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« Andy Spalding: Five lessons I’ve learned at IACA | Main | MacMurray and Lazzarini: Why ISO 37001 is the next big thing »
Martin Kenney: Shell’s Nigeria mess shows why we need more disclosure
By Martin Kenney | Tuesday, May 9, 2017 at 7:28AM
Tom Fox recently wrote a post for the FCPA Blog about allegations that Shell made a £1.1 billion ($1.42 billion) payment for an oil field license in Nigeria, with half the money ending up in a company owned by a Nigerian government official.
Having initially denied any wrongdoing, incriminating emails leaked to the staff at advocacy group Global Witness prompted Shell to claim there was a commercial impasse that could only be breached by their dealing with the company concerned.
Maintaining its innocence, Shell stated that it had done nothing wrong and this was a matter for the Nigerian government over how it chose to apportion the license fee.
Whether these payments amount to corruption by a major oil company remains to be seen. What is clear is that this is precisely the sort of development that I have commented upon and predicted previously, when considering the SEC Rule, repealed by the U.S. Senate in February of this year.
The Extractive Industries Disclosure Rule -- adopted in 2012 and finalized in 2016 -- was intended to force those companies in the industry to disclose any payments over $100,000 made to foreign governments. The rule was set to go into effect in 2018.
My concerns about its repeal were simple. Energy companies might recommence the sort of under-the-table-payments that many in law enforcement had fought to prevent, and that we hoped had been substantially confined to a darker past. The Shell/Nigeria story seems a classic case in point and indicative of the type of situations we could be returning to with much greater frequency with the abandonment of the SEC rule.
Natural resources like oil belong to "the State," in this instance the people of Nigeria. So why was license money allegedly “re-allocated” to a company owned by a Nigerian government official? These diversions of revenue are extremely damaging to developing nations. They hold back growth and impact directly upon the poorest of people who should be benefiting from oil exploration and the revenue it generates. The $700 million in question could have been used to build hospitals -- part of an infrastructure that supports those unable to fend for themselves.
Any form of corruption blights a society. Those engaging in it not only let themselves, their corporations, and their nations down, but are hammering nails into the coffins of those who may die needlessly due to shortages of medication or food needed to sustain them and their families (not to mention other areas of failing public services and infrastructure).
This is not being melodramatic. The impact of corruption (especially Grand Corruption) cannot be overstated. The United Nations and other organizations dedicated to improving life for the global poor are struggling to convince governments of the damage being wreaked on countries criminally exploited by corrupt leaders and big business.
The decision to abandon the Extractive Industries Disclosure Rule is likely to fuel corruption. Without the rule, we are potentially opening up the floodgates for big business to return to the “good old days” when tax-deductible backhanders were an everyday occurrence, especially when doing business with developing nations.
Martin Kenney, pictured above, is Managing Partner of Martin Kenney & Co., Solicitors, a specialist investigative and asset recovery practice based in the BVI and focused on multi-jurisdictional fraud and grand corruption cases www.martinkenney.com |@MKSolicitors.
tagged Disclosure, Extractive Industries, Nigeria, Shell |
Reader Comments (2)
I agree that repealing the anti-corruption disclosure rule was unfortunate and that the Shell Eni mess is a good example for this.
I co-authored a paper and presented it at the 2017 OECD Global Anti-Corruption & Integrity Forum on March 30th in Paris
https://www.oecd.org/cleangovbiz/Integrity-Forum-2017-Ozelli-Russell-payment-disclosure.pdf
https://www.oecd.org/cleangovbiz/Integrity-Forum-2017-Ozelli-Russell-payment-disclosure-poster.pdf.
The paper proposes standardizing payment disclosure across the world, in all industries to improve public sector transparency given the involvement of global PPPs in world economic development. This proposal can be used as a replacement for the recently repealed US payment disclosure rule for the extractive industries and could help in bringing transparency to payments made to governments and government officials.
Here is an abstract of the article:
Is This Payment Reportable?
Global Standard for Payment Disclosure
By Selva Ozelli, Roger Russell
The need for globally applicable transparency and anti-corruption legislation gained momentum after the global credit crisis of 2007/2008 that was tied to losses from opaque leveraged mortgage-backed securities, which were hidden in tax havens. It wreaked havoc in the world economy, by threatening the collapse of the world’s largest financial institutions, and was cured by the bailout of banks by national governments. The credit crisis played a significant role in the decline in consumer wealth, wide spread real estate foreclosures, evictions, bankruptcy of businesses, prolonged unemployment and a worldwide downturn in economic activity. The ensuing large increases in government debt have produced several sovereign debt crises that lead to government agencies increasingly using public private partnerships (PPP) with multinational enterprises (MNE) from all industries to fund public procurement projects. At the same time, the continuous and voluminous press leaks with the aid of whistle-blowers shed light on the numerous offshore accounts, offshore entities belonging to top-level politicians, signalling the influence of narrow interests on public decision making for their own profit. These conditions necessitated national austerity measures with world regulators increasingly cooperating with one another to clamp down on corruption and tax evasion and were the driving force behind the global legislative initiatives to promote transparency and accountability.
This article provides an overview of the anti-corruption and transparency reporting requirements that have been adopted around the world since the credit crisis that are complimentary to the functioning of UNCAC. This article also proposes to establish a streamlined global standard for payment disclosure to foreign governments, as a part of the Country-by-Country Report (BEPS 13) for MNE’s involved in all industries (CbCR-Payment).
May 9, 2017 | Selva Ozelli
Thank you FCPA Blog and thank you Martin Kenney for your excellent piece.
You hit the nail on the head re the removal of the SEC's second rule for Section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank Act, which as you say was due to come into operation over this next year. In a bizarre twist of fate, had the SEC managed to promulgate its first rule for 1504, within the time frame mandated by Congress, a rule would theoretically have been in place some 10 days prior to completion of the corrupt deal mentioned above. This would have required Shell and its partner, the Italian oil giant Eni, to have disclosed their payment - and under such circumstances, I doubt whether the deal, at least in this format, would have gone ahead.
Instead, both companies participated in - indeed were intimately involved in the construction of - the arrangement by which their payment for Nigeria's biggest offshore block would be paid instead to private hands. This story is set to run and run, as the prosecution that is now building in Milan, Italy, gears up for later this year. Watch out for further revelations as the case goes to court, which we expect will demonstrate the extent to which highest-level officials in both companies were involved - notably, just as both companies were swearing to having ensured good systems of checks and balances to fight corruption, due to their deferred prosecution agreements with the DoJ. One could imagine how cross DoJ officials will be, once they realise the contempt the companies' highest officials obviously had for their DPA agreements.
But perhaps the biggest crime, which you point to, is the removal of the the rule for Section 1504. It is hard for me to imagine a more undemocratic, not to mention lacking in credible process, than that which was used to remove it. A proposition was put forward, remarkably matching "Big Oil's" exhausted and long-since discredited arguments (actually destroyed arguments would be a better description,see the public record of submissions to the SEC during the last rule-making) in both houses, there was a total lack of debate where the reality could be considered, and vote in the Senate took place like a "dawn execution" the next morning. The arguments to not disclosing did not stack up at any point over the past decade, let alone this time. All Congress and Trump have succeeded in doing is to once again aid and abet the continuity of the kinds of practice you described above - perhaps that was the point?!
May 9, 2017 | Simon Taylor
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New musical comedy Midlife Cowboy premieres at the Pleasance Theatre
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
MIDLIFE Cowboy, a new British musical by comedian and best-selling author Tony Hawks, will receive its world premiere at the Pleasance Theatre, where it runs from Friday, September 13 to Sunday, October 6, 2019.
Directed by Tony Hawks and featuring a cast of talented actor/musicians, Midlife Cowboy is tale of heartache, love, and friendship, laced with new country, blues, romantic and comedy songs.
Midlife Cowboy follows the fortunes of the members of the Swindon Country and Western Club as they bid to end many years of hurt by finally winning first prize at the prestigious Railway Museum Gala Evening – and along the way discover the true nature of heroism.
But this is not just about country music. A marriage is in crisis, friendships are at risk, there is more than a sniff of infidelity in the air, and lives are changed when two new members to the club arrive and turn everything upside down.
Debra Stephenson stars as Jane, a country music-loving puppet-maker who is trying to save her failing marriage and revive their home-based Cowboy Club. Stephenson is one of Britain’s most talented actors and impressionists and her credits include Coronation Street, Bad Girls, Dead Ringers, The Impressions Show and most recently The Imitation Game.
Tony Hawks plays her midlife crisis suffering husband Stuart. A regular on many of BBC Radio 4’s best loved comedy programmes including Just a Minute, I’m Sorry I haven’t a Clue and The Unbelievable Truth, Hawks is also one of the UK’s most successful authors having written many best-selling books including Round Ireland with a Fridge.
Duncan Wisbey (Graham) is an actor, musician and impressionist best known for Alistair McGowan’s Big Impression, Dead Ringers, Four in a Bed, The Hive and Ultimate Brain.
Georgina Field’s (Penny) multiple skills have led her to perform in numerous musicals around the UK including Godspell, Salad Days, The Phantom of the Opera and Guys & Dolls.
James Thackeray (Dan) has been seen in Doctor Who and Trainspotting: Live at the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe.
In the 1990’s, Tony Hawks wrote and staged a short comedy musical at the Edinburgh Festival called The Heartbreak Kid starring himself and Ben Miller. It was very successful and was selected for the prestigious Perrier Pick Of Fringe. However, as it was only a one-act play it needed re-writing to become a full-length musical and that was something he never got around to doing. Until recently!
In 2016 he staged a charity reading and sing-through of the new and extended version, now called Midlife Cowboy. It was introduced by Graham Norton and Sir Tim Rice and starred Ben Miller, Alistair McGowan, Jack Dee and Doon Mackichan and received a standing ovation at The Lyric Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue. More recently, a further read-through was held in front of an invited audience at the Pleasance Theatre to tighten the plot and story still further and he is delighted to see it finally get its world premiere at the same venue.
Tickets: £16 – previews; £20 – matinees; £22.50 – matinees senior concession; £25 – evening shows. To book, call the box office on 020 7609 1800 or visit www.pleasance.co.uk/.
Times: Wednesday to Saturday at 7.30pm; Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2.30pm; Sunday evening at 6.30pm.
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WHITNEY HOUSTON MOURNED AT GRAMMYS AWARDS
The music world is remembering the life and career of singer Whitney Houston at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.
The star was found dead in her Los Angeles hotel room on Saturday, the day before the prestigious ceremony.
Host LL Cool J opened the event with a prayer for the singer.
Meanwhile, after a post mortem examination, the Los Angeles coroner said there were no visible signs of trauma on Houston's body and that foul play was "not suspected at this time".
The coroner confirmed that Houston, 48, was found in the bath.
LL Cool J said: "There is no way around this. We've had a death in our family.
"The only thing that feels right is to begin with a prayer for a woman who we loved - for our fallen sister, Whitney Houston."
The audience then gave a standing ovation after watching a clip of her hit I Will Always Love You.
Later, dressed in black and with a simple piano accompaniment, singer Jennifer Hudson gave a moving rendition of the same song, ending with the line: "Whitney, we will always love you."
Houston won six Grammys during her career.
Others paying tribute during the ceremony included Bruno Mars, who told the crowd: "Tonight we're celebrating. Tonight we're celebrating the beautiful Miss Whitney Houston."
Stevie Wonder said: "To Whitney up in heaven, we all love you."
Melanie Fiona, who won best traditional R&B vocal performance and best R&B song, said: "Whitney Houston, I would not be standing up here if it were not for you, thank you so much."
The reaction to Houston's death dominated the ceremony, which is the most high-profile event in the US music calendar.
Before the show, Jimmy Jam, a friend and producer of Houston's, said it was "a bittersweet occasion".
"Anytime someone passes away, the thing you do is you gather your family together, tell stories," he said. "A little bit of mourning, little bit of celebrating - this is our family tonight and we're going to do it the best that we can do it."
Earlier on Sunday, the Rev Al Sharpton paid tribute to Houston while preaching at the Second Baptist Church in Los Angeles.
"Yes, she had an outstanding range," he said. "Yes, she could hit notes no one else could reach. But what made her different was she was born and bred in the bosom of the black church.
"A lot of artists can hit notes but they don't hit us. Say words but they have no meaning. Have gifts and talent but no anointing. Something about Whitney that would reach in you and make you feel."
Meanwhile, Houston's 18-year-old daughter Bobbi has been released from hospital after being treated for stress and anxiety following her mother's death.
Houston became known for powerful ballads such as I Will Always Love You and One Moment In Time.
She holds the record for having the most consecutive chart-topping singles in the US - reaching number one seven times between 1985 and 1988.
But her later career was overshadowed by substance abuse and her turbulent marriage to singer Bobby Brown.
In recent years drug use had taken its toll on the star and her voice - once acknowledged as one of the finest in pop music - was badly damaged.
Source: bbc.co.uk
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Freeway Potential: Heat Island Mitigation
Urban heat island effect is measured as the temperature difference between the air within the urban canopy layer and that measured in rural areas. Built urban environments can suppress air movements, obstructing cool flows and exacerbating pollution. However, as Alexander Robinson argues in his research for SWA, “high density cities may be our best sustainable… Read more »
Urban heat island effect is measured as the temperature difference between the air within the urban canopy layer and that measured in rural areas. Built urban environments can suppress air movements, obstructing cool flows and exacerbating pollution. However, as Alexander Robinson argues in his research for SWA, “high density cities may be our best sustainable model and so making them comfortable can have some of the largest ecological/sustainable impacts.” (Robinson, Urban Heat Island Countermeasures Summary & White Paper).
Borne of the urban condition, urban heat island effect has even more complex impacts, from precipitating the formation of smog (as temperature rises) to creating scenarios that encourage huge consumptions of energy (e.g. air conditioners during a heat island-induced heat wave). This phenomenon is mainly caused by the absorption of solar radiation by urban surfaces, and subsequent trapping of the heat-energy by the geometries of built environments. Mitigating these impacts is just as complex.
Los Angeles is currently posed for worsening heat island effects. Projected temperature rises from global warming will make Los Angeles hotter regardless of heat island effect. With a growing population, the increased development and mineralization of the urban environment seems inevitable. Surface modification, in the form of rooftop greening, has the potential to mitigate heat islands in Los Angeles. The temperature was moderated at one point in history with surface modification: the agricultural irrigation of orchards drastically dropped summer temperatures. The most water-efficient method of surface modification are trees, which produce deep shade and comfortable microclimates.
Facilitated air movement and surface modification are used as urban heat mitigation techniques. The city of Stuttgart in Germany provides an excellent precedent in designing for air movement to mitigate urban heat island effect. The city’s Urban Climatology department has identified areas critical for nocturnal air flows, called “STEP” zones. Cold-air generators (e.g. agricultural fields, forests, oceans) and flow corridors are identified and protected from development, so cool air can flow into the otherwise poorly ventilated city at night. Corridors must be at least 100m wide and kept free of obstructions (including trees).
Many reports provided in Alexander Robinson’s research for SWA recommend wider streets and stepped back buildings to improve air circulation. Depending on urban geometry, freeways have the potential to act as corridors for cool-air movement. Perhaps freeways can be enlisted in moving cool air from the Pacific Ocean through the urban neighborhoods of Los Angeles?
Alexander Robinson was a designer at SWA from 2007-2009. He is currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Masters of Landscape Architecture Program at the University of Southern California.
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Posted by YingYuHung
in Landscape Infrastructure
on 27 March, 2012
Future of Freeways: Wildlife Crossings
With an estimated 1.5 million deer killed annually on US roads , and potentially a greater biomass of smaller animals killed, wildlife crossings reconnect remaining land patches to facilitate healthy metapopulation function (Forman). The emerging science of Road Ecology in the U.S. has studied wildlife connectors, and claims that the combined use of fencing… Read more »
With an estimated 1.5 million deer killed annually on US roads , and potentially a greater biomass of smaller animals killed, wildlife crossings reconnect remaining land patches to facilitate healthy metapopulation function (Forman). The emerging science of Road Ecology in the U.S. has studied wildlife connectors, and claims that the combined use of fencing and wildlife connectors is the most effective structural method to guide safe passage for wildlife and reduce roadkill.
Although more relevant in less developed areas of California, wildlife crossings provide opportunities for animals to safely cross roadways that otherwise fragment habitats and isolate animal populations. In Southern California, studies show that drainage culverts are regularly used by wildlife (Sandra J. Ng). San Bernardino already has specially designed underpasses for bobcats, coyotes, and deer. An overpass is currently being planned for antelope (California Issues Solicitation for Wildlife Crossing Construction Services).
Once a road has been built, it severs an entire ecological system, disrupting hydrology and established habitats through a variety of effects, including pollution, facilitating invasive plant species movement, dividing and isolating animal populations, changing species composition, and traffic noise (Tanner, Forman). By no means do wildlife crossings mitigate the disturbance a highway has on an ecosystem but they are one step closer in realigning the potential of multifunctional freeways.
Forman, Richard T.T. Road Ecology: Science and Soultution. Washington D.C.: Island Press, 2003
Sandra J. Ng, Jim W. Dole, Raymond M. Sauvajot, Seth P.D. Riley, Thomas J. Valone. “Use of Highway Under Crossings by Wildlife in Southern California.” Study. 2001
“California Issues Solicitation for Wildlife Crossing Construction Services.” Targeted News Service, 28 March 2011
Tanner, Dawn Renee. “Road to the Future: Strategies for Wildlife Crossings and youth Empowerment to Improve Wildlife Habitat in Roaded Landscapes.” Dissertation. 2010
The Future of Freeways
The 48,876 miles of national highways consume 1% of the land in the U.S., which is about the size of South Carolina. This network conceived our sprawling land use habits, extended our commutes and expanded our waistlines. In Los Angeles, the nation’s capital of traffic jams, the average person loses 93 hours yearly sitting in… Read more »
The 48,876 miles of national highways consume 1% of the land in the U.S., which is about the size of South Carolina. This network conceived our sprawling land use habits, extended our commutes and expanded our waistlines. In Los Angeles, the nation’s capital of traffic jams, the average person loses 93 hours yearly sitting in highway traffic.
Despite all this, we Americans love our cars. Our highways continue to be the most relied upon method of transit and there is no doubt about the essential role of highways in our economic progress. But populations are growing and demand for repairs and expansions are increasing, so how can we live with our highway system in ways that are less intrusive to our humanity?
As Angelenos, we consider this question daily and it has inspired us to look for examples that we might be able to apply here. As the transfer of development rights brings higher land values, the promise of these corridors has to go beyond functionality. Perhaps the future of the freeway is not single-use, but more of a conveyance system for people and wildlife as well as cars. Our research has uncovered a handful of case studies, exploratory proposals and student ideas that we are going to profile here and discuss on our Facebook page during the month of March.
We invite you to share your thoughts on these, suggest similar projects and concepts or add your own ideas.
Posted by GerdoAquino and Ying-YuHung
Coastal Resilience Project: Galveston Bay
Experiencing severe coastal storms has always been part of living near the sea; however, current planning models and infrastructures are putting residents in positions equivalent to placing their heads in the sand. On September 13, 2008 Hurricane Ike struck the upper Texas coast, wreaking havoc on infrastructure and washing away entire communities. In response, SWA… Read more »
Experiencing severe coastal storms has always been part of living near the sea; however, current planning models and infrastructures are putting residents in positions equivalent to placing their heads in the sand. On September 13, 2008 Hurricane Ike struck the upper Texas coast, wreaking havoc on infrastructure and washing away entire communities. In response, SWA teamed with the University of Houston for Rice University’s SSPEED (Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Natural Disasters) Center to identify a system of solutions that equally considers structural and non-structural strategies.
The focus was to protect where appropriate and promote land uses resilient to environmental forces, where the viability of the landscape is an indication of effective, sustainable shields to flooding.
Hurricane Ike still narrowly missed the modeled “worst case scenario,” where storm waters would track up the densely populated west shore of Galveston Bay and into the heavily industrialized Houston Ship Channel. Labeled only as a category two storm by wind speed, Ike surpassed all inundation damage predictions for its designation and changed the lives of millions of people.
This one event, in a region populated by 6.5 million residents and frequented by hurricanes, sparked a sorely needed reassessment of historic storm preparedness . The first major proposal was the “Ike Dike”, a continuous dike to be built across the bay. This proposal came with high costs and potential for great environmental degradation. Once completed, the monumental dike would promote a false sense of safety, exponentially increasing the original post-Ike rush to rebuild and develop and exposing millions more to future risk in the still environmentally fragile bay. Before long, the concept was deemed a “moral hazard”.
What are needed instead are new approaches to effectively and sustainably protect and develop our modern coastlines by the integration of land use and necessary infrastructures.
The Coastal Resilience project aims to identify reasonable planning solutions to respond to Galveston Bay’s frequent tropical storms, hurricanes, and coast shaping forces. Currently, there is no clear understanding of the level of risks along the coastline, and even in the presence of clear information, it is human nature to underestimate high-level risks that occur infrequently. As a starting point, suggested non-structural responses included: improving and strictly enforcing building codes, hardening public infrastructure to be protected to a 100 year surge level, removing flood and wind subsidies in unprotected areas, buyout storm damaged properties after an additional flood, full disclosure for all future purchases, flood depth signage in all unprotected areas, better communication tools like readily available storm surge maps, and alternative land uses such as the creation of a national recreation area.
Structural or levee building opportunities sought to protect highly populated and culturally significant areas such as building an earthen levee that can protect against a 500 year return frequency (including a wave protection factor) to encourage development in the protected area. The resulting plan also identified an opportunity to tie the coastal defense infrastructure into the natural topography by rebuilding an existing roadway to specifications offering the desired 100 year flood protection and creating marshes, coastal dunes and waterfront parks to help heal the bay, promote habitat development, absorb the storm surges and sustain and protect the coastline. With this approach, isolated ‘pocket’ levee systems would only be needed in areas of existing high value development like the Houston Ship Channel. The great expense of land acquisition for post-disaster buyouts would be minimized and few populated areas would be excluded from protection. This would afford some development opportunities and also promote agriculture, recreation areas, eco-tourism and carbon sequestration opportunities outside the identified zones of protection.
This project identifies several responses to this reoccurring event and plans for the health, safety and welfare of the Galveston Bay region, subject to severe environmental forces. Each measure taken would be evaluated to maximize both the economic benefits to the local community and the potential for enhancement of the environment.
Posted by The Coastal Resilience Team
Future of Freeways: Gran Via, Barcelona
How can a transportation corridor be diversified? Is there a way to do this and make it more efficient and flexible? The Gran Via in Barcelona, designed by Arriola & Fiol Arquitectes, is a notable precedent for its activation of a single-use sunken freeway. This project carefully orchestrates uses, creating a sectionally-rich transportation corridor from… Read more »
How can a transportation corridor be diversified? Is there a way to do this and make it more efficient and flexible?
The Gran Via in Barcelona, designed by Arriola & Fiol Arquitectes, is a notable precedent for its activation of a single-use sunken freeway. This project carefully orchestrates uses, creating a sectionally-rich transportation corridor from an existing sunken freeway. With fast traffic in the central trunk, 3.5m cantilevers form lower-speed service roads, accomodating a tramline and parking below while reducing noise and air pollution exposure to nearby neighborhoods. Bridges were placed every 400m (3 blocks) for cross traffic.
Custom-designed acoustic barriers arc over the central carriage way, cupping the infrastructure but not covering it entirely. The resulting inclined sections that connect service roads to neighborhood streets (20%) were turned into green spaces for public use (Kelly Shannon, Marcel Smets. “Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes.” The Landscape of Contemporary Infrastructure. Rotterdam: NAi Publishers, 2010. 100-101.)
Although there are some notable exceptions (e.g. the I-105 has light rail integrated), Southern California highways are designed for private vehicles, and therefore privately-funded transportation. Access to this public amenity is limited to a certain class. Los Angeles highways are simultaneously democratic (a one-size-fits-all for trucks, vans, cars, and motorcycles) and discriminatory (to a class of people who don’t have the funds to support vehicle ownership). Could a project like the Gran Via work in the U.S.?
Multilevel Infrastructure
Arriola&Fiol
Posted by Guest Author
Future Infrastructures: Atlanta Connector
The Atlanta Connector will remain the City’s most significant and visible infrastructural corridor for the foreseeable future, so any transformation has to embrace the Connector as an integral part of the City of Atlanta. This project aims–not to make the Connector disappear–but to use the Connector as a transformative piece of the City’s open space… Read more »
The Atlanta Connector will remain the City’s most significant and visible infrastructural corridor for the foreseeable future, so any transformation has to embrace the Connector as an integral part of the City of Atlanta. This project aims–not to make the Connector disappear–but to use the Connector as a transformative piece of the City’s open space network. Join the discussion on our Facebook page.
This transformation strategy will use a melding of art, landscape, engineering and urban design to create layers of interest to the fabric of the Connector, affecting how the city is perceived and ultimately how it functions. Further, the transformation of the Atlanta Connector will recalibrate the national conversation on the role of infrastructure in our cities and towns, putting Atlanta on the forefront of urban design issues centered on redefining infrastructure as public space
Over the last decade and a half Downtown and Midtown Atlanta have become models for urban redevelopment. Thousands of new housing units; millions of square feet in new office space; expansion of educational and cultural facilities; and over $50 million in transportation improvements, public safety initiatives, and environmental enhancements have reshaped Atlanta’s urban core into a vibrant, walkable, cosmopolitan center. The condition of the Connector stands in stark contrast to our improved urban centers. The project involved visioning for the 5-mile stretch of highway from the I-75/I-85 merge on the north end of Midtown Atlanta to the I-20 interchange near Turner Field south of Downtown Atlanta. This vast expanse of pavement carries 300,000 vehicles per day, and is marked by aging infrastructure, concrete retaining walls, and limited landscaping and maintenance.
In its current state, the Connector creates a decidedly negative environment for the City of Atlanta, damaging both the visitor’s opinion of the City and its urban fabric. This in turn affects connectivity, transit ridership, tourism, and ultimately tax revenues and jobs in the urban core. As the Connector was built and rebuilt over the last 60 years it has slowly taken on a character that is divorced from the aspirations of the City of Atlanta. The well tended streetscapes, parks, and urban fabric of Downtown and Midtown Atlanta is absent from the visual fabric of the Connector. The academic institutions that line the Connector (Georgia Tech, Georgia State, Emory, and SCAD) have turned their backs on what could be Atlanta’s front door. A “DMZ” like zone of parking garages, vacant lands, and service drives has sprung up between the Connector and the City that it was intended to service.
This transformation strategy will use a melding of art, landscape, engineering and urban design to create layers of interest to the fabric of the Connector, affecting how the city is perceived and ultimately how it functions. Further, the transformation of the Atlanta Connector will recalibrate the national conversation on the role of infrastructure in our cities and towns, putting Atlanta on the forefront of urban design issues centered on redefining infrastructure as public space.
The vision advocated in this document is that of freeway moving through a green and lush landscape punctuated by art and urban incursions into the fabric of the freeway corridor. The Connector is embraced and cared for as an integral part of Atlanta’s open space system and people move freely along and across it. Dramatic gateways crafted from the landscape announce arrival into the City and serve as a marker of a special place along a travelers journey. Lighting is used to extend the effects of the transformation creating a shift in attitude from day to night. The complete composition becomes a stately museum space full of wonder and opportunity, serving as a showcase of Atlanta’s unique place in the world.
The core strategies that will be employed along the length of the Connector involve greening, light, art, and ultimately, urban design interventions across and along the Connector. These strategies are used to modulate and recalibrate the existing infrastructural surfaces of the freeway in a manner that adds depth and meaning to Connector experience, and by default, the visual (and ultimately physical) experience of the City.
Greening strategies form the foundation of the transformation. The permeable spaces along the Connector’s margins and within its immense interchanges will hold a vibrant, robust and legible urban forest canopy. Urban forests will be crafted to create gateways at the north and south entries into Atlanta’s urban core. These forests will follow threads of unused open space into the heart of the City, enhancing views, hiding vacant properties, and forming a medium through which the City is viewed. Where space or safety considerations limit the inclusion of forests, vertical greening strategies will be employed to continue the thematic greening of the Connector and the City. While these greening strategies will have nascent effect on regional sustainability and clean air initiatives, they are not seen as offsetting the intensely negative effects of the 300,000 vehicles per day that use the Connector. At best they will be a window into the regional appreciation of sustainable design practices and a point of departure for reducing and discussing the effect of heat island, storm water, and air quality on the City.
Inserted into the verdant green fabric of the Connector are art and light elements purposely crafted to interact with, and activate the surfaces of the Connector. The art of the Connector will transcend traditional labels with all elements, greening, lighting and art, working together to create the Museum of Freeway Art (MOFA) – a first-order art tourism destination whose mission is to transform the Atlanta Connector, and the national appreciation of art and freeway. The museum is created by co-opting the complex spatial character of the Connector as a museum space crafted with both the high-speed traveler and the neighborhood viewer in mind. Retaining walls, bridges, tunnels, and the furnishings of the Connector becomes a framework of museum walls and spaces. Super graphic murals, lighting effects, slow motion video, and sculpture will be used to highlight the natural and cultural history of Atlanta. Like its sister museums and cultural foundations in Atlanta, MOFA will have a permanent collection, rotating collections, membership, a board of directors, a national level curator, and a museum shop. By refocusing the conversation about the Connector from that of freeway to a museum space, a much richer, intensive and transformative design solution can be achieved.
Over time, new urban spaces will be created above and along the Connector that seek to take advantage of the Connector. Urban parks, promenades, trails, pedestrian bridges, and development projects are envisioned as a series of urban insertions that ripple through the City fabric as new connections are made and old ones are reinvigorated.
As the Connector is transformed from negative to positive, the public realm, private properties, and institutions along its margins will realize the positive attributes of the new culture growing within this new found public space. The end result of the transformed Connector will be an Atlanta that is outwardly welcoming to freeway users; the City will see increased walk-ability, access to transit, and stronger neighborhoods; visitors will learn something new about the City, its aspirations, and its place in the world. The economic incentives behind the project include increased tax base as properties along the Connector are repurposed or developed as vibrant mixed use districts, which in turn promotes urban living and an influx of creative class residents from around the greater Atlanta region.
During a six-month period between May and October 2011, Midtown Alliance and CAP/ADID oversaw a planning process utilizing local planning professionals and a nationally renowned landscape architecture and urban design firm. The planning process benefitted from valuable monthly input from two advisory groups and from a series of public involvement events and opportunities. A Leadership Team of high-level decision makers worked in tandem with a Creative Team of local design professionals to provide strategic advice on design and implementation. Additionally, outreach efforts included numerous interviews with key stakeholders, a public workshop, social media outreach, and an online survey. The consultant’s scope of work involved attending monthly meetings with the leadership team, creative team, stakeholders, and the general public. Ideas and design concepts were generated and vetted with these groups over the 6 month design process. Consensus building among the myriad stakeholders was at the heart of the project so that the goal of an implementable series of projects could be documented.
The final document produced for this project included detailed inventory and analysis of the Connector, and adjacent properties. The design work and recommendations were built upon this data and informed by the public and stakeholder involvement process. In addition to the grand vision outlined in the plan, the consultant also created detailed design guidelines and cost estimates aimed at early win projects that could be quickly funded and implemented. Early implementation is underway with local philanthropic organizations joining forces to fund projects.
Posted by The Atlanta Connector Team
on 9 February, 2012
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Herb Robertson
Herb Robertson is an avant-garde jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist and composer. He combines a thorough command of traditional and extended techniques with a prodigious imagination.
Born in 1951 in New Jersey, he began to play trumpet at age ten in his elementary school’s fifth grade class. He was introduced to jazz two years later by his junior high school music teacher, who turned him on to the music and recordings of Miles Davis, Donald Byrd, Freddie Hubbard and other great jazz trumpeters. In his early teens, Robertson began collecting jazz and classical records, intensely listening to and absorbing all styles, from Louis Armstrong to the avant-garde, with special emphasis on the era’s hard-bop style of jazz. In high school he led a quintet that played dances and specialty concerts. After high school, during the years 1969-73, he attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston as an instrumental performance major, a period in which his improvisational skills became highly developed. In 1973 he left Berklee to go on the road in Canada as a lead trumpeter with various jazz-rock cover bands.
In 1975 Herb Robertson had to quit playing music for a short time when the strain of performing nightly in loud jazz-rock bands caused him to temporarily lose his trumpet chops. Robertson altered his playing style, becoming a more lyrical and explorative artist. In 1976 he started a rehearsal big band, while also playing in smaller ensembles with some of the more creative avant-garde musicians of New Jersey. He then met alto saxophonist Tim Berne in the late 1970s where he first gained attention for his playing with Berne’s groups during the years 1981-87. His lyricism, tonal distortions and use of mutes looked back to jazz’s past, while his freer improvising was quite futuristic, fitting in very well with Berne’s music and passionate alto playing. During this period he also became a member of long time collaborator and bassist Mark Helias’ groups.
Robertson recorded his initial leader album in 1985, and has since appeared on over 100 recording projects. As a leader he began putting together his own adventurous bands in 1986 and has recorded for the JMT, Splasc(h), Clean Feed, Leo, Nottwo, CIMP and Cadence labels. His groups since 1987 include The Double Infinitives, the Herb Robertson Brass Ensemble, The NY Downtown All-stars and various groups with Dominic Duval, Jay Rosen, Paul Smoker and Phil Haynes. He has worked with many of the major names of the avant-garde and modern mainstream jazz including Anthony Davis, Bobby Previte, David Sanborn, George Gruntz, Bill Frisell, Paul Motian, Dave Ballou, Lou Grassi’s Po’ Band, The Fonda–Stevens Group, Nexus, The London Jazz Composers’ Orchestra, Barry Guy’s New Orchestra, Michael Moore, Terry Jenoure, Andy Laster, Joe Lovano, Judi Silvano, John Lindberg, Gerry Hemingway, Zlatko Kaucic, the Satoko Fujii big band, Marc Ducret, Simon Nabatov, Mark Feldman, Steve Swell, Pierre Dorge’s New Jungle Orchestra, Mark Solborg, John Zorn, Phil Haynes, Paul Smoker, Roswell Rudd, Jim Yanda, Elliot Sharpe, the Klaus Konig Orchestra, Rashied Ali, Ray Anderson, Paul Motian, Dewey Redman, Evan Parker, Agusti Fernandez, Jean-Luc Cappozzo, Frank Gratkowski, Simon Nabatov, Michiel Braam, Matthias Schubert, Mark Dresser, the Charlie Haden Music Liberation Orchestra, Satoko Fugii, Wilbert De Joode, Wolter Wierbos … among many others. He has been cited as an important influence by trumpeter Dave Douglas. Herb Robertson, who has composed music for dance, theater and documentary films, also plays valve trombone, tuba, the Eb alto horn and “little instruments” and has performed at almost all European, American and Canadian festivals and American jazz clubs.
In 2005, he, along with Dr. Ana Isabel Ordonez, started their own record label to promote avant-garde jazz and new music in its most extreme forms. Both Herb Robertson and Ana Isabel Ordonez became business partners and named the company Ruby Flower Records, releasing some great new music recordings. Herb Robertson left the company in 2009 to concentrate more on his own personal creative endeavors. Whether it’s complex large group arrangements or free form duets, Herb Robertson brings his wide knowledge of jazz history along with his original voice and adventurous spirit to each session.
contact: Herbrobertson@aol.com
Posted on March 9, 2015 by Herb Robertson
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Simon Kenevan.
Free Spirits I
Simon Kenevan was born in London in 1963, but while he was still a child he moved to the south coast of England. He has fond memories of these idyllic early days, describing himself as free-spirited, running barefoot in the sand and climbing trees. At a young age when his family separated, Simon learnt to be self sufficient and self contained. This independence has remained with him ever since, and has been in part responsible for the poignant and reflective qualities in his paintings.
After leaving school in 1982 Simon joined the crew of a fishing boat, reaffirming his lifelong relationship with the sea. As soon as he managed to save enough money he bought a 14ft rowing boat, fulfilling his ambition to work alone and become closer to the natural environment. It is from this time in his life that he dates the start of his real love affair with the elements, becoming aware of the inspiring majesty of the sea and sky, and the sheer power of the wind. Although both his parents were artists, art did not feature as a tangible part of his life, yet the solitude brought about by his work gave rise to much thought and observation, and sowed the seed for his future career.
As time passed Simon began to translate some of this experience into artistic compositions, and discovered an amazingly rich talent. In 2003 he settled in the USA and a whole new world opened up for him. Here he encountered a school of painters, the “Sublime” movement, that was to have an immense influence on his artistic path. These pioneering 19th century artists were attracted by the scenic breadth of the diverse continent of North America. As Simon says, “I know that I experience the landscape with the same spiritual intensity as these artists did, and like them, I aim to inject that divine inspiration into every piece of work I produce.”
Simon is now creating the finest work of his career and has been named as a finalist in the DeMontfort New Artist Competition 2006. His inspirational pastel seascapes are sold across Europe and the USA.
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Public’s knowledge of child abuse policies
The percentage of people who answered the questions incorrectly. The statements below are all true.
If a child is being abused, law does not require a child to be taken out of home - 71%
Someone who fails to report suspicions could be charged with a misdemeanor - 61%
Every person is required to report suspected maltreatment - 39%
A person cannot be sued if they are wrong about their suspicions - 39%
A person reported for child maltreatment is not allowed to know who reported them - 28%
You can make an anonymous report - 14%
Source: UNH’s Crimes Against Children Research Center.
Required reporting
Law says you must report suspected child abuse
By Ryan Lessard news@hippopress.com
What do you do when you suspect a child living in the apartment next door is being abused or neglected? Maybe you heard yelling, maybe you spied bruises, but you didn’t witness actual abuse. The decision to report suspected abuse may seem like a difficult one, with many unknown ramifications — but what most New Hampshire residents don’t realize is the decision has already been made for them. State law requires everyone to report suspected child abuse, not just child care professionals.
A recent study by researchers at the University of New Hampshire found that a significant minority of adults in the state weren’t aware they were legally required to report even just suspected child abuse. The study seems to suggest that this disconnect has its roots in a generational culture shift and a lack of faith in the system meant to protect children.
This comes as state child protection services are under heightened scrutiny over their ability to protect children in the wake of several infant and toddler homicides.
Experts say prevailing public misconceptions about how the system works are the greatest barrier to neighbors and family members doing their part.
“Many people are confused about what the law entails and have a lot of misperceptions about what actually does that mean, to report child abuse,” said Wendy Walsh, the chief researcher of the UNH study.
For Walsh, the most surprising finding in this study was that 39 percent of respondents didn’t know they were legally required to report suspected abuse. And a majority, 61 percent, didn’t realize they could be criminally liable and charged with a misdemeanor if they failed to report suspicions of maltreatment.
Participants were asked to answer six questions to test their understanding of the law, the reporting process and a reporter’s anonymity, but only 5 percent answered all six questions right.
This is troubling for child protection workers who rely heavily on the public being their eyes and ears. Still, it’s not that surprising to professionals.
Lorraine Bartlett, the director of the Division of Children, Youth and Families, noted that although New Hampshire is one of 19 states with a universally mandated reporting law and has had that law on the books since 1979, only about 30 percent of the reports Child Protective Services receives are from nonprofessional members of the public.
And when Bartlett reviewed the findings of the UNH study, she noted a clear age difference in how likely the participants were to report abuse and how correctly they answered questions about the process.
The older the participants were, the less likely they were to answer the questions correctly. Bartlett thinks that may be partly due to a different mindset among older generations that generally favor less state intervention in family affairs.
“I wondered if generational values and differences in beliefs about how a public child welfare agency should or should not intervene with a family impacts people’s not only knowledge but willingness to report,” Bartlett said.
Meanwhile, younger participants were more likely to call CPS while older participants were more likely to call the police.
While the reticence to intervene was among the top three factors identified in the study, with 29 percent saying it is “somewhat important” and 12 percent saying it is “very important,” other factors like the time it takes to make the report and a belief that nothing would be done to help the situation were given greater importance by respondents.
About 52 percent said their assumption that nothing would be done to help the situation was a “very important” factor. This might have links to the greatest misconception identified in the entire study.
“Many adults think that after they call and report something that child protective services are going to swoop in and automatically take the child out of the house,” Walsh said.
But state law does not require this, even if abuse is happening. Of those who answered this question, 71 percent got it wrong.
And for those who fear making a report could make a bad situation worse, this misconception could be the difference between someone picking up the phone or not.
“You can imagine if someone has this perception … it might give them reason to pause,” Walsh said. “That’s just such a huge barrier to deciding to make the call.”
This is the first study of its kind for the state and only the second in the nation, according to Walsh. She concludes there’s a need for improving awareness of the legal requirements and dispelling the myths that keep people from reporting possible abuse.
“To me, that shows that we really need to be doing a better job educating the public about what happens after a report is made,” Walsh said.
Social worker myths
Think back to that hypothetical scenario. You have clues, but no proof. But should your suspicion be trusted? Then you think about the stakes; this is someone else’s family, someone’s childhood. What if making the call will place the kid in an understaffed and overworked foster care system with its own risks and disadvantages?
Bartlett said these are normal questions to be asking.
“You’re thinking, how much information do I need to know or give? What are the potential ramifications for me when I make a report? What are the potential ramifications for the child or the family?” Bartlett said. “I think often times people ask themselves, ‘Boy, am I just gonna make it worse?’”
But, Bartlett said, these fears, by and large, are unfounded. Removing a child from a home happens rarely, for the most serious cases, and only after every attempt to keep the child with their family is made.
“The Division of Children, Youth and Families’ goal is to maintain children in their own home whenever possible,” Bartlett said.
And the next step, if removal is necessary, is to find an extended family member to care for the child. Even then, for many cases, reuniting a child with their parents can still happen down the road when the conditions that led to the abuse or neglect are resolved.
So, she said, everyone should err on the side of caution and report what they suspect. It may amount to nothing at all, or it may protect the child from a dangerous situation. Some families who are reported may actually get access to resources to help them get food, clean up a living environment or find addiction treatment or parenting training. Each situation is different, but most neglect cases are a symptom of poverty or mental illness and those folks often need help.
Walsh said that as long as success stories from reporting suspected abuse or neglect remain untold, the exaggerated image of CPS workers as state enforcers dispatched to break up families stays unchallenged.
Bartlett recalled a recent success story of a woman addicted to opioids who gave birth to a baby with withdrawal symptoms; it’s known as neonatal abstinence syndrome. The workers at the hospital where she gave birth reported it to CPS in January.
And instead of immediately prying the baby from its mother’s arms, the CPS worker met with the mother, coached her on safe sleeping, helped her make arrangements to stay with her parents while undergoing outpatient treatment and after the mother demonstrated her ability to care for her newborn, it was released from the hospital.
The CPS worker followed up with two visits, both two weeks apart, and found that she had been continuing her treatment and her parents said the young mother and child were doing well. The case was closed in late February and the CPS worker left her card with the mother, saying she should call if she needs anything.
Making a report
Bartlett said there are currently 10 intake personnel who answer the main line when someone calls in a report, each of them veteran CPS workers. And DYCF is in the process of hiring a CPS worker for each field office to extend coverage to 8 p.m. The agency is also looking into eventually offering 24/7 support coverage, which is one of the ideas floated by lawmakers in the recently created Commission to Review Child Abuse Fatalities.
The intake workers on the phone are well-trained, Bartlett said, and inform reporters of what’s going to happen every step of the way.
If there’s enough information to trigger an assessment process, a CPS worker will speak with the family being reported and inspect the living situation, or, in extreme cases, involve law enforcement for a full investigation.
In many cases, the report gets filed away for a year if there isn’t enough information to act on it. If other reports follow, it may trigger an assessment.
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History of St Patrick’s Day Parades Around the World
New York City and the First St. Patrick’s Day Parade
St. Patrick Day Parades Around the United States
Dublin, Ireland’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade
St. Patrick Day Parades Around the World
St. Patrick’s Day, named for Ireland’s patron saint, is celebrated around the world on March 17 with parades and other festivities. The earliest parade was held in the 1760s in New York City by Irishmen serving there in the British military. During the 1800s, when Irish Catholic immigrants faced discrimination in Protestant-majority America, St. Paddy’s Day parades became an opportunity to show strength in numbers. Today, cities across the U.S. have longstanding traditions of St. Patrick’s Day parades, and the holiday is commemorated by people of many ethnic backgrounds. However, in Ireland, where St. Patrick’s Day has been a religious feast day since the 17th century and a public holiday since 1903, it wasn’t until the late 20th century that the government started sponsoring a large-scale, international festival and parade in Dublin, the capital city.
The first St. Patrick’s Day celebration in America took place in Boston in 1737, when a group of Irish Protestants gathered to honor their homeland’s saint, a 5th century Christian missionary who died on March 17, 461, according to some claims. In the 1760s, when America still consisted of 13 British colonies, a group of Irishmen serving in the British army in New York City started the tradition of parading on St. Patrick’s Day. In the 1800s, Irish fraternal and charitable societies in New York sponsored their own parades in various parts of the city before merging these individual events into a larger parade.
As Irish Catholic immigrants came to the U.S. in increasing numbers in the 19th century (from 1820 to 1860, more than a third of all immigrants who arrived on American shores were Irish), they encountered prejudice and discrimination. In the 1840s and 1850s, the Know-Nothing movement promoted a nativist, anti-Catholic agenda. (When those involved in the movement were questioned about their activities, they were supposed to say, “I know nothing,” which is where the name came from.) Against this backdrop, St. Patrick’s Day parades in New York and other U.S. cities became a chance for the Irish to show strength in numbers as well as pride for their cultural heritage.
Today the parade, which travels 1.5 miles up Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, is billed as the world’s oldest and largest St. Patrick’s Day parade. Among the approximately 150,000 marchers are politicians, school children, bands, bagpipers, police, firefighters and other municipal workers. In accordance with tradition, a green line is painted along Fifth Avenue to mark the parade route, and floats and cars are banned from the procession. Since the 1850s, the parade has been led by the 69th Infantry Regiment. Formed as a militia unit composed of Irish Catholic immigrants, the 69th Infantry started heading up the procession in order to protect marchers from potential violence by those who disliked the Irish.
The biggest St. Patrick’s Day parade in New York took place in 2002, with an estimated 300,000 marchers and 3 million spectators. The entire parade paused for a moment of silence to honor the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which had devastated the nation six months earlier.
In 2016, the parade was shown on live TV for the first time in Ireland and Great Britain.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 32.7 million Americans, or one-in-ten, identified themselves as being of Irish ancestry, making it the second-largest ancestry group in the U.S. after Germans. Boston, a city with a large population of Irish Americans, has officially held a St. Paddy’s Day parade since 1862. Philadelphia traces its tradition of parades to 1771. Savannah, Georgia, has been hosting a parade since the early 1800s, and today it’s one of the largest in the country. Chicago has three processions—the South Side Irish Parade, the Northwest Side Irish Parade and, since 1956, a big parade downtown.
The now-famous Windy City tradition of dyeing a section of the Chicago River green in honor of the holiday started in the early 1960s. Since 2004, Hot Springs, Arkansas, has been home to what’s labelled the world’s shortest St. Patrick’s Day parade. It covers a distance of 98 feet and draws some 30,000 spectators. Additionally, there are more than a dozen communities in the U.S. named Dublin. Those that hold parades include Dublin, California, and Dublin, Ohio.
A religious feast day in Ireland since the 17th century, St. Patrick’s Day became a national holiday in 1903. Low-key observances were typical into the 20th century, and until the 1970s many pubs were closed for the day. (Before the pub rules changed, the Royal Dublin Dog Show, which fell on St. Patrick’s Day, was a popular destination for dog lovers and non-dog lovers alike because it was the only place in the city where alcohol was sold legally).
Starting in the 1920s, there was a military parade in Dublin. In the 1950s, the parade’s focus shifted to promoting Irish industries but by the 1970s it had become a more standard procession, intended to entertain. In the mid-1990s, the Irish government, in an effort to boost tourism, launched a multi-day St. Patrick’s Day Festival, featuring a parade, performances and other events. The annual parade now attracts more than half a million spectators, many of whom sport shamrocks and the colors of the Irish flag, green, white and orange. (Irish eyes weren’t smiling in 2001, when the parade was postponed for two months due to an outbreak of foot and mouth disease.)
On the island of Montserrat in the British West Indies, St. Patrick’s Day is a public holiday that’s celebrated with a weeklong festival and parade. The island was colonized by Irish Catholics in the 17th century and early generations of European settlers were Irish. Nicknamed the Emerald Isle of the Caribbean, Montserrat’s official passport stamp is a green shamrock.
Among the many other locations where St. Paddy’s Day now is observed, the Canadian city of Montreal is the site of a large annual parade that’s been held continuously since 1824. There’s been a parade in Tokyo, Japan, since 1992, and one in Oslo, Norway, since 2000. Auckland, New Zealand, has had a parade and festival since 1995. People there can get a jump on the majority of the planet when it comes to celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, as Auckland is 13 hours ahead of Dublin and 17 hours ahead of New York City.
https://www.history.com/topics/st-patricks-day/history-of-st-patricks-day-parades-around-the-world
The History of St. Patrick's Day
St. Patrick's Day Address
St. Patrick’s Day Recipes
Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present.
History of St. Patrick’s Day
St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated annually on March 17, the anniversary of his death in the fifth century. The Irish have observed this day as a religious holiday for over 1,000 years. On St. Patrick’s Day, which falls during the Christian season of Lent, Irish families would ...read more
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St. Patrick’s Day Traditions
St. Patrick’s Day is a holiday known for parades, shamrocks and all things Irish. From leprechauns to the color green, find out how symbols we now associate with St. Patrick’s Day came to be, and learn about a few that are purely American invention. The Shamrock The ...read more
Who Was St. Patrick?
St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, is one of Christianity’s most widely known figures. But for all of his prevalence in culture, namely the holiday held on the day of his death that bears his name, his life remains somewhat of a mystery. Many of the stories traditionally ...read more
Everyone is a little bit Irish on St. Patrick’s Day! Now you can cook like it too. Saint Patrick’s Day is a day for celebrating Irish history and tradition. Below is a selection of classic Irish recipes, and a few modern variations, for you to try out this Saint Patrick’s Day. ...read more
How St. Patrick’s Day Was Made in America
Every March 17, the United States becomes an emerald country for a day. Americans wear green clothes and quaff green beer. Green milkshakes, bagels and grits appear on menus. In a leprechaun-worthy shenanigan, Chicago even dyes its river green. Revelers from coast to coast ...read more
St. Patrick’s Day Myths Debunked
Myth: St. Patrick was Irish. Though one of Ireland’s patron saints, Patrick was born in what is now England, Scotland or Wales—interpretations vary widely—to a Christian deacon and his wife, probably around the year 390. According to the traditional narrative, at 16 he was ...read more
In America, St. Patrick’s Day, on March 17, has long been commemorated with rollicking festivities, but until recent decades, the holiday, which honors Ireland’s patron saint, was traditionally a more solemn occasion on the Emerald Isle. The man for whom St. Patrick’s Day is ...read more
Halloween Around The World
Halloween, one of the world’s oldest holidays, is still celebrated today in a number of countries around the globe. In Mexico and other Latin American countries, Día de los Muertos—the Day of the Dead—honors deceased loved ones and ancestors. In countries such as Ireland, Canada ...read more
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Ypsilanti Real Estate
Ypsilanti, and adjacent Ypsilanti Township, with a combined population of about 74,000, are located on Ann Arbor's eastern border. Many of Ypsilanti's residents work at the businesses and industries located in Ypsilanti; others work in Ann Arbor and surrounding communities, or eastward in the greater Detroit area.
Starting in the 1920's, Ypsilanti began to play a role in the development of the automobile, and auto production continues to be an important part of Ypsilanti's economy today. Ypsilanti really hit the map during World War II, when Henry Ford's Willow Run B-24 bomber plant became the first to produce the planes on an assembly line, turning out one bomber roughly every hour. The Yankee Air Museum and its annual Thunder over Michigan air show at the Willow Run Airport are popular destinations recounting the history of that time.
Ypsilanti is home to Eastern Michigan University, founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School; EMU now enrolls about 24,000 undergraduate and graduate students. With 12 parks in the city, and another 30 in the township, recreational opportunities are many. A number of the parks flank the Huron River or Ford Lake, offering access to a variety of water sports. Throughout the year, a number of special events dot the calendar; among the most popular are the Elvisfest and the Ypsilanti Heritage Festival.
View Ypsilanti Neighborhood Videos
Many housing styles and ages are found in the Ypsilanti area, from stately Italianate and Queen Anne examples to newly built neighborhoods.
Discover Ypsilanti
Ypsilanti, Homes for sale
Search For Properties in Ypsilanti
View All Ypsilanti Listings
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John Mayer displays ‘third nipple’ during online talk show
John Mayer has displayed his “third nipple” during the latest episode of his Instagram talk show.
The singer-songwriter re-launched Current Mood with John Mayer, a 45-minute live program featuring music, guests, and jokes, on Sunday night (27Jan19).
During the show, John chatted with Watch What Happens Live host Andy Cohen, and somehow the conversation diverted to the topic of nipples.
“I have three nipples. This is a Current Mood first,” the Free Fallin’ hitmaker said, to which Andy replied: “No, this is a world exclusive!”
John then lifted up his shirt and pointed to his left nipple and the “supernumerary nipple” underneath. But even after touching his pal’s nipple, Andy wasn’t convinced.
“You’re the worst doctor ever! I showed you something with a medical name and you kept going, ‘It might be!'” the star laughed, before the Bravo TV presenter quipped, “I’m no doctor, obviously, but is it a mole of some sort?”
Andy went on to ask if John ever feels “marginalised” as someone with a third nipple, and he explained that he’s “doing alright” and is a “lucky one”.
“Is your third nipple sensitive?” Andy continued, to which John commented, “No, but my first and second aren’t either.”
A supernumerary nipple, which is also called an accessory nipple, are sometimes mistaken for moles. Most third nipples are harmless and do not need any medical intervention.
Yet, John isn’t the only celebrity with the condition. Mark Wahlberg, Harry Styles, Tilda Swinton, and Lily Allen have all spoken about having third nipples, while Carrie Underwood once divulged that she made the decision to have hers removed.
#JohnMayer
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If mediation fails, day-to-day hearing in Ayodhya row: SC
New Delhi, If mediation fails, then the Supreme Court may begin day-to-day hearing in the Ayodhya dispute, said the apex court on Thursday while hearing an application filed by one of the parties representing the Hindu community.
The application was moved on Tuesday by Gopal Singh Visharad to list the dispute for adjudication saying there had been no progress in the mediation process.
His counsel and senior advocate P.S. Narasimha mentioned the matter before a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose.
The counsels representing the Hindu parties contended that the dispute had been pending for 69 years and the nature of mediation deployed to resolve the row did not appear to be heading in a positive direction.
"Eleven joint sessions have been held, but it seems inconclusive... Difficult to sort out through mediation," contended the counsel.
Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, representing one of the Muslim litigants, said the application was an attempt to scrap the mediation process and the counsels of Hindu parties were not fair in criticizing the methodology of the committee set up to resolve the Ayodhya row.
A Constitution bench headed by Gogoi called for a report from the committee regarding the progress on mediation. If it is observed that there is no progress, then day-to-day hearing can begin from July 25.
Narasimha contended that not much progress had been made in the first round of mediation process, which was initiated by the top court.
The court allowed him to file the application and said it will see to his plea for listing.
On May 10, the Supreme Court extended the term of the mediation committee till August 15.
The court said the members of the committee were not experiencing any difficulty in the mediation process.
It observed that the Chairman of the committee, former Supreme Court judge F.M.I. Kalifulla, had indicated progress in mediation and sought extension of time to complete the task.
The court refused to divulge the details on the mediation efforts.
The court observed that the mediation process can be extended if required.
The court's observation came after a report was submitted on the mediation efforts.
Senior counsel Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for one of the Muslim litigants, told the court that they have no objection to the mediation process taking time.
Iqbal Ansari, the son of Muslim litigant Hashim Ansari in the Ayodhya case, said: "This matter is very old and the issue cannot be resolved in two months."
The Kalifulla panel has Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and senior advocate Shriram
Panchu as its other members.
The mediation is taking place at Faizabad, close to Ayodhya.
The other judges on the Supreme Court bench were Justice S.A. Bobde, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud,
Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice S. Abdul Nazeer.
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Could Hamilton lift trophy made in Kent?
Written by Andrew Bruce
The Kent-based trophy company Aford Awards is set to supply trophies they’ve designed and made for the British Grand Prix for the third time!
The Bearsted-based company say “it feels like scoring a hattrick!” to have been asked to create the awards again for the race at Silverstone this weekend (12th-14th July).
Lewis Hamilton lifted the trophy made by Aford Awards in both 2016 and 2018.
Managing Director, Jon Ford, said: “As we specialise in motorsport awards it’s crucial that we can supply the pinnacle of the sport.
“We collaborated with our design partners from previous years to come up with a range of designs which F1 then picked from.
“The team we have to create the designs are very skilful and creative people so I’m always confident we can come up with a design that can inspire anyone.
“The awards normally take around 6 weeks to make after the design process is complete.
“The materials used need to be ordered and then cut to shape and sometimes anodised to make them the correct colour.
“The process is very detailed so time is taken to make sure the awards are exactly as the design.”
This all comes as the company say they’ve reported a record year so far.
Jon adds: “For us here at Aford Awards the early part of the summer is extremely busy from May through to the end of July as that is when most sports are in full flow.
“We make and create a large volume of Football awards as well as motorsport awards during this period.
“We are just coming out of peak season now and have had a record year so far, the team here at Aford Awards have been working their socks off to get orders delivered on time ready for presentations all over Europe.”
To celebrate the achievement Aford Awards has donated 4 tickets to watch the Grand Prix, to families at Demelza Hospice Care for Children.
The charity provides care and support for seriously ill children, young people and their families across Kent, East Sussex and South East London.
For more on Aford Awards, visit: https://www.afordawards.co.uk/
TAGS: Aford Awards
This entry was posted on Thursday, July 11th, 2019 at 9:45 am and is filed under Featured, Motor Racing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
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Trump’s remarks at Susan B. Anthony List 11th Annual Campaign for Life Gala
Washington, May 22 (Just News): THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Wow. Thank you very much. Thank you, Marjorie. Thank you, Marjorie, for that wonderful introduction. All my friends are out here. (Applause.) Thank you very much. Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you very much. Thank you. Please. (Applause.) Thank you. Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you.
Thank you very much. I appreciate it. So nice. And I’m thrilled to be here tonight at the very first -- and as the very first President to address this incredible group of people. I have a lot of friends in the audience. They are incredible people. (Applause.)
And I’d also like to thank the Susan B. Anthony List Chairwoman, Jane Abraham, and her husband, the Honorable Spence Abraham, for hosting this beautiful gala. (Applause.) Thank you both. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Beautiful job.
And we’re also very glad to be joined by many wonderful members of Congress, including the legend from Louisiana, a very brave guy, Steve Scalise. Where is Steve? Where is Steve? (Applause.) Hi, Steve.
So I was going to ask all members of Congress to stand, but there’s a short list. Should I just -- we have to do this, right? (Laughter.) They’re fighting for you all the time, right? Don’t you think? (Applause.) All right.
You have Steve. Steve, stand. You have no problems standing. This guy is in better shape than all of us. (Applause.)
Kevin Brady. Where is Kevin? What a man he is. (Applause.) How are you? Thank you. Thank you, Kevin.
Steve Daines. Steve Daines. Hi, Steve. (Applause.) Thank you, Steve. Great.
Where’s Roger Wicker? Roger. Roger. (Applause.) Right. You know the problem with this, Roger? We’re guaranteed to leave a few out, and they’ll never speak to me again, but that’s okay. (Laughter.) I’ll have you stand if I did that.
A man who has been so incredible on television to me, Andy Biggs. Congressman Andy Biggs. Where’s Andy? (Applause.) Thank you, Andy. Now I don’t have to call you and thank you. (Laughs.) Thank you, Andy.
Marsha Blackburn. Marsha, good luck. (Applause.) Will hopefully be our next senator from the great, great, great state of Tennessee. (Applause.) Good. And I just saw some great numbers on you, by the way.
Where’s Steve Chabot? Where is Steve? Steve. (Applause.) Steve. Steve. How are you, Steve? Good help.
Kevin Cramer, who is leading. He’s leading in his Senate rate. Kevin. Where is Kevin? (Applause.) Kevin, you’re leading
You know, we have a lot of people that are leading these races. And a number just came down from Reuters. You know, we were, a few months ago, 16 down in the generic poll -- whatever that’s supposed to mean because nobody really knows what it means. But all I know is we were 16 down. Reuters just came out two hours ago, and we’re one up. That’s big difference. (Applause.)
And they say that, to win, we have to be, like -- if we’re six down, we’re in okay shape. But we’re one up. That’s pretty good. So that’s for the senators and for the congressmen and women. So that’s it. But you’re doing fantastic, Kevin.
Sean Duffy. Where is Sean? Where is Sean? (Applause.) Thank you, Sean. Great job.
Ron Estes. Ron. Thank you, Ron. (Applause.)
Jeff Fortenberry. Jeff. Thank you, Jeff. Good job. (Applause.)
A friend of mine for a long time, Virginia Foxx. Virginia. (Applause) Thanks, Virginia.
Representative and Mrs. Greg. Okay, where’s Susan? Susan Gianforte Where is he? Boy, he is a good -- he is a good campaigner. Great job. (Applause.) Great job. Thank you, Susan.
Representative and Mrs. Andy -- you know, they wrote this out. They said, “and Mrs. Andy and Nicole.” So we’re just going to say it: Andy and Nicole Harris. Stand up, please. Thank you. Great. Thank you. (Applause.)
A man who is -- I hope he’s here because he’s so busy. But a man who is a true champion. NCAA Champion for numerous years. Like, I’m not sure he ever lost a match. Somebody said he’s like 141 and 1, but that’s not bad. Jim Jordan. Where is he? (Applause.) Jim Jordan. Where is Jim? He is -- thanks, Jim. Thanks. Great champion.
Mike Kelly. I watched him the other day. He was debating Maxine Waters. That was not a close debate. (Applause.) That was not a close debate, Mike. They should all be so easy. Right, Mike?
Congressman Steve King. (Applause.) Do you think Steve is conservative enough? Where is Steve? Hi, Steve. Is Steve conservative enough, folks? I don’t know. You don’t get more conservative than Steve, right? Thank you, Steve.
Congressman Joe Lesko and Debbie -- Mrs. Lesko. (Applause.) Where are you? Thank you, folks. Thank you, Debbie. Thank you.
Dan Lipinski. (Applause.) Thanks, Dan.
Keith Rothfus. (Applause.) Good person. Thank you, Keith. Great job. Great job you’re doing.
Oh, this man. Central casting. I watch him all the time. Don’t know him well, but I’ll get to know him. John Rutherford. Where is he? John. Central casting. (Applause.) Great job, John. He’s always defending me. Actually, most of you are always defending me, and that’s okay. (Applause.)
And from my neck of the woods, Claudia Tenney. Thank you, Claudia. Thank you.
And for those many that I’ve left out, I’m sorry. But I said, “Give me a totally complete list.” And I will call you tomorrow, and I will apologize personally. All right? (Laughter.)
But every day, between now and November, we must work together to elect more lawmakers who share our values, cherish our heritage, and proudly stand for life. (Applause.) And that is a great group of people I introduced, I can tell you that.
We’re also glad to be joined by a beloved member of my administration, a true fighter for faith and family, and your 2018 Distinguished Leader, Kellyanne Conway. Kellyanne. (Applause.) What a job. What a job she’s done. (Applause.) She is some fighter.
She’ll do the shows that nobody else dares go near. She’ll just -- I’ll say, “Do this one or that one.” “No problem, sir.” Others say, “Sir, do you think I could take a pass, please? I beg you, please.” (Laughter.) Great going, Kellyanne. Thank you. What a help. What a help. (Applause.)
Finally, to all of the friends, activists, and supporters of the life movement who are here this evening -- so many, this was a record crowd -- your hard work helped us to achieve this historic victory, our historic victory, one of the great victories of all time in politics. That beautiful, beautiful evening. November. Remember that evening? Could it have been more beautiful? (Applause.) 2016. Ah, that November 8th, 2016.
On the other side, you had some very unhappy campers, (inaudible). (Laughter.) They were not happy. They were going to have a big, beautiful party. Didn’t turn out to be such a good party. (Laughter and applause.)
Now, for the first time since Roe v. Wade, America has a pro-life President, a pro-life Vice President, a pro-life House of Representatives, and 25 pro-life Republican state capitols. That is pretty good. (Applause.) That is pretty good. Wow. That is pretty good.
When I ran for office, I pledged to stand for life. And as President, that’s exactly what I’ve done. And I have kept my promise, and I think everybody here understands that fully. (Applause.)
One of my very first acts as President was to reinstate the Mexico City Policy, to prevent taxpayer dollars from funding abortion centers overseas. (Applause.) It’s a little reminiscent of Ronald Reagan.
A few months later, with Majorie in the Oval Office -- she was sitting there with us, and she stood then and signed legislation to overturn the rule that forced states to fund abortion providers with taxpayer dollars. (Applause.) Majorie was there with me.
We’ve appointed a record number of judges who will defend our Constitution and interpret the law as written. (Applause.) And we’re putting onto the bench a record number of judges. And in a short period of time, we were going to have and are going to have probably the all-time record for the appointment of judges. And I’m very excited about that. (Applause.)
My administration has also take bold action to protect religious liberty. (Applause.) And today, we are making another historic announcement. For decades, American taxpayers have been wrongfully forced to subsidize the abortion industry through Title 10 federal funding. So today, we have kept another promise. My administration has proposed a new rule to prohibit Title 10 funding from going to any clinic that performs abortions. (Applause.) Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you very much. We’re also seeking passage of the 20-week abortion bill, which would end painful, late-term abortions nationwide. (Applause.) The House just passed the bill, but Democrats in the Senate are doing everything within their power to block it, although some are actually on our side. But they are working overtime to block it
So the story is, 18 midterms -- we need Republicans, and that will happen. On this issue, like so many other issues, the Democratic Party is far outside the American mainstream. (Applause.) Far outside. The United States is one of only seven countries in the world to allow elective abortions after 20 weeks, when unborn babies can truly feel the pain. Yet Democratic senators like Jon Tester, Heidi Heitcamp, Claire McCaskill, Debbie Stabenow all voted against the 20-week bill and in favor of late-term abortion.
AUDIENCE: Booo --
THE PRESIDENT: Got to get out and vote. We are nine votes away from passing the 20-week abortion bill in the Senate, so we have to get them out there. The Democratic senators are up for reelection in 10 states that I won by a lot. And I think we’re doing very well. We have some of those folks that are running right now, and they’re doing very, very well. Going to have a big, big surprise in six months. Big, beautiful surprise. (Applause.)
If we work hard between now and November, every one of these states can be flipped to a senator who shares our values and votes our agenda. Democrats like to campaign as moderates at election time, but when they go to Washington, they always vote for the radical Pelosi agenda down the line. (Applause.)
Can you imagine having Nancy Pelosi as the Speaker of the House?
THE PRESIDENT: No, can you imagine? That’s why we’re putting in place a massive campaign for a midterm victory this November. We will need to elect more members of Congress who will protect life, support our military, secure our borders, and grow our economy, and continue making America great again. (Applause.)
While Democrats in Washington are resisting progress, my administration is delivering progress for hardworking Americans each and every day, and we’re doing some job. Since the election, we have created more than 3.3 million new jobs. (Applause.)
And if I would have said that prior to the election, those people back there -- you know who that is, right? That’s called “the fake news, fake news.” They would have said, “What a ridiculous statement. He’s saying he’s going to project 3.3 million new jobs? How ridiculous is that?” Well, guess what? We did it (Applause.) Fake news.
Something I’m very proud of: African American unemployment is at the lowest level in history. (Applause.) Hispanic unemployment is likewise at the lowest level in history. (Applause.) Women unemployment is at the lowest level in 19 years. (Applause.) And something you haven’t heard for 21 years: Wages are rising at the fastest pace in more than time -- they said 21. I did hear 19. I have to be very accurate with these folks. (Laughter.) Let's put it this way: Wages are rising at a very fast level. Very fast. (Laughter and applause.) Got to be very careful. You know, when you say something, if it's like a little off -- if I was off by a week and a half, it's a headline tomorrow. (Laughter.) "We got them now!" (Laughter.)
Something very important -- small business optimism -- is the highest that it's ever been, ever recorded. (Applause.) And our great House Ways and Means chairman, Kevin Brady, who joins us tonight, has done an incredible job. Thank you, Kevin. (Applause.)
With his leadership, Republicans passed the biggest tax cut and reform in American history. And we doubled the child tax credit. (Applause.) And we're going to be -- with Kevin and the entire group, we're going to be submitting additional tax cuts sometime prior to November. It's going to be something very special. You see what it's done for the country. It's going to be something very, very special. (Applause.)
And, by the way, Nancy Pelosi and the group -- you heard her the other day -- she wants to raise your taxes. They want to get rid of the tax cut bill and raise your taxes. Somehow I don’t think that plays well, but you never know, right? Wants to raise your taxes.
And my presidential budget was the first in history to include a proposal for nationwide paid family leave. (Applause.) Good, Steve. Good. We want to honor the invaluable time parents spend with their newborn children.
On foreign affairs -- you've been reading a lot about foreign affairs -- we're getting very high marks on foreign affairs, actually. We are, as a country, respected again -- it's been a long time -- (applause) -- because we've restored American strength and confidence. Our military -- and we just had it approved -- $700 billion. It's historic funding for our great military. (Applause.) $700 billion.
And we have left the horrible one-sided, miserable Iran deal. It's gone. (Applause.) One of the worst deals ever negotiated. We get nothing. We get nothing.
We've moved our embassy to Jerusalem. (Applause.) Thank you. And we are renegotiating trade deals to bring jobs and wealth back home to America where they and it belongs -- (applause) -- working hard on the trade deals.
But if Democrats gain power, they will try to reverse these incredible gains. These are historic gains. They will try and reverse many of them. So your vote in 2018 is every bit as important as your vote in 2016 -- although I'm not sure I really believe that, but you know. (Laughter.) I don’t know who the hell wrote that line. I'm not sure. (Laughter and applause.) But it's still important. Remember that.
That's why we will be campaigning for every last vote in every part of our great country. We will be campaigning for the votes of all Americans, whether they're registered as Democrats -- and we got a lot of Democrats voting for us, as you know, in '16. A lot. They couldn’t believe it. They could not believe it. (Applause.) We got a lot of Barack Obama voters voting for us. We got a lot of Bernie Sanders voting for us. Can you believe it? Mostly people that didn’t like getting ripped off on trade -- Bernie Sanders voters. He was right about that. But he wasn’t able to do anything about it.
These are people that want a government that protects faith, family, and life. (Applause.) To support Republican candidates, I have helped raised a record-breaking $175 million for the Republican National Committee. Nobody has ever been close. (Applause.)
And as part of our unprecedented effort, our great Vice President, a true leader in the pro-life movement -- Mike has been a true leader -- has been working to elect more and more Republicans. We will be appealing to voters all across America who previously sent a Democrat to Washington, only to discover they elected a proxy vote for Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi. These are people that don’t believe in borders, don’t believe in fighting crime, don’t believe in making a strong military. They don’t believe in what the people in this room believe -- that I can tell you. (Applause.) So we have to do a great job.
If Democrats ever gained power, they would try to put up the taxes -- so many things -- open those borders. They don’t want walls. They don’t want people stopping. And the other day -- just the other day -- Nancy Pelosi came out in favor of MS-13. That's the first time I've heard that. She wants them to be treated with respect, as do other Democrats. That's not going to be happening. We're not going to release violent criminals into our country.
We're going to shut down everything we have to shut down, and we're going to open up the great American energy. We are going to open up our energy. And in all fairness, that's already happened. We are now a net exporter of energy for the first time. (Applause.)
And we all know what a Democratic majority would mean, especially for the people in this room, on the Supreme Court. These are the stakes on Election Day, and this is why you need to fight for victory in November. We can't be complacent. What happens, historically, a tremendous percentage of the time: You win the presidential election, you become complacent, you're happy. "Oh, we won. Isn't it wonderful?" Then you have -- another election comes up, pretty quick -- two years. All of these congressmen can tell you. You see the senators. They like their term a little bit better. (Laughter.) How about changing some of them to two years, too? I don’t think it's going to be. (Applause.) That would be a tough vote in the Senate, wouldn’t it?
But all of a sudden, you come up again, and they get complacent. They say, oh, we just won, so we sit back. The other side has energy, and they win. It's a tremendous percentage of the time. I honestly don’t believe that's going to happen this time, and it's starting to show up in the polls. (Applause.) Really don’t believe it.
Every values voter must be energized, mobilized, and engaged. You have to get out there. This organization bears the name of one of the greatest champions of freedom in American history: Susan B. Anthony. (Applause.) She fought for decades to end slavery, to secure women's right to vote, and to respect the dignity of every single person A great person, a great woman, was she. (Applause.)
Now we have a chance to honor her legacy and restore the first right in the Declaration of Independence. It's called the right to life. (Applause.) Here with us this evening are Lisa and Bruce Alexander, and their family, from Gaithersburg, Maryland. Good place. In January of 2012, the Alexanders attended the March for Life, and God put it in their hearts to adopt a beautiful child. Two years later, in January of 2014, the Alexanders got a call that a baby had been born, who was opioid-dependent. She desperately needed a loving home. She was in serious, serious trouble. And the Alexanders welcomed her into their home with wide-open arms. (Applause.)
After the baby was treated for opioid withdrawal, they brought home their new and very beautiful daughter, Catherine. Hi, Catherine. Hi. (Applause.) Come on up here, Catherine. Come on. Catherine is four years old, and she is full of incredible energy, spirit, and talent. At the age of two -- come on up, Catherine -- she memorized "America the Beautiful." She recites poetry. And recently she announced to her dad that when she grows up she wants to be a famous police officer. And then, when she gets tired of that, she wants to become President. That's okay with her. (Applause.) She'll be President someday.
Every time Catherine's older siblings come home from school, Catherine runs into their arms and gives them a great, big, beautiful hug. They're amazed by how much she loves them and how much they love her.
So tonight, we celebrate you, Catherine. We celebrate your life. Thank you, darling. (Applause.)
And we celebrate all lives. We celebrate the loving choice of adoption. Catherine reminds us that every life is sacred and that every child is a precious gift from God. So true. (Applause.)
As the Lord says in Jeremiah, "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you…Before you were born, I set you apart." When a mother and a father hold a new baby in their arms, they are changed forever. When a child says "Mommy" or "Daddy" for the first time, there is nothing like it anywhere in the world. No matter what you do, there is nothing like it. And when parents watch their children thrive and grow, they're filled with joy beyond words, and a love beyond measure. You know that -- everybody in this room. (Applause.)
When we look into the eyes of a newborn child, there is no doubt we see the beauty of the human soul and the mystery of God's great creation. We know that every life has meaning and that every life is totally worth protecting. (Applause.) Thank you very much.
When we stand for life, we stand for the true source of America's greatness. It's our people -- our people are great. It's the people who grace our lives, who sustain our communities, and who make America a nation, a home, and this magnificent land that we all love so much.
As long as we have faith in our citizens, confidence in our values, and trust in our God, then we will never, ever fail. (Applause.) Our nation will thrive. Our people will prosper. And America will be greater than ever before. And that's what's happening. (Applause.)
So this November, vote for family. Vote for love. Vote for faith and values. Vote for country. And vote for life. (Applause)
I want to just end by thanking the Susan B. Anthony List. You are very, very special people. It's a great honor for me to be here tonight. Thank you to everyone. Thank you to life and liberty. God bless you, and God bless America. Thank you very much. Thank you.
(Justnews/ys/1300hr)
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Leroy Jenkins
TED PANKEN'S CHICAGO TRANSCRIPTS
October12 1993, WKCR-FM New York
copyright © 1993, 1999 Ted Panken
[Music: "Computer Minds" from Live]
Q: I think a lot of people who have admired your playing over the years have bemoaned the paucity of appearances and chances to hear you in different situations.
LJ: Yes.
Q: So we'll try to rectify that a little bit, and hear a number of situations that you've documented. A CD with the electric band, Leroy Jenkins Live, is out. A solo CD will be coming out in the near future on Lovely Music.
LJ: Yes. I did it in Santa Fe. It's going to be called Santa Fe, in fact. I did it at the Contemporary Arts Center there. That's typical of what I do a lot. I play a lot of contemporary museums, alternative performance spaces. I do quite a bit of that throughout America. Not too much in Europe, but throughout America. In just about every little town and big town, you have some . . .
Q: You're on the circuit.
LJ: I'm on the circuit somehow or another. That's true. Maybe not a whole bunch a lot, but enough to kind of manage to keep the water a little below the nose, you know -- since I'm an artist and you're supposed to have a nose in the water all the time.
Q: You've also been getting some commissions for compositions, and I believe we'll be hearing some of that material as well.
LJ: Right. I have. In fact, I started off around '86 or '87 with the Brooklyn Philharmonic, and afterwards the Kronos Quartet commissioned a piece, which is coming out on CRI -- not the Kronos version; the Soldier String Quartet is doing it. So I'm just everywhere. Trying to be everywhere anyway.
What's cued up now is the Overture to my opera. The opera I wrote and had played in Munich and in Aachen and in Houston, Texas and at the City Opera here. So I've had about 25 performances in all. Anne Green wrote the libretto, a very fine writer with whom I hope to collaborate with in the future. Bill T. Jones directed and choreographed. The recording was done at WDR in Aachen, Germany, which is a small opera house there near the border of the Netherlands. I'm the soloist. The name of the opera is The Mother Of Three Sons.
Q: Over the years you've been involved in a lot of what I guess what one might call cross-genre improvising. In the press these days, the idea of what are the boundaries or definitions are starting to be thrown around by various people.
Q: Now, you are from Chicago, and started out as an alto saxophonist and disciple of Charlie Parker in the 1940s, as you once described to me.
LJ: Mmm-hmm.
Q: What are your feelings vis-a-vis definitions of the music? Do you feel that they are useful in any way? Do you feel they have any bearing on the contemporary musical world?
LJ: Well, no. I think the only bearing it has is that it serves to split the musical world. But I think it should be called "American music." Because just about anything American in music has a bit of jazz in it, or blues. I don't care. I mean, if you're talking about American music, you're going to have a bit of jazz and a bit of . . . I mean, even the composers that were aware, that tried to be aware that came to America from Europe, their music changed. Stravinsky, all those guys. When they came here, the music was in the air. So of course, they had to employ some of it. I mean, it's just hard to miss or hard to ignore. So I think if we just cut out all the things and just say "American Music," that would . . . Even the classical American music; there are a few Classical writers who are familiar with jazz and sometimes employ that in their music -- the writing part; not necessarily the improvisation, but the writing. They hear that. I mean, they couldn't help it, because it's just in America.
The different definitions have only served so far to confuse people. Even myself. Really. I really don't know myself what I play, except American music. Usually somebody in America, that's what they do . . . If you tell them you're a musician, they say, "What kind of music do you play?" And sometimes I really don't know what to say. The reason I don't want to say jazz is because that might mislead them, because usually people think of jazz in a one-dimensional way -- not that jazz is one-dimensional, but they think of it like that. And I'm not like that. I mean, I'm spread out all over the place. I'm an artist, and in order for me to survive, I have to play American music. I can't deal with jazz per se.
