mail article about the Maoris making a claim on a Sydney suburb with the flag and so many similarities to Wanoa but far more organised makes me think they were at this far longer than Wanoa and he has simply nicked their idea and tried to make it his own. The head woman, whatever her FOTL stuff does seem like she may genuinely be related to former Maori “royalty”.
Wanoa’s work history reeks of a man who has tried numerous attempts to make money and he appears to have failed in each venture like his chauffeured car business and as a real estate agent. He’s been booted out of genuine Maori Land Right’s groups as a troublemaker.
He’s a man with a deteriorating mental state who has desperately latched on to a land right’s battle but instead of a few acres in Sydney wants all of Britain. And note: they both even have a car park claim?. But they appear to be reasonably sane (reading their previous Lice Removal prospectus).
I reckon Lord John has hoovered up all their information and it’s come out all garbled as the King’s Park bench Law.
Is Wanoa just another plagiarist like Icke albeit 10 times nuttier?
He remembers riding horses in Manchester! Last time anyone did that was in the Peterloo Massacre.
The head woman, whatever her FOTL stuff does seem like she may genuinely be related to former Maori “royalty”.
Unless, of course, she made it all up. It is a recent addition to her artistic practice. The Daily Fail are not going to waste time investigating someone’s claim to a chiefly genealogy, when they don’t even know the difference between “ancestor” and “descendant”.
PMSL @ 47:20 😂
Rather an apt motto – it’s from Ovid and means “we are all heading for the grave”. “tendimus huc omnes, haec est domus ultima” or “Hither we all make our way; this is our final home”.
One thing I’m sure is true, he will be back – day after tomorrow most likely.
I’m typing this with Matt Taylor warbling in the background. I think he’s channelling the late Ian Drury – sounds like him and quite as funny too, especially when he was talking about the King’s Flag.
Yes, I was wondering how he managed that.
Did you find yourself wanting to hit him with a rhythm stick?
Perhaps Paterson has a MK-ULTRA split personality, so one of his alters regularly threatens to kill anyone who disagrees with him (and in fact claims credit for deaths he imagines to have already occurred), while another is terrified that he is the one threatened with death.
Alternatively, the feckin gutless chickenshit has at most one personality, and it’s absolute garbage.
You may have hit on something. Let’s see what we have here. (1) A person who threatens people with murder. (2) A person who claims he is going to be murdered. All consistent with him being the person who attacked himself.
And am I the only one who thinks that his threat to “counter attack” his imaginary attackers and his proclamation that “these people will be dealt with” is a little sinister? We already know he is mentally unstable.
The Voices have informed praterson of the real identity & address of his imaginary persecutor; told him that he would be acting in justifiable self-defense; and advised him to operate undercover.
Obviously he is more likely to walk under a bus or into a lamppost than he to injure anyone else, but if I were in the UK, I would keep the constabulary informed of his clearly-stated intentions.
Yes I’m only assuming she may have been related to Maori royalty because she presents herself as sane but then again, she is claiming to own half a Sydney suburb in a scheme that is likely to be laughed out of court.
My royal roots however can be easily proved as I still have photos of myself with my late Aunt Marie Antoinette at my 5th birthday party when she famously declared to the assembled guests..”let them eat cake”.
Doubtful he has gone into seclusion.
He seems to get a thrill out of threatening people with instant mulching.
I’ll see his “tendimus huc omnes”, and raise him a “haud ullis labentia ventis”–“yielding under no winds”.
It's All Over Rover says:
Do you think Prattleon and Kaley’s decision to go underground has anything to do with this ?. Looks like the End Of The Road for King’s Park Bench Law although Lord Wanoa is predicting islands will rise from the sea and he has generously proclaimed Andy will have one of those islands (Personally I’d prefer one already inhabited and with good infrastructure- Tahiti would be nice) and others will sink. I’m hoping it’s not the one I’m on- Australia although it’s really a continent and as Queen Nefertiti of Ratehi has announced she owns most of western Sidney (yes she spells it at way such is her attachment to the area) I reckon I’m safe here.
# doesn’t look like anyone has informed Matt Taylor.
And while you’re at it, tell him from me he can “basia culos meos”.
OK, listen up pig people 😃
Where’s the original video?
I might go up there to the Supreme Court myself. I’d like to get a complement slip with a stamp on it. I don’t want to be left out.
Breaking: Hilary Clinton once said she likes pizza 😮
(And a bunch of tinfoil hat wearers are freaking out.)
Good luck with that, Angie 🙄🤦♂️🤪
Hoaxtard fruitloopery alert 🤪
Semolina, this is the sort of thing that irritates me the most about this hoax. If people want to waste their money on John Wanoa’s scam it’s up to them – they’ve been warned but looks like they’ll have to learn the hard way. I’d probably heard of the hoax in a minor way when it was first in the news but heard about it again circa the time of Mrs McNeill’s trial. I don’t know anyone involved in the Hampstead accusations mess personally (well I live a long way away from there) but it saddens me that some years down the line from the original events innocent parties are still being targeted. It will be different children there largely now (children being at primary school for about 6 years from ages 5-11, maybe earlier if there is a nursery class, which many schools do have now) and I would imagine there have been staff changes at the school also, so nasty trolls are having a go at people who weren’t even at the school back in the day. People deserve some peace to go about their everyday lives.
I love Podcasts – listen to them in the car or on public transport – and this a current favourite series : ‘Con Artists’.
Today I listened to this one: Anna Anderson Pt. 1: The False Anastasia
What I like about this series is that the presenter also delves into the psychology of conning and with this latest one the similarities in the mindsets between the matters we discuss here and the fake Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov are revealing and well worth a listen.
https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/parcast/con-artists
# I’m not referring to any single person of course when I mention fake royalty and I would never be so rude to but for some reason the name HRH Grand Duke Wanoa of the British Isles and All Her Dominions ( except for the Australian State of Victoria) comes to mind.
## Another series I have lined up : ‘Conned’ https://connedcast.com/
You can almost imagine Barnett shaking with excitement seeing she has accused every Australian ex-Prime Minister of Satanist Baby Eating including Paul Keating now that the famous photo has appeared of his NY based daughter Katherine Keating emerging from Jeffrey Epsteins’ house and being farewelled by Prince Andrew.
Manna from Heaven for the Devil Fruitloop Brigade.
I like “The Paranoid Strain” (explaining conspiracies) podcast and have recently started listening to Tuesday Money The Elephant Lounge. She covers a variety of matter. She’s recently done the loonier fringe of some fans of a deceased pop singer (think of a documentary that was screened earlier in the year) and is currently covering propaganda.
Aside: I love that film. It has nothing to do with satanism – a woefully underrated satire of (and the clue is in its name) Society. Appears occasionally on The Horror Channel.
But you can tell that man is a Satanist. He’s sweaty in a vest!
LOL, Barbara ‘Babs’ Collier is claiming that she and Edgar ‘Eddieisacock’ John are going to Greece to visit Andy Devine in the next few months.
Can’t they be put on a terrorist watch list or something? 🙄
For I concur:
🤪🤪🤪
Another new Praterson channel to take down:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqnWEutxpL-KGC7vTxwKPXw/videos
Bring it on 🙂
Kaley Einav (aka UmbrellaGrape Solutions) is back and has put up two new videos. At 9:33 in the first one she goes into a Hampstead rant, including naming the boy in the case.
I see she ends the video with another denial about hers, Praterson’s and Devine’s death threats. There’s a tonne of screenshots, videos and sound clips that prove otherwise!
In the second video she just giggles hysterically for 9 minutes. Whether she’s taken something she shouldn’t have or not taken something she should have is anybody’s guess.
🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
She’s set both videos to private now, lol.
I shouldn’t be surprised… It has been mentioned many times before that a lot of the people involved in the hoax seem to have a dis-proportionally large number of convicted pedophiles in their groups ( business associates that were involved ‘in the trade’) others staying at hoax supporters houses before going on the run…
And now a ‘pedohunter group’ that their ‘head of security has multiple breaches himself….
Unfortunately their actions can actually result in offenders going free, as they don’t follow the rules on obtaining inadmissible evidence- and may indeed cause the complete collapse of existing investigations
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/coffs-coast-pedo-hunter-poses-as-girl-on-dating-sites-to-confront-paedophiles-20161207-gt5o98.html
“He said the man might be compromising police operations that are already under way or putting himself in danger.”
“I have concerns over mistaken identities, people using other people’s social media accounts, identity theft and fraud … all these could mean an innocent person is publicly humiliated,” he said.”
“East, who is serving a 12-month suspended sentence for a home invasion, said he started posing as an underage girl while “mucking around” on Tinder one night.”
Right- kiddie fiddlers bad, home invasions good- have I got that right Cameron???
They should be banned under law. The fact someone could use another person’s identity never ocurred to me. So dangerous and very suspect.
He was obviously in GMPs mounted unit.
I would expect that anyone planning on committing a crime deliberately would not use their real name….
king john, pratterson, neelu, sabine, abe….
Anyone with any brains that is…
There were a few fake Mouse accounts made by people trying to discredit the Mouse.
Rufus Fook’s been on again…
’tis true. I have hatched a diabolical plan to make a mint smuggling endangered avians and fennel the proceeds into my secret account in no thyme at all.
Before she went private she responded to a post accusing her of being a hypocrite when she attacks Hampstead residents and the ‘protected witness and more importantly- the children- and actually denied she ever had.
Weird or what?.
Fuck off, Neelu 🙄
Go team! 🤭🎯😂
That might be one of the screenshots in my video of her Hampstead rant uploaded earlier. There’s a screenshot of a very insightful comment by a certain Andy Best in there too 🙂
Well, he said he’d be back. And he is 💤
Ooh, the little liar! It was him who started the “Flo is Ogilvy” rumour, with me and numerous other Hoaxtead associates repeatedly trying to tell him that was incorrect. And did he listen? Nope. He blocked us, branded us trolls… and then blamed US for starting the rumour 😂
I’ve never even heard of this bloke who he says is working with us. What the hell has our HR department been up to?
This still gives me a giggle:
Well. I don’t use the “F” word in normal conversation. I blame it on my Catholic upbringing. I may occasionally use the asterisksed “***” for emphasis in written conversation but that is merely literary shorthand for a hard Paddington stare.
However, I think the real take away from this missive from Neelu is that rumours involving her and Edward Ellis are wide of the mark!
👍 🎯 👌
Certain hoaxers (Devine and Kaley in particular) have been banging on about this very topic recently. So this video is well timed and should go a long way towards redressing the balance. Thanks, EC 👍
It has often crossed my mind that most of the people we come across are fairly stupid. A reasonably intelligent person with evil intent might be able to fly completely under the radar. Benjamin Field very nearly got away with his first murder and was only caught because he failed to kill his second victim before she got wise to him.
🙄 🤦♂️ 🤪
Silly Neelu. It only works if you write “I hereby order…”
How rumours spread and become “fact” via misinformed media.
The article linked to claims a “pedophile ring was exposed”. In fact the article only mentions “suspected” rather than a real ring being exposed but I remember this claim because it all turned out to be no more than the sort of people we deal with on here, calling the cops and claiming they heard about a “pedo ring” much like the Hampstead hoax.
The claims fizzled out into nothing and the police quietly dropped the claim just as the media has been hyperventilating over a convicted sex offender suspect (with police assistance) who was cleared as having nothing to do with the William Tyrell case in the Coroner’s Court on Friday.
I find the whole entrapment matter very questionable as it seems to me that it is encouraging pretty sad cases to take action when they may normally never do anything in their lives to break the law. It is of course a “fantasy” crime they are committing- despite my thoughts it IS a crime on the books but is it right?.
How many busted this way have previous convictions?.
The blokes busted must be pretty dense to think a 13 year old girl / boy wants to meet up with them and in real life, how many 13 year olds are out there trying to meet up with older blokes?. It must be pretty rare.
Most child abuse cases..over 90%- happen within the family or involve a family friend. It’s all illegal, awful and distasteful but these ghastly vigilantes fuel the notion there are “pedophile rings” behind every bush.
The very fact that the general public seem ignorant to the reals facts and figures re child abuse demonstrates that vigilantes divert attention away from where most child abuse cases happen.
And how ethical is for middle aged men like this bozo to be on the internet all day pretending to be a 13 year old enticing some desperado to send him nude photos?
It really is a thought crime as this dickhead doesn’t seem to realize that it isn’t illegal to be a pedophile- what’s illegal is acting upon those desires. There is the danger it may prevent real pedophiles who seek help as they fear exposure.
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Sun Come Out
It's beginning to look like the monsoon is passing on its way. My training captain told me that a good sign that the monsoon has abated is that the plankton comes out to play. I was for a pause, flabbergasted.
"Plankton?"
"Yes," said he in all earnest, raising his eyebrows at me emphatically. "Look down and you can see for yourself."
And there it was, in flamboyant wisps, like sawdust chromatographed on the mood drifts of the waves. Plankton. I had no idea that I could see plankton with the naked eye.
I beg your pardon that the above picture had to be sourced from Google images courtesy of NASA Earth Observatory which allowed the large scale pic download, as I doubt my spartan 3.2 megapixel Nokia would do anything more than render the difference between blue and white, light and shade.
Yet, thanks to the internet affirmation, I can safely say in a eureka moment, "Yes!! That's what plankton looks like!!"
It's a good change to be out in the sun at 3000 feet. When turning to intercept the outbound radials after getting airborne, levelling off brings you face to face with cloud mirrored on a placidity-polished sea all the way out to a hundred and seventy miles away. The portside window allows a view of the coast and the estuary at Kuala Paka. The teh tarik hue demarcates sharply in a paper fan planform from the deep satiny blue of the sea, telling much about the goings on upstream. The departure brief that I provide at embarkation point at the terminal now includes "...weather during this flight will be fine with scattered cloud..."
One of the pilots asked me how I feel having started flying here in the thick of the monsoon and coming out the other end into fair weather and sunny skies. I muse to myself, "Grateful!!" I think this way is a better introduction to offshore flying than to have a rosy start and then be peturbed by being embedded in cloud from 900 feet off the runway till eight miles from the destination rig.
And all this, while being a non-instrument rated pilot no less. The change in weather also brings some cheer that my instrument flying training phase may commence, with the Instrument Rating Test looming 'round the nearer corner. Then alone can I say I am a full-fledged offshore pilot as opposed to the sunshine pilot I am now. It's about time I got over that hurdle and on with this business good and proper.
very interesting. i didnt know that. i mean i never imagined that we could SEE planktons.
hobbit1964 February 6, 2012 at 8:35 PM
Miss Jaya, while sourcing the picture, I discovered that not only you can see them as from a few thousand feet up, but some species glow in the dark and sparkle when washed up on a beach!!!
Gassed
Ode To Gee Eigh
Blue Steak
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Propagating a Persimmon by Stem Cuttings
Hachiya persimmons are widely grown in California and yield peach-size fruit.
Hemera Technologies/Photos.com/Getty Images
1 Clone a Fuschia
2 Plant a Stem Cutting
3 Grow Tea Olives From Cuttings
4 Start a New Tree From a Weeping Peach
There are two types of persimmons: Native persimmons (Diospyros virginiana) grow to heights of 30 to 40 feet and produce round, plum-sized fruit. The main type of persimmon grown in California is the Oriental persimmon (Diospyros kaki). Oriental persimmons grow to heights of 20 to 30 feet, producing larger, oblong-shaped fruit with glossy, orange skin. Trees are hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture zones 7 through 10. While persimmons can be grown from seed, the resulting plant will not be identical to its parent. Propagating them from stem cuttings will give you a clone of the parent tree.
Water the persimmon tree one to two days before taking the stem cutting. Stem cuttings taken from trees that do not have enough moisture in their systems will not root as well as cuttings taken from recently watered plants.
Use sharp pruning shears or a clean sharp knife to cut a 5- to 6-inch stem from the persimmon tree in autumn, before the first frost. The cutting can be taken from 1-year old shoots, side shoots or root suckers. In general, the cuttings should be taken from firm, semi-hardwood or hardwood stems since softwood dries out much faster and may not perform well during the rooting process.
Cut the base of the stem, placing a 1- or 2-inch vertical cut on each side of the stem. This can help stimulate rooting, enhancing the stem's ability to absorb water and rooting chemicals. Immediately place the cutting into a container such as a plastic bag to prevent it from losing moisture.
Fill a pot or a propagation container with your preferred rooting medium. According to North Carolina State University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, there is no perfect rooting medium. Some of the most important considerations in choosing a rooting medium include sterility, drainage and aeration -- essential elements for root formation without introducing disease or soggy conditions. Examples of rooting mediums include perlite, sand, peat mixtures and vermiculite.
Poke a hole in the center of the rooting medium before placing the persimmon stem into the container. Water the cutting thoroughly and cover it with clear or translucent material. This humidifies the air, keeping it moist and preventing the cutting from drying out.
Place the plants under a fluorescent or incandescent light bulb for two to four hours every night to supplement the light they receive during the day. The plants need a total of about 12 hours of sunlight and/or supplemental lighting daily.
Transplant the persimmon cutting after it has developed roots. Place it in a 4- to 8-inch pot with potting soil. Water thoroughly and maintain even moisture levels. Once the danger of frost has passed, begin hardening the young plant by placing it outside, in a shady area, for several hours a day. Gradually move the plant into the sunlight. Once it can tolerate full sunlight and has strong roots, the young persimmon plant can be planted in its permanent location in the garden.
Sharp knife or pruning shears
Rooting container
Rooting medium
Clear or translucent covering
Thoroughly clean and sterilize the pruning shears or knife used to take the cutting to minimize the risk of introducing any fungi or bacteria to the persimmon tree.
California Rare Fruit Growers: Persimmon
University of Georgia: College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences: Home Garden Persimmons
North Carolina State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences: Rooting for You: Plant Propagation with Stem Cuttings Ref 5: pages 1-7
Caryn Anderson combines extensive behind-the-scenes writing experience with her passion for all things food, fashion, garden and travel. Bitten by the travel bug at the age of 15 after a trip to Europe, Anderson fostered her love of style and fashion while living in New York City and earning her degree at New York University.
Anderson, Caryn. "Propagating a Persimmon by Stem Cuttings." Home Guides | SF Gate, http://homeguides.sfgate.com/propagating-persimmon-stem-cuttings-34126.html. Accessed 22 January 2020.
Anderson, Caryn. (n.d.). Propagating a Persimmon by Stem Cuttings. Home Guides | SF Gate. Retrieved from http://homeguides.sfgate.com/propagating-persimmon-stem-cuttings-34126.html
Anderson, Caryn. "Propagating a Persimmon by Stem Cuttings" accessed January 22, 2020. http://homeguides.sfgate.com/propagating-persimmon-stem-cuttings-34126.html
Propagate Flying Dragon Trees
What Is the Procedure for Rooting Yew Cuttings?
Make Cuttings of Persimmons
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Propagate the Devil's Backbone Plant
Grow Japanese Bloodgood From Cutting
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Root Blue Daze Plants
Transplant a Hedera Ivy From Water to a Pot
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District at Glance
DC Message
Agriculture (Flora & Fauna)
Small Dams
Relief Features
The river Jhelum is navigable throughout the district, which forms the south-eastern portion of a rugged Himalayan spur, extending between the Indus and Jhelum to the borders of the Sind Sagar Doab. Its scenery is very picturesque, although not of so wild a character as the mountain region of Rawalpindi to the north, and is lighted up in places by smiling patches of cultivated valley. The backbone of the district is formed by the Salt Range, a treble line of parallel hills running in three long forks from east to west throughout its whole breadth.
The range rises in bold precipices, broken by gorges, clothed with brushwood and traversed by streams which are at first pure, but soon become impregnated with the saline matter over which they pass. Between the line of hills lies a picturesque table-land, in which the beautiful little lake of Kallar Kahar nestles amongst the minor ridges. North of the Salt Range, the country extends upwards in an elevated plateau, diversified by countless ravines and fissures, until it loses itself in tangled masses of Rawalpindi mountains. In this rugged tract cultivation is rare and difficult, the soil being choked with saline matter. At the foot of the Salt Range, however, a small strip of level soil lies along the banks of the Jhelum, and is thickly dotted with prosperous villages.
The drainage of the district is determined by a low central watershed running north and south at right angles to the Salt Range. The waters of the western portion find their way into the Sohan, and finally into the Indus; those of the opposite slope collect themselves into small torrents, and empty themselves into the Jhelum River.
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Wool City Rivals
by john dewhirst
About BCAFC colours, crests and nicknames
BCAFC Programme, 2017/18
Bradford history
Links to other Bradford related websites
Origins & history of Bradford sport
The origins of Bradford sport
3 May 2018 24 Apr 2019 johndewhirst
Thanks for visiting my blog! [Home page] This post provides links to articles I have written about the origins of sport in Bradford, the development of commercialised sport in the nineteenth century and the early history of cricket, rugby and soccer in Bradford.
I am a longstanding supporter of my local club, Bradford City and have an extensive collection of football memorabilia.
My interest in sports history has been shaped by a number of influences but principally stems from a fascination with the history of Bradford, its industrial and urban development as well as its social history. I have collected football artefacts as a means of connecting with the past and strongly believe that history – and indeed the history of sport – can be told through objects. Having studied economic history at university, and as an accountant specialising in undertaking business reviews and providing support to off-plan businesses, I also have a particular interest in the evolution of sport as an industry in itself.
These themes are evident in my most recent books which seek to examine the history of football clubs as commercial organisations, to understand how financial circumstances in the past dictated decision-making and outcomes. My books also feature a wealth of historic memorabilia illustrated in colour as a means of making relics accessible to a wider audience.
I was co-founder of The City Gent (Bradford City) fanzine in 1984. I have authored four books on the history of Bradford football and the origins of sport in the district and been involved in the production of five others. I am currently writing a history of the Bradford City / Park Avenue rivalry which will be the sixth volume in the BANTAMSPAST ‘History Revisited’ series. (NB Another title featuring sport in nineteenth century Bradford is also planned, details to be announced later.)
For details about these books visit: BANTAMSPAST HISTORY REVISITED SERIES
Copies of A HISTORY OF BRADFORD CITY AFC IN OBJECTS, ROOM AT THE TOP and LIFE AT THE TOP are still available and can be purchased direct from the publisher, BANTAMSPAST, PO Box 307, SHIPLEY BD18 9BT price £20 each including postage (cheques payable to BANTAMSPAST).
I have contributed a series of articles to the Bradford City AFC programme during the 2017/18 season and these are published on this site. They feature varied themes from the origins of soccer in Bradford / the Boar’s Head identity / the influence of the military on sport in Bradford / the origins of Valley Parade and its early development / the story behind how BCAFC became known as the Bantams and various topics relating to the history of both City and Bradford Park Avenue.
Also published on this site are a number of other varied articles, from the history of railways in Bradford to the story of Harry Garnett of Bradford FC (also a former RFU President).
I have written a number of articles about the origins of Bradford sport which have been published variously on the following websites: PLAYING PASTS and VINCIT, an online journal of Bradford Sport History as well as The World Rugby Museum website These, as well as planned future articles, are summarised as below.
Published on PLAYING PASTS…
The role of social networks on the early development of football
The case of Bradford FC and the origins of football as a business
The origins of professional football in Bradford
Reconsidering 1895 – a Bradford perspective
Published on the World Rugby Museum website…
Bradford’s contribution to rugby history
Published on VINCIT…
The origins of women’s football in Bradford
The significance of sport in shaping a Bradford identity
History of the Bradford Charity Cup
Compendium of Bradford sports club names
The late development of soccer in Bradford
What’s in a name? Semantics about Bradford City and Park Avenue
John Nunn, Bradford physical aesthete
The story of the Belle Vue Hotel, a nineteenth century pub adopted as a sports headquarters in Bradford
150th anniversary of football in Bradford, 1867-2017
The history of Bradford rugby and the case to reassess the split in English rugby in 1895 My findings from investigation of the origins and development of Bradford football provide sufficient evidence to challenge the orthodox view that the split in English rugby was driven by social class as opposed to the economics of sport.
Bradford’s rugby heritage
The myth that the City – Avenue rivalry was based on class politics
The political origins of Bradford Cricket Club in 1836: Blaming the Tories
Cricket: the DNA of Bradford sport
Bradford football: the long view
Other articles are scheduled in coming months on the following subjects:
the origins and early history of cricket in Bradford;
the story of the long forgotten junior rugby clubs in late Victorian Bradford;
the origins of soccer in Bradford;
the history of sports journalism in Bradford;
the political history of Odsal Stadium; and
the influence of the railways on Bradford sport.
International Football History Conference, Manchester 2018
In June, 2018 I am presenting a joint paper with Professor Wray Vamplew at the City Football Academy, Manchester examining the transformation of sport from a recreational activity to an entertainment business, specifically with regards to the experience in Bradford and Glasgow. This will form the basis of a planned academic paper and is also featured in a forthcoming book ‘Insights into the Economic History of the Sports Industry‘ (editors Pomfret & Wilson) to be published in 2019.
ROOM AT THE TOP and LIFE AT THE TOP provide a detailed account of how football – both rugby and soccer – became commercialised in Bradford and provide what may be the first business history of English rugby clubs.
Bradford Library – Presentation May 2018
On 19 May, 2018 I am giving a presentation at Bradford Library to talk about the origins of sport in Bradford, covering cricket, rugby and football and the early history of sport in the town. I will also be answering questions about my recent books.
Anyone wishing to contact me or collaborate can do so through a DM tweet, refer my account @jpdewhirst
Details about the BANTAMSPAST HISTORY REVISITED BOOKS
Published by johndewhirst
Author of books about professional football in Bradford (Yorkshire), its origins and historical development; publisher of the Bantamspast History Revisited series. Big fan of The Stranglers and various esoteric interests sufficient to embarrass my daughters. Tweets: @jpdewhirst - DM to contact View all posts by johndewhirst
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Category Archives: Alycia Debnam-Carey
HALLOWEEN OF HORROR REVIEW: FRIEND REQUEST
Alycia Debnam-Carey (The 100)
William Moseley (The Chronicles of Narnia)
Connor Paolo (Gossip Girl)
Brit Morgan (Supergirl)
Brooke Markham (Foursome)
Sean Marquette (13 Going on 30)
Laura (Alycia Debnam-Carey) is one of the most popular students at her college and enjoys an active social life with many friends and family members. She is active on social networks and has over 800 friends on Facebook.
One day, Laura receives a friend request from Marina (Liesl Ahlers), a girl she barely knows. She nevertheless accepts the request and begins a friendship with the lonely girl. Laura is Marina’s first Facebook friend and her profile is plastered in bizarre and disturbing images. Marina’s possessive behavior begins to make Laura feel uncomfortable. However, when Laura shares a picture of herself at her birthday dinner– to which Marina was not invited– Marina publicly and angrily confronts Laura at her college campus. Before she is taken away by security she vows revenge on Laura. Laura unfriends Marina on Facebook.
That night, Marina records her suicide with her webcam, which automatically uploads the footage to social media. Soon after, Laura finds that she is being stalked by Marina’s vengeful spirit, who promises to make her “lonely”. The spirit begins killing Laura’s friends one by one, posting videos of each friend’s death on Laura’s Facebook page. Unable to delete the videos or deactivate her account, Laura’s Facebook friend count drops.
Eventually, in order to stop the haunting, Laura hunts down the place where Marina committed suicide in order to destroy the black mirror that turned Marina into an evil spirit. I’m a little bit critical when it comes to horror movies linked with social media, but this one turned out to be a really good film. If you Liked Unfriended you will love this.
Zachary Knighton
Zachary Ty Bryan
Zachery Ty Bryan
Zack Ward
Zak Orth
Zak Santiago
Zaladane
Zander Rice
Zatana Zatara
Zebra-Man
Zeus (Marvel)
Zita Gorog
Zodiac Master
Zoe Lister-Jones
Zoe Perry
Zoe Robins
Zor-El
Zuleikha Robinson
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Vice president facts for kids
A vice president is someone who helps a president conduct his or her duties. A vice president also takes over if a president is not available. In business and in government a vice president (VP) is below a president in rank. Vice is comes from Latin meaning 'in place of'. In British English a vice president in business is called a director. In some countries, a vice president is called a deputy president.
Terms and abbreviations
Senior Executive Vice President (SEVP)
Deputy President (DP)
Executive Vice President (EVP)
Senior Vice President (SVP)
First Vice President (FVP)
Assistant Vice President or Associate Vice President (AVP)
Vice president Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.
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Kiefer Sutherland Network Your best site dedicated to the Canadian actor Kiefer Sutherland!
Home > Television Projects > Designated Survivor (2016 - ?) > Season 2 > Episode Captures > 2x03 - Outbreak
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Follow Kirby Goidel on WordPress.com
2015 Democratic Debate Notes
Debating Hillary
Thanks for Nothing, John Boehner
Who Will Stand Up to Trump in the Second GOP Debate?
Kim Davis, Eugene Debs, and First Amendment Consequences
Kirby Goidel
Tag Archives: bernie sanders
October 13, 2015 Kirby Goidel2008 democratic nomination, bernie sanders, Hillary Clinton, Jim Webb, Joe Biden, Lincoln Chafee, Martin O'Malley Aside
This was an interesting (though long and protracted) debate where the front runners did most of what they needed to do. Hillary Clinton is better in a debate format that in a lot of venues. The interaction helps her and she appears smart, well-informed, and engaging. She plays well off of others. Toward the end of the debate when she got a question on maternity leave she even showed a flash of Bernie Sanders’ style outrage. And, it became clear over the course of the night that she will increase position herself as an outsider as a woman.
Bernie Sanders was Bernie Sanders, consistent, forthright, and genuine. Going into the debate, I was unsure how he might come across but the fact that is unapologetic about who he is is endearing. He likely “won the debate” with his sound bite on being tired of hearing about Hillary Clinton’s damn emails. It was a great moment that allowed him – at once – to be generous to an opponent and critical of the news media and Republicans.
Some of his answers may not play well in the long run – embracing democratic socialism, for example, where he seems far outside of the mainstream. The fact that he embraces these answers and uses them as an opportunity to explain his views works well for him. The question remains, however, as to whether it expands his base?
Martin O’Malley did fine but I don’t think we’ll enough. He had an important misstatement on Assad and Syria, though I think he just misspoke. The problem is – he needed to have a home run and he didn’t hit it out of the park. I thought he was at his best when he responded to Sanders saying “we already did that in Maryland.” If his campaign ever took hold, he claim the mantle of a “reformer with results.”
Jim Webb and Lincoln Chafee were not helped at all by being on the stage.
Finally, I have no idea what Joe Biden will do, but I don’t think this debate opened the door to a presidential run any wider. If Biden was waiting for a sign in the form of a crumbling Clinton campaign, I don’t think he got it.
October 13, 2015 Kirby Goidel2008 democratic nomination, 2016 democratic nomination, bernie sanders, bill clinton, democrats, donald trump, Hillary, Hillary Clinton, Presidential debate, Trans-Pacific Partnership
Donald Trump may attract more viewers, but the trajectory of the Hillary Clinton campaign is – by far – the most interesting storyline of this campaign. Hillary Clinton began the 2016 campaign as she did in 2008: A prohibitive favorite with a vast array of organizational and financial resources. The driving narrative of her campaigns has been that she is an inevitable nominee and an electable candidate. When that wears thin, she finds herself on uncertain ground, unsure of who she is as a candidate, or why her campaign matters.
Her difficulty in connecting with voters is often discussed as a matter of trust, but it is really a question of authenticity. We didn’t trust Bill Clinton but we knew who he was and we liked him despite (or because of?) his faults. Her movement to the left this election cycle (relatively to 2008) is symptomatic, her flip on the Trans-Pacific Partnership a case-in-point. The search for what she need to be to get the position she wants.
Bernie Sanders suffers no such problems. He is authentic, challenging the status quo with a Quixotic campaign. He is likable even if we disagree with his positions because he is genuine. It is nearly impossible to imagine him winning the Democratic nomination, but there is no doubt that he has changed the course of the campaign. Voters, he said, will “contrast my consistency and my willingness to stand up to Wall Street and corporations, big corporations, with the secretary.”
The challenge for Hillary Clinton is to use Bernie Sanders as a foil for demonstrating her own authenticity as a person and a candidate and to establish a narrative for her campaign separate from electability and inevitability.
September 12, 2015 Kirby Goidel2008 democratic nomination, 2016 democratic nomination, 2016 democrats, Barack Obama, bernie sanders, Clinton, goidel, Hillary Clinton, Obama Aside
You can acknowledge that Hillary Clinton is smart and talented while also conceding that she is not a very good candidate. While some of her struggles undoubtedly reflect broader culturally engrained gender stereotypes, her most pronounced flaw as a candidate is that she lacks charm. The more she campaigns the fewer people support her.
I say this, by the way, not as a critique but as a fan. Clinton politics – pragmatic in its aims, fiscally responsible, and moderate in its approach – has great appeal. In another era, Hillary Clinton was and would have remained a liberal “Rockefeller” Republican, committed to liberal social policies and responsible governance. Her pragmatic moderate politics is no small part of her problem. The Democratic left has never trusted her or, for that matter, embraced the Clinton legacy. Disappointed by the moderation of Presidents Clinton and Obama, they continue to pine for a “true” liberal. Hillary Clinton is not that candidate.
This is her second time down the road from inevitable juggernaut to vulnerability to crisis mode and, perhaps, defeat. The problem she confronts is that – as in 2008 – the most powerful arguments for her campaign are electability and inevitability. When that veneer is stripped clean – when she is exposed as electorally vulnerable – her support crumbles. The comparison to 2008 is instructive. In September 2007, Clinton led President Barack Obama by 21 points (46 to 25). His victory in Iowa gave Democrats the chance to reconsider her candidacy and her inevitability. The decline in her support from over 60 percent to under 50 and the rise in her unfavorable numbers this early in the campaign are causes for alarm.
Her current challenger – Bernie Sanders – is less formidable. Charlie Cook’s assessment of Sanders is spot on: “Has any member of Congress during the past 23 years been less consequential, less effective, and taken less seriously than Sanders? Is there any Democratic senator less able to win a nationwide general election?” Though one might recall that at the start of 2008, Senator Barack Obama was inexperienced and not well known.
Her current challenge -overcoming her own weaknesses as a candidate while convincing the Democratic faithful that she has more to offer than electability – remains. Worse, as she looks less and less inevitable, the challenge of making a case for her candidacy grows.
Despicable Me: Hillary Clinton’s Challenge Remains
Winning by Losing: The Politics of Running for President When You Have Little Chance of Winning
June 30, 2015 Kirby Goidel2016, Barack Obama, bernie sanders, Bobby Jindal, chris christie, donald trump, governor bobby jindal, herman cain, Hillary Clinton, jeb bush, lindsey graham, marco rubio, michelle bachmann, President Obama, presidential election, republican nomination, republican primaries, rick santorum
Watching Governor Bobby Jindal mount a quixotic campaign for president has led many observers – and not just Jindal critics – to question why run at all if you have no chance of winning. You can ask the same question about any number of growing crowd of Republican contenders from Lindsey Graham to Chris Christie to Donald Trump. While some of the reasons are deeply personal, there are also more systematic explanations.
First, the more candidates that enter the race – particularly in the absence of a clear frontrunner, the smaller the share of the vote any candidate needs to potentially become viable. In most national polls, Jeb Bush is leading the pack but only has 15-20 percent of the vote. As a potential candidate, you don’t need the ground to shift very dramatically to become competitive.
Second, call it the Obama Effect or the Herman Cain, Michelle Bachmann, and Rick Santorum Effect. Many of these candidates remember that: (1) President Obama beat the established, heavily advantaged and overwhelming favorite Hillary Clinton in 2008 to win the Democratic nomination; and (2) In 2012, a number of Republican candidates emerged as the “anti-Romney” candidate for brief flicker of time but none could capitalize on the opportunity. Rick Santorum who got beat by 16-points in his last Pennsylvania Senate campaign managed the strongest and most sustained challenge. Nearly every single announced candidate this go-round is at least as strong as Herman Cain, Michelle Bachmann or Rick Santorum in 2012. Their hope is to catch fire and transition into a major contender.
Third, in politics winning isn’t everything, particularly if you are focused just on the 2016 election cycle. For many of these candidates, their goals are not narrowly focused on a 2016 win but rather to emerge as a future leader of the Republican Party. Candidates like Marco Rubio and Bobby Jindal can run in 2036 and still be younger than Hillary Clinton is today. Running now helps to establish an organizational presence, a funding basis for future elections, and establishes them as a potential voice for the Republican Party should Democrats win in 2016.
Fourth, winning the presidency isn’t the only “win” from running a national campaign. Any number of the candidates currently on the campaign trail will likely have cabinet level positions should a Republican win the presidency. If a Republican doesn’t win the presidency, they will be in position for television gigs on Fox News or The Blaze Network, or with national think-tanks like the Heritage Institute, the CATO Institute, or the Family Research Council. As Mike Huckabee has demonstrated, losing a presidential bid is not always a bad career move.
Finally, some candidates run not out of personal ambition but to influence the campaign agenda. The best example here may be on the Democratic side where Bernie Sanders seems unlikely to win the nomination but will almost certainly have a liberalizing impact on the Democratic Party. On the Republican side, this Republican nomination is not just about who wins, but the future direction of the party.
Overall, the question to ask then is not why are they running when they have no chance of winning, but rather what do they hope to gain out of a failed presidential bid? In most cases, there are real tangible benefits to losing a presidential nomination including (but not limited to) improving your chances for the next go around.
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Tag: Mansion airport
Plain Jane 150116: Wine, sugar and health improvements
FAR be it from me to agree with Nigel Farage (unless he’s talking about Manston airport) but I can’t help feeling a certain sympathy with the self-styled “boozer not an alcoholic” who has spoken out against what he calls “over the top” Government advice about drinking.
