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June 3, 2015 charteredengineers
A lack of clean water and environmental degradation are acute problems in Asia – a region home to more than half of the world population, many of whom live in crowded urban spaces. This presents vast opportunities for the environment and water industries to address and serve these needs in Asia.
Singapore has come a long way since its water rationing days in the 1960s. Faced with the challenge of water scarcity, Singapore has been motivated to constantly innovate and develop new water management and treatment technologies such as water reclamation and seawater desalination. Over the last four decades, Singapore has established a sustainable water supply from diversified sources known as the Four National Taps – water from local catchment areas, imported water, reclaimed water (NEWater) and desalinated water. In tandem, Singapore has also made significant progress in providing clean air, clean and land for its citizens. Technologies have been developed and put in place to minimise and monitor air pollution around the city-state. At the same time, Singapore has promoted energy efficiency and conservation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to help mitigate climate change. Singapore has also established an integrated solid waste management system to collect, treat, and dispose of waste on the premise that waste is a valuable resource. Alongside these developments, an innovative and sustainable environment and water industry has flourished.
With a growing emphasis on water and the environment worldwide, Singapore is well positioned to take global leadership as an innovator and provider of solutions in this industry.
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Costa Rican Origin Coffee
Frailes Tarrazu SHB EP
FRAILES is a small town in the Tarrazu region. This coffee is grown and processed in a single estate, owned by a traditional coffee growing family. The coffee belongs to the Caturra variety. It is grown at an altitude above 1550 meters (abt. 4,800-5,000 ft.), under shade trees such as Eucaliptus (Glupta variety) and Poro.
The selection of green and red cherries is done very meticulously by the producer. Only the ripe cherries are selected for the Frailes Tarrazu. The farm has its own nursery and seedlings for the promotion and development of their own varieties.
The farm has built a water treatment system (complying with governmental regulations). They have a sediment tank, and a lake for water treatment. All of the treated water goes back into the coffee plantation, and not polluting streams or rivers. The residual pulp is mixed with lime and used as a natural fertilizer. The parchment is sun dried, but evened out with a mechanical dryer. The dryer runs on coffee stalks and parchment skin.
The producer is granting education to over 100 children. Financial assistance for books, uniforms, and free tuition, are granted by the producer. With the assistance of a U.S. based foundation, the producer has built a church in the town. This church is not only used for catholic services, but also as a center for meetings.
It is also important to point out that this farm used to belong to an ex-President of Costa Rica, Mr. Jose Sigueres. Under his presidency, the National Army of Costa Rica was abolished.
The cup offers a crisp acidity, a good balance, and a very pleasant fruity flavor.
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This Earth Day 2018, the next generation of conservation needs to embrace another type of science
Written by: Will Allen & Kent Messer
In nearly every article about Earth Day, whether it is about water scarcity in South Africa or algal blooms in Great Lakes, the same traditional message is underscored: embrace environmental science and change wasteful and polluting behavior. This message is fine, but frankly it is not enough. The next generation of conservation need to strike a second tone. Environmental leaders should embrace techniques and discoveries that underlie the science of strategic conservation and change from inefficient methods for targeting expensive conservation projects that sometimes do not make much of a difference to proven techniques that can get “a bigger bang for the buck.”
Conservation has a rich and proud history in the US.
Yosemite was protected in 1872 and our national park system has protected unique natural wonders, such Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Canyon. The funders of conservation—primarily government agencies and non-profit foundations—have historically focused exclusively on the ecological or scenic benefits of a project and ignored the costs of protection. This one-sided approach may have made sense in the early days of conservation, but today this approach is no longer environmentally-friendly. It often wastes funds, often from tax-payers, that could have been used for additional preservation.
In reality, few unique, crown-jewel conservation projects remain. Conservation today focuses on preventing excess nutrients from fertilizers running off farm fields, protecting local open space, preserving agricultural lands, and protecting clean water, clean air, and the natural processes from which all life depends. Conservation funders now must decide where to invest their limited funds among a large number of high-quality projects, which have close ‘substitutes’ with regards to public benefits they can provide. In other words, multiple projects can deliver the same type of environmental benefits, yet the cost of these projects can vary widely depending on the market.
Here’s a telling example of what we mean. In 2012, the National Park Service considered 34 projects totaling nearly 93,000 acres on its National Priority List. The total cost for these projects was approximately $110 million, which far exceeded the National Park Service’s available budget of approximately $30 million. The National Park Service selected two projects in Florida: one for $5.5 million that protected 43,000 acres in Big Cypress National Preserve and the other for $25 million that protected 477 acres in the Everglades National Park. In contrast, the principles of the science of strategic conservation would have recommended the National Park Service reallocate the $25 million and instead of protecting fewer than 500 acres in the Everglades protect 28,607 high quality acres in a dozen different states for the same cost that were also available for purchase by the National Park Service at that time.
To put it into another context, funders of conservation are like naïve shoppers who select wine solely on the taste ratings from the Wine Spectator. By ignoring the costs of their purchases, they get to the checkout counter only to wonder why their basket has so few bottles and they have no money left in their wallets.
The implications are important for both federal and local conservation. The academic literature has dozens of studies that show how strategic conservation can lead to better conservation outcomes. For instance, the US Forest Service’s Forest Legacy program could have preserved an additional 91,621 acres of high quality forest land (a 44% increase) in 2009 by using the principles of strategic conservation. In Delaware, strategic conservation could have protected 12,000 more acres of prime agricultural land (worth an estimated $25 million) over a ten-year period without costing the taxpayers additional money by using conservation markets and identifying the projects that provide the best bang for the buck. Even the US Military’s conservation programs could protect additional land worth tens of millions of dollars through the use of strategic conservation.
However, why conservation funders have been reluctant to adopt this science-based approach remains a bit of a mystery.
Funders continually make these decision errors while spending other people’s money and there’s little public outcry for better stewardship.
Baltimore County’s Agricultural Land Preservation Program in Maryland is an exception that illustrates what could be. Baltimore County tapped the tools of strategic conservation to choose which agricultural lands to save. In the first three years, Baltimore County was able to protect an additional 680 acres for the same amount of funds that would otherwise have been spent. That translated into a savings of approximately $5.4 million, amounting to a return on investment of more than 60 to 1. In other words, for every taxpayer dollar Baltimore County spent using its optimization model, it gained more than $60 in conservation benefits.
As budgets continue to be tight, funders of conservation need to follow the evidence from strategic conservation and change their selection techniques to ensure they spend other people’s money as wisely as they would their own.
The Science of Strategic Conservation
Protecting More with Less
Kent D. Messer, University of Delaware
William L. Allen III, The Conservation Fund, Chapel Hill, USA
Paperback $54.99 | £34.99
About the Author: Will Allen
William L. Allen III manages strategic conservation planning services, including green infrastructure plans, data-driven structured decision-making tools, and enterprise geospatial services, as part of The Conservation Fund. Allen previously served as Co-editor-in-Chief and Managing Editor of the Journal of Conservation Planning and was a cofounder...
About the Author: Kent Messer
Kent D. Messer, University of Delaware, is the Unidel H. Cosgrove Chair at the University of Delaware, and co-director of the National Center for Behavioral and Experimental Agri-Environmental Research. His work applies economics and behavioral science to problems at the nexus of environmental and agricultural challenges....
Tides: modern twists on an ancient...
Unraveling the money-energy...
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10 Great Jobs in National Security
National security is a growing field with a wide array of job options. As the United States becomes more heavily involved with global conflicts, the federal government has had to recruit more employees for domestic security jobs. From federal jobs to private security positions, individuals can a variety of options in the security industry.
Depending on the position, individuals may need a degree or additional experience to get a job. Most of the jobs require a background check, so applicants should not have a criminal history. With a clean background check and the right qualifications, individuals can go on to have a rewarding career in national security.
1. Customs and Border Protection
There are many different career options with the Customs and Border Protection (CBP). This law enforcement agency is responsible for protecting the borders of the United States. Each day, the CBP makes more than 900 apprehensions. An estimated 9,000 pounds of illegal drugs are seized on a daily basis. The Customs and Border Protection is responsible for making sure that dangerous materials and people are not able to enter the United States.
2. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is responsible for enforcing federal laws about trade, immigration and customs. Their job is to protect the United States through operations across the nation. There are an estimated 20,000 employees at 400 offices in the country as well as operations in 46 foreign countries. Each year, the department uses a budget of $5 billion to conduct investigations and to carry out removal operations.
An employee at ICE may be involved in enforcement and removal operations (ERO). These operations are designed to remove illegal aliens. Homeland security operations are also run by ICE to find illegal goods that are smuggled into the United States.
3. Federal Emergency Management Agency
Working at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an extremely rewarding experience. If you want to spend each day helping people, this is the right career choice for you. Many of the employees at FEMA work to help families recover from natural disasters and other hazards.
In the last two decades, FEMA has opened up a department that caters entirely to national security. In 2003, FEMA became a part of the Department of Homeland Security. Since then, FEMA has worked to develop disaster response plans to protect against terrorism and other homeland security issues. Now, employees work to create a coordinated approach to natural and man-made emergencies.
4. Federal Protective Service
The Federal Protective Service is responsible for ensuring safety at federal buildings. Individuals in this organization are responsible for protecting the building, visitors and occupants from anything that could happen. They work closely with the Department of Homeland Security to spot and prevent potential threats. Depending on the position, applicants may need to have a college degree in a related field.
5. Transportation Security Administration
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is responsible for making sure that transportation systems are safe for shipping goods and travel. Like many security organizations in the United States, the TSA also implements counterterrorism measures. Established following the 2001 terror attacks, the TSA has a workforce that consists of thousands of employees. The organization seeks employees who are professional, hard working and team spirited. Individuals employed at the TSA must have a high level of personal integrity and a clean background check. Once hired, individuals can work in career paths like transportation security inspector, explosive detection canine handler and transportation security officer.
6. Secret Service
Created in 1865, the United States Secret Service now includes 7,000 employees around the world. While the Secret Service may be best known for protecting the president, the organization is also responsible for fighting crime globally. The Secret Service has field offices in Mexico, Africa, South American, Europe, Canada and Asia.
If you are employed at the Secret Service, you may be assigned to protective or investigative missions. The Secret Service is responsible for protecting visiting foreign dignitaries, the president, the vice president and presidential candidates. Temporary protection assignments may be for people like foreign heads of state or at National Special Security Events.
Investigative missions at the Secret Service involve catching counterfeiters. The agency is responsible for protecting the financial systems of the country from a variety of financial crimes like counterfeiting. Because of this, the Secret Service operates in diverse areas like banking, cyber and finance. Exciting career options in this field include working as an investigative expert, an intelligence analyst or a forensics expert.
7. Cyber-Security Specialist
A cyber-security specialist is trained to manage complex security information systems. They may work with the government or military databases to protect sensitive information. Individuals in this career field typically start at a base pay of $80,000 per year or more. Once hired, they may work to provide intelligence briefings, perform security assessments and provide technical support.
8. Logistician
Logisticians are required by many of the top security agencies in the country. These logistics experts help to create and run logistics throughout the country. These logistic technologies help to transport goods, weapons and other items to the place where they are needed. While you can start by getting a degree in this field, you may also be hired if you are an engineer, project manager or technician with a background in the industry. Logisticians work at different intelligence agencies and are frequently based in Washington, D.C.
9. Cryptologist
A cryptologist is not just a code breaker anymore. Cyber-security is now run using codes and advanced mathematics. Cryptologists work with national security agencies to help breakdown cryptological messages and computer languages. This may be done to investigate a crime or conduct counterterrorism operations. To be hired in this field, individuals should have a background in computer science or mathematics. Successful applicants must be excellent at problem solving and code breaking.
10. Intelligence Officer
An intelligence officer work with the government or the military to collect information about criminals and terrorist organizations. They may be employed by organizations like the Department of Defense, the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Administration or the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Often, intelligence officers start out making at least $70,000 a year.
With experience and the right degree, individuals can find a thrilling career in national security. These national security jobs are available for mathematicians, linguists and criminal justice professionals. Once hired, employees will work to fight crime and protect American citizens.
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Cultivating Community
A Better Food Future
Board / Governance
School Food Gardens
Managing Food Waste
Food Systems Projects
Workshops & Consultancy
Karen White- Chair
Dr Karen White joined CC board in August 2018. An experienced board director with NFP and community committees, Karen brings expertise in governance, evaluation and consumer participation. Karen has a particular interest in the benefits of community gardening as a catalyst for promoting wellbeing and connection. She is currently National Manager of Research and Evaluation at The Reach Foundation.
Chris Newey- Treasurer
Chris Newey (CPA, GAICD) joined the board in May 2019. Chris is a senior finance, corporate governance and risk management professional with 27 experience working in the mutual banking sector. He has a passion for working in organisations that exist to serve their communities and in his spare time enjoys growing and sharing produce from his backyard wicking beds.
Robbie Kershaw- Secretary
Robert Kershaw has been on the board of Cultivating Community for the past 9 years. He currently works as Design & Production Manager in the Communications division of a federal government agency (Bureau of Meteorology). He also lectures in both Aquaponics and Publishing, and enjoys his garden and his urban aquaponics farm. Previously he has held positions of Managing Director, Sales Manager and Purchasing Manager for medium and large companies in the publishing and printing industries.
Lee Tozzi
After more than 20 years working in the food manufacturing industry, Lee completed a Masters in Sustainable Practice with Distinction at RMIT University in 2012. Her studies and particular interest is in the sustainability challenges of urban food systems and the strategies to address these. Lee works at Darebin and Moreland Councils, researching and implementing food and other environmental programs to achieve more equitable and secure local food systems.
Louise Doyle
Louise Doyle has worked at the Executive level in Human Resources and Change in a number of “blue chip” organisations including BHP, National Foods and the University of Melbourne. She consults to a number of small to medium sized organisations in both the not for profit and corporate sectors. Louise’s career has been characterised by her identification of the need for change and the active driving and implementation of constructive change within the organizations in which she has worked. She has a strong record of volunteering and service on not-for-profit boards. Louise joined CC in February 2017 and believes gardens can provide the essential ingredients to sustain healthy communities.
Monique Adofaci
Monique Adofaci brings over 15 years’ experience as a Senior Executive and senior lawyer across Commonwealth and State public sector justice and regulatory agencies to her role with the Board. She is currently in the role of General Counsel with the Department of Premier & Cabinet and has also held the role of Executive Director of Integrity & Accountability with the Department. Other significant roles held by Monique include Director of KPMG’s Justice & Security practice; Chief Counsel of the Australian Federal Police; Assistant Ombudsman NSW and National Manager of an enforcement practice with the national corporate regulator ASIC. Monique holds a Bachelor of Law & Commerce (Honours) from the University of Melbourne and an MBA (Honours) from the AGSM at UNSW.
Monique is a Board member on a number of not-for-profit Boards and a Mentor with the Smith Family Foundation; Melbourne University Law School and ANZSOG.
Jane Hadjion
Jane Hadjion joined CC board in January 2018. Jane brings expertise in business development, systems thinking and design thinking. Jane is particularly inspired by the benefits of community gardens as a tool to build well being and as a spring board for economic participation. She is currently self employed and supports business leaders who seek to align their business purpose and strategy.
Dayo Sowunmi
Dayo Sowunmi brings to the board over 25 years’ experience in executive and business consultancy gained in Australia, UK and Africa. He brings expertise in technology, strategy development, leadership, performance, compliance and risk. With a Masters degree in Artificial Intelligence (AI) from Monash University, Dayo guides organisations on how to explore and exploit technology and AI’s offerings, to thrive and flourish today and in the future.
He consults to both not for profit and corporate organisations. Dayo is a Mentor with Leadership Victoria where he mentors potential and current leaders from new and emerging communities across Victoria, and with Australian Business Community Network mentoring high-school students to widen their life choices and aspirations.
Dayo believes gardens are vital to developing healthy communities, both physically and mentally.
Daniyela Rob- CEO
Daniyela Rob joined Cultivating Community as the CEO in August 2017. Having come from a long and successful career in aged care where she worked in senior and executive level roles she is now marrying her passion for a fair food system and a world where nature is respected with her operational and quality management skills and experience.
Cultivating Community © 2019. All Rights Reserved.
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Owen Davies: My Work on the Railway (2011)
Posted on Friday November 2nd, 2012 by admin
MEMORIES OF MY WORK ON THE RAILWAY
Owen Davies
I started my work on the railway in 1958 after being demobbed from the army. I was a porter to start with at Llandysul, later at Cardigan & then transferred to Lampeter as a lorry driver, ending up in Aberaeron around 1960. At Aberaeron I was a lorry driver delivering goods from the train – cattle feed to the farms, parcels to the shops & houses.
I left the job a year before the railway closed & went to work at the MMB at Felinfach – loading the milk to the tanks on the siding until the whole line was closed in 1965.
I used to travel up to Lampeter in the guards van when I worked in Lampeter – lodging in Paris House before I acquired an AJS motor cycle.
John and his brother Bill Andrews were signalmen. Tyrrell Evans & Lewis Williams were yardmen.
Training for the fight –
Dick Richardson, the boxer, trained in Aberaeron for his fight against Brian London at Coney Beach Arena, Porthcawl, 29 August, 1960. Johnny Lewis had family connections in Cardiganshire & had been evacuated here during the war. As Richardson’s trainer he brought him down to the country to prepare for several fights. They were familiar figures running around the countryside. Locals remember them well. As I remember, they couldn’t find a weighing scale large enough to weigh Richardson in town, so they came to the station at Aberaeron where I was working to use one of our scales! Ron Davies came to take a photo of the celebrities, probably for the local paper. The staff present on the day were invited to join them in the picture. I purchased copies as a memento.
After the fight….
“The Brawl at Porthcawl” was the headline in the papers after the fight.
Brian London challenged Newport’s Dick Richardson, the reigning European Champion, in a bad tempered brawl but it was the post-fight chaos that caused outrage. London was cut in what he claimed was a head-butt & the referee stopped the fight at the end of the 8th round because of the cuts. Carnage followed.
London threw a punch at Richardson’s trainer Johnny Lewis, sparking a massive mass brawl between the seconds from both corners. The police were called in to the ring to sort them out!
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Cordelia Williams Piano
Cordelia Williams is recognised for the poetry, conviction and inner strength of her playing and the depth and maturity of her interpretations. She has performed all over the world, including concertos with the English Chamber Orchestra (in Mexico City), City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (at Barbican Hall, London), as well as recitals at Wigmore Hall, Royal Festival Hall and Beijing Concert Hall.
At the core of Cordelia’s musicality is a fascination with the human soul and the artistic expression of struggles and beliefs; alongside her performing career she gained a First in Theology from Clare College, Cambridge. Cordelia is drawn especially to the music of the late Classical and early Romantic periods: her debut CD, featuring Schubert’s complete Impromptus for SOMM Recordings, was released to critical acclaim in July 2013. This was followed in 2015 by a recording of music by Schumann, with one reviewer describing her as ‘Schumann’s 21st century interpreter and soul-mate’. Her third CD, featuring music by J. S. Bach and Arvo Pärt, has just been released.
Her curiosity towards religions and faith led to her recent cross-arts project, Between Heaven and the Clouds: Messiaen 2015. In collaboration with award-winning poet Michael Symmons Roberts, former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Rowan Williams and artist Sophie Hacker, this year-long series of events and performances explored the music, context and theology of Messiaen’s Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus.
Cordelia has a great enthusiasm for presenting and introducing music; her Cafe Muse evenings bring classical music out of the concert hall and into the relaxed setting of bars and brasseries. She is also a passionate chamber musician, having appeared with the Endellion, Fitzwilliam and Maggini quartets among others. She was delighted to be appointed in 2018 as Piano and Chamber Music Coach, and Lecturer in Vocational Contexts, at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. Cordelia recently welcomed her first child, a little boy.
Hearing her mother teach piano, Cordelia wanted to learn to play too, and began lessons at home as soon as she could climb onto the piano stool. She gave her first public piano recital to celebrate her eighth birthday. She spent seven years at Chethams School of Music in Manchester, studying with Bernard Roberts and Murray McLachlan and becoming Piano Winner of BBC Young Musician 2006. She went on to work with Hamish Milne in London, Joan Havill and Richard Goode, and is grateful to have received support from the Martin Musical Scholarship Fund, the Musicians Benevolent Fund, the Stanley Picker Trust, the City of London Corporation, the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the City Music Foundation. She has enjoyed traveling and performing through France, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, Austria, Thailand, China, America, Mexico, Kenya and the Gulf States.
View Cordelia’s past concerts.
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The Book Moments You Never Forget
To be any sort of writer, you have to be a reader. When I'm reading, I get lost in the story and characters. But sometimes it goes deeper than that...
To me, a great story lives on long after I have closed the book, not just because of it's plot or characters, but because of those little moments that come back to you days later. It's those moments that turn random books into cherished favorites.
The Scene with the Jars in The Witching Hour: Now everyone knows that I'm a huge Anne Rice fan, so it shouldn't be much of a surprise that one of her books would make my list. In The Witching Hour, Rowan and Michael are exploring the first street house and they come across the jars holding the heads and babies. To me, that scene, describing the contents of the jars and how the seal of some is broken so there are worms inside, sums up the creepy WTF sort of reaction to the whole book. Add to that Michael breaking open the jars to touch the slimy things....Yuck!
The Playground Scene from The Shining: Stephen King is well known for creating books filled with moments that send chills up your spine, but the one that sticks out to me is the playground scene from The Shining. Danny is playing outside and he gets that "you are not alone"-it's too quiet to be safe sort of feeling. As kids, how many of us had felt that?
Scarlet's Homecoming Scene in Gone with the Wind: This is a classic novel, full of amazing action and heartbreak, but the scene I identify with most is when Scarlet goes home to Tara. She traveled all this way, starving and afraid, hoping to just make it home where her mother will take care of everything. She gets home and her mother is dead, her father is mad, her sisters sick, and everyone is starving. They all look to her for guidance and she just wishes they'd all go away. To me that summed up the forced changes that were all through Gone with the Wind.
Perhaps it's the instant connection to a familar feeling that does it. Perhaps it's that feeling of, for just one moment, totally forgetting that it's fiction. Maybe it's something different for everyone.
What is a moment from a book that you will never forget?
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Rotary House
Rotary Club News
Club Council
Sleigh routes 2018
Corbett Avenue near the Lido
WR9 7BD
Rotary House is a comfortably furnished 50 seat function room with gardens and patio.
It has been upgraded to include facilities for the disabled.
There is a new kitchen for preparing light refreshments.
There is a ceiling mounted overhead projector and WiFi is available.
Hiring rates from £14 per three hour session.
For details telephone :
John Bodger – 01905 770428
Jim Gillespie – 01905 795705
or email John and Jim
View from Patio to Garden
Kitchen View 2
Kitchen View1
Plan View
History of Rotary House
As one of its first thoughts about service to the community, the Rotary Club of Droitwich Spa in 1939 took up the suggestion that premises should be provided for elderly, retired menfolk to meet in comfort for fellowship. Clubs of this type, known as “Sons of Rest”, had been set up in Worcester and Kidderminster and it was felt that Droitwich should follow suit.
A wooden building situated on the corner of Albert Street and Ombersley Street, was acquired for rental and eventual purchase. The building had two rooms and was well used by retired men, many of them ex-saltworkers. By the late 1940s the premises had become dilapidated and efforts were made to provide a permanent building. A piece of land fronting on to Corbett Avenue was leased from the Borough Council and the Rotary Club set about raising £3,500 for a brick building. A gift of £500 from a local benefactor was offered and the Club made a public appeal to raise £3,000 by organising functions including a large 3-day auction sale. The money was raised, the present building was erected and it opened in December 1958 as the “Rotary Sons of Rest Club”. The Club flourished until the 1980s but then declined as members passed on. As a consequence, the building was re-named “Rotary House” and used by groups called “Rotary Association of Retired Friends”, one of which still exists today. The premises are now owned by a registered charity, the Rotary Club of Droitwich Spa Charitable Trust, No 1068030, and are hired for a modest fee, throughout the week by many voluntary groups consisting of mainly elderly people. It is therefore continuing to provide a very useful service to the community of Droitwich Spa.
The complex consists of a comfortable 50 seat meeting room, a kitchen suitable for light refreshments, toilets, and a garden created in 1991 in memory of Michael Cross who was a Droitwich resident, a Birmingham Rotarian, and a Regional Director of NatWest Bank Pension Fund. The restored garden and patio is ideal for small out door functions. Except for the kitchen, everything is now easily accessible to the infirm and disabled. The Management Committee and The Charitable Trust acknowledge with gratitude, capital grants since 2003 totalling £40,600 from a number of organisations and individuals including £22,200 from the National Lottery.
Currently, in excess of 600 people from over 20 local community groups, use these attractive facilities regularly for recreational, educational and fellowship purposes.
“SERVICE ABOVE SELF”
Message from His Worship the Mayor of Droitwich on March 1958
As Mayor of the Borough of Droitwich, I have been asked by the Rotary Club to make an appeal for their new ‘Sons of Rest’ building. It gives me great pleasure to ask for your support for I have been connected with the Club for many years and have always been enthusiastic in trying to carry out their motto, ‘Service above Self.’
My late husband was twice President of the Club and in the days before the Ladies counterpart, the Inner Wheel Club, was formed I helped to organise functions and raise funds for Rotary Club projects. I was a Founder Member of the Inner Wheel Club and have been President twice. Many people know and all should be aware of the ‘Sons of Rest’ temporary quarters at the comer of Ombersley Road and Albert Street, the best Building that the Rotarians could rent at the time and it has housed the ‘old Gentlemen of the Town’ for many years.
The plans for their new ‘home’, a substantial and attractive brick building, have now been passed and the Borough Council have offered a site in the Park which has been accepted. This important project has been a target for the Rotary Club for many years and funds have already been raised but not enough, and it is in this respect that I appeal to you to give generously for this worthy cause. Think of the pleasure this new Club House will give to the ‘unwanted Sons’, trying to rest, but swept out of their homes in the mornings by their ‘Better Halves’, they can sit in peace, smoking a pipe, playing Cribbage or a hand of cards, reading a book or magazine, or just sitting by the fire reminiscing. . They are visited by Club Members and for many years Rotarian Ted Tolley has kept an eye on them and looked after their comforts, well deserving the name ‘Father of the Sons of Rest’. Please give generously in every way possible to this very special appeal.
E. LOUISE HATCHETT, Mayor.
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The Black Keys - El Camino
Added 7 years ago by Erdem in Indie
The Black Keys are a two-man blues-rock group from Akron, Ohio, United States which formed in 2001, consisting of singer and guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney. The band name was inspired by a schizophrenic artist and friend in Akron, who used the term “black keys” to describe things he disliked or people he did not trust. The Black Keys have roots in traditional blues and psychedelic rock stylings.
They released their first album, The Big Come Up, in 2002, followed by Thickfreakness in 2003, and Rubber Factory in 2004. October 2005 saw the release of the DVD Live, recorded live at The Metro Theatre in Sydney, Australia March 18, 2005. In 2006 they released Magic Potion, as well as the lesser-known Chulahoma and a single version of Your Touch.
One of their trademarks is their preference for simple, lo-fi recording techniques. They refuse to use big-name studios, and do most recording, producing, and mixing themselves. Most of Thickfreakness was recorded in about 14 hours in Carney’s basement, using only an early 80’s Tascam 388 8-track recorder. Often, their recordings still have background noises (such as an owl hooting).
The Black Keys have achieved increasing critical acclaim and recognition since their debut album, which itself received praise from Rolling Stone magazine. Time magazine named them one of the “10 Best Acts of 2003” (behind OutKast and The White Stripes).
Tags: blues rock, blues, rock, indie, indie rock
Broken Keys - Redlight
Telepath - Black box
Black Seeds - Turn it Around
The Black Seeds - Keep on Pushing
Shabazz Palaces - Black Up
The Black Seeds - Pippy Pip
Black Grass - Bass Man
Johnny Cash - Man in Black
Black Milk - Don Cornelius
Bodzin & Huntemann - Black Ice
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Posts Tagged ‘French New Wave’
Depths of Inferno
Director Serge Bromberg meets a woman named Inès de Gonzalez in a broken, Parisian elevator. The two get to talking, and Bromberg learns that she is actually the widow of famed French director, Henri-Georges Clouzot. Over the course of their two-hour conversation, Gonzalez reveals that there is over 15 hours of existing footage from Clouzot’s notoriously unfinished film, L’Enfer, or Inferno (or Hell). One imagines a light-bulb flickering on inside Bromberg’s mind just as the elevator rattles back into operation.
It’s a scene straight out of a French thriller, maybe even one directed by Clouzot himself, who, 33 years after his death, is widely regarded as one of the great filmmakers of all time—his dark, psychological crime dramas, The Wages of Fear and Diabolique, garnering frequent comparisons to Hitchcock’s finest work. This Friday, July 30th, at the Laemmle Music Hall in Beverly Hills and the Laemmle Sunset 5 in West Hollywood, Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Inferno, a semi-documentary directed by Serge Bromberg and Ruxandra Medrea, will make its Los Angeles premiere.
The event marks the first time in which scenes from the disastrous, aborted film from 1964 will be widely screened to West Coast audiences, though gossip from the infamous set has remained a hot topic of debate amongst film nerds and historians for some time. The basic story is as follows:
Columbia Pictures, fresh off the relative success of Stanley Kubrick’s artsy (and blank-check budgeted) satire, Dr. Strangelove, decides to invest in another high-minded flick, this time from a commercially viable French director. Amazingly, they hand over a basically unlimited budget to one Henri-Georges Clouzot, who, despite considerable success from both critics and audiences, had been receiving harsh backlash from those rascally kids of the French New Wave. Clouzot, in turn, was eager to prove his worth. He set about devising a dark, surrealistic psycho-drama—with embedded allusions to Proust and Dante’s The Divine Comedy—about a husband’s extreme jealousy over his seductive wife. International film star Romy Schneider was cast as the leading lady, and Serge Reggiani was to play her brooding husband. But only a couple weeks into filming— with the increasingly temperamental Clouzot employing three separate crews and over 150 technicians—Reggiani dropped out, the location of the set suffered a record-breaking heat wave, and an artificial lake (essential to the production) was forced to be drained by French authorities. At last, the entire film was shut down when Clouzot was hospitalized due to a near-fatal heart attack.
Such stories of the genius, maniacal film-director making their doomed masterwork have been told before, and well (The Burden of Dreams, Hearts of Darkness, Lost in La Mancha, Overnight, etc.). But what Bromberg’s movie brings fresh are simply the brilliant—though limited—images from Clouzot’s failed venture. Part black-and-white, part color, the fractured scenes are so stunning and highly experimental for their time, it’s a wonder (and a relief) it was filmed before the advent of digital technology.
It’s a tragic fact that Clouzot never returned to complete L’ Enfer after his recovery, but there’s beauty to be had in the unfinished, the what-could-have-been. After all, if that elevator had not broken down, if it had completed its intended journey on that fated Parisian day when Serge Bromberg met Inès de Gonzalez, there would be no Henri-Georges Inferno—those hours upon hours of gorgeous footage left to rot in some sterile vault—and more importantly, we would be left with one less choice of what to see this weekend at the movies.
Henri-Georges Inferno opens on Friday, July 30th at the Laemmle Music Hall and the Laemmle Sunet 5. For more information, please visit www.clouzotsinferno.com, or www.flickeralley.com. A DVD release of the film is Janurary 2011 through Flicker Alley, LLC.
Tags: Dante's The DIvine Comedy, Diabolique, Dr. Strangelove, Flicker Alley, French New Wave, Henri-Georges Clouzot, Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Inferno, Hitchcock, Laemmle Music Hall, Laemmle Sunset 5, L’Enfer, Proust, ROmy Schneider, Ruxandra Medrea, Serge Bromberg, Serge Reggiani, Stanley Kubrick, The Wages of Fear
Posted in Art, Beverly Hills, Film, Neighborhoods, Personalities, West Hollywood No Comments »
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A tribute to Steve Irwin
Steve Irwin , the popular television presenter better known as the 'Crocodile Hunter', has passed away following a marine accident.
The 44-year old was filming an underwater documentary on Monday morning, and police sources in Cairns, north Australia, say he was killed by a stingray barb.
Only the second known Australian fatality from a stingray attack, Irwin seemed to have been stung either through his heart or the left side of his chest, following which he immediately suffered a cardiac arrest. He is survived by wife Terri and their two children, Bindi Sue, 8, and Robert, 3.
Also aiding his global following were his pro-conservation, environmentalist approach and his encyclopaedic knowledge and love of crocodiles.
Australian naturalist and animal-lover Steve Irwin has died after being struck in the chest by a stingray's barb.
Irwin had been filming a documentary on his boat Croc One in Queensland's Great Barrier Reef on the day of his death. Paramedics were unable to save his life.
The 44-year-old was famous around the world for handling dangerous animals, including an anaconda during a TV appearance on the Jay Leno Show.
Mr Irwin's wife Terri was often at his side, to help deal with animals such as the albino Burmese python.
Father-of-two Mr Irwin grew up on his parents' reptile park and became fascinated with animals after receiving a python as a present on his sixth birthday.
He was also a passionate conservationist and was pictured with a variety of animals, such as Kimberly the camel in 2003.
There was outrage in 2004 when Mr Irwin held his one-month-old son near a crocodile during a show. He said his children, including daughter Bindi, had to grow up to be "croc savvy".
Mr Irwin, who handled dangerous animals such as the taipan snake, turned a small reptile park in Queensland into Australia Zoo. It has now become a major wildlife centre.
And Mr Irwin emphasised his dedication to saving endangered species by creating the Steve Irwin Conservation Foundation.
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said he was "fond" of Mr Irwin and "very, very appreciative" of his work in promoting Australia overseas.
Fans left flowers at Australia Zoo after news of Mr Irwin's death was confirmed on Monday.
Stingray Pic
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Everett W. Jaeger
Service: January 1, 2015
Everett W. Jaeger, 81, of Ashippun, passed away on Thursday, December 25, 2014 at Oconomowoc Memorial Hospital.
A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. on Thursday, January 1, 2015 at Zion Lutheran Church in Ashippun with Rev. Robert F. Thays officiating. Fellowship will follow the service at the church. Memorials, if desired, would be appreciated to the church or to the Ashippun First Responders.
Hafemeister Funeral Home and Cremation Service of Watertown is serving the family. Online condolences may be made at www.hafemeisterfh.com.
Everett William Jaeger was born on June 29, 1933 in Lebanon the son of Gerold and Malinda (Schuett) Jaeger. On May 9, 1953 he married Muriel Burchardt at Zion Lutheran Church in Ashippun. Everett owned and operated
J & S Floor Covering in Ashippun for many years. It was previously known as Jaeger Carpet Service. Everett was a member of Zion Lutheran Church in Ashippun. He was a devoted family man, avid sports fan and card player.
He is survived by his wife Muriel Jaeger of Ashippun; seven children: Randall (Loni) Jaeger of Neosho, Sheryl Jaeger of Ashippun, Beth (Keith) Johnson of Alexandria, VA, Curtis (Keri) Jaeger of Idaho Springs, CO, Ron (Jennifer) Jaeger of Oconomowoc, Susan (David) Welch of Johnson Creek, and Annette (Todd) Christopherson of Ashippun; 18 grandchildren; 15 great-grandchildren; his siblings: William (Bernice) Jaeger, Dennis (Barbara) Jaeger, David (Sandy) Jaeger, Dorothy (Steve) Salzman, and Roger (Vicky) Jaeger, nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.
Everett was preceded in death by his parents, a daughter Loreen Ann in infancy, and a daughter-in-law Cynthia Jaeger.
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Market Line
Essex Crossing Street Market
MARKET.
For over 75 years, Essex Street Market has been providing the Lower East Side with fresh, quality, and affordable food as a mission-driven public market with a defined civic purpose: Essex Street Market supports small business and encourages entrepreneurship; it sustains cultural traditions and strengthens communities through curated events and programming. 28 diverse merchants make up the current Market’s vendor community, ranging from greengrocers, butchers, and fishmongers to prepared foods for enjoyment on-site and specialty items like locally-sourced cheese and Moroccan olive oil.
In the fall of 2018, all 28 vendors will move to a new building directly across Delancey Street to a new facility.
The new Essex Street Market, which will be located on the ground floor of Essex Crossing’s Site 2, will act as a conduit for visitors of the Marketline, a three-block long underground marketplace. Although Essex Street Market is moving locations, the Market -- which will remain open in its current location at 120 Essex Street until the move -- will continue to be owned and operated by the City of New York, making it the city’s largest public retail market.
The new Essex Street Market will serve as the cornerstone of Essex Crossing, with a prime location on the southeast corner of Essex and Delancey Streets, and capacity for an additional 11 vendors, plus 2 new restaurants – increasing the Market’s footprint from 15,000 to over 36,000 square feet.
This new space will also include a fully outfitted demonstration kitchen, allowing for an expanded calendar of events, many of which will be free and open to the public.
Visit the Essex Street Market site
A MARKET
Spanning three city blocks and connected via substreet tunnels, The Market Line will be one of the world’s greatest markets boasting 60 foot ceilings that welcome natural light to an underground landscape.
Go visit
All artistic renderings and maps presented on this website are intended for illustrative purposes only. These renderings and maps do not represent the exact size, location, design, or function of the structural or street plan elements proposed for development at Essex Crossing. Dates included on this website are estimates only; actual groundbreaking, construction, and completion dates will be announced as they are determined.
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The Case for Climate Surveys
The Case for Holistic Survivor Support
Bill Summaries
Our Coalition
Our Summit
Our Rally
Hear what students have to say about H.4159/S.650
In 2015, students testified before the Joint Higher Education Committee, drawing support from more than 17 different campuses. You can read through some of their testimony below.
Anthony Herbert - Bridgewater State University
The need to take more aggressive action on addressing sexual violence at our colleges and universities has become very apparent in the past few years. For some time we have known that sexual assaults occur with alarming frequency at colleges and universities but very little has been done about it. Emerging stories this past year of Universities that have ignored sexual violence on their campuses only proves we need more transparency and accessibility to data on this important issue. A Sexual Assault Climate Survey will help us better understand the issue and help empower students who have been victimized and make them more likely to come forward and report crimes that we know so often go unreported. I feel strongly about this issue because I know how sexual violence can affect a campus and the students at Bridgewater State University and the other schools in Massachusetts deserve an environment where they are feel safe to be in. No student should live in fear of sexual assault and no student should fear coming forward and reporting an incident to their respective college or university. It is my hope that one day soon we can make this a reality rather than just a dream and this bill is the first step in making that a reality.
Anthony M. Hebert
President, Student Government Association
Bridgewater State University
Ghysaine Osseni - Salem State University
My name is Ghyslaine Osseni and I am currently a senior at Salem State University. Since my first year in College, I’ve been involved with different groups and clubs such as the Intercultural Leadership Program, The Accounting Association and so on. I always wanted to be involved on campus and bring students together to achieve a common goal. I started to mentor first-year students; organized different cultural events, or professional events like the annual “Meet the Firms” to help students get a full-time job or an internship. Then I joined the Student Government Association to hear about issues that affect the school as a whole and try to resolve them.
As a current student I have the chance to hang out with other students and see how easily people can take advantage of them when they have a little too much to drink for example. This is an issue that affects a lot of students whether they talk about it or not. I think that an anonymous survey would help figure out the approximate number of students who have been sexually assaulted, how it happened, and what we can do to prevent this. I think that a climate survey will be an important way throw this issue out there, raise awareness and bring students together to talk about it.
Ghyslaine Osseni
James Cody - Boston College
James Cody
Edmonds Hall, Boston College,
140 Commonwealth Avenue, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467
Good morning Chairman Moore and Education Committee members. My name is James Cody and I am a rising senior at Boston College and the President of the College Democrats of Massachusetts. As an active College Democrat both on and off campus, I, along with the rest of the College Democrats of Massachusetts--the official youth wing of the Massachusetts Democratic Party--stand with the several college students before you today in support of Senator Brownsberger's proposed Bill 650. The Senator's proposal would mandate all Massachusetts colleges and universities in Massachusetts to conduct a campus climate survey regarding sexual assault. Without the information collected through these surveys provided and publicized, schools oftentimes lack the incentive to report sexual assaults on their respective campuses. The time has come for our state's policy to acknowledge the reality of sexual assault on our commonwealth's campuses and for school administrators to begin ensuring student safety and survivor aid. I stand with the rest of the College Democrats of Massachusetts in asking that you support Senator Brownsberger's essential proposal.
Kavita Singh - Northeastern University
Dear Senator Moore, Representative Sannicandro, and members of the Joint Committee on Higher Education:
Thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony on SB 650 and the importance of conducting and publishing sexual assault climate surveys at colleges and universities in Massachusetts. As a student at Northeastern University involved with efforts to reform our sexual assault systems and policies, I believe that SB 650 would provide an essential means for universities to combat sexual assault.
As evidenced by extensive research, sexual assault on college campuses is significantly underreported. Victims who feel uncomfortable, unsafe, and unsupported within their communities are less likely to report their perpetrator, consequently insulating the assailant from facing the necessary consequences while leaving the victim to deal with the trauma of sexual assault alone. The prevalence of these occurrences significantly contributes to pervasive attitudes towards sexual assault on campuses, many of which promote ‘rape culture.’
SB 650 is essential because it provides a critical means for universities to gauge students’ awareness about sexual assault prevention and response policy, as well as their attitudes and experiences with campus safety. This information is critical for the universities’ records in order to receive a more holistic, general consensus of student’s safety and knowledge and use this information the implement stronger policy. For example, the publication of the 2014 Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus climate survey revealed that although at least 17 percent of women said they’ve been sexually assaulted at MIT, less than 5 percent chose to report the incident(s) to campus authorities. Similarly startling -- one in four male students believed someone who was sexually assaulted while drunk or drugged was at least partially responsible for what happened to them.
Statistics like these evidence significant gaps in information and knowledge, gaps which allow silence, submission and exploitation to become characteristic features of a universities’ campus. Utilizing campus climate surveys can help universities eliminate these gaps by implementing different protocols and policies specifically catered to the health of that specific campus. With more university activism, sexual assault victims will feel more comfortable reporting their perpetrators to the university, making it a safer place for the student body while also helping the university promote the values of respect and fairness it was founded upon.
Next year, 27 U.S. public and private research universities will participate in a sexual assault climate survey from the Association of American Universities, among which include: Harvard University, Brown University, Columbia University, and Yale University. These schools will gauge the knowledge and safety of over 800,000 individuals. Massachusetts is a home to one hundred and fourteen colleges. By mandating the implementation of a campus climate survey, the number of students protected will increase significantly.
For these reasons, I support SB 650, An Act creating a sexual assault climate survey for Massachusetts colleges and universities, and I urge the Committee to report this bill favorably. Thank you for your attention and consideration.
Kavita Singh
Northeastern University ‘18
Marlise Arellano -Harvard University
I believe that the climate survey is necessary for all colleges. Without it I do not think I will feel safe at my university nor will I have the same trust I could have in my university when I know that sexual assault prevention is taken seriously. As a female Mexican, I need my voice to be heard on campus, not just for myself but also for Women and Hispanics alike that have long been unheard. Sexual assault prevention is extremely important to me and I believe that the climate survey would help give me a voice. Prior to college, sexual assault has never crossed my mind. I realized the atrocity, but did not think that it would ever truly affect me. Not until I was in a college setting, worked on the legislation at the Institute of Politics, and finally chose to write my final research paper for a class on sexual assault prevention on college campuses did I understand that although sexual assault at colleges is finally gaining the attention it deserves that the rape accepting attitudes have been there all along. Looking back even before I came to Harvard, I thought of the comments that my friends and I had ignored–the ones about our bodies, our sexuality, our clothing choices, and our identities. For all the high school students like me that did not realize what our society was promoting is why we need this climate survey. The survey would open up the minds of students to what is too widespread on many campuses, and give students a voice to express their opinions and discuss their experiences.
Marlise Arellano
Harvard College Class of 2018
Connor Milligan - Suffolk University
Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee,
My name is Connor Milligan, and as a student of Suffolk University, I feel that it would be most prudent for not only students at Suffolk, but also students at universities across the nation to complete a survey about their perception of sexual assault within their student body upon the completion of their college undergraduate experience. It would be wonderful to assume that as we progress into the 21st century and further towards gender equality, sexual assault will, like gender norms and stereotypes, become a thing of the past. However almost everyone will agree that sexual assault happens at colleges and universities across the country on a regular basis. I feel that as a representative of Suffolk’s HeForShe organization and as a member of the Suffolk community in general, it is my duty as well as my peer’s duty to report anything seen or heard regarding sexual assault on or around campus. The survey regarding student’s perception of sexual assault on campus would help to place a finger on the pulse of the happenings on Suffolk’s campus and amongst the students of the university and would help to prevent and eventually put a stop to sexual assault and inappropriate behavior amongst future students of the university.
Sabrina Zionts - Wellesley College
Sabrina Zionts
My name is Sabrina Zionts and I am a rising senior at Wellesley College. I have been involved with SAAFE (Sexual Assault Awareness for Everyone) since my first semester at Wellesley. SAAFE is an on-campus organization that aims to spread awareness about issues of sexual violence and support those who have been affected by it. Through our advocacy work, SAAFE has learned that there exist great misconceptions about sexual violence in general, and especially on Wellesley’s campus. These misconceptions include that sexual violence does not or cannot happen at Wellesley because it is a historically women’s institution. This claim is obviously false, since all genders can perpetrate or be victim to sexual violence and because Wellesley students interact with non-Wellesley students, both on and off-campus. We cannot adequately support survivors of sexual violence if their very existence is ignored. Only through the collection and dissemination of hard data can we validate those students who have experienced sexual violence and prevent its occurrence in the future. SAAFE and myself therefore support S.650 and the creation and implementation of a sexual assault climate survey, which we believe is a necessary step towards addressing the reality of sexual violence at Wellesley College and at other Massachusetts institutions.
Jason Ritchey - Northeastern University
Thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony on SB 650 An Act creating a sexual assault climate survey for Massachusetts colleges and universities. Campus climate surveys are integral to understanding the complex issues that students, faculty, and staff face at colleges and universities. In this case, SB 650 would begin to tackle an incredibly prevalent problem -- sexual assault. SB 650 would provide valuable data on campus assault and students’ perception of the policies meant to help and protect them. It would also help colleges and lawmakers identify ineffectual policies and revise them to create safe learning and working environments.
Sexual assault on university campuses happens at an undeniably alarming rate; a Department of Justice study found that 20% of college women and 6% of college men are survivors of assault. But numbers can only illustrate part of the problem. Currently, there’s insufficient information on the extent of the issue as campus assaults are, for various reasons, considerably underreported. However, by preserving anonymity, the campus climate surveys included in SB 650 would empower students to discuss freely and honestly their experiences and awareness of school policy.
This issue is incredibly important for college students beyond reducing rates of sexual assault and rape. A healthy, safe campus is integral to the success of an institution and its members. University of California campus climate survey, completed in 2013 by the 10 UC campuses, recognized that students thrive in health, inclusive environments. These supportive communities can’t exist without campus climate surveys as the first step. Colleges will directly benefit from respecting their students’ individual autonomy and cultivating such spaces.
In 2014, before establishing the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault, President Obama said, “Sexual violence tears apart the fabric of our communities. And that’s why we’re here today -- because we have the power to do something about it as a government, as a nation.” Though the White House Task Force was an incredible first step, it had no enforcement capabilities and only could recommend that universities conduct surveys. Unfortunately, few did, and many of the ones that needed it the most cowered in the shadows, denying their problems. SB 650 would not allow for any more cowering. It provides an opportunity for indispensable data on a complicated and timely issue that cannot wait any longer. It’s time for institutions to be held accountable to their students, staff, and faculty and acknowledge sexual assault as the problem it is.
I urge the Committee to report SB 650 An Act creating a sexual assault climate survey for Massachusetts colleges and universities favorably. Thank you for your attention and consideration and for your dedication to improving higher education.
Jason Ritchey
Louis Aghanwa - Harvard University
I care about this issue because sexual assault and harassment is a public health issue that affects both women and men. For women who have been victims, or are vulnerable to being victims, there is usually a stigma attached to the act of reporting an assault case that makes the victim appear and feel inferior, weak, and helpless. In order to combat sexual assault as well as bypass the obstacle of social stigma, this climate survey needs to be implemented on college campuses across the state. I expect the results of this survey to further spark necessary dialogue between different parties concerning sexual misconduct.
This bill is also very important to me because as a self-identified straight male, I want to feel like I can be trusted by the women that I see everyday as some of the most intelligent and brightest individuals. The issue of sexual assault, and the social stigma of women reporting their victims can sometimes cause a unhealthy distrustful relationships between men and women on college campuses. This survey will help both parties begin to speak more openly and more seriously on the issue of on-campus sexual assault and harassment because I believe and feel that this bill should make at least one thing clear: the issue of sexual assault on campus is both a female and male problem that together we must combat.
Veronica Neto - Suffolk University
Since the recent incidents of sexual assault on college campuses surrounding Suffolk and nationwide, the survey that is being proposed should be passed. Students should be able to feel protected on their campus and college officials should be aware what is going on on their campus. Sexual assault is usually a topic that is unseen by many people. This should change. With a survey, the topic of sexual assault will be aware to everyone.
- Veronica Neto
Maya Gilchrist - Northeastern University
I thank you for your time and for the opportunity to testify in favor of SB 650, an important piece of legislation that, if passed, would empower students and place pressure on college administrations to confront the issue of sexual assault on college campuses. As a current student at Northeastern University involved in the promotion of justice and equality with regards to gender and sexuality, I feel passionately about this legislation and the change it promises to bring about in my community and other colleges in Massachusetts.
When 1 in 5 women and 1 in 16 men will fall victim to attempted sexual assault throughout the course of their college careers, it is clear that there exists an issue that needs to be addressed in a serious and timely matter. What is perhaps even more frightening than this, however, is the following statistic: that only 20% of survivors will ever report their assaults. I have to wonder if there is a greater reason why this number is so low.
This past April, the student body at Northeastern University overwhelmingly voted in favor of the establishment of a gender resource center on campus, which would provide a safe space for survivors of sexual assault and serve as a tool in the facilitation of dialogue concerning gender and sexuality issues as a whole. That my college campus did not already provide such a resource continues to astonish and concern me, especially in conjunction with the fact that Northeastern’s administration has yet to publish the results of the campus climate survey it conducted over a year ago. Together, these seem to send the message that the well-being of sexual assault survivors is not of the utmost importance, and that sexual assault at large is not a significant enough issue to acknowledge formally and publicly.
Given the prevalence of sexual violence on our campuses, this is a dangerous message to send. SB 650, in mandating that a nonbiased campus climate survey be conducted and the results analyzed and published for all Massachusetts college campuses, would be a push in bringing this issue out into the open. This would force administrations to acknowledge that a problem exists and provide them with some of the tools necessary to address sexual assault on campus.
In the case of Northeastern, my hope is that it would help provide evidence as to the necessity of a gender resource center as well. Furthermore, and perhaps most importantly, the public availability of the results of such a survey would ensure survivors that they are not alone and that steps are being taken to tackle the issue and to bring them justice. Referring back to the 20% figure, such measures would hopefully encourage survivors to report their assaults and to feel safe in doing so. This is crucial in creating and maintaining a safe and healthy learning environment for all students.
For these reasons, I urge the Committee to report SB 650, An Act creating a sexual assault climate survey for Massachusetts colleges and universities favorably. Once again, I thank you for your consideration.
Maya Gilchrist
Northeastern University 2018
Mattea Mrkusic - Harvard University
My name is Mattea Mrkusic. I'm a female junior at Harvard University and I'm in full support of this bill. I strongly feel that sexual assault on college campuses has not been adequately addressed across the state and nation. By implementing a task force, this bill impels colleges to interrogate their campus cultures, asks them to identify at-risk groups and attempt to mitigate any issues illuminated by this survey. Prevention, rather than band-aid patch ups after the fact, is the way to solve sexual assault, and I believe this bill takes a strong step in the right direction to prevent it.
Mattea Mrkusic
Mike Crawford - Salem State University
Mr. Chairman and members of the committee
My name is Michael Crawford and I am the Student Trustee at Salem State University. Serving in this leadership position, it is important I help voice the concerns of the student body. Sexual assault is an issue I take very seriously. A close friend of mine was a victim of sexual assault at her college during her junior year. After witnessing the effects it has had on her life since then and the struggles she has gone through in trying to overcome them, it has given me a better understanding of how serious of a crime this is and how many people are at risk. On campus, the students I have talked to have expressed how important of an issue sexual assault is to them and they want the opportunity to help make a change. However, in order for this issue to start being resolved, we need to know more about it. This is why students sincerely want an opportunity for their voice to be heard in a safe environment, which is exactly what a climate survey provides. Not only will it give a chance for every student to be heard, the climate survey will help gather data that is essential in forming future policy and raising awareness. Not much is known about the prevalence of sexual assault and its causes and seeking this information is a sign of leadership and initiative towards an important national issue. Ultimately, a climate survey represents an important step forward in making college campuses safer for all students. If it can prevent even one more person from having to go through the horror my friend has gone through, it is completely worth it and has my full support.
Emily Bialdi - Tufts University
I'm reaching out to voice my support for the Senate Bill S 650. I just finished my undergrad at Tufts, where I did some sexual violence-related activism with Katrina Dzyak. A major takeaway from my Tufts education is that research and data collection matter. They're the foundation for developing and adapting effective prevention and response programming. This bill represents an important step towards consistent, thoughtfully-developed, inclusively-designed sexual violence assessments. I would especially like to emphasize my support for student involvement in the design and implementation of these surveys. I am confident that there are students on every campus in Massachusetts who would welcome the opportunity to contribute to the development of campus climate surveys. Many thanks for the critically important work you are doing,
Isabella Depina - Bridgewater State University
Sexually related crimes are sensitive and quite complex for any community to address, but especially a college community, which is why I support bill S.650 because it will set forth the foundation to help deal with sexual assault cases on college campuses. The recent sexual assault uproars in Bridgewater State University have negatively affected campus life, student’s safety, and the university reputation. When it comes to sexually related crimes in a college setting, the college must properly and carefully address the students about the incident, protect the victim(s) and lastly, assure safety of the entire student body and staff members. Bridgewater State University has completed all these procedures. By informing the students via email, protecting the victim’s name, and implementing the sexual task force and campus safety walks. But what more could we do? By passing bill S.650, BSU will be able to cope and deal with these cases by having a climate survey that will help the administration know what needs to be done in hope to aid and end these incidents.
Isabella Depina
Parliamentarian, Student Government Association
Forrest Perkins - Northeastern University
Thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony on SB 650 and the importance of conducting and publishing sexual assault climate surveys at colleges and universities in Massachusetts. As a student at Northeastern University, a brother in Alpha Kappa Sigma, and a person who cares deeply about solving the issue of sexual assault, I am grateful for the opportunity to comment on this important piece of legislation.
SB 650 would create a task force to develop and implement campus climate surveys at colleges and universities across Massachusetts to study topics related to campus sexual assault -- not only prevalence and incidence, but also broader metrics such as students’ knowledge of institutional policies and procedures and survivor reporting practices.
During my time at Northeastern University, I’ve noticed how the issue of sexual assault primarily draws attention and efforts from survivors or close friends of survivors. Meanwhile, the larger campus community remains disengaged and uneducated on the issues. I consider this to be one of the biggest impediments to anti-sexual assault advocacy as such ignorance can lead to victim blaming, failure of bystanders to intervene, and uncertainty of what to do if one does experience sexual violence. Producing and publishing campus climate surveys as required by SB 650 would be an incredible way to involve and educate a larger percentage of university students on the issue of sexual assault, thereby preventing future sexual violence and offering greater support to survivors.
Collecting and publishing this data while still respecting the anonymity of students as detailed by SB 650 is critical to solving sexual assault on college campuses. According to a 2007 study from the U.S. Department of Justice, 1 in 5 women and 1 in 16 men are the victims of attempted or completed sexual assault while they are in college. Meanwhile, a recent study from the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics shows that just 20% of survivors of sexual assault in college report their assaults. The discrepancy between reporting rates and the alarming prevalence of sexual assault not only obscures the extent of the problem -- it can conceal useful trends and information for solving it. It is not enough to rely solely on official reporting rates due to a number of social factors that may discourage survivors from reporting. Instead, we must take a proactive strategy to accurately gauge the problem of sexual assault on college campuses.
Campus climate surveys are a crucial tool in solving sexual assault on college campuses because they provide data and information that allows administrators and policymakers to clearly identify faults in their policies and systems that lead to unsafe and hostile environments on campuses. Moreover, they serve an important moral purpose as well. When colleges fail to acknowledge sexual assault is a problem, they send a message to students that says they do not care about their safety. It sends a message that alienates survivors, creating an even more hostile space. And it sends a message that draws into question their true commitments to creating safe and survivor-friendly environments where all students have the right to exist safely.
As the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault stated in their groundbreaking report on campus sexual assault last year, “the first step in solving a problem is to name it and know the extent of it -- and a campus climate survey is the best way to do that”.
For these reasons, I urge the Committee to report SB 650, An Act creating a sexual assault climate survey for Massachusetts colleges and universities favorably. Thank you for your attention and consideration.
Forrest Perkins
Kyle Bueno - Bridgewater State University
I am writing in support of Senate Bill S.650, an act creating a Sexual Assault Climate Survey for Massachusetts Colleges and Universities. If passed, this piece of legislation would create a task force- co-chaired by designees in Higher Education, the Attorney General, and the Commissioner of Public Health- to begin the discussion of sexual assaults on campuses by developing a sexual assault climate survey. It is unacceptable that one-quarter of college women will be the victims of attempted rape and sexual assault on college campuses across the United States. No one should ever feel unsafe walking to and from classes during the day or at night. I believe this bill is a step forward in stopping sexual assaults from occurring on campuses across Massachusetts and making students feel safe again.
Kyle Bueno
Senator at Large, Student Government Association
Amy Myers - Mount Holyoke College
Testimony for MA Senate Bill 650
Good afternoon Chairman Moore and Chairman Sannicandro. My name is Amy Myers and I am a student at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA. Senator William Brownsberger’s proposed Bill 650 would require all Massachusetts colleges and universities to conduct, and publish, campus-wide surveys pertaining to sexual assault. This bill is essential to publicly addressing the shortcomings of educational institutions, and highlighting areas in which school administrators can assume accountability and develop conducive solutions.
By promulgating the results of the surveys, colleges and universities will then be unable to shy from their inaction and will have to actualize their responsibility of caring for survivors. This legislation offers school administrators insight on what needs to be addressed on their respective campuses. In turn, the publication of sexual assault statistics will better ensure student safety at the risk of tarnishing institutions’ venerable reputations. Thus, I am counting on you to support Bill 650 for the protection of Massachusetts students statewide. Without this legislation, we are hindering progress towards handling and preventing sexual assault on college campuses. Therefore, it is of the essence that proposed Bill 650 be realized in a timely manner.
Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter.
Amy Myers
Holly Van Hare - Northeastern University
Thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony on SB 650 and the importance of conducting and publishing sexual assault climate surveys at colleges and universities in Massachusetts. I am grateful for the opportunity to comment on this important piece of legislation, both as a student of Northeastern University involved with efforts to reform sexual assault policies and systems, and as a student desirous to better understand and address the climate of sexual assault at colleges and universities across the state.
After recently becoming aware of Northeastern University’s prevention and response systems for incidents of sexual assault, I noted that they were severely lacking in solidarity, consistency, and safety. Yet, Northeastern advertises itself as an institution with a strong sexual assault response policy. Noting the discrepancy, I investigated further and was introduced to a climate of ignorance regarding the state and frequency of sexual assault on campus. In summary, there is a veiled, tar-thick problem paired with a severe lack of awareness not just at Northeastern, but at many colleges and universities in Massachusetts.
SB 650 would create an enact a task force to develop and implement campus climate surveys at colleges and universities across Massachusetts to investigate topics related to campus sexual assault. These surveys would not only reveal prevalence and incidence, but also uncover broader metrics, such as students’ knowledge of institutional policies, procedures, and survivors’ reporting behaviors.
Collecting and publishing this data while still respecting the anonymity of students (as SB 650 instructs) is critical to addressing the issue of sexual assault on college campuses. According to a 2007 study from the U.S. Department of Justice, 1 in 5 women and 1 in 16 men are the victims of attempted or completed sexual assault while they are in college. Meanwhile, a recent study from the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics shows that a mere 20% of survivors of sexual assault in college report their assaults. The discrepancy between reporting rates and the alarming prevalence of sexual assault not only obscures the extent of the problem, but it can also conceal useful trends and information for addressing the issue. It is not enough to rely solely on official reporting rates, due to the excess of social factors that may discourage survivors from reporting. The anonymity of climate surveys compiles a more statistically accurate version of the scope of sexual assault on college campuses, as well as more accurately and transparently identifies problems and unforeseen pitfalls with institutions’ reporting and addressing systems.
Campus climate surveys are a crucial tool in solving sexual assault on college campuses because they provide data and information that allow policymakers to clearly identify faults in their policies and systems that lead to unsafe and/or hostile campus environments. These surveys serve an important moral purpose as well. When institutions fail to acknowledge that sexual assault is a problem, they send a message to survivors and students that resonates a lack of care about student safety. It sends a message that alienates survivors and creates an even more hostile space. And it sends a message that draws into question the institution’s true commitment to creating a safe and survivor-friendly environment in which students have the consistent right to exist safely in all respects.
A system can only improve if it knows its faults. As the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault stated in their groundbreaking report on campus sexual assault last year, “the first step in solving a problem is to name it and know the extent of it -- and a campus climate survey is the best way to do that”.
Holly Van Hare
Northeastern University, Class of 2017
Sarah Fellman - Harvard University
My name is Sarah Fellman, and I am a rising sophomore at Harvard College. As a college student myself, the friend of many sexual assault survivors and the Deputy Massachusetts Political Director of Rise, an organization working on the Sexual Assault Survivors' Bill of rights, H. 1278, it is extremely important to me that the Commonwealth take campus sexual assault seriously. We deserve to know the prevalence of sexual assault on our campuses, because only then can our universities and the Commonwealth begin to address the crisis. I hope that the creation of this sexual assault task force and survey can be a step towards helping sexual assault survivors and stopping sexual assault and rape culture. With that in mind, for me, my peers, and future students of Massachusetts colleges looking to have a great time and obtain a world-class education, I urge you to support this bill.
Chuka Esiobu - Harvard University
My name is Chuka Esiobu, and I am a rising senior at Harvard College. As a member of the Institute of Politics Health Policy group commissioned by the State Senate, I've worked to research current sexual assault initiatives in Massachusetts, identifying gaps in policy to inform future legislation. What is being presented today is a product of the research conducted by our team.In recent years, countless articles written by current Harvard College undergraduates and alumni alike, have expressed a dissatisfaction with the administration's handling of sexual assault issues on campus, and I believe we can begin changing that narrative with Bill S.650.