Q: It seems to me that part of this debate, as it goes on, would say that you as a violinist, if you're not dealing with, say, what Stuff Smith and Eddie South and so forth and so on played, then you're doing something that's other than jazz. LJ: Mmm-hmm.
Q: That seems to me kind of limiting. But I'm wondering if you could talk about some of the people, violinists and composers, who have really made you take heed and been signposts for you in your development.
LJ: Well, I'll tell you, just about all the greats. I've been listening for 50 years maybe. Blues, pop, anywhere from Nat Cole to Mahalia Jackson to . . . Well, Charlie Parker was the one that sort of said, you know, "I want to play music." He was my idol as a teenager, the great idol of my teenage years, and he was the one that made me pick up the alto and become a part of jazz. Before that, I was mostly a violinist who played teas and weddings and things like that around Chicago. And I went to the Regal Theatre and saw all the great bands -- Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong. I saw all those guys, too, but being that I was a violinist, I thought I'd never play in a big band like that, because I never saw one -- except Ray Nance, he did a little bit now and then.
Q: A Chicagoan as well.
LJ: Yes, he was a Chicagoan.
Q: Who came under Captain Walter Dyett's wing at Phillips High School about 15 years before you encountered Captain Dyett at DuSable.
LJ: Well, yeah, probably some way or another. If he wasn't as a student, he probably gigged for him, because Captain Dyett had a lot of bands -- he had outside bands after school. But I didn't really meet Ray Nance until I came to New York. When I first came to New York I met him, because he was living not too far from where I was, and I used to see him a lot.
Q: Particularly in the 1920s Chicago was full of black violinists, and there was a lot of demand for them because there were many theatre and established dance bands, like Erskine Tate, Doc Cooke, Charles Elgar and people like this.
LJ: That's right.
Q: Then when the bands began to dissolve because of talking pictures and the Depression, there were all these strong violinists with no work.
LJ: Yes, that's true.
Q: Did you have good teachers?
LJ: Oh, yes. O.W. Frederick was my teacher. He was one of those violinists you're talking about, that played shows and churches and teas and things like that. He had a little orchestra. One of the reasons why I took lessons from him is because I knew if I took them long enough, I'd get in his working orchestra. He would play a lot of teas. We didn't make a lot, two or three dollars, but that was a great prestige for me in those days to do that. So I kind of like hurried up to try to be a good violinist so I could play in his orchestra and play these different things, which I did. And maybe when talkies came in and everything, Mr. Frederick had to go look for another kind of way to work, and he started to teach and play teas and things like this. Walter Dyett had also been a former violinist, and he also had to teach. Because things started to change in Chicago. Talkies came in and they didn't have to use musicians as much as they did. So a lot of the players had to make allowances for that.
[Music: Electric Quintet, "A Prayer"]
Q: The AACM was a very important institution for you in your development as a musician.
LJ: Yes, it was.
Q: Would you talk about your introduction to the AACM and how it affected the course of your music?
LJ: Well, in 1964 I was still sort of pursuing bebop or whatever you want to call it . . .
Q: On the violin?
LJ: On the violin, right.
Q: A thankless task.
LJ: Yes, it was. I mean, I was trying to find a voice. Let's say I was doing that when I could, and trying to find a voice of my own in the meantime. What happened is that my teacher, Bruce Hayden, who was a teacher I'd had at Florida A&M, came to Chicago to work and play -- because he wanted to be in a city and play. Anyway, one night he had a gig with Muhal, and afterwards Muhal told him about the AACM and all that, and he came and told me about it. They were having a concert one night by Roscoe Mitchell, and I went. So my first introduction to the AACM was a concert by Roscoe Mitchell.
Q: In 1964?
LJ: In 1964.
Q: What did it sound like to you?
LJ: Oh, it was quite different. I mean, it was something I couldn't explain. It was something I had never heard before. I liked it, but I didn't know what they were doing. I remember during the intermission, my teacher, who I always looked to to give me answers, instead was asking me what was it. And I didn't know what to tell him, and of course, I knew he couldn't tell me. So we both were quite befuddled as to what was happening. But we liked it. It was very exciting, what they were doing. The instrumentation, two bass, two drums, a tenor -- it looked a little lopsided.
Q: Do you remember who was playing with Roscoe?
LJ: I can't remember exactly, but I think Kalaparusha Difda was playing, and a couple of drummers. I can't remember exactly . . .
Q: Alvin Fielder might have been one of the drummers.
LJ: Yeah, Alvin Fielder was one of the drummers. It wasn't Roscoe's regular group, because in the AACM there were so many drummers, or this or that. So every time a player, artist or composer was getting ready to do a concert, he could just have his choice of all these different people. But I remember Kalaparusha and Alvin Fielder. Anyway, that's been quite some time. But it was very influential.
Muhal was working the door. That was the policy at the time; they would always get another one of the brothers to operate the door to recruit. So I went up to him and asked him about maybe coming around and joining it, and he said, "Come around. Listen a couple of times before you play." Anyway, I had my instrument in the back of my car; you know, in Chicago you drive, so I had this car. So I put it in my trunk, and I went down without it. Then after a while I could see that things were loose and I should just go back. So I went upstairs and got my violin and came on down.
The guys immediately included me into the proceedings, which wasn't all the time reading music. Sometimes it was just different improvisations strung together under different instrumentations. I mean, it was very experimental. And Muhal was the director. Sometimes he would point to three of you, and three would play, and then maybe one would play, and then maybe everybody, and then everybody would fade into one. It was beautiful. I'd never heard anything like that. They were orchestrating right before your very eyes. Orchestrating improvisation. That's what it was like.
Boy, that was really something to me, even though I was playing in a little more orderly fashion than I am now, or let's say a more traditional fashion. These guys were squawking and squeaking and making sounds and doing different things, and I was still playing little snatches of changes because I didn't know anything else. Besides, in those days I didn't have an amplifier, so I couldn't be heard that much, especially on the loud parts when everybody was playing together. Anyway, I was still mystified and quite excited by the prospects of it. You know, there were times I thought I didn't know if I liked this music, or maybe these guys are a little crazy -- because they were of their little enclave, so to speak.
But they were all together, and that was something unusual. I mean, in those days where in Chicago drugs were prevalent and junkies were, too, to see musicians clean like that and together and pursuing something was a revelation for me. So I wanted to be around guys like that; you know, creative guys. That was really the thing that attracted me.
There were times we went to clubs and to the jam sessions, and we'd walk in, and all the beboppers would get off the stage because they didn't want to have anything to do with us. And we'd get up there and we'd play. Usually we'd just do a great noise; we'd start off in fortissimo and end in fortissimo! And sometimes I would look at my fingers, but I couldn't hear anything -- not myself; I couldn't hear me. But it was like a rage. And actually, when we played like that, loud, I know a lot of people thought we were crazy, but actually it became music. After a while, that loudness and that cacophony we were playing started to make sense. You know what I mean? I imagine you'd have to be in it in order to make sense out of it. I don't know. Maybe some people on the outside didn't enjoy it. I think that's why we weren't so popular in those days.
Q: You were having big fun, though.
LJ: We were having big fun, boy. We were running people out of those places, clearing the bar!
Q: Making the club owners love you!
LJ: Yeah, they loved us. We used to clear the bar, boy; they'd get us out of there.
What I liked about these guys is that they felt like what they were doing . . . I wasn't fully won over at the time. When they walked in, Roscoe and Muhal and Kalaparusha and Thurman Barker and Malachi and all those guys, they were like confident that is what was happening, they exuded that confidence, it came over to you -- I mean, you could feel it. So I sort of got caught up in it. And after a little time with anything, you can sort of get an idea of what's happening, and then after that start to do something with it, which I did.
Before that I had been composing music, but mostly for school bands -- because I was a teacher for about eight years before that. But this time I was actually going to write music. Now, at the time, because we were trying to wipe out that vestige for a little while, there was no bebop supposed to be done. Like, sometimes Braxton and I would get together and play "Donna Lee," and Muhal or somebody would say, "No-no, no 'Donna Lee!'" They didn't want to hear it. Nothing like that. In other words, we had to be completely closed off from that. Because I'll tell you, everybody in that group had played bebop one time or another -- everybody.
Q: Why was Bebop a stigma?
LJ: It wasn't a stigma at that time.
Q: Well, whatever it was, why was it frowned upon?
LJ: Well, because at the time, they had joined the enemy camp. They were like the enemy. Because a lot of the big guys of bebop were putting it down. That's how it was. Even though I was a former bebop, now I called myself, we called ourselves making a step further, carrying this Music ahead -- you know, doing the same thing they did. And of course, we were going to get the same reactions they received, and probably from some of them, too. So they become the enemy, so to speak, even though you love them, even though you respect them -- which we did.
Q: You felt you had to do something else to get your own voice.
LJ: That's right. You have to get your own voice. We had to scream and holler and say "Okay, we're here," and that's what we were doing. I think in those days, when we were screaming and hollering . . .
Q: That was the '60s.
LJ: That's the '60s, boy. We were doin' it. I mean, after all, we were testing the fabric of society. And we were black, and we wanted to be equal, and all this was going down, they were killing our favorite presidents, they were killing our leaders. We had a lot to shout about. There was no time for regular orderly music then. We were supposed to shout and cry and stomp, and that's what we were doing.
I mean, it's not like that any more, because we are not like what we were then, even things maybe haven't changed that much. But we are just not like that. We are older, more mature . . .
Q: You hooked up with the people who became the AACM before it actually was the AACM, then the organization incorporated officially the next year, and you became a registered . . .
LJ: A charter member, yes. I kind of lucked out. Because actually, Roscoe and Malachi and Muhal and Joseph Jarman, those guys, they were there before me. But I came in in 1964, just when they were chartering, so I got to be a charter member. I was there all the time from '64 to '69; I was a full- fledged workin'-hard member.
Q: At which time you went to Europe . . .
LJ: Yes, with Anthony Braxton and Leo Smith. Sometimes it was Anthony's group, sometimes it was my group, sometimes it was Leo's group -- it was one of those kind of things. But we were the first or second group of our type in Europe in 1969, and we raised quite a bit of Cain.
Q: You and the Art Ensemble were over there at the same time.
LJ: Yes, they beat us over there by about a month.
Q: And it was also a time when people like Archie Shepp . . .
LJ: Archie Shepp.
Q: Lots of American musicians. Sunny Murray, Philly Joe Jones, Hank Mobley. . ..
LJ: Everybody was there. Philly Joe Jones was there. It was great. I played with Philly Joe! I made a record with him. That was great.
Q: The 1970 date with Julio Finn . . .
LJ: Yeah. Oh, that was wonderful. We had great times over there. We were like living the life of an artist. Braxton and I had a chateau. I mean, we were like big-time. Country boys from Chicago, we weren't used to that kind of thing.
Q: Conquering the Old World.
LJ: Right!
[Music: LJ with Jeffrey Schantzer, "Bluejay On The Fire Escape"]
Q: The Revolutionary Ensemble was the group with which you really entered the public consciousness in the United States in the late 1970s.
LJ: And Europe. All over. It was a very important group for me. A very important time for me, in fact.
By 1970, I was thoroughly indoctrinated into this music and knew exactly what I wanted to do -- and I came to New York looking to do that. Luckily, I ran into Sirone, the bass player, and later Jerome Cooper. So we got together and practiced every day. In fact, we were rehearsing on 13th Street there every day, five days a week, anywhere from 11 to 2 o'clock. I mean, we just hung out. We just played and played, and my art of improvisation got tremendously better, and the group got beautifully tight. And we did a little something, created a little scene around New York, around the East Side, West Side and so forth. We played a lot of places and we had a good time. We did quite a bit. I think we were together maybe about seven or eight years.
Q: Now, you got together a little bit before the real influx of musicians to New York from the Midwest and the West Coast.
LJ: Right. I was here in '70. I was the only one from the AACM here in 1970.
Q: And you participated in the first New York AACM concert, which was later documented on Muse Records as the Creative Construction Company.
LJ: Actually, I got that together. I was working in connection with Kunle, who was running an art shop, kind of an artifacts shop called Liberty House on Bleecker Street. I was working there. I mean, he played Art Ensemble records, played all the AACM records, he had rugs, different little artifacts, incense -- it was a beautiful shop. And all the musicians hung out there. I met a lot of musicians. Cecil Taylor came through there, Albert Ayler. I got a gig from Albert Ayler. He came in one time; he was looking for a violinist. He'd heard about me. My friend Moravia brought him in. So he said he'd like to hear me and find out. So we said, "Well, we've got a place upstairs . . ."
Q: Albert Ayler had been using violins in his ensembles since the mid '60s.
LJ: Right. So we closed the shop, went upstairs and started playing. He said, "Okay." So we had a gig. I did a gig with him in Springfield, Massachusetts. And I was going to work a little more with him, but as you know, he died around that time. I mean, he mysteriously died. It was kind of mysterious at the time. Very frightening, too, at the time, because I was new here, and when I heard that happened, I said, "Wow! Maybe I bit off a little too much coming up here to New York."
Q: Ornette Coleman was playing a lot of violin then, too, and the Artists House thing was very active.
LJ: Right. Ornette plays the violin backwards.
Q: How so?
LJ: Well, he has the G-string . . . I mean, he plays it left-handed. He's self-taught, so his style is completely unique. Completely unique. Whatever he does, you can believe it's not happening nowhere else. He's bad! I stayed in his house when I first got here, for about three months or so, and I played that violin. He had very good violins. He had very fine violins, in fact. And I played his violins while I was up there, practiced a lot when I was living in there. I was answering the phone for him when he got out of town, stuff like that. But not only that, it was a musical thing, but I was able to help a little -- because he was besieged, of course. I didn't realize he was so famous until I got here, really, to tell you the truth. I thought all the guys that were playing this kind of music were scuffling, you know. But when I came here, I saw he wasn't. I mean, he said he was scuffling, but to me, on my level, he wasn't scuffling. He had this great, beautiful loft . . . Oh, it was just a great period. We used to hang out up there. Dewey Redman, Braxton, Cherry, Blackwell, all those guys used to hang out with him. It was a very nice period.
Q: Getting back to the Revolutionary Ensemble and the piece "Chicago," which we'll hear performed by your electric quintet, whichyou've been working with for ten years or so, on several recordings. Have you been able to function with this band a fair amount?
LJ: Well, not really. I think the reason why I haven't is that I haven't been in a position to really try as much as I could, because for the last four, five, six, seven years, I've been doing a lot of composition, and it's kept me kind of busy and it got me out of the performing thing. However, over the years, I have been hitting three, four, five times a year with them. Of course, I do a lot of different formats. But whenever I do make a tour like this, where I can use the band, then I'll use this instrumentation.
Q: What is it about this instrumentation that appeals to you so much?
LJ: Well, the violin, I think, has to rely on electronics for the sound, as far as the volume, to compete with the drums. The guitar, too. The synthesizer just naturally has that sound. And then you have the electric bass. The sounds are very clear. You don't have to do a lot of other things to make the sound come out. Actually, we do it just to kind of get the clarity, for the most part. I mean, when we get a good sound check, I think the electronic instrumentation does this well. It gives it a kind of balance without having to press for it. The violin that I'm using now is actually a solid state violin, like a guitar. It's made out of the same kind of material as a guitar; it's very shiny and everything, and it's solid state. And the sound comes through the amplifier more than the violin.
Q: Is this the violin you're performing with in most situations now?
LJ: No, no. I still play acoustical.
Q: So with the electric band you're using it.
LJ: Yes. Or with a band where I have a lot of instruments that I have to sort of blend with, yes, I use that.
Q: How long have violins like that been available? How did you get turned on to them?
LJ: Well, they haven't been available that long. When I first came to New York, I didn't have anything. I just thought I'd be able to play acoustical violin. But I soon found out that it wouldn't be possible to do that and come through. So I started using a pick-up. So I did that with the Revolutionary Ensemble; I used an old pick-up that I kind of wrapped around my tail-piece in some precarious way. Sometimes it would fall off. Then after a while Barcus- Berry I think came up with one where it was in the bridge, it was more stable, and it had a pretty good sound. It was a little heavy on the lower strings and a kind of brittle. Then after a while, I guess ten years ago, maybe more than that, the violin company that I'm now using, Zeder(?) Violin, they've come up with this instrument . . .
Q: Where is that made?
LJ: It's made in Oakland, California. And a lot of violinists are using them. Even some classical players are using them, because it has a very good sound. It sounds like a violin, and you don't have to press as hard, and it sounds very even from the top to the bottom.
Q: Will this make Stradivariuses obsolete?
LJ: Oh, no way. Give me a Stradivarius any time. I think if I had a Stradivarius, I might be able to deal without amplification, because they're so powerful, and I wouldn't have to kind of worry . . . Well, I probably would maybe a little bit, because the decibel level of a Strad compared to what we're doing nowadays, I don't think it would stand a chance.
[Music: L. Jenkins Electric Quintet, "Chicago"]
Q: A caller wanted to know to what degree your music is notated and to what degree improvised.
LJ: I have never really measured it as such. But since improvisation is my main point in music, I try to always employ it. I employ it in everything. When I write music even for the classical people, I put improvisation in there, and they usually scream like banshees.
Q: Still?
LJ: Still.
Q: How do you find the classical musicians now? I'd think they'd have some orientation towards it.
LJ: Well, the reason why they don't have it is because when you say "improvisation," that means to them jazz, so to speak, playing in 12-bar or 8-bar or something like that. That's what they think. But with me it's not that. I mean, with the knowledge they have of their instruments, they could improvise. But they just don't have the concept. All they have to do is just try to play something that would match what's going down in the music at a particular time. What I'll always do, if I'm writing for classical people, I'll have a strain running through the improvised part for them to kind of hang on to. I don't know what it might be, but it will be something that they can hang onto and probably improvise off. Whereas if I write for a group that improvises, I don't have to worry about that.
But answering that question, my string quartet, "Themes and Improvisation on The Blues" for the Kronos Quartet, they're not into improvisation per se, but they were able to do it because I always laid down something that they could hang onto, that they could try to create some interest from that. The improvisation doesn't have to be about bars or anything. It's about feelings, about what you feel you can get out of what's going on. That's what improvisation is about, trying to get something across at a particular time, whether it be changes or non-changes. And it's not free either. Because what I write is usually not free. It's usually contained in a certain amount of bars or the idea that's behind it ends at a certain point.
Q: It's a defined segment.
LJ: It's a defined segment, yes.
Q: The next piece comes from a forthcoming solo violin recital for Lovely Music. You recorded a solo violin concert for India Navigation back in 1978.
LJ: Yes, at Washington Square Church. I sponsored the concert and everything. It was one of the most successful ventures that I had gone into up to that time.
Q: Solo recitals were another aspect of the AACM, on every instrument.
Q: When did you first have to do one?
LJ: Well, I'll tell you, I didn't do any until after Braxton. Braxton did one. It was his idea at first to do this. You know that recording he did for Delmark? He did this solo album [For Alto. I thought he was crazy when he did it, boy, but it turned out so beautifully. It's a great idea. So as a result of that, I went into it.
Q: Is this a pastiche of live performances, or was it taken from one concert performance?
LJ: This is taken from one concert performance. And this particular piece is called "Umm-Chop-Ta-Chum," which is the rhythm behind what I'm doing here.
Q: And this has the "Jehovah" theme which you've recorded in a number of situations.
LJ: Yes, that's my theme. I like that.
Q: "Through The Ages, Jehovah," it used to be called.
LJ: That's it. "Through The Ages, Jehovah," that's what it is. And I should have had that down on this current record, but I didn't. But it's the same.
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July 15, 2019 4:55 pm You are here:Home Local News ‘It’s Immoral’
‘It’s Immoral’
Posted by Editor on October 5, 2017 in Local News | Comments Off on ‘It’s Immoral’
Rally Urges Congress to Pass Relief After Hurricane Maria
By: Ashmar Mandou
Puerto Rican leaders, community allies and Ald. Roberto Maldonado (26th) rallied Wednesday morning to demand immediate federal aid to relieve and rebuild hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico, including eliminating the island’s $72 billion in public debt, which is currently under review in federal bankruptcy court. At the rally outside Merrill Lynch Wealth Management’s offices, members of Vamos4PR—the coalition of community, labor and civil rights organizations fighting for a fair economy for all Puerto Ricans—drew attention to the banks that helped create the Puerto Rican debt crisis and insist on continuing to profit in the wake of Hurricane Maria.
“Instead of thinking about how the island would need resources for the immense rescue, recovery and rebuilding efforts it faces, the banks that have profited from the debt crisis expect to get more,” said Janeida Fuentes, the Chicago coordinator of the National Boricua Human Rights Network and a member of The Puerto Rican Agenda. “It’s immoral to insist that before Puerto Rican families can rebuild their homes, hospitals, schools and roads, they must first pay back the banks.” Merrill Lynch was a leading underwriter for nearly 90 percent of Puerto Rico’s borrowings, reaping billions in fees from a distressed economy. On Tuesday, President Trump visited Puerto Rico in what Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz described the televised meeting with officials as a “PR, 17-minute metting.” More than 90 percent of the three and a half million people living on this island remain without power and phone communities.
During his televised meeting with emergency responders and officials of Puerto Rico, he went out of his way to praise – and seek compliments for – the federal response. Only seven percent of the island has power and more remote parts of the island – a US territory – have been without food, water and basic medical aid. “Every death is a horror,” the president said, “but if you look at a real catastrophe like Katrina, and you look at the tremendous – hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people that died, and you look at what happened here, with really a storm that was just totally overpowering, nobody’s ever seen anything like this.” Trump also pointed to the impact of the cost of storm recovery on US domestic spending, which was already facing a budget shortfall of $72bn, telling Puerto Ricans “you’ve thrown our budget a little out of whack… but that’s fine.”
Following the visit, the White House announced it was preparing to send a $29bn disaster aid request to Congress. Of that, $13bn would be for hurricane victims in Puerto Rico, Florida and Texas, while the other $16bn would be for the government-backed flood insurance programme. Today’s rally in Chicago was part of a day of action in a dozen U.S. cities to highlight the plight of 3.4 million U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico who have no electricity and drinking water, face shortages in fuel and food and are dealing with severely crippled telecommunications. Vamos4PR members called on the federal government to provide Puerto Rico with all the aid it needs and eliminate the island’s public debt.
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Right to buy etc....
Changes over time for: Section 128
Housing Act 1988, Section 128 is up to date with all changes known to be in force on or before 16 July 2019. There are changes that may be brought into force at a future date. Changes that have been made appear in the content and are referenced with annotations.
Changes and effects yet to be applied to Section 128:
[F1128 Preservation of right to buy on disposal to private sector landlord: Scotland.E+W
After section 81 of the M1Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 there shall be inserted the following section—
“ Preservation of right to buy on disposal to private sector landlordE+W
81A Preservation of right to buy on disposal to private sector landlord
(1)The right to buy provisions shall continue to right to buy on apply where a person ceases to be a secure tenant of a disposal to house by reason of the disposal by the landlord of an private sector interest in the house to a private sector landlord.
(2)The right to buy provisions shall not, however, continue to apply under subsection (1) in such circumstances as may be prescribed.
(3)The continued application under subsection (1) of the right to buy provisions shall be in accordance with and subject to such provision as is prescribed which may—
(a)include—
(i)such additions and exceptions to, and adaptations and modifications of, the right to buy provisions in their continued application by virtue of this section; and
(ii)such incidental, supplementary and transitional provisions;
as the Secretary of State considers appropriate;
(b)differ as between different cases or descriptions of case and as between different areas;
(c)relate to a particular disposal.
(4)Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (3), provision may be made by virtue of it—
(a)specifying the persons entitled to the benefit of the right to buy provisions in their continued application by virtue of this section;
(b)preventing, except with the consent of the Secretary of State, the disposal by the private sector landlord of less than his whole interest in a house in relation to which the right to buy provisions continue to apply by virtue of this section;
(c)ensuring that where, under Ground 9 of Schedule 5 to the Housing (Scotland) Act 1988 (availability of suitable alternative accommodation), the sheriff makes an order for possession of a house in relation to which the right to buy provisions continue to apply by virtue of this section and the tenant would not have the right under this Part (other than this section) to buy the house which is or will be available by way of alternative accommodation, these provisions as so continued will apply in relation to the house which is or will be so available.
(a) “secure tenant” means a tenant under a secure tenancy;
(b) “private sector landlord” means a landlord other than one of those set out in sub-paragraphs (i) to (iv) and (viii) and (ix) of paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section 61;
(c)the “right to buy provisions” means the provisions of this Act relating to the right of a tenant of a house to purchase it under this Part and to his rights in respect of a loan.”]
F1S. 128 repealed (30.9.2002) by 2001 asp 10, ss. 112, 113(1), Sch. 10 para. 15(7); S.S.I. 2002/321, art. 2, Sch. (with transitional provisions in arts. 3-5)
I1S. 128 wholly in force at 21.2.1992 see s. 141(2) and S.I. 1992/324, art. 2
M11987 c.26.
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The Prison (Amendment) Rules 2005
2005 No. 869
Whole Instrument without Schedules
Next: Schedule
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1.—(1) These Rules may be cited as the Prison (Amendment) Rules 2005 and shall come into force on 18th April 2005.
(2) The requirement in rule 2 (as substituted by paragraph 1 of the Schedule) of the approval of the Lord Chancellor for the appointment of a District Judge (Magistrates' Courts) or Deputy District Judge (Magistrates' Courts) as an adjudicator does not apply to a person who is approved to act as an adjudicator on the date when these Rules come into force, and such a person may continue to act as an adjudicator for so long as he holds office as a District Judge (Magistrates' Courts) or Deputy District Judge (Magistrates' Courts).
2. The Prison Rules 1999(1) shall have effect subject to the amendments set out in the Schedule to these Rules.
Paul Goggins
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
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£20m redevelopment of Hartlepool's waterfront underway
Also part of the development is the regeneration of the National Museum of the Royal Navy Hartlepool, which includes a new home for Rescue Motor Launch 497 – the Fairmile Credit: Invest in Hartlepool
Work has started on a £20m (US$26.2m, €23.3m) redevelopment of the waterfront of Hartlepool, UK, with the plans set to include a new visitor attraction, viewing deck and water activity centre.
The project at Hartlepool Marina also incorporates a 'Linear Park' around the boundary of the site, including new footpaths, planting, seating and lighting.
Also part of the development – funded by the Tees Valley Combined Authority – is the regeneration of the National Museum of the Royal Navy Hartlepool, which includes a new home for Rescue Motor Launch 497 – a ship that rescued fallen airmen in the Second World War.
"As the waterfront will be developed in phases over a period of time, it's important to deliver a series of initial projects to encourage the use of the site, change the perception of the area and attract investment," said councillor Kevin Cranney, chair of Hartlepool Council’s Regeneration Services Committee.
"The development of Hartlepool Waterfront as a landmark destination is seen as key to unlocking the full potential of the town’s visitor economy.
"The first phase of works will also attract more people which will, in turn, bring economic benefits and start to transform the visitor economy of the town."
Kevin Byrne, managing director at Hartlepool based Seymour Civil Engineering, added: "Securing this key waterfront contract is particularly important for us as we believe the area will play a crucial role in the regeneration of Hartlepool and future tourism opportunities for the town, paving the way to increase its profile as a major leisure and visitor destination.
"Our headquarters overlooks the development and it will be exciting to see the work unfold, working in close collaboration with the council to achieve the shared objective of improving Hartlepool for residents, investors and visitors alike."
Leisure Management - £20m redevelopment of Hartlepool's waterfront underway...
Also part of the development is the regeneration of the National Museum of the Royal Navy Hartlepool, which includes a new home for Rescue Motor Launch 497 – the Fairmile
photo: Invest in Hartlepool
Interview: Louis D’Amore
Louis D’Amore on the work of the International Institute for Peace through Tourism More>>
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Template talk:British colonial campaigns
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1 Rationale for inclusion
2 It is not "your page"
3 Suggest split
4 Northern Ireland, Irish conflicts
4.1 WP:RS that Northern Ireland, 1968–98 is called a colonial conflict
4.2 Replies
4.3 Third opinion
4.4 Request for comment
5 Napoleonic Wars missing!
Rationale for inclusion[edit]
Can someone please explain what the rationale is for including a battle or campaign in this particular template. For example I personally would not consider the Crimean War as a "colonial" war, similarly some of the campaigns in Africa during the First World War would seem to be part of the whole Great War, not a specifically colonial war or campaign. Thanks Dabbler (talk) 23:36, 6 June 2012 (UTC)
Agreed. This template has major problems. Srnec (talk) 02:51, 27 June 2012 (UTC)
Agreed. It confuses campaigns fought in colonials as colonial, and mistakes the acts of third parties like the East India Company as 'British'.Rsloch (talk) 08:33, 31 August 2012 (UTC)
Further I have/will be removing all campaigns that were, not conducted by the British, were part of a larger conflict, or not colonial in nature (eg Falklands War). Please feel free to join in or reinstate.Rsloch (talk) 11:49, 1 September 2012 (UTC)
This template followed suite from the French colonial template. The discussion of whether the African campaigns should be included is neither here nor there despite being in the first world war. The African campaigns were purely colonial. It was one colonial power against another.... Perhaps then the campaigns in the Indian ocean and the Caribbean during the Napoleonic wars should be exempt? ChristiaandeWet (talk) 20:09, 27 June 2012 (UTC)
In my opinion, a colonial campaign is not a war between two colonial powers, especially when part of a major conflict also fought elsewhere such as the Napoleonic or World Wars, but a war to acquire or hold on to a colony, fought against the indigenous people. So the French-British wars in the West Indies even though colonies were acquired or lost were not colonial wars but part of the greater struggle to defeat the enemy by reducing their assets or to acquire strategic positions. Similarly a war against a country if there is no intent to take possession of the land and hold it would also not be a colonial war. Just because one society might be richer or more technologically advanced does not make a colonial war if there is no intent to colonise. The 1982 Falklands War against Argentina might be classed as an Argentinian colonial campaign, but it was not a British colonial campaign as the British were merely defending the rights of the local population to self determination against an imperialist aggressor. Dabbler (talk) 21:17, 27 June 2012 (UTC)
Perhaps then this should be split into British overseas campaigns then these can surely be included. However in the context of German, Dutch and French colonial templates they should be changed to this as well? ChristiaandeWet (talk) 22:43, 27 June 2012 (UTC)
How many British campaigns have not been overseas? There is no need for such a template.
The French template, last time I added to it, was pretty consistent. I don't know about the others but I suspect they all now suffer from the same problem. There is a sense in which the East African campaign of World War II has more in common with colonial warfare than warfare of the kind taking place on the European fronts, but it did not share any of the same purposes as the campaigns associated with the extension of colonial power in Africa during the Scramble. It can be useful to see some continuity, say, from Adowa to Keren (as there was), but it is not useful in a template, where the uninformed reader (the standard kind) does not know what links these campaigns together and what doesn't. Srnec (talk) 23:42, 27 June 2012 (UTC)
It is not "your page"[edit]
I think you have made an error in your Edit Summary at this diff [1]. Please note the following Wikipedia:Ownership of articles and the text at the bottom of every Wikipedia Edit page "If you do not want your writing to be edited, used, and redistributed at will, then do not submit it here. All text that you did not write yourself, except brief excerpts, must be available under terms consistent with Wikipedia's Terms of Use before you submit it." So it is not your page and neither do you "make the rules". Like everyone else you have to follow Wikipedia policy as you have already agreed to by editing. If you have a reason for including non-colonial wars and campaigns then discuss it above do not claim ownershipDabbler (talk) 02:43, 30 June 2012 (UTC)
Apologies for that I will assist in any improvements of this template.ChristiaandeWet (talk) 06:16, 30 June 2012 (UTC)
Suggest split[edit]
While I understand the rationale for this page, it seems to me a bit unwieldy. For instance, might a section be split off for British colonial wars with the Native Americas in North America? That would be smaller and more focused around what were often inter-related conflicts that are as much part of American and Canadian history as British.--Dudeman5685 (talk) 17:19, 31 July 2012 (UTC)
Northern Ireland, Irish conflicts[edit]
I just saw The Troubles in Northern Ireland included here following this edit (restored following reversion here) by User:Gerrynobody. I think it violates WP:NPOV to define this as a "colonial" conflict. Per Gerry's point that it is inconsistent to include other Irish conflicts while excluding the Troubles—true, since the rest of Ireland was also an integral part of the UK from 1801 to 1922, and was an effective client state of GB/England before then—I've removed prior Irish conflicts from the box too. (I've left the Fenian raids in Canada in.) Cheers, — Cliftonian (talk) 13:32, 11 January 2016 (UTC)
Have undone last edit. Please elaborate on why describing the Troubles as a colonial conflict is not WP:NPOV. The fact that the term may be distatsteful to some unionists cannot enter into our judgement surely. I will try to be more constructive than simply stating that it is colonial (and previous conflicts which were also deleted were also), because this rests on more than our own subjective opinion on the matter. A cursory glance at mainstream Irish-British historiography concerning the seventeenth century onwards will show that Ireland is almost universally considered to have been a colony, rather than a 'client state', with a population alien in culture, religion and language from the English. None of this is controversial and the article should reflect widely-accepted research on the subject rather than opinion. Gerrynobody (talk) 17:40, 1 March 2016 (UTC)
Go ahead and present some reliable, scholarly sources in which Northern Ireland, 1968–98 is called a colonial conflict. — Cliftonian (talk) 21:59, 1 March 2016 (UTC)
There's only a rhetorical difference between colony and client state, ask the Palestinians. You should offer RS on why it isn't a colonial war, rather than putting the onus elsewhere.Keith-264 (talk) 22:29, 1 March 2016 (UTC)
No, Gerry is the one wanting to add this, therefore the WP:BURDEN is on him to verify. — Cliftonian (talk) 22:38, 1 March 2016 (UTC)
Came here via notice at MH talk. The burden is on Gerry to produce the reliable sources that describe it as a colonial conflict. As it stands (without such sources), the contention is OR. Cheers, Peacemaker67 (click to talk to me) 23:01, 1 March 2016 (UTC)
Concur. Northern Ireland is (and Ireland was before it) a constituent part of the United Kingdom with full representation in the House of Commons. How can it possibly be regarded as a colony without being POV? -- Necrothesp (talk) 15:16, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
Okay, it's been a week and neither Gerry nor anyone else has come forward with sources to back this up. I'm putting it back accordingly. — Cliftonian (talk) 08:02, 8 March 2016 (UTC)
WP:RS that Northern Ireland, 1968–98 is called a colonial conflict[edit]
Sorry I am just seeing this now. I seem to only get notifications when the page itself, as opposed to the talk page, is modified. To be honest I am surprised that this is even considered controversial but how and ever, I will cite some sources.
Can I assume there is no argument about Ireland being described as a colony in the early modern period? Especially from the time of the plantations in Munster and Ulster onwards (‘plantation’ was a synonym for ‘colony’ then-the words were used interchangeably to refer to both Ulster, Munster, Virginia, Barbados etc.). These were state-sponsored projects with the explicit objective of replacing much of the indigenous Gaelic population with English and Scots; you can’t get much more ‘colonial’ than that. This has been firmly established in the work of D.B.Quinn and Nicholas Canny (see practically anything they published on the subject), and more recently the foremost academics in the field (Raymond Gillespie, one of whose many books is entitled ‘Colonial Ulster’).
Even the doyen of anti-Republicanism, Roy Foster, writes on the first page of his widely-read ‘Modern Ireland’ survey: ‘the English colonial presence in Ireland remained superimposed upon an ancient identity, alien and bizarre.’ It is true that there has been a debate about the uefulness of comparisons to English colonies in North America, but even the most critical of these comparisons have accepted that ‘colonisation became the preferred option in Ireland’. (Hiram Morgan, ‘Mid-Atlantic Blues’, The Irish Review, No. 11, p.51) Can we agree that this holds for the eighteenth century? Certainly the editors of the Oxford History of the British Empire volume on the eighteenth century deems Ireland worthy of a chapter. This was a society in which a colonial settler class, usually termed the Protestant or Anglo-Irish ascendancy, a minority but legally, militarily and economically privileged, differed in language, religion and social origins to the native population of disenfranchised Catholic Irish, who constituted about 70% of the population in the middle of the century, and who were excluded from any role in administering the country.
Perhaps the best proof that Ireland was regarded as a colony at the time is the indignant protests by this Anglo-Irish class that Ireland was being treated as a colony from London. As many unionists continue to argue, they wanted to be treated as if they lived in any other part of Britain. Works like Molyneux’s ‘The Case of Ireland...Stated’ (1698), however, would not have been necessary if Ireland had not been, in fact, a colony. The widespread use in the scholarship of the term ‘colonial nationalism’ to describe this movement again attests to the fact that Ireland is considered a colony by researchers in the field. See for example the standard work on the period: ‘A New History of Ireland, Volume IV’. So this leaves us with the period after 1801 that the term ‘colony’ is being disputed I guess.
Necrothesp has pointed out that Ireland was a constituent part of the United Kingdom with seats in the British parliament. This is true in a formal, legal sense, although this was only the case from 1801 onwards. Was it a colony before that? Again, formally-speaking, it was a separate kingdom, but it would be seriously misleading to take this legal status on face value, and few historians do so. (I should also add the fact that most Irish weren’t allowed to vote until the mid-19th century, rendering the fact that Ireland had seats in the London parliament somewhat meaningless from their point of view). I am getting to Northern Ireland, but seeing as all the Irish conflicts have been removed from the template list now, I feel I have to make some kind of extended justification to cover their inclusion and therefore the last 500 years of history! So...in the nineteenth-century Ireland, despite its formal incorporation into the UK in 1801, is still widely referred to in academic texts as a colony.
I would be the first to admit that this description is not without its caveats and detractors. David Fitzpatrick (not known for his sympathies towards republican or nationalist interpretations either) writes in the ‘Oxford history of the British empire vol 3’, (p.494): ‘The formal Union of the kingdoms of Ireland and Great Britain masked a hybrid administration with manifest colonial elements, allowing variant interpretations of the character of Ireland's dependency. Was Ireland an integral part of the United Kingdom, a peripheral, backward sub-region, or a colony in all but name?’ There were, therefore, some anomalous features about Ireland that made it unique among Britain’s colonies. The fact that it is included in Oxford’s standard reference work on the empire, however, suggests to me that there is a considerable body (notwithstanding dissenting voices) of opinion in academia that views Ireland as a colony up to independence, and by extension, the conflict in Northern Ireland as rooted in the tensions inherent in settler colonial situations. Despite formal incorporation into the UK, Ireland’s status as a colony is most often argued in terms of its actual treatment by the ‘mother country’ as oppposed to legal status or avowed intentions.
The retardation of southern Irish industry, the disdain for the native population and the social engineering that exacerbated the famine-these are all things that bespeak a colonial form of rule over a subject people who are widely deemed by the metropole to be inferior. From everything I’ve read on the subject, Michael Hechter’s book, ‘Internal Colonialism’ (1975) describe best the way Ireland was economically ‘condemned to an instrumental role by the metropolis’ which, Hechter argues, is the ‘pattern of development characterising the colonial situation’. (p.30) I can provide a raft of further citations to support this if necessary, but this post is getting long enough already. Terrence McDonough (ed.), ‘Was Ireland a colony?: economics, politics, and culture in nineteenth-century Ireland’ (2005) is an excellent introduction, and includes critique of this colonial analysis as well as support.
Finally, to the part of Ireland that remained a constituent part of the UK after 1922, Northern Ireland. Once again, it has to be stressed that to argue simply from the area’s de jure status that Northern Ireland is not a colony but a constituent part of the UK is insufficient and not reflective of academic discourse on the subject. To take the same logic would be to argue that Algeria was not a colony from 1848 onwards when, technically, the area consisted of three départements, legally-speaking as integral to the French state as Paris was. The same is still true today of French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte and Réunion. Are these places not colonies? As for Northern Ireland, I would again acknowledge a description of the Troubles as a colonial conflict is far from universally-accepted, but it is widespread in the scholarship. David Miller, a professor of sociology at the University of Bath, has written extensively on Northern Ireland and the Troubles, and his work consistently argues for a colonial paradigm in understanding the conflict. A bibliography of his work is here: http://www.dmiller.info/ Pamela Clayton’s essay ‘Religion, Ethnicity and Colonialism as Explanation of Northern Ireland’ in Miller, ‘Rethinking Northern Ireland’ (1993), pp.40-54 is a sustained argument for the colonial context. Lustick, ‘Unsettled States, Disputed Lands: Britain and Ireland, France and Algeria’ (1993), passim, also discusses Northern Ireland (and Ireland as a whole before 1922) as a colonial conflict, as does MacDonald, ‘Children of Wrath: Political Violence in Northern Ireland’, (1986).
In my experience, the argument that Ireland/Northern Ireland was/is not a colony is often based on nothing more than the geographic proximity of the two countries. This once again suggetss comparisons with French Algeria, which the French also displayed a reluctance to refer to as a colony, even in the fifties when they were fighting tooth and nail to hold on to it, see: Lustick, Ibid., p.113. Other books that make the comparison with Algeria are : Hugh Roberts, ‘Northern Ireland and the Algerian Question’ (1986) and Frank Wright, ‘Northern Ireland: A comparative analysis’ (1987). Given that this template is about British colonial campaigns, I think it is most telling that, in the seventies especially, the British army itself approached their operation in Northern Ireland as a colonial insurgency, see: William Beattie Smith, ‘The British State and the Northern Ireland Crisis’, 1969-73, pp.153-4, 197, 307. Smith on p.377 describes direct rule after 1972 as a ‘colonial system’.
Likewise Weitzer, ‘Transforming Settler States: Communal Conflict and Internal Security in Northern Ireland and Zimbabwe’ (1990), who analyses Northern Ireland throughout his work as a colony, states: ‘Direct rule in effect installed a system of colonial rule [which] has no roots in civil society and has precarious authority at best. As in other colonial states, the British administration is superimposed on society and institutionally detached from local social forces.’ (pp.197-8) O'Leary and McGarry, ‘The Politics of Antagonism: Understanding Northern Ireland’ (1993) argue extensively about the colonial nature of the conflict.
McGarry and O’Leary are about as authoritative you can get on the subject of Northern Ireland. In their volume ‘Comparing Northern Ireland’ (1995), p.141, they write: ‘The international community largely accepts the colonial analogy’. I must say this is my impression as well. I have only ever encountered resistance to the idea from British unionists. I have my own ideas about why that is but let’s not get into that. They are of course entitled to their opinion, but that does not mean that this exclusion of Northern Ireland from the ranks of Britain’s colonies should take precedence on wikipedia. One of its principles is that it should reflect a global POV, after all Wikipedia:Systemic_bias. It has been suggested that to regard N.Ireland as a colony is not NPOV; I would suggest that to exclude it is not NPOV, given that NPOV means ‘representing fairly, proportionately, and, as far as possible, without editorial bias, all of the significant views that have been published by reliable sources on a topic’. Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view I would argue, therefore, that the Troubles be included in this list of British colonial templates, notwithstanding dissenting views. Certainly to exclude the other Irish conflicts in the list would seem to me to constitute OR. 21:49, 10 March 2016 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Gerrynobody (talk • contribs)
Replies[edit]
Thank you for the extensive engagement with the topic at hand, Gerry. I've taken the liberty of splitting it up into paragraphs as it was rather difficult to read as originally formatted, I hope you don't mind. You mention Fitzpatrick's writing: ‘The formal Union of the kingdoms of Ireland and Great Britain masked a hybrid administration with manifest colonial elements, allowing variant interpretations of the character of Ireland's dependency. Was Ireland an integral part of the United Kingdom, a peripheral, backward sub-region, or a colony in all but name?’; how does he answer this question, or does he just leave it dangling? I also note that while you have presented some sources comparing The Troubles and/of aspects of the government of Northern Ireland to colonial situations elsewhere in the world, none of them seem to me to definitively call The Troubles a British colonial campaign.
I am not totally unreceptive to the idea of describing the conflicts before the Acts of Union 1800 as "colonial" as the Kingdom of Ireland was separate from the Kingdom of Great Britain (and England before that), albeit very closely connected, but from 1801 this is an integral part of the United Kingdom we're talking about—all of Ireland until 1922, and Northern Ireland after that. Sourced commentary on whether this constitutes colonial rule, a colonial system or whatever is of course very welcome on Wikipedia as we try to present all the different facets of the topic, but that belongs in the relevant articles, not here in this definitive list of British colonial campaigns. Putting The Troubles, 1968–98 on here would be very clearly taking the Irish republican side in the conflict and essentially de-legitimising the legal government of Northern Ireland as a tool of colonial oppression. For this to fit Wikipedia's NPOV policy, we would need sources saying that this is the majority viewpoint of the academic community—that is, that Northern Ireland was a British colony during The Troubles, 1968–98, and presumably remains one now. Are there reliable sources attesting to that being the case? Cheers, — Cliftonian (talk) 08:20, 11 March 2016 (UTC)
To begin with your last question Cliftonian: yes there are reliable sources attesting to this, and I have cited numerous instances already which definitely identify the Troubles and Northern Ireland as a colonial conflict. As regard Fitzpatrick’s chapter relating to Ireland as a colony in the nineteenth century, yes indeed he is fairly unambiguous in describing Ireland as a colony. A failure to recognise this by some academics he attributes to ‘the scholarly practice of allowing formal constitutions rather than practical relationships to circumscribe political analyses’. (p.499) This is pretty much my point about this period-taking the status of Ireland, on paper, as proof that it was not a colony is clearly insufficient. No historian I’ve ever read has deemed it sufficient evidence in and of itself. Fitzpatrick certainly gives numerous reasons to suggest that, in practice, the relationship was colonial in nature. The following are some examples:
‘The Irish administration remained distinctively colonial in both form and function, despite the legislatice union. As in India after 1858, annexation was followed by direct rule under a ‘Lord Lieutenant’ or ‘Viceroy.’ (p.495)
‘No government could bring itself to accept the full implications of the Union.’ (p.496)
‘Irish unrest provoked measures of repression and coercion unthinkable in Britain; Irish poverty justified welfare experiments and state intervention to a degree shocking to orthodox political economists. In these respects, Ireland was not only exceptional within the United Kingdom but akin to a colony, efficiency in government being valued above the liberty of the subject and the sanctity of property.’
Again on p.498 he makes the analogy with India: ‘Ireland’s rulers, whether grim or benevolent, tended to regard the Irish as a separate and subject native population rather than an integral element of a united people.’
p.498: ‘The colonial spirit was evident in what nationalists saw as a substantial 'army of occupation, in which the police performed paramilitary functions while the army offered vigorous 'aid to the civil power' in suppressing riots, affrays, illegal assemblies, and rebellions. In 1880 the irish garrison of over 25,000 soldiers vastly exceeded that in any dependency except India, amounting to twice the size of the police establishment.'
p.499: ‘Salisbury was not alone in likening the Irish to the Hottentots (being likewise incapable of self-government).’
Once again let it be noted Fitzpatrick cannot be dismissed as in any way sympathetic to a Republican interpretation. In fact, he is if anything a revisionist, anti-Nationalist in orientation and disliked by some Republicans for his accusations of sectarianism by the IRA In the war of independence.
As I said, if we were to follow the line of reasoning that Ireland’s status on paper disbars it from being considered a colony, we would have to delete the Algerian War from Template:French_colonial_campaigns. Wouldn't this be unnecessarily restrictive in our definition of what a colony is? Then I don’t see how Northen Ireland is any different. The fact that the government of Northern Ireland is legal...I don’t really see how this has any bearing on the matter, given that all colonial (indeed all oppressive regimes) have been ‘legal’ according to their own laws. Neither do I see that including the Troubles in a list of colonial conflicts necessarily implies adopting a Republican view. However, to merely see it as a matter internal to Britain is to completely ignore the conceptual framework in which one side to the party (i.e. the Irish, not merely Republicans) have generally viewed it: as an international conflict. This is the majority viewpoint of the academic community. again, that doesn’t equate with taking sides in the conflict. To claim, like Thatcher did, that Northern Ireland is ‘as British as Finchly’ is simply mistaken and seems to me wilfully mistaken-nothing more than a policing issue and civil unrest within a country. Indeed, Thatcher herself didn’t really believe this; if had she had, she wouldn’t have signed the Anglo-Irish agreement.
It might be inferred from the label of ‘colony’ that British rule in Northern Ireland is illegitimate and oppressive, but this does not necessarily follow. These are value judgements, whereas the term ‘colony’ has a specific, objective meaning, which I have demonstrated describes Northern Ireland, i.e. a government-sponsored project to settle the area with colonists from outside and displace the indigenous population. Likewise, it does not necessarily imply that the unionists in Northern Ireland are colonisers, just the descendants of colonisers (although in actual fact the realities of interbreeding, religious conversion, and other factors mean that many who identify as British unionists probably have Irish ancestors: Ken Magennis for example). I am not sure how many sources you need me to cite to prove that the Troubles are widely interpreted as a colonial conflict within academia. All of those I presented clearly locate the Troubles within a colonial framework. The McGarry and O’Leary quote (‘The international community largely accepts the colonial analogy’) is sufficient to show that, globally, this is the mainstream view in academic work on the subject. Gerrynobody (talk) 12:19, 12 March 2016 (UTC)
Is there an academic source saying: "the mainstream academic view is that Northern Ireland, 1968 to 1998, was a colony", or "the mainstream academic view is that the Troubles were a colonial conflict", or something along those lines? The "international communiry largely accepts" quote seems to refer to foreign governments, not academics. — Cliftonian (talk) 13:33, 12 March 2016 (UTC)
I have clearly demonstrated that seeing the Northern Ireland conflict as a colonial one is a mainstream view in academia, with fairly copious references. I do not need to provide a quotation more or less affirming this verbatim. I do not feel you are engaging constructively in the discussion Cliftonian. You appear to be arbitrarily placing the burden of evidence so heavily on me as to be impossible to meet. You are also setting up the debate as one in which the onus is on me to convince you. This seems odd to me given that wikipedia is meant to be a collaborative effort. The way I think it is meant to work is that I provide argument, supporting citations (which I’ve done) and then you or anyone else who cares to, provides a counter-argument, which you haven’t. Essentially, you are simply stating over and over again that Northern Ireland is not a colony because....it’s not. This isn’t really an argument. You have not responded in substance to any of the points I have made. This might be the right juncture for you to offer some reliable sources-based evidence that Northern Ireland is not a British colony. All the best.Gerrynobody (talk) 22:28, 14 March 2016 (UTC)
Incidentally, re: the inclusion of Robert Emmett’s rising, 1848, the Fenian rising of 1867, I'm not sure they would even qualify as campaigns. In reality they were fairly insignificant events, little more than skirmishes and localised unrest really.Gerrynobody (talk) 22:32, 14 March 2016 (UTC)
David Miller, Rethinking Northern Ireland: Culture, Ideology and Colonialism, 2014, p. 3 summarises the academic consensus: "According to the vast bulk of literature on the topic Northern Ireland is not a colony of Britain and the conflict there is not colonial in nature." Seems pretty unequivocal. Cheers, — Cliftonian (talk) 22:57, 14 March 2016 (UTC)
That is taken somewhat out of context, from a book which argues forcefully for a colonial interpretation of the Northern Ireland Troubles. Given the fairly numerous references I've given to academics who do view it as a colonial conflict, I think it behoves you to provide a more substantial argument than that.Gerrynobody (talk) 23:11, 14 March 2016 (UTC)
Gerry, that is Miller's summary of the scholarly consensus on whether Northern Ireland is a colony or not, indeed the very first sentence in his book, and it unequivocally shows that the majority view in scholarly literature is that it is not. Can you find a source that contradicts this summary? — Cliftonian (talk) 23:27, 14 March 2016 (UTC)
I already have provided a quotation showing ‘the international community largely accepts the colonial analogy’, and have already pointed out that I already have. You have not accepted this, as I suspect you will probably find reasons to not accept any quotation I provide. As I have indicated, it is not up to individual editors to unilaterally decide what does and does not constitute the grounds for inclusion in these templates. Simply googling around looking for quotations that say ‘most people do/do not accept Northern Ireland is a colony’ or words to that effect, is not really a decent basis on which to determine the issue.
Truth be told, we are not going to determine it, because it has been, and no doubt will continue to be, a subject of debate among academics for some time to come. My argument is that it should be included in the template because a significant body of scholarly opinion exists that says the Troubles were a colonial conflict. I have argued this and provided extensive quotations to support my contention.
There is more to acadmic debate than digging around on the internet for decontextualised quotations that appear to support the point you are trying to make. I could, after all, present another quote from the same chapter in Miller’s book: ‘Ulster is British in the sense that it is a colonial possession which the British state has tried to present as an integral part of the state’ which, in isolation, appears to support my case. Does this prove anything conclusive on its own? Not really.
In fact, Miller puts that statement in at the start of his book for dramatic effect, to argue that the ‘vast bulk of literature’ is mistaken at the time he was writing (1998). It’s an exaggeration, and clearly an exaggeration, because he goes on to quote many writers who do regard the conflict as colonial. He follows it by arguing that such a failure to acknowledge the colonial nature of the Northern Ireland conflict is ‘at best, curious’, and goes on to argue (fairly convincingly I seem to remember) why it should be regarded as a colonial conflict. Arguing that something is the ‘majority’ view is ill-advised actually. How does someone prove this? By making a survey of everything ever published on a subject, taking a census of opinions and toting up the score? No-one can (or should) do this. Claiming something is the majority view is merely impressionistic and, in practice, unverifiable. Can you prove to me that a view of Northern Ireland as ‘not a colony’ is the majority view? I mean, actually prove it in the sense that you are asking me to prove the opposite? The best you can do in these matters is convey an impression of the academic consensus (or lack thereof) on an issue.
Once again, please try to engage more constructively in the discussion instead of simply placing a disproportionate burden of evidence on others. For example, you might address my point about Algeria? Is it not a colony? If it is, how does it differ from Northern Ireland? If Ireland was once a colony, when did it cease to be? If a significant proportion of Northern Ireland’s population regard the territory as a colony, why is this viewpoint simply to be disregarded? Gerrynobody (talk) 11:38, 15 March 2016 (UTC)
Gerry, there is no point in you and me debating Algeria and gauging the merit of this or that quote from this or that historian to try to make a final definitive decision on whether the Troubles should be called a colonial conflict or not, or on what the majority academic view is. That is WP:ORIGINALRESEARCH and probably WP:SYNTHESIS of sources as well. What we do need to do is look in scholarly sources for discussion of the historiography and, more specifically, what these historians themselves describe the prevailing academic consensus as being, so we can decide what presentation of the various views would best satisfy Wikipedia policy at WP:NPOV (more specifically WP:WEIGHT).
Per WP:WEIGHT we give due weight to the majority and minority viewpoints respectively. I have provided a scholarly citation that says, verbatim, that "According to the vast bulk of literature on the topic Northern Ireland is not a colony of Britain and the conflict there is not colonial in nature"—Miller argues for a colonial analogy in his book, but also states right off the bat at the start that the majority viewpoint is one of a conflict that is not colonial. Therefore on Wikipedia we should also approach the matter from this view—unless this description of the scholarly consensus is countered by a contradictory description in another reliable source.
I have now asked you several times to such a quote from scholarly literature to support your assertion that the majority of academic sources describe Northern Ireland as a colony and the Troubles as a colonial conflict. In response you give a lot of weight to this quote "the international community largely accepts the colonial analogy"—the full quote, here, is "The international community largely accepts the colonial analogy, which helps to explain why nationalists and republicans have received more external support than unionists." As I pointed out before "the international community" in this sentence almost certainly refers to foreign governments, not academics.
Since we don't seem to be making much progress here by ourselves I have made another post at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Military history to try to get a third party or two to come into the debate and help us out. Cheers, — Cliftonian (talk) 12:17, 15 March 2016 (UTC)
Gerry's right that the term is used by RS, which makes it Wikivalid and also right that the nominal legal status of Ireland in the modern era contains obfuscation. What else would you call a place where food is being extracted amidst a famine to feed the metropolitan population? That's what colonies are for; it also passes the duck test. Ireland was at least a colony de facto (among other things) until the UK civil war and Nireland still is. Keith-264 (talk) 12:39, 15 March 2016 (UTC)
@Peacemaker67 and Necrothesp: you both commented earlier, what do you think? — Cliftonian (talk) 14:18, 15 March 2016 (UTC)
Cliftonian, I fully agree that there is no point in us trying to definitively determine whether or not colonial is the right way to describe the conflict in Northern Ireland or whether or not this or that description is the majority view. What I am arguing is that there is more than enough weight of opinion in academia that Northern Ireland is a colonial conflict to justify its inclusion in a list of Britain’s colonial campaigns.
I do give a lot of weight to that ‘international community’ quote it is true, more than I would like, mainly because you were asking for a quote that suggested a colonial interpretation was widespread. BTW I would not accept the interpretation that it refers merely to foreign governments; my reading is more general, including foreign governments, but also public opinion, academia etc. I certainly wouldn’t argue that this quote decisively settles the issue, just as I don’t accept the Miller one does, which you give a lot of weight to. In fact, neither of these quotes on their own are sufficient. What I would disagree with is the claim that the issue can be settled by finding a single quote that states what the majority opinion is. As Keith-264 has indicated, there are other criteria that should be examined. I have indicated some of these in my posts above. I also agree with you that some kind of third-party involvement would indeed be helpful. Gerrynobody (talk) 14:39, 15 March 2016 (UTC)
I will continue to maintain that it can be nothing other than POV to regard a country with full parliamentary representation and whose inhabitants hold full citizenship rights as a colony. As far as I can see that explicitly contradicts the whole definition of a colony. Before the Act of Union, maybe (although even that is tenuous given Ireland had a parliament and a king). Afterwards, definitely not. To regard Ireland or Northern Ireland as a colony is clearly expressing a pro-republican/anti-unionist POV and can be nothing else, since it effectively denies the legitimacy of Ireland/Northern Ireland's status as an integral part of the United Kingdom. -- Necrothesp (talk) 15:39, 15 March 2016 (UTC)
When did Ireland get universal adult suffrage? The question should be settled by RS not our opinions, even if they're as stylish as mine. Oh and Nirish citizenship rights were withdrawn de jure by the PTA Keith-264 (talk) 23:14, 15 March 2016 (UTC)
I suppose the above quotation from Miller about the "vast bulk" of scholarly work on the topic saying "Northern Ireland is not a colony of Britain and the conflict there is not colonial in nature" means nothing then, Keith? As you rightly say RS is what matters here. Can you provide an RS summary of the academic consensus that contradicts Miller's? — Cliftonian (talk) 04:23, 16 March 2016 (UTC)
Great Britain didn't have universal adult suffrage in or before 1922 either. Few countries did. So it's not really relevant whether Ireland did or not. It did, however, have the same suffrage rights as the rest of the UK did (i.e. all men over 21 and women over 30). And Northern Ireland does have universal adult suffrage and has had for as long as the rest of the UK has. Again, arguing anything else can be nothing other than POV. -- Necrothesp (talk) 14:48, 16 March 2016 (UTC)
Might I suggest a couple of things that I hope will be uncontroversial:
Anyone on either side of this debate can always find sources that affirm or deny that Northern Ireland is a colony. This is not going to determine anything. Secondly, we are not going to determine anything definitively. Thirdly, inclusion or exclusion can be viewed as potentially lending weight to Republican or Unionist positions respectively, but not necessarily. This fact, in and of itself, does not invalidate either of them. Necrothesp has made some accusations of pro-republican/anti-unionist bias in inclusion, and that this position is not POV. I mightas easily argue that the claim that Northern Ireland is a constituent part of the UK is pro-unionist/anti-republican. This doesn’t get us very far really and serves no purpose other than to create acrimony. While I grant either position could be motivated by unionist or republican bias, this need not necessarily be the case. For the sake of constructive argument, therefore, I suggest we assume good faith. [Wikipedia:Assume_good_faith]
I would agree with Necrothesp that the issue of suffrage etc. is really not very relevant to the issue. Having said that, to claim that Ireland was treated as an equal because suffrage was the same on paper all over the UK and Ireland is wrong. As I said in an earlier post, before the act of union, Ireland’s parliament was only a parliament for the Protestant minority in the country. It was actually the epitome of a colonial assembly, as colonies in America had their own elected assemblies (for the colonists of course, not the slaves or native Americans). Prior to 1829, Catholics were disenfranchised in Ireland where they were the overwhelming majority of the population. Given the far higher proportion of Catholics there, their disenfranchisement was of far greater consequence than England, Scotland or Wales. Even then, property restrictions ensured a far greater democratic defecit in Ireland than other areas. After the 1884 act, which lowered the property limit again, because incomes were low in Ireland, only about 30% of the adult male population had the vote, compared to 60% in England. Even up until the eve of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, various anomalies in the electoral system were used by the unionists to disenfranchise Catholics. Voting restrictions are of course only one part of the story, if you ask me the economically subservient relationship of Ireland to Britain is of far greater importance. Could the potato famine have happened in England? If you are claiming that Ireland was treated the same as England, you are simply in denial of the scholarly consensus on this issue. You do not need to be a raving republican to point out the obvious fact that Ireland not treated as an equal. I direct you to practically any mainstream history book on Ireland in the 19th century. To claim that Northern Ireland (or earlier Ireland) is/was a part of the UK in an unproblematic way is simply wilfully ignoring the troubled history between the two nations since the sixteenth century and, arguably, earlier. It is about as neutral as someone claiming that Northern Ireland is unproblematically Irish, with no recognition of the position of British unionists there. What NPOV would look like is a recognition of both claims, which are essentially irreconcilable. Throwing around vague accusations of not being POV is just sloppy, especially when you do not substantiate them.
But I (well, we) digress.
What we must determine is whether or not Northern Ireland (and earlier Irish conflicts) belong in a list of British colonial campaigns.
While obviously the economic, political and social relations between the two countries are of some relevance, we should be wary of simply interpreting the term ‘colony’ as a value judgement implying bad treatment of one territory by another. The word tends to be used in a rather careless way sometimes. In fact, plenty of places in plenty of times have been abused and treated poorly by other countries, but it doesn’t mean they were colonies. Necrothesp, I note, argues that ‘full parliamentary representation and .. full citizenship rights .. explicitly contradicts the whole definition of a colony’. This is news to me. I am not sure what definition of a colony are you working from. I might point out once againt that the term colony has a technical definition, which the Oxford dictionary gives as: ‘A settlement in a new country; a body of people who settle in a new locality, forming a community subject to or connected with their parent state; the community so formed, consisting of the original settlers and their descendants and successors, as long as the connection with the parent state is kept up.’
Once again, I would argue, Northern Ireland clearly meets this definition, but unless there is some more input into the discussion, we will probably need to resort to some kind of dispute resolution process. Which is preferable to you guys?
Are there any objections to adding conflicts up to the act of union back on the template list at least, until we resolve the issue of later conflicts? Gerrynobody (talk) 09:03, 19 March 2016 (UTC)
Let's go to WP:dispute resolution. I'm on my phone right now, I'll set it up later when I'm at the computer. I suggest leaving the template as is for the moment pending the outcome. Cheers, — Cliftonian (talk) 12:09, 19 March 2016 (UTC)
I will make a listing at Wikipedia:Third opinion later on, or if someone else would like to do it in the meantime go ahead. Cheers, — Cliftonian (talk) 12:13, 19 March 2016 (UTC)
Just to point out this template was set up as colonial only therefore Ireland wouldn't fit in the agenda. If we were to include troubles then the addition of other Irish conflicts would have to be added & that would go back as far as the the invasion of Ireland under Henry I and then include the Tudor conquest as well as rebellions and so on. So Ireland should be left out completely. Then the argument could be taken to include the English conquest of France in 100 Years War. Shire Lord (talk) 12:51, 19 March 2016 (UTC)
That is not necessarily true ShireLord, at least it is what we are trying to determine here. Certainly for the period I specialise in (16th & 17th century) the mainstream view is Ireland was a colony. What seems to be at issue here is mostly whether Ireland remained a colony after formal integration into the UK after 1801. I would have no problem describing the Anglo-Norman presence from the 12th century as colonial. It is routinely described as such. Your comparison to English conquests in late medieval France is, however, a good illustration of the difference between a military conquest and occupation, and a colony. The following puts it pretty well, from the New history of Ireland vol.2-this is the standard survey of Irish history: 'Medieval Ireland fulfils the strictest criteria semantics can impose on the word 'colony' as Gascony, to take a further example, which did not receive substantial emigration from England or know dispossession of its native ruling class, does not.' (J. A. Watt, New History of Ireland vol.2, p.313) To simply war in and conquer a country does not necessarily involve colonisation. In Ireland, however, especially from the later 16th/early 17th century onwards, a series of state-sponsored colonies were established in various parts of the country that introduced a settler class, different in religion and language to the native population, who were dispossessed and partially-expelled from the colonised areas. None of this is controversial and is standard in published accounts of the period. To try and problematise it, you really need some kind of countering argument instead of simply stating "of course Ireland wasn't a colony" or words to that effect. That isn't actually an argument. Gerrynobody (talk) 15:23, 19 March 2016 (UTC)
Perhaps I wasn't being clear enough what I meant was overseas or in other words colonies that are not within the British isles. Besides Ireland fall into the category of early style colonisation for example Pale of Ireland, Pale of Calais or Plantation of Ireland. Shire Lord (talk) 23:00, 20 March 2016 (UTC)
I don't know Shirelord, last time I checked there was a sea between Ireland and Britain. The argument against Ireland as a colony because of proximity is not really one that holds water. There are other fairly uncontested examples of colonisation by cultures of relatively nearby areas, I have given the example of Algeria by France above, which is also just across a sea, the Swedish in Lapland, are just two examples. I am not sure what the 'early-style' colonisation is you refer to is, and how it differs from later projects in any fundamental way. In any case, it is not so much our own opinions that matter here, but the fact that Ireland is unproblematically described as a colony in the early-modern period at the very least, and often later, in mainstream academic discourse. Gerrynobody (talk) 23:03, 23 March 2016 (UTC)
The Irish sea dose not make the proximity of Ireland which is close to England classed as overseas. Also if one wishes to put articles regarding Irish 'colonisation' the complication of the fact that Ireland was a Kingdom in 1542 and from then on becomes part of the United Kingdom in 1801 becomes an issue. You compare Algeria? Algeria wasn't a Kingdom and was a territory of the Ottoman empire unlike that of Ireland. So it is best to leave it out until a third Opinion brings the matter to a close. However it would be interesting to see the article with all the Irish campaigns and troubles put in so perhaps a template on this talk page may help.. Shire Lord (talk) 15:22, 24 March 2016 (UTC)
I have already elaborated on this above, but the formal status of Ireland as a kingdom from 1542 on, and then as a part of the UK from 1801, is not generally recognised in the scholarship as sufficient argument in and of itself against the status of Ireland as a colony. We are talking practice here, as well as formal legal status. In practice, Ireland was a colony, certainly up to the 19th century. See the posts above for more info on this. The comparison of Algeria I meant under French rule from 1830, not under the Ottomans. Algeria, like Ireland, was right across the sea, was legally an integral part of France (as much as Corsica), had its own settler population. In all these respects it bears similarities to Ireland, yet who would deny it was a colony? Gerrynobody (talk) 09:36, 25 March 2016 (UTC)
If it's already a Kingdom then it's not a colony. In the template then why not add Norman invasions & the Tudor conquest? Then there is no need to add anymore after that. Shire Lord (talk) 11:49, 26 March 2016 (UTC)
As I said, the legal status of kingdom does not preclude being a colony. Colonies were founded in Ulster and Munster for example, at the time Ireland was formally a kingdom. This is standard nomenclature in the scholarship. I cannot think of a single historian who disputes they were colonies. The Nine Years War might certainly be included here in that it paved the way for colonisation. I am less sure about the Norman invasion. Colonisation by definition implies some kind of conscious plan on the part of a body such as a state to introduce colonists. The Norman settlements in Ireland often took place against the will of the English king, although this might be debated. In any case the template only goes back as far as the 17th century. I personally wouldn't push for inclusion of earlier conflicts, but if you wish to make the case ShireLord you're free to do so. Gerrynobody (talk) 19:27, 26 March 2016 (UTC)
So we shouldn't include the earlier conflicts but we when should we start with? The Tudor conquest and where does it end? The Nine years war I agree should be included then plus all the subsequent rebellions/insurrections up till the the war of independence? After all Northern Ireland is then classed as an integral part of the United Kingdom so any conflict after that would be laughable. Shire Lord (talk) 21:38, 26 March 2016 (UTC)
Third opinion[edit]
I have set up this sub-section Wikipedia:Third_opinion#Instructions. — Cliftonian (talk) 13:06, 19 March 2016 (UTC)
Thank you for your 3O request. Since several editors have been involved a 3rd party can not provide resolution in this way. I might add informally that a contentious edit does require a reliable source, but you will have to decide upon another means of reconciliation, such as a request for comments. Redheylin (talk) 20:42, 20 March 2016 (UTC)
Request for comment[edit]
There is no consensus for or against the inclusion of the Troubles or other conflicts in Ireland in the template. As the current status quo involves excluding them, that should remain unless consensus is gained to add them. I examined the reliable sources cited in the sections above to determine whether they sway the discussion in one direction, but this is a very grey area. Some sources do compare Ireland's treatment to colonial practices, but that isn't quite the same as calling Ireland a colony. (non-admin closure) ~ RobTalk 22:46, 15 May 2016 (UTC)
The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
Should the Troubles in Northern Ireland, 1968–98, be included here as a British colonial conflict?
Should other conflicts involving England/Britain/the UK on the island of Ireland be included here, and if so which ones? — Cliftonian (talk) 20:25, 22 March 2016 (UTC)
No. Albeit a weak negative. Seeing Ireland as a British colony is a leap for me. Would Corporal Jones declare of the Irish, ""They don't like it up 'em!"? I guess it hinges on whether one sees Ireland as part of the British homeland or a foreign part of the Empire. To my way of thinking, it is a little too close to home to be colonial. --Pete (talk) 11:11, 27 March 2016 (UTC)
Yes It does sound strange, but the Plantations were certainly colonial actions and the Troubles are directly descended from this. The Algerian War is listed as a French colonial campaign and Algeria is also very close to France geographically and was treated as a part of France with it's people having some sort of representation in French parliamentary affairs ([1]). As regards use of the word colonist, Ethnic Russians who were moved to the Caucasus at various times throughout the last centuries as part of pacification campaigns have always been referred to as colonists, even up until the most recent wave in the 1950s (see The Lone Wolf and the Bear by Moshe Gammer) despite being part of one continuous region and state Warnie685 (talk) 23:30, 28 March 2016 (UTC)
No - 1968 seems not a Colony nor the colonial period so this is improper to term that way. Other cases should be determined individually. Markbassett (talk) 19:00, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
Note The Portuguese Colonial Wars only ended in 1974 Warnie685 (talk) 22:28, 5 April 2016 (UTC)
Question: are there reliable sources describing them as a colonial conflict? Borsoka (talk) 04:28, 3 April 2016 (UTC)
Please see the extensive discussion above. — Cliftonian (talk) 06:01, 3 April 2016 (UTC)
Yes : Despite the dressing up, the North still has the same settler-colonial dynamics of conflict it had 300 years ago. Everybody implicitly accepts this, but for political reasons some will not explicitly admit it. It's as if the conflict magically stopped being a colonial one because of a law passed in 1800, even though the same conflict kept, and keeps, reproducing itself. The British political scientist David Miller covers the literature quite well in his book Rethinking Northern Ireland (https://books.google.ie/books?id=qFCgBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA6&lpg=PA6&dq=%22northern+ireland%22+colony+quotes&source=bl&ots=ae533yrU2q&sig=Y-ZQ66O8-oXbWGNBK-x_LVWW7Yk&hl=ga&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwih4L2DxILMAhUHpA4KHa_tBAIQ6AEIRDAH#v=onepage&q=%22northern%20ireland%22%20colony%20quotes&f=false) and he also details the extensive collusion between British state and settler/loyalist paramilitaries, another classical feature of settler-colonial conflicts. Michael MacDonald (a US political scientist) wrote a comparative study of the conflict in 1987 called Children of Wrath where he fits the current conflict into a classically defined settler-colonial conflict (https://www.google.ie/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#tbm=bks&q=michael+macdonald+children+of+wrath). Ian Lustick (US political scientist) did a comparative study between the policies of France, Britain and Israel in Algeria, Ireland and Palestine (Unsettled States, Disputed Lands: Britain and Ireland, France and Algeria: https://books.google.ie/books?id=aOfug4jjt-sC&pg=PA532&lpg=PA532&dq=divided+lands+dispute+states+lustick&source=bl&ots=vNdCREg6GQ&sig=E5TBlRZYzVB9MGEUxfnbt4B5h8k&hl=ga&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjR4c2mxoLMAhVG1RoKHcRfDHQQ6AEIGDAA#v=snippet&q=colonial%20ireland&f=false) respectively coming to the same conclusions regarding the settler-colonial similarities between all three (particularly in the French relationship to Algeria) Indeed, people who dispute that it is a settler-colonial conflict can be guaranteed to not actually know the features of an academically-defined settler-colonial conflict. PS: It's ridiculous that Wikipedia will not allow me to shorten the above links by posting them via the tinyurl website. 37.228.205.224 (talk) 22:08, 9 April 2016 (UTC)
Yes. There's sourcing for it, and it was part-and-parcel of the same modus operandi. What we need to do, however, is distinguish between a) what led up to the Troubles, and the early part of the Troubles, during British Colonial times, from b) post post-colonial, late Troubles, which are part of the aftermath of dealing with colonialism, but not an example of it. Northern Ireland is not a colony in the Colonial Era sense, it's a geopolitical territory where, today, the majority of the inhabitants (even it not an overwhelming majority of them) are happily citizens of the formerly colonial power, not of the country to the south that is claiming that the land was stolen from it by colonial aggression; nor are they Ulster nationalists trying to restore a separate sovereign state. I agree with comments above that the Plantation (and the Highland Clearances that supplied it) was a colonialist policy, similar in key ways to the English colonization of Australia. It had far-reaching implications for England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the UK as a unit, Ireland, and even the United States and Canada. It also generated a Scots-Irish mixed ethnicity. This in turn affected native language, development of acquired and now-native English in the region, as well as its music and other culture, plus all the more obvious socio-political effects. Anyway, the late Troubles, like Bloody Sunday, are not colonialism but civil war and pacification, as to their motivation. Great Britain, from the mid-20th century onward, was not trying to hold onto a colony of cheap labor to exploit and resources to seize, but from its point of view defending an integral territory of its citizens from external aggression and internal terrorism in support of a foreign power (regardless what anyone thinks of the legitimacy of the UK claims to NIr, and exactly what the stats are on what the people living there really want). — SMcCandlish ☺ ☏ ¢ ≽ʌⱷ҅ᴥⱷʌ≼ 08:43, 10 April 2016 (UTC)
Seems bizarre reasoning for a "yes" opinion", given that most of the points you made support "no". There is no qualification possible in a raw list - it is either on the list or not on the list, there is no shade of opinion on it, no "What most sources say are not Colonial conflicts but what some sources say are" category, so how can the distinguishing you desire be expressed? Tiptoethrutheminefield (talk) 16:12, 16 April 2016 (UTC)
Yes, qualified. I think Gerrynobody makes a good case. I suggest including the Troubles but starting out with something like:
"Although Northern Ireland has a majority Protestant population supporting Union with Britain and has been represented in Parliament of the United Kingdom since ____ , "the Troubles", (or conflict over British rule there from 1968–98), is often called a colonial conflict because the Protestant presence in Ulster started with the Plantations of ____ established settlements of Protestant Scots and Britons starting in ____ ."
Hope that helps. (editor is a randomly chosen volunteer with the "feedback request service" ) --BoogaLouie (talk) 13:36, 14 April 2016 (UTC)
No, but cross reference Northern Ireland is not a colony, but anyone interested in this list may well also want to know about the British wars in Ireland. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 23:37, 15 April 2016 (UTC)
No and Obviously No. Northern Ireland is not, was not, and never was a colony. This proposal is an abuse of template function for political ideology and if accepted it risks being a foot-in-the-door to permit contentious pov content addition here and endless further arguments both here and maybe elsewhere if this example were to be used as a like-for-like argument on unrelated articles. For example, Mexican–American War is far more of a colonial war than any modern-era British campaign related to Ireland). In fact, there is an argument that the wording of this template is pov compared to other templates. Why, for USA, do we have the neutrally worded "Armed conflicts involving the United States Armed Forces" template, but for Britain it is "British colonial campaigns", with the implied negativity of the term "colonial", rather than "Armed conflicts involving the armed forces of the United Kingdom or its predecessor states"? This questionable wording will become even more questionable, perhaps unsustainable, if the template's usage is expanded to include this article. Tiptoethrutheminefield (talk) 15:56, 16 April 2016 (UTC)
There seems to be a misunderstanding here regarding the term 'colony'. You are interpreting it as a value judgement. It has, in fact, a specific historical meaning which has nothing to do with passing positive or negative judgement. I have given the definition from the Oxford dictionary in the discussion above. As has also been demonstrated above, Ireland and particularly Ulster fits this definition to a tee, given it was settled by colonists in the early seventeenth-century, an interpretation and terminology that is standard in the scholarship on the subject. Claiming that there is some kind of political agenda behind the inclusion of Northern Ireland essentially amounts to poisoning the well without offering any substantial argument against the proposition yourself. The reason you have a template for British colonial campaigns is that Britain has had colonies (many of them), whereas the United States has generally not practised direct colonisation, but exerted its influence through informal empire. You will find that Britain is not being singled out for special treatment here, as wikipedia is replete with references to French, Spanish, Portugeuse, Dutch etc. imperialism. Gerrynobody (talk) 13:11, 20 April 2016 (UTC)
It is you who are turning it into a value judgment. Yes, colony has a precise meaning, and under no stretch or twisting of the facts can Northern Ireland be called a "colony". Only someone with an extreme pov outlook (or value judgment as you call it) could seriously call Northern Ireland a "colony" - and if you are doing it, then the same value judgments can just as easily be used to justify America's wars in the Philippines or Mexico or Hawaii being called colonial wars. And as for colonists, where do you think all the Americans currently living in Texas, in New Mexico, and in California came from? Your bringing up of 17th century settlements in an issue about what to call a late 20th century conflict is ludicrous: are you going to call the USA in its current form a colony since it too was founded on 17th century settlements? Tiptoethrutheminefield (talk) 14:37, 27 April 2016 (UTC)
Tiptoethrutheminefield, this is not about what you or me personally think. Wikipedia should reflect academic opinion on a subject. If you wish to use 'colony' or 'colonial' as a value-judgement that is your business. I do not. Europeans in North America are indeed descended from colonists. For one reason or another, scholarship generally refers to them as colonists up until American independence. If I was to hazard a guess, I would say they came to be referred to as 'Americans' because the indigenous population was to a great extent wiped out. This was not the case in Ireland, where two self-consciously different nationalities continued to live side by side into the present day. I am curious: presumably you would accept that Ulster was a colony in the 17th century; when did it cease to by a colony in your opinion? Gerrynobody (talk) 21:07, 29 April 2016 (UTC)
Since there has been no activity here for about two weeks I have requested an uninvolved administrator to close this RfC here—hope this is okay with everyone. Cheers — Cliftonian (talk) 07:44, 12 May 2016 (UTC)
Yes, that didn't get us very far, as far as I can make out, it was 4 for 4 against. Not an entirely satisfactory way to proceed in any case I think. What do you suggest next, mediation of some kind? Gerrynobody (talk) 19:00, 12 May 2016 (UTC)
This is mediation. The above is not a straw poll. The request I've put in is for an uninvolved administrator to come in and close the discussion, concurrently passing some form of mediatory judgement. — Cliftonian (talk) 20:18, 12 May 2016 (UTC)
^ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_legislative_election,_June_1946
The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
Napoleonic Wars missing![edit]
Am I wrong? This seems a rather major oversight, 1803-1815... but don't know if it should be included as one long war or the several that started and ended until Waterloo. Hmm... seems someone is deleting things that aren't colonial... but the Crimean War was how I found this, what, is that colonial? It shows just "Russian conflicts" and this... rather incongruous. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Chadnibal (talk • contribs) 14:32, 8 March 2017 (UTC)
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Who were the 23 Gentlemen who attended the first 'Let it Blaw' in 1881
In 1883, Club Secretary John Fairbairn started his 52 year handwritten record of Club Affairs by retrospectively writing brief reports of the Club's first two Suppers in 1881 and 1882. Unfortunately, his report of that first Supper in 1881 did not list those in attendance, although it did say there were "23 Gentlemen" present.