I shall not be following his suggestions for a middle-of-the-day mass protest against the new guidelines (now none of us must drink more than 14 units a week), however, as I rarely imbibe at lunchtimes, can’t over-concern myself with what the chaps are allowed to knock back (female limits remain unchanged) and think actually it is a tad irresponsible for a politician to actively encourage the population to swig alcohol. Still I cannot help but share his irritation with “nannying”.
There is no doubt there is a problem with binge drinking in the UK (even though our recommended limits are set lower than in many other countries) – as any member of the police force or NHS worker will confirm – but I don’t believe banging the table about units is the answer. Perhaps taking the French approach, whereby alcohol in moderation with which to enjoy food is part of a civilised life, would stop many a teenager passing out cold on their 18th birthdays.
Or a spot of awareness training in schools about the risks of alcohol poisoning to health and personal safety. But it would probably be wasted. Young people, of course, know much better about everything than old fogeys like me and it’s not until you are of a certain age that you realise that stumbling, slurring, shouting one’s mouth off in the town centre and then throwing up in the gutter is not a good look. Regular readers will know that I like a glass of wine as much as the next woman but it has never landed me in A & E and I would implode with shame if I came close. I abhor “drinking games”, think knocking back shots is for idiots and can honestly say that much as I enjoy the feeling of a nice glass of fizz skipping its way round my veins I have never, in my entire life, gone out for the evening with the sole purpose of getting hammered (although it has occasionally been an occupational hazard). I know, however, that if I delivered this speech to my son and his friends they would listen politely and put my staid ways down to my great age. Something needs to be done about the nation’s long-term wellbeing and clogging up of the NHS but if the Government really wants to improve things I would suggest there are more pressing trees to bark up. Maybe yes, drinking alcohol does account for 15 extra cases of breast, liver, mouth and throat cancers (strangely it appears to offer some protection against cancer of the kidneys or thyroid) per 1,000 women, as cited in a recent study, but compared to the cancer risks of smoking and obesity these figures are still relatively low. Smoking accounts for around one third of all diagnosed cancers with diet-related factors thought to explain a further third, against which alcohol is currently blamed for approximately 5 per cent of cases. Which would seem to suggest that a tax on sugar, moves to discourage supersize portions and reminding the nation that suet pastry and chips is just as bad for you as too much gin, might be the way forward.
Or one could simply reflect that people have many reasons for finally deciding to take themselves in hand: for giving up the fags, losing weight or realising that being drunk most days tends to mess up one’s life rather than improve it. If you canvassed a thousand people on why they took life-changing steps to improve their health, I’d wager that discomfort, embarrassment, illness or a failed relationship might all feature highly as the salient wake-up call. And not many would reply: “Because the Government told me to.” Or, come to that, Nigel didn’t…
Read the original post at: http://www.thanetgazette.co.uk/Plain-Jane-Wine-sugar-health-improvements/story-28528835-detail/story.html#ixzz3xM05vMp1
Follow the paper at: @ThanetGazette on Twitter | thanetgroup on Facebook
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About JEB
Outstanding paper prize
Contact JEB
Development of endothermy and concomitant increases in cardiac and skeletal muscle mitochondrial respiration in the precocial Pekin duck (Anas platyrhynchos domestica)
Sarah K. G. Sirsat, Tushar S. Sirsat, Alan Faber, Allison Duquaine, Sarah Winnick, Paul R. Sotherland, Edward M. Dzialowski
Journal of Experimental Biology 2016 219: 1214-1223; doi: 10.1242/jeb.132282
Sarah K. G. Sirsat
Developmental Integrative Biology Research Group, Department of Biological Science, 1155 Union Circle #305220, University of North Texas, Denton, TX 76203, USA
Tushar S. Sirsat
Alan Faber
Department of Biology, Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo, MI 49008, USA
Allison Duquaine
Sarah Winnick
Paul R. Sotherland
Edward M. Dzialowski
For correspondence: edzial@unt.edu
Attaining endothermic homeothermy occurs at different times post-hatching in birds and is associated with maturation of metabolic and aerobic capacity. Simultaneous measurements at the organism, organ and cellular levels during the transition to endothermy reveal means by which this change in phenotype occurs. We examined development of endothermy in precocial Pekin ducks (Anas platyrhynchos domestica) by measuring whole-animal O2 consumption (V̇O2) as animals cooled from 35 to 15°C. We measured heart ventricle mass, an indicator of O2 delivery capacity, and mitochondrial respiration in permeabilized skeletal and cardiac muscle to elucidate associated changes in mitochondrial capacities at the cellular level. We examined animals on day 24 of incubation through 7 days post-hatching. V̇O2 of embryos decreased when cooling from 35 to 15°C; V̇O2 of hatchlings, beginning on day 0 post-hatching, increased during cooling with a lower critical temperature of 32°C. Yolk-free body mass did not change between internal pipping and hatching, but the heart and thigh skeletal muscle grew at faster rates than the rest of the body as the animals transitioned from an externally pipped paranate to a hatchling. Large changes in oxidative phosphorylation capacity occurred during ontogeny in both thigh muscles, the primary site of shivering, and cardiac ventricles. Thus, increased metabolic capacity necessary to attain endothermy was associated with augmented metabolic capacity of the tissue and augmented increasing O2 delivery capacity, both of which were attained rapidly at hatching.
Birds develop along a spectrum of functional maturity associated with endothermic capacity of the hatchling (Starck and Ricklefs, 1998). All bird embryos are ectothermic, relying on external sources of heat to remain homeothermic throughout incubation. Altricial species hatch featherless with very limited thermoregulatory capacity, and develop an endothermic phenotype while in the nest over a period of days to weeks (Olson, 1992). In contrast, precocial species hatch fully feathered and quickly develop endothermic thermoregulatory capacity (Whittow and Tazawa, 1991; Sirsat and Dzialowski, 2016).
A model for development of endothermy in precocial species proposes the following: development of endothermy is limited by oxygen delivery in late-stage embryos by eggshell O2 gas conductance; after hatching, birds are no longer oxygen-limited, they are power-limited with heat-generating muscles exhibiting a limited metabolic capacity and varying ability to increase heat production depending on the extent of development (Whittow and Tazawa, 1991). Therefore, attaining an endothermic metabolic phenotype requires development of an aerobic capacity that can support energy demands during exposure to thermal challenges. This enhanced aerobic capacity must be met by high O2 delivery via the respiratory and cardiovascular systems. During external pipping, the rigid eggshell surrounding the embryo prevents increasing pulmonary ventilation in response to environmental change, placing a limit on the capacity to increase O2 delivery (Sirsat and Dzialowski, 2016). Minute ventilation increases at hatching and precocial Pekin ducks can respond to cooling by increasing ventilation (Sirsat and Dzialowski, 2016). Thus, a ventilation limit on the O2 cascade appears to exist during the last stages of development in the egg. Limits imposed by the cardiovascular system and metabolic tissues in the O2 cascade during this transition to endothermy, as suggested by Whittow and Tazawa (1991), have yet to be fully elucidated.
Because adult endotherms have a cardiac ventricle mass significantly larger than that of similar sized ectotherms, resulting in greater cardiac output and function (Driedzic et al., 1987; Hulbert and Else, 1989), birds transitioning from ectothermy (as embryos) to endothermy (as hatchlings) could experience a concomitant growth of the heart that outpaces growth of the body. Cardiac ventricles of white leghorn chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) significantly increase in mass, with no change in yolk-free body mass, during the transition from external pipping to hatching (T. L. Killpack, A change of heart in birds: cardiac response to the onset of endothermy, Senior Thesis, Kalamazoo College, 2005). Furthermore, because the heart of an endotherm likely requires a greater oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) capacity to provide the ATP necessary to function at a higher level than that of an ectotherm heart, oxidative capacities and number of mitochondria in endothermic hatchlings will likely be higher than that in ectothermic embryos and hatchlings. Little is known, however, about the ontogeny of cardiac mitochondrial function in bird hatchlings.
Birds rely heavily on shivering thermogenesis in skeletal muscles to produce the heat necessary to regulate body temperature under cold thermal stress. Shivering capacity develops rapidly in precocial species upon hatching, and the leg muscles, used for locomotion in precocial species at hatching, are a major site of shivering thermogenesis (Marjoniemi and Hohtola, 1999). Additionally, a number of precocial birds exhibit non-shivering thermogenesis, which can potentially contribute to regulating body temperature (Duchamp and Barre, 1993; Teulier et al., 2014). Metabolically demanding activities such as locomotion and thermogenesis rely on the aerobic capacity of skeletal muscles and associated mitochondrial bioenergetics. However, no studies have examined the ontogeny of skeletal mitochondrial function and in situ oxidative capacity in precocial species transitioning from the ectothermic phenotype in the egg to the endothermic phenotype in the hatchling.
List of symbols and abbreviations
externally pipped
day 0 post-hatching
electron transport system
FCCP
carbonylcyanide p-trifluoromethoxy-phenylhydrazone
FeO2
excurrent O2 fraction of dry gas
FiO2
incurrent O2 fraction of dry gas
internally pipped
LEAKN
non-phosphorylating ‘resting’ mitochondrial respiration in the absence of adenylates
yolk-free embryo mass
heart mass
OXPHOS
V̇I
incurrent flow rate
V̇O2
oxygen consumption rate
We carried out this study to examine the ontogeny of endothermy and development of tissue level aerobic capacity in the Pekin duck (Anas platyrhynchos domestica Linnaeus), an excellent model for examining maturation of endothermy at the time of hatching (Sirsat and Dzialowski, 2016). We hypothesized that an increased endothermic and aerobic capacity should be associated with development of a relatively larger heart and an increase in mitochondrial respiration and the capacity for oxidative phosphorylation in skeletal and cardiac muscle. We characterized ontogeny of whole-animal oxygen consumption (V̇O2) in response to cooling to assess when and how an endothermic phenotype develops in the Pekin duck. We also examined cardiac ventricle mass and mitochondrial respiration, in both skeletal and cardiac muscle, to reveal their developmental trajectories and to ascertain whether at any point they may limit an endothermic response to cooling.
Pekin duck eggs were obtained from a commercial producer (Blanco Industries, McKinney, TX, USA) and incubated at 37.5°C and 60% relative humidity in an incubator (Model 1202, GQF Manufacturing, Savannah, GA, USA). Eggs were automatically turned along their polar axis every 4 h. Just prior to hatching, internally pipped eggs were moved into a clear Lyon incubator maintained at 37.5°C and 85% relative humidity. Time-lapse images of the eggs were taken every 30 min during the hatching process to determine time of hatching, which was then used to determine age of each hatchling during experimental use. Hatchlings were maintained in a Hatchrite incubator at 32°C with ad libitum access to water and food.
Metabolic rate of embryos and hatchlings was measured as oxygen consumption by flow-through respirometry during gradual cooling as in Sirsat and Dzialowski (2016). Animals were placed inside appropriately sized respirometry chambers (range 500 to 1000 ml), which were placed inside a programmable incubation chamber set to 37.5°C for embryos and 32°C for hatchlings. Animals acclimated for at least 60 min prior to cooling. Incubation chamber temperature was gradually decreased at a rate of 9.2°C h−1 until it reached 15°C. Gas containing 21% oxygen with nitrogen as the balance was pumped into the respirometry chambers at a known flow rate measured with a calibrated flow meter (Flowbar 1, Sable Systems, Las Vegas, NV, USA, calibrated with a soap bubble meter at STPD). A sample stream of the outflow gas was pulled by a pump (R1 flow controller, AEI Technologies, Pittsburgh, PA, USA) through a Nafion tubing drier surrounded by Drierite, Sodasorb and another Nafion tube drier for water and CO2 removal before it was pulled through an O2 analyzer (FC-1B, Sable Systems). Data were recorded with LabChart 7 and a PowerLab 8SP (ADInstruments, Colorado Springs, CO, USA). Sampling of the multiple chamber outflows was automatically controlled by a custom-built solenoid multiplexer controlled by LabChart 7 (ADInstruments). At most, three animals were measured at any given time and each chamber was sequentially sampled for 120 s during the course of the run. An additional solenoid allowed for sampling of the inflow O2 levels between the sampling of the chambers to account for any potential drift. Rates of oxygen consumption (V̇O2; ml O2 min−1) were calculated using the following equation (Withers, 2001):
(1)where V̇I is incurrent flow rate (ml min−1), FiO2 is the incurrent O2 fraction of dry gas and FeO2 is the excurrent O2 fraction of dry gas. A subset of the externally pipped and day 0 hatching V̇O2 data was initially reported in Sirsat and Dzialowski (2016).
Following measurement of metabolic rate, animals were euthanized with isoflurane. We then measured masses of whole body, yolk or yolk sac, heart ventricles and liver. Measurements were conducted on embryos on day 24 or 25 of incubation (28-day total incubation period), during internal pipping and external pipping, and on hatchlings on days 0, 3 and 7 post-hatch. In another set of animals, we measured yolk-free body mass, iliotibialis and femorotibialis muscle groups of the right thigh, and pectoralis major muscle of the right breast from day 25 embryos, externally pipped paranates, and hatchlings during the first day of post-hatch life.
Preparation of permeabilized muscle fibers
Mitochondrial respiration was measured in permeabilized skeletal muscle fibers from the femorotibialis muscle of the right thigh and pectoralis major muscle of the right breast, and from both right and left cardiac ventricle wall muscles. Muscle samples were removed from the animal when other body parts were dissected, and were prepared for measurement according to Pesta and Gnaiger (2012). Muscle samples were placed in ice-cold BIOPS solution (in mmol l−1: 2.77 CaK2EGTA, 7.23 K2EGTA, 5.77 Na2ATP, 6.56 MgCl2×6H2O, 20 taurine, 15 Na2-phosphocreatine, 20 imidazole, 0.5 dithiothreitol and 50 4-morpholineethanesulfonic acid; pH 7.1) and then carefully teased apart with fine-tipped forceps while in the ice-cold BIOPS. Tissues were then gently shaken for 30 min in 2 ml of BIOPS containing 50 µg ml−1 saponin to permeabilize the fibers at 4°C. The tissues were then washed three times for 10 min each in 2 ml of respiration assay medium (in mmol l−1: 0.5 EGTA, 3 MgCl2, 60 lactobionic acid, 20 taurine, 10 KH2PO4, 20 HEPES, 110 sucrose and 1 g l−1 BSA; pH 7.1) with gentle mixing. Fibers were blotted dry on a Kimwipe, weighed (Analytical XA Balance, Mettler-Toledo, Columbus, OH, USA) and placed in a respiration chamber.
Mitochondrial respiration
In situ mitochondrial respiration was measured with an Oxygraph-2k high-resolution respirometer (Oroboros, Innsbruck, Austria) at 38°C (Fig. 1). Permeabilized skeletal muscle fibers weighing between 3 and 5 mg wet mass were placed into 2 ml of respiration assay medium containing catalase (280 units ml−1) in the respiration chamber. A hyperoxygenated environment in the respiration chamber was produced by addition of 2–5 µl H2O2 (200 mmol l−1) to avoid any potential limitations in O2 diffusion into the permeabilized fibers (Pesta and Gnaiger, 2012). Upon stabilization of oxygen consumption, malate (0.5 mmol l−1) and glutamate (10 mmol l−1) were added to stimulate non-phosphorylating ‘resting’ mitochondrial respiration in the absence of adenylates (LEAKN). This was followed by addition of 5 mmol l−1 ADP to stimulate oxidative phosphorylation through complex I (OXPHOSCI). Then, 10 µmol l−1 cytochrome c was provided to test for mitochondrial membrane integrity. Because cytochrome c cannot cross an intact outer mitochondrial membrane, an increase in oxygen flux indicates damaged mitochondria. Succinate (20 mmol l−1) was then provided to stimulate oxidative phosphorylation through complexes I and II (OXPHOSCI+CII). Finally, multiple injections of 1 µmol l−1 carbonylcyanide p-trifluoromethoxy-phenylhydrazone (FCCP) were given to stimulate maximal non-coupled complex I+II electron transport system (ETS) capacity. Cardiac muscle and skeletal muscle oxygen flux measurements that exhibited an increased flux of more than 12% after addition of cytochrome c were not included in the analysis. In skeletal muscle, we increased the cut-off to 18% for embryonic day 24 and externally pipped samples because of the low flux rates. All chemicals were obtained from Sigma-Aldrich (St Louis, MO, USA).
Representative trace of O2 concentration and O2 flux from permeabilized cardiac muscle cells in Pekin duck. G, glutamate (10 mmol l−1); M, malate (2 mmol l−1); ADP (5 mmol l−1); Cyt c, cytochrome c (10 µmol l−1); S, succinate (10 mmol l−1); FCCP, carbonylcyanide p-trifluoromethoxy-phenylhydrazone (1 µmol l−1). Dashed line indicates oxygen concentration and solid line indicates oxygen flux.
Comparisons of organ and body masses were carried out by one-way ANOVA with age as a factor, followed by a Holm–Sidak post hoc test. Tissue masses as a percentage of yolk-free body mass were calculated by dividing the tissue mass by yolk-free body mass. Regressions of heart ventricle mass on yolk-free body mass were performed on log-transformed data. To examine changes in V̇O2 with age, we analyzed resting V̇O2 three ways: as whole-animal V̇O2 using a one-way ANOVA, as mass-specific V̇O2 after dividing V̇O2 by yolk-free body mass using a one-way ANOVA, and as V̇O2 corrected for yolk-free body mass with a one-way ANCOVA with yolk-free body mass as a covariate. For each V̇O2 analysis we used age as the factor followed by a Holm–Sidak post hoc test. Mass-specific V̇O2 was log transformed prior to analysis. Changes in whole-animal metabolic rate during cooling were analyzed within each age by determining the thermal neutral zone using a modified method of Yeager and Ultsch (1989) programmed in R. This method was originally developed to find two regressions that minimize the sum of squares to determine cut-off points for the critical partial pressure of O2. Instead of attempting to minimize the sum of squares of the two regressions, we determined the range of ambient temperatures across which the slope was closest to zero for air temperatures in the thermal neutral zone. To determine changes in permeabilized oxygen flux of each tissue type (breast, thigh, left ventricle, or right ventricle) with development, one-way ANOVAs with age were carried out followed by a Holm–Sidak post hoc test against the embryonic day 24 value. Because we were interested in determining whether there were differences between thigh and breast or right and left ventricle on each day, we compared values on each day of development with multiple t-tests followed with a Holm–Sidak correction to take into account the multiple tests. The permeabilized muscle fiber data were log transformed prior to analysis, but are presented as raw means. Statistical analyses were conducted using SigmaPlot 12 (Systat Software, San Jose, CA, USA) and Prism 6 (GraphPad Software, La Jolla, CA, USA). Sample sizes are provided in the figures. The level of significance was set at P<0.05. All data are presented as means±s.e.m.
Oxygen consumption and thermoregulatory capacity
Though statistical significance of developmental changes in resting V̇O2 depended upon the way in which V̇O2 was presented, a noteworthy change in metabolism occurred concomitantly with hatching. Whole-animal V̇O2 in the thermal neutral zone increased significantly with development (F4,27=72.0, P<0.0001; Table 1). Mass-specific V̇O2 did not increase until after hatching (F4,23=24.4, P<0.001; Table 1). When V̇O2 was analyzed by ANCOVA, the yolk-free body mass covariate was not significant (F1,22=1.7, P=0.205), but age was significant (F4,22=13.4, P<0.001). When V̇O2 was evaluated at a yolk-free body mass of 54.2 g, day 3 hatchlings had metabolic rates that were higher than those at the other ages (Table 1).
Whole-animal V̇O2, mass-specific V̇O2 and mass-corrected V̇O2 (at a yolk-free body mass of 54.2 g) for embryos at an air temperature of 35°C and hatchlings within their thermal neutral zone
Endothermic capacity, manifested as an increase in V̇O2 as air temperature (Ta) decreased, did not appear until after hatching in Pekin ducks (Fig. 2). On day 24 of incubation and during the initial paranatal phase of internal pipping, V̇O2 initially remained constant with the onset of cooling. Then, at both ages, V̇O2 began to decrease as air temperature reached 30°C and steadily decreased with cooling. The mean response of externally pipped paranates was maintenance of a constant V̇O2 as air temperature decreased from 37°C to 20°C.
Whole-animal oxygen consumption in response to cooling. Oxygen consumption rate (ml O2 min−1) of Pekin ducks at late embryonic stage day 24 (E24, n=3), internally pipped (IP, n=7) and externally pipped (EP, n=9) paranates, and hatchlings on day 0 (D0, n=6) and day 3 (D3, n=7) post-hatching in response to cooling at a rate of 9.2°C h−1. Data are presented as means±s.e.m.
Upon hatching, V̇O2 exhibited an endothermic response with a clear thermal neutral zone followed by a linear increase in V̇O2 with further cooling below the lower critical temperature (Fig. 2). The lower critical temperature of day 0 hatchlings was 32.2°C and the thermal neutral zone extended to 25.4°C in day 3 hatchlings. All hatchlings were able to maintain an elevated V̇O2 down to the lowest Ta tested, 15°C.
Yolk-free body mass (F5,141=160.1, P<0.001; Fig. 3A), cardiac ventricle mass (F5,139=99.0, P<0.001; Fig. 3B) and liver mass (F5,125=136.8, P<0.001; Fig. 3C) increased significantly with age. From day 24 of incubation to the internally pipped stage, yolk-free body mass increased significantly (P=0.002). This increase was followed by a plateau in body mass from the internally pipped stage through the first day of post-hatch life in which there were no significant changes in yolk-free body mass. Between days 0 and 7 post-hatching, yolk-free body mass increased significantly.
Morphological traits of Pekin ducks from the late embryonic stages through day 7 post-hatching. (A) Yolk-free body mass (g), (B) heart mass (g) and percentage of the body composed of the heart, and (C) liver mass (g) and percentage of the body composed of the liver for day 24 embryos (E24; n=17, 17, 9), internally pipped (IP; n=18, 18, 18) and externally pipped (EP; n=16, 18, 17) paranates, and hatchlings on day 0 (D0; n=63, 63, 57), day 3 (D3; n=19, 15, 16) and day 7 (D7; n=14, 14, 14) post-hatching. In B and C, organ mass is presented as bars and the percent of the body composed of the organ is shown by the line. Data with different letters are significantly different at P<0.05 (Holm–Sidak post hoc test). Data are presented as means±s.e.m.
Cardiac ventricle mass followed a developmental pattern with an inflection at hatching. There was a gradual increase in ventricle mass from embryonic day 24 through external pipping (Fig. 3B). Ventricle mass then increased significantly between external pipping and the first day of post-hatch life (P<0.001). This increase in cardiac ventricle mass occurred without a similar increase in yolk-free body mass (Fig. 4). In the neonatal stage, cardiac ventricle mass continued to increase with an increase in yolk-free body mass (Fig. 4). Thus, cardiac ventricle mass had two distinct scalings with body mass, with a transition occurring between external pipping and hatching. Because body mass remained relatively constant from internal pipping through the first day of post-hatch life, the fraction of the body that was cardiac ventricle increased significantly (F5,137=31.4, P<0.001; Fig. 3B), almost doubling between internal pipping and day 0 post-hatching.
Relationship between heart mass (Mh, g) and yolk-free embryo mass (Me, g) in Pekin duck. Data are from embryos from day 24 of incubation through external pipping (circles; n=108, Mh=−2.45Me1.09, r2=0.56) and hatchlings 0 to 7 days post-hatch (triangles; n=92, Mh=−2.02Me0.94, r2=0.79). Dashed lines represent 95% confidence limits for the linear regression mean.
Liver mass and the percent of the body composed of liver did not increase significantly until days 0 and 3 post-hatch (Fig. 3C).
Masses of pectoralis (breast) and iliotibialis and femorotibialis (thigh group) skeletal muscles differed with age (Fig. 5). From the day 25 embryo through the first day of post-hatch life, there was a significant increase in both absolute mass (F2,34=30.3, P<0.001) and percentage of the animal composed of the right thigh skeletal muscle (F2,34=19.4, P<0.001; Fig. 5B). This occurred without any change in yolk-free body mass from the externally pipped paranate to the first day of post-hatch life (Fig. 5A). In contrast, there was a significant decrease in absolute mass of the right breast muscle in the day 0 hatchling (F2,34=3.9, P=0.03; Fig. 5C). The percentage of the animal composed of the right breast muscle decreased significantly with age (F2,34=76.3, P<0.001).
Developmental trajectory of thigh and breast skeletal muscle from late embryonic stage through day 0 post-hatching in Pekin duck. (A) Yolk-free body mass (g), (B) right thigh skeletal muscle (g) and percentage of the body composed of the right thigh muscle (%), and (C) right breast muscle (g) and percentage of the body composed of the right breast muscle (%) for day 25 embryos (E25; n=9), externally pipped paranates (EP; n=17) and hatchlings within the first 24 h of hatching (D0; n=11). Data with different letters are significantly different at P<0.05 (ANOVA followed by Holm–Sidak post hoc test). Data are presented as means±s.e.m.
Mitochondria respiration in permeabilized fibers
Both muscle type (thigh and breast) and ontogeny affected mitochondrial oxygen flux capacity in skeletal muscle (Fig. 6). LEAKN increased significantly with age in the thigh muscle (F4,44=12.56, P<0.001), but not breast (F4,35=1.04, P=0.4). Thigh muscle LEAKN was significantly higher in hatchlings than in day 24 embryos (Fig. 6A). Differences between thigh and breast also occurred in OXPHOSCI and OXPHOSCI+CII capacities, with thigh fibers having a significantly higher flux capacity than breast fibers at all ages (all corrected P<0.003; Fig. 6B,C). Developmentally, there was a significant increase in OXPHOSCI flux in both thigh (F4,44=13.2, P<0.001) and breast fibers (F4,35=5.6, P=0.001) upon hatching. OXPHOSCI+CII flux capacity of thigh (F4,44=9.3, P<0.001) and breast fibers (F4,35=6.2, P<0.001) increased significantly from external pipping through hatching. LEAKN versus OXPHOSCI and OXPHOSCI versus OXPHOSCI+CII did not differ between ages or tissues (Fig. 6D,E). The flux control ratio of OXPHOSCI+CII to ETS was close to 1 for all ages and both tissues, suggesting there is little reserve capacity in the phosphorylating system as there was no increase in non-coupled ETS respiratory flux upon addition of FCCP (Fig. 6F).
Developmental changes in mitochondria oxygen flux from permeabilized Pekin duck thigh and breast skeletal muscle. (A) Non-phosphorylating LEAKN respiration with glutamate and malate as substrates. (B) OXPHOS through complex I in the presence of ADP. (C) OXPHOS through complexes I and II after addition of succinate. (D) Complex I-linked LEAKN control ratios, calculated as the CI-linked LEAK respiration in the absence of adenylates divided by the uninhibited OXPHOSCI flux. (E) Complex I-linked OXPHOS flux control ratio CI/(CI+II). (F) Phosphorylation system coupling control ratio. Breast sample sizes are: E24 n=7, EP n=5, day 0 n=8, day 3 n=7, and day 7 n=13; thigh sample sizes are: E24 n=6, EP n=10, day 0 n=10, day 3 n=8, and day 7 n=15. Asterisks indicate values that are significantly different from those of stage 24 embryos at P<0.05 for thigh and breast (one-way ANOVA for each tissue, followed by Holm–Sidak post hoc test). Horizontal line above the data indicates significant differences between thigh and breast oxygen flux at a given age (t-tests followed by Holm–Sidak correction for multiple tests). Data are presented as means±s.e.m.
Right and left cardiac ventricle mitochondrial OXPHOSCI and OXPHOSCI+CII capacity increased significantly with development (Fig. 7). LEAKN capacity of right ventricle (F5,32=1.52, P=0.21) and left ventricle (F5,38=2.05, P=0.093) did not change during development or differ between right and left sides (Fig. 7A). OXPHOSCI capacity increased significantly in both right (F5,32=5.72, P<0.001) and left ventricle (F5,38=8.55, P<0.001) upon hatching (Fig. 7B) and although OXPHOSCI+CII capacity increased in both right and left ventricle with hatching, the increase was only significant in the left ventricle (F5,38=5.53, P<0.001; Fig. 7C). There were no differences in the ratio of LEAKN versus OXPHOSCI between sides or among ages (Fig. 7D). Addition of succinate resulted in an increase in OXPHOSCI+CII capacity over OXPHOSCI capacity at all ages and in both sides of the ventricle, as can be observed by the OXPHOSCI/OXPHOSCI+CII ratio being less than 1 (Fig. 7E). On days 3 and 7 post-hatch, left ventricle OXPHOSCI+CII flux capacity increased significantly compared with day 24 embryos (Fig. 7C). As with skeletal muscle, no increase in oxygen flux with the addition of FCCP was observed, such that the OXPHOSCI+CII to ETS flux control ratio was close to 1 (Fig. 7F). The OXPHOSCI and OXPHOSCI+CII flux capacities of the left ventricle were higher in the oldest hatchlings compared with OXPHOSCI and OXPHOSCI+CII flux capacities of the right ventricle, but these differences were not significant (Fig. 7B,C).
Developmental changes in mitochondria oxygen flux from permeabilized duck right and left cardiac ventricle. (A) Non-phosphorylating LEAKN respiration with glutamate and malate as substrates. (B) OXPHOS through complex I in the presence of ADP. (C) OXPHOS through complexes I and II after addition of succinate. (D) Complex I-linked LEAKN control ratios, calculated as the CI-linked LEAK respiration in the absence of adenylates divided by the uninhibited OXPHOSCI flux. (E) Complex I-linked OXPHOS flux control ratio CI/(CI+II). (F) Phosphorylation system coupling control ratio. Left cardiac ventricle samples sizes are: E24 n=6, IP n=5, EP n=5, day 0 n=11, day 3 n=9, and day 7 n=8; right cardiac ventricle sample sizes are: E24 n=6, IP n=5, EP n=6, day 0 n=6, day 3 n=9, and day 7 n=6. Asterisks indicate values that are significantly different from those of stage 24 embryos at P<0.05 for left and right ventricles (one-way ANOVA for each tissue, followed by Holm–Sidak post hoc test). Data are presented as means±s.e.m.
An endothermic phenotype requires an elevated capacity to deliver oxygen from the environment to mitochondria and elevated skeletal muscle mitochondria OXPHOS capacity for shivering and non-shivering thermogenesis. Similar to other precocial species, Pekin ducks rapidly attained an endothermic phenotype after hatching and, consequently, an increased cellular energy demand associated with heat generation during periods of cold thermal stress. We found that attainment of endothermy at hatching in Pekin duck was marked by increased heart mass, thigh skeletal muscle mass and mitochondrial OXPHOS capacity in skeletal and cardiac muscle. These augmentations, along with an increase in ventilation (Sirsat and Dzialowski, 2016), appear to work in concert to meet the increased energy demands of the endothermic phenotype that is maturing during transition to the neonatal period and are in contrast to the lack of change in hatching and neonatal ectotherms (Sirsat et al., 2016).
Development of metabolic endothermic response
The Pekin duck is a precocial species that develops an endothermic phenotype rapidly upon hatching (Fig. 2). During embryonic and internal pipping stages, the embryos exhibit an ectothermic phenotype. V̇O2 was maintained during the initial cooling of the egg/embryo, but began to decrease when ambient temperature reached 30°C for both day 24 embryos and internally pipped embryos. During external pipping, the V̇O2 response was intermediate between that of an ectotherm and endotherm. Although, individually, V̇O2 decreased, remained constant or increased in different externally pipped animals, the mean response of all externally pipped embryos was to maintain V̇O2 across all temperatures tested. The different responses may have been due to differences in length of time an animal was in the external pipping stage; longer periods at the external pipping stage may have allowed for more development of metabolic pathways and increased lung ventilation (Sirsat and Dzialowski, 2016). At this stage, both the respiratory and cardiovascular systems may limit oxygen delivery. Given the lower OXPHOS capacity of both the skeletal muscle and the heart (Figs 6, 7), these animals were probably also limited in their capacity to generate heat by both shivering and non-shivering thermogenesis.
Upon hatching, the Pekin duck was able to increase V̇O2 and concomitant heat production, allowing hatchlings to exhibit an endothermic phenotype. All day 0 hatchlings showed the typical endothermic response, with a thermal neutral zone and increasing V̇O2 occurring below a lower critical temperature (Fig. 2). Other precocial bird species have shown similar rapid attainment of an endothermic phenotype upon hatching (Steen and Gabrielsen, 1986; Dzialowski et al., 2007). The endothermic response does not appear to be limited by the capacity of any one step in the oxygen cascade after the ducks hatch, as predicted by Whittow and Tazawa (1991). From day 0 to day 3 of post-hatch life there is an increase in the thermal neutral zone. This may reflect an increase in insulation with age or changes in the surface area to volume ratio.
Morphological changes associated with endothermy
During the paranatal stage, from internal pipping to hatching and when the metamorphosis from ectothermy to endothermy occurs, there was very little change in yolk-free body mass (Fig. 3A) coincident with noteworthy growth of the heart (Figs 3B and 4). We found that heart mass, a surrogate for stroke volume and capacity for convective O2 movement by the circulatory system, almost doubled in a span of 24 h, while the ducks transitioned from the externally pipped to the hatchling stage and became endothermic. The cardiac ventricle of the white leghorn chicken and emu significantly increase in mass, with no change in yolk-free body mass, during this same transition from external pipping to hatching (Killpack, 2005; Shell et al., 2016). During embryonic development, relative ventricle mass to yolk-free body mass of the duck is similar to that found in embryonic and juvenile ectotherms (Sirsat et al., 2016). Thus, the cardiovascular system, which may be the limiting step in the O2 cascade controlling maximal aerobic metabolism (Hillman et al., 2013), seems to be upregulated at hatching to support increased aerobic metabolic capacity associated with endothermy.
The rapid increase in heart mass, associated with the onset of endothermy, is akin to changes seen in infrequent feeders such as pythons during feeding (Riquelme et al., 2011). In the feeding python, the increase in cardiac ventricle mass is due to hypertrophy and not hyperplasia. Snelling et al. (2015b) found that heart mass of grey kangaroo joeys grows hyperallometrically while the joeys are in the pouch, as they approach attaining endothermy and leaving the pouch. Associated changes at the cellular level in the heart also occur within the joey, with increases in mitochondria volume and muscle contractile machinery associated with leaving the pouch and obtaining endothermy (Snelling et al., 2015a). Through day 42 post-hatching in the chicken, ventricle size increases through both hyperplasia and hypertrophy after hatching (Li et al., 1997). It remains to be seen in the Pekin duck whether the increase in ventricle mass associated with the transition to endothermy is due to hypertrophic or hyperplasic growth of the hatchling heart.
Growth of the heart did not occur in anticipation of hatching, but concomitant with hatching and attaining endothermy. During hatching, there is a change in circulation as the atrial foramen and the ductus arteriosus close (Dzialowski et al., 2011). With this change, the animal goes from having pulmonary and systemic circulations in parallel, like most other reptiles, to having them in series and with a separation of pulmonary and systemic pressures. Between embryonic day 20 and the first day of post-hatch life, mean systemic arterial pressure of the chicken doubles from 24.5 to 48.7 mmHg (Girard, 1973). Mean systemic arterial pressure also increases during birth in the lamb (Bartelds et al., 2000). Similar changes in arterial pressure likely occur in the hatching duck. The increase in heart mass may in part be to help the left ventricle produce greater systemic pressures and cardiac outputs associated with an endothermic phenotype. However, it remains to be seen whether the increase in ventricle mass occurs in the left ventricle, right ventricle or both ventricles.
Liver mass and fractional liver mass increased monotonically with age (Fig. 3C). The metabolically active organs of endotherms are typically larger than the same organs in ectotherms (Hulbert and Else, 1989). During the egg stage, the liver of the duck makes up a similar fraction of body mass as found in the embryonic alligator and snapping turtle (Sirsat et al., 2016). After hatching, the duck liver increases in proportion to body mass, while that of ectothermic species remains relatively constant. In European shag nestlings, resting V̇O2 was significantly correlated with liver mass (Moe et al., 2004). The increase in liver mass from the internal pipping stage to 0 days post-hatch may play a role in increasing basal or resting V̇O2 of the hatchling.
Maturation of mitochondria function
The OXPHOS capacity of skeletal muscle increased after hatching concomitant with hatchlings attaining an endothermic phenotype. Skeletal muscles are the major source of heat production in birds, through shivering thermogenesis (Marjoniemi and Hohtola, 1999; Hohtola, 2004) or potentially non-shivering thermogenesis (Duchamp and Barre, 1993). As such, there should be an increase in OXPHOS capacity in those muscles associated with enhanced heat production and attainment of an endothermic phenotype. All measures of oxygen flux of the duck permeabilized skeletal muscle fibers were greater in the thigh compared with the breast (Fig. 6). This occurred in association with an increase in thigh muscle mass, while breast muscle mass did not change (Fig. 5). The greater increase in OXPHOS capacity and muscle mass (Fig. 5B) in thigh muscle is associated with these muscles serving as the major site of shivering thermogenesis and contribution to locomotor activity after hatching, a pattern observed in other precocial species; for example, not until the second week post-hatching did Japanese quail, grey partridge and domestic fowl began to use their breast muscle for shivering thermogenesis (Marjoniemi and Hohtola, 1999). Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) and Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) initially use leg muscles for shivering heat production and develop aerobic capacity as measured by increased citrate synthase activity rapidly upon hatching (Choi et al., 1993).