The current dearth of data makes it near impossible to address the issue at hand effectively. Implementing a climate survey is the first step to gaining a more comprehensive understanding of the problem of sexual assault on college campuses, and the proposed regulatory infrastructure around the survey will be a crucial step in ensuring the safety of our students. As a member of the IOP Health Policy Group, and more importantly, as a student that hopes to cultivate a safe learning environment for myself and my colleagues, I am in full support of Bill S.650.
Roxanne Anderson - Northeastern University
Thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony on SB 650 and the importance of conducting and publishing sexual assault climate surveys at colleges and universities in Massachusetts. As a student at Northeastern University involved in student-led groups advocating for the change of unreliable and inadequate sexual assault response policies on our campus, I am excited by the opportunity to comment on this important piece of legislation.
A recent study from the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics shows that just 20% of survivors of sexual assault in college report their assaults. For too long, academic institutions have chosen to ignore the prevalence of sexual assault on campuses and their own responsibility in responding to these crimes. By ignoring the true problem and avoiding institutional responsibility to protect and serve students, colleges often ignore the needs of survivors. This sends a message that creates a hostile climate for all students, and draws into question universities’ true commitments to creating safe and survivor-friendly campuses.
With the heightened awareness of sexual assault on college campuses, this bill could not come at a better time. It is promising to see other schools in the area already conducting climate surveys and releasing the results in a timely and constructive manner. Climate surveys can be utilized to understand some of the systematic causes of inadequate services and generally unsafe practices regarding sexual assault prevention and response on campuses. Examining students’ knowledge of campus services creates a clear image for schools to understand where survivor resources need improvement and how to implement these services, be it a survivor resource center, a hotline, or a more comprehensive outline of how to report sexual assault. When institutions decide to publish the results of these surveys, it demonstrates to survivors and all students that they acknowledge this is a problem, and that they are committed to creating a safer campus for all students. It is a crucial time in this movement and holding institutions accountable to the environment of their campus is important in working toward change and ultimately creating a safer space for all students.
Roxanne Anderson
Sarah Brady - Mount Holyoke College
Good Afternoon Members of the Joint Committee on Higher Education. My name is Sarah Brady, and I am a student at Mount Holyoke College and a member of the Massachusetts College Democrats. Senator Brownsberger has proposed bill 650 which would create a sexual assault climate survey for colleges and universities in Massachusetts. I would like you to support this bill.
One in four women are sexually assaulted at some point during their academic career. Students should have the right to feel safe at their school and receive higher education without the looming specter of sexual assault over their shoulders. Bill 650 would allow colleges to learn about the sexual assault climates on their campuses while also increasing the accountability of school administrations based on the results of the survey. This bill is a crucial step in dealing with sexual assault on college campuses, and I encourage you to support it.
Sarah Brady
Larkin Sayre - MIT
Larkin Sayre
My name is Larkin Sayre and I am a student activist and peer educator at MIT in the areas of respectful relationships and sexual assault. I care deeply about ending sexual violence on college campuses and in our wider communities. MIT instituted a climate survey last year which started tough conversations and went a long way towards changing attitudes towards sexual violence. I am fully in support of implementing respectful and carefully-planned climate surveys in Massachusetts schools. The climate survey at MIT gave a sense for the huge number of people affected by sexual violence during their college years. The open and methodical approach to collecting data taken by the MIT CASA survey is helping to dispel myths and give people clarity on issues that they often do not understand or feel uncomfortable asking questions about. Perhaps most importantly it provided solid evidence for the magnitude of the problem. We cannot deny sexual assault is horrendously widespread and the time is now to do something about it.
Before the statistics gathered from the survey at MIT were made public I had many conversations with friends and the people around me about sexual assault and why it is an issue in dire need of energy and change. Even with the huge rise in awareness through high profile cases and campaigns in the past few years, so many people still clung to the idea that ‘sexual assault doesn’t happen here, especially not at MIT’. Some of the people around me, some faculty, some peers and, worst of all, some of my own family members, insisted that sexual violence is not a problem. They told me that the work I am doing is only harming the reputation of my alma mater and that of the communities I live and work in. It is frightening to admit that sexual assault occurs in communities, living groups and social circles that we are a part of. Instituting these surveys takes a bold step in spite of this fear. It will hopefully empower survivors who have been shamed, disrespected and above all, not believed. Research and data-collection is a step towards catalyzing change on both a policy and a cultural level.
I cannot tell you how grateful I am to be able to write a testimony like this and know my words are heard. Thank you.
MIT Class of 2017
Patrick Coyne - Boston College
My name is Patrick Coyne and I am a current sophomore at Boston College. I am writing in support of Senator William Brownsberger’s bill, S.650, which would create am obligatory climate survey on sexual assault for all Massachusetts Colleges and Universities. This bill would require that all schools must make 1) awareness of how each their own communities handles/views sexual assault on campus, and 2) take accountability on the part of the school administrators. This bill would require schools to release their survey results in order to learn how to prevent sexual assault on campus, and how to deal with members of the community who have been assaulted. This is piece of legislation is vital if our commonwealth is going to reform the stigma surrounding sexual assault. Without this mandate, schools lack the incentive to report sexual assault, and, as a result, they are prioritizing their image over the safety of their students. A mandate that requires schools to report their sexual assault surveys will bring our great commonwealth one step closer to eradicating sexual assault from our campuses. I urge the Massachusetts state legislator to follow Senator William Brownsberger and support this imperative piece of legislation.
Patrick Coyne
Boston College ‘18
Josh Hawkins - Harvard University
My name is Joshua Hawkins, a rising sophomore at Harvard College and the current Public Service Chair of the Harvard Black Men's Forum. Sexual assault is becoming more prevalent each year on college campuses as time progresses. For this reason, I believe it is essential to have a forefront tactic that spreads awareness and gains firsthand experiences and opinions concerning sexual assault issues that students may face throughout the course of various semesters. I believe that the climate survey is just the beginning. Because of this survey, more students will be willing to have progressive discussions regarding sexual assault, as it will be seen in a more transparent light, where students would be more inclined to talk about why sexual assault is an important issue to prevent especially on college campuses. The survey will serve as a great step in providing a method of discourse. Once the results are found and published, we as students will realize to a greater extent, the severity and seriousness of sexual assault. As advocates for a safe, inclusive environment for all students, Harvard BMF is in a full support of this bill.
Will Beaman - Northeastern University
Thank you for allowing this opportunity to provide testimony on SB 650 and speak on the critical importance of publishing regular sexual assault climate surveys at colleges and universities in Massachusetts. SB 650 will create a task force to ensure the immediate regular implementation of campus climate surveys to provide critical insight into the prevalence of sexual assault on college campuses and the effectiveness of existing programs that aim to create a safe environment where survivors can report sexual assault with an appropriate level of responsiveness from campus administrators.
The regular collection and publishing of this information for analysis is long overdue from major academic institutions that certainly possess the means to do so. A 2007 study from the U.S. Department of Justice found that 20% of female college students (and 6.25% of male students) have been victims of attempted sexual assault. Of these students, only 20% report the sexual assault to their universities. These statistics necessitate the proposals in SB 650, and frankly it is disgraceful that in 2015, eight years after the initial DOJ report, so little has been done to improve the sexual assault climates on college campuses.
I therefore am urging the Committee to report SB 650, An Act creating a sexual climate survey for Massachusetts colleges and universities favorably. Thank you for your time and consideration.
William Beaman
Rebekka DePew - Harvard University
Dear Members of the Joint Committee on Higher Education,
My name is Rebekka DePew, and I am currently a rising senior at Harvard College. I am writing concerning the inclusion of a sexual assault climate survey within the overall efforts to reduce sexual assault on college campuses across the state. During the June 3rd hearing, the Committee will be presented with a great deal of evidence that sexual assault is a pressing concern for students and administrators alike. While talking to students at Harvard and across the state, I have heard an overwhelming response from my peers that they want their universities to do something about this problem.
It was with this mindset that I began to research university approaches to reducing sexual assault in Fall 2014. When John Gabrieli and I, then the chairs of the Health Policy Group at Harvard’s Institute of Politics, received a commission to work on this issue from Senator Brownsberger’s office, we were thrilled to be working on a project that was so relevant to us and our peers. We eagerly began to research the interventions used by colleges across Massachusetts and the rest of the United States, but quickly found that there was very little research to indicate which interventions were actually successful. When we thought back to the programs during our own Orientation weeks that had addressed sexual assault, we realized that, while we had memories of the topic being discussed, the programs had not done much to impact our perceptions or actions in the long-term. We wanted to figure out how these types of programs could be improved, but as we dug deeper into past research, we found that there was even a shortage of reliable data as to the number of sexual assaults that were taking place, who the offenders were, and how the university was responding to reports of sexual assault. We realized that this information was vital in evaluating how colleges were responding to sexual assaults and in understanding what components of the culture on college campuses contribute to the problem.
In response to our realization of just how limited the amount of data was on the prevalence or prevention of sexual assault, we came to the conclusion that more data needed to be collected before we could make a serious recommendation on how to prevent sexual assault. For this reason, we believe that a climate survey would be an integral part of a bill to try to reduce the huge problem of sexual assaults on college campuses. A climate survey would allow students to be honest in discussing their experiences during their time in college, and would give both college officials and the state a better understanding of how to address the problem. By implementing a survey in subsequent years, the state could insure better information on what colleges can do to prevent sexual assault, making colleges more likely to take action and reduce the number of incidents among their students.
Rebekka DePew
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True Grit. The epic true stories of heroism and survival that have shaped my life.
www.randomhouse.co.nz RRP$ 37.99
The Chief to the World's Scouting Association, Bear Grylls has compiled a collection he describes as
“The epic true stories of heroism and survival that have shaped my life”
Bear condenses the heroic and survival stories of 20 remarkable people from across the world and from history and modern day. This collection of extraordinary adventures has been retold to high standard by one of today's most extraordinary adventurers. Bear has served in the SAS, has had his own hit T.V series Man vs Wild, has a karate black belt and help promote Christianity world-wide via the Alpha course. And on 16 May 1998 Bear Grylls climbed Everest. These remarkable achievements have given him a wealth of knowledge that he has put to good use when selecting the stories for this book.
The very first story in this 368 page book is the story of 22 year old Uruguayan rugby player Nando Parrado and the ill-fated flight he took with his teammates and family over the Andes. This was the subject of Piers Paul Read's bestselling book Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors. Which was in turn the subject of Director Frank Marshal’s movie Alive. Frank’s movie grossed over $36 million in the US box office alone. By leading with this well-known story Bear shows the reader that he is able to clearly present the story and showcase the incredible resilience of the respective survivalists. True Grit is by no means a once over lightly tale of the events. Bear earnestly and respectfully writes about the harsh realities of what is required to survive using the persons own words to good affect…
‘This wasn’t heroism or adventure. This was hell.’ Nando Parrado.
Bear honours each story in the collection by retelling in an engaging way where the brevity does not detract from the astonishment the reader feels learning about the perseverance and survival instinct that enabled people to live to tell the story. It is the stories of people you may not of heard of before that really have the power to make you ponder how on earth did they live?
American bombardier Louis Zamperini’s story is told just ten succinct pages. It is summed by title Louis Zamperini, wrecked, survived, tortured, revived. And accompanied with the following quote from Louis…
“Where there’s life, there’s still hope.”
Louis spent 47 days stranded at sea, then was caught and then tortured in a Japanese Prisoner of War camp. Louis was not only a survivor but he proved to know what was required to thrive…
“He knew he had to forgive his tormentors. And he didn’t just pay lip service to the idea. He really forgave them. Face to Face. In 1950, Zamperini travelled back to Japan. There he met many of the guards who tortured him in the Japanese POW camps. He told them he bore them no ill will.”
Now that’s true grit.
Post your comment to be the first.
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MainBlogsThe Tamar Yonah Show"Innocent People Should Never Talk To The Police"
"Innocent People Should Never Talk To The Police"
As nations of the world are becoming more and more like a police state, I thought it would be helpful to direct you to two videos that a listener of mine sent me, BEFORE it might be censored or removed from the internet. If you can download these videos, I suggest you do so.
Hypothetical situation: Police officer Jones makes an arrest. He fills out his paperwork and it goes into a file. At the end of the year, he wants to show his superiors that out of the 500 arrests he made that year, all or most of the 500 of them were convicted. If he makes more arrests than were convicted, that would look bad on his record now, wouldn't it? He is motivated to nail you, and he has almost unlimited resources to do so.
Without mentioning names, there was a pamphlet that was sent out over the internet telling Israelis what their rights are if they are arrested and questioned by the Israeli security services. The pamphlet also revealed many of the tricks detectives and security forces use to help get a guilty verdict on a person they have arrested. It was fascinating to say the least, and very educational. That pamphlet seems to be removed from the internet.
The tricks, lies and intimidation that cops use, work. It takes a very strong person to resist the urge to talk. But you musn't. I know stories that show proof of this, where innocent people benefited from remaining silent. But that is for another blog …perhaps.
The video below is of Criminal Defense Attorney and Prof. James Duane. He explains (in a very entertaining way) why innocent people should never talk to the police. He speaks fast, so listen closely and listen to it all. The lecture is about 27 minutes long but worth every minute. After Prof. Duane speaks, he is followed by officer George Bruch from the Virginia Beach police department. Bruch has been an investigator (and interrogator) for approx. 28 years, he concurs with the advice that innocent people should never talk to the police.
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Facebook’s Coal Problem
You’ve hard about the cloud, right? This blog comes to you from the cloud. The cloud is where the bank keeps your money. YouTube, Gmail, Twitter and iTunes live in the cloud. So does a record of all my runs in 2011. The cloud, in essence, is the millions of data centers where information and software are stored and can be accessed by gazillions of computers.
Unfortunately, the cloud is creating problems for the planet.
Which bring us to Facebook and its coal problem. By some accounts, Facebook is the world’s most visited website. Greenpeace, as a result, has made Facebook the target of a campaign called Unfriend Coal, which has its own Facebook pages (of course!) with more than 700,000 fans. (Another 500,000 orFacebook recently opened a big new data center in Prineville, Oregon, where electricity is generated mostly from burning coal. Greenpeace is asking the social media giant to power its services with renewable energy instead of coal and nuclear power.
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#NeverAgain #StephonClark
March 26, 2018 by Jade Hughes in BLM, Social Justice
Last week Stephon Clark was gunned down in his back yard. Two police officers fired 20 bullets at him in the dark because they “feared for their lives”. Two trained law enforcement professionals fired TWENTY bullets into an unarmed man’s body and then left him to bleed out in the yard while they questioned his family members inside. He wasn’t even a real suspect for anything, they were just looking for someone who had been breaking into cars on the street.
Stephon’s murder is the latest in a line of atrocious attacks of police brutality committed by Sacramento law enforcement in the past few years, all on black men and women. The way these deaths played out mirror the wave of absolutely unnecessary displays of violence that has been portrayed by law enforcement against people of color in recent (and not so recent times).
In Sacramento alone over the past couple of years 9 black men have been killed by local law enforcement:
Adriene Ludd 2015, shot by deputies although he himself had a non-functional gun.
Dazion Flenaugh, 2016, a mentally ill homeless man who allegedly had knives on him shot 7 times by three police officers.
Joseph Mann, 2016, also homeless and mentally ill. Two police officers fired 18 bullets at Mann, after several attempts to try and run him over first.
Jason King, 2016, shot by CHP during a possible mental breakdown.
Lorenzo Cruz, 2017, shot by three officers who didn’t turn their body cameras on until after the shooting occurred.
Desmond Phillips, 2017, killed by 10 of the 16 rounds fired at him by Chico PD in his home.
Ryan Ellis, 2017, allegedly managed to smash the window out of a patrol car (while cuffed) and threw himself out of the window (while cuffed), as the car was moving and died from his injuries.
Mikel McIntyre, 2017, shot during a mental breakdown a few hours after officers had been called to his home by his family and deemed him not to be a threat to himself or anyone else.
And now Stephon Clark, shot 20 times in his backyard because he was holding his cellphone.
In addition to the deaths listed above there have been so many incidents of police brutality that (luckily) did not result in death in this city. For example, in 2017 alone:
Zityrua Abraham was thrown to the ground on her 6 month pregnant belly by officers who weren’t even at the right house. They tried to cover up the incident but when the body camera videos were finally released you see how forcefully the officer yanked her arm and pulled her away.
Nandi Cain Jr was slammed to the ground and punched over 18 times for allegedly jaywalking.
Patricia Hill suffered a broken eye socket and other injuries when she taken to jail.
Sacramento may be growing fast, but it’s still a small city. With a city population of just under 500,000 people (around 2 million if you count the entire metro area), the amount of law enforcement-related deaths is seriously proportionately high. And despite the “most diverse city” label, Sacramento is predominantly white, which makes the amount of deaths of black people at the hands of law enforcement ridiculously high. There is a huge problem here and it keeps getting swept under the carpet.
In addition to all of this, Sacramento may be the capital of the most progressive state in the US, California, but there have been some very significant elements of racism in institutions that seemingly go unchecked. For example, in schools, here and here and here (seriously who the hell thinks this is normal?). In the prejudicial arrests for “jaywalking” (by the way there are no sidewalks along loads of roads so if you walk along them you are technically jaywalking). In the legal Neo Nazi rallies where the police force actively work with the Nazis. And what about the rallies where people are telling you “it’s OK to be white!” and screaming about his they will deport us all (we walked through one a few weeks ago).
And not to mention Sacramento Sheriff Scott Jones views on women, immigration, Trump, and Black Lives Matter...
So what can we do? We can protest. We can research Black Lives Matter groups in our areas and see what kind of events they are having and the ones that it makes sense for us to join. We can donate our time, money, and effort to fighting against systemic racism. What we can’t do is constantly ask people what we can do to help and for an explanation on why we should be helping. Or, even worse, ignore what is happening around us.
We also can’t take police word for granted. I used to trust the police implicitly. And I know quite a few police officers I can still trust implicitly. But that general trust? No, I don’t have that anymore. Not law enforcement officers are continuously killing black and brown people at a much higher rate than white people, AND GETTING AWAY WITH IT. There is no excuse for this. We MUST hold our police department and government officials accountable. We MUST make them own up to the ingrained prejudice and racism that encloses public institutions, force them to de-root the rot, fire those who murder our black and brown friends and families, and recruit people who stand up for US.
We can’t have a March For Our Lives without talking about Black Lives Matter. We can’t uphold one and forget the other. Black men are 2.5 times more likely to be shot than white men. We can’t stand up against school shootings and forget about Trayvon Martin, a student brutally gunned down in the street for no reason apart from wearing a hoodie. If we have a March For Our Lives we have to include everyone. If we are marching for gun reform we need to march for ALL gun reform. We also can’t just hope that the kids who organized the March For Our Lives will do all of the work we should be doing – how unfair is that? WE HAVE TO STEP UP.
Sacramento PD appears to be making some changes, but it’s not enough, and it will never bring those who were shot down back again. I think THIS article explains it pretty well. WE have to keep calling and writing and calling and writing. I have been writing to CA Governor Jerry Brown and Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, but Sacramento isn’t the only city where police brutality is an issue. It really only takes a few minutes to pick up the phone and make a few calls, or bang out a few emails. It’s the least we can do.
(I know that some of you may find all this talk about race “uncomfortable”. You may have been brought up to “not see color”. The main problem with both of those outlooks is that instead of eliminating racism it just ends up marginalizing those affected by it even more. If you say you “don’t see color” then subconsciously you are relieving yourself of understanding the centuries of oppression and brutality black and brown people have been subjected to. By not seeing color you are erasing them. We can’t afford NOT to talk about race).
Some books to read (as a starting point):
Bustle has a good list
I also recommend: Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson, So You Want To Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo, and White Privilege by Kalwant Bhopal (for a British perspective).
March 26, 2018 /Jade Hughes
BLM, Black Lives Matter, Social Justice, Civil Rights, Gun Reform, March For Our Lives, Police Brutality, Racism
BLM, Social Justice
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The Magus @ The Commons
Jaimz and C. Graham Asmundson
Corner Pieces: Texts for Loitering
a poster project by Lance Blomgren
The Commons is proud to present the exhibition The Magus. Curated by Noam Gonick, this project brings together C. Graham Asmundson's paintings, drawings and works in yarn with The Magus, 2011, a film work by his son Jaimz Asmundson which documents his father's artistic process. Seen here together for the first time, it is a focused glimpse into their unique creative and intergenerational collaboration. The exhibition will open Friday, November 23, 2012 and running until Sunday, January 6, 2013.
C. Graham Asmundson received a MFA from the Concordia University and has been a prominent artist and cultural worker in Winnipeg for many years, though rarely exhibiting outside his home community. His son Jaimz Asmundson is an experimental filmmaker, video artist, and electronic musician. They recently collaborated on The Magus, 2011, Jaimz’ groundbreaking documentary about his father's transcendent art practice. Graham's works create allegorical fields of figures at times mystical, often playfully queer and insurrectionary. Jaimz uses film, video and animation techniques to penetrate deeply into his father’s unusual process whereby random impulses, channeled from the supernatural world, guide the artist while in a trance state. His bold art making has often been the centre of controversy, including the Plug In Gallery, Winnipeg, billboard project Homophobia is Killing Us, 1991, which was defaced by the Ku Klux Klan, leading to death threats. Jaimz Asmundson has exhibited in numerous festivals and gallery contexts. Selected screenings for The Magus include FIFA - Festival International du Films sur l’Art (Montreal), Hong Kong International Film Festival, MIX NY and Lume International Film Festival (Brazil) – Artistic Contribution Award.
The opening reception will be preceded by a conversation with curator Noam Gonick and Jaimz and C. Graham Asmundson at 7pm in the exhibition.
Also at this time Lance Blomgren’s will present Corner Pieces: Texts for Loitering. As part of his ongoing series of public posters he has produced short texts written for and to be posted in the immediate environs of The Commons. Undermining the impersonal, public tone of the urban poster with an openly subjective, mundane and seemingly meaningless series of observations and histories, Texts for Loitering offers a contemplative or dumbfounding moment for local passersby and wanderers, hustlers and flâneurs. These posters function as an associative intervention, addressing both the reader and site itself, and work to implicate the reader in his or her own role within the larger relational—and often celebratory—flow of events in the neighbourhood.
Lance Blomgren’s text projects have been exhibited in Banff, Chicago, Berlin, and most recently as part of Magnetic Norths (Leonard and Bina Ellen Gallery, Montreal). He is the author of the novella Walkups, and Corner Pieces, both published by Conundrum Press. Blomgren is a MA candidate in Curatorial Studies program at UBC.
The Commons is a venue for the presentation of art in all of its forms. In this way The Commons means to be a place where disciplines meet and mix, a place for cross fertilization and dialogue. The Commons facilitates the presentation of international art in Vancouver through collaboration with galleries from around the world and seeks to foster new economies for local artists through our exhibition program.
curated by Noam Gonick
opening reception Friday November 23, 8pm
Curator/ Artists Conversation 7pm
This exhibition has been made possible with the assistance of the Winnipeg Arts Council
The Commons - 119B E Pender Vancouver BC V6A 1T6
thecommonsvancouver@gmail.com
http://thecommonsvancouver.tumblr.com/
Posted by Jaimz at 11:51 AM 0 comments
Labels: The Magus
Jaimz
Jaimz Asmundson is a Winnipeg-based media artist, working primarily in film & video and most recently in expanded cinema performance. His award-winning work has traveled to film festivals worldwide, including a retrospective and residency in Cologne, Germany and he was called "Winnipeg's enfant terrible of transgressive cinema" by Antimatter Film Festival. Jaimz is a member of the WNDX Film Festival, a past programmer of the Gimli Film Festival and he has also contributed to many award-winning shorts, features, documentaries and tv productions as a picture editor, assistant editor and graphic designer.
© Jaimz Asmundson. Powered by Blogger.
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The Search for the lost manuscript:
Clip | The Search for the Lost Manuscript: Julian of Norwich (2016) | BBC
The Search for the Lost Manuscript: Julian of Norwich.
In this hour-long documentary, Dr Janina Ramirez tells the incredible story of a book hidden for centuries in the shadows of history, the first book ever written in English by a woman, Julian of Norwich, in 1373.
Revelations of Divine Love dared to present an alternative vision of man's relationship with God, a theology fundamentally at odds with the church of Julian's time, and for 500 years the book was suppressed. It re-emerged in the 20th century as an iconic text for the women's movement and was acknowledged as a literary masterpiece.
Janina follows the trail of the lost manuscript, travelling from Norwich to Cambrai in northern France to discover how the book survived and the brave women who championed it.
Visit The Official BBC Page
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SYNNEX to Buy Azerty Canada
So if you have been wondering why I have not been as active on the blog. I have been busy on a large SYNNEX acquisition. The press release below says it all:
TORONTO, ON - May 4, 2006 - SYNNEX Canada Limited, a subsidiary of SYNNEX Corporation (NYSE: SNX), announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to expand its printing supplies distribution business by acquiring substantially all of the assets of Azerty United Canada's ink and toner business from United Stationers Supply Co.
"SYNNEX Canada is a leader in supplying printer supplies to Canadian value added resellers and retail customers," said Robert Huang, President and Chief Executive Officer of SYNNEX Corporation. "Through this acquisition, we further strengthen our leadership position in printer supplies distribution, as well as our position as one of the leading information technology product distributors in Canada."
"This acquisition will provide SYNNEX Canada with greater market share and an expanded footprint, thus allowing us to provide an even higher level of service to our customers and vendor partners," said Jim Estill, Chief Executive Officer of SYNNEX Canada Limited. We expect the integration of the two organizations to be an efficient transition, and we look forward to the Azerty United Canada staff becoming a part of the SYNNEX family."
Total consideration for the purchased net assets is approximately USD $17 million. In the twelve months ending March 31, 2006, revenues from the Azerty United Canada ink and toner business were approximately USD $100 million. SYNNEX does not expect to retain the entire revenue run rate of the Azerty United Canada business after the close of the acquisition. The transaction is expected to close on or before June 15, 2006.
At 7:51 PM, Kevin said...
Great Deal. .17/1.00 gotta like that.
Willie Nelson and filtering our reading
CEO Blog and links
Just Do it - 9 ways to keep inspired to blog
Blueprint to a Billion - 7 Essentials to Achieve E...
Winning in Life and Sales.
Double Digit Growth
In Praise of Sleep
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little changes approved, bigger changes on the way at city place
A lot of things have kept City Place Mall from success since it opened in 1992. The five-story mall at Colesville and Fenton in Downtown Silver Spring has a mix of discount and off-brand stores that attract shoppers from across the region but aren't relevant to well-heeled people living in the immediate area. It also suffers from a reputation for crime, notably a drug-related shooting during rush hour last fall. (The lack of an Internet presence beyond this listing and a Wikipedia entry doesn't help, either.)
This fountain at Colesville and Fenton will be removed, making the entrance to City Place more visible.
Like most enclosed malls in an urban setting, City Place's biggest flaw is that it presents big blank walls to the street, meaning that pedestrians who don't know what's in there aren't given a reason to go inside. That's what owners Petrie Ross Ventures seek to fix about City Place in the first phase of a major renovation, approved by the Montgomery County Planning Board last Thursday.
Nighttime (left) and daytime (right) views of the new City Place entrance at Colesville and Fenton. All images taken from the Planning Department's report.
They want to renovate the plaza at the corner of Colesville Road and Fenton Street, the mall's most visible entrance but perhaps also its most foreboding. Signs for anchor stores Marshalls and Burlington Coat Factory are plastered several stories up, making them hard to see for people on foot or driving past. A large sculptural fountain, lined with spiky strips to discourage loitering, blocks the door.
A plan of the new plaza.
The developer's proposal would take out the fountain and repave the entire plaza, making it easier for people to circulate and open up sight lines. This will hopefully discourage loitering and make the space feel safer. A tree that interferes with wheelchair ramps at the crosswalk for Colesville Road will be removed.
And a new metal screen, similar to the ones placed along Ellsworth Drive and Fenton Street in 2005, will wrap around the corner. It'll display large tenant signs, a new sign for the mall itself, and a video screen "that will televise events, ads and information as an aesthetic response to this admittedly commercial enterprise," according to a report filed by Planning staff. The screen will be required to display public information and event calendars every five minutes.
The proposal doesn't address any changes to the restaurants flanking the entrance, Taste of Morocco and a shuttered Ruby Tuesday that was vandalized in the fall of 2008. Both eateries' street-facing windows are either covered up or tinted, and their patio seating - a great way to activate the plaza - is largely unused. Hopefully, renovating the plaza will encourage at least Taste of Morocco to open up to the outside.
The ten-screen movie theatre atop City Place, closed since 2004, could be converted to offices.
A new plaza is only the beginning of ambitious changes planned by Petrie Ross. Parts of City Place's upper two floors, occupied by a ten-screen movie theatre that closed in 2004, could be converted to offices. Signs around the mall already advertise the yet-unbuilt space for rent, and a flyer from the leasing agency shows how the building would be retrofitted - both inside, where the theatre would be gutted, and outside, where new windows would be added to the upper stories - to accomodate the renovations.
Renderings of the renovated mall and office tower addition, seen from the corner of Fenton and Ellsworth (left) and Colesville Road (right).
The office addition, both within the existing mall and in a nine-story office building on top that was first approved twenty years ago, brings a customer base that could draw new, higher-end retailers to City Place. As recently as last summer, the developers had unsuccessfully courted Park and Planning to occupy the 300,000-square foot tower. But without office tenants willing to take a chance on the mall's potential turnaround, it's likely that nothing could happen at all.
In the meantime, there's a possibility that City Place Mall could get a new name. All of the renderings above show new signage at the corner of Colesville and Fenton reading "The Galleria at Silver Spring." As Silver Spring, Singular first suggested in 2006, the name City Place carries with it some serious baggage and could use a new moniker to get disenchanted shoppers interested again.
labels: food, planning and development, politics, silver spring proper
Nice reporting. Looks like a winner to me, especially with the Fillmore coming in. The real problem is that Downtown Silver Spring is developing into a real urban destination, which isn't always conducive to hermetically sealed shopping experiences. Office and/or apartments would have been a better option, but I don't know how conducive the original architecture would be to those changes.
One interesting thing regarding the layout of this Mall is that it doesn't have to be hermetically sealed. It's not like it's a monolith surrounded by parking. In theory walking down a path lined with stores in a building (i.e. City Place) is very similar to walking down a path lined with stores outside a building (i.e. Ellsworth Ave)
Perhaps the real key is to minimize the visual divide between the Ellsworth st. outdoor shops and the indoor shops. On that side, the entrance is a staircase and a nondescript door. Perhaps the stairs could be a brick ramp to larger doors with the same color themes continuing in the building. Walking through the mall could be the same as walking down Fenton, except nicer when the weather is bad. Perhaps a larger entrance/exit near Gold's Gym would also mean the mall could be used as another diagonal path. Right now there's little reason to enter the mall expect to go to specific stores. Making it a useful and inviting through-path would get more feet inside.
As for things to put in the building, there's more than enough space for the fabled downtown Silver Spring skate park. :)
I want royalties.
Springvale Roader said...
Shame about removing the fountain, as little kids really love playing in it.
As for the renovations to the entrance, it's all well and good, but without stores inside that attract new customers, it's merely putting lipstick on a pig. Windows or not, there is nothing in that mall right now that interests me.
Perhaps Petrie Ross feels that news stores won't come in without a new entrance. Time will tell.
Mea culpa. Wrong fountain. Yes, take out that obstacle by all means. Good move.
Ok, I've got a problem with the following statement:
"...has a mix of discount and off-brand stores that attract shoppers from across the region but aren't relevant to well-heeled people living in the immediate area."
From what I can gather the mall isn't attracting people from across the region, and it's not just not relevant to the well-heeled, I think it's not relevant to the average-heeled and many less than average-heeled. As Springvale Roader points out, until they do something with the tenants this mall is still going to be like the one in Dawn of the Dead (1978 version). Now quite possibly the idea behind all this renovation is to attract better tenants, but I'm not sure that sticking a video screen on the outside of the building is going to attract the kind of tenants that Silver Spring wants (Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, and dare I say it...Pottery Barn).
Dan Reed said...
Steve, you're absolutely right. This won't be enough to turn the mall around on its own, but from what I've been told by the developers, the goal is to reposition the mall (hence the name change) and try to pull in some higher-end tenants.
The office tower will be a big part of this as well. But it's a chicken-or-egg thing: will office tenants take a chance on the mall, or will new retailers take a chance on offices that may or may not be built?
I try to shy away from statements like "what Silver Spring wants." The mall does do business from a segment of people, among them many Silver Spring residents. Target and Pottery Barn would both be very nice, but they haven't exactly gotten a mandate from the people to come here.
It's because people don't go to Silver Spring to shop. They go to Silver Spring to eat, and to be entertained, a la the multiple movie theaters, live theater, bars, lounges, etc. Most of the only shopping done in downtown Silver Spring is done in the supermarkets, convenience, and hardware stores. Even though Wheaton Plaza is in a sorry state these days, I'm sure it's still drawing retailers from downtown Silver Spring.
Regarding Eric's comment: I live a few blocks from the mall and would love to shop there. As I've said before on other local blogs, just give me a Macy's where I can buy some damn underwear
And Steve, if they could turn this mall into a virtual Dawn of the Dead, with people dressed as zombies and you armed with a laser tag gun to take them out, I'd probably spend my life there.
Brent said...
While Steve and I -- and a lot of other people -- might like to see "Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, and dare I say it...Pottery Barn," we have to remember that many people DON'T want that. They moved to SS because it was/is "funky...non-commercial...not like Bethesda." They will fight to keep it that way. And mainstream retailers know it -- so they don't bother with us. I've been told by various business types around here that SS is definitely "a hard sell" to the Pottery Barns of the world. And they know that those of us who buy their stuff will travel a few miles west to make the purchases.
Jason said...
As much as a Target would make a lot of sense, wouldn't a hypothetical Target in City Place cannibalize the sales of the 5 other Targets within 10 miles of DTSS? I could see it replacing the Wheaton location given distance and that DTSS is a bit more desirable for them if such a thing happened.
Okay, I really don't think a new office tower on top will ever materialize. It's probably some sort of smoke screen to keep county officials from stepping in...not that I would know.
However, in Austin Tx, a movie house franchise business called Alamo Draft House, shows lots of different styles of movies, serves good to decent food during the movie with servers...and BEER, this seems to me...and maybe only to me as a way to get the quirky into the mix. After that clearly dumping the flotsam and jetsam of retailers in the mall would come next. I just think the Mall, in addition to a real face lift like the retail area on Pratt St in Baltimore, needs a real destination anchor store. Something at top and bottom to excite people to come in, and then of course to complain there is nothing else but cell phone kiosks and a gym with 20 members.
But what do I know? I NEVER shop in CPM, there's nothing to buy!
retgroclk said...
The last thing City Place needs is another movie theater, ad a draft house theater is worse.
The last movie theater attracted a noisy crowd of young people that made the movie experience a non pleasuable experience.
A draft house will make it worse- we dont need inebriated movie goers arguing with the people onthe screen.
I would like to see some kind of Eastern market/Lexington market concept.
A lot of stalls selling a variety of goods under one roof. It would save a lot of walking for some people. and offer the small business person an opportunity to sell local wares.
Bob Fustero
Kevin W. said...
It would take some pretty radical changes to remake City Place into any kind of viable retail. When it opened, the hype machine was in full gear, but most of the tenants, even in the beginning, were more teen-oriented (Sam Goody, AMC Theaters, young apparel, etc.) From there, a lot of the "name" retailers closed and the more low-rent, cheapo stores went in, some of them on short-term leases. I don't go to a mall to shop at dollar stores or get wigs. I stopped going about 3 years before the theaters closed, and if it weren't for the theaters, I probably wouldn't have set foot in there more than 4-5 times between 1992 and now.
City Place has a huge psychic millstone around its neck with anyone who's lived here long enough to remember it's promise and failure. Of course, there are more newcomers in the area these days, and most people who are under 18 today probably don't even remember this place. The "rowdy teens" of the old days are all in their 20s and 30s now. It's a question of what kind of retail, and possibly, what kind of layout. The interior was always a little awkward to navigate, though not nearly the worst I've seen. (The failed Metreon mall in San Fran. is like City Place on steroids, designed by M.C. Escher. Like CPM, only the theater keeps it "alive.")
Frankly, I think that building would be much better suited to two or three large retailers, maybe Target, H&M and a "traditional" dept. store like Sears or Penney's. Not sure how realistic that is with the current economy, but whatever is done, they have to make it MORE upscale than Wheaton Plaza, not the same or less. That's what doomed City Place. I think there are enough people with money and/or "taste" that don't want to slog over to Bethesda to support higher-end retail in DTSS.
new laurel resident said...
Why is everyone so obsessed with Target as if its the end all and be all of retail? We already have dozens of Targets in the immediate area, you can't go two stops north to wheaton? Lazy people. We don't need Target in silver spring, don't even need shopping since we have several malls in the area. We just need City Place gutted out and made into offices and a hotel. End of story. No need for a 5 level indoor mall in an area where people clearly don't want to shop in.
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Africa, Armed Conflicts, Development & Aid, Global Governance, Headlines, Health, Human Rights
South Sudan’s Most Vulnerable
By Danielle Batist Reprint | | Print |
JUBA, Sep 29 2011 - At first sight, the village of Rokwe on the outskirts of Juba looks like any other village in South Sudan. The sun shines bright on the grass roofs of the mud huts and sounds from a church choir practising can be heard in the distance. Only the scenery at the local health centre gives away that this is no ordinary place.
After a lifetime of struggle, Laurence Modi hopes to improve his home and one day start a family. Credit: Simon Murphy
Dozens of patients seek shelter from the sun on the concrete veranda. Many have more than one disfigured limb. Some are able to move around, others struggle to walk. Rokwe is a colony for leprosy patients.
Erkolan Onyara was only 13 when he discovered a few sore spots on his legs. He did not know what they were, and when more painful spotting appeared all over his body, he showed his mother. Recognising the symptoms from her own illness, she got very upset. Erkolan – just like her – had leprosy.
Soon, he lost sensation in the affected skin areas and the wounds started to get infected. By the time his illness got worse, his mother had passed away.
Not knowing how they could care for Erkolan, the family heard of a village where people with leprosy were taken care of by a group of church brothers. Erkolan’s elder brother brought him to Rokwe in 1976 and the St Martin De Porres Brothers accepted him in the colony.
SUDAN: Starting from Scratch
Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund
Street News Service
SOUTH SUDAN: Children Snatched Out of their Homes
SOUTH-EAST ASIA: Leper Colonies on the Road to Extinction
RIGHTS-NIGERIA: "People Always See Us As Health Hazards" – 2006
HEALTH: Last Mile of Leprosy Battle Proves the Steepest – 2004
Erkolan remembers his first months in the village like it was yesterday. “I was all alone and I felt scared. I did not know anyone and I did not know what was happening to my body. It was a difficult time for me.”
Like many leprosy sufferers, Erkolan was losing sensation in his hands and feet, leading him to often cut himself or injure his feet while walking. When he was 19 years old, disaster struck. “I was cooking dinner and tried to grab a pot that was on the fire. I did not feel the heat and both my hands burnt very badly. I lost my fingers and part of my hands.”
Life as a young boy in the colony was a struggle for Erkolan. With the help of some of the Brothers he had built a small tukul (mud hut), but as a boy alone he had trouble feeding himself.
“I could not work because of my disfigurement. I went fishing in the Nile sometimes or tried to grow some crops to eat, but often I was hungry.” One of the Sisters from a nearby parish used to visit Erkolan and help him with basics like cooking and laundry.
The small health centre the Brothers ran from within the colony was chronically under-resourced. The ongoing war made the supply of medicine unstable. Still, they were determined to treat the village’s patients and cure them of their leprosy. Erkolan was cured in 1986, but the disease had taken its toll on the young man’s body: his hands were badly disfigured and he missed several toes, causing him instability when walking.
The medical breakthrough in the battle against leprosy came in 1981, when a World Health Organization Study Group on Chemotherapy of Leprosy prescribed the use of a multidrug therapy (MDT) as the standard treatment for the disease.
Despite being cured of leprosy, most of the patients stayed on in the village. Their often severe disabilities made life in one of the poorest regions in the world even harder for them than for most other people. And in the middle of the brutal civil war, the colony to many felt like the safest place to stay.
Brother Bruno Dada has been working in the colony for the past 23 years. He says fighting did happen around the village over the years, especially since the army built military barracks very close to the colony.
However, the stigma against leprosy has in some way protected the 350-strong village from the violent raids many other places in the area endured. Soldiers used to ignore the village because they believed there was nothing there to plunder. They were also afraid to enter the colony as they believed they would catch the disease.
As Brother Bruno puts it: “There is a stigma. People think that they will get leprosy if they shake hands with a patient, whereas in fact, it is impossible to get infected that way. Even if patients’ leprosy has been cured years ago, many people are still afraid to go near them.”
Despite the preconceptions, many leprosy patients in Rokwe lived in fear throughout the war. Erkolan expresses the anxiety that was felt by many villagers: “We were always afraid because we knew we were vulnerable. If any fighting did break out, we could not defend ourselves.”
Erkolan married a woman from the village and they still live in the hut he built when he arrived as a young boy. He is the proud father of three boys and three girls, the oldest of whom is now married and has moved away.
If Erkolan could make one miracle happen, it would be for his oldest daughter to finish her education. “We struggled badly for money and had to take her out of school”, he says. “She was a very good student but we just could not provide. We had to send her to get married so that her husband’s family could look after her. I still feel bad about that now.”
A recent gift from an uncle has improved life slightly for Erdokan’s family. He was given an old bicycle, which he uses to go to the forest and collect firewood to sell. “Cycling for me is easier than walking. I can carry the wood on the bike to the roadside. I don’t sell a lot but sometimes I get a few (Sudanese) pounds.”
Whilst most South Sudanese are hopeful about the future of their country, independent since July, Erkolan can’t help but be sceptical. “There has been no development here for so long. No government cares for us. I hope things will change but we will have to wait and see.”
According to the WHO there has been a dramatic decrease in leprosy cases in the past decades – from 5.2 million cases worldwide in 1985 to 805,000 in 1995 and 213,036 cases at the end of 2008. However, more than 200,000 new cases are still reported each year, mostly in poverty-stricken places like Sudan.
In Rokwe, the lack of government support for the leprosy patients and their families has to some extent been compensated by the work of international aid organisations.
During the war, the World Food Programme and a charity group supplied meals in the colony. Although occasional new cases of leprosy still emerge, the disease is largely under control in the region, thanks to a widespread treatment campaign which cures patients fast and stops spread of the disease.
But for people like Erkolan and others in the leper colony, the treatment came too late. Their illness might be under control, but the damage to their limbs cannot be undone.
The Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF), with the assistance of Sudanaid, supports some of the poorest sufferers and their families. They provided them with non-food items including 481 mosquito nets, 400 cooking pans, 400 sleeping mats, 400 blankets and 400 jerry cans for fetching water.
SCIAF is currently working on a new project with the Brothers to provide income-generating opportunities for residents and to set up a vocational training centre. They also help improve the housing situation for villagers in most urgent need of a new tukul or repairs to stop leaking in the rainy season.
One of the beneficiaries of the house repair scheme is Laurence Modi, 24. His life story – like that of so many in southern Sudan – is intensely sad. He was brought to the colony in the late 1980s by relatives.
Just a toddler, his small body was full of painful wounds that were the starting point of a childhood full of suffering. Both his parents had passed away, and tiny Laurence was dropped in the colony together with his sister, who was barely a teenager. The children moved into an abandoned mud hut and were left to their own devices.
Laurence received treatment from the Brothers to stop his leprosy, but his hands and feet were so badly affected that the simplest tasks like making a fire or digging the ground to cultivate land became impossible. He relied on his sister, who played the role of a mother, despite being only a child herself.
When in 2004 she left the village to get married, Laurence’s small world fell apart. “She was all I had,” he says, fighting back tears as he speaks. “I was really sad when she left.”
Lonely in his tukul, he started worrying about his future. A neighbour had begun to cook him food every day and help him out with household tasks, but he knew this could not go on forever. The grass roof of his tukul was leaking and at night during the rainy season, he often woke up because of the water dripping down inside. He suffered bouts of depression and saw no way out of his problems.
Early this year, one of the Brothers informed Laurence that he had been put on a list for a new roof. “I thought I was dreaming. I worried so much about the house. I was afraid I would have to go and find shelter at other people’s huts. I built this hut with my sister in 2000, we did it all by ourselves. It means a lot to me to live here.”
The prospect of an improved house has given Laurence reason to look towards the future again. When the sun sets over Rokwe each night, Laurence sits in front of his hut and takes a moment to himself. He often dreams of the day he will no longer be by himself. “I would love to find a girlfriend and marry and have children. That is natural. My dream is to improve the house and start a family here.”
* Published under an agreement with Street News Service.
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Africa, Climate Change, CLIMATE SOUTH: Developing Countries Coping With Climate Change, Environment, Headlines, Human Rights, Indigenous Rights
Saving the Forests with Indigenous Knowledge
By Isaiah Esipisu Reprint | | Print |
Olonana Ole Pulei’s community is a sub-tribe of Kenya’s Maasai ethnic group. Credit: Isaiah Esipisu/IPS
DURBAN, South Africa, Dec 8 2011 (IPS) - For the Laibon community, a sub-tribe of Kenya’s Maasai ethnic group, the 33,000-hectare Loita Forest in the country’s Rift Valley Province is more than just a forest. It is a shrine.
“It is our shrine. Our Gods live there. We gather herbs from the place. We use it for bee- keeping. It therefore forms part of our livelihood,” said Olonana Ole Pulei, who is in Durban, South Africa, to represent his community at the ongoing 17th Conference of Parties under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
According to Nigel Crawhall, the Director of Secretariat for the Indigenous Peoples of Africa Co-ordinating Committee (IPACC), different African communities have incredible indigenous knowledge that they use in the conservation of forests and biodiversity in general, and this should be recognised during the negotiations in Durban.
“Different communities have different practices that they use in forestry conservation,” he said.
Crawhall gave an example of how the Bambuti and Batwa pygmy communities, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, conserved the forest using traditional methods. Both communities depend on the biodiversity of animal life in the equatorial forests in order to survive.
“Usually, they know how to identify particular trees that can be cut down in order to create a unique opening on the canopy, which attracts light in the closely-packed Congo forests. The light then attracts animals, birds and insects, thus giving them an opportunity to hunt,” Crawhall told IPS.
KENYA: Like a Fish Belongs to Water, the Ogiek Belong to the Mau Forest
Forest-Dependent Communities Lobby for End of REDD+
CLIMATE CHANGE-AFRICA: Farming By Phone
This helps conserve the biodiversity, as well as the forests because this method can only work if the forest canopy is intact.
In Kenya, the Maasai culture forbids any community member from cutting down a tree, either for firewood or any other purpose. People are also forbidden from interfering with the taproots or removing the entire bark of a tree for herbal extraction.
According to their cultural belief, one can only use tree branches for firewood, and fibrous roots for herbs. If the bark of a tree has medicinal value, then only small portions of it can be removed by creating a “V” in the bark. The wound is then sealed using wet soil.
“We believe that the soil helps in healing the wound on a tree. This is cultural, and we all believe that it is an abomination for one to injure a tree, and not help it heal,” said Ole Pulei.
It is a practice that has been passed down from generation to generation among Maasai community members. Among the Laibon community, it is this indigenous knowledge that has aided in the conservation of the Loita Forest.
“All logging activities observed on Maasai land, including the destruction of the Mau Forest, are done by foreigners because the Maasai culture does not allow such activities. This is the indigenous knowledge that helps in forest conservation,” Ole Pulei told IPS.
Such beliefs make the forests part of the community, where community members have feelings for the trees, and where cutting down a tree could amount to an offence against the Gods and their culture.
“We have several other communities all over the continent who co-exist with forests. They include the Tuareg community in Algeria, Yiaku community in Kenya’s Laikipia region, the Ogiek community also in Kenya, the Kung community in Botswana among others,” said Crawhall.
Though according to Crawhall, all Africans are indigenous although there are some groups who live by hunting and gathering, while other groups practice pastoralism, and others practice dry-land farming.
Despite the fact that there is no standard definition of indigenous people, the 2007 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples recognises that particular communities, due to historical and environmental circumstances, have found themselves outside the state system and underrepresented in governance.
“The Bushmen of the Southern African region, or the Ogiek community in Kenya who live in forests are a typical example of groupings categorised as indigenous,” said Crawhall.
He points out that Africa has more than 40 groupings in different countries that survive entirely on hunting and gathering. However, IPACC works closely with 155 communities from 22 African countries who are recognised as indigenous because of their historical and environmental circumstances.
As a result, representatives from these communities have joined the rest of the world in Durban to have their voices heard, so that their contributions to forest conservation are recognised as part of the climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts.
“We believe that African traditional ecological knowledge is the foundation for appropriate and effective national adaptation policies,” said Crawhall.
Through the IPACC secretariat, the 155 community-based organisations in Africa have drafted their position for the Durban negotiation platform. They want the negotiators to come up with a position that is representative to African parties, indigenous African people’s organisations, traditional institutions, traditional authorities and value systems.
They are calling for the formation of a regional body that is legally binding under the United Nations, to handle issues on conservation that are difficult to deal with at national level.
“One of the prevailing gaps in most of the IPACC-member countries is that there is no land tenure for communities who live in forests, or depend on forests,” said Crawhall.
However, different countries have started responding to the needs of their local communities by including them in their national climate change adaptation strategies, with Kenya taking the lead.
The country is in the process of drafting the Climate Change Adaptation Bill. And the indigenous communities will have their say on the bill because according to the constitution, they must be consulted on draft legislation so that they can make contributions.
“We have traversed the entire country seeking views on this bill, where local communities have been able to give their contributions. Our vision is to participate and lead in the development and implementation of climate change sensitive policies, projects and activities within and outside our Kenyan borders,” said John Kioli, the chairman for the Kenya Climate Change Working Group, who is attending the Durban climate change negotiations.
* This article is one of a series supported by the Climate and Development Knowledge Network.
Developing Countries Coping With Climate Change
LDCs
Religion and Culture - Africa
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Belfast poet Pádraic Fiacc's funeral to be held
Poet Pádraic Fiacc. Picture by Mal McCann
THE funeral of Belfast poet Pádraic Fiacc will take place in the city this weekend.
The Irish-American writer, born Patrick Joseph O'Connor, died peacefully at a south Belfast care facility on Monday aged 94.
His Requiem Mass will be held on Saturday at 11am in St Malachy's Church, followed by burial at Milltown Cemetery.
Fiacc achieved acclaim when he was published in New York in 1948 and won the George Russell (Memorial) Award in the late 1950s.
President Michael D Higgins was among those who praised his work – and visited him a week before his death.
The president has described Fiacc as producing poetry of "outstanding originality, where we encounter an honest confrontation with truth and an unflinching engagement with the reality of the everyday".
Born in Belfast in 1924, Fiacc lived his maternal grandparents in the Markets area until his family emigrated to the US in the late 1920s where he grew up in Hell's Kitchen, New York City.
He summed up his philosophy of life in the contention that "war and poverty are crimes against humanity".
P?raic Fiacc
24 January, 2019 01:00 Northern Ireland news
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lindsay higashi
COLORLINES: Google Doodle Honors Civil Rights Activist Fred Korematsu
Fred Korematsu
Photo: Colorlines screenshot of Google's Doodle, taken January 30, 2017
“If you have the feeling that something is wrong, don’t be afraid to speak up.”
By Kenrya Rankin
As the Trump Administration seeks to restrict entry into the United States via travel bans and border walls and proposed Muslim registries, Google used its Google Doodle today (January 30) to celebrate an activist who put his life on the line for immigrant rights.
In 1942, Fred Korematsu, whose parents were from Japan, refused to report to a government internment camp during World War II. He endured arrest and conviction for ignoring the order, but continued to fight the discrimination all the way to the Supreme Court. The Court called the incarceration of Japanese Americans a “military necessity” and upheld his conviction. Korematsu was exonerated four decades later—but only after the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians ruled that the internment was the illegal result of “race prejudice, war hysteria and a failure of political leadership.”
Korematsu went on to work with the National Coalition for Redress and Reparations and successfully lobby for reparations for families who were imprisoned in the camps. He also filed briefs with the Supreme Court in support of Muslims being detained at Guantanamo Bay following 9/11, warning that history was repeating itself. He received the Presidental Medal of Freedom in 1998, and famously said these ever-relevant words: “If you have the feeling that something is wrong, don’t be afraid to speak up.”
Korematsu died on March 30, 2005. The Fred T. Korematsu Institute carries on his advocacy work. Today would have been his 98th birthday—it’s also Fred Korematsu Day in California, Florida, Hawaii and Virginia. When it was established in California in 2010, it was the first state-wide day in United States history to be named after an Asian American.
Source: https://www.colorlines.com/articles/google-doodle-honors-civil-rights-activist-fred-korematsu
Tagged: Google Doodle, Japanese American Incarceration
TIME: Google Doodle Honors Fred Korematsu, Activist Who Fought U.S. Internment of Japanese Americans
NBC Miami: 'This is Not Right': Daughter of Civil Rights Activist Fred Korematsu on Trump Travel Ban
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Parallels to Our Own Day
by Borson M. Hugilhoff
Ezra Taft Benson who served as the United States Secretary of Agriculture, during both terms of the Dwight D. Eisenhower administration, and who was the prophet and 13th president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was a strong believer in biblical and Book of Mormon teachings concerning the second coming of Christ and the conditions that would lead up to that event.
Ezra Taft Benson taught the following: "The record of the Nephite History just prior to the Savior's visit, reveals many parallels to our own day as we anticipate the Saviors second coming."
What parallels can we make between the Nephite History that records events that happen just prior to Christ visiting the inhabitants of the Western Hemisphere shortly after his resurrection and ascension, as found in the book of Acts of the New Testament, and the condition we now find ourselves in as saints in the 21st century, as we draw nigh to the prophetic doctrine that Christ will return again to reign personally upon this earth?
It should be pointed out that some of these parallels, have transpired, are on-going, and are to be expected as "we anticipate the Saviors second coming." As we turn to the Nephite record we find the following parallels:
The people in the Nephite record went from being ruled by kings, to being governed by judges. Similarly, the history concerning the United States follows this pattern. The Revolutionary war and the Declaration of Independence threw off British Monarchical rule and established a governor and judicial system of government in America.
In the opening pages of the book of Helaman, we find individuals vying for the judgment seat and governorship over the people. We are almost immediately introduced to differing political factions that have chosen their leader and give that leader support. When the "voice of the people" did choose a specific individual to rule over them, we see contending forces that would "flatter away those people to rise up in rebellion against their brethren." (Hel. 1:7) In our society we see similar behavior.
We then see political machinations. We see political opponents trying to over-throw the will of the people, by usurping power over the government. The leader of this group, that tried to overthrow the governor was then "tried according to the voice of the people" and condemned to death for trying to "destroy the liberty of the people." (Hel. 1:8) When the followers of this leader seen that he was condemned to death, they conspired and sent someone to take the life of the chief governor for condemning their leader to death. The individual chosen to kill the chief governor does so and then flees. This is where we see factions of people entering into secret oaths and creating secret combinations. This assassin enters into a "covenant" with his supporters, swearing they would never reveal who killed the chief governor and used their means to protect him.
As this secret combination grew, the chief murderer of this group would "wait to destroy" the next leader chosen by the will of the people. This group of secret oath bound combination then found a leader who was skilled in "many words" and skilled in "robbery." This secret combination then conspired to place him in the seat of power that was granted only by those elected by the voice of the people. This new leader flattered this oath bound secret combination that if they would put him in the chief seat of governor and judge, that he would in turn "grant unto those who belonged to his band that they should be placed in power and authority among the people." (Hel. 2:5-6)
They then began to find themselves in a situation wherein even though "as their laws and their governments were established by the voice of the people," the balance of the will of the people became skewed wherein "they who chose evil were more numerous than they who chose good." This imbalance of power, placed the people in a condition wherein "they were ripening for destruction, for the laws had become corrupted." (Hel. 5:2) This element of Nephite history is most prevalent today as more and more secular laws are being passed encroaching on the rights of Christians.
After usurping power over the government, this secret band would set "aside the commandments of God" and in turn "doing no justice unto the children of men." (Hel. 7:4) They would then condemn "the righteous because of their righteousness" and let the "guilty and the wicked go unpunished." All this so that they might, "get gain and glory of the world," that they "might the more easily commit adultery, and steal, and kill, and do according to their wills." (Hel. 7:5)
One manifestation that arose from the corruption of the judges throughout the land is that contention increased among the people, "insomuch that there were wars throughout all the land." (Hel. 11:1) It was this secret oath bound combination that carried "on this work of destruction and wickedness" within the government. (Hel. 11:2)
Another parallel between the Nephite record concerning events just prior to Christ's first appearing and our day as we anticipate the second coming of Christ, is that the people began to harden their hearts, against Christ and belief, by turning to their own strength and wisdom contending, "That it is not reasonable that such a being as a Christ shall come; if so, and he be the Son of God...why will he not show himself unto us as well as unto them who shall be at Jerusalem? ...We know that this is a wicked tradition, which has been handed down unto us by our fathers, to cause us that we should believe in some great and marvelous thing which should come to pass, but not among us, but in a land which is far distant, a land which we know not; therefore they can keep us in ignorance, for we cannot witness with our own eyes that they are true." (Hel. 16:18-20) Is this not the clarion call of modern secular humanist in our society? That reason is greater than faith. That empirical evidence is the only foundation of all understanding.
In addition, they would argue that the times of the prophecies concerning Christ's birth into the world were past. And the words of the prophets not fulfilled. They would mock and scoff at believers, that "your joy and your faith concerning this thing hath been vain." (3 Nephi 1:6) Thus the establishment would stir up the imaginings of the people that belief in Christ was a "vain thing," "wrought by men" to deceive the people. The people became "blind" in their "eyes" believing "that the doctrine of Christ was a foolish and a vain thing." (3 Nephi 2:2) The people began to "wax strong in wickedness and abominations."
Another parallel is that people became lifted up in the pride of their hearts because of their riches. "For there were many merchants in the land, and also many lawyers, and many officers. And the people began to be distinguished by ranks, according to their riches and their chances for learning; yea, some were ignorant because of their poverty, and others did receive great learning because of their riches."
The people also chose to sin willingly, "Now they did not sin ignorantly, for they knew the will of God concerning them, for it had been taught unto them; therefore they did wilfully rebel against God." (3 Nephi 6:18)
Even in this condition of cultural decay, there were still individuals that were "inspired from heaven and sent forth, standing among the people in all the land, preaching and testifying boldly of the sins and iniquities of the people, and testifying unto them concerning the redemption which the Lord would make for his people, or in other words, the resurrection of Christ; and they did testify boldly of his death and sufferings." (3 Nephi 6:20)
It's recorded that the chief judges and lawyers were angered at those that testified of Christ. As it is in the United States, so it was in Nephite history. For there is no lawyer or Judge that can condemn to death except "their condemnation was signed by the governor of the land. Now there were many of those who testified of the things pertaining to Christ who testified boldly, who were taken and put to death secretly by the judges, that the knowledge of their death came not unto the governor of the land until after their death. This was contrary to the laws of the land, that any man should be put to death except they had power from the governor of the land."
Even in this case, they were taken by other judges to be judged of their crime of killing those that boldly testified of Christ. Because these "judges had many friends and kindreds; the remainder, ...even almost all the lawyers...did gather themselves together, and united with the kindreds of those judges who were to be tried according to the law. They did enter into a covenant one with another, yea, even into that covenant which was given by them of old, which covenant was given and administered by the devil, to combine against all righteousness. Therefore, they did combine against the people of the Lord, and enter into a covenant to destroy them, and to deliver those who were guilty of murder from the grasp of justice, which was about to be administered according to the law. And they did set at defiance the law and the rights of their country; and they did covenant one with another to destroy the governor, and to establish a king [a dictator] over the land, that the land should no more be at liberty but should be subject unto kings [dictators]." (3 Nephi 6:25-30)
The wickedness of the judges and lawyers of the land that were bound by a secret combination over-threw the chief judge and governor of the land. The government of the land became overthrown and the people divided into factions based on family and other loyalties.
These are some of the parallels that can be made from the Nephite record prior to Christ visiting the people of the Western Hemisphere after His resurrection and ascension from the old world to our own day in the 21st century as we anticipate the second coming of Christ. These words are just as pertinent to our day as they were 2,000 years ago in Mesoamerica.
"And thus we see that except the Lord doth chasten his people with many afflictions, yea, except he doth visit them with death and with terror, and with famine and with all manner of pestilence, they will not remember him. O how foolish, and how vain, and how evil, and devilish, and how quick to do iniquity, and how slow to do good, are the children of men; yea, how quick to hearken unto the words of the evil one, and to set their hearts upon the vain things of the world. Yea, how quick to be lifted up in pride; yea, how quick to boast, and do all manner of that which is iniquity; and how slow are they to remember the Lord their God, and to give ear unto his counsels, yea, how slow to walk in wisdom's paths! Behold, they do not desire that the Lord their God, who hath created them, should rule and reign over them; notwithstanding his great goodness and his mercy towards them, they do set at naught his counsels, and they will not that he should be their guide. O how great is the nothingness of the children of men; yea, even they are less than the dust of the earth. For behold, the dust of the earth moveth hither and thither, to the dividing asunder, at the command of our great and everlasting God." (Hel. 12:3-8)
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Marika Hughes & Bottom Heavy
Interview by Kurt Gottschalk December 8, 2016
Marika Hughes & Bottom Heavy The Score / Music
Interview by Kurt Gottschalk
Marika Hughes is a shining example of what former mayor David Dinkins called the “gorgeous mosaic” of New York City. Raised on the Upper West Side in a mixed-race family, she played cello with the New York Youth Symphony and appeared on Sesame Street at a young age. She studied cello performance at The Juilliard School and political science at Barnard College. Booking time on both coasts, she has found her way from the orchestra pit to more wide-ranging endeavors. She brings the jazz funk groove of Bottom Heavy, her first project as a bandleader, to the David Rubenstein Atrium for a free show on December 15.
Kurt Gottschalk: Last time we saw you at the Atrium was in August, when you were a guest with the Burnt Sugar Arkestra in a tribute to Prince. Tell us about working with Greg Tate's group and interpreting the work of a lost legend.
Marika Hughes: I've been a Prince fan since junior high, and they assigned me two songs [to arrange]. I hadn't played Prince's music. I don't play Stevie Wonder either. They're really hard. I had charts and a few ideas and we just worked it out in the room. I've known Greg peripherally for years but I had never played with him before. Greg is like a sorcerer. He knows just what to say.