Who were the "23 Gentlemen" in attendance on that first night ?
Founder Members
James Pearson Snr.
James Fairbairn Snr.
Alex Henderson
James Craik
William Garlick
George Henderson
James Wales
Definitely in Attendance although not Founder Members
George Y. Robertson
Thomas Horsburgh
David B. Fairbairn
but who were the 12 others ?
Almost definitely Peter Henderson, son of Landlord and Founder Member Alex Henderson.
Peter was staying at Henderson's Inn on the occasion of the first Club Supper which was held there.
Almost definitely John G. Laird, son-in-law of Landlord and Founder Member Alex Henderson
John was also staying at Henderson's Inn with his wife and children on the occasion of the first Club Supper.
Probably James Pearson Jnr., son of the first Club President James Pearson Snr.
Probably James Fairbairn Jnr., eldest son of Founder Member James Fairbairn Snr.
His younger brothers were there so it's seems likely that he too would be involved.
Probably James Raeburn. Although not mentioned until 1883, by that time he was proposing a Toast and was performing the
duties of Croupier. James was also the next door neighbour of Club Founder and First President James Pearson Snr.
Probably William Waterston. Not mentioned until 1883 but he proposed a Toast that year, then the Immortal Memory in 1884.
William was a General Merchant & Grocer in the village so would probably have been known to all the Club's Founder Members.
Probably David Hardie who proposed the "Toast to the Lasses" in 1883.
Would he have proposed that Toast in his first year at Let it Blaw ?
Probably Peter Auld who proposed the "Toast to the Success of the Balerno Burns Club" in 1883.
Would he have proposed that Toast on his first visit ? Peter farmed land at Buteland, very close to John Potts and David Wyllie mentioned below.
Probably John Potts who farmed 250 acres at Bankhead Farm and at Westbrook.
This was part of the Cockburn land which was near enough adjacent to the land at Buteland farmed by Peter Auld.
Probably David Wyllie Snr. who farmed land at Haughead. He was well enough known to the Founder Members of 'Let it Blaw' for them to appoint him to a sub-committee in late 1882, so it seems reasonable to assume that he was 'probably' one of those who attended the first 'Let it Blaw' Supper in 1881. This is backed by the fact that a close neighbour in 1881 was John Potts (above) who farmed what was possibly adjacent land at Bankhead Farm, Glenbrook Road and who, in turn, was the neighbour of Thomas Horsburgh (above) the blacksmith from Glenbrook Road who we know WAS at the first Supper in 1881.
Possibly William Smith who was a Tailor in the village in the early 1880s. In the 1883 record of Club business, it's shown that William was appointed to the same sub-Committee as David Wyllie (above) late in 1882. That would surely have been unlikely in his first year of Membership so, perhaps, he too was part of the original 23 Gentlemen in 1881.
Possibly Robert Orr. Not much is known about Robert's early years as he doesn't appear to have a background in Balerno but, by 1881 when 'Let it Blaw' was founded, he was working in Balerno Village as a Joiner, renting a house from Founder Member James Fairbairn Snr. who, by coincidence, ran his own Joinery business employing six men. There's nothing to prove that Robert worked for James Fairbairn, but there is other evidence to show that Fairbairn assisted his employees to find accommodation. Robert was an active participant in the 1883 Supper singing "There Was a Lad" and reciting the "Address to a Haggis"; the first recorded rendition of this poem at 'Let it Blaw.' Would he have been invited to do this on his first visit to the Club ?
Possibly John Aikman Snr. and/or John Aikman Jnr. Nothing is known about this father (62) and son (21) who worked as blacksmiths at Thomas Horsburgh's Johnsburn Smiddy in 1881 when 'Let it Blaw' held its first Supper. They don't appear in our Club Records until, on Friday 27th May 1910, a farewell meeting was held to mark the departure for Canada of Club Member Robert Torrance. It was recorded in the minute of that meeting that "Various members contributed to the enjoyment by giving songs and recitations. One Member sang "To the West, to the West, to the Land of the Free" as he had done exactly 28 years before on the occasion of John Aikman, Johnsburn, leaving for Chicago. This departure would have been in 1882 when only the barest records exist of Club activities and attendees were not listed.
Could the Aikmans have attended our first Supper in 1881 ?
That's 25 names of which only 11 are confirmed. It's likely most of the other 14 suggested would have attended the first Supper in 1881 but, unfortunately, it will never be confirmed. That aspect of our Club's records will remain, forever, incomplete.
With the exception of the 11 names who are known to have been at the first Supper in 1881, it must be emphasised that other individuals named on this page are based on interpretation of Club Records, Local Records, and official Historical Records of the area, combined with a degree of speculation at the hand of one individual Club Member. Anyone with other views on this topic will be heartily welcomed, and amended versions of this Page will no doubt be published at some future date.
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22 Rare Photos Of Famous Landmarks BEFORE They Were Finished. #5 Is Mind-Blowing.
You'd probably only have to see a small glimpse of the Lincoln Memorial to be able to identify it, and most people recognize the Eiffel Tower without giving it much thought. That's because buildings and monuments like this are so iconic, they've simply become ingrained in our minds.
But what did these historic structures look like before they were historic?
Below are 22 of the world's most famous landmarks, pictured before they became famous. After browsing these photos, you might find it hard to believe that the Statue of Liberty ever used to look like that!
#1. The Sydney Opera House under construction in the 1960's.
Cultural Collections
#2. Christ the Redeemer being built on a mountaintop in Sao Paolo, Brazil.
#3. Manhattan Bridge in New York City, 1909.
#4. The London Tower Bridge without a middle in 1892.
#5. The beginnings of the Hoover Dam.
#6. The U.S. Capitol Building in 1861.
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Every so often, in dentistry and other fields, a new technology comes along that promises to change the standard practices. TADS (Temporary Anchorage Devices) aren't exactly new — orthodontists have used them since the 1980s — but they're gaining widespread acceptance today. The benefits they offer some orthodontic patients could even be called groundbreaking. Let's look at what these devices are, and what they can do.
Essentially, TADS are small, screw-like dental implants made of a titanium alloy. As the name implies, they're temporary — they usually remain in place during some months of treatment, and then they are removed. Their function is to provide a stable anchorage — that is, a fixed point around which other things (namely, teeth) can be moved. But why is anchorage so important?
Moving teeth in the jaw has been compared to moving a stick through the sand. With the application of force, sand moves aside in front of the stick, and fills up the space behind. The “sand” in this case consists of bone cells and cells of the periodontal ligament, which attaches the tooth to the bone. These tissues slowly move aside and reform as force is applied to them by orthodontic appliances, such as wires and elastics.
But to do its work, that force needs a fixed point to push against. For example, imagine trying to move the stick while you're floating free in the water: Not so easy! But with two feet firmly planted in the sand, you can do it. When possible, orthodontists use the back teeth as an anchor — but sometimes, cumbersome headgear may be required to provide the necessary anchorage. In many cases, using TADS can change that.
What TADS Can Do
While it's generally preferred, the use of teeth as orthodontic anchors can have drawbacks in some cases. For example, there may not be a viable tooth located at the point where an anchor is needed. Also, when a greater force is required, the teeth used as anchors can themselves start to move. This is one instance where TADS are beneficial: These mini-implants can eliminate the need to use teeth as anchors, or stabilize a tooth that's being used as such.
TADS can also provide an anchorage point for a pushing or pulling force that would otherwise need to be applied from outside the mouth: generally, via orthodontic headgear. Wearing headgear can be uncomfortable, and compliance is sometimes a problem. In many situations TADS can eliminate the need for headgear, a welcome development for many patients.
The use of TADS offers other benefits as well: It may shorten overall treatment time, eliminate the need to wear elastics (rubber bands) — and in some cases, even make certain oral surgeries unnecessary. It also allows orthodontists to take on complex cases, which might formerly have proved very difficult to treat. This small device can really do a big job!
Getting (and Maintaining) TADS
Like dental implants (which have been in use since the 1970s) TADS are small, screw-like devices that are placed into the bone of the jaw. Unlike implants, however, they don't always need to become integrated with the bone itself: They can be fixed in place by mechanical forces alone. Plus, they're much easier to put in and remove when treatment is complete. How easy?
Placing and removing TADS is a minimally-invasive, pain-free procedure. After the area being treated is numbed (with an injection or other numbing treatment), a patient feels only gentle pressure as the device is inserted. The whole process can take just minutes to complete. Afterwards, an over-the-counter pain reliever can be taken if needed — but many patients need no pain reliever at all. And taking TADS out is even easier. So if you're worried that it may be a painful procedure: Relax! It's far less stressful than you may think.
While they're in place, TADS require minimal maintenance. Generally, they should be brushed twice daily with a soft toothbrush dipped in an antimicrobial solution. You will receive specific instructions regarding maintenance when your TADS are placed.
Not every orthodontic patient needs TADS — but for those who do, it's a treatment option that offers some clear benefits.
What are TADS? Anchorage, or resistance to movement, is an important concept in orthodontics. Anchorage in orthodontics is often supplied by a tooth or group of teeth that are supposed to stay still as forces are applied against them in a way that only the mal-positioned teeth will move — into better position. The challenge is to avoid the anchor teeth from moving too. That's where Temporary Anchorage Devices (TADs) come in. TADS are mini-screws or mini-implants temporarily placed into the bone of the jaws to be used as non-mobile anchor units that facilitate tooth movement. TADs can shorten orthodontic treatment time and are easily removed once they've done their job.... Read Article
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Haydn and Shostakovich at Edward King House on November 17th
November 05, 2013 / ealain
On Sunday November 17th at 2pm, the second concert of the Newport String Project season will be held at Edward King House in Newport. The program features Haydn String Quartet op 77, no 1 and Shostakovich Quartet no 1. Emmy and Ealaín are delighted to be joined by two wonderful guest artists, Lauren Nelson (viola) and Ariana Falk (cello). Read more about Lauren and Ariana below:
Violist Lauren Nelson believes that music has the power to reach everyone. Growing up in rural New Hampshire, she was a regular participant at the Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music where she learned how classical music can bring people from all walks of life together, and how specifically chamber music has the power to build communities. Nowadays, she’s building a career that combines performing, teaching and social action to make an impact on her community. A recent graduate of Boston’s New England Conservatory (Graduate Diploma) she is making an impact teaching music to the children of the Haitian community of Hyde Park, MA. Lauren’s performance career takes her through many musical environments, from Boston’s Jordan Hall, to New York’s Whitney Museum with the Wordless Music Ensemble, from Carnegie Hall, and the Kennedy Center to Sculler’s Jazz Club in Cambridge, MA. Most recently she has performed with The Apple Hill String Quartet, Phillip Ying, David Ying, Mark Fewer and Susan Cahill. Lauren is also a regular sub with the New World Symphony Orchestra in Miami, FL. She is an active freelancer in and around the Boston area and is starting to get involved with local bands. Lauren’s early influences have manifested themselves in extensive work within the string quartet repertoire. While working on her Master’s Degree at the Music School of the University of Kentucky she was the violist in the Niles String Quartet. With this group she worked with the Juilliard String Quartet at their Intensive Quartet Seminar and studied at the Banff Centre for the Arts in Alberta Canada. Lauren is also a committed educator and arts advocate. She is fully behind the El Sistema movement, and is currently a dedicated teacher at the Youth and Family Enrichment Services after school program in Hyde Park. Here she focuses on musical and personal development through peer-teaching and rigorous lessons and rehearsals. Lauren studied viola with Roger Tapping at the New England Conservatory. She received her Master’s Degree from the University of Kentucky and her Bachelor’s Degree from the Eastman School of Music under the tutelage of Deborah Lander and John Graham, respectively.
Ariana Falk
Ariana Falk currently serves as Education Director for the Worcester Chamber Music Society and runs the Neighborhood Strings program, which provides free lessons in string instruments to youth from Worcester’s Main South community. She received a degrees from Boston University and the Yale School of Music, where she was recipient of the Aldo Parisot Prize. She also studied English at Yale College. She was a Fulbright Scholar to Germany and now serves as Music Director of the Massachusetts Fulbright Association. She has recently appeared as soloist with orchestras including the Stow Festival Orchestra, Portland’s Columbia Symphony, and the Olympia Symphony. As a chamber musician, she performs with the Burlington Ensemble, and has recently appeared as a guest artist on the Marlboro College and Longy Faculty Artist series and live on WGBH Boston and WVPR. She has performed as a string quartet player at the Juilliard, Great Lakes, and Deer Valley music festivals, performed at other summer festivals including the Norfolk Music Festival and Banff Centre, and served on the string faculty of the Boston University Tanglewood Institute and the Worcester Chamber Music Society Summer Festival. In addition, Ariana has toured with the Grammy Award- nominated Yale Cellos, including performances at Carnegie Hall and in France and England. Ariana’s first chamber music experience was her teenage string quartet, which included her twin brother as the violist (now a physicist). They sounded pretty good and even got on the pilot season of “From the Top,” but they fought like children until they reconciled a decade later. Ariana also enjoys tennis and marathon running and thinks sports and music go together surprisingly well.
November 05, 2013 / ealain/
November Concert Round-up
The Great Paper Violin Adventure ...
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Manhattan Grid System Focus of Exhibit
The first comprehensive exhibition to trace one of the most defining achievements in New York City’s history—the vision, planning, and implementation of Manhattan’s iconic grid system—will be on view at the Museum of the City of New York from December 5, 2011, through April 15, 2012.
The Greatest Grid: The Master Plan for Manhattan, 1811—2011 will document the development of the “Commissioners’ Plan,” which in 1811 specified numbered streets and avenues outlining equal rectangular blocks ranging from (today’s) Houston Street to 155th Street and from First Avenue to Twelfth Avenue.
The exhibition, which is organized on the occasion of the bicentennial of the plan, will elucidate, through maps, photographs, and other historic documents, this monumental infrastructure project—the city’s first such civic endeavor—which transformed New York throughout the 19th century and laid the foundation for its distinctive character.
Some 225 artifacts will be on view in the exhibition, which is organized chronologically and geographically, leading visitors from 17th-century, pre-grid New York through the planning process and the explicit 1811 Commissioners’ Plan, and from the massive and elaborate implementation of the plan to contemporary reflections on New York and visions for its future.
“The 1811 grid was a bold expression of optimism and ambition,” Susan Henshaw Jones, the Ronay Menschel Director of the Museum said. “City commissioners anticipated New York’s propulsive growth and projected that the city—still relatively small at the time and concentrated in what is now Lower Manhattan and Greenwich Village—would extend to the heights of Harlem. The 1811 plan has demonstrated remarkable longevity as well as the flexibility to adapt to two centuries of unforeseeable change, including modifications such as Broadway and Central Park. The real miracle of the plan was that it was enforced.”
The exhibition will showcase the illustrious—most notably, John Randel, Jr., who measured the grid with obsessive care. Randel was an apprentice to Simeon DeWitt, the surveyor general of New York State from 1784 to 1834. Between 1808 and 1810 Randel measured the lines of streets and avenues at right angles to each other, and recorded distances and details about the island, its features, and its inhabitants. This resulted in a manuscript map of the grid plan, which he completed by March 1811. Randel continued surveying the island from 1811 to 1817, setting marble monuments (one of which will be on view in the exhibition- there were to have been 1,800) to mark the intersections of the coming grid. Between 1818 and 1820 Randel drafted a series of 91 large-scale maps of the island, now known as the Randel Farm Maps (ten of which will be on view). An article written in the 1850s cited Randel as “one of our most accurate engineers,” further stating that his survey of New York City was done “with such a mathematical exactness as to defy an error of half an inch in ten miles.”
The commissioners’ detailed notes about the grid will also be on view in the exhibition, explaining the plan and expressing their intent to “lay out streets, roads, and public squares, of such width, extent, and direction, as to them shall seem most conducive to public good…-” (From “An Act relative to Improvements, touching the laying out of Streets and roads in the City of New-York, and for other purposes. Passed April 3, 1807.” )
Other colorful figures will be highlighted, including William M. “Boss” Tweed, who implemented high-quality improvements, advanced services, and pushed forward many amenities while at the same time benefitting his associates.
Other rare and exquisitely detailed maps dating from 1776 to the present will be on view, alongside stunning archival photographs portraying the island of Manhattan throughout various stages of excavation. An extraordinary street-by-street explanation of the plan in the words of the commissioners—Gouverneur Morris, Simeon De Witt, and John Rutherfurd—will be on view as will other historic documents, plans, prints, and more.
The merits of the grid will be debated. Historians have viewed it as the emblem of democracy, with blocks that are equal and no inherently privileged sites. Historians have also praised its utility, its neat subdivisions that support real estate development. The rectangular lots of Manhattan’s grid parallel Thomas Jefferson’s national survey, which organized land sales in square-mile townships. The grid manifests Cartesian ideals of order, with streets and avenues that are numbered rather than named for trees, people, or places. Frederick Law Olmsted bemoaned its dumb utility and lack of monuments and other features. Jane Jacobs credited city streets with creating New York’s public realm. And Rem Koolhaas called the grid “the most courageous act of prediction in Western civilization: the land it divides, unoccupied- the population it describes, conjectural- the buildings it locates, phantoms- the activities it frames, nonexistent.”
The Greatest Grid will reframe ideas about New York, revealing the plan to be much more than a layout of streets and avenues. The grid provided a framework that balanced public order with private initiative. It predetermined the placement of the city’s infrastructure, including transportation services, the delivery of electricity and water, and most other interactions. Manhattan’s grid has provided a remarkably flexible framework for growth and change.
Visitors will have the opportunity to consider New York’s preparation for the future and whether or not the grid will enable the city to face 21st-century challenges. New proposals for the city, the results of a competition, will be on view in a separate, related exhibition co-sponsored by the Architectural League. The Greatest Grid will also feature “12 x 155,” a conceptual art video by artist Neil Goldberg along with other artistic responses, such as original drawings from the graphic novel City of Glass (Picador, 2004) by Paul Auster, illustrated by Paul Karasik and David Mazzucchelli
The Greatest Grid is co-sponsored by the Manhattan Borough President’s Office.
The exhibition is accompanied by a companion book of the same title, co-published by the Museum of the City of New York and Columbia University Press. Dr. Hilary Ballon, University Professor of Urban Studies & Architecture at the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University, conceived of the exhibition, is its curator, and is the editor of the companion book.
A related exhibition, on view concurrently at the Museum, will feature the results of a competition in which architects and planners were asked for submissions using the Manhattan street grid as a catalyst for thinking about the present and future of New York- this exhibition is co-sponsored by the Architectural League of New York.
The Greatest Grid: The Master Plan of Manhattan Columbia University Press has announced the publication of The Greatest Grid: The Master Plan of Manhattan, 1811-2011, edited by Hilary Ballon, which includes more than 150 illustrations […]
Happy Birthday Washington Irving! On April 3, 1783 Writer and satirist Washington Irving was born in New York City. He best known for his short stories “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “Rip Van […]
New Guide: Exploring Historic Dutch New York Exploring Historic Dutch New York has been co-published by the Museum of the City of New York and Dover Publications (2012). The easy-to-read guide is filled with hundreds of historic […]
Exhibits Geography, Manhattan, Maps, Museum of the City of New York, New Amsterdam, New Netherland, New York City, Transportation, Urban History Leave a comment
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The Charles Hosmer - Morse Museum of American Art
Morse History
Calendar for January 24, 2019
No programs or events are planned for this day
Earth into Art—The Flowering of American Art Pottery
This exhibition providing a window on key developments in American Art Pottery, including the important contributions of women. For the show, the Morse has drawn from its extensive collection of pottery to show the shapes, glazes, themes, techniques, and finishing methods that were second to none in the world.
Revival & Reform—Eclecticism in the 19th-Century Environment
Revival & Reform provides a rare look at the diversity of the decorative arts in the latter nineteenth and very early twentieth centuries rather than one focused on a discrete art and design movement of the period such as Art Nouveau or Arts and Crafts.
Click here for information on ongoing exhibitions.
MAY through OCTOBER:
Tuesday-Saturday
NOVEMBER through APRIL:
Tuesday-Thursday and Saturday
and major holidays
The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art
445 North Park Avenue | Winter Park, FL 32789 | (407) 645-5311
©2019 Charles Hosmer Morse Foundation, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Thai economy sees major GDP uptick
After seeing some sluggishness affect its growth earlier in the year - from sectors that the economy has historically been able to depend upon, such as tourism and exports - the gross domestic product of Thailand bounced back in a big way during the fourth quarter of 2018. Citing figures from the country's National Economic and Social Development Council, Bloomberg reported that GDP was up by 3.7 per cent on a year-over-year basis, representing a 0.5 per cent increase from the previous quarter's total for that metric.
The news provider also pointed out that Q4's GDP growth outpaced the projections of economic experts it had surveyed, who expected 3.6 per cent expansion. The year-over-year uptick in this financial category is relatively consistent with the numbers regarding Thailand's overall economic expansion for the entirety of 2018 (4.1 per cent). Growth for the quarter itself came in at 0.8 per cent (after undergoing adjustment for seasonal factors), ahead of economic experts' projections by 0.1 percent.
Strong private consumption and investment served as the drivers for the GDP uptick in Q4, and these market forces were strong enough to stave off any adverse effects stemming from unexpectedly weak performances in exports and tourism. Even the ongoing global trade tensions, including those between China and the U.S., were not capable of offsetting the gains that Thailand's economy experienced. These positive signs also drove the Bank of Thailand to implement an increase to its benchmark interest rate for the first time in seven years during December 2018, though no further rate hikes are expected any time soon.
The main risk that could end up putting a damper on these growth trends is the government's continued reluctance to stick to a date for its first democratic elections since the 2014 military coup. According to Channel News Asia, the date is set for March 24, which represents another delay from a prior date of Feb. 24.
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Interest Rates & the Economy
The yield curve is a graph with the rates of U.S. Treasury bonds plotted by maturity. The slope of the curve is the difference between short-dated bonds and long-dated bonds. Normally, it curves upward as investors demand higher yields to compensate for the risk of lending money over a longer period. The curve flattens, however, when the rates converge.
Investors pay attention to the yield curve to identify buying opportunities in the bond market and because it has a history of forecasting economic growth. A flat yield curve suggests that inflation and interest rates are expected to stay low for an extended period of time, signaling economic weakness. A steep curve indicates stronger growth ahead.
In the first week of December 2018, the difference between 10-year and two-year Treasury yields — an indicator that tends to be closely watched by investors — was the narrowest since 2007, though still positive. The flattening yield curve was partly to blame for a year-end spike in stock market volatility, because some economists and investors took it as a warning that the odds of an economic downturn were increasing.1
Curve Confusion
Short-term Treasury yields are tied to the Fed’s interest rate policy, and the benchmark federal funds rate rose to a range between 2.25% and 2.5% in December 2018. Although the committee initially projected two more rate increases in 2019, projections released in March 2019 suggested the Fed might not resume raising rates until 2020.2
Yields at the long end of the curve are determined by supply and demand in the bond market and tend to reflect a broader range of factors, including the economic outlook and investor sentiment. Longer-term yields dropped over the last two months of 2018, partly due to investor concerns that tighter Fed policies could slow U.S. growth more than expected.3
Signs of a weakening global economy also appeared, while some export-driven economies were hit especially hard by trade disputes. China, the world’s second largest economy after the United States, is growing at its slowest rate in nearly a decade.4 In addition, uncertainty surrounding the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union — or Brexit — has restrained growth in the region.5
Recession Worries
When short-term rates actually rise above long-term rates, the yield curve becomes inverted, signaling that a recession may be coming in about a year. In fact, the last seven U.S. recessions were preceded by an inverted yield curve. There have also been two notable false positives when recession did not follow an inversion.6
It’s possible that the bond market has been distorted by the central bank’s bond-buying program (quantitative easing), which was implemented to boost liquidity and help the economy recover from the Great Recession. If so, the yield curve might be a less-reliable leading indicator than it was in the past.
Only time will tell whether the yield curve’s gloomy economic forecast will come true, or whether the market-based indicator has been thrown off by monetary policy and/or global events. Either way, investors and economists (including policymakers at the Federal Reserve) would likely view a steeper yield curve as a step in the right direction.
U.S. Treasury securities are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government as to the timely payment of principal and interest. The principal value of bonds fluctuates with market conditions. If not held to maturity, bonds could be worth more or less than the original amount paid.
1) Bloomberg.com, December 3, 2018
2) The Wall Street Journal, January 10 and May 9, 2019
3) The Wall Street Journal, January 9, 2019
4) The New York Times, December 9, 2018
5) The Guardian, October 30, 2018
6) Federal Reserve, 2018
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NCAPA Applauds First Asian American to Moderate General Election Debate
Tonight, CBSN anchor and CBS News correspondent Elaine Quijano will become the first Asian American to moderate a general election debate hosted by the Commission on Presidential Debates. Quijano is also the first anchor of a digital news service to moderate such a debate.
"Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are underrepresented in all forms of media, so having representation on the national stage during this election season is a major milestone," said National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA) National Director Christopher Kang. "Diverse voices in the media help ensure that all communities are seen and that our perspectives are heard and recognized. Elaine Quijano is an accomplished journalist, well-deserving of this honor, and because she is Filipino American, it is especially fitting that tonight’s debate occurs during Filipino American History Month.”
The vice presidential debate will take place at 9:00 p.m. ET tonight in Farmville, Va., between Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia and Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana.
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Colonial Studies
Anand Ramanujam
Anand Lahiri
Ananda Balayogi
Charulatha Mani
Divya Music
Dr Balamuralikrishna
Gayathri V
Gopika Varma
Kalpana Venkat
Koenraad Elst
Michel Danino
Pali Chandra
Raju UP
Ram Deshpande
Ramakrishnan N
Rupak Kulkarni
Sivaramakrishna Rao B
Sowmya S
Srekala Bharath
SS Toshkhani
Stephen Knapp
Udayraj Karpur
Udhav Sureka
Umashankar Vinayakram
Suggested Course Time
A few days
A few weeks
Dakshina
Education in India: Roots, Principles and Practice
This course throws light on the traditional system of education in India, drawing from sources of the Vedic, Buddhist and pre-colonial periods. It shows how India was a society deeply invested in creation, preservation and spread of knowledge that ranged from mundane and materialistic to philosophical and spiritual. This course is for anyone who wants to understand the current crisis in education in India from the perspective of history.
Proceed to Course
Decolonisation of India
Colonial Studies | History
600 (For entire course) | 250 (Per Unit)
Even after 70 years of independence of the Indian republic, the shadow of colonialism looms large. Governments through the years still tend to blame every ill affecting Indians squarely on the British which in turn has made them interiorize it. Without doubt till a decade or two after freedom when India was reorganising, the colonisers were culpable, but the need to move on and build on the great legacy that Indians have inherited is the need of the hour. This course identifies the impact of colonial policy masterminded by British, the direction it has moved along after independence and the measures Indians need to incorporate to rid themselves of this hangover.
Flute - An Introduction
600 (For entire course)
The flute or bansuri stands for bans(bamboo) & suri(melody) in sanskrit. In this course Pandit Rupak Kulkarni who is the student of India's most renowned flutist, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, introduces us to the fundamental features and techniques of the flute. He has mastered his art from the Maihar Gharana and has brought the flute into the mainstream of Hindustani classical music.
Yoga for pelvic health
The pelvic region of the human body is the home of the Muladhara Chakra and is the storehouse of our Kundalini Shakti. It is our center of gravity that provides a stable foundation for our physical as well as the subtle body. Being the nodal point that it is, the pelvic region is prone to imbalances of energy that lead to menstrual, reproductive, urinary, bowel and other disorders. Any problem with the pelvic region leads to serious repercussions for our overall wellbeing. This course will shed light on practices that help to energize and relax this area, to heal and normalize the imbalances that occur more often than we imagine, leading to a quantum leap in our sense of wellbeing.
Kashmir Shaivism - Historical Roots & Different Schools
Pay as you like
Kashmir Shaivism is the essence of Tāntric thought. Tāntrism developed around the 4th or 5th century CE as a powerful religious current and gave a new dimension and direction to India’s medieval religious culture and spiritual life. This was a period when numerous Shaiva cults belonging to different preceptorial lines were flourishing in Kashmir, and Kashmir came to be known as a great centre of Tāntric thought and practice. Scholars divide the entire medieval Shaiva tradition into two main streams – the pre-Tāntric Atimārga or the Outer Path, and the Tantric Mantramārga or the Path of Mantra.
Veena - An Introduction
Veena is an ancient string instrument whose origins according to mythology, lies in the Vedas. It is one of the primary instruments from which the Sitar came into being. As the Mridangam is the essential part of the rhythmic portion of Carnatic music, the Veena is as important for the melodic portion. In this course, Gayathri V introduces the instrument and in a step by step manner and teaches us about it's various facets and musical patterns.
Hindustani Vocals - Intermediate
Continuing from where he ended in the elementary course, Dr Deshpande teaches the nuances of khayal gayaki, gharana gayaki and paltas, while introducing more advanced exercises to further hone the vocal range of students.
Ancient Indian Astronomy
This course gives an overview of the various discoveries in astronomy by observers of the sky in ancient India. From the heliocentric model, which Indian astronomers had noticed thousands of years back to the establishment of nakshatras from the milky way as well as calendar construction. The earliest text on astronomy available today is the Vedanga Jyotisha that came towards the end of the pre-Siddhantic period.
Indian Psychology - Core & Context
Indian psychology has a consciousness driven approach that emphasizes on the first person perspective. It's practical outlook promotes self understanding instead of an outsider looking in to provide a panacea for the masses. Hence this subjectiveness which is essentially derived from the yoga school of thought encourages the reflection of one's consciousness in our actions for the ultimate aim to achieve moksha.
Learn Bharatanatyam - Basic
After one has sufficiently mastered the Beginner portion of the Bharatanatyam course, one can move on to other techniques mentioned in this Basic course. This course elucidates movements such as the Adavus(Jumps), Rasas, Bedhas(Head and feet movements), Padam and Javali to take another stride towards being proficient in this classical art form.
Mohiniyattam - Basics
A classical dance form originating from Kerala in southern India, Mohiniyattam devotes itself to articulating the leela of Vishnu in his Mohini (enchantress) avatar. Like various other dance forms of the subcontinent, Mohiniyattam emerged as a devotional performing art of the temples before gradually spreading far and wide. In this course, Gopika Varma, one of the finest dancers in India, teaches the basic concepts, techniques and subtleties of this enchanting classical dance form. This course is for anyone interested in making a start in learning or even just developing basic appreciation of Mohinyattam.
Sitar - For Beginners
The Sitar is one of the most popular melody instruments in Hindustani Classical music and is a part of the family of long neck lutes. Because of its versatility it is used in other genres of music such as western fusion music, film music and is gaining more acceptance in Carnatic music due to more collaborative projects with Hindustani music. This course helps a beginner with hardly any background in the Sitar to understand its various elements and forms a solid base to continue further.
Learn Bharatanatyam - Beginner
Bharatanatyam being the oldest and purest form of Indian classical dance is a combination of music, expression and rhythm. The two facets of Indian dance, the Tandava(vigourous) and the Lasya( gentle), blend beautifully in Bharatanatyam. It encompasses all the elements of dance, dramaand spiritually elevates the audience. Bharatanatyam is poetry in motion and all the cognate elements of Bhava, Raga and Tala reveal themselves as all in one.
Teental
Shri Anand Lahiri is a renowned Tabla player from the Benares gharana who gained his mastery under the tutelege of the great Pandit Kishan Maharaj. In this exposition on Teental he takes us through one of the most popular taals in Hindustani classical music and discusses its various rhythmical patterns.
Learn Bharatanatyam - Intermediate
Delving further into Bharatanatyam, this intermediate course covers the Jathis & Varnam that form an integral part of your progress towards mastering the art.
Yoga - for sleeping disorders
This course is directed at helping people with sleep disorders such as insomnia or sleep apnea. Through Gitananda Yoga there are various Asanas and Pranayam techniques that help people suffering from such disorders. Most of these are either caused or aggravated by stress and the regular practice of Yoga helps in reducing stress levels, thus producing a state of peaceful harmony at all levels of existence.
Arthritis is a disorder of the joints in the body that manifests as inflammation of certain joints, causing pain that is sometimes excruciating. Most common forms of arthritis are osteo-arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis or septic arthritis. Whatever the form of arthritis, Yoga offers a way to deal with the causes and symptoms. Regular practice of Yoga helps in setting right auto-immune disorders that cause arthritis, reduces inflammation in joints and also enhances our ability to tolerate pain, making it a comprehensive approach of self healing rather than a conventional arthritis treatment that makes one dependent on ant-inflammatory drugs. This Yoga for arthritis course is very useful for anyone suffering from arthritis in hands or knee or any other part of the body as long as one practices it regularly.
Jhaptal
Jhaptal is one of the most prominent 10 beat taals in Hindustani classical music. It has a very rich history in semicalssical music as well being present in bhajan, Rabindra sangeet and kheyal forms of music. Shri Anand Lahiri from the Benares gharana performs Jhaptal in this course and overs the nuances of unsymmetrical structured taal which gives wider scope to experiment.
Tabla - For Beginners
Like many Indian instruments, there are many interesting myths and legends about the origin of the Tabla. Some say that it evolved from the dholak and pakhawaj while others cite the 13th century Sufi poet Amir Khusru as the inventor of the instrument. It is the foremost rhythmic element in Hindustani music. In this beginners course for tabla, the history, essential elements and playing techniques are discussed a length for a well rounded introduction.
Ghatam - An Introduction
Ghatam is an earthenware pot which is the oldest percussion instrument used in Carnatic Music. It is different from ordinary mud pots and is made up of a special type of baked clay mixed with copper, iron or brass fillings. The mouth of the Ghatam is open and is played with both hands, wrists as well as nails.
Carnatic Music - Basics II
We move gradually from the basic tenets of Carnatic vocals towards learning alankaras and geethams to build a solid foundation for more elaborate exercises later.
Yoga for Diabetes
Diabetes of any type is an extremely difficult disease to manage and needs a holistic approach to treatment. Yoga doesn't just help maintain the right sugar levels but also strengthens other organs that may be at risk due to high sugar. Yoga reduces stress and balances the metabolic, autonomic and endocrine functions. The regular practice of Yoga helps reduce insulin resistance and improves the glucose utilization and response to a glucose load. Yoga can thus help in the prevention and control of Diabetes and may prevent many of its deadly complications.This course deals with the various practices in Gitananda Yoga tradition that can help in correcting health problems faced by diabetic patients.
Sitar - Basic
The sitar is one of the most popular instruments in Hindustani shashtriya sangeet and is a versatile instrument. Its ability to producs a deeply emotive tone that is very close to the human voice with agility and liveliness has made a very sought after instrument. In this course the artist Sri B.Siva Ramakrishna Rao who is the disciple of the late Ustad Ahmed Hussain Khan presents the various aspects of a Sitar from a very basic level, though very necessary to form a solid base. Sri Rao delves into the Sitar's history, its parts, lessons amongst other things to give you a comprehensive outlook.
Learn Thillanas
The Carnatic equivalent of the Hindustani Tarana, a Thillana is usually performed at the end of a concert and owing to its fast paced rythm, leaves the audience on a high note. Thillanas are also sung along classical dance performances. In this course, the legendary Carnatic vocalist, Dr Balamuralikrishna, briefly talks about how Tillanas came about and evolved before proceeding to teach two of his self composed Tillanas.
Hindustani Vocals - Elementary
Starting from the origins of hindustani music to a brief explanation of the gharana system, Dr Deshpande starts with teaching the Indian vocalist's approach to tuning, posture and voice culture and then moves on to explore the building blocks of music, the svaras. Further, he introduces the student to basic exercises of the vocal chords, a bhajan (devotional song) in Raag Bhairavi and concludes with a demonstration of a typical concert pattern in Raag Bhairav (vilambit khayal in tilvada taal). This course is for anyone interested in learning the basics of Hindustani Classical Sangeet and for those wanting to enrich their singing style with elements of Hindustani music.
Advanced Pranayamas
Pranayama (प्राणायाम) is the foundational practice in the path of Yoga (योग). It is composed of two distinct words: Pran (प्राण), which means life force and ayama (आयाम), roughly translated to extend. Using techniques evolved by ancient Indian sages, pranayama is a journey of the self to master the various life processes that operate in the body and in this way, gain health, vitality, knowledge, wisdom and freedom. In this course, you will learn about the various types of pranayamas and the correct way of practising these. Be sure to follow instructions to the last letter as incorrect practice and understanding can be seriously counterproductive.
Introduction to Advaita Vedanta
Advaita Vedanta is the knowledge of reality of self. In the vision of Vedanta, the relationship of the individual with the universe, as also the cause of the universe, is that of undivided oneness. This course is an introduction to the knowledge of this reality. The Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahma Sutras, analyzed and explained by Adi Shankaracharya, are its foundational texts. The knowledge is brought down to us through an unbroken chain of teachers and students and the effort is to present it maintaining the sanctity of this long-preserved tradition.
Basics of Kathak
This is an introductory course to get acquainted with the fundamentals of one of the most popular classical dance forms of India, Kathak. The name Kathak is derived from the Sanskrit word katha meaning story, and katthaka in Sanskrit means he who tells a story, or to do with stories. The name of the form is properly कत्थक katthak, with the geminated dental to show a derived form, but this has since simplified to modern-day कथक kathak. kathaa kahe so kathak is a saying many teachers pass on to their pupils, which is generally translated, she/he who tells a story, is a kathak', but which can also be translated, 'that which tells a story, that is 'Kathak'. This course is for those who are casually aquainted with the dance form or not aquainted at all. After this course, they can pursue the more advanced courses on Pragyata or hit the ground running at a dance school nearby.
Dhyana or meditation is a higher state of Yoga that may be attained only after the practitioner has prepared themselves in a step by step manner Meditation is a way to unite with our Supreme nature and maybe defined as fixing the mind on the Supreme with devotion and discipline. It is the seventh of the 8th steps in the Ashtanga Yoga of Patanjali and is part of the Antaranga or inner steps of Yoga. Meditation in a transcendental state, where if there is awareness, it is awareness of awareness itself, a state beyond the mind. How to meditate is a common question we ask ourselves or look answers for online only to be confronted with technical terms such as Kundalini Yoga, Mindfulness meditation and Vipassana along with all sorts of yoga videos. This course introduces you to simple meditation techniques that initiate you on the path of discovering yourself and is a sort of gateway to the world of meditation and sadhna.
Learn Ragas
Learn Ragas is a musical insight into certain important and typical ragas of Carnatic Classical Music. Charulatha Mani, popular Carnatic Vocalist is acknowledged world over as an expert on Ragas. In this video in her own lively and melodious style she outlines the salient features of the raga with the right grammar to put learners on the right track, shares with us well-known compositions in the raga as well as presents a piece in full to bring out the complete joy in this effort.
Carnatic Music - Basics
This is an introductory course in Carnatic music or the South Indian classical music which can be traced back to the age of the Vedas. The word "Carnatic" means traditional or ancient. Carnatic music is based on a 22 scale note (swaras) in contrast to the 12 note scale that is used in western classical music. A unique combination of these notes or swaras as they are said, evolve into separate ragas. Thus in Carnatic music, the raga connotes a mood or a route in which the music is supposed to travel. Different combinations of the notes give rise to different ragas. As this course deals with fundamental aspects of Carnatic music, any beginner can take it up and build their understanding in a thorough manner.
Mandolin for Carnatic Music
Mandolin is a western instrument, which like the violin, has evolved as a powerful medium for playing Carnatic music. In this course, UP Raju, a gifted Mandolin artist, teaches the basic techniques associated with the art of rendering Carnatic tunes on the instrument. Starting with the tuning, sitting posture and other fundamentals, he focusses on the technique to play 'Gamakas' in the most authentic way possible and ends with an enthralling demonstration of a concert pattern.
Medicine in Buddhist India
The Buddhist influence on Ayurveda initiated a change in the practice of medicine, not so much in the theory medicine but in the disappearance of many mantras and rituals. This was because of the influence of Buddhism which was the dominant religion in India during those 1000 years from its inception to around the middle of the first millenium CE.
Elementary Tabla
The tabla is a percussion instrument that finds its home and origin in the North Indian Hindustani classical music with the earliest depiction of the tabla has been found in the carvings in Bhaja Caves in the state of Maharashtra.. The instrument consists of a pair of drums of contrasting sizes and tonalities. In this course, Udayraj Karpur, one of the finest percussive instrumentalists of the country, explains the basic concepts of Indian rythm and then demonstrates how these concepts are applied to the Tabla. With its stress on technique, this course is a good starting point on the journey to learn this fine instrument.
Buddha in Hindu History
This course deals with how the Buddha is inextricably linked with Hinduism and was just one in a long line of gurus that the dharmic faith produced. Buddhism was discovered by Orientalists outside of India which is why Gautama Buddha is thought of as a revolutionary religious leader with no ties to any previous school of thought. Buddha's philosophy was shaped by the scriptures and so too were the meditative practices that he learned at the feet of several rishis, who were invariably Hindus. Due to Buddhism's disappearance and its development outside of India, the connection with its roots is either unknown or neglected.
Mridangam - Learn to play
Mrindangam is an ancient percussion istrument of South India. It forms the primary accompaniment as the rhythem element of a carnatic music ensemble. The word 'mridangam' is derived from the Sanskrit words Mrid and Angam - Mrid meaning 'clay' and Angam meaning 'body'. Sri N.Ramakrishna is this course takes you through the various facets of a Mridangam, highlighting playing styles, fingering techniques and giving musical lessons to help get the beginner started.
Philosophical ideas in Ayurveda
Philosophy | Ayurveda
The philosophical concept of Ayurveda made it more than just a symptomatic form of medicine due to its holisitc approach. Unlike other forms of medicine, it took into account the psychological, inherent and cosmic nature of man before developing a potent mixture for him. A practioner was not considered astute unless he had knoweldge of the prevalent philosophical systems.
Roots of Ayurveda
Ayurveda | History
Ayurveda's development was the result of natural progression from the Atharvaveda which preceded it by more than a millenia. It kept the textual knowledge of medicinal plants, bodily functions, structure of the body while also incorporating certain foreign inlfuences. Charaka is credited for developing the systemized character of Ayurveda and also making it free from some of the ritualistic practices of Atharvaveda
Violin - Learn to play
The Violin is the most common among the bowed instruments. The word Violin comes from the latin word "Vitula" meaning "stringed instrument". It is supposed to be the king of all musical instruments because of its rich tonal quality soothing sound and its simple structural form. The violin was the first western instrument to be absorbed completely ino Indian music. It occupies a very important place in the stage of Indian music.
Kashmir Shaivism - An Introduction
Kashmir Shaivism is a theological and philosophical system that has its roots in the Tantric worldview. Some scholars now prefer to call it non-dual Shaivism of Kashmir while others prefer Trika Shastra or Trika Shaivism as its name. It emerged from the numerous cults of Tantric Shaivism, preceptorial lines and Shaivagamic textual traditions that evolved, developed and flourished in Kashmir from as early as the 5th century CE.
Learn Bharatanatyam - Advanced
This course consists of advanced postures and techniques. Teermana Korvais, Yatis & Ananda Tandavam, Tillana & Kavadi are the steps discussed in this course. A variety of movements at different speeds and rhythms are performed for an experienced Bharatanatyam practioner
Basics of Tabla
The Tabla is a drum that is most closely associated with Hindustani shastriya sangeet from North India. The tabla evolved to its current form from the ancient double-headed drum, the Pakhawaj and the essential elements of the knowledge of playing the instrument dates back to as far as 4000 years ago. In this course, Anand Ramanujam, one of the senior disciples of the legendary Ustad Allah Rakha, makes learning the Tabla very simple and interesting, with complete focus on fundamental concepts and techniques.
Vedic India - An Introduction
The Vedic period is often called as the golden age of Indic civilization, and for good reason. The time period of the Vedic era is debatable, but there is no doubt regarding the influence it still has on the Indian sub continent, be it in spirituality, culture, language as described in the Vedas. With the passage of time, a lot of the wisdom from that age has either been lost or misinterpreted. This course hopes to highlight some of those teachings passed on by the sages of a bygone era which we can hope to incorporate in our present lives.
Highlights of Technology in Ancient India
This course takes a look at some of the technological developments in ancient India and how it impacted the world around it. A lot of scientific know-how from that period has either been expunged from history or due credit hasn't been given to the originators. Various vedic texts are also referred that highlight the marvel of technology in the Indian sub-continent and how it progressed across millennia.
Indian Ethics and Values
This course covers a broad range of topics and instances from the Upanishads to texts such as the Arthshastra that offer guidelines on the role of ethics in the life of an Indian. The viewpoints and day to day actions of many individuals from India's past & present is also mentioned to highlight the actual practice of such traditional values.
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Posted: 8 June 2019 20:02
This post is designed to highlight the sort of interesting features that are all too often overlooked in the study of anti-invasion defences. Despite being a well-known and photographed pillbox, the one we'll look at has hitherto not been subjected to anything more than casual observation.
The structure in question is in the overflow car park of the Bluebell Railway at Sheffield Park and until a couple of years ago, was covered in dense undergrowth. Admittedly, the vegetation probably prevented the sort of examination described here, but most pillboxes are not studied in the sort of detail required to uncover hidden details.
Our structure is an example of a Type 24 pillbox (DFW3/24) that was sited to cover Sheffield Bridge about 150m away. I was surprised to instantly spot an unusual feature that nobody seems to have mentioned before; check out the photo below:
Seen what I'm referring to?
If you look beyond the moss and vegetation that partly obscures the masonry, you'll see that the brickwork is two colours - and this was what initially sparked my interest in this pillbox. The structure is 30 courses of brick high; the upper 16 are almost completely of darker brown brick, while the lower 14 are in a brighter, red brick. (3 courses are below current ground level). Note how the red brick rises up by 3 courses where the embrasure on each wall occurs, creating a wavy line around the structure - this is a camouflage scheme!
This fits in with the camouflage concept of merging. For example, to make the pillbox blend into its surroundings, a two-tone camouflage scheme breaks up regular lines and places the embrasures within the areas covered by the darkest colour.
Looking at the photo below, we can see that the embrasures fall within the darker shade of brickwork. Note also the shadow cast by tree branches overhead; this seems to explain the brickwork scheme - it's trying to mimic and enhance this shadow effect. Given that there is an oak tree right beside the pillbox, it would apppear that the pillbox was deliberately sited under the cover of the tree as part of the camouflage scheme. This is important, as regulations stated that every pillbox should have a camouflage scheme prepared prior to construction. Even though I don't think the brickwork would fool the naked eye at ground level, even from 200m away, it may just tip the balance against aerial observation.
Another facet of camouflage is the remnants of black paint in the embrasures; this would tone down the white concrete. An interesting feature found in one of the embrasures appears to have been made by an acorn being pressed into the wet concrete!
I constructed a 3D model of the pillbox to better illustrate the brickwork scheme; we'll come back to this model later on.
The XII Corps Stop Line
We've rushed into looking at camouflage without really looking at the pillbox design itself or the wider context.
Sheffield Park sits on the River Ouse which was established as a stop line in 1940. This basically entailed forming a defensive line on pre-existing landscape features in order to produce a continuous anti-tank obstacle. Pillboxes were constructed along stop lines, and in the case of the XII Corps line, mostly concentrating on strategic points such as bridges.
Archive research reveals that the line was being reconnoitred in August 1940 in order to site the defences. We also know that the Sheffield Park pillbox was built by a section of Royal Engineers under the command of a Captain Donald.
The structure is based on the DFW3/24 pillbox (shell-proof) design more commonly seen on the GHQ Stop line (Newhaven-Penshurst section in East Sussex), but with some differences. The graphic below shows the bullet-proof and shell-proof variants; the former illustrated is actually the neighbour of our pillbox and built by the same unit. Note how it has a detached blast wall with two embrasures.
The photo below shows that we have a Z-shaped blast wall protecting the entrance of our example; unusually for a Corps Line pillbox, neither this nor the rear wall of the pillbox itself has embrasures. Note the ventilation duct fashioned from brick on edge and lined with roof tiles above the door.
Inside, the interior layout is very similar to the standard shell-proof pillbox, with embrasures designed for the Bren gun tripod. The photo below shows that the brick piers that once supported a wooden bench are mostly missing. A standard Y-shaped brick blast wall partitions the interior.
But while our pillbox seems to follow the standard shell-proof design, there is a significant difference; one of the walls has no embrasure. While this omission was noted when the pillbox was initially recorded by the Defence of Britain Project 20 years ago, nobody has seemingly tried to establish the reason behind it.
We'll investigate the missing embrasure in due course, but another interesting feature is visible on this wall. Looking at the photo below you can see traces of a brickwork pattern under the whitewash. Initially, I thought that this was simply brick shuttering as is seen on the external face of the pillbox. Brick is commonly seen on interior walls too, with the intricate embrasure detail shuttered in wood, but then I noticed the detail in the enlarged inset; a piece of rebar exposed on the wall surface.
This piece of rebar is clearly encased in concrete, meaning that there's no brickwork present. Closer inspection shows that the lines of mortar are raised on the surface and not indented as would be the case with brickwork still extant. Therefore, the brick shuttering has been removed, leaving its impression in the concrete. This is further confirmed by the 'wrinkles' in the wall surface, notably visible at the top of the wall. This indicates that paper (probably the empty cement bags) was used to line the surface between the brick and the concrete being poured. If the shuttering was to stay in place, this would be pointless.
But why remove the brick shuttering? One advantage of brick is that it could be left in place and wouldn't need dismantling like wood shuttering. Look at the photo below that shows the internal blast wall and ceiling.
Note how the roof has been poured onto shuttering comprising some sort of sheeting (wood or metal) in 2ft squares. The panel highlighted in red shows that the blast wall was built after the roof shuttering had been removed. It also appears that the internal brick shuttering had been dismantled before the roof was shuttered and poured, as there is no impression of brick left on the ceiling.
Now look at the blast wall; the brickwork is of a very poor standard as the face is not flush, notably the area outlined in green. Note the mortar to the right of the blue line, roughly slapped on to fill gaps and form the corner of the wall. The question is, was it constructed using bricks recovered from the shuttering? There is no definite evidence, but by my estimation, the internal blast wall comprises 610 bricks, whereas the internal shuttering (calculated by measuring the surface area of the walls) would require about 743. Add to this 128 bricks to build the piers that support the wooden bench, and you have only a handful of bricks left over. This is pure speculation on my part, but I can see that it actually makes sense to do this. Yes, it may be time-consuming to remove brick shuttering and clean the bricks off, but turn this around and think about what effort and resources are saved. You save 700+ bricks and avoid the need to transport an extra 2 tons of materials to the construction site.
The graphic below illustrates the estimated amount and distribution of bricks throught the structure. These stats have been generated by the software counting how many times I used each type of brick in each part of the 3D model.
On the subject of walls, this is a good point to note the presence of some wartime graffiti as shown below. Sadly, the pillbox was heavily vandalised with modern graffiti in late 2018 and the wartime scribble by a Canadian soldier was all but obscured by it. This act was reported as a heritage crime.
The missing embrasure
The burning question is: why does one wall have no embrasure? My original thought was that the oak that provides the pillbox's camouflage would be in the line of fire and so the builders simply omitted the embrasure as an unnecessary feature. However, given that the tree would have been only half as thick in 1940, I don't think it impeded a useful arc of fire had the wall been loopholed.
Not having an immediate explanation for the missing embrasure I decided to get some photos from my 5m selfie stick; it was then that the mystery began to unravel. Look at the photo below; does anything seem odd?
The above photo led to my doing a thorough survey of the pillbox. Let's add some basic measurements to illustrate the issue. Look at the measurements starting at bottom left in the photo below and follow them round towards the tree. The wall that has no embrasure is where the geometry all goes wrong.
It's not unusual for there to be discrepancies in pillbox geometry; the urgency and speed of construction inevitably meant that a structure may not be perfect, but this pillbox is in a league all of its own. Just look at how offset the door is from the centre and it does appear that the wall missing an embrasure is trying to avoid the tree. The graphic shows our pillbox's footprint overlaid on that of a geometrically-correct standard DFW3/24. From this we can also see a difference in the front-rear dimensions that we need to account for.
The 3D model
I decided to build a detailed 3D model because I wanted to record the camouflage brick pattern and also to understand what was going on with the blank wall. Although the Sketchup software I use allows textures (eg, a photograph of a brickwork pattern) to be applied to a model, I felt it was worth building using individual bricks and doing the job properly.
Early on it seemed sensible not to attempt to literally replicate each single brick, as this would have taken forever and probably seen me abandon the project. No, what was important to me was to record the basic arrangement of bricks in the bond, but ensure that the bricks that rise to below the embrasure to effect the camoufage wavy line were accurate.
I recorded two representative alternating courses, but found that the stretcher bond was actually quite regular and predictable anyway. Most brick lengths were 23cm with some 19-22cm, with a number of half bricks and fragments used in odd corners.
It's interesting to note that by using stretchers, the length of each course is actually half a brick too long for the length of the wall, leading to the "interlocked fingers" effect on each corner on alternating courses. On other pillboxes sometimes a half brick is used to foreshorten the course and in some cases, bespoke angled bricks appear to have been used.
The graphic below shows the completed model and how badly wrong things are with the geometry. It's so bad, I took the basic measurements several times to make sure I wasn't getting it wrong. We can see that the 50cm rear wall accounts for the difference in the front-rear axis compared to the standard design. But we now have the answer to the blank wall; it's not thick enough to accommodate the standard embrasure design.
The first question is whether the original intention was to build the standard DFW3/24 design or not; the photo below hints this was the case, as the blank wall appears to stop way short of the foundation. The concrete has been broken up by the tree and is covered by vegetation and earth, but as far as I can tell, the correct design was planned for. It leads me to think that a miscalculation caused a drastic modification on the job.
Even though the tree would not have blocked the view from an embrasure, I still believe the error in construction originates from it. The graphic below shows an extrapolated section in red to denote the "missing" mass. The tree is shown in two states; the outer ring denotes the rough size of the trunk today, the inner is a rough estimation of the size in 1940. The estimated wall is only 6 inches from the estimated size and location of the oak. (Note my multiple use of "estimation"; it is nothing more than that.)
My theory is that in a conscious effort to utilise the tree camouflage to maximum effect, the foundation was laid too close to it. The tree today leans over towards the pillbox; was it leaning too much for the intended height of the roof in 1940? Was a low hanging branch in the way? As it would appear that the oak was a vital part of the camouflage, it would be counterproductive to remove it or significant branches. Whatever the reason, it required foreshortening the rear wall by 3 feet and cutting the corner off the intended design.
Camouflaging the cock-up?
It sounds a bit conspiratorial, but part of me thinks that the error was subject to some camouflage of its own to prevent the occupants from realising the weakness in the structure. Some professional pride of the Royal Corps of Engineers was probably also at stake.
So how was the error covered up? Firstly, the omission of a loophole in the blank wall. The wall was not of uniform thickness and any loophole would give the game away. But for me, the external blast wall is the real sleight-of-hand.
It was not until I saw the high-rise photograph above that I realised what the blast wall was doing. Standing inside the pillbox, the doorway is in the centre (give or take 2cm). Standing outside, the fact that the blast wall springs off the rear wall of the pillbox hides the fact that the entrance is very obviously not central in the exterior wall. While many other Corps line pillboxes have blast walls that abut the main structure, it is perhaps convenient that using the technique here is beneficial to covering up the Achilles heel. Unless you really study the pillbox architecturally and actually survey all the angles, you probably would never notice the cock-up!
We've taken a detailed look at just one pillbox and uncovered some of its story, both from the archive documents and detailed study of its design and construction. We've seen how that, although a pillbox may be built to a basic design, no two are ever the same. Next time you're looking at a pillbox, instead of taking a few snaps to post on social media before moving on to the next one in the line, stop and take a closer look - you never know what you'll discover!
Defence of Britain Project
A large project run by the Council for British Archaeology (CBA) 1995-2002, collecting data on 20th century military structures submitted by a team of some 600 volunteers. The result was a database of nearly 20,000 records which is available online. The anti-invasion section of the database contains nearly 500 entries for East Sussex.
A loophole or slit that permits observation and/or weapons to be fired through a wall or similar solid construction.
Generic term for a hardened field defensive structure usually constructed from concrete and/or masonry. Pillboxes were built in numerous types and variants depending on location and role.
Stop line
A physical continuous anti-tank barrier, normally a river and/or railway line, often defended by pillboxes. Stop line crossings (roads, railways and bridges) were to be made impassable.
Type 24 pillbox
A six-sided (but not a regular hexagon) pillbox. The Type 24 is the most frequently seen pillbox in East Sussex, mostly along stop lines. It can be found in thin wall (30cm) or thick wall (1m) variants.
Hibbs, Peter Uncovering the hidden secrets of a pillbox (2019) Available at: http://www.pillbox.org.uk/blog/250548/ Accessed: 15 July 2019
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April 6 - 12, 2014: Issue 157
Super Saturday at Hitchcock Park
The football season kicked off yesterday with young players through to mature players doing their utmost on fields from Avalon to Harbord to Forrestville and St Ives fielding matches in netball, soccer, rugby league and union for under 6's up to A grades.
On Saturday evening the newest Rugby League club from the Northern Beaches playing in the NSWRL competitions, the Peninsula Seagulls, took on the Hills District Bulls in a top of the table clash in the 3rd round of the True Blue Chemicals Sydney Shield and came out victors 36-24.
Today (April 6th, 2014) is the first ever United Nations’ (UN) International Day of Sport for the Development of Peace, which recognises the power of sport in promoting peace and erasing cultural barriers worldwide. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the UN have a long-standing commitment to using sport as a tool for social change and have worked together on many projects over the years. Both organizations have used sporting events, such as the Olympic Games, to bridge cultural understanding and improve education, health, economic and social development.
On August 23, 2013, the UN proclaimed that the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace would be celebrated on April 6 each year. This date also marks the opening of the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896.
What better way to support and celebrate this today then an Issue filled with examples; the 2014 Aussies, the great new chapter of Sailability at Crystal Bay, and a Super Saturday at Hitchcock Park!
U9's: Avalon Bulldogs v Harbord Devils
Try!
A Grade - Avalon Bulldogs Vs. Narrabeen Sharks
Peninsula Seagulls Vs. Hills District Bulls
Young Fans
Final Try
Pictures by A J Guesdon, 2014
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Innocent pilgrims mistake cost their lives at Dhamara
21 Aug 2013 in Category(ies): Author railPosted on 21/08/2013 11/01/2018 Categories Derailments, Accidents, Rail Fractures, Mishaps and Casualties in Railway Areas, East Central Railway, ECR-Samastipur Division, Railways Disaster Management
Dhamara: In 2012, a government report said 15,000 people are killed every year while crossing India’s rail tracks. While many die because of unmanned railway gates — there are still 12,582 of them in the country — a substantial number is killed because they refuse to adhere to safety norms.
The 37 killed and 30 injured (at the time of going to Press) in the Bihar rail accident on Monday fall in the second category, if the initial reports are to be believed.
According to Indian Railways, the passengers, mostly pilgrims (kanwariyas), alighted from a local train — on the non-platform side — at Dhamara Ghat station and were on their way to the nearby Katyayani temple at Saharsa for special prayers when they were hit by the Saharsa-Patna Rajya Rani Express.
The Express, which was on a “signal movement”, meaning that it was not scheduled to stop at Dhamara Ghat, was hurtling down on the opposite track at 80 kilometre per hour.
Though the driver of the Express applied emergency brakes, it was too late. The death toll is expected to rise as many of the injured are critical.
An internal inquiry has been ordered into the incident. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar announced a compensation of Rs. 2 lakh each for the families of the victims.
As expected, the mishap led to mayhem at the station. Blaming the railway authorities, angry pilgrims and local residents set the Express and two other trains on fire and pulled out the driver of the Express train and beat him up.
They also attacked the railway station and held the staff hostage. Even at the cost of sounding insensitive, it must be said that the pilgrims had absolutely no business getting off on the wrong side of the train and jumping on to the rail track to take a short cut to their destination.
Such incidents are not new in this country but there are many people — as we have seen once again — who refuse to learn from past accidents. In fact, pilgrims, especially kanwariyas, are known to flout rules; every year during this time in north India there are several cases of kanwariyas clashing with motorists, residents and the police.
A poll being run on Hindustan Times on its online news paper on the train tragedy shows that there are many who believe that the pilgrims were responsible for what happened in Dhamara Ghat.
To the question, “Who is to blame for the Bihar train tragedy?” 94% of the respondents held the pilgrims crossing the railway tracks responsible for the mishap while only 3% blamed the driver of the Express.
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NASA shuts off systems on Voyager 2, saving power for long haul into interstellar space
Launched in 1977, Voyagers 1 and 2 are the longest-running spacecraft, still operating at more than 11 billion miles from home, decades after the end of their nominal goal of exploring the outer solar system planets. They still get their power from the same three radioisotope thermoelectric generators, or RTGs, that have served them for years. But with these generators yielding less power every year, the spacecraft have started to flag.
Mission controllers have had to make some tough calls about which instruments to prioritize, and recently made the call to turn off heating for Voyager 2’s cosmic ray instrument. The instrument itself is still functioning for now, despite operating at conditions of negative 74 degrees Fahrenheit, when it was only tested down to negative 49 degrees.
The craft has five functioning instruments remaining, which it still uses to collect data and send back to Earth on its long journey into deep space.
The Voyager spacecraft launched in 1977 as twin spacecraft, each with ten instruments to explore space and tour the solar system, sending back humanity’s first close-up look at most of the outer planets.
Voyager 1 visited Jupiter and Saturn before heading for deep space, while Voyager 2 swung by those planets plus Uranus and Neptune, its trajectory carrying it off at a slower pace. But since 1989, both have been exploring the empty space beyond the planets, and returning priceless information about how far the solar atmosphere extends its influence. It was only in 2018 that Voyager 2 officially entered interstellar space, returning information on how the space environment changed as it finally left the Sun’s sphere of influence.
Voyager 2 has five working instruments compared with Voyager 1’s four. Most of them have been switched off intentionally, as the imaging cameras, for instance, are not useful so far from any sunlight or photographical objects. But they are still measuring cosmic rays, magnetic fields and other charged particles that fill interstellar space far beyond the worldly realm of the planets.
By measuring these particles, astronomers are learning just how far the Sun’s energy extends, and how those fields interact with the interstellar medium beyond the solar system’s edges.
The two Voyager spacecraft took different paths through the solar system, and both have since left the Sun’s influence entirely.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
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Beauty And The Beast Theater Tickets and Schedule
View All Beauty And The Beast Tickets
Lunt-Fontanne Theatre
2 hours and 30 mins with 1 intermission
Tue - Thu 7pm
Fri - Sat at 8pm
Sun at 7:30pm
Sat & Sun at 2pm
This is another great musical from the stables of Disney, based on the timeless story passed down from generations to generations. Playing at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, the show is a lavish musical adaptation of the Walt Disney’s 1991 animated film by the same name. This popular musical debuted on Broadway by previewing at the Palace Theater on March 9,1994 and premiering on April 18, 1994. It began its performances at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on November 12, 1999, and has been running there since then.
On November 12, 2006, the show completed 5,168 performances on Broadway and it is currently the 6th longest running musical in the history of Broadway. However, it is the 3rd longest running of all the musicals currently running on Broadway, with The Phantom of the Opera, and the recently revived Les Misérables (November 9, 2006) ahead of it with respectively 7,837 and 6,680 performances. The script was expanded and new songs, written by by Alan Menken and Tim Rice, were added.
The animated version of the show was the first animated movie ever to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. The musical version was nominated for nine Tony awards in 1994 and won one for the Best Costume Design. It also won the 1994 Theatre World Award.
The Story Briefly
Beauty and the Beast is the story of a young woman – Belle – and the monstrous Beast, who is a prince under a spell of an enchantress for his lack of compassion. In exchange for her father’s life, Beauty agrees to become the Beast’s prisoner forever. Once Beauty enters the enchanted castle, the Beast starts to fall in love with her, and gradually becomes less beastly. The spell over the prince can only be broken if Beauty starts to fall in love with the Beast in return, otherwise the prince is doomed to all eternity to remain a Beast.
This is a great musical where you and your family can spend an enchanted and a magical evening. As is the case with most of Disney’s musicals, this is another great one for the children.
Currently running at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, which was originally built in 1910, and was known as The Globe. It was built by New York City architects Carrere & Hastings, and is their last surviving Broadway theater. After its complete renovations, it reopened in 1958 and was renamed the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in honor of actors Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, who were married to each other.
Beauty and the Beast tickets can be purchased at the box office. If you wish to avoid the rush and long lines, we can arrange the Beauty and the Beast tickets for you magically. No sweat!
Our reliable and most professional staff will attend to your requirements for the Beauty and the Beast tickets; arrange to procure the tickets for the seats and the show of your choice . . . and voilà! your Beauty and the Beast tickets will appear at your doorstep.
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Nolando
Potentially a musing not on God’s justice but, rather, God's mercy, the Coens’ take on the story of True Grit is a multi-layered improvement on the previous John Wayne vehicle.
From the opening text from Proverbs to the final, lingering closing shot, accompanied by mostly instrumental-only versions of old hymns, the Coens' take on the True Grit story isn't about revenge but, rather, living in a space where humanity is allowed to strive for balance.
But there's a smart sense of humor here as the 3 very different characters play out this "extra" reality. Bridges is, yet again, incredibly solid and Damon is a great foil for him. But full credit is due to newcomer as Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross who has to carry the majority of the film. She's just exceptional, showing drive and determination while also allowing the audience to witness the loss of innocence as she crosses over to this side of the world, forever changed, forever marked.
The performances here are all rock-solid, especially Bridges as Cogburn and Steinfeld as Mattie. Carter Burwell’s hymn-inspired score and fantastic cinematography yet again from Roger Deakins add greatly to the mood of sparseness where characters seem to be on the fringes of moral existence, held only by their certainty in the rightness of their actions.
Tags : coen brothers, remake, review, true grit
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Meet the Team: 2014-2015
Science Discoveries: Newly Discovered Sea Creature Was Once the Largest Animal on Earth
"Almost half a billion years ago, the largest animal on Earth was a 2-meter-long, helmet-headed sea creature that fed on some of the ocean’s tiniest prey. The newly described species is one of the largest arthropods yet discovered, a class of animals that includes spiders and crabs."
Scientists have recently uncovered a new species of arthropods from 480-million-year-old rock found in Morocco. At one point, scientists say that this water creature was the largest animal to exist on the planet, measuring up to two meters long. The species has been named Aegirocassis benmoulae; Aegir meaning God of the sea in Norse mythology, cassis stemming from the Latin word for helmet, and benmoulae recognizing the Moroccan collector who first stumbled upon the fossils. This pivotal discovery now allows scientists to fill in previous gaps regarding arthropod evolution and draw many conclusions, such as the development of arthropod limbs.
Author: Sid Perkins
Source: AAAS.org
Link to the Full Article:
http://news.sciencemag.org/biology/2015/03/newly-discovered-sea-creature-was-once-largest-animal-earth
-Amelia Ekert
Loyola University Maryland Scientista Website Coordinator
Science Discoveries: Mysterious New Craters Uncovered in Siberia
Huge New Holes In Siberia Have Scientists Calling For Urgent Investigation Of The Mysterious Craters
"Scientists were baffled last July when they discovered three giant holes in the ground in Yamal Peninsula in northern Siberia. Now, with the help of satellite imagery, researchers have located ffour additional craters--and they believe there may be dozens more in the region."
Through the use of satellite technology, scientists have recently uncovered three craters in the ground in the Yamal Peninsula in Siberia. Scientists are left wondering why and how these massive holes have formed and how they can predict if more will appear in the future. It is believed that the holes are the result of gas explosions prompted by a buildup of underground heat or the continual change in the Earth's climate. A crew has been sent out to study and photograph the holes and begin to unravel this mystery. Because gas explosions underneath the surface of the earth are unpredictable and dangerous, it is difficult for them to be studied. As a solution, scientists plan on setting up stations in the surrounding area to detect and track earthquakes that may follow as a result of the explosions.
Author: Marcina Cooper-White
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/23/holes-siberia-investigation-safety_n_6736744.html?utm_hp_ref=science
Loyola University Maryland Scientista Website Publishing Chair
In Bedbugs, Scientists See a Model of Evolution
"In the closing sentence of “The Origin of Species,” Charles Darwin marvels at the process of evolution, observing how “from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.” Few people would describe bedbugs as most beautiful or most wonderful. Yet this blood-feeding pest may represent an exceptional chance to observe the emergence of Darwin’s “endless forms”: New research indicates that some bedbugs are well on their way to becoming a new species."
This article gives readers a look into the evolution of bedbugs, from where they originated to their present residing and how they made the journey in between. Through the DNA of bedbugs, scientists have been able to track the movement of these bugs around the world and begin to figure out why we just can't seem to get rid of these pests altogether.
Author: Carl Zimmer
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/05/science/in-bedbugs-scientists-see-a-model-of-evolution.html?ref=science&_r=0
Technology Develops: 3-D Printers are Making Cars!
"On a Saturday morning [in] September [2014], the world got its first look at the Strati. This electric vehicle is unlike any other currently on the road. It rolls on four wheels, but its body and chassis weren't built in a factory. Instead, Strati's designers used a technology called 3-D printing."
Scientists have long been working on the development of 3-D printers and now they are finally here! Last year, at the International Manufacturing Technology Show in Chicago, the world's first drivable car was printed from a 3-D printer. The vehicle was printed in under 48 hours and, after a few parts were added to it, was driving on the street. The car was named "Strati" from the Italian word strati, meaning layers because the vehicle was essentially built "slice by slice, from the bottom up." Scientists and manufacturing experts believe that 3-D printing will transform the way things are made and, over time, may be available to anyone at any time.
Source: Student Science
Author: Stephen Ornes
Full Article Link: https://student.societyforscience.org/article/3-d-printers-are-making-cars?mode=topic&context=104
Charity Challenge Experience
On November 15th 2014, the Loyola University Maryland Scientistas volunteered at the Health Care for the Homeless 5k.
Our chapter decided to support Health Care for the Homeless as our charity for the Scientista Charity Challenge because of its efforts to help the community in which we live. "Health Care for the Homeless (HCH) works to prevent and end homelessness for vulnerable individuals and families by providing quality, integrated health care and promoting access to affordable housing and sustainable incomes through direct service, advocacy, and community engagement ... With strong public and private support, HCH is guided by a vision of a future without homelessness in which all Marylanders have access to comprehensive health care, affordable housing, and livable incomes."
At the 5k we directed runners throughout the course as they ran to raise money for Health Care for the Homeless (HCH). However, we wanted to support HCH in other ways as well.
In order to further support HCH’s goal, we decided to raise money for them while also participating in their shoe drive to collect shoes that would help protect their clients’ feet during the winter. We were able to donate multiple pairs of shoes, which were brought with us to the 5k.
Through bake sales and the help of generous donors, our fundraiser went extremely well. We were able to raise over $300 for HCH on our gofundme.com fundraising page.
http://www.gofundme.com/LUMscientistas
- Anna Bellerive
Loyola Scientista Chapter Co-Director
Loyola takes Charity Challenge Head First
For The Scientista Foundation "Charity Challenge" the Loyola Chapter voted on a cause to support earlier this month. We will be fundraising for Healthcare for the Homeless! We encourage members to contribute ideas and time to our efforts in this challenge.
Our first fundraiser will be a Scientista Bake Sale in November, where we will be selling festive treats and cider! If you are interested in donating baked goods please contact Co-Director Anna Bellerive (arbellerive@loyola.edu). Anna is working on coordinating an event that will involve donating our time as well to Healthcare for the Homeless.
If you are interested in playing a bigger role in our Charity Challenge by joining the fundraising committee please contact Co-Events Chair Ashley Geczik (amgeczik@loyola.edu).
Loyola Scientista Spotlight!
Meet Alyssa Compeau, a Second Year Masters Student at Loyola University Maryland
Alyssa has recently completed data collection for her Masters thesis entitled, The Effects of Engaging in Fat Talk on Body Dissatisfaction, Self-Esteem, Mood, Eating Behavior, and Interpersonal Closeness. She has graciously agreed to share her experiences with us as a graduate student and researcher.
Meet Kelly Maluccio, a Math major and Division 1 Athlete at Loyola University Maryland
Read about her volunteer work with Loyola's Women in Sports Day!
Tell us a little bit about Loyola’s Women in Sports Day. How did you get involved?
I have volunteered at Loyola’s Women in Sports Day for the past four years. I am on the varsity women’s swimming and diving team here at Loyola, so I volunteer every year with my entire team and we have a blast with all of the young female athletes. Tons of girls come to Loyola and we get to give them a tour of the athletic locker rooms as well as get them pumped for the basketball game later that afternoon. In previous years, I have given tours and talked with the girls about what sports they play and how much fun it is to play a sport in college. This year I was able to work at a few different tables helping with poster making, face painting, tattoos, and hair ribbons. The girls get so excited to get a Loyola tattoo or sparkly green hair ribbon to wear to the game. Also, they decorate and create posters that say ‘Loyola’ or ‘Go Hounds!’ because they can bring these posters to hold up at the game. It is always a fun experience to talk with the young athletes and encourage them to keep it up.
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Sports > NCAA football
Trevor Lawrence lights up Notre Dame, No. 2 Clemson cruises 30-3 in Cotton Bowl
UPDATED: Sat., Dec. 29, 2018, 8:52 p.m.
Clemson safety Isaiah Simmons (11) kisses the trophy as he and his teammates celebrate their 30-3 win against Notre Dame in the NCAA Cotton Bowl semi-final playoff football game, Saturday, Dec. 29, 2018, in Arlington, Texas. (Jeffrey McWhorter / AP)
By Ralph D. Russo Associated Press
ARLINGTON, Texas – When Clemson’s Dabo Swinney entrusted a team with championship aspirations to freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence in September, this is what the Tigers’ coach had in mind.
Lawrence threw for 327 yards and three touchdowns and No. 2 Clemson beat No. 3 Notre Dame 30-3 on Saturday in the Cotton Bowl to reach the College Football Playoff title game. The Tigers (14-0) will play No. 1 Alabama – for a fourth straight season in the playoff – on Jan. 7 in Santa Clara, California.
“This is what we came here to do,” Swinney said. “This senior group just won their 54th game and they’re going back to their third national championship in four years.”
Clemson’s overpowering and experienced defensive line, led by ends Clelin Ferrell and Austin Bryant, smothered Ian Book and the Fighting Irish (12-1), holding them to 248 yards. “Our guys, they got it done in the trenches,” Swinney said.
On offense, freshmen led the way. Lawrence, making his 10th career start, was 27 for 39 and did not throw an interception against a Notre Dame defense that had been one of the best on the country. Freshman receiver Justyn Ross had six catches for 148 yards and two long touchdowns.
The Irish hung around for a quarter, with the teams exchanging field goals. But early in the second quarter, Notre Dame All-America cornerback Julian Love went out with what coach Brian Kelly said after the game was a head injury, and Lawrence started taking apart the Irish secondary.
Lawrence hooked up with Ross on a deep throw down the sideline, and the big receiver beat Love’s backup, Donte Vaughn, for a tackle-breaking 52-yard score early in the second quarter. The Irish looked as if they might be able to keep it close to halftime, but the offense couldn’t keep that ferocious Clemson front, even without suspended star tackle Dexter Lawrence, out of the backfield.
In the final 2 minutes, Trevor Lawrence connected with Ross on a 42-yard score and with Tee Higgins for a one-handed, 19-yard touchdown reception – again over Vaughn – with 2 seconds left in the second quarter. Lawrence was 13 for 15 for 229 yards in the quarter.
That made it 23-3 at half, and once again the Fighting Irish looked outclassed against the best of the best. Not so different from the 42-14 loss to Alabama in the 2012 BCS championship game or the 44-28 loss to Ohio State in the 2016 Fiesta Bowl. In fact, Notre Dame is 0-8 in BCS and New Year’s Six games since winning the Cotton Bowl in 1993.
Though to be fair, Clemson has been doing this to everyone since Lawrence settled in. The Tigers haven’t had an opponent stay within 20 points since a close call against Syracuse on Sept. 29.
That was Lawrence’s first game as a starter, one he didn’t finish because of a head injury, and Clemson’s first after quarterback Kelly Bryant left the team.
Bryant, a senior, led the Tigers to the playoff last season and a semifinal loss to Alabama. He was pivotal in an early victory this season at Texas A&M. But Lawrence is a rare talent, a potential first overall NFL draft pick. When Lawrence took over, the ceiling on Clemson’s potential rose. Now it is being realized.
With a powerful arm, quick release, poise in the pocket and signature flowing blond hair, Lawrence is positioned to become one of college football’s biggest stars. It will help to have receivers such as Ross, Higgins and Amari Rogers, all underclassmen, and a runner like sophomore Travis Etienne, who broke a 62-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
But Lawrence is the leader. In his 11th start, he will try to become the first true freshman quarterback to lead his team to a national championship since Oklahoma’s Jamelle Holieway in 1985.
Published: Dec. 29, 2018, 5:50 p.m. Updated: Dec. 29, 2018, 8:52 p.m.
Tags: Clemson Tigers, college football, college football playoff, Cotton Bowl, ncaa, Ncaa football, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Sports
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Artist Spotlight, Features, Interviews
An Interview with Courtney Marie Andrews
Courtney Marie Andrews | Photo Credit: William Miller
Surprisingly enough, genuinuity in the music industry is hard to come by. But there’s a culture in Seattle that’s been bubbling up for quite some time. One that celebrates that uniqueness that this city’s music business has to offer. One that is full of genuine artists and professionals, just looking to lift each other up. It’s a beautiful thing when an artist is transparent, desires the best for people and is full of talent; Courtney Marie Andrews is one of those gems.