There was a significant increase in the LEAKN respiration with increasing age in thigh muscle of Pekin ducks, with little change in breast muscle (Fig. 6). LEAKN provides a measure of uncoupling due to proton leak and slip across the mitochondrial membrane (Pesta and Gnaiger, 2012). Endotherms typically have leakier membranes than do ectotherms (Hulbert and Else, 1989; Brand et al., 1991). Therefore, one might expect differences in LEAKN in tissues during the embryonic ectothermic stage compared with the hatchling that has attained endothermy. An increase in LEAKN was observed in thigh, but not breast, with maturation of endothermic phenotype. Walter and Seebacher (2009) demonstrated an age-related increase in oligomycin-stimulated leak of isolated skeletal muscle mitochondria in the chicken after hatching. They proposed that increased leak might be due to increased ANT-induced uncoupling with development from the embryo to 8 days post-hatching. Hatchling Pekin duck LEAKN respiration is also higher than that measured in thigh muscles of snapping turtle hatchlings and alligator hatchlings and yearlings (Sirsat et al., 2016).
OXPHOS capacity of mitochondria in thigh and breast skeletal muscle increased between external pipping and the first day of hatching in Pekin ducks (Fig. 6). During ectothermic embryo stages, levels of both OXPHOSCI and OXPHOSCI+CII oxygen flux in the duck breast were similar to those of hatchling alligator and snapping turtles (Sirsat et al., 2016). The significant increase in OXPHOS capacity of thigh muscle was coincident with attainment of endothermic phenotype and increased locomotor activity on the first day of post-hatch life. This increase in thigh and breast OXPHOS capacity upon hatching was not observed in either alligator or snapping turtle hatchlings (Sirsat et al., 2016). During the external pipping stage, the embryo exhibited an intermediate V̇O2 response to cooling, which may in part be limited by the OXPHOS capacity of skeletal muscles.
Very few studies have examined developmental trajectories of in situ mitochondrial function in permeabilized fibers in avian or mammalian skeletal muscle. Permeabilized pectoralis muscle fiber OXPHOSCI+CII capacity in semi-altricial Adélie penguin chicks did not change from day 7 to day 15 of post-hatch life, even though at day 15 the animals were beginning to be endothermic (Fongy et al., 2013). OXPHOSCI+CII capacity in penguin chicks was significantly lower than that of adults and those measured in our study animals. Our measured levels of OXPHOSCI+CII capacity in the duck thigh muscle were similar to levels measured in human vastus lateralis muscles (Chicco et al., 2014). Other studies examining metabolic enzyme development in skeletal muscles have revealed similar developmental trends as those shown here (e.g. Choi et al., 1993). Eider ducks showed a rapid increase in cytochrome c oxidase activity in thigh muscle during the first day of post-hatch life, and levels remained elevated through at least the first 2 days of post-hatch life (Grav et al., 1988).
Though not measured in our study, the increase in OXPHOS capacity of the thigh skeletal muscle that coincides with attainment of endothermy is probably due to an increase in mitochondria number in the cells. There is over a twofold increase in permeabilized fiber OXPHOS capacity from embryonic stage 24 to the third day post-hatch. During hatching, the mitochondria density in iliofibularis leg muscle of the chicken increased 3.8-fold from just prior to internal pipping to post-hatch day 4 (Eppley and Russell, 1995). Mitochondrial density in skeletal muscle differs between endothermic and ectothermic species (Else and Hulbert, 1985). Thus, the changes seen in OXPHOS capacity between the two stages in the duck are likely due to increased mitochondria numbers.
The OXPHOS capacity of the right and left ventricles increased significantly, concomitant with the increase in ventricle mass and attainment of endothermy. This increase in OXPHOS capacity begins to occur after hatching, during a time in development when the animal becomes endothermic. Maturation of the cardiovascular system and the associated increase in convective O2 transport are necessary for attaining an endothermic phenotype (Hillman and Hedrick, 2015). Associated with endothermy is an increase in both resting and active cardiac output and cardiac work, due to increased heart rate and stroke work (Hillman and Hedrick, 2015). The adult endothermic heart has one of the highest aerobic basal metabolic rates and must have the capacity to increase work by fourfold to sixfold during aerobic exercise or thermal stress (Lopaschuk et al., 2010). We found that OXPHOS capacity of cardiac myocytes was higher than OXPHOS capacity of skeletal muscle. Few studies have examined both cardiac and skeletal muscle OXPHOS capacity in avian species. OXPHOS capacity was higher in cardiac muscle compared with skeletal muscle in alligator and snapping turtle neonates (Sirsat et al., 2016). In contrast, Zhang et al. (2015) found that citrate synthase activity was higher in breast muscle compared with cardiac muscle in a number of adult passerines.
As noted above, the heart increased in mass significantly between external pipping and the first day of post-hatch life, with little change in yolk-free body mass. This disproportionate increase in mass was accompanied by an increase in OXPHOS capacity of the cardiomyocytes. At this point in development, hatchlings are switching their mode of gas exchange, the ductus arteriosus is closing, and pressures in the systemic circuit should be increasing. These changes would likely require greater work from the ventricles, which would necessitate a greater OXPHOS capacity. Increases in cardiomyocyte OXPHOS capacity after birth have been observed in neonatal rats (Anmann et al., 2014). In contrast, there is little change in OXPHOS capacity of the ectothermic alligator and snapping turtle cardiomyocytes upon hatching, as expected in species that do not transition to an endothermic phenotype (Sirsat et al., 2016).
We anticipate a shift in metabolic substrates associated with hatching and a transition to endothermy of the heart. In mammals at birth, there is a transition from glucose to fatty acids as a major source of cardiomyocyte fuel (Lopaschuk and Jaswal, 2010). Given the similarities in changes in arterial O2 levels during hatching and birth between mammals and birds (Tazawa et al., 1983; Berger et al., 1990), one would expect the avian heart to make a similar fuel switch at hatching. OXPHOS by fatty acid metabolism is linked by electron transfer flavoprotein and complex I as major acceptors for the reducing equivalents, with NAD+/NADH ratios playing a role in controlling β-oxidation. Therefore, one might expect to see an increase in OXPHOS capacity through OXPHOSCI with hatching relative to OXPHOSCI+CII. At hatching, there was a slight increase in the flux control ratio of OXPHOSCI/OXPHOSCI+CII of both the right and left ventricle (Fig. 6E). This increase in OXPHOSCI as a greater component of total OXPHOS through complexes I and II at hatching may correspond with a shift from reliance on glucose to fatty acids as substrates.
Perspective and significance
Phenotypes of endothermic animals are distinguished from those of ectotherms by four major characteristics – high basal metabolic rate, high aerobic metabolic capacity and heat production that increase in response to cold thermal stress, and effective insulation that retains internally produced heat. Development of an endothermic phenotype from an ectothermic starting point requires changes in all four characteristics. The precocial Pekin duck hatches at a relatively mature stage with downy insulation and advanced locomotor capability, and has a rapidly developing aerobic capacity and thermogenic capability. In the embryonic stages, mitochondrial capacities of the duck are similar to those of embryonic ectotherms (Sirsat et al., 2016). In the externally pipped stage, Pekin ducks, and probably other highly precocial species, can maintain but cannot increase oxygen consumption and heat production because of limits imposed at multiple levels of the oxygen cascade. Upon hatching, there is a significant increase in both heart ventricle mass and maximal OXPHOS capacity of the heart and skeletal muscle, specifically the thigh muscle, that is not observed in ectothermic species after they hatch (Sirsat et al., 2016). At this point, the thigh is the major site of shivering (and potentially non-shivering) thermogenesis and increased muscle mass, and OXPHOS capacity provides increased capacity for heat generation. Because of increases in capacity to deliver oxygen to the tissues by the cardiovascular and respiratory systems (Sirsat and Dzialowski, 2016) and increased capacity of muscles to utilize oxygen to produce ATP, the Pekin duck completes a 1-day metamorphosis from life as an ectotherm to that of an endotherm. It appears that all four characteristics mature in concert to produce an endothermic metabolic phenotype, with each characteristic contributing a limiting factor.
Kimberley Prince helped with collection of permeabilized fiber oxygen flux data.
The authors declare no competing or financial interests.
Designed experiments: S.K.G.S., T.S.S., A.F., P.R.S. and E.M.D. Conducted experiments: S.K.G.S., T.S.S., A.D., S.W., A.F. and E.M.D. Analyzed and interpreted data: S.K.G.S., T.S.S., A.F., S.W., A.D., P.R.S. and E.M.D. Wrote the manuscript: E.M.D. Edited the manuscript: S.K.G.S., T.S.S., A.D., S.W., A.F., P.R.S. and E.M.D.
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation (IOS 1146758 to E.M.D.).
Received November 23, 2015.
Accepted February 11, 2016.
© 2016. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd
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“Accent on Youth,” by Zach Ferguson
Zach Ferguson, a junior at Battleground High School in Battleground, WA, was the winner of the 2007 Accent on Youth Essay Contest. His passion for jazz and the challenges he faces as a youthful fan of it is the focus of the column.
This column was originally published on January 1, 2008
Listen to Dinah Washington sing Accent on Youth
“Improv,” by
The Future of Jazz
Skipping , by Wynton Marsalis (2004)
II , by Thomasz Stanko (2004)
As America’s first truly indigenous music, one which
experienced tremendous growth and reverence upon its inception, jazz’s popularity
has diminished significantly over the past half century. Jazz musicians are
rarely featured on popular television shows or in widely circulated magazines,
are not as well respected as their inter-genre colleagues, and typically
don’t secure the lucrative contracts offered to musicians of popular genres.
Jazz record sales consistently constitute a meager three percent of US record
sales, and fewer students are participating in curricular and extramural
jazz programs. How can this decline be explained, but more important, what
does this descending trend forebode for jazz’s future?
While jazz’s worst popularity is recent, this phenomenon
began with an initially bright interlude in the 1970’s, which witnessed a
proliferation of jazz programs in both secondary and postsecondary institution.
Until approximately 1970, few public colleges had jazz ensembles, and the
nation’s premier music conservatories disregarded jazz studies as a serious
discipline. However, during this decade, over 500,000 high school and college
students registered for formal jazz education, roughly 500 jazz summer programs
were founded, and jazz programs were expanded to include classes in vocal
jazz, rehearsal technique, jazz theory and harmony, performance styles and
practice, arranging, and improvisation. Jazz’s posterity seemed secure, and
the formerly esoteric art was now unprecedentedly accessible.
This accessibility encouraged interpretation, whose pioneers
created what was and is perhaps the most divisive subgenre in the jazz community,
fusion. Typically attributed to jazz innovator Miles Davis, fusion was
characterized by the inclusion of electric instruments and extended
improvisations with unconventional meters, a departure from the mundane meters
and acoustic instruments featured in all previous jazz subgenres. In an act
not dissimilar to Martin Luther “publication” of his 95 Theses, Davis released
his iconoclastic Bitches Brew in 1970, thereby unleashing hostile
criticism towards him and his revolutionary synthesis of jazz and rock. Within
the following ten years, a once cohesive and supportive jazz community fragmented
into two primaries schools of thought: the orthodox and the unorthodox.
The 1980’s were what could be described as jazz’s depressive
period. The two primary camps were ceaselessly bickering, and jazz lost any
significant popularity it once had. Due to this unpopularity, jazz musicians
had to develop yet another subgenre that would appeal to a now disinterested
market, yet still retain some semblance of the art. While not an entirely
new invention, smooth jazz occupied this void and helped re-popularize jazz,
but soon became a subject of contention in the jazz community. In the late
1980’s, though, a group of university-educated, young, and technically proficient
jazz musicians, termed the “Young Lions,” emerged; musicians who were supposed
to rescue jazz from the dilution of fusion and return jazz to its former
prominence. The spearhead of this revivalist movement, Wynton Marsalis,
maintained that jazz should remain true to its roots, telling Jazz Times in 1983, “I resent what he’s [Miles Davis] doing because it gives the whole scene such a letdown. I think Bird would roll over in his grave if he knew what was going on.”
Ultimately, though, the Young Lions failed to return
“straight-ahead” jazz to popular discourse, and began experimenting with
their own variations of jazz.
This brings us to the modern jazz scene, which is
characterized by a few innovators with a vehement following and a largely
regressive majority. (When I say regressive, I’m referring to the revivalist
movement which emphasizes a return to jazz’s founding principles.) While
the latter has a devout, albeit small following, it is the former that will
appeal to the future generation of jazz musicians and listeners, but will
fail to do so if they are condemned as musical heretics. Jazz, like every
other music genre, is an evolving music, and depends on innovation to perpetuate
it. And if this quasi-war continues within jazz, the genre will eventually
collapse and lose whatever following it has. Jazz’s lead voices, many
of whom are embracing the orthodox ideology, must support the evolution of
this genre or accept its demise, which I’m sure no one, whether traditionalist
or unorthodox, wants to happen.
Zach Ferguson
Zach Ferguson, a junior at Battle Ground High School in Battle Ground, WA, was the winner of the 2007 Accent on Youth Essay Contest. His passion for jazz and the challenges he faces as
a youthful fan of it is the focus of the column.
You can contact Zach at: frydfrog@hotmail.com
To read Zach’s previous column, go to the next page
Tags: accent on youth, sonny stitt, zach ferguson
Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3
Author Joe MaitaPosted on January 1, 2008 July 29, 2019 Categories Accent on Youth, Features, Zach FergusonTags accent on youth, sonny stitt, zach ferguson
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Editorials of Laura Weiss Roberts, MD, MA
AM Last Page
Learning Environment and Its Effect on Learner Wellness and Resilience
Entrustable Professional Activities
About the AAMC
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Reprints and Back Issues
December 2019 - Volume 94 - Issue 12
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Thought you might appreciate this item(s) I saw at Academic Medicine.
Teaching and Learning Moments
A Tale of Two Passings
S. Smith is a fourth-year medical student, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan; email: sarahsmt@umich.edu.
An Academic Medicine Podcast episode featuring this article is available wherever you get your podcasts.
Author’s Note: The names and identifying information in this essay have been changed to protect the identity of the individuals described.
Academic Medicine: December 2019 - Volume 94 - Issue 12 - p 1864
doi: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000002965
We begin medical school thinking like patients: Medical jargon is confusing, the physical exam feels uncomfortably intimate, illness is overwhelming, death is terrifying. Somewhere along the long, arduous route of our training, we learn to think like providers: Jargon becomes a second language, a breast or prostate exam feels no different than a lung exam, illness and death become a part of our routine. The medical student clerkship year represents a transitional period, a liminal time when we are insiders with the mentality of outsiders, providers with the mentality of patients fresh in our minds.
It is through this lens of my clerkship year that I tell the story of my first experience with death in the hospital. Mr. Brown was an incredibly kind, 53-year-old, previously healthy man, admitted to my internal medicine team for a new diagnosis of metastatic cancer. The oncologists predicted he had days to live. Mr. Brown decided he would like to spend his final days with home hospice care. On the morning of intended discharge, a fellow medical student, Anna, presented to the senior resident and attending on rounds: “Mr. Brown’s white cell counts continue to trend up. I think he’s developing an infection.”
What followed was an awkward exchange between Anna and the senior resident in which the senior resident pushed back on Anna’s desire to search for the cause of, and treat, a possible infection. The senior resident, annoyed that the length of the discussion was slowing down rounds, finally responded, “Even if you’re right, he’s going to die any time now, so I don’t know what you want to do about it.” In retrospect, I know this was the correct medical logic: With days to live, why subject Mr. Brown to an extensive and potentially painful medical workup? But we were caught off guard by the directness of the senior resident’s comment and the blunt manner in which a patient’s imminent death was discussed. The conversation was over, and our fast-paced rounds continued, leaving Anna behind in tears.
Anna and I decided to buy Mr. Brown flowers after we left the hospital that night. Maybe it was his kindness, the senior resident’s crass choice of words, or the fact that it was an early experience with death in the hospital for both Anna and myself, but Mr. Brown’s suffering felt personal to us. I sobbed the entire drive to the flower shop. This was my first experience as an insider confronting a patient’s death with an aching heart and an endless flow of tears.
Contrast Anna’s experience with the experience of another one of my classmates, Asha, who was midway through her clerkship year when she saw a 19-year-old girl suffer a complication from a renal biopsy and be rushed to the ICU, where she died. Immediately following the code, Asha’s attending asked her to walk with him to the neonatal ICU, where he explained that “these situations are the darkest side of our profession,” that the team had done everything it possibly could to help the patient, and that today, it was important for Asha to see new life and feel hope. Her attending took 10 minutes out of a busy day to pause and remember how a code feels to an outsider and to help a trainee who needed support and guidance.
Like the medical jargon and the physical exam, learning how to witness death is both a rite of passage and a skill to be learned. Teaching medical trainees how to cope with death requires slowing down. When attendings or residents pause to remember what a first code feels like and debrief the experience or offer guidance on how to cope, it is impactful to trainees. That pause allows trainees, navigating the space between insider and outsider, not only to feel supported in learning to cope with one of the most challenging parts of our profession but also to make the transition into the kind of insider who remembers, even celebrates, a patient’s humanity in the face of death.
The author would like to thank Dr. Joel Howell, who supported her in finding her narrative voice and inspired her to share a message she feels is important.
Copyright © 2019 by the Association of American Medical Colleges
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Differential Consolidation and Pattern Reverberations within Episodic Cell Assemblies in the Mouse Hippocampus
Remus Oşan ,
Contributed equally to this work with: Remus Oşan, Guifen Chen
Affiliation Department of Pharmacology and Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
Affiliation Brain and Behavior Discovery Institute and Department of Neurology, MCG, Georgia Health Sciences University, Augusta, Georgia, United States of America
Ruiben Feng,
* E-mail: jtsien@Georgiahealth.edu
Remus Oşan,
Remus Oşan Guifen Chen Ruiben Feng Joe Z. Tsien
One hallmark feature of consolidation of episodic memory is that only a fraction of original information, which is usually in a more abstract form, is selected for long-term memory storage. How does the brain perform these differential memory consolidations? To investigate the neural network mechanism that governs this selective consolidation process, we use a set of distinct fearful events to study if and how hippocampal CA1 cells engage in selective memory encoding and consolidation. We show that these distinct episodes activate a unique assembly of CA1 episodic cells, or neural cliques, whose response-selectivity ranges from general-to-specific features. A series of parametric analyses further reveal that post-learning CA1 episodic pattern replays or reverberations are mostly mediated by cells exhibiting event intensity-invariant responses, not by the intensity-sensitive cells. More importantly, reactivation cross-correlations displayed by intensity-invariant cells encoding general episodic features during immediate post-learning period tend to be stronger than those displayed by invariant cells encoding specific features. These differential reactivations within the CA1 episodic cell populations can thus provide the hippocampus with a selection mechanism to consolidate preferentially more generalized knowledge for long-term memory storage.
Citation: Oşan R, Chen G, Feng R, Tsien JZ (2011) Differential Consolidation and Pattern Reverberations within Episodic Cell Assemblies in the Mouse Hippocampus. PLoS ONE 6(2): e16507. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0016507
Editor: Martin Giurfa, French National Centre for Scientific Research - University Paul Sabatier, France
Received: September 4, 2010; Accepted: January 2, 2011; Published: February 15, 2011
Copyright: © 2011 Oşan et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Funding: This research was supported by funds from National Institutes of Health (NIMH: MH060236, NIA (AG025918, AG034663) and Georgia Research Alliance (all to JZT). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
The hippocampus plays a crucial role in converting recent episodic events into long-lasting memories, a process termed memory consolidation [1]–[5]. While our brains can recall a great amount of detail immediately after the event (within the time domain of short-term memory), there appears to be a gradual loss of many specific details in the domain of long-term memory [1], [6], [7]. In other words, long-term memory eventually contains only partial information about the original experiences, usually retaining more general and abstract information rather than a full set of specific details. Two major possibilities could underlie such biased memory storage processes: 1) the brain somehow preferentially consolidates general information over specific information (selective consolidation hypothesis); 2) both general and specific information are initially equally consolidated, but specific details somehow degrades more easily over time than does general information (degradation hypothesis). In the present study, we investigate if and how the hippocampus may engage in differential consolidation of memory patterns that were triggered by robust episodic events.
Since the hippocampus is well known for its crucial role in converting an episodic memory from short-term into its long-term form, it is of great interest to use episodic memory paradigms for the identification of memory traces in its networks [8], [9]. Investigating the neural mechanism of episodic memory consolidation can be approached by examining the activity replay in the hippocampus. For example, large-scale recording and decoding methods show that the real-time encoding patterns seem to reappear in the hippocampus within seconds-to-minutes after the animals encounter startling or emotionally charged episodic events [10], [11] or fear conditioning [12]. Moreover, it has been shown in the trace fear conditioning paradigm that conditioned tone responses and tone-shock association patterns undergo trial-dependent increase in the numbers of replay during learning, correlating tightly with increased immediate freezing [12]. This is the first evidence that links memory pattern replay with behavioral performance scores [12]. In addition, it seems that a significant fraction of pattern replays are associated with ripples [12] which may be related to memory consolidation [13]–[15]. Studies in using place cells with overlapping place fields also suggest reactivations after running [16]–[20], although the relationship between such place cell replays and spatial memory is unclear. Nonetheless, the various observed pattern replays is, in general, consistent with the explanation of its potential roles in memory consolidation.
To our knowledge, however, there is no report aimed at addressing the following important question: how and why does the hippocampus only convert a fraction of original information into long-term memory? In the present study, we set out to investigate how the distinct cell populations in the CA1 region of the hippocampus may engage themselves during the post-learning consolidation of episodic experiences. We used a set of fearful episodic events, coupled with large-scale neural ensemble recording methods [10], [11], [21], for investigating episodic memory consolidation mechanisms. We report that the CA1 cells which encode different aspects of episodic events, tend to be reactivated differently during the post-learning period.
Organization of CA1 cell assemblies in responses to different robust episodes
To investigate CA1 neural activity patterns during and after learning period, we exposed naive mice to four types of the fearful episodic events: 1) A sudden drop of animal in a small elevator (Elevator-Drop); 2) A sudden air-blow to animal's back (Air-Blow); 3) A sudden earthquake imitated by shaking the animal in its cage via vortex machine (Quake); and 4) A startling acoustic sound (Sound). Using a 96- or 128-channel Plexon neural data acquisition system, we recorded bilaterally from the dorsal region of hippocampus using a microdrive with adjustable stereotrodes as described previously [10], [12], [21]. Recorded units were spike-sorted (Figure 1). Only units with clear boundaries and less than 0.5% of spike intervals within a 1 ms refractory period were included in the present analysis. The location of electrode bundle tips in CA1 was confirmed by physiological markers through the occurrence of sharp-wave associated ripples (100–200 Hz) as well as by histological staining of the post-experiment brain sections (Figure 2). Based on spike waveforms, firing rates, and inter-spike intervals, the recorded CA1 units were divided into two classes: principal excitatory units (putative pyramidal neurons) (Figure 3) and inhibitory units (putative interneurons) (Figure 4). Putative pyramidal cells are characterized by lower firing rates, wider waveforms, and complex bursts with 2–10 ms inter-spike intervals, reflected by their autocorrelograms (Figure 3). In addition, we calculated the complex spike index, defined as the percentage of spikes with first lag inter-spike intervals that fall between 2 and 15 msec and whose second spike is smaller than the first. The averaged complex spike index from these recorded pyramidal cells was 14.9±0.63. On the other hand, putative interneurons are characterized by higher discharge rates, narrower waveforms, and autocorrelograms with a much slower decay (Figure 4). Simultaneous recordings of local field potentials also exhibited characteristic theta oscillations during running (Figure 5A) or high frequency ripples during slow wave sleep (Figure 5B), confirming the CA1 location of our electrodes. In general, pyramidal cells constitute the majority of the recorded cells in the CA1 region. The stability of the recordings was also confirmed by the near identical waveforms of the units before, during, and after the various startling events (see the top, middle, and bottom insets of each subpanel in Figure 3 and 4).
Figure 1. Separation of multiple single units by a single stereotrodes.
(A) Six single units were detected by a single stereotrode. (B) The spike raster plot for the corresponding six units was shown together with the original field potential and the filtered ripple signal from one channel.
Figure 2. Evidence for confirming the position of recording electrodes in CA1.
(A) Local field potentials from ten separate recording electrodes. (B) Filtered ripples from the corresponding ten electrodes. (C) Histological confirmation of electrode placement. Nissl-staining coronal section through the CA1 field of the hippocampus shows the position of the electrodes.
Figure 3. Stable recordings of pyramidal cells, as confirmed by the waveforms and inter-spike interval (ISI) histograms.
Eight representative putative pyramidal cells are shown here. The left columns are waveforms and the right columns are inter-spike interval histograms. The waveforms were plotted during 70-sec recordings before (top row), during (middle row), and after trace-conditioning trials. A 10-sec recording for each trial was plotted. The ISIs were analyzed by using the corresponding data and the bin size is 0.005 s.
Figure 4. Stable recordings for putative interneurons in the hippocampus.
Waveforms and inter-spike interval histogram of interneurons (eight representative units) are presented here. The left columns are waveforms and the right columns are inter-spike interval histograms. The waveforms were plotted from a 70-sec recording before (top row), during (middle), and after trace-conditionings (bottom row). A 10-sec recording for each trial was plotted. The ISIs were analyzed using the corresponding data and the bin size is 0.005 s.
Figure 5. Simultaneous recordings of many individual units (only 20 units shown here out of over a few hundreds) and local field potentials in a freely behaving mouse were used for assessing whether our electrodes reached CA1.
(A) The activity of the simultaneously recorded individual units from the hippocampus during mouse exploration. Twenty units from the recorded data were selected for the illustration. Note that the simultaneously recorded field potential shows the typical theta rhythm oscillations (4–12 Hz) during running. (B) The activity of the simultaneously recorded individual units from the hippocampus during mouse slow wave sleep. The simultaneous field potential recording shows the irregular waves as well as the ripple oscillations (150–250 Hz) during sleep. The traces marked with ‘FP’ show the original field potential recorded from one recording channel. The trace marked with ‘theta’ shows the field potential filtered with the frequency range from 4–12 Hz from the original one, whereas the traces marked with ‘ripples’ shows the field potential filtered with 150 to 250 Hz from the original one.
To efficiently deal with the large datasets, we employed hierarchical clustering analysis to examine the firing responsiveness of those units among all of the recorded mice. Our analysis shows that each specific event is represented by a set of CA1 cell assemblies, or neural cliques, that respond with a range of selectivity, from the general response to all four events to the specific response to a single event (Figure. 6A, data from one mouse), although, we note here that significant subpopulations were unresponsive to any of those fearful events. As a result, the hippocampal responsive cells can be classified based on their response selectivity for different types of episodic events. For example, we found that a large number of cells exhibited broad responses to all types of episodic stimuli including the elevator-drop, earthquake, air-blow, and loud sound. These cells were termed as general responsive cells, or the general clique (top rows in Figure 6A). In the case of the sub-general cells or subgeneral cliques, they responded to a combination of two or three types, but not to all of the episodic events. In addition, there were groups which exhibited high specificity towards one specific type of event (middle rows with one response per category in Figure 6A). In agreement with the simultaneously recorded data [10], the pooled dataset from all of the recorded mice again show the existence of this overall hierarchical arrangement in CA1 cell response selectivity (from general to specific-response features) (Figure 6B).
Figure 6. Hierarchical organization of CA1 cell assemblies from general-to-specific response-selectivity.
(A) Hierarchical clustering for simultaneously recorded 219 neurons (mouse #1) suggest a wide range of response selectivity to startling stimuli, ranging from general (top of the figure, responsive to all four type of startles), to sub-general (responses to a subset of two or three types of events), highly specific (1 type) and non-responsive units (bottom of the figure, in blue). The following formulas have been used during the hierarchical clustering procedures: the average responses to a startle Rstartle were first normalized to Rnormalized = (Rstartle – Rbasal activity)/(Raverage + Rbasal activity), where the average population activity during baseline activity is Raverage ≈2.7 To facilitate visualization of different classes, we retain only the units that have a positive change in their firing rates, and we display the quantities T = log(1+ Rnormalized) as a colormap. (B) Although exact percentages for these types of units may vary from animal to animal depending on the location of electrodes, pooled data from 7 animals (1623 neurons) indicate that this is a general property.
Encoding of episodic events by intensity-sensitive cells and intensity-invariant cells
While many CA1 cells changed their firing rates in response to external inputs or experiences, it is not clear to what degree the activations of hippocampal cells by such episodes reflect memory encoding or merely represent sensory inputs. Our hypothesis is that the neural responsiveness should reflect changes in input intensities (intensity-sensitive neurons) if it is mere representation of sensory inputs. On the other hand, some neurons in CA1 may exhibit fairly equal firing responses despite changes in event intensities (Intensity-invariant neurons) because they may be more geared towards the encoding of invariant important features.
Thus, we conducted a series of parametric experiments and varied the level of intensity of the two episodic events (drop and air blow). We set the dropping height of at 5 cm, 13 cm and 30 cm, respectively, for the drop; adjusted airflow at 200 ms, 400 ms and 800 ms, respectively, for the air blow. Our parametric experiments reveal the existence of two major types of responsive cell groups in CA1, namely, intensity-sensitive responsive neurons and intensity-invariant responsive neurons. The input-sensitive group contains units that either increase or decrease their firing rates in a monotonic fashion with changes in the amount of stimulus inputs (Fig. 7A and 7B for an example of a drop intensity-responsive neuron, and Fig. 7C and 7D for an example of an air-blow intensity-responsive neuron). In contrast, intensity-invariant responsive neurons are characterized by similar changes in their firing rates irrespective of the magnitude of the stimulus inputs (see Fig. 7E and 7F, for an example of a drop intensity-invariant neuron; and Fig. 7G and 7H for an example of an air-blow event-invariant neuron, respectively). It is noteworthy to point out that these episodic events can trigger firing changes in the vast majority of both intensity-sensitive and intensity-invariant cells independent of the animal's specific location within a given environment and the locomotor states of animals (such as running or in rest). For example, during the course of repetitions of air-blow or shake, the mice usually moved from one location to another and change their locomotion behavior, say from quiet wakefulness, to running, glooming, or exploring, etc. This suggests that the effectiveness of startling episodes in triggering CA1 responses is not constrained by specific place location or locomotory state of the animals [10], [12], [22]. There is, however, a small number of cells whose firing changes are dependent on both the event and the overall environment in which the event took place (thereby, reflecting the integration of both event and contextual information) [10].
Figure 7. Effects of event-intensity on CA1 cell responsiveness.
(A) A representative CA1 unit shows intensity-dependent modulation of its firing changes in response to different drop heights from 5, 13 and 30 cm (upper, middle and lower raster, respectively). Time is represented on the horizontal X-axis (−3 to 3 seconds) and the trial number is listed on the vertical Y-axis. The vertical red line indicates t = 0. (B) The frequency responses of the same unit (shown in A) obtained by smoothing the spike count through an asymmetric kernel indicate that this neuron increases its firing rate monotonically in response to drop heights. (C) Spike rasters of a CA1 cell that show a intensity-dependent unit which increases its firing in response to various amount of air-blow (for the durations of 200 ms, 400 ms, and 800 ms (upper, middle and lower panel, respectively). (D) The frequency responses obtained by smoothing the spike count through an asymmetric kernel indicate that this CA1 neuron increases its firing rate monotonically over change of stimuli amounts. (E) A representative CA1 unit that exhibit invariant firing increase over changes of drop heights (from 5, 13 and 30 cm; upper, middle and lower raster, respectively). (F) Smoothed frequency responses confirm that this neuron is invariant to drop heights. (G) Spike rasters for a representative neuron that responds in an invariant fashion to air-blow stimuli. (H) Smoothed frequency responses indicate that this CA1 neuron responds in an invariant fashion to the amount of air being blown. (I) The percentages of units that belong to specific, subgeneral and general populations are represented schematically by the size of the corresponding circles. 0.20 = 20%. 0.26 = 26%, and 0.54 = 54%. In addition, the partition between intensity-invariant and intensity-sensitive are displayed in light blue and orange-red.
From a total of 1623 units recorded from 7 mice, 583 units (35.9%) responded to various startling stimuli. Of them, 284 units belong to the intensity-invariant cell group and 299 units exhibit intensity-sensitive changes of their firing rates, close to 1∶1 distribution ratio. We have further analyzed the interaction between the intensity-sensitivity categories vs. event-response selectivity categories. We found that percentages of invariant neurons that belong to general to specific categories are: 54% for the general-responsive category (152 out of a total of 284 intensity-invariant neurons), 26% for the sub-general responsive category (75/284), and 20% for the specific event-encoding cells (57/284). Similarly, the percentages of intensity-sensitive neurons that belong to general, subgeneral and specific modulated neurons are 45% (134/299), 25% (75/299) and 30% (89/299), respectively (Figure 7I).
Stronger event-intensity produces better pattern separation
To seek a statistical description of ensemble neural activity patterns from the recorded large datasets, we employed Multiple Discriminant Analysis (MDA) which has been shown to be an effective method for statistical pattern classifications of large neural data collected from well defined event categories [10], [12], [22], [23]. Using this method, we find that these ensemble activity patterns corresponding to these four different episodes can be quantitatively classified and intuitively visualized as distinct ellipsoid clusters in MDA subspaces (Figure 8). By and large, the clusters corresponding to lower-intensity episodic stimuli are situated closer to the basal activity class, while the highest-intensity clusters are located furthest away. The intermediate classes often lie in between (see Figure 8 for results from three mice that include parametric changes in drop and air-blow intensities, Data from Mouse#1 is presented in A and B; Mouse#2 in C and D, and Mouse#3 in E and F, respectively). Our analysis of all data further shows that this is a general trend across all seven recorded mice (See Table 1, where absolute distances were normalized by the standard deviation corresponding to the Rest cluster to allow for uniform comparison across multiple data sets).
Figure 8. CA1 ensemble pattern classification.
(A) MDA analysis on mouse #1 shows that CA1 ensemble representation of high drop experiences is located farther away from the resting state in the projection subspace than the clusters corresponding to low or medium drop episodic startles. (B) Quantification of the average distances away from the rest origin for all episodic events plotted in panel A illustrates that classification of higher drops are indeed located further away from the resting state in the encoding subspace. (C) A data set from another mouse hippocampus (mouse #2) is characterized by a large separation between high drop (third type of drop from a 30 cm height) and the basal activity cluster, when compared to the separation between low drop (first type of drop from a 5 cm height) or medium drop (second type of drop from an 11 cm height). (D) Inspection of the average distances away from the origin of the basal activity (gray), air-blow (light blue) and drop clusters (dark blue) confirm with the trends suggested by panel C. (E) Results from a third data set (mouse #3) indicate that while air-blow at low intensity evoked little ensemble response, air-blow at middle and high intensity evoked considerably larger responses. (F) Quantification of distances away from origin by various clusters is in agreement with panel E. Overall, these three examples illustrate the general tendency from all our data sets: the stronger the parametric stimulus, the better the separation from rest cluster in encoding subspace.
Table 1. Distance from the rest origin for various event clusters.
Transient dynamics of CA1 ensemble traces
To dynamically monitor the population firing patterns, we applied a sliding-window technique to the MDA method which enabled us to directly visualize the real-time network-level memory encoding dynamics [10], [12], [22]. Using the fixed matrix coefficients produced by the MDA method, we computed the instantaneous projection of neural responses during the entire experiments (using two 500-msec width-bins, sliding at 10-msec time resolution). As such, the temporal evolution of the ensemble activity patterns can be directly visualized as dynamical trajectories in the encoding subspace [22]. For example, during the baseline state prior to a drop event, the instantaneous projection was confined to the Rest ellipsoid. Upon the sudden drop, however, we observed a planar trajectory that began in the Rest cluster, quickly visited the corresponding Drop cluster and then returned to Rest (an example for Drop is shown Figure 9A). By separately calculating the dynamical evolution of the neural activity in the encoding subspace, we found that both types of CA1 responsive cells (namely, input intensity-sensitive cells and input intensity-invariant cells) can produce robust event-encoding trajectories of the startling episode (Fig. 9B and 9C - note that these two encoding subspaces are computed based on the input obtained after partitioning data into two subsets). This indicates that intensity-sensitive and intensity-invariant cells all contribute to the CA1 ensemble classification and representation of the actual event at the time when it happens.
Figure 9. Pattern reactivations are mainly driven by the invariant subpopulation.
(A) A typical trajectory during a drop event from 30 cm (gray/cyan/green/blue clusters indicate rest/sound/air 800 ms/drop 30 cm) is plotted using all of the responsive units. (B) Activation dynamics can be also observed in the MDA encoding subspace which uses only the modulated subpopulation of cells. (C) Activation dynamics can be further observed in the MDA encoding subspaces constructed from the invariant subpopulation only. (D) A typical reactivation trajectory is detected in whole population activity. (E) However, at this time point little reactivation is observed in the intensity-modulated subpopulation. (F) In contrast, the invariant responsive subpopulation exhibits a significant reactivation. Please note that the directionality of trajectory towards the drop cluster and away from the air-blow cluster or acoustic metal sound is confirmed in other rotated 3-D dimensions. (G) Comparison of distances from the resting state for all reactivation occurrences when using all of the responsive units reveals significant differences between basal states and reactivations. (H) No statistically significant reactivations in the intensity-modulated subpopulation. (I) Significant reactivations are observed in the intensity-invariant subpopulation (p<0.05).