KG: After graduating from The Juilliard School, you moved to California and started working in orchestras. What led you to then move to working directly with songwriters and composers?
MH: My first playing was classical; it's still where my hands fall. My dream growing up was to be in a string quartet. When I moved to California I was in a string quartet and I played in some symphonies, but I stumbled into Carla Kihlstedt. She was really the one who encouraged me. People got excited about my curiosity and I started playing with a lot of people who were beyond my skill set.
"I enjoy being able to play the music I write with a dream team of a band, but I'm also really grateful to just show up and be a side person."
KG: You've worked with lots of interesting groups besides Burnt Sugar: Carla Kihlstedt's 2 Foot Yard, Charming Hostess, Imani Uzuri's band, and Charles Burnham's Hidden City, to name a few. The band you're bringing to the Atrium, Bottom Heavy, is the first group you've led. Do you prefer leading to being a side person?
MH: This is the first band I've had. I do things all the time under my name but this is a real band. I'm sure there are challenges but seeing as I've been a sidegirl, that's how I earn my living. I'm really neurotic about things. I know if people are well fed, they play better, so there's always food at the rehearsals.
I enjoy both. I enjoy being able to play the music I write with a dream team of a band but I'm also really grateful to just show up and be a side person. I need both, I think, to be satisfied.
KG: I can't let you get away without explaining the band name.
MH: I started out playing the violin. If I had kept going, I'd probably be playing bass. But in California I was in a trio with bass, cello, and drums, and I wanted to call it "Bottom Heavy" because I am. I thought it would be hilarious.
KG: Charles Burnham, your old boss, is now in your band. What is your relationship with him like? Is it tricky to switch roles like that?
MH: I love Charlie so much. I'm not alone. Everybody loves Charlie. I knew him on record since I was a child. When I was like, "I think I'm gonna start my own band," he was the first one I called. What started out as being a fan became family. His band hasn't done anything in a number of years, but we all play with each other in a million configurations. Going back and forth is really easy.
KG: You work a lot with children, particularly in South Africa through the Boston-based Triad Trust. What drives your charitable efforts?
MH: The work I do has been an extraordinary experience for me personally and has been effective in these small rural towns in both countries. Through songs and dramatic skits that we write together, we teach a group of 8 to 10 young people, 16 to 22 years old, to teach. The troupe is called ImprovED. They learn to teach the youngest school age children in their communities about self-care, specifically as it relates to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and myths.
I'm a movement child. I was born right after the civil rights movement to a mixed-race family in New York City. I really was raised in the spirit of integration and Black power. That was a time when those things could co-exist and fuel each other. It was part of the DNA. It was part of the music that we heard and the way people interacted with each other. But we can be so self-absorbed as musicians because the hustle is real. I wanted to do something more.
Kurt Gottschalk is a writer, journalist, and broadcaster based in New York City. He contributes to the blog I Care If You Listen.
In This Story Atrium
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Top eleven Cristiano Ronaldo's uefa champions league record
1. Cristiano has now scored against 31 different clubs in the Champions League.
2. Cristiano has now scored 34 goals in 36 Champions League knockout matches for Real Madrid.
3. Cristiano has scored 42 Champions League goals since September 2013. That’s more than Arsenal’s total in the same period
4. It’s not just goals either. In terms of Champions League ‘goal involvements’ (goals+assists), he is miles ahead of everyone else. The top three since since 2012/13: Cristiano Ronaldo (65), Lionel Messi (40), Robert Lewandowski (37).
5. Cristiano is the only player to score 15 or more goals in two different Champions League seasons (this season and 2013/14, when he scored 17 – the record).
6. Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 16 goals in 10 Champions League games this season.
7. Hat-tricks by Cristiano in this season’s Champions League: three. Hat-tricks by every other player in this season’s Champions League combined: three.
8. Cristiano’s personal goal tally this season (16) is double that of any other player. Robert Lewandowski is in second place, with eight. FYI, Lionel Messi is fifth on the list, with six.
9. His 11 minute hat-trick against Malmo in the group stages was the third fastest hat-trick in Champions League history. Only Mike Newell (nine minutes, for Blackburn vs Rosenborg in 1995) and Bafatembi Gomis (seven minutes, for Lyon vs Dinamo Zagreb in 2011) have bagged the matchball in quicker time.
10. During his career, Cristiano has now 15 goals in Champions League quarter-finals alone (and yes, that is more than anyone else).
11. Ronaldo and Messi were neck-and neck in career Champions League goals for ages, but Cristiano’s performance this season means he is now almost certain to be the first player to score 100 goals in the competition. He is now on 93, with Messi back on 83.
— Culled from: Mirror Online
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Global Eye
Candid Talk
Home > Sunday Post > Inland > Remnants of a tragedy
Remnants of a tragedy
In their recently released book, Bhopal Gas Tragedy, After 30 Years, Sunita Narain and Chandra Bhushan reach the depths of India’s first tryst with an industrial tragedy and its lingering impacts that are experienced even three decades later. Excerpts:
Down to Earth8 Dec 2018 1:54 PM GMT
It was on the night of December 2, 1984, when Bhopal died a million deaths. The chemical, methyl isocyanate (MIC), that spilled out from Union Carbide India Ltd's (UCIL's) pesticide factory turned the city into a vast gas chamber. People ran on the streets, vomiting and dying. The city ran out of cremation grounds. It was India's first (and so far, only) major industrial disaster. Till then, governments had handled floods, cyclones and even earthquakes. They had no clue how to respond in this case. The US-based multinational company, Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), which owned the plant through its subsidiary UCIL, did little to help deal with the human tragedy. Thirty years later, there is no closure. Not because of what happened that fateful night, but because our response has been incompetent and callous.
Bhopal was struck by two tragedies: the one that happened immediately, and the other that unfolded in the years that followed.
The problem was nobody knew much about the toxin or its antidote. Within weeks of the accident, many claimed that the worst was over – that people were suffering from common ailments of the poor, such as tuberculosis and anaemia. But till date nobody knows the health impacts of MIC and how to treat patients exposed to the gas. The health burden is compounded by two more variables –one, children born after the disaster are also its victims because of exposure to the deadly gas while they were in their mothers' wombs; two, chemical wastes remain dumped in and around the premises of UCIL factory, contaminating the water that people drink.
All this could have been managed if the government had information about the chemical and treatment for it. But even in 2014, all that the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in Delhi can say is the "exact causative agent of the Bhopal Gas Disease is unknown". Why?
Union Carbide used trade secrecy as a prerogative to withhold information on the exact composition of the leaked gases. Though it was known that MIC, when reacting with water at high temperatures, could release as many as 300 highly toxic chemicals, research was carried out only to check the toxicity of pure MIC – that also on animals. So, the treatment has been symptomatic. This is criminal negligence. In the first few days, there was evidence that people could be suffering from cyanide poisoning – intravenous injections of sodium thiosulphate, an antidote, was found to be working on the patients. But soon, it was discontinued, many say, under pressure from UCC and its team of lawyers.
The diseases could also have been managed had the government conducted medical research to understand the long-term impacts of the gas. The responsibility was given to ICMR, which had initiated 24 studies. Some of the studies had found high incidence of lung, eye disease and morbidity in the victims. But the studies were summarily discontinued in 1994. All research work was left to Madhya Pradesh government's Centre for Rehabilitation Studies, which did some uninspired research. Meanwhile, some independent studies had also pointed to serious health crises, from cancer and mental problems to birth defects. But since there is no epidemiological study, it is easy to dismiss these as ailments caused by poverty and lack of hygiene. This is when the Supreme Court has repeatedly asked for the patient records to be computerised and for studies to determine health impacts of this toxic exposure.
WHY NO CLOSURE
This is because everything that could have gone wrong in the initial years after the tragedy went wrong. After this, all that the people and activists have done is to try and reverse those fatally damaging actions – with little success.
The Indian judiciary succumbed, many would say, by agreeing to a paltry compensation and by settling all civil and criminal liability of the company. Then the company did everything to ensure that its complicity and responsibility was diluted. One such instance is of not informing doctors of the real toxicity of the chemicals released and the treatment for them. ICMR failed the victims by not completing the studies that would have established the cause of their ailments and suggesting treatment protocols. So, there is a name for the disease – Bhopal Gas Disease – but no identification of who the affected are or what their treatment status is. The Union government, as a result, continues to argue that only 5,295 people died – in the first instance and never later – and 6,199 have been permanently disabled. It refuses to accept, without medical history, that the tragedy has been much more enormous and that death and disability stalk every house in the localities close to the factory. The state government put the final nail in their coffin by distributing the compensation amount so widely that it does not matter who is the actual victim and who is not.
But there are more reasons for the failure. First, there are too many institutions involved, and they have little interest in fixing the problem. In the case of medical relief, on paper, all has been provided to ensure that people get timely and best treatment. A super-speciality hospital has been set up. Treatment has been assured without payment. The Supreme Court even set up two committees – one to monitor the functioning of the medical system and the other to advise on what needs to be done for the best care of the victims. The state government has a separate department for gas relief and usually a senior minister is in charge of the department. Even at the Centre, there is a clear mandate with the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers to oversee all affairs. Yet, medical care is abysmal. The victims continue to say they do not even have water to drink.
Take the issue of decontamination. The case is being heard by the Supreme Court and the Madhya Pradesh high court, who issue regular directions in this regard. Then there is a task force for removal of toxic waste from the plant, headed by the secretary of the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals at the Centre. An Oversight Committee is coordinating and monitoring activities relating to waste disposal, decontamination and remediation. The minister of state for environment chairs this committee. At the bottom of the rung are the Central and state pollution control boards, that are supposed to monitor the site and provide technical support for the decontamination work. The institutional logjam is such that there is no one institution that can be held responsible and accountable for decontaminating the site.
Secondly, over time, most residents of the city have moved away and beyond the disaster. The civil society groups that remain are intensely committed and driven by the injustice and lack of action. But there is such deep distrust between the government and activists working in Bhopal that every action proposed is obstructed – mainly by taking the matter to court. As national and international media interest remains high in the case, each incident is played out and charges and counter-charges are made on television and in newspapers. The result is that everything has been left to the courts to decide; the state and the Central agencies have taken the backseat.
After the 1989 decision, which rewrote history of jurisprudence by absolving UCC of corporate criminal liability, the courts have given directions on relief and rehabilitation. But in the polarised and indifferent environment, even their directions have come to naught. This is partly because there is no clarity about what needs to be done and what can be done given the past mess-ups. What stands out is that Indian institutions are incapable of resolving conflicts. But there is learning for activists and non-profits. In no way should the fight become an end in itself so that issues remain unresolved.
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Today in Brewers History
1999 The Brewers postpone their game against Kansas City as a gesture of respect for the three workers who died when a massive crane collapsed lifting a portion of the roof for the team's new stadium, Miller Park. The crane broke in half lifting a 400-ton load, damaging the partially completed stadium.
2005 Mike Stanton's first appearance since being waived by the Yankees is a memorable one for the Nationals when the southpaw balks home the winning run without throwing a pitch, giving the Brewers a 4-3 victory at Miller Park. Chris Magruder scores the winning run from third base in the bottom of the tenth, thanks to the call made by first base ump Paul Schrieber, who saw the lefty step toward home plate as he threw over to first in an attempt to pick off Rickie Weeks.
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Santa Maria Overnight Ride
Friday, May 30, 2008 1 comment
Tomorrow my buddy Brian and I are doing an overnight to Santa Maria and back, to enjoy some of the roads up and down that way.
We're coming from the Riverside area, which is about 60 miles east of Los Angeles. We'll take the freeway until we get past Los Angeles, and from there get on the back roads.
The good riding basically starts in Santa Paula. Then follow the route you see below, towards Santa Barbara, stop in at Cold Springs Tavern, and then up to Santa Maria.
The next day head east on Highway 166 (this is where James Dean was killed), and out east to a tiny mountain road called, "Cerro Noroeste", which is what I think is one of the best riding in Southern California.
Take a stop in Pine Mountain Club for a break, and then continue down Lockwood Valley Rd, to Highway 33, another great road for riding.
Take another break at The Deer Lodge, and wind our back down into Santa Paula.
I've done this ride a couple of times before.
If you like to ride the mountains and canyons, give this route a serious look.
When Gas Hits $10.00 a Gallon
Tuesday, May 27, 2008 2 comments
So will you still go out for joy rides on your motorcycle when gas hits $10.00 per gallon?
Right now, at $4.00-$4.20 a gallon, here in Southern California, it's costing me about $15.00 to $20.00 to fill up my Electra Glide, depending on how empty it is. If it goes to $10.00 a gallon, I may be spending $50.00 to fill up.
I just don't think I can go joy riding spending $50.00 at every 180-200 miles, and doing that 5-10 times per month. I could certainly run errands on my bike, since that would be cheaper than driving. I could certainly take my wife out to dinner on the bike, since that too would be cheaper than driving.
But spending that much money for no other reason than to combust fuel in a fun and exciting way, begins to be ridiculous.
I suppose playing golf is more expensive.
I suppose gambling at the casino is more expensive.
But then again, people who do that stuff have money to burn.
I was talking about this with some guys in our riding club, and we reasoned that we'd just go on shorter rides, or spend more time at the destinations. We joked that we could always start a Vespa club, and hang out at coffee shops.
I'm seriously thinking of buying a scooter for the wife, at least.
I've looked at them, and the thing that strikes me right now, is that none of the scooters are designed to carry a lot of stuff. You've got a compartment underneath the seat, not much room for anything else.
If gas does indeed hit $10.00 a gallon, the scooter that can carry the most stuff, is the one that people will buy.
And if gasoline does hit $10.00 a gallon, I'm going to buy stock in the company that makes bungee cords.
Riding A Motorcycle Too Fast Into A Corner
Tuesday, May 27, 2008 15 comments
Here's an interesting question...
what to do when going into a curve to fast on a motorcycle
I found this in my website statistics. Someone searched Google for these words, and apparently, it lead them to this blog.
Lean it hard.
I'm assuming that you're already into the curve, and you realize you're going too fast for what you're accustomed to handling.
In this case, you might crash in one of two ways, by going out of your lane and into the side, or opposing lane, or, you can lean the bike over too hard and create a "pivot point", causing you to lose traction with the rear tire. There's actually a third way to crash, which I'll discuss below.
But if you think about those two, you'll realize that the latter, leaning the bike hard, is the least likely to cause a crash. The former, which is not turning enough and going out of your lane, is more likely to cause a crash. Therefore, take your chances by leaning the bike as hard as you can, and hope the rear tire won't lose traction.
By leaning the bike hard, you're going to hear your bike scrape the road. All bikes can scrape the road without losing tire traction. However scraping too hard will eventually create a "pivot point", which is when the rear tire lose traction with the road. But still, every bike has a range of lean angle where you can safely scrape the road without creating a pivot point.
You should ALWAYS prepare yourself to hear the scraping sound so that you won't be startled by it. Too often someone will hear the scrape and become so startled by it, that they straighten up the bike and ride into the path of oncoming traffic, or the side of the road.
If you're going to lean the bike hard, you may feel your feet being squeezed up against the engine, due to the ground pushing the pegs or floorboards upwards. In that case move your feet off of them, or else you'll end up creating a pivot point too early.
Using the rear brake is something you can use, if you use it lightly. If you're going really hot into a curve, I wouldn't use it at all. Your chances are still better by just leaning it hard.
Downshifting can also slow you down, but it's very dangerous in the middle of a lean. When you downshift, your bike will lunge forward, causing the weight to come off of the rear tire, and thereby losing traction with the road.
Downshifting, and using the rear brakes are things you can do if you can do them before you enter the curve. Most people usually are already into the lean by the time they realize they've bitten off more than they can chew.
The third way to crash when riding too hot into a curve, is when the bike wobbles out of control. All motorcycles have a point at which they wobble when riding hard into a turn. Harleys tend to wobble at slower speeds than most motorcycles. So, if you lean a bike hard into a turn, it could wobble uncontrollably, and throw you off like a bucking bronco.
But, you're still better off taking your chances with a hard lean, prepare yourself to hear the scrape, don't let that scrape startle you, and hope the tire holds.
Even if you do go down, you're better off going down in a hard lean (low side), than by going down any other way.
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Cold Weather Motorcycle Riding
Monday, May 26, 2008 2 comments
After last weekend, with 100+ degree temperatures, this Memorial Day weekend was cold, and raining in some areas.
Three of us went riding last Thursday, and got rained on. It wasn't raining when I left home, and as long as it's not raining at my house, I'm good to go. But as we left the staging area, rain started to fall. So we high-tailed it to an irish pub in Fallbrook for chow, and then it really started pouring. We waited it out for awhile, and just when it stopped falling, we took off.
And no sooner than we took off, it started raining again.
Saturday, a few of us went riding. We headed out to Borrego Springs, a tiny town in the Colorado Desert area of Southern California. The main attraction is a road called, "S22", otherwise called, "Montezuma Valley Rd", which winds its way down a mountain into the desert floor. It's very twisty, but mostly with sweeping curves, and it snakes its way down like a sidewinder. It's an absolute joy to ride (if you're into that kind of motorcycle geekdom).
Here's some photos of that ride...
http://picasaweb.google.com/cleardigital/BorregoSpringsRideMay242008
We liked it enough that after having lunch in Borrego Springs, we headed back up the S22, and then we rode it back down again.
While Borrego Springs was warm and sunny, it was cold and soupy out towards the coast. We had to ride back that way, but stopped at the Stone Brewery for some free beer. Can't beat that.
And then today, Memorial Day, there was another three of us that took a ride to Carlsbad, for some eats at the Harbor Fish Cafe, a cool little outdoor cafe by the beach. I tried to get some other people to ride, but nothing doing. One guy in our riding club said he couldn't go because he was having a BBQ at his place (I guess he must be having trouble calling me, because I didn't know about the BBQ until I called him this morning).
Again, it was cold and crapping when we left this morning, but we got out to the coast, it was warm and sunny. There were plenty of near-naked chicks laying out on the beach.
The moral of the story is that when it's supposed to rain, and when it looks like it's going to rain, there's a 2 out of 3 chance that it won't. You just get on your bike and find some nice weather.
Technical Note: I moved this blog to Blogger's server. I had previously had it on my server, and had Blogger upload the files and images via FTP. But these days, it seems Blogger's support for "FTP blogs" is sorely lacking, and was having trouble getting new articles and comments posted in a timely manner.
Wind Chill Motorcycle Myth
Wednesday, May 21, 2008 8 comments
This past weekend, Southern California had its first taste of triple-digit temperatures, reaching 101 degrees in Temecula on Sunday, and 110 degrees in the Coachella Valley.
There's this myth that when it gets really hot outside, it's good to get on a motorcycle and let the wind cool you down. Wrong.
Wind chill only works when the air temperature is about 73 degrees F or less, and that's based on riding a motorcycle at 60mph, and based on the newer wind chill formula. Once you hit 74 degrees F, at the same speed, the wind no longer feels cool.
Using the same formula, and the same 60mph scenario, a 100 degree air temperature results in a "wind warming" of 111 degrees.
As your body moves through the air it comes in contact with more air molecules, and when those air molecules are warm, they heat up your body as you hit more and more of them in lesser time, resulting in a dehydrated body.
Riding in triple digit temps is actually stupid.
But my brain has never had much effect on my heart's desire.
Days like these are when a windshield becomes your best riding partner. Drink a bottle of water at each stop, and keep a bottle of water in your saddlebag.
Tired of Poker Runs
Tuesday, May 20, 2008 1 comment
"I'm tired of poker runs". That sentiment seemed to play out as a theme this last weekend.
If you've read this blog for awhile, you'll know that I pretty much stopped going to them, along with bike shows, rallies, benefit rides, and such. You've seen one, you've seen them all. For me, paying $25-$50 to ride some roads that I've already paid for with my tax dollars, doesn't thrill me. However, there's still one children's charity event that I'll keep going to, which I'll tell you about someday.
Well on Saturday, some friends and I rode to Swallows Inn, a popular biker hangout in San Juan Capistrano for their annual chili-cook off. It's a sanctioned chili-cook off, and if you're like me, you love chili. There, I ran into a guy who's a VP in another riding club. I asked him why he wasn't at the poker run over at Biggs Harley-Davidson. He said that he didn't like poker runs anymore. He said they're all the same. He'd rather get some of his friends together, and just ride some roads, or find someplace new to go to. I didn't realize that he had been thinking like me.
Then on Sunday, I rode down to Lake Sutherland, just outside of Ramona, CA, to join another club on their annual picnic. I ran into a guy there whom I had ridden with a couple of times before. In addition to this club, he's a member of another one as well, but hasn't ridden with them in a long time. I asked why. He said that all they do are poker runs and benefit rides, and don't really go riding for the sake of riding.
He further explained himself with an anecdote, describing a moment of bliss, where he was riding his cruiser east along Highway 76, just before you get to the first Palomar Mtn turnoff, where the series of 30mph sweepers are. He caught up to some sportbike riders, who were riding a moderate rate of speed up to this point, and crept up behind them. Approaching the first curve, he leaned the bike all the way to one side and dragged his floorboard across the full radius of the curve.
He said he could see the sportbike riders jolt and look behind them in a "WTF?" response, as their concentration was broken from some blood-curdling screech that resembled something of a winged-dinosaur swooping down to snatch up some squid.
He chuckled as he finished his story, and I smiled and nodded my head because I understood what he was trying to tell me.
Why People Ride Motorcycles
Sunday, May 18, 2008 4 comments
To answer the question of why people ride motorcycles, you really have to ask why you shouldn't ride one.
Dale writes today about a subject that I tried to address before...
There's a old biker saying, to the effect that, "If you ever throw a leg over your bike, and you aren't just a little bit afraid, it's time to hang it up." That's good advice, really, because if you are riding on the street, and don't still feel the incentive to ride as if you were invisible to everyone else on the street, you'll get overconfident, and bad things will inevitably happen.
But, the opposite is also true. When you throw a leg over, and your first thought is, "I hope I get out of this alive," then you should probably stop riding, too.
I tend to agree with the last sentence.
In other words, if you're very concerned for your safety, then you shouldn't ride a motorcycle. It's inherently dangerous, and despite how skilled or cautious a rider you are, most such crashes are the fault of drivers who didn't see you.
If you can accept that, then you can free up your conscience, think more clearly, and enjoy the ride.
Perhaps you thought about buying a small motorcycle, or scooter, to save money on fuel, or because you have this altruism to reduce your carbon foot print. Well, you had better fully register this thought before skipping gleefully to your nearest scooter dealer to jump on the bandwagon.
You may end up reducing your carbon footprint to zero.
Dead Man's Curves
Wednesday, May 14, 2008 1 comment
Road sign found along Highway 49 in California, just west of Sattley...
The photo found on my "About Me" page was taken along the same road.
Motorcycle Group Riding Differences
Last Sunday I couldn't find anyone who wanted to ride as it was Mother's Day, and I guess they were all busy. So, I rode south and hooked up with another riding club.
This club was relatively new. They're actually a sportbike club. But this particular chapter has an even mix of sportbikes and cruisers. I met some of them when they came up to ride with us months ago.
I hadn't tagged along with another club in a long time. I got to witness the whole group riding experience from the viewpoint of a hang-around, and see how they did everything differently from the way our club does things.
First, they spend a lot of time at the staging area, about an hour. Our club usually spends between 15 to 30 minutes.
This club was actually quite loose, similar to our club. They all seemingly knew each other well, and knew their place in the group.
Along the ride, the road captain, who was the VP of the club, often pointed at road signs to remind riders of road conditions. That's something our club rarely does.
They rode quite a bit slower than our club usually rides. I don't know if the speed they rode at is the same speed they usually ride at, or if it was just the guy who was leading them. I don't know if that guy always leads their rides or not.
They also seem to make more stops than our clubs does. The destination, which was Idyllwild, CA, was only 100 miles away. Yet they took a gas stop at only 42 miles into the ride, and then a butt break at another 35 miles after that. I couldn't figure out why they needed to make that first gas stop. Our club would probably have done the second stop however.
Because this club is a mixture of sportbikes and cruisers, the members all have varied riding styles. The sportbikes wanted to take a slightly a different route that involved more twisties, so that they could rip up some pavement and ride at a fast pace. The cruisers, however, wanted to take a more relaxed ride. Both routes would end up at the same destination. When we reached the point in the ride where the sportbikes wanted to take the alternate route, I decided to try my luck with them, but stayed in the back.
Splitting the group into two, and then having each group take different routes, is something our club hasn't done. For the most part, we all want to ride the twistiest roads, and we all seem to enjoy riding the same speeds, so we never seem to come to that. However, on any one of our group rides, someone will want to break away and crank the throttle. Blowing out the cobwebs and tearing up some asphalt is part of the enjoyment of motorcycling.
They didn't seem to pass any slower cars. When they encountered a slow-moving car in front of them, they just dropped their speed and waited it out. It's not like they had an awful lot of bikes, I'd say about 10 bikes. There were some stretches of straight road where they could have done it. But for all I know, these guys might pass up cars everytime with a smaller group.
As far as hand signals are concerned, I didn't see much aside for the usual turn signals. It's not like our club uses a lot of hand signals either. I tend to think that their club members have become quite accustomed to riding with each other, that they can anticipate what's about to happen. The same is true with ours.
Interestingly, everyone in their club wore full face helmets, even the cruiser riders. In our club most of us wear DOT half-helmets, or novelty helmets. In fact, after the second stop, once the temperature warmed up, I took off my sweater and rode with just my t-shirt. The folks in their club kept their jackets on. I certainly don't knock this at all. It's a contrast in riding philosophies.
In fact, a while back I read their club charter, which outlines all their rules and practices. Like any club, safety is an important issue, and they make safety a big part of their charter. So I think it all stems from that.
It's probably good to hook up with other clubs, and witness how they execute a group ride, just to show you things you didn't think about, or perhaps shed light on things you may be doing wrong. It's like what the Road Captain said about there being no book on group riding.
Oh, going back to where I said I rode with the sportbikes on the alternate route. Towards the end of the day, a couple of those riders gave me thumbs up for actually keeping pace with them. I was on my Ultra Classic, and I wanted to prove something to those rice burners. One of them said, "Man, you were really throwing that bagger around! I kept looking in my mirror and you were on my tail the whole way". While they were riding hot through the twisties, it wasn't like they were riding like professional racers or anything. They're just regular guys, with average skill, but with the benefit of bikes designed for speed and maneuverability. I just wanted them to know that they can't predispose a Harley rider.
Learning to Ride the Hard Way
Thursday, May 08, 2008 7 comments
A popular saying among motorcycle riders is, "ride within in your abilities". Meaning, don't push yourself beyond what you're comfortable with.
That statement became a point of discussion yesterday.
Five of us were sitting down eating hamburgers at Nessie's in Bonsall, CA, after a ride around the back country. One of the guys had crashed his bike during the same ride.
I had said that you can't look at it as having damaged your bike, or having injured yourself. But rather, look at it as gaining knowledge. Besides, he needed to come up with an explanation for his wife, who he felt certain was going to give him an "I told you so". And what better explanation than to say, "Well Honey, I'm a better rider now"?
We were on a stretch of road here in SoCal known as "Mesa Grande", in northern San Diego County, and popular with motorcycler riders. The first few miles of this road is straight, with almost no traffic, encouraging people to crank the throttle. Then it takes a hard turn to the left in a 20mph switchback. Many riders have gone down here, with yesterday being the latest.
The bike got the worst of it, but it turned out to be rideable. He suffered only some scrapes and bruises. And despite the CHP, the Sheriff, and the ambulance, we pulled the bike out of the ditch, and he continued on with the ride.
One of the coincidences, is that another guy riding with us made the same statement I made on this blog last month, "There are riders who have crashed, and there are riders who will crash."
The guy who crashed responded back with, "I always wondered what it would feel like, going down." Well, he knows what it feels like to go down easy into a ditch, around 35mph, even though it was still a painful experience. Hopefully he won't experience a more worse accident.
But let's get back to the conversation at Nessie's.
He said "While I should definitely ride within my ability, how am I supposed to improve if I don't try pushing myself?"
This guy had been riding for about a year. I had ridden with him several times, mostly in the past couple of months, but I've known him for about a year. He's witnessed how most of us in our riding club ride, and used us to measure his skill level.
He's always been a cautious rider, riding slower than most people I normally ride with. I can't fault any of that. But I was in the same place he had been in, riding slowly and cautiously, until I started riding with a group. I noticed most of the riders possessed quite a bit more skill than I. I would push myself beyond the comfort level because I wanted to improve.
To answer his question, he certainly should push himself. Part of the benefit of group riding is to improve your riding skills. He simply went into the switchback faster than he was accustomed to handling, and scraped his floorboard. Hearing the sound of the scrape jarred his conscience and caused him to straighten up, and into the path of the ditch. He just needs to spend more time scraping his floorboard and getting used to the sound.
You could also argue that Mesa Grande is not the place to scrape your floorboards if you're not used to the sound. Maybe. But then again, I'd argue that roads in and of themselves are not dangerous; it's how hard or soft you ride that makes it dangerous. I think pushing himself on Mesa Grande is fine, he just pushed himself too hard than what he was prepared to handle.
One thing that some of us in our riding club have said, is that we want to spend time doing practices. That's something we didn't do in the other clubs we've been in. Brian and I actually spent some time doing this about a couple of months ago, riding up and down Wilson Valley about three times in each direction, each time practicing how we approached the curves, and each time discussing what we could do to improve.
I'm going to start doing more of those practices in this club.
The Myth of Fuel Efficiency
Last week I reported on Biker News Online that DOT Secretary Mary Peters launched her own blog to talk about the business of adminstering the nation's thoroughfares.
Since then, I've been reading it.
While I don't respect Peters' quest to get every state to mandate helmets, I still find her writings enlightening regarding the thought processes of our country's highway planning.
Here, she talks about gasoline taxes, why they are so high, and why they can't be repealed...
The gas tax was originally intended to be a form of highway use tax. Unfortunately, due to the growing influence of special interests, gas tax revenues have increasingly been converted into a political slush fund. When the gas tax was instituted, it was only done so because more direct charging mechanisms were not administratively or technologically feasible.
In other words, gasoline taxes were meant to pay for highway maintenance, but are no longer being used for that purpose, and instead is being raided by our elected officials and lawmakers for political leverage.
The other thing is that she said the reason why taxes were instituted back then, is because at the time, they didn't have the technological know-how to charge highway users in an efficient way.
But even though we could address the technological part now, there's basically no hope in lowering or eliminating gas taxes.
It reinforced the notion that once a tax get instituted it can never be repealed.
The other thing she says is this...
The objective should be to develop an economic model that charges users the true cost of travel.
What exactly IS the true cost of travel? Well, I believe what she's implying is that some people get 80 MPG on their scooters, while others get 15 MPG in their pickup trucks. If they all travelled 100 miles, the pickup trucks would pay far more in taxes.
And that brings up another point.
If Americans as a whole gravitated towards scooters and small displacement motorcycles for their commuting, what effect will that have on local, state, and federal gasoline taxes? Will the slush fund get smaller?
As we decrease our dependence on gasoline, government will have to find another way to make up that loss in tax revenue.
In other words, there really isn't any such thing as "fuel efficiency". In the end, lawmakers will ensure that driving a gasoline powered car for 100 miles will cost us the same as driving a solar-powered one the same distance.
US191, Arizona, somewhere between Morenci and Alpine
Joining a HOG Chapter
I guess I'm gonna have to join HOG.
According to Jake Zinsli, who writes for Royal Purple, the campus newspaper of University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, HOG members get treated like royalty...
The purchase of a Harley is also the membership to an exclusive club. I know that sounds like buying friends, but some college kids are more used to that than other. When you're a H.O.G. member, (Harley Owners Group), you get all the treatments of royalty. There are no VIP members, everyone get the same benefits.
And to think that all these years, I've been getted treated like shit.
Motorcycle Blogging & Making Money
I just wanted to tell you about a new blog I launched last month...
http://www.motorcycleblogging.com
A month ago, I noticed that Motorcycle Bloggers International has compiled many more bloggers than when I first looked at it a couple years ago. And I know I've seen many other motorcycle bloggers not on there. Blogging about motorcycles is growing at a fast pace.
And since blogging and website publishing is my business and sole source of income, I figured there's probably an untapped demand here that I can get a foothold on. I'm guessing many moto-bloggers are interested in learning how to make some money from their blogs, or at least get some tips on how to increase their audience.
I actually looked around the motorcycle blogging community, and I didn't really see anyone providing a central location for blogging topics, ranging from building an income, building traffic, and blogging ethics. So I started it.
Much of what I've written there thus far isn't necessarily unique to the motorcycle blogging community; it can apply to any blogging niche. But I'll be using motorcycle examples, and will eventually share some tips on what I do with my motorcycle blogs that may be different than what I do with my other blogs.
I've been publishing websites professionally since 1997, and have all that experience to share with you for free on Motorcycle Blogging. If you find it helpful, I'd appreciate you returning the favor by linking to it from your blogrolls.
The Changing Face of the Motorcycle Community
Friday, May 02, 2008 No comments
Was reading KT DID's post about the Laughlin River Run, that just came and went last week, and about how the crowd was a lot smaller this year than in previous years.
I've said before that I've gotten tired of rallies and runs, and just don't go to them anymore. And I didn't go to Laughlin. But I don't suspect that people are bored of rallies as I am.
In talking to other riders who went there, and some vendors that went there, police presence was really high, and they were harrassing the folks as often as they could. And there was also the heat. I understand it got pretty hot there.
But then again, Laughlin is always hot, and ever since 2002, the cops are always bothering the rally-goers. That didn't stop people last year, or the year before.
You might say it was the high price of gasoline. Maybe. But when you're riding your motorcycle, it really isn't that much more in cost. A car definitely.
I started noticing last year that crowds were thinning down at the smaller events, like poker runs, benefit rides, and bike shows. I was wondering if we had already seen the highpoint of the biker craze, and that now we're on a downward trend.
The news reports suggest that more people than ever are buying motorcycles and scooters. But that's for economic reasons; they're buying the smaller displacement bikes because they're cheaper and get higher gas mileage.
But then, maybe that's what going on.
We're seeing a different breed of biker emerging, the commuter.
The popularity of motorcycles that we saw in the early 2000s was perhaps a fad. And fads are meant to fade away. The smaller percentage of us who found something that connected with our souls have held on to discover our true niches, be it in a riding club, a motorcycle club or just hanging out at the biker bars. The rest of them may have decided to hang up their $300.00 Harley jackets in exchange for some other fashion statement.
In December of 2006, some friends and I took a ride to Long Beach, CA, to visit the International Motorcycle Show, that showcases the newest models in factory motorcycles. Not choppers, not customs, but all the "regular" bikes.
Maybe that's the kind of show that will replace the chopper shows. Instead of bikini-clad hoochies straddling $50,000 choppers, we'll be seeing more conservatively appointed models standing next to cheaper, smaller, commuter bikes.
Weekday Afternoon Motorcycle Ride
Thursday, May 01, 2008 No comments
Four of us met this afternoon for a motorcycle ride into San Clemente, for some lunch at Pizza Port.
Thursday afternoon rides have been a regular occurrence for us for the past several weeks. While traffic is still heavy during the week, there's always a sense that we're taking advantage of something unique.
For one thing, the weather always seems to be at its best between Monday and Friday. Maybe that's what we're taking advantage of.
The popular biker hangouts are not as crowded at this time. You get quicker service, and a pick of the best seating. Maybe that's what we're taking advantage of.
There's also a sense of gratitude, that we have the freedom to get away during a weekday afternoon, and not put our careers in jeopardy. Maybe it's that freedom we're taking advantage of.
Everytime I take a joy ride during the week, there's always someone out there who tells me that they're envious of me, or that they hate me for this freedom. But the fact is that I once worked "for the man", in an office building, from morning to evening, and had to commute along freeways of SoCal. I was like everyone else.
I remember an episode of "Moonlighting" where Bruce Willis said, "your job will never love you back". That statement struck me, and I kept it filed away in the back of my mind. Then during a really bad day at work, I pulled that statement out of the file cabinet, and made the connection, that no matter how I hard work, I'll never get anything more than just a paycheck, and that paycheck will never let me get ahead in life.
At the time, I was dabbling with the Internet, learning how to make websites. I decided I would make a website that folks would find useful and interesting. That was in 1997. I worked two full-time jobs, my "day job", and the other working from about 5:00pm to 2:00am, building this website, and learning how to make money from it.
My wife will attest to the many years of frustration she had with me for not spending enough time with her. For awhile, the only way I knew I was married was by the dinner she had ready for me when I returned home from the office.
But in 2003, at the age of 37, I quit that day job. I tell people that I retired at 37, because I could work at home, and be my own boss.
But the truth is that this wasn't handed to me on a silver platter. I worked my ass off to make this happen. My wife sacrificed several years of happiness to let me get to this point. And now, we can spend all kinds of time together.
I guess if I'm taking advantage of anything, it's the freedom that this country gives us. No one has to be unhappy in this country if they put their mind to it. I wasn't lucky either. And I wasn't born rich. I was just tired of waiting for something to happen.
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Defense attorney Richard Gaxiola gets results and makes headlines in the pursuit of justice
Posted by: admin Posted date: January 19, 2018 In: Blog | comment : 0
Advocate for the Underdog
Defense attorney Richard Gaxiola gets results and makes headlines in the pursuit of justice.
By Becky Antioco
Richard Gaxiola is one of the Valley’s most prominent criminal defense attorneys. He’s nothing if not tenacious, looking a client’s case from every angle to find the best defense, the strongest evidence, and the best strategy to bring to court.
While he’s been at the center of several high-profile cases, you’ll never have a Gaxiola Law Group jingle running through your head after a morning commute, or see a pithy sales pitch in a television commercial during a daytime talk show. Gaxiola is about results, not appearances, and lets his firm’s work speak for itself.
Gaxiola has been practicing law since 2000, working in the Maricopa County Office of the Public Defender before joining the boutique law firm Alex & Gaxiola, P.C., where he managed the law team and became lead defense attorney. He started Gaxiola Law Group in 2012, and focuses strictly on criminal defense.
Gaxiola Law Group employs three additional attorneys who share the philosophy of “doing the work we get paid to do.” That includes dedication to each individual case and client, exploring every angle, finding every witness, testing out every defense strategy. He’s chosen them to work at his firm on the basis of prior experience, their strong ethics and work product, and the level of dedication to the research that goes into providing the best possible defense.
“I would encourage anyone looking to hire a criminal attorney to do some critical research. It’s important to find the right, experienced lawyer who operates with high standards and gets results. Not someone who is just a ‘used car salesman’ with flashy ads but little experience,” he says.
And getting results is what Gaxiola is all about. He’s known for his tenacity, his advocacy on behalf of his clients, leaving no stone unturned, to uncover the truth and to get the best deal for his clients, some of whom the public may view as outcasts, or unworthy of the effort. He’s aware of the sometimes negative light cast upon defense attorneys, but believes that everyone deserves to have someone in their corner, upholding their rights and searching for the truth.
In an interview with the Phoenix New Times where he discussed some of his more infamous cases, including several involving the Hells Angels motorcycle club, Gaxiola explained, “The thing that sets defense attorneys apart is that we don’t judge. We acknowledge the inequities in our system of justice and life, in general. We have a broader perspective on what’s important.”
Gaxiola has made headlines on numerous occasions, including when he and Phoenix attorney Andrew Alex took on then-county attorney Andrew Thomas. Some may remember that Thomas had targeted several judges, bringing up criminal charges and RICO accusations. Gaxiola and Alex argued that Thomas’ office should be disqualified from cases involving these judges. Thomas resigned as county attorney to run for attorney general, but not before a special master was appointed by the court to investigate the matter.
Gaxiola grew up in the mining town of Morenci, Arizona. In 1983, the copper strike against Phelps Dodge resulted in a clash between the company and the striking miners. The National Guard and Arizona Department of Safety were deployed to restore order. In the aftermath, several miners, including Gaxiola’s father, alleged civil rights violations by DPS and the National Guard. Gaxiola had a front-row seat to the federal court proceedings in Tucson, sparking a fascination with the court process.
Years later, he recounted significance of that experience to the Phoenix New Times, explaining, “I think I was always on the underdog’s side, as long as I could remember. And witnessing [civil rights litigation] in a federal court, it gives you some sense that there is a remedy to address these kind of things, rather than violence.”
Gaxiola Law Group’s office is located in North Phoenix, away from the bustle of downtown, but they take on clients and defend cases throughout the state of Arizona.
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The soul we got to know In The Between, didn’t get to go to Heaven. Too much karma. She accepted reincarnation and selected her new parents. Immediately, as The Beginning Begins, she discovers she’s not alone. The soul sharing the womb is well known from prior incarnations. Now named Zoë and Madison, they are able to remember some of their past-lives, are in spiritual contact with the mind aspect of their souls, called Starry and Blaze, and see whatever their mother sees, through her eyes.
Well educated and wealthy, their dad, Isaac/Zak, is an archeologist seeking the scrolls copied-out by Zoë when she was Salome-Alexandra, the Queen of Israel. He’s also trying to find the Urim and Thummin, those dice she rolled out to tell the future when she was the queen, as well as when she was Duanna, in Uruk (Mesopotamia), living her incarnation as the high-Priestess of Inanna. Their mother, Jasmina/Jazzie, is a “sensitive” from a long line of women mystics who practice magic. Ultimately Jazzie sees auras, spirits, and ghosts in an effort to help her husband find those long lost items and to protect her unborn children.
She must, since the man, named Abraham Sharp—previously incarnated as Zoë’s son and in another past-life as Madison’s husband—is a billionaire in this life, using the practical magic of the Hebrew Kabbalah to find those same scrolls and dice.
Zoë’s resentments towards her twin brother, Madison, who once indirectly caused her to die from an overdose of opium when they lived as sisters in Egypt, and also more directly was the cause of her being burned at the stake during the Spanish Inquisition, are resolved. But Abraham Sharp’s bitterness has festered for thousands of years and is only now being brought into the open for those old karmic debts to be paid—waiting for the people—souls—to be in the right place at the right time.
Here is an except from Chapter Fourteen
Mom woke with a start to the sound of loud thunder. Lightening flashed from the window causing her heart to beat faster. She gasped. Madison and I watched through her eyes to find out what happened. Another clap of thunder sounded like it was right on top of the roof. The flash-powder lightening lit up the entire room. Mom gasped again. She remained in her curled position, with her face on the pillow, but clearly able to view the door. The only movement was from her chest pounding out its increased heart rate.
“Madison, did you see that Roman soldier?” I whispered.
“Yeah man, the dude had a mean look on his face. Acted like he was looking for something.”
“Maybe someone,” I suggested. “Wasn’t that fist to chest then arm straight out thing he did just before he faded away a Roman salute?”
With the next clap of thunder and lightening strike the figure was completely gone, but a hand could be seen that was inside the door feeling for the light switch on the wall. Dad stuck his head in as a lamp lit up at the side of the bed. He smiled, “Good, you’re awake.” His smile turned into a frown as he sat on the bed, “What’s wrong Jazzie, did I scare you? You look like you saw a ghost.”
I could feel Mom wriggling up to sit with her back against the headboard and press a pillow over her abdomen. She whispered, “I think I did.”
Dad chuckled. “No, they didn’t kill me, only put me through the proverbial wringer.”
“I’m glad you’re okay, but I didn’t mean you, Zak.” Pointing at the wall next to the door, she said, “There, there was a Roman Centurion—they wore those red crescent-like brushes on the top of their helmets, right?”
Dad kissed her. “You must have been dreaming. Now let’s go get some dinner. Everyone is waiting for us and I’m hungry. You’ve got to be. You can tell us about your dream while we eat.”
Mom brushed her fingers through his damp hair. “I wasn’t dreaming, but my heart beat is starting to calm now. I’ll just go to the bathroom and then, yes, let’s go eat.”
The halls were all well lit up. As soon as they entered the great room, Mom called out to Monime, “I thought you said this house was built in the 1990s.”
Monime shrugged. “That’s what the owner told me. Why?”
Dad grabbed a chair for himself while Cephas pulled one back for Mom at the table. Thunder rumbled and the lightening flashed, giving the room an eerie quality. As he pushed the chair in, Cephas said, “If the electric goes out—it shouldn’t, but if it does—we’ve got lots of flashlights, candles, and some battery operated lanterns.”
“She either had a dream, or we’ve got the ghost of a Roman Centurion in our bedroom,” Dad told everyone, pinching off a piece from the hunk of bread on his plate and handing it to Mom.
“I wasn’t dreaming.”
Monime and Cephas glanced at each other and together said, “Oh.”
Mother asked, “You know about it…him? You’ve seen him too?”
“No,” Monime answered slowly. “The housekeeper, Judith mentioned she’s seen something, though. We didn’t really believe her.” There was a level of anxiety in her voice when she added, “But never in that room. Are you afraid? Shall I put you in another bedroom?”
Shamy got Mom’s attention by saying, “Spirits can’t hurt us.”
“No. No they can’t. I am not afraid. I was surprised, that’s all. The house being so new, I didn’t expect it to have a ghostly Roman floating around in it.” In a whisper she added, “Or that I would see it.”
“Who knows what was under the house before it was built. This town has history from way back.” Cephas laughed, pointed at Dad, and added, “Even your favorite, Josephus Flavius was involved with Tiberias.”
Dad’s cheeks turned pink. “He’s not my favorite. Some of what he’s purported to have written may not be accurate, so I’m curious about him.”
Cephas’ response was raised eyebrows.
“I don’t know much about Josephus Flavius. It sounds like you two men do. Care to enlighten me?”
Cephas put down his fork and cleared his throat. “I’ll tell you, Shamy. He was a well-educated Jew. Studied with all of them—the Sadducees, Hasidim, and Pharisees. Some called him a coward. Some called him smart. He convinced Vespasian he was going to be Emperor of Rome, so he was saved during the first Jewish-Roman War, went to Rome, and wrote about…”
Dad interrupted, “We don’t know if that’s true. His writings were saved because the early Christian fathers said he wrote about Jesus.”
Cephas’ eyebrows went up again. “That is true, but the main thing we’re discussing right now is what he did in Tiberias. He took control of the city, let Herod’s palace be destroyed, but his Jewish army that was loyal to Rome stopped the pillaging, and Josephus surrendered it to Vespasian.”
The tension in the room was thickening. Monime changed the subject. “There have been more than a dozen earthquakes in Tiberias. I’ve always wondered about the secrets that were uncovered or perhaps covered up at each of those horrid events.”
Shamy didn’t seem to want to ignore the friction. She asked, “Why are you two dancing around this Josephus business? I know Zak respects you greatly, Cephas.”
Dad said a little too loudly, “It doesn’t matter.”
“When Zak was a young man he told me he thought he was a reincarnation of Josephus.”
Mom exclaimed, “You never told me that!”
Glaring across the table at Cephas, Dad said between clenched teeth, “If I’d wanted to tell you, I would have.”
Cephas sighed deeply, “The ladies are right. This strain between us is obvious and needs to end. I said what I did to get it out in the open. I promise, I’ll not tease you about it ever again.”
“Of course not. Now that everyone knows what a stupid kid I was.”
“How were you stupid?” Mom questioned.
Dad looked down at the table and only let his eyes slide towards Mom. His words were barely audible, “Thinking I could have been the great Josephus.”
“Is that worse than us believing Abe Sharp was Hyrcanus or that Zoë was Salome-Alexandra?”
Dad turned and grinned at Mom. “No, I guess not.”
Cephas said, “What?”
There was another great ear splitting clash of thunder and an explosion of lightening before everything went completely dark. Total silence added to the sense of mystery. It took less than a minute before there was the sound of a match being struck and several candles started their glow, not quite ending the feeling of suspense.
Monime left the table to light more candles. She firmly asserted, “Don’t say a word till I come back.”
No one did. Our mother watched Cephas as he took his time examining the faces of everyone still seated. He was frowning at Dad when Monime placed a couple of lanterns on the edges of the table where everyone sat, took her seat, and said, “All right. You can start Jazzie.”
“My family does believe in reincarnation. Over the past months, since I got pregnant, there were many things that happened to cause us to believe that my unborn daughter, who we will name Zoë, was once Salome-Alexandra and that Abe Sharp was her son Hyrcanus.”
Cephas’ eyes remained on Dad as he listened.
“We don’t know everything yet, but Shamy and I are going to try to find out more by engaging in the practical magic of the Kabbalah.”
Ripping his gaze from Dad to stare at Mom, Cephas uttered, “Magic? What? Why?”
“We know that Abe Sharp was doing that kind of magic and we need to find out more.” Mom sighed before she continued. “He seems to be seeking something he lost in a past-life and we think it might be the scrolls and Urim and Thummin that Zak believes disappeared not long before Salome-Alexandra died.”
Running his fingers through his hair, Cephas looked back towards Dad and asked, “Is she talking about those scrolls you’ve been trying to find all these years?”
“That’s right. I’ve been researching. She’s taking it to another metaphysical level because Abe Sharp has done and said some things that alarmed us.” Putting his hands up, Dad rolled his eyes, and then added, “But we can’t prove a thing.”
“We can’t prove what we know about him either,” Monime said in a low voice.
It was our Dad’s turn to show surprise. “What?”
“I’m the one who caused all of that thumbprint lock business. Abe Sharp was sneaking around in the storeroom and I know he was reading my research. I told Cephas and he eventually told Sarah Pattern.”
“Sarah told me it was gossip she’d heard. How do you know it was him in the room?”
Monime gave Mom an uneasy look before saying, “I could smell his scent—sandalwood.”
Moving his back squarely in his chair, Dad said, “Okay. Cephas, we might doubt one or the other, but we must believe it when both our wives are saying these things. So we’re going to need to accept that Abe Sharp is a problem. He’s barred from the storeroom and we’ll get on with checking to see what all is in there to make sure it’s all recorded properly. Right?”
“Right. And I promise not to bring up Josephus ever again.”
Dad raised his hand and waved it back and forth as he laughed. “Doesn’t matter, that cat is out of the bag and maybe it needed to be.”
All the lights came on taking away the shadows in the room.
“I don’t know about the rest of you, but I think it’s time I go to bed,” Shamy said, while hiding a yawn behind her hand.
“I agree. If you wake up earlier than the rest of us Jazzie, the housekeeper will give you breakfast. Then if you want to you can go back to bed again.”
All of them got up from the table. At Cephas’ suggestions each selected a lantern to take before going off to the bedrooms.
Dad and Cephas were talking about when they’d leave in the morning, so Monime took Mom aside for a moment. “Your grandmother told me more about your metaphysical experiments while you were asleep. I’m willing to try that past-life regression you suggested, but I still want to sleep on the other.”
Mom told her, “I want to sleep on all of this, too.”
The lights all stayed on as they found their bedrooms. Shamy said goodnight as she opened the door to her room. Mom yawned hers and Dad mumbled his. When they shut the bedroom door, Mom asked Dad, “Will you be gone all day tomorrow?”
“I will. And I’ll be leaving early. You can sleep in, or get up to eat, and go back to sleep like Monime suggested.”
“I’ll see how I feel tomorrow.”
Putting his arms around her, Dad asked, “That ghost won’t be a problem, will it?”
“Let’s hope not. Still, I don’t believe in coincidences and he did seem to be giving you a salute. Some time will you tell me more about sensing you were Josephus? You’ve always made a joke of it whenever you’ve mentioned his name before.”
“Can’t be too serious about myself, now can I?” he said as he wiggled his brows up and down.
Mom said nothing.
“Okay. Okay, I promise to tell you my deepest secrets, but not tonight. I’m really beat.”
Our mother found her pajamas in her bag, put them on, and after they brushed their teeth, our parents got into bed. Dad turned out the light on the side table, Mom snuggled into his arms, and he was gently snoring as she closed her eyes.
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"If you know you are going to fail, then fail gloriously."
Movies.com > Movie News > Movies.com Has Your Free Tickets for an Advanced Screening of '50/50' Starring Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Movies.com Has Your Free Tickets for an Advanced Screening of '50/50' Starring Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt
By Erik Davis Aug 15, 2011
We've already told you why we love the upcoming cancer dramedy 50/50 so much, but now it's time for you to to decide for yourself. The film, which stars Seth Rogen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard and more) isn't due to hit theaters until September 30th, but Movies.com is going to sneak you into an advanced screening of this sucker on August 30th (August 29th for those in Austin, Texas) because, well, we're cool like that.
If you live in Austin, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle or Washington, DC, then start paying attention. Movies.com has up to 100 free tickets for each screening, and all you have to do is click on this link and reserve your ticket. With all the great buzz this film has been generating over the past month, we imagine seats are going to fill up fast, so don't waste time or wait till we get closer to the screening date -- reserve your spot now!
Here's the film's official synopsis: "Inspired by personal experiences, 50/50 is an original story about friendship, love, survival and finding humor in unlikely places. Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen star as best friends whose lives are changed by a cancer diagnosis in this new comedy directed by Jonathan Levine from a script by Will Reiser.
“We worked with Will on Da Ali G show, and it was shortly after that we learned he was sick.” Rogen recalls. “As shocking, sad, confusing and generally screwed up as it was; we couldn't ignore that because we were so ill-equipped to deal with the situation, funny things kept happening. Will got better, and when he did, we thought the best way to pull something good out of the situation was to get him to write a screenplay. Ideally we wanted to make a film that would be as funny, sad, and hopefully as honest as the experience we went through. As soon as the script was completed, it quickly became a passion project for all of us. It helped us come to terms with Will's struggle as well as our own experiences.”
50/50 is the story of a guy’s transformative and, yes, sometimes funny journey to health – drawing its emotional core from Will Reiser’s own experience with cancer and reminding us that friendship and love, no matter what bizarre turns they take, are the greatest healers."
Yes, we've seen it. Yes, it's great (and funny, and sad, and heartwarming, and you'll cry at the end), so save yourself a few bucks and attend this advanced screening on us. Reserve your spot here.
Categories: News, Geek
Tags: 50/50, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen
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Courtesy Republic Records
Jonas Brothers' 'Sucker' Video: 9 Behind-The-Scenes Secrets From Director Anthony Mandler
He talks bondage, family portraits, and more epic moments from the vid
Madeline Roth madfitzroth 03/07/2019
After spending the early-aughts collaborating with everyone from Rihanna and Taylor Swift to Jay-Z and Drake, director Anthony Mandler had been in music video retirement. But when he got a call from Roc Nation about helming a video for the newly reunited Jonas Brothers — the band's first one in six years — it was enough to get the veteran fantasist back in action.
"It was about helping reimagine this polarizing group with this great new music, and following the evolution of them as boys to men, essentially. It was exciting," Mandler told MTV News over the phone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnAmeh0-E-U
The brothers approached him with a rough concept in mind: They wanted to do a video with their significant others, and they wanted it to have a Wes Anderson vibe. "They gave me the basis and foundation to work with," Mandler explained, "and then I just sort of ramped it up and turned it into full-blown chaos."
The resulting visual feast for "Sucker" is a peppy, vibrant affair that reintroduces Jonas Brothers in spectacular fashion. Below, Mandler tells us nine behind-the-scenes secrets from their epic comeback vid.
The Hatfield House was as lavish as it looked
"Once we figured out we were going to be in London, we started looking for the biggest house we could find and the most over-the-top place," Mandler said about filming at the grand country estate, which was also the setting for 2018's The Favourite. It proved the perfect backdrop for the JoBros' high-fashion debauchery, even if shooting there required careful footing.
"It's overwhelming, it really is," Mandler continued. "It's very, very dramatic, over-the-top, like something from another age and era come to life. You have $200 million of art in one room. So it's a little worrisome at times, but every frame looks beautiful."
The bros and their girls had chemistry to boot
"You learn a lot about people's relationships very quickly," Mandler said about filming with the real-life couples. "And what I learned was that these three couples have great relationships. They just have a lot of fun together and as a group. They absolutely love being playful and not taking themselves too seriously. All of the attention that the world puts on famous people sort of disappears when you have good people who love being around each other. And that's what you really feel, is a lot of love and a lot of that energy."
The director added that his favorite scenes to shoot were the vignettes of each couple: Priyanka stripping for Nick, the "cat-and-mouse" dynamic between Danielle and Kevin, and the bondage scene with Sophie and Joe. Which brings us to...
Joe really was all tied up
"Full, Japanese-style, erotic bondage," Mandler described the scene, which involved a tied-up Joe hanging from the ceiling as his fiancée watched with devilish amusement. He was up there for "probably 25, 30 minutes — enough to leave the marks," the director added. "There's a playfulness between the two of them that I thought would be nice and unexpected."
Dogs and bunnies weren't the only animals originally intended for the vid
"Sucker" features the girls surrounded by bunnies and Danielle walking a pack of corgis, but the original treatment also included camels. "We had two camels we were going to use," Mandler revealed. "We just wanted to mix the exotic into it, but it didn't work out because of the weather."
The family that bathes together, stays together
Speaking about those memorable outdoor bath scenes, Mandler said, "I wanted to do this idea of six people living like one big family and this sort of funny take on something that's very common and traditional: taking a bath. And then we found these royal gardens and we decided we should do it out there." It was a cold day, he admitted, but don't worry: "The baths were hot!"
Kevin knows his way around a sword
The oldest JoBro is a man of many talents, as he proved in the fencing scene. "That was him. He fenced in high school," Mandler dished. "We had some stand-ins, but he said he wanted to do it."
Nick really did work out on set
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bumc2ZZnShM/
The zany styles worn by the three women were something to behold — the director says they aimed for "haute couture, over-the-top fashion, completely ridiculous, as far as we can go." And even though the guys' looks were a little less dramatic, they still tried to keep themselves looking sharp — which is perhaps why Nick was doing push-ups between scenes. "Ah, people like to look good when they're wearing sleeveless shirts," Mandler laughed. "Why not?!"
It was something of a miracle that nothing leaked from the set
The band's reunion is already one of the biggest pop culture moments of the year, and maintaining a level of privacy and secrecy while shooting the "Sucker" video was a monumental task.
"We did it very quickly," Mandler said about the project's tight turnaround. "We shot it two and a half weeks ago and we were behind a lot of barriers and walls. Either way, I thought for sure that we were going to get photo leaks, but it didn't happen. I was very surprised, to be fair. I'd seen drones and helicopters and tall ladders and anything you could imagine, and I really was surprised that nothing came out. We got lucky, I guess."
That portrait in the final scene actually exists
The guys snuck one of their old album covers into the video as a little easter egg — they shared a peek of it on Instagram — and that inspired the final scene, in which the three couples pose for a new pic.
"We wanted to recreate a new family portrait, which is what you see at the end," Mandler explained. "And sort of in response to that, they threw out the idea about doing an old family portrait, like a previous record cover portrait."
Mandler added that the in-progress portrait was an actual painting they had done, but he doesn't know where the finished piece of art is. "I don't know. It's in their archives, I assume," he said. Here's hoping the guys share a look at it one day!
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Grünwalder Forstwirt
The Grünwalder Forstwirt is set in an idyllic location on a 30,000m² ground in Straßlach 16km from the centre of Munich. The property is surrounded by the Grünwalder Forest on one side and wide open fields on the other. There are no immediate neighbours.
The 83 years old building and property is owned by the Munich tram service as symbolised by an old tram standing on a short rail next to the building. However, there was never a tram line leading to this location. Up until 1994 the property served as a holiday home for Munich's tram drivers. The beer garden and restaurant thereafter opened to the public by the name of Entenalm. With a leaseholder change in 2007 the name changed to Grünwalder Forstwirt.
The restaurant is open Wednesday to Sunday from 11.30am and combines Bavarian, Austrian and Italian cuisine. Whenever possible, organic ingredients are used, most of which come from the surrounding farmland of the region. Nearby attractions include a bowling alley, minigolf court and a wild boar enclosure. On clear days the alps are visible in the distance.
The beer garden offers 700 seats in the self-serviced area plus 100 on the sunny serviced terrace. In addition to the inside restaurant there is a separate building for up to 150 guests which is an ideal venue for hosting special occasions. The beer sold is Tegernsee Hell at €6.50 p/Maß (June 2014).
The food stall in the self-serviced area is open from 11.30am on Saturday, Sunday and on public holidays. On other days guests can collect their drinks and food in the serviced area.
Riedweg 41
82067 Straßlach
Tel: +49-(0)8170-213
Website: www.gruenwalder-forstwirt.de
View all Grünwalder Forstwirt photos
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The French Lieutenant's Woman Study Guide (Choose to Continue)
The French Lieutenant's Woman
Novel Summary
Metaphor Analysis
Theme Analysis
Top Ten Quotes
Biography: John Fowles
Essay Q&A
Home › The French Lieutenant's Woman: Theme Analysis
The French Lieutenant's Woman: Theme Analysis
Average Overall Rating: 2.5
The stringent demarcation between classes - and sexes - in Victorian England is one of this novel’s central themes and is scrutinized and deconstructed constantly. Charles, who is one of the main protagonists, is cast as a gentleman and is deemed by society (and often by himself) to be superior to his servants, his bride-to-be, Ernestina, and Sarah. He is ranked higher due to the chance of birth and just misses out on reaching nobility when his uncle marries and produces an heir.
Each of the characters is shown to be aware of the rigid class distinctions and the narrative uses this theme to undermine the naturalization of these barriers. Charles, for example, is characteristically less intelligent than his supposed inferiors Sam and Sarah. He blanches at the thought of working in commerce for his future father-in-law as this is regarded as being below him by consensus in this class-bound society.
Both the class system and patriarchy confine Sarah. Although her education moves her up the social ladder away from her father who was a farmer, this serves to leave her in the limbo world of being fit for the role of only governess or companion. The society she is born into effectively marginalizes her twice: for being a woman and for being born into the working classes.
The French Lieutenant’s Woman uses an overtly twentieth-century perspective to critique this representation of Victorian England where duty and conformity take precedence over kindness and honesty.
The belief that one should adhere to convention is put into question by the hypocrisy of many of the main characters. Apart from Sarah, who is depicted as attempting to live by her own codes of behavior rather than society’s, others, such as Charles, Mrs Poulteney and Ernestina, are more concerned about how they appear to the outside world than in acting on their desires. The sense of duty, which in some measure is shown to be admirable, has become twisted as duty becomes more valued than the Christian ethos that informs it.
Loss of faith in authority
As though to undermine the strong thematic concern that exposes the adherence to conformity in this described society, there is a parallel theme that questions authority. This is brought about in a range of small ways, from Sam disobeying his employer Charles, to the depiction of Charles’s growing interest in Darwinism. The preference for evolutionary theories over creationism implies a questioning of the authority of the Bible. Sarah’s decision to be an outcast, rather than another governess who knows her place, also exemplifies this challenge to dominant thinking as does the insertion of the author in what appeared to be a realist text.