Andrews is a young singer/songwriter living in Seattle, and she is quickly becoming the talk of the town. On the brink of releasing her fifth album, On My Page, Courtney was kind enough to sit down with SSG to answer some questions about being young in the industry, touring with Jimmy Eat World, and her new album due out this month.
SSG: You’re originally from Phoenix, correct? What was the ultimate reason for your move up to Seattle?
Courtney Marie Andrews: Well, I’ve been touring a lot since I was 16 and I have come up here every tour, probably about 3 or 4 times before I actually moved here, and just fell in love with it. I really loved how there was a giant, thriving music scene here and also the scenery is really inspiring. Phoenix definitely left an imprint on me… just because I grew up there and my foundation was there. There was a really great community for music there. I definitely have a little bit of desert left in me.
SSG: Looking back on Urban Myths, your first album, is there anything that you would change now?
CMA: I think that every artist would probably say yes to that question. It’s really hard to look back on your past records, especially because I was so young and it was my first attempt at a CD so it’s one of those things that I would probably want to change now, but it’s just sort of there. I probably wouldn’t change anything, though, just because I wouldn’t have known to.
SSG: So were you 17 or 18 when you put that out?
CMA: I was 17
SSG: And you’re 22 now. You’re still young! When listening to your singing voice it sounds very mature. I would never guess your age from that. Have you been mistaken for being older than you are?
CMA: When you’re a musician that is really young, you tend to spend time around a lot of people who are a lot older than you. I have been hanging out with people ten years or more older than I am. You sort of pick up on habits of people that are older than you. I definitely have been mistaken for that.
SSG: How has it been as a young woman growing, not only musically, but in general for the past five years in this industry?
CMA: Honestly I don’t let it affect me too much. I don’t feel any different than anybody else. I am very independent and I won’t let anything stop me as far as what I want to do. If I have an idea it’s sort of a tick and it just ticks and ticks until I have to face it. I have always been that way. I never let the idea of me being a girl ever stop that.
SSG: How old were you when you initially started song writing?
CMA: I wrote my first song when I was 14.
SSG: Was that more of an outlet and a release than really wanting to pursue music as a career?
CMA: Definitely. What happened was me and a couple of girls from Phoenix all played an instrument. I started playing guitar, and the idea of writing a song had never even crossed my mind. I had always really loved words and expressing with words, and I had written poetry when I was younger and that sort of thing. But we got together when we were in 8th grade and decided to try and write a song together. We couldn’t really come up with anything together so I was like ‘I’m just going to try and write a song’. So I started writing songs because of that and I started recording my own songs when I was about 15.
SSG: Have any of the very first songs you wrote shown up on any of your albums?
CMA: No! [laughs] None that I would show anyone. I was much more influenced by punk-rock music when I was that age so a lot of my songs were more power-chord driven, me trying to yell and that sort of thing. That was me trying to find myself. That changed very quickly, though. It was only like a year of that. Then I started writing songs and realized that I didn’t really like that music and it didn’t really ring true with me anymore. Somebody introduced me to Iron & Wine and my mind changed. It was like ‘This is what I want to do’.
SSG: What sort of musical influences do you draw on?
CMA: It varies year to year. For a while I really was influenced by things made in the nineties until now—really new stuff. Really the last year I just love old country songs, Appalachian songs and that sort of thing. Some of them are 200 years old but you can’t even put a number on it really. Somebody passed it down generation to generation. I love that style of music: just the idea that a song is so good that it has been sung for that long.
SSG: Would you want your music to be around for that long?
CMA: I don’t know. It wouldn’t even be mine at that point. If it was passed down for that long it would be the people’s song. And that’s what is great about folk music. These songs came from this one person but they are the people’s songs. A song that everyone can sing.
SSG: What non-musical influences lend to your sound?
CMA: Traveling. Definitely. Traveling makes me the person I am. It’s a huge imprint on my music and myself. Which works out because as a musician you have to travel a lot. I really love Scotland. I would probably live there.
SSG: When you are singing it almost sounds at some points as if you have an accent, whether it be Irish or Scottish, there’s something there.
CMA: I’ve gotten that before. I actually got singing work with this guy, Marc Carroll from Ireland. He’s on One Little Indian Records with Bjork. And the guy who produced my last record got me to sing on a song with him because people were always asking him “Is she Irish?” And I’m not. I’m Danish. I think there might be a little Scottish in there.
SSG: How do you let loose and have a good time when you’re not focused on music?
CMA: My favorite stress reliever is to play the drums. Besides music, though, I love to read, hiking, painting… long walks on the beach, just kidding.
SSG: What’s your guilty pleasure?
CMA: Putting myself in ridiculous situations on purpose just to have an experience. Once I impulsively took a greyhound bus from Phoenix to New York City. I had never been before and wanted to. I bought a ticket and slept on this bus for four nights. I met a bunch of crazy people, like pimps. It’s terrifying when you’re alone. I feel like whenever I get too comfortable I am thinking, ‘What can I do to change this?’ I need some sort of drastic change.
SSG: Seattle is exploding with this singer/songwriter, new-folk scene right now. Is it difficult to stand out from all of these musicians who are doing similar things while also staying true to what your art form is?
CMA: I have always played songwriter music since I started. I have never thought about it like that. It is interesting how this new-folk revival is happening. It’s definitely not folk music any more—it’s very different than that. I just sort of try and get better every day and try to one-up myself. I never really think about trying to one-up anyone else. I do this because I love it. I want to improve every step of the way. There is always something more you can learn. There is no stopping.
SSG: How do you give your audience what they’re looking for?
CMA: You know, I definitely have gotten caught up with that sort of thing before. But I’ve learned, especially in the last few months, that you just can’t do that. You just have to play exactly what you want to play. If you get caught up in pleasing the audience your songs start becoming forced. When you see a performer you can tell, too. They’re not playing this song because they want to, they’re playing because they think someone is going to like it. They think they’re going to get famous because of it. You need to play exactly what’s true to you.
SSG: I read that you have played and toured with Jimmy Eat World. How in the world did this happen?
CMA: They’re from Phoenix. Jim approached me at my second CD release that I had in Phoenix. He just came to my album release and then that turned into him asking me to sing with him at this local venue for a charity. Then that turned into him asking me to sing on his latest album, which turned into me touring with them. It was an amazing opportunity, and they’re sort of local heroes in Phoenix. It was a blast. I got to take the back seat and not be the person in the front making all of the decisions and that sort of thing. I got to see the world for free because of it. And I got to play with them, and they’re all great guys.
SSG: What was the difference between taking the backseat and being the front-woman?
CMA: I really like both, and I think that’s why I am learning other instruments. I like feeding off of other people’s ideas. As a backing musician your responsibility is to fulfill others’ needs rather than to fill in those parts for yourself. There is definitely a lot less pressure when you’re a backing musician.
SSG: When was the last time you had to use your “Out of Gas” sign?
CMA: OK so my gas gauge is broken. It starts to freak out when it goes out of gas, and I have gotten used to counting miles. At the time I had my keyboard player driving. I had [fallen] asleep. We were driving from Denver to Omaha at a slight in-grade the entire time. So counting miles was different. We all woke up and my keyboard player was like, “Well we just ran out of gas.” So I was just going to hitchhike. I put my thumb out and that was not working (sometimes it takes a long time). Finally my guitar player was like, “We could make a sign.” And someone came within two minutes. I haven’t had to use it since then. The last few times I have broken down I had been in town so I could just walk to the station. We might have to use it on this next tour though.
SSG: As a musician have you had to learn anything the hard way that you wish someone had told you when you were starting?
CMA: Yes. The business side of music. Working with somebody that isn’t necessarily someone you should be working with. Like not signing papers just because it sounds good. I think you have to learn everything the hard way. My first tour was a disaster—not really a disaster but I learned so much from it and now know how to plan it better.
SSG: On My Page, your fifth album is coming out April 23. What was the process like for this album? How was it different from your previous ones?
CMA: Well it’s definitely the quickest album I have put together. We did a Kickstarter for it, then I got in contact with Ryan Hedlock, the head producer/engineer at Bear Creek Studios in Woodinville. I gave him my stuff and he said, “Yeah let’s book some time.” We had a month for the band to learn the songs. Then we went in the studio and recorded the album in six days. And for that reason I love it because there wasn’t time to be perfect. It’s really raw; it’s 90% live. I think in the past I have had so much time to work on things and perfect things that it doesn’t sound like I would live. This is what we would sound like as a band if you were going to see us playing a show.
SSG: How was it working with Ryan, who has also produced The Lumineers and Ra Ra Riot?
CMA: He’s a great guy. He really knew what this project needed. Most producers want to make a perfect unflawed record, which doesn’t make any sense because when you are playing live it’s not perfect. But he wanted it to play how we would live. It sort of made me a little laid back. At first actually I was a little apprehensive thinking ‘what do you mean this isn’t going to be perfect?‘
SSG: Are you proud of any song in particular off the album?
CMA: I mean there are definitely songs I am proud of on here. The whole album is really an album in a sense that all of the songs truly belong with each other. It’s hard to say. “500 Nights” is one that I like a lot that not many people have heard yet.
SSG: How would you summarize this album and describe your heart behind it?
CMA: Super organic, raw, slightly Americana sometimes. The songs are a lot shorter than previous records. Some songs are super country.
SSG: How does it make you feel that your music is impacting people’s lives?
CMA: It means a lot. It puts more worth on your music than fame. A lot of people are famous who have just alright songs that have no feeling whatsoever. Once about four years ago, it was raining one night in Phoenix. After I played this kid came up to me and handed me a little note and walked away. The note said “I want to wrap your songs up to keep me warm in the rain.” I still have it. When people say things like that, it’s nice to think that you are some sort of music doctor that goes around healing people.
SSG Music recently had the privilege of premiering Courtney’s latest single “It Keeps Going”, which you can listen to here.
RVBY MY DEAR finds inspiration from strange cities through her latest single “Draw”
× 4 = twenty four
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St. Bernard’s RC Primary School
Admissions Policy 2018
St Bernard’s is a Roman Catholic Primary School provided by the Diocese of Salford and is maintained by Bolton Local Authority as a voluntary aided primary school. The school’s governing body is the admission authority and is responsible for taking decisions on applicants for admission. For the school year commencing 2018/2019 the governing body’s planned admission number is 30.
Admission to the school will be made by the governing body in accordance with the stated parental preferences it receives subject to the following criteria which will be used to form a priority order if there are more applications for admission than the school has places available.
The Governors will admit all children having a statement/EHCP of SEND (Special Educational Need Difficulties) in which the school is named.
Baptised Roman Catholic children who are in public care and previously looked after children who were looked after, but ceased to be so because they were adopted (or became subject to a residence order or special guardianship order).
Baptised Roman Catholic children who will have a sibling attending the school at the time of admission and resident in the parishes of
St. Ethelbert’s and St. Vincent’s.
Baptised Roman Catholic children resident in the parishes of St. Ethelbert’s and St. Vincent’s.
Other baptised Roman Catholic children who will have a sibling attending the school at the time of admission and are resident in another parish.
Other baptised Roman Catholic children who are resident in another parish.
Other children who are in public care.
Other children with a brother or sister attending the school at the time of admission.
Other children.
PRIMARY NOTES
The governing body is the admissions authority. The admissions committee is comprised of the following governors: Chair of governors, Parish Priest and Head Teacher.
In the autumn term all parents who have expressed an interest in a school place will be sent a copy of the Local Authority ‘Primary Admission Booklet; which gives details of the LA co-ordinated admissions arrangements. These are available from Local Authority offices, public libraries and primary schools. They can also be viewed or downloaded from the Council’s website bolton.gov.uk/admissions
Parents must complete a common application form and express 3 preferences for primary school admission. The closing date for all applicants is 16th 2013. All applicants will be considered by the governors at the same time in a fair way according to the published criteria.
Each Roman Catholic applicant will be required to produce a baptismal certificate. Supplementary Form: The supplementary form must only request information relating to the fact of baptism. Any further information usually collected by the school should be requested on admission.
Parents will be informed of the governors’ decision by Bolton LA on 15th April An offer of a place does not guarantee a place for brothers and sisters in subsequent years.
Parents should check carefully whether they are resident within the parish boundaries of St. Ethelbert’s and St. Vincent’s. Map illustrating parish boundary is available from school.
All applicants resident in the parishes of St. Ethelbert’s or St. Vincent’s will be required to provide proof of address, by supplying an original, up-to-date, utility bill or family credit book.
If in any category there are more applications than places available, priority will be given on the basis of proximity to the school. This will be determined by the nearest, safest walking routes from the front door of the house to the main entrance door of the school. This will be digitally measured using the LA system (where it operates, otherwise please state how it will be measured).
Where a child lives with parents with shared responsibility, each part of the week, the ‘home’ address will be determined as being where the child resides for the majority of the school week.
The term ‘brothers and sisters’ will be taken to include step brothers and sisters, foster children and children of partners living in the same household. The governing body must comply with maximum class size of 30 children however where the final place falls between twins, triplets etc then all children will be offered a place (this is permitted under the “excepted pupil” category of the relevant legislation) It is the duty of governors to comply with class size limits at Key Stage One. This means that the school cannot operate classes in Key Stage One of more than 30 children.
If the school is oversubscribed, a waiting list will be maintained. This will be ordered according to the admission over-subscription criteria.
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The iconic Happy Chef in Mankato is talking again, and he's got a lot to say
After two decades of silence, Happy Chef regains his voice.
By John Reinan Star Tribune
September 13, 2018 — 7:39pm
Video (01:40) : There's no longer a button — the chef's voice now is activated by motion sensors.
MANKATO – After more than two decades of silence, the Happy Chef has a lot to say.
He's got some thoughts on dining.
"That's not a flying saucer!" the 36-foot-tall fiberglass foodie boomed this week from his perch next to U.S. Hwy. 169. "That's just one of our pancakes!"
He's got opinions on sports.
"I'm 50 years old, and the Vikings still have yet to win a Super Bowl!" he observed cheerfully.
And he's got a never-ending supply of jokes: "I'm old enough to remember when emojis were called hieroglyphics!"
Shari L. Gross, Star Tribune
After more than 20 years of laryngitis, the Happy Chef in Mankato has gotten his voice back. After buying the restaurant last year, owner Adrian Swales knew he wanted the Chef's voice to return, and was confident the jovial voice would best come from his friend Ben Findley.
Yes, the chef is talking again, just as he did to the delight of generations of Minnesotans who made the pilgrimage to this southern Minnesota city to press a button and hear him give greetings mixed with corny jokes.
There's no longer a button — the chef's voice now is activated by motion sensors. But Adrian Swales, who owns the restaurant, hopes the chef will be as much of a draw as he was when he first spoke in 1968.
"I'm very, very happy, very pleased," Swales said. "People are ecstatic. It brings back so many childhood memories, and parents now can share that memory with their kids."
The chef stopped talking more than 20 years ago, when his 1960s-era electronics went haywire. Now he's fully digital, with 55 remarks stored on a flash drive — and more to come, promised Swales, who plans to put together seasonal playlists and perhaps even custom greetings for birthday parties and other celebrations.
The chef's voice is provided by Ben Findley, who owns a local Insty-Prints franchise and is also a well-known comedian and emcee in the Mankato area. Findley said he's "thrilled" to give voice to the chef, recently taking a couple of hours to read the lines into a microphone.
The Frederick brothers — Tom Sr., Sal and Bob — who opened the restaurant in 1963, once had as many as 80 Happy Chef restaurants (not all featured a statue), but the Mankato eatery is the only one left. And its statue is the only one still serving its original function, although a few others still can be spotted throughout the Midwest, repurposed in new roles.
Swales asked Happy Chef fans on Facebook to suggest lines for the statue, and their suggestions included several of the original statue's jokes, which are now part of its repertoire. And he also may look to the community to give a name to the newly refurbished chef.
Suzanne and Jeff Lappen of Brooklyn Park made the Happy Chef their first stop this week on a vacation trip to Oregon. As they approached the statue, it suddenly roared out a greeting. At first startled, Suzanne Lappen threw back her head, laughing and clapping her hands.
"Great! This is awesome!" she exclaimed.
Larry Anderson of Mankato said the statue brought back happy memories of his youth, when he cooked at a Happy Chef in Shakopee.
"I love it," he said. "It looks nice all painted up."
Jack McGowan of Mankato has a lifetime of familiarity with the Happy Chef statue.
"We had eight kids, so we saw it a lot," he said. As the statue roared a greeting behind him, McGowan broke into a wide grin, shouting to be heard over the chef's deep voice.
"That's wonderful," he said. "That's what makes life."
John Reinan is a news reporter covering Greater Minnesota and the Upper Midwest. For the Star Tribune, he's also covered the western Twin Cities suburbs, as well as marketing, advertising and consumer news. He's been a reporter for more than 20 years and also did a stint at a marketing agency.
john.reinan@startribune.com 612-673-7402 stribguy
Mankato's iconic Happy Chef statue will speak again
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My Bob Dylan Memory
I went to a Bob Dylan concert once. It was 1977, in Auckland. I was with a bunch of stoned friends, and we were pretty excited, but whatever expectations I had, Bob Dylan failed to meet them. He didn't talk to the audience at all, and the songs all seemed different. He'd just recently taken up the electric guitar, and maybe he was expecting trouble. At any rate, Bob Dylan in the flesh was pretty forgettable.
My real Bob Dylan memory is about a place, and a time when I had practically my whole life still waiting to be lived.
The place was green, on a wet, bush clad hillside overlooking the sea. There were steep, broken steps that were slippery all year round. The weeds grew as fast as you could pull them out. The leaf litter under the big trees was always damp. You could hear the water at night, trickling down unknown waterways, dripping from the unguttered tin roof, leaking through the cracks in the rotten floorboards
On days it didn't rain, and the clouds were distant wisps skimming the huge blue of the sky, you could stand at the kitchen window and look right over the tops of the biggest trees, the puriri, and kauri, and kahikatea, the huge green spread of them full of native pigeons gorging themselves on berries, and tuis singing rich contralto arias, and vines growing so fast you could almost see them moving.. There was the harbour, huge, slate blue, flat and quiet, and streaked with sand bars when the tide was out. Sometimes you could watch the ships coming in through the heads, gliding straight across in front of you, loaded with cargo from unknown places, heading for Onehunga.
It was only a two room shack with a tacked on kitchen. All the furniture was bought from second hand shops. The dining room table had a huge puddle stain in the middle of it where a possum had pissed on it. The bean bag was the only thing that was new. Books sat on planks of wood supported by old bricks. Records were piled on the floor..
You could wake up in that place and start on something, but then the idea for something else entirely would strike you with the force of a revelation. You had to drive to the West Coast and meet the ocean. Or you had to make a pineapple upsidedown cake. Or you had to sit on the front step and write a poem about sitting on the front step writing a poem.
There wasn't much room for dancing, but I danced a lot. In this memory, I danced in a long green dress made of Indian cotton and bought in a London market. I danced round and round the tiny living space, and up and down the narrow passage between the old couch and the bookshelves. I danced to Deep Purple, and the Woodstock album, and Steeleye Span, and Joan Armatrading. But mostly I danced to Bob Dylan, and Highway 61 Revisited.
I didn't know really what half the songs were about, but that didn't seem to matter. They seemed to speak to me personally, as if they had been written about me. Most of it was about hard times, weird people, having nothing, failure, misunderstandings, and regrets.
When you ain't got nothing, you've got nothing to lose
How does it feel? To be on your own, a complete unknown?
Take me disappearing through the smoke rings of my mind..
When you want someone you don't have to speak to
I seemed to get all this, even though I had a career and friends, and food in the cupboard. I never wondered why songs about alienation and despair made me want to dance and sing. I just knew that they were about getting to the truth of things, about recognising the false promise of materialism, and escaping from everything that held back your spirit, especially old authority, and old ideas. They were about being young.
My mother said that that tuneless, gravelly voice wasn't singing at all, and she was right, but she entirely missed the point. He spoke. Directly. To me.
When I heard last week that he'd been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, I was bemused. There's clearly a huge body of work that came after the 70's, that I've never listened to. Certainly, there are lyrics on Highway 61 Revisited that are poetry. There's also an awful lot of repetition, and references to things that are entirely and deliberately mysterious.
You used to ride on a chrome horse with your diplomat
Who carried on his shoulder a Siamese cat
I expect people argued and speculated about these onfuscating lyrics like they did over Don Mclean's American Pie. I didn't. I don't now. Either the poetry speaks to you, or it doesn't.
My Bob Dylan memory still makes me smile, for that place and time when I believed that what was in my heart was enough to live on, and feeling like a freak was normal. I'm much older now, and find I often believe more mundane things, such as that it's just common politeness to acknowledge a gift or an honour when you're given it.
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Gov. Nyesom Wike declares financial autonomy for Rivers Judiciary
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has declared that the state judiciary would have financial autonomy, so that it could work independently without being muscled by the executive.
Wike spoke yesterday in Port Harcourt, while swearing-in the state acting Chief Judge, Justice Daisy Okocha, and the acting President, of the state’s Customary Court of Appeal, Justice Christy Gabriel-Nwankwo.
He assured the people that he would never starve the judiciary of funds as a tool for arm twisting the judiciary, noting that the independence of the Judiciary was necessary for the smooth running of government.
Wike however took a swipe at the Bench and lawyers in the state for the roles they played in the crisis in the state judiciary, stating that if they had collectively taken a stand, the state would have been saved the pains of the protracted closure of the judiciary.
He said the Bench was divided during the crisis, when they were supposed to be united to fight the destruction of the judiciary.
Wike also expressed disappointment with what he described as the lackadaisical attitude of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) for failing to defend the legal profession in the face of attacks from a desperate administration seeking self-preservation.
His words: “As a lawyer, I am highly disappointed by the action of the NBA. Something that you know is wrong, but every one kept quiet.
“The actions that the NBA is taking now are belated. Suspending the former attorney general is coming late in the day. They failed to speak up when everything was going wrong. We got to that level of decadence because NBA failed to act.”
The governor said he would always follow due process in appointing judicial officers, stating that he would never make appointments on the premise of self-preservation.
He said, “If I believe in self-preservation, I would have appointed my wife acting chief judge and the second in line as acting president, customary court of appeal. But I am a person who believes in due process. All through my leadership, we will follow due process in all appointments and actions.”
In her response, the newly sworn-in acting Chief Judge, Justice Daisy Okocha, stated that there would be zero-tolerance for corruption under her leadership.
She commended the governor for working towards the financial autonomy of the judiciary and pledged to ensure the revival of the state judiciary.
Credit: Ernest Chinwo/ThisDay
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First Annual WCS Talks Provide a Beacon of Hope
“The metamorphosis is now.” That’s what Lisa Ann Pinkerton, founder of Women in Cleantech and Sustainability, affirmed to a packed room at the first annual WCS Talks. What did she mean by this? We’re facing a change to business as usual, Lisa Ann believes, one that will take us from a top-down way of operating to a new way that can help us save our planet. She challenged us to ask, “What am I doing to help?”
2nd speaker: Lindsay Wood, self-described “The LED Lady.” One of the first green MBAs, she told us how her search for a new career led her to LED lighting, something she didn’t know anything about. But no one was claiming the space, so she did — in a fine example of how far we can go when we’re bold and pursue a clear vision. She became an LED evangelist — and she had me converted with her reminder that every time we turn on the lights, we’re supporting fracking.
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Emad Kiyaei, Director of External Affairs
Mobile: +1 631-371-9292
Email: emad@us-iran.org
History
The American Iranian Council (AIC) was incorporated in the State of New Jersey in 1997 as a [501 C (3)] nonprofit and nonpartisan educational organization to provide research, policy analysis, public education, and community mobilization. AIC seeks to help policy makers and citizens overcome many of the key misunderstandings, misperceptions and mischaracterizations that exist between United States and Iran.
The mission of the AIC provides for a sustainable dialogue and a more comprehensive understanding of US-Iran relations. AIC organizes and promotes the Iranian-American community and encourages its participation in these efforts for a more democratic, transparent, mutually respectful, and sustainable relations between the two countries.
It is the vision of the AIC that the United States and Iran should and will work together, as their common interests far outweigh their differences. The United States and Iran not only have shared interests, but they also have an ethical obligation to work together for the betterment of both governments and their peoples.
Accomplishments
AIC has facilitated major breakthroughs in US-Iran relations through AIC events or mediated through the Council. Examples include:
Secretary Madeleine Albright’s historic speech on Iran, when she expressed regret about 1953 coup and past US policy mistakes, lifted sanctions on carpets and food items, and offered Iran a global settlement. Years later, Iran's President Mohammad Khatami would characterize this initiative as a "missed opportunity";
Vice President Joe Biden’s and Senator John Kerry’s proposals for dialogue between the US Congress and the Iranian Parliament;
Meeting among Speaker Mehdi Karubi and other members of the Iranian parliament and their American counterparts in New York City;
US-Iran dialogue over Iraq and the so-called Grand Bargain initiative;
The American Iranian Council's presence in Iran under a rare OFAC license;
President Obama’s humanitarian attention to Iran’s civilian airline tragedies and his Administration’s agreement to entertain a proposal from Iran to purchase spare parts from the United States
Release of Sarah Shourd, the American hiker arrested in Iran, and the continued efforts to free her colleagues, Shane Bauer and Joshua Fattal; and
Introduction of the Shield Iranian-Americans from Sanctions (SIAS) as a civil right project.
AIC Leadership
AIC has a prominent board that includes distinguished academics, diplomats, and business leaders. AIC's honorary board includes Secretary Donna Shalala and Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering while its Board of Directors is composed of Senator Bennett Johnson, Ambassador Richard Murphy, Ambassador Charles Freeman and Dr. Fereidun Fesharaki, to name a few.
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NEW BUILDING TO GULISI PRIMARY SCHOOL IN DANGRIGA-BELIZE
A new school building project that will alleviate the overcrowded situation at the Gulisi Primary School was officially launched on Wednesday morning, November 17th at the school compound near the Garifuna Monument site in Dangriga Town.
The project will benefit over 140 students and will be implemented by the Social Investment Fund. It will be financed by the Government of Belize at a total cost of $415,000.00 through the Commonwealth Debt Initiative (CDI).
The project scope includes the construction of a one storey reinforced-concrete building measuring 121 feet long by 30 ft wide with a 6 ft verandah. The building will include four classrooms (24 ft by 25 ft) with two movable partitions and a male and female bathroom block. The building’s foundation will be designed to accommodate future expansion and the new school will be able to withstand up to category 5 hurricane winds as well as earthquakes and therefore will also serve as a shelter in the event of an emergency. All doors will be of solid timber and aluminum storm guard windows will be installed. Provisions for the installation of electricity, water supply, and waste water systems will also be made while the community of Dangriga will provide the furniture and labor as part of their contribution.
The Gulisi Community Primary School, which is managed by a Board of Directors in collaboration with the National Garifuna Council, came about as a result of the overcrowding of other elementary schools and the distance of the growing and expansion of residential areas and population growth in Dangriga Town. The Primary School is located some 1 1/2 miles north of Dangriga Town at the Garifuna Monument Site and Museum. But the Gulisi Primary School has also overgrown its space due to a rapid growth in student population.
Hon. Arthur Roches delivering the opening address
Established in April 2007, the school has students up to standard 3 but classroom space is needed for the upcoming standard 4, and in the near future for standards 5 and 6. Due to the overcrowded situation, the upcoming standard 4 students will have to be accommodated in the Museum for the new school year. The school is presently using a room from the Garifuna Museum to house the standard 3 students. The Gulisi Community Primary School also operates a pre-school, which is housed in a rented building adjacent to the main school building.
The Gulisi Community Primary School is very unique among other schools in Belize and the Caribbean in that it is the only school that teaches three languages – English, Spanish and Garifuna - as part of its curriculum.
The keynote speaker at the official launching of the project was the Hon. Arthur Roches, Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Area Representative for Dangriga. Addresses were also delivered by Mr. Aaron Gongora, Mayor of Dangriga, and officials of the Social Investment Fund and members of the Gulisi School Management and P.T.A.
For further information please contact Mr. Mike Hernandez Jr. J.P., Director of Public Relations, Social Investment Fund at Tel: 822-0239 or via email at
mike.hernandez@sifbelize.org
All photos by Mr. Mike Hernandez Jr. J.P
Labels: "Belize", Belize Educational System, Dangriga, Dangriga-Belize, Garifuna Monument, Garinagu, Gulisi Primary School, Hon. Arthur Roches, Ministry of Education
Angela Palacio said...
Linda this is great information. Thanks for posting it and keeping us informed. This is a great accomplishment to preservation of the Garifuna language and culture.
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COMMENTARY: CRY BELOVED BELIZE
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TOY DRIVE IN LOS ANGELES WITH SIR COLVILLE YOUNG
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MASSIVE DRUMMING COMPETITION DRUMMED INTO PUNTA GO...
BELIZEAN SPOTLIGHT- NOVEMBER 2010
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JAGUAR PUT TO DEATH IN BELIZE
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Unknown Snipers and Western Backed "Regime Change"
Article originally published in November 2011, in Global Research by Gearóid Ó Colmáin
Unknown snipers played a pivotal role throughout the so-called « Arab Spring Revolutions » yet, in spite of reports of their presence in the mainstream media, surprisingly little attention has been paid to to their purpose and role.
The Russian investigative journalist Nikolay Starikov has written a book which discusses the role of unknown snipers in the destabilization of countries targeted for regime change by the United States and its allies. The following article attempts to elucidate some historical examples of this technique with a view to providing a background within which to understand the current cover war on the people of Syria by death squads in the service of Western intelligence.[1]
Romania 1989.
In Susanne Brandstätter’s documentary ‘Checkmate: Strategy of a Revolution’ aired on Arte television station some years ago, Western intelligence officials revealed how death squads were used to destabilize Romania and turn its people against the head of state Nicolai Ceaucescu.
Brandstätter’s film is a must see for anyone interested in how Western intelligence agencies, human rights groups and the corporate press collude in the systematic destruction of countries whose leadership conflicts with the interests of big capital and empire.
Former secret agent with the French secret service, the DGSE(La Direction générale de la sécurité extérieure) Dominique Fonvielle, spoke candidly about the role of Western intelligence operatives in destabilizing the Romanian population.
“how do you organize a revolution? I believe the first step is to locate oppositional forces in a given country. It is sufficient to have a highly developed intelligence service in order to determine which people are credible enough to have influence at their hands to destabilize the people to the disadvantage of the ruling regime”[2]
This open and rare admission of Western sponsorship of terrorism was justified on the grounds of the “greater good” brought to Romania by free-market capitalism. It was necessary, according to the strategists of Romania’s “revolution”, for some people to die.
Today, Romania remains one of the poorest countries in Europe. A report on Euractiv reads:
“Most Romanians associate the last two decades with a continuous process of impoverishment and deteriorating living standards, according to Romania’s Life Quality Research Institute, quoted by the Financiarul daily.” [3]
The western intelligence officials interviewed in the documentary also revealed how the Western press played a central role in disinformation. For example, the victims of Western-backed snipers were photographed by presented to the world as evidence of a crazed dictator who was “killing his own people”.
To this day, there is a Museum in the back streets of Timisoara Romania which promotes the myth of the “Romanian Revolution”. The Arte documentary was one of the rare occasions when the mainstream press revealed some of the dark secrets of Western liberal democracy. The documentary caused a scandal when it was aired in France, with the prestigious Le Monde Diplomatique discussing the moral dilemma of the West’s support of terror in its desire to spread ‘democracy’.
Since the destruction of Libya and the ongoing cover war on Syria, Le Monde Diplomatique has stood safely on the side of political correction, condemning Bachar Al Assad for the crimes of the DGSE and the CIA. In its current edition, the front page article reads Ou est la gauche? Where is the left ? Certainly not in the pages of Le Monde Diplomatique !
During Boris Yeltsin’s counter-revolution in Russia in 1993, when the Russian parliament was bombed resulting in the deaths of thousands of people, Yeltsin’s counter-revolutionaries made extensive use of snipers. According to many eye witness reports, snipers were seen shooting civilians from the building opposite the US embassy in Moscow. The snipers were attributed to the Soviet government by the international media.[4]
Thailand April 2010
On April 12th 2010, Christian Science Monitor published a detailed report of the riots in Thailand between “red-shirt” activists and the Thai government. The article headline read: ‘Thailand’s red shirt protests darken with unknown snipers, parade of coffins’.
Like their counterparts in Tunisia, Thailand’s red shirts were calling for the resignation of the Thai prime minister. While a heavy-handed response by the Thai security forces to the protestors was indicated in the report, the government’s version of events was also reported:
“Mr. Abhisit has used solemn televised addresses to tell his story. He has blamed rogue gunmen, or “terrorists,” for the intense violence (at least 21 people died and 800 were injured) and emphasized the need for a full investigation into the killings of both soldiers and protesters. State television has broadcast repeated images of soldiers coming under fire from bullets and explosives.”
The CSM report went on to quote Thai military officials and unnamed Western diplomats:
“military observers say Thai troops stumbled into a trap set by agents provocateurs with military expertise. By pinning down soldiers after dark and sparking chaotic battles with unarmed protesters, the unknown gunmen ensured heavy casualties on both sides.
Some were caught on camera and seen by reporters, including this one. Snipers targeted military ground commanders, indicating a degree of advance planning and knowledge of Army movements, say Western diplomats briefed by Thai officials. While leaders of the demonstrations have disowned the use of firearms and say their struggle is nonviolent, it is unclear whether radicals in the movement knew of the trap.
“You can’t claim to be a peaceful political movement and have an arsenal of weapons out the back if needed. You can’t have it both ways,” says a Western diplomat in regular contact with protest leaders [5]
The CSM article also explores the possibility that the snipers could be rogue elements in the Thai military, agents provocateurs used to justify a crack down on democratic opposition. Thailand’s ruling elite is currently coming under pressure from a group called the Red Shirts.[6]
Kyrgystan June 2010
Ethnic violence broke out in the Central Asian republic of Kirgystan in June 2010. It was widely reported that unknown snipers opened fire on members of the Uzbek minority in Kyrgystan. Eurasia.net reports:
“In many Uzbek mahallas, inhabitants offer convincing testimony of gunmen targeting their neighborhoods from vantage points. Men barricaded into the Arygali Niyazov neighborhood, for example, testified to seeing gunmen on the upper floors of a nearby medical institute hostel with a view over the district’s narrow streets. They said that during the height of the violence these gunmen were covering attackers and looters, assaulting their area with sniper fire. Men in other Uzbek neighborhoods tell similar stories
. « Among the rumours and unconfirmed reports circulating in Kyrgyzstan after the 2010 violence were claims that water supplies to Uzbek areas were about to be poisoned. Such rumours had also been spread against the Ceaucescu regime in Romania during the CIA- backed coup in 1989. Eurasia.net goes on to claim that:
“Many people are convinced that they’ve seen foreign mercenaries acting as snipers. These alleged foreign combatants are distinguished by their appearance – inhabitants report seeing black snipers and tall, blonde, female snipers from the Baltic states. The idea that English snipers have been roaming the streets of Osh shooting at Uzbeks is also popular. There’ve been no independent corroborations of such sightings by foreign journalists or representatives of international organizations.” [7]
None of these reports have been independently investigated or corroborated. It is therefore impossible to draw any hard conclusions from these stories.
Ethnic violence against Uzbek citizens in Kyrgyzstan occurred pari pasu with a popular revolt against the US-backed regime, which many analysts have attributed to the machinations of Moscow.
The Bakiyev régime came to power in a CIA-backed people-power coup known to the world as the Tulip Revolution in 2005.
Located to the West of China and bordering Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan hosts one of America’s biggest and most important military bases in Central Asia, the Manas Air Base, which is vital for the NATO occupation of neighbouring Afghanistan.
Despite initial worries, US/Kyrgyz relations have remained good under the regime of President Roza Otunbayeva. This is not surprising as Otunbayeva had previously participated in the US-created Tulip Revolution in 2004, taking power as foreign minister.
To date no proper investigation has been conducted into the origins of the ethnic violence that spread throughout the south of Kyryzstan in 2010, nor have the marauding gangs of unknown snipers been identified and apprehended.
Given the geostrategic and geopolitical importance of Kyrgyzstan to both the United States and Russia, and the formers track-record of using death squads to divide and weaken countries so as to maintain US domination, US involvement in the dissemination of terrorism in Kyrgyzstan cannot be ruled out. One effective way of maintaining a grip on Central Asian countries would be to exacerbate ethnic tensions.
In August 6th 2008, the Russian newspaper Kommersant reported that a US arms cache had been found in a house in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek, which was being rented by two American citizens. The US embassy claimed the arms were being used for “anti-terrorism” exercises. However, this was not confirmed by Kyrgyz authorities. [8]
Covert US military support to terrorist groups in the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia proved to be an effective strategy in creating the conditions for “humanitarian” bombing in 1999. An effective means of keeping the government in Bishkek firmly on America’s side would be to insist on a US and European presence in the country to help “protect” the Uzbek minority.
Military intervention similar to that in the former Yugoslavia by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe has already been advocated by the New York Times, whose misleading article on the riots on June 24th 2010 has the headline “Kyrgyzstan asks European Security Body for Police Teams”. The article is misleading as the headline contradicts the actual report which cites a Kyrgyz official stating:
“A government spokesman said officials had discussed an outside police presence with the O.S.C.E., but said he could not confirm that a request for a deployment had been made.”
There is no evidence in the article of any request by the Kyrgyz government for military intervention. In fact, the article presents much evidence to the contrary. However, before the reader has a chance to read the explanation of the Kyrgyz government, the New York Times’ writer presents the now all too horribly familiar narrative of oppressed peoples begging the West to come and bomb or occupy their country:
“Ethnic Uzbeks in the south have clamored for international intervention. Many Uzbeks said they were attacked in their neighborhoods not only by civilian mobs, but also by the Kyrgyz military and police officers”[9]
Only towards the end of the article do we find out that the Kyrgyz authorities blamed the US-backed dictator for fomenting ethnic violence in the country, through the use of Islamic jihadists in Uzbekistan. This policy of using ethnic tension to create an environment of fear in order to prop up an extremely unpopular dictatorship, the policy of using Islamic Jihadism as a political tool to create what former US National Security Advisor Zbigniew Bzrezinski called “ an arc of crisis”, ties in well with the history of US involvement in Central Asia from the creation of Al Qaida in Afghanistan in 1978 to the present day.
Again, the question persists, who were the “unknown snipers” terrorizing the Uzbek population, where did their weapons come from and who would benefit from ethnic conflict in Central Asia’s geopolitical hotspot?
Tunisia January 2011
On January 16th 2011, CNN reported that ‘’armed gangs’’ were fighting Tunisian security forces. [10] Many of the murders committed throughout the Tunisian uprising were by “unknown snipers”. There were also videos posted on the internet showing Swedish nationals detained by Tunisian security forces. The men were clearly armed with sniper rifles. Russia Today aired the dramatic pictures.[11]
In spite of articles by professor Michel Chossudovsky, William Engdahl and others showing how the uprisings in North Africa were following the patterns of US backed people-power coups rather than genuinely popular revolutions, left wing parties and organizations continued to believe the version of events presented to them by Al Jazeera and the mainstream press. Had the left taken a left from old Lenin’s book they would have transposed his comments on the February/March revolution in Russia thus:
“The whole course of events in the January/February Revolution clearly shows that the British, French and American embassies, with their agents and “connections”,… directly organized a plot.. in conjunction with a section of the generals and army and Tunisian garrison officers, with the express object of deposing Ben Ali”
What the left did not understand is that sometimes it is necessary for imperialism to overthrow some of its clients. A suitable successor to Ben Ali could always be found among the feudalists of the Muslim Brotherhood who now look likely to take power.
In their revolutionary sloganeering and arrogant insistence that the events in Tunisia and Egypt were “spontaneous and popular uprisings” they committed what Lenin identified as the most dangerous sins in a revolution, namely, the substitution of the abstract for the concrete. In other words, left wing groups were simply fooled by the sophistication of the Western backed “Arab Spring” events.
That is why the violence of the demonstrators and in particular the widespread use of snipers possibly linked to Western intelligence was the great unthought of the Tunisian uprising. The same techniques would be used in Libya a few weeks later, forcing the left to back track and modifiy its initial enthusiasm for the CIA’s “Arab Spring”.
When we are talking about the” left” here, we are referring to genuine left wing parties, that is to say, parties who supported the Great People’s Socialist Libyan Arab Jamahirya in their long and brave fight against Western imperialism, not the infantile petty bourgeois dupes who supported NATO’s Benghazi terrorists. The blatant idiocy of such a stance should be crystal clear to anyone who understands global politics and class struggle.
On October 20th 2011, the Telegraph newspaper published an article entitled, “Our brother died for a better Egypt”. According to the Telegraph, Mina Daniel, an anti-government activist in Cairo, had been ‘shot from an unknown sniper, wounding him fatally in the chest”
Inexplicably, the article is no longer available on the Telegraph’s website for online perusal. But a google search for ‘Egypt, unknown sniper, Telegraph’ clearly shows the above quoted explanation for Mina Daniel’s death. So, who could these “unknown snipers’’ be?
On February 6th Al Jazeera reported that Egyptian journalist Ahmad Mahmoud was shot by snipers as he attempted to cover classes between Egyptian security forces and protestors. Referring to statements made by Mahmoud’s wife Enas Abdel-Alim, the Al Jazeera article insinuates that Mahmoud may have been killed by Egyptian security forces:
“Abdel-Alim said several eyewitnesses told her a uniformed police captain with Egypt’s notorious Central Security forces yelled at her husband to stop filming.
Before Mahmoud even had a chance to react, she said, a sniper shot him.” [12]
While the Al Jazeera article advances the theory that the snipers were agents of the Mubarak regime, their role in the uprising still remains a mystery. Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based television stations owned by the Emir Hamid Bin Khalifa Al Thani, played a key role in provoking protests in Tunisia and Egypt before launching a campaign of unmitigated pro-NATO war propaganda and lies during the destruction of Libya.
The Qatari channel been a central participant in the current covert war waged by NATO agencies and their clients against the Republic of Syria. Al Jazeera’s incessant disinformation against Libya and Syria resulted in the resignation of several prominent journalists such as Beirut station chief Ghassan Bin Jeddo[13] and senior Al Jazeera executive Wadah Khanfar who was forced to resign after a wikileaks cable revealed he was a co-operating with the Central Intelligence Agency.[14]
Many people were killed during the US-backed colour revolution in Egypt. Although, the killings have been attributed to former US semi-client Hosni Mubarak, the involvement of Western intelligence cannot be ruled out. However, it should be pointed out that the role of unknown snipers in mass demonstrations remains complex and multi-faceted and therefore one should not jump to conclusions. For example, after the Bloody Sunday massacre(Domhnach na Fola) in Derry, Ireland 1972, where peaceful demonstrators were shot dead by the British army, British officials claimed that they had come under fire from snipers. But the 30 year long Bloody Sunday inquiry subsequently proved this to be false. But the question persists once more, who were the snipers in Egypt and whose purposes did they serve?
During the destabilization of Libya, a video was aired by Al Jazeera purporting to show peaceful “pro-democracy” demonstrators being fired upon by “Gaddafi’s forces”. The video was edited to convince the viewer that anti-Gaddafi demonstrators were being murdered by the security forces. However, the unedited version of the video is available on utube. It clearly shows pro-Gaddafi demonstrators with Green flags being fired upon by unknown snipers. The attribution of NATO-linked crimes to the security forces of the Libyan Jamahirya was a constant feature of the brutal media war waged against the Libyan people. [15]
Syria 2011
The people of Syria have been beset by death squads and snipers since the outbreak of violence there in March. Hundreds of Syrian soldiers and security personnel have been murdered, tortured and mutilated by Salafist and Muslim Brotherhood militants. Yet the international media corporations continue to spread the pathetic lie that the deaths are the result Bachar Al Assad’s dictatorship.
When I visited Syria in April of this year, I personally encountered merchants and citizens in Hama who told me they had seen armed terrorists roaming the streets of that once peaceful city, terrorizing the neighbourhood. I recall speaking to a fruit seller in the city of Hama who spoke about the horror he had witnessed that day. As he described the scenes of violence to me, my attention was arrested by a newspaper headline in English from the Washington Post shown on Syrian television: “CIA backs Syrian opposition”. The Central Intelligence Agency provides training and funding for groups who do the bidding of US imperialist interests. The history of the CIA shows that backing opposition forces means providing them with arms and finance, actions illegal under international law.
A few days later, while at a hostel in the ancient, cultured city of Aleppo, I spoke to a Syrian business man and his family. The business man ran many hotels in the city and was pro-Assad. He told me that he used to watch Al Jazeera television but now had doubts about their honesty. As we conversed, the Al Jazeera television in the background showed scenes of Syrian soldiers beating and torturing protestors. “ Now if that is true, it is simply unacceptable” he said. It is sometimes impossible to verify whether the images shown on television are true or not. Many of the crimes attributed to the Syrian army have been committed by the armed gangs, such as the dumping of mutilated bodies into the river in Hama, presented to the world as more proof of the crimes of the Assad regime.
There is a minority of innocent opponents of the Assad regime who believe everything they see and hear on Al Jazeera and the other pro-Western satellite stations. These people simply do not understand the intricacies of international politics.
But the facts on the ground show that most people in Syria support the government. Syrians have access to all internet websites and international TV channels. They can watch BBC, CNN, Al Jazeera, read the New York Times online or Le Monde before tuning into their own state media. In this respect, many Syrians are more informed about international politics than the average European or American. Most Europeans and American believe their own media. Few are capable of reading the Syrian press in original Arabic or watching Syrian television. The Western powers are the masters of discourse, who own the means of communication. The Arab Spring has been the most horrifying example of the wanton abuse of this power.
Disinformation is effective in sowing the seeds of doubt among those who are seduced by Western propaganda. Syrian state media has disproved hundreds of Al Jazeera lies since the beginning of this conflict. Yet the western media has refused to even report the Syrian government’s position lest fair coverage of the other side of this story encourage a modicum of critical thought in the public mind.
The use of mercenaries, death squads and snipers by Western intelligence agencies is well documented. No rational government attempting to stay in power would resort to unknown snipers to intimidate its opponents. Shooting at innocent protestors would be counterproductive in the face of unmitigated pressure from Western governments determined to install a client regime in Damascus. Shooting of unarmed protestors is only acceptable in dictatorships that enjoy the unconditional support of Western governments such as Bahrain, Honduras or Colombia.
A government which is so massively supported by the population of Syria would not sabotage its own survival by setting snipers against the protests of a small minority.
The opposition to the Syrian regime is, in fact, miniscule. Tear gas, mass arrests and other non lethal methods would be perfectly sufficient for a government wishing to control unarmed demonstrators.
Snipers are used to create terror, fear and anti-regime propaganda. They are an integral feature of Western sponsored regime change.
If one were to make a serious criticism of the Syrian government over the past few months, it is that they have failed to implement effective anti-terrorism measures in the country.
The Syrian people want troops on the streets and the roofs of public buildings. In the weeks and months ahead, the Syrian armed forces will probably rely more and more on their Russian military specialists to strengthen the country’s defenses as the Western crusade begun in Libya in March spreads to the Levant.
There is no conclusive proof that the snipers murdering men, women and children in Syria are the agents of Western imperialism. But there is overwhelming proof that Western imperialism is attempting to destroy the Syrian state. As in Libya, they have never once mentioned the possibility of negotiations between the so-called opposition and the Syrian government. The West wants regime change and is determined to repeat the slaughter in Libya to achieve this geopolitical objective.
It now looks likely that the cradle of civilization and science will be overrun by semi-literate barbarians as the terminal decline of the West plays itself out in the deserts of the East.
[1] http://nstarikov.ru/en/
[2] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1l8qjX4SzBY&feature=related
[3]http://www.euractiv.com/enlargement/romania-says-poverty-reduction-impossible-target-news-468172
[4]http://www.truthinmedia.org/Bulletins/tim98-3-10.html
[5].http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2010/0412/Thailand-s-red-shirt-protests-darken-with-unknown-snipers-parade-of-coffins
[6] http://www.activistpost.com/2010/12/thailand-stage-set-for-another-color.html
[7] http://www.eurasianet.org/taxonomy/term/2813?page=6
[8http://kommersant.com/p1008364/r_500/U.S.-Kyrgyzstan_relations/
[9] http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/25/world/asia/25kyrgyz.html
[10]http://articles.cnn.com/2011-01-16/world/tunisia.protests_1_troops-battle-unity-government-tunisia?_s=PM:WORLD
[11]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIFxqXPQEQU&feature=related
[12]http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/spotlight/anger-in-egypt/2011/02/201126201341479784.html
[13] http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4060180,00.html
[14] http://intelligencenews.wordpress.com/2011/09/21/01-828/
[15] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQtM-59jDAo&feature=player_embedded#!
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ffeature1Maggie Harvey April 10, 2019 tell-tale crimes, cannibals, Scottish, horror
TELL-TALE CRIMES: The Sawney Bean cannibal clan
Photo Courtesy of scotclans.com
Welcome to Tell-Tale Crimes, the crime column of the QC. Tell-Tale Crimes will aim to provide a look at both local and national crimes and cases that are sometimes interesting, sometimes relevant, and sometimes both, from perspective of a true crime enthusiast.
Trigger warning: this piece containts mentions of physical assault, murder, and cannibalism.
Maggie Harvey
OPINIONS EDITOR
The amount of times that I have driven through a patch of beautiful hills and had some primordial voice in the back of my head mutter “the hills have eyes . . .” is uncountable. For those unfamiliar, The Hills Have Eyes is a 1977 horror film about a very blonde, all-American family that gets stuck in the middle of nowhere, only to be attacked by a group of ravenous cannibals; it was later remade in 2006. While the way I have summarized the film may be campy at best, the concept is truly terrifying. Imagine getting stuck on the side of the road, the closest help hours away, with the overwhelming feeling of someone watching you setting in. The scale between rational and irrational fear teeters back and forth as your heart starts racing, and you try to settle in for the night. While it is highly unlikely that you will get eaten by cannibals in the contemporary U.S., it may interest you to know that The Hills Have Eyes was heavily inspired by the Scottish legend from the 1600s of the Sawney Bean Clan.
The legend of Sawney Bean is just that — a legend — so facts are hard to come by. However, he is thought to have been born in East Lothian in the late 1400s, where he was a tanner by trade (tanners are people who process and tan the skins of animals, though I’m sure he applied his skills a little differently). After his marriage and his relocation to Ayrshire, his life is a little better documented.
The new couple set up home in Bennane Cave because houses were just not good enough for Sawney Bean’s new wife. In order to support her and their lavish cave lifestyle, Sawney Bean decided to turn to a life of crime, specifically robbery, according to historic-uk.com. Bennane Cave was some distance outside of the nearest town, so ambushing travelers on the road would be an easy task.
The only thing to consider was the victims going back to the town and telling everyone what he had done. But, fret not, he had a solution: kill and eat them! It was really his pregnant wife that he fed the human flesh to, in order for her and the baby to have sustenance — and that plan worked out pretty well. It is uncertain as to whether or not she was aware of this, but the family grew into a bigger clan. Over 20 years, the Sawney Bean Clan grew with 14 children, many incestuous grandchildren, and so on. During those 20 years, the legend says that the Sawney Bean clan claimed the lives of 1,000 victims, which was probably not hindered by the immense pack of cannibals they had established.
The Sawney Bean Clan finally made a mistake (I mean, most of what they did were mistakes, just ones without consequences) when they ambushed a couple that were leaving a local fair. In the process, they fatally mauled the wife. However, the husband was a skilled fighter and marksman who reportedly held them off with a pistol until other fair-goers arrived to help. For the first time the Sawney Bean Clan was outnumbered, so they fled to their cave.
The very angry man who survived their attack went to the Chief Magistrate of Glasgow, who then reported the story to King James I. King James was not a man to be bested and, according to historic-uk.com and BBC, faced with the prospect that he had not done anything about 1,000 citizens going missing by the hands of cannibals, he gathered 400 men and led them to Bennane Cave to face off against the Sawney Bean Clan. After entering the cave, the soldiers arrested the Sawney Bean Clan and marched them off to Edinburgh. Their crimes were deemed too heinous to be tried like normal criminals, so all of the men had their arms and legs cut off and were left to bleed to death, and all the women were burned at the stake like witches.
Now, while this is a very interesting story — and maybe have happened — there are some aspects of it that put it into question. First of all, according to BBC, the story of Sawney Bean is claimed to have happened in the 1400s, but the earliest recording of it is from the 1600s in England. During that time England was the home to some very strong anti-Scottish sentiments, and the name Sawney was a popular English name for a cartoon barbaric Scotsman, similar to calling a cartoon Irishman Paddy. There is also no record of King James I gathering 400 men and leading them to Scotland, and King James was a man who liked his people to know if he was doing something heroic and dangerous. Also, if King James had gathered 400 men to send to Scotland, he probably wouldn’t have led them himself.
So, there are many parts to the story that point to it being just a legend, but it’s really up to you to decide what you believe. It’s always possible that Sawney Bean existed, maybe just not with as much notoriety as his legend, or maybe with word of mouth rather than written word. Maybe historians will someday discover conclusive evidence that Sawney Bean and his cannibalistic family existed. But, in the meantime, stay safe, stay alert, and don’t stay out too late at night. You never know who’s watching you.
Más MasaTaco
ffeature3The Quaker Campus April 10, 2019 whittier community, vegan, food
Senior Spotlight: Amy Kazmierski
ffeature2Juan Zuniga-Mejia April 10, 2019 senior spotlight, Nevada, Disney, entertainment
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Archieved News
Troll: The Complete Collection on Blu-ray [read more]
Still a thing after all
Eureka Entertainment to release TROLL: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION, a celebration of one of the greatest bad movies ever made, on Blu-ray as part of the Eureka Classics range from 8 October 2018. Featuring a Limited Edition O-Card Slipcase, with artwork designed by Devon Whitehead, and a collector’s booklet featuring rare content.
Embraced by a generation of "bad" movie fans, Troll 2 has become one of the most iconic cult films of its generation, and to this day regularly plays to sold-out theatres of adoring fans. Presented here alongside the first (and entirely unrelated) film, Troll, as well as Best Worst Movie, the definitive documentary on the film's unexpected resurgence as a cult favourite, Troll: The Complete Collection is a celebration of one of the most unusual success stories in movie history. Try the new and exclusive trailer at the link.
Troll - The Potter family (including future Law & Order star Michael Moriarty as "Harry Potter") is about to find out there's no place like home when a troublesome troll starts taking over their building, transforming each apartment into an overgrown garden of ancient evil and turning tenants into a horde of hairy hobgoblins.
Troll 2 - After his family moves to the rural community of "Nilbog" (spoilers, it's goblin spelled backwards), a g-g-g-ghost warns young Joshua Waits that vegetarian goblins want to transform him and his family into plants and then eat them.
Best Worst Movie - An affectionate and intoxicatingly fun tribute to one of the greatest bad movies ever made, and the people responsible for unleashing it upon the world.
Graeme Clark [20 Aug 2018 at 23:52]
Last Updated: 25 April, 2006
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inspiration & news
In the News 21.08.17 : Today’s Articles of Interest from Around the Internets
Monday 21st August, 2017
The White Lies of Craft Culture
Last fall, the chef Sean Brock and brewmaster Ryan Coker of Revelry Brewing unveiled a collaboration called Amber Waves, a malt liquor made with locally sourced ingredients and grains reflective “of the 19th-century South.” The “historically accurate heritage grain” malt liquor, whose name derives from the lyric in “America the Beautiful,” comes in a bottle that’s wrapped in the iconic brown paper bag, which is stamped with a blue corn logo and comes tastefully pre-unrolled. Sold in a modest 22-ounce portion, rather than the 40-ounce size that the malt liquor is known for, a bottle runs $29, or more than $1.30 an ounce.
Outlets like Modern Farmer have praised Brock and Coker for “successfully elevating this bottom-shelf booze to small-batch status,” a rhetorical sleight of hand that both conceals and dramatizes its racial subtext: “Bottom shelf” is code for corner store and drunk on a dime, for poverty and homelessness, and for the black and brown communities who’ve made the beverage a part of hip-hop and hood culture; “small-batch status” and “heritage grain” signifies the antithesis of the former — something artful and refined. By evoking the 19th-century South — an era when slavery and indentured servitude thrived — Amber Waves transforms hood to urbane.
Read the rest of this article at: Eater
Who Owns the Internet?
On the night of November 7, 1876, Rutherford B. Hayes’s wife, Lucy, took to her bed with a headache. The returns from the Presidential election were trickling in, and the Hayeses, who had been spending the evening in their parlor, in Columbus, Ohio, were dismayed. Hayes himself remained up until midnight; then he, too, retired, convinced that his Democratic opponent, Samuel J. Tilden, would become the next President.
Hayes had indeed lost the popular vote, by more than two hundred and fifty thousand ballots. And he might have lost the Electoral College as well had it not been for the machinations of journalists working in the shady corners of what’s been called “the Victorian Internet.”
Chief among the plotters was an Ohioan named William Henry Smith. Smith ran the western arm of the Associated Press, and in this way controlled the bulk of the copy that ran in many small-town newspapers. The Western A.P. operated in tight affiliation—some would say collusion—with Western Union, which exercised a near-monopoly over the nation’s telegraph lines. Early in the campaign, Smith decided that he would employ any means necessary to assure a victory for Hayes, who, at the time, was serving a third term as Ohio’s governor. In the run-up to the Republican National Convention, Smith orchestrated the release of damaging information about the Governor’s rivals. Then he had the Western A.P. blare Hayes’s campaign statements and mute Tilden’s. At one point, an unflattering piece about Hayes appeared in the Chicago Times, a Democratic paper. (The piece claimed that Hayes, who had been a general in the Union Army, had accepted money from a soldier to give to the man’s family, but had failed to pass it on when the soldier died.) The A.P. flooded the wires with articles discrediting the story.
Read the rest of this article at: The New Yorker
Shop a beautiful selection of jewellery
at shop.thisisglamorous.com
What a Border Collie Taught a Linguist About Language
Tansy was not into sports. The little border collie, a rescue, didn’t care for agility trials or flyball. But her adopted family—with two other border collies already in the house—played them all the time.
Border collies, the elite athletes of the canine universe, are working dogs. They go a little nuts without something to do. After a little consternation, Tansy’s new owner Robin Queen, a linguist at the University of Michigan, got some advice: sheep. And why not? Border collies are, after all, sheepdogs. As soon as Tansy caught sight of some livestock, “it was the first time she showed evidence of understanding something about the world,” Queen says.
That’s how Tansy got into competitive sheepdog trials, a sport in which a handler and dog manage a half-dozen sheep through various tasks. Despite their name, sheep are not sheepish and often act on their own closely held ideas about where to go. Keeping a flock on track can require dogged persistence. It’s difficult and takes a lot of practice. “We were a little bit unusual in that we had very little dog experience and certainly no livestock experience,” Queen says. “People like us don’t tend to stick it out for very long because it’s hard, and you don’t get a lot of fuzzies very fast. It’s hard to control a dog around sheep.”
Read the rest of this article at: Wired
Can Rotten Tomatoes Crush a Movie at the Box Office?
Shannon and Matt wanted to see a movie. It was date night, and on date nights, they see movies. Shannon turned to her most trusted moviegoing adviser. Matt turned to his.
“It had over a 93 percent! I think it was actually 97 percent,” says Shannon as she exits a Saturday-evening screening of Detroit at Los Angeles’s Glendale Galleria mall. “I just trust Rotten Tomatoes.”
“I hate Rotten Tomatoes,” says Matt, Shannon’s date who works in home video marketing for a major studio. “I think it’s helping ruin the movie industry. I work in the movie industry. … I hear too many people say, ‘I won’t see anything under 80 percent.’ But the way that they determine the rating is [that] people now game the system.”
Matt trusts filmmakers and the word around town when he makes his decision. Shannon uses a website that aggregates reviews and tabulates a score that represents a movie’s “freshness.” Shannon sees consensus in math. Matt sees a fraudulent system.
“Studios are gaming the system,” he says. “Rotten Tomatoes is gaming the system, and the reviewers that Rotten Tomatoes uses, some of them tell Rotten Tomatoes whether or not to give a positive or negative [review]. People are relying on it too much.”
Shannon, naturally, disagrees.
“If you like movies of a certain genre, then you can understand that, ‘OK, [New York Times film critic] Manohla Dargis isn’t gonna like it.’ And so, if you’re a critical-thinking consumer of how the system works, then you can use it to figure out what you wanna see. And I use it every week!”
Read the rest of this article at: The Ringer
Photos: Inside One of the World’s largest Bitcoin Mines
One of the world’s largest bitcoin mines is located in the SanShangLiang industrial park on the outskirts of the city of Ordos, in Inner Mongolia, an autonomous region that’s part of China. It’s 400 miles from China’s capital, Beijing, and 35 miles from the the city of Baotou. The mine is just off the highway, near the intersection of Latitutde 3rd Road and Longitude 3rd Road. It sits amidst abandoned, half-built factories—victims of an earlier coal mining boom that fizzled out, leaving Ordos and its outlying areas littered with the shells of unfinished buildings.
The mine belongs to Bitmain, a Beijing-based company that also makes mining machines that perform billions of calculations per second to try and crack the cryptographic puzzle that yields new bitcoins. Fifty Bitmain staff, many of them local to Ordos, watch over eight buildings crammed with 25,000 machines that are cranking through calculations 24 hours a day. One of the buildings is devoted to mining litecoin, an ascendant cryptocurrency. The staff live on-site in a building with a dormitory, offices, a canteen, and a repair center. For recreation, they play basketball on an unfinished cement court.
Bitcoin mining consumes enormous amounts of electricity, which is why miners seek out locations that offer cheap energy. The Ordos mine was set up in 2014, making it China’s oldest large-scale bitcoin mining facility. Bitmain acquired it in 2015. It’s powered by electricity mostly from coal-fired power plants. Its daily electricity bill amounts to $39,000. Bitmain also operates other mines in China’s remote areas, like the mountainous Yunnan province in the south and the autonomous region of Xinjiang in the west.
Despite the costs, bitcoin mining remains a lucrative industry. At the current bitcoin price of about $4,000 per bitcoin, miners compete for over $7 million in new bitcoins a day. The more processing power a mining operation controls, the higher its chances of winning a chunk of those millions. The Ordos mine accounts for over 4% of the processing power on the bitcoin network—a huge amount for a single facility.
Read the rest of this article at: Quartz
P.S. previous articles & more by P.F.M. // Top images: @lizzabetsz; @kaitlynn; @lucywilliams02
Tags: articles • Bitcoin • Bitcoin Mines • Border Collie • Craft Culture • current events • Internet • Linguist • news • p • Rotten Tomatoes
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Handmade: Wall Project Leeds Library
Leeds Library
The Leeds Municipal Buildings (now Leeds Library) were completed in 1884 and designed by George Corson at a time when tile making had just exploded and decorative tiles had become highly esteemed status symbols. It was during the 1950’s that the excesses of the Reading Room, also known as the Tiled Hall, fell into disrepair.
We were contracted to make and supply over 15,000 hand-made tiles in 46 different designs and varieties of color for the renovation of the spectacular Victorian Reading Room at Leeds Municipal Library.
New moulds for each pattern were carefully carved, blocks made and tiles cast in special clay bodies, followed by hand-dipping in glazes to reflect the myriad of hues the original tiles had taken on over time.
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Contact/ Join Us
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National Question
BJP election victory – a challenge to Indian workers
January 23, 2000 CWI-India Leave a comment
India’s 13th Lok Sabha (national parliament) elections saw the right-wing Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) retain its hold on power at the head of the 24-party coalition National Democratic Alliance. Jagadish Chandra, of Dudiyora Hora’ata, the Indian section of the Committee for a Workers’ International, reports.
THE 1999 INDIAN general election, which began on 5 September and ended on 3 October, was a farce, where none of the fundamental problems faced by the people were addressed. In the pre-‘liberalisation’ era, elections saw the political parties speak, at least rhetorically, about the problems of poverty, unemployment, the status of women, the lack of fundamental necessities such as water and sewage systems, and the burgeoning diseases that were killing hundreds if not thousands of Indians.
But this election was in marked contrast to those of the past. Both the key contenders for power, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) under Atal Behari Vajpayee, and the Congress, led by Sonia Gandhi, were agreed on the basic economic issues. The mantra of free market economy and the policy of unbridled liberalisation were the favourite tunes of the contending bourgeois parties. Congress unabashedly claimed to be the architect of the economic reforms (to the poor and downtrodden ‘reform’ means cuts in living standards) brought in by the Narasimha Rao government in 1991. The BJP, on its part, pointed to its record to show that it was the only sure bet to continue the liberalisation process on a fast track.
Even on the issue of defence and nuclear arms, both the BJP and the Congress were vying with each other to be more hawkish. But the short-term war in the mountainous Kargil region of Kashmir this summer gave the BJP a slight edge.
Kargil definitely helped the BJP to retain its hold. Nevertheless, many political pundits expected that the BJP would do much better in the poll. It was the class issues, however, and the spontaneous consolidation of the religious minorities and dalits (low caste) against the right-wing BJP, that prevented such a disastrous outcome.
The lack of a workers’ alternative
IT WAS CLEAR from the apathy shown by the voters that there was little to choose between the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Congress camp. Out of the 620 million-strong electorate, fewer than 300 million cast their vote. In Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, in some areas of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and also in the Telengana region of Andhra Pradesh, whole villages protested the elections by boycotting the polls. They put forward conditions for participating by asking for rudimentary facilities such as potable water, pukka roads and sanitation.
The BJP failed to increase its tally of Lok Sabha seats while Congress received an historic rebuff, falling to its lowest-ever total of 112 seats. This shows that both these bourgeois parties are not preferred by the majority of the electorate. In fact, the share of the vote of both these parties put together were less than 50% of the total votes polled. Though the BJP maintained its original score of 182 seats, its vote-share went down by 2.5%. Neither the Kargil factor, nor last year’s nuclear blasts at Pokhran, have had much sway on the people.
Although all the parties campaigned on the plank of ‘stability’, the underlying reality of social and economic instability is time and again surfacing in the form of unstable parliaments and state legislative assemblies. It is a fashion these days of bourgeois analysts, when a ruling party is voted out of power either in the centre or in the states, to ascribe this to the so-called ‘anti-incumbency factor’. But, in reality, this is nothing but a reflection of the incapacity of the ruling parties to fulfil their promises of ending unemployment, alleviating poverty and providing basic necessities. The general pattern, seen again in these elections, is one of a lack of a genuine alternative for the working class and the poor. It is in this regard that the role of the so-called Communist Parties – the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) – is one of shame and class betrayal.
The policy of making a choice between the devil and the deep sea, of ‘lesser evilism’, has made the Communist Parties an increasingly irrelevant factor in Indian politics today. The Left Front, led by the CPI-M, took a beating in the 13th Lok Sabha elections. The CPI(M), the largest partner in the front, retained its strength of 32 MPs but, in the overall picture, the left as a whole lost out this time. In loss of seats the CPI was among the worst hit and is even likely to lose its national party status. In Bihar the CPI’s toehold was wiped out, along with the rest of the left which failed to secure even a single seat. In Andhra Pradesh, where the two CPs had an established traditional vote, they lost heavily this time, with their share of the vote declining by as much as 50%. In West Bengal, which is known as the bastion of the left, an alliance of the BJP and the Trinamul Congress (a split from national Congress in West Bengal), was able to wrest as many as five seats from the CPI(M) alone. This underscores the tendency of the Communist Parties to become increasingly ‘islanded’ in the three states of West Bengal, Tripura and Kerala.
The Communist Parties’ leaders’ support of Congress as a progressive bourgeois force, capable of defeating the Hindu-communal BJP, is fatally undermining their own existence as a relevant political force. The decision to back Congress, and its ‘hereditary’ leader, Sonia Gandhi, has virtually split the Left Front, with constituent parties such as the Forward Bloc (a nationalist leftist party, based in West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh) and the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP – the left-centrist party based in West Bengal, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh) completely opposed to the idea. It was this policy which pushed the Telugu Desam Party of Andhra Pradesh (TDP – a bourgeois party based on Telugu identity) to land in the lap of the BJP.
In the service of the rich
ALTHOUGH THE BJP-LED National Democratic Alliance is gloating with its success in securing a majority, the much-hyped stability is still elusive. The National Democratic Alliance looks like a peculiar breed of dog, with a tail which is stronger than its trunk. The tail is bound to wag the dog.
In the past, the BJP’s main electoral base was in the states of the Hindu-dominated, Hindi-speaking belt, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. In recent parliamentary elections, however, this base has been eroded. For example, the BJP lost 30 seats in Uttar Pradesh. This is increasingly forcing the BJP to lean on regional parties, such as DMK of Tamil Nadu, TDP of Andhra Pradesh, and the Trinamul Congress of West Bengal, building instability into the edifice of the National Democratic Alliance.
The BJP’s alliance partners, such as the Telugu Desam Party and the Trinamul Congress, have an interest in remaining as professedly secular parties, to retain their following among the religious minorities such as Muslims and Christians. The recent anti-papal campaign of the Vishwa Hindu Parishat (VHP), which is considered to be the think-tank of the BJP, rang alarm bells in the minds of the Telugu Desam and Trinamul Congress. The Telugu Desam chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, who supports the government from the outside but keeps his distance by refusing to join the government, issued a stern warning to prime minister Vajpayee to restrain the VHP and other right-wing Hindu forces.
But the contradictions within the National Democratic Alliance are much greater than the cohesion it claims to have. Contentious issues, such as the building of the Hindu Ram Temple on the same site of the demolished Babri Mosque, the issue of a uniform civil code, and abolition of article 370 of the constitution which gives special status to the India-occupied state of Jammu and Kashmir, have been put on the back burner to accommodate the coalition partners. This, however, has enraged the right-wing hard-liners within the BJP. They are now attacking the leadership on the grounds that the failure to increase the number of BJP seats in parliament is the result of these emotive issues being left out. In the coming months these questions could still tear the coalition apart.
For the present though the ruling class have been celebrating the continuation of the right-wing BJP regime. The stock market index soared to an all-time high of 5,000 when the results were announced. The Confederation of Indian Industry insisted that Yashwanth Sinha continue as finance minister, as he was seen as a fast-track ‘reformist’. There is no doubt that the new regime will do everything in its command to please the bosses and the super-rich.
Even before the new BJP-led cabinet took its oath, a 35% rise in the price of diesel fuel was announced (raising the bus fares and transport costs enormously in all the states). The tabling of the Insurance Regulatory Authority bill in parliament, which allows foreign giants to enter the insurance sector, shows that the reincarnated BJP government is going to go full speed on the issues of privatisation and deregulation. The announcement that food subsides will be drastically cut shows that this government will use its majority to implement a wide range of anti-working class and anti-poor policies.
The return of the BJP to power with a relatively comfortable majority is a set-back and a warning to the working class and the left movement. But the spontaneous consolidation of Dalits, Muslims and Christians against the BJP’s allies have put a check on the hydra, the BJP and its semi-fascist kin. This goes to show that a viable class alternative, cutting across the communal, caste and language lines on a socialist basis, would have been able to have won wide support.
The new government was greeted by a five-day truck strike and a one-day insurance employees’ strike. The Bank Employees Unions and the Insurance Employees have already started preparations to go on strike in February to resist the privatisation and liberalisation plans.
Although the BJP victory is a challenge to the working class, the economic and social attacks that are likely to come from this regime will throw up enormous spontaneous resistance from workers and other downtrodden sections. The class issues will once again come onto the agenda. The defence of the food subsidies, anti-privatisation struggles and anti-disinvestment, will hold the challenge for the Indian worker.
The socialists under the banner of the Dudiyora Hora’ata (Workers’ Struggle) will be in the forefront of these struggles to defeat this communal capitalist regime and to herald a new socialist alternative.sinvestment campaigns, will hold the key to the future. The socialists under the banner of the Dudiyora Hora’ata (Workers’ Struggle) will be in the forefront of these struggles to defeat this communal capitalist regime and to herald a new socialist alternative.
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$30 Billion fake Chinese bailout for Zimbabwe
Harare: Last November, China pledged to give Africa some $1 trillion in aid over the next 12 years.
At the time, a clearly bedazzled Mugabe regime, just re-elected in late July, told itself, its creditors, and its citizens that Zimbabwe would reap a windfall of some $30 billion in Chinese loans and grants. It sent a series of delegations to Beijing for that purpose.
Zimbabwe and its autocrat, President Robert Mugabe, need the money. The country is isolated, financially tattered, and increasingly desperate economically. Its financial obligations are $11 billion in arrears, and with its ongoing ideological standoff against the West, the nation is unable to borrow from the IMF, the World Bank and the UN. It has no viable industries, and with more than 85 percent of the population unemployed and an estimated 20-25 percent of Zimbabweans living outside the nation, an inability to secure a stability loan could breed serious political problems.
It appeared that China would step in, solve the autocrat’s problems, validate his so-called “Look East” policy, and gain a stronger foothold in southern Africa. The bailout would help stabilize the government and pacify a growing trend of middle- and working-class anger at the poor economy and corruption. The aid was being called a “friendly boost.”
Yet in what appears to be an embarrassing slap, China’s much-touted bail-out – or at least Mugabe’s portrayal of it – now appears to have fallen through.
Mugabe’s spokesmen have steadily downgraded the size of China’s support – from $30 billion to $10 billion, to $3 billion, and then, in February, to $400 million.
Now it appears China won’t play Santa Claus at all. In what may be a harbinger of a tougher approach, it last week apparently ruled out any direct aid.
“We don’t normally provide budgetary support to other countries but we try to help Zimbabwe in our own way,” the Chinese ambassador to Zimbabwe told reporters.
Chinese officials and the business community in Shanghai told the most recent Zimbabwe delegation, headed by Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa, that he needed to offer bankable projects instead of promises like the one he tried to sell Beijing to get cash.
Mr. Chinamasa had sought funding for the giant Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (ZimAsset), a $27 billion plan to bring economic revival. Zimbabwe’s entire annual budget is $4.5 billion, to give a sense of how large the request was.
Chinamasa’s delegation tried to secure loans using the nation’s mineral reserves as security. But the Chinese demanded an accounting of when Mugabe’s projects would break even, and how a payment plan would work – which Chinamasa did not appear to have ready.
“Mugabe cannot economically hold fort from now till 2018 without a huge financial boost, so we are likely to see more trips to China,” says Clive Moyo, an economic analyst based in Johannesburg.
“But, as we have seen in past times, such trips have mostly been fruitless when they concern huge financial aid, yet we keep trying. We are now like gamblers who keep putting money and efforts toward trying to land the jackpot, only to see yet another heavy loss. Unfortunately, no one else can bail us out, so it [is] a vicious cycle of hopes and heartbreaks.”
Since their controversial election victory last July 31, the Zanu (PF) government’s pleas for funding have gone unheeded, as more and more doors seem to be closing in their bid to turn around an economy that has faced 15 years of questionable management. Earlier this winter Chinamasa failed in trips to Washington to secure IMF and World Bank loans.
The African Development Bank estimates Zimbabwe needs $14 billion to pay back lenders and be eligible for aid that stopped in 1999 because of arrears. Christian science monitor
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Beginner's Guide: Anne's Story
Struggling with leaving the passenger seat
For more stories like Anne's, visit WRN's Reader Stories section.
A common reason why some women put off riding their own motorcycle is because they're comfortable in the passenger seat. Well, sort of. "I love being on the back," said Anne Benner of Colorado Springs, Colo. "But I'm envious of the girls who are riding. They look like they're really enjoying themselves."
Like many women involved in motorcycling, Anne became exposed to the two-wheeled lifestyle through a male partner—in her case, her husband, Jim. "He just decided he wanted a bike and was at a point in his life where he could afford to get one," she said. "We were dating at the time, so we enjoyed riding together."
Anne, an insurance claims representative, said at the time of our interview that she would probably get her motorcycle license and her own bike if it weren't for two reasons. First, she enjoys the experience of riding with her husband. Her second reason is one of the most common: finances. "I'm a conservative person, and the motorcycle is like a toy," she said. "Jim has his toy, and I can enjoy it with him. I don't necessarily need my own toy."
Anne wrestled with leaving the passenger seat of her husband's motorcycle to ride her own.
Anne says she has been mostly content riding behind Jim, but lately she's been watching women riders enviously as they control their own machines. "I don't like the feeling of not having control on the backseat," she told us. "Sometimes it puts me in an uncomfortable position, like if we get too close to a car."
The 42-year-old suspects she'd love the independence that comes with being in conrol of her own bike. "It's being able to do my own thing—ride, play, and take off with the girls and go to lunch. Just having more freedom."
While riding as a passenger is a wonderful way to experience the motorcycling lifestyle, there are many women like Anne who wonder what the ride would be like from the front seat. Recently, after two years perched behind Jim, Anne felt the timing was right, so she signed up for the motorcycle training course. "I want to take the rider's class first just to make sure I can handle it," she told us. "I'm pretty strong for a gal. I think I should be able to handle it, but I wonder if I'm not too spacy. I don't want to do anything to hurt myself."
Anne predicts that after she becomes a licensed rider, she'll still snuggle up behind Jim on occasion. And that's OK. Riding in the back is a luxury women riders can enjoy when they choose to do so. "It will still be a great way for us to be together and have that closeness," Anne said of switching to the backseat every so often. "I can kick back and really see the scenery and take it all in."
A few months after we interviewed Anne, she told us she had passed the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) training class and bought a used Harley-Davidson Sportster 883. "I rode to Sturgis this year, feeling spontaneous on my 43rd birthday," she said. "So I guess I am now an official biker chick!" Way to go, Anne!
Looking for more information on how to get started? Return to the Where Do I Start? section of the WRN Beginner's Guide.
Beginner's Guide: Gina's Story
Beginner's Guide: Just Do It!
Beginner's Guide: Common Obstacles and How to Overcome Them
Beginner's Guide: 10 Steps to Becoming a Motorcycle Rider
I started out as a passenger and then got my first bike five years ago. Last weekend we took a trip through Yellowstone Park. It was the first time I had ridden my own bike there. I must admit I missed being a passenger. There were so many things I missed because I had to concentrate on the road. As women we are so lucky, we get the best of both worlds. That's not to say that men can't be passengers, I've just never seen it!
Fallon, MT
I can identify with Anne. I am a 49-year-old woman who rode on the back of my boyfriend's bike for years, and recently (last year) took the training course and bought a small Buell. Rode that for a year and this year traded it in for a Sportster 1200 Low! I sure is a lot more fun to ride your own, and what a confidence booster. Enjoying every minute I wish I had done is sooner!
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Oscar Prints the Legend:
Argo's Upcoming Academy Award and the Failure of Truth
One year ago, after his breathtakingly beautiful Iranian drama, "A Separation," won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, writer/director Asghar Farhadi delivered the best acceptance speech of the night.
"[A]t the time when talk of war, intimidation, and aggression is exchanged between politicians," he said, Iran was finally being honored for "her glorious culture, a rich and ancient culture that has been hidden under the heavy dust of politics." Farhadi dedicated the Oscar "to the people of my country, a people who respect all cultures and civilizations and despise hostility and resentment."
Such grace and eloquence will surely not be on display this Sunday, when Ben Affleck, flanked by his co-producers George Clooney and Grant Heslov, takes home the evening's top prize, the Best Picture Oscar, for his critically-acclaimed and heavily decorated paean to the CIA and American innocence, "Argo."