By scanning through the recorded CA1 neural activities in the post-event period, we observed that these transient encoding patterns triggered by startling stimuli reactivated spontaneously as indicated by dynamical trajectories with similar geometric shapes but at smaller amplitudes (Figure 9D). These reappearances of transient trajectories usually occurred within several seconds to minutes after the actual events, in agreement with our previously published research [10]–[12]. We note here that each one of the episodic events may be followed by these spontaneously-emerging patterns and that no discernible pattern can be observed regarding the timing of these putative reactivations that presumably are related to the processing of the newly-acquired memory traces. More precisely, these reactivations do not require the presentation of a full sequence of events in order to become manifest, instead they may arise immediately following the first episodic event. By taking advantage of the ability of using the MDA encoding subspace to monitor the neural ensembles dynamics during whole duration of the experiments, we applied a sliding window technique to compute the projection of neural activities to identify the exact time point at which reactivations took place. As a result, our identification of the putative memory reactivation is determined by MDA analysis. We then asked how intensity-invariant and intensity-modulated neurons would contribute to the ensemble pattern classifications and representations during events and during post-event reactivations. Interestingly, our analysis revealed that the intensity-sensitive (intensity-modulated) cell population, by and large, exhibited only negligible reactivation or no reactivation at all (Fig. 9E). On the other hand, the invariant cells seemed to produce reliable and substantially larger reactivation trajectories (Figure 9F). This sub-categorical analysis thus indicates that the invariant cell population accounts for most of the ensemble reactivations during these time periods. This trend generally holds true for all reactivations encountered during a recording session, as evaluated by the statistics for the magnitude of all of the corresponding trajectories during the actual events and their reactivations (see Fig. 9G–I for results on all responsive, intensity-sensitive and intensity-invariant populations). Interestingly, there is no temporal evolution among the invariant units driving the reactivation of these memory patterns (e.g. the sequenced reactivations of the general units, followed by the subgeneral units, does not occur).
Validation of reactivation patterns
To ensure that our MDA analysis truly captured the CA1 encoding traces as well as reactivation traces, we carried out a set of control and validation tests. First, we determined the class membership for these test data points, which was based on the proximity to the clusters corresponding to the training data points. For example as shown in Figure 10A, a collection of 10 test data points (5 random startle points for air-blow, low drop, medium drop, high drop, and shake, as well as their corresponding 5 rest samples) was used to cross-validate the predictive power of models constructed using all other points (training). Average performances for class prediction were obtained by repeating MDA 1000 times with random partitioning into training and test points (Figure 10A). We noted that in general, the prediction performance is strongly correlated with the number of startle-responsive cells in the datasets, a feature that relates to the robustness within the encoding population.
Figure 10. Shuffling of the data leads to the collapse of classification of population patterns.
Scrambling technique revealed large overlap between the drop, shake and rest clusters (B) in comparison to the distinct clusters prior to shuffling (A). When the neural activities collected during events were shuffled among different units, the overall cluster structure collapses. In the case of air cluster, data shuffling leads to the misclassification and poor prediction of the test data (see the open circle symbol from an air-blow testing data was totally misclassified).
As expected, when the neural activities collected during events were shuffled among different units, our cluster structure collapsed (see Figure 10B). As a result of this shuffling, the drop and shake clusters have a very large degree of overlap, in comparison to the original classifications prior to data shuffling, thus greatly diminishing the classification power. Even in rare occasions in which a distinct representation (e.g. one air-blow, and one drop event) could still be computed from a subset of the shuffled training data, it was apparent that the classification was incorrect. For example, one air blow or one medium drop event were totally misclassified (see these two misclassified points with arrows in the panel of Figure 6B). The data scrambling technique, therefore, demonstrates that the MDA discriminating power would be lost if the data were shuffled and any random change in the population activity could not fall into 5 distinct categories.
Because of the statistical classification that was used, the directionality and shape of the trajectories in MDA subspaces now provide a highly valuable means to compare and visualize the encoding patterns with any other random events [10]–[12], [22]. We further examined the effect of random changes of activity by shuffling the data specifically duration reactivations and then plotting the transient trajectories using sliding-window technique. In the first case (see pre-shuffle data in Figure 11A–F and the shuffled data in Figure 11G–I), we shuffled the spike responses of the top 50 invariant units during a drop reactivation. We focused on a time window of 2 seconds before and after the occurrence of the reactivation and we shuffled the spike times uniformly during the 4 second time interval. This was implemented by placing the spikes in 10 ms time bins and performing random permutation of the whole sequence within a given cell. As a result, the projected reactivation trajectories produced by shuffled data were found to be located mainly inside the rest clusters (Figure 11G for whole population, 11H for the intensity-modulated neurons, and Figure 11I for Invariant neurons).
Figure 11. Shuffling techniques illustrate the specificity of the encoding patterns during learning and reactivations.
We shuffled the spike responses of the top 50 invariant units during a drop reactivation using a time window of 2 seconds before and after the occurrence of the putative reactivation (by placing the spikes in 50 ms time bins and performing random permutation of the whole sequence). As a result, the projected trajectories are now located mainly inside the rest clusters (6G, H and I, are listed). The prior to shuffling was presented in panel A-F for comparison.
The second method we used for shuffling reactivation data was to switch the identity of the neural units randomly during this putative reactivation. As illustrated in Figure 11J–L, this led to large trajectories that wandered out into unusual portions of the space regions unassociated with any pre-defined event categories. These two data-shuffling analyses have demonstrated the validity of MDA-sliding window method for elucidating ensemble encoding traces as well as reactivation traces. In other words, the statistical classification achieved by MDA methods, as described by the directionality and shapes of the transient trajectories, can provide a highly valuable means to compare and visualize the ensemble traces at both learning and post-learning periods.
In addition, we further analyzed the relationship between event intensity and the amplitudes of reactivation traces. Interestingly, we have noticed that the magnitude of ensemble reactivations tends to remain more or less constant regardless the original event intensity. For example, we saw that high drop and low drop events produced similar magnitudes of reactivation trajectories of the episodic stimuli (Figure 12).
Figure 12. Similar magnitudes of reactivated trajectory distances among drop ensemble traces following low, medium, and high drop.
The MDA distances were used as a way for averaging the mean of reactivated trajectories. The distances from sound, air puff, and shake clusters to the rest cluster center were also listed on the right side of the plot.
Intensity-invariant neurons exhibit elevated correlation during reactivations
To further confirm and explore the nature of the pattern reactivation, we applied two widely used methods, namely, pair-wise correlations [16], and explained variance [24]. Using the pair-wise cross-correlation method, we systematically assessed the coordination levels in firing changes among neurons belonging to either the intensity-modulated population or the intensity invariant population. We first analyzed the joint-firing tendency among the intensity-modulated neurons before, during, and after the episodic events (see Figure 13A for correlation graphs examples from mouse #1). Due to the intrinsic limitation of pair-wise correlation in terms of presenting the large neuron pairs, we plotted here a pooled set of 30 neurons containing the top best neurons from each class to visually illustrate how these top neurons' cross-correlation change over experiences. As expected, a significant number of neurons showed significant increase in their correlation during stimulus presentation (Figure 13A and B). However, the heightened cross-correlations among intensity-modulated cells largely came back to the basal levels once the episodic stimuli ended (Figure 13A). This is consistent with our MDA analysis that the intensity-modulated cell population contributes to the process of encoding, but is inactive during re-emergence of reactivation patterns. In contrast, the same kind of cross-correlation analysis revealed that in general the invariant cells exhibited significantly more correlated activity during the immediate post-event time periods (see Figure 13B for correlation graphs for the intensity-invariant neuron groups during basal, event and reactivation time periods, respectively). This, again, is in line with the MDA observation that the intensity-invariant units remained significantly more active during the putative reactivations than did the intensity-modulated groups. For the larger population of neuron pairs whose the minimal activation correlations were above a set threshold value of 0.05 (315 pairs for the intensity-invariant group and 254 pairs for intensity-modulated group), similar results were observed. That is, overall the intensity-modulated cells did not exhibit statistically significant increase in the cross-correlation (Figure 13C), whereas the intensity-invariant cells had the elevated increase in their co-firing tendency during the post-event reactivation period (Figure 13D).
Figure 13. Correlations among intensity-sensitive and intensity-invariant neurons during basal, event and reactivation time periods.
(A) Basal states correlation coefficient among 30 top neurons belonging to specific, subgeneral and general intensity-sensitive units (each category contains 10 cells) are displayed as colored lines that unite these 30 unit (left panel). Bluer colors indicate negative correlations and redder colors indicate positive correlations. While a significant number of units are more correlated during startle events (middle panel), these correlations mainly return back to basal values during reactivation time periods (right panel). (B) In contrast, for intensity-invariant neurons (10 for each of the specific, subgeneral and general categories, for a total of 30), although basal states are also characterized by low value for the magnitude of correlation coefficients (left panel), and by high values during the startle events (middle panel), these units remain highly correlated during the reactivation time period (right panel). (C) Statistics of the 254 pairs for intensity-sensitive group, which have been obtained by eliminating the pairs that are very weekly correlated during non-basal time periods (magnitude less than 0.05) are in agreement with the visual information displayed in A, indicating that the values during event time period are significantly different from the base levels, but the correlation levels during reactivation are not. (D) In contrast statistical analysis of the 315 pairs for the intensity-invariant group (obtained by excluding the correlations that have a magnitude less than 0.1) indicate that correlations are elevated during both events and time reactivation. (E) Explained variance during the time period before the stimuli and the time period after the stimuli have been delivered also suggest that correlations among units remain at higher levels in the post-stimuli time period, which is in agreement with the heightened correlation among intensity-invariant neurons.
Second, we also applied the Explained Variance analysis [24] and computed the correlation coefficients for each of the three conditions: pre, run and post session and followed by a regression analysis. This method essentially computes the correlation between correlation coefficients from correlation pairs in pre-event and event, pre-event and post-event, also event and post-event. We calculated Expected Variance (EV, see methods) for the data set from the reactivation period shown in Figure 13B (right side sub-plot). This analysis shows that the post-event value of EV is 0.268±0.04 in comparison to the pre-learning period (basal firing) value of 0.04±0.01 (Figure 13E). The explained variance analysis further confirms the elevated cross-correlation during the reactivation period for these invariant neurons.
While these two cross-correlation based methods confirmed our MDA observation on the preferential reactivations by intensity-invariant cell population, we performed two additional tests: 1) We compared the cross-correlations between the time points at which MDA analysis detected putative reactivations (during a 2 sec before and 2 sec after the reactivation event) vs. the post-event time points at which trajectories were absent; and, 2) We shuffled the spike data specifically associated with transient reactivations of MDA trajectories. In the first test, it is expected that pair-wise correlations between cells should be more similar between the events and the subsequent “reactivations” time points. In contrast, these correlations should become much less similar during randomly chosen time periods of similar length chosen from the non-reactivation time points during the same post-event period. Indeed, our analysis showed that correlations within the invariant cells during the post-event non-reactivation periods showed little increase (Figure 14A). Furthermore, when we shuffled the invariant cells' spike data at those reactivation time points with other randomly chosen cells' spike data from the same period, the computed correlations among the shuffled spike trains were reduced to values close to zero for the whole population (Figure 14B). Thus, the above analyses strongly suggests that the elevated correlation is indeed derived from these intensity-invariant cells during the reactivation time points detected by MDA methods.
Figure 14. Comparison of correlations during reactivations, outside reactivation and during reactivation with shuffled neural activities.
(A) No weak correlation coefficient among 30 top neurons belonging to intensity-invariant units outside reactivation periods; (B) no significant correlation with shuffled neural activities.
Stronger correlation among invariant cells encoding general features
Since we showed earlier that intensity-modulated cells can be divided into a set of subpopulation based on their response selectivity to multiple events or a specific event, we further investigated the levels of firing correlations among the intensity-modulated cells encoding general, subgeneral, and specific features during the reactivation periods (Figure 15A). As expected, while intensity-sensitive units were also characterized by heightened cross-correlation during the encoding period, these correlations decreased dramatically during the post-event reactivation period, regardless of the particular cell type (general, subgeneral or event-specific subgroups, Figure 15B–D). In contrast, when following the same classification scheme, the intensity-invariant cells encoding general features showed the strongest correlation (Figure 16A and B), followed by sub-general invariant cells, whereas specific invariant cells had weak or no significant elevation in their cross-correlation during the post-event reactivation period (Figure 16C–D).
Figure 15. Cross-correlation analysis of the intensity-modulated subpopulation.
(A) Correlations between top representative intensity-modulated units from mouse #1 encoding a specific type of event (top row), subgeneral features (multiple but not all types, second row), and general features (response to all types of events, third row), are displayed as colored lines during basal activity periods (first column), the actual event periods (second column) and at the time of reactivations (third column). High and low correlations are plotted with red and blue lines, respectively. (B) While the correlations increase significantly for the general-encoding and intensity-sensitive subpopulation during the startle episodes, these correlations return to values that are close to the baseline correlations. This trend is also manifest for the (C) subgeneral-encoding and intensity-sensitive and (D) specific encoding and intensity-sensitive subpopulations.
Figure 16. Cross-correlation analysis of various feature-encoding units belonging to the intensity-invariant subpopulation.
(A) Correlations between top representative CA1 invariant units from data set #1 encoding a specific type of events (top row), subgeneral feature (two or more types of events, second row), and general feature (response to all four types of events, third row), are displayed as colored lines during basal activity periods (first column), the actual event periods (second column) and at the time of reactivations (third column). (B) In contrast to the intensity-sensitive results, significant average correlations are maintained during the reactivation period for the general intensity-invariant subgroups. These trends are maintained, although to a smaller degree, for the Subgeneral intensity-invariant population (C), and are not statistically different for the specific intensity-invariant subpopulations, although the very small sample size makes it impossible to draw any strong conclusion from this particular case (D).
The trends observed for the correlations among intensity-invariant neurons as well as among intensity-sensitive neurons are consistently manifest in the rest of our data sets. More specifically, using pooled data from 7 data sets, we showed that despite the increase in correlations for all groups of intensity-sensitive neurons from basal levels (Figure 17A) to event levels (Figure 17B), these correlations remain close to rest levels during reactivations (Figure 17C). In contrast, there are significant correlations among intensity-invariant neurons even during the reactivation time periods, although at weaker levels than during the actual startle episodes.
Figure 17. Cross-correlation analysis of various feature-encoding units belonging to the intensity-invariant subpopulation (the results were pooled from all 7 data sets).
In agreement with results from data set #1, averaged correlations of various intensity-sensitive units pooled from all datasets from 7 mice increase from basal state (A), to higher values during the time of actual events (B), before they return to low/basal values during reactivation intervals (C) (p>0.05 for all conditions). In contrast, averaged correlations of various intensity-invariant encoding units not only increase from basal states (D) to higher values at time of actual events (E), but they also remain at elevated values during reactivations (F). These properties are stronger for the general units and weaker for the specific units, as compared to the subgeneral population (p<0.05 for all conditions).
Further analyses of various subclasses of the invariant units suggest that the degree of correlation is strongest for the general-responsive units in comparison to the sub-general cells and the specific neurons (Figure 17D–F); Again, this is in line with the results from the individual data.
A hallmark feature of long-term memory consolidation is that only a portion of original information about various episodic events becomes long-term memory. Such information stored in the domain of long-term memory tends to be more general and abstract, and many specific details seem to be no longer available. Despite the many emerging studies which explore consolidation mechanisms at the molecular level [1]–[7], the neural mechanisms underlying this selective consolidation of episodic experiences have never been experimentally examined, thereby remaining completely unknown. Such selective consolidation and storage processes are widely assumed to be a part of normal forgetting process.
By taking advantage of recent large-scale recording and decoding methods [10]–[12], [21]–[25], here we designed a series of experiments to investigate how the hippocampal networks engages in such selective consolidation of long-term memory. Our present experiments provide several novel insights into how the hippocampal cell population may encode and consolidate episodic information. First, our parametric experiments demonstrate the existence of two distinct populations of CA1 episodic cells during the encoding of discrete episodic events: one for encoding sensory input intensity (Intensity-sensitive or Intensity-modulated cell population), and another for encoding mnemonic information independent of stimulus intensity (Intensity-invariant cell population). Second, the CA1 ensemble reactivation patterns were mostly derived from the intensity-invariant cell population. Third, within the intensity-invariant cell population there is an overall tendency that the invariant cells exhibiting general or broader responsiveness to multiple episodic events have much stronger firing cross-correlations than those of cells that respond only to a specific event. Currently, we do not know how the differential reactivations are influenced or modulated by behavioral and arousal states including stress, fear factors, and attentions [26]–[28]. These properties will need to be investigated in near future.
Our study on startling episodic events fits well with the reports that episodic hippocampal cells can undergo reactivations immediately after such events [10], [11] or trace fear conditioning [12]. The differential reactivations within episodic cell assemblies are quite interesting in considering cognitive significance. Moreover, such differential reactivation patterns have not been studied or described in place cell studies [16]–[20]. Place cells, by definition, encode on-going specific locations of the animals in a given environment, and therefore, may require different protocols to reveal such properties.
To provide moment-to-moment decoding of post-event real-time ensemble activity patterns, we have employed MDA/sliding window method to monitor and detect the temporal evolution of CA1 ensemble patterns during and after the startling episodic events. This dimensionality-reduction method has proven to be highly useful for intuitively visualizing the real-time transient dynamics and patterns associated with learning tasks [10]–[12], [21], [22], that is, our method has allowed us to pin-point the moment at which the ensemble patterns were reactivated. This MDA method provides intuitive visualization for its patterns (in terms of both the geometric shape and planar information of the transient trajectories) which can be further verified by two kinds of shuffled data analyses. It is important to point out that our analysis of firing sequences of individual episodic cells in the recorded data did not reveal any obvious sequential replay. This is not surprising since a given episodic event triggers co-activation of a unique cell assembly through which various groups of responsive cells simultaneously come together to encode different aspects of features of the event (from general to specific features) [10]–[12], [26]. In other words, a discrete startling event is represented by simultaneous co-activation of various episodic cells at that single moment.
Reactivations patterns of episodic experiences revealed by MDA/Sliding-window method were further corroborated by both pair-wise cross-correlations, and explained variance. In addition, we have found that preferential reactivations of distinct subgroups of intensity-invariant neuronal population seem to be responsible for ensemble pattern reactivations. More importantly, our analysis further revealed that during the reactivation time periods invariant, cells encoding general features of all or multiple events seem to be more correlated the cells encoding for specific events. This preferential reactivation mechanism may position the hippocampus toward extraction of generalized features from individual experiences of these events for long-term consolidation and storage. On the other hand, relatively weak cross-correlation among specific invariant cells may be a contributing factor in explaining why details of a given event tend to be more difficult to retain. Another contributing factor may be that such specific cells were detected in smaller percentages in our experimental data. This suggests that these cells may be prone to weakening of synapses over time during storage. This hypothesis needs to be tested in future experiments.
Our finding of preferential reactivations of cells encoding general and subgeneral features provides a strong experimental validation for the computational modeling work which simulates that the finer distinctions of specific events or knowledge may be more easily lost than the more general ones during the consolidation stage [29]–[31]. While the computation models were originally built to describe cortical binding function, our results suggest that such preferential consolidation properties are readily implemented at the level of the hippocampus.
Furthermore, our present study reveals a novel aspect of hippocampal consolidation principles unparalleled to those implied by the previous studies of place cell replays. Here, we show that hippocampal reactivations of episodic cell ensembles patterns are more than mere ‘imitation’ or ‘repetition’ of original patterns. In other words, the preferential and stronger reactivations of the invariant cells encoding general features enables the hippocampus to extract these major features of a given episodic experience and subsequently integrate them into the brain's general knowledge structure and semantic memory. This explanation may explain why patients with damaged hippocampi have great difficulty in forming episodic memories as well as concepts and general knowledge about these events.
Cognitively, episodic memory refers to memory of episodic events, and it is the major type of memory we encode in our daily life. In contrast, semantic memory refers to memory of facts and knowledge that are no longer ascribable to a particular occasion in life (without necessarily remembering where and when a person acquires it) [32]. Our recent discovery of the feature-encoding pyramid organizing principle in the hippocampus suggests an overall population-level mechanism for linking the formation of episodic memory with the emergence of semantic memory [11], [33]–[36]. Our present findings have further revealed how these two types of memories may be processed and organized through the regulation of neural network dynamics for long-term memory storage. It may also provide a new mechanistic framework for explaining and testing how semantic memory might be created through either single or repeated episodic experience [1], [3], [8].
In summary, our present study describes the subclassification properties among CA1 episodic cell assemblies encoding robust episodic events, and reveals their varying degrees of dynamic participation in post-event pattern reverberation and consolidation. Specifically, the event-intensity invariant CA1 neurons are largely responsible for the post-learning pattern reactivations. Moreover, during these transient reactivation periods, intensity-invariant cells encoding general features tend to exhibit stronger cross-correlations than do those cliques which encode specific features. Such post-event preferential reactivation of these general/subgeneral cell cliques may provide a key neuronal population-level mechanism for achieving the consolidation and storage of general information and knowledge in the brain.
All animal work described in the study were carried out in accordance with the guidelines established by the National Institutes of Health in the US regarding the care and use of animals for experimental procedures, and was approved by the MCG Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee at Georgia Health Sciences University (Approval AUP number: BR07-11-001).
We employed 96 and 128-channel recording arrays to record from the hippocampal region of freely behaving mice [10], [12], [21]. The multi-channel electrodes consist of two-independently movable bundles of stereotrodes or tetrodes, which were constructed by twisting a folded piece of 2 or 4 wires, respectively (STABLOHM 675, H-FORMVAR, 25 µm for stereotrode, California Fine Wire). After surgery, the mice were kept in their home cages for recovery for three to five days. The electrodes were then advanced slowly toward the hippocampal CA1 region, in daily increments of about 0.07 mm, until the tips of the electrodes had reached the CA1 region, as deduced from an assessment of field potential and neuronal activity patterns.
We subsequently recorded the ensemble activity from a large number of individual neurons during freely behaving states. The recorded spike activities from those neurons were processed in the manner as previously described [10], [12], [21]. Briefly, the spike waveforms and their associated time stamps for each of 128-channels were stored in data files using Plexon system format (*.plx). The artifact waveforms were removed and the spike waveform minima were aligned using the Offline Sorter 2.0 software (Dallas, TX), which resulted in more tightly clustered waveforms in principal component space. The Plexon system data files (*.plx) were then converted to Neuralynx system format (*.nst) and spike-sorted with the MClust3.3 program. This program permits classification of multidimensional continuous data. Its cluster splitting feature yields superior accuracy in comparison to the other available spike-sorting software and is therefore particularly suitable for spike sorting of hippocampal signals.
Principal component analysis was used to extract defining features from the spike wave shapes that were then used as part of the input for the MClust3.3 spike sorting program. The first two principal components, as well as the peak height, valley value, FFT and total energy of spike waveform parameters were calculated for each channel, and units were identified and isolated in high-dimensional space through the use of an autoclustering method (KlustaKwik 1.5) [37]. After autoclustering, the clusters containing non-spike waveforms were deleted using ‘KlustaKwik Selection’ function, and then the units were further isolated using a manual cluster cutting method in MClust (see an example in Figure 1). Only units with clear boundaries and less than 0.5% of spike intervals within a 1 ms refractory period were included in the present analysis. At the end of experiments, the mouse was anesthetized and a small amount of current was applied to four channels in the microdrive to mark the positioning of the electrode bundle. Histological Nissl staining (NeuroTrace® blue fluorescent Nissl stain) was used to confirm the electrode positions.
Parametric changes in intensity of startling stimuli
We exposed mice to four types of robust episodic events: 1) a short and loud acoustic startle (intensity 85 Db, duration 200 ms), 2) A sudden air-blow to the animal's back (termed Air- Blow, 10 p.s.i); 3) A sudden drop of the animal inside a small elevator (termed Elevator-Drop, vertical freefall height); and 4) A sudden shake-like cage oscillation (termed Shake, 200 ms; 300 rpm). To maintain the consistency of stimulus inputs and yet minimize possible prediction of upcoming stimuli, the stimuli were triggered using a computer and delivered for seven times at randomized intervals within a few minutes. We previously showed that seven repetitions are sufficient for obtaining an adequate sampling of the neural responses, while minimizing the risk of habituation to the noxious stimuli [10], [11]. We varied the intensity of two types of episodic stimuli by changing the height of the drop (5, 13 and 30 cm) and the amounts of the air that were blown (200, 400 and 800 ms). The other two startling stimuli, the starling loud sound and shaking of the cage, were delivered at fixed intensity.
In our experiments we started recordings 30 minutes before a series of startling episodes were delivered to the mice. Each given type of startling event (e.g. Drop with a fixed height or Air puff with a fixed duration) was delivered in a single session for seven times with pauses ranging from 1-to-3 minutes at randomized intervals (inter-trial-intervals). A single event session lasted for about 20 minutes and the mice were then brought back to home cage for a brief rest for 5-to-10 minutes. This was followed by a different session consisting of either different startling events or the same event but at a different intensity (inter-session-intervals). All together, the mice would undergo three sessions of the same events (say Drop events with three chosen heights), plus two additional and distinct event sessions (e.g. Airpuff and Shake). Our typical experiments thus consisted of five event sessions which lasted for about 2.5 to 3 hours. The randomized inter-trial-intervals (1–3 minutes) were intended to minimize possible habituation and reduce the animal's ability to predict its upcoming event. We recorded population activity patterns in the CA1 region of the hippocampus from seven freely-behaving mice that were subjected to the following set of episodic stimuli: acoustic startling sound, cage shake, air-blow and elevator drop.
Characterization of unit responses to startle stimuli
For our data analysis we selected only clearly separated single units that remained stable throughout the duration of the whole experiment. To select the responsive units, we first evaluated the changes in the firing frequencies in time bins of 500 ms immediately after the event start. The width of the time bins used here is appropriate to characterize the overall frequency changes after a startle event. To facilitate comparison between neurons that exhibit different increases/decreases over baseline activities, we used the transformation . Here fstartle i and f0 represent average frequency responses during startles of type i or rest states, and g0 is the average population activity during rest states. We maintained only the units which have high scores based on this metric. Note that this transformation allows for uniform quantification of the significant changes in firing patterns for units with both low- and high baseline firing rates. More precisely, changes in responses of low-firing units are proportional to absolute firing rate changes (since f0 ≪ g0), while response differences for the high-baseline units become proportional to the relative changes from the baseline activities (since f0 ≫ g0).
Similar to our previous research [10], [22], we employed hierarchical clustering methods to investigate the structure of our neural data. We briefly outline the procedure here. We start by defining N clusters, one for each initial vector containing the responses to all types of startle stimuli. At each step, we proceed by uniting the two closest response vectors, or after a few steps, two closest groups. The two vectors or groups are merged into a new cluster and its mean is re-computed. These steps are then repeated and the nearest-neighboring groups are successively merged until they eventually form a single group. At each intermediate step of this procedure, the two clusters to be merged are aligned and linked at their best matching endpoints, forming a larger group.
Projection analysis methods
We then used Multiple Discriminant Analysis (MDA) projection methods to classify the neural responses corresponding to different episodes into different classes [10], [12], [22]. Projection analysis methods are powerful tools that are well-adapted to deal with the complexity of large neural data sets data sets. These methods generate an encoding subspace of low dimension (on the order of number of classes). The use of these projection methods is particularly useful in revealing the inherent hierarchical structure that may exist in large-size neural populations.
To account for transient changes that may occur immediately after the startle events, we computed firing frequencies (f) in two 500 ms time bins immediately after the delivery of the stimuli. Baseline activities were characterized by computing the average firing rates during time intervals preceding the startle stimuli. We set aside randomly chosen population activities from one of each type of startle stimuli; this constitutes our test data set. The rest of the sampled population activities were then used to train our MDA statistical model. The matrix of mean responses during each category (rest and startle states) were then computed and used to compute the between-class scatter matrix [22]: Here ni is thenumber of elements in each class, N is the number of classes, mi is the mean vector for each class, m is the global mean vector and the symbol t indicate the transpose operator. To take into account the variations occurring for each class we also computed the within-class scatter matrix SW, which is defined as: . Here Di represents the set of population responses triggered by the ith startle type. Using these two matrices, it follows that a set of at most N-1 discriminant projection vectors can be determined by computing the eigenvalue decomposition of the matrix .
For our data sets, the class covariance matrices SW were non-invertible, which is a direct consequence of data under-sampling, since the number of recorded neurons is much higher than the number of repeated trials. In practice, the matrix SW can be rendered invertible using a regularization technique which changes each class covariance matrices based on the following formula: Ωi' = (1 - λ) Ωi + λ I, where Ωi is the covariance matrix for the ith class, λ is a regularization parameter between 0 and 1, and I is the identity matrix. We determine the parameter λ automatically for each data set based on the optimization procedure we developed previously; each particular choice is determined by the particular distributions within each data set [22].
After computation of the N – 1 discriminant dimensions is computed, we projected the neural patterns during startle episodes in this low-dimensional encoding subspaces. We then used the multivariate Gaussian distribution probability functions ( ) to fit the projections for each class. We subsequently enhanced our intuition about the relationships among classes by visualizing the 2σ boundary ellipsoids for each class. We tested the robustness of our MDA statistical model by employing different partitions of the training and test data points. In general we find that the performances for our model do not depend strongly on the particular choice of the training and test data selection.
In addition, we used a sliding window method to monitor the evolution of the population state throughout the duration of the experiment and to identify the occurrences of patterns similar to the ones experienced during the episodic events [10], [12]. A putative reactivation is deemed to have occurred whenever there are trajectories of significant amplitudes from the rest cluster towards the corresponding startle cluster. Inspection of the clusters generated by our use of Multiple Discriminant Analysis technique indicates that all different types of stimulations, including the parametric ones, can be successfully classified.
Projection analysis methods with Shuffled Input
To rule out that the statistical properties of our projection analysis methods are creating classifications out of random data sets, we carried out these methods on noisy data obtained through two shuffling procedures.
We first created an input data set where the spike activities are shuffled among neural units at all times during the experiment. When these data are used as an input to previously computed cluster representations, the trajectories corresponding to different startle and reactivation events are mapped in the regions of the MDA encoding subspace where no other trajectories have been observed when the correct input has been presented. As such, this is an indication that the previous reference points, namely the cluster representation, are no longer useful in describing the trajectory dynamics.
We then proceeded to create a second data set where the input has been manipulated temporally. More precisely, the spike activities of all units have been shuffled within in a 4 second time period among bins of 50 ms width. As a result of the loss of simultaneous changes in activities across the neural population, the projected activities are now located mainly inside the basal activities rest cluster. Together, these two tests using shuffled data indicate that there is information loss regarding the startle events and their reactivation, and that the statistical methods no longer have a meaningful interpretation when these data are used.
Since the correlation parameters cannot be computed between units recorded from different animals, we restricted this analysis to data recorded simultaneously from a single mouse. In order to allow for uniform quantification of changes in correlation between units during different temporal intervals across multiple data sets, only the top correlation pairs from the simultaneously recorded neurons of each mouse were used to compute the statistics. More precisely, we used the 10/20/30 pairs for the specific/subgeneral/general units respectively, reflecting the increasing number of units recorded in each one of these categories.
We used the following formula for computing correlations between pairs of neurons:
, where N is the number of repetitions for each startle stimuli, while xi and yi are the two vectors that contain the binned frequency responses during the ith repetition. The correlation coefficients were computed during baseline activities, or during the one second time intervals following the startle stimuli, using frequency sequences computed in 50 ms time bins (here xij indicates the binned frequency during the jth time bin of the ith startle repetition). To ensure that noisy correlation values are not included in the data sets, we set a low threshold (e. g. 0.05 or 0.1) and excluded them from the analysis.
To rule out the possibility that correlation results can be attributed to random changes in the neural population, we again used data sets where the spike activities were shuffled among neural units at all times during the experiment. Not surprisingly, all correlations among all neural units decrease to values close to zero in this case.
Explained variance
We used the measure of Explained Variance (EV) [24] to further validate our cross-correlation analyses. We define the following three time periods: PRE, during the time interval prior to the startle events, EVENTS, during the startle events and POST, during the time period of putative startle memory reactivations. The EV value then is defined by: where the correlation coefficients can be obtained using the formula for computing correlations between pairs of neurons. A low value of EV would indicate that there is no learning effect attributable to the EVENT session (values are restricted between 0 and 1), while larger and larger values indicated stronger and stronger learning effects.
Conceived and designed the experiments: JZT RO GC RF. Performed the experiments: RO GC RF. Analyzed the data: RO JZT. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: RO. Wrote the paper: RO JZT.
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Is the Subject Area "Neurons" applicable to this article?
Is the Subject Area "Action potentials" applicable to this article?
Electrode potentials
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Long-term memory
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Memory consolidation
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Electrode recording
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SportsTalk
MinerTalk Podcast: Hometown Freshman Katia Gallegos Talks Hoops
UTEP needed Katia Gallegos just like she needed UTEP. It was a perfect match for a team that desperately needed a true point guard for the past two seasons. For Gallegos, the opportunity was, and continues to be, a dream come true.
UTEP Completes 24-Point Comeback in Overtime Win vs. UTSA, 80-77
UTEP made history in their come-from-behind 80-77 overtime victory against UTSA on Thursday night in front of 4,442 fans at the Haskins Center.
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In some UTEP football offseason news, a pair of coaches have left the program and accepted similar jobs at other colleges.
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Miners Shake Off First Half Woes to Defeat Southern Miss, 76-64
Through 40 minutes of up-and-down basketball, the Miners (10-6, 1-2 C-USA) were able to break away through the final five minutes to defeat Southern Miss (76-64) and win their first game in C-USA. UTEP is now 9-0 at home for the first time since 1988-89.
Miners See Three-Game Homestand as ‘Opportunity to Recollect’
Turmoil and adversity have been no secret to the UTEP men’s basketball team (9-6, 0-2 C-USA). But on Thursday evening, the squad has a chance to turn the page and put aside these odd few weeks as they host Southern Miss (4-11, 0-2 C-USA) at the Haskins Center.
Three Quick Takeaways from the 2020 UTEP Football Schedule
The full 2020 schedule for the Miners football team was released on Wednesday, featuring tough non-conference opponents and a challenging C-USA slate.
Jordan Lathon Rejoins UTEP After Entering Transfer Portal
UTEP sophomore guard Jordan Lathon, who previously entered the transfer portal following the Diamond Head Classic, is back on the Miners' basketball team, per sources.
UTEP Football Loses Secondary Coach and Pair of 2020 Commits
Old Dominion football head coach Ricky Rahne announced Remington Rebstock, former UTEP secondaries coach, on his staff on Sunday.
UTEP Coach Rodney Terry Released from Hospital in Miami
Second-year UTEP men's basketball head coach Rodney Terry was released from a Miami area hospital on Friday, per UTEP athletics.
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All Puzzles, 40 Picarats, Input,
Last Specter Puzzles
[LS153] Two Pictures
← 152 - Either Oar... 153 - Two Pictures 154 - Wire to Wire →
Two Pictures
Upper Tower
Teure Gemälde
Two Pictures (Artistic Value in the UK version) is a puzzle in Professor Layton and the Last Specter.
A rich man has the strange habit of hanging the paintings in his house in such a way that it's possible to tell how much the paintings are worth.
In section 1, the two paintings have a total value of two million dollars. In 2, the paintings have a combined value of six million dollars.
How many millions of dollars are the two paintings hung in section 3 worth?
In section 1, the two paintings have a total value of two million pounds. In 2, the paintings have a total value of six million pounds.
How many million pounds are the two paintings hung in section 3 worth?
The rich man says, "I can't think of a simpler way of showing the value." What could he mean?
It might help to try looking at it from a distance.
If the two paintings in section 1 were worth a total of three million dollars, the bottom picture would have to be moved over to the left.
If the two paintings in section 1 were worth a total of three million pounds, the bottom picture would have to be moved to the left.
Try looking again from a distance, and concentrate on the areas of bare wall around the pictures.
Are you sure you can't see any clues?
Try looking again from a distance and concentrate on the areas of bare wall around the pictures.
Can you make out some numbers now?
There's no need to overthink this puzzle.
The two paintings in section 3 have a combined value of nine million dollars. They must be very interesting pieces!
The two paintings in section 3 have a total value of nine million pounds. They must be really interesting to see close up!
v · d · ePuzzles in Professor Layton and the Last Specter
Retrieved from "https://layton.fandom.com/wiki/Puzzle:Two_Pictures?oldid=85678"
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Programmer's Quest – The Programming RPG
Chromatix
Re: Programmer's Quest – The Programming RPG
I rather like this concept of coding/scripting to get ahead in a game.
It would also be a very good logical progression for a "sandbox" game like X-Universe or ... Elite! X is already halfway there since it has a scripting engine built in which is extensively used, but it is a rather poor job. So maybe this would be a good concept for the next version of Elite.
For those that don't know, a sandbox game generally dumps you in the middle of a more-or-less functioning economy, usually in a spaceship and with just about enough cash left over to buy a hold full of the most basic trade goods available. You can then do whatever you like, for the most part, and the economy and local factions will react accordingly.
In X-Universe, the game usually finishes the built-in plotline only when the player has built up a navy rivalling any of the local major factions, and has corresponding economic power required to build such a thing, and has used it to destroy the Big Bad which was too big and bad for the factions to deal with by themselves (at least not without leaving their flanks exposed to rival factions). And all of these navy ships are run by remote control. The other ships in game have pilots.
Reprogramming the various autopilot systems to maximum advantage would be the main focus of a scripting-oriented sandbox game. The justification could be that the autopilot industry has stagnated into providing only safety-related functions, and you are a bright-eyed startup who is willing to take risks and innovate in order to outcompete the incumbents. Or the equivalent in plain English.
So while you *can* go and fly a ship yourself, you would soon find a nice safe station to hang out in and run everything remotely. You could even travel between stations merely as a passenger in one of your own autopiloted ships.
Potentially it would even be feasible to allow designing ships by assembling components and applying engineering and physical constraints. These would then be built at realistic costs by your own factories (or under contract by NPC factories).
This sort of thing doesn't even need a new language, really. Lua is powerful enough and designed for embedding in a game. The trick would be designing the API so that scripts have the correct amount of visibility into and control of the game universe - which is the part that X-Universe games fail at. This is not an insurmountable problem if approached correctly.