Further to this, the use of two endings also undermines authority as the tradition of closure is demolished. The authority of the novelist is invoked by his appearance in the novel, but this role of God is simultaneously undermined as he refuses to decide the ending. The readers are empowered as they are left to choose the one they prefer. The novelist’s toss of the coin to decide which ending comes first is an ostensible means of showing that this is a work of fiction and the ending or endings are arbitrary.
The French Lieutenant's Woman Study Guide
Choose to Continue
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U.S. Springfield Model 1855 Pistol Carbine
The Model 1855 Pistol-Carbine was intended to be used with the shoulder stock in carbine configuration by mounted troops, or as a pistol when dismounted. By the time of its production, it had been made obsolete by Colt percussion revolvers. SN F63
The Model 1855 Pistol-Carbine was intended to be used with the shoulder stock in carbine configuration by mounted troops, or as a pistol when dismounted. By the time of its production, it had been made obsolete by Colt percussion revolvers, which fired a smaller round but gave troops the advantage of having six shots available before reloading was necessary. From the standpoint of Army logistics, these pistols used the same .58 minie ball as did the Model 1855 Rifle-Musket. In addition, both arms used the Maynard primer system. These arms were produced between 1855-1857, with fewer than 5,000 examples manufactured during that period.
The town of Springfield, Massachusetts, located on the banks of the Connecticut River, was settled in 1636 by emigrants from Roxbury. The town was nearly destroyed during King Philip's War in 1675, but it was quickly rebuilt. As early as 1776, Continental Army colonel and future Secretary of War Henry Knox recommended the establishment of public laboratories, magazines, arsenals and foundries in secure locations for the production and repair of arms, ammunition, and other ordnance stores. Both George Washington and the Continental Congress concurred with this recommendation, under which an ordnance depot was established at Springfield in 1777. The town's access to raw materials, sources of water power, and transportation, as well as its inland location which provided security against seaborne attack, made Springfield an ideal location.
Over the following year, buildings were rented or erected for use as barracks and storehouses. In addition to ordnance stores, the depot at Springfield also handled other aspects of army supply, including equipment, uniforms, tents, food, and fuel. The end of the War for Independence also brought a decline in military activities at Springfield. In 1794, an Act of Congress directed that national armories be established for the fabrication of small arms. President Washington selected Springfield and Harpers Ferry, which was then located in Virginia, as the sites for these facilities. In addition to the advantages that contributed to the presence of a Revolutionary War depot in the town, many skilled armory workers were still living nearby. The government acquired nearly 300 acres and constructed a dam to furnish power to the armory complex, as well as shops, offices, and storehouses. The first permanent structure to be constructed on the site was a brick powder magazine, which was torn down in 1842. Additional buildings have been constructed as necessary over the years since.
Production of arms at Springfield began in 1795, with 245 muskets manufactured during that year, and approximately 80,000 were turned out before production was discontinued in 1814. The Model 1795 muskets were the first standardized U.S. martial arms to be produced and were patterned after the French Model 1763 Charleville musket. Harpers Ferry Armory also produced a Model 1795 musket, but these were distinctly different from those manufactured at Springfield. The first known Springfield Armory-marked specimens were manufactured in 1799, and feature dated lockplates which bear an eagle stamp and the word "Springfield." The Model 1816 was first standardized U.S. martial arm to be manufactured at both Springfield and Harpers Ferry.
These arms enjoyed the longest production run in U.S. history, lasting until 1844, with nearly 700,000 muskets turned out during this period. Both armories also produced the Model 1842 percussion musket and Model 1855 percussion rifle-musket. These arms are significant in that the Model 1842 was the last U.S. regulation .69 caliber smoothbore, as well as the first to be made at both armories with completely interchangeable parts, while the Model 1855 rifle-musket was the first rifle-musket to be produced by the United States, the first to be produced in the new regulation .58 caliber, and the last arm to be produced at both government armories. In addition to commonly produced arms, each armory was the sole producer of certain other designs, such as the Model 1855 percussion pistol-carbine and various musketoons and cadet muskets that were produced solely at Springfield, or the Model 1803 flintlock rifle, and the Model 1841 percussion, or "Mississippi" rifles, both of which were produced only at Harpers Ferry.
Model 1861 and 1863 rifle-muskets, which were based on a modification of the earlier Model 1855, were produced in great quantities throughout the Civil War. These were the last muzzle loading, paper cartridge percussion arms to be produced by the U.S. Erskine S. Allin, Springfield's Master Armorer, designed a method for converting many of these into metallic cartridge breech loaders. This conversion consisted of a modification to the breech to permit the installation of a "trap door" breechblock with a self-contained firing pin. The famous .45-70 government caliber "trap door" Springfield rifles and carbines of the Plains Indian Wars were based on Allin's work, and these accounted for much of the Armory's production during the 1870s and 1880s.
Springfield Armory was also involved in improving the state of the art in military rifle design, and toward this end, limited-production long arms including the Ward-Burton, Lee Vertical Action, Hotchkiss, and Chaffee-Reese rifles were manufactured there. These efforts culminated in the 1890s with the Army's adoption of the smokeless powder Krag-Jorgensen bolt-action repeating rifle as its standard longarm. These rifles, as well as carbine versions, were manufactured at the Armory through the turn of the century.
The Spanish-American War proved the superiority of the German-designed Mauser, and the .30-'06 caliber U.S. Model 1903 bolt-action rifle, which was built at Springfield Armory and Rock Island Arsenal under a license from Mauser, replaced the Krag-Jorgensen as the Army's new standard rifle. Over one million were manufactured before production was discontinued in 1941, and many of these, as well as rebuilt or contract model Ô03s, saw action in both World Wars.
Prior to the First World War, Springfield also manufactured the M1911 .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol under license from Colt, and throughout this period, Armory workers continued to experiment with, produce, test, and maintain various other ordnance materiel including rifles, pistols, machine guns, and related equipment. During the interwar years, John Garand, a Canadian-born design engineer and Springfield Armory employee, worked on a design for a new gas-operated semi-automatic rifle. After overcoming several problems, both with his designs and with Army brass, the U.S. Rifle .30 caliber M1 was adopted by the Army in 1936. The Marine Corps followed suit, and during the Second World War, over three and one-half million M1s were produced at Springfield. An additional 500,000 were manufactured by Winchester Repeating Arms Co. This rifle, which General George S. Patton called, "the greatest battle implement ever devised," gave American troops a significant edge over their German and Japanese enemies, most of whom were still equipped with bolt-action arms.
After the war, Springfield ceased manufacture of the M1 and turned its efforts to the overhaul and long-term storage of these rifles. The outbreak of war in Korea in 1950 caused a resumption in production at the Armory, as well as by International Harvester and Harrington & Richardson. The return of peace brought a second and final discontinuation of M1 production. Springfield Armory's continuing efforts at advancing military rifle designs yielded a series of improvements to the M1, culminating in production of the 7.62mm NATO caliber selective-fire M14 rifle, which replaced the Garand in the Army's inventory. In 1968, the Ordnance Department ceased operations at Springfield Armory. The Armory grounds, buildings, and museum, with its extensive arms and accouterments collection, have become Springfield Armory National Historic Site and are now maintained by the National Park Service.
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Village of Orland Park » News » What's New » Orland Park Vets Commission Shares Three Important Dates
Orland Park Vets Commission Shares Three Important Dates
The Village of Orland Park Veterans Commission has three important dates for the community to remember --- October 6, November 5 and November 10.
Friday, October 6 is the last day to add a veteran's name to the village's memorial in time for this year's Veterans Day observances. Veterans may be living or deceased and need not live in Orland Park. The $250 cost to add a vet's name covers the cost of engraving and memorial maintenance. Learn more on the village's website.
"The village's veterans commission has been very busy with adding names to the village's memorial, planning its annual steak fry and putting together a full agenda for Orland Park's observance of Veterans Day on November 10th," said Mayor Keith Pekau.
The Veterans Commission will hold its 18th annual Veterans Steak Fry on Sunday, November 5 at the Orland Park Civic Center. Open to all Orland Park veterans, the steak fry includes the meal, wine, beer and soft drinks for $12 per person. Non Orland Park veterans must be members of an Orland Park veteran organization. Advance tickets must be purchased at the cashier's office at the Frederick T. Owens Village Hall, 14700 South Ravinia Avenue. Tickets will not be available at the door.
The commission will observe Veterans Day on Friday, November 10 with an Illinois National Guard helicopter landing at the John Humphrey Sports Complex, 14700 West Avenue.
"Orland Park has been a community partner for the US Department of Defense's nationwide observance of the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War," said Trustee Jim Dodge. "The village has hosted events and programs for the past few years and it all culminates on November 10th with our recognizing and thanking all Vietnam Vets, the helicopter landing and visits, and our guests from the French government."
The static air display, namely the helicopter on the ground, will begin with the 9:30 a.m. landing. A MASH (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) type tent and vintage military vehicles will be positioned along the field #4 foul line beyond the fence at Humphrey. The helicopter will be open to the public from 9:45 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The best area to view the landing will be from the rise on the west side of the Humphrey Complex West Avenue parking lot and right field of field #1.
The village's annual Veterans Day Ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. at the Veterans Memorial outside of the village hall at 14700 South Ravinia Avenue. It is during the ceremony that the newly added veterans' names are announced as the veteran or family and friends stand as the audience applauds.
Orland Park's ceremony includes honoring and recognizing the French government and its people to thank them for their support in hosting the Paris Peace Accord and helping to end the Vietnam War.
French Deputy Consul General Frederic Chloe will be the village's guest with the ceremony including both the national anthems for the United States and France.
"We will honor and recognize Vietnam Era veterans and their families, thanking them for their service and sacrifice," said Village Veterans Liaison Tom Dubelbeis. "We will also honor and recognize the French government and its people, thanking them for their support with hosting the Paris Peace Accord and helping to end the Vietnam War."
Questions about the commission's events may be directed to 708/403-6115.
ADD VET'S NAME FORM
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Come On in Bryn Haworth's Kitchen
Written by Derek Walker
The bluesman talks about early days at Island Records, work with prisoners and his life-defining experience.
While some blues musicians often sing about their wild Saturday night exploits or when their woman done left them, Bryn Haworth seems to prefer more domestic matters. He tells his listeners how he “slipped right into the kitchen and made myself a brew” (“Pick Me Up”); how “I was standing in the kitchen, just listening to my radio” (“Egypt”) and how “I was in the kitchen, you were in the hall” (“I’m in Love with You Baby”). Maybe his next album will be a blues collection that includes the traditional “Come On in My Kitchen”?
But we may have to wait a while. He is no great fan of recording. He released his superb compilation CD Inside Out at the same time as his latest studio work One Way Ticket, largely for pragmatic reasons (studio work is time sensitive and he told me, “I’m not very good working under pressure.”)
The anthology goes back a long way in his catalogue and for once Haworth had the chance select the tracks. In previous attempts, Christian labels politically passed over some superb songs in favour of inferior ones that carried a plainer gospel message.
“I've had two or three compilations done over the years, but it was great to have a hand in the choice of songs this time,” he commented. “It's more about getting a good flow in the song order and that takes the time. I think all artists are perfectionists in their way.”
Look more closely at the album’s song titles and you could guess the idea behind the collection: Inside Out includes “Nobody’s Fault but Mine,” the title track, Maggi Dawn’s “Wash Me Clean” and “New ID.” It’s a release that Haworth gives away as part of his prison ministry. “Working in prisons since the early 90s has been extremely creative song-writing wise,” he said, “When you're standing in front of people whom God loves to bits, you look for ways to communicate. Songs are a wonderful way into people's lives.” He added, “I also think Inside Out was a great title for a prison CD.”
As well as being beautifully fluid, his music has the gritty, bluesy, musical authenticity to relate to inmates and his down-to-earth lyrics are direct enough to communicate well. It’s plain to see why God had this job earmarked for him and his wife Sally.
This is a process that began with his first solo gig in the mid-seventies. He recalled, “I was on tour in Germany supporting the band Traffic. I had just signed to Island Records and had made my first album for them which hadn't yet been released. At that time I wasn't a Christian, but would describe myself as someone who was looking for God, but didn't know the way. It was a big deal for me to take on a solo support slot, as I had always been a member of a band, but I decided I could do it, and worked out a 35 minute set.”
Feeling nervous about how he was being received, Haworth turned round between songs to change guitars and noticed a figure behind Steve Winwood’s Hammond organ.
“I was quite close and because I was sitting down and playing, I could see his feet and I could see his face. He was sitting behind the Hammond with his head slightly bowed and wasn’t looking at me but his eyes were looking slightly down. It must have been a few seconds, but it seemed like forever that I got to look at him. I just suddenly relaxed and I felt, ‘Wow! I’m not alone up here.’”
Although the figure could have been a roadie, although roadies should not be sitting onstage, he looked too serene and emanated a different sort of presence. That encouragement helped Haworth to face the rest of the set with a burst of confidence.
When he came offstage, he asked Sally who the figure was, but she had not seen anyone. He then asked the sound man, only to get the same reply. After he asked the A&R man, who also had seen nobody on stage with him, the pieces clicked together.
He knew at that point that he believed. With the ground prepared, “A few months later we walked into a tent meeting, heard about Jesus and welcomed him in to our lives.”
Even now, when he speaks of the experience, you can sense what it means to him. Was it an angel? “It could have been. I don’t know about these things. It’s quite a holy thing to me; quite precious. It was absolutely incredible.”
That, of course, was only the start. “The call to prison ministry came over a period of a few years back in the late 80s,” he recalled, noting how excited he got at the scripture that says ‘I was in prison and you visited me’.
”In 1990 Sally and I went on staff at the South West London Vineyard and the pastor, John Mumford, gave me a job description, which was to develop the worship and start a prison ministry! I hadn't a clue what to do, so I called up all the chaplains in London prisons and asked if we could come in. They all said 'no' except for one, a Church Army chaplain in Wandsworth called David Kearns. We went in for a regular night meeting and as we were coming out he said, 'Right, you do it next week'.”
Thrown in at the deep end, the following week Haworth started in his comfort zone with some worship and testimony songs, which lasted half an hour. Then, wondering how to continue, one of the team asked if anyone wanted prayer and all the hands shot up. That set the pattern.
The prison work is not a ‘hit and run’ business. “We visit three prisons on a regular basis every year and travel to others,” said Haworth. “Generally we will take a morning chapel service of about an hour; you can build up relationship with some men as they are in for years. Letter writing is also a good way of strengthening relationships. Over the years you get to know some better than others; it's really up to them how much intimacy they want, but I've had quite a few come to concerts on the 'out' and had tea together.”
Such a regular work has clearly fed into the songwriting for the latest albums and so the reaction from inmates is no surprise: “It's been very well received,” Haworth reported, “and the guys are asking for another one, which I'm looking at doing in the future.”
Haworth’s admirers should not expect anything soon, though. He said in the liner notes of Inside Out, “This might sound strange to you, but I don’t like recording. The whole process has always been hard for me. I’m OK once I get going, but it’s a fight against myself.”
Furthermore, the old music is getting deleted and he does fewer sessions now, which makes it hard to get hold of a decent amount of his material.
Given that he records with musicians whom Clapton has regularly used; that his sound is so unique; that he has worked on albums by Gerry Rafferty, Chris de Burgh, Joan Armatrading, Cliff Richard and Andy Fairweatherlow, a shortage of his music is a real shame.
But it doesn’t seem to trouble Haworth, who describes himself as a ‘glass half full’ character: “I do enjoy playing other people's songs, but a lot of my session work was back in the 70's and 80's and some of my employers have passed on or don't record very much these days. But I have lots of good memories. It's always been hard to make a living from music, but somehow I've managed.”
As he was part of Island Records during their most inventive period, I was keen to know what it was like at the hub, working alongside acts like Bad Company, Roxy Music and Free. Hearing Haworth’s answer only made me more envious of his experience.
“It was an incredibly creative time. Island had a restaurant; they encouraged musicians to sit down, eat and talk with each other. There was a rehearsal studio and a recording studio in the block at St. Peter’s Square in Hammersmith, so it was a really good, creative environment. Chris Blackwell laid it out very well. You’d meet and eat and chat. I remember Steve Winwood saying, ‘What’s that you’re playing?’ and I said, ‘It’s a mandolin.’ The next time I saw him, he’d bought one and was playing it.
“I talked a lot to Eno from Roxy Music. He was always intellectual, reading books and talking about sounds and things. He was fascinating.
“Fairport Convention, whom I went on tour with, were very sociable as well. I’d really talk about instruments with Fairport – guitars and mandolins. Back then, it was the problem of trying to amplify acoustic instruments and then Ovation brought out the first electronic acoustics. When they were in America, they brought me back a 12-string and 6-string acoustic, so we were the first people in England to have these, which was great!”
For newcomers looking to get a fair representation of his music, he said “The Gap, Grand Arrival and Inside Out would give someone a good cross section of styles and material I enjoy.”
I would add the near-perfect Sunny Side of the Street, his second Island album, which enjoys guest spots from musicians like Daves Mattacks, Pegg and Swarbrick (all from Fairport Convention); top sax player Mel Collins; Chris Stainton (Eric Clapton, Bryan Ferry) and Alan Spenner (Ted Nugent, Roxy Music).
It seems criminal that the album is so hard to get hold of, but there is little chance of Haworth putting it out on his own Bella Music label. “Island owns both the albums I made for them forever, as do A&M with the two albums I made for them. I did try once to use some tracks but they wanted too much money. I may try again one day, but you can't speak to an A&R person these days - you have to speak to the lawyers now.”
Derek Walker
http://walkerwords.wordpress.com
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Hosting Info
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Professor Widom's Instructional Odyssey
Professor Widom's Background, and Her Motivation for the Instructional Odyssey
Jennifer Widom is the Dean of Engineering and Professor of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at Stanford University. She served as chair of the Computer Science Department from 2009-2014 and as Senior Associate Dean in Stanford's School of Engineering from 2014-2016. Her research interests span many aspects of nontraditional data management. Professor Widom received her Bachelor's degree from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in 1982 and her Computer Science Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1987. She was a Research Staff Member at IBM before joining the Stanford faculty in 1993. She is an ACM Fellow and a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences; she received the ACM SIGMOD Edgar F. Codd Innovations Award in 2007, the ACM-W Athena Lecturer Award in 2015, and the EPFL-WISH Foundation Erna Hamburger Prize in 2018.
Massive Open Online Course
In 2011 Professor Widom created one of Stanford's three inaugural courses offered free to the world, a concept that became known as a MOOC, or Massive Open Online Course. Professor Widom was overwhelmed by the engagement and intense gratitude of tens of thousands of students worldwide, declaring it "the most rewarding experience of my career." She offered her Databases MOOC several times in synchronous fashion before dividing the material into a set of mini-courses that are available continuously for self-study. So far, Professor Widom's Databases MOOC has yielded about a million account sign-ups, eight million video views, 600,000 assignment submissions, and 30,000 statements of completion.
Professor Widom has been an avid traveler for decades. In addition to professional travel to international conferences and universities, she and her family regularly venture to far-flung destinations. In 2007-08, the family took time off from school and work to enjoy a full year of travel.
Professor Widom's Instructional Odyssey combines her love of travel with the rich personal rewards of educating large numbers of students worldwide. Her Stanford-supported sabbatical provided an opportunity to explore broad educational impact beyond the California campus, and she has continued her travel-teaching on an occasional basis ever since. She jokingly names her endeavor a MOIC: Massive Open In-Person Course.
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Tag Archives: Ozzie Pozzie
Town Profile : Port Macquarie
We arrived in the town of Port Macquarie after completing our tour of New England. It was just before sunset so we settled in at the Port Macquarie YHA for a quiet Saturday night that turned out to be quite a social event. We met a few people that night, including Brian, a bloke from Louisiana USA who looked very much like Anthony Kedis from The Red Hot Chili Peppers. We ended up hanging out with him the next day at the Black Duck Brewery.
Port Macquarie is 390km north of Sydney and is located at the mouth of the Hastings River. The area was first explored by John Oxley in 1818 and named after the Governor of New South Wales, Lachlan Macquarie. It began as a penal settlement in 1821, replacing Newcastle as the destination for convicts from the UK. There are two things needed to make a good penal colony – isolation and labour – and Newcastle had lost both of these elements, with farmers moving into the Hunter Valley reducing isolation and the cedar industry winding down and producing less work.
The rugged terrain around Port Macquarie was overgrown, providing a great amount of isolation, and there were plenty of aborigines in the area who were more than happy to return runaway convicts for some tobacco or blankets. The first man to run the penal colony loved dishing out lashings as punishment, and the penal colony soon earned the reputation of a hellish place to be. By 1840, the penal colony was closed and Port Macquarie became a town for free settlers. These days, it’s a popular place for retirement.
Hello Koalas Public Art Sculpture Trail
This is the coolest and most colourful thing about Port Macquarie – it was like a treasure hunt to find all the koalas. Many of the koalas are within the city centre and along the foreshore, but there are some further out past Wauchope and there’s one at Bago Winery too. While you’re on the hunt, keep an eye out for the genuine Chinese Junk at the marina and the cool graffiti on the rocks of the breakwater.
Tacking Point Lighthouse
South of the city centre, on a headland by the coast is Tacking Point Lighthouse. It’s a great lookout over Lighthouse Beach and a perfect spot for whale watching. The reason it’s called Tacking Point is because when Matthew Flinders was exploring the area, the headland was a tacking point on his map. Unfortunately, it took scores of shipwrecks around the headland before the lighthouse was built in 1879.
Koala Hospital and Roto House
Established in 1973, the Koala Hospital treats sick or injured koalas and educates the community about how habitat destruction and disease can affect koalas. You can visit the koalas during the day or arrive at 3pm for feeding time.
Nearby is the Roto House, a late Victorian house that has recently been bought and restored by NSW National Parks. It used to be owned by the Flynn family and was built in 1890. It’s open for display and there’s a retro café onsite.
Black Duck Brewery
We visited the Black Duck Brewery with an American guy we met at the Port Macquarie YHA, and were greeted at the entrance by a huge Great Dane called Murphy. With the big black dog by our side, we met Al the brewer, and passed on a message from Ben at New England Brewery.
“So busy that his customers can’t find a park, aye?” Al said. “Tell him it’s standing room only here…”
We settled at the bar with a huge line of tasting paddles for the ten beers they had on offer. A paddle of four beers was $5 so it’s around $10 for the full range, including two special beers. Juz’s favourite was the Summer Swallow, an easy drinking session ale with apple and banana on yeasty bread and a refreshing finish. Dave’s favourite was the Heron’s Craic, an Irish red ale with a delicious apple pie smell and a creamy caramel flavour.
Black Duck Brewery has been operational for 5 years. It’s the perfect place to sit down for a Sunday session, have a beer and a delicious pizza, or take a tour of the brewery.
http://www.blackduckbrewery.com.au/
Bago Vinyard and Maze
Bago Vinyard is located about 25 minutes south west of Port Macquarie, and is worth the visit, whether you’re interested in the wine or the maze. The wines are great, and include a few varieties we hadn’t heard of, like Chambourcin and Savagnin. Once you’ve done a wine tasting and swooned at how delicious the mulled wine is, go check out the biggest maze in NSW.
http://www.bago.com.au/
Tuncurry-Forster
On our way to the Hunter Valley, we deviated from the highway to pass through Tuncurry and Forster. Regardless of which side of the bridge you are, the little parks on either end offer a great view of the bridge that spans the Coolongolook River.
Just as the sun was setting, we made it to Cape Hawke Lookout, a platform on top of a hill that offers great views of the coast and town below. Before we ran out of light, we drove past Lake Wallis and watched the sky change colour and reflect on the still water.
Information & Accommodation
The public transport system around Port Macquarie is operated by Busways and the network covers the city and outer suburbs. However, if you stay at the Port Macquarie YHA, you will be within walking distance of the city centre. If you need to travel further, there are buses that travel on nearby Park Street and Gordon Street.
Posted in Adventures & Attractions, Cities & Towns, Experience, New South Wales, States | Tagged beach, koala, lighthouse, Ozzie Pozzie, Port Macquarie, YHA | Leave a reply
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Tag Archives: Pushbike
Pushbike Song – The Mixtures
Posted on November 1, 2013 by Kneeknee
Australian musicians Terry Dean and Rod De Clerk met in Tasmania in 1965. They then met Laurie Arthur, a member of The Strangers, and the three decided to form a band together after a jam session. They quickly signed to EMI that same year and released three singles. They went through several line-up changes over the following few years, then signed to CBS Records in 1969. A few further singles followed before transferring to Fable Records in 1970.
The Mixtures recorded a cover of Mungo Jerry’s “In the Summertime” and—as a result of the 1970 radio ban, during which many Australian radio stations refused to play Australian and British music released by major labels—received much more airplay than had initially been expected for a group on a small record label. The single went to #1 in Australia for six weeks. They followed up with “The Pushbike Song” (produced by David Mackay), which went to #1 in Australia for two weeks, hit #2 in the UK Singles Chart, and went to #44 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. after being released on Sire Records.
The next single, “Henry Ford”, peaked at #43 in Australia. Further line-up changes ensued before “Captain Zero” went to #6 in Australia in 1971, their last big hit. The group underwent some more line-up changes including Brenton Fosdike (Guitar, vocals), John Petcovich (Drums, Vocals) and the last member to join was Keyboard Player Rob Scott. In 1978 the band travelled to Perth to do some recording and put together a new show. During this time Bass Player Chris Spooner died in a fishing accident at Trigg Beach. The band only carried on for a further three months as a four piece before breaking up in early 1979. The remaining four members, Brenton, John, Rob and Peter Williams, then formed a new band with two other Australians, (Dennis Broad and Paul Reynolds) and the band was named BRIX.
Bio source…..en.wikipedia.org
Picture source…..i.ytimg.com
Nicknames are fine but nothing rude, please
Posted in Funky Music Tunes | Tagged Mixtures, Pushbike, Song, the | Leave a Reply
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The Explainer: Indonesian democracy
The Long View: Out of sight, out of mind
Pondering a pandemic
(above, screen cap of Heathmap: Global disease alert map)
“Containment is not a feasible operation,” the World Health Organization said, as it raised the pandemic level from 3 to 4 (see WHO warns: No region safe). In Mexico City, the Catholic Church brought out the heavy ammunition:
Later in the day, an image of Christ on the cross — known as the “Lord of Health” — was removed from its spot in the cathedral for the first time since 1850 and carried in a procession around central Mexico City. The “Cristo,” as the image is known, has been credited with past miracles, including intervention in an 1850 cholera outbreak.
For updates and for local color on the goings-on in Mexico City, check out Intersections, the blog of Daniel Hernandez:
On Monday authorities here canceled school across the country and elevated the number of suspected swine flu fatalities to 149. The ‘suspected’ there is important. Keep in mind Mexico is not yet equipped to test for and identify the virus. The number could rise, or just as well, it could fall. Also, more than 1,600 people have been treated for swine flu, but the majority of those have been released and sent home. So even if you do catch swine flu, it’s more likely you’d recover and live than it is that you’d die from it.
Also, in case you were wondering, it is still perfectly OK to eat pork. (I mean if that’s your thing.)
Yes, the swine flu could mutate and become more dangerous. It could spread farther and further. Things could change at any moment. But again, as I argue today, what’s more worrisome is the corrosive and contagious quality of the fear, not the flu. And frankly the economic impact of this outbreak has the potential to be even more painful and long-lasting for all of us.
The progression of the swine flu doesn’t seem to have reached exponential levels, but developments are enough to make things trackable day-by-day. Last night, if you consult H1N1 Swine Flu Google Maps, the result would have been this (purple balloons are confirmed cases; pink are probable cases; yellow, disproven cases):
Today, as I’m writing this, here’s the map, showing the newly-confirmed cases in Europe:
The World Health Organization lists three pandemics during the 20th Century: “Spanish influenza” in 1918, “Asian influenza” in 1957, and “Hong Kong influenza” in 1968 (see also History of pandemics). Recent articles (see Flu in Mexico City May Be Next Pandemic: Firsthand Account of 1918 and 1957 for example; more can be found in the PanFlu Storybook) haven taken to putting the present, and past, outbreaks in the context of the Mother of All Outbreaks: the 1918 pandemic.
Influenza 1918: The American Experience has this animated graphic of the spread of the flu in the United States, where the pandemic seems to have begun (it ended up being called the “Spanish flu” because Spain was the first and most open to report about the pandemic):
The flu then traveled the world, in waves.
Concerning the Philippines, here’s the relevant passage in America’s forgotten pandemic by Alfred W. Crosby:
The flu morbidity and mortality statistics of the Philippine Islands, which had a population of 9 to 10.5 million, depending on which authority you consult, are undependable. Something like 40 percent of Filipinos contracted the disease, and 70,000-90,000 died. By even the most conservative estimate, the pandemic killed 2 percent of those it made ill. In many villages in the worst days there weren’t enough well people to bury the dead. The pandemic seems to have wreaked the worst damage in the remote areas, such as in Cotobato province in Mindanao, where 95 percent fell ill.
Back in 2006, the Harvard School of Public Health warned Recurrence of a Flu Pandemic Similar to Infamous 1918 Flu Could Kill 62 Million. The article adds an additional insight into the Philippine fatalities in 1918:
For many decades, published epidemiological literature assumed that mortality rates from the 1918-20 pandemic were distributed fairly equally. A simple population count from that period would lead to the conclusion that about 20 percent of all fatalities occurred in the developed world. “But when you look at the data,” said Murray, “that number shrinks to about three or four percent.”
The disparities between the developed and developing worlds during this period are striking. For example, in Denmark 0.2 percent of the population succumbed to the flu. In the United States, that figure is 0.3 percent (based on data from 24 states). In the Philippines, the mortality rate was 2.8 percent, in the Bombay region of India, 6.2 percent, and in central India, 7.8 percent, which was the highest rate of the countries and regions analyzed. According to this data then, from Denmark to central India, death rates from the 1918-1920 flu pandemic varied more than 39-fold.
The researchers then took the relationship observed in 1918 between per capita income and mortality and extrapolated it to 2004 population data. After adjusting for global income and population changes, as well as changes in age structures within different populations, the research team estimated that if a similarly virulent strain of flu virus were to strike today, about 62 million people worldwide would die.
The article above was meant to herald the publication of Estimation of potential global pandemic influenza mortality on the basis of vital registry data from the 1918 – 20 pandemic: a quantitative analysis, which is freely available, in full, online.
The fascinating book Colonial Pathologies by Warwick Anderson mentions the 1918 flu pandemic. First, though, this extract concerning the at times heavy-handed efforts of the Americans in their campaigns against rinderpest, malaria, tuberculosis, leprosy, and cholera. He reproduces some extracts from an outraged letter by Trinidad H. Pardo de Tavera (himself a physician, and a member of the Philippine Commission) to Governor-General William Howard Taft:
…the people fear the Board of Heath a great deal more than they fear the epidemic. The sanitary inspectors, white, brown, black, civil and military have committed and still commit all kinds of abuses… [there are complaints] against the barbarities of the health agents… [In Pasig, the provincial treasurer] set fire to a house where a victim of the cholera had died and the flames extended to two neighboring houses…. [while the provincial inspector] went about with a gun on his shoulder in order to intimidate the people in order to make them obey sanitary laws…
Anderson writes that American public health officials were often mistrustful of Filipinos and skeptical of the capacity of Filipinos to undertake public health, with every possible shortcoming being used as proof of the incapacity of Filipinos to govern themselves:
[Public health director] Hesier and most of his compatriots continued to find in the failures to enforce smallpox vaccination, the recurrence of cholera, and a rising death rate in the archipelago evidence of the unreadiness for office of the Filipinos they had trained. American papers unsympathetic to the Democratic administration declared that “the full harvest of the ‘new era’ is now in the reaping in the Philippines.” “The Filipinization wind,” warned the New York Herald, had caused the incidence of plague to “jump” in the islands. Even the increasingly Filipinized health service conceded that in Manila the mortality rate for each one thousand inhabitants -42.28 in 1903, at the end of the war, but as low as 24.48 in 1913- had risen in 1918 to 46.33, and in 1919 was 27.55. To Heiser this was a clear indictment of Filipino management. But Dr. Vicente de Jesus, the acting director of public health, had another explanation: the influenza pandemic of 1918 had exacted a heavy toll in lives and caused “a weakened organic resistance” to other diseases among the population.
Returning, briefly, to Crosby’s book, he says that the worst-affected populations in the world were those in the aboriginal populations of the small Pacific islands. See 1918 pandemic in Polynesia and Fiji in the blog Grassroots Science; and also, The 1918 flu pandemic in New Zealand History online; and finally, Our nearly forgotten pandemic by Emmy Fitri and Arie Rukmantara, which details Indonesia’s 1918 flu pandemic experience:
Around 1.5 million people died in Dutch East Indies, which was then home to just some 30 million people.
The first case was reported on the east coast of Sumatra. By July 1918, it had spread to Java and Kalimantan before reaching Bali and Sulawesi. It then reached the eastern part of the archipelago in Maluku and Timor.
It seemed to die down for several weeks, but soon reemerged.
The second wave came in October 1918 and was more widespread. Like the pandemic in the US and Europe, the second wave brought the most deaths. These deaths were recorded in the Dutch Kolonial Verslaag (Colonial Journal).
Some of Brown’s reports show the horror of the pandemic situation. In Southeast Sulawesi, a Catholic missionary was quoted as saying that “deaths are everywhere”. According to the report, in one Sulawesi village, 177 of its 900 people died in a period of just three weeks.
In Tana Toraja, 10 percent of the population reportedly died from the flu. Meanwhile, according to the Dutch regional administration, 36,000 people in Lombok, or 5.9 percent of the island’s population, died.
Statistics are scarce and it is hard to gain a sense of what truly happened. Brown’s research shows that most fatalities occurred in people aged between their mid-teens and mid-fifties, the same age bracket that has been most affected by the bird flu in Indonesia.
Now a brief word on the “vessel” in which the spooky combination of human, swine, and bird flus seem to have mixed: the pig. Also in the same year (2006), as the Harvard study, a marvelous article appeared in Harper’s Magazine titled Swine of the times: The making of the modern pig by Nathanael Johnson. It tells the story of modern breeding and farming methods for commercial pork in the United States, and the dangers that have arisen from these practices: briefly, unhappy, unhealthy pigs too susceptible to disease because too genetically uniform and raised by means of bombardments with antibiotics.
This isn’t the first time humans have been concerned over the spread of swine flu (see March 24, 1976: Ford Orders Swine-Flu Shots for All) and for information, visit the Center for Disease Control of the USA.
epidemic, H1N1 swine influenza, Mexico City, pandemic, Philippines, World Health Organization
Now the issue of the Separation of Church and State, and the role that Science plays in Democracy and the formulation of Public Policy becomes not the usual boutique discussion topic among academic types — but a matter of life and death for potentially hundreds of millions of human beings. The lesson will be learned one way or another. Darn bishops better keep their miraculous wooden idols to themselves to themselves, and wait until it’s safe once more for their Hocus Pocus.
Madonna on April 28, 2009 at 7:27 pm
UP n grad on April 28, 2009 at 9:20 pm
DJB: The bishops are much more astute than you are. They did not roll out the Cristo because they expect embarassment.
In Mexico, what will happen is either (i) there are a couple more hundred deaths, and the virus disappears. [The bishops then claim ‘Victory-of-prayers’.];
(ii) the flu spreads; several more hundred Mexicans die — the bishops repeat their mantra and gain more of the followers to pray. [Some thing about your neighbor dying unexpectedly makes people want to pray.] And a few weeks or a few months later, the flu virus disappears. The bishops declare “Victory-of-prayers” (the flu has been conquered) and for everyone who are still alive (the victorious!!!) to bow their heads.
what the Mexican bishops will NOT do is to do processions to invoke the heavens to stop the drug gang wars in Mexico. Victory-of-prayers is not guaranteed for that particular cause.
UP n grad on April 28, 2009 at 11:32 pm
Advisory : Buy now six or more surgical masks. And always carry a spare — to give to someone who has caught the flue so when that sick person sneezes, the virus don’t spread to other people.
Jiggs on April 29, 2009 at 1:14 am
leave it to the catholic church to exploit a situation into their favor. Seizing an opportunity to increase the flock IMHO.
d0d0ng on April 29, 2009 at 5:30 am
Mexico is a favorite watering hole for very cheap pretty chicas and drugs, an intoxicating cocktail for the summer fun.
Not at this time though. Being the ground zero for at least 3 disasters (drug wars, earthquake and swine flu) converging at the same period, the Mexicans are beginning to see the wrath of God. It doesn’t need even the intervention of the Bishops as they closed down public masses. There is just no one else to look up to when getting medical help is another personal battle.
torn on April 29, 2009 at 7:24 am
I worked at WHO during the SARS and avian influenza epidemics and if the science behind the WHO projections for the current epidemic is as flimsy as that for the earlier outbreaks, WHO will almost certainly be overestimating the impact of swine influenza.
WHO has a vested interest in exaggerating the severity of epidemics. Partly this is because it wants to scare governments into taking appropriate preventive measures. Less laudably, it is because WHO wants to attract more funding for its own disease control program (SARS and avian influenza were very effective fundraisers for the organization).
In the end, WHO knows more about these new zoonotic diseases than you and me, but not that much more. It does not have its own laboratories or research program, relying on four or five high-level “reference laboratories†throughout the world. However, even these cannot really provide us with useful information to predict the course of a pandemic. In the end, the WHO projections are 95% informed guesswork.
BrianB on April 29, 2009 at 7:43 am
But what s there to ponder? We’re dead.
DJB, this is God’s population control.
istambay_sakalye on April 29, 2009 at 3:27 pm
the filipino people have been suffering from swine flu for at least six years already and it’s just getting worst! the swine flu i am talking about is not that kind that is going around lately, it is from the kind of swine that inhabits the congress and the government, have caused deaths and misery of thousands of filipinos! and the filipinos have been bearing crosses on their backs for a long time with no help or cure in sight.
our kind of swine flu is far more deadlier than the one that is going around the whole world. we know the cure for our kind of swine flu, and i do not know what are we still waiting for?
maybe for some kind of miracle?
Carl on April 29, 2009 at 6:05 pm
After the global financial meltdown, I have seen some televangelists urging their flock to give their tithes and offerings as soon as possible, in order to be spared from losing all their hard-earned savings. Apparently, some Christian ministries encourage a concept of a God who can be bribed with material offerings. In a reciprocal arrangement, God will cast his blessings on those who give to their Church.
Reminds me of the Catholic Church selling indulgences. I think that was one of the things that provoked Martin Luther to break off and establish the Protestant movement. Well, some protestant ministries are practicing the very same thing.
JUN LOZADA <—- PHILIPPINE SWINE FLU VIRUS VICTIM
istambay_sakalye on April 29, 2009 at 10:36 pm
Philippine Swine Flu Virus <—- H1N1 substrate GMA
baycas on April 30, 2009 at 5:11 am
“cdc has implemented its emergency response,” according to cdc update on April 29, 11:00 AM ET.
…prompted by the WHO exaggeration (according to torn on Wed, 29th Apr 2009 7:24 am)?
Torn on, “WHO will almost certainly be overestimating the impact of swine influenza.”
Since the swine flu is sharing the same genetic make-up as that of the deadly 1918 Spanish flu which killed 50 million people, the heightened alert by WHO officials is necessary. Virologists and CDC scientists have still no answers why certain flu strain have devastating results than others.
Carl on April 30, 2009 at 9:07 am
Predicting the course of a pandemic will be virtually impossible, considering the facility of global travel in this day and age. It’s amazing how, a few days after the swine flu was reported to have broken out in Mexico, incidents of contamination were reported in such distant places as New Zealand and Israel.
UP n grad on April 30, 2009 at 10:20 am
expect extra vacation-days should the swine-flu hit metro-Manila with same severity as it has hit Mexico.
MEXICO IS SHUTTING DOWN : Decision comes as the World Health Organization warns of pandemic
Health Secretary Jose Cordova said nonessential federal government offices will be closed from May 1-5. Friday is a national holiday in Mexico and many government offices are usually closed. He said all nonessential private businesses must also close for that period but essential services like transport, supermarkets, trash collection, hospital will remain open.
ramrod on April 30, 2009 at 11:15 am
Torn on, “WHO will almost certainly be overestimating the impact of swine influenza.â€
…better safe than sorry. What remains to be seen is the response to this strain to current antibiotics/vaccines/etc., considering our abuse of these medicines and the subsequent resistant strains developed, I don’t think the WHO or anybody can underestimate this threat…
“Swine flu” hmmmm, could this be WMD, biological in nature that will spare a certain group that does not eat the portly, hoofed creature? 🙂
PhilwoSpEditor on April 30, 2009 at 11:50 am
ramrod, odds are, they have a lesser risk in dominant countries, but not necessarily spare. Remember that those countries also have people coming from all over the world.
UP n grad on May 1, 2009 at 1:14 am
ramrod: getting swine-flu from a pig only happens if you are super-close to a pig (and breathe the air they breath, or their cough mist gets onto you and into your lungs).
Just like how J-Lo caught the swine flu. “Go moderate” was J-Lo’s practice / he did not abstain. J-Lo was susceptible and many of the pigs were his drinking buddies — J-lo and the swine were “that!!!”-close.
On a serious note, in case swine flu takes down a few metro-Manila residents in mid-May. Word to the wise — buy now those super-fine face-masks.
cut-and-paste from New York Times article:
In the 1918 Spanish flu, American cities that reacted quickly had fewer deaths than those that acted slowly and used fewer precautions, according to a 2007 study of 43 cities by researchers from the University of Michigan and the Centers for Disease Control. The most common combination was school closings and bans on public gatherings, which in 34 cities lasted for a median of four weeks.
Stay away from hospitals and clinics.
Many people do not realize how long measures take to work. A child can shed flu virus for 10 days, Dr. Imperato said, an adult for 5.
torn on May 1, 2009 at 4:23 pm
d0d0ng and Ramrod — As you say, better safe than sorry and WHO is only doing its job in encouraging countries to protect the health of their citizens. Let’s see how this turns out.
d0d0ng on May 2, 2009 at 2:00 am
Considering, we went on vacation passing through a major airport with inbound and outbound traffic to Mexico and then my family again flew separate planes this week without any untoward effects, the danger might have been over.
ramrod on May 2, 2009 at 9:34 am
Has anybody seen the movie “Andromeda Strain?” (oops shows my age). It was about a virus that caused havoc because it couldn’t be stopped by anything modern medicine can throw at it, it was resistant to everything, constantly evolving that no vaccine could be made against it, even when they were able to isolate the cases so there is no chance of physical contact by either victim or possible carriers (ie rats, etc) it became air-borne…it was the proverbial end-of-days story and looked like it was going to wipe out humanity…but then its strength became the solution – it was constantly changing, eventually it changed to a harmless strain…talk about anti-climactic…
UP n grad
Re superfine face masks, any mention of trusted brands?
ramrod on May 2, 2009 at 10:17 am
NATURAL IMMUNITY VS. SWINE FLU
More veggies, fruits, less meats – DoH chief
Why wait until September to get your swine flu vaccines? Right now, you can be well armed against the new H1N1 flu virus strain. Just eat more fruits and vegetables, and fish instead of meat and get your daily doses of vitamins A, C, E and zinc.
http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/lifestyle/lifestyle/view/20090502-202618/More-veggies-fruits-less-meats–DoH-chief
d0d0ng on May 3, 2009 at 12:42 am
The virus has only 7 days incubation period. We are finally beyond the curve of H1N1 risk with US death of 1 fatality with without disruption to US travel.
In fact, the 2009 VEX Robotics World Championship held at the Dallas Convention Center was a success. Thanks to Mexico team not sending its team.
http://robotevents.com/program.php?offset=70&event_id=1&sortid=8#championship
http://www.robotics.nasa.gov/
Be part of history and include your name in the microchip taken by NASA rover heading to Mars in 2011.
http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/participate/sendyourname/
Let us show Filipinos and Philippines in the world participation map.
What is essential is invisible to the eye…the truth is never obviously spoken…
I couldn’t believe it at first, but this Swine Flu issue is not the real issue, its something else the US is unwilling to come up front with…in time all will be revealed…
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Impressions of music and musical equipment from my point of view
Ranking Roger: February 21, 1963 to March 26, 2019
Vaya con dios, amigo.
Posted by rex at 9:33 PM No comments:
Blues Blast Magazine Album Review: Zoë Schwarz Blue Commotion – This is the life I choose.
This CD review was originally published in the June 29, 2017 edition of Blues Blast Magazine. Be sure to check out the rest of the magazine at www.bluesblastmagazine.com
Zoë Schwarz Blue Commotion – This is the life I choose.
www.bluecommotion.com
www.33jazz.com
13 tracks / 59:32
Zoë Schwarz Blue Commotion has certainly been keeping busy, and earlier this year they released their fifth album in the last four years: This is the life I choose, a keen follow-up to their fantastic live release, I’ll Be Your Tonight. If you had the chance to listen to that CD you already know that this is a serious blues band with unique songs, tight instrumentation, and a powerful woman up front. This crew has not let up one bit, and their latest album is their best work yet!
Blue Commotion is based in the United Kingdom, with Zoë Schwarz on vocals and producer Rob Koral on guitar. Their comrades in arms include Pete Whittaker on the Hammond organ and Paul Robinson on drums, and the horn section of Ian Ellis (sax), and Andy Urquhart (trumpet) also join in for a few tracks. These folks are pros, and they were able to lay down all thirteen tracks (eleven of them originals) in just two days last October at Platform Studio. The result of this fast-paced production schedule is an album with a vibrant feel, and Zoë says that she likes to work “in the moment,” which has been very effective for this band.
The lyrics for the album’s originals were written by Zoë and Rob, and there also contributions from Phil Coles and Pete Feenstra. The songs are a neat mix of playful, sweet, and serious, and the ones related to living life in the music business will resonate well with listeners. For example, the title track sets the mood and theme for the album, as “This is the life I choose” provides a glimpse into the hearts and souls of musicians who put everything they have into their art. This power ballad is presented in a 1970s blues-rock format with cool dynamic changes and oodles of distorted organ from Whittaker and heavy drums from Robinson. Then there is “I Can’t Live Like That,” which has a completely different feel, going with an upbeat and funky sound that includes the horns of Ellis and Urquhart while Schwarz growls out the advice to message of not letting people get in the way of your dreams. And “My Baby Told Me So” spans the gap between blues and jazz with the message that, the blues and a faithful companion will make things seem a bit brighter, even if you are short on money.
Relationships are also a reliable source of song lyrics, and Blue Commotion heads there right off with the opener, “Hold On.” Coles’ words capture the essence of a dying romance, and the band delivers with Zoë’s edgy vocals and their hard rocking accompaniment, which includes a scorching solo from Rob. There is also an upbeat plea for unity with our fellow man with “People,” which has a decidedly international feel with its driving bass line and slick solo breaks from Rob and Pete. But, perhaps the most poignant track on This is the life I choose is “Broken,” a heartbreaking R&B song that addresses a hopelessness that many of will never know, but many will endure. This song has been released as a single, with proceeds going to charity to help the less fortunate among us; please keep this in mind as you listen to Schwarz’s emotional narrative.
This is the life I choose is a wonderful combination of modern blues sounds with infusions of jazz, funk, rock and soul. The songs are all well written and performed by a professional band, and the engineering and mixing meet the group’s high standards. Blues fans will surely dig this new release from Zoë Schwarz Blue Commotion, and if you will be on their side of the Atlantic you are in luck as they have plenty of UK shows and festivals scheduled. For those of us in the states, there is always the possibility that they will make it over here for a festival or a tour sometime soon. They are highly entertaining with a great catalog of original music, so hopefully they can make this happen!
Labels: Andy Urquhart, Blue Commotion, Ian Ellis, Julie Staines, Paul Robinson, Pete Whittaker, Rob Koral, United Kingdom, Zoe Schwarz
Fender Champion 600 Guitar Amplifier Review
Today we are looking at a super-fun Fender Champion 600 guitar amplifier. This is a re-issue of the original amplifiers that were built between 1949 and 1953. This is a pretty faithful reproduction of the original, although Fender said they have added a higher-gain pre-amp circuit to get more overdrive. I have never seen (let alone played) an original, so I will have to go along with them on this one.
>The Champion 600 is a neat amplifier, and very light weight. It weighs in at around 15 pounds, and measures about 12 inches wide by 11 inches high by 8 inches deep. The 50s groove is going ON with the two-tone Tolex.
The electronics are 1950s simple. This is an all-tube amp, with a 12AX7 pre-amp tube and a 6V6 output tube. The output is pretty low, putting out 5 watts at 4 ohms through the built-in 6-inch speaker. You can hook up a larger external speaker, should you wish. The controls are basic: 2 inputs (high and low gain), and a volume control. That is it -- you will have to do all of your EQ with the guitar or your pedal board.
There is not much more to describe, other than the tone. This amp sounds great! It does not hiss or hum excessively, and it puts out enough volume for home practice or recording. It overdrives fairly quickly, which is great if you want some old-style blues or rock and roll at reasonable volume levels. It sounds equally fabulous with my Strat or my Les Paul, and it is a bluesy little amp.
Looking this one over, I would have to say the craftsmanship is pretty good. The Tolex is even, and the electronics are tidy. And, yes, these are built in China, so they do not have any “Fullerton” magic, but that does make them more affordable.
Of course, it does not hurt that the Champion 600 is very affordable. It looks like it has been discontinued, and they now sell for more than they did when they were new, with prices starting around $200. But be careful, as these are popular amps to mod, and you might not know exactly what you are getting into.
Posted by rex at 10:23 PM No comments:
Labels: Amplifier, Champion 600, Fender, Guitar, Review, Tube
Blues Blast Magazine Album Review: Vanessa Collier – Meeting My Shadow
Vanessa Collier – Meeting My Shadow
Ruf Records
www.vanessacollier.com
www.rufrecords.de
Vanessa Collier is a fresh face on the American blues scene, and in addition to her soulful vocals she brings a mighty sax to the table. I am not the only one that thinks so, as Vanessa was nominated for the best horn instrumentalist at the 2017 BMAs, putting her in the same club as Al Basile, Nancy Wright Sax Gordon, and Terry Hanck. Also, her latest release, Meeting My Shadow, is making the rounds and it is a solid collection of original blues that serves to make the genre a bit more interesting.
Ms. Collier is based out of Philadelphia, and her background is as impressive as her music. Vanessa is a graduate of Boston’s prestigious Berklee College of Music, and she brought her vocals and sax to tours with Joe Louis Walker’s band. Also, Collier’s 2014 debut album, Heart Soul & Saxophone, was highly praised on Dan Aykroyd’s blues radio show, and she was honored as the Best of 2014 Blues Breaker Artist on House of Blues Radio. It would seem that her schedule is pretty full, but Vanessa also finds time to run her own teaching studio, volunteer at schools, judge solo and ensemble festivals, and offer clinics all over the country.
Meeting My Shadow is Collier’s sophomore album, which was recorded in six days at Music + Arts Studio in Memphis, Tennessee; it was produced by Vanessa, Kevin Houston, and Thomas Ruf (of Ruf Records fame). She was joined in the studio by Daniel McKee on bass, Ty Jackson on drums, Charles Hodges on keys, Marc Franklin on trumpet and flugelhorn, and the blues giant, Laura Chavez, on guitar. This is a stellar line-up, and on this project, they demonstrate a palpable synergy that is infectious.
Eight of the eleven tracks are originals that were written by Vanessa, including the opener, “Poisoned the Well.” This song shows what a well-rounded musician Collier is, and she provides the vocals, flute, Rhodes piano, Wurlitzer, and clavinet. This funky blues rocker features smoky vocals with jazz influences in the phrasing, and a really neat orchestration that includes haunting flute parts. It must have been hard for her to set the sax aside at the beginning of the set, but hey - when was the last time you heard flute in a blues song? This is backed up by a little more funk with “Dig a Little Deeper” with its sassy vocals and 1970s vibe. We finally get to hear the sax here and Vanessa’s tone is amazing, as is her interplay with the clean horn style of Mr. Franklin.
The rest of the originals cover a wide range of the blues-based genres, and it is all tasteful and well written. “When it Don’t Come Easy” has a cool electric delta blues vibe thanks to Chavez, and one of the best phrases ever: “I’ve been sanding down my splintered heart.” The band also goes old school with the vintage rock and roll of “Whiskey and Women,” which includes hearty vocals from Vanessa and the healthy backline of Jackson and McKee. And the closer, “Devil’s on the Downslide,” has a sweet gospel feel that features Collier on the Wurlitzer organ.
There are also a handful of covers on Meeting My Shadow, including Rosetta Tharpe’s “Up Above My Head, I Hear Music in the Air,” which has a gospel call and response with ladies, killer piano, a hyper snare drum, a sweet chicken-pickin’ guitar solo, and a killer sax solo. There is also the unexpected inclusion of U2 and B.B King’s “When Love Comes to Town” from 1988’s Rattle and Hum. This version is slower than the original, which gives it a different feel, but it still rocks. Vanessa has an interesting character to her voice here and this complexity is compelling, which is helpful as this song is not presented as a duet this time. Also, Laura Chavez tears off an amazingly raunchy guitar solo that fits in perfectly. It is hard to outdo the original, but this version comes really close.
Vanessa Collier and her crew did a wonderful job with Meeting My Shadow, and the result is an entertaining 45-minute set of original blues with a fresh sound. Regardless of what you think the blues should sound like, there is plenty to like here so you should take the time and give it a listen. Also, Collier has plenty of bookings coming up, with many North American tour dates from Florida to Maine to Canada, and everywhere west, as well as some shows in Europe. So, be sure to hit up her website for dates near you as Vanessa is an important part of the future of blue, and it would cool to support her journey.
Labels: Charles Hodges, Daniel McKee, Kevin Houston, Laura Chavez, Marc Franklin, Memphis, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Ruf Records, Tennessee, Thomas Ruf, Ty Jackson, Vanessa Collier
Aguilar Tone Hammer 500 Bass Amplifier Review
Well, my latest Genz Benz Shuttle finally crapped out and I have given up on it. Seven year ago I said if I was happy enough with it, but that I though the Aguilar Tone Hammer 500 had a slight edge on tone. So... now I have an amp to match my two Aguilar 1x12 cabinets!
Aguilar has been making extra-nice tube bass amplifiers since 1995, and they have a reputation for high quality as well as a clean and warm vintage tone. The Tone Hammer 500 aimed to recreate this tone, but in a totally solid-state package; there is not even a tube for the pre-amp. By the way, this amplifier is essentially an Aguilar Tone Hammer preamp/direct box with a class D amplifier added on.
This unit is rated at 500watts at 4 ohms and 250 watts at 8 ohms, and it is very small, measuring 10" x 3" x 9". It is very light as well, coming in at around 4 pounds. Despite its light weight and small size it is very solidly built.
There are a few different controls on the front of the Tone Hammer 500, including these knobs: gain, master, bass, mid level, treble, and drive. Drive uses Aguilar’s Adaptive Gain Shaping circuit, which works by using the gain and mid controls to change the tone from warm all the way to overdrive. Also included on the front are the balance XLR out and effects loop jacks, as well as the ground lift, signal pad and a mute switch.
The back is pretty barren with two Speakon outs, the tuner out a voltage selection switch. Oh yes, and the power switch. I hate it when they put the power switch on the back.
I hooked the Tone Hammer 500 up to my pair of Aguilar GS112 cabs, one with a a tweeter and one without, and I am very impressed. I tested it out with my Nash P basses and my ESP 5-string, as well as some miscellaneous crap from around the studio, and I got some very tube-like tones out of it, and it is definitely voiced like the other Aguilar amplifiers I have played before.
With all of the controls set flat, it dis a wonderful job of reproducing the inherent tone of whatever instrument I was using at the time. And as I started to futz with the knobs (especially the drive knob) I was able to get a panoply of tones from it -- everything from an aggressive growl down to a warm and mellow purr. At high volume levels it never got very harsh, and I actually had trouble getting a high-fidelity tone out of it. They really did make this thing sound like a tube amplifier!
As far as volume goes, this thing is just as loud as my Shuttle, which was rated at 600 watts 9now it is rated at zero watts). I guess manufacturers can rate things however they want, but the proof is in the pudding. It is plenty loud for smaller shows or quieter bands, but if you are really going to crank it out and compete with the guys with the Marshall stacks, you will need to bring another amplifier or go through the PA system.
Aguilar’s is in line with the rest of the industry, and the Tone Hammer 500 has a list price of $999, and a street price of $749. I am happy with my choice, and hope that it holds up longer than the Genz!
Labels: 500 watts, Aguilar, Amplifier, Bass, head, Review, Tone Hammer
Blues Blast Magazine Album Review: Thorbjørn Risager and The Black Tornado – Change My Game
This CD review was originally published in the June 1, 2017 edition of Blues Blast Magazine. Be sure to check out the rest of the magazine at www.bluesblastmagazine.com
Thorbjørn Risager and The Black Tornado – Change My Game
www.risager.info
When hearing Thorbjørn Risager sing it is natural to assume that he is from the American Midwest, as his powerful voice cuts through the mix with just a touch of twang. But Denmark is his home, and for the past fourteen years he has been churning out soulful blues-rock with his band, The Black Tornado. These gentlemen have recently released their latest studio album, Change My Game, and it is their best work yet.
The stability of the lineup for Thorbjørn Risager & The Black Tornado is a rarity in the music business, as five of the eight members have been with the band since 2003. During their tenure they have released eleven albums and played over 800 live shows, so they have figured out how to do things the right way with a combination of well-crafted songs and good production values. Critics and fans agree, as the band was nominated for British Blues Awards in 2014 and 2015 and won Danish Grammy Awards in 2013 and 2014.
Change My Game was recorded at the Medley Studios in Copenhagen, Denmark in January and August of 2016. Risager took care of the vocals and guitar, backed by The Black Tornado band that includes Peter Skjerning on guitar, Emil Balsgaard on keyboards, Søren Bøjgaard on bass, and Martin Seidelin on the drums; there is also the horn section of Hans Nybo, Kasper Wagner, and Peter Kehl. The band self-produced this album (a first for them), allowing them to achieve exactly the sound they were seeking. It includes eleven tracks, and all of them are originals that were written by Risager and Skjerning.
The set list includes a bit of everything in the blues spectrum, including blues-rock, soul, funk, and rhythm and blues; the latter is the basis of the first track, “I Used to Love You.” Slow jams like this show off Risager’s astounding voice that is undeniably smooth and strong, and demonstrate his range that extends from baritone to a growly tenor. This song of remembrance features soft horns and a guitar solo that is simple yet very effective. Another standout ballad is “Lay My Burden Down,” which is delivered in a maudlin lyrical style with piano accompaniment, and there is a lovely build to the finish as the horns join in.
Don't get the idea that Change My Game is full of slow-paced ballads, as hard-blues rock is a specialty of this crew. “Dreamland” is sequenced early in the album, and it has a huge sound with distorted guitars, Hammond organ, and a stellar horn arrangement. There is also “Hold My Lover Tight” with its driving beat and creative use of synthesizers and guitars. This song features an awesome guitar solo that is not over-the-top crazy, but it is powerful and perfectly in sync with the rest of the instruments. But the sweetest jam is “Train,” which starts out with an acoustic intro and a decidedly different rhythm pattern. At first there is a folk feel with honky-tonk piano, but momentum grows as the full band comes in, and it finishes with a minute of electric hardcore insanity.
The band also does a respectable job with funk and soul, as shown by “Maybe It's Alright” and “Change My Game.” This title track is catchy with its funkadelic intro and synthesizers, and the chorus draws the listeners in with its harmonies, but the smooth horns and tight backline really complete the package. The bass and drums of Bøjgaard and Seidelin are perfectly in sync, and are almost hypnotic. These two songs are an interesting contrast to “Holler n Moan,” a Delta influenced swamp tune that ends up as a funeral dirge party towards the end. This message here is that the band is able to play most anything, and the songs are slickly written and arranged so that they all work well together, even as they span multiple genres.
After the band spends the first ten songs proving that they have mastered many elements of American music, they cut loose and have some fun by ending the album with “City of Love.” This is a hard-rocking blues tune that goes all out with powerful vocal harmonies on the chorus, a cool blend of acoustic and distorted electric guitars, and one last dose of the super-tight horn section. Everybody gets a chance to shine on this track, with props going out to Balsgaard’s killer work on the organ, and Risager’s (or is that Skjerning’s?) searing lead guitar.
With Change My Game, Thorbjørn Risager & the Black Tornado have met the challenge of living up to their excellent 2014 breakthrough release, Too Many Roads. This is a fresh take on modern blues, and the band has really created something different with their blend of blues, soul, and rock – indeed, they have changed their game. Looking at their tour plans for the rest of 2017, it looks like they are only playing European shows, but hopefully there will be enough demand to get them over to the states soon. While you are waiting, be sure to check out this new release, as it is dynamite!
Labels: Black Tornado, Copenhagen, Denmark, Emil Balsgaard, Hans Nybo, Kasper Wagner, Martin Seidelin, Peter Kehl, Peter Skjerning, Søren Bøjgaard, Thorbjørn Risager
1999 Epiphone Japan Gold Top Les Paul Standard LPS-80
Before you start rolling your eyes at today’s subject guitar, I have to say that this is not one of the run-of-the-mill Epiphone guitars that are put together by little kids in China. These guitars were assembled at the Fujigen factory in Japan, so they are very well made and a tremendous value for the player who is on a budget.
This one is a 1999 model year LPS-80 so it originally sold for 80,000 yen, which is a good chunk of change. It is a gold top, which is not the most common Epiphone color and it has the Gibson-style open book headstock shape. If you do not look at the headstock logo you would be hard-pressed to tell the difference between this and a real Gibson gold top.
The bound body is made of mahogany with a carved maple top and it does not seem to be chambered. The hardware is standard Les Paull-issue chrome stuff (including Gotoh-sourced Kluson copies), and the single-ply pickguard matches the cream-colored binding.
The electronics are very good. It is wired with a 3-way switch and dual volume and tone pots like every other Les Paul, and it has a very beefy tone. As it plays well and sounds good, I did not pull the pickups, but rumor has it that they were supplied by Gibson: a 498T in the bridge position and a 490R at the neck.
The neck is nice and thick with a 50s feel. It has a rosewood fretboard and MOP inlays and fretwork show fine craftsmanship, and still look very good 20 years after this guitar was built. I do not really see anywhere where they cheaped out on this one.
For a 20 year old guitar, the overall condition is very good. The paint is still nice and glossy, with some swirling and a small chip on the back of the headstock. The headstock laminate started lifting at the nut, but this has been arrested, for now at least. There is very little wear to the frets, and no signs of a hard life or abuse. There appear to be no other repair history of modifications.
This Epiphone is a really nice guitar for not much money, and it is probably is better quality than 90% of the guitars coming out of Gibson’s US factories today. After I set it up with Ernie Ball Slinky .010s. and it plays like butter and sounds killer. I hate to say it, because it never comes true, but this one might be a keeper!