Over the past 12 months, rarely a week - let alone month - went by without new predictions of an ever-imminent Iranian nuclear weapon and ever-looming threats of an American or Israeli military attack. Come October 2012, into the fray marched "Argo," a decontextualized, ahistorical "true story" of Orientalist proportion, subjecting audiences to two hours of American victimization and bearded barbarians, culminating in popped champagne corks and rippling stars-and-stripes celebrating our heroism and triumph and their frustration and defeat. Salon's Andrew O'Hehir aptly described the film as "a propaganda fable," explaining as others have that essentially none of its edge-of-your-seat thrills or most memorable moments ever happened. O'Hehir sums up:
The Americans never resisted the idea of playing a film crew, which is the source of much agitation in the movie. (In fact, the “house guests” chose that cover story themselves, from a group of three options the CIA had prepared.) They were not almost lynched by a mob of crazy Iranians in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, because they never went there. There was no last-minute cancellation, and then un-cancellation, of the group’s tickets by the Carter administration. (The wife of Canadian ambassador Ken Taylor had personally gone to the airport and purchased tickets ahead of time, for three different outbound flights.) The group underwent no interrogation at the airport about their imaginary movie, nor were they detained at the gate while a member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard telephoned their phony office back in Burbank. There was no last-second chase on the runway of Mehrabad Airport, with wild-eyed, bearded militants with Kalashnikovs trying to shoot out the tires of a Swissair jet.
One of the actual diplomats, Mark Lijek, noted that the CIA's fake movie "cover story was never tested and in some ways proved irrelevant to the escape." The departure of the six Americans from Tehran was actually mundane and uneventful. "If asked, we were going to say we were leaving Iran to return when it was safer," Lijek recalled, "But no one ever asked!...The truth is the immigration officers barely looked at us and we were processed out in the regular way. We got on the flight to Zurich and then we were taken to the US ambassador's residence in Berne. It was that straightforward."
Furthermore, Jimmy Carter has even acknowledged that "90% of the contributions to the ideas and the consummation of the plan was Canadian [while] the movie gives almost full credit to the American CIA...Ben Affleck's character in the film was only in Tehran a day and a half and the real hero in my opinion was Ken Taylor, who was the Canadian ambassador who orchestrated the entire process."
Taylor himself recently remarked that "Argo" provides a myopic representation of both Iranians and their revolution, ignoring their "more hospitable side and an intent that they were looking for some degree of justice and hope and that it all wasn't just a violent demonstration for nothing."
"The amusing side," Taylor said, "is the script writer in Hollywood had no idea what he's talking about."
O'Hehir perfectly articulates the film's true crime, its deliberate exploitation of "its basis in history and its mode of detailed realism to create something that is entirely mythological." Not only is it "a trite cavalcade of action-movie clichés and expository dialogue," but "[i]t’s also a propaganda movie in the truest sense, one that claims to be innocent of all ideology."
Such an assessment is confirmed by Ben Affleck's own comments about the film. In describing "Argo" to Bill O'Reilly, Affleck boasted, "You know, it was such a great story. For one thing, it's a thriller. It's actually comedy with the Hollywood satire. It's a complicated CIA movie, it's a political movie. And it's all true." He told Rolling Stone that, when conceiving his directorial approach, he knew he "absolutely had to preserve the central integrity and truth of the story."
"It's OK to embellish, it's OK to compress, as long as you don't fundamentally change the nature of the story and of what happened," Affleck has remarked, even going so far as to tell reporters at Argo's BFI London Film Festival premier, "This movie is about this story that took place, and it's true, and I go to pains to contextualize it and to try to be even-handed in a way that just means we're taking a cold, hard look at the facts."
In an interview with The Huffington Post, Affleck went so far as to say, "I tried to make a movie that is absolutely just factual. And that's another reason why I tried to be as true to the story as possible -- because I didn't want it to be used by either side. I didn't want it to be politicized internationally or domestically in a partisan way. I just wanted to tell a story that was about the facts as I understood them."
For Affleck, these facts apparently don't include understanding why the American Embassy in Tehran was overrun and occupied on November 4, 1979. "There was no rhyme or reason to this action," Affleck has insisted, claiming that the takeover "wasn't about us," that is, the American government (despite the fact that his own film is introduced by a fleeting - though frequently inaccurate1 - review of American complicity in the Shah's dictatorship).
Wrong, Ben. One reason was the fear of another CIA-engineered coup d'etat like the one perpetrated in 1953 from the very same Embassy. Another reason was the admission of the deposed Shah into the United States for medical treatment and asylum rather than extradition to Iran to face charge and trial for his quarter century of crimes against the Iranian people, bankrolled and supported by the U.S. government. One doesn't have to agree with the reasons, of course, but they certainly existed.
Just as George H.W. Bush once bellowed after a U.S. Navy warship blew an Iranian passenger airliner out of the sky over the Persian Gulf, killing 290 Iranian civilians, "I'll never apologize for the United States of America. Ever. I don't care what the facts are." Affleck appears inclined to agree.
If nothing else, "Argo" is an exercise in American exceptionalism - perhaps the most dangerous fiction that permeates our entire society and sense of identity. It reinvents history in order to mine a tale of triumph from an unmitigated defeat. The hostage crisis, which lasted 444 days and destroyed an American presidency, was a failure and an embarrassment for Americans. The United States government and media has spent the last three decades tirelessly exacting revenge on Iran for what happened.
"Argo" recasts revolutionary Iranians as the hapless victims of American cunning and deception. White Americans are hunted, harried and, ultimately courageous and free. Iranians are maniacal, menacing and, in the end, infantile and foolish. The fanatical fundamentalists fail while America wins. USA -1, Iran - 0. Yet, "Argo" obscures the unfortunate truth that, as those six diplomats were boarding a plane bound for Switzerland on January 28, 1980, their 52 compatriots would have to wait an entire year before making it home, not as the result of a daring rescue attempt, but after a diplomatic agreement was reached.
Reflecting on the most troubled episodes in American history is a time-honored cinematic tradition. There's a reason why the best Vietnam movies are full of pain, anger, anguish and war crimes. By contrast, "Argo" is American catharsis porn; pure Hollywood hubris. It is pro-American propaganda devoid of introspection, pathos or humility and meant to assuage our hurt feelings. In "Argo," no lessons are learned by revisiting the consequences of America's support for the Pahlavi monarchy or its creation and training of SAVAK, the Shah's vicious secret police.
On June 11, 1979, months before the hostage crisis began, the New York Times published an article by writer and historian A.J. Langguth which recounted revelations relayed by a former American intelligence official regarding the CIA's close relationship with SAVAK. The agency had "sent an operative to teach interrogation methods to SAVAK" including "instructions in torture, and the techniques were copied from the Nazis." Langguth wrestled with the news, trying to figure out why this had not been widely reported in the media. He came to the following conclusion:
We – and I mean we as Americans – don’t believe it. We can read the accusations, even examine the evidence and find it irrefutable. But, in our hearts, we cannot believe that Americans have gone abroad to spread the use of torture.
We can believe that public officials with reputations for brilliance can be arrogant, blind or stupid. Anything but evil. And when the cumulative proof becomes overwhelming that our representatives in the C.I.A. or the Agency for International Development police program did in fact teach torture, we excuse ourselves by vilifying the individual men.
Similarly, at a time when the CIA is waging an illegal, immoral, unregulated and always expanding drone execution program, the previous administration's CIA kidnappers and torturers are protected from prosecution by the current administration, and leaked State Department cables reveal orders for U.S. diplomats to spy on United Nations officials, it is surreal that such homage is being paid to that very same organization by the so-called liberals of the Tinsel Town elite.
Upon winning his Best Director Golden Globe last month, Ben Affleck obsequiously praised the "clandestine service as well as the foreign service that is making sacrifices on behalf of the American people everyday [and] our troops serving over seas, I want to thank them very much," a statement echoed almost identically by co-producer Grant Heslov when "Argo" later won Best Drama.
This comes as no surprise, considering Affleck had previously described "Argo" as "a tribute" to the "extraordinary, honorable people at the CIA" during an interview on Fox News.
The relationship between Hollywood and the military and intelligence arms of the U.S. government have long been cozy. "When the CIA or the Pentagon says, 'We'll help you, if you play ball with us,' that's favoring one form of speech over another. It becomes propaganda," David Robb, author of "Operation Hollywood: How the Pentagon Shapes and Censors the Movies" told The Los Angeles Times. "The danger for filmmakers is that their product — entertainment and information — ends up being government spin."
Awarding "Argo" the Best Picture Oscar is like Barack Obama winning a Nobel Peace Prize: an undeserved accolade fawningly bestowed upon a dubious recipient based on a transparent fiction; an award for what never was and never would be and a decision so willfully naïve and grotesque it discredits whatever relevance and prestige the proceedings might still have had.*
So this Sunday night, when "Argo" has won that coveted golden statuette, it will be clear that we have yet again been blinded by the heavy dust of politics and our American mantra of hostility and resentment will continue to inform our decisions, dragging us closer and closer to the abyss.
***** ***** *****
* Yes, in this analogy, the equivalent of Henry Kissinger is obviously 2004's dismal "Crash."
FOOTNOTES & UPDATES:
1 The introduction of "Argo" is a dazzlingly sloppy few minutes of caricatured history of Iran, full of Orientalist images of violent ancient Persians (scimitars and all), which gets many basic facts wrong. In truth, it is shocking this intro made it to release as written and recorded.
Here are some of the problems:
1. The voiceover narration says, "In 1950, the people of Iran elected Mohammad Mossadegh, the secular democrat, Prime Minister. He nationalized British and U.S. petroleum holdings, returning Iran’s oil to its people."
Mossadegh was elected to the Majlis (Iranian Parliament) in 1944. He did not become Prime Minister until April 1951 and was not "elected by the people of Iran." Rather, he was appointed to the position by the representatives of the Majlis.
Also, the United States did not have petroleum interests in Iran at the time.
2. After briefly describing the 1953 coup, the narrator says Britain and the United States "installed Reza Pahlavi as Shah."
Wow. First, the Shah's name was not Reza Pahlavi. That is his father's (and son's) name. Furthermore, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was not installed as Shah since he had already been Shah of Iran since September 1941, after Britain and the Soviet Union invaded and occupied Iran and forced the abdication of his father, Reza Shah Pahlavi.
During the coup in 1953, the Shah fled to Baghdad, then Rome. After Mossadegh had been forced out, the Shah returned to the Peacock Throne.
This is not difficult information to come by, and yet the screenwriter and director of "Argo" didn't bother looking it up. And guess what? Ben Affleck actually majored in Middle East Studies in college. Unsurprisingly, he didn't graduate.
The rest of the brief intro, while mentioning the torture of SAVAK, omits any mention of its ties to the CIA, glosses over the causes of the revolution, but lingers on the violence that followed. As it ends, the words "Based on a True Story" appear on the screen. The first live action moment we see in "Argo" is of an American flag being burned.
So much for Affleck's insistence that "Argo" is "not a political movie."
Still, as Kevin B. Lee wrote in Slate last month, "This opening may very well be the reason why critics have given the film credit for being insightful and progressive—because nothing that follows comes close, and the rest of the movie actually undoes what this opening achieves."
He continues,
Instead of keeping its eye on the big picture of revolutionary Iran, the film settles into a retrograde “white Americans in peril” storyline. It recasts those oppressed Iranians as a raging, zombie-like horde, the same dark-faced demons from countless other movies— still a surefire dramatic device for instilling fear in an American audience. After the opening makes a big fuss about how Iranians were victimized for decades, the film marginalizes them from their own story, shunting them into the role of villains. Yet this irony is overshadowed by a larger one: The heroes of the film, the CIA, helped create this mess in the first place. And their triumph is executed through one more ruse at the expense of the ever-dupable Iranians to cap off three decades of deception and manipulation.
And brilliantly concludes,
Looking at the runaway success of this film, it seems as if critics and audiences alike lack the historical knowledge to recognize a self-serving perversion of an unflattering past, or the cultural acumen to see the utterly ersatz nature of the enterprise: A cast of stock characters and situations, and a series of increasingly contrived narrow escapes from third world mobs who, predictably, are never quite smart enough to catch up with the Americans. We can delight all we like in this cinematic recycling act, but the fact remains that we are no longer living in a world where we can get away with films like this—not if we want to be in a position to deal with a world that is rising to meet us. The movies we endorse need to rise to the occasion of reflecting a new global reality, using a newer set of storytelling tools than this reheated excuse for a historical geopolitical thriller.
Another astute observation comes from Sarah Gillespie, writing in The Palestine Chronicle this past November:
In short, ‘Argo’ ultimately reinforces the binary opposition of a civilized West and a savage Iran. We hear a lot of Farsi in the movie, but only when Farsi is spoken by a Western character is the dialogue given subtitles. Farsi spoken by Iranian characters in the film is merely incomprehensible noise. Here the film accurately mirrors our contemporary reality, in which we inflict our discourse on Iranians, but are incapable of listening to theirs.
Nevertheless, in his own comments on the script-writing process during a Hollywood Reporter's Writers Roundtable discussion last November, "Argo" screenwriter Chris Terrio explained that the intention behind the film's brief prologue was to provide context. "This isn't just a generic image of what we think of as the Arab Street," he said, "Angry people who seem to be burning flags for no reason. You needed to understand the source of the rage."
When Terrio was asked about the film's "liberties with factual truth" and how far he and Affleck thought they "could bend the truth to make a story more effective," Terrio hemmed and hawed about presenting "a very complicated situation" and determining "how much information can we present that the audience [will understand]."
"What's the breaking point for that amount of narrative information?," he said rhetorically, before answering, "Although deviating from factual truth...I don't feel like we compromised in any essential thematic way."
While Terrio did not visit Iran during his writing process, he said he "did as much research as I could." this apparently did not involve learning the proper name of the deposed Shah. So where did his information come from? "I spent a bunch of time with Tony Mendez and also bunch of other CIA officers," he said, before revealing what great guys they all are.
Later in the discussion, Terrio even furrowed his brow and pondered a philosophical conundrum. "I'm not sure of the ethical implications of taking real people's lives and trying to make it a nail-biter," he said.
Clearly.
February 25, 2013 - On the heels of Oscar Night's unsurprising coda (made all the more bizarre by the inclusion of Michelle Obama, surrounded by awkward-looking military personnel, presenting the Best Picture to "Argo" from the White House, providing a deeply disturbing governmental imprimatur to the entire proceedings), The Los Angeles Times published a report Monday morning about how "Argo" is being perceived in Iran by Iranians themselves.
The conclusion is clear from the headline: 'Argo's' Oscar gets a thumbs-down in Iran. Journalists Ramin Mostaghim and Patrick J. McDonnell quote several Iranians who have seen the movie, bootlegs of which are widely available, all of whom clearly have a better grasp on, not only the politics, but also the art (or lack thereof) of cinema itself. "The perception that the film portrayed Iranians uniformly as bearded, violent fanatics rankled many who recall that Iran's 1979 revolution had both secular and religious roots -- and ousted a dictatorial monarch, the shah of Iran, reviled as a corrupt and brutal puppet of Washington," Mostaghim and McDonnel explain. Here's what we hear from Iranians themselves:
"I am secular, atheist and not pro-regime but I think the film 'Argo' has distorted history and insulted Iranians," said Hossain, a cafe owner worried about business because of customers' lack of cash in a sanctions-battered economy. "For me, it wasn't even a good thriller."
"I did not enjoy seeing my fellow countrymen and women insulted," said Farzaneh Haji, an educated homemaker and fan of romantic movies who was 18 at the time of the revolution. "The men then were not all bearded and fanatical. To be anti-American was a fashionable idea among young people across the board. Even non-bearded and U.S.-educated men and women were against American imperialism."
"As an action film or thriller, the film was good, but it was not believable, especially the way the six Americans escaped from the airport," said Farshid Farivar, 49, a Hollywood devotee, as he stretched his legs in an office where he does promotional work. "At any rate, it was an average film and did not deserve an Oscar."
The piece ends with the reporters speaking with Abbas Abdi, one of the revolutionary students who planned the seizure of the American Embassy in 1979 and who spent some time in prison a decade ago for criticisms of the Iranian government:
In a brief telephone interview on Monday, Abdi said the Oscars had plummeted to the feeble level of Iran's own Fajr Film Festival, not exactly one of the luminaries on the international movie awards circuit.
"The Oscars are now vulgar and have standards as low as our own film festival," he said. "The Oscars deserve 'Argo' and 'Argo' deserves the Oscars."
An Associated Press report also quotes some Iranians about their views on the film. Mohammad Amin Sharifi, a self-described cinephile in Tehran, said, "In my opinion, it's a nice movie from technical aspects and it was on the scale of Hollywood movies, but I don't think it was worth a nomination for Oscar and other awards."
USA Today also has an Oscar follow-up entitled, "Tourists see a different Iran reality than 'Argo' image," which details the warmth, generosity and hospitality of Iranians experienced by travelers when visiting Iran.
Robert Parry over at Consortiumnews has posted an excellent article on "Argo" in which he writes that the film has "largely draw[n] its narrative in black and white, with strong propaganda overtones, feeding into the current hostility between the United States and Iran over its nuclear program."
Further, Parry notes, "Despite a brief documentary-style opening referencing the 1953 coup and the dictatorial rule of the Shah of Iran until 1979, Argo quickly descended into a formulaic tale of sympathetic CIA officers trying to outwit nasty Iranian revolutionaries, complete with a totally made-up thriller escape at the end."
He concludes, "Argo confirms to many average Americans the unreasonableness of Iranians, who are portrayed as both evil and inept. If negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program collapse, this propaganda image of the Iranians could help tilt the balance of U.S. public opinion toward war."
February 26, 2013 - Canada's leading newspaper the Globe and Mail has published an interview with former Canadian Ambassador to Iran, Ken Taylor, the man who was primarily responsible for the hiding and rescue of the six American diplomats whose story is told in "Argo."
Taylor, while accepting "Hollywood’s penchant for poetic licence," still takes the time to set the record straight.
On the fake Hollywood film concoction that is essentially the entire point of "Argo" and lends the movie its "amazing story" status, Taylor explains that the CIA actually complicated matters by getting involved. He explains:
While the CIA did finally settle on the Hollywood cover idea, Taylor intended for the six Americans to leave on their own as part of a wave of Canadians departing in the normal course of international travel. “I was cutting back the staff,” he recalls. “[The Americans] would just be Canadians going through, some on business, some going back after temporarily serving at the embassy.” Sometime before the date of departure, the CIA decided it wanted to send in two agents to travel with the escapees. “Tony and one other officer came in, then went out. I think they were at the airport and monitored their [departure]. Because there was no interrogation at the airport.”
Regarding the forged documentation attributed to CIA agent Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck's character) in the film, Taylor says:
“The documentation was totally prepared in Ottawa.” That included passports, business cards, credit cards and other ephemera (receipts from restaurants in Toronto, Montreal etc.) that would help establish the legitimacy of the six Americans as a Canadian film crew. After one Farsi-speaking member of Taylor’s staff discovered an error in the documents, more passports were issued by Ottawa and couriered via diplomatic pouch to Tehran.
Chris Terrio's Oscar-winning script lays the tension on thick towards the end of "Argo" when it is revealed that the Canadian Embassy is going to be shut down, thereby leaving the American diplomats with nowhere to hide, thus amplifying the immediacy and urgency of the impending escape. But Taylor throws a bucket a freezing water on this particular twist of the tale, declaring, "It's inconceivable that Canada would have closed the embassy while U.S. diplomats were still there. It wouldn't even have occurred to us."
After the diplomats left Iran, the embassy was indeed closed down. Even after reopening in 1988, Canada and Iran still didn't exchange ambassadors for another eight years. The embassy was again shuttered, and Iranian diplomats were expelled from their own mission in Ottawa, in September 2012 at the behest of neoconservative Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
In response, James George, who preceded Ken Taylor as Canadian ambassador to Iran, called the move "stupid." Other former ambassadors expressed concern and condemnation. Taylor himself said on Canadian television shortly after the announcement, "I really can't see the rationale of this move. It's a very bold stroke to sever diplomatic relations and close the embassy within five days."
In a USA Today article published the day before the Academy Awards, Ken Taylor reiterated his frustration with the film. The report also quotes Jimmy Carter, speaking at Canada's Queen's University in November, saying he was "taken aback by [the film's] distortion of what happened because almost everything that was heroic, or courageous or innovative was done by Canada and not the United States."
Incidentally, here is news report from CBC which followed the events depicted in "Argo":
(h/t Kevin Russell)
February 26, 2013 - It's not just the Canadians who are peeved over "Argo." Today, the London-based Daily Mail wrote that the Best Picture is "yet another piece of Hollywood's Brit-bashing junk history that casts the British in a poor light." By way of explanation, Daily Mail's Guy Walters points out that "according to the Affleck version of the rescue mission, the six embassy staff were refused refuge by British diplomats. ‘Brits turned them away,’ says a senior CIA character in the film." He continues:
The truth, however, could not be more different. The British did give their American colleagues sanctuary. Far from being cowards, the Brits were heroes. Many of the British diplomats then stationed in Iran are still alive — and they’re fuming. ‘When I first heard about this film, I was really quite annoyed,’ says Sir John Graham, 86, who was in Tehran at the time of the crisis. Sir John is understandably concerned that Argo will become accepted as the definitive history of what happened.
Walters goes on the tell the tale of how the American diplomats (all six were not yet together at the time), upon leaving the U.S. Embassy, found the British mission surrounded by its own crowd of protesters. The Americans actually all stayed in their own apartments that night and were supposed to be picked up by British officials the next day. The Brits got lost on their way to the rendezvous point, but eventually met up with the Americans, taking them to a British residential compound that was still secure, "offered them a house of their own, fed them a warm meal, [and] even prepared cocktails." They spent the night there. After that, the American diplomats stayed in various residences in Tehran, often times separately, for a few days before eventually seeking long-term refuge with Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor.
The Daily Mail article adds, "Many of the British embassy staff from that time have seen Argo. ‘It does not bear all that much relation to the facts,’ observes Sir David Miers drily. 'It is not a true story.' Ben Affleck has acknowledged the film casts Britain in a bad light. ‘But I was setting up a situation where you needed to get a sense that these six people had nowhere else to go. It does not mean to diminish anyone,’ he said."
'Well, except the Iranians', he totally forgot to add.
March 2, 2013 - A very condemnatory and, in many ways, challenging review of "Argo," posted on Iranian.com, makes the following observation about the film's employment of dehumanizing imagery which, up until now, I've seen nowhere else.
Affleck’s lead character imagines a film production as pretext for his mission while watching a TV episode of Planet of the Apes. Really? Apes? Because those hirsute, irrational, enraged Persians are essentially mutinous primates, breaking out of their assigned cages and capturing their legitimately superior Caucasoid human handlers, right?!? Affleck would claim that the make-up artist John Chambers, who designed Mendez’ Hollywood cover, also worked on Planet of the Apes, hence that TV reference. Yet watch that scene again – one of armed, dark-hued, stern, uniformed apes guarding and walking Americans along a mountain ledge into captivity – and you’ll sense how the film subtly programs audiences to subconsciously view “the enemy”.
[Quick nerd note: In "Argo," Affleck's character is actually watching a scene from the 1973 movie, "The Battle for the Planet of the Apes," not the short-lived 1974 TV series.]
March 5, 2013 - Abolhassan Bani-Sadr, the Islamic Republic of Iran's first president, has written a fascinating article for the Christian Science Monitor about "Argo" and its misrepresentation of history, namely the impression given by the film that the Iranian government has wholly supportive of the Embassy takeover and subsequent hostage-taking.
"Prime Minister Mehdi Bazargan’s entire administration was against the occupation," Bani-Sadr explains, continuing, "Indeed, in the early days there was no talk of hostage-taking. The occupation was initially regarded as a short-term protest against the shah’s admittance to the United States, as the memory of the 1953 coup against Mohammad Mossadegh was still fresh in public memory. But as the event began to play a more important role in domestic Iranian and American foreign politics, the protest was transformed into a hostage-taking that lasted for 444 days and had catastrophic consequences for Iran, the US, and international politics."
Despite vociferously opposing the continued occupation, Bani-Sadr was voted into office by an huge margin. In fact, "96 percent of votes in that election were given to candidates who were against it," he writes. "Hence, the movie misrepresents the Iranian government’s stand in regard to hostage-taking. It also completely misrepresents Iranians by portraying us as irrational people consumed by aggressive emotion, in contrast to the 'Western' Americans, who were, as Edward Said once wrote, constructed as 'rational, peaceful, liberal, logical' ... etc.." Bani-Sadr explains that he has "a deeper concern about the way the film legitimizes clandestine CIA operations."
"[B]y falsifying, misrepresenting, and taking critical facts out of context, it delivers a pro-CIA message at the cost of both the Iranian people and Iranian history. It does not help people understand that rather than being emblematic of the 1979 revolution, the hostage-taking enabled the forces of dictatorship we see today to overpower democratic struggles against the occupation of the US Embassy and all forms of violence in society."
UPDATE VI:
March 21, 2013 - Months after its theatrical release last autumn and its award-winning run this past winter, "Argo" is still pissing people off. Who now? New Zealand.
Early on in the film, the audience is told how the six American diplomats found refuge at the Canadian ambassador's house after leaving the Embassy: "The six of them went out a back exit. Brits turned them away. Kiwis turned them away. Canadians took them in," explains Bryan Cranston's character Jack O'Donnell tells Affleck's Mendez.
This off-hand reference to New Zealand touched a nerve. The Associated Press reports today that the New Zealand "Parliament has expressed its dismay, passing a motion stating that Affleck, who also directed the film, 'saw fit to mislead the world about what actually happened.'" The article continues:
In fact, a U.S. State Department document dated Feb. 6, 1980, says "four Embassies — Canadians, British, Swedish and New Zealand — were involved in their protection and escape." The document was posted online last fall by the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum.
And published interviews indicate diplomats from Britain and New Zealand did help by briefly sheltering the Americans, visiting them and bringing them food, even driving them to the airport when they left. Yet those interviews also indicate that both countries considered it too risky to shelter the Americans for long. That left the Canadians shouldering the biggest risk by taking them in. Lawmaker Winston Peters, who brought last week's uncontested motion before Parliament, said New Zealanders are unfairly portrayed as "a bunch of cowards," an impression that would be given to millions who watch the movie.
"It's a diabolical misrepresentation of the acts of courage and bravery, done at significant risk to themselves, by New Zealand diplomats," he said.
September 13, 2013 - A new Canadian documentary, "Our Man in Tehran," aims to set the record straight about Ambassador Ken Taylor's extraordinary efforts to hide and facilitate the escape of six American diplomats - a story obfuscated and bastardized by Ben Affleck's Oscar-winning movie Argo.
November 7, 2014 - The official Twitter account of the CIA has decided to come clean about many of the cinematic embellishments of the truth that suffuse the movie Argo.
As compiled and recounted by Mashable's Megan Specia, the CIA revealed where parts of the film parted ways with reality:
We love #Argo, @TheAcademy award winning film by @BenAffleck. Today we tell you what’s "reel" vs. "real". pic.twitter.com/QgFC014kUe
— CIA (@CIA) November 7, 2014
Reel #Argo: When the US Embassy is overtaken the 6 US diplomats go right to the Canadian ambassador's residence to live for the 3 months.
Real #Argo: 5 of them went to many different places until they ended up at the homes of the Canadian Ambassador & the Dep. Chief of Mission.
Real #Argo: 1 American slept on the floor of the Swedish embassy before making his way to the Canadian Ambassador’s home after 2 weeks.
Reel #Argo: Only one CIA officer goes to Tehran to help exfiltrate the six American diplomats. pic.twitter.com/iFEcrBzlyb
Real #Argo: Two CIA officers with notable forgery and exfiltration skills used their talents & knowledge to get the six out of Iran safely.
Reel #Argo: The CIA officer and the six diplomats go into town to scout locations. pic.twitter.com/2gx2sHjPBO
Real #Argo: They never went to the marketplace to scout a location. The six hid in the Canadian’s homes for 79 days. pic.twitter.com/szTgt9stvb
Reel #Argo: The Americans are detained at the airport by security guards & a call is made back to “Studio Six” to verify their identity.
Real #Argo: There was an hour long mechanical delay, other than that the escape could not have gone better. #nochase pic.twitter.com/a0TnVeBgBt
In a particularly revealing tweet, the CIA admits that the climactic sequence - the high-speed pursuit down the tarmac, was a complete fabrication (we've know this for a while now). Not only that, though, the Agency makes sure to spin some Orientalist propaganda yarn of its own in the process:
Reel #Argo: Shredded documents are pieced together to reveal the face of one of the Americans & the plane is chased down the runway.
Real #Argo: Skilled carpet weavers did reconstruct shredded documents, but they didn’t reveal one of the Americans at the last moment.
What would Iran be without "skilled carpet weavers" doing the nefarious, anti-American bidding of devious mullahs, hostage-takers and radicals to expose CIA wrongdoing? The "carpet weaver" tale has been around for a long time (see here, and here, and here, for instance), but it's probably not even true.
A 1977 book about the investigation of a Congressional corruption scandal, entitled "The Washington Connection," revealed the arduous and painstaking process journalists undertook to recompose shredded documents.
Reporter, and the book's co-author, Lewis Perdue later recounted a story about his happening upon a photo of the Iranian de-shredding operation in the Washington Post and seeing his own book in the background - open to the pages where he explains how to put shredded documents back together.
Perdue states: "Nope, it wasn't a bunch of little carpet weavers as one story goes, or child labor as Argo played it." In fact, he adds, "the setting of their work looked a great deal like ours."
With this in mind, it seems that even when the CIA purports to tell the truth, it still winds up playing into propaganda.
Amir said...
Speaking of obscuring, the author "forgets" to mention the fact that the embassy takeover and hostage taking was part and parcel of the radical revolutionaries' strategy of sidelining the Mehdi Bazargan-led Provisional Government (who resigned soon after the incident). The author also "forgets" to mention that the crimes of the Shah's regime have been exponentially multiplied by the current Islamist regime. Indeed, the number of executions in its very first year were approximately double that of the entire period from 1941-1979! And that doesn't even account for the tens of thousands executed by the IRI since then -- a period of savage premeditated murder by the state without equal in recent Iranian history. So much for obscuring!
LJansen said...
Regarding the charges of Amir about deaths during the Shah's and the current regime, is there some documentation?
I am struck by the shallowness of Ben Affleck's historical references. He was supposedly a devoted fan of Howard Zinn. Now I know Zinn had a weakness for Democratic politicians. Is this is what is motivating Affleck's excuse for Obama to bomb bomb bomb Iran?
Dear L. Jansen,
After the Revolution, Paul Balta of the French newspaper "Le Monde" estimated the number of executions under the Shah's regime at approximately 400. Emad Baghi,a former researcher at the Islamic Republic's own "Martyrs Foundation" systematically estimated the number killed in the decades before the current regime came to power (mostly in demonstrations and clashes) at about 3,000:
http://www.emadbaghi.com/en/archives/000592.php
And please bear in mind that the bloodiest single incident of the Islamic Revolution was the burning to death of approximately 400 men and women in the Cinema Rex, which was an act carried out by the Islamic revolutionaries themselves. As far as the crimes of the current Islamist regime, I'll quote the following passage from Ervand Abrahamian's "Tortured Confessions":
"Between June and November 1981, the Revolutionary Tribunals executed 2,665 political prisoners—seven times the number of royalists killed in the previous sixteen months. The slain included 2,200 Mojaheds and 400 leftists—mostly from Marxist groups that had opposed the Mojahedin uprising. The government boasted it had arrested 90 percent of the Mojahedin and utterly uprooted two important Marxist groups—Peykar and the Minority Fedayi.[14]
The death toll continued to climb, reaching 5,000 by August 1983 and 12,500 by June 1985. According to a martyrs' list compiled by the Mojahedin, between June 1981 and June 1985, 12,028 lost their lives—74 percent through executions, 22 percent in armed confrontations, and 4 percent under torture."
And this includes the thousands executed in the year 1988, the over 200 Bahais killed for refusing to renounce their religion, the hundreds of prostitutes, drug addicts, adulterers, gays, and other "deviants", and the hundreds of common criminals executed each and every year by the Islamist tyranny (including those guilty of non-capital offenses such as drug trafficking). Not to mention the thousands flogged for various other offenses (including alcohol consumption, etc).
I meant to write: "And this does NOT even include the thousands executed in the year 1988."
If one were to add the victims of the IRI's massacre of thousands more of its political opponents in 1988, it would push the number of executions carried out by the Islamist tyranny higher yet.
Hassan said...
Documentation? No, sorry, the mullahs did not keep track of the number of civilians they killed in the process. However, this article is blatantly inaccurate. Khomeini did kill loads more than the Shah even dared. Trust me, the Shah was not near perfect, bu the Iranian and opposition blood on the hands of the IRI is much greater than that of the Pahlavi dynasty.
Just look at 2009, all the protesters the Basijis killed, on top of that a new revolutionary government killed thousands, for what? Did they fail to realize that the revolutionaries had multiple goals and not one ideology? Most at the time wanted a free Iran, and believed in the promises an Islamic Republic gave them. However, there were groups (communists, leftists, monarchists, reformists) that wanted different outcomes for Iran. Anyone that disagreed at the time was met with death.
Was the film accurate? Yes and no- Iran was like that at the time, in turmoil, a lot of Iranians were angry with the Shah but failed to realize what they had was 10x better than what they were about to receive. Many wanted political freedom, which they did not get. Some, like the maid, just sat on the sidelines and watched it unfold. However, it was mainly a Canadian operation and not an American one like the film portrays.
RF said...
This is the best deconstruction of the evils of Argo I have seen. I'm so glad I found your blog. Keep writing.
Edwin Moore said...
Great piece Nima. The film also tells lies about the British, though painting us in as minor villains is so unremarkable it's practically a given in Hollywood. See
http://www.theweek.co.uk/film/oscars-2013/51635/anti-british-lie-heart-oscar-favourite-argo
Figment Zenguitar said...
Thanks for this. I would just add, in regard to the body count of the Shah's regime vs. the Islamic Revolutionary regime: If the democratically elected Mossadegh had been allowed to remain in power, the mullahs would not have been able to use his overthrow as a basis for amassing dissent in their quarter. The CIA will acknowledge this "blowback." The biggest immediate consequence of allowing democracy to proceed in Iran would have been for BP (Anglo-Iranian Oil Co. at the time) to lose a big chunk of their haul out of the Persian oil fields. "Argo" contributes to the "innocent empire" narrative which, of course, is a lie.
dionysos said...
Thank you very much for this first rate analysis of "Argo." Ben Affleck is a cultural hazard trying repeatedly to redeem his plastic career as a flag-waving shit-for-brains.
Would just like to add how much I admire your website as I get to know it. Full of perception, excellent reading and empowerment. Keep it going, friend! Peace.....Jack Dempsey (Ancientlights.org)
Mosaddeq was not "democratically elected". Iran was not in 1953 nor has it ever been a "democracy". Mosaddeq was put forth by the Majles as Prime Minister, and he was appointed by the Shah. The Majles then gave Mosaddeq a vote of confidence with the minimum possible quorom. In Iran's political system at the time, appointing and dismissing Prime Ministers was considered "royal prerogative" (not that I agree with that). That was true before Mosaddeq and after Mosaddeq. Mosaddeq subsequently dissolved the very same Majles that had nominated him as Prime Minister and held a sham of a referendum to justify his power grab -- a referendum in which he received over 99% of the votes! So much for Mosaddeq the "democrat"!
Moreover, his ouster as Prime Minister was supported by key members of the clergy -- most importantly Ayatollah Kashani (whom the Islamist regime considers the real "hero" of that period) and Grand Ayatollah Borujerdi.
Ghulam said...
So all the haters excuse the lies, propaganda, cultural imperialism and horror of the American war machine .. Because the Shah was a cuddly Teddy bear and the Ayatollah a conniving snake. Way to deal with the issue.
Ghulam joon,
Way to set up a Straw Man! Salavat befres!
PlanB247 said...
Amir and Hassan sound like the only Persian-American I know... complete and utter tools. Just because the Islamist revolution was bad, bad, bad, that doens't change the facts of what led up to it (IE, mainly US meddling in Iranian affairs). The US NEVER wanted democracy in Iran because then they couldn't control the country. Well, the US got what they wanted, a permanent enemy, but the Iranian people got screwed by their own government and the meddling of the US. And now they have to deal with a fundamentalist government because of it.
Amir and Hassan are apologists for the American destruction of Iran, much like other Persian-Americans I have known (sickeningly named after Reza too)... The fact that Islamist rule is bad, does not remove the culpability from the US. In fact, it makes it even worse because the US meddling is what actually led to the fundamentalists taking over. As the US and the CIA have done in many countries from Chile to Iraq to Nicaragua to Afghanistan.
USAn said...
Ljansen wrote:
"Now I know Zinn had a weakness for Democratic politicians..."
If I may correct this statement, as a leftist, Zinn had no "weakness for democratic politcians." He regarded the two main parties as tweedledum and twedledee.
mikeinportc said...
Judging by the comments made when this rolled out, and since, I suspected there'd be some element of the current anti-Iranian propaganda projected onto 1979. I wasn't willing to pay ( & support it financially) to find out. Thank you for doing so.
What happened after the time depicted in the film ,is , in part, the result of what went before. Action - reaction. Also rather irrelevant to the points made in this post . That is, unless you are positing that the brutality that followed justifies distorting the events and people depicted. Whatever evils that have been committed from '79 to the present don't justify or excuse those perpetrated in the preceding era, or the American involvement in it.
Thank-you, Mr. Shirazi, for an excellent deconstruction of this film.
Back in those days, I closely followed the hosage crisis and the later news of the Canadian embassy incident. Why must Hollywood take well-documented historical events and distort them supposedly to to make the events more "entertaining"? We all know the answer to this rhetorical question. Becasue if it were purely about entertainment value, then what could be more a more compelling material for a movie drama than the quite credible evidence of collusion of the Reagan campaign with the Iran regime to retain the hostages through the election year in order to assure Carter's defeat? A sequel could then cover the secret use of proceeds from the promised arms sales to Khomeni's regime to arm the Contra terrorists fighting the two-time democratically elected Sandisista Party in Nicaragua.
Sure, the election-year-hostage quid-pro-quo aspect of this plot has never been solidly proven, but assuming it did happen would stlll be less of a historical distortion than what you describe in your article.
I didn't believe the visit to the bazar, the phone call to the studio 6, or the chase down the runway, so the movie didn't really bother me.
I think the idea was to create something like 'All the presidents men'. But, if I remember right, that film stayed closer to the facts.
I liked it because it reminded me of a time in the US when we could breathe a little easier - and that was probably part of the idea too. But we've clearly crossed some kind of weird line here when the wife of a man who orders extrajudicial killings presents an award to a self congratulatory film about the agency that carries them out .. positively surreal.
What, if any, responsibility do Iranians have for the state of affairs in their country both past and present? As an Iranian, I find the attempt to dodge responsibility for where Iran has been and where it is now onto the Devil Incarnate (aka the Great Satan) to represent a failing that some, thankfully not all, Iranians do not want to face. Better to keep blaming the Great Satan.
iskander said...
The irony is that a great thriller could have been made about the Hostage crisis, Gary Sick, Iranian specialist for Pres Carter, wrote a book called "October Surprise" that shows it is quite likely the Reagan administration conspired to prevent the hostages release until after the election. This film would have been deeply disturbing, and in fact, there was a point when it was considered as a potential movie. Instead we get this P-O-S. Yeay! Zero Dark Thirty was shamed! Lets make the other CIA Propaganda film the number 1 movie of the year - even Lincoln had dark references to the abuse of the executive as justifiable - a justification of Bush and Obama lawlessness. The injustice burns doesn't it?
Beaverbrook said...
Anyone entrusted with a loosely historical, pseudo-documentary remake of political history who chased Jennifer Lopez to Winnipeg (while making a dance movie with Richard Gere) just for a quick fling, ought NOT to be taken seriously.
Remember folks, this is Hollywood, actors, screenplay writers and people making money out of story-telling, not making history.
Editorial Staff said...
newsflash: Argo NOT documentary.
understanding our history is important.
expecting this understanding to come from movies is plain stupid.
Larry Nocella said...
Good article. I'm old enough to remember when the crisis was going on from the USA side. Though I was just a wee lad, I remember the "cultural" things, like bumper stickers with Mickey Mouse giving the finger next to "HEY IRAN" and a daily count of the days the hostages were held in the local paper.
I loved Argo as a thriller. I don't fully agree that Iran was painted as uniformly bad as this article implies, but I see your point. On one hand, I'm tempted to say Argo is just a movie that never made a pretense of being a documentary. But on the other hand, it does lean on being factual-ish to sell its excitement.
I suspect the ultimate problem is this: Iran is a mystery to us Americans. It's news to many of us that Iranians are Persian and not Arabs. Or are they both? Are "Persians" or "Arabs" ethnic group or "race"? I mean no offense here, I'm just saying this complex nation is shrouded in basic questions before we even get to complex ones.
Why can't Iran have a nuke? Because their leader talks tough? But many other leaders do that. And what about the green revolution of a few years ago? Iran was in an uproar, it looked like the 60s in America. Then some students were shot and it calmed down. At least that's the view from here in the USA. But I think, those people are still there, those people who wanted change.
I remember hearing an interview with the hostage takers in Iran. They said they were surprised that the American hippie movement, fresh from the 60s did not express support. Again I say, for whatever reason, to us Americans, Iran is a mystery.
It's taking effort to learn more. This blog is one way through. I'll be following. All the best to all peoples.
Larry Nocella
Chris Tunnock said...
"because I didn't want it to be used by either side. I didn't want it to be politicized internationally or domestically in a partisan way. I just wanted to tell a story that was about the facts as I understood them."
there. Affleck attempts to deflect and obfuscate with the hide in plain site defense.
that IS what BA did. And the reverse engineering of this from script to funding, would have been years in the can.
And does BA have his eyes on Capitol Hill? Damn right. His agent, the most powerful man in Hollywood Ari Emanuel, brother of Rahm, and his father is Benjamin Emanuel who was a member of the Irgun and told the Jerusalem Post “Obviously he will influence the president to be pro-Israel,” he was quoted as saying. “Why wouldn’t he be? What is he, an Arab? He’s not going to clean the floors of the White House.”
So BA has his eyes on Reagan, after Rahm leaves Chicago and takes the nomination of HRC, BA will be looking to DC too. And Rahm is a big fundraiser for the Dems, and will rival the Clintons for their control of donors.
city said...
thanks for share..
David Kaeln said...
Taylor himself recently remarked that "Argo" provides a myopic representation of both Iranians and their revolution, ignoring their "more hospitable side and an intent that they were looking for some degree of justice and hope and that it all wasn’t just a violent demonstration for nothing."
They were looking for justice and hope. How? By kidnapping, murdering, religious despotism, beatings, violence of every sort?
How does one pursue justice with injustice?
Reza Bareheni in his "Crowned Cannibals" said it best:
"It is no wonder that the whole of contemporary Iranian fiction, poetry, and criticism revolves around one central theme: repression."
This is because Islam has provided the Persian with an excuse to wield absolute patriarchal power. It is the economic, cultural, and political basis of Iranian society from Darius to Ahmedinejad.
Baraheni was a Marxist, so he was never talking about opening the Iranian mind to a free and unfettered discussion of ideas, but his analysis of the failure of succeeding Persian and Iranian regimes is trenchant.
popsiq said...
Why not tell the story(ies) of those Iranians waiting at the embassy for exit documents. They left the embassy with the future 'film crew' and they had even less places to go.
Or tell the stories of the other 140 hostages who would spend the next year being 'subjected to terror'.
By the way, no commentary on the 'torture scenes' in Argo as opposed to the 'stark reality' of 'waterboarding' in Zero D30?
Excellent piece of analysis!
I really appreciated this very in depth analysis. When I attempted to watch this movie I shut it off before the six even left the Embassy. I found it insulting and I am by no means an expert. I tried to explain this to people I know and the ignorance is amazing. No one had any idea why I was put off by the movie. I only ended up watching the movie after it won the Oscar. I thought it was pure crap. And that was before I knew just how many factual errors there are. I initially just found it to be incredibly blind sighted.
Thank you very much Nima.
award presented by president's wife!? crikey...
Roland Joseph said...
As I read the in depth analysis in this piece, and agree with most of the points made, I get the sense that in some way something is still missing, something extremely nuanced that even myself may not be able to capture in words, which provides Affleck and Hollywood the opportunity afforded to them which is the simple fact that this narrative was created by the Iranians, in spite of all the great details missed. The events get reduced to iconoclastic gestures that have permanently resided in the american collective conscious- It was the Iranians who stormed the embassy, the Iranians who held americans captive for 444 days, and Argo simply builds upon that narrative with this obscure sub plot of 6 americans caught in a fissure of history. This was a Hollywood film, not an HBO documentary. The fact of the matter is that as americans deep down inside we do know the compromise of our existence and how much we have sold-out in history. Ours is a short yet complicated history and in many ways we are racing against time trying to catch up and keep up with the great histories of other civilizations. At the end of the day, Ben is simply projecting the truth of who we are in the context of the world...it is Ben Affleck after all.
Hello from Ireland. I watched this movie a while back,and gave it an 8 on imdb, so obviously I liked it. I found the article about the factual innacurracies of the movie very interesting, but it's not going to make me change my rating.
As for americans taking credit for heroic acts not entirely of their doing, i have two words to say "objective Burma"
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Mourinho confident Sanchez will sign
AFP On Jan 20, 2018 Last updated Jan 20, 2018
LONDON: Jose Mourinho believes Chilean star Alexis Sanchez will sign for Manchester United, he said on Saturday.
Sanchez is set to move to United in a blockbuster deal that will reportedly make him the Premier League’s highest paid player.
United will reportedly pay £35 million (39.6 million euros, $48.5 million) for Sanchez, a £20 million transfer fee to Arsenal and £15 million to the player’s agent Fernando Felicevich.
United midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan is said to have agreed to join Arsenal as part of the deal.
Mourinho, speaking after United’s 1-0 win at Burnley, said he expected the 29-year-old two-time Copa America winner to complete the move.
“If you ask me if I think he is coming, I think so, but I have no confirmation,” the Portuguese told the BBC.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger confirmed Sanchez’s sale was close to completion following his team’s 4-1 victory over Crystal Palace.
Wenger left Sanchez out of his squad because the player has travelled to Manchester ahead of his move.
“I didn’t pick him because of the question of him moving to Manchester United. You cannot drive north and as well play football,” Wenger said.
“I expect it to happen. In the next 48 hours it will be decided.”
Wenger also admitted Mkhitaryan must agree to join Arsenal before he will sanction Sanchez’s exit.
“It happens only one way if the other way happens as well,” Wenger said.
“As long as it is not over the line you cannot say it will happen. The negotiations become longer and more edgy as well.
“But if you want to have a bet, it could happen.”
Sanchez will earn £350,000 a week plus an extra £100,000 a week for image rights over the course of a four-and-a-half-year contract.
He will also receive £7.5 million a year for four years as a signing-on fee.
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Walta, Caroline, La Trobe University (Australia)
Wang, Chun-Min, National Hsinchu University of Education (Taiwan, Province of China)
Wang, Lixun, The Hong Kong Institute of Education (Hong Kong)
Wang, Longlong, Nanyang Technological University (Singapore)
Wang, Mei-jung, National Kaohsiung University of Hospitality and Tourism (Taiwan, Province of China)
Wang, Mei-jung, National Kaohsiung Hospitality College (Taiwan, Province of China)
Wang, Mei-jung, National Kaohsiung University of Hospitality and Tourism
Wang, Minhong, The University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong)
Wang, Qiyun, National Institute of Education Nanyang Technological University (Singapore)
Wang, Qiyun, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University (Singapore)
Wang, Qiyun, Nanyang Technological University (Singapore)
Wang, Shu-Lin, National Taichung University of Science and Technology (Taiwan, Province of China)
Wang, Xinghua, Normal College & School of Teacher Education, Qingdao University; National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University (Singapore)
Wang, Yuping, School of Languages and Linguistics, Griffith University (Australia)
Ward, Lorrae, CYPERUS (New Zealand)
Wardak, Dewa, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia (Australia)
Wardak, Dewa, Centre for Research on Learning and Innovation, Faculty of Education and Social Work, The University of Sydney (Australia)
Warden, Clyde A
Ware, Cheryl, Macquarie University (Australia)
Wark, Norine, Athabasca University (Australia)
Warrican, S. Joel, The University of the West Indies Open Campus Cave Hill St. Michael, BB11000 Barbados (Barbados)
Watchorn, Valerie, Deakin University (Australia)
Waters, Zak, Queensland University of Technology (Australia)
Waterworth, Peter, Deakin University (Australia)
Watkins, Alan, Swansea University (United Kingdom)
Watkins, Patricia, Swinburne University of Technology (Australia)
Watson, Glenice, Griffith University (Australia)
Watson, Jane, University of Tasmania (Australia)
Watson, Sharon, Chifley Business School (Australia)
Watson, Sunnie Lee, Purdue University (United States)
Watson, Tara, RMIT University (Australia)
Watson, William R, Purdue University (United States)
Watt, Michael G., Division of Educational Programs Tasmanian Department of Education and the Arts (Australia)
Watt, Michael G. (Australia)
Watty, Kim, Faculty of Business and Law, Deakin University (Australia)
Way, Jenni, The University of Sydney (Australia)
Waycott, Jenny
Waycott, Jenny, The University of Melbourne (Australia)
Weaver, Debbi, Swinburne University of Technology (Australia)
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Miami Herald Media Company Wins Regional Emmy Award for Haiti Documentary
Haitian women, attacked by looters, attempt to salvage their belongings from storage after the capital city was devastated by earthquake measuring over 7.0 on the Richter scale in 2010. As a contributor, many of Al Diaz's images are featured in the Emmy award winning documentary directed by Jose Iglesias.
MIAMI HERALD STAFF
Nou Bouke, a documentary that captured the mood of Haiti after the devastating earthquake in 2010, received a regional Emmy award Saturday in the documentary-topical category.
The Emmy is a first for the Miami Herald Media Co.
"With the second anniversary of that catastrophic earthquake approaching, we hope this award will serve to bring attention to the many needs still facing that nation," said Nancy San Martin, the film’s executive producer and The Miami Herald’s interactive editor. “Haiti remains far from recovery.”
The store NaNou on Jean Jacques Dessalines Street burns in downtown Port-Au-Prince. The earthquake killed an estimated 300,000 Haitians and left 1.5 million homeles.
Posted by al diaz at 7:00 AM
Miami Herald Media Company Wins Regional Emmy Awar...
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Alexander Film Works
It Mostly Doesn't Suck…
Movies… why do I love them so?
Posts Tagged ‘bigotry’
bigotry, Charleston, Civil War, Confederate, Dixiecrats, hate, shootings
My Dog In The Fight…
In It Bugs Me, Just Because..., no excuses, Think About It on June 22, 2015 at 7:59 pm
Ever since the tragic, criminal shooting of nine people at the Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston, I have been holding my tongue.
When the shooter was arrested in North Carolina, I kept silent.
When it was said that he’d stated he wanted to fire the first shots in a race war, I kept silent.
When he was shown in photographs waving a Confederate “Battle Flag”, posing at Confederate history sites, burning and stepping on an American flag, and wearing a jacket with flags of pre-apartheid South Africa and Rhodesia, I kept silent.
When a racist and hate-filled “manifesto” was published on the Internet, I kept silent.
Even when a board member of the National Rifle Association blamed the pastor of the church, who had served as a State Senator, for this horror by voting against a measure that would have allowed firearms in churches, day care centers, and other public places in South Carolina, I kept silent.
It wasn’t easy, but I kept silent.
But when the discussion turned to the matter of a Confederate flag flying over a war memorial in the state capitol, and how it was not being lowered to half staff, while the U.S. and State flags were, and how people were defending the “Southern Cross” flag (for so the actual name of that battle flag is, not “stars and bars”) as a symbol of Southern heritage and the valor of Confederate troops during the Civil War, that did it. I had to speak up, and put my two drachmas in.
I have spent some time researching the history and symbology of the flag in question, and the mindset of the people who venerate it as the symbol of the “Lost Cause”.
I will be answering some of the “talking points” they brought up as thoroughly as I can.
And, just in case someone questions my credentials to do so, we have recently found through a combination of DNA and genealogical research that my biological father, whom I never met (since he left before I was born), was a collateral descendant of Robert Edward Lee of Virginia, who commanded the Army of Northern Virginia for the Confederate States of America. While on my mother’s side, I am related to several known Canadian and American patriots, some of whom fought in the First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry, a/k/a “The Rough Riders”, in the Spanish-American War, and who volunteered in the First and Second World Wars. In fact, I lost an uncle in the Korean Conflict, about two weeks before the Treaty of Panmunjom.
So you can’t say I don’t have “a dog in this fight”; I have one on both sides.
First of all, it was NOT “The War of Northern Aggression”; the states that seceded from the Union were refusing to abide by the Constitution of the United States, and were trying to selectively “nullify” (their words) actions of the Congress as a whole that they disagreed with. Prominent among these laws were tariffs which these states saw as a threat to their ability to profit from their system of slave labor.
Here is an interesting side note to the whole business… If Eli Whitney, a Northerner, had not invented the cotton gin, the economics of cotton growing would not have been sustainable, and neither would the slave economy.
The accusations are that the Civil War was not about slavery, but the economy of the South. It was about the economics of maintaining the system of slavery that maintained the aristocracy of plantation owners.
The Confederate battle flag is being held up as a symbol of the Southern Heritage, and the valor of the fighting men who championed the cause of “state’s rights” and “state sovereignity”, and as a symbol of the gentlemanly virtues of the antebellum South.
This flag was and is a symbol, without a doubt… a symbol of slavery, of treason, and of hatred. It was a “quaint” reminder of the losing side before the 1940’s, but also used as an intimidating force to those who tried to exercise the rights they had gained from the War and the Constitutional amendments immediately following. In 1948, the “Dixiecrat” party of disaffected Southern Democrats tried to splinter the Democratic Party in a Presidential election year, unless the nominee, Harry Truman, capitulated to their pro-segregationalist ideas. The Confederate flag, as we know it (the “Battle Flag”) was one of their symbols.
The upsurge of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1940’s also saw the use of the Battle Flag, the burning cross, and the lynching tree as their symbols of maintaining the “power” of white men in the South. Noted Southern politicians such as George C. Wallace of Alabama and J. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina (the “Dixiecrat” candidate in 1948) used the flag for their own purposes, being virulently anti-Federal interventionists, pro-segregationists, and supporters of the doctrines of “nullification”, “secession”, and even out-and-out disobedience to the laws of the land, as written by the Congress and interpreted by the Supreme Court.
And there are still those who reject the realities of the Twenty-First Century, and wish for the comfortable lies of the Nineteenth… those who believe the “Yankees” are out to “get them”, those who believe that the War never ended, and who still want to fight to establish their Utopia.
It’s unfortunate that no amount of reason will make these people see the truth. Their heads are stuck so far up their denial that even calling them Cleopatra is an understatement.
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New interest-only deal can help borrowers worried about losing their homes. Photograph: Alamy
Retirement interest-only mortgages offer lifeline to older borrowers
Demand is growing for a new type of home loan that helps the over-55s facing a shortfall at the end of their existing term
Rupert Jones
Sat 23 Mar 2019 03.30 EDT
A new breed of interest-only mortgage for older people is starting to take off. These deals could throw a lifeline to thousands of people who have an interest-only home loan that’s coming to an end, but don’t know how they are going to pay back what they owe.
Interest-only mortgages became virtually extinct following the credit crunch and were once branded a ticking timebomb. During the past few years some older homeowners with these mortgages have found themselves staring down the barrel of a big shortfall and worried they could lose their homes.
Partly in order to help these people, the Financial Conduct Authority last year gave the green light to a new type of interest-only deal. These products are known as “retirement interest-only” (RIO) mortgages and are a little more pricey than standard home loans.
So what are the rates like? Nottingham building society is offering a three- and seven-year fixed rate for 3.34% and 3.85% respectively, while Leeds building society has a two-year fix at 3.34%, a five-year fix at 3.62% and a 10-year fix at 3.99%. There are also discounted-rate deals at below 3%.
RIO mortgages are best suited to those who have an interest-only deal that is coming to the end of its term, but who have been left high and dry because the investment plan that was supposed to pay off their debt has underperformed – or maybe they never set one up in the first place. In theory, you can simply remortgage from your existing deal on to a RIO mortgage.
These home loans may also appeal to people who want to unlock some equity in their home to finance home improvements or to help their children or grandchildren buy their first home. Equity release has been around for years and can help both these categories of people. However, some homeowners are wary of equity release and are put off by the way the interest on these schemes rolls up.
RIO mortgages are effectively standard home loans with one key difference: the mortgage does not have a set end date
RIO mortgages are effectively standard home loan deals with one key difference: the mortgage does not have a set end date and carries on until “a specified life event” is triggered – ie, the borrower’s death or the date they move into a care home. Until then, they continue to pay the interest each month and the loan is ultimately repaid from the sale of their property.
Financial data provider Moneyfacts this week revealed that following a slow start, there are now 13 providers offering RIO mortgages, with 41 products available. In July 2018, it was just two providers and five products. Almost all the lenders offering them are building societies.
Nick Morrey at mortgage broker John Charcol says demand for the new deals isn’t high at the moment, in part “because the public don’t know they exist and what the benefit is”. The interest rates may also be a little high, he adds.
There is usually a minimum age for these mortgages – typically 55 – and you will need to pass affordability checks to prove you can manage the monthly interest payments. There are also limits on what you can borrow: the maximum loan is typically between 40% and 60% of your property’s value.
Rates on RIO mortgages are higher than standard home loans, says Jonathan Harris of broker firm Anderson Harris.
“They generally start with a ‘3’ and, with more lenders coming into this space, they are likely to become even more competitive.”
Other deals available include a three-year fixed rate at 3.49% from Marsden building society, while Tipton & Coseley building society has a three- and a five-year fix at 3.45% and 3.65% respectively.
Discounted rates include 2.99% from the Nottingham (for two years) and the East Yorkshire-based Beverley building society (for three years).
So what might you end up paying? Say you wanted a £100,000 RIO mortgage and went for the Nottingham’s 3.85% seven-year fix. Your monthly payments would be £321 (there’s a £195 booking fee plus an £800 arrangement fee on this deal). By comparison, if this was a repayment mortgage, you would be paying a lot more – £520 a month.
“Nationwide and Newbury building society are talking about offering RIO mortgages, but the market is still limited for this product,” says Harris. “Demand is growing though, and we have had a lot of enquiries from clients.”
RIO deals are assessed for affordability in the same way as a standard mortgage, with the use of income multiples, and existing commitments are also taken into consideration .
“It needs to be affordable via pensions, but some lenders will also include undrawn Sipps [self-invested personal pensions] and investments as well as the standard employer/state pensions,” says Harris. “If borrowers are still employed or self-employed, this income could be considered as well.”
He reckons that the main drawback with these deals is that as the borrower gets older, they will need to continue to make monthly payments, which they might not be able to do. However, some may be able to consider turning to equity release at that point.
As well as potentially helping those unsure about how they are going to repay their interest-only mortgage debt, RIO home loans may also suit those who want to extend their mortgage term because they aren’t ready to pay it off, particularly if they wish to release capital to give to children or pay for improvements to their property, Harris adds.
For some people in a tricky situation, equity release might be a solution. The most common schemes are mortgage-based products secured against your home and repaid when you die or go into long-term care. These are known as “lifetime mortgages” and allow you to take out a loan on your property in return for a one-off lump sum or regular smaller sums. But some people with maturing interest-only mortgages won’t be eligible for these if their loan-to-value – the size of the mortgage in relation to the property’s value – is too high.
Borrowing & debt
Banks and building societies
View commentsView on theguardian.com
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Liam Payne Says ‘Toxic’ One Direction Fame Turned Him to Alcohol
Tim P. Whitby, Getty Images
Liam Payne revealed the "toxic" One Direction fame drove him to drink alcohol.
In a candid new interview with Men’s Health Australia, the singer opened up the downside of being a celebrity and how his mental health was affected at the height of the band's success. He said that although he enjoyed his time with Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson, he did lose a bit of control.
"When you're doing hundreds and hundreds of [concerts] and it's the same 22 songs at the same time every single day, even if you're not happy, you've got to go out there," he said.
“It’s almost like putting the Disney costume on before you step up on stage and underneath the Disney costume I was pissed quite a lot of the time because there was no other way to get your head around what was going on,” he continued. "We had an absolute blast, but there were certain parts of it where it just got a little bit toxic.”
When asked if he ever felt in control during those times, he responded, “No. Never" before admitting he still struggles with it now. “I really struggle to say no because I don’t like to let people down. It’s in my nature," he said.
The 25-year-old went on to say that he believes it's important for people in the music industry to get help if they need even though it's an issue that's often overlooked. Unfortunately, he acknowledged not everyone is as lucky as he is since he was able to "get out of that scenario and back into a sense of normality."
12 Celebrities Who Are Sober
Source: Liam Payne Says ‘Toxic’ One Direction Fame Turned Him to Alcohol
Filed Under: Liam Payne, One Direction
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People of Québec... Then and Now
Explore the great and small history of Québec from New France to today, accompanied by a guide-interpreter.
People of Québec… Then and Now, de 2019-07-15 15:30:00 à 2019-07-15 16:30:00
The tour presents the history of Québec. Accompanied by a guide-interpreter, the visitor traverses 4 great periods of history that impacted its development:
New France
The British Colonial Regime
The 19th and 20th centuries until 1960
The contemporary period from the Quiet Revolution to the present
This permanent exhibition situates the great founding moments of today's Québec. It is an interpretive synthesis of over four hundred years of history, full of meaning for today's citizens. People of Québec…Then and Now is the story of men and women, who through their aspirations, projects and achievements, created an original society and identity in North America. The exhibition unfolds chronologically and is divided into four "blocks of time", each immersing the visitor into a different era with the help of objects and artifacts, geographical maps and audiovisual documents
The films were directed by filmmaker Benoît Pilon as part of a co-production involving Musée de la civilisation and the National Film Board of Canada.
Planning a group visit?
Information or reservation : mcq.org/groupes or 418 692-1151. Group rates
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AES+F. The Feast of Trimalchio
July 14th - September 17th, 2017 / Es Baluard Museu d'Art Modern i Contemporani de Palma
Every summer Es Baluard invites an international artist to present a thematic project in the Aljub space; thus, after the Swiss artist Thomas Hirschhorn, in 2017, a year when we are focusing on currents and transformations of the phenomenon of tourism, it is the Russian collective AES+F, comprised of Tatiana Arzamasova (1955), Lev Evzovich (1958), Evgeny Svyatsky (1957) and Vladimir Fridkes (1956) who bring one of their most complex works to Mallorca, situated between hyperrealism and the fantastic, the seductive and the critical: The Feast of Trimalchio.
A videographic work in 3D as a spectacular, excessive interpretation of the feast of Trimalchio based on an imaginary island that houses a luxury resort where all possible landscapes are found, like a kind of paying paradise with architecture reminiscent of landmarks of classical painting. The guests that land on it encounter a human ecosystem of assorted cultures and races where guests and hosts, servers and served are immersed in a role play and pursuit of pleasures somewhere between the tragic and the absurd. In The Feast of Trimalchio ideology, history and ethics converge in a utopian setting, considered from a surrealist, extreme perspective based on the combination of pleasure and leisure with hyper-consumerism.
Trimalchio is the name of a character from the Roman work of fiction Satyricon by Petronius, an arrogant former slave who becomes rich and appears in the part entitled “Cena Trimalchionis” (“Banquet of Trimalchio”, often translated as “Dinner with Trimalchio”). Like a Jay Gatsby in his excessive parties, the absence of the same situates the spectator in the choreography between the members of this strange resort anchored in an imprecise time where anything is possible.
This group of artists has been working together since the late ‘eighties and their work is characterised by the use of digital effects and high-technology treatment mixing languages of advertising, popular culture, the most famous myths or classical painting, to pose different questions on contemporary society where violence, war or the drift towards mass consumerism are some of the problems set forth.
For the first time in a museum institution in Spain, Es Baluard presents an individual exhibition dedicated to the Russian collective AES+F. In addition, the exhibition coincides with the collective display “Ciutat de vacances”,a production that is similarly complex and multifaceted based on the subject of tourism.
Es Baluard Museu d'Art Modern i Contemporani de Palma
Plaça de la Porta de Santa Catalina, 10, 07012 Palma, Illes Balears
Tuesday to Saturday, from 10.00 am to 8.00 pm
Sunday, from 10.00 am to 3.00 pm
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Home Articles My Experience 2 dads & a baby: A story of surrogacy
2 dads & a baby: A story of surrogacy
Tracy Maher, editor of BabyYumYum
Like any young couple who love each other, Aaron* and Jesse* wanted to have a child. Being gay, there were obvious physical limitations when it came to having their own baby so they turned to surrogacy. Aaron was willing to answer our questions and share the couple’s experience thus far to help other couples in a similar situation.
Aaron (29) has lived in South Africa his whole life “in a Sandton Bubble”, as he puts it. He was raised Jewish and is an interior architect. He met Jesse (33) when he was 19 and Jesse was 23, and they became close friends at the time. Jesse was also born in SA but grew up living in Brazil and SA. Jesse is also Jewish and works as a strategist.
Interestingly, Jesse’s stepmom lived next door to the house where Aaron grew up. Jesse would always visit their house until he was about nine to see his stepsister. Aaron’s family never really spoke with the neighbours then but they always knew who they were (the permanent residents). When the couple met for the first time for drinks, they didn’t put two and two together until Aaron invited Jesse to meet his family. It turned out that Aaron’s soul mate had been next door the whole time, but it took them 19 years to actually meet!
After five years of friendship, Aaron proposed to Jesse. They tied the knot in 2015 in a small, intimate ceremony at a lovely Muldersdrift (Johannesburg) venue alongside a gently flowing river. After four years of marriage, the couple is happier than ever and look forward to growing old together.
“As with any ‘normal’ marriage we have our arguments (one of us is always wrong and the other is always right) but we love to have a good shouting match, cool off for five minutes and apologise after every fight,” says Aaron.
He adds, “We have two amazing cats which honestly are like children to us; however, Jesse and I needed to take the next step. After we both agreed, we could not delay any further and we are now having a baby with our own DNA.”
BabyYumYum wanted to know:
1. When did you first realise you were gay?
I knew when I was 16, but my family said they’d assumed since I was a kid. Jesse realised around the age of 12 years.
2. Was your family supportive at the time – are they today?
At first, they weren’t sure how to be supportive but realised that there was nothing they could do. They learnt to accept it and have always supported me since. Jesse’s mother wasn’t happy at all but she came to accept it as she didn’t want to lose her son. Today she is proud of him and has accepted me as her son as well.
“Should anyone seriously considering surrogacy wish to talk to us, we have kept detailed records of the legal and financial process and will happily share these and help them the best way we can.”
3. Have you ever had a relationship with a girl or a woman?
Yes, in school before coming out but never anything serious. I came out at school at 17 and, strangely, was met with a lot of respect from all the guys at school. Jesse had relationships with a few girls before he came out at the age of 18, but also never for long periods.
4. What were the biggest struggles you encountered as a young boy coming to terms with his sexual identity?
The biggest struggle is opening up to people around you and being yourself. To be honest, nowadays it’s so ‘normal’ it’s become a lot easier to be gay in public and around people. We both still have the same mentality that not everyone is accepting so we tend to not be affectionate in public.
5. How would you describe each other?
We are very much like every other married couple. Jesse is OCD and likes to keep things clean and organised, whereas I like to be a boy. I miss the wash basket and leave my socks wherever I like. I make a mess and forget to clean up after myself every now and then. We fight about silly things but we get over them and move on. Our most important rule is to never go to bed angry. One of us needs to say sorry to the other (that’s generally me, because Jesse is always right!).
We’re a bit like yin and yang. Jesse likes to stay in the background, whereas I like to be the centre of attention. I always say that Jesse is the brains in our relationship and I’m the brawn. Together we get things done. We enjoy spending every moment together and have never wanted time alone. In fact, it feels really unsettling and lonely without each other. After all the arguments, there’s still no one we would rather be with than each other.
6. Have you experienced any prejudices and how have you dealt with this? How do you communicate as a couple to overcome these kinds of experiences?
We haven’t. We stick to circles we trust and have been friends with for a long time. People who show prejudice towards gays have their own insecurities and we don’t have time for other people’s problems.
1. Was surrogacy your first option when it came to having a child or did you consider fostering or adoption?
We have been asked this question so many times, so we return the question to you and ask if you wouldn’t do everything in your power to have your own child before considering other options. When we looked into it, we thought, yes, the costs are extremely high and the likelihood of finding a surrogate nearby was unlikely but we had to at least try. If this failed, we would have then considered the adoption route and created a secure home for that child.
2. Is it more difficult for same-sex couples to go through the process?
Funnily enough, it’s actually easier. In South Africa, surrogacy is fairly new and every application is met with additional formalities. As we understand it, the court states that any persons wanting to attempt IVF via surrogacy have to first eliminate or be tested for any causes that prevent them from carrying their own child. Only after they’ve done this can they then step into a contract with a surrogate.
With same-sex couples, the reason we can’t fall pregnant is quite obvious and as long as you are financially stable and mentally fit as a couple or person, there should be no reason to stop you. We know a couple that went through eight IVFs and struggled for years until they finally fell pregnant. They’re trying for a second using a surrogate. It’s such a hectic process and it takes a toll on your mental state the whole way.
“With same-sex couples, it is quite obvious that there is one reason we cannot fall pregnant and so as long as you are mentally fit as a couple or person there should be no reason to stop you.”
3. Explain your surrogacy process.
We approached the fertility clinic to have a better understanding of the process and were informed that we needed to find a surrogate. They have a list of willing surrogates but it may take several months to get one. The surrogate we were introduced to was not a friend nor a family member, although this is an option if you have one. She was a complete stranger.
We decided to proceed with a gestational surrogacy, meaning we would obtain an egg from an external source and transfer it into the surrogate’s uterus. An egg donor is chosen from an online portal with hundreds of anonymous donors. We were shown a picture of her as a baby/toddler and given an in-depth document of her family background such as diseases and genetics.
The eggs extracted from the donor were shared 50/50. Jesse and I each supplied a sample of our sperm and the donated eggs were fertilised and kept separated. After five days, only the strongest eggs survive and the fully formed embryos (called blastocysts) are ready for implantation. Two eggs were placed into our surrogate via in vitro, one of mine and one of Jesse’s. The procedure took five minutes. Two weeks later, we had a pregnancy test done at the clinic to find out whether or not the eggs had stuck and if we were pregnant.
Unfortunately, the first transfer did not take but the second time around thankfully did and we were finally pregnant. However, like with all pregnancies, you should wait the full first trimester as it was still no guarantee. From then on, we attended all the antenatal scans to see the progress of our tiny little bean growing inside our surrogate’s womb. It was sad to know that they had put two eggs in and only one took, but we were so happy to know that we were pregnant and having a baby that we quickly got over it. Whose egg took? We have no inclination to find out.
The hardest part of the process from that moment on was knowing that we’d created a life that was growing, but it wasn’t our body and we had no control of that. There’s no way we could force our surrogate to take the correct vitamins. So, we would provide the prenatal vitamins for her at every scan and she assured us she was taking them. You can only trust that your baby is in good hands for the next nine months.
4. Were there any blastocysts left over? If so, what did you do with them?
Yes, we do and they are frozen until such time as we want to try for another baby – which we hope will be soon.
5. What is the law in South Africa when it comes to using a surrogate?
I stand to be corrected, but a surrogate has to have had at least one or two children of her own [she needs to be a mother and her pregnancies need to have been uncomplicated]. This is so that, should she become infertile after your pregnancy, she cannot hold you accountable for her infertility.
We used a surrogacy lawyer who is familiar with the law and very equipped to deal with the court’s questions. Both parties enter into a contract which covers both the commissioning parents, as well as the surrogate mother. The court order states that we only pay a certain amount of money a month to cover the costs of feeding and caring for a woman who is pregnant. This list was compiled by the surrogacy lawyer involved and includes things such as maternity wear, medication and maternity vitamins, meals, etc.
Unfortunately, in reality, she can do what she pleases with this money so, as with the prenatal vitamins, we have to trust that she is adhering to our agreement. It is a big misconception that you pay the surrogate money or a salary for the service that she is doing [commercial surrogacy is illegal in South Africa and is viewed as the modern-day version of human trafficking of women and children]. Surrogacy is supposed to be a volunteered act of kindness.
We placed our surrogate onto medical aid as well as a short-term life cover should anything go wrong during the pregnancy. We pay for any other costs such as medical bills and items that would affect her due to the pregnancy.
The contract states that the baby does not belong to the surrogate and it’s quite clear that she hands over the baby on delivery. She can, however, decide midway through the pregnancy that she wants to abort if she has a change of heart. It makes no difference that this is our process and she signed a contract. At the end of the day, it is her body and she has the right to abort.
No social workers are required as the baby will not be adopted. The baby was conceived by us (the parents) with our own sperm, and eggs that we paid for. We will both be registered as the parents and no parenting plan is required as there is no issue of access to the child.
6. What kind of response did you have from family and friends when you announced your decision to have a baby using a surrogate?
Our parents, family and friends were only too thrilled! Most people were more intrigued by the idea and always wanted to know more. Regardless of the feedback we received, we both have been through a lot to get to where we are today and even if we did receive negative criticism, we would just brush it off as they have not walked our path and should rather not comment.
7. What discussions have you had with each other about how you will raise your child to understand that their family dynamic is not the typical mommy/daddy?
We honestly haven’t thought too much about it yet and will address it as it comes. We have teased each other, making a few funny nicknames for “dad” because how will we know who our child is calling for when he calls for Daddy?
8. How would you describe your parenting philosophy at this stage? Have you defined your parenting roles yet, or will you take it as it comes?
Jesse is more maternal than I am as he has more experience with babies and kids, but we believe that parenting is not only for the person who is more maternal. We both need to support each other throughout the years. When one of us does the night-time feeds, the other should be there to support them if they are too tired, just like any other couple.
9. What kind of support structure do you have?
We are blessed to both have such supportive families and know that should we need any help or just a break, they would be there to jump in.
10. How are you going to manage paternity leave?
Our labour law [Basic Conditions of Employment Act, Section 25] has recently been amended when it comes to parental leave. Jesse will be taking four months commissioning parent leave [in the case of surrogacy] and I’ll be taking 10 days’ paternity leave. My company is also really supportive and are allowing me to stay home thereafter when and if need be.
11. Have you had any major roadblocks along this journey, and what were they? What advice would you give to any couple interested in going this route?
Luckily, we haven’t. However, if we have to give advice to another couple it would be to not give up. Although every step feels like a hurdle, you will get through them. Be prepared and save enough money to cover the whole process and then some in case there are issues along the way with different procedures. You are guaranteed to have an unexpected obstacle somewhere along the way.
12. How long until your baby arrives? Are you willing to share the gender and do you have a name picked out?
We are due mid-July and we are so excited to be having a little boy! We have chosen a name. However, in Jewish tradition, the name is only revealed at the bris (traditional circumcision) when the baby is eight days old. This will be the first time anyone will find out his name.
13. Is there a birth plan and will both of you be present?
Because natural birth is such an intimate bond between mother and baby, it has been agreed via court order that the baby will be birthed via caesarean. Both Jesse and I will be present in the theatre waiting for the doctors to deliver our baby from our surrogate’s womb. We will have a skin-to-skin moment and then our baby will be taken back to the maternity ward with only Jesse and myself. The surrogate is taken immediately to recover in the general surgical ward, where we will allow her to see the baby the following day.
About surrogacy in South Africa
Surrogacy in South Africa is governed by the Children’s Act, Act 38 of 2005. It is illegal for anyone to be paid to profit from being a surrogate; however, the commissioning parents are legally obligated to cover the medical expenses of their surrogate. Visit the Surrogacy Advisory Group at www.surrogacy.co.za for more information.
*Names have been changed to protect the identity of the baby. Aaron and Jesse want to share their story with their child when they feel the time is right.
What gay fathers can teach us about feminism and parenthood
Do you know your sexual rights?
Savings Month: A parent’s guide to budgeting
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Photographs from Inside the New York Times Building
Photographs and text by Kathy Ryan
Introduction by Renzo Piano
*Type of book:
5 3⁄8 × 8 inches 144 pages , ca. 100 black-and-white and color photographs Hardcover 978-1-59711-304-5 October 2014
“From the beginning, the New York Times building was all about the light, and the vibration of light and shadow. In Kathy Ryan’s pictures, I’m happy to find somebody who has captured it!” —Renzo Piano, architect of the New York Times building, from the introduction.
Office Romance is Kathy Ryan’s photographic love song to life at her office. Mostly shot on the sixth floor of the landmark Renzo Piano-designed New York Times building, where she works as director of photography at the New York Times Magazine, Ryan captures moments of luminous beauty in her daily routine. First published on Ryan’s Instagram feed, these photographs offer her rendering of the minute details of her working environment: her colleagues, the glorious building she works in, and the light of New York City. As well as the joy and pleasure in each moment captured, this book refers to the contrasts and ironies that characterize the photo world today; as old media meets new, an editor who commissions work from swashbuckling photographers all over the world finds moments of transcendent beauty within her office. Ryan introduces the photographs with her own account of pictures, and of how she got hooked on Instagram.
Kathy Ryan, the longtime director of photography at the New York Times Magazine, has been a pioneer of combining fine art photography and photojournalism in the pages of that publication. During her time there, the Magazine has been recognized with numerous photography awards, including National Magazine Awards in both 2011 and 2012. In 2012, Ryan received the Royal Photographic Society’s annual award for Outstanding Service to Photography. Under Ryan’s leadership, the Magazine commissions the world’s best photographers, a selection of whose work was published in The New York Times Magazine Photographs (Aperture, 2011), edited by Ryan. She also lectures on photography (she gave the 2012 Karsh Lecture in Photography at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) and serves as a mentor at the School of Visual Arts.
Renzo Piano (introduction), born in Genoa, Italy, is one the world’s leading architects, whose notable works include Centre Pompidou, Paris (1977); Kansai International Airport, Osaka (1994); Parco della Musica, Rome (2002); Art Institute of Chicago (2009); The Shard, London (2012); and the New York Times building, the subject matter of Kathy Ryan’s book, completed in 2007. In 2006, TIME magazine called Piano one of the one hundred most influential people in the world.