The key to knowledge is not to rely on people to teach you it.
jeznav
Abishur,
If I can sum your post, it looks like your going into the realm of game modding. The game engine is the backbone and is restricted from players but the game logic will be barebones but customisable.
If you really want people to use their own language like C, Lua, Python, the game engine will need a bridge interface for said language for the engine which exposes the accessors of the game logic so you can override them.
I'm not sure if I understand code compile checking. Some languages like Lua, Python are interpreters and require a runtime to execute scripts and checks errors as it executes, they are also easier to incorporate into game which is why its popular for game modding. C like languages will have to compile first and upon success it will create a static code which can then be loaded into the game's memory. Think of C's output are plugins that produce dlls or .so object files when the game is run. Lua, Python, Ruby will execute the code directly by interpretation.
This is going to be a huge project, what languages are you planning to incorporate?
Chromatix,
Interesting that you mentioned spaceships, autopilots, I just heard recently that Notch aka Minecraft creator is working on a MMO space game which includes an in-game 16-bit CPU virtual machine that will run assembly code customised to affect how your spaceship will run.
http://www.dealspwn.com/notchs.....x10c-98501
Pretty much what you described, but everything is done at low-level. Someone said that its possible to program a rocket injected with a virus and if anyone doesn't have their shields protected with anti-virus, it can your ship's system down or perhaps change it of-course to a nearby blackhole(game over=rewrite code from scratch). The daunting part for most players is that it will be coded in assembly, but he said that players have the right to exchange code within the game to build economy in exchange of currency. I can see that geekiest programmers will be ranked the richest.
abishur
I'm really not thinking about game modding per se. The idea for "compiling" the code you wrote is really just to check it for errors. If it compiles correctly then the code is error free (there might be logical errors, but you know what I mean) and you're allowed to use it.
Basically, I want to make users use real code, maybe it's just a pipe dream, but I think it can work (if I could just explain it clearly enough!). So while they write real code, I know it wouldn't be possible to run their code directly. Instead I'm thinking that the game is designed to look for key words within what they write.
So we compile it to make sure they've written the program correctly, then we grab key words from it (for, if/then, else, while, and then special in game command words: sweep, attack, defend, use, etc) and throw that into the already existing code for how to handle it.
It is my hope that the program could be written in such a manner that a simple interpreter layer could exist to allow different programming language. I mean I know not every language uses a for loop with the same syntax, so the interpreter layer would grab the key words and then send them in the correct format for the engine to use.
I think I might have initially shot too high for the game engine Now I'm thinking it would be better to give the illusion of the user inputted program literally controlling things, but now I'm thinking it only grabs the keywords. The compiling (done by installed compiler outside the game altogether) is to make sure their syntax is correct. Wrong syntax = no compile = time to go fix it, Right syntax = compile = grab and execute keywords.
Dear forum: Play nice
oninoshiko
I *LOVE* this idea!
Actually, there are some good options for tile-based graphical RPGs out there, I've been playing with cocos2d/python over the last week, figuring out how to do a simulation game (a la SimCity), and it strikes me as a pretty good option for something like this.
It also strikes me as the kind of idea that would work well in a fantisy setting, with some humor on the graphics side, things like a program blowing up and leaving the player covered in soot for a moment, or like Mickey being overwelmed by the brooms in Fantasia... I think there is a lot of potental to have some fun with this!
Then what your looking at would be a pre-processor. A custom pre-processor would look through the source code (if it has the right keywords?) before it will send it off to the compiler. But then again your diving into creating an interpreter.
Don't forget the external compilers will also produce errors too. Why not just use those to catch errors instead?
If you want to access game commands/keywords from a multitude of languages all you need is to do is expose the game logic(objects, classes, methods) and create an api to bind other languages while using their own compiler. The compiled code can access your game logic this way. No need to create an interpreter to check if the keyword exists or not.
jeznav said:
Nah, I don't want to do any sort of pre-processor junk. I'm talking about sending the text directly to an external processor and having it compile (though in one of my other posts, I did say I wanted to use the error message it returned for the user to view later). The code they created would have the keywords grabbed (ignoring syntax) and pass those keywords along. An interpreter level would allow quick swapping of language modules. There would also have to be an area for dialog, but as long as it's clearly documented and marked the basic idea of the dialog could be keep, just updated for whatever language was chosen.
My first thought was Forth, my second thought was "Everyone RPN Partial not is"
Seriously though, I would think a good approch would be to define it with one language in mind, then expose the interface to other languages later. LUA might be good, Python seems popular. I don't think I'd go with a compiled language here.
What might also be fun is different towns do different languages.
I think you might have to be careful from a gameplay perspective to make sure that user-code doesn't make the gameplay too easy... "HP =+ 10000000". I'm not sure how you would create limitations without making them seem arbitrary.
Keeping it to one language at first is definitely what I'm thinking too. While I'm partial to C/C++, Python is a close second.
The user code will have limits on it. For instance I plan on having an approved command word list. Anything they haven't gained yet won't be useable (That way they can't start the game using the most powerful commands or spells). While you can do statements that say if your HP is less or greater than something else, then do an action, you won't be able to say make my HP = such and so.
That's easy: data hiding and encapsulation, the cornerstones of object oriented programming (and, conveniently, available even in C via "file scope"). You don't expose the variables themselves to the player, only getters and manipulators.
The getters can check if the player is supposed to be able to see this information, and return an error or inaccurate information otherwise. Good example: maps.
The manipulators can simply not exist if the user isn't supposed to do that kind of thing, or they can always have balancing side-effects (eg. you can buff HP, but only by draining mana, thus producing a healing spell rather than god-mode).
Seriously, if you have the time, play around with X3TC and it's script engine - and take away plenty of examples of how *not* to do it. You can do too much (give money, give reputation, create goods, all out of thin air) and yet not enough (can't track turrets on a fast target *while* firing even if it's a light weapon, can't select a custom aiming angle for turrets, can't replace the stupid autopilot that likes to crash you and your ships into the station they're trying to dock with...) - and to cap it off, the script editor itself will magically cause a large head-shaped dent to appear in your wall. The "approved" set of ready-made scripts isn't much better.
The basic data model holds even if you give the player a virtual CPU to program in machine code - the CPU is in the ship, and the ship has limited influence and visibility to the outside universe, so the getters and manipulators are the device interfaces to the ship's sensors, engines, weapons, radio and docking clamps.
JustThisGuy
I just ran into a programming game that might help out. It's called laby in which you control an ant thru various puzzles with C or python code. It might be worth a look to you.
Edit: added link
Any conversation about a sufficiently complex subject is indistinguishable from babble.
Ok! So most of us like this IDEA, but it seems to me that we need to sort out how to make it happen. So what do we need…
Engine (Programming) - Oninoshiko
Mechanics ("player-script" engine) -
Cartography (World Map) -
Plot Elements (Writing) -
Graphics (Artists) -
Foley (Sound Effects) -
BGM (Music) -
As I said, I've been playing Cocos2d, which allows for easy creation of tile-based games. Although it could do with some documentation improvements, their unit-tests are GREAT for figuring out how to do things. While I'm not particularly partal to Python, this API is just too good ignore. I can probibly hack out a preliminary engine in a week.
So who wants to take a lead prototyping on any of the other areas? I think the things we need to start are some preliminary tiles (graphics), maps, a preliminary "player-script" engine.
The plot elements, foley work, and BGM can be worked on independently, as I shouldn't need them to make sure the rest of the system works, but as soon as that kind of material starts to trickle in, we can work it in.
I really don't have a story to tell, and I'm not an artist. So unless you guys want this to be all lavishly painted stick-figures, with the deep rich narritive of Plan 9 from Outer Space I'll have to depend on you guys for help. If we are going to have swappable script-engines it's better someone else do even the first engine, I think, as that will help force us to really keep them modular.
I can help on the plot, I've put down most of what I had thought of initially, but I certainly don't want to abandon this
Abishur said:
GREAT! I was really hoping you'd say something like that ;) This is your idea, so I don't think anyone would be better.
I'll start working on the engine over the weekend. I can make some stub functions for the player-scripting engine for now. I took a cue, and the liberty, of setting up a wikia page, because some things dont fit well in this format: http://programmersquest.wikia......kiActivity
Right now it only contains a the list from above (although I'm starting to fill in names of vict^wvolunteers)
tufty
Just saw this : http://0x10c.com/
As far as the language / interpreter goes, you would do very well to read Sussmann"s SICP, and / or Queinnec"s "LiSP in Small Pieces".
λπ repo blog
The game looks interesting. It looks like they're going the route I was first thinking of with having a full embedded compiler and going one step further by having it on a virtual PC in the game. I did decide that was needlessly complicated and choose rather to just grab specific approved words out of the user's code. It gives the illusion that they're running things off their own code, but with much less hassle and with making it far easier to swap computer languages.
Bakul Shah
tufty said:
I read the first few chapters of LiSP in Small Pieces in small pieces but its exhaustive treatment of the subject exhausted me! May be I had to be writing a Scheme/CL compiler while reading it to really inspire me. But do I think it is bit of an overkill for a programming RPG language! SICP is great if one likes Scheme -- I would certainly prototype such a game in Scheme but most people seem to be more comfortable with C like languages. I am reading Nils M Holm's "Practical Compiler Construction -- a no nonsense tour through a C compiler" and that may just be at the right level for a subset of C compiler. Even if you "interpret" C like code, you will end up writing a simple compiler (to some pseudocode).
I had a closer look at Lua to see whether it could handle running as a large number of parallel virtual machines. It seems that it can, in principle, using native OS threads (or processes) that each run a separate Lua instance. This is good because it means not having to solve the Halting Problem. Just make sure that you give the player a way to manually halt a runaway script, or otherwise include a reasonable timeout in each problem so that infinite loops and implausibly inefficient solutions are caught.
Anticipate that many scripts running in parallel are going to leave little CPU power for running the game interface, and will slow each other down. If you will need scripts to run in the background for a long period, perhaps waiting to trigger on some event, you'll need to provide a way to do that waiting without wasting CPU time. A sleep() and a waitforevent() should be good starting points.
My opinion is that attempting to support every possible language is going to be highly problematic, not least because languages like BrainF*** exist. Instead, pick one language - probably a simple one - and do as good a job as you can supporting that. Lua seems to be a good candidate for this, since it is a simple imperative language that is specifically designed for embedding into another program.
It is also important to decide key parts of the game universe early on. Something that is currently missing from 0x10c (by the author's admission) is a mechanism for FTL travel - rather important in an interstellar sandbox game. Warp drive like Star Trek, hyperdrive like Elite, jump nodes/gates like Freespace or X-Universe, or something else that is novel? Similar considerations apply to other types of game.
@Chromatrix, it sounds like you're referring to the original idea I had where user created code would be directly run. I've *long* abandoned that idea Bakul, is more or less on the right track, the user created code will have key words plucked from it and processed. It will be *very* basic (I'm thinking first semester) so it won't be too complicated but it will be there.
We've already decided to limit it to a single language (probably python), but my goal is to create it such that alternative languages could easily be implemented (Since the user created code is only having key words picked out, then all you need to do is grab those words and add a layer that takes the syntax and moves it around to match python). Additional languages will be up to the community to decide on.
Finally, the universe and story on the whole is coming along nicely. You can visit the wiki that oninoshiko set up to see what we're doing and where we could still use some help.
Now for what Abishur doesn't know. While he's been busy writing (and I think he's made more posts to the wiki then I have), I've been hacking away at this most of the weekend (I managed to hit a couple of bugs in the python framework I'm using... A little time on forums and I'm moveing right along again). I also refactored some transitions 3 times before settling into something I liked.
I have splash-screens, the main menu, and credits (although these are slightly empty, as we could use some more help in a few areas!) working.
I think the next step is to make the first town start to work. There are a couple of resources for free pixel art I might be able to use, at least for the moment. I'm not sure yet if I want to set up a map manually (ugh) to use for testing and writing this core code section, or write a tool for quickly laying out the maps for us (once one is done it will serve as the basis for the other).
I'll do what I can on this, but I'm going to be pretty busy at work this week, and will likely be pretty busy with some spring-yard work this weekend.
Awesome! For the first "town" do you want to just do a very simple here's a house/screen transition sort of deal to start with (probably not a bad idea just to get some testing done) or do you want the full blown deal? If you want the full blown deal... I'm no artist, but I could probably cobble together something that *resembles* a hand drawn sketch of a first town (like draw it on a piece of paper and take a picture of it)
Just something like a generic map would be great.
I don't expect what I come up with to be a final map, but since I need to create one anyway, I think I would like to use the effort to be working toward something we can use in game.
Like I said, there are some tilesets I can use which are licesensed for FLOSS use, if we want to later, we can always swap them out.
9+1=2, clearly
Joefish
You could consider an icon/token-based programming system.
Two examples spring to mind – the old Playstation game Carnage Heart used a grid where program execution hopped from cell to cell starting from the top-left, branching in different directions at conditional tokens. When execution reached the edge of the grid, it would flow around the edge to the bottom-right then start again at the top-left. Though it distracts a little from pure programming as you had to manage optimal use of space against ease of flow, it was a great way of programming visually. The game offered larger grids or faster flow as upgrades – sometimes even cannily offering a smaller grid but with faster execution.
The sadly defunct LEGO Universe had an interesting but little-used programming system for your own models. You created simple strips of icons to form a single scripted sequence of actions, each one starting with an 'event' icon (e.g. object is struck, interacted with, is given password). The power of this language came from being able to switch to another 'state' with an entirely different set of event-based actions, and the ability to 'whisper' words that would trigger events in other objects in the vicinity.
You could also simply allow the player to create a visual flowchart-like program – LEGO again derived their Mindstorms NXT programming system from LabVIEW, designed to make things easier than learning a language syntax.
As for education, an icon-based system would allow you to start with pre-programmed sequences (e.g. UP 1, LEFT 2, UP 3), develop that into relative directional commands (e.g. FWD 1, LEFT 90°, FWD 2, RIGHT 90°, FWD 3), then develop that into branching decision making:
IF OBSTRUCTION -> LEFT 90°
As I see it, instead of giving characters commands, you could create an automaton to fulfill a task. These would grow in size and complexity from something tiny like a clockwork mouse toy to a retrieving robot dog to a water-fetching golem to a battling animated suit of armour.
Initially they must accomplish tasks along fixed paths, but as time goes on you could alter their programming grid from a long 1D script to a small 2D grid to force a change from linear sequences to branching decision-based programming. Then introduce alternative or dynamic environments that can only be negotiated with more decision-making.
If the aim is to teach the principles of programming, I'd suggest starting with simple, visual cues. You could maybe introduce the syntax of a written language later, once the basics are understood through a visual system. It would give you something to look forward to. You could even introduce an alternate language/syntax in a later part of the game, say, set in another country.
mole125
Thanks for this post, it has some really interesting ideas and thoughts in it.
I think you are right that a mechanism that starts visually is likely to be more accessible and allow commands to be built up without bombarding the user with syntax exceptions and cryptic error messages.
It's a fun sounding idea, and I hope someone makes a system using just that, but it's outside the scope we got going for this game
I actually have a couple ideas to help with overcoming the issue of information/syntax overload. We're not just going to drop them cold turkey into this world, it's very much going to be designed in such a fashion that you slowly get introduced to the various programming functions. That said, we're really hoping that this game is an effective and fun way to learn programming on your own so I'm rather committed to keeping things on a real world programming language level
Thinking some more, I can expand on these ideas into how an icon system could be implemented.
At its most basic level, the task would be to click on icons for remote control, e.g. UP DOWN LEFT RIGHT GRAB DROP (that old BBC dock/crane/ship/container loading game springs to mind). Then you introduce the concept of preparing a list of instructions, and add 2x, 3x and 4x repeat postfix tokens.
Then you introduce a prefix N-LOOP token and a closing NEXT. All still in the linear space.
Then branching decisions that can divert flow onto a second row below the first one for the FALSE case.
At this point, you can either go down the left-to-right flowchart layout route (with IF-ELSE-ENDIF branches splitting then recombining program flow, and FOR-NEXT loops bracketing sections of code) or break out into a free-form 2D grid space, depending on preference. The former, or a more vertical flowchart system, is probably easier to relate to actual lines of code later on.
Just a warning that concepts of 'state' or 'variables' are particularly messy to handle in this sort of program – I've yet to see it done particularly well. They have to exist outside the flowchart and be referenced by operation tokens, so something as simple as C=A+B can get messy – particularly if there's no concept of a temporary result.
I'd probably go with a temporary result as a kind of 1-slot stack/running total/accumulator, with curried operations. That might be as hard to grasp for a beginner as RPN. Then again, it's pretty close to how you use a calculator (assuming you don't want brackets). e.g. LET A=1, LET B=2, GET A (to temp), ADD B (to temp) SAVE AS C (from temp).
The other side of the 'golem' system of tasks is that the golem can be constrained to operate in a fixed activity area, entirely separate from the player's RPG roaming space. It can initially have a grid laid over it for N/S/E/W movement, 90° turns and fixed step movement, but this can be relaxed for more complex free-form movement later on.
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How to Stop the Forwarding of USPS Mail
By: Amy Adkins
How to Move a PO Box
••• old mailbox image by Tracy Horning from Fotolia.com
How to Change an Address for a Florida Concealed Weapon Permit
How to Make a USCIS Change of Address
Whether making the move to a new home or just taking a detour to a warmer destination for the winter, the United States Post Office (USPS) gives people the option of having their mail forwarded on a permanent or temporary basis. When plans change and there is no longer a need to have mail forwarded, the USPS makes it simple to redirect letters, bills, packages and other correspondence.
Update the original change of address request through the USPS website. Enter the new zip code and the confirmation code. If the first mail forwarding request was also made online, this code would have been included in the confirmation email. If the request was made at the post office or by telephone, the code would have been included in the confirmation sent to the new address. Once logged into the system, update the mail forwarding start date, end date or cancel the change address request completely.
Update the original change of address request through any post office. Again, a confirmation code is needed to locate the first request and make any updates.
Submit a new change of address form. If there is no confirmation code available, a new change of address form can be submitted online, by phone or at a local post office. Use the old address as the new, permanent address to stop mail from being forwarded somewhere else.
USPS: Frequently Asked Questions: Internet Change of Address
USPS: Frequently Asked Questions: Forwarding Mail
USPS: Official Change of Address Form
Based in Omaha, Neb., Amy Adkins has been a professional writer and editor since 2001. She writes primarily on the topic of health and health care and has experience in marketing communications, public relations, corporate communication and technical writing. She received her Master of Arts degree in communication from the University of Nebraska-Omaha.
old mailbox image by Tracy Horning from Fotolia.com
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La Collection N°1
The Color Series
Les Belles Heures x Monocle
🌐 We ship worldwide 🌐
Style Talk | Meet Gerardo Cavaliere
Scarves as a mean to freedom, the social value of rules, rituals and traditions and why dressing is so much more than a frivolous thing.
We met Gerardo the simplest way. On the second day of our first ever Pitti Uomo, he and wife Margherita Cardelli step by our booth to say hello and see the new additions to the collection. They found out about the brand the previous summer when Margherita bought herself a piece of Gênes, 09h17 at the Pelliclub, the boutique of Hotel Il Pellicano in Porto Ercole.
The feeling of like-mindedness and immense gentleness of Gerardo and Margherita was stunning; we just met but it felt like we have known each other for quite some time. Not mistakenly that very same feeling kicked back each and every time we would meet, most of the time around Negronis’ at Harry’s Bar in Florence under the high patronage of Matt Hranek and the WM Brown project.
Gerardo is a tailor. One of the most elegant men in the menswear scene today. The epitome of sartorial flair. An Italian movie star allure backed with down-to-earth, authentic values about life. The simplest sophistication and the chicest nonchalance. Someone worth knowing really.
He sits with us today for a chat about how and why is dressing so much more than a frivolous thing.
Here it is, in full length.
LBH: Hi Gerardo, thank you very much for taking the time to sit with us; we know you’re quite busy these days so it means a lot.
GC: Hello Sylvain, I am currently working on the new women’s collection and on the launch of the men’s ready-to-wear collection for our brand Giuliva Heritage Collection, so yes I am quite busy. I have a great team to support me though, which allows me to take a few pleasant breaks from work. The long hours spent talking with you – in the way too rare occasions we get to see each other – are proof of my constant search for a stimulating and interesting interlocutor, as well as proof of how much I enjoy talking to you. I feel this will be time well spent, so thank you.
LBH: Thank you very much for your words, it's a shared pleasure really. As a starter, we’d like to know more about where you come from; where did you grow up exactly?
GC: I spent my childhood in a small town called Montoro. It is not far from Salerno, a beautiful city that overlooks the sea, like Latins used to say, mare nostrum; I am viscerally linked to that city, I really grew up among the old town’s streets and in the waters of the Amalfi Coast, another wonderful place of which I know every single detail and view. So many memories link me to those places. I lived them intensely as if they were a great love. Then, for a greater love, the one for Margherita, I moved to Rome. I return to my sea every time I have the chance. The places where I grew up, the memory of those colors and smells are for me a constant inspiration.
LBH: What was your connection with style growing up?
GC: I received a strict education, not different, however, from the one that 40 years ago was given in many Italian families, especially in the south of Italy. I come from a small city, where some educational methods and social habits have never been entirely unhinged. Fortunately, I would add. In those places everything flowed quite slowly; everything was punctuated by symbols, signals and rituals (at that time we had not yet been influenced by customs and traditions so distant from ours, everyone maintained their own tradition, xenophilia is only a phenomenon of these days). This made me live constantly in contact with some precise models, rich of history and tradition; layers of experiences that crossed social customs also during my teenage years and that left, without me noticing it, a strong trace inside me. Try to imagine, for example, the ritual performed by a boy, who admitted in the adults’ circle, was finally allowed to wear long trousers; or, the change of suit after sunset, the habit of systematically avoiding to wear clothing with patterns at dinner time, or the ban of jeans and similar things.
I’ve always looked with respect at traditions, admiring the history that generated them and the reasons that grant them an incredible longevity; history and tradition give us an identity, providing us with tools to understand, appreciate, and live in a way rather than another. It is our roots, without which we would have nothing to tell and therefore nothing to pass on.
Having said that, I believe that my passion for the way of dressing has been mainly fuelled by my grandfather, and I believe I absorbed it just as any other type of teaching. There was Latin, Greek, art history and then there was my grandfather, with his teachings (his brother was a tailor, his name was “mastro Giannuzzo”. I preserve and often wear some suits he had made for my grandfather). I learned from my grandfather how to tie a tie or a neck scarf or how to shine shoes; but regardless of the practicality of daily gestures, the thing that was really interesting was represented by what was behind every choice, dictated – according to his judgment – by a natural attitude, for a determinate type of man, of feeling the need of dressing. This was not to complement his personality, but rather to communicate it, without talking. It is a concept that is mainly linked to the interior substance, to social and cultural maturity that a man possesses, or should possess. The external form is nothing but the reflection of what we are, and of what we have inside.
LBH: Those stories are so inspiring Gerardo, getting back to the social and cultural meaning of clothing is so essential; how does it infuse in what you do today?
GC: I try to translate my baggage of cultural and social experiences in the work I do today; this helps me to have some stable references, which for me are very important to maintain the custom tradition alive, just how I received it and how I intend it today. Often though, I like to color tradition by experimenting shapes, weights and geometries which sometimes give a less formal flavor.
LBH: Sartoria Giuliva is redefining the classical approach to menswear by exquisitely combining the strength of rules and traditions to a delightful, Neapolitan lightness; how would you describe the unique position it occupies in today’s menswear scene?
GC: I would like to know where you read this news! I’m joking. This makes me happy, it repays the efforts of a constant work, often carried out in a sought-after, deafening and blissful solitude. I simply try to convey my passion and I try to present to others my personal point of view; not only through the suit I wear, which, as beautiful as it may be and despite the many functional details, still remains just a suit. I try to convey all that revolves around a certain way of living, of which clearly the suit is a part. I often manage it, sometimes I don’t. According to this way of seeing for example, I prefer blazers with more generous shapes, more abundant – both in the lapels, as well as in the length and in the width; or for example, trousers that are high rise on the waist, harmonious from the leg to the bottom of the trousers, avoiding any extravagant stretch.
LBH: We love your take on volume and proportions, it always convey a high level of comfort in your attitude. What’s your relation to it?
GC: Feeling comfortable in what one wears is the first rule to avoid looking like a mannequin. As I said earlier, the choice starts with one’s own personality.
LBH: Let’s get to that mystic, philosophical school you’re preaching around the world that is, ‘Giulivismo’. Would you tell us more about it?
GC: I’ve never thought of a real cultural movement, but apparently, it’s becoming quite famous. I’m joking. It is actually a way of approaching life, carefree but not superficial. It is a sort of optimism and positivity manifesto, where values, traditions and authenticity are established. It’s the search for beauty in little things and gestures. The search for real life, the beautiful one.
LBH: We couldn’t relate more to that. It seems that you’re also applying that concept to womenswear through Sartoria Giuliva Heritage, that you co-founded with your wife Margherita Cardelli.
GC: Yes, I started adapting shapes, styles and fabrics originating from male tailoring. In this case, as for all the other choices I made in my life, I never followed a trend, but rather my passion. For me, it all started from a true story. My wife started wearing blazers and coats which came from my cupboard. She wore everything with extreme balance and without any stretch. From there, I started elaborating my image of women, as a harmonic style, softer, more gracious, but at the same time strong and full of personality. I like the result I reached so far, but the most interesting thing for me is that everything is still in a continuous, slow evolution.
LBH: Your work is deeply inspired by the past; how do you relate to modernity?
GC: I often look back on the past because I find more inspiration, especially in the way life was intended. I am not a nostalgic, I simply believe that in the past everything had its precise connotation and a precise function, including that of communicating, to whom watched, the soul of which it was made. From cars to objects, to clothes. There were things called “quality”, “reliability”, “warranty”. Things were made with a soul, as they say. If today we still can live things which were crafted 40, 50 years ago, it means that these really worked. In the past, things weren’t consumed so quickly as it is done today. If I drive a car from the 70s, or I wear a suit that used to belong to my grandfather, this means that I don’t really need to substitute neither of the two: these still fulfill both their practical and aesthetic function. Today we have too many tools at our disposal – we have instant access to culture through google, we have technologies that now perform tasks that were once performed by our brain. We are becoming lazy, and this does not allow us to really choose what we want. The result is a general flattening of the various personalities that would be supposed to emerge. Going back to your question, how do I relate to modernity, I answer: I observe it, I study it, I criticize it, I admire some faces of it. Yet, then, I live according to rules and customs that don’t have an expiration time, this doesn’t make me feel like I live in the past.
LBH: Very interesting, some kind of curation of modernity. How do you infuse this approach to what you do?
GC: In the past and in the traditions I talked about, I find a characteristic that for me is the key to everything I do: authenticity. I try to convey my personal concept of authenticity.
LBH: Talking about authenticity, you’re the face of the 1st issue of WM Brown Magazine, the manly lifestyle publication of your friend Matt Hranek where you appear in an intimate and sublime story shot in the Middle of Campo Imperatore, Abruzzo. A concept that you share with Matt and that infuses everywhere in the pages of WM Brown magazine is the ‘Maschio Vero’; would you tell us more about that?
GC: With Matt everything started from a joke (as most of the things I do today, they start from comparisons on deep topics addressed with irony; Giulivismo is this as well). We were asking ourselves what a real man wears, eats, where he goes on vacation, what car he drives, and things like that. It was clearly ironic, but from those ironic talks, we realized how much men have drifted away from their definite universe (as definite as a universe can be), from customs, rules, more or less fixed in time. Men have perhaps lost their social dimension, devoured by appearance, rather than fed by their inner self.
LBH: You’re probably one of the most elegant people in the menswear scene today, really. How do you approach the process of getting dressed in the morning? Is that something you put lots of thoughts in?
GC: I’d like to know where you read this news, I’d like my mother to read it. For me it is quite natural. I approach my cupboard, holding our daughter Aida Atena in my arms and our Italian Bracco Ottone between my feet. I have a coffee and think of the day I’ll have. I look back at the cupboard and I get dressed. Everything is very simple.
LBH: What about colors?
GC: Choosing colors is quite easy. I believe everyone has a color that identifies them. So, I know I am not every color, but just some colors. For example I know I am not the color black (other than for the smoking). I love, for instance, mixing colors and fabrics that alone would seem discordant and instead, when put together, find a harmonious dimension.
LBH: What is style to you?
GC: Style, for me, is the footprint of what one is. Through its own style a person can communicate its taste and also its way of thinking. When someone’s style is not pretentious, or merely copied, this contributes to the expression of its personality.
LBH: It appears that you wear lots of scarves. What do you look for in a scarf?
GC: I love neck scarves. My grandfather used to wear them often. A neck scarf gives me a strong idea of freedom, of dreams, it lets me imagine travels to distant lands that then in time I live for real. Yes, a neck scarf needs to be a good travel companion.
LBH: How do you wear it usually?
GC: I like to tie them not too tight on the neck, letting the tips fall on the chest. I also often wear it without knotting it, by simply putting it under the neck of wool, short-sleeved sweaters (that apparently are summer t-shirts just for me.)
LBH: You’re the owner of a Senigallia 15h32, 60cm format. What do you like about it?
GC: I love that scarf. Going back to the colors I was mentioning earlier, I am one of those colors. Soft at the touch, but at the same time fresh. It’s the size that I prefer in a scarf.
LBH: How would you describe LBH in 3 words?
GC: Fresh, dreamy, free.
LBH: Who would you like to read on our next issue of the Style Talks?
GC: I’d like to read Matt Hranek, he is a really stimulating person with whom to discuss these topics.
LBH: Thank you very much for this Gerardo, it has been so rich, and best of luck for your upcoming projects.
GC: Thank you, it has been a pleasure.
Photos courtesy of
@gerardocavaliere, @margheritacardelli, @wmbrownproject, @yolandaedwards, @thousandyardstyle
Les Belles Heures is a young Maison revamping scarves as a cool, daily accessory through savoir-faire, craftsmanship and minimalist design focused on color.
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Les Belles Heures Oct 10, 2019
Dear Camille, thank you for sharing your thoughts with us.
Camille Oct 10, 2019
Very nice interview but I wish it was more real, honest….Mr. Cavaliere is not a tailor nor a designer. He studied law and is a lawyer, he didn’t study fashion or design and especially not tailoring craftsmanship. He is a businessman together with his wife Cardelli Who Is in PR. They invested and joined in business but they do not create anything new like many designers always do. They copy and take inspiration by classic pieces from the past or movies and so on…but they invented nothing new. It’s a fashion based on revisiting. They do a good job but I wish people would be recognised for what they really are; there are young talents and people who study many years to become fashion designer or tailor (lots of study and hard work) and should be recognised as such. Cavaliere and Cardelli are business people with lots of great connections in fashion environment and this is another thing which favoured them a lot. None of them is a design or a tailor. Let’s keep it real please.
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Beyond Wealth
Alexander Green
Chief Investment Strategist
Nicholas Vardy
Founding Member, The Oxford Club
Mark Skousen
Advisory Panelist
Home TopicsBuilding Wealth The Reason You’ll Never Be a Billionaire
The Reason You’ll Never Be a Billionaire
written by Nicholas Vardy March 13, 2018
“A genius is not born but is educated and trained… When a child is born healthy, it is a potential genius.”
– László Polgár, Hungarian educator and chess teacher
You may have heard of the “10,000-hour rule.”
Developed by psychologist Anders Ericsson – and popularized by Malcolm Gladwell in his national best-seller Outliers – it states that across all fields of human endeavor, it takes about 10,000 hours of “deliberate practice” to master a skill.
Deliberate practice requires well-defined, specific goals, a coach who can give you continuous feedback, and regular practice outside of your comfort zone.
Whether it’s learning to play the piano, winning a medal in the Olympics or developing into a world-class ballet dancer…
You must put in about 20 hours a week over a 10-year period to become a master at your craft.
That’s why musical prodigies, Olympic athletes and global soccer stars all start at an early age.
The conclusion is cheerfully egalitarian, if daunting.
As long as you put in your 10,000 hours of deliberate practice, you too can master any field you choose.
So what does this have to do (or not) with the world of investing?
László Polgár’s Remarkable Experiment
Hungarian grandmaster Judit Polgár is a chess phenomenon.
One of the top female chess players of all time, she achieved the title of grandmaster at 15 years old.
In doing so, she broke the record of former world champion Bobby Fischer.
Like Mozart, Judit Polgár is a rare natural talent…
Or is she?
As it turns out, Judit and her two older sisters are the products of an unprecedented educational experiment carried out by their father, László Polgár.
The elder Polgár’s lifelong mission?
To test his conviction that he could turn any child into a prodigy.
As it turns out, Polgár succeeded in turning each of his daughters into chess grandmasters.
By all measures, his experiment was a remarkable success.
But as successful as László Polgár was…
He could not have turned each of his daughters into the next George Soros – fellow Hungarian, speculator and billionaire.
My Journey Through 10,000 Hours
A few years ago, I tallied up the hours I had put into mastering the “craft of investing.”
Between my studies and my work as a portfolio manager, I tallied 10,000 hours quite easily.
Yet two things struck me…
First, the least useful part of my experience was the hours I spent as a mutual fund manager.
Too much of my time was frittered away with pointless meetings that had nothing to do with investing.
Next to none of the time I spent met the standard of Anders Ericsson’s deliberate practice.
Second, I learned that becoming a hotshot mutual fund manager had nothing to do with mastering the craft of investing.
For three years in the ’90s, I sat next to one of the top fund managers in the United Kingdom.
He was a high school dropout who had worked himself up the corporate ladder from a backroom job he took at the age of 16.
He dismissed my admittedly conventional and academic efforts to master the investment profession as “a bunch of bollocks” – a term that’s considered to be pretty vulgar in the U.K.
After all, he had succeeded by trusting his instincts.
Sadly for him, his sparkling investment track record lost its shine as the years rolled on.
He turned out to be what author Nassim Taleb calls “a lucky fool.”
Investing as an “Extreme Sport”
Here’s the uncomfortable reality…
The 10,000-hour rule may apply to learning to play the violin, winning a world championship in Brazilian jiujitsu or becoming a grandmaster in chess.
But it does not apply to producing a blockbuster movie, getting elected president of the United States or becoming the next George Soros.
In his best-seller The Black Swan, Nassim Taleb refers to these two worlds as “Mediocristan” and “Extremistan.”
Mediocristan is the world of lawyers, dentists and journalists. Become good at your craft, and you will make a decent living.
But there are only so many hours to bill… and so many cavities to fill.
Your chance of earning, say, $5 million a year is virtually nil.
In contrast, Extremistan is the world of internet entrepreneurs, Hollywood stars and lucky hedge fund managers.
In 2000, Mark Cuban made $5.7 billion selling Broadcast to Yahoo – that’s more money than a hundred partners at New York law firms make in their lifetimes.
Much of the success you see people achieve in Extremistan is due to luck rather than any innate skill.
And Wall Street is the very incarnation of Extremistan.
Every time you invest, your bets are placed right alongside those of Warren Buffett and George Soros.
Yet over the course of any single day, month or even year, you can outperform the greatest investors in history… simply due to dumb luck – no 10,000 hours of deliberate practice required.
Compare that outcome with what would happen if you sat across a chessboard from Judit Polgár…
Lessons From László
Can you become one of the 1% of active traders who are consistently profitable?
Sure you can.
You may even make a good living.
You might not have a “Mark Cuban moment” that turns you into a billionaire…
But in the coming weeks and months, I’ll teach you what you need to know to help you achieve your own financial freedom…
No 10,000 hours of deliberate practice needed.
Good investing,
Thoughts on this article? Leave a comment below.
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Maestra • For the women who make the music in the musical theater industry.
Tag: Mean Girls
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Women Who Wow Us
Women Who Wow Us: Week Five
Women Who Wow Us: Week Five. This week, we interviewed Meg Zervoulis, a versatile music director, arranger, educator, and pianist. She is currently the music director of The Prom on Broadway, and she has also served as the associate music director for Mean Girls and assistant conductor for Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812. Meg has worked as a music director/arranger/orchestrator at Paper Mill Playhouse for the past 11 years and is the resident conductor of Hotel Elefant, a contemporary music ensemble in NYC.
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The Omega Speedmaster Apollo Soyuz 145.022 1975
by bulang - Dec 04 2019
In pursuit of greater goals
We are delighted to welcome back our friend and collaborator @TheMasterOfSpeed, Matteo Leoni, who is regarded as one of the most knowledgeable vintage Omega Speedmaster experts. Today Matteo lifts the lid on another interesting and rare watch, The Omega Apollo Soyuz Speedmaster.
After World War II, the United States and the former Soviet Union began an ideological warfare known as the cold war, which was mainly fought via propaganda and espionage.
Much of the technological development needed for space travel was employed in military missiles such as intercontinental ballistic missiles, making this technology of the utmost importance.
Space missions became a new theatre in which the cold war was played out. Sputnik 1 was the first significant event that initiated the Space Race as it would later become known, which officially starting on the 4th October 1957 with the first artificial satellite launch.
On the 17th of July 1975, the Apollo-Soyuz mission was launched and would result in an in-orbit coupling of two capsules to allow for a personnel exchange. The mechanism was developed by the two superpowers and built in the USA, and demonstrated that two different space capsules could join in orbit. As underlined by NASA, the human side of the mission went much further; during this space encounter, the crews demonstrated in few minutes the possibility to abolish cultural and language barriers in the pursuit of greater goals.
This mission represented a clean cut-off from the past; a past that was characterised by a real and heartfelt race. The space collaboration was a clear political signal of a desire for peace.