Labels: Epiphone, Gold Top, Japan, Les Paul, Review
Ranking Roger: February 21, 1963 to March 26, 2019...
Blues Blast Magazine Album Review: Zoë Schwarz Blu...
Blues Blast Magazine Album Review: Vanessa Collier...
Blues Blast Magazine Album Review: Thorbjørn Risag...
1999 Epiphone Japan Gold Top Les Paul Standard LPS...
Blues Blast Magazine Album Review: Beth Garner – S...
Dick Dale: May 4, 1937 to March 16, 2019
© 2010-2018 Rex Bartholomew
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Home / About / Newsroom / Blog Landing
Alumni Spotlight: Diane (Collins) Beasley '58
Diane Beasley (center) accepts her special plaque (below) from the state champion Scecina Crusaders softball team.
Name: Diane (Collins) Beasley
Year of Scecina Graduation: 1958
Former Position: Tailor/Seamstress
Current Position: Professional Scecina sports fan
By Rose Branson, Donor and Alumni Relations Coordinator
Have you seen that feisty lady shouting and cheering on the sidelines at almost every Scecina sporting event? Chances are, you’ve seen her even if you don’t know her name.
That super fan is Diane (Collins) Beasley ’58. She is Scecina’s biggest cheerleader, which is ironic, as Diane herself jokes, because she was cut from cheerleading at Scecina.
Diane was the loudest cheerleader at Ben Davis High School on June 10 at the Crusaders softball State Championship game. She started all the cheers and waved her pompoms (souvenirs from the Crusaders ’90 and ’91 state football championship seasons). The Crusaders won the 2017 IHSAA 2A Softball State Championship that day, and Diane won, too. The team presented her a plaque, which reads “SM SOFTBALL 2017” and has each girl’s name and number.
When I reached out to Diane to be featured as in the Alumni Spotlight of the Month, she said, “Feature the crazy lady who goes to all of the ball games? Whatever. If you think it will be a good idea, go ahead.” How we laughed! We met at a favorite Scecina hangout – Jockamo Upper Crust Pizza – to learn why Diane cares so passionately about Scecina and its athletic teams (She cares about every aspect of Scecina and especially the arts program.)
“I care so much because of the children – I just love them so much and want to support them,” said Diane, whose grandchildren don’t live close. You can hear it in her voice and in her stories how much Diane loves Scecina students and families. She knows so much about the history of the teams and the families and athletes; she still attends dinners with past alumni to stay in touch.
Diane’s father attended Cathedral High School, she reluctantly says. But she’s clearly proud that he was an Indiana high school state champion in football, and went on to play semi-pro football, bowled a couple of perfect games, and hit a few holes-in-one.
Diane attended Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School and still belongs to the parish. In 1998, Diane was attending a different Catholic church, but when she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, she reconnected with OLL. Diane got through with the help of Sister Lavonne Long and Father Peter Gallagher, and the support of the Scecina community and OLL family, who prayed for her recovery and gave her strength.
She has missed just four softball games in 20 years. Diane also hasn’t missed many boys basketball, girls basketball, football, tennis, and some soccer games either.
You might see her with Rita (Dichmann) Edson ’67 and Coach Bear, the teddy bear mascot. Ever the devoted fans, Rita and Diane drove 130 miles (each way) to Huntingburg and spent a night in a hotel to watch the softball team play their Semi-State games on June 3.
Diane was a member of Scecina’s Board of Directors for 17 years, is a founding member of the Scecina Women’s Circle, has volunteered at Scecina, and attends most alumni events.
She has three children, Deborah, Dana and John, and was married for 50 years to the love of her life, Donald Beasley, a former Marine. She is proud of her eight grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren, and also loves playing “grandmother” to many current and former Scecina students.
Go Crusaders!
Posted on Thu, July 6, 2017 by Beth Murphy filed under
Scecina Memorial High School
Diane Beasley
4 comments (Add your own)
1. Eleanor Luthman Kolbus wrote:
Just another proud Scecina graduate who knows how to "Give That Little Extra!" Congratulations, Diane, on your award. Very well deserving!
Thu, July 6, 2017 @ 8:27 PM
2. Jane Foley Nash wrote:
Diane, You never seem to wear out. Your love for Scecina shows in everything you do. Proud to be your classmate, Scecina and Lourdes.
3. Butch kennedy wrote:
Diane congrats. No doubt you deserve the recognition. I'm sure your spirit carries over to the teams.
Sat, July 8, 2017 @ 7:07 PM
4. Nick Petrone wrote:
Thank you for highlighting, Diane! She is a legend and a great human being. Her love and enthusiasm are contagious! Thank YOU, Diane, for your example of love, loyalty and commitment.
Nick Petrone
Tue, July 11, 2017 @ 8:29 PM
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Notice of Non-Discriminatory Policy As To Students
All schools and parishes under the guidance of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis admit students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. The schools do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.
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Atom Bomb Blues
Author: Andrew Cartmel
ISBN 0 563 48635 X
Available 10 November 2005
The Second World War is coming to its bloody conclusion, and in the American desert the race is on to build an atomic bomb. The fate of the world is at stake - in more ways than one. Someone, or something, is trying to alter the course of history and destroy the human race. Posing as nuclear scientists, the Doctor and Ace play detective among the Manhattan Project's physicists, while desperately trying to avoid falling under suspicion themselves...
It's appropriate that this book, which may well be the final regular adult Doctor Who novel, should return to where it all began: the travels of the Seventh Doctor and Ace, who were the current TARDIS team when Virgin Books launched The New Adventures back in 1991.
Writing this novel is one of the architects of that era: Andrew Cartmel, script editor of the Sylvester McCoy years and author of the New Adventures' War trilogy. However, the plot is more straightforward than was typical of The NAs. The narrative is fairly linear, apart from a prologue that takes place two-fifths of the way into the story, and the Doctor and Ace are involved in the thick of the action from the beginning. The only truly New Adventure-ish aspect is the Doctor's use of hallucinogenic substances for Native American-style vision quests.
In terms of series continuity, the Doctor (albeit wryly) checks that the historically ignorant Ace knows who the Nazis are. Therefore, this book is probably set before the Big Finish audio Colditz and the NA novel Timewyrm: Exodus, both of which heavily featured the Third Reich. It certainly takes place after The Curse of Fenric though, because the TARDIS crew refer back to that serial on a number of occasions.
Rather surprisingly, given the identity of the writer, the Doctor and Ace's dialogue sometimes jars, but Cartmel also crafts some memorable supporting characters. These include the hard-boiled Major Rex Butcher, who is in charge of security at the Manhattan Project, and a grotesque bunch of real-life physicists. The vivid, almost Fleming-esque descriptions of these scientists include the following, about Klaus Fuchs:
... a tall, thin stick insect of a man ... A young man with a huge, domed forehead, tiny ears and a risible little lick of hair adorning his large curve of skull. The young man's eyebrows echoed the curve of the huge round spectacles that gave him a bug-eyed look. His Cupid's bow mouth was bracketed by the scattered trace of scarring from adolescent acne.
Things get rather silly during the second half of the book, in which invaders from not only another time but another dimension are revealed. Quite apart from the fact that this is the third Who book in the last few months (after Spiral Scratch and The Time Travellers) to feature a parallel world or timeline, it is never adequately explained why there should be a duplicate for every inhabitant of the alternate Earth despite a time difference of at least 55 years. Had the dimension travellers been from the same era, the existence of doppelgangers would have been perfectly acceptable, but are we supposed to believe that there's a double of, say, Duke Ellington in the alternate 21st century? Somehow, I doubt it. As in Silver Nemesis and Battlefield, magic plays a part in achieving the crossover, which goes some way to explaining the unlikely coincidences, and the author succeeds in springing at least one surprising revelation about the parallel world's relationship with our own.
Far zillier (sorry, sillier) is an alien called Zorg, who, for some reason, pronounces everybody's name with a "z" at the beginning and contributes hardly anything of relevance to the plot. Fortunately Cartmel's colourful characters, in particular Major Butcher, stick in the memory far longer than the plot's more outlandish aspects.
This is truly the end of an era, though the paperback series doesn't quite go out with the atomic bang that it might have done.
Richard McGinlay
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Insights and News
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JANITORIAL INSIGHTS AND News
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SERVICON CELEBRATES GRAND OPENING OF THE MAHDESIAN LEARNING CENTER
Award-Winning Center Is Culver City’s First LEED-New Construction Platinum Project.
Servicon Systems Inc., a leading provider of sustainable maintenance services for aerospace, military, commercial, public and institutional facilities, celebrated the Grand Opening of its award-winning Mahdesian Learning Center & Client Innovation Hub, Culver City’s first and only building to earn LEED-New Construction Platinum certification, the highest sustainability rating of the U.S. Green Building Council.
The cutting-edge Mahdesian Learning Center & Client Innovation Hub was recently honored with the Los Angeles Business Journal’s Commercial Real Estate Development of the Year Gold Award, as one of Los Angeles’ “biggest best and most notable” CRE projects of 2014.
“We wanted to create a welcoming place, easily accessible to our employees via public transportation, and with high air quality standards,” said Michael Mahdesian, Chairman of Servicon Systems. “To celebrate our long-lasting partnership with the community, we wanted to create one of the greenest, safest and most sustainable buildings in the greater Los Angeles area,” he added.
Servicon aims to transform the facility maintenance industry through innovation, and the Mahdesian Learning Center & Client Innovation Hub is a laboratory for field-testing new practices and conducting research and training in cost-saving sustainability. It is also home to the Servicon Academy, a first in the industry, which initiated the Servicon Certification program, another industry first, where Servicon trains a smart, engaged workforce for greater efficiency productivity and ROI.
The Mahdesian Learning Center & Client Innovation Hub is open for collaborative use by Servicon’s clients, partners and the community, for events, trainings, offsite meetings, and exciting, Tedx-style programs.
The center was designed by Edward Ogosta, AIA, and is an adaptive reuse project that transformed the skeleton of an old, windowless warehouse into a strikingly modern, light-filled office, event and training facility. The Mahdesian Learning Center & Client Innovation Hub is sweeping this year’s most prestigious design and commercial real estate awards, most recently a Los Angeles Business Journal Gold Commercial Real Estate Award and as a finalist in Interior Design magazine.
Servicon President and CEO Laurie Sewell welcomed many VIP guests and clients to the Grand Opening, held on March 5, 2015 at the site, 3965 Landmark Street, just a block from the new Culver City Expo Line station.
Guests included prominent business and community leaders, as well as elected officials representing Los Angeles and Culver City. Speakers were Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, California State Assemblymembers Sebastian Ridley-Thomas and Matt Dababneh, Culver City Mayor Meghan Sahli-Wells, and representatives from both state and national offices.
The entire building has a smaller carbon footprint than that of a Toyota Prius. “This project clearly demonstrates that, even at a modest scale, a full-building renovation with creative architecture and premier sustainability upgrades is achievable,” said Sewell. “Moreover, every worker will enjoy the richness of daylight, the integrity of quality materials, and a pure, serene and healthy atmosphere,” she added.
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Wal-Mart’s 1Q net income rises 10 percent
Robert Beatty— May 21, 2010
NEW YORK (AP) — Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s first-quarter net income rose 10 percent as the world's largest retailer benefited from cost-cutting and robust growth in its international business.
But Wal-Mart said a key measure of revenue dropped for the fourth consecutive quarter as it continued to see a decline in customer counts at its U.S. namesake stores.
It also offered a muted outlook for the current quarter as shoppers worry about jobs and their finances.
Wal-Mart said Tuesday, May 18 that net income was $3.32 billion, or 88 cents per share for the period ended April 30. That compares with $3.02 billion, or 77 cents per share in the same quarter last year.
Revenue rose almost 6 percent to $99.85 billion, from $94.24 billion.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected profit of 84 cents per share on revenue of $98.45 billion for the period.
Revenue at stores open at least a year dropped 1.1 percent, dragged down by its U.S. namesake division. The measure is a key indicator of a retailer's health since it excludes the effect of expansion. Wall Street analysts had expected a 0.6 percent decline.
Wal-Mart, which generates more than $400 billion in sales annually, is considered a key barometer of consumer spending, so economists closely monitor sales trends at the discounter that could indicate the shape of the nation's economic recovery. But the retailer's latest figures show that the average consumer is still struggling.
“Our customers, particularly in the United States, are still concerned about their personal finances and unemployment, as well as higher fuel prices,” Mike Duke, Wal-Mart’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “Our commitment to reducing prices and managing expenses positions us well across the retail landscape.”
Wal-Mart benefited during the recession as affluent shoppers traded down to cheaper stores from mall-based stores. In recent months, the discounter has faced increasing competition from all types of retailers, which aggressively lowered prices.
Meanwhile, analysts worry that its newly acquired customers are going back to their old favorites as the economy recovers, while the discounter's core customers are still struggling.
The company, which in the fourth quarter had seen a decline in customer traffic and reported its first year-over year quarterly drop in total revenue at its U.S. namesake stores since the company went public in 1969, stepped up its discounting in the first quarter.
But the company said Tuesday that customer counts at its U.S. namesake stores declined compared with the same quarter last year, though the weakness was partially offset by an increase in the average transaction.
The company announced Tuesday more price cutting across all grocery categories.
Another key factor hurting Walmart’s U.S. stores was the company's move over the last year to offer fewer brands as part of a campaign to declutter its stores, company officials acknowledged during a prerecorded conference call. Now, the company is adding back some of the merchandise to bring back shoppers who went elsewhere for those brands.
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The Skeptics Guide to the Universe #225
'ello from across the pond . . .
All Rouges were on deck this week on the Skeptics Guide to the Universe. Rebecca was joining in through the wonder of late night trans-Atlantic Skype and it was good.
All in all it was a solid show, there was nothing terribly wrong with it all. Therefore, it was a pretty solid effort. During the news segment, there were two segments that got my skeptic-o-temper up. The first was the flu vaccine dystonia flap. Surprise, the woman who allegedly had dystonia, but more likely had a psychogenic disorder has (SURPRISE) been healed by her alternative steeped physician using kelation to rid her of her toxins and within fifteen miraculous minutes she began to be healed. The speed of her recovery is more evidence against it being dystonia than for it. Yet, here is another bit of poor and perhaps deadly crap based medicine that will filter out into the public and cause people to not get the flu vaccine as it becomes available. The second story that fired me up was the amendment to the health care act as recently passed by the United States House of Representatives that reimburses for "medical" prayer services. Without getting stuck in a political quagmire, this stupid amendment has bipartisan support from Senators Orrin Hatch (Republican, Utah) and the late Edward Kennedy and John Kerry (Democrats, Massachusetts) Of all the questions and all problems with the current health care debate in the United States, paying for non-scientific treatment should be the last thing on the table. I have not completely thought this through legally, but how paying for prayer by a government payor does not violate the establishment clause is perplexing.
On the other hand, the story on how newest images from Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which show the foot trails of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin at Tranquility base were incredible. I could give a turkey's buttocks if this does not convince the Moon Hoaxers that we actually landed on the moon. All it really does is reinforce how much I want mankind to make new and even larger foot print on the moon. It was a heartening story.
Bart Farkus, who is in charge of JREF's fundraising, was briefly interviewed to announce a new Visa card that benefits the JREF whenever you use it. He also announced a competition to be judged by James Randi for the design of the second credit. The original will have Randi's image upon it. If anyone is in the market for a new credit card, check it out on the JREF website. (As of this writing, I could not locate the link at the JREF.)
The show played three more brief pre-recorded interviews by Rebecca at TAM London. This was the celebrity group of Simon Singh, Jon Ronson, and Adam Savage. This week's interviews were better than last week. Singh was given an award for his activities, and he made a pitch for the reform of Britain's libel laws. Rebecca brought up a good point that she is sort of afraid of them. I never thought of it before, but it is a bit more worrisome to be outspoken when, if an unhappy party sues you, you have the burden of proof. Rebecca should therefore only do her broadcast from a ship out in international waters under United States registry. (impractical?) Singh also announced that he is going to be a father for the first time. I wish him the best of luck. Ronson was pitching the motion picture "The Men who stare at Goats." He seems upset that Ewan McGregor plays his journalist role in the picture. I'd kill to have McGregor play me for eight seconds. (Russell Crowe might be cooler, but just by a hair.) Savage was there and discussed "Mythbusters" coming season without giving away too many details. I would like to see the British 30 minute edited version just to see what they cut out.
Finally, the who's that noisy from last week was revealed to be Madelene Duncan Brown, the alleged ex-mistress of the President Lyndon B. Johnson, who claims her alleged ex-lover was in on the murder of JFK. (who?) It was someone I had never knew existed. Evan's picks for WTN's can be incredibly difficult. For some reason I do not mind not getting them when it just a noise, but when it is a person, especially someone dealing with the assassination of President Kenney, and I do not know it I feel like a hack.
All in all, it was a good show.
Labels: establishment clause, the skeptics guide to the universe
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San Antonio Opportunities Helped Make MacEachern a Blue
Plenty has been made this season of Jordan Binnington’s NHL rise and with good reason. The former Rampage netminder has backstopped the Blues to a Western Conference Final with a Calder Trophy-worthy performance. However, Binnington isn’t the only Rampage alum who forced his way into St. Louis Blues this season.
At the start of the 2018-19 campaign, forward Mackenzie MacEachern was ready for his third professional season and was hoping to get a shot to prove himself in the NHL. By season’s end, MacEachern was an NHL regular with the Blues and he remains with the team during their current Stanley Cup playoff run.
“You dream of playing in the NHL as a young boy, so getting the opportunity to play and the chance to stick was a cool experience,” said MacEachern, a third-round pick of the Blues in 2012. “I felt like I grew as a player because you’re playing against the best players around the world each and every day. I think I became more of a complete player.”
After being one of San Antonio’s most dependable two-way forwards earlier in the season, MacEachern’s season took a hit when MacEachern himself took a hit in Rockford. On an open-ice hit from IceHogs defenseman Dennis Gilbert on December 2nd, MacEachern sustained an upper-body injury that would keep him away from game action for 25 days.
When he returned to the lineup on December 27th, MacEachern had an instant impact and saw his offensive numbers surge.
MacEachern netted five goals and eight points in his first seven games back after posting only four goals and seven points in his first 24 contests. The Blues brass noticed the spike and rewarded him with his first call-up on January 10th.
“I was fortunate enough to get opportunities to play and show I could do more than just hit and be physical or protect the puck,” said MacEachern, who had 11 goals in 101 AHL games prior to this season. “I can score when given the opportunity to make plays. I think that’s the thing I’m most thankful for, getting the opportunity to play. It was a new team for [Head Coach Drew Bannister], so it was nice to have a regular shift and get to play with good players.”
MacEachern would play six games with the Blues before returning to San Antonio. He would appear in two games with the Rampage before getting called up by the Blues again, this time for good. It was the beginning of an incredible ride not just for him, but for the Blues as a whole.
“I think I played my first three games and then we went on that 11-game winning streak. It was something I’ve never seen before,” said MacEachern. “There were a lot of moving pieces with a new goalie and fresh faces in the lineup. To see how the guys responded, going from last in the league on January 3rd to being within a point of first place, it’s something special to be a part of.”
The Rampage were resting in their Milwaukee hotel rooms on January 21st, preparing for a game against the Admirals the next day. With the afternoon free, many were crowded around the TV to watch one of their former teammates achieve a priceless career moment – his first NHL goal.
“I was actually on the ice with Jordan Nolan, which was pretty cool too,” said MacEachern while recalling his tally at Staples Center against the LA Kings. “[Vince] Dunn threw the puck to the net and I spun off the defenseman. Luckily I got a nice rebound right there.”
“It felt like time slowed down watching the puck go in. I don’t know if it was because it was actually going that slow or if I was just in the moment.”
MacEachern would post three goals and five points in 29 NHL games with the Blues, earning a one-way NHL contract for next season along the way. He hasn’t appeared in a playoff game this spring, and he realizes this season’s successes are just another step in the process to becoming a permanent fixture in an NHL lineup.
“I think you see how hard you have to work if you want to be a regular in the lineup. Being part of this experience is awesome,” said MacEachern during Game 6 of the Blues’ second-round series with the Dallas Stars.
“I’m going to take it all in, and hopefully when I get in the lineup I can thrive and show I belong and can be a playoff-type player.”
MacEachern wants to spend the summer working on his craft to become a more consistent player. After arriving in San Antonio in October and taking a big career step, MacEachern believes he can take his game and his role up a notch again in St. Louis next October.
“I have to buy into my role. I’m a physical, big guy. I have to take the body and be a fourth-line shutdown guy who is good defensively. When I can chip in offensively, that’ll be awesome.”
“I need to be an all-around player and be consistent every day so they know what they’re getting every game.”
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Albert Pyun's Knights Film Review
Directed by: Albert Pyun
Knights is a film that writer/director Albert Pyun made the year after one of his best films, 1992's Nemesis. It's also the same year he directed Arcade, and another personal favorite of mine, Brain Smasher...A Love Story. As you can see, he's a very busy director. often throwing out about 3 films a year. This particular film though seems to fly under the radar for most of those who genuinely like Pyun's films, or just these type of films in general.
In a post-apacolyptic future, cyborgs rule the earth and it's desert wasteland. A human named Nea (kickboxing champion Kathy Long) teams up with a cyborg named Gabriel (a miscast Kris Kristofferson) to put an end to the cyborg's rule by going after their cyborg leader Job (Lance Henrikesen).
I really enjoyed this one. Knights is a pretty simple straight-forward story, and that's one of it's best assets. Honestly, it couldn't be anymore low-budget than it already is, but because of that, Pyun makes the most of what he's got. He makes full use of the gorgeous desert landscape, offering some pretty killer camerawork, utilizing different colored filters throughout to give certain sequences a little punch. Aesthetically, Knights ends up being one of Pyun's better looking films.
One of the things I was not expecting, but what ended up working in it's favor, is that Knights is so over-indulgent that it ends up being extremely cheesy. There is so much hammy over-acting, and just plain silly dialogue that above all else, it's extremely cheesy. But it works! It works so well in fact that whether intentional or not, this cheesy experience made it so much better than it could have been had they all played it straight. I'm so glad they didn't though, seeing Lance Henrikesen really deliver the kind of over-the-top performance you expect from him half the time made it all the better. I have to really give it to Scott Paulin (The Red Skull from Pyun's Captain America) as one of Job's (Henriksen) henchmen. He made the absolute most of his limited screen time and delivers a truly hilarious/cheesy/hammy performance that easily makes it the most memorable (and hilarious) in the entire film.
The casting of this film is very peculiar. First of all, I don't know what Kris Krisofferson is doing in this. He just seems so out of place entirely. I have nothing against the guy as an actor. In fact, I think he's actually pretty good. But he kind of feels like he fell out of a completely different film or universe and landed smack in this thing. If he's a cyborg, why does he have a southern accent? And watching the fight scenes (he's supposed to be a kickboxer) it's painfully obvious he's not doing any of the actual fighting, save for a closeup here and there. Lance Henriksen was awesome as usual, as was Paulin, but a few other notable surprises for me were very brief appearances by Tim Thomerson (Trancers, Dollman, Near Dark), Vincent Klyn (Cyborg, Point Break), and DTV action star Gary Daniels (too many films to pick). I'm telling you, the casting of this thing is all over the place. Which brings us to the star, kickboxing champion Kathy Long. For her first film, she was not bad at all. She does a fine job playing the part, and when it's time to do some ass-kicking, she delivers the goods.
Ultimately I enjoyed this because of how unintentionally cheesy and silly it was. Had it not been, I doubt it would have been as enjoyable. Pyun again explores his fascination with cyborgs and robots, but this time set in a baron future as opposed to something more futuristic with buildings and flying cars. I'm still not sure why it's called Knights though. It's terribly misleading because there are no actual knights in the film, and that word is never uttered once. There's even poster art showing Kathy Long tightly holding a sword, which gives the impression that this is somehow a mish-mash of cyborgs and knights set in some alternate universe. But she doesn't use a sword at all in the film. So again, the title and marketing are somewhat confusing. But trust me, this is a fun one and worth seeking out.
The film works for the most part. There are a few things that ultimately don't, and some of the fight sequences could have used some fine tuning, but it doesn't take away from the experience enough to ruin it. Kristofferson as one of the main characters, and a cyborg no less, is too bizarre not to notice, but thankfully, it's really Kathy Long's film, and in her first starring role, she carries the film well on her shoulders. Thankfully she's surrounded by a fun supporting cast that kind of divert your attention from time to time.
How to see it:
Never officially released on DVD or Blu ray, you might find it a little hard to find. The VHS pops up periodically, though I've never seen it for less than $10. There are bootleg rips, even some in widescreen somehow, on several online retailers, but being able to stream a legit print has so far not become available.
Posted by robotGEEK at 9:53 AM
marklola12 February 5, 2017 at 9:57 AM
actually the movie was officially released on dvd but in Africa, I have it :D
Digging Into De Palma's Early Thrillers
Cobra (1986) - Deleted Scenes (Info, Pictures and ...
Albert Pyun's Mean Guns Film Review
The Demolitionist Film Review
Armed Response (1986) Film Review
Body Melt Film Review
The Punisher (1989) Australian Blu Ray Review; Dig...
Search for past reviews:
Review: The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day
Wisdom (1986), Emilio Estevez's Forgotten Directorial Debut
The Cult Corner: Phase IV (1974)
The Cult Corner: Something Wild (1986)
I Finally Watched 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Secret of the Ooze'
90's Action Attack!: Drive (1998)
90's Action Attack!: Showdown (1993)
Blu-Ray Roundup - October Edition: Schlock, Torso, Twelve Monkeys and Distant Voices, Still Lives
80's Thriller Throwback: Pulse (1988)
A Case for Greatness: Black Rain (1989)
Robo-Bit
Bad Movie Night HQ
Badass Sites
1989 Batman
Beyond Hollywood
Collected Cinema
Direct to Video Connoisseur
Eat the Dead
Hellford667 Movie Reviews
Joblo
Jonny's Cult Films
Laserdisc Database
Outlaw Vern
Pyuniverse-The Films of Albert Pyun
The Lair of Filth
The Lost Highway
VHS Ninja
VHS Wasteland
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Peter Farmer
Peter Farmer (1941–2017) was a leading figure in British theatre design. His many designs for The Royal Ballet included Giselle (1971), Winter Dreams (1991), Homage to The Queen (2006 revival) and The Sleeping Beauty (1973). In 2006 he realized designs for Monica Mason and Christopher Newton’s 2006 staging of the Company’s 1946 production of The Sleeping Beauty, following original designs by Oliver Messel.
Farmer was born in Luton. He designed for theatre and ballet from the 1960s, on productions including The Dream (Sadler’s Wells Ballet), Cinderella (London Festival Ballet), Swan Lake (English National Ballet), The Tales of Hoffmann (Scottish Ballet), The Nutcracker (Rome), Anna Karenina (Australian Ballet), La Sylphide (London City Ballet), Manon (Mariinsky Ballet) and Theme and Variations, The Dream and Coppélia (Birmingham Royal Ballet).
Farmer’s work as a painter has been exhibited in galleries including, in London, Redfern Gallery, Mercury Gallery, Wright Hepburn Gallery and Lisson Gallery, the Meredith Long Galleries in Houston and the Royal Festival Hall.
Interviews: Monica Mason and Deborah Bull discuss The Sleeping Beauty
Remembering Peter Farmer (1936–2017)
The designer worked extensively with The Royal Ballet throughout his career.
Awakening The Sleeping Beauty: Re-opening the Royal Opera House after World War II
This wonderful classical ballet has a special place in The Royal Ballet’s history, marking a new beginning for the Company in more ways than one.
The Sleeping Beauty
Credited with Additional designs
Journey with The Royal Ballet to an enchanted world of princesses, fairy godmothers and magical spells in this landmark production of Petipa’s classic ballet, to Tchaikovsky's glorious music.
Winter Dreams
Credited with Designer
Sylvia DVD (The Royal Ballet)
Sylvia Blu-ray Disc (The Royal Ballet)
The Sleeping Beauty DVD (The Royal Ballet) 2006
The Sleeping Beauty Blu-ray Disc (The Royal Ballet)
Winter Dream DVD (The Royal Ballet)
The Beauty of Ballet DVD Set
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About Roland
SMH Previews Thriller No Man’s Land
I was thrilled that Susan Wyndham, the Literary Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald contacted me regarding the publication of No Man’s Land.
Below is her column that appeared in the Herald on 16th August, 2014.
Underneath that is a transcript of the original interview. I like to think of it as the “writer’s” cut.
A TEACHER LEARNS TO WRITE
Since Roland Fishman founded The Writers’ Studio in Sydney in 1992, he has taught creative writing to thousands of students, some now published authors.
Meanwhile, everyone who knows the former Fairfax journalist has been waiting to see his own talents in the novel he was quietly working on. He had published two books on cricket in 1986 and 1991 but, until now, nothing more.
So I was pleased to receive a copy of No Man’s Land, the first in a series about Russell Carter, surfer and special operative, who must stop a planned terrorist attack on Sydney Harbour.
Fishman spent years on a literary grunge novel, a caper novel and a romantic comedy before finding his genre, inspired by the TV ninjas of his childhood and the books he liked to read. No Man’s Land took about four years to write, he says, partly because ‘‘I wanted to establish a larger-than-life character with the depth and mythic quality to carry a thriller series’’.
He felt the pressure of wanting to present a good example for his classes and found it hard to be objective about his own work. ‘‘The reason the Writers’ Studio courses work well is that I’ve made every mistake a writer can make, am extremely persistent and have always maintained a willingness to learn,’’ he says.
Kathleen Allen, his partner in life and work, was ‘‘a tough critic’’ who helped ‘‘deepen the emotion and flesh out the love story’’.
No Man’s Land is also the first title from The Writers’ Studio publishing arm, Rising Tide Books; the ebook is available from Amazon and the print edition is out in September.
Susan has kindly given me permission to publish the entire interview below:
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
FULL Q & A BETWEEN ROLAND AND SUSAN
SW: I’m so pleased to see your novel finally published and had a look through the opening pages. Looks like a thrilling thriller and very good on the surfing scenes. I will read more later. Congratulations.
RF: Thank you. I’ve just got back from a research trip in the Northern Territory where I am setting my next novel in the Russell Carter series and was really thrilled to get your email.
SW: Could you tell me how long you have been working on it (and its sequels – how many?)
RF: The novel was around four years in the making, not including the editing process. Part of the reason it took so long is that I wanted to establish a larger than life character with the depth and mythic quality to carry a thriller series. The next one is set in the outback and will hopefully be the second of many (I see six in total). I love reading series because you connect with the key characters from story to story and see them grow. Some of the best writing around is on series television.
SW: As a writing teacher, has it been harder to write your own fiction?
RF: Having run writing classes for over twenty years, the danger is that you feel you are an expert. You forget, to paraphrase Ernest Hemingway, we are all apprentices in a craft where they are no masters. In the classes I’m always saying as a fiction writer you have to remain humble and open and focus on being a learner. And of course there is the pressure of expectations. I really felt No Man’s Land needed to be a good example for people who do our classes and only my very best would do.
Also, having spent so long immersed in the study of the process of writing, it is relatively easy for me to identify what other people need to do. And for the most part I am spot on. But when it comes to my own work, where I’m emotionally attached, it is much harder to be objective. It is always so much easier to see what other people need to do. That is why fiction writers need outside input. My partner in life and at the Writers’ Studio, Kathleen Allen, has been a tough critic and a great help. No Man’s Land owes a lot to her. She particularly helped me deepen the emotion and flesh out the love story.
SW: Have you learnt from your own teaching?
RF: The transition from journalist and non-fiction author to fiction writer has been a real journey. Non-fiction is about the facts. The kind of fiction that I like is all about having your reader wanting to know what happens next while taking your main character on an emotional and spiritual journey of change. Just because it happened is no excuse in fiction. It is all about the emotional truth and having your readers wanting to keep turning the pages.
And I always need to keep going back to the fundamentals. In our very first session of our introductory writing course I’m always stunned by how good just about everyone’s writing is when they learn tools and techniques to access the power of their imagination. It feels like a minor miracle and I need to be constantly reminded of the need to trust that part of my self.
SW: I believe you have been writing fiction for much longer than four years, so are there other, abandoned novels?
RF: It took me an infuriatingly long time to find my genre and then my niche in that genre. I spent years writing a literary grunge novel, a caper novel and a romantic comedy set in a new age retreat In California. The four years isn’t chronological and doesn’t include some of the early iterations of No Man’s Land.
I believe the reason the Writers’ Studio courses work well is that I’ve made every mistake a writer can make, am extremely persistent and have always maintained a willingness to learn. I’ve gone to writing conferences around the world and am constantly studying the craft. I remember one US writing teacher said the attitude you have to have is, “I’d rather fail as a writer than succeed at anything else.” That’s me. I’ve put everything I’ve discovered along the way into the classes. The one guideline I suggest people follow, when deciding whether to adopt the tools we offer at the Studio is, what works, works.
SW: How did you know they were not working?
The feedback I’ve received for No Man’s Land is very different from my previous efforts. I remember sending Selwa Anthony, my agent, the first thirty pages on a Friday and she rang on the Monday saying how much she loved it. The positive feedback was reinforced at a couple of writing conferences I attended in the US and then pretty much all the way through to the editing process. Probably the biggest kick I’ve received is when recently, a couple of friends of mine’s wives picked up the book and to my surprise read it all the way through in a couple of days.
SW: Will the book also be printed or just digital?
RF: Print release is in early September and the ebook is available on Amazon.
READ NO MAN’S LAND SYNOPSIS l BUY THE NOVEL l MORE ABOUT THE WRITERS’ STUDIO
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This entry was posted in Media, Reviews, Writing No Man's Land on August 22, 2014 by Roland Fishman.
Buy No Man's Land
Buy Signed Copy
Rising Tide Books
The Writers' Studio
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Announcement very soon’ on report cards
Published Jan 4, 2019 at 8:00 am (Updated Jan 4, 2019 at 7:58 am)
Training to continue: education minister Diallo Rabain at a press conference yesterday (Photograph by Blaire Simmons)
Teenage trio do their talking in Czech Republic
You’re never too old to learn
The RBR’s Junior Leaders enjoy fun in the sun
Chubb scholarships awarded
Saltus moves to reusable crockery and cutlery
A date for the first new style report cards for public school- children is still up in the air, the education minister admitted yesterday.
Diallo Rabain said that discussions would begin “this week” with Kalmar Richards, the Commissioner of Education, Department of Education officers, head teachers and the Bermuda Union of Teachers “in determining revisions to the roll-out of grades and report cards”.
He added: “An announcement will be made very soon on when those report cards will be released.”
Mr Rabain was speaking a day after teachers and principals received training in the new standards-based grading after a request from the Bermuda Union of Teachers.
He said that the training was led by a steering committee formed in October of teachers, principals and education officers.
Mr Rabain added: “I also thank the committee for developing the plan, which recharts our course for becoming a standards-based education system.”
He said that information about the plan would be provided “later this month”.
Mr Rabain added that teacher training would continue “until we get to the point where standards-based grading is where it needs to be within our system”.
Wednesday’s teacher training was held at the Fairmont Southampton.
The cost of renting the venue was not revealed.
Mr Rabain also confirmed that a work-to-rule by public school head teachers continued.
The industrial action by members of the Bermuda Public Services Union began in October.
Ms Richards said that “ongoing discussions” had been held with the union since the work-to-rule started.
She added: “We will continue those discussions this month.”
Ms Richards, who was speaking in public for the first time since she was appointed commissioner in September, said that she worked for pupils.
She explained: “Decisions and actions taken are always in the best interest of children.”
Ms Richards pledged to work with school officials, the union and teachers to “ensure that our children get the best”.
Shannon James, BUT president, said yesterday that the union looked forward to working with the ministry to “ensure that our children have the best education possible”.
He added: “In particular, I would like to thank the steering committee for their work in helping to find solutions to the issues we have highlighted.
“They are a group of educators who came together to chart the way forward with standards-based grading, who worked tirelessly over the holiday and fully understood the brevity and enormity of the task ahead and crafted a four-year plan for the successful implementation of the SBG methodology.”
Teachers and the Government have been locked in conflict over a range of problems, including standards-based grading, which the teaching union said had added stress to already overburdened staff.
On Wednesday, Ms Richards apologised to teachers for “insufficient support, training and communication, and for the impact that it has had on principals, teachers and schools”.
Mr Rabain said yesterday that the Department of Education and the BUT had agreed to meet monthly to improve communication.
He added that the Ministry of Education would hold briefings every month to provide updates to the public.
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Acquisition of The Royal London General Insurance Company Limited
R&Q is pleased to announce that, subject to regulatory approval, it has agreed to acquire RLGI, a UK non-life insurance company in run-off, from The Royal London Mutual Insurance Society Limited.
RLGI underwrote non-life insurance from 1985 to 1999; the remaining liabilities relate to employers’ liability originating from cover provided to SMEs. The agreed purchase price is £11.9m and represents a small discount to RLGI’s net assets of £13.5m as at year-end 2015. The transaction will be financed from the Group’s bank facility and cash at hand. In the year ended 31 December 2015 RLGI reported a profit before tax of £0.8m.
Once regulatory approval has been given to the acquisition, it is planned to transfer the business to R&Q Insurance (Malta) Limited under Part VII of the 2000 Financial Services and Markets Act. R&Q will target to complete this by the end of 2017.
Commenting on today’s announcement, Ken Randall, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of R&Q, said: “We are delighted to have reached agreement to acquire RLGI and this continues to demonstrate the ability of R&Q to provide exit solutions to owners of insurance companies in run-off. This will be the second transaction where R&Q has provided non-life legacy solutions to the life and pensions sector. We remain excited about our legacy acquisition pipeline.”
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Nuclear project Abdel Nasser’s dream Sisi’s achi
Hope renewed in June 30
Advantages of the Russian proposal
Signing the agreement between Egypt and Russia
Nuclear energy and the future of Egypt
Why Dabaa?
The nature of the nuclear plant
Sunday، 29 November 2015 12:00 AM
In 2013 during his speech to mark the anniversary of the October War, former president, Adly Mansour, declared the launch of the construction of nuclear power plants for peaceful purposes of energy in Daba, a speech that came just after the army has started rehabilitation of Dabaa site.
President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi issued a decree on November 10/2014, to allocate 2300 acres for the Ministry of Defense to establish a residential compound for Daba inhabitants, and the staff of the station, in addition to the necessary services for the region and the other projects in compensation for land that has been allocated for the project.
In January 2015, six companies from China, France, Japan, the United States, South Korea and Russia, submitted proposals to implement the project, through an international tender.
After in-depth studies.. the Russian proposal won the tender to implement the nuclear project by "Rosatom" company.
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Former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad and a staffer discriminated against the state's then-commissioner of workers' compensation in 2011 because he's gay, and the ex-official is entitled to $1.5 million for emotional distress, a jury said Monday.
The publisher of a neo-Nazi website should have to pay the victim of an internet trolling campaign over $14 million and remove all posts that encouraged his readers to contact the Montana real estate agent, a magistrate judge recommended on Monday.
Singing, chanting and lying on the ground in the road, hundreds of people demonstrated on Monday against the construction of a giant telescope on a mountaintop that some Native Hawaiians consider sacred.
Beto O'Rourke raised just $3.6 million in the second quarter, a dramatic drop that places him among a growing group of Democratic presidential hopefuls who are struggling to raise the cash needed for a credible White House run.
Joe Biden is taking an aggressive approach to defending the Affordable Care Act, challenging not just President Donald Trump but also some of his rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination who want to replace the current insurance system with a fully government-run model.
The headquarters of the U.S. government's largest land agency will move from the nation's capital to western Colorado, a Republican senator said Monday, a high-profile component of the Trump administration's plan to reorganize management of the nation's natural resources.
The Latest on second quarter fundraising totals (all times local):
It's House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell vs. hardliners in the White House as lawmakers pursue a deal on federal spending and the debt. And the hardliners, wary of further increases to federal spending, appear to be losing.
The Latest on President Donald Trump's racist tweets about four lawmakers of color (all times local):
NC trial looks at partisan bias after US justices won't
A partisan gerrymandering trial began Monday in North Carolina, where election advocacy groups and Democrats hope state courts will favor them in the kind of political mapmaking dispute that the U.S. Supreme Court just declared is not the business of the federal courts.
When President Donald Trump tweeted that four congresswomen should "go back" where they came from, Erika Almiron was reminded of the first time she heard the same comments. She was a new fourth-grader at a predominantly white Italian-Catholic school.
Cory Booker's Iowa senior adviser is departing his 2020 presidential campaign, leaving the New Jersey senator without one of his top staffers in a key early voting state.
A U.S. judge lowered a jury's damage award from $80 million to $25 million for a California cancer victim who used Monsanto's Roundup weed-killer.
Delegations from the U.S. and Russia are expected to meet this week to discuss arms control and the possibility of coaxing China into negotiating a new, three-way nuclear weapons pact, two senior administration officials said Monday.
Oregon public school students will be required to learn about the Holocaust and other genocides under a bill signed into law by Gov. Kate Brown on Monday, a measure that was in response to spikes in anti-Semitic incidents across the country.
Reversing decades of U.S. policy, the Trump administration said Monday it will end all asylum protections for most migrants who arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border — the president's most forceful attempt yet to block asylum claims and slash the number of people seeking refuge in America.
The 19-year-old brother of a Sandy Hook school shooting victim and outspoken advocate for greater school safety measures says he's running for the Connecticut Senate.
Former Sen. Coleman undergoing surgery to remove cancerous part of lung
Leave the U.S., president tells liberal congresswomen of color
Australian model sentenced in L.A. for airline flight disturbance
Mn. delegation cast 99 votes for Obama
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Home / News / New Press Secretary Was Made for This Job… Just Look at How She Handled ‘The View’
New Press Secretary Was Made for This Job… Just Look at How She Handled ‘The View’
Stephanie Grisham, left, who's set to take over as White House press secretary, is not afraid to take on Trump-haters in the media, like "The View" co-host Joy Behar, right.
A tweet Tuesday from Melania Trump made it pretty clear that the first lady’s spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, will take over as White House press secretary once Sarah Sanders officially steps down at the end of the month.
Grisham was the odds-on favorite to succeed Sanders as the chief spokeswoman for President Donald Trump and the White House.
And for good reason too.
She’s been on Trump’s team since 2015, has performed brilliantly as the first lady’s spokeswoman since early 2017 and has a decidedly no-nonsense attitude when it comes to dealing with the predominately liberal Trump-hating establishment media.
One example of this came in March, after the president and first lady traveled to Alabama to pay their respects to the dead and offer condolences to survivors following a devastating and deadly tornado.
Photos from that trip had given rise to an on-again, off-again online conspiracy theory claiming the first lady has a body double.
It’s an absurd conspiracy, but one the co-hosts of ABC’s “The View” gleefully entertained.
“Some people think the first lady is using an impostor to stand in for her,” co-host Joy Behar said, according to USA Today.
“You mean there are two women who have to pretend they’re listening to [President Trump]?”
Ryan Saavedra
✔@RealSaavedra
ABC's "The View" promotes the conspiracy theory that Melania Trump has a body double
10:25 PM - Mar 11, 2019
2,674 people are talking about this
Grisham had the perfect response to that segment.
She tweeted, “.@flotus & @potus traveled to Alabama to pay their respects & comfort victims of the tornado devastation.”
“In typical fashion, @theview chooses to laugh in the face of tragedy. Shameful.”
Stephanie Grisham
✔@StephGrisham45
.@flotus & @potus traveled to Alabama to pay their respects & comfort victims of the tornado devastation. In typical fashion, @theview chooses to laugh in the face of tragedy. Shameful. https://twitter.com/TheView/status/1105126079415562241 …
✔@TheView
FAKE MELANIA CONSPIRACIES RETURN: The internet is buzzing again with theories that first lady Melania Trump is using an imposter to stand in for her — the co-hosts investigate. http://abcn.ws/2CcjBVI
Grisham more thoroughly excoriated the Trump-hating co-hosts of “The View” in an emailed statement to USA Today.
“I’ve always found it sad that a group of women spend so much time attacking another woman, whose only goal is to help children,” she said.
“Yesterday’s show went beyond the petty, mean-girl spirit that we’ve grown accustomed to,” she added, referring to the show’s tendency to constantly mock and belittle the first lady.
Behar meanwhile, had said in reference to the conspiracy theory about the first lady’s alleged body double, “When there’s a rumor like this, and memes all over the place, I think it catches on because there’s an element of truth to the idea that she doesn’t want to spend time with him.”
The co-hosts ultimately decided after some discussion that the theory was most likely untrue.
Still, co-host Ana Navarro joked that the “political reality is so absurd, you would almost believe anything. I think this is crazy and it’s absurd, but it’s also funny.”
But Grisham didn’t find any it particularly humorous.
“People died, people lost family and people are hurting in Alabama,” she told USA Today.
“I watched the President and First Lady hug, listen to and comfort people who had lost everything. The ladies of The View really should consider devoting that air time to helping people,” she added.
It’s worth noting that this wasn’t the first time Grisham took on the hateful co-hosts of “The View” in defense of the first lady.
Check out this brief September segment from the CBS program “Inside Edition,” which aired after Grisham slammed the “The View” co-hosts as “disrespectful” and “hypocritical” for mocking the first lady’s accent.
Grisham has tangled with the media countless times over the past couple of years, whether it be fending off criticism of the first lady’s attire, attacks against her young son Barron or scurrilous commentary about the first lady’s career history or marriage to the president.
Given her experience, fearlessness and high standards, there is little doubt that Grisham will make an excellent press secretary.
New Press Secretary Was Made for This Job… Just Look at How She Handled ‘The View’ Reviewed by STATION GOSSIP on 09:50 Rating: 5
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Tony Rodriguez's illustration of Robin Coste Lewis for the October 19th issue of the New Yorker. Tony was hired to illustrate the poet for the magazine's Book Review.
Art Director : Chris Curry
"My recent work for The New Yorker was for the release of Robin Coste Lewis’s poetry collection. I wanted to convey a “Now’s the time” vibe. It’s Lewis’s time, it’s her work, it’s her stories on Western depictions of black women that are readily available for the public. Lewis needed to look powerful, certain, proud, and humble all at once. The pose played a large role in conveying this vibe." Tony Rodriguez
View The Article
Sullivan Moore Illustration Agency November 12, 2015
Sullivan Moore Illustration Agency September 16, 2015
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‘Bowling for Columbine’ speaks Michael Moore’s truth about guns in America
by Greg Fieser · March 15, 2004
Michael Moore shows a victim of gun violence in ‘Bowling for Columbine’
[rating=4]Starring: Michael Moore
Director(s): Michael Moore
Writer(s): Michael Moore
Michael Moore, purveyor of such stirring works as Roger and Me and TV Nation, does it again giving America a hard dose of reality with his new film Bowling for Columbine. This is Mr. Moore’s investigation into America’s obsession with guns and violence.
His impetus for doing this project was the tragic shooting that occurred at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado in the spring of 1999. Two young boys, alienated by their peers and fed a steady diet of television and media violence, entered their school armed with shotguns and other weapons. They were determined to make others suffer as they felt they had suffered, killing several students and injuring several more before taking their own lives. Mr. Moore takes his reason for doing this film, and the film’s name itself, from this unique American tragedy.
Americans are killing each other at an outrageous, epidemic pace. Bowling for Columbine explores all aspects of American violence and our love affair with the gun. This is a documentary of the most frightening kind. Mr. Moore takes us into the ranks of a Wisconsin militia and uncovers the paranoia and destructive insecurity therein. Men dressed in full battle camouflage trudge through the frozen Mid-west taking target practice with semi-automatic weapons and preparing for the invisible boogiemen they’re positive are lurking just beyond the woods.
While I wouldn’t call these men educated, they have at least graduated high school and can hold down full time jobs. They talk about owning and carrying guns as their god-given right, referring several times to the second amendment — the right to bear arms. In fact, this is a pervasive theme throughout the film. All these people confuse the privilege of owning and operating firearms with the inexplicable right to do so.
Men are not the only victims of this delusion. Mr. Moore speaks to women in this encampment, too, who voice the need to protect themselves with guns. Not pistols, mind you, but semi-automatic assault weapons capable of discharging hundreds of rounds per second. The irony is not lost on us that while one woman describes her fear and the need to protect her family from invisible monsters, her two-year-old daughter plays child-like with a rifle twice her size. He doesn’t set out to portray these people as jingoistic slobs, he just lets them talk and they do it themselves.
Lest you think this film is a dry, uptight representation of this subject, Mr. Moore infuses much humor and tongue-in-cheek commentary to lighten the somewhat heavy subject matter. One of the most hilarious and yet hard-hitting segments is a three-minute cartoon written by Mr. Moore that describes the history of America. Narrated by a singing, dancing bullet, the animated short is an encapsulation of America’s history-born out of fear and continually controlled by it. The Puritans left their homes with fear of persecution and founded a country with fear of retribution. The short takes us through the massacre of the Native Americans to slavery, racism, and the eventual paranoid reality of segregated suburban communities. It is as concise a history as I’ve ever seen and not something they teach in school. It will make you think, and rightly so. All of our actions are fear based and until we eradicate that irrational and dangerous notion that someone is always out to get us, we will never be free.
Michael Moore talks it up in ‘Bowling for Columbine’
Fear is a controlling factor in our society and this film shows that it’s an almost exclusively American proclivity. Mr. Moore takes us to Windsor, Canada, the neighbor of Detroit, and explores their beliefs about violence and fear. While Detroit, at the time, had a murder rate of close to 400 people a year, Windsor was knocking on the door of four. Most of the residents of Windsor that were interviewed couldn’t even remember the last murder that took place. In fact, the police chief sited the last murder to be nearly a year before, and that, he said, was committed by a Detroit resident who had crossed the river.
Mr. Moore juxtaposes images of American gated communities and high-tech security with shots of friendly Canadians who not only don’t have security alarms, but who don’t even lock their door. As an experiment, he actually goes to a fairly urban part of town and starts opening doors to people’s houses. People there don’t lock their doors when they’re home. He walked in on several people who where not only unperturbed by this intrusion, but were downright friendly about it. Try that in Detroit.
Why was this? Why were Canadians so fearless in there daily lives? The answer seems to lie in the media. Clips of Canadian news programs reveal not one hint of violence. Their news was focused on — surprise — news. They talked about events happening on a world stage. They talked about cultural events and social concerns — not one whiff of murder or destructiveness.
By contrast, the clips of American news shows were littered with violence. The top story is almost always involving death or brutality. Bowling for Columbine is peppered throughout with interesting and disturbing statistics. The most surprising was this; while over the past twenty years as the murder rate in America has declined by over twenty percent, the coverage of it has risen by six-hundred percent. Less people are being killed than ever before, but the media doesn’t reflect that. To the average viewer, it appears that murder is at an all time high.
Why does the media perpetuate this horrible idea? Well in a word, because it sells. Murder sells and the media has to survive so in the desperate search for ratings they breed fear and paranoia. Murder isn’t the only thing the media memorializes. In their attempt to keep us tuned in, they prey on all our fears of death. If it’s not about murders and rapes, it’s about killer bees or super viruses. The media even tries to make us afraid of the weather-killer storms, killer floods, killer winds. This only makes us a society filled with fear. Living in fear of everything and feeling helpless and inadequate we turn to extreme measures to protect ourselves.
The media is playing on our fears to make a buck. It is infuriating and dangerous.
These dangerous mindsets permeate into the heart of our society. This is a country run by rich old white men. Why is it the group with the most power, the most money, and the most freedom has the biggest fears? It’s the irrational fear of losing it all. If you’re always afraid you are going to lose all your “stuff” I guess you’ll protect it however you can. This is made poignantly clear when Michael Moore finally tracks down Charleton Heston. Mr. Moore has been trying to talk to Mr. Heston the entire film and when he finally encounters him, it’s a sad reality about the people who are running this country. Mr. Heston is the head of the N.R.A., the National Rifle Association — a huge lobby in Washington, and after the tragic deaths at Columbine High School he insisted on having an N.R.A. rally in Denver that same week.
Why, Mr. Moore wanted to know, did Mr. Heston continue such an insensitive crusade? Mr. Heston replied that it was his right to bear arms and no one was going to stop him. He never apologized for his actions nor was he able to see how, given his position, he could have actually helped by condemning the actions of those young boys. As they spoke, it became increasingly obvious that Mr. Heston is a confused, pathetic, scared old man who is close to the edge of his own sanity. While sitting in his palatial hilltop home above Hollywood behind secured gates and high walls, Mr. Heston said that he had several guns in the house and that most of them were, surprisingly, loaded — “just in case.”
When Mr. Moore spoke about children being killed and hinted that Mr. Heston had a responsibility to help turn over some of our too-liberal gun laws, he became disoriented spitting incoherent and racist platitudes, rudely and abruptly ending the interview. His only quotable line was “it was good enough for those old white guys who founded this country and it is good enough for me.”
That’s the problem. As Mr. Moore left his house, he placed a picture of a six-year-old white girl who had been shot and killed by a classmate who found his uncle’s gun and brought it to school. The shot of this sweet little girl propped up against the barricaded front door of Charleton Heston is one of the most touching and moving moments of this film.
I loved this film. I think every person in America should see this film. I think parents should see it with their children and discuss it later. While everyone may not agree with Mr. Moore’s hard-hitting, no apologies type of filmmaking, the subject matter is one that must be explored.
America has a murder rate that is larger than all industrialized countries put together. Over 11,000 Americans are killed each year, and as the population rises, this statistic will inevitably rise as well. This film is educational and necessary for so many who don’t know or don’t think that there is a problem. We need to be shaken out of our complacency, and a no-holds-barred reality check like Bowling for Columbine is just the medicine this ailing country needs.
Rated: R
Run Time: 2 hrs.
Tags: Greg FieserMichael Moore
Greg Fieser
Greg Fieser is an actor and a writer. Currently he is working on two screenplays and his one man show.
Michael Moore’s ‘Where to Invade Next’ will make you think
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Started By Traveler, Oct 12 2018 10:06 PM
The Office of the Special Counsel is looking into sliminess concerning Trump and the Saudi nuclear deal.
One of the government’s top investigative agencies has looked at allegations of potential wrongdoing by individuals in the Trump administration about their planning of a nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia, according to two individuals with knowledge of the probe.
The line of inquiry is part of a broader investigation in the Office of the Special Counsel—an independent federal investigative and prosecutorial agency—into alleged politically motivated personnel decisions at government offices.
The OSC, which can seek corrective and disciplinary action, is looking at whether officials were retaliated against for raising concerns about the administration’s work related to a Saudi nuclear deal. As part of that investigation, OSC has also reviewed allegations about potentially improper dealings by senior members of the Trump administration in their attempt to map out a nuclear deal with Riyadh, according to two sources with knowledge of OSC’s work.
The details of the OSC probe, previously unreported, are the first indication that a government body other than Congress is investigating matters related to a potential nuclear deal between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. OSC declined to comment on the record for this story.
Meanwhile, there is a growing concern among lawmakers on Capitol Hill about U.S.-Saudi relations, especially following the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Those concerns were heightened by a report issued by Rep. Elijah Cummings in February that outlined allegations about efforts inside the White House to rush the transfer of highly sensitive U.S. nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia—a potential violation of the Atomic Energy Act and without review by Congress.
The Cummings report said IP3—a firm that includes former top military officers, diplomats, and energy experts—had developed a proposal for Saudi Arabia that was simply “a scheme for these generals to make some money.” That report said former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn had ties to the firm during his time working in the Trump administration.
Sources with direct knowledge of the IP3 plans today say the firm is focused on providing security for nuclear-related projects and in finding ways to compete with Russia and China to secure those projects throughout the Middle East.
In the wake of the Cummings announcement, The Daily Beast reported that U.S. companies and officials in the administration were moving forward in their conversations with Riyadh about a nuclear deal and the transfer of nuclear technology.
I wonder how long the House of Saud will be able to keep the crazies bottled up once they have access to nuclear material. And I wonder how long the religious crazies in Saudi Arabia are going to stay away from Israel.
#82 JackD
LocationChicago area
And the religious or otherwise crazies in Israel staying away from Iran. Of course their preference is for us to do it.
Russia, China, and now the U.S. are all rushing to sell nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia. Our world is f***ed.
In the race to supply nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia, U.S. companies are playing catch-up.
Executives in the industry and American officials told The Daily Beast that despite the Trump administration pushing for a deal with Riyadh, the U.S. nuclear energy sector is behind its competitors, notably Russia and China, when it comes to developing and exporting technology for major international projects.
To get ahead, U.S. companies are mulling over whether to turn a consortium of companies—which some have dubbed “Team USA”—into one that includes foreigners, namely state-run energy firms from South Korea, in an attempt to strengthen its bid in Saudi Arabia.
If the plan comes to fruition, experts say it could offer U.S. companies a greater chance of securing contracts in Saudi Arabia and beating out Russia and China—one of the administration's main economic goals. But the possibility of such a deal has raised concerns among officials in the Trump administration that it may also limit the U.S. government’s ability to ensure Saudi Arabia adheres to certain nuclear safeguards.
The Trump administration, whose officials have publicly said they are pushing Saudi Arabia to commit to the highest standards of inspection and verification—also known as the “gold standard”—have raised the question of whether the partnership with South Korea might help American companies clinch a deal without the U.S. signing a formal cooperation deal with Saudi known as a “123 Agreement.”
The U.S. Atomic Energy Act requires the U.S. sign the 123 Agreement with countries it plans to cooperate with on nuclear energy and sets forth conditions and controls to govern nuclear commercial transactions.
That's great but remember that Trump is pushing for LESS regulation on the nuclear industry. How quickly would that roll over to his friends who are going to help him build a big, fat hotel after he's out of office?
Well, that'll discourage the Iranians from working on a weapon.
JackD, on 15 April 2019 - 09:47 AM, said:
Rhetorical question?
Rhetorical question? No, snark.
If only the Dear Leader could get away with the kind of rule his friends provide
Wait until after he's re-elected in 2020
The Saudis purchased another Republican.
A senior Republican congressman urged fellow lawmakers to continue supporting the Saudi Arabia-led war in Yemen, by reading a Saudi lobbyist’s talking points verbatim.
Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), who chaired the House Foreign Relations Committee from 2013 until earlier this year, made speech in November 2017 warning that Iran could gain a foothold in the Arabian Gulf nation through Houthi rebels, reported The Intercept.
“Part of the problem here is the leaders of the Houthi militia were indoctrinated in Qom, in Iran, as part of an Iranian attempt to construct a Hezbollah-like proxy in Yemen,” Royce said.
That controversial line, like most of his speech, had been written by a lobbyist for Saudi Arabia.
Two Saudi oil tankers were attacked as well as several UAE cargo ships. This sounds like Bolton's perfect excuse for war even though there's absolutely no reasonable "use case" for Iran to be behind these attacks.
Saudi Arabia said on Monday that two of its oil tankers had been sabotaged off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, in attacks it described as posing a threat to the security of global oil supplies.
Tensions have risen in the oil-rich region in recent weeks amid the deployment of a growing number of United States military assets to the Middle East due to deteriorating relations with Iran.
On Thursday, the US Maritime Administration issued an advisory warning that "Iran or its proxies" could be targeting commercial vessels and oil production infrastructure in the region.
One of the two Saudi vessels was on its way to be loaded with Saudi crude oil from the port of Ras Tanura, to be delivered to customers in the US, Saudi Arabia's state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported Monday.
While the agency didn't mention casualties or oil spills, it did say there had been "significant damage to the structures of the two vessels."
On Sunday, the UAE said that four commercial cargo ships were targeted by "sabotage operations" off its eastern coast. The apparent sabotage took place near to UAE territorial waters in the Gulf of Oman, east of the emirate of Fujairah, the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said.
It is unclear if the ships mentioned by Saudi Arabia and the UAE are part of the same incident.
The UAE ministry did not elaborate on the nature of the alleged sabotage, or offer any indication as to who might be responsible, including whether it was carried out by individuals or a larger group or country.
The UAE ministry said authorities were working with local and international bodies to investigate the incident, which it described as a "dangerous development." It said there were no injuries or deaths.
"The international community (needs to) assume its responsibilities to prevent any parties trying to undermine the security and safety of maritime traffic," the ministry said.
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Seyyed Abbas Mousavi said on Monday that the incidents were "alarming and regrettable," and requested further information on the alleged sabotage.
The Iran spokesman warned against "plots by ill-wishers to disrupt regional security" and called for "vigilance of regional states in the face of any adventurism by foreign elements."
Who cares about a f***ing dead tortured journalist when there's money to be made!
The Trump administration approved the transfer of nuclear expertise to Saudi Arabia just two weeks after Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) revealed Tuesday.
Kaine, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement that the administration’s first nuclear technical expertise transfer approval occurred on Dec. 13, 2017, one of seven such approvals. Notably, two occurred after Khashoggi’s death: One on October 18, 2018, “16 days after Khashoggi’s murder,” Kaine noted, and another on Feb. 18, 2019.
Kaine’s office said that he’d “repeatedly” asked the Department of Energy for information on the administration’s apporovals of nuclear expertise transfers to Saudi Arabia, but that the department only responded after “an explicit directive” from Committee Chairman James Risch (R-ID).
“I have serious questions about whether any decisions on nuclear transfers were made based on the Trump family’s financial ties rather than the interests of the American people,” Kaine said in his statement, adding that the nuclear expertise transfers approved after Khashogghi’s murder “add[] to a disturbing pattern of behavior”:
“that includes citing a bogus emergency to bypass a Congressional block on arms sales to the Saudis, continuing support for the disastrous war in Yemen over Congressional objections, turning a blind eye to the regime’s detention of women’s rights activists, and refusing to comply with the Global Magnitsky Act to reach a determination about the Saudi government’s responsibility for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.”
Khashoggi’s death was the catalyst for a sea change in Congress regarding relations with Saudi Arabia. In March this year, President Donald Trump issued his second veto after both congressional chambers passed a measure to end American involvement in the Saudi-led war in Yemen.
In February, the Trump administration refused to meet a deadline put forth by a bipartisan group of senators under the Global Magnitsky Act. The deadline required the administration to determine whether the administration believed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman was involved with Khashoggi’s murder.
Last month, citing the “fundamental threat” posed by Iranian “malign activity,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo informed Congress that the administration was bypassing congressional review for billions in arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
Larison lays out the utter failure of the attempted blockage of Qatar by Saudi Arabia and the UAE. And through it all they played Trump like the chump that he is, likely just dangling a big real estate deal in front of his nose to make him dance like a poodle looking for a treat.
The Saudis and the UAE, together with Egypt and Bahrain, attempted to intimidate and coerce Qatar into abandoning its relatively independent foreign policy and curtailing its activities in the region that displeased them. The total failure to force Qatar to make any concessions provides more evidence that “maximum pressure” campaigns combined with maximalist, unreasonable demands cannot achieve any of their goals. When a state sees its own sovereignty and independence threatened by hostile foreign powers, its natural response is usually to defy its attackers and look for support from elsewhere. The lesson for the Trump administration’s own misguided, destructive “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran is only too obvious.