Dress by Nicholas Ghesquiere for Balenciaga, from "Hanging Gardens: When the Bloom is on the Line," 2004
Alfred Seiland
42nd Street and Eighth Avenue, from the Times Square portfolio published May 18, 1997
Lars Tunbjörk
The New York Times Magazine Photographs
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Conservation and the Continuity of American Liberalism, 1941-1953
Koppes, Clayton R. (1977) Conservation and the Continuity of American Liberalism, 1941-1953. Social Science Working Paper, 174. California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA. (Unpublished) http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20171024-151615811
PDF (sswp 174 - Dec. 1977) - Submitted Version
Conservation during the liberal era of 19333-1953 was characterized by paradox. Both the Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman administrations ranked conservation among their most important domestic programs. But the Truman administration departed sharply from, and even reversed, the two distinctive elements of the New Deal conservation program--structural awareness and balance between development and preservation. By 1953, the liberal conservation program more nearly resembled the putative conservative Dwight D. Eisenhower administration than that of the New Deal. The paradox of a liberal administration overturning the legacy of its liberal predecessor represents a major problem in the history of conservation. And because of the importance of conservation to the liberal domestic program from 1933 to 1953, this episode also raises questions about the continuity of liberalism from the New Deal through the Fair Deal. An explanation of this paradox, and what it may suggest for an understanding of liberalism, is the subject of this essay. The strategy of this essay is to examine key New Deal conservation programs in the federal agency with the broadest conservation program, the Department of the Interior, and to compare briefly the liberal conservation program at the end of the Truman administration with that of the Eisenhower regime. This essay will also relate the shifts of conservation to some changes in politics and ideology and suggest modifications in prevailing interpretations of liberalism.
Report or Paper (Working Paper)
Revised. Original dated to August 1977. Not for quotation or reproduction without author's permission.
Social Science Working Papers
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AutoQuiz: What is a Level Measurement Method Based On Constant Source of Pressurized Air or Gas?
AutoQuiz is edited by Joel Don, ISA's social media community manager.
This automation industry quiz question comes from the ISA Certified Control Systems Technician (CCST) program. Certified Control System Technicians calibrate, document, troubleshoot, and repair/replace instrumentation for systems that measure and control level, temperature, pressure, flow, and other process variables. Click this link for more information about the CCST program.
The level measurement installation in the post image infers level by measuring:
A) variable capacitance
B) hydrostatic head
C) positive displacement
D) thermal conductivity
E) none of the above
Click Here to Reveal the Answer
This level measurement apparatus operates by using a constant source of pressurized air or gas coming from the right-side supply. This air bubbles through the visual flow indicator and enters the conduit that leads to the vessel − on the left − whose height we wish to measure. In the vessel, the pressure to force the air down and through the pipe such that it bubbles out is equal to the pressure of the height of the liquid in that vessel from the bottom end of the pipe.
Height translates to level.
Answers A and D use electrical terms, and there is no sign of electrical metering in the diagram. Thus, one could eliminate answers A and D outright. Positive displacement C is a tricky one to eliminate in that we have volumes of gas and liquid here. But it is not the correct answer, and there is no sign of displacement measurement in the diagram.
Hydrostatic head is the pressure that a height of liquid creates above a given point.
The correct answer is B.
Joel Don is the community manager for ISA and is an independent content marketing, social media and public relations consultant. Prior to his work in marketing and PR, Joel served as an editor for regional newspapers and national magazines throughout the U.S. He earned a master's degree from the Medill School at Northwestern University with a focus on science, engineering and biomedical marketing communications, and a bachelor of science degree from UC San Diego.
Connect with Joel
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Filed under Sports, Top Stories
Luxenburg Leads by Example
Haleigh McPhillips, Staff Writer|May 11, 2019
Photo by LeKeith Winchester
Junior Miranda Luxenburg has made quite a name for herself on both the soccer and softball fields during her three years playing the two sports.
This year Luxenburg served as co-captain on both teams.
“Miranda leads by example,” soccer coach Jonathan Kostoff said. “She always works hard and pushes her teammates to give their very best no matter what.
Luxenburg first started playing soccer in 5th grade with the Beachwood Recreational League, a division of Shaker Youth Soccer. She fell in love with the sport and went on to play for both the middle and high school teams.
The high school varsity coaches quickly recognized Luxenberg’s hard work, skills and natural talent, and they started her in midfield during her freshman year.
As a wing player—a physically and technically demanding position—her impact on the field was evident.
That year she had numerous assists and goals, leading the Bison to victory in some of the more challenging games. Her footwork against some of the stronger teams helped lead the Bison to many of their successes.
It was during her sophomore year that Luxenburg started to emerge as a leader on and off the field as well.
However, it was this past season, in Luxenburg’s junior year, when the team’s effort truly paid off. The team tripled their wins from the previous season.
In addition to the stellar season record of 15-4, the soccer team won sectionals for the first time in school history and advanced to districts.
As one of the co-captains, Luxenburg’s leadership played a key role in motivating the team.
Miranda is always willing to improvise on the fly and do whatever is asked of her. There is no position Miranda cannot play on the field, which makes her that much more coachable.”
— Soccer Coach Jonathan Kostoff
“Miranda is a very smart and physical soccer player,” Kostoff said. “She’s willing to trade personal statistics to help improve the team by playing defense, a position of need on the soccer team last year.”
“Miranda is always willing to improvise on the fly and do whatever is asked of her,” he added. “There is no position Miranda cannot play on the field, which makes her that much more coachable.”
In addition to soccer, Luxenburg is co-captain of the softball team. She spends most of her time in the spring playing softball, but she also conditions practices and conditions daily in the summer and winter. Soccer camp is an important piece of her summer, and one that has helped her to improve during the off-season.
Balancing school, sports and a social life can be challenging at times, but Luxenburg has learned the importance of doing so.
“I put my happiness and health first,” she said. “If I have to end my studying early to spend time with my family, I will. I care about my grades very much, but when it becomes too much, or I start to feel overwhelmed, I allow myself to take a break and do something I truly enjoy.”
“Sports are an outlet for me to let go of all my feelings and stress and just play the game I love,” she added.
“She brings experience and knowledge of the game that helps players learn quickly and understand what is expected of them,” Kostoff said. “Players look up to Miranda because of her hard work and can-do attitude.
If I have to end my studying early to spend time with my family, I will. I care about my grades very much, but when it becomes too much, or I start to feel overwhelmed, I allow myself to take a break and do something I truly enjoy.”
— Junior Miranda Luxenburg
“She commands the respect and attention of her teammates” he added. “How great of a leader Miranda is pales in comparison to how great of a person and student-athlete she is.”
Kostoff isn’t the only one to recognize Luxenburg’s impact on the game. She has been an all-CVC and all-Cleveland honoree.
In addition, her outstanding academic record has earned her a scholar athlete award in every season she has played. A three-year varsity level winner, she has also received the coaches award for her leadership and unselfish drive.
As Luxenburg’s final soccer season draws closer, she remains optimistic about her senior year on the 2019 Bison soccer team.
She shares advice for other student athletes.
“Make the most of every moment and love the game for what it is,” she said. “You never believe it until it happens, but your sports career may be over before you know it; appreciate high school teams while you’ve got them.“
Tags: Girls' Soccer, Softball
Haleigh McPhillips, Staff Writer
Softball Takes Out Lutheran West
High School Staff Takes Two
Bison Baseball Focused on Fundamentals
Softball Team Trounces Orange
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Meredith to Observe Constitution Day
On Tuesday, September 17, 2013, schools and colleges across the United States will celebrate, “Constitution Day,” the federal observance of the signing of the U.S. Constitution. Meredith College will begin its commemoration activities on September 17 by featuring a military history exhibit from the Neustadt Collection. The exhibit is on display in cases on the main floor and second floor of the Carlyle Campbell Library and will continue throughout the fall 2013 semester.
On Monday September 30, at 10 a.m. in the library Meredith will hold a ceremony which both formally presents the Neustadt Exhibit, a military history exhibit featuring toy and miniature soldiers on loan from an alumna’s family.
This ceremony, which serves as a continuation of the Constitution Day commemoration, will feature President Jo Allen, alumna Ginger Alexander Neustadt, Regent of the Samuel Johnston Chapter of the North Carolina Daughters of the American Revolution, Hannah Thornton, undergraduate researcher who has developed the exhibit pamphlets and labeling, and collector Bill Neustadt. The exhibit features scenes from the American Revolution, which ultimately led to the Constitution. Patriotically themed refreshments will be served.
Please encourage students to attend this event, sponsored by the Dept. of History and Political Science, Religious and Ethical Studies, and Sociology, and by the Library
The Neustadt Collection is a military history exhibit made possible by the generosity of the Neustadt family in cooperation with Dan Fountain and John Kincheloe. Bill Neustadt, husband of alumna Ginger Neustadt, ’05, began collecting miniature soldiers early in life and has combined his hobby with a lifelong passion for history. The pieces on loan in the Carlyle Campbell Library have become part of an exhibit dedicated to many periods of military history but with a particular emphasis on the great colonial conflicts leading towards the American Revolution. Scenes from colonial conflicts between the British and French as well as the British and American colonists are featured in exhibit case displays of Fort Ticonderoga and Redoubt #10 from the Battle of Yorktown. Other cases present examples of military events, uniforms, weaponry and notable figures from many eras of warfare.
The exhibit is on display in cases on the main floor and second floor of the Carlyle Campbell Library and will continue throughout the fall 2013 semester.
-Melyssa Allen, Marketing
Published by Meredith Alumnae
Welcome to Beyond The Back Gate, our Meredith College Alumnae Blog. Our intention is to feature information about events, the lives of our alumnae, a photo gallery, a photo of the week from archives, and much more. We hope that this blog will be a place for alumnae of all decades to reconnect with Meredith and keep up with recent news and information. View all posts by Meredith Alumnae
Carlyle Campbell, Constitution Day, North Carolina Daughters of the American Revolution
Copyright Meredith College Alumnae Office
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Iranian Centrifuge Advances
The recent interim deal with Iran has been variously described as “halting,” “freezing” and even “rolling back” Iran’s nuclear program. These terms, however, are a mischaracterization. Not only does Iran continue to accumulate enriched uranium under the interim deal, but it is actually possible for Iran to progress closer to an undetectable nuclear weapons capability without violating the terms of the agreement. Slowing the acceleration of most, but not all, aspects of Iran’s progress towards nuclear capability would be a more accurate characterization of the deal struck in Geneva.
Iran already has all the technology and materials to produce enough weapons-grade uranium for a nuclear bomb?about 20 kilograms of uranium enriched above 90 percent, known as highly-enriched uranium (HEU). But if Iran had tried to do so before signing this deal, it would have needed about two months to complete the work. Before it could finish, however, inspectors for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), who visit Iran’s nuclear facilities at least every two weeks, if not more often, would have noticed what the Iranians were doing and allowed the United States and its allies to intervene.
The time Iran would need to produce 20 kilograms of HEU?often referred to as its breakout timing?has been steadily dropping as Iran has advanced its nuclear weapons program. In fact, most analysts expected that by mid-2014 Iran would have achieved an undetectable nuclear weapons capability?the ability to breakout in less than a month, faster than it could practically be detected and stopped. (More on why this capability is significant, and tantamount to having a nuclear weapon, here.)
Nuclear progress is measured across multiple variables, each of which contributes to how quickly HEU can be produced. The interim deal effectively halts Iran’s advancement in some areas, by eliminating its stockpile of 20% enriched uranium and preventing it from operating more centrifuges than it is currently using. It also increases the rate of inspections at Iran’s known nuclear facilities, effectively shrinking the window for an undetectable breakout. The result is that, if Iran abides by the terms of the deal it is unlikely to be able to sprint for a nuclear weapon for the next six months without being caught.
But the deal does not close off all the means by which Iran could advance its nuclear program. Most notably, it would allow for Iran to continue tuning the performance of its existing centrifuges, boosting their output. In this way, even under this interim deal, Iran could keep accelerating its program. Thus, on day 181, if the terms of this deal lapse without being replaced by a final agreement, Iran could be in a better position, able to produce enough fissile material for a weapon faster than ever before.
To understand how this might be the case, it is important to understand the three main drivers of breakout timing.
20 Percent Enriched Uranium Stockpile
The closer that Iran’s stockpile is to 90 percent enrichment, the less time it will need to get all the way there. In fact, enriching to 20 percent actually consumes about four-fifths of the time and effort needed to get to 90 percent. Building its stockpile of this material is, therefore, one of the fastest ways Iran could accelerate its nuclear timeline.
For a while, this was the strategy Iran pursued. But in 2012, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a speech before the United Nations General Assembly, drew a red line at Iran’s accumulation of a weapons worth?about 155 kilograms?of 20 percent enriched uranium. Since then, Iran has been careful not to cross that threshold. Though it has continued to enrich to that level, it has converted most of what it has produced into uranium oxide, a material used for reactor fuel, rather than keeping it in the form of uranium hexafluoride, which is used for enrichment. Although uranium oxide can be easily reconverted back into uranium hexafluoride and thus enriched further, the reconversion process introduces another step, and therefore more time, into a breakout.
Thus, Iran’s stockpile has grown slowly. Over the past year, Iran has produced about 110 kilograms of 20 percent enriched uranium, but its stockpile only grew by about 40 kilograms. The remainder was converted into uranium oxide. If Iran had not done that, if it had added those 70 kilograms to its stockpile, it would have reduced its breakout timing by almost three weeks.
Because breakout ability grows together with Iran’s stockpile of 20 percent enriched uranium, the interim deal not only prohibits Iran from producing any more but also requires Iran to get rid of its existing stockpile. Half of the 133 kilograms Iran currently possesses is to be converted into uranium oxide for reactor fuel; the other half will be diluted back to 3.5 percent enrichment level.
This measure very effectively slows Iran’s breakout ability. Because Iran now would have to rebuild its 20 percent enriched stockpile en route to HEU, it would require closer to three months to produces enough fissile material for a weapon. The deal thus immediately adds a month to Iran’s clock.
Number of Enriching Centrifuges
Another factor in how quickly Iran can produce a bomb’s worth of HEU is how many centrifuges it has available to use for this task. The more centrifuges it has enriching uranium, the faster that enrichment will go.
This was the strategy Iran switched to once the Israeli redline limited its stockpile of 20 percent enriched uranium. In the last two years, Iran has installed close to 11,000 new centrifuges at its Natanz and Fordow facilities. Of those, more than half have been installed in the last year.
Few of these new machines, however, were ever actually switched on. The result has been that Iran accumulated a significant latent capability. While Iran would need two months to breakout using just the centrifuges that it is currently operating, that time would be halved if it turned on all of the centrifuges it has installed. Indeed, flipping the switch on its existing centrifuges is perhaps the single quickest way for Iran to speed up its nuclear program.
The interim deal, however, also limits this form of nuclear progress. It specifically prohibits Iran from turning on any of its centrifuges that are not already operating or installing any new centrifuges, while allowing it to continue enriching in those it is already using. The deal also stops short of requiring these additional centrifuges to be dismantled or removed.
During the duration of the deal, then, Iran cannot speed up its program by installing or turning on more centrifuges, without violating the terms of the agreement. But, since it isn’t required to roll back this part of its program in any way, that latent capability will always be available to it, whenever it makes the decision to use it.
Boosting Centrifuge Productivity
The third factor that determines breakout timing is the output of each individual centrifuge. Much like car engines of similar sizes are able to produce different amounts of horsepower depending on how they are tuned, facilities operating the same number of centrifuges can enrich at different rates. The design, build quality, and operation of centrifuges can affect the speed at which they are able to enrich uranium. Iran has sought to accelerate its nuclear program by both building new types of centrifuges and trying to squeeze as much enrichment as possible out of its older models.
In 2013, Iran began installing next-generation centrifuges, referred to as the IR-2m model, at the Natanz enrichment plant. The technical specifications for these machines suggest that they could enrich uranium up to five times as quickly as the IR-1 model that Iran is currently using. By August 2013, Iran had installed 1,004 of these machines, but had yet to begun using them. The interim deal prohibits Iran from turning them on. But it does not prohibit Iran from experimenting with these, or other advanced centrifuges, in its Research and Design facility. Without violating the terms of the agreement, therefore, Iran can master new centrifuge technology and position itself to operationalize its existing IR-2m centrifuges.
But there is also nothing in the deal that would prohibit Iran from improving the performance of its existing IR-1 centrifuges. It is still allowed to operate more than 9,000 (8,840 at Natanz; 696 at Fordow) to produce 3.5 percent enriched uranium. These centrifuges are currently enriching at far below what is generally believed to be their maximum achievable output.
Centrifuge output is measured in Separative Work Units (SWU) per machine per year. Expert estimates of the maximum output of the IR-1 centrifuge, which is based on Pakistani designs, vary. But a review of the literature on the subject, finds that most estimates range between one and two SWU/machine/year, with the most likely range closer to one to one-and-a-half. Currently, however, Iran is able to achieve only .76 SWU/machine/year, or only between 35 and 50 percent of its maximum output.
Even this number, however, is significantly higher than the past performance of Iran’s IR-1 centrifuges. Indeed, Iran has shown in the past that it is capable of improving the performance of its centrifuges and has already operated the IR-1 at higher output levels than it is currently achieving.
At the beginning of 2009, Iran was only able to average roughly 0.5 SWU/machine/year. By 2010, it managed to increase output above 0.9 SWU/machine/year, even crossing the 1 SWU threshold for a brief period. But for the next year and a half, in the wake of the Stuxnet cyber attack, Iran struggled. Its average output fell to 0.6 SWU/machine/year. Since mid-2012, however, it has been able to achieve reliably 0.75 SWU/machine/year.
A footnote in that deal explicitly permits Iran to replace existing centrifuges with new machines of the same model. Such installation of new machines is perhaps the best way to raise enrichment output. By focusing its energies on once again boosting its centrifuge output to 1 SWU/machine/year?as it already has demonstrated it can do?or above, Iran will be able to significantly diminish its breakout timing within the constraints of the interim agreement. This would have the effect of diminishing Iran’s breakout timing by 20 to 45 percent.
It is entirely possible, therefore, that at the end of the 180-day period of this interim deal, Iran will emerge with the ability to breakout faster than it could before the deal took hold.
Iran’s Nuclear Program: Pre- and Post-Interim Deal
The IAEA and the Interim Deal: Funding Challenges
Conditional Sanctions and Repeal Authority: A Mechanism for Legislative-Executive Cooperation on Negotiations with Iran
Accommodation by Any Other Name: Iran’s “Framework for Cooperation” with the IAEA
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What do you Know about our WCW DJ Cuppy?
Florence Ifeoluwa Otedola (born November 11, 1992), professionally known as DJ Cuppy, is a Nigerian disc jockey and producer. She is the daughter of Nigerian businessman Femi Otedola.
*Background information
Birth name: Florence Ifeoluwa Otedola.
Born: November 11, 1992(age 26)
Genres: Afrobeats
*Occupation(s)
record producer
Instruments Mixer
*Years Active: 2013–present
*Labels: Red Velvet Music Group
*Education
ALSO READ: Copping with Wedding Stress (part 2)
DJ Cuppy lived in Ilupeju for six years before moving to Ikeja. She then moved to London for her GCSEs and A-Levels.
Cuppy graduated from King's College London in July 2014, with a degree in Business and Economics.
She earned a Master's Degree in Music Business from New York University in 2015.
*Career
In 2014 Cuppy was the resident DJ at the MTV Africa Music Awards in Durban.
She then played at the Tatler and Christie's Art Ball in London, and at the Financial Times Luxury Summit in Mexico City.
In July 2014, she released House of Cuppy as her first compilation mix in London and Lagos,
before launching it in New York on September 2, 2014.
That same year, Cuppy also launched the London-based music management and content production business, Red Velvet Music Group.
In January 2015, Cuppy was featured on the cover of the Guardian Life magazine. The cover celebrated a new generation of African women.
In March 2015, Cuppy was named the official DJ for the 2015 Oil Barons Charity in Dubai, and became the first African act to perform at the event.
She was featured in the 2015 April/May issue of Forbes Woman Africa.
In August 2015, Cuppy set off on her first DJ tour to 8 cities in Africa, titled “Cuppy Takes Africa”. She visited Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda and South Africa. The “Cuppy Takes Africa” tour included performances, major artist collaborations, and charitable engagements supported by GTB Bank and the Dangote Foundation. Later that year, she interned at Jay-Z's Roc Nation.
In October 2016, the "Cuppy Takes Africa" tour aired on Fox Life Africa as an 8-episode docu series. In 2016, Cuppy was the resident DJ for MTV2's Uncommon Sense with Charlamagne Tha God.
She produced two songs, "Vibe" and "The way I am", which appeared on the "Afrobeats" EP by Young Paris which as released on March 24, 2017
On October 13, 2017, she released "Green Light", her first official single. The song features guest vocals from Nigerian singer and producer Tekno.
On March 30, 2018, she released "Vybe", her second official single. The song features guest vocals from Ghanaian rapper Sarkodie.
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Ieo Evaluation Report IMF Technical Assistance 2005
International Monetary Fund. Independent Evaluation Office
This evaluation examines the technical assistance (TA) provided by the IMF to its member countries. The evaluation is based on desk reviews of a broad sample of countries, analyses of cross-country data on TA, six in-depth country case studies, reviews of past evaluations, and interviews with IMF staff and other stakeholders. The objective of the IMF TA is to contribute to the development of the productive resources of member countries by enhancing the effectiveness of economic policy and financial management.
Chapter1 Introduction
Chapter 2 The 1999 Fund-Wide TA Evaluation
Chapter 3 Trends and Patterns in the Allocation of TA Resources
Chapter 4 Identifying TA Needs and the Allocation of TA Resources
Chapter 5 The Process of TA Delivery
Chapter 6 Measuring the Effectiveness of TA:Tracking Implementation and Factors Influencing Progress and Implementation
Summary of Major Findings and Recommendations
Major Findings 3
Resources devoted to TA (Chapter 3)
How TA priorities are being set (Chapter 4)
The process of TA delivery (Chapter 5)
Monitoring the impact of TA and evaluating factors influencing it (Chapter 6)
Final Observations
This evaluation examines the technical assistance (TA) provided by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to its member countries. The evaluation is based on desk reviews of a broad sample of countries, analyses of cross-country data on TA, six in-depth country case studies (including field visits and interviews with counterparts, authorities, and donors), reviews of past evaluations, and interviews with IMF staff and other stakeholders.1
The objective of IMF TA was defined in the most recent policy statement on the subject: “The objective of the IMF TA is to contribute to the development of the productive resources of member countries by enhancing the effectiveness of economic policy and financial management. The IMF TA works to achieve this objective in two ways. First, much of the IMF’s TA seeks to support the efforts of members to strengthen their capacity—in both human and institutional resources—to formulate and implement sustainable, growth-oriented and poverty-reducing macroeconomic, financial, and structural policies. Second, the IMF assists countries in the design of appropriate macroeconomic and structural policy reforms, taking account of the lessons learned by other countries in addressing similar economic policy concerns.”2
The above objective encompasses a very diverse and broad range of TA activities. It includes not only support for long-term institution building in the countries themselves, but also fact-finding and analytical activities that allow the IMF to advise countries on specific policies or in the design of IMF-supported programs. This very wide definition presents special analytical challenges, both in identifying TA priorities as well as in evaluating the effectiveness of TA.
With this in mind, and in an effort to derive operational lessons to enhance the effectiveness of IMF TA, this evaluation unbundles the TA process into three stages—prioritization, delivery, and monitoring and evaluation of impact—and asks three sets of questions:
Prioritization and resource allocation. How are countries’ TA needs identified? Are they derived from a process able to compare short-and medium-term needs or priorities across sectors and reallocate resources effectively, taking account of evidence on outcomes? What can be done to make the process more strategic so as to increase the relevance of the TA program?
The delivery process. How effective is the delivery of TA? What factors influence the effectiveness of the various modalities of delivery, including the country-specificity of the diagnosis and proposed solutions, as well as domestic ownership of the recommendations?
Monitoring progress and evaluating impact. How is progress being tracked and what factors contribute to the impact of TA? What factors are under the control of the IMF or outside it? What can be learned to improve the IMF’s own monitoring and evaluation activities so that lessons from past TA can be a guide for future allocations and design of TA?
In trying to assess the effectiveness of technical assistance, we distinguish between the impact at different stages of the results chain—the immediate improvements in the technical capabilities of agencies receiving TA; the ability of agencies to then apply and enforce that increased capability; and whenever possible, ultimate outcomes on the ground. Attribution of results to the effects of TA clearly becomes more difficult the further out the results chain we go. While such assessments inevitably rely heavily upon qualitative judgments, we have drawn upon various performance indicators and benchmarks wherever possible. (These issues are discussed in greater detail in Chapter 6.)
The first section of this summary presents the main findings. The second section summarizes the major recommendations.
Major Findings3
The IMF provides annually about 300 person-years of direct TA services, amounting to $80 million and equivalent to about 10 percent of the gross administrative budget of the institution.4About 30 percent of it is financed externally. Taking account of indirect support activities and other allocated fixed costs, total expenditure on TA and related activities amounts to about $190 million, or about 23 percent of the gross administrative budget.5 Whatever definition is used, the volume of IMF TA is quite small relative to efforts by bilateral donors.6
About 70 percent of IMF TA is directed to countries with per capita income below $1,000. TA seems to be well targeted toward the low-income countries. In fact, we found that the less the per capita income of a country the more the TA provided by the IMF (corrected by population and other factors). The volume of IMF TA provided to countries also seems to be positively associated with the country having a program supported by the PRGF or the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), the amount of external financing available, and whether the country is a post-conflict economy.
At present, TA activities seem to be driven, in large part, by the specific needs of IMF-supported programs and by the new Fund-wide initiatives, such as Reports on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSCs), Financial Sector Assessment Programs (FSAPs), and anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) assessments. These initiatives have become more important drivers of TA activities than the country-specific policy directions and priorities that emanate from Article IV consultations or the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) process.
We found a weak link between TA priorities and Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) or with key policy issues identified in Article IV consultations. In most cases, the PRS process has still not been able to clearly identify major capacity-building needs that could then be taken up by TA. This is a major shortcoming because the PRSP was expected to become the vehicle to provide guidance on broad priorities for the IMF in low-income countries.
TA activities do not appear to be guided by a medium-term country-based policy framework that would set TA priorities in the IMF areas of expertise across sectors, program needs, and institutional initiatives, and that would be able to balance TA demands stemming from short-term policy needs with medium-term capacity-building needs. This also reduces the possibility of a demand-driven reallocation of TA resources across areas of expertise within the institution.
That said, individual functional departments have taken a number of important initiatives to be more strategic in setting intra-sector TA priorities and looking at track records in implementation. For example, the preparation of country strategy briefs, departmental assessment missions, and a more country-centered system for evaluating TA requests are facilitating a more coherent process to identify priorities within functional departments. However, they are not a substitute for a medium-term policy framework that can compare a country’s TA needs across departmental lines or institutional initiatives.
Several initiatives were introduced in 2001 in an effort to provide more strategic coherence to setting TA priorities. These included a system of prioritization filters for TA requests and a pilot initiative to incorporate technical assistance consultations (TCs) into Article IV consultations. The latter were discontinued because staff concluded they were not helpful in identifying TA priorities, while they unduly overloaded Article IV consultations. This evaluation believes the TC initiative was appropriate in spirit but flawed in implementation. There were few incentives for staff and the authorities to take the exercise seriously, since there was no clear link to actual allocation decisions. It was probably also excessive to attempt such an exercise every year. In any event, most of the TC exercises became pro forma, with no serious assessments of how well previous TA had worked or attempts to identify priorities for future TA linked to the country’s overall strategy.
The TA filters, as currently formulated, are a poor vehicle to provide a meaningful and strategic basis for TA prioritization within and among countries. Some are too broad, hence they do not provide sufficient selectivity (for example, no theme is excluded from the “key policy initiative” filter); some inadvertently exclude areas where there is currently a significant amount of TA being provided (for example, the “main program areas” filter excludes middle-income countries with IMF-supported programs); while some can even give inappropriate signals if followed too mechanically (such as, “a priori” bias in favor of short-term TA missions independently of country context). Taken together, the system of filters appears to be “over determined.”
What is needed is a prioritization of TA based on a shared vision with the authorities on a medium-term (multiyear) policy framework. This would allow the IMF and the authorities to compare TA priorities across demands emerging from programs, institutional and departmental initiatives, policy directions emanating from Article IV consultations, and (when applicable) the PRS process. It would also put into perspective short-term TA needs (associated with policy advice) with longer-term institutional building, and prevent short-term demands from dominating the TA program.
Deriving TA priorities in the context of a medium-term framework would also help early on the discussion with other TA providers on an appropriate division of labor. This is a critical first step to improve the coordination of TA with other providers—an area where both IMF staff and donors felt improvements were needed.
For this process to be successful, area departments must play a leading role. While initiatives taken by the functional departments permit a better prioritization within a particular sector, only the area departments are in a position to set priorities across department lines and between short-term and medium-term needs. Resident representatives should play a key role in this area given their in-depth country knowledge and links with the authorities.
This evaluation finds that the short-term focus of the current budgeting and TA Resource Allocation Plan (RAP) processes within the IMF hampers medium-term planning for TA. Moreover, without a mechanism to enhance predictability in the provision of IMF TA over the medium term, it will be more difficult for the IMF to coordinate and leverage its TA efforts with those of other TA providers.
Counterparts in member countries have generally been satisfied with the resident experts provided by the IMF, particularly their hands-on role in training and coaching, accessibility, and emphasis on team work. These attributes were highly valued by counterparts.
The evaluation does not support the findings of the 1999 internal IMF evaluation that TA provided by short-term missions is a priori more cost effective than that provided by resident experts. The relative merits of missions versus resident experts depend heavily on country-specific circumstances, particularly the degree of institutional development.
The evaluation finds the involvement of the authorities in the preparation of terms of reference (TOR), particularly for long-term experts, to be generally passive. In fact, these are usually prepared by staff for approval by the authorities, frequently without significant engagement by the relevant local officials. This tends to reduce the ownership of the activity and often masks important differences in expectations about final objectives between the authorities and staff, as well as specific policy commitments that are necessary to assure the success of the TA activity. This is a particular problem when the officials in the agencies directly receiving TA, and in charge of implementation, are not sufficiently involved in the formulation process. The case studies suggest that greater up-front involvement by local officials was generally associated with better results.
Often, TA effectiveness has been undermined by a lack of awareness of institutional, organizational, or managerial features of the recipient country. An unclear distribution of decisionmaking authority and accountability may constrain implementation. More fundamentally, a dysfunctional civil service is a major obstacle to sustaining capacity-building efforts. Progress in civil service reform is, therefore, essential to enhance the effectiveness of TA. While such progress takes time and is generally beyond the IMF’s control, a good understanding of the institutional context and absorptive capacity can be especially important in cases where there is a sudden and sharp increase in TA activity in new environments with which IMF staff is less familiar.
Country officials suggested that more informal and iterative discussions on a broader set of options before the wrap-up meetings at the end of a TA mission would contribute to enhancing ownership of recommendations. A more interactive approach during the drafting of recommendations would help to ensure that constraints on the ground are fully taken into account. Again, this becomes more serious in short-term missions where less time is available for such interaction prior to the final drafting of recommendations.
Inadequate dissemination of TA reports within and across agencies in the country is a major problem in environments where bureaucratic and institutional practices limit the free flow of information. This reduces the externalities of the TA activity—which is an especially serious shortcoming in environments with a significant rotation of personnel and hence weak institutional memory. The problem of dissemination is compounded by the fact that many TA reports are classified as confidential by the authorities.
This evaluation found many instances of weak coordination between the IMF and donors working in similar areas. Coordination failures occurred even under the umbrella of the Technical Cooperation Action Plans (TCAPs). Communication with the World Bank is much better than with other donors, but coordination can still be hampered by differences in objectives, and organizational approach, which can result in various principle-agent problems in the absence of an overall coordinating framework. While coordination with donors should ultimately be the authorities’ responsibility, this is often not the case owing to weak institutional capacity and the fact that the PRSP is not yet sufficiently operational to play such a role in most low-income countries. As a result, the burden of coordinating donors’ efforts often falls to a major single donor or multilateral institution. When the overall involvement of donors is strong in a particular country, and the IMF provides a relatively small fraction of TA, it is not always possible or even appropriate for the IMF to provide leadership in coordinating overall TA efforts. However, it should still seek to coordinate better with donors working in similar areas and, in low-income countries, should help governments make the PRS an effective coordinating vehicle on which it can align its own efforts.
The case studies show that, as far as institution building is concerned, progress has generally been achieved in enhancing the technical capabilities of the agencies that the IMF typically supports. Significant variability was found, however, on whether agencies have been able to make full use of those increased capabilities in order to have an impact on the ground or on the ultimate objectives of TA. It is critical that the IMF should understand fully what prevents agencies from doing so.
Part of the problem is that the present IMF documentation and reporting does not clearly unbundle and track the different stages of TA progress toward its final objectives. Specifically, this documentation is weak in:
— defining at the outset what are the indicators (benchmarks) that will be monitored to judge whether or not progress is occurring, and how explicitly these indicators have been discussed with the authorities, for example, are these mutually agreed indicators;
— differentiating between the outcomes of pointed policy advice type of TA (for example, how to restructure or close a specific state bank) and outcomes linked to longer-term capacity building in the same area (such as the ability of agencies to supervise the banking sector and improve their asset position); and
— unbundling between short- and medium-term indicators that capture different stages of the results chain, for example (1) indicators that track the improved technical abilities of agencies receiving TA; (2) indicators that show whether these agencies are actually enforcing that increased know-how, for example, whether they are performing their final responsibilities; and (3) indicators that track the economic outcomes of that enforcement.
The absence of a clear unbundling of these stages and the factors influencing the lack of progress limit the ability to use past track record in implementing TA in making decisions about future TA. This is critical because there may be good reasons why TA recommendations have not been implemented. An understanding of these constraints and what can or should be done to overcome them is crucial to setting future priorities.
Frequently, political interference or lack of support by the authorities prevents agencies from using effectively the new knowledge transmitted by TA. Indeed, the case studies suggest that such resistance by vested interests may mount as these agencies increase their know-how and improve their potential to act. The evaluation found that in these cases the reporting from the field on constraints to progress has often not been candid enough, so that the ways to address such obstacles were generally not discussed frankly with the authorities.
An understanding of such obstacles and what the authorities can do about them in the future is critical when discussing future TA activities. Up-front commitments to facilitate the effective use of the new knowledge by agencies provide a critical signal of the authorities’ commitment and ownership.
Tensions among government agencies, a high rotation of officials, and a weak judicial framework are major constraints to the effectiveness of TA. The weak judicial system often limits the ability of agencies to enforce the new knowledge created by TA activities. This constraint is particularly serious in the areas of banking supervision, tax administration, and customs.
Establishing cash charges for the provision of IMF TA has been suggested as a rationing device that would simultaneously identify high-priority TA needs, reduce any presumed excess demand for TA, and help the IMF finance the cost of TA. The evidence collected does not allow us to reach definite conclusions on these issues—because we do not have a sufficient basis to compare the present situation with an alternative counterfactual.
However, we are skeptical that cash charges would be a sufficient screening device to help signal ownership and commitment and identify high-priority TA needs. Furthermore, a cash charge policy needs to take into account that two-thirds of IMF-financed TA is directed to countries below $1,000 per capita income. Thus, significant cost recovery will involve charging countries in this income range.
This evaluation believes that stronger involvement by the authorities in designing TA activities and early commitments to better empower the agencies receiving TA (to implement their new knowledge) are alternative screening vehicles to signal ownership and commitment, with the greatest potential for enhancing the probability of success of the TA activity.
We make six broad recommendations designed to improve priority setting, delivery, tracking, and evaluation. They assume—in line with the current policy statement on TA—that “capacity building” in the IMF’s primary areas of responsibility continues to be a major objective of the IMF’s technical cooperation activities. This requires more effective mechanisms than exist at present for meshing the IMF’s overall strategic objectives with a system for allocating TA resources within a country-driven framework.
1. The IMF should develop a medium-term country policy framework for setting TA priorities, incorporating country-specific strategic directions and linked to more systematic assessments of factors underlying past performance.
A number of managerial approaches to establishing such a framework are possible, but the following suggestions could be considered:
In low-income member countries, the PRS process provides the natural vehicle to identify TA capacity-building priorities in the core areas of expertise of the IMF, although it has typically not yet been used effectively for this purpose. The PRSP should form the basis for a dialogue between the IMF and the authorities on TA priorities for the medium term, with a clear indication of what is expected from each side in order to improve accountability. It should provide the vehicle for collaboration and division of labor with other donors and hence help the overall coordination of TA. The IMF needs to engage countries to help them articulate their medium-term capacity-building needs in its areas of responsibility, in accordance with the PRSP.
For other member countries, the institutional framework for deriving medium-term strategic priorities is less clear-cut, and a variety of approaches may work best, depending on country circumstances and the intensity of the members’ demand for IMF TA. In cases where there is a relatively high provision of IMF TA, the framework may require periodic in-depth TA consultations with the authorities (possibly every three years) comprising a retrospective analysis of past progress and a forward-looking exercise to identify priorities. To avoid the lack of incentives of the past TC initiative, the resulting TA priorities need to feed more directly into the IMF’s own mechanisms for committing its TA resources. For other countries, a less comprehensive approach, possibly built around Article IV consultations, may suffice.
Resident representatives could play a greater role in developing these frameworks and this role should be explicitly acknowledged in the TOR for these positions.
The RAP process should continue as the main annual interaction between the area and functional departments for determining TA activities. In addition to incorporating TA activities stemming from the medium-term framework, it will also incorporate new TA activities that may emerge from the needs of programs or from unexpected new demands from the authorities. This will prevent TA activities from being preempted by short-term needs while at the same time recognizing the need of flexibility to accommodate these types of demands.
As the IMF moves into a multiyear budget framework, the RAP could also evolve toward a multiyear RAP helping reallocate TA resources within the institution over a longer horizon. For this process to work, each area department would need to spell out their proposed TA country priorities (based on each country policy framework and with the authorities, as discussed earlier), including ranking of priorities across countries in the departments, the list being more notional for the outer years. This approach would allow a comparison between demands from the area departments in the outer years and the existing supply and composition of skills in the functional departments; it would help identify pressure points in the future that would call for a gradual reallocation of resources within and across functional departments. This multi-year budget process and the associated multi-year RAP would make the allocation of TA resources more responsive to demand as time passes.
This strengthened role of area departments in preparing a multiyear plan of TA priorities (including prioritization across countries) will require both incentives and resources. Senior management in the area departments should ensure that staff considers TA as an integral part of the assistance strategy to countries, with due recognition in staff performance assessments.
2. The IMF should develop more systematic approaches to track progress on major TA activities and to identify reasons behind major shortfalls.
At the outset of major TA activities, the IMF staff and the authorities should agree on how progress and success of the TA activity will be measured. Suitable indicators or markers of progress over time should be identified. This will avoid the emergence of divergent expectations and provide incentives for more timely reassessments if progress is seriously off track.
To assist in this process, the IMF staff should unbundle much more clearly the different stages (of the results chain) through which TA may have a final impact, and then explicitly monitor these stages (examples of this approach are provided in Chapter 6). Specifically, it should differentiate between:
— progress in improving the technical capacities of agencies receiving TA;
— whether agencies are making effective use of that increased technical capacity, as well as reasons on why this is not happening; and
— the impact on the ground in terms of relevant economic outcomes.
Resident experts and headquarters staff in charge of backstopping activities should be candid in reporting obstacles to progress, including political interference or lack of support from the authorities that prevent agencies from making effective use of their improved technical capacity.
A clearer articulation of benchmarks for measuring progress and the factors behind shortfalls is critical if past track records in implementing TA are to be a useful guide for future TA allocations. To have reallocations of TA across countries based on track records, these monitoring practices will have to be comparable and transparent across countries. The new Technical Assistance Information and Management System (TAIMS) could be the vehicle through which enhanced monitoring practices become unified and more transparent across the institution.
3. Greater involvement by the authorities and counterparts in the design of TA activities and arrangements for follow-up should be emphasized as a signal of ownership and commitment.
We recommend that IMF staff request the authorities and specialized counterparts to fully participate in the preparation of the TORs and devote sufficient time to help design the activity. Willingness to do so should be one of the factors taken into account in decisions on TA resource allocation.
For more complex multiyear TA activities, a letter of agreement between the authorities and the IMF could specify commitment and resources including (1) mutually agreed milestones of progress; (2) resource commitments by both the IMF and the authorities—the authorities’ commitment is important to assure sustainability beyond the life of the IMF TA activity; and (3) the critical policy steps that are required from the authorities to ensure necessary institutional changes, such as decrees or the preparation of legislation that complement the TA activity. Early on, staff should help authorities identify the critical legislation or judicial reforms necessary for agencies receiving TA to make the most effective use of it.
4. Stronger efforts should be made by TA experts to identify options and discuss alternatives with local officials prior to drafting TA recommendations.
The receptivity of TA recommendations seems to be enhanced greatly when IMF experts engage counterparts early on in the design of the activity, explain its motivation, and try to assess the institutional subtleties of the specific environment. A major feedback received in the field concerned the need to allow enough time for informal discussions prior to issuing recommendations and the wider consideration of options. TA missions should allow enough time to incorporate these factors even if the result is somewhat longer missions and correspondingly fewer TA activities.
5. The program of ex post evaluations of TA should be widened and more systematic procedures for disseminating lessons put in place.
Recent initiatives have already moved in the direction of more systematic monitoring and assessment, and should be continued and strengthened.
The Office of Technical Assistance Management (OTM), in collaboration with other departments, should continue to prepare and update a program of ex post evaluations of TA, including broad TA topics, subregions, or countries that have been heavy users of TA.
While the TA-providing departments themselves should undertake self-assessments, there would be merit in continuing to undertake selected ex post evaluations by units not directly involved in providing TA, in order to enhance accountability and give a fresh perspective.
The findings of these evaluations should be made more widely available within the IMF to maximize their potential benefits and avoid the loss of institutional memory. A stock-taking exercise of past and ongoing evaluations throughout the IMF should take place periodically and be made available to management and the Executive Board.
OTM should also prepare regular reviews assessing shifts in the demand for TA across subject areas that may entail the need to reallocate resources across the functional departments that provide TA.
6. The prioritization filters should be discontinued or replaced by ones that would more effectively guide TA allocation. Either course of action involves strategic decisions on trade-offs that need to be taken explicitly.
An effective priority-setting process needs two key components: (1) strategic direction by the Executive Board and management on those areas where the IMF will seek to maintain or develop “core competencies” in its TA activities; and (2) an internal resource allocation system that allocates effectively between competing demands, guided by these overall strategic objectives.
Different approaches to balancing these two components are possible—essentially involving a decision on how decentralized the process should be. Whatever the choice made on this balance, within the IMF’s core competencies, priority setting should be derived from each country’s own strategy with a heavy involvement of area departments (Recommendation 1), according to modalities that select activities with stronger ownership and country commitment (Recommendations 3 and 4), and greater selectivity linked to a more systematic assessment of where TA is being used effectively (Recommendations 2 and 5). Typical dilemmas, such as the balance between short-term/policy advice TA and institution building, between “upstream” and “downstream” approaches to TA, and between TA associated with the IMF global initiatives and country-driven needs, would be resolved on a country-by-country basis.
The advantage of a more decentralized approach is that TA can be closely aligned with specific country needs and circumstances—which is important given the large variation in country circumstances within the IMF membership. However, given that the TA resources of the IMF are small relative to global efforts, such approach has the risk of spreading the expertise of the IMF too thinly—even within the areas of mandate of the institution. Institution-building activities with long-term experts and strong external financing may lock resources and direct technical staff to backstopping activities—reducing the ability to respond to crisis. If Board and management give significant weight to these dangers, more specific guidelines may need to be issued circumscribing the coverage of the IMF TA program. For example, the IMF may like to think about how much it should get involved in institution building, in downstream approaches to TA, and how much importance should be given to the new institutional initiatives as prime drivers of TA. Providing guidance in these directions may help build a critical mass of expertise, but it may do so at the expense of adaptability to country circumstances. These are the key trade-offs that should be decided as part of the overall TA strategy.
Many of the previous recommendations will entail more staff-intensive approaches to providing TA—from prioritization, to delivery, to monitoring and evaluation. Moreover, if the choice made on strategic priorities is that the IMF should continue to be engaged in medium-term capacity-building efforts, this will call for an even closer collaboration with donors, including in the context of the PRS framework for low-income countries.
On the assumption that the present resource envelope for TA would not be significantly expanded, the above recommendations would probably result in fewer and more selective TA activities to be provided by the IMF. Doing fewer activities, but improving their relevance and probability of success, would, in our view, be an acceptable trade-off that can be made within the current resource envelope. Moreover, requiring more substantive and active involvement by the authorities in articulating priorities, formulating TA requests, drafting TOR, and providing adequate support throughout (and perhaps beyond) the life of the TA activity will also help self-regulate demand and result in fewer but more clearly owned TA requests.
The case studies comprise Cambodia, Honduras, Niger, Ukraine, Yemen, and Zambia, representing countries with regional and institutional diversity. Individual country reports are available on the IEO’s website at http://www.imf.org/ieo. Except for Ukraine, all these countries are eligible for loans from the IMF’s Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF). About 65 percent of IMF TA is provided to PRGF-eligible countries.
IMF (2001b).
This evaluation does not assess the role of the new regional technical assistance centers (RTACs) because their experience is too recent for an effective evaluation. A review of preliminary experiences is currently being undertaken by the Office of Technical Assistance Management (OTM).
This concept of TA services includes field activities and travel and TA-related activities at headquarters by the IMF departments providing TA. This figure excludes IMF Institute (INS) activities. Including the INS, the total direct costs are about $98 million, or 12 percent of the administrative budget.
This figure includes INS.
As reported by the Development Assistance Committee of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the aggregate level of technical cooperation in areas related to IMF’s technical assistance amounted to about $3.5 billion in 2003. This figure includes assistance to strengthen the administrative apparatus in government planning and to promote good governance, assistance to finance and banking in both formal and informal sectors, and assistance to trade policy and planning. Training is included in these figures.
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Integrating Poor Countries into the World Trading System
Efforts to liberalize world trade are increasingly focusing on strengthening the links between low-income countries' trade policies and their development strategies. However, although greater trade openness promises faster growth for poor countries, it also presents risks to those with small and undiversified economies. This pamphlet explores research by Fund staff into the nature and magnitude of these risks and proposes targeted policy solutions to ease adjustments and encourage developing countries to choose fuller participation in the world trading system.
Trade, growth, and poverty reduction 1
Concerns of developing countries
Smoothing the path to liberalization 8
Why multilateral trade liberalization is important
Since the Uruguay Round ended in 1994, a growing number of economic studies have emphasized that developing countries would benefit more from better access to export markets and from reforming their own trade policies than from increases in aid. Evidence from a variety of sources (cross-country and panel growth regressions, industry- and firm-level research, and case studies) suggests that trade is an engine of growth, and that growth is necessary for poverty reduction.
The trade liberalization that has swept the developing world over the past two decades has been associated with rapid growth in a number of formerly poor countries, especially in Asia. Countries with export-oriented policies have, in general, grown faster than those with inward-oriented policies that block integration and discourage competition. And the increase in per capita incomes in these countries has been accompanied by a dramatic decline in the incidence of poverty.
Economists have long observed that countries and regions that are linked by common institutions, currencies, or policies, and that enjoy relatively free access to each other’s markets, tend to converge to similar levels of income over time. Between 1960 and 1982, for example, the incomes of poorer regions or countries converged to those of richer ones at a rate of about 2 percent a year in the United States and different parts of Europe and among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Indeed, poorer countries and regions have, in general, grown faster than their richer neighbors with which they have close ties.
It is plausible that trade openness—the extent to which nationals and foreigners can trade with each other without artificial constraints (such as tariffs and quotas)—has played a role in the convergence process by facilitating specialization and promoting competition and the transfer of knowledge.
But it has also been observed that countries that trade widely tend to have good institutions and macroeconomic policies, triggering a chicken-and-egg debate about which comes first. Do the good institutions and policies that are associated with trade play a more important role than the latter in stimulating growth? Does trade stimulate growth or vice versa? Last, but not least important, does growth that is driven by trade raise the poor’s living standards or does it increase income inequality, making the poor poorer and the rich richer?
Trade is an important determinant of growth. A number of cross-country and panel regressions that have attempted to disentangle the effects of different factors on growth rates and to establish the direction of causality have found evidence that trade openness is strongly linked to faster economic growth. This holds true whether openness is measured in terms of a country’s trade policies (tariff and nontariff barriers) or as an outcome (the ratio of exports plus imports to GDP). The relationship is even stronger when purchasing-power-parity GDP is substituted for absolute GDP, thereby eliminating the effect of cross-country differences in the prices of nontraded goods.
Neither measure of openness is wholly satisfactory, however. Serious problems arise in the analysis of individual policies that restrict trade. Low average tariffs can mask restrictions targeted at key products. Nontariff barriers are particularly hard to measure. These can take many different forms—for example, discriminatory exchange rate policies that offer exporters a more appreciated exchange rate than importers, the uncertainty that stems from delays in customs clearance, and contingent protection (the threat that a country will restrict certain imports in the event of major import penetration, for instance under antidumping or safeguard provisions). Phytosanitary, sanitary, and technical standards may also serve protectionist purposes. The impact of such measures is extremely difficult to quantify.
Unfortunately, the second measure of openness—exports plus imports as a share of GDP—is equally imperfect. It reflects not only openness to trade but also the level of a country’s economic development, geographic factors such as distance from trading partners, and resource endowment.
Nonetheless, case studies support the argument that trade liberalization raises growth rates. Although opening up to trade does not guarantee faster growth, all of the countries that have taken off economically in the past 20 years have included trade opening in their reform packages. Two seminal studies in 1978 analyzed the phases through which liberalizing countries moved as they shifted from import substitution to outward-oriented trade policies (that is, policies without an anti-export bias).2 The studies described how the distortions caused by various protectionist measures worked their way through the economy in mostly unplanned and undesirable ways and showed how exports and growth responded to substantial trade liberalization and appropriate macroeconomic policies. A large World Bank study that analyzed the design, implementation, and outcome of 36 trade liberalization episodes in 19 countries between 1946 and 1986 found that strong and sustained liberalization episodes resulted in rapid growth of exports and real GDP. 3
A study carried out in 1999 4 found that, among relatively closed economies, the poorest in 1960 also grew the slowest between 1960 and 1985, but that low initial income was not correlated with slower subsequent growth in open economies. In closed economies, low initial income reduces potential benefits from scale economies, but trade openness, by allowing access to broader markets, overcomes this problem.
More recent microeconomic studies have documented several channels through which openness leads to higher productivity, including the import of machinery and equipment, which is usually accompanied by the transfer of know-how. Other studies have shown that import competition lowers margins and increases turnover and innovation.
Trade is a complement of other reforms. Much of the evidence about the effect of openness on growth is vulnerable to the criticism that the effect of openness has not been isolated from the effects of a good institutional environment or other reforms that were often implemented at the same time. In case studies and before-after comparisons, for example, the effects of trade liberalization are hard to disentangle from the effects of macroeconomic stabilization, internal price liberalization, changes in the foreign exchange system and the exchange rate, liberalization of the capital account, reform of social safety nets, and a host of other measures.
In interpreting the role of trade reform as distinct from other aspects of policy, it is important to distinguish between preconditions, desirable complements, and beneficial reform spillovers. There are few preconditions—reforms in the absence of which trade openness is a poor idea—and there are a variety of reasons why trade openness might promote other reforms. Openness provides powerful channels for feedback on the effect of various policies on productivity and growth. For example, competition with foreign firms can expose inefficient industrial policies. It increases the marginal product of complementary reforms, in that better infrastructure, telephones, roads, and ports enable the export sector to perform better, and it raises the productivity of companies making products for the domestic market as well. In addition, trade liberalization may change the political reform dynamic by creating constituencies for further reform.
Growth reduces poverty. From 1978 to 1998, the proportion of extremely poor people in the world—those living on less than two 1985 dollars a day—fell sharply, from 38 percent to 19 percent. Because of population growth, the drop in the absolute number of poor was smaller but no less dramatic—from 1.4 billion to 1 billion. This decline is believed to be attributable almost entirely to growth, rather than to changes in the distribution of income.
The histories of China and India provide support for this finding. Between 1980 and 1992, per capita income in China grew 3.6 percent a year, while income disparities increased significantly (China’s Gini coefficient increased from 0.32 to 0.38). Nonetheless, the number of people living on less than two dollars a day decreased by some 250 million, as rapid income growth swamped the effect of the increase in inequality. Income inequality would have had to increase more than twice as fast as it did to undo the effects of strong growth. Similarly, the incidence of poverty in India fell dramatically, from 35 percent of the population in 1987/88 to 23 percent in 1999/2000, and it would have fallen to 21 percent in the 1990s had growth been entirely proportional to income; yet, as in China, the decline in absolute poverty was accompanied by an increase in income inequality.
On the question of whether growth fueled by trade benefits the poor more or less than it does other social groups, no clear pattern emerges from the numerous studies of individual liberalization episodes. This is not surprising: liberalization can change relative prices and incentives throughout an economy. A few generalizations can nonetheless be made. Trade liberalization tends to reduce monopoly rents and the value of connections to bureaucratic and political power. In developing countries, it may increase the relative wage of low-skilled workers. Poor consumers benefit from the lower prices that often follow trade liberalization. Liberalization of agricultural trade typically has the strongest effects on the poor—both positive and negative—since most poor people in developing countries are engaged in small-scale agricultural activities. But again, the overall benefits of growth for poverty reduction dominate the distributional impact. It is useful to recall that the same holds true for growth triggered by technical innovation—and that there has been little serious argument in favor of halting technical progress on the grounds that its benefits may initially be distributed unequally.
Despite the evidence that trade liberalization is likely to benefit even the poorest and least developed countries, many of these have concerns that need to be addressed before they can be persuaded to become full participants in multilateral trade negotiations. In addition to their concerns about the dislocation of farmers and workers, they are worried about the impact trade liberalization will have on their balance of payments, fiscal accounts, and terms of trade. Chief among these are a possible decline in export earnings if the erosion of preferences puts them in competition with exports from lower-cost producers; loss of government revenues if they eliminate tariffs on imports; and higher world prices for food imports if agricultural subsidies are eliminated.
Erosion of preferences. 5 A wide range of developing countries currently enjoy trade preferences in the form of very low or zero tariffs on their exports to richer countries. The Generalized System of Preferences provides preferential entry for a wide range of products from 144 countries and territories into OECD markets. In addition, members of the African, Caribbean, and Pacific group of countries receive greater preferential access to EU markets, and exports from the least developed countries (except for sugar, bananas, and rice) are receiving virtually duty- and quota-free access to the EU markets under the Everything-But-Arms Initiative and to several other OECD markets under similar schemes. African countries have preferential access to U.S. markets under the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act. As the OECD countries reduce tariffs on imports from all of their trading partners under the WTO’s most-favored-nation terms, the value of these trade preferences will erode, although this may be partly offset by expanding market size and higher world prices. Fearing the loss of their edge, some of the developing countries whose exports may suffer when they face more competition in key markets are resisting WTO efforts to lower tariffs and quotas generally—a conflict that pits the interests of different groups of developing countries against each other.
The impact of preference erosion outside the OECD is expected to be smaller and more gradual. Although the advantage of regional trade agreements that provide for lower (or zero) trade barriers between members would be eroded as regions reduced their common external tariffs in the context of multilateral trade liberalization, intraregional trade accounts for only a small share of most developing countries’ exports (with the exception of countries in Southeast Asia). Moreover, developing countries receive “special and differential treatment” in the WTO and are likely to negotiate a more gradual reduction in their trade barriers under any multilateral agreement.
Even under fairly conservative assumptions, the magnitude of the potential shock, in a realistic liberalization scenario, is small overall: between 0.5 percent and 1.2 percent of the total exports of 76 middle-income countries studied by Alexandraki and Lankes, depending on the elasticities of export supply. The effect is also likely to be spread over time in accordance with liberalization schedules established in the context of the Doha Round or other trade reforms. This should make it easier for countries to plan for adjustment.
Nonetheless, shocks could be significant for a small group of countries—those with undiversified export sectors, heavy dependence on EU and U.S. markets, and fragile macroeconomic frameworks (for example, some small island economies). However, the potential export loss must be considered in the context of a country’s broader macroeconomic framework, including other sources of current account receipts, such as tourism.
The middle-income developing countries that are the most exposed to preference erosion are exporters of sugar, bananas, and—to a lesser extent—textiles and clothing. Sugar and bananas account for three-fourths of the current preference margins (the difference between the most-favored-nation tariff and the preferential tariff for a product) of countries that have a total margin greater than 5 percent of the value of their exports.
The obvious implication is that the policy discussion—and any support for countries facing adjustment costs—should target these three products and the countries dependent on them. Another implication is that policy reforms in the sugar and banana regimes of the OECD countries, which take place mostly outside multilateral trade negotiations, matter more for preference erosion than does the Doha Round.
Higher prices for food imports. 6 World markets for agricultural commodities are highly distorted by the tariffs and subsidies—including export subsidies—used by many industrial countries to protect their agricultural producers. These policies are most costly to the OECD countries themselves—nearly all empirical studies demonstrate that the bulk of the cost of agricultural support falls on the country that adopts such policies. But by artificially lowering the cost of production, agricultural support can also make food produced in low-income countries uncompetitive with imports. Both the IMF and the World Bank have called on OECD countries to eliminate the trade-distorting support they provide to their agricultural sectors. At the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002, world leaders called for a reduction (and eventual removal) of agricultural support in rich countries, especially on products exported by developing countries. Indeed, a broad-based consensus has emerged that agricultural support policies in OECD countries are detrimental to the interests of developing countries.
There is no question that removal of agricultural subsidies could raise real income in the world and in the developing countries as a group. But it is sometimes overlooked that the subsidies actually benefit some poor developing countries by depressing world prices for certain agricultural products. As a consequence, consumers in developing countries—and the countries as a whole if they are net importers of these commodities—actually benefit from the subsidies and may suffer if they are removed. Countries that are net importers of grain and dairy products (the Middle East and Africa) are likely to be particularly hard hit by liberalization, but the increase for most of the 79 countries studied by Tokarick was small—less than 2 percent of affected imports.
What has been good for consumers has hurt domestic producers, however, who cannot compete with low-priced imports. With poverty concentrated in rural areas, low prices for agricultural products have hurt the poor disproportionately. They have also hurt developing countries that export products whose prices are artificially reduced by production subsidies in industrial countries. These developing countries may experience an increase in net export earnings if subsidies are removed.
Lost tax revenues. 7 Trade tax revenue has become less important over the past 20 years as countries have reduced tariffs, but it continues to be a major source of government finance in many low and middle-income countries, commonly accounting for one-fifth of total tax revenue, and often more. To the extent that trade liberalization cuts tariff revenues, these countries may have to develop other sources of government finance.
IMF research on the revenue effects of trade liberalization in 125 countries from 1975 to 2000 has shed some light on the nature and magnitude of the issue. The trend toward trade liberalization over the past two decades contributed to a loss of trade tax revenue for low-income countries on the order of 2½ percent of GDP, or about one-sixth of their total tax revenue, while the decline in high- and middle-income countries was less marked but still significant. Although domestic taxes generally replaced lost trade tax revenue in high- and middle-income countries, domestic tax yields as a share of GDP did not increase, on average, in low-income countries during the period in question.
These results certainly do not imply that countries were mistaken to introduce trade reforms that cost them tax revenue, but they suggest strongly that too little coordination has occurred between trade liberalization and the strengthening of domestic tax systems, and that the revenue problem deserves more serious attention than it has received.
Nearly half of the low-income countries that have cut their tariff rates and consequently lost tariff revenue over the past twenty years have recovered less than 70 percent of this lost revenue from other sources. Yet some low-income countries—including Malawi, Senegal, and Uganda—have succeeded in recovering their lost trade tax revenues. In all of these cases, a significant part of the revenue recovery came from strengthening domestic consumption taxes—excises and, typically, a VAT (value-added tax). The performance of income tax revenue was also stronger in these three countries than in those low-income countries that failed to recoup their losses. In many cases, revenue recovery was part of a broad reform effort. For example, Senegal’s IMF-supported program in 1999–2000 included a major simplification of the country’s tariff structure, together with the unification of the multiple VAT rates into one single rate.
These success stories demonstrate that the difficulties are not so much technical as political: policymakers need to have a strong commitment to reforming domestic tax systems. Their experience offers useful lessons. Liberalization itself can limit revenue loss and even increase net revenue to the extent that it spurs growth and imports—especially if nontariff barriers, whose elimination raises revenues, are cut. But with deeper tariff reform, revenue recovery also requires a committed and continuous effort, over several years, to broaden tax bases, purge exemptions, simplify rate structures, and improve revenue administration. Strengthening the domestic consumption tax system through excises and, especially, through a simple, broad-based VAT, can have a crucial role to play in this regard, and improving income tax collection can also make an important contribution to revenue recovery.
Although developing countries stand to gain over the longer term from their own trade liberalization and that of other countries, some may initially experience adjustment costs. They may also have difficulty meeting certain obligations, such as the establishment of systems for monitoring and ensuring the protection of patents and other intellectual property rights; restrictive sanitary standards such as the fumigation of exports of fruits and vegetables; certification that products are in compliance with international standardization codes; and the modernization of customs procedures. And opening their markets to cross-border financial services may stress their domestic regulatory and supervisory capacities.
Their wealthier trading partners can help the developing countries meet some of the most onerous obligations or can lighten them, while the international financial institutions and other donors can provide “aid for trade”—technical assistance with capacity building and institutional reform and financial support to mitigate adjustment costs.
Technical assistance. The August 2004 Doha Round “framework agreement” called on the IMF and other international agencies to provide technical assistance for trade facilitation. The IMF provides assistance on customs administration modernization and tariff reform. The IMF’s technical assistance in customs administration is strategic in nature, aimed at providing the overall framework for reform and continuing oversight, with other donors providing support on specific aspects. Technical assistance in trade policy usually has a wider tax focus than tariffs alone, to help countries strengthen domestic tax collection to compensate for the loss of trade revenues stemming from tariff reduction. Building on work already done in recent years, the IMF is examining the fiscal impact of tariff reductions in poor countries under possible scenarios for the Doha Round, with the aim of assisting countries early and in a proactive manner.
With other international partners, the IMF has been engaged in a joint effort to promote the reform of trade regimes as part of poverty reduction strategies and trade-related technical assistance and capacity building. At the core of this agenda has been the IMF’s involvement in the Integrated Framework (IF), a cooperative effort of six agencies (the IMF, the International Trade Center, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the United Nations Development Program, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization, which is the chair), with the participation of bilateral donors and developing countries. The IF coordinates the preparation of Diagnostic Trade Integration Studies (see box on page 14) in developing countries, often prepared under the leadership of the World Bank with contributions from the IMF and other agencies.
The studies identify policy and assistance priorities (“action matrix”), which are reviewed in national workshops that include government, the private sector, and civil society, with the objective of integrating them into national development and poverty reduction strategies. The action matrices are presented to donors for funding, as appropriate, but the IF also has a small funding capacity of its own for capacity-building projects that require rapid follow-up.
Trade Integration Mechanism. In 2004, the IMF introduced its Trade Integration Mechanism (TIM) to help countries experiencing temporary shortfalls in their export earnings because of trade liberalization by other countries—for example, the erosion of trade preferences or the expiration of quotas in 2005 under the WTO’s Agreement on Textiles and Clothing. The IMF’s members can also receive financial support under the TIM if they suffer balance of payments problems caused by higher bills for food imports as a result of a reduction in agricultural subsidies in industrial countries. While such balance of payments problems are likely to be small for most countries and would eventually be offset by the positive effects of more open trade, they could be significant for some countries in the short run. The first two countries to receive financial assistance under the TIM were Bangladesh and the Dominican Republic in 2004 and 2005, respectively. Trade-related financial support can also be provided through other existing IMF lending facilities.
Trade Facilitation Initiative. Under this initiative, the World Bank has increased both its analytical work and its lending to help countries take advantage of trade integration. New lending will be made available for investment in ports, roads, and other necessary infrastructure, as well as for reform of customs procedures and other trade-related institutions. The World Bank supports countries’ efforts to increase their international competitiveness, such as retraining workers and making payments to help them maintain their incomes while they shift into export-oriented activities. The World Bank is also building a Global Trade Facilitation Partnership for Transportation and Trade.
Expanding aid for trade. In 2005, the Development Committee, an advisory body that represents the member countries of the IMF and the World Bank, endorsed proposals to increase assistance to poor countries in overcoming infrastructural and other supply constraints that could prevent them from benefiting from open trade and in mitigating and managing adjustment costs.
One proposal is to enhance the Integrated Framework, including by providing predictable, multiyear financing of about $200 million–$400 million over an initial five-year period. Another is to examine the adequacy of existing mechanisms for addressing regional and cross-country aid for trade. A third is for the IMF and the World Bank to make a firm commitment to assist countries with adjustment needs by providing analysis, advice, and, when necessary, financial support. The proposal to enhance the Integrated Framework is being examined by a task force of donor countries and least developed countries that will report in April 2006 on suggested organizational and governance reforms. The December 2005 Hong Kong Ministerial Meeting of the WTO established a work program aimed at determining ways in which aid for trade can be “operationalized” and at identifying financing mechanisms that would ensure increased levels of funding.
Typical trade constraints
The Diagnostic Trade Integration Studies (DTIS) have identified a number of the constraints, both domestic and external, that the poorest developing countries face in trying to expand both exports and imports. A country’s exports may be uncompetitive, for example, because of exchange rate overvaluation; the high costs of transportation, electricity, and water; or inadequate roads and port facilities and inefficient customs procedures that slow delivery. Producers may be unable to launch new exports or invest in expanding supply because of limited access to financing or high interest rates. Other domestic constraints that discourage trade expansion include exchange controls, import surcharges and taxes, quotas on certain exports, repatriation requirements, tariff exemptions, tariff dispersion, high tariffs on intermediate goods, and institutional and governance weaknesses, such as corruption in customs administration, delays at ports, nontransparent or inadequate legal and judicial frameworks, and cumbersome customs and tax regulations.
External constraints include high tariffs in OECD markets on agricultural products—empirical evidence suggests that tariffs have larger negative effects than subsidies—from developing countries and the erosion of preferences. The elimination of quotas on textiles and clothing, in particular, is likely to hurt current exporters of such products unable to compete with lower-cost producers like China. Many developing countries also have problems complying with the country-of origin rules and sanitary and phytosanitary standards imposed by industrial countries.
Cambodia’s DTIS, for example, identified deficiencies in customs procedures as one of the factors affecting trade competitiveness, and Cambodia’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper—a document low-income countries must draw up to become eligible for debt relief under the IMF’s and the World Bank’s Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative—incorporates measures to reduce the timing and cost of clearing customs. The Cambodian authorities have committed themselves to simplifying the tariff regime, harmonizing customs and trade facilitation procedures with neighboring countries, and rationalizing administrative responsibilities for border inspections. To make customs officials more accountable, Cambodia is undertaking wage and employment reforms and strengthening its anticorruption legislation and code of ethics. It is also diversifying exports and encouraging the establishment and growth of new export industries by providing microfinance, training programs, and infrastructure investments.
All of the countries studied need to do more work on the analysis of the effect trade development and liberalization are likely to have on poverty. They also need to put safety nets in place. Cambodia, for example, will draw up plans for gradually phasing in the reduction of import tariffs on rice to minimize losses for producers.
Trade is a driving force for economic growth in developed and developing countries alike. The Doha Round of trade negotiations, if successful, can therefore be a powerful tool for development in the poorest countries, affording them the chance to raise incomes and living standards and achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals.
Rich countries must play their part in promoting free trade by eliminating trade restrictions and providing financial and technical assistance to poor countries that may have difficulty becoming fully integrated into the world trade system, whether because of short-term adjustment costs, supply side constraints, or other factors. Middle-income countries must reduce tariffs that affect not only their own citizens but other developing countries. And the poorest countries, even as they receive more aid for trade and win time to implement some WTO rules, must reform their own trade regimes and improve governance and institutions to reap the benefits of multilateral trade liberalization. With the assistance of donors and the international financial institutions, they will need to incorporate trade policy reforms in national strategies for development and poverty reduction.
Responsibility for the success of the Doha Round of trade negotiations does not rest with the rich countries alone. Indeed, the developing countries, given their voice in the WTO, will play the leading role in shaping their own future. Driving the Doha Round to a satisfactory conclusion will require determined political leadership from all countries.
This section is drawn from Andrew Berg and Anne Krueger, 2003, “Trade, Growth, and Poverty: A Selective Survey,” in Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics 2003: The New Reform Agenda, ed. by Boris Pleskovic and Nicholas Stern (New York and Washington: Oxford University Press and World Bank). The working paper version is available on the IMF’s website, www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2003/wp0330.pdf.
Jagdish N. Bhagwati, 1978, Anatomy and Consequences of Exchange Control Regimes, Vol. 11, Foreign Trade Regimes and Economic Development (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Ballinger); and Anne O. Krueger, 1978, Liberalization Attempts and Consequences, Vol. 10, Foreign Trade Regimes and Economic Development (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Ballinger).
Armeane M. Choksi, Demetris Papageorgiou, and Michael Michaely, 1991, Liberalizing Trade, Vol. 7, Lessons of Experience in the Developing World (Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Oxford: Blackwell).
Alberto F. Ades and Edward L. Glaeser, 1999, “Evidence on Growth, Increasing Returns, and the Extent of the Market,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 114 (August), pp. 1025–45.
This section is drawn from Katerina Alexandraki and Hans Peter Lankes, 2004, “The Impact of Preference Erosion on Middle-Income Developing Countries,” IMF Working Paper 04/169, www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2004/wp04169.pdf.
This section is drawn from Stephen Tokarick, 2003, “Measuring the Impact of Distortions in Agricultural Trade in Partial and General Equilibrium,” IMF Working Paper 03/110, www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2003/wp03110.pdf.
This section is based on Thomas Baunsgaard and Michael Keen, 2005, “Tax Revenue and (or?) Trade Liberalization,” IMF Working Paper 05/112, www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2005/wp05112.pdf; and IMF Fiscal Affairs Department, 2005, “Dealing with the Revenue Consequences of Trade Reform,” www.imf.org/external/np/pp/eng/2005/021505.htm.
This section is drawn from, among other things, Aaditya Mattoo and Arvind Subramanian, 2004, “The WTO and the Poorest Countries: The Stark Reality,” IMF Working Paper 04/81, www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2004/wp0481.pdf; IMF Policy Development and Review Department, 2004, “Fund Support for Trade-Related Balance of Payments Adjustments,” www.imf.org/external/np/pdr/tim/2004/eng/022704.htm; and IMF and World Bank staff, 2005, “Doha Development Agenda and Aid for Trade,” www.imf.org/external/np/pp/eng/2005/091905.htm.
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Tag: murder-mystery
Vintage Cable Box: Tag: The Assassination Game, 1982
“I want to win the game, you silly!”
Tag: The Assassination Game, 1982 (Robert Carradine), Ginis Films
Xander Berkeley knows he’s being watched. He runs down the corridor, being chased by a man in a hat, wearing a trench-coat. Xander pulls out his piece. The man with the hat stalks, with his own gun in hand. He ducks and hides under a grate, and just when he thinks he’s free and clear, the stranger corners him. He aims his pistol and fires. Xander gets a dart to the head for his troubles. This isn’t real. This is “The Assassination Game” (or TAG for short), an admittedly fun-looking role playing game of intrigue wherein the participants (a gaggle of mature-looking college students) receive files (called “victim profiles) on their prospective targets: fellow students they must “assassinate” in order to advance and win the game.
After an obvious (and brilliant) James Bond-esque opening credit sequence, Linda Hamilton (looking hot) accidentally stumbles into student journalist Robert Carradine’s room during a particularly tense mission. He aids and facilitates her escape, causing two opponents to eliminate themselves. Carradine, intrigued by the game (and Linda, who can blame him?) digs up information. He finds her name in the list of active players. The game is always being played and appears to be causing a commotion on the campus. The participants, humorously, are always on edge for fear they’ll be tagged. Unfortunately one of the participants goes too far when he is tagged (in accidental fashion) and goes around the bend completely. You can tell from his rather intense, deep and dark demeanor.
The film takes on a dark tone with a murderer roaming the campus, searching for his next victims, all while playing the game, only instead of darts, he uses bullets! Under the guise of writing an article about the game, Carradine wrangles his way into spending time with Linda, watching her as she plays. Their courtship is cute. Meanwhile Gersh (the aforementioned psycho played by Bruce Abbott) stares through windows, looking intense and crazy. It’s hard not to see his breakdown occurring right in front of our eyes. A five-time champion of TAG, he has no problem confusing reality with fantasy. As life goes on with the game and on the campus, Gersh sizes up his next target, and reports of missing students are circulating. Unusual that we go from a kind of comedy and misadventure, to a kind of horror movie, with the killer and his victims all lined up, with an accompanying musical score.
Director Nick Castle (working from his own script) shoots the movie very much like a murder mystery, but with unusual (for this genre) touches of wit and interesting characters. Castle is best remembered (apart from his distinguished film-making career) as “The Shape”, or Michael Meyers from John Carpenter’s first Halloween movie, as well as co-writer of Carpenter’s Escape from New York. While the tone of the movie shifts uncomfortably from comedy to romance to horror and then back to romance, there are shades of the kind of dark, sleek exploitation film-making that Carpenter was famous for, and Castle pays appropriate homage to that kind of storytelling, particularly film noir and Hitchcock (though I doubt Hitchcock would play so fast and loose with the dark comedy, such as when Carradine unwittingly gives the killer information about his next target). In the end, it all comes down to Hamilton and Abbott.
I love this idea. Psychologically, the killer believes he is still playing a harmless game, and until Hamilton and Carradine finally figure it out, they were led to believe Gersh was harmless, which makes for some incredibly suspenseful scenes. Castle is adept, working makeup and lighting effects on Abbott’s twisted features (notably his vulnerable-seeming eyes). The movie reminds me very much of another under-appreciated film I covered: Somebody Killed Her Husband, in which normal people are caught up in something bigger and more dangerous than they initially realized. The influence of Hitchcock comes full circle. I’m reminded of the latest fad out there: something called Pokemon Go, in which users, guided by their cell phones, track and collect prizes, capture Pokemon, or whatever, and generally make life difficult for anyone not interested in the game, but it is intriguing in the amount of enthusiasm role-playing games like this can generate.
Posted in BlogTagged 1982 Bruce Abbott campus college dart-guns darts Halloween horror John Carpenter Linda Hamilton murder murder-mystery Nick Castle Pokemon Go Robert Carradine role-playing games TAG Tag: The Assassination Game Xander BerkeleyLeave a comment
Vintage Cable Box: “Somebody Killed Her Husband, 1978”
Posted on April 11, 2016 February 6, 2018 by lawlerd
“When I was a kid, my father had one word of advice he gave me, I’ll never forget it. You know what he said? ‘Jerome, if ever you are in seriously desperate trouble, remember … that … God, in his infinite wisdom has ordained that I’ll be playing pinochle and you’ll handle the whole thing yourself’!”
Somebody Killed Her Husband, 1978 (Jeff Bridges), Columbia Pictures
There’s a special place in the bottomless bin of lost cinema for a movie like Somebody Killed Her Husband, Reginald Rose’s Edgar®-nominated screenplay directed by Lamont Johnson and starring two bonafide stars of their time, a heavily-bearded Jeff Bridges and Farrah Fawcett-Majors. They meet-cute in the toy department at Macy’s, where Bridges works. He’s a frustrated writer concocting a bizarre children’s story about a caterpillar that saves the world. Like me, he tends to talk to himself, spouting ideas in public, and not caring whether people think he’s crazy. He falls in love (so to speak) at first sight with Farrah, chats her up and has lunch with her and her child in the park.
Bridges and Fawcett-Majors are trapped in relationships with boring, selfish nitwits so it’s only natural they start to enjoy each other’s company. They fall in love almost immediately, and I wish I could say this was strictly and exclusively a film’s narrative device in order to advance the plot, but I’ve had those feelings, and witnessed them in others. Here, it seems completely normal, and ignites some memories for me. Seriously, there’s nothing like falling in love. It’s almost like a glorious drug.
One night during their tryst, Farrah’s husband arrives home early with an unseen guest. As Bridges and Fawcett-Majors prepare to deliver the news of their love to her husband, they see that he has been stabbed to death in her kitchen. This is a well-executed scene, which effortlessly glides from romantic comedy to sheer terror. While Farrah wants to call the police, Bridges (being a typical New York City paranoid personality) believes they’ll be framed for his murder, so he resolves to solve the crime himself. They stuff the body in the refrigerator and get to work. With his fully-functioning writer’s mind, he tries to break down the events leading up to the murder, or any possible suspects.
Complicating matters are Farrah’s housekeeper (Mary McCarty) and her husband’s new secretary (John Glover), as well as nosy neighbors and acquaintances. While Farrah searches for her dead husband’s personal papers, Bridges must play babysitter to her son. He bounces ideas off the child as to who would possibly kill the man. Suspiciously, a plainclothes detective shows up to check the apartment because of a broken window. This has never happened in my experience living in the big city. Bridges discovers the apartment is being bugged, and this is where matters get tense. The people secretly recording Farrah are her bizarre neighbors (John Wood and Tammy Grimes).
Bridges connects the dots and figures the neighbors had the fake cop bug the apartment. While attempting a switcheroo and bugging the neighbors with their own recording equipment, he finds that they’ve been killed! They find jewelry and listings for insurance payments based on a scam to “steal” jewelry and divide the proceeds from the cash value while keeping the jewelry. Yes, it all sounds convoluted, but it is a movie, after all. It shouldn’t work at all, but it does for me, and Bridges and Fawcett-Majors make for an engaging, amiable pair. The movie has a refreshingly old-fashioned feel to it, as though it could’ve been made in the 50s or 60s.
Based on some of the reviews I read, critics were not particularly kind to Somebody Killed Her Husband, mostly because of Fawcett-Majors, as she recently departed the popular television series Charlie’s Angels to start a movie career. Others cited parallels to Charade, and in fact, the movie was re-titled Charade ’79 for release in Japan. As in the case of Get Crazy, the movie was pre-sold with an inflated budget by it’s investors expecting it to flop so they could earn a quick profit. I’ve always enjoyed this movie. There is a wonderful conversation between Bridges and the killer at the film’s climax which is well worth the experience. Bridges outlines the killer’s plan and the killer is impressed with Bridges’ acumen. That this movie remains in the bottomless bin of lost cinema is tragic, although I could’ve done without the Neil Sedaka song!
Posted in BlogTagged 1978 Charade Charlie's Angels Farrah Fawcett-Majors Get Crazy Jeff Bridges John Glover John Wood Lamont Johnson murder-mystery mystery Neil Sedaka New York City Reginald Rose romance romantic comedy Somebody Killed Her Husband Vintage Cable Box2 Comments
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Tag: The Three Amigos
Monkees vs. Macheen: “It’s a Nice Place to Visit”
Posted on March 25, 2017 May 1, 2018 by lawlerd
“Just a Loudmouth Yankee, I went Down to Mexico”
I’m glad season two started with such a bang. “It’s a Nice Place to Visit” was shot May 30-June 2, 1967, except for the musical number, “What Am I Doing Hanging Around?,” which was shot August 2, 1967 as part of the Rainbow Room musical numbers. James Frawley directed this episode, which aired on September 11, 1967. Treva Silverman wrote it. She’s one of my favorite Monkees writers, and in my recap for “Monkee See, Monkee Die,” I mentioned some of her other credits. “It’s a Nice Place to Visit” spoofs the western film and television genre. Westerns were at their peak in popularity from the 1930s-1960s and shows like Bonanza and Gunsmoke, as well as the less traditional science-fiction fusion, Wild, Wild West, were on the air at this time.