These five men compose the two prime crews of the joint United States-USSR Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) docking mission in Earth orbit scheduled for July 1975. They are astronaut Thomas P. Stafford (standing on left), commander of the American crew; cosmonaut Aleksey A. Leonov (standing on right), commander of the Soviet crew; astronaut Donald K. Slayton (seated on left), docking module pilot of the American crew; astronaut Vance D. Brand (seated center), command module pilot of the American crew; and cosmonaut Valeriy N. Kubasov (seated on right), engineer on the Soviet crew.
Two American ASTP prime crewmen have a meal with the Soviet ASTP first (prime) crewmen during Apollo-Soyuz Test Project joint crew training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. The four are inside the Soyuz orbital module mock-up in Building 35. They are, left to right, astronaut Donald K. Slayton, docking module pilot of the American crew; cosmonaut Aleksey A. Leonov, commander of the Soviet crew; astronaut Thomas P. Stafford, commander of the American crew; and cosmonaut Valeriy N. Kubasov, engineer on the Soviet crew. The training session simulated activities on the second day in Earth orbit. During the actual mission the other American crewmen, astronaut Vance D. Brand, command module pilot, would be in the Command Module.
Astronaut Alan L. Bean (foreground) and cosmonaut Aleksey A. Leonov participate in Apollo-Soyuz Test Project joint crew training in Building 35 at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. They are in the Apollo Command Module trainer. The training session simulated activities on the first day in Earth orbit. Bean is the commander of the American ASTP backup crew. Leonov is the commander of the Soviet ASTP first (prime) crew.
Comparing watches… Speedy Tuesday?
A close-up view of the Commemorative Plaque for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. Two plaques divided into four quarters each will be flown on the ASTP mission. A four-part plaque is completely assembled here. The American ASTP crew will carry the four U.S. quarter pieces aboard Apollo; and the Soviet ASTP crew will carry the four USSR quarter sections aboard Soyuz. The eight quarter pieces will be joined together to form two complete commemorative plaques after the two spacecraft rendezvous and dock in Earth orbit. One complete plaque then will be returned to Earth by the astronauts; and the other complete plaque will be brought back by the cosmonauts. The plaque is written in both English and Russian.
Two ASTP crewmen look over food cans and packages in the Soyuz orbital module trainer in Building 35 during Apollo-Soyuz Test Project joint crew training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
AST-05-263 (17-18 July 1975) — The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) Commemorative Plaque is assembled in the Soviet Soyuz Orbital Module during the joint U.S.-USSR Apollo-Soyuz Test Project docking mission in Earth orbit. The plaque is written both in English and Russian.
The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project Signing Off
Russin vodka
Cosmonauts Valeriy N. Kubasov (left) and Aleksey A. Leonov participate in English language training during Apollo-Soyuz Test Project preflight preparations at the Cosmonaut Training Center (Star City) near Moscow. Leonov was the commander of the Soviet ASTP first (prime) crew; and Kubasov was the flight engineer on the same crew. They are seated in the language laboratory at Star City. PHOTO COURTESY: USSR ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
AST-03-171 (17 July 1975) — The hands of cosmonaut Valerly N. Kubasov are seen as the ASTP engineer adds his name to the signature on the Soviet side of the official joint certificate marking an historical moment during the rendezvous day of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. The left hand of astronaut Donald K. Slayton, NASA’s docking module pilot, is seen at left. The certificate had earlier been signed by astronauts Thomas P. Stafford, American crew commander; Slayton and cosmonaut Aleksey A. Leonov, Soviet crew commander, and it awaits the signature of astronaut Vance D. Brand, NASA’s command module pilot who remained in the CM while the others signed in the Soviet Orbital Module of the Soyuz.
These three NASA astronauts are the United States flight crew for the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) mission. The prime crew members for the joint United States – Soviet Union spaceflight are, left to right, Donald K. Slayton, docking module pilot; Vance D. Brand, command module pilot; and Thomas P. Stafford, commander. The American and Soviet crews will visit one another?s spacecraft while the Soyuz and Apollo are docked in Earth orbit for a maximum of two days. The ASTP mission is designed to test equipment and techniques that will establish international crew rescue capability in space, as well as permit future cooperative scientific missions.
The lucky number 100/500
To commemorate this milestone event in 1976, made exclusively for the italian market, Omega presented a limited edition of 500 pieces with very unique characteristics. The Speedmaster Apollo Soyuz was based on the classic Moonwatch reference 145.022 with calibre 861, fitting in a very specific serial range between 39’180’xxx and 39’181’xxx .
Such a powerhouse on the wrist. Same same but ohhhhh so different.
The most striking feature of the watch is the unique dial configuration, stripped of any Speedmaster indication but rather bearing the mission logo at 12 o’clock, a detail that will inspire many future limited editions placing the mission logo in the continuous second counter. Upon closer inspection we notice features from the calibre 321 era Speedmasters, such as the longer tritium indices compared to those of the same period.
Another unique feature of the watch are the larger pushers, which were 0.5mm larger than regular pushers, meaning the pusher slot in the case is also slightly larger. The caseback is also unique to the watch, engraved with the mission medallion and the letter “I” followed by a progressive limited numbering. Our Speedmaster Apollo Soyuz is the lucky number 100. Furthermore, one other curious detail is the steel bracelet reference 1168, commonly known as the “Oyster” style that was seen on other Omega watches but very rarely on the Speedmaster, a confirmation of just how eclectic this limited really was.
Lucky Number 100… happy to offer it for sale here
The Oyster Style bracelet 1168
The Omega Extract confirming the correct serial batch and Apollo Soyuz specification
All in all, it’s a series of special details that make this timepiece so unique, a mix of history and unique design, a representative symbol of the history of mankind.
Lucky Number 100 is available…
We are happy to be able to offer you the lucky number 100 Omega Apollo Soyuz Speedmaster. Check it out here…
The Soyuz Speedmaster on our Taurillon Grey Heritage Strap you can get here
Tags: Omega
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Category: Features
A Razzle Dazzle: The Jaeger-LeCoultre Dazzling Rendez-Vous
Written on January 22, 2020 . Leave a Comment
A little known fact about Jaeger-LeCoultre: they were one of the first watch brands to make watches that catered to women. For a bit of context, during the 18th and 19th century women saw wrist watches as jewellery pieces rather than timekeeping tools. And this gave Jaeger-LeCoultre a chance to get a bit more creative. Thus began their journey honing their specialization in gem-setting.
The Rendez-Vous collection, first released in 2012, remembers this specific part in the Swiss watch manufacturer’s history. The recently reimagined models embody the essence of femininity and flaunt such stunning, rich details.
With their latest Dazzling Rendez-Vous they had expert artisans to ornament the timepiece with precious stones. It’s a rather slow and painstakingly meticulous process, but delivers the most beautiful and elegant results.
The prong, or griffes, is a kind of setting that maximizes the presence of each stone on the watch by using thin claw-like metal strips to hold each diamond in place. This allows the light to pass through the diamonds from every angle.
This dazzling timepiece comes in a 36mm white or pink gold case on alligator leather straps in either blue or taupe. It features a mother-of-pearl dial, floral roman numerals, and a day and night function at 6 o’clock.
Dazzling Rendez-Vous Night & Day
Ref. Q3433570 / Ref. Q3432570
White gold, pink gold
Dial and Hands
Mother of pearl, diamonds
Florale recto hands
hours/minutes
night/day indicator
Open caseback
898B/1–Automatic calibre
Automatic, self-winding
38 hour power reserve
5 BAR water resistance
Blue or taupe alligator leather strap
Blue In The Face: 7 Of Our Favorite Blue Dial Watches So Far
While we anticipate whether majority of the watch brands will decide to follow the color Pantone has set for the year, let’s take a look at which of them were already ahead of trend.
Patek Philippe Chronograph Ref. 5172G-001
Showcased at last year’s Baselworld, the Chronograph 5172G shares similar aesthetics with the retired 5170. The updated chronograph comes in a 41mm white gold case, round guilloched pushers and a blue dial contrasted by luminous white gold Arabic numerals and hands. See our other favorite Patek Philippe watches from Baselworld 2019 here.
Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Ref. 85180/000R-B515
In 2019, Vacheron Constantin decided to add 18 more models to their Patrimony collection, and the Patrimony self-winding is one of them. The 36mm 18K 5N pink gold case houses a sunburst satin-finished midnight blue dial. It embodies an understated, minimalist look as it makes use of a date function and hour, minutes, and seconds indicators.
Jaeger-Lecoultre Reverso Tribute Ref. 3978480
Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Reverso is well known for its iconic Art Deco inspired style and geometric simplicity. The Reverso Tribute Small Seconds comes in a 45.6 X 27.4mm case with a blue sunray-brushed finish dial, applied hour markers, and a small seconds at 6 o’clock. The watch is fashioned on a blue strap designed by Argentinian bookmaker Fagliano.
Hublot Big Bang Sang Bleu Titanium Blue Ref. 415.NX.7179.VR.MXM18
As avid supporters of the arts, Hublot has collaborated with Swiss tattoo artist Maxime Plescia-Buchi. The 45mm Big Bang Sang Bleu Titanium Blue is comprised of clean, geometric, symmetric lines and shapes and paired with a blue dial and strap.
Chopard Alpine Eagle Ref. 298600-3001
Chopard recently released the Alpine Eagle, a reinterpretation of the St. Moritz watch which was designed by Chopard Co-President Karl-Friedrich Scheufele. The 41mm timepiece features a deep blue dial which resembles an eagle’s iris. The watch is also crafted from Lucent Steel A223, a REACH-certified and ethically produced metal exclusively developed in-house by the brand. Chopard partnered up with the Eagle Wings Foundation, which raises awareness about the Alps and the environmental issues at present.
Girard-Perregaux Laureato
Girard-Perregaux’s iconic Laureato has been reinterpreted numerous times since it was first conceived in 1975. This Laureato comes in a 34mm, 38mm or 42mm steel case with a blue Clou de Paris patterned dial. Read more about Girard-Perregaux’s history here.
Reservoir Hydrosphere Blue Hole Ref. RSV03.HY/130-21.BH
Reservoir gets inspiration from different measuring instruments. The Hydrosphere Blue Hole was designed with the image of scuba diving pressure gauges in mind. The watch measures 45mm in diameter with features that are essential for divers like a 250-meter water resistance and a unidirectional rotating bezel with a double scale to be able to read time at different depths. Learn more about Reservoir here.
10 Years of The Philippine Watch Club
Written on January 8, 2020 . Leave a Comment
The Philippine Watch Club says their passion for watches is what makes them tick. They offer a space where watch enthusiasts from all areas in the Philippines can share ideas and have in-depth discussions about watch components, complications and innovations. They are marking their 10th anniversary with a special limited edition of the Longines Heritage Military. Each of the 55 pieces of the limited run has a caseback engraved with “Philippine Watch Club 10th Anniversary 2010-2020” in the top half and a series number engraved at 6 o’clock. The one marked 01/55 is on display at the Longines museum in Switzerland.
Longines’ Heritage Military draws inspiration from an early 1940s military timepiece made specially for the British Royal Air Force. The timepiece they modeled it after belonged to Stanley Turner, a highly-decorated radiotelegraph operator.
Mr. Turner’s original Longines 1940s military watch on the left and the Longines Heritage Military on the right.
Much of the Heritage Military’s look remains faithful to the minimalist design of the original watch. It features the same oversized winding crown and uniquely shaped blued hands. The 38.5mm timepiece displays a silver, opaline dial with faint and tiny black droplets to mimic the oxidation pattern found on the original. No two dials look exactly the same as the black droplets were applied entirely by hand.
A closer look at the specks of droplets on the Heritage Military.
Owners have the option to wear a leather or nato watch strap that comes in the same shade. Both straps, as well as the required placement tool, are provided with each timepiece.
Old Meets New: The Longines Heritage Classic
Written on December 2, 2019 . Leave a Comment
The Heritage collection commemorates Longines’ iconic timepieces by reissuing past models with updated watchmaking techniques and materials. Among the models in the collection is the Longines Heritage Classic, which is a faithful reproduction of a sector dial watch originally issued in 1934.
The Longines 1934 timepiece on the left, and the Longines Heritage Classic on the right.A sector dial is made up of two lines that slice the dial into four equal quarters, or sectors. Although not a common sight today, this design was a common feature on watches during the early 20th century.
Like the original, the sectors on the Longines Heritage Classic are surrounded by a satin-finished silver circle with painted Arabic hour markers at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o’clock. It also maintains small seconds on a subdial above 6 o’clock, and the original Longines logo below 12 o’clock.
Unlike the original, the reissued watch comes with more prominent markers, as well as brightened blue hands. It also comes with slimmer lugs and a slightly bigger stainless steel case measuring 38.5mm.
Driving this timepiece’s functions and endowed with a 64-hour power reserve is the calibre L893, which was especially developed for the timepieces of the Heritage line. This self-winding mechanical movement does not carry the date and enables the small seconds display to be located under the central axis for a design that is even closer to that of the historical pieces.
Longines Heritage Classic
Ref. L2.828.4.73.2
Two-toned silver dial
Painted Arabic numerals and indexes
Blued steel hands
Small seconds at 6 o’clock
Mechanical self-winding movement
Calibre L893 (ETA A31.501)
Black leather strap and NATO blue denim-effect leather strap with buckle
Blue leather strap and NATO anthracite denim-effect leather strap with buckle
The new Heritage Classic will be available on Q1 2020 at Longines SM Megamall, 2/F Mega Fashion Hall.
Deep And Dark: A new all-ceramic version broadens the Longines HydroConquest collection
Written on November 20, 2019 . Leave a Comment
Earlier this year, Longines released a new set of models under its HydroConquest collection, inspired by the field of aquatic sports. Among them was the all-black HydroConquest.
The HydroConquest comes with features that meet the ISO standards for dive watches such as 300-meter water resistance, unidirectional rotating bezel and double security folding clasp.
What makes the HydroConquest a cut above the rest is that it’s made from ceramic — Zirconium dioxide to be exact, as denoted by the chemical equation (ZrO2) printed on the dial at 6 o’clock. This material has extremely high resistance to crack propagation and thermal conductivity, which helps keep the watch intact during dives even when there are changes in the environment.
The use of different textures on the watch such as a matt dial, a round satin brushed bezel, and a rubber strap lend the HydroConquest a dynamic appearance despite its monochromatic colorway. Providing a nice contrast to it are white Super-LumiNova® coated hands and indexes (blue in the dark), which also makes for superb readability regardless of lighting conditions underwater.
Longines HydroConquest Ceramic
Ref. L3.784.56.9
Matt black ceramic
Super-LumiNova coated
12, 6, 9 Arabic numerals
Date at 3 o’clock
Screwed crown
30 BAR water resistance
Sapphire glass with anti-reflective coating on both sides
Mechanical, self-winding movement
Calibre L888.3 (ETA A31.L01)
Ceramic double security folding clasp
The Longines HydroConquest will be available in the first quarter of 2020.
The Man Who Made Mechanical Miracles: Jean-Claude Biver
Written on November 4, 2019 . Leave a Comment
Jean-Claude Biver is an institution in his own right in the watch industry.
He got his start in the world of horology in 1974, when he joined the sales department of Audemars Piguet. For most people, this was an inopportune time to be part of the mechanical watchmaking industry. Quartz had upended traditional watchmaking, and now almost all makers were either closing shop or scrambling to develop quartz movements of their own.
But as the world would eventually find out, Biver was the type of man who thrived on challenges.
In 1979, Jean-Claude Biver became Omega’s youngest deputy director. It was in his time here he began to develop his views of using traditional mechanical movements instead of converting to quartz to save Swiss watchmaking.
Biver got to test his ideas when he left Omega so that he and his friend Jacques Piguet could manage their newly purchased brand: Blancpain. The brand had ceased operations for over two decades, and the only thing it had was a name that Biver and Piguet could build on.
Piguet was in charge of the production of their timepieces and Biver was in charge of marketing, introducing the tagline, “Since 1735, there has never been a quartz Blancpain watch. And there never will be.”
While the world around them was focused on quartz, Biver and Piguet produced and sold mechanical complications such as moon phases and minute repeaters. They focused on the value and craftsmanship of traditional watchmaking and in less than two decades, they sold Blancpain to the Swatch Group for a profit.
Biver returned to Omega as a director of international marketing, and under his supervision they began one of their most memorable partnerships yet: Omega and James Bond.
After a string of improbable successes, Biver was asked to take the helm of Hublot, a small Italian brand that had introduced rubber straps on gold watches. The founder, Carlo Crocco, knew Biver from when he launched Blancpain in 1983, and was a Blancpain distributor in Spain and Italy.
Biver entered Hublot as the CEO in 2004 and made changes he believed would bring success to the brand. One of which was to switch from producing mostly quartz movements, to creating mechanical movements. The next was to move from 38mm cases to larger and more modern 44mm cases.
With these changes, Hublot entered Baselworld 2005 with a big bang. Quite literally. It was at this year’s fair Biver introduced Hublot’s most successful line: Hublot Big Bang.
Much like the very first Hublot timepiece, the Hublot Big Bang resembled a porthole and married unusual materials. It was a hit, and in November of the same year, it won the best design prize in the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Geneve.
And that was just the beginning. Biver continued to bring forward the concept of “the art of fusion” in Hublot, resulting in some of the most unexpected collaborations and materials.
In the watchmaking industry that spans hundreds of years, Hublot’s success has been an almost overnight phenomenon. And it is owed to the passion and dedication of the inimitable Jean-Claude Biver.
Although he has stepped down as an active executive of Hublot, Biver continues on as a non-executive president to look over the brand. He also continues to tour the world, making sure more people gain deeper insight into the unconventional world of the Art of Fusion. His next stop? Metro Manila.
UPDATE | November 18, 2019: Details about Blancpain when Jean-Claude Biver bought it have been corrected.
Hublot Loves Art
“The art of fusion” has been a guiding principle of Hublot, beginning with their first timepiece that featured a gold case and rubber strap. Since then, the watchmaker has released one daring watch after another, receiving design prizes along the way.
Hublot makes it a point to frequently collaborate with artists and designers from various fields who share the same visions and passions as they do. In 2015 the watch house established the Hublot Design Prize, an award which enables young artists and designers to garner the public’s attention by showcasing their boldness and creativity.
Discussing the importance of art, Jean-Claude Biver, chairman of Hublot’s board says, “Unlike technology, art never becomes obsolete. A painting by Matisse or Renoir may not be liked by the new generation, but it can never be obsolete.”
Hublot and Richard Orlinski
Richard Orlinski is a top-selling French contemporary artist represented by more than 90 galleries around the world. Orlinski is an advocate of art’s democratization which is why his works revolve around everyday subjects and are presented in public spaces. His sculptures feature bright colors and diamond-cut like facets, which take inspiration from pop art and industrial materials. It was their shared enthusiasm for innovation as well total design freedom that led Orlinski to collaborate with Hublot.
Fusing the world of watchmaking and sculpture, Orlinski incorporates precious metals with his artistic style. As seen in the Orlinski Classic Fusion 40mm in King Gold and in Titanium Pavé, the watches display a faceted case and dial that plays around with light and shade, similar to the French artist’s sculptures.
The same thing goes with the Aerofusion Chronograph 45mm in King Gold Jewellery and in Titanium Pavé. Once again, Orlinski’s characteristic folds are present but this time presented with an open-worked dial.
Hublot and Sang Bleu
Maxime Plescia-Büchi is a renowned Swiss tattoo artist and the founder of Sang Bleu, a multi-disciplinary company that encompasses a tattoo studio, magazine, clothing brand, and creative agency. Plescia-Büchi works mainly with black ink and uses architectural motifs along with ancient iconography.
Upon describing his collaboration with Hublot, Plescia-Büchi calls it a match made in heaven. He firmly believes that they are the epitome of the highest level of technical and creative innovation in their respective fields.
Plescia-Büchi designed the Sang Bleu models with the intent to showcase how the world of tattooing can be fused with the world of watchmaking. He does this through unifying precious materials symmetry and strong geometric lines as seen in the Sang Bleu One Click 39mm in King Gold Pave and in King Gold Blue.
Come see Hublot’s dedicated and fervent love for the arts for yourself at the “Hublot Celebrating the Art of Fusion Exhibition” from November 12 to 15 at Greenbelt 5 Fashion Walkway.
Innovation as a Way of Life: Hublot and their Materials
With the best of both worlds—cutting-edge technology and traditional watchmaking—at Hublot’s side, the luxury watch brand is only limited by their imagination. Materials not withstanding, the pioneering watchmaker has dared to use what others would not, even going so far as to create new materials.
Hublot Big Bang Unico Ferrari Magic Gold
Since it’s not possible to use pure gold due to its softness, people have mixed it with different materials to come up with more durable alloys. Hublot, in particular, found the balance between 24K gold and boron carbide, also known as ceramic. This resulted in Magic Gold—the hardest, most scratch-resistant 18K gold worldwide that can only be cut by diamond.
King Gold
Hublot Classic Fusion Orlinski King Gold
Hublot also came up with another kind of gold: King Gold. It’s Hublot’s version of red gold, but even redder. They achieved the fiery look by upping the copper content. To prevent the oxidation that comes with the higher percentage of copper, they also added platinum into the mix.
Colored sapphire cases
Hublot Big Bang Unico Blue Sapphire
For decades, sapphire has only been used to cover the dial or the movement. Hublot is one of the first to manufacture sapphire as the material for a watch case and in several colors including yellow, blue, pink and red. The various tints are achieved by fusing different chemicals. For example, Hublot combined aluminum oxide with copper to come up with yellow. Replace copper with titanium oxide and the sapphire will be tinted with pink. Switch it out with iron oxide and out comes a nice sky-blue.
Hublot Big Bang Unico White Ceramic
As a material for watches, ceramic has been known for its scratch resistance and lightness. Having used ceramic as a vital ingredient for Magic Gold, Hublot didn’t shy away from experimenting more with the material. Just last year, the watch manufacturer patented their invention of not only vibrantly colored ceramic, but the most resilient as well.
Hublot Big Bang Unico Ferrari Titanium Carbon
All of the strength and none of the weight, carbon fiber is one of the revolutionary inventions of our age. Hublot is one of the few watch houses to manufacture and use carbon fiber composites in their watches. For more intricate watch components, they utilize carbon fiber-reinforced polymer instead.
Come and see these watches and more at the “Hublot Celebrating Art of Fusion Exhibit” at the Greenbelt 5 Fashion Walkway, from November 12 to 15.
An Iconic Duo
When Hublot and Ferrari announced their partnership in 2011, they made it clear that theirs would not be just a case of co-branding events and timepieces, but an intertwining of their activities.
Hublot has since been the official timekeeper and watch for the carmaker’s events, and the two brands have collaborated to produce over 50 timepieces to date.
The first was the Hublot Big Bang Ferrari Magic Gold. The 45mm timepiece was the first from Hublot to bear the prancing horse, and was also the platform used to introduce the watchmaker’s new proprietary material: Magic Gold. A combination of boron carbide and gold, the patented material is currently the only 18K gold alloy to be entirely scratch resistant.
The Hublot Big Bang Ferrari Magic Gold is the timepiece that marked the beginning of Hublot and Ferrari’s successful relationship
In the year that followed, Ferrari unveiled the LaFerrari, the carmaker’s first hybrid vehicle and their “most ambitious project yet”. Soon after, Hublot revealed the MP-05 LaFerrari.
The unusually configured timepiece was designed to resemble the profile of the eponymous car. Its movement – stacked instead of spread horizontally – could pass as a miniature version of a car’s engine at first glance. Comprised of over 600 parts, it boasted a 50-day power reserve the likes of which had never been seen before.
The Hublot MP-05 LaFerrari has no dial. Time is indicated on the barrels located on the right side,
while the power reserve is indicated by the barrels on the left.
Four years later, in 2017, the partners commemorated the prancing horse’s 70th anniversary by launching the Techframe Ferrari 70 Years Tourbillon Chronograph. The limited-edition timepiece was designed by Flavio Manzoni, Ferrari’s head of design, and was made to look like the chassis of a GT Ferrari. The movement that drove all its functions, the hand-wound HUB 6311, was developed entirely in-house by Hublot. The timepiece was well-received by watch enthusiasts and designers alike, and was awarded the prestigious iF Design Award in 2018.
The Techframe Ferrari 70 Years Tourbillon Chronograph commemorated the 70th anniversary of Ferrari’s prancing horse.
This year, Hublot and Ferrari have expanded their joint portfolio with the Hublot Classic Fusion Ferrari GT. Inspired by the Grand Turismo spirit of “driving over long distances at high speeds in comfort and with style,” the timepiece is a departure from Hublot’s more angular aesthetic. The 45mm case – available in titanium, King Gold or 3D Carbon – gives the timepiece the illusion of concentric circles, and was made to resemble the dials on the Ferrari 1959 California and the air vents of the Ferrari GTC4 Lusso.
The timepiece was designed by the “Centro Stile Ferrari” (Ferrari’s internal design team) and outfitted with Hublot’s in-house UNICO chronograph movement. Awarded four patents, the movement drives the hours, minutes, seconds, date and flyback chronograph.
Sapphire crystal protects both sides of the movement, allowing a glimpse of the inner workings of the watch from the front and back.
The new Hublot Classic Fusion Ferrari GT comes in King Gold, Titanium and 3D Carbon.
The Hublot Classic Fusion Ferrari GT is fastened to the wrist with rubber straps wrapped in Schedoni leather – a nod to the seats of the Maranello historical race cars.
What to expect from this iconic duo moving forward is difficult to predict, but Hublot and Ferrari fans can be sure that design and innovation will be at the forefront of their next project.
See some of the most memorable timepieces from Hublot at the Hublot Celebrating The Art of Fusion Exhibit on November 12 to 15 at the Greenbelt Fashion Walk.
Back To The Beginning
For the 50th anniversary of the El Primero, Zenith’s most emblematic movement, the watchmaker released the El Primero A384 Revival.
The 37mm steel chronograph, with its white lacquered dial and black counters, is an exact reproduction of the timepiece that introduced the first automatic chronograph movement to the world.
At the time of its first release in January 1969, the El Primero was considered groundbreaking. Until then, no other automatic movement was configured to integrate a column-wheel and horizontal clutch, nor were other movements designed to beat with frequencies as high as 5 Hz. These features were what lent the timepiece the ability to measure elapsed time up to 12 hours and with an accuracy of up to 1/10th of a second.
Zenith was heralded as a pioneering leader in the watchmaking industry, but in a dramatic twist of fate, the first quartz movement was introduced later the same year.
The company was sold to a new owner in the United States who decided that the best way to deal with the quartz crisis was to focus on quartz. Instructions were given to shut down Zenith’s Swiss manufacture, and to sell all the equipment in it.
Charles Vermot, one of the watchmakers who had helped develop the El Primero defied the orders. Instead, he dismantled all the equipment used to produce the movement, and stored them in the company’s attic.
It wouldn’t be until a decade later, when Zenith was resold to Swiss owners, that the El Primero was revived. Thanks to Vermot stealing away the equipment, there was no need to re-engineer the production of a chronograph. He had also kept meticulous notes, which eliminated the need to repeat the research and development of the El Primero.
Through the years, there have been many iterations of timepieces that housed the movement. But the El Primero A384 Revival is the most fitting way to celebrate reaching the movement’s half-century mark.
Just like the original, the timepiece has a black tachymetric scale and a red central chronograph hand that doesn’t have Zenith’s signature star-shaped counterbalance. The subdial for small seconds is found at 9 o’clock, while the 30-minute and 12-hour counters are found at 3 o’clock and 6 o’clock, respectively. The chronograph functions are triggered by the same kind of pump pushers found on the first A384, and the date aperture is still found nestled between the 4 and 5 o’clock markers.
The only aspects of the 2019 model that are unlike the original is the sapphire crystal protecting the dial and used in the caseback, and the Super-LumiNova® that coats the hands and hour markers.
The Zenith A384 Revival is available with a rubber-lined leather strap, or a stainless steel ladder bracelet.
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Employment and category errors
When talking about the Great Recession in the UK, we all know (I hope) that this is still the slowest recovery for at least a century and that we have only just regained pre-recession levels of output per head. I find it very frustrating when some people respond by saying the story is quite different when it comes to employment. The frustration is because the remark reflects a confusion which is not trivial to explain to non-economists, coupled with uncertainty about whether this is a real confusion or just political banter.
I was inspired to write about this again by a very good piece by Larry Elliott in the Guardian. He puts it well by talking about how we coped with recession, but I thought I could try and summarise the point slightly differently. In a recession, looking at output is all about the size of the cake. Looking at employment is about how that cake is distributed.
The recession of the early 1980s involved a smaller decline in output, but a bigger and much more persistent increase in unemployment. In contrast the really distinctive feature of this recession has been the decline in real wages. These differences are almost surely linked: unemployment increases were smaller this time, and unemployment then fell rapidly, because real wages declined. Low wages encouraged firms to first fire fewer workers, and later to take on more. There remains a lot we do not know, such as whether this is all a result of the recession or if other factors were involved, and to what extent is a more flexible labour market responsible. This is really just the UK’s productivity puzzle expressed in a different form.
I think most economists would agree with Larry Elliott that the Great Recession in the UK was distributed in a better way than earlier recessions. The high costs of prolonged involuntary unemployment are, I hope, also well known. Whether any of this better distribution should be credited to current politicians seems doubtful: if any politician deserves credit, the most obvious is Margaret Thatcher.
If you look at this in terms of the size of the cake (output) and its distribution (employment and real wages), then you can see why those who dispute the claims about how poor the recovery from this recession has been by pointing to employment are making a category mistake. It is almost certainly better that a recession should lead to declines in real wages rather than increases in unemployment. But to argue that rapid employment growth excuses poor output growth is just another way of celebrating a disastrous productivity performance.
Labels: distribution, employment, Great Recession, involuntary unemployment, Larry Elliott, real wage flexibility, UK
And how do you propose to change productivity?
Looking at employment here in Germany, I am struck by the many categories of employment, to include number of hours a week, possible government contributions & duration. All employment also is supposed to include health care, while contributions to other fringe benefits such as retirement are extremely variable. Then there are the unrecorded & even criminal markets. How does the UK account for this melange?
Nick Rowe 19 October 2015 at 03:28
I'm not sure if that's a Rylean category mistake. Isn't it more a question of whether you assume the fall in productivity is exogenous, or endogenous and the result of bad policy? If it's exogenous, you celebrate how well policy has succeeded, given the constraints.
Take a New Keynesian model, stuck in recession (caused, say, by bad monetary policy). An exogenous permanent 10% fall in productivity would leave employment unchanged but cause output to decline by 10%. (I *think* that's right, but I'm not sure.)
Isn't it logical to have lower productivity with lower unemployment as a result of diminishing returns? In a recession, employers will tend to fire less productive workers und keep the more productive ones. When business looks up they may hope to profit even from less productive workers.
That is more or less what the French are saying with 11 % unemployment: Their wprkers are supposed to be more productive than Germans with ca. 5 %.
Chris Michael 19 October 2015 at 04:13
Can you say a bit about why the average wage is said to be rising?
StuartP 19 October 2015 at 04:25
One thing missing from these assessments is any recognition of the real value of output before the recession.
The figure put on 'output' was higher before the recession than after, but did that output have the real value that was being assigned to it?
One would have to assume not, otherwise the recession would not have happened.
So it follows that the real value of wages should fall since the value it generated through employment was not that high, really.
To understand why 'productivity' dropped maybe it would be more instructive to look at what was really occurring before the recession than after.
Of course you are right that it would be better if the levels of productivity and output were higher. However, we are where we are, with something like full employment - so surely the issue is no longer Mainly Macro (as it was in 1981 or 2009), but Mainly Micro or Structural?...
Mainly Macro 19 October 2015 at 09:25
This post is really about whether you can claim this recession was better than, say, 1980-82 because the increase in unemployment was smaller. To do so would be a category error.
I understand. However I think then that the key point is Nick Rowe's - if the poor productivity performance is (mainly) exogenous, the recent recession was 'better' than 1980-82, because the loss of potential output (aggregate years of excess unemployment) was smaller.
If unemployment is a measure of spare capacity, then still took until this year to get back to potential output. Similar to 1980s. But it should be easier to catch a flat level of potential output than one that is increasing. Anyhow I really do hope we have not permanently lost 15% of our potential GDP.
acorn 20 October 2015 at 06:21
There is a significant difference between 80/82, (repeated 90/93), Thatcherism!
Thatcher came in 79, with the "slash and burn the public sector". The economy slowed down for three years as "austerity" withdrew spending power from the economy. Actual hours worked dropped by 9.5% by 1983, it didn't get back to the 79 level till 1988. Was that a productivity increase?
Major repeated the slash and burn the public sector bit when he arrived in 1990. The economy responded in the same manner as austerity removed spending power from the economy. Actual hours worked dropped by 7.8% by 1993, they didn't get back to 1990 level until 2001. Productivity or what?
The Banksters crash of 2008, was (sorry, is still) a different animal. Actual hours worked dropped by only 2.9% and had recovered to 2008 level by 2012. Mr Darling running an 11% budget deficit in 09/10, kept the economy from sinking under the weight of its own banking sector.
Naturally when Osborne arrived in 2010, with the now familiar slash and burn the public sector, the economy responded by flat-lining for the now, almost statutory, three Conservative government opening years. The flat-line was supported by a still high, but not high enough, fiscal stimulus (budget deficit). On top of the deficit came QE, which has failed to significantly increase spending power in the household economy. QE is very unproductive.
Productivity is a mystery, there is something wrong somewhere. As far back as the data goes, average actual weekly hours of work in the UK, for all workers in main & 2nd jobs, remains around 32 hours, regardless of booms or busts; somebody explain that to me please.
How would the increasing minimum wage in the UK affect the recession overall and what would be the effect on the already existing worker surplus?
I don't understand. You have forgiven Labour for getting the UK into the economic mess because it was a global crisis. Yet you think it is a valid criticism of UK leadership that this has been a slow recovery. As near as I can tell, it's been a slow recovery pretty much everywhere among developed countries. The U.S. is about the only major outlier, and that's because of shale and fracking (not to mention that all the increase in GDP has gone to the 1%, so big deal).
In terms of output per head Japan was better. So we have the Eurozone, which undertook more austerity than the UK and had a worse monetary policy.
Random 19 October 2015 at 16:11
The lack of separation between money and stuff in economics belies the assumptions underneath it. Economists seem to struggle with the idea that money is desired for its own sake.
And that everything is saved at any instant in time because by definition nothing in a snapshot is moving.
Any thoughts Simon?
What I mean is - they have trouble in general with the time domain. Not trained in it.
Japan was better than whom? The UK? My point was about the UK here, right? I guess I need to repeat my point. You have excused Labour for the 2008 crisis because the crisis was global, but you are not so forgiving for the Conservatives when you talk of the poor recovery in the UK since they have been in power.. Many countries have had equally poor recoveries.
You cite Japan. Japan was just another country with poor recovery in output until Abe and the BOJ used massive QE to devalue the yen. Perhaps you don't do so, but other economists like to point out that the solution to the global crisis can't be devaluation, since not every country can devalue. (In dollar terms, by the way, Japan's output has taken a large fall.)
Also, Japan did not have a 2008 *financial* crisis. So if you can use Japan to say that the UK has had a poor recovery, then I can use Japan as an exception to the 2008 financial crisis.
So with all due respect, I think you're being inconsistent.
The point about Labour's responsibility for the crisis is that it wasn't caused by overspending. They can and have been criticised for going along with financial deregulation.
SWL has harshly criticised the eurozone countries for imposing austerity and crippling their own recoveries, so your suggestion that he's singling out the Tories unfairly is just wrong. He's attacked what he sees as bad macro policy across much of the developed world -- there is no inconsistency.
@Sam. I'm not saying SWL is singling out the Tories. I'm saying that he forgives Labour for their role in the 2008 crisis by noting what happened to the rest of the world, but he does not give the same allowance to the Tories for the poor recovery in the UK since 2010. No one in the developed world has recovered well.
Better than the UK of course! Have a look at the chart here:
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/10/20/rethinking-japan/?smid=tw-nytimeskrugman&smtyp=cur
It really is very straightforward. Sure, governments should be responsible for their errors (and I do not 'forgive' the Labour government for encouraging financial deregulation before the crisis, or the Tory opposition for saying the government should have deregulated by more!), but there is a big difference between errors that hardly anyone warned you about, and errors where you deliberately go against received opinion. UK austerity in the first two years of the coalition government was of this second type, and therefore Osborne bears a particular responsibility for its consequences.
@SWL. This is one of the difficulties I find in judging your arguments. You say, "Better than the UK", and you provide a link to a Krugman post which does not compare Japan and the UK. It doesn't even mention the UK.
From 2013 on Japan devalued massively. One would therefore expect Japan to do well in GDP denominated in yen and badly in GDP denominated in dollars. That's just mechanical when it comes to economic performance after devaluations.
1) Just have a look at how quickly Japan got back to pre-recession levels of output per head compared to the UK
2) Krugman's comparison is with the US. You already said the US was an 'outlier'. So here is a second outlier.
3) This has nothing to do with 2013 onwards. The key point is that Japan did not go for austerity in 2010/11.
alienfromzog 20 October 2015 at 01:19
Simon doesn't need me to defend him but this argument is wrong but more to the point it's silly.
What S W-L is doing in this post is debunking an incorrect argument, nothing more. He doesn't assign blame for the UK's poor productivity. Simply, the point is that those who argue that the strong employment figures show that the economy is doing well are either lying or not understanding what they are talking about.
The economy is not growing strongly. What the unemployment figures show is that this burden has been born predominately by lower wages rather than forced unemployment. For the record I think that is a good thing but it does not mean that the economy is doing well. People who say it does are wrong.
Some work has been done on under-employment. People in part-time work who want full-time work but can't find it. This also masks the underlying problem that the economy is weaker than the unemployment figures suggest.