As Cristol says, the blockade has backfired about as badly as a policy can. The Saudi-led bloc considered Qatar to be too friendly with Iran and Turkey, but in squeezing the emirate they pushed them deeper into the embrace of both. Iran has been happy to take advantage of yet another Saudi/Emirati blunder by providing supplies to replenish Qatari stores and airspace to allow air travel and cargo deliveries to continue without interruption. Turkey has strengthened its ties with Qatar, and at the outset of the crisis sent troops. The blockade has not been without its costs and disruptions, but Qatar has found alternatives that have allowed it to sustain itself and even to flourish.
The Qatar crisis stemmed from longstanding disagreements between Qatar and its neighbors, but it took place when it did as a result of Trump’s clueless support in the wake of his embarrassing visit to Riyadh in May 2017. The administration has backed away from the president’s initial enthusiastic cheerleading for the blockade over the last two years, but the Saudis and Emiratis can still rely on the White House to back them. That was the first time that the president proved to be an exceptionally easy mark for the Saudi and Emirati governments, and it wouldn’t be the last. We have seen it happen again and again as the president has echoed their talking points on Yemen, backed their war despite broad Congressional opposition, thrown his support behind their proxy in Libya, and abused his power to expedite arms sales to them. The president has consistently sided with these governments over the last two years, and every single time he has done so he has been wrong and it has put the interests of despotic clients ahead of the interests of the United States.
The blockade of Qatar also reconfirmed that Mohammed bin Salman had become a reckless regional menace together with his counterpart from Abu Dhabi, Mohamed bin Zayed. Not only have the Saudis and Emiratis been devastating and starving Yemen, but they have been sowing instability and threatening their other neighbors. Like the failed war on Yemen, the failed blockade of Qatar has shown the crown prince to be both thuggish and inept, and our government’s support for both has been harmful to the region and to U.S. interests.
As is always the case when Trump is involved, things are worse than they first appeared.
The New York Times reports that Trump’s bogus arms sales “emergency” is even more of a giveaway to Saudi Arabia than we suspected:
When the Trump administration declared an emergency last month and fast-tracked the sale of more American arms to Saudi Arabia, it did more than anger members of Congress who opposed the sale on humanitarian grounds.
It also raised concerns that the Saudis could gain access to technology that would let them produce their own versions of American precision-guided bombs — weapons they have used in strikes on civilians since they began fighting a war in Yemen four years ago.
The emergency authorization allows Raytheon Company, a top American defense firm, to team with the Saudis to build high-tech bomb parts in Saudi Arabia. That provision, which has not been previously reported, is part of a broad package of information the administration released this week to Congress.
The move grants Raytheon and the Saudis sweeping permission to begin assembling the control systems, guidance electronics and circuit cards that are essential to the company’s Paveway smart bombs. The United States has closely guarded such technology for national security reasons [bold mine-DL].
The president has abused his power to expedite these arms sales, and in this case he is also giving away technology to the Saudis that will enable them to build more of the weapons they have used to slaughter thousands of Yemeni civilians. The Trump administration is apparently so desperate to cater to the Saudi government that it is willing to give them things that our government usually doesn’t share. Jarrett Blanc comments on the report:
Proliferation of sensitive production technologies to poorly controlling clients is a terrible idea. We should be working diplomatically to get Iran to do _less_ of this sort of nonsense, not doing more of it ourselves. So of course, current management… https://t.co/jAJcFuerRY
— Jarrett Blanc (@JarrettBlanc) June 7, 2019
Arming the war criminals in Riyadh is shameful, circumventing Congress to do it over their objections is obnoxious, and handing the Saudis U.S. technology is irresponsible. This move also makes a mockery of the president’s lame job creation justification for selling so many weapons to the Saudis:
Even elite status Trumpsucker Little Lindsey Graham has a limit. Well, in rhetoric anyway. We'll see how he votes ... IF it's allowed to get to a vote (doubtful).
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), one of President Donald Trump’s staunchest allies in Congress, supports taking away some of Trump’s emergency powers in the wake of the administration’s arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
In May, the Trump administration claimed that the “fundamental threat” posed by Iran allowed officials to bypass congressional review of a $8.1 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia.
“Do away with the emergency exception,” Graham told the Washington Post on Wednesday. “I would not have agreed to that before, but after this maneuver by the administration, count me in.”
Before claiming the emergency exception, Trump had vetoed Congress’ bipartisan resolution to stop supporting Saudi Arabia’s military campaign in Yemen, a campaign that’s caused a humanitarian crisis in the region.
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Worthy, Sampson Inducted Into Hall of Fame
National Championship winnerJames Worthy of North Carolina and three-time Naismith Award winner Ralph Sampson of Virginia were part of an eight-member class inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame on Sunday night.
Sampson is still considered one of the greatest players in college history, one of three to win three straight consensus player of the year awards. The 7-foot-4 Sampson helped Virginia to the Final Four in 1981, and was the first pick in the 1983 draft. He played nine seasons in the NBA before back problems and knee injuries forced him to retire.
Worthy led the Tar Heels of Dean Smith to two Final Fours and the 1982 championship, when he scored 28 points in a victory over Georgetown. He was selected first by the Los Angeles Lakers in the draft, and would become a seven-time All-Star and play on three NBA title teams.
“The success that we’ve had, the people have made it possible for us—I appreciate being appreciated,” Worthy said, “and it’s an honor to be inducted with all of you.”
Sampson said, "I coulda been a great point guard."*
*Items in italics may not be true.
Labels: ACC Basketball, North Carolina, Virginia
Saturday ACC Football Scoreboard
Rivalry Day
Black Friday ACC Basketball
Thanksgiving ACC Basketball
Boston College 24, Miami 17
Some Pre-game Football Links
Things That Make You Go...
Thanksgiving Eve ACC Basketball
Things That Make You Go…
ACC Tuesday Night Basketball
ACC Football Links
Penn State Scandal Update
Ridiculous Penn State Scandal Quote Of The Day
Dear Mr. Snyder
ACC Monday Night Hoops
ACC Players Of The Week
ACC Football: In-State Rivalry Week
Sunday ACC Basketball
Surprising Wahoos Are Now Ranked
Maryland Wins Second Straight Field Hockey Nationa...
BCS Quote Of The Day
Former Hokie Quote Of The Day
ACC (Crazy) Saturday Football
ACC Saturday Basketball
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Neighborhood Partnership announces $10K donation
July 14, 2017 at 12:00a.m.
Chemical Bank has donated $10,000 to a local jobs program that employs area residents to help revitalize neighborhoods, the Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership announced Thursday.
“We at Chemical Bank are devoted to the growth and development of the communities we serve,” said Ky Pegues, Chemical Bank Community Reinvestment Act market manager, in a statement. “TNP does an excellent job of renovating and revitalizing Warren neighborhoods.”
The “Building a Better Warren” program hires low- and moderate-income workers to work on tasks such as property rehabilitation and ongoing property maintenance, according to a news release. The program also partners with the Trumbull County Land Reutilization Corporation to help rehabilitate properties in the land corporation’s inventory.
“This program is all about putting our residents to work in quality, year-round jobs with revitalizing our neighborhoods,” said TNP Executive Director Matt Martin. “We have merged the need for blight remediation with the need for meaningful workforce development, and we have leveraged multiple resources and partnerships to create this opportunity.”
The program offers health coverage to employees after 90 days of full-time employment.
June 4, 2012 12:05 a.m.
$350K grant, new leader to help Warren clean up blight
July 5, 2016 12:04 a.m.
Trolley will take visitors to the Garden District for walking/riding tours
October 10, 2017 12:05 a.m.
Donations replace popular basketball hoop in Warren community garden
January 8, 2018 12:05 a.m.
Trumbull tax foreclosures hit record in 2017, paving way for more housing demolitions
March 26, 2016 11:18 a.m.
TNP announces award recipients
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GIRLS ON THE HOMEFRONT: A Toronto Girls' School 1894-1945
Creator(s): Havergal College Archives
Founded in 1894, Havergal College remains one of Toronto's most well-known high school for girls. What may be unfamiliar, however, are the evangelical roots of the school- an emphasis on a gendered sense of empire and foreign missionary activity. In Girls on the Homefront, snapshots of daily life at Havergal from the beginning of the First World War to the end of the Second World War show how students were ingrained with a sense of duty to the British Empire and to Canada during war efforts. As a school that was first established on Toronto's fashionable Jarvis Street then later moved to the growing suburb of North Toronto, Havergal is also a study in the evolution of Toronto's upper middle class. This Community Memories Exhibit explores the nineteenth-century roots of the school, the development of North Toronto and comparative war-time educational practices of other local schools.
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Connecting communities to healthcare in Tanzania
Trans Tanz is a charitable organisation founded in 2006 and registered in both Tanzania (14756) and the United Kingdom (1117510).
Our mission statement is to provide support and access to healthcare for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH) in Tanzania.
We are a small organisation, set up in 2006 by a group of friends who wanted to help community based organisations in Tanzania respond to the problem of HIV/AIDS. We are entirely dependent on donations to support our work.
We have been operating a project in Bagamoyo region since 2007 to provide free access for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) to access antiretroviral (ARV) drugs. These are available without charge but many poor Tanzanian’s living with HIV/AIDS are unable to afford the cost of public transport to access them. We work with the local health system - our patients are seen by fully qualified doctors employed by the Tanzanian health system and our services work alongside peer educators supported through a national network. We support over 200 patients every month and have supported hundreds more over the last decade.
Trans Tanz has built strong on the ground relationships with partner and with Government and has established a reputation as an innovative and respected organisation. We are keen to demonstrate that transport based services can reduce barriers to accessing healthcare for PLWH.
From 2007 to 2016 we provided a free bus service that patients could use to attend their monthly clinic day. In 2016 we began to work in a new way - reimbursing the costs of patients attending the clinic. We made this change because:
It means we can help more patients as we are not constrained by the capacity of our bus
It gives the patients more autonomy and control over their health
We are not reliant on one vehicle
This model is more cost effective per patient
We get better monitoring data as a result
Advances in technology mean we can now administer payments through the mobile phone network - which wasn't possible when we started 10 years ago
You can see where we operate on the map below. The clinic's we support are at Miono (the red pin) and Mbwewe. We take patients from all over the northern part of the district - from Sadaani on the coast to Kibindu inland as well as from many villages too small to be on google maps!
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Tour Operators The move is in line with the country’s bid for barrier-free tourism.
DOT accredits 13 new deaf tour guides
By Travel Weekly Asia / December 06, 2018
Sign language. Photo Credit: Stockbyte/Getty Images
The accreditation was in line with the DOT's bid for barrier-free tourism that also caters to the needs of persons with disabilities (PWDs) traveling around the country.
Thirteen new deaf tour guides, who underwent training in March, were accredited this month, the Department of Tourism (DOT) said.
All tour guides accredited were members of the Deafinite Tour Guiding Service (DTGS), a non-profit professional organisation consisting of deaf tour guides committed to deaf identity.
For their first official gig as accredited tour guides, they shepherded 30 students from the Philippine School for the Deaf to Manila’s historical spots, including Rizal Park, National Museum, and Fort Santiago.
The special tour was initiated by the DOT-Office of Industry Manpower Development (OIMB), in partnership with the De La Salle College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB), one of the Philippines’ top colleges.
Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat stressed that having tour guides with knowledge of sign language and an understanding of the services needed by PWDs "is a must under the DOT’s thrust for barrier-free tourism."
"Not only will this provide quality service to tourists with special needs, but more importantly, this will create opportunities, which are the very essence of an inclusive tourism industry,” she said.
Puyat said the DOT seeks to conduct more training programs in partnership with the National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA).
“We’re working with the National Council on Disability Affairs. We’re identifying areas, where there is a notable number of population of deaf and mute,” she said.
Earlier this year, the DOT initiated an inter-agency consultation to address the facilities and infrastructure lacking in the country’s tourism establishments.
One of the identified challenges is the small number of service providers, who have the skills to communicate with local and foreign tourists who are deaf.
At present, only 27 deaf tour guides have passed the training process of the DOT-OIMD.
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Travel Weekly Newsletters
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2010: AMC'S 'WALKING DEAD' STARTS WALKING By David Bianculli
On this day in 2010, AMC used the occasion of Halloween night to unveil The Walking Dead, its new drama series about a world suddenly overrun by zombies...
HOW TO KEEP THE WORLD FROM CREATING 'SINKING CITIES' By David Hinckley
We all speculate from time to time about what cities like New York, Tokyo, London, and Miami will look like in the future. This produces a wide range of dreams and visions, among which we usually find a consensus on at least one point: We don’t want them to look like Atlantis...
TELL ME A STORY By David Bianculli
SERIES PREMIERE: Developed by Kevin Williamson of Dawson’s Creek and Scream fame, this new CBS All Access series transplants and freely adapts familiar fairy tales into modern-day New York. This first season, unfurled weekly, the inspirations are Little Red Riding Hood (take that, The Deuce!), The Three Little Pigs and Hansel and Gretel. Stars include Billy Magnussen, James Wolk, Spencer Grammer (in left at picture) and Kim Cattrall. The opening episode is moody but vague – the openi
VINCENT PRICE MARATHON By David Bianculli
What better way to spend Halloween night than to wallow in some vintage Vincent Price horror films? (Answer: There are few better ways. The Price is right – and in terms of holiday wallowing, consider it Walloween.) The evening begins at 8 p.m. ET with 1953’s House of Wax, continues at 9:45 p.m. ET with 1961’s The Pit and the Pendulum, and keeps going with 1964’s The Masque of the Red Death (11:15 p.m. ET) and 1959’s House on Haunted Hill (1 a.m. ET). And saving the
AMERICAN HORROR STORY: APOCALYPSE By David Bianculli
Halloween is a fitting night to check in with a series called American Horror Story – even if this current season, Apocalypse, is apocryphal, at least in a biblical sense. Especially since one of this year’s villains has just outed himself as the Antichrist. (Which reminds me of that old, irreverent Biff Rose ditty, “Uncle Jesus and Antichrist.” But I digress…
THE CONNERS By David Bianculli
One of the most anticipated elements of the original Roseanne series was the annual Halloween episode, in which the Conner family costumes and antics got more and more inventive over the years. In tonight’s episode, the first Halloween outing for the show’s spinoff sequel series, the tradition continues. Matthew Broderick guest stars, and shows up in costume. But if Roseanne herself is part of this show, it will be more of a haunting.
THIS IS US By David Bianculli
Tonight’s new episode is called “Gold Star,” and hands two types of heartbreak to one of its main characters.
FRONTLINE: "THE FACEBOOK DILEMMA" By David Bianculli
Part 2 of 2. This very timely look at the impact and civic responsibility of Facebook concludes. For a full review, see Alex Strachan’s TV That Matters. Check local listings.
1958: 'CONCENTRATION' GOES PRIMETIME By TV WW
On this day in 1958, NBC's fledgling daytime game show, Concentration, was added to the network's prime-time lineup as a temporary replacement for Twenty-One...
1956: NBC PREMIERES 'THE HUNTLEY-BRINKLEY REPORT' By TV WW
On this day in 1956, NBC introduced the evening news program, The Huntley-Brinkley Report...
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March 27, 2019 April 29, 2019 By The Wandering Vegan
I previously had no idea that Eritrea had been an Italian colony part of Mussolini’s “New Roman Empire”, until the planning stages of this trip. It was crazy seeing this mix of old Italian stuff in Africa with such a mash-up of cultures.
From Juba, it was through Addis again and on to Asmara, capital of Eritrea. This border crossing between Ethiopia and Eritrea had been closed for a long time after the civil war that led to Eritrea becoming independent (6th youngest country in the world at present), so most of Eritrea had been essentially trapped in their homeland for a long time. Crazy.
I arrived and went to my hotel, the Albergo Italia, one of the oldest hotels in the city and built in classic Italian marble styles. It could use some upkeep, but it was super cool. Checked in and walked around a bit before dinner in their (of course) Italian restaurant in the hotel.
From there, I walked down the main street just to see what was going on.
ATMs and credit cards 100% don’t work in Eritrea, so I walked around to 5 different Western Union locations until I found one actually operating to pick up the money drop I’d set up. That was a great tip from a travel forum recently: if you’re going to places without reliable ATMs, set up WU before you get there. If you wind up not needing it, cancel for a small fee to get your money back.
Anywho, I got a basic feel and then negotiated a taxi to take me out to the Military Vehicle Graveyard at the edge of the city. Wow, was this crazy!
From here, I walked over to the orthodox church and was interested in the fact that the women all stood outside during the singing and praying (seeking relief in the shade) while the men were praying inside the church. There was a speaker system for the women outside.
The sounds of their chanting were pretty cool, though.
More walking, more “I can’t believe there’s a white dude walking!” faces, and more of my mind being blown.
Look at that old Fiat service station!
Seriously, walking through Asmara at times felt like being in Hollywood but maybe in the 1960s. Palm trees, warm weather, some classic cars…oh, then you see an Eritrean person and realize you’re in the Horn of Africa, and the mixture is super interesting.
Of course, I stopped in an old Catholic church where EVERYthing is in Italian still.
Outside, there was a guy selling old coins from Italian Eritrea, and I was really interested in seeing them, but I wasn’t interested in his $25 per coin price.
It had dawned on me at the church that the only white people I was seeing in Asmara were at my hotel, inside this church, and then the guy I saw going into this Jewish temple.
I continued walking, the only foreigner, feeling welcome and super safe, lots of smiles from everyone. The current generation was definitely taking English at school, no longer Italian, but I did encounter some elderly people who assumed “white=Italian” and tried speaking to me in Italian.
Passing through the market to the mosque.
And then look at these government buildings!
Asmara is amazing.
For dinner, I got a tip to check out Ghibabo, a restaurant super popular with the locals that also has a huge vegetarian section of the menu. I got the mixed plate of Eritrean traditional foods and ate until I was stuffed. I was out like a light at the hotel.
The next morning, I was up early and walked up to the Enda Mariam Orthodox Church, which was PACKED. Well, the courtyard, anyway. The doors were closed.
From here, I walked up to the Medebar Market.
I had never heard of this place and appreciated the tip. Wow. Just banging and banging and banging. All kinds of metal, scrap metal, new stuff, sheet metal, rebar…if you could make something with it, it’s being made here. I was super fascinated. I was also mesmerized by the amount of work being done in flip-flops, no gloves, shorts, t-shirt, no goggles–even while welding. Just close your eyes or look away.
I walked down to the main road to…this place. I still can’t figure out exactly what the history/story of this place is. The main road passes right through it. It’s like half of a stadium, maybe a military parade reviewing area…I have no idea. I couldn’t get anyone to explain it, either.
I got a tip to go look for the bowling alley, so I checked that out. The lanes haven’t been repaired since before I was born, but the people watching here was 2nd-to-none.
There were some guys playing a version of pool I’d never seen before. I watched 3 games and couldn’t figure out the rules at all, and I should’ve asked. There’s a bar and coffee shop in the next room, and that place was packed! with people having afternoon coffee.
Outside, I ran into a guy and his son from the US, but the guy had grown up in Eritrea. His family fled the violence when he was 15, and it was his first time back in the country since then. He said it felt like everything had changed, yet nothing had changed, and that was 35 years prior.
I walked back over to Ghibabo, and it’s definitely empty at lunch time. The manager came and talked to me for a bit, asked me how I’d heard of it, and recommended that I try Kitcha. Kitcha is a pan-fried unleavened bread then coated in a sauce. “Do you like spicy food?” “Sure!” Famous last words. Their definition of spicy is pretty serious.
Kitcha apparently comes with chicken most commonly, but he said I could get it on top of a salad of fresh vegetables, so I burned my mouth and intestines through this delicious spicy tomato sauce-covered bread thing. It was delicious, but I had 3 Cokes during my lunch to go with it.
Back at the hotel, I packed up and took a late afternoon taxi to the airport. Here’s where things became “that’s so Eritrea”.
At the airport to leave, I tried to exchange my Nakfa to something else, like dollars or Euros or pretty much anything, because their money isn’t recognized anywhere beyond exchanges at the land borders.
“We don’t exchange back?”
Uh…what?
“We prefer to keep your dollars. We don’t want your Nakfa.”
AKA: ‘our money sucks, we prefer to keep yours’. You cannot exchange your money back before you leave.
At the cafe at the airport, I had 2 Cokes, a bottle of water, and 2 coffees while I was waiting, and I still left with some Nakfa, but only about 70 cents worth.
Also, the airport security actually unzipped and looked around inside in my clear zip-up bag with a travel toothbrush & toothpaste. Guys…it’s clear. Transparent works the same in your country as mine.
All in all, Eritrea was crazy and mind-blowing in so many ways. It’s definitely a great place to visit.
This entry was posted in Africa, Asmara, Eritrea
Juba, South Sudan – the only country less than 10 years old
N’Djamena, Chad
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Sport Archive
Food co-op looking for new location
By Suzanne | February 3, 2013.
By Tim Shaunnessey
As The Dublin Food Co-op turns 30 this year, the organization is looking for a new home while battling to stay afloat and stay true to its founding principles of supporting organic foods, fair trade and locally produced vegetarian fare.
In 1983, before farmers markets, organic food and vegetarianism were mainstream, the co-op was a pioneering organization that provided food at low cost to its members and served as a hub for food activists.
But economic pressures and disagreement about the co-op’s direction has hamstrung the organization in recent years, leading some to say the co-op has not remained true to its founding values, according to some members.
A major issue the organization faces this year is its facility, located at 12 Newmarket, Dublin 8, said Pirooz Daneshmandi, chairman of the co-op.
The lease the co-op signed back in 2007 came with a hefty price — especially after the economy tanked — and the layout of the building makes loading and unloading products difficult.
“This place isn’t suited for us,” Daneshmandi said. “Ideally, we would like to have our own premises that would belong to us, and we could plan [and run it] exactly as we want.”
So the co-op is shopping around for a new location, with the eventual goal of owning a better-suited facility, he said.
The co-op has a new option up for consideration down the street at Brabazon Roe, Newmarket in Dublin 8.
No matter where the co-op ends up locating, some worry the organization is “in the community but not of it.”
David Moore, who helped with web editing and administration for the co-op between 2009 and 2011, said the organization has isolated itself from the community and abandoned the principles of a true cooperative.
“If you did a straw poll walking around the Liberties and asked even for directions to Dublin Food Co-op, asked [residents] what they knew about Dublin Food Co-op, you’d get a lot of blank faces,” Moore said. “I don’t think it ever really took any steps to engage with the area [or] to build a connection with its community.”
Daneshmandi said the co-op is staying true to its values as best it can, but he said the co-op isn’t as in touch with its neighborhood as he’d like. It’s not clear how many of the approximately 750 co-op members are Liberties residents.
“I’m sure we could improve our relationship with our locality,” he said. “Generally speaking, a lot of our members have been with us for many years, even prior to moving here. We have some work to do in that area still.”
Pauric Cannon, a founding member of the co-op, said the organization has done fine keeping to its core values. He would like to see Liberties residents be deeply involved with the co-op, and for it to serve as an example and inspiration.
There are plenty of voices with suggestions how to go about that. Larry Gordon, a member of the governing board for the co-op, said the objective now is to synthesize it all.
“Lots of people have got a vision,” he said. “We’re in the process of formulating a single vision.”
In March 2012, Moore co-founded a web site that he said serves to provide a platform for additional suggestions as to how the co-op can be improved. Many of his posts criticize the co-op, but he maintained it’s all with the best of intentions.
“The position I took with the web site is criticism,” he said, “but it’s constructive criticism; it’s criticism premised on the belief that the co-op can be better, that it’s fully capable of connecting with its neighborhood. It just needs to decide that’s something that matters.”
Tim Shaunnessey was part of a team of students from Columbia College Chicago who traveled to Ireland to report and write about the Liberties.
McGregor has a chance to make history
An interview with Emma Byrne
Dublin South Central Repeal
The Liber8 Music Project Class of 2019 Graduate at The Digital Hub June 4, 2019
Latest Student Housing Development Causes Concern May 14, 2019
Improvements at the Cabbage Patch Park May 14, 2019
Youth flourishing at exciting Shamrock Rovers Academy May 14, 2019
Celebrating 25 years in business. May 14, 2019
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Black Panther Contest
Win a Copy of 'Black Panther The Album'
February 9, 2018Ben MK
Black Panther The Album, featuring music from Kendrick Lamar, SZA, The Weeknd and more, is available now, and you could win a CD copy!
Marvel Studios’ “Black Panther” follows T’Challa who, after the death of his father, the King of Wakanda, returns home to the isolated, technologically advanced African nation to succeed to the throne and take his rightful place as king. But when a powerful old enemy reappears, T’Challa’s mettle as king — and Black Panther — is tested when he is drawn into a formidable conflict that puts the fate of Wakanda and the entire world at risk. Faced with treachery and danger, the young king must rally his allies and release the full power of Black Panther to defeat his foes and secure the safety of his people and their way of life. — Synopsis provided courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures
Black Panther is in theatres everywhere February 16th, 2018, and Black Panther The Album is available now.
Via Twitter: FOLLOW our Twitter page & RETWEET the Twitter contest post! Click here to enter.
Via Facebook: LIKE & FOLLOW our Facebook page and leave a COMMENT on the Facebook contest post to tell us the name of the song Kendrick Lamar and The Weeknd collaborated on for Black Panther. Click here to enter.
Via Email: EMAIL thereelroundup@gmail.com using the subject line 'Enter Me to Win Black Panther The Album', and provide your full name, email address and mailing address in the body of the email.
Contest open to legal residents of Canada aged 18 years or older at the time of entry, and closes Monday, February 19, 2018 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time. One prize per household. Odds of winning are dependent on the total number of entries received. Winner(s) will be selected at random, and will be contacted via Twitter direct message, Facebook message or email, depending on the method(s) of entry. Should a winner be disqualified or fail to respond in a timely manner in cases where further information is required from him/her to redeem the prize, The Reel Roundup™ reserves the right to draw another winner in his/her place. By participating in this contest, all entrants agree to be bound by these rules and regulations. The Reel Roundup™ accepts no legal liability in relation to the operation of this contest.
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Contest Incredibles 2
Win ‘Incredibles 2’ on Blu-ray
The family that fights crime together stays together. Disney Pixar's Incredibles 2 is coming to Blu-ray, and you could win a copy!
In “Incredibles 2,” Helen (voice of Holly Hunter) is called on to lead a campaign to bring Supers back, while Bob (voice of Craig T. Nelson) navigates the day-to-day heroics of “normal” life at home with Violet (voice of Sarah Vowell), Dash (voice of Huck Milner) and baby Jack-Jack—whose super powers are about to be discovered. Their mission is derailed, however, when a new villain emerges with a brilliant and dangerous plot that threatens everything. But the Parrs don’t shy away from a challenge, especially with Frozone (voice of Samuel L. Jackson) by their side. That’s what makes this family so Incredible. — Synopsis provided courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Canada
Incredibles 2 is now available on Digital HD and is available on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD November 6th.
Via Twitter: FOLLOW our Twitter page & RETWEET the Twitter contest post. Click here to enter.
Via Facebook: LIKE & FOLLOW our Facebook page and leave a COMMENT on the Facebook contest post to answer the following trivia question: In addition to writing and directing the film, Brad Bird also voices a beloved character in Incredibles 2. Name that character. Click here to enter.
Via Email: EMAIL thereelroundup@gmail.com using the subject line 'Enter Me to Win Incredibles 2 on Blu-ray', and provide your full name, phone number and mailing address in the body of the email.
Contest open to legal residents of Canada aged 18 years or older at the time of entry, and closes Tuesday, November 6, 2018 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time. One prize per household. Odds of winning are dependent on the total number of entries received. Winner(s) will be selected at random, and will be contacted via Twitter direct message, Facebook message or email, depending on the method(s) of entry. Should a winner be disqualified or fail to respond in a timely manner in cases where further information is required from him/her to redeem the prize, The Reel Roundup™ reserves the right to draw another winner in his/her place. By participating in this contest, all entrants agree to be bound by these rules and regulations. The Reel Roundup™ accepts no legal liability in relation to the operation of this contest.
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History of the Tams
14-K Gold Band
Tams Gallery
The Original Tams
On behalf of The Tams and the Cottle/Pope family, we would like to extend our deepest gratitude and thanks for all of the condolences sent our way during this time of loss. The Tams will continue to honor Charles’ legacy under the leadership of his son, Little Redd. They will continue on for many, many years to come, as a third generation of “Little Tams” have made their way to the stage. Thank you for your love and continued support. And, as always, stay “Young, Foolish & Happy!”
Donations may be made in Memory of Charles to the Alzheimer’s organization that was founded in his honor: For The Love of Our Father’s
C/O Diane Pope
9391 Whaleys Lake Lane,
To hear it, you might think you just stepped into Motown. To breathe it, you smell a tropical breeze caressing a sandy beach. To feel it, you let the rhythm grasp your body and whirl it into motion. To see it, is like an extravaganza of light and energy. But to experience it, you must say it…”I want the Tams!”
The Tams are one of America”s all time favorite recording acts. World renown for their special blend of music that makes up the Beach Music sound, the Tams entertain crowds around the globe nearly 300 days a year! Probably best known for their 1968 gold hit, “Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy”, the Tams are celebrating the recent success of their newest single, “Ain”t Nothing Like Shagging”, which reached number 8 on the European charts.
The group began performing in local taverns and nightclubs for wages of $1.25 each. To them this money was from heaven. Imagine – getting paid to sing. Initial pay of these early days only provided enough money to buy matching multi colored Tam O”Shanter hats on stage – in which local patrons of the night spots nicknamed them The Tams, a name that would eventually be known around the world.
In 1962, producer Bill Lowery agreed to cut one demo single on the group. To his surprise, the record gained much regional success, allowing him to negotiate a major recording contract with ABC records. Their first album, “Presenting the Tams”, produced a number one record, “What Kind Of Fool (Do You Think I Am)”. This propelled The Tams into professional status and national popularity. They soon found themselves playing to sold out auditoriums from The Howard Theater in Washington, DC to the famed Apollo Theater in New York City.
A string of hits followed, including “You Lied To Your Daddy”, “Hey Girl”, “I”ve Been Hurt”, “It”s Better To Have Loved A Little”, and “Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy”. During this time, the Tams developed a spectacular revue touring with their own 14 Karat Gold Band.
After years of appearances and 10 albums The Tams have been honored with two Gold Records. In 1986 the group received the coveted award and title “Beach Band of the Decade”, at the Beach Music Awards. In 1988, The Tams were spotlighted as the Outstanding Black Musical Group by the Atlanta Black History Awards. In 1992, The Tams were inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame.
The Tams are a group that has bridged the generations of music. Their unique sound spans all ages, styles and regions. They are classic with an exhilarating stage show. Charles Pope, original member, brother to the late Joe Pope, Lil Redd has been with the Tams for 35 years, since he was 6 years old and Greg Gallashaw, Reginald Preston, Robert Arnold and Elton Richardson has been a members for over 15 years. They are the Beach, they are good times, they are times, they are simply rock and roll at it”s finest.
The Tams toured with Jimmy during his 1999 “Beach House on the Moon Tour” and recorded “Flesh and Bone” with him. Like many other musicians, Jimmy Buffett grew up listening to and being inspired by The Original Tams. The Tams have also performed with many other well known entertainers, including Stevie Wonder, Temptations, Four Tops, James Brown, Gladys Knight and Pips, Jackie Wilson, Platters, Little Richard, Diana Ross, Chuck Jackson, Patty LaBelle, Rod Stewart, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Chubby Checker, Coasters, Otis Redding and The Drifters and Many More to just name a few. Jimmy Buffett LOVES The Tams! The “King of Margaritaville” Talks about The Tams Watch the video here!
Charles Pope was an absolute legend. His wonderful voice and stage presence was something to behold. When he took the lead vocal and walked into audiences to perform, there was no one better! When the TAMS were playing at a club you knew you were going to have a good time. There are many thousands of us who consider the TAMS the best band that ever was. Diane has been a great wife to Charles through the good times and the rough times. What a woman. Little Redd and the band will keep the TAMS going and we will always remember Charles and Joe. God Bless the TAMS.
Scott Padgett
Mayor of Concord, NC
A fan and a friend of 48 years
THE JOE POPE TAMS, is a legendary group of entertainers including Charles Pope (Founder, Original Tam, and brother of the late Joe Pope), Albert "Little Redd" Cottle, Robert Arnold, Elton Richardson, Ronnie Hat and Reginald Preston. The Tams are backed by the 14 Karat Gold Band.
© 2019 The Tams. All Rights Reserved.
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Log In / Contact Us /
The Publicans
Celebration Packs
The Limestone Coast of South Australia encompasses the wine areas of the Coonawarra, Padthaway, Mount Benson, Robe, Wrattonbully, Penola, Lucindale and Mt Gambier.
The land mass that makes up the Limestone Coast region consists of a number of different soil types. The soils of the district are derived from seabed formations and ancient sand dunes that are friable and free draining and offer excellent physical properties for those interested in intensive farming techniques.
The most famous soil type is the 'terra rossa'; small strips of deep red soil over limestone beds, which is ideal for producing top class red and white wines. A predictable cool climate combined with these soils allows for the fruit yield to be of a consistent outstanding quality.
The first vineyards in the area were planted in the late 1890's, with major expansion beginning in the 1960's, and then again in the 1990's. Opening in 1998, the winery was the first in the Wrattonbully district. It is located on Caves Road; close to the famous, world heritage listed Naracoorte Caves where Pleistocene fossil bones were discovered in 1859.
The ‘Heathfield' vineyards lie 25 kilometres north-west of the Coonawarra township and 24 kilometres south of Naracoorte. In close proximity is Bool Lagoon, a wetland of international significance, being one of the state's largest and home to thousands of species of birds and other wildlife.
LIMESTONE COAST ESTATE SA
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© TIDSWELL WINES / SITE BY Brighter / PRIVACY & DISCLAIMER / FACEBOOK
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History/ Red Kite Reintroduction Programme
Red Kites, Latin name Milvus milvus, were once commonplace in suitable habitat throughout England, Scotland and Wales. As well as in the open countryside, they were to be found around human settlements where they fed on waste – a feature of their behaviour which brought them protection by Royal Charter in the 15th Century. However, with the passage of time, improvements in hygiene arrangements reduced this source of food, alongside which they became increasingly persecuted. In company with many other species of bird and mammal, they were seen as a direct threat to food supplies at a time when the human population was growing. Further pressures from game shooting interests resulted in them becoming extinct in England and Scotland around 150 to 200 years ago, a handful of pairs managing to survive in Wales. (NB: It is worthy of note that a significant number of pairs of kites now breed on shooting estates, indicating a considerable present-day change in attitude towards them).
After a number of years of protection, with very little to show for the efforts of those involved, the Welsh Red Kite population started to show a steady growth in numbers. However, as it was likely to be a long time before they would recolonise suitable habitat outside Wales, a programme began in 1989 to reintroduce them into England and Scotland. Over a period of several years, more than 90 young birds were released in each of the initial reintroduction areas, on the Black Isle near Inverness and in the Chilterns in Oxfordshire/ Buckinghamshire. The Scottish birds were sourced from Scandinavia, whilst those released in England came from Spain. They were taken from wild nests at an age of 4-5 weeks. They were kept in large pens, from which they were released at around 8 weeks old, having been fed on a diet of carrion-similar to what their parents would have provided for them in the wild. These initial releases were so successful that further projects were established in other areas, whilst young birds were still available from the donor populations. The Yorkshire Red Kite Project was the fifth in this sequence and began at Harewood Estate in West Yorkshire in 1999. By this time, the newly established Chilterns population had been so successful that, up to 2003, it was able to supply a total of 68 young birds for release in Yorkshire. This figure was supplemented by an older rehabilitated bird, also from the Chilterns, and an untagged bird of unknown origin, both of which arrived in late 1999.
It is a salutary thought that Red Kite numbers have plummeted in some parts of Europe, especially Spain. It is fortunate that the timing of the initial English releases preceded the onset of this problem otherwise the Spanish authorities might not have allowed the relocation of some of its young birds to kick-start the now burgeoning population here.
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Timothy V Murphy
Tralee, Kerry, Ireland
Irish actor Timothy V. Murphy played imposing figures of all nationalities, including several malevolent Russian criminals and American gunslingers, in features and on television series including "Sons of Anarchy" (FX, 2008-2014) and "The Bastard Executioner" (FX, 2015). Born Timothy Vincent Murphy on April 5, 1960 in Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland, he studied law and accounting at University College Cork, but after graduating, found no job opportunities in those fields in his native country, so he headed for the United States. There, he worked in construction in New York and at bars in Miami, Florida, where he landed a role in a television commercial for Molson beer. Murphy then returned to Ireland, where he trained in acting at the Focus Theatre in Dublin before making his screen debut in the popular Irish drama "Glenroe" (RTE One, 1983-2001). After gaining more experience on stage, Murphy returned to the United States, where he eventually found steady work on television, often in antagonistic roles, on series like "Six Feet Under" (HBO, 2001-2005) and "Alias" (ABC, 2001-2006). By the midpoint of the 2000s, Murphy was working steadily in features like "National Treasure: Book of Secrets" (2007) and Ed Harris' "Appaloosa" (2008) and enjoying featured roles on television, including a six-episode arc on "Criminal Minds" (CBS, 2005- ) as a former IRA terrorist turned serial killer. In 2013, he landed his breakout role as Galen O'Shay, a True IRA chief who served as the main villain in the fifth season of "Sons of Anarchy." Murphy continued to essay antagonists on popular television series, including a Russian mobster on the second season of "True Detective" (HBO, 2014- ), before reunited with "Sons of Anarchy" creator Kurt Sutter to play a more sympathetic soldier turned priest on "The Bastard Executioner" (FX, 2015).
Actor Credits
Tragedy GirlsSheriff Blane Welch
Road to PalomaFBI Agent Williams
The Lone RangerFritz
The Frankenstein TheoryActor
MacGruberConstantine
What's Up Scarlet?Vladamir
Green Street Hooligans 2Max
Shallow GroundJack Sheppard
Not That FunnyFinneas Patrick O'Neill
Ambush at Dark CanyonWarden Cullen Logan
Ambush at Dark CanyonActor
No Way to LiveActor
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Reports: Boards approve United-Continental merger
May 2, 2010 (CHICAGO) An announcement was expected Monday.
The new company would be run by Continental CEO Jeffery Smisek. United CEO Glen Tilton would be chairman.
The merger would leave the United States with the big international airlines, the new United, Delta and American and is expected to be worth more than $3 billion. It still needs the approval of the anti-trust regulators.
"I think that is the big hurdle. They need to be concerned the justice department is going to need to have some differences between this and the Delta/Northwest merger, which they approved," said Prof. Aaron Gellman, Transportation Center Northwestern University.
Gellman says that although airlines are coming off very bad performance years, he does not believe mergers are the best solution or in the public's best interest.
"I think it is well-proven, when you consolidate an industry, you end up with higher prices and a lower propensity to innovate because you have a bigger share of the market," Gellman said.
The combined airline will be called United and will be based in United's hometown of Chicago.
"That is good for Chicago, ultimately. I suspect rates will be higher in a market where they do not face competition," said Gellman. "I am not sure there will be more jobs. I suspect, in the end, there will be less."
If approved, the deal would give Tilton the merger he has wanted since becoming United's CEO in 2002.
One key issue in the merger is bringing together their pilot workforces. A union hotline message to United pilots Sunday said union officials "are fully prepared to protect and defend the interest of all United pilots."
A news conference is expected Monday to announce details of the deal.
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Click to copyhttps://apnews.com/0826ee95561f4e21822bd5bada364c7f
Pitt assistant prof gets $300K award for biology research
TRIBUNE-REVIEWApril 27, 2018
A researcher and instructor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine has been named a 2018 Searle Scholar.
As part of the Searle Scholars Program, Anne-Ruxandra Carvunis, assistant professor of computational and systems biology, will receive $300,000 over the next three years to support her research in evolutionary biology.
The program names 15 scholars each year, funding exceptional young scientists who participate in high-risk, high-reward independent research and have recently become tenure-track assistant professors.
Carvunis’ research aims to answer the question — “What makes each species unique?” — by understanding how cells and organisms evolve.
Her work focuses on questions such as how new genes can emerge from scratch without having parent genes; how networks of interacting molecules form and change within cells; and how these networks differ across species.
“My goal is to understand how living systems innovate,” Carvunis said. “The funds generously provided by the Searle Scholars Award will allow me to reach this goal.”
“A characteristic of all of the new scholars is their willingness to take on ambitious and often risky research projects that, if successful, will have enormous impact in their scientific fields,” said Doug Fambrough, scientific director for the Searle Scholars Program.”
Carvunis has received other awards, including a medal of Honor for her doctoral work from the University of Grenoble, the L’Oreal-Unesco Award For Women in Science, and the Pathway to Independence Award from the National Institutes of Health.
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Appamatix
All About Apps
What Is Tinder?
By: Editorial Staff
Looking back over the past 10 years, it’s weird to examine just how much the dating and romance scenes have changed due to our crazy connectivity. Even if you don’t know what it is, I can say with pretty fair certainty that you’ve heard the name Tinder floating around on social media, and if you haven’t heard it online, you’ve heard it through your friends. That’s because it’s taking the hookup culture (and serious romance!) by storm, such that it’s practically the head of that driving force that is online dating. Curious to learn more? Then keep reading, because you’re in the right place.
Not too long ago, you’d get odd looks from people if you told them that you were into online dating. Most of those looks would be highly skeptical, full of obvious doubt that your online endeavors were worth anything at all. Fast forward to 2016, and that picture has changed considerably.
Now, people use social media and messaging apps to find dates and seek romance almost as if they’ve been doing it for their entire lives. Hell, if they’re young enough, some of them have! But far and away the most popular app that tech-savvy people are using is Tinder. There’s a reason that it’s so popular, and it certainly isn’t a fad. The app has hookup culture cornered, and with a brief examination of Tinder’s features and functions, you’ll see why.
Before we delve into our preview of the zeitgeist that is Tinder, let me ask you this: how many people in the US are packing smartphones in their pocket? Half of them? Most of them? Regardless of the exact number, we can be pretty sure that a vast majority of the population has access to a smartphone. The younger a person is, the more likely they are to have one. This trend is how Tinder (and thousands of other apps) are capitalizing in order to be successful.
See, Tinder only works on smartphones. Technically. Appamatix has written before about a few ways that you can bring Tinder to your desktop or laptop computer, but the app only runs natively on iOS and Android. If you want to be on Tinder, then smartphone access is one of those things that you’ll have to have.
The Skinny on Tinder
Apart from its home on smartphones, there’s one other major aspect of Tinder that has escalated its rise to power: the app’s ties to Facebook.
See, most matchmaking services that are currently competing with Tinder are standalone. You sign up, you hand over some cash, you make a profile, and you get matched with people based on the information that each of you provided to the service. Rather than have you build a profile specifically for Tinder, it instead requires you to have a Facebook account before you’ll be able to use it. No exceptions, no workarounds, no ifs, and’s, or buts. The Facebook profile is the cornerstone of your Tinder experience, and while some people have gone so far as to make extra Facebook profiles in order to throw off this basic Tinder requirement, that hugely negates the points and benefits of Tinder in the first place.
So, you have your Facebook profile. You used it to set up your Tinder account. What next?
The app itself is, at its heart, a localized matchmaking effort. Tinder will look at other prospective singles in your area, and show you their profiles in a sort of “active slideshow.” Swipe right if you’re interested, swipe left if you’re not, and want that particular profile to hit the road.
It sounds simple in practice, but the actual algorithms behind Tinder’s matchmaking practices are known only to the company’s developers; they haven’t shared, and nobody has been able to figure out precisely how they work. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean that anyone who proclaims to know why you see certain profiles ahead of others will always have a margin of error in their argument.
Tinder certainly works, but nobody knows quite how it does.
Is Tinder Free?
Technically, yes, Tinder is free! As long as you have a Facebook profile, you’re good to go. Download the app on your iOS or Android-enabled smartphone, link your profile, specify a few others things (gender interests, the distance you’re willing to travel for connections, etc.) and you’ll be able to start browsing through matched singles in the area that you’ve specified. No other signup is required.
There is currently a paid version of Tinder that you can buy into, called Tinder Plus. It comes with a couple of rather large features that are unavailable in the free version of the app, as well as fewer restrictions on the basic functions that you’re performing in Tinder. You’ll be able to “swipe right” (approve) on profiles an unlimited amount, whereas the free version limits the number of times that you can do it. Tinder Plus also gives you access to the Rewind feature, which lets you cancel your most recent left-swipe (disapprove) in the case that you’ve accidental tossed a good-looking profile by accident.
Lastly, Tinder Plus gives you the Passport feature. This lets you change your location to anywhere in the world, ideally so that you can browse prospective singles ahead of traveling to a particular location. We’ll talk about “Tinder tourism” in a moment, but it suffices to say that if you’re frequently on the go and want to look for a romantic outing at your intended destination, Passport will let you do it.
Here’s the part of Tinder Plus that’s bound to make you cringe, however. If you’re under thirty, it’s only $9.99 per month. If you’re over thirty, that fee jumps all the way up to $19.99. Yowza. While Tinder’s argument has been that young people can’t afford the monthly subscription as easily as people over that particular age, the whole thing gives off the unavoidable feeling that Tinder wants to keep its user base young, and that anyone over thirty is becoming “too old” to use the app. However, your interpretation of this unique pay setup is up to you to decide!
Frequently Asked Tinder Questions
Even though Tinder has been around for quite a while, there are quite a few people that don’t understand how it works or understand its appeal. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it can be useful to know why 10 million daily users are logging into this matchmaking app in the hope of finding romance, however lasting or brief they prefer it to be.
Is Tinder for everyone? The short answer is “yes,” but it’s quite clear through testimony and the behavioral trends of young people that if you fit certain ideals in terms of appearance, you’re going to have more luck on Tinder. A lot of young, active, attractive people are using the app, and though that shouldn’t by any means dissuade you, it should inform you on the types of profiles and personalities that you’re going to see most often.
Do people get scammed on Tinder? All of the time, but people get scammed on practically any social media or online matchmaking service. The only real solution to this dilemma is to not let yourself be scammed. Pay attention to the people that send you messages, and more importantly, pay attention to the way those messages are written. Don’t follow external links that lead you away from Tinder. Don’t give anyone money, and don’t give anyone your personal information.
Is Tinder only for hookups? Yes and no, as odd as that answer is. Tinder carries something of a “hookup reputation” with its name, and many people assume that Tinder users are just looking for quick flings and one-night stands. This isn’t necessarily false, but it’s a far cry from accurate when you’re trying to describe the app’s entire userbase. Look at it like this: if you want a long-term relationship, specify this in your Tinder description. As is always the case with dating, be clear about what you’re looking for, and you’ll have a hell of a lot better chance of finding it.
Can I use Tinder without Facebook? No, you cannot. Hundreds of websites will promise workarounds, “hacks,” and fixes that will let you circumvent this basic rule of using Tinder, but they’re all bunk. The only method that some people use (that, if I’m honest, is a waste of your time, also) is making a new Facebook profile for their Tinder profile. There aren’t any statistics to back this up, but many have done this and reported far less activity overall on Tinder as a result of it. Instead of trying to find ways to avoid using Facebook, focus instead on putting yourself out there in the best way that you can.
That wraps it up on our “quick ‘n dirty” introduction to Tinder! It’s far and away the most popular matchmaking service that you’re going to find online, so if you were curious about what exactly Tinder is, then we hope to have cleared that up for you. If you have any leftover questions about Tinder, feel free to post them in the comments below, and we’ll get to them as we can!
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HHS – A Year of Saving Lives Through Smart Investments
A Year of Saving Lives Through Smart Investments
From the day it was first announced nearly eight years ago until today, the story of PEPFAR — the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief — has been one that demonstrates the generosity of the American people in the fight against AIDS.
The year 2010 provided many reasons for hope about the future of the global fight, and the commitment of the American people was central to virtually all of the year’s breakthroughs. During the year, I shared my thoughts on many of them, often right here on the Dipnote blog. Here are some highlights, with links to the original articles; you can also learn more at our newly updated website.
Numbers aren’t the whole story, but when those numbers represent children, women and men whose lives are being saved, they are extremely meaningful.
PEPFAR programs made a significant difference in 2010;
• More than 3.2 million people received treatment, up from fewer than 2.5 million the previous year;
• More than 600,000 pregnant women received drugs to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV, allowing more than 114,000 babies to be born free of HIV; and
• More than 11 million people received care, including more than 3.8 million orphans and vulnerable children.
Our first task for the coming year is to build on this progress and push on toward our ambitious goals. Our life-saving results were achieved despite the difficult economic environment. A key element has been stretching each dollar as far as we can to save as many lives as we can.
This November post offers a few examples, such as reliance on generic drugs and cheaper ways of procuring and shipping drugs. We are constantly looking for additional ways to expand our impact, and it is a priority for me to expand our efficiencies in 2011.
Prevention is a critical area for smart investments, and this year brought encouraging news. PEPFAR is seeing the payoff from heavy investments in high-impact prevention activities — for example, prevention of mother-to-child transmission and male circumcision. The year 2010 also offered hope of adding new tools to the future global prevention toolkit, with an encouraging trial of a woman-controlled microbicide, funded by PEPFAR through USAID, and positive findings on pre-exposure antiretroviral prophylaxis, funded by the National Institutes of Health. As we did so effectively with the campaign for male circumcision, in 2011 PEPFAR will continue to aggressively prepare to implement these new tools as they are available based upon scientific and regulatory guidance.
We saw striking progress in 2010 toward country ownership of HIV/AIDS responses. Our deepening partnership with South Africa is encouraging: their government has assumed increasing leadership, including a dramatically heightened financial contribution. PEPFAR is a key partner in this transformation, as reflected in our recent Partnership Framework to guide our joint efforts. The United States has signed 20 PEPFAR Frameworks to date, with more to follow in 2011.
Another dimension of country ownership is developing health systems. To address an urgent need — well-trained health workers — PEPFAR and the National Institutes of Health launched a joint effort to strengthen medical and nursing education
across Africa. By supporting partnerships between African and external universities to improve and expand training, in 2011 and beyond these initiatives will be key pieces of wide-ranging U.S. support for health systems.
A global response requires commitments by other donor nations In addition to the United States and its partners. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is a critical vehicle for all to heighten their commitment to the fight, as the United States has done over the past decade. In 2010, the United States made our first-ever multi-year pledge of $4 billion, subject to appropriations. The certainty this pledge provides for the Fund’s future should stimulate increased commitments by others.
We also issued a Call to Action to improve the Fund’s operations, especially at the country level, and this work is a top priority for 2011. Simply put, the world needs a highly effective, efficient Global Fund.
The reality is that HIV/AIDS is one strand in a wider web of health and development challenges. Last month, Secretary Clinton issued the inaugural Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR), explicitly elevating development as one of three pillars of U.S. foreign policy, along with diplomacy and defense.
As I noted in my post on the QDDR, it builds on President Obama’s Presidential Policy Directive on Development and his Global Health Initiative, all of which reflect a common vision of integrated, synergistic U.S. health and development investments. We see opportunities to ensure that our other U.S. government programs are meeting the needs of those affected by HIV, and opportunities for health systems platforms we have established under PEPFAR to help countries meet broader health and development challenges. To mention one example that I’ve been deeply involved in this year, I’m extremely proud that PEPFAR people and platforms have contributed so much to the Haiti earthquake response.
As you can see, 2010 has provided much good news. I look forward to achieving even more together in 2011 to save lives through smart investments.
By Ambassador Eric Goosby, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator
(Cross-posted from the State Department Blog, originally posted on January 3, 2011)
Filed Under: AFRICA, AIDS - H.I.V., ASIA, EURASIA, EUROPE, MIDDLE EAST, NORTH AMERICA, OCEANIA, SOUTH AMERICA, WOMEN & SELF CARE, WORLD ISSUES Tagged With: Africa, AIDS, GLOBAL MEDICAL CARE, HIV, MALARIA, NURSES, PFPFAR, South Africa, TB, TUBERCULOSIS
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USAID Launches Eye Radio Repeater Station in Torit
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Internews, a media development organization, and Zain Telecommunications Company today launched the first Eye Radio repeater station in Torit, Eastern Equatoria State in a ceremony attended by the Mission Director of USAID, the State Minister of Information, and other dignitaries. This is the first of ten planned radio repeaters to extend Eye Radio reception to all ten South Sudan states and their rural communities.
Radio is the primary source of information for most people in the Republic of South Sudan (RSS), yet access to radio is challenging in many areas, particularly rural communities. Radio access has also deteriorated because of the ongoing conflict, which has displaced more than two million people from their homes.
Since 2003, USAID has supported the development of independent media in RSS. The new repeater in Torit will increase Eye Radio’s audience by approximately 100,000 listeners in Eastern Equatoria State. The Eye Radio expansion, which has been made possible by the partnership with Zain Telecommunications Company, will ultimately enable expansion of Eye Radio to all the RSS states.
The pilot repeater station in Torit will be followed by other repeater stations in Wau, Rumbek, Kwajok, Aweil, Bor and Yambio, to reach as many as 750,000 listeners, in addition to Eye Radio’s existing audience in Central Equatoria State.
In the near future, Internews will also distribute approximately 50,000 solar-powered, hand-crank radio receivers to communities in RSS that lack access to radio, building on USAID’s legacy of helping RSS’s citizens gain access to information. Before the RSS’s independence, USAID distributed tens of thousands of such radios to communities in the then Sudanese nation.
“Our main goal is to empower and strengthen free and independent media in the Republic of South Sudan in a way that is self-sustaining. By doing so, we will improve access to information for the people of South Sudan, to help them become better informed citizens of their nation,” said Teresa McGhie, USAID Mission Director.
Under this program USAID has also supported the provision of lifesaving and life-enhancing information to people displaced by the conflict in the Lakes State, as well as the protection of civilian sites at United Nations compounds in Juba and other areas.
Eye Radio
Repeater Station
Torit
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Top performing South Africans to receive National Orders
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Project to connect 22 million S Africans to internet
By– SAnews.gov.za
Durban – A new initiative launched by government and the private sector in Durban today will aim to connect millions of South Africans to the internet over the next two years.
Dubbed, Internet for All, the initiative was launched at the World Economic Forum in 2015. But it only comes to South Africa now. It aims to accelerate internet access and adoption to the world’s four billion unconnected people through new models of public private collaboration. In South Africa, the initiative will help the country speed up its target of connecting more than 22 million unconnected people.
Speaking at launch of the initiative at the World Economic Forum on Africa, Telecommunications and Postal Services Minister Siyabonga Cwele said government was excited about the programme, adding that it will meet the goal of connecting all South Africans by 2020.
“This project will help us meet our national development goals of reaching everyone by 2020. It is an enormous target but I think it is achievable if we work together to spread the infrastructure where it is not available,” said Minister Cwele.
The costs of the roll out of the initiate is currently estimated at around 64 US Dollars per person but could go slightly down if other factors such as infrastructure sharing are factored in.
But some argue that in South Africa, the issue of access is not so much a concern and that the real debate is about high data costs. Last year, popular radio jock Thabo Molefe, also known as TBo Touch, petitioned Parliament to look into the issue of high data cost, in a campaign that later became known as “data must fall”.
But on Friday, Minister Cwele said legislators were working at the issue of data costs and that it will eventually come down.
The Minister believes that if more people get connected to the internet, costs will eventually go down.
“If we work together to make sure that the internet is more affordable in the poorest segment of our society, I think it will help us a lot,” he said.
His sentiments were echoed by Telkom Chairperson Jabu Mabuza, who also believes data costs will come down if more people were connected.
In Africa, the Internet for All initiative has been launched in countries such as Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan and Uganda.
S Africans
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Emily Blunt & Lin-Manuel Miranda to Lead Mary Poppins Returns
May 31st, 2016 | By Imogen Lloyd Webber
This news is practically perfect! Hamilton’s creator and headliner Lin-Manuel Miranda will officially team up with Into the Woods star Emily Blunt for Mary Poppins Returns. The sequel to Disney’s 1964 classic Mary Poppins is scheduled for release on December 25, 2018.
The film will be helmed by Into the Woods director Rob Marshall, with the screenplay penned by David Magee based on The Mary Poppins Stories by P.L. Travers. Tony and Emmy Award winner Marc Shaiman is set to compose an all-new score; he will write original songs alongside Scott Wittman.
Blunt has been cast as Mary Poppins and Miranda will play a new character, a street lamplighter named Jack. Drawing from the wealth of material in P.L. Travers’ seven additional novels, the story will take place in Depression-era London (when the books were originally written) and follows a now-grown Jane and Michael Banks, who, along with Michael’s three children, are visited by the enigmatic Mary Poppins following a personal loss. Through her unique magical skills, and with the aid of her friend Jack, she helps the family rediscover the joy and wonder missing in their lives.
Travers introduced the world to the no-nonsense nanny in her 1934 book Mary Poppins, which Disney adapted for the screen and released in August, 1964, starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. The film won five Academy Awards, including Best Actress for Andrews.
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Loop to the Loop —
Chicago selects Elon Musk’s Boring Company to build express line from O‘Hare
Announcement comes one month after plans announced for a proof-of-concept tunnel.
Megan Geuss - Jun 14, 2018 10:00 am UTC
A view of The Boring Company Tunnel in Los Angeles.
A view of Wednesday rush-hour traffic at 5:30pm from O'Hare to Block 37 in downtown Chicago. Not a pretty trip.
A view of rush-hour Blue Line traffic in Chicago on a Wednesday night. Better, but it still takes 40 minutes to make the trip.
On Thursday morning, the city of Chicago announced that the Mayor's Office had chosen The Boring Company to build an express line between O'Hare International Airport and Block 37 in the city's downtown area, known as The Loop. The line will consist of two parallel tunnels, and it could take as little as 12 minutes to travel from point to point, according to a press release from the city.
The Boring Company proposes 125-150mph “Loop” for Chicago express train request
The announcement is a major step for The Boring Company, which was started in 2016 by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. Musk founded the company in the hope of alleviating city gridlock by building more tunnels, an endeavor that has set the company's engineers toward improving tunneling techniques.
The next step will bring the company and the city together to negotiate a contract that will be presented to the Chicago City Council.
Previous city officials have tried to implement an express line between Chicago's largest airport and the downtown area but to no avail. This most recent effort was originally proposed last November, when the city opened up a "Request for Qualifications"—the first formal step in vetting companies eligible to submit proposals. Two companies, including The Boring Company, advanced past the second "Request for Proposals" stage in March.
The details we know
Although contract negotiations may change some details, the city of Chicago revealed some of the key components of this new express service in its Thursday press release.
First, the build will not be taxpayer funded at all. The Boring Company will have to finance the entire build itself and operate and maintain the express line after it's completed.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel specified that the winning company would have to transport passengers and their luggage between the airport and downtown in 20 minutes or less. The Boring Company is promising that the system will transport passengers in 12 minutes with automated electric cars that carry 16 passengers (and their luggage) to a vehicle. A new station would be built downtown to accommodate this express line.
The Boring Company has released details about its proposed system already—it calls the system a "Loop," as in a modified version of the "Hyperloop" idea. (This means there will be a Loop to The Loop—very cute, Chicago.) Unlike the Hyperloop idea, the tunnels will not be depressurized. The company has stated that its electric pods would travel at 125-150 miles per hour. The city of Chicago's press release confirmed that The Boring Company has proposed vehicles that will travel faster than 100 miles per hour.
The Loop's exact line hasn't been determined yet, but it will consist of two parallel tunnels that run "straight northwest from downtown following public way alignments," according to the city's press release. City spokesperson Grant Klinzman told Ars that, currently, the only planned stops are between O'Hare and Block 37, although future stops haven't been ruled out.
The electric pods would depart both O'Hare and Block 37 as frequently as every 30 seconds.
One of the city's main stipulations was that the service cost less to use than comparable taxi and ride-share services, and, presumably, The Boring Company has said it can agree to those conditions. In addition to the no-taxpayer-funding requirement, the city also said that The Boring Company would have to agree "to ensure taxpayers would be protected against any costs incurred by an incomplete project." Exact project costs and construction timelines will be negotiated with the contract.
In its press release, the city said that approximately 20,000 people travel between O'Hare and Chicago's Loop every day, and that number is expected to rise to 35,000 per day by 2045. "The express service will offer a myriad of benefits to the city, travelers, and residents: providing a faster commute between the airport and downtown; helping to mitigate congestion on the region’s roadways; fostering economic growth and creating jobs throughout the lifetime of the project," the city's press release noted.
If all goes well in the contract-negotiation process, The Boring Company's selection by the city of Chicago is the most significant stepping stone for the company to date. Thus far, the company has received a permit to dig up a parking lot in Washington, DC, and it has received permission from the state of Maryland to build a 10-mile tunnel "beneath a state-owned portion of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway." But those two projects don't solve the biggest problem with major transportation infrastructure projects: navigating the politics and concerns of every jurisdiction and landowner between point A and point B.
In Los Angeles, the company had been making a little more headway, receiving permission from the city to build a 2.7-mile proof-of-concept tunnel and station parallel to the 405 freeway.
But in Chicago, the city will assist The Boring Company with all necessary permits, and there does seem to be some political will to have such a tunnel built within the city, and relatively quickly.
Listing image by The Boring Company
Megan Geuss Megan is a staff editor at Ars Technica. She writes breaking news and has a background in fact-checking and research.
Email megan.geuss@arstechnica.com // Twitter @MeganGeuss
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Hitech GP add Charles Leong to their FIA Asian F3 Championship line up
Hitech GP are delighted to welcome Charles Leong to their FIA Asian F3 Championship squad for the upcoming season. The 16-year-old will contest the full five rounds in the Hitech Dragon GP car, with the series set to get underway at Sepang, Malaysia in July this year.
Charles began racing competitively at 10 years old and has enjoyed a wealth of success in his formative years. The Macanese driver has proved his racing ability in various Asian karting championships, securing a number of wins and championship titles.
By the age of 14, Charles stepped up to compete in the 2016 China F4 Championship, achieving pole position at the first event in Beijing and winning his first race at Shanghai. He made an impressive leap into in the Formula Masters China Series in 2016, adding a further two podium finishes to his name.
Charles won the 2017 Asian Formula Renault championship, gaining special recognition as the youngest Chinese driver in the series. 2017 saw him move up the ranks into FIA Formula 4 China, winning the championship at the age of 15.
Reflecting on the signing of Charles Leong, Hitech GP’s Team Principal, Oliver Oakes, commented:
“We are really happy to welcome Charles into our Asian F3 line up. His success over the past few years proves that he is an extremely able driver and we are confident that he will shine through this season.”