The story begins with the Monkees sitting on the broken-down Monkeemobile. They’re stranded on a very familiar set on the Columbia Ranch that was used in “Monkees in a Ghost Town” and other episodes that I mentioned in that recap. Mike reads a sign that says “Welcome to El Monotono, Mex.,” which translated means “monotonous.” Since this is a musical show, it could also be a pun on “monotone.” Despite the other sign that says, “Yankees, Go Home” the Monkees decide to enter the cantina. Either the town hates Americans, or they’re Mets fans.
Mike wears a new version of his green hat, with six buttons, mimicking the Monkees eight-button shirts. He also has a new deeper voice, which I like. On May 23, 1967 Mike went to the hospital for a tonsillectomy. Besides presumably improving his health, the other result was that when he recovered, as Davy Jones put it, “his vocal presentation changed.” (Thanks to the book The Monkees Day-By-Day by Andrew Sandoval for this info and date.)
A pretty waitress, Angelita, comes to the table and Davy instantly falls for her, despite the mockery and annoyed protests of the others. They exchange names and Davy shares that Angelita means “Little Angel.” She asks what David means and Mike snarks from the table, “David means business, baby.” Funny line and unexpected out of Mike’s mouth. Davy asks her out, but the bartender chases the Monkees away because Angelita is El Diablo’s “girl.”
There’s a bandit at the bar, complete with sombrero, poncho, and bandolier, who warns them that El Diablo says they must leave. When did El Diablo say that? The Imdb lists this character name as Jose (Nate Esformes,) and he is the only one of El Diablo’s men who has dialogue. He throws a knife at the Monkees to make them leave.
Season two launches the new opening sequence with different images of them fooling around. This is the opening I remember from syndication and it makes me feel at home. After the opening, there’s some incidental music that sounds like The Magnificent Seven theme. The show goes all out with the homage in this one.
Lupe, the mechanic, tells the Monkees that their car will need a new motor. Lupe is played by Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez, who performed in many westerns with John Wayne, including Rio Bravo and Wings of the Hawk, as well as western TV shows Laredo and The Texan. Peter Whitney (El Diablo) and Nacho Galindo (bartender) also had many western television and film credits under their belt. The clever casting was a nice touch.
The Monkees don’t have the money to fix their car so they go back and ask the bartender for a job. Despite what happened earlier with Davy and Angelita, he agrees. In the next scene, the Monkees play “What Am I Doing Hangin’ ’Round?” (Michael Martin Murphey, Owen Castleman) in matching blue Monkees shirts. The editors mix in the Rainbow Room performance with the cantina footage from the episode, and though they decorated the background to match the episode, it was clearly shot at a different time. I’ll go into the Rainbow Room in a later recap but here’s some basic info.
The cantina is packed and hopping, and the bartender hands them their payment. The Monkees plan to take the money and leave town. But not so fast: Davy wants to say goodbye to Angelita and kisses her many times. An extra runs into the bar shouting, “El Diablo is coming!” There are more extras than usual, giving it a feature film vibe. El Diablo enters wearing the furry vest that we saw on Boris in “The Spy Who Came in from the Cool” and on Marco in “Son of a Gypsy.” Four gun-carrying bandits accompany El Diablo as he strides into the bar while Angelita and Davy are still making out.
Finding Davy with “his woman,” El Diablo makes him dance by shooting at his feet He wants Davy to beg for his life and the other three Monkees come down and join in. Angelita, on the other hand, boldly describes Davy’s finer points to El Diablo: his beautiful mouth and eyes, his “ tiny, tiny ears.” She’s really playing fast and loose with Davy’s life. El Diablo chooses to kidnap Davy instead of killing him.
I’m going to take a moment to mention how gorgeous this episode is. There’s a cinematic quality including some rare aerial shots, for instance when El Diablo enters. We see a lot more tight close-ups than usual, including cool shots of the ceiling fan shadow on the actor’s faces. Irving Lippman was the cinematographer for this; he shot 56 out of 58 Monkees episodes (the exceptions were “The Pilot” and “Monkees on Tour”). Making this resemble a feature film makes the comedy even tastier. If you haven’t seen this one in a while, go pop in that disc and watch it just to appreciate the cinematography.
Davy has now become the “damsel in distress,” and the episode switches from being about Davy’s love life, to a western pursuit and rescue mission. After Micky fails to get help from the townsfolk, the Monkees fret outside the cantina. Mike points out they have to sneak into the bandit camp so they instantly pop (Pop! Pop! Pop!) into bandito costumes, complete with mustaches. They look fantastic, but Mike has doubts, “Don’t you think we ought to take something else with us, like a club card or some badges?”
The original line is from the western, Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) starring Humphrey Bogart, and goes like this, “Badges? We ain’t got no badges. We don’t need no badges. I don’t have to show you any stinking badges!” Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles uses Micky’s version. Here’s a link to a video montage with variations on this line.
The Monkees get in the car and drive off. We don’t see them park anywhere; they run on foot into the bandit camp, firing their guns and shouting. El Diablo’s gang ignores them and continues to drink and poke the fire. The Monkees think they’ve intimidated them, but the bandits surround them, guns drawn. Jose (aka the bandit with all the dialogue) takes them to El Diablo. If you’ve ever seen the film Three Amigos (1986) I’m convinced that film took inspiration from this episode. Facing El Diablo, Mike fast-talks that his leader, Micky, “the greatest bandit in the world,” wants to join forces with El Diablo.
Funny dialogue as the Monkees create their “bandit” personas on the fly:
El Diablo: “They call me El Diablo. Also known as the bandit without a heart.”
Micky: “They call me El Dolenzio. Also known as the bandit without a soul.”
Mike: “And they call me El Nesmitho. Also known as the bandit without no…without any conscience.”
Peter: “And they call me El Torko. The bandit without a nickname.”
In an episode with many funny scenes to choose from, this is one of the best. The Monkees are bluffing as usual, and they are so spectacular and awkward at the same time. Of course they’ve done this kind of scene many times in the first season. Peter Whitney makes a funny and intimidating straight man and part of the humor for me is the notion that he’d buy the Monkees as bad-asses. The gorgeous close-ups are a nice touch also. As a topper, Mike and Micky try and fail to execute that cool gun twirling trick, but Peter Tork succeeds.
The Monkees must pass a series of tests for strength, skill, and bravery to join the bandit gang. My favorite part of this sequence is Peter’s mock-diabolical attitude and menace as he beats El Diablo at Go Fish, that game of “skill and determination.” After the Monkees miraculously survive the tests, El Diablo hosts a celebration for the new “bandits” at a long outdoor table. The Monkees don’t want to drink but El Diablo insists, so they toss their wine over their shoulders. When they go to make another toast, they crash cups which somehow still have wine in them. Peter sneaks off to locate Davy; Mike making the excuse to El Diablo that Peter got sick from the wine.
Peter finds Davy is tied up and guarded. He tries in many ways to tell the guard about the party over the hill, but to my tremendous amusement, the guard can’t understand until Peter says, “booze.” Peter needs to free Davy but doesn’t know how to untie a square knot. Repeating a gag used in “I Was a Teenage Monster,” Davy pulls out his supposedly tied-up hand to demonstrate a figure eight for Peter. Back at the party, Mike and Micky tell El Diablo that now they “need some air” and El Diablo is amused at the notion that they can’t handle their liquor.
Micky and Mike come rushing up to Davy and Peter. Micky unties Davy in nothing flat, and they dash for the Monkee mobile. There’s an amusing, surreal bit as they attempt to drive away: A parking lot attendant (played by comedian Godfrey Cambridge) appears out of nowhere and charges them 50 cents for parking. They accidentally run over his foot as they leave. In my mind, it’s a predecessor to the Blazing Saddles gag where the heroes stall the bad guys with a random toll bridge. “Anybody got a dime?”
El Diablo orders Jose to go after the Monkees, but Jose runs into a tree. There’s a lot of drinking and drunk humor. Also, most of the action of this episode takes place outside, a key feature of the western genre.
The Monkees are now back in El Monotono, because the car’s out of gas. Mike deals with Lupe while Davy kisses Angelita some more. Suddenly, Jose rides up and hands Micky a note, declaring that El Diablo wants to challenge him to a duel at high noon. It’s Micky he wants to challenge, even though Davy’s the one currently kissing “his woman.” When it’s a Hollywood spoof, Micky’s your man.
Micky and Mike immediately agree they’re going to “split” rather than fight. One of the sources of humor here is the opposition to real westerns where the hero is always impossibly tough and brave. (Clint Eastwood, John Wayne, etc.) The Monkees, while quick and clever, are not usually tough or brave. (Though pulling off con after con takes some nerve.) As it’s almost noon, they all rush for the car, but Angelita pleads with them.
That’s my favorite joke in the entire series. The line is clever, and Micky’s delivery kills me every time I watch it. He’s one of the all-time funniest television actors.
The Monkees are now all in western-style good-guy clothes with Micky in all white. Notice how handsome Micky is photographed here. He’s switched from bandito to brave western hero. The dialogue combines tough talk with fourth-wall breaking humor:
Peter: Are you scared?
Micky: No, I’m not scared; I’ll welcome this duel. The symbol of good against the symbol of evil, and I know I’m gonna be the victor.
Davy: Because the symbol of good always wins?
Micky: No, because the lead in a television series always wins.
The Monkees bring him all his lucky guns and holsters, and one of them is his lucky “Hobaseeba”–another sound-alike to the “No Time” song lyrics like Davy used in “Monkees in the Ring.” Micky collapses from the weight of so many guns and holsters and the others carry him off.
Now for the showdown, another important plot point in your classic western. Micky walks into the square while a “western” trumpet version of “The Monkees” theme plays. (According to IMDB trivia, the church bell rings only 11 times, not 12.) There’s a lot of witty lines, and then they duel. El Diablo fires about a dozen times and every bullet misses. Micky gets cartoony, mocking him, “You missed!” He runs off as El Rompo to “What am I Doing Hangin’ ‘’Round?” commences.
El Rompo is a gunfight between the two groups: the Monkees and El Diablo’s bandits. It’s a standard Monkees romp and the one weak point in the episode, lots of running around that resolves improbably with tying the bad guys up. Notable moments are when the Monkees are shooting on the same side as the bandits and we can see Davy with a copy of The Beatles Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. There are a couple of shots used in the second season opening such as the holster falling around Davy’s legs, and Mike’s hat getting shot off. The shows ends with credits and the lovely, “For Pete’s Sake” (Peter Tork, Joey Richards) replacing The Monkees theme song
Excellent Monkees comedy, heightened by adherence to western conventions such as: natural settings, good guys vs. bad guys, a chase or pursuit, and a final showdown. The cinematography, the casting, and the writing shows the huge effort put into making this half hour spoof resemble a real western. The production values heighten the comedy of the Monkees antics. The sight gags, dialogue, and the performances were all top notch. I realize this story isn’t profound or complex and I do have other favorite episodes, such as “I’ve Got a Little Song Here” which touches my heart and “Monkees à la Mode” which epitomizes the themes of The Monkees to me. However, “It’s a Nice Place to Visit” is my pick for funniest episode. It’s obvious the episode has had an influence on comedies that came after. Unfortunately, this set the bar high for season two, and many of the later episodes didn’t live up to this level of attention to detail and comic energy.
Posted in BlogTagged “What Am I Doing Hangin’ Round” Davy Jones James Frawley Mel Brooks Micky Dolenz Mike Nesmith Nacho Galindo Nate Esformes Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez Peter Tork Peter Whitney Rainbow Room The Beatles The Three Amigos Treva Silverman western genre2 Comments
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Ford unveils upgraded 2013 Taurus
By Tim Spell on April 19, 2011 at 8:58 PM
PHOTOS COURTESY OF FORD
Ford’s 2013 Taurus sedan gets refinements inside and out. Highlighting the upgrades is the option of an EcoBoost 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine that Ford reports will get “at least” 31 mpg on the highway. The top photo is a Taurus SHO and the center photo is a Taurus Limited.
It’s been only three years since Ford introduced the new-generation Taurus for the 2010 model year, but the automaker has found the time ripe for introducing upgraded 2013-model-year versions. The new models, which Ford emphasizes are much more “refined,” were unveiled at the New York International Auto Show.
Consumers are offered choices of two EcoBoost engines, which blend power and fuel efficiency with the assistance of dual turbochargers, as well as a naturally aspirated V-6.
The top fuel-sipper is the EcoBoost 2.0-liter inline four-cylinder. Ford reports it will deliver “at least” 31mpg on the highway, improving fuel economy up to 20 percent on SE, SEL and Limited models. Characteristic of other EcoBoost engines, it delivers the power of an engine with a couple of more cylinders and generates peak torque in a wide band from 1,750 to 4,000 rpm. The 2.0-liter propels the Taurus with 250 lb.-ft. of torque and 237 horsepower.
Its companion is the EcoBoost 3.5-liter V-6, which powers the high-performance Taurus SHO. This brute delivers 365 horsepower and 350 lb.-ft. of torque over a broad 1,500 to 5,250 rpm. The all-wheel-drive Taurus SHO’s estimated highway fuel economy is 25 mpg.
The standard powerplant offering is a naturally aspirated V-6, which Ford anticipates will deliver 290 horsepower. No fuel economy figures are available, but Ford projects it will “deliver unsurpassed fuel efficiency among V-6 segment competitors while still delivering increased performance.”
All Taurus powerplants are mated with six-speed transmissions, tailored to the respective engines, which help upgrade fuel economy and performance. “They allow for lower gearing to be optimized for improved off-the-line acceleration,” Ford reports, “yet enable higher gears to help provide economical cruising by keeping engine rpm levels low.”
An active grille shutter system in SE, SEL and Limited models boosts highway fuel economy by improving aerodynamics. The shutters open to cool the engine and shut when not needed so air can flow over the car.
The Taurus SHO features a new black mesh “Superman” grille, and all Taurus models gain a more-pumped-up look with a new, muscular and -sculpted raised hood. The rear quarters have been raised, allowing for more-prominent LED headlamps, and the Taurus SHO features a new decklid spoiler.
Also enhancing the exterior are wheel openings filled with larger wheels and tires. Standard Taurus wheels are 17 inches (corrected). The Taurus SHO and Limited get standard 19-inchers, and 20-inch wheels are optional.
Interior upgrades are subtle, such as measures to reduce noise, vibration and harshness, and enhance the look and feel of dashboard surfaces.
More information, such as pricing and city fuel economy will be released when the 2013 Taurus gets closer to production.
Tim Spell
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Joe Manna
My Perspective on Business, Social Media & Community
Service is the New Product
Lately, I’ve noticed a trend in how products are marketed to consumers, most notably, service. No longer is it just a product’s features which make it sell; it’s the service that goes along with it. Let’s take a look at a couple examples of this “new” product.
For many years, music was a product that people would have tangible value, such as a Vinyl, Cassette or Compact Disc. Consumers would drop by their local music shop and pick up the latest works from musicians and play it.
The tangible music wasn’t enough. Consumers demanded additional sustainable value along with it. We want to get the most value for our dollar. We’ve learned that we played that $15 CD about four times since we got it, and it has little value to us.
Peer-to-Peer (P2P) software like Napster, KaZaA and eDonkey were the enablers for empowering consumers in their acquisition of music. A lot of people reasoned that if they purchased the music years ago, they should have the right to listen to it on their computer or their hand-held music players. This is what venture capitalists call “Disruptive Technology.” P2P software paved the way for digital delivery of music while nearly killing an entire industry overnight.
Later, Apple debuted their line of iPods with their multimedia service, iTunes. iTunes was the key to monetizing music the way consumers agreed to. When Apple connected a product (a hand-held MP3 player) to a sustainable service (iTunes), they literally saved the music industry while maintaining the consumer empowerment in selecting music.
Conclusion: Record companies leveraged the long-tail of consumer needs, offered affordability, accessibility and usability via iTunes to monetize and track sales of music. Consumers also receive a higher perceived value when selecting music a-la-carte instead of purchasing a CD for one or two hit singles.
Consumers also felt the same way about television shows. At the peak of P2P distribution, record companies aligned with the RIAA and movie studios aligned with the MPAA, who later contracted policing of illegal music/movie distribution to digital bounty-hunters like MediaDefender. The industry unanimously held an aggressive stance as they targeted consumers who acquired copyrighted works and shared it (most of whom, unknowingly) with other people. Behind the shadow of music and movie enforcement, a new digital delivery market emerged: Television.
For those who couldn’t afford TiVo, consumers would simply miss their favorite television programs. A newer technology became immensely popular, BitTorrent; which enabled fast and reliable transfers of high-quality recordings of TV series. Consumers felt compelled to download television programs on their own because there wasn’t a price tag on it, unlike music and movies.
Despite the fact the distribution of such content was still illegal, there are a wide variety of programs available, with many videos being downloaded by more than 100,000 people simultaneously across the globe at any given time. The TV industry didn’t go after pirates nearly as aggressively as the music and movie industry did. I suspect they realized the potential value that the advent of “TV on the Web” could be their own savior with consumers.
To combat illegal downloading, television networks have worked with online video distributors (like Hulu and AOL Video) to deliver syndicated content to consumers. In addition, many networks direct viewers to their own Web sites to watch episodes at the viewer’s convenience. By doing this, networks monetize viewers with interstitials, and are able to count viewers into their Nielsen ratings; which is important, especially during the Sweeps throughout the year.
Conclusion: Television networks provide the service of simulcasting programs onto the Web; which leverages the wide audience of the Web and monetizes them via advertising.
Are CDs and TV dead? No, but traditional products need to be rejuvenated with innovative services that exceed consumers’ expectations. This includes — but isn’t limited to:
Making content accessible to anyone, anywhere.
Minimizing barriers to premium content.
Accept this quote, “Fear the consumer and they will fear you.”
Consumer-driven buzz is the best marketing.
Above all, adapt to your users, no matter what the heck the BRD/PRD states. Be your end-users’ advocate
My inspiration for getting my thoughts out on this entry was when I first listened to MC Lars’ hit single, Download This Song, about a month ago. You can read the lyrics, here. Enjoy the video!
More thoughts on Progressive Snapshot
The future of cars and driving
Is Ubuntu Linux ready for small businesses?
How to not get duped by fake news
Hack your way to a better credit score
What Every Driver Needs to Know about Progressive Snapshot
7 Automotive Performance Mods that Actually Work
Pros and Cons of Using Unroll.me
Copyright © 2019 Joe Manna. Content is licensed under Creative Commons [CC BY-SA 3.0].
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Tag: Public Relations
Elon Musk: Public Relations Wreck or Rockstar?
Companies thrive when effective leaders help guide them on a path to success. Employees look to these leaders for motivation, purpose and direction. Consumers need someone they can trust who has their best interests at heart when making decisions that affect an organization.
Leaders can be found at all levels of a business. At the top, a visible, engaged and connected CEO is important for establishing a long-term vision, fostering a shared mission and steadying the ship during a crisis. It’s necessary to have a leader who embodies all of these qualities. Lead executives should understand how important their role is in maintaining an authentic and open relationship with the public while being the leading voice and face of an organization.
Someone with a wealth of experience as a CEO is Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk. He doesn’t need an introduction, but Musk is essentially the most successful tech entrepeneur on the planet. His business ventures are changing the world for the better, a goal that drives much of his decision making. There is no doubting his success, work ethic and ability to take his visions and bring them to fruition. He’s a visionary and arguably one of the most influential people of this generation.
Musk has also been criticized for mismanagement, Tesla Twitter drama with the SEC, weed smoking on Joe Rogan’s podcast and falsely accusing a British diver who helped with the Thai cave rescue of being a pedophile. He’s often characterized as wreckless and irresponsible, which are fair assesments given his recent missteps. This behavior is not a good look for any CEO. These actions raise concerns about his ability to lead by example and manage companies that are already under a lot of scrutiny.
As a PR case study, Musk is the perfect person to examine. He’s one of the most well-known CEOs in the world and loved and hated by many. While I truly believe he means well, sometimes his ego and strong personal views get him into hot water.
Despite his problems, Musk is a great example of a leader who understands the value of public relations. He’s active on social media and frequently posts company updates, accomplishments and information for his followers. He set Twitter off when he offered to host PewDiePie’s Meme Review. He did a great interview and factory tour with popular tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee and has been the subject of many articles and think pieces. Tesla model launches and SpaceX rockets and roadsters in orbit captivate audiences around the world and create buzz around Musk and his antics. He’s the quintessential “cool” CEO and is setting a new standard for leadership in the internet age.
A comment on the Brownlee video sums it up best. “Big companies hire high profile celebrities to endorse their product, but Tesla saves that money because Elon is THAT celebrity.” It’s not common to see a CEO in the unique position Musk is. He’s hugely popular, well-respected within the tech community and a business titan who also happens to be a quasi-celebrity.
For communicators, Musk can be your biggest asset or liability. It depends on the day. But to me the good outweighs the bad. For every errant tweet he makes, he manages to come back stronger to show why he’s the best person for the job. There’s nothing wrong with a CEO speaking his mind. People will appreciate the transparency over scripted corporate speak.
If more CEOs were like Elon Musk, it might create some headaches. It would also make our jobs a lot easier as PR professionals. Leaders like Musk can be the most effective tool we have in creating, maintaining, and protecting an organization’s reputation and enhancing its goodwill with the public.
Posted on November 6, 2018 January 17, 2019
Digital Skills of the Modern PR Professional
Gone are the days when public relations professionals could pump out a press release, gather news clippings and call it a day. The industry has expanded at a rapid rate, and this transformation pushed practitioners to expand their skill sets, embrace new technologies and adapt in the digital age. Traditional PR practices like press release writing, pitching and media interviews will always have a place in this profession, but we no longer have to rely on conventional tactics to tell our brand story.
Our toolbox has grown, it’s just a matter of knowing the right tools and when to use them. Here are a few you will need to make the most of your communications efforts.
Whether you’re in the public or private sector, agency or in-house, it’s important to use software that makes our job easier. Cision and MuckRack are two widely used programs for targeting journalists, distributing press releases, monitoring media coverage across multiple social and traditional outlets and analyzing the performance of earned media efforts. These programs are fee-based, but Cison does have a University Program that allows students to learn and use the software for free if your school is registered. I took advantage of this opportunity during my undergrad and it was a great resource to have as a young PR pro. If you’ve graduated or don’t have access to this software, try and find online tutorials, webinars or classes offered through PRSA or another communication association.
These are the most used tools in the box. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube should be in the mix of any communications campaign. We use these platforms in our daily lives, but as a PR pros we need to think strategically about these tools and how they’re leveraged to accomplish different tactics. Twitter is useful in your media relations efforts and building working relationships with journalists covering topics relevant to your brand. Facebook should be at the center of your social media outreach efforts. It has the most active users and continues to dominate the space. Snapchat and Instagram have important roles to play when trying to reach younger audiences with fun, creative content. YouTube dominates online video, but live video and stories on FB and IG continue to grow in popularity. Social apps are creating new features every day to enhance the visual experience for brands and their audiences. It’s important to keep your finger on the pulse of social media to position your company and brand with the technology and online trends that influence our lives.
Every communications professional should know the basics of photography. We use images in our campaigns and sometimes those photos need to come directly from you. Get your hands on a DSLR and learn about ISO, shutter speed and aperture. A DSLR camera can be intimidating to an amateur with its many buttons, dials and display options, but the hardware is the easy part! Elements like composition, light, story, space and subject are much harder to capture. Try and tell a story with your photos, one that coincides with your brand’s identity and image. I’ve been completing a photography course on Lynda, a great website that offers training and education resources for free if you have a library card. Of course, YouTube is also a wonderful place to learn anything about everything.
I can’t forget about smartphones. We have computers in our pockets and most of them have excellent cameras. They’re convenient, easy to use and great when you’re on the go and need images for social media or other press materials. The smartphone has transformed public relations in so many positive ways. Providing news, apps, photos, videos, audio, notes, search and more, it’s an indispensable tool for today’s PR professional.
Analytics and Monitoring
There are a lot of great paid and free options PR pros can use to evaluate the performance of communications efforts. Evaluation is important for demonstrating the value of your public relations efforts and identifying areas where improvements are needed for future campaigns. Analytics software can track outputs and outcomes and provide data and insights to see how your efforts had an impact on business goals and communications objectives.
On the paid side I really like the Cision Communications Cloud and Meltwater. You can track news coverage, monitor conversations about your brand on social media and gather data to present the impact of your campaign when it’s finished.
Google Analytics is the most widely used web analytics service on the web, and it’s easy to see why. Its high-level, dashboard-type data is compelling for even casual users, and the software offers in-depth data if you need it. It’s a great free tool to monitor how your website is performing, where visitors are coming from and the content and landing pages they’re gravitating to. For social monitoring I really like Hootsuite. It allows you to schedule posts, moderate discussions, scan relevant news and keep tabs on all of your social pages in one dashboard. Buzzsumo also deserves a mention. This software tracks what sort of topics are trending online and can help your brand locate influencers, analyze hot news topics and identify social platforms and users that are receiving the most engagement around a topic of interest. Piggybacking off trending news that’s relevant to your brand is a great way to stay relevant and visible in a congested digital landscape.
The Adobe Creative Suite dominates this space. Their products are a little pricey, but if you have an opportunity to buy Photoshop, Indesign, Illustrator for your personal computer or use them at work then do it! Your office may have a dedicated designer, but it doesn’t hurt to have experience with graphic design concepts and software. Creating logos, infographics, newsletters, website designs and other branded items will likely be one of your job duties if you’re working at an agency or in-house. Canva is also a neat graphic design tool for businesses on a budget. It’s a drag-and-drop program to add photos, fonts, designs and other graphics to customizable templates for social media, websites, blogs, print materials and more. The more design knowledge and skills you have, the more of an asset you will be to your agency or in-house PR team.
Many brands have their own blog. My favorite platform is WordPress because it’s free and easy to use. Blogging is a great outlet to share updates about your company-client or fun content from events, holidays, award ceremonies and other company outings. With blogs, we have a platform to express ideas and information without the rigidness of a press release. The writing style can be more conversational and less formal. You know your company culture best. The culture should be expressed through your blogging efforts. Know your audience, craft content with that audience in mind and write with an authentic voice.
A steady stream of content is key. Before you start writing, identify people who can provide content as regular contributors. Everyone from CEOs and managers to entry-level associates and interns have their own unique perspectives and should be involved in the publishing process. The more people who contribute, the more diversified and complete your narrative will be. Develop an editorial calendar, brainstorm content ideas with your team and set goals and expectations for your blog.
Chances are your company or the brand you represent has a website. People find web content using search engines, almost always Google. With millions of web pages competing for views and visibility, it’s a challenge to organically bring more traffic to your website. That is where Search Engine Optimization can be useful. PR people should have a basic understanding of SEO and how it’s used to create a better user experience on websites. Here are some basics:
Identify keywords or phrases. Put them in your headlines and body text, but don’t overstuff your content.
Inbound links. Create compelling copy, content that people want to share and link to on their own websites, blogs or social media. Be a thought leader and a reliable and relevant source. Build your site’s credibility and create good content consistently so other websites will be encouraged to link to your content.
Research. Find out what people are searching and tailor your content to meet their needs. Good content marketing is about identifying why people need to read your content and what search terms they’re using to find it.
Shooting and Editing Video
Let’s borrow a play from the journalism playbook. Newsrooms are shrinking and journalists are expected to do more with less. That means becoming their own videographer and editor. PR folks should be shooting their own video, editing, packaging multimedia projects and rolling them out during communications campaigns. Budgets can be tight, and having experience with cameras and software is essential for today’s practitioner. For shooting video, I always refer to this list from the Berkley Advanced Media Institute. It’s simple and straightforward with important techniques for capturing quality video. You might have a great story to tell, but without applying proper techniques your videos won’t be polished or professional. For editing, Final Cut Pro is my first choice for software. Many editors also use Adobe Premiere. Both are extensive programs with a ton of tools and features. YouTube, Lynda and other sites have great training and tutorial videos on FCP. If you have access to the software through work or on your personal computer, spend some time learning how to organize your media, navigate the timeline, work with audio, learn tools/shortcuts and streamline your workflow from import to export.
This is not an exhaustive list, but it’s a start if you work in the exciting field of public relations. If you have any suggestions or input on the topics I’ve discussed, please leave a comment!
A Security Flaw Brought Down Google Plus. That’s Not What People Are Talking About.
Google Plus was destined to fail from the start. It was late to the game, other platforms had already established their dominance in the social space and it had no competitive edge since the day it launched in 2011. The hype around this new and exciting channel was palpable, but it didn’t take long for users to test the waters and jump ship before the boat even left the harbor.
But I’m not here to discuss the failures of Google Plus. It’s not surprising a tech giant like Google wanted a piece of the social media pie. It had the resources to make it happen, even Zuckerberg saw Google’s foray into social networking as a serious threat to his company, but ultimately the fittest survived.
What I’m interested in is the communications strategy Google and parent company Alphabet devised to let Google+ down easy while staying on good terms with their users and the general public. This week, Google posted on its blog about a security flaw that exposed the private data of hundreds of thousands of users on Google+. They opted not to disclose the issue because of fears that doing so would draw regulatory scrutiny and cause reputational damage. At the time Google discovered and patched the bug, Facebook was having legal and image troubles of its own when Cambridge Analytica illegally purchased tens of millions of users’ FB profile information from a third-party app maker. Google didn’t want to get caught up in Facebook’s legal and PR problems at the time, so they waited.
From an ethical standpoint, Google and Alphabet should have told the public about the Google+ security flaw as soon as they knew about it. Honesty and transparency are the pillars of public relations. Instead, they wanted to stay in control of the narrative surrounding their social network and remain proactive throughout these events.
In the end, it worked in Google’s favor. They released news of the security flaw along with the decision to end Google+ for consumers. Instead of talking about the data breach, the public was eager to discuss the end of the social network and how it should’ve happened sooner. Google knew plus was a lost cause for years, and they used that dumpster fire as a distraction to lessen the blow over the very concerning security issues.
Some tech news outlets and other mainstream media have covered the story, but the buzz online is mainly focused on the death of Google+. When you control the message, you also have some control over public opinion.
People will forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel. Google made a lot of people feel relieved that Plus is gone for good.
Posted on September 3, 2015 March 16, 2019
Arby’s No Longer Serves Police Officers
Arby’s made national headlines this week, and it was not for their delicious curly fries. A Pembroke Pines restaurant employee refused to serve a police officer at a drive-thru, and the city’s police chief did not take kindly to the news. The chief contacted Arby’s corporate executives directly and demanded an apology. Arby’s issued a public statement and apologized for the employee’s actions, but from a public relations perspective that’s like putting a band-aid on a broken window. Arby’s needs a lesson in crisis communications. It’s clear their public relations team was not prepared to handle a situation of this magnitude. The online community is threatening to boycott their brand, and the company has done very little to assure customers that the issue is being resolved.
The story has spread like wildfire on social media. The company is being more reactive than proactive with their communications efforts. Arby’s hasn’t made a post on their Facebook page since August 29, and they failed to issue a statement on social media explaining the situation, apologizing and offering ways to right their wrongs. Was the employee fired? What is being done about it? Why should we trust Arby’s and their employees? It’s important to take responsibility, not ignore the problem and wait until it blows over.
The company is keeping the public in the dark when they should be acting as transparent and honest as possible. More proactive steps are needed to educate and inform the public. Instead, they’ve allowed the media and their own customer base to dominate the discussions that are happening across social media. Arby’s is more interested in promoting their new sliders instead of doing some much-needed damage control and building goodwill with their audience.
Corporations are not invincible. There comes a time when a brand will come under fire when they least expect it. A crisis communications plan needs to be in place. In less than 24 hours the entire nation caught wind of this story. An interaction between a fast food worker and a police officer is now threatening a well-established brand, and their comms. team has essentially lost control of the situation.
“All Cops Eat Free for a Day” would be a simple campaign Arby’s could start to earn back the trust of the public and police departments across the nation. It may have been an isolated incident, but the brand is still affected wherever it operates. A simple statement will not cut it. A call to the police chief is not sufficient. This story has legs, and right now it’s outrunning the Arby’s brand in every possible direction.
Weiner’s Reputation is Worse Than His Chance to Become NYC Mayor
After months of ridicule spawning from leaked photos of Anthony Weiner exposing himself to multiple women via Twitter, he’s recently made the decision to continue his New York City mayoral campaign. The man’s got more balls than I do, but I can’t say mine have been on Twitter. His choice to stay in the race is unwise on many fronts. He has no business running for mayor with all of this negative publicity affecting his public image and personal life.
His situation is dire. At this point he should be more concerned about repairing his damaged reputation. That can’t be achieved when he’s also trying to win a mayoral race that has no business being in. His dilemma can be compared to a PR firm working with a client in a time of crisis. The client may think they know what’s best as far as goals, strategies and tactics to implement, but a forward-thinking client will take a PR consultant’s advice to eventually agree on a plan that is best for everyone involved.
In that plan, sometimes you need to accept responsibility and do things that aren’t always easy. His problems were happening well before his mayoral campaign even started. He was sexting women of all ages while in Congress, and these actions came back to haunt him when he decided to run for NYC mayor in 2013. He never stopped but still tried to salvage his political career.
Weiner acted like a client who is disillusioned, stubborn and petty. Dropping out of this race would be a blow to his pride and ego. He just couldn’t let it go and acted selfishly and embarrassed himself, his wife and family. He didn’t listen to his counsel and became blinded by his own arrogance.
If I worked on his PR team, I would strongly urge him to put the mayoral campaign on hold and focus on stabilizing areas of his life outside of politics. The countless hours he’s spent on the campaign trail could be better spent improving relations with his wife Huma or attending sessions with a therapist to address issues that really matter.
By staying in this race, he’s digging himself into a deeper hole by choosing short-term goals over long-term happiness. Weiner must take care of personal matters to show his family, friends, supporters and the voting public that he’s ready to be a faithful public servant again.
The NFL and its Lingering PR Problem
The National Football League is arguably the most popular sporting league in the world. It won’t remain that way unless there’s a better effort to discipline players who consistently damage its reputation. Roger Goodell & Co. conduct business as usual with a “too big to fail” mentality, but if they don’t address this pressing issue soon it could lead to harsh consequences for the league and each of its 32 NFL franchises.
Since the Super Bowl in February, 27 active NFL players have been arrested for a number of different crimes. Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez is one of those 27, pinned with murder and five related gun charges just two short weeks ago. I thought the Plaxico Burress and Michael Vick incidents would be enough to push the NFL to make drastic changes to its player misconduct policies, but apparently not.
The league’s public relations crisis should be broken down, analyzed and mitigated with a strategic plan. The NFL has the reputation as the most competitive football league in the world, but off-field issues involving players continue to damage that reputation. Decision makers have been reactive instead of proactive in combating player misconduct. To salvage the league’s image and restore credibility with the fans, media, and other stakeholders, these steps should be taken by the NFL:
Set a long-term goal that will be the main focus of your efforts. In this case, “Decrease the number of off-field player incidents.”
Establish strategies, which are the broad approaches you’ll take to achieve the goal. Revising player misconduct policies and enforcing stricter penalties and repercussions are a few good examples.
Identify measurable objectives that will be used to see if the strategies are being met. Banning or suspending players who act out could be an objective that’s easily measured to see if player misconduct decreases due to increased player bans and indefinite suspensions.
Tactics need to be implemented to achieve the already set strategies and objectives on a day-to-day basis. Working with the press to get the message out about revised policies and forcing players to seek professional help to fix behavioral issues are a few useful tactics that will aid in achieving long-term goals.
This problem is not going away anytime soon. It’s imperative for the NFL to take action and not just expect the problem to fix itself. Like any successful PR campaign, a lot of planning, research and good execution will lead to better results for the league.
Samuel L. Jackson Uses Reddit as an Effective Public Relations Tool
The legend himself, Samuel L. Jackson, made a visit to Reddit this week in an effort to raise money and awareness for the non-profit Alzheimer’s Association. Jackson encouraged redditors to submit 300-word scripts on his r/movies subreddit post. At the end of the contest, Jackson promised to read the highest upvoted script as a monologue, which can be viewed below.
From a public relations perspective this idea is gold. It’s fun, engaging and gives anyone who wants to participate a chance to hear Samuel L’s iconic voice read their written, stolen or borrowed script. Mashable explained that Jackson also teamed up with Prizeo, an organization that works with celebrities and charities to award donors with the chance to win big prizes. Those who donate as little as $3 to his Prizeo page have a chance to sit down with Jackson in the UK for a muthaphukkin’ all expenses paid lunch!
He could’ve just went on Reddit to do the typical promotional run like every other celebrity, but he branched out in an effort to connect with the movie nerds on Reddit and the community as a whole. It’s a case study we can all appreciate as public relations practitioners. He identified his target audience, engaged them actively with a well-executed campaign and made a call to action asking interested users to donate.
I’ve respected this man as an actor for many years, but this effective PR effort is why he will go down as one of the all-time greats.
Posted on April 18, 2013 January 17, 2019
Unethical PR Pros Abuse Reddit’s ‘Ask Me Anything’ Subreddit
If you’re unfamiliar with the popular social news site Reddit, here’s a short summary. Users post content — pictures, news articles, memes or gifs, then users have the option of upvoting or downvoting content based on how funny, interesting, creative or relevant each submission is. The best content gets the most upvotes and will often make it to the front page of Reddit. The site is made up of subreddits, which are communities about any topic of interest.
The subreddit, IAmA, or Ask me Anything, give Redditors the opportunity to interact with celebrities, thought leaders, athletes, musicians and anyone with a great story to tell by asking them questions within the subreddit. If used correctly, the platform is a great way to gain exposure on the site and interact with fans and users.
But publicists and companies have tried to abuse this power by focusing on promotion and trying to dupe the community into believing the AMA was genuine.
AMAs with Morgan Freeman and Woody Harrelson are prime examples of this abuse by PR people who want the exposure for their client without doing any of the work. These men are two excellent actors, but the way their press people handled their AMAs was unethical, tasteless and disrespectful to the community. Each of the lazy, thoughtless responses to fan’s questions made it seem like a publicist was on the other end pumping out pre-written statements about films each actor starred in.
There is an overall lack of transparency, the first rule you should never break in PR. It ruins the integrity of the profession and makes us work even harder to fix the reputation of this industry. If we ever want to be respected and trusted as an industry, these practices need to stop. We have a code of ethics for a reason, and it needs to be followed and enforced for the long-term stability of public relations.
Changing Perceptions of a Misunderstood Profession
The negative and often misunderstood perception of public relations professionals and the entire industry has been a thorn in the industry’s paw for decades. We’re managing the reputations and images of clients we represent, but what’s being done to change the negative perceptions of our own industry?
The C-suite is beginning to realize the value of public relations toward the overall success of an organization. We have a seat at the table, but we need to prove we deserve to be there and demonstrate how important the communications function is. If we want the respect we deserve as a profession, we need to take our education and training and use it to improve our own profession’s reputation.
The negative views of our work were molded by the media, Hollywood and unethical practices over the years. There’s are common misconceptions about what we do as PR professionals. We’re not all publicists doing damage control for celebrities and other public figures. We don’t lie. We dont spin the truth.
Our work is very strategic, and much of it involves building better relationships between organizations and the public.
If we’re hoping to improve our industry’s reputation and gain trust and respect among the public, we must:
Highlight and enforce our Code of Ethics to ensure the profession continues to be positively perceived in the eyes of the public.
Change the stigma of PR pros being flacks or spin doctors. Transparency and openness is crucial toward the success of our profession for the long term. Make people aware of our practices and try to educate and inform.
Practice Corporate Social Responsibility by supporting communities and people we work with. These good deeds humanize our industry and make it clear that philanthropy, not profit, is at the heart of what we do.
Use appropriate measurement standards to tie in PR plans and strategies to the bottom line of a company. Use data and analytics to show the value of PR programs and how they contribute to business goals.
This is clearly not an extensive list, but surely a good approach toward a new direction for this industry. The work we do for clients is invaluable, and good practices, ethics and deeds will help change the perceptions of a misunderstood profession.
Brands Need to Engage With Audiences on Social Media
Two weeks ago, I sent a tweet to the PRWeek twitter account asking if they had plans to improve the sound quality of their weekly podcasts. Weeks went by with no reply, and my inquiry remained unanswered. We work in an industry that stresses the importance of audience engagement and participation, and as a fan of PRWeek’s content I felt unimportant when my simple question went unanswered.
Social media transformed the PR industry in many unique ways. Never before have we been able to reach audiences in a space where everyone can share content, ideas and opinions with friends, family and complete strangers.
It’s been an absolute game changer in this profession. This experience made me realize that some companies and organizations don’t place enough value on social media and how a short response can create a lasting impression on someone. It’s time consuming for social media managers to sift through each individual twitter mention and send replies, but going the extra mile ensures people will remain loyal to your brand and feel valued as a fan and consumer.
What people want is a sense of belonging and knowing their concerns are being heard. Social media is an effective customer service tool, and brands need to effectively moderate their channels to participate in discussions, answer questions and remain engaged with your brand and its fans online.
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UPGro Webinars
BRAVE Newsletters
Building understanding of climate variability and environmental change into the planning of groundwater supplies from low storage aquifers in Africa
← In Memorandum
Reflections on the Joint IAPSO-IAMAS-IAGA Assembly, Experiences in Cape Town →
Enhancing Existing Monitoring Catchments in West Africa through Collaboration
Posted on August 25, 2017 by upgrobrave
David Macdonald, British Geological Survey
A key component of water resource management is the sound scientific understanding of water flows and storage. Where water supplies are sourced through wells and boreholes in the underlying rocks, we need to understand the volumes of water stored there and how natural climate variability and land cover control how these stores are replenished. For longer term planning purposes, we also need to assess how climate and land use change will impact on the resource.
Monitoring groundwater levels at the Sanon catchment, Burkina Faso
The BRAVE project aims to provide tools to support water resource management in Ghana and Burkina Faso. This is expected to improve our understanding of the water flows and storage through the instrumentation of a series of small catchments to monitor all aspects of the water balance. The strategy for the BRAVE project was to build on existing monitored catchments, recognizing the cost of monitoring equipment; the time and effort required to build relationships with local communities in the catchments being monitored; and the value of existing contextual and longer-term data sets.
In Burkina Faso, one of the detailed monitoring catchment which BRAVE is working in is around the village of Sanon, 40 km to the north of the capital city, Ouagadougou. Sanon represents much of semi-arid West Africa as the land cover has been significantly changed through farming. The site was first established by BRGM, the French Geological Survey, but has been built up in recent years by the Institut International d’Ingénierie de l’Eau et de l’Environnement (2iE), with input from the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD). Prior to BRAVE’s involvement, there was a network of monitoring boreholes and a weather station in place, and geophysical surveys had been undertaken to characterise the hydrogeological setting. This, with the time series data collected, had allowed a conceptual model of groundwater flows and storage to be developed. Crucially, 2iE has developed a good relationship with the local community and involved members of the community in this monitoring.
Through the BRAVE project, the further development of the monitoring network at Sanon has been a collaborative activity involving 2iE, the University of Ouagadougou (UO1), IRC Burkina Faso and the British Geological Survey. This has included the drilling and testing of additional boreholes, enhancement of the weather station, installation of a series of transects of access tubes to measure soil moisture and the setting up of a river flow measurement site. It has also involved the construction of three plots (4 x 20 m) containing land use representative of the catchment within which runoff, soil moisture, groundwater level, soil infiltration, soil evaporation and plant growth and transpiration are directly measured. The monitoring is undertaken by members of the local community and by students from 2iE and UO1, as well as by BRAVE project staff.
The other two existing catchments where the BRAVE project has enhanced monitoring, are part of the network of research catchments run by the West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL), a large-scale programme for strengthening research infrastructure and capacity involving ten West African countries and funded by the German government. One of these catchments, Aniabisi, is in Northern Ghana in an area similar to Sanon, where the landscape has been substantially changed through farming; the other, Nazinga, is just across the border in southern Burkina Faso in a nature reserve where the natural land cover is still intact. The infrastructure already in place in these WASCAL catchments has been built upon through collaboration by WASCAL, the Ghanaian Water Research Institute and BGS. Aniabisi now has infrastructure and monitoring equipment similar to that in Sanon, including the three land use plots; Nazinga is a scaled down version of this. As with Sanon, the local relationships with communities has been important in the installation of new infrastructure and local residents are also undertaking some of the monitoring work. Crucial impacts have been the support of WASCAL technical staff in the development and subsequent running of the sites.
Sorghum cropping is a land use type that is included in monitoring plots at both Sanon and Aniabisi
The collaboration between BRAVE and West African organisations has been a great success that has seen the value added to established sites. The embedding of BRAVE research will greatly improve the chances that the monitoring sites developed through UPGro will be sustained beyond the period of the Programme. The importance of the resulting datasets cannot be underestimated, as we strive to understand the impacts of environmental change on the water resources that underpin future adaptation and resource management.
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Pingback: Manage what you measure: Better groundwater monitoring comes to West Africa – UPGro
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Airline industry should give up efforts to weaken rules keeping the public safe
By Staff|Published Sun, Oct 2, 2016
The airline industry should stop wasting its time and energy trying to figure out ways around hard-won aviation safety regulations and instead figure out ways to make them work.
As a Wall Street Journal report indicated, an industry-government working group has been developing a proposal that would “modestly” weaken the requirement that co-pilots on commercial aircraft generally have 1,500 hours of experience before being hired.
Currently, military pilots with as little as 750 hours of experience are allowed to pursue co-pilot jobs. The working group would reduce that to 500 hours.
Seems airlines, especially the regional ones, are having a hard time attracting and retaining pilots and co-pilots who have the requisite number of flight hours. It’s hard to believe that an industry that charges customers not just for the ticket, but tacks on fees for baggage, seat assignment and even to print out a boarding pass, among other “extras,” cannot figure out how to pay for the pilots flying the planes.
This latest effort tramples on the sacrifice made by the Families of Continental Flight 3407, setting aside their own grief to work to get new pilot rules put in place. It is an insult to the families and the public in general that the industry continues to doggedly pursue ways of watering down new rules.
Flight 3407 crashed in February 2009, claiming the lives of all 49 passengers and crew and a man on the ground. Investigators determined that inexperience contributed to fatal errors by the pilots.
New rules were passed into law as part of the Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2010. It included a requirement for 1,500 hours of flying time for first officer certification. It was part of the broader “One Level of Safety” move for both regional and national airlines.
Sen. Charles E. Schumer led the Western New York delegation in pushing for passage of this critical, landmark legislation making air travel safer. In writing a letter to Michael Huerta, administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, objecting to any changes to the requirements, the senator is once again demonstrating he is willing to fight back against this latest attempt to weaken the rules.
He shouldn’t have to keep grappling with the airline industry. But he will if he has to and so will the 3407 families in an effort to improve safety in the skies.
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BraveWords Interview: WITCHERY – Sonic Healing For The 6Sick6
Many people in our line of sonic debauchery refer to Motörhead as a metal band even though legendary frontman Lemmy always insisted they played rock n’ roll. Not surprisingly, nobody ever dared to argue the point with Mr. Kilmister (that we know of). Thus, if you’re looking for a metal band cut from the Motörhead cloth it’s best to cast an ear in Witchery’s direction. Born from the ashes of Satanic Slaughter 20 years ago, the Swedish quintet originally consisting of members from The Haunted, Arch Enemy and Seance gained a faithful cult following from the get-go with their 1998 debut, Restless And Dead. During a BW&BK interview in 1999 for the band’s Witchburner EP, guitarist Patrik Jensen (The Haunted) put forth Witchery’s plan of adopting a ’70s-era KISS approach and releasing at least an album a year, and with Symphony For The Devil hitting the shelves in 2001 it seemed they might succeed. Unfortunately, real life and other band commitents managed to scuttle those plans, leaving Witchery to assemble only as time permitted, yielding only three albums in 10 years. In fact, their new record, In His Infernal Majesty’s Service, comes a whopping six years after their last outing, Witchkrieg.
“You know what they say; as you grow older time moves faster, ” says Jensen. “It doesn’t seem like it’s been six years but then I look at the calendar and it’s ‘Oh my God, we’re celebrating 20 years of Witchery, we need to make an album…’ (laughs).”
“But that’s the problem we’ve had since 2003 because that’s around about when Angela (Gossow) joined Arch Enemy and things started to go really well for them,” he continues, referring to bassist Sharlee D’Angelo’s top priority and the resulting space between Witchery albums. “The Haunted took off around that time, and I think that’s when Martin (Axenrot / drums) joined Opeth. We were really active between 1997 to 2003 and then things got difficult for us because there were so many conflicting schedules. It’s crazy. We discovered that it was just as hard to get this album out as any other year we’ve done an album because it’s hard to get everyone together. That’s why Martin decided to gracefully bow out; he didn’t want to make it a problem for Witchery to continue releasing albums. The way he put it, ‘It’s not like I don’t have a band I’m going to tour the world with…’ (laughs). We love the guy and we’re still friends, so there’s no animosity. Something had to change and he offered his place up; we found Chris (Barkensjö) to play drums and he’s not as busy as Martin so it’s easier to get rehearsals going. On top of that, Martin was a very sophisticated and tasteful player even before he joined Opeth, whereas I’m more of a Ramones / early Motörhead kind of player. Chris is the same way; he sounds like our first drummer, so having him in the band brought back that old Witchery feeling we had on Restless And Dead. Not only could we get back to rehearsing, we kind of got our old sound back.”
Put In His Infernal Majesty’s Service up against Restless And Dead or Witchburner, with the exception of superior production and some new band members it’s the same off-the-rails locomotive death-flavoured thrash. Time really hasn’t affected Witchery’s organic old school approach.
“I don’t want to put words in your mouth but I think word you’re looking for is ‘enthusiastic.’ That’s something I look for in music, it doesn’t have to be fast. I’m not a big jazz fan but I can hear when a jazz band is enthusiastic about their playing. Magic happens when everyone is fired up and in the zone. One of my pet peeves is that as soon as people start recording on a computer they can see the drumbeats. They figure that if the beats are off the grid they can’t be good, so they end up fixing everything and making it all totally sterile. There’s no organic feeling to the music anymore, it’s just boring. Everybody is just focused on getting the recordings as tight as possible, which means they’re taking away as much of the human as possible.”
“I like that you say it sounds like the album is going off the rails, because that means there’s an edge of danger to the music. You don’t know what’s coming in the next verse or chorus. I’m pretty passionate about this idea, and that’s not because you and I are older (laughs). I get people saying that Witchery is going for that retro sound…. and here’s a metaphor for you: During the ’80s you could buy all this plastic furniture and everyone bought it, but after 10 or 15 years some people began to think ‘Wouldn’t it be cool to have a hand-crafted table?’ That’s because it’s unique even though it might be some guy hand-crafting 10 different tables. That doesn’t mean I’m into retro furniture (laughs); it means I know what quality is. If I want to hear humans playing music, it doesn’t mean I’m into a retro sound. Witchery is carrying the torch for organic music.”
In spite of the long wait since Witchkrieg, In His Infernal Majesty’s Service wasn’t festering in a studio’s memory banks for years like your average Def Leppard production.
“I do all the music and lyric writing, and I wrote this album over four months or so,” says Jensen. “There are no old riffs on this; I like songs that you write the fastest and I don’t mean in bpm. If you come up with a good riff and get fired up about it, that immediately leads to another riff and everyone at rehearsal becomes inspired. You can just feel the creativity flow. Those songs are usually much better than if I come up with a great riff and then it takes me three months to come up with the next one and another three months for the chorus. For us, the songs that come out the fastest are the most genuine.”
Posted on December 16, 2016 December 23, 2016 Author carlCategories The InterviewsTags Arch Enemy, Patrik Jensen, Satantic Slaughter, Sharlee D'Angelo, The Haunted, Witchery
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The Whirlwind in Washington
Summary: Animated by the reality of shared values and increasingly convergent interests, Modi seeks a robust fraternity with Washington, which enhances Indian power.
In his astounding address to the Joint Session of Congress on June 8, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared that the US-India relationship had finally “overcome the hesitations of history”. He was being far too coy. In declaring the United States to be “an indispensable partner” in India’s forward march, he was, in fact, exorcising the ghosts of decades past—spectres that prevented India from realising Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s bold vision of the United States and India as “natural allies”.
The most pernicious of these bogeys has been the belief that a productive partnership with the United States was impossible because it would reduce India to the status of a camp follower in the American alliance system. This fear was so overwhelming during Manmohan Singh’s first term that it almost prevented him from consummating the US-Indian nuclear deal—that singular act of American strategic perspicacity intended to liberate India from over three decades of unyielding global constraints on civilian nuclear cooperation.
Ashley J. Tellis holds the Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs and is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, specializing in international security and U.S. foreign and defense policy with a special focus on Asia and the Indian subcontinent.
The strident opposition to the agreement demonstrated that some Indian elites were willing to suffer continued isolation if necessary, rather than grasp the benefits of the fellowship offered by Washington. During Singh’s second term, his opponents within the government and the Congress party exacted their revenge for his courage, delaying and suspending all significant bilateral cooperation not because collaboration would undermine India’s strategic interests but because it threatened the pretence that New Delhi could thrive without any partnerships worth the name.
Modi’s clarion call on the United States to now “convert shared ideals into practical cooperation” signals, above all, a freedom from fear. It rejects the notion that a preferential affiliation with Washington automatically implies the loss of agency and autonomy, or that it accepts subordination in an eternally unequal relationship. To the contrary, animated by the reality of shared values and increasingly convergent interests, Modi seeks a robust fraternity with Washington, which enhances Indian power. No association with any other country promises comparable rewards, and the prime minister appears determined not to lose this opportunity, least because its only downside might be dispensing with the affectation of a permanently ‘non-aligned’ India.
It may come as a shock to Modi’s critics, but Washington has long accepted New Delhi’s quest for geopolitical independence. What confuses US policymakers is not India’s yearning for decisional autonomy, but that its policies are often constrained by its fears rather than being impelled by its interests. No American administration, at least since the Cold War’s end, has imagined that an association with India was desirable because New Delhi could be enticed into doing Washington’s bidding. Rather, cooperation was sought simply because it enabled the purposeful realisation of shared strategic interests. Recognising that the US was clearly the stronger partner—and would remain so for a long time to come—US policymakers have in recent years been willing to walk the extra mile for India so long as they perceived a genuine desire for deepened collaboration.
Nothing illustrates this more than the achievements in defence cooperation memorialised during Modi’s recent visit to Washington. India’s desire to implement various initiatives that bolster its own security in the broader Indo-Pacific region—which simultaneously advance mutual interests in “peace, prosperity and stability”—has resulted in its designation as a ‘Major Defence Partner’, a categorisation intended to progressively increase its access to the best US defence technologies that have hitherto been reserved only for America’s closest allies. In this context, the convoluted language about aircraft carrier technology cooperation actually signals the end of exploratory conversations, marking the start of the transfer of design knowledge relevant to constructing advanced flattops in India.
And the conclusion of the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA)—one of the dreaded ‘foundational agreements’ on which more mendacity has been displayed by Indian commentators than its pedestrian character would warrant—is worth mentioning not because it provides Washington with new and unprecedented access to Indian bases and facilities. It will not. Rather, it is significant because it finally permits both countries to engage in military activities that are not pre-planned, without having to worry about paying in advance or upon delivery for the supplies and services consumed.
These highlights of the expanded defence cooperation agreed to during Modi’s visit, complemented by new commitments to strengthening Indian defence manufacturing, cooperative cyber-defence and bilateral counter-terrorism activities, only demonstrate that the US seeks not to strip India of its political autonomy but to strengthen its capacity to secure their common goals. It is to Modi’s credit that, far from being fearful of such opportunities, he has seized upon them resolutely, in fact challenging his American partners to think boldly of how this evolving compact might produce “not just... a better future for ourselves, but for the whole world”. If this sentiment comes to be ingrained in India’s policy towards the US, the Modi whirlwind will have exorcised many ghosts long-resident in New Delhi and blown both nations much good.
This article was originally published in India Today.
Shaik UnShaik
Important to note that the author here systematically tries to promote 'so called' Modi's proactive initiative. While we do know that Modi's party vehemently opposed positive steps by Manmohan Singh. From this article, it's projected that India stands to benefit more from the recent overtures by Modi. What the author fails to highlight is that America will not move forward with any initiative unless it serves it's interests. US cares a darn for the interests of India. Yes, I do agree that the recent initiative has been a great media promotion for Modi - knowing he needs it badly on the Global stage as well as within India at this present time.
Zakiur Lakhvi of the LeT
1. Modi's party and Modi himself are not the same thing ... as Modi managed to be the PM of India, overcoming opposition within his own party. People of India voted for Modi, precisely because he is not the same as the party it used to be under the previous leadership. 2. Yes, you are right, for the Americans, the US interests are always supreme, and there is always a risk of India walking into a trap. Therefore, a fair assessment of the US-India engagement would be, that it is based on shared interests, that benefit both. 3. Modi is one rare politician in India, who is here to work for India, not for self promotion ... regardless of the negative press he is getting from a section of the Indian media, known as the Presstitutes. 4. And finally. this author and scholar Ashley Tellis has right to his opinion. It is no body's business, if he is systematically promoting Modi's proactive initiatives, as long as it is positive for the US-India relations.
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Conservation Get Outside
A Tale of Two Sportsmen’s Bills
John W. Gale | February 11, 2014
Backcountry Public Lands – John W. Gale
With Congress these days, it can seem like the best of times and the worst of times. After years of relatively little legislative success, members of both chambers and on both sides of the political divide managed to construct and enact a bipartisan Farm Bill that is good for conservation. But more often than not, conservation legislation has largely stagnated in recent years. A bill might gain traction in the Senate but not even get a hearing in the House. Alternatively, legislation that has passed the House gets stopped by the Senate.
This gridlock has worked to the benefit of some conservation issues, when efforts have been made to attack our heritage and dismantle our public lands, but it has also stifled any proactive conservation efforts. Perhaps the thawing of party lines for the Farm Bill bodes well for congressional activity. Action this week on bills that are intended to help sportsmen and women could be the next test of working together to get something right.
On Wednesday February 5, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 3590, the Sportsmen’s Heritage and Recreation Enhancement Act (SHARE Act). That bill has been touted as an effort to help sportsmen’s access and opportunities, but would at the same time undermine backcountry hunting and fishing and limit public input on management decisions related to hunting and fishing. In addition, while it is intended to support sportsmen’s access, the bill is silent on the Land and Water Conservation Fund that has helped open up thousands of acres to outdoor recreation. It also doesn’t address a number of key conservation programs like the North American Wetlands Conservation Act or the Partners for Fish and Wildlife program.
A Better Alternative
South Platte River – John W. Gale
Just the day before, on February 4, a broad bipartisan group of senators led by Senators Kay Hagan and Lisa Murkowski introduced the Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act of 2014 (S.1996) that addresses many of the holes left in the SHARE Act. The lead senators each had their own “sportsmen’s bills”, and then methodically worked together to craft a compromise bill that has now garnered the support of 11 senators representing different parts of the country and an equally broad range of political perspectives. The bill solidifies the importance of hunting, fishing and shooting on public lands and addresses key conservation and sportsmen’s needs—but does so in a way that won’t spoil our backcountry experiences or erode the safeguards that will enable us to pass our outdoor legacy on to future generations.
The House has passed their sportsmen’s bill and it’s now the Senate’s turn to take up their bill. If it passes the Senate, it sets a strong marker on how sportsmen’s legislation can be done right and builds the foundation for negotiations with the House. As we learned with the Farm Bill, legislative sausage making can take time, but with strong leadership from passionate members of Congress we are hoping that the end result will be part of the age of wisdom rather than the age of foolishness.
Visit these pages for more information:
National Wildlife Federation lauds introduction of sportsmen legislation
Conservation, Get Outside | Bipartisan Sportsmen's Act of 2014, Farm Bill, fishing, hunting, Kay Hagan, Lisa Murkowski, Rocky Mountain Regional Center, sportsmen
Written by John W. Gale
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Education Week's blogs > Rick Hess Straight Up See more Opinion
Rick Hess
Education policy maven Rick Hess of the American Enterprise Institute think tank offers straight talk on matters of policy, politics, research, and reform. Follow Rick on Twitter, and also follow AEI's Education Program.
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The Problem with One-Size-Fits-All Approaches to Teacher Quality
By Rick Hess on March 9, 2012 7:50 AM
Today's debates over teacher evaluation mostly just leave me tired. On the one side, we've got "reformers" who've accurately identified real problems, suggested sensible principles (like we should work to identify teachers who are better and worse at their jobs)... and then rushed to champion crude, inflexible policies that turn good ideas into caricatures.
On the other side, we've got teachers and "public school defenders" who aren't content to challenge simple-minded solutions, but who argue that we can't really distinguish good educators from bad ones...and ought to instead spend lots of time worrying about whether teachers are happy.
I've no use for either camp. I don't want to split the difference, find a "middle course," or any of that. I think that both camps just get it flat wrong. It's good to identify problems and to respond. But it's a mistake to imagine that those responses can always be translated into policy solutions.
On Wednesday, in a terrific piece, the Washington Post's Bill Turque penned a page one story on Sarah Wysocki, a former DC Public Schools teacher who was terminated under DC's IMPACT teacher evaluation system because of low value-added scores. Wysocki may or may not be a good teacher. She sounds good in the account, and had promising evaluation scores. But there are certainly reasonable concerns about whether her value-added scores were compromised by cheating that may have inflated fourteen students' prior year scores--as well as all the usual questions about how much weight we want to put in these numbers, and how fully we think they reflect a teacher's performance.
Especially intriguing is that Wysocki was quickly snatched up by neighboring Fairfax County, one of the nation's highest-performing school systems. Fairfax superintendent Jack Dale told me on Wednesday that he questioned how much faith to put into Wysocki's value-added scores, and added that Fairfax is focused on more than just a teacher's reading and math scores. Dale said that Fairfax parents probably regard instruction reading and math as no more than "twenty to twenty-five percent" of what they expect from their schools and that, "More and more parents are saying we test too much, so they're not really looking at those test scores that much... I see less and less emphasis on test scores now than even a couple years ago."
I grew up in Fairfax and know the system fairly well. It's fair to say that Fairfax families generally chose the system's schools because they desire a broad emphasis on science, world languages, gifted programs, music, and an array of aptitudes that those assessments don't capture. DCPS's laser focus on reading and math gains, and the assumption that these scores are a good proxy for a teacher's general performance, doesn't make sense in the Fairfax context.
At the same time, that doesn't mean they're wrong-headed for DC. The DCPS leadership is trying to turn around a historically low-performing system that has long failed at even its most basic responsibilities, and where vast numbers of students lack rudimentary skills in reading and math. Thus, it's certainly reasonable for DCPS to build a teacher evaluation system that seeks to base 50 percent of a teacher's evaluation on reading and math value-added.
In other words, neither Fairfax nor DCPS are necessarily right (or wrong). Rather, they're confronting different challenges and needs, and trying to make reasonable choices about how to proceed. The world is a complex place and adopting mechanistic, one-size-fits-all solutions, like so many of the statewide teacher evaluation and pay systems being championed today, make it likely that thousands of schools and millions of teachers and students will be snared by systems that are a poor match for their needs.
Also on Wednesday, MetLife released the 28th annual Survey of the American Teacher, which reported that 44 percent of the nation's teachers are "very satisfied" with their jobs. This was the lowest reading since 1989. The decline in satisfaction occasioned the usual hand-wringing and angst. (At the same time, 77 percent of teachers said they're treated as professionals by the community, suggesting that those who claim teachers feel under assault may be exaggerating just a wee bit.)
I don't get the angst. Why? This is just another face of the one-size-fits-all problem. I don't care that teacher morale is down in the aggregate. I would care if we knew that morale is lousy among teachers who are doing a good job and working hard. I want those teachers to feel valued, energized, enthusiastic, and all that. On the other hand, if a teacher is lousy or doing lousy work, they should have lousy morale. Hopefully it'll encourage them to leave sooner. And we've got plenty of reason to worry about teacher quality in the aggregate. For instance, 29 percent of teachers say they are likely to leave the teaching profession within the next five years--up from 17 percent in 2009. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? I think the right answer is: neither. Getting it just right, Regis Shields, director of Education Resource Strategies, told Ed Week's Liana Heitin, "We need more information on who the 29 percent" are. Shields said, "If these aren't effective teachers and this increases the effectiveness of the teaching force, that's great. If they're high-quality teachers, then we have some concerns."
And that's about as smart a response to one-size-fits-all thinking as I can muster.
The opinions expressed in Rick Hess Straight Up are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.
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MPR News Tracking the buildings and the money
Vikings Stadium FAQ
What’s the latest on the new stadium for the Vikings?
The Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority is in talks with the Vikings over the 30-year lease the team is expected to sign for the new stadium. That’s expected to include the most contentious issue in the project: the personal seat license fees the team is expecting to get from fans. That could approach $150 million, with some individual seats priced at the five-figure level. The MSFA is also in talks to acquire a nearby plaza, and the city is working on plans for a big $400 million mixed use development just to the west of the stadium.
When will building start?
Current projections call for a groundbreaking in November 2013. The project is expected to start with some utility work in downtown Minneapolis, including the relocation of an underground power line near the area, which has already started The plan calls for construction to begin in the parking lot east of the Metrodome, approach the existing stadium as play continues there. The Metrodome will then be deflated and demolished in early 2014 to accommodate the completion of its replacement. The project is expected to employ 13,000 people, including 7,500 construction jobs during the life of the project.
When will it open?
The Vikings expect to play their 2016 season in the new stadium. The current schedule calls for them to play through the end of the 2013 season in the Metrodome and play the 2014 and 2015 seasons at the University of Minnesota’s TCF Bank Stadium, at a price of about $8 million per year, for costs and rent. Mortenson faces a $5 million per NFL game penalty for a late opening of the building.
What will it look like?
The final design final design for the new stadium was unveiled on May 13th, 2013. It will be a 1.6 million square foot facility with a fixed roof, although half of the roof will be transparent ETFE, the same fluoroplastic used on the exterior of the “Watercube” swimming facility in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The building is a large, irregularly shaped cube, with a canted roof and rising to a prow-like peak on the west end. The west end of the stadium will have five 95-high pivoting doors that total about 350 feet across. The rest of exterior will be largely glass and metal cladding. The agreement between the state and the Vikings calls for 65,000 seats inside, with room for up to 72,000 for events like a Super Bowl. There will be 150 suites and 7,500 club seats, according to the stadium authority’s website. The winning architectural firm, HKS, was announced Sept. 28th, 2012 at a special meeting at the Metrodome. The firm dropped its price from $40 million to $34 million. They also offered a several non-retractable roof options, and offered a special market analysis of the area, designed to determine, predesign, what kind of seating and amenity configurations will sell best — and presumably generate the most revenue for the stadium and team. Other bidders included Kansas City based Populous and HNTB, EwingCole, from Philadelphia and Los Angeles-based AECOM, which includes the former Ellerbe Beckett firm in Minneapolis. You can read their bids, as well as the winning bid, here.
Projections now call for the project to cost $975 million. About $822 of that is expected to be the actual cost of construction. The rest will involve land acquisition, administrative expenses and other costs. The legislation authorizing the project calls for a guaranteed maximum price contract for the construction, intended to cap cost overruns.
Who’s paying for it?
The Vikings, the state and the city of Minneapolis are sharing the up-front cost. Here’s how it will break down:
The Vikings have agreed to contribute $477 million to the construction — $50 million more than their initial offer, as demanded on the day the legislation was finalized. The team is widely expected to fund part of that with a $200 million league loan, to be paid from the “visiting team share” that the Vikings currently do not capture. The Vikings are also expected to sell personal seat licenses to ticket holders. Vikings Chief Financial Officer Steve Poppen told a Minnesota Senate panel in 2011 that teams in similar situations raise an average of $50 million through PSLs, but the NFL average is closer to $150 million. The team is also expected to use naming rights proceeds. Those are typically worth about $120 million in present-value terms.
The State of Minnesota has pledged $348 million in bonding* to the project’s construction. To fund bonding for that amount, lawmakers in 2012 legalized electronic pull tabs, a variation on the charitable gambling games first legalized in Minnesota in 1985. Those proved to be a financial disappointment, and the state enacted new corporate taxes to backfill the shortfall.
The City of Minneapolis has pledged $150 million up front for construction, to be paid for mostly with existing hotel, liquor and food taxes downtown, as well as a citywide half-cent sales tax. That money currently funds Convention Center debt and other activities, but those bonds should be paid off by 2020.
*Minnesota is actually expected to borrow $498 million, for both its share and the city of Minneapolis’ share.
Who is building it?
On February 15, the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority picked Golden Valley-based Mortenson Construction to build the new $822 million stadium. The company agreed to a 1.7 percent fee, expected to be about $12.5 million, with opportunity for bonuses that would increase the fee to $15 million. The company will work with Dallas-based HKS estimate the cost of preliminary designs. Senior Vice President John Wood said the company expects to break ground about Oct. 1, 2013, and will have the building “substantially complete” on July 1, 2016. Officials also said the Metrodome will be demolished at the end of the Vikings 2013 season to accommodate construction.
Who owns the new stadium?
While the state, the Vikings and the city of Minneapolis share the cost the state of Minnesota is the sole owner of the facility. Minneapolis may develop public spaces adjacent to the property and would own those parcels.
Who’s going to pay to run it?
Operating costs are expected to run $20.5 million per year. The Vikings will be responsible for $13 million of that annually, with $8.5 earmarked as rent. The city of Minneapolis is to pick up $7.5 million annually, indexed to inflation as the costs rise over time.
What’s the stadium going to be used for?
Its principal economic mechanism will be Vikings games, including two preseason and eight regular season home games every year. The Vikings have exclusive rights to bring a Major League Soccer team into the stadium for the first five years. Major League Soccer teams have a 34-game regular season schedule. Other events are expected to include a Monster Truck Jam tour stop, Supercross motorcycle racing and Minnesota State High School League soccer and football championships. Minneapolis officials have expressed interest in hosting another national political convention, like the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul. The Vikings have also told the league that they intend to host a Super Bowl after the stadium opens, possibly as early as 2018. League owners have exclusive authority over Super Bowl locations, and Minnesota hosted one in 1992. The League is widely expected to award the game to new stadiums, to encourage host cities to build them. The MSFA also plans to bid for a Final Four in 2017 or 2018, to repeat tournaments in the Metrodome in 1992 and 2001.
Who’s in charge?
The construction and operation of the new stadium will be overseen by the 5-member Minnesota Sports Facilties Authority. Two members and the chair are appointed by the governor. The initial members, appointed by Gov. Mark Dayton, include one of his senior staff, Michele Kelm-Helgen, as chairwoman. Former legislator and NFL player Duane Benson and Target real estate executive John Griffin rounded out Dayton’s appointees. Capella University executive Barbara Butts Williams, widow of another NFL player, and Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation president Bill McCarthy were selected by Minneapolis mayor R.T. Rybak.
The city of Minneapolis appointed a Stadium Implementation Committee to advise the MSFA on city related aspects of the project. They included:
Russ Adams — Executive director, Alliance for Metropolitan Stability
Hussein Ahmed — Executive director, West Bank Community Coalition
Tim Baylor — Developer, outgoing member of the Minnesota Sports Facilities Commission
Judith Yates Borger — Downtown East resident
Rolf Engh — Vice president and general counsel, Valspar
Chris Ferguson — Dairy Queen owner; member, Central Corridor’s Corridors of Opportunity Committee
David Fields — Community development coordinator, Elliot Park Neighborhood Association
Sarah Harris — Fomer Downtown Improvement District executive director
Clint Hewitt — Retired landscape architect, former University of Minnesota planner
Peggy Lucas — Developer, outgoing member of the Minnesota Sports Facilities Commission
Wade Luneburg — Secretary treasurer, UNITE-HERE Local 17
Peter McLaughlin — Hennepin County commissioner
Cory Merrifield — Founder, Save the Vikes
Tom Meyer — Architect, Downtown East resident
Cathy Rydell — Executive director, American Academy of Neurology
D. Craig Taylor — Executive director, U of M Office of Business & Community Development
The committee cancelled all future meetings following approval of the stadium proposal and a vote of support for a nearby developement in August, 2012.
What about the Target Center?
The authorizing legislation allows Minneapolis to use some of its tax proceeds — those not necessary to run the Convention Center or stadium bonds — to help fund a $100 to $122 million upgrade to Target Center. The balance is expected to be paid for by the building’s principal occupants, the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx, as well as AEG, the management company contracted to run the city-owned facility.
Where can I find the legal fine print?
The complete, 88-page bill, known as HF 2958 in the 2012 Legislative Session, is available here.
Who voted for and against this deal in the Legislature?
The key floor vote in the Minnesota House came on May 7, 2012, as 40 DFLers and 33 Republicans voted to approve the deal. There were 58 votes against. The roll call for the 80-50 vote on final passage in the Minnesota House is here.
The roll call for the 38-30 vote on the final version of the in the Minnesota Senate is here. The yes votes included 22 DFLers and 16 Republicans. No votes included 8 DFLers and 20 Republicans.
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Mark Harrison's blog
All entries for Tuesday 16 July 2013
Protectionism: A Fairy Tale of the State and War
Writing about web page http://www.pieria.co.uk/articles/in_defence_of_protectionism
On Pieria, John Aziz writes in defence of protectionism, that is, the use of taxes and subsidies to shield a country's economy from foreign competition. He begins from the Ricardian story of the benefits of two countries sharing the benefits of free trade based on comparative advantage.
England was good at producing wool, Portugal wine, so they trade and both are better off. There is the fairy tale about how because market transactions are always voluntary and always beneficial that trade, being simply a market transaction across borders, is always win-win.
But this, he says, is a "fairy tale." In real life, he argues, comparative advantage has little to do with resource endowments and is generally artificial. Comparative advantage may be part of the historical pattern, he concedes. But it misses something essential. What's missing? He goes on.
Let's imagine a model with two different goods, say, guns and butter. England specialises in producing guns and munitions, and Portugal in butter and agricultural produce. For years, they trade and enjoy the benefit of maximising output through specialisation. Then, England starts a trade dispute with Portugal. They cease trading. England loses access to butter and various agricultural products from Portugal's large population of butter-producing cows, having to replace Portuguese butter with lower-quality and higher-priced Welsh butter. Portugal, however, loses access to guns and munitions. Although this is immediately recognised as a risk to national security, and Portugal quickly tries to start up its own domestic firearms industry, the trade dispute escalates into full-blown war and with their geostrategic advantage in guns, England swiftly triumphs and occupies Portugal.
The implication is clear. Portugal should have insured itself against the contingency of conflict with England by limiting trade through protectionism. By means of an interventionist industrial policy, Portugal would have developed its own guns and could then have resisted England.
Several things are noteworthy about this argument.
First, it too is a fairy tale. As John Aziz rightly points out, there's nothing intrinsically wrong with that. All our models are fairy tales. The point is that some are useful and others not. How can we tell? We test them against stuff that has actually happened. If they survive the confrontation, then we can use them to suggest practical implications for the future. So, the fact that it's a fairy tale is of interest, but it's not a problem. Let's move on.
Next noteworthy point: Let's test this model against something that actually happened. Not literally, because England has not been to war with Portugal since long before gunpowder came along. Replace Portugal by Germany, however, and the fairy tale suddenly acquires an ominous ring of truth. Doesn't it have an uncanny fit with what happened in 1914?
No, not exactly. In 1914 Germany and Britain went to war. While Britain was the pioneer of free trade, Germany had practised protectionism since 1879. German tariffs limited trade and promoted self-sufficiency in both industrial and agricultural goods. In Britain, by contrast, free trade accelerated the decline of agriculture and maximized the exposure of the British economy to imports. In 1913 at least 60 percent of the calories used at home for human consumption were imported. Many observers thought that left Britain ridiculously vulnerable to wartime blockade. German naval strategists agreed. It's true that in World War I food became a weapon of war just as much as guns.
Yet in the outcome it was Germany, the protectionist power, that struggled to manage the wartime disruption of trade and saw civilians die of hunger, while the British got by without serious shortages.
What explains this turnaround? As Mançur Olson (1963) argued (and before him Friedrich Aeroboe), the German economy entered the war in 1914 already weakened by protectionism. Food tariffs had encouraged peasant farmers to stay on their farms. This kept a large subsistence agriculture in being and reduced productivity and incomes. Because German farmers were already well into diminishing returns it was then hard to increase output at need, when war broke out.
As for industry, because imports of food into Germany were restricted in peacetime and labour held back in agriculture, German urban employers faced higher wage costs. To compensate for higher wage costs, industrial firms economized on labour and pushed up productivity. But across the economy as a whole, efficiency and average incomes were reduced.
A history of protectionism gave no national advantage in either World War. I've argued (in several places; see Harrison 2012 for example) that the main factors that gave systematic advantage were a country's size and wealth, and the main source of disadvantage was a peasant-based agriculture.
In that case, what's protectionism all about? In understanding protectionism, redistribution is much more important than development. Whether tariffs and subsidies raise or lower long-run growth, in the short run they redistribute income away from consumers and exporters to import-competing firms, often by very large amounts. This should draw attention to their political significance. As Dani Rodrik (1995, p. 1470) once wrote:
Saying that trade policy exists because it serves to transfer income to favored groups is a bit like saying Sir Edmund Hillary climbed Mount Everest because he wanted to get some mountain air.
In history, protectionism has given politicians a powerful instrument to bind those "favored groups" into their projects. To Bismarck, protectionism was political: it brought together the interests of "iron and rye" to share rents and support Germany's "peaceful rise." Similar motivations lie behind most real-life experiments in protectionism that I am familiar with. The only real exception is the Soviet experience of autarkic industrialization; that was different because Stalin was an absolute dictator who ruled by fear and had no need to pay off campaign funders.
Modern promoters of the developmental state (including Dani Rodrik) could reply that they advocate only those selective interventions that are designed to improve social welfare, not corrupt the political process. That's an argument I understand, but it requires a benevolent, far-sighted government with the power to intervene and the self-restraint to do so only for the common good, not for the good of its supporters. That's a bit of a problem. I don't see a political system anywhere, short of totalitarian dictatorship, in which you could advance those policies and see them implemented without vested interests jumping on your bandwagon and hijacking it for their own purposes, which will have nothing to do with social welfare.
(It's ironic, then, that John Aziz lists "graft and corruption" as a problem of trade liberalization, because opportunities for corruption are created only where the government has something to withhold.)
The historical link between protectionism and aggressive nation building is strong. Using data for 1950 to 1992 Erik Gartzke (2007) has shown that restricting a country's trade and capital flows is a good predictor of its propensity to engage in conflict. From data for 1865 and 1914, Patrick McDonald and Kevin Sweeney (2007) have shown that protectionism was a robust precursor of engagement in "revisionist" wars.
John Aziz concludes with a warning:
China's monopoly on rare earth metals which have very many military applications may have national security implications for other nations including Britain and the United States whose ability to manufacture modern military equipment might be impeded by a trade breakdown.
Shouldn't we worry? Yes, but that's because we need to understand China, not because we should be preparing for war. Indeed, one of Mancur Olson's key conclusions was that it's a mistake to think of particular raw materials, and even oil or food, as in some way "strategic" or "essential." Only the final uses of resources are essential. In practice, if some particular material suddenly becomes scarce, the price goes up and and opportunities present themselves to economize at the margin or find alternative sources or substitutes.