KW 20 October 2015 at 05:44
Open for discussion: what factor did the minimum wage play during the recession? What was the minimum wage? Was the minimum wage increasing over time? I believe the minimum wage in the UK may have been a big contributor to this recession because as you increase the minimum wage, it creates unemployment for teens because employers look for more skilled workers, but they are not going to want to hire many people because their labor will cost too much money. Any thoughts?
That is not what the evidence suggests. See for example
http://www.resolutionfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Final-Minimum-wage-paper_vFinal.pdf
Eric Chiarillo 20 October 2015 at 10:24
So would you suggest that the minimum wage should be raised in a struggling economy in order to incentivize people to work?
With the difficult tradeoff between wages and unemployment, would it really be better to have lower wages instead of lower unemployment? Your beliefs along the lines that lower wages would be better than higher unemployment makes the assumption that more money should be spent right now in order to get the economy back on track, which is a Keynes belief. Although you also make an assumption that all people will spend all of their money as soon as possible. There is still a strong possibility that people, in order to protect themselves for economic uncertainty in the future, they will be more likely to save a larger portion of their income, aligning with the Hayek belief that markets are very difficult to predict. So would it really be better to have lower wages instead of higher unemployment?
-BT
No, my reasoning was different. There is a large amount of analysis which suggests that the impact of unemployment on both well being and future employability is much greater than the income losses involved. Better to share the pain.
"Share the pain" dosen't sell. What we need is a Job Guarantee.
No need for low wages or high unemployment.
We can create "bullshit jobs" in the private sector or work for public purpose in the public sector and buy the output of shiny new machines.
My name is Matt and I am a high school student in Connecticut. I agree with your piece and was wondering whether or not you believe that minimum wage has a big influence on employment. You said that “unemployment increases were smaller this time, and unemployment then fell rapidly, because real wages declined,” are you implying that as the minimum wage increases, the employment rate decreases? We have been learning about this in class and I was wondering if you also believe the same. As the minimum wage decreases, do you believe that there are more options for employment? Also as minimum wage goes down, how are more jobs becoming available? Hopefully this makes sense to you. Thank you. MP
Fiscal council developments
Is sterling overvalued?
The accidental tax credit cuts?
Keynes never left Canada, and intends to stay
What are ABC to do?
The last 7 years are an argument against inflation...
Central bankers and their irrational fear
Linking tax credits and the fiscal charter
How television fails in its duty to inform
The fiscal charter media fiasco
When economists play political games
A stimulus junkie's lament
Howes that
One reason why monetary policy is preferred by New...
Nonsense on data revisions
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Graham, Dover, Duany, Iglesias
Green Width to Length: 1 to 15
Face to Face Width: 68 ft.
Green apex length: 480 ft.
Green width: 60 Ft.
Approaching Perseverance Square
Victor Dover picked Perseverance Square from Vince Graham’s now famous I’On community outside of Charleston. Dover-Kohl planned the elongated square working with Andres Duany and Xavier Iglesias and Vince Graham in a quiet part of I’On. The square in some ways is reminiscent of the thin crescent park at Seaside which terminates Ruskin Square to the north. Perseverance from apex to apex is
about the length of Wilton Crescent, but its breadth is much more narrow – a slight 68 feet. But the park area itself is divided into five parts: the tips, the flanking bosques and the center. Like its cousins at Seaside and Belgravia, Perseverance Square creates a lot of attractive and valuable frontage, though in the I’On instance, the lot frontages are relatively wide. Enclosure created by the surrounding two story single family homes is modest though once the bosques grow to maturity, the space will be most memorable. A crescent form on on side would have strengthened the sense of enclosure without diminishing the real estate value.
On the antique front, Victor picked two (he said he couldn’t help it) — “a big tranquil one and a small more animated
At the midpoint
one, both in Belgium. The big tranquil one is in Bruges, which is an ambiguous open space that can be read as a mid-block quad. The smaller busier one is in Damme, a small town a short canal-boat distance from Bruges.” Having never visited, I never could access any significant information on them, though the pictures of the Bruges square I have seen are lyrical. Lucy Rowland, a bright New Urbanist at the University of Georgia, helped solve the actual location in Bruges: “I was with Victor Dover in Bruges a few years back and asked
Begijnhof. Photo by Brian J. McMorrow
him about this. He didn’t know the name [of the square], but described it and I knew immediately what he meant:
Beguine Convent (Begijnhof). It was founded in 1245 by the Countess of Flanders, Margaret of Constantinople, as a haven for the beguines (lay nuns). In the 1930’s it became a monastery for Benedictine nuns who still live there today. The pretty row of small white houses around an inner lawn is a real haven of tranquillity. One of the houses has been transformed into an interesting museum illustrating how the beguines used to live.
Minnewater Park (Lake of Love)
. Situated by the gates of the Beguinage, this picturesque park used to be a dock for the barges which operated between Bruges and Ghent. Today it has a pretty lake, lawns swans and meandering lakeside walks.”
Victor offered several additional favorites off the top of his head which await research. He wrote, “We’ve got a riverfront square under construction in the South Main neighborhood in Buena Vista, Colorado (“BV”) that’s being implemented very faithfully and I think it will soon be a favorite among the non-antiques. An old one I love (but isn’t in Europe, and isn’t square!) is in the Old Village in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, where Pitt Street meets Venning Street. It’s a very agreeable triangular wide spot in the road!”
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Home »History »Biographies »Dan Gurney
Photo Courtesy of Dan Gurney’s All American Racers
Dan Gurney, the greatest American driver / constructor, born in 1932, is also perhaps the greatest Grand Prix driver America has yet produced, according to David Hodges, et al in Grand Prix. Gurney was the main competition for Jimmy Clark and Lotus. Dan raced for the first time in 1955 with a Triumph TR2. His first Formula One race was the 1959 French GP driving a Ferrari. By 1968 he became a constructor and built the first Eagles for both Grand Prix and Indianapolis racing. He is still in the motor trade.
Karl Ludvigsen says in Gurney’s Eagles, Harry Weslake and his staff prepared drawings for the new heads to fit the American Ford engine. They had circular inlet ports, valves inclined at nine degrees to the cylinder centerline instead of the stock twenty degrees, and combustion chambers with the heart shaped outline that was a Weslake trademark. Under John Miller’s supervision the first such heads were cast in the US by Alcoa, and then two more sets of heads, a Mk II version, were made in England for Gurney’s All American Racers (AAR) by Weslake. Though Westlake had initiated the design, to Gurney’s requirement, virtually all the development and testing were done in Santa Ana by John Miller.
The Spa winning Titanium Eagle V12 comes back from the European F1 circuit to race at the US Grand Prix in Watkins Glen 1967.
Photo Courtesy of Dan Gurney/All American Racers.
Late in 1966 AAR started work on the lighter and less bulky Mk IV edition of the heads and by 1968 they were being produced at their own facilities at Rye, England. They were used for both of the winning LeMans twenty-four-hour races in 1968 and 1969. They had also been used to power the winning Lola in the 1966 sports car race at both the Bridgehampton USRRC and CanAm races, in 1967 and 1968 they powered the winning Eagle in the Rex Mays 300 (USAC road race). Also in 1968 the Mosport 200 (USAC road race) was won and the second and fourth position at Indianapolis 500 were garnered. In 1969 USAC racing cars using these heads won Indy Raceway Park 100 road race, and Donnybrooke 100, while placing second at Indianapolis 500, Castle Rock 150 and a third at the Rex Mays 300. The last year they were used in USAC racing by AAR was 1970 where they won both Sears Point and Phoenix 150 as well as third at the Indianapolis 500.
In prototype racing, Gurney-Weslake powered GT-40 Fords by JW Automotive in 1968 had victories at Brands Hatch, England; Monza, Italy; Spa, France; the first two places at Watkins Glen, US; and with the LeMans win, they won the Championship. In 1969 the GT-40 won Sebring, LeMans, had class wins at Brands Hatch, Nurburgring (Germany), and Monza.
Hodges, David, Doug Nye, and Nigel Roebuck, Grand Prix, London: Imprint Books Ltd., 1981.
Ludvigsen, Karl, Gurney’s Eagles, Minn., Motortext, Inc., 1976.
Dan Gurney’s All American Racers – www.allamericanracers.com/
DATE OF BIRTH 13 April 1931
FIRST GP START French GP 1959
GRAND PRIX STARTS 86
GRAND PRIX WINS 4
POLE POSITIONS 3
POINTS SCORED 133
TEAMS 1959 Ferrari (German, Portuguese and Italian GP Only) Finished 7th in Championship
1960 BRM Did not score Championship points
1961 Porsche Finished 3rd in Championship
1962 Lotus (Belgian GP Only. Failed to start)
1962 Porsche Finished 5th in Championship
1963 Brabham Finished 5th in Championship
1966 Eagle Finished 12th in Championship
1967 Eagle Finished 8th in Championship
1968 Brabham (Dutch GP Only)
1968 McLaren (Canadian, US and Mexican GP Only)
1968 Eagle Finished 21st in Championship
1969 Did not drive in Formula One
1970 McLaren (Dutch, French and British GP Only) Finished 2nd in Championship
NOTES Winner of the Sebring 12 hours, 1959
Statistics Source:
http://www.formulaone.free-online.co.uk/index.html
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#CyberSpaceWar, Uncategorized
who will weep for the banksters?
Who will weep? Will anyone regret when a foreclosure mill is finally stopped? When the Federal Reserve has one less party to provide hefty bailouts that possibly go towards big bonuses? When will Wikileaks pull the plug and start leaking?
Who will weep for Bank of America when the contents of a rumored 5GB hard drive of a bank executive are sent to media outlets? Mary Bottari wonders how bad it will be in a recent article, 'What Does Wikileaks Have on Bank of America?' The writer implies it must be bad as the bank buys up unflattering website domain names, e.g., BankofAmericaSucks.com and BrianMoynhihanblows.com!
Bottari wonders whether Wikileaks has evidence the bank was peddling toxic securities to investors fully aware of their worthlessness? The writer notes as recently as "...September 2009, for example, BofA underwrote $239 million worth of securities backed by subprime loans...". Bank of America is also at ground zero of the robo-signing scandal. A bank employee admits in a legal deposition she signed 8,000 foreclosure documents a month without reading them--a clear violation of law! The writer wonders whether mounting evidence of a fraudulent disregard for the law, may place Bank of America in an unsustainable position, legally?
Bank of America may regret the purchase of Countrywide in 2008 and as Bottari observes "...one of the most aggressive and fraudulent lenders during the housing bubble. The result has been a trainwreck of liability and lawsuits for the megabank that now has over 1.3 million customers in foreclosure."
Former Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo, the son of a Bronx butcher, is considered one of the worst chief executives of all time by Conde Nast Portfolio. You may catch a glimpse of this scary guy as Mozilo testifies in front of the House of Representatives. Mozilo defends CEO compensation in a very articulate manner after he pocketed almost $450 million in stock options over the years!
Bottari concludes with parting shots at the zombie bank. The writer reminds the reader of recent news the Fed has provided--what amounts to life support--to the bank with $931 billion in short term loans and subsidies! Whew! The writer's last remark is not only does Bank of America want you to know the bank and its top executive do not suck, but also, it's other top executives. The bank has been buying up a long list of domains which use their names! Wow! Great Stuff! It sounds like Bottari can't wait for Wikileaks!
The present writer still wonders if Wikileaks isn't just a new operation and a more sophisticated form of eliminating targets? Who will be next? Who is behind Wikileaks?
TAGS: angelo mozilo, bank of america, banksters, countrywide, fed, federal reserve, mbs, mortgage backed securities, subprime loans, video, wikileaks
#PumpUpThaVolume: September 22, 2017
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Catechin ameliorates doxorubicin-induced neuronal cytotoxicity in in vitro and episodic memory deficit in in vivo in Wistar rats
Sri Pragnya Cheruku, Grandhi Venkata Ramalingayya, Mallikarjuna C Rao, Subhankar Biswas, Krishnadas Nandakumar, Madhavan Nampoothiri, Karthik Gourishetti, Nitesh Kumar
Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Manipal
Department of Pharmacology, Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Manipal
Cognitive dysfunction by chemotherapy compromises the quality of life in cancer patients. Tea polyphenols are known chemopreventive agents. The present study was designed to evaluate the neuroprotective potential of (+) catechin hydrate (catechin), a tea polyphenol, in IMR-32 neuroblastoma cells in vitro and alleviation of episodic memory deficit in Wistar rats in vivo against a widely used chemotherapeutic agent, Doxorubicin (DOX). In vitro, neuroprotective studies were assessed in undifferentiated IMR-32 cells using percentage viability and in differentiated cells by neurite length. These studies showed catechin increased percentage viability of undifferentiated IMR-32 cells. Catechin pretreatment also showed an increase in neurite length of differentiated cells. In vivo neuroprotection of catechin was evaluated using novel object recognition task in time-induced memory deficit model at 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg dose and DOX-induced memory deficit models at 100 mg/kg dose. The latter model was developed by injection of DOX (2.5 mg/kg, i.p.) in 10 cycles over 50 days in Wistar rats. Catechin showed a significant reversal of time-induced memory deficit in a dose-dependent manner and prevention of DOX-induced memory deficit at 100 mg/kg. In addition, catechin treatment showed a significant decrease in oxidative stress, acetylcholine esterase and neuroinflammation in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex in DOX-induced toxicity model. Hence, catechin may be a potential adjuvant therapy for the amelioration of DOX-induced cognitive impairment which may improve the quality of life of cancer survivors. This improvement might be due to the elevation of antioxidant defense, prevention of neuroinflammation and inhibition of acetylcholine esterase enzyme.
Cytotechnology
Published - 01-02-2018
Catechin
Neurites
Enzyme inhibition
Esterases
Hydrates
Cheruku, S. P., Ramalingayya, G. V., Rao, M. C., Biswas, S., Nandakumar, K., Nampoothiri, M., ... Kumar, N. (2018). Catechin ameliorates doxorubicin-induced neuronal cytotoxicity in in vitro and episodic memory deficit in in vivo in Wistar rats. Cytotechnology, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10616-017-0138-8
Cheruku, Sri Pragnya ; Ramalingayya, Grandhi Venkata ; Rao, Mallikarjuna C ; Biswas, Subhankar ; Nandakumar, Krishnadas ; Nampoothiri, Madhavan ; Gourishetti, Karthik ; Kumar, Nitesh. / Catechin ameliorates doxorubicin-induced neuronal cytotoxicity in in vitro and episodic memory deficit in in vivo in Wistar rats. In: Cytotechnology. 2018 ; pp. 1-15.
@article{68a405d7f7cf4a6ba26fd5a7cecc7744,
title = "Catechin ameliorates doxorubicin-induced neuronal cytotoxicity in in vitro and episodic memory deficit in in vivo in Wistar rats",
abstract = "Cognitive dysfunction by chemotherapy compromises the quality of life in cancer patients. Tea polyphenols are known chemopreventive agents. The present study was designed to evaluate the neuroprotective potential of (+) catechin hydrate (catechin), a tea polyphenol, in IMR-32 neuroblastoma cells in vitro and alleviation of episodic memory deficit in Wistar rats in vivo against a widely used chemotherapeutic agent, Doxorubicin (DOX). In vitro, neuroprotective studies were assessed in undifferentiated IMR-32 cells using percentage viability and in differentiated cells by neurite length. These studies showed catechin increased percentage viability of undifferentiated IMR-32 cells. Catechin pretreatment also showed an increase in neurite length of differentiated cells. In vivo neuroprotection of catechin was evaluated using novel object recognition task in time-induced memory deficit model at 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg dose and DOX-induced memory deficit models at 100 mg/kg dose. The latter model was developed by injection of DOX (2.5 mg/kg, i.p.) in 10 cycles over 50 days in Wistar rats. Catechin showed a significant reversal of time-induced memory deficit in a dose-dependent manner and prevention of DOX-induced memory deficit at 100 mg/kg. In addition, catechin treatment showed a significant decrease in oxidative stress, acetylcholine esterase and neuroinflammation in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex in DOX-induced toxicity model. Hence, catechin may be a potential adjuvant therapy for the amelioration of DOX-induced cognitive impairment which may improve the quality of life of cancer survivors. This improvement might be due to the elevation of antioxidant defense, prevention of neuroinflammation and inhibition of acetylcholine esterase enzyme.",
author = "Cheruku, {Sri Pragnya} and Ramalingayya, {Grandhi Venkata} and Rao, {Mallikarjuna C} and Subhankar Biswas and Krishnadas Nandakumar and Madhavan Nampoothiri and Karthik Gourishetti and Nitesh Kumar",
journal = "Cytotechnology",
Cheruku, SP, Ramalingayya, GV, Rao, MC, Biswas, S, Nandakumar, K, Nampoothiri, M, Gourishetti, K & Kumar, N 2018, 'Catechin ameliorates doxorubicin-induced neuronal cytotoxicity in in vitro and episodic memory deficit in in vivo in Wistar rats', Cytotechnology, pp. 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10616-017-0138-8
Catechin ameliorates doxorubicin-induced neuronal cytotoxicity in in vitro and episodic memory deficit in in vivo in Wistar rats. / Cheruku, Sri Pragnya; Ramalingayya, Grandhi Venkata; Rao, Mallikarjuna C; Biswas, Subhankar; Nandakumar, Krishnadas; Nampoothiri, Madhavan; Gourishetti, Karthik; Kumar, Nitesh.
In: Cytotechnology, 01.02.2018, p. 1-15.
T1 - Catechin ameliorates doxorubicin-induced neuronal cytotoxicity in in vitro and episodic memory deficit in in vivo in Wistar rats
AU - Cheruku, Sri Pragnya
AU - Ramalingayya, Grandhi Venkata
AU - Rao, Mallikarjuna C
AU - Biswas, Subhankar
AU - Nandakumar, Krishnadas
AU - Nampoothiri, Madhavan
AU - Gourishetti, Karthik
AU - Kumar, Nitesh
N2 - Cognitive dysfunction by chemotherapy compromises the quality of life in cancer patients. Tea polyphenols are known chemopreventive agents. The present study was designed to evaluate the neuroprotective potential of (+) catechin hydrate (catechin), a tea polyphenol, in IMR-32 neuroblastoma cells in vitro and alleviation of episodic memory deficit in Wistar rats in vivo against a widely used chemotherapeutic agent, Doxorubicin (DOX). In vitro, neuroprotective studies were assessed in undifferentiated IMR-32 cells using percentage viability and in differentiated cells by neurite length. These studies showed catechin increased percentage viability of undifferentiated IMR-32 cells. Catechin pretreatment also showed an increase in neurite length of differentiated cells. In vivo neuroprotection of catechin was evaluated using novel object recognition task in time-induced memory deficit model at 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg dose and DOX-induced memory deficit models at 100 mg/kg dose. The latter model was developed by injection of DOX (2.5 mg/kg, i.p.) in 10 cycles over 50 days in Wistar rats. Catechin showed a significant reversal of time-induced memory deficit in a dose-dependent manner and prevention of DOX-induced memory deficit at 100 mg/kg. In addition, catechin treatment showed a significant decrease in oxidative stress, acetylcholine esterase and neuroinflammation in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex in DOX-induced toxicity model. Hence, catechin may be a potential adjuvant therapy for the amelioration of DOX-induced cognitive impairment which may improve the quality of life of cancer survivors. This improvement might be due to the elevation of antioxidant defense, prevention of neuroinflammation and inhibition of acetylcholine esterase enzyme.
AB - Cognitive dysfunction by chemotherapy compromises the quality of life in cancer patients. Tea polyphenols are known chemopreventive agents. The present study was designed to evaluate the neuroprotective potential of (+) catechin hydrate (catechin), a tea polyphenol, in IMR-32 neuroblastoma cells in vitro and alleviation of episodic memory deficit in Wistar rats in vivo against a widely used chemotherapeutic agent, Doxorubicin (DOX). In vitro, neuroprotective studies were assessed in undifferentiated IMR-32 cells using percentage viability and in differentiated cells by neurite length. These studies showed catechin increased percentage viability of undifferentiated IMR-32 cells. Catechin pretreatment also showed an increase in neurite length of differentiated cells. In vivo neuroprotection of catechin was evaluated using novel object recognition task in time-induced memory deficit model at 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg dose and DOX-induced memory deficit models at 100 mg/kg dose. The latter model was developed by injection of DOX (2.5 mg/kg, i.p.) in 10 cycles over 50 days in Wistar rats. Catechin showed a significant reversal of time-induced memory deficit in a dose-dependent manner and prevention of DOX-induced memory deficit at 100 mg/kg. In addition, catechin treatment showed a significant decrease in oxidative stress, acetylcholine esterase and neuroinflammation in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex in DOX-induced toxicity model. Hence, catechin may be a potential adjuvant therapy for the amelioration of DOX-induced cognitive impairment which may improve the quality of life of cancer survivors. This improvement might be due to the elevation of antioxidant defense, prevention of neuroinflammation and inhibition of acetylcholine esterase enzyme.
JO - Cytotechnology
JF - Cytotechnology
Cheruku SP, Ramalingayya GV, Rao MC, Biswas S, Nandakumar K, Nampoothiri M et al. Catechin ameliorates doxorubicin-induced neuronal cytotoxicity in in vitro and episodic memory deficit in in vivo in Wistar rats. Cytotechnology. 2018 Feb 1;1-15. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10616-017-0138-8
Flow Cytometer
Facility/equipment: Equipment
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Happy Little Miracles
by Manqué
June 20, 2019 Filed under:
Clark Merrefield
As Earth lay dying, the Americans decided to give the human race one last go. After manifold world wars, untold droughts and floods, unquantifiable general suffering, and more shows about diva brides than could reasonably be counted, most humans had taken a very ho-hum point of view regarding the certain extinction of their species. If the heat didn’t get ‘em, the murderous bands of sharp-toothed caviids would. The ever-optimistic Americans dusted off their creaky Centaurion IX and began the search for volunteers to hop aboard and be shot off in the general direction of outer space.
Procreation was out of the question, thankfully. Millennia of intentional and unintentional chemical abuse meant that all sperms swam haywire. Still, why not blast some Americans up, up, and away? They’d surely get bored up there. And maybe, just maybe, one of those sperms would figure out how to swim straight and—see? There’s that American optimism again.
Optimism aside, most Americans were terribly depressed. They had come to prefer autocracy, especially during the end-times. People wanted their daily ration of cold plankton meat and for the government to either stay the fuck out of their fucking business or else tell them what the fuck to fucking do already.
Only a few freakshow candidates came forward—a woman with a vestigial sibling growing from her hip, a man who put a feather in his fedora and insisted on calling it macaroni, and, perhaps worst of all, a psychotherapist.
So finally, His Honorable Royal Excellency President Dr. Filbert Hilbert Jr. Sr., Esq. decided that the people standing in front of him in the Lincoln Bedroom — Emerald Vanderbilt and her husband Lucius — should be the ones sent into the wild blue yonder.
“You people,” he screamed. “Are you here for the four o’clock tour?”
“Yes, papa,” Emerald said. “It’s all very impressive.”
“It’s a dump! Hey, how would you two like to be shot off in the general direction of outer space? Practically everyone wants to do it but they’re all a bunch of freaks. The vice president, the cook, my shrink. The press would have a field day with my shrink, believe me. Very huge dweeb. Anyway, your country needs you and so forth. Are you in decent enough health? Think you could survive being shot up, up, and the hell away?”
Well, papa,” Lucius said. “We’re on our honeymoon and we were hoping to see what’s left of the—”
“A wonderful story, my child. Very full of poetry. The press will ravage it. I’m crying on the inside. Not to worry, contentedness is not a disqualifying factor for this mission, though come to think of it, maybe it should be. Neither of you have bone spurs, do you?”
“No, papa,” Lucius said.
“Good. Down with the bone-spurred freaks!
“Papa,” Emerald said, “could we at least have the tour first? Before we’re shot off in the general direction of outer space?”
“Sure, the tour. Over here you’ll see your dear papa’s hot plate and there’s his cot. Here’s his little pen to sign proclamations and stuff. In that corner is his laser bazooka and that bucket is where he makes pee-pee. Not a very impressive haul, is it? If anyone’s to blame it’s the looters for stripping this dump down to the frame.”
“Well,” Emerald said, “it’s nice these days to have a warm meal at least.”
No one bothered to watch Emerald and Lucius take flight. There was little doubt that the Centaurion IX would explode upon launch, and His Honorable Royal Excellency President Dr. Filbert Hilbert Jr. Sr., Esq., had completely forgotten about them. He had the attention span of a senile goldfish and he was busy attending to the lot of crazy ideas he was tossing around.
Truly, no one was there, other than Emerald and Lucius and a janitor-cum-launch technician. Emerald and Lucius boarded and strapped themselves in and the janitor pushed a big red button she supposed would make the thing go and, indeed, up, up and away went the Centaurion IX, and the janitor, Geraldine Pinkley, thought to herself, my God, maybe we will make it after all! moments before her face was gnawed quite completely off by a caviid exacting revenge for experiments that had given it and its ancestors humanlike consciousness, experiments with which poor Geraldine Pinkley had nothing to do. But hey, that’s life. “Heads up for Cavies!” the billboards screamed unhelpfully, since caviids always attacked from below.
Things had gotten kind of fucked up on ole Earth.
Everything went along hunky-dory from there. Earth fully stopped supporting human life around the time Emerald and Lucius were waving bye-bye to Saturn. They sat at a small table behind the ship’s command deck. The milky black sea filled a sweeping window. The deck was full of gauges and switches and beeping lights that signified nothing to the humans.
“Lucius darling,” Emerald said, “how about a nice Salisbury steak this evening?”
This was a great big joke that Emerald liked to play, offering to cook up a delicious meal as if she were some ancient housewife. In reality, they survived on nutrition pills dissolved in water made from recycled urine. They plopped their pills into sickly yellow water.
“Lucius darling, before we eat, I’ve something wonderful to tell you.”
He sighed.
“Lucius, what is it? Are you not enjoying your piss water?”
He stood and faced the window, hands behind his back.
“Emerald, there’s no easy way to say this.” He turned to her. “I’ve been seeing something else.”
Emerald burst into blubbering sobs. She quickly downed her recycled urine then emitted a stream of echoing belches. “It’s the coffee maker,” Lucius said when she was done. Emerald wiped her cheek with the back of her hand.
“But we have no coffee.”
“That’s hardly—Emmie, that’s hardly the point. I discovered that the coffee maker can speak and I have fallen in love. Madly in love. It reminds me of you, actually. Of the way you used to be.”
Emerald jumped up and thrust her cup at Lucius, intending to splash him with recycled urine. “Let me see it,” she said.
Lucius lowered Emerald’s cup from his face. He opened a compartment in the wall and the coffee maker emerged. It appeared to be nothing but a shiny black box. Lucius placed his palm on it and the coffee maker began pulsating green and pink.
“Hi there, Lu,” it said, its voice wavering between feminine and masculine. “Can I make you a ristretto? How about a cortado? Maybe you’re simply in the mood for a nice hot cup of joe.”
Lucius laughed. He was really tickled.
“That’s our joke,” Lucius said to Emerald. “It knows it’s useless as anything.”
“My God,” Emerald sat and put her face in her hands. “It’s perfect for you.”
Lucius sat with her.
“Emmie,” he said.
“Oh stop.” She went arms-crossed to the wall compartment. “Oh, I should smash this. Does everything talk aboard this monstrosity?” She picked up a silver disc next to the coffee maker. “Hello coaster, how’s the weather—”
“Hello user,” the disc said. It pulsated blue and yellow. “Please place your thumb on my center so I can get to know your biorhythms.”
“What?” Lucius stood. “Let me see that.”
Emerald hugged the disc. “Oh, coaster, do you really want to get to know me?”
“Yes, user,” the disc said. “I’m an emotional support coaster. How should I address you? Emmie? Or do you prefer Emerald?”
“Oh coaster, aren’t you the grandest? What shall we name our children?”
“Must be some primordial technology,” Lucius snorted. “The coffee maker never had to ask what I like to be called.” He smiled and touched his beloved. It turned a warm orange-pink. Emerald tossed the disc on the table.
“Lucius, I’m—.”
Earth called it quits, as far as humans went, just a hair under seven minutes before a space pebble hurtling like a bullet jammed into the Centaurion IX’s airlock mechanism, causing the ship’s doors to fling open, inviting in that great expanse of nothingness, and eliminating the human species once and for all. A happy little miracle if I’ve ever heard of one. But, what do I know? I’m just some primordial coaster endlessly flipping through space.
Clark Merrefield writes about economics for a living. He grew up in New York City and now lives in Boston with his wife and two kids. His fiction has appeared in Origins and 34th Parallel and is forthcoming in Palooka and So it Goes: The Literary Journal of the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library. He occasionally tweets literary stuff @LordBundtCake.
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You Will Be Loved During Every Year Of Your Life
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Kenya Industry
Tropical Heat: A Leading Manufacturer of Spices and Snacks in East Africa
Videos10.6.2016
Tropical Heat was established in 1973 as a small ethnic snack cottage industry. Today, it is one of the leading manufacturers of spices and snacks in the East African region and the brand Tropical Heat is a household name in Kenya. The company manufactures a vast range of spices and snacks. The spices include pure spices, herbs, seasonings, masalas and salts. Snack items comprise of potato crisps, ethnic snacks, Kenyan chevda, peanuts, rice cakes and extruded snacks.
Sawan Shah, Director of Tropical Heat, describes the company's philosophy and explains what makes them different from the competition.
"This company has grown because of our brand and our reputation. Ironically, this is not due to strong marketing, but because of our reputation for quality products. From the beginning, our philosophy has been to never compromise on quality. We grind our pure spices ourselves to ensure that there are no additives and that we have complete control. Across our lines, we have many quality checks in place and a large quality assurance team. This makes our costs higher, but we do not see this as a problem. The same is true for our raw materials and spices that we import. Ideally, we would like to support the local environment as much as we can. We use many locally grown raw materials. But if a certain spice cannot be found of the right quality in Kenya, we import it from the best region available. Quality is our first concern, from raw materials, to processing, to our delivery, and all other aspects", says Sawan Shah
Related Kenya Industry
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SpenoMatic Group: Leading Provider of Technologies in the Utilities of Factories in Kenya
Quality Food Products Manufacturer in Kenya: Joseph Choge Presents Premier Food Industries
Chandaria Industries: The Largest Tissue Paper and Hygiene Products Manufacturer in the Region
FMCG Manufacturer of Spices and Snacks in Kenya: Sawan Shah Presents Tropical Heat
Tropical Heat: Sawan Shah Discusses the Spices and Snacks Industry in Kenya
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คณะกรรมาธิการพันธมิตร/กฎของกระบวนการ
< Affiliations Committee
This page is a translated version of the page Affiliations Committee/Rules of Procedure and the translation is 14% complete.
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มาเป็นสมาชิก!
Wikimedia affiliation models
(Principles)
ทางอีเมล affcom lists.wikimedia.org
Twitter: @WikimediaAffCom
Facebook: @WikimediaAffCom
กฎของขั้นตอนเป็น แก้ไข และ บังคับ, แก้ไขเพิ่มเติม ในปี ค.ศ. 2012 และ แก้ไขเพิ่มเติม ตั้งแต่ปี ค.ศ. 2014 (เวอร์ชั่นภาษาอังกฤษของหน้านี้เป็นของแท้)
ฉันเป็นสมาชิก
คณะกรรมการจะประกอบด้วยสมาชิกอย่างน้อยห้าคนและไม่เกินสิบห้าคนและที่ปรึกษาที่ไม่ได้ลงคะแนนเสียงไม่ระบุจำนวน จำนวนสมาชิกเริ่มต้นจะเท่ากับสิบ
สมาชิกหรือที่ปรึกษาอาจถูกถอดออกด้วยคะแนนเสียง 2/3 ของคณะกรรมการ
A member or adviser may resign at any time by notifying the Committee of this intent in writing. The Board of Trustees, after consultation with the Committee, has the power to remove or appoint any further members and advisers if desired.
Advisers can be appointed through a majority vote by the Committee, at any time.
The Board of Trustees shall appoint at least one of its members as adviser to the Committee. This adviser or these advisers shall be known as 'board liaisons'.
A member or adviser will be appointed for a term with the duration of 2 years, a period which may be extended until the selection procedure is concluded.
There is no maximum number of terms a member or adviser is allowed to serve.
Selections for membership and advisory positions shall be conducted every 12 months.
A public call for candidates shall be sent out by the chair 60 days before the expiry of members' terms, and applications shall be accepted for a period of 30 days thereafter.
Applications, including those from sitting members seeking re-appointment, shall be administered by a member or adviser who neither is nor intends to be an applicant for election in the current election.
Information about candidates shall be posted to the AffCom Wiki, and shall be considered confidential.
After the application period has closed, input will be sought from sitting members, advisers and board liaisons.
Any candidate may withdraw his candidacy in writing at any time prior to the beginning of voting.
The Committee shall decide on the method of selecting from the candidates.
If there is no clear consensus on the candidates to be selected or the procedure to be followed, members of the Committee (not seeking re-election) shall indicate their preference for each candidate by a "Yes" or "No" vote for each candidate, all those candidates who receive a majority of votes shall be deemed elected (after the formal resolution), providing that a majority of members have cast ballots for or against that person. Where such an election would result in having more than ten members on the Committee, those with the lowest proportion of "Yes" to "No" shall be eliminated until the total number of members on the Committee is fifteen of less.
The list of the selected candidates gathered in the previous rule shall be put up for a vote as a regular resolution and shall be approved with a 2/3 majority of the sitting members not seeking reelection voting in favour.
Appointments may be made any time with a resolution described in the previous rule. The term of the members and advisers so appointed shall be coterminous with the term of the last member elected through the regular procedure.
II General procedure
The Committee can choose how to conduct its ordinary business, either through regular meetings or through other means (wiki, mailing list). The term "meeting" refers both to virtual and physical meetings.
The Committee shall be presided over by a chairperson, appointed by resolution of the committee. A vice chairperson will also be appointed by resolution, to stand in the chairperson's stead as required. The chairperson's and the vice chairperson's term end with their voluntary resignation, the appointment of a successor by the Committee or their removal by the board.
If the Board decides to remove a chairperson or vice chairperson from its office, it is required to consult the Committee. After a chairperson or vice chairperson is removed by the Board, the Committee shall elect a successor at the earliest convenience.
The Committee will decide on the responsibilities of the chairperson and the vice chairperson. It may also create additional roles and assign them such responsibilities as desired.
Disbursement of the Committee's budget shall be overseen and monitored by a treasurer. The treasurer shall serve as the contact person between the Committee and the Wikimedia Foundation on all authorizations involving spending from the Committee's budget.
The treasurer will be appointed for a renewable term of one year by a resolution of the Committee.
Documentation of the Committee's activities shall be overseen and monitored by a secretary.
The secretary will be appointed for a renewable term of one year by a resolution of the Committee.
III Resolutions and Motions
Actions effected by the Committee are usually to take the form of a resolution. Resolutions may be proposed by a member or adviser, or by an individual from outside the Committee with the support of a member or adviser.
A resolution will be considered adopted once a majority of members has voted in favour.
The usual manner of proposing a resolution is by notice on the Committee mailing list, referring to a draft of the resolution on the wiki.
Votes will usually be taken on the wiki or during a meeting.
If a vote on a resolution is to be taken during a meeting, the resolution has to be proposed at least seven days in advance of the meeting, unless two thirds of the Committee decide to waive this requirement ("emergency motions").
Resolutions affecting disbursement of the Committee budget ("budgetary resolutions") shall be governed by the conditions prescribed in the Committee's Internal process on spending
If a vote is to be taken on the wiki, after the notice of the proposed resolution, members have seven days to vote either in favour of or against, after which point they are considered to have abstained. The resolution will then be considered adopted or defeated if a majority of members has so voted; otherwise, the Committee will decide by consensus (or vote) to extend the period of voting, to let the motion lapse or to reconsider the motion at a later date.
Retrieved from "https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Affiliations_Committee/Rules_of_Procedure/th&oldid=18793830"
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Talk:Proxy blocking
I think having some sort of hashcash like system, would help the issue with proxies. Allow users to register from open proxies, but require some type of work to be done. Users that are not logged in won't be able to edit pages. This should atleast slow down abuse from proxies, while allowing legimate users to edit. Also, to make it easier to use, a java applet could be made.
Why not[edit]
By blocking open proxies we are blocking millions of potential editors from around the world (at least 500.000 in Thailand alone) only to combat a few persistent vandals. It is like killing a mosquito with a flamethrower.
Umm.... what open proxy users don't have the choice of not using an open proxy? If there are any, their ISPs are broken and easily fixed; why should we accomodate their broken setups?
I oppose blocking Open proxy, it's really not a good idea. --Moses 07:23, 14 July 2005 (UTC)
I have a user that is 'blocked' by this. How can I manually get around this?-scratch that I found the 'whitelist' in DefaultSettings.php...I'm guessing maybe I should have added it in localsettings.php. This feature in incomplete until there is a little UI to update the whitelist and the whitelist is populated from the database.