Leong added:
“I’m really excited to join such an experienced team that operate in multiple championships. I’m fully confident that we will be competitive in the Asian F3 this year.”
The Silverstone-based team will be contesting the full FIA Asian F3 Championship, which expects to see a grid of 24 cars for its opening round at Sepang in July later this year. The championship is run under the umbrella of the FIA’s new Regional F3 concept, which Hitech have claimed is an “ideal feeder” into International F3, which is set to become a Formula 1 support series in 2019. The Asian F3 Series will feature a mix of professional and amateur drivers, competing in Formula 3 cars that conform to the FIA F3 regulations, adopting the development of the new single chassis, single engine concept.
The 2018 Asian F3 Championship is scheduled to kick off at former Malaysian Grand Prix venue Sepang on 13-15 July.
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Hi - We planted a small Hawthorn tree 2.5 years ago. It's central leader...
Asked June 5, 2015, 10:25 AM EDT
Hi - We planted a small Hawthorn tree 2.5 years ago. It's central leader branch was curved at the top. A landscape person told us, at the time, that we could just leave it that way which we did. However, it is now curving over even further so that it's growing adjacent to the ground and no new lateral branches are being formed. Should we try to stake it to a vertical stake, to see if we can train it to grow straight up? OR what happens if we cut the central leader? If we do prune it, where should we make the cut? If we staked it straight up, it would be about 9 feet, tip to ground. Attached are 2 photos. Thank you!
Ramsey County Minnesota trees and shrubs tree pruning horticulture
It will be pretty hard to attach a support to this leader without injuring the tree bark or other limbs. You would have to use a stake that is at least a tall as the whole tree, and drive it into the ground.
If you decide to prune this leader you must make sure to train a "new" one from one of the hardier lateral branches right underneath the cut. Pruning the leader will encourage the tree to produce more lateral growth.
Here is a publication from one of our universities that will help you make the proper pruning cuts. Please note that the best time to prune this tree is when it is dormant.
http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/430/430-456/430-456.html
Mary C.
Replied June 5, 2015, 12:33 PM EDT
Thank you so much -- what a great service! Should we wait until winter to prune the leader or can we do it now? Do we train the new leader by attaching a vertical stake to the upper part of the tree trunk and tie the new branch to it, in as vertical a position as possible?
Replied June 5, 2015, 2:01 PM EDT
The link I'd sent shows you how to train a replacement leader (It's about mid-way into the article). It's best to do this work in late winter (February - March) because the chances of bacteria or other disease is at the lowest point.
Great, thank you so much.
Hi - We did not get this pruning and training of a new leader done last fall, as intended. Is the tree still dormant so that we could do it this week-end? Thank you--
Replied February 27, 2016, 12:58 PM EST
Even though this is unusually warm for late winter you still have time to prune this tree... But don't wait too much longer!
Replied February 27, 2016, 1:36 PM EST
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Black Revolution, The Basics
Black Revolution is sorely needed, now more than ever. But our struggle today is different than it was 40-something years ago. Where we struggled an institution in my father’s day, today we must struggle against what we’ve instituted ourselves. Can’t blame everything on the white man, you know…
So to start, I’d like to explore Revolution–Black Revolution–and what the possible solutions to our problems may be. Taking examples from the leaders of our past, let’s first study them and what they did to revolutionize the world they live in. We will also take a look at what other leaders and movements have used to institute change, and how they relate to our struggle. Finally, we will dissect and learn from the psychology of revolution–both internal and external–and what we can do to improve our condition as individuals and as a people.
One of my favorite revolutionary movements was the original Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, founded by my frat brothers Huey Newton and Bobby Seale. They are known for the image above: Black leather jackets, turtle neck shirts, black berets, angry and holding firearms. But the BPP wasn’t founded for that. At their base, they only wanted a better life for Black people. They wanted employment, they wanted safe streets, they wanted the Black man to no longer have to worry about his personal safety and that of his family, he wanted Black children to have proper nutrition. The quasi-violent image the press portrayed them to have was, in a way, a racist reaction to seeing Black people who refused to be weak and submissive. Their message was simple: let us be, or we will be forced to defense ourselves. Hell, no red-blooded American would tolerate the sort of brutality African Americans were subjected to–ever. They were not waiting for White America to decide to stop terrorizing their people. If the American way to solve problems is war–the BPP was only going about it the good old American way.
As I stated earlier, the Black Panther Party was not founded to brandish weapons, but only to improve the standard of life for Black Americans. To gain a basic understanding of their methodology one only needs to understand their Ten Point Program. The following is, in Huey Newton’s own words (and the mission statement of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense). Read, understand, and absorb and institute. We will revisit this and discuss later. And please, share this and any other articles you enjoy or find useful with others. Thank you for visiting my blog.
The Ten Point Plan
1. WE WANT FREEDOM. WE WANT POWER TO DETERMINE THE DESTINY OF OUR BLACK AND OPPRESSED COMMUNITIES.
We believe that Black and oppressed people will not be free until we are able to determine our destinies in our own communities ourselves, by fully controlling all the institutions which exist in our communities.
2. WE WANT FULL EMPLOYMENT FOR OUR PEOPLE.
We believe that the federal government is responsible and obligated to give every person employment or a guaranteed income. We believe that if the American businessmen will not give full employment, then the technology and means of production should be taken from the businessmen and placed in the community so that the people of the community can organize and employ all of its people and give a high standard of living.
3. WE WANT AN END TO THE ROBBERY BY THE CAPITALISTS OF OUR BLACK AND OPPRESSED COMMUNITIES.
We believe that this racist government has robbed us and now we are demanding the overdue debt of forty acres and two mules. Forty acres and two mules were promised 100 years ago as restitution for slave labor and mass murder of Black people. We will accept the payment in currency which will be distributed to our many communities. The American racist has taken part in the slaughter of our fifty million Black people. Therefore, we feel this is a modest demand that we make.
4. WE WANT DECENT HOUSING, FIT FOR THE SHELTER OF HUMAN BEINGS.
We believe that if the landlords will not give decent housing to our Black and oppressed communities, then housing and the land should be made into cooperatives so that the people in our communities, with government aid, can build and make decent housing for the people.
5. WE WANT DECENT EDUCATION FOR OUR PEOPLE THAT EXPOSES THE TRUE NATURE OF THIS DECADENT AMERICAN SOCIETY. WE WANT EDUCATION THAT TEACHES US OUR TRUE HISTORY AND OUR ROLE IN THE PRESENT-DAY SOCIETY.
We believe in an educational system that will give to our people a knowledge of the self. If you do not have knowledge of yourself and your position in the society and in the world, then you will have little chance to know anything else.
6. WE WANT COMPLETELY FREE HEALTH CARE FOR All BLACK AND OPPRESSED PEOPLE.
We believe that the government must provide, free of charge, for the people, health facilities which will not only treat our illnesses, most of which have come about as a result of our oppression, but which will also develop preventive medical programs to guarantee our future survival. We believe that mass health education and research programs must be developed to give all Black and oppressed people access to advanced scientific and medical information, so we may provide our selves with proper medical attention and care.
7. WE WANT AN IMMEDIATE END TO POLICE BRUTALITY AND MURDER OF BLACK PEOPLE, OTHER PEOPLE OF COLOR, All OPPRESSED PEOPLE INSIDE THE UNITED STATES.
We believe that the racist and fascist government of the United States uses its domestic enforcement agencies to carry out its program of oppression against black people, other people of color and poor people inside the united States. We believe it is our right, therefore, to defend ourselves against such armed forces and that all Black and oppressed people should be armed for self defense of our homes and communities against these fascist police forces.
8. WE WANT AN IMMEDIATE END TO ALL WARS OF AGGRESSION.
We believe that the various conflicts which exist around the world stem directly from the aggressive desire of the United States ruling circle and government to force its domination upon the oppressed people of the world. We believe that if the United States government or its lackeys do not cease these aggressive wars it is the right of the people to defend themselves by any means necessary against their aggressors.
9. WE WANT FREEDOM FOR ALL BLACK AND OPPRESSED PEOPLE NOW HELD IN U. S. FEDERAL, STATE, COUNTY, CITY AND MILITARY PRISONS AND JAILS. WE WANT TRIALS BY A JURY OF PEERS FOR All PERSONS CHARGED WITH SO-CALLED CRIMES UNDER THE LAWS OF THIS COUNTRY.
We believe that the many Black and poor oppressed people now held in United States prisons and jails have not received fair and impartial trials under a racist and fascist judicial system and should be free from incarceration. We believe in the ultimate elimination of all wretched, inhuman penal institutions, because the masses of men and women imprisoned inside the United States or by the United States military are the victims of oppressive conditions which are the real cause of their imprisonment. We believe that when persons are brought to trial they must be guaranteed, by the United States, juries of their peers, attorneys of their choice and freedom from imprisonment while awaiting trial.
10. WE WANT LAND, BREAD, HOUSING, EDUCATION, CLOTHING, JUSTICE, PEACE AND PEOPLE’S COMMUNITY CONTROL OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY.
When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds 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 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.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and, accordingly, all experience hath shown that mankind are most disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But, when a long train of abuses and usurpation, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.
Hear Bobby Seale explain the Ten Point Program.
Tagged as African American, Al Islam, America, Black America, Black Economics, Black Nationalism, Black Panther Party, Bobby Seale, BPP, democrat party, election, Elijah Muhammad, Fatherhood, Huey Newton, islam, manhood, Muhammad, muslim, Nation of Islam, obama, politics, race, racism, Revolution, Ten Point Program
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Broadway Across America to Acquire MagicSpace Entertainment’s Broadway-Presenting Business
July 27th, 2017 | By Ryan Gilbert
As the foremost presenter of first-class touring Broadway productions throughout North America, Broadway Across America (BAA) announced today that they are now operating in 44 markets in North America. After more than 20 years of presenting touring Broadway in Salt Lake City in partnership with MagicSpace Entertainment, BAA will be acquiring MagicSpace Entertainment’s Broadway-presenting business in Albuquerque, Boise, Fresno and Salt Lake City. With the addition of these new markets, including adding Dallas to the BAA network in 2017, BAA now has more than 400,000 subscribers.
“We are thrilled to expand our reach and offer audiences the best of Broadway in the southwest and western U.S. states including Utah, New Mexico, Idaho and California,” says John Gore, Owner and CEO of BAA’s parent organization, The John Gore Organization. “We look forward to continue working with MagicSpace’s veteran leadership team, including Steve Boulay and John Ballard, to provide exciting programming and best-in-class services for all subscribers, groups and single ticket buyers.”
"We are delighted to be rejoining John Gore's world-class Broadway Across America family. John Ballard and I have worked closely as partners and colleagues with the entire BAA team for 20+ years and see this renewed relationship as an excellent opportunity to continue expanding the Broadway series we have worked so hard to build in these great markets," says Steve Boulay COO/Co-Owner MagicSpace Entertainment.
As part of the acquisition, Bruce Granath, MagicSpace Entertainment’s longtime head of marketing will become BAA’s VP, Mountain Region. Bruce and his team will continue to be based in Salt Lake City as BAA’s 13th regional office in North America.
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Broadway, Here I Come! Win a Trip to the 2016 Tony Awards Ceremony in New York City
April 22nd, 2015 | By Ryan Gilbert
What good is sitting alone in your room? Come hear the music play! Haven't you always dreamed of being a part of Broadway's biggest night? Then it's time to enter to win the 2015 Broadway Across America Tony Awards Sweepstakes because now is your chance to win a trip for two to New York City. The 69th annual Tony Awards air on June 7 on CBS and you can enter the sweepstakes while you're watching.
One Grand Prize winner will receive round-trip coach class airfare for two to NYC for a three-night stay at a hotel, two tickets to the 2016 Tony Awards, two tickets to the official Tony Awards Gala, tickets to two live theatrical productions, a group tour of the Big Apple and more. All you have to do to get started is "Like" the Broadway Across America Facebook page.
You have until 11:59PM (ET) on June 7 to enter the sweepstakes and the random drawing for the winner will be on or about June 10. There's no purchase necessary to enter or to win. Just fill out the form completely on the BAA Facebook page, and limit one manual entry per person and per account. Yep, it's that easy! As an added bonus, you can get extra entries when your friends enter using the special link provided after you enter.
So why are you still reading this? Go enter!
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the ‘terrible alphabet’ of tattooing and scarification
April 24, 2012 June 14, 2013 anarchistwithoutcontent
This post contained an draft version of a dissertation section. A more recent version is now available on the works page.
Posted in dissertationTagged anthropology, archaic state, ritual, scarification, sovereignty, state, tattooing, the state, war, war machine
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5 thoughts on “the ‘terrible alphabet’ of tattooing and scarification”
malte says:
Would there be any chance of having a look at those notes on tattooing?
anarchistwithoutcontent says:
Definitely. I have to blaze through some grading today, then I’ll compile my notes.
I spent an afternoon reading this stuff (I left out the sources I didn’t find helpful):
“the mutilated individual is removed from the common mass of humanity by a rite of separation (this is the idea behind cutting, piercing, etc.) which automatically incorporates him into a defined group; since the operation leaves ineradicable traces, the incorporation is permanent.” (Arnold Van Gennep, Rites of Passage, 72).
**Classic anthro text.
D&G’s Anti-Oedipus: “tattooing, excising, incising, carving, scarifying, mutilating, encircling, and initiating”
**Political text.
Tattoo history : a source book : an anthology of historical records of tattooing throughout the world / edited and introduced by Steve Gilbert with the collaboration of Cheralea Gilbert, (2000)
****Non-academic, not good citation, but tons of great “source” material to dig through.
Beauty and Scarification Amongst the Tiv, by Paul Bohannan. Man, Vol. 56 (Sep., 1956), pp. 117-121
**Classic article.
INSCRIBING THE BODY by Enid Schildkrout, Annu. Rev. Anthropol. 2004. 33:319
**Recent review of anthro theory.
Turner, SAMOA: A HUNDRED YEARS AGO AND LONG BEFORE. 1884
on tattooing http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14224/14224-h/14224-h.htm
***Worth a read…
The following selection is taken from Voyages and Travels in Various Parts of the World by Georg Heinrich von Langsdorff. London, 1817.
2 europeans living w/ native: frenchman jean baptiste cabri & englishman edward robarts
The most remarkable and interesting manner which the South-sea islanders have of ornamenting their naked bodies consists in punctuation, or, as they call it, tattooing. This kind of decoration, so common among many nations of the earth, merits greater attention from travelers than it has hitherto received. It is undoubtedly very striking, that nations perfectly remote from each other, who have no means of intercourse whatever, and according to what appears to us never could have had any, should yet be all agreed in this practice.
Among all the known nations of the earth, none has carried the art of tattooing to so high a degree of perfection as the inhabitants of Washington’s Islands [the Marquesas]. The regular designs with which the bodies of the men of Nukubiva are punctured from head to toot supplies in some sort the absence of clothing; for, under so warm a heaven, clothing would be insupportable to them. Many people here seek as much to obtain distinction by the symmetry and regularity with which they are tattooed, as among us by the elegant manner in which they are dressed; and although no real elevation is designated by the greater superiority of these decorations, yet as only persons of rank can afford to be at the expense attendant upon any refinement in the ornament, it does become in tact a badge of distinction.
The operation of tattooing is performed by certain persons, who gain their livelihood from it entirely, and I presume that those who perform it with the greatest dexterity, and evince the greatest degree of taste in the disposition of the ornaments, are as much sought after as among us a particularly good tailor. This much, however, must be said, that the choice made is not a matter of equal indifference with them as it is with us; for if the punctured garment be spoiled in the making, the mischief is irreparable, and it must be worn with all its faults the whole life through.
While we were at the Island, a son of the chief Katanuah was to be tattooed. For this purpose, as belonging to the principal person in the island, he was put into a separate house for several weeks which was tabooed; that is to say, it was forbidden to everybody except those who were exempted from the taboo by his father, to approach the house; here he was to remain during the whole time that the operation continued. All women, even the mother, are prohibited from seeing the youth while the taboo remains in force. Both the operator and the operatee are fed with the very best food during the continuance of the operation: to the former these are days of great festivity. In the first year only the ground-work of the principal figures upon the breast, arms, back and thighs is laid; and in doing this, the first punctures must be entirely healed, and the crust must have come off before new ones are made. Every single mark takes three or four days to heal; and the first sitting, as it may be called, commonly takes three or four weeks. When once the decorations are begun, some addition is constantly made to them at intervals of from three to six months, and this is not infrequently continued for thirty or forty years before the whole tattooing is complete.
The tattooing of persons in a middling station is performed in houses erected for the purpose by the tattooers, and tabooed by authority. A tattooer, who visited us several times on hoard the ship, had three of these houses, which could each receive eight or ten persons at a time: they paid for their decorations according to the greater or less quantity of them, and to the trouble the figures required. The poor islanders, who have not a superabundance of hogs to dispose of in luxuries, but live chiefly themselves upon breadfruit, are operated upon by novices in the art, who take them at a very low price as subjects for practice, but their works are easily distinguishable, even by a stranger, from those of an experienced artist. The lowest class of all the fishermen principally, but few of whom we saw, are often not able to afford even the pay by a novice, and are therefore not tattooed at all.
The women of Nukuhiva are very little tattooed, differing in this respect from the females of South-Sea islands. The hands are punctured from the ends of the fingers to the wrist, which gives them the appearance of wearing gloves, and our glovers might well borrow from them the patterns, and introduce a new fashion among the ladies, of gloves worked a la Washington. The feet, which among many are tattooed, look like highly ornamented half-boots; long stripes are besides sometimes to be seen down in the arms of the women, and circles round them, which have much the same effect as the bracelets worn by many European ladies. Some have also their ears and lips tattooed. The women are not, like the men, shut up in a tabooed house while they are going through this operation: it is performed without any ceremony in their new houses or in those of their relations; in short, wherever they please.
Sometimes rich islanders will, either form generosity, ostentation, or love to his wife, make a feast in honor of her, when she has a bracelet tattooed round her arm, or perhaps her ear ornamented. A hog is then killed, and the friends of both sexes are invited to partake of it, the occasion of the feast being made known to them. It is expected that the same courtesy should be returned in the case of the wife of any of the guests being punctured. This is one of the few occasions when women are allowed to eat hog’s flesh. If, in a very dry year, bread-fruit, hogs, roots, and other provisions become scarce, any one who has good stock of them, which commonly happens to the chief, in order to distribute his stores, keeps open table for a certain time to an appointed number of poor artists, who are bound to give in return some strokes of the tattoo to all who choose to come for it. By virtue of a taboo to all these brethren are engaged to support each other, if in future some happen to be in need, while the others are in affluence. This is one of the most rational orders of Freemasonry upon the globe.
Our interpreter Cabri, who was slightly and irregularly tattooed all over his body, upon one of these occasions got a black, or rather blue eye; a Roberts, who had only a puncture on his breast, in the form of a long square, six inches on way and four the other, assured us that he would never have submitted to the operation, if he had not been constrained by the scarcity in the preceding year to become one of the guests fed by the chief Katanuah. The same person may be member of several of these societies; but, according to what we could learn, a portion must always be given to the priest or magician, as he is called, even if he be not a member. In a time of scarcity also, many of the people who have been tattooed in this way untied in an absolute troop of banditti, and share equally among each other all that they can plunder or kill.
The figures with which the body is tattooed are chosen with great care, and appropriate ornaments are selected for the different parts. They consist partly of animals, partly of other that have some reference to the manners and customs of the islands; and every figure has here, as in the Friendly Islands [Tonga], its particular name. Upon an accurate examination, lines, diamonds, and other designs, are often distinguishable between rows of punctures which resemble very much the ornaments called A la Grecque. The most perfect symmetry is observed over the whole body; the head of a man is tattooed in every part; the breast is commonly ornamented with a figure resembling a shield; on the arms and thighs are stripes, sometimes broader, sometimes narrower, in such directions that these people might very well be presumed to have studied anatomy, and to be acquainted with the course and dimensions of the muscles. Upon the back is a large cross, which begins at the neck, and ends with the last vertebra. In the front of the thigh are often figures, which seem intended to represent the human face. On each side of the calf of the leg is an oval figure, which produces good effect. The whole, in short, displays much taste and discrimination. Some of the parts of the body, the eyelids, for example, are the only parts not tattooed…
Melville’s (somewhat) fictionalized account of tattooing:
IN one of my strolls with Kory-Kory, in passing along the border of a thick growth of bushes, my attention was arrested by a singular noise. On entering the thicket I witnessed for the first time the operation of tattooing as performed by these islanders.
I beheld a man extended flat upon his back on the ground, and, despite the forced composure of his countenance, it was evident that he was suffering agony. His tormentor bent over him, working away for all the world like a stone-cutter with mallet and chisel. In one hand he held a short slender stick, pointed with a shark’s tooth, on the upright end of which he tapped with a small hammer-like piece of wood, thus puncturing the skin, and charging it with the colouring matter in which the instrument was dipped. A cocoanut shell containing this fluid was placed upon the ground. It is prepared by mixing with a vegetable juice the ashes of the ‘armor’, or candle-nut, always preserved for the purpose. Beside the savage, and spread out upon a piece of soiled tappa, were a great number of curious black-looking little implements of bone and wood, used in the various divisions of his art. A few terminated in a single fine point, and, like very delicate pencils, were employed in giving the finishing touches, or in operating upon the more sensitive portions of the body, as was the case in the present instance. Others presented several points distributed in a line, somewhat resembling the teeth of a saw. These were employed in the coarser parts of the work, and particularly in pricking in straight marks. Some presented their points disposed in small figures, and being placed upon the body, were, by a single blow of the hammer, made to leave their indelible impression. I observed a few the handles of which were mysteriously curved, as if intended to be introduced into the orifice of the ear, with a view perhaps of beating the tattoo upon the tympanum. Altogether the sight of these strange instruments recalled to mind that display of cruel-looking mother-of-pearl-handled things which one sees in their velvet-lined cases at the elbow of a dentist.
The artist was not at this time engaged on an original sketch, his subject being a venerable savage, whose tattooing had become somewhat faded with age and needed a few repairs, and accordingly he was merely employed in touching up the works of some of the old masters of the Typee school, as delineated upon the human canvas before him. The parts operated upon were the eyelids, where a longitudinal streak, like the one which adorned Kory-Kory, crossed the countenance of the victim.
In spite of all the efforts of the poor old man, sundry twitchings and screwings of the muscles of the face denoted the exquisite sensibility of these shutters to the windows of his soul, which he was now having repainted. But the artist, with a heart as callous as that of an army surgeon, continued his performance, enlivening his labours with a wild chant, tapping away the while as merrily as a woodpecker.
So deeply engaged was he in his work, that he had not observed our approach, until, after having, enjoyed an unmolested view of the operation, I chose to attract his attention. As soon as he perceived me, supposing that I sought him in his professional capacity, he seized hold of me in a paroxysm of delight, and was an eagerness to begin the work. When, however, I gave him to understand that he had altogether mistaken my views, nothing could exceed his grief and disappointment. But recovering from this, he seemed determined not to credit my assertion, and grasping his implements, he flourished them about in fearful vicinity to my face, going through an imaginary performance of his art, and every moment bursting into some admiring exclamation at the beauty of his designs.
Horrified at the bare thought of being rendered hideous for life if the wretch were to execute his purpose upon me, I struggled to get away from him, while Kory-Kory, turning traitor, stood by, and besought me to comply with the outrageous request. On my reiterated refusals the excited artist got half beside himself, and was overwhelmed with sorrow at losing so noble an opportunity of distinguishing himself in his profession.
The idea of engrafting his tattooing upon my white skin filled him with all a painter’s enthusiasm; again and again he gazed into my countenance, and every fresh glimpse seemed to add to the vehemence of his ambition. Not knowing to what extremities he might proceed, and shuddering at the ruin he might inflict upon my figure-head, I now endeavoured to draw off his attention from it, and holding out my arm in a fit of desperation, signed to him to commence operations. But he rejected the compromise indignantly, and still continued his attack on my face, as though nothing short of that would satisfy him. When his forefinger swept across my features, in laying out the borders of those parallel bands which were to encircle my countenance, the flesh fairly crawled upon my bones. At last, half wild with terror and indignation, I succeeded in breaking away from the three savages, and fled towards old Marheyo’s house, pursued by the indomitable artist, who ran after me, implements in hand. Kory-Kory, however, at last interfered and drew him off from the chase.
This incident opened my eyes to a new danger; and I now felt convinced that in some luckless hour I should be disfigured in such a manner as never more to have the FACE to return to my countrymen, even should an opportunity offer.
Thanks. I could definately get use of this list at some point. Now I am especially curious to know more about the marking and coding of bodies, that D&G talk about, and, as I understand it, Clastres also references as a way of remembering “… you will not have the desire for power” etc. without creating an external Law. So I guess I have to read anti-oedipus eventually …
Another entry point I am curious about is more contemporary thought on tattooing. Of course, most mainstream / self-fashioning tattooing lacks much of the collectivity of tribal tattooing (but then again, the mere fact of “tribals” is a collective sign, which then leads us into Maffesolian ‘neo-tribal’ sociology but I don’t see how that line of thought can become fruitful). A more obvious example are Yakuza, prison tattooing etc. I guess I’m trying to find entry points to contemporary experiments of collective tattooing, that goes beyond mere affiliation (“I’m a goth punker” or “I’m a Yakuza gangster”) and marks passages, intensifies the memory of events, inscribes promises or obligations, strengthen ties and so …
Fortunately, the vast majority of writing on tattoo covers it in the way you indicated. I’ve emailed you a copy of anthropology review article, which should be a good guide for future research on the contemporary uses of tattooing.
Interestingly, I would say that tattooing has shed nearly all of its original purpose. Though, I think it’s impossible to imagine when they will no longer be used in surveillance. Here in the States, as I presume in the rest of the world, when law enforcement ‘books’ people, they not only make fingerprints, but they note tattoos & scars. In fact, tattoos and scars are the easiest way to get positive ID. Additionally, we have this odd system of “sex offender registries” that I’m sure other place have, and in the state I currently live in, the state sends you a postcard when a sex offender moves into your neighborhood. The postcard has a picture of the person, a list of their crimes, and a description. The only really memorable thing from most of those cards are the picture and the “scar/tattoo” section of the physical description.
D&G on tattooing is a bit complicated, as there are a number of pieces that must fit together to get the whole picture, but I think Holland gives a pretty good snapshot of their argument in his AO book. The first section I’ve pasted gives you a general description, while the second explains the “terrible alphabet.” Additionally, if you want a more complete (though maybe esoteric) picture, be sure to look at the AO Anthropology Typology on my “downloads” page.
Pastey pastey:
Savagery (1): the relations of anti-production
In savage society, the forces of anti-production operate by means of kinship relations. However, what we call “kinship relations’’ are, under savagery, co-extensive with the organization of the social field as a whole (166/196); the nuclear family, and the reproductive functions occurring within it, are not segregated from social relations at large, as they have been under capitalism. Marriage functions not merely as a pairing of two individuals, based on personal predilection and undertaken primarily for the purpose of bearing and raising children, but as a fully social event implicated in and governed by the entire social order, undertaken so as to consolidate and/or ameliorate the positions of entire families and lineages within the savage community. Two important implications follow from the non-segregation of savage reproduction from social-production at large.
For one thing, what we know as the “incest-taboo” functions in a very different – not to say opposed – fashion in savage society. Whereas we think of the incest “taboo” as an injunction against sexual relations among family members, it functions in savage society, on the contrary, as an incitement in favor of making connections in the social field. Indeed, to speak of the
incest “taboo” as a prohibition, a proscription bearing on reproduction, is already in a sense to impose a modern Oedipal perspective on savage social organization. For the social imperative under savagery is on the contrary pre-eminently positive: a prescription to form or strengthen family alliances, to share or distribute wealth, to knit social ties, by insisting that the young find their spouses exogamously, outside of their own family group or clan. By contrast, incest appears to us as a taboo – a “dirty little secret” (269/320) – because reproduction in the nuclear family has been segregated from other social relations in such a way that family members become the most conspicuous objects of desire. The Oedipus becomes a complex for us in a way it could not have been for societies with extended rather than nuclear institutions of reproduction, where so much positive incentive and social importance attach to marrying outside the family group.
This is not to say that there is no taboo against incest in savage society, but rather that the negative proscription is merely the corollary of a detailed and all-important prescription to share, distribute, knit social ties. In fact – and this is the second implication of the coincidence of relations of reproduction and relations of social-production/anti-production in savage society – the exact same kind of imperative governs production and reproduction alike. Everyone must share or distribute the fruits of their labor; or conversely, no one may appropriate for themselves what they have produced – hunted, gathered, reaped – but must rather relinquish it to the network of debt-obligations that constitutes the very structure of the relations of savage anti-production.23 What we call the incest-taboo thus represents a sub-category of a larger class of taboo which constitutes the law of savage anti-production and organizes both social-production and reproduction: hunters are forbidden to consume their own kill just as parents are forbidden to procreate with their own children. That the taboo bearing on reproduction seems so much more important to us than the taboo bearing on production is due to a kind of optical illusion: from our perspective, the taboo on production is moot because with specialization and the extensive division of labor characteristic of capitalism people, inevitably produce for the market, and cannot directly consume what they produce. Under savagery, relations of anti-production must enforce what the market system under capitalism seems able to ensure effortlessly and as a matter of course: that there will be no direct appropriation of the fruits of labor.
The general law of savage social organization, then, is that all means of life – wombs and material goods alike – must circulate. The system of savage debt-obligations and expenditures is established precisely in order to prevent desire from gaining immediate access to its object, which is life and the means of life. It is because immediate access is to be prevented by a mode of repression which turns desire away from its immediate aims that Deleuze and Guattari characterize savage social organization as ‘‘perverse.” The relation of desire to its primordial objects, the sources of life itself – to the earth
(food, clothing, shelter, etc.) as well as the mother (breast, placenta, womb, etc.) – must be mediated by the laws of social organization.24 The productive synthesis of connection which would make immediate (and multiple) connections with mother and earth gets interrupted by the disjunctive synthesis of recording, which establishes the network of relations of anti-production comprising the savage social order.25 This is, of course, an exclusive use of the disjunctive synthesis, for savage social organization actively encourages some relations and discourages others.
The general syntax, so to speak, of savage social organization comprises marriage alliances and lineage filiations, the synchrony and diachrony of kinship, if you will. Unlike the nuclear family in modern society, where filiation relations involve usually only two (or at most three) lineage generations and alliance relations go no further than one layer of “in-laws,” savage lineages are calculated many generations deep, and savage alliance relations extend throughout the social field. Indeed, under the pressure of complex alliance patterns, kinship relations combine with myth to extend savage lineages all the way back to the earth itself, while the matrix of alliances become co-extensive with social organization as a whole. Since debt and expenditure obligations under savagery remain finite, mobile, and reciprocal, they form neither a closed system of exchange nor a fixed hierarchy permanently elevating one clan or group above the others. Determinate patterns of circulation produce only differences in rank, which arise from the ebb and flow of debt obligations, and are hence always subject to change.
Savagery (2): territorial inscription
Savage social organization is actualized by a system of inscription that Deleuze and Guattari call a system of “cruelty” (184/218). The temptation of direct appropriation of the matter- and energy-flows of life is so great and so immediate, and the requirement of obedience to the social group so strong, that the laws of savage anti-production – exogamy; no immediate consumption – are branded directly into the flesh of the body. Invoking the Nietzsche of The Genealogy of Morals, Deleuze and Guattari suggest that an enormous amount of pain and cruelty are required to forge a collective memory powerful enough to overcome the appeal of unmediated life (144–5/169–70). The main threat to savage society arises not from incest, they insist, but from flows of matter or energy that might escape capture by the forces of anti-production that constitute savage social organization; rituals of cruelty and systems of inscription are instituted precisely to code all matter- and energy-flows so that they circulate throughout society and cannot escape its grasp. Savage coding is thus linked both to the system of debt-obligations and expenditures it enforces and makes possible and to a specific form of ‘‘writing” that creates and imposes a collective memory on the savage tribe.26
Savage writing as a mode of inscription is distinctive in that it is characteristically performed on the body (or the body of the earth). Equally important, such writing is independent of spoken language: the voice and graphics form two formally independent sub-systems of inscription; neither serves as signifier for the other. Finally, voice and graphics are nevertheless brought together to inscribe savage law in more or less public rituals where an authoritative gaze (of a shaman, a specific social group, or the community as a whole) confirms acceptance into the community based on the pain suffered in the process of inscription. The gaze functions crucially to overcome the formal independence and to sanction the “arbitrary” conjunction of the other two components of the ritual, which Deleuze and Guattari therefore characterize as a system of connotation (203/241).
Deleuze and Guattari describe one such ritual, in which the clan of a young woman and that of her husband mark her body with an excision that will confirm the legitimacy of their alliance and act as a sign of its fertility:
The calabash of…excision is placed on the body of the young woman. Furnished by the husband’s lineage, the calabash serves as a conductor for the voice of alliance; but the graphism must be traced by a member of the young woman’s clan. The articulation of the two elements takes place on the body itself, and constitutes the sign [of fertility].
(188–9/223)
Deleuze and Guattari go on to insist that such a sign “is not a resemblance or imitation, nor an effect of a signifier, but rather a position and a production of desire” (189/223): the sign operates less to convey a message – the woman does not learn the meaning of the ideograms during the initiation rite – than to assign reproductive organs a place and a (hopefully fruitful) function within the group. Everyone henceforth knows to whom this womb belongs – or rather, exactly what position it occupies in the network of alliances and filiations of the society, and to whom its fruits will be due, along which pathways of debt and expenditure they will have to circulate.
Several features of savage society are worth underscoring for the sake of comparison with despotism and capitalism. For one thing, savage debt is open-ended, composed of what Deleuze and Guattari call ‘‘mobile and finite blocks of debt” (190/225). While it is true that savage myth supplements the reckoning of lineages so as to ground them in the earth itself, the system of alliances that constitute the network of debt-obligations is subject to constant renegotiation, and thus never forms a closed system. “A kinship system is not a [fixed] structure but a practice, a praxis, a method, and even a strategy,” Deleuze and Guattari conclude; “[it] only appears closed [to exchangist anthropologists] to the extent that it is severed from the political and economic references that keep it open” (147–8/173).
For another thing, the voice and graphics form two independent systems, which rituals bring together in an a-signifying way under the gaze of the group (or of such sub-groups as are permitted to witness this or that ritual). Crucially, savage writing does not represent speech. Moreover, rituals of cruelty assign social place and function to specific organs by marking bodies or body-parts; whole persons are not at issue. A fertility ritual assigns the womb, and the womb alone, to its place in the relations of anti-production; which foods the young woman may eat, what stories she may tell or to whom she may talk are determined by various other rituals bearing on different organs of the body. Savage organs belong to the group rather than to private egos or selves (which only emerge later). In this context, incest as we know it (or rather as we conceive of it, according to the modern “incest-taboo”) is in an important sense simply not possible: the organs of reproduction (and production, too) are first and foremost assigned a place and function in the social order; they belong not to an individual but to the group.27 One result, it is true, of such assignment – but not the one directly aimed at – is that sexual relations among immediate family members are discouraged. But the “taboo” forbidding sexual relations between whole persons within the immediate family is merely an after-effect – or better, an after-image – of the primary assignment of place and function to specific, collectively invested organs within the community.
Deleuze and Guattari therefore conclude that the Oedipus plays no role in organizing savage society: Oedipal incest is only a negative after-image of the law which does in fact organize savage society (while also determining the development of extended lineages): the law of exogamy and the system of marriage-alliances it fosters. Here again, the tripartite semiotic of the poststructuralist critique of representation is critical: it enables Deleuze and Guattari to distinguish between the alliance–debt system as the repressing representation of desire, on one hand, and the taboo against incest which is the displaced represented of desire, produced by the repressing representation itself, on the other. Equally important, it enables them to distinguish both elements of representation from the immediate object of desire, the representative of desire, which as I have said is life itself and the means of life. Desire does indeed get repressed under savagery, very severely repressed; however, it is not incest but the desire for life that gets repressed, by being inscribed in a determinate social system of representation:
As for Oedipus in general [under savagery], it is not the repressed – that is, the representative of desire, which is on this side of and completely ignorant of daddy–mommy. Nor is it the repressing representation, which is beyond, and which renders [whole] persons discernible only by subjecting them to the…rules of alliance. Incest is only the retroactive effect of the repressing representation on the repressed representative: the representation disfigures or displaces
this representative….[I]t projects onto the representative [the] categories that it has itself established and rendered discernible; it applies to the representative [specific] terms that did not exist before the alliances organized…a system in extension…the representation reduces the representative to what is blocked in this system. Hence Oedipus is indeed the limit, but the displaced limit that now passes into the interior of the socius. Oedipus is the baited image with which desire allows itself to be caught (That’s what you wanted! The decoded flows were incest!). Then a long story begins, the story of Oedipalization.
(165–6/195; translation modified)
But the decoded flows were not incest: they were life itself. The primary function of savage representation is to code the un-coded flows of life, to institute through rituals of cruelty a system of alliances and filiations in order to prevent the direct and hence anti-social appropriation of life. Far from playing a determining role in this system of repression, the Oedipus appears only as an after-image, an internalized limit. As such, it begins what we can see retrospectively as a long yet halting migration to replace life and become the very representative of desire, which it finally does only under capitalism. But first we must examine the entirely different relations of anti-production and system of inscription characteristic of despotism, to understand what they in turn contribute to the long story of Oedipalization.
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Facebook Shuts Down Private Page of Head of Sputnik Latvia
Sputnik – 14.02.2019
RIGA – Facebook has deleted a private account of Sputnik Latvia editor-in-chief Valentins Rozencovs after it broadcast a pro-Riga mayor rally.
“Facebook has recently opened a 150-member Riga office and is still hiring. It monitors what people in the Baltics post on the social network website. A staffer or someone who aspires to be one must have informed them about the broadcast from my account, causing it to be shut”, he said.
The airing of last Saturday’s massive rally in support of embattled Riga Mayor Nils Usakovs was watched and reposted by thousands of people. The leader of the popular leftist Harmony party survived a no-confidence vote this Monday, called by right-wing opposition over graft claims.
Rozencovs’ account on Facebook was first purged in January when the California-based social networking giant removed over 500 pages and accounts linked to Russia, citing perceived attempts to manipulate people in the Baltics and elsewhere.
Sputnik global editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan said the fact that Rozencovs’ private page was targeted again after broadcasting a rally in support of Usakovs was no coincidence. The mayor of the Latvian capital is routinely described in Western media as being pro-Kremlin.
Last July, Valentins Rozencovs said that he had been detained in Riga by the security police upon his arrival from Moscow and released almost 12 hours later. He noted that security services questioned him about his work as Sputnik Latvia’s senior editor and the outlet’s work in the country.
February 14, 2019 Posted by aletho | Full Spectrum Dominance | Facebook, Latvia | Leave a comment
US-led anti-Iran circus in Warsaw unravels as farce
By Finian Cunningham | RT | February 14, 2019
A conference in Warsaw this week was billed as reinstating the US’ lead role in diplomacy for the Mideast. The absence of Russia and other European leaders only served to expose the ill-conceived summit and Washington’s isolation.
When the forum was initially planned last year by the Trump administration, the purpose was to bring Washington back in from the diplomatic cold which it had opted for by abandoning the international nuclear accord with Iran.
Trump’s tearing up of the Iran deal in May 2018 had isolated the US from other signatories: Russia, China and the Europeans. By holding a high-level conference on Iran, the idea was to burnish Washington’s diplomatic standing in the Middle East.
The trouble was that from the outset most would-be participants saw the real agenda of the meeting as an attempt by Washington to drum up international support for further antagonizing Iran with economic sanctions.
Despite recent official US denials of seeking regime change in Tehran, the long-term pattern of flagrant hostility from President Trump and others in his administration betrayed Washington’s real intentions.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has been labeling the Warsaw event “a desperate anti-Iran circus.” Last month, it was evident that European states were going to give the conference a miss on the grounds that the thinly veiled agenda would further undermine EU efforts at preserving the Iran deal.
This week’s conference – although slated as a “ministerial summit” – was conspicuous by the absence of senior delegates. Russia, Turkey, Qatar and Lebanon did not attend. Neither did many European leaders, including EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.
The American side sent a high-profile delegation headed by Vice-President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Also present were Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and “special advisor” on Middle East policy.
The void in senior foreign participants – especially Russia which has become the main external player in Middle Eastern affairs following its successful military intervention in Syria – only goes to show how diminished Washington’s role has become.
Realizing its anti-Iran agenda was not going to gain much traction, Washington rebranded the Warsaw conference in an attempt to give it an apparently more general regional remit. The event’s updated title proclaiming the “Future of Peace and Security in the Middle East” was intended to not alienate others over the initial hostile focus on Iran.
Hence the agenda was broadened out to include discussions on Syria, Yemen and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
Still, however, Iran was not invited. How can a supposed Middle East peace and security conference be held without the inclusion of Iran, an undoubted regional powerhouse?
How could discussions on Syria be expected to be productive when the Syrian government is not present, nor its main ally Russia?
There were no delegations from the Houthi rebels in Yemen, nor the Palestinian Authority. The Palestinians have boycotted Trump’s much-vaunted peace plan, headed up by Jared Kushner, ever since Washington’s recognition last year of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, as well as ongoing suspicions of additional transgressions against Palestinian rights, such as return of refugees.
On the eve of the Warsaw conference, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pulled back the curtains when he revealed the gathering was intended to solidify the “common interest of war with Iran.” Netanyahu’s tweet was quickly deleted but not before it was widely disseminated by critics.
Iran noted it was “no coincidence” that on the first day of the conference in Warsaw, the country saw the worst terrorist attack in years on its soil when 27 of its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were killed in a suicide bombing claimed by a jihadist group. Tehran asserted that the terrorist group had links to “foreign intelligence services.”
While attending the summit, Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani openly called for regime change in Iran. Giuliani also spoke at a rally in Warsaw organized by the Iranian exile group Mujahideen-e Khalq (MEK). The group has been linked to past terrorist attacks in Iran aimed at overthrowing the government in Tehran. It is not clear if the MEK had any involvement in this week’s deadly bombing, but its delegates in Warsaw who had been hosting Giuliani cheered the killing of the Iranian guards, according to Iran’s Foreign Ministry.
Earlier this week, Iran celebrated the 40th anniversary of its Islamic revolution. The anniversary was vilified by Trump as “40 years of terror.” His National Security Advisor John Bolton also directed a message to Iran’s leadership saying its time was up. Israel’s Netanyahu also gloated in a chilling warning that the anniversary could be the last.
Yet, preposterously, American officials tried to pretend that the Warsaw conference was not a “trash Iran” event. Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the EU, griped that the non-attendance of European leaders was “an unhelpful act.”
Andrew Miller, a former diplomat in the Obama administration, was quoted as saying it was unprecedented for such a de facto boycott by American allies of a supposedly landmark summit.
But of course, what does Washington expect? The Trump administration has shown such a high-handed contempt for diplomatic norms, even towards its purported European allies.
It has also revealed itself as riven with contradictions and shambles over its Middle East policy. Is the US withdrawing from Syria or not? The mixed signals out of Washington on this one issue alone is symbolic of the general incoherence and faltering leadership in the White House.
President Trump seems to want to have his cake and eat it. He wants “America First” unilateralism and is all too quick to ride roughshod over allies and their interests – the Iran nuclear deal being a classic case.
Then when the Trump administration tries to mitigate the damage of its bruising behavior and to hold a supposed multilateral conference on the Middle East, the upshot is very few give the event any credence or respect.
It’s abundantly clear that Washington has no intention for “peace and security” in the Middle East. Its charade of posing as a diplomatic arbiter is coming apart at the seams. But the farce that is American diplomacy is revealing how irrelevant Washington’s role has become.
Most nations know that Washington’s obsession with confronting Iran is not a viable policy. Indeed, it is a reprehensible pathology which only seems to resonate with the unhinged regimes of Israeli and Saudi warmongering despots, both of whom were prominent in Warsaw this week.
Even the mere choice of venue was telling of America’s declining status. Poland has been sucking up to Washington with its purchase of US missile systems and its request for the Americans to build a new military base in the country, which Warsaw proposes to call ‘Fort Trump.’ A former Polish diplomat even complained that the Warsaw government had no input into the summit agenda, which he said was dominated by Washington, Israel and Saudi Arabia.
The Trump administration knew it had to hold its Mideast summit in Poland this week because it would not be welcome in Western European states. It’s a sign of the times when US diplomacy seems to be only hosted by marginal European states who are too obsequious to snigger at the farce.
February 14, 2019 Posted by aletho | Militarism, Wars for Israel | Sanctions against Iran, United States, Zionism | Leave a comment
US Says Iran Misuses Intl Court After Ruling on Assets Took Tehran’s Side
Sputnik – February 14, 2019
WASHINGTON – The International Court of Justice’s ruling to permit Iran to proceed with a lawsuit to recover its frozen assets in the United States is an attempt by Tehran to misuse the court, the US Department of State said in a statement.
“Iran must not be permitted to continue to misuse the International Court of Justice’s judicial process for political and propaganda purposes”, State Department Deputy Spokesman Robert Palladino said on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, the International Court of Justice ruled that Iran’s lawsuit against the United States over more than $2 billion in frozen assets was admissible.
Palladino said the case is yet another example of how Iran seeks to misuse legal processes and distort principles of international law.
“Iran’s goal is to prevent United States victims of the Iranian regime’s wanton acts of terrorism… from recovering compensation from Iran in US courts”, Palladino said.The US Supreme Court ruled in 2016 that the money frozen by the United States should go to the survivors and families of victims of terrorist attacks attributed to Iran. Tehran claims that this decision violated the 1955 US-Iranian Treaty of Amity.
Washington said last October that it was terminating the treaty after the International Court of Justice ruled the United States breached the agreement by re-imposing sanctions linked to Tehran’s nuclear program.
UN Court Allows Iran to Proceed With Bid to Recover $1.75 Bln Frozen by US
February 14, 2019 Posted by aletho | Aletho News | ICJ, United States | 1 Comment
You can’t have Syria safe zone without Assad’s consent, Russia tells Turkey
Press TV – February 14, 2019
Russia has reminded Turkey that it must obtain the consent of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government for its plan to create a safe zone in the northeastern part of the conflict-plagued Arab country.
“The question of the presence of a military contingent acting on the authority of a third country on the territory of a sovereign country and especially Syria must be decided directly by Damascus. That’s our base position,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters in Moscow on Thursday.
The remarks came as Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his Russian and Turkish counterparts Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a tripartite summit in the Russian coastal city of Sochi to provide further coordination among the three countries towards a long-term settlement of the Syria crisis.
The three leaders are going to hold their fourth such meeting in the Astana format.
The Sochi summit comes before the 12th Astana talks in the Kazakh capital in mid-February. The first round of the Astana talks commenced a month after the three guarantors joined efforts and brought about an all-Syria ceasefire.
Moscow, Tehran, and Ankara have been mediating peace negotiations between representatives from the Damascus government and Syrian opposition groups in a series of rounds held in Astana and other places since January 2017.
Since 2012, Turkey has been calling for the establishment of a safe zone of 30-40 kilometers between the northern Syrian towns of Jarablus and al- Ra’i in a bid to drive out the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG). However, the safe zone is yet to be established.
Erdogan and his US counterpart Donald Trump held a telephone conversation last month, during which the Turkish leader expressed Ankara’s determination to establish a safe zone in northern Syria.
Trump has suggested creation of a 30-kilometer safe zone along Turkey’s border with Syria, but has not specified who would create, enforce or pay for it, or where it would be located.
Ankara has been threatening for months to launch an offensive in northern Syria against US-backed YPG militants.
Turkey considers the YPG a terrorist organization and an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been fighting for an autonomous region inside Turkey since 1984.
The Turkish military, with support from allied militants of the so-called Free Syrian Army, launched two cross-border operations in northern Syria, the first dubbed “Euphrates Shield” in August 2016 and the second code-named “Olive Branch”in January 2018, against the YPG and Daesh Takfiri terrorists.
February 14, 2019 Posted by aletho | Illegal Occupation | Russia, Syria, Turkey | 1 Comment
Pence says EU must withdraw from Iran deal & stop trying to ‘break up’ sanctions on ‘vile regime’
RT | February 14, 2019
US Vice-President Mike Pence has demanded that Europe withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal and lashed out at the EU’s efforts to evade Washington’s sanctions on Tehran.
Speaking at a security conference in Warsaw, Pence chastized Europe for leading an “effort to create mechanisms to break up our sanctions” against Iran, and complained that European countries had not been “cooperative” since the Trump administration withdrew from the Iran deal last year.
“The time has come for our European partners to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal” and join with the US to give the Iranian people and the world “peace, security and freedom,” he said.
Pence said the EU’s newly created Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), conceived as a way to continue facilitating trade between the EU and Iran, was an “ill-advised step” which would only “strengthen Iran, weaken the EU, and create still more distance between Europe and the United States.”
In January, the EU unveiled a new transactions channel aimed at bypassing the SWIFT international payments system to circumvent US sanctions. The system, called INSTEX – or ‘Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges’ – has limited capacity and only allows “humanitarian” trade by focusing on sectors “most essential” to Iranian people like food, pharmaceutical and medical devices. While the EU hailed the mechanism as a way to preserve the Iran deal, critics say it won’t change much as European countries still worry about US repercussions if they are “caught” evading sanctions and working in Iran.
Pence said that the US had been “a force for good” in the Middle East and claimed that Trump is committed to standing with “the good people of Iran and stand up to their oppressors.”
He cited the US’ withdrawal from the Iran deal as proof that Washington was making good on that promise, despite the fact that American sanctions, which Pence called “the toughest in history,” have had devastating effects on the Iranian people. He said the sanctions would “get tougher still” until Tehran complies with US demands, and said Washington’s efforts to isolate Iran was a “noble cause.”
Pence said that the nuclear deal did not ensure that the “vile regime” of Iran would not obtain nuclear weapons, but instead “delayed the day” that this would happen. This is despite the fact that Europe, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the UN have all said that Iran is complying with the terms of the deal.
Pence called the Warsaw meeting, which was organized by the US and Poland, an “unprecedented gathering” of leaders, but the attendees list probably wasn’t quite what he might have hoped for, since major EU countries chose not to send top officials and Russia declined an invitation altogether. The summit was billed as a way to promote “peace and security in the Middle East” but focused mainly on efforts to isolate Iran. Ironically, Iran was not invited to the gathering.
Earlier at the conference, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that peace and stability in the Middle East was “not possible” without confronting Iran.
The absence of top diplomats from Germany, France and the UK is a sign that Europe is not likely to back down on its continued support of the Iran deal or its efforts to continue trading with Tehran. Iran dismissed the meeting as an anti-Iran “circus” aimed at “demonizing” the country.
February 14, 2019 Posted by aletho | Wars for Israel | European Union, Middle East, Sanctions against Iran, United States | 2 Comments
BBC-staged footage on Syria’s Douma Western media’s ‘theater of absurd’: Russia
Russia says the latest revelations by BBC that the footage of an April chemical attack near the Syrian capital was fabricated proves the “theater of absurd” in Western media’s coverage of events in the Arab country.
“Over the past few years, and not just in Syria, we have been witness to a travesty being staged by the West and its media agencies, which on [the one] hand brags about brilliant democratic goals and support for civilians of a sovereign state, but on the other does not … give a damn about … international law, various forms of freedom and rights of a nation or a certain minority,” the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, told reporters in Moscow on Thursday.
The footage broadcast by BBC showed people being treated after a chemical attack in Douma.
BBC Syria producer Riam Dalati wrote on Twitter on Wednesday that the issue had been investigated for six months.
Zakharova added, “The culmination of this theater of absurd may be a statement by a BBC producer, who confirmed based on his own research that the footage [in Douma] had been staged with direct participation of [the so-called civil defense group] White Helmets.
She further pointed out that Russia wanted to listen to BBC’s explanation because it actively covered the events in favor of the US-led coalition purportedly fighting the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group.
The Western-backed White Helmets group, which has been repeatedly accused of cooperating with Takfiri terrorists and staging fictional chemical attacks, published a video in April 2018, alleging that Syrian government forces had launched a chemical assault in the city of Douma, located about 10 kilometers northeast of Damascus.
The US has warned it would respond to any possible chemical weapons attack by Syrian government forces with retaliatory strikes, stressing that the attacks would be stronger than those conducted by American, British and French forces last year.
On April 14, 2018, the US, Britain and France carried out a string of airstrikes against Syria over a suspected chemical weapons attack on the city of Douma.
Washington and its allies blamed Damascus for the Douma attack, an allegation rejected by the Syrian government.
On September 11 last year, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov censured the US threats to use military force against Syria as part of Washington’s blackmail policy.
“Unlike the United States, Britain and their allies, Russia provides particular facts on a daily basis through its Defense Ministry, the Foreign Ministry as well missions in New York, The Hague and Geneva. We particularly name geographical points, where preparations are underway for certain terrorist groups backed by the US and its allies to carry out provocations,” Ryabkov said.
February 14, 2019 Posted by aletho | Deception, Fake News, False Flag Terrorism, Mainstream Media, Warmongering | BBC, UK, United States | Leave a comment
BBC Says Its Producer Expressed ‘Personal Opinions’ on Douma Incident
BBC Syria producer Riam Dalati, who wrote on Twitter that he could prove the video of the victims of the alleged chemical attack in Douma being treated in hospital was staged, was expressing his own opinion and did not deny the fact of the attack itself, the broadcaster’s spokesperson told Sputnik on Thursday.
“The producer was expressing his personal opinions about some of the video footage that emerged after the attack but has not claimed that the attack did not happen”, the BBC spokesperson said.
On Wednesday, the journalist tweeted that he could “prove without a doubt” that the Douma hospital footage had been staged and no fatalities had occurred in the hospital. He said the attack did take place but without the use of sarin gas and that the nature of any chemical used would have to be verified by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
Previously, the RT broadcaster reported that Dalati had already expressed his scepticism about the Douma hospital video in a Twitter post. However, the journalist subsequently deleted his tweet, citing a breach of editorial policy.
The same month, Hassan Diab, 11, who was featured in the White Helmets video, in an interview with a Russian media outlet alongside his father, gave a detailed description of how the footage of people treated in the hospital was filmed. Diab said, among other things, that children were given food for participating in the video.
Moreover, Douma residents, interviewed by Sputnik, were unable to confirm that the attack had taken place there. They said they knew nothing about it and were not aware of anybody having been affected by toxic chemicals.
The reports about the attack and the publication of the footage by the White Helmets were followed by missile strikes carried out by France, the United Kingdom and the United States targeting alleged chemical weapons production facilities in Damascus.
Western states have repeatedly accused the Syrian authorities of having carried out the Douma attack, while Damascus denied any involvement in the incident. The Russian Foreign Ministry has said that the claims about the alleged use of toxic chemicals by the Syrian government were aimed at justifying external military action.
READ MORE: German Journalist Federation Calls on Regulators to Deny Broadcast License to RT
February 14, 2019 Posted by aletho | Deception, Fake News, False Flag Terrorism, Mainstream Media, Warmongering | BBC, France, UK, United States | 1 Comment
The Real Motive Behind the FBI Plan to Investigate Trump as a Russian Agent
By Gareth Porter | Consortium News | February 13, 2019
The New York Times and CNN led media coverage last month of discussions among senior FBI officials in May 2017 of a possible national security investigation of President Donald Trump himself, on the premise that he may have acted as an agent of Russia.
The episode has potentially profound political fallout, because the Times and CNN stories suggested that Trump may indeed have acted like a Russian agent. The New York Times story on Jan. 11 was headlined, “F.B.I. Opened Inquiry into Whether Trump Was Secretly Working on Behalf of Russia.” CNN followed three days later with: “Transcripts detail how FBI debated whether Trump was ‘following directions’ of Russia.”
By reporting that Russia may have been able to suborn the president of the United States, these stories have added an even more extreme layer to the dominant national political narrative of a serious Russian threat to destroy U.S. democracy. An analysis of the FBI’s idea of Trump as possible Russian agent reveals, moreover, that it is based on a devious concept of “unwitting” service to Russian interests that can be traced back to former CIA director John O. Brennan.
The Proposal That Fell Apart
The FBI discussions that drove these stories could have led to the first known investigation of a U.S. president as a suspected national security risk. It ended only a few days after the deliberations among the senior FBI officials when on May 19, 2017, the Justice Department chose Robert Mueller, a former FBI director, to be special counsel. That put control over the Trump-Russia investigation into the hands of Mueller rather than the FBI.
Peter Strzok, who led the bureau’s counter-espionage section, was, along with former FBI General Counsel James A. Baker, one of those involved in the May 2017 discussions about investigating Trump. Strzok initially joined Mueller’s team but was fired after a couple of months when text messages that he had written came to light exposing a deep animosity towards Trump that cast doubt over his impartiality.
The other FBI officials behind the proposed investigation of Trump have also since left the FBI; either fired or retired.
The entirety of what was said at the meetings of five or six senior FBI officials in the immediate aftermath of Trump’s firing of James Comey as FBI director on May 9, 2017, remains a mystery.
Closed-door Testimony
The CNN and Times stories were based on transcripts either obtained or, in the case of the Times, on portions read to it, of private testimony given to the House Judiciary and Government Oversight and Reform committees last October by Baker, one of the participants in the discussions of Trump as a possible Russian agent.
Excerpts of Baker’s testimony published by CNN make it clear that the group spoke about Trump’s policy toward Russia as a basis for a counter-intelligence investigation. Baker said they “discussed as [a] theoretical possibility” that Trump was “acting at the behest of [Russia] and somehow following directions, somehow executing their will.”
Baker went on to explain that this theoretical possibility was only “one extreme” in a range of possibilities discussed and that “the other extreme” was that “the President is completely innocent.”
He thus made it clear that there was no actual evidence for the idea that he was acting on behalf of Russia.
Baker also offered a simpler rationale for such an investigation of Trump: the president’s firing of FBI Director Comey. “Not only would [firing Comey] be an issue of obstructing an investigation,” he said, “but the obstruction itself would hurt our ability to figure what the Russians had done, and that is what would be the threat to national security.”
But the idea that Comey’s firing had triggered the FBI’s discussions had already been refuted by a text message that Strzok, who had been leading the FBI’s probe into the Trump campaign’s contacts with Russians, sent immediately after the firing to Lisa Page, then legal counsel to Andrew McCabe, formerly the bureau’s deputy director who was then acting director.
“We need to open the case we’ve been waiting on now while Andy is acting,” Strzok wrote, referring to McCabe.
As Page later confirmed to congressional investigators, according to the CNN story, Strzok’s message referred to their desire to launch an investigation into possible collusion between Trump and the Russians. Strzok’s message also makes clear he, and others intent on the investigation, were anxious to get McCabe to approve the proposed probe before Trump named someone less sympathetic to the project as the new FBI director.
Why the FBI Wanted to Investigate
The New York Times story argued that the senior FBI officials’ interest in a counter-intelligence investigation of Trump and the Russians sprang from their knowledge of the sensational charges in the opposition research dossier assembled by British ex-spy Christopher Steele (paid for by the DNC and the Clinton campaign) that the Putin government had “tried to obtain influence over Mr. Trump by preparing to blackmail and bribe him.”
But the Times writers must have known that Bruce Ohr, former associate deputy attorney general, had already given McCabe, Page and Strzok information about Steele and his dossier that raised fundamental questions about its reliability.
Ohr’s first contacts at FBI headquarters regarding Steele and his dossier came Aug. 3, 2016, with Page and her boss McCabe. Ohr later met with Strzok.
Ohr said he told them that Steele’s work on the dossier had been financed by the Clinton campaign through the Perkins-Cole law firm. He also told them that Steele, in a July 30, 2016 meeting, told him he was “desperate that Donald Trump not get elected and was passionate about him not being president,” according to Ohr’s contemporaneous notes of the meeting.
So, key figures in the discussion of Trump and Russia in May 2017 knew that Steele was acting out of both political and business motives to come up with sensational material.
Strzok and Page may have started out as true believers in the idea that the Russians were using Trump campaign officials to manipulate Trump administration policy. However, by May 2017, Strzok had evidently concluded that there was no real evidence.
In a text message to Page on May 19, 2017, Strzok said he was reluctant to join the Mueller investigation, because of his “gut sense and concern” that “there’s no big there there.”
Why, then, were Strzok, Page, McCabe and others so determined to launch an investigation of Trump at about the same time in May 2017?
A CNN article about the immediate aftermath of the Comey firing reported that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and senior FBI officials “viewed Trump as a leader who needed to be reined in, according to two sources describing the sentiment of the time.”
That description by anti-Trump law enforcement officials suggests that the proposed counter-intelligence investigation of Trump served as a means to maintain some leverage over his treatment of the FBI in regard to the Russia issue.
That motivation would be consistent with the decision by McCabe on May 15, 2017 – a few days after the discussions in question among the senior FBI officials – to resume the bureau’s relationship with Steele.
The FBI had hired Steele as a paid source when it had earlier launched its investigation of Trump campaign official’s contacts with Russians in July 2016. But it had suspended and then terminated the relationship over Steele’s unauthorized disclosure of the investigation to David Corn of Mother Jones magazine in October 2016. So, the decision to resume the relationship with Steele suggests that the group behind the new investigation were thinking of seizing an opportunity to take off the gloves against Trump.
The ‘Unwitting Collaboration’ Ploy
The discussion by senior FBI officials of a counter-intelligence investigation of Trump has become part of the political struggle over Trump mainly because of the stories in the Times and CNN.
The role of the authors of those stories illustrates how corporate journalists casually embraced the ultimate conspiracy theory – that the president of the United States was acting as a Russian stooge.
The reporters of the CNN story — Jeremy Herb, Pamela Brown and Laura Jarrett — wrote that the FBI officials were “trying to understand why [Trump] was acting in ways that seemed to benefit Russia.”
The New York Times story was more explicit. Co-authors Adam Goldman, Michael S. Schmidt and Nicholas Fandos wrote that the FBI officials “sought to determine whether Mr. Trump was knowingly working for Russia or had unwittingly fallen under Moscow’s influence.”
The same day the Times story was published, the lead author on the piece, Adam Goldman, was interviewed by CNN. Goldman referred to Trump’s interview with NBC’sLester Holt in the days after the Comey firing as something that supposedly pushed the FBI officials over the edge. Goldman declared, “The FBI is watching him say this, and they say he’s telling us why he did this. He did it on behalf of Russia.”
But Trump said nothing of kind. What he actually said — as the Times itself quoted Trump, from the NBCinterview —was: “[W]hen I decided just to do it, I said to myself – I said, you know this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story.” The Times article continued: “Mr. Trump’s aides have said that a fuller examination of his comments demonstrates that he did not fire Mr. Comey to end the Russia inquiry. ‘I might even lengthen out the investigation, but I have to do the right thing for the American people,” Mr. Trump added. ‘He’s the wrong man for that position.’”