The price goes up, it's true. In other words, the alternatives may be costly. But the richer you are, the more easily you can meet the cost. That's why rich countries survive trade disruption and win wars. As for protectionism, to the extent that it diverts resources from their best uses, it makes the country poorer in advance and so less able to afford the measures that might become necessary in a national emergency.
Which brings me to the last noteworthy point about the arguments that John Aziz makes: They have nothing to do with personal well being. As he correctly comments:
The relative value of outcomes is simply a matter of one's criteria.
In truth, the two fairy tales that he tells differ in addressing completely different criteria. The free-trade fairy tale always was and is about the personal welfare of all members of society. Here, society is global: when trade is free, all gain, not just the residents of one country. The protectionist fairy tale, in contrast, is about nation-building and facilitating conflict in a world where elite coalitions build states, states compete for power, and a gain for one country is a loss to others.
The world is a complicated place. In the same spirit as John Aziz when he notes that the free trade story has some merit, I'm going to accept that the unregulated interaction between real world economies sometimes creates losers. There have evidently been historical circumstances when protectionist policies accidentally did no harm, or even did good by accidentally correcting some market failure.
But the design of protectionism has generally been far more driven by vested interests and power building than by concern for social welfare. Those who enter themselves in the reckoning against free trade often rely on an idealized understanding of the record.
Gartzke, Erik. 2007. The Capitalist Peace. American Journal of Political Science 51:1, pp. 166-191.
Harrison, Mark. 2012. Pourquoi les riches ont gagné: Mobilisation et développement économique dans les deux guerres mondiales. In Deux guerres totales 1914-1918 − 1939-1945: La mobilisation de la nation, pp. 135-179. Edited by Dominique Barjot. Paris: Economica, 2012 (here's a preprint in English).
McDonald, Patrick J., and Kevin Sweeney. 2007. The Achilles’ Heel of Liberal IR Theory? Globalization and Conflict in the Pre-World War I Era. World Politics 59:3, pp. 370-403.
Olson, Mançur. 1963. The Economics of the Wartime Shortage: A History of British Food Supplies in the Napoleonic War and in World Wars I and II. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Rodrik, Dani. 1995. Political Economy of Trade Policy. In Handbook of International Economics, vol. 3, pp. 1457-1494. Edited by Gene Grossman and Kenneth Rogoff. Elsevier.
Mark Harrison : 16 Jul 2013 14:22 | Tags: Economics Germany Politics War | Comments (0) | Close comments | Report a problem
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I am a professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Warwick. I am also a research associate of Warwick’s Centre on Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy, and of the Centre for Russian, European, and Eurasian Studies at the University of Birmingham. My research is on Russian and international economic history; I am interested in economic aspects of bureaucracy, dictatorship, defence, and warfare. My most recent book is One Day We Will Live Without Fear: Everyday Lives Under the Soviet Police State (Hoover Institution Press, 2016).
Follow @mark4harrison
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Thanks! Yes, it's hard for people who didn't experience it to grasp what it was like to live in that… by Mark Harrison on this entry
Mark, Great account. Hitchhiking through Bulgaria in 66 did the same, or similar, to me. What an ext… by Mark Allen on this entry
Great blog as usual Mark. You always lay out the facts of the situation. by Thomas O'Malley on this entry
Mark, fascinating as always. As you clearly point out, restricted access to price–controlled goods a… by Saul Jacka on this entry
I asked a friend and colleague, Mark Kramer, to look at my column on McCarthyism and tell me what he… by Mark Harrison on this entry
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BLP Conversations series News
BLP Conversations: Tim Horvath & Mark Changizi
Understories
Welcome to the BLP Conversations series, featuring dialogues between people whose lifework, like BLP’s mission, explores the creative territory at the intersection of the arts and sciences, and has become a testament to how science and the humanities can join forces to educate and inspire. This online series is inspired by E.O. Wilson and Robert Hass, whose talk about the connections between science and the arts was published in our book The Poetic Species: A Conversation with Edward O. Wilson and Robert Hass.
In this conversation, Tim Horvath, author of the short story collection Understories, and Mark Changizi, a theoretical cognitive scientist, discuss the evolutionary science behind language and reading, while exploring the brain’s response to written language and music, and the potential for harnessing both in evocative fiction.
Tim Horvath: You’ve arrived at some provocative conclusions about language and reading—for those who aren’t familiar, could you summarize them?
Mark Changizi: The question is, how did we humans get so good at reading, when we know we didn’t evolve to read? In fact, we’re so good that aliens, were they to look down from space at us, might initially guess we evolved to read, even have instincts for reading. We’re amazingly good. It’s tremendously difficult to get computers to do it, yet kids learn very early with relatively little training. Reading pervades our lives. We have brain areas for it. But we know we didn’t evolve to read. It’s too recent. If writing looked like bar codes, for example, we’d never be able to learn to read. We’d be hundreds of times less proficient even at our best, and no one would bother with it.
TH: So something must be distinctive about how our brains interact with writing.
MC: The reason we can read so well—so well it looks like an instinct, the sort of brilliant competencies we find among instincts—is that writing has culturally evolved over time to look like something our visual system does have an instinct for. Namely, I’ve argued that writing has culturally evolved over time so that written words have the visual structure found in natural scenes (among opaque objects strewn about in three-dimensional environments).
By shaping themselves to look like nature, writing ends up harnessing—“nature-harnessing”— our visual object recognition brain areas for reading.
TH: Got it. And this is equally true of ideographic languages and alphabet-based languages? Or are they different?
MC: I have shown that the shapes found in writing—the sorts of contour-conglomerations found among both letters in alphabet-based languages like ours, and in logographic writing systems like Chinese—are the same shapes (contour-conglomeration types) found among opaque objects strewn about in 3-D environments. So, from your brain’s point of view, to first order, as it reads, it thinks it’s just looking out at natural scenes, and so is happy . . . and good at it.
TH: This might sound obtuse, but why, then, do so many students—or let’s broaden it to people—find reading challenging and even alienating?
MC: You don’t—I think—mean learning to read as a four-year-old. Rather, you mean that some older students just aren’t that into reading. I’m not sure, I’m afraid. Lots of diverse reasons, well beyond the design of writing, I’d guess.
TH: Fair enough. It would be an interesting thing to look at. Perhaps there are some “natural scenes” that are thorny and dense and off-putting, and others that are more inviting. And of course there are other factors—cultural and otherwise—that are playing a role, no doubt. Anyway, with music you seem to do something parallel to your take on writing, which is trying to suss out what we’ve harnessed from nature. I really like the idea of “nature’s phonemes.” Again, maybe you can sum up your theory for those who aren’t familiar.
MC: Music is something that is much more evocative than the look of writing or the sound of speech. It’s more like the evocativeness of colors. And for colors I’ve argued in my research that color vision for us primates evolved in order to detect the skin color modulations on faces and rumps, for blushes, blanches, etc. Color is evocative because color vision evolved to be about emotions.
So, when we find a thing like music that is so evocative, it makes one guess that the source of the stimulus is, to our brain, something evocative. And the most evocative thing to humans is . . . other humans. For color, it’s other human skin and the emotions it indicates. For music, I asked myself, it’s what?
TH: And the answer you wind up with is movement, yes?
MC: Yup. The thought has been out there since the Greeks that perhaps music sounds like movement in some sense. I wondered if one could make this case more fully. So, the idea here is to work out the physio-gait “grammatical” regularities found in the sounds of humans moving about—and then to see whether music over history has those peculiar regularities. That’s what I endeavor to do in Harnessed.
TH: Of course, we use the phrase “moved” by something to describe, almost invariably, feeling emotionally struck, rather than physically. “I was moved by your piece” doesn’t generally mean, “I was compelled to run out of the concert hall into traffic.” And given your idea, I wonder if it is only a metaphor.
MC: Being “moved” connotes being emotionally struck, indeed, but it does sometimes also connote actually being physically moved. The music coaxes me along, “forcing” my foot to tap, my body to sway. But in either case, the idea is that the music itself sounds, to your lower auditory system, like a person moving evocatively about in your proximity . . . doing something emotional, and emotionally affecting you by it.
TH: Yes, okay. I think the distinction between literal and metaphorical is readily broken down, and certainly one consequence of your work overall seems to be to, at the very least, complicate this division. In this instance, it seems to me that we’re still quite limited in our understanding of why we are moved by characters and situations in fiction. Why do we empathize; why do we find ourselves identifying with their travails, caught in their tragedies?
One way of looking at it might be that we feel the character as a presence. Or even the author. I know metafiction is often seen as sheer playfulness, but at times I think to feel the author unexpectedly looming over the page can be incredibly powerful. Rick Moody’s story “Demonology” serves as a great case of this. The story reads as a series of snapshots about the narrator’s sister, whose life is made tumultuous by her epilepsy, a family legacy of alcoholism, and a series of fractured relationships. At the end, the narrator asserts himself within the story, calling into question the ways he’s tried to do justice to her life and give it coherence, the ways in which his attempt inevitably falls short, and the competing responsibilities we face as storytellers and humans. Suddenly this new presence is there. And it is one of the most “moving” endings—in either sense—that I can imagine. Tim O’Brien’s The Things We Carried achieves something similar.
MC: Music is so moving—yes—because it brings a personality right into the room with you, “looming” all around you. The look of writing and the sounds of speech aren’t, I think, quite so moving. But I should mention how I think we got spoken language—how has it harnessed us? The idea is, again, that cultural evolution has over time created stimuli that harness some ancient instinctual competency we possess for processing some class of natural stimuli. Writing harnesses visual object recognition areas in your brain designed for processing natural scenes with opaque objects strewn about. Music harnesses auditory recognition areas designed for processing human movements and behaviors in your proximity. And, for spoken language, speech harnesses another auditory capability, auditory recognition areas designed for processing the sounds of events out in the world, namely the main furniture of the terrestrial world: events among solid objects. The idea for this speech-sounds-like-nature research is to work out the physical regularities found in the sounds of solid objects (just as one can work out the contour-conglomeration interactions among opaque objects for addressing writing), and then to ask whether these peculiar “grammatical” regularities are found in the sounds of speech. That’s the other case I make in Harnessed.
TH: And so the three basic speech sounds and their interactions correspond to three different speech phenomena, yes?
MC: Right. The atoms of solid-object event sounds are hits, slides, and rings. Objects can hit one another; they can slide against one another; and when either of those happen (hit or slide) the objects undergo periodic vibrations, or rings. Our brains have to be good at dealing with these three basic atoms of sound, because that’s the natural world. So, if speech wants to harness what we’re good at, it needs to build its sounds from these atoms. And, in fact, it does. Speech is built from plosives (t, d, p, b, k, g, etc.), fricatives (s, z, f, v, sh, etc.), and sonorants (a, e, i, o, u, y, l, r, etc.). And these sound just like hits, slides, and rings, respectively. But that’s just the bare beginnings. The idea is to work out how these sound-atoms among solid-object physical events interact, asking in each case if we find the same “interaction” or effect in language. I’ll leave that for the book!
TH: Great—this is very clear, though, as a cornerstone. It also has the effect of allowing us to see that language and music are forged from the same basic materials.
MC: Yes and no. Part of music consists of our “banging ganglies.” That is, our gait principally consists of our footsteps, which are hits. And when we walk there are often many other sounds time-locked to the steps, concerning heel, toe, arm-swings, and so on. These are all hit or slide related, and, of course, whenever there’s a hit or slide, the objects involved ring (whether audible or not). So, there are hits, slides, and rings in music. But there’s a lot more in music.
Part of the fundamental structure of music that makes music music is its pitch modulations—and also loudness modulations. And, although spoken language too has pitch and loudness modulations, I think that’s distinct from the solid-object-event structure driving the phonemic/morphemic sounds of speech.
TH: Yes, sure. I didn’t mean to imply that music was reducible to those three elements. And I think your book does a good job of honoring the complexities, the many dimensions of music. Part of the reason I am so sympathetic to this theory, though, is that I am most interested in literature that might be described as musical. Which is why I sent you that Gary Lutz essay “The Sentence is a Lonely Place,” which makes a strong case for that notion—the Gordon Lish school of attention to the sentence as something akin to a musical line.
MC: That Lutz essay is great, and I think it has convinced me that there is a lot more evocativeness in the sounds of speech (ahem, the sounds of solid-object-event sounds) than I have realized.
TH: So that Christine Schutt’s image of a house that is “tall and tallowy,” for instance, might be evocative within the larger context of the story, its plot and characters and so forth, but is surely enlisting—maybe even harnessing is the word—music to further those effects.
MC: I’m not sure I’d call it “musical.” Rather, I’d say that there’s something evocative about the solid-object-event associations those sounds make (whether or not—and probably, I think, not—they’re about a human mover).
TH: It seems to me that this is where literature is different from ordinary speech, though. Literature underscores that evocativeness, or concentrates it in a way that perhaps isn’t the case in ordinary speech—a version of what Ellen Dissanayake calls “making special.”
MC: My hope is that in better understanding the ecological meaning of these sounds—i.e. what your brain thinks it means, in terms of objects or events in the natural world—we can better understand why “tallowy” does what it does to us.
TH: Further, I guess I’m wondering if some of your principles of music, when you do strive for more elaborate explanations, could also apply to literature and to story.
MC: My own naive view had roughly been . . . the connotations of the letters or phonemes or sounds, and the prosody and intonation, matter for poetry, but not so much or literature, generally. Lutz makes me question that simple division more fully.
TH: Right! I know many prose writers—myself included—who read poetry voraciously in pursuit of those effects. It might be stretching it to suggest that something like “the Doppler effect” could apply on the scale of story, but I’ll throw it out there . . . we talk about “rising action,” for instance. Or “tension” and “resolution,” both of which have musical analogues that we experience immediately and viscerally. When you think of movement as musical and vice versa, maybe these narrative structures are related to the junction where music and movement meet.
MC: I hope so. I’ll have to think about the Doppler effect—for language, it reveals itself in the rising or falling intonation. Real world events have a rising pitch as they “aim” toward you, and then the pitch falls as they approach and go away. That’s why questions are often rising in pitch, because the event is not over. It’s waiting for the conclusion, which is always where the pitch falls again. For text, I’m not sure how one would pack all this intonation information in there. It could be that it’s piped in more subtly, from the pacing in some way.
TH: Yes, that’s right. I think writers find tricks and use techniques to approximate the “real world” using only the bare bones, i.e. printed language. I’d go so far as to say they might “harness” musical principles in order to accomplish that, if I may borrow your very useful word.
MC: I might start at something simpler than pitch. For example, why does simple rhyme feel the way it does? For two words that end in the same vowel sound—like “throw” and “blow”—we might ask what that “oh” sonorant sound means to your auditory system. These are rings, and in real life we recognize objects with our ears by what their ring sounds like. Your coffee mug’s ring when set down on a desk is quite different than your pen’s ring. The occurrence of the same “oh” sound, even when separated by several lines, suggests to your brain that it’s the same object involved, but now part of a different event. That’s why it feels like that—your brain says, “Oh, that’s that same object that got pinged a couple lines back. I know him!”
TH: Okay, that’s interesting. Part of why “tall and tallowy” might work is that we feel both that we are experiencing an echo, yet also being ushered into something new. Hence the same “object,” as it were, is being manipulated in an unusual way, exactly the type of event that might command our attention.
MC: But rhyme is only the simplest case. There’s so much rich ecological structure in words—or, that is, your brain is constantly trying to interpret what those sounds mean in terms of ecological structure in the world—and this occurs not just at the end of a word like in rhyme, but in alliteration, and so on. And, on “tall and tallowy,” yes, something like that. Each event begins with the same kind of hit, a “t.” But the after that there are differences, so either it’s a different object involved—because the “all” of “tall” is different than the “all” of “tallowy”—or something about the manner of its movement after being hit leads to a longer and more convoluted and extended ringy sound: “allowy.” In Harnessed I feel like I’ve only scratched the solid-object surface of the deep regularities that our brains know.
TH: Surely. But it’s an invigorating whirl around the frozen pond, as it were. Charles Baxter has an essay on “rhyming action” in fiction that seems pertinent here—the idea that those rhymes that resonate with us on the immediate line-by-line level might also operate on a larger scale as well. In the book, you look primarily at Western classical music with a side-trek into Finnish folk music. Do you have plans to examine other musical traditions?
MC: I don’t have such plans. Hopefully others will be motivated to do so. I tend to leave where I’ve peed. I don’t want to become a “supporter” of my old stuff. And my best chance at getting big new ideas is to remain aloof from my old haunts. I’ve moved on from these “harnessing” research directions. Since 2010 or so, I’ve been on to new things (e.g. why we get pruney fingers when wet, technology for seeing through skin, and I’m four years in on my work on a grand unified theory of emotions). I really do tend to not look back. Super-sneak preview on the emotion stuff: All I can say now is that I think I can derive, from first principles, the space, structure, and dynamics of the suite of emotions as we and other animals have them. But it’s still very much in progress.
The nice thing about leaving proper academia for my own 2AI Institute, and funding ourselves with a tech start-up, is that I can work on one big thing for four or more years. And I’m free to fail, which is still a real possibility with this new emotion work. My own philosophy on how to best be a scientist is that one has to remain aloof—from communities, for example, but also from specific research areas. To raise the chances that a single lone individual might actually find a big idea, one has to dig in many holes, over and over again. Dig one big hole one’s whole life and odds are nothing much will be there.
TH: Personally, I’m interested in exploring the music stuff more, especially as I’m working on a novel right now about composers and speech, which of course I’m striving to make musical.
MC: Wonderful! I suspect you’ll discover in this process new ways to harness us.
TH: Stepping back for a moment, how do you conceive of the relationship between the arts and sciences in general? Are there genuine tensions there, or is that idea a mere artifact of history and institutional traditions and ruts?
MC: Often this question ends up about whether science can ever come to understand the arts. But I think this misses the more important arrow here. It’s not about how science can illuminate the arts, but the other way around . . . science is simple. Experimentally, we’re ingenious in our controls, but even so the complexity of stimuli is ridiculously simple. The number of parameters that we can play with is only a handful at a time. If some fantastically complex stimulus turns out to hit some sweet spot for us, our careful lab manipulations won’t ever find it.
But artists can find and have found these sweet spots. Not any artist alone, necessarily. But together they act as a cultural evolutionary process that finds sweet spots of stimuli that evoke humans in some way, and in ways science would never find. It’s the arts that discovered music, not science. In this light, the arts is a massive laboratory experiment of sorts. Not well-controlled in the usual lab sense. But one capable, in a sense, of making scientific discoveries. This is why, in my own research, I often use massive amounts of artistic stimuli as data. What have these cultural-artistic tendencies discovered? What does it tell us about the brain, or about the innate mechanisms we possess?
Mark Changizi is a theoretical cognitive scientist at 2AI Institute, and author of three books including, most recently, Harnessed: How Language and Music Mimicked Nature and Transformed Ape to Man. He has published more than thirty scientific journal articles, some of which have been covered in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, and Wired. Currently, he is working on his fourth book, this one on emotions and facial expressions, called Making Faces: What Our Emotional Expressions Say, and How They Say It.
Tim Horvath is an associate editor for Camera Obscura Journal and teaches creative writing at New Hampshire Institute of Art and Boston’s Grub Street writing center. He has also worked part-time as a counselor in a psychiatric hospital, primarily with autistic children and adolescents. Understories, Horvath’s first collection of short fiction, includes the award-winning “Understory,” selected by Bill Henderson for the Raymond Carver Short Story Award, and “Circulation,” selected by Clark Blaise for the Society for the Study of the Short Story Prize. His stories have also appeared in Conjunctions, Fiction, Alimentum, Puerto del Sol, and elsewhere. He lives in New Hampshire with his wife and daughter.
Up next in the BLP Conversations series: Mary Cappello, author of the Los Angeles Times bestseller Awkward: A Detour, explores the divergence between literary and psychiatric narratives of disease with Dr. Christine Montross, a practicing psychiatrist and poet, and author of Falling Into the Fire: A Psychiatrist’s Encounters with the Mind in Crisis. (May 23, 2014)
Category: BLP Conversations series, News
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Home Improv for Kids/Winter Session Begins
Improv for Kids/Winter Session Begins
Improv for Kids
For ages 8-12
In this class, students will learn the basics of improv skills from developing strong characters, accepting and “Yes and” in a scene, and using their imagination to create improvisational scenes. Students will learn the who, where, and what in improvisational scenes as well as a sense of connections between character relationships and basic improv story concepts, including plot, problem, and solution. Students will play a variety of fun and fast-paced improv games, including Murder Mystery, Freeze, Styles, Moving People, Slide Show, Lines from the Audience, ABC game and more. Some games will be similar to games played on the popular show, Whose Line Is It Anyway.
Taught by Chris Martin who has directed over 30 youth productions in Asheville. He studied adult improv and he was part of an improv troupe called the Oxymorons for 3 years. He has taught youth improvisation and creative drama classes for students ages 4-16 for over 15 years. He is a local kindergarten teacher at Johnston Elementary School and he has taught elementary school for over 15 years, integrating creative drama and improvisation into his teaching. He currently directs A Gaggle of Giggles, his own Asheville youth improv troupe who perform at The Hop North once a month. He holds a Masters degree in Theatre Education and K-12 Theatre Arts Teaching Licensure from UNC-Greensboro.
January 16-March 5, 2016: Saturdays from 1:00-2:00 pm
The cost for the class is $100.00
At end of the class, students will perform an improv show in 35below.
Date & Time Jan 16, 2016 1:00 PM
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Liberia country programme projects
To achieve its goals, the Country Programme adopts a three-pronged approach that aligns activities at the neighbourhood, municipal and national government levels. In our experience, this is essential to foster a more coherent urban agenda focused on inclusive, pro-poor cities and achieve the SDGs, notably SDG 11.
The neighbourhood level
The Country Programme focuses on the urban poor. It builds their capacity to participate in national policy process, ensuring that they are recognised as a credible, constructive and effective development partners. It does this through:
Community profiling and mapping
Like too many African cities, Monrovia suffers from a significant data deficit that impedes informed planning. The act of registering and enumerating all household structures and businesses is not only a tangible step in the process of local government recognition and the building of an active citizenship, but also helps evidence-based decision making.
In partnership with the YMCA, Slum Dwellers International has worked with communities in Greater Monrovia to profile over 84 slum settlements. In the process, it has mobilised 179 saving groups with 4,973 registered members and trained over 1,212 slum dwellers in the profiling and mapping of communities.
Enumeration trainees have learned how to collect data on their settlements using various techniques, including digital coding of structures and households, questionnaires, and GPS to capture boundaries and service points. Communities can share this data with local authorities when calling for improvements in their living conditions and in identifying priority interventions.
Launching a national Urban Poor Federation
These federations enable communities to organise around activities such as savings groups, enumeration, and mapping and have a platform for collective action.
Through the Country Programme, two national organisations to support the urban poor have been launched: The Federation of Liberia Urban Poor Savers (FOLUPS) and Federation of Petty Traders and Informal Workers Union of Liberia (FEPTIWUL). Both these institutions have established working relationships with local government, which uses the data collected by slum dwellers to address key issues in the city. City officials have come to recognise and value the federations as a medium for discussions between slum settlements/informal workers and the city government and township commissioners.
Supporting the informal economy, especially petty traders
Petty traders in Monrovia have long complained of police harassment and its impact on their ability to earn a living, and addressing this issue was a priority for members of the Cities Alliance active within the Country Programme. WIEGO has been working with FEPTIWUL to negotiate improved working conditions with the city and national police, Ministry of Internal Affairs, and local government authorities.
In 2018, Monrovia City Corporation, the Liberian National Police, and FEPTIWUL are finalising a formal agreement that stipulates a mapped area for traders to tend their stalls and trade without harassment. This agreement is a clear sign of a new and positive approach from the city authorities towards the petty traders, viewing them as contributors to the economy rather than nuisances to be managed and moved on.
Community Upgrading Fund (CUF)
The Community Upgrading Fund is a key instrument in Cities Alliance Country Programmes, which is effective in distributing financing to communities for small infrastructure projects – essentially quick wins that promote rapid, visible progress while larger policy debates on the urban poor and city development are taking place. Communities choose the projects based on data collected through settlement profiling activities.
Over the life of the Country Programme, up to 30-40 projects are expected to be funded. There are currently 10 projects underway, ranging from school expansions and renovations, community meeting halls with toilet facilities, water points to connect communities to the Liberia Water and Sanitation Corporation services for pipe-borne water, as well as construction and renovation of latrines.
The municipal level
The municipal level is where the greatest impact can be achieved in addressing urban poor issues and changing interaction between citizens and the municipality. The municipality is the community’s key partner in resolving problems and unleashing creative energy. Activities at this level include:
The city development strategy for Greater Monrovia and a citywide forum
The Country Programme will ensure the production of a city development strategy (CDS) for Greater Monrovia, providing a long-term and strategic framework for the city and its citizens. It is an essential process and instrument that provides clarity and certainty to citizens and investors alike.
Citizens are closely involved in the CDS through city forums, which serve as an important platform for all stakeholders – organised urban poor, local and national government, service providers and the private sector – to meet, exchange views, debate priorities and agree on common actions. For the urban poor, these forums are a vital opportunity to be involved in city investment strategies and settlement plans.
The first Greater Monrovia City Forum was convened in 2017, and it established a consensus on a city development strategy process for the metropolitan area. It is expected to be an annual event, with outcomes feeding into the National Urban Forum.
Capacity building training on urban management and planning
The Country Programme provides support to address the technical gaps in urban planning and other priorities within the Greater Monrovia administration. The approach is to work with public administration and education institutions in Liberia in partnership with good practices, specifically from Ghana and Mozambique where the Cities Alliance has been active for many years.
Support for an association of local government for Liberia
With support provided through the Country programme, the Association of Mayors and Local Government Authorities of Liberia (AMLOGAL) was officially established on February 6, 2017 and launched on 29 June 2017. AMLOGAL is an initiative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, with support from United Cities and Local Governments of Africa and the Cities Alliance to support the Liberian government’s decentralisation programme. It provides training and capacity building to help prepare mayors and other local government officials to assume their new responsibilities under the draft Local Government Act.
The national level
Country Programme activities at the national and sub-national levels aim to help frame the vital enabling policy and planning environment that is essential for national development, part of which will be a resilient, inclusive urbanisation that benefits and recognises the urban poor. Activities include:
Establishment of a Slum Upgrading Unit within the National Housing Authority
A key goal of the Country Programme is to promote policies that support slum upgrading and affordable housing for low-income households. With guidance and advice provided by Habitat for Humanity through the Country Programme, the National Housing Authority established a Slum Upgrading Unit to guide work in slums, provide housing solutions to low-income families, and take the needs of the urban poor into consideration in national planning.
A National Urban Forum
Like its municipal-level counterpart, the National Urban Forum is the space for all urban stakeholders in Liberia – urban poor organisations, representatives of governmental and non-governmental institutions, academia, and the private sector, among others – to meet, discuss priorities, and develop a common vision for Liberia’s urban future. First launched in 2015, the National Urban Forum is providing a basis for the development of a National Urban Policy for Liberia, guided by UN-Habitat.
A Liberia National Urban Policy
A National Urban Policy is crucial to achieving inclusive economic growth and sustainable urban development. It defines a vision, guiding principles, and set of linked actions by national governments to realise the potential and to tackle the problems arising from rapid urbanisation. It is also a valuable tool to help a country implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and New Urban Agenda.
Through the Country Programme, UN-Habitat is facilitating the development of a National Urban Policy in partnership with the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The policy aims to integrate the urban economy into national development policies and help create the conditions for Liberia to achieve its long-term development goal of reaching middle-income status by 2030.
Liberia Home
Liberia Documents
Liberia News/Links
Country Programmes Home
www.afriquelocale.org/en
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My Cancer Story
Marilyn’s story of resilience
“I was the first person on the CT scanner, and I asked if I could autograph it.”
Marilyn Anderson, of Brownsmead, Oregon, was one of the first patients to receive radiation therapy at the new CMH-OHSU Knight Cancer Collaborative. She feels fortunate that the facility and radiation therapy are available close to home.
A lifetime of working a farm has shaped Marilyn Anderson’s outlook and made her resilient in the face of cancer.
In March 2016, Marilyn was in severe pain, so she went to the CMH emergency department. After running tests, the doctor determined that her pain was caused by shingles, but the tests also revealed another problem. Marilyn had ovarian cancer.
Over the next few months, she received chemotherapy treatment, which caused her hair to fall out, and she underwent surgery at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) to remove the cancer. Her outlook was good.
“I went to the surgeon at OHSU for my six-month follow-up, and they found a tumor. That was disappointing,” Marilyn says. Then she began a second round of chemotherapy, but it wasn’t shrinking the tumor.
“When they first started to talk about radiation, I thought ‘I can’t do that,’” Marilyn says. She imagined traveling to Longview or Portland for daily treatments for several weeks. “Of course I would have done it, but it would have been difficult.”
However, in early October 2017, Marilyn became one of the first people to receive radiation treatment at the new CMH–OHSU Knight Cancer Collaborative. “The day they opened, I was the first patient in the door,” she says.
“I was the first person on the CT scanner, and I asked if I could autograph it,” she says. “They said they didn’t think it was a good idea.”
Radiation oncologist Sahar Rosenbaum, MD, oversaw Marilyn’s radiation therapy. Dr. Rosenbaum encouraged Marilyn to be a “wimp” and call her on her cellphone whenever she needed to. After 14 treatments over the course of three weeks, Marilyn’s tumor shrank considerably.
Marilyn will take some time off from treatments before having another CT scan; “then we’re going to take it from there,” she says.
Marilyn’s take-things-as-they-come attitude comes from living on a farm in Brownsmead and raising beef cattle with her late husband for 60 years. “You do your very best and lots of bad things happen and lots of good things happen—and you just go on. There are no days off,” she says.
Marilyn also credits the people around her for making cancer treatment logistically and emotionally possible. “I don’t know how anyone does it alone,” she says. “I couldn’t have done it without my support network.”
Her support network includes family, friends and the Cancer Collaborative caregivers. Her sister-in-law has accompanied her to most of her appointments, and two out-of-town nieces have visited to help. “And all my friends, oh my gosh! They’ve all driven me places,” Marilyn says.
After two rounds of chemotherapy and one round of radiation, she’s also gotten to know many of the Cancer Collaborative caregivers. “They’re your nurses, but they’re also so supportive,” Marilyn says. “It was my home away from home….We are so fortunate to have the center and radiation here.”
Read more from the Winter 2018 issue of the CMH Health Compass.
News Archive Select Month July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 October 2015 July 2015 April 2015 January 2015 October 2014 July 2014 April 2014 January 2014 October 2013 July 2013 April 2013 October 2012 July 2012 April 2012 January 2012 October 2011 July 2011 April 2011
Media Contact: Felicia Struve, 503-338-4504
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sin city 2
Link Ink: Friday, April 25 2014
Hit the jump for all of Friday's links.
'Frank Miller's Big Damn Sin City' To Collect All Seven Stories In One Massive Hardcover
If you were hoping to catch up on Frank Miller's Sin City before the next movie, Sin City 2: A Dame To Kill For hits theaters August 22, Dark Horse has got you covered.
On June 25, the publisher is releasing a 1,344-page hardcover collection of all seven Sin City stories so far--The Hard Goodbye, A D…
Matt D. Wilson
Parting Shot: Marv’s Approval Rating Is Way Down In This Mashup Of ‘Sin City’ And ‘The Sim…
This one falls squarely into the "I can't believe no one did this sooner" department. With Sin City 2 set to arrive in theaters later this year and Maxis Studios releasing the new SimCity game next month, a video mashup of the two properties was almost inevitable, and the folk…
Eva Green Is A Dame To Kill For In ‘Sin City’ Sequel
Perhaps best known for her role as Vesper Lynd in the 2006 James Bond film Casino Royale, French actress and supermodel Eva Green has been cast to play the titular Ava Lord in Sin City: A Dame To Kill For. Based on the classic graphic novel by Frank Miller, the film is a sequel to the 2005 Sin City …
Andy Khouri
Robert Rodriguez Teases Cast and Format of ‘Sin City: A Dame to Kill For’
Just a week after Robert Rodriguez confirmed that he and Frank Miller would finally re-team for a second Sin City movie, the director has been talking about what to expect from A Dame To Kill For, including the structure, the actors who'll return for a second outing, and why it's taken so …
‘Sin City 2′ is Now ‘Sin City: A Dame to Kill For,’ Will Begin Shooting This Summer
Sin City fans waiting for a followup to Robert Rodriguez's 2005 live action adaptation of Frank Miller's acclaimed crime comic can officially activate their impatience engines. Rodriguez has officially confirmed -- after kind of speculating during SXSW -- that Sin City 2 a...
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Church Concert or Leading Worship for Sunday Service
Brothers and Sisters In Christ
...more about Chelsea Musick
Yes, Musick, that's her real last name -pronounced, "music". She's been singing since the age of 2 years old. Maybe, that has something to do with being born in Tennessee. Chelsea had her first TV debut on the Philadelphia TV Show AL Alberts. She appeared on the show as a “teeny bobber.” Chelsea said, “ I still remember it like yesterday even though I was
only 5 years old, I was so nervous.”
Chelsea went on to sing the National Anthem for the Veterans since the age of 5 years old. She sung for Veteran's Day, Major Events, including the Philadelphia 76ers, Camden Riversharks and the past 3 Governor's Inaugurations Ceremonies and many others. Chelsea does not take for granted what the National Anthem means when singing. Why?
The Military and the Veterans are reallyspecial to her. Her father is one of them. He was in the 101st Airborne Division, stationed on the Ft. Campbell Base. Her father spent 10 months in the The First Gulf War on the Iraq/Saudi desert border. "I look and see the tears in the faces of the Veterans, soldiers, and the crowd. I respect and appreciate all that these men and women have done and continue to do for the Country.” Now my brothers follow in his footsteps and both serve in the US ARMY.
In 2002, at the tender age of 9 years old, Chelsea was selected to compete on America's Most Talented Kid on NBC. She was one of 9 children in her age group selected out of thousands of hopefuls across the country to go on the TV Show. Chelsea made it through to the finals on the show. Although she did not win the entire show, she states the "I am grateful and blessed to have the amazing opportunity to travel to the West Coast and be chosen to be a part of the show. I was able to see Hollywood, City Walk, and go to Universal Studios. I had so much fun.” After the show, Chelsea was given a guitar by the members of The American Legion Post 252. She was thankful for the love and support. She went on to learn to play the guitar.
In 2006, at the age of 13, Chelsea co-wrote “I Wish You Were Here” with two songwriters from Nashville. This song was heard by a producer and was chosen to be included on a charity project called Songs for the Cure. Chelsea donated and gave All proceeds 100% from her song to the charity to continue the fight against cancer.
Cancer, this topic is dear and personal to her heart. Chelsea’s grandmother battled and lost her fight with Stage IV Lung cancer. Over the years, Chelsea has had the honor and privilege of getting to know many others, adults and children battling cancer.
Chelsea’s last song track 10 - “SOMEDAY,” on her latest CD - Perfectly You , emotes and delivers a powerful message about losing someone close to you and holding on faith of seeing them again someday.
Chelsea continues to give back to various organizations to support causes that are close to her heart. Chelsea has performed over the years for Relay for Life,The Christian Women’s Group, and many other various charities.
In 2009, Chelsea at age 16, worked with iShine ministries. She was cast as an actress on the World WIde TV Show iShine Knect on TBN, DayStarTV and Smile of a Child Networks. She also toured with iShine on the National iShine tour around the country. “I was blessed with an amazing opportunity to work along side of great talent.” Chelsea also has had the amazing opportunity to perform and open in concert for many people/functions including Main Stage of CreationFest, Skillet, News Boys, Family Force 5, Mark Wills, LoneStar, Sara Evans, Jason Michael Carol, Sarah Buxton, The Lost Trailers, Gloriana, National Tour to 43 city churches, various Veteran affairs, festivals, fairs, sporting events and much more... Chelsea still continues to tour the country.
In August 2011, Chelsea was selected to audition in front of the 4 judges for the new TV show "The X-FACTOR." She was given 4 "YES' from ALL the judges including Simon. Chelsea had the opportunity to go California for "Boot Camp Week." Chelsea made it to the Top 23 Girls in the country. While waiting on stage for the final cut from Simon, Chelsea stated, “I had an overwhelming presence from God letting me know that I wouldn't move forward.” Chelsea stated, “At that moment, I knew God had bigger plans for me. I was not upset when I was cut, instead I smiled, then I wiped the tears from the other X-Factor hopefuls that were crying when they were cut. I think they wanted me to cry but I wasn’t sad, I was actually happy and relieved. I wanted to really record this CD that I have been writing for the past year. I have a mission and positive message I want to spread."
... Chelsea recorded her Sophomore CD, " Perfectly You," with music producer, Conrad Johnson. Conrad was the former member of the CCM pop/rock duo, Chris and Conrad. From 2007-2010, he has toured extensively throughout the US performing in front of thousands and has charted on Billboard. Their first single “Lead Me To The Cross” peaking at #3 on the Hot AC Christian chart and their single “You’re The One” at #26 also on the Billboard Hot AC Christian chart. He has been producing artists on and off the road since 2005.
Chelsea has a gift of writing and singing that touches deep within the soul. She sings her songs and delivers them with conviction. Her CD is more that just a CD. Chelsea wrote or co-wrote every song on the album. Chelsea’s vision and a mission for her CD, states Chelsea, “ I wrote my new songs for a purpose to connect with many issues we all face everyday. These songs are going to be an instrument to help talk about purity, anti-bullying, faith, and many more topics. Chelsea's mission to "Inspire a Valued Generation to Be Bold In Faith.
Staying true to her calling, Chelsea would like to be able to go into churches, youth groups, schools, festival, fairs...and other events.
Chelsea states, “I want to discuss and dig deep about today's challenges. I want to be a mentor, a friend, and someone that can relate and connect on a personal level.”
Chelsea with all that under her belt still remains humble and grateful for the opportunities she has been given throughout the years. She is well on her way to do amazing things. She gives all she can to her fans, she stay late to meet and great all her fans after a show. Chelsea continues to try and be as creative as possible. She said “I even has started writing songs for the next CD, which is a long way away”, laughs Chelsea.
All Images & Content © 2007-2015 Chelsea Musick. All Rights Reserved
Live It Right 1:29
Perfectly You 3:08
I'm Right Here 1:26
Keep Your Pants On 0:56
All I Need 1:26
Stay True Be You 3:47
I'm Yours 1:10
When You Do This To Me 1:33
Give It Up 1:08
Someday 1:24
What About Me 4:56
Perfectly You- Clip (2012 Perfectly You Album) 1:03
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Loftus-Cheek Refuses To Rule Out Return To Crystal Palace
Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek is not ruling out a return to Crystal Palace in the future.
The 22-year-old spent last season on loan at Selhurst Park, and when asked if he would consider a second spell with the Eagles, he said:
“Possibly but it is still far away – there are still a lot of games to play and I just have to see what happens. Right now I am at Chelsea and my focus is at Chelsea and learning at Chelsea. That is in the future and we will deal with that when it comes.”
Loftus-Cheek has a number of midfielders ahead of him in the pecking order at Stamford Bridge. In addition to the likes of Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic who joined in the summer, there is also N’Golo Kante and Ross Barkley to contend with, while Cesc Fabregas is yet to return from injury.
Maurizio Sarri has not given the England international a start yet, and it seems that the midfielder will not be given more opportunities by the Italian until he learns the manager’s tactics.
Loftus-Cheek also said he was hopeful of getting more game time as the fixtures begin to stack up over the coming weeks and months, but it’s likely his run outs will be restricted to cup competitions, going by the lack of minutes he has been afforded in the first four league games.
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Aging as a Spiritual Practice
Monday, 04 March 20191:21 PM(View: 463)
Lewis Richmond
Aging with Spiritual Practice
An Interview with Lewis Richmond
A student once asked Shunryu Suzuki, “Why do we meditate?” “So you can enjoy your old age,” the Zen master answered.
In his 20s when he listened to the exchange, Lewis Richmond, Soto Zen Priest in Suzuki Roshi’s lineage, has had plenty of time to reflect on his teacher’s answer since. “It’s taken me a long time to get past the surface of that answer. I’m now pretty much the age he was when he said that, and it ain’t easy getting old!”
Yet in his most recent book, Aging as a Spiritual Practice, Richmond sees in aging great opportunities for spiritual growth. In this interview, conducted at Richmond’s home in Mill Valley, California, I sat down with him to discuss the opportunities and insights aging offers.
—James Shaheen
When asked about the aging process by The New York Times last year, Woody Allen answered, “Well, I’m against it. I think it has nothing to recommend it. You don’t gain any wisdom as the years go by. You fall apart, is what happens. People try and put a nice varnish on it, and say, ‘Well, you mellow. You come to understand life and accept things.’ But you’d trade all that for being 35 again.” Funny, but is he right? Well, I have tremendous admiration for Woody. I’ve laughed at all of his movies. But I don’t agree. Physically of course you do slowly deteriorate, but there is a deeper point about aging.
But isn’t this the prevalent view? I think we have to distinguish between the prevalent media view and the private experience. Certainly, ours is a youth culture and a consumer-driven culture, and advertising targets young people, period. But if you talk candidly to older people, I think they have an intimation that there’s something precious and new about growing old. They’re not quite sure what it is or how to get there. And I dare say if I could sit down with Woody and be more serious, I could probably get him to agree, too.
It’s helpful to take a more balanced view. Yes, there are all of the indignities of aging. But there are also gifts that come with age. Would I trade my life now for being 35? Of course it’s a silly question, really. We are who we are, but I would trade my body! [Laughs.] Anybody would, you know? But I don’t think anybody would trade their mind. I think that life is cumulative, and if I look at who I was at 35, it’s clear I know more now. I’m a deeper person. I have a deeper appreciation of other people. I’ve just lived a life—a full life. So that’s how I look at it, and that’s how I open the book. There’s a whole adventure waiting to open up for people who are aging, but they do have to get through that “I wish I were younger” phase.
In your book you write that “not only is aging an ideal time for the cultivation of the inner life, but it’s also itself a doorway to spiritual practice, regardless of spiritual faith.” Can you talk a little bit about how aging itself can be a doorway to spiritual practice? There’s some point in your life, early or late, when it hits you that you and everybody else that you care about and love are not going to be here eventually, so now what? That’s the gate. And when you’re at that gate, life changes on you. It has a different coloration. It’s more precious. It’s more serious. You feel a loss of innocence. You say, “Gee, I’d like to go back to being 15,” you know, where you didn’t have to think about this stuff. But you’re at that gate, and really the choice at that point is, do you go through the gate and really see that as an opportunity, or do you just rent some videos and pop some popcorn, or whatever? A lot of us nowadays will live to be 90, so part of the gate is, “Yeah, I’m getting old and I’ve got a lot of time left, so what am I going to do?” Play golf?
If your knees hold up. Yeah, if your knees hold up. [Laughs.]
And if they don’t? Either way, the gate to spiritual practice begins with the visceral insight that everything is going to vanish, including me.
When asked what the gist of Buddhism was, your teacher, Suzuki Roshi, answered, “Everything changes.” That’s it in a nutshell. We all know that everything changes, but usually it’s just intellectual knowledge, and you make a distinction here between knowing it and really knowing it. That’s right. Until I had cancer at 35, impermanence was just an intellectual truth. Aging and Buddhism start in the same place, really. The penny dropped for me when it went from “Everything changes” to “Everything disappears” [laughs], which is a lot more serious, especially when it’s you, and, in my case, when you have a nine-year-old son. It hits you like a ton of bricks. I was very lucky, I had a curable form of cancer. For a lot of people, the knowledge first comes when their parents fall ill, especially when it means getting them into skilled nursing, or going back home to deal with the house or deal with doctors. It’s one step removed, but people in my meditation group, in their 30s and 40s, are going through this with their parents, and it’s the same kind of experience, whether it’s happening to you directly or to somebody you love. It becomes experiential, as it was for Siddhartha when he walked out of the palace and actually saw old people. There’s some point when you really see it, as opposed to, “Oh, yeah. That person’s old.” He really saw it. It’s like, “Holy cow. I’m going to be that way, too. All my privilege isn’t going to help me.” And that was his starting point. I think that’s true for everybody. That’s a universal story. We all walk out of the palace of youthful innocence at some point, and we actually see what’s going on. That’s the Buddhist story. It’s our story.
How does meditation help us deal with old age? Well, meditation helps because it grounds you in your experience at this moment, continuously. It’s what I call in the book “Vertical Time.” You’re just here. You’re actually just here. Over time, if you meditate regularly and go to retreats, that’s kind of one of the deepest transformations and lessons. It changes your brain, really. You start to have that sense of being here and being rooted in what’s going on right now as your primary reality, rather than, “I wish I had done this when I was younger,” or “What’s going to happen in five years?” All that mental static is why we can’t enjoy our old age. There is a lot more static of regret and worry as you get older; that’s why meditation practice can really help.
Regret? Yes. People spend a lot of time thinking about what could have been. “Gee, I never got that Nobel Prize,” and so forth. They think a lot about what’s coming, and without a meditation practice, it’s difficult to accept those mind states. When you’re meditating, you still have those thoughts, but there’s something else that releases you from being afflicted by it. Suzuki Roshi once said that we meditate to enjoy our old age. I think that statement, succinct though it might have been, was a straightforward response from his own personal experience. When he said it, he was already ill, and I think he was actually finding a way to continue to enjoy his life even so. And given that he died a couple of years later, he might have had an intimation that his time was limited, and so for him to say what he said was actually pretty serious. Since we were mostly in our 20s and 30s when he said it, it was a time capsule for most of the people who were there, including me. I had to revisit that statement when I was much older and look at it differently.
How does your practice change as you get older? Well, about half of my sangha sits in chairs. I don’t, because I’ve been lucky with my knees, but I’ve had some hits to my body, so I can’t sit the way I sat in my 20s. That’s one of the things that changes. When you’re younger, it feels heroic to sit, and the Buddha’s own life story is a kind of hero myth—a masculine hero myth. It’s what men imagine that they do in their life—vanquish obstacles. They go up against the enemy and they prevail—take a scalp, attain enlightenment, whatever it might be. I’ve been meditating since I was a teenager, for almost 50 years. There’s not a sense of striving or gaining in the way that there used to be. There’s much more a sense of surrender and just resting. The second thing is, when you’re older, you’re much more likely to have in your own life, or in the life of people you know, real problems, serious problems, intractable problems. So I think that meditation has a lot more serious material, there’s a lot more to grab onto. You don’t need to be sitting there, wondering, “Why am I doing this?” Or, “What’s it going to get me?” It’s right in front of you, you can see clearly what it’s there for.
What is it there for? Well, I think when you’re young—and I think a lot of people in the dharma world may still feel this—meditation is about arriving at some transformative experience that’s going to make your life very different. By the time you’re older, you may have had experiences like that and discovered that it doesn’t change your life in quite the way you thought. In fact, in some ways, I think speaking very honestly, opening up in that way makes your life more difficult, because you’re seeing things as they really are, and things as they really are, are not so wonderful, actually. And you have more of a sense of responsibility to have to do something about this, just like the Buddha. After his enlightenment, he felt, “I can’t possibly express this.” And in the myth, Brahma and the other gods came down and said, “No, you’ve got to teach. You’ve got to come down off the mountain. You’ve got to help people.” And so he did.
We go through a stage where we think meditation is going to be some kind of panacea. I wrote recently on the Huffington Post about some of my 50-year lessons of dharma, and one of them is, “Meditation’s not good for everything.” And it’s probably not really good for making your life wonderful.
What’s it good for? It’s good for knowing what’s real and what isn’t, and that takes time to emerge. There’s a tremendous actual liberation in knowing what’s real, and increasingly you can discern that in situations, through your meditation, “Well, this is just my stuff.” Or, “This is solid. This is real.” And you start to have that discernment. That’s really useful. That can make a big difference in your life. So I’d say that’s what it’s really for, but I think it was Jack Kornfield who said that—and other teachers have said this, too—“Motivation is never pure.” People come to practice for all kinds of reasons. In the end it doesn’t matter what their motivation is, as long as they stick with it. Eventually, they’ll get there.
You do write about regrets—the sense you might have done things differently. But regrets are interesting because one way to respond to them is to ask, how could it have been otherwise? Could it really have been otherwise? No, it’s what happened, and that’s the inner teaching of regret. Regret is the ego trying to distort what is unchangeable, and we have various words for how that happens. One of them is denial, which is very powerful. Research shows that it is largely neurological. The neural circuits simply don’t fire. The brain arranges to protect you from the pain; it’s like you literally can’t get there, and you arrange not to get there in terms of remembering, but I think transforming regret into appreciation is one of the main values of meditation. You asked about it earlier. That’s one of the main things that happens because when you meditate, regret starts to surface and you start to think about your life. Meditation neutralizes denial after a while and opens up the circuits and things start to flow in, and then you begin to realize that regret is a distortion of what’s real. What’s real is that this is your life, and it happened, and there’s no going back. There’s only altering your attitude and perception about it so that you can go forward. So I think that regret looks like one of aging’s challenges, but actually it’s also an opportunity. It’s the two sides of that gate.
Source: Tricyle
Meditation Guide - Appreciating Life
Friday, 21 June 20199:47 AM(View: 99)
Dr. Alexander Berzin
Rejoice at being free to work on improving yourself, to get over self-pity.
Finding Inner Peace and Fulfillment
Inner peace is related to mental calmness. Physical experience doesn’t necessarily determine our mental peace. If we have mental peace, then the physical level is not so important.
What the living can learn from the dying
Tuesday, 07 May 201910:15 AM(View: 230)
Sean Illing
“When we come close to the end of our life, what’s really important makes itself known.”...Dying can teach us to appreciate that everything is always changing...
How Buddhism Benefits Mental Health
Friday, 03 May 20192:48 PM(View: 258)
Laura Greenstein
"Buddhism gives a person a feeling like being a wave in the ocean rather than feel like one's life is an isolated phenomenon,”
LỜI HAY
Thursday, 28 March 20194:03 PM(View: 442)
Daniel Lopez de Medrano
The Year of Conquering Negative Thinking
Lesley Alderman
New Year’s challenge for the mind: Make this the year that you quiet all those negative thoughts swirling around your brain...[New York Times]
7 Secrets to Clear Your Mind Cleaning
Sunday, 10 March 20193:53 PM(View: 471)
Pyschology-spot.com
Cleaning consciously your home can be an opportunity to clear your mind, strengthen your concentration, meditate while moving with a mindfulness attitude and even grow spiritually. How to clear your mind cleaning?
Dealing With Anger (for Teens)
Sunday, 10 March 20198:59 AM(View: 460)
kidhealth.org
Anger is a strong emotion. It can feel overwhelming at times. Learning how to deal with strong emotions — without losing control — is part of becoming more mature. It takes a little effort, a little practice, and a little patience, but you can get there if you want to.
5 Life-Changing Principles Of Buddhism
Tuesday, 05 March 20191:03 PM(View: 498)
Matt Caron
For people .who have been raised in religions other than Buddhism, you’ll know that once you adopt this way of life, everything changes..
Transforming Adverse Conditions
Wednesday, 27 February 20192:05 PM(View: 485)
Geshe Kelsang Gyato
For as long as our good feelings for others are conditional upon their treating us well, our love will be weak and unstable and we shall not be able to transform it into universal love.
We are who we are, but I would trade my body! [Laughs.] Anybody would, you know? But I don’t think anybody would trade their mind. I think that life is cumulative...
Happiness and Wellbeing for Teenagers
Happiness and wellbeing are related, but they’re not the same thing. There are no clearly defined links between them. Teenagers can be happy because of some of the things that make up wellbeing, but they don’t need all these things to be happy.
How to Support Your Teen’s Meditation Practice
Wendy Joan Biddlecombe Agsar
Psychotherapist and mindfulness teacher Gina Biegel explains what practices work best with young adults (and if you should even try to make them put down their smartphone).
How to Be Your Teens' Friend... and still be a Parent
Mary Garner Ganske
Want to friend your teens? No, not on Facebook, but in real life. The good news is that by following a few rules, you can be your kids' BFF — and still be an awesome parent.
Top 5 Ways to Stay Calm and Reduce Stress
Are you looking for more calm satisfying experience with you daily life?
Happiness is All in Your Mind
Gen Kelsang Nyema
Simple, profound truths are the realm of this Buddhist nun. Her message? The gift of happiness truly lies within our own hearts and minds...
Dealing with Difficult People: 5 Effective, Compassionate Practices
Elizabeth Young
“Whatever you fight, you strengthen, and what you resist, persists.” ~Eckhart Tolle
Looking into Laziness
Rather than feeling discouraged by laziness, we could get to know laziness profoundly. This very moment of laziness becomes our personal teacher.
The Nature of Reality: A Dialogue Between a Buddhist Scholar and a Theoretical Physicist
Alan Wallace, a world-renowned author and Buddhist scholar trained by the Dalai Lama, and Sean Carroll, a world-renowned theoretical physicist and best-selling author, discuss the nature of reality from spiritual and scientific viewpoints. Their dialogue is mediated by theoretical physicist and author Marcelo Gleiser, director of Dartmouth’s Institute for Cross-Disciplinary Engagement.
The Causes of Anxiety and Suffering
Mingyur Rinpoche
Mingyur Rinpoche talks about the panic attacks that he experienced as a child and how he used compassion and calm-abiding meditation to free himself from anxiety.
MEDITATION GUIDE
Daniel López de Medrano
5 Steps to Making Meditation a Daily Habit
Matt Valentine
What Happens In Our Brain When We Practice Mindfulness?
Juliet Adams
Alexander Berzin
Meditation for Busy People
Dr. Alan Wallace
TOTAL RELAXATION MEDITATION
Sr. Châu Nghiêm
Meditation in Action
The Path of a Person of Initial Scope
Geshe Kelsang Gyatso
Meditation: The Most Fundamental Habit
Leo Babauta
Dealing with Fear
SUTRA TEXT
Shurangama Sutra
Master Hua
The Diamond of Perfect Widsom Sutra
Chung Tai Translation Committee
The Heart of Prajna Paramita Sutra
Master Hsüan
ZEN COMICS
ZENTOONS MOMENT
Three Perspectives on Time
In 2018, the future will be both present and projected from the past at the Rubin Museum of Art, with a new exhibition that tells the story of the legendary Indian master Padmasambhava...
The Great Buddha and Kotoku-in
The statue commonly known as Kamakura Daibutsu (Great Buddha of Kamakura), a colossal copper image of Amida-butsu (Amitabha Buddha), is the principle image of Kotoku-in.
Chestnuts Oyster Mushroom Konnyaku
Seaweed Tofu Wrap
Braised Sea Cucumber
Cucumber and Veggie Chicken Cold Dish
Coconut Pandan Layered Pudding
Ginger Tofu Wrap
Five Spice Eggplants
Napa Cabbage Wrap with Sauce
Thư Mời Tham Dự Đại Lế Phật Đản 2019
Chứng Đạo Ca
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The Woman Next Door
CRITIC'S REVIEW
Kwanele Sosibo
Source: Mail & Guardian
Yewande Omotoso’s second novel, The Woman Next Door, has just come out. But instead of basking in the sunlight of accomplishment, she is busy disentangling her third work, tentatively titled Sleeping Not Dreaming.
Omotoso, a Johannesburg-based architect, says Sleeping Not Dreaming is about what she likes to think of as an exploded family. “I wanted to deal with motherhood. We don’t have a lot of room for robust ideas about what mothers are,” she says. “In society mothers are kind and loving. We don’t have a lot of room for jealous mothers, rageful mothers, depressed mothers.
“We label that as bad mothering instead of allowing motherhood to encompass the range of human emotions, so I want to talk about that.” This is a theme that is also present in The Woman Next Door.
Although not a mother herself, Omotoso says she has been thinking about motherhood because a lot of her friends have started having children.
“How I’ve worked in my previous two novels is that I have things that preoccupy me,” she says. “Even if there’s politics I want to take it to the intimate spaces as opposed to officialdom.” The Woman Next Door does well to collate her multiple concerns into a witty and emotive read. Two characters, Hortensia James and Marion Agostino, drive the story. The blurb at the back of the book glibly says: “Hortensia and Marion are neighbours. On ...
Read Full Review At: Mail & Guardian
“How I’ve worked in my previous two novels is that I have things that preoccupy me,” she says. “Even if there’s politics I want to take it to the intimate spaces as opposed to officialdom.” The Woman Next Door does well to collate her multiple concerns into a witty and emotive read. Two characters, Hortensia James and Marion Agostino, drive the story. The blurb at the back of the book glibly says: “Hortensia and Marion are neighbours. One is black, one white.”
Although one might expect a litany of clichés, Omotoso’s erudite writing and nuanced characters sidestep the pitfalls suggested by the billing. Another concern Omotoso excised through the process of writing The Woman Next Door is what she calls the civility contract that Hortensia and Marion opted out of.
The two are consumed by bitterness, which initially seems only rooted in race, until one journeys with them a little bit further. The attributes of misery and oppression can manifest in people’s body language or the way eye contact is held. These are brought to bear on several characters, such as Bassey and Agnes, Hortensia and Marion’s respective domestics, with effective minimalism.
There are layers of Cape Town’s haunted past and unresolved present, not to mention the shame and culpability of every person who claims never to have supported apartheid. “Part of the joys of reading is knowing that the writer has left some room,” says Omotoso. She takes issue with the suggestion that her pacing between books (Bom Boy was published in 2011) is thanks to the luxury of having another professional career.
“I don’t deliberately take long, I take as long as the book takes to finish,” she says. “Some people take five or 10 years. And again I wouldn’t call it luxury. I would call it a level of rigour. It’s just the things one deals with in writing a book. Some take years to research.”
Omotoso says although she did a fair amount of research for The Woman Next Door, she operates very much in the subconscious. “A lot of creativity bubbles from those spaces,” she says. “I’m not someone who plots meticulously but I do do my interviews as well.”
Omotoso’s training as an architect is evident in the book’s premise. Hortensia and Marion’s coldness is played out behind closed doors, so to speak. Their moments of introspection and their eventual attempts at redemption play out in the richly textured descriptions of their living spaces.
Although Omotoso deals with quintessentially South African issues, reappropriation of wealth, old money, patriarchy and class, the ruminative nature of her writing means that, for the most part, she avoids didacticism. “One of my continual experiences of Cape Town as a black woman is to be in spaces like this [suburban spaces] and be in the minority,” she says. “There must be some reason that this has shifted very slowly in Cape Town.
In literature and in the stories I write I’m interested in looking at why that is.” In this sense, The Woman Next Door is a timely book. The ghosts of Cape Town are not going away. They need more Hortensias to disrupt the senility of its estates built on the backs of black labour. The Hortensias who have usurped these spaces and the privileges they embody also need to check their own complicity.
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You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘Alice in Wonderland’ tag.
La-La Land Records: Batman Returns, Jade, & Haunted Honeymoon
December 15, 2010 in Soundtracks | Tags: Alice in Wonderland, Aliens, Apollo 13, Avatar, Balto, Batman, Batman Returns, Blazing Saddles, Casper Braveheart, Chazz Palminteri, Clue, composer, Dan Goldwasser, Daniel Schweiger, Danny DeVito, Danny Elfman, David C. Fein, David Caruso, Dom DeLuise, Gene Wilder, Gilda Radner, Glory, Gotham City, Haunted Honeymoon, Jade, James Horner, James Nelson, John Morris, John Takis, Jumanji, La-La Land Records, Limited Edition Cd, Linda Fiorentino, London Symphony Orchestra, Loreena McKennitt, Mark Banning, Mars Attacks, Michael Keaton, Michelle Pfeiffer, Mike Mastessino, MV Gerhard, Neil S. Bulk, Orion Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Shawn Murphy, Tim Burton, Titanic, Wanted, Warner Bros., William Friedkin, Young Frankenstein | 1 comment
We’ve got three new CDs from La-La Land Records heading your way!
First up is the next edition in La-La Land’s Expanded Archival Collection, lets all return to Gotham for this two disc remastered and expanded presentation of Danny Elfman’s magnificent score to the 1992 Warner Bros. motion picture blockbuster Batman Returns, starring Michael Keaton, Michelle Pfeiffer and Danny DeVito, and directed by Tim Burton. Composer Danny Elfman (Batman, Mars Attacks, Wanted, Alice in Wonderland) revisits his iconic theme and expertly weaves it into a sumptuous musical experience, bringing to life the film’s breathtaking action and rich emotional and psychological underpinnings. Produced by Neil S. Bulk, Dan Goldwasser and MV Gerhard and mastered by James Nelson from Shawn Murphy’s first generation three-track digital mixes, this limited edition release features more than 30 minutes of previously unreleased music, including alternate cues. The in-depth, exclusive liner notes are by John Takis and the art direction is by David C. Fein. This release is limited to only 3,500 copies, so get them while you can.
Next up is the world premiere release of acclaimed composer James Horner’s (Aliens, Glory, Titanic, Avatar) score to the 1995 Paramount Pictures feature film Jade, starring David Caruso, Linda Fiorentino and Chazz Palminteri, directed by William Friedkin. Previously unavailable in any format, this release of Horner’s erotically charged, Asian-tinged score finally takes its place in his soundtrack canon of notable 1990’s works. 1995 proved to be an especially successful year for Horner, having released scores to such films as Casper, Braveheart, Apollo 13, Jumanji and Balto. This release of Jade now fills the hole in one of his most important years as a composer! Produced for La-La Land Records by Dan Goldwasser and mastered by Mike Matessino from ½ inch Paramount vault materials, this release contains bonus tracks that include Loreena McKennitt’s “The Mystic’s Dream” and the classical piece “Le Sacre du Printemps,” both of which are featured in the film’s score. Exclusive, in-depth liner notes by Daniel Schweiger feature comments from the film’s director, William Friedkin. Art direction is by Mark Banning.
Finally we have another premiere release from composer John Morris’ (Blazing Saddles, Clue, Young Frankenstein) sumptuous orchestral score to the 1986 Orion Pictures feature flim, Haunted Honeymoon, starring Gene Wilder, Gilda Radner and Dom DeLuise, and directed/co-written by Gene Wilder. Produced by Ford A. Thaxton and digitally edited and mastered by James Nelson, this release finally makes available one of John Morris’ most technically spectacular and evocative scores, that’s brilliantly performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. Limited to 1,200 copies, this release features exclusive, in-depth liner notes are by film music writer Jeff Bond.
March 5, 2010 in Movie Reviews | Tags: 3-D, Alan Rickman, Alice in Wonderland, Alice Kingsleigh, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Anne Hathaway, Avatar, Cheshire Cat, Crispin Glover, Dances with Wolves, Danny Elfman, Dormouse, Drink Me, Eat Me, fiancé, giantess, growing, Helena Bonham Carter, Jabberwocky, James Cameron, Johnny Depp, Lewis Carroll, Linda Woolverton, Lisa Maire, Little Britain, March Hare, Marvel Comics, Matt Lucas, Mia Wasikowska, Michael Sheen, Off With Their Heads, Peter Parker, Planet of the Ape, RealD, shrinking, shrunk, Spider-Man, Stayne the Knave of Hearts, Stephen Fry, tea party, The Blue Caterpiller, The Mad Hatter, The Red Queen, The White Queen, The White Rabbit, Through the Looking-Glass, Tim Burton, Tron: Legacy, Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum, Underland, Walt Disney, What If... | 7 comments
It’s time to go back to Wonderland, and to do so you’ll need your Tim Burton 3-D glasses. This version of Alice in Wonderland is not so much a remake, as it is a continuation of the original classic tale. Of course, it’s also told through the eyes of visionary director Tim Burton, and marks his third remake or retelling if you will, of an already existing movie classic. I’m a huge Tim Burton fan, but I’m truly starting to miss the originality of his former moviemaking. It’s true that these remakes embody the essences of an original Burton film, but there is still this underlying familiarity of the original movies or stories on which the work is based. Which is a good thing for a remake to embody, but at this point I would really like to see Burton take me to a place I have never seen before. We don’t have many visionary directors that can do what he is capable of, and it seems like for the last few years we have been getting the “What if…” versions of Tim Burton films. For those of you that are not huge comic book nerds, “What if…” comics, are a Marvel Comics series that takes a classic storyline, like say… Spider-Man. The comics would raise the question, what if Peter Parker’s Uncle hadn’t died? Would he have learned that with great power, comes great responsibility? And that is exactly what we have here, “What if… Tim Burton directed Planet of the Apes?” Sadly, we all now know the answer to that question.
In this version of Alice in Wonderland, we follow a now nineteen year old Alice, who has forgotten all about her original adventures in Wonderland, and finds herself now facing even more grownup decisions than ever before, which could not be better timing, because the creatures of Wonderland (or Underland as they call it) are facing troubles of their own; and only Alice can save them. I think they did a really good job of putting a new spin on a classic tale, while still retaining some moments from the original story. The movie moves at a nice pace, and Tim Burton’s visuals are anything but boring. The special effects are quite amazing, and it managed to do for me what Avatar couldn’t, which was being able sell me on the movie’s world and characters. I was totally submerged in the world of Wonderland. I cared about the characters. I was interested in the story they were telling. And even though I was familiar with the story they were telling, they still managed to take me somewhere new, and give me an environment that was worth caring about. Okay, maybe I’m laying it on a little thick. The story wasn’t that amazing; but if anything, it just proves that James Cameron did not try hard enough to change his Dances with Wolves storyline in Avatar.
Johnny Depp’s portrayal of the Mad Hatter is well… Okay. Look, Johnny Depp is an amazing actor. I think we can all agree on that. But, it seems like when he plays these remake roles for Tim Burton, he tends to go too far. He almost over plays the role. I’m not saying it’s a bad performance by any means, but much like his portrayal of Willy Wonka being almost Michael Jackson-ish, it feels like sometimes less could be more. I feel that these characters already have such a larger than life persona attached to them that Depp is almost trying to harness that imagery by playing them as big as he possibly can, when the truth is playing them slightly smaller, might actually give you the same effect in the end. Anne Hathaway, surprisingly, gives a horrible performance as the White Queen. I’m not quite sure what happened there. I would have to imagine that it was the way Burton wanted the role to be portrayed, but I’m afraid it really didn’t work for me. I found it to be very distracting. I couldn’t keep myself from trying to figure out why she was acting that way. The best I could come up with is that the role of the White Queen most likely would have been the role that Burton’s former fiancé, Lisa Marie, would have played if they were still together. He was most likely directing Hathaway as such, which would possibly explain the uncomfortable nature of her performance in the film. Just a theory. On the better side of the coin, Little Britain’s Matt Lucas gives an amazing performance as both Tweetledee and Tweetledum. And what Tim Burton film would be complete without current fiancé, Helena Bonham Carter? Donning an abnormally large head, inspired by the books original illustrations, Carter plays the hot-tempered Red Queen.
Like I mention at the beginning of this review, Alice in Wonderland is a part of the new and ever growing trend that is 3-D movies. Now, I will admit that this new RealD 3-D system works so much better then those old red and blue glasses ever did. But, it’s still getting a little out of control, if you ask me. I enjoy watching these new 3-D films in the theatre, but once you watch the movie at home, I’m afraid it’s just not quite the same experience. The scenes in which the glasses just add depth are fine, but when things are constantly being pointed at you and there is sadly no 3-D there to enhance it, you truly notice just how lame those stunts make the movie look in the end. Also, the 3-D seems to have a hard time handling fast paced close-up action. Alice’s fall down the rabbit hole was very blurry; and because of the glasses, I felt like I might have missed some really nice moments on the way down. Over all, the movie does a great job of delivering a fun, entertaining, and somewhat curiouser and curiouser night at the movies.
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Home » Career
Here you can learn all about the music videos Dianna has starred in! To read about the ones she has directed, head over to our “Directing” page.
The Killers: Just Another Girl (2013)
Album: Direct Hits | Director: Warren Fu | Co Stars: The Killers | Views: 40,000,000 (August 2018)
In 2013, Dianna appeared in The Killers‘ music video for “Just Another Girl”, which was filmed at Mack Sennett Studios in Silver Lake. In the video, Dianna plays Brandon Flowers in a variety of scenes reminiscent of some of the band’s famous videos. It starts with Dianna in a Flowers-like blazer with feather shoulders performing on the set of Human alongside the other band members, Dave Keuning, Ronnie Vannucci, Jr. and Mark Stoermer. She continues to progress through the band’s history and makes appearances in “When You Were Young”, “Spaceman”, “Mr. Brightside” and “Runaways” style sets among others. The video ends with both Dianna and Flowers singing onscreen before Dianna flips a giant switch that releases confetti. Keuning then walks away playing a guitar before the band’s trademark “K” stage prop, used during the Day & Age World Tour, is shown. When reviewing the video, Rolling Stone noted that “It all adds up to a fun history lesson that makes perfect sense within the context of Direct Hits.
“Playing Brandon Flowers in their ten year anniversary video was so damn cool. For a few reasons. When I moved to Los Angeles to pursue my big dreams, Hot Fuss, their first album, was out. I would blast “Smile Like You Mean It” while driving over the canyons. Sing “Mr. Brightside” at the top of my lungs on a night out with friends. I can’t believe it’s been a decade of residing in LA and having the Killers in my life. I’ve seen them once it concert, it was in Hyde Park, and I ended up backstage with a few friends plus another crew, which included Prince Harry, Beatrice and Eugenia. Usually I would not choose to be backstage at a concert, but this one was something different. It was sprinkling, and the audience did not care. Thousands upon thousands of the most hardcore fans danced together in this beautiful manner. It was like two shows were happening at once, the boys onstage and the crowd below. Thankfully, the day of the shoot was just as good as I could have imagined. The boys are funny, sweet and self deprecating, Plus Warren Fu, our director is a true talent. It made me so very happy.” – Read full interview in our library
Other Projects > Music Videos > The Killers: Just Another Girl (2013) > Screen Captures (Music Video)
Sam Smith: I’m Not The Only One (2014)
Album: In the Lonely Hour | Director: Luke Monaghan | Co Stars: Sam Smith and Christina Elise Escobedo | Views: over 1 billion views
In 2014, Dianna starred in Sam Smith‘s music video for the song “I’m Not The Only One”. They shot the video on July 8, 2014 in Los Angeles, and it was released on August 1st the following month. In the video, we see Dianna’s character incredibly distraught after her man cheats on her – which wasn’t an easy film to shoot, according to Dianna herself. “It does kind of put your body in a weird state, but it was fun. It’s all in a day’s work!” Part of that fun came courtesy of the car that Dianna is seen driving in the video. “It was one of Frank Sinatra’s old cars! So it was a really cool energy on set.” (Read full interview in our library)
“I tweeted Sam a long time ago and told him how important it was that I discovered his music. He tweeted me back, and we started messaging each other. Then the video happened, and we’ve become friends.” – Dianna
Other Projects > Music Videos > Sam Smith: I’m Not the Only One (2014) > Screen Captures (Music Video)
Other Projects > Music Videos > Sam Smith: I’m Not the Only One (2014) > Screen Captures (Behind The Scenes)
Other Projects > Music Videos > Sam Smith: I’m Not the Only One (2014) > Production Stills
Other Projects > Music Videos > Sam Smith: I’m Not the Only One (2014) > Behind The Scenes
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Archive for July, 2008|Monthly archive page
2008 Chrysler Jeep Superstores Detroit APBA Gold Cup Race
by Tim Joseph
So its a little early for my weekend get away suggestion. Wasn’t the DSO amazing? I thought this was something that I should bring to your attention. The 2008 Chrysler Jeep Superstores Detroit APBA Gold Cup hydroplane race is coming to Detroit this weekend. The boat you see above is the “Dick Scott Automotive Group Presents Miss DYC” boat, sposored by Dick Scott Automotive Group.
This is the 100th running of the Gold Cup, awarded for the first time in 1904, and is the oldest active trophy in all of motor sports. This year is poised to become the best event ever.
Friday, July 11, 2008, is “Free Friday”. The racecourse will be open until 6:30pm. The race takes place on the Detroit River near Belle Isle. This event is recognized worldwide as the premier site for hydroplane boat racing.
The Navy’s West Coat Super Hornet Demo Team will be flying over the Detroit River demonstrating maneuvers of one of the U.S. Armed Forces’ most impressive aircraft, the FA-18. The Navy will also have its high tech “Accelerate Your Live Experience” presentation, a view of Navy life complete with interactive video games and the 180-degree “Immersa-Domes.” These domes immerse you in real-world sights, sounds and smells of a Navy seaman through an exciting virtual reality experience.
The Michigan Hall of Fame will present a wide variety of sports challenges and inflatables. They will also have a traveling museum commemorating Michigan’s sports heroes on hand.
The Salvation Army, who has been named the official charity of the event, will host an Outdoor Family Fun Zone on the riverfront in Henderson Park. They will have a large array of activities for the whole family. A percentage of all proceeds from the general admition tickets will go to support the Salvation Army Outdoors, an initiative to provide youth and families with fun and educational outdoor experiences such as fishing, boating, hiking and camping.
As if all this wasn’t enough, a large picknic area, games, arts and crafts, balloon artists and wandering stilt walkers are included in the weekend fun.
For more details, please visit http://www.gold-cup.com/.
GT-R’s Hit The Streets
Filed under: nissan gt-r |
On June18th we found out that the GT-R’s were being held captive at ports all over North America. Today the Internet is buzzing because the GT-R’s are finally being delivered to their customers and hitting the streets of America.
Nissan North America held a small even last night at 12:01am in Universal City, California. Universal Nissan, the highest volume Nissan dealer in the country was chosen to sell the first GT-R in the country due to their high allotment (25) of GT-R’s for the 2009 model year. Daryl Alison who imported a Japanese spec, right side drive, GT-R five months ago was the lucky customer. “First of all I’m going to drive it home,” Alison said. “Then I’m going to put some miles on it. Then it will probably be modified. But I’m thinking about the collector value.”
I doubt he will need to modify it much to get a good speed at the track.
Happy Independance Day!
The American Revolutionary War began in April 1775 with Paul Revere’s famous ride. A year later, July 4, 1776, after some revisions and discussion the 13 colonies voted on a final “Declaration of Independence.” John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress was the first to sign. He wrote his name big enough so “King George can read it without spectacles!” The first celebration did not come until 1777 while the newly declared United States of America was at war with the British.
From all of us at Dick Scott, have a safe and wonderful Independence Day.
“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”
Tim’s Travel Tips: 16th Annual Salute to America
Filed under: Tim's Travel Tips |
This one got me excited. July 2 – 5, 2008 at The Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra presents its Salute to America. Gates open at 6pm for the general public and there is pre-concert musical entertainment. If you’ve got kids there will be plenty of 19th century lawn games to play as well as a visit from members of the Greenfield Village historic baseball team.
The finale will be complete with fireworks as the orchestra plays Tchaikovsky’s 1812 overture with live cannon fire! It’s actually something I’ve always wanted to see. For more information please visit the Henry Ford Museum website.
Hyundai-Kia #5 In The World!
Well they must be doing something right! Hyundai-Kia have achieved their goal of becoming one of the top 5 automakers in the world. The company sold 3.9 vehicles world wide last year over taking Honda’s #5 position. The Korean based automaker has shot up 6 positions in the last 8 years. Great going!
Dick Scott is pleased to sell the fuel efficient vehicles. They have come a long way.
Dick Scott Kia – (734) 397-9900
2009 Dodge Ram 1500 Is Coming
The all new, best ever 2009 Dodge Ram 1500 is coming. This is said to be the best and most anticipated Dodge Ram ever. It is due to start arriving in showrooms this fall but Dodge already has a page set up on their site to give you a sneak peak.
To view this page, follow this link: 2009 Dodge Ram 1500 4×4
Save Fuel, Get Tuned Up!
You’ve had your car for a while now and its been good to you. Runs well, starts every time, and gets good gas mileage. Suddenly it seems like its running rough or isn’t getting the mileage it once did. It may be time for a tune up. Not tuning up your vehicle when it needs it will cost you in fuel efficiency. Other symptoms can be black smoke, rough idle, not easy to start when its warm, or has poor acceleration and hesitation. Typically these things are caused when the spark plugs need to be changed and the fuel injectors need to be cleaned. If you think you’re in need of a tune up, just give us a call!
Dick Scott Dodge – 800-571-6906
Dick Scott Motormall – 800-486-2415
Dick Scott Kia – 800-730-9872
Dick Scott Nissan – 800-504-8536
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Bicyclists Could Fly Through London
09/19/2012 09/19/2012 Jared Green
On the heels of London’s new bicycle “superhighways,” Mayor Boris Johnson is now seriously considering SkyCycle, a concept by British landscape architect Sam Martin that proposes a network of elevated cycled paths between London’s main tube stations. The SkyCycle would transform unused elevated rail lines and also include new infrastructure. According to The Daily Mail (UK), Martin, who is director of Exterior Architecture, is already developing feasibility studies for a few open-air tunnels, which would be sided in glass or plastic. If all goes well, the sky-highways could be open by 2015.
The proposal aims to make bicycling safer in the big city. In fact, Martin came up with the idea a few years ago when he stopped cycling because he found it too dangerous. His concerns are real: just this year, ten cyclists have died in London, writes The Times (UK), and some of the riders were very young.
The sky-line tunnels would also ease congestion. Martin said that the number of bicycling journeys are expected to triple to 1.5 million by 2020. Indeed, they’ve already doubled since 2000. Car owners are perhaps tired of paying extra taxes and congestion fees to free up street space, and parking interests will certainly push to maintain the existing number of spots. With streets already packed, where will these bicyclists ride?
The system wouldn’t be free though. Bicycling commuters would use London’s ubiquitous Oyster card to gain access, paying about a pound to commute, which is still about one-third cheaper than a regular subway ride. The city would need to charge something for the privilege of using the network, giving the cost of construction can’t expected to be cheap. Martin also believes that a corporate sponsor could be roped in to help off-set some of the “tens of millions of pounds” of costs. But this idea isn’t nuts: Barclays financed the superhighways and bicycle share system, and Citibank is the primary sponsor of the bicycle share system in New York City.
Routes wouldn’t be used within neighborhoods but between them. Acting like true bicycle highways, the routes would connect far-flung London, and then on-ground superhighways and regular bike lanes would be used for neighborhood traffic. According to The Daily Mail, the first route could connect the Olympic site in east London, “linking Stratford with the City of London through Liverpool and Fenchurch Street stations.”
Still, the local transport group doesn’t seem convinced yet. Transport for London has explained it will work on making the 50 most dangerous road junctions safer in the coming months. And a local bicycling campaign also seems wary: “While we’re fascinated by Boris Johnson’s plan to put cycle routes along London’s working railways and would love to know how far his negotiations have got with Network Rail, we’d much rather hear the Mayor saying he’s prepared to build high-quality cycling facilities on the streets that Londoners use every day.”
Image credit: Exterior Architecture
In other news, check out Ground Up, a new print publication curated by graduated students in the landscape architecture department at University of California, Berkeley. The first issue, Landscapes of Uncertainty, explores contemporary landscape architecture and ecology and includes articles by Kristina Hill, Affiliate ASLA, Rebar, and others.
Landscape Architecture, Sustainable Transportation
Previous Article Bridging the Divide Between Man and Nature
Next Article Ever Wanted to Design an Iconic Bench?
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