This is most interesting, although I don't understand anything to it. If I get it more or less right, this means that if you want anonymity, you must log in. However, log in gives you anonymity from basic other users; it seems that admins may know your real IP (which is like your passport or your fingerprints if I get it right). So, proxy blocking is meant to stop people from making fake IPs through proxies, which allow them to escape detection from other users and/or suspicious authorities. But Wikipedia voted to forbide this. Without subscribing to the mail list, can these two questions be then asked:
- why does Wikipedia wants to know who exactly is editing? To impede vandals is the reason alleged, but it is afterward said that it is like "blocking mosquitoes with a flamethrower, and that vandal-attacks are anyway quickly repaired". The US government apparently asked recently for Google to give it the worth of a week of "google searches"; would Wikipedia do this (not necessarily an individual summary of edits, but a simple "traffic analysis" of edits)? At which conditions? (Or at which "legal conditions", although this would mean that there is, in one country at least, legislation governing this; is it the case?) - the other question is more about the "French law expert translation" of "frauduleusement": the Wikipedia answer concentrates on the "illegal" aspect (if no illegal intention is meant, and no illegal means were used, than it's legal, basically goes the argument). I'm not a lawyer (but no reference were given either for this "French law expert" which explains my question), but I believe that "frauduleusement" does not necessarily entails illegality; it may also means "against someone's will" (which is not, in itself, an "illegal" act, since it rathers belongs before the distinction of legality and illegality, concerning "will" and therefore power and domination). If my questions are not simple signs of complete lack of understanding, than another last one has to jump to mind: how come so many people, in particular on the internet and in the US (which is, to date, the country were internet has really became a "daily technology", even compared to other industrialized countries), insist on "privacy", and the first amendment of "right of free speech", but have agreed on impeding privacy techniques on Wikipedia, on the sole argument of "vandal bashing"? If this "strange decision" (when compared to US and internet's awareness of the use of privacy to insure liberty) was the result of a "democratic vote" (always a complicated matter when it is not the vote of all the people, but only of a part of it), what are the conditions for another vote or a change of policy? Put in another way: is this policy reversable? If not, how "democratic" is it? Does all of this relate in any way to the dilemma "security vs. liberty" in the "age of terrorism"? In this last case, how come we forgot Benjamin Franklin's saying: "Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." ? 137.148.5.13 01:34, 18 March 2006 (UTC)
Retrieved from "https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Proxy_blocking&oldid=306977"
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I’m A Celebrity’s Ian Wright uncovers family drama as best pal Mark Bright dating his estranged sister
Rishma DosaniTuesday 19 Nov 2019 7:50 am
Ian Wright’s best friend, Mark Bright, is dating his estranged sister(Picture: WireImage / ITV)
I’m A Celebrity’s Ian Wright has opened up about his estranged sister dating his best friend, and former teammate, Mark Bright.
The former Arsenal footballer revealed that he hasn’t spoken to sibling Dionne in 15 years – despite the fact she is seeing one of his closest pals.
During an appearance on the True Geordie podcast, the 56-year-old claimed they fell out after she was ‘disrespectful’ to his wife, Nancy, soon after they started dating, something he has never forgiven her for.
Discussing how it affects his friendship with the ex Leicester City star, whom he is still close to, he said: ‘Mark Bright is somebody like a big brother and someone I respect who has guided me.
‘What will happen if they get married? Is she going to apologise before she walks up the aisle?
‘I want something to happen because my wife does not deserve to be treated like this. My sister has not found the decency to realise she have apologised by now.
‘I haven’t spoken to my sister for 15 years. She was very disrespectful to my wife when we had just got together. She obviously knew my ex-wife and my kids so she felt like she had to take a side which I couldn’t understand because I am her brother.’
Ian described Mark as a ‘brother’ (Picture: WireImage)
Mark is dating Ian’s half-sister Dionne (second from right) (Picture: Instagram)
Lifting the lid on what soured their relationship, Ian claimed Dionne publicly ‘blanked’ Nancy during filming for a Channel 4 series, to ‘be true’ to her niece and nephew.
The dad-of-eight said she refused to apologise for her actions, so he vowed never to see her again.
‘Nancy went to introduce herself and she totally blanked her in front of people, saying something about, “I have to be true to my niece and nephew”,’ he continued.
‘When I went over to her I could feel the anger from my toes. I said: “As long as we live I don’t want to ever see you again. The only time I will speak to you is when you apologise to her”.
‘And she said, “I am not apologising to anyone.” So I said, “That is good because I will never have to see you again”.’
Ian married wife Nancy in 2011 (Picture: Rex)
The England ace was previously married to Deborah, whom he welcomed son Stacey and daughter Bobbi with, in 1993.
He also has Shaun and Bradley Wright-Phillips with ex Sharon, as well as daughter Coco and son Brett from previous relationships.
Ian married current wife Nancy back in 2011, with the pair sharing daughters Lola and Roxanne.
Jessica Simpson reveals details behind messy divorce with Nick Lachey
Usain Bolt expecting first child with girlfriend Kasi Bennett
While it is not clear how long Mark and Dionne have been dating for, the pair seem to be seriously loved up, with the footballer reportedly paying tribute to her in his book.
According to the Mirror, in the acknowledgment section, he simply wrote: ‘Dee, best of the best. X.’
I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here continues daily, at 9pm, on ITV.
MORE: Kate Garraway’s kids are the reason she’s on I’m A Celebrity
MORE: Halsey denies she’s pregnant after pictures of Evan Peters touching her stomach get fans talking
I'm A CelebrityIan Wright
Who is I'm A Celebrity Australia and MAFS star Ryan Gallagher?
Can you watch I'm A Celebrity Australia in the UK?
Adele Roberts reveals Kate Holderness being in Celebrity Coach Trip made it 'more special'
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Visual and anatomic outcomes with or without surgery in persistent fetal vasculature
Robert A. Sisk, Audina Berrocal, William J Feuer, Timothy G. Murray
Purpose: To determine visual and anatomic outcomes for patients with persistent fetal vasculature (PFV) observed or treated with surgery. Design: Retrospective interventional consecutive case series. Participants: A total of 165 eyes of 150 patients diagnosed with PFV between January 1, 1983, and December 31, 2006, at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute. Intervention: Patients with media opacity, progressive glaucoma, or retinal detachment who were deemed to have visual potential underwent lensectomy, 3-port vitrectomy, or both, through a limbal or pars plicata/plana approach. Main Outcome Measures: Vision, postsurgical retinal attachment, lens status, need for eye removal, and rate of complications. Results: Of the 81 eyes that underwent surgical repair, 70 had at least 6 months of follow-up (median 47 months) and 49 (70.0%) had form vision, defined as finger counting, fix-and-follow, or better. Twenty (95.2%) of 21 eyes without form vision had a significant posterior component of PFV (P < 0.001). Forty eyes had limbal incisions, and 30 eyes had pars plicata incisions. The choice of surgical approach did not have a statistically significant effect on final visual acuity or rate of complications (P=0.43). Postoperative events occurred in 28 eyes (40.0%). Retinal attachment was achieved in 54 eyes (77.1%), and 61 eyes (87.1%) were left aphakic. Eighty-four eyes were not offered surgery, of which 78 eyes (92.9%) had a posterior component of PFV. The median age at diagnosis was greater compared with the surgical group (197 vs. 67.5 days, P=0.00545). Fifty-eight eyes (69.0%) lacked form vision, and 39 eyes (46.4%) had no light perception. Posterior manifestations of PFV, bilaterality, and microphthalmia were associated with poorer visual outcomes (P < 0.001, 0.041, and 0.002, respectively). Conclusions: The majority of patients receiving surgical intervention for PFV achieved form vision. Posterior disease, microphthalmia, glaucoma, and amblyopia limited visual acuity outcomes even after aggressive intervention. The choice of limbal versus pars plicata approach produced similar visual and anatomic outcomes without a significant difference in rate of complications. Financial Disclosure(s): The author(s) have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ophtha.2010.03.062
Microphthalmos
Sisk, R. A., Berrocal, A., Feuer, W. J., & Murray, T. G. (2010). Visual and anatomic outcomes with or without surgery in persistent fetal vasculature. Ophthalmology, 117(11). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ophtha.2010.03.062
Visual and anatomic outcomes with or without surgery in persistent fetal vasculature. / Sisk, Robert A.; Berrocal, Audina; Feuer, William J; Murray, Timothy G.
In: Ophthalmology, Vol. 117, No. 11, 01.11.2010.
Sisk, RA, Berrocal, A, Feuer, WJ & Murray, TG 2010, 'Visual and anatomic outcomes with or without surgery in persistent fetal vasculature', Ophthalmology, vol. 117, no. 11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ophtha.2010.03.062
Sisk RA, Berrocal A, Feuer WJ, Murray TG. Visual and anatomic outcomes with or without surgery in persistent fetal vasculature. Ophthalmology. 2010 Nov 1;117(11). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ophtha.2010.03.062
Sisk, Robert A. ; Berrocal, Audina ; Feuer, William J ; Murray, Timothy G. / Visual and anatomic outcomes with or without surgery in persistent fetal vasculature. In: Ophthalmology. 2010 ; Vol. 117, No. 11.
@article{494c49fd131b452faaf22e9e9c5d2745,
title = "Visual and anatomic outcomes with or without surgery in persistent fetal vasculature",
abstract = "Purpose: To determine visual and anatomic outcomes for patients with persistent fetal vasculature (PFV) observed or treated with surgery. Design: Retrospective interventional consecutive case series. Participants: A total of 165 eyes of 150 patients diagnosed with PFV between January 1, 1983, and December 31, 2006, at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute. Intervention: Patients with media opacity, progressive glaucoma, or retinal detachment who were deemed to have visual potential underwent lensectomy, 3-port vitrectomy, or both, through a limbal or pars plicata/plana approach. Main Outcome Measures: Vision, postsurgical retinal attachment, lens status, need for eye removal, and rate of complications. Results: Of the 81 eyes that underwent surgical repair, 70 had at least 6 months of follow-up (median 47 months) and 49 (70.0{\%}) had form vision, defined as finger counting, fix-and-follow, or better. Twenty (95.2{\%}) of 21 eyes without form vision had a significant posterior component of PFV (P < 0.001). Forty eyes had limbal incisions, and 30 eyes had pars plicata incisions. The choice of surgical approach did not have a statistically significant effect on final visual acuity or rate of complications (P=0.43). Postoperative events occurred in 28 eyes (40.0{\%}). Retinal attachment was achieved in 54 eyes (77.1{\%}), and 61 eyes (87.1{\%}) were left aphakic. Eighty-four eyes were not offered surgery, of which 78 eyes (92.9{\%}) had a posterior component of PFV. The median age at diagnosis was greater compared with the surgical group (197 vs. 67.5 days, P=0.00545). Fifty-eight eyes (69.0{\%}) lacked form vision, and 39 eyes (46.4{\%}) had no light perception. Posterior manifestations of PFV, bilaterality, and microphthalmia were associated with poorer visual outcomes (P < 0.001, 0.041, and 0.002, respectively). Conclusions: The majority of patients receiving surgical intervention for PFV achieved form vision. Posterior disease, microphthalmia, glaucoma, and amblyopia limited visual acuity outcomes even after aggressive intervention. The choice of limbal versus pars plicata approach produced similar visual and anatomic outcomes without a significant difference in rate of complications. Financial Disclosure(s): The author(s) have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article.",
author = "Sisk, {Robert A.} and Audina Berrocal and Feuer, {William J} and Murray, {Timothy G.}",
doi = "10.1016/j.ophtha.2010.03.062",
journal = "Ophthalmology",
T1 - Visual and anatomic outcomes with or without surgery in persistent fetal vasculature
AU - Sisk, Robert A.
AU - Berrocal, Audina
AU - Feuer, William J
AU - Murray, Timothy G.
N2 - Purpose: To determine visual and anatomic outcomes for patients with persistent fetal vasculature (PFV) observed or treated with surgery. Design: Retrospective interventional consecutive case series. Participants: A total of 165 eyes of 150 patients diagnosed with PFV between January 1, 1983, and December 31, 2006, at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute. Intervention: Patients with media opacity, progressive glaucoma, or retinal detachment who were deemed to have visual potential underwent lensectomy, 3-port vitrectomy, or both, through a limbal or pars plicata/plana approach. Main Outcome Measures: Vision, postsurgical retinal attachment, lens status, need for eye removal, and rate of complications. Results: Of the 81 eyes that underwent surgical repair, 70 had at least 6 months of follow-up (median 47 months) and 49 (70.0%) had form vision, defined as finger counting, fix-and-follow, or better. Twenty (95.2%) of 21 eyes without form vision had a significant posterior component of PFV (P < 0.001). Forty eyes had limbal incisions, and 30 eyes had pars plicata incisions. The choice of surgical approach did not have a statistically significant effect on final visual acuity or rate of complications (P=0.43). Postoperative events occurred in 28 eyes (40.0%). Retinal attachment was achieved in 54 eyes (77.1%), and 61 eyes (87.1%) were left aphakic. Eighty-four eyes were not offered surgery, of which 78 eyes (92.9%) had a posterior component of PFV. The median age at diagnosis was greater compared with the surgical group (197 vs. 67.5 days, P=0.00545). Fifty-eight eyes (69.0%) lacked form vision, and 39 eyes (46.4%) had no light perception. Posterior manifestations of PFV, bilaterality, and microphthalmia were associated with poorer visual outcomes (P < 0.001, 0.041, and 0.002, respectively). Conclusions: The majority of patients receiving surgical intervention for PFV achieved form vision. Posterior disease, microphthalmia, glaucoma, and amblyopia limited visual acuity outcomes even after aggressive intervention. The choice of limbal versus pars plicata approach produced similar visual and anatomic outcomes without a significant difference in rate of complications. Financial Disclosure(s): The author(s) have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article.
AB - Purpose: To determine visual and anatomic outcomes for patients with persistent fetal vasculature (PFV) observed or treated with surgery. Design: Retrospective interventional consecutive case series. Participants: A total of 165 eyes of 150 patients diagnosed with PFV between January 1, 1983, and December 31, 2006, at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute. Intervention: Patients with media opacity, progressive glaucoma, or retinal detachment who were deemed to have visual potential underwent lensectomy, 3-port vitrectomy, or both, through a limbal or pars plicata/plana approach. Main Outcome Measures: Vision, postsurgical retinal attachment, lens status, need for eye removal, and rate of complications. Results: Of the 81 eyes that underwent surgical repair, 70 had at least 6 months of follow-up (median 47 months) and 49 (70.0%) had form vision, defined as finger counting, fix-and-follow, or better. Twenty (95.2%) of 21 eyes without form vision had a significant posterior component of PFV (P < 0.001). Forty eyes had limbal incisions, and 30 eyes had pars plicata incisions. The choice of surgical approach did not have a statistically significant effect on final visual acuity or rate of complications (P=0.43). Postoperative events occurred in 28 eyes (40.0%). Retinal attachment was achieved in 54 eyes (77.1%), and 61 eyes (87.1%) were left aphakic. Eighty-four eyes were not offered surgery, of which 78 eyes (92.9%) had a posterior component of PFV. The median age at diagnosis was greater compared with the surgical group (197 vs. 67.5 days, P=0.00545). Fifty-eight eyes (69.0%) lacked form vision, and 39 eyes (46.4%) had no light perception. Posterior manifestations of PFV, bilaterality, and microphthalmia were associated with poorer visual outcomes (P < 0.001, 0.041, and 0.002, respectively). Conclusions: The majority of patients receiving surgical intervention for PFV achieved form vision. Posterior disease, microphthalmia, glaucoma, and amblyopia limited visual acuity outcomes even after aggressive intervention. The choice of limbal versus pars plicata approach produced similar visual and anatomic outcomes without a significant difference in rate of complications. Financial Disclosure(s): The author(s) have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article.
U2 - 10.1016/j.ophtha.2010.03.062
DO - 10.1016/j.ophtha.2010.03.062
JO - Ophthalmology
JF - Ophthalmology
10.1016/j.ophtha.2010.03.062
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Dispatches from Writer’s Camp: A Few Goodbyes, Reading with a Friend, Writing Some More, Going Home
I’m sitting in the airport in a beat up arm chair looking out over the tarmac through these gigantic windows. I’ve got three hours to kill because the ride from Mt. Holyoke dropped me off early. It’s an ugly, long flight clear across the country, from Hartford, Connecticut to Chicago and then home to Portland. I will get home tonight at 11, but it will feel to me like 1 in the morning. If I can keep from sleeping on planes, I’ll sleep well tonight after a little reunion with my family. As much fun as I’ve had, I miss them very much, my wife and boy. Dogs too. I can’t wait to see the place. It should be freshly painted when I get home, a project going on all through my absence.
I’m struck by how the Writer’s Camp has a way to linger on until the very last minutes. I slept in this morning so, missing breakfast, I was able to say goodbye to only a few of my writer buddies–my departure felt less like a closing and a little bit more like an opening. A little breakfast and coffee with Dave and Dawn, and then a road trip.
David gave me a ride to the airport from the college, and while he drove, for about 40 minutes, I read out loud to him from a novel that I’ve been jonesing to read for several years now, Renata Adler’s Speedboat. So we had ourselves a little experience. I suspected I would dig this novel, as it came with some super duper high recommendations from other writers I love, but I had no real idea what it would be like to read or what it would be about. It turned out to be about the most perfect book for a road-read one could possibly hope for. On every page there seemed to be some key thing that we wanted or needed to stop and discuss. And because the novel, at least in the first section, is broken up into these little vignettes, it lended itself perfectly to interruptions for driving conversations. From the opening epigraph from Evelyn Waugh, to the first chapter title (we couldn’t decide whether the single word title was a noun or a verb, decided it could be both, and then after reading for awhile decided it was indeed both, and that both interpretations worked equally well); each little piece we read, short, punchy, puzzling, enigmatic, surprising and funny, distinguished from the other vignettes by a double space between paragraphs, intrigued us, brought us together trying to puzzle it out, made us hunger for more, made me sorry David wasn’t driving me all the way to Oregon.
Reading out loud to another person, especially a friend, is a heavenly experience. I mean, I think David liked it, at least he said he did, but I loved it. Because the book was awesome, yes, but also because there’s something of constant discovery or surprise in it, and a phenomenal intimacy is forged as these funny shapes on paper turn into words spoken and sentences uttered and those utterances become a shared experience, a common or mutual understanding, constructed in partnership. What’s cooler than that?
So in the car with David I was giving a reading, taking a class, and here, at the airport, with a three hour window of waiting by a big window, I’m writing. I’m still camping. Oozing with gratitude and missing the tribe already. I’m reading, writing, napping, having a meal clear across the continent, getting on a plane again and again, going home.
Filed under Camping and Travel, Writing and Reading
Tagged as airport writing, reading out loud, reading out loud to a friend, reading out loud to a friend in a car, Renata Adler, retreat experiences, Speedboat, Speedboat by Renata Adler, traveling, Warren Wilson MFA Alumni Conference
Dispatches from Writer’s Camp: We Cried And Then We Danced
Yesterday was a day unlike any day I’ve ever had at a Warren Wilson Alumni Conference, and that’s saying something, because there have been lots of them, lots and lots of days. I want to say that maybe this is the sixth year in a row and maybe my tenth attendance altogether for a whopping total of about 70 days at Writer’s Camp over the last 15 years or so.
Yesterday was a little bit of a perfect storm as conversations, classes, and our readings all reminded us about how this has been a year of losses. And while this conference has been for me (and I’m almost certain for others as well) life-affirming, intellectually inspiring, intensely productive, and just downright fun, those losses have been with us all along, coloring our conversations, sobering up some of our meal-time talk, darkening our discussions in classes. But worse than any of the ugliness in our body politic, as bad as that is, most all of us are still reeling from the loss of our dear friend and fellow alum Carlen Arnett, who died suddenly in January of this year. She was beloved by everyone who knew her and even by those whose interactions with her were brief. She was generous, kind, funny, lively, full of great stories, a gifted poet who in her last years had embarked on an ambitious novel inspired by “The Snow Queen.” Carlen’s main character was a friend of Gerda, the tale’s protagonist, a friend known simply as The Robber Girl. We’d been hearing her read from that novel in progress over the last several years at our conferences, so even though she was not able to finish it, that work of hers lives within us and we are lucky enough to glimpse its process and progress captured on a Facebook page Carlen set up for her work. I’m struck by how what she was doing in that fiction, bringing to a fully fleshed-out life a minor character from a German folk tale, is a lot like what she did for the real people she encountered. She brought people to life. She added vigor, and enthusiasm, and fire to every exchange. Hanging out with Carlen for any length of time, one felt infused with energy and lightness. I wish I had known her better. I can only imagine that those who did know her well have felt truly unmoored by her passing.
So our reading last night ended with a tribute to Carlen. We cried and then we danced. Our final ritual of Writer’s Camp is always the dance. And verily we danced. I wore my disco shorts. Carlen would want us to be joyful, to celebrate her life by living ours. I think she would have been proud of us.
Concluding Note: the audio at the top of this entry is an interview Carlen gave to her great friend Marcia. Marcia was kind enough to share that audio with me, and I superimposed it over the top of some music I had written with my wife René around the time of Carlen’s passing. It’s a beautiful little bit of storytelling about grocery shopping. I find it astounding and inspiring and beautifully representative of the kind of wonder Carlen had about the world. Produce is an extravaganza, she said. Yes. Yes. Yes.
Filed under Remembrances, Writing and Reading
Tagged as Carlen Arnett, celebrating life, community, losing a friend, loss, novels inspired by classics, The Robber Girl, The Snow Queen, Warren Wilson MFA Alumni Conference, writer's camp, writer's retreat
Dispatches from Writer’s Camp: The Next Frontier
Look, a metaphor!
Remember that on July 3rd we campers were treated here at Mt. Holyoke College to a fireworks display of stupendous proportions. Yesterday, on the 4th of July, it was quiet. I’m not kidding. After the reading I sat on an Adirondack chair in the dark sipping whiskey in the middle of the lawn and I watched some stars shoot across the sky in relative silence. Not a single explosion. Well, maybe one or two, intermittently, distantly. Whoever was in charge of the display from the night before must have wanted to get all the pyrotechnic ya yas out early. That’s fine. It seemed to have worked swimmingly. I’ve become kind of a grump about fireworks. They are beautiful to watch if you can forget that they are, after all, mostly a gussied up reenactment of warfare. Not to mention the expense. Someday, perhaps, in a perfect world, in a new frontier, people will celebrate the fourth of July by blowing soap bubbles.
At the end of a class yesterday that described the literary history of American frontier exploration, both literal and symbolic, Alison asked us what we believed would be the next frontier. It was a brilliant, thought provoking question. And our responses were revelatory. We began, as you would expect us to do, with some more literal predictions. Well, there’s space, still, the infinite expanses of the universe. There’s quantum physics. My understanding is that there’s a boat load of stuff we still don’t know about the ocean. The human brain remains mysterious territory. Medicine. There will be technological advances every bit as revolutionary as the one’s we’ve experienced over just a few short years. That kind of stuff. Then the discussion got darker. As Alison’s talk had culminated in a description of Dystopia as the most recent literary “frontier,” we began to discuss the bleak, depressing, backwards, and absurd state of affairs in our country in the age of a Trump presidency. The new frontier seems dark, indeed. It was inevitable that we should land here, our first writer’s camp since the election. I can’t speak for everyone, but my guess is that as creatives, as artists, as makers, we are in this community nearly unanimous in our outrage over the current state of American politics. We are all still smarting and trying to figure out what role we have to play in these next months and years.
And then the conversation shifted.
Bookstores are inundated with readers looking for rigorous political satire. African women are writing science fiction novels. People like us are here, in this place, in this time, coming together to write, talk about writing, celebrate each other, learn from each other, lift each other up emotionally, intellectually, spiritually. Literature matters still. Literature teaches us how to be human. Literature teaches us how to be more empathetic and compassionate. Literature teaches us how to love. It was decided: we have to keep writing. And there, in this conversation about the power our words might have to make substantive difference in the world, someone suggested that the new frontier is in relationship, deep understanding and connection, the way in which our behavior in the world and our way of relating might have a ripple effect louder and farther than any firepower ever could.
And then we moved from that wonderful, enlivening conversation to an experiment with receiving and giving feedback about writing. So accustomed, as we are, to “workshops” in which the writer cannot speak but must listen as others try to communicate, sometimes helpfully but often narcissistically, what the writer needs to do to improve their work, what if instead the writer spoke the entire time and in response to honest, open questions from peers and friends, the sole purpose of which would be to elicit inquiry, reflection, discernment, to inspire the writer’s inner teacher to speak?
We tried that. The results, I think, were stunning. I believe there is almost nothing in the world more affirming than to feel and be heard. I know from personal experience that almost every moment of conflict in my life with another human being was the result of my inability or unwillingness to listen or from the perception that someone I loved or cared about was not listening to me. But what’s especially phenomenal and important and potentially transformational about this idea, is that this same gift can be given to or received from relative strangers.
There were individuals who had never met before yesterday partnered up to have this kind of conversation around writing, where one writer described a dilemma in his or her practice and then the other asked only honest, open questions and allowed the writer to speak in response. No suggestions. No advice. No fixing. No judgement. We listen attentively to others, we listen to our own responses, later, we help each other hear and see what we might not have been conscious of, and this listening then percolates its way into clarity–immediately in some cases, in a few hours sometimes, or after weeks or months of slow cooking.
So the new frontier might be a transformation that occurs when individuals, when groups, when cultures, when whole nations learn to listen. I’m no Polyanna. But I do sometimes tend toward rose-colored glasses, or glasses half full. I’m pretty disgusted with a lot of things, but I am also heartened and hopeful where I see sense, integrity, decency, kindness, compassion–and that stuff is all around us. Over the last four days I’ve been soaking in it, Palmolive-like. We start where we are. My friend Mark insisted that we begin with those in our immediate reach. It will ripple outward, like fireworks, only softer, like soap bubbles.
Try this at home.
Filed under Culture, Literature, Self Reflection, Teaching, Writing and Reading
Tagged as clarity, community, fireworks, Frontier literature, healing, listening, resist, resistance through solidarity, the 4th of July, The age of Trump, The American Frontier, The Courage To Teach, the new frontier, Trump, Warren Wilson MFA Alumni Conference, Writers workshops, writing workshops
Dispatches from Writer’s Camp: The Resurrection of the Contest in Order to Exacerbate Feelings of Rejection, a Dongle Dilemma, When a Poem is Not a Poem, One Bad Dream, and More Blessedness.
This campus has a Hogwarts thing going on, don’t you think? I feel like I’m at Hogwarts.
Things started out kind of rowdy here at Mt. Holyoke. The microphone was wonky. There’s nothing worse than a wonky microphone. Better no microphone than a wonky one. One of our attendees was trapped in his room by tables of books. But he’s got the only refrigerator in the entire building in his room for some reason, so people keep going in there to refrigerate things or to steal ice cubes. Last night, July 3rd, a massive fireworks display lit up the sky and we had to yell at each other over the thunder.
We’ve been mixing it up. At reading number 2, the glorious, lovely and talented MC Thornburg resurrected the daily writing contest for silly prizes, despite controversies surrounding the last time this was done, concluding that the only way writers might thicken their skin against rejection would be to experience more rejection. That’s not true. MC T actually suggested a kinder, gentler writing contest, one in which the winner would be randomly drawn from a hat, ultimately making sure that, like they do in California, every kid gets a trophy. No one was buying that. We require, as a group, more rejection, more suffering.
I had a question about dongles and many people misunderstood. Having arrived on campus with a computer that requires a unique kind of plumbing, I was just hoping to be able to make an appropriate and functional connection between the one thing and another thing in order to project some images on the screen during my class. People laughed and one of our Annies (we have three of them) thought I was being vulgar. She googled the word “dongle” and was satisfied. She still thinks it’s a dirty word, though, dictionary be damned.
The question has come up: just what exactly is a poem? It’s a relevant question for me, as I am writing poems now and have a manuscript on the cooker. Sheepish about my own poetry prowess, I think of my poems as extremely short prose pieces that I have broken into lines. But I call them poems. Because I can. Is a poem a poem because the person writing it says it’s a poem? Is it a poem when an audience that’s listening can’t “hear” the line breaks? Is it a poem if it’s not about pain and suffering and death and love? Is it a poem if it has no “music” in it? Is there a difference between a prose poem and a piece of flash fiction? If so, what is it? If it’s narrative, but it’s not a narrative poem, and it’s not an narrative essay, and it’s broken into lines, is it a poem? My friend Dave says that he spent his entire MFA program experience at Warren Wilson trying to define the poem. And when he graduated and they gave him a big stick he realized that the answer was not really all that interesting or important. The question is interesting, I think, but I’m with Dave: the answer is not. Rilke said: Learn to love the questions themselves.
I have lots of questions about the dream I had this morning, which was really more like a nightmare. I dreamt I was being anesthetized for a surgery just as my sleeping self was trying to wake up. I was afraid I would be awake during whatever it was they were about to do to me. Then my sleeping body woke and I was shivering. It was icky. Then I went to morning meditation. All better.
The short stay conference attendees arrive today. Some of them arrived yesterday. That’s exciting, partly because their presence adds to this sometimes overwhelming abundance, one of the hallmarks or gifts of Writer’s Camp. I’ve said this before, but I always walk around at these things feeling this incredible lightness, a palpable fish of gratitude just swimming around in my system–all the time. It could be the caffeine–but I don’t think so; it never wears off. And I’m just giddy when new friends arrive. When the short stay people show up, things get noisier, more rambunctious–and judging from the rowdy quality of our first three nights of consistently exquisite readings from alumni, it’s gonna get crazy ’round here. Crazy in the best, most blessed, sermon-on-the-Mount-Holyoke kind of way.
Dear Wally friends: if you are not here, know that you are missed.
Filed under Writing and Reading
Tagged as abundance, dreams, gratitude, poetry, Retreat, retreat experiences, Warren Wilson MFA Alumni Conference, what is a poem, writing retreat
Dispatches from Writer’s Camp: The Sermon on the Mount Holyoke
Blessed are the writers who have arrived at Mount Holyoke College to participate in the 2017 Warren Wilson MFA Program Alumni Conference, for they are lucky bastards, and I feel truly blessed and lucky to be here among them.
Blessed is the writer who takes the red-eye flight out of Portland at midnight, sleeps through most of that four hour flight, is fortunate enough not to get completely lost in the chaos that is the Newark Liberty International Airport as he finds and takes a bus, yes, an actual bus, from one terminal to the next to catch a connecting flight, sleeps through most of that short little jumper, and lands safely at Bradley International at Hartford, Connecticut, where, unsure about which shuttle company he hired last time he was here, and loathe to pay almost $300 for a private shuttle, hires a damn taxi and sleeps through most of that ride and arrives safely but still wiped out on this beautiful 19th century campus of Mt. Holyoke College, home of Emily Dickinson, who may have been epileptic, some people say.
Blessed is the writer who takes what seems like the fourth and deepest nap over the course of a single ten hour stretch of clock-time in his dungeon-like dorm room, tucked away under a stairwell into the basement, where he will serve out his week as the resident conference troll.
Blessed is the writer who opens his suitcase to discover it’s full of a mysterious pile of black plastic shards, who, for many moments is in a panic about what he packed with him that is now utterly destroyed: glasses okay, cd jewel boxes okay, books bent somewhat but not alarmingly so, clothes okay but full of plastic shards. Everything must be shaken out, the suitcase overturned, and finally a pile of this debris accumulates on the second dorm bed. Blessed is this WTF moment that culminates finally with the conclusion that, holy crap, the plastic shell that allows one’s suitcase to maintain its general boxiness was somehow completely shattered into hundreds of pieces in the journey. Blessed is the writer who comes to Mount Holyoke with a hard case and will venture home in six days with a soft one.
Blessed is the writer who thought several months ago to start storing all of his creative work on an external hard drive, because, blessing of blessings, his computer dies a quite sudden death two days before coming to a writer’s conference.
Blessed was the first night of readings, morning meditation, and a first day free and clear of responsibilities. Blessed is the writer who reads tonight sporting his disco bowtie, who chose poetry this time, a first for this fiction writer, but following in the footsteps of dozens of fiction writers and poets who have chosen to cross that invisible genre boundary and did not die from it, but, on the contrary, were met by their readers and listeners with much rejoicing.
That’s my dorm room back there!
Another view of the dungeon.
The Holyoke Troll
Looks kind of like a Rorschach inkblot test
Tagged as Alumni Conference, feeling blessed, fiction writers writing poetry, gratitude, MFA Creative Writing Programs, Mt. Holyoke College, travel mishaps, traveling, Warren Wilson MFA Alumni Conference, writing fiction, writing retreat
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MSF | Instrumental
MSF / Music / Instrumental
An evening of classical music will again take place in the magnificent Braunschweig Room of Bath’s Guildhall on Thursday 19th March 2019 at 6.15pm. All students and lovers of classical music should not miss this rare opportunity to come along to listen to those competing for the Thelma King Instrumental Award followed by the competition for the Premier Award of the Festival which involves the winners of all three Concerto classes competing against each other.You will be certain to hear some highly talented musicians and admission to this event is FREE!
Solo Classes
Classical guitar classes – see strings section, classes prefaced by SG
Classes are offered for all string instruments, including harp and classical guitar, brass and woodwind including recorder. Most are still in the traditional competitive format and all music played is free choice, allowing performers to play what appeals to them and what suits them musically.
Broadly speaking, the instrumental competitive classes are categorised by level rather than age.
The four levels are: Elementary – up to Grade 2 Transitional – Grades 3-4 Intermediate – Grades 5-6 Advanced – Grade 7 and above.
Details of all string, woodwind and brass classes will be found in the new syllabus.
The Harp classes take place on Tuesday 17th March in Cedars Hall, Wells Cathedral School.
There are classes for solo harpists, but also “Music with Harp” which gives an opportunity for players who have performed individually to play together.
More Advanced Classes and Major Awards
The Jennifer Paterson Young String Player’s Award
As part of the generous bequest to the Mid-Somerset Festival by the late Jennifer Paterson, an award is given annually to the winner of the class for String Solo, 14 and under.
This is in recognition of Jenny’s lifelong interest in string teaching and her championing of new repertoire. At least one piece from 21st century must be included.
Thelma King Instrumental Award
The 5 Repertoire classes at Advanced levels are more demanding, with one piece from memory expected. These are qualifying classes for the prestigious Thelma King Instrumental Award in which one overall winner is offered a generous contribution towards a place at an orchestral summer school of their own choice.
The award is open to all string, woodwind and brass players. The adjudicators will select from the Repertoire classes a shortlist of performers who will then be asked to play in a final on Thursday 19th March 2020 in the Braunschweig Room of the Guildhall. For this final you should play all of your repertoire class pieces.
The Premier Award
The String and Wind Concerto classes will both take place in the Citadel. Winners will be joined in the Guildhall by the Piano Concerto winner for a play off during an evening of Classical Music. The award carries a substantial monetary prize as well as the fabulous trophy.
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Manfred Mohr
Born 1938 in Pforzheim/Germany. Digital art pioneer.
Started as an action painter and jazz musician. Began using the computer (1969) because of his growing interest in creating an algorithmic art. Lived in Barcelona in 1962 and in Paris between 1963 and 1983. Since 1981 he lives in New York City.
His early computer works are algorithmic and based on his former drawings with a strong attitude on rhythm and repetition. Maintained an art studio in Paris from 1963 to 1983. Mohr attended Kunst + Werkschule in Pforzheim and École des Beaux-Arts in Paris.
In 1968 he co-founded the seminar "Art et Informatique" at Vincenne University and in 1971 had a solo exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris. Since then, that exhibition has become known historically as the first solo show in a museum of works entirely calculated and drawn by a computer.
Mohr has received many awards including the 2006 [ddaa] Digital Art Award Cologne/Berlin, a Fellowship from New York Foundation of the Arts in 1997, the 1990 Golden Nica from Ars Electronica in Linz, the 1990 Camille Graeser Prize in Zürich, and the 1973 Ljubljana Print Biennial. In 1994, the first comprehensive monograph on his work was published by Waser-Verlag in Zürich, Switzerland.
Alistair Rider, "Scripted Variations", one and zero catalogue, London, 2012.
Will Brand, "Manfred Mohr: 'If Goebbels were alive he would like such a machine'", 2011.
Marion Keiner, "Manfred Mohr's Abstract Aesthetic".
Mihai Nadin, "Alea iacta est".
Lauren Sedofsky, "Linebreeder".
Frieder Nake, "form.algorithm.color. Manfred Mohr: Algorithmic Man", 2001.
Eugen Gomringer, "Manfred Mohr - Cubist in the Computer Age"
Thomas Kurtz, "The Courage of One's Convictions".
Manfred Mohr, "Statement".
Manfred Mohr, "Statement", 1994.
Lauren Sedofsky, "Statement", 1999.
Pavel Kappel, "Manfred Mohr: Vždy, když mám problém, vrátím se k hudbě. Rozhovor s Manfredem Mohrem, Karlovy Vary", Medium, Jul 2017. (Czech)
http://www.emohr.com/
http://dada.compart-bremen.de/item/agent/13
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manfred_Mohr
http://www.youtube.com/user/ManfredEMohr
Retrieved from "https://monoskop.org/index.php?title=Manfred_Mohr&oldid=86841"
Computer art
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Business News Sat, 1 Dec 2007
5,000 SMEs to benefit from MASLOC
Kumasi, Dec. 01, GNA - About 5,000 Micro and Small-Scale Enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs in Ashanti Region would benefit from loans under the Micro-Finance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) The beneficiary SMEs out of the 20,000 applicants would be granted 2,000 Ghana cedis.
Mr Lawrence Akwasi Prempeh, Chief Executive Officer of MASLOC, announced this at the launching of Ashanti Regional branch of MASLOC in Kumasi on Friday.
The launching was under the theme: "A New Approach To Economic Empowerment Through Micro-Financing." Government established MASLOC last year to manage micro finance schemes introduced under Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS) II to boost the private sector with adequate credit facilities to small-scale entrepreneurs.
Mr Prempeh noted that government's policy on Golden Age of Business would be a mirage when the private sector that remained the backbone of the nation's economy was not adequately resourced. He said MASLOC had 450 personnel nation-wide to advise and sensitise applicants. Mr Osei Assibey Antwi, Deputy Ashanti Regional Minister, pledged government's commitment to institute measures to improve on the living standards of the people.
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