Goldman was evidently trying to sell the idea of Trump as a suspected agent of Russia.
Goldman also gave an interview to The New Yorker’s Isaac Chotiner, in which the interviewer pressed him on the weakest point of the Trump-as-Russian-agent theory. “What would that look like if the President was an unwitting agent of a foreign power?” asked Chotiner.
The Times correspondent, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the alleged Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election, responded: “It is hard to say what that would look like.” Goldman then reiterated the concept. “People were very careful to tell me that: ‘It is wittingly or unwittingly.’” And in answer to a follow-up question, Goldman referred to evidence he suggested might be held by the FBI that “perhaps suggests that the President himself may be acting as a foreign agent, either wittingly or unwittingly….”
The idea that American citizens were somehow at risk of being led by an agent of the Russian government “wittingly or unwittingly” did not appear spontaneously. It had been pushed aggressively by former CIA Director John O. Brennan both during and after his role in pressing for the original investigation.
When Brennan testified before the House Intelligence Committee in May 2017, he was asked whether he had intelligence indicating that anyone in the Trump campaign was “colluding with Moscow.” Instead of answering the question directly, Brennan said he knew from past experience that “the Russians try to suborn individuals, and they try get them to act on their behalf either wittingly or unwittingly.” And he recalled that he had left the government with “unresolved questions” about whether the Russians had been successful in doing so in regard to unidentified individuals in the case of the 2016 elections.
Brennan’s notion of “unwitting collaboration” with Russian subversion is illogical. Although a political actor might accidentally reveal information to a foreign government that is valuable, real “collaboration” must be mutually agreeable. A policy position or action that may benefit a foreign government, but is also in the interest of one’s own government, does not constitute “unwitting collaboration.”
The real purpose of that concept is to confer on national security officials and their media allies the power to cast suspicion on individuals on the basis of undesirable policy views of Russia rather than on any evidence of actual collaboration with the Russian government.
The “witting or unwitting” ploy has its origins in the unsavory history of extreme right-wing anti-communism during the Cold War. For example, when the House Un-American Activities Committee was at its height in 1956, Chairman Francis E. Walter declared that “people who are not actually Communist Party members are witting or unwitting servants of the Communist cause.”
The same logic – without explicit reference to the phrase — has been used to impugn the independence and loyalty of people who have contacts with Russia.
It has also been used to portray some independent media as part of a supposedly all-powerful Russian media system.
The revelation that it was turned against a sitting president, however briefly, is a warning signal that national security bureaucrats and their media allies are now moving more aggressively to delegitimize any opposition to the new Cold War.
Gareth Porter is an independent investigative journalist and historian writing on U.S. national security policy. His latest book, “Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare,” was published in 2014. Follow him on Twitter: @GarethPorter.
February 14, 2019 Posted by aletho | Fake News, Mainstream Media, Warmongering, Russophobia | Adam Goldman, CIA, CNN, FBI, Michael S. Schmidt, New York Times, Nicholas Fandos, United States | Leave a comment
Heart of Darkness Germany
By Linh Dinh • Unz Review • February 13, 2019
After Muslim congresswoman Ilhan Omar made an obvious point about Jewish power influencing American foreign policies, she was forced, by that same Jewish power, to recant, thus confirming, to all those who can still think, the awful influence of Jewish power.
Though Jewish power is quite out in the open, as in AIPAC and the existence of a racist state that’s sustained by terror and endless war, one can’t even say “Jewish power” without being immediately branded an anti-Semite, if not a Nazi.
If it wasn’t for Jewish power, Americans wouldn’t have so much Muslim blood on their hands, or being worse than bankrupt, having fought so many wars for Israel.
If not for Jewish power, questioning the Holocaust wouldn’t be a thought crime in 16 European countries. No other event in human history is so fascistically protected from scrutiny. None but the Holocaust, thanks to Jewish power.
Robert Faurisson conclusively dismantled the Nazi gas chamber myth, so Jewish power destroyed his academic career, put him on trial and bankrupted this brave, unflinching man. In 1989, three thugs claiming to be The Sons of the Memory of the Jews attacked the 60-year-old and broke his jaw.
The Holocaust does not explain genocide but enables it, but few dare to say so, for fear of Jewish power.
There are no scientific or even documentary proofs of the Holocaust, so the six million figure is just as much nonsense as the human skin lampshades and human fat soap.
Thanks to the Holocaust, Germany is forever shamed, but there is “an inherent right of every individual to defend the community to which he belongs—that is, his people—from false and wicked accusations including the wickedest,” so states the lawyer for Ursula Haverbeck, a ninety-year-old woman who is imprisoned for questioning the Holocaust.
Even if she’s completely wrong, a raving lunatic, shouldn’t Haverbeck be entitled to her own thoughts? Jewish power emphatically says no.
Proscribing thoughts, Jewish power deforms minds, distorts personalities and turns men into cowardly idiots, and when this happens en masse, as in Germany, an entire society can unravel.
Outside the West, nationalism is embraced as natural and necessary, but in most white countries, it’s become increasingly equated with Fascism, and nowhere is this attitude more salient than in Germany. There, I saw graffiti denouncing Deutschland and even calling for “volkstod,” or “national death.” So many Germans wouldn’t hate themselves so vehemently if it wasn’t for the Holocaust, it’s safe to say.
For several years, I’ve posted reports from a German friend, describing his country in crisis, so below is his latest. Burdened by Holocaust guilts, Germans are shamed into accepting millions of refugees, many of whom are Muslims fleeing from wars triggered by Jewish power.
While still enjoying prosperity, stability, even tranquility (at least in comparison to most countries in the world), there are more signs we are fast approaching the “heart of darkness.”
In Berlin and Hamburg, two German cities with a high and rising percentage of migrants, the news are sobering: In Berlin, a study of 24,000 ten-year-old students shows that about 75% didn’t reach the basic levels of reading, writing and math. The news from Hamburg were equally dismal.
Or take Duisburg. Formerly best known for a TV character (Commissioner Schimanski), it’s now famous for its constant rising percentage of Migrants (and the problems that come with it). A 2017 study shows that only 8% of all first grade students spoke accurate German, while 16% spoke no German at all! Might it have something to do with the fact that in 50% of Duisburg households, German was not the first language spoken?
Lo and behold, the solution is near, for we are told we just have to work harder on integration, and everything will be fine (one wonders where all the jobs for these pupils shall come from…).
A further glimpse into the future is provided by the lovely town of Pforzheim. With about 160,000 people, its percentage of migrants is now roughly 60%. In the last local elections, the conservative AfD reached 26%, which is very uncommon in western Germany. Though similar to American Republicans, the AfD is constantly accused of Nazism and racism by the media, with the effect that many Germans are convinced these evil Nazis must be stopped.
Christiane Quincke is someone who quite eloquently fights “Nazis.” A typical product of western Germany’s reeducation, she feels morally obligated to fight Nazis and to integrate migrants. To achieve these ends, she has allied herself with DITIB, an organisation financed by the Turkish state and accused of having rather revolting stances on women, equality and gender, etc. It doesn’t matter. Progressive Quincke sees no contradictions.
Meanwhile, the media are doing their best to show us the evil face of Germany. In Chemnitz, two Germans were stabbed to death by a group of refugees (a thing which happens now on a weekly basis). A few thousand Germans demonstrated to express their anger and rage, but the crowd was peaceful and no riots took place. Nevertheless, some Neonazis within the demonstration showed the Hitlergruß (the Nazi salute), and this was more shocking to the media than the crime itself.
Even more shocking were news some demonstrators had allegedly chased migrants through the streets. In a video posted on an Antifa channel, two Migrants were chased by some men for a few yards. The entire media came immediately to the same conclusion: It was “Dunkeldeutschland” (the dark Germany, as our former president had called it) or Nazi Germany showing its ugly head.
The deed was unequivocally condemned by all media personalities and politicians, and even Chancellor Merkel jumped on the bandwagon to state that she would not tolerate a mob hunting foreigners. Some media even claimed that a pogrom had taken place. We should keep in mind that during a real pogrom, people not only get beaten up, but often killed, while windows are smashed, houses burnt and the likes. Nothing of the kind took place in Chemnitz.
It’s funny but the media and politicians never said this incident should be thoroughly investigated by the police. Lo and behold, the alternative media finally interviewed the woman who had made the video. In it, she and her husband (who remained anonymous for fear of reprisals) explained that an argument had happened before the incident.
Two young migrants had repeatedly shouted “Piss off” at the demonstrators, who shouted back, “Shut up!” After a moment, some demonstrators started running towards the migrants, who fled. After a few yards, the demonstrators stopped and let the migrants escape. A German shouted after them, “Ihr seid hier nicht willkommen!” (“You are not welcome here!”)
So this was the horrendous incident! This was Nazi Germany, and so horrific that it had to be condemned by all good citizens! The mainstream media paid no attention to the interview with the maker of the video. Furthermore, the Director of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Herr Maaßen, had to resign for simply stating that no pogrom had taken place in Chemnitz.
So we now have two realities: A real one and a fake one. (He who reads Orwell might not be too surprised).
Another funny thing happened some weeks later: A group of young refugees were chasing Germans in the small town of Amberg. Drunk, they punched passersby, some of whom were running away. All in all about 12 Germans were punched and/or kicked, with two hospitalized.
While this was a real violent incident, it caused no media uproar, in contrast to the fake pogrom in Chemnitz. It’s no wonder why all the great newspapers in Germany are failing.
Two other examples to explain the difference between reality and the media’s picture: For years, German Christmas markets were cheerfully attended by many people (Germans and others). People drank glühwein, ate potato pankaces and shared stories. There was no police around, no fences, no guards, nothing.
In 2018, German Christmas markets are surrounded by concrete posts to prevent Islamists from driving into the crowds. Police is often around, sometimes heavily armed and closely watching everything. Yet, we are still told, all is quiet on the Western (and Eastern) front.
Only obscure bloggers bother to paint a different picture of the reality. Vera Lengsfeld is a former politician of the conservative German Christian Democrats. Born in the former East Germany, she was a critic of the Communist regime, so was jailed for speaking her mind.
After the fall of the socialist regime, she joined the Conservative party. As she once put it, she thought that the rest of her life would be spent on “beautiful things” like art, exhibitions, etc., and she would never have to speak out against another unjust regime.
To her great amazement, the Federal Republic of Germany underwent a change from a liberal country to a politically correct state, which began to follow suicidal polices in regards to migration, economics and the environment, etc.
Lengsfeld became one the staunchest critics of Merkel’s open door policy. Since it’s hard to paint her as a racist or a Nazi, the media simply ignores her. Her informative blog paints a rather bleak picture of present day Germany. She shows that during last New Year’s Eve, for example, there was much violence in many German cities, but since these incidents were buried in local news, most Germans did not know about them.
Since the media paint the right wing AfD as a menace, AfD members are most likely to have their cars burned or their offices smashed. They may also face problems at work or have bars and restaurants shun them. In Berlin, a posh restaurant put out a sign indicating it won’t serve members of the AfD.
It’s so funny how these patterns are repeated throughout history: I am quite sure these restaurant owners are convinced of doing the right thing, but doesn’t it rhyme with “don’t buy from the Jew”? Not yet, but we’re only a few steps behind.
The change in political climate can also be seen in the following incident: The boss of the AfD in Bremen, Frank Magnitz, was attacked and badly hurt. You can see the picture of him lying unconsciously in a hospital.
When the media reported about the attack by some thugs (probably Antifa), they were quick to mention that Frank Magnitz had it coming, for he was spewing vicious hatred… I don’t want to imagine the national hysteria had Magnitz been a Social Democrat or Green Party politician. An outcry of historic proportions would have ensued.
We have it coming too. Recently, our Minister of Finance told us that “die fetten Jahre sind vorbei” (“the fat years are over”). He meant that tax revenues will go down and an economic slowdown might ensue.
Danke, Herr Minister! With about 50 billion Euros a year for all the new programs for migrants and refugees, including housing, language and integration courses, social benefits and what-have-you, what shall we do? We must stop relying on the state for everything, that’s what, and get our lazy asses going!
Hmm, wise words, but I smell something fishy here… With taxes already at the highest level in German history, what should we expect? Even higher taxes! And more economic hardship, of course. On and on it goes…
Diesel is the new evil, Trump is evil, the AfD is evil, East Germans are evil, especially Saxons (though they started the uprising against Communism), and refugees are our shiny future, even if 65% of them are still unemployed, and the ones with jobs are overwhelmingly low-skilled.
Two young Germans were just pushed in front of a train and died? Who are the suspects? Ah, some Germans (sigh of relief), but they are of Turkish and Greek origins? The Germans were pushed because they had told the suspects to stop smoking there. Oh, well… It could have been the other way around, no? Unfortunately, statistics tell a different story.
So all in all, we are on our way to the heart of darkness. It will still take many years until we’ll finally get there, but we will, for sure. No revolution will stop this course, no reform, no rationality, no new thinking. Nothing.
Reality will matter still less in the years to come. We will swallow up all our resources until we reach complete pauperization, and on our way to the bottom, we’ll see our liberties vanished and our way of life, too. There will be more taxes, violence, hatred, bigotry, irrational behavior and modern witch hunts.
We are ruled by ideologists, not only in Germany but across the West, and they will not stop chasing paradise on earth as they create hell.
Will we learn from the epic downfall awaiting us? I hope and pray that some of us will hold up the light of rational thinking, the heritage of our forefathers, who gave their lives for freedom and justice. In Berthold Brecht’s Galileo Galilei, Galilei is threatened with torture for his heresy, so recants his observation that the sun is the center of the universe, and not the earth, which prompts a disappointed follower to blurt out, “Pity the country that has no heroes!”
The frail Galilei famously corrects him, “No, pity the country that needs heroes.”
Be that as it may, we will be challenged in the years ahead to become heroes of a true and decent humanity. Good luck to us all.
Linh Dinh’s latest book is Postcards from the End of America. He maintains a regularly updated photo blog.
February 14, 2019 Posted by aletho | Civil Liberties, Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Full Spectrum Dominance, Timeless or most popular, Wars for Israel | Zionism | Leave a comment
US Air Freight Company that Smuggled Weapons Into Venezuela Linked to CIA “Black Site” Renditions
By Whitney Webb | MintPress News | February 13, 2019
GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA – Two executives at the company that chartered the U.S. plane that was caught smuggling weapons into Venezuela last week have been tied to an air cargo company that aided the CIA in the rendition of alleged terrorists to “black site” centers for interrogation. The troubling revelation comes as Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has rejected a U.S. “humanitarian aid” convoy over concerns that it could contain weapons meant to arm the country’s U.S.-backed opposition.
Last Tuesday, Venezuelan authorities announced that 19 rifles, 118 ammo magazines, 90 radios and six iPhones had been smuggled into the country via a U.S. plane that had originated in Miami. The authorities blamed the United States government for the illicit cargo, accusing it of seeking to arm U.S.-funded opposition groups in the country in order to topple the current Maduro-led government.
A subsequent investigation into the plane responsible for the weapons caché conducted by McClatchyDC received very little media attention despite the fact that it uncovered information clearly showing that the plane responsible for the shipment had been making an unusually high number of trips to Venezuela and neighboring Colombia over the past few weeks.
Steffan Watkins, an Ottawa-based analyst, told McClatchy in a telephone interview that the plane, which is operated by U.S. air cargo company 21 Air, had been “flying between Philadelphia and Miami and all over the place, but all continental U.S.” during all of last year. However, Watkins noted that “all of a sudden in January, things changed” when the plane began making trips to Colombia and Venezuela on a daily basis, sometimes multiple times a day.
According to Watkins’ analysis, this single plane had conducted 40 round-trip flights from Miami International Airport to Caracas and Valencia — where the smuggled weapons had been discovered — in Venezuela, as well as to Bogota and Medellin in Colombia in just the past month.
Publicly available flight radar information shows that the plane, although it has not returned to Venezuela since the discovery of its illicit cargo, has continued to travel to Medellin, Colombia, as recently as this past Monday.
Multiple CIA ties
In addition to the dramatic and abrupt change in flight patterns that occurred just weeks before U.S. Vice President Mike Pence prompted Venezuelan opposition member Juan Guaidó to declare himself “interim president,” a subsequent McClatchy follow-up investigation also uncovered the fact that two top executives at the company that owns the plane in question had previously worked with a company connected to controversial CIA “black sites.”
Indeed, the chairman and majority owner of 21 Air, Adolfo Moreno, and 21 Air’s director of quality control, Michael Steinke, both have “either coincidental or direct ties” to Gemini Air Cargo, a company previously named by Amnesty International as one of the air charter services involved in a CIA rendition program. In this CIA program, individuals suspected of terrorism were abducted by the intelligence agency and then taken abroad to third-country secret “black sites” where torture, officially termed “enhanced interrogation,” was regularly performed.
Steinke worked for Gemini Air Cargo from 1996 to 1997, according to a 2016 Department of Transportation document cited by McClatchy. Moreno, although he did not work for Gemini, registered two separate businesses at a Miami address that was later registered to Gemini Air Cargo while the CIA rendition program was active. McClatchy noted that the first business Moreno registered at the location was incorporated in 1987 while the second was created in 2001. Gemini Cargo Logistics, a subsidiary of Gemini Air Cargo, was subsequently registered at that same location in 2005.
21 Air has denied any responsibility for the weapons shipment discovered onboard the plane it operates, instead blaming a contractor known as GPS-Air for the illicit cargo. A GPS-Air manager, Cesar Meneses, told McClatchy that the weapons shipment had been “fabricated” by the Maduro-led government to paint his government as the victim. Meneses also stated that “the cargo doesn’t belong to 21 Air and it doesn’t belong to GPS-Air” and that it had been provided by third parties, whose identities Meneses declined to disclose.
Contras redux?
The revelation that the company that operates the plane caught smuggling weapons into Venezuela has connections to past controversial CIA programs is unlikely to surprise many observers, given the CIA’s decades-long history of funneling weapons to U.S.-backed opposition fighters in Latin America, Southeast Asia and other conflict areas around the globe.
One of the best-known examples of the CIA using airliners to smuggle weapons to a U.S.-backed paramilitary group occurred during the 1980s in what became known as the Iran-Contra scandal, in which the Reagan administration delivered weapons to the Contra rebels in order to topple the left-leaning Sandinista movement. Many of those weapons had been hidden on flights claiming to be carrying “humanitarian aid” into Nicaragua.
The parallels between aspects of the Contra scandal and the current situation in Venezuela are striking, particularly given the recent “outrage” voiced by mainstream media and prominent U.S. politicians over Maduro’s refusal to allow U.S. “humanitarian aid” into the country. Maduro had explained his rejection of the aid as partially stemming from the concern that it could contain weapons or other supplies aimed at creating an armed opposition force, like the “rebel” force that was armed by the CIA in Syria in 2011.
Though the media has written off Maduro’s concern as unfounded, that is hardly the case in light of the fact that the Trump administration’s recently named special envoy in charge of the administration’s Venezuela policy, Elliott Abrams, had been instrumental in delivering weapons to the Nicaraguan Contras, including hiding those weapons in “humanitarian aid” shipments. In subsequent testimony after the scandal broke in the 1980s, Abrams himself admitted to funneling weapons to the Contras in exactly this way.
With the recently uncovered illicit weapons shipment from the U.S. to Venezuela now linked to companies that have previously worked with the CIA in covert operations, Maduro’s response to the “humanitarian aid” controversy is even more justified. Unfortunately for him, the U.S.-backed “interim president,” Juan Guaidó, announced on Monday that his parallel government had received the first “external” source of “humanitarian aid” into the country, but would not disclose its source, its specific contents, nor how it had entered the country.
February 14, 2019 Posted by aletho | Deception, War Crimes | 21 Air, CIA, Colombia, GPS-Air, Human rights, Latin America, United States, Venezuela | Leave a comment
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> Die Again: Tess Gerritsen's New Novel
Die Again: Tess Gerritsen's New Novel
Detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles are back — and they’re going into the wild to find a killer. Die Again is the eagerly anticipated new heart-pounding Rizzoli & Isles thriller from international bestselling author Tess Gerritsen.
In Boston, Detective Jane Rizzoli and Forensic Pathologist Maura Isles investigate a bizarre murder. A man has been found gutted and hanging in his home. When the remains of another victim are found, it is clear that this murderer has been at work for years, and not just in Boston.
Five years ago, a group of travellers set off on an African safari. None of them was seen again - apart from one woman who stumbled out of the bush weeks later, barely alive. The only woman to have seen the killer's face.
Now this killer has chosen Boston as his new hunting ground, and Rizzoli and Isles must find a way to lure him out of the shadows and into a cage. Even if it means dangling the bait no hunter can resist: the one victim who got away.
Seamlessly melding the gritty streets of Boston with the golden plains of Africa, Tess Gerritsen sets up a cunning predator who's spent years perfecting his game. Now, enter Rizzoli & Isles, two of Boston's best determined to catch one of the world's worst in a battle of wits where only the strong can survive. This is Tess Gerritsen at her finest!
New York Times bestseller, Lisa Gardner
You can find out more about Tess' new novel, Die Again, on the Transworld Publishers website or for more information on Tess Gerritsen and her novels, visit her official website.
Die Again is available in hardback from 01/01/2015.
Rizzoli & Isles Author Tess Gerritsen
Find out more about Tess Gerritsen, the bestselling author of Rizzoli & Isles.
The dynamic duo hunt down some of Boston's most notorious criminals in the hit US TV show.
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104 Beacon
104 Beacon (2013)
Lot 25′ x 150′ (3,750 sf)
104 Beacon is located on the north side of Beacon, between Arlington and Berkeley, with 102 Beacon to the east and 106 Beacon to the west.
104 Beacon was built ca. 1856. It was originally numbered 102 Beacon, but re-numbered as 104 Beacon ca. 1862 when homes were built on the south side of the street.
104 Beacon is one of seven contiguous houses (104-106-108-110-112-114-116) built ca. 1856 in the same design, all in brownstone with French Academic details, ridge roofs, and a common cornice line (the copper-clad oriels at 106, 108, and 110 Beacon were added in the mid-1880s). 104-106 Beacon, 108-110 Beacon, and 112-114 Beacon are each symmetrical pairs.
Bainbridge Bunting’s Houses of Boston’s Back Bay does not attribute 104-116 Beacon to a specific architect. However, in his Building Victorian Boston: The Architecture of Gridley J. F. Bryant, Roger Reed indicates that they were designed by Gridley J. F. Bryant.
104 Beacon was built as the home of Edmund Dwight and his wife, Ellen Randolph (Coolidge) Dwight. They previously had lived at 68 Beacon. He was a dry goods merchant in the firm of Charles H. Mills & Company. Charles Henry Mills was his brother-in-law, the husband of Anna Cabot Lowell (Dwight) Mills.
104-106 Beacon (ca. 1867), photograph by Josiah Johnson Hawes, courtesy of the Boston Athenaeum
Edmund Dwight purchased the land for 104 Beacon on June 28, 1855, from the Boston and Roxbury Mill Corporation.
Click here for an index to the deeds for 104 Beacon, and click here for further information on the land on the north side of Beacon, including the Storrow Memorial Embankment on the Esplanade.
In 1857, Charles H. Mills & Co. was declared insolvent and on January 28, 1858, the assets of its partners were assigned by the court to Ezra Lincoln and Enoch R. Mudge for sale for the benefit of the firm’s creditors. Edmund and Ellen Dwight moved to 12 Pemberton Square; by 1860, they were living in Winchester.
On March 16, 1858, 104 Beacon was purchased from Ezra Lincoln and Enoch Mudge by James Henry Beal. He and his wife, Judith Drew (Beal) Beal, made it their home. They previously had lived at 45 Chauncy. They also maintained a home in Nahant.
James Henry (Brewer) Beal was the son of James Brewer and Eliza P. Beal. Eliza (Beal) Brewer remarried in November of 1831 to Henry Beal. James Henry Brewer and his sister, Eliza P. Brewer, changed their name from Brewer to Beal by an Act of the Legislature in 1839. James Henry Beal’s wife, Judith Drew Beal, was his first cousin, the daughter of his mother’s brother, Thomas Prince Beal.
104 Beacon (ca. 1942), photograph by Bainbridge Bunting, courtesy of The Gleason Partnership
James Henry Beal was a wholesale furniture dealer and banker. From 1857, he was president of the Granite National Bank and continued to serve in that position when it was renamed the Second National Bank in 1864. He retired in 1888. During the Civil War he was a leader among the bankers who helped to raise funds for the United States government.
Judith Beal died in May of 1860 and James Beal remarried in June of 1862 to Louisa Jane Adams.
James Beal died in June of 1904.
Louisa Beal continued to live at 104 Beacon. Her two unmarried step-daughters, Ida Gertrude Beal and Judith Drew Beal, lived with her until the 1906-1907 winter season, when they moved to 361 Beacon.
Louisa Beal continued to live at 104 Beacon until her death in January of 1920.
104 Beacon remained the property of James H. Beal’s estate, and after Louisa Beal’s death, the trustees under his will – Thomas Prince Beal, his son by his first marriage, and Boylston Adams Beal, his son by his second marriage – transferred the property to themselves and Thomas Prince Beal, Jr., as trustees of the Beal Associates trust.
104 Beacon was not listed in the 1921 and 1922 Blue Books.
On May 1, 1922, 104 Beacon was acquired from the Beal Associates trust by Miriam (Sears) Minot, the wife of investment banker and stockbroker James Jackson Minot, Jr. They had married in October of 1921 and had lived briefly at 229 Marlborough. In 1927, they also bought a home in Beverly.
The Minots continued to live at 104 Beacon until about 1942, when they made Beverly their year-round home.
On June 29, 1942, 104 Beacon was acquired from Miriam Minot by Errol B. Sawin, a property manager with Taff & Co., owned by William Walter Taff, Jr. William Taff owned 102 Beacon through his company, 102 Beacon Street, Inc., and he and his widowed mother, Agnes Celia (O’Riorden) Taff, owned 100 Beacon.
Earlier in June of 1942, Ellen B. Welsh (shown as Welch on the permit application), the wife of James J. Welsh of 844 Beacon, had applied for (and subsequently received) permission to convert 104 Beacon from a single-family dwelling into a lodging house. She probably was an employee of Taff & Co.
On September 24, 1942, 104 Beacon was acquired from Errol Sawin by 102 Beacon Street, Inc., of which William Taff was president.
In August of 1948, 106 Beacon was acquired by William Taff’s brother-in-law, Edward Richardson Mitton, the president of Jordan Marsh department stores, who was married to Marie Frances (Taff) Mitton. After he acquired the house, it appears that it was operated as a lodging house in conjunction with 104 Beacon.
On June 6, 1962, 102 and 104 Beacon were acquired from 102 Beacon Street, Inc., by Fisher College. On the same day, Fisher College also acquired 106 Beacon from Edward Mitton. Fisher College also owned 108-118 Beacon.
In September of 1962, Fisher College applied for (and subsequently received) permission to convert 104 Beacon into a dormitory.
As of 2018, Fisher College owned 102-104-106–108–110–112–114–116–118 Beacon, 111 Beacon, 115 Beacon, 131–133 Beacon, 139–141 Beacon, and 1 Arlington.
Beacon Street, looking west from Arlington (ca. 1870); courtesy of the Print Department, Boston Public Library
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He’s accused of war crimes and torture. Uber and Lyft approved him to drive.
CNN footage of Yusuf Abdi Ali — accused of burning civilians alive in the 1980s civil war — driving his Uber. CNN
By Scott Bronstein, Curt Devine and Drew Griffin, CNN
(CNN) – Where does an alleged war criminal accused of torture and directing mass executions look for work while living in the United States? For Yusuf Abdi Ali, there was an easy answer: Uber and Lyft.
Within a couple of days of applying to be a ride-share driver, Ali said he was approved to shuttle passengers from place to place. He’s been doing it for more than 18 months, according to his Uber profile.
When CNN reporters recently caught a ride from Ali, the former Somali military commander was listed on Uber’s app as an “Uber Pro Diamond” driver with a 4.89 rating.
“I do this full time,” said Ali, who drives in suburban Virginia. He explained that he prefers to drive during weekends because “that’s where the money is.”
Ali said he has driven for Lyft, too, but he prefers working for Uber. His white Nissan Altima had only an Uber sticker on it. Asked if the application process was difficult, Ali replied that it was a breeze.
“They just want your background check, that’s it,” said Ali, who was unaware that undercover CNN reporters were riding with him and recording the trip on video. “If you apply tonight maybe after two days it will come, you know, everything.”
Ali’s work as a ride-share driver raises new questions about the thoroughness of Uber and Lyft’s background check process and the ease with which some people with controversial pasts can get approved to drive.
CNN previously reported that Uber and Lyft have approved thousands of people who should have been disqualified because of criminal records. Some of those Uber drivers have included a murderer on parole and a convicted felon who was later convicted for sexually assaulting an Uber passenger.
Ali has not been convicted of a crime, but a basic internet search of his name turns up numerous documents and news accounts alleging he committed various atrocities while serving as a military commander during Somalia’s civil war in the 1980s.
His past was detailed in a documentary by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that featured eyewitnesses in northern Somalia who described killings allegedly committed under the direction of Ali, also known as “Colonel Tukeh.”
One witness in that documentary said, “Two men were caught, tied to a tree. Oil was poured on them and they were burnt alive. I saw it with my own eyes. I cut away their remains.”
Another witness in the same village said, “He caught my brother. He tied him to a military vehicle and dragged him behind. … He shredded him into pieces. That’s how he died.”
When asked, “Did you see Tukeh do that with your own eyes?” the villager replied, “Yes, and there are many people around who saw it.”
Ali has denied all allegations against him.
Uber strengthened its background check policy last year and it now includes more frequent checks, and disqualifies convicted drivers, as well as drivers who have not been convicted, but are charged with serious offenses. All drivers “must undergo a driving and criminal history background check reviewing local, state and national records, and we evaluate eligibility in accordance with criteria set by local laws,” Uber said in a statement to CNN.
Following CNN’s inquiries, an Uber spokesperson said the company had suspended Ali’s access to the app as it reviewed the matter.
A Lyft spokeswoman responded that the company had permanently banned Ali from the platform. Lyft said he hasn’t given a ride on its platform since September 2018.
“The safety of our community is our top priority and we are horrified by the allegations described. Before giving a ride on the Lyft platform, all driver-applicants are screened for criminal offenses and driving incidents in the United States,” the Lyft spokeswoman said.
Uber and Lyft’s background checks are mostly performed by a separate company called Checkr, which uses applicants’ names and Social Security numbers to search for information in a national sex offender database, federal and local court records and databases used to flag suspected terrorists and others, representatives from the companies said.
A Checkr spokesperson told CNN that its background checks “rely on public criminal records that have been adjudicated in a court of law rather than unverified sources like Google search results. Similarly, most employers don’t request background checks that include pending civil litigation due to its subjective nature.”
This week, Ali is defending himself against a civil suit filed in federal court in Virginia by a man who claims he was one of Ali’s victims in 1988. Farhan Mohamoud Tani Warfaa alleged in court documents that Ali tortured and shot him and ordered bodyguards to bury his body. The guards recognized that Warfaa, a farmer, had not died and accepted a bribe from his family to release him, according to documents.
Warfaa, who has come to the United States to testify against Ali, is being represented by the Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA), a San Francisco-based nonprofit that seeks to bring alleged war criminals to justice. The suit accuses Ali of directing a “brutal counterinsurgency campaign that refused to distinguish between civilians and combatants” between about 1984 and 1989.
Although the case against Ali has been allowed to proceed in US civil court, no criminal court has jurisdiction to try Ali for alleged war crimes. The International Criminal Court (ICC) wasn’t formally envisioned until 1994, following the genocide in Rwanda, and Somalia has never been able to develop a complete justice system that could embark on a war crimes tribunal.
When approached outside the courthouse this week, Ali declined to answer CNN’s questions. His attorney, Joseph Peter Drennan, dismissed the allegations against his client, saying the suit was politically motivated to benefit Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia.
According to public accounts, Ali moved to Canada after the Somali military regime he worked under collapsed in 1991. He was deported after news about his alleged war crimes in Somalia became public through that CBC documentary.
Ali entered the United States on a visa through his Somali wife who became a US citizen. In 2006, his wife was found guilty of naturalization fraud for claiming she was a refugee from the very Somali clan that Ali is accused of torturing.
CNN’s recent Uber ride with Ali was not the first time the network has caught up with him as he sought to make a living in the country.
In 2016, CNN reported that Ali had been working as a security guard at Dulles International Airport near Washington, DC.
He was fired from that job shortly after the CNN story aired.
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Category: Guatemala
Published on January 1, 2018 January 3, 2018 by Barefoot MBALeave a comment
Happy new year from the Barefoot MBA! 2017 marked our tenth anniversary, an important milestone to reflect on how far we’ve come in a decade. (See below.)
It gives us great joy to know the Barefoot MBA is now nearly self-sustaining. It gives us almost as much joy to know how it’s being used. Please continue to let us know how you’ve used or hope to use our materials. We welcome your stories, your photos and your feedback.
If you’d like to help, or know someone who might, please e-mail us at info@barefootmba.org. You can also like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
Categories Africa, Asia, Background, Blog, Cambodia, Guatemala, India, Kenya, Latin America, Malawi, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Philippines, Rhode Island, Rwanda, Stanford, Thailand, Uganda
Tenth anniversary
Published on July 13, 2017 July 14, 2017 by Barefoot MBALeave a comment
This week marks the tenth anniversary of our first Barefoot MBA pilot.
A lot can change in ten years – progress, priorities, partnerships. And a lot can stay the same. In addition we still need help, especially with this site, partnership ideas and adaptation opportunities.
Here’s what’s changed:
Progress: When we boarded a plane to Bangkok to pilot the Barefoot MBA with the Population and Community Development Association (PDA) a decade ago, we were hopeful for what we could do for one organization in a summer. Our pilot of a few lessons that July gave PDA the tools it needed to roll out the entire curriculum to multiple sites across Thailand. That paved the way for other organizations to follow, in at least a dozen countries around the world. Our website has received traffic from another two dozen countries.
Partnerships: We are grateful to PDA for the success of the Barefoot MBA. If not for its leadership, inspiration and willingness to take a risk on a pair of business school students, we would not have such a strong early foundation to prove ourselves to the partners that followed.
Priorities: Our priority remains making basic business education freely available to anyone, anywhere. But the way we have done that has shifted, from our high-touch, on-the-ground approach to a more passive one. Instead of being constrained by our availability to physically be on the ground to adapt the Barefoot MBA (which we are still happy to do), we have solidified a model that lets organizations adapt the materials themselves while we support them from afar if necessary. Our first independent adaptation happened within 18 months of our pilot. We reached self-sufficiency 6 years ago, and it is perhaps our proudest achievement.
Here’s what hasn’t: Principles. We created the Barefoot MBA because we saw a need for freely available basic business education for even the smallest-scale entrepreneurs. We have sustained it because we see what a difference it makes. Ten years later, and in mostly hands-off mode, we still get new requests. And we still find a way to work with any prospective partner who is true to our principles. That has meant turning down offers to monetize our work – and we are OK with that.
And here’s the other thing that hasn’t changed: We are still looking for help. Not with the materials – those, mercifully, are well tested. But we would be grateful for assistance with:
Web development: Our blog-turned-website is also approaching its tenth anniversary and could use a simple refresh by a talented and creative developer.
Partnership ideas: We are always seeking new partners, domestically and abroad. In general, our partners have been organizations (generally but not always nonprofits) with proven infrastructure and a community eager to learn basic business but lacking the tools to do so. These organizations adapt the Barefoot MBA, with our guidance as necessary and desired, and maintain our spirit of making basic business education freely available to their clients.
Adaptation opportunities: In addition to additional partner organizations, we welcome introductions to volunteers interested in working with partners to adapt and share the Barefoot MBA.
We are grateful to Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, particularly its Service Learning Program and Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, and the dozens of individuals and organizations that launched us a decade ago and continue to support our mission. We look forward to sharing the next ten years with you.
Published on January 1, 2017 May 2, 2019 by Barefoot MBALeave a comment
Happy new year! Ten years ago this week the seed for the Barefoot MBA was planted. Though our updates to have been less frequent, our mission continues. As always, we welcome updates on how you’ve used or hope to use our materials.
Published on July 28, 2012 July 31, 2012 by Barefoot MBA1 Comment
Three years ago this week, the Barefoot MBA began as but an idea. Since then we’ve come a long way.
First U.S. adaptation, by the Capital Good Fund in Rhode Island, whose version is also the first “green” adaptation, supporting the growing concern for and awareness of environmental impact of human activities
First independent adaptation, by a partner in India
Adaptations and a train-the-trainers workshop in the Philippines that culminated in teaching villagers and laid groundwork for future Filipino adaptations
Continued rollout at Thailand’s Population and Community Development Association, our original partner
Partnership discussions with a range of organizations in the U.S. and abroad, including Frogtek (Latin America), Wokai (China) and the Grassroots Business Fund (Latin America, Africa, India, Southeast Asia)
Increased awareness, of the Barefoot MBA specifically and social causes and the benefits of financial education broadly. Established organizations like Goldman Sachs and Deloitte recently introduced related initiatives, adding credibility to an emerging field
Entrance into social media: Facebook (become a fan!) and Twitter
And in the spirit of New Year’s resolutions, some for the Barefoot MBA:
Expand to other countries and continents, notably Africa, Eastern Europe and the Middle East
Solidify presence in existing geographies, including the United States
Update our website (we’re trying! can you help?)
Measure results of existing adaptations, especially in Thailand and the Philippines
Categories Asia, Blog, Cambodia, Guatemala, India, Latin America, Philippines, Rhode Island, Thailand
Second anniversary
Published on July 17, 2009 January 2, 2010 by Barefoot MBALeave a comment
As we mark the second anniversary this month of our Thai pilot, we’re excited to announce a return trip to Southeast Asia with the Barefoot MBA, this time to a train-the-trainers workshop in the Philippines next month. Thanks to support from the Global Initiative to adVance Entrepreneurship (GIVE) and the Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation (NWTF), we’ll work with representatives from microfinance institutions in the Philippines and Cambodia to adapt and implement the Barefoot MBA. Stay tuned for more details as we finalize them.
Confirmation of our Philippines workshop caps off a year of progress for the Barefoot MBA — and represents how far we’ve come. Since our first anniversary, we’ve continued to broaden and deepen our partnerships with micro-lenders and other organizations with access to entrepreneurs hungry for basic business education. For example:
Our original partner in Thailand, PDA, successfully finished a full Barefoot MBA implementation in Lamplaimat, where our original pilot occurred, and is considering new ways to expand and customize the program in other villages.
In Guatemala, we strengthened our partnership with a local university and Grameen Bank through teaching the Barefoot MBA’s lessons and translating them into the local dialect to improve efficacy, thanks especially to the tireless efforts of a recent Stanford graduate through the winter of 2009.
A partner in India created the first of what we hope will be several adaptations for that country, demonstrating the power of collaboration and the potential of sharing.
We’re in the early stages of discussion with others, including some in Uganda, Cambodia and the United States, about how best they can use the Barefoot MBA.
As always, that’s just what we know. Our blog-turned-website continues to get hits from every inhabited continent, and we continue to hear second- and third-hand of others adapting the Barefoot MBA to their needs.
We look forward to another year of progress ahead — and, as always, to continued support and feedback from you. In the meantime, we invite you to join our fledgling social networking efforts by becoming a fan on Facebook and/or following us on Twitter.
Categories Blog, Guatemala, Philippines, Thailand
Lessons continue, with music and local dialect
Published on January 21, 2009 February 5, 2009 by Barefoot MBALeave a comment
Ottavio continues to send updates from Guatemala:
Today we began the first of a series Barefoot MBA basic business education courses with a group of Grameen Bank clients nearby Los Encuentros in Il Paraiso Guatemala. I, Ottavio Siani, and 3 students from the Universidad de Valle de Guatemala-Altiplano, Policarpo Chay, Josue Bocel, and Shirly Cano, arrived at 9 a.m. after searching for the small house where the Grameen bank meeting was taking place. We sat in for their biweekly micro-finance meeting, complete with the saying of the Grameen mantra. Oddly enough, in the background the radio was playing “Take Me Home Country Road” during their meeting and after we were introduced, “Fortunate Son” by Creedence Clearwater Revival came on. (Seriously.) A better song could not have been chosen.
After a brief introduction, each of the 3 students taught one of the first three Barefoot MBA subjects, saving, spending and investing, taking questions in between subjects.
After the introduction we realized that though the group understood Spanish the classes would be much more successful if they were translated into Kaqchikel, the local Mayan language. Fortunately Josue speaks fluent Kaqchikel and was able to translate, which increased the amount of participation drastically. We finished in 45 minutes and, luckily, were asked to come back for their following meeting to teach opportunity cost and cost-benefit analysis.
We have begun practicing the next two lessons and are very excited for next week.
Categories Blog, Guatemala
New year, new beginnings
We begin the new year with exciting news about the Barefoot MBA: UVG will teach the Barefoot MBA to a group of Grameen Bank clients starting later this month. Our partners at UVG are excited, and we are too. As they prepare to continue the Barefoot MBA’s implementation in Guatemala, we’ve posted agriculture and tourism adaptations to the Curriculum page.
Best wishes for a new year of peace, knowledge, independence, health, prosperity, and success.
First classes in Guatemala
Published on December 10, 2008 January 1, 2009 by Barefoot MBALeave a comment
It’s hard to think of a more rewarding gift than the following update from Guatemala. Just as parents smile from within as their children achieve first moments of independence – a first step, first sentence, first job – it is with great pride that we look back and see the Barefoot MBA beginning to take its first step of independence. Rather than spoil it with commentary, we include Ottavio’s e-mail, with his permission, here:
SOLOLÁ, Guatemala, December 9 – I am now at the beginning of my fourth month here in Guatemala. My Spanish has improved dramatically, which has allowed me to move around much more freely. Language is quite a powerful tool.
Finally, after much organizing, consternation, etc. (I have been wielding the phrase that you have used, don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good, like an ax) we have executed the first (saving, spending and investing) of a series of basic business education courses here at la Universidad de Valle Altiplano in Sololá. Nearly 40 people showed up and paid 10Q ($1.50) to attend the course. 34 of the 39 people were women; all owned businesses, and over half were teachers who said they were planning on bringing the lessons to their classes and homes. It really was a joy and fortunately there was a lot of interest in the rest of the lessons that the Barefoot MBA has to offer.
My biggest fear going into the day was that the lessons were going to be too easy. While I think that the lessons could have been a little harder (the next subjects are inherently more difficult), fielding a question about how saving money in a bank is useless because you can’t earn any interest reassured me that there was a need for this kind of education. After going over what the result of saving 50Q every two weeks for 10 years would be and how much interest you would earn from your savings (people were certainly shocked to see the results of this exercise) there was agreement that it was a good idea. The activities that we designed worked great (we broke into groups and proposed different scenarios and brainstormed how one should deal with them). Group participation, it seems to me, is very helpful.
Going forward, in addition to offering additional lessons on Saturdays, we are going to continue working with the Grameen Bank (the 10 or so other micro-finance organizations I met with are moving much more slowly. Processes with them are pending) in order to get a group of their clients to come to the university a few times to receive all of the lessons. We plan on using this group to help determine the effect this type of education has, if any. Hopefully we will be able to gather some anecdotal evidence that shows that the course is having a positive effect. Any advice on how to go about this would be great.
Benefits of following through
Published on November 15, 2008 January 2, 2009 by Barefoot MBALeave a comment
We continue to field requests, mostly by e-mail, from those interested in using the Barefoot MBA in new places. We provide whatever support we can, but often we don’t hear much in return. We’re thrilled, then, to share concrete stories of progress. Here’s one:
Ottavio, who finished his undergraduate work at Stanford in June, contacted us before heading to Guatemala for six months to work with the UVG and continue the translation and adaptation Scott started in March. UVG plans to partner with Grameen Bank for two sessions on saving and investing, one in November preceding an information session on microlending and one in December for a smaller group of Grameen Bank clients.
As the world ushers out the end of the worst economic year in recent memory, we’re more encouraged than ever about the future of the Barefoot MBA. Through partnerships with organizations with existing infrastructure and communities, the curriculum is reaching those who need it and continues to spread even without our hands-on support. We hope those who learn from the Barefoot MBA now internalize the lessons and pass them along to their own families and communities, virally enabling better business decisions — and in turn better lives.
Reflections from an airplane window
Published on March 28, 2008 March 30, 2008 by Barefoot MBALeave a comment
As I leave Guatemala City early in the morning, I can’t help but think how much we accomplished in so little time. Truly, much of the credit goes to everyone at the University – they were the orchestra and I merely the conductor, perhaps even just the off-stage composer, in this symphony.
The adaptation guide, I was told, was very helpful in determining what kinds of examples to include. Still, I learned quite a bit from the questions I was asked, and am making the appropriate updates. Our hope with the adaptation guide is that it will fully replace the need for my physical presence to complete an adaptation. In fact, seeing how quickly the group worked on Wednesday, we’re nearly there. While I love seeing parts of the world often not accessible, or desirable, to most tourists, I cannot physically be in two places at once (a rate-limiting factor to the eventual spread of the curriculum).
This is not to say our work is done, or that it will slow. My to-do list is still long, both for this trip and for the project as a whole. We have yet to put the finishing touches on the final documents before we post them (hopefully in the next few weeks). We need to refine what is now only an outline of metrics we hope to use to measure how the Barefoot MBA curriculum affects businesses, their success, and the decisions made by their owners. And finally the staff at UVG will need to implement the training programs. I have full confidence that they will continue to dedicate the resources necessary, to the best of their ability, to put the Barefoot MBA into action. And should they have questions, I am only an email away. And so it is that I leave Guatemala, appreciative of the generosity of my hosts at the University, amazed at how much we have accomplished in such little time, and hopeful for the success of the curriculum, and thus the participants who will live more successful lives.
Markets of Atitlan
Published on March 27, 2008 March 30, 2008 by Barefoot MBA1 Comment
I’m up early this morning to spend the entire day visiting more businesses at some of the small towns around the lake. Though the morning light is beautiful, and our trip by boat across the lake refreshingly crisp, I’m tired from staying up reading last night.
My first visit is to San Juan La Laguna to visit Lema, an association of women who make dyes from natural sources and weave the fabric into about 33 different products. Rosalinda is explaining to me about the details of her business, the number of women who are part of the cooperative (15 work intensively, another 65 make partial contributions, and nearly all are illiterate), the range of prices for their goods (5 quetzales (USD$0.68) for a small woven hackeysack to 550 quetzales (USD$75) for a duvet), and their general margins (about 30% for direct sales, a bit less for items sold through intermediaries at markets farther from Solola). After six years of business, nearly all of which have seen year-over-year growth, Rosalinda’s comment about success is: we must always innovate (“tenemos que innovar siempre”).
My next stop is back on the eastern side of the lake at the workshop of Matea in San Antonio Palopo. Matea has been in business for 20 years, dying fibers from leaves and then spinning them into thread. She sells some of the thread to markets as far away as Mexico, and uses most of the rest to weave into fabric. Like Rosalinda in San Juan La Laguna, she makes a variety of products. However, as is somewhat typical around the lake, the designs and colors vary quite significantly from town to town all around the lake. In San Juan, the patterns were more simple and colors more subdued; here in San Antonio Palopo the colors are more vibrant and designs a bit more intricate.
Matea takes me through her workshop and shows me the different stages of making a finished product and the machines she has bought (from her father, who is a carpenter) to be able to produce the goods faster (making a scarf on a foot-powered loom takes only 1 day, whereas it takes about 4 days of work to make the same one by hand). She comments that much of this is typically a man’s work, but that she is able to do it equally well.
Matea is very proud of the fact that, though she had to leave school, she is able to earn money to send her children to school. She is a bit upset that it has become more difficult to profit from her goods in the local markets as more people have entered the textile business and more people now know the costs of production. This has forced her to look for markets farther away and to deal with intermediaries, who also cut into her profits. She would like more money to invest in thread, but says that the requirements necessary to take out a loan are too much of a burden and would require her to spend her time doing something other than producing or selling goods – time that she does not have.
I spend the rest of the day visiting other businesses including Magdalena in Santa Catarina Palopo who also sells textiles and Carmela in San Andres Semetaba who grows organic mushrooms. On my way I pass many fields, some in cultivation, such as this onion field, and others lying fallow.
The opportunities here are immense, but many of these people have been caught off-guard by the fast pace of today’s world market. A generation ago, markets changed slowly, patterns were subtle, emerged slowly, and allowed people sufficient time to adapt. Today, markets are flooded with new products daily – yesterday’s hand-made ceramic masks are replaced by inexpensive wooden snakes from China. The success of the first friend-chicken stand at the market invites 5 others the following week, no longer one more the following year. Selling at the market was a skill passed from generation to generation, the same way Maria learned to sell tortillas from her mother and now sells mangoes. However, prior generations have not passed along the skills to know what to do when competition arrives not with a whisper, but with a deafening crash. It is my hope, our hope, that the Barefoot MBA will infuse into the generational market knowledge a few ideas about how to adapt to the rapid changing of the markets.
Amazing Progress
In Thailand, Katherine and I had to spend a significant amount of time thinking of local examples to fit each of the lessons and then finding local businesses that were similar. While I expected to need to do a significant amount of research first, and then adapt the examples, and then translate the document, I’m quite surprised to return from my day to find two documents adapted and translated. The group of students and staff have done an amazing job of translating the documents and, with their knowledge of local business from the work they already do with these entrepreneurs, have also created two adaptations: one for tourist businesses (e.g., textiles and leather goods) and one for agricultural businesses.
I’ve been up late into the morning reading both documents and making some small changes to ensure consistency across all 4 adaptations we now have, but my excitement at the progress made today has kept me energized. It seems that tomorrows visits to small towns around the lake will be more for my own education than for purposes of adaptation. Instead of visiting and then adapting, I will be visiting some of the businesses already included as examples in the adaptations. My thanks to Maria Marta, Victor, and all the people at Universidad del Valle de Guatemala Altiplano who helped with this today. Again, amazing work.
In fields around the campus, a group of women have come together to grow amaranth. As I am learning, amaranth has some incredible properties: each plant will produce 40,000 to 60,000 seeds seasonally, which are 13 to 15 percent protein (among the highest for any grain) and are high in fiber, calcium, iron, potassium, phosphorus, zinc, and vitamins A and C; its leaves are also edible, containing more calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin C than spinach; and it is resistant to the heat and drought, requiring much less water than corn and beans. Amaranth is native to Mesoamerica and has been cultivated here for approximately 7,000 years. Though it was nearly eradicated with the Spanish Conquest, it is being replanted in parts of Mexico and Central America.
Today I am visiting Victoria, who manages and operates an association of women who are making products from the amaranth plants. They sell a powder of amaranth seeds which is used to make a local drink or mixed with corn to make tortillas, and they make a natural, herbal shampoo. It takes three days to mix and settle the ingredients including the amaranth leaves, which they purchase for one quetzal (USD$0.14) each, into a liquid ready to be bottled as shampoo.
Victoria and Florinda showed me the final product, and took the time to pour a bit of it into 8 ounce bottles, which they will label and sell for 12 quetzales (USD$1.63) each. They sell about 40 of these bottles per month, earning roughly USD$65 from selling shampoo. In addition to their other products, they are able to make a living for themselves and provide me with an example of how the support they receive in the form of business advice from organizations like UVG-Altiplano, plus a few small loans, means the difference between subsistence farming and a less stressful, more fruitful quality of life.
The most interesting part of the adaptation process, both for me and for the staff at UVG Altiplano, is learning about the details of the local businesses in the markets. Discovering the costs of the goods, the history of the business, the competitive factors that exist in the market and trying to capture these to change the examples in each of the lessons.
We are simultaneously translating the curriculum and plan to produce two versions in Spanish – one for tourist businesses and one for agricultural businesses. (I hope to use my time on the airplane back to the US to translate these back into English for those interested).
In addition, we are building a tool to measure the outcome of the use of the Barefoot MBA. The staff at UVG-Altiplano has already done quite a lot of work with many of the small businesspeople in the markets, most of whom are women, to understand their lives, how they survive from their businesses, and where it may be possible to make small improvements. We are creating a tool to try to measure their businesses, what they sell, how many, and at what profit, to understand how their businesses function before the Barefoot MBA curriculum, so that we can measure similar aspects in the weeks and months following the Barefoot MBA. This will, we hope, finally provide a way to measure the outcome.
We heard from the participants in Thailand that they appreciated the lessons and wanted more. However, we do not know if the participants remembered the lessons, if they were able to make the changes they discussed, or if their businesses were more successful (as we hope). Our hope is that this tool will provide a more objective measurement of the outcome.
At 1,500 meters, Lake Atitlan lies in the highlands of Guatemala, surrounded by now-extinct volcanoes. The small villages surrounding the lake have distinct products in their markets and different colors of traditional dress (actually patterns and colors imposed by the Spanish as uniforms to help identify the different indigenous tribes and languages).
Sololá is located on the northern edge of the lake. The Altiplano (highland) campus of UVG has been working closely with the people here in Sololá. There is a new business incubation program for the high school and college students and their work extends to the local people, the majority of whom are Kaqchikel Mayas farmers and craftspeople who struggle to make a living selling their goods in the local markets, both through improvements in sustainable and organic agricultural practices, and now hopefully through improved business practices as well.
The market in Sololá, unlike that in rural Thailand, serves two distinct groups of customers: tourists and other locals. As one vendor becomes successful selling a particular good, others copy it. Thus, there are 7 carts selling roasted chicken and potatoes, all next to each other. They compete on price, and talking to them (though not having tasted 8 pieces of chicken), it is difficult to discern a difference in the quality of their products or other aspects of their businesses. The price competition reduces their profits, and they now struggle to afford life’s necessities.
Maria is in a similar situation. Maria sells mangos and has been selling mangos in this market for 26 years. She learned to sell from her mother, who sold tortillas in a village on the southern coast of the lake. 22 years ago a space in this market opened, and she began to sell mangos here. She sells 300 to 400 on a good day, at 1 quetzal (USD$0.14) each. She makes enough to on a good day to get by, but never enough to save. Over the years she has seen more and more people come to this market to sell mangos, and she has noticed that she is able to sell fewer mangos.
Our Guatemalan Host
Taking the Barefoot MBA to as many places as we can has led me to cross paths with many things I might not have discovered without it. Certainly I have seen places and met people I might not have been able to access – rural parts of Thailand this past summer and rural parts of Guatemala in the days to come, incredible people in far corners of the world, and our own backyards, doing incredible things to help others.
I have also had the pleasure of meeting organizations pursuing similar goals of education, community and economic development, and poverty alleviation, our host being one such example.
I am in Guatemala at the invitation of the department of engineering at the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala (UVG), and specifically one professor who has been working to add entrepreneurial aspects to the curriculum. Not only are they trying to provide a more well-rounded education for their graduates, they also have a campus on a former army base in Sololá that works closely with the people of the region doing work in job creation, economic development, and sustainable agricultural practices.
I have read their studies of the types of businesses owned and run by the rural women in and around Sololá, and have a sense for the numbers describing the income levels there. I have been told, and will see firsthand tomorrow afternoon, how these women struggle to provide for themselves and their families, many having lost their husbands during the 36 years of civil war that ended in 1996. Often times poverty is better understood when seen in person, and I hope to not only begin to understand it, but also how the Barefoot MBA can help.
While the document has not yet been translated into Spanish, we have, and will, conduct all our work in Spanish (or local dialects through Spanish translation). After all, the goal here is to help the faculty at Sololá understand how to use the curriculum so that they may continue to follow the adaptation guide after I have left and can continue the work in my absence. Hasta mañana.
Categories Blog, Guatemala•Tags Blog, Guatemala
Barefoot MBA goes to Guatemala
Two professors working in rural development invited us to travel to Guatemala to adapt the curriculum to help entrepreneurs there. This marks the second country, and second continent, for adaptation of the Barefoot MBA. In addition to adapting and translating the curriculum, Scott will test the Adaptation Guide to make sure it covers all salient details. Check the blog for updates as Scott gets to know the local markets and works with his hosts to adapt the Barefoot MBA.
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Plan to transform neighbourhoods squeezing out single-family homes?
Published Tuesday, June 19, 2018 7:11PM PDT
The City of Vancouver is considering new rules that would make it easier to build duplexes in parts of the city that are currently reserved for single-family homes.
One-family, or RS zoning districts, account for about 65,000 lots across Vancouver. The "Making Room for Housing Program," which was brought before city council on Tuesday, suggests that Vancouverites need more types of housing available to them.
"The goal of the Making Room program is to provide more housing choice within neighbourhoods for families, downsizing seniors and other households seeking housing that sits in this 'missing middle' between single-family homes and higher-density homes," the report said.
"The opportunity to live within a neighbourhood…is generally now limited to those who can afford $2 million or more to purchase a house or those who are willing to rent and able to find rental accommodation."
The report recommended a series of regulatory changes that would make most properties south of 16th Avenue eligible for duplexes.
Proponents of the new plan say those lower-density parts of the city could use some new life.
"We've seen losses in school population in those districts, so there's a role those neighbourhoods can play in revitalization," said Gil Kelley, the city's chief planner.
The new plan will likely come as good news for homeowners in RS zones who could turn a profit by converting their properties into two-family residences.
But the Making Room plan does put Vancouver's character homes at risk of being torn down for the very same reason.
"When they are not heritage buildings, we have no power to disallow a demolition," Kelley said.
The report also calls for the city to ease minimum side yard requirements that make it difficult for properties in neighbourhoods such as Kitsilano to be approved for infill even though they are in zones where duplexes are already allowed.
"The Making Room housing program will advance essential change in neighbourhoods across Vancouver to address the housing crisis and provide more housing choice," the report read.
If approved, Phase 2 of the plan could get underway as early as next month. The next step involves community consultations and in-depth research into issues such as reduced parking that come with the densification plan.
A separate report presented on Tuesday also called for new rules that would make it easier to build laneway houses in the city.
"Expanding the supply of rental housing is a key priority of the Housing Vancouver Strategy, which includes a target of 4,000 new rental laneway homes to be built over the next ten years, 50 per cent of which are expected to be two- and three-bedroom units suitable for families," the document read.
The city introduced the Laneway House Program in 2009 in a bid to improve rental options in residential neighbourhoods. More than 3,000 permits have been issued since.
"Vancouverites want new housing to be affordable to people who live and work in the city and are open to considering a diverse range of housing options to achieve this," the report said.
Councillors will consider the Making Room for Housing Program on Wednesday. If approved, it will be brought back before council again next month.
With files from CTV Vancouver's St. John Alexander
In-depth coverage
More real estate headlines, photo galleries and video
Stricter mortgage rules cooling B.C. home sales, BCREA says
B.C. housing tax to cause vacation property price dip: Royal LePage
Regulations add $644K to cost of single-family Vancouver homes: study
1-in-5 B.C. renters spending more than half of income on housing
Vancouver to rent 1,000 new affordable homes for $375-$2,000/month
Single-family homes are seen in Vancouver in June 2018.
Couple surprises families with adopted son
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Medtronic founder passes away
Leading global medical device company Medtronic has announced that its co-founder, Earl E. Bakken, has passed away.
Mr Bakken, who founded the company with his brother-in-law in 1949, was 94 years old.
“Today we are saddened by the passing of Earl Bakken, but we also honor and will forever cherish the life of a beloved man whose brilliance and vision have improved the lives of millions of people around the world,” said Omar Ishrak, Medtronic chairman and chief executive officer.
“The contributions Earl made to the field of medical technology simply cannot be overstated. His spirit will live on with us as we work to fulfill the Mission he wrote nearly 60 years ago – to alleviate pain, restore health, and extend life. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Bakken family during this difficult time.”
Mr Bakken led Medtronic for 40 years before retiring as chairman in 1989.
He served in World War 2 as a radar instructor and then attended the University of Minnesota, earning a degree in electrical engineering. While a graduate student, Mr Bakken did part-time work repairing lab equipment at Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis.
Demand for these services grew and Medtronic was formed in 1949 with its headquarters in a modified garage in northeast Minneapolis.
The company built the world’s first wearable transistorised pacemaker by adapting a circuit described for an electronic metronome in the magazine Popular Electronics. This milestone is viewed by many as the “birth” of Medtronic.
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Updated on: 19th February, 2018, 2:07 PM
In the list of handsome single celebrity male, Aidan Turner comes on the top. With the excellent look and charming personality, he went to the stardom height. His appearance in BBC’s ‘The Tudors’ helped him bloom his career. And because of his popularity, his name was linked with top-notch celebrities before. Now let’s know most of his personal life details here through this wiki!
Born on 19th June 1983, Aidan Turner’s hometown is in Dublin, Ireland. He holds Irish citizenship and is of Caucasian ethnicity. The 34 years old actor’s zodiac sign is Gemini. He graduated from St. Joseph’s and St. Edmund College. His father’s name is Pat Turner who is an electrician by profession, and his mother is Eileen Turner. He has a brother named Colin Turner as a sibling.
Net Worth, Salary, and Income
Dating Life: Three Girlfriends Till Date
Career as Actor
Name Aidan Turner
Birthday 19th June 1983
Birthplace Dublin, Ireland
Nationality Irish
Profession Actor
Dating/Girlfriend No
Past Affairs 3
Married No
Aidan has been working in the entertainment field for a short time and yet has accumulated a reasonable sum of money. The one who once was on ‘Poldark’ is pretty shy when it comes to sharing information. Thus, the estimation of his annual income is not made.
Turner earns good figure income and has maintained his life like a celebrity. As of 2018, Aidan’s net worth is $400 thousand.
Aidan has dated a good number of celebrities in his life. He is single as of 2018 but was once a boyfriend of three gorgeous ladies. As he dated girls, he is straight and is not gay. Turner might be marrying someone in his near future.
Aidan Turner with first girlfriend, actress Sarah Greene
The first girl he was seen together was with Sarah Greene, who is an actress by profession. The ex-duo was along for five years and broke up in 2015.
Aidan Turner with second girlfriend Tara Derakshan
Tara Derakshan became the second one to enter into his life. The duo was seen sharing PDA in early 2016. But, because of some misunderstanding, they too broke up.
Aidan Turner with his third girlfriend Nettie Wakefield
Nettie Wakefield came third who is an artist by profession. In the fall of 2016, they started dating. As of now, both have parted ways.
Although his fame came from BBC drama series named ‘The Tudors’ for his guest appearance, it was not the first act of him. If you have seen Hobbit series, you might have noticed him. He portrayed the role of Kili in the movie.
The other projects he has worked are Desperate Romantics, The Clinic Back, etc.
Aidan has an athletic body with the height of 5 ft 11 inches and weighs 78 kilos. His skin color is white; hair is black and eyes are dark brown. His body is measured with the chest of 44 inches and waist of 33 inches.
Categories Actors
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